Sew this mitten to your backpack

U.S. Vice-President Joe Biden wears official mittens.

Kai Pfaffenbach/Reuters

I didn't think I could get another picture out of mittens but I was wrong. Take this mitten and sew it to your backpack and immediately attract smiles. (I had no idea so many mittens are taken off and lost. I could start a blog: Lost Mittens.)

Just learned that the lost mitten in London resembles the official mittens of the Winter Olympics held recently in Vancouver.

I'd say the lost mitten is similar but it is not an official mitten.

Canadian medicare under attack

Dr. Nick Kates

Dr. Debby Copes

Someone has to stand up for the Canadian health care system and Thursday evening at the London Health Sciences Centre four panelists did just that. Canadian medicare may not be the best system but it is quite good --- especially compared to the system in the United States, if you believe these speakers.

I have posted an article from the discussion on Digital Journal.

Cheers,
Rockinon

Bacon for a traditional North American breakfast

Who needs to worry about McDonald's and the fat when the North American breakfast was, and still is for many, bacon and eggs. When I go the monthly retirees' breakfast for local media, I'd say the most popular breakfast was a couple of eggs with either bacon, ham or sausage. Many of those attending are in their 70s and some are in their 80s.

Makes me wonder if my personal theory is correct. Eat lots of fat and lubricate those arteries. Nothing sticks because the artery walls are just too slippery.

Now, pass the bacon, please, and also the jam. Oh, and pass the butter...and a bit of cream for my coffee. Thanks.

Cheers,
Rockinon

Spring Mittens

It's spring warm and winter wet; it's mid-March in London. The children at a local daycare discovered that and more today when they played outside. They returned to school hot, wet and muddy. Their soaking wet mittens and gloves were left balanced on the fence to dry in the warm, bright sunshine.

The Thinker Mummy

Yesterday we saw a metal sculpture of a praying mantis on display in front of the John Zubick operation in east London. One side of the parking lot has old metal goods left for salvage. In the midst of the old fridges, old stoves and other assorted metal stuff, there sits a sculpture that seems to be a cross of Auguste Rodin's Thinker and Hollywood's The Mummy. (For more info see yesterday's post.)

Cheers,
Rockinon

Reclaimed Art

John Zubick Ltd. is a scrap dealer in the east end of London, Ontario. But in today's world Zubick is no longer a simple buyer of junk metal and stuff but a "reclaimer of Canada's resources." Don't laugh --- it's true. You would be absolutely amazed at the tons and tons of metal and other materials that are bought, sorted and sold by the Zubick yard. The amount of iron ore that stays in the ground thanks to Zubick is simply mind boggling.

But some metal has not had to leave the Zubick yard to be recycled. It the front of the business, towering high above the parking lot, some of the scrap has already been reborn --- as art.

Ice is cool!

The spring sun is making everything melt. The thick ice at the side of the infrequently used road in Springbank Park caught the light in a downright magical way Saturday. The setting sun added just a little warmth to the image and brightened the leaf trapped in the ice.