Breaking news

Shots fired in front of Showgirls Edmonton just before 1am local time. No word on whether anyone was hit, or whether EPS was too busy snapping photos of speeders to show up on scene. More as it develops.

Update, 1:12am: Police tasered 16 innocent people on their way in (ha!) but have no police taped the area. Rumour has it the suspect fled by motorbike to Argyll Road, but that's just the whispers that were heard in the club. The area has been evacuated too, so I've lost my contact on the scene. More in the morning I suppose.

Food and drink convenience links

From Wasabi Cowgirl, better known as the 2nd most attractive blogger on Hot Oil: Several delicious and interesting recipes.

Also of note, a place to download the classic Virtual Bar program, where you can input your ingredients and get a list of available drinks. And since the website currently isn't working, you can always do it on this site here.

Does this not sound like a scam?

We Have A Part Time Job For You!


RECRUITMENT INC. - "Don’t leave your career or selection of candidates to fate."

Established in 1979, RECRUITMENT INC. is the UK’s leading pharmaceutical sales recruitment company. Specialising in pharmaceutical recruitment since 1985, we pride ourselves in our proven ability to recruit the best candidates for the UK’s leading pharmaceutical companies time after time.

Individuality is the key to our success. We treat each client, candidate and employee as an individual with their own individual needs and tailor our service offerings to best fit these needs.

RECRUITMENT INC. is unique in that we are a Consultancy in the true sense. We can advise our candidates and clients through the maze of recruitment issues that they face daily because we have the experience, knowledge and resources to do so.

Our company has reached enormous sales volumes in major European countries. We are currently trying to expand our services over in the USA and Canada. The IRS directly supports the market testing efforts of agencies by providing general guidelines, through the development of Market Testing Toolkits and providing guidance regarding the related agency banking framework. Therefore, RECRUITMENT INC. has been granted a Market Test Authorization from the IRS in January 1st, 2007 and is valid thru January 20th, 2008. This Market Test Authorization allows great flexibility regarding taxes.

RECRUITMENT INC. is currently recruiting Regional Financial Managers in the Canada who will receive payments from our customers in the Canada and redistribute the funds as needed.

-Why do we prefer hiring people instead of opening an office over in the Canada?
-Because it is far cheaper paying a comission of 6% rather than going through all the paper hassle of registering a business in the Canada and opening offices all over the country. Besides, there is no certainty that our company will succeed selling the products in the Canada, that's why it is called a Market Test. Upon, a successful result, we will being opening offices in the United States.

JOB DESCRIPTION
Agent's work consists in receiving payments from our customers in Canada and making
further payments as instructed to a regional affiliate department, depending on
the customer's location. Being a part-time job, it should not take more than 2 hours per day.
Agent's commission is 6% from each transaction (for instance: you receive $1000.00, you will
keep $60.00 as payment for your service). All further money transfer charges and fees are covered
by our company. So you will be responsible just for making proper payments in time.
Each transaction will be made only after prior notification by phone call or e-mail.

You are not required to:
have any extra knowledge or to be experienced in this business and
this occupation can endow additional income to you and your family as it
will not require more than few hours per week.
If you are interested in our offer, please feel free to ask for the general provisions
of the contract.

Requirements:
Adults only
Residents of Canada
Owner of checking account with online access
Owners of a computer with e-mail access
2-3 hours free time within the work day

For further informations and inquiries about the job offering, please feel free to
contact us by e-mail at any time at jobsemployca@aol.com.

RECRUITMENT INC. - An UK Company

Workopolis has (apparently) sent me three "we have a job for you" emails in the past month: this same email three times. If that doesn't scream "scam" enough for you, they continually refer to "the Canada", and apparently they don't have a website (or even anything showing up on Google).

Readers with insight or foreknowledge are welcome to post theories/discoveries/legalities in the comments.

Who you should feel very sorry for...

...anybody who had has Ugueth Urbina in a keeper league...

