Disaster was averted Saturday night by Vincent Lecavalier, as the Tampa Bay Lightning star scored in the first period of Overtime, sending Canada on to the final of the World Cup of Hockey. Lecavalier allowed Canadians to breathe again, when his shot went top corner left, to finally put away a Czech Republic team that refused to quit.
Prior to Lecavalier’s heroics it was finger nail chewing time for Canadians from coast to coast to coast and all environs abroad, as the never say die Czech Republic squad battled back time and time again to bring things to a tie in the highly energized and entertaining match in Toronto. The Canadians would take a lead, the fans would begin to celebrate only to have the Czechs fly down the wing and score a reply before the Canadian scoring announcement would be finished.
For a good portion of the game the Czechs had the Canadians on their heels, sending wave after wave of the likes of Jagr, Hejduk, Rucincsky and Havlat, all of whom made life difficult for Roberto Luongo. He entered the tournament after Richard Brodeur was unable to play due to an injury to his wrist, thus the Florida Panther was sent into battle in the do or die semi final. Luongo faced 40 shots from the Czechs, who outworked the Canadians for long stretches of the game. And while a couple of the goals were unfortunate in their time frame, Luongo very much kept his team and his country in the tournament. His performance Saturday, most likely saved scalpers in Toronto from taking the worst bath in financial history since the great depression of 1929. Without Canada in the final, the price of a World Cup ticket would have tumbled faster than an Enron stock after the arrest warrants were issued.
Luongo faced shot after shot turning them away one after another, sending his team mates back up the ice to try and put this thing away. In any other game most of the Czech chances would most likely result in a goal. But Luongo found a way to keep them out, much to the joy of the capacity crowd at the Air Canada Centre.
No save was bigger than in the overtime period when he stared down Milan Hejduk and deflected a sure fire goal into the corner. It was head manned up the ice by Dany Heatley, ending up on Vincent Lecavalier’s stick, a few seconds later it was behind Tomas Vokoun and Canada was on to the final Tuesday night with a 4-3 victory.
Pat Quinn admitted that his team was fortunate to come out of the game with the victory, realizing that his team did not have its best game on the ice Saturday night. The Czechs must be hugely disappointed with the result, they were quite close to sending the Canadians to the sidelines, sometimes it’s worse to lose a game you should have won than to be blown out, this is the feeling the Czech players must have today.
Canadians respect hard work and in the Czechs on this Saturday night there was an awful lot to respect. Considering the way they entered this tournament; with the tragedy of their coach’s death, the discord in the dressing room and some early games that showed a less than hearty interest in the games at hand this one game more than made up for their past troubles. It was a performance that announced when the Czechs want to play; they can play with the best and possibly be the best in the world.
For Canada the near death experience may serve as the best possible wake up call imaginable. They must know that they barely advanced to the final, with the Finns rested up and waiting for the Canadians, concentrating on correcting the breakdowns of the semi final is an urgent requirement. After the game, Pat Quinn disclosed that he didn’t like the way they practiced the last few days and the result today hammered that point home nicely. More attention in their own end and getting back to a forceful fore-check will be the key to success on Tuesday night. Expect Quinn to remind his charges just how close they came to exiting this tournament early.
Hopefully for Canadian hockey fans, Saturday night will be the only surprise of this tournament. A near miss that would have shocked Canadian hockey fans across the land.
The above posting first appeared in my HockeyNation blog, for more items on Hockey check it out.
Saturday, September 11, 2004
Thursday, September 09, 2004
Non, Nyet, Zadna, Nej, Nie, Nein, Ei, NO!
Whatever language an NHLer may speak, the answer was still the same today. Bill Daly poured a huge bucket of cold water, on any thoughts of starting the NHL season on time; when he declared “We are extremely disappointed in what the Players union presented to us today.”
That after a four hour session that apparently solved nothing, hardened positions and set the stage for a lock out on September 15th. Trevor Linden speaking for the players said the players’ position was the “last chance to save the Hockey season.” That “position” was the first one presented to the league by the union since October of 2003. It called for a wage rollback of 5%, revenue sharing between clubs and a luxury tax system.
Bill Daly who has taken to speaking for the owners called the union’s proposal “recycled”. Rejecting it out of hand, he described it as a step backwards in the negotiations.
The sticking point, as it has been all along is the salary cap provision, which the league wants in place and the union rejects from the get go. No amount of fancy wording, is going to change that aspect of the dispute. It is the major hurdle in these negotiations and everytime it fails to be addressed, all discussion comes to a standstill.
The argument from the league is that too many of its teams are losing money and without a cap on salaries it is not feasible for some of their teams to keep operating, Daly said that even using the players associations’ model of economics, half the teams in the league would lose money, while one third of them would lose more than 10 million dollars. A situation the league feels is unacceptable.
The finger pointing and catcalling of the last couple of days will quiet down now, as the two sides return to their corners to plot further strategy or make other plans for the fall. But the sounds out of the NHL head office are ominous.
With no further talks scheduled “at the moment”, it would seem that all in the world of NHL hockey will come to a complete standstill almost as soon as the World Cup is handed out next Tuesday night. Wednesday, September 15th, may be one very long day for hockey fans everywhere!
The above posting first appeared in my HockeyNation blog, for more items about the "good old hockey game" check it out!
That after a four hour session that apparently solved nothing, hardened positions and set the stage for a lock out on September 15th. Trevor Linden speaking for the players said the players’ position was the “last chance to save the Hockey season.” That “position” was the first one presented to the league by the union since October of 2003. It called for a wage rollback of 5%, revenue sharing between clubs and a luxury tax system.
Bill Daly who has taken to speaking for the owners called the union’s proposal “recycled”. Rejecting it out of hand, he described it as a step backwards in the negotiations.
The sticking point, as it has been all along is the salary cap provision, which the league wants in place and the union rejects from the get go. No amount of fancy wording, is going to change that aspect of the dispute. It is the major hurdle in these negotiations and everytime it fails to be addressed, all discussion comes to a standstill.
The argument from the league is that too many of its teams are losing money and without a cap on salaries it is not feasible for some of their teams to keep operating, Daly said that even using the players associations’ model of economics, half the teams in the league would lose money, while one third of them would lose more than 10 million dollars. A situation the league feels is unacceptable.
The finger pointing and catcalling of the last couple of days will quiet down now, as the two sides return to their corners to plot further strategy or make other plans for the fall. But the sounds out of the NHL head office are ominous.
With no further talks scheduled “at the moment”, it would seem that all in the world of NHL hockey will come to a complete standstill almost as soon as the World Cup is handed out next Tuesday night. Wednesday, September 15th, may be one very long day for hockey fans everywhere!
The above posting first appeared in my HockeyNation blog, for more items about the "good old hockey game" check it out!
The same old song, the same old song and dance!
One has to admit that Adscam II (the judicial sequel), just doesn’t seem to have the nation in as much of an uproar as the Original version of: To tell the truth (or your version of it anyways) did. The talking heads from the networks aren’t hanging on every word here; the background pieces don’t have that same smell of attack as those heady early days did. There’s no sense of outrage in the land, the talk show hosts aren’t screaming for blood, the callers aren’t expressing shock and disgust, in fact most aren’t even discussing the hearings in any form.
All in all, the entire thing so far is rather boring, bland and bloody tedious. And perhaps that more than anything was the purpose of this second wave of Adscam remembrances, under the watchful eye of Quebec Justice Mr. Gomery. Keep it low profile, keep it on the low burner. And for God’s sake don’t wake up the well rested Canadian public, fresh from their summer siestas.
Admittedly the players are somewhat different this time around as is the tone of this debate. There are no partisan parliamentarians jockeying for television time, in a pre election orgy of self importance. The first go round in the parliamentary committee meetings resembled an episode of Jerry Springer or Maury Povich, there was banging on tables, suggestions of cover up and political shenanigans and threats to shut things down in disgust, all of which the media gleefully recounted day in and day out.
Instead, this time the media seem to be treating the hearings like some ways and means accounting review, a bunch of bookish accountants settling in for the day to go over the books, chew the fat and run up some expenses on the Government tab. In other words: its business as usual in the capital.
The original outrages are still there, those little accommodations that the various ad agencies made to siphon off hundreds of thousands of dollars for work (if we can call it that) which was hardly transparent let alone accountable. The funny little deals spun through a labyrinth of advertising firms, most of which seemed mainly to be interested only in making it to the bank quickly to cash some cheques.
The star of the first show Auditor General Sheila Fraser is back, reprising her role of the sheriff of the town trying to clean up this mess. Ms Fraser spent part of Tuesday and all of Wednesday basically re delivering her now famous report of the damned, where she opened the eyes of a normally dis-interested public to the shadowy world of Governmental contracts. Back then she was hailed as a hero, talk show hosts had flowers sent to her in honour of her stand, Canadians read daily dispatches of the fall out from her report. Fraser became a Canadian icon for a period of time, the last person in Ottawa willing to take a stand and say something here is wrong.
Of course a lot of water has run through the lake since that heady time of public outrage, we had an election that put the same gang basically back into office, all be it in greatly reduced numbers. The country then promptly purged politics from its system, so as to get on with the real challenge of Canadian life; that being the fine art of fitting as much of summer as one can into a very short window of time before the fall frost.
With vacations, barbeques, fishing trips and such to tend to, not many Canadians probably felt the need to aggravate their ulcers over the cavalier ways of spending in Ottawa.
With Labour Day come and gone and with it our summer, perhaps the venom has been leeched out of our system. Maybe we think that the folks in Ottawa have learned a lesson, or perhaps there are just more pressing matters on our plate these days. At any rate, it all bodes well for Justice Gomery, who said he was going to take his time to explore the controversy. And take his time he will, Gomery will have over 70 witnesses drop in on the proceedings in phase one. The Ottawa sessions will deal with all matters governmental. There is some talk that former Prime Minister Jean Chretien may make an appearance if he's asked, which should stir the media to attention. Not to mention the sessions where the likes of Alfonso Gagliano and Andre Ouellette may get to tell their side of these many tales.
The Justice then takes the show on to Montreal where the folks that received the Sponsorship monies will be providing the entertainment. The only folks taking copious notes at the moment, are lawyers for Chuck Guite and Jean Brault, preparing to recount the smallest detail when they get their chance. And if you think this is going to be some quick examination of events, think again. Slow and steady is apparently the byword at the hearings, the Justice does not have to provide an interim report until the fall of 2005. His final report is not due until December of 2005.
The length of these hearings may be the key for the Government, if we’ve already lost interest by September of 2004, will we even remember why the hearings were held by 2005. Fifteen months seems an awful long time to try and get to the bottom of what would appear to be a rather cut and dried case. The hearing will however provide one little sub drama, a just under the surface reminder for all of the excess of a government, that has no check or balance.
It will make for nice theme to follow, as we watch our Minority government work its way through the minefield of governmental duties. Fifteen months, hmm, one wonders if the government of the day will last as long as the hearings.
The above post first appeared in my Boondoggle blog, for more items examining the government check it out.
All in all, the entire thing so far is rather boring, bland and bloody tedious. And perhaps that more than anything was the purpose of this second wave of Adscam remembrances, under the watchful eye of Quebec Justice Mr. Gomery. Keep it low profile, keep it on the low burner. And for God’s sake don’t wake up the well rested Canadian public, fresh from their summer siestas.
Admittedly the players are somewhat different this time around as is the tone of this debate. There are no partisan parliamentarians jockeying for television time, in a pre election orgy of self importance. The first go round in the parliamentary committee meetings resembled an episode of Jerry Springer or Maury Povich, there was banging on tables, suggestions of cover up and political shenanigans and threats to shut things down in disgust, all of which the media gleefully recounted day in and day out.
Instead, this time the media seem to be treating the hearings like some ways and means accounting review, a bunch of bookish accountants settling in for the day to go over the books, chew the fat and run up some expenses on the Government tab. In other words: its business as usual in the capital.
The original outrages are still there, those little accommodations that the various ad agencies made to siphon off hundreds of thousands of dollars for work (if we can call it that) which was hardly transparent let alone accountable. The funny little deals spun through a labyrinth of advertising firms, most of which seemed mainly to be interested only in making it to the bank quickly to cash some cheques.
The star of the first show Auditor General Sheila Fraser is back, reprising her role of the sheriff of the town trying to clean up this mess. Ms Fraser spent part of Tuesday and all of Wednesday basically re delivering her now famous report of the damned, where she opened the eyes of a normally dis-interested public to the shadowy world of Governmental contracts. Back then she was hailed as a hero, talk show hosts had flowers sent to her in honour of her stand, Canadians read daily dispatches of the fall out from her report. Fraser became a Canadian icon for a period of time, the last person in Ottawa willing to take a stand and say something here is wrong.
Of course a lot of water has run through the lake since that heady time of public outrage, we had an election that put the same gang basically back into office, all be it in greatly reduced numbers. The country then promptly purged politics from its system, so as to get on with the real challenge of Canadian life; that being the fine art of fitting as much of summer as one can into a very short window of time before the fall frost.
With vacations, barbeques, fishing trips and such to tend to, not many Canadians probably felt the need to aggravate their ulcers over the cavalier ways of spending in Ottawa.
With Labour Day come and gone and with it our summer, perhaps the venom has been leeched out of our system. Maybe we think that the folks in Ottawa have learned a lesson, or perhaps there are just more pressing matters on our plate these days. At any rate, it all bodes well for Justice Gomery, who said he was going to take his time to explore the controversy. And take his time he will, Gomery will have over 70 witnesses drop in on the proceedings in phase one. The Ottawa sessions will deal with all matters governmental. There is some talk that former Prime Minister Jean Chretien may make an appearance if he's asked, which should stir the media to attention. Not to mention the sessions where the likes of Alfonso Gagliano and Andre Ouellette may get to tell their side of these many tales.
The Justice then takes the show on to Montreal where the folks that received the Sponsorship monies will be providing the entertainment. The only folks taking copious notes at the moment, are lawyers for Chuck Guite and Jean Brault, preparing to recount the smallest detail when they get their chance. And if you think this is going to be some quick examination of events, think again. Slow and steady is apparently the byword at the hearings, the Justice does not have to provide an interim report until the fall of 2005. His final report is not due until December of 2005.
The length of these hearings may be the key for the Government, if we’ve already lost interest by September of 2004, will we even remember why the hearings were held by 2005. Fifteen months seems an awful long time to try and get to the bottom of what would appear to be a rather cut and dried case. The hearing will however provide one little sub drama, a just under the surface reminder for all of the excess of a government, that has no check or balance.
It will make for nice theme to follow, as we watch our Minority government work its way through the minefield of governmental duties. Fifteen months, hmm, one wonders if the government of the day will last as long as the hearings.
