Tit For Tat

BERLIN (Reuters) - A thirsty German sold his 6-year-old step-daughter's pet beagle to the owner of a bar to pay for beer, the Bild newspaper reported Friday.

The unemployed man offered to take the dog for a walk and then stopped at a bar where he convinced the owner to buy the 3-year-old dog for 40 euros ($53).

The man spent the proceeds quenching his thirst for beer. The bar owner has now returned the dog to its owner.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sounds like a good deal to me!

Bono to receive British knighthood

What the fuck is the queen thinking?

Clearly Liz has lost her mind.

Time to overthrow the senile old bitch and install Helen Mirren as the new monarch.

A Baker's Dozen

Spent most of the morning and some of the afternoon baking the evil Christmas cookies (something I've not done for a while). Seems odd not having a couple of frosty beverages while I'm doing it (well, I did go for a couple of pints at lunch) but worse yet, it's odd to be doing it alone. No crisis in the kitchen, no feuding over recipes and decorating. Fuck, I miss that.

Anyhow, just waiting for the last couple of dozen to come out of the oven. And, actually listening to some seasonal music (maybe I had more than two at lunch).

Recommended seasonal listening (if you must):

Vince Guaraldi's Trio, Charlie Brown Christmas &

Tuck Andress's guitar excellence on Hymns, Carols, and Songs about Snow.


Peace!

Ya gotta love it.....

"My Grandmother is over eighty and still doesn't need glasses. Drinks right out of the bottle."

Henny Youngman

Purple Pros...

It appears official that his Royal Purpleness will be performing during the SuperBowl half-time show this coming February.

Can we expect another wardrobe malfunction.

I guess we'll have to wait until Feb. 4th to find out.

When It Raines, It Pours

From the Kamloops Daily News, Dec. 9, 2006

"University professors outraged by comments from TRU chancellor Nancy Greene Raine, who expressed doubt on climate change in a national media broadcast, met with her in a hastily called session Friday afternoon.

The meeting was arranged by senior administration at Thompson Rivers University following a cascade of e-mails among faculty concerned that her opinion reflects poorly on the university.

Penny powers, a professor in the school of nursing confirmed earlier Friday she had been called to the meeting with Raine.

'One of the most important goals of a university is to instill in the students an ability to assess the evidence for and against claims of any kind,' she wrote in an e-mail to faculty.

'What kind of role model do we put in place when the chancellor herself gives poorly-considered credence to widely discredited extremist opinions such as these?'

Greene Raine's comments came during a radio broadcast Friday morning about two Olympian skiers Thomas Grandi and Sara Renner, who have joined the fight against global warming.

'I am very suspicious now when I see people make blanket statements, because there are two sides to every issue', Greene Raine told CBC News in the story about global warming and the ski industry.

'And in science there's almost never black and white. We don't know what next week's weather is going to be. To say in 50 or 100 years, the temperature is going to do this, is a bit of a stretch for me.'

Canada's best-known female athlete, a developer and hotel owner at Sun Peaks ski resort, Greene Raine was named the first chancellor of Thompson Rivers University last year, She represents the university at public functions.

...
Charles Hays a professor of journalism at TRU, wrote in a message to colleagues that Greene Raine cannot be the symbolic head of the university and make statements that run counter to the overwhelming weight of scientific opinion.

'And as chancellor, she has accepted a role as the symbolic head of the university. In that role, she owes it to the university not to make statements of opinion and expect that they will be perceived as merely the words of a private citizen.'

The Daily News was unable to reach anyone for comment on what took place during the meeting between faculty and Greene Raine."

This just shows that TRU is really not quite ready for prime time. How can a supposed institute of higher education have as its nominal figurehead someone making such unsupportable comments? Clearly, the administration must reconsider their appointment of this skier whose only educational "achievement" (as listed in her online bio) is an Honorary Doctorate of Laws, from the esteemed Royal Roads University. [although I think she might have been awarded another honorary degree by SFU in 2004]

Is It Time To Put The MotherCorp Out Of Its Miseries?

From Canoe.ca

Despite all the carping, criticism and finger-pointing, CBC brass keeps saying its shows are doing just fine, thanks.

Well then, let's look at the most recent national numbers:

- October 1970 (Thursday, Nov. 16): 56,000 viewers.

- Rumours (Monday of this week): 94,000.

- The Hour (Monday of this week): 82,000.

- Intelligence (Tuesday of this week): 247,000.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Well, I can say I account for 1 of the slightly more than quarter million Canadians who watched Intelligence and I do so on a regular basis and would suggest you give it a shot (especially if you're off the grid and have no cable). I gave The Hour a couple of chances and just didn't think George S. pulled it off (he sucked up to Beck during an interview as if he was a young school girl).

Hard to see how this corporation can survive when the number of viewers of many of their shows could fit into BC place.

