The SoapBoxers

The American news media, from time to time, is accused of trying to create the news rather than simply report it. The American outlets, however, have nothing on Brazilian news personality Wallace Souza.

Souza was the host of the news show Canal Livre, which was popular in the Brazilian state of Amazonas. Souza would often rail against the violence in the area, which has a reputation of being quite lawless. Canal Livre would often focus on killings in the Amazon region, including showing graphic footage of murder victims. Canal Livre was often able to beat its competitors to the location and score an exclusive story – which resulted in a ratings boost.

How was Souza able to consistently beat his opponents to the punch? I know what you’re thinking – that he paid off the cops to notify him when the crime had been uncovered. Of course not – let’s not be ridiculous.

What Souza was actually doing, according to the police, was setting up the killings. His crews would be first on the scene simply because he knew that the killing was about to occur.

What sort of anchor man has the connections to get people whacked, you might ask? The sort of anchor man who also dabbled in a bit of drug trafficking. The guys he had whacked were rivals, so he was killing two birds with one stone. Souza’s son has been jailed on charges related to murder and drug trafficking. Souza himself has not yet been arrested. He also happens to be a legislator in the state government – and thus has immunity (just a thought, but perhaps the immunity protections could be scaled back a bit at some point). In the last elections, Souza garnered more votes than any other member of the Azononas legislature.

Souza is also a former police officer, so he really has all the bases covered. Committing crimes as a criminal, arresting criminals as a cop, reporting the crimes on TV, and making the laws. Souza has responded to the allegations by saying that he is being set up by political rivals.

This story really stunned me a bit. As much as Americans distrust the media at times, I find it hard to believe than any members of the media would have someone whacked just so that they could report on the story. I’ll eat my hat if my favorite news anchor is ever arrested for setting up a hit. (Note to Steven Colbert – try to avoid having people killed, OK? )

Their business is death, and business has been good

On the topic of death, I’d like to point out a favorite web site of mine, Dead or Alive Info. If you ever have a question about whether or not a public figure is dead or alive, pop over to this site to check. You can also take a gander at a list of people who are 85 or older and still alive. You can see which people died young (younger than 30) or old (100 or older) and sort by field (science, entertainment, etc), gender, or cause of death.

In addition to the raw facts, there are also some fun quizzes on the site.

Those among you who participate in celebrity death pools could make good use of this site when you’re setting up your board for the next draft. Take a quick look at the people who are 85+ and put them at the top of your board!

What did you miss over the weekend?

• On Friday, the fiction story Warm Feet appeared. Gay Marriage was the topic of the story.
• Saturday featured a “write your own adventure” story. Kosmo wrote the first 200 words ot the story Lindsey and asked readers to continue the story in the comment section.
• Tyson Turned weighed in with 3 things on Sunday.

So three things caught my attention this week that I feel are worth sharing. They range from comical to serious, so enjoy!

The Pursuit of Knowledge

So it often works out that when I am eating lunch, my television is tuned to Trivial Pursuit: America Plays hosted by Christopher Knight. I have always enjoyed Trivial Pursuit, so I find watching it on television to still be entertaining but also educational. I have seen before on other shows such as Jeopardy questions asked of Americans about basic Canadian facts only to see them completely mess up the answer. Well today’s question was “What province is Halifax the capital of?” Well only one of the participants had the bravery to provide an answer. His answer was “Ontarrrio”. Notice that his answer wasn’t Ontario (pronounced On-tear-e-o) but On-tar-e-o. Of course this is incorrect. I was actually surprised he chose this province, as the capital of Ontario is Canada’s biggest and most famous city, Toronto. I know it’s funny, but at the same time I do admit that I do not know all of the State capitals, so perhaps I should shut my mouth. I did end up feeling smarter than the contestants of the show though, as I knew the state capital of Ohio was Columbus while both of them did not (first guess Cleveland, second guess Cincinnati). Oh and by the way, Halifax is the capital of Nova Scotia.

Michael Vick Soars Again

Many people have heard of Michael Vick, whether they are a fan of the NFL or not. Well Michael is now officially back in the NFL, having signed a two year deal with the Philadelphia Eagles. When it comes to strictly improving your football team, this is a good move. He will have to shake off a fair bit of rust, but can slide comfortably into the backup role behind Donovan McNabb while he gets back into game shape. The only question is how this will affect the team in terms of its image. As a pet owner, I was as disgusted as anyone for what he did. While he did serve his time and pay his debt to society, I still really find myself despising him. I work with people with intellectual disabilities and even they know better than Vick when it came to what he did with those dogs. I personally hope his career is over and that he is heckled thoroughly everywhere he goes. This is one I just can’t get my head past.

