Looks like were getting another visit from a musical legend!Mr Willie Nelson will be dropping by the province in May,2006. We recently had a visit from the great George Jones and it became the talk of the area for weeks. So if your a legend,over 70 and want to pick up a few extra bucks come on down to Newfoundland. Hell im sure in just a few years Cher will be doing her final farewell tour here! Now don't be saying "shut up Wayne,knock it off!" If you want to see old foggies perform and shell out 50 - 60 bucks go right ahead. Geeze i even wish ol Elvis was still around,im sure he would drop by also. Only thing im afraid of is that someone is going to Screech one of those old guys in and that'll kill them! Of course if someone like Keith Richards happens to drop by,then go right ahead.Im sure he can handle it!

Its official! On January 23rd/2006 we will be taking part in the Canadian Snowshoe election. Paul dropped by to see our Govenor general this morning after getting a non confidence motion by a vote of 171-133 last night. The three opposition parties voted in favour of that motion. Premier Danny Williams has already written the three federal party leaders outlining a shopping list of our wants here in NL. Danny ol buddy,you should still write a letter to Santa. He has much more credibility then those three!

Looks like Jack Harris is not going to run for the NDP in our province and Fabian says he's not sure yet. Im sure Fabian will do so because he and Danny aint gettin along well lately.

El simpleton,Liberal MP Gerry Byrne insists the election isn't necessary at this time. pointing to the Tories not having candidates in place in all seven ridings in this province, as a sign that we are not important to the Conservatives. Give it up Gerry,don't worry be happy, your constituants might not have to feel guilty about voting for you if you win by acclamation!It's going to be interesting with all the free loonies tossed around by the chief liberal loonie this comming Christmas.

Lets get ready to rumble!

History will be made tonight as the federal government is defeated in the House of Commons. It will be the first time a motion of non-confidence has resulted in the defeat of a government in Parliament. The Prime Minister isn't expected to waste much time before going to the (looks hot!) Governor General to ask for an election to be set. Likely dates are January 16th or 23rd.

Two familiar faces from our province may may decide in the next day whether they will run federally. Jack Harris who represented the federal riding of St. John's East between 1987 and 1988, is stepping down as leader provincial NDP leader after 13 years on the job. Sources say federal NDP leader Jack Layton has called Harris often in the past week, as the party believes it can win that seat with Harris on the ticket.

Harris, a labour lawyer, made a splash in a July 1987 byelection when he won St. John's East for the New Democrats. He lost the seat in the fall 1988 election to Tory Ross Reid.
Harris moved into provincial politics in 1990, and has represented a downtown St. John's district since.

The NDP have never suceeded in getting much of a foot hole in our province federal or provincial .

Conservatives want Manning another veteran of the House of Assembly to run in Avalon, the federal riding now held by the retiring John Efford.
Manning has been sitting as an independent MHA since May, when he got his ass kicked out of the Progressive Conservative caucus by Danny Williams for not towing the party line. Manning was accused of telling caucus secrets and criticized government policy.I knew they had secrets but it was the first i heard they had a policy.

I love elections mostly because money seems to flow so easy everytime one is called. We finally get to see some the the surplus spent that was horded up. Come to think of it,that's what it was probally intended to do all along,buy voters!Im hoping for another minority government more then a white Christmas. We wouldn't want a white Christmas because it could be to hard for the boys out on the campaign trail and much harder to kiss babies in snowmobile suits in their little sleighs.

The polls show the Liberals with a slight lead already but im sure thats subject to change when the scare tactics start.All in all it should be interesting and im hoping Santa wil bring us another minority government and i don't care which party has it.Who knows we may be back to the polls again by next Canada Day!

For some reason or another im a fan of the the animated series SOUTH PARK. Been watching it for years and it's going to be around until at least 2008. At first i figured this show would be pulled from the airwaves because of its content but over the years South Park has shown that no topic is too off-color to touch on.

Someone said "Where else on TV can you hear debate about controversial issues like assisted suicide, sexual harassment, hate crimes, voting recounts, and pedophile priests?"Where else indeed!

South Park has three characters who reflect various parts of all our characters. Stan, the “average guy” who goes with the flow and learns from the consequences. Kyle, the principled iconoclast who tries to oppose the crowd when they’re acting irrationally. Finally, we have Eric Cartman, who reflects the dark side in all of us. We use to have Kenny but for some reason, the poor frigger got killed off so often they made it permanent.We also see an animated cast of different characters,all adding to the satire of the show.

They say it takes up to 8 months to create one Simpsons episode but only 3 days for a South Park one.I hope that the South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone stick around for a while longer.For a list of celebrities who appears or was parodied on South Park,,,click here.

