A Gardening Question

The strong gardeners need to stay focused on the task at hand, keeping watchful eyes on one another, rakes at the ready when one misses a weed. Weeds can start very small, but grow out of control at such a rate it frightens and intimidates us with its vigour and determination.The strong gardeners have identified most of the weeds in our garden, and now have begun the strenuous task of pulling them out; right from the root, so they won't come back! Think how strong we will be when we've pulled them all out and cut the deadwood from the paths. Imagine how beautiful and vibrant our garden will be, as year after year it grows stronger, fuller and more beautiful. It will be filled with love, respect and appreciation. For the beauty was always there, but the strong gardeners had to tend and care for it, so it could be seen and appreciated.Of course, in time, as the beauty becomes apparent, and the insects spot our beautiful garden, some will be new varieties, others... pests from the past, returning to irritate us again with their incessant buzzing. A few will be beneficial and add to the gardens beauty, unfortunately, the more common varieties will not be. But as long as the gardeners remain vigilant and focused on what is theirs, the weeds and insects will be kept at bay. Nothing harsh needed, just keep watch and take care of them one at a time.Some lazy gardeners will see our beautiful garden from outside stonewalls and ask how did you do that? There is no secret really. Just tend to it and care for it the most, with sincerity and attention. Try not to be distracted and wander off into the neighbours patch for too long or too often. It will have its own beauty, but it does not belong to you, and should only be admired with respect, for others tend to it.Be friendly and kind, but aware, for the lazy gardener will want in for a closer look. Some will say, "oh remember me, I was here before?" They are the ones I will not allow past the gate, for they vanish at the sight of the shears and wheelbarrow, when they saw the garden party season had come to an end, and there was much work to do. The strong gardener may even expect them to help support the heavy rose arbour or fence while he makes a repair. Hands might get dirty!The strong gardener tells the lazy gardeners keep on walking. To go on buying their cheap, cut flowers to drop in an expensive, showy vase, placed front and centre of course, to draw attention and praise.The cut flowers look so pretty and fresh...for a few days, maybe even a week. Then, without warning dark spots appear, a drooping petal lets go and falls, unheard and unnoticed to the polished floor below. The water begins to foul and sadly, the poor cut flower is no longer of any use.Fortunately, for the lazy gardener these common cut flowers are so cheap and easy to replace and they really take no care at all, so the lazy gardener feels nothing as he tosses them aside to rot in their own stinky remains. There is certainly no love, no feeling of accomplishment. The lazy gardener has invested nothing but a moment or two choosing the bouquet and a few dollars to buy them.And the cycle, like in a perennial garden repeats itself.So the question is: What kind of gardener are you?

Kitchen Fire

Quote of the Daye

In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.

Martin Luther King Jr. (1929 - 1968)

Weatherman V. Cockroach

Blackmail At The Palace?

My money is on Prince Harry. Click the title for the BBC story.

Leonardo's Last Supper set for web posting

From CBC News:
An Italian tech firm is set to post a high-resolution scan of Leonardo da Vinci's mural The Last Supper online this weekend, about three months after an Italian man's announcement of mysterious findings within the image sparked renewed interest.
This latest posting is being spearheaded by Slavisa Pesci, the computer analyst and amateur scholar who, in July, announced that when he superimposed the famous painting — Leonardo's depiction of Jesus's last meal with his disciples — with its mirror image, he had detected what appeared to be a woman holding a child next to the figure of Jesus and the transformation of two apostles into knights.

Click the title link for the full story from CBC news.
The high-resolution scan can be viewed at Haltadefinizione.com beginning October 27, 2007 09:30 am CEST (03:30 am EST)

Oaklahomo @ the 519

Kooza

Last Thursday David and I saw this show, one of the last Toronto performances. It was excellent, if you have the opportunity I recommend you see this or another show.

The following is from the Cirque Du Soleil website...
KOOZA tells the story of The Innocent, a melancholy loner in search of his place in the world.

KOOZA is a return to the origins of Cirque du Soleil: It combines two circus traditions – acrobatic performance and the art of clowning. The show highlights the physical demands of human performance in all its splendor and fragility, presented in a colorful mélange that emphasizes bold slapstick humor.

