King Arthur Movie Tristan

I read a fair number of biographies and autobiographies, especially in the music field. I offer not a word of a lie when I tell you that Bob Geldolf's Is That It? is bar none the best written autobiography I have ever read. He had a very minimal career inpop music, but when you consider what he's turned that into, you know he a bright guy. Interested in him or not, if your a reader, I recommend his book.

That all said when you hear that Irish pop has-been Bob Geldolf flew with G.W. Bush on a recent trip to Africa, and then wrote a piece in Time about his meetings with teh President, you assume hatchet job.

It's not to be. Geldolf's interest is, and has been since the 80's, African poverty. He knows his stuff, he judges based on action. He makes it clear he is not a natural supporter of GW, but he also seems to genuinely have liked him and is very fair in his comments:

I gave the President my book. He raised an eyebrow. "Who wrote this for ya, Geldof?" he said without looking up from the cover. Very dry. "Who will you get to read it for you, Mr. President?" I replied. No response...

I have always wondered why it was never told properly to the American people, who were paying for it. It was, for example, Bush who initiated the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) with cross-party support led by Senators John Kerry and Bill Frist. In 2003, only 50,000 Africans were on HIV antiretroviral drugs — and they had to pay for their own medicine. Today, 1.3 million are receiving medicines free of charge. The U.S. also contributes one-third of the money for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria — which treats another 1.5 million. It contributes 50% of all food aid (though some critics find the mechanism of contribution controversial). On a seven-day trip through Africa, Bush announced a fantastic new $350 million fund for other neglected tropical diseases that can be easily eradicated; a program to distribute 5.2 million mosquito nets to Tanzanian kids; and contracts worth around $1.2 billion in Tanzania and Ghana from the Millennium Challenge Account, another initiative of the Bush Administration.

So why doesn't America know about this? "I tried to tell them. But the press weren't much interested," says Bush. It's half true...

Bush adds, "One thing I will say: Human suffering should preempt commercial interest." It's a wonderful sentence, and it comes in the wake of a visit to Rwanda's Genocide Memorial Center. The museum is built on the site of a still-being-filled open grave. There are 250,000 individuals in that hole, tumbled together in an undifferentiated tangle of humanity. The President and First Lady were visibly shocked by the museum. "Evil does exist," Bush says in reaction to the 1994 massacres. "And in such a brutal form." He is not speechifying; he is horror-struck by the reality of ethnic madness...

Read it all, it gets behind the scenes on Air Force One, talks about the Presidential Laundry, including Geldolf's respectful dis-agreement on Iraq: "Mr. President, please. There are things you've done I could never possibly agree with and there are things I've done in my life that you would disapprove of, too. And that would make your hospitality awkward."

Yesterday I ranted somewhat about how completely useless our Provincial politicians have been lately. Today comes a series of videos by Aboriginal Affairs Minister Michael Bryant standing around Caledonia with a Tim Horton's coffee talking about the unrest there, and saying things like "here's the bridge; there's the river."

Kinsella calls it a smart use of new technology, but really shouldn't smart use of any technology involve professionalism. The wind blown microphones, Bryant speaks with more "umms" than a Paris Hilton video and jerks around, shrugging and pointing all over the place. This could be smart use of new technology if it was done better (hire a teenager with a cell phone, they'll tell you how to do it) and the subject matter wasn't the complete abdication of the rule of law.

It's a sad state of affairs when the local newspaper starts reading like The Onion, but that's the case today. These guys are nuts, and they're running this province.

Health care in Ontario is a +$30B dollar ministry in Ontario, and the guy running the show doesn't have the native intelligence to figure out how unpleasant it might be to wear a soiled diaper:

Ontario Health Minister George Smitherman says he's considering personally road-testing a new absorbent adult diaper to see if it's appropriate for the province's nursing home residents.

"As a matter of conscience, it's something that I have been seriously considering," Smitherman told reporters yesterday.

The super diapers have become a flash point in the debate around adequate staffing in long-term care facilities.

It's a mighty cold day in hell, and Hespeler when Sid Ryan and Peter Kormos are the guys making sense in a debate, but in Dalton's Ontario, that's how effective banning pit bulls has been against global warming:

Ryan:

"So if the minister wants to play silly games, let him put on a diaper and sleep in it all night long and come into the legislature and wear it until 12 o'clock, and let him soil that diaper and lay around in it for the length of time our seniors have to do in this province."