Tim Horton’s

I don’t know what there is in the States to match this franchise. Dunkin Donuts perhaps? Tim Horton’s is a symbol of Canada like no other. It is our favourite place to have a coffee and donut. The franchise has actually expanding into a few northern States as well. Every morning drive-thru lines are packed, and lineups go out the doors as people will do anything to “get their Timmies”. Many people have bumper stickers to this effect. This week though, Tim’s got some publicity it didn’t want, as it was apparently a sponsor of a big anti-gay festival in Rhode Island. After news of this got out, they pulled out their support, claiming it was just one specific franchise owner in the area. This was definitely the right move, as many Canadians are open to gay marriage and full gay rights and the backlash up here would have been strong. I give kudos to the franchise for acting quickly to get this mess straightened out. On another note, I don’t see myself visiting Providence anytime soon.  

OK, today we’re going to kick off a brand new type of article on The Soap Boxers.  I will begin to write a story, and then stop after a couple hundred words.  I am asking all of you, the readers, to continue the story by adding a comment.  Take over the story from where I left off and write a hundred or so words.  Each successive writer should build upon the previous comment.  I do ask that you not finish the story if you are one of the first commenters – the goal is to have a lot of people play along.  If the progress stalls out, I will go ahead and write a conclusion to the story.

(Note to Evan @ 40Tech – your stuff is still getting caught in the spam filter, so if you want to play along, use a different address.  Otherwise, the sequence will get messed up a bit.)

If you have  never left a comment before, go ahead and take the plunge today!

Without further ado …

Lindsey

After thirty seven minutes in the air,  Lindsey turned the plane sharply to the east, deviating from the flight plan she had filed earlier.  She was beginning to sweat.  It was uncomfortably warm in the cabin of the plane, and the stress of what lie ahead for her only served to intensify the perspiration.  Lindsey pushed her auburn hair away from her eyes and wiped the sweat off her brow with a filty blue hankerchief.  She forced herself to avoiding thinking about what would happen on the ground, and instead focus on the task of flying the plane.

Shortly after she had passed over the mountains, Lindsey saw the runway in the distance.  It was rudimentary, but it would serve serve the purpose.  Lindsey had landed on aircraft carriers in the Navy; she could handle landing on a poorly maintained landing strip in the middle of nowhere.

The potholes, small bushes, and a lone misplaced goat made the landing a bit more rough than usual, but Lindsey was a pro and easily taxied the plane to a stop.  As soon as the vehicle had come to a complete stop, Lindsey popped open the door, grabbed her Nevy duffel bag, and hopped out of the plane.

OK, readers – what happens next?  What the heck is Lindsey up to?  Honestly, I have no idea … you tell me.

Do you know other people who want to join in on the fun?  Send them a link, or simply hit the “Tweet this” button.

Note: the topic of this story is gay marriage.  While the story itself is positive in tone, I do realize that this is a controversial subject.  If you feel that this story may upset you, this would be the time to stop reading and peruse another of the many articles at The Soap Boxers.

Kate Kubek took a moment to gather her thoughts. Today, the day she would marry her best friend, had been reached after a long and winding journey.

Kate remembered peeking through the curtains of her parents’ house, watching the Mayflower van pull into the driveway next door. Her parents forbid her from visiting the new neighbors until they were settled in their house. Kate dutifully obeyed her mother and father, but kept up on the drama by manning her station near the window. Almost immediately, her excitement had been intensified by the presence of a young girl in pigtails – a girl who seemed to be about seven years old, too.

After waiting for what seemed like years (but was actually just a few days), her parents allowed her to go next door to visit. She carried a plate of her mother’s chocolate chip cookies as a “welcome to the neighborhood” present. The girl next door – Robyn – was excited to meet a girl her own age, and thus began a wonderful friendship.

During the summer, they spent countless hours in the warm sun playing tag, hide-and-go-seek, and even trying their hand at croquet. Their croquet matches were an utter failure when judged by the quality of the execution – but a rousing success when judged by the decibels of their laughter.

