Long, long ago in a galaxy far, far away...

There was a girl named Marie.

Marie, for those of you who never met her, was the kindest, gentlest soul one would ever have the fortune of meeting. She was always smiling and never had a bad word to say about anyone. She always seemed to find out the good in people and focus on that.

This little tangent isn't about the greatness of Marie (though it really is) but just a few historical notes regarding Marie which, for some incomprehensible reason, entered my mid quite recently.

See, we met Marie a long time ago whilst she was a hostess at the local Tim Hortons. Some of us were immediately enamored with her--one of us to the point of asking her out. Sparky (no the other one) and Marie went on a few dates, but that was enough to get Marie hanging around the group, so when Spark and Marie eventually toned down their relationship to 'just friends', Marie still hung around our little group of people.

And this is where the story really begins. I'm going to leave out many Marie details, for I want to focus on one specific theme, but let it be known that Marie always seemed to brighten up all our little adventures and get togethers.

There was one thing about Marie, and it's not a bad thing--it's just something I found slightly odd--She scared easily. Whether a small spider in her house, or a horror movie (though I can relate to that one) on the telly, she was pretty much petrified.

One of the first encounters I had with Marie was when I was driving her home from some get together. I was really 'hard core' into my classical music phase of life, and had my J. S. Bach tocca tape (say that 3 times fast) playing on my Toshiba stereo (I still have that car stereo in the Mighty Dodge, but again, a story for another time). So here I am, chit-chatting with Marie, whilst Bach is playing in the background. Well, Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D Minor starts to play. I didn't realize it at the time, but Marie got strangely silent. Found out later that she was absolutely terrified. For those of you who are not seeing how those two things are related, Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D minor is very well known from '40's and '50's 'vampire movies'--it's the organ score that does seem to be frequently played when there's some old haunted mansion or the like. I didn't think about that--I just like the music.

But Marie was under the impression of 'some sort of really bad thing' was going to happen to her before she got home. Thankfully, I didn't turn into a vampire and she made it home safely.

But it was many months after that before she approached my general vicinity, and a few more before she confided the story of 'The Terror in Dave's Car!'. And we both laughed and laughed and laughed.

So time goes by, Marie's a good friend of mine, and we're basically hanging out alot. Not really dating, mind you--just hanging out as friends, and I pretty much considered her to be my kid sister.

So one night we're driving I-don't-know-where--it's pretty late, when all of a sudden Marie shrieks! I'm not talking a little yip, I'm talking a blood-chilling, bone-shaking, earth-shattering scream!! I thought maybe there was some axe-wielding, hook-for-hand, hockey-mask-wearing undead guy stalking the car! I look around furiously as I'm deciding whether to slam on the brakes or tromp on the gas. I decide to stop (bad thing to do if this was an actual horror movie, by the way...)

I look over to Marie and she's as white as a ghost and can't seem to get a word out. But she's pointing to something on the road. I look. I see nothing besides a muskrat crossing the road. I put on my high beams and still see nothing besides the little rodent.

Turns out that the furry critter is why she screamed--I mean I'll be the first to admit that muskrats aren't the most beautiful of God's creatures, especially when they just crawled out of some culvert or something, but it's a little tiny rat-like thing, just trying to make its way back home after a hard day at the office. I try explaining it this way to Marie, and we both eventually got our heart rates to something close to the semblance of normal.

I was reminded of this just the other day when I was driving home form work, listening to the classical radio station and Bach's toccata and fugue was playing. Yep, pretty much that one always brings back these memories of Marie.

Haven't seen Marie in a good decade. She sent me an e-mail a while back--she's all happily married with kids and stuff.

Life's little ironies--she married a mortician.

Will make a stand

I've mentioned this in a previous blog, but the good news is that on September 30, 2005, Firefly comes to the big screen.

I know that it says 'From the Creator of 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' and 'Angel''--I wasn't too appreciative of those shows. Firefly, on the other hand, was a welcome relief to the Star Trek franchise--more's the pity that it was cancelled.

Enough melancholy--we have a movie and supposedly a deal for a few more movies after this one. If you want, I've downloaded the preview for 'Serenity'--the Firefly movie. See it here (right-click and 'Save as', if you please)

And see you at the theatre on Sept 30.

is bad for one's health

In a startling change of events, I'm sick. Somehow, probably at the Toy show at the International Centre last weekend, I picked up a 'viral infection' and am 'slightly contagious', according to the doctor I visited last night (more on that later).

I'm viral! Makes me feel like Megabyte from Reboot--don't get near me or I'll virus ya!

Anyway, I'm not used to being sick, being pretty much healthy my entire life ('xcept for that whatever that was a few years back, but no need to talk about that here...), and therefore I don't make a good patient--I'm not used to it. I don't need anyone taking care of me, I can handle it myself.

But really, I can't sometimes, and that's a tough lesson.

But the true purpose of this blog is to write down a few observations.

Most of you know that I am Canadian, and that I'm pretty happy about that particular aspect. Most of you probably also know, at least if you've been paying attention to the news, that there are some out there who don't appreciate the Canadian Health Care system for whatever reason.

Sohmer, the guy running "The Least I Could Do" web comic, also went to visit a physician yesterday and had this to say--

An unexpected visit to the hospital took up a god 7 hours of my day, and I wasn’t able to put up a new Dear Rayne. I’m going to try to get ahead so this doesn’t happen again.

That said, I do have a few choice words for the Canadian health care system. While I won’t bore you with the details of how health care in this country is a joke, I do want to share 2 words of wisdom I have concerning it: “It Sucks. Big Time.”

Hmm, that’s 4 words. Ah well.

Far be it for me to contradict a person that I hold in pretty high regard, but I personally don't think our health care system is 'a joke'. I do think that our health care system in Canada is on 'life support' (to use medical jargon to make the point), and that politicians, who are rich enough to afford their own private services, better start realizing that the average Joe Canadian is not afforded the same luxury and that we deserve better from them with regards to our health care.

For example, last night Sohmer was in 'the medical system' for 7 hours--probably most of that was sitting in the waiting room or in the diagnosis room, waiting for an attendant or a doctor. For myself, the entire ordeal at the 'Urgent Care' hit around the hour and a half mark--showed up at 5:30ish, and was home a little after 7 p.m..

