Category Archives: Travel

minutemen protest on campus

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So this is what happens when you go offline for a coupla days: Americans rise up and tell a bunch of xenophobic, white, Republican, good ole boys that their efforts are not wanted.

Welcome back, America.

CTV’s Natalie Yammine brings us live footage of students storming the stage during a speech by the Minutemen Project on October 4, 2006 at Columbia University.

The Minutemen Project is a group of armed civilians who voluntarily the United States-Mexico border[ed note: they also patrol some parts of the Canadian-US border, the parts that ship a lot of pot across]. They were invited by the Columbia College Republicans to speak on Columbia‘s campus. There was a large gathering of protesters outside the speech as well as the protest inside.

Viggo vs Evil Elf, a trip in the wayback machine

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Aragorny, eh?

Stop me if you’ve heard this one, but here’s a little something I wrote for North Country Public Radio back in 2002, when several crazy American strangers decided that nothing would make them happier than to fly me back East to meet a Danish-American movie star.

So they did.

There are so many reasons this trip is impossible. So many GOOD reasons. It IS impossible. But of course that has no bearing on the situation whatsoever; we are dealing with Americans here.

It must be pretty good; their previous record hits in a day was 700, and this went to 3500. When the hits are down, mention a Danish-American movie star, Beautiful Agony, Mango Porno, the blogs of murderous Goths, or, apparently, Foley‘s emails. Sure winners, every one. 

It could be some time before I’m back online (although, given that I’m in Ontario, it can be no more than fifteen seconds before I’m in the vicinity of yet another television with the volume up high) so this should tide you over till then. 24,000 words, if memory serves. Plus bonus photos!

Hummerers call Hummerhaters “retarded”

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 SUV vs SUV

Yeah, that’s going to make the PR top ten list for sure. via Fark.

When Sonnie Martin recently broke down in Calgary in her Hummer H2, she said she was met with a string of horns, fingers, obscenities and rude comments.

“On that day, I was embarrassed to be a Calgarian,” she wrote to the Calgary Herald.

However, the letters in reply weren’t sympathetic.

“She drives one of the most potent, aggressive and ostentatious symbols of conspicuous consumption possible,” wrote one person…

Evidence of the seething hatred for the vehicle can be found at the Sierra Club’s hummerdinger.com or at FUH2.com, a Web site with 3,636 photos of people giving Hummers and their drivers the middle finger.

and, of course, at Ihumpedyourhummer.com, one of my personal faves. And what was the Hummercommunity’s response to this pervasive anti-Hummer sentiment?

“For people to point at the Hummer and say, ‘Bad, bad, bad,’ that’s retarded,” says Andy Drever, who sells between 18 and 25 Hummers a month at Shaw GMC, the only licensed Hummer dealer in southern Alberta.

Yep: don’t hate them because they drive Hummers. Hate them because they’re assholes.

the wild west lives on

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“A couple came up to me after it was all over and shook my hand and Saloon brawlsaid, ‘We’re from South Carolina, and we just want to thank you, that was the best bar fight and greatest entertainment we’ve ever had,’ ” said Scott Richard of Cody.

Forget Texas; don’t mess with Wyominginans either, apparently. Fark has the report of the best little saloon brawl in the West.

The fight broke out shortly after midnight in the Irma’s Silver Saddle bar.

“Somebody in the bar, as a joke, yelled, ‘Last call for alcohol,’ ” said Richard. A drink then got sloshed onto the ceiling, where it dripped onto an individual who took umbrage with the turn of events, he said.

“This skinny guy stands up and starts lipping off,” Richard said.

Amid an attempted apology, someone else threw a punch, and Richard said he stepped in to try to break things up but was also hit.

“And then all hell broke lose,” he said.

Casualties include a bartender, several participants, and one chair and table. No word on whether or not it was a wagon-wheel table, though.

on the road again

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so blogging will be a little erratic. That’s okay, though: I know that if you’re a reader of this blog you’re very into the erratic arts.

FYI you know how the tarmac on runways and taxiways has those rubber tire marks, in big swooping circles and straight lines and some, heart-stopping times, a series of juddering dark grey dots, fading off into the distance? Well there is one spot at YVR where some fellow who has too much time on his hands and a job that pays by the hour has taken it upon himself to apply the creative impulse to tire marks.

He’s made a happy face.