Letter to Braemar #4

My walk yesterday triggered fond memories of Railroad Chicken Wrestling:
Snow Edition & Snow Joust: Road Edition.

Happy Holidays to my partner in ridiculous full-contact platonic fun :)

Spage is...

...wading through crotch-deep snow like some frakking regular Canadian.
Snow confuses and enrages Vancouverites. I am no exception.

Spage is...

...checking out her across the street neighbour's pretty holiday lights.

Spage is...

...at Margaret's retirement party. She has been a Federal Public Servant
for 33 years!

President-elect Steve Harper

Our Prime Minister has it in for Canada and our political institutions. He never respected those institutions and now he's moving to disassemble them because they are roadblocks on his path to becoming the head of state for Canada. Is this alarmist? Hardly. In this editorial by Rick Mercer, who should be The Official Opposition of the House, around the recent coalition/prorogue mess he points out that the Conservatives are publicly alluding to these plans. And this is not news if you take into consideration many of the smaller actions Harper has taken to subtly move Canada into step with America. Remember fixed election dates? Harper insisting on being the mouthpiece of the government even though it is made up of 308 elected Members of Parliament? That he's evangelical? Declining to name a Deputy PM? His desire to make judges and Senators elected? His instance that it is his right to choose who asks questions at press conferences? Refusing to participate in media scrums outside of the Commons? Taking a motorcade from his front door to the Governor Generals house - across the street? It all sounds very Bushy in nature.

There is one good thing about Harper; in hockey he has a preference for an overtime period in lieu of a shoot-out. Who could disagree with that?

Brabe Says

"Hey Brabe, remember earlier, when you were asking me about how to affect
change? Well..."

"Don't tempt me with terrorism, Spage!"

Spage is...

...out and about downtown enjoying this warm and sunny December day. I do
adore this corner of Canada!

"A mean little man obsessed with revenge"

Wookiee sent me this link to a wonderful little column that Rick Mercer submitted to the Globe and Mail. It's a criticism of Harper's plan to stem the current economic crisis by attacking our democracy. I will copy it below.

Yesterday Harper actually tried to claim that his plan to financially cripple his political opponents would be helpful to Canadians. If he means it will help us reduce our political options, eliminate different voices and viewpoints, and force us into an American-style system where you can choose between the conservative guy or the really conservative guy, then yes, he'll be helping us.


Like a trip to Baskin Robbins
RICK MERCER
Globe and Mail Update
November 28, 2008 at 3:09 PM EST


Okay we just might as well admit it and get it over with. Stephen Harper is a genius.

Here we are faced with a global economic crisis. Nations all over the world are struggling to figure out how to protect their citizens — who are terrified. We've seen unheard of cooperation between political rivals all over the industrialized world.

But not in Canada. Not with Stephen Harper. Not on his watch. No my friends, he has one goal and one goal only and it has nothing to do with governing: how can he use this crisis to destroy the opposition?

And wouldn't you know, he almost did it.

Stephen Harper decided Canada doesn't need a stimulus package; all we needed to do was cancel the subsidy that political parties get.

Which would have saved the government about $26-million. That's about the same amount Harper spends on bodyguards every year when he visits danger zones like Thunder Bay or Nunavut.

But the real upside for Harper, of course, is that the entire opposition would have been crippled or destroyed. It gives me great faith to know that as our economy crumbles Harper is on the case trying to come up with new an innovative ways to cutback the Green Party's office budget and bankrupt the Liberals. And then the world will be a better place.

Maybe he has a point. Maybe that's why Canada keeps refusing to give the man a majority. It's not because he's a mean little man obsessed with revenge, but because we just have too many choices. We go to the voting booth and get confused. Like that first trip to Baskin Robbins.

Maybe we'd all just be better off if Conservative was the only flavour on the menu.

Well we almost found out. Because if Stephen Harper got his way on this, democracy would have changed forever. And not a single citizen will have gotten to vote on the matter.

Spage is...

...waiting at the snowed-in airport because her flight home was delayed
again. Earlier today, Spage enjoyed the Farmer's Market next door to the
hotel in Halifax.

Spage is...

...at McKelvie's in Halifax, ready to dig into her steak and lobster,
having already enjoyed a wonderful crab bisque.

Spage is...

...extremely impressed with Rachel's ability to rip apples in half with her
bare hands. Look how perfect it is!

Spage is...

...watching my friend rock the stage.

Spage is...

...watching/listening to a band in an underground bar in Halifax.

