It's funny, I've had mountains of "free" time lately and somehow, none at all available to do the simplest of cumulative tasks. I've not replied to the nineteen emails sitting in my inbox, and keeping this site up to date has clearly not been a priority. However, in an effort to "clean house" so to speak before the New Year, I'll try to cover everything here. If you like to read everything, I suggest taking a moment to procure a beverage.

Carolling: A Reunion

Way back in October, I received a text message from my old friend Michelle containing a request to re-capture some of our better memories by going carolling this year, an annual tradition we once supported by hadn't attempted for nearly a decade. Excited at the thought of it, I agreed to play my role and she recruited Gary (another old friend) and a Soprano friend of theirs for the task. I did some digging of my own and managed to coax Merry out as well and with a group of five very out-of-practise choir folk, we set out on December 19th to bring some Christmas cheer to the suburbs.

The whole thing didn't go off nearly as well as we'd hoped at the start. The first neighbourhood we landed in seemed to be filled with people who didn't like carollers at all. No matter how hard we sung, no one came to the door. We quickly decided that Surrey sucked and that the uber-Christians in Langley were more likely to be receptive. We were right, and then tilted the odds even greater in our favour by selectively hitting neighbourhoods filled with Christmas lights and people we knew personally :-) This made the bitter cold somewhat more bearable since we were repeatedly asked in for free drinks and cookies. Had the night been kinder and our start been earlier, we might have hit more houses, but as it worked out, we collected $30 for the food bank and had a really nice time singing with old friends.

I'd also like to take a moment to thank Michelle personally for single-handedly organising the whole thing. Despite my best intentions, I contributed very little to the planning. Michelle is a rock star.

Christmas: Another Reunion

Fighting the odds, I managed to catch my flight out of Vancouver to Kelowna on time, bailing out of the Lower Mainland just before the Storm from Hell ravaged the area. My condolences to those who were booked on flights set to leave only hours after mine -- as I understand it, a whole lot of people spent Christmas in YVR this year.

I arrived here in Kelowna in preparation of two big events: Christmas and my cousin Ashley's wedding. Thanks to the latter, the former was filled with distant relatives whom I see to rarely as it is. Ashley's brother Fraser was here, all the way from London and he brought is girlfriend and their common friend, both from Spain. My (2nd) cousin Roy was here, as was his mother June and a big chunk of my uncle's family as well. All good people, all with interesting stories I've not heard before.

In terms of a Christmas "haul", the biggest most impressive gift was a hand-made cookbook from my parents containing family recipes from all the big chefs in the family. My father's pastas, my grandmother's famous soup... it's all in there. A really great gift.

Oh, and Lara, you'll be pleased to know that I got six pairs of socks as well :-)

The Wedding

If you've been following my Twitter feed, you probably already know that Ashley's wedding was outside, in the dark, on a mountain, under the trees, in the snow... with bagpipes. It sounds insane, and it was, but it was also beautiful. Ashley wore a gorgeous gown, and covered it with a pretty white hood to keep her warm during the (mercifully short) service. The bride cried, the groom cried, and I think even the Man of Honour cried. Young love is so cute. The Groom wore a black tux with red pinstripes and a white tie and, along with his groomsmen, bright red skate shoes. They were awesome.

The reception was about as fun and exciting as most receptions usually are. Lots of old people, lots of 80s and 90s music (courtesy of my brother the DJ) and lots of dancing. The bride and groom had a few really great performances on the dance floor and much fun was had by all. Only one blight on the whole thing really: one of the guests, a bridesmaid's date no less showed up in jeans, a hoodie, a cowboy hat, and plumber's crack. I tried to convince my mother to lecture him on his lack of respect but she didn't go for it. But yes, this is normal out here.

Catching up

I decided before I came up here that I'd spend a great deal of time teaching myself a new web framework called Django. It's a real framework (as opposed to Drupal, which is in fact a content-management system) based on a relatively new language called Python. So far the experience has been two-sided for me. On the one hand Django appears to do a lot for you so code is smaller and easier to maintain, but on the other hand I feel like a lot of the simplicity and art in coding has disappeared. Where you once saw a long, easy to read set of files filled with a series of very short declarative statements, you now have something that reads more like a novel. More compact yes, but is it art anymore?

