While we were out at the lake this weekend, we spied a little family of ducks crossing on the other side of the park. I sneaked over to get a shot of them, but they hustled back to avoid me. I left once they got past the tree, and a few moments later (when the coast was clear) the whole lot of them trooped right back along that fence as if nothing had happened.
I'm tired of reading about the handful of people who have returned their Order of Canada medals because Henry Morgentaler was recently inducted as a Member, the lowest of three ranks for the Order.
To those who have returned their medal and/or the other accoutrements that accompany the medal: What is this going to accomplish? I'm truly sorry that you don't agree with his nomination to the Order, but your method of displaying this disagreement is to thumb your nose at the honour that was bestowed upon you by your country? Perhaps your own medal should be taken back simply because of that line of thinking in the first place. There are hundreds (maybe thousands, I didn't look) of Canadians in the Order. By choosing this battle, are you saying that you agree with the morals and values of each and every one of those other Members, Officers, and Companions? I highly doubt it.
Buzz Hargrove was named as an Officer at the same time as Morgentaler was inducted. Are you a union guy? Do you believe in the many left-wing stances and statements that this controversial union head has made? I doubt it, but you were probably too busy sitting home polishing your medal to have heard the stories about him. Hell, even the NDP split with him, and they're pretty out there in left field themselves at times.
Randy Bachman was named an Officer as well. Do you cringe when you hear "Takin' Care of Business" played ten times a day on the classic rock radio stations? Is rock music the work of the devil, in your opinion? Do you wish he'd never had a son named Tal so that you would never have had to have "She's So High" assault your eardrums?
Quite simply, you seem to just be looking for attention. You are probably one of the majority of inductees who Canadians have never heard of anyway. No, I'm not belittling your appointment in any way, I'm just stating the cold hard truth. There is no way that with all the various categories from which nominees are chosen, ordinary citizens would know who each of you is. Fine, now we know who you are because you chose to not only return one of your country's highest honours, but to alert the media about it as well.
Morgentaler will never be removed from the Order. In fact, he may very well move up the ranks in coming years, as some Members do, to become an Officer, and perhaps even a Companion. I, for one, as a Canadian and as a woman, would be honoured to have that happen. This man changed an area of Canadian health care practically single-handedly for all women when abortions finally became fully legal in Canada in 1988. Yes, 1988 - can you believe that? A mere twenty years ago. Prior to that, not only was it illegal, but right before the Supreme Court (whom you apparently also don't agree with, given your stance), a woman had to speak with a three-doctor committee who would then decide for themselves whether or not she could have the procedure done.
Yes, by all means, return your medals. I'm sure there are plenty of other more worthy recipients out there in this amazing country who would be humbled and thrilled to receive it in your place.
]]>What do you find interesting or unique about your family history?
1. On my paternal side, we can trace me back to William Booth, the guy who founded the Salvation Army. Did you know that as well as its significant social activities, it's also a church denomination?
2. On my maternal side, we can go back several 'greats' to an uncle who had the name of James Knox Polk; also known as the 11th President of the United States in the 1840s. Among other things, he was known for supporting and implementing (as best he could) Manifest Destiny . As a branch of our family now lives in Canada, I kinda get a kick out of this, though I'd say that this branch has produced some 'leaves' that are quite content that Great Uncle Jim didn't get North of the 49th.
3. On my other paternal side, we have Ukrainian landowners, (near Kiev) who had to flee because the Bolsheviks didn't like landowners.
4. Said landowners arrived in Saskatchewan, had trouble finding work, so my great-grandpa changed his name from the Russian sounding version to "Stephen" and borrowed his wife's German maiden name, Mueller, changed that to Miller, and found finding work much easier. When my grandpa couldn't get into the army during WWII under-age in Saskatchewan, he and his brother came to Vancouver and took a page out of their dad's book, changing their last name to Miller and managed to get into the army that way.
hmmm, these things really are just interesting for those to whom they belong, eh? :)
the format is stolen, but the views expressed are mine ;-)
.:What I'm Listening Too:.
Sloan: Parallel Play. What can I say, I've been a fan of Sloan since High School (which for some reason keeps getting farther and farther away) and they are pretty much the only band I'll buy an album sight unheard.
That said, it's not their best album but there are some stand out songs.
They funny thing I'm usually a Patrick Pentland kind of guy but with Parallel Play most of my favorites are Jay Ferguson's songs (Sloan fans will get it). Great songs like Witch's Wand, Cheap Champagne, Believe In Me and The Other Side make great additions to the Sloan set list.
