New Blog

All my posts are now being posted at my new blog at Jerry Sweet Scribblin's.

Yaaarrr! Round up the Scurvy Facebook Dogs.

Let fly the Jolly Roger!!

For Facebook users, the geeks at Facebook have let loose their pirate cannon fire on the masses. Login to Facebook and sail down to the very bottom of the page, where it indicates your current language - English. Click on it and a list of languages supported by Facebook pops up.

Click English (Pirate) and put on yer Cap'n hat.

AAAAaaar!!!

Man dies after getting run over by a plane.

A guy is filming a plane and he gets hit by it and and dies. Sad and tragic that he was injured and died.

But how do you get hit by a plane when you're staring right at it? How can you not see that coming? Freak air accidents aren't uncommon up here in the North. Last year a guy jumped out of a commercial flight over Nunavut. Deliberate suicide. Again, sad and tragic but how does that happen? They were never able to recover the body.

June 19th, 2004, a CF-18 fighter jet wipes out at Yellowknife airport on take off. The pilot ejected and was safe. Shortly after that a CF-18 took off from Yellowknife airport and accidentally dropped a bomb on the golf course. The missile dropped off its wing during take off. Fortunately it didn't go off, but it put a golfer or two off their game.

Aboriginal Awareness Week

Aboriginal Awareness Week is this week. Up here, every day is AAW. How can you not be aware of them? They're everywhere.

Big fish fry at INAC today. mmmm... whitefish.
Bannock and baked goods as well.

Traditional bannock recipe: http://www.jerrysweet.com/personal/GabriellesBannock.htm

It's easy. Throw a couple of handfuls of dried fruit, like cranberries, raisons, currents or whatever into the dough before you bake it. It's also called bush bread since you can take the dough and wrap it around a stick then hold it over the fire to cook. Premix the dry ingredients and take it camping.

Fraser Tower Burns...

Fraser Tower caught fire yesterday just before 4pm. Crazy smoke covering the city. Kudos and cookies to the fire fighters. The damn thing's 13 stories high. I wonder if the elevator has a '13' button on it?

Anyhoo, it was burning brightly until the chopper water bombers dropped 10 loads of water on it. Fortunately, no injuries and everyone got out ok. Apparently they (who's 'they' anyway?) were letting people in by 2am this morning including apartments on the 13th floor. Apparently the majority of damage was in the penthouse on the roof.

Yellowknifers (as they are known to do) rallied around the victims and found places to stay for everyone from the Fraser. It does beg the question though... Does the city have anything in place should to assist people should something like this happen again? Or even smaller catastrophes. What do people do who's house catches fire? Yeah, insurance is important, but at the very least a community contact at city hall to instantly react when these things happen.

Is there a United Way here in town?

Bear Shot in Yellowknife This Morning

CBC News reported a bear shot on Lankey Court this morning. Not sure what kind of bear it was, but (to wax Pythonian) it's now pining for the fjords. I wonder where the meat will go. Bear chili rocks.

I seem to recall a number of bears wandering into Yellowknife last year with one of them being a grizzly.

Time to bring in the cat.

Terminator The Sarah Connor Chronicles

For anyone who's a Terminator fan, season 2 of the Sarah Connor Chronicles began Monday night.  They've really done a terrific job on it.  I would recommend it to anyone.  As a matter of fact, if you want to watch any past episodes, click here.  They have all the previous episodes from the first season as well as the season 2 opener.  Really good.

I'll be back.

Dude Whacks Guy With Sausage, Then Robs Him

Yup.  Believe it.  Some guy in Fresno California, breaks into a house.  Sneaks up on two sleeping guys.  Rubs spices over one guy, beats the other one with a 22" sausage and then robs them and flees.  Except the sausage freak dropped his wallet and the cops nabbed him.

Seriously...  I wish I could make this stuff up.  Click here for the news report.

Rogers, Bell & Telus... again.

For those of you who know me, you recognize my contempt for the telecommunication companies in Canada.  CBC has posted a special report called Disconnected.  It can be read here.  Merrill Lynch reports Rogers, Bell and Telus as the three most profitable wireless companies in the world by a long shot.  Through redonkulous consumer gouging, these companies, through the abuse of their triopoly have lined their wallets while mining ours.  

