Have you ever gotten a headache from spending most of your day in disbelief at the dumb things companies do?? How people react when they finally notice? and how other people are like "hmm, whatever!", when they find out?
I got 2 of those 3 today when I read an article in the newspaper regarding the red Canadian Olympic mittens that are being pushed as a "show your support" type of thing. Supposedly they are selling quite well, and I'm all for supporting our atheletes, but ALL profits from this type of thing should go to them!
Therein lies the problem, The Hudson Bay Company is the official supplier of of Olympic clothing, and as such they are promoting their brand and getting people in their stores where they'll purchase lots of other things, they should show there support by giving the vast majority of profits to the athletes, but that's just my opinion.
Now the real problem, if things are the same as they have been in the past, the vast majority(if not all) of their clothing is MADE IN CHINA, today's article proves that hasn't changed since the gloves ... yep those pretty red mittens were made in some little sweat shop in China.
I know, a few of you are like "you cannot be serious, that makes no sense", others will be "oh, who cares, but me it's like ....well you can tell that it pisses me off:(
So they had some made locally, you know how much more it cost them PER PAIR .... 15 cents!
Think about that!
Brent
Wednesday, December 09, 2009
Monday, December 07, 2009
"It's a questions of lust, it's a question of trust .......NOPE, it's a question of morals!!
You know I'm a teenager in the 80's when I throw up random lyrics from an old Depeche mode song to start a post, but it's a great tune none the less:)
So the story goes that in the last 2 weeks I've returned a few Blue Rays to different stores, and what should have been an easy 3 minute return turned out to be a bit of an ordeal ....... WHY, you ask? Well it's a question of morals, and whether you have them or not.
What would you do in the same situation
Purchased 2 movies with a total of $28 dollars in discount through coupons, she didn't notice, so my return, instead of being in the $51 range was nearly $80. Now I'll say it that when she told me the amount I was getting back I was a little startled, so much so that it took me 2-3 seconds to figure out what she did wrong "No" I said "that's not right", "pardon me", "well I only paid $51.__, you forgot to take the coupons off", "oh, thank you very much!"
I'm sure lots of people(including friends of mine UGH!) think it's just fine "it's a big company, they can afford it", or "hey, she should have noticed it", or even worse "hey, it works out well for me(big dumb grin)!" but really, isn't stealing about the least moral thing you can do? and isn't this stealing?
Let me hear an argument that places you in a better position than you started and would still be considered "moral".
Goo
replies should be related to buying something, and NOT something like "I go jogging, and I'm in better shape when I'm done, so you could argue that I'm in a better position AND I'm being moral!" ....... no wild tangents please!
So the story goes that in the last 2 weeks I've returned a few Blue Rays to different stores, and what should have been an easy 3 minute return turned out to be a bit of an ordeal ....... WHY, you ask? Well it's a question of morals, and whether you have them or not.
What would you do in the same situation
Purchased 2 movies with a total of $28 dollars in discount through coupons, she didn't notice, so my return, instead of being in the $51 range was nearly $80. Now I'll say it that when she told me the amount I was getting back I was a little startled, so much so that it took me 2-3 seconds to figure out what she did wrong "No" I said "that's not right", "pardon me", "well I only paid $51.__, you forgot to take the coupons off", "oh, thank you very much!"
I'm sure lots of people(including friends of mine UGH!) think it's just fine "it's a big company, they can afford it", or "hey, she should have noticed it", or even worse "hey, it works out well for me(big dumb grin)!" but really, isn't stealing about the least moral thing you can do? and isn't this stealing?
Let me hear an argument that places you in a better position than you started and would still be considered "moral".
Goo
replies should be related to buying something, and NOT something like "I go jogging, and I'm in better shape when I'm done, so you could argue that I'm in a better position AND I'm being moral!" ....... no wild tangents please!
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
The Toxic Avenger ........ a musical ........... My review
Well, what would you say if I told you it had been more than 10 years since my last visit to "live" theatre?? If you know me at all, you'd be like "really? aren't you the guy always singing Les Miserable or Phantom of The Opera at all hours NO MATTER where you are?? YEP, that's me:) Even theatre based stuff like Rocky Horror Picture Show and movies like Grease have me singing up a storm ........It's just too bad that I can't sing:) You see I suffer from this common malady known as "tone deafness", but I guess it's better that than colour blindness ..... orange and pink do NOT go together:)
Now onto my review, but remember than I may be a little giddy because of the length of time since my last live event.
The Toxic Avenger ............80% ......... do not confuse with movie rating, they are different
Taken from The Toxic Avenger website(link above)
"Melvin Ferd the Third wants to clean up Tromaville, the most polluted town in New Jersey (just off Exit 13B on the Turnpike). Foiled by the on-the-take mayor’s bullies, Melvin is dumped into a vat of radioactive toxic waste, only to reemerge as THE TOXIC AVENGER, New Jersey’s first superhero.
THE TOXIC AVENGER, affectionately known as Toxie, is a seven-foot mutant freak with superhuman strength and a heart as big as Newark. He’s out to save New Jersey, end global warming and woo the prettiest blindest librarian in town, in a toxic love story with an environmental twist. He’ll leave you laughing in the aisles as he rocks the house and saves the earth for all of mankind. "
Sounds pretty silly right:) Sure, and it is, but it's also very funny, NOT politically correct in any way, and the music is pretty darn good. Basically it makes for a good night out with friends.
Now we come to to a little annoyance ........ NONE of my close friends had any interest in this musical, actually only one person even felt a need to reply to my email(even though a few people seem to like the theatre).... wonderful:(It's too bad for them). I certainly won't be afraid to go to a play/musical by myself, I've never felt the absolute need to be with somebody I know for any event that I wanted to attend.
The Musical/play was held at The Music Hall on the Danforth in Toronto. It's capacity is 1150 seats, and it has a balcony.
The cast includes;
Louise Pitre, Canada's first lady of musical theatre, will play the dual-role of Mayor Babs Belgoody, the evil Mayor of Tromaville, and Ma Ferd, mother of Melvin Ferd the Third.
Brittany Gray is ready to tear hearts out as Sarah, the sexy blind librarian. Brittany, a working professional since her debut in the film Chicago at the age of 15, can also be seen in the upcoming film Amelia starring Hilary Swank and Richard Gere.
Evan Alexander Smith will perform the role of Melvin Ferd the Third, a bullied weakling turned fast and fierce hero. A recent graduate of the George Brown Theatre School, Evan’s credits include Tony in West Side Story, Marius in Les Misérables, and Younger Brother in Ragtime.
What's funny is 2 of the guys Jamie McKnight and Daren A. Herbert play a combined 26 roles between the 2 of them ..... way too many to list, ALL very funny and very non PC, but you'd know that when you read the cast listing and they are marked as "The White Guy", and "The Black Guy":) I hope you're OK with guys wearing fishnet stockings:) How secure in your masculinity are you!
OK, I really liked this show, the songs were a little shorter than I was used to, when you come from epics like Les Miz and Phantom, you get spoiled. What's funny is both Louise Pitre and Evan Alexander Smith some from Les Miserable, one of my favourite plays.
I loved Brittany Grey as Sarah, I like funny people, and she's great in her role. She's also hot as the blind librarian. Maybe I'm a sucker for a hot chick that doesn't know it, and a blind librarian IS about as far from outwardly hot as you can get:)
Now the real showstopper was Louise Pitre in multiple roles, boy O boy is she great, and she steals the show. She does this really cool ..........hhmmm ....... nope, go see it if you want to know. I just say that by the end of this "Piece Du resistance" people were cheering loudly.
OK, so there goes, chances are I'll go again before Christmas, since it makes an inexpensive night at the theatre.
Was it perfect? NOPE! I don't know if it was me hearing, but some of the singing seemed poorly EQ'd, I had trouble understanding what they were singing on occasion, but maybe that's the difference between a $120 play VS a $50 play, and in all honestly it wasn't that bad, usually a sentence or two.
What was worse was my inability to focus clearly on the actors, I think it's because I tend to stop blinking and just stare, trying to see every little facial expression that it try my eyes out and they never recover ....maybe I'm just getting old ... maybe it's time to see an optometrist?
OK, now one thing I wished they changed, was The Toxic Avenger's "roar", it was really annoying, but I can't explain it other than to say it's a recorded bit that is played at certain moments, and it's "over the top" loud.
Anybody else interested, just show up, I'll post a date here and if you decide to come GREAT, but no more emails about this show.
