The View From Up Here....

A Very Addictive Game

2004-12-29T20:30:00.000-05:00

Just try to walk in a straight line and you'll be just fine. Move your mouse in the opposite direction that he's leaning to compensate. Have fun.

George Bush's "Speechalist"

2004-12-24T10:33:00.000-05:00

This is the story of the genius behind the famous George Bush speeches.

One of the best short videos of 2004!

I Can't Keep Up

2004-12-23T13:09:00.000-05:00

There have been some really funny things that I've found lately, but I can't keep up with the flow.

Here are just a few:

The animated "Pulp Fiction" (the sound sucks, but if you know the lines, it's funny)
Terrifying ski masks from the 1960's.
Meat-scented air fresheners for your car.
People eat this stuff?
Yummy, yummy, I got bugs in my tummy! (people eat this stuff? - part 2)
Crazy Asian drinks.

Thanks to BoingBoing for the above links.

Here are a few from All Things Christie:

Akiane (This is unbelievable!)
It's a Burger King holiday!
The Beastles are awesome! I already burned my copy.
The Cheerleader Toss.
Fatboy Slim: The Kitten Joker
Power Solo: Oak Tree Girl (the video). I think I'll get this CD.
The Chin Carolers. Try this site out.
Foosball Acrobatics.
The greatest dodgeball game ever!
Challenge yourself with this shooting game.
Obi Wan goes car shopping. This is a going to be a classic!
Lick n' Bowl (I played this game for quite some time. Very addictive.)
This proves that Santa is evil!
The one and only "Capt. Picard Song"

A Smattering Of Silly Things

2004-11-30T23:11:00.000-05:00

Come watch the Hitler Disco.

Everyone needs a subservient stickman.

Road signs that should be a lot more common.

A pretty cool college prank.

Thanks to "All Things Christie" for finding these.

A New Movie About George Dubya

2004-11-27T23:51:00.000-05:00

Click here to view the trailer for the new movie that is about to be released about George W. Bush (the casting for this movie is brilliant).

George Bush's New Advisers

2004-11-27T01:20:00.000-05:00

George Dubya and Bill Cosby discuss how to handle Iraq's interim leader. This is priceless!

Dubya then goes on to seek advice from Gary Busey. Beware the evil ferrets.

Some People Have Too Much Time On their Hands

2004-11-21T23:08:00.000-05:00

This little piece of art must have taken a lot of time and energy (thanks to this guy for finding it).

Here's a cool time lapse video.

This Yoda Clock has to be the funniest and most useless thing ever devised for the internet. I like it.

The website for musician Billy Harvey is the most brilliant website I have ever seen. make sure you let it run and hear all he has to say, then click on different things like the masking tape to navigate through the site as well as the menu on the left side. Amazing site! He sings his songs for you as well. I love it! Wow!!

The internet is a very silly place

2004-11-17T20:45:00.000-05:00

I found some pretty amusing stuff on "The Adventures of Accordian Guy in the 21st Century", "All Things Christie" and some other one that I lost the link for. Oh well.

They're great sites, so visit them often if you can.

Here are just a few examples:

- The " video of this dumb guy, his '69 Mustang and a shovel".

- A Tale of Dedication and True Friendship....

- The moon landing like you've never seen it before.

- Finally! Government signs that have been interpreted so we can all understand. A crash course in terrorism safety.

- This is an amazing dog!

- Be very careful of what you do!

- This is just plain odd.

- Busy beavers.

- Some things aren't meant to make sense I guess.

- A Batman movie made with nothing more than Lego blocks. Brilliant stuff.

- As a photographer, I find this amazing. That's a lot of stencils and spraypainting.

-Bushrag camouflage systems (probably on every redneck Christmas list this year).

Bear Guzzles 36 Beers, Passes Out At Campground

2004-08-18T21:42:00.000-04:00

SEATTLE, Washington (Reuters) -- A black bear was found passed out at a campground in Washington state recently after guzzling down three dozen cans of a local beer.

The hard-drinking bear, estimated to be about two years old, broke into campers' coolers and, using his claws and teeth to open the cans, swilled down the suds.
It turns out the bear was a bit of a beer sophisticate. He tried a mass-market Busch beer, but switched to Rainier Beer, a local ale, and stuck with it for his drinking binge.

Wildlife agents chased the bear away, but it returned the next day, said Broxson.
They set a trap using as bait some doughnuts, honey and two cans of Rainier Beer. It worked, and the bear was captured for relocation.

Don't You Just Love American Foreign Policy?

2004-08-17T22:43:00.000-04:00

Proposed Dutch law would ban unsolicited toe-licking

2004-08-07T08:52:00.000-04:00

AMSTERDAM, Netherlands (Reuters) -- Unsolicited toe-licking would be banned in the Netherlands under a law sought by the Dutch Labor party after police were unable to prosecute a would-be Casanova with a taste for female toes because he had committed no crime.

A police spokesman said Friday a man had been detained after women sunning themselves in Rotterdam's parks and beaches claimed he had snuck up on them and begun to lick their toes.

Dutch press reports said the man, who is about 35, had been licking the toes of strangers for about three years but was only recently caught by police.

2004-06-06T16:23:00.000-04:00

This morning, my wife and I attended a D-Day ceremony in our city. There were about a dozen or so veterans there who took part in the invasion of Europe on June 6th, 1944.
I was pretty disappointed to see that most of the people that showed up to watch it were mainly family members of the veterans. 90% of the people today don't know what D-Day is or they just don't give a damn. It's very sad. We owe everything we take for granted in our lives to these men and women that served under our Canadian flag.

Unlike the other nations of the Allied army, ALL of Canada's soldiers during the war were volunteers! We didn't have a draft system and didn't need one. The dedication of these guys willing to give up their lives, careers and home life to assist people of other countries across the ocean amazes me to no end. They are true heros.

One man I spoke with after the ceremony had told us about a few of his experiences overseas. He was part of the invasion force that had invaded France on D-Day. He fought from the beaches of France straight through to Germany the following year. He said he "had seen more front-line action than just about anybody".

When he was fighting in France, he was part of the force that tried to close the "Falaise Gap" (a corridor that the Germans used to retreat through when they left France. Many thousands of German soldiers were captured, but the bulk of their army made it through to fight another day). He had entered a house to find two German soldiers filling their canteens with French wine. He had surprised them so much that they had dropped their guns and spilled all the wine they were stealing onto the floor. They surrendered immediatley to him.

He had also experienced some very terrifying moments as well. One day in Holland during Operation "Market Garden", a German shell landed right in front of him. It had knocked him down and winded him. He was lucky because it had killed both men on either side of him. He suffered no injuries.

Another time in France, he had collected money from captured Germans who had stolen it from the French people. He kept the money in his paybook in his back pocket (he said the wad of money was about 4 or 5 inches thick). His commanding officer instructed them to give the money to the French kids in the town, but before doing so, he was hit with a piece of shrapnel. It tore through the paybook with the wad of money and slowed it down enough so that he only recieved a small cut and a bruise. If it wasn't for that money, he said he would have suffered a pretty serious wound or even killed.

Another time he wasn't so lucky, he caught a small piece of shrapnel that went though his bottom lip and broke two of his teeth. The scars are still visible today. He told us he had been wounded a couple of other times, but each time he had made it back to his unit and continued on.

It was a great experience and an honour to meet these men and share some of their stories. It's sad to know that most of the personal experiences these guys had will be lost forever when they leave us for good.

2004-06-05T16:21:00.000-04:00

Tomorrow (June 6th, 2004) will be the 60th anniversary of D-Day. It was the beginning of the liberation of Nazi controlled Europe.

Just after midnight on June 6th, 1944, Allied planes had dropped approximately 20,000 paratroopers (the US 101st Airborne, 82nd Airborne and British 6th Airborne divisions behind enemy lines to assist with defending the beaches of Normandy as the invasion began later that morning. They also captured key bridges and roads that would be crucial for the re-supplying of the troops in the following days and weeks of the operation.

At 6:30 am, more than 150,000 soldiers aboard 7,000 ships attacked the French coast while 11,000 planes assisted from above. It was the largest invasion force in history. Operation Overlord as the invasion was called, lasted about 80 days and cost the Allies over 10,000 casualties on just the first day alone (D-Day).

