I LOVE my bread machine revisted ...

Tonight I decided I had to play ... earlier today I took out the sour dough starter that has been sitting in the fridge on the back porch and reactivated it ... then tonight I tried the sour dough bread recipe for the bread machine ...

You're looking at the results ... it might not be the prettiest looking loaf, but if it tastes half as good as it smelled baking, it will be delicious ...

I'll let you know ...

Tonight ...

STORM WARNING IN EFFECT !!

The snow is falling,

the wind is blowing,

and it is just plain miserable ...

tis a night unfit for man nor beast ...

Yet, Callie and Journey are out frolicking in the snow.

To each their own I guess !!

Definitely & Distinctly Canadian ... Famous Folks ...

The Voice of Doom,

Pa Cartwright,

Commander Adama

The one and only:

Lorne Green

And the answer is:

Alex Trebek

Captain Von Trapp,

The Kingon General Chang,

The multi-faceted actor

of stage and screen:

Christopher Plummer

Dr James Naismith,

The inventor of Basketball !!

Captain Kirk,

T.J. Hooker,

a "singer",

spokesperson for All Bran Cereal,

the distinctive and unforgettable:

William Shatner.

And the Oscar SHOULD go to ...

Tomorrow the talented and wonderful Katie Bowen (of At The Half Note), the brilliant and witty David Kosh, along with the irrepressible Annie are off to the Sedona International Film Festival to screen their simply incredible film: Cold Tea.

Katie was the director, editor, and producer of the film, David the writer and producer and Annie had a small acting part in the beginning of the film ...

I was delighted to receive a dvd copy of the film some months ago, and have watched it over and over and over again ...

The screen play is based on a short story by Katie's father Roger (a man of enormous talent in his own right) that under the skillful hand of David, has been translated into something amazing ... All elements of the film - the visual images, the acting, the dialogue, the music, and even the editing ... ALL of it, comes together in a seamless production that is simply breathtaking.

Quirky, delightful and utterly enchanting. Cold Tea is in my opinion: AMAZING!!

So, tonight as they get ready to head to Sedona, I want to wish Katie, David and Annie all the best ...
Have fun.
Knock their socks off.
Enjoy yourselves.
And most of all make the connections you need to launch yourselves into bringing to the world more wonderful films like Cold Tea !! (Periodically Katie posts some of her short home videos on her blog - they are worth watching!!)

And may you and Cold Tea "break a leg" ...

I'll be sending you all the good energy I can find in the cosmos ... and this week I'll be watching Cold Tea and hoping that others see what an incredible film it really is ...

You guys rock, and so does your film !!!!
Break a Leg !!! And tell us all about it ...

Okay ... I gotta ask ...

Today, I read in the paper that Belinda Stronach, MP and heir apparent to the Magna International empire put together by her daddy Frank, has launched a campaign to purchase 500 000 Bed Nets for children in areas where Malaria is rampant ...

I applaud goal. Heck, I even applaud the effort. BUT ...

Today it was reported that Magna (Daddy's company - and Belinda's too), had posted a profit of only 29 MILLION dollars ... that on sales in excess of 24 BILLION - that with a 'B' - BILLION. (where is Carl Sagan when you need him ???)

Does any one else see a problem or a disconnect here ???

Belinda wants to raise $5 000 000 for the Bed Nets ... couldn't she, and shouldn't she, just get Daddy to cut a cheque and write it off as a donation for a tax break ??

Is it me or have the wealthy lost touch with the world in which the rest of us live ???

I applaud your goal Belinda, but why do ordinary Canadians have to pay for it ?? Could you scrape together a couple of million from the spare change lying around your many homes???

Just wonderin'...

Kinda Cool ...

Tonight the tv was on for background noise (not on CMT this time - thank God) ... it was turned to the tv listing channel which was playing its usual assortment of advertisements for realtors, car dealers and community events, when suddenly a strange voice broke through ...

... this voice wasn't speaking English. This voice was speaking Spanish (for some of my more urbane readers - remember we're talking about rural Manitoba here)!! It was an advertisement for one of the Car Dealers in Brandon - and the entire voice over was done in Spanish !!

