Victoria Spring 2011 - Good bye to the Salmon Kings · Wednesday April 6, 2011 by colin newell
Here is how my post read six months ago…
But through a strange twist of hockey club management, my favorite Captain… Wes Goldie, has been replaced with, by the looks of it, a guy who spends more time in the penalty box – than on the ice or on the bench…
Say hello to the new captain of the Victoria Salmon Kings – Pete Vandermeer – third on the all-time American Hockey League penalty minutes list.
“Our barn, Save-on-Foods Memorial will not be a place other teams will want to return to,” threatened Vandermeer…
“Even if the other guys leave with a win, it’s important they leave missing some blood and teeth when limping out of here.”
OK. The Salmon Kings management started to screw up at the beginning of the 2010-2011 Season with the hire of this Vandermeer thug – who only lasted about a half season before he vanished. We gave up Wes Goldie who turned out to be the high scorer for the entire season… for the Alaska Aces.
And now the Kings may leave Victoria – or be dissolved.., and their place taken by a Junior team – of teenagers… the former Chilliwack Bruins… to become the Victoria Bruins… how imaginative.
So get this. People are unhappy in Chilliwack, B.C. and we are unhappy in Victoria B.C. – The owners of the Kings have totally misread their audience and are marching blithely into yet another screw up with these changes.
Yes, it is a business.
But I am a customer. And I am not buying it.
Victoria Spring 2011 - Canada Post why do you hate us so much · Wednesday April 6, 2011 by colin newell
Ordered some parts from EspressoTec.com in Vancouver a few weeks ago – good people – they have everything and they have an inventory of parts that goes back… way back.
Unfortunately, little more than the envelope above showed up – along with a plastic pouch, barely sealed, and one of the plastic pieces that I ordered.
Surprised? A little.
What angers me are the numbers of calls I have made to Canada Post the last few years for utterly crappy service.
We go to Hawaii every year for a month. We get “Mail hold” – we pay for that. On one occasion only has the mail hold gone even remotely well – generally the mail keeps coming.
Both times I have appealed to Canada Post – asking for my $35 dollars back.
Their reply: “Your postal carrier insists that your mail was held…”
Actually, some of it was – because there was a brick of mail that was held and a shit load of other mail that was not held. Oddly, in the “held mail” was mail destined for neighbors – Can you imagine being a senior waiting on your pension cheque – and they do not get it because it is in my mailbox.
What is wrong with Canada Post anyway? I once considered doing a gig there back when I was a teenager – Christmas overflow or something – visited the depot out in Royal Oak – the atmosphere was so oppressive that I could not imagine working there – so I started my own gardening business that turned out to be hugely successful…
Anyway – Canada Post? What is wrong with you? And how can we fix it?
Victoria Spring 2011 Observations Murder of Crows · Tuesday March 29, 2011 by colin newell
Nothing like a murder in Rockland near Victoria B.C.
A murder of crows that is – and I found myself near ground zero of a crow convention this morning – around 5:30AM – or when it was getting light.
And it was distinct in an entertaining kind of way – there were approximately 50 crows in a variety of perches – and what sounded like one head crow speaker on the hustings.
A main crow speaker who would cackle a couple of phrases with a clatter or derisive caws from 1 or 2 in the crowd.
Eventually, the main crow uttered something that the stadium liked because they all went wild — in a good way. I have never heard quite an eruption from a flock like this before. It was like the Justin Beiber crow hit the stage and all the crow girls and boys went nuts.
Translated
Main crow: “What say we all go down to Clover Point and look for garbage?”
Handful of crows: “F*ck that. We are SICK of garbage and picking floaters out of the water!”
Main crow: “Alright, alright… how about the Sooke Hills?”
All the crows: “HELL YA! SOOKE HILLS! YEE HAAAAAAAAAA!”
Assorted crows: “Awwwwwwww f*ck!”
And then everything went quiet – apart from the occasional clutter from some of the birds that were talking amongst themselves.
It is well known that crows are family oriented, cooperative, have social values, are generally monogamous and they share intelligence on the subject of food and drink.
Something we do not seem to find in our politicians… Federal or Provincial.
Colin Newell lives, works and writes in Victoria B.C. on the subject of nonsense – and this is how he sees it.
Fall fun food and follies in B.C. 2010 chapter 1 · Saturday September 25, 2010 by colin newell
Life in British Columbia guarantees an endless procession of political intrigue, scandals, government screw-ups and boondoggles.
It gets on my nerves and amuses me – but not always in equal measure.
The last few months it has been the police, particularly the RCMP who have been getting under my skin – like Fall drunk wasps who get in my face the moment I head outside.
The RCMP – a once respected National police force that used to be trusted, reliable as gravity and, for all intents and purposes… inscrutable…
(And)Now you wouldn’t trust them to handle a simple drunk and disorderly call or a jet lagged tourist without someone getting a bullet in the back of their head…
…or worse.
Now they want more power on the roads.
The B.C. Attorney generals office has radically reshaped speeding and drunk driving laws in such as way as to grant extraordinary powers to the cops on the tarmac beat.
And don’t get me wrong – I am all for getting people to slow the heck down. Speed kills. And so does excessive drink. That is why we have reasonable limits of alcohol consumption.
But, in my opinion, it is not the food enthusiasts and lovers of life – who enjoy a glass of wine with dinner, that are the problem. It is the hardened repeat offenders that are too stupid to not drive blitzed, putting themselves and every animate and inanimate object in their paths in danger.
The new DUI laws put everyone in the cross hairs of Joe Police Constable. Due process has been eliminated and the roadside cop is now judge, jury and executioner. As I currently interpret the new laws, you can be pulled over, have your license pulled, your car towed and be fined thousands of dollars never even having had the pleasure of one sip of liquor… or the pleasant company of a wise old B.C. judge.
Doubt me? You shouldn’t. It all comes down to the discretion of the attending officer. You may have just had a 12 hour shift at the mill or the office. You are tired. And are weaving a bit. And whether or not you “blow” .05 is irrelevant. There is a new “definition” of impaired out there folks.
And listen up. Roadside breath tests do not test for alcohol. They test for chemical compounds in your breath that indicate the presence of alcohol (and other substances) in your bloodstream. It is not an infallible test and every test is open to subjective analysis and criticism.
Oh, I mean in most places other than B.C.
Results. The hardened drinkers are still going to drink and drive.
The rest of us are going to stop eating out or enjoying a glass of wine or beer at a restaurant or social – in addition to living in a society that is tipping towards a nanny state at an ever frightening rate.
So. The cops have more power.
Guess what? They want MORE power still.
The Association of Police Chiefs of B.C. want the ability to execute random roadside breath tests.
Huh? What ever happened to innocent til proven guilty?
Here is a little truth: Surgeons like to cut things, carpenters like to build things and cops like to have power – and it’s human nature to want more than you have or do more than your doing.
What I can see happening shortly is a clash of lawyers in B.C. with the A.G.‘s office. Class action suits. Charter rights challenges. Etc.
Scandals, boondoggles and more scandals. Welcome to B.C. folks.
Too much power, but now police chiefs are calling for even more.
“The randomness of catching people who are drinking and driving is pretty key to lowering the death rate and sending a very clear message to people that break the law,” mused Victoria Police Chief Jamie Graham.
We cannot trust our current crop of cops with guns or tazers.
So how can we trust them with overarching quantities of police powers?
Just say no folks.
Which is exactly what I am going to say to Corporal Kowalsky when I get asked to blow without cause.
You first officer. You first.
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