If you have a chance, go attend the many ceremonies that will be taking place all over the world tomorrow and make sure to thank a veteran for the sacrifices they made. We owe everything we have to these people.

Note: The helmet pictured above was found near Wiltz, Luxembourg. It belonged to an American soldier who took part in the "Battle of the Bulge". The battle was the last major offensive by the German army before they were pushed back into their own country and were defeated. Many of the American soldiers (maybe even the one who wore this helmet) took part in D-Day and fought all the way through to Germany more than 8 months later.

The helmet is a part of my collection.

Moore Speaks Out On CNN

2004-05-06T08:48:00.000-04:00

Michael was interviewed on CNN about the decision by Disney to block his film so that Americans will not be able to see it.

"On Monday of this week we got final word from Disney that they will not distribute the film. They told my agent they did not want to upset the Bush family, particularly Gov. Bush of Florida because Disney was up for a number of tax incentives, abatements ... whatever. The risk of losing this -- we're talking about tens of millions of dollars -- they didn't want to risk it over a little documentary."

"So Disney signed a contract to distribute this, they got cold feet, they're afraid. Yes, the Bushes will not like this movie ... they will really not like this movie. Because we're going to show things like they haven't seen before about the Bush family, about the war in Iraq and a number of other things."

"The good news is that internationally we already have distributors in much of the world. So it will be seen outside of America for sure some time this year. But I hope it doesn't happen where an American film maker makes a film about America and it can't be seen in America. "

I'm hoping we'll get to see it here in Canada, but I'm sure our distributing rights are held by Disney as well. I've always hated Disney. I hate the blatant propaganda they spew out and force down kids throats. It's sickening.
My wife's a teacher and she does not have a single Disney produced book in her class. We also don't give Disney products to our niece or nephew.
I'm sure that Walt would never have stood for anything like this. Ever since he died, the Disney company has left behind everything that he did right. It's all about control, politics and endless money-making. It's not about kids at all anymore. I'm sure Walt is rolling in his grave today.

Disney Has Blocked the Distribution of My New Film... By Michael Moore

2004-05-06T00:32:00.000-04:00

This is a disturbing bit of news that I found on Michael's website tonight:

"Yesterday I was told that Disney, the studio that owns Miramax, has officially decided to prohibit our producer, Miramax, from distributing my new film, "Fahrenheit 9/11." The reason? According to today's (May 5) New York Times, it might "endanger" millions of dollars of tax breaks Disney receives from the state of Florida because the film will "anger" the Governor of Florida, Jeb Bush. The story is on page one of the Times and you can read it here (Disney Forbidding Distribution of Film That Criticizes Bush).

There is much more to tell, but right now I am in the lab working on the print to take to the Cannes Film Festival next week (we have been chosen as one of the 18 films in competition). I will tell you this: Some people may be afraid of this movie because of what it will show. But there's nothing they can do about it now because it's done, it's awesome, and if I have anything to say about it, you'll see it this summer -- because, after all, it is a free country."

I hope this movie makes it out this summer or fall, because it will become a major weapon in the fight to send Bush back to his ranch in Texas (where he spends most of his time anyway). This movie should be successful in bringing out people who wouldn't normally vote and to swing the vote in the Democrat's favour.

NORAD Dispatches Fighter Escort For Air Canada Flight

2004-04-27T23:05:00.000-04:00

Tonight, just a couple of days after visiting the NORAD military complex, fighter jets were sent out by them to intercept and escort in a passenger jet to Vancouver.
It is pretty rare for NORAD to do this here in Canada (more common in the US, where they are a lot more paranoid), but I guess they felt there was a significant enough threat to warrant such an action. As I watched the story in this evening's CBC news show and read it on their site, I could see in my mind what the scene must have been like 600 feet underground under Trout Lake in the city of North Bay. While I was there I was shown the procedures if this very thing unfolded in the sky anywhere over Canada. I saw the radar monitors at work that monitored every flying object in the sky and also the people who had to identify who/what it is and determine if it is a threat or not. We spoke with the personnel in the complex that are responsible for sending out the fighters to intercept any threats to our security. He showed me his monitoring equipment and I watched as he went about his duties. It isn't hard to imagine what was going on in there a few hours ago. Hearing about this rare occurrence so close to the day that I was there has definitely made my once-in-a-lifetime experience even more memorable.

I Visited The NORAD Military Complex Today

2004-04-24T23:57:00.000-04:00

NORAD is the "North American Aerospace Defense Command". It manages the security of airspace in North America. Two underground operations centers were set up, the main one inside Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado and an alternate at North Bay, Ontario (North Bay is where I was today). It was built in 1957 and was responsible for detecting the presence of enemy fighters (Soviet) as well as incoming nuclear missiles during the Cold War. The threat is still there (although Americans love to boast that they "won" the Cold War for some silly reason) as there are still thousands of nuclear missiles pointed at each other from the USA and Russia. It now also monitors all private and commercial flights very closely since the September 11th attacks.

To get down into the complex, we took a bus underground that entered what looked like a huge culvert. This took us 3 kilometres into the earth at a 6% grade. The NORAD complex is 600 feet below the surface (there is a lake above it that is 300 feet deep and the building is 300 feet below the bottom of the lake). We pulled into a large open area at the end of the tunnel and exited the bus. I entered the building through a door that was probably the biggest I've ever seen. It was about 10 or 12 feet high and about 3 or 4 feet thick. It was solid iron and weighed about 2 tons. It is so perfectly balanced that you could easily close it with one hand and no effort. It serves as a blast door in case of a nuclear attack. The facility has a staff of about 120 people (3 shifts of 40). If there was an attack, the complex has enough fresh water, food, fuel, etc. for a stay of up to 60 days. There is an underground resevoir next to the complex that holds 5 million gallons of water needed for daily use, firefighting, etc.

The first part of the place we saw was the operations centre. Before we entered, the man showing us around used a phone to let them know we were here. They told us to wait for a few minutes while any classified materials and sensitive equipment was hidden from view (this was done with curtains pulled across one part of the operations centre. When we entered, it was a darkened room with many banks of radar monitors and computers. There were several people at work. We were shown the radar monitors. It showed all of the planes flying in Canadian airspace. It was pretty amazing to see how many planes are flying in the sky at one time. If you took the cursor and placed it on one of the radars blips, the info for the plane is shown (example: British Airways flying at 28,000 feet going 350 miles an hour, direction it's heading, plus a lot of other info I had no clue about). Each flight has it's own unique code that is transmitted. If the military personnel responsible for identifying each object in the sky could not tell what it is (friend or foe) in a 2 minute time span, then the military must dispatch fighter planes to intercept that object after the 2 minutes are up. A possible scenario would be a highjacking (erratic or wrong flight path would trigger alarms) or drug smugglers flying an unmarked plane with no flight plan or transmitted code (the RCMP would be notified of possible drug smuggling). They can also tell the exact area a plane has crashed and would send out a rescue team immediately with the co-ordinates. The personnel that operates the radar monitors work an hour on and an hour off throughout the shift. I would imagine it gets pretty hard on the eyes.

The radar monitoring equipment here is way out of date (early 1980's technology) but seems to be effective nonetheless. It was impressive to watch these people at work securing the airspace of North America. I was told about instances during the Cold War where Soviet fighter planes would fly along the edges of our airspace in the Arctic and elsewhere, close enough to trigger alarms trying to test our reactions and response times. That must have been very tense.

NORAD is currently building a new above ground complex on the same base that will be operational next summer. The main reason for switching is cost (I was told that the daily cost of running the place has been rumoured to be anywhere from $10,000 to $100,000 per day, but no one really knows for sure). Also, all of the communication lines are above ground, so if there was a major attack here, the complex would be blind and useless anyway, so why not have it above ground.

I also viewed the monitoring center for the radar stations themselves. They are unmanned and scattered all over the Arctic (known as the "DEW Line": Distant Early Warning). These people have a huge wall-size computer monitor that can view the status of any of the radar stations. They can tell if there has been any unauthorized entry, fire or malfunction. They even have cameras they can see through in real time via satellite to monitor the outside area of each radar station. In one I saw huge snowbanks piled up against one of the buildings and a helicopter parked near it where they were obviously up there doing repairs. I think this particular one was near Baffin Island. They even showed me pictures they took of polar bears that had wondered into camera view. Amazing!

