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Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION

FYI: Overheard

By: "Overheard

28/11/2009 1:00 AM | Comments: 0

30 down, many to go

"It's like a parade. There's a lineup of (johns), sometimes four, five, six long."

-- Darrell Stavern, a Stella Avenue resident, who has no use for the johns who cruise his neighbourhood. Police arrested 30 johns and impounded 30 vehicles during a three-month crackdown in the area.

Ho ho ho, let's do some more yardwork

"Someone bought 50 pounds of grass seed last week, and we're still selling rakes."

-- Mike Wolchock, store manager of Pollock's Hardware Co-op Ltd., marvels at Winnipeg's record-breaking November temperatures.

No school photos here, please

"The kind of stuff that works in Canada -- a big photo-op in front of a school and everybody's happy -- that actually increases the risk to that school."

-- Kevin McCort, president and CEO of CARE Canada, explains why schools in Afghanistan are attacked by insurgents who are sending the military or foreign governments a message. Attacks are on the rise, and girls schools make up 40 per cent of all schools targeted.

Clearly, the fans are sexist pigs

"Female performers have been doing this for years -- pushing the envelope about sexuality -- and the minute a man does it, everybody freaks out."

-- Adam Lambert defends his American Music Awards performance, in which he thrust a man's face into his crotch, walked his dancers on a leash and forced his keyboardist into an open-mouthed kiss.

Marg meets her match

"It was great fun, but also very strange. We're in a bookstore, at a public event, in a place one would think was a bastion of free speech. And no one was allowed to ask questions. What are they afraid of?"

-- Comedian Mary Walsh after a close encounter with Sarah Palin at a book-signing in Ohio. Her alter-ego Marg Delahunty was strong-armed away from the former Alaskan governor by a cabal of security guards -- but not before getting assurance from Palin that Canada should dismantle its health-care system and put it in private enterprise's hands, where it belongs.

Tough to watch

"I've seen part of it, and it was very sad. It was tough to watch because it showed how selfish I was. I was a selfish guy."

-- Don Cherry on his son's new movie, Keep Your Head Up Kid: The Don Cherry Story. The movie was partially filmed in Winnipeg, Brandon and Selkirk.

A legal challenge

"There won't be a lot of guilt-innocence maneuverability there."

-- Thomas H. Dunn, a former defense lawyer for the U.S. Army, on possible defense strategies for Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, accused in the Nov. 5 shooting rampage at Fort Hood, Tex.

Wanted: one sugar daddy for a pretty tough cookie

"You know with a sugar daddy that they're spending a lot of money on you and they clearly want something in return, but is that really any different than how it is with a boyfriend?"

-- Mercedes, a 22-year-old college junior who advertises for sugar daddies on SeekingArrangement.com

Somebody turn off the light

"We believe strongly that Canadians' freedom is enhanced when journalists are free to pursue the truth, to shine light into dark corners and to assist the process of holding governments accountable."

-- Prime Minister Stephen Harper, just before refusing to take questions from reporters at the National Ethnic Press and Media Council of Canada.

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition November 28, 2009 H2

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