This is a shout out to the Gilli-ific one. With out her and her ilk, we would be stuck with robotic cats like the children in Japan. Poor children.

-shudder- Here is to real cats! To real cats everywhere!

I have been tagged by Bree with a ‘four things’ meme.

Four jobs I have had in my life:

1. Sandwich Artist
2. Dock Jockey
2.5 Used and Antique Book Dealer
3. Park Ranger (sort of)
4. Marketing Director and Marine Stove Guru

Four movies I would watch over and over:

1. Ken Burns “Out West” or “Civil War”
2. Henry the Fifth (Ken Branagh)
3. Mambo Kings
4. The Lion in Winter (both Close/Stewart and Hepburn/O’Toole)

Four Places I have lived

1. Montreal
2. Edmonton
3. New Westminster
4. Vancouver

Four TV shows I love
1. House
2. Rock Star
3. Mythbusters
4. The Office

Four places I have been on vacation:

1. Queensland, Australia
2. England
3. Hawaii
4. Cruise Ship

Four of my favourite foods:

1. Curry (but I pay for it)
2. Really good pasta
3. Salmon
4. Pecan Pie

Four places I would rather be right now:

1. Portugal
2. Bruges
3. A beach, with big waves
4. On the Boat, cuddling

Tag, you’re it:

1. Gillian
2. John
3. Sarah

Well Wagner is around 7 months old so he has not yet learned to use the computer (unlike Gillian’s cat) so I will write this post myself. He just got his hair cut in this picture and he is looking more fru-fru than usual ( I assure you ladies, he is still intact if you know what I mean).

He has a little ear cleaning to do. Poor puppy has a little swelling around the the ear-beard. Not to fear we have the meds.

Bree has this great idea that we will breed him with a wheaton Terrier and overflow our house with crazy cuddle-pups. But she’s nutz.

My baby is super bopping to the Supernova of mascara clad uber-emos and wil-o-the-waifs on Next Top Model.

What is a real life boy to do?

I am reaching here. I love my bopper and when she ‘reals out’ on the tivo, I’m right there with her. I vote you on my island baby.

Here in Coquitlam Center, Suburban mall of note East of Vancouver BC, the assembled gather in communion for a Fifa administered dose of global community. The serving is especially felt in multi-culti Greater-Van.

GOAL!

Ths one is definitely for the family and friends out there! Enjoy.

Not my dog this time folks, I promise you!

I am always impressed by otherwise sane, rational people get so crossed that they take a huge personal risk and make a stand. I have only once really felt like personaly operating a one man boycott. I was sold a RX-7 at a used car dealership and the engine was already blown. I was fully conned. Grrr.

Others I know have created Blogs that act as gripe sites to villify their oppressors or shame the bad-baddies into ‘doing the right thing’. The sister Blog Awake to Dream has often been used in this way, as evil corporations are shamed into not oppressing the downtrodden or disabled:

I entered the store and to my chagrin, the arcanely narrow-minded attendant was behind the counter. Worse still, he recognized me.

Here, I stumbled accross a man in Maple Ridge BC whose dog had been inured by a Canadain Tire (Maple Ridge) employee in te store parking lot. The employee had offered to pay half of the vet bill but later the store managers had told him to revoke the offer on liability grounds. In the meantime the man fixed the dog and found he was unhappy with the way he was treated by the store. His name is Tom Demke and he is a brave, angry man. I am not saying he is sane… I don’t know him and he may be reasonable or otherwise, but still, protesting the Canadian Tire, alone but for his dog. I will answer more questions on this ,via email, for those who are interested.

I applaud you, who fight the man… Fight on. This means you too Jason. Rock On!

My son, who is 5, wanted me to study this picture. I wonder if it is a hint? I think I have an idea what themes take center stage in my little boy’s mind. I have to say, I am envious. I would love to crawl ack in to a smaller skin and play with knights and dragons all the time.

Well, for Dads, that is some times what having kids brings us. We get the chance, as parents, to relive some of these themes, just as we relive triumphs, insecurities, fantasies and failures.

Peter Pan! Oh twer it I!

