Author Archives: Rob MacD

An Axe, worthy To Grind

It seems every week, I’m reading or hearing or seeing something that makes me glad to live in Canada.

This week it’s this published letter to Condi Rice, from Lloyd Axworthy.

I liked this paragraph, particularly:

I invite you to expand the narrow perspective that seems to inform your opinions of Canada by ranging far wider in your reach of contacts and discussions. You would find that what is rising in Canada is not so much anti-Americanism, as claimed by your and our right-wing commentators, but fundamental disagreements with certain policies of your government. You would see that rather than just reacting to events by drawing on old conventional wisdoms, many Canadians are trying to think our way through to some ideas that can be helpful in building a more secure world.

Amen, brother.

Spree-ality TV

Too many reality shows to keep tabs on right now.  I may have to vote one of them off the island.
Here’s my oh-so-important opinion of the current slate that has me in rapt attention:
American Idol – I still don’t know why I watch this show.  It’s young quasi-talented egotists singing songs that I’d never put on my iPod.  Why watch?  It’s not so much for the "you were a bit pitchy but you were a’ight" Randy, dawg.  It’s not for the "your aura was im-magnificantacular, and I love your look, but you have to work on your look, and on how im-magnificantacular your aura is" Paula.  It’s for the "If I was being honest, I would give an opinion that so often is exactly what needs to be said, and that mirrors what Rob thinks" Simon.  I feel like a school girl typing this, but Simon is so right-on so often.  Plus, I watch for the pathetic "my world just ended" dramas that happen every "results show" Wednesday.
Amazing Race 7 – a scant 3 weeks after the end of AR6, it’s back.  Looks like a great bunch of competitors.  I’m surprised that I find myself cheering for Boston Rob and Amber.  I think it’s because so many of the other teams have marked them as the enemy.  They really are a pretty entertaining couple.  I hated to type that.  When did gay boyfriend couples become the joke?  I like them all, except the "Suck it up" guy.  Does anyone else think that the old guy, Meredith (get beat up as a kid much?), look like Larry David when he’s wearing his cap and sunglasses.  Spitting image, I say.  For that reason alone, I cheer him on.  Not so crazy about his wife, whom I’ll dub "Dagnabbit".  Anyone else interesting?  Probably, but not worth mentioning right now.
Survivor – I’m liking the gang they’ve coralled onto the island this time around.  A good bunch of people, all seemingly knowing how the game is played.  Except, you know, for the fact that they all still seem to get upset when they, you know, learn that the people they’ve begun to trust are, like, you know, actually trying to win.  I thought they were all everyone’s friends! 
The Apprentice – I so hate this show.  Arsehole business people doing whatever necessary to kiss the ass of the biggest arsehole around, Donald Trump.  Stupid arseholes who continually let picky picky picky stupid non-game stuff get in the way of their success on the show.  Stupid contests whose results are basically at the whim of the producers so, really, they can pick and choose who goes on and who gets fired.  Contests that are nothing more than advertisements for products.  I so hate this show.  I hate it.  Can’t wait til it’s on again Thursday.  Damn you, Trump.

Cluck Cluck Cluck Cluck…and Cluck

This week’s Chicken Finger Conspiracy Update:

Today, the guy served and he gave me 5 Huge chicken fingers.  Not so many fries, though.  Hmmm.

Added intrigue:  I didn’t have to place my order.  He just said "Chicken, right."  I nodded.  Later, he tried guessing my finger sauce: "Sweet and Sour sauce?" he asked.  "No", I said, "Honey" I added.  Whether he took the "honey" the way it was intended, I don’t know. But he did say "Right. Guess I should know that by now."  I replied, so coyly:  "Sometimes I like to mix it up."   I can’t wait til he tells the girl about that.  Surely that will fire up her jealousy and garner me five fingers from her next time she serves me.  (and it’s true, about the mixing it up.  The time before last time, I got Sweet’n’Sour sauce.  Last time I got No Sauce.  Today, honey.)