The above post first appeared in my Boondoggle blog, for more items examining the government check it out.
Monday, September 06, 2004
Uniting the Right in BC, with not a supporter in sight!
The news slipped in under the radar so much that hardly anyone noticed, nor seemingly did they care. While we were all watching the ravings of the Republicans gathered in New York City, BC’s own right wing zealots were busy taking care of some housekeeping.
The BC Unity Party and the BC Conservative party apparently decided that it’s better to be ignored collectively, than as separate entities and so chose to merge. The Unity Party’s Chris Delaney made the announcement on September 1st, receiving little more than a side bar box in the Vancouver Sun and a couple of mentions on CKNW.
Other than that, the creation of a Right wing colossus was met with a collective yawn! Of course the fact that the Conservative Party of BC registers somewhere in the zone of 0% and the Unity flag bearers only collected 3% of the vote last election, may have something to do with the less than excited coverage of this momentous event.
Delaney says that members of the two parties will hold a meeting on September 25th to set in motion plans for a leadership convention in December. Delaney did take the time to issue the usual bon mots about the new adventure, things like how the new party will be appealing to the grassroots and would be more than capable of taking on both the NDP and the Liberals in the next election.
It would seem the party is designed to appeal to the old Socred Guard who of course ran off and basically took over the BC Liberal party a number of years ago, considering the fact that they are government in power at the moment, its doubtful that many of them would be leaving the embrace of the Gordon Campbell crew any time soon.
And while the current Liberals and general public may be keeping their distance, the new collection of the right has at least received some attention from an unusual spot in the media. Charlie Smith of straight.com has suggested that the new merger might threaten the Liberal hold on power. And while I would not argue with many of his suggested points about the new venture, I’m afraid I just don’t see Gordon Campbell staying up late at night planning ways to put the new collection of right wingers in their place.
When push comes to shove and X goes to paper, the folks on the right are not likely to throw their lot in with yet another combination of interests on the right wing, when they can keep their power base alive with the current Liberals.
Instead the Libs are probably more concerned about any eventual merger or accommodation between the Green Party and the NDP. With the Greens still hoping to flex their muscles in BC, they will only take votes away from the NDP. A merger of the Greens and NDP would send off some alarm bells for the Campbell followers and certainly solidify the NDP’s claim to be representing a good portion of British Columbians. But to achieve that, the party would need some leadership and at the moment there seems to be a bit of a void happening there.
Carole James, who still continues to run the lowest profile leadership style of any Canadian politician, should make getting the Green vote back on side as her main priority. She’s been the reported leader of the NDP for months now, but yet has absolutely no public profile, should you happen to cross her path in the streets you might never have a clue that she is a possible Premier in waiting.
As a matter of fact, the NDP should seriously consider purchasing some space on Milk cartons and getting her picture out there like a missing person. If you're an NDPer, here's a little experiment for you, try typing in your leaders name into a Google (or pretty well any other) search engine! The results will give you cause for thought about the leaders relevance to the province.
There are folks across BC, who probably still think Joy McPhail is leading the party and for all intents and purposes she and Jenny Kwan are still the face of social democratic beliefs in BC. Ms. James, if she is to be taken seriously needs to be far more visible and engaged with the people of British Columbia.
Until that happens, Gordon Campbell really has nothing to worry about from either the right or the left.
The BC Unity Party and the BC Conservative party apparently decided that it’s better to be ignored collectively, than as separate entities and so chose to merge. The Unity Party’s Chris Delaney made the announcement on September 1st, receiving little more than a side bar box in the Vancouver Sun and a couple of mentions on CKNW.
Other than that, the creation of a Right wing colossus was met with a collective yawn! Of course the fact that the Conservative Party of BC registers somewhere in the zone of 0% and the Unity flag bearers only collected 3% of the vote last election, may have something to do with the less than excited coverage of this momentous event.
Delaney says that members of the two parties will hold a meeting on September 25th to set in motion plans for a leadership convention in December. Delaney did take the time to issue the usual bon mots about the new adventure, things like how the new party will be appealing to the grassroots and would be more than capable of taking on both the NDP and the Liberals in the next election.
It would seem the party is designed to appeal to the old Socred Guard who of course ran off and basically took over the BC Liberal party a number of years ago, considering the fact that they are government in power at the moment, its doubtful that many of them would be leaving the embrace of the Gordon Campbell crew any time soon.
And while the current Liberals and general public may be keeping their distance, the new collection of the right has at least received some attention from an unusual spot in the media. Charlie Smith of straight.com has suggested that the new merger might threaten the Liberal hold on power. And while I would not argue with many of his suggested points about the new venture, I’m afraid I just don’t see Gordon Campbell staying up late at night planning ways to put the new collection of right wingers in their place.
When push comes to shove and X goes to paper, the folks on the right are not likely to throw their lot in with yet another combination of interests on the right wing, when they can keep their power base alive with the current Liberals.
Instead the Libs are probably more concerned about any eventual merger or accommodation between the Green Party and the NDP. With the Greens still hoping to flex their muscles in BC, they will only take votes away from the NDP. A merger of the Greens and NDP would send off some alarm bells for the Campbell followers and certainly solidify the NDP’s claim to be representing a good portion of British Columbians. But to achieve that, the party would need some leadership and at the moment there seems to be a bit of a void happening there.
Carole James, who still continues to run the lowest profile leadership style of any Canadian politician, should make getting the Green vote back on side as her main priority. She’s been the reported leader of the NDP for months now, but yet has absolutely no public profile, should you happen to cross her path in the streets you might never have a clue that she is a possible Premier in waiting.
As a matter of fact, the NDP should seriously consider purchasing some space on Milk cartons and getting her picture out there like a missing person. If you're an NDPer, here's a little experiment for you, try typing in your leaders name into a Google (or pretty well any other) search engine! The results will give you cause for thought about the leaders relevance to the province.
There are folks across BC, who probably still think Joy McPhail is leading the party and for all intents and purposes she and Jenny Kwan are still the face of social democratic beliefs in BC. Ms. James, if she is to be taken seriously needs to be far more visible and engaged with the people of British Columbia.
Until that happens, Gordon Campbell really has nothing to worry about from either the right or the left.
Sunday, September 05, 2004
A week of Essentials Aug 31-Sept 5
For Canadians this was a week that saw our challenge for Hockey Supremacy begin and our Olympic dreams come to an end. In our essentials we followed Zell giving Kerry hell, Arnold looked out and saw girlie men and Bubba goes for a bypass. The internet celebrated a birthday and the RIAA choked on some cake. A fast paced week that amazed and terrorized us and here it is in review!
31-Aug-04 More churchgoing than Churchillian
31-Aug-04 Tucker Carlson undecided voter
31-Aug-04 12 medals worth 2.5 million each
31-Aug-04 The Republicans find a pinata
31-Aug-04 The answer to what would Jimmy Buffet say
1-Sep-04 Ralph's dilemma: what to buy, what to buy
1-Sep-04 Milking the cow with Lord Black
1-Sep-04 On second thought, maybe we will win that war
1-Sep-04 Challenging the economic girlie men
1-Sep-04 Big lotto jackpot win leaves retailer blue
2-Sep-04 Setting the table for George
2-Sep-04 Mommy makes the bail
2-Sep-04 That's a lot of Passion
2-Sep-04 The General declares that history is repeating itself
2-Sep-04 The Beerhunters remain on the job
3-Sep-04 Tying the bell to Zell
3-Sep-04 Yikes, a Liberal with a backbone!
3-Sep-04 Happy Birthday to all of us Netizens
3-Sep-04 Sticks and Stones will break his bones, but…..
3-Sep-04 All in all, I'd rather have Grey hair and dandruff
4-Sep-04 Bubba for the Bypass
4-Sep-04 Ralphie's last round up
4-Sep-04 No cause can justify this horror
4-Sep-04 TIME gives George a bounce
4-Sep-04 Ever wonder what they spend your service charges on
5-Sep-04 Hand it over Connie!
5-Sep-04 Bush's Big bounce
5-Sep-04 -*** -*-- *, -*** -*-- * to Morse Code
5-Sep-04 A storm the size of Texas
5-Sep-04 The RIAA's latest headache
6-Sep-04 From his sickbed, it's Cllinton to the Rescue
6-Sep-04 If this can't get you deported, then what can?
6-Sep-04 Frances checks out, Ivan comes knockin' on the door
6-Sep-04 They loved the night life, they loved to Boogie
6-Sep-04 Is that a flashlight in your suitcase? Or are you just glad to see us?
31-Aug-04 More churchgoing than Churchillian
31-Aug-04 Tucker Carlson undecided voter
31-Aug-04 12 medals worth 2.5 million each
31-Aug-04 The Republicans find a pinata
31-Aug-04 The answer to what would Jimmy Buffet say
1-Sep-04 Ralph's dilemma: what to buy, what to buy
1-Sep-04 Milking the cow with Lord Black
1-Sep-04 On second thought, maybe we will win that war
1-Sep-04 Challenging the economic girlie men
1-Sep-04 Big lotto jackpot win leaves retailer blue
2-Sep-04 Setting the table for George
2-Sep-04 Mommy makes the bail
2-Sep-04 That's a lot of Passion
2-Sep-04 The General declares that history is repeating itself
2-Sep-04 The Beerhunters remain on the job
3-Sep-04 Tying the bell to Zell
3-Sep-04 Yikes, a Liberal with a backbone!
3-Sep-04 Happy Birthday to all of us Netizens
3-Sep-04 Sticks and Stones will break his bones, but…..
3-Sep-04 All in all, I'd rather have Grey hair and dandruff
4-Sep-04 Bubba for the Bypass
4-Sep-04 Ralphie's last round up
4-Sep-04 No cause can justify this horror
4-Sep-04 TIME gives George a bounce
4-Sep-04 Ever wonder what they spend your service charges on
5-Sep-04 Hand it over Connie!
5-Sep-04 Bush's Big bounce
5-Sep-04 -*** -*-- *, -*** -*-- * to Morse Code
5-Sep-04 A storm the size of Texas
5-Sep-04 The RIAA's latest headache
6-Sep-04 From his sickbed, it's Cllinton to the Rescue
6-Sep-04 If this can't get you deported, then what can?
6-Sep-04 Frances checks out, Ivan comes knockin' on the door
6-Sep-04 They loved the night life, they loved to Boogie
6-Sep-04 Is that a flashlight in your suitcase? Or are you just glad to see us?
Saturday, September 04, 2004
Mad as Hell Zell, Darth Cheney and the politics of negativity
The vision of the two grumpy old men (credit to Paul Begalia for the perfect description) of the Republican convention is still burned into my brain, low these two nights later. Bearing a remarkable resemblance to the two old farts Statler and Waldorf from the old Muppet show, Wednesday nights “keynote” speakers, Zell Miller and Dick Cheney took one large step for partisan vitriol and one large backward step for civility of debate.
In an hour of character assassination not seen since Revolutionaries tossed tea into Boston Harbour, the Massachusetts Junior Senator and the Democratic Party’s candidate for President was given the treatment of a witch of Eastwick. All that was missing was a gathering of the townsfolk with a chant for all to hear; Eye of Newt, Pall of Zell, a pox on Kerry, lets give a yell.
For John Kerry, Wednesday night’s televised performance must have felt like he was the guest on Satan’s version of “This is your life”. There in the first half of the nights festivities was a man who apparently is a member of the Democratic Party (though one suspects that his privileges have long since been revoked) railing on about how the Democrats have lost their way and only George W. Bush can lead the Republic.
This from a man who was at Bill Clinton’s nominating convention and used similar negative stylings to denounce one George H. W. Bush. So much for the old saying that the apple never falls far from the tree, in Zell Miller’s world it seems that Bush Sr.’s apple tree was too far to the left of the field, while his son is busy harvesting the right side. The only thing one could take from the speech is that the Bush family apparently doesn’t hold grudges, at least when you can send a talking mule up to praise an Elephant.
Cheney’s time in the spotlight while not quite as rancorous as Millers, still gave us cause to wonder if the man has ever let loose with a belly laugh, a giggle or a guffaw. The best we can hope for apparently is a smirk attached as it is to his perpetually annoyed look. His speech while not nearly as bitter and filled with bile as the Miller screed was, none the less did not elevate the level of debate any. Rather a shopping list of Kerry vote records and the suggestion that he would have to clear business with France before acting. There was no explanation of what his party would do for America, no light in the window of hope for better days. Instead we heard the steady beat of keeping a country on edge, worried for the future, fearful of what has happened in the past. The Republican myth maker, Ronald Reagan once asked in a debate if America were better of at that time than they were four years earlier. Interestingly enough in four nights of convention speeches, that concept never quite came up.
While it’s not likely, perhaps scheduling Miller the night before the Presidents acceptance speech was a case of spectacular scene setting. Compared to the Miller diatribe, the President on Thursday night came across as a reasoned and literate man, rational and sensible. By example he was calm, serene and lucid. Put up against the inane ramblings of the former Georgia Governor, Bush looked and sounded positively statesmanlike. Perhaps that was what Rudy Giuliani meant when he compared the Bush Presidency to the stewardship of Churchill during the Second World War. We’ll need to go back to our history books to find a similar character in the Miller make up, sharing the podium with Winnie. Short of that we’ll just watch some reruns of Monty Python; surely a farce such as Millers has been performed before!
Tis a strange plan to have the court jester set the tone for the King, but considering the Presidents shortcomings at speechmaking, the image of Miller, bug eyed and manic provided Bush the chance to provide a reassuring presence to the National audience.
Everyone heard Millers ravings and can remember the more blistering portions, some of whom, including the President’s own wife who were quick afterwards to try and put some distance between their beliefs and Millers. And who could blame them, best to leave the speaker painted as a lone turncoat loon from the Democrats, than embrace him as the face of new Republicanism.
With a Presidential platform short on the future and long on the past, having Miller foam at the mouth certainly helped create the illusion that the President is a man with bold ideas and resolute in deeds. But by allowing Miller to rant and rave unchecked, the door is now open for reciprocity from the Democrats. Having watched their candidate get little to no bounce from his own convention, remain sluggish in the polls and finding himself mired down in the Swiftboat ads sideshow, the Kerry people will now have to ratchet up their own negative rhetoric to combat the bombast from the right.
With two months until Election Day in the US, civility is about to get the shortest possible shrift imaginable. Sadly for our American neighbours what they really need is a good debate. Providing a serious and passionate discussion about where they have been, where they are going and how they are going to get there. Judging by the tone of the last week, a serious reasoned debate is not likely.
