Mount Seymour Carpe Diem

Beautiful snow conditions on the local mountains today. Last Saturday it was like spring. People were stripping down and getting a tan. The trees were bare and there were bare patches in the snow. Today was magnificent. Just enough snow to rejuvenate the magic of winter. Trails were packed but not icy. The snow was great.

I made it up Seymour today. If you think that Mystery peak chair takes you to the top of Mount Seymour you’re wrong. I used to think that. After Mystery peak you have to hike up to a peak called first pump, then right after that is a peak called second pump and after that is a peak called third pump. Third pump is Mount Seymour and the view of the backcountry is magnificent.

Ode to a Ninja, from a Pirate

Ya see Darren’s lawyer’s new photo? Now that’s what I’m talking about. Some men look better when they get older. David Wotherspoon is looking more like a ninja every day. He’s got that Richard Gere corporate assassin look. Of all the lawyers that have been in my grill this one has lasted the longest. All the others are ashes under the souls of my feet. It’s the age old adage he that shall sue thee by the law shall be cursed by the law.

But this ninja keeps on ticking. Maybe it’s because he doesn’t have small man syndrome. All the other boy scouts would over reach and make ridiculous threats they had no legal ability to enforce. They’d end up getting their a*s kicked and made fools of themselves. When people are angry they will run to the lawyer that tells them what they want to hear and be led down the garden path of costly frivolous applications.

Not the mighty Ninja David Whotherspoon from the biggest firm I’ve ever seen not to mention gone up against. He seems to know what he can do and what he can’t do and he seems to know who he can con and who he can’t con. Like my father always used to say, you can’t con a con. Peace.

Tricky Dicky saves the day

Ronald Lopez formally from Thelen LLP, formerly known as Thelen Reid Brown Raysman & Steiner: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thelen_Reid_&_Priest

has been officially adopted by Nixon and Mr. Peabody: http://www.nixonpeabody.com/attorneys_detail1.asp?ID=1573

Here’s the video clip on Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YunO4Wc8E28

Only they haven’t notified Texas Ranger Walker yet: http://darrenentwistle.com/pdf/firmchange.pdf

Maybe Sherman hasn’t told Mr. Peabody about that case yet…

Hollyburn Ridge

I love the view of the backcountry from Hollyburn Ridge. There are mountains as far as the eye can see. From here you can see what’s east of the Lions:

This is a view of Black Mountain on Cypress in front of the Burrard Inlet with the mountain range on Vancouver Island in the background:

The view of the city is nice but I like the backcountry better. Cheers.

Grouse Mountain from Surrey

This is a view of Grouse from Surrey. On top of King George Highway heading toward the Patella bridge. If you follow the arrows from left to right, the first arrow is the Cut, a ski run on Grouse. The second arrow is the Peak, another ski run on Grouse. The third arrow is Crown Mountain. Right in front of that is Goat mountain I think but I'm not sure. I think Dam mountain is shown right above the ski run on the Peak. The Lions are to the left, that is west of Grouse. You can see the Lions when you're in or approaching Vancouver.

The Surrey fire from a distance

My son’s band teacher said he could see the smoke from Langley. CBC reprinted a photo of the fire from a distance: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/british-columbia/story/2009/02/20/bc-surrey-apartment-fire.html?ref=rss

Surrey Apartment Fire under control

Noon the fire keeps fighting back and remains a threat to spread to neighboring trees but at 1:00 PM the fire is finally under control. This is the last video clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFaAgx28CAI

The Fire still burns

It’s 11:00 AM and the fire department has been doing a valiant job fighting the blaze since 5:00 AM. The problem is that it’s an older wood framed building with no built in sprinkler system and the fire is entrenched in the roof.

As we speak the blaze is still bursting out in two places on the southeast side of the building. The real concern the fire shooting out of the third story apartment that is right beside a line of large trees. If those trees catch fire it’s going to spread uncontrollably.

