My first award, I'd like to thank...

An award for me??? *BLUSH*, stammer, (insert tears here) really you shouldn't have... gimme that thing. I'd like to thank Ian for thinking of me, my parents for making me who I am, my family for believing in me and my dream, the blog sphere, the world, the ahhhhhhh. (Lapses into stammering gibberish and tears)
Ok back to to reality, Ian is a great blog writer (a great writer period) and to have him choose me with praise, well it's a great honour and made my day. Not that we write our blogs for praise or awards, we mostly write because it's a way of throwing our message in a bottle into the wide sea of the internet. By the way Ian here's a little piece of linguistic trivia for you, the word schmooze comes from the late 19th century Yiddish word shmuesn which means to converse or chat.
Am I a schmoozer? Yes sir, give a me table, preferably on a terrace, some good strong coffee (or a Guinness), and some friends and we'll re-wire the world in no time. Blogs are just another way to schmooze, except we are a little farther apart. We put out our ideas and comment on the ideas of others...we schmooze.
Now for my choices to get the schmoozer award.
Choochoo is funny, with an off the wall sense of humour, and lives in a pretty weird town. (I thought she lived in the USA, but I heard through the branches that it is in Norway. I didn't think Norway could be so strange.). I always love reading her latest adventures. So Choochoo gets one. Then I'll nominate Evil Spock because I'd like to sit down with him and plan his race to world domination. (Can't be worse than Bushie and he's a lot more intelligent and funny.) Dr. Deb is my favourite shrink in the blog sphere and I would love to sit down and schmooze with her about the human condition. Her posts are always interesting and thought provoking. There are many others that I'd give the prize to, such as Jazz (my lil sister, she's funny and irreverent and I made her what she is today...LOL), Ian who nominated me, Voyager with her backyard chaos, Tai with her superb photos and L.B.D. ;o), cs a blogger I've just started following who has a definite knack with a camera and tells it as it is and Em a dad like me but woe is me, they have already been awarded the prize by others. ;o(

Good vibrations et al.

meme |mēm| noun Biology an element of a culture or system of behaviour that may be considered to be passed from one individual to another by non genetic means, esp. imitation.



I've been tagged by my lil'sister Jazz as to the five things that give me good vibrations. My darling sister is always thinking up ways of complicating my nice smooth life. After much thought, head scratching and cognition, I have come up with the following five things.

The first and second are no brainers. The first is of course Mrs. BB who has put up with me lo these 31 years and believe me I am not always easy to put up with. After 31 years it is no longer a great emotional passionate affair, but has morphed into a lasting, comfortable, love. It is like the difference between a new snazzy pair of shoes and a well worn pair of slippers. Which is more comfortable? My wife completes me in a way that is hard to describe. When she is absent, there is a part of me that is missing, a malaise, something that is not right. When she is there, even if we are both doing our different things, I can feel her presence and that is an eminently comforting and wonderful feeling. So yes she is a big part of my good vibrations.

The second thing that is a part of my good vibrations are my two children, BB's daughter and BB's son. They are now adults and are flying by themselves, but when I look at them my heart swells with pride because they have become adults to be proud of. It's funny because when I give them a hug, I do not just see the adult they are, but the baby smiling at me, the small child showing me the carrot from the garden, tears because of scraped knees, the children doing their homework, the ados going to their first dance, their prom night, his face lighting up as we discuss programming and OS systems, university graduation (my daughter winning the two prizes for micro-biology). I see their whole lives go by and that definitely gives me good vibrations.

The third is trekking in the mountains. I love trekking because of the sense of solitude. Making it to the top of a mountain with nobody around gives one a feeling of peace that is hard to describe. The wind whistling across the rock and remnants of winter snow, the austere beauty of the surrounding landscapes, the solitude, the stark white of a cloud against the deep blue of the sky, the chill of the air at altitude. It all makes me think of a line from the poem "High Flight" by Pilot Officer Gillespie McGee; "Put out my hand and touched the face of God." This line of poetry pretty much says it all.

Here is my fourth, books. I love to read and I probably have more books at home that many bookstores. I love to read and regularly have to bring boxes of books to my local library since they have taken over every possible nook and cranny in the house. Thank goodness that Mrs. BB also loves to read because this could have been a definite problem. I can read for hours at a time and get through a 300 page book in less than a couple of days. Love of reading and books is one of the greatest gifts my parents gave me. When I was young they would always find some money to buy a Scholastic book at school. Books are a great invention, hours of pleasure, easy to carry and use, never need batteries. They can be taken anywhere and when trekking in a lost land can be used as fire starter and toilet paper in an emergency. LOL ;o)

My fifth is travelling. We love to travel, not go south to a Club Med, but really travel and get to know the people and culture of the country we are visiting. Since we usually stay for quite a few weeks and we are not rich, we usually end up camping most of the time. In England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland, they have a well organized system of camp grounds. Staying at a camp gound permits us to meet the people of the place, talk with them and learn how they live. If you want to know how people live, go grocery shopping at their local Tesco or Morrison's. Travelling like this has permitted us to meet so many fantastic, helpful people and see things that ordinary tourists just never see. The local people are always willing to tell you about this great place that you must visit. Travelling opens our horizons and makes one realize that under the skin we are all the same, all having the same hopes, loves and fears no matter where they are.

Now to whom should I pass it on?
First of all to Em, who as a dad often makes me laugh and think.
Second to Evil Spock, just to give him an opportunity to do some PR for his run to POTUS.
And last but not least Tai, cuz she doesn't have enough to do with moving into a nice new house.

