When we bought the cabin, I put up a quick free blog hosted on Blogspot to post photos to so we could show the changes the cabin has gone through. While we have done that, I have posted a lot of design and architecture links to it as well which has generated a growing amount of traffic over the years. Over the last year the site has been linked to by several architectural firms, some classes, and some publications as a niche architectural design resource which has been really cool. I am not an architect or a designer but it’s nice that my curation efforts are recognized.
As I was looking for something today and I had a lot of fun looking back at some of the amazing buildings, boats, and structures found in the architectural section of the site. Here are some of my favorites.
- The Saskatoon Hayloft :: This is a fun post because I saw it being created day by day as I walked or drove by it on my way to work. What started as a Safeway store in the 20s turned into a home and performance space that is one of the jewels of Caswell Hill.
- Floating Home on Lake Huron :: When I think of projects like this, I don’t think of them being located on the Great Lakes. When you do take a look at both the design and the location, you realize how it all fits together (although I am not sure how the ice doesn’t tear it apart in the winter).
Unplugged :: A series of cabins who are all off the grid. While some are a little over the top, the Shack at Hinkle Farm is a long time design favorite.- Rustic Houseboat by the Sea :: If I was single and lived near a large body of water, I would love to have a place like this to get away to. It’s a little rustic by my standards and I doubt it would be comfortable on a really hot day but the idea is a great one.
- Home Office Cube in Chile :: This is quite high end but what a great concept. The contrast between being open and closed is incredible.
- Compact beach chalet in the U.K. :: While I get a kick out of how close the English can put beach front cabins together and I am not sure if I would want to live like that, I do really like how this cabin is designed on the inside, now if it could only generate some elbow room.
- The Cube :: How great would it be to have a home office on the side of a mountain, especially one that seemed to blend right into the mountain and at the same time disappear while you are in it.
- Chen House :: This is an interesting design that strives to integrate life inside and the surrounding environment together. It also has an interesting flexible engineering structure designed to move with the wind and the rains rather than stand up to them.
- A lo-fi urban private club :: A fun post about a private urban country club in New York. Why more of these don’t exist, I don’t know. Before you ask, I have tried to get one for the parking lot at work and was vetoed.
An off the grid weekend getaway :: This is nothing more than a repurposed boat shed in the middle of nowhere but what a great layout. It inspired us to open up our cabin and rearrange the layout and design of it. While we are definitely on the grid, it does show you how little you need to get away from the city and enjoy the weekend. I think of all of the projects I have linked to, this is my favorite.- A Hermit’s Cabin :: I keep thinking I am going to build one of these for Mark and Oliver at the lake.
- Emergency shelter’s made from pallets :: As I have posted before, I am not sure why these aren’t used in places like Haiti and other places where there are large scale refugees needing quick, cheap, and stable emergency housing that can be improved over time.
Of course, if you have comments or other suggestions that you think would fit in, let me know in the comments.
Posted in: creativity, design, simplicity.
Tagged: architecture · The Cooper Cabin
- Proving that the NBA learned nothing from the NHL lockout, they are planning for a massive labor stoppage in 2011 as NBA owners have grown tired of losing money and plan to crush the NBA union. The owners want to take a far greater percentage of the basketball-related income. They want to pay millions less for maximum deals and shorten contracts. Most of all, they want a hard salary cap and assurances that protect themselves against a diminished economy and, well, themselves.
- Hey, the 33rd America’s Cup is about to start. It’s weird with no major North American outlet covering it in a significant way. Yahoo!’s Eurosport site has some coverage so I’ll rely on them. In some ways America’s Cup racing is what sports should be. Billionaires and their lawyers battling each other to the point of what happens in the water is irrelevant. It does suck that only two syndicates are racing. I miss the preliminary racing quite a bit.
- Oh great, Jim Pankiw is making a political comeback. At his press conference there was a long silence when a reporter — who suggested Pankiw’s demeanor seemed "off-kilter" — asked him whether he was sober. The Leader Post has some more ridiculous quotes from his press conference. Nothing says where he will be running but there is a link to Saskatoon Humboldt’s Wikipedia entry on his site.
- Wendy’s website The Cooking Blog now has 2,815 people following her site on Twitter. She has started to follow the formula I am using for Jordon Cooper Outfitters and posting a recipe a day. Today, most of her traffic is coming via Google and they are all searching for her Buffalo Chicken Wings Recipe.
