Art imitates life
On tonight's edition of The Simpsons, Homer builds a suit so he can fight a bear that plagued him in the past. I'll bet that Ian Boothby, a Vancouver contributor to the show, helped to write the episode, because this reminds me of Troy Hurtubise, the Ontario native that has tried to perfect the ultimate safety suit that could protect you from many dangerous perils.
When I did a story on him a couple of years ago for The Report, he was preparing to raise money to perfect his suit by putting on his latest prototype and stepping in the path of a nasty wild bear.
Thursday, November 27, 2003
I make Ivory Soap look filthy
[Comment: This makes sense. I'd take purity tests in college and get scores like... eight.
Although...this test seems a bit deceptive. I am very straight, so to make sense, I should not have a score of 100% straight and 100% gay.]
| Your Ultimate Purity Score Is... | ||
| Category | Your Score | Average |
| Self-Lovin' | 80% Never taken out of the packaging | 65% |
| Shamelessness | 100% | 79.3% |
| Sex Drive | 100% | 77.7% |
| Straightness | 100% | 45% |
| Gayness | 100% | 83.3% |
| Fucking Sick | 100% | 89.9% |
| You are 95.65% pure Average Score: 72.6% | ||
[Comment: This makes sense. I'd take purity tests in college and get scores like... eight.
Although...this test seems a bit deceptive. I am very straight, so to make sense, I should not have a score of 100% straight and 100% gay.]
Wednesday, November 26, 2003
"Jess, you can't sing, but you have a certain teenage quality..."
Jess Conrad, a minor British pop star of the 1960s, won three spaces on The World's World Record Show compilation. Read more about him and listen to This Pullover, a record which must be heard to be believed, here.
Jess Conrad, a minor British pop star of the 1960s, won three spaces on The World's World Record Show compilation. Read more about him and listen to This Pullover, a record which must be heard to be believed, here.
Tuesday, November 25, 2003
Superman, he ain't
Gone and Forgotten introduces us to The Bee Man and other characters of the odd Harvey Comics universe of the 1960s. Includes art by Jim Steranko!
Gone and Forgotten introduces us to The Bee Man and other characters of the odd Harvey Comics universe of the 1960s. Includes art by Jim Steranko!
Lamb Chop gives it four stars
Stay at the Hotel of Sheep. That's what "hotel les mouflons" means in English.
Merci, Quarterback de Lundi Matin
Stay at the Hotel of Sheep. That's what "hotel les mouflons" means in English.
Merci, Quarterback de Lundi Matin
Monday, November 24, 2003
Pumpkin pancakes?
Apparently pumpkin packages are a big hit at the International House of Pancakes. For the next week, you can look at the IHOP Pumpkin Pancakes, Top Secret Recipes version of the recipe.
Poor me. One of the big charismatic trends these days is a new push to pursue systematic prayer for others. Alas for me, one of the centers for this is the International House of Prayer in Kansas City. Why couldn't they have adopted the active voice and not the passive, naming it the International Prayer House? I know that whenever I think of IHOP...and its local branch in my city...I think of pancakes!
But then maybe I should be reminded of prayer when I want to eat waffles. Whatever works for God, I guess.
Apparently pumpkin packages are a big hit at the International House of Pancakes. For the next week, you can look at the IHOP Pumpkin Pancakes, Top Secret Recipes version of the recipe.
Poor me. One of the big charismatic trends these days is a new push to pursue systematic prayer for others. Alas for me, one of the centers for this is the International House of Prayer in Kansas City. Why couldn't they have adopted the active voice and not the passive, naming it the International Prayer House? I know that whenever I think of IHOP...and its local branch in my city...I think of pancakes!
But then maybe I should be reminded of prayer when I want to eat waffles. Whatever works for God, I guess.
Trophy one-upmanship
During the Heritage Classic game weekend in Edmonton, my friend and former colleague Kevin Steel persuaded his sister to take his nephew downtown to have his picture taken with the Stanley Cup. At the end of his post, he indulges in some "Nyahhh!":
But here's the kicker. When I dropped them off, I said, "And if the Grey Cup is there, get a shot of him with that as well."
It was there. Now how often does a kid get a chance like that? To be photographed beside the two biggest sports awards in the country in one afternoon? It was the Canadian sports harmonic convergence. Only once in Edmonton's history, 1987, have both cups been here. Anyway, I don't have to explain; sports, kids, goals, heroes, glory... And my nephew, remember, is from Vancouver, which everyone knows is a nice place to visit, etc. etc. (hmmmmm) etc. 'Nuf said.