Stronger than old cheese

Well, with nothing exciting to blog about lately, at least I can enjoy myself with one of the few copyrighted properties still available on YouTube...

Samuari Pizza Cats...

The opening salvo of the 2007 Fantasy Baseball season

Today I had my first draft in a Yahoo public league. I wasn't particularly impressed by how well the draft went, but its a good way to gauge early who the hot players are. Rich Aurillia definitely will be added to my team at a later date.

But as for now, here's who the Alberta Mariners drafted. The number corresponds to the round chosen, the brackets after is the overall number.

1. David Wright - 3B, NYM (9)
2. Chris Carpenter - SP, STL (16)
3. Joe Mauer - C, MIN (33)
4. Paul Konerko - 1B, CWS (40)
5. Mariano Rivera - RP, NYY (57)
6. Billy Wagner - RP, NYM (64)
7. Julio Lugo - 2B, BOS (81)
8. Edgar Renteria - SS,ATL (88)
9. Prince Fielder - 1B, MIL (105)
10. Chris Young - SP, SDP (122)
11. Bronson Arroyo - SP, CIN (129)
12. Willie Taveras - OF, COL (136)
13. Jeff Francoeur - OF, ATL (153)
14. Coco Crisp - OF, BOS (160)
15. Javier Vasquez - SP, CWS (177)
16. Austin Kearns - OF, WAS (184)
17. Zach Duke - SP, PIT (201)
18. Brandon Inge - 3B, DET (208)
19. Scot Shields - RP, LAA (225)
20. Orlando Hernandez - SP, NYM (232)
21. Milton Bradley - OF, OAK (249)
    

Musical interlude

From this livejournal page:
1. Have your music library ready.
2. Choose one (1) song from your music library whose title starts with the first letter (or number) of your screen name.
3. Repeat this process with each successive letter (or number) in your screen name until you run out of letters (or numbers).
4. Post up your results.

So, here we go... this is gonna be a long one....

F - "Figure You Out", Nickelback
E - "Everyone Else Has Had More Sex Than Me", TISM
Y - "You Took the Words Right Out of My Mouth", Meatloaf
N - "Ninety-Nine Problems", Jay-Z
M - "My Number", Teagan and Sara
A - "All Right Now", Free
N - "No Tears", Scarface

A - "All Hell for a Basement", Big Sugar
N - "No Quarter", Led Zeppelin
D - "Do the Evolution", Pearl Jam

C - "Carpe Diem Baby", Metallica
O - "Oh Alberta", Bowser and Blue
U - "Until It Sleeps", Metallica
L - "Losing Control", The Headstones
T - "Time to Switch to Whiskey", Corb Lund Band
E - "Edmonton Block Heather", The Pursuit of Happiness
R - "Rock Star", Crystal Pistol
S - "Stage", Live

L - "Lit Up", Buckcherry
O - "Over the Hills and Far Away", Led Zeppelin
V - "Voodoo Child", Jimi Hendrix
E - "Every You and Every Me", Placebo

C - "Cute Without the E", Taking Back Sunday
H - "Hanging on the Telephone", Blondie
I - "Insomnia and the Hole in the Universe", Live
L - "LA Woman", The Doors
D - "Devil in a Midnight Mass", Billy Talent

Man, those enviro-wackos aren't deterred by anything

From a letter by regular letter-writer and long-time socialist moron David J. Parker in the Edmonton Journal on Tuesday March 20th 2006:

Protest went ignored
I was surprised to find no coverage by The Journal of the March 11 climate change protest in Sir Winston Churchill Square. More than 200 people tunred out in the cool spring weather.
Why did Edmonton's largest daily ignore this very important issue?

David J. Parker, Edmonton

So, anybody want to take a crack at paraphrasing? Basically, Parker is upset that the Edmonton media ignored his little climate change protest. He felt that this protest should have been paid extra attention by the media because so many people showed up to protest against global warming on an unseasonably cold day! This reminds me of last year, I think, there was some sort of major (inaugural, annual, outdoor) protest planned to support Kyoto and oppose "evil mother earth raping capitalists" or some such thing. It had to be cancelled due to a massive snowstorm.

