Not Riki Tiki Tavi. Gef!

I'm in danger of becoming an X-files type blog here, but Leslie recently reminded me of the talking mongoose story. It was in the 1930's on the Isle of Man when Gef, also known as the Dalby Spook, showed up. I read about this in a book the now out of print Armada Book of True Ghost Stories that I got for Christmas when I was a kid. There was a story that scared the hell out of me in it called the Bell Witch. In fact it haunted me to the point that I tossed it (Much to my regret now) in the trash. The funny thing is that I was writing a short story based on the Bell Witch as a writing exercise which then turned into Burnham's Black Book after I came across another 'true' ghost story in Pontiac County Quebec.

While I'm at it I also remember the Fox Sister's whose name is usaully accompanied by the by-line "Founders of the Modern Spiritualist Movement". They lived in the 1800's and designed what was popularized as the Ouija board. They are contemporaries to the character's in my book. Who knows maybe they will show up before I'm done.

One more 'true' tale that kept me up at nights was the story of Patience Worth. That name alone is still enough to make me check over my shoulder to make sure no one is there. I came across her story in a Disney Comics digest. It was one of those one page text space filler features. She was said to be a spirit contacted by Pearl Curran of Missouri at the beginning of the 20th century Oh how I regretted reading that when I was a mere 5 years old. The final nail in the coffin would have to be the story of Bridey Murphy . In the 1950's Virginia Tighe of Pueblo Colorado,was hypnotized and supposedly a woman from Cork Ireland began to speak through her. It was a fraud of course but it turns out that Bridey Murphy was none the less a real person! Another creepy memory in my own personal X-files.

Winter Respite

It was a beautiful -7 C today. It felt like a summer day with a cloudless azure sky. Many people were going without hat and gloves which was pushing it but compared to the -30 C days we've been having it was balmy.

Haunted Hostel

This is where the hiking club I belong to meets. It's an old jailhouse that is now an International Youth Hostel. It's at ten minutes walk from where I live and it's said to be haunted.

As I work on my book I come across various Ontario and Quebec folk legends. My sister referred me to the story of 'Mary' Rutherford that comes from the Hanover area of Southern Ontario where she and her husband live. I found this article on the matter along with other good ghostly events. One of the characters in my novel is a ghost in case you were wondering.



Although the story of 'Mary' Rutherford is clearly not based on fact it's a good little tale that lives on in the local culture.

Lord of the Ring a Ding Ding

A precious birthday gift from a dear friend. This ring is made of a jelly like plastic. You squeeze it and it shines from within. Another squeeze turns it off. Now that I have it I have the feeling that a strange creature is following me everywhere I go.

Coughing Break

I was talking with a friend tonight who has had a terrible influenza related cough for about six weeks. This week she went into the hospital because she had bruising on her side and it was getting very painful. They did an x-ray and it turns out she broke a rib as a result of coughing so hard for so long. I didn't know that this was possible. Itdoesn't happen at once with a big snap it's a gradual process. Now she has a nasty cough and a broken rib. Hope you get better very soon!

Freeze Frame

I haven't been taking many photos lately. It's just too cold to take the camera outside. The wire from my walkman turns as stiff as licorice when I go outside. Things should warm up next week, but then everything will melt. So here's some snow from winter's past:

But When is the Funeral?

I guess it's true that irony really is dead afterall.

I Wonder Where Laurie Is?

When I lived in Montreal I had a job for four months that required me to travel an hour and a half there and back each day. Needless to say I spent a lot of time in transit. I would see many of the same faces everyday and on the last bus, the one that took me from the real world into the industrial park, I befriended a guy named Laurie. Laurie was a production manager at the company next door to where I worked. Laurie had been doing the same route for thirty years. His goal in life was to be laid off and receive a cushy severance package. He claimed that he was begging them to let him go but that he had been there so long that he was irreplaceable.

