Why the Sky is Blue

[Neil]

I'm not usually much interested in birthdays or anniversaries of famous people, but today I make an exception. It's the 200th anniversary of the birth of Charles Dickens, who in my view, was and is the greatest novelist in the English language.

I've read every novel at least twice, never failing to savor the rich texture of his prose even if I know the events by heart. So many of his characters are so richly drawn that they've become a part of our cultural lore, and in some cases, a part of our language.

I'm just finishing a new (and probably the best) biography of Dickens which came out in November, a warts-and-all account which leads me to conclude that, despite his faults, he was an incredibly dynamic, mostly kind man who was far ahead of his time. I've also got a new retrospective put out in association with the Dickens Museum, which is a fun work full of pictures and replica documents.

So today at lunch I'll have one of Dickens' favorite sandwiches: anchovy, boiled egg, parsley and butter. I'm not an anchovy fan, but sometimes, one must suffer for one's devotions. And I'll re-read a favorite passage from Bleak House, where, at the death of a poor street urchin, Dickens rages against the insensitivity of the rich and powerful with more eloquence than the Occupy movement ever mustered.

Happy 200th birthday, Boz.

[Low Light Mike]

Feb 7, 2012 11:19:46 GMT -8 Neil said:

I'm not usually much interested in birthdays or anniversaries of famous people, but today I make an exception. It's the 200th anniversary of the birth of Charles Dickens, who in my view, was and is the greatest novelist in the English language.

Thanks for that.

I've not yet made the "post high-school" effort to enjoy novels. It's posts like these that let me know what I'm missing.

[Neil]

Feb 7, 2012 11:42:32 GMT -8 Low Light Mike said:

Feb 7, 2012 11:19:46 GMT -8 Neil said:

I'm not usually much interested in birthdays or anniversaries of famous people, but today I make an exception. It's the 200th anniversary of the birth of Charles Dickens, who in my view, was and is the greatest novelist in the English language.

Thanks for that.

I've not yet made the "post high-school" effort to enjoy novels. It's posts like these that let me know what I'm missing.

I've always thought that high school is a bad time to introduce people to decent literature, although I understand why schools do it. I know I wasn't mature enough then to appreciate really good writing, or to invest the time needed without doing it for marks. I suspect that high school might sour more kids on literature than it inspires, just because it's the wrong time of life.

[lmtengs]

Feb 7, 2012 13:35:47 GMT -8 Neil said:

Feb 7, 2012 11:42:32 GMT -8 Low Light Mike said:

Thanks for that.

I've not yet made the "post high-school" effort to enjoy novels. It's posts like these that let me know what I'm missing.

I've always thought that high school is a bad time to introduce people to decent literature, although I understand why schools do it. I know I wasn't mature enough then to appreciate really good writing, or to invest the time needed without doing it for marks. I suspect that high school might sour more kids on literature than it inspires, just because it's the wrong time of life.

As a high school kid who hasn't willingly finished a fiction book in over 3 years, I have to confirm this... before high school though, I would read a book a week. Might just be a stage, or the fact that teachers push uninspiring, boring crap down our throats; crap that, once finished reading it, you wonder why you picked it up to start with.

[Scott]

A non-ferry question from Scott's photo in the Coastal Inspiration thread (beautiful photo by the way!):

Feb 8, 2012 19:15:00 GMT -8 Scott (Former Account) said:

BC Ferries - Coastal Inspiration en route to Tsawwassen. by BCFS, on Flickr

Does anyone know what the docks are on that little island in Departure Bay? In past years I've noticed there was a big "for sale" sign on the island facing the ferry, but those dock structures look a little big for just someone living on the island. Is it some sort of fish farm?

[FNS]

Feb 8, 2012 22:00:08 GMT -8 Scott said:

A non-ferry question from Scott's photo in the Coastal Inspiration thread (beautiful photo by the way!):

Feb 8, 2012 19:15:00 GMT -8 Scott (Former Account) said:

BC Ferries - Coastal Inspiration en route to Tsawwassen. by BCFS, on Flickr

Does anyone know what the docks are on that little island in Departure Bay? In past years I've noticed there was a big "for sale" sign on the island facing the ferry, but those dock structures look a little big for just someone living on the island. Is it some sort of fish farm?

That should be Brandon Island. From Wiki:

"Brandon Island being notable for a history of Japanese fish canneries and salteries."



www.panoramio.com/photo/7635112

[Barnacle]

Feb 7, 2012 13:35:47 GMT -8 Neil said:

Feb 7, 2012 11:42:32 GMT -8 Low Light Mike said:

Thanks for that.

