Welcome, Transit New Year

Admittedly, the new year has been so for nearly two weeks, but I digress.

Media has already discussed the turn of the new year to be one that is full of hope (Obamarama) but at the same time full of crap (bomb-ba-bomb-bombs). Jason Jones as Baby New Year puts it best: "The Gaza thing - it's like being born with herpes!" (Not that I think babies born with herpes is funny...)

So here's the Ottawa hopeful new year news, besides the ending of the month+ long bus strike: Kettle Island Bridge.

Here's the Ottawa crapful new year news: Kettle Island Bridge.

You're asking, "What's this non-existent bridge, and why would I care about it?" Well, if you never intend to visit Ottawa, then you wouldn't - so you can just turn off your computer and bask in your city's lack of any transit problems. You have no transit problems? Wow.

***

As far as I know, Ottawa's downtown has always been a complicated stew of pedestrians, cars, and 18-wheelers playing Who Wants to Be A Pancake? (Hint - pedestrians win that one more than 18-wheelers.) This insanity is probably due to a huge bureaucratic mess called Everybody's Fault But My Own.

In any sane city, one would want to make a highway system to have heavy trucks bypass busy pedestrian areas, allow express buses to speedily transport workers from the quiet suburbia to downtown cores, and promote public transit and carpooling by reserving lanes on the road.

But of course, Ottawa has no sane people in it (see: bus strike, prorogue, 2008). So Ottawa is left with a downtown full of trucks and buses wrestling for room in an already congested pancake-filled Rideau/Montreal/King Edward/Elgin/Laurier/Everywhere Else.

Unfortunately, none of these things could be fixed in Ottawa because everyone from the borough councillors to the federal government have to be involved in the decision processes.

The current addressable issue is that the highway to Ottawa ends slightly outside of the core, and the rest of the roads to cross over to Gatineau run through downtown. Quebec and Ontario once had an agreement to build a highway on their respective sides that would be joined by a bridge, so people could go straight across, bypassing the mess. Quebec built their side (Aut-50), and the bridge was built. Guess who didn't build their side?

There are only a few bridges between Gatineau and Ottawa, and they all lead downtown. So the Kettle Island Bridge was proposed (cheapest, most convenient, fricking closer to home), and a whole lot of people were happy (especially this blogger), and probably ready to set it up.

Of course, people would be inconvenienced from having a few acres of land repatriated, some increase of traffic and noise to affected areas, blah blah blah. "Build it in another area - not in my backyard!1!!one!" Then a different set of people would protest with the same complaints.

Fight fight fight!

Anyway, the point is that most levels of government decided on this site after many, many, many years of studies, but some people at the local level don't want it there. However, if all the levels of government can't agree, then the plan will be scrapped and everyone will probably have to start all over again with another site. By the time another plan can be developed, more pancakes would line the streets of downtown Ottawa.

Murry Xmus

In short, my camera is not working so there's no pictures this year. :(

However, despite certain people's disdain (you know who you are) of artificial trees, our plastic tree still has many memories that you can never get from buying a farmed tree, dressing it up like a tart, and then chucking it out or burning it at the end of the season.

This year my mum didn't want to put it up because she said she'd be the one putting it away and it was just a chore for her. However, my siblings pointed out that she never did the putting up nor putting away anyway (except one year I think). In addition, she also went the environmentally conscious way and kept all the presents she bought in giant plastic bags to place next to the LED tree she made on the window. It looked ugly, so I surprised her by making the stupid tree on the 24th while everyone was out. Too bad I can't show you how awesome it is this year, Mario and Luigi and Kirby and all...

We just hot-potted ourselves to oblivion last night and this afternoon. This evening apparently there will be both turkey and roast beef. Merry Christmas to all, and to all a second stomach.

Sum'n thut t'wus unuswully guud t'mungl th'unglsh wuth u's. Nut tu fuur frum sum unglsh ut thur.

Daily Show mentions

After a week of waiting for some comedic commentary from our favourite show, POLITICKS finally appears on the Daily Show. :)

Pet Peeves

Sticky things
Paying money for things that I can do myself for much less
The tablet mouse (just the mouse)
Garbage bins without lids
Traffic jams with Jorghnassen in the car (sorry)
Clothes that show how lumpy I am in all the wrong places
A story without a point
Anything above 27C
Students who think half a page of scribbles counts for points
Running out of hard drive space / memory / everything
Shopping alone
Shopping with someone who doesn't want to go shopping
Waterloo
POLITICKS

The Craigslist Conversation

Chance encounter at the park?

Reply to: cbear45@yahoo.com
Date: 2008-07-19, 11:19PM EST


I saw you walking your dog at the park today wearing a pink fuzzy sweater and a grey skirt. I wanted to talk to you but your dog kept barking at me and you hurried away before I could get your number. Let's meet again without interruptions. :)


**

re: Chance encounter at the park?

Reply to: spot667@hotmail.com
Date: 2008-07-20, 9:31AM EST


You weren't wearing any pants, you sick freak.


**

re: re: Chance encounter at the park?