- Paywalls don’t make sense. Scroll down to see what a bust Scripps University of Tennessee paywall was.
Posted in: Contextless Links.
Many charities are complaining that it’s impossible to sent supplies to Haiti right now. Well that makes sense as that is what every relief organization and government agency has been saying repeatedly.
More than three weeks after the earthquake, donated goods are accumulating at small charities, sitting in shipping limbo because of costs and a complex web of transportation logistics. The heaps of donations are evidence that many people ignored the advice to just give cash.
Estriplet and other charities opted to collect items because it has a more personal touch. She is specifically gathering donations for her hometown of Carrefour, a devastated suburb of Port-au-Prince. But it’s not clear how she’s going to get the goods there.
"We’re open to anyone who has an idea on how to do this, and we’re taking any suggestions," Estriplet said.
Almost immediately after the quake hit, large organizations said money was the best way to help. It has never been easy to get supplies into Port-au-Prince, and the tremor has made things much worse.
This is the rationale
As of Wednesday, more than $644 million has been donated in the U.S. to major organizations engaged in Haiti relief efforts, according to the Chronicle of Philanthropy. More than a third of the money has gone to the American Red Cross.
Still, many Haitian-Americans say they want to make sure help gets directly to people who need it.
Asking just for cash can put off, for example, schoolchildren who want to send bandages to injured victims, said Hannah Belkovic of Massachusetts-based Partners in Development, which is working to get medical supplies and other aid to Haiti.
"The connection is lost, somehow, in what they are actually participating in," she said.
You know, giving American school kids a connection to a tragedy is important but not at the expense of helping those in Haiti. This isn’t a tragedy about us, it’s about Haiti and if cash, gold bars, or even Cadbury Easter Eggs is what is going to make the immediate difference, that is what you send. There is going to be a decade of reconstruction ahead. There will be times for toothpaste and deodorant to be sent, just not right now.
Posted in: poverty.
Tagged: Haiti
Matthew Good talks about the “what ifs” if Vancouver had not won the games. I know whenever I talk about Olympic games some of you are shocked as you can’t figure out someone who loves sports as much as I do, dislikes the Olympic games so much. It isn’t that I dislike the Olympics that much, it is just that I can’t stand the cost of hosting them and the debt that comes with it. No one is heading to Nagano today because of their Olympic games, no one is headed to Salt Lake City any longer because of them hosting the Olympic games. Already China is trying to figure out what to do with the Bird’s Nest. So while Vancouver got an infrastructure upgrade and Whistler is sitting pretty (well, maybe not), there is a lot of debt for the same infrastructure that exists in Calgary. Great investment.
The other thing that bothers me is that for all of the money being put into Own the Podium, that is money that I really think should be spent on youth sports. Really, what does it say about Canada that we win the most medals in Vancouver? Seriously, what does it say about us? When I was a kid, most of my elementary school class played hockey. Only two kids last year in Mark’s entire school played competitive hockey.
I love sports but for the same reason I question the Saskatchewan government building a domed stadium in Regina, I don’t think professional sports infrastructure is that great of a use for government money. The good news is that after the Vancouver Olympics out the way, I can’t see Canada having to go through this for at least a couple of decades. That being said, I keep hearing news out of Toronto about them trying to get a summer games again so maybe we will never learn.
Posted in: sports.
Tagged: Matthew Good · Olympics · Toronto · Vancouver
- The federal Tories take control of Anders’ riding association :: Apparently the federal Tories are trying to support Rob Anders, the MP who once called Nelson Mandela a terrorist. I have never understood the loyalty that Conservatives have towards Anders who doesn’t even have a following on his own riding executive. Calgary Grit has more.
- Ian MacDonald points out that Stephen Harper is competent but not a visionary :: Harper’s leadership is already historic in the sense that for every Conservative leader with the exception of Sir John A. Macdonald, just winning an election has been half the battle. Harper has already won two, and while he’s been in minority territory, only Brian Mulroney, since Macdonald, has won consecutive majorities as a Conservative leader. But Harper’s unique achievement in terms of party politics is that he united the right, with the merger of the Canadian Alliance and Progressive Conservative parties in 2003, and recreated the Conservative brand equity that enabled their victory, as a viable alternative to the Liberals, in 2006. But Harper’s leadership has been transactional in the sense that while he has done a good job of running the country, he hasn’t yet done much to change it. He hasn’t done anything big. This is about what the first George Bush famously called "the vision thing."
