KENAZ 'S BLOG

Monday, April 24, 2006

Rune Reading For The Period Of April 24-April 30,2006

Introduction to Rune Readings

Rune readings are arrangements of the 24 runes (letters) of the old Futhark alphabet. The layout of the runes is known as a spread, and determines what each rune refers to. For example, in the Three Norns spread, the first rune represents the past, the second the present, and the third the future.

Sets: In addition to each rune having a meaning, the material in which the runes are carved can color the reading. Most people consistently use runes made of ceramic, stone, or wood. In order to broaden your experience, we offer readings with Gold Runes (for questions about business, career, and property), Jade Runes (for questions about love, friendship, and relationships), Ice Runes (for questions about struggle, conflict, and achievement), Spirit Runes (for questions about mysticism, spirituality, and religion), and Stone Runes (for questions about the natural world and things beyond human control).

The question will remain the same: "Will this week be a successful one?"

Rune Alphabet

Spread:Cross(in order of reading)
The Cross spread is used to plot the arc of your life and the forces acting on it. It is the most popular spread, giving a very complete view of the situation. Ice Runes are most commonly used for questions about struggle, conflict, and achievement.

Here is the Reading Using the Ice Set.

1.

The left rune represents an important element of the past. Ken is the rune of light and knowledge, driving away darkness and ignorance and revealing hidden truth. This rune also brings forth images of friendship and comfort. Ken is the light of inspiration, the light of imagination, and a beacon in the darkest hours.

2.

The middle rune represents a deciding element of the present. Ansuz refers to a god or the spoken word of God. It is the voice of reason, law, prophecy and truth. It is the truth heard in the wind. This rune represents wisdom obtained or knowledge delivered. It is the rune of absolute good advice and true council - the message we all must strive to hear.

3.

The right rune represents the critical element of the future, at the core of the final outcome. Sowelu is a strong symbol, for it represents the sun. Unlike equatorial cultures that may see the sun as a harsh and imperial force capable of causing droughts, in the cold north the sun is a purely feminine force that gives life and allows crops to grow. In dark times, this rune represents clarity of sight and the victory of good over evil. Sowelu is irreversible, as the cycles of the sun and seasons are perpetual.

4.

The top rune represents a force that works for you. Fehu is the rune of cattle, the symbol of wealth in the old Norse civilization. Since Fehu is the first rune in Frey's aett, it is a rune of fertility as well. As seen here reversed, it can represent barrenness or the loss of wealth. Some interpret Fehu as representing children, in which case the reversal may portend the distancing of a child from her or his parents.

5.

The bottom Rune represents a force that works against you. Inguz is the rune of completion and fertility. The presence of this rune suggests that tasks which have been initiated will come to fruition. This rune is associated with Ing and Frey, it is this connection that explains its connotations of both fertility and sexuality. The variant of this rune shown here is reminiscent of the twin strands of life, and of the challenge and rewards of bringing together things complimentary.

If you are further interested in Rune stones, please check out a script I wrote about three years ago. The story tells of a women's chance encounter with the towns rune reader and physcic. Her reading leads to a terrible discovery about her ex-husband.Click here to read 'Evil Of A Different Kind'

Later,
Kenaz

Sunday, April 23, 2006

Tales From The Set:The State Within

Well I spent my Saturday all dressed up with no place to go on the set of a new miniseries by the BBC/Shaftesbury Films called THE STATE WITHIN. Produced by Patrick Cassavetti The series will be in Toronto till August. In the movie the U.S and Britain are caught up in the middle of a terrorist crisis. It's described as a combination of ‘All The President’s Men’ with a little part ‘24’.

I spent fourteen hours in two set ups around Old Toronto City Hall and Osgoode Hall first as a reporter on Washington's Capitol Hill covering a press conference by the press secretary (Maria Ricossa) in which she outlines the new fifteen minute seating policy for airline passengers.

The scene also included real life Toronto Sports Reporter Jody Vance(Roger's Sportsnet) as a Capitol Hill Reporter.

After lunch(road kill?) it was into the Men in Black suite to play a secret service agent. The scenes included Sharon Gless, Jason Isaacs, Ben Daniels and Paulino Nunes converging on the British Residence for a top secret meeting.

The mini-series is set to air sometime next year. That's all for now. Tomorrow I start a 'real' job down at the Cadbury factory. I hope to continue doing background work, it can be fun.

Later,
Kenaz

Thursday, April 20, 2006

Tales From The Set:Angela's Eyes

Another night shoot, this time in China Town out on Dundas Street. Other than the smell of a mix between week old egg foo young and rancid rice wine vinegar eminating from the trash bins, it was an interesting night.

The shoot was for a new TV pilot called "Angela's Eyes". Emily Clinton (Abigail Spencer) is a straight As student with a loving family, and dreams of becoming a doctor. Then at age fourteen, Emily finds out that her parents are revealed to be CIA agents, suspected of treason for selling state secrets to the enemy. With her parents in prison, Emily's path takes her on a journey as an FBI agent in New York City, with a specialty for finding out when both suspects and victims are lying. However, the past still has a hold on Emily, making her suspicious of others, and closed-off to her new boyfriend Peter and younger brother, Jerry. No matter how much she tries to right the wrongs of her parents, she must still face them, and figure out whether or not they may possibly be sending her coded messages. The series is set to air sometime in July(?)

The scene entailed a jelous boyfriend, accusing his girl of having a lesbian affair after catching her giving her female friend an innocent kiss. He flies off into a rage, grabs her outside the resteraunt and threatens her with a gun. This is all witnessed by a detective and the suspect after a tense moment is arrested. Drama! Ya!

Our part was to cross notice the intensity of the situation and scatter when the gun comes out. All in all a nice cool spring night. I hope to work on this show again and the other biggie films set to descend on the area.

Those include Sir Richard Attenborough, who will be in Toronto May 3 to June 9, to produce/direct the romantic drama "Closing The Ring".

Premise of the film, beginning in 1943, focuses on a dying WW II bomber pilot who gives his ring to a local to return to his girlfriend in America. Fifty years later, another man finds the ring and attempts to find the woman.

"Closing the Ring" stars Attenborough, Mischa Barton, Chris Evans, Shirley MacLaine, Christopher Plummer and Pete Postlethwaite.

Currently shooting in Toronto is a film starring Natalie Portman and Dustin Hoffman called "Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium", a family feature from Stupid Zebra Productions. The shoot will run March 27 to June 6.

Produced by Richard Gladstein and Jim Garavente, executive producers are Joe Drake and Nathan Kahane.

Portman will play 'Molly Mahoney', manager of toy store 'Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium', who is bequeathed the store by 'Mr. Magorium' (Hoffman), a 243 year-old eccentric.

But once Molly assumes ownership of the premises, a dark and ominous presence begins to take control over the establishment.

Looks like an interesting spring and summer,

Later,
Kenaz

Wednesday, April 19, 2006

Favourite Scenes From Brando, Bogart, Sinatra and Monroe

Yesterday I gave you sound clips of some of my favourite monologues and dialogues ever delivered. Today I offer video clips from a couple of my all time favourite actors Humphrey Bogar, Marlon Brando, Frank Sinatra and Marilyn Monroe. If the direct player doesn't work, click on the link and this will open the file in a new window.

Humphrey Bogart

Cassablanca-"Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world ..." with Humphrey Bogart and Dooley Wilson

Cassablanca-"Now, now. Here's lookin' at you, Kid." with Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman

"I never dreamed that any mere physical experience could be so stimulating!" with Humphrey Bogart and Katharine Hepburn"

Marilyn Monroe

"Give me a reason." with Eli Wallach in THE MISFITS (1961)

Marlon Brando

Stella!" with Marlon Brando and Peg Hillias

"I could'a been a contender." with Marlon Brando and Rod Steiger

Frank Sinatra

"In the Hole" with Montgomery Clift in FROM HERE TO ETERNITY (1953)"

And as a bonus here's some words of wisdom from the 'Duke'

"I won't be wronged, I won't be insulted, and I won't be laid a hand on. I don't do these things to other people, and I require the same from them." --as J.B. Books in THE SHOOTIST (1976)

Later,
Kenaz

Tuesday, April 18, 2006

Favourite Movie Dialogues

These are my favourite movie monologues and dialogues of all time, enjoy. If the embedded audio doesn't work click on the links.

