Let's see what's going on. The Jays picked up a shortstop:  •  “Clayton, 36, batted .258 with two home runs and 40 runs batted in last season for the Washington Nationals and the Cincinnati Reds. He stole 14 bases and made 18 errors...The Blue Jays will be Clayton's 10th major-league team. Clayton …

Just for the record, I just was outside at the garbage bin at 7:30 pm in shorts and a t-shirt and it is 11°C or around 52°F. Makes one want to use the blink function. It all ends tomorrow and won't likely be back for about fourteen weeks...which is not bad for winter in Canada.

It has to be the Charlie Brown Christmas that does it. We watched and I kept looking for edits but still Yule came right on time. I am sure Sally has a tantrum that is cut after she wants tens and twenties for Christmas. And there was a mean bit that I though was extra just before Lucy offers …

If you read the beer blog at all you will know that I am a big a fan of beer and spirits writer Lew Bryson of Pennsylvania - whose books you all should buy by the way. Lew is the first guy to answer any emailed question the amateur beer writer might have - the one the other week about how to find …

Another in the BBC photo series of how and where people live. I quite like these and now know what I have in common with ry, Gary and the Flea. We are all sooth moothers.

So who would you vote for? An inflated record holder who will not discuss that jar of stuff in his locker or an inflated record holder who set of the cleaning-up of the game...to whatever degree it will be cleansed?  •  “Mark McGwire, Tony Gwynn and Cal Ripken Jr. headline the first-time …

More confirmation of Australian ties to the proppy-uppery of dictatorship. Should we not now rename the kangaroo the kanga-won't?  •  “A high-level commission investigating corruption in the United Nations oil-for-food program released a long-awaited report on Monday stating unequivocally that a …

This is a nice thing to know:  •  “When pressed by reporters as to who qualifies as Québécois, Ms. LeBreton suggested it had a broad meaning. “I know anglophone Quebeckers who call themselves Québécois,” she said.  •  But when asked whether the motion applied to all residents of Quebec, Mr. Cannon …

This is the inevitable and obvious implication except for not being in the plural - I understand "nations" is what they are:  •  “British Columbia Premier Gordon Campbell is calling on Ottawa to extend the same acknowledgment of Quebeckers as a nation within Canada to the country's aboriginal …

It must be the holidays. I made the julglogg this afternoon (Polish vodka, frozen mixed berries into mason jars for 30 days or so), got ticked over the number of "special events" the kids are already booked up for and remembered to pull out the old "send me an address and I will mail you a card" …

Dan has a little link to a really freaky vertigo-laced bit of YouTubery:  •  Yikes.

The BBC has an interesting set of photos on a German anarchist living in a squat in London:  •  “Jan does not claim benefits and describes himself as a micro-entrepreneur. "Some anarchists are really radical and don’t want money, but they are on the dole. I say, 'How can you do that when you are …

A few years ago I decided that not getting sleep was not good. I yap about napping a lot but it is one of the few things I make a point of doing. And I am not talking about dealing with a cold. But I seem to have put my head down last night at 4:30 pm and pretty much snoozed until 7:15 am. I …

This is an interesting article for nothing to do with the point of the article, which is roughly this:  •  “An anonymous blogger who posted pro-Bob Rae and anti-Michael Ignatieff messages on the Internet works for a high-profile Montreal advertising firm, leading to allegations the Rae camp was …

Another Black Friday is upon the good folks down south. Local neighbouring news shows people lined up outside big box stores at 4 am and I have to wonder why. I suppose some need that thing and need the 40% off to get that other thing. And I have a sense that we will be soon entering the period …

Yesterday I opened up this one with a consideration that Yule represents something pan-Western that might be leveraged as a non-legal foundation element. I think it is important to consider the non-legal elements, perhaps if only first, as the real issue is the need to establish cultural …

Is Thanksgiving discriminatory against the grumpy?

So, it seems we are off to the races once again:  •  “Prime Minister Stephen Harper has waded into the controversial issue of Quebec nationhood, saying he would introduce a motion recognizing that Quebecers form a nation "within a united Canada."”  •  Time for Newfoundland to speak up - not to …

I must be fairly happy and on top of things where I am in life as it is November 22 and I swear it is December 22 in terms of the holidays. And it's not just me. I've already seen the be sensible and prudent at Christmas parties email go around at work - always a good reminder - and the ads are …

People will go on and on about "judge-made law" and the allegedly undemocratic nature of courts - though without any real evidence or authority for making that claim - but this ruling from the Courts of Israel is indicative of the far reaching effect a progressive and rights based ruling can have …

I thought I had mentioned the Ottery St. Marys Tar Barrels somewhere around here earlier in our discussions of early football and cheese rolling. These great pictures of the event - fascinating in their publication for sale to happy grannies and aunts of the kiddies involved as opposed to being …

"Syria Saves The Day!"??? So much for staying the course, I suppose.  •  “Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh hailed the agreement with Syria as historic. "The latest talks between the Syrian and Iraqi side have been crowned by declaring a new era with the participation of the Syrian …

