More Proof That...

....They will always smear the one they fear most:

Meanwhile...

Darth Vader lives!



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The Whackadoodle, Re-Visited.

AThumbStrummersBest
FriendVille


When C. decided to get her I was skeptical.

Not because I didn't want a dog.

But rather because I wasn't sure I wanted a little dog.

Especially an excitable little dog.

Well...

As you might expect, eleven plus years and 11,000 beach guitar walks later I have a hard time imagining what it would like to not have the Whackadoodle, whose real name is Rosie, by my side.

But, thanks to a congenital valve condition that is starting to catch up with her, Rosie is now starting to slow down as her heart enlarges and pushes on her trachea.

We still make it to the beach on Saturday mornings where the coughing subsides for awhile as the occasional stick is once again chased or dead crab is rolled in.

But on the ride home she's pretty tired and is then ready to sleep for most of the rest of the day.

Truth be told, I don't really know what we'll do when she's gone.



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Her name, at least in part, comes from littler e's fondness for Springsteen's 'Rosalita'... Rosie came to our house in the summer of 2008; earlier that year the entire family went to see the Boss' circus when it came to town.



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They're Here...

TheEndJustifiesAllMeans
AllegedlyVille


The 'Ontario Proud' facebook page was started by a fine fellow named Jeff Ballingall in 2016.

Arguably, O Proud's 'finest' hours were in the run-up to the June 2018 provincial election when it helped stoke the anti-KWynn fires that swept the suitably sooty Doug Ford into power.

To do so, Mr. Ballingall and associates used a strategy that Canadaland described as 'shitposting'

Or, put another way, they perfected 'the delicate act of gently stoking the anger of Ontarians'.

Anyway.

Fast forward to the close of 2019 which is when I noticed the bilge from another J. Ballingall joint called 'BC Proud' linking its way onto my Twittmachine feed:

But here's the thing...

If you click through on the CBC piece cited you will see that the story is actually a whole different  orange-hued shade of grey.

Let's start with food shall we:

"...A report published in December said uncertainty around climate change would increase food bills for the average Canadian family by $487. Researchers say droughts and other extreme weather events being caused by climate change are behind the increase in the price of food..."


Gosh, that doesn't sound like it has anything whatsoever to do with John Horgan or the local Dipper combine.

And, yes, ferry fares will go up in 2020, but...

'...The good news is that costs to ride a ferry went down in December.

That's when BC Ferries eliminated its 1.5 per cent fuel surcharge from each ticket due to a recent decrease in the price of fuel...

{snip}

The bad news is that in April 2020 fares will increase on average by 2.3 per cent..."


Which means that ferry fares will, overall, increase a hardly 'skyrocketing' 0.8%.

And here's something else from the MoCo piece that is the opposite of skyrocketing - MSP premiums are gone, which will save individuals $900 and families $1,800 per year. Additionally, the CBC notes that ICBC rates have been frozen for 2020.

So.

What's this really all about Alfie?

In my opinion, it's a strate(r)gy of muddying all waters such that nothing of substance ever breaks through. As a result a very sizeable chunk of the citizenry becomes willingly cynical about everything and everyone that can be made fun of.

Which on its own is corrosive and hurts democracy. Even worse, however, is the fact that at the same time Mr. Ballingall and associates scrape these sites and assemble lists that contain said citizenry's microtargetable information as he explained awhile back to CITY News in Toronto:

...“We have 100,000 email subscribers; we know all their postal codes,” Ballingall said. “So during the election, during the get-out-the-vote aspect of it, we’re going to be able to tell them where to go to the polls and we’re getting lawn signs and bumper stickers.”

Ballingall readily acknowledges he is amassing data on people, using it to do surveys and find out what the key issues are...

Sheesh.



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Advent Tunes All In One Place...

MartiniBustsThe
JukeboxVille


Just putting this here so that those of you still listening on your phones (which is way more, percentage-wise at least, than read the posts) can easily see it...





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Article, Schmarticle...

AllYourLogosAre
ThemVille


Mr. Kenney's finest of the fine guys have started their full-court, faux-journalistic press and it is starting to upset people.

Including, it would appear, some the bamboozled subjects how have been pounded into the tips of the war room's propaganda javelins.

James Keller of the CP has the story of one such dupee, this one from Lotusland, in the Canadian Press:

A Vancouver chef who was featured in an article produced by Alberta’s “energy war room” says he’s furious he wasn’t told that the Canadian Energy Centre was created and funded by the provincial government.

Donald Gyurkovits, president of the Canadian Culinary Federation, said his group strives to stay out of politics and he never would have participated if the writer who contacted him explained the background of the centre. Several other people interviewed by the war room have also said they were not told about its ties to the Alberta government and critics have questioned why the centre’s writers have been describing themselves as reporters...


Which is fair enough as far as the lede to a bit of 'straight journalism' push backfrom Mr. Keller and his editor(s) goes.

But...

Who made the legitimizing decision to call the original war room piece an 'article'?

Why not, instead, call the thing what it really was?

If you get my drift.



_______
Tip o' the toque to David Climenhaga of the always excellent 'AlbertaPolitics.ca'.
Way off-topic...It was great to meet reader D. and friend with his dogs down at the beach today...Hope next time to get a chance to chat with partner P. as well!


