Just ahead of my appearance in Toronto this Friday for the very first George Jonas Freedom Award, I checked in with the great John Oakley at Toronto's Global News Radio 640 - about twenty minutes after a huge thunderstorm blew through town. Up for discussion were Trump, Trudeau and tariffs, the North Korea summit, and Lindsay Shepherd's decision to sue her tormentors at Wilfrid Laurier University. Click below to listen:
Lindsay Shepherd, as you may recall, was a guest on The Mark Steyn Show a few weeks ago. Another Steyn Show guest, Lionel Shriver, has just been sacked as a short-story judge for pointing out the ruthless uniformity of diversity in the publishing industry. QED and all that.
~On Thursday the Inspector General's report will supposedly be released south of the border. After its elephantine pregnancy, it may be a wee undernourished thing upon delivery, but we shall mull it over on "Tucker Carlson Tonight" live across America.
~As mentioned, I'll be in Toronto this Friday for the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms' George Jonas Freedom Award gala. It's a great honor to be given an award named for a man head and shoulders above any other Canadian essayist. The big beano, at the Eglinton Grand, should be a splendid night, and if you're in Southern Ontario or even Buffalo (it's a zippy 90 minutes up the QEW) I look forward to seeing you there. You can find more information here.
While we're doing Canadian social notes, the other night I had the great pleasure of accompanying ma très chère amie Patsy Gallant to a special gala at the beautiful Chalet du Mont Royal honoring Patsy and the distingushed actress Andrée Lachapelle with the Prix Hommage Québecor. We had more fun than at the G7, that's for sure. As always in Quebec, it was a mix of popsters and politicians, but our resident boomer-pop expert from Los Angeles, Dan Hollombe, will be envious to hear that Chantal Renaud (of "Plattsburgh Drive-In Blues" fame) was among those in attendance, along with her hubby, the former premier Bernard Landry. The band were great, and Patsy was prevailed upon to do as she has done since she was three years old, and climb on the table and sing - a little disco, and a little Piaf. In the picture below, that's me at far right. I'm not sure if it's before or after Patsy's Prince Harry joke about me (which the crowd seemed to enjoy):
As Québecor's head honcho, Pierre-Karl Peladeau, put it, Mme Gallant "a volé le show". (For our anglo Canucks, Québecor were the guys who started Sun News in Toronto, which enlivened the northern telly scene for an, alas, all too brief moment.) If you'd like to hear Patsy sing Piaf, here she is with the Steyn Show band on a video edition of our Song of the Week from last year.
~Speaking of Dan Hollombe, Ă propos our recent double-bill of Charles Strouse pick-me-ups - "Put On a Happy Face" and "(The sun'll come out) Tomorrow" - he writes:
Greetings Mark,
It's strange how from 1964 through 1968 there were dozens of covers of 'This Is The Life,' most notably by Matt Monro, Marvin Gaye and Jody Miller. It looked like it was well on its way to becoming a standard, but for some reason, slipped into relative obscurity by the time the Johnson administration was winding down. To the best of my knowledge, it's never been revived by anybody of any note on any (Fill In The Blank) Sings The Great American Songbook album or CD. Perhaps all those fancy chord changes in the bridge simply make it too difficult for the average Joe to hum along to.
I'm not really all that familiar with Charles Strouse's oeuvre other than that this, Bye Bye Birdie and Dino Desi & Billy's goofy novelty recording of 'Superman', but I will be checking out some of his less successful stuff over the next few days. Anyone who's got at least two or three great tunes in him has probably got more than a few hidden gems as well.
Best Wishes,
Dan in Los AngelesP.S. Has anyone ever thought about composing a musical about Barney Rubble? He also has no eyeballs, which frankly I've always found a bit disturbing, seeing as his wife, his son and his pet hopparoo do have them.
That Matt Monro version of "This Is The Life" is a great record, and it's a splendid piece of music, but I think it's pretty obvious why the song never became "It Had To Be You" or even "Strangers in the Night". Dan's written many times to say he's principally interested in the music of a song, which is as it should be: "The first requirement of good lyrics is good music," as the late Alan Jay Lerner told me a zillion years ago. Good music can overcome less good lyrics ("The Man I Love" and any number of other Gershwin songs), but sometimes the wrong lyric can scuttle a great tune. "This Is The Life" isn't a love song, but about living the life - a rich man's life:
Nothing but class
That's how its gonna be
This Is The Life
For me...
