Don't misunderstand me now, I love this province and will defend its integrity and capabilities and all those motherhood platitudes.
But when I read there was going to be a Saskatchewan Fashion Week, and saw a photo of a lovely young lady all dressed up in a slim red dress, I sorta went, "huh!" And that's just not right.
We've grown as a province and we're now part of the sophisticates when it comes to Canada's primo provinces.
So, I will miss seeing my typical sleek Saskatchewan girl in a shapeless bunny hug. I like those hoodie things. They keep you warm and yell out to everyone, "everybody looks OK in a hoodie."
Saskatchewan Fashion Week?
I bring up images of a guy in a muscle shirt, jean shorts and steel-toed work boots (summer fashion statement for guys). That's Saskatchewan fashion.
For after work, he dons the grey sweat pants and 'Rider T-shirt with either his Nike or Adidas runners, depending on the colour co-ordination that is not Roughrider green.
The girls, after work attire, for those fashionable evening soirees?
Well, how about grey sweat pants, 'Rider t-shirt with Adidas or Nike runners?
The options are obvious. Plaid shirt, cowboy hat and jeans bottomed out with left over Tony Lama cowboy boots for the total look. It screams Saskatchewan sophistication.
Who doesn't want to be the guy with the baseball cap worn backwards that touts the arrival of the newest pesticide on the front (which, when worn Saskatchewan style, means it has to be read from the back). For a change, the message is one from John Deere. The hair must be fluffed and puffed and coiffed under the cap so it can bounce as the wearer continually removes it to scratch a scalp and then readjusts it.
Now I write all this with the greatest respect. I come from an office where our female representatives are always decked out in the best of tasteful business attire. The guys? Well, we emit a more dubious reflection of style, but we get the job done. We barely know the difference between a Half-Windsor and a Half-Nelson when it comes to neckties. Or for that matter, a Full-Windsor from a full court press.
So let's all celebrate Saskatchewan Fashion Week. Oh, forget it. Someone told me it's already over.
As you were team, as you were.
Now for a parting shot, or "what were they thinking moment."
The West Fargo Hockey Association which supports minor hockey, is raffling off 200 guns, some of them being semi-automatics, in an attempt to raise $90,000 for youth hockey. Their president stated that people who find it difficult to obtain certain types of guns can get a chance at winning one of those hard-to-get guns in the raffle. Only stipulation is the winners must be 18 or 21, if they select a handgun.
Nothing sends a better message to a young kid than having him selling tickets on an AK-47.
Again, like Saskatchewan Fashion Week, I don't want you to misunderstand me here. I really love the United States and its pursuits of the wonderful and sometimes weird, but their gun culture thing I just don't get and probably never will. They probably don't totally understand it either, they just know it's there and damn it, if they wanna raffle off things that can rapidly kill practically anything, including people, who am I to stop 'em?
If you wanna play hockey, ya gotta sell guns. No 50-50 draws for West Fargo, give 'em a Glock.
