Reader Tips

Reader Tips 36 Comments

There are great love songs, and then there’s tonight’s amusing misfire which sees a legendary Wagnerian tenor making an ill-advised foray into popular music. Intended (one assumes) as an earnest romantic plea, the song instead evokes a Homer Simpson-esque chap with a chewed up stogie in one hand and an oniony hot dog in the other pleading his hopeless case to an indifferent moll. When the backing choir swells to prop up his wailing entreaty, it just gets worse. From the Florence Foster Jenkins-heavy album Murder On The High C’s – I highly recommend it – here’s Lauritz Melchior singing – nae, begging – Please Don’t Say No.
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36 Replies to “Reader Tips”

  1. “’From the Tea Party movement in the States, to the continued dominance of Harper’s Conservatives on the federal stage, Rob Ford’s victory is just another vivid illustration of the new rules of electoral success,’ Mr. Graves told The Globe Tuesday morning. ‘At some point the progressives may want to park their indifference and contempt and take a few pages out of the increasingly successful populist playbook.’”
    Note that Graves doesn’t advocate that progressives actually start to implement, or take seriously, the ideas and the philosophy behind voters’ shift to conservatism and smaller government, but rather advocates the use of smaller-government *language* by progressive politicians as a “rule of electoral success” that they can stick in their “playbook”.

  2. My dad proposed to my mum (future)when he lived in Saskatoon and she in Toronto. She told him she would give him her answer when he returned in 3 months. Dad mailed her a single of Lauritz singing “Don’t Say No” If they were alive they be both crying tears of joy. Nostalgia at its finest.

  5. Not The – Hilarious – the comments were even funnier as was the disclaimer – quite a few comedians on that site.
    Sheesh,It’s really not safe to go out anywhere anymore – you never know if you will end up on someones blogsite or You Tube.

  6. Superb British blogger David Thompson has an uncommon talent for acutely dissecting the prog/left’s foibles in a witty and succinct way. In this recent post he links to an interesting essay by Fabian Tassano titled “The abolition of dangerous thought”, and then, as always, entertains in the comments.
    Choice quote: “The rush to be offended – ostentatiously, competitively offended – is a thing to behold.”

  7. EBD, I remember first hearing FFJ probably more than 25 years ago, when all that existed was vinyl.
    As a recollection of how different that world was then, before PCs were everywhere, I thought “I have to have that album!”. I searched everywhere, I scoured second hand record stores, looked in catalogues, but couldn’t find it.
    Now, with on-line stores having illimitable supplies of everything, ordering the CD you mentioned in your intro was quick, easy, and painless, and they delivered it to my door no less, cheaper than buying it in the local store.
    A changing world indeed.

  8. Enjoyed the insight from David Thompson and the Tassano Essay – good food for thought with excellent points and so true – thanks EBD.

  9. Globe and Mail, Tuesday, Oct. 26.
    http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/alberta-wins-dairy-trade-ruling/article1772328/
    “Land O’ Lakes Fresh Buttery Taste Spread: It looks like butter, tastes like butter and spreads like butter. It might even be better for you.”
    “It’s also [sic] happens to be illegal in Ontario and Quebec thanks to longstanding rules aimed at protecting the dairy industry.”
    “But in a landmark internal trade ruling Monday, a federally appointed panel determined that Ontario’s ban violates the 1995 Agreement on Internal Trade – a deal that committed the provinces to dismantle barriers between them.”
    The agricultural bureaucrats who go around enforcing arbitrary rules like this are a drain on the economy and on the efforts of productive Canadians. Multiply them by several hundred thousand and you can see why the economy has been doing poorly in the last three or four decades relative to earlier times.
    “Those who produce goods and services should not have to get permission from those who do not.” — Ayn Rand

  10. Globe and Mail, Tuesday, Oct. 26, Lawrence Martin.
    http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/opinions/opinion/a-new-narrative-in-search-of-an-author/article1772265/
    There was also a story in the Toronto Star on Tuesday, but I can’t find a link through Google.
    The topic: Ken Dryden and his new book, “Becoming Canada”.
    The book is “an exhortation to Canadians to demand a better national image”, the Star notes.
    Dryden is still the biggest windbag in Canada. His platform when he ran for Liberal leader was full of vague platitudes all centred on the word “big”. If this joker ever got hold of the reins of power, you can bet the spending would be big, the deficit would be bigger, and the collapse of the poor country (and numerous citizens) would likely be the biggest fiasco of all.
    One word sums up the proper attitude Canadians should take toward Ken Dryden the politician: AVOID.

  11. Eric (12:02), I thought I was one of maybe three people on earth who had “Murder on the High C’s”. The Durante/Traubel song about the Real Piano Player just kills me. Tough gig for the piano player: the song was written as a – sincere – paean to the thrill of hearing a *great* pianist, which leaves the poor bugger – who’s competent, mind you – to provide the, er, proof. And you can hear in Durante’s voice a subtly subducted commentary on the….situation.
    RT: Regarding Rob Ford and his supporters versus the self-considered enlightened class, Kelly McParland (note the two separate links there) does wicked-snide like no one else.
    I didn’t know he was so funny.