I've not yet made the "post high-school" effort to enjoy novels. It's posts like these that let me know what I'm missing.

I've always thought that high school is a bad time to introduce people to decent literature, although I understand why schools do it. I know I wasn't mature enough then to appreciate really good writing, or to invest the time needed without doing it for marks. I suspect that high school might sour more kids on literature than it inspires, just because it's the wrong time of life.

I've honestly not given it a thought, but you may be on to something there. I freely admit that, while Dickens is perhaps a great writer, I never enjoyed him that much--probably as a result of having A Tale of Two Cities and Great Expectations jammed down my throat. At that point in my life, I found his writing to be bloated, gassy, and pearl-clutchingly dramatic. I suppose I might feel differently now, although I also have to state that you're the first person I've ever encountered who has voluntarily read Dickens outside of an academic setting.

[Neil]

Feb 9, 2012 5:28:59 GMT -8 Barnacle said:

Feb 7, 2012 13:35:47 GMT -8 Neil said:

I've always thought that high school is a bad time to introduce people to decent literature, although I understand why schools do it. I know I wasn't mature enough then to appreciate really good writing, or to invest the time needed without doing it for marks. I suspect that high school might sour more kids on literature than it inspires, just because it's the wrong time of life.

I've honestly not given it a thought, but you may be on to something there. I freely admit that, while Dickens is perhaps a great writer, I never enjoyed him that much--probably as a result of having A Tale of Two Cities and Great Expectations jammed down my throat. At that point in my life, I found his writing to be bloated, gassy, and pearl-clutchingly dramatic. I suppose I might feel differently now, although I also have to state that you're the first person I've ever encountered who has voluntarily read Dickens outside of an academic setting.

"Gassy"? "Bloated"? Sacrilege. Off with your head.

Actually, I probably wouldn't have liked those novels in my teens either. Whereas I re-read Great Expectations a few weeks back and was as captivated as ever at the plight of Miss Havisham, living out the decades in a big dark house in her decaying wedding gown, with the rotting wedding cake crumbling on a table, and the clock stopped at the moment her fiance failed to show up. Masterful, and probably the best novel for a novice Dickens reader to start with, along with David Copperfield.

Dickens' novels are probably the most filmed works of the nineteenth century- multiple times for many of them- and the BBC has a new, much anticipated version of Great Expectations about to be broadcast. Book sales increase around the time of these releases, and while my daughter tells me that he is somewhat out of fashion in modern academia, I think there is still a huge appetite for his work, and always will be. Sometimes, when I've been away from Dickens for a while and reading modern fiction, it takes a bit to get back into the rythm of his writing and his mode of expression, and perhaps that turns some people off. But that's not unique to Dickens; Dostoevsky can be a hard go until you get used to the rather odd Russian style of writing and expression- not to mention the fact that everyone seems to have three names.

But granted, Dickens has his critics, even those who are his admirers. The biographer I just read, while while praising his overall artistry, criticized some convoluted plotting, poorly drawn female heroes, occasionally rampant sentimentality, and she referred to the last quarter of Nicholas Nickleby as "virtually unreadable". So, off with her head too.

I'd also suggest to Mr Viking that if he gives himself a few years, Hawthorne, Orwell and Salinger (or whatever classics are taught these days) might not seem so much like "uninspiring, boring crap". Being the very articulate young chap that he is, he might come to really appreciate writers who use the language far beyond basic communication of storyline.

[lmtengs]

Those times when you log into the forum after 7 hours of inactivity and it looks like the Hiroshima bomb went off...

Well, time for some fun evening reading.

[lmtengs]

Commissioned by Flugel Horn Mike, it's already been posted on the WCF Facebook page, but why not post it here too?

[Low Light Mike]

Oh, I could hide 'neath the wings of the bluebird as she sings
The six o'clock alarm would never ring
But it rings and I rise wipe the sleep out of my eyes
The shavin' razor's cold, and it stings

Cheer up, sleepy Jean, oh what can it mean
To a daydream believer and a homecoming queen?

Remembering Davy Jones....

[FNS]

Feb 29, 2012 10:52:38 GMT -8 Low Light Mike said:

Oh, I could hide 'neath the wings of the bluebird as she sings
The six o'clock alarm would never ring
But it rings and I rise wipe the sleep out of my eyes
The shavin' razor's cold, and it stings

Cheer up, sleepy Jean, oh what can it mean
To a daydream believer and a homecoming queen?

