Sunday, August 31, 2008


An interesting article on the total intellectual bankruptcy of the Republican party (and, yes, I know - "intellectual" is a bad word among Republicans. They much prefer "dumb", "vapid", "Barbie", "hockey mom", and, of course, "money").

And have you noticed (of course you have) how Dumbya's milking the big Gustav vs. New Orleans smackdown? Gotta love the guy - he just won't admit that he's a fuck-up of historical dimensions. You'd think the fact that he won't be showing his face in St. Paul ('cause his own party told him to "Go away!"?) in support of his party's candidate, Bush II, might give him a clue. But, then again, has he ever had a clue? Ever? Why should he change now?

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Saturday, August 30, 2008


Aaaaaand, we're back. Yep, after a couple of days of no pix, finally, I got out and got...well...at least one. And just in time, too, 'cause...

I'm, um, peeved. Very. Let's just say that it's a good thing I have to type this thing, rather than just being able to vent vocally. John McBush picked a Barbie doll as his VP candidate and people are actually taking this seriously?!? Granted, she's a gun-totin', fetus-lovin', oil-drillin', beauty-pageant-losin', god-fearin' Barbie doll, but... Her claim to fame is she's "...just an average hockey mom..."?!? She's been mayor of a town smaller than the student population at the average community college?!? Oh, wait - she's stood up to "Big Oil". Right. With her hand waving in the air as she screams, "Over here! Drill over here!". If I were a woman in America right now, I'd be looking for blood. This is McBush's idea of a 21st century woman?!? A moron who'd give birth to a kid she knew would have Down's syndrome?!? Does she have any idea what that entails? Not for her, for the kid. Hmmmm, let's see...lower-than-average I.Q. (possibly substantially - always a plus for someone's personal happiness), high probability of life-threatening heart defects (oh, piffle, she says), a dead certainty that the poor kid will be displaying symptoms similar to those of Alzheimer's before age 45 (oh, what are a few brain cells, here or there, she winked. Besides, with those heart defects, he probably won't live that long anyway!).

Really, somebody ought to check McBush's meds. Surely there were actual women of substance in the Republican party he could have chosen. Not to mention that, if you're going to make a blatantly false play - "Look! My running mate's a woman! How modern am I, eh?" - on the sexual politics front, you should at least try not to totally screw it up by displaying your contempt for women by picking this ball of fluff.

And what's especially galling is that no one's calling him or her on it. What's her education? B.A.? M.A.? High school? Any training in the law? Economics? History? Foreign relations? I've seen nothing on this at all. Has she got any qualifications whatsoever? Did she even win "Miss Congeniality" in that beauty pageant? Something? Anything?

Like I said, I'm a bit peeved.

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Wednesday, August 27, 2008


It's amazing what accumulates with time, isn't it? This single photograph contains reminders of people spanning, well, my entire life. There are two dead people, three very much alive people, one very old person whose time may be coming, one friendship gone awry, and one major lost love. Zowee. Time flies when you're having fun, huh?

And, obviously, I really need to get into the concept of "dusting".

Tuesday, August 26, 2008


I'm amazed there isn't a sign outside: "Plenty of underground shopping!". But, there isn't.

Meanwhile, politics is doing its usual thing. Evidently some Democrats are still peeved that Bary beat Hilly and are actually thinking about not voting in the fall, or, in a display of stupidity second only to that coming on a daily basis from the current Administration, thinking about voting for McBush. Every time you think you've seen the deepest depths of human stupidity, somebody just dives a little deeper.

Up here, our esteemed Loser...er, Leader...seems to be planning to call an election. He's doing his best to put the blame on the various opposition parties and their failure to go along with his moronic policies. And, he's abandoning some of his party's more moronic policies at a prodigious rate. Yep, his Gang of Goobers just dumped a bill that would have given rights to fetuses, making it illegal to harm one. Now, as anyone with the IQ of a small invertebrate can see, this was obviously a way to try to make abortion illegal. Just about right for the brightest minds of the Ref...Canadian Alli....Conservative Party - on a good day they're right up there, IQ-wise, with fleas (and ten times as annoying). Other folks can pass their time having fun with counting the number of ways this would turn around and bite these boneheads on their asses. Obviously, since they dumped it, somebody squealed.

Monday, August 25, 2008


Yep. Just another day in the hood.

