My brother bought our Dad a puppy for his birthday. She’s a Bichon X Shih-tzu, and her name is Abby. She’s cute. She’s a big furball though - she’s the kind of dog that needs grooming and ear plucks. A little high maintenance, but my Dad just adores her. When it was time for her to [...]

The South Arm cooking club for seniors went for a Mexican meal for their last meeting in June. This is not only a dining out experience but it comprises of a tour at the Que Pasa factory. Do you know that Que Pasa in Spanish means "What's happening?"

Conspiracy theory From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia For other uses, see Conspiracy theory (disambiguation). A conspiracy theory attributes the ultimate cause of an event or chain of events (usually political, social or historical events), or the concealment of such causes from public knowledge, to a secret, and often deceptive plot by a group of powerful or influential people [...]

Vancouver Police got it right; North Vancouver RCMP got it right; Premier Gordon Campbell got it right; but Transportation Minister doesn’t seem to get it at all. Falcon thinks it was “terrible” that the Second Narrows Bridge was closed for six hours on Canada Day, while authorities dealt with a suicidal distraught elderly woman. And Falcon has [...]

"Maybe they just don't like goats?"

This was our first impression following the last council meeting, it seems that some of the elected representatives of the City of Castlegar have a different perspective on food security and sustainability than many people in this City and region.  When presented with an opportunity to review the current animal control and zoning bylaws to permit small-scale "urban agriculture", as is permitted in cities such as Seattle, it seems our Council, rather than having a rational discussion, opted instead to poke fun at the suggestion that urban hens and miniature goats may be a step closer to a sustainable Castlegar.

Only one councillor decided to contact us regarding the letter, supporting further discussion, and none of the others have had any questions for us prior to the meeting or since. Which is surprising, considering that a City report from December 2007 states, "little to no planning has been undertaken for the Castlegar area on issues related to the maintenance of a healthy, nutritious and sustainable food supply". Would it be too much to expect the City to entertain a discussion on this simple proposal that may meet this very objective?

Chickens and miniature goats do make great pets and can be productive members of a household, cleaning up scraps, pulling weeds, providing manure for productive vegetable gardens and "mowing" the grass. In addition they can providing eggs and goats milk for the household. Less oil used mowing the lawn, less fertilizer, less herbicide, less waste, and organic produce – this is a key part of sustainable urban agriculture, and is an easy way to teach children about healthy food, farming and caring for animals.

With gas prices increasing weekly it is inevitable that the impact of this will be reflected in the cost and availability of food. Years ago, the Kootenay Region was a net exporter of food, now, by my estimate, we import up to 95% of all the food we consume. Transporting all that food costs money, and it isn't going to get cheaper. Let's see some support for a local Farmer's Market, with truly local produce!

Knowing where your food comes from is important in these days of large scale farming, fertilizers, hormones, battery cages and genetically modified foods. Contact me at UrbanWorkbench.com to show your support, you can also read the original letter with more details about our proposal.

This is just one idea, but let's talk about what makes a City sustainable, and how we can all work together to make Castlegar a healthy, sustainable place to live.

This letter appeared in the July 3rd Edition of the Castlegar Current. You can read all the posts regarding this topic here.

This spring, we planted Wheat, Oats and Amaranth. Here’s where we are up to. This is some of our Amaranth…

And here is some of the Oats coming out…

The wheat is growing, but we don’t have any seeds coming out yet. Our Corn is looking good too…

With temperatures in the high thirties over the long weekend (Canada Day), we’re seeing some massive growth spurts! (The lawn needs a mow too!)

Scout left the festish ball early to transport to the celebrations in Quebec City , marking it’s 300th birthday.   What a city that place is….I’d love to spend some more time there one day.        The Samuel Champlaigne was uncorked and everyone pretended what a great guy this injun killer was.  People were protesting the [...]

Overdose protocols must have changed a lot in the past 17 years, since my last overdose.

This time, I was immediately hooked up to a heart monitor, given an IV, had these sticky patches stuck all over my body and then hooked up to another machine that took a scan of my heart. I had a blood gas test (blood taken from an artery in my wrist - fucking painful!), automatic blood pressure cuff, and oxygen saturation thingy on my finger. None of this happened to me last time.

The only thing that was the same was the charcoal milkshake, though this one was considerably smaller than the one I remember choking down so many years ago, and this time I didn't spend the next 24 hours shitting it out. In fact, I don't think it's yet all gone from my system. When I was 17, I was given syrup of ipecac and the charcoal milkshake, a lecture, and was then taken down to the psych ward like a chastised kindergartener.

How times have changed!

Wednesday, I was in ER for about 5 hours, for most of which I slept. At 6:30pm, my GP, who happened to be the ER doc that evening, transferred me to the psych unit (i.e. the spa), sectioned me, and since the nurses on the psych unit don't "do" IVs etc., I was unhooked from everything and taken down by wheelchair. I had a rough night of bad dreams, auditory hallucinations, very dry mouth, night sweats, and some other fun stuff.

I had only reached phase one of my overall suicide plan by the time I panicked and called my family to take me down to the hospital. Now I know what to expect. Next time, if there is a next time, I'll know better.

