Movies Worth Watching

Something I envy my children having is the chance to watch for the first time the great movies made in the past.  I mentioned this the other day and they said that I should list them.  So here is the start of a list.  Some of these movies have problematic elements, like more swearing or more sexual innuendo than I would like, but they are still good enough. 

To start my list I will not have any particular hierarchy, just as the names come to me.

Fahrenheit 451 - one of my favourite movies.

It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World - such a continuous hoot.  Many of the great 50's comedians brought together.  Jonathan Winters is tops.

Ben Hur - Charleton Heston

Kelly's Heroes - wonderful characters

High Noon - the best western?

Shane - Alan Ladd

Robin Hood - the

Close Encounters of the Third Kind

Young Frankenstein - more sexual innuendo than I want, but very funny and well done.

Being There - another one with a bit extra sexual innuendo but another good movie.

12 Angry Men (1957) - #7 on the IMDB top 250 list

The Music Man - another of my favourites.  Shirley Jones was wonderful.

Rebecca - Albert Hitchcock still in England.

North by Northwest - Hitchcock in America - a thriller, not a horro pic.

Sherlock Holmes (with Basil Rathbone) - the definitive movie.

Without a Clue - (Michael Caine) a very funny alternate look at Holmes.

The First Great Train Robbery (1978) -  Donald Sutherland - a good movie, beautifly photographed.

Gone With the Wind - great cast

Life With Father - William Powell

Laurel and Hardy - most movies they made except the very last ones.  Try The Music Box, Towed in a Hole, Brats.

Buster Keaton movies too.  The General is a good start.

 Lawrence of Arabia - long,.. and very good.

Goodbye Mr. Chips - makes you cry.

The Lavender Hill Mob - Alex Guiness

All the Start Wars movies - yes, even Episodes 1, 2 and 3.

I, Robot - Will Smith

Minority Report -

Top Gun -

The Ipcress File - my favourite Michael Caine movie.

Gorky Park - a mystery set in Soviet Russia

Waterloo - colourful, and the battle scenes are very well done and authentic.

The Caine Mutiny - Humphry Bogart

The Maltese Falcon - Bogart again.

Casablanca - Bogey once more

It Takes a Thief - Grace Kelly

Once Upon a Time in the West - runs on a bit, but great scenes and music

Lord of the Rings trilogy

Double Indemnity - a classic of Noir film-making.

The Railway Children

Where Eagles Dare, Ice Station Zebra, The Guns of Navarone - from Alistair MacLean novels

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy - the TV series, not the movie.

Apollo 13 - even though you know how it ends.

The Notebook - a weeper and great.

Beaches - a classic weeper, very well done.

My Brilliant Career - 1979, Australia

The Gods Must Be Crazy

Walkabout - end has a downer

The Princess Bride - many memorable lines.  Great fun

To Kill a Mockingbird

On the Beach - a downer ending, but it sure makes you think about life and the world.

Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion (1970) Italian movie (dubbed available)

Z - (1969) a good story, well made

Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964) - might not be the best movie, but is worth seeing as an icon.

Citizen Kane - so well made, such a story.

WALL-E

The Witness

Das Boot - stunning

Bridge on the River Kwai

The Money Pit

Blade Runner - some very violent scenes but very good otherwise.

Cool Hand Luke

The Sting

Paper Moon

Manhatten

The Manchurian Candidate (1962)

Roman Holiday

Breakfast at Tiffany's

Rain Man

Arsenic and Old Lace (1944)

 

Saskatoon Area Railfanning

I am visiting relatives in Saskatoon and have had some time to travel around and watch some trains.  (Maybe that should be watch for trains - mostly I watch rails!)

The best area for train action has been the Canadian National Wainwright Sub, west of Biggar (west of Saskatoon).  There seem to be many trains there.  Also, the line has a lot of new signals.  These signals are much closer together than I have seen elsewhere, and I think closer together than the previous ones.  They are also LED so they stay illuminated and are easy to read from the nearby parallel highway.  The train crews report the signals they pass at certain locations - which I think are at each end of passing sidings.  Therefore by watching the signals and listening to the scanner you can get a fair idea of where trains are and which direction they are moving (direction by train number: odd numbers are westbounds, even numbers eastbounds.)  The Watrous Sub should be just as busy but it is harder to get close enough see the tracks west of Saskatoon.