Laurie was a cool guy though. He lived his own way. He ate healthy and exercised. He was lean and energetic, taking walks from his home near Vendome all the way downtown and back, That would be his day some Saturdays. At one point in his life he was obese so he was a 'born again' skinny man. I don't know why he popped into my thoughts today but I do wonder if he road that bus this morning or if he finally got his wish and is taking a long walk around the island of Montreal.

Infinity Mushroom

Oh the indoor fun you can have when it's -16 C outside (and actually that's really mild compared to most nights lately). Yesterday I received a wonderful box of surprises in the mail. A birthday box from a special friend. Among the many artifacts was abook called The Book of Artrageous Projects.

This amazing collaboration with the venerable Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, comes with all the supplies needed for a hands-on artistic experience, like copper-colored foil, light sensitive paper, color pigments and a paint brush.

I was inspired by the collage section and did this image using a picture of some mushrooms and making patterns out of it leading into infinity (and no this is not a drug reference I just liked the picture of the mushroom).

eSt Week 04

Go to the beginning -->

I had to run for the bus tonight. The moisture in my throat turned to ice as the cold air was sucked down to my lungs. Instant agony. Dave and I went to Don and Moonokes' for a homecooked Korean dinner. The kids were having a good time in between the thudding falls onto the floor. There's a beagle who lives upstairs who joined his owner during laundry time. As I left the apartment he rushed the door and began yapping at Luna who responded in kind. I had to take the time to calm her and that's why I ended up running for the bus. My apologies to you for cutting you short on the phone and thank you for the lovely loungy languid loose-lipped locution, later on in our lazy late night lapse.

All Hail Our Lord...Satan.

Bush family confuses the people of Norway, Italy and Ozzy Fans everywhere.In Italy the cornuto traditionaly is an insult that means "your wife screws other men". In Norway it's associated with death metal and satan. In Texas it means "go longhorns".

Deadly Cold

It's a blue sky day and the sunshine pours in the window, but before you even step out the door you can hear the howling winds. You are bundled up in layers of clothes; long johns are a given. You hide your face with scarf and sunglasses and toque and step outside. Within seconds your gloved hands are in pain. After five minutes your scarf is stiff, the moisture from your breath frozen as it contacts the air. Your eyes tear and the tears freeze your cheeks. The dog looks happy her tail is wagging and she trots along like it was any other day. You take off your glove for a few seconds to get a plastic bag out of your pocket. Your fingers ache with cold long after you are back in the warm apartment typing away at your keyboard.

It's -36 C with wind chill (-32.8 F) today. I guess I won't be going out this evening!

Strange Coincidences in the Political Realm

Most people are familiar with the folklore about the strange coincidences between Lincoln and Kennedy. But what about the much eerier case of the 41st and 43rd Presidents of the United States?

Here's a list of just some of the weird coincidences that mark their Presidencys:

• Both men have four letter surnames that are spelled B-U-S-H.
  
• Both Men have the first name George.
  
• Both men have homes in Texas but were born in the North East.
  
• Both men attended Yale.
  
• Both men flew fighter planes in war time.
  
• Both men launched wars against Iraq.
  
• Both men have been involved in the oil industry
  
• George 41 has a son named George Bush.
  
• George 43 has a father named George Bush.
  
• Both men are Republicans.
  
• A man named Cheney helped lead Bush 41 into the Gulf War.
  
• A man named Cheney helped lead Bush 43 into the Gulf War.
  
• Both men ran the country into large economic deficits.
  
• George 43 once choked on a pretzel.
  
• George 41 once barfed up sushi.
  

What an eerie coincidence that in a country where anyone can be leader two men with so much in common would end up being president.

Strange Toys

Here's a series of strange but real toys you can purchase from The Stupid Store.

The Lightning Reaction Game


Last one to press the red button gets an electric shock in this twisted game for the sado/masochist in us all.

Kaba-Kick


Russian roulette for kids. Hold the pink hippo gun to your head. Pull the trigger. If nothing happens you get points If the pink hippo gun kicks you you lose.





No comment

Banned Toy

Yo Yo Balls also known as Yo Balls were banned in Canada in 2003. The Minister of Health stated "Any fun that can be derived from these yo-yo type balls is overshadowed by the possibility of strangulation".