A glimpse into the world of the legally blind . . .

He gives hope to a lot of folks at home, waiting.

Oh, we all know how I adore George. If you don't, read this post and follow some of the links.

Not too long ago, George interviewed Elyse Schein and Paula Bernstein, who have written a book called Identical Strangers: A Memoir of Twins Separated and Reunited. Paula and Elyse are identical twins who were adopted out to different families back in the late 1960s and were never told they had a twin until they were 35 years old, when a series of cosmic events brought them together. And when George interviews an author, the coyote's ears perk up, and she usually acquires the author's book. That's exactly what happened with this gem of a memoir.

This is a fascinating, highly engaging read. The story is incredible: separated at birth by a well-known Jewish adoption agency, Elyse and Paula were originally meant to be part of a twins study conducted by a bunch of sketchy doctors. Due to an early health issue, they were dropped from the study, but the damage had already been done: they'd been separated after spending not only nine months in the womb but several months in a foster home before they were finally adopted.

At thirty-five, Elyse, on a whim requests information about her birth parents from the adoption agency. Paula never did any searching and never wanted to be found, but one day after Elyse's application for information is submitted, the adoption agency calls her out of the blue to tell she has an identical twin sister.

The journey for these two women is simultaneously marvelous and heart-wrenching, and there is more than one level of journey going on in this book. First, the sisters reunite and begin meticulous investigative research into the adoption agency and the twin study they were meant to take unwilling part in, with the ultimate goal of finding out who their birth mother is. Second, on a deeper, emotional level, the reader is drawn into the narrative exploring the conception of a relationship, a very intimate relationship that began in the womb, but never had the chance to develop until after their reunion. There are a lot of complicated feelings and it's a rough time for both sisters as they struggle with a hypothetical past and an uncertain future together, not to mention the meshing of different personalities. Finally, there is the journey to closure, the result of their intense research and the tireless leaping over of enormous obstacles.

This is also a journey of genes and all their nuances and intricacies. While genetics are a complicated subject - both scientifically and ethically - Paula and Elyse manage to provide a lot of information about DNA and its study in layman's terms, something I appreciated and something I know would take a lot of skill for a writer. Both of these women have made their livings as writers, interestingly enough, so the book was, perhaps unsurprisingly, very well-written, very well-organized, and the voices of the authors are both captivating and infectious, while maintaining clarity and individuality.

This book will be remaining on my shelves. Thank you, George!

Has anyone else seen the weekly poll on the Canucks.com website? I took a screen-cap and cropped it, in case they take it down. They really should take it down. If you are a Vancouver Canucks fan, this will probably make your heart sink even further.



I think this is the part where I sigh. Who the hell at Canucks.com comes up with this stuff? If it wasn't so sad, I'd be laughing my ass off. Like the fans of other teams in the NW division are laughing. At us.

Sorry to bump your post down, bud, but I couldn't just let this one go.

INSTANT UPDATE: So yeah, uhhh, 1400 of the Canucks faithful have actually voted in this poll. Who is in the lead, you ask?



It's all so wonderful. Really.

Thanks to GZ Expat for the link.

This from Swedish newspaper Sports Bladet:

"It's been my plan since July 1," says Näslund to newsday.com.

Henrik Lundqvist and the other Swedes may be joined by Markus Näslund. The Swedish veteran, who was free agent from last Tuesday, has written on a tvåårskontrakt with the Rangers.

-- "From July 1, I have had a focus on Rangers. It took a little longer than I had expected," says Näslund to newsday.com.

Näslund, who turns 35 on July 30, made four goals in twelve finals for the Vancouver Canucks. He has been lagkapten in eight years, but will now leave the club.

-- "I wanted to play for a team that has a chance at Stanley Cup," says Näslund.

Rangers also enlist the former Buffalo-hill Dmitri Kalinin.

-- "It seems that everyone who played for Rangers says that you only get a chance in life and that we must take it," says Markus Näslund to nhl.com.

This was translated by the Google translator, but you get the main drift. My question is: Has Naslund earned the right to leave Vancouver to play for a contender? No, in my opinion. He sure as hell couldn't lead US there.
What does this mean for the Canucks and Gillis is going to do next? Is he going to dump the team? Word had it that Gillis and Naslund had several discussions leading up to July 1 and after. Maybe this is an indication that Gillis is not going to substancially improve the team this summer. Roberto Luongo, who came here to be a part of a contending team, must be scratching his head, punching walls, or hearing it from his wife right now.
But who knows exactly what Gillis will do from this point. He still has options. I don't think there is a point to go into "sell" mode. Just sign a bunch of 2nd or 3rd liners and hope they click. It could be like the Buffalo team on 1999: a bunch of gritty guys, no superstar forward, but a superstar goalie.
Oooo, so everybody needs the chance to play for the Rangers, huh Nazzy? That really touches me deep inside.
But I'm not angry at Naslund. In a sense I don't blame him for leaving. Sure, our captain didn't go down with the potentially sinking Canucks ship and do the honorable thing. So he plays his last couple of years out in a "better" city on a better team. I just don't think he's earned the right to say that. Ray Bourque, yes. Markus Naslund, NO.
Nah, I'm ticked at Gillis. But who isn't.
I'd say "thanks for the memories, Markus," but I won't. Just haven't been a big fan of his since Bertuzzi left. I will say that he had some great hands and made some insane plays over his years here. This is probably the best Naslund tribute out there.