Remembering Davy Jones....

Davy Jones will sure be missed. He was great in plays, acting, singing, and riding horses.

His good looks were very attractive to all who were fans. The hairstyle he wore in the Monkees series has usually set a pattern for my haircuts as well as many other fellows we see today. Most of the time, my cuts are a crossover between a Davy cut and a Peter cut.



Some photo cards I have in my collection. I made that love bead necklace a little more than ten years ago. Davy wore a similar beaded necklace like that in the Second Season episodes of the Monkees and the movie "HEAD". I often wear it when I watch the Monkees shows on TV and their movie, as well as concerts involving Davy, Peter, and Micky.

That's seven blue and seven white beads threaded through two lengths of good strong thread thirty-three times. The significance of these numbers are:

2 - Two seasons of episodes produced

7A - The song "Daydream Believer"

33 - The normal speed of a record player (actually, it's 33 1/3 RPM)

The necklace measures about 15 inches long. Put white thread into a thin needle and expand the length about five or ten inches beyond 30 inches and tie the two loose ends together. Insert the beads and tie the necklace leaving a slight "breathing" space. Cut the excess leaving at least a little bit at the ends as you can see.

The last place where I wore my beads was in the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles watching and enjoying the Monkees concert last summer (2011) amongst others wearing theirs. It would be there where I would see Davy Jones for the last time. He was at his best and really outdid himself with his amazing performing qualities. Micky and Peter did also. It was the best performance done by the trio (minus Mike) and the sound was good and strong.

David Thomas Jones, son of a British Railways worker, was a great asset to the entertainment community. Rest in peace, Davy.

Antenna TV, a newer oldies network, is running episodes all night tonight (Saturday, March 3, 2012) and all day Sunday (March 4, 2012) of the Monkees series in Davy's memory.

[chinook2]

found this today, wasn't sure what thread to put it in, but here it is, an old story, told with warmth and spinach.



***Moderator Edit: moved this post into the "Why The Sky is Blue" Thread***

[Mike]

I guess this could be considered Amish street racing?

www.vancouversun.com/health/story.html?id=6292324

[Mill Bay]

Not sure if anyone has seen the local news, yet, but the gas station fire that is headlining the newscasts tonight was actually a 2 minute drive from my house. We were unaffected by the fire or evacuation, but BCHydro had to cut power to the area for about 3 hours.

I didn't get to see the fire, but I managed to some pics of the aftermath which I can post later at some point.

[Low Light Mike]

Ferry item at 2:10 of this John Keester video.

[lmtengs]

Breaking News:
www.cnn.com/2012/04/06/us/virginia-plane-crash/index.html?hpt=hp_t1

