A digital tour of my humble abode

Today I invite you to take a photo tour of my home.

There isn't a day that I don't remember how blessed I am to own my home that was left to me by my parents. God bless Ken and Bernice Oliphant
My mail box remembering the past and forging ahead with the new.
Welcome to my home. Palsms 23:4 tells us "As I walk through the valley of death I shall fear no evil, for you are with me."
Adorning my entrance is two of my large artworks on the right leading to the hand painted staircase. It's tough to tell but each stair has an olive branch logo on it.
My Dad was given this autographed tee-shirt for his birthday about five years ago. It has most of the Ti-Cat players of the time on it. I couldn't give it away.
My faithful Calico cat Emilly, who greets me every night after work.
Into the living room, this one many small homage to my parents.
This another peace of my art work that hangs over the couch, it's entitled "expressions". Next it it(right) is a sheet of stamps from the celebrity collection, featuring my favourite actress Marilyn Monroe.
My "Feng-Shui" area of the living room. The white candle-opera represents peace, the red rose represents love and the unicorn and tiger represent the yin and yang of life.
Close in on my portrait book.
A real gas tube radio from around the 1950s? Works great.
My family memories corner, with a photo album full of pictures. The one in front shows five generations of my moms family. The table it sits on, I made in grade 8!. I've only had to take it apart, re-glue it and re-finish it once in all that time. A couple of angels stand guard over the home.
Over my mirror are pictures of my mom and dad and pictures of his family.
I guess I got my artistic eye from my mom, she bought this reproduction of the 1955 Norman Rockwell painting called "The Marriage License".
My dining room table(technically).Most of my meals are downed in front of the tv or on the way out the door. But it's always a nice tranquill place to eat.
Some more of my art work hanging behind the table, the house and mom and dad.
The cabinet full of the copper and glasses left to me by my mom.
The other cabinet with my china. A couple of more angels look on.
My creative corner.
A series of panels depicting various Celtic knot designs. The metal disks are recycled stratched CD-R's. They represent the "mirrors to the soul."
My "Zen" corner featuring the five elements fire(candles), water(fountain), air(bowl of silk lilies represent the oxygen that plants give), earth(the rocks in the fountain) and wind(represented by the openess of the grouping and the clearness of the glass table). The candle holders on the stereo where hand made by my moms brother.
Into the kitchen, this represents man.
On the other side of the window, the representation of women.
These are my share of the many spoons my mother collected over some 30 years. We did alot of travelling when I was a kid and each of these spoons brings back memories of summers past.
My silk floral display in the kitchen.
Up the stairs past the "fruit" series.
An elephant painting on glass that my parents bought.
My homage to my background acting career. These are stills and scans from the various productions that I appeared in.
In another life this used to be a footstool before I stripped it down and re-finished it in an NHL theme. It now houses my hockey card collection.
Down the hallway, hangs my oldest piece of artwork. One entitled "Through the Darkness". I painted this back in high school in 1988.
Into the computer room. Red is the colour of creativity. Here is where I've written my scripts and my blog posts. The characters on the window treatment spell out my name in the Celtic alphabet.
My messy drawing table. Behind the candles are a couple of more art pieces, the larger one depicts a bird of paradise seeking peace for the world held in its makers hands.
Another fruit series done in various arcrylic techniques.
My Yin-Yang painting.
My high school grad picture that hangs behing my computer. Like the pop commercial "I wish I had back some of the hair I had in high school". But I'm glad I don't look like a twelve year old any more.
Down the hall.
This is my weight room
This candle holder is the only good thing about my bathroom worth showing. All the "my bathroom is so small" jokes apply.
Another homage to my parents up in the sitting room in the attic. I'm glad these old houses have full attics.
These are the couple of moms music boxes that I have, the "Eye of tiger" watches over my Ann Rice novel collection.
My horse and cart painting.
In my bedroom is this display of silk flowers. These black and white roses represent the eternal cycle of life and death.
On my dresser is this arrangement of silk roses, orchids and lillies. The curtains behind have a nice scroll pattern, a bit reminicent of the Victorian times. They a very thick and do a great job keeping out the dawn sun (I work until 12:30am every night and often don't wind down until 3am)
The three part "Fire" series which includes the piece "Ring of Fire"
Some more silk flowers. Behind is a hand painted jacket that I did back in 1991.
A closer look at the jacket. It's tough to tell, but it depicts a phoenix rising from it's broken layer. I can no longer fit into the jacket, too bad, I liked it alot.
My favourite hat in my collection. This is a beuatiful wide brimmed Panama style fedora from cerca 1930. A great summer hat.
My 1960's winter hat.
This is my more traditional 1950's "Sam Spade" style fedora. In my Christmas pic from a previous post I'm wearing my depression style poor boy.