The Innocent's journey brings him into contact with a panoply of comic characters such as the King, the Trickster, the Pickpocket, and the Obnoxious Tourist and his Bad Dog.

Between strength and fragility, laughter and smiles, turmoil and harmony, KOOZA explores themes of fear, identity, recognition and power. The show is set in an electrifying and exotic visual world full of surprises, thrills, chills, audacity and total involvement.

Middle America Finally Accepts Fags!

(Boise, Idaho) — Sen. Larry Craig was named Saturday night to the Idaho Hall of Fame, marking the Republican lawmaker's first ceremonial appearance back in his home state since his arrest in an airport bathroom sex sting became public in August.

Read the full article at time.com.

My Favorite Punk Band

I have never hear any of their music, and I don't want to. I love these guys for one reason only. My only issue with them is that they bought the domain name ihatesally.com before I did.

I first heard of this group a few weeks ago when I was at the CD Release party of a local Toronto band. My boyfriend, David, came back from the mens room with a sticker he had torn off the wall. It was a black background with a white spiderweb and the words "I hate Sally". Naturally he knew how grateful I would be for this superb example of sticker craftsmanship and usage of the english language so he gave it to me, and I will treasure it always. I keep it on the front of my day planner so I will never forget how much I love David.

Please support I Hate Sally. Judging from their website these guys will need all the help they can get. I think I might order a CD from them on St. Valentines Day, just because.

I could go on, but I won't. You can read all about it in my book when it comes out.

A Lifetime of Secrets

CTV Toronto Hottie Talks To The Richmond Hill Post

by Alexandra Innes, Post City Magazines
"NOTHING GREAT WAS ever achieved without enthusiasm," declared the 19th-century American philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson. Small wonder then that Richmond Hill-raised Austin Delaney has carved out a successful and award-winning broadcasting career for himself. Enthusiasm could be his middle name.


The seasoned general assignment reporter for CTV News Toronto arrived in Canada from Britain with his family at age nine. Four years of English schooling left its mark. Delaney’s enthusiasm is part of an Englishschoolboy charm that has never left him.

Read the full article here.

Things that make you say "awwwwww"

Halifax boy gives hockey money to Vietnamese orphan for surgery

NOVA SCOTIA (CBC) - Clutching a homemade welcome sign, 10-year-old John Mitchell waited Thursday morning inside Halifax's airport to meet a young Vietnamese orphan whom he's donating his savings to in hopes of helping pay for a tricky surgery.

Until then, Mitchell had only seen photographs of Hoang Son Pham, who suffers from a massive tumour that has come to engulf nearly half of his face.

"I was always hoping he was coming here so I could meet him," said Mitchell, his thin hands holding on to the large sign with a Vietnamese message scrawled in multi-coloured letters.

Son Pham, 10, flew to Halifax to spend four days there meeting several people, Mitchell included, who have given him donations to help remove the tumour on his face. In total, the Ottawa-based charity Children's Bridge Foundation raised $180,000 to pay for Son Pham's stay in Canada and surgery.

Mitchell's contribution to the cause is the $50 he saved up for a new hockey stick.

"I didn't need to save for a better stick, and plus, that's more important," said Mitchell.

He also gave Son Pham a Game Boy, and the two shared in a game as they waited for their lunch to arrive at a Vietnamese restaurant.

Read the full story here at cbc.ca

Elizabeth: The Golden Age

From IMDB.com:
Reprising the roles they originated in seven-time Academy Award®-nominated Elizabeth, Cate Blanchett and Geoffrey Rush return for a gripping historical thriller laced with treachery and romance--Elizabeth: The Golden Age. Joining them in the epic is Clive Owen as Sir Walter Raleigh, a dashing seafarer and newfound temptation for Elizabeth.Elizabeth: The Golden Age finds Queen Elizabeth I (Oscar®-winner Cate Blanchett) facing bloodlust for her throne and familial betrayal. Growing keenly aware of the changing religious and political tides of late 16th century Europe, Elizabeth finds her rule openly challenged by the Spanish King Philip II (Jordi Molla) with his powerful army and sea-dominating armada determined to restore England to Catholicism.Preparing to go to war to defend her empire, Elizabeth struggles to balance ancient royal duties with an unexpected vulnerability in her love for Raleigh. But he remains forbidden for a queen who has sworn body and soul to her country.

