Tra la! It's May, the lusty month of May!A little something for the Broadway set amongst you.
That lovely month when ev'ryone goes blissfully astray
Tra la! It's here, that shocking time of year!
When tons of wicked little thoughts merrily appear.It's May! It's May, that gorgeous holiday
When ev'ry maiden prays that her lad will be a cad!
It's mad! It's gay, a libelous display
Those dreary vows that ev'ryone takes, ev'ryone breaks
Ev'ryone makes divine mistakes
The lusty month of May!
Time is flying, is it not? A few short moments ago I was in winter's grip and now the weather is all July in Halifax - mid-20s and sunshine. Fabulous. You know all those people who say October is the best time of year? They are nuts. May is. Pre-bug, pre-smog, pre-heat, pre-kids-at-home-every-day-with-nothing-to-do. It's been a busy week following on a couple of busy weeks but at least it is May:
- I have been contacted by the Asparagus Growers of America to remind you to eat asparagus. Asparagus is one of the two foods that kids won't want to eat until they find out that it makes your pee change colour and then they can't get enough. My trick? A little orange juice in the steamer.
- In other public service news, send your kind thoughts for portland who is waylayed by a unshakable nasty bug these days. And one for the Junk Store Cowgirl, Linda, who has been in radio silence for almost a month now. You will recall her good lad received a shipment of Marmite from the office workers here.
- Nice to see that radio is confirming the lack of practical support for podcasting:
Commercial FM radio has reached the billion-dollar revenue milestone in Canada, at a time when they are also preparing to sing the blues in Ottawa this month. Industry data released Thursday show Canada's commercial FM stations collectively pulled in $1.03-billion in revenue last year, with pretax profits of $247-million. Those numbers are up substantially from 2004, and when combined with earnings from AM stations, helped drive commercial radio to an unprecedented $1.33-billion in revenue. Pretax profits also soared 24 per cent to more than $255-million.
Radio really is the miracle medium, providing all your wireless needs for a wee $7.99 transistor rig from Radio Shack. If I were you , I'd think about a career in radio. - It has been a week when I have re-evaluated Mr. Harper to a degree. His budget was not a bad budget, keeping in mind that I disagree with both the Tory child bonus voter attraction scheme and the murky Grit shadow plan that really never was. If I was a booster of the military more than I am I might be a little offended by something of a gap between word and deed but otherwise it was pretty middle of the road and is not going to undermine the tidy little boom we are enjoying. The most troublesome part of it is the continued de-Federalization of the nation that really has been tripping along since Joe Clark fist uttered "community of communities" back in '79. Where will it all end? Who gets the "D" in Canada when it is utterly disassembled?
- BLork is a wizard but more so a person of intestinal fortitude as I have had such jars but dipped into said jars.
- This bit from a memo obtained under access to information is a tad odd:
The percentage of Canadians who hold a valid passport has steadily risen — to 36 per cent in 2004-05 from less than 28 per cent in 2000-01 — in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States. The passport office expects the figure to reach 48 per cent of Canadians by 2008-09. "Since 9/11, passports are being seen as secure identity documents rather than just travel documents," the notes say. "Passport Canada is now as much a security agency as a service agency, in keeping with the new international norm."
Does my government think I need a secure identity document other than for travel? I certainly do not. My me-ness is mine wherever I am and I don't need no state papers to prove that. Sounds more like Passport Canada just bigging itself up. Silly puffery as I'd like to think, generally, that I am much more in keeping with the new international norm. - Update: Why the heck is a company in PEI importing workers from Russia? Even with a 1.5% unemployment drop from March to April, there is still 10.5% unemployed in the province.
Comments
gr - May 5, 2006 8:22 am
Was that 7-4 Red Sox last night? Good news everywhere!
May is a terrific month Alan, but don't you people start getting black flies and mosquitoes? You said pre-bug. There seem to be plenty of bugs so far this month.
cm - May 5, 2006 8:25 am
Panic? Me? While you're brewing, let me just say I hope portland and Linda get well soon and asparagus is best served wrapped in bacon. Actually, everything is best served wrapped in bacon.