Poor kid. That would mean that he doesn't get the character building experience of walking through eight foot snow drifts to get to school. Uphill. Both ways. ( ;o) )
During the Heritage Classic game weekend in Edmonton, my friend and former colleague Kevin Steel persuaded his sister to take his nephew downtown to have his picture taken with the Stanley Cup. At the end of his post, he indulges in some "Nyahhh!":
But here's the kicker. When I dropped them off, I said, "And if the Grey Cup is there, get a shot of him with that as well."
It was there. Now how often does a kid get a chance like that? To be photographed beside the two biggest sports awards in the country in one afternoon? It was the Canadian sports harmonic convergence. Only once in Edmonton's history, 1987, have both cups been here. Anyway, I don't have to explain; sports, kids, goals, heroes, glory... And my nephew, remember, is from Vancouver, which everyone knows is a nice place to visit, etc. etc. (hmmmmm) etc. 'Nuf said.
Poor kid. That would mean that he doesn't get the character building experience of walking through eight foot snow drifts to get to school. Uphill. Both ways. ( ;o) )
Friday, November 21, 2003
Blogging goodness
World magazine, which I liked to think of as the U.S. version of my old magazine, has started a weblog. This is something that will 1) raise the profile of the conservative, Christian newsmagazine and 2) give people more reasons to log onto their webiste and see the content and ads therein. I'll note for my friend Kevin Steel that a weblog for our magazine (RIP) is one idea that he proposed to The Report's brains trust that they decided not to pursue.
Be that as it may, there's sure to be lots of bloggy goodness on the World blog for you if you tend to the right side of the spectrum. Check it out.
World magazine, which I liked to think of as the U.S. version of my old magazine, has started a weblog. This is something that will 1) raise the profile of the conservative, Christian newsmagazine and 2) give people more reasons to log onto their webiste and see the content and ads therein. I'll note for my friend Kevin Steel that a weblog for our magazine (RIP) is one idea that he proposed to The Report's brains trust that they decided not to pursue.
Be that as it may, there's sure to be lots of bloggy goodness on the World blog for you if you tend to the right side of the spectrum. Check it out.
Thursday, November 20, 2003
Snappy, indeed
My link of the day is to Snappy Jackets, a salute to obscure, yet interesting, LP and 45 jackets.
My link of the day is to Snappy Jackets, a salute to obscure, yet interesting, LP and 45 jackets.
Tuesday, November 18, 2003
That biography of That Man
Conrad Black is in the news these days after stepping down as CEO of his newspaper publishing empire. The news hook for this CP story today, however, is the publication of his new biography of Franklin D. Roosevelt: Champion of Freedom [?!?!?]. The story notes in passing that it is a laudatory portrayal of the U.S. president.
It's not surprising that Mr. Black might like FDR. After all, Black wrote an admiring biography of big-government "conservative" chef Maurice Duplessis, who believed in using government to build the economy and clobber his enemies when he was premier of Quebec. It's dismaying, though, to think of any "conservative" lauding FDR, when that president exploded the growth of the American government and brought the U.S. fully into an interventionist foreign policy. (For a fuller treatment of this thesis, please consult the old biography on FDR by John Flynn, The Roosevelt Myth.) Old school conservatives like my friend Kevin Michael Grace would know what I am talking about.
Just because a leader like FDR is perceived as a success doesn't mean that he was when judged by history. Conservatives should take note.
Conrad Black is in the news these days after stepping down as CEO of his newspaper publishing empire. The news hook for this CP story today, however, is the publication of his new biography of Franklin D. Roosevelt: Champion of Freedom [?!?!?]. The story notes in passing that it is a laudatory portrayal of the U.S. president.
It's not surprising that Mr. Black might like FDR. After all, Black wrote an admiring biography of big-government "conservative" chef Maurice Duplessis, who believed in using government to build the economy and clobber his enemies when he was premier of Quebec. It's dismaying, though, to think of any "conservative" lauding FDR, when that president exploded the growth of the American government and brought the U.S. fully into an interventionist foreign policy. (For a fuller treatment of this thesis, please consult the old biography on FDR by John Flynn, The Roosevelt Myth.) Old school conservatives like my friend Kevin Michael Grace would know what I am talking about.
