O’Canada, A Gender Neutral National Anthem
1920: The World is Going to Hell in a Hand Basket
I rather expect these gentlemen thought it was…
I see the “Let’s change the National Anthem” tag line is back in the news. Hmm, seems that was news about three years ago when the subject was brought up in Parliament. Why is this small change such a hard thing to accomplish. I suppose we like to keep our caves looking and sounding the same (and our women in line). Gosh, I liked Rock and Roll in the 1950s, why did they have to start bringing out a bunch of new stuff that I didn’t like as much. See the original 2010 comments on changes to the anthem at:
O’Canada … In All Thy Son’s Command“
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What is Canada Worth?
A Canadian debates the issue with representative of Uncle Sam. Could that guy on the right
be Don Cherry or Rob Ford in disguise?
What are We Worth?
An article in the October 1, 2013, issue of the National Post (A10 Link), reviews a new book by Diane Francis, Merger of the Century. In the book Diane suggests Canada could extract reparation payments in the order of $17-Trillion or about $492,529 per woman, man and child.
A tidy sum indeed, but why sell our soul to the United States when all we need do is wait as that country slowly melts down, then take over. We have the lions share of every resource (water, oil, natural gas, land, etc) so all we need do is gain access to US Citizens (we would deal with them as migrant workers) to help us develop our resources. Our dreams of world supremacy could be realized within two decades.
In a previous post, “Pax Canadiana” I explored this possibility in depth and after watching events in the US House and Senate over the past few weeks, I think the dream of Pax Canadiana may be closer at hand than I had previously anticipated. As of midnight last night, the US can’t even pay their own bills let alone raise $17-Trillion to purchase Canada. Nice try Diane.
Link Here to Pax Canadiana
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Dietrich Family Visit
Photo (Mout Tolmie Lookout): Lynn, Paul, Jodi and Griffin
After a quick stop at Tim Hortons, it was a whirlwind tour of Victoria with the Dietrich family (Paul, Jodi and Griffin) who hail from Belwood, Ontario (not far Debbie and John in Guelph). While the weather was blustery in the early morning, it cleared by 10 am, so we were off and running for the “Six Hour” McNeill Family, Tour Special.
After a city orientation spiel at the top Mount Tolmie, we followed the waterfront to the breakwater, were we scouted out a few starfish and watched as a dozen or so novice scuba divers made their way into the murky depths. This particular dive appeared to include several several boys and girls in their early mid-teens.
Looking across the Strait we could see what Paul and I thought it was a large cargo ship sitting at anchor, but Lynn, with those sharp travel agent eyes, told us it was a cruise ship waiting to dock. Guess who won…(damn women). As the noon whistle sounded, the Holland America MS Westerdam, came into view and was soon nudging its way toward the jetty.
Not one to shirk an opportunity, Griffin rushed over to assist the Coast Guard Pilot and shore crew with docking (photo below). We suppose the pilot did not see Griffins frantic call for a full stop as the ship nearly rammed the jetty. Reading the paper later that day, we learned the Westerdam would be the last cruise ship to visit the city this season so we had timed our little tour rather well.
Our next stop was Fisherman’s Wharf to chow down on a couple of platters of Barb’s Fish and Chips with the required side of deep fried oysters. We even managed to get a few seals to join us for our early afternoon snack. I think Paul or Griffin posted a video of Griffin offering an outstretched hand to on of those cute the little seals.
We capped off the tour with a visit to China town and then home. It was a short, but great visit with another branch of this amazing extended family we hold so near and dear. Perhaps we will catch them for another day on their return trip.
Harold
Photo: Griffin Dietrich works at getting the MS Westerdam into position at the Cruise Ship Dock.
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Papal Infallibility
Papal Infallibility: A Cornerstone of the Catholic Church
As a one time practicing Catholic (1), I have always been troubled by the ever changing positions taken by the Church. A large part of this stems from the churches concept of Papal Infallibility (2). It struck me that this concept tended to place the God (the Catholic God at least) in a very negative light as He was constantly changing his (or her) mind on key subjects held near and dear to church teachings.
