ipsa scientia potestas est (Knowledge is power – Frances Bacon)
while it’s good to see South Carolina legislators voted to remove the Confederate flag from in front of the State House, I wonder if it will be as easy to cleanse the deeply-rooted racism that led a young man to massacre 9 black worshippers in the African Episcopal church in Charleston recently.
Until they implement meaningful gun control laws and until they overhaul mental health services, I fear the removal of the flag will be an empty gesture.
Just took in Helen Mirren in The Audience as part of the Cineplex Live from The National Theatre in London.
What a wonderful performance. This was the original version of the stage show. Mirren is currently starring in it in New York.
She recreates what it might have beem like to listen in on the Queen’s weekly audiences with her Prime Ministers- from Winston Churchill to .David Cameron.
It’s witty and poignant and very perceptive. it gives you a glimpse of politics from an oddly non-political point of view. Who would ever guess that socialist Harold Wilson, the quiet Oxford don from grimly working class Huddersfield, was her favourite PM. Yet she asked her to invite her to tea at number 10.
or was James Callaghan her favourite.
one thing’s for sure. It wasn’t Maggie Thatcher.
You get the feeling Mirren has come to admire the Queen. In the interview after the show she talks about how she has studied her speech and her mannerisms in order to portray the Queen accurately.
Cineplex is doing a great job with theatre and opera “live.” They’re putting on Last Night of The Proms live from the Royal Albert Hall on Sept. 12.
melior tutiorque est certa pax quam sperata victoria. (Livy)
Better and safer is certain peace than hoped for victory
We gain an extra second today, as our calendar catches up with the Earth’s rotation. In 1752, however, there was a major calendar shift in Britain, as England and other parts of Western Europe moved from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian one we now follow. Back then, they skipped 11 days. They went to bed on September 2 and woke up on September 14. Hmm. All without a trip to the LCBO or mind-altering drugs!
A new technology developed by Samsung puts a camera on the front of an 18-wheeler truck and projects the image on the back of that truck, allowing cars behind to know when it’s safe to pass.
while some people say the screen is distracting, I think it’s a great idea.
i remember to this day an incident that happened about 25 years ago when our family was on holiday near Lake Huron. We were driving one of those two- lane highways, one lane each way.
Suddenly, we saw a truck approaching – and a car overtaking it coming towards us.My ex-husband was driving. Fortunately, he kept his cool. he gradually edged over as far as he could to the right of the road without hitting the gravel shoulder. In that way he was able to make just enough room for the truck and two cars.
i can still see the terrified face of the young woman who was driving the car coming towards us. She was frozen in fear and seemed paralyzed. My ex had to beckon her forward to completely overtake the truck.
In that split second he saved our lives and that of the other young driver. I suspect she has never overtaken a truck since.
So, yes. By all means. If you can show us what’s ahead on the road, please do so.
Whatever happened to the Quiet Canadians? You know, the polite folk who always apologized when someone else stepped on their toes.
Now we’re the bad behaved bunch who misbehave around the world, and encourage others to do likewise.
Yes, it may seem foolish to us that a mountain could be sacred and that dishonouring it could lead to an earthquake. But when in Rome … You respect the Roman gods. And don’t expect External Affairs to come running when you take your clothes off at that site. Especially when you’ve been told not to do so.
Went to see the latest film version of the Thomas Hardy classic Saturday.
It’s a good movie. oddly, though, in that early scene where the sheep are herded over the cliff by the bad sheepdog, the lady sitting next to me exclaimed that she didn’t like that scene.
Hello? It’s Hardy. And if you’ve lived to adulthood without knowing that’s the pivotal point of the plot, maybe you should update your reading list.
The unfortunate episode in which Green Party leader Elizabeth May made bizarre, rambling comments at the Parliamentary Press Gallery dinner raises some very real issues for politicians who attend events put on by parliamentary journalists.
The Queen’s Park Press Gallery has two parties: the hugely well-attended Christmas party and charity auction and the Spring Fling. Both are strictly off-the-record. The Spring Fling traditionally hosts speeches and videos by the parties and the gallery. They’re supposed to poke fun at their own foibles and mock their opponents.
They’re usually potty-mouthed and quite explicit in nature. In recent years, though, there has been increasing fear that someone in the crowd won’t understand just what “off the record” means. And that could have devastating effect for a politician – as we saw with Elizabeth May. I understand the Ottawa Gallery’s event was on- the-record.
These days everyone has a camera in their pocket and the ability to reach thousands of people in one Tweet.
My hope is that we can keep these bunfights fun and off-the-record. But I’m not convinced we can. It’s a foolish politician who believes everything they say is off the record. Like, say, Elizabeth May.
dictum factum
no sooner said than done
Christina Blizzard 