I’m observing the way the US media is handling Bush’s first official visit to Canada. Both CNN and Fox news have published the same AP story. CNN has a sensational video about (supposed) anti-Americanism in Canada and perhaps a live feed from Parliament, though it doesn’t appear Bush will speak there as is customary.

Apparently there are some anti-war protests planned. All happenings on the Hill are being tracked by the minute by Ottawa journalist Paddy Moore.

Tomorrow Bush flies to Halifax where he will use the occasion to speak about the 2001 terrorist attacks, publicly thanking the people there who assisted diverted travelers after Sept. 11. It’s a few years late to be thanking Canada for that, I think, so I expect he’ll be spouting some propaganda. Not for the benefit of Canadians, of course.

It’s pouring rain at the moment! Water is encroaching on the windows of the suite in the basement of the house. It’s happened before and it seems like the window can’t hold all that water out - I wonder if the people who live there have little puddles to mop up. I don’t mind rain :) It keeps the temperature more bearable.

It’s hard to believe that just the other night Matt & I were out frolicking in the snow. Could a guy look any happier?

It’s been a lazy week around here for the most part. We rented the Control Room DVD so we could hear all the bonus commentaries. We haven’t finished yet, but once we do we’ll have seen the film three times this week. Yeah. The commentaries are great to hear, but in some instances I think they would work better as separate interviews - unless they are following the film, commenting directly on the plot. The characters in this documentary are so compelling, and the effect the film has had on their lives is also interesting. The US Military media spokesman, Josh Rushing, has since left the military. And eccentric Samir Khader of Al Jazeera finally (after many years of carring a valid visa) made it to the US for the film’s New York premiere.

I’ve been kicking back with the Nov/Dec issue of Black Book, which has a series of interview pairings (ie. transcripts of conversations between two subjects). One puts Eric Schlosser (author of Fast Food Nation) together with Jehane Noujaim, the director of Control Room. What’s quite interesting is Jehane says she has been …randomly… selected this year to be audited by the IRS! It must be just a coincidence, of course, that the year her documentary on Al Jazeera is in theaters she gets audited. Certainly the fact Donald Rumsfeld called the network “the mouthpiece of Bin Laden” would have nothing to do with it.

I know it’s a bad pic, but yesterday I saw several workers leaving the (under construction) Hilton Hotel job site with turkeys!

Today is Thanksgiving and I can only assume the union, or contractor, gifted these guys with a take-home bird for the holiday.

We’re cooking a little chicken tonight to celebrate. It’s very quiet around here, most businesses are closed, there’s no mail delivery, etc. Thanksgiving appears to be the biggest holiday of the year here - moreso than Christmas. Workers get an extended holiday. With the weekend it works out to five days which is pretty sweet.

On another note, I’m pleased to have all my Christmas shopping (and wrapping) complete since, apparently, tomorrow is the biggest shopping day of the year. Like Boxing Day in Canada. A few years ago when the Wal-Mart mass-trampling happened - that was the day after Thanksgiving.

This photo appears in the November 17th issue of Ithaca Times, accompanying an article about Cornell students working on a letter of secession to send to Paul Martin:

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In what must be one of the greatest examples of the power of communication via the internet, the World is accepting apologies from America. (Thanks to Shane for the links).

Some of my fave shots, from America:

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On Friday we drove up to Syracuse, an hour northeast of Ithaca. Matt spoke to the physicists at the university there while I saw a bit of the city. It’s not the prettiest city I’ve seen, sorry to say.

Matt’s shot of the Syracuse Banana man:

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Yesterday was balmy, sunny, beautiful! I took my camera and headed for Stewart Park but missed the turnoff, so just kept driving. ..

Up the east shore of Cayuga Lake, the highway sign said “Kings Ferry” so I thought it would lead to the shore, a dock and a fancy boat that I could maybe cross the water aboard. Well, Kings Ferry turned out to be a good-looking little town. I pulled off when I saw another sign in front of a small house and barn - Rural Museum - but it was closed.

I continued north toward the Cayuga Power Plant, those steaming stacks we can see up the lake from Ithaca. Following the road toward the plant I came to an entry gate, so turned around and tried another road. Not far along a sign read Paved road ends and oh, snap, I’m in a teeny railroad hamlet! A little village of rustic houses crowded together, practically built on the railroad. I drove through a short distance, weaving on and off people’s lawns. When I saw a POSTED PRIVATE PROPERTY sign I realized there was no way out. It’s probably not likely, but it did cross my mind, that a paranoid landowner might step to me with a shotgun and fire it in the air shouting “ARGH! Get off my property!” just to scare the shit out of me. Quickly I turned the car around, kicking up gravel as I sped outta there.

Back in Ithaca at Stewart Park (at the south end of the lake) a couple of hundred Canada geese cackled away on the water, enjoying the sunshine. I took several photos there - check out the updated Photo Album>

Ah, vinyl records. On the weekend we went to the big CD & record sale at the Holiday Inn, but couldn’t bring ourselves to splurge since we don’t have a record player! We’re searching for a good one, preferably used, but will probably get one after Christmas at ye olde Radio Shack or somewhere.

Thing is, we have this big cardboard box marked ‘vinyl’ that we had not opened for many years. Last night we sprung it open and were surprised by how many albums we have (and, sadly, how many are no longer with us).
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Okay, tonight we’re gontna have a double helping of justice! Two episodes of COPS! There will be justice tonight! Read on for more…
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I went to Ritz Camera today at Pyramid Mall, and chatted with the sales guys about many different cameras. They don’t sell any Olympus models because, apparently, Olympus has no interest in honoring their manufacturers warranty. News to me.

“How do our prices compare to Blacks?” asked one of them.

“I haven’t looked. Aren’t they a Canadian company?” replies me.

“Yes, they’re about the same size as us, based in Canada,” says he.

“I’m Canadian, did you know that?” I look at him suspiciously, as I had not given any indication of this.

“Um, yeah, it’s pretty obvious, HAHA,” he laughs a full-belly one.

“Oh really, how so?”

“Just the way you say things, the grammar.”

“Oh, is it better grammar then, or what?”

“Actually, it is!” he replied, if only to step off from explaining the true reason he was able to identify me.

I laughed. “Ya, we like good grammar in Canada.”

So what is it, really? I wasn’t talking aboot this and aboot that. Most times I could determine someone is American (while in Canada, of course) if there’s that southern-like twinge in the accent, for example. But I thought we Canucks could get by unnoticed in this country USA.

See, check out the story Who’s Canadian? at This American Life. Click on the Real Audio button to hear the broadcast.