My new gadget

As everyone knows, we guys just love the latest gadgets. Yesterday I decided to buy myself a new SLR digital camera. I had been wanting one for a long time and when I stopped off at our neighbourhood Dumoulin store I checked their camera section and lo and behold they had an Olympus Evolt E-500 camera with two lenses for only $580. Now this is a REALLY LOW price. At Costco they had the Canon Rebel xt with 2 lenses for $980 (The two cameras are equivalent in features etc) So after having thought about it and talked to my better half (Mrs. BB) I bought the camera. Turns out that they had got the price wrong but their loss was my gain. ;o)
I can now hear my little sister Jazz saying to herself..."What the hell does he need camera for?" Well I've always loved taking photos, I started off with an Olympus Trip 35 then graduated to a Minolta SRT 201 35 mm camera way back when. (Both cameras still work after 30 years now that's quality.) The Minolta was completely mechanical and almost indestructable but it's heavy and bulky and 35 mm film is getting harder to find and costly to process. So I when I calculated what it cost to get pictures developed versus buying a new camera I decided to buy digital since just the cost of the film and developing paid for the camera. I bought an Olympus Camedia 575 zoom (my son is using it now) and last Christmas I got an Olympus FE-180 (it's small enough to fit in my pocket). These point and shoot cameras take good photos but aren't very flexible, so yesterday I got the Olympus E-550 which gives me much more flexibility than the others.
Taking photos is about as close as I get to being artistic, since I'm pretty much the un-artistic one in my family. I can neither draw or paint like my wife or my sister, nor can I play a musical instrument like my daughter's violin or my wife's classical guitar. Even Jazz used to play the tenor recorder. Hell, I can't even carry a tune in a bucket. So that being said, taking pictures is my way of expressing the artistic yearnings of my soul. (Boy that sure was a load of crap, I just like taking pictures.) So here are a couple of my better ones, enjoy. (The first two were taken with a 35mm film camera and digitalized)

Amadablam with Lhotse in background, Nepal

Gargoyle, Notre Dame de Paris

Beaumaris Castle, Wales

Twighlight on the beach, Achille Island, Ireland

Mountain top, Achille Island, Ireland

Sunset, Tewksbury Abbey, England

York Minster, York, England

PS: If you want to see our other pictures go to our picture site.

Sillines, just plain silliness

It always strikes me as strange how a nation of stiff upper lips like the English can produce such off the wall humour. They bring silliness to a high art form. Of course by now you have probably figured out that I've been watching Monty Python. Though it was made in the 60's it never fails to make me laugh. I've always wondered what it says about my character, after all British humour, from what I can gather by talking to my friends, is either a love it or hate it proposition. It seems to leave nobody indifferent. I admit freely that I find British humour irresistibly funny,
Now for your viewing pleasure, are two of my all time favourite sketches. One of them even has a Canadian connection. ;o) I love the Dead Parrot sketch because of the myriad ways John Cleese finds to tell the clerk that his parrot is demised, deceased, passed on, no more, expired, gone to meet his maker.

The other sketch with the Canadian connection (BC to be exact) is of course the Lumberjack song...the incongruity of a big rugged lumberjack in drag paints a picture that is hard to resist. So here it is, enjoy ;o)
PS: It's a sing along version so go right ahead...

Weird Canada

Since summer vacation is here and is conducive to levity, here is a collection of weird and wonderful little stories from our great country Canada.

WHO WOULD HAVE SUSPECTED?

In April 2001, police in Vancouver, British Columbia, ended a three-year crime spree when they arrested 64 year old Eugene Mah and his 32-year-old son, Avery. The Mahs had been stealing assorted lawn and garden items from homes in their neighborhood, including garbage cans, lawn decorations, recycling boxes, and realty signs. Why did they steal them? Nobody knows. Eugene Mah is a real estate tycoon worth a reported $13 million. One local psychiatrist said the thefts may be due to an obsessive compulsive hoarding disorder. They reportedly stole a neighbor's doormat ... and each of the 14 other doormats the neighbor bought as replacements.

BEAVER FEVER

In June 2003, two disc jockeys in Toronto caused a SARS panic in the Dominican Republic. Z103.5 Morning Show hosts Scott Fox and Dave Blezard thought it would be funny to call the resort where their co-worker, Melanie Martin, was vacationing. They told the desk clerk that Martin had smuggled a "rare Canadian beaver" into their country. But the desk clerk, who didn't speak much English, thought he'd heard the word "fever." With SARS (Severe
Acute Respiratory Syndrome) being big news at the time and Toronto being one of the cities where the disease had spread, the clerk panicked-and locked the woman in her room. The entire hotel wasn't quarantined, according to the station's news manager,' but staff were at the point of contacting medical authorities when the disc jockeys finally convinced them that it was all a misunderstanding. Martin was released from her room that afternoon.

COMING IN FOR A LANDING
Lucette St. Louis, a 66-year-old woman from Corbeil, Ontario, was rounding up three runaway pigs owned by her son, Marc, when she became the victim of a bizarre accident. One of the 180-pound pigs had wandered into the road and a passing car hit it. The impact sent the pig airborne, landing on top of Mrs. St. Louis and breaking her leg in two places. "Well, at least," she said, "I can tell my grandchildren that pigs really do fly."

DEATH MERCHANT

Roman Panchyshyn, a 47-year-old Winnipeg retailer, upset some of his fellow residents when he started selling $65 sweatshirts that read "Winnipeg, Murder Capital of Canada Escape The Fear" in his store. The shirts showed the city skyline dripping in blood. "We spend hundreds of thousands of dollars yearly to promote Winnipeg to the world," complained City Councillor Harry Lazarenko, "and I don't want this to give us a black eye." So he contacted the premier to see if Panchyshyn could be stopped. He couldn't-the shirts are accurate. Winnipeg has the highest murder rate in Canada. Said the unapologetic Panchyshyn, "The truth hurts."

WEIRD CANADIAN RECORDS

• On August 30, 1995, Sean Shannon of Canada recited Hamlet's "To be or not to be" soliloquy in 23.8 seconds an average of 655 words a minute.
• On August 17, 1991, 512 dancers of the Royal Scottish Dance Society (Toronto branch) set the record for the largest genuine Scottish country dance (a reel).
• In 1988 Palm Dairies of Edmonton created the world's largest ice cream sundae 24,900 kg. (54,895 lbs.).
• In 1993 the Kitchener Waterloo Hospital Auxiliary filled a bowl with 2,390 kg (5,269 lbs.) of strawberries.
• Four hundred mothers in Vancouver broke the record for mass breast feeding in 2002.
• In Feb. 2000, 1,588 couples at the Sarnia Sports Centre broke the record for most kissing in one place at one time.
• Dave Pearson holds the record for clearing all 15 balls from a standard pool table in 26.5 seconds at Pepper's Bar in Windsor, Ontario, in 1997.
• In 1998 1,000 University of Guelph students formed the longest human conveyor belt, laying down in a row and rolling a surfboard over their bodies. In 1999 they set the record for simultaneous soap -bubble blowing.

