doodle 12: “Pro crastinator”

The grass has riz. Again! So, I’m doodling.

I’m getting very good at putting things off ‘til next Tuesday.

[doodle by g.harrison]

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Please click here to view doodle 11

Best Seller: “Bury Me At Sea” 2

Admittedly, my next book isn’t finished yet. Best seller? We’ll see, won’t we? Let’s get past months of research first.

Legion magazine is a good resource for information related to WW2, in my opinion, and it also is home to creative artwork.

The fellow tossing his coffee reminds me of my dad while in Sicily or Italy, circa 1943.

“This stuff is too strong!”

I say, “Hey, Dad. When in Rome...”

Research is interesting work. 

[Photos by G.Harrison]

***

Please click here for "BURY ME AT SEA" 1

Thumbs Up: Link to Maple Leaf Up

While searching for information about Gilbert A. Milne, RCN photographer and author of H.M.C.S. (connected to research for Bury Me At Sea), I came across a unique, interesting website related to the First Canadian Army, WW2. (War stories, photographs, useful links to Library and Archives in Ottawa, and much more)

Home address of Maple Leaf Up

Maple Leaf Up provides excellent descriptions for Milne’s photos. 

Example from their website:

LAC caption: View from LCI(L) 306 of the 2nd Canadian (262nd RN) Flotilla showing ships of Force 'J' en route to France on D-Day, 6 June 1944, English Channel.

MLU note: RCN photographer Gib Milne takes this photo from the bridge of LCI 306, looking over the bow at the other LCI headed towards Normandy. Each LCI carries an anti-aircraft dirigible overhead. Note the cable heading skyward from the bow of this LCI. Also note the bow gun is still covered. LCI 306 looks like it's coming into the strict line of the LCI convoy in front.

The men of the HLI in the photo above are still dressed casually so this must be very early in the morning. Sunrise at the latitude of Portsmouth at this time of year was about 4:50 a.m. since the southern coast of Britain is at the same latitude as northern Newfoundland. Note the white censor marks on the shoulders. Other men would be sleeping in the bunks below deck which is through the white door.

(Photographer: Gilbert Milne; Library and Archives Canada a137014)

If you have an interest in WW2, visit Maple Leaf Up.

Link to more of Gilbert A. Milne’s photographs

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Please click here to visit Dad’s Navy Days

Yoga Mat 9: “Lulu who?”

Is Lululemon...

... the lemon of choice?

[yoga mat by g.harrison] 

***

Please click here to view the Batman Pose

Notes re my next best seller: “BURY ME AT SEA” 1

The title seems to fit well with my next book, now underway. “Bury Me At Sea” in quotation marks, as if spoken by my father, lines up with “Dad, Well Done”, in quotation marks as well (as if I said the words), and the title of an earlier book concerning father’s Naval memoirs.

While pecking away at the first chapter this morning a book arrived in the mail from California. I.e., H.M.C.S. - One photographer’s impressions of the Royal Canadian Navy in World War II, by Gilbert A. Milne.

Factoids

Gilbert Milne passed away in Toronto in 1991

One of Gilbert’s camera bags survives

My oldest sister presented H.M.C.S to Dad in 1965

The book may be one of the motivating factors that prompted dad to ask to be buried at sea

A quote from the book, read this morning and which I’ll now use to begin the first chapter, is likely very, very true.

The quote:

“Yet I venture to say that so long as memory lasts, the recollection of these great days will be with them, and along with the consciousness of duty done, they will carry in their hearts forever the image of a gallant ship and the spell of the great sea.” Angus L. Macdonald, House of Commons

When dad asked to be buried at sea in the early 1980s (at the age of 60 - 65, my own age at the present time), his voice was filled with passion. He really meant it. I knew it was very important to him but I  never made any plans at that time to help him with his request.

And something my mother said stacked the odds against a burial at sea as well.

[Photos of HMCS by G.Harrison]

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Please click here for more about Dad’s Navy Days

It Strikes Me Funny: “Penny for your thoughts”

One of the Conservative Government’s penny saving ventures will be delayed. PM Harper has decided to produce the iconic Canadian penny until after Christmas.

Then, after that, exciting new transactions will take place at cash registers across the land!

