Category: Uncategorized

Sweet.

We’re looking forward to this one, but we’re a little concerned at Joaquin Phoenix’s acting… it usually sucks… hopefully he’ll pull it off…

A couple of things…

A week ago, we were tagged by Mark from Section 15 to complete a quote meme which is going around. This looks like it’ll be a project to do next week. Hold your horses! It’ll rock y’r socks!

Mr. Calgary Grit is continuing the Greatest Prime Minister contest – go and vote!

We’ve also been cleaning out our bookmarks section on our computer, which was filled with over 200 links… here are some of the fun links we’d forgotten about…

1. Map of the 38th Parliament. A map of Canada with the colour coated riding-by-riding results of the 2004 federal election.

2. The Livingroom Candidate. For the political geek in all of us.

3. US Congressional Biography Directory. A search engine for bio’s of US Members of Congress past and present.

4. MapZone. One of our personal favorites. A map which has riding-by-riding results for every Alberta provincial election since 1905.

5. Communist Threat! Anti-Commie comic books from 1950’s USA.

6. Political Shagmatch. “The No.1 game with politicians screwing you for your vote!“

7. Don’t Buy It. Design your own cereal box!

8. Batman Boner. Click to find out.

9. Goyk.com Videos. Awesome video clips of random stuff.

We’re sure we’ve picked these up at random blogs and whatnot, so claim them if you feel the need.

and the saga continues…

…as the armies of darkness muster their armies in the west…

Today is the 100th anniversary of the only province that we have ever had the pleasure of calling home. Today in 1905, the Province of Alberta and its sister Province, Saskatchewan, were officially born from the great expanse known as the North West Territories and its respected Districts.

We love our province. We love its natural beauty and diversity. We love that you can drive through the near deserts of Drumheller and Milk River to the majestic and amazing Rocky Mountains to the incredibly beautiful north filled with forests and lakes and the bald-ass prairie which spans as far as the eye can see all within one province. We love that an area so diverse and vast in its own is also part of an even vaster and more diverse country.

Our family first came to Alberta in 1896 as pioneers. They traveled from Sorel, Quebec and settled north of Edmonton. They were hard working farmers, breaking land and farming through brutally hard conditions. Along with thousands of other pioneers, they started with nearly nothing, but together they succeeded in building healthy and vibrant communities across this province.

We remember hearing our grandfather telling us stories about the 1930’s when he and his brother drove a covered wagon to homestead in the Peace Country because the local mine had shut down due to the Depression.

We remember our grandfather telling us the story of how our great-great-uncle, Lionel Tellier (who also served as the Independent MLA for St. Albert from 1940-44), fought the Canadian government to the Supreme Court for the right to have French enlistment forms in Alberta during the First World War.

Albertans live in an incredible place. As a Province, we have an unbelievable amount of wealth in natural resources, but we also have incredible potential and an untapped wealth of resources in the form of our citizens.

Alberta has the potential to do great things as we moves into the 21st century; incredible things for our people, and incredible things for Canada.

As we celebrate this 100th Anniversary of this great province, let’s not forget the potential all Albertans have, not as politicians or protectionists, but as leaders in strengthening our position as the best province in the best country in the world.

We love our home, our province, and our country.

Happy Birthday, Alberta!

…this is what our blog would look like.

Unfortunately, the “$7 Billion” surplus we thought we had turned out to be a measly $2.8 Billion.

It seems the patronage gods are having a hard time quenching their thirst…

…two new Senate appointments today…

Yoine Goldstein (Quebec-Liberal): A Montreal Lawyer

Francis Fox (Quebec-Liberal): Corporate Executive; Martin Confidant; Former Trudeau Cabinet Minister who was forced to resign from cabinet in 1978, when it was revealed that he had forged the signature of his girlfriend’s husband on a form granting permission for her to have an abortion. (At the time, the husband’s consent was needed for the procedure.)

There are now three vacancies in the Senate: two in New Bruswick, and one in Prince Edward Island (Stompin’ Tom still has a chance!).

The current party standings in the Senate are…

Liberal – 67
Conservative – 24
Progressive Conservative – 5
New Democratic – 1
Independent – 5
Vacant – 3
TOTAL – 105

We had a fire at our house this weekend. An electrical cord shorted out and set the couch on fire.

Thankfully (or luckly), a buddy of our housemate was too un-sober to drive home that night and was sleeping on the couch when it started burning. He put it out before it burnt our house down.

No one was hurt.

Crazy.

