Music for 2015:

1. Tom Odell - the modern version of Jeff Buckley.
2. Polica - from Ohio, vocals, two drum kits and a bass guitar.
3. Ben Howard - a good follow-on to Ed Sheeran - IMHO England is turning out more good music than anywhere else at this time.
4. The Tallest Man on Earth - gotta love his moniker.
5. Jake Bugg - brilliant, but we'll see.
6. Blackie and the Rodeo Kings - not only a tribute to Willie P Bennet but also Canadians and a good band.

Here is Jake Bugg - turn up your speakers

Tonight we will be hiding from the party hats and noise makers. New Years Eve will probably be celebrated by watching the goings-on in Times Square. The good news is that midnight there is 9PM here. We will still be awake.

We are still in construction hell and it is starting to be a bit tedious. A week ago some of the bricks for the courtyard arrived and they were laid. It took just a few minutes to determine that they were not the right brick. We have been waiting patiently tracking sand back and forth while the manufacturer pours new bricks and gets the finish right. We have now been promised January 2 for arrival but I will bet that it will not happen. I think it is more likely that we will see them early next week.

Carol and I had an invite out for dinner during the past week. The chairlady of the Tennis Committee is a very nice person and it was wonderful of her to include us in her gathering. One of the gentlemen (we will call him Peter, oh - that is his real name) turned out to be the first Republican wing-nut that I have had a chance to meet. Part way through a forkful of salmon he requested assurance from the other guests that we believed that Obama was a muslim. The responses varied from "No" to "Excuse me". Then he started in on Michelle Obama, but was cut short by his wife before the dunk was completed. One by one the Canadians at the table challenged the wing-nut. He finished chewing his mouthful of food, pushed his chair back, stood up, and went home (leaving his wife sitting there.) I think he was meeting Donald Trump for a beer.

Gasoline is $.64US per litre. It makes me want to go for a drive. There is lots of snow in the mountains today.

Happy New Year All!

Here is the firework display from Sydney today:

“One Christmas was so much like another, that I can never remember whether it snowed for six days and six nights when I was twelve or whether it snowed for twelve days and twelve nights when I was six.” . . . Dylan Thomas

Carol and I wish each of you and your families a very Merry (and healthy) Christmas.

Carol and I received a wonderful Christmas card from our family. It shows all of the most important aspects of the Christmas seasons - children, couples, and couples having children. It made the old couple in California a little homesick. We sure do miss them. Then we think of the snow - Santa rides a surf board here. We are not going to have a traditional family Christmas. We will play some tennis at 9:00AM, and then go to the movies. There was talk of seeing the movie that has caused all of the trouble between North Korea and Sony. Who knows.

So far as Christmas presents are concerned I will place money that my gift to Carol weighs more than anything you give or receive - 1100 square feet of inter-locking brick. Carol gave me a dump truck load of sand. We are so good to each other. The bricks started to arrive yesterday but they were not the right ones and I had to return them. We are eager to get them installed as we have some friends visiting in January (although if they are not installed when Billie visits in February, we will just get her a pail and shovel and let her go to it. That should work too.

We have heard that Bronwen is expecting a girl. It is wonderful news. We are as pleased as punch. Well done Bronwen and Glenn.

What the heck is this all about? I sign a contract for the courtyard renovation on December 11 and all of the workers go home on December 12 because it is raining. I am writing a letter to the home owners association suggesting that Canadians should get a reduction in Condo fees for every day it rains here. We have had 2 days of rain this year. Nuts (just kidding.)

We are having the courtyard demolished and rebuilt. Yesterday an army of labourers descended on the courtyard at about 8:00 AM. They started by digging out all of the shrubs, vines and other plants. Then they started with sledgehammers - thump, thump, thump. Finally the bobcat was brought in to lift chunks of cement out into the driveway where they continued to whale at them with sledgehammers until they were small enough to pitch into a trailer and cart off. I wonder if these cement chunks are recycled or if they go to the dump. Come to think of it the plants were treated pretty well too - I wonder if they are being taken to a plant emergency ward. We had not watered or taken care of the vegetation over the summer so it needed some help. Maybe after being nursed back to health they will find their way back into a garden (not here).

Today they finished up the demolition and started digging trenches for gas lines (gotta have a fire pit and BBQ you know).

The plan is to use "pavers" in the courtyard. Carol and I call them inter-locking brick, but here they are called pavers. They have been chosen and they will be laid after the gas lines and irrigation system is installed.

