CanoeSpace - rogerdodger / Tickets / Newest

George Bush pumpkin

support@espacecanoe.com (EspaceCanoe) — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 14:44:26 -0400

This is priceless.

Canada at the last 8 summer games

support@espacecanoe.com (EspaceCanoe) — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 14:47:01 -0400

Here's a quick look at how Canada has fared at the last few summer games.

YEAR -- CITY -- G -- S -- B -- TOT

2004 -- Athens -- 3 -- 6 -- 3 -- 12

2000 -- Sydney -- 3 -- 3 -- 8 -- 14

1996 -- Atlanta -- 3 -- 11 -- 8 -- 22

1992 -- Barcelona -- 6 -- 5 -- 7 -- 18

1988 -- Seoul -- 3 -- 2 -- 5 -- 10

1984 -- Los Angeles -- 10 -- 18 -- 16 -- 44

1980 -- Moscow -- Boycotted games.

1976 -- Montreal -- 0 -- 5 -- 6 -- 11

Reasons to go to a reunion

support@espacecanoe.com (EspaceCanoe) — Tue, 06 May 2008 10:50:22 -0400

You'll laugh, cry and reminisce with some of your oldest friends.
You don't have to lie about your age.
Feel better realizing you are not the only one who has been married, divorced, married, divorced and/or is still looking.
Many may be coming to their first reunion, let's make them feel appreciated for finally showing up.
Rekindle or begin new relationships.
Expand your networking opportunities.
Enjoy an evening out without the kids, or grandkids, as the case may be.
Use this chance to diet and shape up.
Humor the committee, we are a deluded bunch of diehards that think everyone should show up to appreciate all our efforts.
Studies have shown that those who were initially hesitant about attending their reunions, discover it was an event they wouldn't have missed!

Top ten charities

support@espacecanoe.com (EspaceCanoe) — Tue, 06 May 2008 10:48:27 -0400

CharityNavigator.org has their list of the best charities in the world.

http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=topten.detail&listid=18

10. Samaritan's Purse
9. International Rescue Committee
8. Save the Children
7. Hadassah, The Women's Zionist Organization of America
6. Mayo Clinic
5. City of Hope and Affiliates
4. Conservation International
3. PATH
2. CARE
1. American Red Cross

Best golf flukes

support@espacecanoe.com (EspaceCanoe) — Tue, 06 May 2008 10:44:05 -0400

10. Orville Moody

A journeyman pro with a balky putter, Moody's lone claim tofame was his victory in the 1969 U.S. Open at Champions Golf Club in Houston. Despite neverwinning another PGA tournament and posting just one other top 10 in a major,Moody enjoyed big success on the senior tour, winning 11 events.

9. Bob May

If it wasn't for Tiger Woods holing every putt he looked atdown the stretch during their epic battle at the 2000 PGA Championship, wemight have been forced to watch May and his bad back limp through a decade'sworth of major championship exemptions. May's gutsy runner-up finish at Valhalla is the closest he's ever come to winning a PGATour event.

8. Claude Harmon

Harmon blew away the field at the 1948 Masters by aTiger-like five shots to become the last club professional to win a majorchampionship. That lone PGA Tour victory matched the total posted by his sonButch, who went on to greater fame as the swing guru for Tiger and later PhilMickelson.

7. Rich Beem

In nine years on tour, the man known as Beemer has finishedin the top 10 at a major only once -- his 2002 victory at the PGA Championship.Since then, Beem has stunk it up, missing as many cuts as he's made and comingwithin a whisker of losing his tour card.

6. Jack Fleck

In 1955, Ben Hogan was undoubtedly the greatest golfer inthe world, having amassed nine major championships in 10 years. Then along cameD-Day veteran Jack Fleck, who pulled off one of the biggest upsets in golfhistory when he beat Hogan in an 18-hole playoff at the U.S. Open in San Francisco. Fleck wenton to win a couple of minor PGA tournaments a few years later, but never soaredanywhere near as high as he did in 1955.

5. Ben Curtis

The most memorable thing about the 2003 Open Championship atRoyal St. George's was the collapse by leader Thomas Bjorn, who took threewhacks to get out of a greenside bunker on the 16th hole. Less memorable wasbland American Ben Curtis, who beat the Dane by a single stroke to become thefirst player in 90 years to win his major-championship debut. Although he wontwo events in 2006, Curtis has spent most of the past three seasons missingcuts in majors and generally playing his way off the tour.

4. Shaun Micheel

As if Curtis' surprise win in England wasn't bad enough, golffans were treated to a double dose of anonymity in 2003 when Shaun Micheelnearly holed his approach shot on the 72nd hole to win the PGA Championship bytwo strokes. Despite receiving well-publicized testosterone injections,Micheel's triumph at Oak Hill has been his only sniff of greatness on the PGATour.

3. WayneGrady

Only three players broke par at the 1990 PGA Championship atShoal Creek, Ala., prompting Nick Faldo and other pros tocomplain about the horrible scoring conditions. One player who wasn't whiningwas Wayne Grady, a 33-year-old from Australia who beat runner-up FredCouples by three strokes. Although he never contended at a major again, he didgo on to greater fame as the host of Don't Forget the Lyrics (sorry, that'sWayne Brady).

2. Paul Lawrie

The 1999 Open Championship at Carnoustie was a gong showfrom the get-go, with stiff winds and thick gorse making it almost impossibleto break par. When it ended, little Scotsman Paul Lawrie was left holding theClaret Jug at six over par, the beneficiary of Frenchman Jean Van de Velde'sepic collapse on the 72nd hole. Despite a couple of wins on the European Tour,Lawrie has never again looked like he belongs on the same course as golf's bestplayers. Of course, neither has Van de Velde.

