When my friend lived here though, she didn’t like the drugs. Described needles and paraphernalia in her car park each morning. I wouldn’t like that. Whereever there’s drugs there’s theft. And stupidity. And arrogance.
Commercial Drive is diverse. I’ve always liked that. Once so Italian with the international soccer game bars. I’ve always liked the coffee shops. People watching is the best here. Gilbert likes the eau de dog butt.
I’m sitting across from the Royal Canadian Legion. New blue paint job and golden writing beside painted red poppies. Lest We Forget. I tell people that it’s not just about fallen soldiers. It’s the fact that the elephant in the room is every nation is an arms producer or consumer. The fact is that the west is just better at making weapons. That’s what raised us to such prominence. The irony in anger management is that we don’t want citizens en mass to embrace passivity but rather that they only use their anger in answer to the call of the nation. I was in the Peace Movement and worked with Veterans Affairs. I think a lot of very silly and stupid people would like to forget history and live in a haze. I love real politick. I love the saying, "if you want peace, prepare for war." I probably have been working on the street too long knowing too many sociopaths in high and low areas. I believe in Peace. This is the season for Peace. Peace on Earth. Good Will to All. But the lesson of Meteora and Cappodoecia is the same lesson that Tibetans learned when faced with the machine guns of the Chinese.
People stop to talk to me on the street here, mostly visitting Gilbert. It’s cloudy but not raining. I was at the boat earlier checking on it after the storms. I'd been down one evening to check the mooring too. All’s well. The neighbours said they’d been there for last nights blow and one of the docks had been lifted out of it’s mooring.
I stopped at MEC (Mountain Equipment Coop). My hiking boots I’d had with the othotics are losing their sole. I was pleased to replace them with a set of KEEN’s that seem right enough I won’t need to wear the othotics. My injury has healed sufficiently that hiking is less and less painful.
A new overcoat shell is light weight enough that I think it will be the trick for traveling where flying is involved.
My friend is coming into town to visit family in the hospital so I’m planning on meeting up if only to provide support. I'd been planning on hunting but Gilbert’s being sick all Thursday night and lethargic yesterday made me wait a day. He’s recovered fully now so I could have gone hunting but caution is best. He certainly gets me to work each day.
Aim and Marc are off to Australia. Aim has a position as professor at University of Sydney in political science. It’s hard to believe but we’ve all been friends for 5 years now. Laura and I interviewed her to work as my assistant that long ago. She was doing her phD at UBC and welcomed a day of work. Thanks to her Joanne and Hannah followed and now she’s trained Angel. I’m so very thankful for her contributions. She's such a brilliant good spirited young woman of such high character. Laura accompanied me to the dinner and we all laughed recalling Aim's life with Gilbert. “I’ve never had a dog’, she said. Gilbert only a handful of love when they met was glad to teach her all there was to know. He lead her all over the neighbourhood pulling her behind him on 'their' walks. We’ll all miss her. Marc’s friends were there as well. It was their last night in Vancouver with everyone wanting to see them one last time before they left.
The big news this week wasn’t on CBC. Apparently Obama was supported by Warren Buffet who has billions invested in the railways that move the oil now in the US. So Obama’s not favouring the Keystone Pipeline isn’t about the environment but more about political patronage. The cost of transporting oil by train is $30 a barrel versus $10 a barrel by pipeline and the pipelines are a whole lot safer environmentally. Meanwhile Russia continues to insist it’s in the Crimean Ukraine to protect ethnic Russians. Well no one would not think that maybe Russia is motivated financially by the hugely important Crimean Port system, here in the west people really think ‘idealism’ is only what the ‘environment movement ’ is about. I just ask everyone to 'follow the money trails'. I don’t care that environmentalists are extorting millions or billions on behalf of the spotted owl, or some other cuddly creature, it’s just the hypocrisy and dishonesty that offend me. I work and I do pro bono work. I give to charity and church. It’s just the way the adult world works. The real work goes on despite the drama. Naturally if I want to sell windmills I'll knock the oil generators. It's not rocket science and life goes on. Meanwhile the propaganda folk play the masses like the sports casters promote their teams and play with the passions of the masses. Team sports prepare the kids for war and finally now that women are playing hockey they're not so gullible politically. One day they'll wake up and understand how 'sexual harassment' concerns lost the citizenry all the gains since Magna Carta. It's not about race or gender or any such distraction. It's about power and money and the smart investors invest in both teams.
It’s Advent though and I’m really happy to see a painting of a mother and child being sold by a street vendor on Commercial. Hallelujah! I say that it’s better to celebrate those things one most appreciates than to denigrate those that one doesn’t. I’m thankful for Aim’s present of the biography of Prime Minister Harper. I really did like him when I met him. I liked Prime Minister Turner too. We've been very fortunate to have the high caliber of leadership we have in Canada. I’m now looking forward to reading the life of our country’s leader. He's a regular Goreski, Hadfield with a little bit of Lenard Cohen and Russel Peters and Celine Dion added to the mess. Canada rocks.
A car with a Christmas Tree on top just went past. There is a certain festivity on the street. I loved the Santa Claus going by on the motorcycle. A couple of stylish girls have adorned their heads with antlers. I’ve not put much money in the parking meter so will have to leave soon. My MEC jacket is certainly as comfortable as the new shoes. There’s not much colour in the coats and hats that people wear but their running shoes are dayglo psychedelic. Oh well time to move on.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment