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1. Jean-Marie Lustiger (France) 4 – 1
2. Claudio Hummes (Brazil) 13 – 2
3. Cardinal Carlo Maria Martini (Italy) 7 – 1
4. Joseph Ratzinger (Germany) 7 – 1
5. Francis Arinze (Nigeria) 15 – 2
6. Cardinal Oscar Rodriguez Maradiaga (Honduras) 10 – 1
7. Jorge Mario Bergoglio (Argentina) 10 – 1
8. Dionigi Tettamanzi (Italy) 14 – 1
9. Jose Da Cruz Policarpo (Portugal) 20 – 1
10. Keith O Brien (Scotland) 20 – 1
The latest Paddy Power odds on the Papal election.
As you can see, former favourites like Arinze and Maradiaga have fallen off the top three in favour of Lustiger and Hummes. It’s no surprise that the number three spot is an Italian; after all, as my Mum pointed out, there hasn’t been an Italian pope in over 25 years!
Hummes, who is Brazilian, is the politically correct choice, given that Brazil is home to the largest Catholic population on the planet.
Lustiger is an interesting choice – he is European, which is obviously an advantage in terms of maintaining a Euro-centric upper echelon. On the other hand, he is Jewish by birth – don’t get me wrong, this is not an anti-semetic statement. After all, the central figures of worship in Catholicism, Jesus and the Virgin, were both Jewish. But for generations the Vatican has rejected candidates from places like Africa and South America because these places were ‘converted,’ which means that its Catholics were somehow not the “men of God” that the papacy requires. So, y’know, a Jewish Pope? Personally, I think it’s cool; I’m not sure it would fly with actual practicing Catholics.
On the other hand, some claim that a Jewish Pope is inevitable, according to various prophecies. Some prophecies indicate that the next Pope is the last Pope, too. Interpreters of these prophecies are divided on a few issues, including whether or not John Paul I ‘counts.’ None of the prophecies mention a Scottish Pope, unfortunately 😉
Perhaps it’s sacreligious of me, but I keep picturing Kermit the Frog, trenchcoated and microphone in hand, outside St. Peter’s Basilica…

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the roommate from hell.
via Davezilla

Now that it is an ex-pope, betting has started on his successor. The front-runners so far are an Italian, a Nigerian and a German, which makes it sound like the set-up of a really un-PC joke*.
<<Update, April 6 – the Honduran has come from behind to upset the German!!>>
Also, if you’re looking for more ways to rid yourself of the root of all evil, you can place a bet on the next papal name. Unsurprisingly, the top picks are John, Paul, and John Paul. The odds are definitely against Sixtus, and Urban is also a longshot. Bettors should be aware that “in the event that two names are chosen dead heat rules will apply.”
*perhaps involving a Volkswagen.

Overheard in New York.
Thanks, Vin.

Early morning thinking is overrated.
Here’s the scenario: something wakes me up – a small child, a snoring husband, or demands for attention from a cat who is capable of producing a remarkable amount of noise, given her overall smallness. Despite my best efforts to stay asleep, my brain turns on and random thoughts start to cross my mind. Getting back to sleep becomes more and more hopeless, until I give in and get up.
So here I am, at 5:38 a.m. on a Saturday morning, updating my blog, waiting for the coffee to finish brewing, and watching the Pope die.
A sampling of the random thoughts:
~ Most of us have seen that picture of Terry Schiavo, captured from a family video this summer. Yesterday I saw, for the first time, a picture of her before her brain was damaged. While I do feel for her parents, I still feel that theirs was a hopeless case, and that Ms Schiavo’s death is a release from a non-life. Now that I have seen how beautiful and dynamic she was before, I cannot help but feel a certain amount of outrage that this past decade and a half has only ensured that she will be remembered as a pathetic inhuman lump, rather than a vivacious young woman whose life was cut short.
~ Reading Dan Brown’s Angels and Demons has, as it turns out, been educational. As I keep this morbid Pope-watch, I realize that I now know more about the relevant terminology and ritual that I did a few months ago.
~ Are these guys serious, or what? (Thanks, Irene)
~ If the paper has arrived, it’s not too early to be awake, right?
~ I am not usually a pre-dawn TV watcher. Is this really the kind of advertising that goes on at this hour? Also, can one become a professional musician whose specialty is sad TV muzak?
~ Or a graphic artist whose specialty is TV backgrounds for similarly emotional occasions?

