December 6

In Canada, today is the 17th anniversary of the day a man entered a college in Montreal and killed 14 women. He specifically went after women and then killed himself. There are memorial services across the country to commemorate the loss. Today is also the 89th anniversary of the Halifax Explosion, where 2000 lives were lost because of an accident involving two ships that collided, causing the largest man made explosion before the nuclear age. I bet Halifax is the only place that commemorates that event. Two very different events from very different circumstances. I certainly don't belittle the events in Montreal. Women are the victims of a lot of violence in this world today, even in so-called civilized countries like Canada. Even though there are very few people left alive that remember the Explosion (Just about where this picture was taken), it still has an impact on this city, on the architecture, on what makes this city what it is. There are constant reminders for me even though i have no relatives that were killed or injured. My grandparents still lived in New Brunswick at the time but if they lived on the street where my father was born in the 1930's, their house would have been flattened. It's only a few hundred yards away from where the Fort Needham Explosion memorial is today.

There's a twisted ship's cannon mounted on a corner not far from where it was found, over a mile from the harbour. I pass it every day on the bus because it's just around the corner from where i live. There's a twisted enormous ship's anchor in front of a now-closed museum building closer to the harbour. The anchor was found 3 miles away from the harbour where it was thrown from the explosion. I pass that every day on the bus too. So today i remember a devastating event in Halifax's history. I remember how Halifax pulled itself back up from its knees and rebuilt homes, businesses and lives.

(no subject)

A couple of links:
Saturday Night Live: The Complete First Season

Your Daily WTF mostly IT oriented but some quite funny stuff and all true!

I was on a single "orphan" seat stuck right behind the bus driver this morning. Bus was crowded and there were people standing. Driver had to stop rather quickly on the bridge, which made the stand-ups stagger a bit. I usually have my face in a book on the bus, but glanced up and noticed drop earrings on someone standing fairly close to me, Santa Clause heads. A bit early for it, i thought, but so what? It's December and there's snow on the ground. Got off the bus and someone was walking beside me, my sister who had come in a bit early. Oh hi! She never noticed me on the bus and i hadn't seen her get on in spite of the fact that i was sitting in that seat facing the door. Nice earrings, i said. Drop earrings....Santa Claus heads. LOL