Well that concludes the tour of my abode in less than fifty pics. I hope you enjoyed. You can find closer looks of my artwork over in "The Eternal Artizan" section. And over at "The White Oliphant" you will find many more pics of me and my family. Just click on either the picture or word links located in the side bar.

Later,
Kenaz

Justice slaps the Daly family in the face

Ontario Superior Justice Fletcher Dawson gave Stephen Papadopoulos an extra day in jail on top of the five years and three months he has spent in custody awaiting his trial for his part in the beating death of Matthew Daly in 2001.

A jury had earlier convicted him of manslaughter and the judge concluded he had driven some of the killers to the scene, but hadn't participated in the fatal attack. The jury had also convicted Sam Nop, 24, and Neil (Fadil) Mujku, 23, of second-degree murder. To reach this verdict, the jurors had to believe they were among the five men who punched, kicked and clubbed Daly to death.

Mujku will have to serve at least 12 years and Nop 13 years before they can apply for parole. With credit for pretrial custody, Mujku could apply for parole as early as Oct. 10, 2013, and Nop a year later. Another man convicted of second- degree murder, Vuthy Chak, 23, will have to serve seven years before he can apply for parole on Oct. 10, 2008.

The sentences are a slap in the face to Daly's parents who have waited five long years to see the cowards who snuffed out their bright light of a son in a fashion that is totally unforgivable.

Mr. Daly called the justice system "broken" but stopped short of blaming the judge for the lenient sentence. I can't be so forth giving to Justice Dawson.

A judge acts as the vessel that holds the elixir we call justice. Justice is meant to anoint those who are hurt by crime. This can't be done if the vessel has cracked and the limited supply of liquid healing has flowed out.

In other words it is a judges civic duty to force law makers into changing laws that benefit those who commit crimes of such grievous nature as this one. It's not right for judges to take the easy way out and hide behind our archaic laws. They must be the catalysis that stems the liberal flow of small minded justice.

Those who are found guilty of crime need to be punished in a fashion that suites the crime and detours them from committing that crime ever again. Coddling and naturing those who only know violence gives criminals a legal carte-blanche snub of society. Instead of feeling remorse, criminals laugh in the face of honest, law abiding people like the Daly family.

Papadopoulos walked out of the Maplehurst detention centre in Milton and spent the evening with his family in Hamilton. The Daly family spent the night asking "why?". "Why not two years for every year of his (Matthew's) life that they took away?" That was a sobering cry to the justice system from Matthew Daly Sr. Will his cry be enough to seal the cracks?

Or will lawyers like Heather McArthur, Papadopoulos' lawyer; who said her client "was absolutely thrilled" with the sentence and that he was looking forward to reuniting with his family and getting on with his life; drown out the cry with their screech of hypocrisy.

Respect for Papadopoulos will never be indulged upon him in Hamilton. Only remorse. He caused the Daly family a lot of pain and the apology he gave was that of a drowning man. Only his maker can offer him the forgiveness he seeks, he better start praying now, only god knows when his number is up.

Later,
Kenaz

Those we have lost in January

In January 2007 the world lost another group of bright talents from all walks of life. Some famous for what they accomplished in the lime light. While others received notoriety for what they accomplished quietly away from the glare of scrutiny.