In an hour of character assassination not seen since Revolutionaries tossed tea into Boston Harbour, the Massachusetts Junior Senator and the Democratic Party’s candidate for President was given the treatment of a witch of Eastwick. All that was missing was a gathering of the townsfolk with a chant for all to hear; Eye of Newt, Pall of Zell, a pox on Kerry, lets give a yell.
For John Kerry, Wednesday night’s televised performance must have felt like he was the guest on Satan’s version of “This is your life”. There in the first half of the nights festivities was a man who apparently is a member of the Democratic Party (though one suspects that his privileges have long since been revoked) railing on about how the Democrats have lost their way and only George W. Bush can lead the Republic.
This from a man who was at Bill Clinton’s nominating convention and used similar negative stylings to denounce one George H. W. Bush. So much for the old saying that the apple never falls far from the tree, in Zell Miller’s world it seems that Bush Sr.’s apple tree was too far to the left of the field, while his son is busy harvesting the right side. The only thing one could take from the speech is that the Bush family apparently doesn’t hold grudges, at least when you can send a talking mule up to praise an Elephant.
Cheney’s time in the spotlight while not quite as rancorous as Millers, still gave us cause to wonder if the man has ever let loose with a belly laugh, a giggle or a guffaw. The best we can hope for apparently is a smirk attached as it is to his perpetually annoyed look. His speech while not nearly as bitter and filled with bile as the Miller screed was, none the less did not elevate the level of debate any. Rather a shopping list of Kerry vote records and the suggestion that he would have to clear business with France before acting. There was no explanation of what his party would do for America, no light in the window of hope for better days. Instead we heard the steady beat of keeping a country on edge, worried for the future, fearful of what has happened in the past. The Republican myth maker, Ronald Reagan once asked in a debate if America were better of at that time than they were four years earlier. Interestingly enough in four nights of convention speeches, that concept never quite came up.
While it’s not likely, perhaps scheduling Miller the night before the Presidents acceptance speech was a case of spectacular scene setting. Compared to the Miller diatribe, the President on Thursday night came across as a reasoned and literate man, rational and sensible. By example he was calm, serene and lucid. Put up against the inane ramblings of the former Georgia Governor, Bush looked and sounded positively statesmanlike. Perhaps that was what Rudy Giuliani meant when he compared the Bush Presidency to the stewardship of Churchill during the Second World War. We’ll need to go back to our history books to find a similar character in the Miller make up, sharing the podium with Winnie. Short of that we’ll just watch some reruns of Monty Python; surely a farce such as Millers has been performed before!
Tis a strange plan to have the court jester set the tone for the King, but considering the Presidents shortcomings at speechmaking, the image of Miller, bug eyed and manic provided Bush the chance to provide a reassuring presence to the National audience.
Everyone heard Millers ravings and can remember the more blistering portions, some of whom, including the President’s own wife who were quick afterwards to try and put some distance between their beliefs and Millers. And who could blame them, best to leave the speaker painted as a lone turncoat loon from the Democrats, than embrace him as the face of new Republicanism.
With a Presidential platform short on the future and long on the past, having Miller foam at the mouth certainly helped create the illusion that the President is a man with bold ideas and resolute in deeds. But by allowing Miller to rant and rave unchecked, the door is now open for reciprocity from the Democrats. Having watched their candidate get little to no bounce from his own convention, remain sluggish in the polls and finding himself mired down in the Swiftboat ads sideshow, the Kerry people will now have to ratchet up their own negative rhetoric to combat the bombast from the right.
With two months until Election Day in the US, civility is about to get the shortest possible shrift imaginable. Sadly for our American neighbours what they really need is a good debate. Providing a serious and passionate discussion about where they have been, where they are going and how they are going to get there. Judging by the tone of the last week, a serious reasoned debate is not likely.
Wednesday, September 01, 2004
A Terminator of Endearment
By the time Arnold Schwarzenegger had finished his paean to Republicanism and his glowing tribute to George Bush, two questions kept popping into my mind. One, is that rumor true that the Republicans are going to try and get the constitutional article of Presidential accession changed, to allow for foreign born candidates? And Two, How the hell did Maria Shriver, ever, ever sneak Arnie into the House of Kennedy?
In a wear your flag on your sleeve kind of stem-winder, Schwarzenegger recounted his conversion to Republicanism as a new immigrant to the land that as he reminded us, lives to be free. Recounting a televised debate from1968 that launched his political awakening, Arnie mentioned how the words of Hubert Humphrey sounded quite similar to those of the continent he had just left behind, a state interventionist socialist land, where individual freedom apparently was quashed. The cameras kindly chose not to focus in on Mr. Schwarzenegger’s better half that time. Wife Maria Shriver, a gal who grew up on that particular brand of Democratic pablum in her formative years, might have been a bit uncomfortable at the attack on the Holy Grail. Indeed, the speeches of Humphrey in 68 were the byproduct of the ages of John and Bobby Kennedy. Somewhere off in the distance, you could have sworn you heard Uncle Ted wondering aloud why he didn’t pay more attention to his nieces dating habits.
For Uncle Ted, the road to ruin came when Arnold listened to the alert sounded by Republicans in the late sixties, less taxes, more freedoms and a stronger military, a call espoused by the 1968 candidacy of Richard Nixon! For the first time in my memory, the name of Tricky Dick made it back into a Republican convention. Was it my imagination or did a sudden hush come over the crowd, as if to say hmm, did he really mention Nixon!
Now fortunately for Karl Rove and the rest of the Bush team, Arnie didn’t dwell on the Nixon era for a great length of time, but surely he is tempting the fates by bringing up the never far from the top scandals finalist. Then again, in a year which seems to be bringing back the entire Vietnam War as a litmus test for leadership, and with demonstrations outside reminiscent of the sixties, perhaps it’s not surprising to hear of Richard M. Nixon’s ghost floating over the Gardens.
Schwarzenegger made good use of his feature film credits, rattling off line after line from the Terminator, True Lies and other Arnie extravaganza’s. He attacked as “Girlie Men”, those who are pointing out some disturbing economic indicators, bringing much delight to the partisan crowd, wowed by a real life action figure. To be fair to the Terminator, he mostly made references to those epic cinema classics at his own expense, a half decent attempt to separate his two career paths, movies to politics.
For the most part, his speech performed the function it was designed to provide, that of a patriotic appeal from an immigrant to the newest Americans to put their lot in with the President. Considered a rising star in the Republican Party after his successful election as Governor of California, this was his first step on the national stage as a spokesman for Republican beliefs. To that end he filled his roll well, hitting the notes that Republicans believe about themselves. The placing of Schwarzenegger in the second night of the convention is seen to try and appeal to middle of the road Americans, those that may not have made their minds up yet and are looking for a reason to stay the course with the President. Despite his rabid endorsement of the Republican ethos, his administration in California isn’t quite as far right as many Republicans would believe. Perhaps the moderating influence of Maria Shriver and her Humphrehyite upbringing, has actually tempered the normal right wing bent of Republicanism.
While he beat the drum for all things great about Republicanism, he also remained on message with the theme of this convention: The war on terror and how the Republicans believe George Bush is the person best able to deal with the constant threats to the USA. He did his part, pumping up (pardon my one lame attempt at an Arnieisms) party line as to the success of the Presidents stewardship in the aftermath of 9-11.
It wasn’t quite as forceful as the McCain and Giuliani testimonies the night before, but it kept the continuity flowing in what seems to be the only issue the Republicans are willing to focus on. In the end his purpose was to praise the President and to get the audience chanting the always popular refrain of four more years!
More importantly the pacing of his speech and that of first lady Laura Bush, nicely fit into the one hour that the big four networks seem to have devoted to prime time coverage. The two speeches left precious little time for analysis, debate or rebuttal. Peter Jennings left only to say hello and good bye, thus becoming a highly paid Wal Mart greeter for the TV age, leaving the remaining 59 minutes to the Republican message. Like a true pro, Schwarzenegger delivered his lines with gusto and perfect pitch; he now sits back and awaits the reviews (Hello Maria!). Much like the subject of his adulation, who will soon do much the same come November.
In a wear your flag on your sleeve kind of stem-winder, Schwarzenegger recounted his conversion to Republicanism as a new immigrant to the land that as he reminded us, lives to be free. Recounting a televised debate from1968 that launched his political awakening, Arnie mentioned how the words of Hubert Humphrey sounded quite similar to those of the continent he had just left behind, a state interventionist socialist land, where individual freedom apparently was quashed. The cameras kindly chose not to focus in on Mr. Schwarzenegger’s better half that time. Wife Maria Shriver, a gal who grew up on that particular brand of Democratic pablum in her formative years, might have been a bit uncomfortable at the attack on the Holy Grail. Indeed, the speeches of Humphrey in 68 were the byproduct of the ages of John and Bobby Kennedy. Somewhere off in the distance, you could have sworn you heard Uncle Ted wondering aloud why he didn’t pay more attention to his nieces dating habits.
For Uncle Ted, the road to ruin came when Arnold listened to the alert sounded by Republicans in the late sixties, less taxes, more freedoms and a stronger military, a call espoused by the 1968 candidacy of Richard Nixon! For the first time in my memory, the name of Tricky Dick made it back into a Republican convention. Was it my imagination or did a sudden hush come over the crowd, as if to say hmm, did he really mention Nixon!
Now fortunately for Karl Rove and the rest of the Bush team, Arnie didn’t dwell on the Nixon era for a great length of time, but surely he is tempting the fates by bringing up the never far from the top scandals finalist. Then again, in a year which seems to be bringing back the entire Vietnam War as a litmus test for leadership, and with demonstrations outside reminiscent of the sixties, perhaps it’s not surprising to hear of Richard M. Nixon’s ghost floating over the Gardens.
Schwarzenegger made good use of his feature film credits, rattling off line after line from the Terminator, True Lies and other Arnie extravaganza’s. He attacked as “Girlie Men”, those who are pointing out some disturbing economic indicators, bringing much delight to the partisan crowd, wowed by a real life action figure. To be fair to the Terminator, he mostly made references to those epic cinema classics at his own expense, a half decent attempt to separate his two career paths, movies to politics.
For the most part, his speech performed the function it was designed to provide, that of a patriotic appeal from an immigrant to the newest Americans to put their lot in with the President. Considered a rising star in the Republican Party after his successful election as Governor of California, this was his first step on the national stage as a spokesman for Republican beliefs. To that end he filled his roll well, hitting the notes that Republicans believe about themselves. The placing of Schwarzenegger in the second night of the convention is seen to try and appeal to middle of the road Americans, those that may not have made their minds up yet and are looking for a reason to stay the course with the President. Despite his rabid endorsement of the Republican ethos, his administration in California isn’t quite as far right as many Republicans would believe. Perhaps the moderating influence of Maria Shriver and her Humphrehyite upbringing, has actually tempered the normal right wing bent of Republicanism.
While he beat the drum for all things great about Republicanism, he also remained on message with the theme of this convention: The war on terror and how the Republicans believe George Bush is the person best able to deal with the constant threats to the USA. He did his part, pumping up (pardon my one lame attempt at an Arnieisms) party line as to the success of the Presidents stewardship in the aftermath of 9-11.
It wasn’t quite as forceful as the McCain and Giuliani testimonies the night before, but it kept the continuity flowing in what seems to be the only issue the Republicans are willing to focus on. In the end his purpose was to praise the President and to get the audience chanting the always popular refrain of four more years!
More importantly the pacing of his speech and that of first lady Laura Bush, nicely fit into the one hour that the big four networks seem to have devoted to prime time coverage. The two speeches left precious little time for analysis, debate or rebuttal. Peter Jennings left only to say hello and good bye, thus becoming a highly paid Wal Mart greeter for the TV age, leaving the remaining 59 minutes to the Republican message. Like a true pro, Schwarzenegger delivered his lines with gusto and perfect pitch; he now sits back and awaits the reviews (Hello Maria!). Much like the subject of his adulation, who will soon do much the same come November.
Old time Unis, Old Time Hockey
No matter the colour, you pull on a uniform with a Maple Leaf on its front and something special happens. Tuesday night’s debut for Canada and the USA at the World Cup of Hockey came as advertised, a hard hitting, competitive affair that saw both teams battle to the very end. Dressed in what was called an Antique Gold motif, Canada donned a uniform in tribute to the Winnipeg Falcons of the 1920’s who first competed internationally for Canada. For those collectors of Pepsi cans it would have been the first offering of their current advertising campaign, HockeyNation now wonders if we’ll be treated to a new sweater every game? For Memorabilia collectors, this could quickly become a very expensive series of hockey.
Back on the ice, Canada contained the veteran American line up for most of the game, out shooting the Americans 19-6 in the first period, and gaining a goal from Martin St. Louis on the power play in the first twenty minutes. Coming out fast again in the second, the Canadians added a second goal off the stick of Joe Sakic, the marker once again coming while an American player sat in the penalty box.
The two to nothing lead served as a bit of a wake up call for the Americans, who battled back in the second and third periods to keep things close and keep Canadians worrying. Bill Guerin brought them to within one goal with his second period goal, lifting the American spirit and giving them some new life and some new jump in their legs. In the end the two Canadian goals would be enough as the Canadians edged the Americans 2-1 in a thoroughly entertaining affair at Montreal's Bell Centre.
Both teams suffered potentially disastrous injuries in the game, the nature of which are being guarded as closely as any military secret. Canada’s Ed Jovanovski caused the Vancouver Canuck brass to swallow their hearts, as he left the ice in the first period after being wrestled to the ice at the side of the American net. Described as a lower body injury, it appeared it could be a knee or thigh injury. His departure left the Canadians a little shorthanded on the blue line, an area of concern before the Canadians even travelled to training camp.
Over in the American dressing room the loose lips; sink ships argument, was being used on the nature of Mike Modano’s departure from the game. Modano left the game with a knee injury and was last seen dressed in street clothes watching from the distance. Officials of the American team are not in any hurry to inform the media about the Modano situation, or if it will last for any length of time.
The game was intense and rough at times, a particularly rugged period was when Canadian goaltender Martin Brodeur was knocked to the ice in his crease area, as Steve Konowalchuk bowled him over. For his troubles Konowalchuk found himself on the receiving end of a few well placed shots by Mario Lemieux, the intensity of Lemieux’s reaction to the crushing of his goaltender, is a good indication as to the passion the Canadians are bringing to the series. At the other end of the rink the USA's Rober Esche had an amzing game, standing off the Canadian scorers time and time again. In a sport that depends on big time goaltending for a shot at a championship, the Americans may have their ace in the Flyers product.
With the series utilizing NHL size rinks and featuring the NHL rulebook as its bible, the physical nature of the games is more to the liking of the North American fan. So far even the European games have had a more North American feel to them, as the NHL refs in Europe keep the play flowing, allowing the pace of the game to move along quickly.
