The Chameleon

2005 was the hottest year on record and while Toronto did have a cold spell for a week or two overall it was one of the mildest winters in recent memory. I think it is a little shortsighted to say it's all a coincidence.

I know, why is it always like that? I mean if the #2 won't even make he payoffs something is really wrong. Every other division seems normal though? Strange.

So the Raptors are now tied for first in their division with New Jersey. This is excellent. However when reading the stats I noticed our winning % is only .419! So the leading team in our conference (The Eastern Atlantic) is not even playing .500 ball. It seems like our division is the weakest every year. Why is that? I mean we were in any other division we'd be in trouble.. Thoughts......

Yikes! I would hope this would silence all those "global warming nay sayers".

Agreed. Alan Arkin who plays the heroin snorting grandfather is priceless.

Happy new year to all you politico-rant-aholics! I consider myself one too....

1. Find a new job that utilizes more of my music training & creativity... 2. Start teaching guitar Eat less sugar 3. Do more jazz theory practice every day.

Year of success and positivity. 2006 was so fraught with negativity, tragedy and problems for so many I know here and abroad that 2007 has to be killer.

No Randy, unless it was at a great price.

I know you said "simple" which to me means on the cheaper end giventhe use you described... but.. I use this pedal for all my looping needs and it is the most versatile and easy to use, and has the highest sampling rate and longest sampling time available.. However each Boomerang is hand built and will cost you approx. $500. You can get them at Songbird music. Now if that's too much I would recommended the Line 6 delay modeler. It has a looping function with easy to use "tap in" and "add" buttons. That way you also get all the awesome analogue sounding delays too. The only drawback is the looping time is shorter than the bommerang and th internal clock is not uite as good. But might be fine for you. It sells for around $300 and you can get them at Steve's and Long & McQuaid.

Exactly.

He pardoned Nixon. Huge gaff.

Rest in pace godfather. I saw James 5 times. First time in 1996 at Lulu's in Kitchener. He was screaming so loud he was distorting the house speakers which were considerable. He was in his late 50's then. One of the wonders of the world.

Dude you getting all soft on us in your old age. A few wobbly pops and some 'erb and your all "Hallmark Card" on us. Either way I like the new DIMA. All the bets to you and your for this XMAS. And.... and shake it like a salt shaker!

Yes it was Paul Martin and he fucked up gravely too. It was however Harper who has escalated our mission to hardcore-combat roles and resulted in more casualties. Harper also extended the whole debacle for 2 more years. Way to go guys!

I'm sorry' date=' I don't want to trivialize this, but Far more Canadians died in Korea than have so far in Afghanistan... If you're so wary of the brand of fear that the Americans propogate, then why do you act so fearful/hateful of Harper... you make him sound like Stalin, and make yourself sound like you don't want to take your own advice.[/quote'] You are correct far more did die in Korea. My error. So then during Harper's watch the most Canadian's have died since Korea. The brand of fear I am talking about is the kind that comes from the top level power structure (i.e The White House) and influences our government. So I do not see how that correlates to my own dislike of Harper, at all. Furthermore I was never offering advice, simply a view that Canadians' are(on a political) level often manipulated by fear of trade consequences by the American administration. If I had some political sway perhaps the link would be cogent, but in this case I don't see it. My comment of Harper with relation to war deaths was in response to Birdy's assertion that Chretien left a bloody mess. Which is laughable considering the real casualties happening now. And yes I will openly say that I biased against Harper. I feel he is the worst thing to happen to this country in a long time. So my comments are in no way objective, nor did I ever claim them to be. (P.S. I also respect the fact that others have different opinions than mine and I find the amicable yet opposite discourse in this forum enlightening and healthy.) I thank all for their imput past and present.

