Boy, What A Picture, What A Photograph...

Yesterday, I asked how bad the guy looked who took a few deadly punches from the retired boxer whose house he tried to burgle. Jill didn't disappoint. Here is her description, a fine description I must say.

Okay, you asked - his "before" picture is of an average good looking young man with a devilish grin on a slim taut face. His "after" picture is unrecognizable. If it had been a car accident, he'd have had to hit the steering wheel with his face and then go through the windshield with his face leading the way. The left side of his face is swollen to twice the size of the right side, which is also swollen. The before photo shows thin lips. In the after, his lower lip is cut in two places, bleeding and badly swollen. One cut looks like it's more of a chunk missing than a slice or a rip. The before photo showed a lip ring in the center of his lower lip. Not sure if it's still there in the after picture. If it is, it's embedded in the swelling which looks terribly painful. His upper lip is also badly swollen. It looks like he may have lost some teeth from the lower jaw. If not, the teeth are so completely covered with blood and swollen flesh that they look like a black hole. His left eye is nearly closed from the dark purple and black swelling. Both lids are drooping. His once narrow nose is puffy and distorted. His mother would have a hard time identifying him. If that's how he looked at arrest time, I can't even imagine how he must have looked hours later. At least he's suffering for his crime.

Um, wow. That's quite the pounding. But that's what he gets for breaking in with a big knife.

That's Talent...Or Something

A woman blew a .413 on the breathalyser and still managed to walk a straight line in heels! That's scary! that's one hell of an alcohol tolerance.

Please Remain Standing...In Your Seats

A small Chinese airline is considering offering standing seats so they can fit 40 percent more people on their planes. No, I'm not kidding. They'll still be belted around the waist though, so they tell us we shouldn't worry. Uh-huh.

How long until airlines here try to follow their lead? I mean, they already overbook the planes.

Folks, You're Not Helping Your Case!

The story of Willie Jeter, who stole an expensive watch from courthouse x-ray scanners amid a whole pack of sheriff's deputies and surveillance cameras while on trial for cocaine-related charges reminds me of that old story of Jessica Cohen, who stole a cellphone from a public defender's office. Why did she come there? To get someone to defend her on a theft charge.

What a pair of idiots, idiots who just got charges added to their list.

You Say Potato, I Say I'll Fucking Kill You. Let's Call The Whole Thing Off. I'll Even Throw You The Phone!

Ooo! More food feuding. This was over undercooked potatos and burned bread. Oh, and the chick was drunk, but still.

Big Media Gets What It Wants While The Consumer Gets Hosed...Yet Again

CRTC increases TV funding to bolster local programs, small-market stations

Aside from a couple of problems, this is great news. Unfortunately the problems are A that it won't work and B that we the consumers are going to have to pay for it. The cable companies are alreadymaking that second one perfectly clearby using phrases like "tax on consumers". Thanks for looking out for us, CRTC. If ever you should decide to take your collective head out of your collective ass, I'll be waiting for you to work around the not so trivial issue of how fee for carriage is going to work in cases where TV stations are owned by cable companies. Investing in...let's say Rogers owned stations with this new fund we're on the hook for seems a little sketchy, don't you think? We already pay Rogers the cable company to get all of these stations in our cable packages. Eventually, they raise the rates we pay to cover the new funding. Then, with a sudden interest in making...let's say Cityvt watchable again, Rogers the local station owner turns around and dips into that very same fund. Rogers the company as a whole gets to talk out of both sides of its mouth, standing up for the consumer while taking advantage of them at the same time...twice! We pay new fees to Rogers that Rogers can then turn around and put right back into itself. Somehow that hardly seems fair, which is why big media companies are a bad idea, which brings me to the other, arguably bigger problem.

The conventional TV business is broken, but it's broken a lot more than a 0.5% increase in funding for local programming is going to be able to fix. It might sound crazy, but maybe the best thing that could happen is that some of the so-called local stations run by major corporations who have no concept of community or apparently how to make money (Canwest Global, I'm looking at you) could go belly up so that the entire way things are done could be rethought.

