A meadow, a sheep farm, a hardwood forest and the shore. Lemoine Point Conservation Area is a fair sized park at the mouth of Collins Bay on Lake Ontario within the City of Kingston. After dodging bikers and saying hi to the nice dogs yesterday, we saw a white tail buck with a small rack bouncing …

Nominations are open for the 2005 Canadian Blogging Awards and so far A Good Beer Blog is nominated for Best Blog, Best Group Blog and Best Culture Blog. Sure I was the nominator and co-nominee with Knut, Blork, Ale Fan and the other writers but does that really matter? Are we not worthy? [Ed.: We …

It is good to see that back in Halifax Dalhousie's radio station, CKDU, is expanding its coverage area. When I were a lad around 1983 or so and Bob the Dog was the favorite radio show of nearly tens of people, doing a remote broadcast meant crawling out onto the roof of the SUB and extending …

I thought that my nerves were supposed to have relaxed back into their normal state of repose once the Red Sox dropped away from contention and the World Series won elsewhere. But I have been flooded with anxiety soaked emails over the state of the contract of General Manager Theo Epstein. The … read more »

“Hey kids! Gather 'round the radio. The Prime Minister is going to talk to us!”  •  This is the oddest reaction to a disinterested population that I can think of: the PM is going to speak to us every week through an address being picked up by private radio stations. Lord knows Canadians love being …

Knut in Norway sent me some photos for the beer blog to accompany a tale about his trip to Bavaria and he sent along this view I think from a patio where he was sipping a beer. Tough old life Knut has. Click for a larger view.

I was listening to Brent on CBC Radio's last remaining good show, Go, this morning and he played "Don't Fear The Reaper"...again. I checked the old notes for his musical choices that I kept when he was on CBC Ottawa and didn't see that he played the Blue Oyster Cult classic but he did play it on …

Another cause to add to my list. Who knew Vermont had to pay an entry fee to join the USA? NYCO reports that, according to one judge, that fee should be paid back with 215 years of interest. It is a bit of a joke as it was raised in a debate not a ruling but here is what it is about:  •  “Before …

I think you are aware of what day of the week this is. It is time to share. Time to talk about what happened this week. Time for me to not do a lot of fancy photo editing and let you do the work. Thoughts:  •  Ray quit blogging yesterday and is released from the burden. Are those of you who read …

Seeing as I am up now, I might as well take a swing at those who say this picture is not Shakespeare - because you know I know plenty about this stuff. You know I do. Auntie Beeb reports:  •  “Dr Tarnya Cooper, 16th Century curator at the National Portrait Gallery, said: "We believe that …

Sometimes I wonder how many generations things go back. When one of the small folk gets you up in the night and you sit with them listening to tales of upset stomach, you repeat what you were told, you mainline directly back to 35 years ago when you were the kid. It's like a skipped stone how …

Overheard at bedtime:  •  “Bless Matthew and Marilla...  •  Bless every Islander and those non-Islander residents of sufficiently mild manners who know their place...  •  Keep us from canned pop and deliver us from choice and the market...  •  Keep us from Nova Scotians who try to sell us gasoline …

I have to check if this is actually in the Supreme Court's notice of leave to appeal in a certain case issued this morning but the Lang Michener Supreme Court of Canada L@wLetter says this:  •  “David Couture was convicted of murder in 1986. His wife, Darlene Couture met him in prison on other …

NPR is reporting Meirs has withdrawn her nomination for the US Supreme Court but it is not on CNN or any Google news. Has radio wons this race?

I have made passing reference to it before if you have been paying any attention. There is a need to create an anti-tech counter culture movement that is focused on reasserting the "hu-" in human...or something like that. Fight the iPoddy Borg, brothers and sisters, by planting a carrot seed! I …

So...there is the CFL...I can get into that for a while but then...OK, then Christmas...if there ain't much driving...and...ummm...Superbowl if I have to...and...errr...maybe I will forgive the NHL...and...ummm...Oh!...Spring training starts in February!  •  I woke up in the middle of the night to …

Ian says that wikipedia and Google are the new killer apps. I say no way. I say email is the only killer app in that it does what it promises and is useful to anyone who comes into contact with it. The web, conversely, fails in many many ways...but even saying that is not getting it. Is there any …

Chicago is simply too good. Oswalt did not have his magic and had one ugly fifth inning when the Fox announcers went on and on about him missing a beanball, loosing his cool and walking the man with no outs and another on second already - even though that man would have gotten to first on being … read more »

The tale of a leaked Walmart memo must make libertarians and ojectivists beam with pride at that firm's grasping of the inherent truths of their belief systems:  •  “An internal memo sent to Wal-Mart's board of directors proposes numerous ways to hold down spending on health care and other … read more »

My copy of Franz Ferdinand's new CD arrived. Joy unbound. Here is my statement on music of the 21st century: these guys are as vital to this moment as The Smiths were twenty years ago. The world needs guitar bands filled with skinny lads to pick up all the pieces of the puzzle and give them a good …

I just remembered - after a day that felt like I was a cat being chased by a chain-saw. Oswalt, baby. It is all about Oswalt tonight.