Dead Wrong

Well, now that the US Supreme Court has ruled that juvenile execution constitutes cruel and unusual punishment, I suppose we can expect some of those juveniles who’ve been executed to ask to have those sentences retroactively revoked.
Oh, wait.  Never mind.

…And The Oscar Pool Goes To…

I had 24 contestants in my Oscar pool.  I had a pink highlighter and 12 sheets of paper (2 contestant’s lists per)  on which I checked the correct guesses.  I found that it would pretty much take me the entirety of an acceptance speech to check through all 24 guesses for each category.  This made watching the Oscar ceremony much more of a task for me than it was in years previous.  However it made the 3+ hours fly by.
First, before I get to the results, a few comments on the entertainment value of the broadcast:  I was a bit disappointed in Chris Rock’s monologue.  I didn’t find it that funny, and I didn’t appreciate the "wait for A-list actor" jokes.  While I didn’t really find him all that funny, I did appreciate the pull-the-pants-down-on-Hollywood tone of his performance.  His "streeter" video where he got the opinion of black theatre-goers was not very good, but I did like the surprise of Albert Brooks showing up at the end of it (although I didn’t think what he said was all that funny).  After the monologue,  Chris Rock was pretty much invisible.  While I appreciated him keeping things moving briskly, I could’ve used a few more attempts at jokes throughout the broadcast.
I was disappointed in the choices for Best Songs, and the performance of each was pretty much unremarkable.  All five songs were pretty blech and having Beyonce sing three of them seemed like an odd thing to do.  Five opportunities for bathroom breaks, as far as I was concerned.  Having YoYo Ma perform live for the memorial video was nice.  I am always saddened for those who appear on the list and then the applause dies down to nothing, only to resurrect itself for the next person.
As a watcher of the Oscar broadcast, I appreciated the efforts to speed up the evening.  Having all the nominees (of "lesser" categories) on stage was a good move, however as a human being with empathy, I felt bad for all the losers who were shuffled quickly off the stage.
That’s about it.  A fairly bland show, I thought.  Now, on to the results:
While I certainly don’t think I made any mistakes in my tabulations, I certainly don’t guarantee my results, since I’m not going to double check them (I was kind of double checking as I went anyway).  If you have a problem with your score as compared to what I proclaim it to be, too bad.

I was disappointed in my picks.  I submitted my picks early.  In fact, mine was the first submission.  If I had waited until this week, many of my picks would have been different, after checking with odds-makers and getting a feel for the buzz of the awards.  Still, I stayed with my original choices and only got 10 correct.  Usually I average about 13-15 correct.
Rather than list all the contestants by name and their results, I am going to go this way:

2 people got 5 right
4 people got 7 right
2 people got 8 right
4 people got 9 right
3 people got 10 right
4 people got 11 right
2 people got 12 right
1 person got 13 right
3 people got 14 right
2 people got 15 right

and, the winner, with an amazing 17 of 24 guesses correct…

Matt Rainnie

Way to go, Matt.  You nailed it, my friend.  Your mix-cd is being conjured up in my brain as I type and live and breathe.  I’ll get it to you shortly.

If you entered this contest and would like to know your score, just make that request in the comments of this post and I’ll post it there, for all to see.

Lorty Lorty Look Who’s Forty Times Two


 

On this date in 1925, my father was born.  Today he is 80.  I wonder if his parents had any idea of what a wonderful, solid man he would become.  Whatever dreams and hopes they had for him, I expect he’s outshone them all.
In 1947, when this picture was taken, my dad was just embarking on adult life.  He’d be married a year later and a father not too long after that. 
I didn’t meet him until 1965, when he was 40 (the age I am now), and only in the last 15 years have I come to "know" him and appreciate what a great influence he’s been on me.  My experiences with my father have been almost exclusively happy and pleasant.  He’s taught me innumberable things in innumberable ways, comforted me always and has always been a shining example of what a good father should be.
Growing up I was always amazed that my father knew how to fix pretty much anything that needed fixing in our home (except eggs over easy) and I am amazed that he still is able to keep his home in excellent working order. 
Whatever goodness and humanity I have, I learned it by seeing it continually practiced by my parents.  They both are my example of what kindness and goodness should be.
I wonder if my father considers his life thus far to a successful one.  All I know is that if I make it to 80 years of age and there is even one person in that future world who has the amount of respect and admiration for me that I presently have for my father, then I’ll consider my life to be a great success.  The greatest thing he’s taught me is to be the example of that which you’d like others to be.
It likely sounds foolish and a bit grandiose to say, but my dad is my hero.   I want to be just like him.

