The Giller Prize

I have been looking for a few good books to read. Even just one. So anyways, here is how it goes. I am up early this morning with my coffee in hand and the globe and mail in the other. Reading thru the arts pages I notice the short-list for the Giller Prize in the Books section. The Giller is worth a lot of money and goes to Canada's best novel of that year. I don't know If life of Pi won or not in its day...but Yann Martel had another terrific book about a writer and a taxidermist and it has failed to make the Top 10 if great Canadian fiction of this year. That was a fantastic book so I say to myself "Great" here it is, five Novels by Canadian writers. All the best fiction of 2010 that our country has to offer. One book you can even get in stores its on back order and the other four aren't any I have read more than 10 pages For now I will list the novels, there are: Two books of short-stories; one by Alexander Macleod (Son of great Alistair McCleoud) with his debut title "Light Lifting" and Sarah Selecky with her book "The Cake is for the Party". Both are books of short stories.The novelists include Kathleen Winter's book "Annabel" she is published by Anansi Press who also publishes Michael Winter who happens to be one of my favourite writers, I am not sure if theses two are related. Either way, there is also two other writers who maade the short list. Probably the two that I will find the most fascinating from their descriptions are David Bergen's "The Matter with Morris" said to be about a journalist who loses his son in Afghanistan to a friendly fire accident. The writer has trouble, etc.. further and lastly a novel "The Sentimentalist" a debut by Johana Skibsrud. Also dealing with war on some level. All 4 books you can get in chapters or other local book stores but The Sentimentalist is currently unavailable but you can be put on an order list and as soon as Gaspereau press has all the material they are going to print a 2nd press of the the book.'Gaspereau' press is a small press in Nova Scotia, it has only printed off 2,000 copies and the owner says, they are currently waiting on a paper delivery to continue with the second print. So I the mean time I think I will begin reading "The Matter with Morris" and I you are finished and feel like commenting and adding our favourite read of 2010 the by all means share... Until then continue to read the blog for other news and stories

Write? Ya right, I can't write

I haven't been able to write lately. Facebook, you-tube, e-mails and web-sufring have taken over. So much time wasted. I haven't been doing any real work for months. I suppose I should just disconnect the ethernet cable from my computer and then perhaps i'll be able to focus on writing. This is supposed to be my novel. I need more discipline. I have writers block. I need some energy. I think I may have A.D.D. I might have to go for a walk to clear my head and then i'll be able to write. I'll be right back.

We went camping

We loaded the truck with all our gear and lifted the canoe on the roof. We tied and it down and got ourselves on the road. I had a feeling I didn't tie the nose of the canoe down well enough but thought we could get a few kilometers away before I had to pull over to check it all. It was windy enough and I got to the outskirts of town when I seen the nose of the canoe shifting to the left thru the windshield. It made me little nervous and so I pulled over and re-tied the front end and gave the rope a good yank and made sure it was tight. Back on the road and we were continuing north. Big Ball Lake was the destination, just an hour or so drive. When we arrived we dropped off our luggage by the edge of the water and parked the truck further down the road to a clearing and then walked back to the canoe and paddle out to lake. I sat up front in the canoe and Nickie sat in the bow and steered. Just us and the open water. We paddled some and it was a beautiful time, as the sun was beginning to set. The lake was wide and there were many islands in the middle for us to camp on. We paddled some more and made good distance. "Where should we aim?" I asked and Nickie pointed and said over there, and then she asked me the same question, "where do you wanna aim"? We pulled up to an island and noticed there were cottages and an old man was tending to a boat with who must of been his grandson.He noticed us pull up to his dock and I waved and said hello, "do you mind if we pull up to your dock and hang on for a rest"? The old man came closer, he had an initial look of concern on his face and maybe didn't hear me properly. "You don't mind if we just get a little rest by your dock do you"? I tried to smile and look ask as polite as I could. The old man took off his cap and wiped his brow with a rag. "No I don't mind, are you lost"? He asked. "Where are you going"? He seemed a little surprised by our presence and seemed truly concerned. "No were not lost just wanted to have a break". I told him we were just out for a long paddle . He went back to his boat and pulled the motor and he and the young boy started the motor and went out for a boat ride. I grabbed a beer from the cooler and smiled as they moved the boat in front of us and I waved one last time. "I think we should keep on aiming for the island further out" I took a last gulp of beer and with the setting sun it was getting late and we were ready to get moving on.

