Wee Scunner

In Remembrance

2007-11-11T12:05:00.000-05:00

Quote of the Day:

For The Fallen

With proud thanksgiving, a mother for her children,England mourns for her
dead across the sea. Flesh of her flesh they were, spirit of her spirit, Fallen
in the cause of the free. Solemn the drums thrill; Death august and royal
Sings sorrow up into immortal spheres, There is music in the midst of desolation
And a glory that shines upon our tears. They went with songs to the battle, they were young, Straight of limb, true of eye, steady and aglow. They were staunch to the end against odds uncounted; They fell with their faces to the foe.

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old: Age shall not
weary them, nor the years contemn. At the going down of the sun and in the
morning We will remember them.
They mingle not with their laughing comrades again; They sit no more at familiar tables of home; They have no lot in our labour of the day-time; They sleep beyond England's foam.
But where our desires are and our hopes profound, Felt as a well-spring that is hidden from sight, To the innermost heart of their own land they are known As the stars are known to the Night;

As the stars that shall be bright when we are dust,
Moving in marches upon the heavenly plain; As the stars that are starry in the
time of our darkness, To the end, to the end, they remain.

Laurence Binyon

Good Night Sweet Prince.......

2007-10-25T20:53:00.000-04:00

Today is a sad day for me. David Adams has passed away. David Adams was Canada's first "Superstar" Male ballet dancers. He danced with Canada's National Ballet when it first began in the early 1950's. His wife, Lois Smith, was Canada's first Prima Ballerina and my dance teacher for many years when I was a Professional Ballet student. He was the first, true homebred Canadian dance star.

David Adams taught quite a few of our classes when I was a professional ballet student and he was one of my favorite teachers. He had a commanding presence and a booming voice. I remember my first class with him so vividly. I was absolutely terrified, as we all were because we knew who he was and how well known he was and never mind the fact that he was a VERY handsome man! We soldiered on and he made us better dancers. He was tough and demanding and a perfectionist, as all dancers are but he was also encouraging.

Quote of the Day:

“It is through Art, and through Art only, that we can realise our perfection.”

Oscar Wilde

Hey George!!!! I'm still alive .............

2007-09-21T16:04:00.000-04:00

In a speech defending his administration's Iraq policy, Bush said former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's brutality had made it impossible for a unifying leader to emerge and stop the sectarian violence that has engulfed the Middle Eastern nation. Bush stated the following:

"I heard somebody say, Where's Mandela?' Well, Mandela's dead because Saddam Hussein killed all the Mandelas"

Now, when JB and I heard this last night on the Jon Stewart show. We both looked at each other with our mouths open and almost fell off the sofa! Is there anything else you can even say? How Americans could keep this man in power for this long is a complete mystery to me. For my quote of the day I feel I have to pay homage to the wonderful Ann Richards by quoting a bit of her amazing speech (audio of speech available here) at the the 1988 Democratic National Convention. Now granted, her comments were directed at G Wubya's Father but I felt since Ms Richards was no friend of the Bush's it could certainly be used for this situation as well. I think it is rather apropos. I mourn the loss of Governor Ann Richards she was an original and a great lady who sadly, passed away a year ago this week. We need more politicians in this world like Anne Richards.

Quote of the Day:

"Poor George. He can’t help it. He was born with a silver foot in his mouth."

Ann Richards

Autobahn, in Canada you say??

2007-09-18T17:07:00.001-04:00

I have worked for the same company for almost 14 years and for those 14 years I have never been more than 20 mins MAX travel time from home to work. I could hop on a streetcar then subway to the office. If I had to, I could even walk home from work, in a pinch. All this came to a screeching halt when last year we started hearing rumblings about moving Engineering and Operations to a new office "campus" purchased by our fearless leader. We dismissed the rumours and balked at the suggestion that they would ever move us. Then we started worrying when we saw the blue bins being delivered to our co-workers in Engineering on the 9th floor of our tower last year. Shortly thereafter, we then noticed guys walking around our offices with floor plans and clip boards. Then in March of this year we were all given the nice glossy "move package" which trumpeted the greatness of our new facilities in BRAMPTON, yes Brampton. Now, for those of you who do not live in Toronto, Brampton is a suburb north of Toronto where NOBODY from Toronto ventures unless absolutely necessary. It is a suburban, cultural wasteland but even after that move package was delivered, the majority of us stayed in denial until more move dates were discussed and really most of us were in denial until those blue moving bins showed up outside our offices.

What does this have to do with the Autobahn you ask? A LOT. Keep reading.

Since generations of Ontario governments have done NOTHING to build a decent pubilic transit system that grew along with the urban sprawl. Our move to Brampton has forced a lot of us to have to drive in to work each day and as there is no subway that comes up here and to take the bus means you are in for an excrutiating 1.5 hour or more commute! This means I am forced to drive and I have to sit in the gridlock shown in the photo. Yes, this is what I have to sit in each day going to and coming from work since May of this year. I snapped this photo while sitting in traffic a few weeks ago sitting on the "on ramp" just to get on to Hwy 401. Now, most people would say, what are you going to do, you have to get to work and I guess this is true but this volume of traffic is ludicrous and I am quite sure that if we had an expanded public transit system that a lot of these cars would be taken off the road. I do believe that Hwy 401 is the most travelled highway in North America as it cuts right across the centre of the city and heads all theway across the Province. But back to the Autobahn......As I can no longer stand to sit in this mess each day I have decided to take the the plunge and purchase a transponder that allows me to travel on the relatively newer Hwy 407.

Hwy 407 began life back in the late 1990s and operates as a toll highway. Now, I am really torn about this decision as I really begrudge having to pay to use any road in this province when we pay a lot in taxes already but my cost to take the 407 from where I get on to where I get off is about $3 one way and the biggest bonus is clearly evident in the photo to your left! I snapped this photo on my morning drive in to work late last week. Granted this is a light traffic morning but even on busier mornings it is pretty much a wide open race track! The 407 was built with concrete which means initially it cost more to build but will actually need less repair work in the long run plus it makes your ride a bit noisy and thus all of us here at the office have basically started calling it the Autobahn. Not only because of the way it was built but also because it appears that there does not seem to be a speed limit or perhaps because it is being used by drivers who are paying, they have asked the Autobahnpolizei to lay off. I will say, if you are a regular commuter on the 407, you really must like to drive and it is not for the faint of heart. I regularly drive at a speeds of 130 to 140kmph and other drivers are blowing by me. 130kmph appears to be the average speed of most drivers and if you are driving 130kmph you better not be in the passing lane. I find that the drivers on the 407 tend to follow proper driving etiquette and nobody drives in the passing lane unless they are actually passing you. It is a bit out of my way to head up to the 407 but what I save in time and my sanity makes it worth it. Would I prefer to be able to just hop on a train or subway to get up here, you bet! But it seems a long time in coming. For now, I will zoom along the Autobahn and pay my $3 and arrive at work a little less exasperated.

Quote of the day:

“Automobiles are free of egotism, passion, prejudice and stupid ideas about
where to have dinner. They are, literally, selfless. A world designed for
automobiles instead of people would have wider streets, larger dining rooms,
fewer stairs to climb and no smelly, dangerous subway stations.”

P. J. O'Rourke

Autological - wonder if she knows what it means?

2007-08-28T18:30:00.000-04:00

Greetings All,

It has been a while since I last blogged. I have been on a surreal journey these past few months and did not have the inclination or time to blog until today when a friend sent me the link below! I just had to post it! Any further comments would just be superflous!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lj3iNxZ8Dww

Quote of the day:

Abraham Lincoln (attributed): 'Tis better to be silent and be thought a fool, than to speak and remove all doubt.

Shake It Up, Oo Oo Shake It Up, Oh Yeah

2007-01-03T21:05:00.000-05:00

Happy New Year folks, It's been a while since I updated the ol' blog. Life is pretty stressful at the moment but thought I would take some time out and update my blog.

No, the title of today's blog is not an homage to Ric Ocasek or his band "The Cars" but I felt the 1981 song "Shake It Up" was quite apropo what with the very recent rumours that our Prime Minister is planning a "Cabinet Shake Up " Perhaps Mr. Harper can have the Cars playing in the background as he announces his plans to "shake up" or "shuffle" some of his Cabinet Ministers.

The big talk is that our girl Rona is being shuffled to another post. It is being called "the worst kept secret in Ottawa" You all know about Rona from my previous blogs. The poor girl just can't shake the shuffle speculitis. "Captain America" aka former PM Brian Mulroney has spoken out and suggested to Harper that environmental issues might be a key to capturing the next federal election and if the Stephen Harper government doesn't move faster, other parties are waiting to claim the environment as their issue. As a result, and probably because there are several hundred bored reporters left to their own devices in Ottawa during the parliamentary off-season, that rumours of a cabinet shuffle started to surface.

I find it worrisome that our Prime Minister is now going to take our Environmental issues seriously only because a former Tory PM is telling him it is going to cost him the next election. I would like to think that a Prime Minister of Canada would put our lakes, forests, air and wildlife at the top of his/her list as something sacred that is to be cherished and protected. Particularly a Prime Minister who claims to be a proud Christian and lover of god and the bible. Did he miss the chapters and verses about being good steward of the earth?

In my humble opinion, our Prime Minister handed the portfolio of Environment to a rookie Minister (Ms. Ambrose) and clearly didn't think the Environment was a terribly critical issue. Climate change has exposed the ill-preparedness of the Harper government. It is going to be an interesting 2007 in Ottawa.

So long Rona, it's been nice knowing ya

Quote of the Day:

Let all regard themselves as the stewards of God in all things which they possess. Then they will neither conduct themselves dissolutely, nor corrupt by abuse those things which God requires to be preserved.

John Calvin

Season's Greetings....

2006-12-21T10:04:00.000-05:00

Have had to take a break from the blog world for a bit. Vacation to UK was great but cut short due to a family emergency. Will update blog soon. Hope everyone has a happy and safe holiday season.

Peace

Quote of the Day:

and it was always said of him, that he knew how to keep Christmas well, if any man alive possessed the knowledge. May that be truly said of us, and all of us! And so, as Tiny Tim observed, God Bless Us, Every One!

Charles Dickens

"We're off on the road to Nairobi....."

2006-11-22T17:33:00.000-05:00

Come on, can't you just hear Bing Crosby and Bob Hope singing the famous theme song from one of their popular "road pictures" .... Except on this road trip farce, the female "straight-man" isn't Dorothy Lamour. Nope, it's our girl Rona Ambrose. Yep, our intrepid Minister of the Environment stood up on the world stage, speaking before the United Nations in Kenya for the climate change conference. Now, Ambrose could have used the opportunity to explain what the Conservative government is going to do about addressing Canada's commitment to reducing greenhouse gas emissions. But not our girl Rona, what does she do.... she used her limited time on the world stage to slam the former Liberal Government. She stated such gems as "When Canada's new government assumed office this year, we found an unacceptable situation" and "We found that the measures to address climate change by the former Liberal governments were insufficient" Fair enough, I understand that it is very common practice, here in Canada, for new Governments to slam the previous government and lay blame or generally just pass the buck but this was no domestic speech given in the House of Commons. This was a speech given to the world, and Ambrose used it to showcase, not Canada's environmental vision, but rather Canada's political bickering and infighting. Way to go Rona....you do us proud.....

On another note: JB and I are "off on the road to the UK" I decided, on impulse, that it has been far too long since I have been to visit family. I was speaking to one of my cousins via e mail and thought to myself "i really should pay a visit and right before Christmas would be a nice time to see everyone" So, I went to the Air Canada website and low and behold a "seat sale on international flights" Serendipity! We leave for London on December 1st and have a jam packed 10 days to visit my cousins in Wales and hopefully I make it up to Glasgow for a couple of days. It has been ages since I have been to Glasgow and I truly miss the place. I am very excited to be going over and everyone over there is extremely excited that we are visiting. Our first two days we stay in London and JB has expressed the desire to visit a really old pub or I should say pubs. A day trip to Bath is definitely in the plans. JB is interested in seeing the ancient Roman baths plus one of my younger cousins is currently studying at Bath University. He has already instructed his Mother to tell me to ensure that we don't visit Bath on the Thursday as Thursdays are all day lab work for him.
So, Thursday may be the day we trek up to Glasgow for a couple of days. I will definitely be hitting Buchanan Street (photograph on the left) I have many happy memories of lots of shopping trips to Buchanan Street with my Mother and my Aunties. I bought my first Burberry trench coat with matching scarf and bag at the Burberry store on Buchanan Street many years ago. I still have the scarf, the coat and the bag.

Will be cluttering up this blog soon with lots of photos and notes from the trip.

Quote of the Day:

“The World is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page.”

St. Augustine

Random Thoughts

2006-11-07T12:19:00.000-05:00

This is going to be one of those rambling blogs cause a/ I have not been able to update my blog in a while b/ my mind is rambling all over the place (nothing new)

Quote of the Day:

“When (Harper) tells you that this is a clean air act, it’s just something out of George Orwell. I mean it’s like saying black is white, white is black. It is truly Orwellian in its thinking”
Bob Rae, Liberal Leadership hopeful

A brief update from my previous blog about Rona Ambrose and our Governments "Clean Air Act" Mr. Harper allowed Rona to speak (photo is of Rona defending her new Clean Air Act, in Parliament) and it appears we Canadians will have clean air by, oh..... sometime in the year 2050!!!! Yes folks, we can count on nice clean air by 2050, about the time the planet will be running out of food. All three federal opposition parties panned the bill, casting doubt on whether it will ever become law. Dr. David Suzuki has a great "letter to Mr. Harper" on is website this past week.

Catching up on another recent blog...my movie package arrived from Amazon last Thursday and I happily watched "Whisky Galore" on the weekend. It was just as entertaining as I remembered it to be. It was a bit bittersweet for me as I didn't have my parents around to laugh along with me. Along with the Ealing box set, I ordered some Christmas CDs, yes I have a ridiculously large collection of Christmas CDs. Mostly by jazz and blues artists. Along with the Christmas CDs I purchased a copy of Joni Mitchell's "Blue" album. It is an album I have always felt I should own but never got around to purchasing. There are numerous great songs on the album that I remember hearing as a kid on the radio. The songs "Carey", "This Flight Tonight" and "River" are classics. I remember belting out the song "Carey" as a kid as it was very popular back in the 1970's. At the moment. it is my current "anti-stress" cd. I have it playing in the background on my lap top this very minute, as I endure yet another insane, stressful work week. The words from the song "River" are very apropo at the moment and take me far away: " I wish I had a river. I could skate away on. I wish I had a river so long. I would teach my feet to fly" This song is a beautiful song and it gets me thinking about Canada and winter and snow and ice and Hockey.
Yes, Hockey, as JB just did a double take. Some of you have heard my rants about how I have pretty much given up on Hockey in recent years. I hate what the US has been allowed to do to the game. I hate the promotion in recent years of goon players whose only purpose is to fight and batter and bruise better players BUT I recently watched the CBC 10 part series "Hockey: A Peoples History". The series reminded me about all the things I love about Hockey. How it really is a truly Canadian sport and how important it is to our identity as a people and a nation. I was particularly impressed with the amount of time spent on the history of Women's hockey.

As the sales pitch for the series states " CBC’s epic series chronicling the story of a game and the soul of a nation. Born as a game of survival against the snow and ice of a Canadian winter, hockey gave a new country it’s first heroes and champions." If you can catch the series it is definitely worth it. Some of the footage is incredible and the interviews with hockey greats and the great sportswriters are fascinating to listen to. Stephen Brunt's discussion on the greatness of Bobby Orr is nothing short of poetry (Brunt also has a book coming out on Bobby Orr).

The series is one that every Canadian should see. It will take all of you back to those Saturday nights when as a kid you were allowed to stay up late and watch Hockey Night in Canada. In our house we got not only the bonus of getting to stay up and watch the hockey game but we also got the added treat of a big bowl of Hostess potato chips with the best chip dip on the planet and a glass of coke or Canada Dry ginger ale. Bet all of you have the Hockey Night in Canada theme song going through your heads now.......just in case you need a reminder here ya go.....

Hockey Night in Canada Theme song

I am deranged but so, so playful.......

2006-10-22T22:51:00.000-04:00

This weekend was JB's annual trip with "the boys" to Buffalo, NY to see the Buffalo Bills play the New England Patriots. I was scheduled to go in to work on Saturday evening but for the remainder of the weekend I planned on just watching movies and vegging out. Being the oncall Manager for work, this weekend, I ended up getting called on Friday night and was up until 4am due to an outage. I went to bed and woke up late Saturday morning. I Dropped JB off at his buddies house in the early afternoon, as they were car pooling to Buffalo. I knew I had a few hours to kill before I went back to work so, I made some 9 bean soup and a pot of tea and clicked on the TV. I was lying on the sofa and had the TV on The Movie Network. A movie was just starting and I noticed it was directed by Liev Schreiber. Now I am a huge fan of Liev Schrieber, the actor. He is one of those actors who reminds me of the old school actors from the 1930's and 40's. He has a fantastic voice and as all good actors you never really see him "act". He has been in some great films and stage shows so I was intrigued that he had Directed and written the screenplay for this film. I thought "what the hell, there is nothing else on. I will watch this film"

Boy am I glad I did. It was one of the most lovely and entertaining films I have seen in a very long time. The movie is called "Everything is Illuminated". It is based on a novel written by Johnathan Safran Froer. The story is about a young Jewish American man who endeavors to find the woman who saved his grandfather during World War II in a Ukrainian village, that was ultimately razed by the Nazis, with the help of a local who speaks weirdly funny broken English. The three, plus grandfather's deranged dog, travel in an old car from Odessa into Ukraine's heart. The film does an amazing job of showing the sweeping landscapes of Ukraine. I remember my father telling me that when he was growing up, the Ukraine was known as "the bread basket of Europe" with never ending fields of wheat and never ending farmland. The film does a great job of capturing this beautiful landscape. It is a perfect backdrop for the three men, with dog, as they travel within the heart of Ukraine on their quest.

I thought Elijah Wood was perfect as the lead character Johnathan, who collects bizarre items in ziploc bags and has more phobias than a Woody Allen character. But the stars of the film, for me, were Eugene Hutz as Alex, Johnathan's guide and Alex's Grandfather's dog or "Officious Seeing Eye Bitch" named Sammy Davis Junior, Junior. Eugene Hutz, as Alex is a larger and funnier version/combination of "Boris" from the Smirnoff ice ads and one of the "wild and crazy guys" from SNL(Saturday Night Live).

This is a movie I could watch again and again. It even has a cool soundtrack which includes Eugene Hutz's band "Gogol Bordello". If you have a chance to rent this film, do so. You will not be disappointed.

Trailer for movie

Quote of the Day:

Alex: [referring to the dog] This is Sammy Davis Jr. Jr... She is Grandfather's Seeing Eye bitch. Father purchased her for him not because he believes Grandfather is blind, but because a Seeing Eye bitch is also a good thing for people who pine for the opposite of loneliness. In truth, Father did not purchase her at all, but merely retrieved her from the home for forgetful dogs. Because of this, she is not a real Seeing Eye bitch, and is also mentally deranged.

Even Hef lets the Bunnies speak once in a while......

2006-10-18T14:35:00.000-04:00

The smiling woman to your left is the Canadian Minister of the Environment, Ms. Rona Ambrose. I was going to make this blog a rant on how we have the most boring Prime Minister of any Prime Minister Canada has ever had. I was going to rant about the fact that on the day our Prime Minister and his government axed $17.7 million from the human resources department's Adult Learning and Literacy Skills Program as part of a wave of spending cuts. His wife Laureen was out on the streets of Ottawa, clad in a yellow T-shirt and handing out newspapers in the drizzle as part of a CanWest media company literacy promotion.

There is just so much to rant about when it comes to Mr. Harper and his Government.

But, my real concern/rant of late is about the Governments new "Clean Air Act" and the apparent lack of urgency that our Government appears to have in fixing our environment in general. It is quite concerning. It is clear that our Minister of the Environment has and is basically undermining our work with the Kyoto Agreement. Canada will miss its second deadline this week to put forward a Kyoto plan. Instead she decided to have a press conference with Prime Minister Harper on the Governments supposed "Clean Air Act". An act where Ms. Ambrose has opted for and suggests the use of Intensity-based targets rather than a ban on greenhouse gas emissions. This means environmental emissions would be relative to the economic output of various industries. That means even though individual emission limits for each barrel of oil or piece of coal could be lowered, if production increases, the overall amount of greenhouse gas emissions and air pollutants could grow.

Many environmentalists believe capping greenhouse gas emissions is key to tackling climate change. Critics of intensity-based targets say the approach allows heavily polluting industries, such as Alberta's oilsands, to continue to grow and pollute, while remaining under government-imposed limitations.

Hmm should we be suspicious that this woman is from Alberta? Should we be concerned that she wasn't allowed to discuss her plans at a recent press conference and that the Prime Minister did all the speaking for her. Should we be concerend that when on the hot seat about Kyoto and greenhouse gas emissions she blamed the previous government and further went on to state that the Liberal government had spent "at least $100 million" in foreign carbon credits. When the real number was, well, ZERO! And to think she's in charge of setting new policy on an issue that may be critical not just to Canada's international reputation, but also to the future state of the world.

Anyway, rather than me rant on anymore about it. Watch Rick Mercer's rant from this weeks show. "The Mercer Report" is a weekly show hosted by Rick and he is one of the great Canadian comedians and political satirists. He has a knack for clearly expressing what a lot of Canadians are thinking. Check out the video clip. If it doesn't load go to the Mercer Report and click on "Rick's rant for the week". I am lousy at setting up video links on this blog.

Quote of the Day:

“Whoever makes two ears of corn, or two blades of grass to grow where only one grew before, deserves better of mankind, and does more essential service to his country than the whole race of politicians put together” Johnathan Swift

Uisge gu Leoir (Whisky Galore, for you non Gaelic speakers)

2006-10-14T17:53:00.000-04:00

Growing up we watched a lot of movies. My Parents were bonified film junkies. My Father would give us lessons on why certain films were so great. We would watch what are now considered some of the greatest classics made and as a result we have grown up to appreciate the cinema. When we were very small my parents would take us to the drive in. Being the practical parents they were, they would take us to the drive-in in our PJ's, so that they could catch the latest flicks or blockbusters from the early 1970's and we got tired and fell asleep in the back seat of the car, we were already ready for bed when they got us all home. My Father would take my sister and I to see some of the great classic films of the 1970's. I think he would tell my Mother that he was taking us to see the latest kids flick when instead we saw Godfather, Godfather II, And Justice for All (my dad loved Pacino and Brando), All the Presidents Men. My father obviously felt our little minds could handle the not so child friendly scripts and violence in some of these films. But then we were of the era of "Bugs Bunny, Road Runner Hour" cartoon era.

Both my Parents were fans of the Director, Alexander MacKendrick. Alexander McKendrick was born in Boston, Massachusetts in 1912 and grew up in Glasgow, Scotland. In 1941 Mackendrick was sent to North Africa, then Italy as part of the psychological warfare division shooting newsreels and documentary coverage as well as working on leaflets and radio news for the Allied commando effort. When Rome was liberated in 1943, Mackendrick was made director of the film unit and one of the projects he approved was Rome, Open City (Roberto Rossellini, 1945), a film that owes much to its documentary footage. In 1946 he was offered a contract with Ealing Studios, a relatively emerging production company that brought hope for Britain's movie culture by dominating the 1950s with its peculiar brand of comedy. Ealing Studios churned out some of the best classic British Films such as "The Man in the White Suit", "The Lady Killers", "Passport to Pimlico", "Kind Hearts and Coronets", "The Lavender Hill Mob" and one of my Mother's favorite films "The Blue Lamp". The title of the film refers to the blue lamp which traditionally hung outside British Police Stations.

While at Ealing Studios, MacKendrick directed the classics "The Man in the White Suit", "The Lady Killers". In 1957 he also directed, though not for Ealing, "The Sweet Smell of Success" a film noir classic and another one of my Father's favorite films as not only was it directed by MacKendrick but it also starred Burt Lancaster. A favorite actor of my dad's.

But, the MacKendrick film that has that special place in my heart and always reminds me of the great times I had watching movies with my parents was the film "Whisky Galore". "Whisky Galore" is the first movie MacKendrick directed for Ealing studios. The film was based on the story, written by Compton MacKenzie and Compton MacKenzie's story was based on a real-life incident that occurred in 1941 on the Hebridean island of Eriskay when the S.S. Politician ran aground. The famous tale of how a group of local Scottish islanders raided a shipwreck for its consignment of 24,000 cases of whisky has grown into a legend.