Canada plays again on Wednesday as the Slovaks provide the competition for Pat Quinn’s lads, the game once again taking place at the Bell Centre in Montreal. The USA heads back to St. Paul, Minnesota for a match up with the Russians on Thursday night. Not wanting to look too far ahead, they still no doubt will be hoping for a return match with the Canadians a little later in the tournament. As the defending champions of what became the World Cup of Hockey, they still want to show their northern neighbours that the road to victory will run through a uniform Red White and Blue.
The above posting is taken from my HockeyNation blog, for more items about all things hockey, check it out.
Back on the ice, Canada contained the veteran American line up for most of the game, out shooting the Americans 19-6 in the first period, and gaining a goal from Martin St. Louis on the power play in the first twenty minutes. Coming out fast again in the second, the Canadians added a second goal off the stick of Joe Sakic, the marker once again coming while an American player sat in the penalty box.
The two to nothing lead served as a bit of a wake up call for the Americans, who battled back in the second and third periods to keep things close and keep Canadians worrying. Bill Guerin brought them to within one goal with his second period goal, lifting the American spirit and giving them some new life and some new jump in their legs. In the end the two Canadian goals would be enough as the Canadians edged the Americans 2-1 in a thoroughly entertaining affair at Montreal's Bell Centre.
Both teams suffered potentially disastrous injuries in the game, the nature of which are being guarded as closely as any military secret. Canada’s Ed Jovanovski caused the Vancouver Canuck brass to swallow their hearts, as he left the ice in the first period after being wrestled to the ice at the side of the American net. Described as a lower body injury, it appeared it could be a knee or thigh injury. His departure left the Canadians a little shorthanded on the blue line, an area of concern before the Canadians even travelled to training camp.
Over in the American dressing room the loose lips; sink ships argument, was being used on the nature of Mike Modano’s departure from the game. Modano left the game with a knee injury and was last seen dressed in street clothes watching from the distance. Officials of the American team are not in any hurry to inform the media about the Modano situation, or if it will last for any length of time.
The game was intense and rough at times, a particularly rugged period was when Canadian goaltender Martin Brodeur was knocked to the ice in his crease area, as Steve Konowalchuk bowled him over. For his troubles Konowalchuk found himself on the receiving end of a few well placed shots by Mario Lemieux, the intensity of Lemieux’s reaction to the crushing of his goaltender, is a good indication as to the passion the Canadians are bringing to the series. At the other end of the rink the USA's Rober Esche had an amzing game, standing off the Canadian scorers time and time again. In a sport that depends on big time goaltending for a shot at a championship, the Americans may have their ace in the Flyers product.
With the series utilizing NHL size rinks and featuring the NHL rulebook as its bible, the physical nature of the games is more to the liking of the North American fan. So far even the European games have had a more North American feel to them, as the NHL refs in Europe keep the play flowing, allowing the pace of the game to move along quickly.
Canada plays again on Wednesday as the Slovaks provide the competition for Pat Quinn’s lads, the game once again taking place at the Bell Centre in Montreal. The USA heads back to St. Paul, Minnesota for a match up with the Russians on Thursday night. Not wanting to look too far ahead, they still no doubt will be hoping for a return match with the Canadians a little later in the tournament. As the defending champions of what became the World Cup of Hockey, they still want to show their northern neighbours that the road to victory will run through a uniform Red White and Blue.
The above posting is taken from my HockeyNation blog, for more items about all things hockey, check it out.
Tuesday, August 31, 2004
Rudy and John come out of the dugout
Day One of the Republican National Convention has left a viewer with no doubt as to what the Bush/Cheney ticket will be campaigning on. If the serious tones and solemn imagery are any indication, George and Dick are all that stands between the US and anarchy. From keynote speakers, to moving tributes to the fallen of 9/11, the theme was hit home again and again, this President is on watch, taking action and keeping America safe. At least that was the message that the Republicans crafted, whether the American people will buy into won’t be known until November. The first session of the four day nomination festival featured some hard hitting defences of the Bush/Cheney first four years, as well as their efforts on the war on terror and the war in Iraq. But most of all it evoked the memory of the dark day of September 11, 2001, a gamble it may be to politicize such a horrendous event, but the Republicans seem to be of the belief that this President was the right guy, at the right time to deal with such a nation changing moment. They very much want to get across the message that the work is not yet done.
If a baseball analogy was to be used on day one, John McCain was the designated hitter and Rudy Giuliani was inserted into the lineup to hit clean up. McCain gave a well received speech strong on praise for the President and taking a few shots at Democratic candidate John Kerry. But for McCain the task was simple, paint Bush as a determined leader, willing and able to make the hard decisions, but doing so with the full understanding of what he is asking of those that must follow orders. Stating that the President is a man who has been tested and risen to the occasion, he dismissed Kerry’s leadership potential as leaving one wanting. It also fell to McCain to slay the Michael Moore dragon, without mentioning the outspoken Liberal film maker. McCain brought the partisan crowd to its feet with his comments about a disingenuous film maker, if there were any Republicans in the crowd or watching on TV wondering who that might be, there was the smiling visage of Moore himself accepting the boos and catcalls from his perch in the media section of Madison Square Garden. As the crowd chanted four more years, Moore responded with two more months. For convention moments it was actually quite entertaining, there was a bona fide war hero out doing the heavy lifting for his party. Moore set up like a piñata, with thousands of Republicans taking verbal whacks at him as he smiled at all the attention. If they required a target to rally around the flag over, Moore fit the bill nicely on day number one, his work for USA Today might make for interesting journalism, but his appearance at the convention made for great television.
While McCain’s speech was eloquent and destined for the Middle American voter, possibly not quite sold on Bush/Cheney, his follow up hitter was there for a completely different reason. America’s mayor as Rudy Giuliani has been crowned of late, spoke twice as long and brought out the big bat to knock the resume of John Kerry around the Gardens for a bit. Giuliani recounted his direct experience during the days following 9-11 to project President Bush as a leader able to make decisions, stand by them and not waver. He chastised Kerry as an elitist Liberal who would waffle on hard decisions and pander to European leaders at the expense of what’s best for the USA.
Touted as a possible presidential candidate in 2008, Giuliani heaped praise upon the current resident at 1600 Pennsylvania, sometimes taking his rhetoric a bit beyond believability. Comparing George Bush to Winston Churchill seems a bit of a stretch. While many will debate endlessly the real reason behind the eventual war in Iraq, not many are willing to put Bush on the same pedestal as Churchill just yet. Media observers may be aghast at the arrogance of the presentation, but in a partisan environment as this, it was exactly what the crowd wanted to hear. As Giuliani proclaimed that George W. Bush has already earned a place as a great American president one couldn’t help but wonder when the chants of USA, USA, USA would start.
By and large though, the two speeches Monday were effective in their design and successful in their delivery. They have certainly set the tone of the convention, outlined the blue print for the candidates and took on the Democratic nominee with gusto. Touching on all the differences between the Democrats and the assembled Republicans, the night certainly solidified the lines between the US and THEM mentality.
Tomorrow night it’s the Terminator himself, Arnold Schwarzenegger is the featured speaker. Having captured the key state of California last year, he’ll no doubt be treated as a conquering hero. And if the Republicans continue on the theme of standing up for America, having a Hollywood action legend praising the toughness of the current President is certainly going to keep the ole testosterone levels hopping in New York.
Like any team looking to win the pennant, its time to go on offense, McCain and Giuliani were first on the field. With all the heavy hitters loading up the bases early in the game, it’s going to be left up to George Bush to head for the plate in the last inning on Thursday. It will be interesting to watch as he takes his cuts in the batters box. With the anticipation building the crowd waits to see how their star player will do.
The pressure is on for the President to deliver, this is no time for a strike out, for Bush hitting a home run on Thursday night might be just what his team needs to pull ahead of the Democrats. Does he have one last hit in him to win the game, or will he head for the showers, we find out Thursday night.
If a baseball analogy was to be used on day one, John McCain was the designated hitter and Rudy Giuliani was inserted into the lineup to hit clean up. McCain gave a well received speech strong on praise for the President and taking a few shots at Democratic candidate John Kerry. But for McCain the task was simple, paint Bush as a determined leader, willing and able to make the hard decisions, but doing so with the full understanding of what he is asking of those that must follow orders. Stating that the President is a man who has been tested and risen to the occasion, he dismissed Kerry’s leadership potential as leaving one wanting. It also fell to McCain to slay the Michael Moore dragon, without mentioning the outspoken Liberal film maker. McCain brought the partisan crowd to its feet with his comments about a disingenuous film maker, if there were any Republicans in the crowd or watching on TV wondering who that might be, there was the smiling visage of Moore himself accepting the boos and catcalls from his perch in the media section of Madison Square Garden. As the crowd chanted four more years, Moore responded with two more months. For convention moments it was actually quite entertaining, there was a bona fide war hero out doing the heavy lifting for his party. Moore set up like a piñata, with thousands of Republicans taking verbal whacks at him as he smiled at all the attention. If they required a target to rally around the flag over, Moore fit the bill nicely on day number one, his work for USA Today might make for interesting journalism, but his appearance at the convention made for great television.
While McCain’s speech was eloquent and destined for the Middle American voter, possibly not quite sold on Bush/Cheney, his follow up hitter was there for a completely different reason. America’s mayor as Rudy Giuliani has been crowned of late, spoke twice as long and brought out the big bat to knock the resume of John Kerry around the Gardens for a bit. Giuliani recounted his direct experience during the days following 9-11 to project President Bush as a leader able to make decisions, stand by them and not waver. He chastised Kerry as an elitist Liberal who would waffle on hard decisions and pander to European leaders at the expense of what’s best for the USA.
Touted as a possible presidential candidate in 2008, Giuliani heaped praise upon the current resident at 1600 Pennsylvania, sometimes taking his rhetoric a bit beyond believability. Comparing George Bush to Winston Churchill seems a bit of a stretch. While many will debate endlessly the real reason behind the eventual war in Iraq, not many are willing to put Bush on the same pedestal as Churchill just yet. Media observers may be aghast at the arrogance of the presentation, but in a partisan environment as this, it was exactly what the crowd wanted to hear. As Giuliani proclaimed that George W. Bush has already earned a place as a great American president one couldn’t help but wonder when the chants of USA, USA, USA would start.
By and large though, the two speeches Monday were effective in their design and successful in their delivery. They have certainly set the tone of the convention, outlined the blue print for the candidates and took on the Democratic nominee with gusto. Touching on all the differences between the Democrats and the assembled Republicans, the night certainly solidified the lines between the US and THEM mentality.
Tomorrow night it’s the Terminator himself, Arnold Schwarzenegger is the featured speaker. Having captured the key state of California last year, he’ll no doubt be treated as a conquering hero. And if the Republicans continue on the theme of standing up for America, having a Hollywood action legend praising the toughness of the current President is certainly going to keep the ole testosterone levels hopping in New York.
Like any team looking to win the pennant, its time to go on offense, McCain and Giuliani were first on the field. With all the heavy hitters loading up the bases early in the game, it’s going to be left up to George Bush to head for the plate in the last inning on Thursday. It will be interesting to watch as he takes his cuts in the batters box. With the anticipation building the crowd waits to see how their star player will do.
The pressure is on for the President to deliver, this is no time for a strike out, for Bush hitting a home run on Thursday night might be just what his team needs to pull ahead of the Democrats. Does he have one last hit in him to win the game, or will he head for the showers, we find out Thursday night.
The Lasting Legacy of the Little Blue Cow
Somehow it seems kind of appropriate that for a country of couch potatoes most of our “Olympic moments” revolved around the various TV commercials aired during the CBC’s comprehensive, if slightly over excited coverage. From the Dairy council’s Little Blue Cow vignettes, through the moronic office employee named Toffee in the Tim Horton’s commercials, to the heart wrenching stories of sacrifice from Petro Canada, we soothed our shattered psyche with the gang at CBC. When we weren’t sharing the dream; if not the gas points, Ron McLean was putting on his best game face to help us understand that winning doesn’t always mean everything. Commentator after commentator echoed the theme that personal bests, top eight finishes and oh so closes, count just as much as Gold, Silver and Bronze and possibly that’s true. But you just got the feeling that more than a few times, Brian Williams must have wanted to shout out “can’t somebody win gold once and a while around here!”
At any rate, the Greek Olympic gathering has come to an end and our athletes have returned with their booty, solving any overtime problems at Canada Customs by having very little to declare at the airport. And of course as with most Canadian activities on the World Stage, our insecure little nation begins the uniquely Canadian tradition of over analyzing the final result. With only 12 medals to hang over the national mantle the finger pointing has only just begun. Poor coaching, not enough financing, a national distaste for competition, all have been brought up as possible excuses for our less than awe inspiring performance at Athens.
Money at the moment seems to be the main focus of the diviners, who have come to the conclusion that unless we throw massive amounts of Loonies, Twonies and such into our amateur athletic programs then continual woe will be us. Even IOC grand pooh bah, Jacques Rogge got involved, suggesting he may just have to travel to Ottawa to lobby for more cash for Canada’s athletic movement, purely for our own good, helping us to avoid international shame and embarrassment in 2010. Here’s a bulletin Jacques, when it comes to asking for money in Canada, the line forms on the left and stretches as far as you can see.
No doubt funding is an issue; the simple math tells you that if your athletes are spending more time training and less time waiting on tables, then possibly the gold medal is just around the corner. But then again is it? Somehow you get the feeling that some of the countries that performed better than we did don’t have the same budget as ours, sometimes you just send some athletes who have raw talent that rises to the occasion. No amount of funding is going to change that fact. We can get closer, but we’re not going to be a dominant player in the Olympics. Canada will never be able to join the ranks of the Olympic factory nations.
The USA , China, Japan, Germany these are countries that can muster the financial resolve and cultural drive to aim for the higher spots in the World Olympic movement, we are very much what we are, a middling kind of country that should expect middling results. That’s not to say we should admit defeat and just be happy to be there, but unless we plan on creating a generation of Super athletes much like the Russians before the collapse of communism, we will just have to be happy with the occasional surprise Gold.
There are many ways we can raise more money to help our athletes compete, but dedicating a portion of the federal budget just doesn’t seem to be a high priority and nor should it. Health care, education, defence and a myriad of other national concerns will always take priority. How much trust do Canadians have in a government that has mismanaged our tax monies on the likes of the HRDC mess, the gun registry, adscam and all the other well documented abuses of our cash. For Canada to toss in more cash to the Olympic kitty, we’ll need some new ideas and non governmental options.
Tax breaks for our friends at Tim Horton’s, Petro Canada and the Dairy Board would be a start. The more they dedicate to our athletic endeavors, the better a tax deal they can get from the Government. Make helping our athletes a money making possibility and just watch how fast corporate Canada will jump on board.