Not sure how or if they can resolve their horrendously low viewership but surely it is clear that the tax payers are not viewing the network they're paying for.

He's Got To Go

Well the Canuck's reign of terror (at least on their fans) appears to be continuing with last night's 4-0 loss to the Oilers.



From CBS's game summary:....

Roberto Luongo made 14 saves for the Canucks, who have lost
four of six and have scored more than one goal just once in that span.

"Our process was good," said coach Alain Vigneault, insisting his team
played better than in Saturday's 2-1 loss to Colorado. "We just couldn't
score again."

Vigneault's comments this year have often reflected this type of deep insight. Talking about "PUCK LUCK" and other such insanity Vigneault seems to be the team's apologist rather than coach.

Given the team's lack of spending/cap room I'm thinking if the Canucks are going to make a major change it's going to have to either be Vigneault or perhaps better yet Nonnis to go and give the team some type of mid-season boost.

Consequences of K-os

I think I must have been spending too much time with Therzo lately. Heard K-os being interviewed by Sheleigh Rogers on Sounds Like Canada on CBC and actually thought the music was pretty good. Got to admire this fan's effort!

Beyond Hope (almost)

In Hope tonight for my former brother-in-law's wedding reception.

Checked in to the sweet, sweet, Skagitt Motor Inn and was upgraded to their "best" room, #115 because the managers' daughter is in my Intro class this term. Free internet, who could ask for more.

Had lunch with my buddy Peter in Chilliwack.

Now, just a quick shower before leaving for a 5.5 hour stint at the Legion.

Bought some new speakers for the laptop, rocking out to John Legend before the big event. $80 and the great 2.1 sound. Fuck, ain't technology great.

Freedom 55

According to Information Week nearly half of Apple users are 55 or older.

Not sure what to make of this. Could it be that:

with age comes wisdom

or is it that

age brings on senility.

You figure it out Mac boys!!!

Another One Bites The Dust

Hard to believe but, apparently it's over.

Supposedly both our girl Pam and Kid Rock filed for divorce on Monday less than four months after their blessed nuptials.

According to one source, the straw that broke the camel's back was the Kid viewing Boratat a private screening in a Hollywood producer's house. He supposedly blew his top when he saw the scene when Borat finally tracks down his beloved Pamela and tries to wed her using the traditional Kazakh wedding sack. According to one source:

"Bob (the Kid's real name)started screaming at Pam, saying she had humiliated herself and telling her, 'You're nothing but a whore! You're a slut! How could you do that movie?' — in front of everyone. It was very embarrassing," the source said.

Unbelievable!

From Russia With Love

Saw this Russian princess on one of the late night shows the other day. Hadn't heard of her before but seems to be up there with Cat Power etc.

Maybe Therzo this is your new love. However, we'll have to get her into Funkydudedunc's car to really assess her funkitude.

The Spy Who Loved Me

Well it looks like the evil Russkie's are spying on Canada....stealing all of our technological innovations.

Media reports are suggesting that the "suspect" has acquired as many as three legitimate Canadian passports over the last seven years or so. Supposedly he used forged documents like an Ontario drivers' license to support his applications.

He listed as a guarantor a person who was said to have known him for eight years.

Personally, over the last number of years I've signed probably 10-15 passport applications/renewals as a guarantor and I've never been contacted to verify the applicant or the application. What are we paying these passport people for???

Philadelphia Freedom

Saw the start of Philadelphia with Tom Hanks this morning and I think Springsteen's title song is perhaps the best song from a movie. Any quibbles?

Crisis, What Crisis?

Found reference to this today on one of the CBC rss feeds I check out. Here it is, the list of:

THE UK’S 100 BEST SELLING ALBUMS (THE OFFICIAL UK CHARTS COMPANY)

(I'm listing the top 10, read on for the question...)

1. GREATEST HITS QUEEN 5,407,58
2. SGT.PEPPER'S LONELY HEARTS CLUB BAND BEATLES 4,811,996
3. WHAT'S THE STORY MORNING GLORY OASIS 4,314,715
4. BROTHERS IN ARMS DIRE STRAITS 3,956,704
5. GOLD-GREATEST HITS ABBA 3,943,950
6. THE DARK SIDE OF THE MOON PINK FLOYD 3,781,993
7. GREATEST HITS II QUEEN 3,644,619
8. THRILLER MICHAEL JACKSON 3,578,107
9. BAD MICHAEL JACKSON 3,554,301
10. THE IMMACULATE COLLECTION MADONNA 3,402,160

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



Now, not only is it hard to believe that in this list there are a number of non-brits on the list including two Michael Jackson albums and an ABBA album -- but, can anyone guess what the the 11th biggest seller is?



I wouldn't have in a million years.