Here's the point that some people fail to realize. At no point during my visit to the Urgent Care last night did someone ask me for insurance papers or how I was going to pay for whatever I was there for. Not once. If that doesn't take a load of worry and stress out of our daily existences, I don't know what will.

My dad went on a trip in February/March. You might not see how this is immediately related to the conversation we're having here, but think of this as an inverse co-tangent, and you'll be surprised how well it fits in. So dad is approaching the age of 'snowbirds', where Canadians, sick of the Canadian winters, go in search of 'warmer climes'. So he and his wife hop in his CRV and head on down to Louisiana. Since my dad is interested in motorcycles, the two intrepid travellers stopped by every Harley Davidson shop en route.

My dad is very personable and he likes talking with people. He is well versed in a variety of topics, especially history and politics but can hold his own with whatever direction the conversation takes.

So here is my dad, talking to a 6 foot 4, 250 pound hog rider in one of these Harley shops. Somehow the conversation turns to health care, and Canada vs the US. This guy tells my dad that he wishes the US would have a 'universal health care system' much like Canada's. And here's why--

"I was having chest pains," the guy starts telling my dad, "So I go into the hospital. Turns out I'm having a heart attack. I'm there for a few hours, lying on the bed with tubes and machines connected up to me, when a nurse walks up, has a clip board in her hands, and asks me how I'm going to pay the 32 thousand dollars I already owe. 'Thirty-two thousand dollars!?!' I sit up on that bed, start removing all the needles and machines. The nurse is trying to tell me that I’ll' die if I do this. I tell her I can't afford the thirty two grand now, yet alone whatever the rest of the procedure's gonna cost for they haven't done anything yet!"

My dad tells me that in the end, Mr. Harley Rider ended up staying in the hospital, but also ended up paying two hundred thousand dollars for the entire stay due to the heart attack, and that's not including the continuous bills for medication. He had to re-mortgage his house to pay for it all, and has no idea how he's going to pay that off, considering he's 50+ and close to retirement.

Yeah, I'll stick with what we have here in Canada, thank you very much. My very close friend, Andrew, had himself a heart attack a few years back, and guess what? The procedure? Wasn't two hundred grand, wasn’t thirty-two grande. Was the taxes we pay into the system.

Can you imagine, as a Canadian, whilst you're having a heart attack, a nurse walking in and asking how you're going to pay for this? Yeah, all you people talking trash about the Canadian way of doing things really don't have a clue.

As I've stated, the number of 'emergency visits' to the hospital that I've taken over the years is probably still in single digits--broken arms, stiches, 150+ bee stings, etc. (Of course, this does not include my 'regular visits' to my family doctor--though I can't remember when I did that last, either). That said, I'm not even presuming that because I've been pretty healthy thus far that I will remain so the rest of my life. And I know that, whatever ailments may and will happen in my life, I can go to the hospital and be looked after, no matter what my financial status is. Nor will I ever lose my house over any medical problem I may have in the future.

Sure it needs fixing, like everything else that politicians screw up. But to say it's a joke? Well, from this point of view, that sentiment is the only joke here, and a bad one at that.

Not for nothing...

My personal opinion is that people are equal in the 'eyes of the law'. It doesn't matter to me if you're gay--you should be afforded the same rights and freedoms under the law as I am.

A while back I once compared 'the plight' of the homosexual to 'the plight' of black Americans during their fight for equal civil rights. I was admonished--ADMONISHED--for saying such a thing! "How can you compare the homosexual agenda today to what those poor black people went thru!! It's ludicrous and bad form!! Black people don't want their 'civil rights movement' to be compared with what the gay and lesbian people are going through today!"

K, I mean, to me, again it doesn't matter who you are, what colour you are, or who you were born as--the law should be applied equally for everyone. I thought it was a pretty good example--the denied rights of black people then vs the denied rights of homosexual people today, but I was admonished, so I never used the comparison again.

Well here we go--the Family Research Council, as written in the article, Justice Sunday Preachers, is now comparing the civil rights movement to "the plight of conservative Christians"

The 'plight of conservative Christians'? When was the last time you saw a conservative Christian denied the right to marry? To visit a sick spouse at the hospital? When was the last time you saw someone break down the door of a conservative Christian and haul them out onto the lawn in front of a burning cross?

Look people, being supportive of gay rights is not a 'plight against Christianity'. Did we learn nothing in Kindergarten? We have to learn to share this country, this world with other people who don't have the same beliefs that we do. If someone doesn't have the same belief in God, that does not directly equate into the idea that that person is 'less than' those that do. Furthermore, and more importantly, affording the same rights and freedoms to that person does not, in any way, equate into a 'plight' against what you or I may believe.

Anyway, I still won't use the comparison. But again, neither should conservative Christians.

The first tulips blooming in the garden

One of the most easily discernable birds--Red Wing Blackbird

Our first forray into the world of canning--chicken soup to start

Daffy-Dills!

Still enjoying the sock

 

The doves are easily discernable, but I have no idea what kind of bird this is.

 

The chickadee is enjoying the feeder.

 

The rasberry bush has a few new shoots popping up. And then there's the rhubarb!!

The sun sets on a beautiful day!

A look at the bridges

rtlToronto was invited to attend the annual Toy, Train and Doll show at the International Centre in Mississauga, Ontario. The members of rtlToronto decided to bring their 'extended' Palisade Villa layout.

Going around the layout--

 

Janey's mountaintop, complete with waterfalls and a guy catching a shark!

 

The band plays on whilst the kids enjoy the park

 

A secluded beach where interesting things may happen to those minifigs that wear pants, and canoeists starting their forray into the wilderness.

  

Of course, since I was there, the trainyard would have to be there as well.

 

A nice little parkette built by Sandy just for this show!

 

Few beings waiting for their train. A firefighter posting a letter.

 

A much welcome addition to the layout--Janeys housing strip! Many people commented on it.

    

Kinda a collaberation between Derek's and Jeff's areas, and their buildings, and Calums addition of buildings. Dunno whose is whose, but I also don't think it really matters--it all looks great.

 

Excuse me Mr... Cthulu is it? May we have an interview?

  

Putting out the fire. A haunted mansion on the hill...

 

A train going by Jeremy's cliff. A little train station and I honestly don't have a clue who made it--it just showed up on the layout.

 

Jeremy working on his section of the layout. John and I talking shop (LEGO shop, that is)

 

Views from the entire layout.