Happy Birthday, Dad.

The Finger Of Chicken Factor

For the past few months, I’ve been once-a-weeking for lunch at a take-out place, ordering their chicken fingers and fries.  I notice that there are two people who work there, however only one at a time.  The guy who works there gives me five chicken fingers and a heaping helping of crispy fries.  The girl who works there gives me not so many fries that are not so crispy and only four chicken fingers.
The discrepency in the amount of fries, I don’t worry about.
My dilemna is this:  do I mention to the girl that the guy gives me five chicken fingers?  If I do, then there is a possibility that his extravagence of an extra finger will be exposed and may be stopped.  Is there a store policy on the number of chicken fingers one gives out per customer?  If she’s short-changing me, then I’d definitely like that rectified.  My hunch is that the de rigueur is four fingers, though I have no solid proof of it.
I don’t know how many chicken fingers he gives to others.  I’ve never witnessed it.  I’ve thought about lurking around, waiting for a chicken fingers and fries order to come up, but it’s not ordered that often.  It’s not even on their regular menu.  I have concocted a story that this guy somehow appreciates me for some reason and as such is favouring me with an extra chicken finger and heaping fries.  I look for subtle clues like a wink or a nod or him saying "I’m giviing you an extra chicken finger, you know" but I can gather no hard evidence.
At first I thought that perhaps he gives me smaller chicken fingers and she gives bigger, but today’s five chicken fingers from him were huge. 
It sure would be nice to get that fifth chicken finger from that girl.  I think, though, that it’s best that I not tempt it.
One of the factors leading me to think it’s better to leave things as they are is this:  she only works about a fourth of the time he does at lunch.  So, I get his five chicken fingers about every three times to her single serving  of four chicken fingers.

What would you do?

Jew-ard

Does anyone know if the practice of pronouncing the first name "Gerard" as "Jew-ard" is a PEI-centric phenomenon, or does it occur in other places too?  Also, does anyone have an explanation as to why it occurs?

Fee, Fye, Ho Hum

Blockbuster has been annoyingly advertising their "No More Late Fees" policy ad naseum. 
Too bad it’s a lie.  Yes, they’ve changed their policy but they still charge a late fee.  Only now they call it a restocking fee.  Whatever.
You rent a movie or game.  After 8 days of not returning it, Blockbuster charges your credit card the full cost of purchase.  You now own the movie or game.  You still have a 30 day grace period to return the movie for a refund, but they do charge you a nominal (I think it’s $1.50) restocking fee.
Isn’t the restocking fee just another name for late fee?
I have no problem with the new policy, in fact I think it’s smart.  I just don’t the misleading terminology.

But I don’t care.  I don’t rent anymore from Blockbuster anyway.
Here in Charlottetown, it’s That’s Entertainment all the way!

Everyone Into The Oscar Pool

{Submissions to the contest are now closed.  To those who entered:  Good Luck!!!}
This is your final reminder.  If you want to enter The Annekenstein Monster Oscar Pool, click on this link:  The Annekenstein Monster Oscar Pool.  Fill in your picks and name and click on the submit button.
I will be accepting submissions until this Thursday.
If you’ve already sent in your submission, then ignore this.
For the record, from the 19 submissions, the Best Picture picks so far look like this:
The Aviator:  8
Ray: 5
Million Dollar Baby: 4
Sideways: 2
Finding Neverland: 0

Winner will likely (I’m not making any promises) win something, like a mixed cd or something.  Whatever.