go, richard trumka!

an impassioned speech against racism by the secretary-treasurer of the AFL-CIO. i especially like the standing ovation after he says "there is only one really, really bad reason to vote against obama". this is an extremely important speech IMO.

via kightp; thank you.

vice-presidential candidates debate

you know, that sexy puritan thing with the down-home folksy accent and the cute winking at the camera totally does not work for me when i am thinking "future {vice}president of the USA". substance? what substance? soundbitey snarks do no substance make.

that looked like tina fey up there on the podium, not like a serious candidate. i wanted to make LOLcat captions.

falls of grass

this is one i'll have to inquire with butchart gardens about, but i suspect it's hakonechloa, japanese forest grass. i've never seen anything quite so bright growing in full shade; i want. it looks really lovely when planted in great swaths too.

rain rain rain. bacchus is completely back to normal.

i slept on our new memory foam mattress topper last night, and had the best sleep. i am glad i didn't buy the thinner, less dense (and cheaper) version i found locally, but ordered this one from bergad in pennsylvania, based on favourable online reviews while i did research on memory foam. it arrived here quickly, and with free shipping (to canada!) -- which was alas eaten up by UPS's ripoff brokerage charges. all in all it was still way cheaper than tempurpedic, and it's much higher quality than the local storebrand imitations.

it's 3" thick, and denser than anything i've found elsewhere. when lying on my old futon on our fold-out couchbed, i can feel every piece of wooden support dig into my body, but with this mattress on top i don't feel a thing.

the cats all totally love it. i had 4 of them at once on the bed last night. it's made for happy-paw kneading.