Banff

I haven't been blogging for a few days due mostly to circumstances beyond my control. First, my mother-in-law and her boyfriend have been visiting. We decided to take them to Banff and Canmore as they had never been there before (strange, as they've been virtually everywhere else on earth). Do you have any idea what six hours in the car with your mother-in-law is like? Well, it's like that. It was a nice car trip except there was nothing to see but mountains and trees, mountains and trees, mountains and trees. The famed wildlife that is said to exist turned out to be one rather moth-bitten mountain goat lost on the highway. My wife informed us that it was a long-horned goat. Sigh.

After much contemplation I decided that Banff must be an Asian word that would freely translate as "tourist trap." The place is absolutely overrun with Asians. I say this not because I have anything against Asians but, rather, as a matter of fact. Asians everywhere, taking pictures, and more pictures. The streets of Banff, if you walk along them, are lined with shops of various kinds. They seem to be either mostly owned by Asians or at the very least feature Asian employees. Some speak passable English, some not so passable. For the amount of a downpayment on a house you can purchase a sweater knitted of Musk Oxen wool. There are also shops that sell fossils and rocks, interesting but also expensive. Then there is the Native Art which is not in my price range by a longshot. The shops that are not too expensive for me are too cheap for me, selling tons of Chinese made junk that apparently pleases the kids. As the main street of Banff is now completely torn up there is a nice layer of dust over everything. I think they are going to replace the street with the gold they make from the tourists. Everything is expensive: food, beer, wine, cocktails, gas, whatever. I had a shrimp (prawn?) cocktail for $18. I confess I thought it was a bargain: nine huge shrimp with a vodka laced sauce (if you know the price of those huge shrimp you will recognize a bargain). The view from the hotel is itself worth the price (as they well know).

Of course it is awesomely beautiful. The rockies viewed from Banff and Canmore are virtually unreal, towering as they do high above everything, a few of them still dotted with snow at this late summer day. Lake Louise maintains its beauty year after year although the glacier is noticeably shrinking.

I didn't write a blog on our first night there as I was too exhausted (mother-in-law syndrome). The next night (31st) I actually wrote a blog, or started to anyway, but was cut off because our 24 hour service stopped just as I started and it was too late to worry about renewing for another 24 hours. Upon our return yesterday afternoon, after another few hours in the car with you-know-who I was speechless. Besides, there wasn't much to say. Ho-hum, another Republican sex scandal. There have been so many of late I've lost interest. I did ponder just how wide a stance one has to have to reach down and pick up a piece of paper but, as Leno pointed out, "who picks up paper from the floor of a bathroom?" I thought that was a good question.

There is a lot of talk about attacking Iran. I guess Dick the Slimy is egging on our dimwitted pretend "war" President. Could even George Dubya possibly be that stupid? I fear he might be. We will soon hear from Bush's pet general (Petraeus) that the surge is working and we should "stay the course." Bush will ask for, and probably get, another 50 billion for his hobby "war." He likes it when his soldiers act bravely while being picked off for no good reason. I guess most the Democrats like it too. The vast majority of American citizens don't like it, but who cares what they like, they're just peasants. Tell them gays or Mexicans are going to take over and they'll do anything you want. Oh, and warn them all the time about the dangers of socialized medicine (like medicare, medicaid), that has worked for years and years. We wouldn't want to be like the rest of the industrialized world, would we? Of course not, socialized Commie bastards that they are. What do they know about health care?

I picked zillions of beans and the first of our corn. We had an absolutely scrumpious feast, a frenched rack of pork with all the wonderfully fresh accompaniments. I'm certainly glad I assigned my wife the duties of cooking (just keep 'em in the kitchen kicking and screaming, that's my motto).

My mother-in-law, as I have told you before, has automatically voted Republican all her life. But today, for the very first time, she said, "I voted for Bush but I didn't know he was going to turn out to be such an asshole" (she has a way with words). Bush is, of course, finished. Someone should tell him. He still thinks he's king (why shouldn't he if no one tells him differently).

LKBIQ:
"Criticism in the body politic is like pain in the human body. It is not pleasant but where would the body be without it?"
Sir Winston Churchill