Who Garden

Last night was Kip's 31st birthday. Well, actually, all of yesterday was Kip's 31st birthday, but last night was when we celebrated it. Shaz put on a festive little gathering at the Woolwich Arms in Guelph and I was happy to finally check it out. I enjoyed a blackened bison burger at Kip's suggestion, with fries and gravy alongside, and it was great. Not great for the three month "get in shape for Clive's run" plan, but we can worry about that later. I also decided to try a St Ambroise Oatmeal Stout, brewed in Quebec by McAuslan Brewing. Being a new Guinness convert this was as close as they had on tap, and it was very good. I'm continuously impressed by the availability of truly dark beers with little to no aftertaste, and this one is part of that elite group - highly recommended.

I had the poor luck of breaking the news to the Belgish returnees that their beloved Creemore was no longer independent - sorry about that. I hope I didn't ruin the birthday. We've always got WHOgaarden, with a lemon wedge or twist of orange. I also feel bad for breaking Kip away from his large group of friends, as I was the only one there who really didn't know anyone. I still appreciated the time to sit down and chat, though, and when half the group left the survivors had a good chance to sit down and learn a bit about the European travels of Kip and Shaz. Which reminds me - you should really be following their blogs and looking through their pictures, I believe the count was 17 countries in one year for them. Insane.

They'll likely be back in mid-February, so my intention is to arrange a meetup at a bar in Toronto that serves Hoegaarden on tap at that time. Keep the schedules clean, my friends.

Oh.. and today is Cassie's 17th - happy birthday! I'll see you Sunday.

RIP Jane Creba, 1990-2005

The death of Jane Creba is truly getting to me. For those who don't know, she's the 15-year-old girl killed by a gunshot wound to the head while Boxing Day shopping in Toronto with her family. She was killed in the exact spot I've spent years at since beginning my regular trips downtown at age 17 - Yonge Dundas Square. There's a picture of her in this article from CANOE. Young, athletic, intelligent. A girl who quite likely would have made a strong contribution to our society in the future - her life was before her, and we'll never know what she would have made out of it. All because her life was taken right at the side of her family during the holiday season by a handgun that somehow went unregistered. No doubt by a criminal who, oddly, refused to abide by Paul Martin's handgun ban.

I'm struggled with how to speak my mind without looking like I'm attempting to further an unhidden political agenda. That's not what this is about. What it's about is that, for the first time in (almost) 32 years I'm actually mildly hesitant to go to Toronto. We like to pretend we're good and safe, but we're not. Toronto is not what you thought it was for years. It's a haven for gang violence, guns, muggings, robberies, and rapes. Our federal, provincial, and municipal leaders have allowed us to regress as a society this way. Rather than attempt to snuff out crime we simply punish the innocent with non-sensical $2 billion gun registries and bans. We allow men to rape women and free them because they were "sleeping" through it. This year alone we've now lost a 4-year-old baby and a 15-year-old girl because we don't have the balls to stand up to those we've put up as decision makers.

Are we all going to shake our heads, tell each other we're sad, and then forget it ever happened? Will the name Jane Creba mean a thing in a month? Six months? Three years? Are we content to just lock our doors at night and pretend it can't happen to us? Or are we - as siblings, parents, spouses, and friends - ready to admit that something needs to be done? Because our esteemed Federal leader's only comment in the light of this tragedy is that it was due to "exclusion". Not a tragic, historical failure to halt crime. Not a lack of police on our streets stopping gangs from committing crimes. Apparently those who shot Jane Creba did so because we, as a society, have "excluded" them. They didn't get enough hugs.

Blood is on our hands, people, because we've failed to do something to stop it.

Clarification

A quick note on 'Harper' from the Zonk and comments - no, I'm not a horrible censor-pushing conservative who is quick on the trigger finger for anyone with differing politics from mine. Heck, some of my best friends have vastly different political views than me, but we respect each other enough not to turn it into something bad. I've always left comments and the Zonk here because I'm happy for people to disagree with me - the only thing I ask is that they have the guts to be themselves and not hide behind an alias. Calling yourself someone else and referring to a Canadian political leader as Hitler not only makes you look like an idiot, but as the person providing the forum it puts me at risk. I'm quite fine with the fact that I'm one of very few conservatives my age, and I'm a grown man, I can handle anyone telling me why they think I'm wrong. Just throw your name beside it and hold yourself accountable, just as I do every time I make a post here.

In other news, Christmas is coming up way too fast. I'm not even done shopping.. this ain't good.

Cheers!

Today's Random Links
T-Mobile invites you to be a streaker
Second worst headline ever...
This kid got rhymes

The Christmas Blues

I had told myself I'd wait until after Christmas to discuss politics - I'm sure most of you are aware of Canada's current elections, with voting to take place on January 23rd. I'm not one of those who thinks Christmas has been ruined, I was just personally not planning to pay much attention until afterwards. Until I watched the debate tonight.