  13. http://devilsexcrement.com/2010/10/26/those-bothersome-venezuelan-oil-export-numbers/#comments
    “A while back, like two years ago, I published a table of PDVSA’s cash flow that many people thought was an exaggeration. Hell, I am no oil expert, just love to crunch numbers. I showed the calculation to oil “experts” and not one found a hole in it, but not one endorsed it either.
    …
    But two years ago, I made the same calculation and now we are up to the worst case scenario!”
    A couple of weeks past, Hugo signed an agreement with the russian Prime Minister acting for Mr. Putin, for them to supply Venezuela with a nuclear reactor. Plenty of folks have pointed out that Venezuela doesn’t have enough scientists or real engineers to run it, now it turns out they haven’t the money to do this and feed their debt beast.

  14. Will GOP House leaders make newcomers toe the line?
    “In anticipation of major GOP gains in next week’s elections, House Republican leaders have put together a list of experienced Washington hands to help fill top staff positions for the surge of newly elected outsiders.”
    Unity of purpose is all very well, but this sort of action is reminiscent of Yes, Minister. What good does it do to elect new legislators if the staff remain the same? It makes one a wee bit nervous.
    “Democrats have also aided new Members choose their chiefs of staff. As recently as 2008, Democrats helped the new class to fill top staff positions, a senior Democratic aide said.”

  15. Heard commentator Jean Lapierre on CJAD montreal radio this morning. He is saying that Chretien has been acquitted of any wrongdoing because a Federal court of appeal has found that Gomery was indeed biased as a judge for the Gomery commission because of remarks he made to the media about Chretien. As a result all of Chretien’s legal fees and expenses have to be repaid.
    As far as I can see this is not exoneration – it is the equivalent of a mistrial. In fact it means there should be another commission with a wider mandate to get to the bottom of where all that sponsorship money ended up and who was responsible.

  17. Q: Socialism’s natural end result?
    A: “national socialism” “A ‘Criminal Organization'”.
    “Every bookkeeper at the Foreign Ministry knew what was going on.”
    …-
    “Hitler’s Diplomats
    Historian Calls Wartime Ministry A ‘Criminal Organization'”
    “In a SPIEGEL interview, historian Eckart Conze discusses the German Foreign Ministry’s contribution to the Holocaust, Nazi old-boy networks in postwar Germany and the reluctance of the German diplomatic community to address its own troublesome past.
    SPIEGEL: Professor Conze, for four years a commission of historians that you chaired examined the role the Foreign Ministry played in national socialism and how it later addressed this part of its past. What did you discover?
    Conze: The Foreign Ministry wasn’t just somehow involved in national socialism or even a hotbed of resistance, as was long claimed. From day one, it functioned as an institution of the Nazi regime and backed its politics of violence at all times. After 1945, there was a high degree of staffing continuity within the ministry, and some of its diplomats were seriously tainted.
    SPIEGEL: How active was the Ministry’s participation in the crimes of the regime?
    Conze: The Ministry contributed, as an institution, to the violent crimes of the Nazis, even including the murder of the Jews. In this sense, one can say that the Foreign Ministry was a criminal organization.
    SPIEGEL: That’s a serious charge. What evidence do you have to support it?
    Conze: For instance, in 1941 Franz Rademacher, the Foreign Ministry official in charge of Jewish affairs, traveled to Belgrade to meet with local officials, but also with representatives of the Reich Security Head Office — in other words, the SS — to plan and execute the murder of Jews. In fact, he noted on his expense statement that the purpose of the trip was the “liquidation of Jews in Belgrade.” Every bookkeeper at the Foreign Ministry knew what was going on.”
    http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,725600,00.html

  19. “Bambi, meet Godzilla; the butterfly was broken on the wheel.”
    Liberal MP Citoyen Kyoto Dionky says,
    It’s not fair.
    …-
    “The Greening of Godzilla”
    “Watching the colossal and implosive decline of the once mighty green movement to stop global warming has been an educational experience. It’s rare to see so many smart, idealistic and dedicated people look so clueless and fail so completely. From the anti-climax of the Cluster of Copenhagen, when world leaders assembled for the single most unproductive and chaotic global gathering ever held, the movement has gone from one catastrophic failure to the next.
    A year ago giddy environmentalists were on top of the world. The greenest president in American history had the largest congressional majority of any president since Lyndon Johnson; the most powerful leaders in the world were elbowing each other for places on the agenda at the Copenhagen conference on climate.
    It all came to naught. The continued stalemates and failures of the UN treaty process have fallen off the front pages; as the Kyoto Protocol sinks ineffectually into oblivion, no new global treaty will take its place. The most Democratic Congress in a generation will not pass significant climate legislation before the midterms pull Congress to the right, and there will be no US law on carbon caps or anything close in President Obama’s first term, and there is less public faith in or concern about climate change today than at any time in the last fifteen years.
    Has any public pressure group ever spent so much direct mail and foundation money for such pathetic results?
    The standard rap on the greens is that they failed because they were too environmentalist. Their pure and naive ideals were no match for the evil, ugly forces of real world politics. Beautiful losers, they dared to dream a dream too gossamer winged, too delicate for the harsh light of day. Bambi, meet Godzilla; the butterfly was broken on the wheel.”
    http://blogs.the-american-interest.com/wrm/2010/08/28/the-greening-of-godzilla/