"To Kill A Mockingbird" (1962)

To Kill A Mockingbird" (1962)

Atticus Finch delivers his Closing Argument at the Trial of Tom Robinson

Finch: To begin with, this case should never have come to trial. The State has not produced one iota of medical evidence that the crime Tom Robinson is charged with ever took place. It has relied instead upon the testimony of two witnesses whose evidence has not only been called into serious question on cross examination, but has been flatly contradicted by the defendant. Now there is circumstantial evidence to indicate that Mayella Ewell was beaten savagely by someone who led, almost exclusively, with his left [hand]. And Tom Robinson now sits before you, having taken "The Oath" with the only good hand he possesses -- his right.

I have nothing but pity in my heart for the Chief Witness for the State. She is the victim of cruel poverty and ignorance. But, my pity does not extend so far as to her putting a man's life at stake, which she has done in an effort to get rid of her own guilt. Now I say "guilt," gentlemen, because it was guilt that motivated her. She's committed no crime. She has merely broken a rigid and time-honored code of our society, a code so severe that whoever breaks it is hounded from our midst as unfit to live with. She must destroy the evidence of her offense. But, what was the evidence of her offense? Tom Robinson, a human being. She must put Tom Robinson away from her. Tom Robinson was to her a daily reminder of what she did.

Now what did she do? She tempted a negro. She was white and she tempted a negro. She did something that in our society is unspeakable: She kissed a black man. Not an old uncle, but a strong, young negro man. No code mattered to her before she broke it, but it came crashing down on her afterwards.

The witnesses for the State, with the exception of the sheriff of Lincoln County, have presented themselves to you gentlemen -- to this Court -- in the cynical confidence that their testimony would not be doubted; confident that you gentlemen would go along with them on the assumption, the evil assumption, that all negroes lie; all negroes are basically immoral beings; all negro men are not to be trusted around our women, an assumption that one associates with minds of their caliber, and which is in itself, gentlemen, a lie -- which I do not need to point out to you.

And so, a quiet, humble, respectable negro, who has had the unmitigated TEMERITY to feel sorry for a white woman, has had to put his word against two white peoples. The defendant is not guilty. But somebody in this courtroom is.

Now, gentlemen, in this country our courts are the great levelers. In our courts, all men are created equal. I'm no idealist to believe firmly in the integrity of our courts and of our jury system. That's no ideal to me. That is a living, working reality!

Now I am confident that you gentlemen will review without passion the evidence that you have heard, come to a decision, and restore this man to his family.

In the name of God, do your duty. In the name of God, believe Tom Robinson.

"Inherit the Wind" (1960)

Inherit the Wind" (1960)

Henry Drummond Questions Mathew Brady on the Scientific Authority of the Bible

Drummond: I call to the stand one of the world's foremost experts on the Bible and its teachings: Mathew Harrison Brady.
Davenport: Your Honor, this is preposterous!
Hornbeck: Brother, let us pray.
Judge: Well, it's highly unorthodox. I've never known an instance where the defense called the prosecuting attorney as a witness.

Brady: Your Honor, this entire trial is unorthodox. But if the interests of Right and Justice will be served, I would take the stand.

Davenport: But Colonel Brady --

Judge: The Court will support you if you wish to decline to testify as a witness against your own case.

Brady: Your Honor, I shall not testify against anything. I shall speak out as I have all my life on behalf of the living truth of the Holy Scriptures.

[Court officer begins to swear the witness in]

Drummond: No, no, no, no -- that won't be necessary to swear him in.

Brady: Oh, I can make affirmation. I have no objection to swearing to God.

Drummond: [chuckling] I take it you will tell the truth. Now, sir, I am right in calling upon you as an authority on the Bible, am I not?

Brady: I believe it is not boastful to say that I have studied the Bible as much as any layman. And I have tried to live according to its precepts.

Drummond: Bully for you. Now, I suppose you can quote me chapter and verse right straight through the King James version?

Brady: There are many portions of the Holy Bible that I have committed to memory.

Drummond: I don't suppose there are many portions of this book you've committed to memory -- The Origin of the Species?

Brady: I am not the least interested in the pagan hypotheses of that book.

Drummond: Never read it?

Brady: And I never will.

Drummond: Then how in perdition have you got the gall to whoop up this holy war about something that you don't know anything about? How can you be so cock sure that the body of scientific knowledge, systematized in the writings of Charles Darwin, is in any way irreconcilable with the book of Genesis?

Brady: Would you state that question again, please?

Drummond: Well, now, let me put it this way. On page 10 of The Origin of the Species, Darwin states --

Davenport: I object to this, Your Honor. Colonel Brady has been called as an authority on the Bible. Now the gentleman from Chicago is using this opportunity to read into the record scientific testimony which you, Your Honor, have previously ruled irrelevant. Now, if he's going to examine Colonel Brady on the Bible, let him stick to the Bible, the Holy Bible, and only the Bible.

Judge: You will confine your questions to the Bible.

Drummond: Alright. Forget it. We'll play in your ballpark, Colonel. Now, there, I'd like to get this part clear first. This is the book that you're an authority on, isn't it?

Brady: That is correct.

Drummond: You believe that every word written in this book should be taken literally?

Brady: Everything in the Bible should be accepted exactly as it is given there.

Drummond: Now what about this part right here, where it talks about Jonah being swallowed by the whale? You figure that really happened?

Brady: The Bible does not say "a whale." It says, "a big fish."

Drummond: As a matter of fact, it says "a great fish." But, I guess that one's pretty much the same as the other. Now, what do you think about that business?

Brady: I believe in a God who can make a whale, and who can make a man, and make both do what He pleases.

Lady in the audience: God Bless you, Mathew Harrison Brady.

Audience: Amen, amen....

Drummond: I want those "amens" in the record. Now I recollect a story about Joshua -- Joshua making the sun stand still. As an expert, do you tell me that that's as right as the Jonah business? That's a pretty neat trick.

Brady: I do not question or scoff at the miracles of the Lord, as do ye of little faith.

Drummond: Have you ever pondered what would actually happen to the earth if the sun stood still?

Brady: You can testify to that if I get you on the stand.

Drummond: If, as they say, the sun stood still, they must have had some kind of an idea that the sun moved around the earth. You think that's the way of things? Or don't you believe that the earth moves around the sun?

Brady: I have faith in the Bible.

Drummond: You don't have much faith in the solar system.

Brady: The sun stopped.

Drummond: Good! Now, if what you say actually happened -- if Joshua stopped the sun in the sky -- the earth stopped spinning on its axis, continents toppled over one another, mountains flew into space, and the earth, shriveled to a cinder, crashed into the sun. Now, how come they missed that little tidbit of news?

Brady: They missed it because it didn't happened.

Drummond: But it had to happen. It must've happened, according to natural law. Or don't you believe in natural law, Mr. Brady? Would you ban Copernicus from the classroom along with Charles Darwin? Would you pass a law throwing out all scientific knowledge since Joshua? Revelations, period?!

Brady: Natural law was born in the mind of the heavenly Father. He can change it, cancel it, use it as He pleases. It constantly amazes me that you Apostles of Science, for all your supposed wisdom, fail to grasp this simple fact.

Drummond: Now listen to this. This is Genesis 4 to 16: "And Cain went out from the presence of the Lord and dwelt in the land of Nod, on the east of Eden. And Cain knew his wife." Now where the hell did she come from?

Brady: Who?

Drummond: Mrs. Cain. Cain's wife. If, in the beginning, there were just Cain and Abel, and Adam and Even, where did this extra woman come from? Did you ever stop to think about that?

Brady: No, sir. I leave the agnostics to hunt for her.

Drummond: Never bothered you?

Brady: Never bothered me.

Drummond: Never tried to find out?

Brady: No.

Drummond: You figure somebody else pulled another creation over in the next county somewhere?

Brady: The Bible satisfies me. It is enough.

Drummond: It frightens me to think of the state of learning in the world if everybody had your driving curiosity. Now, this book goes into a lot of "begats": "And Arphax'ad begat Shelah, and Shelah begat Eber" and so on and so on and so on. Now, are these pretty important people?

Brady: They are the generations of the holy men and women of the Bible.

