D. Simon Jackson touches on part of my reasoning in a column for cbcnews.ca.

The more I think about it, the more tempted I am by the idea of drafting, rather than electing voluntary candidates. Don't even let them volunteer as candidates for parties, either.

Am I wrong? Am I right?

Brooke,

I went to see your show at the National Arts Centre tonight while it was in town as part of the Magnetic North Festival. Wanted very much to stick around for the Q & A session afterwards, but misunderstood what time it was by the time the show itself ended. Thus, my hasty - and stupidly premature - retreat from the room and the Centre. I could rationalize it by way of my side trip into the nearest Running Room for yet another pair of socks, but that just smells...like socks.

Wet socks.

So. Your show. A piece of your life, as you lived it and remembered it. A piece of the life of someone else dearer to many people than some would care to admit, or in some instances, care to tolerate admissions from others. A man who became a friend to you.

A piece of both lives that you cared and worked to share with us.

I won't speak to the technical details of the craft. Others better suited to that have already done this, I'm sure, and some of the people who read this aside from you and I will no doubt link to it in their replies in due course.

For myself, I'll stick to the response of the heart. I laughed straight into asthma attacks, a peril I'll gladly keep facing if it keeps me sane to do so. I teared up more than once, including right at the start with that photo. If you apologize for those moments, ever, I will not forgive you. Not on this side of the grave, anyway.

I think you found the best use I've heard of a Vince Guaraldi Trio recording outside of the Charlie Brown specials to date.

You made me wish I'd been able to count Pierre Trudeau as a friend of my own.

For that, I thank you.

You've reminded us of why, as is said by others, "he haunts us still" and why that haunting can and should be a blessing.

For that also, thank you.

Be well. Prosper if you can.

Note to everyone else reading this: If you're wondering what I'm talking about, take a gander over here.

As of this month, I've been visiting this store for a couple of years, mostly for snack items of one sort or another. Stuff I couldn't get closer to home for several different reasons, like aspartame-free chewing gum.

(Yes, there IS such a thing available if you go looking for it, and two different brands to boot! Now if only it were manufactured by a local firm from local raw materials.)

I'm not quite sure as to why they've decided to close up shop, but I've given them my e-mail info if the management decides they want to try at least one more time elsewhere in the downtown neighbourhoods. They've been good people, and such people deserve honest custom.

I happened across this particular scene on the way to the day-job this morning. The bus was routed over the on/off-ramps, effectively taking it around the accident scene. The entire story - at least as much as I know now thanks to CBC Radio One - didn't get told until about halfway into the day.

To say that it was disturbing...well, that's a fair adjective for it. I didn't get close enough for more than that, and I suppose there's cause for gratitude there.

By the time I got back home again, the scene was all cleaned up, save perhaps for some impact and scorch marks on the pillar.

For some reason, I found that more disturbing.

Not counting my first posting, which was more or less "Hi, I'm here now!" stuff...the post of the next day was commentary on the end of the CBC Lockout of 2005. I wanted to see CBC get better funding...and four years later, this upcoming October...what's really changed on that front for the better?

Nothing.

I have to admit to a certain degree of schädenfreude at this news from Québec on this subject of private health insurance.

I do like my social safety net.

"Enraged" is not, I think, too strong a word for my opinion of the latest news of planned cutbacks for the CBC.

I wish I knew what the Hell to say to the Eight Hundred about to be handed an express ticket to pains and stresses I've known occasionally a little too well for my own liking. I was tempted, when I heard the news on Radio One this afternoon, to try to find a condolence card to leave at the local Broadcast Centre on Queen Street.

But then...to whom do I address the thing? And the same problem applies if I design the card from scratch. Which I can certainly do.

I was working last night on a note to e-mail off to the Heritage Minister with a CC: to my MP. Knowing as I do where those two stand on the issue, it's a temptation to just round-file the note, unfinished, as I know I'm likely to get a form e-mail back saying "thanks but not thanks" with a side-order subtext of "your values are unholy to us, go away!"

