I have been waiting for this arrangement of holidays for years. We are off today so I got up at the crack of 10:15 am. The authorities have noticed. I should mow the lawn, too, but it is stinking hot. I haven't even been out yet and I know that. Then we roam. Looking forward to the Rochester branch of Dino BBQ as well as the Museum of Play.
• On the one hand, there should not be a political penalty for being a practicing Christian. On the other, lying is a sin.
• Ben found it! My post with the goofy pictures of Harper that the Grits tried to use against him in the last election. Gold!!!
• I know nothing about YouTube channels but was really interested to find that the UK's Open University has adopted the tool.
• No one - and I mean noooooooo one - told me that in 2008 an asteroid slammed into Sudan lighting up the night sky.
• I heard an amazing stat this week - that 10% of all CD sales in 2011 so far were Adele's. Which means, yes, there are taxes to be paid.
• I need to make my own skittles. The neighbour gave me a whack of apple tree logs last year which I was going to use for smoking meat but now I am making massive skittles out of them instead. I will only need a cheese to fling at them.
Off I go. Maybe to mow. I have a red t-short on that says "Maryland." I hope that counts.
What I now call the day before a long weekend when you have Friday off instead of Monday. I keep thinking that the radio show I listen to on Friday is about to come on. Thursday Friday is one of the more unsettling unconscious relationships I have with time. It's like anticipatory jet lag without the fatigue. Not that I am ungrateful but there needs to be some sort of folk song or tradition to deal with a Thursday Friday. Everyone should wear a little orange. Hmm. Zippidee-doo-da as they waggle eyebrows knowingly at strangers in grocery store line ups. Maybe that's it. You know what that means. It's Thursday Friday.
So, it is finally summer. A thunderstorm hammered the town last night so that makes sense. The kids don't actually seem to be learning anything at school, just trips trips trip so that makes sense. And you can't find anyone at work. The trifecta of summer's start. It was a busy week, too. Reports came in. Personnel shuffled. Outsourcing appointments were confirmed. And that was just at home.
• Roger Ebert was right and everyone should say so. If the driver had lived he would have played "Jackass in Jail" for the rest of his life for killing his pal.
• My kids really don't have this issue: "you call this toast?"
• Senate reform? I don't understand how when a constitution has a section 23 that sets out qualifications of a senator that addig a qualification is not an amendment to the constitution.
• The Feds did something else weird constitutionally recently that no one noticed. It passed a bill in the House and in the Senate before the Throne Speech to demonstrate the right to act without the leave of the Crown. Hmm.
• North Carolina considers compensation for victims of state forced sterilizations under its eugenics program that lasted until the 70s. Is it time for Alberta to face its own past?
• Speaking of the Senate, BC's new Premier seems to be bad with math: "“Twenty-four Senators for the entire western Canada? The economic engine for our country?” she scoffed." In the depths of the recession, Ontario dipped to 38% of GDP, more than BC, Alberta, Saskatchwan and Manitoba combined. Twenty-four seats for Ontario? A joke. And, besides, democracy requires representation by population not by oil wells.
There. That's a lot of bullets. Surely enough to hold you for now. Next week? Canada Day is on Friday. Expect a treat. Or much the same thing. Either one.
I am certainly not a hobbiest but you may recall that I once before was charmed by a Citroën when crossing the watery border from the northern NY back home to Kingston. I think it is the only mode of transport that not only allows you to get away with a straw trilby but actually demands it.
Thank God the NHL wrapped it up before the actual beginning of summer. Even though it went seven games, the Canucks wrapped it up a few fays earlier than that, too. Man did they suck. Was a riot warranted? No, an act of no class. Why burn cars when the jerseys should have been in the bonfire? Fortunately, we are now in one sport season - though I saw that there was already an exhibition CFL game last night. I may spend Father's Day eating a hot dog at the Wizards. As I have in 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010. Which also means the US snack and sauce supply is updated.
Why not measure the month in thirds? The dates lead us to that but the weeks knock us off that path. My first third of June was noted by a hair cut and a massive storm that saw me shouting at roofers on Wednesday night. Shouting "GET THE HELL OFF THE ROOF!!!" and other such things. Came up fast. They had to scramble. What else was a first third event? Sox are back on top. El Tigre is a conventioneer. It didn't snow. Dandelions appear to have departed.
• Nice to see the separatists still having problems. I have no issue with including separatism in the political debate. I just like it losing the political debate.
• Sounds like Steven Moffat wants to make another show, other than Doctor Who, while making Doctor Who. James Bow is more hopeful of the direction of the season than I am.
• I had no idea that "a ne’er-do-well" was either a legal term or used in modern journalism.
There. I am off to the states this morning for work. Tour of a base. Maybe there'll be pictures. Back by supper. Wizards have started play. May cross again on Sunday.
I don't set the alarm as the house lives on the rhythm of pre-schoolers. If I am up at 5:15 am, that is life and if the stars align like last week and there is quiet well past a sensible hour, that is life, too. Like last week. When I get a string of good sleeps I start to ask why there isn't more activism for early to bed, early to rise. Government programs. That sort of thing. I mean of we can get tax breaks for kids activities, why not for jammies if both are key to good health? What else? I am not against taxing soda pop like cigarettes but I would rather see it extend to the prepared food aisle. If you can't cut a carrot and put it is a pot as part of making something, you should pay the same premium for health that a ciggie toker pays.
• Wed Design History Update: Where have all the .gif files gone... long time ago...
• I would not exactly use the words royal newlyweds parasites but a do see a glimmer of the point. I pay for my own holidays. And I do appreciate that the young couple facing a life of nationals service does try live a relatively "go to worky" life. But I pay for my own holidays.
• Holy Division of Powers Action, Batman! I want a Supreme Court ruling on the meaning of the Senate as well as the role of the provinces in defining the Constitution.
• It's not that I don't care about a postal strike so much as I am surprised by the extent of my not needing to care. No one sends me cheques I have to have by mail. No one sends me chatty letters. I wonder if there is a twitter hashtag to follow the strike.
• 2,197 calories for nachos? I went to a US somewhat fast foodie place that had calories listed the other week and found that I paid more attention to that than the prices. I was stunned that equally priced and relatively equally interesting alternatives ranged from 400 to 1,000 a sandwich. But 2,197 calories for a plate of nachos?
There. Posted early. Before I was awake last week. No rushing. Why don't I do this all the time?
Alan is apparently a Gen X-er who has hit 40... 41... 42... 43... 44... err... 45!... yikes...46!!! Holy Moly - 47. NIX THAT!!! Moley Most Holy... now 48.
Pick any day's tunes as heard on CBC Ottawa's All in a Day hosted by my personal emailing buddy, Brent Bambury. You won't find a better music selection on radio anywhere - certainly not on the deeply dowdy CBC.
From Jan to March 2006, I tried a group humour blog with others on the subject of Canadian politics. It did not last but the posts were worth keeping. #16 was banned. There were no comments. It was at www.shadowcabinet.ca.