Kormos:

"Smitherman's a damned embarrassment. One doesn't have to use or exhaust one's imagination to understand the humiliation, the indignity, of sitting in one's own waste for what could be hours at a time."

Really, wet socks are annoying, how much brains and imagination does it take to know spending hours in wet diapers is not good enough.

Then there's Aboriginal Affairs Minister Duncan Bryant, who is telling developers not to pay extortion to the Six Nations Development Institute, a group who is demanding $7,000 fees to develop along the Grand River, land which the institute has no legal claim on:

Ontario will not stop Six Nations from charging developers fees on disputed land near the Grand River, Aboriginal Affairs Minister Michael Bryant said.

He spoke yesterday as calls mounted for the government to halt what some are calling extortion.

A Six Nations development institute is demanding developers pay fees to build around the site, while protesters continue to occupy a former Caledonia housing project.

Developers who got letters seeking fees say the province is hanging them out to dry by not intervening or guaranteeing their safety.

But Bryant said it's up to police to intervene and press charges.

"Developers ... didn't just fall off the turnip truck," he said. "They know very well what the rules are and the laws are."

But Bryant won't step in and nobody can reasonable expect the OPP to do anything about it. Not after Caledonia. So the developers pay the bribes necessary to do business in Ontario (how about a new slogan? "not your average third world country." That ought to rake in the tourists). So the developers pay, the Liberals pretend the issue has gone away, businesses moves on to the next province, and Ontario sinks in to have-not status.

Speaking of which, Dalton is doing a fair bit of whining this week:

Federal politicians have to stop "talking down" the Ontario economy, Premier Dalton McGuinty says.

The premier said he wasn't prepared to follow their advice to cut taxes because he would have to close hospitals, cut social services and stop buying textbooks for students.

Instead, the Stephen Harper government should be partnering with his government on strategic investments in training, jobs and infrastructure to help grow the provincial economy, he said.

"It'd be nice to have the federal government in our corner," McGuinty said. "It'd be nice to have a federal government which doesn't seem to take so much delight in talking down the Ontario economy." Federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty's comment that the McGuinty government is letting Ontario slide into "have not" status and should cut taxes to improve the business climate did not go over well at Queen's Park.

It would be nice to have the federal government in our corner. Instead, the feds are reduced to acting like stern parents, warning the province of the consequences of it's actions. Dalton's response? Right on cue, here comes the petulance. Answer one question Dalton, are we or are we not heading for have-not status according to the federal equalization formula? If not, answer the argument with facts. If so, why? And don't say it's Mike Harris's fault.

Better yet, someone give this guy a diaper.

Finally, we go back to article two, Bryant Skips Home Fight, for one last item:

Meanwhile, Tory party leader John Tory wrote Gary McHale yesterday opposing the Richmond Hill activist's "inappropriate" planned Caledonia demonstration Sunday at OPP Commissioner Julian Fantino's home in Woodbridge. Public figures accept protests with their jobs, but "have a reasonable expectation that our families and our private homes will be left out."

While I agree in principle, don't the people of Caledonia have a reasonable expectation that there families and private homes will be left out of protests, whether by native bands, angry unionists or local nutjobs? And if they do end up in the middle of "inappropriate" protests, that their leadership, both politically and in the police, will aid them? And if that doesn't happen...?

Ladies and Gentlemen, your Government of Ontario: a rash on all their asses

Duma Key by Stephen King

rated: 3 1/2 out of 5









Edgar Freemantle, self-made millionaire, moves to a rented house on Duma Key, Florida after suffering a construction site accident, in which he nearly dies, loses an arm and has brain damage. He frequently forgets simple words and his doctor has given him a rag doll, he names Reba, to help him remember. It's kind of like an anger management doll. Edgar has angry outbursts after his accident and even tries to choke his wife Pam.
Pam decides to leave Edgar shortly after his accident. They have been married for a while and have two grown daughters. The youngest is Isle, whom Edgar admits to himself that he loves more than the eldest.





Edgar names his rented beachhouse 'Big Pink'.
His one neighbor is a rich elderly lady, Elizabeth Eastlake, who is in the early stages of Alzheimer's and lives with her caretaker, Wireman. Wireman and Edgar soon become friends. And Edgar finds out that famous people have stayed at 'Big Pink' including artist Salvador Dali.