In some ways, a blog is like a journal. I don’t mean the type of journal that gives us the word ‘journalism’ but rather the introspective, private kind.

In some ways, it sure is not. The whole point is to share what is written or posted, and to enter into a community of readers and writers. Thats great. It is also the real attraction but for me and others, it can be more. It can be more like a diary, a journal. What I have in mind here is the ability to go back in time and read what was written, see what was important and what the state of the writer in the world was. Here in this blog, this ability doesn’t really go far back. I started posting in January on this url but I had a blog before this one. Still, it is interesting, once in a while, to have a look back. I promise, I will not turn into a pillar of salt.

Here I review posts that have been marked political or current events.

29th January 2006

Hey Presto!

Where I comment on the prospect of Preston Manning become the next Canadian Ambassador to the USA, my (satirical) preference for Svend Robinson and my prediction that the former ambassador, Frank McKenna, would run for the Liberal leadership. NONE of these things happened but here is a quote:

It is as clear to me as it is to Frank McKenna that Canada needs a new man in Mordor. This Liberal big whig is in the running (perhaps) to be the next Lib chief. Who then?

Oh I know! Preston Manning! I can see this working, really I can, With the Tories in Ottawa and the #$@@%&%*)! in Washington, a plaid shirt wearin’, cattle brandin’, true believin Albertexian just might fit the bill. I can see the logic but still, this is not my choice. I disagree with him on most things but Preston is scholarly and thoughtful, faithful and clean living. Still he is not the man for the job.

February 2 2006

Stop Shooting At Us!

In which I cry out, !Dear Dods in Heaven! Why are the Americans always shooting at us! A quote:

Canadian diplomats take fire in Baghdad as hail of bullets riddles their car with out warning. American officials unrepentant. Related stories in Afghanistan and again in Iraq.

7 February 2006

Lampooning Cultural Icons

P1090493

Originally uploaded by ms_doyle.

Where I am motivated by the recent Chinatown parade and by the riots following the publication of cartoons including depictions of the prophet Mohammad.

Is one culture special enough to be exempted from this treatment?

Jews and Muslims do not eat pork. I eat pork and so do people I know. None of us are causing a riot. You don’t like depictions of your religious icon? Don’t draw them. You don’t like it when others draw them? Suck it up.

28th February 2006

One Smoking Hole Deserves Another

The bombing of the Samara Mosque in Iraq. A bloody mess.

It is almost a habit for me to post on current events after they are current but so often, I am conflicted. This is a horrible event perpetrated by one sect to another yet the groups seem indistinguishable from each other.

12 March 2006 Viva La Revelucion! (On Sark)
I really liked this one. I had heard on the radio that the Island or Sark would forsake its feudal government and embrace a nascent form of Democracy.

What I did not know, and what I learned later, is that my good friend Kevin’s ancestors come from there.

This little island reminds me of the Peter Sellers movie “The Mouse who Roared” where the backwards inhabitants of a miniscule island kingdom stuck in the Middle Ages some how manage to steal the newest of the new Q-Bomb form the United States and thus become world powers.

I am sure the Bush Administration is sleeping easier at night knowing one more tyrannical regime has given way to the enlightenment of democracy. Sark Today, Iraq tomorrow… or the next day.

12 March 2006

Luna the Killer

Luna, Meet Poochie

Originally uploaded by Will_Tom.

In Which Luna the Killer Whale dies on the same day as former dictator Slobodan Milosovic. I mourn Luna.

19th June 2006

More Blokes for the Kiddies!

I post an article by Mary Ellen Lang of the CBC that promotes more male teachers in the classroom. I feel more and more deeply about this. I think it might turn into a thee for the blog in the future.

1 July 2006

Democracy Can Kill You

A recent post to be sure. You can probably scroll down right now and read it. The young soldier is still a prisoner in Gaza. The Israeli government is still behaving in a way that will ensure the blood letting continues into the next generation.

Well, that is all. I have skipped a few but no more. I hope to have more Summer Blog Blog Summaries. We shal see. How about Puppie blogging next?

From the ever productive ones at Lifehacker: Sticking it to the man: uber geek style….

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Lifehacker, the Productivity and Software Guide

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