I've also promised myself that I'd get through my emails this week -- all nineteen of them. This task, along with fixing up Stephen's site (I haven't forgotten about you!) has proven ridiculously difficult though, since Internet connectivity here is terrible at best. I have to syphon access from a neighbour's flaky router that routinely drops connectivity for hours at a time. At this very moment in fact, I'm writing this post into a file in the hopes that I'll be able to acquire some bandwidth later tomorrow at my father's store.

So that's everything for now. It's 2:30am now, but before I go to bed I think that I'll put together some good images for this post. I'll try to find some good shots of Christmas and the wedding. Next up is my New Year's recap post -- not sure when I'll have time to write it though.

For those of you who haven't heard, an Iraqi journalist threw a shoe at George Bush at a press conference the other day, calling him a dog while the various armed men tackled him. Frankly, the whole event is hilarious, but even more interesting when you take into account that striking an opponent with your shoe is a grievous insult in the Arab world.

Anyway, the whole thing is all over Youtube, including a number of super-fun remixes. Here's one that Greg found for me:

George Bush Shoe Throw Austin Powers Remix

It was brought to my attention today that one of the really useful things you can do to support the Coalition is to encourage those in the coalition to keep going. Every one of the MPs is taking a risk here and they need to know that they have your support in participating in this Coalition.

Below I've attached a copy of my letter to Coalition MPs which you can reuse if you like, but I encourage you to write your own. The letter is followed by two sets of email addresses, to make it easy to copy & paste into your mail client. As there are so many MPs (a House majority in fact!), the list must be broken into two parts to make sure that your message doesn't get bounced as spam. To send this, or a more personal letter on your behalf, simply open your mail client, copy & paste the a group of addresses into the To: field and hit send.

I'm sure that you're receiving a great many of these so I'll try to keep mine brief. As a member of the 62% who elected a progressive majority in this country, I'm writing you to let you know that I support you, and that we need you to keep going.

You're probably getting all kinds of letters talking about how terribly important this young coalition is and how dangerous and autocratic Harper will be if permitted to continue his government. Some of these letters are undoubtedly exaggerated. Many however, are not.

Harper has gone out of his way to prove that he is not worthy of the Prime Minister's office. He's lied to the House, he's lied to the people and now he's decided to subvert our Democracy and shut everything down. If you let this go, he will only continue his actions and in the end he will bury the opposition in a mountain of propaganda and fear-mongering.

I know it's tough. The Liberal party has been decimated by a constant erosion of its base support on the Left, while the NDP is struggling with its own losses to the Liberals and the Greens. You're tired, you're broke, and Harper is holding all the money and power he needs to win. But you have my support, and that of millions upon millions of others in this country -- a majority, in fact, that wants this man gone and a progressive agenda in the House. We are willing to fight with you, but you must be willing to win.

Do what you can to hold it together for the next six weeks. Know that you have the support of the majority and use that when you put Harper's Conservatives back where they belong: in the Opposition.

Thank you for representing us.

Daniel Quinn
Vancouver Centre

And here's the list of email addresses. Just copy & paste each set into a separate email:

Group 1

<bellea@parl.gc.ca>, <bigrab@parl.gc.ca>, <freemc@parl.gc.ca>, <lavalc@parl.gc.ca>, <ouellc@parl.gc.ca>, <gagnoc@parl.gc.ca>, <bachac@parl.gc.ca>, <debelc@parl.gc.ca>, <guimoc@parl.gc.ca>, <bourgd@parl.gc.ca>, <thilae@parl.gc.ca>, <bonsaf@parl.gc.ca>, <lalonf@parl.gc.ca>, <asselg@parl.gc.ca>, <ducepg@parl.gc.ca>, <andreg@parl.gc.ca>, <dorioj@parl.gc.ca>, <laforj@parl.gc.ca>, <royj@parl.gc.ca>, <deschj@parl.gc.ca>, <beaudj@parl.gc.ca>, <plamol@parl.gc.ca>, <desnol@parl.gc.ca>, <malol@parl.gc.ca>, <lemaym@parl.gc.ca>, <mouram@parl.gc.ca>, <lafram@parl.gc.ca>, <faillm@parl.gc.ca>, <guimom@parl.gc.ca>, <guaym@parl.gc.ca>, <dufoun@parl.gc.ca>, <demern@parl.gc.ca>, <paillp@parl.gc.ca>, <cretep@parl.gc.ca>, <brunep@parl.gc.ca>, <paquep@parl.gc.ca>, <blaisr@parl.gc.ca>, <menarr@parl.gc.ca>, <nadear@parl.gc.ca>, <bouchr@parl.gc.ca>, <carrir@parl.gc.ca>, <vincer@parl.gc.ca>, <gauder@parl.gc.ca>, <pomerr@parl.gc.ca>, <cardis@parl.gc.ca>, <menars@parl.gc.ca>, <stcyrt@parl.gc.ca>, <lessay@parl.gc.ca>, <levesy@parl.gc.ca>, <mendea@parl.gc.ca>, <tonksa@parl.gc.ca>, <guarna@parl.gc.ca>, <kaniaa@parl.gc.ca>, <nevila@parl.gc.ca>, <rotaa@parl.gc.ca>, <patryb@parl.gc.ca>, <raeb@parl.gc.ca>, <crombb@parl.gc.ca>, <wrzesb@parl.gc.ca>, <murphb@parl.gc.ca>, <wilfeb@parl.gc.ca>, <bennec@parl.gc.ca>, <mctead@parl.gc.ca>, <mcguid@parl.gc.ca>, <coderd@parl.gc.ca>, <leed@parl.gc.ca>, <leblad@parl.gc.ca>, <scarpf@parl.gc.ca>, <valerf@parl.gc.ca>, <regang@parl.gc.ca>, <kenneg@parl.gc.ca>, <byrneg@parl.gc.ca>, <pearsg@parl.gc.ca>, <mahlig@parl.gc.ca>, <fryh@parl.gc.ca>, <cotlei@parl.gc.ca>, <damouj@parl.gc.ca>, <karygj@parl.gc.ca>, <volpej@parl.gc.ca>, <cannij@parl.gc.ca>, <mccalj@parl.gc.ca>

Group 2

<mckayj@parl.gc.ca>, <murraj@parl.gc.ca>, <footej@parl.gc.ca>, <sgroj@parl.gc.ca>, <trudej@parl.gc.ca>, <martik@parl.gc.ca>, <drydek@parl.gc.ca>, <duncak@parl.gc.ca>, <bagnel@parl.gc.ca>, <macaul@parl.gc.ca>, <zaracl@parl.gc.ca>, <garnem@parl.gc.ca>, <proulm@parl.gc.ca>, <minnam@parl.gc.ca>, <silvam@parl.gc.ca>, <eykinm@parl.gc.ca>, <hollam@parl.gc.ca>, <jennim@parl.gc.ca>, <hallfm@parl.gc.ca>, <pacetm@parl.gc.ca>, <belanm@parl.gc.ca>, <bevilm@parl.gc.ca>, <ignatm@parl.gc.ca>, <savagm@parl.gc.ca>, <simsom@parl.gc.ca>, <bainsn@parl.gc.ca>, <rodrip@parl.gc.ca>, <szabop@parl.gc.ca>, <millip@parl.gc.ca>, <goodar@parl.gc.ca>, <folcor@parl.gc.ca>, <oliphr@parl.gc.ca>, <cuzner@parl.gc.ca>, <dhallr@parl.gc.ca>, <andres@parl.gc.ca>, <brisos@parl.gc.ca>, <simmssc@parl.gc.ca>, <murphs@parl.gc.ca>, <coadys@parl.gc.ca>, <dions@parl.gc.ca>, <dhalis@parl.gc.ca>, <russet@parl.gc.ca>, <dosanu@parl.gc.ca>, <eastew@parl.gc.ca>, <ratany@parl.gc.ca>, <atamea@parl.gc.ca>, <siksab@parl.gc.ca>, <masseb@parl.gc.ca>, <hyerb@parl.gc.ca>, <hughec@parl.gc.ca>, <angusc@parl.gc.ca>, <charlc@parl.gc.ca>, <gravec@parl.gc.ca>, <chrisd@parl.gc.ca>, <blackd@parl.gc.ca>, <savoid@parl.gc.ca>, <bevind@parl.gc.ca>, <davied@parl.gc.ca>, <thibeg@parl.gc.ca>, <mathyi@parl.gc.ca>, <harrij@parl.gc.ca>, <laytoj@parl.gc.ca>, <crowdj@parl.gc.ca>, <malowj@parl.gc.ca>, <comarj@parl.gc.ca>, <raffej@parl.gc.ca>, <wasylj@parl.gc.ca>, <daviel@parl.gc.ca>, <duncal@parl.gc.ca>, <allenm@parl.gc.ca>, <leslim@parl.gc.ca>, <cullen@parl.gc.ca>, <ashton@parl.gc.ca>, <chowo@parl.gc.ca>, <martip@parl.gc.ca>, <dewarp@parl.gc.ca>, <juliap@parl.gc.ca>, <stoffp@parl.gc.ca>, <mulcat@parl.gc.ca>, <martit@parl.gc.ca>, <marstw@parl.gc.ca>, <godiny@parl.gc.ca>