I know how these networks operate, and all you have to do is look at what passes for Canadian television programming these days to get a pretty good idea for yourself. Major networks like Global and CTV always seem to find the minimum standard and camp out there. How do you think we ended up with airwaves full of low rent Canadian knockoffs of American reality TV and Canadian produced entertainment magazine shows that cover American events and throw in some Canadian stuff here and there? It happened because instead of investing in truly Canadian shows, the networks would rather spend money on American TV and then fill their Canadian content requirements with whatever's left over. And if you don't think the same thing could happen under the new local rules, you're crazy. If you're looking to see solid local journalism or expanded coverage of local sports or anything like that, keep looking. As long as they can get away with it, broadcasters will continue to churn out cheap crap like Guelph's Next Top Model or Deal Or No Deal Guelph or even Survivor Downtown Guelph On the Weekend When The Bars Close. Actually, that last one might be kind of fun, but you can see what I'm driving at.

What we need is a shift back to the days of smaller businesses with a truly local connection rather than what TV and radio and even newspapers have now, a soulless big business voice that favours the bottom line over everything else. The problem broadcasters have isn't cable companies getting over the air signals for free and selling them to the consumer, the problem is that the world has changed. Today's consumer has so many more entertainment options than they had even 10 years ago that providing the same old same old just won't do anymore. To stay relevant and compete, TV and radio need to find the one thing that can't be found all over the internet or on all those specialty stations they're up against and deliver it to the best of their ability. and the one thing lacking on mainstream radio and TV is good, community based programming. Providing that is the best chance there is to get eyes and ears and advertisers to pay attention to you again.

Dear Maggie Laidlaw

Why are you making me look and feel like an idiot? Yes, me personally.

Do you remember 2006? Back when we had that election thing? I used one of my votes on you. I did that because I listened to you speak and read my newspapers regularly and thought you would be a good choice. Having a well-spoken voice that represents my interests in town never hurt anything I thought, so a vote you did receive. and for a while, things were good.

So...what happened?

Well,thishappened.What, exactly, were you thinking? Were you thinking?

You honestly expect me and the rest of us to sit back and say nothing when according to you, in an era where people are losing jobs left and right, half of the city is about to be torn up and rebuilt and public washrooms are falling down and killing people, that the biggest issue facing the citizens of Guelph is cage-free eggs? How 'bout no? Oh, and how 'bout getting your priorities straight? This city has real problems, problems that you're being paid to work on. I realize that the cage-free egg lobby is paying you too and they have a right to be heard at some point, but 2 hours is way too much time to be devoting to such ridiculousness to begin with, and it's waaaaaaaaay too much now.

Hopefully I can give you the benefit of the doubt here. Maybe you just made a mistake. Hey, you're only human, and all humans slip up now and then. Perhaps that's all this was. But perhaps it's not, and trust me, I'll be watching. If I've been made to look the fool I'll be none too pleased, and I've got a pretty long memory. I'm not somebody who's looking forward to being fooled twice, and I hope you'll use your own memory to remember that come 2010.

Thanks for your time,and thanks, hopefully, for not hijacking Council and making the folks in our Ward feel like morons again.

Out Of Gas, Out Of Luck

These two dorks should have learned from this dork that if you rob a gas station, check your own fuel gauge. There were two of 'em and neither of 'em noticed. About a mile from the station, put put splutter splutter cough stop. Then they were arrested.

I never thought I'd see two gas station robberies where the getaway vehicle ran out of fuel.

There Won't Be Any Noise Complaints For A While Now

I'm dying to know how bad Gregory McCalium looks. the description says he looks like he'd been in a car accident when by the sounds of it, all he took was a couple of punches...well...a couple of punches from a retired boxer. Here's a lesson for dear old Gregory. Even if you break into the house of a 72-year-old man with a big, mean knife, you're not guaranteed to win. You're quite the asshole, breaking in with a knife because your neighbour had the unmitigated gall to call the cops and complain about your excessive noise. Anyway, next time you decide to settle a dispute this way, it would be good to know that your opponent used to be pretty good in the boxing ring.