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Sunday, August 24, 2008


I think I've mentioned this before (O.K., I know I have), but, I'm a tad slow on the up-take. Amy Winehouse. I resisted listening to her for ages. Way too much "tortured artist" happening. And then I figured, "Oh, what the heck - pick up her CD". I did. I listened. She's gooooood. The tortured artist thing is still stupid, but...Amy's really got it.

Saturday, August 23, 2008


Went to see "Vicky, Christina, Barcelona" today. Gooood movie (as every critic on the planet has already pointed out). Penelope Cruz and Javier Bardem are the movie, even though Ms. Cruz doesn't show up until well into the film. Rebecca Hall and Scarlett Johansson, as the other two corners in the love quadrangle, were fine, but, well... Particularly, unfortunately, Johansson. She is, it would seem, who she is. Pick a movie she's been in, any movie, and you'll see the same person you saw in her first(?) big break, "Lost in Translation". But, don't get me wrong, it works in this movie. It's very much worth seeing.

Friday, August 22, 2008


Sign of the tines?

Thursday, August 21, 2008


Housing problem? What housing problem? And his own staff have no idea about the laws in Hawaii regarding public access to beaches (let alone how many homes His Dumbness owns). All beaches. John McMoron.

Meanwhile, this one's too easy for those of us of a sarcastic turn of mind. I mean, come on - it's like shooting fish in a barrel.

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Wednesday, August 20, 2008


Don't you love it when your country's "law and order" party puts itself above the law? I know I do. And, I don't know about you, but I also enjoy the fact that they're also always the God-fearing, neo-conservative, Bible thumpers.

Tuesday, August 19, 2008


Kinda flag-like, don't you think?

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Monday, August 18, 2008


Here in Canada it seems we're still facing the question - what, oh lord, did we do to deserve a moron like this as our Minister of Health? And why, oh why, is it only the good that die young? Couldn't the criminally stupid get culled sooner, too?

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Sunday, August 17, 2008


It's hot here in Vancouver at the moment. Tampa hot. Which is the same as too hot. In fact, to expand on the theme, it's too damn hot! If I'd thrown an egg at this wall? It would have been fried, sunny side up, before it had a chance to begin to ooze toward the ground. We're dyin' here, I tell ya!

Of course, anyone with half a brain would have been at the beach, right? Not wandering around the pavement of downtown, looking for things to photograph? Yeah, well...

Aaaaand, this just in...Yep, more evidence that there's something seriously wrong, I.Q.-wise, in Texas: "In Dallas, a 42-year-old homeless man was arrested for "harassing a public servant with a deadly weapon" - a fancy way of saying he spit on a cop. Because Willie Campbell was HIV-positive, he was jailed for 35 years, even though there has never been a documented case of the AIDS virus being transmitted by saliva." That's from Sunday's on-line edition of the Globe and Mail. Do you think maybe their cowboy hats are on just a little too tight?

Or is it their jeans? See, this is what happens when you're reluctant to shut down the computer for the night, and wind up looking for just one more interesting thing. Yep, more information on that little gun-totin' Texas town, Harrold. I'm thinking these folks are, um, different. First of all, the good people of an isolated, tiny Texas town are afraid of, um, "armed maniacs". I love this quote from the school superintendent: "We are 30 minutes from law enforcement. How long do you think it would take to kill all 150 of us? It would be a bloodbath." Yep, first place your armed maniac's gonna go - a town of less than 300 people. That'll get you the publicity, for sure. The other fascinating fact about the little town of Harrold is that population statistic - barely 300. Of whom 110 are 18 years of age or less (and, let's not forget, potential targets of that homicidal maniac). Almost half the town's population is school age? These folks, it strikes me, start their families darn young, don't you think?

Saturday, August 16, 2008


I really like Lyle Lovett's music. And, from everything I've ever read or heard, he's a really nice guy. He's got a song called "That's Right (You're Not From Texas)". Read this story. Now, aren't you glad you're not from Texas? Can you imagine going through life with an IQ in the low two figures?

Friday, August 15, 2008


And while we're on the subject of bankruptcy... It'd be funny if it weren't so tragically stupid. I especially love this quote from Dumbya: "Bullying and intimidation are not acceptable ways to conduct foreign policy in the 21st century." Do you think his head actually spins around three or four times when he says things like that?

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Thursday, August 14, 2008


I think I mentioned our dimwit Premier yesterday, didn't I? Well, he's at it again. Yep, while people are dying for lack of basic social/medical services on Vancouver's Downtown Eastside, Gordo's answer is, "Let them play sports!". My bet is they'd rather have the cake.

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Wednesday, August 13, 2008


Ah, back to the Downtown Eastside. The place our worthy Premier says will be all nice and pretty when the Olympics (and the zillions of tourist dollars) arrive here in 2010. Warning: no breath should be held while awaiting this miracle.

Meanwhile, the Refor.......er......Canadian Allian.......um, sorry......ahh, Conservative Party, our very own self-proclaimed defenders of law and order seem to have decided (surprise!) that, well, those concepts don't actually apply to them. Smirkin' Steve and his pals, Peter McKay, Tony (I'm not really a doctor, I just play one in Parliament) Clement, David (Fooled ya!) Emerson, all want soooo badly to be Dumbya, Dickie and their pals. "We are Royalty, damn it! We run this country and we can do whatever we damn well please!" Sadly, it seems to be working so far.

Tuesday, August 12, 2008


If you read a lot, and I do, sooner or later you're faced with a conundrum - keep buying full price?, go to the library?, or buy used? I go for all three. O.K., O.K., I have a problem. What are the next 11 steps?

The fun thing about buying used is finding traces of other people. Who's "Pixie", and where the hell did she (he?) get that name? Was it Dad's pet name for her? I sure hope so, 'cause an adult going through life hanging on to "Pixie" as a name....well..... Still, she gave "Dad" a book, attaching some meaning to the gift (or did she?), and it wound up in a used book store. Did Dad die? Was Dad just cleaning out his bookshelves? Was Pixie not quite Dad's favourite child?

All of which reminds me, "Nothing To Be Frightened Of", Julian Barnes's latest book, is well worth a read. Especially if you find yourself in a similarly chronologically advanced state to mine. Yep, it's all about death. One's own. I think I'm more in agreement with his brother - "Julian, it's going to happen. There's nothing after. Get over it." - but it's nevertheless interesting to read the thoughts of someone as, um, well, thoughtful, as Barnes. If you've never read any of his novels, get on it for cryin' out loud.

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Monday, August 11, 2008


The Olympics are coming! The Olympics are coming! And so, ladies and gentlemen, Vancouver must prepare. Beneath that foreground pavement lies a 21st century transportation miracle. Yes! A......are you ready?........subway! Or should that be "sub-ish-way"? Because, after all, along some parts of its length, it's high in the sky. Well, whatever. It will, actually, be a good thing once it's all done. The trip from the airport to downtown will be fast and smooth. And safe! No more need to jump into a cab (unless, of course, you're just too "special" to ride with normal folks) and risk your life.

Slowly, slowly, slowly, this burg is finally getting a modern transit system. Although I'll still be riding my bicycle, thanks.

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Sunday, August 10, 2008


Ah, the clash of civic (sort of) and corporate interests. The "BO" just visible in this photo, behind the "TO" is part of an old, and very large, sign for a car dealership, now defunct, that some good, historically-minded citizens felt needed to be retained as a civic landmark. Wellllllllll, maybe. Sure. A monument to 1950s (?), 1960s (?) advertising/car culture? Oh, heck - why not? Just 'cause it's going to fall apart of its own accord in a few years - is that a reason to simply take it down when the business it advertises goes out of business and gets replaced by one even more crass? Heck no!

And, in case you hadn't recognized it, the "TO" belongs to the "TOYS..." in, you guessed it....and so I'm not going any further with this. They cut a deal with the city fathers (surely city mothers would have been more sensible!) that would let them put their sign on top of the old one, thus both preserving and defacing at the same time a purported historical landmark. Aren't politics and business wonderful?

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Saturday, August 09, 2008


Just makes you want to order up some won-ton soup, doesn't it? And, trust me, the front entrance isn't any more enticing.

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Uh-oh. Time to hit the streets again (as if yesterday's broom picture wasn't a clue). But, come on, surely there's an Olympic connection, right? Chinese? Barriers? Construction?

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Thursday, August 07, 2008


I don't know - a metaphor for final exams, maybe? Or just that, once marking's all done, maybe I need to do a little (O.K., a lot of) house cleaning?

