Liberal Democracy in action.
Wednesday, November 30, 2005
Tuesday, November 29, 2005
The Hells Angles
Movie Review:
They Know all the tricks and all the angles. Members of Canada's most notorious political gang terrorize the country, and generally wreak havoc until their leader meets his match in a showdown.
Coming out on DVD January 23, 2006
Monday, November 28, 2005
Movie of the Week
Paul is a hotshot Quebec politician who knows how to play the game. He gets the opportunity of a lifetime when he is offered a position with the liberals that promises many opportunities. He takes his wife to the Ottawa in hopes of a better life. He finds himself on the receiving end, when it is discovered that his boss is the Devil himself and has some devious plans up his sleeve for Paul. Hence the training begins.....
Harpers Hidden Agenda
Harper reveals all. There is NO "Hidden Agenda", as you can plainly see here. Unless........
Sunday, November 27, 2005
The Mod Squad
They are three hipper-than-hip MP's with a touch of menace and plenty of attitude. They walk the walk and talk the talk and an entire generation stepped into line. Helena, Stephen and Peter changed the political landscape. Now, take a journey to the turbulent House of Commons and live the phenomenon known as The Mod Squad, a bold series that redefines politics, from fashion, hairstyles to language. "Solid."
The early Cop show, was certainly entertaining, but let's face it…sometimes those Liberals could be a bit square. Cops doled out speeches, but she didn't have a lot of fun doing it. It seemed that the description of Cop's might never include the word "cool," (whew!) The Mod Squad showed up to save the day. This influential action drama brings the show into the era of flower power by making it young, hip, and full of attitude. As a result, it has become a big hit and one of the few shows with a big audience.
Although they do the work of politicians, the Modders don't do things in conventional style.
The Mod Squad continues to make its influence felt today in many ways. It remains a favorite in politics. The trio wasn't kidding when they called themselves The Mod Squad. They will never go out of style, never become un-mod.
Saturday, November 26, 2005
Blog Studies
A Canadian scientist, after a lengthy study,
has discovered that people with insufficient sexual activity read
blogs with their hand on the mouse.
Don't bother taking it off now; it's too late.
Update:
I just discovered why this scientist came up with the results he did.
A) He studied only men.
B) He used only the following mouse in the study.
Robot Bartender
A man enters a bar and orders a drink. The bar has a robot bartender. The robot serves him a perfectly prepared cocktail, and then asks him, "What's your IQ?" The man replies "150" and the robot proceeds to make conversation about global warming factors, quantum physics and spirituality, biomimicry, environmental interconnectedness, string theory, nano-technology, sexual proclivities and conservative policies. The customer is very impressed and thinks, "This is really cool." He decides to test the robot. He walks out of the bar, turns around, and comes back in for another drink. Again, the robot serves him the perfectly prepared drink and asks him,"What's your IQ?" The man responds, "about a 100". Immediately the robot starts talking, but this time, about football, hockey, curling, supermodels, favorite fast foods, and NDP policies. Really impressed, the man leaves the bar and decides to give the robot one more test. He heads out and returns, the robot serves him and asks,"What's yourIQ?" The man replies, "Er, 50, I think." And the robot says... real slowly... "So............... ya gonna vote for the Liberals again?"
Definition of "Organized Crime"
Compliments of the RCMP Website.
Canadian Definition
Within Canadian law enforcement, a legal definition for organized crime has only existed since the late 1990's following the enactment of Bill C-95. Amendments to this area of the Criminal Code have led to the present legal definition found within section 467.1(1) of the Criminal Code of Canada, which states a "criminal organization" means a group, however organized, that:
(a) is composed of three or more persons in or outside Canada; and,
(b) has as one of its main purposes or main activities the facilitation or commission of one or more serious offences, that, if committed, would likely result in the direct or indirect receipt of a material benefit, including a financial benefit, by the group or by any one of the persons who constitute the group.
The various components that comprise this legal definition are based on the exclusion of a group of three of more persons that has formed randomly for the immediate commission of a single offence.
