Radio Free Edmonton

In my quest to be the King of all media, a buddy and I have started up our own underground radio program.

Check it out and download our podcasts at Radio Free Edmonton.

Get thee to Hell, St. Valentine

The wife is away this week.

This means no need to celebrate Valentine’s Day. Not that I hate Valentine’s Day. I view it as any other man on this planet, with a sense of fear and slight loathing. When I was single, I dreaded Valentines Day. It was like a trap, set by society to destroy whatever relationship you happened to be in.

Here we have this day where men are forced to buy a present for whomever they are dating. Do I get her a present? If you don’t and she thinks you should have, it’s over. If you get her something, then what? Too cheap, its over. Too expensive, you are too serious, and it’s over. Get it just right and you win big. Unfortunately, men are not wired to be good at making those types of judgements, so the chance of winning big is stacked against us.

Valentines Day was part of the reason I got married. No more guesses, get her a token and you are good to go. If she is mad about you spending only $10 on flowers, some excuse about saving the money for a trip, or being broken after buying the big TV would usually suffice.

I am luckier than most, and this is why I recommend dating or even marrying the left wing types: They don’t believe in Valentines Day!

The wife considers it a conspiracy of the greeting card companies (I tend to agree). Lefties think everything is a conspiracy, so even if she doesn’t, drop a nice hint, such as “So, should we get something for each other for Valentines Day? I was going to, but the whole thing is a bit of a scam by the greeting card companies, don’t you think?”

When I decided to ask her to marry me, two things went through my head. I knew it would be difficult, as I have trouble dealing with the lefty conspiracy types, such as everyone’s favourite Robert McClelland. The lack of logic in their arguments makes my head hurt. I know I would have to put out with that sort of stuff for the rest of my life. On the other hand, lefty girls hate all the open my door and Valentines Day crap, and will do anything in the sack.

Don’t you believe it. The Wife says Valentines Day is a conspiracy, but watch her eyes light up when you get her something. Or watch the chance of you getting something fade if you don’t.

This Valentines Day she isn’t here, so problem solved.

Oh, and that stuff about doing anything in the sack. That’s crap.

Just like Valentines Day.

Shameful Joy

The Wife has been away on a business trip for a few days. Unfortunately, this means Orion has no one else to bother other than me. For some reason, every morning at 4 am, he wakes up and wants to play. Of course, no child or kitten can play without someone watching them. So we normally receive a 4 am wake up, not by alarm clock, but by a cat licking and nibbling on the face.

Actually, that is not completely honest. The Wife wakes up to a cat licking and nibbling. I wake up to a wife cursing and swearing. For some reason, he always does this to her, not me. Even though I do not like to be awakened at 4 am to cursing and swearing, I am experiencing a bit of Schadenfreude.

Before we got this cat, the other cats use to sleep on our bed. They always seemed to sleep on either side of my legs, and at 13 and 10 pounds it felt I was pinned to the bed. I would always be having weird dreams about aliens tying me down and probing me.

For a time, I tried to keep the cats out of the bedroom to stop the weird dreams and maybe improve the sex life. Since it is hard to make love with a cat constantly scratching and meowing at the bedroom door (and the wife is not interested in pleasuring the person who is putting her "children" in distress) I eventually gave up. Instead of alien probes, I tried those dream control techniques and imagine I was tied to the bed by some bikini team. That dream control stuff is bunk.

So I was experiencing a bit of pleasure taken from someone else's misfortune at the expense of the wife.

However, now that she is away, that cat has only one person to lick and nibble.

Seven more days and I can go back to my shameful joy.

Orion the Hunter is a Monster

The latest addition to the family, Orion, has been an annoying pain lately. The cat is starting to get smart. We don't let him outside, as it is cold, he still does not know his way around the property, and is so friendly that he would probably go up to a coyote and get eaten. I used to be able to distract him with a cat toy and throw it down the hall and exit the house before he realized I was leaving. Not anymore.

As well as meowing pitifully at the door when we are about to leave, I have to pick him up and throw him down the hall, closing the door as fast as possible so he cannot escape without slamming him in the doorway.