Drummond: How'd they go about all this begattin'?

Brady: What do you mean?

Drummond: Well, I mean, did they begat in much the same way as folks get themselves begat today?

Brady: The process is about the same. I don't think your scientists have improved it any! Hahahaha....

Drummond: In other words, all of these folks were conceived and brought forth by the normal biological function known as sex. What do you think of sex, Colonel Brady?

Brady: In what spirit is this question asked?

Drummond: Well, I'm not asking you what you think of sex as a father or as a husband or even as a presidential candidate. You're up here as an expert on the Bible. What is the biblical evaluation of sex?

Brady: It is considered original sin.

Drummond: And all these holy people got themselves begat through original sin? Well, all that sinnin' make 'em any less holy?

Davenport: Your Honor, where is this leading us? What has it got to do with the State versus Bertram Cates?

Judge: Colonel Drummond, the Court must be satisfied that this line of questionin' has some bearin' on the case.

Drummond: You've ruled out all of my witnesses. You must allow me to examine the one witness you've left to me in my own way.

Brady: Your Honor, I am willing to sit here and endure Mr. Drummond's sneering and his disrespect, for he is pleading the case for the prosecution by his contempt for all that is holy.

Drummond: I object! I object! I object!!

Brady: On what grounds?! Is is possible that something is holy to the celebrated agnostic?

Drummond: Yes. The individual human mind. In a child's power to master the multiplication table, there is more sanctity than in all your shouted "amens" and "holy holies" and "hosannas." An idea is a greater monument than a cathedral. And the advance of man's knowledge is a greater miracle than all the sticks turned to snakes or the parting of the waters. But, now, are we to forgo all this progress because Mr. Brady now frightens us with a fable?! Gentlemen, progress has never been a bargain. You have to pay for it. Sometimes I think there's a man who sits behind a counter and says, "Alright, you can have a telephone, but you lose privacy and the charm of distance."

"Madam, you may vote, but at a price. You lose the right to retreat behind the powder-puff or your petticoat." "Mr., you may conquer the air, but the birds will lose their wonder and the clouds will smell of gasoline." Darwin took us forward to a hilltop from where we could look back and see the way from which we came, but for this insight, and for this knowledge, we must abandon our faith in the pleasant poetry of Genesis.

Brady: We must not abandon faith! Faith is the most important thing!

Drummond: Then why did God plaint us with the power to think?! Mr. Brady, why do you deny the one faculty of man [that] raises him above the other creatures of the earth: the power of his brain to reason? What other merit have we? The elephant is larger; the horse is swifter and stronger; the butterfly is far more beautiful; the mosquito is more prolific. Even the simple sponge is more durable. Or does a sponge think?

Brady: I don't know. I am a man, not a sponge.

Drummond: Well, do ya think a sponge thinks?

Brady: If the Lord wishes a sponge to think, it thinks!

Drummond: Do you think a man should have the same privilege as a sponge?

Brady: Of course!

Drummond: This man wishes to be accorded the same privilege as a sponge! He wishes to think!!

Brady: But your client is wrong! He is deluded! He has lost his way!

Drummond: It's sad that we don't all have your positive knowledge of what is right and wrong, Mr. Brady. How old do you think this rock is?

Brady: I am more interested in the "Rock of Ages" than I am in the age of rocks.

Drummond: Dr. Paige of Oberlin College tells me this rock is at least 10 million years old.

Brady: Well, well, Colonel Drummond, you managed to speak here some of that scientific testimony, after all.

Drummond: Look, Mr. Brady. These are the fossil remains of a marine prehistoric creature found in this very county, and which lived here millions of years ago when these very mountain ranges were submerged in water.

Brady: I know. The Bible gives a fine account of the flood. But your Professor's a little mixed up in his dates. That rock is not more than six thousand years old.

Drummond: How do ya know?

Brady: A fine biblical scholar, Bishop Usher, has determined for us the exact date and hour of the Creation. It occurred in the year 4004 B.C.

Drummond: Well, that's Bishop Usher's opinion.

Brady: It's not an opinion. It's a literal fact -- which the good Bishop arrived at through careful computation of the ages of the prophets, as set down in the Old Testament. In fact, he determined that the Lord began the Creation on the 23rd of October, 4004 B.C. at, uh, 9:00am.

Drummond: [Is] that Eastern Standard Time? Or Rocky Mountain Time? It wasn't Daylight Saving Time, was it, because the Lord didn't make the sun until the fourth day.

Brady: That is correct.

Drummond: That first day, what do you think, it was 24 hours long?

Brady: [The] Bible says it was a day.

Drummond: Well, there was no sun out. How do you know how long it was?

Brady: The Bible says it was a day!

Drummond: Well, was it a normal day, a literal day, 24 hour day?

Brady: I don't know.

Drummond: What do you think?

Brady: I do not think about things that I do not think about.

Drummond: Do you ever think about things that you do thing about?! Isn't it possible that it could have been 25 hours? There's no way to measure it; no way to tell. Could it have been 25 hours?!

Brady: It's possible.

Drummond: Then you interpret that the first day as recorded in the Book of Genesis could've been a day of indeterminate length.

Brady: I mean to state that it is not necessarily a 24 hour day.

Drummond: It could've been 30 hours, could've been a week, could've been a month, could've been a year, could've been a hundred years, or it could've been 10 million years!!

Davenport: I protest! This is not only irrelevant, immaterial -- it is illegal! I demand to know the purpose of Mr. Drummond's examination. What's he trying to do?

Brady: I'll tell you what he's trying to do. He's trying to destroy everybody's belief in the Bible and in God!

Drummond: That's not true and you know it. The Bible is a book. It's a good book. But it is not the only book.

Brady: It is the revealed Word of the Almighty God spake to the men who wrote the Bible.

Drummond: How do you know that God didn't spake to Charles Darwin?

Brady: I know because God tells me to oppose the evil teachings of that man!

Drummond: Oh, God speaks to you?

Brady: Yes!

Drummond: He tells you what is right and wrong?

Brady: Yes!

Drummond: And you act accordingly?!

Brady: Yes!!

Drummond: So, you, Mathew Harrison Brady, through oratory or legislature or whatever, you pass on God's orders to the rest of the world! Well, meet the Prophet from Nebraska! Is that the way of things?! Is that the way of things?! God tells Brady what is good! To be against Brady is to be against God!

Brady: NO!!! Each man is a free agent!!

Drummond: Then what is Bertram Cates doing in a Hillsborough jail?! Supposing Mr. Cates had the influence and the lung power to railroad through the state legislature a law saying that only Darwin could be taught in the schools!

Brady: Ridiculous! Ridiculous!! There is only one great Truth in the world!

Drummond: The gospel!! The gospel according to Brady!! God speaks to Brady, and Brady tells the world world!! Brady!!! Brady!!! Brady, Almighty!!!

Brady: The Lord, the Lord is my strength --

Drummond: Suppose that a lesser human being -- suppose a Cates or a Darwin had the audacity to think that God might whisper to him? That an un-Brady thought might still be holy. Must a man go to prison because he differs with a self-appointed prophet?! Extend the Testaments! Let us have a book of Brady! We shall hex the Pentateuch and slip you in neatly between Numbers and Deuteronomy!!

Brady: Now, now my friends! --

Drummond: The witness is excused!

Brady: -- my followers --

Drummond: The witness is excused!

Brady: All of you know -- what I said was -- what I believe -- I believe in the truth of the book of Genesis! Exodus! Leviticus! Numbers! Deuteronomy! Joshua! Judges! Ruth! 1st Samuel! 2nd Samuel! 1st Kings! 2nd Kings! Isaiah! Jeremiah! Lamentations! Ezekiel --

Judge: Court is adjourned until 10 o'clock tomorrow mornin'.

"It's A Wonderful Life" (1946)"

It's A Wonderful Life" (1946)

George Bailey: Address to the Board of Directors -- Bailey Building and Loan Society

Potter: ...and all because a few starry-eyed dreamers like Peter Bailey stir 'em up and fill their head with a lot of impossible ideas. Now, I say --

Bailey: Just a minute – just a minute. Now, hold on, Mr. Potter. Just a minute. Now, you're right when you say my father was no business man. I know that. Why he ever started this cheap, penny-ante Building and Loan, I'll never know. But neither you nor anybody else can say anything against his character, because his whole life was -- Why, in the twenty-five years since he and Uncle Billy started this thing, he never once thought of himself. Isn't that right, Uncle Billy? He didn't save enough money to send Harry to school, let alone me. But he did help a few people get outta your slums, Mr. Potter. And what's wrong with that? Why -- here, you're all businessmen here. Don't it make them better citizens? Doesn't it make them better customers?

