Boris Johnson, Mayor of London gives quite possibly the greatest Olympic speech ever made; quite certainly the most entertaining. But why didn’t he bring up Poodle Clipping? That was an Olympic sport!
“Virtually every single one of our international sports were either invented or codified by the British, and I say this respectfully to our Chinese hosts who have excelled so magnificently at ping pong,” he said in a tongue-in-cheek speech.
“Ping pong was invented on the dining tables of England in the 19th century and it was called wiff waff.
“There I think you have the essential difference between us and the rest of world.
“Other nations, the French, looked at a dining table and saw an opportunity to have dinner. We looked at a dining table and saw an opportunity to play wiff waff. That is why London is the sporting capital of the world.
“And I say to the Chinese, and I say to the world: ping pong is coming home.”
Toronto Explosion evacuees hotline: 416-736-5185. Up to 12,000 residents were evacuated, according to Canada.com. If you cannot reach your friends or relatives who live within the evacuation zone, please call that number for more information.
Reported fatalities so far are limited to one, a firefighter who died in the course of duty. One employee of the propane company is missing and was reported last seen running towards one of the early explosions.
Amazing video of the Toronto Explosions fireball; this is HOLY SHIT material:
And what does CBC Toronto want to talk about? The O-Fucking-Lympics and the (are they still on?) Pan Am Games. Yay team?
UPDATES:
Canadian Press is reporting it was the Sunrise Propane depot that blew up. Again I ask, how smart is that to have near the airport, not to mention near the airport AND the Shell refinery? Residents of the mixed industrial/residential area were evacuated:
“It was just a tremendous explosion and blew all the windows out of the house, just blew the house up, and I just managed to get out of there in time,” said Robert Helman, who lives across the street from the facility, which he identified as Sunrise Propane.
Helman, who was covered in cuts and bruises, said when he went outside, he saw a “huge fireball” followed by “multiple explosions.”
He said when he ran a “wave of a heat” followed him…
An emergency worker with Bombardier, which has a facility in the area, said he saw houses on fire. The worker, who did not want to be identified, also said he saw propane tanks dropping from the sky.
Sunrise Propane on Google Maps here. 54 Murray Road, North York, ON, M3K 1T2
(416) 736-4348 although I wouldn’t try calling today if I were you.
Sunrise Propane and it’s employees take great pride in being able to deliver very competitively priced propane and industrial gases with exceptional service to all customers. Satisfied customers are the foundation upon which Sunrise Propane was built.
The National Post confirms reports of casualties, and further reports that the police and fire authorities have closed off the area for a full kilometer in diameter.
Toronto EMS duty officer David Viljak said emergency officials have received reports of “casualties” but can’t confirm them since the victims are “inside the hot zone” and behind the barricade.
“Actually . . . it was very large (the explosion), we are two miles away here, and we could feel it,” said the EMS officer.
It is believed that a series of explosions were set off at a propane gas depot.
Some media reports say some houses close to the centre of the activity were set ablaze.
Traffic on Wilson has been closed between Dufferin and Keele, and power to the area has been cut.
Gawker reports that there are only two confirmed hospitalizations so far, but there are also two propane tanks in the railyards on fire and if those blow, it will be epic-er!
Contrary to rumours and a front-page article in the London Evening Standard (what kind if standard is that? I ask yez) Queen Elizabeth II‘s superannuated boytoy Prince Consort Prince Philip‘s prostate is in fact and in actuality fully-functional.
The Pivot Legal Society-sponsored Justice Rocks festival is coming up, and they’re looking for volunteers. Hey, there’s swag in it for you, not to mention the chance to schmooze with the impecunious, yet famous, staff of the Pivot Legal Society and the future Mayor of Vancouver, semi-notorious rock god and blogger Dave Eby.
Here’s the call for volunteers in full:
In case you haven’t heard: on August 30, 2008 Pivot is hosting Justice Rocks, a free, all-day music festival in East Van’s Strathcona Park! Justice Rocks aims to bring together all things progressive: social and environmental justice movements, independent music, and, of course, Vancouverites!
There are two important ways you can help make Justice Rocks a huge success: purchase a virtual ticket and/or sign up to volunteer.
Virtual Tickets:
Here is how it works – we have partnered with GiveMeaning to offer virtual tickets to Justice Rocks. Virtual Ticket holders will receive a Justice Rocks t-shirt and a tax-receipt, as well as a special invitation to the Justice Rocks AfterParty – join the band members, volunteers, and organizers for the party that starts after the concert!
We will also be awarding fabulous prizes to the top three people who get their friends to purchase virtual tickets, so get your friends to buy their tickets today!
Volunteers:
We’re looking for site volunteers, organizers, promoters, videographers – you name it – to help with the lead up to the event, the concert, and the after-party.
Aside from connecting with other awesome folks who are also volunteering, and helping to launch the first year of a great event, Justice Rocks volunteers will also receive a free Justice Rocks t-shirt, 2 tickets to the after party, and special identification at the event.
To take part in this fantastic festival of social change fill out this form or visit the Justice Rocks website and let us know how you’d like to help!
If you have any questions about virtual tickets, volunteering or if you’d like more information about the event feel free to email pwrinch AT pivotlegal DOT com for more information.
The Falcon 1 owned by Musk’s private space exploration company, SpaceX, left the ground and stayed off it for 2 minutes and 20 seconds before second- and third-stage rockets failed to ignite. The whole thing, including Scotty’s ashes, plunged back to earth.
Well, back to the Pacific Ocean anyway. But nothing, particularly not the fate of a legend, is simple, and it seems there had already been a couple of false starts and a frantic search leading up to the ultimate un-ternment. For a man who claimed (falsely, but amusingly) that he was kicked out of the Canadian Air Force for slaloming his plane between hydro poles on a bet, the rolling swells of the unfettered tropical ocean are indeed the Final Frontier.
raincoaster 