War of the Worlds: Canadian Front

 

Fragile Memories

I accidentally broke my G&G IX commemorative glass about a week and a half ago. Alas and alack! Nothing is forever. 
 

Freedom Convoy (with apologies to C.W. McCall)

(Ah, breaker one-nine this here’s the Freedom Truck
You gotta copy on me, Flu Trux Klan, c’mon?
Ah yeah 10-40, Flu Trux Klan, fer sure, fer shure
By golly it’s clean clear to Lib Town, c’mon

Yeah, that’s a big 10-4 there, Flu Klan
Yeah, we’ll definitely get the snowflakes, good buddy
Mercy sakes alive, looks like we got us a Freedom Convoy)

Was the height of the ‘cron in February
In a Kenworth haulin’ flags
We’ll fly ‘em upside-down in Ottawa town
Our faces free of rags
We represent all the diff’rent races
Yeah, every shade of white
We’re gonna prove that COVID’s fake
By offending everyone in sight

‘Cause we got a Freedom Convoy
Whether or not it makes sense
Yeah we got a Freedom Convoy
And don’t you dare call us dense
We got a Freedom Convoy
Ain’t logic gonna get in our way
Yeah, we’re gonna roll this convoy
Until the Judgement Day
Convoyyyyy 

(Ah, breaker, Flu Trux Klan, this here’s the Truck)
(Hey, you wanna hide those swastikas?)
(Yeah, 10-4, the Fake News is makin’ us look bad)
(Better dance on some war memorials to distract ‘em)

Before long the locals were gettin’ riled
With us hollerin’ and honkin’ all night
But with the police on our side we had nothin’ to hide
We could park anywhere without a care
And piss on everything and everyone in sight

We’ll vandalize that Terry Fox
Ignore the statue’s silence
‘Cause we all know cancer patients don’t rely on science

Oh, we got a Freedom Convoy
Honkin’ through the night
Yeah, we got a Freedom Convoy
But nobody gets our plight
Support the Freedom Convoy
Ain’t nothin’ gonna get in our way
We got money from GoFundMe
And big donors from the USA

Convoy! (Ah, what’s that, Flu Klan? GoFundMe dropped us?)

Convoy! (One of our leaders wants to shoot anyone wearing masks?)

(Mercy Sakes, this is getting a little out of hand)

(Can I go home now?)

Convoy….

Girl on Memorial

Photograph, 1987

Unhappier Accidents

Here's another collection of photos that went wrong. Poor lighting, bad focus, bad composition, underexposed, overexposed...how many photographic sins can you spot? 

The Spokespeople

That's me on the left, pointing at whoever shot this photo of me and two of my fellow delegates to the 1987 Forum for Young Canadians in Ottawa. I can't believe I willingly dressed in a suit for most of this week-long event. Being thin helped. 

Fanning the Flames

Here's another Centennial Flame photo I shot during my trip to Ottawa back in 1987. 

Flaming Flashback

I shot this image of the Centennial Flame in Ottawa in 1987. With film, no less! 

2014 Collage

Just a few of the highlights of 2014. Click to embiggen!

The Cycle Continues

By now virtually everyone with an Internet connection knows what happened in Ottawa today. While I have my own view of what the fallout from today's tragedy will bring, tonight I'll only say how deeply saddened I am that we live in a world in which violence is still used as a means of addressing grievances, real or imagined. Here's to innocent victims all over the world; may we one day reach a state of true civilization, a day when killing sapient beings for any reason becomes unthinkable. 

Gaming & Guinness IX: Day Two

For day two of our G&G adventure in May, Jeff brought along a simple but challenging card game, Firefly: Out to the Black. This cooperative adventure pits the players, taking on the roles of the characters seen in SF cult favourite Firefly, against their nemesis, the Alliance. Jeff, Mike, Pete and I sought out Jobs (mostly illegal) and did our best to avoid the Alliance, but eventually they caught up to us and now our shenanigans will have to be confined to an Alliance re-edumacatin' centre. Life's rough in the black!

We fared better in another Firefly game, this one a gift to Rob for his birthday. In a heated competition, Mike's motley crew emerged victorious, though I was behind by only one turn.

Unlike Out to the Black, in which each player takes on the role of a character from the show, Firefly: The Game is a competitive battle and each player leads his or her own ship into the deeps of space.

It's a handsomely designed game, with quality pieces. It takes a while to set up, but once you get the hang of it the game runs smoothly.

Meanwhile, Rob, Scott, Island Mike and Steve were downstairs preparing for their annual Warhammer skirmish. Rob's models were being used for the first time in years - another reason we gathered in Ottawa.

It would have been too hard to lug all of Scott and Steve's scenery across the country, so they made do with papercraft obstacles, plus some of Rob's home decor.

Prime Guinnesster Steve.

I continue to be amazed by the superb paint jobs on these models.

I was particularly charmed by these papercraft shipping containers.

Warhammer usually takes the guys about four hours to play. It's a complex game with dozens (hundreds?) of individual pieces.

Here, Island Mike carefully considers where to place one of his tanks.

In the end, it was a victory for the Eldar. Perhaps playing on home turf helped Rob's side.

Where there is gaming, there must be Guinness. These are called "car bombs," if I remember correctly.

Stay tuned for Day Three!