HighNoonVille
It's the International Space Station, with Canuckistanian Chris Hadfield, flying through the late afternoon sky above Regina Saskatchewan on New Year's Day...
Saskboy, who shot the video above, explains all, here.
.
Wednesday, January 02, 2013
Showdown In Big Sky...
Darkness(AndLight)At
HighNoonVille
It's the International Space Station, with Canuckistanian Chris Hadfield, flying through the late afternoon sky above Regina Saskatchewan on New Year's Day...
Saskboy, who shot the video above, explains all, here.
.
HighNoonVille
It's the International Space Station, with Canuckistanian Chris Hadfield, flying through the late afternoon sky above Regina Saskatchewan on New Year's Day...
Saskboy, who shot the video above, explains all, here.
.
Tuesday, January 01, 2013
Solidifying The Setlist...
....For the big show on Thursday night.
Tim Fite's 'Big Mistake' (Bigger E'ified, of course) is in.
_______
If you want show details for the UkeFolkFunkFusionFest, send me an Email at pacificgazette@yahoo dot the third followed by the first letter of the alphabet (short for caNADA).
.
C'mon...It's 2013...Wake-Up With Yoko!
AllWeAreSayingIs
GiveYourEarsNoChanceVille
All the hair balls from all the canines in all of the world couldn't do a better job of jolting you out of your New Year's Day stupor than this...
Told 'ya.
.
.
It's 2013 In BC....Let The 'Real' Shillophanting Begin!
AllTheAstroturfThatFits
OnTheHeadOfAFauxChiaPetVille
Because, you know, 'Concerned Citizens for BC' is a real 'grassroots' website/organization.
Honest it is.
Honestly.
.
OnTheHeadOfAFauxChiaPetVille
Because, you know, 'Concerned Citizens for BC' is a real 'grassroots' website/organization.
Honest it is.
Honestly.
.
Monday, December 31, 2012
On The Eve Of All That Is New
SoFastVille
Just finished rehearsing with Bigger E for our big show on Tuesday.
Weirdly enough the tune we're having the most trouble with is a very old one.
And the one that we are killing actually kind of has a bit of real guitar playing.
I have not yet played 'Song For Beer' for anyone round here - that will be a secret weapon surprise.
****
Anyway....
It's Seven Ways To Sunday around our house right round now (6:00 pm on New Year's Eve).
E. is a dervish getting ready to go all over town with friends, and even to one friend's Grandma's.
And C. and e. have been out getting all manner of stuff for the last blast of the holiday season, as well as one of e.'s friends.
Me, I had to give the Whackadoodle a bath because she got into a whole lot of dead crustaceanic matter, and worse, at the beach this morning.
But no matter, soon we will be able to relax.
Because we will be staying home this evening.
For a movie marathon of e.'s choosing.
Although I did manage to slip #3 in there (it's a 100 on the Ebert scale, which can sometimes spell trouble, but I've seen another from this guy before, and the Black Dog guys gave it 4 thumbs way, way up earlier this afternoon).
Why stay home on New Year's?
Well, because our youngest kid actually wants to.
And soon she will not want to.
Which is reason enough, reckon.
Way more, actually.
Reason enough I mean.
****
Have fun out there (or in there) tonight everyone!
______
Send me an Email if you want the details about the big show...It's this Thursday evening...pacificgazette at yahoo dot the two letter extension for Canada (eg. c + a).
.
Idle Your Facebook Likes No More
TheBestInOpEdJournalism
WithAllEyesWideOpenVille
If you've spent any time poking around this little ol' F-Troop list blog you might think I have a real problem with advocacy journalism.
The fact of the matter is that I do not.
Especially when the writer's real point-of-view and true agenda are both spread out on the table, face-up, for all to see.
And that is what precisely what Pamela Palmater did with her OpEd on the 'Idle No More' movement that was published in the Ottawa Citizen earlier this week.
As a result, regardless your own thoughts on the subject, it is a piece worth reading and thinking hard about, with or without the more than 8,000 Facebook recommendations.