Sloan is a band that evolves and changes and Parallel Play is no different. As apposed to their '70's rock heavy past few offerings Parallel Play leans to an almost light rock late '60's & '70's feeling and even Dylanesque on Down In The Basement. Though there are a few rock ones like I'm Not A Kid Anymore for the faithful.
One thing I have to say I completely hate about the album and this goes for all of my musical purchases is that I don't want no demo's, live versions or reprises. This ain't high school and I don't want no double or triple spaced albums. You only have 13 songs? Great put those on, it's okay if it's a short album. But please no padding.
All in all a good Sloan album and one that pushes them out their safety zone of musical creation.
Creature: No Sleep At All. It's always nice to rout for the home team.
Montreal's Creature released their first album a few months ago and I got a free track from either iTunes or music.download.com, I can't remember. Either way, I got it and have really been enjoying the album.
They've been compared to Blondie and Talking Heads, but never really listened to them so I can't tell if that's a good comparison.
Personally I think they've got a bit of Elastica, a pinch of Daft Punk's sound and '70's & '80's funk and rock. That's the closet I can get, you just have to listen to them yourself.
I'd like to point you where you could hear them, but unfortunately there is not many places to catch them. iTunes seems your best bet to at least get a sample of the entire album. Their MySpace page would be better to hear some full length songs.
Most of the album is up tempo dance / rock songs with the second half slowing things down a bit. Not that there's anything wrong with that, just personally I would have liked a few more fast songs. It's still all good.
One thing I totally love about them is that they don't take themselves too seriously and like to fool around. They have the first four steps of their 12 step program to get your inner freak on posted on YouTube (along with another half dozen video sites) . My personal favorites are step 1 and step 4.
I like seeing Canadian bands making great music like Sloan and Creature.
.:What I'm Watching:.
Wall•E. It must have been 10 years since I've seen a movie opening weekend.
I don't know who was looking forward to the latest Pixar film more, me or ET.
As usual a great film from Pixar. They did an excellent job telling a story when the main characters don't talk and can only emote though limited facial and body gestures.
The inclusion of live action footage was a little strange but certainly not the end of the world.
One little thing, if you've been watching the trailers you'll notice the catchy song used. Well, it's not on the soundtrack because it's not from Wall•E but Terry Gilliam's film Brazil. It's called Central Services / The Office.
Also check out Buy N Large's official site for more info on the Wall•E universe. And the free demo of the PC game.
Indiana Jones: Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull. If it's been 10 years for me to see a film on opening weekend, then I have no idea the last time I saw two movies in two days.
The movie was okay and since it's been out for months I'm probably the last to see it .
What i did like, it gave Donna and I a chance to get out for a few hours alone. Now that's been a few years.
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Happy Canada Day everyone, and special shout out to Murray a fellow Member of the Vancouver Bicycle Club who is featured in a CBC News story Crude Awakenings about how charities are continuing to provide service to there client who coping with high Gas Prices. Murry who is the coolest 60++ year old guy volunteers and delivers Meals on Wheels for Health and Home Care Society of B.C. Once again I see the power of the bicycle make the world a better place.
In honor of Canada Day, show us your favorite Canadian.
For crying out loud, spell it FAVOURITE if you are going to use the word to refer to Canadians.
Anyway...
My favourite Canadian would be very hard to choose, seeing as most of the people I love the most live in this beautiful country. My favourite famous Canadian would have to be, without a doubt, Margaret Atwood.
I was "assigned" her in History class, mainly because I believe Mo thought it would be funny to make me a feminist, and got hooked on her stories. I don't think Mo created anything in me that wasn't there already but he might have given me an outlet to unleash it. In those years since high school I've been an avid fan, even writing songs inspired by her writing. This one is the longest song (8 minutes, two time signatures and several movements) and is named after a phrase in "Alias Grace".
I'm just slightly to the east of downtown Ottawa, right in line with Parliament Hill. The Snowbirds do a flypast or two every Canada Day. They just completed one and it went RIGHT ABOVE MY FREAKING BUILDING - reeeeaalllyy low. I mean my building is only three stories high and it seemed like I could reach right up and touch them, for pete's sake.
Here's one link - you can follow the rest once you get there.
]]>Some more food for thought: You can read about a potential anti-spanking bill in Canada here (read the comments that follow, too) and here.
(FYI: It's unusual for bills to pass through the Senate first. Usually it begins with the House of Commons who then sends approved bills to the Senate, the upper house, for 'sober second thought.' No, this is not a law in Canada. Yet.)
I don't feel like I have the time to elaborate right now, but I'm not a fan of this particular bill. Given the ruling out of Quebec last week and now this, I'm not too keen on this kind of parenting-from-the-top and the way the winds seem to be blowing.
Maybe they'll just blow out. Maybe not.