Merry Christmas!
Why the camel? Well how'd you think the three wise men got to Bethlehem??
Have a joyous and blessed Christmas every one!
Thursday, December 24, 2009
Saturday, October 17, 2009
EI Reform NOW!
Time for anothert rant I guess. Maybe I should team up with Rik Mercer. So in my region of Canada you need to have 595 hours to qualify for EI. Can you imagine the frustration to find out that you've missed qualifying by a scant 84 hours?? What about the people who miss out by 40 hours? Or miss by inches like 591 hours?? How is this fair?? People who have had their hours reduced because of cutbacks or those who have been working 2 to 3 part-time jobs and who lose one or more because of the current economic situation have no recourse and the government is failing to recognize this because they don't have a full-time job. They still pay into the system. The system has a current surplus of 56.95 million dollars likely amassed during the boom. Those who advocate for reform of the system say it is broken and the lives of those who miss qualifying by such tiny margins are also broken. The current lobby for reform platform stands on the principle that EI qualifying should be a uniform 360 hours across the country. Well obviously I agree.
This should be first and foremost in the governments much advertised and touted "Action Plan".
They need to get their priorities straight! For more check out this article: http://http://www.rabble.ca/news/2009/07/urgent-ei-fix-needed-now
Time for anothert rant I guess. Maybe I should team up with Rik Mercer. So in my region of Canada you need to have 595 hours to qualify for EI. Can you imagine the frustration to find out that you've missed qualifying by a scant 84 hours?? What about the people who miss out by 40 hours? Or miss by inches like 591 hours?? How is this fair?? People who have had their hours reduced because of cutbacks or those who have been working 2 to 3 part-time jobs and who lose one or more because of the current economic situation have no recourse and the government is failing to recognize this because they don't have a full-time job. They still pay into the system. The system has a current surplus of 56.95 million dollars likely amassed during the boom. Those who advocate for reform of the system say it is broken and the lives of those who miss qualifying by such tiny margins are also broken. The current lobby for reform platform stands on the principle that EI qualifying should be a uniform 360 hours across the country. Well obviously I agree.
This should be first and foremost in the governments much advertised and touted "Action Plan".
They need to get their priorities straight! For more check out this article: http://http://www.rabble.ca/news/2009/07/urgent-ei-fix-needed-now
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Just a couple points I need to get off my um, erm chest. Like why is 'daffy Kadafi" coming to Canada?? WTF and so how come Wally Lamb gets to use lines from and titles of songs for his book titles?? The times I've listened to a song and thought well, I could write a story around that one and Lamb goes and does it? He's listened to too many 80's songs for sure. Maybe I should send Oprah my book. Lamb took nine years???? to write his latest. Okay so it's over 700 pages and it's taken me nearly five to chunk out 250 but seriously. Not that I have a block or anything but I'm busy trying to make a living not writing and besides, I'm very picky, everything has to be perfect! Every word a gem! Ha well if it's worth reading it's worth waiting for, so sorry folks but you are just going to have to wait some more.
On that other topic:
Please come to Canada Mr. Kadafi, our lunatic asylums are empty, the government has let them all out on the streets and we need someone to fill them! Plus we're all really bored with Harper's Action Plan! (Huh maybe Kadafi is part of the plan!) 'Nuff said!
On that other topic:
Please come to Canada Mr. Kadafi, our lunatic asylums are empty, the government has let them all out on the streets and we need someone to fill them! Plus we're all really bored with Harper's Action Plan! (Huh maybe Kadafi is part of the plan!) 'Nuff said!
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Man it's time for an update! I guess I can't blog regularly because I'm too busy on Twitter. Haha! Well not really. The weather being so nice out, when I'm not working I'm outside of course. And no, no wifi yet but someday, maybe in time for next summer.
My hat's off to you darling Victoria re the article that you may find at the link below.
http://http://www.theglobeandmail.com/blogs/in-other-words/a-brit-giller-judge-makes-fun-of-canadian-fiction/article1297024/
Why? Well from what this fellow brit says about the Canadian novel proves out that when I finally get mine done it'll really be something different! Not a mention of a toque in the whole thing!
