This is really strange

I had never run into this particular use of the term "Canadian" before. I always thought that "Canadian" to most Americans is about as innocuous and inoffensive as it gets, but I guess not. Read the full story on this link.

Something I'd Never Done Before

A couple of years ago when I was in charge of the SSYC NW Harvest Benefit Race, I met Alma Rubinstein, aka The Professional Dater. She had just started a dating service here in Seattle and used the SSYC event to try and drum up some business. In any case, we kept in touch, and once in a while she'd use me as an emergency back-up date for some love-seeking woman who'd signed on with her. I was glad to be of service, and since I'm unattached most of the time, there was always the possibility of me finding that special someone. I hadn't heard from her for over a year, but she called me yesterday afternoon asking if I could fill an empty chair at a speed-dating event she was hosting at a coffee shop that night. I wasn't doing anything else, so I figured why not? You've probably heard about these things. At this event, there were 9 men and 9 women, mostly in their 40's and 50's. The women sat at numbered tables, and the men moved from one table to the next every five minutes at the sound of a bell (kinda like a cross between Pavlov's dogs and Musical Chairs). We all made notes about the prospective dates, and then when it was all over, we handed in a summary sheet with the names of the women, and whether or not we wanted to see them again. The women did the same thing, and we will be notified by email of any mutual dating interest. It was a bit weird, but it was also fun and wasn't as uncomfortable as I thought it might be. There were a couple of women there with possibilities, but I don't think I'll follow up with anyone, even if they express interest in me. I don't have a shortage of interesting women in my life at the moment.

The presidential primaries are shaking out the riff-raff. Mr. 9/11 has finally packed it in, leaving McCain and Mr. Magic Underpants to battle it out. McCain is the scary one for Democrats. He's hated by core Republicans, but has a big appeal to independent voters. I think he can beat Hillary in a head-to-head competition. Republican hatred of Hillary will trump their dislike of McCain any day.

And it looks like John Edwards is giving up his bid, and his timing is good. As I've written before, I think more of his vote will go to Obama rather than Hillary. I guess we'll see on Super-Duper Tuesday.

My prediction of a McCain-Obama presidential race stands.

It's starting to pay off

I've been working out for about six weeks now, having had a dozen sessions with Cliff the Personal Trainer. I've had a couple of 90-minute aerobic/weight training/core strength group sessions. I've played racquetball twice, and will play again tomorrow. I've been walking a lot. I haven't had a drink in three weeks, and I haven't smoked (anything) in a month. So even though I just about puked and passed out in my aerobic/weight training/core strength group session today, I feel great! My knees and ankles are more flexible than they've been in years, and even with all the hiking and walking I've done in the last few days, I have virtually no stiffness or pain. And after having my weight go up a bit when I first started working out, I've now lost at least five pounds, and a bunch of inches. I'll keep this up until I go to Bucharest and Budapest, and assuming that I survive the attacks by the wild dogs and/or Mafia in Bucharest, I'll try and keep it up on my own when I get back.

This is all good. At least while the world goes to hell in hand basket (unless Obama is elected and saves us all), I'll be fit and trim.

Little Si

Living here in the greatest place on god's green earth, the Pacific Northwest, we are surrounded by mountains and water. I've spent a lot of time on the water, but not much time in the mountains. Until now. Today, Caroline, Fred (aka, Lee Stenson), and I did the first of what I hope are many hikes and climbs. Here we are at the top of the Little Si trail. I think that's the real Mount Si in the background. The Little Si trail is a good starter trail. It's about 5 miles long, with a pretty decent grade, but it's not a ball-buster. I was pleased in that my old body didn't seem to mind too much. I had more than enough lung power, and my knees and ankles didn't protest too loudly. There are literally hundreds of this kind of trail in Washington. I'm ready for the next one!

As of this writing, the actual numbers aren't in yet, but it looks like Barack has routed Hillary in South Carolina. Yippeeee!!!! It looks like he swept the black vote and did respectably well with the whites. I just wish that Edwards would drop out so that we could get a real picture of where Barack stands. I suspect that Edwards gets a significant chunk of the ABC (Anybody But Clinton) vote, and that in the end Barack can get a plurality of whites as well. Democratic voters have to realize two things. One is that Barack is a leader, and that at best, Clinton is a manager. Right now, I think that the USA needs a leader far more than a manager. The other thing is that at least half the people in the country hate Hillary, and that if she is nominated, McCain will win.