Wendy has posted a series of Super Bowl Party Approved recipes at The Cooking Blog. Your team may not win but at least your party can be memorable. - Could the end of the FNUC be near? I hope not and I wonder if an independent body should be invited in to restructure it, bring in some stability, and start the process of rebuilding it’s academic reputation for a decade or so. Remove it completely from the politics and cronyism that seems to have defined it’s entire existence. During the many years of failed reforms, students have voted with their feet and enrolment has fallen by half.
- How to Get Our Democracy Back: If You Want Change, You Have to Change Congress – Big Government :: Great article by Larry Lessig
- How to start a missional community in the neighborhood
- After his great job running the Knicks, the Clippers reach out to Isaiah Thomas
- Why Apple Killed the $9.99 e-book
- AmazonFail
- Living in a Yurt in the mountains of Alaska
- After three months, only 35 people have signed up for Newsday’s website :: Any prospective owners of the Saskatoon Star Phoenix, please take note, a paywall won’t pay off.
Posted in: Contextless Links.
Well the traffic at Jordon Cooper Outfitters continues to grow. I thought I would link to some fun posts over there this weekend.
- RoadID Wrist Bracelet :: I am a diabetic but I hate the MedicAlert bracelets that I have seen. You won’t wear one of these out on the town with you but you may wear it while riding, back country camping, or hiking. They do a good job of communicating emergency information while combining it with something you want to wear.
- Stanley 500 AMP Battery Jump Starter with Compressor :: We have had a jump starter for years and the truth is if you use it once and don’t have to call a tow truck, you have paid for it. If you are married to someone that often leaves the headlights on, it pays for itself many times over.
- Lodge Cast Iron Hibachi :: I don’t really have the need for a hibachi has I have two good barbecue’s in the backyard and at the cabin but if I was in the pursuit of one, this is the one I would get.
It’s cast iron instead of stamped tin or steel. It is small enough to put in the trunk and take camping, use for tailgating or to use on the patio (about 20" x 10" x 9" and the legs lift the bottom about 4 inches off the ground).
The grate you place the food on is not welded wire, it is cast iron like the rest, so the cross pieces are as wide as the slots in between. They hold food well, hold heat well, and when you sear your food, you can see the wide dark sears on the food. (in case you are wondering, here is how to grill the perfect steak)
There is a door that opens down on the front to add coals or help the dampers to adjust the heat. The damper doors adjust by sliding side to side so you can adjust the draft perfectly. The grill disassembles for cleaning. It’s only four parts: the base with the front door, pin-hinged at the bottom, the top grate, the bottom grate, and the sliding damper.
- Eccotemp Instant Water Heater :: This is posted at the cabin blog but I think this is incredibly cool. When we add hot water to the lake, this could very well be our answer.
- Your Complete Survival Kit :: Well here is what Les Stroud thinks should be in your personal survival kit with some comments from me added in.
If you use a cool product or gear that you think people should know about, send me an email with all of the vital information there and I’ll post it at Jordon Cooper Outfitters.
Posted in: Jordon Cooper Outfitters.
- Jim Kelly joking around about his four Super Bowl losses
- 10 Products that BOOMED during the recession :: Hyundai, Coleman camping products, and universal remotes all make the list.
- Flickr is quietly becoming home to the web’s largest collection of historical images. The U.S. National Archives just joined the Commons.
- The van makes a comeback via
- Google and the NSA team up to thwart cybercrime :: Under an agreement that is still being finalized, the National Security Agency would help Google analyze a major corporate espionage attack that the firm said originated in China and targeted its computer networks, according to cybersecurity experts familiar with the matter. The objective is to better defend Google — and its users — from future attack.
- 38 Years of Super Bowl Commercials
- League announces 2000s NFL All-Decade Team: This decade’s 53-player team is comprised of two quarterbacks, four running backs, one fullback, four wide receivers, two tight ends, four offensive tackles, four guards, two centers, four defensive tackles, four defensive ends, six linebackers, four cornerbacks, four safeties, two kickers, two punters, two kick returners and two punt returners. Current New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick and retired Colts coach Tony Dungy also were chosen for the team.
- Sun Microsystems chief executive Jonathan Schwartz resigns via twitter haiku.
- Microsoft’s Creative Destruction is an Op Ed in the New York Times by former Microsoft VP, Dick Bras
- What Republicans believe – a poll of 2000 self-identified republicans by DailyKos/Research2000.
Posted in: Contextless Links.