Sucks to be you, Gregory. Enjoy your next four years in the clink. And you go, Frank Corti. Nobody will mess with you again, and so they shouldn't.

Soul Survivor

This story about a reality TV show where various preachers try to convert atheists twists my head around. Basically, 10 atheists who have been interviewed to assure that they are truly atheists go on the show and a muslim imam, a rabbi, a greek orthodox priest and a monk try to prove the merits of their various faiths. Whoever wins, so I guess whoever converts the most, wins a trip so they can make a pilgrimmage at a site which is important to their chosen religion. "We give you the biggest prize ever; we represent the belief in God. Believe, repent, God will forgive you," says the show.

There are 2 problems I have with this whole thing. If you're truly an atheist, why would you go on the show? If you're going on there, there must be a part of you that's thinking about becoming religious. Who would go on there knowing they'll never win the prize? Even if you go on the show to prove a point that you can't be converted, you should know that you don't have any hope of proving the point because it can just be twisted into "Well, he didn't have an open enough mind." And that will be that. They will edit you to look like a big fool and that will be your role. If you don't believe me, read the show's slogan again.

And second, I can't believe they got four religious leaders to agree to do this. I mean, folks have fights over religion, saying theirs is the only one that exists for real. Would it just turn into a "my god's bigger than your god" contest?

I still can't stop laughing at the idea that theologians interview these people to make sure they're as atheist as possible. Something about that sentence keeps making me snicker.

Life Lessons From Days Of Yor

10 Funniest 1950's Propaganda Films

SomehowDuck and Coveronly managed number 10. I haven't watched all of these things yet, but that seems absurd.

Nasty Dan

I haven't watched Sesame Street in years and from the sounds of it itpretty well sucks now and should not be watched by anybody,but thanks to the internet, we'll always have the good old days. and boy oh boy, didthisever look like a good old day. Oscar the Grouch and Johnny Cash singing a fun song, I don't see how it gets any better than that. My day has been made much, much happier for having seen this.

Lemon Salad: Coming Soon To Your Prison Cafeteria

It's been a surprisingly long time since we've had any culinary kerfuffles on which to report, but today I give you 2 for the price of 1.

First up is a case of bitterness from Boca Raton. Mandi Valentine, 40, was arrested and charged with simple assault after she threw several lemons at her husband during an argument. Not sure what started the trouble, since thestoryis short on juicy details.

And now we have a story that more than likely won't feature jokes as bad as the one above. What can I say, it's easy to write unoriginal lemon humour.

18-Year-old Tiffany Wallace of Boise, Idahosounds, to use the proper term, like a friggin nut.

According to police, the young man driving the Kia called dispatch to report he was being followed by a woman in a red GMC Sonoma pickup. He said the woman had cut him off, yelled obscenities at him, and was throwing coins and ranch dressing at his car. He tried to get away, but she continued to follow him.

The dispatcher told the man to drive to the parking lot of St. Alphonsus, which was nearby, to meet an officer. When he pulled into the parking lot, the driver of the pickup rammed the Kia at least three to four times, according to witnesses.

Police say the Kia was heavily damaged with numerous dents that appeared to be caused by coins thrown at the car, the rear bumper of the car was falling off, and the taillights were falling out. The Kia's sides and trunk also had spots of ranch dressing that had apparently been thrown by the driver of the pickup.

Luckily, nobody in the Kia was tossed from the vehicle. Sorry, couldn't help myself.

Wallace was booked into the Ada County Jail on a charge of aggravated battery. You can all thank me for not making that other tossed salad joke now.

Sports And Things

I'll warn you all right off the bat that this post might be more disjointed and uninsightful (I think that's a word) than usual. I've been on the disabled list since Friday with something that's taken most of my appetite and even more of my energy and I'm pretty much only writing because I want to see if I can do it for more than a couple minutes without having to fall down go boom.

