No Definitive Proof or Concrete Denials

CatapaultingThePropaganda
MontebelloVille

(Last post of the day......promise.....)

Earlier today Dave Coles (the man who shamed the bandana wearing rock carriers in the infamous video at the Montebello Protests) and labour groups held a press conference, ostensibly to present evidence that they said would prove that the apparent provocateurs were police.

Unfortunately, there have been no detailed reports from that press conference.

However, Mr. Coles was on CBC Radio's 'As It Happens' this evening and during the interview he did not offer up any definitive proof of a link between the belligerents and the authorities.

Admittedly, Coles did make a persuasive argument based on strong circumstantial evidence.

And, as Dana at the Galloping Beaver likes to say:

"Some circumstantial evidence is very strong, as when you find a trout in the milk."

Still it is not definitive positive proof.

****

And how about the other side?

Well, we've gotta hand it to Joan Bryden, who really helped to break this thing wide open with her CanPress story yesterday at a time when the other wire service pablum was positively fawning for the police and craptacular for the protestors. And today Ms. Bryden went right back at the RCMP and the Surete du Quebec and kept on asking the right questions.

But still she got nothing definitive as the denials continued get more plausible in their non-deniability:

The Mounties and the SQ, the two police forces involved in summit security, continued to refuse specific comment on three alleged undercover officers caught on camera in an apparent bid to incite a confrontation.

But they denied using agents to provoke violence.

"I confirm (to) you that there are no agents provocateurs in the Surete du Quebec. . . It doesn't exist in the Surete du Quebec," said Const. Melanie Larouche.

RCMP spokesman Cpl. Luc Bessette said the Mounties do "not use tactics that would encourage confrontation or incite violence.


And then, out of the blue, the Mounties rolled out the really big propaganda catapault for the first time.

(RCMP spokesman) Bessette (also) said the RCMP cannot discuss details of security measures for major events such as the summit because "to do so could jeopardize the integrity of our operations for future events."


Yup.

Sure wouldn't want to demonstrate any integrity at this late date because to do so would jeopardize that teensy-tiny amount of the stuff that you have left.

Sheesh.


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Blackclad Boulder-Bearing Belligerent Round-Up

InternationalElectronicEavesdropperEdition
CanuckistanMikitaVille

Welcome Kossacks, Shakesvillians and ye' old over the MoonO'Bam refugees from the Whiskey Bar!

Yes, there does appear to be something rotten, or at least a wee bit stinky, in Canuckistan these days.

And at least a few of us Cheeseheads aren't willing to just hold our noses while we carry on with our otherwise reasonably safe and sedate UHealthcare-assisted lives.

****

Essentially what we have so far i is the following....... A group of bandana wearing, rock-touting belligerents that tried to provoke a protester/police clash at the ThreeAmigos/anti-SPP demonstration in Montebello Quebec on Monday.

When confronted (shamed is more accurate actually) by an unarmoured and unarmed labour leader named David Coles the belligerents made a break for it.

Except that they did not dissapear into the crowd

Instead they broke through the police cordon and were immediately 'taken' into custody.

And it was all caught on video.

Now, nobody yet knows for sure if the belligerents were themselves police or if they were afilliated with the police, but there is some reasonably strong trout-in-your-milk-type circumstantial evidence that seems to implicate them as such.

And those circumstances are more than just the yellow triangles on the bottom of identically treaded boots that everybody involved appears to have been wearing.

Anyway, if you would like the nitty-gritty and blow-by-blows of the story so far, you can just follow the following half-a-dozen posts below.

What we're waiting on at the moment is a report form Mr. Stageleft who was at a press conference earlier in the day where the man who stared down the belligerents was supposed to have presented evidence demonstrating that the belligerents were in fact policemen.

Oh, and case you were wondering, the MSM dam, which our current PrimeMinister and his flack-hacks are usually very adept at shoring up has shown distinct signs of cracking on this one with reports in the Canadian Press, the Toronto Star, the Globe & Mail (our Grey Lady) and, even, finally, the Iranian Badge Zombie makers themselves, CanWest Global.

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*The trout-milk reference is courtesy of Dana at the Galloping Beaver who currently have a very good round-up up themselves, courtesy of Dave, cut-to-the-chase chaser extraordinare.