Most of you know this blog’s unofficial mission is to never miss a chance at taking a shot at the City of Regina whenever we have the chance (when I was toilet training Mark, I used to get him to say when flushing the toilet, “See you in Regina”) but this is too easy.
13 of Regina’s buses were deemed unsafe by SGI this week.
"We know we have fleet challenges," said Onodera, noting that most of the issues SGI identified were with buses from groups purchased in 1990 and 1992 — those vehicles have now reached the ends of the expected lifespans, he said.
Both older buses that have been refurbished and used buses the city recently acquired are in better condition.
It’s long been known that the 1990 and 1992 buses — of which there are 27 in total among the city’s total fleet of 105 — will need work, and the department has a plan in place, Onodera said. The city has been buying inexpensive used buses with life left in them, to replace those older ones. The department doesn’t plan to refurbish those buses from the early 1990s due to significant costs, for which funds could be better allocated elsewhere, Onodera continued. The SGI audit "accelerated" the timing, he said, noting the inspections are being looked at as positive because they call attention to the need for resources to maintain and replace assets.
"The situation’s under control," he remarked. "Nothing is a surprise to us."
So does that mean that the City of Regina knew that they had buses that were considered unsafe to drive and they just kept driving them? They didn’t take action until there was a SGI audit? I would love to see the details on what was wrong.
Posted in: Saskatchewan.
Tagged: public transit · Regina · SGI
These photos came the Big Picture and were taken in the next week. Click on any of the links for more photos or information.
Posted in: poverty.
Tagged: Haiti
From the Star Phoenix’s City Hall Notebook
There has been a lot of discussion since the weekend storm comparing Saskatoon to other cities in Canada. I used 2006 census data (of municipalities, not greater metro areas) and the long-term snowfall data from Environment Canada and compared it to the most recent snowbudgets for some major Canadian cities.
It really is a question of priority. Most of the cities with higher snow and ice budgets per capita clear residential streets (even sidewalks) and get significantly more snow, which sustains that industry better and lures in more private contractors.
The more interesting comparison, of course, is property taxes and how much extra ratepayers in Saskatoon would have to pay to get to the service level of Winnipeg where residential streets and sidewalks are cleared. Winnipeg, per capita, spends a little less than double what Saskatoon does to get that level of service. So, here, it would cost an extra $5-million per year, say, to reach that service level. That equates, roughly, to a 4.5 per cent increase on the tax bill.
Update: Because people are asking: I tried to find kilometres of roadway in each city but it was difficult to attain and to verify if the numbers are accurate.
For curiosity’s sake, Winnipeg maintains 7,200 lane kilometres of roadway compared to 3,500 in Saskatoon, according to the cities. Winnipeg budgeted $4,305 per kilometre on snow clearing in 2009 compared to $1,571 in Saskatoon. So, we’d need to almost triple the snow clearing budget to reach that level of service, you could argue.
My first thought is that I would like to break down how much of that was spent clearing sidewalks. Since 1984 we have been cleaning my walk and it hasn’t killed me or even bothered me that much. Oddly enough we have had city sidewalk clearing machines come down the street but only once or twice since I moved to Saskatoon. What I really want is safer streets without the ruts. The city had talked about just blading the snow down and leaving it on the boulevards and lawns which I am okay with but to drive in Mayfair which had crisscross ruts at every intersection. Eliminating that would go a long way in making Saskatoon taxpayers a lot happier with the service we are getting.
Posted in: Saskatoon, politics.
Tagged: Winnipeg · winter
Back during the Devine era, I listened to Grant Devine give an impassioned speech about the deficit. The point was “yes we have a deficit but where do we cut back. You can’t close hospitals, you can’t have crumbling highways, you can’t cut essential services”. At the time the speech stuck with me (obviously as I remember it today) but history shows that he was wrong.
Roy Romanow came into power and closed hospitals, cut healthcare services, stopped fixing and cut back on plowing the highways and he cut services we used to think was essential in order to balance the budget. People talk about the draconian cuts made by Ralph Klein but Romanow’s were deeper. The unions were angry, the NDP caucus was angry, the rural municipalities were angry, the urban municipalities were angry. No one liked the cuts.
Today Brad Wall broke a promise to the urban municipalities on revenue sharing agreements and they are understandably upset. No one likes having money taken away from them. My response to them is “oh well”, this is only the start.