OK, I'm HUGELY disappointed in one thing. Sure it's been a bunch of years since I've been to the theatre, and SURE, this would be considered an "off Broadway" production, but WHY IN THE HELL are people think wearing JEANS to the theatre?????? Now I've seen some jeans that look OK, and I've seen some nice expensive jeans, that you could argue, are "dressy" BUT.... what's worse than those jeans being worn by tons of people, were the ones that made NO ATTEMPT to dress up, I actually saw a few people wearing crappy, holey jeans, worn out high top sneakers, crappy T-shirts, and raggedy jackets TO THE THEATRE!!! .............Why oh why is this considered acceptable?? My stomach turned every time one of these MORONS decided it was OK ....UGH!
Goo
There was NO dress code, I think there should always be a dress code, it's not a movie, it's a theatre production, PUT ON SOME Khaki's at least, even I did that:)
Now onto my review, but remember than I may be a little giddy because of the length of time since my last live event.
The Toxic Avenger ............80% ......... do not confuse with movie rating, they are different
Taken from The Toxic Avenger website(link above)
"Melvin Ferd the Third wants to clean up Tromaville, the most polluted town in New Jersey (just off Exit 13B on the Turnpike). Foiled by the on-the-take mayor’s bullies, Melvin is dumped into a vat of radioactive toxic waste, only to reemerge as THE TOXIC AVENGER, New Jersey’s first superhero.
THE TOXIC AVENGER, affectionately known as Toxie, is a seven-foot mutant freak with superhuman strength and a heart as big as Newark. He’s out to save New Jersey, end global warming and woo the prettiest blindest librarian in town, in a toxic love story with an environmental twist. He’ll leave you laughing in the aisles as he rocks the house and saves the earth for all of mankind. "
Sounds pretty silly right:) Sure, and it is, but it's also very funny, NOT politically correct in any way, and the music is pretty darn good. Basically it makes for a good night out with friends.
Now we come to to a little annoyance ........ NONE of my close friends had any interest in this musical, actually only one person even felt a need to reply to my email(even though a few people seem to like the theatre).... wonderful:(It's too bad for them). I certainly won't be afraid to go to a play/musical by myself, I've never felt the absolute need to be with somebody I know for any event that I wanted to attend.
The Musical/play was held at The Music Hall on the Danforth in Toronto. It's capacity is 1150 seats, and it has a balcony.
The cast includes;
Louise Pitre, Canada's first lady of musical theatre, will play the dual-role of Mayor Babs Belgoody, the evil Mayor of Tromaville, and Ma Ferd, mother of Melvin Ferd the Third.
Brittany Gray is ready to tear hearts out as Sarah, the sexy blind librarian. Brittany, a working professional since her debut in the film Chicago at the age of 15, can also be seen in the upcoming film Amelia starring Hilary Swank and Richard Gere.
Evan Alexander Smith will perform the role of Melvin Ferd the Third, a bullied weakling turned fast and fierce hero. A recent graduate of the George Brown Theatre School, Evan’s credits include Tony in West Side Story, Marius in Les Misérables, and Younger Brother in Ragtime.
What's funny is 2 of the guys Jamie McKnight and Daren A. Herbert play a combined 26 roles between the 2 of them ..... way too many to list, ALL very funny and very non PC, but you'd know that when you read the cast listing and they are marked as "The White Guy", and "The Black Guy":) I hope you're OK with guys wearing fishnet stockings:) How secure in your masculinity are you!
OK, I really liked this show, the songs were a little shorter than I was used to, when you come from epics like Les Miz and Phantom, you get spoiled. What's funny is both Louise Pitre and Evan Alexander Smith some from Les Miserable, one of my favourite plays.
I loved Brittany Grey as Sarah, I like funny people, and she's great in her role. She's also hot as the blind librarian. Maybe I'm a sucker for a hot chick that doesn't know it, and a blind librarian IS about as far from outwardly hot as you can get:)
Now the real showstopper was Louise Pitre in multiple roles, boy O boy is she great, and she steals the show. She does this really cool ..........hhmmm ....... nope, go see it if you want to know. I just say that by the end of this "Piece Du resistance" people were cheering loudly.
OK, so there goes, chances are I'll go again before Christmas, since it makes an inexpensive night at the theatre.
Was it perfect? NOPE! I don't know if it was me hearing, but some of the singing seemed poorly EQ'd, I had trouble understanding what they were singing on occasion, but maybe that's the difference between a $120 play VS a $50 play, and in all honestly it wasn't that bad, usually a sentence or two.
What was worse was my inability to focus clearly on the actors, I think it's because I tend to stop blinking and just stare, trying to see every little facial expression that it try my eyes out and they never recover ....maybe I'm just getting old ... maybe it's time to see an optometrist?
OK, now one thing I wished they changed, was The Toxic Avenger's "roar", it was really annoying, but I can't explain it other than to say it's a recorded bit that is played at certain moments, and it's "over the top" loud.
Anybody else interested, just show up, I'll post a date here and if you decide to come GREAT, but no more emails about this show.
OK, I'm HUGELY disappointed in one thing. Sure it's been a bunch of years since I've been to the theatre, and SURE, this would be considered an "off Broadway" production, but WHY IN THE HELL are people think wearing JEANS to the theatre?????? Now I've seen some jeans that look OK, and I've seen some nice expensive jeans, that you could argue, are "dressy" BUT.... what's worse than those jeans being worn by tons of people, were the ones that made NO ATTEMPT to dress up, I actually saw a few people wearing crappy, holey jeans, worn out high top sneakers, crappy T-shirts, and raggedy jackets TO THE THEATRE!!! .............Why oh why is this considered acceptable?? My stomach turned every time one of these MORONS decided it was OK ....UGH!
Goo
There was NO dress code, I think there should always be a dress code, it's not a movie, it's a theatre production, PUT ON SOME Khaki's at least, even I did that:)
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Thank You !!!
Quote:
| In Flanders fields the poppies blow Between the crosses, row on row That mark our place; and in the sky The larks, still bravely singing, fly Scarce heard amid the guns below. We are the Dead. Short days ago We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow, Loved and were loved, and now we lie In Flanders fields. Take up our quarrel with the foe: To you from failing hands we throw The torch; be yours to hold it high. If ye break faith with us who die We shall not sleep, though poppies grow In Flanders fields. |
For protecting the freedoms of this great Country, and freedom of the people within it.
For putting their lives on the line to make the world a better place ......Thank you!
Brent
Update on Lindsay Lohan, Paris Hilton, Britney Spears
Well well how things have spiraled down even more with these three:)
Firstly ...........Britney Spears
I say this all the time, but oy vey! What is happening?? OK she has a hit record and a normal boyfriend, but who believes she did that on her own? sounds like a publicity team hard at work. Her album is really bad, all dance songs with huge sexual innuendo. It's easy to make a dance song, I lived and danced to a ton of bad dance music, but most of that was fun silly dance music ... think C&c music factory:)
Just this last weekend though, things went wrong last weekend in the European stay in her "circus" tour. Supposedly people got up after a few songs because of her lip syncing. Of course her "team" shot back with a "everybody know she lip syncs during her highly technical dance numbers" ..... Hmmmm!
If I had a choice of "Circus" tours to go to, it would be Pink, she actually sings, has a great show, and is a pretty normal chick.
And NOW ....... Paris Hilton
Does she get dumber on a weekly basis? She was just on Jimmy Kimmel and was all happy about her Halloween plans, and all the money she's spending on costumes, and all the parties that she's either hosting or attending, during the biggest recession in the last 20 years.
Whatever happened to the humanitarian works she was going to perform when she got out of prison?? WAIT, WAIT, what am I thinking .... this is the same chick that wanted a family of blonde children just like her.
PLEASE FADE AWAY Paris, you have no redeeming qualities, unless you consider being a skanky idiot to be redeeming!
Last but least ..... Lindsay Lohan
It actually looks like LL is running her own affairs, has nobody helping her, and is one bad night from killing herself.
I've said it before, this girl was hot 5-6 years ago, she looked healthy and happy. Sure, she tried to expand and become a singer, I guess that's what actors do when all the fame goes to there heads. What's funny is, Lindsay can act!
So, she broke up with Samantha, got back together, broke up, ETC ETC..... Fine, lots of people have relationship problems, but it's not helping her become more focused. I haven't heard of her doing ANY acting or even getting any work in a LONG time. OK, she did get do design work with "Ungaro", and it was panned by the critics ..... whoops, PLEASE stick to acting!