Sadly, people still are not getting it:  •  “The Internet ranks behind only television as the leading source for science news and information, but most users won't trust what they read online blindly, a new study finds. The Pew Internet and American Life Project said in a report Monday that 20 per …

So it was a win after all, 20-14 over Connecticut and not a bad one for our overly focusing focus of this theme not to be repeated theme:  •  “Senior punter Brendan Carney punted seven times for 317 yards for a 45.3 average and pinned the Huskies inside the 20-yard line four times. For his …

You buy a snow shovel and the next morning there is a skiff of snow upon the land. Gary mentions a bit of the same in south Easlakia.  •  Birds on new birdfeeder, too. We really ought to sign with with those eggheads at Cornell's FeederWatch program. Within an hour of putting it up, a female …

The New York Times has an article on the pitchers the Yankees might go after in the near future with the question being why not Ted Lilly?  •  “It could be that the Yankees are more serious about other free agents from a group that includes Jason Schmidt, Gil Meche, Randy Wolf, Jeff Suppan and …

This is just funny. Remember how almost twenty years ago we had to put up with the self-reverential crapfest that was the TV show Thirty Something wherein a bunch of yuppies moaned and groaned about how tough life was now that their youth and the seventies were behind them? It was a smash. Well …

"Just ask Santa for a new camera, Al!"  •  Big night last night in downtown Kingston. I skipped last years after spending the year before in the rain. Good thing I did go as we saw the best parade thing ever - sheep being herded by border collies. Still wondering about the camera but at least it …

I suppose this is good news, I shouldn't be such a crank - and I am all about taking a chance and trying to do the right thing...yet...staying a week and no one else knew?  •  “Mr. Grinius is expected to stay in North Korea for at least a week to meet mostly with foreign affairs officials …

This is weird. I was not aware that Syracuse had the right to actually have more points on the board late in a game in the Big East. But look:  •  “  •  Touchdown, Syracuse.  •  Syracuse quarterback Perry Patterson tossed an 18-yard touchdown pass to Curtis Brinkley with 4:58 left in the third …

There are so many things I have yet to figure out: why I still have no snow shovel, why I didn't set my alarm again. That sort of thing. But I am not sure about the US holiday season - when "the holidays" are. I am wondering about this Thanksgiving thing, the one that seems to show up five weeks …

Matsuzaka!  •  Matsuzaka!  •  Matsuzaka!  •  Matsuzaka!!!

I am working my way through a rather huge but very interesting book on the history of the chemistry and archaeobiology of beer and brewing published by the Royal Society of Chemists so my mind, more than the usual, is focused on folk who lived with wood and stone and skins. Which Makes for an easy …

Been a long time since we have had an Olympic boycott based on political dispute. Surely it must be time now if only due to the passing of time and the natural lapse of memory. And surely we should be able to take the foot off the clutch and call for one if we are truly going to lead the way on …

Seeing this is cut and paste day from the MSM [Ed.: the dastards! Give me more.], this digital world meets the Darwin awards is a decent morality play for the day:  •  “...a university professor needed help after he tried to fix a squeaky desktop computer by squirting it with WD-40 oil. The squeak …

In a move guaranteed to revive rumours of The Party of the Flea, Garth Turner is apparently seeking the status usually reserved for groups of two or more humans:  •  “He said he has decided to quit the Conservatives altogether and will seek legal opinions about how the big parties can be forced to …

As opposed to the sports of long term planning that will restore the quality of the environment to 2017 standards by 2086, this is interesting to see out of the UK if only as it is indicative of how properly done there is no need to fear the boogieman of a social security gap in the future …

Madness reigns. You write what you want to write. Up too late with nothing - nothing - popping into my head. You have to carry the ball today. Write about anything you like. Let's see how you do. Where's my coffee. What day is it?

Got a little Christmassy last night watching Tales from the Green Valley on TVO last night, a 2005 BBC production, in which a number of academics with good teeth live in a 1620's Welsh farm and display how civilized it all would have been without the ignorance, disease, constant use of alcohol and …

A range of emotions watching this band in this show on Much last night:  •  What a waste of time. Some guy dressed like an auto mechanic singing "Muskrat Love" with two back up singers dressed like identical junior high English teachers.How is it no one the thought of this before? It's a guy …

I think I am still definitely undecided. I see stories like this and I think that this is not what I want playing out in the national political scene:  •  “Bob Rae says he can position the Liberals as the best option to take on Prime Minister Stephen Harper's Conservatives because his leadership …

I think this goes to the heart of the matter. You cannot create community though a pslamic responsive pattern of conversation and without actually meeting people you really aren't creating relationships - though you may be creating something else that has its own distinct benefits:  •  “The …

Two weeks have passed. There was a week off. I had no idea people got weeks off. Maybe the chance for a breather, the chance to come back refreshed and renewed. Maybe.  •  Another stinker and another reason to re-evaluate this sort of theme posting. Once again, the play put me to sleep, waking …

