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Monthly Archives: November 2005
MERRY CHRISTMAS CANADA
Another Federal election for Canada. I guess all 23+ million of us asked Santa for 2 months of bafflegab and bullshit on our Christmas list this year.
So now we get to listen to promises and attacks. Along with garish Xmas lights we’ll also get to see candidate signs sprouting up through the snow like demented weeds. Red, blue, orange and whatever colours the fringe parties choose will add to the festive season.
The Liberals are crooks. The Conservatives are bible thumping Reformers in disquise and the NDP are just plain dangerous. I’m not forgetting the Bloc but since their agenda is Quebec-centric I won’t spend any time on them. Well..maybe a little. A party that has only one goal; the separation of Quebec. The choices are terrible and the end result will be another minority government that relies on Jack Layton and his merry band of socialists for their daily existence. The end result will be another election within 2 years.
Paul Martin has been an ineffectual Prime Minister and the stink of corruption that envelopes the Liberal party almost demands their being kicked out on their fat asses. Of course, the only way to do that is to vote for Stephen Harper and the “new” Conservative party which bows down towards Crawford Texas every morning and accepts every word that weasel George W Bush utters as gospel. Jack Layton is a decent intelligent man who just happens to lead the party that could bankrupt the country in 18 months.
What to do? I always vote Liberal and I probably will again. This doesn’t mean I’m not going to listen to the campaign promises but it would take a miracle to support the others. I’ll go to the polling station, hold my nose and make my little X and say a prayer for Canada.
PANDORA
Got turned on to a new streaming music site called Pandora. Difference with this one is that you suggest an artist and it finds music from that artist as well as other music that is similar.
It saves your choices as “stations” that you can choose. This function requires you to register (it’s free if you can put up with visual ads in the top corner).
Worth a try!
JOHN K BULLOCK
MEN ARE ALL ALIKE – EXCEPT THE ONE YOU’VE MET WHO’S DIFFERENT
Today came the sad news that one of the most influential people I’ve ever met had passed away earlier this year. John Bullock died at home on August 25th, peacefully, after a battle with cancer.
I first met John in the late 60′s when I moved to Vancouver. The memory of our first meeting is long gone but the impact on my life will never be forgotten. To watch John approach was to see a man who’s body had betrayed him. Lurching, held up by two wooden canes, he struggled across the room. Then he smiled.
A man who knew how to have fun. Who didn’t dwell on the hand he’d been dealt. A man who loved life. John was intelligent, kind, fond of bad jokes and more than willing to see how far he could push the envelope. An electronic genius who could tame those spastic muscles and perform the most delicate soldering with long slim fingers that moved with an accuracy that you and I could never match.
We drifted apart after I moved back to Toronto and I only met up with him once in the 80′s. John moved to Campbell River and met a wonderful woman named Nancy and together they built a life of love and happiness. Once a year we would receive a Christmas note filled with local news. Reading between the lines, you could tell that John’s health was not getting better but there was never a word of bitterness or regret.
I will miss John deeply and I feel honored that I was able to meet such a remarkable individual and call him my friend.
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Just testing Flock, nothing to see here. Move along.
IN PASTA WE TRUST
I’ve written about the Flying Spaghetti Monster before but it appears that this grass root religion is attracting thousands to His noodly goodness. Behold the FSM’s prayer:
Our spaghetti
Who art in the colander
Hallowed be thy sauce
Thy serving come
Thy strands be wrung
On forks as they are on spoons
Give us this day our daily meatball
And forgive us our starchiness
As we forgive those who are starchy against us
And lead us not into Kraft parmesan
But deliver us from Chef Boy Ardee
For thine is the garlic
And the onion and the bay leaves
For ever and ever.
Ramen
THIS EXPLAINS A LOT
Over at Flickr, someone has posted the 1979 Sears Wishbook.
Let’s assume that the young fellow in the red jacket and vomit-inducing slacks was 8 at the time this picture was taken. That would make him around 34 now. He married his high-school sweetheart who he impregnated during a wild party after the football team won the county championship and he’s now a father of a young teenager who feels that Dad doesn’t understand him.
Dad is a Republican and feels that GWB deserves another, hell a few more, terms in office so he can clean up the world. Kids today don’t know what’s good for them and it is reflected in how they dress. Back in his day, young boys were stylin’ and didn’t talk back. No Sir, if Mom wanted you to wear a tablecloth and the carpet in the basement, that’s what you did and you were happy to do it! Insanely happy! The fact that you resembled a ventriloquist’s dummy last seen at a seedy club in a rundown town in South Dakota didn’t faze you in the least.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
A SNOWY DRIVE
[thumb:491:l] Toronto has just received its first major snowfall of the season. Today, I took a drive up to Maxine’s place in Wasaga Beach for a quick visit. The weather as I left was terrible but turned sunny half way. This shot was taken on a back country road near Caledon as I attempt to bypass that little town with the terrible traffic.
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[thumb:493:r]When I got to Maxine’s, the sun was shining brightly and the air was calm. They always get more snow up there and the combination of sun and snow is so bright it hurts the eyes.
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[thumb:490:l]All the feeders are up and the normal collection of Jays, Finches, Chickadees and squirrels were feeding like this meal was their last. A pair of woodpeckers came and went and this is as close as I could get to these shy birds. Max says the deer have made an appearance but they tend to show up in the early morning and late evening only.
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[thumb:492:r]The animals inside, Patrick and Alex, were content to doze and groom in the warmth and quiet of a perfect Saturday afternoon. Here Patrick is caught in mid-bath as he decides that being an indoor cat is not such a bad life.
THINGS THAT MAKE YOU FEEL OLD
On this date in 1968 The Beatles released their 29-song double album entitled The Beatles, which became known as “The White Album.” I could post a picture of the album but…….it’s white.
I was living in West Vancouver at the time and serving my sentence at West Vancouver Secondary School. I picked up a copy the day it came out but I can’t remember where. Probably at Park Royal Shopping Centre which was down the hill from our house.
The White Album took a few listenings and, to this day, there are certain selections that I won’t play. Others like “Julia” and “Blackbird” are classics that I never tire of hearing.