Another avenue might be to take some money out of the black hole of lottery monies and allocate it to the Olympic Committee for use by our Olympic athletes, not our Olympic bureaucrats. At one time the raison d’etre for a national lottery was to fund the 76 summer Olympics. Somehow that simple idea got tossed aside when the various levels of government discovered that there was gold in them thar betting slips. If the government is serious about making changes, then let some of our “voluntary” tax dollars go to where they once were destined.
Whatever path we decide to follow, one hardly thinks pointing the fingers at our Olympians is a useful exercise. While the results may not have been what we had hoped for, we can be sure they gave it their best effort which is all we should really expect. If at the end of the day the brave band of brothers on the baseball team or young little Perdita gave it their best shot, then that’s where our pride should go. There’s no shame in not winning, only in not trying. (Though winning once and awhile can feel pretty good too!)
When the government gets around to examining the fallout of our Athens experience they can explore coaching and the bloated political end of our Olympic movement, judging by the performance of our bureaucratic contingent part of our problem may be a top heavy managerial system. Like most things involving tax dollars we seem to have far too many suits and not enough uniforms.
One final thing, I’m not an expert on many of the sports featured in the Olympics and truth be told I’m not one in any shape to lift myself off the couch and show anyone how to do something. But if the Canadian Olympic committee wants to improve our performance in Beijing in 2008, they should find out where that little blue cow trains and if he/she/it is available in four years. That cow participated in a wide variety of events and even won a gold medal in the hurdles without knocking one single hurdle down. You can’t tell me that a comprehensive training session in the cow pasture wouldn’t help put our national team on the right road to Beijing!
At any rate, the Greek Olympic gathering has come to an end and our athletes have returned with their booty, solving any overtime problems at Canada Customs by having very little to declare at the airport. And of course as with most Canadian activities on the World Stage, our insecure little nation begins the uniquely Canadian tradition of over analyzing the final result. With only 12 medals to hang over the national mantle the finger pointing has only just begun. Poor coaching, not enough financing, a national distaste for competition, all have been brought up as possible excuses for our less than awe inspiring performance at Athens.
Money at the moment seems to be the main focus of the diviners, who have come to the conclusion that unless we throw massive amounts of Loonies, Twonies and such into our amateur athletic programs then continual woe will be us. Even IOC grand pooh bah, Jacques Rogge got involved, suggesting he may just have to travel to Ottawa to lobby for more cash for Canada’s athletic movement, purely for our own good, helping us to avoid international shame and embarrassment in 2010. Here’s a bulletin Jacques, when it comes to asking for money in Canada, the line forms on the left and stretches as far as you can see.
No doubt funding is an issue; the simple math tells you that if your athletes are spending more time training and less time waiting on tables, then possibly the gold medal is just around the corner. But then again is it? Somehow you get the feeling that some of the countries that performed better than we did don’t have the same budget as ours, sometimes you just send some athletes who have raw talent that rises to the occasion. No amount of funding is going to change that fact. We can get closer, but we’re not going to be a dominant player in the Olympics. Canada will never be able to join the ranks of the Olympic factory nations.
The USA , China, Japan, Germany these are countries that can muster the financial resolve and cultural drive to aim for the higher spots in the World Olympic movement, we are very much what we are, a middling kind of country that should expect middling results. That’s not to say we should admit defeat and just be happy to be there, but unless we plan on creating a generation of Super athletes much like the Russians before the collapse of communism, we will just have to be happy with the occasional surprise Gold.
There are many ways we can raise more money to help our athletes compete, but dedicating a portion of the federal budget just doesn’t seem to be a high priority and nor should it. Health care, education, defence and a myriad of other national concerns will always take priority. How much trust do Canadians have in a government that has mismanaged our tax monies on the likes of the HRDC mess, the gun registry, adscam and all the other well documented abuses of our cash. For Canada to toss in more cash to the Olympic kitty, we’ll need some new ideas and non governmental options.
Tax breaks for our friends at Tim Horton’s, Petro Canada and the Dairy Board would be a start. The more they dedicate to our athletic endeavors, the better a tax deal they can get from the Government. Make helping our athletes a money making possibility and just watch how fast corporate Canada will jump on board.
Another avenue might be to take some money out of the black hole of lottery monies and allocate it to the Olympic Committee for use by our Olympic athletes, not our Olympic bureaucrats. At one time the raison d’etre for a national lottery was to fund the 76 summer Olympics. Somehow that simple idea got tossed aside when the various levels of government discovered that there was gold in them thar betting slips. If the government is serious about making changes, then let some of our “voluntary” tax dollars go to where they once were destined.
Whatever path we decide to follow, one hardly thinks pointing the fingers at our Olympians is a useful exercise. While the results may not have been what we had hoped for, we can be sure they gave it their best effort which is all we should really expect. If at the end of the day the brave band of brothers on the baseball team or young little Perdita gave it their best shot, then that’s where our pride should go. There’s no shame in not winning, only in not trying. (Though winning once and awhile can feel pretty good too!)
When the government gets around to examining the fallout of our Athens experience they can explore coaching and the bloated political end of our Olympic movement, judging by the performance of our bureaucratic contingent part of our problem may be a top heavy managerial system. Like most things involving tax dollars we seem to have far too many suits and not enough uniforms.
One final thing, I’m not an expert on many of the sports featured in the Olympics and truth be told I’m not one in any shape to lift myself off the couch and show anyone how to do something. But if the Canadian Olympic committee wants to improve our performance in Beijing in 2008, they should find out where that little blue cow trains and if he/she/it is available in four years. That cow participated in a wide variety of events and even won a gold medal in the hurdles without knocking one single hurdle down. You can’t tell me that a comprehensive training session in the cow pasture wouldn’t help put our national team on the right road to Beijing!
Sunday, August 29, 2004
George and Dick’s most excellent adventure
City sidewalks, busy sidewalks, all crowded right there,
Pro-tes-tors, marching through the city.
See the police, on every corner,
All loaded to bear, listen on every street and you’ll hear.
Cheney/Bush, Cheney/Bush,
Cheney/Bush, Cheney/Bush!
Its convention time, in the city.
Hear them sing, Hear them sing.
Will Truncheons ring, truncheons ring!
Its convention time, in New York
Yes indeed, it used to be the greatest show on earth at Madison Square Gardens, was the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey circus, but not anymore. With George and Dick coming to town, the greatest show is unfolding on our television sets as America plays out its political differences in the Garden and out in the streets.
The news anchors are all primed and fluffed, ready to take to their studios high above the convention floor as the Republicans gather to nominate George and Dick to the party ticket and off to tackle the forces of the Liberal left, exemplified by the Swift Boat kid John Kerry.
Monday begins the really big show, in the city that never sleeps, but Sunday set the tone for what’s ahead. A march through the streets of Manhattan attracted between 100,000 and 400,000 participants (depending on which side you take your fact checking from) representing all stripes of American society. With Rev. Jesse Jackson in the front along with new Liberal media kingpin Michael Moore, the vociferous throng marched, chanted, sang and protested anything and everything Bush.
The march was steeped with some powerful imagery, none more so than flag draped coffins carried through the streets to symbolize dead servicemen from Iraq. Needless to say, the march received a heavy amount of media coverage as it wound its way around central New York.
Largely peaceful, the marchers snaked there away around a 40 block area before arriving at Central Park, a locale they had been apparently banned from. As they parked themselves in the Park, police did little to dissuade them, a small victory for the marchers over the mayor of New York, Michael Bloomberg.
Organizers have not tipped their hand as to their next move, but more protest marches are most likely on the agenda as the Republicans work their way to the Thursday night nomination and speeches.
The Republicans gather in New York buoyed by polls that show the President is starting to make a bit of a comeback in the numbers, his opponent John Kerry never really received a convention bounce and has remained one or two points ahead of the Bush/Cheney ticket ever since. Republicans are hoping that by Friday the Bush/Cheney message will drown out the chorus of condemnation currently echoing around the canyons of Manhattan.
The strategy of the Republicans is to portray Bush and Cheney as leaders in a time of crisis. Cheney hit on that point Sunday in a public appearance at Ellis Island, which is located directly across from where the World Trade Centre towers once stood.
Expect to hear no mention of the Swift boat material over the next four days, Bush hoping to distance himself from the controversial aspects of that issue, not to mention avoiding the controversial aspects of his own Vietnam era participation. Like a scab that hasn’t yet healed, the Vietnam years still haunt the US political process. As people pick at the edges of it, the painful times of the sixties and seventies begin to come to the surface again.
While the Republicans began to prepare their trip to New York, the Democrats have tried to turn the attention of the people onto the economy of late. A rather successful approach has been in the Democratic television ads aired in the last week or so, which have been focusing on a battered American economy which has been a largely unreported story with the war going on. The television commercial which features a recitation of declining economic indicators, suggesting the same old record, is a fairly powerful project that highlights just how much many Americans have suffered in the Bush/Cheney years. So far though, the factual nature of those ads and others has not had any real effect on the race.
As George and Dick prepare to make their pilgrimage to the RNC Big Top, the media superstars are pulling out all the stops. Peter, Dan, Tom, the CNN crews, the cheerleaders of Fox, the sober professionals at PBS, all are preparing themselves for comprehensive coverage. One little gem that Canadians will unfortunately not be privy to, will be a debate between the Fox News pit bull Bill O'Reilly and the quite cerebral Bono of U2 (who appears to be a convention junkie judging by his frequent appearances at these polfests)
Some of the networks are dedicating more attention to the proceedings than others. The major commercial networks don’t expect to spend as much time as past years following the minor details of convention life. Much like their coverage at the Democratic convention in July, they’ll follow the key speakers in Schwarzenegger and McCain. And of course when Rudy Giuliani takes to the stage for his address, Republicans will hail him as America’s mayor. Listen with careful attention to his speech and more carefully to the reaction to it, expect a wave of adulation as he wraps up his performance, Giuliani is still very much the hero from 9/11 and more than one Republican has suggested that a Bush/Giuliani ticket would be an unstoppable force in November. Combine the love for Rudy with a scathing indictment of all things Dick in Rolling Stone and somebody had best keep an eye on the current Veep when Rudy is talking!
While the big media players prepare their multi million dollar performers and polish up their studios, our relatively new public forum will get its beta test in New York. Like Boston, Bloggers will be in attendance at the convention, with the growing pains out of the way from Boston and a little less attention on the Bloggers themselves; we may see how our little method of communication will fare in a structured control fest such as the RNC convention.
While we won’t forsake the works of Pete, Tom, Dan and Larry et al. We look forward to a Post by Post description of all things political, both indoors and out, over the next four days.
Pro-tes-tors, marching through the city.
See the police, on every corner,
All loaded to bear, listen on every street and you’ll hear.
Cheney/Bush, Cheney/Bush,
Cheney/Bush, Cheney/Bush!
Its convention time, in the city.
Hear them sing, Hear them sing.
Will Truncheons ring, truncheons ring!
Its convention time, in New York
Yes indeed, it used to be the greatest show on earth at Madison Square Gardens, was the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey circus, but not anymore. With George and Dick coming to town, the greatest show is unfolding on our television sets as America plays out its political differences in the Garden and out in the streets.
The news anchors are all primed and fluffed, ready to take to their studios high above the convention floor as the Republicans gather to nominate George and Dick to the party ticket and off to tackle the forces of the Liberal left, exemplified by the Swift Boat kid John Kerry.
Monday begins the really big show, in the city that never sleeps, but Sunday set the tone for what’s ahead. A march through the streets of Manhattan attracted between 100,000 and 400,000 participants (depending on which side you take your fact checking from) representing all stripes of American society. With Rev. Jesse Jackson in the front along with new Liberal media kingpin Michael Moore, the vociferous throng marched, chanted, sang and protested anything and everything Bush.
The march was steeped with some powerful imagery, none more so than flag draped coffins carried through the streets to symbolize dead servicemen from Iraq. Needless to say, the march received a heavy amount of media coverage as it wound its way around central New York.
Largely peaceful, the marchers snaked there away around a 40 block area before arriving at Central Park, a locale they had been apparently banned from. As they parked themselves in the Park, police did little to dissuade them, a small victory for the marchers over the mayor of New York, Michael Bloomberg.
Organizers have not tipped their hand as to their next move, but more protest marches are most likely on the agenda as the Republicans work their way to the Thursday night nomination and speeches.
The Republicans gather in New York buoyed by polls that show the President is starting to make a bit of a comeback in the numbers, his opponent John Kerry never really received a convention bounce and has remained one or two points ahead of the Bush/Cheney ticket ever since. Republicans are hoping that by Friday the Bush/Cheney message will drown out the chorus of condemnation currently echoing around the canyons of Manhattan.
The strategy of the Republicans is to portray Bush and Cheney as leaders in a time of crisis. Cheney hit on that point Sunday in a public appearance at Ellis Island, which is located directly across from where the World Trade Centre towers once stood.
Expect to hear no mention of the Swift boat material over the next four days, Bush hoping to distance himself from the controversial aspects of that issue, not to mention avoiding the controversial aspects of his own Vietnam era participation. Like a scab that hasn’t yet healed, the Vietnam years still haunt the US political process. As people pick at the edges of it, the painful times of the sixties and seventies begin to come to the surface again.
While the Republicans began to prepare their trip to New York, the Democrats have tried to turn the attention of the people onto the economy of late. A rather successful approach has been in the Democratic television ads aired in the last week or so, which have been focusing on a battered American economy which has been a largely unreported story with the war going on. The television commercial which features a recitation of declining economic indicators, suggesting the same old record, is a fairly powerful project that highlights just how much many Americans have suffered in the Bush/Cheney years. So far though, the factual nature of those ads and others has not had any real effect on the race.
As George and Dick prepare to make their pilgrimage to the RNC Big Top, the media superstars are pulling out all the stops. Peter, Dan, Tom, the CNN crews, the cheerleaders of Fox, the sober professionals at PBS, all are preparing themselves for comprehensive coverage. One little gem that Canadians will unfortunately not be privy to, will be a debate between the Fox News pit bull Bill O'Reilly and the quite cerebral Bono of U2 (who appears to be a convention junkie judging by his frequent appearances at these polfests)
Some of the networks are dedicating more attention to the proceedings than others. The major commercial networks don’t expect to spend as much time as past years following the minor details of convention life. Much like their coverage at the Democratic convention in July, they’ll follow the key speakers in Schwarzenegger and McCain. And of course when Rudy Giuliani takes to the stage for his address, Republicans will hail him as America’s mayor. Listen with careful attention to his speech and more carefully to the reaction to it, expect a wave of adulation as he wraps up his performance, Giuliani is still very much the hero from 9/11 and more than one Republican has suggested that a Bush/Giuliani ticket would be an unstoppable force in November. Combine the love for Rudy with a scathing indictment of all things Dick in Rolling Stone and somebody had best keep an eye on the current Veep when Rudy is talking!
