Mike's Bloggity Blog

>Screw Hong Kong, now that I’m back I finally get to settle into things that make me happy.  Not squatting, Corn Pops and American Idol.

>Also available on Calgary Herald’s The Q

This week the issue of banning cell phones while driving in our prosperous province has once again risen like a perennial flower in one of the cities gardens. But like a beautiful rose bush, it is a great idea in principal but give it some time and some uneducated shmuck and his 72 friends will step all over it for no reason.

How else would you explain Ed Stelmach’s simply ridiculous stance against the issue that would save countless lives and dollars every year.

Perhaps the most frustrating thing about Stelmach’s stubbornness on the issue of the cell phone ban is his reasoning. He argues that if we were to ban cell phones we would also have to ban eating in the car and listening to the radio. And while I would gladly rejoice at the idea of not having to listen Vibe 98.5 as much as the next guy, Ed is simply missing the point. No one is asking him to ban those other things. Driving and talking on your cell phone is a distraction. Plain and simple. You have one less hand on the wheel for a continuous amount of time. It’s doesn’t get more dangerous than that. And what about texting or standard cars? Why not just ban cell phones? Why even take the risk?

I’m no saint. I’m perhaps one of the guiltiest people for talking on my cell phone while driving. I’ll call anyone when I’m driving. I’ll argue with my mom. Check in with my roommate. Call a long lost friend. I don’t know why I do it, but I know it’s wrong. But I’m also one of the first to agree that it has to go.

Which raises another point. Ask around and you’ll be hard pressed to find any driver that doesn’t agree with the ban. In fact in a recent poll 87% of Albertans agreed with the idea of a cell phone ban. If Ed is going to argue that we gave him 72 seat Majority Government for a reason, how is he going to argue with 87%? You can’t argue with a percentage like that. Unless you are my mother, she’ll argue with you about anything.

Government reports or not, everyone knows that talking on your cell phone while behind the while is both dangerous and stupid. How else do you explain why three other provinces have already banned it. (Mike’s Bloggity Blog Blob shout out to Nova Scotia, Quebec and Newfoundland and Labrador!)

The point is simple. Ed Stelmach has never been able to make a bold stance on anything besides his precious oil sands. (Thanks for the $1.25/litre gas by the way). So we shouldn’t be surprised that he won’t stand up and ban the use of cell phones. By not passing the bill Stelmach and his government should be blamed for every death on Alberta roads caused by chatty distracted drivers. There is a simple way to save innocent lives; Stelmach is just too busy singing along to Britney to hear it.

>And the producers of every teen drama rejoice.  No longer will they have to rely on One Republic, Augustana, The Fray and Kelly Clarkson.

>
Today I got this really cool email and I wanted to share it with all of you, because I think that Kids Help Phone is one of Canada’s most important charities out there and there has never been an easier way to help them out.

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Dear Lauren Conrad,

>Everyone knows that I am addicted to reality TV. Whether it’s the Hills, The Real World, the short lived Nashville or the long forgotten The Lofters. It doesn’t even matter if it’s good reality TV, I’ll watch. Well actually, even I have to draw the line at Life of Ryan. But for the most part if there are cameras and somebody leading what can be perceived as a dramatic life, you better believe I’ll be there watching with my Lays Wavy Original chips and glass of milk.

But I’m in the minority. People are turning their backs on the reality genre and I’ve had to start hiding my secret shame. The summer months are an especially hard time for my addiction as most people look down on someone sitting on their couch watching other people live out their lives as opposed to actually living out my life.

So I was really excited when I read about a new movie coming to theatres this summer. It’s called American Teen and it is a documentary about the senior year of 6 students graduating from a high school in Warsaw, Indiana. While a documentary isn’t exactly a reality show, meaning it probably doesn’t have a script, it will definitely have to be my fix.

This is how I see the conversation between my roommate and I going this summer:

me: hey Alison, I’m going out.
alison: really? like leaving the apartment? in the sun?
me: yeah!
alison: to do laundry?
me: heck no, it’s not the first of the month.
alison: so like…i can turn the TV off?
me: um…i guess yeah. gently.
alison: when will you be back?
me: 90 minutes…depending on the previews
alison: previews? where are you going?
me: um no where. out.
alison: ok….bye?

I’ll totally have her fooled. Unless she reads this. Crap.

Anyway here is the trailer for American Teen, which opens July 25.

>So a couple of weeks ago this link was sent to me. It is from the University of Calgary’s Student Newspaper The Gauntlet. It is an interesting piece and if I’m going to be honest, I couldn’t tell if it was making fun of me or complementing me. It turns out after reading it over and over, it’s making fun of me and my live blogging that I do for the Calgary Herald sometimes.

But still it has to be one of the funniest things I have ever seen. And what’s that old expression: Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

I’m very flattered.

>I’ve now begun settling back into life in Calgary after my trip to Asia. The jet lag isn’t as bad as I thought it would be, actually I’m kinda opposite of everyone I know, because it hit me a lot harder going over there than it did coming back.

But I also hold my pencil like a left handed person, I write my letters the opposite way, I snore on my stomach and I have never thrown out a magazine. So I guess I can just add opposite jet lag sufferer to the list.

Since getting back on Thursday, I have been doing a lot of number crunching. Both budget and time. And here’s what I come up with:

While I was away for the past 15 days (half the time of the winner of Survivor):

-30 cms of snow not shoveled.
-10 pounds lost. yes, you read that right. 10. Suck it Alison Sweeney.
-Money spent? Yeah. I can’t reveal that for tax purpases.
-4 pirated TV shows on DVD purchased in Beijing. 3 seasons of Battlestar and 1 of Grey’s.
-17.5 hours of TV missed
(Lost*, Samantha Who x 2, The Hills x 2, Grey’s Anatomy*, Scrubs x 3, 30 Rock x 3, The Office x 3, Desperate Housewives x 2, Brothers and Sisters, Ugly Betty*, American Idol x6)
*I was technically back but not awake.
-2 movies watched on plane ride home (August Rush and Juno)
-3 shows watched on plane ride home (Ugly Betty x2, La Job-Quebec’s version of the Office)
-969 is the amount of pictures taken during the entire trip. I have put some up on Facebook. I have burned others. Again for tax purposes.
8 is the number my mom said for the scale on which she missed me. The highest being 10. An 8. And she thought about it too.

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>I just wanted to give a special Birthday shout out to my big sister Natasha!!!

Well technically her birthday is Thursday, but it’s Thursday in Hong Kong, so I’m saying happy birthday now!

You are all sorts of amazing and thank you so much for always picking up the phone…or at the very least returning my calls. Oh and congrats on the amazing year you’ve had already. So so so so proud to have you in my life!