Definitely not the hot cuppa I like in the AM

I must say it took me a bit of time mulling this one over in my head before I could even negotiate a suitable response to these wonderful pieces of propaganda cropping up all over the last bastion of freedom in the world, the internet. To save a rather boring, lengthy history lesson, many of our freedoms we take for granted are depleting rapidly under the dogma of “fighting unknown terrors.”

And on that note, brings me to my point. And yes, I promise I will keep this short and sweet. Based on virtually every election I can remember, a certain pattern occurs. Party A makes a set of promises. Party B makes a seperate set of promises. Party C makes a third set. And so on for all the different parties running. The people elect one of these choices based on what policies and promises fit their mood at the time. Once in power, the elected party tends to reneg on some to all of the campaign promises they made. Voters become apathetic. People lose faith in the system. Politicians become more corrupt.

Nothing here should be a shock. If so, then I suggest you LEAVE AMERICA NOW! Anyhow, fast forward to Harper’s election campaign. Accountability. Hit the Liberals when they are down, the guilty finger pointed squarely at them in the wake of the Gomery report. Suggest legislation to hold the government more accountable for their actions. Of course, Harper’s accountability went flying out of the window only two weeks after being elected. See David Emerson if you have any questions. Or, if you’re from the USA and don’t know Mr. Emerson, Google him. It is obvious Mr. Harper was not sincere about political accountability, at least beyond using it to make Mr. Martin look bad in comparison. What a fucking shock.

So how can governments be held accountable. Put simply, by us, the electorate. It is not only our right to be able to excersise our right of freedom of speech, it is our responsibility to use it to keep those lying bastards politicians accountable, be they Conservative, Liberal, New Democrat, Bloc, or the like. Only by encouraging an atmosphere of free thought and free voice can we all have the courage to question our elected public SERVANTS, to keep them honest (well, at least relatively honest), and we can progress as a truly free society.

As for the poster and those like it, they simply do one thing. Inspire fear. Fear of questioning authority. Fear of the machine. Just shut the fuck up and you won’t get hurt. But consider this. What can be accomplished without any risk?

Post for Jimmy #6

A couple of meh-me’s. Enjoy. Hat tip: Clayton.

YOUR TYPE OF GIRL

The Girl Next Door 52% Sexy-Cute, 46% Dark-Light, 40% Artsy-Stylish

Cute, neither Dark nor Light, and neither Artsy nor Stylish. This sounds like a blah category, right? Oh, my, no. The Girl Next Door has been the subject of more dirty fantasies than you could possibly count. She’s so sweet, and innocent, and infinitely corruptible. Every morning you glance out your window hoping she’ll have forgotten to draw the blinds. You may feel bad about it, but you know you’ll be doing it again tomorrow. If you liked my test, Please rate it highly! Thanks!

My test tracked 3 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender: You scored higher than 52% on Sexy-Cute You scored higher than 33% on Dark-Light You scored higher than 27% on Artsy-Stylish

Link: The Your Type of Girl Test written by dgc20e on Ok Cupid, home of the 32-Type Dating Test

And number 2:

BEAUTIFUL FACES TEST

Jennifer Garner 42% Eyes, 52% Nose, 51% Mouth, 50% SexyCute

You seem to enjoy bigger noses and lips, but smaller eyes, and a sexy demeanor. Jennifer definitely skews more toward sexy than cute. Her smaller eyes rest above a more dominant nose and mouth. Jennifer is successful both on television (Alias) and in the movies (Daredevil, Elektra). Similar: Famke Janssen (smaller mouth), Jessica Biel (cuter) If you liked my test, please remember to give it a decent score, and of course I’m always happy to hear feedback. Thanks! Also, you could check out my Your Type of Girl Test.

My test tracked 4 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender: You scored higher than 12% on Eyes You scored higher than 71% on Nose You scored higher than 55% on Lips You scored higher than 39% on SexyCute

Link: The Beautiful Faces Test written by dgc20e on Ok Cupid, home of the 32-Type Dating Test

Post for Jimmy #5

WHAT KIND OF COFFEE ARE YOU?

You Are a Plain Ole Cup of Joe

But don’t think plain - instead think, uncomplicated You’re a low maintenance kind of guy… who can hang with the girls Down to earth, easy going, and fun! Yup, that’s you: the friend everyone invites. And your dependable too. Both for a laugh and a sympathetic ear.

What Kind of Coffee Are You?