If you're really feeling daring, you might even want to send a letter to the Conservatives, encouraging them to cross the floor and join the coalition. Here's my letter, followed by another list of emails:

I'm sure that you're likely getting a barrage of emails lately, what with your party closing up Parliament, so I'll try to keep this short.

I'm writing you to ask you to do something crazy; something daring: I'm asking you to reconsider your seat in the House.

I know, it's crazy, you're probably a big fan of free markets and tax cuts and I can't blame you. Everyone is entitled to their opinion and you, an elected representative, won your seat based on those opinions. I would never attempt to prevent you from fulfilling your duty as a representative of the people.

But your boss would.

Stephen Harper has continually gone out of his way to muzzle your fellow party members. He's redirected blame and fired ministers for his own incompetence and he's made a mockery of our political process by continually bullying the opposition rather than trying to work with them in a minority government. He's fired people for doing their job, lied to the House of Commons, and now he's committed the greatest of sins: he's closed down Parliament in a time when we clearly need leadership.

I know that you're a loyal party member. I know that it may be political suicide for you to not support Stephen Harper at a time like this, but I ask you to take a moment to think about the country. How might Canada be better served? By a coalition, or by an autocrat?

You don't have to like the Bloc, or the NDP, or the Liberals. I don't like them much either. But I see in them something I've never seen in Harper: a willingness to make the country work. For that alone, I would submit that as a loyal Canadian citizen, your own political position requires reflection.

Thanks for your time.

Daniel Quinn
Vancouver Centre

Conservative Party Emails (Group 1)