International Definition
Globally, a consensus on a definition for organized crime was reached in 2002. The UN Convention on Transnational Organized Crime, Article 2 defines "organized criminal group" as follows: a group having at least three members, taking some action in concert (i.e., together or in some co-ordinated manner) for the purpose of committing a ‘serious crime’ and for the purpose of obtaining a financial or other benefit. The group must have some internal organization or structure, and exist for some period of time before or after the actual commission of the offence(s) involved.
Most of the major international organized crime groups are active within Canada. These groups include: Asian, Eastern European, Italian, Latin American organizations, outlaw motorcycle gangs, and a variety of domestic groups.
So now you tell me.... Does this not describe what the liberals were doing in Quebec regarding ADSCAM? Sure sounds like it to me, but then again I don't lean to the left and I am no lawyer.
Update:
Please go read the post that Candace has written on this topic. She has come up with a very intriuging theory.
Thursday, November 24, 2005
Get Smart
Set in Ottawa, this show features Agent 86 (Peter MacKay), his boss The Chief (Harper), Smart's partner Agent 99 (Rona Ambrose) and a host of other agents both good (conservatives) and evil (liberals). Perhaps one of the most important elements of the show is the gadgetry created to help Smart in his quest to keep the free world free. The show is painted in the broadest of strokes and plays every moment for its own delightful reality.
In order to give the agents of CONTROL(conservatives), a series of opponents, KAOS(liberals) was created. Smart and 99 battled the likes of Mr. Big(Chretien) and Siegfried(Martin).
Get Smart Vote Conservative
Wednesday, November 23, 2005
Who's Who?
Unfortunately I must go back to work for a few hours. So here is a quicky Pic.... I know its not the 60's but it will have to do.
Tuesday, November 22, 2005
Another Startrek Spinoff
"The PMO...The Final Frontier. These are the voyages of the partnership, "Conservative". Its 4-year mission: to explore new legislations, to seek out new ways and new respect for its citizens, to boldly go where no government has gone before!" 
Monday, November 21, 2005
Kids today are Whimps
This past weekend in and around Edmonton, two families had to deal with the murder of their 17 year old sons. A few weeks ago an 18 year old girl was shot to death while walking home with friends. To date there have been somewhere in the nieghbourhood of 33 murders in Edmonton alone. Most of which have involved teens and young adults. All of whom had many good years left to live and plenty of reasons to do so. As Bob Dylan said "The times they are a changing". Unfortunately not for the better.
Back when I was in school and a kid myself, things were much different. When we had a dispute over something that could not be settled by peaceful means, we settled it in a relatively fair and non violent way compared to todays standards. Simply put, one would call out the other and they would duke it out one on one. The winner of the fight would walk away, and more importantly so would the loser. One or both may have had some minnor bumps, bruises,a black eye, some bleeding from the nose or lip and the worst part for the loser was a batterd ego. This would usually be the end of the matter.
Today it seems, rarely is it one on one. More times than not there is some kind of weapon involved. Far too often, one or more of the participants do not walk away as they require hospitalization or worse, are dead.
These kids are self centred, do not place any value on life, there own included. They can't seem to do anything on their own and require backing from friends in anything they do.
Have we gone in fast forward for so long as to travel back in time to the old west? Does one have to become the fastest draw to survive in our streets? Where did we as a society go wrong?
In my oppinion, we turned the corner and onto main street Wild West when we as a society decided that:
A) Punishment in schools should be a day off.
B) Authority was beaten down to a point where kids no longer have any respect for their elders or anyone else for that matter.
C) Decisions by the law makers and judges, that continually decrease the powers of the parents over their children and at the same time making parents more responcible for the actions of those out of control kids.
D) The one thing that kept most kids in check through out the years. "The Fear Factor"... this is long gone as well. Kids no longer have that little feeling. You know the one I speak of if you are more than 35 years of age. The fear of what you would face at home if and when you got caught for wrong doing. It did not matter if your parents had never raised a hand to you up to that point, you always had that feeling. This did not only work at home but at school as well. The mere threat of being sent to the principal's office was enough to scare most kids into compliance. This had a double whammy as you knew that word would also get to your parents and you would have to deal with them as well when you got home.
Can we turn back the hands of time? Not a chance, we are well past the point of no return. Can we change the attitudes of our youth? I sure hope so for their sakes. Although this is going to upset alot of people. Here is how I plan on doing my part to help things change.
