Sun publishes student letter. Bonus marks abound.

Thomas Steen? really?
Thomas Steen as East Kildonan’s city councillor?
As a recent homeowner in East Kildonan, I am now rethinking the move. Maybe I should go back to St. Boniface where I wasn’t embarrassed by my city councillor. I’m not really angry with Steen — he is what he is — but those 3,921 citizens in my ward who voted for Steen? I’ll be watching for them at my local 7-Eleven — and scowling. Hard.
Michelle Palansky

Steen won’t be any more embarrassing than the councillor he replaced.

o my poor ward o my poor Winnipeg

As everyone in my class knows, I live in the East Kildonan ward and I am not happy that Thomas Steen won the election last night.
I have absolutely nothing against him personally. I am a socialist by inclination, NDP supporter by default, and absolutely pissed. Giesbrecht and Robinson split the left vote in my ward and practically gave the seat to Steen. It did not help that Steen brought built in celebrity to the race.

Imaginary this (that's what Tae Bo master Billy Blanks says on my dvd)

 http://www.capturedtimeproductions.com/newsarchive.html 

Shaneen Robinson and Rod Giesbrecht confer after Shaneen wins and Rod loses the support of the NDP for the civic election. They decide it would be idiotic to split the left leaning vote in their ward and hand wrap this gift of a ward for Steen. Giesbrecht supports Robinson in her bid for city councillor. They pool their resources and Robinson handily takes the East Kildonan ward.

sigh

such a lovely story.

Ah well.

A whole area of the city can't go completely to shit in four years can it?

Maybe it would be easier to just move. Such a nice house too. We just ripped out all the carpet and redid all the original hardwood floors. Maybe we can find a nice couple of hockey fans to move in. They will feel right at home in my ward filled with hockey lovin' neighbours.

'cause zombies need accessories too

this is one of the most awesome Halloween shticks I have ever seen.
feast:  http://www.sears.com/shc/s/dap_10153_12605_DAP_Zombie?origin=zeta

social network this

I know this post is later than everyone else - I have had a death in the family and I am living the dark side of the social contract.

Anyhoo

The only question I have about this movie http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1285016/ is why is this a movie? That is what I kept asking myself through out my viewing. Not -  WHY GOD WHY? Just a simple bewildered why?

I get the college partying, I sort of get the legal feuding - these have worked in other movies so why wouldn't they work here?

Maybe it's not the subject matter, maybe it's the movie itself. I think this could have made a good movie, maybe? But it seemed like the producer/director/writer thought - good enough. Everything was just good enough. There was no startlingly interesting point of view, or creative take on the story. It was just fine. Good. OK.

And you know what? They were right. This movie is good enough to make millions at the box office. Good for them - I guess.

As for my reaction to Tiffany Derville Gallicano, Ph.D.'s post on Zuckerberg's pr response to the movie: http://prpost.wordpress.com/
Meh.
I mean, yes, it is interesting to get a historical perspective on how gazillionaires react to unflattering media. I guess.
I don't know, I didn't care about Zuckerberg before, I don't care about him now. So there you go.

RONA ECO Recycled Plastic Garbage Bags Wins Hands Down

Question: 

Which yard waste bag should people use this fall?

Answer:

The RONA ECO Recycled Plastic Garbage Bags.   

We tested a variety of bags in order to represent the choices available to the consumer: regular plastic, recycled materials, biodegradable, and stretch bags. Our theory was that a biodegradable bag would not test as well as regular garbage bags. This was true. We were surprised to learn that the recycled garbage bag was at least as good as regular yard waste bags, priced reasonably, and environmentally friendly.

For the strength test, we incrementally added exercise weights into each of the garbage bags. For the puncture test, we filled each garbage bag with branches and twigs, to simulate yard waste disposal, and we examined the bag for holes. For the seepage test, we filled each garbage bag with two litres of water, to simulate wet yard waste, and we threw the bags ten feet over the fence, to simulate disposal and harsh elements.

Product Testing

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Product Name	Tensile Strength*	Tearing Test*	Seepage Test*	Overall Score Total**
RONA ECO Compostable and 100% Biodegradable Bags for Garden Waste	1	1	4	6
Great Value Ty-Up Flaps Regular Outdoor Bags	4	4	1	9
GLAD ForceFlex Stretchable Strength Easy-Tie Bags	3	5	2	10
Husky Garbage Bags	3	2	4	9
RONA ECO Recycled Plastic Garbage Bags	5	4	5	14

*(Ranking: 5=Best; 4=Good; 3=Decent; 2=Bad; 1=Worst)

**(Scored out of a maximum total of 15)

The overall score was determined by adding the scores of all three tests. The maximum score possible is 15. The product with the highest overall score total is the product that is most recommended. Conversely, the product with the lowest overall score is the product that performed the worst.

Product Price

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Product Name	Cost per Package	Bags per Package	Cost per Bag
RONA ECO Compostable and 100% Biodegradable Bags for Garden Waste	$4.99	10	$0.499
Great Value Ty-Up Flaps Regular Outdoor Bags	$4.47	40	$0.111
GLAD ForceFlex Stretchable Strength Easy-Tie Bags	$4.88	15	$0.325
Husky Garbage Bags	$9.99	100	$0.099
RONA ECO Recycled Plastic Garbage Bags	$4.99	40	$0.124

We spoke to industry professionals, who said they were interested in environmentally friendly waste bags, and our focus group agreed. They want bags that are thick enough to do the job, cheap enough that they can afford them, and environmentally friendly would be nice too. RONA ECO Recycled Plastic Garbage Bags fits the bill and is our number one recommendation.

the Punch and Judy show

I took a day to think about the election and the spectacle of Sam and Judy and this is what I think
Not very much
I heard a lot of posturing and pandering

I care about this city that I live in. I did not hear that from Sam and Judy.
It was really more like a Punch and Judy show. One kicked the other screamed, one punched the other yelled.

I would strongly recommend this to the candidates and their PR people:
Agree to treat each other civilly in public. Answer questions frankly and passionately. Show us that you care about the city not the popular applause of a cynical audience.

I don't know who I am going to vote for - I am embarrassed that these are my choices.

die hard

It has been 20 years since I have watched this movie and the blue ray edition does not disapoint.
The movie looks surprisingly good.
I never realized before but it is a romance - a beautiful, heartfelt bromance.
This movie has everything: race relations, marital issues, blow 'em up, shoot it out, and Alan Rickman.
Alan Rickman is an acting god - dude can do no wrong.
I cannot recommend this movie enough - if it's been a while,check it out - totally worth it.