Spage is...

...eating a wicked seafood platter of fish, clams, scallops, and shrimp at
Jean's Home Cooked Meals & Seafood in Moncton, NB.

Furthering Confusion

This sign is on the main doors of the airport.

Spage is...

...at the Moncton, NB airport - I think. The welcome sign to Dieppe is throwing me off.

Sad/Exasperated

Maybe it's because I have a stupid head cold, but today's news made me chuckle with ridicule and shake my head.

Observe:

Headline: Alberta wants in on climate negotiations with U.S. (Premier says Alberta should have a seat at the table when Ottawa negotiates a deal with the United States)
Reaction: You and your oil sands are not more important than Canada or the welfare of the planet! Who do you think you are? Quebec??

Headline: No more free rides, Dion warns Harper (Liberal Leader says his MPs will vote based on merits of legislation, even if it means another election)
Reaction: This coming from the outgoing leader who won't have to suffer the consequences. And by the way, you want to force an election when you have no leader?

Headline: Ottawa will look into infrastructure fund delays: Baird
Reaction: *groan* How many more years of Baird do we have to endure?

Headline: Harper may run budget deficit
Reaction: He squanders the amazing budget that was handed to him when he was elected and promised to not run a deficit if he were re-elected this year. He can blame it on the economy, but the reason Paul Martin, as Finance Minister, padded in a surplus was for exactly this kind of situation.

So it goes.

VANOC Gets Schooled

"Academic community joins the Vancouver 2010 team"

That's the headline of a Vancouver Organizing Committee (VANOC) press release from yesterday. The "Academic community" to which they refer is; "The British Columbia Institute of Technology (BCIT), Capilano University, Douglas College, Kwantlen Polytechnic University and Langara College".

These are not the institutions that come to mind when I think of academia. They are the "universities" that I reference when I talk about glorified high schools.

And my instinct is correct because VANOC is not interested in the brains at those schools. This misleading headline actually refers to the Community Contributor Program where "universities and colleges will provide services, including parking spaces that are essential to VANOC’s overall transportation plan and Park and Ride program for spectators using the Olympic Bus Network to travel to venues in Whistler from Vancouver."

Yep. It's about parking spaces. The press release might as well have been titled "Parking lot rental agreement acquired by Vancouver 2010 team". But then I guess I wouldn't have opened the damn thing.

Spage is...

...at the Bob Dylan show...with another useless blurry picture.

Spage is...

...at the Death Cab/Neil Young show.

Spage is...

...watching the West Edmonton Mall's Sea Lion show for the 5th time in
three days - and it's still awesome to see these animals up close!

Spage was...

...firing pistols (Glock, Beretta, and a .45) at the range in the West
Edmonton Mall.

And this too was delicious :)

The range attendant is a competitive combat-style handgun user and he
informed me that I'm a natural shooter. This I knew, from the first time I
fired semi-autos (and rifles and shotguns) as a tween, but it's nice to
know that I've still got it.

In fact, I didn't pay to use the higher caliber pistol (which is why I
don't know what make it was, perhaps the one used in the US Armed Forces?)
- the dude was so impressed with me that he let me fire his own gun that he
had holstered. I just had to promise not to tell anyone he let me do it.
I figure you don't count.

Spage is...

...staying in a Hollywood themed room, that includes a huge fully mirrored
jacuzzi next to the bed, at the Fantasyland Hotel at West Edmonton Mall.

I will enjoy watching election results coverage in this hilarious room!

Spage is...

...watching Wookiee prepare a Thanksgiving feast. Mmmmm...deep fried
turkey, sweet yams, homemade pecan pie, and more - oh my!

Spage is...

...at a Weezer show in Vancouver.

Spage is...

...lying on the grass in the sun and wind on Parliament Hill.

And it's delicious.

Canadian Headline Of The Day #5

Pictou County moose fell from chopper

Department of Natural Resources now reviewing rescue procedures

It turns out the moose that died Thursday was dropped from a helicopter.

The Nova Scotia Department of Natural Resources initially said the endangered moose likely died of a combination of drugs and stress.

But on Friday,a spokesman for the department admitted the net that held the moose came loose from the cable as the helicopter took off.

"When the moose was first put into a sling for transport, it fell approximately 12 or 15 feet when being lifted by the helicopter," said Dan Davis.

"We wanted to let people know that," he said. "We don't know at this point, but it may have contributed to its death."

