Wider view is that the Niagara Peninsula of Ontario is the opposite of the Canadian brand -- polluted, often unfriendly, tacky, visually ugly. It's a place the locals have set up to fleece visitors.
The views of the Falls and the Niagara canyon from there are great only because all the tourist traps, internally lighted signs, observation towers, wax museums, "Chinese smorgasbords," casinos and industrial facilities are behind you, and you're looking at the verdant and wild Niagara Reservation, the oldest state park in the *United States.* It's the American Side that's preserved in a natural state. (Mostly, there is that fucked up NYS elevator to the 'Maid of the Mist'.)
The other side is a royal Canadian version of Las Vegas. Folks today are like Marilyn Monroe's black widow in "Niagara" (20th Century Fox, 1953), honeymooning on the Canadian Side because they anachronistically think she did so she didn't have to look at the goddamn "Minolta Tower."
Marineland, awful place, is where irony goes to die. For 50+ years, tourists from Greater Toronto, Hamilton and Buffalo have gone there to watch fish, and then, feeling peckish, stroll over to a Marineland commissary to eat a fish sandwich.
"Save the Gay Beluga Whales" is certainly a lot nicer than the 1970s-80s bumper stickers I used to see in the conservative county where I lived then. The sentiment there was to "nuke" the sort of whale that was mentioned on the sticker.
I used to like zoos, mostly because one of the best in the world was within walking distance of our house when I was a kid. But now I don't know that I'll ever set foot in one again.
I dunno - dolphins can be pretty damned "frisky"...
BUT I heart beluga whales. I worked on a bowhead whale census out of Barrow where we would watch from the water's edge once the lead opened up in the spring (open water between the sea ice and the shorefast ice). We would also see pods of beluga swimming by on their way to the Canadian Arctic. Fun to watch and they make an incredible number of vocalizations. One day, I was on watch and belugas swam by. The young ones are gray and lighten to white as they get older. A gray one swam close to me, turning sideways to check us out. He then turned around and swam by us again, popped out of the water with a beluga squeal/yelp noise. I SWEAR he was saying hello!
I could have sworn that I heard Farrah throwing up in the early morning hours, and have been fruitlessly searching for vomit or a hairball ever since waking up. My son helpfully reminded me that she dry heaves every now and then, so here's hoping?
I was inspired with the idea of a, quote, "Sarcastic, Nymphs" WonkMeet!
That's all there was: some minimal inspiration. Just the name. I have no further concept of a WonkMeet. Maybe Others of You People can fill in the lightly sketched idea, as You will.
ANYWAY, I'm looking forward to the Cleveland Seizing of the Means of Things Production later today, unless I just fall asleep suddenly and miss it for another year. It happens.
p.s. in lieu of a late-Caturday submission, I offer this: Kitten-Bear, aka Muffin, likes banana bread.
Thank you for this post.
Wider view is that the Niagara Peninsula of Ontario is the opposite of the Canadian brand -- polluted, often unfriendly, tacky, visually ugly. It's a place the locals have set up to fleece visitors.
The views of the Falls and the Niagara canyon from there are great only because all the tourist traps, internally lighted signs, observation towers, wax museums, "Chinese smorgasbords," casinos and industrial facilities are behind you, and you're looking at the verdant and wild Niagara Reservation, the oldest state park in the *United States.* It's the American Side that's preserved in a natural state. (Mostly, there is that fucked up NYS elevator to the 'Maid of the Mist'.)
The other side is a royal Canadian version of Las Vegas. Folks today are like Marilyn Monroe's black widow in "Niagara" (20th Century Fox, 1953), honeymooning on the Canadian Side because they anachronistically think she did so she didn't have to look at the goddamn "Minolta Tower."
Marineland, awful place, is where irony goes to die. For 50+ years, tourists from Greater Toronto, Hamilton and Buffalo have gone there to watch fish, and then, feeling peckish, stroll over to a Marineland commissary to eat a fish sandwich.
albino sea sausages....
win.
As Enya so elequently put it in her song Orinoco Flow.
"Save the whales, save the whales, save the whales."
https://youtu.be/LTrk4X9ACtw?si=x9gWrYsMeMh6tJIl
"Save the Gay Beluga Whales" is certainly a lot nicer than the 1970s-80s bumper stickers I used to see in the conservative county where I lived then. The sentiment there was to "nuke" the sort of whale that was mentioned on the sticker.
Oh, man, I had forgotten the fuck-you-to-everyone bumper sticker, "Nuke a gay whale for Christ" or whatever it was.
Are they genuinely happy or is it my tendency to always see a smile in everything and everyone?
Beluga whales are a vital part of Starfleet’s second contact program. They need to be respected.
"So long, and thanks for all the fish"
I used to like zoos, mostly because one of the best in the world was within walking distance of our house when I was a kid. But now I don't know that I'll ever set foot in one again.
I lived in Oak Bay and one of my friends was a trainer at the aquarium when it killed a co-worker
Back in the 70s or 80s there was a satirical bumper sticker one would see here and there that said "Nuke Gay Whales For Jesus."
Eat a Queer Fetus for Jesus was another good one.
"Keep gay whales in the ground"
OT (for whatever that's worth on the weekend).
Today is Alexandria Acosta-Cortez's 35th birthday. She be presidentin' age.
do you just have to be 35 before election day, or when you start campaigning?
I dunno - dolphins can be pretty damned "frisky"...
BUT I heart beluga whales. I worked on a bowhead whale census out of Barrow where we would watch from the water's edge once the lead opened up in the spring (open water between the sea ice and the shorefast ice). We would also see pods of beluga swimming by on their way to the Canadian Arctic. Fun to watch and they make an incredible number of vocalizations. One day, I was on watch and belugas swam by. The young ones are gray and lighten to white as they get older. A gray one swam close to me, turning sideways to check us out. He then turned around and swam by us again, popped out of the water with a beluga squeal/yelp noise. I SWEAR he was saying hello!
'Free the Marineland Four!'
read that last bit as daily hurricanes in Florida at first. am i wrong?
Lord Andrew of Flemming, thank you for your service—hand to heart. Also: 😤😭
I hope they sell to a developer who turns it into a mixed use housing development.
I could have sworn that I heard Farrah throwing up in the early morning hours, and have been fruitlessly searching for vomit or a hairball ever since waking up. My son helpfully reminded me that she dry heaves every now and then, so here's hoping?
FARRAH??? What in the feathered, frosted hair is going on, here??
I know, right? She's currently napping on my freshly laundered clothes. Because of course.
🥰
In re-reading that long-ago but still beloved post, "Jesus Communicator Sends Us Poorly Written Cease-and-Desist Letter," (Jack Steuf),
https://www.wonkette.com/p/jesus-communicator-sends-us-poorly-written-cease-and-desist-letter
I was inspired with the idea of a, quote, "Sarcastic, Nymphs" WonkMeet!
That's all there was: some minimal inspiration. Just the name. I have no further concept of a WonkMeet. Maybe Others of You People can fill in the lightly sketched idea, as You will.
ANYWAY, I'm looking forward to the Cleveland Seizing of the Means of Things Production later today, unless I just fall asleep suddenly and miss it for another year. It happens.
p.s. in lieu of a late-Caturday submission, I offer this: Kitten-Bear, aka Muffin, likes banana bread.