Iron Man was one of my favourite superhero movies, so I’m eagerly awaiting the sequel – and hopefully it’s not one of those sequels that sucks, but one of those sequels that’s even better than the original (a la Empire Strikes Back). Seeing the War Machine armour gives me hope…woo hoo!
For those that don’t know, a “Toonie” is a Canadian two-dollar coin. Can you really run a promo called “Toonie Tuesday” and have the item cost $2.79 plus tax? That’s $2.93 in Alberta after our 5% GST tax. Kind of makes your business look stupid…
I’m not a big fan of PETA or the extremes that they sometimes go to – though this breaks my heart and I’m glad PETA is shining a light on it – but I truly love animals and hate to see any animal of any shape or size mistreated. I’m not an extreme animal rights activist – I eat meat and wear leather – but the idea of going to a circus makes me feel very uncomfortable. The idea of an animal being trained purely for entertainment doesn’t sit well with me.
I’m OK with zoos though because I think zoos are a vital part of creating a bond between people and animals, and when people care about something, they’ll try to protect it. If someone has never seen a bear up close in a zoo, they might not care about protecting the bear’s natural habitat. In some ways, the animals in a zoo are “taking one for the team” – they’re sacrificing their freedom in order to serve as a bridge between humans and animals in order for that bond to be created. I’m excited about taking Logan to the Calgary Zoo someday, because I want to instill in him the wonder and beauty of the animal world. But a circus? Nope, I won’t be taking Logan to a circus – unless it’s a Cirque-type show where people are the ones doing all the tricks. Animals don’t belong in a circus.
This is what I awoke to see on the morning of November 15th. Such beauty in Creation…full gallery here.
As a person of faith myself, I respect the right for others to believe what they wish – but I also believe that everyone should look at faith systems with a critical eye, asking questions, and seeking the truth. Scientology is a religion of secrets…and this video exposes how truly bizarre some of those secrets are.
I feel like such an idiot. Today I was leaving for my flight to Seattle – to attend the Microsoft Mobius 2009 event – and my flight was leaving at 1:30pm. Not boarding, but leaving the ground. I have a NEXUS pass, which allows me to breeze through US customs quickly, so an hour is more than enough time for me to get my boarding pass, go through US customs, then go through security and walk to the departure gate. In fact, I can typically do that in 15 to 20 minutes at the Calgary airport – giving me 20+ minutes sitting at the gate waiting for the plane to board. I’ve always thought I have more important things to do than sit around at an airport, so I tend to cut it close.
Well, today I cut it a little too close…I arrived at the Calgary airport at 12:32 PM, and was at the Horizon/Alaska gate by 12:36 PM with my US customs card completed. There was no one there, so I went over to the next gate to ask how I could find someone to check me in for the flight. I was directed to the Horizon/Alaska office 50 feet away. I walked in, asked for someone to check me in for the flight, and was told that was impossible – the gate was closed. My jaw fell open and worked silently for a moment, then I sputtered “But…but…I must missed it by only a few minutes! There’s really no one that can check me in? They informed me that Horizon/Alaska closes the gate exactly 60 minutes before the flight leaves, and that once the gate is closed, there’s no way to check baggage – so if I wanted to make this flight, I’d have to go with carry-on only. There was another flight leaving at 6pm today, and if I wanted I could exchange my ticket for that flight at no charge. Those were my only two choices. Continue reading Oh, So They Really Do Shut Down The Gate An Hour Before The Flight Leaves?
Earlier this year, there were a couple of discussion threads started in the Canadian Business forums about Concrete Equities. The threads were full of useful information, and I posted in them several times. Curiously, right around the time that Vincenzo De Palma had his lawyers threaten to sue me for libel, the threads in the Canadian Business Forums were deleted. I don’t know why they were deleted – in fact a post I made there asking what happened was deleted – but it’s not hard to see the reasons why. Someone contacted me earlier this week about this topic; they’ve created a blog with all of the posts originally made to those Canadian Business Forum discussion threads about Concrete Equities. It makes for some interesting reading!
As I mentioned in this previous blog post, for one year I was a promissory note holder with Wealthstreet here in Calgary. We loaned Wealthstreet the money, and got it back with 10% interest on top, and that was the end of it. They asked us if we wanted to re-invest it, and we declined. Others chose to re-invest, or invested for the first time within the past year, and now with Wealthstreet shutting their doors the holders of those promissory notes are wondering what they can do to get their money back. The building that Wealthstreet formerly occupied was purchased by a numbered company owned by Dave Jones, meaning it’s an asset with real value. If you are a holder of a promissory note from Wealthstreet and would like to get organized to take action, please send an email to ***@***. This email address does not go to me – that email address forwards to someone who is a current promissory note holder who is interested in hearing from other promissory note holders who want to take collective action.
UPDATE: The above email address no longer works. The person to whom it went has informed me that she’s no longer seeking other promissory note holders; she’s got a group of them together and they’re taking collective action.
For those investors that haven’t yet been contacted, here’s the time and location of the next meeting for Concrete Equities investors:
Ernst & Young Town Hall Meeting
Nov. 10th, 2009, 7:00 PM
Telus Convention Centre
120-9th Ave. S.E. Calgary
Exhibition Hall D / E & Annex
I’ll be there, and am cautiously optimistic based on the tone of the email sent out by the steering committee.