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Brazil: World Cup 2014
Photos: These photos were taken by Chris Vaughn, a friend from Nanaimo and former publisher of the World Football Pages (a BC based Magazine that ran for several years). Chris always had a keen eye for capturing the essence of our International Football Matches and, as you can see in this series, Brazil brought out some very colourful Canadian girls to support the Canadian Team.
The two game series was played in 2006 when the Brazilian U20 Men’s Team challenged Canada in a warm-up to the 2007 U-20 World Cup. The teams split series at one game each. Below is a photo of the teams on the field at Royal Athletic Park.
(The collage was created using a freeware system, so, of course they put their name in the middle)
Are You Thinking of Heading to Brazil in 2014?
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Japan, East Coast: A Journey of Recovery
Photo: Just a few of the kids and adults we met during our trip along the East Coast. At this newly refurbished soccer pitch, Canadian flags, World Cup soccer balls, pinnies (including several used by the Japanese U20 mens team) along with other pieces of memorabilia from the 2007, U20 Mens World Cup, was very popular. Many of the older soccer players were aware that Victoria had hosted the Japanese team during the U20 World Cup as the games were broadcast and streamed live to Japan.
Link Here for the East Coast Slideshow on You Tube
Link Here for Individual Photos on Flicker
Link Here for Photos on Facebook
Chapter 6 A Journey of Recovery
While an important part of our mission to Japan was flying the colours of Victoria in our sister city of Morioka, another, and equally important part, was assisting in modest way with the East Coast recovery efforts.
Morioka, for those who are not aware, is the Capital City of Iwate Prefecture, the Prefecture that encompasses much of the heavily damaged area. For the citizens of Morioka and surrounding area, dealing with the immediate and long-term effects of the disaster was and is an immense challenge, challenges they accepted with equanimity.
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Japan: The Adventure Begins
The City or Morioka is nestled in a broad plain below Mount Iwate-san (background right) in the central part of Iwate district. The 2000 meter mountain and surrounding hills feed two rivers, the Kitakami-gawa and the Nakatsu-gawa that, along with the lush green surroundings, lend the city an ambiance that is unsurpassable. The above photo (click to open), along with that of several wildflowers (linked photo album), were taken after Lynn and I climbed Poet’s Walk behind the home of our first host family, Rieko and Yoichi Sakashita.
Chapters and Photos
The photo albums attached to this story have been placed on an open Facebook Page and are available to everyone regardless of whether they have a Facebook account. While the pictures will tell much of the story, the following notes provide a general outline of our travels 
of our two week visit. As Wi-Fi access and preparation time was limited, the notes being presented below are compiled from earlier Facebook posts to family and friends.
Photo: Rita, Bill and Lynn push the carts with our ample supply of luggage. It may have seemed like overkill for four people, however, four large suitcases contained gifts and other supplies, much of which was destined for school children and sports groups along the East Coast.
We are certainly grateful to our friends, Bill and Rita McCreadie, for inviting us on the journey and who led the way from Canada. They shepherded us through our arrival at Narita and onto the shuttle train that would connect us to the Bullet Train for that speedy ride Morioka. The transfers were managed with such ease that we could well have been out for dinner and movie in our home city of Victoria. As you might have guessed, the McCreadie’s have taken this trip many times before and we could not have ask for better travelling companions.
Chapters and Photos
1. A country of friendly people and lush green landscapes: Photos for Chapters 1 -3 Link Here
2. Welcome to Morioka and an Introduction to the Sansa Festival: Photos for Chapters 1 -3 Link Here
3. Suma Wrestling: The National Sport: Photos for Chapters 1 -3 Link Here
4. Go Grulla Go – To the J3: Photos for Chapters 4 & 5 Link Here
5. Aomori Nebuta Festival: Photos for Chapters 4 & 5 Link Here
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McNeill Connections: Such a Small World
And it gets smaller with each passing hour…
On Tuesday, after our return from camping at Island View Beach, Sean mentioned that Lucas (a friend of Sean and our family) was dating girl from Oak Bay and there was a connection to our family. A copy of the information passed to Sean is included in footer.
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