You, you said that they -- What'd you say just a minute ago? They had to wait and save their money before they even thought of a decent home. Wait? Wait for what?! Until their children grow up and leave them? Until they're so old and broken-down that -- You know how long it takes a workin' man to save five thousand dollars? Just remember this, Mr. Potter, that this rabble you're talking about, they do most of the working and paying and living and dying in this community. Well, is it too much to have them work and pay and live and die in a couple of decent rooms and a bath? Anyway, my father didn't think so. People were human beings to him, but to you, a warped, frustrated old man, they're cattle. Well, in my book he died a much richer man than you'll ever be.

Potter: I'm not interested in your book. I'm talkin' about the Building and Loan.

Bailey: I know very well what you're talking about. You're talking about something you can't get your fingers on, and it's galling you. That's what you're talking about, I know. Well...I've said too much. I -- You're...the Board here. You do what you want with this thing. There's just one thing more, though. This town needs this measly one-horse institution if only to have some place where people can come without crawling to Potter. Come on, Uncle Billy!

"The Lion in Winter" (1968)"

The Lion in Winter (1968)"

Queen Eleanor Lectures her Sons on World Peace

Prince Richard: A knife! He's got a knife!!

Eleanor of Aquitaine: Of course he has a knife. He's always has a knife. We all have knives. It's 1183 and we're barbarians. How clear we make it.

Oh, my piglets, we are the origins of war -- not history's forces, nor the times, nor justice, nor the lack of it, nor causes, nor religions, nor ideas, nor kinds of government, nor any other thing.

We are the killers.

We breed wars.

We carry it like syphilis inside. Dead bodies rot in field and stream because the living ones are rotten.

For the love of God can't we love one another just a little?

That's how peace begins.

We have so much to love each other for.

We have such possibilities, my children.

We could change the world.

"Patton" (1970)"

Patton" (1970)

General George Smith Patton, Jr Addresses the 3rd Army

Now, I want you to remember that no bastard ever won a war by dying for his country. He won it by making the other poor dumb bastard die for his country.

Men, all this stuff you've heard about America not wanting to fight, wanting to stay out of the war, is a lot of horse dung. Americans, traditionally, love to fight. All real Americans love the sting of battle.

When you were kids, you all admired the champion marble shooter, the fastest runner, the big league ball players, the toughest boxers. Americans love a winner and will not tolerate a loser. Americans play to win all the time. Now, I wouldn't give a hoot in hell for a man who lost and laughed. That's why Americans have never lost and will never lose a war. Because the very thought of losing is hateful to Americans.

Now, an army is a team. It lives, eats, sleeps, fights as a team. This individuality stuff is a bunch of crap. The bilious bastards who wrote that stuff about individuality for the Saturday Evening Post don't know anything more about real battle than they do about fornicating.

Now, we have the finest food and equipment, the best spirit, and the best men in the world. You know, by God, I actually pity those poor bastards we're going up against. By God, I do. We're not just going to shoot the bastards. We're going to cut out their living guts and use them to grease the treads of our tanks. We're going to murder those lousy Hun bastards by the bushel.

Now, some of you boys, I know, are wondering whether or not you'll chicken-out under fire. Don't worry about it. I can assure you that you will all do your duty. The Nazis are the enemy. Wade into them. Spill their blood. Shoot them in the belly. When you put your hand into a bunch of goo that a moment before was your best friend's face, you'll know what to do.
Now there's another thing I want you to remember. I don't want to get any messages saying that we are holding our position. We're not holding anything. Let the Hun do that. We are advancing constantly and we're not interested in holding onto anything -- except the enemy. We're going to hold onto him by the nose, and we're gonna kick him in the ass. We're gonna kick the hell out of him all the time, and we're gonna go through him like crap through a goose!
Now, there's one thing that you men will be able to say when you get back home, and you may thank God for it. Thirty years from now when you're sitting around your fireside with your grandson on your knee, and he asks you, "What did you do in the great World War II?" -- you won't have to say, "Well, I shoveled shit in Louisiana."

Alright now you sons-of-bitches, you know how I feel.

Oh, I will be proud

to lead you wonderful guys

into battle anytime,

anywhere.

That's all.

"The Pride of the Yankees" (1942)"

The Pride of the Yankees" (1942)"

Lou Gehrig Delivers Farewell to Baseball Address at Yankee Stadium

Gehrig: I have been walking on ballfields for 16 years, and I've never received anything but kindness and encouragement from you fans. I have had the great honor to have played with these great veteran ballplayers on my left -- Murderers Row, our championship team of 1927.

I have had the further honor of living with and playing with these men on my right

-- the Bronx Bombers,

the Yankees of today.

I have been given fame and undeserved praise by the boys up there behind the wire in the press box -- my friends, the sports writers. I have worked under the two greatest managers of all time, Miller Huggins and Joe McCarthy.

I have a mother and father

who fought to give me health

and a solid background in my youth.

I have a wife, a companion for life,

who has shown me more courage than

I ever knew.

People all say that I've had a bad break.

But today --

today I consider myself the luckiest man

on the face of the earth.

"Casablanca(1942)"

Casablanca(1942)
Airport Farewell

Ilsa appears and waits - her second late-night appearance - in the shadows of Rick's dark, upstairs apartment. When he enters, he turns on the light, revealing her figure in the room [she has gone "up a flight" and "come around" just as he predicted to her outside the Blue Parrot]. He tells her not to affectionately call him "Richard" again as in their Paris days. He is suspicious that she is interested only in the letters of transit he has hidden when she appeals to him to remember the Cause of freedom and put aside his jealousy:

Rick: Your unexpected visit isn't connected by any chance with the letters of transit. It seems as long as I have those letters, I'll never be lonely.
Ilsa: You can ask any price you want, but you must give me those letters.
Rick: I went all through that with your husband. It's no deal.
Ilsa: I know how you feel about me, but I'm asking you to put your feelings aside for something more important.
Rick: Do I have to hear again what a great man your husband is? What an important Cause he's fighting for?
Ilsa: It was your cause too. In your own way, you were fighting for the same thing.

She begs him for the visas he possesses for "any price" [would she offer the 'price' that Annina was willing to give Renault?] - documents that would enable them to fly to neutral Lisbon and then on to America. Rick steadfastly refuses to help, denying that he ever aspired to the same Causes that "Victor Laszlo," the political institution and symbol, champions. She accuses him of being a self-pitying coward:

Rick: I'm not fighting for anything anymore except myself. I'm the only Cause I'm interested in.
Ilsa: (after a significant pause) Richard. Richard, we loved each other once. If those days meant anything at all to you...
Rick: I wouldn't bring up Paris if I were you. It's poor salesmanship.
Ilsa: Please, please listen to me. If you knew what really happened. If you only knew the truth.
Rick: I wouldn't believe you no matter what you told me. You'd say anything now to get what you want.
Ilsa (scornfully): You want to feel sorry for yourself, don't you? With so much at stake, all you can think of is your own feeling. One woman has hurt you and you take your revenge on the rest of the world. You're a, you're a coward and a weakling. (She breaks down sobbing.) No. Oh Richard, I'm sorry. I'm sorry, but, but you, you are our last hope. If you don't help us, Victor Laszlo will die in Casablanca.
Rick (stonily): What of it? I'm gonna die in Casablanca. It's a good spot for it. (He turns away to light a cigarette.)

When reasoning fails, she also turns away. When he turns back, she is tremblingly threatening him with a gun, desperate for him to give up the letters. Rick, not caring if he lives or dies without her love, suicidally steps toward her and calls her bluff:

Ilsa: All right, I tried to reason with you. I tried everything. Now I want those letters. Get them for me.
Rick: I don't have to. I got 'em right here.
Ilsa: Put them on the table.
Rick: No.
Ilsa: For the last time, put them on the table.
Rick: If Laszlo and the Cause mean so much to you, you won't stop at anything. All right, I'll make it easier for you. Go ahead and shoot. You'll be doing me a favor.

