According to an Associated Press story released today, employees of a leisure firm in Golubitskaya on the Azov Sea in Russia are in a whole lot of hot water. They are facing charges of animal cruelty for harnessing a donkey to a parasail and letting him float above the bay for half an hour as some sort of a publicity stunt. Sunbathers were distressed to see this mule who was obviously terrified gliding overhead and braying. There is amateur footage of the trembling mule being strapped to the harness before this all happened. The employees are facing two years in prison for this. Personally I think it was just a case of miscommunication between the employees of the leisure firm and the big boss. When no one stepped forward and volunteered to be filmed while parasailing, the boss snapped ... 07/20/2010

Well, maybe not quite one of the seven wonders of the worldYou do, however, get an awesome view of Trenton and the surrounding Quinte area from high atop Mount Pelion. It's quite the spot for teenagers to congregate in the summertime and do the things that teenagers do in the summertime.According to the information board below the summit, Mount Pelion's name originates from something Greek, but what that "something" is has been "lost in time" (I didn't make that up). The French explorer Samuel De Champlain sailed through the area on his way to frying bigger fish (he discovered the Mississippi), and it is theorised that he could quite possibly have stood atop Mount Pelion to get a better view of the area. We don't know for sure, because no historical record actually indicates that he did... 07/13/2010

Some eye candy for the ladies. Here's a fellow who knows how to dress for the warm weather. Summer sure has arrived with a vengeance here in the Quinte area. Today, thankfully it rained a little bit and that seemed to take the edge off of the heat. The previous three days saw temperatures creep up into the high thirties and possibly even the low forties (that's somewhere between sweltering hot and boiling hot for those of you accustomed to the Farenheit scale). Thankfully our office here at Remax Trent Valley is airconditioned, so I don't mind spending more time indoors. I usually don't complain about the heat too much because I whine and moan all winter long, so now's the time for me to put up and shut up.  Next Thursday, July 15th will see the start of Downtown Trenton's 'Festival on... 07/09/2010

This is one of those things that a logical person would think shouldn't have to be said, however, apparently it does. Recently we had an opening at Remax Trent Valley. One of the administartion staff was leaving, and there was a position to be filled. Jobs are not easy to come by as of late, so there was a tremendous response to our advertisement. It's a great job to have, the hours are good, the office is top-notch, the wage is more than fair, and primarily the winning applicant would get to work with me on a daily basis. You can see why we had a flood of emails from ladies vying for this position. All the applications were printed out and stacked in a pile. Although I wasn't involved in the decision making process, I did glance at the pile out of curioisity. I was a little shocked to... 07/06/2010

In April I wrote a post entitled Trenton's Happiest Couple. It was about a pair of swans who had been coming to a particular pond in Trenton every spring and summer for a few years. Every year they happily claimed this murky pond and swam around in it after building a nest. Alas, every year when the time came, they left for warmer parts, just the two of them. I wondered if the couple were unable to have offspring. Well, apparently they are. Driving by the pond this morning I noticed them swimming around. I hadn't seen any swans for a few days, and I was worried that something might have happened to them. Not only did I see the swan couple, but a cute little pair of signets were swimming around too. Proud mama and papa swam close to the little pair, never venturing far away. For now they... 06/22/2010

As most of you who have read my blog are aware, I live in Trenton, Ontario. Trenton is home to C.F.B. (Canadian Forces Base) Trenton. C.F.B. Trenton is Canada's largest airforce base, and as such is the home to 8 Wing squadron, the unit responsible for the Herculese and other transport aircraft.One of the unenviable tasks of C.F.B. Trenton is to be the site for the repatriation ceremonies for our fallen soldiers. Today we had another repatriation. I try to go whenever possible. Civilians are allowed to stand outside the fence to pay our respects, and whether it's in the middle of winter or the middle of summer, hundreds of civilians show up. Today we had to pay our respects to Sgt. Martin Goudreault who was killed by a landmine in Afghanistan. The stretch of highway between Trenton and ... 06/09/2010