Official Film Site: http://www.elizabeththegoldenage.net/

It's not the 'eat, it's the 'umidity!

Live Science has some new information about how the earth's humidity is on the rise. Read about it here.

CSI: Weatherfield (Update)

This is from the October 9th Corrie Canuck Blog and their update of the Tracey/Charlie attempted murder episode. This has to be one of the best episodes ever! Definitely the creepiest. Well shot and very, very well written!!

McGuinty renews promise of extra stat holiday

Premier Dalton McGuinty rewarded Ontario voters for electing Liberals to their second consecutive majority by renewing a campaign pledge to give them an extra annual holiday — Family Day, on the third Monday of every February, starting next year.
In a post-election news conference in Ottawa Thursday, he also promised, as he had during his campaign, "to move forward in our schools, in our health care, in better protection for our environment, and in strengthening our economy."
But, he said, the best way for his government to get down to work is "to give families a little more of what they value above all else — time together."
Adding Family Day to the calendar will give Ontario families a total of nine statutory holidays a year, putting the province on par with Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia. In addition, although not recognized as statutory holidays under the Employment Standards Act, the first Monday in August is observed as a civic holiday in many Ontario municipalities, and many employees receive a holiday on Easter Monday.
"I can think of no better way for our government to get to work than by rewarding Ontarians for all their hard work, and for their belief that when we work together, build together and dream together, there is nothing we cannot accomplish."

FULL STORY FROM CBC

Kate Ford for PETA

My Entries

These are my two entries in a beginner photography contest. The theme is autumn 2007. I'll let you know how I do.

Bédard gets conditional discharge

In reaching his sentence, Quebec Superior Court Justice Jean-Claude Beaulieu took into account Bédard had already served two weeks in jail in the United States and had come under intense media scrutiny. But the judge also said Bédard had not shown remorse and noted she blamed Jean Paquet, her daughter's father, for everything.

"Without being a psychiatrist, a psychologist or a doctor, you present all of the characteristics of someone who needs help," Beaulieu told Bédard.

Click here to read the full story.

Pivot 2 Concept Car by Nissan

Nissan Pivo2
Uploaded by robotfrance

TOKYO (AFP) - Japan's Nissan Motor Co. on Friday unveiled a new version of its egg-shaped Pivo concept car that can drive sideways and has a small robot to assist with navigation or calm down angry drivers.

The Pivo 2 three-seater electric car has wheels that can turn 90 degrees for easy parallel parking. Like its predecessor, which was unveiled two years ago, the new Pivo has a cabin able to revolve 360 degrees, eliminating the need to reverse. A round-eyed robot head sitting on the dashboard has cameras that can tell when a driver is getting sleepy.

"You look tired. There's a coffee shop 500 metres ahead on the left," it told a driver with drooping eyelids during a recent demonstration. It can also nod or shake its head, helping to improve the mood of irate or glum drivers. The car has "by-wire" technologies that use electric signals in the steering and braking. Unlike the first Pivo, it has no axles. Instead it has four separate electric motors, allowing the wheels to turn further than a conventional car. The Pivo 2 will be exhibited at the Tokyo Motor Show near the capital from October 27.

Actors Studio Questions

The ten questions by Bernard Pivot that host James Lipton asks every guest are:

What is your favorite word?
What is your least favorite word?
What turns you on [creatively, spiritually or emotionally]?
What turns you off?
What sound or noise do you love?
What sound or noise do you hate?
What is your favorite curse word?
What profession other than your own would you like to attempt?
What profession would you not like to do?
If Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates?

Billy Ballot Explains....

This animated clip from Elections Ontario explains the MMP system which we will have to vote for on October 10. I will be voting YES to MMP.

Click Here

Your Big Decision

Happy 1st Birthday Lady Emily