When Rick is willing to give up his life, she realizes how much he was hurt by her abandonment. Ilsa's emotions crumble and she cannot shoot. She wavers and then drops the threatening pretense - and the gun:

Richard, I tried to stay away. I thought I would never see you again, that you were out of my life.

She turns away toward the window with tears in her eyes, and then falls into his arms. He has triggered a rekindling of their old affection and she succumbs to his powerful, admirable love. She admits that she was committed to him in Paris, and that she suffered immense pain when she had to leave him and separate. Deluded about her love for the responsible and respectable Laszlo, she suddenly realizes how much she has always loved Rick and still loves him - ending her tender words with a passionate, authentic kiss:

The day you left Paris, if you knew what I went through. If you knew how much I loved you, how much I still love you.

After some time passes [audiences are left to presume what happens between them on this fateful night - was there further physical intimacy?], Ilsa tells him the unrevealed truth of what really happened in Paris and explains the reason she apparently betrayed Rick:

Laszlo was her husband and she was in fact married even when she knew Rick in Paris.

Her husband went to Prague and was arrested. After months of waiting for word of him, she was informed that he had been shot in a concentration camp escape attempt.

Then she met Rick in Paris and fell in love: "I was lonely. I had nothing, not even hope. Then I met you."

Her marriage with Laszlo had been kept a secret: "Victor wanted it that way. Not even our closest friends knew about our marriage. That was his way of protecting me. I knew so much about his work. And if the Gestapo found out I was his wife, it would be dangerous for me and for those working with us."

And then she learned Laszlo was alive the day of their scheduled departure from Paris. With Victor being hidden in a freightcar on the outskirts of Paris, he was so ill that Ilsa had to cancel her plans to leave Paris with Rick to help her husband regain his health: "He was sick. He needed me."

Ilsa knew that she couldn't tell Rick why she remained: "I knew you wouldn't have left Paris and the Gestapo would have caught you."

She also had to remain true to her marriage vows and choose her husband over her lover.
After Rick has heard Ilsa's explanation, he still wonders about the present. Lacking the strength to ever leave Rick again, Ilsa completely submits her will to Rick and promises she will go anywhere and do anything for him. She will arrange for Victor's safe passage - Rick can help get him out of Casablanca with a letter of transit. Caring for Victor's safety and his Cause, Ilsa asks if Rick will still help Victor:

Rick: But it's still a story without an ending. What about now?
Ilsa: Now? I don't know. I know that I'll never have the strength to leave you again.
Rick: And Laszlo?
Ilsa: Oh, you'll help him now, Richard, won't you? You'll see that he gets out? Then he'll have his work, all that he's been living for.
Rick: All except one. He won't have you.

Ilsa hides her face in Rick's shoulder, concealing her inner shame at her passionate feelings for him. Although Ilsa knows that she is doing wrong and that her decision violates all her high ideals, honor, and vows of marriage, she can't help herself. Confused but passionately in love with Rick, she re-pledges her love and consents to living there in Casablanca with Rick. She asks that Rick help her be strong in regards to Victor and think for both of them. She capitulates to Rick - willing to sacrifice herself to him in a loving, but adulterous/common-law relationship:

Ilsa: I can't fight it anymore. I ran away from you once. I can't do it again. Oh, I don't know what's right any longer. You have to think for both of us. For all of us.
Rick: All right, I will. Here's looking at you, kid.
Ilsa: I wish I didn't love you so much.

"On the Waterfront" (1954)

On the Waterfront

Taxi-cab "Coulda Been a Contender"

: Charlie, it was you, you remember that night down in the garden you came in my dressing room and said kid, this ain't your night... we're goin' for the price on Wilson, you remember that? This ain't your night? My night, I could've taken Wilson apart... so what happens? He gets a title shot outdoors in a ballpark, what do I get? a one way ticket to palookaville You was my brother Charlie, you should've looked out for me a little bit. You should've taken care of me a little bit so I wouldn't have to take them dives for the short end money...
Charlie: I had some bets down for ya, you saw some money..
: You don't understand I could've had class, I coulda been a contender, I could've been somebody... instead of a bum which is what I am, let's face it............ It was you, Charlie.

"Hamlet"

Hamlet

To Be Or Not To Be From Hamlet(1948)

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 heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks
That flesh is heir to, 'tis a consummation
Devoutly to be wish'd. To die, to sleep;
To sleep: perchance to dream: ay, there's the rub;
For in that sleep of death what dreams may come
When we have shuffled off this mortal coil,
Must give us pause: there's the respect
That makes calamity of so long life;
For who would bear the whips and scorns of time,
The oppressor's wrong, the proud man's contumely,
The pangs of despised love, the law's delay,
The insolence of office and the spurns
That patient merit of the unworthy takes,
When he himself might his quietus make
With a bare bodkin? who would fardels bear,
To grunt and sweat under a weary life,
But that the dread of something after death,
The undiscover'd country from whose bourn
No traveller returns, puzzles the will
And makes us rather bear those ills we have
Than fly to others that we know not of?
Thus conscience does make cowards of us all;
And thus the native hue of resolution
Is sicklied o'er with the pale cast of thought,
And enterprises of great pith and moment
With this regard their currents turn awry,
And lose the name of action.--Soft you now!
The fair Ophelia! Nymph, in thy orisons
Be all my sins remember'd.

Later,
Kenaz

Monday, April 17, 2006

Rune Reading For The Period Of April 17-April 23,2006

Here is the Reading Using the Ice Set.

1.

The left rune represents an important element of the past. Algiz can be easily recognized as the antlers of the elk that it represents. The elk can represent victory, but is much more appropriately associated with the thrill of the hunt itself. This rune therefore can portend vigor and success in active endeavors. Also, this rune seems symbolic of a hand with outstretched fingers - a protective hand. This hand may suggest that you will be shielded from things negative - the problems still exist, you are spared the brunt of their force.

2.

The middle rune represents a deciding element of the present. Nyd is frequently seen as a powerfully negative rune. You have drawn the rune reversed, which will lessen some of its effects. Generally Nyd represents loss, sorrow, and a hard journey with lessons learned. Nyd reversed here might be cautioning that the lessons might go unheeded representing repeated mistakes. The rune here might also be representing a minor loss or a nearly avoided catastrophe. Be careful, things are tricky and require strong attentiveness.

3.

The right rune represents the critical element of the future, at the core of the final outcome. Inguz is the rune of completion and fertility. The presence of this rune suggests that tasks which have been initiated will come to fruition. This rune is associated with Ing and Frey, it is this connection that explains its connotations of both fertility and sexuality. The variant of this rune shown here is reminiscent of the twin strands of life, and of the challenge and rewards of bringing together things complimentary.

4.

The top rune represents a force that works for you. Raido is the rune of riding, as in a cart or as cargo. It is seen here reversed, suggesting a disruption of travel or communication. Etiological analysis of this rune has also given it interpretations of advice or justice, and of being in a position of moral correctness. Reversed, there is an indication of the lack of solid council, or the holding of a position that is not morally sound.

5.

The bottom Rune represents a force that works against you. Berkana, the birch tree, is representative of rebirth, fertility, and a positive outcome to ventures undertaken. It is also the rune of families. Here the rune is reversed, warning you to be heedful of new beginnings, lest they sour. Rebirth is either delayed, or totally disrupted. There is also a warning of family troubles.

If you are further interested in Rune stones, please check out a script I wrote about three years ago. The story tells of a women's chance encounter with the towns rune reader and physcic. Her reading leads to a terrible discovery about her ex-husband.Click here to read 'Evil Of A Different Kind'

Later,
Kenaz

Favourite Easter Movie:Easter Parade

"Judy Garland singing Easter Parade"

Easter Parade Lyrics

Never saw you look quite so pretty before
Never saw you dressed quite so lovely what's more
I could hardly wait to keep our date this lovely Easter morning
And my heart beat fast as I came through the door
For

In your Easter bonnet, with all the frills upon it
You'll be the grandest lady in the Easter parade

I'll be all in clover and when they look you over
I'll be the proudest fellow in the Easter parade

On the Avenue
Fifth Avenue
The photographers will snap us
And you'll find that you're
In the rotogravure

Oh, I could write a sonnet about your Easter bonnet
And of the girl I'm taking to the Easter parade

Originally intended as a re-teaming of Judy Garland and Gene Kelly, EASTER PARADE ran into trouble when Garland's doctors advised against her working under the direction of her husband, director Vincent Minnelli--and no sooner did director Charles Walters take the helm than Gene Kelly broke his leg. Out of such confusion are movie musical miracles born: although a bit old to act as Garland's leading man, Fred Astaire was coaxed out of retirement. He and Garland had tremendous chemistry, EASTER PARADE was a box office smash, and Astaire unexpectedly found himself reborn as an MGM star.