Blessed is the man who, having nothing to say, abstains from giving wordy evidence of the fact. George Eliot Lately every third article (or so it seems) in the real estate world touches on the subject of "social media", primarily facebook. Realtors are advised to hop aboard the social media train because if they don't, they will be left standing bags in hand at some forlorn rural station just like Petticoat Junction. I have given the matter some thought and I disagree with this assessment altogether. I have read quite a few books and articles that tell me otherwise, so I think I'm going against the grain of "common wisdom" on this topic. However, most of these books are authored by people who have already successfully used the platform of social media to sell their products. This platfo... 06/07/2010

Here are just a couple of videos that I made about the 100 acre waterfront property that I have for sale in Murray Township, Quinte West. I'm trying to pass them off as virtual tours of sorts. Obviously my film-making skills could use improvement, however, I think they convey the message that I'm trying to impartThe first one features music by Toronto (via Edmonton) artist Jill Hennessy who will be performing at Lillithfair this summer. The second video (honestly, you really don't have to watch this one) features a filming technique which I have named le fait de coller votre main de la voiture or "sticking-the-hand-held-camera-out-of-the-car-while-driving". It kinda lets you see how long it takes to drive across 100 acres. To reflect the slapstick nature of this little film, I have chos... 06/04/2010

It certainly felt like yesterday was the first day of summer. I ventured out to Dairy Queen for the first time this year. It was chaos. The poor kids working there were swamped. Unlike other Dairy Queens that I see in other places, the one in Trenton is open year round, and I'm sure that the employees had no idea what was going to hit them when they opened the doors yesterday morning. They kept order as best they could in a scene that resembled a line up for food in a camp in Bangladesh. I'm always amazed at how ill natured some people can be and how they can be rude to teenagers working at minimum wage jobs. How would they feel if people talked like that to their kids? If I could get away with it, sometimes I'd like to punch people in the mouth. Despite the few beligerent jerks custome... 05/25/2010

Queen Victoria was the last British monarch of the House of Hanover. Her reign lasted an astounding 63 years and 7 months, from 1837 until her death in 1901, the longest of any British monarch. It is during her reign that the British Empire reached its zenith, spanning the globe and giving us the expression "the sun never sets on the British Empire". To this day, she is the most commemorated monarch in British history. In Canada, we commemorate her by drinking excessively on the third Monday of every May. As far as I know, Victoria day is a holiday unique to Canada, thankfully she wasn't born in he middle of winter, we wouldn't celebrate it in the same way. All of the official documents prepared on the first day of her reign described her as Queen Alexandrina Victoria (her real name), h... 05/23/2010

Sometimes I am surprised to see my kids report cards and discover that they are getting good grades. I don't know how they do it. I watch them both doing their homework curled up on the couch with the television on and as often as not there will be music eminating from their computer at the same time. It seems such an unlikely environment in which anything requiring thought could be accomplished. They seem to be managing. Then again, I remember studying for my exams listening to music as well. Perhaps that explains why I never learned calculus, but can still remember the lyrics to every Rolling Stones song ever written. The human mind can only absorb so much information at once, and when you are listening to music with lyrics, chances are the brain is not focused on the task at hand, bu... 05/20/2010

Firstly, I can't praise the organization Invisible Children enough. They are a tireless group of young people dedicated to ending the war in Northern Uganda and bringing the Child Soldiers home.The movement started in 2003 when 3 young film makers from California went to Africa without any particular plan in mind. The three young men, Bobby Bailey, Laren Poole, and Jason Russell returned home with a remarkable story to tell. Africa's longest running and probably least publicized conflict is the one in Northern Uganda. It's not a very sexy conflict, there's no oil, no diamonds, no Muslims or communists to demonize, just people. Perhaps this is why so little is known about this conflict which has been running for 25 years. There are about 1.6 million people stuck in Internally Displaced P... 05/14/2010