Hat tip: Samantha

[edited slightly as it seems the meh-me was intended for girls, so as such, modified it for my... wait, let me check... yup, still in place... my gender]

That is all.

Don Cherry’s Nightmare

Happened early Sunday morning (well Sunday morning to the point of view of us types living on the west coast). Yes, for the second time in olympic history, Sweden won the gold medal in Men’s hockey. Maybe I’m showing my age, but I just have this feeling the whole situation is not sitting well with Grapes.

Yes, I can remember when Grapes got big. Back in the late 80’s, in my high school days (gawd has it been that long?) Coaches corner was a fixture for Hockey Night in Canada, and the first in many Rock’em Sock’em Hockey volumes (which have now morphed into Don Cherry volumes). Amongst his support for fighting, good hits, and great plays, the other thing that constantly came out of his mouth was the word “Swede”. Cherry hated the Swedes. At that point, a much higher percentage of players were born in North America, most in Canada, and some in the USA. And there was a small, but growing faction of European players joining the NHL, with Swedish players being the largest number in the group. As such, all the problems of the league were blamed on the Swedes by Grapes.

But it didn’t stop there. If you were from Finland, you were a Swede. If you were from the former Czechoslovakia, you were a Swede. When Russian players started flocking to the NHL, they too were Swedish. With their chippy play and rat-like behaviours (in Grapes’ opinion), it was undermining the great game of hockey.

Maybe Cherry has changed his ways. Or maybe he’s just cleaned up his act. At 72, it could be a safe bet that the dog can’t learn new tricks, and has just been muzzled by the CBC in this age of political correctness.

Though it’s a bitter pill that the Canadian Men did not finish with a medal, let alone the gold we were all expecting, it must be an especially bitter pill for Grapes to swallow that Sweden won gold as well. But maybe that’s what happens when you sell out all of Canada to support the dollars and Toronto, aka New York Junior.

That is all.

I’m Evil

What a shock…

You Are 62% Evil

You are very evil. And you’re too evil to care. Those who love you probably also fear you. A lot.

How Evil Are You?

Boredom post # one for this night

So a meh-me

You Are Austin

A little bit country, a little bit rock and roll. You’re totally weird and very proud of it. Artistic and freaky, you still seem to fit in… in your own strange way. Famous Austin residents: Lance Armstrong, Sandra Bullock, Andy Roddick

What American City Are You?

Hockey Players I Admire Episode I

As you may (or may not, depending on your state of consciousness or sobriety) have guessed, I haven’t posted consistently this week (well for the about ten of you that come here somewhat frequently). Being in a funk, for lack of a better way of putting it, I’m literally aching for some film work to return to the lower mainland. Luckily though, working my two days off on a construction site, the General Contracter and I got off on the right foot, seeing as we have the glorious game of hockey and a mutual dislike of the Make Beliefs. Anyhow, our conversation reminded me of something my late Uncle and I always got kicks out of…

Talking about our favourite hockey enforcers, great fights we saw in the NHL, which was topped by fits of laughter, followed by the phrase “God I love hockey!!” As a note for those across the pond, just the tough guys fight. We fans don’t riot, we just drink beer in the stands.

Anyhow, one of the names from the past that just keeps coming up is this one.

DAVE “THE HAMMER” SCHULTZ

b. October 14, 1949 in Waldheim, Saskatchewan.

NHL Career Totals:
Games: 535
Goals: 79
Assists: 121
Penalties in Minutes: 2294

God I love hockey! And Uncle Dave, I will always remember our hockey discussions/arguments. And we all still miss you.

Canadian Hockey wins Olympic Gold!!!

Many Canadians will look at that title and say “What the fuck? We didn’t even win a medal?” Yes, today, the Canadian Men’s Olympic hockey team lost to Russia 2-0 in the quaterfinals. Not even a bronze medal for the boys of hockey from Canada. But yet, Canadian Hockey still won gold. Yes, the Canadian Women’s Olympic hockey team. Yet here in Canada we immediately relate hockey success with the men’s team only. In a country with such socially liberal values, it seems we are still quite sexist.

Let’s set the way back machine for, oh, let’s say four years ago. Both Women’s and Men’s hockey teams won Olympic gold. Living in Canada’s armpit, being Windsor, Ontario at the time, I remember two distinct responses. After the women’s gold medal win, most people I talked to had the response of “Cool. The women won gold. First time. Wow.” A few days later, when the men won gold, however, the response was a bit different. As the game was on, the normally bustling streets of that little border city were nearly dead with the vacancy of people and cars, all the residents tucked inside somewhere watching the game. The moment the game was over, horns honked, people started to flood the streets. This culminated into a near 12 hour street party, making it’s way to the redundantly named Detroit River. Yes, a definite difference in the overall response.