But before you click on this link to find out, think about it for a while. Hint, it's not Led Zep (who didn't make)..but, they are British.



BTW, the link contains the entire list.

Pret a porter....

Saw a guy wearing a shirt similar to this in the pub last night. Could you imagine wearing this????

Must be a member of the West Van force.

Sweet, Sweet, Music

Go on CBC yesterday featured musicians with bad voices (sorry Tony for exposing you to this). Of course, the usual suspects were all mentioned, Bob Dylan, Tom Waits, Neil Young. However, the champion to my hearing was Sir Paul's late wife (the one with two legs), Linda Eastman McCartney. Playing is a shortened version of her background vocals to Hey Jude. If you'd like to hear the full version, click here.

	On Monday's Bill Good Show on CKNW radio political pundit Norman Spector called Liberal MP Belinda Stronach a bitch. What do you think?
Select up to 3 of the following: Spector should publically apologize to Ms Stronach. Spector should publically apologize to the CKNW listening audience for such profane language. Spector should publically apologize to all dogs for besmirching their reputation.
Create Free Polls

Pick Your Poison

Found this information out from a web site called Energy Fiend.

Click on the link and see you many of your favourite beverages will deliver the lethal dose!

The Ivory Tower

US poet John Ciardi wrote:

"A university is what a college becomes when the faculty loses interest in students."

Bullshit!

I'm interested in students.
Without them I wouldn't be able to golf!

Son Of A Gun But If This Isn't Disturbing

Saw this on Attack of the Show today. I think this guy should have had Jon's procedure about three years ago -- now it's just too late. YIKES!

The Working Poor

Got into a little discussion about football players' salaries yesterday with Therzo. He argued that offensive tackles (I think) made more money than quarterbacks. I didn't think so. Table to the right is based on 2005 salaries obtained from USATODAY.com

Can't believe what some of these guys make but it looks like the QBs still make the big money.

Weekend Inspiration

I know it might be pushing things a bit but thought I'd give you all a little bit of musical inspiration for the upcoming weekend.



For the full version check out the tune on Memphis's MySpace site.

Dexter's Lab For 18+

Watched US Showtime's new show Dexter last night (shown on Movie Central at various times throughout the week).

This show is DARK. Similar in some ways to a mix between the too short-lived Profit and any one of the various CSI's with just a little bit of Death Wish thrown in, the show is sure to provoke extreme reactions (some will hate it -- other love it).

The series is based on Jeff Lindsay's "Darkly Dreaming Dexter" and tells the story of a child, Dexter, orphaned at the age of four who is adopted by family. The father, a police officer recognizes Dexter's homicidal tendencies and guides him to channel his passion for human vivisection in a constructive way - by killing heinous perpetrators who are above the law or who have slipped through the cracks of justice.

I'm staying tuned for a while anyway.

We Don't Need Another Hero

Or do we?

Looks like for the next few weeks at least I'll be staring at the idiot box for another hour/week.

Watched a re-broadcast of NBC's premiere of Heroes and was sucked right in.

Think M. Night's "Unbreakable" but good.


The show is on Monday's at 9pm.

A graphic novel is associated with the series (go to: http://www.nbc.com/Heroes/novels/novel_001.shtml)
Haven't checked it out yet (too busy watching TV) but plan to.

Also, if you've missed the premiere you can go to http://www.nbc.com/Heroes/ and check out either a two-minute summary or watch the entire episode.

God I lead an exciting life!

Like Taking Money From A Baby

Thanks to the home town boys, the money just keeps rolling in. Another Canuck game, another $10.

Yeah, I know, it's only the preseaon, but it's real money.

Let The Games Begin

I know it's only the first pre-season game and all but Canuck fans, buckle up, you're in for a long season. Oh, and I'm already up $10.

Smith & Wesson

Watched the pilot episode of Smith this evening. Pretty good show and looks like it has some promise. The bad guys are quite bad but you end up rooting for them anyhow.

Smith is on CBS on Tuesday nights and is also being shown on CTV on Mondays.

So, if you don't have anything better to do check it out (that is if you're not off the grid)!

Clothes Make The Man

For all of you ipod/mac devotees/fanatics out there. Suit up, look the part, and join the army!














Me, I'm stayin with these...

Alcohol use helps boost income: study

Fuck, I should be filthy rich!!!

Where's Therzo?

Took a bit of a different route on my run this morning. Needed to stop and get some money so completed my journey with a stop at my bank's ATM in the Village. Clutching my cash in hand I turned the corner and what did I see but the infamous Happy Planet van and the company's most loyal employee, Therzo.

I nearly didn't recognize him however with his new clean-cut look. Check below to see him in his old scruffier days.

Good to see somebody working before 8 am.



