The Briar Patch

I have ranted in a better thought-out blog before, but I need to vent on health care!  Throughout most of my life, I have had the fortune or misfortune of dealing with the healthcare system. Some of it is due to family and friends being involved in it. Once in a while, I have had to rely on it, and it is easy to notice over the last few decades that things are getting worse and worse. I've already vented on it, but I just have to get more off my chest about our current healthcare system. No matter what party is in power, they should be willing to repair the healthcare system; this should not be a political issue. I realize that different people will want to fix it in other ways. Still, no matter what party they should want to put the money in (like a lot of cash! and not wasteful spending but actual targeted spending), put the time in, put the effort in, and make Alberta healthy and happy once more. It can't be a Band-Aid fix anymore. We keep doing that with everything, doing m...

Again, this is in a series of travel blogs; if you read this, you may want to read the others first. Have already put up travel basics and a few days in Paris.   Religion is possibly the best and the worst of all of humanity's creations. I am sure I could do some Google research and find out when the first noted religion existed, but I am not about to do that. The first caveman that made up a story about why the sun rises and sets was probably a religion. I am sure an all-mighty god of some sort did it. In the beginning, religion was great; it still can be. It gives people a reason for why things happen, and there is mental security in that. It can be all wrong, but it still provides what people need: reason, belief, faith. It also gave meaning and support. When a Viking died, he went to Valhalla to sit with his ancestors, not just rot in the ground. There is a beauty in that. I used Vikings because that really isn't a mainstream belief anymore (except for online weirdos that ...

This is in a series of blog posts; if you haven't read the others, you might want to give them a read first. Started in Canada and have been to Paris already.                                                       Florence Villa Hotel   Before I carry on, we should get into the travel tour bus lifestyle. Not Motley Crue wasted for weeks, but first-world tourists travelling Europe on a slightly less luxurious bus. I think we had a good handle on it, so that's how I will break it down. My day typically started at 6. Again, like Paris, my wife started before that to do hair and makeup for pictures. It was 50/50 on the trip who did that. Some women, it was every day, others never, and others sometimes. I assume it was based on the day's itinerary. Anyways, she was pretty much up every day around 5. 6 is enough time for me to read...

  Are we still pretending chump got shot or have we moved on from that lie? I wonder why the Epstein files aren't being released? Betting there is more drama to try and take eyes off that but slowly MAGAt is crumbling.... I shouldnt say that, the hardcore dumbasses will always be hardcore dumbasses. Its the half bright ones having doubts. Dexter Resurrection has been awesome. Finale next week and I can't wait to see it play out. Twisted Metal is awesome. over the top violence, actual witty jokes. It is everything The Boys should have been.  I have to laugh at trigger warnings, why are they there? If you are going to listen to a podcast on a serial killer, chances are there will be something graphic. If it is going to trigger you, then don't listen!! Its like starting a porno saying, hey you might see boobs!  Since I am not doing long winded comics rants I will say the Age of Revelation looks awesome, after reading X-men #19 my mind has changed. Thought it looked dumb but ...

I started this before I decided I needed to concentrate on one thing. So this is my last focus pop culture / comic blog for a while. Pretty happy I have been doing travel writing, but I want to get this posted, so I have no distractions. Comics, I love them. I have loved them since grade 3-ish?? So, 8 years old, 35-year love affair. I mean, it started before that. What are comics besides still cartoons, and what kid doesn't like cartoons? I guess I am gonna go on about my comic history in this blog. (This was started before I decided to focus more on my writing. So for real, last non-travel blog for a bit) Saturday morning cartoons are the start of it. It is true that back in the 80s and 90s, we had Saturday morning cartoons. There wasn't just a network dedicated to cartoons; you had to slot them in! It was a treat to see them, and we all loved them. It would make sense that a generation raised on cartoons would enjoy comics, a physical copy to hold in your hand and reread anyt...

 There is an AMAZING website called with locals. My wife looked into a bike tour through them. To be honest, I was slightly worried it wasn't going to be good. Not the tour, I was sure that would be, but the day before we got a phone call, our guide asked if we could change our 11 – 2 tour to 2 – 5 or something. We couldn't do that as that time would be right when we were to meet up with our actual tour. We told him no, and that worried me. Did we screw up his day, and he wouldn't care about giving us a good tour? I should learn to be more optimistic, I guess. We met with Claudio at 11, and he was perfectly on time, got us hooked up with everything we needed, and started the tour. Claudio was amazing! I want to thank him again and feel bad that I ever doubted. Also, I highly recommend With Locals. If they are all as good as he was, you will get a fantastic tour with someone who knows the city. Once we got on our tour bus, everywhere we stopped, we had a guided tour, and I w...