- Whoever is going to fight the federal deficit will have to cut services (and probably raise taxes). We call the transfer payments and I expect Brad Wall and other provincial premiers to be on the other end of the cutbacks. Even for those of us who are “have” provinces, federal funding cutbacks will have to be picked up by provincial departments or the programs will end. Money that used to be earmarked for services and tax reductions will have to be used to pay off the debt and fight the deficit. In case you don’t know how this works, watch Till Debt Do Us Part. It’s not going to be fun being the next finance minister, no matter which jurisdiction you are in as you will be facing cutbacks of your own and passing them down to the next level of government. Let’s hope they don’t have a need for friends as they won’t have many.
- In case you haven’t noticed, the $1.56 trillion deficit proposed by Obama isn’t sustainable, look for higher interest rates to convince China to purchase American debt. Higher interest rates will push many highly leveraged North American’s over the brink into personal bankruptcy. That’s going to hurt earning on many consumer companies which will in turn cut back on spending and mean less tax dollars flowing around.
- If many economists are correct, oil prices will rise (and are rising) as we crawl out of this recession. As we do that, higher oil prices will push us back down again. This morning I was listening to an economist call this the “new normal”. In Saskatchewan we are a commodity based economy which means that we will forever be riding the wave of potash, wheat, natural gas, and oil revenues.
I would hope for a better level of political discourse then what we saw when Romanow’s government made his cuts. There really is no concept of we are in all of this together, which of course we are. I know lobbying the government is an important part of the job but in the end let’s accept that this is going to get worse before it gets better. Of course that isn’t going to happen so brace yourself for political stunts designed at short term gain over long term stability. Grant Devine’s legacy will probably live again.
Update: Sean Shaw has a look at what this cutback will mean for the city.
Posted in: Saskatchewan, politics.
Tagged: Brad Wall · Grant Devine · Ralph Klein · Roy Romanow
- Anyone want to give an over/under on Jay Cutler wanting out of Chicago now that Mike Martz has been named his O.C.
- Some 400 giant squid have shown up along the Orange County coast in Southern California since Friday. Some are as large as 4 feet long, and 60 pounds.
- At a laundromat in Brooklyn, a revolving cast of characters conduct business, people-watch, sell, argue, flirt, and gossip. Oh, and do their laundry.
- Ways into small missional communities.
- James Bow has a really good post on what partisanship does to political dialogue
- Dave King links to a true deal with the devil. A deal that was signed looking down the barrel of a battleship.
- The church and the decade ahead
- No, seriously, cancel Haiti’s debt
- Is it just me or does this kind of housing make sense as an interim step in rebuilding Haiti?
- City of Vancouver opens kiosk to try to explain East Hastings to foreign media :: The project is a joint effort by the city, the province, and dozens of charities and other organizations that provide services to the hundreds of homeless people and drug addicts who call the neighbourhood home.
- The New York Yankees 2010 payroll is already at $200 million. Who in baseball other than Yankees fans is this good for? I guess I should stop complaining, it was $208 million in 2008. Compare this to the $30 million payroll that the Pittsburgh Pirates are paying this year. I’m angry at baseball and the pitchers and catchers haven’t even reported yet.
- Why Seth Godin doesn’t use Twitter
- So much for the sanctity of our one tier health system :: Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Danny Williams is set to undergo heart surgery this week in the United States. I wish him a speedy recovery but his actions underline the fact that the wealthy in Canada often go and pay for treatment in the United States.
- Grant Devine and Michael Wilson stage political comebacks! As Obama’s budget advisors. How else can you explain a $1.56 TRILLION deficit?
- Rebecca Blood has a great post on Google’s thinking in China
Posted in: Contextless Links.
Some friends of mine are close friends with Rob Semrau and so I post this with reluctance but I think Scott Taylor makes some excellent points on why this case needs to be tried.
That said, there is a reason the military maintains its own justice system and that is to enforce a strict code of discipline on its members in an environment that inverts natural justice by its very existence. All religions preach a version of the commandment "Thou shalt not kill," yet that is exactly what our soldiers are trained and equipped to do. Hence the need for a separate judicial and moral yardstick that regulates and limits the use of lethal force on a battlefield.
As barbaric as warfare is, belligerents still aspire to play by such rule books as the Geneva Convention. Canada is a signatory to that convention and under its terms agreed to administer medical care to prisoners of war. It expressly forbids the execution of enemy wounded.