The hammer has fallen. There is no such thing as Yorkshire feta according to the braintrust at the EU:  •  “A North Yorkshire food producer has revealed her disappointment after an EU ruling stopped her using the name "feta" on her locally-produced cheese. Judy Bell, who runs Shepherds Purse …

And by belief I mean belief...like model railroaders believe what they do is important. This is part of a Boingy announcement for a conference:  •  “The Information Revolution has brought into question the wisdom of intellectual property regimes and their relationship to society, culture …

Maybe in November I will specialize in two-letter post titles. Zb. Or something like that.  •  Car ate $115.00 today for license registration and then wiper blades at $37.00. Thirty-seven! Cars have to learn to heal themselves. But gas is now at 89.8 cents this evening and dropping fast. It went … read more »

These are amazing stats, set out in the Globe:  •  “"With all this talk of pandemic influenza we can't afford to forget annual influenza," she said. In a "normal" year, flu kills about 4,000 Canadians and leads to the hospitalization of 20,000 others. If one of the circulating strains is …

It was good even if I got woken up with the head phone blaring each team's ninth inning big play, the tying single and that most final blast.  •  We get WMVP Chicago 1000 on the AM dial clear as a bell here most days. They are the White Sox home station and I prefer to listen to local broadcasters …

Is there any brand of coffee pot that doesn't leave a pool of java behind it on the counter after you fill your mug? Is that just a joke they play on us all? Why do we have government at all if they can't fix this?

Fifteen minutes before game two of the World Series and all I could think about all day when I thought of the opener was 100 miles per hour. Jenks, the closer for the White Sox, threw three or four fastballs in a row all at 100 miles per hour in the ninth last night. Tonight, it's overcast and … read more »

Maybe it's because this TV season appears to be the worst ever but I seem to have a desire to do things not involving gawking at a screen like a drugged lemur. And, you know, I would like to do somethings but I don't know if they are even do-able. Herself has the same affliction. Recent ideas …

Just over in Lake Placid. Oh man. I am not ready for this. I just picked the last of the tomatoes from the porch pots last Monday.

BBQ is not all about the meat. Earlier this week, inspired by the Dinosaur, I made cheese grits and red pepper collards. There is not much to either. You just have to cook the hell out of the collards and grits are pretty much cream of wheat that you don't put maple syrup on.

...radiation of pure thought...  •  It is the last day of the NCPR funding drive and I have been strangely attracted by the whole event. I gave my $75 bucks early on - and I hope you did, too. You didn't? What is up with that?  •  You pretend that you can live in a virtual community, you look out …

As reported by Boing, two of the thirteen core computers at the heart of the Internet are screwing up for some reason or another. I noticed it in the stats and performance this week. All appears fine at the moment according to the Internet Health Report.  •  You forget that this is not a public …

So few know the real meaning of the title above - but it is Friday and I have launched my campaign to make Friday the day when you guys entertain me with chat from around the world.  •  What can we talk about today?  •  Why was the topic of cheese last week so compelling?If the Federal Liberals do …

I am very happy to say I know and work with the two good guys mentioned in the story this morning in The Whig on the potential response to next year's Homecoming street partying. I make no comment about any of this other than the importance of rank at certain moments:  •  “After Cookman’s …

Nothing as thrilling a reference, a statement of law by the Supreme Court of Canada on the request of a province or the Federal Government. I'm getting woozie just thinking about it. A tidy summary of what is what in today's reference is here:  •  “The government of Quebec submitted questions …

You cannot make stuff like this up:  •  “A South Korean bee farmer on roller skates covers himself with bees to celebrate the opening of a subway in his city.”  •  It's here. It's gold.