  21. The Hoover Institution at Stanford University has a new channel for its Internet content, Advancing a Free Society. See the link for contributions by Victor Davis Hanson, Gary Becker, and other luminaries.

  24. The most amazing thing happened today.
    Background: A week ago, I purchased a parking tag and left it on my dash. When I returned to my car, the tag was on the floor and I had a $30 ticket. I decided, “Nothing ventured, nothing gained” and sent in my cheque and my tag, with an explanation.
    Today: The city I live in cancelled my parking ticket and returned my cheque!
    I guess miracles do happen . . .

  28. I failed in my run at a Woodstock Ontario City Council seat this past Monday, however I have decided to leave my ‘joeforwoodstockcouncil’ website up and operate as a “Commentary blog on Woodstock City Council” for an unspecified period of time after the newly elected City Council is sworn in sometime in December.

  31. Now we know why Liberal Iggy scuttled our seat at Mao Stlong*’s HQ.
    Our Bedbugged Mole says, *Mao Stlong’s nephew, aka Canadian “Liberal leader” Bob Rae, fetched this info to Iggy about 3 months past. Iggy saved Canada millions in Foreign Aid to Haiti & Africa. Of course, Iggy & his MSM covered it up real good.
    It’s LibIggyRae’s Itchy & Scratchy Show~~~~~.
    “Bedbug epidemic spreads to the UN
    New York City’s bedbug epidemic has spread to yet another landmark in the city that never sleeps — the United Nations, officials at the world organization said Wednesday.”
    (googlenews)
    (~~~~~H/T Bart Simpson)
    http://www.bluelikeyou.com/2010/10/27/politics-of-fear-and-smear/#comment-54220

  32. A couple of snippets from the hideous disaster in Northern Alberta.

    “Oilsands giant Syncrude says 350 birds have now died after landing on the Mildred Lake tailings pond Monday night while Suncor said the grim tally on their ponds rose to 40 ducks.”

    “Alberta’s weather changes all the time,” said Mike Hudema with Greenpeace. “If tar sands companies can’t ensure the safety of birds, ANIMALS and HUMANS(capitals mine) regardless of the weather, they should be shut down until they can.”

    http://www.cbc.ca/canada/edmonton/story/2010/10/27/edmonton-suncor-tailings-ducks.html#ixzz13bmwIZpN

    If I had a say in the oilsands,I would announce that the companies have started a duck breeding program which would release two ducks into the wild for every one duck killed in tailing ponds.On top of that ,they would also adopt one child in a developing country,through World Vision,for every duck killed.

    It would be very interesting to watch the greenies argue against such a plan.And they would,because their outrage is not about the death of ducks,it is not about the enviroment,it is about their egos.

  34. O Rosa Parked the Republicans to the back of the bus.
    That was yesterday.
    Today, O Rosa Parked the Democrats to the back of the bus.
    The USA peoples are all white niggers now.
    Except for O; and, O is “the first black ni.. er, President of the United States”.
    O’narcissist*:
    “Everything is based on HIS ideas, HIS agenda, HIS, HIS HIS.”
    …-
    “3. Forgotten Man
    The Ego and Chief still doesn’t understand America. Today he said ” bla,bla, bla we need to re-elect Democrats so I can continue MY agenda”. Everything is based on HIS ideas, HIS agenda, HIS, HIS HIS.
    I think he just kicked Democrats to the back of the bus. He can always double down in 2012.”
    “A Martingale Sang in Maiden Lane”
    http://pajamasmedia.com/richardfernandez/2010/10/27/a-martingale-sang-in-maiden-lane/
    *O’narcissist:
    http://www.globalpolitician.com/25109-barack-obama-elections
    “The narcissist:
    * Feels grandiose and self-important (e.g., exaggerates accomplishments, talents, skills, contacts, and personality traits to the point of lying, demands to be recognised as superior without commensurate achievements);
    * Is obsessed with fantasies of unlimited success, fame, fearsome power or omnipotence, unequalled brilliance (the cerebral narcissist), bodily beauty or sexual performance (the somatic narcissist), or ideal, everlasting, all-conquering love or passion;
    * Firmly convinced that he or she is unique and, being special, can only be understood by, should only be treated by, or associate with, other special or unique, or high-status people (or institutions);”

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