The people of the CBC, by and large, deserve better from us than this. Believing this, I keep my hand in at publicbroadcasting.ca, as many of you already know.

I figure I'll stick it out on my end for the time being. Not sure what else I can do yet, but if I figure something out, I'll let you know. Or Justin Beach will figure it out first.

Keep your eyes open in the meantime, okay?

Back to comic book stuff in a bit...meantime, keep talking, please?

CBC: Petro-Canada, Suncor to merge

This cannot be a good thing, I believe. Admittedly, I am reacting from instinct rather than training, but this merger and the discarding of the Petro-Canada brand that will result...scares me.

Uploading some new photos taken this afternoon to Flickr tonight after having watched "The Next Doctor" on Space.

A confession: I'm of mixed feelings about the change of venue for Doctor Who tonight. On the first hand, it's genre-appropriate. On the second, considering that the whole franchise in question was begun by a public broadcaster - the BBC - the last four years' worth of participation in and broadcast of the revival by the CBC - our own public broadcaster - was also very fitting in my mind. I would prefer that the relationship continue, but given the sense of fiscal siege "Mothercorp" finds itself under these days, I'm saddened and not entirely surprised to see that relationship imperilled if not at an outright end. I'll be keeping a watchful eye on CBC-related blogs as well as dwin.org for further developments.

More on other subjects to come...

Okay, I don't live in Brandon. I don't live anywhere near Brandon, haven't lived anywhere near since I was about age four. Last time I recall visiting the neighbourhood was the year Diefenbaker died, and I was on my way to effectively pay my respects in the course of my first visit to Ottawa that year.

I've got maybe one friendly acquaintance who lives/lived there and I haven't exchanged e-mails, IMs or anything else with him in years. He might not even care about this issue one way or another. The person living almost next door to Brandon who is on my LJ friendlist, I'd be interested to know his opinion on this.

Seems that there's a TV station in this little city a third of the way from Winnipeg to Regina along the Trans-Canada Highway called CKX. Been chugging along for decades, since before I was born.

I'm hearing from various
sources that CKX is about to risk being shut down for keeps.

I do not like this idea very much. Seems to me as if local communities really ought to have every chance of contributing to the national fun and games as they possibly can.

I know the TV game seems like a losing proposition right now(or is being positioned to look like one, and no, I'm not sure which of the two situations is truth here), but I think CKX - if it's kept going, and I wish I had clue one as to who's best suited and financed to do it - could be part of a Canada worth living in.

Any thoughts, people?

Okay, something's started bugging me since "No Exit" aired last week...

( Read more... )

Maybe we ought to consider allowing Judy Maddren to head up a Canadian English Dictionary Project via CBC.

Who's her counterpart on the francophone side of the aisle at Radio-Canada?

After discussing an exercise in progress with a friend of mine from NCF, ByMUG, and OIW-related activities yesterday, it occurred to me that perhaps I ought to post the progress I've made in carrying out a challenge amongst several other friends of mine: reading 52 books - fiction or non-fic - for entertainment and/or learning within a year of starting.

So. The list of books read thus far to that end:

1. Crown of Slaves by David Weber and Eric Flint. Part of Weber's "Honorverse" of novels.
2. Patriot Acts by Greg Rucka(AKA ruckawriter). Sixth in the stories of Atticus Kodiak, soldier turned bodyguard turned...he's not entirely sure what he is now, I think.
3. A Fair Country: Telling Truths About Canada by John Ralston Saul
4. Field of Dishonor by David Weber. Fourth in the Honor Harrington series of military/space opera novels.
5. Star Trek - Deep Space Nine: Hollow Men by Una McCormack. A follow-up to the TV episode "In the Pale Moonlight" and a bit of stage-setting for some of the Section 31 shenanigans that came into play later on. I liked it. A lot.
6. Freakonomics.
7. At All Costs by David Weber. AKA Honor Harrington XI for all intents and purposes. Lots of political machinations, boots and starships technobabble and whatnot, as per usual.
8. Bones to Ashes by Kathy Reichs. It's set in upper New Brunswick, near the Québec border this time out. The timing of reading the story whilst news of a massive number of arrests here in Ontario on charges not unlike cases investigated in the course of that novel's plot...is disturbing in its synchronicity.
9. Star Trek: A Singular Destiny by Keith R. A. deCandido(AKA kradical). Follow-up to the ST: Destiny trilogy of last fall, and setting up some Big Stuff for 2010 in the novels. Ezri Dax gets some serious page time, UFP President Nan Bacco and her administration likewise, and I like this new guy Sonek Pran.
10. Star Trek - Klingon Empire: A Burning House by the aforementioned Mr. DeCandido. Follows up on his IKS Gorkon novels. Loads of fun for the change of POV pace. Qapla'! :-D
11. greenTOpia: Towards a Sustainable Toronto - uTOpia Volume Three, edited by Alana Wilcox, Christina Palassio and Jonny Dovercourt. More a collection of essays than anything else, but the issues involved are universal to cities anywhere. Recommended reading for anyone looking to make their city more livable.

More to follow...

I was reading this item on US politics and economics, and the first of the comments from the registered public - the self-named "Biff the Spiff" if you set the comments so you can read "first to last" - just got on my nerves.

I won't mind if the US were to ask to join Canada some day in the Distant Future, but the idea of us now swooping in like vultures to pick at a not-quite-dead-yet carcass offends me to the core.

Besides, I want to see Obama and company succeed in making the USA a more livable country for its citizens.

Picked up the Passchendaele DVD along with my comics today. I figure it'll be worth the retail price tag.

Speaking of the comics: Secret Warriors, Punisher, Iron Man, Legion of Three Worlds and Trinity in particular caught my attention. Not sure I want to say why just yet, but anyone looking to discuss for "yea", "nay" or "meh" sides? You should feel free to speak up.

Two more days, and the buses will be running again. Cannot wait. Impatience maddens me e'en now.

I'm watching Helvetica, the typography documentary movie, at the moment.

It's a learning experience. Recommended.

What's wrong with redeveloping Lansdowne Park to be used by both the Canadian Football League and Major League Soccer? Apparently, there's some sort of quibble at or near to City Hall on the subject.

Courtesy of Keith deCandido's latest "Schott's Miscellanea" posting:


MEGACITIES

The term megacity is used by the UN for cities or metropolitan areas with >10 million people. Below are the largest megacities (2003), with their estimated 2015 populations:
Megacity country pop. 2003 (mil) est. pop. 2015
Tokyo Japan 35.0 36.2
New York USA 21.2 22.8
Seoul-Inchon South Korea 20.3 24.7
Mexico City Mexico 18.7 20.6
São Paulo Brazil 17.9 20.0
Mumbai India 17.4 22.6
Los Angeles USA 16.4 17.6
Delhi India 14.1 20.9
Manila-Quezon City Philippines 13.9 16.8
Calcutta India 13.8 16.8


Now...for DCU statistical purposes, specifically on "New Earth"...where should Metropolis and Gotham(with or without what's left of Bludhaven?) fit into that list right now? Metropolis, IIRC, was pegged at 11 million during the 1986-2005 timeframe, right? And Gotham, as I recall, has zipped up and down the charts thanks to everything from the Clench Virus outbreaks to the "Cataclysm" to "No Man's Land".

And how do we factor in Star and Gateway Cities and Platinum Flats into the San Francisco Bay area stats(since it's apparently decided that those three cities will be part of the Bay area for editorial purposes)?

(Sidebar on formatting: How DO you get that "table" formatting properly set up?)

One: Saw "Sometimes a Great Notion" on Galactica tonight. It worked. Not quite what I expected in places...but that's how it should be.

Two: Page One of Local Hero # 3 is tentatively tagged as done.

More to follow...