Alan - May 5, 2006 8:26 am
This end of May is pre-black fly and certainly ante-mosquito here but we are also by the lake and receive the prevailing winds so maybe 20 miles inland it would be a different story. We are just through our annual bout with swarming midgey things that do not bite but mass in such masses as to make biking gape jawed throught the street unpleasant yet filling. <p>I saw last night's Beckett game, though sadly on the Blue Jay's broadcast. It is odd how many first outs in innings swing games according to the cosmology of those sporty talking heads.
cm - May 5, 2006 8:27 am
PS - I needed my passport to pick up a parcel at the post office back in the day before I had my driver's license (I'm a late bloomer).
Derek - May 5, 2006 8:50 am
Bug-free? Ha! Squashed my first june bug while waiting in line at the Frosty Treat the other night! Don't they know what month it is?
gr - May 5, 2006 9:34 am
Breezes help, Alan, and perhaps Portland will confirm that New England has PLENTY of biting insects. Central NY not as many, knock on wood. I hear that the fish and birds like to eat them, but since the bugs like to chew on us....
Ben (The Tiger in Exile - May 5, 2006 11:36 am
I think that Canadians have finally figured out that it's just an awful lot easier to deal with American immigration authorities if you have a passport.
Airlines have started to make it close to mandatory (they recommend it strongly).
Myself, I use my Canadian passport to buy beer -- the expired Nova Scotia learner's permit just isn't accepted at all of my local drinking establishments.
Alan - May 5, 2006 11:38 am
I use money to buy beer. Actually, I was called on my age in the spring of 2001 at a Maine grocery store when I was 38 years old. I was very flattered.
Flea - May 5, 2006 11:49 am
"If I were you , I'd think about a career in radio."
Radio is all very well for you hipsters but it will never replace the telegraph.
Alan - May 5, 2006 12:07 pm
"Dit-dit-dot-dot" is so yesterday.
portland - May 5, 2006 12:24 pm
thanks buddy. i'll rise again. i just dont know if it will be in cooperstown.
Alan - May 5, 2006 12:28 pm
Your ticket is already on eBay. Didn't I say that? Anyway, Willie Mo made a good catch in the outfield last night almost running into Manny and Clement had a reall good outing so the world must be turning the page and moving into an new golden era during which you will reign as one of the guardian class expending beneficence through ice cream treats and kites for all, right?
Flea - May 5, 2006 4:59 pm
--- -. - .... . -.-. --- -. - .-. .- .-. -.-- .-.-.- -- --- .-. ... . -.-. --- -.. . .. ... ... - .. .-.. .-.. .- -.-. .... .. -. --. .-.. -.-- .... .. .--. .-.-.-
Arthur - May 5, 2006 5:06 pm
Shouldn't that be:
<blink>--- -. - .... . -.-. --- -. - .-. .- .-. -.-- .-.-.- -- --- .-. ... . -.-. --- -.. . .. ... ... - .. .-.. .-.. .- -.-. .... .. -. --. .-.. -.-- .... .. .--. .-.-.-</blink>
(works in Firefox, prob. not in Explorer)
Alan - May 5, 2006 5:08 pm
Translation:<blockquote class="smalltext">O N<br>T H E<br>C O N T R A R Y<br> M O R S E<br>C O D E<br>I S<br>S T I L L<br>A C H I N G L Y<br>H I P</blockquote>I ♥ my MCT
Alan - May 5, 2006 5:10 pm
...or rather:<blockquote>.. .-.. --- ...- . -- -.-- -- -.-. - </blockquote>
Jay Currie - May 5, 2006 5:57 pm
.-.. --- .-..
But for real fun (and to put those years in Cubs to use) semaphore....
http://www.athropolis.com/sema.htm
The "D" is the inherent right of British Columbians and we'll fight any damned centralist who says otherwise.
It is always May in Victoria.
In PEI there is a difference between being employed and working. Apparently the Russians are under the common misconception that the two are synonomous....give them a generation and they'll get a clue.
It's not the colour, it's the smell....
Alan - May 5, 2006 6:17 pm
".-.. --- .-.." is my new favorite thing.