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Montebello's Revenge

WhyNotJustHireMaxwellSmartInstead
Provocateur(?)Ville

CanWest, who have been having their gong banged on this story by the Canadian Press for the last 24 hours straight*, finally weighs in on the bandana wearing, rock touting, belligerents who pushed their way through a police line at the SPP Demonstrations on Monday.

And while it's pretty weak, way after the fact, round-up type stuff reporter Andrew Thompson does make a couple of interesting points.

Point #1 - The peacemaker in the original YouTube video, Dave Coles, is claiming, but not offering definitive proof, according to reporter Thomson, that the rock-touters were police:

“People have the right to peacefully protest something they don’t like,” said Dave Coles, president of the Communications, Energy, and Paperworkers Union of Canada. “They think that they have the right to infiltrate us as they’ve done before. But to be packing large boulders, they were going to do something with those rocks and it wasn’t peaceful.”

A video shot by the Council of Canadians’ Stuart Trew and posted to YouTube shows Mr. Coles angrily confronting the trio and demanding they remove their bandannas and identify themselves.

Point #2 - That, unlike what the CBC is reporting, the Quebec Prov. Police are still being cagey.

Police would not respond to the allegations Wednesday, only re-confirming that two men and two women were arrested during Monday’s protest.

“We don’t get into strategic details of what we do,” said Const. Jayson Gauthier of the Surt du Quebec."

Please take note: None of the 'two men and two women' who were arrested most definitely were were not any of the bandana-wearing rock-touters who crashed through the police cordon.

____
Funny how CanWest was way, way, way faster pulling the chute on this one though, eh?

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A Real Denial

MontebelloProvocateurs(?)
CanuckiStanMikitaVille


Regarding the apparent provocateurs at the Montebello demonstration that many have alleged might have been police.

Last night, according to Joan Bryden's CP Report, both the RCMP and the Quebec Provincial Police, issued non-denial denials.

"Neither the RCMP nor the Surete du Quebec would comment on the video or even discuss generally whether they ever use the tactic of employing agents provocateurs."

Today, the authoritarian herd seems to have split, at least according to CBC Montreal:

"The RCMP has refused to comment, while Quebec provincial police have flatly denied that its officers were involved in the incident."

Although, of course, there are still a few bumps, if you think about it for a bit, in the QPP's 'flat denial'.

Regardless, in the CBC story (not-bylined) also talked to a former police officer who apparently knows a thing or two about overseeing demonstrations:

Meanwhile, a retired Ottawa police officer formerly in charge of overseeing demonstrations for the force said after viewing the video, he questions who the masked men really are.

"Were they legitimate protesters? I don’t think so,” said Doug Kirkland.

"Well, if they weren't police, I think they might well have been working in the best interests of police."

He added that if the situation was as it appeared, he did not approve of the tactic. "It's pretty close to baiting," he said.

Pretty close?

I'd say the hook was pretty much set until Dave Coles (the fellow who shamed the bandana-wearing, rock touting, belligerent masked men into scurrying through the police line in the original video) forced them to spit it out.

____
DrDawg is following developments (and blog links closely) as well.
IsTheStainSpreading to MSM????? Globe&Mail (via CP) reports on CEP/CLC presser, but gives few details (still waiting for Stageleft!); David Akin of CTV posts up the original video (but no comment on his blog yet).

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Pressing the Provocateurs(?)

CuriouserAndCuriouser
Whither CanuckiStanMikitaVille?

Labour groups held a press conference today to present evidence that they say demonstrates that the alleged provocateurs that apparently tried to incite a potentially violent confrontation between police and protestors at the SPP demonstration in Montebello on Monday were themselves, wait for it......... police.

No published details of the presser yet.

However, Stageleft was there - and he says....

"Short comment, for now, the press conference was good. There is a separate post coming this evening on what was covered and the questions that were asked." (see comment #14).

______
The press conference was held at the offices of the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union. Interestingly, the head of that union is Dave Coles, the man who stared/shouted down the alleged provocateurs during the incident. Curioser again.

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When Triangles Met Kerning?

Double secret-probation update: here they are.....

Triple-Not-So-Secret-Cat's-Outta-The-Bag? Update: The CEP says it has proof coming....