I also had good action east of the Saskatoon CN yard and got a nice video of a train crossing the river by the power station.  (Watrous Sub).

Where I live, in Halifax, we have only the CNR, so I was hoping to see some CPR trains.  But Saskatoon apparently has less CPR traffic than there used to be -- more traffic is now going the southern route through Regina.  I was able to get a few.  On the highway to Biggar there is a stretch where the CPR Wilkie Sub parallels the road and I saw a train coming.  Also on the Sutherland Sub east of Saskatoon I spent some hours waiting and caught one moving train, and on the Potasco Spur one train parked for supper (or the night).

Some Intercity Coaches Spotted in Dartmouth

Driving to a site visit last week I saw two attention-grabbing intercity coaches in a hotel parking lot.  I try to always carry my camera, so I stopped and got some pictures.  I was able to talk to the driver of the Can-Am coach who gave me some details (see the pictures' captions).  I also was able to get some data from internet surfing.

Picture One

Halifax Area Railway Information

Notes:
Train 507 serves HalTerm, as heard on the scanner 0835 August 17, 2012.

Train 509 serves Autoport, as heard on the scanner around 1700 in early August, 2012.

Why You Don't Put Water on a Grease Fire

If there is a grease fire on your stove, you are never to put water on it in an attempt to put it out. You should put a cover on the pot to smother the fire, or you can use baking soda or a type B fire extinguisher only. (Any extinguisher with a type B on it, such as ABC.) This fire-fighter training video shows what can happen if only a bit of water is added:

Find more videos like this on firevideo.net

When the water hits the hot grease, some of the water penetrates into the grease (mostly I suppose because of the momentum it has from coming in from above, and partly because the water is denser than the grease). This water very quickly turns to steam, blowing hot liquid (and perhaps flaming) grease out of the pot. In the video shown, the expelled grease catches fire. On your hot stove it could do that too. Maybe the element is still on because the control is behind the pot. Even a gas flame could still be on even though the controls are at the front of the stove because you didn't want to get too close.


Know Your Fire Extinguishers

From Al The Engineer's Ramblings

You are not required to put the fire out - but if you attempt to extinguish a fire then you need to know your fire extinguishers. Only attempt to put a fire out if you have a clear exit from the room. Do not turn your back on a fire and keep your exit from the room open and accessible at all times. Extinguishers will work for approximately 30 seconds - if you have not put the fire out in that time - leave the area immediately. Once you leave a burning room, do not re-enter. Close the door to a room with a fire. Leave the door unlocked as the fire department will need to enter. If you know the type of fire and contents of the room, please advise the Chief Fire Warden for the building or the Fire Department personnel.

Types of Fires:

There are three types of fires listed on the above diagram; not all extinguishers can be used on each type of fires.
Type A fires are the ordinary combustible materials such as wood, paper, cloth, etc...
Type B fires are flammable liquid fires such as gasoline, paints and solvents, alcohols, acetone, etc..
Type C fires are electrical fires.

There is a fourth type of fire not listed on the above diagram - Type D fires are flammable solids. When labs have flammable solids, a special type of fire extinguisher is required. You must contact Fire Safety at Facilities & Operations to advise that your lab has flammable solid so they can provide you with the appropriate extinguisher.

The type of fire will determine the type of extinguisher that can be used. In many university labs, Fire Safety have supplied the multipurpose dry chemical extinguishers because they cover all three types of fires.

Water Extinguishers:

Water extinguishers are good for Type A Fires only. Type A fires are wood, paper or cloth fires. You cannot use a water extinguisher for a Type B fire,(flammable liquids), as flammable liquids are lighter than water and will float on the surface of the water. This will simply aid in the spread of the fire. You cannot use a water extinguisher on a Type C fire, (electrical fire), because you run the risk of receiving an electrical shock. Water is an electrical conductor so as the water spreads out, the chance of electrocution increases.

There are special water mist extinguishers that work well on a Type A & C fires. Such extinguishers are ideal for Class A fires where a potential Class C hazard exists. The misting nozzle provides safety from electric shock and reduces the scattering of burning materials. This type of extinguisher is not found in labs because the U of A stocks labs with a multipurpose dry chemical extinguisher, a type of extinguisher that works best for mixed fires.