But, even as a song about "nothing but class" and having it all, it's an outmoded vision of "the life":
House at the beach
Dinners at 21
Head waiters smile
When you walk in
Hand-tailored suits
Shirts with your monogram
Feel of real silk
Next to your skin...
I don't think I've been to 21 since they removed the requirement to wear a tie, but, even so, it's hard to imagine Bob Dylan (on his ongoing record-every-standard-ever-written project) ever singing that. Today's rich - Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, Cary Katz - wear jeans and baseball caps, not "shirts with your monogram". So it doesn't even work as an aspirational vision. Charles' music is great, and Lee Adams' lyric works in the show (Golden Boy), but it's not something any middle-aged rocker looking for a piece of the standards action is interested in singing.
~On the other hand, if you're interested in silk shirts with a Mark Steyn Club monogram we may introduce them as a specialty item over at the Steyn T-shirt emporium. The Mark Steyn Club celebrated its first anniversary last month, and, if you're finally getting round to maybe perhaps possibly considering becoming a member, please see here - and don't forget our limited-time Gift Membership. At the dawn of our second year, we are grateful for the support of all our friends around the world - from London, Ontario to London, England, via Longueuil, Londonderry, and Long Beach - and look forward to welcoming many more in the years ahead.
Comment on this item (members only)
Submission of reader comments is restricted to Mark Steyn Club members only. If you are not yet a member, please click here to join. If you are already a member, please log in here:
Member Login
54 Member Comments
Très cool!
That photo came out, with Patsy Gallant at center, almost like a painting.
As for possible products, what no tie/pocket scarf coordinated combos? Who else in media is always so haber-dashing? How about just a monogrammed pocket square with instructions on how to fold it perfectly to capture that international pundit 'savvy look?"
;D
Your comment about Trump suggesting we eliminate all tarriffs was news to me. Strange, this seems under-reported by all the pro-America should just take it up ... on trade talk, because allowing trade to go on as is, is apparently way better and more free market way than negotiating for better trade deals.
It is absolutely true that regular people, with perfectly normal and reasonable opinions and views are regularly sought and destroyed by the political left. And even if they are not perfectly normal and reasonable, the right answer is SO WHAT?
Mark, you are 100% that the present system has to actually be completely destroyed and dismantled. It is wicked, profoundly so.
I hope Lindsay cleans their clock.
PS: Memo to self. Never host "bum party"! Only host cool events with boffo guests, good eats and drinks. BYOE. Bring your own eybrows.
Right on Laura: Crackpot leftists jump off the deep end everyday with little or no pushback at all from their fellows - so if someone on this site or anywhere else for that matter has especially strong viewpoints that disturb the fainthearted I'll quote Leonard's mom from the BBT "buck up!". Not long ago CW wrote a very passionate and strong worded defense on true American values and was taken to task by a few on this site. The politically correct thought police have pretty much eliminated free speech in our educational system and in much of the press. It has to remain sacrosanct on this site.
"The politically correct thought police have pretty much eliminated free speech in our educational system and in much of the press. It has to remain sancrosanct on this site."
Very good, Roy, and if I had to pick one thing over all others why I chose this site to be the only forum I wanted my name attached to, this is it. Thanks for stating it that way. I do think we are permitted to disagree here as well, which I see as the other side of the same coin. Also, the edges of the coin can be smoothed with a good amount of civility.
Good photograph. It has a kind of Jacques-Louis David atmosphere about it.
Good call, Andrew. The staged scene? The sculptured relief forms? The dramatic pose? The lighting? All of those.
Fran
Now even Mark is talking about completely destroying leftist institutions. Imagine a couple of angels and some curtains billowing in the upper windows, and the photo just might herald the end of Le Ancien RĂ©gime des sourcils Trudeau. Always assumed JLD's work was nothing but propaganda. Maybe I was wrong...
You really pegged it the more I look at these David paintings from The Louvre. There's something going on with that photo of Patsy Gallant that reminds me of the interior space of "The Coronation of Emperor Napoleon I and the Crowning of Empress Josephine" even with the high arching structures and all angles of the onlookers and the central figure with outreaching arms. Nobody getting crowned, though, in the photo.
The 'something' is the way the building's architectural perspective emphasizes the line of sight between Patsy and Mark. A slight pan to the right and the photo would have been even better. Mark has good people working for him (or following him around).
Mark replies:
Actually, that was M Peladeau lui-mĂŞme on his telephone. But I agree it's a well framed photograph.