I challenge all the kids out there to put down their weapons! Leave your friends at home. Walk up to that person that has gone to far and challenge them to a good old fist fight. One on one. Step up and truely show what you are made of. May the best "MAN/WOMAN" win! At least this way niether of your parents will have to go through the agony of needlessly losing a child.
Gangs, guns and other weapons in a fight are for whimps! Prove to me what you are really made of.
The Twilight Zone
This series is a collection of various tales that range from the tragic to the comedic. They may be scary or just thought-provoking. Most episodes have unexpected endings and a moral lesson. But, no matter what, it's "a journey into a wondrous land, whose boundaries are that of the imagination."
And what an imagination or, the lack there of, some liberals have...
Sunday, November 20, 2005
sex assault videotaped
Sun Media reported today,
"Sexual assaults on a teen at Toronto's James Cardinal McGuigan Catholic high school were captured on the school's state-of-the-art security video system, police alleged yesterday."
The question I want answered to this is why if these assaults were caught on camera why was nothing done prior to now? Why did the school itself not act on this? Do they not review their own tapes until a complaint is filed? The media, the school nor the police have as of yet answered these questions as far as I have seen.
The other thing that is now comming to light is the "racist" card. Note that it was 16 black youths that were charged with crimes against a single white girl. Had this been the reverse I'm sure racism would have been the major headline. Racist remarks were not brought up by the the victim or the media, almost as if it were being avoided. Ironicly, now the parents of the accused are claiming the police of being racist.
"Some Toronto police officers fought back yesterday after charges of racism were levelled against the force by parents following the arrests of 16 suspects last week. The cops insisted they didn't improperly handle the suspects, as has been claimed, and their allegations against the accused are well-documented.
I personally don't believe any of this has anything to do with race or racism. It was a group of kids who found an easy victim, and as time passed it continued to escalate from typical bullying to sexual assault.
Candace over at Waking Up On Planet X, has an excellent post on this subject with a ongoing thread. She just may be psychic, as she posted this one on Friday, prior to all of this comming to public light. I do believe she was bang on. Check it out.
Mission Possible
This series chronicled the adventures of the Impossible Mission Taskforce (IMF), a team of government spies and specialists who were assigned, what was thought as, "impossible missions" by the unseen "Secretary".
The series is best known for its opening mission assignment (conducted by a pre-recorded tape, which later explodes), the leader's selection of mission agents from a dossier, the opening briefing, the intricate use of disguises and a typical "mask pulloff" of their opposition near the end of most episodes.
Saturday, November 19, 2005
The Three Stooges
The Three Stooges were a hugely popular comedy team of the 1990's through to 2005. Stooge comedy consisted mainly of Tax-gouging, entitlements, dithering, and the like.
To quote from one of their episodes....
"Amalgamated Association of Morons Local 6 and 7/8. We're not ordinary people, we're MORONS. Nyuk Nyuk Nyuk Nyuk".........
Joke of the Day
Dino tagged me with Aaron's Joke meme, so here it goes. My appologies to the smarter blondes out there....
The blonde and the jumper
Homer, a handsome dude, walked into a sports bar around 9:58 PM. He
sat down next to a blonde at the bar and stared up at the TV. The 10:00
news was now on.
The news crew was covering a story of a man on a ledge of a tall
building preparing to jump.
The blonde looked at Homer and said, "Do you think he'll jump?"
Homer said, "You know, I bet he'll jump."
The blonde replied, "Well, I bet he won't."
Homer placed 20 dollars on the bar and said, "You're on!"
Just as the blonde placed her money on the bar, the guy did a swan
dive off of the building, falling to his death.
The blonde was very upset and handed her 20 dollars to Homer,
saying, "fair's fair, here's your money."
Homer replied, "I can't take your money, I saw this earlier on the 5
o'clock news and knew he would jump."
The blonde replied, "I did too; but I didn't think he'd do it
again."
Homer took the money.
I tag:
Zorph As he just does not have enough to do these days.
Sycorax Because he has been way too serious over at his blog as of late.
Thats enough punishment for now.
