What did we post here at Steel White Table a year ago today?

Nothing.

You know, that might be a good tagline for Steel White Table: Ah, It’s Nothing. Forget it.

Any other bloggers out there want to tell us what they blogged about a year ago today (December 1st)?

• Socks
• Underwear (boxers)
• Lagavulin (because the distributors here in New Brunswick are not shipping it anymore, the bastards)
• Couple sweaters
• Black Forest Cake with lots of cherries

You’re welcome.

What do you want?

Judy Wallman, a professional genealogical researcher, discovered that Canadian Liberal Party leader Stéphane Dion’s great uncle, Robert Dion, was hanged for horse stealing and train robbery in Quebec in 1889. The only known photograph of Dion shows him standing on the gallows. On the back of the picture is this inscription:

“Robert Dion; horse thief, sent to Quebec Provincial Prison 1883, escaped 1887, robbed the Canadian Pacific Railway six times. Caught by Pinkerton detectives, convicted, and hanged in 1889.”

Judy e-mailed Stephen Dion for comments. Dion’s staff sent back the following biographical sketch:

“Robert Dion was a famous horseman in Quebec. His business empire grew to include acquisition of valuable equestrian assets and intimate dealings with the Canadian Pacific Railroad. Beginning in 1883, he devoted several years of his life to service at a government facility, finally taking leave in 1887 to resume his dealings with the railroad. Subsequently, he was a key player in a vital investigation run by the renowned Pinkerton Detective Agency. In 1889, Dion passed away during an important civic function held in his honour, when the platform on which he was standing collapsed.”

How do people manage to send files without extensions? How do they lose the file extension by sending it as an attachment? And if the file somewhere along the line loses its extension, why wouldn’t they fix it before they send it off?

It’s annoying.

See comments for updates.

(via Sedition.com)

Click the image for larger view.

I saw a report on CBC’s Market Place a year or two ago about how four winter tires are better than two, and any amount is better than all-season tires.

It’s supposed to go up to almost 20 degrees this weekend (I won’t know what that is in the antiquated American temperature system).

The Creature from the Black Lagoon may be the best creature-feature B-movie I’ve seen since the original King Kong. Dramatically, it’s not in the same league as King Kong, but it’s a good action movie with enough thrills and surprises so it never gets boring. The DVD Talk synopsis (edited): “Starry-eyed scientist David Reed, adventurer-investor Mark Williams and curvaceous Kay penetrate the Black Lagoon to search for a full fossil to match the skeletal claw discovered by professor Carl Maia. But what greets them is an aquatic man-fish that takes an instant liking to the way Kay fills out a contoured swimsuit. The Gill Man decimates the supporting cast while the leads argue the best way to capture it; after he blocks their exit from the Lagoon, the wily Devonian goes a step further and claims Kay as a romantic spoil of war.” The underwater scenes (impressive even by today’s standards) are exciting and especially creepy when the The Gill Man follows the “curvaceous Kay” while she’s swimming. The creature may be a guy in a rubber suit, but it’s a pretty damn affective rubber suit.

The Revenge of the Creature is a repeat of Black Lagoon but dumber — way dumber. The thrill is gone because there’s no mystery to the creature. And then they throw the poor guy into an aquarium at Sea World with a ball and chain wrapped around his ankle. Several shots of the creature from the first movie are blatantly recycled, and the new footage shows a constant stream of bubbles leaking from the top of the rubber suit. It’s bad.

The Creature Walks Among Us is even worse, if that’s possible. The creature is captured by some gun-toting scientists again and transformed into a air-breathing monster who becomes the quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys. He takes them all the way to the Super Bowl. Or not. Anyway, the creature does indeed walk among us and then walks back to the ocean. But he doesn’t have gills anymore, so I assume he escapes back to the ocean and drowns. That’s a great ending. There’s no reason to see this or the previous sequel if you’ve already seen The Creature from the Black Lagoon.

“And I’m looking around, and I realize, this guy having a tuque on has really great boots on, these sort of cowboy, motorcycle boots. And he was wearing really nice leather pants. And I realize I’m staring face-to-face with Bob Dylan.”

After the music legend and his manager were invited into the house, Dylan asked a lot of thoughtful questions, including about Neil Young’s old bedroom.

That’s the first time I’ve heard the words, “this guy having a tuque on.” Somebody want to send me a photoshopped pic of Dylan wearing a tuque so I can add it to this post?

George W. Bush was elected for a second term.

I won’t be surprised to see McCain and Palin make it to the White House.

UPDATE: I’m so glad my prediction was wrong. Way to go, USA!