Among the notables, where:


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
(30)Sidney Sheldon, 89, bestselling American author, pneumonia.


(29)Art Fowler, 84, American Major League Baseball pitcher and pitching coach.


Barbaro, 3, American thoroughbred racehorse, 2006 Kentucky Derby winner, euthanized.

(27)Bob Carroll, 88, American television writer for I Love Lucy, after brief illness.


(26)Lorne "Gump" Worsley, 77, Canadian NHL goaltender and Vezina Trophy winner, heart attack.

(24)Emiliano Mercado del Toro, 115, Puerto Rican WW I veteran, was world's oldest person, natural causes.
(23)John Majhor, 53, Canadian and American radio and TV broadcaster, cancer.


(19)Denny Doherty, 66, Canadian actor/singer, member of The Mamas & the Papas and host of Theodore Tugboat, abdominal aneurysm.


Scott "Bam Bam" Bigelow, 45, American professional wrestler.

(18)Julie Winnefred Bertrand, 115, Canadian who was second-oldest person and oldest woman in the world at time of death.


(17)Art Buchwald, 81, American humorist and columnist, kidney failure.

Keeley Dorsey, 19, American football running back at the University of South Florida.


(16)Ron Carey, 71, American actor (Barney Miller, History of the World, Part I), stroke.


Benny Parsons, 65, American champion NASCAR driver, won 1973 Winston Cup, complications from lung cancer.

(15)James Hillier, 91, Canadian-born American inventor of first practical electron microscope.
(14)Barbara Kelly, 82, Canadian-born British actress (What's My Line), cancer
(13)Dora McDonald, 81, American secretary to Martin Luther King, Jr., complications from cancer.


(8)Yvonne De Carlo, 84, Canadian-born American actress (The Ten Commandments, The Munsters), natural causes.


(7)Bobby Hamilton, 49, American NASCAR 2004 Craftsman Truck Series Champion, head and neck cancer.


(4)Steve Krantz, 83, American film and TV producer (Fritz the Cat), husband of Judith Krantz, complications of pneumonia.

(2)Don Massengale, 69, American PGA Tour golf player, heart attack.
Dan Shaver, 56, NASCAR driver and ARCA race car driver/owner, cancer
(1)Annie Milner, 104, Minnesota's longest serving worker, injuries from a fall.


Later,
Kenaz

One ringy dingy, is anybody there at Hamilton City Hall?

Interruptions, childish out bursts, insults short of "your mother!". A local playground? No, a meeting of Hamilton council. The playpen squabble? Extending local calls to the suburbs. The answer so obvious; to borrow a phrase from a popular info-commercial "so easy, even a child could do it!"

And to further my allegory to info-mercials, "for just a penny a day" on your phone bill you can have the "privilege" of phoning to the burbs for free. Since 2001, Hamilton has been "one" city officially, long before that we have all lived with the conundrum that is the "905" area code.

Here's the argument that my councillor and other inner city councillors offer, "it's not fair for the whole city to pay the cost of reducing phone rates for the suburbs when they enjoy the benefits of area rating, in which they don't pay the full costs for services such as transit and recreational facilities."

This is so ridicules it's not even funny even if it was a joke. Benefits? You can't take a bus to Binbrook or most of the sub-burbs from Hamilton and there are few recreational facilities in these areas to begin with. What the hell benefits are these councillors talking about?

To prove my point, Sam Merulla, inner city councillor, delivered an eloquent and impassioned speech that's so far over the top, I wonder if he was smelling burnt toast at the time.

Merulla says the 30 cents a month would impact the most marginalized residents to subsidize the wealthiest in the suburbs. If council does this, then they have to revisit area rating to ensure everyone pays equally for all services, regardless of where they live. He says the proposal is a "catalyst" that underlines the hypocrisy of past support for reducing business taxes.