It appears they will have competition starting fall 2009.  And not a moment too soon.  

Thieving rats.

For That Special Someone...

Can't think of what to get Grandma for Christmas this year? Puzzling over the perfect going away prezzie?  Look no further. Thinkgeek.com has USB Humping Dogs.  

Plug 'em into your USB port to 'turn them on'.  That's it.  They don't do anything else.  They come in different models.  Beagle, Boxer, Husky, Doberman and Shiba.  

I can't think of a better re-gift this Christmas.

Recipe Monday

Twinkie Sushi.  You know it has to be good.  Hostess actually puts out a Twinkie Cookbook.  You can find it here.  It lists a 'Twinkies In A Blanket' recipe.  That just sounds too cool.  I haven't actually tried this recipe.  A friend once compared Twinkies to 'one step away from styrofoam'.  Probably right, but I'm sure this tastes good.

• 3 Twinkies
• Assorted dried fruits
• Assorted fruity candies
• 2 green fruit roll-ups
• Dried mangoes (looks like pickled ginger)

Slice twinkies into pieces about an inch tall.  Slice fruit roll ups into strips so that their long enough and wide enough to wrap around the twinkie pieces.  Wrap the fruit roll-ups around the twinkie pieces.  Place dried fruits and candies into the cream filling.  Place twinkie rolls on a plate or in a bento box.  Garnish with strips of dried mango to resemble pickled ginger if you wish.  Serve with chopsticks.

Rockin' in Yellowknife

Yellowknife had a treat Saturday night when Trooper came to town.  We don't get too many renowned bands in Yellowknife, but the boys in the bright white sports car came to town.  This particular Garbage Man (Jerry, the Garbage Man...  get it?) had a terrific time.  The warm-up band was an Elvis Impersonator named Justin Shandor.  Wow, Elvis (or a reasonable facsimile) really makes women crazy.  I have never been accosted by so many women before.  It was like a safari.  Cougars everywhere.  

A certain couple of someones got busted for smoking a certain something and were booted out of the venue.  I don't know which is cooler; going to a Trooper concert in Yellowknife or going to a Trooper concert in Yellowknife and getting booted out for puffin' a blunt.  I was able to see the concert anyway.  Trooper does rock even after all these years.

Gordon Ramsay Gets Pasted With Meatloaf

Gordan Ramsay faces off against our old favourite rock star, Meatloaf in a cook-off.  

I really dig Meatloaf.  He's a cool guy.

Yellowknife Rocks

There aren't any mountains or great hills in Yellowknife, but there are rocks.  The city and its hinterland are proliferated in bas relief with great outcropping of Canadian Shield.  The image to the left is a famous sculpture by local natives entitled "Sculpture du Nord" in the Old Town part of Yellowknife.

The end of our street is "Toboggan Rock" where in the winter, the city blocks off our street and turns the outcropping into a toboggan run for the kids.  Many of the buildings in Yellowknife are surrounded by or built upon these eroded monoliths.  

I have become accustomed to the echoing sound of blast mortars as construction crews dynamite rock to make way for various new buildings and the like.  The city actually has a blasting schedule for construction crews that have been issued permits within the city.

The picture on the right is of the bay on Frame Lake.

Get a Mac... Bean says so.

This is, by far, the funniest thing I have seen on the Internet in a long, long time. Enjoy.

Cuddling With My Computer To Keep Warm

Ok. I admit it. It's cold in Yellowknife. Steph and Trev went away for the long weekend and I don't know how to turn on the oil furnace. It's 3 degrees in the house and by my calculations, if I open the fridge door, it should warm the place up.

I have discovered the value of layered clothing. My computer is beneath my desk and the fan is warming my toes. I have both cats on my lap to rob them of their body heat and I have deliberately not changed the cat box so the steaming piles of cat crap can, in some way, contribute to the convection of the place.

I have foresaken my tobacco-free lifestyle to go out on the porch for a smoke to warm up with a cigarette and a hot cup of tea. Steph and Trevor went north this weekend for a lovers' weekend away...

