It's all about the caverns. Name them!!!
People say you need three weeks off to get to that point when you can't recall the day of the week, your local phone extension or your boss's wife's name. I am lucky. I get there by about 5:43 pm on any Friday. So I am a little unclear why I am doing this bullet point stuff to get you through the last day of your work week.
- I have been following the Barry Bonds homer talk this week probably a little more than I would like. If he was on steroids, what was his handicap? I mean did it add 30 home runs or 70? He is still one of the best of all time. And what if he is actually the Tiger Woods of baseball as he implied in an interview on Fox, getting special help all through his career from his Dad and Dad's pal - Bobby Bonds and Willy Mays? We will never know unless we do but the guy who got the ball needs to know one thing and one thing now:
And the ball: Before he celebrates, Matt Murphy, 21, the Mets fan who emerged from a violent scrum with the historic ball, should probably call his accountant. As soon as Murphy snagged the piece of sports history, worth an estimated $500,000 by most experts, his souvenir became taxable income in the eyes of the IRS. "It's an expensive catch," said John Barrie, a New York tax lawyer. "Once he took possession of the ball and it was his ball, it was income to him based on its value as of yesterday." That puts Murphy, a college student from Queens who went to the game on a stopover on his way to Australia, in the highest tax bracket for individual income, facing a tax rate of about 35 percent.
Drag. I don't think you could call it income under Canadian tax law if it was never sold. But he is, of course, selling it. I would. I wonder what my Coco tossed ball is now worth? - Canada is rocking. It will be interesting to see how the credit bubble burst will translate across the border. They will still buy gas and oil and we will not have the same level of credit retraction...unless we learn again that our big banks have dabbled in the scam:
Canada's unemployment rate edged down to 6.0 per cent in July, from 6.1 per cent in June, to the lowest rate since 1974. In Toronto, the rate rose slightly to 7 per cent. Only Alberta showed a significant increase in jobs, however, with 14,000 more people working in the province. There were 20,000 new manufacturing jobs created, along with 25,000 new positions in the professional, scientific and technical sectors and 17,000 more in transportation and warehousing. Those gains, however, were offset by the loss of 57,000 positions in educational services and 13,000 more in finance, insurance and real estate. Although Ontario's overall employment level was little changed in July, there were 27,000 new manufacturing jobs created in July. That was the first significant increase in this sector in more than a year.
57,000 in education services being the main source of job losses? What does that mean? Did ten universities shut? - While floating on a VISA card induced haze of well-being for the last few days, I have been trying to think about things. It is tough but I have been wondering why Ontario and New York do not have greater integration of their history as a tourism thing seeing as each was basically created as a reaction to the other. I was thinking about whether Canada is simply sorta lame given the lack of decent lawn trimming standards, weaker variety at grocery stores and the absence of locality in fast food. And I have been wondering about the place of North American style democracy as are others:
"It’s the kiss of death," said Turki al-Rasheed, a Saudi reformer who watched last Sunday’s elections closely. "The minute you are counted on or backed by the Americans, kiss it goodbye, you will never win." The paradox of American policy in the Middle East — promoting democracy on the assumption it will bring countries closer to the West — is that almost everywhere there are free elections, the American-backed side tends to lose.
Why does the wonderful thing not get lapped up globally - that thing is apparent in every corner store discussion, in every nut bar who decides to make a idiocincratic display in his yard, in the reverence for sport or art where folk can pretty much make of their skill what they want? Then I spot a frozen custard shack and the mind wanders elsewhere. - Another thing we decided is that we really do like Kingston a lot. It is near enough to the assets of places I would not otherwise move to. It is also near a bunch of places that are quite distinct from each other: water, woods and cities, lakes and hills, New England, New York, Quebec and the Mid-west are all within three to seven hours drive. And it is not just that. The town is full of places to eat, parks to lay about upon and a shoreline that makes you look at second hand boats with for sale signs. Last night we left with kids with the grandfolk watching the movie Babe on an inflatable screen with about 800 people behind our City Hall - an extraordinary civilized sight on a warm summer evening.
left me with no love for the town, I have to admit that my first trip on the Maid of the Mist convinced me that it was the best tourist thing to do in Ontario. Sure you can camp Algonquin or sail the Thousand Islands but standing on a ship within the arc of the falls for five minutes with your vision entirely filled by the roaring wall of Great Lake waters was amazing. I will do it again when I next pass through the place.
Comments
cm - August 10, 2007 9:46 am
You are doing it, Alan, because you know we rely on it for the knowledge we need to get us through the last day of our work week.
Seriously? It's considered income? That's just bizarre. (See? Without your Friday bullets, I'd never've known that.)
gr - August 10, 2007 11:41 am
New York and Ontario may not celebrate joint history much because New York ignores Ontario. Just as the rest of America ignores Canada. You are up there, you are funny, hockey is entertaining, but what Americans are really interested in is the likes of Paris Hilton and gazing at our own navel.