Friday, November 18, 2005
Lighten Up
Although I have not been tagged by the latest meme, I thought I would add a little more humour to the blogsphere.
oooooooops, wrong picture... sorry... ahhhhh...here is the right one.
The Men From U.N.C.L.E
In this hit spoof on the espionage genre, Steven Harper and Jack Layton star as a team of secret agents guided by Alexander Waverly (Gilles Duceppe), the crusty head of Section One. Under the aegis of the United Network of Canadian's against Liberal Entitlements (U.N.C.L.E) the ever so sophisticated Napoleon Solo (Harper) and the equally dashing Illya Kuryakin (Layton) jet to exotic locations, taking on dangerous and nearly impossible assignments to battle the global crime organization called S.L.U.S.H.
Symbolically, if U.N.C.L.E. stands for social responsibility, dedication to mankind, and keeping peace and order in the world community, SLUSH stands for absolute self-interest: the personal acquisition of greed and power with total disregard for everyone and everything else, and the utter misery and chaos that will inevitably result. SLUSH has no allegiance to any country nor to any ideal. It will embark on any undertaking in its own interest." SLUSH is organized. Policy is made by a Supreme Council made up of men and women that are so called superintellects. SLUSH is bureaucratic. While the local SLUSH leaders (called "Whips") often act autonomously, they live in constant fear of SLUSH Central. SLUSH scorns failure. Villains who are not destroyed or captured by Solo and Kuryakin often meet their fates at the hands of colleagues. Retirement from SLUSH is a gold watch that explodes.
Solo informs us all to be careful with this rather chilling warning: "They [SLUSH] kill people the way people kill flies --- a careless flick of the wrist, a reflex action."
Pitting U.N.C.L.E. against SLUSH conjures up a Manichean vision --- a quasi-religious battle of the forces of Light vs. the forces of Darkness. U.N.C.L.E. and SLUSH are locked in eternal opposition, like yin and yang. But then, should we treat it seriously? Absolutely. Greed, cruelty and corruption never goes out of fashion. And besides, the Devil should always get his due.
Thursday, November 17, 2005
L - Troop
This farce about the gallant incompetents of L Troop at Fort Discourage is set in Ottowa in 2005.
The C.O. is the wide-eyed, bumbling Captain Martin, who had been promoted from private during the last days of the political war when he accidentally led a charge in the wrong direction - towards the enemy!
Unbeknownst to the captain, Sgt. Goodale had already negotiated a secret (and highly profitable) treaty with the Quelib party, from whom he also had an exclusive franchise to sell their souvenirs to tourists via Goodale Enterprises.
The treaty benefited both sides because it permitted both parties to trade and upgrade their living conditions, and the troops to maintain the illusion that they were involved in a deadly land war while actually being in no danger. The only flaw in this otherwise happy arrangement was the troublesome Cons, a genuine party(with whom there was no peace treaty) who always went into action.
Corporal Dingwall was Goodale's chief aide and assistant schemer and Wrangler Belinda the hard-ridin', fast-switchin' (and very scrupulous) cowgirl who was out to marry up with Martin.
L Troop is an entertaining enough production which, in similar dubious taste to Harper's Heroes made light of a deadly serious period of history.
The theme of conniving men pulling the wool over the eyes of the people recalled the antics of Chrétien and his bafoons, but L Troop fails to hit the dizzy heights achieved by Chrétien's Show.
Wednesday, November 16, 2005
The Avengers
Conservatives to the Rescue
Comming soon to a riding near you.
An action packed thriller where in the Avengers take on the Big Red Machine forcing it to the realms of the opposition.
Sunday, November 13, 2005
Alberta-Canada Nut
I try very hard to keep things civilized here. But there comes a time when even I have to let loose and vent. This person plans on running in the next provincial election for the Alberta Liberals. Is this the sort of person you want representing you? I can't help but wonder what Mr. Taft would have to say after reading this persons blog and the crap that he spews?
According to Werner:
If you are a member or a supporter of the CPC you are against Canada, a rascist, a bigot, a nazi, a reject, homophobic, extremist nutjob and spew smut. I am surprized he did not mention religous fanatics..... maybe thats in his next post?