WHAT RANGERS FANS ARE SAYING

Blueshirt Bulletin:

The former 48-goal, 104-point scorer has been in the 25-goal, 55-60 point neighborhood the past two seasons. He stands to benefit from playing with Scott Gomez, thriving in the presence of a playmaking center -- as a left winger, one can now envision a top line of Gomez centering Naslund and Nikolai Zherdev. He has hardly ever missed games in his career despite a 5'11-195 pound frame. He captained the Vancouver Canucks over the past eight years. He listed the presence of countryman Henrik Lundqvist as a selling point for placing New York at the top of his free agent list.

A commenter at Blueshirt Bulletin:

...what really concerns me is that we are even softer than last year if that is at all possible. Big problem.

Haha! Yes you are!

Rangers fan at the HF Boards:

Guys, please tell me I shouldn't be upset about the fact that we just signed Naslund, a soft, perimeter player who is way past his prime...and to a 2 year deal no less.

Another more positive NYR fan replied:

I think Naslund will be better than last years numbers, especially with a legit playmaker and maybe some young wheels to keep up with him (Zherdev).

I agree. Naslund playing in a place that he wants to be in, surrounded by that talent should improve his numbers. Then again, was he just disinterested in Van? He had plenty of chances to play with the skilled Sedins and didn't thrive with them. Whatever.

T Tags: Markus+Naslund+signed+by+Rangers interview

So after unsuccessfully contacting the first name drawn I did get through to the second name I drew. Congratulations to Range of Canada from Memoirs on a Rainy Day. He won the Mother Goose is Loose Print. I’ll be mailing it off to you tomorrow. Hope you like it. Thank you everyone for entering. In other [...]

Fan-fucking-tastic. Every time I check my phone or e-mail, it's more ANGER. The latest? Markus Naslund signs a 2-year, 8-million-dollar deal with NYR. Before that? Baumgartner signs. Curtis Sanford signs. Ryan Johnson signs. Kyle Wellwood picked up from waivers. Great depth signings—but we're not at the stage right now where we have the luxury of signing for depth. You know what would be [...]

http://thetyee.ca/News/2008/07/03/FreewayJam/

Freeways Jam up Climate Plan
'Gateway' will wipe out Libs' green goals: expert.

By Tom Barrett
Published: July 3, 2008

TheTyee.ca

The Gateway Program is at odds with the B.C. government's new Climate Action Plan -- and one or the other will have to give . . .

[snip]

Doherty said he thinks the government will eventually shift the Gateway budget to greener projects but will continue to call it Gateway.

For example, the movement of goods could be shifted from trucks to rail and barge, Doherty said.

"Business would have complained about that two years ago. But with the high price of diesel fuel, I think they would be happy to see some high-efficiency goods movement in the region."

Similarly, the government could put money into building transit rather than roads, especially in the outer suburbs.

Transit is a motherhood issue, he said.

"If they were to say 'The new green Gateway program is the transit Gateway,'" I wouldn't complain and I don't think anybody would complain."

How Washington State cut vehicle miles

Doherty said B.C. should follow the lead of Washington State, which recently passed a law that calls upon the government to make substantial cuts in vehicle miles travelled.

Bill 2815 sets the following goals for per capita vehicle miles travelled:

* an 18 per cent reduction by 2020;
* a 30 per cent reduction by 2035; and
* a 50 per cent reduction by 2050.

[snip]

Full story at http://thetyee.ca/News/2008/07/03/FreewayJam/

Via Archie.

You are a Knife

You are precise, determined, and detail oriented. You mean what you say, and you say what you mean. You enjoy taking risks and living on the edge. You are a controversial person. You opinions tend to be divisive.

Vancouver will have a new captain next season, as Markus Naslund has signed a 3-year deal worth $18 million with the New York Rangers. Or is it a 2-year deal worth $8 million? Dear god. Reports state that Jaromir Jagr will not be back with NYR and so the Naslund deal was done.

"I think for anyone who dreams of playing in the NHL, playing for one of the Original Six teams with the history and tradition, it's special," Naslund said on a conference call.

"It was very appealing to me and my family to live in New York and be part of what's going on there. The overall picture was very appealing to me."

Yeah yeah. Fuck off already.

Does anyone else get the notion that Gillis could make a wild stab at Jagr now?
Everyone knows my negative opinions of Naslund, so I won't rehash that trash talk. All I can say is goodbye and good riddance. Like a friend of mine just mentioned though, Naslund could gel pretty damned well with Gomez and Drury. At least he's far away on the east coast. He can go floating over there.
Thanks Gill for the tip.
Apparently the Rangers have also signed former Sabre Dimitri Kalinin to a 1-year deal. Finally, the Rangers are adding good offensive defencemen to their roster. Redden was added yesterday.


