Comments for Flotsam and Jetsam

Comment on Of Green Fees and Grilled Cheese. by Cheryl

Cheryl — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 20:37:05 +0000

What I don’t understand is that both Henderson (in Oak Bay) and Juan de Fuca (in… Colwood? View Royal?) seem to be doing just fine with similar green fees — Henderson is dirt cheap. So what gives?

Comment on Complexity of Meat by Cheryl

Cheryl — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 20:28:54 +0000

Well, I deliberately turn away, but that is part of the luxury of living in a society where we can exchange money for services, ie. I do not have to do the service of the butchering if I can instead pay for that service. Granted, my preference is to support local farms and our butcher does that so we pay them to source the meat and prepare it so we don’t have to.

Comment on Complexity of Meat by Cheryl

Cheryl — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 20:27:02 +0000

I know. I’m just squeamish… you recall I leaven the room whenever you deal with crabs.

Comment on Of Green Fees and Grilled Cheese. by Tim

Tim — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 16:32:24 +0000

Since the idea of public amenities is now no longer ideologically acceptable, even amenities like golf courses which are highly associated with the middle class have to go. Since they’ve already made a point of it not being profitable, unless some international golf course company can apply some kind of special profit-making methodology like robot greenskeepers (or non-status Mexican ones), it’s going to become development land. Which likely means sorrow and disruption for everyone in the Cook-Cedar Hill neighbourhood.

Comment on Of Green Fees and Grilled Cheese. by Cheryl

Cheryl — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 16:07:00 +0000

I know. I was surprised when, of all things, the Oak Bay News revealed so much of the problem here; the TC and tv news have basically blamed the lack of golfers — and it’s true, the numbers have dropped, but that is in part due to (if my math is right) three new golf courses opening in the past 5 years. My guess is that (a) there is a limited supply of golfers and (b) it’s a luxury that can be removed from one’s budget in these “tough economic times.” But, the real challenges here are infrastructure: the irrigation (likely the CRD pushed for this to reduce water usage — and we know how that is rewarded: higher water prices!) and projected repairs and upgrades. It seems like they were still budgeting for an income from their peak usage 10 years ago (71,000 rounds) but that has dropped by about 40 percent to only 42,000 rounds. To try and get more golfers, they reduced the fees but clearly that did not help. Now with the barn doors wide open and the horses miles away they are they discussing a new lock for the doors.

Comment on Of Green Fees and Grilled Cheese. by Mike DeWolfe

Mike DeWolfe — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 15:51:37 +0000

The Municipality of Saanich and Frank Leonard have let this problem simmer for FIVE years without addressing it through an increase in green fees. It’s great that problems get buried in the year leading up to an election and then exhumed a month or so later. Like Victoria, they come up with this surprise reveal a couple months after winning an election when they are safest; and the fickle voters will forget 32 months later when politicians mug for photos and votes.

Comment on Complexity of Meat by Chair

Chair — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 19:03:39 +0000

What disturbs me most about industrial meat situation, even more than the way these animals are treated, is the way the average person is willingly, if not deliberately turning their eyes away from the process.

Comment on Complexity of Meat by Mike DeWolfe

Mike DeWolfe — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 07:47:26 +0000

When I used to trap crabs, I thought it was really important to catch them and kill them. It made a linkage between my life and the life I was taking. We’re awash in bacteria. Plants are living creatures too. Creatures of all sizes are consumed as part of how we continue our lives.

Comment on Steve Martin, Supergenius. by Cheryl

Cheryl — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 18:30:57 +0000

Oh, that must have been maddening for him!

I do think he uses his slapstick skills to keep his bank account full; there are several other actors like that, who move almost effortlessly between big-budget/low-brow movies and indie-films. I think these are the people who understand acting as a career and I have much more respect for them than say, Eddie Murphy who got a fat suit and suddenly only wanted to make the stupidest movies ever conceived — like he stopped thinking about the audience who loved Raw and Beverly Hills Cop.

Comment on Steve Martin, Supergenius. by brian

brian — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 18:16:33 +0000

I like Steve Martin a lot, he is very intelligent and has amazing range. I think he is one of those actors who will do things just for money, so he can pursue his own interests – hence his appearing in crap like Pink Panther and Cheaper by the Dozen, movies like this will give him the $$$ that he can use to make something genuinely interesting or helpful.

Not everyone gets this though: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/02/nyregion/02refund.html?_r=1&scp=2&sq=Steve Martin&st=cse

captcha = “irritation”. Too much!