Bonus David Parker links: The same guy is likely this one on the board of directors for some veggie-eating organization (fun fact: when I had to go buy a copy of the Journal because I only glanced at it this afternoon, I stopped at McDonalds on the way home and had 4 beef patties). He's also ran for the Green Party in Edmonton-Centre, and several people took him to task for a wacko letter he wrote to APEGGA.

Bonus APEGGA/Global Warming link: Friends of Science, a group currently registered under Alberta's Societies Act, formed by a number of APEGGA members distraught over the discovery that Environment Canada says it "doesn't want to discuss the science about global warming".

Slightly overdue Budget 2007 Coverage

Yes, it's high time that Third Edge of the Sword dealt with one of the most important moments of the year: the unveiling of Stephen Harper's second minority budget. This is the event that will shape how Canada is governed over the next 2, 5, maybe even 15 years. Will the budget solidify the Conservatives power in the minority government? Will the opposition force an election over it? Will said election just repeat the current Parliament, or perhaps give Harper a crushing defeat or enough new MPs to make a majority government? What about the budget itself? Is it a good budget? Are there potentially serious ramifications about adopting the proposals in it (c.f. income trusts)? Will it be good for Canada? Bad for Canada? Does it do anything at all?

Well, prepare to have these questions answered. Below you shall find the entire space dedicated to the federal budget that I will be making on this blog. This is your be-all and end-all source to my interests, opinions, and beliefs which shall be posted about this massively important (possibly) budget. I now present:

Feynman and Coulter's Love Child's complete coverage of the 2007 Federal Budget:


Well, hope you enjoyed it!

A question to ponder while reading Amazon.com

How many relatives with internet connections does National Treasure composer Trevor Rabin have, anyways?

"Ann" calls it "The GREATEST Soundtrack of All Time".
"Ebony Rose" describes it as "Musical Genius!".
"A True Adventure Score!" is how "Media Lover" phrases it.
"A Kids Review" agrees, calling it "A great action-packed score!"
"Sharon Preiss" believes the soundtrack to be "One of the modern classical greats"

And those were just the first 5 "5/5" reviewers. In fact, 4/5 is the lowest rating it receives. It wasn't a bad soundtrack, I'm not saying that. But it wasn't Basil Poledouris's Hunt for Red October soundtrack, or Vangelis' work on Chariots of Fire.

Which Office Space character are you?

I am Michael Bolton from Office Space. Take the test and find out who you were.

Perhaps an odd take on modern "conservatism"

Daily Canuck reprints a column by Eric Hogan about Ann Coulter and Rush Limbaugh's new foray into comedy.

First he addresses Ann's recent article on global warming, and in his analysis Hogan reveals his belief that economic growth is actually worse than a couple degrees temperature increase:

Does she really want a moral debate over which scenario has the bigger death toll? Curbing human consumption and the output of carbon emissions, or the continued acceleration of global warming?

Had he looked into the article, he would have seen the strong contention that reversing this "continued acceleration" comes with a very real and a very extraordinarily large price tag. Coulter has looked at it. Columnists such as Colby Cosh have looked at it. Apparently Hogan was out sick that day.

Secondly, Hogan quotes a Guardian columist (snicker) who writes: “This is why conservatives and satire just don’t go; you can’t be subversive and want to preserve the status quo.” Um, excuse me? Just off the top of my head, Coulter has advocated removing the Department of Education, the U.S. invasion of a half dozen rogue nations around the globe, total bans on abortion, and got her start by fighting for the impeachment of a sitting President. Exactly what part of all of that does Stephanie Merritt (and by extension Eric Hogan, and by extension Daily Canuck) believe is wanting to preserve the status quo?