No Longer Boatless in Seattle

I took a trip up to Anacortes yesterday and came back with my boat. I had been boatless in Seattle for a couple of weeks, having taken WaveGuide up to Anacortes for a bit of minor maintenance. I had already done oil and filter changes myself, but I needed to have the boat hauled out to repaint the bottom and change the zincs. I could have had that done here, but I took the boat up to the factory so that they could touch up the repairs on the woodwork I'd already done. I've kept up with the inevitable minor scuffs and blisters on the woodwork myself, but I'm not very skilled at making it look really good. So I had San Juan Yachts do it, and to buff and wax the hull while they were at it. WaveGuide is looking pretty these days, which is a good thing because I've cut the asking price and asked the broker to put a push on selling it. This is about as good a time to sell as any, with the annual Seattle Boat Show running for the next couple of weeks here. I think I'd like to sell it while a few people still feel rich before the markets melt down entirely. I'd still like to buy a sailboat, but if WaveGuide doesn't sell, I'll happily make good use of it. I filled up with fuel yesterday and updated my log. Since I got the boat seven years ago, I've put 1308 hours on the engines, burned 11,912 gallons of diesel, and put on 15,142 miles.

Speaking of markets melting down..... The financial talking heads on TV are always saying not to panic and sell at the first sign of a down turn. What the hell are they talking about? Something like 80% of publicly traded shares are controlled by instiutions like pension funds, hedge funds and brokerage houses. There's no way all the little guys in the market can move the market up or down like the big boys do. And as for the Bush's "stimulus" package.... I'm no economist, but I don't see how $150Billion can have much effect in a $13Trillion dollar economy. And as usual, the $150B is all wrapped up in tax cuts, when all respectable economists are saying that for the "stimulus" to be effective it has to be spent right immediately, and not saved or used to pay off personal debt. Once again, the Democrats in Congress have caved on their plan to have the money used to extend unemployment and food stamp benefits. Those people would have spent the money immediately. And all this talk of "stimulus" makes me think it's all really about giving the economy a hand-job and making the markets feel good for a little while. How about a committed long-term relationship for a change?

Racquetball and more

When I joined the Olympic Health Club, I signed on with a personal trainer for 20 sessions because I knew that I wouldn't have the self-discipline to work out on my own. Now that I can feel the positive effects of that training, I signed up for a kick-boxing aerobics class on Mondays, and I joined the winter racquetball league. On Monday I did the kick-boxing thing, and I must admit that it kicked my ass! Not only was it hard work, but a lot of the steps and kicks and punches required a certain amount of coordination and rhythm. My background with the Mennonite Rhythm Section was about as much help as I expected. I was lost most of the time, but I managed to work myself to the point of exhaustion in a effort to keep up. Last night, I played racquetball for the first time in two years, and probably only the third time in fifteen. Back in the old days, I played with brute force and not much finesse. Now, most of my brute force is gone, and I never did have much finesse, but I managed to play without too much embarrassment. Two matches, 15-4 and 15-7. At first I was concerned that I was put in the wrong division (Intermediate Plus), but even though I don't think I'll win too many matches until I get my timing back, I think I'll be competitive. In any case, it felt good, and it was lots of fun.

Yesterday, I joined the facebook world. Blogs are sooo yesterday! I haven't quite figured out what it's all about, but there I am. http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1049534383 With only one friend in the whole blogosphere:(!

My friend Hal is a veteran of MySpace. I took a look at his site yesterday, and he's done quite a bit with it. Here's a link. http://www.myspace.com/infierno667 I don't know what it is with us old farts on social networking sites on the internet. There's probably something not quite right about it, but here we are!

A Picture's Worth a Thousand Words

I love this picture of The Leader of the Free World. The look of pure fear and loathing reflects the feelings of a lot of us.

