Hawk On Fire

Now, ironically, Toronto hasn't received snow yet. But North Bay has. Here a tale of a couple and their 'snow shovelling' adventure. December 9: We woke to a beautiful blanket of crystal white snow covering every inch of the landscape. What a fantastic sight! Can there be a more lovely place in the whole world? Moving here was the best idea I've ever had. I shovelled snow for the first time in years and felt like a boy again. I did both our driveway and the sidewalks. This afternoon the snowplow came along and covered up the sidewalks and closed in the driveway, so I got to shovel again! What a perfect life. December 12: The sun has melted all our lovely snow. Such a disappointment. My neighbour tells me not to worry, we'll definitely have a white Christmas. No snow on Christmas would be awful! Bob says we'll have so much snow by the end of winter, that I'll never want to see snow again. l don't think that's possible. Bob is such a nice...

On the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, Canadians are asked to pause in memory of the thousands of men and women who sacrificed their lives in military service. At public gatherings in Ottawa and around the country, Canadians pay tribute with two minutes of silence to the country's fallen soldiers from the First World War, the Second World War, the Korean War, the Afghanistan conflict and peacekeeping missions. Also known as Veterans Day in the U.S., Remembrance Day was first held throughout the Commonwealth in 1919. It marks the armistice to end the First World War, which came into effect at 11 a.m. on Nov. 11, a year earlier. It isn't a national holiday across Canada, but employees in federally regulated employees do get the day off. Several provinces and territories — including Alberta, British Columbia, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Northwest Territories, Nunavut, Prince Edward Island, Saskatchewan, and Yukon — do observe a statutory holiday. But wh...

We all know the various uses of social media and how social media has played such a viable role in today's internet-crazed generation. It goes without saying we are all connected in one way or another and it's remarkable how far we've come with Journalism and the spread of news. Breaking news happens no matter where we are, and with Twitter it gets to us instantly. It has had a profound impact on society in the long run, making it one of the most important efforts in our lifetime. But we never always had Twitter to rely upon for news. There was a time when all we had was the 6 & 11 o'clock news to tell us the day's breaking stories. Then in the morning, you had the local newspaper. You never had an updating breaking information website. That's what's changed. Nowadays, news channels are introducing 24 hour news programs online and on TV, eventually, I believe, phasing out all printed newspapers. (Is there really a reason to read the printed Toronto St...

The week is August 26th, 2011. This week in the news brings us a hidden dictator, a quake full of Earth, a media-generated "New York destroyer", a loss of orange in the red & white, and a celebrity romance that has supposedly ended...? We watch the news wherever we are, whenever we can, however we want to. There's no denying that. But we rely too much on the news. I, for one, want to be in control of that, hence me taking Journalism in college. And what I've noticed this week is that there were too many stories that the media picked up that were either untrue or false. And I'm sure this isn't the first time. Newscasters report on information they receive from news outlets; The Canadian Press...etc. One thing they don't do a lot anymore is revise the story, check it over, or tweak a few mistakes or update it if it's been updated. Much of the news we see and/or read is published without any hesitation to review it, thinking it came...

Let's start this off right. Now please don't take offence to this list as these following individuals are just examples to explain my point. So, first off, I want to answer this question in this post. And if you have an opinion, I'd like you to please, with all appreciation, comment below. Who exactly is the central figure of this generation? The one everyone knows, looks up to, or one day, wants to become. Do we have to look to Twitter followers or Facebook friends/likes to get the answer? If we did, Justin Bieber, Lady Gaga and Barak Obama would make the top 3. But what happened to those we thought were at top? Ex. The Queen or even the Pope. Yes they seem to hold higher power, but why don't THEY have more followers than those three? You don't see them at the top of the list, nor even close to the top . And why is that? How come a teenager we just heard about three years ago rise to the top of stardom, way passed the Queen and the Pope? And let me just say that I...

Canada Day is on tomorrow and when I say that, what do we all think about? Red and white? The pride and the freedom? Fireworks? Or when Canada became a country 144 years ago? It's true, there are several answers but what does it feel like to be a Canadian. Well, it feels heart warming, it feels chilly in the winter, but it also brings a sense of embarrassment by what we've exported to the world these past few years. Ex. Celine, Bieber, Ignatieff, the Vancouver rioters, the Maple Leafs...just to name a few. But besides that, there is lots to be proud of: Jim Carrey, the Edgewalk at the CN Tower, hockey...where would we be without those distributions? We haven't really accomplished that much on the world stage per say these last few years, so it's hard to stay where we find ourselves within the world. Quite simply, we didn't capture Bin Laden, we didn't elect a black president, and we only have one major league baseball team...and we didn't win the Stanley Cu...