The following is just a chunk, but the entire thing is highly recommended:
...In order to understand what this movement is about, it is necessary to understand how our history is connected to the present-day situation of First Nations. While a great many injustices were inflicted upon the indigenous peoples in the name of colonization, indigenous peoples were never “conquered.” The creation of Canada was only possible through the negotiation of treaties between the Crown and indigenous nations. While the wording of the treaties varies from the peace and friendship treaties in the east to the numbered treaties in the west, most are based on the core treaty promise that we would all live together peacefully and share the wealth of this land. The problem is that only one treaty partner has seen any prosperity.
The failure of Canada to share the lands and resources as promised in the treaties has placed First Nations at the bottom of all socio-economic indicators — health, lifespan, education levels and employment opportunities. While indigenous lands and resources are used to subsidize the wealth and prosperity of Canada as a state and the high-quality programs and services enjoyed by Canadians, First Nations have been subjected to purposeful, chronic underfunding of all their basic human services like water, sanitation, housing, and education. This has led to the many First Nations being subjected to multiple, overlapping crises like the housing crisis in Attawapiskat, the water crisis in Kashechewan and the suicide crisis in Pikangikum...
OK?
.
WithAllEyesWideOpenVille
If you've spent any time poking around this little ol' F-Troop list blog you might think I have a real problem with advocacy journalism.
The fact of the matter is that I do not.
Especially when the writer's real point-of-view and true agenda are both spread out on the table, face-up, for all to see.
And that is what precisely what Pamela Palmater did with her OpEd on the 'Idle No More' movement that was published in the Ottawa Citizen earlier this week.
As a result, regardless your own thoughts on the subject, it is a piece worth reading and thinking hard about, with or without the more than 8,000 Facebook recommendations.
The following is just a chunk, but the entire thing is highly recommended:
...In order to understand what this movement is about, it is necessary to understand how our history is connected to the present-day situation of First Nations. While a great many injustices were inflicted upon the indigenous peoples in the name of colonization, indigenous peoples were never “conquered.” The creation of Canada was only possible through the negotiation of treaties between the Crown and indigenous nations. While the wording of the treaties varies from the peace and friendship treaties in the east to the numbered treaties in the west, most are based on the core treaty promise that we would all live together peacefully and share the wealth of this land. The problem is that only one treaty partner has seen any prosperity.
The failure of Canada to share the lands and resources as promised in the treaties has placed First Nations at the bottom of all socio-economic indicators — health, lifespan, education levels and employment opportunities. While indigenous lands and resources are used to subsidize the wealth and prosperity of Canada as a state and the high-quality programs and services enjoyed by Canadians, First Nations have been subjected to purposeful, chronic underfunding of all their basic human services like water, sanitation, housing, and education. This has led to the many First Nations being subjected to multiple, overlapping crises like the housing crisis in Attawapiskat, the water crisis in Kashechewan and the suicide crisis in Pikangikum...
OK?
.
So, About Last January's New Year's Resolution...
...How'd We Do?
_______
Image of littler e. and me, with our official 'Professional Left' stationary from Driftglass and Blue Gal, was taken down in the subterranean blues room (ie. the basement office) very late in 2011...It's all explained here.
.
Sunday, December 30, 2012
That (Busking) Thing They Do.
OnceNeedNotEnd
EverVille
It's Phil and friends on the streets of Dublin on Christmas Eve...
As the good Mr. Harrison once said...That is all you need.
_______
And then there's......this.
.
EverVille
It's Phil and friends on the streets of Dublin on Christmas Eve...
As the good Mr. Harrison once said...That is all you need.
_______
And then there's......this.
.
What Is British Columbia's True Public Debt Number?
It'sAllSoVeryComplicated
AddingUpBigNumbersVille
Well.
It turns out that it is almost twice as big as the financially 'prudent' BC Liberal government has been telling us it is.
Notorious 'blogger' Norm Farrell does the (neither hard nor new) math that the proMedia refuses to do....
Here.
_____
And for those who can't get enough of Ms. Always Campaigning's fiscal prudency schtick....There's always this look at the 'newer' math, rumoured to be particularly highly revered amongst the smart set whose favourite television programs run towards 'Manswers' and 'Game of Thrones'....