Many of those who support Semrau in the public debate point out, and correctly so, that the enemy we face in Afghanistan are illegal combatants that do not subscribe to the tenets of the Geneva Convention and, therefore, are not entitled to its protection. In the other camp are those who argue that the entire purpose for our intervention in Afghanistan would be defeated if we threw away our own principles by fighting like the Taliban.
If, in order to defeat the ruthless Taliban, we must become equally ruthless, what have we achieved in the long term?
If those soldiers who questioned Semrau’s action to the military police had strong enough misgivings about the incident to believe it required review, then the military justice system was correct to initiate proceedings.
This will be a precedent-setting case. It will be the first time in Canadian history that a soldier is charged with murder on a battlefield.
Keep in mind that, even under the most extreme circumstances, Canadian physicians are prohibited by law from ending a patient’s suffering. They can allow them to expire but cannot assist in the expedition of the death, so it will be interesting to see how the military court rules on this case.
While the gesture may have been a sincere act of humanity, there is nothing in Canada’s Criminal Code or military justice system which allows military personnel to play God in any circumstance.
Of course, without a body, or the identification of the victim to connect the accused to the crime, this should be a relatively easy case for Semrau’s defence lawyers.
Posted in: ethics.
Tagged: Afghanistan · Canadian Armed Forces · Geneva Convention · Robert Semrau
Chantel Hebert on the future for the federal NDP. There is good news and bad news for Layton and the NDP.
That is not to say that Layton’s seven years can be summed up as just a streak of blind luck. Under his leadership, the NDP share of the national vote did go up in real terms – from 8 per cent in the last election the party fought under Alexa McDonough in 2000 to 18 per cent in 2008.
Over that period, the party has picked up 10 points in Ontario and come back from the dead (1.2 per cent) to double-digit support (12 per cent) in Quebec. In the last election, it won seats in Alberta, Newfoundland and Labrador.
These days, the party’s position on Afghanistan is in the process of being partly vindicated. Layton subscribed to the necessity of coming to terms with the Taliban long before it emerged as an option on NATO’s agenda. As an aside, Layton’s approach would have had a lot more impact on the development of Canada’s foreign policy in a coalition government with the Liberals than in the wasteland of opposition.
Overall, though, it is not leading-edge policy but a more aggressive approach to the role of the NDP in a minority Parliament that so far most distinguishes Layton’s seven-year reign from that of his predecessor. By co-writing a budget and negotiating a coalition with the Liberals, he has broken more new ground for his party inside the Commons than outside Parliament.
To put the limits of the NDP’s electoral progress under Layton in perspective, the party today is almost – but not quite – back to where Ed Broadbent left it after the 1988 free-trade election. That year, the party elected 43 MPs compared to the current 37.
To this day few voters, even among the ranks of the converted, see the party as a real alternative to the Conservatives. The best that can be said about its support in the polls since the last election is that it is stable.
Over the weekend, the NDP’s national council met to discuss what was billed as a strategy to win the next campaign. But despite those brave words, Layton’s best hope to continue to move his party closer to power is infinitely more likely to lie in a more constructive parliamentary relationship with the Liberals than in the ballot box.
Layton has shown that he can partner with both the Liberals and the Conservatives and influence both of them which while has some short term costs, if done over an extended period of time, can pay off for the NDP and Jack Layton in a minority situation. The perpetual minorities which Preston Manning famously foresaw in Canada’s future may have come true and a party that can bridge the ideological divide and make deals in the best interests of Canadians could become more and more popular. While I don’t think that Layton is ever going to win power, I think doing what Hebert suggests, and entering into a parliamentary relationship with the Liberals is the worst option. The NDP’s best card is clichéd but if they can be the part of making Parliament work and cut deals with both parties, they could find themselves relevant again.
Posted in: politics.
Tagged: Jack Layton · NDP
I bought a 1993 Ford Festiva today from Darren Friesen. It looks nowhere nearly as cool as this one (it looks good but what is the resale value on a redone Ford Festiva?) but it’s okay, gets obscenely good gas mileage. Sadly it isn’t one of the seven SHOgun’s but it is good enough for bombing around town. I’ll post some photos in the next couple of days.
Now the bad news…
In Australia, the 1987-97 Ford Festivas were assessed in the Used Car Safety Ratings 2006 as providing "significantly worse than average" protection for their occupants in the event of a crash
Awesome, just awesome. It’s not quite as geeky of a vehicle as Dave Blondel’s Lada but it’s getting closer.
Posted in: personal.
Tagged: Ford · Ford Festiva
