Rest in Peace

 

My Mother-in-Law died last Saturday after a long and very difficult illness. She did so with the Rites of the Church, and many thanks go out to the faithful priests in Calgary who were there for her and her family. 

She was a most forgiving person but tough for all that, growing up in Corsicana during the War. She once said to me, "When I was that age I thought there wasn't a horse I couldn't ride." Respect.

Her Requiem is set, tentatively, for next week. Please pray for the repose of her soul. May she rest in peace and rise in glory.

Yours,

LSP

BACK

 

So just what, exactly, are you back from, so-called LSP? I'll tell you, an explosive tour around the Old Country. In brief: Survive the Eclipse Event, enter a portal and land at Heathrow, set up in Whitehall, take care of business, stroll 'round the corner to the jolly old NatLib and go from there, London's your oyster, and what an oyster it is.

Typical Whitehall Street Scene

Yes indeed, not least the Brompton Oratory where they celebrate the Mass in Solemn High grand style and, let the reader understand, in good time. Yep, an hour and fifteen minutes from beginning to end, concert high. 

NatLib - Shocking Slack

After that, catch a cab to St. James Square and Sunday lunch at the East India, order off the trolley like a pro and then, delicious meal over, stroll across the way to the In & Out (Naval and Military) and take advantage of their beautiful courtyard.

A Brazen Goat

Brazen courtyard goat notwithstanding, catch a fast train to Edinburgh and stay at the Royal Scots, what a congenial club. Ludlow beckons next, an idyllic market town which is rightly famous for the Blue Boar. Stop there for drinks and snacks. Next up? Back to London and Soho.

Prix Fixe

Get off at Euston, thanking God you're wearing a stab vest, catch a cab to Soho and have fun from thereon in. Maybe that involves multiple Negronis. Last leg of the tour, fly into Calgary and marvel at one gallon of milk costing EIGHT BUCKS. No kidding, something better change. Rock on.

Your Expat Pal,

LSP

Climate Change

 

Here's the thing, the land of the ice and snow was more like the land of t shirt and shorts for most of the past week. Obviously someone remembered to pay their carbon tax, and then they didn't. Yesterday dawned grey and chill, with the cold seeping into your Arctyrx fleece as a harbinger of things to come, Winter.

the climate has changed

So I took the young 'un out for an enormous burger at the Inglewood Diner, tasty, and prophesied, "Son, it feels like snow." He agreed, and sure enough that's exactly what happened. A biting wind kicked in at around 6 pm and white supremacy fell from the sky, indifferent to the fate of the oppressed.

random Canadian fridge magnet

"Look, Dad," exclaimed Junior LSP, "A winter wonderland!" And so it was, "Welcome to Narnia, Son." We spent the rest of the evening watching John Wick movies along with superlative Chinese food ordered up from Chinatown. Big fun.

brrrrr

Today dawned clear, crisp and bright, beautiful. Climate Change, you see, has its benefits and to celebrate this I shoveled the sidewalk and scraped ice off the car. Then SL's rig pulled up from High River and off we went to the airport, mission accomplished.

Stay Frosty,

LSP

Remembrance Sunday

 

In the States we honor veterans on November 11 but in Commonwealth countries people mark the date as Remembrance Day, looking back to the terrible slaughter of World War I, which ended with the "passing of the eleventh hour on the eleventh day of the eleventh month." In respect of this, churches keep the following Sunday as Remembrance Sunday and St. John the Evangelist, Calgary, was no exception.

Except perhaps it was, with a full Requiem High Mass, complete with Catafalque, Absolution at the Bier, two minutes silence, both Canadian and English national anthems and a heartfelt homily by Fr. B. I was moved and so was my youngest son. The liturgy began with an Act of Remembrance:

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old: 

Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.

At the going down of the sun and in the morning

We shall remember them.

And the Mass continued according to the Anglican Use of the Roman Rite for the ordinariates, designed for Anglican converts. Pretty much Anglican Missal or for all you RC trads, the Extraordinary Form but in Cranmerian liturgical English as opposed to the attack language of 1970s worship experts. It was good and you knew you'd been to church.

Here's Flanders Fields, included in the Mass bulletin:

In Flanders fields the poppies blow

Between the crosses, row on row,

    That mark our place; and in the sky

    The larks, still bravely singing, fly

Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago

We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,

    Loved and were loved, and now we lie,

        In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:

To you from failing hands we throw

    The torch; be yours to hold it high.

    If ye break faith with us who die

We shall not sleep, though poppies grow

        In Flanders fields.

