Abandoned Stuff by Saskboy

Went for Bus and Boat tour around city, and saw the islands from the boat. Apparently the city concealed the “clothing optional” beach with weeping willows. One bus the mic didn’t work so they used a megaphone. The guide was at high risk of overhead cable-neck damage.

Went to fringe show called “Big Sexy” with Kelly and Tracy, and had a sub after, similar to lunch. Ate lunch on campus in sci-library cafe which was probably on low gear for the Summer. Got some free Internet time to check the forecast, and hopped on the bus again.

Met CC, Buckets, and some other bloggers and a podcaster after supper. www.godlessradio.ca is the podcast. Bought CC a beer on College St. near the CFI.

Got a free Viva ticket on the way home, woo hoo, and got to bed by 1:00AMish after an evening walk/jog.

Met with bloggers at CBC, went to Jack Astors, waitress drooled over baby and made fun of my “I’m Kind of Big Deal” t-shirt, 3/4 of s knocked things off table onto ourselves, found a lost health card on Queen St. I did some shopping, and stopped at Kelly and Tracy’s office before heading back to Richmond H. to have All Stars wings with cousins. They have wings at that place that you have to sign a waiver for. Watched CSI and then The Mentalist, wrote this, went to bed. Early morning tomorrow to catch the GO!

Waking up at 4:35AM wasn’t so bad. I got to the airport fine, and didn’t get extra attention from security. The flight was smooth, and I watched most of “Defiance” [8/10] a moving movie about the Jewish resistance in Belarussia.

Ben got me at the airport, after I pickedup a stowed bag, and the one I checked. We had sushi at Hockey Sushi, which was busy even at 3:00 PM.

Playing XBox 360 soon, and learning a bit about XAML graphical programming right now.

ADDED: Yeah, I needed a nap, which isn’t surprising. Watching some Law and Order, and about to have a burger for supper.

It’s a big day. Not only is the weather perfect outside, compared especially to the bluster-fest that yesterday was, I went to an IMAX movie “Mummies: Secrets of the Pharaohs” [7/10]. And I learned that a skateboard can pretty much keep up to my mountain bike if I don’t pedal vigorously.

It’s also the day before a big vacation to Ontario. I’ll see some sights, take in Canada Day events, meet some bloggers, visit a cottage, and hopefully the CFL Hall of Fame before I return. It’s always a little nerve wracking to leave pets, plants, and home in the care of friends and neighbours.

So if you’re a blogger from Toronto (or area), leave a comment or send me an email and we can meet somewhere for tea. It’ll save you a trip out to Regina to meet “Saskboy” ;-).

It’s hard to act globally, unless you go to a standard grocery store, and then you’re a global actor in many ways. So to act locally, grow a garden, and support your local farmers’ market. The Rurban Fringe has challenged me and you to the 100 mile diet. For you metric people out there like me, that’s the 160.9344 km Diet.

- One of two chokecherries I planted that actually took off and produce fruit now.

I don’t know if I’m up to being really strict with how far my farm food comes from, because I could probably get 200km beef, and still be doing better than by buying at Extra Foods or Sobeys. And it would take a long time for an apple tree I plant now to bear fruit, and I don’t know even if there are local orchards for that sort of thing here. Creativity would help, and I don’t know how much additional energy I have for that this year.

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And while you’re eating better, you might even reduce the likelihood that you’ll end up on this wall of cancer survivors and those who didn’t make it.

I threw a semi-birthday party for a friend Saturday. It’s much more fun to have a birthday party in June than in December, and he and I aren’t in the same city usually around Christmas so it made more sense to celebrate the semi or half birthday than “real” birthday. Sure, some people thought it was strange, but they were probably just jealous that it wasn’t their semi-birthday too.

It was their unbirthday though. It was my unbirthday too, and I got a cupcake with a candle in it because of it. I won’t be repeating that for all of my unbirthdays. We listened to music videos on YouTube after a fantastic BBQ steak and baked potato meal, and played Beat the Experts. We were hoping to BBQ in the park, but the high winds kept us close to home instead. As it was, I went through an ungodly number of matches.

Earlier in the day I saw “17 Again” [8/10] a mostly funny and entertaining movie about a man who grumbles about making the wrong choice at 17, and ruins his life due to the grumbling and not the choice. He finds himself 17 again suddenly, and has another shot, but is it for himself, or for his family? So mystery and laughs follow.

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ADDED: Oh burn! The UDP stays on its rocky road, with an update from the Leader Post that should make business people scratch their heads in bewilderment as to why they’d support a money pit like a nuclear power plant.

The last notice of Conservaspam I sent out on my blog came from the Liberal Party of Canada. Yes, Huffb1 spotted that bit of trash in his mailbox. Well this time the Conservatives have taken the lead again in the slimeball activity of spending your tax money on political propaganda. The latest accuses Michael Ignatieff of wanting to raise taxes.

MP Ray Boughen is the latest Conservative to have shame brought to his name by unethically, and quite possibly illegally, mailing propaganda into Ralph Goodale’s Wascana riding. The mailing also refers to the ridiculous “Just Visiting” ad campaign they wasted their money on (let’s hope the Conservatives spent their money, and not ours). Then it has a lazily edited fake ballot asking “Who is on track to keep taxes low?” It’s lazy because they replaced Dion’s name with Ignatieff’s, and didn’t alphabetize it like before.

And what’s most frustrating about this kind of ad, besides everything else I’ve listed so far, is that it should be a crime to tax the future as badly as the Conservatives do (and have historically). If taxes are being kept artificially low now, it only stands to reason that the only people who can pay the bill, will be people of the future (AKA children). The Conservatives’ infrastructure deficit will be paid by future generations, and so too will the growing debt. You can’t bill the past, but you can sure bill the future. And Conservatives, and their Liberal enablers, are chewing up the hopes of high future living standards, and are bragging about it in the mail — using your money.

Also, about 90% of these junk mails were tossed out in the bin under the mailboxes in my building. They are only making printing companies richer, and anyone who reads them and believes them… dumber. Dumb, just how Conservatives like their voters I suppose.

Here’s one of Regina’s many artists’ websites. This kind of art I really like to see on buildings, although I find them too bright for indoors.

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ADDED: This photo project in North Central sounds interesting too.