 

Loading up the Mighty Dodge

  

Derek's vehicle getting loaded. Jeff's car all loaded up. Putting Jeremy's layout into boxes.

The whole lot of us

A little look at the display

rtlToronto is participating in the Toronto Toy, Doll and Train show at the International Centre this weekend (April 23 and 24).

Tomorrow (Sunday, April 24) if you've got nothing better to do between the hours of 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., come on by the International Centre on Airport Road (by, coincidentally, Pearson International Airport)

After the show tomorrow, I'll hopefully put up a plethora of pictures.

After all that work in setting up, it's time for a good sleep.

with the bird pictures

Note how they still really like the sock.

I love 'em. I really do appreciate the little flappy things. I wake up in the morning to the chirping madhouse that is my back yard, and then, whilst watching the sunset, I watch the birds have their last meal for the evening.

Life couldn't be better.

Take care of God's little creatures--it's the right thing to do.

Now if I could just get hold of a bird bath I like, da boids would be all set...

to be a Canadian

Paul Martin, our Prime Minister, will be addressing the population of Canada directly this evening at 7:45 p.m. I have no idea what television stations will be carrying the address, but I'm going to find out 'cause I'll be watching it.

The thing is, with the AdScam issues, and a history of politicians 'running amok' when they're in power, I'm getting discouraged about the entire political process.

How many Canadians will tune in to hear what Mr. Martin wants to say? How many of us will think that it's just another 'spin'--a way for Paul Martin to make himself and his party look better in spite of the Gomery Inquiry.

I dunno. My Poli-Sci prof at Redeemer had something to say about this on his web blog--

"What does one call a political system in which the government of the day, already plagued by scandal, uses its power to postpone a vote of confidence in parliament by stripping the opposition parties of those days allocated to them by constitutional convention? Democracy is not the first word to come to mind."

Yep, pretty much sums it up for me. The country of Canada was a pretty good example, until now, of how democracy could and should work. When the will of the people, however, is curtailed because the PM doesn't like what's about to happen, well then I wouldn't call it democracy, either.

What does the average Canadian (if there is such a person) think about all of this? From what is being said by all the media outlets, I'm not sure who to trust anymore. It seems that all political parties have their 'hidden agendas' and 'spin' everything to reflect well in their favour. Where is the truth? I don't know.

Bottom line--we shall see what transpires.

It's the season for 'em!

Wally, a good friend of mine, just sent me this link--

Boat Page.

It's great if you have any aspirations to building your own little boat for the summer season.

From that boat page you can stumble across this one--

Free Boat Design Resources

which shows a plethora of links to various plans for building boats.

When and if I get some time together, I just may try my hand at building one of 'em.

thus increasing the functionality

Alphabetical Listing

It'll sort all the blog entries alphabetically. Not a huge deal, but it's there nonetheless. There's a link to the right for this bold new feature so you can get access to it from all blog pages!

Aren't you just thrilled?

Who used to live in Winona

(and steal all the young men's hearts)

My good friend, Alisa, has been working on getting herself on-line. Have a boo here--Alisa.

I really like her page layout, but then again, she always had a flair for that kinda thing.

Anyway, thought I'd point it out for those that may be interested.

Alisa also designed and continues to update her church's website--Victoria Christian Reformed Church. Beautifully done!

Doctor Who!

For those that missed it the first time around, the BBC is making all new episodes of Doctor Who (BBC Doctor Who website is here). The even better news for us Canadians is that the CBC is broadcasting the show--see the CBC entry here

So far I've been very impressed by the quality of the episodes! As well, the British producers seem to be infusing a little more fun into these episodes than the producers of most standard American sci-fi series.

If you're doing nothing every Tuesday at 8 p.m., turn on the CBC and enjoy!

I personally think that Rose is a cutie and that alone is worth the watch!

In tan!

I received my first LEGO Technic set way back in '78. It was the 948 Go-Cart. I loved building and playing with it, zooming it around the house. Many times the go-cart found itself smashed against walls and down the stairs. I'm amazed I didn't break any LEGO pieces.

Now that i'm so much older, I wanted to revisit my appreciation of the little blue go-cart. The best way to do so, I thought, was to build a variety of 948 go-carts, all in different colours.

So that's what I did.

See much more pics here

She's the good looking one in this pic...

I'm not going to miss it this time! Very important day

Happy birthday to my kid sister. She's all of *cough* mumble-something (it's not polite to let people know a woman's age)

Growing up with two older brothers, it's amazing she turned out as wonderful as she is--we razzed her alot when we were kids, but she not only managed, she excelled at everything she did.

Anyway, happy birthday sis. Many happy returns.

Your bro.

in the 'Things We'd Like to See' dept.

To start, a great quotation from 'The West Wing'--

President Josiah Bartlet: I was wrong. I was, I was just... I was wrong. Come on, we know that. Lots of times we don't know what right or wrong is, but lots of times we do, and come on... this is one. I may not have had sinister intent at the outset, but there were plenty of opportunities for me to make it right. No one in government takes responsibility for anything any more, we fluster, we obfuscate, we rationalize. "Everybody does it", that's what we say. So we come to occupy a moral safe house where everyone's to blame, so no one's guilty.

pause

*I'm to blame.* I was wrong.

Just a few links to also add in here (bear with me)

George Bush blames the intelligence services for being "dead wrong" for the lead up to the war in Iraq

And right here at home--

Paul Martin continues to feign ignorance as to how the AdScam could have possibly happened, even though he was the Finance Minister during this time.

Just once I'd like to see a politician stand up and take responsibility, instead of finding 'some aide', or 'some agency'. Whatever happened to 'The Buck Stops Here!'. If you are in a position of great authority, such as, say, president or prime minister of a country, and 'stuff happens' during your reign in that position, then step up and take responsibility for it.

In this day and age, where CEO's get 'severance packages' of millions of dollars for driving companies to the brink of bankruptcy, it is pretty easy to see how 'passing the buck' is the norm. But Paul Martin, just the other day, spoke of 'the moral authority' to be Prime Minister.

A note from me to you, Mr. Paul Martin--with the authority of your position comes the responsibility of your position. No matter what the Gomery Inquiry finds, you were Finance Minister--either you knew about the payouts, or you were oblivious--either option means that you were negligent in your duties.