Stories taken from the Bathroom Reader collection, a hilarious collection of strange facts and trivia. For lovers of trivia and weird miscellaneous information, it's a great read.

School's Out!

Here I sit in front of my computer on the first day of summer vacation. School is finally out, all exams corrected, all marks dumped into the system and all students passing. My job is done. Being a teacher is not always an easy way to make a living. (Yeah I know we have summer vacation off) My students today live in a much more complex world than when I was a kid. The pressures they endure are sometimes mind boggling, broken families, peer pressures, an over organized lifestyle, parental pressure, and all the advertising materialism. I'm sometimes surprised that more of them don't burn out. As teachers, we often have to be more of a counsellor, an attentive listener than a simple dispenser of knowledge. We have to be able to get to the bottom of things, get help for those who need it and discipline those who won't listen or follow the rules. We also have to deal with uncooperative parents (in the minority thank god) who protect and sanction their child's misbehavior. (In French we call them "les enfants roi" or royal children) We also organize trips, activities, committees, clubs and many other things, often on our own time. We often have to do this with less and less resources and despite interference from bureaucrats and paper pushers who are completely disconnected from the educational world.
So why do I keep doing this after 3o years? Well as Ian's blog said, “Be ashamed to die until you have won some victory for humanity.” Horace Mann.
I guess teaching is my small victory for humanity, a way of maybe making the world a teeny bit better, of maybe helping a student become what he or she wants to be in an ever more complex world.
Last week out first cohort, had their graduation ceremony. They were the first and I remember them as being little munchkins with school bags bigger than they were. Now they are handsome and beautiful men and women, off to college and the rest of their lives. In their hugs, tears and thanks lies my motivation for the job that I do. They are our small victory for mankind.

What you see isn't what you get.

I came across this site on illusions while browsing. It gives interesting explanations about the different types of illusions and why our minds/eyes see what they do. Have fun.

My Siblings

This week both my sisters, Artsis and Jazz celebrate their birthdays. (The month of October seems to have been a busy one for my parents) For those of you who don't like mushiness, please go away cuz I'm going to sing the praises of my two little sisters.
I have been extremely lucky to have the family that I do. Our parents were caring and loving people who did all they could to see their children become successful adults. Our home life was harmonious and we always knew that our parents were there for us. Both of my sisters married men that I not only approve of, but that I also call friend. I often hear people going on about family squabbles between members of their family, and I count myself lucky to be in a family where that has never happened. My sisters and their husbands are our best friends as well as being our family and it is always fun to be together.
So let's start with my Artsis, she is two years younger than me and when we were kids we fought like cats and dogs. Having completely different characters did nothing for the peace of our relationship or for the patience of our parents. It took me until adulthood to really appreciate her intelligence, charm and iron will. Of the three of us, I think she is the one who most resembles our mother. Soft spoken, always polite and caring, she none the less has a will of iron. She has the knack of making people see her point of view without rubbing the person's nose in it. (She must have had a lot of practice with me when we were young.) She gets things done without fanfare and hoopla, but she always gets them done. She is an exceptional artist and we are the proud owners of a collection of many of her paintings and I hope to collect a quite a few more. (see her latest paintings)
My little sister Jazz has always been the bohemian of the family. She is younger than me by seven years, so she kind of became a mascot. I must admit, being a guy and seven years older than her, I wasn't always the nicest person, but in my defense, teenaged guys rarely are. After all I had to toughen her up didn't I? I obviously did a good job because she really turned out to be a beautiful, funny, articulate woman, with a wicked sense of humour. She knows exactly what she wants and she is, as we say in French, "bien dans sa peau." My wonderful daughter greatly resembles her and I'm glad that is so, because she can't go far wrong in being like her aunt.
So here's to you, my siblings, may the coming year grant you whatever your heart desires and may all your hopes and aspirations become reality. :o)

Big Brother Revealed

This weekend was the family celebration of my darling mom's 80th birthday. The whole family trooped over to my artistsister's place in Québec and had a great old time. It's not everyday that one's mom gets to be 80, and yes, she's still going strong as feisty as ever, all five feet of her. ;o)
During the party my lil' sister Jazz begged me on bent knees to take our picture together, so being the generous Big Brother that I am, I got out my trusty digital camera and took a picture of us. (It is totally true that despite the fact that she is a modern woman, Jazz is still living in the first half of the 20th century. I'm surprised that she has electricity at her place.) So if you have been intrigued by what we might possibly look like, go to Jazz's blog and there we are. (I would have published it myself, but she absolutely wanted to be the one to reveal our anonymous selves, and being a good Big Brother I let her have the honours.)

Ah Paris

Not Paris the city, but Paris the rich whinny blond brat. American justice just is not what it used to be. Paris Hilton, who was supposed to serve 23 days in prison for having ignored a judge's ruling about her driving her vehicle, was released yesterday. (She was banned from driving because of her DUI, but decided to drive anyhow since obviously that shouldn't apply to her.) Last weekend she reported to the slammer only to be released yesterday morning for medical reasons (she probably had a hissy fit and went all hysterical). The poor child will be confined to her million dollar mansion for 40 days instead, unless she does like the last time. She is quoted to have said, hours after leaving jail, "I have learned a great deal from this ordeal and hope that others have learned from my mistakes." What ordeal? Has she ever learned anything from her mistakes? This girl seems seriously disconnected from reality as we know it. Is it the peroxide?
Anyhow it now seems that the L.A. City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo has demanded a hearing before Judge Michael Sauer. They want to know why the Sheriff's Department permitted Paris to be released from jail when the judge had ordered her to serve her entire sentence. Maybe the poor little rich girl will have to finally serve her sentence. Hopefully justice will prevail, and she'll go back to the slammer with an additional time for contempt.
As for the icing on the cake, it seems that she might be paid 1 million $ for the story of her "ordeal"* and another million for her interview.
Is it me or is there something strange out there. Sometimes I wonder if we already are in... (insert music here)... Twilight Zone and we just don't know it.