Mainly for the benefit of Socialist Swine, who apparently likes online quizzes.

how jedi are you? :: by lawrie malen

As of October 3rd, Premier Klein will a new chief enforcer.

The (twice, third time?) resignation of the perennial Chief of Staff of the Premier’s Office, Mr. Rod Love, has happened again.

Mr. Love, who recently announced his departure from the Premier’s office, will be returning to the private sector.

Mr. Love, who served as Klein’s Chief of Staff from 1992 to 1997, replaced Peter Elzinga as Chief of Staff earlier this year (Elzinga, who served as the PC MP for Pembina from 1974 to 1986 and the PC MLA for Sherwood Park from 1986 to 1993, replaced Steve West as Chief of Staff following the 2004 Election and later replaced defeated Tory MLA Drew Hutton as the Executive Director of the Alberta PC Party – a position he currently holds).

Mr. Peter Kruselnicki will replace Mr. Love.

According to a press release from the Premier’s Office:

“Peter Kruselnicki, a former deputy minister and long-time public servant, will assume the duties of Premier Ralph Klein’s Chief of Staff effective Monday, October 3.

…

Mr. Kruselnicki is currently on secondment from the government of Alberta to the University of Victoria, Wellington, New Zealand, Faculty of Public Administration.”

Mr. Kruselnicki was Alberta’s Deputy Minister of Labour under former Minister Murray Smith (now Alberta’s “Ambassador” to Washington DC) and Deputy Minister of Finance under former Finance Minister’s Stockwell Day (before Day’s jump into the Canadian Alliance leadership race), Steve West (who didn’t seek re-election in 2001 and was Klein’s Chief of Staff before Elzinga), and Pat Nelson (Nelson did not seek re-election in 2004). Mr. Kruselnicki left for New Zealand following the November 2004 election.

Just as interesting as the incestuous nature of Alberta PC politics is that this seems to be the first “non-politico” to fill the Chief of Staff position in as far back as we can remember… (props to Duncan for pointing this out to us).

Through the miracle of google, we’ve been able to discover the secret to Evangelical Christian rock star, Pat Robertson’s longevity!

Mr. Robertson, born in the early 1800’s, has been preaching the good word of forgivness and charity since 1830 and he’s still going! Here’s the secret to his immortality: Pat Robertson’s Age-Defying Protein Shake!

To make one of these holier than thou shakes and be just like Pat Robertson, follow these directions…

“In a blender, mix 10 to 12 ounces (1 1/2 glasses) of water with:
• 1/2 scoop Lindberg Protein Blend (11g protein, 55 calories)
• 1 scoop Optimum Nutrition Pro Complex (27g protein, 130 calories)
• 5 grams Fitness Labs L-Glutamine Powder (20 calories)
• 1 Tbsp. Lindberg Organic Flax Oil (130 calories)
• 1 Tbsp. Bragg Apple Cider Vinegar (0 calories)
• 1/2 Tbsp. Safflower Oil (65 calories)
• 1 Tsp. Lindberg MSM Powder (15 calories)
• 1 packet Now Foods Stevia Extract (0 calories)

Total nutrients are: Protein 38g, Carbs 3g, Fat 23g, Calories 412g. (These calculations do not take into account carbs or calories from the fruit you may optionally add. Recipe is for a medium sized man or a large woman.)

Next, add in frozen strawberries and blueberries or your favorite fruit, natural sweetener (if desired), ice cubes and blend. Makes one delicious shake.”

Rumour has it that he and Rasputin shared one in 1916!

God Bless and Enjoy!

We thought this was a little funny.

As expected, Mr. Cherniak has the official Ottawa politburo spin on his blog.

The good people at Our Public Airwaves have fixed up the above button. You may have noticed it on our sidebar and you can find the html code for the button here.

As long-time listeners of CBC Radio, we are getting more and more annoyed with the message “due to labour distruption…”

We want our CBC back. We want our As It Happens and Sounds Like Canada. We miss listening to Edmonton AM and the Current. We miss Global Village.

We miss the quality, and are really learning to dislike the new suplementary “national programing” that the CBC is using since the strike began.

It’s time for this strike to end.

We believe it’s time for the Liberal Government to seriously start funding the CBC.

It’s raining again today.

Well, it’s been a busy couple of days for us here in daveberta.

Here’s a quick recap…

Saturday…

Fringe! Saturday afternoon, we made our way to the International Fringe Theatre Festival in Old Strathcona with our friends Dan and Ryan.

For the first time in what seemed like 9 years, it wasn’t raining in our fair municipality. Though we all suffered from severe moisture deprivation from the lack of rain, it was extremely pleasant to enjoy what was know to generations past as “sunshine” and “summer.”