What's funny is people are finally saying that LL has aged way beyond her years:) Didn't I say that a few years ago??:) YEP!
She's nearly anorexic by appearance, is as white as a ghost, with a sullen sunk in look to her face, and is still drinking .... people say she looks 40 ..... I don't think I look that bad for 40:)
Goo
Firstly ...........Britney Spears
I say this all the time, but oy vey! What is happening?? OK she has a hit record and a normal boyfriend, but who believes she did that on her own? sounds like a publicity team hard at work. Her album is really bad, all dance songs with huge sexual innuendo. It's easy to make a dance song, I lived and danced to a ton of bad dance music, but most of that was fun silly dance music ... think C&c music factory:)
Just this last weekend though, things went wrong last weekend in the European stay in her "circus" tour. Supposedly people got up after a few songs because of her lip syncing. Of course her "team" shot back with a "everybody know she lip syncs during her highly technical dance numbers" ..... Hmmmm!
If I had a choice of "Circus" tours to go to, it would be Pink, she actually sings, has a great show, and is a pretty normal chick.
And NOW ....... Paris Hilton
Does she get dumber on a weekly basis? She was just on Jimmy Kimmel and was all happy about her Halloween plans, and all the money she's spending on costumes, and all the parties that she's either hosting or attending, during the biggest recession in the last 20 years.
Whatever happened to the humanitarian works she was going to perform when she got out of prison?? WAIT, WAIT, what am I thinking .... this is the same chick that wanted a family of blonde children just like her.
PLEASE FADE AWAY Paris, you have no redeeming qualities, unless you consider being a skanky idiot to be redeeming!
Last but least ..... Lindsay Lohan
It actually looks like LL is running her own affairs, has nobody helping her, and is one bad night from killing herself.
I've said it before, this girl was hot 5-6 years ago, she looked healthy and happy. Sure, she tried to expand and become a singer, I guess that's what actors do when all the fame goes to there heads. What's funny is, Lindsay can act!
So, she broke up with Samantha, got back together, broke up, ETC ETC..... Fine, lots of people have relationship problems, but it's not helping her become more focused. I haven't heard of her doing ANY acting or even getting any work in a LONG time. OK, she did get do design work with "Ungaro", and it was panned by the critics ..... whoops, PLEASE stick to acting!
What's funny is people are finally saying that LL has aged way beyond her years:) Didn't I say that a few years ago??:) YEP!
She's nearly anorexic by appearance, is as white as a ghost, with a sullen sunk in look to her face, and is still drinking .... people say she looks 40 ..... I don't think I look that bad for 40:)
Goo
Some good news!
Well I'm happy to say that something I railed against for a long while now has come to pass.
What's that you ask??
If you remember some time ago I got good and mad about a Judges right/common policy to offer as much as a 2 to 1 credit for "time served" while awaiting trial.
Well I'm happy to say that has finally changed;
What's that you ask??
If you remember some time ago I got good and mad about a Judges right/common policy to offer as much as a 2 to 1 credit for "time served" while awaiting trial.
Well I'm happy to say that has finally changed;
Bill C-25, An Act to amend the Criminal Code (limiting credit for time spent in pre-sentencing custody)
Upon Bill C-25 coming into force, the amount of credit that can be granted for time served in custody prior to sentencing (remand custody) will be capped at a ratio of 1 to 1. Only where circumstances justify it can credit for time served be given at a ratio of up to 1.5 to 1, and the courts will be required to explain these circumstances.
For example, if an offender who served 9 months in remand custody is sentenced to 4 years imprisonment, the net sentence will be 3 years and 3 months (4 years minus 9 months). Credit at a ratio of up to 1.5 to 1 will only be permitted where circumstances justify it, and courts will be required to explain these circumstances.
Credit for time served by offenders who have violated bail conditions, or been denied bail because of their criminal record will be limited to a maximum 1-to-1 ratio, with no enhanced credit beyond 1 to 1 permitted under any circumstances.
So basically the 2 for 1 credit is gone, and even the 1 1/2 for one credit is only used in special circumstances!
FINALLY:)
Goo
Monday, October 12, 2009
Am I the weird one??
A few different things, all just a quick short form that I'd like some input on.
1. So there is this group of seniors that gathers at a community centre to do some stretching and then take an organized walk(twice a week) at Humber Bay Park. They were accosted by an overzealous bylaw officer that is forcing them to get a permit.
http://www.torontosun.com/news/torontoandgta/2009/10/12/11375496-sun.html
I know what a few of you are saying, "well a business is organizing walks through a public park, they need a permit for that". I guess if you look at the basics then that may be true, but what you have here is basically a bunch of seniors trying to stay in shape and is taking advantage of public park to do so.
Really, all the organizers need to do is say they have a morning stretch, and that's all people pay for, and then they "recommend" a walk for any senior that wants to, but no gung ho, go go go from the organizer.
What are your thoughts??
2. ON the same page of today's Toronto Sun are 2 articles that may appear greatly dissimilar, but they really are, and I put these under "bureaucracy, what a mess"
The first article is about a British couple that were denied citizenship because they missed on the "points system" that makes them "good candidates for citizenship". OK, the man is a transportation cop, the wife has trained as a cop, they are both around 40.
This is the type of people we want, unlike the next story!
Here's the headline "Booted marijuana grower wins new hearing". So this guy(along with 3 others) operated a grow house and preyed on "newcomers" to the Country(looking to make a living) to look after the operation for them. He just won an appeal to stay in the Country while he fights a deportation order.
OK, why the hell are people that we want forced to jump through every hoop, while people with criminal records are allowed to waste our time and resources in their fights to stay in the country? Is it simply a case of having too many lawyers that find it an easy life to simply bill the government while they fight to keep undesirables in the Country? Is it an incredibly lax immigration system that allows people to whine and complain about the hardships they suffer in other Country's when they come here with nothing to put on the table? Maybe it's system that allows everybody and anybody to come here and use out system as a refuge, use our system, free money, accommodation, medical and dental even before you've given anything to your new home .....
This craps got to change, we need to streamline the immigration system, make it quick, make it yes or no, do you have a record?? Sorry, you can't come here EVER! Are you bringing anything to the table?? NO? don't let the door hit ya on the way out. We spend way to much money letting undesirables fight the system and we need to get rid of their ability to do so.
You thoughts??
3. The MPP chick(Ruby Dhalla) that, if you remember her, resigned her post as Liberal Multicultural critic when there were allegations about hired help being mistreated while working for her family, has just introduced a private members bills that would shorten the time it takes for a new immigrant to receive social security payments from 10 years to 3.
WHAT THE HELL?? Why are we giving new immigrants, that have put nothing into our system social security EVER social security? Is this the next step(after a very lax immigration system) in bringing more people into this Country that will sit and take all we have to give without ever giving back.
Luckily pretty much every politician in Ontario has laughed at the suggestion, and that's on thing they've done right, but even to put this idea forward is a mess!
Thoughts??
Brent
1. So there is this group of seniors that gathers at a community centre to do some stretching and then take an organized walk(twice a week) at Humber Bay Park. They were accosted by an overzealous bylaw officer that is forcing them to get a permit.
http://www.torontosun.com/news/torontoandgta/2009/10/12/11375496-sun.html
I know what a few of you are saying, "well a business is organizing walks through a public park, they need a permit for that". I guess if you look at the basics then that may be true, but what you have here is basically a bunch of seniors trying to stay in shape and is taking advantage of public park to do so.
Really, all the organizers need to do is say they have a morning stretch, and that's all people pay for, and then they "recommend" a walk for any senior that wants to, but no gung ho, go go go from the organizer.
What are your thoughts??
2. ON the same page of today's Toronto Sun are 2 articles that may appear greatly dissimilar, but they really are, and I put these under "bureaucracy, what a mess"
The first article is about a British couple that were denied citizenship because they missed on the "points system" that makes them "good candidates for citizenship". OK, the man is a transportation cop, the wife has trained as a cop, they are both around 40.
This is the type of people we want, unlike the next story!
Here's the headline "Booted marijuana grower wins new hearing". So this guy(along with 3 others) operated a grow house and preyed on "newcomers" to the Country(looking to make a living) to look after the operation for them. He just won an appeal to stay in the Country while he fights a deportation order.
OK, why the hell are people that we want forced to jump through every hoop, while people with criminal records are allowed to waste our time and resources in their fights to stay in the country? Is it simply a case of having too many lawyers that find it an easy life to simply bill the government while they fight to keep undesirables in the Country? Is it an incredibly lax immigration system that allows people to whine and complain about the hardships they suffer in other Country's when they come here with nothing to put on the table? Maybe it's system that allows everybody and anybody to come here and use out system as a refuge, use our system, free money, accommodation, medical and dental even before you've given anything to your new home .....
This craps got to change, we need to streamline the immigration system, make it quick, make it yes or no, do you have a record?? Sorry, you can't come here EVER! Are you bringing anything to the table?? NO? don't let the door hit ya on the way out. We spend way to much money letting undesirables fight the system and we need to get rid of their ability to do so.
You thoughts??
3. The MPP chick(Ruby Dhalla) that, if you remember her, resigned her post as Liberal Multicultural critic when there were allegations about hired help being mistreated while working for her family, has just introduced a private members bills that would shorten the time it takes for a new immigrant to receive social security payments from 10 years to 3.
WHAT THE HELL?? Why are we giving new immigrants, that have put nothing into our system social security EVER social security? Is this the next step(after a very lax immigration system) in bringing more people into this Country that will sit and take all we have to give without ever giving back.
Luckily pretty much every politician in Ontario has laughed at the suggestion, and that's on thing they've done right, but even to put this idea forward is a mess!
Thoughts??
Brent
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Kanye West is an ignorant, arrogant, jackass !!
Does this guy have any idea what it's like to me a man? To show other people respect? To understand that their opinion isn't anymore important than anybody else's opinion .... NO, I guess he doesn't!
In case you hadn't heard "Mr West" decided that after Taylor Swift won a MTV music Award, and was standing on stage giving her acceptance speech, that was the best time to run up on stage, take the mike out of Taylor's hand and make a comment about how "Beyonce has one of the best video's ever"! ......
WHAT, you moron?? let me get this straight, you decide in your infinite wisdom that it's OK to ruin the show, shock and scare a 19 year old girl, and put the spotlight back on you when it was HER moment in the sun. You really need a good beat down, and maybe a few of your peers need to tell you how it is .... he certainly need a good "shunning" IMO!
So the next couple of days he's all apologetic, he's so sorry, he's still grieving for his Mother/Father/pet hamster he lost when he was 7. Whatever the reason, apologizing after the fact MEANS NOTHING! He should have used his brains, but that's the problem he doesn't have any. His head can't hold a brain AND his EGO!
Just in case you're wondering, this is at least the fourth time he made his opinions know even when people don't care about what he has to say. Once after Hurricane Katrina .... "George Bush doesn't care about black people, he also has another one when he lost a European MTV award, he jumped on stage to complain that he should have won because the video "cost a million dollars" . There are more, but that's all I remember.
I guess it's true, Kayne West is a "gay fish"!
Brent
P.s. that's a South Park reference, I don't expect you to know it:)
In case you hadn't heard "Mr West" decided that after Taylor Swift won a MTV music Award, and was standing on stage giving her acceptance speech, that was the best time to run up on stage, take the mike out of Taylor's hand and make a comment about how "Beyonce has one of the best video's ever"! ......
WHAT, you moron?? let me get this straight, you decide in your infinite wisdom that it's OK to ruin the show, shock and scare a 19 year old girl, and put the spotlight back on you when it was HER moment in the sun. You really need a good beat down, and maybe a few of your peers need to tell you how it is .... he certainly need a good "shunning" IMO!
So the next couple of days he's all apologetic, he's so sorry, he's still grieving for his Mother/Father/pet hamster he lost when he was 7. Whatever the reason, apologizing after the fact MEANS NOTHING! He should have used his brains, but that's the problem he doesn't have any. His head can't hold a brain AND his EGO!
Just in case you're wondering, this is at least the fourth time he made his opinions know even when people don't care about what he has to say. Once after Hurricane Katrina .... "George Bush doesn't care about black people, he also has another one when he lost a European MTV award, he jumped on stage to complain that he should have won because the video "cost a million dollars" . There are more, but that's all I remember.
I guess it's true, Kayne West is a "gay fish"!
Brent
P.s. that's a South Park reference, I don't expect you to know it:)
Yonge/Dundas Square .....What a disaster!
I'm really sure how to start this post, whether I do a completely incoherent rant, try to come up with a simple parable about how we are ruining "gods" planet:), or simply try to explain my thoughts in a concise somewhat fluent posting.
Well, I'm not good at any of those things:) so here goes!
What the _uc_ did the City of Toronto do to the area of Yonge and Dundas?? and what will God do about it?? Let me explain point by point .............Crap!
Has anybody ever been to a garage sale, maybe a pawn shop, have you ever gone through an old box you have stored when you found that "thing" you'd be looking for and couldn't find? That's what the old Yonge/Dundas part of Toronto was to me, I'd walk into some nondescript mess of a store and find that interesting "widget" I didn't know I needed.
Case in point would be Princess Auto, I started going to Princess Auto maybe 12-13 years ago, I'd drive to their location just South of the Dixie Auto Mall(near the airport), and walk through this mess of a store finding items that I didn't need, wanted but could never get in Canada, or simply couldn't afford.
Well, those were the days, now they've cleaned the stores up and made them all pretty, but they don't have a heart ....... just like Dundas Square!
Sure, I understand the need to clean up that area of the City, it's a major tourist spot, and had been a little run down, but you could have cleaned it up without losing the flavour.
What did they do wrong?? So they built this huge, massive concrete pad on the South/East corner without any ... well anything! would it have been tough to add a few trees?? they would have survived and quite probably flourished, but now we need to go to the park to see a tree. Why don't wee round up everything that would be considered "nature" a put them all in parks/zoos/displays?? "OK kids, this is what a Chipmunk looks like, we rounded them all up, killed most of them and kept a few here so we can all remember "the good ole days" when we had untouched areas of the world.
I can understand a meeting place in that area, and it WILL bring a good number of events to a busy area of the city, increased foot traffic should help the City, but that my next point ... There isn't one part of that corner North/East/South/West that isn't LOADED with huge billboards, MASSIVE video displays, and anything that shouts out "BUY, BUY, BUY"! There is nothing at this point of the City that says "come visit out beautiful City!", it's more like "look, we're trying to copy New York, that bastion of gross excess"!
Maybe I'm getting old, but I used to LOVE that area of the City, now I don't know why I'd ever go down there again!
Brent
P.s. They also ruined the side of the Eaton's Centre by putting more HUGE advertisements up ... The "old" Eaton's centre has been turned into nothing but a gaudy billboard when you drive North up Yonge!
Well, I'm not good at any of those things:) so here goes!
What the _uc_ did the City of Toronto do to the area of Yonge and Dundas?? and what will God do about it?? Let me explain point by point .............Crap!
Has anybody ever been to a garage sale, maybe a pawn shop, have you ever gone through an old box you have stored when you found that "thing" you'd be looking for and couldn't find? That's what the old Yonge/Dundas part of Toronto was to me, I'd walk into some nondescript mess of a store and find that interesting "widget" I didn't know I needed.
Case in point would be Princess Auto, I started going to Princess Auto maybe 12-13 years ago, I'd drive to their location just South of the Dixie Auto Mall(near the airport), and walk through this mess of a store finding items that I didn't need, wanted but could never get in Canada, or simply couldn't afford.
Well, those were the days, now they've cleaned the stores up and made them all pretty, but they don't have a heart ....... just like Dundas Square!
Sure, I understand the need to clean up that area of the City, it's a major tourist spot, and had been a little run down, but you could have cleaned it up without losing the flavour.
What did they do wrong?? So they built this huge, massive concrete pad on the South/East corner without any ... well anything! would it have been tough to add a few trees?? they would have survived and quite probably flourished, but now we need to go to the park to see a tree. Why don't wee round up everything that would be considered "nature" a put them all in parks/zoos/displays?? "OK kids, this is what a Chipmunk looks like, we rounded them all up, killed most of them and kept a few here so we can all remember "the good ole days" when we had untouched areas of the world.
I can understand a meeting place in that area, and it WILL bring a good number of events to a busy area of the city, increased foot traffic should help the City, but that my next point ... There isn't one part of that corner North/East/South/West that isn't LOADED with huge billboards, MASSIVE video displays, and anything that shouts out "BUY, BUY, BUY"! There is nothing at this point of the City that says "come visit out beautiful City!", it's more like "look, we're trying to copy New York, that bastion of gross excess"!
Maybe I'm getting old, but I used to LOVE that area of the City, now I don't know why I'd ever go down there again!
