Shy Anne

Sadly, since my last post, C.C. has passed away. But here's the new kitty, Shy Anne.

Candaele ("Candy") 1992-2008 R.I.P.

2008 is the year of the dead pets. These photos are from 4 November 2008.

New Canon SX10 IS

Here are my first out-of-the-box, completely auto mode, shots. I definitely need to spend some more time learning the camera.

No zoom:



Full optical zoom:


Full optical and digital zooms. Something went wrong with the upload, and you can't click to make it larger.

Sargeant, 1986? - 2008, R.I.P.

Everything You Wanted To Know About the Ukraine (But Were Afraid To Ask)

Two years ago, we learned about Hungary. Now, it's time for the Ukraine. The same comments regarding the Hungary poster pretty much apply.

My Question for the McCain/Obama Debate

I hear that the upcoming debate between McCain and Obama will take questions from us "common folk" from the audience. In my opinion, most of these kinds of questions are rather weak. After thinking about it for two minutes, here is the question that I would ask:

232 years ago, Thomas Jefferson wrote that all "are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." Assuming you agree with these sentiments, how would your Presidency best "secure these rights"?

McCain =? Bush

I watched a few minutes of the Democratic convention last night -- it was about all I could take before getting bored. But I noticed that they were making a definite point of equating McCain to a continuation of Bush's administration. Phrases like "Bush/McCain" were bandied about. Of course, they are "preaching to the (Democratic) choir" as it were. But, will this work with the larger population? I'm not so sure. Voters must like Bush. After the first 4 years of being in the White House and showing the public what he was all about, Bush did better in the 2004 election than he did in '00.

McCain is apparently not popular with the conservative wing of the Republican Party. If the Democrats can convince voters that McCain is just like Bush, I'd think McCain would win.

Have You Accepted Jesus as Your Personal Lord and Savior? (or "A Rabbi Talks with Jesus by Jacob Neusner")

When I saw that the book A Rabbi Talks with Jesus by Jacob Neusner was recommended by Pope Benedict XVI, that impressed me. (And, for the purposes of this review, it would probably be useful to the reader to have me on the record as being a Protestant Christian with Evangelical [religious, not necessarily political] leanings.) Based on Benny's suggestion, I decided to give it a try. At first glance, it might seem like an odd choice of writing to be recommended by a Pope. Neusner is a Jewish rabbi, and the book is basically his explanation as to why he rejects Christianity and stays with his Jewish faith.

However, Neusner does this in a very respectful way. As he might say, "Some of my best friends are Christians"; he shows great respect for Christians and their teachings. Neusner explains his disputes with Christianity by imagining himself within the world of the Gospel of Matthew. (He uses only Matthew.) He places himself at the Sermon on the Mount, as well as other locations in the gospel, and discusses his reactions to its teachings.

The title of the book may sound provocative. Indeed, there are discussions with Jesus, but the replies from Jesus are brief and mirror other statements in Matthew: Neusner takes care to avoid putting words into Jesus's mouth.

A few years ago, as I was driving, I saw a sign that queried the traveler, "Have you accepted Jesus as your personal Lord and Saviour?" I'm not sure how common this question is in the wider world, but in the religious circles I frequent, the question is so common it's (almost?) a cliché. With this in mind, I tried to think of an odd way of responding to the question. What came to mind was, "No, but I've accepted Jesus as my collective group Saviour".

To the Evangelical (Protestant) Christian, this response sounds odd and almost funny. But I think it strikes at the heart of one of Neusner's main objections. He sees himself as a member of "Eternal Israel", of the same family as Abraham and Issac, Rachael and Leah. As such, he is looking for not just a personal relationship with God, but also direction in the here and now regarding how to live as a member of eternal Israel.

There were other objections as well, but I found this one the most striking. Overall, I found the book to be highly interesting. For the most part, my past discussions with Jews haven't dealt in detail with religious beliefs. I'm sure that reasons for this include the fact there isn't a lot of proselytism in Judaism, and also that being "Jewish" is largely a cultural identity to some people. So, the book was educational to me in its portrayal of Jewish religious beliefs.

I'd recommend it to Jews, Christians, and people interested in learning more about Judaism and Christianity.

Firefighter in Training

One thing they do these days when kids take a class trip to a fire station is to explain all the equipment that a firefighter/fireman wears. In part, this is because they want kids to not hide and run away when one is trying to rescue the child from a burning building.

To the left, you can see:

1. Boots
2. Heavy Coat
3. Gloves
4. Fire Hat
5. Breathing Oxygen Backpack

He's not wearing the special fire pants in the photo.

This is a couple of weeks after the trip, and that's a lot more than I would have known at that age!

2007 Biking Recap

I bicycled and motorcycled a lot less in 2007 -- I ran instead. I bicycled (on my main bike) only 194 miles, and motorcycled 126 miles.

2008 Daffodil Bloom Date: 8 April

For the past few years, I've taken pictures of daffodils the first day that they bloom, and record the photos and date with my blog. This year is no exception. I guess you could consider it my own little personal record of one aspect of climate change or lack thereof. I'm sure that there are variables besides local climate, but here are the dates I've recorded for the daffodil bloom:

2008 April 08
2007 March 24
2006 March 30
2005 March 31

It looks like the trend is reversed, at least for this year.

O-Bee, 1989? - 2008 R.I.P.