"Brilliant!!" I exclaimed ... The massive Hog processing plant in Brandon has been bringing in workers from Mexico lately. This has meant more and more encounters with non-English speakers in and around Brandon.

Clearly one of the car dealerships is taking a calculated risk on attracting a new customer base by offering them a salesman and an advertisement aimed specifically at them in their own language. This is one of those moments wherein I'm proud of Canada and its multicultural heritage. I think it's just very, very cool !!

Wise Counsel ...

Vanity of vanities, says the Teacher, vanity of vanities!

All is vanity.

What do people gain from all the toil

at which they toil under the sun?

A generation goes, and a generation comes,

but the earth remains forever.

The sun rises and the sun goes down,

and hurries to the place where it rises.

The wind blows to the south,

and goes around to the north;

round and round goes the wind,

and on its circuits the wind returns.

All streams run to the sea,

but the sea is not full;

to the place where the streams flow,

there they continue to flow.

All things are wearisome;

more than one can express ...

----------------------------

Ecclesiastes 1:2-8 NRSV

The TWO Hardest words to speak:

Thank you.

---------------------------------------------

... and sometimes simply hearing them,

can make all the difference in the world.

Today ...

Even THESE pieces are simply too large ...

The Lesson for Today ...

I was once sent an email from a friend ... it told the story of a young man seeking the guidance of a wise old man ...

The young man told the old man he wanted his life to be significant and have meaning. He wanted to leave an impression in the world. The young man shared his hopes, his dreams, his heart. The young spoke of what aspirations and visions that drove him. He talked about all the things he wanted to do to win people's respect, and appreciation ...

The old man listened then he told the young man to fetch a pail of water. The young man did as he was told and placed the bucket brimming with water down before the Master.

"Now," said the old man, "put your hand in the bucket."

The young man did as he was asked, and water sloshed out over his feet.

"Now, quickly remove your hand ..." said the old man.

The young man again complied.

"Now, young man," the old man pointed at the bucket, "the hole you've left in the water is the difference you'll make in the world, and the thanks you'll get for being here ..."

Today I learned what that email really means ...

One of those days ...

We missed the worst of yesterday's storm and blizzard ...

but today turned in to "one of those days."

As I struggled to free the van from a snowfilled ditch

on the north end of town,

I called home and asked M to come and help.

While I waited for her to come

she was trying to free the car from a snowfilled ditch

on the south end of town ...

Eventually we both got our respective vehicles free,

with no help from each other ...

oops ..

Damned !! Damned !!! Damned !!!!

I spent the better part of the day

fighting with my computer ...

... I was trying to print a number of things,

and the printer and the computer weren't

communicating to each other ...

... or so it seemed ...

After innumerable restarts,

reloading the driver,

checking the connections,

trying just about everything ...

... I FINALLY noticed

a little red light on my printer ...

... a quick check in the manual,

and a new ink cartridge later ...

and I was back in business ...

Some days I yearn to for the simplicity of

a pencil and a pad of paper ...

and a pa

Flat Stanley at Work ...

Ms. H. and I had a couple of things we wanted to do at the Church Office, so we decided to take Flat Stanley along ... That may not have been the wisest thing to do ... He seemed to be very good at getting into mischief ...

First he got into the Fair Trade Coffee ...



Then he played with the photocopier and got himself stuck ...

And hen checked out the plans for the NEW church ...

Still need to get him to Chipperfields' for coffee ...

Daddy I want ...

Noahkila has brought home an encyclopedia of dogs from the school library. He and his sisters have been pouring over the pictures, deciding which breeds of dog they really want to have. Last night on the way out of the coffee shop the following conversation ensued ...

Noahkila: "I know what kind of dog I really want."

Beetle: "I want a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel."

Noahkila: "Yeah me too !! What kind do you want dad?"

Dad: "I would like a nice Newf."

Noahkila: "Yeah, I knew that too."

Dad: "She has to be pretty though, and kind. She needs to be able to cook well, and keep my bed warm. And it would really nice if she was good with kids and didn't mind helping out around the house doing some of the chores."

Ms H.: "Are you talking about a DOG?"

Dad: "No, she would have to be pretty."

Noahkila: "DAD !! We were talking about what kind of DOG you want, not a person ..."

Dad: "Oh ... I guess I'd want a Newfoundlander for a dog too ..."

Is Ms Rice Embarassed by the Concept of Peace??

In 1956, Lester B. Pearson was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his work creating the first United Nations Peacekeeping Force that went to the Suez during the crisis earlier that year.

The gold medal and parchment proclaiming the prize, are housed as a permanent display in the lobby of the Lester B. Pearson Building in Ottawas where the Canadian Ministry of Foreign Affairs is headquartered.

Today it was reported that the statue of the LIBERAL Prime Minister, his medal and the parchment were to be covered up for the photo op being held in Ottawa with Foreign Affairs Minister Peter McKay, Ms Condoleeza Rice, the US Secretary of State, and their Mexican counterpart.

The hiding away of the statue and medal has been deemed "unprecedented" by Canadian Media outlets ... the theory offered has been the Conservative Government's attempts at hiding away achievements of their Liberal predecessors.

Personally, I think it is for a simpler reason than that ... Ms Rice is a member of a Cabinet that once had a guy named John Ashcroft who had Lady Justice covered up during his press conferences because of her bare breasts. I wonder if it is simply the concepts of Justice and Peace that make Ashcroft and Rice and their cronies so uncomfortable??

That seems like a more likely explanation ... they are part of an administration who doesn't want to be reminded of things like justice, peace and other such ideals that they have been ineffective at realizing an achieving ...

Space and Togetherness ...

I often read the following quotation from Kahlil Gibran at wedding ceremonies when a healthy and loving partnership between two people is being affirmed and celebrated. I post it today for a friend is who struggling to find the very thing that Gibran so eloquently proclaims ...

The prophet speaks of marriage:

But let there be spaces in your togetherness,
And let the winds of the heavens dance between you.
Love one another but make not a bond of love:
Let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls.
Fill each other's cup but drink not from one cup.
Give one another of your bread but eat not from the same loaf.
Sing and dance together and be joyous, but let each one of you be alone,
Even as the strings of a lute are alone though they quiver with the same music.
Give your hearts, but not into each other's keeping.
For only the hand of Life can contain your hearts.
And stand together, yet not too near together:
For the pillars of the temple stand apart,
And the oak tree and the cypress grow not in each other's shadow.

Definitely and Distinctly Canadian ... The Edison Connection!

Just to clarify a previous entry - The incandescent light bulb was first patented by some Canadians, and the patent was later purchased by Thomas A Edison who is widely (and erroneously) attributed as the inventor of the Light Bulb ... It is akin to the debate whether the Telephone was invented in Boston or Brantford Ontario ... Any child who has passed through the Canadian School system KNOWS that the telephone was invented in Brantford, not Boston ... Alexander Graham Bell was one of ours ...

Now back to our regular feature ... I would like to share an extract from a book entitled "Floodtides of Fortune" by Adelaide Leitch. Floodtides is the story of Stratford Ontario ... in it she writes the following:

... a 16 year old boy cam to town in 1863 to take his first job away from his home in Port Huron Michigan. The job was that of night telegrapher ... he was a round-faced, blue-eyed lad who dreamed great dreams. His stay in Stratford was brief and his departure abrupt.
From the beginning he was an experimenter ... The 7pm to 7 am shift suited him beautifully, giving him long, day light hours for his experimenting and allied projects. Because of his nighthawk shifts he was able, one day, to take the day train to Goderich to get the platinum electrodes from over 80 cells of old, broken up batteries. This platinum would still be used in his labratory 40 years later.

To show that he was on duty, the young night operator was required to send the signal "6" every hour to the train dispatcher. To take care of that, he rigged a wheel with notches cut in the circumference and attached it to a clock in such a way that the night watchman could start it Each hour, the turning wheel dutifully sent the morse code for the "sixing" while he blissfully cat napped. However it finally occurred to the central control office that there was something very strange indeed going on since "Sf" could not be roused even when the central dispatcher called back immediately after the sixing signal had come through. They soon investigated. There was a reprimand ...