.
AddingUpBigNumbersVille
Well.
It turns out that it is almost twice as big as the financially 'prudent' BC Liberal government has been telling us it is.
Notorious 'blogger' Norm Farrell does the (neither hard nor new) math that the proMedia refuses to do....
Here.
_____
And for those who can't get enough of Ms. Always Campaigning's fiscal prudency schtick....There's always this look at the 'newer' math, rumoured to be particularly highly revered amongst the smart set whose favourite television programs run towards 'Manswers' and 'Game of Thrones'....
.
Need A Little Real Reading For The Pre-Year End Deadzone...
RealAggregation
ForAnAmateurBloggingNation
Batocchio, who is keeping the Jon Swift/Al Weisel tradition going, has it.
A best of list of posts for 2012 from all over the wingnut-free division American Bloggodome.
A few of my favorites, of many, are....
Mike the Mad Biologist "A Modest Proposal: Alabama Whites Are Genetically Inferior to Massachusetts Whites (FOR REALZ!)" Mike the Mad Biologist: "Every so often, like a bad case of hemorrhoids, the race/IQ/genetics kerfuffle flairs up. Well, the Mad Biologist can settle it once and for all."
TBogg "Internet Man Does Not Want To Be On The Google Anymore"TBogg: "George Tierney of Greenville South Carolina does not understand women or how the internet works. Hilarity ensues…"
Mutant Poodle "The Perils of Privilege" Mutant Poodle: "A reflection on the downside of never having had a shitty job, among other perils of a privileged upbringing."
darrelplant.com "Come Home, George McGovern" Darrel Plant: "How a change of 4.5% of the popular vote in the 1972 presidential race could have defeated the criminal re-election of Richard Nixon."
It really is good stuff.
Stuff that Arianna Huffington and/or the pixel-weaselish, nipple-slipping greedheads she sold the sharecropping franchise to can't (and likely never would want to) touch.
So go have a read.
You won't be sorry.
OK?
.
ForAnAmateurBloggingNation
Batocchio, who is keeping the Jon Swift/Al Weisel tradition going, has it.
A best of list of posts for 2012 from all over the wingnut-free division American Bloggodome.
A few of my favorites, of many, are....
Mike the Mad Biologist "A Modest Proposal: Alabama Whites Are Genetically Inferior to Massachusetts Whites (FOR REALZ!)" Mike the Mad Biologist: "Every so often, like a bad case of hemorrhoids, the race/IQ/genetics kerfuffle flairs up. Well, the Mad Biologist can settle it once and for all."
TBogg "Internet Man Does Not Want To Be On The Google Anymore"TBogg: "George Tierney of Greenville South Carolina does not understand women or how the internet works. Hilarity ensues…"
Mutant Poodle "The Perils of Privilege" Mutant Poodle: "A reflection on the downside of never having had a shitty job, among other perils of a privileged upbringing."
darrelplant.com "Come Home, George McGovern" Darrel Plant: "How a change of 4.5% of the popular vote in the 1972 presidential race could have defeated the criminal re-election of Richard Nixon."
BeggarsCanBeChoosers.com "How Ronald Reagan Unwittingly Laid the Groundwork for the Death of Capitalism" Marc McDonald: "Over the years, Ronald Reagan has gotten a lot of credit for achievements that he had nothing to do with (like "winning" the Cold War). However, Reagan should get credit for something that he actually did achieve: laying the groundwork for the death of capitalism as we know it."
****
It really is good stuff.
Stuff that Arianna Huffington and/or the pixel-weaselish, nipple-slipping greedheads she sold the sharecropping franchise to can't (and likely never would want to) touch.
So go have a read.
You won't be sorry.
OK?
.
Saturday, December 29, 2012
Christy Clark And The Shock Jocks...The Prequel.
AllTheUninformedOpEdsThatFit
DoublingBackOnNoStandardsAtAllVille
Was Ms. Christy Clark ambushed when she went on a North Island shock jock's morning zoo show last week?