Some days i think i read to much friggin news!
Department Store 'Mannequin Rape' Hits All Time High

The period beginning on the Monday before Thanksgiving up until Christmas, is the peak time for a little reported incidence of mannequin rape, according to disturbing figures that have come into our possession says some news source..( I wonder who keeps track of those things?)
The attacks, where store mannequins are sexually assaulted, sometimes in the store in front of other shoppers, hit a peak in 2004 with over 4,000 suspected incidents. That number is expected to grow again this year.(WHY?)
The combination of mild winters, and increasingly sexy mannequins are to blame for the increase in what is widely regarded as a significantly underreported crime.(The ones i seen are not that sexy,maybe im staring to much at the girls who work there instead)
Mannequin rape may have gone unnoticed for many years as it had been miss-reported under other offenses, such as 'mannequin theft', 'temporarily missing mannequin' or 'unauthorized mannequin moving'.
In the case of 'mannequin moving', most stores do not regard it as a police reportable offense if the mannequin is moved less than 3 inches.(must be sorta like the age limit thing for humans)
A store security guard says,
"85% of mannequin rapes occur when a mannequin, which is on display near a changing room, is taken into the said changing room and then attacked."(now im curious about the other 15%)
Will at least you don't have to get it drunk with "Jesus Juice" first which brings me to the next part of todays blog.

Jackos balls finally dropped!Author Diane Dimond says michael jacksons has a deeper voice than you think.Depending on his mood his voice changes and according to one of his maids in the bedroom closet there were racks of disguises, wigs,false teeth and a tray of prosthetic noses. I always followed Jackos career and liked quite a bit of his music.I know this guy's life has been written about more times then most of us care to remember but when you think you have heard it all,along comes something else. Im sure were not heard the last of him and each time it'll be a little more bizarre then the last.

A friend just phoned and told me of a new spotlight he just purchased. It's 15,000,000 candle power and far superior to anything we take on the ATV when we travel overnight or go hunting with. Been sitting here and wondering why i need one and the results i have come up with are overwhelming.The skys the limit and now im just wondering if i have to buy it myself or con my wife into getting it as a Christmas present for me.

The rechargeable battery provides 40 minutes of operation on a full charge in full power mode, or 85 minutes in economy mode, which nevertheless produces 1,000,000 candlepower.I bet i could fry the neighbours cat at night when it's sneaking around outside my house.I figure i could give my buddies a tan with this on on next over nighter. (*WARNING) God help the first one that passes out while drinking with me (*WARNING) I just hope the price is right then my wife might buy me two! 30,000,0000 candle power!!!!!!!!!

Any fans out there of the ABC series "LOST?"
I have been a fan of this from day one and it's about the only show on TV that i wouldn't want to miss.I seldom get hooked on anything but after watching the 2004 episodes i looked forward to its return this fall. I see some fans have already established a "Lost Forum" on the web.ABC has already launched its first official pod cast back on November 8.
“Lost,” which airs WEDNESDAYS (9:00-10:00 p.m., ET), on the ABC Television Network, stars Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje as Mr. Eko, Naveen Andrews as Sayid, Emilie de Ravin as Claire, Matthew Fox as Jack, Jorge Garcia as Hurley, Maggie Grace as Shannon, Josh Holloway as Sawyer, Daniel Dae Kim as Jin, Yunjin Kim as Sun, Evangeline Lilly as Kate, Dominic Monaghan as Charlie, Terry O’Quinn as Locke, Harold Perrineau as Michael, Michelle Rodriguez as Ana Lucia and Cynthia Watros as Libby.

Always surfing the net for new blogs,new things and a few days ago ran across this blog.After reading a bit of it i began to wonder about the blogger.They're either from another planet or sending code to Osama in his cave.Check it out and if you can decipher any of it.Please,please come and tell me.

Read this weeks local paper "The Gulf News" from Port Aux Basques and i just wanted to comment on an article by Natalie Musseau.The article was titled "Catholics want more information on sale of properties." People of the Catholic faith in the Codroy Valley seem to have more questions than answers when it comes to the selling of church property in the area. Properties are been sold to pay off legal bills for sexual abuse of children by former priests.
One of the properties is St. Mary's Hermitage in O'Regans and going at $400,000.00. This place is well known as a religous house and a place of retreat visited by people all over the globe and helps promote our area and all of NL. Im not of the Catholic faith but i do think in someway this decision also affects me as well as anyone who cares for the area. Hopefully this place will not have to be sold and can continue to do what it was intended to do! I wonder how Maggie MacKinnon the lady who left this to the church would of felt knowing what may happen?I wonder how many people out there now of all religous denominations feel about leaving properties to their churches? (Blog Photo: Bishop Douglas Crosby who attended the meeting in the Codroy Valley,Nov 6/2005)

I've been getting a lot of hits on my Blog and when i check my site meter it shows the Downhomer website as one of the main refferal pages to my site.The least i can do is give the Downhomer Kitchen forum one back from here.