A few quotes from one of his latest creations:
"The problem is, however, that you, in the rest of Canada, only get to see the rejects of our province (Harper, Solberg, ...), and you start drawing conclusions about the rest of us."
"But then came along the extremists of the Reform/Alliance party, complete with racist, anti-gay, etc. views, and they managed to destroy the PC Party."
"This party does not represent old-style Canadian conservatism, but right-wing rhetoric of the worst kind, thought up by some extremist nutjobs from Alberta."
"We cannot tolerate any racist or bigotted attacks on thousands and thousands of decent Canadians. But this is exactly what's been happening now, and it would get even worse if the CPC were elected."
"Vote for the Liberal Party and put a stop to that smut that is coming out of the CPC on a regular basis."
"Paris has had its share of civil unrest recently. We would see that too if the CPC were elected. With their repeated attacks on non-whites, gays, and essentially anyone who is not a "born Canadian", conflicts would increase dramatically, and then we too would have our own "Paris fires"."
"Keep in mind, though, that a vote for the CPC is a vote against Canada."
A picture is worth a thousand words. So here are four thousand. 
Had to bring in the BIG equipment to deal with all the crap being spewed over there.
I do feel a little sorry for this post as he knows not what he does, as the x-rays show.
Finally a little help to resolve his problem.
Saturday, November 12, 2005
No Dash
This post has been removed as the author of "the dash" who was unknown to me has reported me to the blogger to be in violation of the Digital
Millennium Copyright Act. My appologies to the author Leslie Ellis.
Update: Even Blogger screws up now and then...the author is Linda Ellis not Leslie Ellis.
On that note... I can only wonder why someone would not inform the owner of the blog first by simply placing a comment in the blog or sending them an email both of which are simple to do and readily available on most blogs including this one. I was quite shocked to be informed of this from blogger and not the Author or the authors representative. Oh well.... Again my appologies...
Friday, November 11, 2005
CBC's new fall sitcom
CBC will be starting off the new fall season with a new sitcom staring Steven Harper, Jack Layton and Paul Martin. It is based in a WWII prisoner of war camp. Layton plays the camp commander that thinks he is running the show. Martin plays the roll of Sgt. Schultz, the head gaurd that actually is a bafoon that knows absolutely nothing. Harper plays the roll of the leader of the opposition...ooops...prisoners, and runs amuck of the whole process.
In memory of and great thanks to
Today I remember all those who have served and do serve in the armed forces.
In particular:
Rubin Baker, 1888 - 1974, my grandfather who at the age of 24 volunteered for WWI. He was assigned the task of being a stretcher bearer carrying out the wounded from within the trenches. His service in the war is what brought him to Canada from Wales. The WWI "Soldiers Settlement Plan" provided soldiers with a quarter section of farmland in Canada. My grandparents land was 120 miles northeast of Edmonton near the town of Ashmont, which coincedently corespondes with his home in Wales, Mountain Ash. They came to Canada on a Canadian Steamship Liner,"The Montnairn" (pre PMPM days...lol)
Arthur Baker, 1923 - 2004, My father at the age of 21, landed on juno beach with a group of engineers. There primary job was to give targeting information to artillary and bombers. Once on the move they went ahead of the main forces searching the routes and sweeping them of land mines. One of the tactics that they would use to clear buildings along the way may have been concidered very unorthadox but was very succesful. They would open a door to a building, toss a "sten gun", a small machine gun inside. These guns had a very sensitive trigger and would go off when they hit the floor. The design of the gun with its side ammo clip and short stock would allow it to spin in the room firing in all directions.
Albert Morrison, 1933 - , my step father served with the Black Watch in Korea.
Thursday, November 10, 2005
Politics 101
Quiet down in the front row, class is about to begin. Today we will be learning the definitions of words involved in "politics".
The first word is:
pol·i·tic (pl-tk)
adj.
1. Using or marked by prudence, expedience, and shrewdness; artful.
2. Using, displaying, or proceeding from policy; judicious: a politic decision.
3. Crafty; cunning.
The second word we shall learn is:
pol·i·tics (pl-tks)
n.
1. (used with a sing. verb)
a. The art or science of government or governing, especially the governing of a political entity, such as a nation, and the administration and control of its internal and external affairs.
b. Political science.