Edgar's doctor suggested Edgar take up sketching as a creative outlet. So he begins to sketch and paint. He feels inspired by Big Pink and makes several paintings that he eventually shows to a gallery owner, who decides to showcase his work. Edgar's paintings are very good, and creepy as well.


Since the accident, Edgar has visions, and he puts them on paper. He dreams his ex-wife is sleeping with 2 men, both which he knows personally, he makes a painting of this. He has a vision of his youngest daughter and her boyfriend, he paints the boyfriend perfectly whithout ever meeting him or seeing him. And the 'supernatural' paintings keep on coming.




Another odd thing about Edgar's accident is that he feels his right arm is still there, even though he lost it. He feels it itching and can hear it when he snaps his fingers. He has a headache and massages his head with is phantom hand.
Edgar thinks that his visions and extraordinary painting abilities are a result of losing his arm, his body has given him an extra sense to compensate the loss of a limb. Whenever his lost arm itches, he has the urge to paint and feels that he is painting using both arms.




'Thunderheads stacked up, huge flatboats black on the bottom and bruise-purple through the middle. Every now and then lightning would flash inside them, and they looked like brains filled with bad ideas. The Gulf lost its color and went dead. Sunset was a yellow band that flicked feeble orange and went out. Little Pink filled with gloom.'




Edgar confides in Wireman, and tells him about the paintings being supernatural.
He also finds out some bizzarre things about his neighbor, Elizabeth past at Duma Key. She leaves all kinds of creepy messages on his answering machine, she tells Edgar strange things and Edgar soon finds out Elizabeth was a child prodigy, drawing her own works of art at very early age after she suffered a traumatic head injury.
She grew up there as a child and her twin sisters drowned in the ocean there.




characters:
I like Edgar's character, he's a good father, a decent person and very creative.
I liked Wireman as well, he has a good background story, and he genuinely cares for Elizabeth and takes good care of her. I disliked Edgars wife, Pam at first, she is a big b*tch, but later on in the story, she changes a bit, but you still don't trust her. I like Edgars youngest daugter, Isle, she and Edgar are very close. I thought Elizabeth Eastlake was creepy from the get-go. She has dementia, and randomly comes in and out of reality, she says some very odd and strange things from time to time, and you don't know what is real or what is the Alzheimers talking.







Anyway, at first I was dissapointed with this story. S.K. has always been one of my favorites, yet his last 2 novels I haven't really enjoyed much. I just kept wondering when would this story would 'take off'. Let me say, you need to get to page 400 before this story gets good! And the book is a little over 600 pages long.



Usually S.K. stories give me nightmares, scare me big time. I didn't find this scary, I found it too drawn out.

Being a slow reader, it took me about 3 weeks to read this long novel, and I was tempted at some points to put it to the side and pick up something else. I went a day or two at time without even picking it up to read at all.

However, near the ending, the story does get good, and he wraps it all up pretty well. I just wish it hadn't taken so long to get to the good part.






The good thing is, there's a few of S.K's older novels I haven't read. Maybe I'll try out Pet Semetary next.


http://www.stephenking.com/


read The New York Times review of this book.




This has been part of the Suspense & Thriller Challenge

Hunter climbed out of the dark to tag me, so here it is.

Meme: Share six non-important things/habits/quirks about yourself.

1. My house-key is a big blue Toronto Maple Leaf key - all the better to find the right key in the dark.

2. The 2nd best present I got this Christmas is a Jimmy Page action figure, complete with amp and cigarette.

3. I prefer Starbucks to Tim's, and like my coffee latte'd.

4. I don't believe a country has it's own inherent literature (i.e. Can Lit). A good book is a good book, and can come from anywhere. Yet my two favourite books are written by Canadians.

5. Strawberries are my favourite food; brussel sprouts my least favourite.

6. I prefer to party like it's 1989, even if I can't anymore.

As has been noted elsewhere, John Tory's 66.9% of the delegates votes on Saturday was the same as Joe Clarke's 1983 showing, which Clarke accepted as not enough and called for a leadership convention. Some have been suggesting Tory should follow Clarke's lead, that, because of Clarke, 70% is the drop dead point on these reviews.

As Wudrick points out, however, "Mr. Clark... is considered the gold standard of poor political decision-making in Canadian politics." His decision to hold a leadership convention after receiving 66.9% would be one of those judgements.