Wednesday, August 06, 2008


Well, it's "I'm Embarrassed to Be Canadian" day, here at Shaggy Dog Pix. Yep, this moron is actually our minister for health. I'm sorry, it's not my fault. Trust me. I did not vote for these boneheads. We currently have a party in power that's second in stupidity, venality, and general all-around hypocrisy to the Republicans. Smirkin' Stevie Harper would give his Right arm to be Dumbya. "Dr." Tony Clement would give his right arm just to have a brain. Too bad the Wizard went out of business a long time ago.

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Tuesday, August 05, 2008


Oh, there's soooooo much to crank about - China, Iraq, the ever-popular Dumbya and his gang of thieves, McBush... I'm sure things like these are what this nice woman was thinking about, too. But, I'm sure you've seen the same stories I have, so we'll just leave it all, shall we? Sure.

Oh, but wait! Yes, ladies and gentlemen, a last cruise of the news before bed produced this. Like the guy's sign says, "It don't Gitmo better". Ah, art. Doncha love it?

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Monday, August 04, 2008


It's sunny in Vancouver. And almost Tampa hot!

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Sunday, August 03, 2008


O.K., this isn't likely to be pretty. K & S? Turn away. S? Same. Anybody else of a halfway intelligent, liberal bent in America, listen the fuck up (does that give you a clue?).

I was reading Maureen Dowd's column earlier today and you people are beginning to scare me. Badly. You're pissed off 'cause Hillary lost?!? And you might vote for McBush, or not vote at all?!? 'Cause you're peeved?!? 'Cause you're peeved?!? 'Cause poor Hilly lost? Get a grip! No, sorry, make that get a fucking grip! In fact, make that get a fucking grip you self-centred, pitiful moron. She lost because she made mistakes. She was the first to start attacking instead of proposing intelligent ideas. She called Obama an elitist when what he actually said was, to anyone with the wit to read someone's words, obviously not. She voted for the current debacle in Iraq, not Obama. She had no plan for ending it. She, to put it succinctly, fucked up. And I started out as a Hillary supporter, let me tell you.

That anyone, at this juncture in U.S. history, could actually be paying attention to a candidate's skin colour (genetic tan vs. too much time in the sun - something for the truly stupid to consider), weight (you have to be kidding!), or gender (the notion that anyone worries about that is physically painful - Margaret Thatcher? Golda Meir? Need I say more? Really?), in short, anything other than intellect and ethics is stunning. If you care more about how skinny your President is than whether he or she is going to try to make your lives better, and bring honour (I know - a foreign concept to many Americans) back to your country, please, please, please, stay home in November, because you've obviously got the I.Q. of a small soil invertebrate (damn - was that an elitist comment?).

And I won't even start on how incredibly moronic the American fascination with a person's "faith" is. Christian? Which version? Catholic? Baptist (Southern? Northern?), Mormon?, Episcopalian? Not to mention Jew? Muslim? Hindu? Sikh? Buddhist? (I know, I know - most of you don't even consider the notion that there might be more than one religion. It's far too confusing). Of course, atheist is simply inconceivable.

I warned you it wouldn't be pretty. But, really, there's only so much a person can take. Entertaining as America is to the rest of the world (Comedy Central has nothing on the reality of America), really, I've got friends there whose lives I would really like to see made better. No one should be embarrassed by their place of birth. America had a lot going for it, and could again. Put your brain in gear and vote for Obama. Will that work? Who knows? But you're totally fucked if you let the election go to McBush. That's guaranteed.

Who'd'a thunk that my friends regard me as someone with a subtle sense of humour?

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Saturday, August 02, 2008


Attention Wal-Mart shoppers, you're buying from scum. No, not the poor schlub at the check-out, or the sad sack greeter, or any of the other hard-working employees - they're just poor folk trying to make a living. And Wal-Mart's doing everything it can to keep them poor, and prevent them from making a decent living. Witness this latest slimey move.

Your kids' teachers belong to a union. Your lawyer belongs to a union (the Bar Association). Your doctor belongs to a union (the AMA/CMA). Your politicians, industrialists, sports heroes, Hollywood actors and writers - all belong to unions. Maybe you even belong to a union (I sure as hell do). Why shouldn't Wal-Mart's employees? Unions came into existence because people with more power (i.e. money) than they deserved (because they turned out to be inclined to abuse it) needed to be resisted. Wal-Mart's a classic example of that, wouldn't you say?

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Friday, August 01, 2008


I'm still listening to Pizzicato 5. Gotta like 'em. I wonder if I'd like them even better if I could actually understand Japanese.