Happy Thanksgiving

Gord made this from scratch. From an actual pumpkin. It's delicious, especially with a little vanilla gelato on top.



There was also a chicken - turkeys are too big for 2 - and beans and stuffing, but who cares about dinner when you've got pie for dessert?

We had a quiet day at home for Thanksgiving, except for having to run to the store to get poultry seasoning. And then it took a good 15 minutes at the Metro to find poultry seasoning. We were beginning to think French Canadians didn't use the stuff...and how the hell else do you make stuffing!?! But we found some and dinner was saved. We never did find a can of cranberry sauce, though, so it's a good thing we didn't have turkey, because the one without the other is an abomination. And I made my first ever successful batch of baked beans. They took forever, but they're tasty.

We didn't have any family around, but I got a call from mom and dad on Saturday, Gord talked to his mom on Sunday and his grandparents on Monday, so we were 'gone, but not forgotten'.

Down with butterflies.

I grew up hearing about acid rain and holes in the ozone layer, and the three r's meant reduce, reuse and recycle. It didn't do much for my peace of mind when I was little, and I thought the grown ups had destroyed the planet. So it's very hard for me to take anyone seriously if they don't believe in climate change, or that human activity has had an adverse affect on the planet. It's those butterflies in Tokyo that are to blame, or maybe beavers. There are conflicting reports...

It's also hard for me to believe that people want to put nuclear power in Alberta.

Yeah....you know what else I heard about when I was growing up? Chernobyl.

But lest you think the wind in Lethbridge alone could power all of Canada, consider this - if one of those windmill things fell over, it could crush some unsuspecting grasshopper, and then we'd all be complicit in its murder. Who wants that burden on their soul?

You can't honestly like this person?

"It's past time the feds scrapped the Canada Health Act."

"For taxpayers, however, it’s a rip-off. And it has nothing to do with gender. Both men and women taxpayers will pay additional money to both men and women in the civil service. That’s why the federal government should scrap its ridiculous pay equity law."

"I don't know all the facts on Iraq, but I think we should work closely with the Americans."

"It will come as no surprise to anybody to know that I support the traditional definition of marriage as a union of one man and one woman to the exclusion of all others, as expressed in our traditional common law."

"The time has come to recognize that the U.S. will continue to exercise unprecedented power in a world where international rules are still unreliable and where security and advancing of the free democratic order still depend significantly on the possession and use of military might."

"You have to remember that west of Winnipeg the ridings the Liberals hold are dominated by people who are either recent Asian immigrants or recent migrants from Eastern Canada; people who live in ghettos and are not integrated into Western Canadian society."

"America, and particularly your conservative movement, is a light and an inspiration to people in this country and across the world,"

Human rights commissions, as they are evolving, are an attack o-n our fundamental freedoms and the basic existence of a democratic society... It is in fact totalitarianism. I find this is very scary stuff.

“Canada appears content to become a second-tier socialistic country, boasting ever more loudly about its economy and social services to mask its second-rate status.”

“Universality has been severely reduced: it is virtually dead as a concept in most areas of public policy.”


All quotes from our illustrious PM.

A note to Steve: Me and my second rate country DESERVE BETTER.

More propoganda, anyone?

A few sites to check out before you vote - clearly biased against a Conservative government, and I'm not pretending otherwise. Hey, it works for Michael Moore. Can I get my Oscar now?

The Real News has some interesting videos, like this one on Canada's bumblefuck of Kyoto. Or this one, on whether or not we really are becoming more Conservative - we're not, btw, but because we don't have proportional representation, our government does not reflect this.

Power Up Canada has some good information and as overwhelming as it is to think about climate change, it is only going to get worse the longer we pretend it's not happening.

And also, because its funny, and because I think older people are more likely to vote Conservative, check this out. And then ask yourself why none of the Canadian party leaders are ever anything but Caucasian.

I know it's typical of Canadians to feel like the government is beyond our control, that we vote and nothing changes no matter who is in office, so why bother? The thing is, voters outnumber elected officials and we can bully them into doing what we want them to do. That's kind of the whole point of an elected official. Politicians depend on public support, threaten that and you've got the upper hand. Send a letter

Dear Guy:
Do what I want or I won't vote for you or your party ever again. I mean it.
Here's what I want: yada yada yada.
Sincerely,
Concerned Canadian in your riding.

If you want to be slightly more effective, you can try getting lots of people to send the same sort of letter asking for the same thing, or you can organize a protest, or a something, or a whatever. Probably whatever it is you want, there's already a group out there trying to make it happen and they could use your support, so you don't even have to initiate anything. Just join in. Easy peasy. It all hangs on you doing something that indicates what is important to you - bitching at your tv, or at a family bbq doesn't cut the mustard.

I don't know what it is that you might be concerned about, or what direction you want the country to go in. That's why you vote, it's the one time every so often that the government asks "how am I doing?" and you can say, "Frankly, Mr Harper, you stink." Or even "Hey, Steve, I like how you talk about money all the time. I heart money too. Lets be pals." if that's your thing. And I promise I'll only kick you one time for voting Conservative. One time.