A damp rainy Saturday for this year's ceremonies. Much talk about a state funeral for the last WWI vet - of which there are only three left in Canada and about 25 in the USA. When did the last Boer War vet pass away? Have we remembered their lives? Last year I thought of great-uncle John, a teen …

I don't know why my head is fudge as I did not get up at 4:30 am this morning. Yet it is Friday which has its delights and demands...including bullet point chitchattery.  •  I did stay up to watch the Louisville v. Rutgers game which was amazing. The field goal kicker getting a second try at …

After last week's Jane Pitfield debacle where I had a nice talk with the possible future Mayor of Toronto I vowed never to let it happen again. For folk not of the Great White North, this is the new Red Green, Brent Butt of Corner Gas.  •  The scene. I was at the corner of King and Young, exactly …

...chich-a-tee-chick-chich-a-tee-chick-chich-a-tee-chick-chich-a-tee-chick...  •  You know why Trudeau should have gone all France and built that high speed train in the Quebec-Windsor corridor?  •  ...chich-a-tee-chick-chich-a-tee-chick-chich-a-tee-chick-chich-a-tee-chick...  •  So I did not have …

As of 5:37 am. Click here for actual interactive map.  •  I must seem an entire nerd to be typing at 5:08 am but there is this course I am on tomorrow which means there is this train I am on tomorrow. And that train leaves town at 5:25 am. Last time I took it I felt like a wet shoe box for two …

Along with the legislative "I see strangers!" this is one of my favorite procedural phrases - and one which has popped up this week in an English court:  •  “A Muslim lawyer was at the centre of another controversy in Britain over the wearing of full-face veils on Wednesday after she twice refused …

If it were up to me we would vote all the time. Never mind the expense or the inevitable lack of interest in the process it would generate. I just think it makes for great entertainment. As far as I can tell, today's vote in the USA boils down to three likely outcomes:  •  A last minute retraction …

What is "smoot-smeared"?  •  “"Whoso belongs only to his own age, and reverences only its gilt Popinjays or smoot-smeared Mumbojumbos, must needs die with it."”  •  A Seinfeld character said this to George this evening (thanks to the wonder of magnetic tape which has stored it for 15 years) and …

Will they play "Don't Stop Thinking About Tomorrow" somewhere tomorrow night? Who knows now? No one. But we can guess:  •  “1. Democrats 49, Republicans 49, Independents 2.  •  2. Democrats 239, Republicans 196  •  3. A Sonnet  •  “"Let me not put it to you in any other way:  •  In this campaign I …

The last minute races in the east north country seem to be the race for Jefferson County Sheriff, judging by the amount of TV and radio ad money being spent by Dan Larkin, the Republican challenger. I like his URL of www.nodonuts.org. I'll be tracking that one for the internet tomorrow night. Also …

OK, simply because there was no Syracuse football game this weekend, that doesn't mean I don't get to rehash the material I have posted when I want on a Sunday. So here again are the questions for the US Mid-term election pool:  •  Name the total number of seats in the US Senate that the Democrats …

"...this would be a great time for a double..."  •  Even with the great joy that accompanies the day dictators get their due (with the Ceausescus having a special place given how public it was) we do have to recall their awareness of what might have been and what they have lost. Saddam has mislaid …

This is a bizzare sort of image of leadership:  •  “"I went to 24 Sussex and the media were waiting outside," Klein recalled. Harper looked out and said 'I bet you feel the same way about the media as I do,' which is to say he doesn’t like them. I told him he should accommodate the reporters" …

The picture to the right by Barton Silverman in The New York Times this morning. It captures what is so attractive about Pedro - he is actually a fairly happy open person, as the story attached to it describes:  •  “Part of Martínez’s charm is that he speaks his mind, whether it is calling the …

I failed to mention that when we left our hotel Monday morning we walked straight into Jane Pitfield campaigning for Mayor and had a very pleasant conversation for a couple of minutes on the sidewalk at the corner of King and Yonge as commuters and actual voters raced around us. She invited us to …

It looped. Whatever I had a couple of weeks ago looped back. The head is a bongo left in the hands of a three-year old. Everyone is hacking. I drink the blood of pine trees for comfort.  •  For some reason I needed to record Omega Race, a big part of my early undergrad, here on the blog today. If …

As the cause of fun advances with the further creeping domination by that thing that is the robot with a billion keyboards, let us not forget that there are victims along the way, good people working hard and getting crushed:  •  “A firm selling machinery to make tubes and pipes has sued internet …

I have not watched any CFL this year so I had no idea that the thing had gone to heck so quickly:  •  “Die-hard fan Aymie Rondeau called for Saskatchewan faithful to purchase gopher puppets from the Riders' online store. "Our goal is to fill the stands with Gainers," she said. "The Stamps may be …

Seeing as we are on a roll, let's have an election pool. Not a tough one, not like the sports pool. Nice and simple:  •  Name the total number of seats in the US Senate that the Democrats, Republicans and Independents have...not win as not all are up for election. You are ranked by your deviation …