Not to be missed

I’ve been pretty lazy the last few days and haven’t done much productive. I even got bored and bit depressed by the presidential political process. It’s depressing to see Bill Clinton getting all red in the face and angry attacking Obama. It seems to me that the Clintons are playing the race card in the ugliest way, trying to scare whites and particularly Hispanics by portraying Obama as the “Black” candidate. The Clintons seem to be quite willing to tear apart the Democratic Party and the country in their quest for power.

So instead of watching wall-to-wall talking heads, I watched a half dozen episodes of the HBO series Rome. I’ve been in HBO withdrawal since both Six Feet Under and The Sopranos ended. I didn’t watch Rome when it first came out a couple of years ago, but did catch the first few episodes on On Demand. When I had watched bits and pieces in the past, I couldn’t get into it because I didn’t know the characters and the sub-plots. Watching a few episodes back-to-back got me into the swing of things, and I can now pronounce that Rome is up to HBO’s impossibly high standards. They do a great job of telling the exotic, gritty, sexy and violent story of Rome in the time of Julius Caesar through the eyes of the elite and the not so elite. So now I’ve watched the entire first season. Good stuff, and the second (and last) season awaits at Netflix.

Speaking of the exotic and gritty, I started reading a Lonely Planet travel guide on my next travel destination. On February 21st, in the dead of winter, I’m going to what has been called the Paris of Eastern Europe, aka Bucharest. From what the guide book says, Paris should sue for defamation. Here’s a sampling from the first couple of chapters…

-Nuimber of people bitten by stray dogs in Bucharest in 2005 - 15,000
-About half of Romania's population of around 22,000,000 don’t have flush toilets.
-About half of Europe’s bears, and about a third of Europe’s wolves live in Romania. (I don’t know werewolves are included in the count)
-Beware of the pizza. Some can be quite good, but some can be baloney bits on ketchup
-Here’s a direct quote. Alas, Bucharest has its problems – taxi scams, glue-sniffing beggars, packs of stray dogs, loud traffic – but it has a heart too. Stick around for more than a day – as some visitors flee at first sight – and you start to get it. Bucharest has something going on.
-And here’s a description of the river that runs through it. All in all, it’s not pretty. In fact it’s trashy and murky and stinky. But don’t slag it, the Damrovita just won’t quit.

Sounds like a not-to-be-missed place to me!

Hillary wins again :(

The polls were right this time, and it appears that Hillary has won the Nevada caucuses, 51-45%. I hope the wind hasn't gone out of Obama's sails. He's heavily favored to win in South Carolina, which would put him ahead in the delegate count again, but Hillary is favored to win Florida. So if the polls hold true, they'll essentially be tied going into Super-Duper Tuesday, after which more than half of the delgates will have been awarded. If there's still no clear winner after Feb. 5th, this could drag out to the end. There are more primaries scheduled for Feb. 9th, 10th, 12th and 19th., and then more right through June 3rd in South Dakota. The Washington state caucus is scheduled for Feb. 9th, so who knows, I might even get to participate if I become a citizen on the 4th and manage to get registered as a voter. That would be cool!

And meanwhile, the Man With The Magic Underwear won in Nevada.

Time for a little perspective

Norman Podhoretz, a respected founding member (I think he models himself after Dr. Strangelove) of the bloodthirsty, kill-em-all-let-god-sort-it-out, neo-con crowd, has written this piece advocating military action against Iran. http://www.commentarymagazine.com/viewarticle.cfm/Stopping-Iran-br--Why-the-Case-for-Military--Action-Still-Stands-11085

Then someone with a bit of a brain an interesting map together renaming the US states with the names of countries with similar GDPs.


Note where Iran is on the map. Iran has the same GDP as....wait for it....Alabama!! That kinda puts the threat in perspective, doesn't it??

I'm not quite sure what it means, but note that Canada is Texas.

This and That

Now that Romney has won in Michigan, the top three GOP contenders have each won a major victory. All we need now to open up the race is for Thompson to win in South Carolina and Giuliani to win in Florida. This could get really interesting before it’s all over. I thought the primary process was meant to winnow down the field, but this year, the exact opposite is happening. And even for a semi-literate political junkie like me, it’s hard to follow what’s going on. The number of delegates for each state, the super delegates, the caucus and primary rules, and winner-take-all v. proportional allocation, are all different in each contest. I was more than a bit surprised to read yesterday that Romney is actually way ahead in the convention delegate count so far with something like 50% of committed delegates. But if Giuliani’s Florida strategy works, he could vault himself back into contention by sweeping all of Florida’s delegates in that winner-take-all state. And nobody has any clue as to what will happen on Super-Duper Tuesday.