Mr. George Dubya Bush--in your push for war with Iraq, you failed to listen to anyone who had a dissenting opinion. It was your duty to take all factors into consideration instead of hearing what you wanted to hear--the ultimate responsibility for the war in Iraq is yours.

Where have all the great leaders gone? Who can we look to for moral leadership? When you read the paper or watch the news, it doesn't look as if anyone in politics today can fill that role.

I've been thinking lately that we need a 'non-politician' politician--someone who isn't in this 'for the politics', someone who doesn't 'play the political game'. Take a person who works at the steel mill for 40k a year and knows how to balance a cheque book and put him in charge of the country for a few years and see what happens. Maybe it'll work and maybe it won't.

I don't know. But right now Joe Citizen doesn't have much faith in what we currently have.

Always start with the flowers...

 

Then the spectacular sunset

What's a day without 'da boids!'--They still like the sock.

Someone told us to 'go fly a kite!', so we did!

 

Art in the park! As seen strolling along Confederation Park

 

Who's that sitting on the rocks? Looking all the way over towards Winona.

Getting dark at the bridges

Said it before, I'll say it again...

After a heavy day at work, there's nothing quite like setting the radio to Classical 96.3 FM. As they say right there at their station, "Making life sound better", and it really is true.

So here I am, driving home, and Samuel Barbers "Adagio for Strings" is playing. I don't know how, or why, but that piece of music invokes such emotion in me that I usually get a little misty eyed.

If you aren't into classical music, I still pretty much guarantee that you would recognize this adagio. If you've seen the movie 'Platoon', then you've definitely heard it. As well, I just found out from the link above, that this adagio was 'played after the deaths of Presidents Roosevelt and Kennedy'. My emotional response to this piece, however, was there far before the movie, and I wasn't around yet when those two presidents died.

So why does this piece make me weep? I don't know--maybe the 'muse' in music is playing with me.

In all their glory...

So I'm just puttering away on Sparky's Space, cleaning up some code that I should have cleaned up an eternity ago, when I rediscover World Wide Web Consortium (W3C)Markup Validation Servicev0.6.7. Wow--perfect! A website that'll check my HTML sKillz0rs!!

So I put http://sparky.i989.net into the old validator and, of course, it coughs up numerous errors, first and foremost is that I haven't defined a 'document type'!

For those of you not 'in the know' about doc types, in this day and age of the 'information superhighway', with many different platforms accessing yon sub-ether, you basically have to tailor your HTML code so it can be accessed by all these various platforms.

Oh goodie!

Or you can just wallow in your HTML 1.0 and leave the rest to their own devices, which I should have done, but resistance to change, as someone once said, is futile.

So I added the little 'doc type' to my web page--

DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/loose.dtd"

Doesn't look that dangerous, does it?

Well, Sparky's Space handled it relatively well, all things considered.

Sparky's Blog, however, had a heart attack and died when I added that line. Turns out, surprisingly, that my little website (and blog) are no where near compliant with HTML 4.01, even set to loose. And I'll tell you why.

'Cause Micro$oft really truly does suck. No, I mean it this time. In the past it was a joke but I'll tell ya something--Mozilla Firefox showed my pages jsut fine, thank you very much--Internet Explorer, however, showed a mess.

Turns out that using the 'doc type' HTML 4.01, even on the 'loose' side of things, Internet Explorer transfers the CENTER attribute through all tables and other things that, up until now, have not allowed the CENTER attribute from centering anything other than the 'zone' it's in.

But wait! Here comes Internet Explorer--Let's take the CENTER attribute that's at the top of the BODY and apply it to the seventh nested table structure's text!

Yeah, smooth move sunshine.

So either I get rid of the 'doc type' or I change every single text attribute to be left justified--i'll get into 'style sheets' soon enuf, so that'll make this simpler.

Or I just use Firefox

Over the next few days/weeks, if things look a little wonky here it's 'cause I'm just bringing this into 4.01 compliance.

So there you are.

We're all suppose to be equal...

in the eyes of law. That's the whole point of having laws--we're all suppose to be subject to them equally.

If there is any law on any provincial or federal level that denies rights to Person A that Person B has, then that law is denying equality to certain citizens and therefore must be removed or modified until equality prevails.

It doesn't legally or lawfully matter what my personal opinion is on the subject of Gay Marriage and it doesn't matter to the law what your personal opinion is, either. There is suppose to be equality and freedom in Canada, and the right of the individual to be treated equally and fairly with all other Canadian citizens is protected, or at least should be protected, by the Charter of Rights an Freedoms.

So I'll spell it out for you--government should not be in the business of legislating morality. I've been around for a few years and I have discovered that, when it gets right down to it, everyone has differing moral values on some issue. That said, government should be in the business to make sure every citizen is treated fairly and equally before the law.

If there is an issue with Marriage--if marriage, to some, is a 'sacred institution that predates the country of Canada' and therefore 'must be protected at all costs', then so be it--Marriage shouldn't have anything to do with the law--I don't see the law finagling in Holy Communion or Baptism at the churches I've attended, so why can't the law get out of Marriage?

Here's something that's been thrown around--civil union. Perfect! The law should cover people's rights to live together and have 'legal spousal benefits' via civil union--kinda like any other lawful contract--if two people, of any sex, want to enter into a civil union, then fill out Form A, get it signed in triplicate in front of witnesses, and go on your merry way. Done deal. Marriage doesn't enter the equation.

If two people then want to get married in a church, well then that's a personal matter between the couple and the church, which would have nothing to do with the law or the rest of us.

In this fashion, everyone remains equal in the eyes of the law--no couple is denied their legal rights to be together.

Anyway, maybe it is too simplistic, but we had better do something.

For no real reason...

I've added the feature, for those that so desire, TrackBack.

Yeah, I don't know what it is either, but it's there, just ready and waiting for the spammers--I mean, the wonderful bloggers who may want to 'TrackBack' to any of my blog entries.

BTW, I'm using a nice little tool called 'TrackBack Standalone'. Took about 10 minutes to figure it out and implement it properly in my GreyMatter Blog Software.

So there you are.

In the 'I can't leave things well enuf alone' dept...

So did a quick little redesign of the layout of the blog, bringing it more 'in-line' with the rest of "Sparky's Space". I have no idea why I can't leave things well enough alone--I mean, I don't kick sleeping dogs--why would I want to constantly fiddle with these things?

Anyway, I was thinking about yesterday's entry about Terry Fox. Last night I saw a commercial--basically taking the story of David and Goliath and expanding on it. There's this kid in the commercial, see, whipping a sling over his head. The viewer sees this undefined shadow approaching the child. Can't remember what the voice over was going on about but the gist is that, with help (as other people whipping slings over their heads step into the scene), cancer can be beaten--as more and more people slinging rocks over their heads enter the picture, the shadow starts to retreat.

K, I'm a big enough man to admit it--that commercial brought a few tears to my eyes. Just thinking about it right now as I'm typing this is making my eyes a little misty. I have lost relatives to cancer. I don't know if that factors into why I'm moved by this commercial, but whoever came up with the concept and/or produced the commercial--beautifully done.

In one way or another, cancer has impacted in some way on each and every one of us. I'd be remiss if I didn't have a link to the Canadian Cancer Society. There is lots of great information on the website regarding support, advocacy, and important to those who don't have cancer--prevention!

This brings up a wild tangent (and to impart a little humour, I hope, on an otherwise unhumourous topic)--

I was writing an exam for, oh my goodness I can't even remember what class at Redeemer. Al Brown had this 100 multiple choice question thing on health and fitness and the very last question was something like "What's the stupidest thing you can do to your health?", and the choices were like a) eat lots of ice cream, b) not exercise, c) whatever, and d)--which was highlighted, and arrows were pointing to it, and was circled, and was capitalized--"Smoking".

Yep. Smoking.

Seriously, if cigarettes were 'invented' today they would be outlawed. I cannot comprehend the apparent disregard for one's health, in this day and age when we know better, of those who smoke.

I've heard from a good friend that her nieces started smoking at the 'perfect-to-start-smoking' age of 16. When queried as to why they started smoking--"We'd rather smoke than be fat". That basically opens up a whole other kettle of fish about what the priorities are instilled on today’s youth by the society around them--"I'd rather smoke than be fat". Boggles my mind.

Anyway, Tirade (tangent, whatever) over.

Here's some stats right form the CCS website--

General cancer stats for 2005

An estimated 149,000 new cases of cancer and 69,500 deaths will occur in Canada in 2005.

On average, 2,865 Canadians will be diagnosed with cancer every week.

On average, 1,337 Canadians will die of cancer every week.

An estimated 72,800 Canadian women will be diagnosed with cancer and an estimated 32,800 women will die.

An estimated 76,200 Canadian men will be diagnosed with cancer and an estimated 36,700 men will die of cancer.

Based on current incidence rates, 38% of Canadian women will develop cancer during their lifetimes. Among men, 44% will develop cancer during their lifetimes.

Cancer is the leading cause of premature death - or early death - in Canada: 954,000 potential years were lost in 2000 as a result of cancer. This represents 31% of the potential years of life lost resulting from all causes of death.

Cancer is primarily a disease of older Canadians: 44 % of new cancer cases and 60% of cancer deaths will occur among those who are at least 70 years old.

These numbers boggle my mind--

1337 Canadians will die weekly due to cancer. I grew up in a town of 1500 people--every week, the population of my town is decimated by cancer.

38 percent of women and 44 percent of men will develop cancer during their lives--those are not good odds at all.

K, I'm going to talk about it right now. If we have a society that, I'll say politely, sways 16 year old girls to take up smoking so they can 'look thinner', then society is making it more difficult for the Cancer Society. If this is, in fact, the case, we really need to re-evaluate where our priorities are as a society.

And Canada's Finest

Twenty five years ago today, Terry Fox started his run across Canada, raising money for Cancer Research.

I have heard various figures, but the one I like is to date over 350 million dollars has been donated to find a cure for cancer since he came to our attention.

I've also heard that if a person were afflicted today with the same cancer that he had 25 years ago, they would have a good chance of not losing his or her leg, and an extremely great chance of surviving the cancer.

The picture above shows the memorial near Thunder Bay, where he had to stop his cross country trek due to the medical issues caused by his cancer.

25 years ago. I was all of 12 years old. The idea that this young man that lost his leg due to cancer, and eventually lost his life to the same disease, was mostly lost on me at 12.

25 years later I'm basically a little overwhelmed, thinking about him, what he did, what he went through--the pain, the treatments, the operations, the 'living with cancer'--therefore making this little entry dry and stale. It's most difficult to put into words but I'll leave it at--

There is no greater definition of courage and of strength. For a country that doesn't have that many 'larger than life' heros, Canada has the best of them all--Terry Fox.

somthing to calm their nerves...

Whilst sitting at a red light the other day, there was a car to the right of me. We were both behind the cars at the 'lead of the pack' at the lights. I think this guy wanted to turn right at the intersection but the car in front of him was going straight thru, but was obviously not moving ahead 'cause, well, there was this red light and all.

So this 'gentleman' next to me starts laying on his horn and shouting out the window--a few profanities were thrown in there, but the gist of the shouting was 'move ahead so I can turn!'.

Now I've been driving for a few years now and have come to the undeniable conclusion that the red lights that I'm stopped at will eventually turn green. Sometimes it takes a few minutes, to be sure, but in my driving experience, that's the outcome of a red light--it will turn green.

So friends, if you are one of these people that can't stand to sit in your vehicle facing a red light for more than 2 minutes, then you, sir or madam, need to give up your license--you shouldn't be driving! I don't care what your excuse is for being impatient--if you're pregnant and delivering a baby, that's still not an excuse for the excessive honking and shouting and the profanity. The more 'in a hurry' you are, the more likely you will cause an accident, and then your hurriedness is for naught!

Few years back I was walking along the sidewalk. Can't remember where or why, but the point is I was on the sidewalk. Light turns red up ahead at an intersection and vehicles come to a stop. Right beside me a little car hit the bumper of a big ol' pickup truck. The pickup truck's driver, some 40ish, 250 pound gorilla of a man comes flying out of his cab and starts shouting, laying down a series of profanities towards the driver of the little car.

That driver happens to be, at least to me, a woman well into her 60's, and she looked frightened out of her wits by this behemoth bearing down on her, hitting her car with his fists.

I walked over and politely mentioned to the man that the best way to resolve this little altercation wasn't by shouting a large stream of profanities towards 'this nice lady here'.

