Those clever buggers at the Ottawa Citizen are pretty sharp at knowing which stories to give free access to and which ones to put their little key symbol next to.

Turning strip club into university earns Ducharme an award

Ex-Hull mayor joins diplomat, elections boss as recipient of highest Mexican decoration

The former mayor of Hull, and later Gatineau, has been inducted into a major Mexican order for turning a strip club into a university. [link]

A bit of web searching has turned up an award speech. My French is weak, so I'm not exactly sure where it talks about the Strip Club, but I think it must be the espace plus confortablement they call the Maison des Citoyens.

Il a également logé les fondateurs de l'école représentant l'Extension de l'UNAM au Canada, l'UNAM-ESECA, leur offrant tout d'abord un petit espace dans les installations de la Société pour le Développement Économique de l'Outaouais, puis il a généreusement offert un autre espace, ce qui nous a permis de travailler plus confortablement car les deux espaces se trouvent dans la Maison du Citoyen.

Crittercizing design

Being who -- and what -- I am, I'm a huge fan of lurking alongside roads at night, so that when headlights reflect the red glare from my baby-yellows, it jolts the crap outta drivers. It's a coyote thing. It amuses me.

But last night, restless 'round three or so, I was rudely aware of the rather astounding number of unwanted and unasked-for little electrical eyes floating in the once-pristine dark of my den -- smoke detector blinking every 30 seconds, power strips, clock, CD player, DVD player, VCR, amps, tuners, modems, RF converters, cell phone charger, cordless phone, answering device, microwave oven, what-have-you. (I'm a surprisingly plugged-in coyote...)

Each of these indoor light pollutants, singly, is egregious enough. In concert, they turn the joint into a red/green/yellow/blue Christmas tree. I thoroughly resent the clueless electronics components makers, engineers and industrial designers who perpetrate this. Light emitting diodes and backlit liquid crystal displays have become dirt cheap -- a penny a pop. So product designers all plonk these things unthinkingly onto their gimcracks, some merely to let me know the damned thing is plugged in. (Of course it is. I plugged it, and don't expect the f*ing plug to fall outta the wall anytime soon.)

Costs 'em squat, and they can call it a 'feature'. A pointless one, resulting in one more selling point to list on the box, when I'd actually pay extra for its removal. Feature this, boneheads: one irritating little light to 'inform' me a thing is plugged in, and yet another to 'confirm' that it's actually turned on, when I know that already too, ain't a feature, it is crappy industrial design. And I have black electrical tape that trumps your stupidity. And makes your ugly 'design' even uglier, but so what?.

I am an aesthetical coyote. I just figure little glowing eyes in the dark are a privilege to be reserved for animate (and animistic) critters. Thank you very much. You may now return to more blogworthy creepy videos of little girls being harrassed about breakfast.

(Image: Environmental Science Program, Dedman College, Southern Methodist University)

Moderation

Wine Pour by katiew

It's hard to imagine Aggie being down to only two bottles of wine on a weekend. I wonder how this'll go with her seasonal affective disorder.

For my part, I'm going to make sure to not bring Dame Aggie to any genocide movies this year and the next time I'm at the store, I'll picking up some very bright lightbulbs for her. Some of these new energy savers can really brighten a place up.

Conchie, have you been taking our dear friend for her constitutionals? You know those are always good for her spirits.

A Break from Regular Programming

While Musie is on an extended break taking care of her Chinchillas, I've pulled out the following film from my Grade 4 Social Studies class. I ask all the ESI's (and guests) to view and discuss.

5th Muse Pregnancy Issue; New Muse on Elgin; Undeclared Meeting Minutes

Undeclared Meeting Minutes

Location: A place new to most of the Irregulars

Members present: 4D (scribe), IO (convenor), Aggie, Coyote, the Chair, CS (late w/o excuse)

Guests present: the Ethicist's Daughter, PS (arrived w/ CS)

1. Aggie related details of improvisational performance she and the ED attended in which a man played the role of a kayak and a woman acted the part of a kayaker. They concurred it was the most interesting part of the evening. All present agreed that "the kayak" would make a great name for a sexual position to be practised by Canadians. (Scribe's notes: I imagine a natural step during the Kayak, would be an Eskimo roll or two.)
   


2. All congratulated the IO for the great work he is doing for democracy. As Aggie said, "he's protecting our freedoms more than those fucking soldiers in Afghanistan."


3. Aggie asked if there is anything on TV that would warrant her acquiring a TV. Coyote allowed that he finds it necessary to watch House. "He's brilliant and obnoxious." (Scribe's note: I believe the canine identifies with at least one of those qualities.) Before the dwarf could admit that he has also been sucked into a damn medical show (yes, the dwarf has to admit it's not all home improvement shows and pirate movies on his TV screen), the Chair began making an exageratted gesture in which his cupped hand appeared to be moving up and down along a vertical cylinder. "Wank, wank, wank. You could just masturbate and have more fun. I hate that show."


4. The ESIs adjourned their meeting to enjoy a performance by Mr. William Bragg of England.


5. The ESIs reconvened at the same spot. All but the dwarf were greatly amused when the waitress implied that the humble scribe did not need the caffeinated beverage he ordered.


6. CS asked for everyone's opinions on whether Canadian troops should be in Afghanistan. PS suggested that other topics would be more interesting. For example, how was dwarfie's week in the salt mine or what aquatic species is endangered.


7. CS informed us that in fact, the dwarf wedge mussell has become extirpated. (Scribe's note: It's true. When we get our band going, we should do a benefit.)


8. CS asked which Canadian is famous enough that people would vote for them for Prime Minister. Many names were suggested, but all were shot down because they were either: too weird, linked to drugs, or only famous in Canada. In the end, the only name that remained was Mike Holmes of Holmes on Homes. All agreed that he'd tear down the structure of government, rebuild it to code, and get it right. All but Aggie, of course, because she has no TV and has never seen Mr. Homes solve people's renovation nightmares.


9. On the subject of the 5th Muse, all agreed that she is not entertaining us the way she was when she actually told us about what was happening in her life.

New Muse on Elgin

Leave it to Agatha to step in when others have dropped the ball. I am delighted that she has started her own blog and hope that it doesn't become one of the millions of blogs that start with great promise and then get dropped. I also hope that she gives us some real dirt on people she knows and gives us some straight talk about sex.

5th Muse Pregnancy Issue

Yes, there is something the muse has not been blogging about. But she is discussing it on a forum. Cleverly disguising herself as being from Barrie (clever because rather than being unnamed, it's a named Canadian City.) She's got concerns about diet, ledges, and maybe even a C-section. You can read all about it here.