FSW Blogosphere Challenge 2: Where are your priorities?
Duncan at Four Strong Winds posed the question: “If you were to suddenly become Prime Minister, and you had the potential to enact any policies you wanted (regardless of how “politically viable” they may or may not be), what would your top 3 priorities be, and how would you approach them?”
Here’s my response. Its unrefined, but whatever.
The first thing I’d do would be repeal the Constitution and replace it with something a bit more usable. As it stands, there are several major problems with the Constitution that I’d need to change immediately. First, remove all references to God. Secondly, I’d ensure that the Constitution can actually be amended (as it stands right now, it isn’t because really, can you ever seeing Alberta and Quebec agreeing on anything other than agreeing that the Feds are screwing them somehow?), to ensure we have a living document that can change as our country and the world changes.
The content in the Constitution would be your standard freedom-loving freedoms. Freedom of speech, press, religion, association, sexual orientation, etc. Give the right to vote to everybody, right to bear arms, etc.
I’d also slash the government. I’d really have to think on what I would consider ‘essential’ services, but Police and the Army would be one of the few remaining government agencies. I’d lower taxes to reflect the lower need of the government stealing your money. Obviously, some taxes would required to fund the remaining government programs.
While this is what I’d like to do, I realize that this sort of government would probably not work ‘overnight’, especially since Canadians feel entitled to many of the government programs that I’d eliminate. I just think that private development of these sorts of things would perform a better service.
An Election…
There’s an electing coming in Canada. I can’t bring myself to care.
I’ve been a long time advocate of participating in our democratic system, but in the past few federal elections, I’m finding it incredibly difficult to really place faith in the system. This change could be from my changing ideas about how a government should operate, but think for the most part, I’m finding that the party system in Canada really prevents me from voting the way I want to vote - for the person most qualified to represent my constituency.
I find that I have to vote for the party that fits within my ideals the most, which bothers me. There is no one party that adquately represents the desires I have in my elected official. In most cases, there are no candidates willing go against the party’s policy, so what am I to do?
While I was at the UofA, it was my opinion that you should ’show up’ and not mark anyone down on the ballot you recieved if you didn’t wish to vote for anyone. Now, I’m not sure that really is effective and worth an individual’s time.
For those that say, ‘you need to vote’, I’m finding myself beleiving more and more that the lesser of two evils is still evil. If an individual (or as I’ve already determined, Party) doesn’t meet my minimum criteria for support, how can I justify voting for them just because they meet more of the criteria than another? I can’t.
So, I’m stuck. For the first time in my voting career, I’m considering not voting in the Federal Election.
Much excitement!
I’m anxiously awaiting my order of Had A Glass 2009, which is the 2009 version of the book I recommended back in March. Based on the extremely high quality of the wines chosen from last year, I will have to say that it will be difficult for this book not to provide some excellent choices for wine.
Speaking of excellent choices in wine, I was incredibly lucky to get my hands on a couple bottles of Inniskillin ‘Discovery Series’ Chenin Blanc (2005). If you see this wine, buy it. It is incredibly tasty, but the supply is rather limited. With that said, Earl’s does have it on their wine list, so you can buy a bottle there.
In other news, I also purchased the Knights of the Old Republic Campaign Supplement for Star Wars Saga Edition. From my reading so far, it adds a great deal of information to increase the coolness of your game. The more I take a look at supplements and the like for SWSE, I’m finding that Wizards is doing an excellent job with the support for this title.
Finding the time
So, its been difficult to find the time to do everything I want to do lately, thanks to the new job, which keeps me very busy (which, I’m thankful for) and near full time school. I quite enjoyed my bi-weekly Star Wars games this summer and unfortunately, I’m not sure I’ll be able to continue that trend through the school year, which is disapointing, since it was alot of fun to play and really gave me a recharge from the stress of real life.
I’ll have to get into a groove here in the next few weeks and find some time. There’s alot of story to tell still.
Contributing to Society
Several weeks ago, I started a new job with Allarco Entertainment, which operates the premium subscription service Super Channel. Its been an excellent experience so far and I’ve finally been getting the accounting experience I’ve been looking for.
I’m also getting very excited about heading to Vegas. Emily and I have a lot of great things to do planned.
Wine as a Hobby
Earlier this year, I made the conscious decision to take up wine as a hobby. I consider myself fairly lucky on that front, as Emily’s parents are also enjoy wine, which gives me the opportunity to try a lot more than I’d normally have the opportunity to try. This also means I get to look over older issues of various wine magazines and the like when they are done with them. Saves me the money that I’d potentially spend on these sorts of things, especially given my track record with reading magazines.