Then, of course, the profanities come my way, basically boiling down to the idea that I should mind my own efing business. I, again politely, mentioned to the man that with his shouting and carrying on, that basically anyone within a 20 mile radius is now aware that something happened and that we're all involved now. He didn’t' seem to like that and stormed off. By this time the light had turned green and he got back into his pickup and squealed away.

The other driver was trying to catch her breath, but eventually she, too, drove away. Hopefully I saved her some claim of insurance. To me I saw no damage to either vehicle.

Beyond that, the issue is one of, well, not even politeness, but of at least some sort of consideration towards someone else other than yourself. We learned (at least I hope we learned) the concept of sharing in kindergarten--that there is such a thing as 'communal property' and that we need to share that property with each other. The roads, I will remind all of you, are 'communal property' and, as such, need to be shared. Furthermore, specifically pertaining to the roads, there is a little thing called 'The Highway Traffic Act' that basically dictates how these roads are to be legally used. One of the stipulations is that if there's a red light, a vehicle must come to a complete stop. If there's a white line painted across the intersection, vehicles must be behind the white line. So lay on your horn all you want, Mr. Speedy PottyMouth, the car ahead of you wasn't legally allowed to move ahead whilst you were sitting behind him at that light.

Furthermore, Mr. "I Yell at Grandmothers"--you, sir, are a genuine ass. Even if it was her fault for hitting your truck, that didn’t give you the right to act as you did. Civility, please.

Anyway, I could go on about traffic (as I'm wont to do sometimes--don't get me started on on and off ramps being used as passing lanes!) but I think I'll wrap it up by reiterating--

A little civility can, and does, go a long way.

I have wise friends

So I go up and help Sparky (no, the other one) move some gravel and dirt out of his driveway this weekend. During the time it took us to load the two pickups with the gravel, we talked about various things--sometimes it's good to put a physical voice to internal thoughts.

The important thing that we talked about was how lucky the both of us were. I mean, we knew that already, but it was illuminating to actually voice that idea.

The concepts voiced were as follows--

I'm never going to be famous, nor do I particularly want to be.

I'm never going to be rich--I was going to say 'nor do I want to be' but that'd be a little fib--I don't expect to be rich--I'm pretty much content with the finances that come into my life and I (try to ) live within my means.

But this is what I do have--

I have my health, but even if I didn't, I have some things more important than even that--

I have a family that loves me and the best friends I could possibly have.

I hear, almost daily lately, from other people about how bad friends and family can be--drug addiction, abuse, alcoholism, other really severe issues that friends/family can go through.

Compared to that, my family is a Godsend (which is surprising), and the friends I hang around are pretty much the best ones a person could ever have.

I mean we all have our issues, our concerns, our problems, but all of mine combined are so manageable with the life I've been blessed with.

No matter what has happened in my life to date, I honestly consider myself one of the luckiest people on the planet.

Anyway, it's good sometimes to put a voice to the thoughts in one's head.

From the 'Wished I went' Dept.

To introduce this, I bought the West Wing Season 4 on DVD. During that season, there is one specific episode called 'The Long Goodbye', in which Claudia Jean goes back to the town she grew up in to attend her high school reunion and to see her dad.

This reminded me that the Winona High School reunion was last July. I basically gave that the big smoke, which surprised many people--k, few people--for, if you knew me back then, you might have remembered that I had a pretty good time during my high school years.

Well, tangents on tangents--I was pretty much a geek back in high school--hanging out in the computer lab, not good in sports, awkward, etc.--pretty much the quintessential classic geek, which was fine 'cause I managed, as we all did. Actually, as stated earlier, I had a pretty great time in high school, geekiness aside--I was good in machine shop, so I had that going for me.

I also had a long list of really good friends, which made the time inside the hallowed halls of high school pass smoother, and I pretty much appreciated (most of) the teachers.

So I was as shocked as the next guy that I dreaded the thought of attending my reunion.

So I didn't go.

Eh, life is full of little regrets. Saying stupid things to those you love and appreciate, at least for me, lives with you for a long long time--Regrettable, but livable. What get me by on a daily basis is that the good memories, the 'unregrettable' times with friends far outweighs the regrets.

And I think that's why I didn't go to the reunion--I wanted to leave the past regrets and the past 'unregrets' there in the past, where they'll stay, firmly ensconced, unchanging--where the good ones still outweigh the bad ones. My time at Winona High School will never happen again--the memories are beautiful and I didn't want that influenced with the 'reunion'.

So there you are.

Sometime in the future I might write about some interesting stories about my time at WHS, maybe

So I added a Google Advert thingy...

In order to generate a little revenue, hopefully. No biggie either way.

The thing is, "They" specifically stipulate that I'm not allowed to point it out directly, nor entice you, the reading audeince to click on the advert.

(clicking on the advert, btw, has the added bonus of generating revenue that may come my way by way of a cheque)

So I'm not going to point out the Google ad directly! Nope--I'm not going to do it!

Furthermore, snivved right from the Google Adsense site--

"

Site Content

Site may not include:

Excessive profanity

Violence, racial intolerance, or advocate against any individual, group, or organization

Hacking/cracking content

Illicit drugs and drug paraphernalia

Pornography, adult, or mature content

Gambling or casino-related content

Any other content that promotes illegal activity or infringes on the legal rights of others

Excessive advertising

Pop-ups, pop-unders or exit windows that interfere with site navigation, obscure Google ads, change user preferences, or are for downloads. Other types of pop-ups, pop-unders, or exit windows may be allowed, provided that they do not exceed a combined total of 5 per user session

Excessive, repetitive, or irrelevant keywords in the content or code of web pages

Deceptive or manipulative content or construction to improve your site's search engine ranking, e.g., your site's PageRank

Incentives (monetary or point-based) to users to click on links or ads while visiting a site containing Ads

Sales or promotion of certain weapons, such as firearms, ammunition, balisongs, butterfly knives, and brass knuckles

Sales or promotion of beer or hard alcohol

Sales or promotion of tobacco or tobacco-related products

Sales or promotion of prescription drugs

Site must also adhere to Google's WebMaster Guidelines, found at www.google.com/webmasters/guidelines.html or such other URL as Google may provide from time to time.

"

Quite the list!

So no incentives, no sales of weapons (as if I'd do that)... pornography? Well, probably not there, either.

Anyway, I just wanted to inform y'all about this update to my blogs.

