22 October 2006

Sunday morning excursion

When I was a kid, the Sunday drive was a big thing. We'd pile in the car and off Dad would drive us to this spot or that spot on what was - at the time - relatively new roadways.

Readers will recall that until 1965 there wasn't a road completely connecting one end of the island to the other. Communities on the coast were not similarly connected to a main road if not to each other. In Labrador, the situation remains for mani communities on the coast.

So on this rainy Sunday in October, let's take a virtual Sunday drive and see what's out there to see.

1. Speaking of Labrador, let's stop in the blog-realm of Wally Maclean. His blog, labradore, has been around since last year and it remains one of the places to find biting, insightful commentary on goings-on related to Labrador.

As an example, take his post on the most cabinet shuffle and the ministry of Business, comparing the whole thing to Underpants Gnomes.

2. Offal News, run by Simon Lono, remains an other favourite stop on the road. Check out his latest series of posts on the Premier's conflict of interest in appointing the guy running his private business to a major position.

3. Peter Gullage did an excellent short piece on the Great War battle at Gueudecourt in time for the October 12th 90th anniversary. Stop here at Veterans' Affairs for the description fot eh battle and the memorial there. It features a genuine - and long recognized - symbol of who we are as a people.

4. On a similar theme, check out the website for Clint Eastwood's latest movie, Flags of our fathers. This one is typical of Clint's more recent films. It takes a well-known subject - in this case the famous World War 2 Iwo Jima flag-raising picture - and gives another take on an otherwise familiar story. Lean and intense, the movie may not be everyone's idea of a night at the cinema. Go. You'll be rewarded by one of the finest movie-makers around.

5. Flip through the website for Flags and you'll see a picture of an extra, playing a press photographer. The flashbulbs apparently cost $15 a go and this guy set of 23 of them during the filming of his scenes.

For current-day news shooters, check out this website, for the eastern Canada news photographers association.

6. There are many ways to picture something. Being an inveterate scribbler, my preferred way is with language.

Check out this website featuring some review for CBC's own Ramona Dearing and So beautiful, her anthology of short stories. Not surprising Ramona is a writer since her work in radio often requires her to draw pictures with sound and words.