Well I guess that's all for now. You can follow me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/bevnik
Till the next time I have something I'm burning to say, cheerio.
My hat's off to you darling Victoria re the article that you may find at the link below.
http://http://www.theglobeandmail.com/blogs/in-other-words/a-brit-giller-judge-makes-fun-of-canadian-fiction/article1297024/
Why? Well from what this fellow brit says about the Canadian novel proves out that when I finally get mine done it'll really be something different! Not a mention of a toque in the whole thing!
Well I guess that's all for now. You can follow me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/bevnik
Till the next time I have something I'm burning to say, cheerio.
Wednesday, August 05, 2009
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Excuse me while I Yodel
Ah that's better. I just wanted to yap about movies vs. books and why reading is so great. The trend is for non readers to say "Oh I'll wait for the movie to come out, I don't have to read the book." Believe me I've heard kids say this alot. What's worse is they can now download and watch movies online and really how many books can you do that with? So why read? Kindle needs to be way cheaper and perhaps some of these kids would actually read if it were more like their handheld video games! They are missing out if they think the movie will suffice. It's just not as good as reading. With reading you are the final author, you get to interpret the original author's vision with your own imagination. Yes folks, reading is a creative act. You read the writer's words and you see an interpretation of what they are describing with your mind. I had an English teacher who told me that nothing I wrote was ever really finished. I tell my students that now too. Why? Because it is true. Your audience will finish your story or poem with their own imagination, what they see in their mind when they read your words. Every reader will see it in their own unique way. A movie based on a book on the other hand is a finished product with little room for the audience to imagine or interpret. Though I give some directors credit for leaving room for audience interpretation, in most cases where a movie is based on a book you are getting that reader's particular vision of things.
I saw "Coraline" the other night and I was glad I had read the book. I'm not saying my imagination is better or worse than Tim Burton's but the fact is, the movie was his vision of the book. And this vision is of course unique and typical of Burton. The book was just better as books tend to be because they alone give you the opportunity to embelish as much or as little as your imagination allows. Imagination then, is the best part of reading, not the writer's imagination alone but the reader's too. As a reader you get to collaborate with the author and be part of the creative process as opposed to being a passive observer. And that's what I think is so great about books and reading.
Ah that's better. I just wanted to yap about movies vs. books and why reading is so great. The trend is for non readers to say "Oh I'll wait for the movie to come out, I don't have to read the book." Believe me I've heard kids say this alot. What's worse is they can now download and watch movies online and really how many books can you do that with? So why read? Kindle needs to be way cheaper and perhaps some of these kids would actually read if it were more like their handheld video games! They are missing out if they think the movie will suffice. It's just not as good as reading. With reading you are the final author, you get to interpret the original author's vision with your own imagination. Yes folks, reading is a creative act. You read the writer's words and you see an interpretation of what they are describing with your mind. I had an English teacher who told me that nothing I wrote was ever really finished. I tell my students that now too. Why? Because it is true. Your audience will finish your story or poem with their own imagination, what they see in their mind when they read your words. Every reader will see it in their own unique way. A movie based on a book on the other hand is a finished product with little room for the audience to imagine or interpret. Though I give some directors credit for leaving room for audience interpretation, in most cases where a movie is based on a book you are getting that reader's particular vision of things.
I saw "Coraline" the other night and I was glad I had read the book. I'm not saying my imagination is better or worse than Tim Burton's but the fact is, the movie was his vision of the book. And this vision is of course unique and typical of Burton. The book was just better as books tend to be because they alone give you the opportunity to embelish as much or as little as your imagination allows. Imagination then, is the best part of reading, not the writer's imagination alone but the reader's too. As a reader you get to collaborate with the author and be part of the creative process as opposed to being a passive observer. And that's what I think is so great about books and reading.
Wednesday, May 06, 2009
Yes I am going commercial. Still it's free for you to read my posts. Please comment if you visit. I would like to know what you think about what I have to say. Poetry, articles, other writing and sometime pix will be posted here. I guess this is more of my journal than anything since I don't keep a hard copy one anymore. You can also see what I'm up to on Twitter (bevnik) and Facebook. Consider yourself invited to my world.