It rained last night. It was a good rain, preceded by lightening, and lasting about 3 hours. Some Californians are worried about the lack of rain, and are tearing up every piece of grass and replacing it with rock and desert scape. Both look good. Friends from San Francisco have lived through three droughts in their life and caution people to not over-react. When the rain comes back (and it will) there will be a need for grass and roots to prevent mud slides. But knee-jerk reactions are so much fun, and the city will pay you to rip out grass. Not much, but it seems a bit like going to Macy's and getting 10% off if you will apply for their credit card. I am on the wait and see side.

I decided to not run for the board. A little bird at the Toronto East General and the Eisenhower told me to settle back, have a beer and smell the tennis ball. The bird did not have a clue what he was talking about but the advice was good.

Stocking Stuffers

Carol grabbed the mail out of our mail box tonight. Of course there was no mail, but we did get some really good brochures. My favourite is titled "Give the Gift of Peace of Mind" It is suggesting that you give a radar detector for Christmas. The Christmas Offer Includes:

• Worry-free Holiday Gaurantee means no-hassle returns through 1/31/2015.
• Free StickyCup Mount with select detector purchase ($29.95 value).
• 30% Discount off each additional new detector purchase of $299+.
• Free Holiday Shipping
• Plus - Holiday Payment Plans starting at $19.95 per month.

Then came the section on Stocking Stuffers. Does Santa have a radar detector on the sleigh?

Joshua Tree Camping

Carol is planning a camping trip to Joshua Tree national park. Unlike the old days when she would sleep in a garbage bag on the ground, she wants a teardrop trailer for the adventure. I have always wanted one of these so the chance to rent one is really exciting. I will need to have an electrical hookup installed on the car but the bike hitch should haul it. All of the comfort of home in 75 square feet. It makes Bronwen's condo look large. Joshua Tree is a great park for walking and star gazing, and I bought a lifetime pass to the US National Park system this year. I am really looking forward to this.

We are having a lovely end to the summer here in the desert. We have been experiencing warmer weather and more sunlight than at any time this summer in Collingwood. The tennis has been good. Carol and I have been playing nearly every day. She pretty well has her tennis/dance card full until we head home in the spring. I have been playing regularly but I do not have my schedule fleshed out for the remainder of the year.

We had a little stumble last week. On Monday I had a call from the followup system at Toronto East General Hospital. The ultrasound results from October 24th showed a "poorly visualized abdominal aortic aneurism" and they wanted me back in Toronto to perform a CT scan. This kinda news can take the wind right out of your sails. Once we had recovered our wits and I had discussed everything with my surgeon, we decided to have a CT scan done here in the desert.

I am a registered patient at the Eisenhower Medical Centre. For $342 they would perform a CT scan within 48 hours. Done. the report - "no sign of an abdominal aortic aneurism". I was able to check my results on line and forward them to the surgeon all within the 48 hours. Everything is fine; here is the surgeon's response:

Looks good to me Fred. No sign of an aneurysm. Carry on with your trip in California and enjoy yourself. R  

Rajiv Singal MD, FRCSC
- Endourology, Urologic Cancer and Robotics Surgery, Toronto East General Hospital
- Lead Joint Surgical Robotics Program, Toronto East General Hospital/ Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre
- Supervisor, Endourology Fellowship, Toronto East General Hospital, University of Toronto
- Assistant Professor, Department of Surgery, University of Toronto
- URL:  http://www.rajivsingal.com

Isn't that a nice medical story? Of course I am as pleased as Punch

!Hint: 'As pleased as Punch' derives from the puppet character Mr. Punch. Punch's name itself derives from Polichinello (spelled various ways, including Punchinello), a puppet used in the 16th century Italian Commedia dell'arte.

Our home's courtyard is a disaster. The plants have been left to die, the exterior wall is still in construction mode (but the construction has stopped, think Admiral's Place, or the Shipyards, or for that matter Blue Shores), there is construction sand where there should be gardens. All we need is the rusting hulk of an old pickup truck, or a dumpster to finish the scene. Carol is trying to get some work done, but as soon as she tells the builders that she has not decided between interlocking brick or a tile floor for the patio, they all pack up their tape measures and disappear.

We want it done by Christmas; this is their busy season - a rock meets a hard place.

Gotta go bike riding.

This was sent to me this morning by Jamie and Marsha McPherson

From the BBC - by John Cleese.

ANNOUNCEMENT

• The English are feeling the pinch in relation to recent terrorist threats and have therefore raised their security level from "Miffed" to "Peeved."

• Soon, though, security levels may be raised yet again to "Irritated" or even "A Bit Cross." The English have not been "A Bit Cross" since the blitz in 1940 when tea supplies nearly ran out. Terrorists have been re-categorized from "Tiresome" to "A Bloody Nuisance." The last time the British issued a "Bloody Nuisance" warning level was in 1588, when threatened by the Spanish Armada.