I recently stumbled upon a prayer attributed to the famous English sailor, Sir Francis Drake. I never really paid all that much attention to history as a student, and I used to confuse him with Sir Walter Ralleigh, in much the same way that I mix up Kevin Costner and Mark Harmon. I found this prayer to be very motivational, and it led me to brush up on my knowledge of this man. I'm glad I took the time to do so because he's an interesting man. Disturb us, Lord, whenWe are too well pleased with ourselves,When our dreams have come trueBecause we have dreamed too little,When we arrived safelyBecause we sailed too close to the shore. Disturb us, Lord, whenWith the abundance of things we possessWe have lost our thirstFor the waters of life;Having fallen in love with life,We have ceased to dr... 05/09/2010

This video was created by a 20 year old and entered into a contest sponsored by the AARP. The purpose of the contest was to find out what 20 year olds thought life would be when they reach the age of 50.I have to say that this is a very clever video, but you have to watch the whole thing to understand just how clever this young person is. It's well worth 1 minute and 44 seconds of your time to be inspired by this. I don't remember being that clever when I was 20 05/03/2010

Every year at this time the swans return to their little pond off of a side-road in Trenton.  The pond isn't very big, nor is it particularly clean and I often wonder why this beautiful couple choose to return here every year. It would seem to me that there would be hundreds of better places within a few minutes of here, yet for them, this is their spring and summer home. This will be the third or fourth year that I have noticed them (I'll admit, I'm not the most observant fellow, so it's possible that they have been coming here for longer). Every year I notice that the female will sit on her nest for a long time, but I have yet to see any signets. Perhaps the poor couple are unable to produce viable offspring. The male seems very attentive and is never very far away. He's usually swimm... 04/27/2010

This is for all you agents out there.Does this remind you of anybody in your office? 04/23/2010

Lately I haven't been blogging as much as I usually do. I won't blame it on being busier the last few weeks (although I have), because I have found time to be in front of my computer. It's just that every once in a while I get sucked into the world of chess, and I find myself thinking about chess rather than blogging ideas. Like a recurring addiction, it starts dominating my thoughts and I'm helpless to escape for a while. Despite having read a lot of books about the subject and studied the masters, I'm a surprisingly poor player. I have never done well in competitions and on the internet I lose to players with ratings far below mine a lot more frequently than I beat players with superior ratings. I find this incredibly frustrating. Those of you who play chess understand the frustration... 04/15/2010

I have had a tough time concentrating on work the last couple of days. Yesterday my family had to say goodbye to our beloved dog Jacqui. She had been with us for the entirety of her 14 years on this planet. Her hips had been going for a few months and she had two seizures in the last two weeks. She had become deaf and was losing her sight. She could no longer get up and down stairs, and some days did little more than lie on the couch. I had been dreading this for quite some time, but the decision had been made. It was time to let her go. My son and daughter (both 16 - twins) have very few memories of life before Jacqui. They grew up together, and Jacqui would have given her life for both of them. Sometimes people say that Doberman's are vicious dogs, but Jacqui did not have a mean stre... 04/01/2010

Here's a handy little invention that I'm sure a lot of guys would appreciate. Imagine never having to get up off the couch to fetch your beer during a game. Now only if only someone would invent something so that you didn't have to get up to go to the bathroom. I guess they have already - diapers. I'm sure this young fellow has a bright future ahead of him in the engineering world. Maybe he will invent something truly usefull in the future. Until then, I must say, I'm pretty impressed with the beer throwing fridge. I would wait for a minute or two before opening the beer though. 03/25/2010

Last week the social networking site Facebook became the most visited site in America. It's been a huge phenomena for quite some time, but I never expected it to get more hits than the mighty Google. I think this caught a lot of people by surprise (people like me who don't normally follow these types of things). Apparently there are over 400 million active profiles on Facebook, a staggering number. I will admit to being behind the learning curve, and still not grasping the value of Facebook beyond a social networking site, despite what all the networking gurus are telling me. I am a little too shy to impose my businessy things on people who are ostensibly my friends (and rank strangers who have felt the need to add me). I just use it as a tool to keep in touch with people whose real em... 03/19/2010