T Tags: Rangers+sign+Markus+Naslund Jagr+out

I just spent 48 hours in the hospital, or as I like to call it, the "spa." Long story, and not a particularly relevant one, either. I'm home now but am taking a blog break for an unspecified amount of time.

I've also removed my email address from my blog profile due to ongoing troll issues. If you want to get in touch, please leave a comment on the blog and we'll sort out how to contact each other from there. I'm sick of being shat on by judgmental twats, so my email is going underground.

I had to spend a couple of days in the "spa" again - long story I won't bore you with here, but that's where I've been since Tuesday morning.

I've removed my email address from my profile due to ongoing troll issues. If you need to get in touch with me, please leave a comment with your email address in it and I'll contact you (if I feel like it). But I'm sick of this shit so my email is now going underground for a while.

I myself might be going underground for a while, too. If I'm not visiting and commenting on your blogs over the next little while, that's why. Thanks for understanding.

today we have a guest post by laura collins, mother to a daughter who struggled with anorexia, and an activist in the movement to help people with eating disorders. you have probably met her already – she’s contributed some posts to our carnival of eating disorders, from her blog eating with your anorexic. isabella was [...]

Oh boy, this is a very good idea. Better to include reviews of these toilets... hee hee

People's Daily - Beijing will create an electronic guidance system for public lavatories. Before the Olympic Games, guides will be set up at 210 major downtown streets and street corners. By then, those seeking out public lavatories can do so with the help of a GPS locator. This is information was released at a press conference held by the Beijing Municipal Administration Commission.

Before the Olympic Games, Beijing will provide the location of public lavatories through a website, tourist and transportation maps, and posted guides on the road. Beijing has issued the style and setting requirements for posted public lavatory guides and the locations of posted guides on a main street. Guides will be posted every 50 meters to 150 meters apart from each other.

CIV - Two NDP MLAs are paying for the visa application for Yang Baoying, mother of Chinese student Amanda Zhao murdered in BC 6 years ago, in a very low key way, Ming Pao reports.

Yang has written a few times to the Canadian minister of justice, asking for action on bringing the suspected killer of Amanda to justice. She has been hoping to come to Canada in person and meet with the justice minister (Amanda Zhao's series on CIV).

Yang has not received any official response from the feds. However, BC MLAs Jenny Kwan and Mike Farnworth are sponsoring visa applications for Yang and her husband and niece - not only sending invitations to them (Chinese subjects must have overseas invitations to make visa and passport applications in China), but also paying for application fees amounting to 5000 yuan (about C$900), Kwan confirms yesterday.

Kwan says she deosn't think what she and Farnworth are doing is special enough to worth making it public proactively. She stresses that Yang and her family are not only suffering from mental torture of not seeing justice done for Amanda, they are impoverished, living from one place to another.

Yang was speechless when she learnt what Kwan and Farnworth were doing. She confirms she has received the signed letter of ivitatin from Kwan and Farnworth and her visa application process has been started.

The evolution of the Internet brings new ways to reach your target audience, build brand awareness and develop business.  Here are some simple ways the you can take advantage of Web 2.0 technology to grow your market on line. 1. Add a blog to your site - you can start blogging today using WordPress or [...]

Cuba Education Tours warmly invites you to join them in Havana for two epic dance programs this fall. The National Ballet of Cuba celebrates its 60th anniversary from October 28 to November 7, 2008. Cuba Education Tours is hosting the official website for this historic event. Participants will experience a ballet extravaganza on an unprecedented scale including the opening and closing ceremonies,

ONE ARM MAN KILLED MY WIFE, NOT ME GREAT MAN HUNT Directed by: Andrew Davis Written by: Jeb Stuart, David Twohy Starring: Harrison Ford, Tommy Lee Jones, Andreas Katsulas, Jeroen Krabbe, Joe Pantoliano Rating: 7 out of 10 stars IMDB ROTTEN TOMATOES JOHN’S MOVIE BLOG What do you think ~ Please leave a comment © LEENY for 353 REVIEW, 2008. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us [...]

Damn, this is good news. A new age musician and sect leader going by the name of Oliver Shanti has been arrested in Lisbon, Portugal and is now in custody awaiting deportation to Germany.  Born in Hamburg the 59-year-old is wanted in connection with more than 300 acts of molestation against six children - a girl [...]

At long last, I'm able to finish sorting out the photos I took from my recent Xi'an trip. One of the most fascinating places I've visited was the Shaanxi History Museum (陜西歷史博物館), whose ancient artefacts tell the visitors how old China REALLY is. In there, I could feel the pride of being Chinese.

According to the Museum's official website:

The time span of historical relics is over 1,000,000 years, from Lantian Apeman of 1,000,000 years ago to the Opium War of 1840.

The relics of Shaanxi History Museum are best characterized and representative in Shang & Zhou bronze wares, pottery warriors of past dynasties, Tang gold & silver wares, mural paintings in Tang tombs, which reflected the prosperity and development of Zhou, Qin, Han, Tang dynasties and are well-known all over the world.