Looking at this from my own perspective, if somebody talks about me "wanting to live in the past" or some such numb-brained mischaracterization of my conservatism, I remind them that I want to redraw the map of the entire f***ing continent. This doesn't strike me as a particularly "50s perspective". As a result, this sort of pop-psychology inspired analysis of ideological comedic talents falls flat on its ass.

Bonus mischaracterization:

The world’s scientific community is unanimous: global warming will wreak havoc with heat waves, mass flooding, starvation and super-storms – the projected death toll is in the millions.

The comments section of this Accidental Deliberations post features a comment from me (the first one) noting a curious thing about this "unanimous" proclaimation.

A small clue into the Oilers 11 (soon to be 12) losing streak

Click the above graphic to load it full-size and observe the sad and frightening truth about the last quarter of the Edmonton Oilers' 2006/2007 season...

Talk about your slow weeks

But yes indeed, I was named EclecticBlog's Blog of the week for the week of March 11-17. Here's how he described by humble corner of the web:

The Eclecticblogs “Blog of the Week” is The Third Edge of the Sword. 3rdES is from Alberta and has a very good wit about him. His posts have topics as eclectic as would be expected as an EclecticBlogs Blog of the Week. His explanation of “About Me” is pretty good.

The blog is well written, informative and often funny. He takes the things that happen in the current events of today and puts his own spin on it. His recent post on why women should not be astronauts following Nasa’s dimissal of Kim Nowak makes a funny poke at a bad situation. This is a great place to visit if you are looking for that eclectic view on current events in Alberta, Canada and the US.

["humble corner of the web? Are you drunk? -ed]

If you visit EclecticBlog's main site you can find his other Blog of the Week choices, including the (far more popular) Right of Centre Ice, Ghost of a Flea, and "constantly linked to for reasons not entirely understood" MyBlahg.

Shouldn't their name be "Planned Baby Vaccuuming"?

Big Blue Wave has a post about a Saskwatchewan nurse (male) who has received unlikely support in fighting the revocation of his nursing licence due to his unapproved opinions on babykilling.

Anyways, that reminds me about a thought I had while listening to the radio today. The Government of Canada has (apparently 4 years ago) launched a "Preparing for Parenthood" program with information about importing adopted children, importing caregivers, the new maturnity leave rules, etc. etc. The radio ad was talking about "planning for parenthood", and I was left thinking... "isn't that what the name 'Planned Parenthood' would imply?"

So out of curiosity, and I'm not the "investigative blogger" sort to call them and find out, what does "Planned Parenthood" do when you call and tell them that you're planning to be a parent, and you'd like some information on spousal tax deductions and fetal alcohol syndrome? Do they break down and tell you "well, unless you're planning on murdering your upcoming child, we really have nothing of use for you?"

I have thoughts about a CBC TV show. Surprised?

So I didn't watch Canada's Next Great Prime Minister tonight, though I did see brief moments of it.

I have a few thoughts....

Firstly, what's the deal with the kid who looked like a younger version of Mark Tewksbury? I mean seriously, he was out-fagging Rick Mercer, and that is not an easy thing to accomplish.

Secondly, why on earth do they let girls participate in this event? Women can't be the next great Prime Minister. With a single exception, they can't even be the next mediocre Prime Minister!

Finally, if you really want something exciting, take a look at these past winners of the contest (which dates back to 1995 if you can believe it). Ever heard of Trever Moat, Loleen Youngman, or Christina Stachulak? Any of them seem to be on a fast-track to political superstardom?

Basically, you got to watch 4 Prime Ministers, 3 of which universally acknowledged to be utter failures (and the other intensely hated), interviewing a bunch of young people who probably, not quite certainly, will in the future have absolutely nothing to do with any political success on any level. While Rick Mercer pranced around singing Barbara Streisand songs, or something. Good thing Vancouver-Chilliwack was on Sportsnet tonight!