Set in 1900s New York, the film's story line is flimsy but enjoyable. After long-time dance partner Ann Miller abandons the act, Astaire hires chorus girl Garland and attempts to recast her in his former partner's mold--a situation which offers Astaire and Garland considerable comedy and gives Astaire the chance to parody several of his own famous dance of the 1930s. Garland eventually convinces Astaire that she needs to be herself, and once the act is revamped they become a hot ticket--and, once their several romantic complications are resolved, romantic partners as well.

Astaire is every bit as charming here as he was in his Ginger Roger days, and his choreography retains his signature sharpness, wit, and elegance. Although Garland isn't really a dancer, she holds her own with Astaire and she tears strips off a brilliant score of Irving Berlin favorites. Both are well supported by Anne Miller, who gives a brilliant turn with 'Shakin' the Blues Away,' and Peter Lawford, who is quite charming as one of Garland's admirers. Although this really isn't as inspired as the truly great MGM musicals of the late 1940s, director Walters keeps it going at a smart pace, and the star power, clever script, memorable score, and those legendary MGM production values elevate it well above the pack.

Trivia

* Garland's husband Vincente Minnelli was originally slated to direct, but Garland's psychiatrist advised them not to work together.

* The shedding feathered gown worn by Garland in one number is an in-joke reference to Ginger Rogers' problematic gown in Top Hat (1935).

* A Garland solo number, "Mr. Monotony", was cut from the film.

* Gene Kelly was originally scheduled to play Don, but he unexpectedly broke his ankle playing touch football. It was at his suggestion that he be replaced by Fred Astaire. Cyd Charisse was up for the role of Nadine, but her pregnancy forced her to drop out. She was replaced by Ann Miller. Although she had been a star for years, Judy Garland had never met Fred Astaire before, and was afraid to speak to him until they were properly introduced.

* This is the second time that a character says to Judy Garland: "Why didn't you tell me I was in love with you?" in a film. The first was Gene Kelly in For Me and My Gal (1942).

* Ann Miller danced with pinched nerves in her back. Also, she was too tall, so she had to wear flats so she wouldn't be taller than Fred Astaire.

* The dye from the feather on Judy Garland's hat in "Fella with an Umbrella" song, ran all over her face and jacket, so they coated it with vaseline. The feather looks different in two different shots.

Later,
Kenaz

Sunday, April 16, 2006

ORIGINS OF EASTER

Easter was named after Eostre (a.k.a. Eastre). She was the Great Mother Goddess of the Saxon people in Northern Europe. Similarly, the "Teutonic dawn goddess of fertility [was] known variously as Ostare, Ostara, Ostern, Eostra, Eostre, Eostur, Eastra, Eastur, Austron and Ausos." 1 Her name was derived from the ancient word for spring: "eastre. Similar Goddesses were known by other names in ancient cultures around the Mediterranean, and were celebrated in the springtime. Some were, Aphrodite from ancient Cyprus and Ishtar from Assyria.

Many, perhaps most, Pagan religions in the Mediterranean area had a major seasonal day of religious celebration at or following the Spring Equinox. Cybele, the Phrygian fertility goddess, had a fictional consort who was believed to have been born via a virgin birth. He was Attis, who was believed to have died and been resurrected each year during the period MAR-22 to MAR-25. "About 200 B.C. mystery cults began to appear in Rome just as they had earlier in Greece. Most notable was the Cybele cult centered on Vatican hill ...Associated with the Cybele cult was that of her lover, Attis (the older Tammuz, Osiris, Dionysus, or Orpheus under a new name). He was a god of ever-reviving vegetation. Born of a virgin, he died and was reborn annually. The festival began as a day of blood on Black Friday and culminated after three days in a day of rejoicing over the resurrection.

Wherever Christian worship of Jesus and Pagan worship of Attis were active in the same geographical area in ancient times, Christians "used to celebrate the death and resurrection of Jesus on the same date; and pagans and Christians used to quarrel bitterly about which of their gods was the true prototype and which the imitation."

Many religious historians believe that the death and resurrection legends were first associated with Attis, many centuries before the birth of Jesus. They were simply grafted onto stories of Jesus' life in order to make Christian theology more acceptable to Pagans. Others suggest that many of the events in Jesus' life that were recorded in the gospels were lifted from the life of Krishna, the second person of the Hindu Trinity. Ancient Christians had an alternative explanation; they claimed that Satan had created counterfeit deities in advance of the coming of Christ in order to confuse humanity. Modern-day Christians generally regard the Attis legend as being a Pagan myth of little value. They regard Jesus' death and resurrection account as being true, and unrelated to the earlier tradition.

Wiccans and other modern-day Neopagans continue to celebrate the Spring Equinox as one of their 8 yearly Sabbats (holy days of celebration). Near the Mediterranean, this is a time of sprouting of the summer's crop; farther north, it is the time for seeding. Their rituals at the Spring Equinox are related primarily to the fertility of the crops and to the balance of the day and night times. Where Wiccans can safely celebrate the Sabbat out of doors without threat of religious persecution, they often incorporate a bonfire into their rituals, jumping over the dying embers is believed to assure fertility of people and crops.

Later,
Kenaz

Saturday, April 15, 2006

Jeffrey Baldwin

When Toronto emergency workers arrived at an east-end Toronto home early on the morning November 30, 2002, the house was dark. They knocked twice before a woman, Elva Bottineau, answered the door and directed them to the kitchen. What they found there was shocking. Lying on the table was the emaciated, lifeless body of Bottineau's five-year-old grandson Jeffrey Baldwin. Firefighters and paramedics tried in vain to resuscitate him. Seasoned police investigators had never seen a case like it and were immediately suspicious. They wanted to know how Jeffrey could just waste away in a home filled with six adults and five other children. The CBC news program "The Fifth Estate" aired this in depth report dealing with this tradgedy. Click hear to read more about this case. The video of the program is below.

As well as my previous post on the subject

Failing Jeffery

Peace.

Later,
Kenaz

History of Easter

Easter

A Christian feast commemorating Christ's resurrection. Easter Sunday celebrations follow the sombre observances of the Last Supper, Jesus's torture and crucifixion.

The Thursday before Easter ("Holy" or "Maundy Thursday") is the day Jesus is believed to have instituted the Eucharist which assumed the central role in Christian worship services.

At the Last Supper, Jesus washed the feet of his disciples to demonstrate that Christians are called to serve humanity. He also issued a new commandment: "Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another" (John 13: 34-35). After the Last Supper, Jesus was arrested, tried and condemned to death.

On Good Friday, Jesus endured a humiliating and torturous march to Calvary where he was crucified and died. Many Christians make solemn observances of Christ's "Passion" on Good Friday by following the Stations of the Cross. The 14 stations -- depicted in sculpture or images in churches throughout the world -- commemorate the stages of Jesus's journey to the cross.

Holy Saturday is a sombre day of waiting without benefit of knowing how grief is to be overcome.

Easter Sunday is the day Christians celebrate Christ's rising from the dead. According to the gospels, a group of women found Jesus's tomb empty and a divine messenger proclaimed that Jesus had been raised from the dead. Later, Jesus met the Apostles, renewing their courage and conviction to share the good news of eternal life with God through Christ.

Timing: At the Council of Nicea in 325, the date of Easter was fixed as the Sunday following the full moon after the spring equinox. This year, Easter is tomorrow, April 16.

Most Eastern Orthodox Churches follow the Julian calendar which is now 13 days out of sync with the more accurate Gregorian calendar. This year, Christian Orthodox celebrate Easter on Sunday, April 23.