After a few years of two cats who saw humans as feed bowls, it takes a bit to get used to a cat that is more like a dog. He even fetches his toy mouse and brings it to be thrown, over and over.

The wife is getting pissed at Orion. He gets up each moring at about 4 am to lick and bite her face. When that fails to get her up, he sleeps on her neck, in what appears to be an attempt to smother her. He never does this to me. I think he may be jelous of her, due to the fact that if she gets up to shower, he then settles down on her side of the bed to nap with me.

She has started to refer to him as "your cat" and complain loudly when "your cat" does something bad, like try to climb her like a tree just after exiting the shower.

That was supposed to be my job.

I have a shiny new toy

Bought the TV.

Man, is it nice. 32 inch Sony LCD XBR. I watched the Superbowl in High Def. Everything looks better. Non high def looks about twice as good, but the difference is most noticable when watching an HD channel.

The wife did not give me a hard time about it. She probably watches more TV than I. All the cracks about me wasting money are just that, cracks to try and get my goat. She knows it works, because I get the most worked up when people accuse me of something that is obviously not true.

In other news, the wife lost her wedding ring this weekend.

Isn't there a rule that if you lose your ring within the first year the wedding is null and void?

Post election at the Ranch

The wife and I voted first thing in the morning on election day, on the way to work. She had received her voter registration card, I had not. As we moved only 6 months ago, all of our info was incorrect, and she called them to change it. She says she told them ot change my information as well as hers. For some reason mine did not get sorted out, but hers did, even though she says she changed them as the same time. A bit suspicious, eh?

Not to worry, I was able to vote and thereby cancel her vote. Which is the same reason she said she was voting.

I need not have bothered. In our riding, Vergreville-Wainwright, the CPC candidate won by a landslide. (For election results try here.)

CPC Candidate, Leon Benoit, won with 74.2% of the vote (37,854 votes). The next closest candidate was the NDP at 9.2% (4,727 votes)

It is interesting to look at the third and fourth place:

Liberal 7.6% (3,873)
Green 7.5% (3,822)

Is this a reflection of how far the Liberals have fallen in Alberta when they can just barely beat the Greens?

The Liberal president of this riding must be going some real soul searching.

No Mom, we are not getting a divorce

This recent post got a comment which led me to believe I may be driving off my readers (all 2 of them). Hopefully this post will reassure you a bit.

From the comments:

Reading this blog has begun to depress me. In particular, that separate account thing doesn't sound good to me. Sort of like a "just in case we break up, at least I'll know what's mine" provision.

Part of the problem is that we are moving and trying to adjust our lives. Remember we have spent over half our married life away from each other and we just moved into a new house. Of the six major life stresses, we had two last year (marriage and moving), so I expect some time will be needed to adjust.

Still, I think we should just have one account and be done with it. I am not sure why she wants to have separate accounts. I only have a part time job and we could not afford to pay the bills on my money alone, so she pays most household expenses.

If she is planning to "get out", it would be in her best interest to merge everything.

I think the separate account thing is more about some sort of left wing, "I am my own individual" thing. However, she did take my last name so that doesn't really make any sense.

There were two things I wanted to do in writing this blog. The first was to get some experience writing, to see if it was a career I wanted to pursue. The second was to highlight the problems of two people who love each other but hold different political views. I hoped this might provide some humour to my readers and show that every marriage/relationship has ups and downs, conflict and difference of opinion. And to show that those things can be worked through.

At least I think they can. I am not sure, since I have not had a relationship last over 3 months in the last 15 years.

This is a bit of unfamiliar territory to me.

Hopefully I will be able to give you a final accounting in 40 years.

Canary in the Coal Mine (4)

The purpose of these posts is to regularily interview someone I caonsider a fairly typical Ontario Liberal voter who can be swayed by the campaigns. The idea is to follow the attitudes and perceptions of this person as a barometer to how the campaigns are going and what the composition of the government might be after 23 Jan.

The Canary is my Father. See the below posts for past info.