Speaking of the disabled list, the poor Blue Jays. I can't help wondering if they would be more in the race than they are right now if they didn't have a pretty decent starting rotation all out of action. All things considered they've hung in remarkably well, but going through the injury issues that they've been dealing with all year long would take it out of any team. It's been kind of cool to see some of the prospects for the future get a chance in the big leagues and I think Brett Cecil and Robert Ray are going to be really good some day, but man alive, it sucks that it's come to having to use guys like that on a regular basis.

Cool to see that Aaron Hill and Roy Halladay both made the AL All-Star team. Hill getting on is particularly cool. He's had an amazing year in every way and doesn't look like he's lost a step after the concussion that kept him out for most of last year. Hopefully Adam Lind can grab enough votes to get himself on the team as well. He's been one of the most consistent hitters for the Jays all season and I'd love to see him make an appearance.

A quick note to whoever is responsible for these things: Thank you for trying to make a less irritating Super8 commercial for the Jays radio broadcasts. Unfortunately, you have failed. That giant screaming sign gimmick has to go. Every time I hear those adds or see them on TV, my resolve never to stay at one of your establishments grows ever stronger. Credit where it's due though, at least it doesn't sound like the damn thing is calling itself a soupright sign or trumpeting free breakfastand internetsanymore.

While I've been downed, I've been watching a whole lot of wrestling. I do that when I'm upped, but I haven't watched this much all at once in quite a while. Among other things I've been catching up on, I've watched the last couple weeks of Impact. as has been pretty well documented here, I mostly hate that show, but the last 2 episodes have been pretty good especially by regular TNA standards. I'm not going to bother spending a bunch of time speculating on where storylines are headed because I don't have the energy and because doing so is pointless since the booking is all over the map and what's looking good today could be dropped tomorrow in favour of something completely different and probably stupid, but for the first time in about 9 months, I'm actually interested in the direction things are going. If they run with it, they have 3 tag-team feuds, a decent world title picture and what could be a fun few matches with Kurt Angle when Matt Morgan discovers he's not getting into the Main Event Mafia.

One thing did annoy me though. How in hell does a street fight end up being called a no contest? Unless I've somehow missed something, the whole point of a street fight is to prevent a no contest should a bunch of people run in. It's especially stupid because in TNA there aren't consistent and easy to follow rules in regular matches to begin with. So many normal matches feature run-ins where there should be a disqualification but there isn't that it's absurd to try to make us believe that things are so out of hand that here in the no rules match is the perfect time for the official to throw his hands up and say enough is enough. I'm pretty sure I understand what the idea was, but what a dumb way to try getting it across.

I did better than I thought I would, but man, all that typing took a lot out of me. In the words of Kimbo Slice, I'm done, Gus.

Does She Get Butterflies In Her Shoulder?

I always joke with a friend that she must be an alien because when she has a problem with something, the pain is never where it should be, and her appendix and gall bladder were not where they were supposed to be. I always ask her how she's hiding her green skin. Here's a really big case of green skin. Her stomach, gall bladder, liver and intestines had developed in her shoulder because of a weird thing that happened when she was a baby. Her diaphragm didn't develop right, and so everything got all twisted up. It could have been fatal, but she was saved.

I just can't imagine her colon making it from shoulder to butt. I guess there are feet and feet of intestine in there, so they could stretch out and make the journey. That's a lot of gut.

So if you ever notice someone's shoulder rumbling, think of Becky Willis.

I'm Getting Mixed Messages From the Pop

Hey there mom and pop of Pop, which is not the kid's real name. You're stupid. I know you have beautiful dreamy plans and only the best hopes for your little tyke, but you're stupid to think they'll work and not cause your kid harm.

These people want to raise their kid with no gender. Only people who change Pop's diaper know what s/he is. The kid's wardrobe has as many girly things as boyish things. They want to do this to make the kid as unrestricted as possible.

