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Monday, December 31, 2012

2012 watershed kisses

With the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell, these are important photos for LGBT visibility in the US military. I don't have anything similar for 2012 in Canada since our history is different. Gays have been able to serve openly since 1992 and the first gay service member to marry was in 2004. The first wedding between two gay military personnel took place at Nova Scotia's Canadian Forces Base Greenwood in 2005.

Dalan Wells (l.) welcomes home his partner Brandon Morgan

U.S. Marine Corps Captain Matthew Phelps (l.) proposes to his partner Ben Schock at the White House

USN 2nd Class Petty Officer Marissa Gaeta (l.) kissing her fiancée, Petty Officer 3rd Class Citlalic Snell

Jonathan Jewell (r.) is greeted with a homecoming kiss from his boyfriend Sean Sutton

Sunday, December 30, 2012

Pic of the day


World Junior Hockey: Canada vs. the U.S.


Goes to show what I know. Malcolm Subban was outstanding in goal in a tight 2 - 1 win over the U.S. He managed to hold off the U.S. until the third period when he was beaten by Trouba on a power play. That didn't shake him, which was a good thing since in the last 1:37 of the game Canada was shorthanded and the U.S. pulled their goalie for another attacker to give them a 6 - 4 advantage. Of course, not all the credit goes to Suddan, the defense seems to have found their skates and despite being down to 11 forwards for the game, Spott found the right lineup combination to minimize the shortage.

The win means that the game with Russia on New Years Eve becomes a winner-take-all situation. Canada will be back at full strength and this game will be the highlight of the series.

"I have an emergency"


The oddest 911 calls for 2012 from the Chatham-Kent Police.
  • A man attended the Wallaceburg police station inquiring if anyone had turned in his lost dentures. He still had his top teeth, but he was looking for his bottoms.
  • A man called police to report that his unlocked vehicle had been entered. Stolen was a winning donut and coffee tab from Tim Hortons. You know you’re Canadian when…
  • A man called police to report that two girls damaged his car. However the evidence indicated that the white substance on the car had been left by birds and not girls.
  • A man called police claiming he had just been struck by a vehicle. The man even provided a full description of the suspect vehicle. Through investigation, the man finally admitted that due to his intoxication, he tripped over a trailer hitch in the driveway.
  • A man called 911 to report that there was a squirrel on his front porch acting in a suspicious manner.
  • A man called 911 to report that there was a large snapping turtle on the sidewalk that appeared to be getting ready to jump into traffic.
  • A woman called police to report that she has just been threatened by her downstairs neighbour. Apparently as the woman watered her plants, some water dripped down onto her neighbour’s dog.
  • A 13-year-old youth called police to report that her mother would not allow her to do her own laundry.
  • A man called police in January to complain about the weather report he just heard on a local radio station. They reported "slight flurries" when in fact he was driving in a "snowstorm."
  • A woman called police to report that her drug dealer was lacing her crack with drugs that caused her to hallucinate and hear voices. She asked police to make him stop doing that.
  • A woman called police to report that she was just attacked by a duck who was now sitting in a puddle watching her. The woman was not injured and officers failed to locate the duck upon their arrival.
  • Police were called to a family dispute between a father and his adult son. The son called police because his father told him to brush his teeth and he didn't want to. Police were able to defuse the situation by talking the 20-year-old son into brushing his teeth right away, thus making his 63-year-old father happy.

Saturday, December 29, 2012

World Junior Hockey: Canada vs Slovakia

The first period was a disaster, but a great comeback from a 2 - 0 deficit to a 6 - 3 win. Still problems though. Subban was weak in goal, particularly noticeable on rebounds. My guess is he isn't up to the Russians or Americans; Binnington is probably the better choice.

And as usual, some odd officiating. Who waits 5 minutes to call a major penalty? The hit was clean, but then they noticed some blood. Odd, yes, but IIHF rules are stricter on contact than North American ones. Canadians are aggressive, sometimes violent, players. Europeans, on the other hand, know the IIHF rules and use them to their advantage. They too can be violent, but generally manage to keep it under the radar.

A gold medal is far from assured and if they don't tighten up their game and their goal tending even a bronze might not be within their grasp.

Next up on Sunday the U.S. who are coming off a close loss to Russia.

Playmakers: Talk Radio I - Thad Guerwitcz

Continuing the videos from Playmakers. You can watch the videos in sequence by clicking the "Playmakers" tab at the top of the page.

Playmakers: Talk Radio II - Thad Guerwitcz

Continuing the videos from Playmakers. You can watch the videos in sequence by clicking the "Playmakers" tab at the top of the page.

Friday, December 28, 2012

I must go down to the seas again

I have this thing about sailors. Perhaps because my family has a history of sea-faring. My grandfather, one uncle and a cousin were all master mariners; others in the family held various positions in the merchant marine. Even my father went to sea - once and only once - as a deck boy when he was 16. Then again, perhaps it's the uniform. Who knows.