But isn’t hockey Canada’s game? I know, officially Lacrosse is our national game, though realistically, most Canucks will bond with hockey more strongly, and in greater numbers than Lacrosse. But bearing this in mind, the response to the genders is far different, the men getting more accolades for success, and in the case of the 2006 Torino games, more criticism for failure. But it doesn’t stop there. I’ve never seen a street party for the World Juniors either. So what is it really about?

It seems this equation is embedded within us. NHL = Hockey. Period. Even after the greed of the players and owners caused us to miss an entire season, we are collectively enslaved by the league. It is really apparent in my former “home”, though it never really felt like home. Too many “hockey” fans are just Leaf fans, and complained there was no hockey during the lockout. Not that Toronto has an AHL farm team, three OHL clubs within a very reasonable commute, amongst many other junior leagues.

Lets face it though. Canada did win gold in Torino for hockey. Being a true hockey fan, I shall celebrate the win for Canadian hockey, not just for Women’s hockey. It is our sport, which our athletes are world class.

That is all.

How to tell you played too many RPG’s in your day

Well, one way is to do a quiz like this.

Take the quiz at dicepool.com

No use trying to fight it, you’re an eight-sided die, a d8. A fine example of simple elegance, the d8 is one of the least appreciated types of dice, and is often neglected. You are known to be quiet and shy, outward traits that conceal viscous sarcasm and mean wit. You are very smart, yet wise enough to hide your intelligence the quicker they found out how smart you are, the sooner they’ll put you to work, which is something you can do without. People call you dark and pessimistic, or moody and cynical. You find little point in arguing.

Hat tip: Wendy.

M.C.F.A.T. Episode VIII - Suck my Sith

Yes MCF, boredom is a terrible curse. So here we go.

1) From any television show past or present, which character would you wish to have as a sidekick in real life? Valid answers include but are not limited to talking vehicles, intelligent animals, ghosts, sassy maids and more.

Why, why, why, WHY does this have to be limited to the world of Television, the domain for commercial value, thusly suffocating any and all hopes for artistic merit in this strain of media?

Well that goes for American programming. So, once again, my answer will come from the realm of Canadian Television. And my pick???

Yes, none other than Marg Delahunty, in her recurring role as Marg, Warrior Princess. Yes, the one lady who would march up to Parliament a la Xena (though not in the same physical condition as Lucy Lawless) and question the Prime Minister and other MP’s about their various gaffs and blunders. Marg, come back to This Hour Has 22 Minutes already!!

2) Guns ‘N Roses might be releasing a new album this year. If you could hear a new CD from a band that’s no longer together, possibly with deceased members, what band would that be?

Very simply, the greatest band ever to grace the face of this planet.

PINK FLOYD

Roger Waters reunited with the band for Live 8 last July, now it just makes sense that they release something new.

3) What’s the worst thing a person could ask you on a job interview, and how would you respond?

Well, seeing as my career field of choice is not so much about having job interview, but much more about networking, and for the union, dispatch via seniority. As such, anytime I have a job interview, it really is for the day job at the times film work tends to slow down.

So for the worst thing I could be asked, “Why are you leaving the film business?” tops the list. Normally being an honest person, it breaks me to have to lie and say something to the effect that I have an issue with heights, and really am rethinking lighting. Heights do marginally bother me, though I have learned to deal with it. I am not, however, rethinking existencence in film. I wouldn’t get hired at McDonalds (and I tried last winter in desperation) being honest saying that my prime motive is employment in film and television. Hence I must be devious in that regard with my employers, else I would not survive the winters, which is the slow season for the film industry here in Canada.

4) What do you consider your greatest weakness, and greatest strength?

My greatest weakness and strength is the same thing. My intellect. I do love my Zen answers about things. It is a weakness because I overthink virtually everything I do, which affects my confidence and response time. It is my greatest strength because in any situation I face, I know I can think my way through things.

5) Who is your favorite game show host and why? If you don’t watch game shows, you can skip this question or choose some random individual you’d enjoy as a host.

Well, I have to go Canadian again here (big shock by this point in the equation) and pick none other than Monty Hall. Nothing beats a man who can convince someone to trade hundreds and thousands of dollars in cash, vacations, or appliances for a tricycle.

That is all.