It's my own little 'Wild Kingdom' out there

The goldfinches partaking in nyjer seed from the 3 birdfeeders, including usage of the old work sock

A blue jay--unfortunately tis pic was taken whilst the screen door was closed so it isn't that clear

A robin. At least I think it is

Wait! That isn't a bird!! Chippy has arrived!

'Who's interrupting my meal?!?'

Actually, hate is too polite a term.

I don't think that one of the feelings that the human person should be subjected to is terror. In this fashion, I avoid anything like horror movies. As well, I was going to write about this closer to October 31st, but had the inclination to write now (maybe there'll be another blog entry on Hallowe'en, but then again, maybe not)--I dread October 31st each and every year. I just hate being scared. I don't know where that stems from--there were no childhood traumas, no 'scared out of one's mind'--I just dislike being scared.

The thing is, I'm a rational adult (so I like to think) and I know that Jason and Freddy and Chucky are all fake. I've seen the 'behind the scenes' making of these things, and know how things are done in the movie making business. But I still continue to adamantly hate the horror movie genre.

On the flip side, I don't mind movies like 'Aliens'--to me that's not horror. I dunno--like woman, I am a mystery.

I like suspense films, I love mysteries, I really appreciate action flicks, but I don't like the horror.

It's to the point that I don't like the commercials for them, and since we get inundated with the advertisements every single time a horror film is released, you can imagine that I loathe the telly right around now--for we now have the remaking of that "wonderful" classic, 'Amityville Horror'.

Yep, pretty much didn't appreciate the commercials for the first run around of the film, and pretty much hating the commercials now.

But I'm 37 years old--why do these things affect me so? I honestly have no idea. I remember a time way back in high school, when VCR's were 'new technology' and my friend rented 'Nightmare in Elm Street'. We watched it. I knew I shouldn't but I did anyway to be 'one of the guys'. Didn't sleep for about 4 days after that. That'll learn me. Pretty much after that I never caved into 'peer pressure' again and tried to always do what's right for me no matter what anyone else might have thought of me, but that's a story for another time.

Anyway, I don't like to be scared. I think it's a wasteful emotion that, in this day and age, doesn't help--when the world today is short of kindness, compassion and empathy, why are we needlessly wasting our emotions on terror due to something we see on the big screen?

There's a good way of thinking about it--the emotions that are 'self served' or 'ego-centric', and the emotions that 'serve others'--when you feel the emotion of compassion, it's never directed at yourself--it's always directed at someone, or something else other than you--Terror is pretty much self centered.

As well, in a world of school shootings, terrorist attacks, decay of the environment, the age of self absorption, political corruption, etc.--don't you think there's enough in the real world that'll scare you? Do we honestly have to make stuff up and serve it to you on the big screen?

What possible edifying experience do you come away with from watching a horror film? If you're paying 13 bucks to sit thru a slasher flick, what do you come away with when it's all said and done? Even Ben Stiller comedy movies have some redeeming qualities--I know how not to handle my relationship with the significant other . Can't really say that I derive anything from a horror film besides being scared--and that is, in my mind, just a waste of emotions.

And a few other things.

Whilst on a walkabout the other night, enjoying the wonderful spring evening, I took a picture of this sunset across our abode.

Later in the wee hours of the morning, our sleep was rudely interrupted by the local hoolgan--

But the best news of all is that Spring is really here--

The little crocusses, sitting dormant under a brutal blanket of snow, are now the first sign of the warmth ahead. The tulip leaves, as you can see, are also making an appearance.

and I'm hopping on...

So between the Pope's passing and the AdScam publication ban (or lack thereof), is there anything else going on in the world?

For those 'not in the know', there is a 'publication ban' during the AdScam trial--done under the premise that this will allow people to remain impartial.

Well, as most of us know, trying to stop information from getting out into the world is like trying to unring a bell--the second you let it be known that 'people aren't suppose to know that!', there will be people who want to know it. Kinda like the original sin--one thing we weren't allowed to do was eat the apple--wish I was there with a stop watch to see how long it took between God saying, "Do what you want but don't eat from that tree" to Eve eating from that tree--People just seem to want to work around the rules.

Wouldn't see me doing that.

So I frequent a newsgroup for one of my hobbies--www.lugnet.com. In this newsgroup there is a little section for debating anything not related to our chosen hobby. Recently, someone pointed out the supposed fallacy of a 'free country' passing a 'publication ban'.

I, being the 'resident Canadian', had to add my two cents worth. See the thread here--

The True North Strong and... Free?

Now that I've linked that, and that link has a link to the actual blog that's causing a furor, does that make me a 'bad Canadian'? Did I just take a bite outta the apple?

Semantics to some.

My point is, that in the world of today, where information, good or bad, can get around the world in seconds via a plethora of ways--satellite, radio, television, and, the quickest and most far reaching of all, the internet (and the blogs thereof), I think what we should strive to do is not stop the spread of information, but to try to make that information as clear, concise and truthful as possible, therefore, ensuring that 'the people' can make the most informed decisions possible.

If we don't have good information, how can we make good decisions?

I don't care how bad this information may make the government (institutions, people, whatever) look--if the government did something wrong--if there's a scandal--don't you think the people have a right to know?

I think so.

So I'm told...

Let's see--the definition of Narcissistic (right from www.dictionary.com--

nar·cis·sism ( P ) Pronunciation Key (närs-szm) also nar·cism (-szm)n.

Excessive love or admiration of oneself. See Synonyms at conceit.

A psychological condition characterized by self-preoccupation, lack of empathy, and unconscious deficits in self-esteem.

Erotic pleasure derived from contemplation or admiration of one's own body or self, especially as a fixation on or a regression to an infantile stage of development.

The attribute of the human psyche charactized by admiration of oneself but within normal limits.

Here's the thing--blogs, by their very nature, are about things that the person writingthem find interesting. Blogs derive from on-line journals, which, bottom line, are akin to 'Dear Diary' entries.

Some people write about really personal things on their blogs, as they would in a diary. Others write about various interests or hobbies. I happen to fall into the latter category--I write about what I find interesting.

When I was editor of my own paper, as well as editor of The Crown newspaper at Redeemer College University, there was a column, an editorial if you will, and I, as editor, had to fill this column space with, well, something. At Redeemer, most of the editorials related to Redeemer in some way, but always from my perspective.

