Most of July and the first week of August have been very hot and humid. Although with the exception of a few days the nights were nice and cool; it made it easier to sleep at night. We haven’t had a lot of rain and a fair bit of the grass dried out and weeds sprang up all over the place. However, we did a lot of yard work the past week and the place looks very good 😊. Not really a lot going on around here… mainly sitting in the back yard, listening to music, playing with Doug, and BBQing 😊. In 4 days Kelly and I will be on our Alaskan cruise; it departs and arrives back in Vancouver, B.C. and goes up the Inside Passage to Juneau, Skagway, and Ketchikan and does some seadays around the Glaciers. .. And 3 ½ months after that will be our 12 day cruise onboard the Zaandam to the Sea of Cortez and the Mexican Riviera. I’ll update about the Alaska cruise on the next blog in about three weeks time.
The Ukraine / Russia war continues despite multiple attempts to create a ceasefire ☹. Trump is getting increasingly disillusioned with Putin as he has shown no intention of acceding to any ceasefire. Trump gave Russia 50 days to end the war or tariffs would be increased against any country buying oil and gas from Russia. Russia’s response was to increase the missile and drone strikes against Ukraine, particularly against Kiev – the deadliest attack coming last week when more than 300 drones and 8 cruise missiles resulted in at least 31 dead and more than 159 injured. This attack came directly after Trump announced that he was changing the ultimatum from 50 days to 10, ending on 8th April. Former president Medvedev started rattling the ‘Nuclear’ sabre… again. Trump’s response to this was to have two U.S. nuclear submarines move closer to Russia. These kinds of threats have to stop…. Now!! Any kind of mistake or miscue can lead to a nuclear war that will have no winners. Russia has also increased it’s attacks in the East – at first they were able to move forward and gain land, now Ukraine has managed to turn the attacks back and recover lost territory. Trump also announced that the U.S. will be supporting Ukraine by having them supplied with much more military hardware and missiles for air defence. There was also a statement from the White House that the U.S. is more aligned with Ukraine now than with Russia – as Putin continues to ignore requests for ceasefires and continues to increase it’s missile and drone attacks against Ukraine – the more pissed off Donald Trump has become with Russia – he wants the war stopped ‘Now’ and if Putin won’t oblige, then Ukraine will get the support. NATO nations are starting to buy the weapons from the U.S. with their own funds and then transfer the weaponry to Ukraine. It was announced today that the Netherlands will provide U.S. weapons worth 500 million euros to Ukraine. Other NATO nations are starting to provide Ukraine with Patriot batteries as well.
President Donald Trump increased a tariff on Canadian goods to 35% on 1 August. However, this tariff only applies to goods and products that are not compliant with the CUSMA (Canada, US, Mexico Agreement – replaced the old NAFTA treaty). Almost 88% of Canadian goods are CUSMA compliant so the U.S. average tariff rate on Canadian goods remains one of its lowest for all of its trading partners. However, other sectors – including lumber, steel, aluminum, and automobiles remain heavily impacted by other U.S. duties. In other Trump news ….. ah, forget it – it’s impossible to keep up with the antics of this clown…yes, I’ve said it before – the President of the United States is a clown 😊.
The tragedy of the war in the Middle East is still ongoing – more than 61,000 people have been killed since the start of the war and over 150,000 wounded ☹. Dozens of people are starving as Israel is blocking access to food and supplies. Hamas says it will not lay down it’s arms and disperse until Palestine is recognized as a sovereign state. A number of Western countries – including France and Canada – announced plans to recognize a state of Palestine.