<goldring.p@parl.gc.ca>, <warawa.m@parl.gc.ca>, <yelich.l@parl.gc.ca>, <weston.r@parl.gc.ca>, <holder.e@parl.gc.ca>, <verner.j@parl.gc.ca>, <paradis.c@parl.gc.ca>, <oconnor.g@parl.gc.ca>, <preston.j@parl.gc.ca>, <petit.d@parl.gc.ca>, <richardson.l@parl.gc.ca>, <brown.l@parl.gc.ca>, <schellenberger.g@parl.gc.ca>, <cadman.d@parl.gc.ca>, <poilip@parl.gc.ca>, <vanloan.p@parl.gc.ca>, <finley.d@parl.gc.ca>, <cannon.l@parl.gc.ca>, <wallace.m@parl.gc.ca>, <kent.p@parl.gc.ca>, <lake.m@parl.gc.ca>, <rathgeber.b@parl.gc.ca>, <brown.g@parl.gc.ca>, <chong.m@parl.gc.ca>, <gallant.c@parl.gc.ca>, <delmastro.d@parl.gc.ca>, <oda.b@parl.gc.ca>, <carrie.c@parl.gc.ca>, <blaney.s@parl.gc.ca>, <hawn.l@parl.gc.ca>, <rajotte.j@parl.gc.ca>, <woodworth.s@parl.gc.ca>, <obhrai.d@parl.gc.ca>, <uppal.t@parl.gc.ca>, <devolin.b@parl.gc.ca>, <gourde.j@parl.gc.ca>, <bernim@parl.gc.ca>, <boucher.s@parl.gc.ca>, <fletcher.s@parl.gc.ca>, <lobb.b@parl.gc.ca>, <wong.a@parl.gc.ca>, <block.k@parl.gc.ca>, <young.t@parl.gc.ca>, <nicholson.r@parl.gc.ca>, <vankesteren.d@parl.gc.ca>, <cannan.r@parl.gc.ca>, <lauzon.g@parl.gc.ca>, <reid.s@parl.gc.ca>, <kramp.d@parl.gc.ca>, <baird.j@parl.gc.ca>, <blackburn.j@parl.gc.ca>, <mayes.c@parl.gc.ca>, <dykstra.r@parl.gc.ca>, <smith.j@parl.gc.ca>, <fast.e@parl.gc.ca>, <dreeshen.e@parl.gc.ca>, <trost.b@parl.gc.ca>, <goodyear.g@parl.gc.ca>, <galipeau.r@parl.gc.ca>, <ambrose.r@parl.gc.ca>, <toews.v@parl.gc.ca>, <glover.s@parl.gc.ca>, <mccoleman.p@parl.gc.ca>, <flaherty.j@parl.gc.ca>, <menzies.t@parl.gc.ca>, <anders.r@parl.gc.ca>, <benoit.l@parl.gc.ca>, <raitt.l@parl.gc.ca>, <tilson.d@parl.gc.ca>, <bruinooge.r@parl.gc.ca>, <lunney.j@parl.gc.ca>, <dechert.b@parl.gc.ca>, <lunn.g@parl.gc.ca>, <watson.j@parl.gc.ca>, <mackenzie.d@parl.gc.ca>, <tweed.m@parl.gc.ca>

Conservative Party Emails (Group 2)

<ablonczy.d@parl.gc.ca>, <albrecht.h@parl.gc.ca>, <kamp.r@parl.gc.ca>, <brownpa@parl.gc.ca>, <lemieux.p@parl.gc.ca>, <o'neill-gordon.t@parl.gc.ca>, <lukiwski.t@parl.gc.ca>, <cummins.j@parl.gc.ca>, <boughen.r@parl.gc.ca>, <calandra.p@parl.gc.ca>, <allison.d@parl.gc.ca>, <davidson.p@parl.gc.ca>, <shipley.b@parl.gc.ca>, <norlock.r@parl.gc.ca>, <ashfield.k@parl.gc.ca>, <hoeppner.c@parl.gc.ca>, <saxton.a@parl.gc.ca>, <day.s@parl.gc.ca>, <keddy.g@parl.gc.ca>, <hoback.r@parl.gc.ca>, <stanton.b@parl.gc.ca>, <grewal.n@parl.gc.ca>, <ritz.g@parl.gc.ca>, <merrifield.r@parl.gc.ca>, <breitkreuz.g@parl.gc.ca>, <allen.m@parl.gc.ca>, <mackay.p@parl.gc.ca>, <clement.t@parl.gc.ca>, <payne.l@parl.gc.ca>, <moore.r@parl.gc.ca>, <strahl.c@parl.gc.ca>, <vellacott.m@parl.gc.ca>, <scheer.a@parl.gc.ca>, <shory.d@parl.gc.ca>, <sweet.d@parl.gc.ca>, <richards.b@parl.gc.ca>, <hiebert.r@parl.gc.ca>, <komarnicki.e@parl.gc.ca>, <shea.g@parl.gc.ca>, <moore.j@parl.gc.ca>, <harris.r@parl.gc.ca>, <abbott.j@parl.gc.ca>, <miller.l@parl.gc.ca>, <kerr.g@parl.gc.ca>, <thompson.g@parl.gc.ca>, <prentice.j@parl.gc.ca>, <weston.j@parl.gc.ca>, <sorenson.k@parl.gc.ca>, <storseth.b@parl.gc.ca>, <jean.b@parl.gc.ca>, <mark.i@parl.gc.ca>, <clarke.r@parl.gc.ca>, <bezan.j@parl.gc.ca>, <casson.r@parl.gc.ca>, <rickford.g@parl.gc.ca>, <warkentin.c@parl.gc.ca>, <hill.j@parl.gc.ca>, <mcleod.c@parl.gc.ca>, <duncan.j@parl.gc.ca>, <braid.p@parl.gc.ca>, <aglukkaq.l@parl.gc.ca>, <kenney.j@parl.gc.ca>, <guergis.h@parl.gc.ca>, <calkins.b@parl.gc.ca>, <anderson.da@parl.gc.ca>