The Easter Bunny

Not unlike Christmas, the Christian holiday of Easter is thought to have overtaken an earlier Pagan festival. In Easter's case, it was the spring festival of Eostre. Celebrating the fertility goddess of the Saxon people in Northern Europe, Eostre's name meant spring. Her symbol was a hare which is thought to have, over time, morphed into a rabbit.

The appearance of an egg-laying rabbit (brightly coloured eggs, no less) is documented in 16th century Germany where children eagerly awaited the arrival of the "Oschter Haws."

The tradition appears to have been brought to America by settlers in the 18th century where the Easter Bunny became firmly established as a popular symbol of Easter.

The egg, which represented fertility and rebirth to pagans, was also adopted as part of the Christian Easter festival. It came to be associated with the resurrection with some holding that it symbolizes the stone that was rolled away from in front of Jesus's tomb.

Later,
Kenaz

Friday, April 14, 2006

Good Friday

Good or Holy Friday is the name ascribed to a Friday, when the Savior of this world, Jesus Christ, was crucified, decried of treason by the Romans. It is on this Friday that Christ suffered for the well-being of mankind and spread his ubiquitous 'goodness' over this world. May be that is one reason why this Friday is called Good Friday. Some others hold the view that the name Good Friday was derived from God's Friday. But whatever the attributes, one thing shines through for sure--the welfare of mankind that Christ ensured through his sacrifice on Good Friday. Although it was on this Friday that the world at large was deprived of this One man, Jesus Christ, who brought spiritual revolution in the hearts of many, it still remains a day of hope, a day which bears the promise of an impending revival, a new tomorrow, a resurrection !

Good Friday witnessed the passion of Christ as he bore the cross through the streets to where he was finally put to death; Good Friday commemorates the Crucifixion of Christ by the Roman soldiers and Good Friday also remembers how the son of God, Christ forgave all and sundry who've sinned against the Supreme, against God. So the spirit of forgiving and an all-pervading goodness echoes on every Good Friday to keep Christ's message of "conquering all evil through good" alive !

In honour of this day I offer a home movie that has been pain staking transferred first from its original 16mm real to real footage to an analog cam-corder, then to VHS and finally into .mpg format to which I have uploaded to Google Video and posted on my sister blog http://whiteoliphantfamilyphotos.blogspot.com/
.

I have uploaded my families history starting in 1963 and commencing until 2001. The commentary is provided by my mother, father and myself. One weekend during the summer of 1997 we sat in my parents rec room and created these tapes and I'm happy to share, enjoy.

Later,
Kenaz

Wednesday, April 12, 2006

Brown Bess Escapes the Fire

A rare British musket that was only weeks away from being turned into molten iron will become a centrepiece exhibit at a famous Hamilton museum. The musket, turned over to the museum on Sunday, is in extremely good condition and has several intriguing initials carved into it. The public will get its first look at the historic weapon June 3 when the museum celebrates its 25th anniversary of the re-enactment of the Battle of Stoney Creek.

Known as a Brown Bess India Pattern, the musket was manufactured for British troops in the 1760s and issued to the soldiers who fought the Americans in the War of 1812. The owner had turned in the Brown Bess, along with several other weapons of potential historical significance, during last month's police amnesty. All 1,254 guns collected by police were headed for a steel foundry blast furnace at the end of the month.

Hamilton's newspaper sent photos to historians, museum curators -- including the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa -- pleaded with Hamilton police not to destroy the weapon. Contacted by police last week, the owner agreed to donate it to a local museum because of its possible link to the Battle of Stoney Creek. The owner decided it would be best placed with Battlefield House museum. The owner said he bought the musket from an antique gun dealer 30 years ago.

Police will now give local curators a list of all weapons turned in to check for potential historical treasures. Three or four other muzzleloading weapons handed over by the Brown Bess owner may also escape the smelter.

Battlefield House museum, a national historic site, commemorates the June 6, 1813, Battle of Stoney Creek when British forces attacked and repelled invading American troops.

Later,
Kenaz

Sunday, April 09, 2006

Lowe's Plans To Make Hamilton Their Foothold Into Canada

The U.S. big-box giant Lowe's will open its first Canadian store on Barton Street, just down the road from Home Depot. Construction of the 148,000-square-foot store and garden centre is expected to start as early as autumn 2007.

Lowe's, which is more focused on home decor than Home Depot, is looking to build as many as 10 stores in Canada over 2007 with a majority slotted for the Greater Toronto Area. Home Depot is ahead in the home improvement game and has already surrounded Hamilton with stores in Ancaster, Stoney Creek and Burlington. There are also plans to build another store in Hamilton.

Hamilton and the surrounding Toronto area have been identified as key market for home improvement by Home Depot. Lets face it we are a city of half a**ed handymen and do-it yourselfers.

Home Depot is the largest home improvement retailer in North America with 138 stores in Canada and more than 2,000 in the U.S. The Atlanta-based company announced Wednesday it plans add 18 Canadian stores this year.

That came just days after Lowe's announced it would open as many as 10 stores in this country. It appears the two American giants are going to battle for Canada's $28-billion-a-year home improvement market.

In Hamilton, Lowe's future location at Barton Street East and Woodward Avenue is a vacant, contaminated brownfield site. That's close to the Home Depot on Centennial Parkway near the QEW. The big box store says it will revitalize the area, bringing about 100 more jobs badly needed to Hamilton.

Lets hope this US led box war won't end in disserted store fronts and unemployment like the war that saw Walmart destroy most of its Canadadian competetion. Hopefully Canadian Tire has learned how to tred in this sea of American prosperity unlike Eatons who was drowned by Walmart. Hamilton can't take another hit like that.

Later,
Kenaz

Saying Goodbye To Jeffrey Baldwin

The grandparents of a five-year-old boy who was locked up and left to wither and die in a cold, fetid room, were convicted of second-degree murder yesterday in what police said was one of the worst cases of child abuse in Canada. Elva Bottineau, 54, and Norman Kidman, 53, were supposed to save Jeffrey Baldwin and his siblings from a life of abuse at the hands of their parents.

Instead the couple turned out to be the devil's incarnations who posed their will on a helpless soul. Jeffrey's only crime was to be born into a cruel society that pleads ignorance in the face of their savior.

How could this pair have been allowed to use the children as a source of income? They collected government cheques in their names while confining the young ones to what police described as "a horrible room" that was "harsh, dark, cold and damp. Where were the agencies set up to investigate such abuses? Why was this little gods creation allowed to suffer?

The courts heard Police Officer after another stand and testify how this case was the worse they seen. How Jeffrey was hidden away in the unheated bedroom for as long as 14 hours a day, breathing in the stench of his own urine and feces. Juror's endured the description of the child's room as "extremely shocking," with wet uncarpeted floors, mattresses soaked through and littered with stains, bags of filthy diapers throughout, and no toys in sight.

Jeffrey, who weighed just 21 pounds when he died in November 2002, was treated like a contestant in a human cock fight, having to eat from a bowl with his fingers and drink from a toilet when he was thirsty. The problem was the people he needed to fight for his safety coward just below him in the splendor of their abode while this hero died in squalor.

Jeffrey and his sister were locked up so frequently that regular visitors to the home often had no idea they even lived there. How? Even an untrained person should have known something was wrong, wasn't their a smell, noises? Court heard it took several weeks of repeated visits until they finally learned of what was called "bedroom number two".

On an early visit one officer noted a lock on the door and asked for it to be removed in a later visit he noticed the lock had been removed and inquired about it. Norman Kidman hastily returned with a regular eyelet and hook type clasp. Again I have to ask why did this not merit grounds for a search warrant? Why the wait?

Elva Bottineau's lawyer argued she did not deliberately kill her grandson. He cited a psychologist who testified Bottineau was mentally handicapped with a personality disorder preventing her from seeing Jeffrey waste away. But another expert witness, countered that Bottineau had knew what she was doing and lied to protect herself.

We can't just say oh she didn't know she was mentally sick, that wouldn't be fair to Jeffrey who didn't ask to thrown away all because an abnormal women with no regard for humanity, who didn't seek treatment, was allowed into his life.

It will interesting to hear what Ontario's chief coroner has to say in his inquest as to the involvement of the Toronto Catholic Children's Aid Society, the people who should have been responsible for Jeffrey's care and well being.