Arthur - May 5, 2006 6:33 pm
.--. .-.. . .- ... . / - ..- .-. -. / --- ..-. ..-. / -.-. .- .--. ... .-.. --- -.-. -.-
TBo - May 5, 2006 6:36 pm
Lol, I read the Marmite link and thought Solomon Gundy sounded familiar. The Colgate University yearbook is called the Salmagundi, I finally established. I was wondering what you'd want one of them for, especially in trade for something like maple syrup...
gr - May 5, 2006 9:55 pm
TBo-everybody in my family went to Colgate but me. I use Aquafresh. I am a rebel.
When I host the first Genx at 40 vegetarian bar-b-q, TBo, I hope that you will take a place of honor at the lead table as official central NY trivia master!
Jay Currie - May 5, 2006 11:21 pm
Arthur, that is priceless.
Alan, I think I will be using that for commenting purposes pretty much from here on out.
.-. --- ..-. .-.. --- .-..
It can become the mark of the Gen-X chat groupies.
T-B0 - May 5, 2006 11:45 pm
gr...I'll be there. And I opt for the school Crest, you might say. Or maybe not.
Flea - May 6, 2006 1:34 am
Which I believe demonstrates my original point that this new-fangled "radio" will never catch on and is only so much hype.
cm - May 6, 2006 9:41 am
gr, is "vegeterian bbq" not an oxymoron?
Alan - May 6, 2006 9:54 am
Are lamb chops considered vegetarian under any definition?
gr - May 6, 2006 10:33 am
As Chevy Chase said back in the 70s on SNL 'Jane, you ignorant slut'. Not that anybody is using those terms here, but really, veggie bar-b-q is not an oxymoron. You've got your tofu-pups, veggie burgers, veggie sausages, shish kebob things with peppers, onions and whatever on the skewer, potatoes, corn etc. I am not a vegetarian activist, but it is very easy being a veg. these days, especially now living in the town that gave us Moosewood.
Alan, just think of those cute little lambs, out playing in the sun, and you want to eat them? Don't answer that.
Jay Currie - May 6, 2006 3:45 pm
Lambs eat grass,
Grass is, more or less, a vegetable,
(Supressed premise, "You are what you eat")
Therefore lamb chops are vegetables.
QED
cm - May 6, 2006 8:18 pm
I thought lambs eat ivy.
Alan - May 6, 2006 8:49 pm
Actually when I was 17 or so I was biking to my summer job at the Lands and Forests depot and, passing a field with lambies, had a pavlovian mouth watering. I would, in fact, quite merrily finish off and skin one of the little fluffy things, build a fire, set it a roasting and hunt the neighbouring bush for some sort of mint substitute. But Gary is quite right. BBQ veggies are quite the thing.
cm - May 6, 2006 8:57 pm
Shish kebobs and baked potatoes, fine, but I draw the line at tofu.
Alan - May 6, 2006 9:00 pm
I like tofu fine but I have not eaten it for a while. I used to fry one strip of bacon, slice a whack of extra firm tofu slices and fry 'em in the bacon fat. The illusion of healthy and unhealthy coexisting on the plate.
Jay Currie - May 6, 2006 11:05 pm
Alan, isn't sheep stealing something of a capital offence in Scotland and areas settled by Scots? Informally of course...just grab the thief and string him up.
Alan - May 7, 2006 1:30 am
"Would" being of the subjunctive case. Oh well. I should be happy that the reference was not turned into me and the sheep setting up house together.
gr - May 7, 2006 10:08 am
What's that joke?
'How do you know the Rolling Stones aren't Scottish? If they were, they wouldn't sing 'Hey you, get offa my cloud', but would sing instead 'Hey, McCloud, get offa my.......'
Tofu is an old-fashioned veggie item--textured vegetable protein is the new thing. It is turned into all kinds of things like pepperoni, sausage, and yes, Canadian Bacon. Havn't seen textured veggie lamb chops though.
Jay Currie - May 8, 2006 4:33 am
gr,
.-.. --- .-..
Made my week start with a belly laugh.