The film is a gem. It is considered one of Ealing Stuidios best comedies. An ensemble comedy that focuses on the moral obligations of a tiny Scottish village after the steamer S.S. Politician crashes on shore leaving an unguarded cargo of whisky, was both a British and international success. Soon Ealing, aided by Mackendrick, was well on its way to leading the revival of the national cinema. The story fit within the studio formula of an eccentric group dealing with an extraordinary situation, and its unassuming humor benefits from the peculiarities of its townsfolk. Particularly from the pompous naivety of the English Captain Waggett (Basil Radford) who declares himself as the voice of reason and attempts to stop the town from raiding the ship. The first Ealing film to be shot on location on the isolated island of Barra, a documentary-style approach captures the villagers in daily routine: farming, working around the house, congregating at the local pub. Once a shortage of whisky occurs, the town plunges into desperation, and the bucolic Scottish tranquility is shattered by a cry of ÂThere is no whisky!Â The whisky is subsequently recovered, and they work together with crafty strategies to dupe the Englishman. Notions of tradition and propriety, however, prevent the townsfolk from turning into a violent mob and overthrowing Waggett.

Over the years, I have been searching and searching for any copy I could find of "Whisky Galore" as it is never shown on TV, here in Canada. I would search EBay and debate purchasing what looked like shady, illegal copies and many VHS copies,prior to DVD's were not compatible with North American players. I would drag JB into vintage video stores to see if they could obtain a copy for me. I was determined but never had any luck. Finally, I just gave up a couple of years ago and reasoned "surely some company is going to re-release this film and some of the other Ealing classics" and I will just have to wait.

It's been more than a couple of years that I have even attempted to resurrect the search for a copy of the film but I am happy to report that my search has finally ended. Last night while perusing through Amazon.ca I was doing my usual circuitous searching. Starting at books by Hoffer, to new jazz releases to Christams CD's then on to classic films on DVD. I noticed that "Sweet Smell of Success" was newly packaged into a DVD and then I thought "hmmmmm, "sweet smell of success...Alexander MacKendrick....I wonder....WHISKY GALORE!!!" I clicked on the name Alexander MacKendrick and waited with bated breath and up popped I couldn't believe my luck. There staring at me was the lovely face of the actress Joan Greenwood superimposed on a whisky bottle. I almost did a little dance. I immediately whipped out the visa card and ordered it.

I glanced at the usually entertaining "Amazon Customer Reviewed" section. There was one comment that stated "This is a pretty pricey Box set for , lets face it, only 1 great film being WHISKEY GALORE! and good PASSPORT TO P. . If the set was cheaper i'd consider it but for now lets release these seperately please" This person fails to understand that there are some things that some of us just can't put a price on. For me, it would be to have my own copy of "Whisky Galore" and all the happy memories that would come from watching this film again. Plus, the other films in the box set are no slouches either.

The set should arrive in 1 to 3 weeks.

Quote of the Day:

Dr Maclaren: It's a well known fact that some men were born two drinks below par.

Actor James Roberston Justice as Dr. MacLaren in Whisky Galore

"Elmo wants to play"

2006-10-06T11:39:00.000-04:00

Great gift for your friends who are parents

If you really wanted to piss of some of your friends who have children. This latest Elmo toy would certainly do it. I keep watching this video and I am fascinated by this latest offering for children( i love the dogs reaction). This latest model seems to have been designed using the latest updates in robotics for kids toys. Personally, I find this toy a bit disturbing and really annoying (don't worry Mo or Paulus. JB and I won't purchase this for your offspring. we are not that mean) I guess if you are three years old, the age that Elmo is supposed to be in real life, you would find it appealing? I remember the "tickle me elmo" buying frenzy from the 1990's when parents were fighting tooth and nail for that doll. I remember there was controversy after the release of the doll with parents groups that misheard one of Elmo's phrases. His "Hug Elmo" phrase was misunderstood by many as "F--k Elmo". The voicing was revised so that the phrase sounded clearer and unmistakable.

On another note. It's Turkey Time!!! This weekend is Thanksgiving weekend. Not to be mistaken for American Thanksgiving which is in November and celebrates the Pilgrims landing on Plymouth Rock and sitting down to a nice dinner with the Native North American Indians before setting out to spend hundreds of years of cleansing the land of their culture and tribes. JB and I having both had extremely stressful months at work, actually forgot it was Thanksgiving coming up. We didn't really make any plans for dinner with what family we have in the vicinity. I usually make a turkey with all the fixin's and I enjoy doing it but this year I said to JB that I just felt like going away, doing nothing but relaxing and playing golf. Out of some bizarre need not to buck tradition, I will probably make a small turkey with fixins and gravy on Saturday as I really can't not make something Thanksgiving related for fear the "Thanksgiving gods" will strike me down for abandoning family tradition. I feel we should have some sort of turkey dinner plus I don't have to worry that my chowhound brother doesn't have food for the weekend as JB and I are gone Sunday and Monday.

We have decided to go to Niagara region and visit some wineries and play golf at the Whirpool Golf Course, near Niagara Falls and at the Niagara on the Lake golf course, the oldest golf course in North America. Niagara on the Lake is a lovely town, I have written previous blogs about it. I will be hitting the Niagara Home Bakery for Empire biscuits! Unfortunately, as we decided to book our weekend only two days ago, there were no rooms to be found in Niagara on the Lake. The only available rooms we could find were in Niagara Falls. JB much prefers Niagara on the Lake as do I but it is only a short lovely scenic drive along the Niagara river between the two towns. Niagara falls has become somewhat "Disney-fied" but I find Niagara Falls fascinating. It has evolved into this giant playland for kids and adults. The adults get two casinos and plenty of bars and clubs and the kids have Clifton Hill where there are wax museums, arcades etc. It has very much changed since my visits there as a child. Any time relatives came over from Scotland we had to make the trek to Niagara Falls as they all had to see this "wonder of nature". With the recent additions of the casinos and the increase in tourists, the actual town of Niagara Falls would be unrecognisable to anyone who has not been there in the last 15 to 20 years. There are all the typical touristy restaurants such as Hard Rock Cafe, TGIF's etc. If you ignore all of the tourist crap and just stand by those falls and watch the power of nature it really is awe inspiring and the area on the Canadian side where the Canadian portion of the falls are located still looks the same as it did 50 years ago. The Niagara Parks Commission has done a great job of keeping the parklands around the falls pristine and the ultimate place for photo ops. And yes, to end the debate, the Canadian falls are much larger, nicer and better than the American falls.

“It is with roses and locomotives (not to mention acrobats Spring electricity Coney Island the 4th of July the eyes of mice and Niagara Falls) that my ''poems'' are competing.” e.e. cummings

Collibus -Fideles-Caledoniis

2006-10-04T15:17:00.000-04:00

Have the CCR (creedence clearwater revival)song "Who'll Stop the Rain" floating around in my head today. As you can see by the weather pixie on my page it is indeed PISSING down rain today. Normally, the rain doesn't bother me that much particularly during the week as one is normally at work. Unfortunately today is the day that I along with Espinoza and Lee decided to book off work and go and play golf at a new course we found. We rationalized that it couldn't possibly rain all day today as yesterday we awoke to thunder and lightening and heavy rain and by about 10am the clouds parted and the sun came out and it was a lovely day. Well, this morning at 6:35am i was awakened by a huge CRACK of thunder over our house and I thought "hmmmm a repeat of yesterday" I got up out of bed, got my coffee and as most golfers do, flipped the TV on to the weather network. The overly cheerful weather network lady chirped on about heavy rains moving out of the area today and the storm watch being lifted for GTA etc etc. I can hear the rain pelting down and about 10 mins later it stopped. "Cool" I thought. Then the blackberry pins started between Lee and Espinoza and I. "are we on" "ya, lets meet there rain will probably stop" "i checked the weather network it is supposed to move through" I drove JB to work and I could see the sky getting lighter and I thought "great, same as yesterday" I then dropped JB off at work and headed west towards Mississauga to our new "find". Driving west the sun was starting to really look like it was going to make an appearance. I arrived at the course. Got my clubs out. Walked down to the pro shop where I was greeted by the most friendly golf pro and pro shop staff I have ever encountered. I apologized that two of our threesome was late and Golf Pro said "no problem at all. the course is practically empty. you ladies will have the whole course to yourself this morning but it's a bit wet out there on the greens after all this rain" Lee arrived and Espinoza was still lost. Lee and I did some stretching, and in between stretches I took panicked calls from Espinoza who was completely lost. Lee and I stretched some more, looked out at the lovely course and inhaled and both said "man, it's better to be here than at work" After my third cell phone call from Espinoza, she finally found the place. We then marched down the path to the first tee. A daunting, long, long par 5 hole. You know it's not good when the 5ft 1in Lee yells from the tee box "where am I aiming? I can't see any flag" I yell back my usual answer "just hit it straight down the fairway" which she did!

This course is modeled on a Scottish course or as their website states:

The BraeBen Golf Course has been designed to be"True to the Scottish Highlands"The name of the course -"BraeBen" -is Gaelic for "slope" and "mountain or hill". The new, public 18 hole Championship Course features dramatic terrain, tall rough grasses, gnarled trees and shrubs, pristine fairways, greens and tees, punctuated with challenging pot bunkers - all reminiscent of golf's early beginnings. As in the highlands of Scotland, wind will be a factor on most days.

I read with interest a review of the course from "Fairways Magazine" that states the course is actually built over the old Britannia hills landfill site and that they have won environmental awards for the design of this course. It's pretty amazing that they have turned an ugly, eysore of a landfill site into a beautiful greenspace in an urban setting.(Photo is of the first hole looking towards the green). First hole over, we all triple bogied the hole, we march down to the second hole. Second hole is a short par 3, we then get to the third hole and then the fourth hole and I tee off, Espinoza tees off and then Lee gets to the tee box and again says "where is the flag? I don't know where I am aiming" Again we say "just hit it straight onto the fairway and figure it out from there" As, Lee is about to tee off, I look up and say "man, it sure looks like it is getting darker" Then it happened "BOOOOM!!" Thunder, then after the thunder a couple of drops and then a few more drops. Undaunted, we are determined to finish the hole. When we get to the green it is now pouring rain and I then notice that I am the only one who remembered my golf umbrella. It starts to come down like a monsoon. Lee and I both have on waterproof jackets but Espinoza has nada, just her nice trendy cotton track jacket and baby blue cargo pants on. I do up my jacket and grab my waterproof Burberry rain hat (a gift from my sister)out of my golf bag and hand Espinoza my umbrella as she is getting drenched. We decide we will finish this hole and then head back to the clubhouse for a snack and a beverage to warm us up. It's a long way back to the clubhouse from the 4th hole and we realize we are walking the wrong way. True to the course name, it is really hilly and your can't see any landmarks or buildings from our locale. We then backtrack and cut across another hole and disturb a gaggle of Canada geese who are just sitting in a group watching us walk by. One of them, probably the alpha male of the bunch decides to challenge us and starts to hiss at us. I hiss back "shouldn't you be flying south!!" The goose then lifted his beak in the air and did an about face and walked away. Guess I won that challenge. Clubhouse in sight, we think "great we can sit down have a drink and dry off" We enter the pro shop and the oh so friendly pro shop gent says "it's really coming down, eh?" I say "yep, we really thought it would not rain until later today we tried but only made it to the fourth hole" He then says "do you ladies want rain checks for your green fees today" All three of us say "Sure! thats great". He then says "I just need your white receipts from this morning" we all reach in and grap our soaked receipts. Lee then gasps "Oh no, i lost my rain cover for my clubs somewhere back there on the course" I suggest that Lee and one of us take one of the covered golf carts and drive back along the paths to find it. Espinoza volunteers to go with Lee and I wait and guard our clubs. They arrive back about 10 mins later with the found rain cover. We then ask if the clubhouse is open for lunch and are told that because the clubhouse is hosting a private function it will not be open til 2pm. It is only noon. We decide we can't wait til 2pm and instead, since we are in the hub of suburbia, we drive off to one of the many boring chain restaurants in the surrounding area. We all split a carafe of red wine and some pretty good sandwiches and look at each other and say "even if we couldn't golf it is STILL better than being at work!"

Espinoza drops Lee and I off back at the golf course and we go back to the pro shop and ask if we can use our rainchecks for Saturday. The weather network says it is going to be a lovely weekend with lots of sun! We have a 10:38 am tee time for Saturday.

I am now at home, watching the rain pelt down and the trees bend in the rather gusty winds that have developed. Going to uncork a bottle of wine and relax, read a book and enjoy the rest of my day off.

Quote of the Day:

When I'm on a golf course and it starts to rain and lightning, I hold up my one iron, 'cause I know even God can't hit a one iron. - Lee Trevino

Token Chicks

2006-09-27T22:50:00.000-04:00

Wow, it's been over two weeks since I have updated my blog. It's been crazy at work and it has been a physically and mentally draining month thus the last thing I wanted to do was sit in front of the computer even longer and think of a blog to write.

Film festival premiere of "Stranger than Fiction" was great. Loved the movie. It was very exciting to sit really close to the stage and see Dustin Hoffman and Emma Thompson in person (photo is of Emma arriving the Elgin Theatre in Toronto for the premiere) She was gorgeous and he (Dustin) was hilarious. JB(a huge Dustin Hoffman fan) wrote a blurb about our encounter with Dustin when he and the other actors were exiting the theatre. Dustin looked at us and said "thanks for having us in your city. It's a beautiful city and a great film fest". At one point just before the movie was to start. JMan's wife looked down from our balcony seat and said to me "is that Demi Moore sitting there?" I stood up a bit from my seat and peered over the balcony to check out the thin, tanned woman in a really expensive long black dress with long dark perfectly coiffed straight hair, gorgeous shoes on sitting with her legs crossed, nervously bouncing her foot up and down and CHEWING GUM LIKE A COW CHEWING IT'S CUD!! sitting beside her was a guy dressed in a corduroy jacket, jeans, running shoes and a baseball cap which was pretty much covering his face. I assume it was Aston Kutcher.

I have been playing my usual weekly golf game each week which kept me sane as well as my weekly lessons with Espinoza,Lee and JB. Two weeks ago I played in my first golf tournament and won two trophies! One trophy was for closest to the pin for ladies and one for longest drive for ladies. I must say that the trophies were a bit of a given as the other women playing in the tournament were not regular golfers. All the same, it was nice to A/ play a round of golf at a championship course for free and B/ take a day off work to play with some co-workers.

I love the egos of some of the male players when they see a woman arrive with her own clubs and golf gear on. They sit at the starters box and wait to watch you tee off. So of course I had to try my utmost to make my first drive look really good. It gets even more hilarious when you stop for a lunch break between the front 9 and the back 9. You meet up with the players ahead of you and the group behind you and chat and ask how each others game is going and then you encounter that one male. You ladies who golf know what male I am talking about. The group behind us had one of THOSE males. You know the ones who have to talk and talk everything up as god forbid anyone think or know that he isn't as good as anyone else on the planet. Any woman who plays golf has encountered this species of male more times than we care to remember and we have all had the following conversation with this male and usually it occurs after they have seen you swing and watched your drive from the first tee. Since buddy was in the foursome behind us, he saw a few of my drives and shots. Here's how the conversation goes, it doesn't alter much from golf course, city, country.

Insecure Male Golfer: "So, how often do you golf"

Female Golfer (me): "I dunno, about once a week minimum sometimes two times a week"

Insecure Male Golfer: "well really! That's great you can get out that often" (as if I should be home vacuuming or cleaning or doing the laundry instead)

Female Golfer (me): "ya, it's important to play this game regularly or you just won't get good at it"

Then comes the classic male ego boosting, chest thumping boast:

Insecure Male Golfer: "yep, well I don't get out that often and this year I have been so busy and have not had the time to play as much as I would like. How's your game today. You know, back at the eighth hole I had a great drive ball went 240 yards, my score is great today not too many bogies"

Female Golfer (me) rushing to get out to start the next 9 holes: "wow, good for you. Enjoy the rest of your lunch. See you at the awards ceremony later today, good luck on the back 9"

As I was walking out of the clubhouse with my co-worker Tony, who is actually a very good golfer but with no ego or sexism when it comes to golf. I whispered "My ass he drove the ball 240 yards. I saw his swing" Tony just laughed and said "I know, I know, what are you going to do" What amazes me is that "Mr 240 yards" didn't appear to drive far enough on the 7 hole as he didn't win any trophy for longest drive or closest to the pin.

I regularly read "Golf for Women" magazine and one of my favorite regular columns is the "What's Bugging Me Now" column written by Senior Editor Stina Sternberg. This months column is a classic example of discrimination against women in the golf world. Article is included below and link to the Magazines version is here:

What's Bugging Me Now

On a recent Sunday, a friend invited me to play golf at her club in the New York area. My friend is a new member at this club--she spent a half-dozen years on a waiting list and paid a lot of money to join--and I was excited to play there. She told me we had to tee off in the afternoon, because the opening-day tournament was being played in the morning.

I asked my friend why she hadn't signed up for the tournament--after all, she was new at the club and trying to get to know people. She also plays to a 3-handicap and might have had a shot at winning the trophy. "It's just for guys," she told me. I asked when the women's opening-day tournament was being held, because, surely, she'd be a lock for that. "There isn't one," she said. There isn't one? At this modern-day country club, a woman is welcome to spend the equivalent of a hefty down payment on a house to join--and to wait patiently for six years to be allowed to play--but because of her physical anatomy, she's not welcome in the opening-day tournament? Even a low-single-digit handicap woman who plays from the white tees and would have easily beaten half the field of male players?

It's time for the clubs to wake up and realize that we're not living in the 1950s. Women work, women play good golf and women should have the same privileges as men. If not, we should get some of our fees and dues back. Because last time I checked, we're not getting any discounts for being discriminated against

Quote of the Day:

(About Annika Sorenstam on the men's tour) "I hope she misses the cut. Why? Because she doesn't belong out here."

Vijay Singh (Fijian golfer)

Overture, hit the lights......

2006-09-07T17:00:00.000-04:00

drrrrrum roll,.....Well, it's that time of year. Roll out the red carpets and slap on some glitter: The 31st edition of the Toronto International Film Festival kicks off tonight. For the next nine days, the city will be swarming with Hollywood heavies, international auteurs and A-list celebrities. Of course with A-list celebrities you also get hordes of celebrity hounds infiltrating the downtown/Yorkville area of the city. These "autograph hounds" will make their way in to the city in droves particularly on weekends where they will tie up traffic, pedestrian traffic included and generally cause disruptions to our lives. In particular JB and I will more than likely NOT get into our usual breakfast diner that we head to on weekends. These celeb hounds and wanna be seen losers apparently have nothing better to do than go on an neverending quest for that potential brief glimpse of Brad Pitt, who is supposedly arriving on Saturday night, Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom, Gwyneth Paltrow, Angelina Jolie etc etc. JB wrote about one of his favorite actors in his blog yesterday and has hilarious photos of the lengths he is going to ensure he is not photographed. I almost feel sorry for the these poor, pampered celebs as apparently the majority of these movie stars love coming to Toronto. They like this city and love the film festival and usually the majority of Torontonians are not that star struck anymore thus they get left alone. Unfortunately, in recent years as the festival has grown it has gotten a bit haywire and we are descended upon by autograph seekers, paparazzi and all the other "accoutrements" that follow movie stars. I remember one September a few years back. JB and I waked into the bar at the Four Seasons Hotel in Yorkville, during film fest. The walk through Yorkville was our route home from work and we would stop in at that bar or a couple of other bars in the neighborhood. Anyway, there right in front of us sitting by himself enjoying a beer was Liam Neeson. I whispered to Jim, "wow, that's Liam Neeson sitting over there" JB responded "cool" we then walked to our own spot in the bar and along with all the other patrons in the bar we LEFT HIM ALONE. I doubt this would happen now. The entire area of Yorkville is just packed with people milling about with their photos, DVD's and other things to have signed by their favorite movie star.

What I do find even more annoying/entertaining than the celeb hounds and paparazzi are the hilarious antics of the "serious film fest goers" and so called "journalists". These people walk around with their Festival Pass around their neck everywhere they go as if it is some sort of status symbol or as one would wear a gold Gucci necklace or a rolex watch. They sit in the restaurant patios around Yorkville or walk along Bloor street with their haughty "yes, I am important, look at me I have a pass around my neck for the film fest" attitude. With their film fest guide in hand they sit and look to see who is looking at them and those passes DO NOT come off. I sometimes wonder if these people wear their festival passes to bed. They stand in line at one of our regular breakfast/ diner spots with their passes in clear view along with their pens and note pads as if to suggest that their film pass should grant them a table faster than the rest of us waiting in line. They all sit and name drop and constantly seem to use the word "milieu" in sentences.

Now, JB and I are both movie lovers and despite my bitching about the hassles the film festival brings. We are lucky enough to attend at least one showing each year as we get comps for a festival premiere either through work connections or a friend. We have been lucky enough to see Michael Moore in person when he presented his film "Bowling for Columbine". One year we were able to see the premiere for the film "Love Actually" and were sitting just above Colin Firth and Laura Linney in the lovely Elgin/Winter Garden theatre(photo above) One of the reasons I do like attending the premieres is because I love sitting in the Elgin/Winter Garden theatre. This theatre was recently completely restored back to its original beauty. It is the last operating double decker theatre complex in the world, containing two completely separate and restored Edwardian theatres. It is now a National Historic Site owned and operated by the Ontario Heritage Foundation. One of the Centre's greatest treasures, discovered during the restoration, is the world's largest collection of vaudeville scenery hand-painted flats and drops dating from 1913. If you are planning a visit to Toronto there are free tours of the theatre provided during the week and on weekends. It is a gorgeous building and for years it sat empty and unused. Thankfully it has been restored to its former beauty.

This year we are attending the premiere of the new Will Ferrell and Emma Thompson flick "Stranger than Fiction". When I saw the preview/trailer for this flick a month ago I thought it looked great and thought "ya, that's a movie Iwould go see" So, I was really happy when our friend JayMan e mailed me on Tuesday morning and said "hey, are you guys free on Saturday night as I have four tickets for a Festival Premiere."

Check out the trailer. And no, I won't be bringing my DVD copy of Sense and Sensibility for Emma Thompson to sign.

Stranger than Fiction

Quote of the Day:
“Celebrity-worship and hero-worship should not be confused. Yet we confuse them every day, and by doing so we come dangerously close to depriving ourselves of all real models. We lose sight of the men and women who do not simply seem great because they are famous but are famous because they are great. We come closer and closer to degrading all fame into notoriety.”
Daniel J. Boorstin

Albert Speer is alive and well and living in Dubai

2006-08-28T20:41:00.000-04:00

Today I was doing my usual surfing around "the net" and from my previous blogs y'all know what that means. I end up on a wacky circuitous drive down the internet highway and I never know where I am going to end up.

Having just watched the amazing Spike Lee documentary "When the Levees Broke" this past weekend. I decided to see what some of my favorite "non-right wing" news websites were writing about on the anniversary of Hurricane Katrina sinking New Orleans. Rewinding a bit, if you can get the chance to see Spike Lee's documentary, I suggest you watch it. It is an incredible piece and I think one of his best works ever. It is at times heartbreaking to watch. I had to keep getting up to find kleenex. The interviews with famous jazz musicians, leaders, black leaders, regular people on the street, are so incredible it will put you through a whole range of emotions. You will find yourself shaking your head and wondering why on earth and how on earth GW Bush is still President of the US.