While the big media players prepare their multi million dollar performers and polish up their studios, our relatively new public forum will get its beta test in New York. Like Boston, Bloggers will be in attendance at the convention, with the growing pains out of the way from Boston and a little less attention on the Bloggers themselves; we may see how our little method of communication will fare in a structured control fest such as the RNC convention.
While we won’t forsake the works of Pete, Tom, Dan and Larry et al. We look forward to a Post by Post description of all things political, both indoors and out, over the next four days.
A week of essentials August 24-30
From tumbling hurdlers to stumbling politicians, the week of essentials featured humankind at its highs and lows. A lost Stanley and an irate family, a tv hero and political zero all vying for time on the essentials. All were just a few of the many items of interest in the week just past. For the record, the week of essentials.
24-Aug-04 Where's Radar O'Reilly when the Forces need him?
24-Aug-04 Going Negative
24-Aug-04 Time to get out of the house?
24-Aug-04 They Lost Stanley!
24-Aug-04 Relationship advice for Brittney Spears
25-Aug-04 Much handwringing over a hurdlers tumble
25-Aug-04 The Canadian Army's Lost and Found
25-Aug-04 Hawkeye to the White House
25-Aug-04 Sugary drinks & no exercise=Health Risks! Whooda thought!
25-Aug-04 We interupt this broadcast for station de-infestation
26-Aug-04 Brand new government, same old Carolyn!
26-Aug-04 And we're leaving on that midnight train to Canada
26-Aug-04 CHOI-FM wins a reprieve, stays on air until court case is heard.
26-Aug-04 Ready to count votes in Florida again
26-Aug-04 Somebody get Dave Matthews off the environment committee!
27-Aug-04 Ralphie has other plans
27-Aug-04 The next despot up for trial
27-Aug-04 God Help Kermit
27-Aug-04 Meet me at the place of Kodhar ka ullu for lunch
27-Aug-04 Lord Black's inquisition
28-Aug-04 Michael Burns George
28-Aug-04 Danes Back Down
28-Aug-04 Slaying Goliath
28-Aug-04 And we're climbing a Stairway to Heaven
28-Aug-04 Won't you please come to New York, or else join the other side
29-Aug-04 Bonne chance ou au revoir pour Bernard
29-Aug-04 Sacrilege or Straigtforward? Only his kids know for sure
29-Aug-04 Iverson points some fingers
29-Aug-04 From the book of Clinton: It's the economy stupid!
29-Aug-04 Revenge really does make you feel better.
30-Aug-04 The Curse of Dick Cheney
30-Aug-04 Meet us out in the streets
30-Aug-04 Bloggin' the RNC
30-Aug-04 Double standard Dole
30-Aug-04 The Gladiator chews the messenger
24-Aug-04 Where's Radar O'Reilly when the Forces need him?
24-Aug-04 Going Negative
24-Aug-04 Time to get out of the house?
24-Aug-04 They Lost Stanley!
24-Aug-04 Relationship advice for Brittney Spears
25-Aug-04 Much handwringing over a hurdlers tumble
25-Aug-04 The Canadian Army's Lost and Found
25-Aug-04 Hawkeye to the White House
25-Aug-04 Sugary drinks & no exercise=Health Risks! Whooda thought!
25-Aug-04 We interupt this broadcast for station de-infestation
26-Aug-04 Brand new government, same old Carolyn!
26-Aug-04 And we're leaving on that midnight train to Canada
26-Aug-04 CHOI-FM wins a reprieve, stays on air until court case is heard.
26-Aug-04 Ready to count votes in Florida again
26-Aug-04 Somebody get Dave Matthews off the environment committee!
27-Aug-04 Ralphie has other plans
27-Aug-04 The next despot up for trial
27-Aug-04 God Help Kermit
27-Aug-04 Meet me at the place of Kodhar ka ullu for lunch
27-Aug-04 Lord Black's inquisition
28-Aug-04 Michael Burns George
28-Aug-04 Danes Back Down
28-Aug-04 Slaying Goliath
28-Aug-04 And we're climbing a Stairway to Heaven
28-Aug-04 Won't you please come to New York, or else join the other side
29-Aug-04 Bonne chance ou au revoir pour Bernard
29-Aug-04 Sacrilege or Straigtforward? Only his kids know for sure
29-Aug-04 Iverson points some fingers
29-Aug-04 From the book of Clinton: It's the economy stupid!
29-Aug-04 Revenge really does make you feel better.
30-Aug-04 The Curse of Dick Cheney
30-Aug-04 Meet us out in the streets
30-Aug-04 Bloggin' the RNC
30-Aug-04 Double standard Dole
30-Aug-04 The Gladiator chews the messenger
Tear it down, so as to start over?
Deny, Deny, Deny that seems to be the main approach to a prospect first voiced on 640 Mojo radio in Toronto. During a Saturday afternoon interview with Bill Watters on Mojo, the idea of shutting down the NHL and re launching it as a different entity was suggested. Watters going so far as to say that he had been told by one league owner that it was a very serious option being considered for January should the dispute last that long.
That concept was quickly shot down by the leagues Executive Vice President Billy Daly, who said that no such plan was under consideration. Daly stated that “I can unequivocally tell you that is not the case”
With the Mojo story taking on a life of its own, The Fan 590 in Toronto was quick to jump into the end of the Hockey World as we know it angle, with their own story stating much the same. They too based their story on an un-named GM, who had expressed the belief that a brand new league is very much a possibility.
Now HockeyNation is not sure exactly how that would work, for if it indeed were possible to just close your business and start over the country would be riddled with thousands of labour disputes solved simply by changing the name on the sign. Since it doesn’t happen regularly in the real world, it seems beyond belief that the NHL would be able to get it by the legal and governmental types of two separate nations. When Ford and GM have a labour dispute they don’t just close the plant, change the letterhead and reopen up a week later, somehow we assume there is some kind of labour legislation out there some place governing this kind of solution to labour woe.
One thing is certain though, this bit of rumour mongering means that Hockey fans are now officially in a vacuum, with nothing of substance to help us along the way, we’re left to listen to the rumours and the ravings of the conspiracy buffs. Most of who apparently have a direct line to Toronto radio stations.
The above post first appeared in my HockeyNation blog, for more items about hockey check it out.
That concept was quickly shot down by the leagues Executive Vice President Billy Daly, who said that no such plan was under consideration. Daly stated that “I can unequivocally tell you that is not the case”
With the Mojo story taking on a life of its own, The Fan 590 in Toronto was quick to jump into the end of the Hockey World as we know it angle, with their own story stating much the same. They too based their story on an un-named GM, who had expressed the belief that a brand new league is very much a possibility.
Now HockeyNation is not sure exactly how that would work, for if it indeed were possible to just close your business and start over the country would be riddled with thousands of labour disputes solved simply by changing the name on the sign. Since it doesn’t happen regularly in the real world, it seems beyond belief that the NHL would be able to get it by the legal and governmental types of two separate nations. When Ford and GM have a labour dispute they don’t just close the plant, change the letterhead and reopen up a week later, somehow we assume there is some kind of labour legislation out there some place governing this kind of solution to labour woe.
One thing is certain though, this bit of rumour mongering means that Hockey fans are now officially in a vacuum, with nothing of substance to help us along the way, we’re left to listen to the rumours and the ravings of the conspiracy buffs. Most of who apparently have a direct line to Toronto radio stations.
The above post first appeared in my HockeyNation blog, for more items about hockey check it out.
Thursday, August 26, 2004
Narco tourism across the 49th
The Underground Railroad is alive and well, as an Amtrak train arrived in Vancouver Wednesday bringing 20 American drug seekers across the border. No they weren’t there for the much discussed, celebrated and feared (by some) BC Bud, but rather for our Prozac, Zocor, Lipitor, Ritalin et al, all much cheaper than what they would find back home.
The Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer rights paid 20,000 dollars in order to charter two train cars which were attached to Amtraks regularly scheduled Coast Starlight train. Setting out from California the train collected passengers along the way, arriving in Vancouver 3 hours late but to a heavy amount of media attention.
With prescriptions in hands from the docs back home, the 20 freedom (from high drug prices) riders will meet with BC doctors on Thursday and then head off to the Prescription counter to have their orders filled.
Dubbed the Rx Express the train passengers are hoping to point out that Canada’s drug policy of negotiating prices with the drug companies has provided quality product at reasonable prices. The public purchasing is designed to pressure the American system to take a page from Canada and try to bring prescription drug prices down to an affordable rate for the average American.
Smart Canadian entrepreneurs will be watching events closely; there could be an entire new form of tourism waiting to be tapped here. Canadian’s like their gambling junkets to Vegas, perhaps there’s a market for Dining, Dancing and Drugs in Canada.
The current rage in Canada is Eco Tourism, where tourists enjoy the natural beauty of the nation. The next wave may be Narco tourism, where our visitors take more than pictures and trinkets back home with them.
The Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer rights paid 20,000 dollars in order to charter two train cars which were attached to Amtraks regularly scheduled Coast Starlight train. Setting out from California the train collected passengers along the way, arriving in Vancouver 3 hours late but to a heavy amount of media attention.
With prescriptions in hands from the docs back home, the 20 freedom (from high drug prices) riders will meet with BC doctors on Thursday and then head off to the Prescription counter to have their orders filled.
Dubbed the Rx Express the train passengers are hoping to point out that Canada’s drug policy of negotiating prices with the drug companies has provided quality product at reasonable prices. The public purchasing is designed to pressure the American system to take a page from Canada and try to bring prescription drug prices down to an affordable rate for the average American.
Smart Canadian entrepreneurs will be watching events closely; there could be an entire new form of tourism waiting to be tapped here. Canadian’s like their gambling junkets to Vegas, perhaps there’s a market for Dining, Dancing and Drugs in Canada.
The current rage in Canada is Eco Tourism, where tourists enjoy the natural beauty of the nation. The next wave may be Narco tourism, where our visitors take more than pictures and trinkets back home with them.
Wednesday, August 25, 2004
Light up the Havana’s, we were smoked in the eighth!
I’ll admit right up front that I have not exactly been glued to my CBC affiliate (or TSN for that matter) watching all things Olympic. I’ve popped in from time to time to watch an event or two, stuck around when I’ve stumbled across an interesting turn of events (like an American basketball colossus, stumbling under its own self important weight) and have managed to miss a live broadcast of every single one of our gold medal ceremonies (both of them!). I have watched as our talking heads explained what went right and what went wrong, chastised the non believers or tried to make the best out of less than golden moments.
The one event I’ve tried to keep on top of , was the path of our Baseball team. That group of minor league players and all but forgotten former big leaguers, has gamely tried to do what most people thought impossible, bring home a gold medal. With the Americans not even in the Olympic tournament, there were whispers that this team could be the one to bring home the gold. With a close group of team mates, some solid managerial talent and a strong desire to win, I had a feeling this might be Canada’s feel good story of the Olympics. With the news that Australia had eliminated Japan, the road seemed set for Canada to make a run. At least my hopes were riding pretty high with our Big Red Machine.
But as the game moved to the final innings, that little plan came to a crushing end, all in the space of about thirty five minutes of a disastrous eighth inning. Canada went into the bottom of the eighth with a 3-2 lead and came out of it shell-shocked and wondering what the hell happened! Some suddenly shaky pitching and a bout of bad in fielding, (a botched possible double play sparked the Cubans) gave Fidel’s boys enough of an opportunity to load up the runs, scoring six of them, taking a huge 8-3 lead into the top of the ninth.
Until that point Canada had actually been playing some fairly inspired ball, keeping close to the Cubans and at one time taking the lead and holding it through the middle innings. However, a tendency to abandon runners on the bases through the majority of the game came back to haunt the Canadian squad.
Manager Ernie Whitt, who somehow manages to keep his younger players on an even keel, could only watch and wonder what may have been. The Cubans built up the momentum in the eighth to take the lead and sent the Canadians reeling to the dugout.
However, the one thing about this team I liked prior to the Olympics and during the games as well, has been their never say die attitude. And for a while there I thought we might pull this one out of the fire. A determined effort in the top of the ninth, loaded up the bases and threatened to tie the Cubans. With two out, a long, long fly ball made it all the way to the fence before being hauled in. Tantalizingly long to raise our expectations, short enough to crush our hopes.
Kinder Olympic Gods Hello Aeolus) would have summoned up a strong gust of wind to lift the ball over the fence but, alas, once again in what is becoming a rather perpetual Canadian thing we came up a bit short, losing 8-5 and now we will battle for the bronze against Japan on Wednesday.
While you can empathize with many of our athletes as they strive for the top and come up short, I found the drama of the baseball team to be a story within the story kind of Olympic moment. Many of these guys will never make it to the major leagues, some of them have already had their shot and are either on their way down the food chain or already off the buffet table completely. This was to be their one chance to reach for glory and to watch them leave the field having come up short just didn’t seem like a fair shake.
Canada actually won medals on Tuesday a gold and a silver, which should have been a cause for a smile or two. But by the end of the night, the focus was on hurdler Perdita Felicien, who stumbled into the first hurdle of her race and watched her Gold Medal dream crash to the track. Between her misfortune and the baseball team’s heartbreak, the day seemed gloomy and indicative of our week and half in Athens.
Sometimes you need a little luck to go with your skill, for whatever reasons Tyche the Greek God of Luck has not smiled on Canada. In fact it would seem that the Goddess assigned to the Canadian team was Nyx a daughter of Chaos, which seems to define the Canadian path this year..
The one event I’ve tried to keep on top of , was the path of our Baseball team. That group of minor league players and all but forgotten former big leaguers, has gamely tried to do what most people thought impossible, bring home a gold medal. With the Americans not even in the Olympic tournament, there were whispers that this team could be the one to bring home the gold. With a close group of team mates, some solid managerial talent and a strong desire to win, I had a feeling this might be Canada’s feel good story of the Olympics. With the news that Australia had eliminated Japan, the road seemed set for Canada to make a run. At least my hopes were riding pretty high with our Big Red Machine.
But as the game moved to the final innings, that little plan came to a crushing end, all in the space of about thirty five minutes of a disastrous eighth inning. Canada went into the bottom of the eighth with a 3-2 lead and came out of it shell-shocked and wondering what the hell happened! Some suddenly shaky pitching and a bout of bad in fielding, (a botched possible double play sparked the Cubans) gave Fidel’s boys enough of an opportunity to load up the runs, scoring six of them, taking a huge 8-3 lead into the top of the ninth.