Merulla is surprised by some of the councillors who support the motion. They are, "voting in favour of the hypocrisy and inconsistency, the unpredictability which basically are the characteristics of a dysfunctional environment."

What thesaurus did Merulla swallow? If he's so concerned about the impoverished in his riding, he'd realize most of his constituents either can't understand him or see through his paper thin mirage of deceit. Two can play his game.

Councillor Jackson tries to talk about removing irritants, Merulla becomes one himself, repeatedly interrupting with audible mumbling, something along the lines of "I could'va been a contender" or something like that.

Mayor Eisenberger called Merulla on it, urging a respectful debate, a few more minutes of childish taunts before the good Mayor hands out the "soothies" in the way of an altimatum for the debate to stop getting silly and demands a vote.

In the end council agreed to add an amendment, asking the CRTC to reconsider the 30 cents a month price structure. Then they all voted to support going forward with the request to make all calls within Hamilton local calls. Well, two meetings down in 2007 and the pampers are already full. I hope a new shipment is on its way or its going to be a long four years.

Later,
Kenaz

$12 million will never be enough

Prime Minister Stephen Harper is announced the government has reached a legal settlement in the lawsuit filed by Maher Arar over his 2002 deportation to Syria, where he was detained on suspicion of being a terrorist and tortured. The deal is reported to be around $10.5 million plus an additional $2 million for court costs.

Arar, a Syrian-born Canadian, was detained by U.S. authorities at a New York airport in 2002 and deported to Syria, where he was imprisoned and tortured. In his lawsuit against the federal government, the former Ottawa engineer alleged negligence, negligent investigation, defamation, false imprisonment, assault and battery and abuse of public office.

Last fall, a public inquiry report by Justice Dennis O'Connor found RCMP mislabelled Arar as an Islamic extremist with suspected ties to al-Qaida. The report also concluded the sharing of that misinformation with U.S. authorities likely led them to deport him.

The shock waves of O'Connor's report were immediate. Then-RCMP commissioner Giuliano Zaccardelli resigned over the case and apologized and so has Prime Minister Stephen Harper. Yet, American officials refuse to apologize and continue to see a wrongfully accused man as a criminal.

His deportation was the most sickening example of the dangers of ''rendering'' individuals suspected of terror links to third countries for interrogation. Furthermore, Bush continues to stick to his guns; ones from another century and another time. When Americans saw those from foreign lands as a threat to their values.

This week, the issue heated up and threatened to cause a rift in Canada-U.S. relations. U.S. ambassador David Wilkins scolded Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day for insisting that Arar be taken of the the U.S. watch list. Speaking to reporters in Edmonton on Wednesday, Wilkins said the U.S. administration's decision to keep Arar on the list was none of the Canadian government's business.

The decision is absurdly based on personal associations and travel history. Visiting family? Just because they live in Syria? While Washington concedes these points may not warrant Arar's presence on a Canadian security roster, they meet the thresh hold for the American list.

I'm sorry Mr. Wilkins, the mistreatment of our people is Canada's business even if it is by our 'friends'. The U.S can close their border permanently for all I care, but treating this man the way they did is smack right out of Orwells' '1984'. Americas' shady practice of 'extraordinary rendition,' whereby terrorism suspects are sent to regimes with spotty human-rights records for interrogation is criminal, despite what the U.S federal system thinks.

To rub salt in Mr. Arars' wounds the judge ruled legislative precedent showed the Torture Victim Prevention Act, under which Arar was seeking redress, didn't apply to non-U.S. citizens. He determined the court couldn't hear the case on constitutional grounds either.

Elections in the U.S couldn't come sooner, the day Bush and his draconian cronies are gone, the better the world will be. Long live democracy.

Later,
Kenaz

Saying Goodbye to a Canadian Ledgend:Denny Doherty

Denny Doherty, a founding member of the 1960s folk-pop band the Mamas and the Papas, died yesterday at his home in Mississauga, Ontario. He was 66. The cause was not immediately known, his daughter Emberly said. But she said her father had recently suffered kidney failure after surgery for a stomach aneurysm.

