John Santos on Political Polarization

My friend and Alberta Legislature colleague John Santos had an article about political polarization published on the CBC website yesterday. John uses polling data to come to some interesting conclusions about how Canadians feel about other Canadians who support different political parties. Check it out, and don't forget to vote on Monday!

A Sandwich with Santos

Out of the blue yesterday, my old friend and colleague John Santos let me know he was going to be in town today. So naturally we took the opportunity to meet for a lamentably brief but spirited discussion of (as you might expect for two ex-political staffers) the troubling rise of authoritarian and alt-right movements across the western world. It was great to see John again, and to hear that he's working on his Master's thesis in political science. I look forward to its publication; John is an incredibly smart and astute analyst and observer of worldwide political trends, so I have no doubt his thesis will be an important read. 

There Are No Geeks and I Must Scream

I'm quite enjoying my new job, but there's one thing I miss: fellow geeks. Sure, there weren't many at the Alberta Liberal Caucus, but at least a handful of my colleagues (Nik, Amanda, John, Ryan, Neil, a few others...) could be counted upon to get my SF and comic book references.

Just the other day our team met briefly to discuss a Hallowe'en costume contest.

"We could go as Transformers," one of my colleagues suggested. "One of us could be Iron Man, or..."

"Wait, wait," I broke in. "That's the Avengers. The Transformers are the Autobots and Decepticons - you know, Optimus Prime, Starscream..."

I trailed off. No, they didn't know. You'd think by now I'd be used to baffled stares and "Wow, is he ever a geek" looks, but I keep forgetting not everyone is as immersed in popular culture as me. Or is obsessed a better word?

Fit to Be Tied About Missing Boun Thai

As one of my friends recently observed, the only conservative thing about me is my palate. I have a timid tongue, so exotic cuisine that I actually enjoy is a rare treasure. But now my favourite Thai restaurant has gone missing, and I am bereft.

Only recently - thanks to friends at the Official Opposition - did I discover the savoury delights of Boun Thai, formerly located just south of Jasper Avenue on 107 street. John Santos wisely suggested the cashew chicken, spicy beef and lemon pork chop. I loved all three, but I think I could live happily on the cashew chicken nigh unto eternity.

My second-last experience at Boun Thai was on March 10 - a late birthday celebration. Sylvia, my parents and Sean seemed to love it as much as I did. But when I returned for lunch just a couple of weeks before the election, I overheard a waitress explaining that the restaurant would be moving soon. She didn't know where.

Well, Boun Thai is gone now, and my Google-fu has proven inadequate to track it down. I even phoned, but the number yields only "this customer has not activated their voice mail" messages.

I am desperate to feast on cashew chicken once more. If anyone knows the whereabouts of Boun Thai, please deposit clues in the comments.

Press Gallery Christmas Party

I'm up late blogging tonight because I just returned from the annual Alberta Legislature Press Gallery Christmas Party. As noted a couple of posts ago, each caucus in the legislature, along with the press gallery, prepares a self-mocking video for the crowd's amusement, and I must say this year's batch of videos was uniformly entertaining, at least for this particular crowd: people who actually pay attention to provincial politics.

Here are some of images of my colleagues, past and present, who attended the event:

Alex and Raj

Kyle and Rick

Marcella, Stephanie, Jonathan and Melissa

Brian and John

Ashley

Teddy and Carmen

Karin, Kyle and John

John's signature gesture

Earl, Brian and John

A good time was had by all! Or so I assume. People laughed at the videos, anyway!

The Legend of the Santos

Today the Official Opposition bids farewell to John Santos, a political firebrand who served the Alberta Liberal Caucus in two roles: first as former leader David Swann's Executive Assistant, then as our Media Liaison. It was a real pleasure to see John excel in both roles; he has bundles of energy, enthusiasm and political horse sense, and during his entire tenure John gave nothing less than 110% to the organization.

I'll miss working with John - he's a man of ideals who understands the importance of promoting and, more importantly, living small-l liberal values. A scholar, athlete, audiophile, mountain climber and all-around good guy, I look forward to seeing what challenges John conquers next. And I'll continue to follow his blog, Santos Sez.

See you in the funny papers, John - I've enjoyed working with you.

A Capital Effort

Regarding the Edmonton Capitals game from a couple of posts ago, I think my colleague John Santos deserves a shout-out for some truly excellent sports photography, especially since he's never been to a baseball game before. He captured two of the most exciting events of the game - a shattered bat that spun across the field, and the near-brawl that erupted between the Scorpions' Tony Philips and the umpire over a disputed call. I don't like conflict, but the crowd's heckling was pretty entertaining. After Philips was ejected, another Scorpion scored a home run, to which one wag responded sarcastically: "This one's for Tony!"

I want to thank Rick Miller again for organizing this. Sylvia and I really had a wonderful time. Oh, and the Capitals won!

Take a gander at John's excellent photos.

Pints and Politics with Kent Hehr

Last night Kent Hehr, Alberta Liberal MLA for Calgary-Buffalo, hosted the first of his popular Pints and Politics get-togethers to be held in Edmonton. Somewhere between 30 and 40 people of various ideologies and affiliations showed up to eat, drink and discuss Alberta politics. MLAs, candidates for provincial and federal office, political party members, caucus staffers and politically-minded citizens from a wide variety of backgrounds gathered together for mostly cordial discussions of the issues of the day.

Even folks in the same party can disagree over specific points of policy. Actually, Kent and I are just posing here, using the "rhubarb rhubarb" trick for fun. I think he looks more convincing than I do - probably why he was elected in 2008 and I wasn't!

John Santos was David Swann's Executive Assistant, and he's transitioned to a new role as Alberta Liberal Caucus media liaison. Once again, I've forgotten to take off my security pass after leaving work. John was kind enough not to point this out, (unlike some of my former colleagues, cough cough).

Several ex-coworkers showed up last night, and it was great to see them again. Even as roles change, connections remain, and the ties of common citizenship bind us all together.

Photos by Andrew Fisher.

42

What do you get when you multiply six by nine?

Anyone familiar with the works of Douglas Adams knows that 42 is the ultimate answer to life, the universe, and everything. It logically follows, then, that "What do you get when you multiply six by nine?" is the ultimate question.

Yes, there is something fundamentally wrong with the universe. Fortunately, turning 42 today is unrelated - I hope - to ultimate questions and answers.



I found 42 balloons waiting for me at work thanks to Andrew's kindness, and many well-wishes from friends and family. Sylvia spoiled me with some very thoughtful gifts and dinner at - of course - Earl's. So I guess if there is an ultimate question and and ultimate answer, it probably goes something like this:

Why are we here?

To be nice to each other.

And to do a whole bunch of other things, of course, if indeed there's even a "why" at all. But we are here, so we may as well make the best of it even though we don't have all the answers, or all the questions.

Thanks for the birthday wishes, everyone.