Journal Entries
Come the Revolution, the first against the wall will be....
Posted Jun 1, 2004
Here are my candidates to be first up against the wall come the Revolution....
Canadians are probably familiar with the Canadian Tire ads featuring the "do-it-yourself couple".
The commercials aren't funny enough to be satire, not helpful enough to be marginally informative, not straight-forward enough to be just another "themed" commercial. I am thinking that the couple are meant to be an annoyingly know-it-all take-off on the annoyingly know-it-all couple who do home-renos on Hometime, Dean Johnson and Robin Hartl. http://www.hometime.com/index.html
The "Canadian Tire" couple shows off to less handy neighbours all their handy-dandy tools, and brags about how much time they are saving with their fancy-schmancy Gutter Blaster in exactly the same "I can build this garage, rewire the toilet and mummify the cat i the space of 1/2 hour, and so can you" manner as Dean and Robin.
If this is the case, it just doesn't carry it off well-enough.
The first ad, featuring the Shark Steam-cleaning System, was marginally annoying. However, while one commercial with this couple would have been enough, Canadian Tire has chosen to feature this annoyingly know-it all couple in ALL their commercials.
The latest ad shows them setting up a pool in minutes while their(?) sullen children who appear to be either wax dummies or suffering from some form of catatonia. I can't decide what exactly the ad-men are trying to do with this commercial.
Look, if you have a good product, show us how it works, tell us how we can get it, and leave the theatre to the experts....
So my nominees are the pain-in-the-a$$ Canadian Tire know-it-all, do-it-yourself couple.
Just for good measure, I will nominate the Hometime couple, too. They give me a pain in the a$$, too....
Who do you nominate?
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Latest reply: Jun 1, 2004
Jess's death
Posted May 14, 2004
On Wednesday May 12, my 16 year-old step-niece Jessica died in a house fire in Kenora, Ontario.
We don't yet know all the details. Any information is coming to us piecemeal. The forensics hasn't finished its job. Her remains (a handful of teeth) may not be enough to satisfy the coroner that it is her. They have said they may need to do a DNA test to officially make the identification. They know it is her, but because it is a criminal investigation, they can't make the identification officially.
All this has made things very stressful for the whole family.
Until the remains are officially identified, they cannot release them to the family, and the family cannot put Jesssica to rest.
The events seem to have transpired like this.
Jessica (who is the step-sister of my sister's daughter, also called Jessica. They have the same last name, too, which confuses the issue), who was living with her aunt in Kenora. She and a friend had decided, on a lark, to spend the night in an abandonned house. They left their homes to go to school in the morning. After school (or possibly they played hookey from school), they went to the abandonned house, which appears to have been someplace they passed onthe way home.
The friend decided to go home to get some blankets so they could spend the night. When she went home, she was caught. Her parents then took her to the house to get Jessica. When they got there, the house was afire.
They called the fire, ambulance and police. It was too late.
There are a lot of unanswered questions. Was she asleep when the fire broke out? Why was she asleep? How did the fire break out so quickly between when the friend left and the parents arrived? Was it arson? If it was arson, was she alive before the fire broke out.
Apparently, they has been drinking a bit, which might explain why she didn't smell smoke and didn't get out....
Jessica was the sweetest kid. She was 16, but like nost kids, 16 going on 20. She spent several weeks here in Ottawa last summer with my niece Jessica, with whom she was very close.
I hadn't had a chance to meet her before, but during her visit, found her to be very funny and with hopes and dreams. It is all such a horrible shock. "Little Jessica" came to visit at a time when things were a little strained for the family, and really cheered "Big" Jessica no end.
She took charge of "Big" Jessica's two children during the day, and became very close with them. Jessica will have to explain to them what has happened...
http://www.kenoradailyminerandnews.com/HTML%20files/newsfront.html
I will update as we find things out.
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Latest reply: May 14, 2004
Queen juliana of the Netherlands
Posted Apr 1, 2004
I was surprised to learn yesterday (April 31) that Queen Juliana of the Netherlands died March 20th.
Queen Juliana spent a good part of the War years here in Ottawa, and her daughter Margriet was born in the Civic Hospital. The Canadian government of the day declared Queen Juliana's rooms at the hospital Dutch territory so that the baby would have Dutch citizenship, and not dual.
Juliana was a remarkably modest person who shunned the usual "perks" of royal life. She was known as "the bicycling monarch", who did her own shopping and sent her children went to public school, here in Canada, and state school in the Netherlands.
In her gratitude, and the gratitude of the Dutch people, to Canada for giving the family sanctuary and the efforts of Canadian soldiers in Holland during WWII, a bequest of tulips is given to Canada. Every year, Ottawa is abloom with tulips which symbolize the bold between Canada and the Netherlands.
In 1980, Juliana abdicated in favor of her daughter Beatrix, taking the title Princess to signify her position as "subject" to her daughter.
After a fall at a friend's home during which she broke her hip, she was rarely seen in public.
Her daughter Christina, as per Juliana's wishes, sang "'Tis a Gift to Be Simple" at her funeral service.
Wikipedia bio: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juliana_of_the_Netherlands#Exile
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Latest reply: Apr 1, 2004
Sir Peter Ustinov, 1921-2004
Posted Mar 30, 2004
It would be difficult to sum up the life of Peter Ustinov in a single page.
He was an actor, writer, film director, children's rights-advocate, good-will ambassador, humorist, raconteur, historian.... the list, itself, would make a lengthy read.
To simplify.... He was a gentle human-being who genuinely cared for the future of the planet and the people, especially the children, on it. He applied himself equally to his art and to his convictions.
It is enough to say "He will be missed".
""The children of the world have lost a true friend in Sir Peter Ustinov"" said UNICEF Executive Director Carol Bellamy." UNICEF obituary: http://www.unicef.org/media/media_20193.html
The Peter Ustinov Foundation: http://www.ustinov-foundation.org (only in German)
World Federalist Movement: http://www.wfm.org/IN_HOUSE/sirpeter.html
IMB Biography: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001811/bio
BBC: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/3578415.stm
"Movie Maker" bio: http://www.moviemaker.com/issues/35/ustinov.html
Quotations: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/p/peter_ustinov.html
The Biography Channel bio: http://www.thebiographychannel.co.uk/biography/peter_ustinov.html
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Latest reply: Mar 30, 2004
The mind boggles!
Posted Mar 16, 2004
May 8, 1947, page 1, Ida Grove [Iowa] newspaper:
John Schiernbeck of Battle Creek Commits Suicide
John Schiernbeck, 76, of Battle Creek committed suicide Sunday by drowning himself in a washing machine, according to John Christensen, coroner. He was found about 9:30 Sunday morning by his son-in-law, Alfred Palm, when he stopped at the Schiernbeck home after taking his children to Sunday school. Funeral services were held at the St. John Lutheran Church in Battle Creek Wednesday afternoon. Burial was at Schleswig.
Discuss this Journal entry [25]
Latest reply: Mar 16, 2004
Mudhooks: ,,, busier than a one-legged man in an ass-kicking contest...
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