Wildlife officers moved in Thursday to relocate the young bull moose after it was spotted roaming near the town of Pictou. They feared the animal might cause a traffic accident.

A spokesman said officers shot the animal with a tranquillizer dart, then hoisted it by helicopter. By the time it was lowered to a waiting trailer, the moose was dead.

Information about the fall wasn't available Thursday afternoon, Davis said, adding the department is now reviewing its procedures.

A veterinarian is examining the moose to determine the cause of death.

The mainland Nova Scotia moose was declared an endangered species in 2003. There are only an estimated 1,000 animals left in isolated areas, a decline of 20 per cent over the past three decades.

By the way, thank you CBC for writing (badly) an article in a style that assumes you read a previous article. Who opens a news piece with, "It turns out the moose that died Thursday was dropped from a helicopter."? It's insane!

There must be a Sarah Palin joke somewhere in all this...

The Election: Loving & Loathing Gilles

I am extremely disappointed that during the Canadian Federal election campaign I am on near constant travel status and have not been able to keep myself saturated in political news - which is my preferred state.

I did manage to watch the Leader's Debate on CBC last night and, politics aside, I was delighted to see five candidates being animated and unruly in the tradition of Canadian politics. It was a beautiful and stunning contrast to the US Presidential "debate" I saw a couple of weeks ago. What's up with the whole two party thing?

I won't get into a breakdown of the debate, or who I think should be supported, but I will say this; I wish Gilles Duceppe was not a Bloc separatist because every time I see him orate, I wish I could vote for him. Gilles, in both official languages, is witty, engaging, charismatic, intelligent, and kind of feisty...but not in that smarmy way that Jack Layton is. If only Gilles believed in a complete and equal Canada and ran candidates in every province!

Just when I've come to terms with having only four candidates to pick from I am reminded again, in an article, the kind of things that Gilles says to remind me of my unattainable desire to vote for him.

"In Toronto, Bloc Leader Gilles Duceppe launched an attack against Harper.

"It is very dangerous when a prime minister makes his decisions through an ideological prism instead of a pragmatic one," Duceppe said in a speech to the Toronto Economic Club, a Bay Street audience.

Duceppe accepted the group's invitation despite the fact his separatist party only runs candidates in Quebec."

Elegant, subtle, concise, intelligent, and biting. Plus, I agree with him. I long for a realistic candidate for Prime Minister who speaks like that.

Flickr Update

I have uploaded four new sets to my Flickr page:

• Ottawa, Toronto & Saratoga Springs


• Halifax Does Vancouver


• PNE 2008


• Gorge 2008

Here We Go Again

"Harper to launch election Sunday"

I've lived in fear of a Conservative majority government. Now the nightmares begin.


In other news, I haven't been in town and am about to leave again. I will be posting pictures from the Gorge, PNE and a visit from some Halifaxans soon but after I return from Berkeley and Montreal.


In the meantime, enjoy this article about how we need to pay security to stop people from budging in line at transit stations. Adults: they're worse than 10 year olds.

More importantly and not unsurprisingly, Trevor Linden (Go TL!) will have his #16 jersey retired by the Canucks this December 17th. Vancouver couldn't be happier.

LeRoi Moore 1961 - 2008

I mourn with many others. I forgot to ask him something when I met him a couple of years ago. You never know when one chance will be your last.

"We are deeply saddened that LeRoi Moore, saxophonist and founding member of Dave Matthews Band, died unexpectedly Tuesday afternoon, August 19, 2008, at Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center in Los Angeles from sudden complications stemming from his June ATV accident on his farm near Charlottesville, Virginia. LeRoi had recently returned to his Los Angeles home to begin an intensive physical rehabilitation program." -The Warehouse

LeRoi passed away yesterday afternoon and a few hours later the band took the stage in Los Angeles to play a three hour show for their fallen band mate. "That Matthews and his mates were able to soldier on so valiantly with an often profoundly moving and largely unsentimental performance wasn't just admirable – it was downright astonishing. What's more, it spoke to the inexplicable but immense healing power of live music."

When LeRoi was injured back in June the band kept on with the tour. Bassist Stephan Lessard explained, "It's what Roi wanted us to do."

Here's to you LeRoi. I'll miss you.

Spage's 2008 Olympics Moments #2

When I turned on the television I was greeted with the Canada vs. China baseball game. The next Canadian batter was walking up to the plate and was being introduced. His name? Stubby Clapp.

And that was enough to make me turn off the t.v.

Spage's 2008 Olympics Moments #1

One World,
One Dream,
One Thought...

