Since we last got together I've been out enjoying nature. Summer has arrived, and with it a few months of bad skiing. (Badaboom... Thank you very much. I'll be here all week. Try the roast beef and don't forget to tip your server.) Anyhoo, speaking of bad skiing put me in mind of Winterpeg, Willy and all those flatlanders who now have something to cheer because Burton Cummings and Randy Bachman have teamed up to release a new album, Jukebox

Instead of just covering recognizable hits, the duo shakes, rattles and rolls things up with a mixture of well-known numbers -- such as Bo Diddley's Who Do You Love, Bob Dylan's Like a Rolling Stone and the Box Tops' The Letter -- with some overlooked classics including Chuck Berry's Little Queenie, The Equals' Baby Come Back and Huey (Piano) Smith & the Clowns' Don't You Just Know It. Many songs get new arrangements with altered tempos, added lyrics, Bachman's always amazing guitar work and additional keyboard lines from Cummings. American Woman even gets overhauled.

They've recorded the songs that inspired them when they were growing up.

The weather here in Southern Ontario has been absolutely gorgeous. I've golfed, walked the dog, ignored the lawn, shampooed the dog and generally been outdoors at every opportunity.

That new ice cream maker is great. With the fresh strawberries coming into season we'll be making more ice cream, gelato, jams and daiquiris.  Students are in the middle of graduation and prom season. I'm seriously thinking that I need a new writing theme, more to do with physical exercise. Then you might be reading "Pilates", "Aerobics", "Free Weights", or "Spinning" on Fridays. If I don't make some lifestyle changes I'm going to need a new wardrobe of clothes.

Speaking of spinning... With the Senate passing the budget today it looks like Stever and the Cons are ready for their summer too. It won't be long before Harper's got a new Calgary Stampede outfit for our amusement. I suspect the politicians will be getting an earful at all those BBQ's, rodeos and picnics. How's Bev Oda keep from gagging on the stench of rotting carp while trying to deny climate change? Scugog carp dying by the thousands

As fish stories go, this one's hard to top: 250 eight- to 20-pounders netted in a single day.
But Jeff Mullin isn't bragging about his recent catch from Lake Scugog.

"I threw up three times bringing them in," he says.
Bloated, bulging-eyed, crawling with maggots, the carp haul was only a fraction of the thousands that have died mysteriously over the past two weeks.

"The stench is unreal. I had to keep my shirt tied over my face," says the Port Perry resident, who collected more carcasses yesterday.

Waterfront residents on the shallow lake an hour northeast of Toronto are gagging over the sight and stink of the rotting remains washing ashore. There are so many that Durham Region's works department has scheduled a special curbside pickup of fish today and Monday.

Based on my reading of the blogosphere I'd say there's some considerable discontent out there and that Harper just isn't the man for Canada. How else to explain the Cons inability to pull ahead in the polls? I suppose they can console themselves by looking south at the prospects of their Republican best buddies. No doubt this will be the summer of the neocons' discontent

Speaking of Con's... In the next day or so I'll give you my take on the Black trial and summary, wherein I predict the outcome. Unfortunately we've lost the $24,000 funding for Summer Drinks so we'll have to make do with the booze in the blender.  

Now Lords and Ladies, freemen, vassals and serfs join me in raising a glass to the changing of the seasons. Here's to Summer.

Cheers!