But Clarke had a reason (two, actually: from the comments of the same post linked to above: "People tend to forget that Joe Clark got 66.5% of delegates voting against a leadership review in 1981... In 1983... He received 66.9% supporting his leadership. Clark called a leadership convention because his support was not increasing.") . Joe Clarke had lost his caucus back in 1983. He had virtually no support from the members he was supposed to be leading. He wanted a very strong majority in the review so he could reinforce his leadership in caucus. When he didn't get it, he went with a convention.

John Tory, on the other hand, seems to have caucus support. He didn't need super majority status to reinforce his leadership. He needed 50% + 1, and he got it. I don't support John Tory, and won't, but I have no complaints about Tory staying on with almost 70% of the delegates votes.

Now that the evidence is coming in that the earth is cooling thanks to reduced solar activity, and cooling is substantially worse than heating, shouldn't we abolish taxes on all carbon, build and drive bigger cars, fire up the coal, close the hydro-electric plants, and consume, consume, consume?

Or do you think heating was never the issue in the first place?

J. Kaye tagged me with this meme:


6 Word Memoir

1. Write your own six word memoir.

2. Post it on your blog and include a visual illustration if you’d like.

3. Link to the person that tagged you in your post and to this original post if possible so we can track it as it travels across the blogosphere.

4. Tag five more blogs with links

5. Remember to leave a comment on the tagged blogs with an invitation to play!



Here goes:

'I'm a shy and reflective soul'

I've always lived 'inside my own head'...a dreamer. And I over-think things waaaay too much. And on top of that, I'm painfully shy.


Here is the image I chose to represent this:

It is titled "Catch a Falling Star" by Josephine Wall




I'm tagging the following bloggers with this meme:

-confessions of a bookaholic

-becky's book reviews

-alison

-sms books

-

Joanne over at Blue Like You suggests that she's going to get behind John Tory now that the issue has been decided:

I made a promise to stop slagging Tory once a decision was made and I intend to keep it. At this point the party must attempt to come together or we will end up in the same position as the Federal Liberals.

Sorry Joanne but myself, I made a different kind of promise:

I pass a message on to Freedom Party leader Paul McKeever: if the PC's can't put up a better leader, somebody who is not a red Tory, then count me in for 2011 - assuming of course you want me.

So Joanne, no, I will not get on board. I understand that choosing politicians is always a bit of a compromise, but why must I make all the compromises. And I'll tell you something else Joanne, John Tory has more in common with Joe Clark than just leadership review numbers: policy - check; electability - check; long term decimation of the party he leads - lets just hope not.

Frankly, I'm not really planning on running for anybody and I hope a Freedom Party candidate can be found for my riding. However, four years is a long way away and anything can happen: Hey! I work in the auto industry. Four years from now I might have nothing better to do.

But Joanne, I don't see me getting on board with John Tory, and I sure don't see that I will "stop slagging Tory." When Conservatives refuse to act conservative, I am slagging them.

well, here I am bored on a Saturday nite, I'm watching Dumb & Dumber, very funny.













Lloyd: What the hell are we doing here, Harry? We gotta get out of this town!
Harry: Oh yeah, and go where? Where are we gonna go?
Lloyd: I'll tell you where. Someplace warm. A place where the beer flows like wine. Where beautiful women instinctively flock like the salmon of Capistrano. I'm talking about a little place called Aspen.
Harry: Oh, I don't know, Lloyd. The French are a$$holes.







-----------------




I found a few memes:

Unconscious Mutterings


I say ... and you think ... ?

Passport :: airplane

Small world :: dolls

Radio :: music

Marine :: army

Wall :: brick

Wanna be :: high school

Pigtails :: hair

Hyphen :: pen

9.99 :: money

Unrated :: movie

-----------------


Saturday 9 Our 1980's Meme

Share with us your…



1. Age on January 1st, 1980. 4






2. Favorite song of the 80’s. Madonna's 'Like A Virgin' & Cyndi Lauper's 'Girl's Just Wanna Have Fun', George Michaels' 'Wake Me Up...Before you Go Go'...I think it is called 'Jitterbug'...and anything by Michael Jackson





3. Favorite rock band of the 80’s. Bon Jovi & Aerosmith ...but back then...gawd..when I was little I loved 'Menudo'<-they were a Spanish boy band...and I loved 'New Kids on the Block'<- but I think they were more late 80's early 90's