And we’ll all save millions!

Well... we’ll maybe save $11 million, minus the cost of all the new nickels Mr. Harper will have to produce.

How much will that cost us? The PM will never say.

And since nickels cost more to produce than pennies, we could actually lose money (as well as the iconic penny) for years to come.

Welcome to Harperville!

Penny for your thoughts.

[Photos by G.Harrison]

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Please click here for more It Strikes Me Funny

Please click here for more Welcome to Harperville

doodle 11: moona lisa

The Olympic Games are over.

I have more time now to doodle.

["with hair the colour of green cheese"]

[doodle by g.harrison]

***

Please click here to view doodle 10

Save Money

$1.00 a day, for starters.

Just to get into the habit, for tough times ahead.

Change.

[Photo by G.Harrison]

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Please click here to read $$ FAX 7

Live Small: Tough times mean "Eat less food"

According to $$ FAX 7, food prices are heading north next year.

And according to $$ Fax 8, many are already facing higher prices now.

It’s a big problem...

... and Canada’s Prime Minister appears to be dropping the squash.

What part of your grocery list can you trim to make up the difference in cost?

[photos by g.harrison]

***

Please click here for Weather Havoc

  

Yoga Mat 8: The Batman Pose

Even Batman needs to kick off his boots.

Cat pose, Bat pose. It’s all the same to him.

[yoga mat by g.harrison] 

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Please click here for Yoga Mat 7

It Strikes Me Funny: Nubs - not just a guy thing

It’s not just a guy thing at our house, where I live with my wife, and I’m sure men and women do this around the world. I.e., we add stuff to a mustard bottle that is almost empty, then give it a shake. It’s as natural as breathing.

I made a sandwich for lunch today and as I assembled materials I noticed the Horseradish Dijon Mustard was almost empty but there were tasty and valuable nubs stuck to the bottom of the jar. 

Quick as a flash I added a dash of Heinz Prepared Mustard and a pinch of apple cider to the Dijon nubs and gave the bottle a hearty shake. And four thoughts crossed my mind simultaneously: Fun and fitness, tastier sandwich, saved a penny, my folks would be proud.

Whatever else you think about your upbringing, the following is true: You can drive all the way to China or see the world from all sides, but as soon as you go to make a sandwich you’ll be reminded of home and someone who taught you to use the nubs.

And it’s not just a guy thing, is it?

[Photos by G.Harrison]

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Please click here for more It Strikes Me Funny 

Canada’s Global Warming File PT 3: Thick rhetoric

Canada’s global warming file is thick on rhetoric.

A recent headline, built around words belonging to Peter Kent, Canada’s federal Conservative Environment Minister, proves as much.

[rhetoric n. impressive, but insincere, exaggerated]

“We’re halfway home,” says Mr. Kent. 

But where’s home? And would I want to live with him there?

Conservative Prime Minister S. Harper ripped up the Kyoto Protocol and replaced it with his own targets. Out went the stringent and the necessary. In came the weaker, the global warming brush off.

And though federal officials admit more must be done, and Kent says “the Harper government has been working hard,” very little action has actually been done by our government, thus paving the way for even less to be done in the future.

Though Canadians can give a nod to a few provincial governments, do many believe 'federal standards for fuel efficiency on light cars and trucks’ will lead us toward a sustainable future related to fuel, energy and resource use? 

[“I highly doubt it,” says an environment critic.]

Peter Kent’s words are nothing but rhetoric and hyperbole.

I have more faith in Clark Kent, bicycles, smaller meals and conservation of vital resources.

You?

[Photos by G.Harrison]

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Please click here to read Canada’s Global Warming File PT 2: Peter Kent vs Clark Kent

Link to Free Press article by D. Akins

$$ Fax 8: Prices up

Higher prices next year, for sure.

[August 8, D. Akin, London Free Press]

And... prices are higher right now.

So... for some people, it is already hard to save $1.00 a day, but we still need to do it.

[Photos by G.Harrison]

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Please click here to read $$ FAX 7

doodle 10: mona lysa

do you doodle while listening to Dylan?

mona lysa. just like a woman.

[doodle by g.harrison]

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Please click here to view doodle 9

$$ FAX 7: Big change

Lousy harvests will affect grocery bills.