And, more to the point (I suppose), was she made to look foolish because she just didn't expect to be treated with such disrespect?
I guess if you haven't been paying attention, or if you form your opinions based on the bloviation from some of the local proMedia punditry, you might come to that conclusion.
But what if you heard Ms. Clark, not with 'Drex' on a little known Courtenay radio station last week, but, instead, with a fine fellow named Jeff O'Neil and his big city morning zoo friends on Vancouver's C-FOX (Rocks!) from earlier this past fall?
Well...
It turns out you can do just that.
In fact you can go and listen to the entire 'interview' by Mr. O'Neil and friends here.
But, just in case you don't want to be (thoroughly disgusted?), we have transcribed some of the more 'ambushy' - type stuff below.
See if you can pick out the stuff where Ms. Clark is 'shocked' and/or 'surprised'.
Because, I'm telling you, I sure as heckfire cannot.
In fact, it is my opinion that it is the mandateless Premier herself that makes the most 'shocking' and inappropriate (not to mention 'surprising') statements.
Here goes...
Jeff O'Neil: Is it nicer to be in this studio than (that of CKNW's) Bill Good's?
Christy Clark: (Pauses)....You're better looking.
JO: Is security outside, by the way?
CC: I'm not telling. You could have a gun aimed at your head...Even as we speak.
(After a whole lot of discussion about Ms. Clark's appearance and wardrobe choice for that day which she, in her own words, describes as 'kind of a Dianne Watts look'...)
'Scotty': What did you do last night for fun?
CC: (Preamble about having to get to bed early so she could get up to take her son to hockey practice in the morning)....I watched half of the first show of 'Game of Thrones'.
JO: You're just starting it now?
CC: Well, ya. I read all the books! Somebody gave me one of the books, like, three years ago. And I started reading it last year. And then I couldn't stop. I had to get to the...
JO: It's a good show.
CC: Ya!
Scotty: There's a lot of nudity in it.
CC: Holy....Smokes.
'Karen': That's why people love it so much.
CC: 'Mr. Skin' is gonna be busy, huh?
(Much shock jock laughter)
CC: Do you guys...(yelling over laughter)....Do you guys still have him (Mr. Skin) on on Thursdays? I can't listen on Thursdays 'cause (my son) could be in the car...
JO: Listen. Christy....
CC: And...
JO: We have a lifetime password (to Mr. Skin?). I'll give it to you.
CC: Laughter (other shock jocks join in)....
JO: When you're bored at the legislature next year, maybe you can check out 'Mr. Skin dot com'.
'Scotty': Christy, when was the last time you played strip, third person (unintelligible)....?
CC and other jocks: Laughter
Scotty: In the....'cause I know you still (unintelligible)...from the legislature...
CC: Yes. That's what we do. That's why the legislature isn't sitting this fall. (Yelling now)...I just got so tired of seing my colleagues in the nude.
Meanwhile, back in the real world where actual policies and actual actions actually matter....
Norm Farrell points out what has really been going on behind the curtains of the wizards and, dare I suggest it, the charlatans who have foisted Ms. Clark upon us, here.
Personally, I am still waiting for the outraged Op-Eds and pundit-wurlitzered tweets about the 55 billion dollars that we, the people of British Columbia, must pay to have our rivers and streams raped for generations to come (and/or forever, whichever comes first)...
______
The audio of Ms. Clark with the Shock Jocks from 'The Fox' was brought to our attention by Laila Yuile who has been all over this story from the beginning...And, yes, we were glad to see that, especially after she was on CKNW and was featured in a Province story by Cassidy Olivier, that Ms. Yuile was given at least half credit by another heavyweight of the local Lotuslandian bloggodome.
.
DoublingBackOnNoStandardsAtAllVille
Was Ms. Christy Clark ambushed when she went on a North Island shock jock's morning zoo show last week?
And, more to the point (I suppose), was she made to look foolish because she just didn't expect to be treated with such disrespect?
I guess if you haven't been paying attention, or if you form your opinions based on the bloviation from some of the local proMedia punditry, you might come to that conclusion.