Anyway......I thought to myself "hmmm, I should check out "Mother Jones" site as I have not checked it out in a while. I was reading the "special coverage" page on Katrina and deciding on which of the articles to read first when out of the corner of my eye I noticed an animated "ad" for another Mother Jones article.
What caught me was the catch phrases to get you to click on the animation and take you to the article: "Worlds largest theme park....Biggest Mall.....Tallest Building.....Despotic Ruler....Indentured Labour.....Dubai....Welcome to Paradise" these words are animated across the artistic rendering of what the Dubai skyline will look like in 2008 when the 'Burj Dubai' (worlds tallest building) is completed by 2008 . Now, I don't mind if Sheik Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum wants to invest and spend gazillions of his dollars to build a city that is essentially Disney World in the dessert or as the article suggests putting up buildings like "Donald Trump tripping on acid" but I do mind the not so nice reality of that old 18th century thinking that indentured labour is okay. Even more shocking the use of women as sex slaves and the use of child labour. As the article states: Dubai lifestyles are attended by vast numbers of Filipina, Sri Lankan, and Indian maids, while the building boom is carried on the shoulders of an army of poorly paid Pakistanis and Indians working twelve-hour shifts, six and half days a week, in the blast-furnace desert heat.
Dubai, like its neighbors, flouts ILO labor regulations and refuses to adopt the international Migrant Workers Convention. Human Rights Watch in 2003 accused the Emirates of building prosperity on "forced labor." Indeed, as the British Independent recently emphasized in an exposÃ© on Dubai, "The labour market closely resembles the old indentured labour system brought to Dubai by its former colonial master, the British."
"Like their impoverished forefathers," the paper continued, "today's Asian workers are forced to sign themselves into virtual slavery for years when they arrive in the United Arab Emirates. Their rights disappear at the airport where recruitment agents confiscate their passports and visas to control them"

Can it be true or is it just another attempt by the lefties and left wing media to bring down yet another succesful businessman? Cause, according to the Sheiks own website, where you can read his poetry and share his "vision" (he appears to be marketing himself as the Anthony Robbins of the Middle East) it states: Through leadership, vision and innovation, Sheikh Mohammed hopes to guide the people of Dubai, the United Arab Emirates and, indeed, the Middle East, toward a brighter future. That's great! This guy can't possibly be the ruler of a country that is abusing workers as all the investigative reporting states. How can it be so. I will let you read the article and check out the Sheiks website yourself and draw your own conclusions. I can only say that I am leaning toward the "left wing media" on this one. The ending paragraph of the article says it best.... "Yet the future that he is building in Dubai -- to the applause of billionaires and transnational corporations everywhere -- looks like nothing so much as a nightmare of the past: Walt Disney meets Albert Speer on the shores of Araby."

I do want to throw a big "F---K YOU" to the likes of Rod Stewart and David Beckham for supporting this despot (David Beckham owns a beach front property on Dubai and Rod Stewart, an island (rumored, in fact, to be named Great Britain)). I guess they both really, really, really, want to forget their working class British upbringing. You would hope that when folks like that start making oodles of cash that they would try to remember where they came from and do something to make the world a better place rather then supporting a country where there is forced labour and forced child labour to boot. Ooooops, guess I just gave away which way my thinking really is leaning towards on this issue, as if there was a doubt.

Quote of the Day:

Cowardice asks the question, 'Is it safe?' Expediency asks the question,
'Is it politic?' But conscience asks the question, 'Is it right?' And there
comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic,
nor popular but because conscience tells one it is right.Â

Martin Luther King Jr.

Do you wanna go faaaaaaaastah!!!!!!

2006-08-22T17:29:00.000-04:00

It's August and it's a few weeks before the September Labour Day weekend. In Toronto that means it is time for the CNE or Canadian National Exhibition. Torontonian's, who seem to shorten all names refer to the CNE simply as "the Ex".

Out of the blue I ended up at "the Ex" on Monday evening as JB's Sports Network sets up an interactive booth for kids at the CNE (the ol' get them hooked on a brand while their young, marketing angle) As JB works in Public Relations for said network, he was down there to make sure things were running smoothly. He suggested I meet him after work and we have dinner.

If you are from Toronto or you have been to Toronto in August you have more than likely walked through the Princes Gates (photo above) to enter the CNE, many, many times. While I was waiting for JB to meet me at the Princes Gates. I stood there looking at how lovely they are and looking at the details and all the carvings and the fountains on the side. The gates were opened in 1927 by H.R.H. Edward, Prince of Wales and his brother, Prince George. The Princes' Gates have become a symbol of the Canadian National Exhibition. The nine pillars on either side of the centre arch of the gates represent the participating provinces of Confederation (Newfoundland joined Confederation in 1949) of Canada. The figure at the top of the arch, Nike the "Goddess of Winged Victory," is a much loved Toronto sculpture. Torontonians were very, very upset and worried when Nike was taken down in the late 1980's for repairs and cleaning. She was returned to her rightful place on top of the gates looking eastward over the city skyline. The Princes' Gates were designated as historically significant under the Ontario Heritage Act.

The Ex is a tradition for many families. The Ex was founded in 1879 to encourage the development of agriculture, manufacturing, industry, commerce and the arts. It is now the largest annual fair in Canada and the fifth largest in North American with an average attendance of 1.3 million visitors annually.(got that from their "history of the ex" page). I remember as a small child my parents taking us every summer to the CNE. As I walked through the gates on Monday night a flood of memories came over me. As a kid the start of the CNE was always a bittersweet time because you knew when the Ex started you were 3 weeks away from school starting! You would go with your CNE pass which was handed out with your final report card each summer and immediately head for the midway to ride on the rides. I have a vivid memory of being very small and riding on one of children's rides on the Midway. It was a floating ride with little boats on a spoke that went around in a circle at a very low rate of speed, but as a 4 year old it seemed pretty fast. You had your own steering wheel and each little boat had their own bell that you could ring. I can still see my Dad smiling and waving at me each time I went around in my own little speed boat while my Dad motioned to me to ring the bell. Scattered throughout the grounds of the CNE are numerous buildings each designated for a specific purpose during the exhibition. Many of them are now designated heritage buildings as they were built from the late 1800's onward. The "Better Living Centre" was where all the latest appliances would be showcased. I remember my parents going there to check out the latest models in vacuum cleaners one summer. Sadly, now "The Better Living Centre" is more like a huge dollar store with booths showcasing all those "as seen on TV" products.

The Automotive building was where all the latest models of cars were showcased but Toronto now has a huge auto show in February each year. Now the Automotive Building houses the "Farm,Food and Fun" exhibit. The farm exhibits used to be housed in, you guessed it, "The Agricultural Building" which seems to be used for a different purpose this year. Beside the Agricultural Building is the Horse Palace. Being an ex equestrian, I used to spend a lot of time in the Horse Palace during the CNE. My Mother and I would go down a few times to watch the various horse competitions. They do seem to have horse "related" shows going on there but they have strayed a bit from the usual hunter/jumper and dressage competitions.

What I found fascinating while walking around the CNE on Monday night was how much the food building has changed. When I was a kid it was where you went for tons of free samples of candy and soda pop. It would be where the various big name food manufacturers would introduce their latest products. There was never any "ethnic" food at the food building. How times have changed. These days the food building fare has changed to reflect the more multicultural population of Toronto. But don't panic, you can still get Tiny Tom doughnuts and H. Salt Fish and Chips (my mothers favorite CNE snack) As I ventured into the Food Building on my quest for my CNE fix of a tray of curly fries. I noticed all sorts of different food kiosks now selling all sorts of ethnic fare Greek food, Indian food, Lebanese food,West Indian food. JB queued up for a shawarma which he said was excellent. I chuckled and thought when I was a kid the food building was where you could get fries, fish and chips, sausages and the most "exotic" dish you could get was a bowl of spaghetti and meat sauce for a dollar. Now you can get tandoori chicken and head over to the cheesecake stand and get a capuccino and a slice of cheesecake for dessert.

The Bandshell is still there but the music has changed from when the old swing bands from the 1930's and 1940's would play there. It was built as a replica to the Hollywood Bowl, in the 1930's. This summer the Bandshell's attraction is a show called "Hollywood-The Movie Song Show" where you can watch live performers sing, along with dancers and visual props of your favorite movie. You HAVE to check out the link that "showcases" this show. I could not stop laughing but then hey, the show IS free with your admission to the Ex.

I have not been to the Ex in quite a few years and it brought back a lot of memories as I walked through the gates. It was kind of comforting to see that it really hasn't changed that much yet it has changed a lot and truly reflects the multicultural population of Toronto. It is wonderful that all the old buildings are still there and are used and maintained. I can't say I would go every year as I used to when I was younger and like most Torontonian's we may not go every year but we would probably fight tooth and nail to ensure that the CNE went on each year.

I do have a hankering to head to the midway again and climb on the "Polar Express" and fly around in a circle so fast that the centrifugal force squishes you into the person you are sitting with while the music is blaring and the ride operator screams through the microphone "do you want to go faaaaaaaster!!!"

JB is back at the booth on the weekend so perhaps I will trek down again and meet him for lunch hit the polar express and get a belgian waffle ice cream and sit by the Princess Margaret fountain and watch a new generation of youth experience this end of summer CNE tradition.

Quote of the Day:

Youth is not a time of life; it is a state of mind; it is not a matter of rosy cheeks, red lips and supple knees; it is a matter of the will, quality of the imagination, a vigor of the emotions; it is the freshness of the deep springs of life.

Samuel Ullman

Panthera Tigris Sumatrae

2006-08-15T13:47:00.000-04:00

I decided to check out my mutual fund results this morning as they have been taking a beating the past couple of months. I was happy to see that they are climbing up again. My mutual funds are with AGF. This company uses a Tiger as their logo, stay with me...The Toronto Zoo has two new Sumatran baby tiger cubs and AGF, out of the goodness of their Corporate hearts (i am sure not because of the advertising it will give them) has funded "The AGF Baby Tiger cam" it is pretty cool and fascinating to watch the Mother tiger, Brytne, and her two cubs,yet to be named. As Blake Goldring,President of AGF, states on the Toronto Zoo website "Through the Tiger-Cam we can witness the previously hidden world of one of nature's most endangered animals, the Sumatran Tiger. Please come back and visit often - these cubs are growing and changing - in front of our very eyes!" Thanks Blake and hopefully your fund advisors at AGF are constantly on the look out for environmentally friendly and responsible companies with which to invest our money with. Makes me sad that we can't have a web cam in Sumatra where we can watch Sumatran Tigers frolic in their natural habitat! I just checked the web cam and Mother tiger is giving one of the cubs a bath...

Quote for today:

If a man walks in the woods for love of them half of each day, he is in danger of being regarded as a loafer. But if he spends his days as a speculator, shearing off those woods and making the earth bald before her time, he is deemed an industrious and enterprising citizen.

Henry David Thoreau

Kobayashi Maru (for you trekkies, keep reading)

2006-08-14T15:22:00.000-04:00

Bless this house O Lord we pray; Make it safe by night and day;
Bless these walls so firm and stout, Keeping want and trouble out:
Bless the roof and chimneys tall, Let thy peace lie over all;
Bless this door, that it may prove ever open to joy and love.

Apoligies but todays blog is a bit of a mish mash of things.

First off, Yes!! the roof is finally finished. The "roofers" showed up on Saturday afternoon to finish the job. I was so happy it made me think of the old hymn "Bless this House" which my Grandfather used to sing sometimes. It was a very popular hymn in the 1920's and 1930's. I was tempted to find a recording of the hymn and play the one line "bless this roof......" over and over again until the roofers left.

The weekend was not as relaxing as I had planned. My Saturday morning golf game with Espinoza and EL was great, very relaxing and a good work out. My friend Zahur joined we three ladies and it is always entertaining when Zahur joins us. Zahur is the type of person who is never stressed, always calm and laid back and he always has hilarious stories to tell us, in his cool African, British accent. Zahur loves golf and is one of those players who never gets stressed or upset. He keeps everyone else relaxed during the long 18 hole journey of the golf game. Zahur reminds me of Yul Brynner from the Ten Commandments. He has the same shaved head and speaks the same way as Yul (even though Yul was not African). When I sms'd Zahur and said we need a fourth for golf on Saturday he said to me with a flourish a la Yul "Then, I shall be your fourth!" not many guys use the word "shall" these days.

While I was out golfing, JB was at the Toronto Beer Festival (he wrote about it in his blog today, photos included) I had the rest of the day to do what I wanted. I decided to go grocery shopping and pick up some items and get something to BBQ and then hit the liquor store for some wine and then go home and relax. I had every intention of pouring myself a nice Leffe beer and reading the new Vanity Fair Magazine, out on our back patio alas, when I drove up to the house, I noticed the familiar white van of the roofers. I just wanted to sit out in the back and relax and read a magazine but the hammering and other noises was making me crazy. It was even worse when they brought out the flame thrower to melt the tar to attach the sealant to a portion of the house that has a flat roof on it. I decided to go inside and close all the windows and prep dinner.

On Sunday, JB and I went for our weekly golf lesson and then got home to find the roofers back at work, doing last minute fix ups and cleaning up all the debris. Once they left, we decided to go to Golf Town as they are having a huge clearance sale. I got a great deal on a 56 degree approach wedge (you golfers will know what that is)in an "oil can" finish and we both got a great deal on two bag carts. It saves us renting a cart each time we go and play.the cart in the photo is the model we bought. It has some nice extras such as the tee holders, ball holders and water bottle holder, not to mention the holder for the scorecard and pencil! This is most important as it is a pain to continually be pulling out the score card from your pocket or golf bag and then searching for a pencil to input everyone's score after each hole. Back at home JB unpacked the carts and put them both together. I was called and emailed about work issues on and off all day on Sunday.

Sunday night my brother arrived home and noticed the roof finished and the debris all cleaned up and quipped "oh, have our lodgers finally moved out?"

Back at work today and thankfully my Director is back! This afternoon, I got into a discussion with one of my co-workers about those annoying "team building" posters that are sold from the store "Successories" I am sure you have all seen them before. The posters with the beautifully photographed nature scenes or sports scenes with the requisite statements such as "A positive attitude is a powerful force. It can't be stopped!".....well, some bright person has developed their own "successories" poster campaign utilizing old stills from the old Star Trek series... There are three pages of these hilarious "motivational posters" one of my favorites is the one below. The caption states "I'm sorry, I can't hear you over the sound of how awesome I am." I just can't stop laughing!

Celtic Chancers update: The boys are close to the border of Kazakhstan and Mongolia. Their latest message: "slept in car in field 2 sound of horse size dogs barking. Woke 2 sound of cow eating wing mirror. Had breakfast with local farmer & flies." (if confused see previous blog "From London to Ulaan Bataar")

Quote for Today:

Today's quote is for our a**hole Canadian Prime Minister who apparently could not attend the rather large AIDS conference happening in Toronto this week. His "people" are saying that it could not fit into his calendar. It appears the likes of Bill Clinton, 1000's of dignitaries from all over the world including numerous women from Africa fighting to get much needed drugs to their countries, does not make our Prime Minister CLUE IN, that perhaps he should have attended the opening ceremonies with the other dignitaries from all over the world. I am embarrassed and disgusted that this man is our Prime Minister and every Canadian should remember this come election day! (Ii never voted for the boob to begin with so my conscience is clear!)

great revolution in just one single individual will help achieve a change in the destiny of a society and, further, will enable a change in the destiny of humankind.

Daisaku Ikeda - Japanese Peace Activist

The Frazzled Female

2006-08-10T23:52:00.000-04:00

Man am I jealous of my sister who is on a beach in Phuket, Thailand for three weeks!

This week has been brutal for me. Although this week was a short week due to last weekend being a long holiday weekend, trust me it felt looooooong. Not sure if it is due to some wacky alignment of the planets or if the moon is full but people are NUTS this week. To add to the zaniness my Director is off on vacation and she asked me to be Acting Director.

Anything that could go wrong this week did. From the wee bit of family drama on the weekend with helping JB's sister move herself and the niece and nephew out of the house she shared with her husband and the children's father. To the monosyllabic, low IQ roofers hired to put a new roof on our house this week. Not to mention the insane outages and bizarre incidents at work this week.

The move on the weekend went fairly smoothly. JB's two friends Jayman and RB came up to help with the move and Sis and kiddies seem reasonably adjusted to their new space. Unfortunately our roof is not progressing as smoothly. The roof work was started last week and is not finished yet. They can't finish til next week because one of the so called "tradesmen" shot himself in the foot with the air gun used to shoot nails into the new roof tiles and secure them to said roof. I wondered about their competency as roofers when they showed up to start their roofing job at 3 pm in the afternoon the first day and then were outside working in the dark of night sweeping and cleaning up the mess they made during the afternoon because they did not hire a bin to throw all the debris in. When I questioned why there was no bin, i was told "oh don't worry, we have a dump truck coming to pick up the debris" The last straw was when they showed up at 6:45pm on Sunday. That's when I lost it and snapped "are you actually planning to start work and disturb us on the Sunday evening of a long weekend? and just how does it take FIVE days to put a roof on a house??" Suffice to say, I did not hire these roofers and did not pay for them. If I had they would have been sent packing and a more reputable roofing company would be called to finish the job.

On to the next crisis: this morning I awakened to my Brother swearing like there is no tomorrow. Intrigued as to what would have him swear more than normal,as he can swear with the best of them, I ventured down stairs to the basement kitchen to find him straddling the drain in the floor with a plunger trying to plunge the backed up sewer water back down the drain in the floor. I simply sighed, look up towards heaven and found myself quoting my Fathers favorite coping mantra "these little things are all sent to try us" With my brother using every swear word known to man with each plunge and each plunge getting a different swear word all it's own, I finally said to him "look, stop, some of the water has subsided" I washed the floor with anti bacterial floor cleaner and told him I would call a plumber and ask to have the drain snaked. I then realized that I had to be at work for a meeting. Had a shower, got ready, called a cab and was sent quite possibly the worst cab driver in Toronto. It was particularly nice when he started clearing his throat only to hork up a loogie and spit it out the driver side window towards oncoming traffic. I thought to myself "Yep, today is going to be a great day!!" It was not to be, work was insane. I e mailed JB and said "day from hell" to which he responded "that means what time for pick up?" I sent back "ASAP"

JB picked me up, got home,stepped over all the roofing debris neatly piled waiting for the mysterious dump truck to come and retrieve it. I called Brother's Plumbing asked how much to unclog a basement drain was quoted a reasonable rate and said "can you send someone now" A nice chap arrived snaked the drain and all is back to normal. I washed the floor, again, with PineSol to kill any germs that may have been sitting in the overflow water and all is back to normal in the basement. Man that bottle of Pinot Grigio we had with dinner was finished fast!!!

Let's just say that I am looking forward to this weekend. I am not on call and I have all my fingers and toes crossed in the hopes I will not be called for an escalation requiring the Operations Director. Coglero was supposed to be our houseguest this weekend as he was going to drive in from Ottawa and he and JB were heading to the Toronto Beer Festival which is why, as my previous blog states, we couldn't head to Fergus this weekend. Alas, poor Coglero is feeling under the weather and has placed himself on some bizarre cleansing diet. Coglero or no Coglero JB is not missing out on the Beer Festival. I decided to take a pass on the Beer Fest this year as I find I seem to just stand at the Guinness booth and down Guinness samples then move to the Stella booth and then back to the Guinness booth. I never seem to walk around and try the other beers. Rather than attend beer fest with the boys, my girlfriends Espinoza and EL have booked an 8am tee time for Saturday. There is nothing like a nice early morning golf game to make you forget about the week that passed. How can you feel stressed when surrounded by nature and such lovely vistas.
The photo is of the 13th hole at Four Seasons Golf Club located just north of Toronto. We are very excited because we found out that Four Seasons actually means just that open all four seasons! They keep the course open ALL YEAR. You can play nine holes on the course in the winter. I expect they have a blizzard rule in effect but we are game to try and play golf in our polartec turtlenecks! Anything is better than hitting balls inside as we are normally stuck doing during the long Canadian winter.

Quote of the day:

Difficulties strengthen the mind, as labor does the body. Seneca

Wi' a hundred pipers, an' a', an' a',

2006-08-08T12:43:00.000-04:00

If you grew up in Canada,with ex-pat Scottish parents as I did, doubtless you were brought up in an environment so Scottish you felt more Scottish than Canadian. From a very young age my sister and I were sent for Scottish dance lessons. My Mother belonged to the RSCDS, belonged to the SNP (they have tons of supporters in Canada) and was also a member, and for a short time, the conductor of the Toronto Gaelic Choir. I was so involved in Scottish dancing, Scottish events and Scottish shows, Scottish dance competitions that I began to think it weird to see a man in any other form of clothing but the kilt. My father would constantly educate us on the history and culture of Scotland. The struggles, the wars, the clearances, the beauty of the country and how we should be proud to have such a heritage and history to look back on and to never forget our ancestors and the past.

The Scottish culture is so much a part of the heritage and foundation of Canada it is hard to escape it. In Nova Scotia (New Scotland) the road signs in some towns are in English and Gaelic. Here in Ontario, you have access to tons of Scottish Festivals that promote the culture, food and of course drink of Scotland. There is a Burn's Society, RSCDS chapters across Canada, a St. Andrew's Society, the lists of Scottish related societies are endless. The St. Andrew's Society, here in Toronto, was founded in 1836. Scots who had already established themselves in this new city set out to assist immigrant Scots just arriving here. Over the years the St. Andrew's Society has maintained a keen interest in its people and its mandate. These days they have expanded their charitable endeavours through the legacy of the St. Andrew's Charitable Foundation.

My parents came to Toronto in the mid 1950's along with many of their friends and acquaintances, from Glasgow. But they never, ever lost their love for Scotland. They never forgot where they came from. The pull from their Motherland was strong. They never let us forget our heritage and it was the same for most of the families that came here. It is a testament to the power of the land and the culture and probably the reason the English were never able to stamp it out, no matter how hard they tried. If anything it only made it even more prevalent all over the world. Sure, you can clear the Scots off their land and try and ban their pipes and kilts and tartans but it wont work, you only make the culture stronger. As proof, there are chapters of the RSCDS in Tokyo and La Paz, Bolivia! There are pipe bands from all over the four corners of the earth.

My Scottish culture rant today is all due to the fact that this upcoming weekend is one of the best and largest Scottish festivals of the summer here in Canada. People come from all over and congregate in the little town of Fergus, Ontario for the 3 day Fergus Scottish Festival and Highland Games. I was hoping to make it up to Fergus this weekend as I was in the mood to see some pipe bands, sheep dog trials and some highland dance competitions and of course the heavy competition. Nothing like watching a huge guy in a kilt toss a telephone pole over on its end. Alas we have other plans this weekend which I agreed to without realizing they fell upon the same weekend as the games.

Next years Fergus weekend is already blocked off in my calendar. JB will be even more indoctrinated into the Scottish culture. He has mentioned a desire to see the sheep dog trials as he is amazed at the talent of the Scottish collies. I must say, JB does get extra Kudos for donning a tux and taking me to the St. Andrew's Ball when we were first dating, years ago. That was just a full on assault of "Scottishness" (i know it's not a word)! He even ate the haggis, tatties and nips second course and didn't complain at all, must have had something to do with the fact he loves malt whisky and it was flowing at the Ball. I have noticed in subsequent years that he has taken a wee bit less haggis each year, when the serving platter comes his way. The Ball is held every November and the 48th Highlanders provide the music and the entertainment for the evening. Won't get JB in a kilt yet, he prefers the tux.

A Celtic Chancers update:. The tracking page shows them reaching the Kyrgyzstan border.

Quotes of the Day:

For that is the mark of the Scots of all classes:
that he stands in an attitude towards the past
unthinkable to Englishmen, and remembers and
cherishes the memory of his forebears, good or
bad; and there burns alive in him a sense of identity
with the dead even to the twentieth generation.

Robert Louis Stevenson

We look to Scotland for all our ideas of civilisation.

Voltaire

Me and Thurman

2006-08-04T20:22:00.000-04:00

I meant to post this on the actual date but did not have the time to sit and write a reasonable blog about Thurman.

Two days ago, on August 2nd, it was the anniversary of the death of Thurman Munson. Thurman was the great New York Yankee catcher who died at age 32 in an airplane crash.

I take a lot of flack here in TO (Toronto) for being a Yankee fan. I endure comments like "you traitor, you should be supporting the Toronto Blue Jays", "you are just on the Yankee bandwagon" or my favorite "Sure, you just like the Yankees cause Derek Jeter is cute" The last comment always makes me laugh because ya, you got me, because the only reason a woman could POSSIBLY watch baseball is because of one cute player.

My sister and I being born in the mid to late 1960's grew up as children without a Toronto Blue Jays. We did not have a baseball team in Toronto when we were kids. Being less than 2 hours from the New York State border, we watched Yankee game feeds. My sister had her black NY Yankees baseball cap and we would love to watch the play off games with our Dad. Dad would explain the rules of the game, helped us appreciate the sport and respect the history of the game. My Dad would tell us about the great players of the 1940's and 1950's and about the struggles of the black players and the wonderful history of Baseball. He read a lot about baseball history and would tell us all the funny road trip stories he had read about from the 1920's onward.

My Dad was a Thurman fan,and a Yankee fan for years. To me, Thurman just looked like a baseball player. When you watched him play you knew he was focused on nothing else but wining that game for his team.

Thurman Munson was a member of the New York Yankees for 11 years and has been called one of the greatest catchers of the 1970s. He joined the Yankees in 1968 and a year later he was their starting catcher. The '69 season was a dark spot in an otherwise glorious history for the Yankees. It was the year following the retirement of Yankee legend Mickey Mantle whose skills, along with the Yankees performance as a team, were in a steady decline. That decline hit rock bottom in the summer of '69 as the Yankees were without a true superstar for the first time in their existence. When Babe Ruth slowed down, Lou Gehrig was there to carry the torch, who passed it on to Joe DiMaggio, who had subsequently passed it on to Mantle. There did not seem to be an heir to the torch until a stocky young catcher from Canton, Ohio was called up from the minors during the tail end of that terrible season.