1. Todd Hamilton

After toiling for more than a decade in Japan, Hamiltonfinally broke onto the PGA Tour in 2004, first winning the Honda Classic andthen the Open Championship at Troon. In the 13 majors since then, the Americanhas missed eight cuts and finished no better than 37th. Adding insult toinjury, his 2004 film debut -- Win a Date With Todd Hamilton -- tanked at thebox office.

Tips for the best possible birth

support@espacecanoe.com (EspaceCanoe) — Tue, 06 May 2008 09:55:08 -0400

Have a well-thought-out birth plan

Write down the kind of support you'd like and what you think might help you cope with the pain. Do you like a quiet environment? Do you want someone to hold your hand and talk you through contractions?

Think about support

Doulas support the woman, and can be important for partners too, giving them a break during a long labour and offering reassurance.

Speak your mind

If you don't feel like you know what's going on during your labour, or you have questions, remember that nurses are there to educate and explain. And don't be afraid to tell your nurse what you want or need during labour.

Keep an open mind

Remember that birth doesn't always go as planned, and it's important to be open to the variables. Remember too that a C-section isn't a failure. Everyone wants to come out of the experience with a healthy baby and a healthy mom.

Tip: Take time to talk together about your hopes and expectations for your baby's birth.

Fishing for salmon answers

support@espacecanoe.com (EspaceCanoe) — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 14:27:10 -0400

Came across this article by David Suzuki. Worth a read:

Most of our food, whether plant or animal, comes from farms.A notable exception is fish and seafood, much of which is caught from wildocean stocks. That’s starting to change, though, as aquaculture plays anincreasingly important role in the global food supply.

In many respects, that’s good news, especially when wildfisheries are being harvested at or beyond a sustainable limit, and pollutionand global warming, among other threats, are decimating wild fish stocks. Whenthe aquaculture practices themselves start harming the wild fish, though, wemust question whether or not the costs of the way we are farming outweigh thebenefits.

Many aquaculture operations are environmentally sound,especially those that separate farmed fish from wild fish, such as thecontained tanks and pond systems used to farm species such as tilapia andturbot. As well, many types of shellfish are farmed in ways that do not harm theenvironment.

Yes, you heard me right: some types of aquaculture are okay.And yes, I eat some farmed seafood.

But current salmon-farming practices are a different story.We’ve seen a lot of headlines lately about the damage done by salmon farms,here in Canadaand in other parts of the world. The scientific evidence is strong and growing,for example, that sea lice from salmon farms in B.C. are causing severe damageto wild salmon stocks.

Sea lice are natural parasites that feed on salmon, and areespecially harmful to juvenile salmon, which don’t yet have scales to protectthem and which aren’t normally exposed to sea lice in large concentrations. Sealice multiply on salmon farms and attach themselves to juvenile salmon as theypass the farms on their way out to sea. Using drugs to control the lice isn’tthe answer, as the drugs come with their own environmental risks. And at bestit is only a short-term solution as sea lice are already developing resistanceto the main drugs used to control them.

Research has demonstrated similar situations in othersalmon-farming regions like Scotland,Ireland, Norway, and Chile. Here in North America, aseries of peer-reviewed scientific studies published in reputable journals suchas Science and the Proceedings of the National Academies of Science has shownthat sea lice can cause serious harm to wild salmon, including putting somestocks of pink and chum salmon at risk of extinction.

Wild salmon do not need additional threats to theirsurvival. To put the issue in perspective, the West Coast of Vancouver Islandonce boasted 1,200 stocks. Now, some 718 – more than half – are extinct, atmoderate risk of extinction, or considered stocks of special concern. At least142 Pacific salmon populations have vanished forever.

Given the scientific evidence and the social, economic, andbiological value of salmon, it is reasonable to expect change in the way thingsare done. Unfortunately, some people argue that the lack of 100 per cent proofmeans nothing should change. But scientific research rarely gives us suchsmoking guns. Nature is just too complex to even expect such a result. Scienceis a process of demonstrating the weight of evidence. Studies build on eachother, eliminate alternative explanations, and test parallel ideas that helpget to the most likely answer. In the process, other scientists have ways tochallenge each other and test competing ideas. At a certain point, you have asolid reason to believe a given explanation is worthwhile. When something is asimportant as wild salmon, a strong weight of evidence justifies correctiveaction.

So what can we do? As a temporary solution, the salmon farmsshould be fallowed (removing the farmed fish for a period) while the juvenilefish pass by on their way out to sea. But the best solution would be to raisesalmon in closed tanks that keep the farmed fish separate from the wild fishand their environments. Consumers should urge grocery stores and restaurants tosell only environmentally sound seafood products and should avoid buyingproducts that are not.

Some people argue that it would cost too much to move toclosed system aquaculture, or even to fallow farms during juvenile migrationperiods. But salmon can’t be seen just as a food source for people, and thecosts of running any agricultural operation can’t be seen to just encompass themoney required to build and run the farms. Wild salmon are a critical part ofocean, river, lake, and forest ecosystems. They provide food for everythingfrom whales to eagles to bears, and even help fertilize the forests along theshores, rivers, and lakes where they live and spawn.

Yes, everything is interconnected. If the wild salmondwindle and die, next come whales, bears, and our forests... And where willthat leave us?