Canary in the Coal Mine

Canary in the Coal Mine (1)

Canary in the Coal Mine (2)

Canary in the Coal Mine (3)

Election day voting.

Dad decided to “give Harper a chance” and voted Conservative. I think this may be what many people from Ontario are thinking.

If there is going to be a long term political shift to the right in Canada, similar to what we have seen in the US, it will depend a lot on what the Conservatives are able to do as the government.

Post deployment readjustments

Things have not been going super smoothly since I got home.

To be honest, I expected a bit more things done around the house. I was gone for almost 5 months, and we still do not have curtains or a set of drawers for the bedroom. There were a few things I asked her to do when I was gone and they were not done.

Before all the femanists out there get all uppity, these were things that most women like to do. It's not like I asked her to chop a winters’ worth of firewood. These things were all, what a friend of mine likes to call, "pink" things. Buying curtains, getting some stools for the kitchen, buying a chest of drawers for the bedroom, buying a pot rack. I said buy one thing each month or about 5 major items. I said try to keep it down to about $500 per, but use your judgement. I expected I would see some overpriced stuff, but better to have something a pay a bit more than have nothing. Or she could buy nothing.

Now I fully accept that I would have to do something when I got home and I was ready for a pile of what I call the "blue" things waiting for we when I got back. These include such things as putting up the curtains, moving the dresser, chopping wood, etc. But there are no "blue" things to do. In fact, it seems the only major thing the wife did was chop firewood (she did a lot of firewood), which is a blue thing. She did buy a few other things, the biggest being a small liquor cabinet (low priority) and some Leggo at a garage sale, for the kids. Since we don't have any kids, and if we did have one tomorrow it would be at least 5 years before he/she could play with it, this is an even lower priority.

Suffice it to say, things are not were I thought they would be.

Now, in her defence, she says that she was very busy at work and did a lot of overtime. If this is true that means we should have a ton of money to spend. I want to buy a new, fancy TV, one of those LCD 32 inch types. The one we are watching now is at least 8 years old and is 26 inches. If you know me, you know that I am cheap. I do not want to spend a cent if I do not have to, especially on big ticket items. I don't mind spending money on something it if we need it, otherwise I sock money away. Now, we do not need a TV. The present one is old and doesn't fit in the space, but we could survive without it, so this is a tough purchase for me. I am wracked with guilt, as demonstrated by having been into a number of stores a number of times looking at the thing and always putting buying it off for some reason. So you would thing the wife would be a bit more supportive as I struggle with this purchase. Not so. She keeps making comments about how we do not need a new TV. I know we do not need a new TV. When you get right down to it, we don't need a TV at all. Sure, we could continue to leave the TV in the center of the room, on the coffee table, so close to the fireplace that the plastic melts. That's not the point. The point is how can a woman who did very few of the "pink" things criticize when I want to buy something to get the place in better shape? Especially since we are rolling in so much money after all this overtime.

That's another thing. The wife still insists on the "my money, your money". I say we put it all in one account, she wants separate accounts. To be honest, I really don't care, since we divide up all the bills anyway. But how can I be sure there was overtime. Maybe she found out I asked the neighbour to watch the house while I was gone and shoot any strange men that were around. Maybe this "overtime" was really a cover for an office affair.

This weekend is my birthday. If she gives me trouble about buying the TV this weekend, I will know she had an affair.

Can this Election get any more Buzzare?

Just after posting the below and discussing Buzz Hargrove with my dad, I go back on the net to read the following, courtesy of Andrew Coyne:

Buzz Hargrove and why Quebecers should vote for the Bloc

Buzz on Alberta

When I spoke to Dad and told him that Buzz says Quebers should vote for the Bloc, he mentioned he did not see that.

I wonder if it will be in the Liberal endorsing Toronto Star tomorrow.

Update: Yes it can!

Liberal Campaign Caught Falsely Accusing Conservative Candidate of Sexual Abuse

Via Nealenews

Canary in the Coal Mine (3)

The purpose of these posts is to regularily interview someone I caonsider a fairly typical Ontario Liberal voter who can be swayed by the campaigns. The idea is to follow the attitudes and perceptions of this person as a barometer to how the campaigns are going and what the composition of the government might be after 23 Jan.

The Canary is my Father.

See the below posts for past info.

Canary in the Coal Mine

Canary in the Coal Mine (1)

Canary in the Coal Mine (2)

Jan 8 to Jan 18. Turnaround in the works for the Libs?

I had a bit or trouble contacting the Canary this week. My parents have been out a lot, babysitting for my sister. I was only able to speak to my Dad today, so this includes everything up to this point.

I hate to go against the conventional wisdom, but I think the Liberal attacks and the "scary" Harper stuff is getting some traction, at least in my father's case.

Although Dad says that there were no significant election stories this week and he states that he is still leaning towards the Conservatives, he sounded less sure about voting Tory this week than last. He read the Toronto Star endorsement of Martin, and said they made some good points. The fact that the TStar admitted Martin made some mistakes seemed to mitigate the whole Liberal corruption, adscam, etc, in his eyes. I specifically asked him about the corruption, and he said, "Scandals are hard to stop". I guess this is the old "everyone is corrupt" argument.

Still, he thinks that Harper has "conducted himself well" but his is concerned that Harper may not be a Red Tory. He wishes Harper was less conservative. Since I was wearing my journalist hat, I had to stop myself from biting through my tongue to keep myself from attacking that statement.

Dad seems to still have some deep seated feeling in his gut that Harper is still "scary". He couched this by saying he was scared about some policies, specifically that Harper would give more power to the provinces. I don't believe there is anything in the Troy platform about more power to the provinces, perhaps just about the feds no longer stepping on provincial toes. It shows that there is still some of the scary Harper meme left over from the last election.

We discussed the polls indicating a possible Conservative majority government. Dad does not want to see that happen and still thinks it will be a Tory minority. He thinks that, once in the booth, many Liberals who were thinking of voting conservative (such as him) will "chicken out" and vote Liberal on Monday. He was quite ready to admit he was in that position.

We shall see what happens on Monday. I hope to talk to him after he votes and find out which way he voted.

Dad has not seemed to consider voting NDP. Strange considering Oshawa is a strong GM town.

Liberal Anti-Military Attack Ad

With this attack ad dominating the news this week and being a member of the Canadian Forces, I thought I would comment.

Firstly, this is rightly perceived as an attack on the military. How is a CPC policy of adding a few hundred soldiers to various major centers a threat? The ad seems to imply "Soldiers. With guns" are somehow a threat to civilians. Perhaps they are in various lawless dictatorships where our soldiers are often sent, but I cannot see how anyone would believe this would be a serious threat in Canada. This ad revels to me that the Liberals seem to think that soldiers (meaning me) are a threat to democracy.

Yesterday, I was at my military office doing a bit of work. This young journalist from the Edmonton Journal came in looking for some comments on the ad. He had already been to the Base, trying to get comments from passing soldiers at the Robin's Donuts. I laughed. I asked him how he did. He completely struck out. I explained to him that soldiers are told that they can speak to the media (as soldiers) about things that they have direct knowledge about. If you are a journalist and want to do an article on how a machine gun works, they will be happy to get someone who knows everything about it. However, the reverse of that is soldier are told not to speak about something they do not have direct knowledge of. If a journalist asks me to comment, as a soldier, on the CPC policy of stationing a few hundred soldiers in major centers to help with disaster relief, etc, my reply would be "I don't know". And I don't. I, (Marcel, private citizen) have thoughts on the policy, but as a soldier, I have nothing to do with disaster relief policy. The basing of soldiers, the costs involved and relative merits, are not my area of expertise.

That said, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out what a soldier would say about the Liberal attack ad. My perception of that ad is one that almost everyone would agree with, Liberal candidate protestations to the contrary. Soldiers are fairly well educated and you would be hard pressed to find a serving member who did not have at least a high school education. Most military members would come to the same conclusion as I.

Now, here is a bit of a tip about Canadian soldiers. They really believe the "good guy" stuff that we have been feeding them these past 20 years. Very few see themselves as instruments of coercion for the state. They see themselves as peacekeepers. So, now Martin and his bunch are saying that soldiers are a threat to democracy.