YouGottaHaveSoles
Provocateur(?)Ville

Update - Margaret, from the comment threads comes through - see bottom of post

Thanks very much to everybody with the tips on the much discussed 'little yellow triangles' on the bottom of the boots of the police and the alleged 'agent' provocateurs who appeared to be trying to disrupt a peaceful part of the demonstrations at Montebello Quebec.

But, as I said last night, and as BigCityLib and Bene D make clear this morning - it is important not to go off the deep end on something like this, as it could be all sorts of things, form vibram logos to CSA approvals, or even some sort of bizarre kooky-koolaid-koloured-kandy test double-secret-probation calling card.

Or something ridiculous like that.

Regardless, what is more important now is for the media to push the RCMP to explain what actually happened to these poor, helpless 'disappeared' men with the rocks, the masks and a belligerent attitude who pushed their way through a police line, were pushed to the ground oh so very gently, and then taken away in plastic hand-cuffs.

OK?

_____
Also, while katerkate's photos, which are fantastic and to which we linked last night, have some evidence of the k00ky-koolaid-kandy logo, these do not appear to be the photos described in the original CP Wire story by Joan Bryden because she, Bryden, described the alleged provocateur as being lying down, not being led away in the picture.
Update: Ahhhh......here's the photo that, I would give pretty good odds, is the one that Ms. Bryden saw before she filed her original story (and before her editors let it pass through the filter). Thanks Margaret!
Doube-secret probation update: Photo turns out to originate from CUPE website - interesting.

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Another Montebello Video

ThePeople'sVoices
10,000Maniacs(not)Ville

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Update: Aaron Eckman of the Pacific Tribune has low resolution images of the much sought after 'yellow triangles'. It's a nice catch by Aaron - but I am not convinced as these things could just be CSA approval labels or some such thing. Personally, I would still like to hear what the RCMP spokesmodel has to say regaring why there were no arrests given that these people were armed and threatening, broke through a police line, and were led off in hand-cuffs.
_________

Ostensibly, this post is not about the alleged provocateurs at the Montebello protests that have become the talk of the Bloggodome, a story which has even slipped over the top of the dam and splashed down onto the mainstream media via the Canadian Press.

After all, I've already gone on at some length about that story here and here.

Before I move on, however, it's important to point out that, whatever the ultimate answer turns out to be re: "police/not police" regarding the provocateurs there most certainly was a hero to that piece, regardless.

And that person was the union guy Dave Coles who defused a potentially explosive situation in which someone could have been seriously hurt.

And he did it all without a full helmet and face shield, without body armour, without a gas mask, without a truncheon and without a tear gas cannister-firing rifle.

So, having said all that, this post is actually about a video made by the same guy that made the provocateur piece, Paul Manly, from Nanaimo.

This video also speaks for itself and in so doing demonstrates the lengths to which the fine folks that currently control our country will go to suppress the voices of anyone, even when they are 10,000 voices strong, from being heard if the message is different from the one(s) they are pushing:




And as an aside, it's interesting to note that Ms. Barlow shows up in both videos.

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Where Are The Little Yellow Triangles?

SometimesGeometryIsJustNotMath
Provocateur(?)Ville

Update at bottom of post with link to photos of ' wrist restraints'

The google-bombing has begun in earnest on the story of "were the black clad, bandana wearing, rock holding belligerents at the Montebello protests who disappeared into a police line never to be arrested and/or heard from again actually agent provocateurs who were trying to incite a police response in the face of otherwise peaceful protestors?"


And the heaviest phrase that is hitting us is embedded in this paragraph, which we quoted from Joan Bryden's Canadian Press report that hit all the wires a few hours ago:

Late Tuesday, photographs taken by another protester surfaced, showing the trio lying prone on the ground. The photos show the soles of their boots adorned by yellow triangles. A police officer kneeling beside the men has an identical yellow triangle on the sole of his boot.

Now, we too have been unable to find that image of those apparently matching triangles*.

However, YaYaCanada, who has a fantastic photoessay up from the protests, did have this to say about the apparent location of the scuffle:

Back in the "green zone", people are dancing in the street, still monitored by the cemetery ghouls. All hadn't gone so peacefully there, I found out later. See the video (YouTube) and read the report (Harper Index) of the police provocateurs that caused a ruckus in the place where we were given to believe was the most unexpected place for altercations.