However, I did invest in a book about wine (Wine for Dummies, if you must know), which I have read bits and pieces of to help me understand various wine terminologies as I come up to things I don’t quite understand. Even though I’ve been doing reading on wine and all that sort of thing - I’m still not all that sophisticated in my tasting of the actual products.
I can follow the ‘procedure’ for wine tasting, but when it comes right down to it, I’m not really that good at describing the taste or smell of the wine that I’m tasting. It could just be experience (or lack of). I don’t know. It doesn’t bother me all that much though. When it comes right down to it, either I like the wine or I don’t.
So, with that said, I’ve recently had a few wines that I’d like to recommend to you.
First is from Cono Sur’s Viognier (2007) from Chile. I really enjoyed this wine. I found it to be very easy to drink. Can’t beat the price either as it goes for around $12.
I also had an inkling for a Rose (and by that, I mean it was hot out and I didn’t really want a white). Emily picked out a bottle from Capcanes Montsant, Mas Donis Roset 2007 (~$23) from Spain for me, and I was quite pleased with it. I enjoyed drinking this wine, though I did note that the flavor could have been a bit fuller.
Finally, I think I’ve noted this wine before, but Gazela’s Vinho Verde (2007, Portugal) is really enjoyable. A slight carbonation makes the wine tickle your tongue in very good ways. Another easy drinking wine that is excellent for enjoying with people on a patio. Again, very affordable, ~$13.
So, I like my wine. Maybe I can’t tell you what flavors I taste or smell, but I don’t care and neither should you.
Dr. Horrible’s Sing Along Blog
So, I almost missed this.
Dr. Horrible’s Sing Along Blog
You have until the end of today to watch it. I recommend you do so.
My other writing
I haven’t had much going on that I’ve felt the need to post here about since my last update, but I’ve been fairly busy doing posts elsewhere or running games for people.
As I mentioned a few posts ago, I’ve started a new blog Reviews from a Dead Planet, where I will be posting my game reviews from now on. I’ve most recently reviewed Don’t Rest Your Head and prior to that was a review of the near final copy of Hot War. I think both games are very cool. If you want to know more, give the reviews a read.
Secondly, I’ve decided to run a series of interviews with a variety of independent gaming publishers over at Canadian Geek. The first in that series was posted today, which was an interview with Tom McLaughlin of Mind Storm Labs. I’ve got several in the hopper, so keep your eyes peeled there for more in the future.
Secrets of the Galaxy has had its third session and is going very well. The wiki is slowly being updated to reflect the ongoing actions of the campaign. I’m very excited about how well things are going so far and I look forward to seeing how things turn out.
Last night I ran my first session of Rippers, which was just character creation. It will be run as a drop-in game, so whomever shows, shows. It should be alot of fun, especially with the wide variety of characters we have so far.
So, that is pretty much all I’ve got right now.
Going to Vegas in 41 days or so.
Cherry Wine?
Recently, I picked up a bottle of Elephant Island Cherry (2007). That’s right, a wine made from cherries rather than grapes. In fact, all of Elephant Island’s products are made with fruits other than grapes.
I had heard good things through my interweb travels about this producer, so I decided I’d check them out. Originally, I was looking for the Black Currant (2006), due to the good review in my Top 100 under $20 book, however, I found the 2007 Cherry and Black Currant at Aligra in West Edmonton Mall. Intrigued by the Cherry, I opted for that bottle instead. I also picked up a bottle of Moselland Riesling Avantgarde (I can’t recall the Vintage), mostly because the bottle was too cool looking not to buy.
Before I get back to the wine, I’d like to note the enjoyment I received from shopping at Aligra Wine and Spirits. The individual that was working at Aligra was very helpful in helping me select a Scotch to purchase for my Dad for Father’s Day. He hasn’t received it yet, so I can’t vouch for the reliability of the advice. She did note that the bottle I did purchase was well received at the Scotch tasting they had a few days prior to my visit.
Anyway, the wine. I’m really unsure what to think. The first glasses I had was pretty average in my opinion. It tasted like cherries. I certainly wasn’t blown away. The next day, I had a couple more glasses. It was really tasty, I quite enjoyed drinking it. So, perhaps the food pairing the first night wasn’t quite right, or the pairing on the second night was perfect. I don’t really know. Maybe it tastes better as it sits open in the fridge (which I doubt). If you want to give something different a try, Elephant Island Cherry is definitely that. I don’t think I’ll be buying another bottle of this one, but I’m definitely still on the prowl for their other offerings.
Also, I’ve posted a new recipie, Stuffed Pork Chops. I hope you enjoy it, I certainly did.
Reviews from a Dead Planet
Its been recommended to me that I move my game reviews to a dedicated site, so I’m doing so. I’ll still post them here, but they will be posted on a ‘time delay’, so that the review site is the first stop for game reviews.
Here’s the link:
