Hayley's New Song

Today is the day that you can purchase Hayley McLean's new song on iTunes - That's When You Know. If you haven't seen her video for this new tune, here it is:

A Short Trip

 Jumped on Air North (Yukon's Airline - right Kristin??)  and headed south to Edmonton to shop shop shop and visit visit visit.  Accomplished both I might add.  Had a good chat with an old work buddy on the trip south.  It's always fun to sit beside someone you wish to catch up with while flying.  The time passes so so quickly.

Dawson is now in Grade 7.  He is attending a Sports School and was just accepted onto the Volleyball Team.  He practises every chance he gets outside his house.

Little Jenny came shopping with me the first day but I'm certain found it quite boring as she just followed me and then waited and waited. She was very patient and good humoured about it (although the second day I shopped by myself).
Had a successful trip and a good visit.

Gold Diggers

Want to read a good book on the Yukon Gold Rush of 1897-8 ??  Gold Diggers by Charlotte Gray.

"This is the story of the Gold Rush through the intimate lives of six extraordinary people: the saintly priest Father Judge; the feisty entrepreneur Belinda Mulrooney; the struggling writer Jack London; the imperious British journalist Flora Shaw; the legendary Sam Steele of the Mounties; and the prospector William Haskell. Brilliantly interweaving their stories, Gray creates a fascinating panorama of a frontier town where desperados, saloon keepers, gamblers, dance hall girls, churchmen and law-makers were thrown together in a volatile time."

That from Amazon.com and a good summary of how the book was written.  A very enjoyable book.

Peace

Watched a program on TV tonight that was in support of teaching 1 million school children in the USA transcendental meditation.  At the end, Ringo came on and sang some songs, then Paul came on and sang some songs then they both got together.  It warmed my heart to see the remaining two Beatles playing together on stage and they both remembered John and George.  So good to see them together.

The following poem was read:

A Poem of Unknown Origin

May everyone be happy

May everyone be free of disease

May auspiciousness be seen everywhere

May suffering belong to no one

Peace

Learning Something New

 I PVR a lot of my shows now on TV - cannot stand all the commercials which I fast-forward through, or don't have the time to sit and watch when a particular show is on - I find it very handy.  The one I am currently watching is  Charles Darwin and the Tree of Life on TVO.  I have to say some of these shows introduce me to things that I have never in my life thought of.  These two photos are a case in point.  The flower above was shown on this program.  It was called the larges flower in the world - and it does look pretty large.  Here is what wikipedia says about it:

Amorphophallus titanum (from Ancient Greek amorphos, "without form, misshapen" + phallos, "phallus", and titan, "giant" ), known as the titan arum, is a flowering plant with the largest unbranched inflorescence in the world. The titan arum's inflorescence is not as large as that of the talipot palm, Corypha umbraculifera, but the inflorescence of the talipot palm is branched rather than unbranched.

Due to its odor, which is reminiscent of the smell of a decomposing mammal, the titan arum is characterized as a carrion flower, and is also known as the "corpse flower", or "corpse plant" (Indonesian: bunga bangkai – bunga means flower, while bangkai means corpse or cadaver). For the same reason, the title "corpse flower" is also attributed to the genus Rafflesia which, like the titan arum, grows in the rainforests of Sumatra.

But when I googled largest flower in the world, the flower above came up.  Rafflesia arnoldii is a member of the genus Rafflesia. It is noted for producing the largest individual flower on earth, and a strong odor of decaying flesh - the latter point earning it the nickname of "corpse flower". It is an endemic plant that occurs in the rainforests of Sumatra Island, Indonesia. But then the same species (Arnoldi) also has reported to be found in Gunung Gading National Park, Sarawak (East Malaysia). Although there are some plants with larger flowering organs like the Titan Arum and Talipot palm, those are technically clusters of many flowers.

Rafflesia arnoldii (Indonesian: padma raksasa) is one of the three national flowers in Indonesia, the other two being the white jasmine and moon orchid. It was officially recognized as a national "rare flower" (Indonesian: puspa langka) in Presidential Decree No. 4 in 1993.