While watching the incredible opening ceremonies in Beijing I had one overriding thought: We will never be able to beat this in 2010. Not a chance.





Images from the Boston Globe.

Once Proud

Oh CBC online news, how far you've fallen in one short year.

Now you're using the ridiculous user comments from previous articles to write new ones?

Hang your collective heads in shame while you lift your glass to useless editorialized "news" services.

Citizen Batman

"It is time, in the West, to defend not so much human rights as human obligations." -Alexander Solzhenitsyn

Anthony Furey has written an interesting "web-exclusive comment" for the Globe and Mail about The Dark Knight movie and it's political philosophy. It may be simple but it speaks to a problem that has been infecting us, at an alarming rate: our fellow man not being civic-minded or politically involved.

When people cease to be actively engaged in the world and choose to retreat to an insular and selfish existence great harm done to societies, then starts to compound before eventually moving us towards Gotham-like social decay. Taking your responsibilities as a citizen of your neighbourhood, province/state, country and planet seriously means that care, concern, and action follows.

"[Bruce] Wayne realizes that, as a billionaire, he has the option of secluding himself from a society run amok. But he believes that as someone who has reaped the benefits of good society, he also has to stick it out with bad society. That's the social contract he feels he's signed. Thus, the story confronts our sense of citizenship."

A certain level of idealism is necessary, which seems to disappear rapidly in the psyche as one ages, so active pursuit and maintenance of ideals is needed to fend of weariness and hopelessness. This is not easy and staying accurately informed takes effort, but is at least honorable and at most a duty.

"Batman is rejecting what has come to be known as the "lesser evil" approach, in which one can commit an otherwise undesirable act if there is an urgent and significant need. Underlying this rejection is the notion that society is greater than the sum of its parts — that the sheer fact coming together to form it is something worth fighting for."

The Dark Knight movie entertains the masses, there is no doubt there, but it also holds an important, if not desperate, call to those masses to become engaged with their environment and do their part to move our societies forward, to improve ourselves and do what is right for the global community. To take our responsibilities seriously may not be the most fun thing to do, nor the easiest, but is by far the most important.

"The one basic, cogent argument that can be gleaned from Gotham City's embers: Nobody ever said democracy was going to be easy. The democratic tradition is one that asks its members to participate fully and to constantly reconsider its fundamental tenets and be willing to fight for them. The film challenges you, regardless of your views, to get in the game."

Our North

In the Northern world's mad race to claim a disputed region in the Arctic, which is land we Canadians always assumed was ours...like the maps say, a team of Canadian and Danish scientists seem to have found "proof that the Lomonosov Ridge is, in fact, a natural extension of the North American continent."

In your face underwater-flag-planting-Russia!

The team's "landmark findings" are being "presented at the 2008 International Geological Congress in Oslo under the innocuous title "Crustal Structure from the Lincoln Sea to the Lomonosov Ridge, Arctic Ocean.""

Here's to the success of their presentation and to the hope that the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) approves our submission in 2013!

Insite v. Tony

For the past couple of days our Health Minister, Tony Clement, has been travelling around the planet shooting off at the mouth about Vancouver's supervised safe-injection site, the first in North America, InSite.

A hefty amount of research has been done on safe-injection sites and it has been overwhelmingly been deemed a vital step in the right direction for harm reduction plans. In the face of recommendations from such respected groups as the World Health Organization, Canada's Conservative government has taken it upon themselves to disassemble the great strides that have been made in Vancouver. From Wikipedia:

"The Canadian Insite Supervised Injection Site commenced operation in in 2003. As well as public order and improving health, the major difference between the supervised injecting centres and the unsupervised European model is the more clinical nature of the service."

But what is the worst and most ridiculous thing about the Conservatives' stance? Yesterday, at the 17th International AIDS Conference in Mexico City, Tony had this to say about the WHO's strong endorsement of InSite, "it's not my job to kowtow to orthodoxy."

Tony's Conservatives are now trying to say that a relatively recent, innovative program that has been embraced by only a handful of countries in the world and rejected by large powers such as the United States is orthodox. The Conservatives are trying to paint themselves as the progressive bunch who are going against the grain by attacking an established method. Safe-injection sites are hardly traditional! How dare the Conservatives try to even suggest otherwise? Worse still, now a whole lot of idiots are going buy the horse shit our Ministre de la Santé is serving us. Cheers!

Fording The Road

While my motorcycle is out of commission, let's talk cars.