The tour lasted about 3.5 hours and we saw the entire place (except for the command centre for obvious reasons). We viewed the area where all of the climate control systems were and were given an explanation of how it worked as well as other equipment that has helped to keep the place up and running 24 hours a day, 365 days a year for over 40 years now. No one seems to know what use the place will have (if any) after the relocation next year.

I would have to say that this was one of the most interesting tours I've ever been on. It was fascinating to see a real life military installation at work. Especially one with such a high profile as NORAD.

Timothy Has Died

2004-04-20T15:36:00.000-04:00

Timothy The Tortoise, approximately 160, was a British navy mascot that in 1854 witnessed the bombing of Sevastopol (a Russian port city) during the Crimean War aboard the "HMS Queen" and later served in the East Indies and China.

He then stayed aboard a succession of naval vessels until given a life ashore in 1892 and was looked after by the members of the Courtenay family ever since. During his stay in England, Timothy showed a keen instinct for survival, even digging his own air raid shelter under a set of terrace steps during World War II after feeling the vibrations of bombs in Exeter.

In recent years, he wore a tag reading: "My name is Timothy. I am very old - please do not pick me up."

This year he emerged from hibernation as usual in February, but was suffering from colds and had developed breathing difficulties. Lady Devon said he would be very much missed. She said: "He could recognise people's voices and would respond to you. "You could call him, and he would come and say hello and have a strawberry."

Timothy will be buried with full honours on the castle grounds.

Timothy's Timeline:

- Found Aged 10 (1854) Paddington station opens

- Aged 26 (1870) First postcard sent

- Aged 46 (1890) Electric underground railway opens

- Aged 60 (1904) Peter Pan premieres

- Aged 67 (1911) King George V coronation

- Aged 77 (1921) British Legion formed

- Aged 96 (1940) Food rationing introduced

- Aged 156 (2000) New millennium celebrated

Sites about Timothy:

BBC News Announcement

Timothy's Home

George Bush The Boring

2004-04-09T01:20:00.000-04:00

I love these kinds of stories about Bush. Someone get this kid a job with John Kerry's campaign!

Long Live "The Trailer Park Boys"

2004-04-08T22:22:00.000-04:00

Season four of "The Trailer Park Boys" begins on April 11th on the "Showcase" network here in Canada. On April 15th in the USA, it will be on the "BBC America" network. I believe they will be starting with season one.

If you've never seen this show, make sure you tune in. It's the best show I've seen in years. The first two seasons are now out on DVD.

The official website of the series is HERE.

The CBC has a great article about the series HERE.

The website for the show on BBC America is HERE.

2004-04-05T14:49:00.000-04:00

There are 3,419 songs with "love" in the title, according to Lyrics Planet.
There are 124 songs with "work" in the title.

......and I have nothing else to say today.

Good Luck In The Playoffs Mark!

2004-03-31T23:30:00.000-05:00

My cousin Mark is the assistant coach for the Dallas Stars of the NHL. I hope they do well in this year's Stanley Cup playoffs that are about to start in a week's time......unless of course they face the Toronto Maple Leafs in the finals. With me, the Leafs always come first! (sorry Mark)

Mark played professional hockey for 16 years and won the Stanley Cup in 1990 while playing for the Edmonton Oilers. He scored a HUGE overtime goal against Winnipeg in their run for the cup (I always enjoy going down to the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto to see the family name engraved on the Stanley Cup....thanks for that Mark!).

I have the front page of the Edmonton Sun framed and on my office wall showing Mark celebrating his OT goal with Mark Messier behind the Jets' net. Jarri Kurri passed the puck to him and he went in alone on the net and scored on a backhand. I'll never forget it!

To find out more about Mark's playing and coaching career in the NHL, visit Mark's Dallas Stars bio page.

My First Try At Photo-Journalism A Success!

2004-03-27T23:24:00.000-05:00

The Toronto Sun (a major Canadian newspaper) ran my photo of the bus crash in today's Saturday Sun. I think I did pretty well, considering that this was my first attempt at photo-journalism. It's a nice big photo too. It takes up about a third of the whole page. Click HERE to see it.

My First Attempts At Photo-Journalism

2004-03-26T21:32:00.000-05:00

There was a pretty wild bus crash today here in the city where I live. It smashed into a building in the downtown area. To see the photos I took, click HERE.

My Favorite Spam

2004-03-25T20:50:00.000-05:00

One of my favorite spam email messages that I get on a regular basis has to be this one:

The subject line says: "Our church will ordain anyone who asks"

The body of the email: "Become a legally ordained minister within 48 hours

As a minister, you will be authorized to perform the rites and ceremonies of the church.

You can perform weddings, funerals, perform baptisms, and visit correctional facilities.

Want to start your own church? Press here to find out how "

Who could resist such an offer! Doing funerals and visiting correctional facilities? Where do I sign up!?!

Don't You Just Love A Blue Sky?

2004-03-23T00:54:00.000-05:00

Although it was cold out for this time of year (-5 C), the sky looked like it could be from a nice warm summer day.

Words

2004-03-22T14:09:00.000-05:00

Aoccdrnig to rscheearch at an Elingsh uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer is at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a toatl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae we do not raed ervey lteter by istlef but the wrod as a wlohe.

I find it doesn't always work, but it is interesting.

You Gotta Love Bill Murray

2004-03-22T13:21:00.000-05:00

I had my fingers crossed for him. I really wanted him to win best actor. I found a really funny clip with Bill shortly after the Academy Awards show. This is classic "Bill Murray Humour".

(It's a 3 minute clip, so it might take certain people some time to download)

Funny TV Commercials

2004-03-21T18:01:00.000-05:00

The funniest (root)beer commercial lately. Click HERE for the commercial.

I Hate This Time Of Year

2004-03-20T17:27:00.000-05:00

This is the part of the year I hate the most. It's rainy, cold, snowing sometimes, and the snow on the ground is slushy and dirty. There is very little around here that is interesting enough to photograph. Everything is bland and seems to lack colour. It's a depressing sight.

Hurry up, warm spring days!

Entertaining The Little Ones

2004-03-20T16:50:00.000-05:00

My niece and nephew came by yesterday with my parents. It can be hard sometimes to keep them fully entertained, but with my nephew, all you have to do is show him some volcanoes on the internet. After he saw them all, we went on to another subject, but he was happy to just watch volcano videos.

Time-Lapse Photography

2004-03-16T15:20:00.000-05:00

I found a really cool website with time-lapse photography videos of Toronto. You can see them HERE -- HERE -- and HERE.

He (Sam) used his laptop to control the camera and store each shot (1500-2000 exposures over 13 hours. One photo was taken every 20 seconds).

My New Wolf Photographs

2004-03-15T17:18:00.000-05:00

I finally managed to get up north to photograph wolves. It's been a couple of years since I've been back there. I'll be posting a couple of new photos each day on my online photography gallery. I've also created a new photo album just for wolves. You can find the link on the left menu of my gallery as well.

Camera Body For Sale (Canon EOS)

2004-03-14T00:16:00.000-05:00

Looking for a great film camera?
Mine is for sale on Ebay.
It's a Canon EOS Elan 7e (with eye-control focus).
To see the auction click HERE.

UPDATE: I sold the camera already! Only a few hours after posting the auction someone from Barrie saw it on Ebay and made an offer on it, so I ended the auction early. I was surprised it happened that quickly, but it's nice and hassle free to sell to someone here close by.

The Mark Of Jane Simpson

2004-03-11T14:09:00.000-05:00

A few days ago, it was International Women's Day. I wanted to post a photograph that could represent such a theme. I couldn't find anything that I could photograph to do this, until today. I have a large document that is framed and on our dining room wall. It is a land transfer document from England in 1753. At the bottom is a signature of one Jane Simpson. She could not read or write and had to sign her name with just an "X". Education was not something that was deemed important for women back then. Even for a world power such as Britain.
Women have thankfully come a long way since then and have almost reached an equal footing with men (at least in most modern nations, anyway). But it is not far enough in my mind, and I predict that a woman (most likely Hillary Clinton) will have a serious shot at becoming president of the USA in the 2008 elections. It's about time, because the men in charge around the world haven't exactly done an acceptable job. It's time for someone else to take over.