As the leaves began to display vibrant hues and the wind began to blow with cold intensity, they retreated behind the brick walls of Robyn’s house. Winters were spent playing Candyland and Chutes and Ladders, as well as that rite of passage of every young girl – Barbie dolls.

The girls quickly became inseparable. Kate’s parents had a standing invitation open to Robyn, and the Murphy family reciprocated by welcoming Kate into their home at every opportunity. Kate and Robyn even took summer vacations together.

When the girls finally were old enough to date, it was only logical that they would double date. They would help each other with their hair and makeup and chat excitedly about the fun they would have on their dates.

However, regardless of how handsome, smart, and charming the boys were, neither of them ever felt that magic feeling of being in love. Some day, surely, their princes would come.

Kate slowly began to realize that she had feelings for Robyn that went beyond friendship. She was scared at first – scared that unrequited love would mean the end to a friendship that meant the world to her. Finally, in their dorm room late one night during their freshman year in college, Kate broke down and told Robyn about her feelings. Robyn began to cry. Between sobs, Robyn told her that she felt the same way. As they held each other and shared a first kiss, they finally experienced the electric feeling of love.

They kept their relationship a secret for nearly a year before they could no longer hold it in and confided to their parents. Their parents were in heavy denial at first. Eventually, however, they couldn’t help but see the love that Kate and Robyn felt for each other, and in time the families grew to accept their relationship and eventually to support them fully. Kate and Robyn knew that they were incredibly fortunate to have such supportive families – many other lesbian couples experienced hatred from within their own families.

A loud squeak interrupted her thoughts.

“Kate, honey,” called out her mother, “It’s time to go. You don’t want to be late for your own wedding.”

Kate smiled, got to her feet, and followed her mother up the stairs.

As an extra long version of “Here Comes the Bride” played, Kate took her father’s arm and walked up the aisle toward the front of the church. Butterflies began to flutter slightly in her stomach. She looked toward the front of the church – there were three bridesmaids on each side, with Robyn standing in the middle.

When they reached the front of the church, Kate stood next to Robyn and held her hands. As they gazed into each other’s eyes, they each felt the power of the love they felt for each other, amplified by the support of the family that had gathered to share their special day.

Today was the first day of the rest of their lives. What a wonderful life it would be.

You might have noticed a few changes to the design.

• I have added some splashes of pink to the main (center) column.  Everything that is pink is a clickable link (the article titles are also links, despite not being pink).  Additionally, virtually everything in the left and right column is a link.  Poke around.  Click on the links.  Why did I choose pink for the links in the center column?  Because it seemed to provide good visual contrast from the background.  However, design is definitely not my strong suit, so if there is a backlash against pink, I will reconsider!
• Related articles (from The Soap Boxers) and related websites (articles from other blogs) will be highlighted at the bottom of articles.  I am using a plug-in for this (Related Websites) and it can be a bit hit-and-miss at times, so you might see some things mentioned that don’t really seem very related.
• A few more incredibly minor changes minor changes that I doubt anyone figures out 🙂

Golf

The big news of the week is not the fact that yours truly shot a career low round of 67 this past week … it instead is the fourth golf major of the year on the PGA tour.

This week Hazeltine hosts the 91st PGA Championship. I have been one to pick Tiger Woods in all of the majors this year and he is a smooth 0-3. So I will go with someone else. Camillo Villegas is my pick for the week.

Tiger does have an interesting statistic in his quest for a major this year. He has one each of the tournaments he played in BEFORE playing in a major this year … the pre Major Grand Slam if you will.

He has 14 Majors in 248 career starts. This also includes 70 tour victories. Jack Nicklaus at the same point in his career had 9 major wins and 41 tour victories…amazing.

Next Week the Solheim Cup will take place in Sugar Grove Illinois. Johnny Goodman will be present with Mrs. Goodman checking out the action as the members of the US team take on the European contingent. This will be my first venture to an international type of tournament and I hope to bring some photos to an article in a couple of weeks.

