What Reeks?

Will I continue?

2011-07-08T02:54:00.000-04:00

After 18 months of no activity I must make a decision as to whether I will carry on and post regular blogs. The jury is out.

Proroguing Parliament - The new four letter word

2010-01-06T23:39:00.000-05:00

You know what reeks? Stephen Harper our Prime Minister. I am ashamed of him and what he stands for and does and the fact that he represents our wonderful country to the rest of the world. This latest fiasco with him proroguing parliament on Dec 30 while nobody was paying attention was disgraceful and the last straw.

I have much to say about him and will add it later this week. I'm too angry right now to think straight.

Democracy = Obligation to Vote

2009-11-16T01:47:00.000-05:00

You know what reeks? People who live in a Democracy and do not exercise their Obligation to Vote. Yes - 'Obligation' not 'Right'. Here in Canada, at our last election in Oct 2008 only 58.8 percent of eligible voters bothered to vote. That was the lowest turnout in the HISTORY of our country. It was a sad day.

Voting is simply the most important thing you can do as a citizen. There is no excuse other than unexpected sickness or death. If you didn't vote in the last election YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO COMPLAIN ABOUT ANYTHING POLITICAL.

The fact is that if you intend to vote then you will likely pay some attention to the party platforms and will know a little more about each candidate. That's also a good thing. I am as jaded about politics as anybody. I think that much of the time, politicians are playing partisan politics, worried about reelection and generally misbehaving. But this is the system we have and it's a darn sight better than most of the fucked up political systems and politicians found in the rest of the world.

In the next election get off your fat ass and vote. Don't make me come out there and give you shit.

Going for a Record

2009-11-10T16:49:00.000-05:00

I figured I would try for a record 3 posts in 2 days. Sort of like the Leafs tonight - trying for three wins in a row.

You know what reeks? The fact that some of the neatest technology that is freely available in the US cannot be purchased or used up here in Canada Eh? Like the Kindle - WTF? Are we in some backwater third world country like São Tomé and Príncipe. A lovely place but.....

FYI - São Tomé and Príncipe is the second-smallest African country in terms of population (the Seychelles being the smallest). It is the smallest country in the world that is not a former British overseas territory, a former United States trusteeship, or one of the European microstates. It is also the smallest Portuguese-speaking country.

But hold on - the Kindle IS available there. Again WTF?

So that you understand - It's all the fault of the oligopolies of Rogers, Shaw and their ilk. A POX on all their houses.

Don't get me started on the IPhone and such.

Some more stinky tunes

2009-11-10T01:39:00.000-05:00

OK, now I'm on a roll so don't get in my way. A few more things that reek:

- Liberals who voted to abolish the Long Gun Registry. So now, Canadian police departments can't easily check who buys guns in the country. I think the US has better regulation then we do now. I understand that the conservatives would vote that way - they, after all have pea brains that don't work in the colder weather up here. But Liberal party MP's? For shame.

- Reality TV

- The media for continuously feeding the H1N1 frenzy. ITS NOT NEWS ANY LONGER. I especially like the newscasts that ask the question - "is the media over-hyping the pandemic?"

- Reality TV

- 'Auto-Tune' - it's a technology that corrects off-key singers. It's used by many "artists" who can't sing for shit.

- Reality TV - I guess you now know that I despise 99% of reality TV - perhaps a later blog for more details?

At this rate.......

2009-11-10T01:14:00.000-05:00

Well, I haven't set any records for overzealous blogging have I? OK, I admit, I haven't been up to it lately. But that's all in the past - ha!

You know what reeks? Restaurant staff who clearly think they have better things to do or places to be. OK, I didn't say waiters or such cause that would imply that their job is to "wait" on their customers and that would be a leap of faith. Why am I down on these people? I'm not down on them all but sometimes you come across a real turd. Case in point:

We are out with friends at a nice Italian restaurant. It's busy but not overly so. We have a hell of a time getting the attention of the waiter. In fact the whole meal we can't get him to do simple things like get us water until we ask four times. When he finally brings water he proceeds to spill an entire glass all over the table cloth. He brings a few napkins to sop it up but leaves the ice cubes on the table - what the fuck are we supposed to do with those?