Wednesday, April 01, 2009
Friday, March 13, 2009
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
In Memoriam Garry Ronald Cousins (Gaz)
March 11th, 1983 26 years ago today.
We still miss you. You taught me about modern music. Elvis, the Beatles, T-Rex, Jimi Hendrix and Led Zeppelin. Like Elvis, Hendrix and Jon Bonham, You climbed that Stairway to Heaven to Kiss the Sky too soon.
"Death makes Angels of us all and gives us wings where we had shoulders smooth as raven's claws". Jim Morrison/The Doors
Kiss the sky forever!
Monday, March 09, 2009
The "last word" was not. I think you can figure it's meaning.
A NIGHT FOR CICERO
Shadows fall across the lustful plain as they drive into the darkness.
The night is unwieldy, yielding shadows full of pain, bereft of mercy.
Mercy is a shadow of cool darkness which light cannot contaminate.
Wheels roll forward, the road stretches out ahead,
lazy asphalt corridor a lace between cities,
skeletal and now infamous, traced into the prairie dust.
Bound between homes, passengers tire, sigh and sleep, lolling in seats
not invited to a party of wakeful terror,
as are others are who must purge their demons.
There is nothing proper, no saving as violence springs up
lurching, jilting, slashing, shadows taking form towards an innocent target
like Cicero, guilty of nothing, only wanting to be home.
End of season returning, simple journey to loving arms
ends here tonight on this conveyance, among strangers
in a public horror.
Afterwards, unspeakable details stretch out across a country
maimed by this night, transfixed in darkness, thoughts shudder
from city through town to unbelieving, horrified minds.
Strike the demon, down in the darkness, who can tell if it lingers, still
in the taught light of day, remorseless shadow across the face
as the courts, mere ciphers decide to protect the guilty.
The road still twists and swallows all, near this place
voices now lost on a prairie wind if ever they were heard at all
where fate pulled up one night and dealt death
on this guiltless road, in a gutless, gutted country
which can now settle back down into the prairie dust.
A NIGHT FOR CICERO
Shadows fall across the lustful plain as they drive into the darkness.
The night is unwieldy, yielding shadows full of pain, bereft of mercy.
Mercy is a shadow of cool darkness which light cannot contaminate.
Wheels roll forward, the road stretches out ahead,
lazy asphalt corridor a lace between cities,
skeletal and now infamous, traced into the prairie dust.
Bound between homes, passengers tire, sigh and sleep, lolling in seats
not invited to a party of wakeful terror,
as are others are who must purge their demons.
There is nothing proper, no saving as violence springs up
lurching, jilting, slashing, shadows taking form towards an innocent target
like Cicero, guilty of nothing, only wanting to be home.
End of season returning, simple journey to loving arms
ends here tonight on this conveyance, among strangers
in a public horror.
Afterwards, unspeakable details stretch out across a country
maimed by this night, transfixed in darkness, thoughts shudder
from city through town to unbelieving, horrified minds.
Strike the demon, down in the darkness, who can tell if it lingers, still
in the taught light of day, remorseless shadow across the face
as the courts, mere ciphers decide to protect the guilty.
The road still twists and swallows all, near this place
voices now lost on a prairie wind if ever they were heard at all
where fate pulled up one night and dealt death
on this guiltless road, in a gutless, gutted country
which can now settle back down into the prairie dust.
Thursday, March 05, 2009
Outrage Continues over Li Verdict (The Last Word)
It's been a tough day all across the online community where concerned citizens have expressed their outrage over this ruling today in a Manitoba court. About the time of the incident last summer I expressed concern to the Canadian Justice department via an email. That was in August. In December I finally received a response from them. It seems justice is not swift by any means. I mean we're dealing with the government here, I think it I heard somewhere that they need to stop campaigning and start governing. Don't expect it to happen anytime soon though. By the way the response was almost a form letter, which is probably not a surprise. As always with the government, it's too little, too late and of that we are all victims. Good luck with your tax returns folks! If I recall in a little place across the pond, there's the option of being "crimminally insane". I guess we don't have that here in Canada, just this NCR bs.
Oh and by the way, I'm not literally responsible for this writing, even though my fingers did the typing.