My First NBA Experience

2004-03-06T16:28:00.001-05:00

A friend of mine had tickets to the Toronto Raptors last night. Four of us went. At halftime, some kid sunk a shot from centre court to win an SUV. Not bad.

Final score:

New York Knicks - 109
Toronto Raptors - 103

These are a sampling of some of the shots I took:

The Halifax Cooler

2004-03-05T14:39:00.000-05:00

Stocked with only "Alexander Keith's" of course. Thanks to Trevor for passing this one along.

A Nice Surprise Today

2004-03-03T22:02:00.000-05:00

I picked up my new camera today. I was told the other day that I had to wait possibly 2 weeks before I could get my hands on one, but I got the call today that a few were now available. It's a Canon EOS Digital Rebel. It has far exceeded what my expectations were already! I've only had it a few hours now and I love it. I had to post a picture of something, anything! So I chose this:

I plan on posting all my new photographs on my new photoblog (I've decided to keep this blog you're on now as my main everyday yakking blog). You can access it by clicking HERE.

Many more to follow.......

The 30th Anniversary Tour

2004-03-02T13:53:00.000-05:00

I managed to corral me some Rush tickets yesterday (a pre-sale online) for their show at the Molson Amphitheatre in Toronto. And they are AWESOME seats! The show is on August 22nd, 2004. I saw them a couple of years back when they managed to get back together again after a gap of about 6 years where the drummer (Neil Peart) suffered the tragic loss of both his teenage daughter (car accident) and wife (cancer) within a year of each other. It certainly looked like the end of Rush and almost the end of Neil at one point. He was choosing between life and his own death.
After realizing that his life was nearly at an end, he hopped on his motorcycle and left home with no intention of where or how long. It turned out to be over 14 months and 55,000 miles in a search for a reason to live. He travelled west to Alaska and then down to Mexico and Belize and finally back home to Quebec. He recently published a book about his journey that he documented in his diary. It details his progress and setbacks in his grieving/healing process, and the pain of constantly reliving his losses. The book is "Ghost Rider: Travels On The Healing Road". It is incredibly well written. It is his second book. He wrote a book detailing his adventures while cycling in West Africa in the mid 1990's.

Since all of this occurred, Rush returned to the studio in 2001/2002 to record a new album, they toured again in 2002, released a new live CD/DVD in 2003, and are embarking on an "anniversary" tour this summer. Even after all of the tragedies and aging (they are all approaching or are at 50 now), they sound better than they ever have!

I'm taking my wife who is not a Rush fan at all, but she wants to listen to all of their music and try to become a "fan" so she can enjoy it. I wish her well (besides, I get to listen to Rush around the house more!).

I Hate Delays!

2004-03-02T11:13:00.000-05:00

I'm a very impatient person. I was supposed to get my new digital SLR camera in a day or so, but now it could be a week or two. I hate to wait for things. I feel like a little kid who has just been told on Christmas eve that Christmas has been pushed back until the second week of January. Sorry kid.

In the meantime, I'll be working on a new blog, possibly to replace this one. It gives me 100-200mb of space for my photos. I want a site I can use as an all-in-one. One that I can blog away on as well as use as a gallery for my photography. The photos that I have on it right now are not very good at all. The scans are terrible and don't really show the colour and clarity of them. My new digital photos will be head and shoulders above these old things.

I've been building it over the past couple of days. It looks like a good start, but I find it is really slow. Let me know if you find it slow too.

The link for it is HERE.

Great Big Sea - Something Beautiful

2004-02-28T15:01:00.000-05:00

Despite the departure of Darrel Power, GBS have put out their best album yet. They just seem to get better with each passing record. A couple of memorable songs are:

"Helmethead" Quite possibly the next great "hockey song".

"Sally Ann" The best chorus on the album.

"Love" This one is about the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, which surprised me that they would tackle such a subject. It's very well written by Sean McCann. As I have another blog that deals with this very subject, it struck a chord with me.

Overall, this is a fantastic album that should be part of everyone's collection. It's the kind of CD you could put on loud in your car and roll down the windows to enjoy the first beautiful, warm days of spring.

I hope they hit this area on their upcoming tour to support this record. They put on a great show. I saw them a few years back at Massey Hall in Toronto (in my mind, the best concert venue around).

Summer now feels just a little bit closer.

Should I Go Digital?

2004-02-26T22:42:00.002-05:00

CANON DIGITAL REBEL W/18-55 EF-S

I'm dying to try a digital camera. The new Canon digital SLR's have come down in price, so I'm thinking about going for it.

I currently have a 35mm SLR. It's a Canon Elan 7e. I really like it. But I love the idea of not buying film anymore, paying for processing, and not knowing if my pics turned out the way I wanted for as much as a few days. I've been waiting for digital SLR's to come down in price because I want to get a Canon so I can use the Canon lenses with it that I already have.
By having digital, I can instantly see what I have as I'm shooting in the field (this would be a dream come true for someone like me who does mostly wildlife photography). I can experiment to no end and not have to worry about cost of film. I also believe that we have to be more and more environmentally aware. By not having film and using up the processing chemicals, digital is easily the best answer.

Sold!

I think I'll start shopping for one tomorrow.

Do you have any comments about digital? Any pros or cons? I want to know. Use my comment link at the bottom of this post. Let me know your experiences! I don't know much of the more technical stuff relating to digital SLR's.

Time To Start A New Book

2004-02-25T21:57:00.000-05:00

I love history. The history of WWII has always intrigued me since I was a little kid. My grandfather served overseas and I've always wanted to know about the struggle he was involved in.
I have many different books dealing with the war, but this one intrigues me more than any other. It's called "Hitler's War" by David Irving. This book has managed to stir up a lot of controversy over the years (it was written in 1977).
David Irving proclaims that his books are "Real History", which in his words is "history that travels straight from history-maker to document, and from the archives to the writer and his book, without political input and free of academic prejudice; it is history that cannot be bought, and cannot be bought off."

He goes on to say: "I make no apology for having revised the existing picture of Adolf Hitler. The post-war world's view of him has been so bedevilled by our own highly effective propaganda efforts beginning in 1933 that any record based primarily on the documents of the era was bound to be an improvement. I think I have given him the kind of hearing that he would have got in an English magistrate's court -- one where the normal rules of evidence apply, but also a certain amount of insight and empathy with the defendant.
Of course, field work is cold, expensive and often unrewarding. I do not blame the academic historians for shirking this part of their responsibility. Field work means bargaining for years with governments like the East Germans for permission to search forests for buried documents; it means sleeping on overnight trains, dealing with pernickety old generals and charming or conniving elderly widows temporarily out of possession of their hoards of letters and diaries. It means long separations from wife and family, it means leafing through hundreds of thousands of pages of filthy paper in inconvenient and chilly archives, mentally registering egregious facts in the intuitive belief that some of them may perhaps click with facts found in another file five thousand miles away several years later. Not everybody has the time to do it; not everybody has the neck to publish even what he does then find to be true. But I deny anybody who has not done this ground work to issue labels like "revisionist" or "whitewasher" to me."

There were (and still are) a lot of people out their that didn't like what he was doing. Mr. Irving wrote a reply to defend himself due to the uproar that surfaced a few days after releasing the book (you can read his reply here).
I'm happy that he stood his ground on this. It would have been easy for him to just surrender. Incredibly, he is still fighting this issue today, more than 25 years later!

I found an interesting quote not long ago in one of my wartime newspapers in my collection that I found very interesting and applies to this very issue:

"Propaganda has held sway so long that nations will find it difficult to recognize truth." - "The Bulletin and Scots Pictorial" from August 7th, 1945 after the USA dropped the atom bomb on Hiroshima.

Whether people like it or not, the truth must be presented, no matter how painful it might be to some groups of people. There are too many instances today that are twisted to fit peoples needs and views. Take for example the current issues surrounding the American government and the Iraqi "weapons of mass destruction" fiasco. There should never have been a war. Plain and simple.
I hope that one day we can all find out what was going through Bush's head (as well as his aides, who are the ones who run the show for him).

