Wrong team won but with a few days to think about it, probably worth it to see a 3-on-3 overtime outdoors (pond hockey!) and would’ve been even better if it had gone to shootout too!
Head Tale
Yet Another Librarian's Blog
“You ar a good liberein”
Shea and I did a pretty major weeding of our kids’ book collections recently and I ended up giving a bunch to one of the teachers who regularly comes into my library (who also happens to teach at the school my kids go to so I have a soft spot for that school to begin with.)
I’ve got quite a few thoughts on the many ways our personal and professional lives intersect in this modern age but that’s a post for another day.
Anyhow, she brought her class to my library today for a visit and completely surprised me by having all the kids write thank-you notes for my donation to her class library.
This was one of my favourite notes of the bunch and a good reminder of all the ways books (and a “good liberein”) can make a difference in people’s lives! 🙂
2019 Edition of “First Snow of the Year” – Hawksley Workman
It created a pretty magical “snow globe” effect at the Heritage Classic last night, continued to fall through the night and it’s always a bit of a judgement call but it feels like it’s time to do my annual post of this song as it feels like the snow is here to stay again for another long Saskatchewan winter (though again, if you have to bring in winter, having the first snow that stays come during an outdoor hockey game is a pretty cool and memorable way to do it!)
Saturday Snap – Ready To Head Out to the Heritage Classic!
Pretty cool experience to go to the Flames Heritage Classic game in Regina with my Calgary cousins and our dads.
Friday Fun Link – Elections Fun
A variety of ways to look at the results.
How would proportional representation have shaped the results (always with the caveat that even PR supporters like myself have to acknowledge parties knowing the election was happening under PR would change strategies and the results so it’s hard to map FPTP results onto PR models perfectly.)
And I didn’t see this until after the election but Macleans magazine had a hilarious (and relaxing!) way to cover the election – they simply live streamed video of people colouring in a map of Canadian constituencies as the results came in
Throwback Thursday – #tbt – Go Flames Go (April 2004 Stanley Cup Run)
I’m super excited for the Heritage Classic outdoor NHL game (first regular season NHL game in a non-NHL city ever!) on Saturday night at Mosaic Stadium.
I’ve always been a Flames fan since I have a lot of family in Calgary but they were my second favourite team, at least until we moved to Calgary in 2001 when they took over from the Islanders as my favourite NHL team.
Living in an NHL city moved my fandom to another level and I’ve been a huge fan ever since.
One highlight of our time in Calgary was the Flames’ unexpected 2004 run to the Stanley Cup finals.
I was even able to get tickets to their first home game (third in the series) in the Flames opening round games against the Vancouver Canucks. But that was the only game I got to as I either couldn’t afford and/or couldn’t find tickets to any games (I remember sitting in a pub near my workplace for what turned out to be the final game when the Flames lost the Cup in game six and, in those pre-smartphone days, running to my office to see if any seats were for sale. And yes, I was looking for two but if I’d found one, I probably would’ve left Shea at the pub to go!) 😉
Fred Eaglesmith Grand Ole Opry Debut
It took him fifty years to get there but it was worth it!
Winners and Losers of #Elxn43
Usually after an election, there are articles and blog posts about “winners and losers”.
But after last night, I feel like we have the rare situation where every party could arguably be said to be both a big winner and a big loser in some very definitive ways.
Liberals
Won: The election obviously
Lost: But dropped to a minority parliament situation
Conservatives
Won: The popular vote The most votes of any party including the Liberals and gained a number of seats
Lost: But couldn’t defeat a vulnerable PM, still had 66% of the country voting for other parties and couldn’t make a breakthrough in Quebec or Ontario in any serious way
NDP
Lost: A number of seats that they held at dissolution
Won: But may end up with more power now by holding the balance of power in a minority parliament
Green
Won: One more seat than they had at dissolution including a huge breakthrough in Fredericton, their first seat outside of BC.
Lost: But didn’t have any other breakthroughs or win more seats (especially in BC/on Vancouver Island)
Bloc
Won: Back from the dead going from 10 seats to 32
Lost: But they’re the Bloc. They have no real purpose in a national government and unfairly benefit with a hugely inflated seat count by having their votes concentrated in a single province. They are a big contributor to western alienation and separatist sentiment in the west and arguably one of the worst things for national unity not named “Trudeau” in this election.
People’s Party
Won: Bernier created a new party, basically from scratch, and may now have a base for future growth.
Lost: But Bernier didn’t even win his own seat (thanks Rhino Party?) when many expected the PPC to vote split the right. But they didn’t even break 2% support across the country so how much room is there for a far-right, libertarian-tinged party in Canada?
Canadians
Won: Minority governments have the potential to be the most productive and force parties to work together in ways they wouldn’t normally for the benefit of all Canadians.
Lost: But it feels like western alienation is going to get a lot worse before it gets better. Trudeau’s name alone is a swear word in much of the Prairies and his perceived (real?) arrogance won’t help unless he can quickly develop some true (faked?) humility – not his strong suit from what I’ve seen.