4. Favorite dance/R&B band of the 80’s. I did the 'wop', the 'snake', the 'cabbage patch', 'kid n play'...'running man'... all of which to my sons utter horror, I've danced in front of him and threatened to dance at his school dances...lol!! And I like watching breakdancers. As far as R & B, I like Bobby Brown, Whitney Houston, Janet Jackson, Jodi Watley, Stevie Wonder, Diana Ross & Prince & Michael Jackson of course





5. Best TV show of the 80’s. wow... 'Smurfs', 'Facts of Life', 'Benson', 'Three's Company', 'Thunder Cats', 'Rainbow Bright', 'Gem', 'Alf', 'Cosby Show', 'Speed Racer'...and lots more I'm forgetting




6. Best male and female TV actors of the 80’s. I loved John Ritter on Three's Company...my granny didn't speak English, but always watched 'Three's Company' and would crack up at Jack





7. Favorite comedy movie of 80’s. I have sooo many fav 80's movies,...but a few I like are: 'Adventures In Babysitting', 'Airplane', 'Beetlejuice', 'Big', 'Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure', 'Private Benjamin', '16 Candles',
and the 'Back To The Future' movies





8. Favorite action/drama film of the 80’s. 'Gremlins', 'The Breakfast Club', 'Say Anything', 'The Princess Bride', 'Indiana Jones'






9. Favorite personal event, social gathering or political event during the 1980's.
Hmm....I don't really remember many political events, I do remember being in Catholic grade school during the 80's and when Madonna's video for 'Like A Prayer' came out, the nuns and priests in school actually held a meeting for the students ....warning us not to watch this video and not to buy her album....they told us Madonna was a very bad person! lmao!!! Of course I watched the video, danced along and bought the cassette tape....Madonna rocks.





-----------------


daydreaming on paper


List 10 foods or dishes that you never tire of eating.


1. rice & beans

2. pizza

3. french fries

4. chocolate

5. pasta

6. chicken

7. cereal

8. pop tarts

9. cheese

10. cake







-----------------


(this is my own weekly meme)


alt="randomness...feed your mind and your blog">




week of February 24: Bookworms

If you're like me, youre a bookworm.

I love to read. Whether it be a book, magazine, back of the cereal box...anything.

However I do prefer a good long novel.

So for this week, lets talk about our fav books.




1. Do you like to read? of course! What is your fav book? author? I have several...see my book blog

2. Do you hate it when they turn a book into a film? sometimes I do, and the book is always better.

3. Has a book ever changed your life? How? I read 'She's come Undone' by Wally Lamb and absolutely loved it. I could relate to the main character and that book made me cry. Since then I've read it 2 more times and lent my copy to 3 friends, who loved it too.

4. Do you tend to borrow books from the library or do you prefer to buy them?

I prefer to buy them, but when I'm strapped for cash, I always go to the library for my book fix :)

5. Which book are you planning on reading next? see my 'TBR' list for several, but I hope to read cold mountain next.



'Never judge a book by its movie.'-
J. W. Eagan










have a great weekend

I've always been an avid reader. When I was about 12, I decided to subscribe myself to a book club called 'Especially for Girls'. Without my mother's permission or knowledge, I filled out the registration card and mailed it out. Well, the books began to arrive soon, wonderful stories, I still have a few....'Trouble With Thirteen' & 'Karen Kepplewhite is the Worlds Best Kisser'.






Needless to say, my mother soon found out and was furious at my ordering books without her permission & at the bill....but let me stay with the club, she knew her daughter was a hopeless bookworm. How can you stay angry at a kid who was being sneaky to get books :)



Well, thankfully my love of books and writing passed on to my own 2 children. They both enjoy reading and we have quite the collection of childrens books here. My son, 11, enjoys mysteries and anything UFO related. I'll post a list of his favs soon on my blog too.







My daughter, 7, loves to read Junie B. Jones books. She has several of them. Who is Junie B.? She is a fun, outspoken 1st grader who gets into all kinds of predicaments and who usually gets into an arguement with her classmate 'May'. Created by Barbara Park, the Junie B. Jones books are a so much fun. I read them with my daughter and we laugh out loud every time.



Titles include:

-Jingle Bells, Batman Smells! (P.S. So Does May.)

-Junie B. Jones and the Stupid Smelly Bus

-Top Secret, Personal Beeswax: A Journal by Junie B. (and me): this one is a journal where Junie B. has prefilled some of it, then you can fill the rest in too.