Just two of the alternative adjectives which could have been used by Cory Boing in this introduction to a boohooery paste from Kottke:  •  “One of Kottke's readers is a writer named Meghann Marco whose publisher is joined to the suit against Google over the excellent, writer-friendly Google Print …

Here is another great New York Times baseball photo of Roy Oswalt pitching for the win in Game 6 of the National League Championship which sent the Houston Astros to the World Series. It was taken by John Sommers II of Reuters. I wonder if you did not know baseball whether you would know what is …

This is the clearest observation on the real problem with the Iraq invasion I have seen yet:  •  “Iraq has become the "post-graduate faculty for terrorism," and is drawing thousands of foreigners — including Canadians — into the insurgency, the head of Canada's spy agency says. Jim Judd, director …

McGill University, allegedly named after an alleged relative according to a relative born McGill, has shut down its men's football team's season after charges of hazing were determined to be true:  •  “School officials announced Tuesday that a four-week investigation uncovered hazing rituals …

It would come as no surprise that I do not buy into the idea of blogs creating community but I do like the small circles that form. I like the fact that a bunch of mostly retired US military guys accept my yapping over at Castle Argghhh! and I very much liked the circle that had formed around Ale …

Rereading that essay David sent and it strikes me as quite funny that Web 2.0 is not being called Bubble 2.0 as there seems to be a lot of repetition of mistakes - but as long as there are consultants and cash that is going to happen.  •  What is most interesting is how basic assumptions are so …

Good Lord. Another one. Michael pays better attention than I ever do but that is because she may visit his town. Prepare for Freddy Flintstone references. Prepare for a lot of Anderson Cooper doing this again:  •  “Breaking news:  •  "...it's raining and...very...very windy..."”  •  [This really … read more »

David sent me a link to this essay on the lackings of the internet and blogging. I think he thinks I think things like this. Anyway, I liked this line but it does not go far enough:  •  “On the Internet, we're all bodiless, symbols speaking to symbols in symbols.”  •  It should read:  •  “On the …

Here is the deal. If you give North Country Public Radio 25 bucks, say, during this membership drive and then listen for a year on the internet I bet you will give more next year. I did.  •  Sure I like the station because it is by my near neighbours but as a certified radio nerd - my certificate …

If this is the global 100, I want a new planet. I share John's pain.

I am as paranoid as the next guy and the apparently impending bird flu is seemingly...impending but I wish the folks in white lab coats would lay off the numberification guesstificationings. Look at this article in The Toronto Star:  •  “A bird flu pandemic could paralyze Canada's manufacturing …

Remember those Saddam doubles and the concern we all shared for their futures once that the gravy train had run out of track? Apparently the crafty photojournalists at AFP have found a tribute to them in sculpture. Take a moment to pause again to consider the lot of the double of the former now …

Here is an interesting thing that I have not noted before. Toronto's Globe and Mail posts story specific comments on its web version - this sports story has four comments this morning. It might be more interesting if the whole process were a centrally aggregated moderated thingie so that the paper …

I decided there is only one thing better than one long weekend in October and that is two. I don't really take too many days off and usually carry days from one year to the next. It is still a newish idea to me that I have legislated days off as opposed to days that I stay away from work. Here are …

So we did go with friends to Syracuse for a Dinosaur BBQ experience. I had the sweetheart special for two - a side of ribs, four sides and corn bread - with just me me because I get along so well I can't believe it. The place was hopping and a blast on a late Saturday afternoon. I picked up a long …

You will get the impression that I like going to the USA on wee jaunts. Well, I do. We had planned a lad's night in Syracuse to see the Orange play Rutgers but the game got shifted to noon and one laddie was sadly unable to go so we are having a more civilized kid-free soiree down there tonight …

Why is this not buying votes with our own money. Let me tell you I am thrilled at the prospect that, under the Tories to come, lobster fleets valued up to half a million will be exchanged within a family tax free - which is about 100% of the going rate these days. Will a half million family farm …

Having noted statistically that Friday is the day you slack off as internet readers I have decided that you who do come around here must be the ones with something to say. Topics? We don't need no stinking topics. OK - how about:  •  Is 2005 the year of the disaster?Do we like the new NHL … read more »

Not being a partaker, this news is of theoretical interest only:  •  “Forget the stereotype about dopey potheads. It seems marijuana could be good for your brain. While other studies have shown that periodic use of marijuana can cause memory loss and impair learning and a host of other health …

Don't forget to listen to something new today.