He started his career by winning the 1970 American League Rookie of the Year award when he batted a .302. His intense attitude, sharp thinking and leadership soon earned him the position of team captain. The first captain of the team since Lou Gehrig had passed away in 1941. He also earned three Gold Gloves due to his defensive playing abilities behind home plate. In 1976 he won the Most Valuable Player award for hitting .302 and 105 RBI's. During his span with the Yankees he led them to three American League pennants and two World Championships. Thurman Munson had many uncomplimentary nicknames reflecting his unimpressive physique rather than his baseball skills, among them "Squatty Boy" and "Jelly Belly." He was supposedly insecure, often irascible man noted for being difficult with umpires and media. He felt he was unfairly overshadowed by star catchers like Johnny Bench and Carlton Fisk (their rift was well known), he once dropped three third strikes in a game so he could throw to first base and pad his assists total. Brash and cocky, Munson was a most untypical rookie. Once he told veteran second baseman Willie Randolph, "Relax, I like you."

By 1979, however, the strain of catching was taking its toll on Munson's body. In constant pain, he sometimes found it difficult to crouch behind the plate. Yet he remained a superb catcher whose mere presence and tenacity got the best out of his pitchers. Yankees ace Ron Guidry always insisted Munson deserved half the credit for the left-hander's Cy Young Award season of 1978 (25-3, 1.74 ERA, nine shutouts). "I went the whole year never shaking him off one time," Guidry once recalled. "He always knew exactly when to say something and when to shut up. I don't remember him ever chewing [teammates out] and pointing fingers [during a slump]. He'd just say, 'We're not playing as a team we're better than this.' "

From 1975 through 1977, Munson hit over .300 and drove in at least 100 runs a season while averaging just 16 homers-and catching 387 games. By 1976, the Yankees were back in the World Series, swept by the Reds. New York got 30 hits. Munson had nine of them. But in 1977 and 1978, Munson Yankees won it all. Rewarded both with triumph and gold, Munson bought a small airplane. Thurman always wanted to be close to the town he grew up in, Canton, Ohio. He wanted his family to live there. In an effort to get himself home faster during off time he decided to purchase the Cessna and learn how to fly. His love for piloting always made Yankee owner George Steinbrenner nervous. Munson was still a rookie pilot and the day he died he was practising landings and take offs in his Cessna. He had spent less than 40 hours in the air with his new jet. On August 2nd, the Cessna plane stalled while landing, scraped some trees and crashed into a cornfield with its wings shorn off. Two other passengers, a friend and a flight instructor, survived and began attempting to drag Munson from the wreckage. He was calling for help when jet fuel leaked and the plane exploded. Munson's body was so badly burned that he had to be identified by dental records. He had a broken jaw, a broken rib, a bloody nose and a bruised heart among other injuries.

At the request of Munson's widow, Diane, the Yankees played the Orioles the next night as scheduled. It was probably the most emotional occasion at Yankee Stadium since the fatally stricken Gehrig's famed farewell ("I am the luckiest man on the face of the Earth") July 4, 1939. The Yankees lost 1-0, but probably most of the crowd of 51,151 didn't care or even notice. Before the game, the Yankees stood at attention as a portrait of Munson appeared on the video screen. Players had their heads bowed, and they were crying. It was horrible. To this day I remember watching that game. It was heartbreaking to watch Munson's best friend Lou Piniella standing weeping on the field. I was crying, my Father was crying and my Mother was crying.

Three days later, on Aug. 6, the Yankees chartered a plane to attend Munson's funeral in Ohio, where Munson's best friends and team mates Bobby Murcer and Lou Piniella delivered eulogies. "The league told us if we didn't get back for that night´s game, we'd have to forfeit it," Steinbrenner said. "I told them to stick it." The Yankees did return in time and defeated Baltimore 5-4. Murcer drove in four runs and had a game-wining homer.

I keep this photo of Thurman on one of the walls of my office. I bought an official MLB copy on E Bay. I just love the look on Thurman's face, the focus, the look of a team player as he walks back to the dugout to prepare to get up at bat. It reminds me of my time as a kid, my time watching baseball with my Dad and my sister.

To this day, Thurman Munson's locker has remained empty ever since his death. It serves as a small, silent tribute to this much-missed Yankee ballplayer.

I have included the following moving tribute to Thurman, written by Michael Paterniti in 1999:

The House That Thurman Munson Built

by Michael Paterniti
September 1999, Volume 132 Issue 3

Trust me, he said, and the last great brawling sports team in America did. Twenty years after Thurman Munson's death, Reggie, Catfish, Goose, Gator, the Boss-and a nation of former boys-still aren't over it.

I give you Thurman Munson in the eighth inning of a meaningless baseball game, in a half-empty stadium in a bad Yankee year during a fourteen-season Yankee drought, and Thurman Munson is running, arms pumping, busting his way from second to third like he's taking Omaha Beach, sliding down in a cloud of luminous, Saharan dust, then up on two feet, clapping his hands, turtling his head once around, spitting diamonds of saliva: Safe.

I give you Thurman Munson getting beaned in the head by a Nolan Ryan fastball and then beaned in the head by a Dick Drago fastball-and then spiked for good measure at home plate by a 250-pound colossus named George Scott, as he's been spiked before, blood spurting everywhere, and the mustachioed catcher they call Squatty Body/Jelly Belly/Bulldog/Pigpen refusing to leave the game, hunching in the runway to the dugout at Yankee Stadium in full battle gear, being stitched up and then hauling himself back on the field again.

I give you Thurman Munson in the hostile cities of America-in Detroit and Oakland, Chicago and Kansas City, Boston and Baltimore-on the radio, on television, in the newspapers, in person, his body scarred and pale, bones broken and healed, arms and legs flickering with bruises that come and go like purple lights under his skin, a man crouched behind home plate or swinging on-deck, jabbering incessantly, playing a game.

I give you a man and a boy, a father and a son, twenty years earlier, on the green expanse of a 1950s Canton, Ohio, lawn, in front of a stone house, playing ball. The father is a long-distance truck driver, disappears for weeks at a time, heading west over the plains, into the desert, to the Pacific Ocean, and then magically reappears with his hardfisted rules, his maniacal demand for perfection, and a photographic memory for the poetry he recites... . No fate, / can circumvent or hinder or control / the firm resolve of a determined soul.

Now the father is slapping grounders at the son and the boy fields the balls. It is the end of the day and sunlight fizzes through the trees like sparklers. As the boy makes each play, the balls come harder. Again and again, until finally it's not a game anymore. Even when a ball takes a bad hop and catches the boy's nose and he's bleeding, the truck driver won't stop. It's already a thing between this father and son. To see who will break first. They go on until dusk, the bat smashing the ball, the ball crashing into the glove, the glove hiding the palm, which is red and raw, until the blood has dried in the boy's nose.

I give you the same bloody-nosed boy, Thurman Munson, in a batting cage now before his rookie year, taking his waggles, and a lithe future Hall of Famer named Roberto Clemente looking on. Clemente squints in the orange sun, analyzing the kid's swing, amazed by his hand speed, by the way he seems to beat each pitch into a line drive. If you ever bat .280 in the big leagues, he says to Thurman Munson by way of a compliment, consider it a bad year.

When the Yankees bring Thurman Munson to New York after only ninety-nine games in the minors-after playing in Binghamton and Syracuse-he just says to anyone who will listen: What took them so long? He's not mouthing off. He means it, is truly perplexed. What took them so goddamn long? Time is short, and the Yankees need a player, a real honest-to-God player who wants to win as much as blood needs oxygen or a wave needs water. It's that elemental.

Quotes of the Day:

"I'm a little too belligerent. I cuss and swear at people. I yell at umpires and maybe I'm a little too tough at home sometimes. I don't sign as many autographs as I should and I haven't always been very good with writes."

"I like hitting fourth and I like the good batting average. But what I do everyday behind the plate is a lot more important because it touches so many more people and so many more aspects of the game."

Thurman Munson

**thanks to the Official and Un-Official Thurman Munson web sites for some of the stats and quotes**

Wedding Bells in TO

2006-08-03T15:11:00.000-04:00

This past weekend. JB and I attended the wedding of my friend TD. JB took the photo of the lovely couple leaving the church. I love how you can see the rose petals we were flinging at them flying through the air. The wedding was great fun and of course the main focus of this wedding, being an Italian - Greek wedding, was the food! I have not eaten as much food in one sitting ever. I felt like I was at some 3 day feast from ancient Roman times. The servers kept coming out with more food. There was an amazing seafood salad, a pasta dish, a rice dish which I managed to get through when JB leaned over and whispered to me "you know you have an 8oz veal chop and a stuffed chicken breast coming out next". JB would know as he studied the menu card on the table quite closely. The veal chop was great, as was the chicken. Along came a small dish of sorbet and then yet another dish with amazing grilled shrimps and calamari. Speeches and dining over, the DJ started his show and the dancing began. Me and my girlfriend Espinoza were so full we had to get on the dance floor to try and work off some of the meal. Our better halves JB and Migs decided that dancing was not for them and sat at the table and watched us ladies dance with everyone else on the dance floor. JB must have decided he needed to work off some food as a few songs later he decided to dance two slow songs with me and then a waltz! Normally, JB will not dance this much at an event.
Close to midnight the hall staff moved some panels away to display another room which had three tables loaded with huge trays of fruit, pastries and the wedding cake. Espinoza and I both groaned "not more food". Even though I didn't have the room for another bite, I just had to try the wedding cake (photo)which was really quite excellent and I grabbed some fresh figs and strawberries in the odd belief that if I ate some fresh fruit it would make the whole night of eating somehow healthier and less fattening. In reality, the whole idea of a wedding is to enjoy and eat and celebrate and not count calories which we certainly did. JB has a great account of the church ceremony. Let's just say Espinoza and I did spot "Commando Girl" on the dance floor later that evening. We were both still mystified as to how one could sit in a church "commando" particularly in the heat and humidity. I know my Mother told me always to wear clean underwear better yet try and wear underwear at all times particularly in Church! All and all it was a great wedding and we all had a great time with much eating, dancing and laughing with friends. The Bride and Groom are off to Las Vegas to see some shows and will be back in TO next week sometime.

Quote of the Day:

To keep your marriage brimming,
With love in the loving cup,
Whenever you're wrong admit it;
Whenever you're right shut up.

Ogden Nash

2006-08-02T15:21:00.000-04:00

Whatzupwitu? Whatsupwit this cheesy video!

Short blog today....
whatzupwit this video??? I have never seen it before. Eddie and Michael? Bizarre....

From London to Ulaan Bataar. Start your Engines!

2006-08-01T19:15:00.000-04:00

8 000 miles, 2 deserts, 5 mountain ranges, roads ranging from bad to non-existent, no support crew and all in a car you swapped for a bag of crisps? The answer is : "Yes"

One of the blogs I occasionally peruse made mention of the Mongol Rally. The blogger has two friends who have entered themselves in the race. Intrigued by the thought of a car rally and finding the team name of "Celtic Chancers" amusing I decided to check out the websites.

The object of the Mongol Rally is to drive a shit box car from London over 8,000 miles to Ulaan Bataar, the capital of Mongolia. The rules of the rally state you cannot drive a car that is in good shape or of any sort of major horsepower. The Celtic Chancers are driving a 1995 Ford Fiesta (g-d help them!). The goal is to raise as much money as you can for charity. Some of the charities that will benefit from this crazy, wacky rally are Send a Cow, Mercy Corps, CAMDA and Wildlife CRU.

I love the idea of the charity Send a Cow. Their website explains that Send a Cow works closely with local organizations to identify the most needy people in the community - usually women, disabled people or the teenage heads of families orphaned by war or sickness. They strive to ensure that recipients make a success of rearing the livestock they are given. It's not just cows though, very poor people, with little land and few resources who find it difficult to manage dairy cows, receive smaller stock, such as goats, pigs or poultry. They can then begin to rear livestock even though they cannot provide the full shelter or fodder needed for a cow. Each gift - whether it's a cow, goats, pigs, poultry, bees or even fruit trees - is chosen to fit the circumstances of the individual family. Training is provided beforehand in animal rearing and sustainable organic farming, and low-cost veterinary services are provided afterwards.

The initial gifts go on multiplying indefinitely, as each person who receives livestock passes on the animal's first female offspring to another poor farmer, who will do the same in turn. Send a Cow are now working in Uganda, Rwanda, Kenya, Ethiopia and Lesotho.

I just donated via the lads website. It was a breeze to send a donation online. I asked that my donation go to Send a Cow. I urge all of you to check out the The Mongol Rally website. Pick a team you like and donate some $$$$$ You can track your team via the cool tracking page Last time I checked the Celtic Chancers were somewhere in Kazakhstan.

Here's to the Celtic Chancers. Let's hope they make it to Ulaan Bataar and back safely!

Quote of the Day:

"The first question which the priest and the Levite asked was: "If I stop to help this man, what will happen to me?" But... the good Samaritan reversed the question: "If I do not stop to help this man, what will happen to him?"

Martin Luther King Jr

In Vino Veritas (ìn wine truth)

2006-07-31T14:18:00.000-04:00

I am mystified by the latest news stories on Mel Gibson. To further clarify, I am certainly not mystified that Mr. Gibson has been caught drinking and driving. Nor am I mystified by his apparent anti-Semitic and male chauvinistic ramblings while being arrested. What I am mystified by, is the unbelievable comments and support of "fans" for Mr. Gibson. If you look at the posted comments to any of the related news stories on the internet, the comments range from "leave him alone, he has a problem, he didn't mean what he said" to my favorite "haven't you made a mistake in life. He didn't mean what he said, he was under the influence. He has a real problem, it's a sickness"

Granted, I do agree that alcoholism is a sickness but when you are drunk, alcohol doesn't have the ability to make you say things you wouldn't normally think or feel. You do not suddenly have anti Semitic thoughts placed into your head. You don't all of sudden become a raging male chauvinist or anti-Semitic asshole. Those ideas and opinions were there before the alcohol "brought it out". The alcohol was merely the catalyst that failed to stop him from actually saying what he really thinks. Sorry Gibson fans, the booze didn't make him say it. It just helped to let us see the real Mel.

JB wrote a good post about the whole Gibson debacle. I won't bother posting all of the details on this blog.

Honestly, I have never been a huge Gibson fan. I have found that I just can't get past his personal/religious beliefs. He has made speeches opposing abortion access, the use of contraceptives, and equal rights for gays and lesbians. It's fine that he wants to practice within his own religion but he should just shut up and keep his intolerance to himself and not push is extreme Catholic ideology on the rest of us. There was a reformation started in 1517 for a reason!

The fact that Mel is so dismissive and intolerant of Jews, women's rights, gay and lesbian rights begs this question: If you are religious and practice the teachings of Jesus Christ, aren't you a hypocrite if you spread hate, lies and intolerance?

Quote of the day:

Men never do evil so completely and cheerfully as when they do it from religious conviction.

Blaise Pascal

Well, I do declare! What will they think of next!!

2006-07-24T17:04:00.000-04:00

While sitting at my desk today, I decided to take a short break and check out "The Women's Golf Shop" online. I had recently ordered two skirts on sale and I wanted to check on delivery as one of the skirts was on back order.

Here in Toronto, the choices in the pro shops or stores like Golf Town are lacking for women. I find myself ordering on line from the US when it comes to golf attire. In the US, it's a whole different ball game (pardon the pun). The choices for funky golf shoes, clothing and accessories are endless. Gone are the matronly, ugly designs of boring long skirts or shorts and golf shirts that look like mens but are simply cut smaller but I digress while "window shopping" on Women's Golf Shop, I stumbled across the following "golf accessory" which I must admit I am completely fascinated by.

The Cleavage Cooler
......YES! You read correctly... I didn't even know that my cleavage would require cooling while playing golf but apparently, as the description for the product states " Frozen Cleavage Coolers" fit snuggly in the front of your bra where it presses against your sternum and brings amazing body heat and anxiety relief" Anxiety relief? I know I can get upset when I three putt a hole or miss a drive but anxious would not aptly describe my mood at the time? I find this product absolutely bizarre but I am somehow interested in trying one to see just how it works but the $25USD price tag seems a bit steep. I am now wondering if it would have the same effect if I just allowed my cleavage to act as cup holder for my cold water or beer while I walk from one hole to another on a muggy day? What about a mini bag of frozen peas? That would only set me back about $3 Canadian. The possibilities are endless....

The "Cleavage Cooler" is being promoted to us ladies as a Smart "Girlfriend Gift" for: hostesses~Bridal Parties~Baby Showers~Actresses~Dancers~Drama Queens~All Athletes~Tee Prizes at Golf Tournaments. I actually chortled out loud at that brilliant marketing blurb. You even have your choice of shapes, fabrics and by virtue of the fact it was featured on "Dr. Phil's" Invention show just makes me want to run out or click on the "add to cart" button.... NOT.... but I may try the beer can trick on Sunday, if it's really hot....I am sure I may get some stares and JB will be lying prostrate on the greens, laughing his ass off. Surely, everyone will understand that I am trying to reduce my body heat and relieve my anxiety. I am quite sure I will play 100% better than I did with hot cleavage.

If you are interested the "Cleavage Cooler" comes in an assortment of fabrics and either heart shaped or oblong shaped. I will let y'all know how the beer can works if I try it out this weekend.

Quote of the day:

Golf is a game of coordination, rhythm and grace; women have these to a high degree.

Babe Didrikson Zaharias

Yes but can it boil water for my tea.....

2006-07-21T17:11:00.000-04:00

My girlfriend, Biodiversity Babe , e mailed the following story to me today. She prefaced said story with dire warnings that I should lay off my Blackberry. As I work in the wireless industry, I am pretty much glued to my mobile and Blackberry or "Crackberry" as we call them here in Wireless Operations. After reading this story I feel I may have to reconsider using my mobile on those long 2 hour conference calls I sometimes end up on. If not, apparently my brain will become hard boiled. BioBabe loves the fact that the cell phones are in cigarette packages, that must have been for another health experiment. I am sure some of us techs here will discover some flaws in their experiment as we like our jobs and our annual bonuses.

Here is the story.....you decide......

How Two Russian Journalists Cooked an Egg with their Mobile Phones

Vladimir Lagovski and Andrei Moiseynko from Komsomolskaya Pravda Newspaper in Moscow decided to learn first-hand how harmful cell phones are. There is no magic in cooking with your cell phone. The secret is in the radio waves that the cell phone radiates.

The journalists created a simple microwave structure as shown in the picture. They called from one cell phone to the other and left both phones on talking mode. They placed a tape recorder next to phones to imitate sounds of speaking so the phones would stay on.

After, 15 minutes: The egg became slightly warm.

25 minutes: The egg became very warm.

40 minutes: The egg became very hot.

65 minutes: The egg was cooked. (As you can see.)

Conclusion ..1: Cooking eggs with mobile phones is possible but very expensive ($4.55 or 123 Rubles)

Conclusion ..2: All this talk of danger is exaggerated; even if your brain gets cooked, it would take a couple hours of talking on a cell phone.

Conclusion ..3: We dont recommend carrying cell phone in your pants.

Spamalot

2006-07-20T11:51:00.000-04:00

I noticed on one of the blogs I peruse via Blogspot, the blog owner has chosen a word verification option for those who want to add comments. At first I thought it was strange and perhaps a bit paranoid. After logging in to my blog this morning, I now know why this option was added to their blog. I checked a couple of my blogs, where I know I had no comments added and all of a sudden I noticed comments on quite a few of my blogs. Comments that were not very well written and posted by "anonymous". Comments such as "way to go" or "awesome content" . I placed my cursor on the tiny blue >> link at the bottom of the comment it showed me that "loans.fabiga3.be/residential...." seems to think all my blogs are awesome....

To "loans.fabiga3.be" thanks for the vote of confidence and "awesome" compliments about my writing ability but GET LOST!

Thinking about "Spam" made me remember the hilarious Monty Python sketch with the singing Vikings in the breakfast diner that serves spam with every breakfast meal. A couple drops in to the cafe and all they would like is "eggs, bacon, sausage and no spam". I just watched it again and cannot stop laughing....It is classic Monty Python...the credits at the end are pretty funny and you get to hear the Python theme song....

Oh and word verification has now been added to this blog as well.

Monty Python - Spam

Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice........

2006-07-18T19:09:00.000-04:00

Ever been in a situation where a series of events occurred to warn you things would not go well but you don't put the series of events all together in your head right away and you blindly go ahead even though ALL the warning signs were there. Then you look back at the chain of events and you want to smack yourself for not being more on the ball and altering the situation.

I was looking forward to a nice relaxing golf game with JB and my friend EL. I should have known it was going to be an "interesting" afternoon when I arrived at the starters box and he informed me that my $95 silk/cotton mix shirt was a tank top and therefore not regulation. Now, I understand golf etiquette and proper dress but I have worn this top at a much more expensive golf club than this public course where the clubhouse is underneath the Victoria Park subway station and the green fees are $22 peak time. JB looked at me, looked at the starter, looked back at me with his "this is not funny" exasperated look. I then politely said to the starter "this is not a tank top, I don't wear tank tops!" He said "it doesn't have sleeves" JB noticed EL walking up the path to the starters booth and said "well, neither of you are not going to be able to play as EL's shirt has no sleeves either" the starter shouted out "oh,she can play, her shirt has a bit of sleeve" This then prompted some grubby guy, who had the tee time ahead of us, race over to me, get in my face and to interject in a fast paced banter a la Michael Keaton as Beetlejuice, "uh, what's your name? tell you what JMack I have an extra t-shirt, I will lend it to you and then you can give it back to me after your game, it's okay, it's okay, trust me, it's okay, take it, you can just take it off half way through the course and no-one will be the wiser, know what I mean, know what I mean" I politely responded "it's okay, thanks for the offer, I can run down to the clubhouse and buy a shirt as I would hate to deprive you of your change of shirt on such a hot day" Beetlejuice, obviously wasted and under the delusion that I may be someone he could ask out on a date then tried to charm me and impress me with his sense of humour by taking off his baseball cap and saying "hey look, I'm a wanna be blackman see,I have the bling bling still on my baseball cap (as he pointed to the price tag he left on the underside of his cap) but seriously the shirt is clean, it is freshly laundered, I swear, I swear" I didn't respond for a few seconds but thought "if I say Beetlejuice three times,I wonder if he will actually disappear?" JB gave me a glance, and he looked pissed off. I knew that look but I was focusing more on feeling pressured that I had held up the whole course because of my shirt incident. Even though Beetlejuice and his friends were nowhere near starting, I put on his T-shirt and then noticed out of the corner of my eye that the group ahead of Beetlejuices had just finished putting the first hole. Finally thinking fast, I realized I had a precious few minutes to rush down to the clubhouse and get a shirt. Beetlejuice and his pals were about to tee off. Beetlejuice decided to light off a small firecracker right when his friend was about to drive. How this did not get them kicked off the course was beyond me. I whispered to JB "these guys are taking forever to tee off. I am not wearing this asshole's shirt as I do not want to "socialize" with them all 18 holes". JB slipped me his bank card, as I left my purse locked in the car. I raced down the hill,into the clubhouse and saw a rack of women's golf shirts. They were all the expensive Nike Golf -Cool Max shirts at $75 a pop. My mind racing, I was doing the calculations in my head. Did I want to spend $75 on shirt to play this $22 course or do I want to walk around for 18 holes in Beeteljuice's "spare shirt". I then noticed a sign above the shirts "All Women's Golf Shirts %60 off" SOLD!! I grabbed a nice black shirt,ran to the counter and said to the golf pro "apparently my shirt is not proper attire for this course." He looked at Beetlejuices nasty, grubby t-shirt and said "uh, that shirt? That shirt is okay for this course" I shot back "not THIS shirt, the one I have on underneath!" He looked confused...I paid for the shirt and ran into the women's washroom put it on and ran back up to the first tee.

Beetlejuice and two pals were just finishing tee-ing off when the group who were to tee off after us arrived. Polar opposites of Beetlejuice and pals, these guys sauntered up to the waiting area of this $22 public course, in a crappy area of Toronto, as if they had just won at Augusta National last week. They took one look at EL and I and started whispering and chuckling. I knew right away they had that look of "oh, great, two women playing ahead of us". It amazes me that there is still this bizarre bias in this sport. Men who think women can't drive the ball as far, aren't as accurate, will hold up their game, blah blah blah blah.....I know that look, I have seen it many times on the golf course and many times after my first tee off, I have had the pleasure of wiping that stupid look and attitude of their faces when I swing my text book swing and send the ball flying. Alas, today was not going to be the day that I would have my normally great first tee off. With Beetlejuice and pals in front and the "wanna be pros" behind us and my head about to explode from the shirt incident I knew it was going to be a stressful game for me. I was getting rattled. This is the mental aspect of the golf game that can really screw up your play. Also, I am accustomed to a much more sane and classier tee off than the insane assylum scene were were going through.