Until that point Canada had actually been playing some fairly inspired ball, keeping close to the Cubans and at one time taking the lead and holding it through the middle innings. However, a tendency to abandon runners on the bases through the majority of the game came back to haunt the Canadian squad.
Manager Ernie Whitt, who somehow manages to keep his younger players on an even keel, could only watch and wonder what may have been. The Cubans built up the momentum in the eighth to take the lead and sent the Canadians reeling to the dugout.
However, the one thing about this team I liked prior to the Olympics and during the games as well, has been their never say die attitude. And for a while there I thought we might pull this one out of the fire. A determined effort in the top of the ninth, loaded up the bases and threatened to tie the Cubans. With two out, a long, long fly ball made it all the way to the fence before being hauled in. Tantalizingly long to raise our expectations, short enough to crush our hopes.
Kinder Olympic Gods Hello Aeolus) would have summoned up a strong gust of wind to lift the ball over the fence but, alas, once again in what is becoming a rather perpetual Canadian thing we came up a bit short, losing 8-5 and now we will battle for the bronze against Japan on Wednesday.
While you can empathize with many of our athletes as they strive for the top and come up short, I found the drama of the baseball team to be a story within the story kind of Olympic moment. Many of these guys will never make it to the major leagues, some of them have already had their shot and are either on their way down the food chain or already off the buffet table completely. This was to be their one chance to reach for glory and to watch them leave the field having come up short just didn’t seem like a fair shake.
Canada actually won medals on Tuesday a gold and a silver, which should have been a cause for a smile or two. But by the end of the night, the focus was on hurdler Perdita Felicien, who stumbled into the first hurdle of her race and watched her Gold Medal dream crash to the track. Between her misfortune and the baseball team’s heartbreak, the day seemed gloomy and indicative of our week and half in Athens.
Sometimes you need a little luck to go with your skill, for whatever reasons Tyche the Greek God of Luck has not smiled on Canada. In fact it would seem that the Goddess assigned to the Canadian team was Nyx a daughter of Chaos, which seems to define the Canadian path this year..
Tuesday, August 24, 2004
Look what they’ve done to my song!
With “special” Olympic moments few and far between for Canadians, one could forgive us our enthusiasm at the prospect of hearing our national song. When Canadian Gymnast Kyle Shewfelt took to the podium to receive his gold medal, the nation was ready to sing along with gusto, or more likely in true Canadian style kind of hum, sort of sing or quietly try to remember all the words.
The exuberant announcers on CBC even coached us along with some flowery patriotic offerings “CANADA wins the GOLD! And for the First time, Athens will hear O Canada!”
Be still our beating hearts, we’re ready to let loose! And so began the rousing rendition of O Canada. Well not so fast anthem fans! What followed is best described as a show stopper! Not since Las Vegas lounge singer Dennis K. C. Park,(curser halfway down this link to hear the epic) terrorized us before a July 1994 CFL game, has O Canada sounded so unrecognizable!
Quick somebody call Hans Blix, we finally found some WMD’s, buried (or well it should be!) deep in the Athens Olympic sports arena is a bona fide Weapon of Musical Destruction.
Even Gold Medal winner Shewfelt appeared to cringe at times, his golden moment interrupted by more than one painful note in the suddenly very long song! No one quite knew what to make of the rendition, commentators went mute, people looked at each other and finally the moment was done. The medal awarded we went on to other things more Canadian, like finger pointing.
In what is fast becoming our national sport the Canadian Olympic officials quickly went into damage control mode. Canadian officials were quick off the mark (if only our athletic attempts were so quick) to claim that the version played by the Greek organizers, was not approved by the COC. In fact one Canadian official went so far as to describe the song as “sounding like it was on ouzo”.
The anthem debacle left one hoping that should Canada be fortunate enough to win any further Gold Medals, we should politely decline the anthem playing segment of the celebration in the Spirit of Good will and Good taste. Short of that have Canada Post send out by it's Purolator International service, any recording from the nearest NHL rink.
However, as we are quickly learning with our Olympic officials, things always seem to mushroom beyond their control. The composer of the performance in question, new Canadian Peter Breiner says not so fast. He has documentation that the piece not only was approved by the Canadian Olympic committee but they even went so far as to say they “were very happy to approve this version”. As he told the Globe and Mail, same people from very happy to ouzo. Breiner has advised all who will listen that he had provided two versions of the anthem, one a more traditional offering and the up beat peppy little thing that managed to send them running for the exits.
(to hear for yourself check out these links from the Globe and Naxos 1) the controversial effort and 2) the original production preferred by the composer himself!)
Breiner may be new to Canada but he’s quick to our national past time of lambasting bureaucrats, the final word on the anthem debacle goes to Mr. Breiner who patiently awaits the playing of his preferred version, which apparently is in the hands of the Greeks, only awaiting the word for placement in the Olympic Juke box.
Said Breiner: “Somebody would have to make the decision, and that’s not exactly the strong side of the Canadian Olympic committee.” And just to reinforce his point he offered up this cutting comment that says it all: “It’s a mess there. They don’t know what they’re doing, as you can see by the results”
Ouch! As they say at the Olympic tennis court (and the court of Canadian Public Opinion), GAME, SET, MATCH, Mr. Breiner!
The exuberant announcers on CBC even coached us along with some flowery patriotic offerings “CANADA wins the GOLD! And for the First time, Athens will hear O Canada!”
Be still our beating hearts, we’re ready to let loose! And so began the rousing rendition of O Canada. Well not so fast anthem fans! What followed is best described as a show stopper! Not since Las Vegas lounge singer Dennis K. C. Park,(curser halfway down this link to hear the epic) terrorized us before a July 1994 CFL game, has O Canada sounded so unrecognizable!
Quick somebody call Hans Blix, we finally found some WMD’s, buried (or well it should be!) deep in the Athens Olympic sports arena is a bona fide Weapon of Musical Destruction.
Even Gold Medal winner Shewfelt appeared to cringe at times, his golden moment interrupted by more than one painful note in the suddenly very long song! No one quite knew what to make of the rendition, commentators went mute, people looked at each other and finally the moment was done. The medal awarded we went on to other things more Canadian, like finger pointing.
In what is fast becoming our national sport the Canadian Olympic officials quickly went into damage control mode. Canadian officials were quick off the mark (if only our athletic attempts were so quick) to claim that the version played by the Greek organizers, was not approved by the COC. In fact one Canadian official went so far as to describe the song as “sounding like it was on ouzo”.
The anthem debacle left one hoping that should Canada be fortunate enough to win any further Gold Medals, we should politely decline the anthem playing segment of the celebration in the Spirit of Good will and Good taste. Short of that have Canada Post send out by it's Purolator International service, any recording from the nearest NHL rink.
However, as we are quickly learning with our Olympic officials, things always seem to mushroom beyond their control. The composer of the performance in question, new Canadian Peter Breiner says not so fast. He has documentation that the piece not only was approved by the Canadian Olympic committee but they even went so far as to say they “were very happy to approve this version”. As he told the Globe and Mail, same people from very happy to ouzo. Breiner has advised all who will listen that he had provided two versions of the anthem, one a more traditional offering and the up beat peppy little thing that managed to send them running for the exits.
(to hear for yourself check out these links from the Globe and Naxos 1) the controversial effort and 2) the original production preferred by the composer himself!)
Breiner may be new to Canada but he’s quick to our national past time of lambasting bureaucrats, the final word on the anthem debacle goes to Mr. Breiner who patiently awaits the playing of his preferred version, which apparently is in the hands of the Greeks, only awaiting the word for placement in the Olympic Juke box.
Said Breiner: “Somebody would have to make the decision, and that’s not exactly the strong side of the Canadian Olympic committee.” And just to reinforce his point he offered up this cutting comment that says it all: “It’s a mess there. They don’t know what they’re doing, as you can see by the results”
Ouch! As they say at the Olympic tennis court (and the court of Canadian Public Opinion), GAME, SET, MATCH, Mr. Breiner!
Sunday, August 22, 2004
Weekly Essentials August 17-22
Wild Weather, national handwringing, paranoid neighbours and a high flying GG, the week had it all. Join us for a look back at a week of essentials.
17-Aug-04 THE NIGHT THE LIGHTS WENT OUT IN PODUNK!
18-Aug-04 Known for its hot air, Toronto sees the future in cold water
18-Aug-04 And that's the way he was
18-Aug-04 Kick the habit and cut down on crime
18-Aug-04 Harder and Harder to make a buck at a buck or two
18-Aug-04 Needless to say this is in a pay now, use later basis
19-Aug-04 Google better than gold and oil?
19-Aug-04 The good news is that we don't have many weapons,
The bad news is we dont' take care of what we have!
19-Aug-04 When the hosts don't want the guests
19-Aug-04 Frequent flyin' GG keeping her itinerary close to her vest
19-Aug-04 In Olympic handwringing we get the GOLD
20-Aug-04 Bad news for George, Kitty's on the case
20-Aug-04 Bingeing bear shows brand loyalty
20-Aug-04 Suspect one is one item above
20-Aug-04 Last one out of Nortel turn out the lights
20-Aug-04 El Nino is making reservations
21-Aug-04 Well Homeland Security's got a chopper in the air
21-Aug-04 Gang of three plans some strategy
21-Aug-04 Should PM the PM start looking over his shoulder
21-Aug-04 No Hanging Chads here, Kerry's people trolling for votes in Canada
21-Aug-04 Launching off to Saskatoon
22-Aug-04 You just don't see funerals like that anymore
22-Aug-04 But will they be allowed back across the border?
22-Aug-04 Alberta's revenge
22-Aug-04 It really does seem like he's been on forever
22-Aug-04 Your never too old to go back to the front!
23-Aug-04 Finally a golden boy!
23-Aug-04 Good fences may make better neighbours!
23-Aug-04 Is Canada on the way to a dry dock Navy?
23-Aug-04 Governor Joe? Sounds good to Joe Piscopo!
23-Aug-04 Scalping Olympic tickets:How to make a buck at an empty venue
17-Aug-04 THE NIGHT THE LIGHTS WENT OUT IN PODUNK!
18-Aug-04 Known for its hot air, Toronto sees the future in cold water
18-Aug-04 And that's the way he was
18-Aug-04 Kick the habit and cut down on crime
18-Aug-04 Harder and Harder to make a buck at a buck or two
18-Aug-04 Needless to say this is in a pay now, use later basis
19-Aug-04 Google better than gold and oil?
19-Aug-04 The good news is that we don't have many weapons,
The bad news is we dont' take care of what we have!
19-Aug-04 When the hosts don't want the guests
19-Aug-04 Frequent flyin' GG keeping her itinerary close to her vest
19-Aug-04 In Olympic handwringing we get the GOLD
20-Aug-04 Bad news for George, Kitty's on the case
20-Aug-04 Bingeing bear shows brand loyalty
20-Aug-04 Suspect one is one item above
20-Aug-04 Last one out of Nortel turn out the lights
20-Aug-04 El Nino is making reservations
21-Aug-04 Well Homeland Security's got a chopper in the air
21-Aug-04 Gang of three plans some strategy
21-Aug-04 Should PM the PM start looking over his shoulder
21-Aug-04 No Hanging Chads here, Kerry's people trolling for votes in Canada
21-Aug-04 Launching off to Saskatoon
22-Aug-04 You just don't see funerals like that anymore
22-Aug-04 But will they be allowed back across the border?
22-Aug-04 Alberta's revenge
22-Aug-04 It really does seem like he's been on forever
22-Aug-04 Your never too old to go back to the front!
23-Aug-04 Finally a golden boy!
23-Aug-04 Good fences may make better neighbours!
23-Aug-04 Is Canada on the way to a dry dock Navy?
23-Aug-04 Governor Joe? Sounds good to Joe Piscopo!
23-Aug-04 Scalping Olympic tickets:How to make a buck at an empty venue
Friday, August 20, 2004
Little Blue Cows, Super burger flippers and a couple of medals on the side!
Oh! Canada, when the going gets tough, we just get going. The official Canadian sport of hand wringing is in full swing as the results pour in from Athens. Unfortunately, the results pouring in show pretty well every country in the world winning medals (Belarus, Zimbabwe take your places), countries other than the True North Strong but Gold Medal Free! We were still there doing a personal best, happy to be there; yes our uniforms are the best, just don’t book us any times in the press theatre afterwards.
So far as we post our little synopsis of stronger, faster, just cross the line please, we have two medals in our possession, laying claim to a bronze in synchronized diving and silver in the trampoline. Blink and we’d miss the highlights but there we are up on the podium receiving our medals and flowers.
A nation of never high expectations (our commentators frequently proclaim “we’re hoping for a bronze or at least a personal best)”, none the less, we are kind of hoping for a tad more movement in the medal count in Athens. Some of our supposed surer bets have certainly disappointed, our rowers have gone astray, cyclists have tumbled from their mounts and our performance in the pool has deteriorated from just plain unfortunate to full fledged backbiting. Anonymous athletes urge Canada to fire the swimming coaches, rebuild and re-float goes the cry. In Olympic excuse making, we’re going for the gold in finger pointing.
The outrage over the choice of Nicholas Gill as flag bearer is no longer of concern, since he never managed to make it past his first fight. Of course much will be made of the flag bearer jinx. The traditional Canadian phobia about carrying the flag into the Olympic arena only to exit the competition unfulfilled. If nothing else we are consistent!
The cheerleaders, oops, broadcasters at CBC are having a hard time working up the necessary feeling of joy, what with our less than spectacular results thus far. However, our lack of success has been a ratings help to the CBC, Americans within range of the Canadian border are tuning in to get a fuller Olympic experience. So in place of medal presentations with the strains of Oh Canada lifting to the skies, we get “personality features” vignettes about the struggle, sacrifice and sense of accomplishment our Olympians have developed between game years. They make for a nice feel good diversion, but when the story fades to black that medal count total comes back up, and ahem, somebody check the computer we seem stuck at two!
Things are so desperate on the televised broadcasts that the Dairy Foundations little Blue Cow campaign is getting our blood pumping more than the actual competition. The commercials feature the aforementioned cow, taking on all comers and coming out on top of the Bovine pile. Yeah Canada, get rid of the red and white, colour us blue, little blue cow blue! You may have seen the commercials, better yet listen to them from a distance; you’ll be rushing to the TV in anticipation of that Canadian breakthrough. Moooove over world here comes Canada. We also can take pride in our burger flipping talents, our Canadian McDonald’s reps are doing us proud as part of the McDonald’s contribution to the Olympics. Super size our effort, when it comes to flipping quarter pounders, shaking the salt on those fries and whipping up a McFlurry we have no equals!