The Red of Courage by Stephen Crane

I never had to read The Red Badge of Courage for school or anything like that. I seem to remember it being mentioned in an episode of The Brady Bunch, but I couldn't find anything with a quick visit to Google. It tells the story of a young Union Army recruit as he goes into his first battle. It seems to do a good job of showing what the battle (unmentioned, but supposedly Chancellorsville) must have been like for an infantryman. We learn about the overview of battles from history books, but for someone in the trenches (sometimes literally) without the hindsight of history, a battle involves a lot of waiting and a lot of getting shot at, but little understanding of the plans of the generals.

I was surprised how "psychological" the book was. The story is largely about the feelings of its main character, the fictitious Henry Fleming. In some ways it seemed to be "too psychological". A large part of the book is Henry wondering how he would respond under the pressure of battle, and whether or not he'd have the "courage" to stand. This isn't to say that it's not normal under the circumstances, but the mood swings are fast and furious. There's a lot of "He felt great. No, he felt miserable. No, he was master of the world" or whatever.

Three stars.

Dress Up Day

I wasn't quite sure what was up with the Scottie Pippin jersey. I guess it came from the neighbours.

How Canadian Are You? (Quiz)

Here's a little quiz. This sort of things get old quickly, but I thought it was worth a blog post.

You are 91% Canuck!

You rock, you are an almighty Canadian through and through. You have proven your worthiness and have won the elite prize of living in a country as awesome as Canada. Yes I know other countries think they are better, but we let them have that cuz we know better than they do, eh?

How Canadian Are You?
Quiz Created on GoToQuiz

2008 Pinewood Derby Cars

After taking a year off, we're back in the Pinewood Derby groove for 2008.


Where have you gone, Gary Gabelich?
Our nation turns its lonely eyes to you.

Cry, the Beloved Country by Alan Paton

I saw Cry, the Beloved Country in the library and picked it up. It was one of those "I've heard of the title, but don't know anything about it" selections. I thought it was famous for something, but wasn't sure what.

The book is set in South Africa in the middle of the 20th century; after WW2, but before apartheid became official government policy. It tells the story of a rural black Anglican priest, Stephen Kumalo, and his journey to the "great city" of Johannesburg. He travels there in search of his younger sister and his adult son. Both of them moved to the city from their small village, and little had been heard of them since.

The book contains a look at life in South Africa. However, it also contains themes that have been common amongst all peoples undergoing industrialization. What happens when one way of life (the traditional South African village) is damaged, and what does the city and modern society offer as a replacement? Thinking about it, one of my favourite novels is No Great Mischief, where one of the themes is the collapse of the extended family in modern society. The same themes are examined here. Either this is fertile ground for a novelist to write a great novel, or perhaps it's just a theme I enjoy seeing explored.

One site has Cry as the #101 English-language novel of the 20th century. I say it's better than that. 5 stars.

The Road by Cormac McCarthy

Have you felt that the recent novels you've read all seemed to be missing something? I mean, did you ever think, "That book was OK, but it sure could have used some more good, old-fashioned cannibalism"? If so, then The Road is for you.

The Road tells of the post-apocalyptic journey of a father and his son. And, it must of been a doozy of an apocalypse: in addition to other problems, apparently virtually every living thing on the planet has died, except for a handful of people. The only mention of non-human life in the book was a few mushrooms and a stray dog. So, ones options are, shall we say, limited.

The focus of the book is the relationship between the father and son. It's well-written, and is the type of book about which a reviewer might say, "Though the darkness, one sees such a spark of beauty." Don't believe that. This is the most depressing piece of fiction I can recall. It seems to me that it's more likely to mess with your mind in a negative way than it is to uplift the reader.

A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini

This is Hosseini's second novel of Afghanistan. My review of his first is here. Like some books, it is difficult to write a synopsis of the plot of A Thousand Splendid Suns without potentially givnig too much away. I'll try to err on the side of not giving away spoilers.

The book tells the story of two Afghan women, Mariam (b. 1959) and Laila, who is 19 years younger. Mariam is a country girl who's considered an inconvenience to her family and is married off to man (Rasheed) in Kabul who's perhaps 25 or 30 years her senior. There (eventually) she meets Laila, and after a slow start, their relationship blossoms.

The book has sections from Mariam's point of view, and sections from Laila's. As far as I can tell, it tells the story of "typical" middle-class women in Afghanistan through the days of the monarchy, the Soviet invasion, the anarchy leading to the Taliban, and beyond. In addition to nastiness outside the home, nastiness inside the home is also explored. One point the author makes is that there are always innocent casualties when violent acts are performed (some more subtle than others).

The book was gripping, but I found a few sections to be more disturbing than I normally prefer. I recently read something by Scott Adams (of Dilbert fame) who (I'm paraphrasing) said he doesn't understand people who like to see sad movies (or read sad books, I assume). Adams believes that feeling sad is very close to feeling bad. That is something he tries to avoid, and doesn't enjoy. For me, parts of Suns were like that, more so than Kite Runner.

I'd also say that Suns has more of a feel of "real life" to it. By this, I mean that not everything revolves around resolving past mistakes. Sometimes, past wrongs can't be righted. I can still see things Hosseini added to make the novel "work", but less so than the last book. I'll also give this one four stars out of five. It's different than Kite Runner, though I haven't decided if it's better or worse.

Draw a Picture of a Person Holding a Bird

Or, if you allow me to rephrase it slightly, draw a picture of a bird being held by a person.

Someone I know commented that when a child of some friends was in Kindergarten, the teacher noticed that the child had artistic potential by what she drew.

Here are some entries in the competition:



I'm not quite sure if the misunderstanding in the last one was intentional.