More Mid-Week Miscellany
Bad (relative) Ahab news: Interest in posting continues to wane.
Good (relative) Ahab news: Plenty of thoughts/experiences worth noting.
To the words/numbers (in the linkless/laziness tradition, find/remember the stories yourselves) -
1. Random appearances made at the NS Lib Con over the weekend. Apologies to any I might have met, shocked, embarrassed (including myself - obviously and sadly).
Two firm decisions reached: (a) Ahab now firmly in Ignatieff's camp - and he was so damn impressive I really owe this a greater explanation, but (b) any support proffered will be far removed from attempting to convince the general membership of his obvious worth. Because the tribalism of the upcoming battle is just not my bag.
Just let us say this - the smarter the state of the party, the more it trends toward the good Professor. The worse, the more Stronach captures. Surveying the scene, though, this commentator would probably peg Dryden as the current frontrunner. He falls a bit in the middle of the overall state of things, after all.
And on that note (not to belabour this) for once I agree wholeheartedly with Cherniak's latest. I am personally no fan of Brison, but the ridiculous uproar over the "income trust email" should be dispelled at its root. I doubt not that the guy had no idea of the substance of the announcement. This will fade - Brison will continue to draw the backing of Martin folks across the nation, and will be around (unfortunately in my mind, but there you go) until the end.
2. March 8 is not only my mother's birthday, but also International Women's Day. It is also the day in 2006 that Arsenal became the last English club standing in the Champions League. Pretty strangely fair. Here's hoping that Henry draws Benfica or Villareal - and not Juve or Barca. Highbury survives for a few more.
3. Shari has moved successfully down the street. But needs suggestions for a holiday. After casually mentioning Zihuatanejo of Shawshank, later in this evening bar conversation turned to the cheapness of Mexican inclusives due to the recently popularized crime. Could such a meeting be arranged for April? As unlikely as it would be fascinatingly fun.
4. Great on Crash for its Best Picture victory - a better, more entertaining film than Brokeback. Also great on the inimitable Stewart for a performance both underrated and underappreciated. The opening was admittedly weak, though, and only emphasizes the true perfection of Crystal's musical masterpieces... The mock ads were art in their own right, and a lovely indictment of the current state of American politics.
5. Hands up those who know who Ciro Rodriguez is. The model reason why American political blogs prove so extremely information and (hopefully) important. We can only hope that this year holds better fortune for the good volunteers and passionate Dean-democrats of grassroot mydd and dailykos. November remains an opportunity.
6. Sir Slade - I echo the entreaty: Stephen Colbert is the heir thou doth seek. And I loved how obviously enamoured our man Jon Stewart was with Neil Young tonight. He so should have been on my list of top 5 influential musicians...
7. Jack MacDuff flies out tomorrow for the opening ceremonies at the Brier in Regina to hang out with one of his heroes, driver, mentor, speaker, and great friend - the incomparably Canadian and 4-time World Curling champ Sam Richardson. A true legend, the only time I met him, he offered the legendary quote: "James, I'll just say that in a 5-4 game (dramatic pause) you wanna have five." Hopefully he'll stick around until the gold medalists arrive later in the week. Colour me biased, but I'd say that naming a street in St. John's after NFLD's first (and still only) Brier winning skip along with the rest of the Torino heroes wouldn't be completely out of order.
Just saying...
UPDATE - oh, and the Theodore - Aebischer trade is gold for the Canadians. McKenzie's line about him being "four years removed from being an NHL MVP" only typifies the guy's problems. I'm less keen on the Oilers move for Roloson, surely there are better goaltenders out there that Lowe doesn't need to deal only with old Wayne. But I suppose we'll see how the post-season unfolds. Smart money now has to be on Ottawa, and the sports fan sentiment with the Flames.
posted by J. A. MacDuff @ 12:09 AM
5 Comments:
Liverpool out--damn! Still working the Feminnem angle.
-Zovi-
Ignatieff consistently impresses when he is sticking to his principles.
Will the Ignatieff running for leader be Ignatieff? (Shades of "let Reagan be Reagan".) Your post seems to indicate yes. But we'll see.
It is sad to see Liverpool eliminated. Those were some magic moments for Benfica, the Reds called in all their good luck charms last year. Bet Zovi watched it all at the Uni Club though, and will be pulling as hard for the Gunners.
Tiger - more like the (albeit it fictional) "let Bartlet be Bartlet". You too would be impressed by Ignatieff. And he will be his own man while running. The actual question will be whether he can transmit his message of paragraphs through the Canadian media's penchant for one-liners. Dryden might well emerge as a softer, gentler, compromise Iggy. That's why I'd pick him as the frontrunner. But it would be a shame if they don't give the real thing a running chance.
I was not impressed with him at all during the campaign. I was very impressed with him at the Tanner Lectures in 2000, in his pieces for the NY Times Magazine in 2003, and at a lecture in late 2004/early 2005 at the Holy Blossom Synogogue (when Bob Rae introduced him).
So... we'll see which one we get. Would be interesting to see an Ignatieff-Harper election, though...
Speaking of Iggy, why would sports fan sentiment be with the Flames?
Admittedly I'm baised because I hate the Flames, but still.
They made the finals last year, so they're not really an underdog.
They won the cup (relatively) recently, so they don't get any 'they're overdue' support.
They play the most boring hockey in the league (outside of Minnesota, of course) so there isn't any reason to cheer for them for interest's sake or for the good of the (offensive) game.
The city itself is booming so there isn't any New Orleans-style sympathy from that perspective.
They don't have any compelling personal stories that I know of.
Maybe I am missing something?
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