Speaking of novelty items - I don't know if anyone out there is in the t-shirt business or knows how it works but I had an idea for a shirt to drive your favorite "revolutionaries" batty. I am the proud owner of a "Viva Steyn" shirt that I wear when things get too depressing.
I was thinking of taking the famous (or infamous) Che Guevara t-shirt (and poster) and reworking it with Trump's face using the beret, a wisp of a beard and the same composition. The screamer at the top would be "Viva Trump" with a raised fist. If anyone out there has the know-how to do this then I freely make the idea available and invite them to do so. If you do make one available in XXXL as I am a portly gentleman (but dieting.)
That gives me some artistic license anc an artistic project to tackle, John. If you're sure nobody else has one out there. Would require research to make sure. There's lots of tee shirt printers in my town. I can sell them at the local farmers market. It will be a big hit with the Progressives around here, I'm sure. I'll add it to Tom Korte's bumbler sticher idea about "Love Socialism? You pay for it" slogan. That was pretty good, too:) XXXL you say?
Fran Lavery - I am neither an entrepreneur nor much of a creative type. I just put the idea out there as a potentially amusing product. I figure if a "MAGA" hat causes irritation then this will do so even more. Just doing my bit.
I like your idea enough to at least want to get my drawing sticks out again and play with it. And if I ever get to be captain of a team, I choose you first:)
John, try the Meta effect, as in Michael Strahan - google or bing it. It worked for a couple of my friends who were really struggling. There are sugar-free flavors that are pretty easy to swallow. Consistency is key - at least twice daily and preferably a dose shortly before every meal. Give it a month and see how you feel. It literally can't hurt. For my friends it was a godsend after a couple of months. Inexpensive and sound science behind it, especially good for those on a low-carb or keto diet. I am not affiliated with Meta in any way.
One thing I'm worried about with diet fads and tricks is the abundance of sugar-free ingredients on the market. When you have to take them, or believe you have to include them in your diet, make sure they aren't going to sabatage your metabolism. I heard there is something in diet sodas that actually prevents you from losing weight. I never believe what I read about products, though, because the "science" changes frequently. But I can't help notice that those I know who drink diet sodas are overweight. I've tried a lot of methods to shed excess weight and finally decided to lose weight I need to avoid fried foods and processed foods and get rid of all drinks but water. I hear dit take two weeks to work off a tablespoon of butter. Start walking a little everyday, slowly build up your distance and/or speed and add some weight resistance exercises. You'll be able to see the pounds vanish. Shoot for a pound a week. It's doable. Also, don't get frustrated if at first you don't lose for weeks because early in fat turns to muscle and you may even gain right off the bat. It's a challenge but it has tangible rewards because you feel better every day.
Hi again, John. Just misplaced my reply to you and answered PK because he got me going on diets and diet products. See my reply to him below;)
Fran, Meta is psyllium fiber, not a diet drink, supplement or laxative. It's not magic, a fad or trick either. Fiber is helpful to keep things moving, promote gut biome health and detoxify the digestive system and also to make you feel fuller before you even start to eat. People don't eat near as much fiber as previous generations did, thanks to our reliance on quick and somewhat processed meals and the lack of a home garden to encourage eating lots of fresh vegetables in season and preserved or frozen vegetables in the winter. There is sound science behind psyllium fiber usage to lose weight, and consistency is key. The point of being sugar-free is that the taste is palatable without sugar. You have to mix the psyillium husks with water and drink it in a cup so if it tastes like drinking sand, you probably won't do it.
I have friends in their 30's and 40's who have used Meta, with great results. I eat of lot of veggies and I'm pretty slim so I haven't used it myself but the science behind it and the real effects are undeniable. Not everyone can spend time to exercise, no matter how good their intentions. Drinking a cup of fiber can be easily accommodated, even when traveling or working long hours.
BTW, I eat butter every day. Nuts, cheese and avocados too. Fat is your friend, sugar, and fake sugar, is your enemy.
Sounds like my kind of eating, just like yours, minus the psyllium flour. I'll keep it in mind if I blow up again. Thanks for explaining its benefits, PK!
Fran, I don't eat or drink it myself, but I've seen it work for others. It's not flour, per se, it is ground psyllium husks that you mix with water and drink. You could possibly use them, unflavored, in recipes, but I've never heard of or seen that. Drinking it means that you're adding water to your digestion as well, which may be half of the benefit. But it does indeed work, for many. Not expensive either, and readily available at most pharmacies, grocery stores, Costco, etc. I keep calling it Meta, but I just looked and the full name is Metamucil. Maybe that clarifies. :^)
If we may... sodas are horrible for the teeth, the bones and add empty calories as a beverage with a meal. DIet soda is all that with worse effects. Back to water. As sweet drinks, they detract from the meal food flavors, too. Ruins the palate.
