La Fleche

If Biggar was exciting La Fleche is, well….smaller.

Buzz around town is the excitement of a drug bust last week. Three cop cars pulled up - the town doesn’t own three, so we’re trying to figure out where the third one came from. Maybe the second one too; we’re not sure.

Mom-ster and I are here visiting an old high school friend of hers named Paula Uteck. We visited Paula often when she lived in Trenton; she and her husband retired to La Fleche, near the town her husband was raised in.

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Saskatchewan

This is a very weird place.

The largest single crop in the province is wheat. They grow more of it here than anywhere in the country. There is only one brewery in Saskatchewan, and they don’t make a wheat beer.

But that’s just where it starts.

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I want to ride the ridge where the west commences

And gaze at the moon till I lose my senses
And I can’t look at hobbles and I can’t stand fences

Saskatchewan, here I come.

Telus just crossed the line

This is censorship, and a gross violation of Telus’ subscriber agreement.

CBC News: Telus cuts subscriber access to pro-union website

What’s next? No access to pro-Muslim sites?

I thought this kind of thing only happened in the third world.

Lance

Go Lance Go

Nike has pulled their See Lance Ride commercial from the web, which is deeply disappointing. It was a beautiful piece of work as marketing, and a beautiful message from Lance.

So Lance has won his 7th Tour de France by playing a defensive game. Sure he won the prologue and yesterday’s time trial, but for the rest of the race he sort of just held in place.

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My Frisbee is here

In honour of its arrival, I’ve posted the unedited unadulterated photos from my Independence Day weekend in Seattle.

London: 2005

This is not good.

In London, police shot a Brazillian man who “was not connected to incidents in central London on 21st July, 2005, in which four explosive devices were partly detonated” because his actions were suspicious.

This is exactly the kind of victory terrorists can expect to achieve: a paranoid society and a law enforcement culture where suspicion alone becomes justification for shooting.

This is not the society that anybody would choose to live in. As Amadou Diallou found out, far too many big cities are already there.

I hope that this will not be the lasting impact of London in 2005.

Long John Baldry

Long John Baldry died last night, at only 61 years old. For those who don’t know him, this may be meaningless but Long John was a blues legend, and classic rock bands like Led Zeppelin, the Rolling Stones and performers such as Elton John admired him.

My favourite Long John story came from my friend Al Graham who told me once about him singing at Al’s 40th birthday party. Al sings in a blues band, and knows everybody on the Toronto scene. He’s a bit of a legend himself.

Like all legends, his music was less appreciated than it used to be by people not in the business. Now’s your chance - get online and steal some while it’s fresh in your minds, you might just find something you’ve missed without even knowing it.

Long John, you’ll be sadly missed by all.

Best Picture: Crash?

Crash was the title of a horrible, heartless film by Canadian David Cronenberg some time ago. Coming on the heels of a horrific car accident in my family, I didn’t see it for years. I wasn’t missing much.

This year, a new film titled Crash was released and it’s quite different.

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Liquor Privatization: Again

A topic of perennial discussion in Canada is the privatization of liquor boards. This has been going on since I was slinging booze for a living, all those years ago.

Ontario has just rejected the notion, again, despite a government commissioned review that recommends it.

The Globe and Mail: Ontario rejects panel’s advice to sell LCBO

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Big Canadian News Today

Hockey’s back, and a Sasquatch sighting in Teslin, Yukon on the same day. Only in Canada, eh? Pity.

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Oh that crazy Gurmant!

Remind me again why I ever associated with the Conservative Party of Canada?

My Birthday’s Coming Up

Contrary to popular opinion, it’s not the 31st but the 30th of August.

Looking for present ideas? Look no further.

London: July 7th, 2005

I couldn’t sleep last night - I was trying to sleep on my couch, which will serve as my bed for the next few days, and I tossed and turned all night.

Consequently, I spent most of the night listening to news from London where something like four bombs have been set off in the Tube and at least 45 people appear to be dead.

I can’t imagine being there, and I can’t imagine the sense of normalcy with which many Londoners seem to be treating this event. In a city that has dealt with the threat of IRA bombings for years (and no one seems to think this is an IRA bombing) everyday citizens in London seem to be taking this very much in stride.

Astounding.

I’m pretty happy today to be living in sleepy little Vancouver, where nothing ever seems to happen.

Laurie Anderson, on her Ugly One With The Jewels album, quotes Don De Lillo’s book Mao II saying that the terrorists are the only true artists because they’re the only ones who can surprise us anymore.

So much for liking surprises.

Segway’s Overhyped? Never.

Don’t get me wrong - I like the Segway, but since it was launched I’ve said it was a lot of hype and generally not useful. This is one reason why:

The Globe and Mail: Ontario ruling a Catch 22 for Segways

But you know, The Germans disagreed with me, so I must have been wrong.

The Emerald City and Independence Day

This combined Canada Day and Independence Day weekend marked my longest contiguous stay in Seattle ever. Four days of time spent in the Emerald City. I’ve been in the United State longer, but a great deal of this is usually camping time in off the beaten path places. This is a bit different.

So what did 4 days and 5 nights in Seattle teach me?

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Canada Day in the United States

I was born in Toronto, Ontario raised in London and then moved back to Toronto. I’ve lived in Vancouver for almost 5 years now.

I have never before spent Canada Day outside of my home and native land.

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