There is a point when an adjudicator has finished making a ruling. Usually at that point, except for say a typo, it is out of that person's hands and only up to appeals if there is an appear - the adjudicator is functus. Apparently, the question of functus broke out at a baseball game last night …

Will there be a day when two Segways crash into each other because the drivers were each intoxicated with the squinty fun of watching their iPod video players with their fantastic 2.5 inch screens. Maybe they were each watching a tiny Bono head. Isn't the future great? Where is my aluminum …

Nothing planned, lots of busy work, day before pay day - a lot of things conspire to make a day so dull you wish that you could relive the day they announced the Segway 'cause at least on that day hopes for a plan for world peace or limitless fuel were dashed by a goofball who thought we were all …

John of Argghhh! has invited comment on some of the changes Tony Blair's government is proposing as part of its new anti-terrorism scheme. You may find some information issued by the UK home office here.  •  One aspect relates to new legislation including chenges to the way warrants are structured …

Nice to see that there is a movement to return the first flag of Newfoundland - or the Native Flag - to its rightful place, a green white and pink tricolour. The vexillologists tell us that the flag represents the pink rose of England and the green shamprock of Ireland:  •  “The first flag to …

This is how these things should work:  •  “"Earlier today I became aware of a search warrant alleging that I was the subject of an RCMP investigation relating to a land transaction somewhere between 1996 and 2002," Sorbara said Tuesday night.  •  Ontario Finance Minister Greg Sorbara in the … read more »

What an odd headline.

Brent Bambury is doing the transitional post-lockout CBC Radio One drive home show out of Toronto. He did the Ottawa / Eastern Ontario drive home show for the first two years we were here and I was not a little saddened by his taking off. But today I am a wee bit ticked if he morphs into the …

Bubba! What are you doing here?  •  I do not feel like celebrating the Yankees loss to the Angels as it was so similar to the Red Sox loss to the Chisox earlier in the week. Aging starters, a key error by a younger player without playoff experience, veteran sluggers not making the big play when …

John Gushue plucks a quote from Tod Maffin's blog this morning:  •  “Listen. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but you are not a well-respected, branded "public radio station." In today's media environment, you are simply an option to add to the assembly line. Or not. They will pick, swap, mix …

So...are some Albertans who are going to get $400.00 each as a bonus (plus rebates) from their Provincnial Government for making so much money off selling oil and gas at the current high prices also going to get the $250.00 the Federal Government is providing to low income Canadians for having to …

This was in the Boston Herald this morning:  •  “"We all found out that every time you think you have enough pitching, you don't," Francona said Sunday morning, only a matter of hours after the Red Sox were swept out of the American League Division Series by the Chicago White Sox. "When you think …

This is a bit of an odd holiday - and not just because the Canadian version arrives weeks before the US one - as it is not really religious so much as a historical artifact of agrarian religiosity. Recently I saw a photo of Bush Sr., in the field with soldiers in Gul War Vol. I, trying to give a …

GX40 HQ is now testing the new Google Reader. The first thing I notice is that it takes a lot of clicks to subscribe to a feed. And it also does not seem to have a preference where I can leave all feeds showing the last ten posts regardless of if I have read them or the feeds in a new subscription …

...The Thinking Fan's Guide To Baseball is looking like a very good read.

“[Scene - my house 7:56 pm,, sofa circle.]  •  Me: hockey?  •  He: baseball.”  •  So ended our first Saturday night of the season with hockey back on CBC. We had just watched the return of Coach's Corner and were collectively a little ashamed of anticipating such an awful piece of sports …

Boing points to an interesting - if incorrect - essay about the effects of mass communication technology which attempts to dispell concerns about...stuff. iPoddy stuff apparently is charged with destroying the youth of the nation and the essayist wants to make clear that ain't so:  •  “More …

It has been years since I read Shoeless Joe Jackson or The Natural. In my pre-winter planning, I am thinking of taking on sports books, fiction and non-fiction. Any recommendations?  •  Later: Picked up the 2004 edition of The Thinking Fan's Guide To Baseball.

It was sad but expected when the Sox lost and it was kinda sad and expected when the Yankees lost yesterday as well. Sad losing baseball from getting home after work to hitting the hay pushing midnight. I think I was saddest for Randy Johnson who got booed by his own fans after letting the game … read more »

From the Toronto Star this morning comes this news that must see our wee Connie on the glum side of Saturday morning as well:  •  “The U.S. government has moved decisively against tycoon Conrad Black, with proceeds from the sale of his elegant Park Avenue apartment in New York being seized in …

Remember you promised to write a lot in this post's comments thread to entertain me for the day? 'Member? 'Member? I remember. It was right after you said that thing. You know - that funny thing. Sure it was funny. No, it really was. Come on...

Wouldn't it be great to just follow cricket around the world and take photos? I mean in addition to eating and sleeping and stuff. And having a whack load of cash to do it because it would be no fun if you were broke...and stuff.

