‘Colab’ Goddamn kids these days can’t even finish words when they’re talking any more! When I hear the truncated use collaborate, I think of things like ‘Meth Lab’ or maybe ‘Coke Lab’. Which are probably the things that kids are ‘Colab’n’ about! What’s even worse is most of these kids have even forgotten about Dre, now that was collaboration.
Two of my friends claim to have ‘Colab’d‘ on this shirt of the new Master of Coin, Tyrion Lannister! (that could be a spoiler by the way) I thought it was so sweet I’d post it here.
Banff is funny place to Geo-Cache, since it’s in a National Park and don’t want every Tom, Dick and Harry trampling the wildlife they keep a tight grip over how many caches are available. They also don’t really allow for swag either, so no coins or sweet goodies are waiting for you here, just knowledge!
Far from any real difficulty in comparison to more wilder geo-caching adventures, Banff has a handful of caches all within walking distance of its down-town core. A few weeks back I went through and tried to find all of them in an afternoon, now I recommend it to anyone who hasn’t tried Geo-Caching before. Though the lack of loot does detract a tiny bit from the experience.
We all sometimes feel like we could be getting a better deal for our hard-earned cell phone dollars. But really, how much better could we possibly get? Well this little tidbit I stumbled across on reddit (if true) could give us an idea! Behold! Rogers Wireless Canada’s ‘Federal Government Voice plan’ Which has a monthly fee of a whopping $0.55 a month! See for yourself:
Rogers’ Federal Government Voice Place
Witness the power to kiss ass when you are part of an Oligopoly! I should note that I haven’t been able to confirm this is real but I worked for Rogers about 5 years ago and know they had all sorts of *special* un-advertised plans for different unions and professions that would work out to be a little cheaper.
Pissed off yet? Not me… I get ripped off by Telus… where the at least customer service is better!
Halloween, it’s coming quick! A couple years ago my friends and I decided to go out as the Ghostbusters for Halloween so built these sick proton packs outta whatever junk we could find. If you are stuck deciding what to do, use it for inspiration…
Dom sent me the link for new trailer yesterday. They have re-titled the film ‘All By Ourselves’ a few months back, because, I believe Powder Hiway had already been copyrighted by someone else. I figure, if you have to change something because of potential copyright infringement, it probably means you’re getting a decent level of buzz. So enjoy this trailer of Andrew Hardingham sharing his personal insights on filmers and photogs.
Blogging. Its a demanding mistress, and you the faithful, who occasionally peek here, probably wonder why I’ve been so slack at it lately. Well its because I have a life and I’ve been going t-shirt crazy. My latest shirt features the Mayor of Temiskaming Shore in a design inspired by Shepard Fairey. Enjoy!
Cancer. I’ve never had it, which is surprising considering my fascination with cigarettes and any piece of wireless technology. But my grandmother died from it. She lived in Thessalon, Ontario and had to drive almost 2 hours to a hospital in Sault Ste Marie for treatment. It was close to fifteen years ago but I still remember once when we were visiting we all went along for the ride. She didn’t last long probably only a year or two, but I do remember the day before she died, having the whole family in the spare bedroom at my grandparent house, which had been converted into a hospital room and her withered body hardly moving at all in the bed. I remember thinking she looked so sick and that other her eyes shifting around looking at each of us, she might have already been dead. It was upsetting for all of us to watch her so quickly go from daily gardening and cooking up massive batches of sweets to a barely breathing corpse over a short period of time. However, these days I don’t really think about it much, my point simply is I’m not a total stranger to cancer and its effects on people and their families. I want anyone who reads this to understand that before reading further and assuming I’m just stirring the pot for the sake of getting people’s blood boiling… (I am after all, a bit of a shit disturber…)
Because, this week in the local paper, it was announced to the world at large (or at least the microcosm that is Temiskaming) that the Community Cancer Care centre was being evicted from the Temiskaming Hospital. Now why would they do that you ask? Well the stated reason is because they need more room to treat cancer patients. The program which is paid for through donations and run by volunteers helps provides different types of support to people receiving cancer treatment at the hospital.
So let me take a second and say that I think it’s a great thing and that I’m happy all those drink tickets I buy on Canada Day weekend go to support something other than some promoter’s pocket. Because I also don’t want anyone thinking that I have anything against this organization.
So why are they getting evicted? According to the article in the Temiskaming Speaker, CEO Bruce Cunningham has said that they need more room to treat MORE cancer patients. Now, the Community Cancer Care has not been ordered and cease and desist order, it hasn’t been told it needs to close its doors and stop offering the services and support it provides, it’s been just been told to move. Logically it makes sense to have the centre in the hospital and I’ll agree with that, but the hospital itself is pretty small compared to any other hospital I can think of that offers cancer treatment so I’ll take Bruce’s word (for now) that real estate in the building is at a premium.
Naturally though, the people responsible for the program are upset about this, because like I said, and what seems to be their reasoning, is that it makes sense for this to be in the hospital where people receive the treatment. However, (and this is where my opinions may start to differ…) the hospital is not located on an island, nor is it located in some remote piece of Northern Ontario bush land miles from civilization. It is located right on the edge of New Liskeard, not so close that the average person would walk there from the grocery store, but close enough that I doubt the needle on your fuel gauge would budge from driving down town and back.