One night, a message came through from the dispatcher to hold a freight train until the arrival of another. He acknowledged reciept of the message, then ran from his office to tell the signalman. It was probably not his fault, but he was too late. The train was already pulling past him. Horrified he dashed back to report he couldn't stop it !

Luckily, the line between Stratford and St Mary's was a straight one. The engineers of the opposing trains saw one another in time to stop.

The young man took off for home in Port Huron on the first freight train out of Stratford. The Grand Trunk still owed him wages, but henever came back for them. He collected only his clothes - and his precious hoard of platinum ...

In the Stratford Ontario Train Station is a small bronze plaque that says: "IN Commemoration of Thomas Alvin Edison, employed in this city as a telegraph operator by the Grand Trunk Railway, 1863/4."

Definitely and Distinctly Canadian ... Inventions ...

Some Canadian inventions and innovations:

Light Bulb ...

Instant Mashed Potatoes ...

The Zipper ...

The Wonder Bra ...

Have you CLICKED today ???

IF you haven't - just click above and

make a difference in the world !!

And then there were TWO ...

Victor Lloyd Clemmett

1899 - 2007

Lloyd's claim to fame was perhaps simply longevity:

He was one of Canada's 3 surviving World War One Veterans.

He enlisted in 1916 at the age of 16,

and was heading to the European Front when

the Armistice was declared on November 11th 1918.

He never saw combat, but he DID serve in the uniform.

Lest We Forget !!

The New Church Plans ...

Each week we seem to draw closer to this becoming a reality ...

... this week it was pews, stained glass,

and a quick re-working of the plan ...

One day VERY soon we will be standing in a new Building !!

Just Stating the Obvious ...

My small joy for today:

Re-reading the buttons I proudly wear on the collar of my spring coat.

They are truer than I care to think about !!

Flat Stanley goes to school ...

Today I was the mystery reader in Beetle's class. I went with a copy of Storm Boy in hand to read to her class, and tucked in my back pack was our little visitor from Victoria - Flat Stanley!!

Our first stop was the school library ... Stan was thrilled when we found copies of HIS BOOKS:

We had a really good look around the library ... we met the Principal,

some students and the LIBRARIAN:

From the library we went to Mrs L's classroom, where Beetle sat

with Stan while I read the story.

I left, and Stan spent the rest of the afternoon hanging out in class:

Flat Stanley had a great time at TCS, and

Beetle's class was glad to meet him ...

Joy in Small Things ...

Out our window, under the bird feeder in the back yard ...

in the midst of the falling snow, breakfast was served

and the tiny little birds came in masses ...

It was lovely - a tiny joy on a cold and snowy morning.
(Wish I could get a picture of the Blue Jay ... maybe tomorrow)

Today's Problem ...

I have spent most of today battling a

Trojan Virus on my lap top ...

... I will be back blogging eventually,

but only when the battle is WON !!

Super Dad Returns ...

This morning as the kids had breakfast before leaving for school, I did a batch of Rice Krispies Squares along with their lunch sandwiches ... but after school I jumped into a phone booth and put on my Super Hero costume ...

I baked several dozen chocolate chip cookies, a dozen raisin bran muffins, a loaf of bread (in the bread machine), a pot of spaghetti, AND I did two loads of laundry ... the only opps in the whole experience was forgetting to put the detergent in with one load of laundry ...

Then it was off to a Parents' Advisory Council meeting at the kids' school ...

Upon further investigation ...

Yesterday, I noticed the one perfect, beautiful orange on the tree,

upon further investigation, we discovered a branch that is

groaning under the weight of a multitude of growing oranges !!

It puts me in the mood to sing a Reggae song:

(with apologies to Bob Marley)

"Nine Little Oranges, sitting upon my door step,

Singing sweet songs of melodies pure and ture.

Sayin' this is my message to you ..."

A Joy for Today ...