The Catholic Children's Aid Society released a statement in it's defense saying it deeply regrets Jeffrey's tragic death and wished it had done more to prevent it. Sorry to little to late.

On April 12 the trial will resume to discuss sentencing. Unfortunately no earthly sentence will be suffice for these two devils disciples. I truly hope these two are prepared to meet their makers and in the end when little Jeffrey Baldwin steps through heavens gates and takes his place in heavens chorus. His voice of damnation is finally heard. Only then can the process of forgiveness begin.

Later,
Kenaz

Friday, April 07, 2006

Rune Reading For The Period Of April 7-April 16,2006

Here is the Reading Using the Ice Set.

1.

The left rune represents an important element of the past. Raido means to ride. In this rune, the image is not so much the riding of a horse as in riding in a cart or as cargo. As such Raido may suggest a journey, but is much more indicative of communication. Alternate interpretations based on the use of Raido as a cognate in other words give it the meaning of council, judgment, and moral correctness. Therefore, this rune is the rune of wise advice and good leadership.

2.

The middle rune represents a deciding element of the present. Ken is the rune of light and knowledge, driving away darkness and ignorance and revealing hidden truth. This rune also brings forth images of friendship and comfort. Ken is the light of inspiration, the light of imagination, and a beacon in the darkest hours.

3.

The right rune represents the critical element of the future, at the core of the final outcome. Uruz is the name of the Auroch, an extinct prehistoric ox. This animal was strong and brave, and was the focus of rites of manhood in older days. Reversed, this rune symbolizes either the lack of challenge, or the lack of preparation for a challenge. This rune suggests that you must reach deep within in order to gain the power you will need, whether to get out of your current rut, or to face what appears to be a hopeless situation.

4.

The top rune represents a force that works for you. Perth is the rune of chance and gambling. Throw the dice, read your fate. Gaming is a fine way to pass the night...as long as one is careful. Games of chance have outcomes that are hidden from us, and as such Perth represents secrets unknown. Perth symbolizes enjoyment and wild abandon, but be watchful, for Perth is also the rune of mystery and the outcomes unexpected. You cannot lose if you do not play, but neither can you win...

5.

The bottom Rune represents a force that works against you. Ger is one of the runes that touches on the cycles of the year, in this case the fall harvest. These cycles are eternal, which is represented in the rune by the fact that it is unchanged by reversal. Ger can represent pregnancy or other forms of fruitfulness, and is especially indicative of the cycles of providence and karma - that which has been sown is now being reaped. This rune can also represent the cycles of wealth, for crops were frequently a sign of wealth.

If you are further interested in Rune stones, please check out a script I wrote about three years ago. The story tells of a women's chance encounter with the towns rune reader and physcic. Her reading leads to a terrible discovery about her ex-husband.Click here to read 'Evil Of A Different Kind'

Later,
Kenaz

Hamilton Police Have No Respect For History

The Canadian War Museum is appealing to Hamilton police not to destroy a rare, vintage musket likely used in local battles during the War of 1812. Photos of two guns where then emailed to the Ottawa museum late yesterday afternoon. Thirty seconds later, the museum phoned back.

"You just ruined my day," said special projects director Daniel Glenney. "How do I get that Brown Bess?"

Glenney said the British India Pattern musket was manufactured between 1797 and 1805 and used in Canada by the regular British troops in the War of 1812. It was then used by the Canadian militia in the Upper Canada Rebellion of 1837. Even more interesting is that a soldier's name (WBY Shelburne) is carved into the stock, which should help historians trace the weapon.

Nicknamed Brown Bess for its dark colour, the flintlock was issued to soldiers in Sir Isaac Brock's 49th Regiment of Foot, the King's Regiment and the 41st Regiment of Foot at the turn of the 19th century.

"They would have been carrying those right out of the armouries from England," Glenney said.

The Brown Bess, now locked up with 1,253 other firearms turned in during a month-long police gun amnesty, "could have been used at Queenston Heights, Lundy's Lane and Chippewa," he explained.

"It would have been used by the garrison troops at Burlington Heights all through the war or the Battle of Stoney Creek."

So few remain because the British sold most of the muskets as surplus to the Mexican army, where they were used at the Battle of the Alamo.

Hamilton police have several other weapons that museums would like to have, he said, including a rare Johnson rifle and German MG-34 machine gun from the Second World War, a Remington Rolling Block and a Martini Henry rifle from the 1800s.

And there are suggestions that a weapon owned by a Hamilton man killed with General George Armstrong Custer at the Battle of the Little Big Horn is on the destruction list.

All are due to be melted in a Dofasco blast furnace at the end of April.

"It would be a shame just to melt them down without consideration," Glenney added.

Police subtly softened their stance yesterday, after maintaining all through the amnesty that all weapons would be destroyed regardless of historic value.

The whole point of the gun amnesty is community safety, said Deputy Chief Ken Leendertse. Owners who turned in guns did so knowing they were entering into a contract with police.

"They signed a form that acknowledged they turned it over to the police service for destruction.

"Citizens had an opportunity to turn these weapons over to museums before they turned them over to us."

Nevertheless, police now say they will be flexible if an owner who turned in a gun wants to renegotiate the contract. One owner, who handed over more than 60 firearms, recently asked police to return one with significance to the family.

That will only happen if the owner produces proper papers for it, Leendertse noted. He also left the door open for special entreaties from museums, saying they would be dealt with on a case-by-case basis.

Police have also agreed to check a rumour that a .50- calibre cap-and-ball flintlock belonging to Lieutenant William Winer Cooke was turned in and is slated to be destroyed. If true, the weapon would be of extreme historical importance, given that Cooke, who grew up in Hamilton, died next to Custer in 1876.

He was the author of the famous "last message" to Frederick Benteen that read: "Benteen. Come On. Big village. Be quick. Bring packs. WW Cooke. P.S. Bring Packs."

Police say people must not lose focus on why Hamiltonians want to get rid of guns.

"The people of Hamilton have an intolerance for gun violence," Leendertse said. "If we save one life, that's worth more than any history."

Wouldn't giving the guns to a museum serve both issues of preserving history and getting these guns off the street? Or is the Hamilton Police department hard up for another photo op so they can gloat over doing their jobs.

Later,
Kenaz

Sunday, April 02, 2006

Tales From The Set::Ultra

It's been a while says I've posted anything about any sets I've been working on, because, honestly, there wasn't much to say. It's same old, same old. Action! Do your cross, mime some fake conversation, cut! Back to one! Repeat a few times.

The exception this week, is the fact that I've worked three days now on the pilot for a new CBS action comedy series entitled "Ultra".

The stunt laden show makes it fun to on set. Personally I find it more fascinating to watch the way a stunt is outlined and set up, than the actual execution. For example, I spent Thursday and Friday night out on University Avenue in Toronto partaking in a scene that initialed a crash involving a semi, four cars and a cab. Then Ultra(Lena Headley) entering and saving the day.

The scene was only 6/8 of a page, but each of the six parts of the scene needed to be shot separately, requiring a wide shot, some coverage and little crowd reaction. Five of the six parts where completed on Thursday night, the most fascinating being a stunt driver, simulating being hit by the truck causing the car to ride up on two wheels and do a controlled flip. Amazing that it only took a couple of dry runs to execute the one shot deal.

That left the fun stuff for Friday night, Ultra pulling a family from a car, seconds before the truck and car go up in flames. This of course being achieved with the use of propane burners and camera trickery. The stuff any pyro would get off on (hmm, fire! Fire!). All I could think of is how nice it would have been if the god awful hot dog substantial had been barbecued for a change.

My contribution had me exiting one of the cars and running away safety positioned to look as if it came to a screeching halt. Unfortunately the camera mans positioning for the first take was over ruled by Barbara Hall and changed. A nice shot that would have caught my face was reduced to my feet. Damn I wouldn't have worn those worn sneakers if I knew that!

any who, it looks like the biz is picking up again in Toronto and especially here in Hamilton, where currently there are three productions in progress with at least four more set to shoot in the next couple of months. I've already worked on a couple of them and looking forward to a great spring.

I've added some new screen caps of some older sets that I've worked on, including The Eleventh Hour and The Man Who Saved Christmas over at kendalloliphant.blogspot.com

Later,
Kenaz