Skip to content

Playground circuits for those who can't focus

Alas, once again I am unable to focus on any one topic, so dear diary, it's two circuits around the playground for us.


Alas, once again I am unable to focus on any one topic, so dear diary, it's two circuits around the playground for us.

First off, what's with this crazy F-35 fighter aircraft contract and the billions in miscalculations regarding their cost? Apparently DND fumbled the job so the PMO switched the task to public works to make the decision.

Isn't that like taking the file from Bonnie and Clyde and giving it to John Dillinger?

Remember, dear diary, these are the same folks in the backrooms who bought us four submarines that won't float or sink and are incapable of shooting anything that qualifies as lethal.

Next topic.

Isn't it about time for the smart people to have the debate and settle this mess?

Be it resolved, climate change is a hoax as are greenhouse gas emissions as agents of climate change.
Discuss. I'd like to hear some opinions from someone who might actually know something about the topic whose last name isn't Suzuki.

Next.

Can we now end the great Tiger Woods obsession? He's a good golfer. Nuff said.

The golfing world is obsessing over Tiger's knee or Tiger's achilles heel (there has to be a joke in there), or Tiger's cold remedies, or what he had to drink on the 10th hole. In the meantime there is another guy coming back on the tour this year who underwent the removal of a brain tumour! Nobody cares what happens to him as long as Tiger has a blister. It's worse than the Sidney Crosby watch or that Tebow fanaticism of last fall and the Lin dynasty in basketball. Flame in and flame out in a matter of weeks in this new techno-crazy world we have crafted for ourselves.

Next.

Speaking of talent that lasts and doesn't last but can hold us hostage for awhile, what about the great singers, dancers and actors of our various generations? I had 48 seconds at my disposal last weekend while listening to a powerful singer on my radio ... how old tech is that? So with this time, I quickly made a list that I simply titled "Voices that force me to stop and listen."

Thanks to the recording world, those that have now faded with time or whose owners have left us entirely, will remain with us so we can keep listening to them for decades. The legacy of music is one of the better ones we have on this globe, me thinks.

So voices that make me listen, no matter what?

In no particular order of preference, I submit my challengers: kd Lang, Burton Cummings, Adele, Neil Young, Cleo Laine, Serena Ryder, Stevie Niks, Aretha Franklin, Barbra Streisand and Amy Winehouse.
Why? Because each of them had distinctive sounding voices and souls that are simply and unusually powerful. I don't explain it, I just know when I hear them.

You will notice I didn't include any operatic virtuosos because that would not be fair. That's another level I don't understand.

I also didn't include any C&W names. I figured they would warrant a list of their own, like the classical dudes and dudettes.

Did you also note I did not include any Beatles or Stones that have rolled? Nor did I include duet or group dudes like Garfunkel and Simon. This list was just for solo efforts and let's face it, Mick ain't that great nor is Paul without John and/or George and so on.

I did not include Boxcar Willie, William Shatner, Richard Harris or Tiny Tim. They too attempted none-too-illustrious vocal careers and got absolutely nowhere in the recording studio, thus saving the world from further pain.

So who is on your list?