*Beware, heavy sarcasm here!

*** LATE BREAKING NEWS... Judge Sauer has put her back in prison, so she can finish off her sentence. I'm amazed, I really am and I tip my hat to the judge who had the guts to finally stop her charade and make her do the time. My faith in the American justice system has gone up a notch. When she left the courtroom she was crying and yelled "It's not right." She then called for her mommy. My heart bleeds...it really does. hehehe.

It was all a hoax but be a donor anyhow.

Jazz has let me know that the infamous reality show "Big Donor" was a hoax. Certainly it was in very bad taste, but in a strange perverted way they did draw attention to the fact that donors are in short supply. As strange as it may seem, people are still hesitant at giving up the parts that they no longer need. Hey, when your dead, you're dead and you no longer need kidneys, eyes, heart, lungs, liver and anything else that may be useful.
I have had my little signed card in my wallet for years saying that they can take anything they want from my dead carcass if it can help someone. It's not as if I was going to miss it. I've also told my family that that is what I want. (Mind you being dead doesn't really give me much of a say and since I don't believe in an afterlife it's rather hard to come back and haunt them.)
So people if you haven't yet done it, sign a donor consent card (in Québec there is a sticker to sign and stick on the back of your medicare card) and tell your family that you wish to help someone after you're gone.
Here are some sites for different parts of Canada.
British Columbia,
Government of Canada site (contains the telephone numbers to become a donor for each province)

New Reality Game Show.

There is a new reality game show in the Netherlands called "Big Donor Show," where a 37 year old woman dying of an inoperable brain tumour, will donate her kidneys to one of the contestants. Like all reality shows the audience may vote for their preference via SMS text messaging at a cost of $1.35. The producers of the show are the same gang who produced that utterly insignificantly boring show, "Big Brother" (There is no association between my humble self and that sleazy show, I've got much more class. Can there be anything more boring than watching a bunch of ill bred yahoos picking their noses and talking about their insipid lives using an impoverished vocabulary mainly consisting of four letter words starting with "f" and ending in "k" )
I don't know about you but TV has really hit a new low, what's next, a reality show where contestants vie to see who will pull the plug for a patient on life support so they can get their heart? I think that I'll just go get myself a good book, cuz if that's where TV is going I'll be watching even less of it than I do now.

Here is the full news story

MySpace Outage Leaves Millions Friendless

Came across this little article in "The Onion" it's hilarious, but it's probably not too far off the mark even if it's satire.

MySpace Outage Leaves Millions Friendless

Star Wars Redux

On a happier note here are some sites that you might be interested in reading. They are all on the BBC web site. Enjoy! :o)

1. The Star Wars saga at a glance
2. C-3PO's golden moment of fame
3. Taking a walk on the Dark Side
4. Star Wars' R2-D2 to collect post
5. Star Wars stamps unveiled in US

Budget time

Our minority Liberal government has brought down their first budget and they've drawn their line in the sand. The biggest sticking point with the other parties is the income tax reductions of 950 million dollars, 700 million of which comes from the federal government to fix the fiscal imbalance. Don't get me wrong, I don't like paying taxes anymore than the next man, but it seems a tad illogical to go crying to Ottawa that there is a fiscal imbalance, that the provinces need more money for programs and health care and then turn around and give the money out as a tax break. I may be cynical, (which I am, as Jazz can attest) but it seems that they are:

1. provoking the other parties to vote against the bill so the onus of another election will be theirs.
2. painting the other parties as the ones who are taking money from the tax payers.
   
3. buying off the tax payers with their own money.

So it is very possible that we will be off to another election this summer... just what we all needed. Idiots!

** UPDATE: Both opposition parties have said that they'll vote against the budget, so our friend Charest has a choice, change the budget (humiliating to say the least) or go for the election... rumours have it that it'll be July 9th... what a waste of time and money.

Star Wars 30 years after.

On May 25th, we'll all have to get out our Wookie suits to celebrate. It has been 30 years since the launch of Star Wars. I remember when it came out, we were stunned by the special effects and the drama. Let's face it the story is a common fairy tale; princess needs saving, farm boy gets the message and decides to save her. He meets up with some acolytes and meets his mentor who trains his powers so he can slay the evil... in this case a death star. On the way he meets his arch nemesis whom he defeats (but he'll be back) and finally saves the princess. Pretty corny huh? Yeah but it worked, boy did it work. Maybe because as a story it is the perfect archetype of the legend genre. St. George and the dragon, the quest for the Holy Grail, Beowolf and all the others.
So in keeping with the theme, here is some trivia about this icon of the 20th Century.