JB tee'd off, EL tee'd off and then I tee'd off and as usual I hit the ball fairly straight but not half as far as I normally would hit the ball on a hole of this yardage. We finished the hole, moved to the second hole and caught up with Beetlejuice and pals who were waiting to tee off at the third hole. JB said "Give me that guys nasty shirt so I can hand it back to them" JB ran over with the shirt and then I noticed him in a conversation with Beetlejuice. JB returned and I asked him what the intense conversation was about. JB replied "oh, he was just apologizing for his black man comment. He said he shouldn't have said it and I told him it was a stupid thing to say. He agreed and said he should not have said it" I was thinking did Beetlejuice not notice that JB, a 6ft tall black man was standing next to him when he made the comment?

A few more holes were played when we noticed that Beetlejuice and pals, who were actually pretty accurate golfers, were playing increasingly worse. We then noticed the pungent odour of cannabis coming from their direction. Now, I don't care if people want to smoke pot but I am thinking on a public golf course at 2:30 pm in the afternoon? it may not be the right time. There were plenty of Dads with kids on the course and Mums with kids out for the afternoon. JB also mentioned that he had noticed that they had a hidden cooler in their bag. So, not only were they smoking joints but they were getting piss drunk on booze. It was going to be a sloooooow back 9. We had the trailer trash degenerates in front of us and the obnoxious "wanna be pros" behind us who seemed to blame their having to wait to tee off at each hole on us. Not sure how they did not notice that we were waiting for Beetlejuice and his pals to finish each hole and that Beetlejuice and pals were also waiting for a slow group of four who were ahead of them. I guess it was easier to blame their delay in game on the only two women on the course.

Fast forward to the 18th/19th hole. I finally have a half decent drive, make the green and we finish off the game. We start walking to the clubhouse and I notice Beetlejuice and pals all going into their respective vehicles and driving off! I then go into the clubhouse to wash my hands etc. Come out and one of the "wanna be golf pros" who were playing behind us says to the young lady who was driving the drink cart through the course all afternoon "Hey, thanks a lot, great job all afternoon, eh" I laughed out loud and said to her in a really loud voice "Wow, you must get that shit a lot" He then shot back a glance at me and I just started laughing. "Mr. Golf Pro" then got into his Hyundai and drove off...

The finale to this already messed up day....... I walk down the parking lot to our parked car. JB was putting the clubs in the trunk we look over and there on the other side of the lot was a group of four 20 something males and one of them was urinating, outside, on one of the trees. Perfect, I thought, just freakin' perfect. I looked at JB and growled through my clenched teeth "This is why there are PRIVATE GOLF CLUBS!"

Quote of the day:

If you drink, don't drive. Don't even putt. ~Dean Martin

Don't Hassle the Hoff.....

2006-07-14T13:42:00.000-04:00

Okay, short blog today...It's Friday, it's nice out(see weather pixie). I am leaving work in about 20 minutes to play golf (it's okay, I started at 6:30am) So, for your Friday, end of week chuckle. Check out the latest, yes you heard me, I said latest, music video from David Hasselhoff....How this guy continues to have a career baffles me. This latest video is just as cheesy as his previous videos. I didn't think he could top his dreadful rendition/video of the 70's song "Hooked on a Feeling" but Mr. Hasselhoff continues to surprise me as this one is a close second. This latest song is called "Jump In My Car". The song is listed as an "Australian classic" and "The Hoff" appears to have recorded and filmed the song specifically for the Australian market. In the video Hasselhoff is driving a right hand drive "Kit" Trans Am... Perhaps Australia just recently started showing the 1980's "Night Rider series"? I have no idea, but it made me laugh my ass off. The leering at the girls 30 years younger than him is a bit disturbing as is the leather shirt.

Of Brubeck and Bagels.....

2006-07-11T10:14:00.000-04:00

Montreal Days 4 and 5:

Saturday Day 4:

Saturday was spent going for brunch at Boccacino's. They have a lovely huge patio/terrasse on McGill College. It is just at the bottom of "the mountain" and down the road from the entrance to McGill University gates. We had no plans other than to walk around today and then head out later that evening to the much anticipated concert that was closing the Jazz Festival this year...Mr. Dave Brubeck.
The show took place at Place des Arts. After dinner we hailed a cab and sat helpless in a horrible Montreal traffic jam because the cab driver turned up a street that would only lead us to a major traffic jam and thousands of peds walking around to the free stages. He got as about a block from Place des Arts and then said "perhaps you should just walk from here as I can't move in this traffic" If he had not knocked $2 off his fare I was going to lose it. You would think the cab drivers would know which roads were closed and which ones would be congested due to Jazz Festival. The concert started at 8pm and JB and I quickly started running the gauntlet zipping in and out of hundreds of people milling about looking for a good spot for the free stages outside of Place des Arts. Once inside the building we had to find the concert hall. Place des Arts is a pretty big place. Again we had to zip in and out of slow walking lollygaggers! I had both our tickets in my hand and with JB close behind me I shoved them into the ushers hands and she quickly yelled after me, in French, to go upstairs to the right. When we reached the top of the stairs the bell started chiming alerting everyone to get in to their seats. Another escalator ride up to the mezzanine and into our seats at 8pm on the nose. We then sat and sat and sat and the crowd started clapping that slow deliberate clap that means "get this freakin' show started"

The show opened with the winners for "best new jazz artists" for the Festival. They were a group of lads from Toronto, can't remember their name as I was still feeling a bit dazed from our "gauntlet run" getting to the concert hall in time. They played two of their compositions and then we waited a bit before the President of the festival came out to introduce Mr. Brubeck and his band. When Brubeck came out on stage the entire audience erupted in cheers and stood up. Brubek is now 86 years old and still touring. He shuffled over to his piano with a typical old man 86 year old shuffle walk that all old men have but when he began to play it was Brubeck in his prime. The concert was great and his band were wonderful. When he started the familiar opening for his classic jazz hit "Take Five" there was a roar from the crowd that was as loud as any rock concert I have been to. It was wonderful to have the opportunity to see a jazz pianist of this caliber live. When the concert finished the crowd would not stop applauding. Brubeck came back out with his band and he and his sax player, who was quite the comedian throughout the show, started playing Brahms lullaby which made everyone laugh and prompted the audience to start singing "lullaby and good night......" when that ended they started up a great version of Ellingtons "A Train"... it was a great show to finish off the festival.

Sunday Day 5: a bagel is a bagel is a bagel....or is it?

I had two goals today. Get bagels and attempt to get some smoked meat from Schwartz. Schwartz now have their smoked meat available vacuum packed so you can travel home with the wonderful smoked meat of Montreal. We stopped in the Mont Royal-St Urbain area to have brunch at Eggspectation and then headed a couple of blocks down to St. Viateur Street. Now, there is great debate among bagel lovers. Fairmont Bagels vs St. Viateur Bagels. There is even greater debate among bagel lovers over New York vs Montreal vs Toronto bagels. I say Montreal wins hands down! I for one always go to St. Viateur when I am in Montreal. I find that I prefer their bagels to Fairmonts. I usually drive to Montreal for the purpose of having the car to provide us with the extra space for 3 or 4 dozen bagels from St. Viateur. It's pretty hard to get 4 dozen bagels on Air Canada these days. St. Viateur is open 24 hours a day and all they make are bagels. I am sure they know who the Torontonians are as they smile at you when you step up to the counter and say "3 dozen sesame seed bagels and 1 dozen poppy seed please" there are smiles from the other customers in the line up because they know you are taking those bagels home to Toronto and I am sure they are thinking "that's another winning vote for Montreal" . Photo is of me last summer outside of St. Viateur with my 3 dozen sesame seed bagels.

Bagel quest completed we now headed down St. Urbain street and across below Duluth street to get over to St. Laurent to Schwartz for the smoked meat. Yet another great debate in Montreal over Schwartz's or Ben's...personally I prefer Schwartz's. The smoked meat has more flavour and is jucier. There is big rivalry over who "invented" the Montreal smoked meat first. Ben's takes claim but Schwartz says no way.

Schwartz's was opened in 1928 and remains in the same location since it opened. Trust me, I don't think they have redecorated since 1928 either! It is another time capsule like Ben's.
Photo is a typical line up for
Schwartz's which I was not expecting to see at 11:45am on a Sunday. My heart sank when we approached Schwartz's and I saw in the distance a major line up outside. JB and I decided we could pass on the smoked meat this time around as we will probably be back in Montreal at least once or twice by next summer anyway. We wanted to avoid the traffic and crowds that would be starting up for the World Cup final.

Sans our viande fumee, we headed back up to Sherbrooke Street and took Sherbrooke west until we hit a sign that said "highway 20". Highway #20 is part of the Trans Canada Highway which links 10 Provinces across Canada. When you hit Ontario it becomes Highway 401. Within an hour we were at the Quebec-Ontario border and heading home. I reached into the back of the car and into the big bag of warm baked bagels on the floor of the backseat and grabbed a warm sesame seed bagel and started munching away and sighing. The car smelled wonderful all the way home......

Montreal Day Three- Golf, Smoked Meat and Da Vinci Code

2006-07-10T22:14:00.000-04:00

Our plan today was to head to Beauty's for breakfast and then to a golf course to play 18 holes.

Beauty's is a well known all day breakfast place and is situated in the Mont Royal -St. Urbain area of Montreal. St Urbain area is known for smoked meat and bagels.
We had a great breakfast at Beauty's. This long-lived Jewish deli has been feeding Montreal well for over 50 years. Family-owned, the small place has terrific breakfast fare, including bagels, omelets. Full from our huge breakfast, we hopped in the car and headed out of the city to Anjou to play at a golf club there called "Le Metroplitain". We had an okay round. I was not too happy with how I played and probably could have played better but it was a bit of a scorcher and we had to rush to start our game as the kids summer camp was starting and they wanted us to tee off before the forty or so children who were there for their lessons. All I could see whilehurriedlyy walking to the first tee were 40 kids all sitting around waiting for us to start so they could start after us.

After our round we sat on the patio of the clubhouse and had a beer and then headed back downtown to the Hotel as Coglero had to check out and drive back to Ottawa for Friday evening. He had to get ready for the Hope Volleyball tournament on the weekend. After we saw Coglero off, JB and I decided to have an early dinner and walk around downtown and perhaps check out some of the stages along Ste. Catherine Street. Coglero had reminded me earlier in the day that we should go to Ben's deli which was close to our hotel. As JB had never been to Ben's we decided to go there. I would havepreferredd Schwartz deli but was not in the mood to travel up to St. Laurent and wait in line. Ben's is an institution in Montreal. It's a time capsule. You can know you're seeing the same decor and tasting the same tastes they did sixty years ago. There are lots of framed photos of movie celebrities who have eaten at Ben's. This was Leonard Cohen's favourite late-night haunt. Cafeteria style tables and chairs, yellow formica walls with green trim, lots of chrome behind the counter. Apparently the place is used for movies that require an authentic looking restaurant from the 1940's. JB and I both had smoked meat on rye.

We then headed out for a walk and walked by a Famous Players and JB and I both said "hey, maybe we should see a movie" I mentioned that I wouldn't mind seeing the Da Vinci Code. We had both read the book and were interested in seeing the film. We purchased tickets for the only remaining showtime of 10:30pm. The movie was okay, it was the book, almost to the letter. I enjoyed it but JB was finding it tough staying awake once it went beyond midnight.

Movie over, we headed out onto Ste. Catherine street. The street was still packed with people walking around enjoying the summer night.

Day three over and Day four would be the big Brubek concert to close the Jazz Festival.

Quote of the day:

"Only in Canada could somebody with a voice like mine win 'Vocalist of the Year'."

Leonard CohenÂfirst words of his speech accepting the Juno Award for Best Male Vocalist in Canada (1992)

Day 2 - Lord Neslon, Shopping, Coglero and Gibby's

2006-07-10T13:02:00.000-04:00

Day 2 - As we had no tickets for concerts tonight JB and I were to meet up with Coglero who was driving in from Ottawa to meet us for "cinq a sept" and then dinner at Gibby's and golf on Friday. We decided we would spend the morning/afternoon walking through Old Montreal checking out the shops and going for lunch at Le Jardin Nelson (above photo). The restaurant is situated in Place Jacques Cartier, in Old Montreal. At the top of the square is a statue/column erected to Lord Nelson. The Nelson Column, installed in memory of Admiral Horatio Nelson. Dating from 1808, it was erected by the English merchants of the city. The 8 foot statue is the world's first Nelson commemorative and precedes that in London by 33 years. To many it represents a reminder of British imperialism. JB likes to go to Le Jardin Nelson each time we are in Montreal as he does have a fondness for their crepes. Their terrace is a very pleasant place to sit and relax and have lunch. They always have live jazz music playing in the back terrace. Check out their website for some great photos and of course their menu.

With lunch over we ventured out into the streets of old Montreal. I made my usual stop at Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours Chapel. Each time I go to Montreal I make a stop at this old church. It was founded in the 17th Century by Marguerite de Bourgeoys. She was one of the founders of Montreal. In the 19th century, the chapel came to be a pilgrimage site for the sailors who arrived in the Old Port of Montreal; they would make offerings to the Virgin in gratitude for her "good help" for safe sea voyages. There are model ship votives that hang from the ceiling of the chapel that sailors had made as offerings. It is incredible to be in this church in the evening when it is a bit darker and the ship votives light the chapel with their candelight. The ceiling of the church is painted in muted lavenders and I could just sit in there all day and look around at the paintings and that ceiling. Trivia - Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours Chapel is mentioned in Montrealer Leonard Cohen's famous song "Suzanne"

The Chapel is located across from Bonsecours Market. This heritage building has a long history and was once going to be Canada's Parliament building. The site also played host to the Théâtre Royal where Charles Dickens and his band of amateur actors staged a production. It is now Headquarters of the Conseil des métiers d'art du Québec and the Institute of Design Montréal, the Market houses 15 boutiques featuring top-quality Quebec creations: crafts, fashions, accessories and jewellery, design items, reproduction Quebec furniture and more. I picked up a nice bracelet made by a local artist and JB and I then continued our walk through Old Montreal and headed up to Ste Catherine street the mecca for shoppers in Montreal.

We headed back to our hotel to meet up with Coglero and we headed out to the Winston Churchill pub on Crescent street for drinks. We had 7pm reservations at Gibby's. Now, those of you who know me, know my fondness for Gibbys. It is a steak house that is housed in an 17th century stables. They are known for their steaks. It is a must on a visit to Montreal. JB has a funny blog about our cab ride to Gibbys. Coglero had never been to Gibbys and was not disappointed. JB had made our reservations the week before we left and I was worried that we would end up in the main dining room as I actuall prefer the downstairs Salon D'Youville where you are normally seated if you don't have reservations. I love it down there. You sit in a room surrounded by stone walls that are hundreds of years old.

Dinner over we ventured out into Old Montreal and found a nice terrace and sat and watched all the folks walking through old Montreal along with the tourists in the Caleches

We then headed back to our Hotel as we planned on an golf game on Friday morning.

Vive la France or Montreal Day 1

2006-07-08T16:50:00.000-04:00

I am back. No, I did not go to France as the title and photo suggest. As mentioned in previous blogs JB and I took off to Montreal for 5 days to see some jazz concerts during the Jazz Festival. Although I did have my lap top with me, I was too tired by the end of the each day to post any updates.

Our trip was great. We saw some fantastic concerts and let's face it. Montreal is definitely a party town compared to Toronto. For some reason Montreal just feels more "Canadian" to me. The French explorer Jacques Cartier first discovered this island in 1535. Founded a century later in 1642 by Paul de Chomedey, Sieur de Maisonneuve, the French settlement soon turned into the fur-trading capital of North America. The photo above is a street in Old Montreal. The entire old city has been kept within the city and it is incredible to walk the cobblestone streets and if you close your eyes and listen to the horse drawn carriages it is as if you have stepped back in time to the 18th Century. It is a bit jarring when you open your eyes and see the carriages filled with tourists and cars whizzing by the poor horses. Old Montreal is one of North Americas architectural treasures with one of the largest collections of 17th, 18th and 20th century buildings on the continent.

I am embarrassed that Toronto has done nothing to keep and maintain any remnance of the beginnings of the city. During the past century they blasted and tore down the majority of the older buildings. We have no real defining area that shows our history except for perhaps the Historic Market area. Montreal tries hard to maintain it's French and Canadian heritage. I find Toronto has become Americanized and commercialized to the extreme where Montreal has kept it's history and maintains it's beginnings as a French and British influenced city. I digress. The reason we went to Montreal was for International Jazz Festival and to eat great food. Montreal is known for it's reasonably priced eating establishments and bars and they have the best happy hour in Canada. Known as "Cinq a Sept" or "5 to 7". Between 5 and 7pm each week night every bar and pub in the city offers two for one drinks.

Day One:

We hopped in the "General Mess Malibu" and drove to Montreal last Wednesday. It is a 5 to 6 hour drive from TO to Montreal. As we were making good time we figured we would stop for a late lunch. We decided to stop in Cornwall, Ontario which is close to the Ontario/Quebec border. We were trying to find a place to have lunch and it was tough. All these smaller old Ontario towns all seem to have been taken over by crappy chain restaurants like Kelseys, Montana's or Boston Pizza. There is nowhere on the highway to get anything other than Tim Hortons, Wendy's or Burger King. YUCK!!! As I refuse to eat at these chains I said to JB, let's get off the highway and head into downtown Cornwall. It would appear the influx of chain restaurants has ruined the small town restaurant business. We drove around and around until JB spotted a local diner on one of the main streets. The place was called Spinners and it would appear to be a place where only the locals go. I had a half decent soup and sandwich. We hopped back in the car and headed for Montreal. We arrived at our Hotel around 5:30pm. We were staying at the Queen Elizabeth/ Le Reine Elizabeth. This hotel was my home away from home last year when I was traveling to Montreal for business quite a bit. I love it. It is a big, swank railway hotel which is connected underground to the train station and has subsequently been purchased and refurbished by the Fairmont Hotel chain. They have bought up all the old CN Railway hotels across Canada and have a done a wonderful job at maintaining their beauty.

As we had tickets to a concert that started at 7pm, JB and I quickly changed and then headed down to the hotel lobby bar for a drink and then off to Club Soda (the name makes JB laugh) to see Katie Melua and Denzal Sinclare. To be honest when I purchased the tickets for this show it was to see Denzal. I had no idea who Katie Melua was but figured how bad can she be if she is opening at Jazz Fest for Denzal Sinclaire one of Canada's most popular jazz vocalists.

We arrived at Club Soda to be accosted by scalpers reminding us "tonight's show is sold out! who needs tickets" we pushed through the line up of people looking sad and forlorn as obviously they were not lucky enough to get tickets for the show. Once inside we were greeted by two big burley security men who checked out our tickets and then one of them grabbed my hand and said I need to stamp your wrist. I wasn't going to argue. We then ventured into this club which had an amazing vibe. There was no chance we were getting a table downstairs as it was completely packed but one of the security ladies directed us upstairs where we ended up on the balcony right above the stage. The view was fantastic we were so close to the stage and nobody was in front or behind us. 7pm arrived and they introduced Katie who came out on stage with her band. I was completely blown away. Her voice is amazing and when she mentioned that she was influenced by Eva Cassidy and then proceeded to sing a song she wrote for Eva, it brought a tear to my eye. I love Eva Cassidy. She is one of my favorite jazz/blues artists. She died far too soon in 1996 at the age of 33 years old. You can definitely hear the Eva Cassidy influence in Melua's voice but she does put her own twist on songs. She did an amazing version of "The Cure" song "Just like Heaven" and I could not believe when she started to sing the Canned Heat tune "On the Road Again". I looked at JB and he smiled and I said "wow". It makes me happy that there is a 21 year old making a career promoting great jazz and blues songs and is not slogging away and promoting crappy pop shit a la Britney Spears, Hilary Duff et al. I had no idea any 21 year old these days would even know who Canned Heat was. Her band included a fantastic pianist, drummer and a gent who played all instruments in between including the tin whistle. He adeptly switched from mandolin, to violin to tin whistle depending on the song. The opening act alone was worth the ticket price.

After a short break Denzal took to the stage. He has a great jazz vocalist voice. He always reminds me of a young Nat King Cole but with his own slant on songs. He did a great jazzy version of the Genesis song "Follow you Follow me" I never much liked the Genesis version of the song but I do like Denzal's version. He sang some wonderful versions of quite a few Gershwin tunes and I was reminded of how great a jazz pianist he is.

After the show, JB and I decided to walk a block north up to Ste. Catherine street which was closed off for blocks with stages and had numerous free concerts going on. There were people everywhere. The city has a great vibe at night. We strolled along the street towards our Hotel. All and all our first night in Montreal was very enjoyable and the first show was better then I had imagined.

Quote of the Day:

And I will walk with you on a summer's day,
And I will talk to you,
Though you're faraway,
And we'll sing through the years,
Are you over those hills,
Do you still hum the old melodies,
Do you wish people listened,
Over here with me

Katie Melua - Faraway Voice - tribute to Eva Cassidy

Happy Birthday Canada

2006-07-04T00:05:00.000-04:00

On June 20, 1868, a proclamation signed by the Governor General, Lord Monck, called upon all Her Majesty's loving subjects throughout Canada to join in the celebration of the anniversary of the formation of the union of the British North America provinces in a federation under the name of Canada on July 1st.

The July 1 holiday was established by statute in 1879, under the name Dominion Day.

We don't get to call it Dominion Day anymore but I am not in the mood to quibble. Canada Day. Dominion Day. It's an extra day off. JB and I played golf on Saturday with friends, BBQ'd, played more golf today.

We tried our first 18 hole "Championship course" and it was quite the endurance test. We have been sticking to playing 18 hole par 3 courses until we get better. After today I will be quite happy to go back to playing par 3's for now. I just cannot hit the distance required to make it to the greens on the long par 5 holes. I get a lot of compliments about my swing and how I seem to always hit it straight and keep the ball on to the fairway. The more experienced golfers, we sometimes end up playing with, keep telling me that the distance will come. I can definitely see that I am hitting the ball further now then I did 4 months ago. I imagine taking lessons from the beginning was a big help as it is a sport that is hard to play well consistently unless you have good form and you are in really good shape and you can play often.

Golf is a funny game, one day you will have great shots and then the next time you play you wonder why you took up the bloody sport at all. Then you awake the next morning and think to yourself "man, I wish I could play golf today rather than go in to work"

Golf is definitely a game that teaches you patience and also teaches you to focus. I find if I get tired or stop focusing and start thinking about other things. I have a lousy shot. It is an extremely challenging game on your mental psyche. I am still psyched out by water hazards. Today, I lobbed my ball right into the centre of a water hazard, TWICE!! The hole was a short par 3 and normally it would be a piece of cake for me to lob my ball in one shot onto the green but when I see that water it psyches me out. It never fails, my ball plops right into the centre of the water. The hole I was the most pissed off about is the one pictured. From the forward tee's it's 120 yards to the green. Now, I can hit well over 120 yards in my lessons and usually when I am not playing a hole with a water hazard. The sketch below is from the course where we played today. I love the little blurb that goes along with the drawing.

Hunters' Glen - 10th Hole The back nine begins with the signature hole of the golf course. Measuring 169 yards, the 10th hole is the shortest par 3 at Hunters' Glen, but don't let the yardage fool you. Your approach to this long and narrow green is one of the most challenging shots you will hit all day.

From the tee, an elevated green awaits on the other side of a large (and distracting) pond. The saddle-shaped green is often the host of many difficult pin placements and is responsible for more than the occasional three-putt.

So, ya it's only 120 yards. But to screw with you it's surrounded by water and if you do get it on the green you will probably end up three putting because they placed the hole at the top of a hill!!!

I will be back to play at Hunters Glen one day and I will be damned if I am going to lose another ball to that 10th hole!

Back to work tomorrow and then JB and I are off to Montreal for the annual International Jazz Festival. Montreal is a great city to spend time in and we are looking forward to the time off.

Quote of the day:

In baseball you hit your home run over the right-field fence, the left-field fence, the center-field fence. Nobody cares. In golf everything has got to be right over second base.

Ken Harrelson

57 Channels and nothing on ..........

2006-06-30T11:58:00.000-04:00

We just replaced our digital cable TV box. The other one had gone a bit wonky and would freeze when you tried to display the online guide and choose a movie or channel. After months of living without all the extra features, JB finally took it back to one of our providers local stores. They immediately replaced it. No questions asked. Which leads us to believe there were numerous issues with these boxes as it is normally not that easy to return or exchange anything these days.

