Sunday, December 03, 2006 , terribly early in the morning

Down memory lane with the Atlanta Flames

I’ve been waiting to write this blog entry because I wanted to scan an image of what I’m talking about, and then it just occurred to me that I could take a photo instead.  Duh.  Nancy, from the blog My Oyster, recently sent Flippy and I a really cool book that’s about 32 years old, and that’s called, “Canadian Bakin’”.  It’s a small, softbound cookbook put together by the wives of the players of the long-defunct Atlanta Flames hockey club.  Here’s a picture:

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The cookbook includes classic Canadian recipes like tourtiere and buttertarts, and some questionable favourites like “noodle spinach casserole” and “coffee jello”.  The latter two recipes came from the same person, so I know whose house I don’t want to be invited to for dinner.  The best part of the cookbook is the names of the players—Pat Quinn, Boom Boom Geoffrion, Bryan Hextall, Keith McCreary… it’s fun to think that they were playing and coaching when this book was published.

So thank you, Nancy, for a wonderfully unique hockey souvenier, and a bit of Canadiana as well.  I barely remember the Flames before they ended up in Calgary, but at least Atlanta now has a team again, the Thrashers, to keep hockey fans in Georgia happy.

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Posted by Leigh-Ann on 12/03 at 04:50 AM
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Sappy dog poems

I’m not really a fan of poetry, let alone sappy animal poetry about kittens and meadows and things like that, but a friend just sent me a poem called, “Grow Old With Dogs”.  It’s a variation on the poem, “When I grow old, I shall wear purple”.  The poem came marked as “author unknown”, so I set out to do a little Internet research about it.  I never did find the name of the author, but did find this page of slightly-sappy poems and parables about dogs.  It’s worth reading if you have a moment and are a dog lover:  Favourite Dog Writings

Posted by Leigh-Ann on 12/03 at 03:27 AM
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Saturday, December 02, 2006 , the wee hours

How to force your pet to work so you can retire

The delightful Susie Felber has just written an article about how you can force your pets to work in showbiz so you can live off their paychecks.  Actually, the article is about the top ten crime-fighting furry movie stars, but I think it’s perfectly acceptable to read it while dreaming of being the person who saves the next “Benji” off death-row.  Paparazzi, fame, fortune, and a pooper-scooper service can be in your future if you follow in the steps of the animals in this article.  Some of these movies I’ve never even heard of, so I’m positive your Fluffy or Rover or Mr. Mittens can do much better!  Give this entertaining article a read at Fur-ensic Files, if only to envision Jim Belushi being bitten in the crotch by a German shephard.  I’m all for it, especially if it would get “According to Jim” cancelled.

Posted by Leigh-Ann on 12/02 at 12:32 AM
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USCIS case status

Today I received an email from the immigration department (USCIS) which said this:  Current Status: Notice mailed welcoming the new permanent resident. Excuse me while I run and jump and do somersaults and have a parade, because that’s government-speak for, “You passed; we’re mailing you your Green card now.” I’m very happy smile

Posted by Leigh-Ann on 12/02 at 12:24 AM
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Friday, December 01, 2006 , evening

Canadian Prime Minister Robert Rae?

I was reading the Toronto Star reports about this weekend’s Liberal leadership convention in Canada, and a I was struck by a long-forgotten memory.  When I was in 11th or 12th grade (1982 or ‘83), I had to do a creative writing assignment for my English class.  I did some sort of faux newspaper article, and I distinctly remember inventing a quote from “Canadian Prime Minister Robert Rae”.  At the time, any thought of that was pure idealism, with Bob Rae the head of the Ontario provincial NDP.  There was never any real chance for the NDP to form the federal government in Canada, so suggesting Bob Rae would eventually become Prime Minister was pretty far-fetched.  Today, though, that same Bob Rae is a member of the federal Liberal party, and one of the two top candidates to be voted leader of the party.  The leader would become Prime Minister should the Liberals win the next Canadian election, so I could perhaps eventually see “Prime Minister Bob Rae” as a reality.  There’s a slight chance I still have that English assignment in a box somewhere, and boy, would I ever love to find it.  The story I wrote was about an event taking place in the future, sometime after the year 2000, and I’d love to know what year I put down.

I’d feel comfortable with Ken Dryden as leader, because he’s dull but reliable.  I think he’d be a steady Prime Minister who kept his hands clean.  However, Bob Rae is fine with me also.  If he does become party leader, and does become Prime Minister, I’m going to have to jot him a note.

We now end this moment of Canadiana and return you to your regularly-scheduled blogging.

Posted by Leigh-Ann on 12/01 at 09:40 PM
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Toxic mistletoe

If you plan to do any smooching under the holiday mistletoe this year, make sure you leave your pets out of it.  Not that you’d be smooching your pets under the mistletoe (I don’t think), but who can tell with you people?!  Mistletoe can be toxic to pets.

Posted by Leigh-Ann on 12/01 at 03:35 AM
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NaBloCoMo visitations and salutations

Here’s a list of all the great blogs I visited, read, and commented upon during this month of NaBloCoMo.  I’ll update the list daily.  Sing it, Perry!

  • December 1:  Will it Blend? blog.  Have you ever dreamed of putting things in blenders, really crazy things, just to see what might happen?  The people at Blendtec have designed this ingenious way to market their blenders—they take suggestions from blog comments, and then spin stuff in their brand of blenders.  The blog is fairly new, but you’ll find links there to the all-important videos, including the one where 24 credit cards are delightfully turned into mulch.  Now if they could only stick some debt collectors in their blenders...


  • December 2:  Today I dropped by an old favourite, My Oyster, written by another Nancy.  Not my Flippy/Nancy.  Nancy is a friend of Nancy, though—you can put those names in any order you’d like and it would still mean the same thing.  Nancy loves languages, like I do, and is fascinated by other cultures, as I am.  She’s currently studying Arabic, and also teaches adult ESL students, and has many wonderful stories to tell.


  • December 3:  Today I was pissed off at Dell Computers (story to follow on another day), so I dropped by the blog called Church of the Customer.  It’s a site which believes, as do we, that the Internet can really make or break a company’s reputation.  I’ve seen it first hand on more than one occasion—the Internet is a powerful tool that many companies still don’t respect.  The current blog entry on Church of the Consumer is about the wasteful abundance of direct mail during the holiday season.  I’m quite sure that Flippy and I receive far, far more than 50lbs. in catalogues every Christmas.


  • December 4:  Today I made my first comment on a blog called, ”What Could Happen”, which is sporadically written by author Julie Powell.  She wrote a book called ”Julie and Julia” which I loved and adored and had a hard time putting down.  While her blog may not be too interesting if you haven’t read her book, just go read her book.  It’s fabulous, and you won’t regret it.  It would make a good holiday gift for a friend who enjoys the thought of cooking, whether or not they actually attempt cooking themselves.


  • December 5:  Not surprisingly, today I was in the mood to rant about Dell, so I took my complaint to the king of all Dell critics, Jeff Jarvis.  He has a great blog called BuzzMachine, with a special little section just about Dell Corporation.  When you’re feeling irritated, it’s nice to have someone to share it with!


  • December 6:  Today I visited an interesting and low-profile blog called Compassion Fatigue.  It’s about stress in the veterinary profession, and the blog deserves a lot more traffic than it seems to get because the entries are fascinating and very well-written.  I enjoyed the most-recent entry about how people tend to fall into a certain “role” in the their job, and I envisioned myself as someone called “The Wrangler”—the person who isn’t afraid to be bitten and always ends up being bitten.  I have an extensive collection of bandaids.


  • December 7:  I realize I’ve been very verbose lately, but none one is as prolific a blogger as Miserable Bliss.  She posts frequently and then more frequently, so there’s always new stuff to read if you drop by her place.  She’s a funny girl, too (funny “ha ha”, not funny the other way, although she might disagree).  I will always be grateful to her for introducing me to the book ”The Radioactive Boy Scout”.  I loved that book!  Drop by and say hello—she’ll show you pictures of dead chickens with their heads still on if you ask her nicely.


  • December 8:  Name That Mama is a blog written by two women who have the cutest baby I’ve ever seen.  I started reading their blog when one of the partners was pregnant, and now I’ve been able to watch their daughter grow up through photographs.  It’s a nice, normal, blog about a nice, normal family (with a really cute baby—did I say that part already?).


  • December 9:  Ah, Pandagon… how I love thee, even though you won’t answer my emails about an issue unrelated to this blog entry.  If I could only get my news from one source, I’d be hard-pressed to choose between Pandagon and the Toronto Star.  As much as I love Pandagon’s humour, they just never write about the Toronto Maple Leafs.


  • December 10:  If there’s one sportswriter I really despise, it’s Damien Cox of the Toronto Star.  Actually, I despise Joe Hawk of the Las Vegas Review Journal as well.  Maybe I just don’t like sportswriters and haven’t been paying attention?  In any case, Damien Cox and I have never agreed on anything.  I even send him taunting emails, pointing out issues he perseverates about, and suggesting that he’s only mentioning these issues continually in an attempt to send me secret messages.  Then he usually moves onto a new issue—it’s very entertaining.  Today was the first time Damien Cox and I have ever agreed about anything - we both wish Barry Bonds would just go away.  You can read Cox’s blog at The Spin.


  • December 11:  Carina at Dog Muse made her dog wear a Santa hat, and the dog actually cooperated.  Our dogs are not trained that well, because the best we could hope to achieve is that they might eat a hat, not wear it.  I know I once had a pair of antlers and I wanted to take a photo of my cat Sweet Pea wearing them, but no, Sweet Pea was not fond of novelty apparel.


  • December 12: Once you’ve been to CuteOverload.com for the first time, it will become your secret, guilty pleasure.  So many cute little kittens and rodents and puppies - it’s the feel-good site of the century, seriously.  Go take a look and see if you can resist letting out a little “awwww”.


  • December 13: I barely know how to begin to explain Proceedings of the Athanasius Kircher Society.  I guess it’s a bit like Ripley’s Believe it Or Not, in website form, combined with a carnival freak show.  It’s every odd and bizarre fact that you didn’t want to know, but can’t help being fascinated by.  When you’re old and senile, this is the stuff you’ll remember.  You’ll have to wear velcro shoes, but you’ll be able to tell anyone who’ll listen that the trap-jaw ant closes its mandibles at 78 to 145 miles per hour.


  • December 14: Dave Barry retired from writing his newspaper column, but he’s still addicted to the written word as he writes in his blog incessantly, multiple times a day.  Most of the time he doesn’t blog his own material as much as he links to other things on the web which amuse him.  Still, I trust his judgment, so it’s tough to resist following his suggested links, like this one about the beleaguered Swedish town of Fjuckby.


  • December 15:  Wildrun was one of the very first websites I found which made me feel like I could do pet rescue, little ol’ me.  Susan is a very experienced professional, but she’s able to run her rescue operation from her home, and that was encouraging.  I love reading her tales of rescued cats, young and old, and I see lots of cats that I’d love to adopt from her.  I’m glad I don’t live closer!


  • December 16:  I was in heaven the day I realized that there are vets who blog about their work!  VetMommy is one of my favourite blogging vets, and I always appreciate her tales from the veterinary front line.  She didn’t scare me away from the profession, she just made me love it more.


  • December 17:  A fellow Canadian, Simply Coll lives in subzero Winnipeg!  Once the Jets left town, I think everyone else should have left, too—no good can come of living in a place so chilly!  I guess she’s pretty much guaranteed a white Christmas, though.  Visit to see lots of great landscape photos from all four seasons, as well as to see her cute dog and cat.


  • December 18:  VonKrankipantzen has had some health challenges that she blogs about, with wonderful insight and a great sense of humour.  I can only hope that if I’m ever faced with half of what she’s dealt with, that I’ll be so patient about it.  She’s also got a really adorable Siamese cat who’s a fan of Kids in the Hall, and enjoys having its head crushed on Fridays.


  • December 19:  Piffle is my my straight doppelganger in a parallel universe.  She hates the telephone!  ‘Nuff said.


  • December 20:  Helena at Out on the Beach, has changed the name of blog to, “Living and Dying in 3/4 Time”, without consulting with me!  Shocking.  I like to think that Helena is also horrified by the thought of Winnipeg, and she’s a member of the “we own black cats” club.  Her cat, Salem, has great taste in cat food.


  • December 21:  Niobium is a law student, and I really respect how she’s tackling the challenge of school.  She’s persevered at times when I might have given up.  We don’t always agree politically (I’m a bit more center and she’s more left-of-center), but I love reading her thoughts and ideas.


  • December 22:  I met NYC Gadget Girl through a rather unpleasant circumstance on another blog I no longer frequent.  She shared my ideas about animal rescue and obligations, and I starting reading her very stylish blog soon after.  Lots of great stories and photos of life in NYC, and two very cute Shiba Inus!


  • December 23:  Let’s be honest, here:  most animals who blog just aren’t the best writers or storytellers.  Exceptions to that rule are Bonnie Underfoot and Victor Tabbycat, two extremely talented authors and felines.  They’re sarcastic, too, and they get four paws up from me!


  • December 24:  The best Christmas gift ever is a house of your own, and Jody at Cat Eyes has just received that.  She’ll soon be moving to a larger, nicer home so she can continue her incredible cat rescue work.  If you think you’re having a bad day, read Jody’s blog and realize how easy you’ve got it.


  • December 25


  • December 26


  • December 27


  • December 28


  • December 29


  • December 30


  • December 31
Posted by Leigh-Ann on 12/01 at 02:19 AM
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