Continuing with this idea, this blog--my blog, if you will--has been, and will continue to be, about things I find interesting and things that I want to write about. E-mailing me and saying that my blog is drivel or waste of bandwidth is, in my opinion, sheer lunacy.

The best part about the internet is the complete 'libertarian' approach--you don't have to view anything you don't want to see, you don't have to read anything you don't want to read, and you definitely don't have to surf to Sparky's Space if you don't want to. It's completely up to you.

If you so choose to come to my little corner of the information highway, however, you will see thousands of pictures taken with one Kodak DC120 Digital Science Camera--pictures taken of, again, the many varied interests of, well, me.

As well, I recently implemented a blog feature (this thing right here) so I can start writing about the varied interests of, well, me.

Therefore, by definition, this may be narcissistic--making this entire website 'All About Me', but, again, this website is called 'Sparky's Space', not 'Some-Other-Guy's Space'.

I do try to take pictures of and post blog entries about things that the general population may find interesting--I'm don't try to be completely egocentric on my website, and, so I'm told, I do a pretty good job at it--500+ visitors a day wouldn't be surfing here if this was just about me.

If there is criticism, and I'm sure there is regarding this little website, then I'm all for taking that criticism and improving my site--there is no growth or inspiration in being stagnant. That said, there's a little thing called 'constructive criticism', and going on a tirade about how narcissistic this site is isn't that.

Which brings up the flip side about the internet--it may 'level the play field' around the world--anyone can access anything--but it also emboldens people to spew forth their personal opinion as to what's good or not onto others. Not that I need sycophants, either.

I'll stick to keeping my opinion right here on my pages--that way, if you don't like what I have to say, then don't come here. If you want your opinion known to the world, start your own blog--there's plenty of free blog hosting sites, like BlogSpot.

All that said, if you feel like calling me names and trashing the website, I'll still be here, reading your e-mails and blog entries--at least you're one step above the spam I constantly have to filter through.

As well, I'm always in the mood for constructive criticism.

(apologies to W. O. Mitchell)

Our place, covered in snow

In the best 'day-after-April-Fools' prank ever, it snowed on April 2nd. Actually, it was a wee bit of a blizzard! An interesting way to start the weekend, to be sure.

As mentioned in the previous blog, we went to The Maryhill Inn in Maryhill, Ontario. One might think that we would have cancelled, what, with the weather being what it was and all, but the two intrepid travellers went anyways.

The Maryhill Inn, Maryhill, Ontario

The hosts of the Maryhill Inn, Jack and Anita Vossepoel, were most gracious with their hospitality, answering all our questions. Moreover, they know all the attactions in the area, from Guelph over to the tri-cities, Stratford, and into St. Jacobs.

We took the Cottage Room, being more my style--nothing too fancy, but very 'gezellig-hied' (cozy).

Cottage Room

(Yep! That's a claw bathtub right there in the room, and it really works! I've been told that it's very comfortable to have a bath in)

Seeing as how we were pretty tuckered out from hanging out in St. Jacobs for the day, we decided to stay in Maryhill for the evening. Right across the street from the inn is a very family friendly pub. We went for dinner around 8 p.m. and the place was starting to fill up with people from the area--everyone seemed to know each other. And then a live band came on--that was a little unexpected.

Southbound

Southbound, the live band, played everything from Willie Nelson to Alan Jackson, and did a remarkably great job--my foot was tapping to the beat of the music, and the lead singer was pretty good with the 'chatting' between sets.

After all that, we went back to our room, had a wonderful snuggle by the electric 'wood stove', turned in and didn't get up until the next morning when we went down for breakfast.

Breakfast. Wow!

Mixed fruit to start, then Belgian waffles (really huge ones that filled you up), all served--this was no small 'continental brekky'--this was Breakfast Extra-ordinaire!

I didn't take any pictures of the dining hall, but it was beautifully decorated. Everything we saw of the Maryhill Inn showed a sense of style and purpose, and all of it was tastefully done--and none of it, in my opinion, was too 'kitchy' (I'm not into lots of 'kitch').

Since she paid for the weekend, I'll not delve into the financial outlay, but it was very reasonable--again, in my opinion.

Anyway, it was a wonderful weekend, spent with an absolutely wonderful woman, and that's about all you really need, isn't it?

is the place to be

Keeping it brief, but the Missus and I took a little jaunt to Maryhill (east of St. Jacobs, west of Guelph, near Kitchener/Waterloo) and are now staying at the Maryhill Inn--a little B&B in the downtown area.

I'm connecting at a whopping 16.5 kbps from the room, but that's alright--I should be paying more attention to her instead of this blog anyway.

Right now she's luxuriating in the warmth of a bath in a claw bathtub, with so much bubble bath, I can't even see her.

The electric 'wood stove' is going, basking the room in a warm glow, and I'm sitting in a padded wicker chair, just enjoying the ambience.

If you have the means, I seriously recommend escaping to a little B&B away from the big city's hustle and bustle.

(We also bought LEGO sets today at the outlet mall in St. Jacobs, but that had nothign to do with my happiness of the day )

More when I come home...

Life happens at the train station.

Once, long long ago, I had to take the train.

Dad drove me from Winona to where he worked--Procter & Gamble, down there on Ottawa and Burlington Street. He was the Building Maintenance Supervisor before he retired. They tore down the plant after he retired and right now it's a gravel lot and Dofasco (or Stelco, dunno which) is using that block for storing their steel rolls. But at one time there was this very large processing plant at the corner of Ottawa and Burlington and Papa was responsible for the entire building--making sure everything was working and looking as it should.

Anyway, dad takes me to where he worked so I could catch the city bus, which is what I did (the good ol' Hamilton Street Railway, which really doesn't run on rails, but that's neither here nor there) So I caught an HSR bus up Ottawa, transferred at King Street, and took the Bee Line right to downtown, for that's where one would find the train station. For those of you who are not from around Hamilton, right there on John Street is the old train station. It's a wonderful building built probably before the last century was a few decades old.

I get there, purchase my ticket, and, since I got up considerably early to get the ride in with my dad, I had plenty of time before the train arrived. Also, since, as I mentioned, I did get up considerably early, I was quite hungry there at the train station. I went over to the counter and purchased a cuppa tea, a package of cookies, and the Toronto Sun newspaper (the Toronto Sun, for those others of you who are not 'in the know', is the 'b