Thursday, June 29, 2006

globeandmail.com : Hateful chatter behind the veil

My parents gave up a decent life in Trinidad to come to Canada, a cold country, to allow for more opporunities for our family. They endured hardships, they endured racism, they endured low-paying jobs, they endured a lot. All of that culminates into a thankfulness that they made the decision to come here and not the US, as they were also thinking. I am proud of my heritage, but I am equally, if not more, proud of being a Canadian and to call this country my home. I truly believe despite its flaws, it is the greatest country on the Earth.

This week, we have a Columbian family desperate to stay here but being sent back to Columbia because they do not meet some form of standard set out by immigration. Let's see. The kids are in school learning not on the street gangbanging. The parents both work and pay taxes like anyone born here, and are not mooching off welfare or other assistance like so many born here. The family is not known to police or have ever done anything illegal here, unlike so may allowed to stay in this country; hell, criminals before they got here. Yet, this is the family we spend resources on to deport? Pull the children out of school by force to lure a frightened father out of hiding? This is the family that is a danger to Canadian society in some way? The family people ridicule and call "queue jumpers"?

Well, if everyone that wanted to come into this country was like this family, I say let them all jump the damn queue. No, instead we kick them out, and families with money, breeding dipshit people like the bitches in this article, we welcome with open arms and pockets. By all means, cough up huge and your dumb, ignorant, hateful ass is welcome in this land of plenty. Oh, why you are here, bitch and moan how the country you begged and paid to let you in is no good and how we should all be like you want and the ones who do not conform should die. Throw scorn on a society that does not understand you and you do not understand but you, being the visitor, choose to do nothing to change. Instead, you work hard to ensure the stereotypes stay alive so you can point your boney, shit-encrusted finger at and use that as proof that this is a racist society. By all means government officials, kick out a hard-working, law-abiding, COUNTRY-LOVING family and keep these fear-mongering, hate-spewing pieces of trash in. Good move.

I'm sick. I hope you feel it to. And a message to those in this article. If you don't like my country and think that dust-ball you came from is a little piece of heaven, then no hard feelings. GET THE FUCK OUT!!! We only want those here that want to be here. You are welcome to take your shit and leave. Need help packing or a ride to the airport? I will volunteer to help your assess out of here (after a thorough dog sniff and pat down, naturally).

Peace. Except for these asswipes.


globeandmail.com : Hateful chatter behind the veil

A look back.

The LB will kill me but...

I have been trying to cull all of our digital photos and media together because of a recent scare when I nearly lost my 4GB home mail file, my DVD database, pictures, bought and downloaded software and more. Well, while skimming through Picasa and marvelling at how much pr0n I actually have collected over the years, I ran across some digital photos that I took back in 1995 with a friend's camera. Not the best shots, not the clearest shots, not the highest resolution or any of the features and quality we look for nowadays. What it does have though is lasting memories forever captured and preserved. There is nothing better than that. Well, you know. :)

Enjoy.

This would be LB in 1995. He's not so cute no mo'.

 Posted by Picasa


This is me when I was a hundred pounds lighter and much smarter. I was teaching hardware, UNIX and some programming back then. That's Alice, owner of the camera.

 Posted by Picasa


The machines are faster, the space is bigger, the pile is higher. Not much changes.

 Posted by Picasa


Me and my kids. I actually had a direct hand (well not a hand, per se but an appendage of some sort) in making the one on the left, TC. The one on the right is Lexus. The one in the middle is my Goddaughter Maggie. For all intents and purposes, they are all mine and I let their birth parents raise them. :)

 Posted by Picasa

MAY 2006 | blackfilm.com | Transformers CGI Test

Have you heard? There is a new Transformers movie coming out and it is supposed to be live action with CGI. This clip shows that this may actually work.

MAY 2006 | blackfilm.com | Transformers CGI Test

Wednesday, June 28, 2006

The Great Space Coaster (opening/closing sequences)

Thanks to a recent post by PS, I have been reliving my childhood. Strange as it may seem, the Gary Gnu News show and other gems from this shows will live with me forever. Just remember that "No Gnus is good Gnus on the Gary Gnu show".

Other Plasticman Pictures

I was looking for the show and found this. The Matrix dudes are really going to make this movie? Could be really bad or really good.

Other Plasticman Pictures
I think I need to request this function be added to my machine. Hopefully I can get an upgrade that includes the functions "terminate with prejudice" and "hurt really badly without killing". Posted by Picasa

Monday, June 26, 2006

Football | Figo free to face England

Ridiculous! That is the best word I can use to describe this. I watched the disgraceful game between Portugal and The Netherlands. The announcers said that the head-butt happened with the referee facing in the opposite direction. So how the hell are they claiming that Figo was already sanctioned by the ref when he never saw it? And if he had seen it, do you really think thsat even this incompetent dolt would have given him a yellow instead of an immediate red?

The disgrace of this game continues and if FIFA does not step in and penalize him properly, then they will have lost the faith of many in them as a governing body in the world of futbol and I for one would call for their disbanding.It is all nice and fine to have banners promoting fair play and an end to racism in sport but if you sit around with your thumbs up your asses, then you are as useless as the people that need to be sanctioned for their ignorance.

Come on FIFA, you can do MUCH better than that!!

Ciao.