1. The Millennium Falcon's design was modeled after a hamburger with an olive next to it.
2. Director George Lucas originally had a contract with Fox for $150,000 for writing and directing Star Wars. But he cannily insisted on total control and 40% of merchandising - something the studio agreed to because they had no idea of what a phenomenon Star Wars would become.
3. George Lucas wanted to do a Flash Gordon remake, but couldn't obtain the movie rights and developed Star Wars in its stead - hence the opening title sequence. Following the success of Star Wars, the owners of Flash Gordon decided to make a movie after all. Released in 1980, the same year as The Empire Strikes Back, it flopped.
4. Luke Skywalker's name was originally going to be Dirk Starkiller.
5. The Wookiee Chewbacca was inspired by George Lucas' beloved dog Indiana - an Alaskan malamute.
6. Peter Mayhew, who played Chewbacca, worked as a hospital orderly in London before being cast as the Wookiee. He was said to have got into character by copying the mannerisms of animals he visited at the zoo.
7. The name of the planet Tatooine came from the town of Tataouine in Tunisia where the movie was filmed. (True I've been to Tunisia and there is a town called Tataouin)
8. On the first day of filming in the deserts of Tunisia, the country experienced its first major rainstorm in 50 years and a rest day had to be called.
9. C3PO was named after a post office which is located at reference C3 on a map of Lucas' hometown. R2-D2 is an abbreviation of 'Reel Two, Dialog Two'.
10. Anthony Daniels as C-3PO and Kenny Baker, who played R2-D2, are the only actors credited with being in all six Star Wars films.
11. The droids R2-D2 and C-3PO are said to be based on the 1958 Akira Kourosawa film Kakushi toride no san akunin (The Hidden Fortress). Other characters in Star Wars were also drawn from the film including Han Solo and Ben Kenobi.
12. Anthony Daniels was injured during his first outing as C-3PO when a leg piece fell off his gold-coloured costume and shattered - stabbing him in the foot.
13. The reason why C-3P0 lets R2-D2 go in front of him as they enter the Skywalker's residence right after being purchased from the Jawas, is because the set guy operating R2-D2 by radio control kept on hitting C-3P0 from behind and pushing him down the stairs, so in the final shot, C-3P0 suddenly steps to the side, waves R2-D2 past, and the shot cuts out right before R2-D2 goes flying down the stairs.
14. George Lucas based the character of Han Solo on his friend Francis Ford Coppola.
15. Harrison Ford wasn't an original candidate to play Han Solo. He was originally brought in simply to feed lines to the other auditioners. After watching Ford, George Lucas realized he was the perfect Han.
16. In the bar on Tattooine (where Luke and Obi-Wan meet Han Solo), you see lots of aliens at the bar. Look carefully in the background of these shots, and you'll see a NASA astronaut in full space walk gear (helmet etc) walking across the back of the shot, complete with American flag on his arm. It's quite obvious once you know where to look.
17. Luke's line "I can't see a thing in this helmet" was not scripted. Mark Hamill said this to Harrison Ford when he thought the cameras had stopped rolling. But, the filmmakers decided to leave the line in.
18. David Prowse, the 6ft 7ins actor who plays Darth Vader, had problems filming lightsaber scenes as he kept breaking the poles that were used as stand-ins for the weapons. In the sequels, fight co-ordinator Bob Anderson stepped into the costume to film the lightsaber scenes.
19. In the Death Star scenes (yes, all of them), whenever the Imperials walk, you can hear their footsteps. But when Tarkin walks, you can't hear him. This is because Peter Cushing (Tarkin) found his Imperial boots so uncomfortable, he didn't wear them. He wore carpet slippers, so you can't hear him.
20. The US Post Office has disguised some of it's mail boxes as R2D2 in homage of the 30th anniversary of Star Wars. In fact we saw one in Georgetown near the market when we were visiting Washington with the students. There won't be any in Washington itself, because since 9/11 there are no longer any mail boxes there. (Or because George is on the dark side ;o) )
    

* thanks to the BBC and Movie Mistakes for the trivia

The Great Shredded Wheat Mystery Solved.

Been away with the my students to Washington last week. Long days, short nights, not 20 years old anymore, kind of says it all. The students had fun and I think they learned something, they'd never seen Washington. That's what is important, me, well let's say I've been there 6 times. It's getting kind of old. We'll have to find a new city next year.
As for the Shredded Wheat Mystery, I think I've solved the riddle. The stores and the company were getting rid of the last of the old packaging. You know the squat square box where the wheat paddies lay flat, three by three. Now the wheat paddies are still three by three but piled edgewise so the box looks more like a conventional cereal box. I guess it takes up less room, or something. Still think that they should have kept the old model box, it made them stand out from the crowd.

Old Box










New Box

The Great Shredded Wheat Mystery

As strange as it may seem, I happen to like Shredded Wheat. I've been eating the little straw cakes since I was a kid. I learned to like them at the annual summer scout camp. At breakfast we had the choice between Shredded Wheat and porridge. Now you must understand that this is not ordinary porridge, this porridge was scout camp porridge. I think they never quite emptied the huge pot they made it in, they just kept adding to it, day after day. They may not even have emptied it at the end of camp, just put on a cover and kept it as a starter for next year's camp. It had the consistency and colour of a fine Portland cement. It could have been used to build the Montreal Olympic Stadium (might have made it more solid). Since we had swimming just after breakfast (must go swimming when the water is at its coldest, builds character don't you know) filling your belly with something that had the specific gravity of concrete was just plain suicide, not to mention the fact that it tasted like... well like scout camp porridge. So I chose the lesser of the two evils and ate the little straw cakes for breakfast, got used to them and even got to like them.
There is a whole ritual around eating them. First of all you need a wide bowl that will comfortably hold two little straw cakes side by side. (At a certain moment Nabisco even sold square melmac bowls to hold your straw cakes in comfort.) Next you put them in the bowl, flat side down. (Yes there is a flatter side and if you put the rounder side down they'll wobble) Then you pour the milk over them making sure you thoroughly soak them, softens the straw a bit. Then finally pour the sugar on top. Never put the sugar before the milk since the milk will just wash the sugar off. Now quickly eat them, do not wait, soggy straw cakes are not a pretty sight.
Now here is the mystery. How many people can there be that love Shredded Wheat? I am asking this question because the last few times I went to the grocery store, the Shredded Wheat had disappeared. Their price was there, their space was there, but no Shredded Wheat. Of well, I said to myself, I'll just go to the grocery across the street. None there either. The next day I stopped at the last grocery store and once again gone... AND THIS IS NOT THE FIRST TIME THIS HAPPENS. Do the baby boomers need so much fiber that they are cleaning out the shelves? Have the younger generation taken to smoking them in the hopes of a hallucinative breakfast? What is going on?

Let's celebrate...its Book Day

Today April 23rd is the 12th International Book Day. Let's celebrate. It seems that everything has it's day now, but at least this one is worth while. Did you ever stop to consider the lowly book? In today's high tech world it seems a trifle dowdy, low tech, old fashioned. Yet look again people, for a more perfect invention does not exist (or if it does I won't go into it here). The lowly book gives hours of pleasure where the only energy required is that used to turn the pages. The special effects are only constrained by your imagination or lack there of. (When I was in my late teens I read "The Exocist" in a marathon reading session that lasted until 4 am, talk about spooky. When I went to see the film I laughed because what I had imagined while reading was way scarier than anything in the film.) They are eminently portable, I have carried some in my backpack across the Himalayan mountains in Nepal, the Appalachians, the Rockies, while traveling with Mrs. BB around the many countries we have visited. The low tech book never needs batteries, is easy to find, (in the UK Tesco's usually has a good selection of murder mysteries at a cheap price) and if you find a used book store you can usually exchange them for a minimal price. (Did that in Namche Bazare in the Kumbu region of Nepal, can't get any farther than that) They can also be given to libraries, so others can get the pleasure of reading them, and at the same time make you feel good about yourself. (When we travel, we usually end up with a bunch of books that we give to a local library. It's our way of saying thanks for sharing their beautiful country) It has had a permanent impact on society and how we think and act. It has preserved the thoughts of great thinkers and artists throughout the ages, and the list goes on.
So let us celebrate the book, low tech or not, it is the closest thing to a perfect invention that man has ever designed.