Cornhusker Football

The family all went to the annual “Fan Day” at Memorial Stadium in Lincoln Nebraska this past week. This is the day where all the players and coaches are available for the mass throngs of husker faithful to sign autographs, take pictures, high five one another … and stand in long long lines. I took my 3 1/2 year old son to this event and he had the time of his life. It is nice to see college athletes taking time to meet the community and sign autographs for the kids. One of the best things at the event was a player who was having each of the kids sign his name sheet which was located on the table in front of him. When I asked him why he was doing this he said ” because one day one of these kids will end up being a college football player … and I can say I have one of their first autographs”

Baseball

The Yankees swept the Red Sox this past weekend to vault into first place in the American League East. Troy Tulowitzki of the Colorado Rockies hit for the cycle … was it preferred scoring on a bobbled ball by Alfonso Soriano … should it have instead been ruled a double with an extra base error …. too late now … but I know the head of The Soap Boxers is happy ….

SuitGate

Too much is being made of the “technology” which is being used to make swimming times faster. The high tech suits allow for easier buoyancy and well as alarmingly faster times. What happened to the good ol days of Mark Spitz and the Moustache? Can we all just wear the trunks and goggles and see who is fastest? I wish tennis would go back to wood rackets as well. It would show who is the most talented, not just necessarily who has the best equipment.

And finally for the parting shot this week. Fantasy Football drafts are just around the corner. Send your thoughts to me here and I will be sure to include any tid bits of your wisdom in a column for next week in the sports wrap up.

I have been writing fiction stories since elementary school. In sixth grade, my teacher gave me the opportunity to attend a local young writer’s conference – if I could produce just one non-sports story for her. I dashed off a story about Bigfoot and got the chance to spend a day with a few classmates, attending writing workshops. On the same day, most of our class was pent up in the boring old school building.

It was also during the sixth grade when I first plunged into the world of publishing. I convinced a lot of classmates to write articles for my newly formed magazine, Howdy. Howdy was a critical success, but operations ceased after just one issue after a discussion on the proper and improper use of the school copy machine.

In high school, my short story The Case of the State vs. Santa Claus was among a handful selected for publication in the school paper.  The story detailed the prosecution of Santa Claus in the death of grandma (sing it with me – “Grandma got run over by a reindeer …”).

During my college years, my fiction writing ground to a near halt, due in large part to the increase in writing required for term papers.  I wrote a few very short stories, but really nothing subtantial.  Oddly, although I obtained a minor in English while in college, I did not take a single creative writing class; choosing instead to focus on pre-19th century British literature.

In my post-college years, I would write the occassional story.  The story Tina, for example, was written for a long-forgotten acquaintance by that name.  I also began writing invitations to a weekly dinner/movie event.  Most people would simply send out the location of dinner and the choice of movie.  I unleashed my creativity and typically threw several hundreds words into the email.  This would occassionally cause some confusion – such as the time when one person ended up at the wrong Australian steakhouse.

After moving back to my native Iowa, my writing once again dropped off.  It later regained some momentum when I joined a simulation baseball league (essentially, a cross between fantasy baseball and Dungeons and Dragons, with fake players).  Credits could be earned by writing about your team, and my favorite type of article quickly became fictional accounts of my player’s lives.

During my time in the league, I shared  my tongue-in-cheek investment advice.  After encouragement from friends, I launched a blog in October, with the investment advice piece as the very first article.  The blog was unlike many blogs in that it did not focus on a particular niche, instead trying to bring a diverse group of topics under a single umbrella.

I picked up my fiction pen again in November when I wrote  about Oregon’s election process.  After a few more satires, the first true original fiction piece, Release Point, became the first story in the Fiction Friday series.  Shortly thereafter, The Soap Boxers moved to its current address.  In recent months, I have added several writers to the staff, in an effort to add diverse content, as well as allowing me to focus on a handful of topics.  The most important of these topics is definitely the fiction stories.  In July, the Fiction Friday stories were collected into an eBook (along with a longer bonus story).  (If you’re a repeat visitor, you can click on the “Free eBook” link at the right edge of the blue bar toward the top of the screen).

I plan to perodically release new volumes of the compiled fiction – always with at least one brand new story.  I also have a few other irons in the fire, including a couple of possible book ideas.

While I do wish to devote energy to novels in the future, I do not want to forget my short stories, either.  It is for this reason that I am announcing my intention to enter the 2010  Iowa Short Fiction contest (see details about the 2009 contest).  The contest requires a 150+ page manuscript of short stories.  I will not be able to have a manuscript ready in time for this year’s content (submissions are due on September 30), but this is my goal for 2010.  I plan to dust off some of my books about writing (including on book that is devoted entirely to writing better dialogue) as I attempt to refine my writing style.  My hope is that this will result in stories that are more enjoyable to read.