But for now I'll just have to settle for this story. Should be a good one (it's about a thousand pages too).

Photo Of The Day

2004-02-24T20:58:00.000-05:00

This is probably my favorite photograph of the last little while. This has to be cutest little baby I've ever seen.

A newly born hippopotamus swims under the protection of its mother called "Seventh Daughter" at the Tianjin Zoo 75 miles southeast of Beijing, Sept. 19th, 2003.

Public School Reunion

2004-02-24T20:44:00.000-05:00

I recently found out that my public school class is going to have a reunion in 2005. I haven't seen most of these people for about 20 years. I also discovered that a few of them live here in the same city as I do. Some of my best memories as a kid were tied to many of these people. I always wished that I had kept in touch with many of them. A lot of friends have come and gone over the years since then, but I regret not staying connected with several of these "old" friends. Maybe I still have a chance. Can't wait for 2005!

I was always the class clown. The one who always seemed to get into trouble and distract everyone around me. I guess you could say I was bored with the system at that time. In math, I would rather read a book. In french class, I would rather read something to avoid doing work. I loved to read. Nothing wrong with that. I've learned a lot more from reading books on my own than I have listening to a teacher in a classroom.

HERE is a class picture that I still have. I think it's from 1981. I'm the kid in the front row with the sign in front of me. The one with the stylish light brown turtleneck.

Photo Of The Day

2004-02-23T23:13:00.000-05:00

As a photographer, I would kill to have the timing and correct focus that this person had. What a fantastic photograph.

Duck!

Shock and Awe

2004-02-18T21:03:00.000-05:00

I finally got a hold of my lawyer earlier today and heard what the verdict in my trial was. I'm just now picking my jaw up off the floor.

We lost and the woman was awarded $97,000.

Yep. You read it right. $60,000 for her injuries and $27,000 for doing her housework and various chores.

Why am I working for a living when I can cook up a scheme like that. I'll give anyone out there $10,000 to run into me tomorrow. Just think what I could do with that kind of money. I could pay off a big chunk of my mortgage! Or I could have a really cool car! Or maybe I could travel around the world! Twice!

What am I doing wrong in my life so that I have to work for my money?

We Need This New Vision

2004-02-16T21:40:00.000-05:00

Dr. David Suzuki has told Prime Minister Paul Martin and municipal leaders that environmental sustainability is possible within a generation.

"This is neither a lofty goal nor some obscure academic idea," said Dr. David Suzuki, who presented the report, Sustainability Within a Generation: A new vision for Canada, to municipal and federal leaders at a sustainable communities conference hosted by the Federation of Canadian Municipalities.

"Sustainability means living within Earth's limits so that Canadians don't have to think twice before drinking tap water or breathing the air in our cities," said Dr. Suzuki. "We need to understand that a healthy economy is inextricably linked to a healthy environment - it's not one or the other."

"But we also must ensure we are truly innovative. Innovation does not mean continuing to provide large subsidies to unsustainable sectors like the oil, gas, coal and nuclear industries while giving a tiny fraction of that support to sustainable sectors like wind, solar, micro-hydro and biogas. Now is the time for fundamental change so that future generations can enjoy resources we take for granted -like clean air and water - and do not pay the price because we squandered this wealth."

I've gotten through half of this 50 page report so far and I can see that this is someting that is attainable in our lifetime. It isn't as dry a reading as I thought that it might be, but then again, that's the talent of David Suzuki I believe. He has a knack for conveying information in a clear and understandable way that not only informs, but entertains. People who watch his program "The Nature Of Things" know what I mean. I have been watching the show since I was a little kid.

If you would like to read his report "Sustainablity Within A Generation", you can get a free copy HERE. I suggest you print it out. I find it much easier and faster to read this way.

I'm Getting Sick Of Winter

2004-02-16T19:27:00.000-05:00

Time for spring to arrive soon.
I usually don't mind winter too much, but this year I seem to have had enough of it.
I'm sick of shovelling snow. I live on a corner lot, so I get 5 times as much snow deposited in my driveway by the plow than anyone else on my street.
I have no place left to throw my snow. The snowbanks are about 7 feet high in places.
Time for spring to arrive soon.

Stop Right There And Put Your Hands Up!

2004-02-13T13:30:00.000-05:00

A few mornings ago, my wife asked me if I heard all the commotion in the back yard that night. I had no idea what she was talking about.
She said she woke up in the middle of the night and heard a bunch of yelling. It turns out that it was the police chasing someone into our backyard. They wrestled him to the ground and arrested the person.
She didn't want to look out the window in case somebody saw her.
As the snow in our yard was about 2 feet deep, it was easy to see what had happened in the morning. I wish she had woken me up.

I can sleep through anything!

The Trial - Day 9

2004-02-13T12:26:00.000-05:00

I returned to the courtroom yesterday to make my final appearance. It was my turn to take the stand to endure a cross-examination.

What fun!

My lawyer began by asking me questions about who I am and what I do. He went on to probe my memory of what had happened and also to try and show that the accident was indeed a minor one.

The lawyer for the woman was next (oh, and by the way, she wore those crazy boots again. She has worn them throughout the entire trial) and he asked me several questions about how fast I was going, she was going, damage to her car, etc. He was trying hard to get me to contradict myself. I wasn't about to let that happen.
He tried to ask me questions that weren't very clear and still couldn't get me to change my story for him and his client. The judge seemed to get a little frustrated with him as he continued with his questionable questioning. My lawyer came to my aid to object to the other lawyer's methods of questioning on several occasions. I appreciated that (but then again it's his job to do that).
The lawyer (for the woman) produced 3 photographs of the woman's damaged car. They were black and white photocopies. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. My lawyer objected (as he should), but the judge ruled that he can ask me questions about the pictures, but they could not be used as evidence.
The answers that I gave to his questions were not helping him at all and actually began to make him look desperate for some sort of information at all that could help turn the tide in his favour. I could tell by the look on my lawyer's face that I was doing just fine up there. That took some of the stress away from me and as the questioning wore on, I felt my responses were a lot more confident.

The lawyer finally gave up and ended his case for the plaintiff.

The verdict will come today some time. I await the call.

The Question Of The Day

2004-02-13T11:48:00.000-05:00

I visited one of my favorite blogs this morning and came across something that's threatening to make my head explode:

"Here's an old question I still can't formulate a reasonable answer to:
If God created the Sun on the 4th day, how long were the 1st, 2nd and 3rd days each? Still 24 hours? How was it calculated then? Why would it be measured by standards of an unfinished earth anyways?

Just wonderin'..."

I really enjoy Pedram's blog. It never fails to entertain, stimulate, and inform. I highly recommend it to anyone and everyone out there.

Rabbit-Proof Fence

2004-02-09T21:25:00.000-05:00

Synopsis: "This is the true story of Molly Craig, a young black Australian girl who leads her younger sister and cousin in an escape from an internment camp, set up as a part of a government policy to train Aboriginal children as domestic workers and integrate them into white society. With grit and determination Molly guides the girls on an epic journey, one step ahead of the authorities, over 1,500 miles of Australia's outback in search of the rabbit-proof fence that bisects the continent and will lead them home."

This is one of the most emotional and beautifully filmed movies I've seen in some time. Kenneth Branagh is the lone Hollywood star in this movie, but he only provides a bit part. The three young Aboriginal girls are the true stars in this film. The story is heart-wrenching as they try to make their way across the Outback in search of their mother and their home.
A highly recommended film. The camera work is stunning!

Branagh has taken on some great roles of late. The best movie I've seen him in is "Shackleton". It was a 3 hour, 2 part television mini-series on A&E. I suggest that you watch it. It is available on DVD at most video outlets.
The story's synopsis is as follows:

"One of the most amazing and compelling adventure stories of all time, Ernest Shackleton's 1915 expedition to the forbidding, previously unexplored land of Antarctica has been a subject of great public fascination for decades. With 27 crew members, the intrepid man became trapped in the icy land after his ship, the Endurance, sank into the Weddell Sea. In SHACKLETON, an epic dramatic reenactment originally filmed for A&E Television, the Oscar-winning actor Kenneth Branagh plays the complicated and fearless explorer. The dramatic story is based on excerpts from Shackleton's own diaries, as well as accounts from some of his crew members."