Random thoughts on Earth Day

This will be a blog of random thoughts since those are about the only thing I am capable of at the moment. First of all it is now 21 degrees Celsius (70 degrees F for non metric folks) and yesterday it was just as nice. Finally some warm weather, seems strange that only a week ago we were in the middle of a snow storm.
Today is also Earth Day, nice of them to celebrate the whole world at the same time as my b'day. Makes one feel kind of...... hmmm old? I hope they'll treat me better in my old age than they do the earth, cuz if they treat me the same, I'm sure in for a rough retirement. ;o) It's in spring that we realize how much garbage we dump on poor old mother earth. When the snow melts, there is garbage everywhere, plastic bags, different types of beverage containers, fast food take out stuff, paper, cardboard, miscellaneous junk, un-picked up doggy-do (I hate people who are too lazy to clean up after their stupid pets, almost makes me want to go buy a bag of ripe manure and dump it, in a pile, on their front door steps.) and that is just the stuff we can see. We sure could make more of an effort to clean up our acts, because if we don't, sooner or later, old mother earth will do it for us because she has before (just ask the dinosaurs or the trilobites) and she surely will again. The dinosaurs probably got wiped out because like dog owners, they kept leaving gigantic piles of dino-poop all over the place and mother earth got tired of the mess. ;o)
I went to see godwhacker's blog just now and he had a very interesting article for Earth Day. There may be hope yet, but then again I'm sure that the world's governements will find a way of screwing everything up.

Guns and all things that go bang.

Having spent ten years in the 6e Régiment d'Artillerie de Campagne, I think that I have a pretty good knowledge of things that go bang. From field stripping an FN C1 to firing a 105 MM Howitzer, I've pretty much done it all, and the one thing that I can tell you is that weapons are made to kill, that is their sole purpose, always has been always will be.

I can hear the gun lobby right now. "Guns don't kill, people do." Yeah well if the killer didn't have a gun, it would be much harder for him to kill. Now I hear them say, "Well he'd use something else.". Yes I'll admit that is probably right. I can see it in my minds eye, "Ok lock and load your .... baseball bat, your knife, your ax." Let's face it, other weapons just don't have the sheer killing power of a handgun or a rifle. It would be pretty hard to have a massacre, like the Polytechnique de Montréal, Dawson College, Columbine, or Virginia Tech by using a baseball bat and a knife.

Now let us look at the classes of weapons that are available to our killer. Let's start with the handguns. What use are they? Can we go hunting with a handgun? Shoot a deer? No, a handgun is used for one purpose only, to kill human beings. Beyond 100 meters a handgun is pretty well useless. When I was in the army, I was a marksman with a 9mm Browning automatic pistol and beyond 50 meters it is almost impossible to get any accuracy. People will say, "Well I need one to protect myself"... most people are more likely to shoot themselves than hit a target. On top of that most murders that use a pistol, are by a member of the family using the family firearm.

Ok next, the rifle. Yes here I'll admit that a rifle has its uses, besides shooting innocent people. Many people love to hunt and need a rifle for that sport. (Personally I find that hunting would be much fairer if the deer and moose could shoot back.) But today people are buying semi-automatic military style assault rifles (copies of AK47's, M16's etc) Those weapons were designed to kill people. They can deliver a tremendous amount of firepower in a brief amount of time. The 7.62mm steel jacket can penetrate a brick wall, go through two people and keep on going. They were designed that way. Using one to go hunting is ridiculous. If the hunter is such a poor marksman that he can't bring down his deer with his first shot, he shouldn't be allowed in the woods. He is a menace to himself and everything else around him. (A marksman should be able to group his shots in the bullseye at 400 meters, I know it's possible because I have done it. ) Hunters should only be allowed to use a bolt action rifle with a 2 or 3 bullet magazine. My preference would be that they use a single shot bolt action with no magazine, but I only allow a second bullet in case they wound the deer. (Frankly they should get their meat at the supermarket like the rest of us but to each his own.)

The killer at Virginia Tech had two automatic pistols, a 9mm Glock and a .22 Beretta. The killer at Dawson had a .45 Magnum Pistol, a semi-automatic assault rifle and other weapons. The killer at the Polytechnique had a semi-automatic assault rifle. Those at Columbine had an arsenal to make a third world country proud. Why should those weapons even be sold? Until we as a society finally put our collective feet down and simply banish firearms, the killings will go on, in schools, public places, at home when the man of the house decides to take his family with him and anywhere else where a sick ego can aim a gun. When will it finally stop?

More @#$%$#@?&**$ snow

Last night we received another 10 cm of the #@$%%$#&?* sticky wet white stuff along with 80-90 km gusts of wind (which is still blowing). I'm starting to sound like Jazz. Enough said :o(

Oh how the mighty have fallen.

I was listening to the news today and heard a story about the World Bank's governor Paul Wolfowitz. He is the man who orchestrated the invasion of Iraq using the invisible WMD's as an excuse. They must have been really well camouflaged. Then his buddy Dubbya gave him a nice cushy job in the World Bank. As he started his job his first comment was to say how he would clean up the corruption. Well the chickens have come home to roost. On Thursday he was having to explain how he had orchestrated (read ordered) a tremendous pay raise for his girlfriend.
Here in Canada we have our very own Lord Conrad Black, who is in court with racketeering charges and may spend the rest of his life in an American prison. (It shouldn't surprise anyone since he started early on by stealing and selling exams at his school (UCC). I guess he would say that it was only capitalism at work.) He has been quoted as saying, “Humility is a good quality, but it can be overdone.”. Wall Street Journal interview, Nov. 8, 1994. Well both he and Paul are about to learn what the word hubris* means.