Navy jet crashes into apartments in Virginia

(CNN) -- A Navy jet struggled during take-off Friday over the military community of Virginia Beach, Virginia, and rained a stench of jet fuel shortly before crashing into apartment buildings, according to residents and Navy officials.
The two pilots, a police officer and three other people were taken to Sentara Virginia Beach General Hospital, Dr. Thomas Thames, the hospital's vice president of medical affairs, told CNN affiliate WAVY.
None of the injuries was considered life-threatening, Thames said.
The crash and explosion ruptured the easy mood of spring break and the unfolding Easter holiday weekend, and the two-seater F/A-18 jet landed eerily upright in flames in a courtyard surrounded by five apartment buildings suddenly set afire, according to residents and authorities.
Resident Pat Kavanaugh told CNN affiliate WTKR that the two crew members ejected safely, and that he and others found one of them still strapped to his seat with a lacerated face. Kavanaugh said he was on his couch when he heard a loud boom and was startled to see a parachute hanging from the building.
In shock, the pilot apologized for his jet crashing into the apartment complex, and residents pulled him safely away from the fiery crash zone, said Kavanaugh, a retired rescue worker.
One ejection seat shell ripped through an oak tree and crashed into a condo fence, and the other seat shell landed next door, suggesting that the two Navy pilots ejected at a low altitude, another resident, Keith Gutkowski, told CNN.
Once the five apartment buildings were doused with water and the courtyard was coated with a snowy foam, rescue crews were preparing Friday to do a grim, detailed search through the charred hulks to look for any residents injured or killed, Virginia Beach Fire Department Battalion Chief Tim Riley said.
Eyewitnesses and residents described their community -- so accustomed to military planes taking off near their homes -- suddenly taking a surreal turn for the worse when the jet fell out of the sky and spewed its fuel, a maneuver to minimize the inevitable fire upon crashing.
Virginia Beach EMS Division Chief Bruce Nedelka said the carnage could have been much worse, had the plane's pilot not dumped fuel shortly before crashing.
"The pilot in the jet did an absolutely tremendous job," he said. "If that had not been done, the impact and the subsequent fire damage with all that extra fuel would have been intense. What he did was wonderful."
Witness Amy Miller told CNN she saw the cockpit ejection -- and flames under a wing as the jet descended to the right.
As the crash site belched black smoke, residents ran toward the apartments but then ran away when subsequent explosions frightened them, eyewitnesses said.
"We're used to low-flying jets around here," said George Pilkington, who saw the jet fly over his truck.
"Because it was releasing so much fuel, I knew something was wrong," he added. "It sounded like the engine was straining or stressing.
"I don't know if there was a better or worse place to hit because there are so many apartments around the area," he told CNN. "If it was a half-mile to the west, it could have been a creek or marsh."
Pilkington said the plane was flying low, with its nose up and tail down.
"That it didn't cause more damage to the apartment buildings was a blessing," he said.
A Navy source told CNN that the fighter jet crashed shortly after taking off from Naval Air Station Oceana in Virginia Beach. The jet was from a training squadron at the air station, the Navy and Federal Aviation Administration said.
The jet hit the Mayfair Mews Apartment complex in Virginia Beach, according to U.S. Rep. Scott Rigell's office, whose district includes Virginia Beach.
The condition of the crew wasn't known, a Navy spokesman said.
Riley, the fire battalion chief, said no residents were reported missing early Friday afternoon.
But he added: "We're going to assume that there are people missing, and we're going to do a detailed search.
"It's going to take a while to get through there to see the details," Riley told CNN.
Resident Gutkowski said the plane crash site was 75 yards from his home, and his wife saw the plane "almost fall out of the sky."
"What they're saying about ejecting very late is definitely true," Gutkowski said about reports that the pilots apparently ejected at a low altitude.
"Both ejection seats are right here, and the parachute is right by the crash site," Gutkowski told CNN.
Another witness, Zack Zapatero, said the plane crashed into a building occupied by senior citizens. He took photos of the scene.
"There's these large fireballs coming up," Zapatero said. "I was told there was a bunch of senior citizens that live in that building, which worries me a lot.
"Buildings were starting to collapse," he said of the wreckage scene.
"Through the smoke, you could see the end of the plane sitting in the courtyard," Zapatero said.

[Low Light Mike]

BCFerries new high-capacity car ferry, doing sea-trials before she does summer service on route 2.

[mrdot]

:)is this the masshed up car deck to the best place on earth, and the meals presented are totally garpulous, again the best menu on earth! perhaps we need to revisit the old wac dogwood menu! the one good thing about these tasty looking delights is that they might help me to loose weight! :)mrdot.

[Scott]

Is that going past Campbell River? I thought I'd seen one go by Campbell River once and wondered where it was coming from and where it was going. Does anyone know?

[Low Light Mike]

Random comment for April 20th:

One of the consequences of my father being a young tween and then teenager in Poland during the years between 1939 and 1944 was that school was closed for a special holiday on each April 20th.

Like it or not, that day was a holiday.

And now so many years later, if you ask him who's birthday was on April 20th, he'll tell you. And if you ask him which youth-organization he and his friends were forced to join during their young teen years, he'll tell you.

One of history's most evil dictators left his mark also on the memories of people from the routines created for the masses during those years of propaganda and occupation.


How blessed we are today that if we ask some young folks in our countries about various national holidays, they might name things like July 1st or 4th, or even a religious day like Christmas. And if you ask a youth what social groups he participates in, he might say that he's a WCFF Voyager.

[Neil]

Apr 20, 2012 14:05:29 GMT -8 Low Light Mike said:

Random comment for April 20th:

One of the consequences of my father being a young tween and then teenager in Poland during the years between 1939 and 1944 was that school was closed for a special holiday on each April 20th.

Like it or not, that day was a holiday.

And now so many years later, if you ask him who's birthday was on April 20th, he'll tell you. And if you ask him which youth-organization he and his friends were forced to join during their young teen years, he'll tell you.

One of history's most evil dictators left his mark also on the memories of people from the routines created for the masses during those years of propaganda and occupation.


