12h20 MDT
I’m sitting alone where the rain comes. And suddenly I start wondering where it will go. Well…not really.

I’m sitting o’ here in O’Denver (DIA) trying to get to o’there in O’Hare (ORD) and then O’Wilkes Barre/Scranton PA. (OK that pun’s old). In United’s mediocre Red Carpet Club. The furnishings are fine, it’s the services. Like no free wifi (except DIA’s, which clearly is over-subscribed. Oh and you pay for most bevies. There are, however, Lays potato chips.

After an all-too-brief night of snuggling querrelle , we awoke around 05h30 and were out the door at 06h05. I get a bit panicked when I cut it close for the airport, even when only carrying on. And this trip it was worse: my Merkun passport expired so I had to enter Les États Unis on my Canuck one. And dude sometimes that makes those power-tragic lame-arses Customs Agents a bit pissy.

Not today though. I was, like “This trip is totally last minute and OMG my US passport was expired. But I totally have my Canadian one. Is that, like, OK? I’m sooo not trying to be sneaky.”

“As long as you got a passport.” ScanTypeStampShoveBackGrunt. Works for me.

I got through security wicked fast too, completely forgetting to take out my baggies of wee liquids. Not a sausage. I plopped down au Salon Feuille d’Erable (a proper airline lounge, with free wifi and Ethernet) for a bit then waddled onboard. A nice service with omelettes, though there were no foot rests in F-class and my leprechaun legs were dangling off the seat. Can you say back ache Batman?

I arrived here at DIA early, but got off the plane late because of tarmac traffic. Only to find my flight to Chicago is delayed 3 hours. That would still leave 30 minutes to make my connection to PA, but it’s O’Hare. I’m not stooped.

United has this very nifty service though. March up to a counter and pick up the courtesy phone. Agent comes on, you explain your story, they sort it, and the boarding pass prints right in front of you. So I got protected on a flight only an hour later. Since I had 3.5 to kill in ORD, n’importe.

But this lounge sucks (hard). I think I’ll have a wander through the terminal. I’ve never lost my ability to get a chubby at a kewl airport. And DIA is kewl. The crowd’s still pretty white-bread though.

16h39 CDT
Well, the flight got out of DIA fine…only to be bounced back by O’Hare due to “strong” winds of 20mph closing 1 runway. Luckily our clever pilot loaded extra fuel; otherwise I think I’d be in Des Moines or somewhere similar. We landed about 30 minutes late, leaving 2 hours to kill here.

I broke down and bought a.) McDo; and b.) Boingo Wi-fi for 24 hours. I might still be here….thank Gawd for carryon.

Well done California!

Off to PA tomorrow to see Ma. 12 hour milk run (3 planes) of a journey, perhaps salvaged by F-class (points) on most sectors.

No time for social visits, alas. Back here Monday night; huge pilot of training session Tuesday morning.

Me work too hard.

On 15 May 1993 a polished but nervous young ginger named Niamh Kavanagh represented Ireland with In Your Eyes. She sang it well on the night, but the national final performance was even better.

• 14:16 never meant to push or shove you. Do you know how much I love you? No, you don't. But I do #

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Some loon has launched a site call http://www.gayeurovision.com/

Must be some kinda eurovision phreak ;)

Can be found here.

• 11:34 got my bloodwork back the other day. sugars, cholesterol all normal for the first time in years. W0000t! #

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Can be found here.

You can cut and paste the song title and artist into youtube if you wanna hear any in all their glory...

querrelle and I shagged met 5 years ago today. One night's piece of trade (hawt sex and toad in the hole) became the love of my life in short order.

Tonight we'll recreate part A, but go to a lovely resto for part B.

Ik hou van jou, alleen van jou
Ik kan niet leven in een wereld zonder jou
Neem mij weer in je armen, laat mij je hart verwarme
Ik wil je alles geven 'k Hou zoveel van jou

Powder puff blue



Just blue

On sale and my size.