*Exaggerated pride punished by the fates. In classical Greek ethical and religious thought, overweening presumption suggesting impious disregard of the limits governing human action in an orderly universe. It is the sin to which the great and gifted are most susceptible.

It's April and it's still #@$%$ snowing!!!!

There is joke that goes around in Québec every year. It has to do with that favorite winter stuff...snow. I'll try and translate and abridge it a little for you.

November
"First snow flakes, wonderful, so pretty."
December
"Ah finally a nice snowfall, a white Christmas. Let's go out and shovel and then we can make a snowman"
January
"What it's snowing again? Grumble... Ok I'm going out to shovel. At least we can ski."
February
"Still snowing...will it ever stop. Too cold to ski, boy I'd like some warmth."
March
"Snow again...@#$%?"
April
"@#$#@$% F$%#$g WHITE SH*T #@$#%?!!!!! "

We are now almost half way through April and it is still snowing. We are getting days with 15-16 degree Spring weather and then just when you think that you'll soon be able to get out your bike (18 speed road bike with magnesium alloy frame, carbon fiber front fork) it starts snowing again. You can't go cross country skiing because there isn't enough of the white stuff and you can't go biking because there is too much... AHHHHHHHHHH!

This picture was taken from my front porch this afternoon when I came in from work... big fat marshmallow snowflakes were falling and sticking to everything. Quite beautiful but you're soon soaking wet since they are as much water as snow. ;o(

Thoughts on technology

In his last blog Ian talked about keys and how they hadn't really changed in a long time and in the comments Jazz remarked that keys are pretty much perfect just the way they are. If we look at today's technology, we see that this is often the case. There is a rapid evolution of the technology in question until it reaches a plateau and there it stays except for minor improvements.

Here are some examples to illustrate. I am sure that if you took a 2007 model car and brought it back to the 1920's, people would instantly know what it was and how to drive the thing. There have been improvements but for all intents and purposes the car has been on a technological plateau for the last 80 years at least. Four wheels, a steering wheel and an internal combustion engine. Yes, there are improvements, ABS brakes, electronic fuel injection etc, but the basic concept hasn't changed.

The airplane is the same thing, we had a rapid growth of the technology from the Wright brothers until the Second World War where the piston engine airplane was at its height and another spurt when the jet engine came in. Since then it has been pretty much the same thing. An airliner of the 1960's is pretty much the same thing as one used today. In fact most of the planes used today date back to the 1970's (Boeing 747's, 737' etc) They did build a faster aircraft in the Concorde but the concept of faster than sound aircraft never really took off (pun intended), So here we are today with aircraft that though bigger in some cases, are not much different from aircraft 40 years ago.

The bicycle is another invention that hasn't changed in 100 years, The materials it is made of have become lighter and more high tech (carbon fiber and exotic alloys) but the basic concept is the same.

Why does technology reach a plateau, probably because the form it evolves into is almost perfect for its use. The bicycle is an almost perfect example, it would be very hard to improve upon the technology as it is now. It is perfect for its use, so why change it? Airplanes could be built to go faster but the cost penalty would be prohibitive and the benefits minimal, therefore they stay the same since the technological level they are at is perfect for the use they are put to. Replace the internal combustion engine? Up to now there has been no reason to, maybe with global warming that will change, but then the question becomes with what? We really have nothing to replace it with. We have hybrid cars, but even they have a gas burning engine. Why, because up to today it has been the most efficient means of propulsion for personal vehicles.

Will our information revolution reach the same plateau, probably, since computers will sooner or later push up against the laws of physics (there is a physical limit to how small you can make the pathways on a silicon chip). As for the information, well there is a limit to what a human being can read and use. For example try to "google" words like "homes for sale", according to Google it gives you "Results 1 - 10 of about 30,600,000 for homes for sale. (0.09 seconds) " You will read maybe the first 50 if you are very persevering, but what about the other 30.6 million? Yes maybe the first 50 are the most relevant, but by whose criteria? So we'll reach a plateau, since we'll just not be able to assimilate the vast amount of information that is out there.
So the old adage of building a better mousetrap really depends on what is already there. If the old technology is perfect for the job it does, you'll have a lot of difficulty selling your new mousetraps.

The Nature of Man (reposted with comments on :o( )

As I was driving tonight I saw more than a couple of cars with the little flags of different hockey teams. As I watched them I started to muse about the nature of tribalism and the little things we do all the time. I started wondering what someone outside of humanity would see by observing us, probably a bunch of great apes much like the chimps they had observed in Africa. (I know it's strange but it's been a long week, we just put on a Medieval fair with our kids at school, 12 hour workdays are not conducive to rationality)
We have oneupmanship with the alpha males beating their breasts and howling. (Here in Canada it's called Parliament, I always wonder how they can take themselves seriously) Tribalism with threats of violence (Alpha males beating each other up, except we do it by proxy, why should our alpha males get hurt when we can send someone else to do it in Irak and Afghanistan.) Tribalism is everywhere, from the fans of sports teams to street gangs and sometimes the sports fans are more violent. People have actually been beat up, even killed for a stupid sport, how useless is that? Have we come very far? Nope
As I was musing about such weighty things, the radio started playing some Gregorian chant. As I was listening I was struck by the dichotomy of our natures, how could we, the killer apes, come up with such sublimely beautiful music? Mozart's Requiem, Bach's Toccata, Handel's Messiah, Palestrina, all the music that transcends our nature. What about the great cathedrals, an act of faith made of stone. The great word smiths giving us words that will roll down through out the ages,

Shakespeare's Hamlet,

To be, or not to be--that is the question:
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles
And by opposing end them. To die, to sleep--
No more--and by a sleep to say we end
The heartache, and the thousand natural shocks
That flesh is heir to. 'Tis a consummation
Devoutly to be wished. To die, to sleep--
To sleep--perchance to dream: ay, there's the rub,
For in that sleep of death what dreams may come

His Henry V

This story shall the good man teach his son;
And Crispin Crispian shall ne'er go by,
From this day to the ending of the world,
But we in it shall be remembered-
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he to-day that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile,
This day shall gentle his condition;
And gentlemen in England now-a-bed
Shall think themselves accurs'd they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That fought with us upon Saint Crispin's day.