Football | Figo free to face England

Your Call Is Important to Us. Please Stay Awake. - New York Times

Damned if you do, damned if you don't. Read all the way through.

Your Call Is Important to Us. Please Stay Awake. - New York Times

RIP Aaron Spelling

Aaron Spelling.

I guess you can say this mega-producer is greatly responsible for shaping much of my youthful TV watching habits. From reruns of the Mod Squad, to S.W.A.T. (I know you are singing the theme song right now), to Starsky and Hutch, to Family, to Charlie's Angels, to Fantasy Island, to the Love Boat, to Vega$, to Hart to Hart, to Dynasty, to T.J. Hooker, to Nightingales, to Soapdish, to Melrose Place, to Beverly Hills 90210, to Models Inc., to Charmed... and that is only the TV series I watched of his.

Mr. Spelling understood his audience and what it took to keep them interested. often times flying in the face of the critics, he unleashed new hits that ran contrary to the formula one was used to seeing on television. And telelvision was forever changed and forever grateful to his insight. He will definitely be missed on the boob tube.

Speaking of boobs, Mr. Spelling is survived by his eBay-addicted trophy wife and his life-off-of-daddy's-name daughter, Tori Spelling. The both of which stand to inherit substanstial millions as he reportedly owned the largest residential property in California.

Rest in peace sir. You earned it.

The week in review, in general.

Hmmm, how does one summarize a week that sucked major ass most of the time? Oh, I guess you say just that. THIS WEEK SUCKED MAJOR ASS MOST OF THE TIME. I won't bore you with the stuff I cannot talk about in here anyhow. I won't complain about idiot co-workers, idiot vendors and ignorance abounding all over the place. I won't even bore you with what I wanted to do this week and did not get one iota completed. Instead I will explain my Friday as it pretty much illustrates it all.

On Friday, I woke later than I wanted to, saw DW off and started working. I was going to surprise DW at work before she left. Her iPod was missing the included ear pods thanks to TC so I was going to go and get her suitable replacements (or better) so that she did not have to use the crappy airline one. I also was hoping to get my father's computer completed so she could take it with her when she dropped off the car for him to use while she was away; no dice. I checked on the bank hoping to see the fruits of my past labour; on-call and call log bonus money. Instead, it did not seem like the numbers were adding up to what I expected meaning I could not do what I wanted to do this weekend. I also could not verify the numbers prior to callign payroll because I could not find my login information (we have electronic paystubs now).

To continue my day, I was missing the World Cup game that afternoon. When I got in, a new guy was in my boss' desk so I had to break him into my sharing role of that space. The vendor messed up again for the same client of ours for the fourth time this week alone and i had to make that call to get things changed before Saturday. I started archiving my outlook because it was an obscene size on the server. So, before they warned me again or went snooping around to find out why it was so big, I started that process; it takes forever to do.

My nephew played a Brazilian championship under 19 swaud in a friendly at Ester Shriner Stadium in North York. The idiots running the thing thought that charging people for an unadvertised event, $25, was a good idea; this up form the ten they normally charge. Needless to say, they had a ridiculously small crowd on hand when they could have filled the stadium with reasonable ticket prices. On top of that, teh idiot coach did not play the guys to win against this group even though they were leading 2-1 at one point. As usual, my nephew played brilliantly but grew very frustrated with the ball-less wonders he was playing with along with the agressive, ankle-hacking group he was playing against. What started out as exciting futbol quickly turned into a farce. The home squad lost 4-2 when they had no business doing so.

So, it is time to head home and I start my vehicle by remote like I always do. Now, if you have neevr been in TR, you would not know it has this expensive security system setup in it; immobilizer, car starter, windows down and up, door locks, and two-way communication with a 6km range (which I have successfully tested to about 3 or 4 km away). It has one simple, but effective achilles heel; the remote battery. Without the battery, you cannot operate all the various functions. Sure, they do have a manual override switch and sequence to shut it off in such an event that your battery dies but who remembers that shit? So, when I went to check the status, it died. Now, I could not get into the truck without setting off the alarm.

Lots of people hanging about and hating to look like an idiot with a big fancy Trailblazer and a blaring alarm, I bit the bullet and used the factory remote to unlock the door. Yes, it set off the alarm immediately. No biggie as at least five other cars that evening did the same. None of the looked like TR though. So, I get in and restart the truck (as it had shutdown after the ten minutes had passed). Shortly afterwards, it rearmed itself with me in it while it was running. Ok, at least I had A/C and I was safe inside. Now what?

My father and my nephew had already left the parking lot. There were lots of youths around but so dumb looking and acting it was simply not worth the hassle. I could risk driving it to the convenience store which would surely set it off again. Uhm, no, not in Toronto. Young black men in tinted vehicles being approached by police with suspicions rarely end well so let's use that as a last option. I had to come up with something better. Simply put, I needed some way to apply 1.5 volts to the alarm remote in a AAA space. I had none of those spare batteries left because I gave the last two to DW before she left for her ailing wireless mouse. I had lots of AAs in the truck used for the headphones of the DVD system. Naturally, unusable because they were too big. Hmmm, right voltage, wrong size. I could work with that.