...in a warm cabin, I'm sure.

They did tell me it gets cold up here. But in August?

Freeze you later.

Update: I finally found a power switch for the furnace. I have turned on the furnace and cleaned the cat box.

Quoth the Raven "Nevermore"

The dominant avian here is inarguably the raven. The most remarkable thing about them is that they rival eagles in size. They fearlessly circle the skies guarding the capital as though it were their own kingdom to protect. Needless to say it inspired the following post...

Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered weak and weary,
Over many a quaint and curious voume of forgottenlore,
While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there cam a tapping,
" 'Tis some visitor, " I muttered, "tapping at my chamber door -
Only this, and nothing more."

Ah, distinctly I remember it was in the bleak December,
And each separate dying ember wrought its ghost upon the floor.
Eagerly I wished the morrow; - vainly I had sought to borrow
From my books surcease of sorrow - sorrow for the lost Lenore -
For the rare and radiant maiden whom the angels named Lenore -
Nameless here for evermore.

And the silken sad uncertain rustling of each purple curtain
Thrilled me - filled me with fantastic terrors never felt before;
So that now, to still the beating of my heart, I stood repeating
" 'Tis some visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door -
Some late visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door' -
This it is, and nothing more."

Presenty my soul grew stronger; hesitating then no longer,
"Sir," said I, "or Madam, truly your forgiveness I implore;
But the fact is I was napping, and so gently you came rapping,
And so faintly you came tapping, tapping at my chamber door,
that I scarce was sure I heard you" - here I opened wide the door; -
Darkness there, and nothing more.

Deep into that darkness peering, long i stood there wondering, fearing,
Doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before
But the silence was unbroken, and the darkness gave no token,
And the only word there spoken was the whispered word, "Lenore!"
this I whispered, and an echo murmured back the word, "Lenore!"
Merely this and nothing more.

Back into the chamber turning, all my soul within me burning,
Soon again i heard a tapping somewhat louder than before.
"Surely," said I, "Surely that is something at my window lattice'
Let me see then, what thereat is, and this mystery explore; -
" 'Tis the wind and nothing more!"

Open here I flung the shutter, when, with many a flirt and futter,
In there stepped a stately raven of the saintly days of yore.
Not the least obeisance made he; not a minute stopped or stayed he;
But, with mien of lord or lady, perched above my chamber door -
Perched and sat, and nothing more.

Then this ebony bird beguiling my sad fancy into smiling,
By the grave and stern decorum of the countenance it wore,
"Though thy crest be shorn and shaven, thou," I said, "art sure no craven.
Ghastly grim and ancient raven wandering from the nightly shore -
Tell me what thy lordly name is on the Night's Plutonian shore!"
Quoth the raven, "Nevermore."

Much I marvelled this ungainly fowl to hear discourse so plainly,
Though its answer ittle meaning - little relevancy bore;
For we cannot help agreeing that no living human being
Ever yet was blessed with seeing bird above his chamber door -
Bird or beast above the the sculptured bust above his chamber door,
With such name as "Nevermore."

But the raven, sitting lonely on the placid bust, spoke only,
That one word, as if his soul in that one word he did outpour.
Nothing further then he uttered - not a feather then he fluttered -
'Till I scarcely more than muttered "other friends have flown before -
On the morrow he will leave me, as my hopes have flown before."
The the bird said, "Nevermore."

Startled at the stillness broken by reply so aptly spoken,
"Doubtless," said I "what it utters is its only stock and store,
Caught from some unhappy master whom unmerciful disaster
Followed fast and followed faster till his songs one burden bore
Till the dirges of his hope that melanchoy burden bore
Of 'Never-Nevermore.' "

But the raven still beguiling all my sad soul into smiling,
Straight I wheeled a cushioned seat in front of bird and bust and door;
Then, upon the velvet sinking, I betook myself to linking
Fancy unto fancy, thinking what this ominous bird of yore -
Meant in croaking "Nevermore."

This I sat engaged in guessing, but no syllable expressing
To the fowl whose fiery eyes now burned into bosom's core;
This and more I sat divining, with my head at ease reclining
On the cushion's velvet lining that the lamp-light gloated o'er,
But whose velvet violet lining with the lamp-light gloating o'er,
She shall press, ah, nevermore!