Did you get that?

If YaYa is right this apparent attempt at blatant provocation actually took place in one of the 'safe zones' where there was actually nothing of significance for the police to even 'protect'.

This does not smell right.

And it most definitely does not sound like Canada.

_____
Of course, much was made of images in the not so distant past of a yellow geometric image for which there was no evidence whatsoever. Funny how our current PM got involved in making immediate comments about that incident as well. Although those comments weren't about the 'sadness' of it all. Quite the contrary.
Cliff, who also has a wealth of knowledge about the labour movement, is on the story as well.
Update: 9:00pm - The Ottawa Sun has now updated the Bryden CP story with the sub-head of: " Had rocks and police boots". Also includes the non-denial denial at the end of the piece from the RCMP and the Surete that reads: Neither the RCMP nor the Surete du Quebec would comment on the video or even discuss generally whether they ever use the tactic of employing agents provocateurs. "I cannot answer your question because I don't have the information" said Const. Kane Kramer, a spokesman for the RCMP at the summit.
LinkToPhotos: Here are 17 still images from the flickr account of 'KaterKate' . They match the three alleged provocateurs from the YouTube video. No yellow triangles, but the men were clearly restrained with plastic hand-cuffs prior to being 'led-away'. So, why then do the police have 'no information'?


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There's something happening here....

.....What it is ain't exactly clear

AreThereProvocateursInOurMidst?
CanuckistanMikitaVille

Update: The CP is now on this story as well - my comment on that at bottom of post

This is very, very strange indeed. At a protest in Montebello Quebec a labour leader standing with a group of citizens who were in front of riot police attempting to prevent any provocation by other protestors confronts three masked men with rocks. After much shouting and some jostling the crowd begins to wonder if, perhaps the masked men are actually police themselves. Instead of leaving the scene the men then disappear into the police line where they are 'arrested' and taken away.

Were they agent provocateurs?

It's impossible to tell for sure, but this video, taken at the scene makes it hard to think that there was not something fishy going on.




Regardless the true intentions of all concerned, this most certainly does not look, or sound, like Canada to me.

Instead, it appears that we are now living in a time and place where, once again, it just might be prudent for us to heed the advice of the Neil-assisted Buffalo Springfield when they say:

Stop, children....
What's that sound?
Everybody look what's going down

OK?

_____
First stumbled upon this, bizarrely enough, at Radio 3.
A couple of things stand out from Joan Bryden's Canadian Press Report: " Rather than leave, the three actually start edging closer to the police line, where they appear to engage in discussions." and "Late Tuesday, photographs taken by another protester surfaced, showing the trio lying prone on the ground. The photos show the soles of their boots adorned by yellow triangles. A police officer kneeling beside the men has an identical yellow triangle on the sole of his boot." This entire thing is getting curiouser and curiouser. Oh, and yes, the other side of the bloggodome has noticed this as well.

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Citizen J. at the SPP

RealJournalism
NotBoughtAndPaidForVille


Jennifer Smith (b/w our own Alison).

What more could you ask for in your (real) up close coverage of the protests in Montebello from somebody who was actually there, in the thick of things.

A couple of excerpts......

First, Ms. Smith's statement to Mr. Harper written immediately after she drove home, with her son, from the protests:

"I'm still processing everything I've seen today (yesterday, I guess), so I'll be saving most of my more coherent thoughts for tomorrow (today), after I've recovered from the six hours I just spent on the road.

For now, I have something to say to Stephen Harper:

Sir, you are an ass.

There were far more than "a couple of hundred" of us at Montebello today. I'm sorry if you found it "sad", but we just wanted to talk to our Prime Minister. You will not meet with us face to face. You will not allow our elected representatives into your meetings with foreign leaders and corporate executives. You won't even allow us to voice our concerns through the parliamentary committee set up to provide some semblance of oversight into the supposedly insignificant machinations of the SPP.

This is all we have left to us."


And here's one that was a caption to a photo of six police officers straight outta Dystopia (go see it!).

"Could they guys look any more like Storm Troopers? Maybe if we painted them white. I cannot tell you how disturbing it is seeing dozens and dozens of these guys lined up along the street in a small Canadian town. They even had then stationed around the cemetery."

Is this Canada?

Our Canada?

.

