And now we juxtapose: "Kissing Babies"

Harper:

Ignatieff:

The Rt. Hon. Stephen "Capt. Canada" Harper

SWEET PIC... PM Harper sitting in the cockpit of a CF-18. There's no one else I'd rather have at the controls of this great nation of ours.

Iffy the Geek?

Friend posted this on his Facebook the other day. With the Liberals still refusing to properly apologize for their tasteless assasination of Harper photo (come on guys, the "non-apology apology" you threw up [pun] there just doesn't cut it), I figure that turnabout is fair play... and we don't even need Photoshop for this one...

I mean, come on Iggy... what were you thinking? A green tie DOES NOT go with a blue shirt! Even I know that! Of course, this photo was likely taken back in the Reform days... maybe he was just flying his true colours? (note to Iggy, we spell "colour" with a "U" up here...)

However think my totally non-political sister-in-law summed it up best when she saw the pic... "bahahahahhahahahhaha......hahahaha"

Nuff said.

When a photo op is just a photo op

So Warren posted a photo in an effort to smear Minister Kennedy today, and got a digital tongue lashing from Maclean's Kady O'Malley for his efforts. (at least I'm assuming he's who she's refering too).

Sometimes, a photo op is just that... a photo op. I'd like to take this opportunity to post a few examples...

Exhibit A - A friend posing with a former Cabinet Minister (oops... how'd that anti-Dion shirt get past the guards and into that shot?):

Exhibit B - Me posing with the Ontario Provincial Green Party Leader:
FULL DISCLOSURE: I had a chance a few weeks ago to snag a shot with Federal Green Party Leader Elizabeth May, as it was just her and I in the hallway for a moment... but I kept walking instead)

Exhibit C - Me posting with a Federal Opposition Party Leader (with whom I share little ideologically, other than the fact that we actually hold ideological positions, unlike our Liberal "friends"):
(a co-worker saw this photo the other day, as I have it posted above my desk, along with one of my pics with the PM... her comment was, "I see someone has been cutting and pasting photos!" Pretty much floored her when I told her that no, in fact, those were original photographs)

Exhibit D - Some unnamed blogger posing with a former Canadian Prime Minister and his wife, alongside a philandering and nearly impeached former President of the United States:
(only copy of the photo I could snag online was one that was a PhotoShopped one from a conservative blog with captions that I didn't want to post here...)

See where I'm going with this? Sometimes, a photo is just a photo. Posting the "embarrassing" photo was a bit of a stretch, and I'm sure it will come right back at them... as the article linked to by Kady points out (an article she also decries, it should be noted), the ON PC "President" in question was a former Liberal supporter. Here's hoping he didn't manage to snag a similar photo of himself with a certain Premier of Ontario at a local event, eh?

First local political bash of the year!

For all those in the KW-Cambridge-Guelph area, good news! Guelph's annual Sir John A Dinner is coming up in just over two weeks!

This has been, by far, the best local event I've attended over the last few years for getting to know other local Conservatives. (it's where I've met folks who've ended up being key contacts later on) The food is fantastic (no rubber chicken dinners), the speakers have always been thought provoking and entertaining, and the company is supurb year after year!

The timing of the event couldn't be better... with it being one of the most climatic weeks in Canadian political history (the Obama inaguration just ten days prior, then the Throne Speech, then the Budget, and likely Obama's visit to Parliament), it's going to be a great way to cap of the week! Take this as my RSVP... I'll be there with bells on!

Here's hoping the Guelph EDA puts on a great show once again!

Guelph film maker is runner up in Coldplay video contest!

Congratulations to Martin Buzora, an independant Canadian film maker, who's video "Revolution 1789" earned "Runner Up" status in Coldplay's "Lost" video competition.


Of the 1000+ entries, there was supposed to be only one winner. However, it looks like they came to an impasse in the judging, so they said this on their website: "But after much discussion and deliberation, we came to an agreement. We have a winner and a runner-up."

I my books, that means it was a tie... who knows, maybe the tossed a coin to decide? Martin, congratulations on your fantastic video! And thanks again for the privilege of taking part!