Using the dead battery and a live one, I tried to transfer enough juice to disable the alarm. I only needed to do that once as it will rearm itself once I got home. The recharge would not work so back to thinking. Okay, instead of trying to transfer the charge from the AA to the AAA, maybe I could transfer it directly to the remote? Sure, but the contacts were inside a tube-like area so something had to sit "inside" of the battery compartment of the remote. I looked around the truck, emptied the glove box and cubby holes. Nothing. I was starting to get frustrated. That's when I foudn them; my SIL keys that were given to us to be able to hit Ottawa whenever we were in the area.

I eventually took the two keys off and, holding them against the appropriate ends of the battery and then jerryrigging them into the battery compartment to touch the leads, I was able to get enough connection to trigger the remote. Now the fun part as I had to hold that in place as the stupid remote's sing-song startup sequence went through. Then, I had to twist two fingers to press the first and third buttons in order to disable the alarm. A few tries later, and the flashing blue light went out. Whew!!

I closed the glove box, whipped out of the parking lot and heading hoem down Bathurst. Once home, I threw a charged battery into the remote and rearmed TR. I had just missed DW's message on the laptop by thre minutes as I had to take care of nature or blow out a kidney. FUN FREAKING FRIDAY.

Saturday and Sunday were fine, except me and Jack Schitt hung out and did nothing constructive all weekend. I did go and hang with KJ and family plus some other friends till midnight so that was quite enjoyable. And, of course, DW and I engaged in some G-rated Skyping on the computer. So, I guess you can say that the week ended nicely after a shitty start and middle.

TTFN.

This morning, I Skyped my wife!

Before you look to call the authorities, maybe you should acquaint yourself with the Skype application. In a nutshell, Skype is a piece of software that, when used between users who are all running Skype, allows you to carry on long distance phone and video conversations (as well as chat sessions) for FREE! No, you cannot use your regular home phone for this. Yes, it works quite well. Yes, you can call a regular land line with it. No, that function is not also free (but it is quite cheap compared to normal phone service).

Not everyone you will want to keep in contact with will be computer-enabled or will want to talk to you through the computer. The friends and family that do will be able to communicate with each other more often, for no cost at all. And that can never be a bad thing, right? Okay, so maybe for certain family members, agreed.

Anyhow, DW is in Ohio on work-related stuff so we were communicating via MSN and Blackberry messenger since Friday afternoon. Today was the first day we really got to have a proper conversation after she got back to her hotel and before she dropped off to sleep. I also fired up the video camera where, after almost three days, it finally registered with her that I shaved my face and head (leaving only the lip rug). Observant my wife is not, but I guess I still love her anyways.

So, go ahead and Skype someone you love. They will appreciate the communication and the free aspect of it all. If you want to get fancy, there are actual USB Skype phones that you can buy. I think someone has a wireless version as well that works like the cordless phone in the house. Very cool stuff.

Ciao.

Thursday, June 22, 2006

Just in case you missed it...

I posted a whackload of stuff today so make sure and scroll through till you hit something you have seen before. Danke.

Uhm, okay.







Which Sith Lord are you?




The Emporer- ruthless beyond expectation, you plan well ahead and care for no-one. All of creation is but a slave to your self glory. You have surrounded yourself with an impressive arsenal. However, your power and your assets have blinded you to the fact that you too can make mistakes.
Take this quiz!








Quizilla |
Join

| Make A Quiz | More Quizzes | Grab Code

More items from the picture archives; these are from TC's First Communion (a Roman Catholic sacrament). The first one is my LB, my SIL and TC (before the little lad was born). The second is of me and TC (before DW). And the last one is of me, LB and our father, BigV (or Baldy, as his friends call him). Posted by Picasa

______________________________________________

 Posted by Picasa

______________________________________________

 Posted by Picasa

Seen on Penny's, copied from Mossy's, played for you here.

1. Which curse word do you use the most?
I have to say the F word these days because the f**kers I deal with these days are so f**king stupid. F**K 'EM.

2. Do you own an iPod?
Hmm, do "I" own an iPod? Not exactly. I bought a 20GB second Gen model for DW that I and TC tended to use more than her. When we consequently damaged the headphone port, I bought her a 40GB fourth Gen model for her two years later. I still use it more than she does. However, when the 60Gb iPod video hits the house, I have a feeling she may fight me for it.

3. What time is your alarm clock set for?
I don't use one. DW sets it for her and she eventually wakes me up from moving about or she does when she is ready to leave and I am still sawing wood. If she is not around (like when I fall asleep in my computer chair), my internal clock wakes me every morning almost like clockwork annoyingly between 5:30 and 6:30 whether I want to or not.

4. How many suitcases do you own?
Two full sets. We travel with way too much crap all the time.

5. Do you wear flip flops even when it's cold?
What the hell are flip flops? Barefoot, crepsoles or sandals baby!

6. Would you rather take the picture or be in the picture?
Always taking the picture. I'm camera shy (read ugly).

7. What was the last movie you watched?
X-Men III. Well. sortof. It was the last new movie I watched that I somehow got access to. :) The very last movie actually watched was National Treasure courtesy of FTA last night.

8. Do you or any of your friends have children?
Most of them do. The ones that do not chose not to and treat everyone else's like royalty.

9. Has anyone ever called you lazy?
Yep, and as a Grand Procrastinator it is richly deserved. However, if it really has to be done, I will get it done, right and quicker than most.