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The Garbage Strike Conspiracy, Act III

WhenSpinStartsToStink
Lotusland

Let's say you were running a PR campaign out of, I dunno, some kind of combat rock-type boiler room that was designed to help a cabal of civic politicians break a union during a strike.

What would your main strategy, aside from selectively releasing public poll results, be?

Hypothetically speaking, of course?

Would it be to get the public all riled up so that they would start demanding that the Pols actually do something?

Of course not.

Instead, you would very likely do your best to have the media run stories about how everything is actually going remarkably well and that the city managers (who you would also make clear are being run off their feet working 144 hours a week) are doing a fantastic job of keeping things ship-shape.

And you would also probably want to stroke the public a little and thank them for doing their part as well.

Of course, on the flip side, it would be very important to throw a story or two at the Newscycle Monster that made it very, very clear that there would be dire consequences for any member of the public who started taking things into their own hands by actually getting some of their huge, and increasingly stinky, piles of garbage out of their houses and into public places where the managers would have to deal with it.

And even worse, where the press might see it.

****

So, having said all that, here is something that is not hypothetical......

I couldn't help but notice, while riding to work along King Edward this morning, that, when I hit the Creme de la Creme belt (ie. between Granville and Arbutus), all manner of refuse suddenly started appearing on the wide, grassy, very public, median.

Gosh.

I certainly hope that a few bad apples living in that decidedly financially unchallenged part of town aren't ignoring what the City and the media are telling them to do.

After all, a thing like that could cause all the Spin to crash to the ground with a screeching halt.

And we sure wouldn't want to see something like that happen.

Hypothetically speaking, of course.

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The Garbage Strike Conspiracy, Part Deux

PushMe,PullMe
JustDon'tFoolMeVille

Update: Sunday Night, Aug 19/07: In the comments, Ian King took exception to my using the term 'push' for the polling that was done by Ipsos-Reid. In terms of the actual poll itself, I have to agree that he is correct, and I thank him for bringing this to my attention. However, what I was really trying to say (badly) is that the City is 'pushing' only what they choose to have the public know about 'the Poll' while hiding the rest from view. Thus, I have editted the text to make this point of view/opinion more clear in the updated version.

So, apparently, Sam Sullivan et al. decided to do a little polling while they weren't negotiating.....

Christina Montgomery, The Vancouver Province
Published Sunday Aug 19, 2007

The City of Vancouver spent $9,000 to poll 300 people about what they think of issues surrounding the ongoing civic strike -- including whether an offer the city had already made to workers was "fair."

Spokesman Jerry Dobrovolny, who had refused earlier to say what the Ipsos Reid poll cost, told The Province Friday: "I wasn't releasing that number [yesterday], but now that it's generated such a buzz, we are releasing the amount."

Sure glad Mr. Dobrovolny cleared that up.

Because while $30 bucks a pop for a call from a telemarketer/pollperson is bad enough, how outraged would we, the people of Vancouver, be if the cost had actually been $400 a pop?

Laura Drake, The Globe and Mail
Published Aug 18, 2007

The city spokesman also took the union to task for publishing on its website that the cost of the poll was $120,000.

"It is inflammatory and really damaging to the process when they say on their website that the City of Vancouver poll costs $120,000 with an exclamation point after it," Mr. Dobrovolny said.

Inflammatory?!

I'll tell you what is inflammatory - the suggestion by Mr. Dobrovolny that a ridiculous poll that has the whiff of the push from his side about it was in and of itself not inflammatory.

One woman who took the poll, but did not want to be named, said one question directly asked who you supported, the union or the city.

Mr. Dobrovolny, who would not confirm whether that question was asked, said the entire poll will be released eventually, but could not say when.

Why won't Mr. Dobrovolny's paymasters and/or spinmeisters let him tell us what the other questions are and what answer's they received? Is it because they are currently negotiating (as has been suggested now and has been suggested before, when they have not been) or is it because they want to push a message at us that wouldn't be supported by the other questions and answers?

****

Look.

I don't give a hoot in heckfire what the thing actually cost.

Because, clearly, even $1.49 on a Woodwards' Tuesday morning in 1971 would have been way, way too much.

Especially when the currently available evidence suggests that it was likely designed to be little more than a public relations sop* for Mr. Sullivan's folly b/w alleged continuing assistance from the Wilcox Group.