2. (used with a sing. or pl. verb)
a. The activities or affairs engaged in by a government, politician, or political party: "All politics is local" Thomas P. O'Neill, Jr. "Politics have appealed to me since I was at Oxford because they are exciting morning, noon, and night" Jeffrey Archer.
b. The methods or tactics involved in managing a state or government: The politics of the former regime were rejected by the new government leadership. If the politics of the conservative government now borders on the repressive, what can be expected when the economy falters?
3. (used with a sing. or pl. verb) Political life: studied law with a view to going into politics; felt that politics was a worthwhile career.
4. (used with a sing. or pl. verb) Intrigue or maneuvering within a political unit or group in order to gain control or power: Partisan politics is often an obstruction to good government. Office politics are often debilitating and counterproductive.
5. (used with a sing. or pl. verb) Political attitudes and positions: His politics on that issue is his own business. Your politics are clearly more liberal than mine.
6. (used with a sing. or pl. verb) The often internally conflicting interrelationships among people in a society.
Usage Note: Politics, although plural in form, takes a singular verb when used to refer to the art or science of governing or to political science: Politics has been a concern of philosophers since Plato. But in its other senses politics can take either a singular or plural verb. Many other nouns that end in -ics behave similarly, and the user is advised to consult specific entries for precise information.
And the third:
gov·ern (gvrn)
v. gov·erned, gov·ern·ing, gov·erns
v.tr.
1. To make and administer the public policy and affairs of; exercise sovereign authority in.
2. To control the speed or magnitude of; regulate: a valve that governs fuel intake.
3. To control the actions or behavior of: Govern yourselves like civilized people.
4. To keep under control; restrain: a student who could not govern his impulses.
5. To exercise a deciding or determining influence on: Chance usually governs the outcome of the game.
6. Grammar To require (a specific morphological form) of accompanying words.
v.intr.
1. To exercise political authority.
2. To have or exercise a determining influence.
And Lastly:
gov·ern·ment (gvrn-mnt)
n.
1. The act or process of governing, especially the control and administration of public policy in a political unit.
2. The office, function, or authority of a governing individual or body.
3. Exercise of authority in a political unit; rule.
4. The agency or apparatus through which a governing individual or body functions and exercises authority.
5. A governing body or organization, as:
a. The ruling political party or coalition of political parties in a parliamentary system.
b. The cabinet in a parliamentary system.
c. The persons who make up a governing body.
6. A system or policy by which a political unit is governed.
7. Administration or management of an organization, business, or institution.
8. Political science.
9. Grammar The influence of a word over the morphological inflection of another word in a phrase or sentence.
So Paul, now what part of this sentence makes no sense what so ever?
"I'm going to govern and I'll let the opposition play politics,"
Paul could you please re state your comment so that it makes some kind of sense?Maybe you should refrain from thinking on your own or saying anything in public that your speech writers have not provided for you?
Monday, November 07, 2005
Sunday, November 06, 2005
I will remember
Although Candace over at Waking up on Planet X beat me to this one. I will post it anyway as I have a few things in my post that are not in Candace's.
I will always remember this poem and the voice of Mr. Walls our science teacher, reading to the students over the P.A. system every remeberance day at Calder Elementary School in Edmonton. He read it with such deep passion and his deep voice added an effect to these words that are forever inbedded in my memory along with those who have made the ultimate sacrifice for this country.
And now for the Poem that almost wasn't......
In Flanders Fields
By: Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, MD (1872-1918)
Canadian Army
IN FLANDERS FIELDS the poppies blow
Between the crosses row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.
McCrae's "In Flanders Fields" remains to this day one of the most memorable war poems ever written. It is a lasting legacy of the terrible battle in the Ypres salient in the spring of 1915. Here is the story of the making of that poem:
Although he had been a doctor for years and had served in the South African War, it was impossible to get used to the suffering, the screams, and the blood here, and Major John McCrae had seen and heard enough in his dressing station to last him a lifetime.
As a surgeon attached to the 1st Field Artillery Brigade, Major McCrae, who had joined the McGill faculty in 1900 after graduating from the University of Toronto, had spent seventeen days treating injured men -- Canadians, British, Indians, French, and Germans -- in the Ypres salient.