How would that make you feel?

Exactly.

Of course, no soldier would give this journalist what he wants. Why would they? It should be blindingly obvious what a soldier would think about the ads, so why risk punishment by breaking the rules? And punishment is likely. We see ourselves as defenders of Canada and that means it is important to be above politics. We defend the country, not any political party. Showing favouritism to any particular party calls that into question. Even me, who despises the Liberal party and what it has done to Canada and the military, would have no problem reprimanding someone who broke this rule.

That said, I noticed a few letters to the editor in the paper where serving military members spoke out against these ads and included their rank. This is a bit of a risk. That even a few are willing to state their opinion and take that risk should say something to every Canadian on what we think of this issue.

The Liberals have been destroying the military since 1993, when they cancelled the EH 101 contract. Everyone knows this, military members experience the effects of Liberal policies on a daily basis.

I think you would be hard pressed to find any serving military member who would vote for the Liberals in this election.

Values Values Values

Post Debate thoughts

Blah Blah Blah

If I hear the world "values" once more, I swear I am going to scream. The arrogance of certain party leaders is unbelivable. They talk as if there are certain "Canadian Values" that every single one of the 32 million people in Canada ascribe to, and we all agree. If that were so, there would be no need for democracy or voting, and indeed, this blog would not exist.

I am not going to talk about who won or lost, because that doesn't matter. Most people did not watch the debate, so what really matters is the spin being put on it right now and the headlines in the papers tomorrow. Rather than tell you who I think won, I am going to talk about the performance of each.

Paul Martin: The guy comes across as desparate. He talks fast, as if he is trying to throw enough facts and figures and "great programs" at you so you won't as him about the sponsorship scandal. The guy was the least Primeministerial (sp?) of the bunch. And his statements were so choppy. It was like he would start into some point, some program that he had brought in and they just trail off into something else, never finishing his point. My distinct impression was of someone tap dancing on hot coals in bare feet. And enough with the values crap. As if I really expect the leader of a political party to hold the same values as I. I can't even find a wife with my same values, never mind a political party. It's hard for me to be open minded with PMPM, as the only value I can think about whenever he says "Values" is skimming money from taxpayers and funneling it through the Ad agencies of your friends. Can anyone trust anything this guy says? Twelve years after making the promise of a child care plan it is finally coming in?

Stephen Harper: I thought he had the best performance. He was focussed, stuck to his points and spoke calmly and clearly. The oly value I want in a politician is someone who will do what they say. After than, tell me what you plan to do and I will decide if I think it is the best thing for the country and for me. I am not sure if Harper will do what he says, but he couldn't be worse than the Liberals.

Jack Layton: One of the "average Joe citizens" mentioned that Jack seemed a bit wooden and stiff. I thought he did well and he talked less about values than the other guy. At least he was more calm and cohearant that Martin. Unfortunately, I can't take the NDP seriously. Jack seemed focussed on convincing his potential supporters not to abandon the NDP to stop the Conservatives. All the stuff about giving us enough MP's to make Parilment work. The NDP is a regional party like the Bloc, except instead of a region, they have "victims". All the people who are thought (by them) to be underrepresented or disadvantagesd in some way. I don't buy that crap about the government "protecting" and "helping", so I can't take them seriously. Besides, I suspect that, deep in his heart, Jack knows that the members of his party are right out to lunch when it comes to the serious issues, such as the economy, and he knows that he would mess it up. He secretly hopes for an economically conservative Liberal or Conservative party to win, so he can lobby for his precious social programs. If the NDP formed the government, they would destroy the economy, just like they did in BC. the difference being, at the federal level there wouldn't be anyone else to pass the buck to and pay for health care, child care and all those other ineffiecient programs.

Giles Duceppe: This was fun for him, as he knows his real audience will be watching tomorrow. The only thing he need to do is come across as rational, so as to made this separation thing not like an idea from a bunch of crazies. He made some good points, especially in his attacks on PMPM, unfortunately, is english is a bit weak, so it comes off as disjoined and hard to follow at times. He needs to polish up his english.