John Doone's For whom the bell tolls

Each man's death diminishes me,
For I am involved in mankind.
Therefore, send not to know
For whom the bell tolls,
It tolls for thee.

Milton's Paradise Lost, Dantes Inferno, Molière's superbe understanding of human nature. We have designed mathematics so complex and elegant that it can describe the fundamental nature of reality. How can our genome come up with a selfless example of humanity like Sister Theresa and a total monster like Hitler?

Sinner or saint? Demon or angel? G*d only knows for I surely don't.

***** SOMEHOW THE COMMENTS GOT TURNED OFF SO I'VE REPOSTED WITH THEM ON NOW. MEA CULPA, MEA CULPA, MEA MAXIMA CULPA. (for people who were not brought up as a catholic in the old days of latin, it means: my fault, my fault, my great fault!)******

Words, words words

Being an avid bunch of readers, everyone in our family has always had an affair of the heart with the words that convey the message. (see Jazz’s Blog) Two sentences can have the same meaning but a completely different feeling depending on which words you choose to use.
On the net I found this little page that tests you erudition. Have fun! (Let's see how you do lil' sister mine. ;o) )

Your Vocabulary Score: A+

Congratulations on your multifarious vocabulary! You must be quite an erudite person.

How's Your Vocabulary?

Of mice and macs

I bought a new MacBook with 2 gigs of memory not long ago. It is our 8th Mac and we have had a Mac in the house since they brought out the first 512k Mac in 1985.
We had started computing way before that with a TI99/4A with all of 16k of memory. Programs? none, we programmed our own using Basic. Seems very primitive today but in those days it sure beat a slide rule and punch cards.
It is unbelievable the advance of technology in the last 30 years. I remember when I got my first Mac... BM (before Mac) you left spaces in your exams so that you could draw a diagram and cut and paste was done with scissors and glue. Barely 15 years ago if you wanted a web page you had to write the code by hand. Where will it all end? Well, I for one, won't be making any silly predictions because it is almost impossible to predict how far things will go. Some people however have tried....

• "I think that there is maybe a world market for 5 computers." Thomas Watson; Chairman of IBM, 1943
• "Computers of the future may weigh no more than 1.5 tons." Popular Mechanics 1949
• "But what is it good for? (about the microchip)" Engineer at the Advanced Computing Division of IBM, 1968
• "There is no reason to believe that anyone would want a computer in their home." Ken Olson founder of Digital Equipement Corporation, 1977
• "640K ought to be enough for anybody." Bill Gates 1981
• "So we went to Atari and said, 'Hey, we've got this amazing thing, even built with some of your parts, and what do you think about funding us? Or we'll give it to you. We just want to do it. Pay our salary, we'll come work for you.' And they said, 'No.' So then we went to Hewlett-Packard, and they said, 'Hey, we don't need you. You haven't got through college yet."' -Apple Computer founder Steve Jobs on attempts to get Atari and Hewlett-Packard interested in the personal computer that he and Steve Wozniak created
  

Politicians and lack of "savoir-vivre"

Last night they had the leaders debate for the upcoming provincial election. While I am not a great fan of politicians and do not expect much from them, I do expect them to have a little bit of "savoir vivre". Last night however one of them, Mario Dumont, brought politics to a new low. Last fall, as you probably know, an overpass near here collapsed killing five people. Last night "Super Mario" came out with a government memorandum about the overpass that seemed to show that there had been problems before the collapse. He used this terrible tragedy to score political points off his adversaries. Hey guy, PEOPLE DIED IN THAT COLLAPSE! You don't use people's tragedy for political gain. It's worse that bad taste, it's just plain ghoulish.
Mario should be ashamed of himself, but knowing politicians I'm sure that he and his advisors are all patting themselves on the back for their coup. (I'm kind of surprised , in a way, that he didn't come into the studio with a piece of bloody concrete along with the memo.) And they wonder why people don't vote or why politicians have such a bad reputation.

Traveling what fun.

Well we are back from a small vacation in Tunisia. Mrs. BB and I have some friends in Tunisia so we decided to go pay them a visit. It was a delightful vacation but what a contrast. We left the day after the snow storm where we got 30 cm of snow and arrived in Tunis to a balmy 25 degrees. Then we left for a three day excursion in the southern desert. We rode camels, visited a dry salt lake, a hidden mountain oasis, climbed sand dunes, climbed in the ruins of a Roman coliseum and generally had a great time. We then came back to the hotel in Hammanet and relaxed for the next two days since it was pouring rain. Seems strange that a desert country like Tunisia should have such rain. There was 64 mm of water in 48 hours. I was reading in the news that Algeria was also hit hard. Finally we spent Saturday with our friends visiting the museums and Souks of Tunis. If you look at the picture you'll see that we went shopping at "The Bey" just like we do in Canada. ;o)
The people of Tunisia were invariably nice and helpful. In fact when we rode into Tunis on the local community taxis-bus (a small minibus that waits until full to go to destination and costs about 4 dinars ($4 cdn) from Hammanet to Tunis (75 km)) we needed to go from the terminus in Tunis to our hotel. A young lady who was on the bus with us was going our way, so we all piled into the taxi which brought us right to the door. When we offered to pay for the taxi, she just smiled, waved and wished a good day in Arabic. Their hospitality is without a doubt one of the most generous I have ever seen. Our friends refused to have us pay for anything, saying that in their culture a guest is sacred and is owed the best hospitality that they can give.
It is said that traveling widens our horizons, seeing how other cultures live makes it very hard to see them as two dimensional stereotypes. In every country we have been we have always encountered nice, generous people who would go out of their way to be helpful. From the police officer in Wales who called the hospital on his day off to ask how Mrs. BB was doing after an accident, to the staff of that hospital who went way beyond the call of duty to help, to the taxi driver in Liverpool who lead us to our destination and then refused payment, to the girl in Tunis, all of them showed us a generosity of spirit that seems to be a universal constant whatever the culture. I know that not everyone is like that but wherever we have gone we have always found generous people, and that makes traveling worth while. :o)