Lest we forget and God bless you all,

LSP

Welcome To Calgary

 

The plane touched down and off we went into the frozen expanse of Calgary's airport. It's larger now and the new terminal seems a bit less friendly than the original but whatever, it works, and some 30 minutes and a taxi later there I was in Inglewood, right off of downtown. Hippies? Use the backdoor, without exception.

a typical Calgarian kitchen scene

Entering appropriately through the front door, the fun began, beginning and ending, curiously, at the Swan pub. Nice. It was good to be back in the land of the ice and snow and I like this part of Calgary, with its shops and eateries and downtowny vibe on a UK meets US tip.

Colonel McLeod

The next day was all about strolling around town, which isn't hard because the city center's only 20 minutes walk away. March over the bridge from Inglewood to Fort Calgary, admiring the Bow river to your right, with its excellent fly fishing, salute the the statue of Colonel McLeod, then walk with purpose through East Village towards the hideous new city library and find yourself on Stephen Avenue.

Stephen Ave

All good, but gasp in dismay at the Hyatt's bar, why, you fools, did you remove the BISON HEAD from above the fireplace? Walk away in disgust from that place. Also wonder at hideously overpriced steak houses as you mourn the loss of the Arctyrx/Mountain Adventure shop. Huh, I guess COVD got you while sparing the unpleasant Patagonia store. 

Just look at this hideous concrete portrait of tyranny

So yes, the scamdemic claimed a few victims in this High Street and there you have it, but think of all the money others made; rejoice for your rulers. Speaking of which, on your return take time to walk through the brutalist concrete nightmare that is Calgary's Town Hall.

 

Is that a Bofors gun sitting idle?

Then, safely back in Inglewood, detour by Crown Surplus. What a neat little store, complete with artillery in the yard. And there you have it, what a lot of fun to be back in Calgary, I like it here.

More on this exciting adventure as it unfolds,

LSP

Off To The Land Of The Ice And Snow

 

The land of the ice and snow, aka Canada, which means getting up at an unearthly hour tomorrow and venturing forth to DFW and the joy of modern air travel. What will Alberta be like? Will you still be able to pay with cash, will there be giant billboards of Justine Trudeau staring down at you from Orwellian rainbow hoardings?

A typical Albertan house

Who knows, and this mission's all about reconnaissance, it's a recce patrol. And I tell you, it's been a few years since I've been there, not since the deadliest plague to lockdown humanity in the history of deadliest plagues. That's passed over now, leaving 99.9% of the populace alive, so let's see what's left of Calgary, Alberta, in the aftermath of the horror.

My feeling is that the Ranchmen's Club still stands. Regardless, see you on the other side.

Ite,

LSP

We've Been Conned

 

A few years ago I flew to Calgary with my eldest son to visit family after Christmas. Because he was/is serving and we were flying AA, the airline upgraded us to 1st class. What a welcome surprise and how pleasant, there we were, flying to the land of the ice and snow with room to breathe, metal cutlery, decent food, glasses made of actual glass and all of that.

Gazing out of the window of the plane in search of UFOs I thought about this and it all came back to me, flying used to be this way, for everyone. But now? You have to be rich to afford yesteryear's standard of comfort and quality.

The same thought flashed across the mental horizon while strolling in Newtown, Edinburgh, earlier this year. All these beautiful Georgian houses which are mostly cut up into apartments, you have to be rich to own and live in a whole one today.

I said as much to barrister pal who lives in Leith and was showing us around, "Yes," he replied, "Only the wealthy can afford the lifestyle of the old middle classes." Again, in beautiful Ludlow, within the orbit of the old medieval city wall you never have to go to a supermarket. There's three butchers, bakers, green grocers, cheese shops, 2 fishmongers and on. 

All of this was commonplace, if not so picturesque, not that long ago but now you have to be well favored to live in a place like Ludlow. You know, maybe here in the States people who live in Martha's Vineyard have that kind of old world luxury.

Point being, all of the above wasn't luxury so very long ago, just the way people lived, and I tell you this, we've been conned. As our part of the world's wealth has increased so too should our standard of living. But no, in many respects it's declined and quite literally; your Dollar doesn't go as far as it used to. And no wonder, it's an instrument of debt at interest to the private consortium of bankers that is the Fed.

They, the people profiting off of the way we live now, are doing very well. They're mostly invisible and can enjoy the storied delights of private islands via their private jets while we count ourselves lucky to get an apartment the staff used to live in. Yes indeed, but what shall it profit a man to gain the whole world and lose his soul? 

This isn't a screed against wealth, eye of the needle aside I wish we all had more, but it is a caveat. We've been had, conned, and further complacence will only exacerbate the problem. Churches, I'm looking at you. OK, good luck with that.

