Teacher Hidden As Sudan Mob Urges Death

I get that Muslims were offended by this whole ‘letting seven-year-olds name a teddy bear’ thing. Since I don’t know a lot about the spiritual relationship between Muslims and their prophet, I’m not going to pretend to understand their outrage. All I know is that it was a foreigner, seven-year-olds, and a teddy bear. I’m thinking Muhammad might’ve been a little more forgiving or understanding than this lot.

Seriously. Imagine a foreigner coming to Canada and letting some kids name a teddy bear Jesus. Would Christians demand his or her death? Now I realize this isn’t necessarily an apples-to-apples comparison, but you get my drift.

Rather than post a comment on her site, I’ve decided to answer Meg’s “Things YOU Love” list on here as my last post of NaBloPoMo:

Song you love: Jigsaw Falling Into Place - Radiohead

Food you love: Earls chicken Hunan (kung pao) with 14 peppers

Thing you love to look at: pretty girls

Sound you love: hearty laughter

Thing you love to laugh at: spontaneous silliness

Gadget you love: my iPhone

Person you love: my family (sorry, can’t single one out)

Software you love: Adobe Photoshop Lightroom

Word you love: passion

Thing you love on the internet: downloading TV shows in HD

Place you love to go on vacation: somewhere I haven’t been

Sensation you love: warm female skin against mine

Animal you love: cougar (the mountain lion variety)

Book you love: Lord of the Rings

Emotion you love: love

Occasion you love: Christmas

Quality you love in people: sense of humour

Thing you most love to shop for: photography gear

What you love about today: having my kids take me for dinner

The Canadian government is on track to try and implement new copyright legislation that will handcuff virtually all forms of media and their copying (and even their use). It’s also going to make US media companies virtual masters of Canadian usage. Harper and his heads-up-their-asses Conservative ilk, most notably Industry Minister Jim Prentice (a Calgary lawyer, btw) and Canadian Heritage Minister Josée Verner, need to be taken to task for bending to the will of their American masters.

Some links (most thanks to Michael Geist):

A new copyright law is coming

Canada’s coming DMCA will be the worst copyright yet

Copyright Choices and Voices

Don’t fear the pirates

PM Blasts Critics of Copyright Bill (parody)

Putting Canadian “Piracy” in Perspective (YouTube video)

The last attempt by the federal government to bring in a new copyright legislation failed. Let’s make sure this one fails too, and even more miserably. A nice little bonus would be to shake up the Harper Americlones, even get their Bush-blowing spinelessness out of office.

What can you do? Again, thanks to Michael Geist:

30 Days of DRM: 30 Things You Can Do

The first four are the most critical, IMO.

Today was my birthday, and to mock me and the ceaseless march of time, my back decided to act up. I rarely have back problems, and never like this: at various points throughout the day, I had trouble walking up stairs, walking at all, or getting off and onto the couch.

It’s like my lower back needs to be cracked. I tried to get the most beautiful girl at work to walk on it, and not too suprisingly, she declined. Not even on my birthday?

It comes and goes. A couple hours ago, almost manageable. Once the drugs wore off, not so much.

I hope I can sleep. Without making it worse.

Otherwise, it was your average birthday.

In true Saskatchewan fashion, yesterday’s Grey Cup homecoming at Taylor Field (I refuse to call it Mosaic Stadium) was bitterly cold - with the wind chill, -35C - and yet an estimated 8,000 fans waited in the stands for the arrival of the Green Machine and their new trophy. Some were there over an hour before the team’s entrance, some sat on metal bleachers, and I’m willing to bet not one of them minded at all.

When the Riders won the Cup the last time, in 1989, the celebration at Taylor Field was on my birthday. It wasn’t quite as cold - low -20s, not as much wind - but there was no way I was missing it. We got there in plenty of time to get seats down low and close to the front, so we had to wait close to two hours sitting in plastic stadium seats.

But when the cup and the Riders emerged from under the stands and onto the field, it was worth every frigid digit.

As Saskatchewan fans, we are mocked by almost every other city for our relentless support of our lone pro sports team. “Next year” is uttered at the end of so many seasons that it should be the mantra we subtitle onto chants and slogans. This Grey Cup win is only our third. Ever.

But all of those things mean that when we do make it to the big show and emerge victorious, the outpouring of support for the Riders is like nothing you’ll witness anywhere else for a pro team. Saskatchewan fans stand by their club through lean years and good, waiting for a season like this one, and when it finally comes along, no mere arctic front is going to stop us from celebrating.

Weather didn’t stop fans

Despite the number of layers and frozen toes, fans seemed to agree with the sentiments of John Becker.

“We would come as ice cubes. Green ice cubes,” he said.

‘Riders Rejoice

Boyhood dream comes true for Schultz

Scott deserves this one, as do all the Riders. His big hit yesterday was one of the defensive highlights for me.

© Reuters

The Riders overcame a strong Winnipeg defense to win the Grey Cup. It turned out to be a lot closer game than I expected, and Dinwiddie played well despite his inexperience, although the interceptions turned out to be a crucial factor. Joseph wasn’t nearly as effective as he should - or could - have been, but in the end, the score is what matters, and WE WON!

Way to go, Green!

CBC story

Soon, the Riders will be facing off against the Bombers, and in a few hours, they’ll be taking the Grey Cup home to the 306. It’s not just because I’m a Rider fan - despite being the CFL, where anything can happen, I’m confident the Green Machine are going to squish Winnipeg like a blue and gold bug. Rookie QB? Pfft.

GO GREEN!!!

I got Trish to squeeze me in at the end of her booked-up day, so I’ve got freshly-lowered ears. Now I’m fighting with my computer, which doesn’t seem to like 64-bit Vista, and Anna’s trying to get me to come out for her friend’s 40th birthday bash. Someone close to my age? Hmm…

I just checked the seating plan for the Jack Singer and discovered my Hawksley tickets are not second row, they’re fifth. When I was at Ticketmaster (the one in Epcor Centre, the complex that contains the Jack Singer), the woman told me “I can get you second row, row B”. I asked if B was actually the second row - in some auditoriums, A is not the first row - and she said yes.

Apparently, she didn’t realize that those three rows labeled AA, BB and CC in front of row A are actually seats. My tickets are actually in the fifth row. Now, I know you’re thinking “Don’t be such a bitch - fifth row is still great”, and you’re right. At least about the great part. I consider myself more of a dick than a bitch. It’s just that I would’ve gone for mezzanine seats that would’ve been a little closer (and higher).

You might think I shouldn’t be complaining, since fifth row is good enough for Mellencamp, but it’s the principle. And also, the dick thing mentioned above. If the Jack had 15 double-letter rows rather than just three, I’d be really pissed. The people selling the tickets should know what they’re talking about, especially for the TicketBastard “convenience” charge they nail you with. It’s not very convenient when they give you wrong information.