Do we have time to read everyone's tweets and still tweet ourselves? Good day. Good morning depending on where you find yourselves at this very moment and at the very moment you choose to read this. This needs no entry, so let's begin. Twitter. It is all around us, it is taking our everyday lives on the web and showcasing them to the world 140 characters at a time. What we're doing, what we're thinking about, or any upcoming plans; basically what's on anybody's mind. Newsworthy? Constant tweeter? Marketing? Connector ? Or just simply personal? We all fall into ONE of those categories. So for each one of us, there is a reason why we do it. Maybe we want to recall that tweet we posted last year or even just a couple of minutes ago. Maybe it's a daily planner; writing something down an hour at a time on what you did, what you will do and what you have done. So, once we signed up and logged in for the first time, we kept coming back because it was constantly add...

Eye halve a spelling chequer. It came with my pea sea It plainly marques four my revue Miss steaks eye kin knot sea. Eye strike a quay and type a word And weight four it two say Weather eye am wrong oar write It shows me strait a weigh. As soon as a mist ache is maid It nose bee fore two long And eye can put the error rite It's rare lea ever wrong. Eye have run this poem threw it I am shore your pleased two no It's letter perfect awl the weigh My chequer tolled me sew. $2000.oo. That's the price fans are expected to pay to see the Vancouver Canucks in the Stanley Cup final. Outrageous. Who would pay to see them for that much? My guess leads to those die-hard fans that HAVE to see the Canucks for that much. But is it worth it? To see it live? To be in the exact stadium as the team who would most doubtfully win the cup? In my opinion, no. There is a reason for go and watch sports and then there is a reason as to why prices are THIS high. I'm not sure why it is this high, ...

Dun dun dun. First of all I want to thank the Canadian politicians for given us something this early in the year to look forward to. I mean it's not like the Royal Wedding or the NHL playoffs, or even the huge UFC fight in Toronto mean anything to us, or even the provincial election in October. Just when I wanted a chance to vote, suddenly I don't want to have these guys throwing elections on us every second year or so. This is what, like the 3rd election in 5 years? Canada, make up your mind. No one is going to even care about who runs our country anymore unless the whining stops. Three losers running this thing. Two of whom don't know when to give up. Clearly, Canada doesn't face a chance with any new Prime Minister after this election commences. Layton could be growing up the numbers, which will only strenghten his lead for the next election as he takes on Harper, he could be the possible number 1 opposition, but he doesn't stand a chance at becoming Prime Minist...

Hello fellow few. Good evening. I am writing as of late for a valid reason I want to convey. A month later and it shows I have to update my blog because, well, I have to. Here's the situation. As (if) you've all heard, our Journalism program got suspended for next year which means no new entries; no more first years for us to shadow over. And a lot of my fellow classmates have been taking advantage of this. A point was brought up in class concerning what will we do if we fail a class, we can't go back and repeat the same class seeing how it won't be taught again once we've finished it. No one appeared to have the answer, not even the president, George Burton. Many of the profs were left with little, if any, information to work with and therefore couldn't provide any necessary answers as to what's being arranged for us next year. In fact, when I sat in with the president for a meeting, he ensured us that the program "will have the same quality, the same ...

Lucky we get to live in a generation of social networking. Lucky we get to access the world on one single click. Lucky we get to live in a society where when things are repeated, it helps broaden the message. Lucky we get to share with the world are views and opinions. Lucky we get to strive for success in our own understanding. Lucky we get to take initiative in the things we create. display or do. Lucky we get to rightfully speak our minds for the freedom that befalls upon us. Lucky we live in a society where everyone is one; yet, we are all different. Lucky we can have the greatest of times, the most memorable of times and display them when appropriate (Not when mom's in the room - standing over your shoulder) Lucky we have the chance to have our 15 mins of fame. Lucky we get to live in a society where when things are repeated, it helps broaden the message. (And creates a little bit of humour). Lucky we get to live in a generation of Justice Beaver, and Bieber wannab...

Good Sunday morning; It seems every time I return, the world happens to find itself in another unlikely predicament. Ironic because each time I write a new post, it's usually at the end of each month, which just so happens to be when the world decides to start another crisis. WE sure do have our hands full, don't we? I'd say that for the most part, it's the fact that everyone out there has his or her opinion about these troubled times, and to think that we take it further discussing it online on Facebook, Twitter, blogging or YouTube, makes it seem much more easier for the rest of the world to understand what is happening. So why did Egypt throw away its online network? That question still bothers me, because we might as well just call the country Gypt. I mean how did it disconnect everyone's connection? Who the hell would turn off the internet for such a time when the country, who's known for the pyramids and Moses, could receive the highest number of views? Bu...