JB set it all up two nights ago and we are really happy with the great picture quality and the fact we can now freely change channels without having to reboot the box due to the screen freezing.

Last night I was working away on the computer while JB sat on the sofa flipping and flipping and flipping and then quipped "We have all these channels back and there is nothing on worth watching" I shot back "you could always just turn the TV off!" I found it hilarious that we now have all our gajillion channels back yet an hour later JB was still sitting there dozing off with the remote in hand and some lame show on. At least TV these days works as a great sleep enhancer.

Quote of the day:

I bought a bourgeois house in the Hollywood hills
With a truckload of hundred thousand dollar bills
Man came by to hook up my cable TV
We settled in for the night my baby and me
We switched 'round and 'round 'til half-past dawn
There was fifty-seven channels and nothin' on

Well now home entertainment was my baby's wish
So I hopped into town for a satellite dish
I tied it to the top of my Japanese car
I came home and I pointed it out into the stars
A message came back from the great beyond
There's fifty-seven channels and nothin' on

Well we might'a made some friends with some billionaires
We might'a got all nice and friendly
If we'd made it upstairs
All I got was a note that said "Bye-bye John
Our love is fifty-seven channels and nothin' on"

So I bought a .44 magnum it was solid steel cast
And in the blessed name of Elvis well I just let it blast
'Til my TV lay in pieces there at my feet
And they busted me for disturbin' the almighty peace
Judge said "What you got in your defense son?"
"Fifty-seven channels and nothin' on"
I can see by your eyes friend you're just about gone
Fifty-seven channels and nothin' on...
Fifty-seven channels and nothin'

Bruce Springsteen

New Frontier

2006-06-29T16:06:00.000-04:00

New Frontier - Donald Fagen

Although I am not a huge fan of music videos. This is one of my favorite videos. I remember when it came out in the 1980's. This was when music videos were in their infancy and we were all glued to "MuchMusic" here in Toronto. I remember watching the channel religiously so I could watch all the latest videos to the popular 80's songs and everyone was sucked in to watching the latest merging of Television and Music.

I always felt this video was a bit more artistic and relevant to the song as opposed to some of the other videos that came out at the same time. I love the 1950's references and old style animation. After seeing Donald Fagen live, here in Toronto at Massey Hall a few months ago. I was reminded of the video when Donald Fagen did a great live version of this song. I kept mentioning to JB that he should try and find/view this video if possible as it is mildly amusing and plus you get to hear a great song. Well, JB found it for me on "Youtube" and sent me the link this morning. It is a video that I could watch over and over again. Perhaps because I love the song so much it naturally makes the video more enjoyable for me.

I love Donald Fagen whether his solo career/albums or his work with partner Walter Becker as the group Steely Dan. "New Frontier" is definitely one of my favorite Fagen songs. It is from his "Nightfly" Album which has quite a few good tunes on it.

Enjoy the tune...

Quote of the day:

"We cannot expect the Americans to jump from Capitalism to Communism, but we can assist their elected leaders in giving Americans small doses of Socialism, until they suddenly awake to find they have Communism."

- Nikita Kruschev, Premiere of the former Soviet Union, 3-1/2 months before his first visit to the United States.

Don't blow it - good planets are hard to find

2006-06-27T17:04:00.000-04:00

Just realized it has been a while since I last posted. Glad to see I have not incurred the rath of any Michael Bolton fans out there......

JB and I have been discussing the possibility of trading in our GM(General Mess, see Chevrolet blog for the ongoing saga) and getting a new set of wheels. In light of the fact that both of us play golf and JB also plays baseball we require more than a Mini Cooper or other such small vehicle. After admonishing all of our friends who purchased Jeeps or SUV's due to their gas guzzling, environmental killing tendencies. I felt I had to put my money where my mouth is and look for a larger vehicle or SUV that is a hybrid. I cannot support any car company that is not forward thinking enough to manufacture a hybrid in this day and age.

I am 100% positive that our next vehicle purchase will be a hybrid. I am currently looking into the Toyota Highlander Hybrid. Which leads me to the million dollar question or $1000 question...... What do I get as a consumer in the Province of Ontario if I purchase a Hybrid?

I recently read an article in Common Dreams about the amazing incentives south of the border being afforded to consumers who purchase hybrid vehicles. They range from tax rebates of $3000 coupled with additional incentives from employers which range in the $2000 to $3000 mark. Typically a Hybrid model costs anywhere from $5000 to $10,000 more. Numerous Corporations and State Governments are assisting in offsetting this cost for their employees and citizens. In Boston, the Bank of America Corporation provides employees with a $3000 incentive to purchase a hybrid car and that is on top of the proposed $2000 tax rebate that their governor plans to back. This more than offsets the difference in price between a conventional vehicle and a hybrid. In the City of New Haven, hybrid owners can park for free at all parking meters. Google Corporation offers $5000 to employees who purchase a hybrid.

What do I receive as a citizen of Ontario, Canada? ..... A partial rebate of up to $1000 off the sales tax. Wow, way to go Canada! You do me proud! I am embarrassed. We talk and talk about our wonderful country and how much better it is then the US but apparently we are not as great as the US when it comes to wanting to stop polluting our air and looking for alternatives to the ongoing massive fuel consumption that happens here in North America. Only three Provinces in Canada even offer any sort of incentive at all for a hybrid purchase. British Columbia, PEI and Ontario are the three Provinces.

Honestly, I wish that I did not need a vehicle at all but my employer is moving our department to a newly acquired facility. Moving us from our downtown location to a location north of the city. As I live in the city, it currently takes me a maximum of 20 mins to get here if I take the public transit system. Getting to the new location via public transit would take me well over an hour and would involve taking the subway and at least two or three buses. It is unbelievably complicated to get to this location by public transit. This leaves me no alternative other than to drive each day as it would appear that this city and province are never going to put the money into building a half decent public transit system which addressed the urban sprawl this City has experienced over the past 10 to 15 years. So, I will still get the hybrid vehicle despite the lack of incentives from my government. I will be asking my employer about incentives for employees who purchase hybrid vehicles in our next employee forum about "the big move". Doubt I will get anything. I should just be happy I have a well paying job. Makes me sad that not everyone wants to be part of the solution, it would appear. Don't get me wrong. I am not saying I am the equivalent of Dr. Albert Schweitzer or some of the other noble stewards of the planet but I do want to try and limit my own personal green house emissions.

I will be starting my letter and phone campaign very shortly to try and get better incentives for those who want to make a difference no matter how small as lets face it we are still buying gas for these hybrids but does Toronto or Canada for that matter really want to be outdone by our friends to the south.

Quote for today:

Why should man expect his prayer for mercy to be heard by What is above him when he shows no mercy to what is under him?

~Pierre Troubetzkoy

We are Siamese if you please......

2006-06-22T13:55:00.000-04:00

I was doing my usual searching for something on the internet and then ending up somewhere else. I stumbled across someone's music website when I was actually looking for an engineering site. I was about to hit my back button when at the bottom of the gents site he had a banner stating "Siamese Kittens". Now, those who have known me or my family for quite sometime know we always had Siamese cats. They were the only type of cat my Mother liked or would allow us to have as they had shorter hair and great personalities. Those who have owned a Siamese know how able they are to communicate like no other. The Siamese voice is legendary. They speak both with their voice and with their body. They are the quintessential "people" cat, for they love to be in your lap, on your bed, at your table. The Siamese cat originated from Thailand, formerly known as Siam. These cats were held in such high esteem in their native country that no one except the King and members of the royal family were permitted to own them. They were originally known as Royal points.

Intrigued by the "Siamese Kitten" banner I decided to click on it where I was taken to a full page of photos of this gents two new kittens. I instantly fell in love with these two little characters named "Mull' and "Iona". The names made me chuckle as these two Siamese cats have the most Scottish names you could ever choose. Usually Siamese owners give their cats oriental or exotic names our first Siamese was named "Ming" after the Chinese Empero Ming (my mums choice of name). When Ming passed away our next Siamese was called "Mischa" (after the cellist Mischa Maisky, my choice). My sister's two Siamese were named after the gods Mars and Atlas.

The photos of these two cuties reminded me how much I missed having a "meezer" in the house and I immediately wanted to leave my desk and go and purchase two Siamese kittens but I was snapped back into the reality of JB's deathly allergic reaction to cats. I sent him the photo's, in a sad attempt to hook him on the cute factor and perhaps make him forget he would end up in the hospital with a severe asthma attack. It didn't work. He was definitely sold on how cute they were and then said "sorry babe,can't live with them"

I will just have to view the photos on line for my "meezer" fix.

Quote for Today:

"People who belong to Siamese cats must make up their minds to do a good deal of waiting upon them."

Compton Mackenzie

Quite "Frank"-ly Mr. Bolton you can't sing!!!

2006-06-19T09:03:00.000-04:00

The Frank Sinatra photo will make sense in a few minutes.

I would like to know who the individual is who suggested that Michael Bolton should have a career. His version of the classic Otis Redding tune "(Sittin' on the)Dock of the Bay" is like nails on a blackboard to me and don't even get JB started on the subject. JB, is a huge Otis fan. Bolton destroys the song and if you hear even a second of the song you have to immediately go and put on Otis singing the song to erase all memory of the musical car crash you just experienced.

Not content with destroying the great R&B classics. Somebody, back in 1998, seems to have given Mr. Bolton the idea that he would be a great Opera singer. As someone who grew up around singers particularly those who sang Opera, I felt this was a travesty. It made me sick that this non-talent was able to infiltrate the Opera world and get an album produced when there are operatic geniuses slogging away to make it in the Opera world for little to no money. His Opera album was called "My Secret Passion-The Arias" where Mr. Bolton tackles beloved and famous opera arias such as "Nessun Dorma" and "Una Furtiva Lagrima" all arias I grew up listening to the greats sing on my parents records or live at the Opera. To hear Jussi Bjorling, Enrico Caruso, Nicolai Gedda, Benjamino Gigli sing these arias, which they were born to sing, is a beautiful thing. These arias are not easy to sing, they take years for tenors to master. To hear Michael Bolton sing them is painful, its sacrilegious. This guy should not be allowed within 200 metres of an opera house.

I sat down with my coffee and cereal this morning and flipped the TV to the Today show only to hear the perky morning host squeal with excitement "Today's Summer Concert series is excited to have Michael Bolton here in New York. He will be singing from his new album "Bolton Swings Sinatra" .......HUH?????? Well, I sat there with my mouth agape took a swig of coffee thought "what tha f---k" and decided to go on my blog and express my anger rather than kicking in the TV set. While typing away I had Mr. Bolton in the background murdering the Sinatra classic "That's Life" Come one! Is nothing sacred? Who does this guy think he is? How arrogant is he? He can't sing Frank. Frank had a very specific sound, very specific tone, he had a good voice, great annunciation. Back in his prime, he was the equivalent of the Beatles. In the 1940's he had throngs of screaming fans, usually girls from the ages of 12 to 18. He had to have police escorts to his concerts. My Mother and my Aunt Sheila, as teens in Glasgow, were part of the Frank fan club. My Mother told me her and Aunt Sheila would sit and play Frank over and over on the record player when they got home from school.

What I find even more galling is that after singing/trying to sing "That's Life" the perky hosts speaks to Michael about why he wanted to do this album and he mentioned all kinds of crap and rhetoric and something about meeting Sammy Cahn as if this somehow makes him one of the Frank inner circle. Sammy Cahn was a great American songwriter who penned quite a few of the Frank hits. He penned "All the Way", "Love and Marriage", "High Hopes", "Come Fly with me" all songs which YOU CAN'T SING, Mr. Bolton. Mr Cahn died at the age of 80 in 1993 which leads me to wonder where and when Mr. Bolton would have had such indepth conversations with Mr. Kahn about singing Frank tunes.

At the moment Mr. Bolton is now screeching "New York, New York" and it is horrible. He is just screaming the lyrics. Where has Mr. Bolton been? Does he not know we already have some great singers who can deftly and respectfully record the great Frank standards. There is the new Canadian singing sensation Matt Dusk who actually sounds like a crooner. As well Canadian singer Michael Buble, who has the right tone and voice for Frank songs and of course the great Harry Connick Jr (starring on Broadway at the moment in "The Pajama Game") who also does a wonderful job of any Frank tune he decides to tackle. These three gentlemen have the look, have the talent and have the voices and you can tell they respect these songs and have practiced this style for many years.

Go away Mr. Bolton, yes you have sold 56 million albums, which is a scary enough thought and your constant "dabbling" in musical styles that don't suit your voice is painful for those of us that love opera, love Frank and love Otis. You are not going to gain new fans. Fans of Frank and Otis are not going to become fans of yours just because you have done a version of these classics. Perhaps you are just jumping on the Rod Stewart bandwagon. As it would appear Rod Stewart has had great success with his latest foray into the "Great American Songbook". It will be interesting to see what the volume of sales will be for this latest foray for Mr. Bolton before he has to jump on to another bandwagon to sell records.

End of rant.......I feel so much better now as I listen to Michael Buble singing "Feelin Good" courtesy of his website. This is a newer song but recorded with lot's of fat horns to sound like the great Frank Sinatra/Nelson Riddle Capitol Records recordings from the 1950's.

Two Quote's for today:

The artist is nothing without the gift, but the gift is nothing without work.

Emile Zola

May you live to be 100 and may the last voice you hear be mine.

Frank Sinatra

The Big Snit (Le P'tit Chaos)

2006-06-18T23:03:00.000-04:00

This blog is more for my sister or anyone else for that matter who loves and remembers the National Film Board of Canada's 1985 Oscar nominated animated short "The Big Snit"

I was in another room tonight and the TV was on nearby and I heard the familiar line "You're always shaking your eyes out!!" I knew immediately that it could be only one thing and nothing else other than "The Big Snit"...It then made me remember how much my sister used to laugh her ass off at this film, particularly that line. "The Big Snit" is a classic Canadian animated short about a couple who sit down to play a friendly game of scrabble. When the husband has trouble putting words together (he is stuck with seven letter e's), the wife leaves to vacuum the bathroom from floor to ceiling. The husband falls asleep during an announcement on the TV by a radiated-skeleton of a newscaster that a nuclear war has begun. He does, however, wake in time to see the outside world in mayhem, but mistakes it for a passing parade. He then slides back over to the Scrabble board attempting to eye his wife's letters but is caught before the deed is done. Bickering soon ensues, and gradually swells, parallel to the madness outside their window, into an apocalypse of their own. Many hurtful words are said to each other and the wife begins to cry inconsolably. The husband feeling bad glances over at a photo of the couple when they were younger. He then remembers the one thing that will make his wife happy. The accordian. He gets out his accordian and begins to play her a serenade (really badly played) this returns calm and the husband and wife are in bliss once again. They step outside their front door, two souls holding hands together, unaware that the world has come to an end.

My sister used to love this film and I vaguely remember it being played before first run screenings of hollywood flicks in the movie theatres here. They don't seem to do this anymore. I remember seeing many good NFB animated shorts before seeing a feature film presentation. Now we have to endure loud annoying commercials geared at 17 year olds. Kind of sad we don't support our National Film Board and the Canadian short film makers. I would much rather see someones art and support it rather than be forced to watch a loud obnoxious ad for cologne or some flavoured water.

Quote of the day:

A successful marriage is an edifice that must be rebuilt every day.

Andre Maurois
French author (1885 - 1967)

Hot Child in the City..........

2006-06-18T00:40:00.000-04:00

Well, it's the weekend and I am certainly not running wild or running pretty, as Nick Gilder sang....It's too hot to move.

We made tentative plans to play golf today but as the weather pixie to your right shows it's DAMN HOT. Not sure if the weather pixie also shows the humidex but it was 38 degrees today with the humidex. So, instead, we went to the St. Lawrence Market to pick up some chicken and meat to BBQ this weekend as ya gotta cook outdoors in this heat rather than heat up the house with the stove. Before heading home we decided to go in to Fionn McCools Irish Pub and sit in the air conditioning, have a beer and watch the USA play Italy in the World cup. There was a loud, obnoxious American sitting at the next table who clearly is a footie newcomer as each time the ref called a foul against America he would scream "where's the blood" at the downed Italian player. I think he was confusing the game with extreme fighting or something? After him constantly repeating this each time a player was carded or fouled, JB finally yelled "Buddy, it's a soccer game not a hockey game"

McCools is one of many, many, many Irish pubs in Toronto. It is down in the Historic Market district and they have a large patio outside but it was too hot to sit outside. As the photo shows it is really trying to be an Irish pub. As their website states "Fionns was built in Ireland and brought across the Sea and reassembled here in Toronto. Drop in to experience the tradition and heritage of Ireland, a pint or 2, live East Coast Celtic music and some great Craic." The food is quite good at this pub and thank god they revamped the menu and lost the cheesy "irish" names for the food like "Yer man's Salmon pie" or "Me Ma's Meatloaf". I had a Hoegaarden instead of my usual Guinness. When this heat comes in I have to stop drinking Guinness until the fall when the cooler weather comes in. Guinness and 38 degrees outside aren't a good combination for me. We left just at the half, as JB was growing tired of listening to the "All American Boy" beside us. It is that time of year where we are a bit overwhelemed with tourists coming up from south of the border. I don't like to USA bash and the majority of the toursists that come here in the summer are fine but there always seems to be those loud, obnoxious ones that come up with all the rest of them.

Quote of the day:

"Americans are benevolently ignorant about Canada, while Canadians are malevolently well informed about the United States"

You are an obsession, you are my obsession........

2006-06-16T13:36:00.000-04:00

Everyone remember that 80's ditty by Animotion "Obsession"????... Well, those of you who know me well know I am a bit of a foodie (everyone is whispering under their breath "understatement of the century") I love good food, good wine and good scotch. At times I will crave something and have to have it everyday no matter what. I went on a bit of a chicken florentine binge a couple of months ago where poor JB had chicken florentine in a white wine parmesan cream sauce on fresh linguine at least once or twice a week whether he wanted it or not. Not to mention my recent blog about Empire Biscuits.

I have always been fairly adept in the kitchen. I started cooking and baking at a very young age and also took classes at the George Brown Culinary School here in Toronto. For a while I had my own catering/bakery business with my sister's room mate Ang for a while.

Anyway, my newest food/drink obsession is two beverages...

Beverage Number 1:

The Starbucks Green Tea Latte... I first tried one while JB and I were in Florida a few months ago. It's green tea powder mixed up by the barrista with steamed milk. My sister scared me earlier in the year by reminding me how much fat is actually in the Grande Lattes et al from Starbucks so I now have one every day but ask for non fat. I have now become a cliche Starbucks customer and can rhyme off "Grande Non Fat Green Tea Latte" as fast as a hummingbird can flap it's wings.....I literally have to have one everyday. I either plan my route to work to ensure I pass the Starbucks on the corner across from our office towers or if I take a cab in, I say to the driver "uh, excuse me cabbie, can you just stop here at the Starbucks and I will walk the rest of the way"

Beverage Number 2:

Cognac and Tonic water.... YES! believe it or not this tastes good and with the summer heat coming in this is the most refreshing drink I have tried in a long time. I am not usually a fan of mixed drinks other than a classic, very dry, gin martini or maybe Pimm's in the really hot weather. I kind of stopped trying to order Pimms in bars here in TO as the last time I did, the bartender looked at me like I had four heads, asked what it was. I then pointed to a lonely looking bottle of Pimms on a shelf behind the bar. The guy had to get on a chair to get it and then had to wipe off 6 inches of dust off the bottle!!!! If I feel like a Pimm's, I keep a bottle at home and mix with ginger ale and an extra shot of gin with some lime, lemon and cucumbers sliced in it. But I digress....this latest drink is an amazing taste combination. It's one part cognac, two parts tonic water, lots of ice and a lemon slice. Man oh man it tastes good. It is not for those who like sickly sweet drinks, it is a bit bitter which I love.

Quote of the day:

"If you mean the demon drink that poisons the mind, pollutes the body, desecrates family life, and inflames sinners, then I'm against it.

But if you mean the elixir of Christmas cheer, the shield against winter chill, the taxable potion that puts needed funds into public coffers to comfort little crippled children, then I'm for it.

This is my position, and I will not compromise !". - A Congressman's response about his attitude toward whiskey.

"You know... there was another important game on last night....."

2006-06-16T00:47:00.000-04:00

I don't think anyone at our Company got any work done for the 90 or so minutes when T&T played England. The second floor cafeteria was full of people, many wearing their T&T red shirts and I did see quite a few England supporter shirts in the crowd. There were some great plays and some exciting attempts by T&T to score a goal. To be fair that first goal was a nice goal and I found myself thinking "if Crouch wasn't 6ft 9in perhaps that pass from Beckham would not have allowed him to jump up and make contact with the ball and head the ball in to the net"

One woman at our lunch table today, clearly miffed by all the attention everyone was giving to the world cup reminded us all in a whiny tone "you know there was a great hockey game on last night did everyone forget about the Stanley Cup" I think I pissed her off even more when I said "oh ya, I forgot, who won last night anyway" This clearly shocked her and she admonished me with a "you mean you don't know" I think she wants to try and revoke my Canadian citizenship!

I used to watch hockey quite a bit and Hockey Night in Canada was always on in our house on a Saturday night. When we were small my Mum would put out potato chips and dip and we could stay up late and watch hockey with our Dad. Unfortunately, sometime during the last 10 years the game has changed into a game I just can't watch regularly, never mind the fact that they have sold out to the US and the NHL is loaded up with teams in States like North Carolina and Arizona and Florida where they don't know a blue line from a hole in the ground. Seriously, why is there a team in Tampa Bay, Florida or in Arizona for godsake... They don't know hockey, it's HOT down there, it's just not their game. All these teams mean the elimination rounds now take forever and it's June and we are still not finished with the Stanley Cup playoffs. When I was a kid the Stanley Cup was over and done with by late April!! ....

I will unfailingly support Canada during Olympic hockey. The Olympic rules seem to change the play of game back to one that I remember...fast, exciting and not a lot of fighting with goon players. Hockey is definitely Canada's game. It is part of our identity. My sisters blog today reminded me how important the game is for Canadians particularly if they are far from home. She spent the morning at the Maple Leaf Pub in Tokyo watching the hockey game with 9 other Hockey fans.

So, let's go Edmonton...keep the cup in Canada!

What time is the Trinidad vs Paraguay game on???

Remember what happened the last time David took on Goliath....??????

2006-06-14T21:58:00.000-04:00

With its team facing up to England in Thursdays World Cup clash in Nuremberg, Trinidad and Tobago is the little Caribbean country on everybody's lips - especially if they don't want to support England.

In one of my previous blogs I had mentioned the hoopla in the UK because the majority of Scots are rooting for T&T as no fewer than six of the Soca Warriors play for Scottish clubs - hence The Scottish First Minister's professed interest in supporting them. The appropriately named forward Jason Scotland plays for St Johnstone and formerly played with Dundee United; defender Marvin Andrews, doubtful for Thursdays game with a recurring knee injury, plays for Glasgow Rangers, and has spent time with both Livingston and Raith Rovers; "Little Magician" Russell Latapy plays for Falkirk and has also been with Dundee United, Rangers and Hibs; midfielder Densill Theobald also plays for Falkirk; while forward Colin Samuell is another Dundee United man. Defender Brent Sancho, currently with the English team Gillingham, also used to play in Dundee, at Dens Park, where goalkeeper Kelvin Jack still plies his trade with the Dark Blues. This seems to have upset quite a few people in England including quite a few politicians. Uh, what did they expect?

I for one am rooting for T&T not only because of their affiliation with all the Scottish clubs but because they are supposed to be such underdogs (remember Cameroon a few world cups ago??). The SOCA Warriors have already played against powerhouse Sweden and held them to a 0 - 0 draw playing a man short for most of the game, due to Avery John being red carded.

At work we have large Plasma screens set up in our Cafeteria and the play by play is being piped in over the speaker system that usually plays boring, mind numbing, CHFI easy listening crap which we normally have to listen to while waiting in line for our coffee or lunch. I imagine I will have to get down to our second floor cafeteria early to get a view of one of the screens. Come on!! it's world cup...who is working during these matches...Okay, I do admit I worked quite hard and went to a few meetings today while the Football power houses of Tunisia and Saudi Arabia were playing today and while Spain was demolishing Ukraine 4-0 but tomorrow afternoon I will be trying to catch as much of the SOCA Warriors and rooting for them in their quest to beat the English......

Quote for today:

I always turn to the sports pages first, which records people's accomplishments. The front page has nothing but man's failures.