I never used to be a fan of Kenneth Branagh. Especially when he did those Shakespeare-type movies in the early 90's. But lately, he seems to be taking on some pretty meaningful roles and executes them extremely well. I've become a big fan of his work and will continue to be if he keeps making great movies like the two I've just mentioned. I hate mainstream Hollywood, so to me, these films are a breath of fresh air!

The Trial - Day 5

2004-02-07T23:23:00.000-05:00

The woman has now worn those high-heeled boots every day so far. Her lawyer is about as bright as a two-watt bulb.

On Friday morning, the judge had ruled in favour of a mistrial and the jury has been discharged. Due to time constraints, both lawyers agreed to continue the trial by judge only. Thank god. Let's get this over with already! Otherwise the case would be delayed and would not be able to start again until 2006.

The cross exanination of the woman by my lawyer continues. He's making a fool of her and has raised many points showing that this case against me is nothing more than a sham.

Her lawyer seems to be very distracted and not very observant. For the last couple of days, the judge has been objecting to things said by my lawyer, instead of the woman's lawyer doing it. He's been getting all kinds of help from the judge.

It's funny to watch this woman when she is in the witness box. She squirms in her chair and grimaces as if she is in great difficulty with her back. Yet when she is sitting at the back of the room and not in the spotlight, she seems perfectly comfortable. The same goes for when she is walking about during recesses outside the court room. The judge must notice this. How can he not. It's so damn obvious to anyone who watches her.

Here are a few points that came out of her cross examination today:

- apparently she has had problems with her knee from an injury while jogging many years ago (she claims she can't jog anymore due to the accident).

- my lawyer has proven that her time off work was due to pre-accident problems/incidents that have been occuring over time (she claims to have missed 10 months of work due to accident).

- my lawyer proved with the help of doctor's reports that her neck and shoulder problems cleared up by the late summer of 1999. She had full range of movement and stopped taking medication. The doctor noted that she was sleeping fine at this time (in her claim, the woman says that she can't sleep even up to this day).

- by April of 2000, she never visited the doctor once about accident related problems. That is a span of one year and five months from the last visit.

- a major point raised was the fact that she settled with her insurance company two years after the accident. She never claimed anything at all related to costs incurred for housework and yardwork. This implies that she lied about owing $16,000 to her friend for doing this work for her. There probably wasn't a verbal agreement as she claims and she probably did all the work herself!

At the end of the day, my lawyer let me know that I didn't have to attend much more of the trial because there is no jury any longer. He said the main reason for having me there was to give the jury members a human face for them to see. Well that's good news!
I will only have to show up for my turn on the witness stand later next week. I also want to be there for the verdict at the end as well.

I think that the outcome of this trial is leaning heavily in our favour. But you never know what happens in this crazy world.

Stay tuned for more....

The Trial - Day 4

2004-02-07T23:01:00.000-05:00

Thursday began with the continuation of the cross examination of the woman by my lawyer. He was doing very well and showed that her claims of injury and pain were not really related to the accident.

And then all hell broke loose.

My lawyer wanted to use evidence that contained references to a governmental organization that deals with welfare of children. In her claim, the woman said that because of her injuries, she could not properly take care of her very young daughter.
My lawyer pointed to medical records from before the accident that stated that she had obsessive compulsive disorder that affected her ability to look after her child.
After hearing this, the judge put a halt to the trial and dismissed the jury. He was concerned that due to fact that this governmental agency was raised, and the fact that she was black, would possibly cause prejudice in the minds of the jurors. One of the jurors also happened to work for that very agency that was mentioned.
To bring up race issues in a fender-bender trial seemed pretty crazy and showed to me that this was getting out of hand. I also think that the fact that a juror worked for the childrens agency would be a good thing, as they have a grasp on what is involved and for that very reason there wouldn't be any prejudice.

The judge didn't see it that way and declared that the case could be a mistrial! He stopped the trial until Friday morning, to take the time to try and decide whether in fact there would be a mistrial. He would rule on this in the morning.

Bizarre!

The Lawsuit - Day 3

2004-02-04T21:54:00.000-05:00

Today began with the cross examination of the woman who is suing me. Her lawyer made her sound like she was helpless and couldn't do anything in her daily life.
My lawyer only had about 20 minutes with her at the end of today and already there are holes in her story. He is going to question her for at least half the day tomorrow. That should be entertaining.

She wore those high-heeled boots again today. You think her lawyer would be bright enough to notice this and straighten her out about it. I guess not.
He is also incredibly disorganized. He seems to never to be able to find certain documents and constantly harasses my lawyer to see his, get copies, etc. Maybe it's all part of the game, like he's trying to disrupt my lawyer. Seems possible, but pretty stupid, so I'm not sure about which it is yet.

Tune in tomorrow. It should get interesting.

The Lawsuit - Day 2

2004-02-04T21:11:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was an interesting day. The day started off with the two lawyers arguing about what evidence is relevant, etc.

The Lawyer suing me said he wanted to sue not only for past costs incurred but future costs for housekeeping, yard work, "loss of competitiveness in the labour market", and others throughout the rest of her life. He was constantly being vague in the descriptions of these items, so the judge demanded that he clearly wanted a detailed outline of what he was claiming (in other words, he was going to try and push whatever he could to see how much money he could try and get from us as he went along throughout the case).
The judge could see through this BS and ruled that he could not go after "future costs". I'm beginning to like this judge. He is a very articulate speaker and you can tell he's very well respected. There will be no hoodwinking this guy (thank goodness!).

The woman has no trouble doing her current job (which is a paper-pushing one). But she wanted to claim that she could not be able to take on a job in the future that requires exertion or lifting if the need arises. What nonsense.

After lunch, the jury was selected.
The occupations of the six of them are: Labourer, software executive, phone technician, administrative assistant, equipment operator, and a handyman.
They are made up of five men and one woman. There was a homemaker selected originally, but my lawyer booted her. I asked him why at lunch today and he said that she would realize how much back-breaking work is involved with housework and he didn't want her because of this reason (smart guy).

I noticed today that for someone with extremely bad lower back pain, she seems to have no problem wearing very high-heeled boots with absolutely no ankle support (or any other support for that matter). She also takes the subway to the trial, so she has no problem doing a lot of walking in these. This fascinates me. My lawyer feels the same way.
Yet she complains of not being able to walk around at the mall to shop or walk with her daughter in her neighbourhood.

The lawyer she has is a very smug, ignorant guy. At one point when the judge was addressing the court, there he was noisily clipping his fingernails. I wasn't the only one who noticed this, as my lawyer looked over at him while he was doing this. Very disrespectful I thought.

I'm Being Sued!

2004-02-02T21:57:00.000-05:00

Today I had the opportunity to experience what it is like to be sued by someone. I've never been inside a courtroom before, and here I am as a defendant. It's almost embarrassing watching two lawyers fight about stupid little things (and to use such big words doing it too!).

Where do I start....

In and around 1998 or so, I was driving a company vehicle and rear-ended a woman on the freeway. It wasn't serious. Her car sustained some damage to the trunk, and my truck was not damaged at all. Everything was fine. No injuries. All well and good.

Wrong!

About two years ago, I recieved a call from the lawyer representing my former company letting me know that I was being sued and so was my former company. He said that it probably wouldn't be a big deal and they would settle out of court.

Sounded good to me. That was the last and only time we spoke.

Two weeks ago I get a call letting me know that all attempts to settle have failed and it will be going to court. Not what I wanted to hear!
It also looks like this case will drag on for about 6-11 days from what I'm told.

Apparently, she has been in misery for several years. She couldn't cut grass, do laundry, shovel driveway, change lightbulb? (and even the fact that she couldn't go shopping at the mall was mentioned! Are they kidding!?!)

This is a bunch of Bullshit! With a capital B!

I was doing barely 30 or 40 km/hr before I hit the brakes, so when I hit her, I was going considerably slower. There wasn't enough force for whiplash or anything else for that matter! (she probably didn't even spill her coffee). The lawyer claims the impact was at 40 km/hr.