What’s the moral to the story?  If you have the itch to write, grab a pen (or keyboard) and start!  It’s a cheap hobby.

Rockies shortstop Troy Tulowitzki had a magical night last night, recording five hits in five at bats, hitting for the cycle (a single, double, triple, and homer all in the same game), driving in seven runs and scoring two runs.  It was the type of night that he will remember forever.

Interestingly, his night could have been even better.  In the second inning of the game, Tulo (who had already homered in the first inning) hit a towering fly ball that soared an estimated twenty feet above the one hundred foot tall foul pole in left field.  The umpire immediately rule the ball foul.  The Rockies manager protested, and the call was reviewed via instant replay.

Unfortunately, the disputed play occurred at dusk, and it was difficult to determine whether the ball was fair or foul.  Thus, they had no option other than allowing the initial call of foul to stand.  Tulo did single home two runs in the at bat, but if the foul ball had been ruled a homer, it would have been a grand slam.  (Note: I find no fault on the part of the umpires – it was a tough call.)

In early June, Tulowitzki was mired in a season long slump, on the heels of a injury-marred and lackluster 2008 season.  When play began on the day of June 7, he was batting .216 with 5 homers and 16 RBI in 167 at bats (.683 OPS).  At that point, he found his stroke and has batted .324 with 16 homers and 44 RBI in 236 at bats over a span of 57 games (1.059 OPS).  During stretch of 62 games that encompasses those 57 games, the Rockies have gone 42-18 – rebounding from a 20-32 start to the year to find themselves with a record of 62-50.  The Rockies are atop the wild card race and a mere 5 ½ games behind the hated Dodgers in the National League West.

Cash for Clunkers

Cash for Clunkers is definitely drawing its fair share of ink, and many people have negative opinions of the program.  I’m not going to defend it in its entirety, because I do believe that the program has flaws, particularly with the low threshold for the $3500 rebates.  However, I will address two comments that seem to pop up a lot.

The first is the comment that this is resulting in perfectly good cars being destroyed – cars that would be a good first car for a teen, or a car for someone who couldn’t afford something nicer.  I get the impression that people think that this is an unintended consequence that was a result of congress not thinking enough about the impacts.  However, this is not the case.  This is exactly what congress intended – to avoid having the useful lives of these cars extended, and getting them off the road.  Whether a 15 mph car is being driven by a 45 year old man, or a 19 year old college student, it’s still a 15 mpg car.  I might be one of the minority who thinks that car with 18 mph or worse combined highway/city mpg is pretty bad.  I’ve never had a car that has come anywhere close to this mileage, and I don’t drive small cars.  Our current cars are in the high 20s.

The second comment I hear is a questioning of the stimulative effect.  In my opinion, Cash for Clunkers is an environmental program with a possible economic impact, not vice versa.  Realistically, there cannot be much direct stimulation as a result of the program.  In the grand scheme of things, three billion dollars is not a huge amount of money.  The best case scenario would be for the program to revive interest in cars, and get people without clunkers to think about buying a car.

Mel Martinez

Senator Mel Martinez of Florida has announced that he will be stepping down before his current term ends.  This puts governor Charlie Crist in an interesting predicament.  Crist had previously announced his intentions to run for Martinez’ seat in 2010 (Martinez had previously announced that he would not seek another term).  As is the case in many states, the governor has the authority to appoint the interim senator.  Crist has said that he will not appoint himself, which gets him into a bit of a pickle.  Whomever is appointed by Crist will be an incumbent for the 2010 primaries.  Incumbents always have a leg up on the opposition.

Crist has a few options.  The first option is to appoint someone who will be a strong representative for the state of Florida – someone who represents that views of the citizens of the state and works hard to achieve results in the Senate.  This candidate could be a tough adversary for Crist in the primary.  Alternately, Crist could appoint a weaker candidate who would be exposed by  a short stint in congress, and would be a sitting duck against Crist in a primary.  The danger with this is that the citizens might not be pleased having sub-standard representation in congress.

I suppose there’s also the third option – that Crist does indeed appoint himself, reneging on his earlier statement.  I’ll give Governor  Crist the benefit of the doubt and assume that he’s not dumb enough to try that trick.

It will be interesting to see which direction Crist will lean.  The citizens of Florida would be well served to pay close attention to this process, as it may tell them much about the sort of man Charlie Crist is.