Deny

There is an entire subculture dedicated to denying the Holocaust. In 1985 I met a man in Toronto who had been a prisoner in Dachau as a young man. He described in detail the horrors he had experienced first hand. This was in a classroom and one of the students asked him how it was that after all that he had seen of the evil of men he could go on with life. He explained that although he saw the worst part of humanity he also saw the best and told us of a priest who gave his life to save a number of other prisoners in the camp as one example. He emphasized the greatness that this sacrifice required. I also recall that he said one of the things he feared most was that people would forget about the Holocaust as a real event. Aside from those who would deny it occurred, there was also the situation in which it might became another distant historical event. We still live in a time when people who worked in the death camps are alive to testify. One such man is Oskar Gröning of Germany. His words on the matter:

"I saw the gas chambers. I saw the crematorium. I saw the open fires. I was on the ramp when the selections took place. I would like you to believe that these atrocities happened, because I was there."

I've come across people in my daily life who doubt the veracity of the Nazi's deeds, in as as leisurely a tone as one might doubt ads they see on TV. One of the scariest things he said, perhaps because it's equally trite and incomprehensible is about how he could participate in the mass extermination of Jews.

"The propaganda had for us such an effect that you assumed that to exterminate them was basically something that happened in war. And, to that extent, a feeling of sympathy or empathy didn't come up."

Spot the Fake Smile

Can you distinguish between a fake smile and the real thing? Try this test based on research by Professor Paul Ekman, a psychologist at the University of California. I got the first three wrong but then got pretty good at spotting a pattern and ended up with 14/20.

Biodegradable Plastics

Scientests at Cornell have discovered a way of making plastics from oranges.They use an oil found in the peel as the building blockto make polylimonene carbonate which has similar qualities to polystyrene. I bet they could do this with grapefruit too.

Streakers Watch

If any of you remember ol'Killer Kane's Streakers Watch blog then you may get a kick out of the Streakers Hall of Fame


A streaker waves as he is taken away on a stretcher after falling from the top of the plexiglass during an NHL game between the Calgary Flames and the Boston Bruins, in Calgary, Thursday Oct. 17, 2002.

Danny Deckchair

Looks like this Danny Deckchair film might be loosely based on Lawnchair Larry's story. Stars Miranda Otto AKA Eowyn of Lord of the Rings

eSt 2005

Not So Fun Facts

World Murders (per capita). Per capita figures expressed per 1000 population.
Crime statistics are often better indicators of prevalence of law enforcement and willingness to report crime, than actual prevalence.

Murders
1. Colombia 0.63
2. South Africa 0.51
3. Jamaica 0.32
4. Venezuela 0.32
5. Russia 0.19
6. Mexico 0.13
7. Lithuania 0.10
8. Estonia 0.10
9. Latvia 0.10
10. Belarus 0.09

Murders with firearms (per capita)
1. South Africa 0.74
2. Colombia 0.52
3. Thailand 0.31
4. Zimbabwe 0.04
5. Mexico 0.03
6. Costa Rica 0.03
7. Belarus 0.03
8. United States 0.02
9. Uruguay 0.02
10. Lithuania 0.02

Source: Seventh United Nations Survey of Crime Trends and Operations of Criminal Justice Systems, covering the period 1998 - 2000 (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Centre for International Crime Prevention)

*Notice that the stat for overall murders is lower than for murders with firearms for South Africa which is in actuality impossible.

PROVINCES AND TERRITORIES RANKED BY HOMICIDE RATE, 2003
PROVINCE/TERRITORY (based on Statistics Canada reports for the year 2003)

PER 100,000
(1) Nunavut 10.21
(2) Northwest Territories 9.55
(3) Saskatchewan 4.12
(4) Manitoba 3.70
(5) Yukon 3.22
(6) British Columbia 2.24
(7) Alberta 2.00
(8) Ontario 1.45
(9) Quebec 1.34
(10) New Brunswick 1.07
(11) Newfoundland 0.96
(12) Nova Scotia 0.85
(13) Prince Edward Island 0.73


TEN WORST STATES FOR MURDER, 2003
STATE (based on FBI Uniform Crime Reports for the year 2003)

PER 100,000
(1) Louisiana 13.0
(2) Maryland 9.5
(3) Mississippi 9.3
(4) Nevada 8.8
(5) Arizona 7.9
(6) Georgia 7.6
(7) South Carolina 7.2
(8) California 6.8
(9) Tennessee 6.8
(10) Alabama 6.6

Scooby Dooby Doo Where Are You?