Reply to: cbear45@yahoocom
Date: 2008-07-20, 9:45AM EST


Just the fact you wrote back shows that you do want to see me again! Same place, same time?

Nostalgia for Stupid TV

I'm not one to write about nostalgia often. That's Jorgh's brother's thing. However, once in a while it will happen - as it will happen to all people I'm sure - that I get bitten by a memory of something that happened in the past. And then it never goes away until I tell Jorghnassen about it until he gets sick of hearing it, or it just eats me up inside until I forget about it a week later. Then it comes back to me again.

None of my memories from the past that torture me are ever pleasant. I do have some good memories, like falling into the rivière du moulin up to my neck (oh wait that's not that good but whatever), getting to see the Rockies and the Atlantic ocean, and making childhood friends whom I am in constant fear of them finding me. But much of the things I remember are either mundane or horrible things I'd rather not remember.

This entry, however, is not exactly horrible but completely inexplicable: some classic sitcom TV shows between the 80s and 90s.

***

Everyone knows of the "reedeeculus" Perfect Strangers, Family Matters, and Full House successes (and consequent successes/downfalls/scandals of the Olsen twins but that's an aside). My family would watch television every evening together for their wholesome, slapstick and childish antics that would unite the entire generation of American and Canadian families in that era forever.

There's also the older Small Wonder that more and more people have gained memory of, lost under the sea of Facts of Life, Growing Pains, Family Ties, and Cosby Show episodes. (Now why would Bill Cosby's show be called "The Cosby Show" but have a character named Huxtable, (same occurance for all his other shows) is also completely inexplicable.)

However, few people remember the really, really stupid shows that would only last a few episodes or a few seasons. I mean really stupid. I'm not talking about shows that were found to be retarded, like how they made a Little Muppet Monsters short that came after the Muppet Babies cartoon. Or other idiotic cartoons made just to sell toys (millions of examples come to mind).

This one is really stupid.

When ABC's TGIF shows became huge successes, the network counted on the stable, popular and long running shows like Full House and Family Matters to boost ratings on newer shows they'd slip in during the two hour block. This particular show was called Going Places.



I can't even begin to explain what this show is about. I couldn't tell you even when I was 10 or 11 watching it to begin with. If you watch the intro you'd think the show was about two young couples having wacky adventures in Hollywood and living it up on boats or something.

Let's just assume that that's the case. I'm ashamed enough about this show... because for some inexplicable reason, when I was 10 or 11, I was crazy about it. The song, the characters, their house, their jobs, the idiotic jokes (that I don't remember), EVERYTHING.

And I can't even tell you what the show is about because I don't remember a damned thing about it.

What I do remember, and this will probably haunt me forever (and I will probably regret putting this out in the open), is that I was so nuts about this show that I wrote a story about it. I wrote a fanfic about a terrible sitcom in the 90s before the internet became mainstream. I even remember the title: Going Climbing (maybe because their living it up Hollywood style wasn't enough that they had to get out of Hollywood to have anything else outlandish happen). It was probably about the four main characters going mountain climbing. I especially remember showing the rough pages to my friend in school, and his response was, "You really like that show, huh?"

However, I think I recall vaguely how I felt when the show was cancelled after a year. Devastated? Crushed? Somewhat relieved? It was probably the reason I wrote that fan-fiction. I must have chucked it out a few years later, but I would have liked to see exactly what I wrote and why I was so obsessed with that show.

Lessons from Junior Senior

Yesterday I discovered that my latest favourite band, Junior Senior, had called it quits since the end of September. No surprises actually, as both Junior and Senior (Jesper and Jeppe) had been pursuing solo works over the last little while.

In the off chance you have never heard of Junior Senior, there are many videos online of their music. Their breakthrough in the NA market is probably Move Your Feet, noted for the pixel art featured in the video, back in 2003 when it made the run throughout the geek blogger circles.


Another notable song was done with the collaboration with the B-52s singers - Take My Time:


Last year, I became entranced with the band. I listened to their albums constantly while driving back and forth between work while in Waterloo. I forced Jorgh to listen to it while I made the 8 hour marathon drives, and I still listen to it to drive him nuts.

The reason I listen to it all the time, and have not gone nuts, is that JS never goes old. Well, there's two reasons actually; as a musician, I'm used to excessively repeating pieces, and I don't get as tired of hearing pieces I like, as other people might. (Which is also why I annoy Jorgh with Queen as well, but that's another story.)

Every song in their repertoire is fun, catchy, and definitely good for dancing. Inspirational when you're down in the dumps. Celebratory when you're doing something great. (Stupid when you're doing the vacuuming but whatever.) There's definitely an element of fun-for-the-sake-of-it in their songs, rather than something grandiose or corny. I'm sorry to see them split but at least they gave the world a great sound. :)

All the pressures you embrace
They take you to a magic place
And take your magic place along
And put that feeling in a song

And keep on working through the morning
Working through the night
Until you see the light
Cuz You can hold it in your hand
And try to understand
Just do it do it do it get it down
Cuz music's not just sound

Keep on working on something better
Keep on working on something better
Keep on working on something better

-Junior Senior, I Like Music (W.O.S.B.)