CO2 Extinguishers:

A CO2 extinguisher is not a good choice for a Type A fire, (wood, paper, cloth), because of the force of the CO2 gas being expelled from the extinguisher. When this type of extinguisher is used on a wood, paper or cloth fire, the burning items are blown around the room by the force of the CO2 gas, thereby aiding the spread of the fire. Secondly, a Type A fire will usually re-ignite as soon as the CO2 gas dissipates.

The CO2 extinguisher works well on a flammable liquids or an electrical fire - Types B or C fires. They work well on an electrical fire in that they do not leave a messy residue on delicate electrical equipment such as a dry chemical extinguishers would. The CO2 displaces the oxygen at the surface of the fire, effectively smothering the fire. However, the fire can re ignite once the CO2 gas dissipates if the ignition source has not been removed.

A CO2 extinguisher has a wide nozzle that locks into place. Do not hold onto the nozzle when firing the extinguisher, this nozzle will get very cold as the CO2 gas is expelled; CO2 gas has a temperature of minus 66C. If you are holding onto the nozzle you will receive a cold burn.

Dry Chemical Extinguishers:

The multipurpose Dry Chemical Extinguisher for a Type A,B,C fire is what you will find in most university laboratories that contain chemicals. These extinguishers have the most range of compatibility with items found in a lab and are good for most types of fires. A Type BC fire extinguishers contain sodium or potassium bicarbonate and a Type ABC fire extinguishers contain ammonium phosphate. They have an advantage over CO2 extinguishers in that they leave a blanket of non-flammable material on the extinguished material which reduces the likelihood of re ignition. However, they make quite a mess and the fine powder will irritate the throat and lungs.

The contents of these cylinders can pack down over time and when a person goes to use them they may not fire. If this happens, turn the cylinder over and rap it sharply on the top to loosen the compacted powder inside. Then try firing the cylinder again. If the cylinder will not fire - leave the area immediately.

All fire extinguishers have fire ratings stamped on them. You should familiarize yourself with this rating. For example, a dry chemical cylinder may have 2A, 10 BC stamped on it; this means that the contents of the cylinder are enough to fight 2 square meters of a Type A fire or 10 square meters of a Type B or C fire. Higher numbers mean more firefighting power.

Type D Fires; Flammable Solids:

Flammable Solids - requires a Class D Extinguisher

There is a fourth type of fire not listed on the above diagram. Type D fires are flammable metal fires such as magnesium, potassium, sodium titanium, as well as alkyllithiums, Grignards and diethylzinc. Type D fires burn at high temperatures and the metals will react violently with water, air, and/or other chemicals. This type of fire requires special metal/sand extinguishers. They work by simply smothering the fire with powdered copper metal or sodium chloride (NaCl). You should have an approved class D extinguisher if you have flammable metals in your lab area. The type of class D extinguisher depends upon the type of flammable metals you have; you will require the copper extinguishing medium for lithium and lithium alloy metals; the sodium chloride extinguisher works better for fires involving magnesium, sodium, potassium, uranium and powdered aluminum.

Remember - if you cannot extinguish the fire within 30 seconds
- get yourself out!

Information about fire extinguishers taken from:
http://safety.eas.ualberta.ca/node/15

I copied the University of Alberta information because I can't rely on a permanent link to it.

Best option? It's just not possible.

Grammar lesson - what is wrong with the following sentence, spoken by Susan Yolen, vice president of public affairs and communications for Connecticut Planned Parenthood?

"She said that, while many women do happily keep unwanted pregnancies, it's not always the best option for the mother or the unborn child." (Quoted from here.)

Well, maybe you can argue what is best for the mother, but it is just not possible for an abortion to be the best option for the unborn child!

And an interesting sidelight to the comment - Ms Yolen even calls the baby an "unborn child" not just some unwanted growth in the mom. To Ms Yolen, an unborn child is fair game for murder, er, abortion.

Stay the Course in Afghanistan!

Amen brother!

Joel Johannesen gets it right about the mealy mouthed liars in the Fiberal and NDP parties about Canada's involvement in Afghanistan:

Know the Enemy

Canadian forces should stay in Afganistan 'til done.

Canadian troops were sent into Afghanistan as part of a UN-authorized and NATO supplied military anti-insurgency mission. Not peacekeeping. Calls for our forces to leave before the job is done only gives comfort to our enemies - the Taliban and their Islamist allies and sympathizers. There is talk of the "enormous sacrifice" made by Canada - this is so far I take to be 76 soldiers and 1 diplomat. Of course the deaths (and permanent injuries to others) are sad and tragic. But, has this country lost its balls to fight against an enemy determined to change how our nation lives - how me and my family will live in the future? I do not want sharia law or an Islamic Canada.

