quebec is a nation?

we take time out from our regularly scheduled pedantic blather for this pseudo political rant from someone who knows virtually nothing about politics (and quite frankly, rather likes it that way) yet feels extremely rankled by the recent declaration by prime minister stephen harper that quebec be accorded nation status.

and here it is:

as you probably know, i am more apathetic (ok, you can delete the "a" ...) than political; however, i was stunned to hear prime minister harper's declaration that the province of quebec be permitted to form a nation. and apparently, there is some confusion whether or not the nation has to be within canada or not. as a westerner, i am constantly astounded by the seemingly preferential treatment quebec receives within this country. and yes, i am fully aware that i myself am not within canada and have not been for some months; however, i am still paying taxes so i feel my constitutional right to rant is not impeded in any way.

i did some extremely cursory statistical investigation and have confirmed what i had hitherto only assumed, that being that quebec enjoys a 20% higher representation level in the house of commons than bc, alberta or even ontario. in fact, the combined populations of bc and alberta are pretty much the same as that of quebec (roughly 7.5 million) and yet quebec has 75 seats and bc & alberta combined have only 64.

i haven't looked into budgetary allotments but i have a sneaking suspicion that quebec enjoys a larger piece of the federal pie percentage-wise than any province. and yet, they never seem to be satisfied with their lot. quebec is like the spoiled teenager who lives in complete luxury having mommy do his laundry and daddy pay for his computer games yet whines and whines and whines.

and don't get me wrong, i have been to quebec and think it's a fantastic place full of great people; however politically, i say: beat it!! you don't like being part of canada then by all means, leave. and no, you do not get your allowance. and no, you can't take your play station. get a job at the canadian tire - oops! i mean, the quebec tire! - and for pity's sake, grow up!!

and now, back to our regularly rant. er ... blog.

T+189: ik spreek geen nederlands. still.

but at least now i can say i don't speak the language in yet another language. i have also learned about the extraordinary delicacy known as 'pataat speciaal' which is all too readily accessible at the cafe downstairs from the apartment and which must be passed enroute to the video store. maren and i have been consumed by 'six feet under' and have been devouring the entire series the last couple of weeks (with more than a few sides of pataat speciaal). in fact, aside from going to dutch classes on wednesday nights and taking time to go out for maren's birthday last weekend, we have done little else. of course, we were physically incapable of anything other than watching tv the day after maren's birthday.

today is an extraordinarily beautiful fall day, sunny and crisp and after almost 4 weeks in one spot, i'm beginning to get a little restless. don't get me wrong, it's not that i'm not enjoying it here because i am. it's just that my pants are starting to get a little tight so i had better get off my incredible expanding arse and do something. hopefully, it will give me something to write about in the blog which it would seem has become quite dull. not even steven comments anymore *sniff* i guess i'll just retire to the pub. and just in time too because the clouds have started to roll in.

37b(k) twijnstraat

the input for the name of urecht blog was shockingly, appallingly poor. yes, i am referring to you! hence, you have no one but yourself to blame for this shameful effort: 37b(k). this being derived from the address of my new abode on twijnstraat in utrecht where my niece maren and i are living for the next few months. perhaps i will become a private detective and 37b twijnstraat will superced that of 22b baker street in the annals of crime. yes, that's it. a private detective. you may henceforth refer to me as shelock. but without the hypodermic. needles make me a wee bit squeamish.

maren and i officially received the keys to the kingdom on the evening of oct 29 but although it is furnished, there were no linens, dishes, etc so couldn't stay that night and had to return to greg & saskia's until we could make a pilgrimage to ikea to kit ourselves out.

after a rough start to the day (almost losing one of the dogs at the park), maren and i headed to ikea to kit out our new pad. i must say, we really got an amazing amount of stuff for very little money. unfortunately, i could not participate in the glorious unpacking of the goods since greg & saskia had gone away for a couple of days leaving me in charge of the dogs so i had to get back for the evening feeding & constitutional. got back a little later than i had anticipated and was greeted by some very excited dogs, and a big pile of sick in the middle of the floor. apparently someone's tripe didn't sit well today ... the job of the babysitter is never an easy one.

since i'm going to be here for the winter, i figured i would head to the nearest gap to fill up on turtlenecks. i could have sworn that i had seen a gap in town but was mistaken. ah well, there must be one in amsterdam. i checked online for the location and indeed, gap.com proclaims that "you'll find gap stores all over the world." apparently, someone at gap needs some geography lessons because 5 countries does not a world make. so the closest european stores are in france (no help there) and gap.com online ordering only delivers to u.s. addresses. was i to be thus thwarted in my quest? not a bit of it!! at the 11th hour, i got an email from richard stewart saying he would be in town so i made an impassioned plea (as well as an offer of alcoholic beverages) and he agreed to be my turtleneck mule. joy! although i turned down his offer to bring a jaunty beret, a cigarette holder, and a copy of "beat poetry for dummies". at last rich arrived with the goods but unfortunately, gap has completely ruined them and they were total shit. so rich had to take them back with him. oops!

dutch lessons have started and i feel confident i'll be fluent in no time. in the meantime, i've bought a bike so at least i can look the part. it's 'sparta' brand so i have christened it 'sparta piet' after zwarte piet, the original dutch 'bad santa.' he's terribly un-pc but ... when in holland!