Woman Jailed for 'Haunting' Owner of Castle

From the Scotsman:

A Polish woman who harboured a grudge against her husband's employer has been sentenced to four months imprisonment for terrorising the boss by making ghostly sounds at his castle-like estate in Austria.

The 42-year-old woman, whose name was not released, was convicted on Friday on nuisance charges after she allegedly spent weeks masquerading as a ghost and making mysterious noises, Austrian television reported.

Police captured the woman on videotape after the jittery owner, who employed the suspect's husband, begged authorities in the alpine province of South Tyrol to solve the mystery.

The haunted owner had complained of hearing footsteps in the hallways and slamming doors late at night at the estate near Austria's southern border with Italy.

It was unclear why the Polish woman had become angry.

Who Would Have Guessed?

Funny world. A new CIA report has concluded that Iraq has become an incubator for terrorists. No one foresaw this happening did they? Besides my 8 year old nephew and Woody Harrelson, and most likely Noam Chomsky said something about this, oh and almost everybody who didn't have their head stuck in a bucket. No WMD's, a new terrorist Ivy League. Good job.

Lost in the Supermarket

I was wandering through the supermarket aisles when I heard the words to an old song. You know how sometimes you just connect to a song so deeply that it changes the way you see things? Well this wasn't one of those moments. This was Pac Man Fever that was bouncing through the Fruit Loops and canned tuna. Like the song says

'I've got Pac-Man Fever, Pac-Man Fever.
It's driving me crazy, driving me crazy.
I've got Pac-Man Fever, Pac-Man Fever.
I'm going out of my mind, going out of my mind.
I've got Pac-Man Fever, Pac-Man Fever.
I'm going out of my mind, going out of my mind.

What a horrible horrible song, but such honest lyrics. It was a big hit in the 80's for a duo called Buckner and Garcia (no relation to Jerry?). The duo followed up with the Do the Donkey Kong which signaled an end to the creative teams brief but glorious career in the limelight. Or did it? Apparently Pac Man Fever is still driving them crazy. You can order the CD online and play Pac man in their arcade.

"A man can't just sit around."

Thanks to Leslie for pointing out this link about Lawn Chair Larry Walters. The man who rose to an altitude of 16,000 ft in a lawn chair tied to weather ballons. I couldn't stop laughing. Apparently he only wanted to go to 30 ft and took beer and sandwiches with him. Actually I did stop laughing when I read the follow up. Poor Larry committed suicide later on in life. I just wish he had done it by floating away into space rather than using a shotgun, but I guess that's not how despair works. John found additional info here. that claims to have the inside scoop on Larry's story. This version contradicts the casual intent of the flight by indicating that Larry took a CB with him and he reported to his girlfriend on the ground with it. In this version "His goal was to sail across the desert and hopefully make it to the Rocky Mountains in a few days". This makes more 'sense' to me, but the Homeresque (Simpson) version of the dude in his backyard with his beer and lawnchair getting in over his head has it's appeal.

Hurray the Search is Over! Take that France.

Almost two years after the War in Iraq started the search for Sadam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction has come to an end... And they found nothing... And no one apologizes and no one is embarrassed, because somehow the world is a safer place and Democracy is on the march...Sigh.