I've got news for you guys. Gender is not strictly environmental. It has genetic influences. Try as you might, Pop will be whatever Pop is supposed to be genetically. Oh, you don't believe me? why don't you ask David Rimer, a boy who his parents tried to force to be a girl instead of a boy after a circumcision accident. He still acted like a boy and changed himself back into one when he was old enough to do that. Oh that's right, you can't ask him. He killed himself because all of this trauma was too much for him.

If that's not enough, the environment will find its way in. There are no gender neutral change-rooms and washrooms at school. Kids will play and see things, and if the kid's smart, s/he'll figure it out.

Here's a message for Kristina Henkel, the consultant who thinks this is a good idea. Do you really think using a child as a prop for adult discussion is a good idea? Do you honestly think so? Would you think slapping a shirt with the n word on it on your child and sending her off to a school full of blacks is a good idea too? Using an innocent child as some kind of talking point is only going to hurt the kid.

I know gender can be limiting. I know that a lot of that is environmental. But trying to make a kid genderless, I think, will do even more harm to that poor kid, and when the kid's gender becomes blindingly obvious and those environmental expectations come crashing in, the kid's going to be so screwed up that s/he won't know how to handle it. If they're really concerned about gender stereotypes, the best they can do is provide good role models. Let him meet men and women who do all kinds of different types of work, some stereotypical to their gender, some not so much. Then the kid can make decisions and open his/her mind without having so much internal turmoil that would prevent the mind from being open at all. How could anyone expect the kid to have an open mind? S/he's too busy trying to sort out exactly what s/he's supposed to be.

iPhone Info

Holy crap! Remember when I mentioned that the iPhone was going to come up talking? Well, now the internet is exploding with blinky iPhone related resources. Check this out.

Want some chapters of the manual in other formats? There's a blog for that. Want to read a review of the phone? He has a page for that. Want a list of third party apps that work with the version of voiceover that's on the iPhone? There's a page for that. And if you want to join a mailing list to get support for your new fangled iPhone, there's not one. but two mailing lists for that.

That's a lot of cool iPhone help for those who are interested.

I Shouldn't Have Seen Shadows Of Doubt

A few weeks ago, I said I was going to see a play that my friend Anton was in. I said I was worried about it being lame. I couldn't have been more wrong. In fact, I think people should see it far and wide. It's awesome, and not just because Anton was hilarious in it. He says he's getting a DVD copy of one of the showings. I said I wanted one too.

The play did a pretty good job of making fun of the stupid things people say/think about blind folks and made the assumptions look pretty ridiculous. It also showed the characters using some pieces of technology with which we as blind people are all familiar, like talking clocks, JAWS and money-identifiers that the majority of the general public aren't aware of, but they were used in an incidental manner, as they should be. The point was made, without driving it home, that losing your vision would be overwhelming, but you have to learn and go on so you can survive. It had a generally good story, with a pretty good twist. I thought it was funny that the sighted audience members laughed at different things than the blind folks did. It was kind of neat. apparently I laughed so hard that when the director met me after, he knew me by my laugh. Oh dear.

I guess Anton had a pretty big cheering squad. I think there were at least 10 people in the audience who were there to see him, which is a pretty good chunk of a Fringe Festival audience. There were also 4 guide dogs in the audience. Yee ha!

We had a lot of fun after the show with the cast, both at a coffee shop and then at a bar. MMM...Crabby Joe's has good food. It also has a giant burger. I think it's called the Mother Load burger, and you basically decide how big it should be by going down a list of 20 toppings and saying which ones you want. Good lord there were several types of onions amid other veggies, even onion rings, four cheeses, and four sauces in there. Anton got it, and we just took to calling it the "yes Please" burger because every topping he was offered, he said "Yes please." And he ate it! He ate it so fast that one of our friends gaped when he realized the giant was gone. I guess playing Leon makes a man hungry. But his sister managed to take a picture of the great beast before it was no more. I hope it comes out clear.

We all had a pretty good time at the bar, and I think we gave the cast a few things to tease Anton about. Hopefully they don't bug him too much.

