General

Because every post deserves a category these posts could be about anything and everything.

  • Loose dogs, leaving gifts.

    Loose dogs, leaving gifts.

    So, I can’t post from my iPhone to my SnapShots gallery yet but here is another one for my things that annoy me files.

    On my way to catch the bus, I witnessed this little yellow dog zig-zagging the yards squatting and leaving gifts on every yard on the street.

    How long must this go on? I think that in a city only lap house dogs should be allowed, or that any animal allowed to run loose be euthanized.

    Sure you animal lovers might think this is too strict. However, the punishments for failing to comply with a law that needs to be strict enough for people to not want to break the law. I believe that losing your loved pet would be the only way to keep it on a leash and not leaving presents in my yard.

  • Election season again, count me out!

    So once again we are in the pending situation for an election in October, the question to ask is why?

    The governing conservatives haven’t even had a chance for their national meeting in November to develop a new policy document to drive the platform from. So they will be forced by the party to develop a new platform off of an old and aged policy.

    Or perhaps, Stephen Haper is afraid of facing the music of a new policy, and National Council and also interferes with the election this fall of the hunt for a new leader for the NB PC party.

  • Oh, foamy… It’s the St. John River

    This morning I got up earlier than normal to go for a little walk before work so I went down to the Boardwalk.

    To my surprise the harbour was like 40% covered in this foamy stuff that was flowing down the river. Now it is not uncommon for a little of this stuff to be down river from the pulp mill but this was the most I have ever seen.

    I am curious to what this substance consists of someone said it was just the starches from the boiling of the pulp. Another person said it was the runoff from Moosehead however that is stupid as that runoff flows on to Main Street West, and that guy was drunk on the boardwalk at 8am so I don’t really beleve him.

  • Local News, yeah right…

    Today I am going to post another gripe post. This week’s victim is CTV Atlantic late night news, last night I sat down to hear what was happening. There was 13 stories from Nova Scotia, 1 from PEI, 3 from NB and 3 from elsewhere. Like WTF! To make it even worse of the 3 stories they were flood relief from the northwest New Brunswick, a boil order from Oromocto, and an algae ploom in Moncton.

    It is like nobody cares about what is happening in New Brunswick, but to add insult with the lack of caring by dumping on us by adding an algae story to boost your NB news content.

  • Dead or alive…

    I was just uptown and thinking about the talk of recent in Saint John about the growth and prosperity about to hit the city. I don’t really want to be a neigh-say-er but I just can’t imagine Saint John ever living up to its potential. The mentality of the people is one of the biggest drawbacks. It is the greatness of the “littlest city” syndrome the keeps the rose colored glasses, from seeing the realities the global economy is going to be in recession very shortly and I feel that the current growth can sustain and are set the repeat the last boom “Urban Renewal” / “Super Block” / Millidgeville / Shopping Centres projects from the 1960’s – early 80’s.

  • Digest of movie reviews

    It’s been a while since I did a movie review here, and I have seen many in the past few weeks that I want to share.

    Mamma Mia!

    Not to take away from the stage version but the movie did not quite live up to my expectations. The transitions from spoken to song was very abrupt and did not flow very well. Rating: 2.5/5

    The Dark Night

    I really quite enjoyed this movie that a movie can keep you on the edge of your seat for over 2 hours then make you laugh, cry, and keep wondering what is going to happen. Rating: 4/5

    Wanted

    This movie is very unique. I really love Morgan Freeman in movies. He has got to be one of the greatest voices on film. Rating: 3.5/5

    Journey to the Centre of the Earth 3D

    This is the fist RealD movie I have seen, this movie was very interesting. The only issue I had was with the 3d there were so many bad edits just to show off the 3D that just was unnecessary. If you are calling it RealD keep it real, don’t fake it. CEFM Rating: 4/5

    Love Guru CEFM Rating: 1.5/5

    Get Smart CEFM Rating: 4.5/5

  • Maria Theresa (Cormier) Morin- May 13, 1935 – Jun 28, 2008

    Maria Theresa (Cormier) Morin- May 13, 1935 – Jun 28, 2008

    This morning I woke up and found the obituary for my grandmother in the paper. Here it is:

    Maria Morin Obituary Picture

    Maria Theresa Morin

    MORIN, Maria Theresa – It is with great sadness that the family announce the peaceful passing of Maria Theresa Morin at the Saint John Regional Hospital on Sunday June 29, 2008. Born 1935 in Saint John to the late Andrew and Olive (Babineau) Cormier. Maria worked in Housekeeping at The Saint John Regional Hospital for many years. She will be sadly missed by all who knew her. Maria is survived by sons David Morin (Angela) of Black River, Michael Morin, Rev. Lawrence Morin (Heather) both of Saint John, Kenneth Morin (Arnett) of Murriett, CA and Trevor Morin (Marlene) of Black River; daughters Sharon Morin of Montreal, QC, Cathy Melvin (Norman) of Saint John and Debbie Morin (Frank) of Black river; brothers Arthur (Audrey) of Saint John and Ronald (Donna) of Bowmanville, ON; sister Rena Belliveau of Saint John; 14 grandchildren; 10 great-grandchildren; several nieces, nephews and many friends. Besides her parents, Maria was predeceased by her husband Lawrence; sons Mark and Eric; brothers Joseph, Frederick, Lawrence and Ralph; sisters Frieda, Bella and Eva and companion Wes Moore.