And the museum displays:

stoneware, bone ware, bronze ware, pottery warrior, pottery ware, Tang tri-colored pottery, jade article, copper mirror, brick tile, other building material, gold & silver ware, mural painting, royal seal, calligraphy & painting, paper money

I'm no historian, and I didn't have much time going through the details of each artefact. Therefore, I couldn't give descriptive captions to the photos that I took inside the museum, please enjoy them as pieces of historical art. :)

The next batch of photos that I'd like to share here were taken from the Huaqing Palace (華清池). It was once the gigantic bathtub of the Imperial Concubine Yang Guifei (楊貴妃) of Tang Dynasty. Like many women characters in history who were famous of being pretty, Yang was ususally blamed as the root of the An Shi Incident (安史之亂), during which the two Tang captials - Changan and Luoyang - were invaded and taken over by a foreign king An Lushan (安祿山).

You can find more background info about the Huaqing Palace, An Lushan, and Yang Guifei. (Please note that the Yang Guifei statue in Huaqing Palace was sculpted by modern art students. She was more a fantasy of these students than true depiction of history... because she was not fat enough. :)

During the Tang dynasty, being fat was deemed pretty whereas skinny people were seen as second class citizens. There was a saying that "women with a 23" waist would never find a husband; and women with a 32" waist would have lots of men to choose from." Not only fat women were seen as pretty (thus Yang Guifei was very fat), soldiers without a big tummy would never be promoted. Men who were too skinny would not even be qualified to fight for their country.

The following pictures show Tang figurines that can tell how the Tang people defined beauty. Also, though I've learnt from history books that Tang exported a lot of Chinese culture and civilization to Japan, I was still shocked when I saw Tang constructions.... they were so similar to historic constructions I've seen in Kyoto, Japan. The long time link between the two countries is indisputable. And I could see why the Japanese were so excited and so much national pride was generated when they were able to defeat China during WWII.



For a comparison, I'm also attaching a picture of a historic temple in Kyoto, Japan:

Half-grown crow:

.

Canada Day non-ski trip to the Chilcotin. We visited Gun Lake,Goldbridge, and Pioneer Mines.

Co-worker Jonathan gave Mike Myers’ new movie The Love Guru a scathing review. He hates it. He’s not alone, its IMDB score is 3.3 out of 10. (...)’

Just to prove I’m not a bitchy kill-joy: The Pemberton Festival! We have three day passes, a hotel room booked in Whistler, and time off work. Three days of awesome music in a beautiful setting? It was too good to pass up. I’m looking forward to: Nine Inch Nails, Sam Roberts, The Tragically Hip, Tom Petty, Coldplay, Metric, [...]

I bought this Gourmantra Indian meal kit from Costco for $9.89. Ben and my kids love Indian food. The gravy goes well with steamed rice. Ben likes it more spicy though while Arkensen prefers a milder curry. How can I add more heat to the curry other than adding chili flakes to it as I usually do? Will adding green chilies like those on the box makes the dish more spicy hot?

These are things that should Just Go Away, Because I Am Officially Tired Of Them: (Yes I am a bitter, mean, uncaring person. Just so you know.) Designer dogs Labradoodles, Goldendoodles, Puggles, Bugs, Porkies, Mexican Hot Dogs, Pekeapoos, Maltipoos, etc. THESE ARE ALL MUTTS! ARGH! US Presidential election/candidates/coverage in Canadian media Yes, I know that what happens down there affects up [...]

Copyright © 2008 crunchy. If you are reading the full feed of this -the whole post - it is probably scraped and not without my permission- don't read it - report it - visit the REAL site and tell THIS person to #suckit http://www.wetcoastwomen.com/2008/life-with-blinkers-on/. have been reading a few blocks bemoaning the total lack [...]

Mats Sundin's "thanks but no thanks for now" statement this morning was a real stinger. Not only because I thought the idea of him playing here was great, but mostly because it seems that Mike Gillis appeared to have invested most of his time on July 1 trying to pry Mats away from his wife, while other serious UFA's slipped away to other teams. Sure, Gillis locked up Wellwood, but the shoring up of the 4th line with guys like Ryan Johnson and Darcy Hordichuk on the biggest hockey day of the offseason is leaving most Canuck fans with a bitter taste in their mouths.
Signing only Nolan Baumgartner today isn't making things better.
Who's left as far as decent forwards go?

NOTABLE UFA's

-Teemu Selanne. Don't see it happening.
-Mark Recchi. Sure, sign the BC boy up. He'd help out a bit.
-Yanic Perrault. Nah
-Jason Williams. No thanks.
-Joe Sakic. Not leaving Colorado
-Peter Forsberg. No one is talking about Peter the Fragile.
-Stu Barnes. Still has something left in the tank....but not as much.
-Ladislav Nagy. Only if you want to see me jump off a 50-story building.
-Pavol Demitra. The Demitra option looks better and better only because the Canuck situation is getting slowly worse and worse.
-Wes Walz. Always been a fan of Walz.
-Ruslan Fedotenko. No way.
-Miroslav Satan. Always wanted a Canucks jersey with Satan on the back. Ha. Skip this guy.
-Jaromir Jagr. As if he'd move here. Tempting somewhat.
-Brendan Shanahan. Absolutely.
-Sergei Fedorov. Haha...no way.