It's all over but the spinning.

Update: SDA reminded me of the quote that clearly demonstrates my point about PMPM. At one point they are talking about poverty and he says the root causes of poverty are Aboriginals. Now, I am sure he did not mean to say that, and I assume that what he meant was, umm, I am not sure. The point is the guy was nervous and all over the place, rushing from point to point. He definately came across as desperate.

Canary in the Coal Mine (2)

The purpose of these posts is to regularily interview someone I caonsider a fairly typical Ontario Liberal voter who can be swayed by the campaigns. The idea is to follow the attitudes and perceptions of this person as a barometer to how the campaigns are going and what the composition of the government might be after 23 Jan.

The Canary is my Father. See the below posts for past info.

Canary in the Coal Mine

Canary in the Coal Mine (1)

Christmas to 8 Jan 2006. First week back.

My father did not pay much attention to the election over the holidays, which was to be expected. He reports that he has pretty much decided to vote Conservative, provided nothing significant happens in the next two weeks. I am assuming this would have to be something sever, such as proof that Stephen Harper is the Anti-Christ. From discussing it with him, Dad is feeling comfortable with the Conservatives and said "Give Harper a chance".

No issue raised by any party since after Christmas has resonated with him, nothing has made him reconsider his choice.

When I spoke to him today I asked him what he thinks the final result (seat tally) will be. He thinks a minority Conservative government with Conservatives 125 seats and Liberals 120 seats. He doesn't really care about the rest.

After talking to him, I mentioned that a new poll had just come out today (which he had not seen) which put the Conservatives ahead by 8 points. I am interested to see if this affects his thoughts next week. I am guessing that he is comfortable with a Conservative minority, one where the other parties could easily keep the Conservatives in check. If the Conservatives start to run away with it, his vote may change.

Not to repeat the usual MSM refrain, but I think Dad thinks exactly what newspapers such as the Toronto Star thinks he thinks. The Liberals have been bad, and my father thinks they need some time in opposition to learn their lesson. His vote is not a "I like the Conservatives" vote, but a "teach the Liberals a lesson" vote. If it starts to look as if that lesson may be too harsh (ie. Conservative majority) he may change his mind.

This week will be interesting, especially after the anticiated Liberal "dirty ads" come out.

Dad says he will watch the debates. I will report on his impressions.

Canary in the Coal Mine (1)

See this post first.

First three weeks of the campaign (up to Christmas).

The first interview was late, as I did not get home until half way through the campaign. My father voted Liberal in the last election (2004) but cannot remember which party he voted for before that (20000). I will bet it was Liberal as well.

He describes himself as liberal (small l), but does not vote religiously for any one party. His primary source for election information is from the Toronto Star (subscription, about 80% of his information) and the CBC: The National (20%). Twenty years ago, when I lived at home, my father was falling asleep at about the time the news came on (my father is the reason for the ill fated movement of The National from the 10 pm to 9 pm timeslot some years ago), so I doubt it is much different now. Consider it closer to 100% Toronto Star.

After the first three weeks of the campaign, he says he will not vote Liberal. I still classify him as undecided, but he says he is leaning towards the Conservatives. The two biggest issues in the campaign: The GST cut, (he really likes that), and Liberal corruption. Adscam has really hit a nerve with him.

I was hoping this would show some big change over the course of the campaign. It seems the Natural Governering Party(tm) is in trouble right from the start.

Recent poll numbers seem to confirm this. Come back tomorrow to see if the Christmaas break and 1st week back has had any change.

Back to Full Strength

In this post I mentioned that our oldest cat died.

Last week we added to our family by going to the Edmonton Humane Society and adopting a kitten, who we named Orion. Being in the country, we need a good mouser, so I have high hopes that he will live up to his name. The older cat is doing a good job in that department, as she caught a mouse last week. However, at 10 years old, she can't last forever, so we have to start training the next generation now. So far, Orion shows promise. He attacks everything in sight and is very fast. However, he is also clumsy. He knocks down everything, climbs on top of stuff and frequently falls from over a 4 foot height. You know how they say cats always land on their feet? Not this guy. I have frequently observed him land on his back numerous times.