It's been a tough day all across the online community where concerned citizens have expressed their outrage over this ruling today in a Manitoba court. About the time of the incident last summer I expressed concern to the Canadian Justice department via an email. That was in August. In December I finally received a response from them. It seems justice is not swift by any means. I mean we're dealing with the government here, I think it I heard somewhere that they need to stop campaigning and start governing. Don't expect it to happen anytime soon though. By the way the response was almost a form letter, which is probably not a surprise. As always with the government, it's too little, too late and of that we are all victims. Good luck with your tax returns folks! If I recall in a little place across the pond, there's the option of being "crimminally insane". I guess we don't have that here in Canada, just this NCR bs.
Oh and by the way, I'm not literally responsible for this writing, even though my fingers did the typing.
Outrage Stirs Over Li Ruling
The horror and outrage that was felt across the country last summer when Tim McLean, 22 was savagely attacked and killed on a Greyhound bus in Winnipeg has once again gripped the hearts and minds of Canadians. Today a Winnipeg judge ruled that Vincent Li is NCR, "not crimminally responsible" for the killing of this young man.
I've been following Bruce Owen of the Winnipeg Free Press on Twitter as he reported details of the hearing live over the internet. One can't help the feelings of outrage and anger when hearing the details of this terrible crime and then to find that the person who perpetrated it is not going to be held responsible as he was "psychotic" at the time of the incident. I find myself not only negatively emotional over the crime itself but toward the justice system. Just as the mother of McLean, Carol deDelley explained after the ruling, that NCR "has it's place but not in this case".
How would it be possible for any mother not to feel this way after what was done to her child? I know I would certainly want to kill the guy if this had happened to my child. Emotions run very high in a situation like this and people tend to react at the emotional extreme. But let's just take a look at what in my opinion is the obvious hypocrisy in our justice system.
Case in point number one, Ronald Smith is a canadian who has been on Death Row in Montana for the last 26 years for shooting two men in the back of the head. In Canada we don't have the death penalty but Canada has done nothing to get this Canadian's sentence commuted. Of course the US courts may have found him crimminally responsible, hence the sentence they handed down. But was he? Maybe he was on drugs or alcohol at the time, does that make you less responsible? Your mental state must surely be questionable in that case because you are "not in your right mind." Alcoholism and drug addiction are diseases too right?
Case number two in point, what about the Saskatchewan father, Christopher Pauchay, 25 who got drunk and took his two little girls out in a blizzard resulting in both children freezing to death? Surely he was "not crimminally responsible"? He was drunk, not in his right mind?? Right? In which case this is also a mental AND physical illness case which should be treated. So why not we sentence him to x number of years or months in rehab instead of jail time.
Let's just go South with this line of thinking for just a minute. Was Ted Bundy insane? Did he know what he was doing? What about Jeffrey Dahmer? Maybe they should have been declared "not crimminally responsible"? Did they know what they did was wrong? Son of Sam killer, David Berkowitz claimed he was "commanded to kill by a demon who possessed his neighbour's dog". Sounds like a clear cut case of psychosis and NCR to me but on June 12, 1978 he was sentenced to 6 life sentences in prison, a total of 365 years. Bundy got the death sentence and was described as a man "born to kill" and "consumed with murder all the time". As for Dahmer, although he pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity he was imprisoned for 15 life terms and finally beaten to death by a fellow inmate with a bar from a weight machine in the prison gym.
I think you get the drift of where this argument is going. Who's to say that Li is not like these infamous serial killers? It's just that he was caught on his first one.
I think our justice system needs a tweeking. I can't help thinking of the adage, fair but not always equal. Don't we need to have a justice system that is fair and equal? Is that even possible? What frightens me is how many more like Li are there out there? But even more terrifying, how many people will do heinous things like this and then more or less get away with it by being found NCR??
To conclude I'd just like to express my sympathy to the McLean family once again at what has to be the second part of the most difficult time in their lives. My heart goes out to you, and my prayers are with you.