Agreed. And every day 1,000nds of innocent people die at the hands of the American foreign policy. As I said no innocent person deserves to die, but as a nation the did deserve it and it was a long time in coming. When you have imperalistic foriegn policy and you wrong people around the world you must pay the price. And they did. Also, what the Americans are doing to us and other poorer nations (in a much worse way) is not even remotely the same as Jean Chretien being overheard "off mic" calling Bush and "idiot". Quite frankly I don't care what Washington calls us at all. The can call us backward hockey lovin' beaver fuckers for all I care, as long as they stay out of our politics. What I do care about is actions. And they regularly flex their muscle and extort us in to bowing to their policies all the time (see Afghanistan, mandatory minimum sentencing & Kyoto). There is no comparison, to one ill time remark and a never ending culture of coersion. Pleeeeassse. I am not saying Chretien was a 'great" leader. Far from it. I thought he was adequate, but compared to Harper of Martin he looks amazing. All I am saying is that he was along with Tredeau was one of the few leaders in this country that wasn't afraid to speak his mind. Beside George Bush speaks the mind he doesn't have all the time. So every once and a while it's nice to see us call a spade a spade. I like Hugo Chavez for the same reason. P.S. If you want to talk about a bloody mess then certainly Stephen Harper has the most blood on his hands. Not since WWII has any sitting PM had so many Canadian casualties of war to answer for. the mop of from that will be a task that will take years to clean up. P.S.

Buy doing what you have outlined above Chretien really for the first time in a long time earned my respect. He wasn't afraid to call Bush a moron (which he totally is and a dangerous one at that). He also wasn't ready to bend over for them when he canceled trips to Canada. He also made mention of what is very true. American imperialist foreign policy brought on the 9-11 attacks and they deserved it. I remember thinking "what balls". Way to go! No one deserved to die but the Americas did that one to themselves and everyone knew it. Chretien was right (in my view) for speaking his mind. That is what being a man is all about. (or woman if the case was) Sometimes you can't hold your tongue when things are untenable and egregious, as with the current US administration. Sometimes unpopular speech is the right thing to do, no matter the cost... ..and really what was the fall out from that? Nothing. That's my point. It's all a fear game the American gov't plays to keep us in line. What we have found out, from this, is that we can stray from the US party line to a degree and still maintain trade relations.. Now if we only had a PM with vision who understood this....

That's where Chretien failed. As you may have guessed I disagree. He did have a dialogue, just not the ones the Americans liked.