With rich, meticulous harmonies that could be tinged with darkness, the Mamas and the Papas where one of the most popular and influential American bands of the era between the Beatles’ arrival and Woodstock. Even for later generations like mine who missed their brilliance, their enduring hits, like “California Dreamin’,” “Monday, Monday” and “Dedicated to the One I Love,” that mixed the gentle jangle of folk with a rock backbeat and sweet, layered pop vocals, will forever be remembered.

Though John Phillips was the group’s principal songwriter, Mr. Doherty sang most of the male leads, in a clear, friendly tenor that he occasionally punctuated with rock ’n’ roll growls. In “California Dreamin’,” the group’s first hit, the singers harmonize about being stuck among the brown leaves and cold gray skies of winter, and pining for sunny respite. But Mr. Doherty’s lead on the verse suggests that his wishes may go unfulfilled:

Well, I got down on my knees
And I pretend to pray
You know the preacher lights the coals
He knows I’m gonna stay

The Mamas and the Papas, who were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998, were one of the first major rock groups to include both women and men in equal performing roles, with Mr. Doherty, Mr. Phillips, Michelle Phillips and Mama Cass Elliot striking an image of casual, collegiate friendship. In reality, they were a destructive tangle of love affairs, accompanied by plenty of drugs and alcohol.

In 1993 Doherty took on not just the VO role of the Harbour Master but all the VO roles in Theodore Tugboat, a children's television show chronicling the "lives" of vessels in a busy harbour loosely based upon Halifax Harbour.

For more of his early solo career in Halifax and Montreal please click on the title link.

Later,
Kenaz

New Playlist at The Eternal Kenaz:Dragnet part 1

Dragnet was a popular, influential and long-running radio and television police procedural about the cases of a dedicated Los Angeles police detective, Sergeant Joe Friday, and his partners. The show takes its name from an actual police term, a dragnet for any system of coordinated measures for apprehending criminals or suspects.

Actor and producer Jack Webb’s aims in Dragnet were for realism and unpretentious acting. He achieved both goals, and Dragnet remains a key influence on subsequent police dramas in many media.

The show's cultural impact is demonstrated by the fact that even after five decades, elements of Dragnet are known to those who've never seen or heard the program:
The ominous, four-note introduction to the brass and tympani theme music (titled "Danger Ahead") is instantly recognizable (though its origins date back to Miklós Rózsa's score for the 1946 film version of The Killers).
Another Dragnet trademark is the show's opening narration: "Ladies and gentlemen: the story you are about to hear is true. Only the names have been changed to protect the innocent." This underwent minor revisions over time. The "only" and "ladies and gentlemen" were dropped at some point, and for the television version "hear" was changed to "see". Variations on this narration have been featured in many subsequent crime dramas, and in satires of these dramas. On radio, Dragnet ran from June 3, 1949 to February 26, 1957.

Dragnet was created and produced by Jack Webb, who starred as the terse Sgt. Friday. Webb had starred in a few mostly short-lived radio programs, but Dragnet would make him one of the major media personalities of his era.

Dragnet had its origins in Webb’s small role as a police forensic scientist in the 1948 film, He Walked by Night, inspired by the actual murder of a police officer in Los Angeles. The film was depicted in semidocumentary style, and Marty Wynn (an LAPD sergeant) was a technical advisor on the film. Webb and Wynn became friends, and both thought that the day-to-day activities of police officers could be realistically depicted, and could make for compelling drama without the forced sense of melodrama then so common in radio programming. Webb frequently visited police headquarters, drove with police patrols, and attended police academy courses to learn authentic jargon and other details that could be featured in a radio program. When he proposed Dragnet to NBC officials, they were not especially impressed; radio was aswarm with private investigators and crime dramas, such as Webb’s earlier Pat Novak for Hire. That program didn’t last long, but Webb had received high marks for his role as the titular private investigator, and NBC agreed to a limited run for Dragnet.

