This is refreshing

This is refreshing.

Now at least they’re admitting when they spread the lies around.

The ravens all are closing in, there's nowhere you can hide

I guess the combination of “stimulus” and “Gay Pride” was just a little too much for the Homophobe Party of Canada.

Federal Tourism Minister Diane Ablonczy has given up responsibility for overseeing a major stimulus fund that sparked controversy in Conservative Party ranks after it gave $400,000 to a Toronto gay pride celebration in mid-June.

Conservative MP Brad Trost, a critic of the Pride Week grant, is suggesting that the Harper government stripped Ms. Ablonczy of responsibility for the fund as a punishment.

He implied in an interview with LifeSiteNews.com, a socially conservative news service, that Ms. Ablonczy lost control of the $100-million Marquee Tourism Events Program because the gay pride grant embarrassed the Tories.

Or maybe this was more a case of punishment for funding an event in Toronto, which seems to be equally offensive to the government.

 

Technorati Tags: Canada,Politics

Arrowhead Provincial Park

From Arrowhead

We were last at Arrowhead Provincial Park three years ago. The park hasn't changed much, except for a fancy new bridge over the river. This trip was much wetter than the last one. It rained every day, except the day we arrived. We took advantage of the dry day by heading to the beach as soon as we were set up, and spent an hour in the warm water.

The rest of the week was a washout, weather-wise, with steady rain on a few days, and two or three nights where it rained all night long. Despite the rain, we did manage to get some paddling in. Arrowhead Lake is quite small, so it only takes a few minutes to get to the far end.

We went for an evening trip one day, near dusk, and were rewarded with a close encounter with a beaver. The beaver was crossing the lake when we first saw it, and on our return trip on the far shore we managed to get within about 15 feet as it swam up and down the shoreline. The park is full of deer, although we saw fewer of them on this trip.

One morning, just after parking the canoe, we heard something in the water. A deer was swimming the length of the lake, and ended up on the main beach. I had no idea deer could swim that fast.

From Arrowhead

Lots more photos here:

http://picasaweb.google.com/BernardsElmira/Arrowhead

Videos here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dN-Hy1hD3VU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FnOZPQJzTUg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EKALucq0w1s
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G3GJY_zqJ9U
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Lwb36Y23xM

 

Technorati Tags: Arrowhead Provincial Park,Camping

Rosemary and Time

James Bow ran an election pool during the last federal election, and by some miracle combination of good luck, good scotch and total fluke, I placed in the top three.  The prize for the contest was a copy of The Young City, the latest of his Unwritten Books.

I had a chance to read The Young City while waiting out the rain at Arrowhead last week.  The book is called a "young adult" novel, and I suppose that's a accurate description.  I certainly enjoyed reading it, though, and I no longer qualify to be called a young anything...

The story takes place in Toronto, in the present and in 1884, as the young heroes are mysteriously sent back in time to a much younger city.  The pace of the novel is quick, and the characters are well formed.  The only thing I found myself wanting more of was an edge.  The concept and story are strong, but if this were a novel aimed at a more adult audience, I think a little more weight would have been fitting.  Not that I'm complaining - as a book for young adults, this hits the mark.

 

Technorati Tags: Literature,James Bow

Set the controls for the heart of the sun

Wow, was it warm yesterday.  After the rain stopped, I mowed the lawn in the early evening.  It was still in the mid 30s, with the humidity.  I was sweating like Michael Jackson standing before Saint Peter…

Too soon?

Quote of the day

From Overheard in New York.

"Why the fuck are people still building greenhouses if we have the greenhouse effect?"

MacGregor Point Provincial Park

We spent last weekend at MacGregor Point Provincial Park, near Port Elgin.  The threat of rain didn't keep too many campers away, and although it poured hard from about 2:00am to 10:00am, we still managed to squeeze in a couple of 10km bike rides on Saturday.  Sunday was sunny and warm, and the kids spent a couple of hours playing with some clay they found at the beach.

We saw deer, and deer tracks on the beach.  There were lots of friendly raccoons roaming from campsite to campsite in the late afternoon, and I almost drove over a pheasant on the way out of the park on Sunday afternoon.

We're starting to make MacGregor our annual first trip, since it's so close (1:45 on the way up, 1:35 on the way back) from the Waterloo area, and the biking trails are fantastic.

 

Technorati Tags: MacGregor Point Provincial Park,Camping