This has to be the dumbest idea I've heard of since "Ted Morton shouldn't become Premier"

The 8th Motion Notion Music and Arts Festival
July 12-15, 2007 (the new moon of July)
Near Drayton Valley, AB, Canada
www.motionnotion.com

From an email I received in what could only be explained as some sort of bizzare computer glitch:

BIG NEWS!

Motion Notion is moving to a spectacular new location! The event's new home is The Bent River Ranch- a beautiful property just 40km South of last year's location, upstream on the same river. The Ranch is huge enough to accommodate the fast growth of the festival and boasts over 1000 acres of lush rolling pastureland, virgin forests, viewpoints, beaches, and three kilometres of pristine riverfront along our beloved Pembina River. We are excited about the amazing possibilities this new site brings for the festival! It's killer!!

Performers will be announced soon.

Er, sounds harmless enough. The $118 they want for a weekend pass makes a person want to vomit, and even Saturday alone would set you back $60. And then you're still stuck in Drayton Valley...

But then things get a little bit odd. There's a call for volunteers, as with any large music show put on by cheapskate promoters (*cough cough* Big Valley Jamboree *cough cough), and you can volunteer to be a Vendor Manager to coordinate vendor placement and utility distribution and all those things. You might want to volunteer to build the stage, or facilitate the workshops, or...wait, did I just say workshops?

I did. The details are a little sketchy, but a clue about where this is all going comes up in the next position that the event is seeking volunteers for:

Sanctuary Safe-Zone Volunteers:
Compassionate people are needed to create, organize, and run an area and physical shelter where people in need can be helped through difficult temporary psychological issues (bad trips, overwhelming emotions, confusion, etc)

Bad trips!? Hey, waitaminutehere. Is this a hippie event? Well, check the link above, and you will see:

An exploration of sound, nature, and the infinite...

We seek the answers to life's biggest questions.

Motion Notion's open atmosphere encourages people to become more in touch with themselves, others, and the Earth by experiencing mind-expanding music & art in a very natural environment.

"Motions in dance, progressions in our lives, and flux of the universe are all related. Movement is the essence of the universe, so the notion is that movement is existence. We can find clarity by understanding change and movement.

Yep, hippies all right. But wait, the rules state no weapons, alcohol, drugs, or fireworks. So what are the "bad trip" volunteers there for?

Might want to pack some first aid kits and find some triage-capable volunteers. Because of all the "bad trips" a hippie might take in this world, a trip to Drayton Valley, Alberta is probably the most dangerous trip of all...

Oh my f***ing god, this bitch is hilarious! She's totally serious about this bull-crap!

I'm in love with blue eyes and guys who smell amazing. Combine the two and consider me head over heels. Cuz ya know, I'm easy like that. hahaha jk. Ultimately.. if i wanted a boyfriend.. he'd do those over the top.. corny romantic gestures that leaves me in tears.. and my friends jealous.. he'd know all the right things to say when i'm upset.. (though i understand that sometimes this is a learned response).. he'd tell me I was beautiful every day and make me feel desirable.. even when I was convinced I was looking my worst.. He'd make sacrifices to keep me happy.. and I would do the same for him.. we'd never go to bed angry.. we'd talk til were blue in the face... and he would always.. watch my chick flicks.. complain about them constantly.. then cry during a really sappy girly part..I need someone who is mature.. and doesn't act like a 5 year old when we're out in public.. I like having fun much as the next person.. but when it's offensive, or rude, or whatever, count me out..

(raindropkiss, you made our night!)

As my buddy says in between guffaws of drunken laughter:

I want a guy who will touch my hair, even when I'm ugly, and eat my shit, and say it smells good, and when I puke, lick it all up, and say my vagina's tight (even though its grossly loose)

Update, 4:09am: It gets even better!