So, two of the largest flowers, both vying for the name corpse flower, both indigenous to Indonesia... 

something I have never before even thought about.  Thank you TV.

Cremation

While driving into town today I was listening to a person being interviewed on CBC radio.  She had attended a Trade Show.  This was a Trade Show on cremation.   She said that in Vancouver, about 85% of the (dead) population are cremated.  She spoke of the coffins on display, headstones, the specially created bags for those wanting their ashes to be spread into the sea (you deposit the bag containing the ashes on the water - the bag sinks and biodegrades and the ashes scatter underwater). But the creepiest thing of all was a company that will take about 1/3 of the cremated ashes and through various processes, make a diamond for you which can then be mounted in a ring or whatever you wish ... cost from about $3,000 to about $20,000 depending on what you wish.  Just perusing the website below, I can see there are a number of things one can do with the dearly departed such as fingerprint jewellery, putting ashes in a scattering machine, or in a birdhouse in which birds can nest.  I guess with the number of elderly in this day and age, this may be a wise business to get into.  We all have to go somewhere and like this interviewer said, "it is not if, but when".  If you are feeling a bit morbid, here is the website:  http://www.cremationsolutions.com

The other day I also heard another unique idea for the dead.  Turn your ashes into a tree.  A biodegradable urn with tree seeds can be planted and one day your ashes will help spawn a living tree.  Interesting.  Want to do that, here is a website:  http://bigthink.com/design-for-good/this-awesome-urn-will-turn-you-into-a-tree-after-you-die

So many choices ...

Weather

Our weather forecast (above) for tonight and tomorrow morning ...  hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

Skagway

Skagway, Alaska ... September 7, 2012.  Not a day for strolling the streets or marina.  A good day to eat a hearty lunch at the Thai restaurant, StarFire.  Excellent red curry with rice!  If you Toronto people come back north (and I suspect you will be coming perhaps in June of next year, per my crystal ball) I now have three restaurants that we can eat at AND ENJOY the food in Skagway.

We knew the weather was not forecast to be very good, but it has been a while since we were last there and all needed something from the coastal town.  Our list:  wool, wool sox, smoked salmon and glacial soap.

On our drive home, the road kept getting closer and closer to the clouds.

We passed the US Customs office and made our way towards Canada.

The summit was pretty socked in but once on top there was no where to go but down and thus out of the clouds.  Still rainy all the way home so no wildlife.  Perhaps next time we go it will be sunny.

We wished for better weather as this was the day for the start of the Klondike Trail of '98 International Road Relay - Teams of up to 10 runners compete in this overnight relay starting in Skagway, Alaska and following the Klondike Highway past the Southern Lakes region, finishing in  Whitehorse - a distance of about 100 miles.  It is always a better event when it is not raining and close to 0 degrees, but rain or shine, the road relay goes on.  Want more information, here is a link (hint page 12-15 gives the course description):    http://www.klondikeroadrelay.com/race2/raceinformationguide.pdf

Marigold Hotel

Saw The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel last night in a theatre (I won't say 'filled' as on a Wednesday night our theatre is never filled, but there WAS a respectable showing) of white haired viewers ... mostly all women but did find 3 men, which we first guessed came to the movie because they were 1.Gay or   2. To hook up with a woman their age... and then their wives (??) joined them.  Yes, this is a movie that attracts the retired crowd.  But look at the stars.  That is what attracted me.  The story is about individual British pensioners allured by an advertisement of a newly refurbished luxury hotel for "the elderly and beautiful" in India.  Of course, when they finally arrive, it is not quite as charming as the advertisement showed but they all do find charm in other ways.  The movie was fun!  We laughed out loud and could definitely relate to a lot of the circumstances that the cast found themselves in or have passed through.  And a lot of the lines in the movie had real meaning for me ... you know, those things you have learned in life but have to be reminded every once in a while, as well as new ones like "everything will be alright in the end, so if it is not alright, it is not yet the end".  I'm not sure how a teenager would rate this movie but I am certain that from middle age and up, you would find it entertaining.  And like my friend pointed out no one was shot with a machine gun or blown up and yet we thoroughly enjoyed it.  I give it 5 Stars.