Arma Virumque,

LSP

At Last You're Fired

It took a while, some would say too long, but at last Alberta's hated Chief Medical Officer Deenah Hinshaw has been fired. Hinshaw was notorious for recommending policies which shut down schools and churches, to say nothing of draconian vaccine mandates. Those who didn't comply were fined, arrested or fired.

Hinshaw's well deserved axing came as Alberta's new Premier Danielle Smith made good on election promises to purge the province's self-serving, dictatorial Health Services (AHS) quango. Smith's kept her pledge by firing the entire AHS Board along with the repellently smug leftist Hinshaw. The eleven person board's been replaced with one man, Dr. John Cowell.

In an open letter, one of the terminated board members Tony Dagnone accused Smith of being "against science" and "unhinged" accusing her of acting "under the guise of freedom." Via AlbertaPrimeNews:

"The current premier defies all those aspirations as she spews wacko accusations at Alberta Health Services and its valued workforce," he wrote. 

The premier has chosen to "play to her misguided followers who rant against science and academic medicine under the veiled guise of freedom," Dagnone said in the letter. 

“Her warped stance on COVID, which I remind the premier was and is a public health issue not a political punching bag, is nothing short of borderline dereliction when the lives of AHS staff and Albertans are at stake," Dagnone wrote.

“In light of her unhinged public pronouncements, the premier represents the bleakest of role models for women who aspire to be accepted in positions of influence and leadership.

What can we say. Spews wacko accusations, warped science, unhinged, bleakest of role models, dereliction? Tony, Hinshaw and the rest of you, if the hat fits. And think yourselves lucky while you're at it. In the meanwhile, the increasingly popular rulership of the United States persists in faux Covid emergency, one of the last countries in the world to do so. 

Make of this, gentle readers, what you will.

Drinks at Ranchmen's all 'round,

LSP

Mother And Son

 

From the land of the Ice and Snow and pre-deployment exeat. Dog inna fight? I'll leave it there but feel free to comment on the iniquity of the MIC.

Your Old Friend,

LSP

Fighting Patrol

 

This photo comes via Every Blade of Grass who reminds us to "remember all those who are busy doing other things, and can't be home for the Holidays." What good counsel, but where's the photo taken. Not Texas, obviously, maybe Calgary?

Note Claw Marks

Brrrrr,

LSP

Random Thoughts From The War on Weather

 

Here we are, fighting the War Against The Weather, again, as our new ketchup fortune Climate Czar unironically flies around the world in his private jet, urging you, the peasant, to pay more tax. But speaking of war, thank Gaia the Military has to get down with trans diversity training, again, because that'll help us win wars. Yes, make us more secure.

Well they're not wrong, imagine the scene as a CCP human wave launches over the top only to be met with a camo variant of RuPaul's Drag Race, which is entirely normal, haters. Seriously, the enemy'll die laughing. A good, if eccentric, tactic.

Old But Gold

Back to the War on Weather. We've reopened another front and there'll be no more drilling on Federal lands, no more Keystone pipeline, but yes to more Warren Buffet profits (he owns the rails that ship the oil to the tune of several $ billion a year), and guess what? It's all cool coz we'll beat the weather and racist Orange Man Bad!

Or to put it another way, hide your asset-stripping plundering behind a smokescreen of green chicanery and Cultural Marxist identity politics and hey presto! Make billions of dollars, impoverish the peasants and live large on your yacht because hey, men can use women's toilets. Justice Awards all 'round.

Clearly a Blue Ice Extremist

What risible, evil, canting, self-serving, satanic hypocrisy. Maybe it's time for the return of Blue Ice.

Your Old Pal,

LSP

Buckle Up

Hope you're all prepped up and ready to "bug-in" or go "innawoods" because it's staring to get nasty, in a small way. 

People are getting robbed of their TP in parking lots in Washington state and the UK, so WA shoppers are going armed to the supermarket. UK people aren't because they're not allowed to defend themselves. Find the cost of freedom, eh?

Here in Hill County Texas, a big fight broke out at Walmart as pastoral people set to scrapping over frozen pizzas, bottled water and Ramen noodles. I missed the fight, annoyingly, but you could see the tension building before Noon.

Over in Aberystwyth the shelves were bare of pasta, "Andrex," and assorted everything else. Calgary, as of today, had run out of milk.

Message to market? Bring the supply chain home. Have a month's supply of food so you don't have to get into a fight at Walmart. Don't hoard loo-roll, the Bat Bug isn't dysentery. Don't hoard water, the Kung Flu isn't Cholera. And on. 

Above all, STAND STEADY. You're no use to man nor beast if you don't. Go armed to Walmart if you aren't already. And on a spiritual note, pray for our country tomorrow, it's a National Day of Prayer. Do not ever downplay the efficacy of that.

