New Year's Day in Inglewood

What will 2015 bring? Will the cold war against Russia get colder and then hotter? Will mainstream Western Anglicanism continue its downward spiral into sexually induced apostasy? 

Who knows, and rather than consult an Angelic Alphabet to scry the answers, I stepped out into the pleasant streets of Inglewood.

I like it here and enjoy the Edwardian architecture, which dates from Calgary's days as a Northern outpost of Empire.

Now the shops are mostly the kind of artsy boutiques you find in places like Austin, or San Francisco, and they're not cheap. Still, it's neat to look in the windows and congratulate yourself on having the good sense to be immune from the lure of their pricey wares.

There's restaurants too, and a deli called Spolumbo's. Spolumbo's sells delicious European and English sausage. If you like bangers and mash, Spolumbo's is your shop. You can get beer on tap there and drink it as you congratulate yourself on a fine purchase of excellent sausage.

Then there's the Minh Chau, which pretends to serve Vietnamese food. I'd avoid that, if I were you, and go to the Swan instead. The Swan is a pub, where you can drink beer and eat food.

Typical Canadian House. Note Antler

Maybe that's where I'll go later, to celebrate New Year's day.

Have a great New Year!

LSP

New Year's Eve

What's New Year's Eve without a visit to a gun shop? With that in mind, I made my way to Proline Shooters, in Inglewood, Calgary. This gun shop is remarkable for having a barber on the premises, which means you can get your hair cut and look at the guns. 

Calgary Capital

Some time ago, the resident barber, Doug, was a cadaverous old communist, who liked to demonize Calgary capitalists as he snipped away at your hair. You'd see him, up into the early hours, talking with the owner of the shop over a bottle of whiskey. Doug died of cancer a few years back; may he rest in peace. 

CarolPeter, Father of One

In other news, you'll be interested to know that the Church of England's first trans clergyperson has died of cancer at the young age of 60. Rev. Carol Stone started off life as Peter Stone and decided to get a sex change in 2000. The Bishop of Swindon, Lee Rayfield, stated, "She was a really true priest who overcame a huge amount in her life."

Alien Hybrid Expert

But CarolPeter wasn't a woman, more of a hybrid man/woman, or as someone put it, "A blasphemous parody of a woman." So I'd argue against calling CarolPeter "she." Still, I hope he/she sorts it all out with the Creator.

Rumors that Justsin Welby's Church of England has become a pansexual pantomime are entirely true.

Cheers,

LSP

Bad Bishop

You have to feel sorry for Thomas Palermo. It's not every day that you go out for a bike ride and get killed by a hit-and-run woman bishop, but that's what happened in Baltimore on Saturday.

Assistant Maryland bishop, Heather Cook, knocked Palermo down in her SUV and didn't play the Good Samaritan. She did drive to her gated community residence, where she was followed by Moncure Lyon, who was determined to get the offending driver's license plate. Perhaps Heather had a guilty conscience, or maybe she saw that she'd been followed. Who knows; she did, however, return to the scene of the crime.

Palermo, a married father of two children, died of his injuries. Cook has a prior DUI conviction.

You can read all about it here.

LSP

Silent Running

One of the reasons I like Calgary is that it's like a science fiction movie. It even has a domed habitat with a tropical forest in it. Like on Silent Running.

The domed arcology is called the "Core," and you could shoot a movie there. Why do the people who walk through this place, shopping, eating, and reading books in a simulated rainforest, seem so content? 

Are they programmed that way? Is their nutrient system enhanced with mild euphorics? Or are the people here simply happy?

I don't know the answer, yet. But I do know that I like the Core and its inhabitants. I hope they reach their mission destination, wherever that it.

To the stars,

LSP

Sunday Snow!

Sometime during the night it began to snow and it hasn't stopped, yet. I'd forgotten what snow was, so I got up to have a cup of coffee and look at the wonder of it. All very magic of Kwanzaatide and they're predicting a lot more tomorrow, which is exciting to me, and a good incentive to look out on the winter wonderland from the fiery comfort of the Hyatt bar. A glass of something warming will be part of this.