And now they are also trying to add expense claims at the last minute as the trial is starting. Where was this stuff 4 or 5 years ago!?!
From what my lawyer says, they had offered her 15 thousand to go away. She was going to take it, but the scumbag lawyer representing her said that after he took his cut, there wouldn't be anything left for her. So this trial is all about a greedy lawyer wanting to get paid!

What a sad pathetic world we live in....and we owe it all to the lawyers!

Stay tuned.......

Oops....Is That Camera Still On?

2004-02-01T20:35:00.000-05:00

Gord Martineau of CITY-TV news in Toronto finally shows his true colours. So much for the multi-cultural image of CITY.
I never liked the guy because I always thought he was a big fake. Now I've been proven right. Good one Gordo! There is about 4.5 minutes of Gordy being a jackass. He covers the whole spectrum with his offensive comments.

To see the film footage, click HERE. (click on the "watch" button or on the link under the "Files" section on the lower right. It is called "CityTV_-_Martineau.wmv")

Who knows how long this file will be available on this site.

Is The Catholic Church Still Living In The Dark Ages?

2004-01-31T22:32:00.000-05:00

I heard a news item on the CBC the other day that troubled me. The Roman Catholic Church in Canada is pretty much requiring that any new applicants for priesthood have to submit to an HIV test. They will no doubt use this to ban men who have it because they feel that if you do in fact carry HIV, then you live what they consider a reckless lifestyle (drug use, gay sex, indiscriminate sex, etc) and they do not want you in their diocese.
Obviously the leadership of the church is ignorant to the research that is out there concerning the ways of contracting HIV and AIDS. There are plenty of ways other than the lifestyle-related methods of contracting the disease. Do they not take this into consideration? Is this just a half-witted way to try and show that they are trying to stem the growing problem of pedophilia in their ranks?
If they want to try and stop the pedophiles that are among them, they might want to think about loosening their stance on celibacy. This might help even a little bit in fighting the sickness that is pedophilia.
It makes sense to me.
Why would the church even have the celibacy rule in the first place? I'm not a religious person, so I have trouble understanding the validity of this exercise. Sex is natural and is part of the human makeup. If you take that away, problems will no doubt arise.

An article I read stated:

"This is a very backwards idea because it links HIV to a gay lifestyle, and that is not always the case," Thomas said in an interview with the SRC, the French-language arm of Canada's public broadcaster, CBC. "And while they say this is a test of promiscuity, one can be very promiscuous, yet practice safe sex and never become HIV positive."

So where is the logic in this?

The Catholic Church's system of rules, policies, and actions are so muddled now that none of it make sense anymore to me.
This US article intrigued me:

"Critics of allowing gays to be priests say it conflicts with church teachings that homosexuality is a sin. Others say the church teaches that homosexuality is not a sin, but homosexual activity is.
No one knows for sure how many gays are priests. Estimates range from 10 to 40 percent of the U.S. priesthood."

"Both dioceses require seminary applicants to be tested for HIV, although the Cincinnati archdiocese has yet to craft a policy for what happens if someone tests positive, since no one has yet."

"People with (homosexual) inclinations just cannot be ordained," Joaquin Navarro-Valls, a U.S. spokesman for the Vatican, told the New York Times last month.

"That does not imply a final judgment on people with homosexuality," he said. "But you cannot be in this field."

Ok....Now I'm really confused!
I think that tackling the "gay" issue is a complete waste of time. The problem they really have is pedophilia which needs to be halted right away. It is obvious to me that the church is more than willing to tie gay men to pedophiles. This is absolutely wrong in my opinion. I've yet to see or hear any proof that these two things go hand-in-hand.

The church has completely mishandled both issues I feel. Here is an article that I think proves my point:

"Roman Catholic priests in the United States are dying from AIDS-related illnesses at a rate four times higher than the general population and the cause is often concealed on their death certificates, The Kansas City Star reported in a series of stories that started Sunday."

"I think this speaks to a failure on the part of the church," said Auxiliary Bishop Thomas Gumbleton of the Archdiocese of Detroit. "Gay priests and heterosexual priests didn't know how to handle their sexuality, their sexual drive. And so they would handle it in ways that were not healthy."

"How to be celibate and to be gay at the same time, and how to be celibate and heterosexual at the same time, that's what we were never really taught how to do. And that was a major failing," Gumbleton said.

"Six of 10 priests responding said they knew of at least one priest who had died of an AIDS-related illness, and one-third knew a priest living with AIDS. Three-fourths said the church needed to provide more education to seminarians on sexual issues."

The Star said precise numbers of priests who have died of AIDS or become infected with HIV is unknown, partly because many suffer in solitude. When priests tell their superiors, the cases generally are handled quietly.

"The newspaper cited the case of Bishop Emerson Moore, who left the Archdiocese of New York in 1995 and went to Minnesota, where he died in a hospice of an AIDS-related illness. His death certificate attributed the death to "unknown natural causes" and listed his occupation as "laborer" in the manufacturing industry."

"Some priests and behavioral experts believe the church has scared priests into silence by treating homosexual acts as an abomination and the breaking of celibacy vows as shameful."

I think that if there is a God watching us from up above, he/she/it must be ashamed of the actions of the Catholic Church. Doesn't the bible state that we should look after each other? Shouldn't we be looking after the people who need it the most, like the Emerson Moore's of this world?
I think the Vatican should take some of the $7.5 billion that is raised annually by the 20,000 American churches and put it to good use by helping their people in need. Or sell off some of the "vast holdings in real estate and investments that are the center of its financial power" to assist people in need. I have always been under the impression that the bible frowns on excessive material possessions. But I guess I'm wrong. Look at the physical structure of the Vatican and it's belongings.
Instead, they are throwing money away and not tackling the roots of the problems they face, such as pedophilia:

"Attorneys and specialists estimate that the diocese faces paying $40 million to settle the 140 pending sexual molestation claims against priests, and possibly tens of millions more as claims continue to pour in.
There is some evidence that the vast array of social services that the Boston agency of Catholic Charities provides is already being hurt by the scandal. The institution, which serves 170,000 needy people, announced layoffs of about 10 percent of its staff of 1,400 and a planned 15 percent cut in its $40 million annual budget, according to Catholic Charities president Dr. Joseph Doolin."

The Church should also stop making up silly stories to defend it's silly policies. There are more important issues to contend with and resolve. They should stop living in the 13th century and climb into the 21st century with the rest of us.

It's Been A Good Day

2004-01-16T09:32:00.000-05:00

I was sitting in the living room this morning, watching the clusters of birds eating away at our bird feeder, when out of nowhere, a small bird crashes into our sliding glass-door window. I went to look out of the window to see if it was all right and noticed the poor little bird buried in the snow with the tips of it's tail feathers sticking out. As an animal lover, I was immediately concerned for it's well-being, so I rushed outside to see if it was still alive. I carefully and gently cupped my hands and raised the bird up and out of the snow. It was a small sparrow and it was still struggling to breath and it's eyes were shut and I was about to accept the fact that this bird had no chance to survive. Especially when it is -20 degrees Celsius out. I looked around for a place in the sun to set it in to see if it could in any way warm itself up and let it try and fight for it's own life, but there was nowhere that was suitable.

I've always believed in nature's way of letting the strong survive. Whether you live or die, you serve in helping the overall well-being of the natural world around you. But with this little bird crashing into my glass door, nature was being distracted from it's natural course. Since glass doors don't occur naturally, I began to have feelings of guilt and responsibility for this little guy's imminent demise. I decided then and there that I would take action and try and help this small little bird with whatever chance it had at survival.

I decided to bring it into the house to at least shelter it from the elements. I figured I owed it that much. As I have 2 cats that love to bird watch and I'm sure they would have loved to have met our new guest that had come in from the cold, I felt I needed a plan to keep them away as well as have a plan in case things went well for the bird and it wanted to try and fly. With the bird in one hand, I rummaged around the basement trying to find a suitable sized box with a lid to protect it from inquisitive cats and flight. I found the right kind of box (a good printer paper box with a solid lid). I set the little bird gently into it and sat back to observe it. Things didn't look good. The breathing was still laboured and it remained unconscious.