One thing happened to me that made me chuckle. I was standing in the coffee shop and a girl said "hello." Of course I knew she was talking to the dog, but I like to respond to these people so I can hopefully stop them from moving to the next phase which is *petpetpet* "Hello puppy wuppy doodles..." She immediatley said, "Oh I was talking to the dog...but hello." What, she was expecting Trixie to talk back? Then she asked me if I went to a play at the Fringe Festival. I said yes, and she asked me which one. I said "I Only See Shadows" which was the name of the play...but the girl thought I was talking about my blindness! I don't think she ever caught on that was the title of the play. Damn it I hate moments like that.

that was a late night...and an early morning. We didn't get back to Anton's place until about 2, didn't get to sleep until 3, and got up at 6 so we could get ready and be heading for the train station by about 7. A big thanks, as Steve already sort of mentioned, goes out to Anton for putting us up in his sweet little pad, and his whole family. His sister picked us all up from bus and train stations, took us back to Anton's place, then took us out to Anton's folks' place, bought us dinner and told us not to pay, then Anton's mom paid for our tickets, something I was completely not expecting. Steve certainly wasn't expecting the elbow to the chest! Then Anton's sister took one of us back to the bus station because he had to be back home that night, and took the rest of us to the train the next morning. She really, really didn't have to do all of that, but we thank her. At least she did get to have some fun at the bar. I feel bad that I didn't get to say a proper thank you as I zoomed onto the train and got myself situated. I'm always terrible at saying goodbye as I board a bus or train because I'm so focused on getting where I'm going. I'm really not trying to be rude.

So that was pretty neat. I hope Anton will be in another play, and I hope he invites us again...although maybe he won't, after we gave his buddies so much dirt on him. Maybe we'll just never hear about another play. That would be a shame.

Googlegroups Goo

Something happened to me the other day that made me wonder how many other people have had the same experience, and how many could use a little advice if it does happen to them.

I have a google account, and it's signed up to a few google groups. I was automatically subscribed to a group without having a chance to confirm that I wanted to be on the list. the group name didn't look familiar, so I was suspicious. I didn't say anything, even though I was tempted to ask why I was subscribed to the list. I soon found out why I was subscribed. Spam started to flow.

But that wasn't all that started to flow. Messages from other people screaming to be unsubscribed, unsuscribed, unsuscrubed, unscribed, and taken off this damn list, as well as auto-replies and someone's email program screaming demands that it stop being bounced by firewalls or something began to arrive in droves. I quickly went to my google account, reported the group as being a spammer and unsubscribed myself.

Then I was looking through my settings under manage memberships and found one that should be checked by default. It said do not allow group managers to add you directly. Whaaat? Why is that ever a good idea? It's not that hard for a user to click a confirm link or reply to an email. If the person doesn't get the confirm, they should check their spam folder. Giving managers the ability to add folks directly opens the door to spamming.

so, everybody with a google groups account, disable the ability to be directly added to groups by manager. And if you find yourself in a group you didn't agree to join, for pete's sake don't write a message to it. That only confirms to the spammer that you're alive so they'll ramp up the spamming. report the group and unsubscribe through that same manage memberships area.

On the other side of the coin, if you're getting a newsletter that is set up as a Google Ggroup and you no longer want it, that is not an excuse to use the report as spam button. We know what hell that can unleash. Simply unsubscribe through your manage memberships area.

Either way, it's never a good idea to send "please take me off this list messages" to any list. Messages you send to a list go to everyone on the list, and most of those folks have no power to help you. There are always unsubscribe instructions that you receive when you join a list. If you lost them, email the list owner for help. But never write to the list.

I joined a list years ago whose service explained this whole thing beautifully. I managed to find the exact message I received when I subscribed.