10. Do you ever take medication to help you sleep?
Is alcohol medication? Sorry, joking, really. No.

11. Which CD is currently in your CD player?
My LB DJs so the last thing I was listening to in the truck (the only place we really place CDs anymore) was one of his mix CDs from a few years back. Hey Wiz, I think it was the "Bring De Heat" one; it don't work so well so I need a new one (well I told you I wanted a whole new set so read it here and get cracking).

12. Do you prefer regular or chocolate milk?
Chocolate, for sure. I'll drink regular (2%) but it has to be ice cold. (Agreed)

13. Has anyone told you a secret this week?
Actually yes, someone did. I just cannot tell you about it because... it is a secret.

14. When was the last time someone hit on you?
Uhm, my DW reads this. Next!

15. Can you whistle?
Yes I can. Just won't make money at it.

16. Who was the last person you talked to on the phone?
Just spoke to my father a little while ago and then had to cut him short to use some silent F words with a call to work.

17. Do you think people talk about you behind your back?
You're doing it right now. Know what? I don't give a f**k.

18. Did you watch cartoons as a child?
The easier question would be what did I NOT watch on TV as a child.

19. Do you add your own questions to Memes when Kal is too lazy to do so?
Nope. I let Mossy do it for me.

20. Are you shy around the opposite sex?
I can be but I like the opposite sex and shyness does not get you... oh hi there DW. Next.

21. Which movie(s) do you know every line to?
Say it with me hon... Ferris Bueller's Day Off!! "They think he's a righteous dude." "He makes you look like an ass is what he does, Ed."

22. Do you own any band t-shirts?
BNL, Janet Jackson and maybe Paula Abdul is still somewhere.

23. What is your favorite salad dressing?
Catalina.

24. Who was the last person to make you mad?
Work. Vendors. Clients.

25. Do you do your own dishes?
Hahahaha. Dishwasher, baby!

26. Ever cry in public?
Only if I missed the topless protestors.

27. Are you typing on a desktop computer or a laptop?
*Geek alert* I am typing on a keyboard connected to a cascaded Belkin KVM that my work laptop sitting in its docking tray, our MCE PVR and my main desktop computers are connected through. Now, aren't you glad I did not list the peripherals?

28. Are you currently wanting any piercings or tattoos?
Maybe a tattoo one day and if I can afford a big, ass diamond, an earring. I have none of either at the moment.

29. Would you ever date someone covered in tattoos?
If she was ultra hot and a nympho freak. Uhm, and DW left me or died before me in fifty years.

30. What did you do before this?
Uploaded pictures to this blog. And yelled at a vendor.

31. When is the last time you slept on the floor?
Sometime last year when we were too lazy to go upstairs to bed and too lazy to lay out the futon.

32. How many hours of sleep do you need to function?
I am usually totally prime with four hours every night with a once in a while total shutdown for recharging purposes.

33. Do you eat breakfast daily?
DW makes me.

34. Are your days full and fast-paced?
Ebbs and flows.

35. Do you pay attention to the calories on the label?
Hahahahahahahahahaha.

36. Do you use sarcasm?
No, noooo, noooooooooo. Of course not.

37. How old will you be on your next birthday?
My birthday passed in May making me a ripe old 38 and counting.

38. Are you picky about spelling and grammar?
Yes I am. Had a mean old man for English in high school that I still thank today.

39. Have you ever been to Six Flags?
No, but I so wanna go to all of them.

40. Do you get along better with the same sex or the opposite sex?
I go either way. Work with it as you feel this Pride week.

41. Do you like mustard?
Only on a hot dog.

42. Do you sleep on your side, stomach, or back?
Yes, also sitting, standing, driving, pooping, working and almost everything else except, well, you know.

43. Do you watch the news?
Every morning I watch Breakfast Television and my day/night is not complete unless I get a dose of CityPulse at 6 or 11 plus SportsNet and SportsDesk. Still wonder why I only sleep four hours each night?

44. One of your scars--how did you get it?
EAR, not listening and jumped on a bed. KNEES, not listening and fell off the back of a moped. ELBOWS, not listening and fell popping wheelies on my bike. HAND, challenging a dog for a lobster claw (he won). LEFT AND RIGHT ADONMINALS, appendicitis emergency surgery. SHOULDERS, soccer sliding injuries. LEFT CORNEA, no one knows but it screws up my vision.

Well, that's it folks. Have at it.

Ciao.

Believe it, or not!

Submitted by DoubleD
--------------------

You must READ the last line................

1. If you migrate to this county, you must speak the native language

2. You have to be a professional or an investor. No unskilled workers allowed.

3. There will be no special bilingual programs in the schools, no special ballots for elections, all government business will be conducted in our language.

4. Foreigners will NOT have the right to vote no matter how long they are here.

5. Foreigners will NEVER be able to hold political office.

6. Foreigners will not be a burden to the taxpayers. No welfare, no food stamps, no health care, or other government assistance programs.

7. Foreigners can invest in this country, but it must be an amount equal to 40,000 times the daily minimum wage.

8. If foreigners do come and want to buy land that will be okay, BUT options will be restricted. You are not allowed waterfront property. That is reserved for citizens naturally born into this country.