Brent
P.s. They also ruined the side of the Eaton's Centre by putting more HUGE advertisements up ... The "old" Eaton's centre has been turned into nothing but a gaudy billboard when you drive North up Yonge!
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Am I lonely ??
I know this sounds like a question I should be asking myself, but let throw a few ideas out and see if they stick, maybe typing them out will clear things up.
Friends?? NOPE .... yes I've got them, a small circle, but do I have enough?? I think the real question is why isn't my circle any bigger? What happened to my high school friends? What about college people?? Work friends??
Well, let me tell you, I'm pretty happy when it comes to my friendships, the circle has proven to be a little loose, everybody is a married with children. That really throws a curve when planning anything, and it's just easier to do things by myself. Sure I'd love to be a Father's, hanging out, drinking bear, and taking my cheese OFF the pizza because it's OOOhh soo good that way:), but I realize I'm not 25 anymore and things do change over time. I've also said I'd go to the wall for my friends, and that might be even more true now that I'm the single guy and they've got kids.
As for high school friends, I was a bit of a floater, always running around taking photos and making good with everybody, but making very few friends I would hang out with after high school was over. I also spent most of my free time outside of school playing tennis with Cathy and Sean , working at A&P, and pretty much keeping to myself. I know some people would think of me as anything but quiet, but that was the truth until I started working at the Markham Economist and Sun as a freelance photographer, and when I went to college I really had some fun for a while:)
In college, other than the first few months of fun, I spent my time learning at and driving to and from school, it wasn't a social thing for me, I had my girlfriends in College, a few drunken nights, but I was more interested in dating outside of school ..... 22 minutes from Ballantrae to 404 and Finch .... but that's another story. It just works out that I never put myself out there to make long term friendships.
As for work, other than Ray, a 60+ year old guy and his kids, everybody I work with on nights could be considered "interesting", even a little antisocial, and pretty quiet, but for some reason Ray and I just get along. I've also got other friends, but none I hang around with on an even semi regular basis, and a few that I've lost touch with after being on nights for years.
NOW the real reason for this post, every now and then I get a little melancholy , a little blue, but it has little to do with friendships, it's more to do with being single and maybe even a little about not having children. Now let me tell you this "feeling" is very rare, but I felt it today. After dropping out of camping because of the weather I decided to head to Port Perry late in the day and caught myself just sitting in my car listening to the Sirius and flipping the stations, I ended up on the "Sirius Love" music channel, and that's when my melancholy set it. It's really hard to sit by the lake with the sun slowly going down beside you watching beautiful loving families playing by the lake. Boy o boy can that make you blue!
I'm sure the mood will pass quickly, but just every now a then, Goo, would like a wife and kids.
Yep, I said it:)
Goo
I sure do hope the mood passes quickly, or I'll never hear the end of it.
Friends?? NOPE .... yes I've got them, a small circle, but do I have enough?? I think the real question is why isn't my circle any bigger? What happened to my high school friends? What about college people?? Work friends??
Well, let me tell you, I'm pretty happy when it comes to my friendships, the circle has proven to be a little loose, everybody is a married with children. That really throws a curve when planning anything, and it's just easier to do things by myself. Sure I'd love to be a Father's, hanging out, drinking bear, and taking my cheese OFF the pizza because it's OOOhh soo good that way:), but I realize I'm not 25 anymore and things do change over time. I've also said I'd go to the wall for my friends, and that might be even more true now that I'm the single guy and they've got kids.
As for high school friends, I was a bit of a floater, always running around taking photos and making good with everybody, but making very few friends I would hang out with after high school was over. I also spent most of my free time outside of school playing tennis with Cathy and Sean , working at A&P, and pretty much keeping to myself. I know some people would think of me as anything but quiet, but that was the truth until I started working at the Markham Economist and Sun as a freelance photographer, and when I went to college I really had some fun for a while:)
In college, other than the first few months of fun, I spent my time learning at and driving to and from school, it wasn't a social thing for me, I had my girlfriends in College, a few drunken nights, but I was more interested in dating outside of school ..... 22 minutes from Ballantrae to 404 and Finch .... but that's another story. It just works out that I never put myself out there to make long term friendships.
As for work, other than Ray, a 60+ year old guy and his kids, everybody I work with on nights could be considered "interesting", even a little antisocial, and pretty quiet, but for some reason Ray and I just get along. I've also got other friends, but none I hang around with on an even semi regular basis, and a few that I've lost touch with after being on nights for years.
NOW the real reason for this post, every now and then I get a little melancholy , a little blue, but it has little to do with friendships, it's more to do with being single and maybe even a little about not having children. Now let me tell you this "feeling" is very rare, but I felt it today. After dropping out of camping because of the weather I decided to head to Port Perry late in the day and caught myself just sitting in my car listening to the Sirius and flipping the stations, I ended up on the "Sirius Love" music channel, and that's when my melancholy set it. It's really hard to sit by the lake with the sun slowly going down beside you watching beautiful loving families playing by the lake. Boy o boy can that make you blue!
I'm sure the mood will pass quickly, but just every now a then, Goo, would like a wife and kids.
Yep, I said it:)
Goo
I sure do hope the mood passes quickly, or I'll never hear the end of it.
Sunday, August 23, 2009
This just could be the movie of the year
YES, I just said it, and before I tell you what it is, I want to tell you a story. It's a story of a group of soldiers during the second world war, very well trained, very driven, and ordered by their commander to kill and scalp 100 Nazi's EACH! what makes this story more interesting is that all of the elite soldiers are Jewish. Sure this is a bit of a fantasy since a huge % of Jewish people were wiped out by that Hitler guy, but what person in their right mind wouldn't want to see some retribution, and a better end than we got(which means lots of people saved from that maniac and his friends)?
OK so The movie I'm talking about is from director Quentin Tarantino, and it's called
Inglourious Basterds
.........................92% ........................YEP .............................92 ..........%
Now if it wasn't for a slightly long run time, due to some very "talky" parts(as is typical in a Q.T. movie), it would have rated a point or 2 higher.
So you know the basics of the story and what I'll say is Brad PItt is really overacting here, but it's perfect for the role, Eli Roth is great, but Diane Kruger is let down in a role that could have been better ended up being more of a throw away than anything else.
To be honest though, this is a movie made for 2 people, and they are Mélanie Laurent as Shosanna Dreyfus, a "Jew" that changes her identity after a run in with Col. Hans Landa early in the movie, that is next seen running a theatre in France, she is Enthralling, captivating, motivated, and pretty hot to boot. The second person is Christoph Waltz as Col. Hans Landa, and he's the reason to see this movie, sure the movie is well scripted, well acted and a hell of a lot of fun, but Cristoph Waltz adds so much to this movie that anybody else cast is his role would have been a HUUUUUgge Disappointment, he funny, bright, engaging, and charismatic as a "Jew Sniffer", hired by Hitler to hunt down all of the Jews left hiding in Nazi occupied France.
Fantastic, check it out, and don't be suprised if you come out thinking that this is Q.T's best flick EVER, I'm certainly thinking that.
Goo
OK so The movie I'm talking about is from director Quentin Tarantino, and it's called
Inglourious Basterds
.........................92% ........................YEP .............................92 ..........%
Now if it wasn't for a slightly long run time, due to some very "talky" parts(as is typical in a Q.T. movie), it would have rated a point or 2 higher.
So you know the basics of the story and what I'll say is Brad PItt is really overacting here, but it's perfect for the role, Eli Roth is great, but Diane Kruger is let down in a role that could have been better ended up being more of a throw away than anything else.
To be honest though, this is a movie made for 2 people, and they are Mélanie Laurent as Shosanna Dreyfus, a "Jew" that changes her identity after a run in with Col. Hans Landa early in the movie, that is next seen running a theatre in France, she is Enthralling, captivating, motivated, and pretty hot to boot. The second person is Christoph Waltz as Col. Hans Landa, and he's the reason to see this movie, sure the movie is well scripted, well acted and a hell of a lot of fun, but Cristoph Waltz adds so much to this movie that anybody else cast is his role would have been a HUUUUUgge Disappointment, he funny, bright, engaging, and charismatic as a "Jew Sniffer", hired by Hitler to hunt down all of the Jews left hiding in Nazi occupied France.
Fantastic, check it out, and don't be suprised if you come out thinking that this is Q.T's best flick EVER, I'm certainly thinking that.
Goo
Finally good news ... An old (er) lady gets deported!
