May 2009
The Total Uselessness Of Blogging Strikes Home
Posted by on Sunday, May 31, 2009 in - leave a comment
Apparently I have commented on the blog at ruk.ca 1,160 times. Given that I haven't really commented there much in yoinks, it is even the more staggering. Especially when you realize I average 17 seconds of consideration when making any comment. That means I have spent 5.47 hours of my life making …
Since When Did Mr. Harper Get Patriotic?
Posted by on Saturday, May 30, 2009 in - 3 comments
There are a few things quite odd about this politics of personality poll in this morning's Globe and Mail but the weirdest has to be the proposition that Mr. Harper is somehow patriotic - and that is outside of the question of whether "patriotic" is something one should value at all. I am not …
Friday Bullets For The End Of May
Posted by on Friday, May 29, 2009 in - 1 comment
Well, that was a fast month. Began with the vintage baseball and ends with the radishes up. Weird weather. There was a hard freeze in the night within an hour and a half's drive this week. Kids softball twice a week. Funny thing about softball compared to soccer - you can actually watch it. You … read more »
It's Like That Bugs Bunny Incidential Music
Posted by on Thursday, May 28, 2009 in - 7 comments
I now have a whack of Doctor Who on DVD now. One of my favorite bits of these sets is the addition of BBC continuity clips. The best one is on Genesis of the Daleks which includes clips from these intros for repeats of the shows in later years including the "two" shaped Daleks of the 1990s when it …
Doom 09: What Did You Get For Fifty Billion?
Posted by on Wednesday, May 27, 2009 in - 8 comments
I suppose this is a reasonable outcome. Last fall there was a wave of concern if not panic - nothing Icelandic, mind you - and a call for government spending. And the government spent and now we have the bill. Are we happy? • News that Finance Minister Jim Flaherty is projecting a budget deficit …
Group Project: So What To Do With North Korea?
Posted by on Tuesday, May 26, 2009 in - 12 comments
They have been nuts for going on six decades now and you just never know what to do with the nuts on the block but is it more serious now? • North Korea, defiant in the face of international condemnation of its latest nuclear test, fired two more short-range missiles off its east coast on … read more »
Why Does Canada Covet Beyond Santa's House?
Posted by on Monday, May 25, 2009 in - 1 comment
OK, now I really don't understand. Santa lives at the North Pole, right? And on the map of the world all the north-south lines come together at Santa's house, right? And up there there are a bunch of flags where people came and shook hands, right? Apparently not. Apparently we Canucks may not be …
Oh, To Be In England With All The Cameras There
Posted by on Monday, May 25, 2009 in - leave a comment
Oh, to be a automated camera salesman, too. Sounds like the nation has gone mad what with the checking up upon itself: • It was at one of these protests that Sussex police put a "marker" on his car. That meant he was added to a "hotlist". This is a system meant for criminals but John Catt has … read more »
Friday Bullets For The Perfect Week
Posted by on Friday, May 22, 2009 in - 12 comments
Lilacs. It is all about the lilacs. When they are popping, you have the perfect week of the year. When you were in school, it meant classes outside when no one really paid any attention. When you were in university, it meant exams were over and you didn't hate your summer job yet. Now, it means …
"I Have Never Knowingly Done Anything Wrong..."
Posted by on Thursday, May 21, 2009 in - 6 comments
Let's consider the whole quote: "I have never knowingly done anything wrong in my entire life." • Take a moment. • You back? So, what does that say of the man? What person actually says that or even thinks such a thing of themselves? Now, make that person a successful politician or even, say … read more »
I Wish I Was A Professional Revisionist
Posted by on Wednesday, May 20, 2009 in - 3 comments
I've never seen an ad placement for the position but wouldn't it be nice to be a professional revisionist? Take an idea, turn it on its head, write a book and lay on the garden furniture for the rest of your life. Magic. Sadly, someone got to the topic of a revisionist's view of agriculture …
Oswego Shore
Posted by on Tuesday, May 19, 2009 in - leave a comment
You really can't see Prince Edward County looming on the horizon in the picure but you can see it when you stand at Rudy's. • Remember: seagulls are rats with wings.
Swine Flu: Have We Been Too Quick To Scoff?
Posted by on Monday, May 18, 2009 in - 6 comments
We like our crises short and sharp. We like to hear about the big problem on the mid-morning news and have a handle on it by lunch the next day. We mock things that don't play out fast as somehow less worthy. But could it be that we have misjudged swine flu due to its lack of lickity-splitness …
How To Make Your Own Arctic Power Claims
Posted by on Saturday, May 16, 2009 in - 4 comments
The Globe and Mail has published a handy dandy map to the Arctic as part of its explanation of the Federal Government's assertions of "Arctic Power" status: • "Canada is an Arctic nation and an Arctic power," Foreign Minister Lawrence Cannon told European leaders in Tromso, Norway, at the end of …
Friday Bullets For Victoria and the Empire
Posted by on Friday, May 15, 2009 in - 7 comments
I am using my new passport for the first time. Why did I grow a beard, get a passport and then shave it off? I have business that takes me to the states today but rest assured my thoughts are with the British Empire this weekend. I think I will make a Beef Wellington on the BBQ. Maybe I will …
So Is Stephen Harper A Real Canadian?
