Year in review rant number 1 · Sunday December 23, 2007 by colin newell
2007 has been one heck of a year wouldn’t you say?
I, for one, have been quite comfortable… no disasters, no illness to speak of, steady employment, regular pay cheques, 3 square a day.
Not everyone has been so lucky. And trust me folks: Luck has everything to do with getting through the year without pain or crisis. When your luck turns, look out. No one can protect themselves against the furies.
Well. No one except for people like Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein who received a whopping 67.9 million in bonuses for being, well… a guy in the right place at the right time.
In the photo upper-right, CEO Blanfein relaxes after a hearty meal of investors
Somehow this company managed to avoid the bulk of the U.S. sub-prime mortgage crisis – a crisis that touched, no walloped the likes of Merrill-Lynch and Morgan-Stanley. Their respective CEOs did not earn a bonus this year.
And this is a perfect example of good luck. I mean, Lloyd Blankfein did absolutely nothing to warrant this kind of financial reward – his staff did. And guess what, his staff are getting no where near 67 million in rewards.
Truth is, as much as I support the free market system, this kind of reward system verges on the incomprehensively obscene. What of the million plus home-owners that will lose their homes this year because of the sub-prime mortgage scandal?
Sadly, versions of this story can be re-told from one community to the next in every small Canadian or American town; tales of inequality, unfairness and injustice – plain bad luck I guess.
In the last few days leading up to Christmas 2007, I hope your luck has been good, that your family and friends are healthy and that there is a roof over your head and food on the table.
In a society like the one we live in, sometimes it is all you can hope for.
Victoria realty expressions explained · Wednesday December 19, 2007 by colin newell
Notorious for some of the most expensive houses in North America, our Victoria area realtor’s pride themselves in their colorful, yet somehow cryptic use of the English language.
Well – here at the CoffeeCrew blog, we love to help out by making sense of the confusing. So here are some examples and the appropriate translation:
Great starter home – Has rats, lethal mold and is not fit for human habitation.
Good location close to transportation – One block from the airport runway… and has rats.
Walking distance to the Jubilee Hospital – Has mold and rats. You will be hospitalized if you buy this house.
Amazing privacy – Has Big scary rats.
Priced to Sell! – Next door to a grow-op.
Delightful backyard – playful rats
A piece of heaven – At these prices you can own the promised land… and has Norway rats.
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Victoria dining The Noodle Box Fisgard · Tuesday December 18, 2007 by colin newell
Like a scene right out of Blade Runner
Andrea and I peer over the counter as two chef’s work four shimmering woks.
“Now that is adequate heat…” I whisper to my wife, as the sounds of cooking fill the air.
4 steel woks sit on open gas jets that look like the tail end of an F-18 after-burner… without the ear splitting roar of course.
There is an almost non-stop hand conveyance of fresh vegetables, sauces, meats and seafood into the traditional Chinese cooking vessels. Every minute or so a chef pours something very liquid and decidedly fragrant into a wok and it belches fire – the chef’s head arching back as the wall of flame dissipates into the exhaust fan.
Victoria’s Noodle Box Restaurant on Fisgard is a surprising and refreshing delivery of Asian fusion; traditional Thai, Chinese and perhaps some Vietnamese elements.
In a way that is dynamic, fresh, exciting and very visual.
The Noodle Box had modest beginnings as a food kiosk on lower Fisgard, near Wharf (if memory serves me correctly). And now it has grown to 2 locations in Victoria and 1 in Vancouver.
For Andrea and I, this was visit number one of many visits to come.
I had a green Chicken curry — in a bowl (spiced hot on request) and Andrea had the Noodle Box Chili Plum with Prawns (spiced medium) – Andrea counted more than 12 prawns (and some bonus shrimp) in her bowl. If I had one beef it is that my bowl was very light on the proteins – there was probably 5 or 6 bite sized pieces of chicken – yea, a small complaint.
Overall, I freely give the Noodle Box a top rating and I would go back in a heartbeat. Who knows, maybe tomorrow!
B.C. Ferries rant number 3 · Friday December 14, 2007 by colin newell
The newest member of B.C.‘s ferry fleet arrived Thursday and the people who didn’t get to build them have a kink or two in their bulkheads.
And so do I.
They’re now urging Ottawa to use the $82 million in import duties to support the province’s shipbuilding industry.
The Coastal Renaissance is the first of three ships to be built in Germany by the Flensburger Shipyard, for a paltry $524 million.
Peter Julian, the NDP-MP for Burnaby-New Westminster, said “about 5,000 direct and indirect local jobs were lost by the short-sighted provincial government investment in the German shipbuilding industry, rather than supporting B.C. jobs.”
At a ceremony for the ship’s arrival, B.C. Ferries president David Hahn said “I am more concerned about lowering ferry fares for British Columbians than subsidizing the shipbuilding industry.”
Say what?
The Flensburger yard was a bankrupt shipyard and the reason it’s able to compete in the manner it does today is simply because the government invested in it. Sound familiar?
Yes, the shipyards of British Columbia are very busy, thank you very much. It is just that the optics of this situation do not bear up under closer scrutiny. For instance, B.C. shipyards were shut out of the bidding process – and that includes the Washington Marine group – current owners of the former Fast-Cat Ferries
So Ottawa. Give us the import duties back… and maybe the Gordon Campbell Liberals can restore the funding to the Women’s Centers in the Province that have faced budget cutbacks this year.
Take a Safe Boating Course and get your Boat License in BC from Boater Exam.
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