The restricted free agent list isn't so appetizing anymore either. View the full list of UFA's and RFA's here.

You can see the problem with the notable UFA's that I have listed.......aging, injury-prone. The only names on that list that would make you jump off your couch if we got one of them probably won't come here, or have no interest in doing so. What's Gillis going to do next...throw $10 million at Selanne? You almost have to show that excessive amount of money just to get guys to play in Vancouver. Like most people wonder...what the hell is so bad about Vancouver? It's a hell of a lot better than Edmonton!

So what the hell is going to happen now? It's turning into a deja-vu from last season in a sense. This is what Steve Tambellini was saying exactly 1 year ago (not quoted, but from a post I did):

Steve Tambellini mentioned today after Vancouver's signings that the acquisitions of Isbister and Ritchie were to shore up the bottom 6 forwards. He said that the team is being patient and waiting for other teams to get strapped for cash. Then Vancouver can explore a trade or buyout route later on to probably obtain a top 6 center, for one.

Oh jeez. Here we go again.

The people at the Canucks.com Message Board are trying to cope with this. Several posts include an interesting concept: Re-unite the West Coast Express.It's amazing how desperation can fuck up our common sense sometimes. What I mean is: I almost find that option intriguing right now. Fuck. All 3 players are available.
Speaking of that... why has no one taken Morrison or Naslund yet? Are these guys really as big of bums as some of us think they are?
Hell, today teams took Huselius and Avery for $4.75 and $3.88 million per season respectively. And no one bites on Morrison? I smell something fishy here. I get this feeling that Gillis is keeping these guys hanging around for some twisted reason. Don't you?

Given the well-documented theory that GM's may not want to deal with Gillis because he worked for the "other side of the fence" leaves me wondering..... where does Gillis go from here? Is it going to be another dismal year of us mostly relying on the Sedins for scoring again? This isn't an option.
Yup, as you can see, my optimism from yesterday has been flushed down the toilet.

Canucks+not+signing+key+free+agents Mats+Sundin Mike+Gillis+the+rookie+GM

Deep guttural industrial clanks and crashes escape the fog of night traveling upwards into the residential neighborhood where I reside, from the shipyard, refinery and paper mill lining the coast. The fog is thick. It is near impossible to see across the street at night. The only light that pierces is those yellow and orange ones [...]

From TheTyee.ca Original article here Bob Campbell clutches his granddaughter at a public thanksgiving feast near Vallican, B.C., and asks: “Do I look extinct?” Campbell is a headman of B.C.’s allegedly exterminated Aboriginal nation, the Sinixt, known as the “Mother Tribe,” from the upper Columbia River, the region we now call the West Kootenays. The original name of [...]

This article was recently posted on Shmohawk, a new favourite read: what is taking so long? Posted on June 27, 2008 by shmohawk When the National Indian Brotherhood, or NIB, began using the word “aboriginal” in some of its documents more than 30 years ago, my Mom and Dad railed at those those they called “idiots” and worse. [...]

(Even as a child, where were you?) You've been pretty absent in my life thus far, Neck. While other people have swanlike, willowy, ballerina-esque head perches, I have approximately two inches of somethingorother that keeps my head from resting squarely on my shoulders. Or roundly, as the case may be. You see? Neckless. So neckless, ...

I only took one day off, but I’m already three days behind, somehow. Moar blawg postz soon, I promise. Like, real ones.

To tell the truth, I was deathly afraid I’d end up something uncool, like a spork. I’d much rather be the slotted spoon you use to mix sugar with absinthe…I actually have one of those. Still can’t stand absinthe, although the people at La Fee are very nice. You Are a Fork You are truthful, direct, and [...]

And get this: (And this):

http://www.monbiot.com/archives/2008/07/01/green-lifeline/

"If the world is sliding into recession, it’s partly because governments believed that they could choose between economy and ecology. The price of oil is so high and it hurts so much because there has been no serious effort to reduce our dependency. . . . The government’s policy is to build more of everything – more coal plants, more nuclear power, more oil rigs, more renewables, more roads, more airports – and hope no one spots the contradictions."

This is what Monbiot writes about the UK government, but you could say almost exactly the same thing about the government of BC. But the question is, what are we going to do now? Are we going to just keep expanding freeways, airports and ports on the assumption that oil will become cheap again next week and that global warming is not a big deal?

Green Lifeline
Posted July 1, 2008

A radical new idea could save the world’s ecosystems. But what will it do to the economy?

By George Monbiot. Published in the Guardian 1st July 2008

Almost everyone seems to agree: governments now face a choice between saving the planet and saving the economy. As recession looms, the political pressure to abandon green policies intensifies. A report published yesterday by Ernst and Young suggests that the EU’s puny carbon target will raise energy bills by 20% over the next 12 years(1). Last week the prime minister’s advisers admitted to the Guardian that his renewable energy plans were “on the margins” of what people will tolerate(2).

