A sign I saw while on vacation in the Canadian Rockies last week read as follows:
FAMILY SKATING ONLY
NO HOCKEY
And, of course, there was a separate open hockey rink about 30 yards away explicitly for that purpose.
Speaking of Canada, don’t feel bad if you don’t know what “Boxing Day*” has to do with anything, other than big sales at retail stores. Nobody up in Canada seems to have any idea, either. I asked several locals, to no avail. (Although it also doesn’t help that most of the “locals” in Banff are actually Australians, who have started to overrun the joint.) Anyway, much like the unending expansion of Christmas here in the US, it’s not enough to have Boxing Day any more. They now have Boxing Week sales.
In any case, I didn’t mind the discounts, because I was in lost luggage hell for the first three days of my trip, and had to do a lot of shopping…
* Apparently it has something to do with an old English tradition of employers giving gifts to their employees, or Lords giving gifts to their serfs, or some such thing. I read it on Wikipedia, so it must be true…
January 3rd, 2008
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Travel |
4 comments
I’ll be in Calgary, Alberta on Christmas night (arriving around 8:30 PM). Will anything in Calgary be open that night?
December 18th, 2007
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Travel, Blegging |
no comments
I’m off to Chicago to go see Richard Cheese on Saturday night. In the unlikely event that anyone in the readership is interested in seeing the show and will be in Chicago, I have a few extra tickets. Let me know at tgirsch-at-gmail-dot-com.
P.S. The non-flash version of the web site is hilarious.
Cross-posted at SayUncle.
September 7th, 2007
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Travel |
3 comments
To watch the Brewers continue their implosion.
Back next week.
Hopefully Kevin will start pulling his weight around here again while I’m gone. 
August 16th, 2007
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General, Sports, Bloggin, Travel, MLB |
4 comments
I’ll be on vacation most of this week. Look to Kevin for all your Pinko Commie blogging needs, and KTK for your US RDA of Godless Heathen blogging.
See you in a week.
June 30th, 2007
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Bloggin, Travel |
no comments
(Click image for larger version)
March 14th, 2007
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Travel |
2 comments
In no particular order:
- I still have no idea how to properly make arroz y habichuelas. Nearly everyone in Puerto Rico does, however.
- Ron del Barrilito is yummy stuff.
- I never thought of currying pineapple, but it’s surprisingly tasty.
- Shakira’s voice is nowhere near as grating when she’s singing in Spanish.
- When traveling somewhere that speaks a language you don’t, you’d be surprised at the awful crap you’ll be willing to listen to simply because it’s in your native tongue.
- Hair metal remains surprisingly (disturbingly?) popular in St. Thomas.
- Bioluminescence is indescribably cool
- Ways Puerto Rico is like the South: Everyone drives like shit; they’ve yet to meet any edible object which they won’t deep fat fry; the gap between rich and poor is incredibly stark; about half the population would rather be another country rather than part of the US.
- Ways Puerto Rico is unlike the South: People talk very fast; they’re overwhelmingly Catholic; they mostly support bilingual education; and you generally know exactly where you stand with a Puerto Rican (they sugar coat nothing).
- Ways Puerto Rico is like Memphis: Its natives complain incessantly about how bad the crime is getting, how corrupt the politicians are, etc., but if anybody who’s not from there complains as such, it is a mortal insult; green vegetables are incredibly difficult to come by in restaurants; nearly every meal involves some sort of pork; the roads have about one more lane painted onto them than they were actually designed to carry.
- Ways Puerto Rico is not like Memphis: Nobody gives a shit about Elvis; no blues music to be found; the humidity is tolerable.
- If you put a five dollar bill into a video poker machine, and after playing for a while, you discover that you’re actually one credit ahead, so you cash out — you’ve just won a nickel.
Things I already knew, but was reminded of in Puerto Rico:
- 90% of sentences in Puerto Rico begin with “Mira.” (Roughly: “Hey!”; Literally: “Look!”)
- It’s not a turn signal, it’s a tourist indicator.