OK, that may sound really cold, but a small victory, over these people that decide they don't need to follow proper procedures to become a citizen, is still a victory.
I'll make this short and simple, She came to Canada and simply overstayed her visitors visa, and after multiple attempts to win a reprieve she didn't get one:)
Now don't think me completely cold hearted when I tell you she's also blind .....oy vey(sp?)
I know, "Goo, how could you do that to a old blind lady"?? Well let me tell you it's not simply the fact that she overstayed her visitors visa, it's also the fact that, from what I can tell, she knowingly overstayed her welcome, it was years before she attempted to become a citizen, you also have to factor the draw she will be on Canada's services, while offering little in return, remember she's a 69 year old woman.
What's you opinion, am I cold hearted?
Goo
I'll make this short and simple, She came to Canada and simply overstayed her visitors visa, and after multiple attempts to win a reprieve she didn't get one:)
Now don't think me completely cold hearted when I tell you she's also blind .....oy vey(sp?)
I know, "Goo, how could you do that to a old blind lady"?? Well let me tell you it's not simply the fact that she overstayed her visitors visa, it's also the fact that, from what I can tell, she knowingly overstayed her welcome, it was years before she attempted to become a citizen, you also have to factor the draw she will be on Canada's services, while offering little in return, remember she's a 69 year old woman.
What's you opinion, am I cold hearted?
Goo
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Can I buy food when I'm on strike?
Just a little food for thought;
If my union/grocery store were on strike, and I allowed to buy food somewhere else or should I starve??
My guess is that I need to eat, so I'm given a pass, but what about the CUPE members that live in areas unaffected by their own strike?? Are these members allowed to simply put the garbage at the end of the drive?? and what about the members that do live in the affected areas can they cross pickets lines to drop off their garbage?? What about David Miller, shouldn't he only play on municipal golf courses?? If not just to promote the cities courses and recreation, but to put some money into city coffer, the ones he's so happy to strip bear!
If my union/grocery store were on strike, and I allowed to buy food somewhere else or should I starve??
My guess is that I need to eat, so I'm given a pass, but what about the CUPE members that live in areas unaffected by their own strike?? Are these members allowed to simply put the garbage at the end of the drive?? and what about the members that do live in the affected areas can they cross pickets lines to drop off their garbage?? What about David Miller, shouldn't he only play on municipal golf courses?? If not just to promote the cities courses and recreation, but to put some money into city coffer, the ones he's so happy to strip bear!
Only in America
Flipping through Sunday's Toronto Sun something interesting, humorous and sad, caught my attention. I was just hoping to link to it, but I think I'm forced to tell you about it instead ..... wait, here;s a link to the website and the promotion that has caused such an uproar.
http://www.max71.com/ ..... and just scroll down a little!!
For those that can't be bothered clicking on a link, here's the gist of the story taken from today's Sun;
http://www.max71.com/ ..... and just scroll down a little!!
For those that can't be bothered clicking on a link, here's the gist of the story taken from today's Sun;
" In Butler, Mo you can buy a new pickup truck - and at least one dealership promises you a free AK-47 assault rifle. And that's completely legal.
Mark Muller, owner of Max Motors in Butler, told CNN this week he realizes people will be bothered by the promotion and wanted to clarify that purchasers would not be leaving the dealership with a weapon in hand.
Instead, the buyers will get a $450 voucher to use at a gun store, covering the retail value of an AK-47. "
You have to love America and the second amendment, in what world do people need to own a 1 gun let alone a assault rifle that fires 10 rounds a second. If it were simply a "were kidding" promotion, that might almost be funny depending on how it was implemented, but America has this love of killing things for fun, for invading country's and for being the "world police", and for this "promotion" to be real, is just a silly idea that is 200 year out of date, and promotes America as the world most gun crazed Country.
The argument is people need to protect their family and property, but when's the last time you saw a red coat coming up your driveway? and property is just that, property.
I've said it before, but I'll run away from the Country I love if I ever see the American flag flying over Ottawa, now you can add that if I ever see this country allow assault rifles and/or the right for normal citizens to carry a concealed weapon than I'm outta here.
I'm not too sure how having a weapon actually makes a society a safer place, but I guess if you own a truck with a gun rack an AK-47 would look "mighty fine" on the back!
Mark Muller, owner of Max Motors in Butler, told CNN this week he realizes people will be bothered by the promotion and wanted to clarify that purchasers would not be leaving the dealership with a weapon in hand.
Instead, the buyers will get a $450 voucher to use at a gun store, covering the retail value of an AK-47. "
You have to love America and the second amendment, in what world do people need to own a 1 gun let alone a assault rifle that fires 10 rounds a second. If it were simply a "were kidding" promotion, that might almost be funny depending on how it was implemented, but America has this love of killing things for fun, for invading country's and for being the "world police", and for this "promotion" to be real, is just a silly idea that is 200 year out of date, and promotes America as the world most gun crazed Country.
The argument is people need to protect their family and property, but when's the last time you saw a red coat coming up your driveway? and property is just that, property.
I've said it before, but I'll run away from the Country I love if I ever see the American flag flying over Ottawa, now you can add that if I ever see this country allow assault rifles and/or the right for normal citizens to carry a concealed weapon than I'm outta here.
I'm not too sure how having a weapon actually makes a society a safer place, but I guess if you own a truck with a gun rack an AK-47 would look "mighty fine" on the back!
Why do I have to be a man ....
.... when all the boys ruin it for me!
When I first got my Civic I was amazed at how much my insurance was. I drive less than 24 000KM a year, in a rural setting, and my drive to work is less than 24KM 1 way and only 4 days a week, I was paying about $1300 a year. Now after driving the same car for 6 years I'm still paying $1300 a year!! Sure I can expect to pay a little more, I drive a Civic, a car than is so popular the aftermarket has produced a million cheap parts so every little boy can "rice up" there Civic on the cheap, and without any driving skills they get into more accidents. You've also thief's that part the cars out and sell them back to the kids at pennies on the dollar. What I thought would help drive down the insurance would be the inclusion of a safety lock for the ignition, you don't have the key the car won't start and can't be hot wired, but I guess until all the old Civics are off the market I'll be paying higher rates.
What this was really all about was the recent "race" between 2 morons on Martin grove in West Toronto a few days ago. 200KPH in a 50 zone, ARE YOU KIDDING ME? here's what I propose;
The drivers should get HUGE fines, jail time and a lifetime driving ban !
ALL car(but cop cars) should be speed limited, Something like 160KPH!
Speed limits should be raised on the highways to 120(daytime) and 100(30 minutes before and after)
Speeding up to 20% over at the regular rates(60 in a 50, 96 in and 80, 144 in a 120 ETC ETC) after that the rate should triple or quadruple, along with a 7 driving ban.
Any thoughts??
When I first got my Civic I was amazed at how much my insurance was. I drive less than 24 000KM a year, in a rural setting, and my drive to work is less than 24KM 1 way and only 4 days a week, I was paying about $1300 a year. Now after driving the same car for 6 years I'm still paying $1300 a year!! Sure I can expect to pay a little more, I drive a Civic, a car than is so popular the aftermarket has produced a million cheap parts so every little boy can "rice up" there Civic on the cheap, and without any driving skills they get into more accidents. You've also thief's that part the cars out and sell them back to the kids at pennies on the dollar. What I thought would help drive down the insurance would be the inclusion of a safety lock for the ignition, you don't have the key the car won't start and can't be hot wired, but I guess until all the old Civics are off the market I'll be paying higher rates.
What this was really all about was the recent "race" between 2 morons on Martin grove in West Toronto a few days ago. 200KPH in a 50 zone, ARE YOU KIDDING ME? here's what I propose;
The drivers should get HUGE fines, jail time and a lifetime driving ban !
ALL car(but cop cars) should be speed limited, Something like 160KPH!
Speed limits should be raised on the highways to 120(daytime) and 100(30 minutes before and after)
Speeding up to 20% over at the regular rates(60 in a 50, 96 in and 80, 144 in a 120 ETC ETC) after that the rate should triple or quadruple, along with a 7 driving ban.
Any thoughts??
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Gramatical errors and the such!
Leave me alone when it comes to my poor grammar, sentence structure, and spelling mistakes, and remember I work nights at a grocery store!:)
Just doing this preemptively, since I expect some flack:)
Just doing this preemptively, since I expect some flack:)
Another Canada day passes without Canada in the equation!