Here is a good article by J.L. Granatstein in the Globe and Mail about this topic,

and here is one about Liberal yellow streaks.

10 Principles of Conservatism

Here is an excellent summary of what conservatives generally believe:

10 Principles of Conservatism

Kyoto Accord? Two door or four door?

In a short article in the American Thinker website we find the following data for the years 1997 to 2004:

If we look at that data and compare 2004 (latest year for which data is available) to 1997 (last year before the Kyoto treaty was signed), we find the following:

• Emissions worldwide increased 18.0%.
  
• Emissions from countries that signed the treaty increased 21.1%.
  
• Emissions from non-signers increased 10.0%.
  
• Emissions from the U.S. increased 6.6%.

The Excel spreadsheet from which this was developed is available here .

10 Questions for all the "Islam is a Religion of Peace" Multi-Culti Crowd

10 Questions for all the "Islam is a Religion of Peace" Multi-Culti Crowd

Including answers!

What about some history of Islam? Here is a short account dealing with the methods Mohammed gave Muslims to use in expanding their empire: Muhammad's Tribe .

Here are a couple of quotes: "The multitude of reports from Muslim, indigenous and other sources of the Islamic conquests are equally detailed and equally daunting to a modern reader. It is true that throughout history intergroup relations in most of the world were exploitative and repressive, and not infrequently brutal and bloodthirsty. The world of Islam was not so much an exception to this, as exemplary of it."

"The theological foundation of the Arab Empire was the supremacy of Islam and the obligation of each Muslim to advance its domination. The notion of Jihad, in particular, served to establish the Muslim community's permanent state of war against the dar al-harb until the infidels' conclusive submission and the absolute world supremacy of Islam."

"The evidence is overwhelming that vast numbers of infidel male warriors and civilians were slain, and that most of those spared, particularly the women and children, were enslaved for domestic and sexual servitude. While men who willingly converted were spared, their wives and children were taken as slaves. In conquered regions, children were regularly taken from parents, while on the borders -- especially in Central and Eastern Europe, Central Asia and Africa south of the Sahara -- raiding for slaves was normal practice. Of the male slaves, a substantial number were made eunuchs by the removal of sex organs, in order to serve in harems."

These conquests were explicitly required of Muslims. The Christian Crusade, a response to some of these conquests, was not required by the Bible, the Christian's holy book, nor were any now-regrettable Christian tactics or methods explicitly authorized or encouraged by the Bible. Indeed, the Bible teaches against those regretted wrongs.

And Mohammad said that the Koran and its laws can never be changed. The tactics, methods and reasoning used in the 7th century are still there and are once again being put into practice against a weakened West.

Islamist Threats

There are continual reports of Islamist terror attacks from all around the world. But Canadians think the perps are extremists. So, where are the "moderate" or "liberal(?)" Muslims? Why do we not hear from them, condemning the daily atrocities?

Here's a sample from today's (January 11, 2008) news reports:

Pakistan suicide bomber: Pakistan investigators try to identify Lahore bomber

Maldive Islands: Boy Scout foils Maldives President assassination bid The President's spokesman said it was politically motivated, but Ibrahim [the Boy Scout] said he had no doubt that the attacker was an Islamic militant or inspired by an extremist vision of the world, a view seconded by people who know the man. "He had a long beard; he shouted 'God is Great' when he took out his knife. He kept shouting it," Ibrahim told The Associated Press in an interview from the hospital in Male where he is recovering from wounds to his left hand sustained in the attack. Scout: Islamic Militant Attacked Prez

Back on December 7, 2007: Woman suicide attacker and car bomb kill 26

December 20, 2007: Bomber kills 13 Iraq volunteers and 1 U.S. soldier

January 10, 2008: Belgian court jails Iraq suicide bomb recruiters In this one, Islamists recruited European converts for terror suicide attacks. "Bilal deliberately assisted terrorist circles in Iraq," presiding judge Pierre Hendrickx told the court. He said the network aimed to help impose a radical vision of Islam rather than simply freeing Iraq from U.S. occupation.

We never hear any objections from any Muslims to any of these attacks.