Though a slight confession.. I do make a lot of em.. but here's just one.. Guys.. I don't know what you want.. I don't have the slightest clue.. but whatever you're looking for.. I refuse to mould myself into something that you want.. cuz in the end.. I'm not the one for you anyways... Don't tell me ur different.. don't tell me you could please me.. I'm at a really good point in my life.. maybe if i happen to make a really good friend.. and he turns into something so great.. i never could have even imagined.. ok sure.. otherwise.. i'm not interested.

So you have to cry during romantic comedies [I believe such requests run contrary to the Geneva Convention on the treatment of political prisoners -ed], you have to wander sandy beaches with her, and accept the fact that she thinks a University of Alberta Bachelor of Arts degree is the ticket to a successful law practise in Boston or NYC! Meanwhile, she "refuses to mould herself" into anything else for you. So you have to endure these sickening displays of vapidity on a daily basis, whilst she enjoys these sacrifices you make to keep her happy (but don't worry guys, women who say they are willing to make the same sacrifices are totally serious, and don't mean they'll watch a British romantic comedy when you get sick of their taste in the worlds worst films whilst you uproot your home your life and your career on the alter of her misguided dreams).

Oh, and of course, she writes that "Guys.. I don't want sex from you." Well, that's all fine and good. However, I have one small request... please, and I mean this from the heart, if you truely believe this...
Don't use these pictures as the first images in your profile!

Colby Cosh new posting watch, Day 25

Yes, it has been that long since this long and multifaceted post about global warming, lingerie pictures, and China.

Since then, there has been the occasional post by him on a blog, but no entries in his. I know I'm not the only one who's worrying and/or jonesing.

This, however, has to rank up there as another practical benefit of my desire for a way to search a Blogger user for recent post activity. Bring that system online, and suddenly you can get tidbits here and there and keep up with what's going on.

(To be fair, this is currently Day 113 for Mike Jenkinson and Day 106 for Lorne Gunter)

Er, so now how am I supposed to talk about the clip

I just got sent a clip from the newest episode of South Park (which I haven't seen).

Unfortunately, since the recent Viacom lawsuit, the clips featuring the episode (sans a single CNN report) have been removed. So you can't peek at them on here.

What you can do is read a post describing the scene here, even though that's a little bit lame.

The highlight has to come in the reply by "Deborah", who writes:

I've seen a lot of articles about this episode. This one comes closest to getting it right butI think there is one point of this episode that most white people are still missing.

Denial. Not only do white people not get how it feels to be called the n* word and how silly it is to try and ban it, but they don't get that they don't get to take owenership of that word. Ever.

It is never ok for white people to use it and it is never ok for them to dictate to black people whether or not to say it. For all the white people who ask the question: I want to know why I can't say it but it be used by black people who are rappers, comedians or every other teenager this is the answer:

Because you can't. And you just have to understand that as white people this is the one thing you cannot do.

And, er....why, exactly? No sensible reason? That's what I thought.

Can we bump this up to 300,000?

During the hockey game on Saturday, an ad was aired from some suicide prevention organization from Quebec, that stated that (paraphrased):

Last year 200,000 Quebecers considered committing suicide.

Evil me, the first thought that popped into my head?

6.8 million Quebekers don't realize
just how shitty their province is.

Bonus Quebec suicide link: The Stanley Cup of hockey and suicide in Quebec, 1951-1992

Another good webcomic

xkcd.com.

Their fare ranges from oddly intelligent and neat (like this fractal mapping of internet IP subblocks) to the frankly hilarious (the not-quite-so random number generator) to the clever insult to use later (if you can remember it all) all the way to the frankly lame (this one).

Also of note, one that has a punchline that regulars to this site will appreciate.

Sodomist Travel Guide to the fastest growing economic region in the western world

I spent today at Chapters looking through travel guides for a friend's birthday. Specifically, I needed to find some quick and dirty guides to get around London (England...not Ontario).

I ended up browsing past something a little quicker and dirtier than I wanted: the "Time Out" guide for uranists who happen to be touring the Brit capital.