Having a kitten is a bit like having a child. Orion cannot spend 2 seconds without being nearby. As I (try to) write this, he keeps walking over the keyboard and attacking the cursor. It is interesting to see him realize he cannot get it and look behind the monitor to see if it is there. As is typical for kittens, he goes 1 million miles an hour, then suddenly crashes, sleeping for 30 minutes before starting the cycle again. He also has to be underfoot, going where you are going. As a result, I have often almost stepped on him or kicked him. Don't tell the agency.

Speaking of the agency, I am very supportive of what they do, but they treat you a bit like a potential criminal. I mean, people used to drown kittens by the sackful, so I figured I would be doing these guys a favour by taking a kitten. Perhaps I was, but the process you have to go through. It took about 1-2 hours to adopt Orion. I signed a contract, the main thrust of which was that the Humane Society is not responsible for anything. I had to initial beside statement such as "I am aware that any future medical related costs must be borne by me.." and "The Edmonton Humane Society is not responsible (insert anything here)...". I suppose it must be done, but the extreme lengths people must go to protect themselves legally is absurd.

After the legal mumbo-jumbo, you fill out a questionnaire which asseses your fitness to be a parent. Questions such as "How will you react if your pet ...". I mean, give me a break, do they think I will dance a jig if the cat pisses on my new shoes?

After that is the interview where they go over your answers and re-educationing begins. This is where you realize that a good swift kick is not the right way to deal with a kitten that has done something wrong.

That said, Orion is very cute and just about impossible not to love, even when misbehaving. It's nice to have a cat that wants affection, instead of one that thinks all humans are disease-bags.

Funny, I thought he was a robot

Dick Clark returns to TV to Mark New Year

Canary in the Coal Mine

Long, log ago, before even cell phones and video games, canaries were used to warn coal miners of deadly gases in coal mines. The canary was place in a cage at the top of the mine tunnel and if the canary showed signs of distress (or died), the mine would be evacuated.

Consider this election a coal mine on Liberal rule in Canada. I have decided to pick a canary. If this canary is convinced to dump the Liberals, then they are surely doomed.

The Canary: My Father

Vital Stats:

My father is 66 years old and a retired english teacher in Oshawa, a medium sized town (about 150,000) about 30 minutes from Toronto and in the 905 area code.

Background

His parents escaped from the war and moved to Canada from Yugoslavia in 1948. Having seen what the Communists did in Yugoslavia (the shooting of enemies of the state, such as the only educated brother of my grandfather, a doctor), you would think my father would eschew the Liberal/NDP communist/socialist crap. Not so. Buying into the whole “won’t someone please think of the children!” propaganda put forward by the left, my father is supportive of these ideas, but is not set in his political ideology. He is an excellent example of a swing voter. He is not a member of any party and he can be convinced to switch his vote. Last election he voted for the Liberals and he thinks he voted for them in the 2000 election as well. Coming from Oshawa (Ed Broadbent's old riding), I would guess that he has votd for the NDP, probably when Ed was leader.

My fater is an enigma, as the rest of my immediate family is solidly on the right side of the spectrum. My mother, brother and sister, all lean towards the conservatives. That said, they are not ideologically set either. My mother votes for the person, while my brother strongly supports the idea that people should work for a living and not live off the state. He is particularly outspoken in his views. When Mike Harris was premier in Ontario, my brother was seen on an episode of Speaker’s Corner, saying he was glad Harris was going to kick out the welfare bums, who would now have to work for a living, just like him. My sister is a nurse and my brother works in the auto industry. I would say the daily influences on my father are sure to mention Liberal corruption often over the course of the election.