God bless,

LSP

Everybody Was Kung Flu Fighting

Sources in Calgary on the front line of the fight against the Chinese Bat Bug say this song's being played on a continuous loop in healthcare clinics across Canada's cow town.

Here at the Compound we hope you find it as inspirational as we do.

Mind how you go,

LSP

Happy New Year!

Here we are on the dawn of a whole new year and I can't complain about the closing days of the last. A pub lunch and darts at the Swan with the boys, an uplifting Solemn High Mass on Sunday, Ordinariate style, and I have to say it was good to see the old place so full of young families and children.

And what trip to Calgary and Inglewood would be complete without visiting Crown Surplus and the militaria shop? The Crown's changed things up a bit and now devotes most of its space to tactical gear, which is great if you're an operator or looking for neat backpacks, knives and tactical accessories for your Glock/Sig. I like the other side of the store more, genuine surplus at OK prices.

The militaria place is alright too, though not as good as it once was before it moved down the street 5 years ago. Still, if you're desperate for a Grenadier Guards tunic or a bust of Hitler it's your shop. I took a couple of pictures and got in trouble, they're afraid of memorabila thieves.

Walking Holly was fun too, she's a rescue dog from the rez, not sure which one, and we get on well. She's vastly excited to go on trips through the frozen wastes and alleyways of this part of Alberta's onetime cow town. And there it is for now, more reflections on the Great White North as they come to mind.

In the meanwhile,

Happy New Year!

LSP

Boxing Day And On To Canada

Christmas day was great, feasting and fun with friends and family, then it was Boxing Day. I strolled over to a diner with the Private for a late and large portioned breakfast, tasty.  And after a well needed re-org we headed to the airport, objective? The Land of The Ice And Snow, aka Canada.

As everyone knows, flying's pretty miserable but our flight worked out well thanks to not one but two upgrades on account of the Private being active military traveling with orders. Good work AA, USO didn't hurt either.

So we ended up in the first two seats of the plane with a bizarre amount of legroom, comp drinks in real glasses, a meal with metal cutlery and all laid on, thank you very much. A bit like flying in the olden days and I tell you, it made the trip to Calgary most congenial.

And there we were, as if faster than you could say Justine Blackface Beta Socks Trudeau, landed at YYC. 

It was good to be back in the Great White North; I like Canada and I especially like Calgary. Stay tuned as this snowy mountain town adventure unfolds.

Merry Christmas,

LSP

Touring the Grounds

Word to the wise. If you're fixing to have all your teeth out, don't plan on chewing anything for a while.

Making high quality custom infovideos? Different story.

Cheers,

LSP

Flying Home

In what seemed like no time at all my stay in Calgary was over, and there I was, being driven by a Sikh to the airport with a bright sun rising over snow covered fields. Well, maybe not fields, more like vacant land that no one had built on. 

I told the driver it was very beautiful. He wisely agreed and even more wisely pointed out that it was "very cold," which it was. Speaking of wisdom, please, airport security in the US and elsewhere, stop mistaking Sikhs for radical religion of peace Jihadists. They're not Muslims, you clowns, quite the reverse.

So what was Calgary like? As usual, I found the people friendly and the city a pleasure to visit, with a number of plus points: it's cowboy hat friendly, you can get your hair cut in a gun shop, cheese and bread are very good, as are many of the restaurants. There's a neat Armoury, complete with a Sherman tank and a Bren Gun Carrier, and the town has a fine regimental tradition. 

I like to think, too, that Calgary has some of its frontier spirit. Perhaps that's because of fierce winter weather and proximity to the Rockies. Mountains and snow evoke the frontier, after all, and the town was on the literal frontier not that long ago, at the turn of the last century. Maybe there's something of that in the air of the place.

How Canada's prosperous "cow town" weathers the storm of falling oil prices remains to be seen, and experts are recommending that the city diversifies its economy into guns and ammo. Hot tip, that's one market which appears to be rising.

One Air Alaska (good airline with complimentary wine and beer) flight over, I landed in Seattle, where everyone was wearing shorts and humming Smells Like Teen Spirit. It was very different to Calgary or, for that matter, Texas.

Gun rights,

LSP

Go to The Drill Hall

Calgary's Mewata Drill Hall, or Armoury, is home to several units, including the Calgary Highlanders and the King's Own Calgary Regiment.  

It was good to meet some of the team and I imagined the soldiers that had passed through Mewata over the course of the last century. A sobering thought.

Constructed during WWI, the Armoury at one time featured an underground 30 meter range and a bowling alley. I was told these were off limits due to structural damage; too bad, it would've been fun to blast away.

There's a Sherman tank outside the Armoury, standing there, resolute, against the enemy. These days, that would be the Weather. Go on, tank, shoot the snow!

Train hard, think positive, fight easy.

LSP