-Toothless Wonder

-Junie B. Jones and the Mushy Gushy Valentine

-Junie B. Jones has a Monster Under Her Bed

-Junie B. Jones and Her Big Fat Mouth


The story always begin with ....'My name is Junie B. Jones. The B. stand for Beatrice. Except I don't like Beatrice. I just like B and that's all.'





If you have a little one between grades K-3, I think they might just love the Junie B. Jones books :) Not a day goes by here that my daughter doesn't read some Junie B.

OK, it seems pretty obvious what Jim Flaherty really means by:

Instead of seizing opportunities and taking steps to strengthen our economy we are seeing a lack of leadership, a lack of vision and a lack of economic stewardship. And we are seeing it right here in the manufacturing heartland of the country, the place I proudly call home: Ontario.

But to put this speech in perspective, lets go back a few years. In fact lets go back almost two years, to April 2006. Back when we were still digesting "Canada's New Government," back when they were in fact new, and the ministers for this government were all newly appointed: Rona Ambrose was in Environment and had upside. Garth Turner was in the back-benches of the governing side, and his blog was Stephen Harper yaa tis, and Stephen Harper yaa that.

And Jim Flaherty was Canada's new Finance Minister. In that environement, I spoke thus:

When Dalton's Liberal's came to power in Ontario, they bitched and moaned about the state the Conservatives left the finances. They made statements such as 'they cut taxes too quickly', 'they acted irresponsibly' and &tc. The problem is, one of those Conservative Finance Minister's, one of the tax cutting ones, was Jim Flaherty.

If you are Jim Flaherty, are you sorely tempted to tell Dalton McGuinty that a) the house was once in order b) the house is no longer in order and c) we blame you for b? For a tax cutter fiscal conservative like Flaherty, is this even more so after the last Ontario budget, in which Dalton McGuinty intentionally built a deficit into the budget for political(?) purposes?

Not being content with that, in October of that year Dalton spoke somewhat out of turn:

"A lot of those people who used to run Queen's Park, the ones who didn't get what it takes to succeed in the 21st century, they're back. They're running the federal government. It's kind of like a recurring nightmare," McGuinty told the closing rally of the Ontario Liberals' annual general meeting.

"I'm increasingly concerned they still don't get it that they still don't understand that it takes more than competitive taxes alone to build a high quality of life in today's world."

Good Lord, Dalton! Put away that stone before you break one of the panes on the wall.

So who was surprised yesterday when Flaherty went after McGuinty? Who was surprised when he said "Dalton McGuinty likes to blame others for his problems. But I suggest the problems, in many cases, stem from a lack of innovation, a lack of foresight and a lack of leadership."? Not me, that's who. I saw this one coming two years ago.

More at Jack's Newswatch and Blue Like You. (Hey Joanne, did you consider "Blue By You"? It's catchy and you could hum along.)

The blogging is going to stop for the night and I am going to brave the cold to see if I can see the eclipsed moon peeking out from behind the clouds. Don't forget to sneak outside for a look yourself, and if your not sure when (now would be a good time), here's an animated time chart.

Yesterday I stopped at the Petro Canada on the 401 between Cambridge and Guelph, and filled up at $101.9/litre. Over night last night, the price responded to petroleum finishing the day at over $100 /barrel, and by this morning the same gas was running at $109.6. That's a 7.7¢ litre. If you were looking for a car yesterday, are you looking for a smaller one today? Did you chose not to go somewhere today because of that 7.7¢?

On the same day that gas prices rose 7.7¢, British Columbia has introduced a new carbon tax of 2.4¢/litre of gasoline. It will increase over four years to about 7.2¢/litre. In four years a carbon tax will increase the price of gas by ½¢ less than it rose on it's own over night last night.

The details of this tax are somewhat complex, with money going back to taxpayers in various plans. It is also according to the BC government, revenue neutral. Revenue neutral is one of those buzz words, and while politicians want you to hear, "your overall taxes will not rise," they are also, and more importantly saying, "your taxes are not going down." Even if you decided to save taxes by cutting your carbon use, the carbon tax would necessarily rise to protect the revenue neutral aspect of the tax.

In B.C. however, revenue neutrality is irrelevant. A 7.2¢/litre carbon tax will have no practical effect. I have said it every time I write on this issue, 60¢/litre is the size required of any carbon tax if it is to be effective. Even Elizabeth May, whom I have already stated I think she's got it wrong, thinks 12¢/litre is what's required. As I point out in the article the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, a leftist think(?) tank thinks the oil companies are taking 15c a litre excess profit. If the gas companies are taking excess profit more than your carbon tax, how effective will your 7.2¢ carbon tax be?

