2025 me: Broken images were removed.

Kind of a somber post this evening because the Hans Island crisis is weighing heavy on my mind. A brief synopsis of the conflict :

1972: A joint Canadian-Danish research team discovers the coordinates to a small, extremely northern, rocky island at the tip of western Greenland (80 degrees north.) The island is uninhabitable and inhospitable.

1988: Denmark sends a team to plant a flag and erect a cairn (a symbolic mound of stones).

1995: The Danes replace the flag.

2001: Canada retaliates by sending geologists. (yeah that’s right, don’t fuck with us.)

2003: Denmark responds with a new flag and a new cairn (which our geologists allegedly kicked over). For good measure they bury some Aquavit.

July 13, 2005: Canadian soldiers land, put up the Maple Leaf, bury some Canadian Rye Whiskey and erect a stoic inukshuk as a grim warning to the Danes.

And now, the latest Canadian salvo in the conflict occurred last Wednesday when our Defense Minister, Bill Graham landed by helicopter. Apparently, him and a few other guys roamed a bit, maybe kicked some rocks around, probably a little chit-chat, then left after an hour. On Monday, in a strongly worded letter of protest, the Danes expressed anger at the Canadian occupation and threatened to turn up the heat with a counter-offensive. They’re sending a ship… sometime in September. Maybe. I figure they’ll probably plant a fresh flag, maybe circle around a couple times and then go home. We’re going to have to find a way to take it to the next level after that.

Ok, I’ve got to do this to fulfill the contractual obligation that Starry_Eyed_82 tagged me with: “list five songs that you are currently rocking the living hell out of…” And as a show of support for the Hans Island cause, I’m keeping it All-Canadian.

• Sloan – Money City Maniacs
• Danko Jones – Bounce
• Sam Roberts –  Where have all the good people gone?
• Alexisonfire – Accidents
• Bif Naked – Chotee

I’m not bothering to tag anyone either because it’s impossible to top that. Those five songs are packed with the absolute maximum amount of Rock.