What I believe to be the simple solution of moving it, for the sake of being able to treat more patients, seems to be incomprehensible to Barry Phippen and the other volunteers. What upsets me is listening to and reading Barry in interviews where he stamps his feet and beats his chest about how Bruce Cunningham has resented the program. Barry, you’re a leader in this community and I can understand that this decision doesn’t sit well with you especially after you have invested so much of yourself into it. But we should be happy that patients don’t have to drive to North Bay or Sudbury for cancer treatment as it is. We live in one of the most overlooked areas of the entire country, even when I go to Ottawa I have to explain to people ‘it’s two hours north of North Bay…‘ and that’s if they even know where North Bay is!
Be glad for what this community does have, if the office needs to be moved down town or anywhere else, so be it! Be glad that you are in a position that you can provide extra help to these patients at all and if it means being 5 minutes away instead of being in the same building, that’s still doing more than not having the program at all. I still remember that two hour drive to Sault Ste Marie and if it meant another 5 minutes to get extra support, I’m sure my family would have considered it a drop in the bucket or a minor nuisance compared to not having it at all.
You can listen to Barry’s interview on CBC points north here. Also you can read the article from the speaker here. Bruce Cunningham is set to appear on CBC radio’s points north on Monday, Sept 12th.
TSN, I never watch that shit, but they team with Kraft to pit the community spirit of different towns against one another in an online voters death match for cash every year! This year New Liskeard made it’s case for money for the Carter Antila Memorial Skatepark and they allowed us to test our ability to ‘out vote’ an even more remote town on the otherside of Northern Ontario. No surprise that we won, because we’re fucking awesome. No wait… LEGENDARY, not since the Crusades had there been such a merciless slaughter… I’m sorry Kakabeck Falls but you’ll have to find money to fix your curling granite some other how… In fact you can even look to us for inspiration for such a task, this year we finally saw the re-opening of the Horne Granite after it was burned down 3 years ago. No Kraft Dinner money used!
So today TSN and Kraft will come down to the mouth of the Wabi river, a mere stone throw from my own Canoe dock and broadcast live. I’m very glad they chose to do that because the town took the time to chop down all the bushes and clean up the bank of the lake around the ‘Wabi Park’ (which I’ve never ever heard of it referred to as). Hope everyone has a good time, I’ll be the one stuffing his face with free KD.
Yup, I said it and it’s not even a joke. Bob Rae did the right thing by the Liberal Party, Canada and his wife this week when he announced he would not seek out a permanent leadership role. Unfortunately for all those people, he probably still is the best liberal for the job. Before Justin Trudeau threw down in the ring against Conservative Senator Patrick Brazeau he had been shooting down suggestions that he run for the job of top Liberal. Like Rae, he’s been good at looking past his own hype and realizing that it’s not the job for him, or at least not yet.
Well with the Liberal leadership convention less than a year away, and no real contenders to pull them out of the fire, I present to you the best possible candidate. Elizabeth May.
Why? Well for one, she made it into the house, without even being allowed to participate in the national debate. Sure she had to change ridings from the east coast all the way to the west coast where those Green values are more in sync, but she managed to get elected, which is more than I can say for the majority of the liberal party (or even its then leader Michael Ignatieff).
This wouldn’t do anything to tarnish the reputation of the Liberals, since they have no problems with party hoppers, Belinda Stronach is always my favourite example… but she will be long forgotten for crossing the floor ever since Rae took to federal office after having once been premier of Ontario under the NDP. Also I don’t think it would be a huge departure for Elizabeth May to switch from green to red since they both reside on the right. Both ideologies love Canadian things like fishing and maple syrup, if anything she would only be adding a more patriotic backdrop to her website.
The problem on the left, as everyone keeps pointing out, is that the votes are being spread around between too many parties. The right figured this out a decade ago and now they have their run of the show. The only thing that will save the Liberals and Greens is to work together. Forget the NDP since Thomas Mulcair seems to be forgetting the pride come before a fall. (I also hate his beard) I’m not saying coalition… because apparently that’s a dirty word on the right, but if the Liberals want a taste of power or even a taste of being the official opposition in 4 years I think the best thing to do would be start actually converting those righties that continually flush their votes down the green toilet, and what better way to get them by taking their favourite lady over to your party and giving her the crown.
April is still long off and it gives ample time for other candidates to pop up, let it be known guys your best option already sits right next to you.
Think Elizabeth May should hook up with the Liberals? Tell her on twitter! @elizabethmay (tell her Gerry sent you…)
‘Colab’ Goddamn kids these days can’t even finish words when they’re talking any more! When I hear the truncated use collaborate, I think of things like ‘Meth Lab’ or maybe ‘Coke Lab’. Which are probably the things that kids are ‘Colab’n’ about! What’s even worse is most of these kids have even forgotten about Dre, now that was collaboration.