    Resting at the Fundy Funeral Home, 230 Westmorland Rd. (646-2424) on July 1st and 2nd, Tuesday and Wednesday from 2-4 and 7-9 p.m. Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated from the Cathedral Of The Immaculate Conception, 91 Waterloo St. on Thursday July 3rd, 2008 at 12:05 p.m. Interment to follow at St. Joseph’s Cemetery. Donations in Maria’s memory can be made to Mind Care NB or to the charity of the donor’s choice. To send a message of condolence or to sign the memorial register please visit www.fundyfuneralhome.com

  • I knew this would happen.

    I decided to sit and watch the new council, and once again I am truly appalled how the new council is directing itself back into the dark ages. If any group of people could burst Saint John’s economic bubble it would be this group.

    Item 10.2 was the request to start the progress by approving a letter of understanding from the City about the proposed Irving Oil offices on Long Wharf. This is a project that has a time line that in reality by the time the Port Act procedures (3-4 months with public consultation), assessment and land negotiations (2-3 months), design and planning (3-4 months), and the city’s rezoning procedures (1-2 months). This delay to delay for a period of almost two months, with persistent criticism from groups like the ILA is just a repeat of the KC Irving Statue fiasco of early 90’s. In the end it will probably not happen.

    Then if that was not appalling enough the disregard by the Mayor himself for the rules of procedure just to grandstand is going to make this session of council one of the least productive in this city’s entire 223 year history. The fact that the last meeting of council took a whole week to complete is truly inexcusable. No where else in the province are there sessions as long and less productive as I have seen by the first few meetings of this council.

  • Again, RTFM

    I just was pumped and bought a 2GB stick of RAM, pulled open the the MacBook. Placed the RAM in and what happend as I turned it on…

    Nothing…

    Now that I read online about this there are many cases where this is caused by not putting the RAM in far enough. But then I find the real reason and from none other that Apple support site. The max amout of RAM is 2GB (2x1GB) now after being pumped I need to return it.

    It was a great deal too ($59.99) if only I could use it.

  • Back again 🙁

    I just returned from Toronto. This time i went up with Tony, and it was a good trip. The best part of it was playing with my new camera. If you haven’t seen it yet the link is http://pics.cefm.ca/v/toronto2008/ to my gallery. I was having interesting situations where I had not read the manual enough in low light areas and cage situations where the shutter speeds, ISO settings and focusing on the cage rather than the animals. A lot of the pictures are at a full 12x zoom without a tripod. In some cases it took 5-6 pictures to get a good one.

  • I got a new toy.

    I got a new toy.

    I am truely wowed!

    I know the pic has caught your attention, and you are wondering what my new toy is. Well without further ado here it comes… Well maybe now… okay it is the Canon PowerShot S5 IS. This thing is the most amazing piece of technology I have ever owned. I’m sorry MacBook, but can you do panoramas, change colours of items in pictures and HD videos? Okay maybe you can but still, the camera is truly cool.

  • Post-Election Post

    So we all know how the election turned out. As every one that knows me knows I enjoy relating the statistics. This year 23,977 voted for a mayor candidate, 24,078  voted in total. Therefore, 101 voters did not vote a mayor. In 2004, 25,489 voted for a mayor, 448 voted for me. Between 2004-2008 Saint John has 1,618 (source: Statistics Canada) less people. Between 2004-2008, 1512 less people voted for a Mayor. Conclusion, most of the people who used to care are the people that are leaving.

  • My Post-Birthday Post

    My Post-Birthday Post

    Boston Pizza Vanilla Bean Cake

    Yesterday was a very interesting day for my birthday. For a change people seemed nicer. It seems like it was no time ago, let alone four years ago today that (in 2004) today (May 11th) I was working at Client Logic, done after a hectic month and a half of campaigning and just waiting for election day to be over, wait a minute, that didn’t happen as a recall at that time I was ditching Sunday shifts to go to Empire Theatres probably to see Mean Girls, New York Minute, or 13 Going On 30 (I seen all of them in the theatre and cant remember which.) Then off to go do Too Close to Call, back in the days when it was only a half hour long show. Then off the day after the election to the great city of Toronto, ON for the first time ever, and my first time on a train too. It is too bad that a lot of my blog here didn’t survive from that time.