9. Foreigners may not protest; no demonstrations, no waving a foreign flag, no political organizing, no bad-mouthing our president or his policies, if you do you will be sent home.

10. If you do come to this country illegally, you will be hunted down and sent straight to jail.


Harsh, you say?





The above laws happen to be the immigration laws of MEXICO!

But can I act?

I'm a Talent!

You're a risk-taker, and you follow your passions. You're determined to take on the world and succeed on your own terms. Whether in the arts, science, engineering, business, or politics, you fearlessly express your own vision of the world. You're not afraid of a fight, and you're not afraid to bet your future on your own abilities. If you find a job boring or stifling, you're already preparing your resume. You believe in doing what you love, and you're not willing to settle for an ordinary life.

Talent: 56%
Lifer: 44%
Mandarin: 46%

Take the Talent, Lifer, or Mandarin quiz.

Varummmm!

I'm a Porsche 911!



You have a classic style, but you're up-to-date with the latest technology. You're ambitious, competitive, and you love to win. Performance, precision, and prestige - you're one of the elite,and you know it.


Take the Which Sports Car Are You? quiz.

Star Trek Karaoke

Totally freaking funny for the Star Trek set.
run of the mill

Prime example of why our youth today needs a good slap upside its head. Child should be doing chores or running water for her parent's bath or something constructive.

London Free Press - City & Region - Hotdog vendor grilled over attire

Uhm, ok, based on the name, I understand her attire; she is dressed in a bikini. Her co-owner is a man though. Does that mean he is providing the weenie part of their name? Is that legal? Ewwwwwww.

London Free Press - City & Region - Hotdog vendor grilled over attire

Hopeful Harold, no more.

So as the saying goes, there is your side, their side and the truth. Anyone who watched TV in the Toronto GTA knows about Harold Hosein. The middle-aged gentleman from Trinidad was a fixture on the six o'clock news for many years and also reported from many cultural events including the annual Caribana parade. CityTV has a history of releasing the old for the new so it is hard to gauge the truth in this story. The fact that another middle-aged, Trinidadian-born lady was sacked recently certainly raises enough eyebrows to make you wonder what is going on.

Anyhow, he will be missed, though can still be heard on the radio. We wish him well in his future endeavours.

Ciao.

BTW, I call him Hopeful Harold because one year Mother Nature just would not cooperate and screwed all the weather people up with their predictions. Since I only watch CityTV for my news really, he is the only one I nicknamed.

CANOE -- JAM! - Popular Toronto TV weatherman axed
In honour of the Carolina Hurricanes, I thought I would post my own brush with Lord Stanley's Cup. This was taken by TC when she, DW and I attended Humble Howard's Annual Christmas Show in downtown Toronto. Maybe I will post some of the other pictures later. I found a whack of them I forgot about while cleaning up memory cards. Posted by Picasa

Wednesday, June 21, 2006

Today's Funny

Submitted by my sister, Gemini (some of you won't get it but try anyhow)
-------------------------------------------

Rass: What Does It Mean To You?

RASS POWERFUL

How could we forget a word as important as RASS and its many RASS uses?

1. RASS is a good way to finish a sentence that lacks excitement...
tekki back 2RASS!
Gimme back 2RASS!

2. RASS can be used in biology eg.....
Look pan di gal RASS!

3. It can be used as a warning of future troubles....
cover yu RASS!

4. It can ward off unwanted sexual advances....
me nah gi yu me numba yu ugly RASS!
move yu RASS from me, 2RASS!

5. It can describe extreme pain....
it hot nuh RASS!
me granny gi me some RASS licks!

6. It can describe size.....
yuh foot dem big nuh RASS!
him have a RASS mouth deh!

As you can see RASS is the West Indian all-purpose word.
Use it as often as yu RASS feel.

7. Greeting...... How de RASS yu do?
Fraud.........Yu too RASS tief!
Dismay........RASS!
Trouble.......Oh RASS!
Aggression....Watch yu RASS self!
Disgust.......Cho RASS!
Confusion.....Wha di RASS a gwaan!
Incompetence..A wha di RASS yu a do....RASS-idiot!
Lost..........Whe di RASS we deh!
Pleasure......it nice nuh RASS!
Retaliation...Yu RASS-claat...

And of course..kiss mi RASS!
Me done to RASS!!

NOW.....Go do yu RASS work!!

NBA.com: A Total Turnaround

The Miami Heat are champions. While I like the Dallas Mavericks and admire owner Mark Cuban, I backed the Heat during this playoff run as the representative in the East. I will never back a Detroit team so the icing was the Heat dispatching that team in the Conference Finals. No one will ever know the full details that led to Shaquille O'Neal being driven out of LA. All we know is that Kobe "loser/cry-baby" Bryant was mixed up in it. Well, great player talent he may be, great team player person he be not.

I do not if Shaq said it himself, but the general consensus that while Kobe was on the Laker team, they would not win another Championship Ring. Further, it was said quite openly that Shaq would get to the playoffs with the Heat before Kobe and the Lakers did without him (he did as the Lakers failed to make the playoffs the first year Shaw was gone). Shaq said that he came to Miami to bring them a ring and he made good on that promise. Naturally he had help, a LOT of it from series saviour Dwyane Wade.