How blessed we are today that if we ask some young folks in our countries about various national holidays, they might name things like July 1st or 4th, or even a religious day like Christmas. And if you ask a youth what social groups he participates in, he might say that he's a WCFF Voyager.

I appreciated that personal offering, Mr Horn. It's too easy, and somewhat dangerous, to make glib assumptions about why people do what they do in difficult times.

On a different note, but likewise personal...

I saw a small story on Global News this evening about an area of Royal Columbian Hospital being closed due to an outbreak of clostridium difficile (c diff). This story is not going away, and I don't think it is getting enough attention from our media or health care officials.

I thought I would share something I wrote a while back, from personal experience. I'm not looking for expressions of condolences- that's not the point here.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

My mother died last August at the age of ninety six at Surrey Memorial Hospital from a bacterial infection named clostridium difficile, more commonly referred to as c diff. She had two other serious conditions, and had been through a major operation, but what specifically got her in the end was c diff.

The c diff story has been simmering in the news for some time and is apparently an issue, especially for the elderly or those with compromised immune systems, at many Canadian hospitals. It is most often spread by improper hygiene practises.

She had been admitted to hospital about five weeks before she died, and after three weeks or so, the condition she was being treated for had not been relieved, and we were advised she needed radical surgery, a grim prospect for someone her age. We asked about alternatives and the possibility of just waiting for a while, but the doctor disabused us of any such notions. With regard to the dangers of a watching and waiting stay in hospital he said -exact words- “We’re killing people in our hospitals with c diff”.

Prescient words.

She had the surgery, and was recovering as well as could be expected, but then contracted c diff. The thousands of dollars the health care system had spent on her surgery and care over five weeks was rendered completely irrelevant, perhaps because someone was too overworked, and didn’t wash their hands between patients.

SMH is a hospital that long ago overreached its capacity. The area behind their emergency admitting room where she was first stashed is an absolute zoo, with patient beds lining the narrow corridors, doctors and nurses rushing back and forth, family members coming and going, and minimal hygiene control. Staff do what they can with the resources available, but it’s almost what you would expect in a less developed country. Other areas of the hospital are also overtaxed; I saw the same scraps of paper on the floor for days on end, and untouched food sometimes left until the next day.

Canadians like to tell ourselves that our health care system is so superior to the Americans, and we’re proud that no one goes bankrupt in Canada because of health costs, and everyone is looked after. Perhaps. But for years now, we’ve been cutting back on health care costs, forcing hospitals to economise, contracting out maintenance jobs and asking professional staff to make do with less.

There’s a cost to this.

My mother’s death was not a tragedy where a life is cut short before its time. She was worn out, and tired of fighting health problems when she had little vitality and not a lot to look forward to. I know, because I asked her two days before she died. That’s not the issue here.

The issue is: how many people have to die before we realize the folly of providing patients with expensive health care when we aren’t willing to maintain the infrastructure around basic hygiene and we demand that too few support staff look after too many people.

We are a society that believes in treating the ill and elderly with dignity, and we take pride in being willing to pay the taxes necessary to insure that all have a chance, no matter what their health condition.

But as I follow this c diff story that refuses to go away, I see a troubling shortsightedness that short circuits the efficacy of some very expensive healthcare investments. I suspect my mother’s story is more common than has been reported, simply because many in her position might not have been expected to live anyway given other prevailing conditions. Such is the story hospital and health care officials would like to propogate, in any case.

[lmtengs]

We've been renovating the house for the last little while, and part of this meant buying a new TV for the newly redone living room. I chipped in 50% of the cost for a new 55-inch monster of a television, and today I realized the extra benefit of hooking it up as a secondary monitor for my laptop screen. I was floored when I discovered how much the forum viewing experience is enhanced when it's being browsed on fifty five inches of HD awesomeness. All of the posted photos, and the flagship photos, are so much huger, and still crystal clear!

I recommend, if you have a compatible television screen, to try this out. It's great!

[Low Light Mike]

125 years ago today, in Nanaimo BC: 147 miners and 1 rescuer killed, in explosions, fire and afterdamp at the No.1 Esplanade coal mine.

May 3, 1887.

Here are a few of the photo of grave markers in a Nanaimo cemetery:

[Freeland]

Being it is the 50 year celebration of Seattle Worlds Fair I found this You Tube of Century 21. It is mostly about the ATT exhibit. Since I work for GTE, I laugh at these features being shown using a rotary dail phone.



A blast from the past. ;D