With writer James E. Moser, Webb prepared an audition recording, then sought the LAPD’s endorsement; he wanted to use cases from official files in order to demonstrate the steps taken by police officers during investigations. The official response was initially lukewarm, in 1950 LAPD Chief William H. Parker offered Webb the endorsement he sought. Police wanted control over the program’s sponsor, and insisted that police not be depicted unflatteringly. This would lead to some criticism, as LAPD racial segregation policies were never addressed, nor was there a suggestion of police corruption.

Dragnet debuted inauspiciously. The first several months were bumpy, as Webb and company worked out the program’s format and eventually became comfortable with their characters (Friday was originally portrayed as more brash and forceful than his later usually relaxed demeanor). Gradually, Friday’s deadpan, fast-talking persona emerged, described by John Dunning as "a cop's cop, tough but not hard, conservative but caring." (Dunning, 210) Friday’s first partner was Sgt. Ben Romero, portrayed by Barton Yarborough, a longtime radio actor. When Dragnet hit its stride, it became one of radio’s top-rated shows.

Webb insisted on realism in every aspect of the show. The dialogue was clipped, understated and sparse, influenced by the hard boiled school of crime fiction. Scripts were fast moving but didn’t seem rushed. Every aspect of police work was chronicled, step by step: From patrols and paperwork, to crime scene investigation, lab work and questioning witnesses or suspects. The detectives’ personal lives were mentioned, but rarely took center stage. (Friday was a bachelor who lived with his mother; Romero was an ever-fretful husband and father) "Underplaying is still acting," Webb told Time. "We try to make it as real as a guy pouring a cup of coffee.” (Dunning, 209) Los Angeles police chiefs C.B. Horrall and (later) William H. Parker were credited as consultants, and many police officers were fans.

Webb was a stickler for accurate details, and Dragnet used many authentic touches, such as the LAPD's actual radio call sign (KMA-367), and the names of many real department officials, such as Ray Pinker and Lee Jones of the crime lab or Chief of Detectives Thad Brown.

Episodes began with an announcer describing the basic premise of the show. "Big Saint" (April 26, 1951) for example, begins with, "You're a Detective Sergeant, you're assigned to auto theft detail. A well organized ring of car thieves begins operations in your city. It's one of the most puzzling cases you've ever encountered. Your job: break it."

Friday offered voice-over narration throughout the episodes, noting the time, date and place of every scene as he and his partners went through their day investigating the crime. The events related in a given episode might occur in a few hours, or might span a few months. At least one episode unfolded in real time: in "City Hall Bombing" (July 21, 1949), Friday and Romero had less than 30 minutes to stop a man who was threatening to destroy the City Hall with a bomb.

At the end of the episode, the announcer (George Fenneman) would relate the fate of the suspect. They were usually convicted of a crime and sent to "the State Penitentiary, San Quentin or Folsom" , a state mental hospital, but other occasions the cases had ambiguous, unusual or even disappointing resolutions. Sometimes, criminals avoided justice or escaped, at least on the radio version of Dragnet. In 1950, Time quoted Webb: "We don’t even try to prove that crime doesn’t pay ... sometimes it does" (Dunning, 210)

Specialized terminology was mentioned in every episode, but was rarely explained. Webb trusted the audience to determine the meanings of words or terms by their context, and furthermore, Dragnet tried to avoid the kinds of awkward, lengthy exposition that people wouldn’t actually use in daily speech. Several specialized terms (such as "A.P.B." for "All Points Bulletin" and "M.O." for "Modus Operandi") were rarely used in popular culture before Dragnet introduced them to everyday America.

While most radio shows used one or two sound effects experts, Dragnet needed five; a script clocking in at just under 30 minutes could require up to 300 separate effects. Accuracy was underlined: The exact number of footsteps from one room to another at Los Angeles police headquarters were imitated, and when a telephone rang at Friday’s desk, the listener heard the same ring as the telephones in Los Angeles police headquarters. A single minute of "A Gun For Christmas" is a representative example of the evocative sound effects featured on "Dragnet". While Friday and others investigate bloodstains in a suburban backyard, the listener hears a series of overlapping effects: a squeaking gate hinge, footsteps, a technician scraping blood into a paper envelope, the glassy chime of chemical vials, bird calls and a dog barking in the distance.