• The Scots have raised their threat level from "Pissed Off" to "Let's get the Bastards." They don't have any other levels. This is the reason they have been used on the front line of the British army for the last 300 years.

• The French government announced yesterday that it has raised its terror alert level from "Run" to "Hide." The only two higher levels in France are "Collaborate" and "Surrender." The rise was precipitated by a recent fire that destroyed France's white flag factory, effectively paralyzing the country's military capability.

• Italy has increased the alert level from "Shout Loudly and Excitedly" to "Elaborate Military Posturing." Two more levels remain: "Ineffective Combat Operations" and "Change Sides."

• The Germans have increased their alert state from "Disdainful Arrogance" to "Dress in Uniform and Sing Marching Songs." They also have two higher levels: "Invade a Neighbor" and "Lose."

• Belgians, on the other hand, are all on holiday as usual; the only threat they are worried about is NATO pulling out of Brussels.

• The Spanish are all excited to see their new submarines ready to deploy. These beautifully designed subs have glass bottoms so the new Spanish navy can get a really good look at the old Spanish navy.

• Americans meanwhile and as usual are carrying out pre-emptive strikes, on all of their allies, just in case.

• And in the southern hemisphere...

• New Zealand has also raised its security levels - from "baaa" to "BAAAA!". Due to continuing defence cutbacks (the airforce being a squadron of spotty teenagers flying paper aeroplanes and the navy some toy boats in the Prime Minister's bath), New Zealand only has one more level of escalation, which is "I hope Australia will come and rescue us".

• Australia, meanwhile, has raised its security level from "No worries" to "She'll be right, mate". Three more escalation levels remain: "Crikey!", "I think we'll need to cancel the barbie this weekend" and "The barbie is cancelled". So far no situation has ever warranted use of the final escalation level.

Origins:

This spoof of the various systems implemented after the 9/11 attacks to warn the public about the possibility of future terrorist activities, melded with stereotypes of several different nationalities, appears to have originated in July 2005 (just after a series of terrorist bombings hit London's public transport system earlier that month), with its early forms being a fair bit shorter:

• As London is hit by the second wave of bombings in two weeks, the Government has raised the terror warning level from 'miffed' to 'peeved'. Whilst many people commented with respect at the stoical attitude of Londoners to the first wave of attacks, Londoners are losing their traditional reserve and may soon require the terror level warning to be raised to 'irritated' or even 'a bit cross'.

• A government spokesmen commented upon the seriousness of the situation. "London has not been a bit cross since the height of the Blitz in 1940 when supplies of tea ran out for almost three weeks", said a representative of the Security Services. "It is as a mark of the seriousness with which Londoners are taking the situation that we have recently been forced to re-categorise suicide bombers from 'tiresome' to 'a bloody nuisance', and the last time we had a 'bloody nuisance' warning level was during the great fire of 1666."

• On the streets, Londoners reacted with uncharacteristic anger to news of the latest attacks, with some members of the public reacting with harsh language to the news that they might be delayed on their homeward trips by up to twenty minutes.

• "It really is the absolute limit," said Reginald Boggis, 42, of East Ham. "These terrorists. Not content with blowing things up, they then have to spoil the day for everyone. That's just irritating, that is. If they wanted to get things changed, they should write an angry letter to Points of View. That's what my wife and I always do."

• Tony Blair is expected to make political capital out of the situation as soon as his focus groups report on the mood of the nation.

• In other news, Britain reeled today at the news Australia were all out for 190 runs in the first test. "Good heavens!", said cricket fan Stan Higginbottom. "We showed the Aussies, what for, eh? What's that? More terrorists? Well, that's bloody typical, isn't it?"

From there, this item followed a pattern very similar to an earlier satirical piece about the UK's revoking the independence of the United States: What began as a simple bit of humour penned by an anonymous wag and set loose on the Internet was successively fleshed out and embellished by many different hands, growing longer and longer, until someone erroneously attributed the whole thing to English comic John Cleese, a former Monty Python trouper. And once a famous name gets stuck to a formerly anonymous piece in search of a recognizable author, it virtually never becomes unstuck, so just about every copy of this item circulated over the last several years has borne a legend incorrectly identifying it as "by John Cleese." (This false attribution is discussed on John Cleese's official web site.)

As is typical with such items, it is periodically resurrected and updated to address current events, so versions circulated in mid-2013 replaced the opening reference to the 2005 London bombings with a mention of "recent events in Syria" (i.e., a civil war taking place in that country).