The oil to keep in the kitchen is olive oil. It has a beneficial effect on the liver and digestion. The Spanish used to treat yellow fever sufferers with a drink of lemon juice and olive oil which helped restore liver function in the course of an attack of yellow fever.
Make sure it's proper olive oil and not a blend. Avoid corn oils and 'vegetable oil' which is almost always 'soy.' Check ingredients of ALL packaged food carefully as palm kernel oil is the filler and it's practically indigestable, and it seems like it's been added to everythng even some ice creams (!!??) horrible stuff. Red palm oil is from the softer pulp exoderm of the palm oil nut, and it's loaded with good vitamins and such, but not suitable for filler roles.
Yes, I know that about sodas and diet sodas after consuming them as child, then teen. I always had a coke bottle in my hand at the family events. My mom wouldn't buy it. If Julia Child didn't use it in her cooking, it probably didn't make it into our table food. What did we know then anyway? Well, she probably knew all sugar syrup was void of nutrition. When out, she wasn't strict. By the time our children came along we were smarter. Today's grown children are probably overboard picky. But they don't have the same dental costs that I incurred as an adult. With years comes plenty of hindsight. Yes, watch out for anything with the palm oil or hydrogenated palm oil. I never buy products with it, and also watch for products with corn syrup. So many processed foods and drinks contain it. That can sabotage any diet. It's depressing how many foods we ought to avoid. I didn't know anything about red palm oil.
Olive oil is always stocked up in the kitchen here, but I heard safflower was okay. A friend has a brother in management at a fairly respectable national chain restaurant in the Midwest. One thing he says is be aware of where seafood comes from and in Asian grocery stores that's even more important to look at origin of country typed on packaging label. It's usually in super fine typeface, too. It makes shopping arduous pulling out the magnifying glass. Watch where the rice and noodles come from, not always super clean in the packaging process. How the products get through to here, not sure. It's a little scary how many hands touch our food products before they get to us. I'm making myself depressed. If anyone really wanted to do us harm, oh, nevermind.
Same with supermarkets; ask where they buy their seafood. I love seafood and live in the desert, so I avoid it altogether and can't wait until I'm near a lake or along any coast or Hawaii, or the Northwest. Still, in California not always a guarantee restaurants don't buy it from wholesalers from around the Southeast Asian region. Eat salads at home, cooked food in restaurants. That's another rule of thumb. Not everyone wears gloves in the establishment kitchens. We don't eat out much anymore. I guess the homecooking is pretty good.
Fran, Very good! Back to basics! Didn't Julia Child once say something like, "Ah, nouvelle cuisine... I always am prompted to wondering how many hands were touching that food before it was served,"
You might enjoy this presentation on palm oil (manually link of course) ... (duturist.com/african-oil-palm---palmier-a-huile.html)
I vaguely remember that, yes. There's a point, but I meant from beginning to end of the distance and travel time to the stores. Also, remembered hearing, probably the restaurant manager, that just because you read or hear the menu has Chilean Seabass, for instance, it doesn't necessarily mean the fish was caught off the coast of Chile. I remember seeing it on a menu in an overpriced establishment for $36 served with nicely seasoned crusted purple potatoes and and a charming sculptured garnish of salsa and found out later it came from a fish farm.
Just can't rationalize spending a lot of money on food out anymore. It's never as flavorful as I can do it at home with some basics like salt, pepper, lemon or lime juice, garlic, fresh herbs from outside the kitchen door. Those are so easy to grow, even in the desert. So many times I nearly killed them because my dogs scampered across the spaghetti tubes and pulled the water lines out of the pots in the three-digit heat. They look dead but I stick the tubes back in and they come right back none the worse. Last night I made some dip with eggplant that a Persian gal recommended to my daughter. That is one unappetizing looking color for a food. Maybe I missed something.
Mark,
Don't know how you "do it," but wherever Patsy happens to be, there you are! Green with envy.
Last time I had the pleasure of being in 'company' with one who stood atop a table to sing a song (Chanty) was in St. John's, Newfoundland way back when Moby Dick was a Minnow. Anyway, a shipmate of mine decided tho entertain one and all with his version of "What Do You Do With a Drunken Sailor?" His lyrics were hysterically funny - although after consuming as much lager as we had, even you singing that ditty would have been a hoot.