The Democratic contest is a bit easier to follow, and would be even more so if Edwards did the honorable thing and dropped out. Even if he were to win in South Carolina, he doesn’t have a chance in the overall contest, and all he’s doing now is muddying the waters. I haven’t seen any polls to support this, but I suspect most of his voters would cross over to Obama. I think the only way the Democrats can lose this year is if they nominate Hillary, and unfortunately I wouldn’t put it past them.

You’d think that the Greatest Nation on God’s Green Earth could come up with a better way to pick the next Leader of the Free World.

The stock market really sucks these days, and I don’t see any reason for it to get any better any time soon. I may have to dust off my resume and get back into the job market. I think I’d make a great greeter at Wal-Mart.

Or maybe I could become a personal trainer. I’ve had some experience on the trainee side. Speaking of my fitness regime, I’ve joined a racquetball league and will start an aerobic kick-boxing class next week. I’ve bought another 10 sessions with my PT, so with a three or four times a week workout routine, I’ll be buff in no time. So far, I feel pretty good, but I’m a bit surprised that if anything, I’ve gained some weight since I started working out. I didn’t really expect to lose any weight, but I wouldn’t have thought that working out, combined with my no-alcohol January , would result in a weight gain. Oh well. As they say, muscle is heavier than fat. And it doesn’t jiggle around quite so much.

Alberta Madness

Sometimes I get so caught up in the madness of American politics, I neglect my godless-faggot-loving-commie-pinko-politically-correct brethern to the north. When I do mention them, it's usually in a positive way. In spite of all their flaws, their politics are usually kinder and gentler than American politics, and as a consequence, are much more boring. So when something totally outrageous happens in my adopted home province of Alberta, I can get steamed, even if I'm a thousand miles away. Check out this link http://www.ezralevant.com/

Ezra Levant is the former editor of Western Report, a decidedly conservative magazine that used to be published in Western Canada. Two years ago, much to their credit, they reprinted the infamous Danish Muslim cartoons. Two days ago, Mr. Levant was hauled before the Alberta Human Rights Commission because the publication of those cartoons offended some in the Moslem community. The guy should be getting a medal, and he's hauled up in front of a kangaroo court for an interrogation! Come on Alberta, get serious!

But on to more more fun stuff!

I did indeed go sailing today, and it was indeed a gorgeous day! It was one of those days that's worth at least 20 of the typical crappy, wet, gloomy, cloudy days that are more the norm for winter around here. And yes we were in a race, and yes, as indicated in the picture, there were a whole bunch of boats in front of us. There were fewer behind us, but there were some, so we didn't come in last. A good time was had by all!

Sunday Morning

As is usual for me on Sunday mornings, I watched three of the network talk shows. Giuliani was on Fox, John Kerry (?!) was on ABC, and Hillary was on NBC. Giuliani was unwatchable; whoever booked that pompous has-been Kerry should be fired, and Hillary was her usual scripted, lecturing, pompous, cackling self. As much as I viscerally dislike that woman, she is certainly formidable. There aren't many people who can walk all over Tim Russert, but she did just that. She was argumentative, shrill, and defensive, and she brow-beat him into submission. He let her talk endlessly, he let her turn questions around to her advantage and attacks on Obama, and he didn't challenge her on 35 years of experience. What experience, precisely, did she have in 35 years??? As First Lady, she royally screwed up her two major assignments, first by picking the "must be female" Attorney General, and then by setting back any chance of universal health care for at least 15 years with her ill-conceived plan. As senator from New York, she showed how she can work across the aisle by supporting a Flag-Burning Amendment!! This kind of experience we can do without.

I just hope that when I get to cast my first presidential vote this year, I don't have to hold my nose and vote for her. I'm not sure that I could.

Well, on to more pleasant things..... It's a gorgeous day here in Seattle, and I'm going to spend what promises to be a fabulous day on the water sailing with my friend Joe. If the sailing isn't too hectic, I may even snap a few pictures for future postings.