(anyone recognize this stick wielding goon? There's a good shot of my brother at the 2:48 mark, second soldier from the right, with me popping up here and there between 2:45 and 3:05)

Brief post-Convention photo post

Have a few moments to share some photos from the Convention, so enjoy!

First off, a couple of bloggers met up over the course of the weekend...

Conservative bloggers PomoChristian, Atheist Conservative, and myself. Just for the record, Atheist Conservative and I happen to be on the same page on an awful lot of issues. Was cool meeting the both of you guys!

Dr. Roy with, amm, I forget her name, but she's another blogger.

Steve Taylor and Darryl Wolk.

A view of the Convention floor from the blogger's section. I wasn't up there, I was on the floor as a delegate, but I stopped by to say "Hi" to Steve Taylor, Dr. Dawg, and Danielle.

Of course, no Convention is complete without some evening get-togethers. The Prarie Caucus threw what had to be the biggest and best bash of the whole weekend, renting out an entire three story bar. It was a very cool setup. Lots of folks to talk to, so I ended up looking at my watch, and realized it was 2:30am... the time had just flown on by!

Lookie who I found! Not to many folks were talking to her (not surpisingly), so I at least figured I should say hello, and introduced myself. She graciously agreed to the photo, thanks Ms. Jennings! I think she's completely wrong on many, many issues and levels, and I think she was bold-faced lying at the press scrums she held at the Convention, but hey, she's just trying to put forward her vision of what she thinks would make this a better country. You have to at least show her some respect for that. (though I have one delegate from a neighbouring riding half jokingly chew me out for taking the photo with her...)

Then there's this other Liberal who showed up... Danielle Takacs, who galloped off with us Tories to Winnipeg for the weekend. Hey, I'm a nice guy, why wouldn't I stop over and say hello to a fellow blogger? That's my voting card she's holding, showing the red side... the "NO" vote. Thought it would be a somewhat appropriate photo... perhaps casting a "NO" vote for the entire Convention? After reading her posts though I did think to myself, "Did we attend the same Convention?" Had a good chance to talk to Dr. Dawg too, nice guy. Was able to help him with one computer problem, not the other one though... sorry dude!

Of course, the protesters showed up... at least a few of them.

No way was I going to miss snapping this classic stereotypical photo... a lefty protester driving a beat up Volvo wagon!

You gotta love the hypocrisy of the left... attacking Harper for holding the very same position as their little darling, President-elect Obama. Try this one on for size guys...

When I see you guys carrying these signs at protests, I'll stop calling you hypocrits.

And I'd like to dedicate this final photo to my regular reader, MW... take that, sucka. ;-)

Gotta watch out for those pesky young Tories

You never know where those fun loving young Tory whiper-snappers are going to turn up... right Mr. Dryden?


Oh, you folks don't even know half of all the fun and games from today... this one's just a tease. I'm waiting for more details on a bit of a party crash that occured today, and I'm REALLY hoping the video turned out...

As they say... "Stay tuned, film at 11".

UPDATE: Welcome Liberals! You know, some guys really need to lighten up... it was a harmless campaign prank guys. Guess I need a disclaimer or something... "No Liberals were harmed in the taking of this photo"

Just hangin with some friends

You know, like Prime Minister Harper, and a few hundred of our mutual friends.

So much for being non-partisan

Man, this guy really knows his stuff... he's a really fun guy to just sit and talk shop with.

"Know your enemy"

(here's the close up...)


I don't know who said it first, but it's a well known adage for when one goes to war. So today, I took that old advice, and even looked him in the eye.

So I finally met Mr. Dion the other day. Nice guy and all, took lots of time to meet and talk to people... but I still don't ever want him to win the keys to 24 Sussex.

On a side note, in keeping with my "non-partisan" side, a bunch of young Liberals and I were smiling and remenicing on how we together helped to ensure that MMP died a quick death last year. And yes, they all knew exactly who I was... actually, we were laughing because more people seem to know me as "Christian Conservative" than by my real name! (See? I'm not the rabid partisan some people think I am!)

I tried to get pic taken with Mr. Dion, and a Liblogger had my camera all ready to go, but the batteries died... D'OH!!! At least I managed to get the above shot with some new batteries.

Everyone now... "Awwwww...."

Politicians may not be kissing babies anymore, but you gotta admit, this is one pretty cool photo of Prime Minister Harper making a connection with a future voter!