Just like the NHL Playoffs, the end of the NBA year was full of excitement and it was a good year to be a fan. My beloved Raptors are as yet rebuilding again but hopefully with new blood int he front office and a major coup on scoring the number one overall pick in the draft lottery, we can actually get some bodies that help the team take some steps forward, get some help for Chris Bosh in the middle, and make fans want to plunk down coin again to show up and not just watch it on TV (like we do now). Time will tell.

In the meantime, congratulations to Riles, GP, Superman, Flash, 'Toine, Zo and the rest of the Miami Heat crew. It was a thrill to watch you make history and we hope the tradition continues (until the Raptors rise up, of course). CAN YOU DIG IT?

NBA.com: A Total Turnaround

DIRECTV - TITANIUM

If you live in the US and have some coin to burn, AND are a TV addict, then this service is for YOU!!

If you live in Canada, you are SOL (unless... well, I cannot say but you know).

DIRECTV - TITANIUM

Monday, June 19, 2006

Today's Funnies

Submitted, at the bottom of a spammer's email but I have heard it before.
-----------------------------------------------

A bear walked into a bar, slapped a $50.00 bill on the bar and ordered a beer. The bartender looked at the $50 bill, then at the bear and said; "I'll be back in a minute." He went to his manager and stated what had just occurred. The manager told him to go back to the bar, give the bear a beer, $.50 change and strike up a conversation.
The bartender drew a beer, placed it on the bar, took the $50 bill, tossed fifty cents on the bar and said; "You know we don't get many bears in here". The bear looked at the 50 cents, then at the beer, then said to the bartender; "$49.50 for a beer I can see why!"

_______________________________________________

Submitted by a colleague who has a clue.
----------------------------------------

Sunday, June 18, 2006

'Screech' actor turns to fans for help on Yahoo! News

Just something else we cannot make up. If you love Screech, buy a shirt. If you think this is another example of a child star who had bad money management and it sucks to be him as he is lucky to have a house over his head to lose, well, just move on to the next post.

Print Story: 'Screech' actor turns to fans for help on Yahoo! News

Wednesday, June 14, 2006

Racism in soccer

I am of heavy heart. Here are a number of links that explain why. I really was walking around in an optimistic fog. No more. I can say nothing else here. Read the stories. Do not dismiss the links. Get educated. This shit really is unreal and has to stop.

Fines not enough.

Dock points for racism.

UEFA is pathetic at cracking down.

Spanish game called due to taunting.

FIFA cracks down for World Cup (but cannot stop prostitution).

The coach said it, and he got away for 3000 euros. THAT is the price of dignity.

I don't think I have the stomach for any more today. Look for another set sometime later. I'm off to watch a hockey game; a sport that has worked VERY hard to stamp out the last remnants of racism and has a ZERO tolerance of it.

CIAO. PEACE.

Label me shocked, but not surprised

I guess I am still a bit naive. I guess despite my best efforts, I still have a glimmer of hope in me. I think today, it has finally been stamped out.

After the last World Cup game, there is a wrap-up show on TSN. I was working away on something when the TV caught my attention (it was on Mute at teh time because I had just made a call). It was what was obviously caustic words streaming across in on-screen captioning as they showed what seemed to be a white man with a megaphone paying strong attention to a black goalie on the field. Surely this could not be what I think it is. I am sorry I clicked the colume on to find out.

The story was "racism in soccer" and they went through many examples of where it not only happens, but nothing is done about it by the local police, the soccer club or FIFA itself. Say what you will about us arrogant, uneducated, pompous North Americans; I know for a fact that what I saw would not, CAN NOT be tolerated in our society. Where here in Canada would a group of tatooed skinheads be allowed to carry banners, salute like Hitler, yell racist epithets at the players and throw bananas onto the field at the black players? Well, they do so it Germany and, what was shockingly termed as the most openly racist place on the plantet probably, Spain?!?!

A while back I made the comment that I was ashamed of my Italian heritage because of what seemed to be an acceptable practice of open racism against the darker tourists. Well, i have Spanish and Portugeuse in my bloodline as well and I am even more ashamed of that today. I guess it was very naive to think that because we were all non-white, we had something in common; an "us versus the man" mentaility if you will. I should have known the further away you are from that line of balalnce, the less human some idiot asswipes consider you.

To add insult to injury, the keeper they were highlighting (sorry, I do not have links or names right now) is getting this abuse from HIS OWN FANS. He is a hero and valued as the keeper, but still given sub-human status and they ride him every game, all game long. He finally had enough one game, picked up the ball and threatened to walk off the field and out of the game. So much is the beautiful game truly beautiful by those that cherish it that two players from the OPPOSING side and the referee attempted to persuade him not to leave regardless of what was being said and done.

The beauty of soccer/futbol/football is that it is so universally played. The ugliness is the sorrowful twats that mar the game with their antics (read hooliganism) and the deep seeded racism in these so-called civilized nations. If I can get a copy of the story taped, I will find a way to make it available to everyone that wants to see it.

I have been the brunt of racism while I played the game as a youth and it hurt then. I thought that we had ALL grown up. I have to admit this very rarely (ask DW) but I was wrong. We have not grown up at all. We have simply gotten better at hiding it all. I am truly saddened today. This was a wake up call. I have been very lucky to work and make friends with the wide range of people that I have. I have married into a family that I am truly blessed to be a part of. I live in a bubble and I need to find a way out to help do my part that the next generation does not have to feel what I feel today.