This morning the Christmas Amaryllis began to bloom ...

... on a grey day with fresh snow on the ground,

it is a living reminder that

"in the cold and snow of winter, a spring awaits to be,"

For now though ... a thing of beauty and joy

for an ever important now ...

Hot Coffee, Cold Tea and a Fiery Leo Woman on a Journey just begun ...

Today the Blog "At the Half Note" turns One Year OLD !!

Hurrah !!! Hurrah !!!

Pop over and join in the festivities that began a year ago when a Leo woman went on line and shared her horoscope inspired personal ad, her love of coffee and her passion for a wonderful short film she has helped bring into being called "Cold Tea."

Since that fateful day, she has shared life's highs and lows. She made her readers laugh and even cry. She's offered words of profound wisdom, observations of poignant (and at times gut wrenching) reflection and enchanting proclamations of silliness.

With wit, wisdom, laughter, light and an enormous heart full of love, Katie has shared a journey with her readers that has caused us to feel almost every emotion known to the human family ... At the Half Note has been a great read and a profoundly moving journey of a very real human spirit finding her way in the world and claiming her path, her power and her future ... Along the way she's introduced us to music, food, and a wonderful cast of characters with whom she shares her New York life ...

So, Happy Birthday At The Half Note, and may you and Katie continue this wondrous journey ... & THANK YOU for what you've given us so far ...

Prairie, Chipps and Minne, get a little sister ...

A couple of weeks ago I happened to be walking to Chippefields' for coffee when I noticed the art work that adorned the side of a passing freight train ...

To many it is simpl graffiti, but it has always struck me as a form of modern art that is posited on what is perhaps the world's largest mobile Art Gallery ... With thousands of train cars passing through hundreds of communities, we ALL have an opportunity to see for ourselves examples of urban art set free by unknown artists who have creatively (some would say - destructively) placed their art on the sides of train cars for all to see.

I've taken up thier challenge. I usually travel with my digital camera now, and have been intending to feature some of this Rolling Art on this blog, but today after a long cold walk along some of the grain cars parked on the sidings here in Minnedosa, I realized that the pictures could quickly over run the Blog ... So, instead I decided on my walk back to put them on a NEW Blog that will feature the Rail Road art that passes through town every day ...

So, Rolling Art was born ... with a few clicks of the key board, a couple of buttons pushed on the digital camera and some time ... the blogs I've tended over the last year got a little sister ... I'm not sure where she'll go ... but it will be a place where my camera and I are able to play ... feel free to join us: Rolling Art

Comfort the Afflicted, Afflict the Comfortable ...

Yesterday for Transfiguration Sunday (the last Sunday before Lent) we celebrated Communion ... it was one year since our first service in St Alphonses Roman Catholic Church following the fire ... I spoke the words of Communion with the children of the congregation gathered on the floor before the communion table ... It was a beautiful moment ...

But these words in the liturgy stood out for me:

Mighty and Tender God

In Jesus of Nazareth

we recognize the fullness of your grace:

light, life and love, revealed

in words that confront and comfort us,

in teachings that challenge an change us,

in compassion that heals and frees us ...

As we broke bread and looked backwards and forwards in our life as a community and as people, the understanding of the Gospel as a message that will simulataneously comfort those who have been afflicted by the world, and will afflicted those who have grown comfortable and complacent seemed real ... the challenge now is to live THAT ...

My Dawgs ...

Journey

Callie

Today's they're just hanging out doing what dogs will do ...

Joy in small things ...

Today I noticed a beautiful, perfect orange on

the miniature orange tree in our living room.

It is round and lovely and plump

and just enchanting ...

... it is simply a small joy for today !!

Too bad it's not edible ...

This morning around our house ...

Diesel

Chloe

Chrysanthemum

All three cats are spending thier day lounging

sounds like a good idea to me ...

They ARE Vermin you KNOW ??

Our Rats - Coco (bottom) and Olivia (top)

Beetle's Guinea Pig - Oreo ...

As one of my parishoners reminded me
THEY ARE vermin, but damned, they are cute ...