Scripts tackled a number of topics, ranging from the thrilling (murders, missing persons and armed robbery) to the mundane (check fraud and shoplifting), yet "Dragnet" made them all interesting due to fast-moving plots and behind-the-scenes realism. In "The Garbage Chute" (15 December 1949), they even had a locked room mystery.

Though rather tame by modern standards, Dragnet--especially on the radio--handled controversial subjects such as sex crimes and drug addiction with unprecedented and even startling realism. Dragnet broke one of the unspoken (and still rarely broached) taboos of popular entertainment when a young child was killed in "A Gun For Christmas" (aired December 21, 1950). The episode followed the search for eight-year-old Stevie Morheim, only to discover he’d been accidentally killed by his best friend while they played with a rifle his friend had received as a Christmas gift. Thousands of letters were mailed to NBC in complaint, including a formal protest by the National Rifle Association. Webb forwarded many of the letters to police chief Parker who promised "ten more shows illustrating the folly of giving rifles to children." (Dunning, 211) "Big Betty" (November 23, 1950) dealt with young women who, rather than finding Hollywood stardom, fall in with fraudulent talent scouts and end up in pornography and prostitution.

The tone was usually serious, but there were moments of comic relief: Romero was something of a hypochondriac and often seemed henpecked; though Friday dated women, he usually dodged those who tried to set him up with marriage-minded dates.

Due in part to Webb’s fondness for radio drama, Dragnet persisted on radio until 1957 as one of the last old time radio shows to give way to television’s increasing popularity. In fact, the TV show would prove to be effectively a visual version of the radio show, as the style was virtually the same. The TV show could be listened to without watching it, with no loss of understanding of the storyline.

source:Wikipedia

(click on the title link or on the radio located in the side bar to go to my station page)

Later,
Kenaz

Storm of confused thoughts leads to a flow from the mouth

I would like you to read the following about the 'big' storm that hit Hamilton back on December first.

Pounding December rains pushed Hamilton dangerously close to a devastating flood that would have overwhelmed up to 3,000 waterfront properties. Officials were so worried about the rising waters they also took emergency precautions to protect the downtown. It could have been the "New Orleans of the North," Councillor Lloyd Ferguson declared yesterday as staff outlined how close the city came to a disaster Dec. 1. The Woodward Avenue water treatment plant ran at its highest level ever during the storm that dumped up to 66 millimetres in parts of the city. It was the first time the plant was forced to use all eight of its pumps.

"Staff work avoided a potential catastrophe," said Jim Harnum, director of water and waste water. Workers reinforced portions of the operation to prevent a sewage leak that could have shorted out the entire system. That would have flooded downtown Hamilton.

Did Councillor Ferguson and Carrie Le Roy; writer of this piece of over exaggeration; lose their senses? I had to think back to what storm they where talking about. That "fateful" December day, was definitely nothing close to what the story tells. I went to work that Friday like any day, and not once was I concerned with a little rain. The bus home didn't need to navigate it's way through any sea of flood water, no persons or animals where forced from their homes. I live in an old home and even a little heavy rain causes the tool room to flood. That night nada!

So where does Mr. Ferguson get off using such a careless metaphor, he should be ashamed of comparing 66 mm of rain to what they experienced in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina and does The Spectator need a proof reader so that this kind of quote never makes print, maybe?

At least 1,300 people died in New Orleans. About 6,600 people, including 1,300 children, are still missing. At the worst in Hamilton, some homes would have sustained damage -- certainly upsetting and costly, but compared to thousands missing and dead? I think not. Shame Mr. Ferguson, I hope this kind of slip never happens again.

Later,
Kenaz