And thats what it was like on Friday. We were getting totally shelled. They had almost twice as many skaters and some really skilled shooters, and as soon as we started getting a little gassed those shots were coming fast and frequent from the slot and in scrambles in front of the net. It felt pretty damn good even though we got the shit kicked out of us. Everyone came up to me after and said how much I was standing on my head and keeping them in it. Sometimes its hard to know what to do with compliments like that. Of course you play the best you can, but that can be like a totally different person from one night to the next. So I usually ended up nodding and thanking people.  I can’t explain, but I always play a lot better when I’m up against tougher shooters and seeing loads of pucks.

It felt pretty damn good though.

Nothing like taking away some sure goals to get the weekend started. Now that its almost over I better get back to studying.

The Liberals may be corrupt and completely devoid of all conviction, but I never believed they were stupid. The Liberals survive on their unwavering faith in the direction of the current political winds. They did not vote against the budget, because an election would work out badly for them. The Harper and Iggy tete-a-tete was a farce. Iggy is one of the most conservative leaders the party has ever had, and he knows he can’t speak against a relatively popular economic stimulus nor can he appear to be as weak as Dion. So there was some shouting, some threats and some concessions, but nothing was actually going to happen. And everyone knew it. As for the coalition, if it becomes useful again, Iggy will no doubt change his tune.

I would generally approve of an economic stimulus accompanied with an investment in infrastructure. However, there is fundamental difference between the promise of addition funding and having it actually delivered. Most of the funding previously promised still hasn’t arriWhy don’t you ask Joe Trasolini from Port Moody about his much desired Evergreen Line.  Big infrastructure announcements require long term-systemic funding – you cannot exclude everything but the shovel ready. The other thing that bothers me is the size of the package. $12 billion more is a good thing, but it doesn’t come close to solving our infrastructure deficit. Especially since the projects that are most needed are the replacing of rather un-sexy water, sewage and drainage systems. There are good things in this budget, but I think we’d all like to see a bolder vision for that kind of money. This is not enough of a stimulus to put us back on track or to settle our infrastructure problems.

And I kind of like hockey I guess, so I will at least enjoy it.  But its not like goalies can drag ass when we get out there, it is kind of noticeable.

I could do the bar thing after I guess, but then I would be really passed out.

Also Luongo’s long overdue return to the Canucks is happening tonight. And luckily, I should catch most of the game. Hockey night in Vancouver (and Richmond) for me tonight.

We look at our friend Barack Obama to the south with pride at the great Canadian tradition of making your rivals your best of friends. Or at least unwilling allies. MacDonald wasn’t able to get the BNA act signed because he was a smooth talker (he was), but because he had allies, George Brown and Georges Etienne Cartier. And he brought a ship full of liquor to appease the Maritimers in Charlottetown.

MacDonald was one of the greatest politicians that Canada ever had, and he was easily one of the most fun. He drank, he lied, he had mistresses, he got in bar fights and had no compunctions about being a corrupt son of a bitch. Through all that he helped forge our country and build a national unity that we are still fighting for to this day.

Cheers to John A.

So I hope the coalition stays dead.

The local newspapers try to hype this up, to get people interested in their local government. But they often suffer the same weakness as they do in provincial and federal governments. That is the narrative structure to which they adhere. The good ol’ inverted pyramid that all journalists write to. It makes it very easy to cover an election as there is an anchor. A winner will be decided on a given day at which time the journalist can move on. But all the decisions that get made by that government and affect the lives of the people they represent do not occur during the election.  The only thing at stake in the eyes of many of us is the jobs of a few local politicos. Politicos who we never see between elections. Politicos who are on the board of a foundation we have never heard of. Politicos who usually get re-elected anyway. We don’t see the causal affect that their decisions have on us. Most of us don’t go to council meetings or sit on committees, we just go about living our lives until the next election comes around.  And that lack of engagement is a fundamental threat to our democracy. They bored us into giving away something very precious that we should never have let go (weapons of mass boredom?)

Despite the limits on power at the local level, more authority is being passed to municipalities, right or wrong (I would say wrong). Their decisions do matter to us. We just need to find a way to get people engaged… and for longer than an election campaign.