Just because a leader like FDR is perceived as a success doesn't mean that he was when judged by history. Conservatives should take note.
Friday, November 14, 2003
Faked fakes
It's appropriate that "Potemkin villages", the historical byword for shams, never really existed according to Cecil Adams. More details at the link.
It's appropriate that "Potemkin villages", the historical byword for shams, never really existed according to Cecil Adams. More details at the link.
Wednesday, November 12, 2003
When our opponents barf, we'll score
I find it hard to believe that the Vancouver Blazers logo--which should be coloured mostly orange with the team named in red according to the sticker that I put on my bedroom door when I was a little kid--didn't make this list of the worst hockey team logos of all time.
Spotted by Colby.
I find it hard to believe that the Vancouver Blazers logo--which should be coloured mostly orange with the team named in red according to the sticker that I put on my bedroom door when I was a little kid--didn't make this list of the worst hockey team logos of all time.
Spotted by Colby.
Tuesday, November 11, 2003
As ye sow, so shall ye reap
My friend and former colleague Kevin Michael Grace makes a lengthy case, with links to documentary evidence that "....[t]he Report was killed. Starved to death by Link Byfield because its continued existence no longer suited his purposes....."
My own opinion, you may recall, is that the Byfields didn't plan hard enough for a future for my old magazine when and if the second generation of Byfields no longer wanted to be conservative journalists.
But, Kevin's arguments give me pause. They raise the question of how much the end of The Report was due to financial non-viability and how much due to the Byfields' own personal priorities. [If worst had come to worst, Link could have offered the magazine to those of us who wanted to continue. The This Magazine model--the magazine is "owned" by an educational foundation yet remains very political--could have been made to work for The Report temporarily while new money was found. Those who wanted to keep the magazine going could have looked for donors and backing ourselves.]
I would advise Link Byfield, given how the messy end of the magazine played out, to demonstrate to his backers (many of whom bought subscriptions to the magazines, bought shares in B.C. Report Ltd. and responded to donation requests) that he has the best interests of the Canadian right at heart, regardless of what that means for his own personal fortunes.
The Canadian right has so much to do that we don't want suspicious backers to be thinking:
Fool me once, shame on you.
Fool me twice, shame on me.
My friend and former colleague Kevin Michael Grace makes a lengthy case, with links to documentary evidence that "....[t]he Report was killed. Starved to death by Link Byfield because its continued existence no longer suited his purposes....."
My own opinion, you may recall, is that the Byfields didn't plan hard enough for a future for my old magazine when and if the second generation of Byfields no longer wanted to be conservative journalists.
But, Kevin's arguments give me pause. They raise the question of how much the end of The Report was due to financial non-viability and how much due to the Byfields' own personal priorities. [If worst had come to worst, Link could have offered the magazine to those of us who wanted to continue. The This Magazine model--the magazine is "owned" by an educational foundation yet remains very political--could have been made to work for The Report temporarily while new money was found. Those who wanted to keep the magazine going could have looked for donors and backing ourselves.]
I would advise Link Byfield, given how the messy end of the magazine played out, to demonstrate to his backers (many of whom bought subscriptions to the magazines, bought shares in B.C. Report Ltd. and responded to donation requests) that he has the best interests of the Canadian right at heart, regardless of what that means for his own personal fortunes.
The Canadian right has so much to do that we don't want suspicious backers to be thinking:
Fool me once, shame on you.
Fool me twice, shame on me.
Sunday, November 09, 2003
A very guilty pleasure
Adam Thrasher created Space Moose (a perverse yet funny cartoon) which ran in the University of Alberta student newspaper, The Gateway, from 1989 to 1999. Mr. Thrasher has taken his own Space Moose website down, but there is a mirror site, the Official Space Moose Home Page.
You can't order any of the e-mail addresses, t-shirts or books advertised there, but all the cartoons and extras that were on the the spacemoose site are there.
My fave Space Moose panel? I regret admitting this, but it is Antlers of the Damned.
Adam Thrasher created Space Moose (a perverse yet funny cartoon) which ran in the University of Alberta student newspaper, The Gateway, from 1989 to 1999. Mr. Thrasher has taken his own Space Moose website down, but there is a mirror site, the Official Space Moose Home Page.
You can't order any of the e-mail addresses, t-shirts or books advertised there, but all the cartoons and extras that were on the the spacemoose site are there.