Please pass along my regards to Patsy - gal of my dreams (in either language).
Later!
Tom in Missouri
You sailors sure do know how to let it rip, Tom! That reminds me, I've been procrastinating on ordering some Patsy Gallant singing Piaf songs and then when I went to search: currently unavailable. I may have to cross the border for this search.
Hi Frsn,
Amazing how much pent-up-energy resides within a sailor who has not touched the beach in a month or more . . .
You may wish to check out Amazon for an mp3 album: Patsy Gallant chante Piaf. I downloaded it and it cmd through crystal clear . . .
Tom in Missouri
I can only imagine, Tom. I would go nuts out on an endless sea for weeks on end. As for the music, typically I like holding something in my hand and reading and looking at art work and credits while I listen but this is one way. I'm slipping across the border into a western province in a couple of weeks (starts with "A"), keeping it hush hush so as to sidestep any stray eyebrows hurtling through the atmosphere, but maybe i'll find some Patsy Gallant singing Piaf up there. Thanks!
Fran, what is so interesting in province "A", to bring you to Canada? I may have to check it out, if I can be there at that time. We could have a "tell" to recognize each other in the crowd. Some kind of Steynian indicator. :)
That's a good question - we couldn't find anything available either when we searched.
I never answered you. I'm taking a walk on the wiildwrneas side with my husband to celebrate the end of four decades of marriage. A better way to phrase it might be: to celebrate the beginning of whatever's in the cards. There's probably even a better way to put it but I could get all choked up. I know! We're going for the gold!
Unless there's a Yankees series or Wimbledon match going we're planning on seeing the wilderness features of the province. We heard it was gorgeous and a good break from the desert Southwest. If either of these sporting events is transmitted to Alberta, guess one of us will be affixed to the tv and one will be affixed to a bar. I always carry my hockey stick key chain with me. I keep it visible so no flying eyebrows get any ideas.
I thought perhaps there was a public event. Enjoy your trek through the wilderness. Alberta indeed has some beautiful features. Go for the gold!
Thanks, PK. I have a gem for my better half even with the split interests. Funny, we're not really wilderness seekers as camping with bears and wolves is not that inviting but a walk through forests now and then is good for the soul. Yosemite NP is still my favorite spot for that.
If you're considering new items, how about the Caffe Steyn T-shirt in white, for both (there are only two) genders? Given the Starbucks nuttiness, Caffee Steyn is certainly of-the-moment and I would wear mine with pride (of the hetero variety, not that there's anything wrong with that).
I just can't wear black T-shirts because I am paler than death warmed over. White actually makes me look like I have a bit of color.
They have painless tanning foams now, PK. Also, don't you like the tanning bed look of a certain President with some white peepers winking and blinking through?
I burn to a freckled crisp in a tanning bed, I tried that in my teens. I use the sunless tanning products by St. Tropez and James Read. They are expensive, but look natural and not at all orange. Plus, they don't have that terrible smell that some of the cheap varieties have. I shouldn't be so vain really but then again, I am quite blindingly white when shorts season comes around, so it's for the greater good that I add a bit of color. So now I am a "colored" person (wink). I still can't pull off a black T-shirt though.
Thanks for the tips! Maybe i'll try them when I visit Canada so I can look sun-kissed from New Mexico. If it weren't for all my freckles I would look rather spooky, okay, maybe a peachy spook.
I bet you can guess what they called me in elementary school now:(
I can think of a few names. I've probably been called them all as well.
As for the self-tanning products, they are not Canadian so best to buy them South of the border and avoid the 270% tariffs. LOL.
Mark writes, "Another Steyn Show guest, Lionel Shriver, has just been sacked as a short-story judge for pointing out the ruthless uniformity of diversity in the publishing industry."
Several possible outcomes of a decision to highlight author diversity Correctness as a guide to reader interest:
- Correct but unreadable sludge pours from the presses. Get woke, go broke, as Instapundit likes to say. Competitors benefit: = Simplest outcome
- Correct but unreadable sludge pours from the presses. However, sales improve because Penguin books are usually bought and displayed mainly as a virtue signal among woke middle-class folk. Now the books are much better humblebrags than formerly.