- You get about three Mississippis after the light turns red to make it through the intersection.
- Puerto Rican women are proud of their bodies, irrespective of what body type they have.
- Medalla Light is surprisingly drinkable when it’s 85 and sunny.
- Asopao is delicious.
- Hardcore rap sounds ridiculous in Spanish. (Not that it doesn’t in English, mind you.)
- Nearly everything in Puerto Rico is expensive, except rum.
March 13th, 2007
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Culture, Travel |
6 comments
I’m going to Puerto Rico.
Be back on the 12th.
March 4th, 2007
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Bloggin, Travel |
2 comments
This weekend, I’ll be going down to New Orleans to visit a friend who lives there. It will be my first trip down there post-Katrina. One of the things my friend suggested we do is take a quick drive through some of the hardest-hit areas, so I can see it first-hand, understand it on a better level, get a better feel for the scale of the tragedy, and see just what has and has not been done in the fifteen months since.
My question for the peanut gallery is, at what point does this cross the line from education and understanding into exploitation and voyeurism? What’s appropriate and what’s not? Feel free to comment with your thoughts.
November 15th, 2006
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Privacy, Education, Travel, Katrina |
5 comments
I’m leaving Friday to go to St. Louis for the weekend. While there, I’m going to the Brewers-Cardinals game on Saturday (at least). With any luck (and if trends continue in their current direction), the Brewers will have a chance to ruin the Cardinals’ season, as they’ve just done for the Giants. Being a Brewers fan, I’m likely to get my ass kicked for sitting there in Brewers regalia and cheering for a team that’s long since been out of it and has nothing to play for other than maybe freeing up some St. Louis players for an early tee time, but in my mind it will be worth it. (I do, after all, still hold a grudge from 1982…)
Depending on what the records look like, we may try to scalp tickets for Friday and Sunday. If you’ve got extras and want an ass to kick, let me know.
While there, I’d like to do an Italian dinner somewhere in (on?) The Hill. Anyone with St. Louis experience have any dinner recommendations?
September 26th, 2006
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Sports, Travel, MLB |
one comment
Don’t celebrate just yet, Fred, it’s only for a week or so. I’ll be busy with my wife’s graduation from undergrad school this weekend, and then out on business and pleasure in Florida. I’ll be back on the fifteenth. Of course, Fred will probably accuse me of lying about all this… 
May 5th, 2006
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Bloggin, Travel |
one comment
I asked earlier about a goofy provision in a Canadian sweepstakes rule that required the winner to answer a math question. A few people confirmed that this is required, but nobody answered why it’s required. Then a coworker enlightened me, and the answer is funner than expected:
The combined effect of Sections 197 to 206 of the Canadian Criminal Code bans for-profit gaming or betting, with exceptions made for provincial lotteries, and licensed casinos and charity events. Many stores, radio stations, and other groups still wish to hold contests to encourage more purchases or increase consumer interest. … These organizations take advantage of the fact that the law does allow prizes to be given for games of skill, or mixed games of skill and chance. In order to make the chance-based contests legal, such games generally have mathematical skill-testing questions incorporated.
So the math question is a way to get the contest reclassified as a game that “mixes skill and chance.” In other words, it’s a loophole1 in the Canadian law against illegal lotteries!
Of course, it seems the Canadian high court can be as pragmatic as ours:
The most common form that these questions take is as an arithmetic exercise. A court decision ruled that these must contain at least three operations to actually be skill testing; for example, a common question might be “(2 × 4) + (10 × 3)” (Answer: 38). Enforcement of these rules is not very stringent, and especially for small prizes, the player may not be required to answer the skill-testing question to claim a prize. Anecdotally, getting the answer wrong is also often not an obstacle to claiming a prize.
1 No doubt, Uncle will protest this use of the term “loophole.” Uncle doesn’t believe in loopholes (they’re right there with global warming on the list of things that Uncle rejects).