As for the actual events, the success of Australia seems to be causing us the most distress, a nation similar to ours but with less population has to this point put on a pretty impressive show for the folks back home. Mostly from the success of the swim team the Aussies at last count were holding down fourth place quiet nicely, though the Russians are closing in fast. Australia has found success by a comprehensive dedication to funding their Olympic team part of the legacy of the Sydney Olympics where the home side wanted to put its best foot forward. It’s a model that many in Canada wish to pattern our program after but at what cost? Do we thus relegate our health care system to even worse standards than those that currently exist, do we abandon the homeless, curtail many of the programs that we presently have in place in order to look a little better on the world stage?
Surely there must be a less onerous way for Canada to improve, without taking away from many of the social programs that are just hanging on as it is! Better yet, perhaps a funding review is in order, maybe have Sheila Fraser take her Auditor General’s pencil to the Canadian Olympic Association and make sure that the current funding is being properly allocated, more for athletes less for junkets might make for a nice credo.
Perhaps the corporate community should more fully embrace the Olympic movement, not quite to the same point that the USA has, but there may be ways for Canadian industry and services to get involved. A special tax break for those companies that help out may be the key to increased corporate support. If a Canadian company gets fully involved in the Olympic program give them tax breaks for their corporate advertising or any other adjustment to reward their participation. If they hire Olympians allowing them to train to a high standard, allow them to claim those employees as a tax credit. It’s time to get creative, anything to help out the cause without taxing the average Canadian too much.
All is not totally lost in Athens, there are still more events to come, our Baseball team while struggling earlier Friday is still in a strong position for a Gold medal, our Women’s softball team is gamely fighting back to make a last stand for medal potential. The beach volleyball gals seem to be hitting a stride, the rowers are back in the water and the track team has yet to take to the stadium.
No doubt there will be a few more surprises for Canadians; we’ll probably win some medals in sports that few know much about. But it seems hard to believe that come the end of the competition next week we’ll still be stuck at two.
Should we not improve our count by next Friday there will be much said about our performance and how to improve it. Already we're a tad grumpy as our journalists pile on about everything from poor results to poor television.
China will host the next summer games spectacular in 2008. Judging by the success of their team so far, they fully expect to dominate those games whatever the cost. Canada will have to decide just how serious we wish to tackle these challenges; in any case we should have a plan B.
Somebody find out where those little blue cows did their training! They’re pulling their weight in Athens perhaps the time has come to turn the team over to the Cows, better than letting things go to the dogs!
So far as we post our little synopsis of stronger, faster, just cross the line please, we have two medals in our possession, laying claim to a bronze in synchronized diving and silver in the trampoline. Blink and we’d miss the highlights but there we are up on the podium receiving our medals and flowers.
A nation of never high expectations (our commentators frequently proclaim “we’re hoping for a bronze or at least a personal best)”, none the less, we are kind of hoping for a tad more movement in the medal count in Athens. Some of our supposed surer bets have certainly disappointed, our rowers have gone astray, cyclists have tumbled from their mounts and our performance in the pool has deteriorated from just plain unfortunate to full fledged backbiting. Anonymous athletes urge Canada to fire the swimming coaches, rebuild and re-float goes the cry. In Olympic excuse making, we’re going for the gold in finger pointing.
The outrage over the choice of Nicholas Gill as flag bearer is no longer of concern, since he never managed to make it past his first fight. Of course much will be made of the flag bearer jinx. The traditional Canadian phobia about carrying the flag into the Olympic arena only to exit the competition unfulfilled. If nothing else we are consistent!
The cheerleaders, oops, broadcasters at CBC are having a hard time working up the necessary feeling of joy, what with our less than spectacular results thus far. However, our lack of success has been a ratings help to the CBC, Americans within range of the Canadian border are tuning in to get a fuller Olympic experience. So in place of medal presentations with the strains of Oh Canada lifting to the skies, we get “personality features” vignettes about the struggle, sacrifice and sense of accomplishment our Olympians have developed between game years. They make for a nice feel good diversion, but when the story fades to black that medal count total comes back up, and ahem, somebody check the computer we seem stuck at two!
Things are so desperate on the televised broadcasts that the Dairy Foundations little Blue Cow campaign is getting our blood pumping more than the actual competition. The commercials feature the aforementioned cow, taking on all comers and coming out on top of the Bovine pile. Yeah Canada, get rid of the red and white, colour us blue, little blue cow blue! You may have seen the commercials, better yet listen to them from a distance; you’ll be rushing to the TV in anticipation of that Canadian breakthrough. Moooove over world here comes Canada. We also can take pride in our burger flipping talents, our Canadian McDonald’s reps are doing us proud as part of the McDonald’s contribution to the Olympics. Super size our effort, when it comes to flipping quarter pounders, shaking the salt on those fries and whipping up a McFlurry we have no equals!
As for the actual events, the success of Australia seems to be causing us the most distress, a nation similar to ours but with less population has to this point put on a pretty impressive show for the folks back home. Mostly from the success of the swim team the Aussies at last count were holding down fourth place quiet nicely, though the Russians are closing in fast. Australia has found success by a comprehensive dedication to funding their Olympic team part of the legacy of the Sydney Olympics where the home side wanted to put its best foot forward. It’s a model that many in Canada wish to pattern our program after but at what cost? Do we thus relegate our health care system to even worse standards than those that currently exist, do we abandon the homeless, curtail many of the programs that we presently have in place in order to look a little better on the world stage?
Surely there must be a less onerous way for Canada to improve, without taking away from many of the social programs that are just hanging on as it is! Better yet, perhaps a funding review is in order, maybe have Sheila Fraser take her Auditor General’s pencil to the Canadian Olympic Association and make sure that the current funding is being properly allocated, more for athletes less for junkets might make for a nice credo.
Perhaps the corporate community should more fully embrace the Olympic movement, not quite to the same point that the USA has, but there may be ways for Canadian industry and services to get involved. A special tax break for those companies that help out may be the key to increased corporate support. If a Canadian company gets fully involved in the Olympic program give them tax breaks for their corporate advertising or any other adjustment to reward their participation. If they hire Olympians allowing them to train to a high standard, allow them to claim those employees as a tax credit. It’s time to get creative, anything to help out the cause without taxing the average Canadian too much.
All is not totally lost in Athens, there are still more events to come, our Baseball team while struggling earlier Friday is still in a strong position for a Gold medal, our Women’s softball team is gamely fighting back to make a last stand for medal potential. The beach volleyball gals seem to be hitting a stride, the rowers are back in the water and the track team has yet to take to the stadium.
No doubt there will be a few more surprises for Canadians; we’ll probably win some medals in sports that few know much about. But it seems hard to believe that come the end of the competition next week we’ll still be stuck at two.
Should we not improve our count by next Friday there will be much said about our performance and how to improve it. Already we're a tad grumpy as our journalists pile on about everything from poor results to poor television.
China will host the next summer games spectacular in 2008. Judging by the success of their team so far, they fully expect to dominate those games whatever the cost. Canada will have to decide just how serious we wish to tackle these challenges; in any case we should have a plan B.
Somebody find out where those little blue cows did their training! They’re pulling their weight in Athens perhaps the time has come to turn the team over to the Cows, better than letting things go to the dogs!
Black Hawks on the border
We haven’t seen any change in the terror alert status since August 1, but things, they are a changing between Canada and the USA. The world’s previously longest undefended border is a tad more defended today, with word from the USA, that the much ballyhooed Black Hawk helicopter will be patrolling the Northern frontier from now on.
The first of the Black Hawk’s will be based in Washington state, where the US Marine Air Group of Bellingham will keep watch for illegal aliens, marijuana importers and money launderers to name a few. In addition to the Black Hawk the Bellingham crew will use a variety of aircraft and high speed boats in the pursuit of their duties. Perhaps even Crockett and Tubbs can come out of retirement and stem the flow of criminal misconduct from the apparently lawless Canadian frontier.
Plans are in the works to place similarly equipped bases in Montana, North Dakota, Michigan and New York State. The enforcement regimen has been in place on the Mexican border for over thirty years, but is a new addition to the Canada/US border.
Considering how large the illegal alien population is in California, Arizona and Texas one wonders if the amount of money and time spent on the enforcement program is providing full value for the investment. Regardless, in these post
9-11 times security of the border is the Holy Grail. With the arrival of the new firepower, its time for the folks in Langley and South Surrey to prepare for the whoop, whoop, whoop of the Black Hawk on its appointed rounds. US official advised that the Black Hawks would not routinely enter Canadian airspace, though one suspects that "accidental" incursions will be part of the drill.
No doubt Customs and Immigration in Canada must be casting an envious eye at the list of materials provided to its American counterparts in pursuit of enforcement. Of course we too could put some Helicopters in the air; the much vaunted (and now maligned) Sea King stands ready for duty. And perhaps it may be the more feared of the two helicopter options.
Sure the Black Hawk is fancy, shiny, fearsome and relatively new (well newer than the Sea Kings anyways). But hey, with the record of Sea King emergency descents, what smuggler would want to take the chance of having a Sea King plunge to the border. One look at our grey gooses thundering downward would change the mind of even the most notorious of evil doers. Better yet, use the Sea King option for transportation of the arrested to a jail. Just the suggestion of being tossed into a Sea King for hopefully a half hour flight should pretty well dry up the cocaine, human cargo and money laundering trade for years to come
The first of the Black Hawk’s will be based in Washington state, where the US Marine Air Group of Bellingham will keep watch for illegal aliens, marijuana importers and money launderers to name a few. In addition to the Black Hawk the Bellingham crew will use a variety of aircraft and high speed boats in the pursuit of their duties. Perhaps even Crockett and Tubbs can come out of retirement and stem the flow of criminal misconduct from the apparently lawless Canadian frontier.
Plans are in the works to place similarly equipped bases in Montana, North Dakota, Michigan and New York State. The enforcement regimen has been in place on the Mexican border for over thirty years, but is a new addition to the Canada/US border.
Considering how large the illegal alien population is in California, Arizona and Texas one wonders if the amount of money and time spent on the enforcement program is providing full value for the investment. Regardless, in these post
9-11 times security of the border is the Holy Grail. With the arrival of the new firepower, its time for the folks in Langley and South Surrey to prepare for the whoop, whoop, whoop of the Black Hawk on its appointed rounds. US official advised that the Black Hawks would not routinely enter Canadian airspace, though one suspects that "accidental" incursions will be part of the drill.
No doubt Customs and Immigration in Canada must be casting an envious eye at the list of materials provided to its American counterparts in pursuit of enforcement. Of course we too could put some Helicopters in the air; the much vaunted (and now maligned) Sea King stands ready for duty. And perhaps it may be the more feared of the two helicopter options.
Sure the Black Hawk is fancy, shiny, fearsome and relatively new (well newer than the Sea Kings anyways). But hey, with the record of Sea King emergency descents, what smuggler would want to take the chance of having a Sea King plunge to the border. One look at our grey gooses thundering downward would change the mind of even the most notorious of evil doers. Better yet, use the Sea King option for transportation of the arrested to a jail. Just the suggestion of being tossed into a Sea King for hopefully a half hour flight should pretty well dry up the cocaine, human cargo and money laundering trade for years to come
Will all the extra attention spoil our little diversion?
Don’t look now but blogging is about to enter the realm of commerce. What started out as the bastion of the lone voice or two in the wilderness, railing on against injustice or poor governance is now becoming a marketing tool.
An article in Thursday’s Globe and Mail has given us a look at the future of blogging, and while we continue on with our whims, witticisms and unfiltered wisdom, Big Business wants to make some money!
Jim Carroll, a Mississauga based futurist and author says the future belongs to those that can tailor a blog for their business plan. With relative ease a small business owner can put together a blog to market their product and do it relatively inexpensively; the estimated cost of keeping an interesting and informative blog is around 300 dollars a year, a wise investment for potentially a goldmine of advertising. Carroll says a well designed blog can find itself recommended highly on the Google search engine, having your marketing blog listed in the first page of a Google search could send hundreds if not thousands of customers your way!
Carroll first identified blogging as a great way to get the message out over two years ago, but he was apparently two years ahead of his time. Now with such heavyweights as Bill Gates and other technology pros giving the blogger types a tip of their hat, it seems that we will soon be battling even more participants in the blogsphere.
One bit of information caught my eye in the Globe story was the demographic breakdown of those that view blogs. A study by Jupiter research last year has determined that 61% of those that surf the net and check out blogs spend between 5 and 10 hours a week reading entries and have an annual income of over 60,000 dollars. It’s estimated that roughly 5.5 million people chase blogs on the internet looking for a place to rest their eyes.
5.5 million, of which 61% make over 60,000 dollars a year!! For those resting their eyes here at A Town called Podunk, its time to share some wealth!
Like the various e mail temptations from Africa or lottery winning notifications from England, we here at Podunk are ready to take some cash. Please send all pertinent information to our mailbox at podunkcan@yahoo.ca, at 60,000 dollars a year we truly suspect you’ll never even notice your donation!
Look at it as an investment for your five to ten hours of wondrous enjoyment here at Podunk!
An article in Thursday’s Globe and Mail has given us a look at the future of blogging, and while we continue on with our whims, witticisms and unfiltered wisdom, Big Business wants to make some money!
Jim Carroll, a Mississauga based futurist and author says the future belongs to those that can tailor a blog for their business plan. With relative ease a small business owner can put together a blog to market their product and do it relatively inexpensively; the estimated cost of keeping an interesting and informative blog is around 300 dollars a year, a wise investment for potentially a goldmine of advertising. Carroll says a well designed blog can find itself recommended highly on the Google search engine, having your marketing blog listed in the first page of a Google search could send hundreds if not thousands of customers your way!
Carroll first identified blogging as a great way to get the message out over two years ago, but he was apparently two years ahead of his time. Now with such heavyweights as Bill Gates and other technology pros giving the blogger types a tip of their hat, it seems that we will soon be battling even more participants in the blogsphere.
One bit of information caught my eye in the Globe story was the demographic breakdown of those that view blogs. A study by Jupiter research last year has determined that 61% of those that surf the net and check out blogs spend between 5 and 10 hours a week reading entries and have an annual income of over 60,000 dollars. It’s estimated that roughly 5.5 million people chase blogs on the internet looking for a place to rest their eyes.
5.5 million, of which 61% make over 60,000 dollars a year!! For those resting their eyes here at A Town called Podunk, its time to share some wealth!
Like the various e mail temptations from Africa or lottery winning notifications from England, we here at Podunk are ready to take some cash. Please send all pertinent information to our mailbox at podunkcan@yahoo.ca, at 60,000 dollars a year we truly suspect you’ll never even notice your donation!
Look at it as an investment for your five to ten hours of wondrous enjoyment here at Podunk!
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