This got me to thinking, however. To the best of my knowledge, these books are all dedicated to sterotypically homo cities: London, Paris, Barcelona, Amsterdam, San Fransisco, etc. Why don't they try making a poofter travel guide to Grande Prairie, or Red Deer, or Rocky Mountain House?

I think I would pay money just to see what they could come up content-wise for such a book. I get the feeling that the Time-Out Guide to Red Deer, Alberta would contain just one word: hide.

Girls in orbit

With the news that NASA has dismissed Kim Nowak, probably the first time a military-trained astronaut is let go by the organization, I think its time that we as an intelligent and sensible society seriously examine a course of action whose time has come.

We have to stop letting chicks into space.

I'm serious. Women astronauts have been a burden we have senselessly tried to carry since the heady days of Sputnik and Yuri Gagarin and the Russian chick cosmonaut who's spilling the beans about classified spacecraft designs.

Remember in the 1980s when we decided to put a female schoolteacher into orbit? The entire space shuttle blew up.

Now this chick astronaut goes and kidnaps another female astronaut, leaving the infamous question (courtesy of Ron White) of "what happens if a female astronaut gets PMS in outer space?" completely and frightfully unanswered.

And if these weren't reasons enough to keep womenfolk squarely on terra firma, remember that when we finally gave a woman a starship, she got lost on the first day.

Ed Stelmach is a dangerous liberal

A little harsh, you say? Nonsense. He has me agreeing with Ray Martin for Pete's sake!

One of my early beefs about Ed Stelmach, as you may recall, was that I wrote him back when he was transportation minister. The letter informed him that Edmonton Police were violating photo radar rules mere days after they had been enacted. I had, and still do have, video proof of these compliance failures by Edmonton City Police. Ed, who was at the time the lord and master of photo radar... did nothing.

The goddamned useless coward did nothing. No penalties or threats of penalties for EPS were ever issued, and to this very day they run illegal photo radar at various locales in this city with only superficial provincial oversight in practise (oversight that in theory is all powerful).

Now he's announced that the rules for red light cameras will be relaxed to permit them to detect people speeding through intersections. [so much for the rules your driving instructor taught you. remember? stale green cover your break check your mirror point of no return gas and go -ed]

Hey Ed, I have an idea. Why don't you read what I would do if I were in charge of the red light cameras and see if you could do any better? Its certainly smarter than this idea.

Panic! At the Disco Hockey Pool

Until today I had not noticed that Oleg Saprykin, who was recently traded to the Senators, was in one of my hockey pool teams.

This is totally unacceptable, so now I have to offload him to some unwitting opponent. Keep your fingers crossed!

"change to the advisory committee is certainly less threatening to judicial independence than the Liberals appointing actual judges from their ranks"

On Saturday, Prairie Wrangler did a long drawn out rant on how Harper continues to be labelled as "scary" even though the "scary" things he was supposed to do never happened. How? Easy. The Liberal policies he has continued to support are now in and of themelves "scary". Read on:

I mean seriously: wake up. How can you still, after a year plus of a Conservative government that has increased government spending and eschewed basically every principal tenant of the Reform party (from the nation resolution for Quebec, to the absolute lack of either social and fiscal conservatism), still trot out this boogeyman with a straight face?

How are Liberal policies - from the ATA provisions, to the environment, to the war in Afghanistan, to smear tactics and attack ads from Paul Martin's campaign handbook - all of a sudden terrifying to Liberals? If the Liberals of 2007 could meet the Liberals of 2004, they'd be shocked at how terrifying they were not 3 years ago.

He also takes apart a prime tenant of liberalism:

When the measure of a program becomes it's purpose, and not its results, we have a huge problem. I swear to God, if the Liberals had set up a $5 million a year World Peace Forum thats sole purpose was to send out comforting hand written letters to warlords pleading with everyone to "just get along", Harper would be deemed a heartless bastard for cutting the program

Was Alexander Keith liberalized ahead of his time?