Posted by on Thursday, May 14, 2009 in - 16 comments
I watched the first of the new Conservative attack ads against Iggy called "Just Visiting" and I have to say I laughed my butt off. What desperation! What goofy graphics!! What a reaction to a steady drop in the polls!!! Good guy and firm loyalist Stephen Taylor either had a hand in production or …
Come Along - Let Google Do The Thinking For You
Posted by on Wednesday, May 13, 2009 in - 1 comment
Remember when there was the whole "calculators in class" argybargy back when wideleg jeans were out before they were in again but after the second time they were out? Well, Lord Goog may be setting up a similar non-mathematical quandary: • One of the more experimental products was called Google …
Shouldn't "The Rest Of Canada" Exclude Alberta?
Posted by on Tuesday, May 12, 2009 in - 7 comments
It's not a big thing. It's not a thing that makes my toes curl or has me shouting at the cat but, really, shouldn't that thing called "the rest of Canada" exclude Alberta? There is a presumption that by leaving out Quebec, we learn something new. Yet that is not the case. The graph displayed in … read more »
Don't Mine My Moon
Posted by on Monday, May 11, 2009 in - 4 comments
Did you wake up thinking "feed the map, must feed the map"?? I did. This whole map thing is already a little out of control. It's like it's taking over your life. Mine too. Oh, and don't forget to feed the map. • In other new, the part of my brain not controlled by the map tells me that People …
Can You Make A Map About Nothing?
Posted by on Sunday, May 10, 2009 in - 4 comments
Ruk is a helpful person. Far more helpful than I ever am. This weekend he posted about how you can create a Google map to collaboratively and graphically and geographically display information about something. Trouble is... I write on a blog and have been writing on this blog for six years and …
Friday Bullets For The Darling Buds of May
Posted by on Friday, May 8, 2009 in - 8 comments
It is the time of the buds. The trees are just unleashing their greenery, the lily of the valley are still just rigid green alien probes checking out the atmospheric conditions. Thoughts turn to travel now that the obligations, presentations and other preparations colder months require are over. I …
Your Privacy Ends At The Tavern Door
Posted by on Thursday, May 7, 2009 in - 14 comments
In Alberta, a law has been proposed that places going to a bar on a different level of activity from other common activity as it will allow bar owners to collect, store and trade personal information about the folk who pop by for a beer. It is aimed at gang members but fails to notice that most …
Thanks For Coming Out, Mr. License Issuer
Posted by on Wednesday, May 6, 2009 in - 8 comments
Having just got the passports for, what, 89 bucks on a three week turn around mailed to my house, it was a bit funny to read about this effort this morning: • Transportation Minister Jim Bradley unveiled the new licences yesterday, acknowledging that everyone who wants one will "probably not" … read more »
Do I Want An Election? When Don't I?
Posted by on Tuesday, May 5, 2009 in - leave a comment
I know. I know. They are just getting my hopes up. The idea of a 2009 election makes so little sense that it would just be that much more fun. But to have one over EI when the economy may be turning around earlier than expected? Maybe one day we will call this "the swine recession" but that is not …
Kingston St. Lawrence Base Ball Stats 1874
Posted by on Monday, May 4, 2009 in - leave a comment
The big news at the outset of the third season for the Kingston St. Lawrence Base Ball Club in 1874 is that they settle their unhappy relations with the local cricket club to a certain degree. An announcement in the Daily News on 20 May 1874 declares: • The base ball club have changed their …
Vintage Base Ball At The Royal Military College
Posted by on Saturday, May 2, 2009 in - 1 comment
What a day! A squeaker in the first game at 14 to 13 for RMC over the St. Lawrence after RMC entered the bottom of the ninth down 10 to 13. In the second game a more reasonable 12- 5 by the Canadian military elite over the slothful loutish lumps. Each game was roughly an hour and a half. Great fun …
Friday Bullets For Tra-la It's May!
Posted by on Friday, May 1, 2009 in - 4 comments
I was not so much in a production of Camelot as I was part of the production. OK, I raised curtains. I sat in a closet for a week's worth of evenings when I was 14 and raised curtains. But I heard the "tra-la, it's may song" more than most humans have and I really don't mind it that much. I bet …