So for those of you who weren't waiting with baited breath for the news from the Govenor General this morning, I'll break down what happened:

Basically, Stephen Harper went to the Govenor General and "advised" her to suspend Parliament for six weeks. This advisory meeting took something like two and a half hours.

For the rest of us, this means that in the midst of serious economic and environmental need, the Conservatives have decided that their holding onto power is more important than running the country. I think that Liberal leadership candidate Bob Rae said it best when he equated it to a kid pulling the fire alarm to skip out on an exam he knew he'd fail.

For my part, frankly I'm really disappointed in Harper, though not at all surprised. This is a man who goes on live television and outright lies to the people, fabricates stories in the House and even disavows any knowlege of his own disreputable past when confronted with the facts. Far from being Prime Minister material, Stephen Harper is both an autocrat and a coward.

I can only hope that the millions of dollars his party will likely spend on propaganda over the Christmas holiday will have little or no effect on the Will of the people and that the Liberal/NDP coalition will walk back into parliament in late January to finish what they started so we can be rid of this man for good. Until then however, barring revolution, Canada will have to live without Democracy through the Christmas season.

My friend Cat and I were talking over email today and the following transpired. I thought it fitting to post here given the weight of my previous posts:

Me

I am sick. Have been for days, and my company insists that I come in anyway so I'm not really getting better. I should be ok by the weekend though at which point I'll be heading out to Langley (ew) to practise with my old choir so we can go caroling later in the month (it's a thing we do).

Her response

Ew. That really sucks. Drink some Horrible Tea.

Horrible Tea

• 1 clove garlic
• 1 thumb-sized piece gingerroot
• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
• juice of 1/2 lemon
• 2 large spoons honey

Roughly chop the garlic and gingerroot. Steep all ingredients in boiling water under a cover for about 2 minutes, then drink. You can strain if you like, although I think it works best if you don't. STIR WELL. The honey keeps it from tasting too bad. Drink this twice a day until you feel better, and then for another day or so afterward.

You will need a new toothbrush after you get better, though.

With all the spin around what's going on in the House of Commons regarding this new Coalition, I'd like to make one thing quite clear: Canadians did not elect a Conservative governemnt in 2008.

2008 Canadian Election Results

Andrew Heard, Associate Professor, Simon Fraser University

It's true, The Conservative Party took more seats than anyone else, but for them to claim that they have the support of the country is really quite disingenuous. With a popular support of only 37%, and most of that resting in 3 provinces, claiming that "Canada elected Stephen Harper" is preposterous. In reality, 63% of the country voted for left-leaning ideals and did so by showing our support for a variety of parties.

Canadians have got to lose this wrong-headed thinking that Canada is a two-party system as this hasn't been true for decades. There are five parties garnering a significant share of the votes in each election and as a whole, they represent the Will of the Canadian people. Instead, we need to start acknowledging the fact that coalitions are the nature of parliamentary democracies so that we might always be governed by a majority in the form of a united set of diverse voices.

This coalition, as convoluted as it may be, should not be a one-time experiment but rather a first step. The next one is proportional representation so that the interests and diversity of the entire country might finally be represented in our governing House. Both Dion and Layton know this, but whether they choose to act on it as the new governement will be an interesting chapter in their new partnership.