I've made a decision, it's not a difficult one, but it is one that most people wouldn't consider doing unless they got something out of it.
The decision I made was to contact a bunch(no exact #, but I'll tell you when I figure it out) of retailers, starting with the Canadian owned ones, and to question the purchasing of "Canada Day" goods made in foreign Country's.
Some will say "there goes Goo again!", and I can understand that, but my purchasing of goods "made in China" has dropped by 85-90%. I no longer buy Unneeded or questionable use items if at all possible, this includes pretty much all dollar store product and a huge % of Canadian Tire product because of where they are made. Sure I fail now and then, I had no choice when I bought golf shoes this spring, I found 1 pair out of 50 that weren't made in China, and that 1 pair was suede with no waterproof warranty, so I bought a pair made in China. I also need to factor the difference in costs into my "where's it made" purchase equation. I can justify spending more on a product made in North America, what I can't do is throw money away. Say, something is $50 and is made in China, but the one made in N.A. is $60, I'll buy the one made in N.A.. NOw if that same $50 product is $80 for a made in N.A. version I'd have to be stupid to spend 60% more.
I already know my first store I want to send a letter would be Canadian Tire, and the question will be about Canada Day stuff. I understand companies wanting to compete with the lowest common denominator, usually that's Wal-Mart, when it comes to pricing goods but can we please at least make out Canada Day stuff IN CANADA!
It's almost as ludicrous as some City councillors tendering to the lowest price without ever thinking about keeping jobs in Canada. That's why there was such a hoopla when a councillor was giving away lapel pins Made in China, and justifiably so IMO
IMO it's not always get it the cheapest you can!
Brent
The decision I made was to contact a bunch(no exact #, but I'll tell you when I figure it out) of retailers, starting with the Canadian owned ones, and to question the purchasing of "Canada Day" goods made in foreign Country's.
Some will say "there goes Goo again!", and I can understand that, but my purchasing of goods "made in China" has dropped by 85-90%. I no longer buy Unneeded or questionable use items if at all possible, this includes pretty much all dollar store product and a huge % of Canadian Tire product because of where they are made. Sure I fail now and then, I had no choice when I bought golf shoes this spring, I found 1 pair out of 50 that weren't made in China, and that 1 pair was suede with no waterproof warranty, so I bought a pair made in China. I also need to factor the difference in costs into my "where's it made" purchase equation. I can justify spending more on a product made in North America, what I can't do is throw money away. Say, something is $50 and is made in China, but the one made in N.A. is $60, I'll buy the one made in N.A.. NOw if that same $50 product is $80 for a made in N.A. version I'd have to be stupid to spend 60% more.
I already know my first store I want to send a letter would be Canadian Tire, and the question will be about Canada Day stuff. I understand companies wanting to compete with the lowest common denominator, usually that's Wal-Mart, when it comes to pricing goods but can we please at least make out Canada Day stuff IN CANADA!
It's almost as ludicrous as some City councillors tendering to the lowest price without ever thinking about keeping jobs in Canada. That's why there was such a hoopla when a councillor was giving away lapel pins Made in China, and justifiably so IMO
IMO it's not always get it the cheapest you can!
Brent
Tuesday, July 07, 2009
Camping
Well I had a great time camping the weekend before Canada day, I went to Presqu'ille , http://www.ontarioparks.com/English/pres.html and Sandbanks http://www.ontarioparks.com/English/sand.html , 2 days at each!
OK, if you're looking for 2 completely different types of campgrounds you got it right here, on this very shoe ....oops sorry!
So Presqu'ille offers some very good trails, a nice boardwalk, lots of access to the water(mostly over rock unless you venture to the beach), some very nice campsites right on the water(more $ and book early!), has a very nice 5-6km paved trail for bikes, actually it's very bike friendly, and is only about a 7-8 minute drive to Brighton.
Negative points are that it's very bike friendly:), no really, it 's a couple of KMs to the beach, and if you go during the week only beach one( the furthest away from the campgrounds) is open, and most of the site tend to be a little more open.
Now Sandbanks offers a very nice beach that's a very short walk, but has become slightly overgrown, it's about a 20 minute drive to Picton for shopping, and it's overflow parking is more than a KM away from our preferred campsites.
The biggest deciding factors for me are the distance from the beach, and the drive time from home, with site privacy and $ coming into the equation.
Remember that Sandbanks is about 45 minutes further to get to, Presqu'ille is about 15 minutes off the 401.
So for next year I think I'll see who wants to head to Presqu'ille, just make sure you take plenty of bug repellant if you plan on doing the Owen Point Trail, I needed blood after doing the trail! I'll be taking(renting ?) a bike, next year!
OK, if you're looking for 2 completely different types of campgrounds you got it right here, on this very shoe ....oops sorry!
So Presqu'ille offers some very good trails, a nice boardwalk, lots of access to the water(mostly over rock unless you venture to the beach), some very nice campsites right on the water(more $ and book early!), has a very nice 5-6km paved trail for bikes, actually it's very bike friendly, and is only about a 7-8 minute drive to Brighton.
Negative points are that it's very bike friendly:), no really, it 's a couple of KMs to the beach, and if you go during the week only beach one( the furthest away from the campgrounds) is open, and most of the site tend to be a little more open.
Now Sandbanks offers a very nice beach that's a very short walk, but has become slightly overgrown, it's about a 20 minute drive to Picton for shopping, and it's overflow parking is more than a KM away from our preferred campsites.
The biggest deciding factors for me are the distance from the beach, and the drive time from home, with site privacy and $ coming into the equation.
Remember that Sandbanks is about 45 minutes further to get to, Presqu'ille is about 15 minutes off the 401.
So for next year I think I'll see who wants to head to Presqu'ille, just make sure you take plenty of bug repellant if you plan on doing the Owen Point Trail, I needed blood after doing the trail! I'll be taking(renting ?) a bike, next year!
CUPE workers strike and other things
OH Miller, is there was anybody else that wanted to run the City of Toronto you'd have been on your ass years ago. What's funny is everybody looks at Mel Lastman as a simpleton that ran the City quite poorly, now lots of people look back and wonder whether they were wrong! Let's get John Tory into the race and see if Mr Miller gets voted in again. Maybe not though, between all the CUPE workers and the millions of rats Miller is inviting into the city(workers should have been forced back to work IMO) he might have a fighting chance. That is unless the rats bring enough disease that they kill off the CUPE workers .... WOW, what a web we weave:)
As for the CUPE workers .... really, sick days used for your future retirement INSTEAD of when you're sick, you've got to be kidding me! Give em a small pay off for their accrued sick days up to this point and McGuinty should legislate them back to work ASAP!
OH how good it is to see the discussion about minimum mandatory sentencing for gun crimes, didn't I mention this in this blog 2 years ago?? Oh well:)
As for the CUPE workers .... really, sick days used for your future retirement INSTEAD of when you're sick, you've got to be kidding me! Give em a small pay off for their accrued sick days up to this point and McGuinty should legislate them back to work ASAP!
OH how good it is to see the discussion about minimum mandatory sentencing for gun crimes, didn't I mention this in this blog 2 years ago?? Oh well:)
Birthday gathering + a few quick movie reviews
I'd like to thank everybody that showed up at my annual "Birthday movie day" event at the Cineplex Odeon theatres in Newmarket. For once I saw 3 good movies, movies I actually wanted to see. I wasn't forced to see 1 flick I was looking forward to, a 2 flicks simply because I had"free passes".
The 3 movies I saw were;
Up 3d .................................................83%
In the day and age of production companies simply throwing movies into theatre's hoping that 1 might stick with fans, it's good to see Pixar simply puts out good flicks, and UP is another one.
UP simply put, is about an old guy that's forced to move because a development is taking over his area and he won't give up the home he spent many years with the "love of his life", and the his decision to fulfill a liflong dream his wife had to visit South America. What he doesn't want to do is give the house up, so he uses ballons to take the house with him!
OK, this movie has a few very fun moments, but what strikes you more is the love story between a man and his wife, and it's a strong enough story that you shouldn't be surprised if you tear up:)
The Hangover ......................76%
I was hoping that the stories of people "falling on the floor" laughing was true, but they couldn't be, I was right. Sure it was pretty funny, but it was a little bit of deja vu. We've seen this type of movie before, a movie about a bunch of guys heading to Los Vegas for "one last adventure" before they start getting married off, sure we haven't seen it done quite as well, but we've "been there and done that" before.
Drag Me to Hell ............................. 86%
EXACTLY what I was hoping for!