But what if you heard Ms. Clark, not with 'Drex' on a little known Courtenay radio station last week, but, instead, with a fine fellow named Jeff O'Neil and his big city morning zoo friends on Vancouver's C-FOX (Rocks!) from earlier this past fall?
Well...
It turns out you can do just that.
In fact you can go and listen to the entire 'interview' by Mr. O'Neil and friends here.
But, just in case you don't want to be (thoroughly disgusted?), we have transcribed some of the more 'ambushy' - type stuff below.
See if you can pick out the stuff where Ms. Clark is 'shocked' and/or 'surprised'.
Because, I'm telling you, I sure as heckfire cannot.
In fact, it is my opinion that it is the mandateless Premier herself that makes the most 'shocking' and inappropriate (not to mention 'surprising') statements.
Here goes...
Jeff O'Neil: Is it nicer to be in this studio than (that of CKNW's) Bill Good's?
Christy Clark: (Pauses)....You're better looking.
****
JO: Is security outside, by the way?
CC: I'm not telling. You could have a gun aimed at your head...Even as we speak.
****
(After a whole lot of discussion about Ms. Clark's appearance and wardrobe choice for that day which she, in her own words, describes as 'kind of a Dianne Watts look'...)
'Scotty': What did you do last night for fun?
CC: (Preamble about having to get to bed early so she could get up to take her son to hockey practice in the morning)....I watched half of the first show of 'Game of Thrones'.
JO: You're just starting it now?
CC: Well, ya. I read all the books! Somebody gave me one of the books, like, three years ago. And I started reading it last year. And then I couldn't stop. I had to get to the...
JO: It's a good show.
CC: Ya!
Scotty: There's a lot of nudity in it.
CC: Holy....Smokes.
'Karen': That's why people love it so much.
CC: 'Mr. Skin' is gonna be busy, huh?
(Much shock jock laughter)
CC: Do you guys...(yelling over laughter)....Do you guys still have him (Mr. Skin) on on Thursdays? I can't listen on Thursdays 'cause (my son) could be in the car...
JO: Listen. Christy....
CC: And...
JO: We have a lifetime password (to Mr. Skin?). I'll give it to you.
CC: Laughter (other shock jocks join in)....
JO: When you're bored at the legislature next year, maybe you can check out 'Mr. Skin dot com'.
****
'Scotty': Christy, when was the last time you played strip, third person (unintelligible)....?
CC and other jocks: Laughter
Scotty: In the....'cause I know you still (unintelligible)...from the legislature...
CC: Yes. That's what we do. That's why the legislature isn't sitting this fall. (Yelling now)...I just got so tired of seing my colleagues in the nude.
****
Meanwhile, back in the real world where actual policies and actual actions actually matter....
Norm Farrell points out what has really been going on behind the curtains of the wizards and, dare I suggest it, the charlatans who have foisted Ms. Clark upon us, here.
Personally, I am still waiting for the outraged Op-Eds and pundit-wurlitzered tweets about the 55 billion dollars that we, the people of British Columbia, must pay to have our rivers and streams raped for generations to come (and/or forever, whichever comes first)...
______
The audio of Ms. Clark with the Shock Jocks from 'The Fox' was brought to our attention by Laila Yuile who has been all over this story from the beginning...And, yes, we were glad to see that, especially after she was on CKNW and was featured in a Province story by Cassidy Olivier, that Ms. Yuile was given at least half credit by another heavyweight of the local Lotuslandian bloggodome.
.
Friday, December 28, 2012
The Doubling-Back Of Standards.
ThePressIsShocked!ShockedWeTellYou
ThatShockJocksShockVille
Is Ms. Christy Clark unaware of the things that morning-zoo radio shock-jocks do?
As Laila Yuile points out, the answer is clearly....
No.
In fact, as Laila also points out, Ms. Clark has even been a willing contributor to the prurience that pervades such aural palaces of poop-flinging in the past.
So....
All this sudden concern from the local proMedia about how the mandateless (but Manswers lovin') Premier was ambushed and treated poorly by a lowly shock-jock up in Courtenay last week, seems misplaced to me.