Gorthos - August 10, 2007 12:18 pm
I am sure it stems from generations upon generations of apathy towards those Brit-Com Wanna-Be's up north combined with mild, polite, anti-Americanism from our side of the border. Plus we are honestly, pretty fricking boring up here, now AND 100 years ago..
gr - August 10, 2007 12:55 pm
I should add for the record that yes, I am an American with a neatly clipped lawn.
I have become old and timid. When I was young I was taken into a tunnel down behind the falls, where an opening allowed you to look out through the back of the Falls. It was predictably a wall of water moving very quickly. I would not do that or take that boat again.
Gorthos - August 10, 2007 2:16 pm
Spousal droid and I did the falls last, um, autumn. Twas fun, mainly the boaty bit, rest was rather expensive.. Did like the, um (in going with my non-googling during comments game) ah, butterlyarium. I quite liked that.
cm - August 10, 2007 3:42 pm
Hey! Who you calling boring?
My grandmother used to live in Niagara Falls and in all that time I only went to the falls twice and the closest I ever came to the boat was when still in my mother's womb.
Chris Taylor - August 10, 2007 5:16 pm
<i>Why does the wonderful thing not get lapped up globally - that thing is apparent in every corner store discussion, in every nut bar who decides to make a idiocincratic display in his yard, in the reverence for sport or art where folk can pretty much make of their skill what they want?</i>
I blame increased individual selfishness and its handmaiden, a resort to esoteric tribalism. We have become possessed of the notion that only persons immediately connected to us or our community work for our benefit, and everyone else is trying to screw us for no good reason.
Hence all of the tribe-spanning institutions that we used to trust -- or at the very least, regard as "good" -- are now suffering from a severe decline in public respect and estimation. Whether on an international (UN, IMF, WTO), national (Great Britain, Canada) or lesser scheme (corporations, police, clergy, United Way, Scouts, whatever), they are all slowly but surely self-destructing as individual humans get cynical and choose to look out for number one.
The reality is that most of these things are made up of ordinary humans trying to do the right thing (and occasionally failing), but we have become a species of paranoid conspiracy-believers (regardless of political leanings) looking for the worst possible angle on every human action, and especially from people we don't personally know.
gr - August 10, 2007 8:20 pm
Whoa, Chris, dude.....let's meet for a beer someday, alright?
CM--I hope noticed it was one of your own who claims Canadians are boring, whereas I say you're funny, etc.
Alan - August 10, 2007 10:53 pm
Having had beer with both of you, it is a reasonable request.
Gorthos - August 10, 2007 11:33 pm
Egad gary.. we ARE friendly and nice.. I fondly remember being the only boy in a group of about 10 who voluntarily held a door for a girl-friend of mine in Freeport Bahamas (who I met in grade 8 who's father is a well to do director type in the US but I digress).. She was flabbergasted. She said no one did that in Manhatten and she said no one said "I'm sorry" as much as I did in NY...then she kissed me deeply and asked if I would spend the summer in Long island at her parents, but my mom said no.. sorry, waxing fondly of my jetsetter youth...sigh..
But we are boring. Not in a "zzzzzz.. grandmother waxing on about canning peaches" way, but a sort of "so how was your weekend? We weeded the garden and made sambuca" kind of way..
Alan - August 10, 2007 11:40 pm
I never said boring. I said lame.
Gorthos - August 11, 2007 12:27 am
I cannot find lame said anywhere.. but I am lazy..
Whats up next thursday night Alan.. We should get the kids together for a movie fest at the market.
gr - August 11, 2007 10:52 am
Canadians have these cute little cars called the Pontiac Firefly--you don't see those suckers down here....
Mike C - August 11, 2007 11:09 am
1 - the Niagara Escarpment?
2 - a trickle of water coming from the Niagara Escarpment
3 - a larger trickle of water coming from the Niagara Escarpment
Hey, I'm a Novey Scotian (although I have been on the MotM and did that tunnel thingy down behind the Falls.
gr - August 11, 2007 11:12 am
What color is your Firefly?
Gorthos - August 11, 2007 10:35 pm
I had the Chevy version of the firefly (same car) called the Sprint.. Damn fine 3 cyliner car
gr - August 12, 2007 8:52 am
I saw this tiny little blue Toyota last night called Yaris. I bet that's the firefly, or close anyway.
Gorthos - August 12, 2007 2:55 pm
Gary.. I had a sprint (chevy version of pontiac firefly) back in oh, 1989. It was for the record silver, had three cylinders and it died around 140K.. I sold it for $8000 in 93 or 94.. I now own a Yaris, well, its our second car. It too is silver by chance. It is a toyota car. They haven't made fireflies for a number of years now as far as I know.
Funny thing is the reason we have a Yaris is my wife crashed our Toyota Echo Hatchback. It was a european designed car that Toyota called a yaris for a number fo years, then when they brought it to north america, they called it an Echo Hatchback even though it wasnt even the same design as an echo.. this year or last they re-labelled it a Yaris..
Tis an awesome tiny car that is bigger on the inside that the out (I think Yaris is hungarian for TARDIS).
Alan - August 13, 2007 10:09 am
Caverns really should be canyons or gorges. How do you spell "chasim"?
Alan - August 13, 2007 11:04 am
chasm