Sam Raimi has done a bunch of cool flicks including Spiderman, but his most loved works tend to be the "cult" films, movies like Army of Darkness, Darkman, and the Evil Dead series are well loved by a group of devoted(if a little nuts) fans, and Drag Me to Hell fits right in with those listed.
Drag Me to Hell is a story about a girl, that in order to secure a entry level managment position at the bank, is told to be more stern when customers come in looking for a loan, or in this case a renegotiation of an exsisting loan. That's where she makes a mistake and refuses to renogotiate a loan with an old Lady, and get a curse placed on her that will see her "dragged to hell" in 3 days. That's the basic premise, and the movie works amazingly well as both a horror AND a comedy, the old Lady is really creapy, and the jokes do great at lightening the mode.
Loved this flick!! but don't go into this expecting a real horror flick, it's as much a comedy as a horror.
...............................................................................
Other flicks I've seen lately
Public Enemies ................................75%
Johnny Depp, Christian Bale, Marion Cotillard
A true story about John Dillinger, robbing banks, a love affair, and the formation of the FBI. Interesting, if a bit slow and over long. The revelation here is Marion Cotillard, she was amazing!
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/10009526-public_enemies/
Ice Age: Dawn of the Dino's ...........................67%
been there, seen that, I should have listened to the reviews, it wasn't cute, funny, or really very entertaining at all, even the 3D was mediocre.
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1194515-ice_age_dawn_of_the_dinosaurs/
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen ............................ 62%
I really thought that #2 might be better, NOPE, just longer!
What the deal with being so close to everything that you can;t see anything?
Unless you loved the first one, skip this flick!
The 3 movies I saw were;
Up 3d .................................................83%
In the day and age of production companies simply throwing movies into theatre's hoping that 1 might stick with fans, it's good to see Pixar simply puts out good flicks, and UP is another one.
UP simply put, is about an old guy that's forced to move because a development is taking over his area and he won't give up the home he spent many years with the "love of his life", and the his decision to fulfill a liflong dream his wife had to visit South America. What he doesn't want to do is give the house up, so he uses ballons to take the house with him!
OK, this movie has a few very fun moments, but what strikes you more is the love story between a man and his wife, and it's a strong enough story that you shouldn't be surprised if you tear up:)
The Hangover ......................76%
I was hoping that the stories of people "falling on the floor" laughing was true, but they couldn't be, I was right. Sure it was pretty funny, but it was a little bit of deja vu. We've seen this type of movie before, a movie about a bunch of guys heading to Los Vegas for "one last adventure" before they start getting married off, sure we haven't seen it done quite as well, but we've "been there and done that" before.
Drag Me to Hell ............................. 86%
EXACTLY what I was hoping for!
Sam Raimi has done a bunch of cool flicks including Spiderman, but his most loved works tend to be the "cult" films, movies like Army of Darkness, Darkman, and the Evil Dead series are well loved by a group of devoted(if a little nuts) fans, and Drag Me to Hell fits right in with those listed.
Drag Me to Hell is a story about a girl, that in order to secure a entry level managment position at the bank, is told to be more stern when customers come in looking for a loan, or in this case a renegotiation of an exsisting loan. That's where she makes a mistake and refuses to renogotiate a loan with an old Lady, and get a curse placed on her that will see her "dragged to hell" in 3 days. That's the basic premise, and the movie works amazingly well as both a horror AND a comedy, the old Lady is really creapy, and the jokes do great at lightening the mode.
Loved this flick!! but don't go into this expecting a real horror flick, it's as much a comedy as a horror.
...............................................................................
Other flicks I've seen lately
Public Enemies ................................75%
Johnny Depp, Christian Bale, Marion Cotillard
A true story about John Dillinger, robbing banks, a love affair, and the formation of the FBI. Interesting, if a bit slow and over long. The revelation here is Marion Cotillard, she was amazing!
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/10009526-public_enemies/
Ice Age: Dawn of the Dino's ...........................67%
been there, seen that, I should have listened to the reviews, it wasn't cute, funny, or really very entertaining at all, even the 3D was mediocre.
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1194515-ice_age_dawn_of_the_dinosaurs/
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen ............................ 62%
I really thought that #2 might be better, NOPE, just longer!
What the deal with being so close to everything that you can;t see anything?
Unless you loved the first one, skip this flick!
Men and Woman at Wimbledon .....oh my!
YOU CANNOT BE SERIOUS!!!
With all the problems tennis has had, and continues to have in the area of promotion it's a good thing to see another epic final in the men's game.
The match between Roger Federer and Andy Roddick looked to be a rather quick and uneventful final, arguably the greatest singles champion in men's tennis in the Open Era VS the one time Grand Slam Champion that never seems to have enough!
You'd think MAYBE a 4 setter, Roddick has a big enough serve to give most players fits, and is a good scrambler, but he lacks the skill to compete against the man with the greatest court sense and the cleanest hitter the game has ever seen.
Well this turned into an interesting match, a five setter with a 16-14 final set, Roddick making shots that had Federer scramble, Federer hitting 50 aces to Roddicks 27( I guess you can chalk that up to Federer's stronger return game), and the fan's actually seeming to want Roddick to win!! Well probably not:) they just wanted a great match, and they got it.
I'll give Roddick a lot of credit, this has got to be the best match he's ever played, he came within 2 games of beating a much more skilled player. I guess the real question was, what would have happened if Roddick had of been able to convert his 6-1 point lead in the second set tie breaker and win the set. It would have been interesting to see if Roger could have turned his game up enough to overcome a 2 set deficit against a guy playing the match of his life .... I guess we'll never know.
Way to go Roger, a fantastic player, a gentleman, and a great ambassador!
NOW, the woman's game ...... WOW what a disaster! I think the lowest draw in the woman's tennis is a final between the 2 William's sister, but that's exactly what we got. A much better finals would have been Venus VS Kuznetsova, oh well at least the Semi's with Keznetsova VS Serena was a great match.
The real question is ....What's up with the points system in tennis? While I have a huge problem with Venus and Serena entering tournaments in a limited way, therefore saving themselves for the bigger tournaments, I have a real problem with Dinara Safina being #1 because she's played in every tournament ever created. There has to be a better weighting system for the big tournaments, The Slams, teir 1 and 2 events(Toronto being a tier 1)!
With all the problems tennis has had, and continues to have in the area of promotion it's a good thing to see another epic final in the men's game.
The match between Roger Federer and Andy Roddick looked to be a rather quick and uneventful final, arguably the greatest singles champion in men's tennis in the Open Era VS the one time Grand Slam Champion that never seems to have enough!
You'd think MAYBE a 4 setter, Roddick has a big enough serve to give most players fits, and is a good scrambler, but he lacks the skill to compete against the man with the greatest court sense and the cleanest hitter the game has ever seen.
Well this turned into an interesting match, a five setter with a 16-14 final set, Roddick making shots that had Federer scramble, Federer hitting 50 aces to Roddicks 27( I guess you can chalk that up to Federer's stronger return game), and the fan's actually seeming to want Roddick to win!! Well probably not:) they just wanted a great match, and they got it.
I'll give Roddick a lot of credit, this has got to be the best match he's ever played, he came within 2 games of beating a much more skilled player. I guess the real question was, what would have happened if Roddick had of been able to convert his 6-1 point lead in the second set tie breaker and win the set. It would have been interesting to see if Roger could have turned his game up enough to overcome a 2 set deficit against a guy playing the match of his life .... I guess we'll never know.
Way to go Roger, a fantastic player, a gentleman, and a great ambassador!
NOW, the woman's game ...... WOW what a disaster! I think the lowest draw in the woman's tennis is a final between the 2 William's sister, but that's exactly what we got. A much better finals would have been Venus VS Kuznetsova, oh well at least the Semi's with Keznetsova VS Serena was a great match.
The real question is ....What's up with the points system in tennis? While I have a huge problem with Venus and Serena entering tournaments in a limited way, therefore saving themselves for the bigger tournaments, I have a real problem with Dinara Safina being #1 because she's played in every tournament ever created. There has to be a better weighting system for the big tournaments, The Slams, teir 1 and 2 events(Toronto being a tier 1)!
Thursday, June 04, 2009
The Keg Restaurant
| Nice restaurant, good atmosphere, good looking chicks serving , try the "Mushrooms Neptune" they're a great snack! |
Make your browsing faster, safer, and easier with the new Internet Explorer® 8. Optimized for Yahoo! Get it Now for Free!
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)