On March 10, Tom Hanson, aged 41, collapsed while playing hockey in Ottawa and died shortly after. That very same day, Richard Nicholas, also aged 41, died in a motor vehicle accident in Quebec.
We are all connected in ways impossible to fathom, and last Tuesday one such connection was shattered by tragedy, 19 years after two very different men briefly crossed paths.
Photo: Tom Hanson
As reported here, the French island of Reunion in the Indian Ocean is in the grips of a religious fervour over a wrinkled seat cushion.
THOUSANDS of people have flocked to a Roman Catholic church on the French Indian Ocean island of Reunion after believers said they saw the "face of Christ" in the pleats of a church cushion.
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Antoinette, an 82-year-old parishioner, said the face was a "divine phenomenon" as tears welled up her eyes.
"This church is a holy site," added Lise-May, another worshipper.
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"This is not a miracle, it's a sign of God," said parish priest Daniel Gavard.
No comment from the person who was most recently sitting on the “face of Christ” however.
AMERICAN scientists are making a ray gun to kill mosquitoes. Using technology developed under the Star Wars anti-missile programme, the zapper is being built in Seattle where astrophysicists have created a laser that locks onto airborne insects.
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The laser – dubbed a weapon of mosquito destruction (WMD) – has been designed with the help of Lowell Wood, one of the astrophysicists who worked on the original Star Wars plan to shield America from nuclear attack.
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The WMD laser works by detecting the audio frequency created by the beating of mosquito wings. A computer triggers the laser beam, the mosquito’s wings are burnt off and its smoking carcass falls to the ground. “
Sounds great, right? Especially the bit, “its smoking carcass falls to the ground.” The mere thought of being able to fry the little bastards brings a flutter of joy to the heart as mosquito season approaches.
But is this a realistic solution to a serious problem? Who will pay for these outrageously expensive (because you know they will be) high-tech fly swatters controlled by a computer probably running Microsoft Vista? (Bill Gates is backing the research.) How will they be powered in the villages of darkest Africa? Who will maintain them and keep the hackers at bay and avoiding the blue screen of death? What will happen to the birds and bats that depend on mosquitoes for their food if the populations are decimated or seriously reduced? What happens if the mosquito is sitting in the tip of your nose when the laser locks on?
There is no doubt malaria is a huge problem, especially since the banning of DDT, but there is a very good, low-tech solution out there that has far fewer unintended consequences – the mosquito bednet. For a mere $10 (3 latte’s) you can protect one or more children for up to 5 years. Check it out here, at www.spreadthenet.org.
Like the person who believes an empty bank account means the end of the month is near, I consider my rapidly disappearing woodpile to be an indicator of the imminent end of winter.
Since the temperature is stubbornly hovering around –10C (-22C with the wind chill), that does require somewhat of a leap of faith, but it’s not the only sign of spring.
Yesterday the doves were back from points south where they spend the coldest winter months. The chipmunks have come out of hibernation. The raccoons have broken into our screen porch for what will likely be the first time this year. And the wild turkeys have returned to our yard, as they do every spring.
But the one true, irrefutable, sign of spring? Hot cross buns are back on the shelves at the supermarket. Yum!
The President of Ford Canada, David Mondragon, has it absolutely right when he says that governments should be stimulating demand and not production.
The auto industry will not be salvaged by CAW or anyone else accepting a $7 an hour wage concession. To get serious, governments need to provide scrappage fees to get old vehicles off the road, offer deep tax breaks on new vehicle sales (starting with 0% GST, and provincial sales tax breaks), and other innovative ideas. How about tax-free RRSP withdrawals up to $20,000 to purchase a new or used vehicle?
To simply enable manufacturers to produce their vehicles more cheaply is nonsense. Parking lots full of dusty Impalas or Chargers will do no one any good.
In keeping with the winter sports theme of late, I offer up … Wok Racing, in which seemingly normal people race down a bobsled run sitting in large woks. That’s right – Chinese cooking appliances – on a bobsled run!
For some reason, this seems to be particularly popular in Germany (insert your favourite stereotypical justification here), but you have to admire any sport for which preparation apparently involves consuming a few beers and having a smoke or two, all for medicinal reasons and to calm the nerves I’m sure.
Unfortunately this video has had the soundtrack disabled, but the subtitles make up for it.
With the recent warm weather skating on the lake is probably just a memory for another year. It was an exceptional year with 7 or 8 great days when the ice was smooth and there was little or no snow on the surface.
Wild ice is not what you would expect – ice hanging out with the cool gang, getting into the booze, and then melting away when the cops arrive – it’s naturally occurring ice that forms in farmers fields, ditches and creek beds during the thaw-freeze cycles typical of late winter and early spring.
As Anderson admits, some of the ice can be “pretty wild”, as corn stalks and clumps of earth poke through here and there, but it can also provide kilometres of natural skateway for the wild ice skating aficionado.
Just don’t wear your best skates.