What is wrong with George saying such a thing as this? Nothing:  •  “Mr Shaath said that in a 2003 meeting with Mr Bush, the US president said he was "driven with a mission from God"."President Bush said to all of us: 'I'm driven with a mission from God. God would tell me, George, go and fight …

“...to make a statement glorifying terrorism if the person making it believes, or has reasonable grounds for believing, that it is likely to be understood by its audience as an inducement to terrorism.”  •  There was sedition and there was treason but now there is maybe going to be a crime in the …

I find this CNN quotation from George's speech interesting and maybe even important:  •  “"We're facing a radical ideology with an unalterable objective, to enslave whole nations and intimidate the whole world," he said. Bush indicated that the public is unaware of many anti-terrorism victories … read more »

Just to be clear, I am now pretty sure that this would not be possible under Canadian law.

Could this be it? Friday at Fenway and then...the void? A second loss at Chicago despite a reasonable showing by David Wells has left the Sox looking at the edge...again. This is getting to be a bad habit. The Boston Herald's photo of Well's after letting the homer take the game from 4-2 Boston to …

Don't forget to read the beer blog or you will miss my one man genre of domestic ale photography.

There's a cheery thought for the morning but I have heard of car plant layoffs in Ontario, store chain closings in Upstate New York, stock markets dropping...sorry...correcting, truck sales off due to a swift shift in the market due to gas prices. Plus, for the first time since Bush Sr., it looks …

I just realized that I haven't checked out my credit card reward points...for seven years.

Magic. What other sport takes so long to play that you see the end coming in enough time to feel bad for your side and get over it again before the end actually comes?

I find myself, strangely, agreeing with David Frum...but thankfully only in part. He makes the case that the nomination of Ms. Miers to the Supreme Court of the USA is a poor one and a disservice to that good nation to the south. He states in conclusion:  •  “Yesterday's White House talking point …

Sometimes I wonder what to do with this thing when I can't be bothered with it. What - you've noticed? I keep telling myself it is an exercise in writing and that you have to push through the dulling Wednesdays of life. Once I thought of a scam where others would write about themselves but only …

Blork is writing well these days. I, on the other hand, would find haiku wordy this morning.  •  Yet this actually is getting me out of my gloom. Damian quits blogging, a bunch of nice people say that is so sad and it morphs into spam just like that:  •  “At 10:37 PM, John the Mad said …

I really hate when something fundamentally unimportant gets me down. I don't mind at all when something fundamentally unimportant gives me a boost but that is all that should happen. Even though there is their legacy of getting kicked and coming right back - why should it matter to me? How did I …

Just look at how sweetly John Gress of Reuters captured Boston's David Ortiz planning to smack some homers in The Battle of the Laundry that starts today at 4 pm. It is from today's NYT's sport section which I am checking out as part of my determinations as to the best sources of baseball related …

You know, Cory is very polite and ernest but then again so is David Frum, another global Canadian. They both suffer, however, from lapses. Frum forgets that anything bad of any sort ever happened under a Republican administration and Cory forgets that he should not covet his neighbour's ass...as … read more »

Now that the CBC is unlocking the gates to the people who actually do the work I pay my 30 bucks a year for - and 90 for the other residents at my place - does that mean I am going to have to think those thoughts again? Thoughts like:  •  Why don't people like promo girl? More creeky voiced sassy …

The baseball playoffs are the best. The NFL version is awful in that it happens in one or even two week leaps. You want that continuity of night after night as well as a series. One game for the next round sucks. CFL - the better game with poorer playersTM - at least never goes more than a week …

In a move that will muddle the legally muddled, Yahoo has announced that it is setting up a digital library on the web that actually considers and respects copyright:  •  “Yahoo is taking on Google with its own digital archive of books, audio and video. As part of the Open Content Alliance, Yahoo …

Coming back Saturday, I was pleased to see a reasonably substantial wind turbine farm on the ridge south of the I-90 between Utica and Syracuse. But I took no photos and have no idea of the name of the project. All I had heard about in the near south was the 77 turbines of the Tug Hill project. It …

John Gushue is reporting that agreement in principle has been reached in the CBC lockout which is great news for him, my other CBC blog pal Donna, my real time pals Dave, Kelly and all the other Kings College grads who ended up with the mother corp.  •  I just hope that the guy announcer on the …

It was very odd being dislocated from TV and the Internet even for four days. That in itself tells you what I loser I have become. When I think of what I was thinking over the last few days, when my concern was to ensure I had some idea of the hotels you could land at unexpectedly over the next …

On the upside I got way more Sox coverage than I would have here but being the only obvious source of someone's rescue after a car break-down who is over 1100 km is a bit of a drag. Kingston to Syracuse to Albany to Portland to Brewer to Bangor to Worchester to Syracuse to Kingston with only two …