The Sports Gene

As I've often said, I'm missing the sports gene. I couldn't tell you with absolute certainty who won the World Series, the Superbowl, or the Stanley Cup last year, and if I made a lucky guess, I certainly wouldn't be able to tell you who they played or what the final score was.

Not so with politics. Just as some people can watch endless games and wannabe jocks dissecting plays and strategies, I'll watch talking heads pontificate about what it all means, and I'll even yell at the TV sometimes when someone says something particularly stupid. I love this time of the year in the election cycle. I read the NY Times and Washington Post online; have dozens of political blogs and polling sites bookmarked; and I get into heated political discussions, especially with the few right-wing-whackos I know.

Last night, the New Hampshire primary was like a quarter final game in the playoffs, with my team, Team Obama, heavily favored to win. I wanted to win too, but I didn't quite believe the odds. Then a few days before the Big Game, Team Clinton pulls out their secret weapon.....tears.....or at least the hint of tears and a cracking emotional voice. Even I thought that she sounded sincere, and for once I thought of her as a human being, not an automaton. (Nobody seemed to notice that as soon as she regained her composure, she launched into her Obama-bashing talking points.) I think half the women in New Hampshire immediately were reminded of all of the real and imagined gender slights that they had endured in their lifetimes, a bunch of them let their sympathetic emotions prevail, and they changed their votes from Obama to Clinton. Of course, they wouldn't tell pollsters that they were voting for Clinton just because she's a woman, just as people won't tell pollsters that they won't vote for Obama just because he's black. Hence the screwed up polls showing an Obama landslide just before the vote.


Rather than using a sports analogy, one could use a romantic one. (For the sake of this admittedly thin analogy and to avoid any homo-erotic overtones, I'll assume that both potential partners are female.) Imagine yourself trying to pick your next mate. You've got two women vying for your affection. You've known #1 for a long time, and she's been bugging you to go out with her. But in spite of the fact that she's got all the right credentials...she's smart, she's good enough looking, and she promises she'll be fun in bed....you think that she might be a bit of a controlling and humorless bitch, and deep down your're afraid that as soon as she gets you into the sack, she'll pull a Lorena Bobbit on you. But you haven't had a lover in a long time and maybe your fears are irrational. You tell yourself that she's not all that bad and try and look on the bright side. Then in walks #2. She's exotic and sexy, and omigod....can she ever dance. You've never been much of a dancer yourself, but you really want to dance with her. You've never seen anything like her, and don't know much about her, but you don't care, you're smitten. You find yourself feeling like you're in high school again, with a puppy-love crush and walking around with a perpetual hard-on. Then, realizing that you're not a fifteen-year-old anymore and that you're a mature adult, you figure you'll play it safe and go with #1.

I think that the voters of New Hampshire went with #1, but I think a lot of them are looking wistfully and longingly at #2. They're thinking that maybe for once in their lives, they should have risked it all and gone for it. They think they can go for #2 the next time around, but there might not be a next time. If there is another chance, it will be a logical and rational choice and not nearly as much fun as the sheer joy of giving in to the lust and passion of the moment.

Merry Eastern Orthodox Christmas Eve!

I guess the holiday season is finally just about over. Just one more round of eating and drinking and partying to excess. As I said in one of my previous posts, Megan and Chris and Caroline spent Christmas in Arizona, so what better time to Christmas at the Friesen's than today, Christmas Eve on the Julian calendar?! Wikipedia will tell you that the Eastern Orthodox (Greeks, Russians, et al) still follow the Julian calendar for their religious festivals even though it was replaced in the secular world by the Gregorian calendar hundreds of years ago. Growing up in Saskatoon, with a large population of Ukrainians, I always thought that maybe, just maybe, the Ukrainians weren't as stupid as they were often portrayed. Taking advantage of all those post-Christmas sales to stack up gifts under their trees two weeks after the "real" Christmas didn't seem so stupid to me.

