Happy Canada Day!

Another quick post for you, folks. Today we, being Dara and I, celebrated Canada day with a relaxed but enjoyable visit with our friends Tom and Ang. We first got breakfast at Tim Horton's, then hung out at their place for a while, went to eat at "Lick's Burgers" (had the veggie burgers), saw the Michael Moore flick Sicko, went to a pub, grabbed some pizza, and then came home for some beers. Could it be any more Canadian than that?

As for hanging with Tom and Ang, we had a great time as always. We're never wanting for conversation when T&A are around.

As for Sicko, I must admit that I had no real desire to see the movie, American health care being a subject that hardly interests me, and has--until recently--been completely irrelevant to me. But as I watched the movie, I was moved by the tragic stories that unfolded throughought, and I reeled with remourse and disbelief as I watched people choose between attaching one severed finger or the other (both were too expensive), or a man dying with cancer (who has a perfect bone marrow doner match) succumb to his injuries because the insurance company found bone marrow surgery to be "experimental", or a woman whose child died needlessly because she had mistakenly taken her child to the wrong hospital, which would not cover treatment.

Before critics (not film critics, Michael Moore critics) eventually start poking holes in this film, I hope that many people will see it, so that it will underline the many injustices that occur on a daily basis and bring to light the conversation that people need to start having about this (and many other) issues. But before people start jabbing those holes in, I hope they will consider the basic premise of the movie; the parting shot from Michael Moore before the film ends: that--friends and enemies, alike--we are all in the same boat, and we need to look out for each other. Critics of Michael Moore are encouraged to watch the movie.

Oh, and happy Canada Day to you all.