First, Duceppe is a piece of vapour - he doesn't exist. His one-track party with their little pie-in-the-sky ideal is nothing more than a collection of crackpots, all of whom are missing the toy in their Happy Meal. What he's even doing at these things eludes me.

Second, Harper isn't near as slimy (IMHO) as he's been made out to be by our local press. The guy's been given a bad rap and I didn't quite see it tonight. I thought most of the Conservative ideas were winners, although I'm on the fence with the child-care refund. I'm not quite as lost on it as the popcorn'n'beer guy, but I'm also someone who doesn't think the average person can be trusted to utilize that money properly. What I found particularly interesting was Martin really going out of his way to dig himself an even deeper hole. My favourite was demanding accountability for broken election promises - something Layton quickly took him to task for. He also failed to adequately answer for the fact that nobody in his party has paid any consequence for stealing $100,000,000 of our tax dollars to get themselves re-elected.

My allegiances are no surprise, and I'm not here to tell you who to vote for. I *am* telling you to vote, first and foremost. To not vote is a slap in the face to those who lost their lives to give you that right. To say all politicians are liars and thieves is bull, as of those you can vote for, only one has been tried. 12 years of Liberal politics have turned this country into a laughing stock. We like to tell ourselves we're great and the world envys us, but it's quite simply no longer the case. If you want to sit home and watch TV while the world passes you by, go for it. If you want to check a box and reward unparalleled waste of tax dollars over the past 12 years, have at it. I may only have one vote, but by God that vote is going to be for a change.

Merry Christmas

Post 1300 is dedicated to Christmas. Specifically people who are irritated by the Christian element of Christmas. First, I'm the first person to wish "happy holidays" at this time of year, as I have every respect for those of different religions celebrating their particular holiday. That said, for those finding themselves irritable due to religious references in the celebration of Christmas I offer a virtual middle finger and an invitation to go select another holiday to enjoy. Christmas is a Christian holiday, no matter what anyone wishes or hopes for. I have no concern for anyone upset by God-referencing songs on the radio, Christmas trees, or the sounds of church bells on Christmas morning. Just let me know if bothers you and I'll be the first one on your doorstep clanging my silver bells and singing 'Silent Night' 10 days from now.

Sometimes a man's just gotta vent.

Today's Random Links
The great tastes of Coke and coffee, together at last
Well, this headline is just plain wrong...
Coca Cola indeed

You'll Shoot Your Eye Out

First, I recently had the "pleasure" of watching the Bible themed episode of 'Penn & Teller: Bulls--t!'. Rob had previously mentioned it to me, so I figured it was time I took it in. I suppose I may be one of the few here, judging on my brief internet searching, that was aware that Penn and Teller's "factual" responses to Biblical events were actually opinion with humour. I suppose the humour is meant to distract us from the fact that they have no facts. Apparently it's not possible for stories of Jesus as the Messiah to have lasted through time, untouched, because two recent Elvis biographers failed to agree on the amount of flour he used in his favourite fried chicken recipe. Serious. Because, as you know, Elvis' love of flour and the Messiah are of equal historical importance, of course. Ignore the fact that Jesus was the most documented figure in history, with written documentation starting closer to his death than any other historical figure in history prior to the printing press. I suppose I'm just one of those crazy religious nuts.

In other news, I'm quite happy Danni won. I had a little crush on her, much to the chagrin of my wife who spent Sunday night pointing out all her flaws. I shall now just eagerly await the Maxim spread.

Today's Random Survivor Links
Rafe's bio from the Out of Bounds comedy troupe
'All My Children' thinks Jamie's a sexy beast
1998 interview with Danni by Pageant News
Rafe's bio from an online Survivor game
Gary Hogeboom's Pro Football stats
Danni on Miss Kansas USA site
Blakes does modeling

Today's Random Links
'A Christmas Story' in 30 seconds - re-enacted by bunnies
Octopus vs Shark: Who Will Win?

Name That Team

Canoe is running a contest based around the selection for the men's Team Canada entry to the 2006 Olympics. Feel free to join:

CANOE! Name That Team
Team: overanything
Password: moocow

Cheers!

Don't Get Lost

Sometimes time flies by way too fast, as is the case with it being a week since I last left a horrible joke here as a "post". Christmas is sneaking up on me and there's just too much to do for the end of the year. I recall last year I was totally prepared for Christmas, shopping done, everything. Not so this time around.

As you may have seen on the Zonk, Clive has invited me to join him in the Giant's Rib Raid Adventure Run on April 9th. I've decided to go for it, the last kick I need to truly get in good shape. It's back to heavily monitoring my nutrition and getting active again, both running and going to the gym. I've got five months to get in the best shape of my life, I think.