Articles filed in the water cooler
Quatrains to Sugar Snap Peas
Sugar Snap Peas
Sugar snap peas in sweet spring I seed
Aiming for green, aiming anti-weed
I digg stumble and crow on Twitter
Toiling for a score unguaranteed
Crunchy sweet nutritious and filling
Topped in salads, steamed or stir-frying
She diggs stumbles and chirps on Twitter
To swap with cheeps and friends indulging
Dona Nobis Pacem
Focusing attention on Mahatma Gandhi today, does not mean I endorse non-violence as a total solution towards peace. Neither is war nor democracy.
For a highly respected figure, I believe Gandhi is just as misunderstood. He was indeed a peaceful man but his fight was actually to defend the truth and bring justice - both in South Africa and in India.
Blogblast for Peace - Memeing the Movement
Her Royal Blogginess, Mimi Queen of the memes, held court here at ManiaRavings earlier this week with a Royal Entreaty for me to participate in Blogblast for Peace on November 6 2008.
—— copie below this line ——
Blogblast of Peace finds its humble beginnings to one autmn day in 2006 when, while observing the chaos in the world, Queen Mimi ruminated the idea of
…having every blog in the blogosphere post on November 7 with a simple title “Dona Nobis Pacem“, and with a picture of our big beautiful world in the body of the post and each blogger’s name screaming a great big GRANT US PEACE. Read more →
Decision 2008 : Focus on the Eh-conomy
Canadians will be going to the polls on Tuesday, October the 14th and choose a new federal Government. This is our third federal election since 2004. The previous election was held in January of 2006.
I used to write a lot on Canadian politics on my previous blog. But since then, I simply did not have the time to divulge into politics. Now is a good time to start again.
Since 2004 Canada has been ruled by minority governments, first by the Liberals under Paul Martin. But his government fell in January 2006 after a vote of no confidence. Then the Conservatives formed a new government under Stephen Harper. They won 40.3% seats, making them the smallest minority government since Confederation (July 1, 1867). But they were also the longest serving continuous minority government in history.
Canadian Prime Ministers can call an election anytime - followed by a minimum 36 days of campaigning. This time Prime Minister Stephen Harper called the election in hopes of turning his minority government into a majority.
There are five parties that represent Canadians at the federal level. Talk about all the choices and all the opinions and proposals to keep track of. This election is all about who to choose to steer Canada out of the current economic crisis.
If you find all that boring, tickle your funny bone instead by learning how good Canadians are at building bridges.
My thoughts on bottled-water-containers
Last Monday, the council of the city of London, Ontario, voted 15 to 3 to stop selling bottled-water in all city-owned buildings.
I agree it’s a step in the right direction to protect the environment from the accumulating plastic in our landfills. City officials point out that only 50% of single use bottles actually end up being recycled. They also argue that it will cut the amount of energy needed to truck-in the bottled water.
Refreshments Canada on the other hand say that the City of London should instead have put more effort in educating its residents about recycling, because plastic bottles are 100% recyclable and some cities like Hamilton recycle at a rate of 91% (if it’s true - Whohoo !).
United Pigeons Toronto Confluence
2008 Session, Union Station, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
“Mr. Secretary, scouts have reported of intruders from south of the border. Unconfirmed reports also point to a certain Hamiltonian attempting to show them a good time.”
“Do you have a strategy ?”
“Yes Sir. We will target the Hamiltonian first by pooping into his lunch …”
iPhone mania ! Really ?
This morning’s news were all over the launching of the iPhone today for the first time in Canada. Representatives from Rogers Communications, who is the official carrier of the iPhone in Canada, were grilled over the prices, while the buyers were asked if it was really necessary.
Apple thretened Rogers by pulling the iPhone last week for ripping off customers by offerring only one plan which was outrageous and overpriced: 60$ a month for 3 years, 150 minutes and only 400 MB of data. Under pressure from consumers and Apple. Rogers announced other plans as listed on their website.
It was reported by AppleInsider that Apple had already diverted shipments bound for Canada to Europe creating a shortage. Thus participating Rogers stores are officially stocked with only 20 iPhones and limiting two per customer.
قصيدة مليباري
Today’s post is in Arabic. Let me correct that - broken Arabic. It’s a poetry (I found in my e-mail inbox last week), that is a narration by a Keralite (a person from the state of Kerala in south India), who recounts his miserable life in Saudi Arabia. It’s hilarious as it captures the flavour of Hejazi Arabic but in a broken and accented form. The story actually is sad and very true.
Keralites form a majority among the population of foreigners especially in western Saudi Arabia and have become a stereotype among the South Asian population. They are commonly referred to as Malabari in the Gulf because the majority of Keralite Muslims there come from the Malabar region . Their language, accent and to some extent their gullibility, make them irresistible for the rest of the expatriates to poke fun at them.
The Mosaic Picture Meme
I saw this meme in Kathy’s Junk Drawer and this is the coolest meme I’ve come across thus far. This meme was originally created by Bud, who changed the rules slightly.
Football Fever 2008 !
Being a life long football fan (that’s soccer to you NFL/CFL fans), I get this fever during every World Cup, the Euro Cup and to a lesser extent during the Asian Cup and Copa América.
Euro Cup 2008 kicked off today and the first game was played between Switzerland and the Czech Republic. The Czechs won the game by scoring 1 goal in the 68th minute. The Swiss did have a couple of chances of making a tie, but their confidence was largely shaken after the Czech score.
Within the next hour another game will begin between Portugal and Turkey, which will be played in Geneva. I’ve been posting live game highlights and scores on my Twitter.
I don’t have a favourite team among the Europeans because it’s very hard to predict. But their football is always very entertaining.
Since I don’t have Cable TV, I’ll be watching the games on OMNI-TV, where commentary is mostly in Italian and a few games will be broadcast in Portuguese, Polish and Greek. If you live in Ontario, you can follow the schedule on the OMNI-TV Website.
Checkmate !
A snowy afternoon well spent !
Oh I’ve got the blues …
Yep ! I’ve the writer’s block. Again.
The 123 Book Meme
I’ve been tagged by Lee of Tar Heel Ramblings for this meme which requires me to do the following:
- Open the book that you are currently reading or pick up a nearest book.
- Open to page 123
- Find the fifth sentence
- Post the next three sentences
This meme couldn’t have come at any other time, than when I am reading a book in French. continue reading →
Ask for advice instead
I gave out a lot of advices this month. Perhaps too many for someone like me. But I felt useful. And I was thanked every time. That made me gave out more advices.
People love giving out advices even when they are not asked to. Something strange happens while a person is giving out advice. They spill out a lot more information than they ought to. May be Dr. Phil can explain.
In most cases, that information is something they have experienced in the past. That information can reveal a lot about that person !
So, when you want information out of someone, for example, a real estate agent, ask for advice instead.
That was yet one more advice for this month !
Let’s sing with Drew Carey !
Catchy title I should admit ! But its not singing with just Drew Carey, but also Colin Mochrie, Ryan Stiles and Wayne Brady.
Ok Ok .. I was caught up today, watching clips from “Whose Line Is It Anyway ?”; and I’d like to share with you three clips I liked in particular. All of them include singing of course; the first is a hoedown and the second I can’t well describe, and the third is an Irish drinking song.
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Do I need a Blokester invitation??? 