Then, methought, the air grew denser, perfumed from an unseen censer
Swung by Seraphim whose foot-falls tinkled on the tufted floor.
"Wretch," I cried "they God hath lent thee - by these angels he has sent thee
Respite - respite and nepenthe from thy memories of Lenore!
Quaff, oh quaff this kind nepenthe, and forget this lost Lenore!"
Quoth the raven, "Nevermore."

"Prophet!" said I, "thing of evil! - prophet stil, if bird or devil! -
Whether tempter sent, or whether tempest tossed thee here ashore,
Desolate yet all undaunted, on the desert land enchanted -
On this home by horror haunted - tell me truly, I implore -
Is there - is there balm in Gilead? - tell me - tell me, I implore!"
Quoth the raven, "Nevermore"

"Prophet!" said I, "thing of evil! - prophet still, if bird or devil!
By that Heaven that bends above us - by the God we both adore -
Tell this soul with sorrow laden if, within the distant Aidenn,
It shall clasp a sainted maiden whoe the angels name Lenore -
Clasp a rare and radiant maiden, whome the angels named Lenore?"
Quoth the raven, "Nevermore"

"Be that word our sign of parting, bird or fiend!" I shrieked upstarting -
"Get thee back into the tempest and night's Plutonian shore!
Leave no black plume as a token of that lie thy soul hath spoken!
Leave my loneliness unbroken! - quit the bust above my door!
Take the beak from out my heart, and take thy form from off my door!"
Quoth the raven, "Nevermore."

And the raven, never flitting, still is sitting, still is sitting
On the pallid bust of Pallas just above my chamber door;
And his eyes have all the seeming of a demon's that is dreaming,
And the lamp-light o'er him streaming throws his shadow on the floor'
And my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor
Shall be lifted - nevermore!

-Edgar Allen Poe

78,315 Lightning Strikes in One Night

Yellowknife had a whopper of a lightning storm earlier this month. Since nobody was getting any sleep that night, most of us were up late watching the storm. Over 78,000 strikes happened that night. The storm set off a number of forest fires in the area. It was the most amazing lightning storm I have ever seen. CBC reported it as a record. The picture shows a lightning strike in downtown Yellowknife.

Needless to say the power was out for the better part of the night. I've been told that Yellowknife has a power evacuation plan in case of extended power outages. If the power goes out for over 4 hours in the winter ( I think it's 4 hours ), the entire city gets evacuated. At -40 degrees, if the power goes out for an extended period of time, I would want to be evac'd someplace warm. Jamaica, maybe?

Road Trip

We took a road trip this weekend to Grande Prairie. I had no idea how bloody far it was from Yellowknife to Grande Prairie. Five hours to the Alberta border and another seven to Peace River.

The longest drive is highway 1 from Yellowknife to Alberta which is riddled with bison. They wander all over the road, and sometimes you have to park on the side of the highway and wait for the herd to move. Mammoth things, those bison. They are about the size of a baby elephant and they move at their own pace regardless of what you do. Here is a shot from the passenger window of the car. I had to look up at the massive thing.

We spent the first night at 60th Parallel Provincial Park. The 60th denotes the arctic region from the rest of Canada and the border between NWT and Alberta. It offers your typical selection of wide-eyed sunrises and unbelievable sights. When the sun rose, it ignited the mists on the Hay River into great blooms of orange and red. I tried to take a picture, but it couldn't possibly do it justice.

We saw the usual compliment of bears, elk, caribou, rabbits and foxes.

Once we got into Alberta, it was a long drive through prairie flatness and we were able to see forests and trees as opposed to the stunted growth customary to the north sub-arctic. Grande Prairie offered us 27 degree C. weather, which was nice to have again.

There Are Better Ways To Keep Warm in Yellowknife

There's a quite a bit of arson for this little hamlet of Yellowknife. A few months ago, a woman came home to find her bed being warmed up by her husband and some other woman. She decided to heat it up even more by setting the house on fire.

There was another arson fire last night that left five families homeless.