Consequently the fire department are focusing on that spot and have re deployed the aerial hose on the ladder to deal with that possibility. It is amazing how strong this fire is despite the valiant efforts of the fire department to contain it.

If they did not have this many people on the fire it would have spread throughout the complex. There is not doubt of that. Well done. Here's a video clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LYoxsQqqSFI

Apartment Fire in Surrey

Big apartment fire in Surrey today. I’m working on the video clips. Here's a video clip of the fire in it's early stages: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t8-1lZOIkKQ

East side of the Building: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RiZS3c6-GWE

Here's the one from Noon: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LYoxsQqqSFI

Here's the final one from 1:00 PM: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFaAgx28CAI

Obama’s mortgage relief plan

This makes a lot more sense then just handing over money to banks and rewarding them for foreclosing homes:

http://news.sympatico.msn.ctv.ca/abc/home/contentposting.aspx?isfa=1&feedname=CTV-TOPSTORIES_V3&showbyline=True&date=true&newsitemid=CTVNews%2f20090218%2fobama_homes_090218

Harper Government considers selling assets

OK this is just plain dumb. The Harper government is using the bad budget as an excuse to shoot himself in the foot and give away a cash cow. Canada Post makes money. Canada Post pays tax and dividends to the government. Selling that is bad business. Selling it has nothing to do with the bad budget. It has everything to do with the exact political extremism that created the economic crisis in the first place: http://www.theprovince.com/Homes/Major+Canadian+government+assets+could+sold/1299281/story.html

Yip Man Movie

Yip Man was a Wing Chung grandmaster who influenced many. Donnie Yen plays Yip Man in this dynamic new movie. Now that's what I'm talking about: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y67D9I5MRqg

Kanaka Creek

Canoed across the Fraser and up Kanaka creek today. I’ve been dying to cross the Fraser in a canoe. I couldn’t believe how calm the water is this time of year. It’s tidal so when the tide comes in there’s no rushing water. The snow covered peaks of Golden Ears looked awesome on the paddle across the Fraser.

.

Cliff Park. That’s the name of the park further upstream on Kanaka creek with the waterfall and sandstone. I’ve been trying to find that place since I was a teenager but couldn’t remember the name of the park. Now I’m looking forward to doing the Thompson river in Summer.

The Port Mann Bridge

http://www2.canada.com/surreynow/news/story.html?id=55acecfc-dab9-4256-b8c5-bd0b97d1f38f

This is another example of how the Campbell government is completely out of touch with reality. The Port Mann bridge should have been twinned before they built the Golden Ears bridge. The Golden Ears bridge will create more traffic on the Port Mann not reduce it.

Then comes the latest brainstorm. Instead of twinning the bridge they’re gonna make a ten lane super bridge which is twice as wide and twice as expensive. Think about if for a minute. It’s twice as expensive. That alone should scrap the idea.

Then look at the insane traffic congestion when the Patello bridge was shut down recently. If you twin the Port Mann, the existing Port Mann will still be able to function. If you expand the existing Port Mann that will create another commuters nightmare.

What’s was the line from Napoleon Dynamite? "Idiot!"

Bush overpaid banks in bailout

"The Bush administration overpaid tens of billions of dollars for stocks and other assets in its massive bailout last year of Wall Street banks and financial institutions, a new study by a government watchdog says." Why is this not a surprise: http://finance.sympatico.msn.ca/investing/news/businessnews/article.aspx?cp-documentid=17543592

Snowing on Cypress

It’s a wonderful night on Cypress. The snow is magnificent. Raining in the city in more ways than one. Such is life.

Vote Smart BC

Gordon Campbell closed Riverview and put all the mentally ill on the street then gave himself a huge raise and gold plated pension. Then he put the seniors on the street and gave himself another huge raise yet has done nothing for public safety. Vote Smart B.C. Get that drunk driver off the road and don’t fall for the ridiculous stereotypes again.