Chief Justice Earl Warren

To err is human: To forgive, canine

2006-06-13T17:12:00.000-04:00

The photo says it all...."Peace and Quiet on the Golf Course"

I decided for my own sanity that I had to take a complete break from work so....I booked last Friday off and gave myself an extra long weekend. Our GM (General MESS) Malibu was fixed in time for Friday morning (see previous blog about Chevrolet for the ongoing saga) and is roadworthy again. My blackberry was left on my bedside table and did not go with me the entire weekend, which is VERY unusual for me.

I picked JB up at his office at noon and we played 18 holes at Dentonia a City of Toronto course which is quite challenging. We went home and BBQ'd. On Saturday I watched world cup soccer in the morning. JB and I then headed down to the St. Lawrence Market to pick up some fresh Tuna steaks to BBQ on Sunday. We then headed over to the Rogers Centre as JB had tickets for us to see the Toronto Blue Jays play against the Detroit Tigers. We had great seats, only 20 rows back from behind home plate but alas we lost. The next day this prompted my brother to quip "you should stop going to those games because every time you go they lose" which does appear to be true. If JB goes with his boss or for a work related function they seem to win.

Sunday we played golf in the morning. It was my weekly lesson with Paul, the golf pro at Royal Woodbine. JB has since joined myself, and my two girlfriends for our lessons with Paul, who is a tough but patient teacher. After a solid work out from our swing practise, JB and I picked up some beer and went home sat out on the back patio, vegged out all afternoon and BBq'd our Tuna steak for dinner.....

As mentioned the delicious fresh tuna steaks were purchased at the St.Lawrence Market. We are very lucky here in Toronto to have the St. Lawrence Market. It was rated one of the best 25 markets in the world by Food and Wine magazine. It is a Toronto landmark and has been around since the early 1800's. I along with many Torontonians grew up going down to the market. My parents would take us down on a Saturday morning and I still go to the same butcher that my parents went to going back to the 1960's. My Dad would get us all a peameal bacon sandwich, and we would all munch our sandwiches while walking around the market to the various vendors. On a Saturday morning there are still long line ups at the same vendor that sells fresh peameal on a bun. My Dad would usually pick up a bag of fresh mussels and when we got home he would steam them in a big black pot and we would eat them for lunch. We would usually eat the mussels with some nice fresh bread and fresh creamy butter just bought from the cheese vendor across from the fish monger.

The market is a tradition for many Torontonians, it is part of their Saturday routine. JB and I usually go every Saturday, we go to the butcher, olympic cheese (where you can purchase any kind of cheese you need) and the fish monger for fresh salmon and tuna steaks. We then head downstairs to our favorite veggie vendor. Every Torontonian has their own favorite vendor within the Market, that they frequent. The historic market district is loaded with pubs, restaurants and shops. In the summer all the pubs set up their patios with umbrellas so all can enjoy a beer while sitting in the sun.

The area around the market always has something going on and this past weekend was no exception. JB and I parked in our usual lot, noticed barricades on the streets and vendor stands set up along Front Street leading into the Market area. I said to JB " is it rib fest already?" JB responded "It can't be rib fest, rib fest is always on Fathers Day weekend" We got up to Front Street turned right to head to the market and we started noticing a hell of a lot of dogs! Dogs of all kinds, big dogs, little dogs, dogs in costumes, dogs in baby carriages (guess their owners didn't want their dog to get tired). Stalls were set up all along Front Street and they seemed to be selling only dog related wares. JB and I felt oddly out of place as we walked through all these dogs and dog owners to get to the entrance of the market. We seemed to be the only two people sans a dog! We looked around and eventually saw the banner announcing "WOOFSTOCK" yes, you heard me correctly "WOOFSTOCK" Apparently, the historic St. Lawrence Market District is the new home for this "dog festival" There was a "doggie day care" so that dog owners visiting the show could leave their dog in the day care area and go shopping in the Market. There were doggie competitions, doggie fashion shows. It was a bit scary to say the least.

Don't get me wrong, I love dogs like crazy but some of their owners are a bit whacko if you ask me. I have never understood the need to dress a dog up in a feather boa, a frilly frock or a bonnet. Never mind how ridiculous those oversized sunglasses look on a poor pooch. I often wonder what the hell the dog is thinking. Even worse my mind starts heading down the "There are people in this world who are starving and being slaughtered and some knob in Toronto has a chihuahua dressed up like a hells angel biker with a leather costume that probably cost the equivalent of what some poor family in Sudan would pay for a 6 month supply of food" road....

I guess Samuel Butler expressed it best:

"The great pleasure of a dog is that you may make a fool of yourself with him and not only will he not scold you,but he will make a fool of himself too."

- Samuel Butler

From the Devil to Colonol Klink to Goethe to Schubert to Glasgow and back again

2006-06-07T21:39:00.000-04:00

My mind works in mysterious ways at times and the internet only encourages it more! I end up going on some whacky and wild circuitous rides sometimes.

I was reading my sister's blog today as she was discussing the whole June 6, 2006 or 6-6-6, devil, Satan,evil business. While reading her blog, I was distracted by someone sending me an SMS asking me what the score is in the Stanley Cup play off hockey game. Then someone else SMS'd me to ask if I was busy at work today...I wanted to reply "yes, i have to catch up on all my paperwork as lately our department has become anal about documentation and I feel like a clerk in the Third Riech" but employers have the ability to check SMS.

My Third Reich comment then got me thinking about a funny joke that someone sent me years ago about how the English language was going to be slowly changed and we would all start speaking English with a German accent similar to Colonol Klink. As I found the joke so amusing at the time I thought I would do a search on google to see if I could find it again but I couldn't remember the exact title of the joke. I vaguely remember the words Konsens English or Konsenz English. Determined, I kept typing variations I typed in Konig by accident which then took me to a page about the mythical Erlkönig(the evil Elf King who appears to people before they die). The website included the famous poem by Goethe called "Der Erlkönig" the Erl King...

Reading "Der Erlkönig" again got me thinking about my Mother and Grandfather. My Grandfather was a great singer who sometimes sang with the Glasgow Opera back in the 1940's and 1950's. He was a wonderful,bass baritone who sounded similar to the baritone of today Bryn Terfel. My Grandfather specialized in Schubert Leider and I loved to hear him sing "Die Forelle" a famous Goethe poem set to Schubert music about a trout.

My Mother, who was also an excellent singer,would have loads of recordings of Baritones singing Schubert Leider as I am sure it helped her not miss Grandpa so much as we lived in Canada and my Grandparents lived in Glasgow their entire lives. I would grow up listening to recordings of all the great Baritones singing Schubert, Verdi, Mozart. When we would visit my Grandparents, in Glasgow, my Grandfather would burst into song at any time of the day and I would always ask him to sing "Die Forelle" (the trout) and "Der Erlkönig" which were my two favorite Schubert Leider recordings.

Now, "Der Erlkönig", is regarded as extremely challenging to perform due to the vocal characterization required of the vocalist as well as due to its difficult accompaniment, involving the playing of rapidly repeated chords and octaves to create the effect of drama and urgency indicated in the poetry. The way the singer has to change his voice to represent the different characters in the poem make it very entertaining but exciting and terrifying for a child.

The poem is about a father riding on his horse with his sick, dying, child in his arms, riding like the wind to get the child help and the child begins to see the Erlkönig riding along with them. The Erlkönig begins to taunt and try and entice the child "You lovely child, come, go with me! So many lovely games I will play with you. Some colorful flowers are by the shore." My Grandfather used to change his voice to sound more sinister when singing the lines for the Erlkönig. With the piano rapidly playing octaves in triplets to simulate the horse's galloping, as a kid I would hope against hope that this poor man would get this kid help and get him out of the evil clutches of the Erlkönig. My heart would be racing at the lines sung in German "Now father, now father, he's seizing my arm. Elf-king has done me a cruel harm." Near the very end of the piece the music slows down and the piano stops before the finale, "In seinen Armen das Kind war tot." or "In his arms, the child was dead." The piece then ends with two dramatic chords at which point I would be balling my eyes out as yet again this poor child had died. When I gew up my Mother told me that she used to find it amusing that I would be so emotional about the song. She told me that she used to have the same reaction when she was small and would scream at my Grandfather "why is the ErlKing taking away the little boy, why can't his father save him" This of course would interrupt my Grandfather who was practising this song while his cousin Joe would be playing the piano accompaniment.

It's just so weird how you start out thinking about one thing, get on the internet and end up having a vivid flashback about a very specific memory from your childhood.

Now for something truly bizarre...see what two men in lab coats, 500 Mentos and 200 litres of diet coke can produce... Mentos and Coke Experiment

See, there goes my mind wandering again.......

"Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Ride my Chevrolet"

2006-06-05T18:02:00.000-04:00

Well, apparently ZZTop had better luck with their Chevrolet than JB and I have with ours.

I am using today's blog as a cathartic rant on the downfall of the once powerful North American Auto Manufacturer based on the litany of repairs we have had to have done to our Chevrolet Malibu I really have to shake my head and ask "what happened????"

Thinking back I remember photos from the late 1950's of my parents with their big "Yank Tanks", usually a really reliable Chevrolet model of some type. Then on into the 1960's and 1970's Dad always bought Chev's or Fords. He had a 1962 Impala that lasted him for years with nary a problem. They were a solid North American manufacturer. Where did it all go so wrong?

Back in 2001/2 I felt my next new vehicle purchase should support the domestic North American manufacturers coupled with the fact they were offering a great deal at 0% financing, I felt confident purchasing a domestic vehicle. After driving and owning a Japanese car for almost 13 years by 2002 I decided I should replace "Grace" the ol' 1988 Honda Prelude. I immediately thought I would just go get another Honda but this time felt we needed a sedan as the Prelude was sporty and hard for guests to get in and out of if in the back seat. I looked at the V6 Accord and looked for a comparable North American Sedan. After some thought we purchased a brand spanking new Chevrolet Malibu loaded with all the extras including leather interior,sun roof, V6 engine, alloy wheels etc etc.

In December of 2001 we picked up our 2002 Malibu. The first 6 mos with this car were great, then one morning I got in the car and noticed the gear shift indicator had dropped down out of site.I thought that's an odd thing to happen and when we took the car to the dealer for its regular oil change, they fixed it without incidence. Then 3 mos later we needed a major brake repair. Then 6 months later we needed another brake repair. Then the steering column started rattling on and off, took it back and they took the column out did some repair and it seemed fine. Then more brake jobs and then at the 2 1/2 year mark the front end started making noises. Took it back to the dealer and we were informed that the car needed new struts. Four weeks after getting the new struts, the front end noise returned so, we took it back to the dealer and we were told that the front bushings needed replaced. I questioned replacing front bushings on a car just over 2 years old and was assured it would all be covered by warranty as if that made it okay.

About three months after the warranty had expired, and about a week before JB and I were planning a road trip to Chicago...I noticed a loud, strange humming/grinding noise coming from the front end and to boot the windshield wipers just stopped working at the same time! So, JB stopped in at the GM dealer near his office as we felt we should get it checked out and I really didn't want to embark on a 9 hour drive to Chicago with that sort of front end noise. Now JB at the best of times is not what I would call mechanically inclined when it comes to vehicles, so when the dealer told him that we needed new front wheel hubs his response was "oh, okay" he then called me with the news "hey babe, just dropped off the car, they say we need new front wheel hubs" Upon hearing this news, I believe I let out a scream so loud and so high pitched that only dogs within a 50 mile radius could hear me (remember the scene in "Splash where Darryl Hannah speaks in her own language and all the TV screens explode)........Trying to stay calm, I said to JB "uh, so what else did they say?" His response "oh, we need a new circuit board for the windshield wipers so I told them to go ahead with the work but I am afraid to tell you the total cost..." I sighed "just tell me".....JB told me the quote was $1800.00. I asked JB for the name and number of the "service assistant" as I wanted to call them and ask a few questions. Now, women and auto mechanics do not have a great relationship at the best of times. Most mechanics just automatically assume that women know nothing about cars. Having grown up in a family with a Mother and Brother who love classic cars and with a Mechanical Engineer for a father, you tend to learn a thing or two about cars and how they work! This always gets me startled looks from mechanics who try to snow me into a repair I don't need.

JB, knowing my temper cautioned me and said "don't be too hard on him, he is a nice kid and he is just the service rep" I called up the young chap at the dealer/service centre and started questioning how a car that was just 3 years old with less than 50k on it would need new wheel hubs. I then listed off the litany of other things that had gone wrong with the car. The Service Assistant seemed shocked that I would know all the mechanical terms and remember everything that was repaired on the car and offered me the answer they must give to stupid people "well, these things tend to go and I can assure you we are not doing any work that isn't necessary" to which I replied "Ya, front wheel hubs go on cars that are 10 years old NOT a 3 year old car!" The only rebuttal this poor doltz could come back with was "well, I have the exact same model as you ma'am and I have not had any of these problems" to which I responded "that's very nice for you but how does that affect MY life $1800 later!!!!!" I then got the "your husband already told us to go ahead with the work"

Instead of "debating" any further with the poor doltz on the phone, I calmly asked him who the Regional General Manager was for GM in this area. He proceeded to give me a 1 800 number. I said " I don't want a 1 800 number. I want a name" He did not have one. Undaunted, I discussed with JB that day and suggested we draft a letter to the President of GM Canada. We wrote a letter listing our concerns and we sent it by registered mail. We listed all of the repairs we have had to have done to our car since purchase and we had requested that they reimburse us for this latest repair which was $1500, as the car was just 3 mos out of the warranty and we found it incredible that a car with such little mileage should need new wheel hubs.

It has been over a year since we sent that letter, and we followed up with two e mails and another letter sent by registered mail. To date not one single soul from General Motors has even acknowledged our letters or our existence as a customer.

The reason for above rant...JB and I planned a nice weekend. On Saturday we planned on doing our regular grocery shopping, get a few more things from the Garden Centre. On Sunday we were going to drive up north to Midland to play golf and then stop in the town of Creemore and visit GRex (JB's Mum) as well as his sister and her husband and the kiddies........

To quote Robbie Burns "The best-laid schemes o' mice an 'men Gang aft agley"

Saturday morning JB and I were sitting having coffee and he said "I will go move the car closer to the house" I heard him leave and then 10 mins later he came back in to the house and we had the following exchange:

JB (yelling up the stairs) "Uh, car won't start"

JMack (feeling the blood vessels on the side of her head start to throb and reaching for her Zantac due to the sudden burning in her chest) "what's that you say? "

JB (sighing) "Car WON'T start!"

JMack (thinking non mechanically inclined JB probably flooded it and it's probably just damp from all the rain) "let me go try it"

JMack (returning after 10 mins of trying to get car engine to spark and turn over) "it's not getting the gas, not sparking. Maybe battery is dead or worse the alternator better call roadside for a boost"

Well, roadside came and tried to boost the car and even with a boost it would not start. Damned if I would let this ruin our weekend and damned if I was going to give up a tee time on what was expected to be a nice sunny Sunday afternoon. I marched down the road and walked along St. Clair to the rental car place all the while the rain just pounding down non stop and swearing under my breath "this is just f---g great, goddamn piece of s---t car" Got to the rental place and all they had left was a PT Cruiser (any port in the storm) Rented the car. I then asked my Brother if one of his friends with a tow truck could tow the car to his mechanic friend Pat. I knew on a weekend it would be tough to do this all short notice, so I rented the car until today, Monday.

Well, thanks to Bro and his connections we got the car towed up to Pat's today and they have determined that the car will not start because the ignition system is worn out and the chip is not recognizing the key thus invoking the anti theft system to kick in and the anti theft system believes someone is trying to steal the car. What the anti theft system does is stops any gas from getting through thus stopping the car from being able to start.

Now, on the one hand I am actually ecstatic that SOMETHING actually does work in this goddamn car but on the other hand, I now am looking at having to replace the entire ignition system and keys which will be about $400 or more.

Morale of the story:

When you debate with yourself on whether to buy domestic or stick with Japanese. When you sit and mull over purchasing a nice V6 Accord but then decide GM is offering 0% financing and isn't it better to support the domestic manufacturer DON'T because that loyalty to the Domestic Manufacturer is NOT returned to you as a customer. They don't give a flying rat's ass about you. If they did they would not offer a substandard product with no support or customer service. THAT's how much respect GM has for you as a customer.

Comdey bit for today....I leave you with a HILARIOUS re-vamp of the preview for the Movie "The Ten Commandments" It is too funny!

“Share that with the Dalai Lama, jack ass!”

2006-06-02T14:22:00.000-04:00

Well it's Friday and it's been a fairly stressful week and when I am stressed I have certain things I have to have around me that make my life less stressful. Humour is very important in reducing stress. On my desktop, at work, I have a downloaded MP3 of William Shatner sing/talking the Pulp song "Common People" which always makes me laugh my ass off. I then find myself thinking about the wit and wisdom of Vince Vaughn. Usually, I visualize him delivering one of his hilarious and oh so quotable lines from one of his comedies. From “You’re so money” to “Earmuffs” to “Lock it up!”, his lines have changed the way we converse. There is no actor who is quoted as much as Vince Vaughn. I absolutely love the guy.

Ladies and Gentlemen, for your Friday afternoon entertainment....Mr Vince Vaughn!

Vince Vaughn On: Honesty (Swingers)

“There’s nothing wrong with letting the girls know that you’re money and that you want to party.”

Vince Vaughn On: Playing The Odds (Old School)

“Well why don’t you give me your number in case anything happens to my wife.”

Vince Vaughn On: Getting Lucky (Dodgeball)

VV: “There’s someone out there for everybody.”

Owen: “You think?”

VV: “Absolutely. In some cases, there’s two somebody’s for one person. I like to call that “the jackpot”.”

Vince Vaughn On: Gun Control (Swingers)

“People get carjacked.”

VV: “Who’s gonna carjack your fuckin’ K-Car? He’s right Sue you don’t need to carry a gat!”

Vince Vaughn On: Breaking Stereotypes (Wedding Crashers)

Owen Wilson: “Don’t waste your time on girls with hats. They tend to be very proper.”

VV: “Yeah? Well, the proper girl in the hat just eye-fucked the shit out of me.”

Vince Vaughn On: Exploration (Old School)

“Well, Columbus wasn’t looking for America, my man, but that turned out to be pretty okay for everyone.”

Vince Vaughn On: Enemies (Anchorman)

“I hate you, Ron Burgundy! I hate you! But damn, if I don’t respect you.”

Vince Vaughn On: Spirituality (Wedding Crashers)

VV: “Do you know what that awareness is, Gloria?”

Gloria Cleary: “What?”

VV: “That we’re all one. That separateness is an illusion, and that I’m one with everyone - with the Prime Minister of England, and my cousin Harry, you and me, the fat kid from ‘What’s Happening,’ the Olsen twins, Natalie Portman, the guy who wrote ‘Catcher in the Rye,’ Nat King Cole, Carrot Top, Jay-Z, Weird Al Yankovic, Harry Potter, if he existed, the whore on the street corner, your mother. We’re all one.”

Vince Vaughn On: Marriage (Old School)

“Alright, let me be the first to say congratulations. You get one vagina for the rest of your life. Real smart, Frank. Way to work it through.”

Vince Vaughn On: Bad Language (Old School)

Luke Wilson: “I’ve had a hell of a day and even worse week. And all I want to do is get some fucking sleep.”

VV: “Whoa. Whoa. Why the F-ing? Why in front of the kid? All ya gotta do is say “earmuffs” to him, and you can say anything, “Fuck, shit, bitch.”

Frank the Tank: “Cock. Balls.”

VV: “I’m just trying to make a point, Frank. You don’t have to celebrate it.”

Vince Vaughn On: Family Life (Old School)

“I have a wife and kids. Do I seem like a happy guy to you, Frank?”

Vince Vaughn On: Death (Old School)

“Don’t beat yourself up over this, Mitch. It’s not your fault. Dammit, Blue was old. That’s what old people do. They die.”

Vince Vaughn On: Getting Older (Be Cool)

“Nice ass won’t get you through your whole life. Once you turn thirty you better have a personality.”

Vince Vaughn On: Body Art (Wedding Crashers)

“Tattoo on the lower back? Might as well be a bullseye.”

Vince Vaughn On: Helping Friends (Wedding Crashers)

“A friend in need is a pest.”

Vince Vaughn On: Being a Good Wingman (Swingers)

“Look at this, OK? I want you to remember this face. This is the guy behind the guy behind the guy.”

Vince Vaughn On: Giving A Friend Some Confidence (Swingers)

“I don’t want you to be the guy in the PG-13 movie everyone’s really hoping makes it happen. I want you to be like the guy in the rated R movie, you know, the guy you’re not sure whether or not you like yet. You’re not sure where he’s coming from. Okay? You’re a bad man. You’re a bad man, Mikey. You’re a bad man, bad man.”

Vince Vaughn On: Betrayal (Wedding Crashers)

“I hope you flip your bike over and knock your two front teeth out! You selfish son of a bitch! You leave me in the trenches taking grenades, John!”

WE CAN DO IT!!

2006-06-01T13:30:00.000-04:00

As one of the few female Ops Managers in my organization I find it incredible that in the year 2006, my Director (the only female Director in Operations) and I still encounter the old "boys club" mentality. At times it becomes mentally and physically exhausting. My Director sighed and said to me today "I am so weary of this crap" Don't get me wrong our Company in general is a model of respect and dignity and non gender bias but our particular department/organization of Operations/Engineering still has a long way to go!

I have been thinking about this a lot in the past couple of days as we have had to deal with quite a few projects and network outages in the past month that have not gone well of late. This has forced me to make some unpopular decisions albeit correct decisions but not popular with the Engineering ranks who it would appear wish that I would just go away or just can't get over the fact that I, a mere woman can and will hold up their projects. It is to be expected to become somewhat of an unpopular individual with some groups when you cancel work that affects a 14 million dollar project. Typically, as the lone female on a conference call that is made up of all men who have been in the organization for years and years they really are in denial of the fact that new people have joined their ranks and we are women and we are NOT going anywhere, no matter how hard you make it for us. When I question things (which is my job) or suggest we do something differently to ensure our customers are impacted in the least possible way, I am dismissed with comments or e mails with suggestions such as "you need to further explain your decision as we need to make an informed decision before canceling such work" This comment has been made to me a few times in the past three weeks by one individual in particular and my response is always "you insult me by suggesting that my decision is not informed" which then gets the shocked mock hurt response of "that is not what I said or meant" OF COURSE it is what you said or meant because YOU JUST SAID IT!

My two favorite comments of this week are "this is very complex and there are many scenarios which you don't understand and we can't possibly come up with to test" to which I respond "uh, why haven't you thought of them, I have and I suggest you start coming up with a few" And "well technically we can do this" as if I am some token female who was dropped into this job with no technical experience when actually I have been working in Operations for the past 8 years many as a Network Specialist. I always respond with "technically we can do anything we want, don't we have to also assess the risk of performing this "technical" work" and I always feel like adding on "but what would i know, i am only a girl!"

I have been wondering of late, if a man were in my chair, would he have to go through this crap. Would he have to continually battle shit like this. The answer is "NO!!" He would be given kudos for making these decisions. He would be labeled as someone who is "decisive", "confident" and "thorough", "great to work with", "always thinking of the customer"

The only thing saving my sanity at this point is that my own techs who work for me, my Director and many of my male colleagues agree with me and I have my past decisions as proof of my decision making ability. It is just that small group of insecure "men" who cannot deal with the fact that their little enclosed world is changing.... So, yes I am weary and at times I really get tired of fighting and being the "trailblazer" for other women but I will continue fight on because bottom line, the assholes are outnumbered by the all of the sane and competent people that I do work with. Male and female alike.

My mood coupled with the crappy weather this afternoon has me humming the song "Stormy Weather" At the moment it is pissing down rain and I have the "female trailblazer" blues.

As one of the lines in the song "Stormy Weather" says :

"Stormy weather
Just can't get my poor self together
I'm weary all the time"

This also got me thinking about what is the best version of this song. Everyone loves the Lena Horne version or the Judy Garland version but I have to say my favorite recording of "Stormy Weather" is by Etta James. Etta doesn't sound all soft and sad and weak and depressed over her situation as most versions sound. Not Etta, she sounds confident and pissed off. I love it!

We're having a heatwave.......