On the cooking front over the last two weeks we have had: Pork Yucatan Stew; Pork Tenderloin with Udon Noodles and Oyster Sauce; Smoked Pork Ribs with Sweet Corn; Homemade meatballs with mushroom gravy; Meatballs with Mexican Gravy and pasta; Steaks; Hamburgers; Sausages; Chicken Curries; Chicken Paninis; Sausages with Gravy and Mashed Potatoes; and many others 😊
On the Netflix front: We watched Season 1 of ‘The Waterfront’, a series about a North Carolina fishing family that gets too deep into the drug smuggling business. Very reminiscent of ‘Ozark’ and ‘Yellowstone’, ‘Waterfront’ centers around the Buckleys, a family of fishermen caught up in dark secrets, betrayal, greed and addiction. The head of the family, Harlan, had a dangerous past – caught up in drug fronts, cartels and a lot of other illegal activities – but in recent years has tried to reinvent his image. However, with fishing in the area being on the decline and the family being in financial straits, he and his family get dragged back into dealings with the new cartel headed by Grady (Topher Grace) who is a murderous, scheming, son of a bitch. There are many twists and turns in the storyline; the acting a little corny at times and over the top; the script written by Kevin Williamson (‘Scream’, ‘Dawsons Creek’) based on his own family; and the filmed backdrop absolutely gorgeous. ‘The Waterfront’ is great summer escapist fare and I can’t wait for Season 2. I watched Seasons 1 and 2 of ‘Alice in Borderland’, a Japanese series that starts out with three friends clowning around and causing chaos around Shibuya (the busiest intersection in Tokyo) and going to hide from police in an adjacent building’s bathroom. Unaware that they have triggered a game to start, when they emerge back into Shibuya all of Tokyo appears to be deserted. It appears to be an alternate universe where the entire population of the world has disappeared and the few remaining humans are required to win and/or survive death defying games in order to stay alive. After surviving the first game the three friends are given a 3 day visa so that they can recover, but then find out that they have to keep playing more games in order to stay alive and determining how to return to their real world – if it still exists. ‘Alice in Borderland’ is bloody, violent, and uncomfortable to watch at times, but the story line kept me hooked and the games are interesting to try and solve. But it’s the personalities, psychological makeup, and background of the characters – how they arrived in the game and how they’ve changed – that really makes ‘Alice’ worth watching. Season 2 was even better than Season 1 and Season 3 will make it’s debut in September. We started watching Season 1 of ‘The Recruit’, a spy thriller/dramedy about a new lawyer at the CIA, Owen Hendricks, who comes across a letter from an incarcerated past agency asset, Max, who is holding privileged information about the CIA as blackmail to get her out of jail and exonerated. Owen ends up travelling to exotic places such as Yemen, Lebanon, Vienna, and Phoenix (okay, Phoenix isn’t exotic but that’s where Max is in jail) trying to get the information that will set Max free. Action-packed and sometimes violent, ‘The Recruit’ is packed with humour and is very fast paced. Good for lighthearted summer fare.
On to Sports:
On the NHL front – Not much going on except Maple Leafs continue to sharpen their golf skills 😊.
On the MLB front – 113 games into the regular season and the Toronto Blue Jays are 65-48 and are still in first place 3 games ahead of the Boston Red Sox. In the AL West it’s Seattle in second place 60-53, and only 2 1/2 games behind the Houston Astros.
On to golf … The U.S. Open was held at the beginning of June won by J.J. Spaun – 3 Canadians made the cut: Nick Taylor(T23) , Taylor Pendrith (T38), and Mackenzie Hughes (T50). The Travellers Championship in Connecticut had four Canadians entered, among the notables were: Nick Taylor(T17) , and Taylor Pendrith (T25). The Rocket Classic in Detroit only had two Canadians making the cut: Ben Silverman (T67), and Adam Hadwin (T78). The John Deere Classic was played two weeks ago in Silvis, Illinois . Three Canadians took part – Adam Svensson, Adam Hadwin, and Ben Silverman . Only Adam Svensson made the cut and finished tied for 44th. Three weeks ago The Open Championship took place at the Royal Portrush Golf Club in Northern Ireland. Scottie Sheffler won and earned $3.1 M U.S. . The sole Canadian to make the cut was Corey Connors – he finished tied for 10th and earned $305K U.S. . Two weeks ago was the 3M Open in Blaine Minnesota and won by Kurt Kitayama of the U.S. winning $1.512M U.S. . All five Canadians made the cut but the best result was by Adam Svennson (T14th) for $141K U.S. . Last week was the Wyndham Championship in Greensboro, NC. This was the last regular PGA tournament before the FedEx Championship – players will be trying to earn enough points to qualify by being in the top 70 in the standings. 3 Canadians were entered – Adam Hadwin, Ben Silverman, and Adam Svensson; none of them made the cut and don’t have enough points for the FedEx Championship ☹.
NFL news – not a lot going on until training camps begin.
Have a great and safe month … we will see you in a bit!! 😊