- Correct but unreadable sludge pours from the presses. However, some fine authors with varying biographies are discovered earlier than they would be through the usual pattern of working their way up slowly through the smaller presses. They arrive in the top tier without knowing much about the industry that lurks below. Accounts vary as to whether that is an advantage or a disadvantage for them. I'd call it an advantage if one just needs to have written a book but a disadvantage if one wants to spend one's life in the trade.
- Correct but unreadable sludge pours from the presses. Sales tank but the government steps in with taxpayer funding for what has now become a "vital cultural industry." It is irrelevant whether anyone reads it or cares. In Canada, this effect is known as "Canadian culture."
On "Canadian culture", or as I know it, CanCon = public teat. Open wide, it will be shoved down your throat whether you like it or not. But you will like it. Or else you are not Canadian and should move to the US.
So true; such as Conrad Black's "expose" Donald J. Trump is shelved behind the shelf of Canadian Authors with all of the other allowed opinions of -- The American Stuff -- and as to be expected only One Copy for sale.
Where? Y'all say? Says this deplorable Canadian Ontario Citizen, which is very happy with the swept away Libranos, yep I am that old., where/ Indigo/Chapters and whatever the favourite book outlet is for the deliberately befuddled R.O.C. culture & values.
I am halfway through Black's book and strongly recommend it. Whether one approves of Black or not is - in my view - beside the point. Black understands Trump's world.
You will save yourself time for the things that matter by avoiding the output of Shocked and Appalled on this subject and reading better-informed authors like Black.
Part of the problem is that most media people (the people who write most books on these subjects) do not understand Trump's world, though he understands theirs. They can't forgive him for a mess that is largely of their own making: despising the people he won by reaching out to
Actually Denise, in Canada this effect is known as "the CBC".
Mark, get with the times. There's no need for that bottomless cup of coffee. Now you can go to any Starbucks, buy nothing at all, and stay all day. You can use their wifi, freshen up in their bathrooms, and a cheerful staffer will bring you a cup of water, if you're thirsty. You don't have to worry about a small tip, either, as they'll probably tip you.
President Trump's approach to Kim was one of pragmatism. It's pragmatic in the use of force, pragmatic in the use of language, and pragmatic in the demonstration of benefits to be had to the point where they actually produced a video ahead of time to show Kim the possibilities that he has. What better approach is there? Is Kim going to give it all away for a Nobel Peace Prize? How about a ceremony at the Google headquaters in San Francisco? A photo on the cover of Time Magazine? It's realpolitik, as far as I can tell, and it's after real results, which is probably the only thing that would interest Kim. I don't think Kim is a raging Marxist, but he's using that methodology to keep himself in power because it's the pragmatic way to achieve his goal.
I've said it before on this site, that President Trump isn't a politician and that is one of his greatest strengths. I'm sure that Mr. Steyn has said that too, and long before I did (but I'm too lazy to dig up quotes and dates, even mine). President Trump is the 'chaos' of renewal and growth, but not the chaos of destruction that the Left accuses him of (although he is destroying the Left's constructs and paradigms, so in a way they're correct). When people say 'think outside the box', they may not realize it but this is what that means. Mr. Steyn has said on this site as recently as the previous posting, that the box defining the political landscape has become so tightly defined that there is essentially no difference between the 'options' available for voters. President Trump will continue to gain popularity with voters in the US, and with people in countries around the world, because he's someone in power that has finally stepped outside the box.
I think it's what's needed. I think it will work.
It's realpolitik.
Mark, please check the camera angles and try to be right of center or left of center. Being at the "far right" in the photo will just confirm to the loons that you cannot be trusted.
Ah, you beat me to it!
Why cede ground on the term "far right"? I think we should claim the ground and expel the neo-Nazis. They're irrelevant but spooking almost everyone in the right, who cower and preemptively lose by retreating toward the center.
Far right, but facing centre-left...
Mark, is there any chance that you can come up with a special accessory for the founding members that we can wear with pride? Sort of like the bracelet that Sinatra gave Jule Styne, say 5% of that - no engraving required.
Cheers!
Bah! Humbug!
I think the rewards should go to the most verbose! :P
You make a good point in that it would tend to alienate the non-founders. I will stick to having a secret warm glow then, humbug accepted.
Cheers!
I think silver dangling hockey stick earrings would be great. Not sure it would be a guy thing, though. The little hockey stick key chain is holding up just fine. I haven't managed to break it in half yet. Ooh, what about silver hockey stick tie pins?
That's a great photo. Shows are so much better when the stage is in the center of the crowd. Appropriately here, Mark's on the very right.
Does Lionel's experience qualify her to judge irony?