Patrick Kane

Chicago Blackhawks forward Patrick Kane was arrested in Buffalo for robbery, criminal mischief,  and theft of services after an early morning altercation with a cab driver.

The story being told by the cab driver is that Kane and  his cousin paid for a $13.80 cab ride with $15.  The cab driver claimed to only have $1 in change, rather than the $1.20.  The Kanes then allegedly took back the $15 and punched the cab driver in the face.  Police confirmed that the cab driver suffered cuts to the face and broken glasses.

Kane is, of course, innocent until proven guilty.  Perhaps the allegations are unfounded.  If the allegations prove to be true, then Kane suffered a monumental case of bad judgment.  Were he and his cousin owed the 20 cents?  Certainly.  However, this was definitely not the best way to handle the situation.  Noting the cab driver’s cab license and reporting the incident to the proper authorities would have been a better route.  Risking a prison sentence over 20 cents  just doesn’t make sense.

What did you miss over the weekend?

• Friday featured the first part of the short story Superstar – the tale of a young music sensation.
• The conclusion of Superstar appeared in the Saturday edition.
• Tyson Turner pushed Winnipeg front and center on Sunday, selling the city as a tourist destination.

In what should be the first of a series of “promoting” some Canadian tourist destinations, I figured I’d start with one that is a challenge: my current city of residence, Winnipeg. Winnipeg is often the butt of jokes from Canadians (an air miles commercial comes to mind where the guy took the wrong flight and instead of Hawaii he ended up going to Winnipeg and was very unhappy) mainly for its weather. In winter, it can reach as low as -50 celsius and in summer as high as +35 celsius. The city is about a 20 minute drive west of the centre point of Canada. I view this as a bonus, as it makes it easier to access the different cities in the country. Anyways, here are some of the specifics which I think make Winnipeg stand out:

MTS Centre: One of the 10 busiest venues in North America each year since it opened, it has helped attract some big names in terms or performances and concerts. I have enjoyed Cirque do Soleil, Oasis, numerous hockey games, Disney on Ice, etc. The building will turn five years old this fall, but remains a bright spot in the city’s downtown area. With plenty of parking surrounding it, the arena has helped revitalized the downtown core.

The Forks: An area of the city on the Red River packed with history, is also the future home of the Canadian Human Rights Museum which is slated to open in spring of 2012. There are plenty of old stores, restaurants, the Winnipeg Goldeyes baseball stadium, and a long walkway along the river for anyone’s enjoyment. I sort of fashion it to the Navy Pier in Chicago.

Cultural Events: Every summer there is an exciting and diverse list of festivals that every Winnipegger can look forward to. There is the two week long Fringe Festival, packed full of small plays and shows in many small venues that cost only $5-10 to attend. This festival brings acts from all over North America. Currently going on is the two week Folklorama, which showcases over 40 pavilions with countries such as Greece, Italy, Portugal, El Salvador, Cuba, Mexico and many others. Each pavilion provides entertainment, history, food and more which give the visitor a real taste of that country. Folk Fest runs for five days in July at Bird’s Hill Park and gives people a chance to tent out and enjoy their favourite musicians. Elvis Costello and Ani DiFranco were notable performers this year. Countryfest, which is a yearly set of concerts in Dauphin (a short drive west of Winnipeg) also brings some big names up north for country music fans. This event always sells out and sells out early, and featured names this year such as Tim McGraw, The Roadhammers, Charlie Major, and many more.

Proximity to Stuff: Want to visit our neighbours to the south to feel what life in the States is like? Grand Forks is a mere two hour drive south. Want to see Mall of America and all of the major sports leagues? Minneapolis is just a 6 hour drive southeast. Want to spend time at the lake, go to a beach? Well then you are talking about 30-120 minutes worth of driving, in basically every direction. Heck even Chicago, Edmonton and Calgary can be done in a 12 hour drive. If you like road trips, there are lots of great things to see and do in only a day’s drive.

I guess what motivated me to write this is a story in the news this week about how tourism in the city is down a fair bit this year. Now obviously the weather has something to do with this (8 months in a row of below average temperatures) but also the new law put into place in June where you must have a passport to cross the US/Canada border by car. With many Americans not having bothered to obtain a passport, this has hit hard up here. I encourage Americans (and Canadians for that matter) to go and get this, and experience the many great places that are not really that far from home.