My fave Space Moose panel? I regret admitting this, but it is Antlers of the Damned.
A very guilty pleasure
Adam Thrasher created Space Moose (a perverse yet funny cartoon) which ran in the University of Alberta student newspaper, The Gateway from 1989 to 1999. Mr. Thrasher has taken his own Space Moose website down, but there is a mirror site, the Official Space Moose Home Page.
You can't order any of the e-mail addresses, t-shirts or books advertised there, but all the cartoons and extras that were on the the spacemoose site are there.
My fave Space Moose panel? I regret admitting this, but it is Antlers of the Damned.
Adam Thrasher created Space Moose (a perverse yet funny cartoon) which ran in the University of Alberta student newspaper, The Gateway from 1989 to 1999. Mr. Thrasher has taken his own Space Moose website down, but there is a mirror site, the Official Space Moose Home Page.
You can't order any of the e-mail addresses, t-shirts or books advertised there, but all the cartoons and extras that were on the the spacemoose site are there.
My fave Space Moose panel? I regret admitting this, but it is Antlers of the Damned.
Friday, November 07, 2003
Good stuff there
Anne, it would seem, has more time for thoughtful posts than I sometimes do these days with my new job. I commend her fine blog to your attention today.
Anne, it would seem, has more time for thoughtful posts than I sometimes do these days with my new job. I commend her fine blog to your attention today.
Chretien's looong goodbye
Spotted in this Canadian Press story:
SHAWINIGAN, Que. (CP) - Jean Chretien's long political goodbye stretched on Friday with a return to his hometown - likely his final official visit there as prime minister.
"This is probably the last time I participate as prime minister at an event like this in my riding," Chretien told about 100 businesspeople gathered for the official opening of an industrial energy complex in Shawinigan, Que....
I don't wish Mr. Chretien ill but "probably the last time"?!? What "probably" is there? Perhaps Paul Martin should hire a food taster and some bodyguards
Spotted in this Canadian Press story:
SHAWINIGAN, Que. (CP) - Jean Chretien's long political goodbye stretched on Friday with a return to his hometown - likely his final official visit there as prime minister.
"This is probably the last time I participate as prime minister at an event like this in my riding," Chretien told about 100 businesspeople gathered for the official opening of an industrial energy complex in Shawinigan, Que....
I don't wish Mr. Chretien ill but "probably the last time"?!? What "probably" is there? Perhaps Paul Martin should hire a food taster and some bodyguards
Monday, November 03, 2003
I vant to suck your blood, eh
Here's a page about a soon to be published book on Canadian horror movies:
Consider this: Robert Culp dancing naked in the British Columbia woods! Christopher Lee in his first North American picture ever! Broderick Crawford carried off by a giant man-vulture! Andrea Martin killing Eugene Levy with a mace, and then eating him! John Candy rolling in the dirt in his boxer shorts, sobbing! George C. Scott chased by a haunted wheelchair! Leslie Nielsen disco dancing! Corey Haim kissing a dog! Neve Campbell chased through graveyard tunnels by a slobbering rat creature! There’s only one way to see scenes like these: watch a Canadian horror movie.
Thanks to Kathy for the tip.
Here's a page about a soon to be published book on Canadian horror movies:
Consider this: Robert Culp dancing naked in the British Columbia woods! Christopher Lee in his first North American picture ever! Broderick Crawford carried off by a giant man-vulture! Andrea Martin killing Eugene Levy with a mace, and then eating him! John Candy rolling in the dirt in his boxer shorts, sobbing! George C. Scott chased by a haunted wheelchair! Leslie Nielsen disco dancing! Corey Haim kissing a dog! Neve Campbell chased through graveyard tunnels by a slobbering rat creature! There’s only one way to see scenes like these: watch a Canadian horror movie.
Thanks to Kathy for the tip.
Hooray for Fred Saskamoose, and other posts
While I am catching up on a few things, please read my friend and former colleague Colby Cosh's great weblog. He's now a National Post columnist and often posts lots of bloggy goodness.
While I am catching up on a few things, please read my friend and former colleague Colby Cosh's great weblog. He's now a National Post columnist and often posts lots of bloggy goodness.
Sunday, November 02, 2003
A fun way for you to avoid working on the computer...
Spend some time browsing at the All Movie Guide website.
Spend some time browsing at the All Movie Guide website.