    So yesterday… after doing some overtime and fighting with the Royal Bank, I went to Boston Pizza and had an appetizer of Thai chicken bites, Caesar Salad, Chicken Parmesan with Spaghetti, glass of Keith’s, and Vanilla Bean Cake. Then I went to the theatre and seen “Maid of Honor.” I have to say it was a very good meal and very good movie (4 stars.)

  • Third Election Update

    So, at this point I can’t be persuaded on a candidate because I already voted. I do believe in open transparency in politics, and since lynch mobs are so 1800’s I’m going to revile my votes.

    Mayor of Saint John: Michael Richardson
    At-Large: Danny Jardine and Chris Titus
    Ward 4: Kevin Goggan and Ralph Landers

  • Jumper

    Guest post by Tony Tompkins:

    After seeing the trailer once again since seeing the movie, I feel as if the trailer displayed more action then what was in the final cut.

    I can appreciate the storyline as well as the action sequences in this motion picture; however, I believe the movie could have had better quality acting. Newcomer, Hayden Christensen, definitely portrayed the look of the character but his acting ability for the leading role as David Rice needed a more rigid aggression.

    Overall, this film is good and can hold a potential for a sequel, which we can only hope will have more fundamentals touched upon. Furthermore, we all can value the story; however, let’s hope the sequel does not disappoint.

    Tony Tompkins
    Critic

  • Okay, a second look at the election.

    So now that I have looked into the election a little harder, I am changing some of the options.

    Mayor:
    Mike Richardson- I’m not quite sure what it is but Mike seems to have a well thought out plan, no dirt and the just has a personality that one would pay attention to as mayor.

    Councillor At Large:

    Danny Jardine- I remember Danny from the last election he was one of those people that are deeply rooted in the social aspects of the community, like Donny Snook, that understands the poverty aspect of the city but is that enough, I’m adding this name to my shortlist because the list of candidates that I get to choose from is so pathetic, I think ward 4 might just have the worst turnout than any other part of this city.

    Mark LeBlanc- A maybe

    Rick Mantle- I think this one could make the council a little interesting.

    Chris Titus- This one is a definite vote, many of my favourite memories of council involve this fellow, especially back in the Shirley days. I like that Chris is involved in the community not afraid to express new ideas, and knows the when a horse is being flogged too long.

    Councillor Ward 4:

    I don’t seem to think that any of these people would be beneficial at the moment on the council chamber, this is one of the reasons that I was so opposed to the entire ward system is that the east is the area where no one that matters seems to ever run.

    District Education Council District 1

    Sub District 9: No one is running

    District Education Council District 8

    Zone A: Acclaimed

  • It’s election time again!

    As the signs start rising again leads to another dilemma again of who to vote for. Here are my options with names I’m not even considering crossed off:

    Mayor:

    Ivan Court

    John P. Ferguson

    Michelle Hooton

    Norm McFarlane

    Mike Richardson

    Councillor At Large:

    Stephen Chase

    Susan E. Huestis-Toner

    Danny Jardine

    Mark LeBlanc

    Rick Mantle

    Anne-Marie Mullin

    Chris Titus

    Albert Vincen

    Councillor Ward 4:

    Bruce Court

    Teresa Debly

    Kevin Goggan

    Carole Keddy

    Ralph Landers

    Joe Mott

    James Whelly

    District Education Council District 1

    Sub District 9: No one is running

    District Education Council District 8

    Zone A: Acclaimed

  • Just some updates

    I’ve worked hard on editing a lot of the content on this site. I’m even just found most of my old university essays, and am going to get around to posting them soon in the writings section. I even have a few pieces of my poetry that I wrote to add here.

    As you noticed there have not been many posts with pictures in them, that is because my site is running a RC version of WordPress and that functionality is not quite working for me yet.

    You can also see now that these posts are cross posted to Twitter and Facebook. I don’t really like the idea of dividing my audiences so I’m working on further deep integration as we speak.

  • Keeping up with the times.

    With the recent water bans an the lack of news coverage in the wee hours of the evening I was pondering if there was a better way for the City of Saint John to post urgent notices. And I had thought of using the technology of today, and an approach of making it easier to opt-in to these methods.

    Part 1: Electronic Internet

    Provide an RSS feed with no longer than a text message sized message detailing the urgent message. This would allow people the opportunity to place a box on the most common web portals that 60% of people use as home pages.

    Secondly allow people to register their e-mail addresses to an urgent message list. This would allow people to get it by e-mail or text message as people can put in cellnumber@pcs.rogers.com or cellnumber@txt.aliant.net and have it sent to your cell (great for parking bans.)

    Step 2: Phone

    Have an Advisory line like the parking one and have a cheep automated text to voice system to read the RSS feed messages.

  • HD-DVD 2006-2008

    I never really expected to see this, this morning the DVD Forum is about to abandon HD-DVDs. Once again a format can be added the Hall of “you never had a chance” along with other failures like Beta, 8-Track, and not to forget LaserDisk.

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