Iroquois Nationals cleared to play

According to a team's spokesperson the Iroquois Nationals are able to travel to England for the World Lacrosse Championships with their own passports. They may be jet legged with the long wait-over but should be ready to play England in their first game of the tournament thursday night at 7:30pm

Iroquois Nationals Still Waiting

The Iroquois Nationals still haven't left for The World Lacrosse Championships and they are scheduled to play the host team England on thursday in the City of Manchester. It is the kickoff to the tournament.

The thing holding the Nationals back is the Government of Britain, saying that unless they receive word from the United States that it will honour to let the Iroquois Nationals travel back into the U.S. with their own passports unless the President says ok they can not cross the border to England.

The Iroquois Nationals team will be travelling with their own Haudenosaunee passports But the Americans want them to have US passports as well directly affecting their Sovereignty. Homeland Security is not granting an OK to come back. Whats going on with the United States, they do not need the Iroquois team to carry two passports they have their own. The Iroquois have a chance to represent themselves and the Americans are holding them up here for too long trying to make them take American Passports.

There is no story of this on the FIL Federation International of Lacrosse web-page www.filacrosse.com -no word if this will get sorted out with the FIL saying nothing.

There needs to be a first nations team at this tournament they invented the game. The Iroquois players live on land in North and South f the US/Canada border. They share this land with us and we share it with them.

From an Article on WGRZ .com in Buffalo, All the U.S. State Department would say is;

"We are more than willing to help these athletes with very, very fast, expedited processing of a U.S. passport." That was according spokesperson Nicole Thompson.

Iroquois Nationals are being held back

The World Championships are being held in Manchester England and the people who invented the game are not being allowed to travel and play in the tournament.

The Iroquois Nationals are made up of the Six Indian Nations that stretch across Southern Ontario and New York. The International Lacrosse Federation recognizes thea as a country and has them ranked as 4th in the World.

The Iroquois team are facing a problem with the US and Homeland security revolving around their passports. The Six Nations have their own passports which they have travelled with in the past to other tournaments. The US want them to carry the American passports as well. Denis Waterman, a member of the Iroqiois Nationals Board of directors says “It would be like saying the Canadians are having travel difficulties and the U.S. says we’ll make you U.S. passports and you can go over."

The British consulate informed the team they would not be allowed travel permissions unless they were granted the allowance back into the United States. The State Department of Home Security will not grant a promise. This decision is denying the Six Nations their own sovereignty. Dean Kotlowski, a history professor at Salisbury University in Maryland who specializes in American Indian policy sums it up “What’s at stake is their culture, their identity, their tribes, their reservations,” he said. “They’ve seen diminishment ... of their population, threats to their way of life.”

Many of the players have travelled to other parts of the country to compete for their nation and have had no trouble in the past. They should be allowed to travel and it would be a shame if they were not granted the opportunity. Historically speaking there would not be a World Lacrosse Championship in the first place without them. They invented the game.

The Iroquois are scheduled to play England on Thursday. If they leave today they'll still only have one day to prepare for their game. If they are not represented at the tournament I think its a big shame and the American government are making a huge mistake in not allowing clearance to travel. If I were playing I would protest and not play.

Earthquake in Ontario

Holy shit that's what a earthquake feels like?

Thought somebody bumped the back of my chair - nobody was there behind me when I looked. I just kept on working at my desk and only 45 minutes later I heard a co-worker say it was a minor earthquake. The globe and mail reports it was a 5.5 on the richter scale but yet it wasn't much felt at all in Peterborough. It was my first feel of an earthquake. I do no have much experience and know little about the scaling of one but I would of rated that a 3.2-as I say I was sitting down at my ground level desk and if it was as tho a ghost or someone walked behind my chair and glazed the back of me, I do remember looking left and right to see if someone had passed but no, and I thought nothing more of it. As for the scaling of earthquakes it was nothing much felt here. But in Ottawa my partner did say people had left their buildings, not like the King Elvis presely, but instead going outside to see just what the frig that was? but I don't have anything to judge it by. My partner said the Quake had her work building shaking for what seemed like 15 seconds. She said, She "looked at her co-worked and they both got up and split for the stairs outside"

So an Earthquake, who would of thought. Apparently not the weather guy- he was calling for a thunder storm. He'll probably say thunder tomorrow. Bring on the sun is what I say, I still have clothes on the line. Why does it always seem to rain when I do laundry? My neighbour has asked me the same thing.

Its been a great so far, and here's to the rest

(I have a cold moosehead I am raising to toast)