So we stayed up ’til midnight last night, listening to the final list of CBC’s 50 Tracks feature.
In brief, the three-month feature asked several panels and then listeners to nominate and defend the top 50 quintessential Canadian singles of all time (or at least the last century).
We started listening around 7 o’clock, and got hooked…
This has nothing to do with the fact that the host is the eminently scrumptious Jian Ghomeshi. Just because he’s smart, funny, musical, melifluous and generally yummy? Please. Give us some credit.
Besides, it was a radio broadcast.
Anyway, the final list is now available. There were a few surprises, not least of which for me was a total absence of April Wine. What about Just Between You and Me? For goodness sake, there’s even a French bit. English Montreal was well-represented by the likes of Sam Roberts and Leonard Cohen, and thankfully abberations like Corey Hart and Gowan didn’t make the list. There was no Pagliaro, however; in fact, the only franco on the list was the 40-year-old Gilles Vigneault single Mon Pays.
Also, while Gordon Lightfoot had two songs in the top ten (as did Joni Mitchell), personally I would have chosen If You Could Read My Mind instead of Early Morning Rain, but that’s a matter of personal taste, I guess.
Another surprise was number 2 on the list – not that this song doesn’t belong on the list. I was just surprised to see it at number 2, edging out American Woman, which frankly should have been number 1. American Woman not only rocks, it reflects a Canadian perspective lyrically, and not just by dropping place names.
Having said that, the song that did end up in the top position, while it might not reflect a quintessential Canadianness for me, certainly does separate the Canadians from the pretenders. I guessed it before the lovely Jian revealed it, and Dr. T, who was with me right up to that point, said, and I quote, “who?”
This is because the one track that, according to CBC voters, best represents the best of Canadian music is Ian & Sylvia’s Four Strong Winds.
While Dr. T tried to figure out just who the heck these people were, I took a little trip down memory lane – I can remember watching Ian & Sylvia on TV. I remember when they broke up. I remember my mother, guitar in hand, singing Four Strong Winds, and it was beautiful.
Maybe the Guess Who put Canada on the map musically, but Ian & Sylvia are so very Canadian.

It’s obvious that Sam Roberts is a Montrealer, and there’s no metaphorical or philosophical meaning to the lyric “and there’s no road that’s not a hard road to travel on.”
True Montrealers are familiar with our annual pothole festival (Les nids de mars, perhaps?), featuring ‘pockmarks’ in the asphalt that are measured in feet, not inches – there are several reports in various forums of people sustaining damage to wheels, rims, tires and even axles.
According to CAA Quebec, this year may be the worst yet. As always, the CAA has a special section on potholes, including a form for reporting new hazardous holes – so far this year, with more than 1,000 holes reported, we’re beating last year’s number by a landslide. In fact, the roads are so bad this year that the CAA site started the pothole section a month early.
There is, in fact, no road that ain’t a hard road to travel on.

Just in time to respond to Bruce’s comment, this article, about the ruling from the Supreme Court which states that the colour ban on Quebec margarine stands.

Dover Cards – discovered when I Googled “tasteful e-cards”.

recent updates and changes
The Montrealer list continues to expand – so I’ve chunked it into an extended entry. Additions to the list are always welcome!
I’ve also updated the entry on the “I’m Julie” ad. Google has revealed that many bloggers and other online writers have responded to the ad – and the Gazoo, among others, has now pulled the ad.
We now return you to your regularly scheduled programming.