Peace.

Chris Gardner has pursued happiness, from the Glide soup kitchen to the big screen

With all the misery in the world, sometimes we forget to celebrate the triumphs. After I finally finish those last two f**king Potter books, this will be my next read. Hopefully I will get that done before the movie comes out.

Ciao.


Chris Gardner has pursued happiness, from the Glide soup kitchen to the big screen

Today's Funny

Submitted by the strange blonde frog.
-------------------------------------

Subject: Flat Tummy.............

A little boy walks into his parents room to see his mom on top of his dad bouncing up and down. The mom sees her son and quickly dismounts, worried about what her son has seen, she dresses quickly and goes to find him. The son sees his mom and asks, "What were you and dad doing?

The mother replies "Well you know your dad has a big tummy and sometimes I have to get on top of it to help flatten it."

"You're wasting your time." says the boy.

"Why is that?" asked his mom, puzzled.

Well, when you go shopping, the lady next door comes over and gets on her knees and blows it right back up".

Monday, June 12, 2006

SLAM! Sports - World Cup 2006

For anyone living under a rock, the 2006 World Cup is presently in full swing in the host country of Germany. Contrary to silly naysayers, football (soccer to you North Americans) is the greatest, most universal sport on the planet. No expensive special equipment is needed. No expanse of land is needed. No sanctioning by governments are required. No uniforms even need be worn. Here is a list of what is need to play the game:

1) An understanding of the official FIFA rules.
2) For a full, proper game, eleven players a side including the keeper/goalie.
3) A round object that can be kicked without hurting the object or the player's foot, head and body (minus the arms and hands). Naturally, a proper foot/soccer ball is preferred but it has been and can be played with a volleyball, a basketball, and veen a tennis ball or orange (see Pele).
4) Desire. And the ability to run up and down helps too. Skill will come with experience and practice.

Anyhow, while there is a fairly complex set of standards to work with, to join, to qualify and such, the end result is that ANY country can qualify a team to play in the World Cup; ANY COUNTRY! Name another sport (not even the Olympics can make this claim) that can do this.

So, along with lines being drawn along country lines (in most of our cases, it is the country of our birth originally or that of our parents or grandparents), we have many rivalries that crop up. So, our good friend Famine (and yes, DW) has his origins in England. I, Dtrini, naturally have Trinidad and Tobago to thank for my gene pool. The two teams are grouped together for the first time ever as this is the first berth that T&T has ever earned (long story some other time on why they missed the 1990 World Cup in Italy). They play each other on Thursday. Enlgand currently has three points based on their win over Paraguay on Saturday; Trinidad earned a point in their Nil-Nil draw with Sweden.

Famine's clan from BF Everett will be trudging down to the big bad city to watch the game at our house for a little friendly up close and personal cheering, eating and drinking session. It promises to be loud, controversial, biting but, as the World Cup itself is, in the end friendly. The heat is on England to not lose to a first timer yet again. Can anyone say "Cameroon"? For Trinidad, another draw (that's a tie, you noobs) means more respect and more importantly, another point. Should they then win against Paraguay, and Sweden beats England in the last group game, then Sweden and Trinidad would move forward to the round of sixteen. Sweet indeed.

So, you ask yourself, and me, what does that have to do with the article linked here. Well, Famine, in the attempt at explaining why that English git that is announcing the games that TSN/Sportsnet are tapped into insists on saying that the Trinidadian squad are "wating to meet their heroes on Thursday". You see, you can play for a country if you, or your parent, was born there or you married and took primary residence there. So, the first white player to play for the national squad hails from England because his mother was born and lived in Trinidad until she was eighteen. So, as a boy, he followed and held as heroes certain players he will now be playing against; good for him. That does not go for the whole squad, but wanker boy would have you believe that they will enter the pitch (that's field for you noobs) with awe in their eyes. Kick one of them the wrong way and see how much awe is exclaimed when they put a foot in your ass.

Should England beat them? Probably. Will they? Probably not. And the simple reason is that EVERY team that makes it to the World Cup deserves to be there. It takes only a single goal to go from goat to hero. Whose in awe of whom now? We will see. :)

GO SOCA WARRIORS, GOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAL!!!!

Peace.

SLAM! Sports - World Cup 2006

Saturday, June 10, 2006

Way behind, per usual.

So, I have been remiss in blogging for a number of reasons but hope to reconnect yet again with the blogging universe as I catch up.

First, many thanks to my DW who, once again, outdid herself as she cooked, prepped and BBQ'd all night and then all day when we hosted our annual Birthday BBQ on May 27th. Many folks, tons of food and a good barrel of ale (i.e. name the drink and we probably drank it).

Thursday, June 08, 2006

CANOE -- CNEWS - Weird News: Philly cheesesteak joint tells customers: Yo, speak English, will youse?

Oh man, one of these controversial items again. Ok, here goes. Look, every country has a dominant language, a primary linguistic chant if you will. For North America, it is English. For Brazil, it is Portugeuse. For Italy, (do I really need to say it?) it is Italian. For France, it is French. While Tourism in most countries means that someone inveitably will speak English or another popular language for the people coming in, it would be expected that you will make the attempt to conform to the place you decided to visit or live in. ESPECIALLY if you are going to live there, you should be expected to learn the language.

