If I Had My Way

I have no desire to be tall, dark, and handsome..and wealthy.
I am....frequently...and then I wake up and frankly, I find the
experience over-rated in the extreme..I still have the same
aches and pains when I drag my carcass from my bed, and the
same limited skills I had when my head hit the pillow.
There are some things in this world though that I would change
if suddenly I came into possession of some magic wand.
If it were mine to decide - substance would take precedence over
flash - reward would be based on performance - and for the first
time ever in my existence I'm starting to see some value in
a more socialistic approach to government.
I have not watched one minute of Olympic coverage on TV since
the Beijing games began.
The IOC is no longer an institution of suspicion.
Awarding the games to China was a move of arrogance on the part
of the IOC in dire contradiction of any ideal of amateur
athletics. Spending 130 million dollars on the games openning
ceremonies was a shameful misuse of funds and an illustration
that the Chinese government is every bit as arrogant as the
IOC....all this is small potatoes.
Why did we the Canadian people fund the CBC's Peter Mainsbridge's
trip to China for the Olympics ? How much did that cost ?
We had the entire sports contingent of the CBC there and if anyone
beleives we aren't paying a premium for that we are sadly
misinformed. Mainsbridge is a news anchor. The CBC pays
dearly for more reporters than any other news agency in
this country. There was no need for the CBC's top anchor
( and most highly priced anchor ) to leave his chair in Toronto
for a glorified all expenses paid vacation to another exotic, global
destination. This is just one example of the kind of waste in which
the CBC is awash. It wouldn't take much to carve the CBC's
annual budget by 75 % to produce an efficient, worthwhile, truly
Canadian broadcast operation relevant to the needs of Canadians.
Maybe then some attention could be rightly paid to health care,
education, the justice system, and our social pension scheme.
The CBC is a perfect example of how the government has grown
into a many headed monster with an appetite impossible to satisfy.
They're talking about an election in this country....we are talking
about a classic non-event. Stephane Dion or Steve Harper...now there's
a choice to make, eh ? The problem in this country - and in the States
is not with the people - or individuals representing us in the offices
of power - it's in the evolution of our system of government.
We are incapable of judicious, responsible, honorable government.
There are too many CBC's in the closets of power. The average
Canadian has no idea how many CBC's there are in the tentacles
of Ottawa....and why it costs so much to keep the machine running.
We are fortunate in this country to enjoy the standard of living we
do - but it could and should be so much better.
Under the heading it must be Canada - TSN has already begun it's
pre-training camp reviews of what lies ahead for Canadian NHL
teams....another long, long season awaits long suffering Leaf fans.
Speaking of which..what is it with Toronto teams ? Why do they always
wait until they are all but mathematically eliminated before they start
to perform. Last night the Jays whipped the Yankees 14-3 - the Jays
won't make the postseason but last night was sure fun to watch.
Except the one Jay who failed to get a hit was...yep you guessed it...
Vernon - the 20 million dollar per season man - Wells.
He's got all the moves - his strikeout move is second to none...
Wells should donate half of his paycheque to the Jays in an effort to
keep Doc Halladay and AJ Burnett at the top of the pitching rotation
next year so they could take another crack at it.
It is my honest feeling that every professional athletes contract
should be performance based. Half of the contract should be based on
individual statistics - and half should be based on team performance.
This system would add a whole new meaning to " team game."
Are you tired of reality TV ? I watched a bit of Canadian Idol last
night...Oh my word !!!! Should help literacy in this country though..
if that's the best we can come up for TV there's no excuse not to
give reading another shot.
So much to say - so little time - Seabiscuit Out !
Mirror, Mirror on the wall - if you could just make the standard, short,
fat and balding I could get that modelling job I've dreamed of so long...
So Long....
Bless.