April 24th, 2006
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I do too have a life, Travel |
3 comments
My wife and I travel to British Columbia, Canada on average about once every two years. We really like it up there. As a result, I occasionally get junk mail (both e- and paper) from Canadian tourism agencies. Today I received an e-mail telling me that if I ordered a BC travel guide, they would automatically enter me to win “one of three extraordinary BC retreats.”1 For some reason, I clicked on the terms and conditions, and I found this odd clause:
5A. For Canadian Residents Only:
Before being declared a winner, the selected entrant must first correctly answer, without assistance of any kind, whether mechanical or otherwise, a time limited mathematical skill testing question to be administered by telephone at a time mutually convenient for the entrant and Sponsor or promotional agent of Sponsor.
What the hell? If you’re an American, we don’t care if you’re an idiot, but if you’re Canadian, you have to at least be able to do basic arithmetic? Is this some sort of joke? Where’s Manish when I need him?
1 Notice, too, the misleading wording of the contest prizes. They’re not giving away three vacation packages, they’re giving away one — the lone winner gets to pick from three pre-packaged choices.
April 21st, 2006
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I do too have a life, Travel |
11 comments
And I can confidently say that my vacation can beat up Uncle’s Vacation:
Then again, I’m pretty sure his vacation could shoot mine…
More vacation notes to follow.
March 13th, 2006
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Travel |
3 comments
Have you ever had a feeling like you missed the opportunity of a lifetime? I got that sinking feeling today, while sitting in the airport in San Juan, Puerto Rico, waiting to return to Memphis. They’ve got ESPN2 on the tube, and they’re showing a game from the inaugural World Baseball Classic between Cuba and Panama (a great 11-inning game, won eventually by Cuba), and it’s being played in San Juan, Puerto Rico! It should be noted that I’m a fan of baseball, not so much in following it as I just love to go to games, especially where I’ve never been before. And here it turns out that an historic baseball series is taking place, in part, in the city I’ve just been visiting. Further, I learn that Puerto Rico’s national team had played the night before, in front of its home fans.
Had I known, I could have gone to the game! Adding further insult to injury, had I known two weeks ago, I could have easily extended my trip by a couple of days and seen a few games, while my wife happily worked on her tan.
D’oh! It was a great vacation anyway.
March 8th, 2006
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Sports, Travel |
no comments
I’m off to Puerto Rico. Hopefully you’ll get your US RDA of reactionary, pinko commie liberalism from the Kevins. And hopefully I’ll come back with a picture like this. Except that I hate Guinness, and it will likely be a Mojito instead.
March 1st, 2006
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Bloggin, Travel |
2 comments
I’m going to be visiting my brother and his family in Fort Worth, Texas this weekend. On Saturday night, we’re thinking about leaving the kids with a sitter and going to dinner. My brother’s schedule and budget don’t allow him to get out much, so I was hoping to go someplace nice, even if casual (we’ll probably have jeans and collared shirts and that’s about it).
Any suggestions?
If it helps, he actually lives in Burleson — home of American Idol Kelly Clarkson, hooray. 
January 11th, 2006
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Travel, Food & Cooking |
4 comments
I’m off to the Great White North (specifically, Toronto) for New Year’s, and will likely not blog at all. According to at least one of Say Uncle’s commenters, I’ll be in great danger there (even greater danger than if I were in Baghdad!) because I won’t be allowed to carry a handgun with me wherever I go. I’ll be sure to let you know if I get gunned down at the mall. Otherwise, I’ll be drinking Caesars at Gretzky’s. And with any luck, maybe I’ll score some tickets to the Leafs/Penguins game on Jan. 2.
Have a good New Year!
December 30th, 2005
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Bloggin, Travel |
2 comments
I just got back from a long weekend in Eureka Springs, Arkansas (not a bad little tourist trap; I’ll blog later), and saw a lot about this:
Experience the wonder and glory of the Greatest Story Ever Told — The Great Passion Play in Eureka Springs, Arkansas! A cast of hundreds perform amid historically accurate stage settings, The Great Passion Play brings to life the thrilling, epic drama surrounding Christ’s last days on earth, death and resurrection.