Especially in the wake of Postmedia's 'Vixenification' of Ms. Clark that garnered nary a peep from the guardians of the Premier's honour previously.
OK?
______
Laila also points out that, as she was told by the shock jock in question, it was Ms. Clark's most knowledgable handlers who facilitated the lates most 'shocking' of interviews...Kind of makes one go hmmmmmmmm....
.
ThatShockJocksShockVille
Is Ms. Christy Clark unaware of the things that morning-zoo radio shock-jocks do?
As Laila Yuile points out, the answer is clearly....
No.
In fact, as Laila also points out, Ms. Clark has even been a willing contributor to the prurience that pervades such aural palaces of poop-flinging in the past.
So....
All this sudden concern from the local proMedia about how the mandateless (but Manswers lovin') Premier was ambushed and treated poorly by a lowly shock-jock up in Courtenay last week, seems misplaced to me.
Especially in the wake of Postmedia's 'Vixenification' of Ms. Clark that garnered nary a peep from the guardians of the Premier's honour previously.
OK?
______
Laila also points out that, as she was told by the shock jock in question, it was Ms. Clark's most knowledgable handlers who facilitated the lates most 'shocking' of interviews...Kind of makes one go hmmmmmmmm....
.
Sunday, December 23, 2012
They Can Come Home Again...
AllTheArrivalsThatFit
EverywhereVille
Our oldest kid, Bigger E., is going to school far away.
And this year she has been off on her own, off-campus.
But last Thursday night she came home for Christmas, so we met her at the airport.
Musically, of course....
_______
Had a big extravaganza planned...As a result, I actually went to Airport in stealth mode via Canada Line, guitar in hand, and met E. upstairs before she got down to the baggage claim...It was all worked out long distance so that we could surprise littler e. and C. with 'A Christmas Waltz' coming down the escalator....Didn't quite work out that way....Instead, we walked away from the baggage carousel playing and singing...Unlike last year though, the sound was a little wonky (as was my playing) so we dubbed in the tune later using the fantastic little recorder that reader Don F. recommended (thanks Don!).
.
EverywhereVille
Our oldest kid, Bigger E., is going to school far away.
And this year she has been off on her own, off-campus.
But last Thursday night she came home for Christmas, so we met her at the airport.
Musically, of course....
_______
Had a big extravaganza planned...As a result, I actually went to Airport in stealth mode via Canada Line, guitar in hand, and met E. upstairs before she got down to the baggage claim...It was all worked out long distance so that we could surprise littler e. and C. with 'A Christmas Waltz' coming down the escalator....Didn't quite work out that way....Instead, we walked away from the baggage carousel playing and singing...Unlike last year though, the sound was a little wonky (as was my playing) so we dubbed in the tune later using the fantastic little recorder that reader Don F. recommended (thanks Don!).
.
It's Never Too Early To Think About Last Christmas.
AllTheTunesThatFit
BlendedVoicesVille
So.
Maybe there are a few good things that come out of the Center Of The Universe after all...
It's Toronto's 'Choir! Choir! Choir!
Those hipsters...They do the darndest old fashioned things.
They were featured on NPR's Weekend Edition Sunday today.
If you want to let their whole oeuvre run through your head just hit this one.
.
BlendedVoicesVille
So.
Maybe there are a few good things that come out of the Center Of The Universe after all...
It's Toronto's 'Choir! Choir! Choir!
Those hipsters...They do the darndest old fashioned things.
They were featured on NPR's Weekend Edition Sunday today.
If you want to let their whole oeuvre run through your head just hit this one.
.
Saturday, December 22, 2012
Saturday Night's Alright For Uke (Cover) Fighting!
 |
There'sNoUke
LikeCoverUkeVille
|
First, the original studio version (because most of the live ones are crap in comparison) by the real originals....
Next, the cover, which is just better than boffo...There's something about the rag-tag four-stringed ensembles that just slays me...
_____
As always, thanks to Los Angelino photo maven Ellen Bloom for the UkePeghead image at the top of the post.
.
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