I always get my first view of morning news on www.vocm.com and this morning i discovered a local man from my home town had sorta declared war on MOOSE !
Here's the news article:
Fed Up With Moose November 13, 2005
A resident of Port Aux Basques says the Provincial Government is responsible for every moose accident that happens on our highways. Stuart Pearce says he's compiled a list of a dozen moose accident victims with the intent of getting compensation from government. He says the moose are the responsibility of the government, and like farmers, they are responsible for any accidents caused by their animals.
Pearce says he's also issued a warning to all moose on November 26th when he travels across the island. Stay off the roads because he's willing to use self defense to prevent any accidents that may lead to a death. Pearce says he plans on not just taking it down, but taking it out. He says in doing son, it just might save a life.
Pearce says anyone that's been involved in a moose accident and wish to have their name added to the list of names to be forwarded to a lawyer, can do so by calling, faxing or emailing him at 695-3149 or stuartpearce1954@hotmail.com

Got me to thinking!I wonder if someone who had the misfortune of colliding with a Caribou or Black Bear on our highways,could they also seek compensation? Or are the bear and caribou species exempt from damages to cars and people?When Mr. Pearce takes his journey November 26 across our island,what does he mean by "Stay off the roads because he's willing to use self defense to prevent any accidents that may lead to a death. Pearce says he plans on not just taking it down, but taking it out." Is this a different animal then im use to seeing when im travelling or hunting?The moose i met seemed illiterate but then again i didn't ask for their autographs and never really thought much of it. Outside of the novel "Animal Farm" where only the pigs could read i never heard of others reading. I always thought of the moose as dumb because sometimes when i passed a Moose Crossing sign i would see them on the roads not heeding the spot where they were suppose to cross.

Enough of the joking....i know every year people are killed in moose/car collisions and it's not one bit amusing.I have had a few close calls myself and just yesterday on a drive to Stephenville i saw one on the road side and a few on the backs of pickup trucks all neatly quartered up ready to take home for consumption.
Here's a great site from Cal White of Addventure X in St.Georges giving a few tips on highway driving. http://www.addxweb.com/pages/moosevehicle.html I think more education like that site would be more beneficial to drivers then anything else. No it won't stop all the moose/vehicle collisions,nothing short of a complete cull on the island will do that.Then what?Start on another species?
Im looking forward to hearing of Stuarts cross island adventure on November 26. Probally he's going to mount some kind of mechanical device on the front of his vehicle similiar to the old cow catchers on the locomotives years ago.

Finally made it to the big Five- O today.
They say your age is just a number but i would prefer a much lower one! Will at least i get to blog about this one because last year like a great percentage of the population i didn't know what a blog was. Most people who have a blog seem to write with ease but for me it's just a little outlet to rant or publish a bit of community history on. Back to the big 5-0, it's an age a few of my friends never made it to. One good friend died the day before my nineteenth birthday,November 9/1974 and it was a terrible moment in my life.Ten years later i picked that day to get married because i wanted to remember his life and the new one i started on that day.Other childhood friends died later but none seemed to affect me as his death did.I guess on my nineteenth birthday standing in a funeral home looking at him just 19 years of age himself made me realize what a gift life really was.

With Rememberance Day so close i thought i would add this bit of local History to my blog site.Short story of a lady i knew and the sacrifice her family made in WWII. Heres a link to the Newfoundland Overseas Forestry page maintained by the Pike family in Guelph,Ontario.

http://www.mgl.ca/~cpike/NOFU.html

Looks like now when i go Moose hunting or just for an ATV trip on the weekend i'll have all my data backed up on my Swiss Army Knife.I love tech just as much as the next person, but wouldn't it be better to keep something like this a bit seperate? In a couple of months the USB drive will probaly be obsolete while the knife part lasts for decades.Also found out it's coming with a MP3 player also.I suspect out there somewhere some tech geek is saying "how nice! a USB drive with a knife attached.

Anyone else like to dabble with Adobe photoshop? Been playing around with photoshop for a few years and even tried at one time to get the local college here to put off a course in it. I would of liked to know more about color management and a few other techniques. Using Adobe Photoshop is like having a darkroom right inside your computer. I played around with a few online tutorials but nothing can come close to someone who can teach it. I feel overwhelmed looking at some of the books on the subject but a video might be more usefull.