michael bubble boy rant

i am going to make this quick, but i hate the guy. first of all they compare him to frank sinatra - NO FUCKING WAY! he doesn't have half the charisma, class or personality of frank, and lets not even joke about his voice. he's a native of vancouver, and I;ve heard from people that know him, that he's arrogant and egotistical. i just love the name, "boob ley" - its fucking BUBBLE!!!

The Pivot Legal Society

this is a very active organization that takes on cases that involving vancouvers homeless. what they have become however is an overzealous, attention seeking group of grandstanding lawyers who are interested only in creating melodrama to benefit their own attention seeking agenda.

their primary platform has been housing for low income earners, namely crackheads and junkies. and they have a very strong position on keeping affordable housing in the DTE for the crackheads. Here's my problem, why is there such a strong insistence from groups like these, and other radical left wing advocates of the junkies to keep them in the DTE?

Vancouver downtown areas are some of the most expensive real estate markets in Canada. The DTE is currently dotted with many low income properties. you can spot them a mile away. they are decaying, dirty filthy and attract drug dealers and all manner of bad seeds. now the radical left wing loonies, like to complain hi and dry about the condition the owners keep these buildings in...but let me ask you something. if you owned real estate in the DTE, and you were forced to rent it to crackheads at discount rates, crackheads who defecate, use drugs and destroy your apartment, would you spend money on remodelling it?

the other issue is money, why on earth would you spend money housing crackheads in expensive inner city real estate, when you could house 4 times as many in lower cost areas? why put these people on the doorstep of their vices and addictions? why put so many disaffected and challenged people together in one place? none of it makes any sense, but if you raise one question about any of this, you will be met with instant and swift barrage of abuse from a legion of social welfare advocates.

I agree people have a right to housing, but not housing wherever they want it....otherwise all of us would like to trade up to newer neighborhoods. if people are going to accept help and housing, they should do so on the terms and in the location that makes sense, and the DTE makes NO sense.

If the DTE is ever to change, and cast aside it's drug addicted alley ways and war zone image, we have to change the makeup of the residents. we have to remove the crackdens and so called "low cost housing" and replace it with families, young professionals, businesses and entertainment. (not methodone clinics and pharmacies and pawn shops).

Fugly News Readers?

Man does Canada have some fugly news/weather personalities. This is something that I have been griping about since I got here, but all you have to do is tune into the local news casts across the border and notice that there is a huge disparity in talent between here and there...and it's not only their looks, but also their wardrobe and basic presentation skills.

Gripe number 1 for me is Tamara Taggart. She takes the cake...i mean she isn't particularly ugly but she definitely isn't hot either, but what is repulsive is she acts like she is hot. her wardrobe is atrocious, i dont know who dresses her but she always looks like a grandma with some high waisted skirt and printed loose fitting top hugging her neckline.and her makeup  i have some friends who have had contact with her and apparently she's quite conceded as well, which makes her even more fugly.

take a look at fox seattles weather girl. (left) talk about hottie...talk about well put together. now i see girls around vancouver who look like this all the time, why dont we give them the weather role, after all it isn't rocket science.

Has anyone watched Loyd Robertson on CTV's newscasts?? Seriously the guy is a national news caster, and he sounds like a machine reading the cue cards infront of him. especially awkward are the forfced conversations he sometimes has with newscasters that are on location - surely someone else has noticed how fake his tone is when he asks questions. it's like he's dead, and someone installed robotic equipment which continues to animate certain parts of him along with a computer generated voice...i mean for fucks sake why not let a younger person have a turn and let this personality free geriatric retire or die....

Air Canada Aeroplan - the worst reward program in the business

That's right you heard me. Aeroplan is the WORST. And I know what you are thinking, especially you canadians who are fiercely proud of anything canadian, who the hell is he to make this claim? Well having lived on 4 continents and travelled monthly for the past 9 years internationally, I am more than qualified.

I have been a member of Qantas rewards programs, Singapore Airlines, American Airlines, British Airways - and the best United's Mileage Plus.

I should start by clarifying that I also passionately hate Air Canada. Everything from their service, planes and prices and I almost never fly them except when I am flying domestically in Canada, which is rarely. I fly United mostly in North America, for 2 reasons - 1. Economy Plus. 2. Mileage Plus. Having star alliance gold, and being Premier Executive with United has perks - many. They really know how to take care of their most regular customers. For one the extra leg room in economy plus is amazing...it makes all the difference. Secondly the tier bonus miles I collect mean I double all my miles, but the MOST IMPORTANT THING - is what happens when you actually want to use those miles. And this is where Aeroplan fuck you royally in the ass.

Just try and redeem a flight with these guys. I regulary redeem north american flights for my wife when she comes for a trip with me. With United it's almost never a problem and I never use more than 25000. I just attempted to redeem a flight with Aeroplan 3 months ahead of travel and i can't find a flight to LA for less than 55,000 miles!!!!

I am forced to maintain an Aeroplan account because no Canadian Credit card gives you Mileage Plus points, and I can't get a US Mileage Plus account (not being a resident and not having a US SIN number). So I get mileage plus miles purely from my CIBC Visa card (incidentally this is the best credit card in Canada bar none). So every year I get around 60000 miles on that card.

Last time I redeemed them it was for a family trip to Hawaii - I cannot tell you how much of a nightmare it was. First of all, because of my infant daughter we had to have paper tickets issued...what a fuckup that ended up being. When I rescheduled, we had to actually travel to the airport and have Air Canada reissue the tickets - can you believe the bitch at the airport complained to me because it took her 30mins to do the paperwork, and told me it was Aeroplans fault and how bad they were - and she was an Air Canada employee...

by the way, Air Canada have nothing to do with Aeroplan, they are completely independant entities, most of the time, Aeroplan will book you on United flights if you are redeeming miles into US flights, (this from the Air Canada employee, because their flights are cheaper!)

when I redeem flights with united, not only are they more likely to be available, but they are ALWAYS cheaper...ALWAYS.

So what else do i get from United's program? I get red carpet club membership, free drinks food and upgrades...in addition, i get access to a special phone number which gets answered quickly no matter when i call. now dont get me wrong, United's planes aren't any better and their people are ok...but the mileage program the  extra legroom and the perks mean I will avoid Air Canada at all cost.

And as a bonus i dont have to listen to those annoying announcements we are forced to suffer in french, that bugs the shit out of me....

Mitsubishi Delicas - What the fuck?

Do you notice these fugly cars around Vancouver more and more frequently? They are imported Mitsubishi Delicas and for some unfathonable reason there seem to be a rash - and by rash i mean an annoying irritation, of people out there who want them or believe that they are somehow cool.

My biggest problem with these cars is they are right hand drive, and therefore incredibly dangerous. i don't believe it should be legal to drive right hand drive vehicles here, given the insane regulations I had to go through to import a brand new left hand drive infiniti, bumper standards, daytime lights,

also, you can tell by looking at these things that the center of gravity is way too high. this effects it's roll rating and most definitely makes the vehicle more dangerous. What is the appeal with these things? It's not a minivan, it's not an SUV, most SUV's have more room and have the 4x4 capability.