We left the house!

Yep, we left the house yesterday to go to a movie. We saw Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist, and it was a great movie. The previews pretty much played all the jokes, and the rest of the movie is more low key than the usual 'teen night out' movie, but it's got great young actors and the drunk blonde steals the movie. Not an easy feat with the talented Michael Cera in the mix.
The only downside is that for most of it, I was stuck thinking "For the love of God, get rid of that gum!". You'll understand when you see the movie.

And there's a very important vote coming up, if you missed everything else this week you have to check out the Hockey Anthem Challenge. Who cares who the next PM is, we need a new hockey song. Priorities, people. Get it together.

Caribou Barbie sucked me in.

She's just so familiar somehow. I remember an SNL skit before Bush was elected the first time that had Will Ferrel playing Bush frolicking in the background with a BALL OF YARN. That's what people thought of him prior to the election, and it still boggles the mind that a country so hell bent on democracy would let the tampered results stand. But I guess they've gotten used to a leader who is folksy and uneducated and out of their depth. You do not want someone who is 'just like us regular folk' running the damn country. In charge of 'nucular' weapons. You want the most intelligent goddamn person you can get your hands on, because running a country is NOT the same as running your household.

Why don't they nominate Matt Damon? Because he can pronounce 'nuclear'. Also, I find it hilarious that the Matt Damon clip has so many more views than the ACTUAL news. Go America, not knowing what's relevant.

The only thing Sarah Palin might contribute to foreign policy is my plan of having all international conflicts resolved by hockey games.

Holy Fuck, Alberta!

You might elect a NON CONSERVATIVE.

Suck the Canada!

I overate the debate and am now sick to my stomach. Again, I'm referring to the Canadian debates.
Stephen Harper's pat response to every criticism seemed to be that his government was miraculously increasing funding to every single area... and a big fat lie.
I don't know about Gilles Duceppe, but at least he really loves his province. Which is more than anyone can say for Stephen "Canada doesn't stand for anything" Harper. I was really pleased to see Elizabeth May at the debates, and I hope this has shown those stupid old ladies in Calgary that the Green Party is not about smoking pot. I think she knows more about politics than Harper, and it's a damn shame that she isn't in a better position. Layton and Dion are fine by me because they aren't Harper, and short of praising Steve, they can do no wrong in my eyes. Sorry. That's what happens with party politics.

The Conservative plan to put young offenders in adult prision sounds like a terrible idea to me, and I hope to everyone. And nothing Harper said in the debate indicated that he cared about the root cause of crime, just "Punish the Offender".

I don't like his stance on the environment either, claiming that if we dared to tax the oil companies, they would leave Canada and take their jobs with them. Yeah, right. How many places in the Western world have oil? Uh huh. Like 3. And only Alberta is producing at the moment, so I'd say we have them over a barrel. Get it?

I do like Elizabeth May's comments that we need to shift our thinking. It isn't 'free' to pollute, there is a cost. If we taxed the buggers that were, say, slaughtering 500 Canada geese with an unreported oil spill in Fort McMurray, we could cut taxes for, say, people who were riding the poverty line and worried about paying their rent. Hmm.

And I learned some interesting facts.
One - Harper chose to make a 45 MILLION dollar cut to arts funding. Wow. Right before the election. So the Conservatives have lost all the support they had been gaining in Quebec with that move. For a hilarious take on this, watch this video.
Two - the average income for an artist living in Canada is $10,000 - $12,000 a year. Fucking fry guys at MacDonalds make more than that. Don't think this changes my career plans. It just means that even if Stephen Harper showed up tomorrow and gave me a puppy, I couldn't possibly vote for him. And puppies are the pinnacle of happiness, so this is serious.

I DID NOT SAY "TITS"!!

Bilingual

Gord and I were talking tonight about how we were both worried about moving to Montreal without knowing any French. We thought maybe every interaction with people would be a struggle, that everyone would hate us because we had made little effort to learn the language before moving here...and how relieved we were after our first stop at the U-Haul building. We were greeted by the Montreal standard "Bonjour, hello", and the man behind the counter spoke perfect english and was helpful and friendly. That's when I knew things were going to be just fine here.

One of our first days in Montreal, Gord went for a walk down Sherbrooke late at night, getting a feel for our neighborhood. A young man burst out of an apartment building and ran over to Gord, asking a question in frantic French. Feeling terrible that he didn't understand, Gord had to admit that he didn't speak French, and couldn't help. The young man quickly rephrased his question in English.
"Do you have a condom?"

You know what would be awesome?

If Xander from Buffy had his own late night talk show. Not just the actor who played Xander, but actual Xander Harris, with his I Heart Dirt t-shirt and a desk, and a parrot, and 3 guests a night.

And Andrew could be his Andy Richter.

Sweet.

I'm gonna watch that show right now. In my head.