Attention Canada: Coming right up is… who knows what? Paul Martin made the promises he needed to to get into office, used the scare-tactics on Harper, and now he’ll do whatever he feels like.

That’s the reality of it.

Perhaps in four years, Canada will actually be ready for small government and free enterprise. Oh well, that’s my opinion, I guess.

It’s scary what propaganda can do for a leader. Or against one. Down in the US over the weekend, it was unbelievable how positive people were about Bush. I mean, it seems pretty clear that the war was a mistake, but at the same time, I think it was an honest mistake. Bush just seems like an honest guy, and that’s the biggest positive for me. Up here, all you ever hear is whatever people have picked off the media (which is a big left-wing mouthpiece, after all): ‘Bush is such a dunce’, ‘Can’t use a Segway’, ‘Can’t eat a Pretzel’. Guh.

At any rate, a week ago, there was talk about a Conservative government… then out came the Liberal attack ads, and that was the end of ’scary’ Harper. We lose.

Mike

Sorry to anyone who’s tried to contact me in the last couple days — I’ve been pretty well incommunicado.

Anyhow, we drove down to Virginia starting early in the morning Thursday and hung out in the local shopping centre for most of Friday. I kind of expected a lot of deep discounts on electronics and stuff, but it seemed not.

At any rate, the ceremony on Saturday went fabulously. It was very well thought-out and very sweet. It was marvelous to see two people so very happy with each other. Expecially when you’ve known one of them for forever as a cousin. Speeches were very graceful and tasteful… it was also wonderful to meet some of the folks from my more extended family.

All in all, a very joyous time. We probably won’t be able to make it to all of the 15 cousins’ weddings, but it’s such a great time.

Sisters need the computer — more to come.

Mike

So my cousin’s getting married this weekend. We’ll be heading out on the road about 5am tomorrow morning. It feels weird to be driving for like 12 hours both ways and then only staying three nights over… oh well. I guess what’s weirder is that this time next week I’ll have been and come and be hard at work.

And I’ll have voted, too. Fundamentally, I support Harper and the conservatives, but they’re barely even running a candidate in my riding. So it’s pretty well a stalemate between Smilin’ Jack and Dennis Mills. So I guess I’ll either vote Layton to help defeat the Liberals, or vote for the invisible conservative candidate for the popular vote.

Mike

It’s incredible what can happen in the world when I stop paying attention to important online news services and forums.

According to the BBC last week, it seems some fellow is making another crack at the ‘invisibility cloak’ based on a projected image approach.

Gmail, the shiny new email service that everyone thought was a great big April 1st prank has been unleashed. The people behind it have established a brilliant marketing campaign by which the most active users of the service recieve ‘invites’ that they can send out to non-users. So if you want an awesome address without a pile of numbers and underscores tacked on the end of it, you may beg or pay for such an invite from one of the forward-thinking individuals listed at the above page. For me, personally, I’m sure I’ll check this thing out when it’s public, but I prefer the security of knowing that I’m at a consistent Hotmail address and can always be reached there. And if you need to send me large attachments, I’ll set you up a temporary ftp account at uwmike.

Mike

It seems unbelievable, but there it is. I’m done high school. I’m just sitting in the LHS library right now waiting for a final meeting about a co-op project, and then that’s it.

Maybe this is what shell-shock feels like.

Anyhow, I’ve got my birthday this weekend and then the next off, which is nice. The following weekend I’m in Virginia for my cousin Ev’s wedding. It’s super-exciting because she’s the first of our generation to tie the knot. (and there’s like 15 cousins… so it’s going to be a lot)

I’ve got my suit from prom to wear, so that’s pretty well covered. Dad just bought a new (well, new for us) van, so we don’t have to drive the old wreck all the way down there. It’s actually funny about the old van, because it looks like a dump — missing a rear bumper (mom’s fault), scratched to death on one side (my fault), missing a headlight cover (no idea) — but inside the thing’s like a tank. I dunno what they build the Safari out of, but it’s one tough vehicle.

So, I guess, yeah…

SCHOOL’s OUT!!11!!

Mike

I don’t normally watch TV early in the week, so I (perhaps thankfully) haven’t seen any of Superstar between the premiere and tonight’s show, the finale.

What a brilliant concept, though, the same twisted mindset that brought us all My Big Fat Obnoxious Fiance.

The true brilliance of Superstar isn’t just that they’re looking for a terrible singer, it’s that they’re looking for a terrible singer who is awesome in their own mind. Perhaps that makes the whole joke all the more cruel, but it’s interesting to see how even someone with no pitch or sense of rhythm can have a truly likable flair when they’re geniunely trying and believe in themselves.

I guess that’s just a great big fat cliche, but I think it’s true — and certainly a show like this is a good study in it.

Mike