While my father’s daily influences are on the right, he balances this by a subscription to the Toronto Star and watching the CBC (although he usually falls asleep watching TV after 8 pm, so the influence of the CBC is somewhat limited). In addition, my one aunt and five uncles are mostly on the left. Three are teachers and one is a school principal. They are more likely to support the NDP, but some probably voted strategically Liberal in the last election. Discussions at family holidays were interesting at grandma’s house. The whole family is loud, mostly due to the fact that you have to yell or you will never get your point across. Debate was particularly vehement during the Harris years, with my aunt and uncles convinced he was the antichrist. This Christmas should be quite interesting at grandma's house.

The Plan

I will ask my father a few questions about the election each week, such as the most important story of the week, how he plans to vote, etc, and see if he can be convinced to vote something other than Liberal. He is representative of one type of typical Ontario voter, so if he goes over, the Liberals are dead.

Hey, it's just as scientific as a poll.

Cock of the walk (Not)

Yesterday was another beautiful day. Sun shining and +5 degrees C. That's right, I said plus five! Now you see why Alberta is for global warming. This is usually Calgary kind of weather.

Unfortunately for me, I speand the best part of the day Christmas shopping. I really only have to buy for the wife, as we exchanged gifts with my family a few days ago when I was home. Also, I kow just what to get her, as she has been very open about what she wants. This year we are exchanging a few small gifts. The house is still fairly empty and we need about a million things just to get the place up and running, so the gift bonanza fro us will start after Christmas, when we will go on a spending spree buying stuff for the house.

I only spent 2 hours a this local shopping park, and I was worn out. It wasn't even really that busy, but the driving, parking watching all these people rush around, all I could think of was "Why?". Probaby just an attack of pre-Christmas anti-consumerism.

The wife is part of this dancing group and they have a tradition with newly married couples. There is this big wooden rooster call the fertility cock, and it is given to the couple that is supposed to get pregnant next. I'm not one for superstitions, butthe thing works. Going back as long as can be remembered, the one with the cock is always the next to get pregnant. Now, you are supposed to keep these things a secret, as you don't want everyone coming up to you and constantly asking "Did it work?", but the wife and I are trying to increase the family by more than just one cat. Let's face it, we are not getting any younger (especially her, tick, tick). Perhaps this thing is supposed to work by magic, as the wife has been wearing her armour to bed. I could understand it if if was cold out, but at plus five, we could basically sleep outside. To add to that, the other cat has been very affectionate (for her) since we have been back. She is either the second or third thing in bed at night. If second, she sleeps on my side and I have to kick her out just to get in. If she is third, she promply placed herself between the two of us (maximum warmth) which, as you can imagine, a bit of a cramp on my style. I would leave the cat outside all night and she would be happy to be left outside, but the neighbours have lost three cats in the past month, they suspect to coyotes. Although I suspect this cat could survive anything, the wife would not want to risk it, and would be quite out of the mood if I were to suggest it.

Right now, we are counting on the power of the fertitlty cock only.

Home at Last/Our Family is Reduced by One

I love Alberta.

Thrity minutes after the plane lands at the Edmonton airport, we are in the car and on our way home. Contrast this with the 2 hours it took just to get our luggage in Toronto.

Today is a beautiful -4 degrees C, and the sun is shining, making me wonder why I ever wanted to leave this place. The wife and I moved some wood into the house for the fireplace and took a tour of some of the property. As everything is so overgrown, it is now possible to see into the forests and better assess the land. I used to say that I could heat the house for 3 years on just the deadfall. It seems to be more like 10 years. I have a lot of hauling and cutting of logs to do this year. Time to buy that chainsaw.

As you can see from this post, Koko our older cat died about 10 days before we got back. He was sick before I left, and got much worse while I was gone. The wife almost took him to the vet for the "long sleep" a few times, but every time she was going to do it she would spend some time with him and he would rally back, enjoying the day, moving around, and going outside. He seemed to sense what might happen, so put on a good show to last a bit longer. The few weeks before he died, he was so sick that the wife said she had to check him after coming home from work to see if he was still alive.

I was hoping he would make it until I returned, but I am glad he lived out his natural life.

After Christmas, we are off to the animal shelter to get our strength back up. Beside, the other cat needs something to keep her busy. I am already getting tired of constantly letting her in and out of the house.

The circle of life continues.