23 October 2011
Sasquatch Prom Date
23/10/11 14:04
So this week I had a bad night’s sleep. Just a terrible dream. I was in this room and suddenly in the corner was a bunch of psychotics all playing the bagpipes. Then the scene changed and it was a heavenly choir but they were all drunk. Then I was in the house. The radio was playing a song by The Chipmunks on acid. Finally as I started to wake up I was travelling through a forest. The music was either a pipe organ filled with helium or a thousand balloons squeaking a baroque fugue. When I woke up completely I found the cause of all this was Marsha’s CPAP mask. You know when they sell you those things they really should tell you about pinhole air leaks.
But generally this was just a weird week. Sunday we woke up to a song on the radio by the BC band Sasquatch Prom Date. http://www.myspace.com/sasquatchpromdate. The music wasn’t bad but the name set the tone for the rest of the week. I do think though, that we have a new favourite band name. Sasquatch Prom date handily beat out the old champion Lazy Mike and the Rockin’ Recliners. http://www.lazymikeandtherockinrecliners.com/fr_aboutus.cfm
This week the Occupy Wall Street protests arrived in BC. There’s a big protest going on in Vancouver, and there’s also one going on in Nanaimo. They’re occupying the Diana Krall Plaza next to the library. http://www.bclocalnews.com/news/131957068.html I think it’s great. More power to them. Of course I don’t see Nanaimo as a centre of financial injustice. More of a back woods little town that gets whatever flows down stream. And of course they’re protesting in front of the Public Library, it being the closest thing to a Financial Centre we have around here. Nonetheless we support what they’re saying. We’d even be down there but you know how it is. We’re going for citizenship in a few months and, well, we just think we want to keep as low a profile as possible right now.
The one big item this week was related to, of all things, the Canadian Navy. It has been using the same ships for decades and it was time they got some new ones. The government did a really smart thing. They appointed a committee of senior Civil Service staff to look at the bids and decide how they were going to be awarded. Most importantly they were sworn to secrecy. The Minister of Defence, Secretary of the Navy, Even the Prime Minister and Parliament had no idea how it was going to shake out. Months ago it was revealed that rather than bidding on a ship by ship basis, two contracts were going to be awarded. A $25 billion contract for capitol ships and an $8 billion one for support vessels, Coast Guard cutters, ice breakers, and such. It came down to three shipyards: One in Halifax Nova Scotia, one in Quebec, and one in Vancouver. Much to my surprise Vancouver got the $8 billion contract. That’s great news that will add around 4,000 jobs to the region directly and many times that when you figure in support services and other second and third tier jobs. This will be a huge boost for the region.
Wonder what the Occupy Nanaimo people think about that. My guess is that they’d be more upset if it were the WARSHIPS that were going to be built here. I mean who doesn’t like a strong Coast Guard?
Thursday was the Great BC Shakeout. http://www.shakeoutbc.ca/ That is the yearly drill when we check our preparedness for an earthquake. I figured out where the gas and electrical cutoffs are. Haven’t found the water shut off yet but it’s got to be here somewhere. Then it came out that the minister that predicted the end of the world last May checked his math and this week predicted the world would end Friday (really this time I mean it) . http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/2011/10/19/f-family-radio-prediction-harold-camping.html As I wrote this on Saturday and you're reading it on Monday or later, he was wrong again. What’s that old line from the Lucy Show? “You got some ‘splainin’ to do”.
So I guess we’re going to keep muddling along. Maybe the big contract will shake a job loose for me. One way or another we’ll survive, that is unless I can’t stop the CPAP from squeaking. I wonder if Marsha would object to duct taping the mask in place? Or silicone sealant?
Word for the Week: Homerpie. Something made to attract attention INSTEAD of the real one. A distraction. On the Simpsons Marge would make a really ugly cake or pie for Homer to sneak in and eat thus protecting the hidden birthday cake or the pie for the church sale.
Doug & Marsha
But generally this was just a weird week. Sunday we woke up to a song on the radio by the BC band Sasquatch Prom Date. http://www.myspace.com/sasquatchpromdate. The music wasn’t bad but the name set the tone for the rest of the week. I do think though, that we have a new favourite band name. Sasquatch Prom date handily beat out the old champion Lazy Mike and the Rockin’ Recliners. http://www.lazymikeandtherockinrecliners.com/fr_aboutus.cfm
This week the Occupy Wall Street protests arrived in BC. There’s a big protest going on in Vancouver, and there’s also one going on in Nanaimo. They’re occupying the Diana Krall Plaza next to the library. http://www.bclocalnews.com/news/131957068.html I think it’s great. More power to them. Of course I don’t see Nanaimo as a centre of financial injustice. More of a back woods little town that gets whatever flows down stream. And of course they’re protesting in front of the Public Library, it being the closest thing to a Financial Centre we have around here. Nonetheless we support what they’re saying. We’d even be down there but you know how it is. We’re going for citizenship in a few months and, well, we just think we want to keep as low a profile as possible right now.
The one big item this week was related to, of all things, the Canadian Navy. It has been using the same ships for decades and it was time they got some new ones. The government did a really smart thing. They appointed a committee of senior Civil Service staff to look at the bids and decide how they were going to be awarded. Most importantly they were sworn to secrecy. The Minister of Defence, Secretary of the Navy, Even the Prime Minister and Parliament had no idea how it was going to shake out. Months ago it was revealed that rather than bidding on a ship by ship basis, two contracts were going to be awarded. A $25 billion contract for capitol ships and an $8 billion one for support vessels, Coast Guard cutters, ice breakers, and such. It came down to three shipyards: One in Halifax Nova Scotia, one in Quebec, and one in Vancouver. Much to my surprise Vancouver got the $8 billion contract. That’s great news that will add around 4,000 jobs to the region directly and many times that when you figure in support services and other second and third tier jobs. This will be a huge boost for the region.
Wonder what the Occupy Nanaimo people think about that. My guess is that they’d be more upset if it were the WARSHIPS that were going to be built here. I mean who doesn’t like a strong Coast Guard?
Thursday was the Great BC Shakeout. http://www.shakeoutbc.ca/ That is the yearly drill when we check our preparedness for an earthquake. I figured out where the gas and electrical cutoffs are. Haven’t found the water shut off yet but it’s got to be here somewhere. Then it came out that the minister that predicted the end of the world last May checked his math and this week predicted the world would end Friday (really this time I mean it) . http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/2011/10/19/f-family-radio-prediction-harold-camping.html As I wrote this on Saturday and you're reading it on Monday or later, he was wrong again. What’s that old line from the Lucy Show? “You got some ‘splainin’ to do”.
So I guess we’re going to keep muddling along. Maybe the big contract will shake a job loose for me. One way or another we’ll survive, that is unless I can’t stop the CPAP from squeaking. I wonder if Marsha would object to duct taping the mask in place? Or silicone sealant?
Word for the Week: Homerpie. Something made to attract attention INSTEAD of the real one. A distraction. On the Simpsons Marge would make a really ugly cake or pie for Homer to sneak in and eat thus protecting the hidden birthday cake or the pie for the church sale.
Doug & Marsha