Stumped no more. Shoeless Jones left a very wise if brief comment:
There is more to life than the three Bs; beer, baseball and bullshit!That is true. Friday has become the highlight of the week chez nous for the inexplicable reason (say that like Daffy Duck) of the mere use of bullets rather than posts. As the coffee drips in the pot and soon into the brain I write:
- The TV ratings for the Winter Olympics are apparently going to be the worst since 1906. It makes sense to me.
I have not sat and gawked at the glowing screen and thin folk in lycra once. This weekend we are even going into enemy territory to catch the SLU v. Yale mens hockey game at Canton and then on to Oswego where they may not even have CBC on the cable system. Just Al Michaels. The horror. The horror. He even contextualizes this man to a degree. Fortunately, our hat, illustrated, is doing well:"We've replenished our stock twice already," said a frazzled Kristina Panko, a service manager for HBC in Sudbury brought to Turin to work the B.C. House branch. "The hat's so popular because it's such an obvious symbol of Canada. But even at home, when I called the other day, they told me the stores had sold out." The trapper hat is the "it" item of jock - and pseudo-jock - apparel in Turin. "It's the trendy item of the Games," said Curtis Runions, a 27-year-old native of Kingston, Ont., who has come to town from England, where he's a high school teacher, to watch some hockey. "Maybe the fad will pass, like it did with the newsboy hats in Nagano, when everybody had one. But right now it's the thing to have."
More sports of all kinds on Deadspin, my new joke-stealing source. - It is also true about Fridays. Friday used to be a statistical dead zone and I could never figure out why there would be an 80% drop in activity. Given that bots never sleep, this was weird as I would ahve though Friday was the idlest day of all. Not for me...others...that's it. And there have been other shifts in the stats. I used to get up to 12,000 visits a day from 1,600 to 2,000 visitors. Now I get 7,500 visits from 2,000 to 2,500 visitors. I have no idea what it means. I have heard a few references to last August (when GX40 numbers hit a peak) as the top month for others. Maybe that was the crest of the blogosphere. Just a few comments to 50,000, by the way.
- On the three Bs mentioned above, there is lots of stuff that never gets written down here that falls into the categories of family and work. I think that it is prudent but also I generally like to make up stuff so that no one can really call me out on any particular fact. So while I try to write daily, it is not as fact based as, say, John Gushue's excellent Dot Dot Dot, as excellent a radio reference as there ever was.
- I am as state pro-bureaucracy as they come in the sense I am not a knee-jerker against public money going to public needs through public service. [Ed.: Yes, I know...how did we ever get the class "D" bloggers license?] I believed this consistently when I was in the self-aggrandizing private sector. Yet...there is this thing called the CRTC and I have learned, if this is possible, to love them less this morning:
The CRTC said yesterday that Canadian telephone customers have been overbilled to the tune of $652.7-million over the past few years, but the money will not be going back to them. The federal regulator ruled instead that telecommunications companies such as Bell Canada and Telus Corp. should use most of the money -- equivalent to about $50 a customer -- to expand offerings in underserved markets, primarily rural and remote communities.
I want my fifty bucks, please. MY fifty bucks. - I like Jean Charest. I think he is going to go to junior partner in a 2 person caucus in 1993 to one of the great players in whatever changes are going to occur in Canada. Note this in the Globe:
In the recent election campaign, Mr. Harper promised Canadians that he would work with the premiers to develop a guarantee on patient waiting times ensuring that Canadians receive essential treatment within clinically acceptable time frames. The cost of the pledge, said Mr. Harper, would have to be borne by the provinces under former prime minister Paul Martin's $41-billion, 10-year plan for health care, signed in 2004. Yesterday, however, the Quebec Premier made it clear that he doesn't expect to pick up the cost of his provincial program on his own. The gauntlet now dropped, Mr. Harper will have to decide whether to modify his promise and help pay for the program, or bite the bullet and disappoint Quebec, and probably other provinces, too.