Monte Paulsen, The Tyee
Published Aug 16, 2007

Yvonne Yuen of the Wilcox Group confirmed that the communications consultants were working for the (Greater Vancouver Labour Relations) bureau during the early days of the strike. She referred additional questions to owner Mat Wilcox, who did not return The Tyee's call.

CUPE submitted a Freedom of Information Request (FOI) seeking additional information on Wilcox involvement in this strike, and received 48 pages of correspondence between Wilcox and the bureau in June 2007. CUPE claims that correspondence includes evidence that Vancouver's General Manager of Human Resources Mike Zora was involved in discussions involving the bureau's mandate for this strike.

OK?

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*Unless and until the entire poll, which we bought and paid for, is released to us in full it is, we would humbly suggest, very difficult for any reasonable person who has been paying attention (with anti-war room spin deflector shield fully activated, of course) to come to any other conclusion.
More on the actual questions from Mr. Tieleman.


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Heading Down That Rovian Road.....

.....In The Country Formerly Known As Canuckistan

Remember when people said the sky wouldn't fall when we gave the HarperCons a toe hold on the neck of everything we hold dear?

Well.....


Agence France-Presse
Last updated 00:12am (Mla time) 08/18/2007

OTTAWA(SH) -- Protesters will be "seen and heard" when North American leaders meet next week in Montebello, near Ottawa, but only virtually -- via an audio-video feed set up by organizers.

And the heads of the United States, Canada and Mexico may opt to change the channel.

The arrangement is "in compliance with (a Canadian) court's decision that protesters have a right to be 'seen and heard,'" said Sandra Buckler, a spokeswoman for host Stephen Harper, the prime minister of Canada.

So, did we miss something?

For example, while they were misdirecting the media, did Sandy B. and Mr. Harper manage to make Alberto Gonzales our super-secret, SPP-assisted Justice Minister during that last cabinet shuffle?

Sheesh.


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And btw, if you're not reading Alison these days, either at her place or at the Galloping Beaver
(which increasingly is becoming the go-to place for analysis 'round here), you are not getting the straight goods on the Anschluss.

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Rolling On Honourably

TheStraightGoods
DIYLives!Ville

On The Honourable Roll This Week......
(see sidebar)

Kevin Potvin, who has proven that he can take a punch and throw haymakers of his own*, has a great take up in his 'Republic of East Vancouver' (both in print and online), in which he lays out how the working man is being screwed in this, our fair city and its surrounding environs. He uses three examples - the doubling of prices at public swimming pools, the demise of civic Mom and Pop arenas, and all the new ancilliary fees that have jacked the price of camping in BC Parks through the stratosphere (just like B.C. Ferries, "It's the reservations, stupid!"). Read Mr. Potvin's screed here.

Steve Gilliard was a giant of the Bloggodome. He stomped on the terra like no one before him and probably like no one who comes after him ever will. He could write with depth, style and elan on just about any topic you could possibly imagine and he would never, ever discuss/debate a demonstrable falsehood. And when he wrote about his love for beer can chicken or the joys of his days out with his friend Jen it pretty much melted my heart - really. And now he's gone. James Wolcott, who defended Mr. Gilliard in the mainstream media and Jane Hamsher, who tag-teamed with him in Left Blogistan, say their goodbyes. And here's something I wrote about Gilliard awhile back, before he got really sick, that tells you how I really feel.

Marcy Wheeler is probably the smartest woman I've never met. Her masterful use of the 3R's (researching, writing and righteousness) is nothing short of breathtaking. More than anyone it was she who made it clear how the Cheneyites used cut-outs like Judith Miller to grow their stain of evil in the public prints. Ms. Wheeler works her own place as EmptyWheel at the NextHurrah and she also works regularly with all the Plameologists/Anti-Eavesdroppers at FDL. Turns out that she can also slay the dragons in the real world too. You can watch her do her thing (notice how she dismantles the wingnuts on Healthcare, Guiliani, Iran vs Pakistan and FlipFlopping Republicans and then, right at the end, even starts doing the moderator's job for him when she probes the Nutters about the future ambitions of Newt Gingrich. The link is to an video-embedded RAFile.

