tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-436149573843647522024-03-05T06:59:29.749-08:00Townie Elite Musings from Canada's far eastPeter Jacksonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11932139446109527278noreply@blogger.comBlogger17125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-43614957384364752.post-87307336575355615742017-11-20T10:35:00.002-08:002017-11-20T10:39:00.246-08:00'It all begins here!'
Actually, it began quite a bit before this, but if there ever was a moment that perfectly captured the hubris of the Muskrat Falls delusion, this Dec. 17, 2012 spectacle was it.
You can picture then-premier Kathy Dunderdale the night before, carefully honing every mixed metaphor and tired cliché in front of a mirror. I don't think she wrote the speech, to be honest, but it was certainly an Peter Jacksonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11932139446109527278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-43614957384364752.post-25729126197601158052017-07-23T12:18:00.001-07:002017-07-23T16:57:40.662-07:00The simplicity of pastaA couple of years ago I saw a fun video by Bob Blumer called "Man vs Can." Blumer is a Canadian TV host perhaps best know for his former show "The Surreal Gourmet."The premise of Man vs Can? Blumer bets he can make a fresh pasta dish on the stove faster than his young guest can open a can of Spaghettios and heat them.The outcome is predictable. You can see it here:What struck me about the Peter Jacksonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11932139446109527278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-43614957384364752.post-75188853298149894592017-04-05T17:13:00.000-07:002017-04-05T17:53:16.837-07:00Into the lion's den: respected climatologist survives attempted mauling unscathed
Climatologist Michael Mann is barely able to hide his incredulity
as he fends off asinine attacks in Washington on March 29, 2017.
Last week's Committee on Science, Space and Technology hearing in Washington should have been a sober discussion about the latest findings on climate change and the direction the U.S. should take towards mitigating the damage.
Instead, it was about as productivePeter Jacksonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11932139446109527278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-43614957384364752.post-32633165555361041732017-03-27T18:43:00.001-07:002017-03-27T18:43:42.769-07:00Agnus Dei - Samuel Barber LIVE
I was just browsing through some concert reviews I filed more than 15 years ago, and came across one I wrote on a Quintessential Vocal Ensemble concert in May 2000. The choir, conducted by Susan Quinn and primarily populated by Holy Heart of Mary graduates, was in its prime at the time. One of the pieces it performed was Samuel Barber's Agnus Dei, which the composer set to his famous Adagio Peter Jacksonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11932139446109527278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-43614957384364752.post-335322246101597702017-03-26T18:44:00.001-07:002017-03-27T08:21:22.618-07:00I'll take the blue pill — and I don't mean Viagra
A belated review of The Red Pill, a film by Cassie Jaye
In February, federal Conservative leadership hopeful Maxime Bernier received an endorsement from Alberta Wildrose MLA Derek Fildebrandt.
It was an important coup for Bernier who would normally face an uphill battle convincing right-leaning Albertans to bet on a Quebecer. He wanted to tweet something clever, something to showPeter Jacksonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11932139446109527278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-43614957384364752.post-5969623391273530622017-02-18T14:10:00.003-08:002017-02-19T11:03:47.286-08:00On intoxication and consent
In the past 36 hours, social media has exploded over a controversial headline in The Telegram. The story, by court reporter Rosie Mullaly, covered the first day of testimony in the trial of Carl Snelgrove, an RNC officer charged with sexual assault against a young woman to whom he offered a ride home in the wee hours of the morning. (Some have also condemned CBC's and NTV's television and Peter Jacksonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11932139446109527278noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-43614957384364752.post-68324355076495619342017-01-20T18:25:00.001-08:002017-02-19T11:11:39.845-08:00Trump, annotated
I considered composing my own annotation of Donald J. Trump's inauguration diatribe, but instead will defer to this excellent piece from Vox. http://www.vox.com/a/president-trump-inauguration-speech-transcript-annotationsPeter Jacksonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11932139446109527278noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-43614957384364752.post-80792340383959426582017-01-16T09:57:00.000-08:002017-01-16T17:45:24.508-08:00We're talking about children here
A scene from "The Sweet Hereafter" (1997).
A school bus rides along an open country road in winter. The children are laughing and jostling, the two in back waving at the man in a pickup following behind.