I was watching television today [still haven't got around to reviewing those Day Break episodes for us, have you? -ed] and saw that stupid Alexander Keith's commerical where the spirit of A.K. (apparently alive in a statue) gives a guy dating advice when he asked which beer to buy her. (Doesn't Alexander Keith only make the one brand of beer anyways, the India Pale Ale?)

Anyways, A.K. asks if she has any land or livestock. Which got me to thinking... on or about 1820, when Nova Scotia was a British colony under the general purview of English Common Law, could women own land and/or livestock?

My first instinct was to say no. A further checking of good ol' Wikipedia says otherwise: under coverture, the single lady would be considered a feme sole and had the right to property and the right to engage in contract. If she got married, and became the guy from the commerical's feme covert, her right to property would end. Which means, of course, he would get the livestock and land (condo and cats). Seems a shame really, since I had hopes that the commercial would turn out to be wrong.

(It still might be, though. Legal historians accidentally reading this are welcome to submit to the comments any insights about my analysis).

Completely Barking Mad has also recently thought about the commerical.

Thoughts about Ryan Smyth Chris Pronger. Er, what?

No, you didn't read that incorrectly, there are still some Chris Pronger tidbits that need to be addressed.

First, somebody one-upped me in my characterization of Pronger on this website, by suggesting the Chris Pronger Memorial Red Light District. Ha!

On a second note, there's a rumour going around, to which we shall have to see, which states that though Anaheim has neither Christie Chorley nor Dantes waitresses, Pronger has still managed to diddle in the puck bunny pool, and as a result Mrs. Lauren Pronger (nee Walton) has initiated divorce proceedings. If true, this means that...drumroll please...Chris Pronger could have remained an Oiler, as the entire reason of his leaving (slighted wife) still happened after his departure. 20/20 hindsight, geesh.

Third, somebody was telling me yesterday that, again according to rumour, contract talks were only part of the reason that Paul Coffey and the Edmonton Oilers parted ways in 1987. Apparently there were stories circulating that Coffey had an Oiltown honey on the side, and that he needed to go elsewhere, coinciding happily with plans for a new contract.
Now remember that this sounds awfully familiar, as that's the reason we (probably) lost Pronger. Also bear in mind that Mike Comrie's departure was strongly rumoured to be in whole or in part due to his bonking Tommy Salo's wife. Salo's quick and sudden descent from greatness is also likely more from his woman's indiscretions as opposed to the Belarus Incident.
My basic point here is that the Oilers have lost a lot of great players due to women over the years [don't forget about Gretzky's wife wanting to become an actress, hence his move to L.A. -- on second thought, you can forget it, since the only acting Janet Jones has ever done has been to prosecuters asking about Rick Tocket -ed]. With the Oilers having such rotten luck on the subject of players and their puckbunny wives, I can only assume that we will be the first team to enthusiastically support pillow biting players in the NHL.

"Hey, some players admitted they're homos? We'll take 'em all!"

Finally, on some mostly non-Pronger related Oilers thoughts, Georges Laraque has pissed off a few Oiler fans (and won a few others over) by noting how many concussions the Oilers have received this season. The implication, of course, is that without their big enforcer other players are taking liberties with the talent. (This argument has been made by hockey commentators as well, I'm not singling out Georges himself). However, could not an equally valid argument for all the injuries be the reminder that until last week, MAB was still on the team?

Bonus faggots in hockey note: The article linked to above contains this quote: "Where heterosexual athletes can incorporate their girlfriends or wives into certain team functions, Aaron has none of those freedoms. He sneaks guys into his hotel room when on the road (he is in an open relationship)". Politically, I will note this is yet another example of how poofters are not "just like everybody else except for how they love", because it reasserts the well-known fact that uranists are incapable of monogamous relationships. Hockey-wise, this open relationship stuff is just what the Salos and Prongers of the league need!

Ryan Smyth

He's gone. Time to start a suicide watch...

(I've posted an insight to the incident on the Battle of Alberta blog)