But these fears are based on a false assumption: that there is a cheap alternative to a green economy. Last week New Scientist reported a survey of oil industry experts, which found that most of them believe global oil supplies will peak by 2010(3). If they are right, the game is up. A report published by the US Department of Energy in 2005 argued that unless the world begins a crash programme of replacements 10 or 20 years before oil peaks, a crisis “unlike any yet faced by modern industrial society” is unavoidable(4).

Read about what Monbiot's proposes to deal with global warming and peak oil at http://www.monbiot.com/archives/2008/07/01/green-lifeline/

By Guest Author Geoffrey First, I am not a Christian, although I would support Christian values as they are espoused by the New Testament. I feel uneasy about religion generally. I was born to a Jewish Mother and a Catholic Father! Perhaps, that’s a little like a Woody Allen joke I once heard, “It means I [...]

From Liberal MP, Garth Turner: Were the Liberals just too dumb to notice? Have they ever heard of Google in Ottawa? Or the thingy that you use to register domain names? Thy uppance is coming …

-the Blue Jackets have signed Kristian Huselius to a 4-year deal at $4.75 million per season.

-the Islanders sign Doug Weight to a 1-year $1.5 million deal.

-the Atlanta Thrashers signed Ron Hainsey to a 5-year $22.5 million deal

- the Rangers traded Fedor Tyutin and Christian Backman to the Blue Jackets in exchange for Nikolai Zherdev and Dan Fritsche.

-the Canucks have signed Nolan Baumgartner to a contract. Baumgartner will replace Aaron Miller I suppose. Would have rather kept Miller....
The Canucks also re-signed RFA Alexandre Bolduc.

-the Senators have signed Jarkko Ruutu to a three-year, $3.9 million contract.

-The Senators have signed Shean Donovan to a two-year contract.

-The Calgary Flames have signed 2 UFA's: Jim Vandermeer and Curtis Glencross. Glencross could break out with the Flames. We saw streaks of that with him in Edmonton.

-The Canucks have signed Curtis Sanford. He's capable and cheap.

-Canucks fans will be watching Mike Gilis with even more intent now that Sundin said this in a statement today:

"I would like to thank all the teams who have expressed such sincere interest in my services.

"The numerous options provided to me were impressive and I have no doubt that each one presented a unique opportunity for me to finish my career in a terrific hockey environment.

"I spent a great deal of time yesterday reflecting upon the teams who stepped forward and the opportunities that each provided.

"Unfortunately, I am simply not close to being ready to make a decision about resuming my career at this time.

"I wish all the teams the very best and thank them for their interest."

Source: TSN
Great. Now what? The just-married Sundin may not make a decision for months. Gillis will have to move on.

-the Stars have signed Sean Avery to a 4-year $15.5 million contract. Imagine...even more peskiness in Dallas. Imagine having both Steve Ott AND Sean Avery yapping at you? The contract includes a no-trade clause.

-The Red Wings have won the Hossa sweepstakes, signing him to a reported 1-year $7.4 million deal. That squashes the ideas that Hossa was seeking over $8 million.
One thing about this that I hate is that the Wings didn't need to get any better!
The good thing is that if Detroit was interested in Sundin, which they reportedly were, that's one more team out of the Mats sweepstakes.

T Tags: NHL Free+agency+coverage Red+Wings+sign+Marian+Hossa

This they tell me AFTER I buy my ticket: Starting Thursday, July 3, 2008, WestJet will be implementing changes to our checked baggage weight allowance. The baggage weight allowance will be reduced from 60 lb (27 kg) to 50 lb (23 kg). This change to our baggage allowance will apply to all flights taken after [...]

Copyright © 2008 crunchy. If you are reading the full feed of this -the whole post - it is probably scraped and not without my permission- don't read it - report it - visit the REAL site and tell THIS person to #suckit http://www.wetcoastwomen.com/2008/no-canada-for-google-this-year/.There were no doodles for Canada Day on Google.ca this year…something [...]

Suanne and I are beginning to find more time to ourselves these days. The boys are getting older and they are having more extra-curricular activities. It's a sign that it's going to be a few more short years before they will be spending even more time on their own. With the boys involved in another of their activities, Suanne and I took the opportunity to check out Posh in Richmond. We had always been meaning to try this place for sometime already. Posh is located at the strip mall by Sexsmith Road. There are three Posh'es within Metro Vancouver with the other two located on Broadway (Vancouver) and Kingsway (Burnaby)

I wrote a guest post here yesterday, in honoUr of our nation.

Oh, and maybe take a listen to this.

News that Starbucks is going to close about 600 stores and lay off 12,000 people over the next year in the United States is obviously going to be hard on the people who work there, and my sympathies go out to them. But fewer Starbucks stores? Now there’s a trend I wish would catch on [...]

The new Nanaimo Museum, scheduled to open in the Port of Nanaimo Centre in July, 2008, will include the city’s first Sports Hall of Fame. The first 10 inductees have just been announced, including Olympic athletes, champion teams, and sporting pioneers. Pictured here is the Nanaimo IWA Timbermen Lacrosse Team which won the Mann Cup in 1956. The other team to be honoured is the Northfield Violets

Spiderling, whose web I had inadvertently run into:


Breaking threads spring back, make ribbon patterns in sunlight.


Climbing the last remaining thread to start all over again. Sorry, kid.
.