My wife and I thought about checking it out, but we already know how it ends.
Meanwhile, on the grounds for the Passion Play, you’ll find The Christ of the Ozarks:
What was that about graven images? Oh, nevermind… Anyway, it got me thinking, somebody with some Mad Photoshop Skillztm needs to combine that with this:
…or this:
…and make the Catholics proud!
October 20th, 2005
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Satire, Religion, Travel |
one comment
The Guardian is reporting that an Israeli general, subject to an arrest warrant on war crimes charges for taking reprisals against civilians in retaliation for a terrorist attack, was tipped off and escaped England without being arrested.
Scotland Yard was thwarted yesterday in its attempt to seize a former senior Israeli army officer at Heathrow airport for alleged war crimes in occupied Palestinian lands after a British judge had issued a warrant for his arrest.
British detectives were waiting for retired Major General Doron Almog who was aboard an El Al flight which arrived from Israel yesterday. It is believed he was tipped off about his impending arrest while in the air and stayed on the plane to avoid capture until it flew back to Israel. Scotland Yard detectives were armed with a warrant naming Mr Almog as a war crimes suspect for offences that breached the Geneva conventions. . . .
Despite the alleged offences occurring in the Gaza Strip, war crimes law means Britain has a duty to arrest and prosecute alleged suspects if they arrive in Britain. The warrant alleges Mr Almog committed war crimes in the Gaza Strip in 2002 when he ordered the destruction of 59 homes near Rafah, which Palestinians say was in revenge for the death of Israeli soldiers. The warrant was issued by senior district judge Timothy Workman after an application by lawyers acting for Mr Almog’s alleged Palestinian victims. According to legal sources, before granting the warrant Mr Workman decided his court had jurisdiction for the offences; that diplomatic immunity did not apply; and there was evidence to support a prima facie case for war crimes.
A few observations intrude here: several years ao, England also released the repulsive Chilean mass-murderer and military dictator Augusto Pinochet (after Margaret Thatcher personally congratulated him on the coup in which elected President Salvador Allende was killed and Pinochet installed as unelected President for over 20 years, saying “I know very well it was you who brought democracy to Chile”); Pinochet was held on war crimes charges but released by the British government as “medically unfit for trial”, after which he was noted springing enthusiastically off his plane in Chile. Now Almog somehow finds out about a British government warrant while his plane is in the air and is then allowed to remain on board the plane and return to Israel. This means that someone with knowledge of the warrant had to contact Almog in-flight, and that the British government refused to pull him off the plane when it landed. This makes at least twice that a right-wing military figure, accused of violent attacks on civilians, has “miraculously” slipped through the fingers of the British government when the British courts stood ready to do their duty under international treaties that the UK is supposedly bound by.
As for the plane business, I don’t know the legalities here, but it surprises me that a wanted criminal can simply sit on a plane on British territory and claim that he is immune to arrest. I didn’t think that foreign aircraft in transit were regarded as sovereign territory (I may be wrong here). The US, certainly, has claimed the right to arrest foreign nationals who are simply changing planes at an international air terminal inside the US, without clearing customs into the country; how does merely being on the plane grant some sort of magical immunity? And are they telling us that any regular citizen can just sit on a plane, refuse to leave, and be immune to arrest in a foreign port - or would be allowed to do so? I don’t think so. (Note also that El Al is the Israeli national carrier, meaning that the plane crew could have put Almog off the plane, in obedience to a valid arrest warrant, if the Israeli government had been willing to obey the law. That they did not demonstrates - entirely unsurprisingly, of course - that Israel acted to protect an accused criminal in its own defense forces against a valid arrest warrant of an ally nation.) It seems as if the law doesn’t apply if you’re (a) “anti-terrorist” and (b) a friend of the government.
September 13th, 2005
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General, Politics, Legal Issues, Culture, Terrorism, Travel |
4 comments
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