Earthquake in Ontario

FRIDAY, JUNE 25, 2010

Well, Sixteeners, I experienced an earthquake for the first time on Wednesday afternoon. I was sitting at my computer when I felt some shaking and vibrating. For a moment I was frightened. I thought something was wrong with me. An earthquake never occurred to me because they are so rare in the Toronto area. When I turned on the television, I learned that there had been a magnitude 5.0 quake which originated about 65 kilometres northeast of Ottawa in Quebec and could be felt across Southwestern Ontario.

Canada was the recipient of some ribbing from comedian Stephen Colbert. He said that even our earthquakes are bland. I chuckled a bit, but I have to say, Stephen, if that's bland, I'll take it. I can do without the "excitement" of a more severe earthquake, thank you very much. By the way, in a future blog posting, I will address the perception that Canada is bland and that Canadian history is boring.


One year ago today, Michael Jackson, the King of Pop died. Yes, he was weird and he was extremely troubled. As the years passed, he became more and more eccentric and his behaviour incresingly bizarre. I always thought that he was a ticking time bomb just waiting to be detonated. On the Larry King Live program yesterday, Joan Rivers dismissed Jackson as a pedophile and a druggie. She also claimed that the moonwalk was no big deal, that anyone could walk backwards. As always, the truth is much more complicated than that. There are far more shades of grey.

It is not my place to judge Michael Jackson as a human being. If the allegations of pedophilia are true, he was certainly one sick individual and a criminal. Some would say it is naive to believe he did not pay off the parents of the children involved.

Michael Jackson was a man of immense talent and a magnificent entertainer. He was also the victim of celebrity and an emotionally unhealthy upbringing. It's sad and truly stomach-churning to think that a man who was deprived of a true childhood became a victimiizer of children himself. In the end, I can only say that Michael Jackson was a man blessed with an extraordinary talent whose half century of life was rife with tragedy and ended tragically. He was a person who was never confortable with himself and never seemed to like himself. Although he received an enormous amount of praise and adulation aa a performer, he never appeared to be satisified or content. His wealth and fame seemed to bring him a great deal of misery. It certainly led him to a premature death.



FOCUS ON HISTORY

This is the anniversary of Custer's Last Stand. On this day in 1876, the United States military suffered a humiliating defeat. 134 years age, the Battle of Little Bighorn took place on the plains of southeastern Montana (present-day South Dakota). George Armstrong Custer and his men of the 7th Cavalry fell to ignonimous defeat when they attecked and battled Lakota Sioux warriors. The Battle of Little Bighorn claimed over 200 soldiers, including Custer himself. as several thousand warriors led by Sitting Bull fought for their land near what's now Crow Agency, Mont. The conflict was the result The U.S. government attempt to drive the natives off their land after gold was disovered in the Black Hills of what was then Montana.



SPORTS

The Blue Jays salvaged a game in their series against the St. Louis Cardinals yesterday. They blanked the Card 5-0. Brandon Morrow was the starting pitcher for the Jays and delivered eight scoreless innings. I've got to say I'm really impressed with him and the other members of the rotation. As much as I like Roy Halladay, I think it's for the best that he's gone to the Philadelphia Phillies. Speaking of Roy, the Jays play in Philly tonight and Doc is starting for Philly. They are playing under American League rules because the game was originaally scheduled for Toronto - until the G20 Summit circus changed all that.


Italy and France are both eliminated from the FIFA World Cup. They have a lot of explainin' to do back home.

- Joanne