Category: Uncategorized

God’s Hand

It was interesting to read these words in a Martin O’Malley bit hidden on CBC.ca somewhere quoting the Colorado Rockies Manager of all people:

“You look at things that have happened to us this year. You look at some of the moves we made and didn’t make. You look at some of the games we’re winning. Those aren’t just a coincidence. God has definitely had a hand in this.”

He meant it in a good way. Languishing as they are now at .429, does Satan now get the credit? Separate from the entirely sensible personal faith decisions of the players¹, just as with each of us, the larger role of the Christian pantheon and the sports-related religiousity of the fan’s expectation of outcome has never been very clear to me. Where stand the Cherubim, for example? Do they hover, guiding the bunted ball this way or that way along the third-base line? Why does Jesus not guide the hand of the child at catcher in the picture, too?

It was interesting to consider that quote and the statuette in light of the total collapse of the Red Sox that has gone from just bad pitching to something far worse. David Ortiz, the team’s star designated hitter, appears to be suffered from rapid heartbeat. Manny Ramirez also was out with knee problems and has missed his fifth start in seven games. That is in addition to the fact that “Doug Mirabelli (left ankle) and Wily Mo Pena (left wrist) are still day-to-day. Jason Varitek, Trot Nixon and Alex Gonzalez are all on the disabled list.” That is basically 2/3s of the team other than the pitching. And the pitching is not doing that well – which is a very polite way of putting it. Yet He abides with us.

But even with all that abiding – what do you make of a month like this? The World Series is a long way away but I seem to recall thinking that one was enough. I had made that pact before it happened, a little prayer. Was it me?

¹ One cannot but be impressed, for example, by Wakefield’s good works in the community or Timlin’s calm strength on the mound even as they may be dealing with the end of their best pitching years.

August SW Ontario Road Trip

Mucho fried after 17 hours in 48 driving, driving, driving along with the questionable food and the more questionable guest bed arrangements. I could have been to Boston or even farther and back. Not too much to complain about as I dropped by a couple of breweries on the way, including my first trip to Neustadt Springs, home of the excellently named 10W30 dark ale and also picked up some new ones for me from Church-Key.

Start Your Christmas Shopping Now

Care of a kind word from a co-worker, I learned that the LCBO Vintages folk released 375 ml bottles of Lustau East India Sherry on Saturday. As I know my mother does not read this blog…or the internet at all ¹…I know I am safe to admit this is her stash for wee cakes and scones and after a nice bit of lamb and with a wee bit of blue cheese and beside a dish of trifle…and before and after a nap. Here is a review from one wine site’s review of the Lustau range as well as one from a wine blog. Note: “A blend of Soleras averaging 15 to 50 years of age.” Yum! Wee whisps of the 1950s in the glass.

¹’cause onywin tha’ dae is gang tae Scots Prrrrresbyterrrrian HELLLLLLL!

Moving Stuff

With the move to long-term contractual indebtedness, there has been a small wave of thing acquisition that canot go unmentioned, and not just the junior gin-soaked popinjay training kit. These are things that have worked and I recommend:

  • My Dolly: I was not aware that what I know as a dolly in Canada is a hand truck in the States. But there is no doubt aoub t the fact that the move was made on a Model PJD2223A Harper Nylon Dual Hand Truck (Jr). This thing was sixty bucks or so at the Home Depot and at any given time has move two rolled up futons, or a six foot tall computer desk or umpteen boxes of books. With a removable handle (bright yellow in my version) it flips from a two-wheel box jockey to a four-wheel table on wheels. It has saves both back and patience.
  • Bankers Boxes: In the good old days, you went to the NSLC and picked up wine boxes and rum boxes and moved your stuff in those. [Don’t try it with the PEILLC, however, as apparently those boxes are valuable assets that only a fool would think of wanting for free, thus earning you the locally classic yet over-used dirty look abaft.] Now, I am a man and I go and buy bankers boxes when I move. Not the big ones, either. The smaller letter sized one will do. Because they are all the same size and very sturdy you can stack a whack of them on your Harper Nylon Dual Hand Truck (Jr). And because you bought the small ones you can remove them without fear of hoisting an inadvertantly 400 lb one that wrenches the back. Slow and steady wins the race. And they also provide sensible storage for the stuff that does not see daylight.
  • The Scott Classic: Who the hell needs a Briggs and Stratton in the sub-urbs. The lawn I now own takes 15 minutes to mow. So I own a green Scotts Classic mower with a fancy green paint job and bright orange wheels. I puff about as much with a push gasoline mower but without the blue fog of exhaust. Cheaper to buy, cheaper to run and a brief nod to exercise before the self-inflicted prize of a cold drink.

