Thanks but no thanks

The latest budget was announced yesterday and the talk about personal tax cuts was indeed true. According to John Derringer of Q107 (not that I get my news from him but he's the first person I heard discuss it today) we will each get a whopping $16 per year in savings. Thanks Ralph and Paul for the two free car washes.

Okay, I know it's better than getting stabbed in the eye with a spoon but don't hype the fact that there will be tax cuts and then give me $16!

Can someone correct me if this wrong? I hope it is.

Great Lyrics...Great Music

Not only is Rush one of the greatest bands musically, their lyrics are just as powerful. I was listening to Limelight the other day and realized, for the hundredth time, how under-rated Neal Peart is as a lyricist. No one uses words like this anymore. The song is about, you guessed it, being in the limelight. Here are the lyrics:

Living on a lighted stage, Approaches the unreal
For those who think and feel, In touch with some reality beyond the gilded cage.
Cast in this unlikely role, Ill-equipped to act
With insufficient tact, One must put up barriers to keep oneself intact

Living in the limelight the universal dream, For those who wish to seem
Those who wish to be, Must put aside the alienation
Get on with the fascination, The real relation, The underlying theme

Living in a fisheye lens, Caught in the camera eye
I have no heart to lie, I can’t pretend a stranger is a long-awaited friend
All the world’s indeed a stage, And we are merely players
Performers and portrayers, Each another’s audience outside the gilded cage

Check out their cool website for more lyrics and cool photos.

Today's Birthdays

Happy Birthday to:

Jerry O'Connell ~ Denise Richards ~ Michael Jordan ~ Rene Russo ~ Paris Hilton ~ Billy Joe of Green Day ~ me!

Hockey Blight In Canada

I will not become part of the blogging mass and create a post about the cancellation of the hockey season which was just announced. Nor will I write anything about how the selfish egomaniacs who run the sport are ruining it...or about how long this lockout may last...nor will I write about the eternal bad taste this will leave in the mouths of us, the fans...especially in the US.

Nope, I refuse to comment.

Canadian flag turns 40 today!

Our flag is celebrating its 40th birthday today (doesn't look a day over 35). Here are some interesting facts I bet you didn't know about the flag:

• the original colours were to be mauve and azure
• instead of the maple leaf in the centre, there used to be a beaver holding a hockey stick
• the original flag was circular in shape
• a design by Lester Pearson's tailor was rejected at the last minute
• the flag used to be scratch 'n sniff with the maple leaf emitting a maple syrup scent
• those who display a flag on their property live between 3-7 months longer than those who don't
• none of this is true but who cares

Share the Love

Although this day is the spawn of crass commercialism, I still want to wish everyone a Happy Valentine's Day.

Road rage! Up close and personal.

I had just finished parking my car at work and was picking up the newspaper outside the front door of the office building, when a car and SUV came screaching into the parking lot. The car parked into a spot and just as the SUV pulled in behind it, a guy barrels out and starts screaming at the guy in the parked car. He must have been tough because he wasn't wearing a jacket and his sweater sleeves were rolled-up to his elbows. He bellowed the usual macho bravado, "What's your problem, asshole!" What's your problem, dickhead!" The guy kept yelling the same crap at the guy (I'm assuming these are the only words he knows), who intelligently, remained in his car. This kept on going as I walked into the office building. I strode quickly to my office, which has a window overlooking the parking lot, to see if anyone had been killed or the tough guy had lost his voice from his shrieking...but it was over...the "bully" had left and the guy in the car was walking towards the building.

Now, I don't know what happened on the road; I'm assuming the guy in the car cut-off the SUV. Whatever the case, this hot-head in the SUV is asking for it. I don't care how tough you think you are (this guy's manhood must be really small from the way he was yelling and the size of his SUV), or how many guys you have intimidated by your Neanderthal gruntings, one day the skinny, 90-pound weakling your freaking on is going to pull out a knife and stab you in your fat throat, or, pull out a gun and put a cap in your ass. How tough are you then?

Again, the SUV-guy may have been wronged here, (and he'll probably be dead in 15 years from a stress-induced massive heart-attack, while all the other guy has to do is change his underwear) but get a grip on reality dude. Unclench and relax!

Bad uses of good technology

I just read an article in Fortune magazine on the important new technologies and products of 2004 ... both good and bad. The bad went to Live-shot.com. The only reason I'm putting their website in this post is to see how technology is used for evil.

This place has a loaded hunting rifle mounted on a motorized platform which is connected to a videocamera that is patched into the Internet. They have the rifle in front of a feeding station for exotic animals on a ranch in Texas. (In the words of the author, "Where else?") So, your trigger finger is on the mouse of the Internet-connected computer while you monitor the feeding station through your web browser. When an animal has unfortunately wandered into the "killing zone," aim the rifle by moving your mouse and fire by clicking. Hunting assistants at the ranch will then butcher the animal and send its mounted head to you.

By you, I mean coward.

Have sticks and stones broken your bones?

"What's in a name. That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet." ~William Shakespeare

Is your name as sweet as a rose or is it full of thorns? Do you wish it was different; is it lacking flare? I just came across a pretty cool name of an American astronomer (whose systematic observations of the extraordinary radial velocities of spiral galaxies provided the first evidence supporting the expanding-universe theory) — Vesto Slipher. Now that name has panache! How about the NBA's Stromile Swift. I don't know the man but his name makes him seem like a cool dude. Then there's the actor Rip Torn. His real first name is Elmore but doesn't that sound better than Bob Smith? Of course, my apologies to all Bob Smith's out there ... I'm sure most of you are fabulous people. Let's not forget the name George Costanza wanted to give his child – Seven. Very original.

If you've got some cool names you'd like to share, write me a comment. C'mon, don't be shy. I promise I won't call you a name!