I have a Mercury that I inherited a few years ago that I never give any credit to. I mean, it's a freaking Ford, so you know it's no good. This morning, after reading this article, I will definitely soften my attitude towards my car and ask for it's forgiveness.

J.D. Power and Associates have finalized their yearly automobile rankings for dependability. In this study, dependability is measured in "problems experienced by the original owners of vehicles after three years." For the 14th year in a row Lexus has topped this list with a record of 120 problems per 100 vehicles.

"Ford Motor Co.'s Mercury brand ranked second, followed by General Motors Corp.'s Cadillac. Toyota was fourth, and Honda Motor Co.'s Acura luxury brand was fifth. Land Rover, which Ford sold this year to India's Tata Motors Ltd., was the worst-performing brand, with 344 problems."

I never would have guessed that my car's brand ranks second and I can now laugh at all the yuppies parading around town in their status symbol Land Rovers. There are more brands listed in the article, which also has a link to the annual study. Where does your car sit on the list? Are you as surprised as I was?

One Day in the Life...

One of my favourite authors, the man who penned "One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich" and "Gulag Archipelago", has passed away. This weekend, at age 89, Nobel Laureate Alexander Solzhenitsyn succumbed to heart failure. Solzhenitsyn survived Stalin's Gulag prison camps, documented their tyranny, challenged Soviet rule at home and in exile, was a critic of corruption upon his return to Russia, and on Sunday was recognised with a lying-in-state in Moscow.

Words from Solzhenitsyn...

"For a country to have a great writer is like having a second government. That is why no regime has ever loved great writers, only minor ones."

"Violence can only be concealed by a lie, and the lie can only be maintained by violence. Any man who has once proclaimed violence as his method is inevitably forced to take the lie as his principle."

"Hastiness and superficiality are the psychic diseases of the 20th century, and more than anywhere else this disease is reflected in the press."

Captain Obvious & The Pope

I just read AFP's story on the emergency landing of a Qantas Boeing 747 that happened earlier today in Manila.

The first seven sentences, and the title of the article, have six descriptions of the three metres in diameter hole made in the plane's fuselage through passenger accounts. So the "gaping hole" that collapsed the cabin floor, through which luggage is clearly visible from within and without, is common knowledge.

The Eighth sentence is this statement from the company;

Qantas chief executive officer Geoff Dixon said initial inspections showed the aircraft had sustained a hole in its fuselage, and it was being inspected by engineers.

Thank you Captain Obvious! You can practically see an inspector looking intently up at the fuselage before pulling out his cell phone to call the CEO, "Mr. Dixon, it looks like, and this is just my initial report, there might be a hole in the plane. I don't think the passengers noticed though."

But what's really strange is the out of place remark that closes the article;

[Qantas] said the 747-400 involved in the scare was not the one used to fly Pope Benedict XVI out of Australia earlier this month after his visit to Sydney.

How is this relevant? So that those who revere the Pope won't think he might have been in possible danger in the past? Or is it so that non-Pope worshipers can say that he caused the plane to deteriorate?

Rare Today

A rare archaeological find in Winnipeg at the dig site of the new Canadian Museum for Human Rights: an 800 year old footprint!

Raising hopes for the survival of the species, a rare critically endangered species of lemur, the greater bamboo lemur, was discovered in the Torotorofotsy wetlands of Madagascar some 400 kilometres North of where they traditionally live.

"Finding the extremely rare Prolemur simus in a place where nobody expected it was probably more exciting than discovering a new lemur species," said Edward Louis, a U.S. conservation geneticist who coordinated the joint research, in a statement.

Old Man Lobster

On July 10th, a 10 kilogram (22 pound) lobster was caught off the cost of New Brunswick and has been held in a fish store tank since. The current owner of the the lobster dubbed Big Dee-Dee, (how East coast is that name?), has decided to give it to the Huntsman Marine Science Centre in St. Andrews where it will be placed in an aquarium and monitored. If Dee-Dee can't adjust to life in captivity he may be released back to the Bay of Fundy.

So what?

Well, first of all I find it hilarious that "Federal fisheries officials say it can't be returned to the ocean without a permit." A permit? I don't need to spell out the ludicrousness of that.

Second, I read two articles on this story. Regarding the age of the lobster, the CBC says that "experts now believe [it] to be 30 years old" while Canwest News claims that "'Big Dee-Dee' is believed to be 100 years old". Not even close...so who do you trust? I need a lobster biologist on deck!