Food (mediocre at best) comes all at different times for each of us. OK, we overlook these things. We are finished eating and we have one slice of pizza left. He comes to clear the table, finally, and when taking the food away we say please wrap that up. He says, while holding the pizza, "Wrap WHAT up?" We point to the lone slice and he looks at us like we stepped out of a dumpster asking for handouts. We wait for the bill and finally he brings it and a USED plastic shopping bag like the kind you get at Home Depot when you buy a plunger, and dumps it on the table. Inside we find the pizza HALF-wrapped in what looks like used aluminum foil so that the pizza is smearing all of its sauce over the inside of the bag. CHING CHING - Tip just disappeared. We look at this with disgust and motion over an older Italian lady who looks like she may own the place and point this out to her. She is also disgusted but - guess what? We don't see the pizza or the lady again and don't get any break on the bill. Bye Bye restaurant. I can't remember the name of the joint but when I do I will let you all know.

Prima Donna Artists and their Misbehavin'

2009-09-14T22:49:00.000-04:00

You know what reeks? Celebs who think that they can do whatever they want even if it means screwing other people royally and then think that they can make it all better by 'issuing' a half baked 'apology' – usually days later.

If you haven't already guessed, I am talking about that amazing duo, Kanye and Serena.

WTF was that with Kanye? Fact is that until yesterday, I didn't know squat about him. I’m not in his demographic – haven’t been for centuries. But when I saw the video of him taking the stage at the MVA when Taylor Swift was getting the award for Best Female Video and heard what he actually said – totally insulting Swift, I thought he needs a major kick in the ass, down the stairs and out the door – Hit the road Jack and don’t come back no more, no more, no more, no more. No apology can fix that rudeness.

What the hell was he thinking? Or was it the booze that was talking – supposedly he was packing his own 26 ouncer of Hennessy. Either way – it was wrong.

Then there’s Serena threatening to kill the line judge. No apology until she realized that the tennis gods may take away her toys and some money to boot. And that came after she incurred a fine for breaking her racquet. Never mind tennis coach, she needs an anger management coach. I felt for Kim Clijsters who was beating Serena’s ass throughout the match and went on to win it all.

If you haven’t seen either of these two videos, well I’ll provide the link to the Serena one (Nope - I had to delete that because YouTube removed it - I guess the Networks didn't want it shown). I can’t show you the MVA clip ‘cause we in the Great White North don’t have those ‘special’ privileges that you Americans have – in other words we are blacked out on the interweb – lucky us.

So, for today, Kanye and Serena – you both Reek.

This is where the Video would have been

I thought this would be easier

2009-09-13T21:17:00.000-04:00

As you can see, it's been almost ten days since my previous and Inaugural post. At this rate this blog is bound to be a loser. I've thought about why ten days have passed since that post.

First, for someone in my advanced age, time goes faster than it does for you (generally) young whippersnappers. So just as I am thinking about what to write, BAM! It’s ten days later.

Second, I do spend a lot of time (don’t ask how much) on my computer for work and entertainment. I have started to get most of my news this way too so the daily newspaper is scanned quickly and I go straight to the comics and crossword.

Comics you say – Grow Up! Well, my fine feathered friends, if you do not read them then you are missing out on a pisspot full of social commentary and satire. More on this good topic on a later date.

Third, I am the master of procrastination. As such, I don’t get to things when I should. I don’t even get to them when I shouldn’t. This blog hasn’t even been registered on my mental list of things to avoid.

I have many more reasons but can’t be bothered to bore you with them. Besides, this blog is called What Reeks. I'm supposed to be talking about things that reek. Next post or later – The One Cent Tip - Was I just being Cheap or was the waiter in the wrong line of work?

In the Beginning

2009-09-05T00:45:00.000-04:00

Friends and family may rightly ask: Why are you doing this blog? Don't you have enough to do with your work and stuff? Aren't there enough blogs on the planet? Don't you already spend enough time at your computer? The answers to the last three questions are Yes, yes and yes.

That notwithstanding, I wanted to give this a try for a number of reasons. I already post on other people's blogs and forums. So why not on one I can call my very own? As many people who know me already know, I like to talk (and complain) about all kinds of things. So I thought I would share my pearls of wisdom with the world. In fact one of my favorite things to do is complain or 'Kvetch' (thanks SB) so, again, why not here in public?

So that, people, is why I have decided to give this a go.

The question is, of course, will anybody read this or will it become a private diary of sorts. I hope for the former but suspect the latter.

Oh, and one more thing, while the main topic here at "What Reeks" may be complaining and crabbing about both mundane and important things, I MAY post about things I like - but don't hold your breath.