(this beautiful image was created by vancouver photographer rachael ashe) addthis_url = 'http%3A%2F%2Fwww.moritherapy.org%2Farticle%2Fopen-doors-on-a-wordless-wednesday%2F'; addthis_title = 'open+doors+on+a+wordless+wednesday'; addthis_pub = '';

I am not normally into art at all. I have actually even been known to call it evil after a few beers. Nonetheless, I have added an art category to this blog, due to this post. Here is a photo I did when I was bored. I don’t remember where I got the idea from, but [...]

A few years ago, a guy I worked with asked me, "why do we now call all these swamps wetlands?". At the time I answered, "must just be the way to get people to think about them differently, you know give them some value." The word swamp conjures up images of stinky stagnant water with a greenish tinge.

However, as I've since found out, swamps are just a type of wetland. Which kind of makes sense. There are actually a number of categories of wetlands out there, check these links if you are interested in learning more…

US EPA Wetlands

Swamps on Wikipedia

Wetlands on Natural Resources Canada

By the way, the five types of wetland are (from the Canadian guide):

• Bog
• Fen
• Marsh
• Swamp
• Shallow Water

The following BC based companies donate 1% of their sales to environmental groups via the One Percent for the Planet program. So please support these local business who in turn will donate funds to groups that support the health of our planet. Artevist, BC, Canada View profile View Site Astro Nutrition INC, BC, Canada View profile View Site Bear Enterprises Ltd., BC, Canada View [...]

Canucks' GM Mike Gillis was quite candid about his huge offer to Mats Sundin today. This from Canucks.com:

“We put a major offer together to try and attract who we felt was the best centre ice man on the market,” said Gillis. “It’s an indication that we’re prepared to do what it takes to attract the best players here.”Gillis has not heard back from Sundin's agent JP Barry yet.
“We don’t [have a timetable for an answer]. Mats has gone to bed in Sweden,” said Gillis. “I know he’s thinking about things. From all indications he was very, very pleased that we stepped up and did what we did. We’re hoping to have some more dialogue in the morning and get a positive response.”

Gillis then touched on what some of us commenters were talking about today, which would be that if Mats Sundin was is signed, it may make the Canucks a more attractive team to play for (in regards to say, Naslund).

“We have discussed that issue,” said Gillis. “But again, until you have things executed and signed, it’s difficult to suggest what the next step will be.”
I think we’ve gone a long way to indicating that we’re trying to get player in here who play at the highest level.”

Screw the indications! Just get it done, man!
I guess we'll find out tomorrow.

---

In the meantime, the Canucks have signed now-former St. Louis Blue Ryan Johnson to a 2-year $2.4 million deal.
The positives about Johnson (from Sportsnet):

Has blinding speed and is a tenacious forechecker. Likes to get physical and play an energy role. Can play either center or left wing

The negatives:

Lacks offensive flair and struggles to put points on the board. Needs to become a more reliable defensive forward in order to secure more ice time.

Ah fuck. Ring a bell? Johnson will probably replace Byron Ritchie on the 4th line. He scored 5 goals and 18 points in 79 games for the Blues last year. Yeah...Jeff Cowan the 2nd.

T Tags: Mats+Sundin+to+Vancouver+Canucks Mike+Gillis+interview
Canucks+sign+Ryan+Johnson

…no one as of yet. I sent an email to the winner of Mother Goose is Loose last night and a second one this afternoon with no response back on either email. I stipulated within the second email to respond back within 36 hours or I will be drawing another name. So you all may [...]

It’s been a couple of months since the last update from UrbanWorkbench, it’s been a busy summer with work, gardening and parenting. I've posted much of the stuff that has been going on outside of work, so here are some of our favourite articles.

As always, drop us an email if there's anything you'd like to see more of on the site, I've got a big series coming up on water, and of course, I'll be featuring more about chickens and goats!

Pair go green as world watches

Locally Safeway - Part 2

BC Living Water Smart

Ootischenia Abattoir

Low Flush Toilets

Creston Grain CSA

Goat Talk About Town

We'll be around the Kootenays for most of the Summer, if you're in the area, let's catch up. If you're not - how about a visit to this great part of British Columbia!

Do I need to profess my love for Joss Whedon again anytime soon? Or is it enough that I’ve attended a Buffy singalong, own all seasons of BtVS and Angel on DVD, and watch them regularly while knitting something smashing? No? Good. Then you’ll understand why I’m all tail-waggy about this: Yup - that IS Neil Patrick Harris as [...]

It’s been an interesting long weekend with lots of summer activities going on, but one common theme has been people talking about goats and chickens around town.

In response to the brief story and random question featured in the Castlegar Current, people about town are thinking about chickens and goats in a new light.<!__break__.

This is the vox pop section from the Castlegar Current (via Raymond Koehler), (click on the image to view full-sized)…

At a birthday party this morning, another two families agreed that allowing chickens and goats would be great, they even commented on previous neighbours that have had chickens in the past, with no problems.

I have to wonder if those on council who voted against further discussion of this matter actually talked to anyone regarding this proposal.

I’m sure this isn’t the end of this story.  :-)