Yesterday was International Peace Day.  Hope everyone had a great time.  I know I did.  In fact, the spirit of trans-border friendship that it inspired in me seems to be lingering on well into today.
     That's why I've decided to write this entry under the Canada flag.  Just to show that there's at least one guy in Ohio who'd be honored to be mistaken for a Canadian-style foreigner.  Just to soothe any feathers I may have ruffled when I plagiarized a certain Canadian site earlier in the week. 
     No hard feelings, eh?

     Of course the above isn't really a Canadian flag.  It's just a postcard depiction of a real flag that I happen to have scanned, so feel free to burn this site without moral qualms or fear of legal prosecution if it gets to be too much for you. 
     The postcard holding this depiction as nobly as Atlas ever held the entire Earth was sent to me by my wife (who apparently couldn't afford the postage to send me the entire Earth) when she visited Canada last June.  You can tell it was specially designed for Americans because "CANADA" is emblazoned across the bottom, just so no poorly informed Yankee boy hurts himself trying to figure out what country's flag it is.  If it prevents even one such ignorant Yankee from trying to rake it up and bag it instead of admiring it as he or she should, those 6 letters along the bottom there will have been well worth the ink. 
     Which reminds me, my dear compatriots: Canada is the country to our immediate north.  You know - the place that is shown on all those Weather Channel maps right above Maine and Ohio and Montana but doesn't seem to have any names for its states, doesn't seem to have any cities, and never, ever gets to have its weather mentioned, let alone winsomely depicted in multi-colored bands.
     Actually, Canada doesn't have states - it has "provinces"  - but I think I've crammed enough revelations into one entry.  Maybe if I were in better physical shape, I'd think differently.  Maybe if I didn't fear getting sweaty after already having  taken my shower for the day....

     Which is not to say that I'm done paying tribute to my friends to the north.  You can even help me if you want.  Here's the deal:
     The Zamboni Company is having a Driver of the Year contest.  Jimmy (Iceman) McNeil is the lone Canadian contender for this much sought after honor among drivers of Zambonis.  I've just voted for Jimmy at this Zamboni Company website and I hope you will, too.  If he wins, he'll be the one who gets to keep the ice cool and smooth at the NHL All-Star Game come January.
     So come on!  It's really the least we can do for a country that doesn't accept foreign aid from us, doesn't require our troops to stop its ethnic cleansing, and has taken to politely pretending that our acid rain has finally been trained to stay on our side of the fence.