I watched it for a while and wouldn't you know it, but one eye had started to move a bit and was half open. As a little more time went on, both eyes were open, but it didn't move a muscle. I tried to nudge it a bit with my hand to see if it could move on it's own (I was fearful that maybe it had a broken wing, back or something other that was serious). It didn't move in response to my encouragement. I now felt worse than before, because at least if it was going to die out in the snow, it would have done so in a state of unconsciousness. Now it was fully awake and possibly suffering. Way to go Kevin.

After a few minutes I tried to nudge it again and see what the results of my actions might bring. As I did this, the bird suddenly leaped onto the back of my hand. This is when I felt a little panicky. What if the bird was now fine and decided it wanted to leave my company? The last thing I needed was a bird racing around the house crashing into things and my cats following around behind it in a wild frenzy. I quickly grabbed the box lid and then slowly lowered it down over the bird on my hand which was positioned over the now empty box. It looked at me in the eyes as if to say "you have to be joking if you think you're going to put me back in that box". It did let me do just that, without as much as a flutter of it's wings.

After it was secured safely in the box, I was feeling pretty good about myself and that little bird. It wasn't long however that I began to realize that if the bird stays in this house any longer (the house that was nearly 40 degrees warmer than it was outside where it belonged), it could suffer temperature shock that could make this wonderful revival all for naught.

I threw my coat and boots on and gently brought the box with the bird in it back out into the yard where I had found him. Was this going to work, I wondered?
I slowly raised the lid off the box and peered inside. The bird made no attempt to fly away. It just looked up at me with seemingly helpless eyes. This wasn't going to work, although the bird was functioning well enough to evacuate itself on the floor of the box. I was hoping this wasn't the bird's way of expressing itself about how it felt about all of this.

I cautiously lowered my hands down and underneath the bird to raise it up out of the box so that it could see the world it knew, hoping that it would spur it on to fly away and be free again. As I got the bird half out of the box, it leaped out of my hands and flew to the large maple tree that stood in my neighbour's yard. I was as exhilarated as I felt the bird must have been! For a split second I knew what it was like to be one of those wildlife people you see on TV who have rescued eagles from injury and are now releasing them back into the wild again as they leap off of the biologists arm with a burst of energy and soar out over the forests to once again rule the skies.

I felt really great. The stress of being in a fender-bender the previous day, the miserable cold we've been living through the past week here in Ontario, and all the other negative news that has been bashing me in the head lately, seemed to melt away effortlessly. I could have stayed in that freezing sub-zero backyard all day and just watched the birds. I actually did for a few minutes, but the cold crept back in and I realized I should go back inside to continue calling around to get my car fixed. Back to our human world.

"The Corporation" - A movie we must all see!

2004-01-13T18:18:00.000-05:00

THE CORPORATION engages us in a darkly amusing account of the institution's birth as a legal "person" whose prime directive is to produce ever-increasing profit for it's shareholders regardless of the cost to anyone, or anything else. This pathological nature wasn't always written in stone. 150 years ago a corporation was merely an organized way of doing business. Today it is is a global power.

Considering the odd legal fiction that deems a corporation a "person" in the eyes of the law, the feature documentary employees a checklist, based on actual diagnostic criteria of the World Health Organization and DSM IV, the standard tool of psychiatrists and psychologists. What emerges is a disturbing diagnosis.

To continue reading the synopsis of the movie, click HERE.

The theatrical trailer is available HERE.

Official Website

Additional info site #1

Additional info site #2

Reviews:

"The next Bowling for Columbine." -- Globe and Mail

"A provocative, entertaining, and at times chilling documentary." --IndieWIRE

"If it leaves you unmoved, pass on calling the doctor: Go straight to the morgue, because you are already dead." -- Montreal Gazette

"A brilliantly argued essay which takes us on a scintillating intellectual journey into the heart of global capitalism"
-- IDFA, International Documentary Filmfestival Amsterdam

Unbelievable Mars Panorama

2004-01-13T09:23:00.000-05:00

I've seen lots of Mars photos from past missions, but this new panoramic photograph took my breath away. The clarity of it is astonishing and you feel you are sitting on top of the Rover and looking around. Amazing. I can't wait to see what else is going to come from the mission.

It's a beautiful distraction from todays news stories!

Here is the 12 mb full version of the photo.

The Mars Exploration Rover website.

The Way I Feel....

2004-01-12T20:34:00.000-05:00

This is a great flash presentation narrated by Woody Harrelson (sp?). It sums up the way I feel about the world around me. Things need to change, or we are doomed. Will they ever change? I can't see it happening. But then again, maybe that's a good thing. The world will rid itself of us, but I feel sorry for the other inhabitants of this wonderful planet that will go down with us.

A Little Bit About Me....

2004-01-11T23:09:00.000-05:00

I love photography. Especially nature. If you want to see some of my photographs, please click on the "KRL Photography" link on the right sidebar. It needs to be updated and I hope to do that in the next couple of weeks.

I also love history. Especially World War II history. I have a fairly large collection of original photographs of the war, helmets, correspondence, original newspapers and various weaponry (all inert and de-activated, of course). I hope to update my artifacts website to accommodate these items very soon. I already have several of my other items displayed on my website (the "My Historical Collection" link on the sidebar), which include many items from ancient Egypt, Roman, Aztec, Mayan, and North America. There are also many items displayed in the Natural History section that include fossils of megalodons, trilobites, and others.

I have recently obtained a collection of letters from an American during World War II (over 400 letters spanning 3 years of the conflict. His wartime travels took him to Africa, France, Belgium, England, and into Germany. He served in the air force in the 415th Night Fighter Squadron. Also included in the collection is over 2000 photographic negatives of his experiences, as well as his father's during World War I. The plan I have for these items, is to incorporate them into a book about the man known as George Walthers from New Jersey. This will be quite a task, but I am up for the challenge. I will be posting my progress as I go, on this blog. I've never written a book before, so any hints, tips, and tricks would be appreciated.

I also enjoy politics. World events are of a particular interest to me.

Until next time....

Hello....

2004-01-10T22:14:00.002-05:00

Welcome to my new online home....It's a bit of a fixer-upper, but I'll make it real nice.

The View From Up Here....

A Very Addictive Game

George Bush's "Speechalist"

I Can't Keep Up

A Smattering Of Silly Things

A New Movie About George Dubya

George Bush's New Advisers

More Videos.....

Some People Have Too Much Time On their Hands

The internet is a very silly place

Bear Guzzles 36 Beers, Passes Out At Campground

Don't You Just Love American Foreign Policy?

Proposed Dutch law would ban unsolicited toe-licking

Moore Speaks Out On CNN

Disney Has Blocked the Distribution of My New Film... By Michael Moore

NORAD Dispatches Fighter Escort For Air Canada Flight

I Visited The NORAD Military Complex Today

Timothy Has Died

George Bush The Boring

Long Live "The Trailer Park Boys"

Good Luck In The Playoffs Mark!

My First Try At Photo-Journalism A Success!

My First Attempts At Photo-Journalism

My Favorite Spam

Don't You Just Love A Blue Sky?

Words

You Gotta Love Bill Murray

Funny TV Commercials

I Hate This Time Of Year

Entertaining The Little Ones

Time-Lapse Photography

My New Wolf Photographs

Camera Body For Sale (Canon EOS)

The Mark Of Jane Simpson

My First NBA Experience

The Halifax Cooler

A Nice Surprise Today

The 30th Anniversary Tour

I Hate Delays!

Great Big Sea - Something Beautiful

Should I Go Digital?

Time To Start A New Book

Photo Of The Day

Public School Reunion

Photo Of The Day

Shock and Awe

We Need This New Vision

I'm Getting Sick Of Winter

Stop Right There And Put Your Hands Up!

The Trial - Day 9

The Question Of The Day

Rabbit-Proof Fence

The Trial - Day 5

The Trial - Day 4

The Lawsuit - Day 3

The Lawsuit - Day 2

I'm Being Sued!

Oops....Is That Camera Still On?

Is The Catholic Church Still Living In The Dark Ages?

It's Been A Good Day

"The Corporation" - A movie we must all see!

Unbelievable Mars Panorama

The Way I Feel....

A Little Bit About Me....

Hello....