But that's for the future. In the meanwhile, I enjoyed myself taking pictures of Stephen Avenue and Calgary's famous Tower, in the snow.

The Tower was lit up for Kwanzaa, which was a nice touch, I thought. I also noticed that the young Canadians who were ordering coffee at the hotel seemed diffident, as though they were apologizing for troubling the Croatian cashier with their purchase. That reminded me of being in England, where there's a tendency for people to cringe, bow and scrape before shopkeepers.

Of course Napoleon said that the English were a nation of shopkeepers and got soundly thrashed for his efforts.

I love the snow.

LSP

Scorned De Blasio Appears on Camera, with Hitler!

The disgraced cop-hating Mayor of New York, Bill De Blasio, has been caught on video with Adolf Hitler, the one-time Fuhrer of the 1000 Year Reich.

The evil dictator can be clearly seen, sitting to the right of the hated Mayor, as he addresses  the funeral of Officer Rafael Ramos. Hundreds of policemen turned their backs on the video image of Blasio, who is accused of having "blood on his hands."

Scorned

So is Adolf Hitler, who had been thought dead until his recent appearance with the scorned Mayor. 

Will the mad Nazi leader and his despised limolib, leftist ally, Bill De Blasio, be brought to justice?

We wait, impatiently.

LSP

Fly to Calgary

By longstanding tradition, I go to Calgary right after Christmas and stay at the Hyatt for a few nights. I like it there and every year they upgrade me by putting me on a higher floor. I like that too because of the view over Stephen Avenue and sunsets over the Rockies, which you can just see on a clear day.

Room with a View

But I didn't like getting up at 4 am to get a cab to DFW on Boxing Day. Maybe it's worth spending a little extra to get a more civilized flight. Still, it was very cheap and got me there.

Typical Canadian Street Scene

So did a near perfect Negroni at the bar of the St. Germaine hotel right 'round the corner from the Hyatt. I say near perfect only because it could have been a bit larger. I made up for that deficiency by getting two.

Cheers from the Land of the Ice and Snow.

And God bless Canada,

LSP

Busted!

Presented with no comment, via everyone's fave pagan. Why? if you have to ask...

Cheers,

LSP

Land of the Ice and Snow

It was a typical Christmas morning for me. Roosters crowing, dogs barking, Mexicans wearing Santa hats and getting in the Navidad spirit. I like all of that. Then I drove to Dallas, to spend Christmas with all the other ninjas in the DLC. I like that too.

And the table looks good, HQ style. I fly to the land of the ice and snow tomorrow. It's a tradition.

Have a great Feast and a Merry Christmas!

LSP

Felix Navidad!

Ho, ho, ho! Merry Christmas! Navidad music fills the air, which is crisp and the stars are bright, and that's what it's like, here in Texas.

God bless you all,

LSP

Almost Christmas

While you're all recovering from Festivus and getting ready for Kwanzaa, I'm gearing up for the first Masses of Christmas, fortified by Huevos Rancheros, strong coffee, and corn tortillas.

Excuse me?

Here's some Austin Farrer to reflect on before Mass:

“WHEN Mary laid Jesus Christ upon her knees, when she searched him with her eyes, when she fed him at the breast, she did not study to love him because she ought, she loved him because he was dear: he was her Son. His conception had been supernatural, perplexing, affrighting; it had called for faith in the incomprehensible, and obedience beyond the limit of human power. His nativity was human and sweet, and the love with which she embraced it was a natural growth, inseparable from the thing she loved. She was blessed above all creatures, because she loved her Maker inevitably and by simple nature; even though it needed the sword—wounds of the Passion to teach her fully that it was her Maker whom she loved. The Son of Mary is the Son of all human kind; we embrace him with the love of our kind, that we may be led up with Mary to a love beyond kind, a selfless love for the supreme Goodness, when we too shall have climbed the ladder of the cross.”

I love that -- the Farrer, not the random dancing priestess, obviously.

God bless,

LSP

Protesters Shut Down Episcopal Church

Furious New Yorkers are protesting against the Episcopal Church (TEC). Rumors that TEC is richer than a trainload of Nazi gold are entirely true false.

Maybe NYPD will go out on strike. Yes please.

Festivus!

LSP