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The Advent Jukebox, Day 24....'Fairytale Of New York'

ChristmasEveWithOrWithout
ADrunkTankVille


Apparently, the real reason for the songs ultimate emergence was Pogue's banjo player Jem Finer's wife who didn't like his first version. As a result, Finer wrote a second one:

..."I had written two songs complete with tunes, one had a good tune and crap lyrics, the other had the idea for 'Fairytale' but the tune was poxy, I gave them both to Shane and he gave it a Broadway melody, and there it was"...


Go figure.

Here's E. and me giving it a go...




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The Advent Jukebox, Day 23....'Santa Claus Is Coming To Town'.

TheChangeWasMadeUptownWhenThe
BigManJoinedTheBandVille


While this tune was first made famous by Eddie Cantor on his radio show in 1934, for me and mine it will always bring up all the very best memories of the late, great Clarence Clemons.

Here's my lullabyified version...





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The Advent Jukebox, Day 22... 'Baby, Please Come Home'.

NevermindTheSpector
OfPhilVille


While Ellie Greenwhich and Jeff Barry (pictured above) wrote it, and the not yet completely insane wall of sound man Phil Spector produced it, it was Darlene Love that made this song famous, both originally and later, over and over and over again (for good reason), on Letterman.

Here's Bigger E's version...




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The Smartest Guys Amongst Rubes.

NoPropIsGoodProp
EverVille


From last week's news...

The Alberta government's energy "war room" says it will change its logo after it was revealed on Twitter Wednesday the logo already represents an American tech company.

The logo is identical to Massachusetts-headquartered Progress Software, with the exception of colour. Canadian Energy Centre went with a blue and white palette, while the tech company opted for lime green.

In a statement Thursday, the energy centre called the design debacle an unfortunate situation.

"We understand this was a mistake and we are in discussions with our agency to determine how it happened," said Tom Olsen, chief executive officer and managing director...

Hey!

I've got an idea, particularly given that Enron is kaput and, presumably, won't sue Mr. Kenney's and his minions...

'Nuff said?


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Header have you scratching your amygdala?....This.


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The Advent Jukebox, Day 21... 'The Parting Glass'

TheresNoneMoreScott'sThanThe
ScottsAbroadVille


Look.

I know that the Clancy Brothers and their buddy Tommy Makem, who made this tune famous in the not so distant past, are Irish.

But it turns out that the tune, and especially the (ever changing) lyric goes all the way back to 17th century Scotland.

Imagine that.

Anyway, while I'm most partial to the Wailin' Jenny's a capella take, here's my version...




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Why here?...Well, it's a tune to sing with your friends and family at the time of their (or your) leaving, which on the front end of the holidays seems a long way off, but it's coming...Oh, and just in case you were wondering, there's a wee bit of Mic Christopher thrown in there at the end - couldn't help myself.


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The Advent Jukebox, Day 20.....'Winter Wonderland'

ThatDoesn'tEvenLookLike
ParsonBrownVille


The image above is of littler e. and her friend from days gone by.

Not even a hint of snow in central Lotusland this year so far.

The mountains look to be loading up though...



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Back in real time(s)....e. just came home from college tonight...In addition to all these so-called holiday song covers, the tap dancing will now commence in earnest.


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The Advent Jukebox, Day 19...'Run Rudolph Run'

WhizzingLikeASabre
JetVille


Sure, there's the C. Berry version, but me I'm partial to Skynryd's.





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The Advent Jukebox, Day 18... Jingle Bell Rock

NeitherWilkesNor
BoothVille


'Jingle Bell Rock' was first recorded by early rockabilly guy Bobby Helms. And while it immediately got airplay and the Dick Clark TeeVee treatment the tune was not immediately a hit.

In fact, it didn't go gold until five years later.

Of course it is now a classic that everyone has covered, including a version by Hall and Oates that trumpeted by an Anon-0-Mouse on the comment threads recently.

Here's me and E. doing the lullaby(ish) version..



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And before the grammar nerds and/or my grade 3 teacher Mrs. Griffiths go bonkers, the E. and me reference, above, was entirely purposeful....OK?

Bonus reel...All 13 of the first half of the Jukebox together...Lullaby caroling!





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The Advent Jukebox, Day 17.... 'Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree'.

BrendaLeeIsComing
OnStrongVille


Brenda Lee was just 13 years old when she recorded this Johnny Marks tune in 1958.

Since then it has sold 25 million copies and has landed on the charts again this year.

Bigger E. makes like Ms. Lee and takes the lead on this one...




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Subheader given you an earworm that needs scratching Mr. O'Reilly?.....This!
And here's a special bonus....All of the first thirteen days of the Jukebox, all together!




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The Advent Jukebox, Day 16... 'I'll Be Home For Christmas'

There'sNoHopeWithout
CrosbyVille


The guy who made this tune famous is also the reason the denim tuxedo was invented by Levi Strauss and Co.

And here's the good part...

It was all the fault of a snooty Vancouver hotel desk clerk:

'...Singer Bing Crosby was very fond of Levi's jeans and was wearing his favorite pair while on a hunting trip to Canada with a friend in that year. The men tried to check into a Vancouver hotel, but because they were wearing denim, the desk clerk would not give them a room; apparently denim-clad visitors were not considered high-class enough for this hotel. Because the men were wearing Levi's jeans, the clerk did not even bother to look past their clothing to see that he was turning away America's most beloved singer (luckily for Bing, he was finally recognized by the bellhop). LS&Co heard about this and created a denim tuxedo jacket for Bing, which we presented to him at a celebration in Elko, Nevada, where Bing was honorary mayor...'






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