The horror and outrage that was felt across the country last summer when Tim McLean, 22 was savagely attacked and killed on a Greyhound bus in Winnipeg has once again gripped the hearts and minds of Canadians. Today a Winnipeg judge ruled that Vincent Li is NCR, "not crimminally responsible" for the killing of this young man.
I've been following Bruce Owen of the Winnipeg Free Press on Twitter as he reported details of the hearing live over the internet. One can't help the feelings of outrage and anger when hearing the details of this terrible crime and then to find that the person who perpetrated it is not going to be held responsible as he was "psychotic" at the time of the incident. I find myself not only negatively emotional over the crime itself but toward the justice system. Just as the mother of McLean, Carol deDelley explained after the ruling, that NCR "has it's place but not in this case".
How would it be possible for any mother not to feel this way after what was done to her child? I know I would certainly want to kill the guy if this had happened to my child. Emotions run very high in a situation like this and people tend to react at the emotional extreme. But let's just take a look at what in my opinion is the obvious hypocrisy in our justice system.
Case in point number one, Ronald Smith is a canadian who has been on Death Row in Montana for the last 26 years for shooting two men in the back of the head. In Canada we don't have the death penalty but Canada has done nothing to get this Canadian's sentence commuted. Of course the US courts may have found him crimminally responsible, hence the sentence they handed down. But was he? Maybe he was on drugs or alcohol at the time, does that make you less responsible? Your mental state must surely be questionable in that case because you are "not in your right mind." Alcoholism and drug addiction are diseases too right?
Case number two in point, what about the Saskatchewan father, Christopher Pauchay, 25 who got drunk and took his two little girls out in a blizzard resulting in both children freezing to death? Surely he was "not crimminally responsible"? He was drunk, not in his right mind?? Right? In which case this is also a mental AND physical illness case which should be treated. So why not we sentence him to x number of years or months in rehab instead of jail time.
Let's just go South with this line of thinking for just a minute. Was Ted Bundy insane? Did he know what he was doing? What about Jeffrey Dahmer? Maybe they should have been declared "not crimminally responsible"? Did they know what they did was wrong? Son of Sam killer, David Berkowitz claimed he was "commanded to kill by a demon who possessed his neighbour's dog". Sounds like a clear cut case of psychosis and NCR to me but on June 12, 1978 he was sentenced to 6 life sentences in prison, a total of 365 years. Bundy got the death sentence and was described as a man "born to kill" and "consumed with murder all the time". As for Dahmer, although he pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity he was imprisoned for 15 life terms and finally beaten to death by a fellow inmate with a bar from a weight machine in the prison gym.
I think you get the drift of where this argument is going. Who's to say that Li is not like these infamous serial killers? It's just that he was caught on his first one.
I think our justice system needs a tweeking. I can't help thinking of the adage, fair but not always equal. Don't we need to have a justice system that is fair and equal? Is that even possible? What frightens me is how many more like Li are there out there? But even more terrifying, how many people will do heinous things like this and then more or less get away with it by being found NCR??
To conclude I'd just like to express my sympathy to the McLean family once again at what has to be the second part of the most difficult time in their lives. My heart goes out to you, and my prayers are with you.
Tuesday, February 03, 2009
February is Heart Month!
February is here so it's time to give the post-Christmas, January blahs the heave to and get a new burst of energy to put your new year into gear. It's Heart Month and Valentine's Day is on the horizon so why not strive to do something good for you and your heart; literally and metaphorically. First, get working on a Food Journal. To make changes in your eating plan (I won't even use the word "diet" here), first take an inventory of what you eat on a daily basis. Most people are not aware of how often they eat or what portion sizes they are consuming. Get yourself a little notebook and keep it with you. Jot down when, what and how much you eat. You'll soon see where you need to adjust amount and type of food. It'll make it easier to lose weight if that's what you need to do. You'll also be able to see how much you've cut back and what you've had to cut out. In the milder weather, get outside and walking, take in an outdoor activity or walk to the store instead of driving.
Second, try and be more loving. Think about saying and doing only kind things to people, even if they don't treat you the same way. You'll feel better about yourself and you'll soon find out that people will respond to your good will. Try making homemade Valentine cards and gifts yourself to keep the romance of the season and avoid the commercial ploys that are all around us.
Have a great February!
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