The Shape of Things to Come

So that’s our September all planned out.

Oh, and it’s a boy.

“You see, Michaëlle, Carla and I have, how you say? Ah, yes. An agreement. This pleases you, non?”

Oh, yeah. And Gilles Duceppe blew a gasket in the House of Commons today because our sexy, sexy Governor-General had the temerity to suggest that there are francophones in provinces not called Quebec.

Other Québecois issued their own statement on the matter: “Wait? Gilles Duceppe is still in Ottawa?”

(photo: Michel Euler, AP)

Cranford

Sometimes I forget how truly awesome PBS can be. Last Sunday, Masterpiece Theatre Classic premiered the first episode of the three part BBC series: Cranford.

Set in 1842 Cheshire, Cranford is a town, run chiefly by widows, spinsters, and one Lady Ludlow, who owns most of the land, where everything is to be done a certain way, rules are to be followed and nothing should ever change. So when a doctor in fancy duds shows up, practicing radical battlefield surgery, that’s one thing. When poor Captain Brown announces his intention help build a railway though the town, that’s quite another thing entirely.

The show does dwell on class divisions (which, of course, delights me) in that you have characters like Lady Ludlow, who fears the education of the working classes lest she end up like her Parisian cousins during the Reign of Terror. Meanwhile, a young boy whose family lives in a run down hovel is given the opportunity to learn to read.

Mostly, it’s about the shock that comes with a rupture with the past and while change is always inevitable, there is often a value in holding fast.

And you don’t mess around with proper lace.

See Items from the Bay’s September Clearance Bin Today

Because when our athletes proudly march into that Olympic Stadium in Beijing, it’s important that they appear dignified and stylish.

(link)

(Photo: J.P. Moczulski, THE CANADIAN PRESS)

Harper to Tour Flood Zones

Prime Minister Stephen Harper is in New Brunswick this afternoon, touring areas affected by the extensive flooding of the St. John River.

“The flooding in downtown Fredericton reaffirms a long-held belief I’ve held about Atlantic Canada,” said the Prime Minister in a statement released on Friday to selected media outlets that the PMO currently abides.

“The St. John River, like much in this region, suffers from a defeatist and “can’t do” attitude. Instead of flowing in a productive, efficient way through the province and into Saint John’s harbour, the bloated, ineffectual river has chosen to overflow its banks, causing damage to private property and expecting the taxpayer to spend his hard-earned money to clean up its mess. It could have pulled itself up by its own bullrushes and flowed as other rivers in the rest of the country flow. Instead, the river simply gave up.”

“There will be no federal money given to the clean-up effort. It is time the St. John River learn to stand on its own feet,” he concluded. “Or, in this case, its own silt.”

The Prime Minister then called New Brunswickers “gross” for eating fiddleheads because they grow in dirty ditches, pushed a child to the ground and stole her balloon, got on his government plane and headed back to Ottawa.

Miss Peaches

Peaches’ “Fuck the Pain Away,” as performed by Miss Piggy.

Hey, third YouTube post in a row. Go me!

A nation of empty stubbies salutes you

Teenage Head - “Teenage Beer Drinkin’ Party”

When I was 12, I wanted a red suit just like Frankie Venom’s.