Now this is what I'm talkin' about! The Raps are 1 game back of the NETS for 1st in the division!... ...Let's keep it up until Bosh returns! associated Press 12/21/2006 1:37:56 AM LOS ANGELES (AP) - T.J. Ford made only four field goals on 12 shots for the Toronto Raptors. His last basket came just in time. Ford hit a buzzer-beater from the foul line, reserve guard Fred Jones scored a season-high 23 points and the injury-riddled Raptors held off a determined Elton Brand down the stretch to beat the Los Angeles Clippers 98-96 Wednesday night. "I told the coach to put the ball in my hands," Ford said. "I wanted the last shot. Either we were going to win the game or go into overtime. I was able to get into a spot I felt comfortable shooting the ball in, and it went through." Trailing by nine after Morris Peterson's three-pointer with 9:09 to play, the Clippers pulled ahead 96-94 with a 16-5 run capped by Shaun Livingston's two free throws with 52 seconds left. Brand blocked layup attempts by Ford and Joey Graham during the rally, but the Raptors tied it with a pair of foul shots by Ford. They got one final possession after Cuttino Mobley threw up an airball from 16 feet, and Ford calmly ran the clock down before hitting his game-winning shot over Quinton Ross - the Clippers' defensive specialist. "We told him to make sure when he shot the ball that there was no time on the clock," coach Sam Mitchell said. "We told him to make sure we got the last shot." Clippers coach Mike Dunleavy acknowledged that his team's final possession wasn't designed for Mobley to take a shot in that situation, and Los Angeles should have called a timeout to get reorganized. "Cuttino was trying to pass the ball the whole play," Jones said. "We forced him into the corner, and I knew there were only a couple of seconds left on the shot clock. I knew he would have to take the shot and that I could get up and contest it. He didn't have time to pump-fake or do anything else." Toronto's reserves outscored their Los Angeles counterparts 56-17 while Chris Bosh sat out his seventh straight contest with a bruised left knee. All the Clippers' bench points came from Sam Cassell, who returned to the lineup after missing two of the previous three games because of a sore left heel. He shot 8-for-16 in 29 minutes. For the second straight game, the Clippers couldn't beat a team that was missing one of its leading scorers. Houston beat Los Angeles on Sunday without Tracy McGrady. The Raptors are tied with Boston for second place in the Atlantic Division, a half-game behind New Jersey in the only division where every team is under .500. Brand had 24 points and 10 rebounds and Corey Maggette added 20 for the Clippers, whose fifth straight loss equaled their longest skid this season. They never lost more than five in a row last season en route to a 47-35 record, the second-best in franchise history behind the 1974-75 Buffalo Braves (49-33). Los Angeles has lost six of its last nine home games after starting out a franchise-best 6-0, and is last in the Pacific Division at 10-14. Adding to Dunleavy's frustration was the absence of forward Tim Thomas, who bruised his left elbow in Sunday's game. "It was our most disappointing loss of the year," Dunleavy said. "We clearly needed this game, and we didn't respond. I'm really disappointed with our team and the way we're playing right now. There's only one thing that's going to get us out of our slump, and that's by guys coming in and playing harder every game." The Clippers, who came in shooting an NBA-worst 29.4 per cent from three-point range, were further hampered in that regard by Thomas' absence. They have been outscored 75-12 on three-point baskets over their last three games. Los Angeles' only three-point attempt came with 3:39 left in the third quarter as Mobley trimmed Toronto's lead to 70-69. But the Raptors answered with nine consecutive points and took an 84-75 lead into the fourth on Jones' three-pointer with less than a second left in the period. Notes: The Clippers played their first game since losing out to Denver in the Allen Iverson trade sweepstakes. Whether he and Dunleavy could have coexisted in harmony is debatable. "You never know - and now you won't know," Dunleavy said. .. Raptors rookie Jorge Garbajosa sat out because of a strained right calf and Jose Calderon also was sidelined for the second consecutive game with a bruised lower back.

If Snoop Dogg can get off with multiple drug and gun charges, then surely Trey can slide on a few pharmies....

You are right. Dialogue is the key, as is setting clear boundaries on what one will accept as a nation. And I do not dislike the American people(it's not thier fault, except the right wing Jesus freaks!) nor their innovations. I simply despise their government and foreign policy.....

Agreed! That era of the Elvin Bishop band is on fire and funky as hell. I listened to that yesterday.. If you can beleive it this show featuring the same band is even better....no lie....get this disk....If only for "stealin' watermelons" Elvin Bishop King Biscuit Flower Hour Presents in Concert Release Date: January 23, 2001 Label: King Biscuit Rating: Tracks: Title Composer Time 1 Juke Joint Jump Bishop 6:19 2 Hey, Hey, Hey, Hey Aarberg, Bishop, Thomas 7:41 3 Stealin' Watermelons Bishop 4:49 4 Holler and Shout/Slick Titty Boom Bishop 8:18 5 Struttin' My Stuff Bishop, Aaberg 4:29 6 Fooled Around and Fell in Love Bishop 6:28 7 Calling All Cows Dranne 8:55 8 Travelin' Shoes Bishop 8:22 9 Rock My Soul Bishop 6:38 10 Party 'Til the Cows Come Home Bishop, Miller 5:40 11 Shake, Rattle & Roll Calhoun 6:17

I went to University with one of the dudes in the band. They have a great sense of humor and it's what carries them on... Good for them!

Now that's a party!