Good job. We all didn't sign up for Team Stevie. 63.5% didn't. I think we are going to look to the premiers as much as the opposition in the House to hold them to account.
Comments
cm - February 17, 2006 9:13 am
Yes, sir. ::salute::
I got off to a slow start with the Olympics myself, but this morning turned the tv on rather than the radio. I am now in for the duration. Can anyone explain the multiple-skaters speed-skating?
I agree with using the money to expand offerings in underserviced markets. I can't move to a house in the middle of nowhere unless it has high-speed access.
Cyn - February 17, 2006 9:42 am
I used to be an Olympic addict, but have only tuned in once during the Opening Ceremonies. I happen to glance at the TV when I was at CBC (working) and figure skating was on. I contemplated pulling up an office chair and settling in but the volume was down and I need the voices to complete my figure skating gawking experience. I need to hear former skaters analyze and critque a spin or a quad with that Toller Cranston tone. That 'if I was still a star I would be able to be just as good' spirit. K, I don't NEED to hear it, I just like mimicing it.
Also, I bought a really cool dri-fit long-sleeve Olympic jersey at Zellers for 50 bucks and I've been wearing it while I play squash. It makes me feel like an Olympian, but does not make me play like one. Despicable (say that like Daffy Duck).
Alan - February 17, 2006 9:49 am
You may need one of these, Cyn:<center><img src="http://celebrator.com/photos/ad-duvel.jpg" vspace="20"></center><p>The shirt I mean...not the beer...or the guy...
Hans - February 17, 2006 9:51 am
I think I said this last Olympics here (gawd! have you been blogging since Nagano?):<blockquote class="smalltext">CBC DOES NOT SHOW ENOUGH OF THE SPORTS BUT SHOWS WAY TOO MUCH BLATHER I.E. OLYMPIC PROFILES, HISTORIC OLYMPIC VIGNETTES, INTERVIEWS WITH ELVIS STOJKO & DON CHERRY, DESCRIPTIONS OF HOW TO JUDGE SPORTS, ROMPS AROUND TORINO AND (WORST OF ALL) BRIAN WILLIAMS' PONTIFICATIONS AD NAUSEUM. SHOW THE DAMN SPORTS!!! ITS NOT LIKE THERE ISN'T SOMETHING GOING ON SOMEWHERE OUTSIDE THE DAMN STUDIO!!!</blockquote>There. That feels better. Maybe if the showed mre sports, the ratings would improve.
Matt Fletcher - February 17, 2006 10:01 am
I think I wrote pretty much the same thing the last time the Olympic question came up on this page also.
I love the Olympics; I'm an addict. But then I'm a sucker for any live sporting event, and the Olympics is live sports for a fortnight straight.
The CBC coverage is great if you are able to watch it in the morning and afternoon. By the evening (Eastern Time) everything is finished for the day, so they only show abreviated versions of the events and way too many profiles and what-not that Hans complains of. Of course, I'm a mostly un-employed grad students, so I have a lot of free time on my hands during the day, at least I can convince myself I do.
The thing I hate about the CBC coverage is the commentators. They simply don't shut-up, explaining over and over that its crucial to have the inside lane in short-track speed skating. Just let me watch the race and give me an explanation only if something unusual happens.
Alan - February 17, 2006 10:08 am
Actually, GX40 is a winter olympics virgin. We are approaching our third anniversary. I certainly have been yapping on blogs as "blogs" since 2000.
GR - February 17, 2006 10:23 am
Deja Vu all over again. A couple of weeks ago I remember mentioning my dislike of super bowl frills (and Ads): just play the game! Trash the teary eyed hometown stories and interviews, get on with the sports.
PhantomObserver - February 17, 2006 10:41 am
Nothing wrong with Al Michaels that a trade for a cartoon rabbit couldn't cure ...
Cyn - February 17, 2006 10:42 am
Alan,
I'll take it all! He's a cyclist afterall. And who can refuse a beer like that.
Cool Girl - February 17, 2006 1:08 pm
Three words: Too Much Hockey!
Not everyone likes hockey. Some of us prefer skiing over hockey. Especially when the outcome of the hockey is already a given.
That's why I'm watching American Idol. Paris is my favorite.
Flea - February 17, 2006 1:28 pm
Paris Bennett is also my favourite. If someone had told me it was possible to sing Billy Holiday without being Billy Holiday I would not have believed them but Paris, being some kind of angel, can do it.
Non-American Idol viewers can watch her audition here:
http://www.googlx.com/idolforever/media/video/paris-bennet-audition.mov
alfons - February 17, 2006 1:51 pm
Excellent taste: Duvel.
By the by, who's the girl in the Canada hat? Inquiring minds want to know.
Alan - February 17, 2006 2:00 pm
Can-Mod #438 I think.
alfons - February 17, 2006 2:10 pm
That's my lucky number, thanks!
Flea - February 17, 2006 2:15 pm
I meant "Billie Holiday", of course. Now fretting Ben is going to come after my spelling.
Alan - February 17, 2006 3:22 pm
Oh, I thought you meant Little William Holiday of the early Tommy Hunter shows. I loved how he tap danced and sang those Prairie tunes. Too bad he got bumped off for (some say "by") The Rhythm Pals.
cm - February 17, 2006 3:56 pm
I love Ron McLean. Just sayin'.
John of Argghhh! - February 17, 2006 5:14 pm
C'mon Alan, don't give up on your collectivist/re-distributionist tendencies. None of that money in your account is yours, just what the government chooses to allow you to keep. Drink the Kool-Aid!
Now, on to important stuff - how come your visible sitemeters are so different from your server stats, since that's where I assume your quoted traffic numbers come from?
My sitemeter stats are always lower than my server stats, and I expect that given latency issues and other things, but I don't have near the delta your quoted stats show to your two tracker 'bot stats.
Just curious. If you were a wing-nut of either stripe I'd just say you were lying to assuage your ego... but since I know you write this stuff sitting nude on the patio sipping maple syrup and beer (or just go with the mead) except for the cute hat I gave you, that can't be the case. So what are you doing wrong with your sidebar meters?
8^D
Alan - February 17, 2006 5:23 pm
I think it has to do with the RSS and the high readership I get from the Blog Matrix thingies David Janes sets up. I have about 90% RSS readership and the Site Meter thingies are not on my RSS entry pages as far as I know. I have no idea why else they are consistently at about 5% of the server stats. I captured my stats for 2005 and a bunch of other blogs for something to do and have posted it here some time ago.
Jay Currie - February 17, 2006 6:36 pm
As they are such very small numbers I seldom check my blog stats save for referrers. But I do find my onsite statcounter and my server side stats seldom agree. Apparently, were I to make the statcounter the first thing that loaded on my page there would be a greater correlation. (Probably because it would catch all the people who got fed up waiting for the rest of the page to load.
As soon as the Olympics, summer and winter became more about the "huge personal tragedy of "Catch a Look: Atook who lost his second cousin once removed in a rafting accident and whose very own mother has a bunnion removal scheduled no more than six weeks after this run" it became rather easy not to watch.
Arthur - February 17, 2006 8:57 pm
I'd like to have one of those hats (picture with the pretty Can-Mod #438) with the text 'GenX-40' or 'BabyBoomer'.
Arthur - February 17, 2006 8:59 pm
[Ed.: Yes, I know...how did we ever get the class "D" bloggers license?]
GenX-40 for A-List status!
Alan - February 17, 2006 9:22 pm
Woooot!!!
ry - February 18, 2006 12:57 am
Hmm, if we're all getting hats I plead charity case. Cannot afford Castle Gear or GenX-40 apparel(after making filet minion topped with gorgonzola, garlic and blue cheese mashed 'taters, and wild rice for the Wife for Valentines Day I'm stuck eating ramen for every meal for the next two weeks, and for at least one meal a day for the next month. Literally.). So, if I'm to be the water boy for either team I need State Subsidy for the Uniform(or Al's fifty bucks from the cable company). ;)-