Congratulations to fellow blogger Maria “Adventures in Downtown Toronto” Davo on becoming a Canadian citizen today! From one immigrant to another, welcome!
Being a well-known blogger in Accordion City, Maria is probably the second best-known Mexican immigrant to Canada. The mantle of best-known Mexican-Canadian goes to “Ren”, from Ren and Stimpy, pictured below:
Now, let us all rise for the Royal Canadian Kilted Yaksmen Anthem [1.9MB, MP3].
When public service announcements try too hard to be hip, this sort of train wreck is usually the result:
Click the photo to see it at full size.
Every year, on the day after Thanksgiving, a few thousand people are sacrificed in Manhattan to appease the angry god Grover. Luckily for me, I was in Boston…
Here’s something fascinating yet spooky: the newly-elected Polish government has opened its military archives from the days of the Warsaw Pact, which includes a 1979 scenario called “Seven Days to the River Rhine” based on the ridiculous assumption that NATO would be the aggressor in a nuclear exchange. Here’s a map that outlines the scenario…
Radek Sikorsky, the Polish defence minister, displayed a map of USSR strikes which shows a barrage of Soviet multi-megaton nuclear strikes on key river lines, including the Rhine and the Meuse, and a Nato counter strike with smaller more accurate nuclear warheads on the Vistula as it runs through Poland.
The Nato strikes are supposed to have been mounted to interdict the movement of Soviet reinforcements from Russia to the battle front.
The whole scheme, codenamed Seven Days to the River Rhine, is predicated on the idea that Nato would be the aggressor and that the Warsaw Pact, under Soviet control, would respond only in self-defence.
Yeah. Right.
Sikorsky didn’t consult with Moscow before opening the archive, which is sure to ruffle some feathers in Russia. In an article in The Independent, who covered the event in the sensationalistically-titled Soviet Plans to Annihilate Europe Revealed, Sikorsky is quoted as saying:
“We need to know about our past. Historians have the right to know the history of the 20th century. If people did some things they were not proud of, that will be an education for them too.
I think it is very important for a democracy for the citizens to know who was who, who was the hero and who was the villain. On that basis we make democratic choices.
I think it is also important for the health of civic society for morality tales to be told: that it pays to be decent and that if you do things that did not serve the national interest, one day it will come out and you might be called to account.”
It’s blog awards time again: voting for the 2005 Canadian Blog Awards
is open until this Wednesday, and The Adventures of Accordion Guy in
the 21st Century is nominated for “Best Blog”! Won’t you please vote
for this blog, which presented these goodies over the past year?:
One of the best things about being a Filipino-Canadian
Catholic/American Jewish couple is that there’s little or no overlap
between our holidays. Each set of parents gets to see us for their
respective holidays, and Wendy and I each get some bonus celebrations,
such as an extra Thanksgiving. Wendy got her bonus Thanksgiving last
month, and this month, I get mine.
We arrived at Logan yesterday, where Wendy’s parents came to pick us up. We had dinner over at Uncle Pete’s Hickory Ribs, a great barbecue house in Revere.
We started with some shared chips with mango salsa, after which I had a
nice big platter with Texas beef ribs, pulled pork, Asian slaw (cole
slaw with a thai-style peanut dressing) and baked beans, washed down
with an ice-cold Sam Adams. If you’re ever in the area and feeling
carnivorous, make sure you visit Uncle Pete’s.
I’ve just finished making the Baby Atkins cry over at Wendy’s parents’
place. We had homemade coffee cake for breakfast and pan-friend shrimp
with artichoke dip and pita chips prepared by Wendy’s brother and his
girlfriend for a snack. Later that afternoon, we had an excellent
turkey dinner, complete with cranberry jelly, mashed potatoes, squash
and pumpkin and applesauce breads. We also had a large selection of
desserts. There was pecan pie, caramel squares, Wendy’s butterscotch
chip oatmeal cookies, and one Wendy’s mom made just for me (since I
love chocolate): toll house cookie pie. I have the best mother-in-law ever!
Dinner was followed by general immobility and a couple of games of
Scrabble. Wendy and her family, being an erudite and well-read bunch,
are worthy comptetitors.
It’s been exactly two months since our wedding, so I am most thankful
for Wendy. Gentlemen, if you find a woman who will tolerate a mild
videogaming addiction and even buy you a PlayStation for Christmas and
the Warriors game for your birthday, and even watch you loot and shoot your way through Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, propose marriage immediately.
I am also thankful for Wendy’s family, who welcomed me with open
arms
from the moment I met them. They are wonderful people whom I am pleased
and proud to have them as part of my (increasingly international)
family. I am reminded of
the dedication in Cory Doctorow’s latest book, Someone Comes to Town,
Someone Leaves Town:
For the family I was born into and the family I chose. I got lucky both times.
To my American friends, family and readers: have a happy Thanksgiving!