All images have full size views. Just click on any one



I must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky,
And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by,
And the wheel's kick and the wind's song and the white sail's shaking,
And a grey mist on the sea's face, and a grey dawn breaking.

I must go down to the seas again, for the call of the running tide
Is a wild call and a clear call that may not be denied;
And all I ask is a windy day with the white clouds flying,
And the flung spray and the blown spume, and the sea-gulls crying.

I must go down to the seas again, to the vagrant gypsy life,
To the gull's way and the whale's way, where the wind's like a whetted knife;
And all I ask is a merry yarn from a laughing fellow-rover,
And quiet sleep and a sweet dream when the long trick's over.

John Masefield (1878 - 1967)
Sea Fever



Thursday, December 27, 2012

No NHL


But the World Juniors are on in Russia. I watched the Canada - Germany game on demand since I wasn't getting up at 4 a.m. The final score was Canada 9, Germany 3; a good outcome. Not to take away from the achievement, but the defense seemed sloppy and that's something they can't afford since the big guns in Group B - Russia and the U.S. - are yet to come. The key, other than tightening up that defense, will be to avoid penalties, something that has killed more than one team in the past.

The next game is against Slovakia Friday.

Pic of the day


Richard Diebenkorn (1922 - 1993)






Tuesday, December 25, 2012

Pic of the day


Christmas memories

When I was a child my mother owned a millinery shop. She had learned millinery as a trade in Ireland and continued to work at it after she emigrated to Canada in 1930 to marry my father who had arrived in 1928. After my parents moved from Toronto in 1942 she went into business for herself. In those days, women always wore hats; they didn't need a special occasion. While my mother had her own designs that sold well, her customers would often bring her photos from fashion magazines and ask her to create something similar. Some women came from Toronto to buy. She was good, very good.

We lived behind the shop on the main street just on the edge of downtown. By today's standards the entire place was small; probably no more than 20 feet wide by 40 deep including the shop. One storey, no basement, no front yard and a postage stamp of a grassless rear yard. My bedroom was an alcove off my parents'. But when you're five you don't notice these things.

I was always around the shop. At first I would sit in my high chair in the workroom where my mom could keep an eye on me. When I was older she would give me scraps of material and I would make "hats". I was later told I always said they were for Aunt Martha, my mother's aunt. No one had any idea why. I was lucky. Although my mother worked at a time when few married women did, she was always home.

The shop, although small, was a place of wonderment. Drawers filled with hats and their makings. Feathers, beads, boas, artificial fruit, buttons, sequins, fur. Wooden heads that served both to display the hats and to block them (set their shape) when being made stood on shelves and counters. And always people to fuss over me.

Christmas was special. Like Easter, the run up was my mother's busiest period. She often worked 14 hour days, either serving customers or making hats, to meet the demand, easing off the week before. But she always decorated. There were lights around the door and front window. The window display was stripped of hats to become a winter wonderland. Houses with lights inside, papier-mâché figures, Santa in a sleigh, reindeer dotted throughout, little artificial Christmas trees, a mirror laid flat as a skating pond. And all the empty space was filled with cotton batting snow, drifting from between the houses, softening the edges of the pond, fluffed and tufted, sparkling with sequin ice.

I suppose if I were to see it now I wouldn't be all that impressed, but my Ghost of Christmas Past always lets me use rose-coloured glasses.

Christmas past

All images have full size views. Just click on any one
A soldier carrying a Christmas tree, 1915
A woman returns home from the market with a Christmas tree, 1895
A Christmas tree in an Edwardian parlour, 1905
A young sailor buys a Christmas tree at a greengrocer's and a young boy
waits in a queue of children to buy some mistletoe, 1918

Sunday, December 23, 2012

Pic of the day


He's a gay man now

You may recognise Catherine Tate (Donna Noble on Doctor Who) and Colin Morgan (Merlin on Merlin. This is from Catherine's 2007 Christmas show, but Mrs. Murphy and her family were characters that appeared several timse during the run of her series.

I find Catherine's accent overdone, but there is a ring of authenticity, remembering that Belfast accents can be area specific. In this case it's a working class Catholic housing estate. My Irish relatives maintain they can usually tell roughly where in Belfast someone comes from just by listening to his speech.

Probably NSFW

Saturday, December 22, 2012

Cold Case: Forever Blue

"Forever Blue", which is set in the 1968, follows the current day investigation into the murder of police officer Sean "Coop" Cooper (Shane Johnson.) It uncovers the relationship between Coop and his partner Jimmy Bruno (Brian Hallisay.) When it first aired there was no indication this would be a gay story line. It wasn't until about 20 minutes into the episode that it was revealed.

Cold Case as a series explored gay ("A Time to Hate", "Forever Blue", It's Raining Men), lesbian ("Best Friends"), and transgendered/transexual ("Boy Crazy", "Daniela") themes and did so very well.

Excerpts leading up to the final 10 minutes


The final 10 minutes

While the first two are my videos, if you have the time (45 minutes) someone has added the entire episode to Youtube. Use full screen to get the best picture.

Thursday, December 20, 2012