Suddenly, the driver loses control. She tries to straighten the vehicle, but instead swerves off the edge and trundles down an embankment. The man in the pickup pulls over and rushes over to Peter Jacksonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11932139446109527278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-43614957384364752.post-29195956404380350062017-01-09T16:29:00.000-08:002017-01-10T01:53:14.022-08:00Do you want a media conspiracy or not?Until this week, it would have been hard to imagine how the words of Trump and his spokespeople could become any more Kafka-esque. But Kellyanne Conway managed it.
On Monday, the incoming president's chief counsel told an American TV audience that the media should stop listening to what Trump says and look instead into his heart.
The subject was Trump's unambiguous mockery of a disabled Peter Jacksonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11932139446109527278noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-43614957384364752.post-2998133837508985392017-01-09T16:16:00.002-08:002017-01-14T19:02:58.824-08:00The Putin Network
Saying Russian hacking had nothing to do with the outcome of the U.S. election is like saying sexting other women had nothing to do with Anthony Wiener's political career. The former New York congressman may well have botched things all on his own, but revelations about penile postings — including messages allegedly sent to a minor — certainly put the nail in the coffin.
Most rational U.S. Peter Jacksonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11932139446109527278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-43614957384364752.post-83977723428444881302016-12-31T14:41:00.001-08:002017-01-04T07:08:20.326-08:00Happy New YearMany years ago, I was at a New Year's Eve party and a fellow I knew suggested we put this song on at midnight. I knew why, but you have to listen to the whole song to realize. Not long afterwards, he committed suicide. So, here's a happy new year to you all. Hope it's a good one. But don't forget to live in the moment sometimes too.
Peter Jacksonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11932139446109527278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-43614957384364752.post-84908056766214717022016-12-17T22:34:00.001-08:002016-12-17T22:34:22.548-08:00Hell on EarthNobel award-winner Bob Dylan basically defined the protest song in the 1960s. What do protest songs sound like today? Well, here's a favourite example, from 2011. https://youtu.be/0Fju9o8BVJ8Peter Jacksonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11932139446109527278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-43614957384364752.post-81546150977568276502016-12-15T17:54:00.001-08:002016-12-15T17:54:38.308-08:00Lo, How a Rose E'er Blooming - Renée Fleming and the Mormon Tabernacle C...Peter Jacksonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11932139446109527278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-43614957384364752.post-41993929057429819322016-12-15T17:48:00.002-08:002016-12-15T17:59:22.829-08:00How the Leitch stole ChristmasI hate Christmas.
Those who know me are painfully aware of this.
They call me "the Grinch" or "Scrooge" or some other moniker drawn from the repertoire of Christmas water torture that makes me despise the season in the first place.
In fact, I don't hate Christmas at all. Despite a predilection for scientific skepticism, I am still enamoured with the Christmas story and its message (literal or Peter Jacksonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11932139446109527278noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-43614957384364752.post-79701643312681162232016-12-15T05:02:00.001-08:002016-12-15T05:04:21.022-08:00A little backgroundThanks, everyone, for your encouragement on my new blog.
Thanks to Ed Hollett in particular for giving me a little plug on Bondpapers the other day. He is truly one of the originals, having blogged on (mostly) provincial and federal politics for the past 11 years. He's received a couple of notable nods for his work, as well.
His name, of course, also stirs up less generous thoughts among some Peter Jacksonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11932139446109527278noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-43614957384364752.post-35304425575164063042016-12-14T18:01:00.001-08:002016-12-15T03:42:35.221-08:00Are women too soft?Christie Blatchford complains in the National Post that women have become over sensitive about words, at the expense of accurate language. Fair argument. Then she throws in a jab at Newfoundland minister Cathy Bennett's newser this week about online/email misogyny and abuse. Is it really just about developing a thick skin? Seems the two are on completely opposite ends of the scale, but what do I Peter Jacksonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11932139446109527278noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-43614957384364752.post-83141018197915566052016-12-13T07:06:00.003-08:002016-12-13T07:11:48.080-08:00Day of the BlizzardIt was probably just a fluke. Perhaps an accidental click of a mouse. I don't remember exactly how I got there. What I do remember is that at first I thought it was just a joke, a mistake, maybe fake news. It could be an old satellite image, I thought. Something from some long-forgotten hell centuries ago.
I checked the page source. It was real. And it was happening right now.
An ominous blob of Peter Jacksonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11932139446109527278noreply@blogger.com11