Blogger Seeks Gainful Employment

Earlier this year a Canadian blogger lost her job over content in a personal blog and now Britian has it's first case of someone being fired over blog content. The details are at the link to the Guardian: "he was dismissed without warning for "gross misconduct" and "bringing the company into disrepute" through the comments he posted on his weblog." I guess the thing to keep in my mind is that a blog is not a private journal but a publiction, not that I think he should have been fired however. A sample

Evil Boss then has cheek to ask me to work one of the bloody bank holidays in the week he refused me off. Cheeky smegger. Said no.

I think maybe he was actually fired for being Gollum.

Thank You!

I forgot to add that I recieved this lovely grapefruit Birthday postcard from Leslie today!

Mac Mini

Check out the new Mac Mini only $499.00 US

Up up and Oops

Doing some background research for Burnham's Black Book I came across this story that took place at the first Central Canada Exhibition in Ottawa in 1888. There was a hot air balloon at the fair and a volunteer was asked to hold the balloon rope before it was launched. A 22 year old named Thomas Wensley came forth and held the rope. In fact he held on even as the balloon ascended to an altitude of 1,000 ft when he finally lost his grip and fell to his death over bank street. it's funny to think that he'd be 117 now.

The Way We Blogged

When I first started blogging I wrote as if only two people I knew very well were reading this. Then I was introduced to a whole new group of people mostly Meades among others. It led to some really great fun and friendships but then at some point people I had never met started dropping by and things changed. I was aware of an audience. This lasted for a while but eventually a certain contingent disappeared. I don't think they liked my pontification or perhaps they were just bored, likely both. On the other hand there were some who only liked my political posts and dropped me for not pounding one note on a daily basis.One blogger listing had me as 'inventive' anther as 'eccentric'. For a while the Glob was listed as one of the top blogs at Blogs Canada and the Glob still gets regular hits from that avenue. This is sounding like an obituary for the Glob and Wail. In any case I have arrived in a kind of blog rut. I think this reflects how my life and environment have changed in the real world. On the otherhand here I am blogging.

The fact is I love writing, drawing and photography, so I'll probably keep at it but I'm not certain what the tone of it will be as this is nowhere near an anonymous blog. I'm on the midst of a slow turning point that started last April and prompted me to leave Montreal and the plan is unfolding.

Star ratS

Did you know that rats can not tell the difference between Dutch and Japanese when played backwards? They can't. Dumb rats. Ah, but did you know they can tell the difference when heard forwards!

Black Hole Fun

What could be more fun than the fabric of space and time spinning wildly.

Happy New Year

Okay I'm late and I'm using a picture from last year, but you know I really mean it. Really.

Carlson (Dick) Tucker Circumsized at Last

Remember when Jon Stewart told Tucker Carlson he was a "dick" last fall on Crossfire? Well Leslie just informed me that Carlson got the boot and Crossfire has been cancelled.
Johnathan Klein Chief Executive of CNN News stated "I guess I come down more firmly in the Jon Stewart camp," in regards to Stewart's criticism of the antagonistic abusive shouting matches that are sold as news programs especially, but not exclusively by FOX.
Is this a sign that CNN is travelling a higher road or just a case of a show having run it's course?

Three Views of Grapefruit Rind

Based on a digital photo I took after breakfast.

Owen Sound Sights

Back in Blue

Well I'm back in Ottawa and I feel so ...lonely. After being with friends and family for the past two weeks it just doesn't seem right to be so alone. It's nice to see all the comments while I was away. This blog world is a kind of family in some ways. I've met so many great people through this, like Val, Jack, Painkiller,Cacoa, Gnat, Kat and Leslie and it's a great and fun way to keep in touch with old friends as well. I hope everyone had a great holiday. Yesterday was my birthday by the way and we had a little party with my nephews and niece and a great choclate cake.Bob and Anna called just before midnight my time and sang Happy Birthday to me as did Sophie. Thanks guys that was really great. Jack wanted to stay up until midnight to see the new year in but I was on the phone and everyone else was asleep so he missed it. Sorry little dude!

We had tons of snow and near death experiences on the highways. Lot's of fun. A really classy and classic Christmas. Ahhhhh back to the grind. Good things ahead though. Okay you see I don't feel so blue nor alone now. The blog has served me well once more.