Also held over on the honour roll is Ira Basin's in-depth radio series on the Evils of Spin (a.k.a. lying) and a link to the Gerwing Family Foundation that does flat-out fantastic stuff with very little money (and they could use some more).

OK?

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*Added the 'haymaker' , which was not in the original post, after receiving a comment from Ian King, who has tremendous knowledge of the Vancouver media scene (from the most indy to the most established, and most points in between). Thus, the statement/comment that Ian makes is his own to own. However, Ian does cite a number of specific examples of Mr. Potvin's counterpunches, at least one of which I have seen documented elsewhere. As a result, I made the change.


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Why I Love Saturday Mornings.....

PullUpAChair
NoLongerWorkin'ForTheWeekendVille


Ever since I was a kid I've loved Saturday mornings.

Why?

Because it's like the first day of summer vacation every single week.

All that time and possibility that stretches out before you for the next two days just seems to open my head up to all that can possibly be done, most of it fun.

So I like to get up early to chart all that can, and hopefully will, be done.

These days it usually involves some household project that has to be done (last Saturday it was nailing up 96 -yes 96! - pickets to the back deck railing....followed by something with the kids.....and sandwiched in between will be a post or two wrapped around writing the discussion of a paper on non-mesenchymal-mediated cell migration (or some such thing) that I'm going to have done, for sure, by Sunday night.

All of which is pretty mundane, of course (although this weekend Bigger E. and I plan to get together with one of her friends to work out a new song - I'm going to use my shiny new 'lectric guitar that my girls got me for my last birthday).

But, back when I was a kid?

Oh boy.

There are so many stories, but when I saw the first leaves hit the ground on the ride to work yesterday it made me think of all those Saturdays of my dreams playing road hockey on the red brick wall-lined playgrounds of Monterey School followed by the almost/sorta/kinda real thing in the middle of the night at Memorial Arena in Victoria.

We'd spend all morning getting stuff ready doing things like curving the superblades and gutting out the bleach bottle goalie masks.....then we'd go, go, go, go.....all afternoon 'till it started getting dark......then it was off to to the corner store for chips and RC Cola (trying to win the free ones) while sitting on the front steps followed by the burping contests.....after that we'd often head to D.M.'s house for a HNIC-pump-up with his Mom's granola-type dinners between the 2nd and 3rd periods (games always started at 5:00pm on the left coast) which we never ate, followed by getting out the Kiss records and lying on the shag rug eating hidden pop-tarts (D.M.'s answer to his Mom's health food conspiracy) while trying to stay up until 2:00am when we'd sling our duffle bags over our shoulders, hop on our bikes, and head for the arena...... I remember screaming down Pandora Ave. which was wide open with no cars by then, filled with the anticipatory excitement of the coming ice time and thinking that this was the greatest, most fantastic thing that anybody could ever possibly do without parents.....D.M. and I played on the same Bantam house team at a time when there were only two sheets of ice in all of Victoria.... Neither of us was very good, but man, was it fun, especially when the practice was over and we would line up on the blue lines for games of hip-check over and over and over again until somebody got hurt or the Zamboni guy finally kicked us off the ice.....but, truth be told, it is all kind of shadowy boy-men on a shadowy planet in my memory because back then when you played in the middle of the night in that big old barn that is no longer there (my Dad played in it when he was a kid too) it was always dark and dingy because they turned half the lights off to save money.....afterwards we rarely went home right away, instead we went down to Paul's Motor Inn where we sat around eating French Fries and drinking watered-down cokes listening to the war/girl stories from the coaches who seemed so grown up/sorta scary at 18 (there was no going to MacDonald's back then, although a scant few years later D.M. would be working at the Clown's place where he once tried to eat 10 Big Macs in a single sitting - he didn't make it - only got to 7)....riding home at 6 a.m. up that Pandora Hill with scratchy eyes and gurgling stomach was not so much fun......funny thing is, I don't remember the Sunday days much although I can definitely remember the dread of ignored homework that always started to come on somewhere 'round dinnertime.....


Anyway, time to go and get on with things in the here and now.....I've got all kinds of wild-eyed, crazy-man window caulking to do (and Joey Ramone's version of Louis Armstrong's 'It's a Wonderful World' to tab).....

Have a great weekend everyone.


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HockeyStickChair from TreeHugger.com

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