2006-05-30T10:33:00.000-04:00

For some reason I have Ella Fitzgerald in my head singing the Cole Porter classic "we're having a heatwave, a tropical heatwave..." In my previous blog from last weekend, I was bitching about the cold and rain during the May longweekend last week. Well, welcome to Toronto! where in a week we have had temperatures jump to 33 degrees celsius with a humidex of 42 degrees. Which means when you are outside it feels as if it is 42 degrees! It is just after 10am here in Toronto and already it is 28 degrees celsius. God bless Global warming or whatever is causing this! We have a smog alert and it is just hot, humid and nasty outside. As a true north girl, I really hate this heat and humidity...I can't wait til fall and winter. I don't mind this type of heat if I am in a place like Florida or the Caribbean where you at least have some cool breezes coming in from the ocean. Here all we have is concrete and tall buildings. As we are situated on the very large lake Ontario you would think we would get some cool breezes but we have built up the waterfront with so many towers and condominiums there is nowhere for the breezes to blow! (the waterfront mess, i will save for a future blog) As a city we do have a lot of trees but I fear with this heat and smog they are suffering and not able to perform their task of keeping the air as fresh and cool as they used to.

To make matters worse, our wonderful TTC (public transit) workers decided to walk off the job yesterday holding the city to ransom. It caused sheer gridlock throughout the city and almost 1 million people had to find alternate ways to get to work. Walking to work in 42 degree humidex temperatures is not fun. Thank god i was lucky enough to get a lift in from JB in our air conditioned car and my co-worker Platt gave me lift home in his airconditioned car. Bet all the extra cars on the road made the air even better! The photo shows the thousands of stranded commuters walking up Bay Street from the train station.

Temperatures are supposed to go down to a more reasonable 23/24 degrees by tomorrow and through to the rest of the week and the Mayor legislated all the workers back to work last night.

Against All Odds Scotland is going to the World Cup

2006-05-27T12:41:00.000-04:00

I was listening to my favorite radio sports show "off the ball" this morning (see link at left as today's show was particularly funny). There is a big debate brewing in the UK over who Scotland should support in the World Cup as most Scots do not want to support the "Auld Enemy" aka England. Heavens to Betsy it seems this years world cup even has Rangers and Celtic fans agreeing on who to back as many of them appear to be backing Sweden as both Gers and Celtic Clubs employ players from Sweden. Many Scots are joining in supporting Trinidad and Tobago, during this years world cup as a quarter of the Trinidad and Tobago squad play for Scottish club teams, including Jason Scotland who scored the second goal in the 3-2 win over Austrian club champions Vienna on Tuesday in Graz.

Jason is now the new face of Irn-Bru and BBC Scotland Channel 4 has done a series of advertisements to be aired on television with the theme: Against All Odds Scotland is going to the World Cup!

The visual shows an empty bus coming to a stop and a lone passenger boarding. He is Jason Scotland, the Soca Warrior striker, and he is wearing a red Soca Warrior T-shirt, the back of which reads: Scotland.

The advertisement is accompanied by a song Tartan Army and T&T.

Hilarious!!

I am putting my money on Scotland in this years World Cup!

No rest for the wicked

2006-05-26T22:48:00.000-04:00

It has been a particularly crazy week at work and I am still working 14 hours after I started this morning. The only break I have had today was when I drove home. When I got home I had to log in to my lap top via VPN to continue working on some issues. I can honestly say at least my job is never boring but I am beginning to wonder what the symptoms are for a nervous breakdown!! Does it include sheer exhaustion and one eye twitching? LOL I got to work this morning and with my usual optimism thought "it's Friday,nothing is going to happen today as the last four Fridays have been sheer hell". I jinxed it!

On the way in to the office I thought I should pick up a couple of movies before all the good rentals are sold out and my only choice would be "Big Momma's House 2" of which, god help me, they had TONS of copies. Thankfully, there were still some good movies left and I was able to rent "Narnia" and "Munich" I had every intention of watching at least one of the DVD's tonight but duty called. Ever so understanding and patient about the sometimes ridiculous demands of my job, JB was happy to just order a pizza and forgo watching one of the movies. He just popped his new NHL Xbox game in and proceeded to play hockey until I am done with my Wireless Networks Gateway switch emergency!

On the subject of Munich, I was very small when that event happened but I remember my parents watching the Olympics. I remember my Mother suddenly bursting into tears and I can remember the ABC anchorman in his gold jacket. I remember my mother crying and saying to my Dad "oh my god, who could do such a thing, how can this be happening" I have some vague recollections of the subsequent news casts and I remember it being a traumatic event for many in our neighborhood as quite a few neighbor's were Polish or Austrian Jews who had escaped or survived concentration camps during WW2. They had come to Canada to try and forget, and to make a better life for themselves and their children and this was all over the TV newscasts. It was the beginning of immediate feedback via television about an ongoing tragedy long before CNN. Very interested to see how the film portrays this horrible event.

Narnia is another film I have been dying to see as I am a huge fan of CS Lewis (should update my profile to say that) I read the Chronicles of Narnia when I was younger but may read them again as it has been so long since I first read them. I remember my sister going crazy over "The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe".

I find the actress Tilda Swinton fascinating. She plays the White Witch in the movie Narnia. She is such an interesting actress and has played so many diverse roles. We recently rented the movie "Broken Flowers" and watched the entire film, of which she was listed as being in, and had to search through it again as she was unrecognizable as the character Penny. If you have not seen "Broken Flowers" it is worth a watch. She is also excellent in the movie "Constantine" as the Angel Gabriel.

I am crazy for all of those heaven and hell, good vs evil, signs of Revelations and the Apocalypse films.

My faves are :

Constantine (JB the film buff thinks this is a crap movie, he is not a fan of Keanu)

Stigmata....great performance by Gabriel Byrne

End of Days.... hate Schwarzenegger but love Gabriel Byrne

Seventh Seal...can't stand Demi Moore but love this flick....Jurgen Prochnow is great as mystery man David Bannon.

JMacK signing off............

Pet Peeve

2006-05-24T14:51:00.000-04:00

Short blog today...Too much going on in the world of wireless taking up my time.

Decided to walk down the road and take the streetcar (red rocket) to the subway and then a short subway ride down to the office. The one thing that I hate about Public transit is the "public" aspect of it. The last few times I have taken the subway or streetcar I invariably end up standing beside some person who clearly does not own a shower nor have they heard of anti-perspirant. This morning the streetcar was not busy yet I felt the presence of someone within my "personal zone". This person felt the need to stand right in my space and then decided to cough up a lung without covering their mouth. Gee, thanks, this is just what I needed. Your nasty filthy germs coughed right into my face.

off to another dysfunctional,drama filled meeting. I am taking no prisoners! Typhoid Mary, from the streetcar, has put me in a foul mood.

Empire Biscuits

2006-05-23T15:02:00.000-04:00

Empire Biscuit = The Russians have caviar, the French fine wine, but beating them all, the Scots have the delicious Empire Biscuit. The biscuit has a layer of jam in between two shortbread biscuits and the top is covered with white water icing, usually decorated with a small jelly sweet (known as a "jube jube")or candied cherry half in the center.

The name was originally German biscuits; however, with the outbreak of World War I it was renamed to empire biscuits, a reference to the British Empire. They are also known in some parts as 'Belgian (or just Belgium) Biscuits.

If you grew up with Scottish parents, Grandparents, Aunts and Uncles you are very familiar with the Empire Biscuit. Empire biscuits were always around our house and my Grandmother in Glasgow always made the best. Not able to find a good Scottish bakery in Toronto anymore (where did they all go?)I became extremely excited when JB and I decided to drive to the wineries and stay at Niagara on the Lake (see previous posts). I said to JB "Ooooo Niagara on the Lake, know what that means? Empire biscuits from the Niagara Home Bakery!!" As there are less and less bakeries in Toronto specializing in the needs and tastes of ex-pat Scots (it appears all the older Scottish bakers have retired with their millions and moved to Bermuda or someplace)it means that if I am craving an Empire Biscuit I have to make the hour and a half trek out to Niagara on the Lake to hit the Niagara Home bakery. This Bakery, in photo above, appears to have not changed since it opened. I was reading that they used to make their deliveries via horse and cart. Inside are all sorts of Scottish and English baked goods for purchase. Treacle scones, scottish meat pies, cornish pasties are all available to munch while you walk around the town.

JB and I arrived in Niagara on the Lake on Sunday and he said "do you want to go to the bakery now" to which I replied "no, lets check in to the hotel and I can go to the Bakery tomorrow" Imagine my horror when I walked down the street from our hotel on Monday morning and upon approaching the bakery noticed it seemed quite dark inside and when I got to the door found it to be LOCKED and only then looked up at the sign stating "closed on Mondays". I looked at JB in utter confusion..."locked? closed on Mondays? how can this be?? It's a holiday Monday, look at all the tourists, how can they be closed?" I then stuck my face on the large front window and peered in still not believing the place was closed..... and there sitting in the window display almost mocking me, was a huge tray of Empire biscuits! My heart sank, no biscuits and no Barr's Irn Brew for me! Swearing under my breath I crossed the road and decided I would do some window shopping. I walked by the usual tourist trap souvenir shops, a few restaurants and then walked by the ice cream shop. I thought "wow, that place is busy. How are that many people eating ice cream in this cold, crappy weather?"...I walked on a few steps then something hit me, did I see Empire biscuits in that window?....I stopped backtracked back to the ice cream shop and it turns out that the ice cream shop is also a bakery! A bakery with meat pies, cornish pasties, scones and EMPIRE BISCUITS! I imagine they decided to take the overflow from the closed on Mondays, Niagara Home bakery. I snapped up a half a dozen of the beauties and I am having one now with my tea for a break from my insanely hectic day. These biscuits are pretty good but the Niagara Home Bakery still makes the best Empire biscuits, after my Gran's of course.

May Two Four...don't forget your Parka!!

2006-05-22T19:17:00.000-04:00

Well, our weekend in Niagara on the Lake was lovely except for the weather! We stopped at numerous wineries on the drive through the Niagara Region on the way to our hotel, a "Vintage Inn" called Queen's Landing (photo above)

Niagara on the Lake is a National Historic District and the town has been left with many original buildings and homes dating back to the 1790's. It is also the home of the Shaw Festival which each year features live plays featuring the works of George Bernard Shaw. When we decided to take this mini-trip last week we had plans to play golf, sit on patios and sip wine or beer. Alas, the weather gods (see the weather pixie to your right) were not on our side this weekend. It was freezing cold and rained all day yesterday and although today was relatively sunny it was damn cold. Now, as a "true north strong and free" Canadian I can handle the cold. I can take walking outside in -25 windchill in January but by May long weekend I expect to be sitting on a patio drinking with my summer skirt and sandals on NOT a coat, turtle neck and long pants. I guess in some respects it was a fair trade off that when we checked in to the Queen's Landing Hotel our front desk clerk, Miguel offered to upgrade our standard room to a king size bed with jacuzzi/spa bathroom, fireplace and a view of the beautiful Niagara River. The room was massive and for an extra $25 more for a room that would normally go for $200 more than our standard room I wasn't going to complain too much. Thanks Miguel! The fireplace came in handy on Sunday night.

We did manage to get a golf game in at a par 3-9 hole course called Oak Hall. A nice course with beautiful grounds and a large stone mansion by the second tee (see link). Much to JB's protestations about it being too cold and my counterpointing "look, we are going to play damn it we made plans to play so let's play. Besides, we won't be too cold when we start swinging and walking the course. It will warm up, see the sun is starting to peek out" Suffice to say, it didn't get that much warmer and JB is such a trooper sometimes for going along with my whacky ideas. He even ended up playing a better game than me. We finished up our game and headed back to Niagara on the Lake to get a pint and some lunch before driving back to Toronto.

Back to work tomorrow and hopefully some warmer weather is coming! Would post more about the wineries and wines we tried and purchased but I am in a post vino, rich food and fresh air fatigue zone. The ol' noggin is not performing optimally at the moment but will say that Peninsula Ridge ,in the photo below, was one of my favorite wineries on our drive through wine country this past weekend.

Sally Forth! See you next year in Helsinki!

2006-05-21T08:49:00.000-04:00

It's nice to see the extras from "Army of Darkness" have found more work.....

Congratulations to this years Eurovision song contest winners "Lordi" who won this years contest with their song " Hard Rock Hallelujah". The eponymous lead singer Mr. Lordi has miniature skulls on his kneecaps whose eyes light up red, his microphone is attached to the handle of a battleaxe and he has devil horns protruding from his head. It’s not exactly Abba. Despite their frightening appearance, there’s something really likeable about the group and the crowd really warmed to them. Lordi are described as a melodic, heavy metal band.

Eurovision is an annual event and the contest takes place in the city of the previous years winner. The contest has been ongoing since 1956 and past winners have included Domenico Modugno who won with the song "Nel blu, di pinto di blu" better known here in North America as "Volare". Julio Iglesias was a winner in 1970 and Abba were the big winners in 1974 with their song "Waterloo". The majority of contestants from this year were no different than previous years competitors and included the requisite gorgeous 20 something girls and good looking boy band types singing songs such as "why angels cry" and "together we are one" but it was to be "Hard Rock Hallelujah" sung by Lordi that was the crowd favorite.

Such an outcome to a popular singing contest would never happen here in North America. Here in North America popular music's content is driven by market as well as aesthetic forces. Pop is designed to appeal to everyone and doesn't come from any particular place or mark off any particular taste. Although not a fan of heavy metal, like it or not Heavy Metal has a huge world following and I am glad to see a group like this win as all musical tastes deserve to be recognized and validated for their listeners.

To view Lordi's winning performance from the Eurovision Competition click here It's a catchy tune!

Happy Victoria Day

2006-05-20T12:57:00.000-04:00

Well, a sure sign that summer is on it's way is the Victoria Day long weekend.

Typically here in Ontario it is the first weekend for the cottagers (people who own cottages outside of city) to head out of town and open up their cottages for the summer. They clog up all the highways with their packed cars, so packed that they can barely see in their rear view mirrors and thus chaos usually ensues on the highways leading out of the city. Since JB and I do not own cottage, we have decided to trek down to Niagara on the Lake but we are going to wait and leave tomorrow when the highways will be less busy and safe from frantic cottagers. We are going to hit some wineries, stay at a nice inn called Queen's Landing and hopefully we can catch some cool fireworks to celebrate the old queen's birthday.

Recently there have been discussions about changing the name of this holiday or moving the holiday to later in the month to align with the American Memorial Day weekend. Wee Scunner objects to this and really must question why we should be obligated to remove all remnants of our Canadian Heritage and worse adopt the same long weekend as the U.S. so that big business can all have the same day off! Even worse, I am amazed at the suggestions of some Canadians and politicians in this country who suggest we completely remove all reference to the British influence and forming of this country and change the name of Victoria Day to some lame ass name such as Heritage Day, which is ironic since Queen Victoria is an important figure in our Canadian heritage. It is a part of our history which should not be changed.

See you all on Simcoe Day!

Cheers!

Comic Irony

2006-05-19T16:38:00.000-04:00

How ironic that a 1980's, White House sponsored, anti drug and alcohol video called "Stop the Madness" would feature so many known alcoholics and drug addicts. It is quite funny to see a very young Whitney Houston singing oh so sincerely about how "drugs are causing pain and everyone's a loser in this deadly game that's played" The best is known alcoholic David Hasselhof coming to life from one of his own posters. Not sure what video Arnold Schwarzenegger thinks he is in??

An Evening with David Suzuki

2006-05-17T16:23:00.000-04:00

Living in Canada we are so privileged to have an individual such as Dr. David Suzuki as a fellow Canadian. I believe a good majority of Canadians have grown up watching his various shows and regular series such as "The Nature of Things" shown regularly on the CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation).

My friend PZ a.k.a. "Biodiversity Babe" forwarded me the following info about an upcoming Toronto event featuring Dr. David Suzuki.

An evening with David Suzuki
Toronto, Ontario
Wednesday, May 31, 2006

Are you concerned about the health of our oceans?

If you're in the Toronto area at the end of May, join life-long fisherman and scientist David Suzuki for an interactive evening of discussion on the state of Canada's oceans.

Whether it's fresh from the market or straight from your grocer's freezer, it's important to know where your fish comes from and how to choose sustainable options for the good of our oceans and ourselves.

Renowned biologist, Dr. Ransom Myers, Killam Chair in Ocean Studies at Dalhousie University, will join Dr. Suzuki for an in-depth look at the health of the high seas. Dr. Myers will share his expertise on the topics of deep-sea trolling, sustainable fisheries and Canada's role in protecting our oceans.

See you there!

When: 8 p.m. till 9:30 p.m. (Doors open at 7:40 p.m.), Wednesday May 31, 2006
Location: Theatre Digital, 555 Mt. Pleasant Road, Toronto, Ontario (click here for map)
Tickets: $15 for adults, $10 for children, seniors and students with valid ID.
Available at the door or in advance through Ticketmaster by phone at 416-870-8000 or online at: ticketmaster.ca

For more information, e-mail: fishforever@davidsuzuki.org

When Stressed take it out on G Wubya

2006-05-17T12:35:00.000-04:00

For some odd reason this works...It is oddly calming and addicting. Fling George Wubya's body in the air only to watch him smash in to the solid bubbles and then squish him in between the spaces only to watch him fly through the air again and hit more solid bubbles...

Give it a try. click here

I pity the fool who gets Murdock's blood

2006-05-16T09:19:00.000-04:00

Cyberspace is a funny place. It really makes you wonder about the gullibility and intelligence of a good majority of the population. A co-worker forwarded me a hilarious link to Stuffo The Stuffo team decided to see if they could build a new "A - Team" from scratch and to help them with this mission they decided to place a job posting on Craigslist an online classified ads for various cities in the U.S.

It would appear that some poor souls thought the job posting was for real. Some of the responses by potential applicants are hilarious. Granted, some of the respondents did clue in to the hoax and offered up responses such as "did you also need a film crew to document the whole thing". They were joking, right?

My favorite "applicant" is Berny S who offered his services as a pilot but asks "does the "bouncer type" also have to be the welder? Good luck with that. Bouncer types are generally not too bright"

Surely he must be joking.....

"Golf has probably kept more people sane than Psychiatrists have"

2006-05-14T20:29:00.000-04:00

A large number of my family were/are golfers. My Grandfather, who lived in Scotland, played every day. It helped that he lived across the street from a golf course in Glasgow. He also played regularly with his friends at the famous "Old Course" in St. Andrews. My Mother learned to play from my Grandfather and she was a very competent golfer. She scored two holes in one over the years, one of them with her 2 iron! She would constantly tell me to take up the sport. "You will be a natural" look at the rest of the family and she would list off all the names of cousins who were club champions and junior club champions and remind me how great my Father was at any sport he took up. Being a teenager means not always listening to your parents. I wanted to do my own thing and it involved equestrian, not golf. When we would go to Scotland in the summers to visit my Grandparents my Mother would always suggest that I go with my Grandfather to the golf course and my Grandfather would happily take me with him and let me practice putting on the practice greens as he stressed the importance of a good short game. Looking back I should have listened to my Mother and Grandfather as we would have been able to play together during my teens and 20's. We would have had quite a few years to spend playing golf together.

My foray back on to the golf course occurred last July when I was roped into playing for a corporate event with colleagues from work. The event was at the very swank Eagles Nest Golf Course. Both my Grandfather and my Mother must have been looking down from above that day and just shaking their heads whispering "with that swing! maybe she is adopted". Now, granted Eagles Nest is not a beginners course but I was simply awful! Something had to be done! I had to become better at this game (wee scunner can be quite competitive) So,I decided to sign up for lessons. When I mentioned to two of my girlfriends that I was planning on taking lessons they were both extremely interested and mentioned that they have always wanted to learn how to play but were afraid to go alone. For the past year we meet each Sunday at 10am for our hour lesson with Paul, the Golf Pro. And after our first 18 hole game together last Friday we are hooked! We are looking forward to many years of golf together to keep us active and young.

Although it can be frustrating when you are not having a good game I still find it a great stress reliever from the day to day craziness of my life. During those 2 or 3 hours on the course I find peacefulness and tranquility with no cell phones, no traffic, no horrible reminders of the tragedies that are ongoing in this world. I don't have to think about anything other than focusing on making myself a better player and enjoying the pastoral scenes all around me.

To quote essayist Robert Lynd: It is almost impossible to remember how tragic a place this world is when one is playing golf.

King Kong and on and on and on and on and on.....

2006-05-14T13:02:00.000-04:00

Wee Scunner's better half ( JB) rented two movies for us to watch this weekend. "The Family Stone" which was a lovely film and very enjoyable to watch. I loved the quirky characters, loved the writing and the performances were great.

The second movie was "King Kong" the remake of the 1933 film. Having seen the original many, many times, I did not understand how over an hour into the film the characters had still not sailed off for skull island in search of Kong the "8th Wonder of the World". The original King Kong runs a short, exciting hour and a bit. As a child, I remember being terrified each time I watched the old black and white version. It was fast paced and the musical score helped to make the movie even more exciting and dramatic. It had the quick, intelligent banter typical of films from that era. This new version by Peter Jackson is too long!! Although it is somewhat respectful of the original 1933 version and includes some funny references to the original film and even to Fay Wray the lead actress in the original film. Everything appears to be over explained in this version. I have noticed this a lot in movies these days. Have we become stupider since the 1930's or is it that movies have become so expensive to make as well as to go and see that they must be jam packed with as much special effects as possible while over explaining each characters situation or motivation in each scene? Does this ensure that they get as many tickets purchased as possible? I don't need all the dots connected for me. I can pretty much figure it out. I really think that movie makers understimate the intelligence of the movie going public.

Suffice to say, it is not a good sign when I get up and go off to clean the bathroom and then check e mails, after a movie has started. That is usually my sign to JB, the film buff, that I have pretty much given up on a film and my doing this usually illicits the "what? you are giving up on the film already?" response. Interestingly enough JB seemed to be as bored as I was with the film but he gets kudos for sitting through the entire film without taking a break.

YAAAAAWN!

Watch the original instead, it won't insult your intelligence as much as I felt this version did mine and you will also gain another hour and a half of your life to watch another great film from the 1930's.

"The Fix" was not in.......

2006-05-10T22:35:00.000-04:00

This past weekend was the 132nd running of the Kentucky Derby. The Derby( "daahrbee" as my parents used to pronounce it) was an important sporting event in our family. My Father loved to watch the race along with the two other races that make up the triple crown(the Preakness and the Belmont). He wanted all of us to love what he and many others have called "the most exciting 2 mins in sport".

Derby day at our house was an interactive activity for us as children except for my brother who was too cool for such nonsense. My Dad would make it interesting and fun by putting all of the horses names in one of his fishing hats and having us put up $1 from our allowance as a wager. For some reason our Mother seemed to win quite a few years in a row and looking back on this my sister and I joked that the fix was in between our parents "it was a plot to get our allowance money back".

In May of 1973 "the fix " was not in..... as usual my Dad had written all of the horses names on strips of paper and thrown them in his fishing hat. My Mother was always given first pick and then my sister, myself and then my Dad. We would continue to make our picks out of the hat until we had depleted all of the folded up paper strips from the hat. It had started to get quite dramatic as one particular name had not been pulled out of the hat yet. The hat was passed to me, I put my hand in and moved around the few pieces of paper that were left and pulled out my next pick. I noticed that this particular piece of paper felt thicker than the other folded up choices I had just made. I thought " hmmm this horse must have a really long name" I slowly unraveled the paper and saw the first two letters and I immediately knew the pot of money was going to be mine as there on the strip of paper in my Dad's neat handwriting was the name SECRETARIAT

Secretariat was a revered sports figure in our house. My father loved many sports and loved and respected many great athletes and he considered Secretariat a great athlete. My Dad seemed to have a special fondness for "Big Red". I think he admired Secretariats personality. If you think a horse cannot have a personality trust me this horse did. He seemed to know he was a great horse. He was confident, stubborn and almost swaggered when he walked in the post parades before his races. My father loved strong, honest and confident personalities. For him these were important qualities to have. When Secretariat passed away in 1989 it was one of the few times that my Dad actually called me at work as he wanted to "give me the sad news".

My Dad and I would continue to watch the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness and the Belmont together for many, many years after the "Great Derby Race of 1973". I wasn't always able to get home to watch the Belmont or the Preakness but I always tried to make the time to watch the Derby with my Dad. I guess it was part of his "quality time" with one of his daughters. The Derby along with the Superbowl was the one event we would alway try to watch together each year. Once the field was set, we would go over the names of the entrants and look at which jockey was riding which horse and my Dad would study the bloodlines of the "hot contenders" and of course the odds. I would always ask him "which horse are you liking this year Dad" and he would give me a few names he felt were potential winners but he would always complete that thought with "he looks like a pretty good horse but he's no Secretariat"

My Dad passed away in April of 2004 and I always find myself missing him more than usual during Kentucky Derby weekend. This years winner was Barbaro, a dark bay colt and not an overwhelming favorite. As my Dad would say "he's a pretty good horse but he's no secretariat"