• 08:18 know when to fold 'em #
• 08:18 you got to know when to hold 'em #

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I've been waiting a few weeks to get clarification on Ma's condition. Yesterday my sister--usually the optimist amongst us--sent me an email where she fairly despaired Ma's circumstance if not health. There have been tensions at the rehab she's in about pain meds, responses to requests for support/assistance, and her progress so far. Da was making rumblings about moving her back to NYC to the place she was last time. With Kath having just moved her family to Pennsylvania, the prospect of seeing Ma rarely was very upsetting. Too right.

Then Da calls me. He's optimistic that Ma's turned a corner. She's reading the papers again, not using her withering scowl as much ("Is she being mean to you Dad?" "Nah, she can't tawk." "But she can glare" "Yeah, there's plenny a dat." *shared chuckle*). She's not complaining about pain, either. So I said I'd try to work out some travel plans for a soonish visit. After a great Aeroplan agent did a lot of hunting around I'm flying to scenic Wilkes-Barre Pennsylvania on 16 May, back to Vancouver the evening of 19 May. I've rented a car for operational and mental health efficiencies.

I'm glad to be going. I just hope he's installed the wireless router.... :)

The use of drug-sniffing police dogs in the random search of a southwestern Ontario school and a Calgary bus terminal was unconstitutional, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled Friday. In a 6-3 decision, the top court ruled that the actions breached Section 8 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which covers what constitutes reasonable search and seizure. The ruling, which could have an impact on police powers across the country, centred on two cases.

The first case involved an unexpected police visit to St. Patrick's High School in Sarnia, Ont. in 2002. During that visit, students were confined to their classrooms as a trained police dog sniffed out backpacks in an empty gymnasium. The dog led police to a pile of backpacks, one of which contained marijuana and magic mushrooms. A youth, identified only as A.M, was subsequently charged with possession of marijuana for the purpose of trafficking. But police admitted they didn't have a search warrant or any prior tip about drugs in the school. The officers had instead visited on the basis of a long-standing invitation from school officials.

In 2004, the Ontario Court of Appeal upheld a previous trial judge's decision to exclude the drugs as evidence and acquit the youth. The court referred to the incident as "a warrantless, random search with the entire student body held in detention."

The companion case involved Gurmakh Kang Brown, who was found with cocaine and heroin after his bags were flagged by a drug-sniffing dog at a Calgary bus terminal in January 2002. Crown lawyers have argued the sniffer dogs don't constitute a search and only provide information that could lead to one. They have said that smells in public air aren't private and compare it to officers detecting an odour in the air.

Opponents counter that it's more intrusive and allowing such techniques could lead to widening the powers of police to conduct random searches in public places such as churches, schools and shopping malls.

[gangked from here]

In other news, we've an appreciation day today. So it's a pedicure, followed by a visit to the GP and lunch with a pal. w00t!

Dirty Loins!!!!!

Well that pretty much sums up about 2/3 of my family--except the 'rents, who are Conservatives (not even Republicans). Pennsylvania rather starkly underlines my experience with working class, 2nd+ generation Catholic Americans. Watch those rich bastards, protect our jobs, but easy on the social progress. As one politician in Canada called it, the Timmmy's (Hortons) vs the Starbucks crowd.

They won't vote for Obama for the most part. Not because he's black, but because he's the most left-leaning viable Democratic presidential nominee since George McGovern.

Go on, nominate him. Then just toss the keys to Pennsylvania Avenue over to McCain....

58 words

Speed test

Irelande's 2008 Eurovision entry is available for sale on iTunes in Canada

And in the US

.99$, what a bargain!


Block vote! shock vote! Give us your twelve today!

You're all invited to Dublin, Ireland, and we'll party the Shamrock way!

Download it today!

Can be found here.

"you never ask a bird their age"

On and on, suddenly remember. On and on, dancing in September. On and on, never was a cloudy daaaaaaaay