I think 2008 is going to be a pretty good year. A couple of years ago, I made three resolutions, all of which met with varying degrees of success. I resolved to quit smoking, get in shape, and lose some weight. This is probably the holy trinity of most-broken resolutions. I started off the year by not smoking, by joining a health club, and watching what I ate. The non-smoking lasted for six continuous months, with some serious cheating for the remainder of the year. I paid for a whole year at The Olympic Health Club, and for a week, swam, worked out, and played racquetball. Two weeks into the New Year, I went skiing, and promptly broke my ankle. So much for my fitness and weight resolutions. Last year, I started off the New Year by not drinking for the month of January (and part of February). I lost 11 pounds without doing anything else differently. I didn't do much in terms of working out, and in between months of not smoking, still smoked sometimes. This year, I'm already a member of the Olympic Health Club, have my own personal trainer, and tell myself every day that I am not a smoker. After I have a glass or two of wine tonight, I'll quit drinking for a month or more, and next week I will start playing racquetball again. And for something totally different, I want to climb at least two mountains, Triglav in Slovenia, and Seattle's favorite, Mt. Rainier, this year.

So in spite of the fact that I've made no new resolutions this year, maybe I can keep a few of the ones I made two years ago and have a great time in the process.

This is cute!

MY NEXT LIFE - By George Carlin

I want to live my next life backwards:

You start out dead and get that out of the way.

Then you wake up in a nursing home feeling better every day.

Then you get kicked out for being too healthy.

Enjoy your retirement and collect your pension.

Then when you start work, you get a gold watch on your first day.

You work 40 years until you're too young to work.

You get ready for High School: drink alcohol, party, and you're generally promiscuous.

Then you go to primary school, you become a kid, you play, and you have no responsibilities.

Then you become a baby, and then... You spend your last 9 months floating peacefully in luxury, in Spa-like conditions - central heating, room service on tap, and then...

You finish off as an orgasm.

I rest my case.

Tip of the hat to Marie!

Gotta Love It!

Obama 38%, Edwards 30%, Hillary 29%

Did anyone listen to Obama's victory speech? I'm about as hard-bitten and cynical as they come, and yet Obama's speech was a goosebump moment for me. This is a guy I can vote for happily and enthusiastically, and I'll even send him some money. I think he's on a roll, and he'll roll right over his opposition. This reminds me of the way that Bobby Kennedy moved the masses and gave a sense of hope during a really scary time in US history. I just hope that this time the ending is different.

The Year in Review, Part III

2007 was a pretty good year for me, even by my standards, where every year is a good year. I re-visited some of my favorite places; I found some new favorite places, and to keep things fresh and challenging, I did some things I'd never done before.


In March, I went back to the BVI for another fine week of sailing and fun in the sun. The BVI are a great sailing destination. It's like Disneyland for sailors, with great winds, fine warm weather, beautiful clear water, and lots of fun nightclubs and restaurants. My only complaint is that it's not the kind of place you go for any history, culture, or local flavor. I'm sure if you dig deep enough, you'll find some, but it's a lot easier to find surly local people living in abject poverty in what should be an island paradise.


Another deeply flawed, but nonetheless fascinating place is New Orleans. The food and music are great, but the still very apparent devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina has laid open the rotten underbelly of a disfunctional city.


A year would not be complete without the annual Hal and Walter Motorcycle Trek to the Edmonton Folk Music Festival. It's an occasion to celebrate the fun, food, friends and family that are so important in my life. (I would have included music and beer in the list, but I couldn't think of any suitable synonyms that started with "f"). This year was extra special because Sarah and Alvin were there from Zambia. As usual, the weather sucked, but it wouldn't be a real EFMF without at least a day or two of bitterly cold wet weather.


A trip that started out as a week's trip to Vancouver and Princess Louisa Inlet turned into a month in the waters of Desolation Sound and The Broughtons. What a great trip, and what a great travel companion! Thanks for the memories, Bonnie.


Offshore and round-the-clock sailing were a couple things I had never done before, but will certainly do again. In some ways, it was a baptism by fire, but we all survived with no blood shed and no damage done. Thanks to Bob for Phyllis for the opportunity, and good luck to them on the rest of their round the world voyage. (Check out the link http://www.gaiaworldtour.net/ to their website.

I think 2008 will be a good year for me, even though the rest of the world seems to be going to hell in a hand basket. Even if I won't save the world with my indolent and self-indulgent life-style, the least I can hope for is to do no harm.