George Bush. supreme idiot of the world, may have gone about all of this in the wrong way but he has a point. If you intend to come to the country, be prepared to learn the language. People who gather in their communities so that they can avoid doing so, to me, defeats the reason you came here in the first place. I abhor those who won't even attempt to try to learn the language.

If I moved to Quebec (it would have to be for a damn fantastic opportunity), I would expect nothing less of myself or my family than to learn the language. Not for the idiots that run the place and their stupid language laws and language police. I would want to learn it to speak to those older folks who have the right to converse in their native langauge. I would want to not only make them feel comfortable but to show a manner of respect in attempting to do so. Now, if the elitist f**k still has a problem because I butcher the language in my attempt or I speak like I learn it in an English school, well then f**k 'em.

The business, while understanding they may lose business, has every right to ask their patrons to at least make the attempt to speak the language when ordering, especially when they are willing to help them to do so. Why should the business learn to speak the langauge of every immigrant that comes their to eat? This is stupid and typical and really needs to stop.

Ciao. And Peace.

CANOE -- CNEWS - Weird News: Philly cheesesteak joint tells customers: Yo, speak English, will youse?

Thursday, June 01, 2006

Thursday Funny

Your smile for today.....see how much you can relate to.
ABB

Submitted by LB
---------------

Yuh know yuh is a Trini if...

You refer to all salt crackers as "Crix".
You know the meaning of the word "obzokie".

You go to parties for the food... and the word free never quite had the same meaning.
Your recipe for making orange juice is plenty water, plenty sugar,plenty ice and only 2 orange... and ah pak ah red kool-aid tuh stretch it...

You say "boy" at the beginning of a sentence and "man" at the end of it... and the words "yes we" doesn't refer to any people. .
"Priority" doesn't have anything to do with what you have to do right away.

You put ketchup and peppersauce on your pizza. Anchovies? Yuh losin' it or what?
Your cupboards are full of canned corned beef, pepper sauce and red beans and baked beans ...and a dry coconut for the pelau.

You think steak is a waste of good meat. You rather cut it up and stew it with some potatoes instead ... or curry it and make roti.
You use your finger to measure the water when cooking rice. .

You bring home food from a party.
"Dis August holidays" actually start in July. .

You show disappointment by sucking on your teeth (steupsing) ...and You can conjugate "ah steupse" by age four (three if yuh smart)
You still call a soda a "sweet drink" and an avocado, a "zaboca". and you go to the shoprite clerk and ask them "whe allyuh have de breez?" meaning "where is the laundry detergent?".

You say "whappenin" even at a funeral.
You tell the host "Good Night" when you arrive at someone's home in the evening.

When someone pays you a compliment, you say "Doh mamaguy meh". .When
someone sympathises with you, you comment "Yuh think it easy?".
You refer to all sweet coloured juice as "Kool-Aid".. .

You call a quarter a "schilling" when this really means 24 cents.
You know that using "blue" makes white clothes whiter.

Just because something is called a "bake" you don't assume that it
indicates the way it was cooked.
You have at least one relative living in either England, Canada, or the US.

You know that a washy-kong bears no relationship to King Kong.
You know about straightening, pressing, S-curls and Gherri curls regardless of your ethnic background.

You have cancelled plans because of rain even when you're going to be indoors Rain is also a legitimate reason to be late for a rendez-vous...or to miss work. ...

All vaccinations are called injections.
All dish washing detergents are called "Squezy". .

You know of at least one person who wakes up at 4am to LISTEN to cricket from Australia / New Zealand on the RADIO.
On at least one occasion you have: been told that you have a cold in some part of your anatomy other than your head or chest and/or had a virus named after something popular with the times eg. Bionic, Ninja, the hijab and the sting.

Despite lack of interest, someone has tried to convince you of the benefits of taking a purge, or becoming a born again.
You can feel cold when it's 25° C.

You pronounce words in plural, even though it's meant to be singular, eg."gimme ah COKES" or "ah GRAPES".
You say "FLIM" (film), "AXE" (ask) or "PITIAH"(picture), "STATELLITE" (satellite), "CUTLASH" (cutlass). .

You know what "Wukking a 10-days" is, and know darn well it's going to take much longer than 10 days.
You know the meaning of several indian words, eg. "dahl", "bahgee",
"channa", "bharra", "chunkae", "bowgee" and use them in every language and actually believe them to be the correct English terms.

You know that a lime is not necessarily a fruit.
You call any 'older' woman "Tantie" and any 'older' man "Uncle", regardless of whether or not they are related to you or even know you.

You could sing an entire Parang song in Spanish word for word, but don't speak or understand a word of Spanish.
You can't bring yourself to using the correct "scientific" names of
sensitive body parts because you think it sounds vulgar. Instead you use child-like words such as "tot tots", "bam bam" or "bumsy"

When in doubt of how to prepare something to eat ... CURRY is the always the solution. You know Trinis will curry any and everything (not just meat) even mango, fish, conch, chataigne, etc...
You can call your fellow "countryman" by an ethnic name and it would be ok,eg.chinee-man, creole, dougs, or pyol.