It had been an ordeal that he had hardly thought possible. McCrae later wrote of it:
"I wish I could embody on paper some of the varied sensations of that seventeen days... Seventeen days of Hades! At the end of the first day if anyone had told us we had to spend seventeen days there, we would have folded our hands and said it could not have been done."
One death particularly affected McCrae. A young friend and former student, Lieut. Alexis Helmer of Ottawa, had been killed by a shell burst on 2 May 1915. Lieutenant Helmer was buried later that day in the little cemetery outside McCrae's dressing station, and McCrae had performed the funeral ceremony in the absence of the chaplain.
The next day, sitting on the back of an ambulance parked near the dressing station beside the Canal de l'Yser, just a few hundred yards north of Ypres, McCrae vented his anguish by composing a poem. The major was no stranger to writing, having authored several medical texts besides dabbling in poetry.
In the nearby cemetery, McCrae could see the wild poppies that sprang up in the ditches in that part of Europe, and he spent twenty minutes of precious rest time scribbling fifteen lines of verse in a notebook.
A young soldier watched him write it. Cyril Allinson, a twenty-two year old sergeant-major, was delivering mail that day when he spotted McCrae. The major looked up as Allinson approached, then went on writing while the sergeant-major stood there quietly. "His face was very tired but calm as we wrote," Allinson recalled. "He looked around from time to time, his eyes straying to Helmer's grave."
When McCrae finished five minutes later, he took his mail from Allinson and, without saying a word, handed his pad to the young NCO. Allinson was moved by what he read:
"The poem was exactly an exact description of the scene in front of us both. He used the word blow in that line because the poppies actually were being blown that morning by a gentle east wind. It never occurred to me at that time that it would ever be published. It seemed to me just an exact description of the scene."
In fact, it was very nearly not published. Dissatisfied with it, McCrae tossed the poem away, but a fellow officer retrieved it and sent it to newspapers in England. The Spectator, in London, rejected it, but Punch published it on 8 December 1915.
Award Trading
As part of the ongoing Award trades, (the "Stupidist F#%&ing Pet Owner" for "Most Hysterical Single Mother") I suggested I would come up with a new logo for Candace over at Waking up on Planet X. I had thought of using Ms. Hysterical as part of the logo but as it may no longer belong to Candace in the near future, I decided to go with the following. Keep in mind this is the first draft and is subject to many changes or total inialation! So without further ado.....
Update: Pic #1 removed to protect the innocent
Update: Lets try this again....
Update: and again.....
Update: Any better?
Wednesday, November 02, 2005
Ode to Jack Layton
As I was perusing blogs this evening I came apon a post over at Political Staples titled "Party for Sale or Rent". I don't know if it was their intention but it did seem to me to be a play on words of an old Roger Miller song "King of the road". This inspired my "Wierd Al" side and thus inspired me to pen the following.
Update: Added the chords so you can all play along. Nicely that is.... ;D
(c)Party for (f)sale or rent, (g7)who are we to (c)pass judgement
(c)No morals, (f)no regrets, (g)We could care less about the debt
(c)Two hours (f)in back rooms, (g7)thats where our (c)mandate looms
I'm a (c7)man of (f)means by no means,(g7) In (c)control
(c)Another scandal (f)no surprize, (g7)off I go to (c)Susex Drive
(c)New suit and (f)aligator shoes, (g)thank god for union dues
(c)We smoke Cuban stogies (f)Martin found, (g7)down in Cuba (c)makin his rounds
I'm a (c7)man of (f)means by no means, (g7)In (c)control
I know (c)every politician on the (f)gravy train
(g7)All of their chronies and (c)who's to blame
(c)I'll promise not to take the (f)liberals down
(g)As long as Martin keeps tossin (g7)money around
(c)Party for (f)sale or rent, (g7)who are we to (c)pass judgement
(c)No morals, (f)no regrets, (g)We could care less about the debt
(c)Two hours (f)in back rooms, (g7)thats where our (c)mandate looms
I'm a (c7)man of (f)means by no means, (g7)In (c)control........ repeat and fade.....
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