On a talkshow on tv (I won’t admit to which one because that would have to mean I was watching it…): “I’ve been to every continent in the world except Australia and Alaska.”
Newsflash: Alaska is in North America, so I guess thats one less continent to worry about.

Possibly that is a slight exaggeration, but it is still pretty nifty.
For those who don’t know, my Oma was an artist, but we (immediate family – that is my dad, sister, and I) only have 4 of her paintings or drawings. There weren’t that many to go around after she died… until this:

Hi,
[My uncle’s wife who is a teacher] is on school break this week, so we took the occasion to clean up the basement a bit.
Do you remember a big trunk in [my aunt/dad’s sister’s] room? I never opened it till now. Guess what it contained…
It contains many (over 100 I’m sure) of Mother’s paintings, water colours and some oils. They are beautiful. We just brought them upstairs to air them out a bit (at least 15 years in the basement, I moved here in Feb 1991).
Whenever you come this way, you can look through them, and pick out the ones you want.
[My uncle]

Pretty neat eh??

I wish.

The ongoing saga of Apple continues…
In the last 2 months of the ownership of my iPod, I have been able to use it for possibly less than a week all told. Why? you ask. Well, because something is royally screwed up with either the iPods they keep sending me as replacements or the updating program as it is on my computer. It seems that every time Apple comes up with an update for iTunes and iPod software, my iPod goes haywire. I have owned this lovely thing since the end of July and in that time, I have had to send it back for repair no less than 4 times. Frankly, I’m getting a little sick of it. I still like the whole concept, but is there an alternative out there for me? I don’t think I could go back to a discman because the size and storage of an iPod is just way to fabulous for that. *Sigh* I’m at a bit of a loss at the moment, and quite sick of everything Apple.

On a brighter note, Canada actually scored a goal today in men’s hockey. Not just one goal either, but three. On the downside, they were all easy goals and “not worthy of the top ten show” (as one commentator said), but hey, they won. On the other hand, they are going to have to play a heck of a lot better if they ever hope to beat the Russians tomorrow.

UPDATE: Scott Feschuk is back!!!
Blog Boy on the Olympics:

That Said…

Let’s not count out the Canadian side. After all, that Gretzky chap can be quite canny. In 2002, he had that lucky loonie buried at centre ice to help lead our nation to gold. Maybe this time he’s buried a forward line that can sustain pressure in the defensive zone and actually score.

Perhaps even now The Great One is picking up the phone and darkly whispering into the receiver: “Begin the thawing of Lanny McDonald.”

Only on AC’s blog can a discussion of hockey turn into politics. Case in point:

Leafs suck because Torontonians will remain loyal to them regardless of their performance. Just like the Liberals. The Liberals could run geckos as candidates in every Toronto riding and the House of Commons would be full of lizards. Likewise, the Leafs could ice a team of rhesus monkeys on skates with a gibbon in goal and a lemur as head coach, and Torontonians would still pack the place to the rafters. And I say this as a Leafs fan. Those Doug Gilmour/Wendel Clark/Felix Potvin days were great weren’t they? (comment by Raging Ranter.)

I don’t know who this housesitter is for AC while he’s away, but I like him already! I mean, how bad could someone be when their first post is about how bad the Leafs are?!?

Kinsella is a columnist who’s commentaries on politics I have enjoyed reading, especially his take on the liberals since he is a former Chretien aid. However this is too much. Kinsella, get off of your high horse.

I don’t live in Vancouver-Kingsway, so I can’t speak for what might be going on over there, but it seems to me that the so-called defection of David Emerson is only cared about by the media anymore. To the media I say: “Enough already.” I’m sick of reading stories and editorials about the reaction of voters, the degradation of ethical principles, and the reflection it has on Canadian politics. Maybe we should be letting our elected politicians, regardless of party affliation, get down to more important matters like, say, running the country.
So enough of that silliness.

So I’ve been watching the ceremony swearing in the new PM and cabinet. (I guess the Art History paper will wait until tonight, late, to be finished.) Observation #1: We have just witnessed “Belinda II” – how the heck did Harper get David Emerson to cross the floor?!? He was a Liberal cabinet minister and now he’s in the Conservative cabinet. Wow. That is actually a bigger fish caught than Belinda was. He’s going to have the international trade and Vancouver Olympics portfolio. Now not only do the Conservatives have 1 more seat in BC where they didn’t do too well, they have an MP from a big city, which they didn’t really have, they also get someone with cabinet experience, and the balance of power in the House completely shifts – Conservative + NDP = majority. Observation #2: I may not have voted for him, but it is the first time in my conscious memory where I have lived in a riding with a federal cabinet minister. Go Gary. Observation #3: Gary Lunn was standing beside Stock and others in the second row behind Harper in the swearing in ceremony and he is really short. I had no idea. I guess when all you see is someone’s smiling face on campaign signs, you really have no idea what the rest of them looks like. Not that it would have changed my vote or anything.
So here’s a rundown of the new cabinet for those of you who care:

UPDATE: Coyne et al. have nominated Lunn for the new Minister of Complex Files. I’m not sure I like their lack of faith, although maybe that is just my riding loyalty coming into play here.

And they are worried about the Canada-US border?!? Apparently there’s tones more to worry about with the Mexico-US border.

Eric: You’re out of luck, or so CP reports.

I’m sitting here waiting for my bread to rise (which, incedentally, is like watching water boil) and reading some miscellaneous stuff online. One of the blogs I was on linked to a videoclip of Richard Dawkins at a church in Colorado Springs chatting with the pastor. Part one of my problem is the apparent ignorance of the pastor and his arrogance (while accusing Dawkins of arrogance). Part two of my problem began when I checked out the website of the church in question. They had, in the “New and Exciting” column a link called the “Jerusalem Diet” and from there, you can send an email (anonymously of course) to your fat friends. Yikes! And this is from a church? Sometimes I wonder about the message we send out as Christians. I mean, come on. First of all, there are better ways to talk to your friends about being overweight. Secondly, I don’t think that a pastor of a church should be marketing a diet plan specifically for “fat friends.” I don’t know, it just strikes me as a little wrong and inappropriate. Maybe I was already biased against him after watching his interview with Richard Dawkins and all the internal shuddering I did during it. If you are going to be interviewed by a very outspoken atheist, at least try to come accross as slightly intelligent and well-read. I hope that it was just the editing that was done by Dawkins et al. that made him look bad.