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Today is the last day in office Tony Blair. He was the British Prime Minister for 10 years.
With 4 wins in 5 games, the Ducks win their first Stanley Cup.
Poor Senators.
This picture ran in today’s New York Times. See the slide show here
I think it is?a moving reminder of the true meaning of the day.? Remember Mary when you are drinking your beer.
?Mary McHugh visited the grave of her fianc?, Sgt. James J. Regan, who was killed in Iraq in February. He is buried in the new Section 60 of Arlington National Cemetery for those killed in Iraq and Afghanistan.
You Really Know Your State Capitols |
 You Got 20 State Capitols CorrectYou’re either a geography buff… or you have an excellent memory. |
Do You Know Your State Capitols?
I’ve gotten to know my American capitals during my current job talking on the phone all day to Americans. I got ALL the questions right, many of them I already knew beforehand though, but still, I wonder how many Americans would get the Provincial Capitals of Canada Correct????
Here is a list of the Canadian Provinces and Territories, and the Capitals. . . . I’ve also included Canada, which has its own National capital. Can anyone match them up correctly??
Provinces & Territories
- Alberta
- British Columbia
- Manitoba
- New Brunswick
- Newfoundland (and Labrador)
- Nova Scotia
- Ontario
- Prince Edward Island
- Quebec
- Saskatchewan
- Northwest Territories
- Nunavut
- Yukon Territory
- Canada
Capitals
- a) Iqaluit
- b) Fredericton
- c) Victoria
- d) Winnipeg
- e) Whitehorse
- f) Charlottetown
- g) St. John’s
- h) Ottawa
- i) Yellowknife
- j) Toronto
- k) Edmonton
- l) Quebec City
- m) Halifax
- n) Regina
The New York City mayor, Michael Bloomberg, plans on having all yellow taxis replaced with hybrid cars by 2012.? He released his plans today, and I must say I’m well impressed and hope other large cities take note.
The plan is to replace 1000 yellow cabs by 2008, with the rest (13 000 in total) being phased out by 2012.? NYC already has over 300 on the streets now, more than any other metropolitian city in the USA.?New York City law states that all commerical taxi cabs must be replaced every 5 years at max.
There are numerous and obvious benifits to this plan, but the negatives include cabs that are still not accessible to wheelchair and other handicaped riders and this scheme will also not govern call-for-hire cars (which moreso work in Brooklyn and Queens, opposed to the yellow cabs of Manhatten).
At the end of April I found a story about a child finding a condom in a McDonald’s Happy Meal?(thankfully not used). . . . now another child, this time an 8 year old from Illinois, has found a small bag of marijuana (with various drug paraphernalia)?in their happy meal.
Even though no one was hurt, in true American style, the family who received the ’special meal’ will probably sue McDonald’s.? This is even after the true ‘owner’ of the drugs was fired and arrested for drug possession.
Story below.
Today I was invited to a FaceBook group called “The Amazing Race:Canada” - the idea of this facebook group was to get as many Canadians to join, there are similar groups for Britian and the USA. The goal was to reach X amount of people in the group by a certain date, and ahead of the other countries participating.
On the ‘wall’ of the group, there was a link to the story below. It is ‘thank you’ to Canada, who is always a thankless participant in many of the world’s conflicts. Please take a moment to read it. Thank you.
Recently on Skywindows & on Juggling Cats both highlighted a farce Environment Canada Wildlife Federation video. . . .
And I thought I would defend my great land by poking fun at my neighbours to the south, and my friends in historic Virginia. . . .
Check out this page for more TALKING TO AMERICANS with Rick Mercer from the popular tv show This Hour Has 22 Minutes
[youtube=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BhTZ_tgMUdo”]
I am about to admit something I can imagine I might get some flack for. Espeically from one of my (four) faithful readers, Penseroso, who lives in Seattle.
I don’t like Starbucks.
Perhaps this dislike is simply brought on by the fact that even though I adore the smell of fresh brewing coffee - I can’t stand the taste of the stuff.
I’ve tried to like coffee, and I’ve given it every opportunity to like me too. And every once in a while I give it another second chance. I believe coffee has at least 10 second chances in as many years. We still agree to disagree on liking on another.
I remember my first day of college going to the on campus Tim Hortons and ordering an extra large regular coffee and thinking to myself, “I better learn to like coffee, how will I survive college if I don’t?” I took two sips of the bitter concoction, and threw it away.
Over time I’ve sampled esspressos, lattes, vanilla this, carmel that. . . .I just can’t feel my way through the bitterness to the angelic delectable flavours of a good cuppa that everyone keeps telling me about.
As the rampant infestation of Starbucks weed their way into every mall, high street, book store and street corner I have felt that I needed to give this life giving exilir even more second chances. The sweet breads, cookies and other baked goods working just like the gingerbread house in Hansel and Gretel luring unspecting non-coffee drinkers like myself into their fold.
Recently I went to lunch with some Starbucks Addicited co-workers. We stopped off at the local for a brew. They asked me what I wanted. I could feel the globuals of sweat beading and pooling on my brow, my breath shortened, panic set it. “I don’t know, uh, well, how about a hot chocolate. . . . . . “
The lady with the spiky pink hair, horn rimmed glasses and the lip ring behind the black laquered counter said something about Ventis and Grandes. I grunted and pointed to the smaller of the two cups she was holding out in front of me.
She Says, Foam or no foam? I Say, Pardon?
She Says, Blended or Stired? I Say, Uhmmm. . . .
She Says, Double blended? I Say, Double who?
She Says, One shot or Double Shot? I Say, So early in the morning?
She Says, Wipped Cream or None? My eyes drew thin, scanning the expansive wall of options - desperatly looking for a picture on which to base my uncharted caffeninated beverage on.
She Says, Milk or low-fat-non-dairy-creamer-subsitute? I Say, Whats the difference?
She Says, Drizzled liquid carmel or chocolate shavings? My heart beating hard against my chest.
She Says, White or milk chocolate? I Say, what about the carmel?
With a smug look and furowed brow I think to myself, does that come in “fair trade”?
AHGGHGHGHGHGHGHGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!
I took a deep breath and exhaled with effort. “Excuse, can I change my mind and just order a tea please?”
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