This one's for BigCityLib

I found it kinda funny that back on the very same day that he took a public run at her, I had the opportunity to meet this very nice young lady... and wish her all the best in her efforts to win Mississauga East-Cooksville.

(for the record, I'm aware of the controversy over her nomination... and I don't think it's a big deal)

And yes... I'm aware that I look like a total geek in this pic... yikes...

Microsoft Server 2008 Launch

Got to go to the official launch of Windows Server 2008 today. Pretty cool... they actually gave everyone in attendance a free FULL copy of the OS... not a trial.

The folks at Microsoft also informed us that they're sending us all a full fledged copy of Windows Vista Ultimate, for our own personal use... I get the impression that they're trying to encourage more IT folks to get on board with the new OS, since we're the ones that make all the recommendations to the higher ups that authorize the upgrade budgets.

Anyway, ran into some guy today... apparently, he's the Chief Operating Officer for some obscure software company based out of Redmond, Washington, and says he works with a couple guys named Steve and Bill...

The King and I

King Ralph, that is...

(hey man... nice tie...)

Dinner with Ralph Klein - Jan 25, 2008

This just in... I bet that's gonna be a blast! I'm planning to be there, already booked!

Back from Algonquin

I'll let the photos do most of the talking...
Here's a Trudeau-esque panaramic canoe shot of me paddling my canoe... Algonquin really is a beautiful place.

The campsite.

We didn't spend as much time on the water as we'd hoped, but got a bunch of shots in while out there. My wife took this great shot of me, might use it for my new MSN/Facebook pic.

My wife took this great shot "accidentally"... it wasn't what we were going for, but it turned out really cool!

Beautiful shot of my wife out on the water in our canoe.

Another cool shot my wife took. (I'm typically critical of photos of myself, so I'm glad she got some good ones)

Some experimentation with colours, really brought out the wood... another ode to Trudeau. (he came here often, so I hear) It was a Trudeau themed week, as I was reading "Trudeau and our Times, Volume II: The Heroic Delusion"... finished the whole thing too, all 400+ pages.

As I said, Algonquin is a beautiful place. Here's the view from one of the trails off Highway 60.

Had a great week. Glad to be back though, will have some posts based on this weeks thoughts over the next little while. (nothing more today, I have a funeral to attend)

CC's Excellent US Adventure... with pics

Yea, corny title... I'M BACK! Had a great trip in the US of A, attending a missions training conference, and took a side trip to "The District"... first time to DC!

Our missions conference took us just outside of Gettysburg, so we couldn't pass up taking a whirlwind visit... the place is HUGE, takes a full day to really do it justice. Photos of two highlights...

General Lee's Headquarters, occupied after the first day of the battle, July 1, 1863, and vacated on July 4.

The "High Water Mark"... the target of the Confederate advance on the key day of the battle, and the spot marking where their advance was halted. This one piece of ground is one of the key spots in world history... had the Union soldiers failed to hold this grove of trees, and the rest of this hilltop, our entire world would be radically different.

Then, it was off to Washington, DC... first stop, the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum.

The Apollo 11 Command module... as viewed from the heatshield side.

Now THIS is a WMD... a Soviet long range ICBM, handed over to the US (and disarmed).

And this is one of the "original" WMDs... a Nazi V2 rocket, captured in Belgium and brought back to the US to take apart and figure out... the information from which became a critical part of the Saturn series of rockets which put the above Apollo 11 module in orbit around the moon.

Then, it was on to the political tour... this is "Christian Conservative", coming to you from Capitol Hill... don't I look thrilled? (no clue why I'm not smiling in most of my pics...)

My buddy George wasn't home, so he couldn't vouch for me at the gates, so they wouldn't let me in... had to settle for a pic outside... ran into a couple of Canuck here from Thornhill... should have reminded them to vote for Peter Kent...

They say that perspective is everything...

Now here's a pretty cool shot... who's that sitting in the car?

And while driving over to the next stop, I found proof postive that Democrats are a little slow... check the bumper sticker...

News flash... they lost over two years ago... GET OVER IT!

And what trip would be complete without a little momento?

Mmm... coffee tomorrow will be extra yummy...