[August 8, D. Akins, London Free Press]

What will you trim to save at least a dollar per day for tough times ahead?

And why save $1.00 a day?

[Photos by G.Harrison]

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Please click here to read $$ FAX 6

Canada’s Global Warming File PT 2: Peter Kent vs Clark Kent

Here in Canada, two men claim they will do something about climate change.

Peter Kent. Canada’s Conservative Environment Minister. Non-fictional character. 

 [“My government proposes the job is only this big.”]

Clark Kent. Superman under street clothes. Fictional character.

[“I say we take action now!”]

Who will do more for Canada in the long run?

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Please click here to read Canada’s Global Warming File PT 1: Peter Kent vs Al Kent

Yoga Mat 7: “A banana a day...?”

What’s better for you? A pound of apples or a pound of bananas?

All I know is, bananas are easier to peel.

[yoga mat by g.harrison]

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Please click here to view yoga mat 6

Canada's Global Warming File PT 1: Peter Kent vs Al Kent

Two Kents aim at targets. Who will win?

Peter Kent. Canadian federal Conservative Environment Minister. Aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Al Kent. Canadian camper. Aims at box toilet.

[Carbon chart by G.Harrison]

***

Please click here for more It Strikes Me Funny

Climate Change Concerns PT 4: “Buy less carbon”

Bet on climate change and severe weather havoc.

Also, save $1.00 per day (or more) and lower your carbon emissions. 

$1 x 7 billion per day = financial savings, and more. 

[Photos by G.Harrison]

***

Please click here to read Climate Change Concerns PT 3: “Telltale signs of crime”

Click on ‘line one link’ to read recent news article about “betting on climate change” by Gwynne Dyer (July 14, London Free Press)

doodle 9: mona lisa

Do you doodle when you’re bored silly at a meeting?

[doodle by g.harrison]

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Please click here to see doodle 8

Climate Change Concerns PT 3: “Telltale signs of crime”

Extreme weather events will become more extreme. Bet on it.

Our fingerprints are all over the crime scene.

[Photos by G.Harrison] 

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Please click here to read Climate Change Concerns PT 2 and link to Gwynne Dyer’s recent article re climate. 

Yoga Mat 6: “I won’t turnip my nose...”

Do yoga enthusiasts eat more vegetables than the average Joe?

Vegetables. I need to up my intake. (Or is it ‘in my uptake’?) I won't walk away from a good deal on cabbage. 

[yoga mat by g.harrison]

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Please click here to view yoga mat 5

Climate Change Concerns PT 2: “Bet $100 on a worse climate”

It was 42 C in St. Louis.

41 C in Washington, D.C. And 46 Americans were already dead from the heat wave.

In Britain, there were more than 20 flood warnings and 100 flood alerts in effect.

Russia had its hottest summer ever in 2010 — over 5,000 excess deaths in Moscow in July alone. 

Last Friday in southern Russia, flash floods killed 155 people.

Last January only 14.7% of the United States was covered by snow, compared to 61% at the same time in 2011. At least 300 people died in a cold wave in northern India in the previous January.

Above details from this recent news article by Gwynne Dyer (July 14, London Free Press)

Climate change? Our fault? A sure bet?

[Photos by G.Harrison]

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Please click here for Climate Change Concerns PT 1

doodle 8: shar linn

doodling. it's something to do when I have spare time and a few curved lines on my hands.

do you doodle in the phone book?

[doodle by G.Harrison]

***

Please click here to see doodle 7

Climate Change Concerns PT 1: "About Arctic sea ice"

Q: How does melting Arctic sea ice cause colder winters?

A: Much of the solar heat absorbed by the ice-free parts of the Arctic Ocean in the summer is released into the air by evaporation in the autumn. The higher atmospheric pressure in the Arctic weakens the jet stream, which allows cold Arctic air masses with a high moisture content to spill out into the middle latitudes. Hence colder winters and more snow in the U.S., Europe and northern Asia. (July 14, London Free Press)

It has been reported that the melting of Greenland’s ice will raise ocean water levels by 7 meters. Once the word gets out, rents for third-story apartments - and higher - in Manhattan will rise.

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Please click here for more Climate Change Concerns