Friday, May 30, 2008

Give Early, Give Often

hey folks,

I've joined the Miss Jess and the Insouciant Cyclists in their annual ride to help cure diabetes.

I'm asking for your help. See my irreverent page (click here). I just can't write the usual upbeat, exclamation-point-laden call to arms.

My only pitch is that I don't ask for much, especially now that I have a reliable car. I will never ask you to help me move. I will never ask for a ride to the airport. But I am asking for this.

Partly because I've joined the party really late. And partly for my Uncle Nick, RIP.

CC

ps. If you are in Canada, you can probably donate. But if you are nervous to do so online, just tell me how much to put in and we can work it out offline. No worries.

pps. All irreverence aside, thank you. (And no worries if you choose not to.)

Saturday, May 24, 2008

TV Alert

For those in St Louis (and/or the US):

On Sunday morning at 10 am, on the Speed channel, a show called My Classic Car will feature a "British Car Show" from a lil' province called Prince Edward Island.

Woo-hoo! My guess is that it will be down east near Montague. It was most certainly taped during the summer months: probably August.

Neighbours Part 2

Last weekend there was a new issue with the neighbours: a puppy. My guess is that the guy wanted to move on from his relationship, and if you already have a dog, then what better way to distract oneself than to get a new addition to the family. Plus the chick magnet thing and all that.

A week ago, the big dog and the puppy were out on the deck at 2 am. I went out and complained. I was tempted to yell and use profanity but I was on _my_ neighbours roof and so it is hard to get riled up. 2 dudes were sitting out there, eating dinner (I think). They barely paid any attention. Perhaps they were stoned: hard to say.

I came off my deck, went up the outside stairs, and repositioned myself near their fence. Making sure my voice stayed in that deep, sleepy baritone I growled at them about the dogs. Barely any response. 5 minues later, they were all inside but it seemed like it was on their terms.

By 10 am the next morning, I had 2 copies of a letter describing the last few months: one for the apartment office and one for their door. The one on the door had some choice words as a post-script. The apartment manager was adamant that "this wouldn't happen again". We'll see.

In the week since, things have been better but only barely. If I remember correctly (from a conversation several months ago), if I complain enough times, the apartment will level fines against the resident. That's when things will get interesting.

Hopefully it won't come to that.

I haven't been on my bike this year. It really bothers me but I have to remind myself (a) it has been raining cats and, yes, dogs almost all the time and (b) I have been exhausted from all this crap. Friends say that I "nap a lot". LOL... So would they, in my slippers. Plus I have a highly tuned metabolism and massive cranial capacity which requires constant maintenance.

Happy Memorial Day, USA

'Tis the big weekend down here... A major holiday where one needs to have plans for Sunday or Monday or else one looks like a total loser. One thing about the USA: people make sure that we wayward waifs are "taken care of" in the sense of "do you have somewhere to go?". This is extremely true for Thanksgiving but also the other big holidays.

I have been grousing a lot lately, debating about my future. I hope no one takes it as an indictment of St Louis. This is a great town and I am blessed to have a fantastic social circle here.

Plus, I think the USA generally kicks butt. It is a big, complex country, and a lot of the good things go unrecognized.

peace out from the CC newsdesk

Monday, May 19, 2008

Track Tasks Online

A friend of mine has a web site as a semi-pro hobby: the Online Task List (click here).

Check it out if you like: it's free. I use it for my weekend task list but also in general. He hasn't really advertised it anywhere: it is has been just been spreading virally to a level of several hundred users.

You can assign priorities, get email reminders, etc. It's pretty slick. The user interface is outstanding (e.g. changing colours on rollovers).

Happy Victoria Day

Happy Victoria Day, to everyone back home!

Victoria Day is the big May holiday in Canada: it is one of the major differences from the US in terms of holidays. In the US, Memorial Day is a giant weekend (this coming weekend). In the US, Memorial Day marks the beginning of summer; I wouldn't say that about Victoria Day.

My family on my Dad's side has a major gathering every year, on the Sunday before. When I was back home, it was a day to play soccer in someone's yard.

Here are some quick facts about England's longest reigning monarch:
  • She reigned 63+ years from 1837 to 1901. Amazing. Queen Elizabeth II may give her a run for the money though. You go girls!
  • Her husband died in 1861. In mourning, she wore black for the next forty years.
  • I can't find it online but as a youth there was a great, quirky book called The Book of Lists which featured a very rare photo of Queen V smiling. She was on morphine.

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Singing Songs

There is great news over on the Hegemom Blog...

wooHOO!!!!!!!

On My Current Power Rotation

Climbed a mountain and I turned around
I saw my reflection in the snow covered hills
till the landslide brought me down

Oh, mirror in the sky: What is love?
Can the child within my heart rise above?
Can I sail through the changing ocean tides?
Can I handle the seasons of my life?

Well, I've been afraid of changing
cause I've built my life around you
But time makes you bolder
Children get older
I'm getting older too


Landslide -- Fleetwood Mac

Check out the audio and a sumptuously gorgeous guitar solo here.....

Sunday, May 11, 2008

Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to my Mom, all of the Mom readers, and all of the Mom-to-be readers!

I love being male and all that goes with it but I do respect motherhood: I've often said that the strongest force in nature is a mother defending her young.

I watch a _lot_ of nature shows and motherhood is truly universal. In the nature, the fathers can be rather shaky.

Saturday, May 10, 2008

The Joy of Physics

My car, Rowdy, was rear-ended yesterday at a red light. No injuries and the car is just barely scratched, which is amazing.

I was turning left and a guy behind me gunned his Mustang into me, from a stop. So there wasn't much momentum but I could not believe how hard he hit me. Headache and a sore neck yesterday aft but fine now.

As it happened, I was due for a 30,000 mile tune-up on the ride, so I took Rowdy into the shop today. They saw no structural damage.

I've seen someone push hard on a fender and dent it worse than the damage left by the Mustang. I just don't understand, but I guess the back bumper may have one of those 5 MPH zones that "folds" in and then back out.

I was quite ready to be confrontational but the guy was sincerely contrite, so I was civilized. No cops, no insurance claim.

Sunday, May 04, 2008

Lord Stanley's Mug

Bah, well there is no joy in Mudville again this year.

In Vegas in November, I bought 3 long-bet tickets for the Stanley Cup winner:
  • Toronto didn't make the playoffs.
  • Ottawa was ousted in the first round.
  • Montreal was my last hope. This is somewhat ironic since I have historically not supported Les Habs. No matter: they are out as well.
Drat. Keen readers will remember that I seriously kicked butt on the first trip to Vegas (picked World Series winner, picked Superbowl winner, and the hockey pick went to the Cup finals).

There is only one conclusion: back to LV !

New Era on PEI

Quoteth (from this article):

A new era begins on Prince Edward Island Saturday as retailers can once again legally sell canned carbonated beverages for the first time in almost a quarter-century.

The lifting of P.E.I.'s so-called "can ban" is being viewed by Islanders as either a cause for celebration or a day to lament. Prince Edward Island was the only place in North America where pop could only be sold in refillable bottles.

The ban was put in place in 1984 to protect jobs at the local Pepsi bottling plant and to protect the environment.

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I thought the ban was way before 1984 ? I remember a can of pop being a 'status symbol' in the mid 1970s!?

CC