Great Big Sea - Something Beautiful
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?
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
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
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
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
Duck!
Shock and Awe
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
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
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!
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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!
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?
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.
About Me
My name's Kevin.
I live in Canada.
I have many interests, most of them deal with history and wildlife. I love to photograph nature and I love to collect historical items. You will find most of my everyday posting here (dealing with Canada, nature, photography, history, etc., along with the everyday goings on in my life.)
Feel free to leave a comment (there is a link for them after each posting). I also have a few other sites which you can find below on this menu.
Going Crazy.... (Wendy)
The Eyeranian