For a diversion, test your BS detector below:


Finally, I've switched to the new beta version of Blogger. One bug that appears to still exist is that you can no longer sign on with your non-beta version Blogger id to leave comments. However, you still can leave a comment on these posts by choosing either the "Anonymous" or "Other" option under the identity portion.

Lost at sea....

Haven't been in the pool since the surgery in May and I can't believe the loss of stamina. I wanted to quit after a couple of lengths however, I managed to last for 0.75k. I imagine I'll be regretting it in the morning. Oh well...

Time To Reconsider???

With the five year anniversary of September 11th yesterday came another milestone. According to an editorial in the Huffington Post (click here)
more Americans have died in Iraq than died on Sept. 11th. A little closer to home (for me at least) is the tangentally related finding that as of Sept. 6th of this year 32 Canadian soldiers and one diplomat have died in Afghanistan (ref).

While I don't agree with Jack Layton's call to unilaterally pull Canadian troops from Afghanistan I think that we need to rethink our involvement in Afghanistan in particular and to re-evaluate the so-called war on terror.

Maybe it's time to send Therzo over on a diplomatic mission....

By The Light Of The Harvest Moon

Well strictly speaking it was closer to the "Corn Moon" but who's being picky. Friday night tee'd off at 8:15 pm for nine holes of "moon golf". Couldn't see much but had a good time (and won a $20 gift certificate as a door prize).

Why I should have stayed at work today...

Managed to sneak out of work today after a few hours and made it to the 9-hole golf course up the hill. Was on hole number five with the opportunity for a 3 yd par putt and managed to break my putter before the crucial putt. Of course, missed the putt with my buddies putter and that was that for the rest of the game. Perhaps I need to work a bit more on my Karma!

Back at it....

The image says it all.

Feels good to be back (I think).

States for Mel to avoid

Breifly discussing Mel Gibson's situation with the boys at lunch yesterday and I mentioned a stat that I had heard that in the US the percentage of Jewish people was less than 3% of the overall population. Confirmed that with info from the "Jewish Virtual Library" which reports that based on the 2001 US census that the actual figure was 2.2%.

So, why is it that Mel seems to be in such trouble. Well I think it's because he is hanging out in the wrong places in the states. I created this map to help Mel plan his itinerary for his travels in the states. Mel, in the map belowavoid states with any hint of red. The remaining 40 states have a maximum percentage of Jews of less than 1.75%. Enjoy your travels.

What will they think of next?

Saw this cartoon on the web.  Seemed to me to be at least partially insightful.



Anyhow, Lex, good luck on your flight over.

Must See TV?

I'm sure D Ro at least will be glued to his TV. Just wondering how much of the $2000/day that Sting is bringing in for Every Breath is coming via the Puffy Daddy/Puff Diddy version.

More Evidence That The NHL Is Irrelevant

Check out this link and what do you notice about the 50 highest paid athletes in America?

SI.com - The Fortunate 50

Did you see that not one of these athletes is an NHL hockey player?  There are golfers, baseball players, race car drivers, and god dammit, even football players who play 18 regular-season games a year.  Nary a jock on skates to be found.

Oh, but you say, that's just the US .  Check out the International Top 20 and you'll see athletes from other sports, including racing (both car and motorcycle?) and people playing with a variety of balls:  large (soccer) and small (tennis).  Where are the people who play with pucks?

Could it be that the hockey players are underpaid?  I think not.  $7 million for a loser like Bertuzzi would suggest otherwise.

 I think it's just that nobody  (read that is those outside of Canada) really gives a shit and that's why these bums aren't making any money with their endorsements.

I Will Be Released

Just heard that I have been excused from jury duty (at least for this round). Halleluah!

Just Do It == Gotuit

Read about this site, Gotuit on TechCrunch. It's a site that allows you to select from a variety of videos including music videos, short films, and sports. I haven't spent a whole lot of time going through their over 2000 music videos but there should be something there for everyone including Therzo's beloved (but overrated) QOTSA. If you've got some time to waste check on this free site.

Sometimes It Doesn't Pay To Check Your Mail

Well after getting home from one of my worst performances on the 9-hole course up the hill in a long time (played with Funkydude and his dad) decided to check my mail.

Awaiting me in there were two wonderful documents:

First a quarterly statement from my investment group (I only lost 4% last quarter!!) and not to be outdone a summons for jury duty for late August (around the time I think that they might be starting to look for jurors for the Pickton trial)!


For my next trick, I'll try and get out of jury duty

Maybe I'll wait until next week to check for more good news.

The Game's The Thing

Got into the old discussion yesterday about what constitutes the difference between games and sports.
I think that we all agreed that things like checkers, chess, and cribbage are games but there was some disagreement about other endeavours like car racing, golf, and bowling.

So, what is it that makes something a sport as opposed to a game or an event?

Anyone have a definitive answer?