To send a message to all the people currently subscribed to the list, just send mail to (insert list address here). This is called "sending mail to the list," because you send mail to a single address and LISTSERV makes copies for all the people who have subscribed. This address (insert list address here) is also called the "list address." You must never try to send any command to that address, as it would be distributed to all the people who have subscribed. All commands must be sent to the "LISTSERV address," (insert list admin address here). It is very important to understand the difference between the two, but fortunately it is not complicated. The LISTSERV address is like a FAX number that connects you to a machine, whereas the list address is like a normal voice line connecting you to a person. If you make a mistake and dial the FAX number when you wanted to talk to someone on the phone, you will quickly realize that you used the wrong number and call again. No harm will have been done. If on the other hand you accidentally make your FAX call someone's voice line, the person receiving the call will be inconvenienced, especially if your FAX then re-dials every 5 minutes. The fact that most people will eventually connect the FAX machine to the voice line to allow the FAX to go through and make the calls stop does not mean that you should continue to send FAXes to the voice number. People would just get mad at you. It works pretty much the same way with mailing lists, with the difference that you are calling hundreds or thousands of people at the same time, and consequently you can expect a lot of people to get upset if you consistently send commands to the list address.

More instructions need to be written that clearly.

So that's my computer tip for the day. I just thought it might help someone.

It's Canada Day, Up Canada Way

This is amazing. There have been 6 July 1sts since the site started, and a quick check of the archives tells me that this will be the first one that will actually have a post on it. That means that in the entire history of the Comet, not one of us inconsiderate pricks has ever bothered to wish you a happy Canada Day on time. So...happy Canada Day, and here's hoping that you're one of the 20 some odd percent of Canadians who knows how old the country is. I don't have the exact number, but that frighteningly low number is a real figure from a recent survey I heard about on the news a couple days back.

Before I go any further, we need an appropriate soundtrack to set the mood. I thinkthisshould do just fine.

I don't have anything exciting planned for the day, but I'll be celebrating in my own way by doing Canadian things. Things like drinking some Moosehead while I watch the Blue Jays hopefully not lose to the Rays again. I may even watch some football since the season starts today. For the benefit of our American readers, I'm talking about good quality CFL football, not that boring ass crap engaged in by the penal colony that you call the NFL. Hopefully I will be able to do all of these things in a rain free environment. I'm not counting on it, but a guy can dream. Dream and swim, the latter being a necessary skill thanks to the fucking weather around here.

On the subject of the Jays, I heard an interesting stat on the game the other night. Even though they're fielding what in my opinion is the best all around team in years and are 3 or 4 games over .500, average attendance for home games is only in the mid 23000 range. I was surprised by that since people seem to like going to the dome (Rogers isn't getting any free advertising out of me) when they have a good team to cheer for. Jays fans have always seemed much more casual and fairweather than Leaf fans who will fill the ACC whether they're on the verge of the playoffs or completely in the shitter, so I can't figure out what's keeping people away now. It would be easy to blame the economy, but decent seats don't cost that much so it's a cheap night out provided you don't eat or drink anything. Besides, bad economy or not, people are going to find the money or the credit to do things they want to do whether or not they can afford to do them, so I think there's something else at work. Seats were consistently full before the baseball strike in 1994 at least as I remember it, but I don't think they ever totally recovered after that. The team tanking horribly for years probably didn't help, but now that they're pretty good, where are the fans? Any thoughts? If you're a person who used to go but doesn't now or a fan who's never been to a game live and doesn't care to ever catch one, I'd love to know why.

Speaking of seeing things live, we had a great time in London watching our pal Anton inthe play.The fun and games surrounding it were also quite the good time, and I think Carin may be typing up a post on them as I type this. I won't take any of her material, but I do want to mention that the weekend did provide a first for me. Never before have I taken a couple of stiff elbows to the chest from a woman in a walker after having the nerve to try to pay for my own ticket. thank you to Anton's mom who's name eludes me for the laugh and the free show. The words "We pay! We pay!" are now forever etched in my memory, not to mention my sternum.

that's all I've got for now. I may post later, I may not. If I do, I'll probably be a little less than sober, not that you'll be able to tell. If you people knew how many drunken things I've written here you'd be amazed. If you don't believe me, just ask Carin.

Bye bye, and enjoy your Canada Day.