It was an interesting Bloggers Hotstove yesterday. We didn’t expect it to turn into a single-issue discussion, but our talk about the Supreme Court nomination snowballed, and we had a freewheeling discussion about partisan politics, polarization and the quality of our politicians. I think it’s well worth listening to, and you can pick it up here
A fair chunk of my blogging time has been spent on Transit Toronto this past weekend, with the (rather crazy, in my opinion) kerfuffle over the TTC aggressively protecting its intellectual trademarks by going after a blogger who’d posted an anagrammed map of the subway system. This is an issue that has started to snowball in the blogosphere as well. I myself can’t help but shake my head. As hard as the TTC has to fight for riders and funding, how is it that the legal department could pull such a move that would garner them oodles of bad publicity?
Also, after mentioning the launch of the lawsuit between blogging pundits Warren Kinsella and Mark Bourrie, I should note that, after much initial huffing and puffing on both sides, the suit has been successfully and quietly settled out of court. It seems that cooler heads prevailed, which probably both sides appreciated.
And congratulations to the Canadian team for their excellent showing at this year’s Winter Olympics. You said you wanted third place in the medal standings, and that’s what you got; our best showing ever and just four medals shy of first place Germany. We are well within reach of topping out when the games come to Vancouver in 2010.
So the Men’s hockey team wasn’t able to bring home the gold. So what? This country is about more than just hockey. There’s women’s hockey as well. And it just goes to show, talent doesn’t mean everything, especially in the face of teamwork. The Swiss team that gave us our first shocking victory played 100 games together before they headed for the Olympics. The Canadian women’s hockey team were also that much of a team. It may be time to ditch the pros and go back to the amateurs, as the games were originally supposed to be played.
(Update): My apologies to Warren Kinsella for misspelling his name. This is what blogging is all about: writing without a net. Or, as the case may be, a proofreader.
Quick Hits
- How Microsoft Would Redesign the iPod Package. Watch this now, it’s bloody brilliant!