Sunrise Sunset

The morning breaks, the shadows flee. A new day dawns. Sunrise to sunset, one season following another laden with happiness and tears: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4CWgQQGyr4&feature=related

Harper drops Cadman defamation suit against Liberals

http://news.sympatico.msn.ctv.ca/abc/home/contentposting.aspx?isfa=1&feedname=CTV-TOPSTORIES_V3&showbyline=True&date=true&newsitemid=CTVNews%2f20090206%2fcadman_suit_090206

What a multipurpose scam. Harper drops the defamation suit against the Liberals in Michael Ignatieff’s New World coalition. Let’s see, how many scams can we see in a single act. Iggy drops the coalition and hops in bed with Harper and Harper drops the court case.

The court case was in itself a scam because they were hiding their guilt. That book comes out revealing how the Conservatives tried to bribe Independent MP Chuck Cadman not to bring the government down early with a large life insurance policy. He was dying of cancer. Conservatives lung into rage and denial yet Cadman’s wife confirms the story as well as their daughter: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/toronto/story/2008/02/29/cadman-daughter.html

Then Candman’s wife Donna throws her hat into the political ring and runs for the Conservatives even though she confirmed the bribery story while they were denying it. Obviously she received free campaign signs and her name on the card. Which is not a scandal, it’s just weird. Why would she run for the party that tried to bribe her husband? Because she has always been Conservative?

It all just leaves a bad taste in one’s mouth. Even if the bribery offer was true, it’s not really a big scandal. Not compared to the sponsorship scandal or everything else that plagues politics on a daily basis. I just get fed up with the rage and denial.

Peter McKay denied calling Belinda a dog when he was caught on tape. What’s the big deal. Belinda was a tramp. http://www2.canada.com/theprovince/news/editorial/story.html?id=e4db5522-435d-42a0-8174-5e7622ce7c83 One minute she’s in a relationship with him going for the Conservative leadership. Then when she loses the bid literally the next minute she becomes Liberal and dumps him shortly before she’s named as the other party in Tie Domi divorce order on grounds of adultery.

The politicians are cat calling each other in the house talking about the clean air bill and one Liberal referring to the clean air bill yells out to McKay what about your dog? Meaning the bill would be good for his dog while McKay wittily responds with a point to Stronach’s empty chair and says You already have her. It was hilarious and appropriate given the circumstances. Yet denying it when he was caught on tape is simply a lie.

BTW Not only was Peter McKay caught on tape so was Harper: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/british-columbia/story/2008/10/10/cadman-tape.html

Harper, Cadman, Defamation and the Liberals. Chuck Cadman was the only one we ever trusted. May he and his son rest in peace and may the rest of them...

Banana Bread

Talk about random thoughts. I never realized how easy it is to make banana bread. I love banana bread. I had a friend that used to make home made bread every day. That’s somewhat beyond me. I’m too lazy to throw the ingredients into the bread machine but banana bred is easy. Cheap too. Gotta love it: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Banana-Banana-Bread/Detail.aspx

There's no one as Irish as Barack O'Bama

On the lighter side, this one’s kind of funny: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HplZ_taHXLM&NR=1
I do like Obama and recognize he is three million times better than the alternative. I just hope he stands strong and doesn’t give in to the former insanity on outsourcing and false flag ops.

Obama on Crack

Obama had some wonderful words about opposing outsourcing of American jobs: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VrgJ_xHemYg

Then he goes and appoints Republican Judd Gregg to head his commerce Department. Judd Gregg is an advocate of outsourcing: http://www.bizjournals.com/albuquerque/stories/2009/02/02/daily21.html

“The selection of Sen. Gregg completely contradicts what domestic manufacturers understand to be the president’s stated views on U.S. trade policy,” said council President Kevin Kearns. “Sen. Gregg has voted nonstop for bad trade deals that have shipped overseas thousands of factories and large numbers of high-wage jobs, helping to create today’s economic crisis.

“The choice of Sen. Gregg makes sense only if the president wants a secretary of Outsourcing,” Kearns said.

Judd Greg was an advocate for the invasion of Iraq: http://www.ontheissues.org/International/Judd_Gregg_War_+_Peace.htm