Look out B.C taxpayers, this is just the beginning.

Being an avid crocheter, I decided to post and review a few of my favorite crochet pattern books.





Stitch 'N Bitch Crochet: The Happy Hooker by Debbie Stoller


rated: 5 out of 5 :





Full of fun patterns, colorful pictures, great instructions. This is one of my favorite crochet pattern books. Whenever I'm in need for an idea for a new project, I look in here for a fun pattern.







Get Your Crochet On! : Hip Hats and Cool Caps by Afya Ibomu

rated: 4 out of 5:





This book has some fun hat patterns, with a funky style like The O.G. and the M.C. The patterns are easy to follow and there's plenty of helpful photos. This is where I got the pattern for the hat I'm wearing in my profile photo.









Amigurumi! : Super Happy Crochet Cute
by Elisabeth Doherty

rated: 5 out of 5 :






I love this one, it has some cute patterns for amigurumi's, which I love to make.
Amigurmi's are Japanese-inspired dolls, that are super cute and addictive to crocheter's everywhere. These doll patterns do take time to complete, but are worth the effort. The amigurumi's in this book are so unique looking and funky.









Charmed Knits : Projects for Fans of Harry Potter
by Alison Hansel

rated: 3 out of 5 :




Okay, I know I said crochet books, but I wanted to sneak this knitting pattern book as well. It has some nice Harry Potter knit patterns in it, including wizards cloak, house scarves & Weasley sweaters. But I almost feel that I could find these type of patterns online for free or come up with similar crochet patterns on my own.

Sometime through the night, between when I crawled in to watch House, and when I emerged from my down-filled cocoon at 5:00 this morning, the sitemeter counter on At Home in Hespeler rolled over to 30,000.

I know it's not a lot by many blogs standards, but it is a number I never imagined when I started this little enterprise. With that said, I want to thank everyone who has read this blog and everyone who has linked to this blog. I couldn't have reached 30,000 hits without you, and I appreciate your support.

See you all in two years for the 60,000 hits post!

Molly Ringwald?

If the terminally cute and pouty Ms. Ringwald is 40, that must mean I'm...

Maybe I read that wrong, if only I had my bi-focals...

Dear God! Someone get me a midol...

Oh Hell! Happy birthday to Molly Ringwald anyway.

The federal Conservatives are claiming the Liberals have promised spending commitments and "promising tax dollars to special interest after special interest, writing IOU after IOU," according to Industry Minister Jim Prentice. The result, according to a Conservative report, would be to add $62.5B debt over the next four years.

Predictably, the Liberals have fired back with John McCallum, calling it a shoddy, dishonest document." All that spending would be phased in, thus, it's OK claims McCallum. The Liberals further suggest that the report is "pre-election stunt designed to distract from the Harper government's own free-spending ways."

Let's see, the Conservatives say Dion's Liberals... spend too much, the Liberals say Harper's Conservatives... spend too much.

Enough! You both spend too much! Listening to John McCallum and Jim Prentice argue over which party spends too much is like listening to two old hookers accusing each other of nymphomania. And sadly, the opposition to these two parties, Jack Layton, Elizabeth May and Gilles Duceppe would argue that what the other two really need is to get laid once in a while.

A sexually transmitted pox on all their houses - the whole damn lot of syphilitic old whores.

As part of Becky's Mini Austen Challenge, I've been watching
PBS Masterpiece Theatere Complete Jane Austen.
The past few weeks they've been playing Pride & Prejudice. I've never seen this version before, and it is wonderful.

Colin Firth plays an excellent Mr. Darcy.





Which Mr. Darcy do you prefer? Matthew McFadyen or Colin Firth?



"She is tolerable, I suppose, but not handsome enough to tempt me."




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I've also watched 'Miss Austen Regrets'. It is based on the life and letters of Jane Austen. It was interesting to see a bit about Miss Austens life. She had a marriage proposal from a wealthy man she declined. She also met a handsome young doctor who she was interested in. You see how her mother blames her for never marrying. And how her family almost makes fun of her for her writing instead of marrying and raising a family. She died at age 41 with never having married.

"My darling girl...this is the real world -- the only way to get a man like Mr. Darcy is to make him up." -Jane Austen in 'Miss Austen Regrets'





I've found a good Jane Austen site:
http://www.austen-beginners.com/index.htm