Three smart sensible things. I am not usually like this. One thing I have not bought yet are contaps or tapcons to drill into the brick and secure the angled flag pole bracket for the front of the house. Houses ought to have flag poles. Especially when you have a 3×5 Louisiana with the pelicans on it.

Cricketing Shame

How could I have missed the news? Caught up in the last bits of summer…looking at boats…finally getting the push mower out for a go after weeks of drought and brown laws. How could I have missed this?

Eventually, after nearly an hour of après-tea negotiating, the Pakistanis were convinced to continue. But by that time — with some 24,000 fans in the stands and in the dark about the proceedings — the officials had decided that Pakistan had forfeited the game. In 129 years of international cricket, never before had a game been terminated thusly. When you think about the aborted international games in other sports that immediately spring to mind — about the appalled Soviets getting off the ice on Broad Street or Bobby Knight pulling his basketball team off the floor against his hated Communist opponents — cricket’s was an astounding run of civility. So chalk up another milestone in the sporting world’s further descent into the underworld.

The Flickering Light

More connection problems that are making me think that the modem is dying. Do modems die? I dutifully unplug, replug and reset it with a certain percentage of luck getting back on line. It reminds of days in small urban centre Poland when the phone rang, people shouted what sounded like “Tak, soo-ham!!” which I understand means “Yes, I am here!!” and then hangs up as only about one in seven connections were ever made. For $39.99 a month I should have better analogies springing to mind than eastern Europe of the immediate post-communist era.

Anyway, how would you know if your modem was dying?

Friday Chatting As Cats Glare

So I figured if I was qualified to act as judge and executioner over the life of a
cat I was at least qualified to be amateur boy vet. Seems likely from what
you read on the internet that the old thing is anxious from the move, creating
alkaline pee and over eating. I’ve been doing that too so I am not slightly
sympathetic. Away with the all-night cat food buffet and in with the locking
them up with slightly acidified water. We’ll see. I know there are alkalined cat
lovers out there so I will not be grim or overly Nero-like with these decisions.
See you keep me on a moral path.

  • Update: The Flea writes good.

  • Gary wants you to know that he has a
    myspace blog     now. I do not know if this is wise of him as there is a heck of
    a lot of flotsom and jetsom around the MySpace world but Gary will let us know.
    I would tell you but as a joke I set mine up in German just to see and now I get
    emails from teens in Leipzig whom I have no interest in having as mein
    Freunden    .

  • On a fancy-grade whim, I bought one of these
    which I saw on deep discount. It is, as far as I can tell, is a junior
    gin-soaked popinjay training kit and pairs with the subterranian stash
    nicely. Suggestions for accessories welcome. I already have housed the pair of
    Greenock golf club whisky tumblers so you can rest easy on that account.

  • It appears that talking
    with terrorists     is in fact what one does after all. Of course, we knew this
    and did not buy into the pre-post-post-9/11 thinking that conveniently forgets
    the IRA, ETA, the MPLA and every other acronymed militant insurgent radical
    political movement in human history. As these people are people in the
    neighbourhood and not cyborgs in a robot army,
    settlement and reconciliation at the end of the day is the only end game.

  • I am concerned for the lack of respect that imaginary mystic
    dwarves     are getting these days.

So it is the end of another week
and another week’s worth of bullet points. I hope to be off to the Antique Boat Regatta
at some point on t’other side of the bridge as I wants to hear wee boats go
VVRRROOOOOOOOOOOM but it all depends on the weather.

Gee…The Constitution Does Govern

Speaking of constitutions and freedoms and stuff, here is the opinion part of the ruling of the Federal Court on the suspension of the US administration’s domestic surveillance program. Great paragraph at page 40:

We must first note that the Office of the Chief Executive has itself been created, with its powers, by the Constitution. There are no hereditary Kings in America and no powers not created by the Constitution. So all powers must derive from that Constitution.

Via the Jurist.