As luck would have it, we spent most of the afternoon and evening in the beer gardens, though we did break to see a show. We enjoyed a splendid rendition of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat by Alberta Lyric Theatre, which was held in the basement of the Strathcona Presbyterian Church. It was fun. It was youth theatre, but it was fun.

We also had a nice chat with our favorite MLA, Laurie Blakeman, who was also enjoying the Fringe-festivities.

Following Mr. Joseph and his Amazing Dreamcoat, we excused ourselves back to the beer gardens for another round of refreshments. Our night finished itself off with…

1. An impromptu techno session on Whyte.
2. Randomly getting invited to a rave and a frat party within 5 minutes of each other.
3. A nearly lost car.
4. A donair.
5. EH-OH!

Sunday….

After waking up at 1:30 in the afternoon, we slowly made my way back to the Fringe to enjoy some shows (after stopping for coffee at the Sugar Bowl of course!).

After chillin’ wit some of our peeps for a bit, we took in some of the free shows. This included the half-naked torch juggling lady, Australian “mating” rituals, and two Yanks who did some more juggling. We also saw one guy do 100 push-ups in 1 minute! It was crazy!

Later hooked up with the Boggmaster and Ms. Catrin. We again ended up in the beer gardens. Intellectual discussions ensued. All is well.

Indeed.

The three of us ended up going to one of the best Fringe shows we’ve seen in quite a while: ANTOINE FEVAL (we added the caps for effect). Seriously folks, if you get the chance to see this show this week, TOTALLY GO. It was awesome funny.

Following Mr. Feval’s production, we seem to remember returning to the beer gardens…

(FADES TO BLACK)

Monday…

Following a restless night of severe “rain withdrawal,” we made our usual 5 minute walk to work in typical Monday morning fashion… slowly but surely.

Monday afternoon progressed into a Tuition Policy Seminar at University Hall with Dr. Dan Lang from the University of Toronto. Dr. Lang is working on a study with the United Nations on tuition models in G-8 Countries. We try not to comment on work stuff here on our blog, but seeing as how it seems we’ve already broken that rule, we’re just going to say that it was an interesting seminar and not quite what we expected…

Monday evening, we progressed to what was known as the Prime Minister’s BBQ in Edmonton.

Yes, that is correct, the one and only Right Honourable Paul Martin, PC was in Edmonton and at a BBQ (600 people and sold out).

We were joined by the lovely Misses Sarah and Samantha, along with the always hip Misters Adam and Dan. There were alot more people at the BBQ than we expected, including the striking CBC Workers/Telus Workers/Prison Guards outside the event. Though we felt a little dirty “crossing the line,” we felt redeemed after signing their petitions and posing for some pictures (see below).

Ms. Sarah, Mr. Adam, and daveberta’s editor-in-chief in solidarity with the striking workers.

We attempted to bring one of the prison guard union flags into the event, but unfortunately, one of the RCMP goons thought otherwise. He grabbed it from us and proceeded to put it “where it belongs”- which turned out to be the garbage. Fortunately, my level-headed intellectual friend, Dan, snatched the flag from the goonish cop and returned it to the workers.

Shame on that RCMP officer. Shame.

Even the entire membership of the Alberta Separatist Party showed up!

Of course, being the political Casanova’s that we are, as we entered, we smoothly put our “schmoozing hats” on and delved into the crowd.

Hot Dogs and wine had the pleasure to grace out palate that evening. We had a nice chat with a number of people and we even got to sit at the same table as the amazing Todd Babiak! We thought he was a pretty cool guy (which we discovered he is).

Some other notables at the event included Senators Claudette Tardif and Grant Mitchell, Minister Lucienne Robillard, Alberta Liberal Leader Kevin Taft, Liberal MLA’s Rick Miler, Bruce Miller, Dan Backs, the lovely Nic, and the blogging hipster himself, Mr. Sheamus Murphy.

The PM entered, people cheered. Our favorite Liberal MP, Anne McLellan, introduced him and the reception was fairly warm (for Alberta). The Prime Minister said “tremendous” at least 8 times in his speech (6 times in the first minute). He spoke about foreign policy, training, etc….? Fairly decent speech overall. Props for campaign style delivery, but not so much for the overusage of the word “tremendous.”

We continued to schmooze and drink as the evening continued.

As the evening ended, we were reminded that it is supposed to start raining again tomorrow.

Ah, summer in Alberta.

(Exit Stage Left)

(END SCENE)