Lindsay Melhoff

We’ve arrive and I must say, Canada kicks ass!  Mom scared me on the way here with tales of the $20/day internet fee in NYC but thankfully (and luckily for all you devout readers), the Clarendon provides complimentary wireless service. 

Although we saved a few hundred bucks on tickets, our trek here was exhausting to say the least.  We left Regina at 6:30 am and flew to Winnepeg.  Once in Winnepeg we boarded another plane that took us to Montreal.  And again in Montreal we boarded another plane, which was considerably smaller, that took us here.  The length of the trip was taxing as it was, but the nearly unbareable odor coming from the gent behind us on our last flight nearly put me over the edge!  And to make the flight even more interesting, 3 out of 5 young french girls travelling together and sitting infront and behind us, changed their clothing, in their seats!  Getting here was definitely an experience.

But we’re here now and all was worth it.  Quebec City is absolutely beautiful and quite similar to how I pictured it to be.  Old building everywhere, reminiscent of Dublin’s small curvy streets packed tight with town houses, with enormous churches on practically every street corner.  Our hotel, the Clarendon, is one of the oldest buildings in Quebec City and definitely looks it, but it is unreal in terms of location. 

We spent what was left of the fleeting afternoon wandering around Old Quebec and stopping into a few unique shops (not to mention La Maison Simons, which quickly became my fave locale).  We saw the Chateaur Frontenac and the Montmorency Park, both of which providing beautiful backgrounds for breathtaking pictures.  The number of restaurants in this part of town could accurately be described as incessant.  Even including the frequent tourists, there is no way there needs to be a restaurant or bistro at every second door stoop.  In any event, we luckily chose one that turned out to be a great meal.  Cafe de Paris had a quaint and cozy atmosphere with friendly staff and scrumptious food.  We finished dining by 9:00 and although we were up at 4:30 this morning, I still wasn’t ready for to call it a night (it’s our first night here and be damned if I’m going to bed at 9:00!).  So Mom being the wonderful soul she is, agreed to accompany me as we wandered the luminescent streets of Old Quebec and were astonished by the increased activity and excitement that nightfall brought to the streets   We ended off the night with a night cap at the local Pub D’Orsay, and played a little slots.  Obviously, but yet still to my surprise, the slots are all in french and at first presented us with a challenge.  But thankfully the bar keep was able to switch them into English, just long enough for us to win a little dough on a Frost-Fire game. 

During our afternoon travels, we found the tourist bureau and booked ourselves in for a bus tour of Old Quebec for tomorrow morning.  It should be a good time…I’m just hoping the weather perks up.  Cold and gloomy is do’able for a day or two, but not seven! 

I’m sorry this post is void of pictures.  For some reason the browser won’t let me upload any.  I’ll keep working on it and hopefully I’ll have a few (or more than few given my need to take ridiculous amounts of pictures) on tomorrow’s post.

Miss you all and I’ll have a beer on a beautiful terrace (something Quebec is renowned for) for everyone!  A demain mes amis…bonne nuit!

“Experience, travel - these are as education in themselves” said by the Greek playwrite Euripides. 

I can’t wait for the education that Quebec will bring.  Even though my french is quite good, this will be my first time at a french destination.  I have wanted to go my whole life and now the time has come.  I have researched Old Quebec and the sites I want to see, not to mention the shops I want to visit!  In the following posts, I’m hoping to share a bit of Quebec history and scenery through not only my experience but my research.  Stay tuned for the events of day one! 

I miss you already Dust!  Take good care of my Bruiser! 

The things some people say in court.  Like the Dirks I spoke of in another post.  I don’t know how judges can listen to this type of shit without cracking up completely!  These quotes are verbatim quotes that were said in court and have now been published in a book called Disorder in the American Courts.  Courtesy of my wonderful father. 

ATTORNEY: What gear were you in at the moment of the impact?
WITNESS: Gucci sweats and Reeboks

ATTORNEY: Now doctor, isn ‘t it true that when a person dies in his sleep, he doesn’t know about it until the next morning?
WITNESS: Jesus Christ! Did you actually pass the bar exam?

ATTORNEY: She had three children, right?
WITNESS: Yes.
ATTORNEY: How many were boys?
WITNESS: None.
ATTORNEY: Were there any girls?
WITNESS: Are you shitt’in me? Your Honor, this guy’s an @#%$, I think I need a different attorney. Can I get a new attorney?

ATTORNEY: Doctor, before you performed the autopsy, did you check for a pulse?
WITNESS: No.
ATTORNEY: Did you check for blood pressure?
WITNESS: No.
ATTORNEY: Did you check for breathing?
WITNESS: No.
ATTORNEY: So, then it is possible that the patient was alive when you began
the autopsy?
WITNESS: No.
ATTORNEY: How can you be so sure, Doctor?
WITNESS: Because his brain was sitting on my desk in a jar.
ATTORNEY: I see, but could the patient have still been alive, nevertheless?
WITNESS: Yes, it is possible that he could have been alive and practicing law.

Thank God these are American lawyers!  Us Canadians are FAR brighter! 

Ontario Provincial Police arrested 15 people Thursday for alleged involvement in an international crew of casino cheaters who used bribes and technology to win big at blackjack and mini-baccarat.  Ten of the arrested are Windsor residents.  The arrests were the result of a 4-year long investigation with charges ranging from participating in a criminal organization, conspiracy, laundering proceeds of crime, fraud over $5,000, possession of stolen property and cheat of play.

FBI press release described the scheme as a “false shuffle” scheme where members of the cheating team bribed casino dealers and supervisors to fake their shuffles during card games, resulting in “slugs” of unshuffled cards.  This allegedly allowed the cheaters to track the order of the cards - with the help of signals, hidden transmitters and specially created computer software - and bet large at the appropriate times.

Authorities estimate the losses to Ontario casinos, primarily the First Nations casino near Orillia on Lake Simcoe north of Toronto, Casino Rama, as a result of this cheating ring to be over $2 million. 

“Never underestimate the effectiveness of a straight cash bribe” said by British Journalist Claude Cockburn.

More on the fate of these men once it becomes known.

“The price of greatness is responsibility” - said by the one and only Winston Churchill, author, 1953 Nobel Prize in Literature winner and UK PM.

I’ve been wanting more responsibility and less meaningless tasks to show my competence and intellect.  But now that I’ve gotten what I’ve asked for, I’m a little apprehensive about my abilities.  I don’t doubt that I have the requisite skills and knowledge to perform the task, but given that it’s my first real file, I want to shine.  I take some solice in the fact that the subject area is one I am well versed in.

Franklin D Roosevelt, the US’s 32nd President from 1933-1945 said while counselling Frances Perkins, the US Secretary of Labour and the first woman appointed to cabinet: “One thing is sure.  We have to do something.  We have to do the best we know how at the moment…;  If it doesn’t turn out right, we can modify it as we go along”.

There’s real wisdom in his words.  The best I can do is the best I can do and whatever short-comings I have can be modified along the way.  I need to have the confidence that I can rock this file…the same confidence a bright co-worker has in me.

“Public opinion is a weak tyrant compared to our own private opinion.  What a man thinks of himself, that is which determines, or rather indicates, his fate” - said by Henry David Thoreau, an American author known for his writtings on resistance of civil government.

 The view I take of myself will ultimately lead the way to my success.  I need to have confidence now and at the same time, accept those things I do not know.  You’ll see…I’ll rock this file right back to Regina!

A 31-year-old man from Portland, Oregon, Joshua Kistler, was sentenced Monday to more than 24 years in federal prison for posing online as a teenage boy dying of leukemia in an effort to coerce young girls into sending him sexually explicit images.  He even sent pictures of his 15-year old step-son to further the story.  He posed as the step-father of the persona he created and even met with a few of the children and their mothers.  He gained their trust and asked them to send nude pictures or perform sexual acts in front of a webcam.  In court he apologized for the harm he caused, claiming that he wasn’t aware he was causing any harm in the first place.

How can some people be so characteristically evil while others so kind-hearted?  Where does evil come from and does it reside in each of us?  At times I think everyone has a little evil inside but then when faced with true flagitious evil like Kistler, I shudder to think that same darkness lies in us all. 

Homer, the legendary Greek poet, once said: “Evil deeds do not prosper; the slow man catches up to the swift”.

What does he mean?  Obviously evil doesn’t pay, but is he saying that swiftness is evil?  That speed, or expediency is evil?  I’m not sure but I do know that the means some people take to achieve certain ends sooner could easily be classified as evil.  Why is everyone is such a hurry and willing to trample others to get where they are going? 

“A drunk man’s words are a sober man’s thoughts” said by English actor, Oliver Reed, who was known for his macho image on and off screen.

I have been known to be brutally honest once I get a few bubblies in me.  It’s never really gotten me into too much trouble because it’s a habit to say what’s on my mind, but I’m fearing the inevitable consequences that my loose lips will bring.  There are certain people, my thoughts of which are better left unsaid.  There are also certain situations, where such thoughts are clearly not welcome.  So what will be my fate?  Will I surprise myself with being tight-tongued or will my usual drunken honesty prevail and potentially cause an eruption?  At the present moment, I’m neither certain of what will happen nor certain of what I want to happen.  I think I’m going to fly by the seat of my pants and the whim of my drunken thought-processes and see where they take me.  They’ve never really lead me a stray, or at least not that far a stray. 

For someone who really doesn’t care what others think, I have a strange obsession with fashion.  I just can’t get enough of the “In Style” type mags and I take any chance I get to watch a little fashion tv (obviously that is rarely given that I live with a typical alpha male).  I guess whether I’m particularly stylish myself is debateable but I’d like to think so, or at least that I have my own unique sense of style. 

The one and only, and one of my personal fave’s, Oscar Wilde, said: “Fashion is a form of ugliness so intolerable that we have to alter it every six months”.

I’m not sure if Wilde’s negative view of fashion is indicative of reality.  Classic fashion is forever and the style is something that is always evolving, whether your own personal style or that of the fashion world this season.  The truth behind Wilde’s statement is that fashion can do wonders for ugliness.  Have you ever had one of those days where nothing seems to fit right and you just feel all around shitty?  Well, try putting on a couture suit or a pair of designer shoes and see how that makes you feel.  Fashion can help you feel comfortable in your own skin, which is something all women are in need of at some point in time.

Author and co-founder of the New York magazine, Gloria Steinman said: “Each individual woman’s body demands to be accetped on its own terms”. 

SIDE NOTE: My personal favorite line this season comes from the uber-talented Robert Cavalli.  His clothing is always animalistic yet feminine at the same time, like the tiger dress pictured below selling for a whopping $3500.  A balance that is definitely hard to pull off!

Pet stores should no longer be allowed to sell animals.  Whether cats, dogs, birds or hamsters, these little animals are not receiving the proper care and many are dying daily due to neglectful staff.  So how do we stop this?  We take a stand.  Everyone together can make a difference and this is a cause worthy of effort.  The following link is to a PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) site that documents a PetSmart Investigation.  At the bottom of the site, there is a live link where you can send a letter to PetSmart by simply putting in your name and email address.  Please do this…the more letters sent, the more pets’ lives that can be saved!

http://www.peta.org/feat-petsmart.asp

I was appalled when I read this.  I frequent PetSmart and I have numerous times seen the small hamster or birds caged up, but I never saw anything like this.  But it’s happening and will keep happening until we all ban together and do something. 

For all those Facebook’ers, there’s a group you can join called Speak for Those Who Cannot and the creator seems very passionate and knowledgeable (at least more knowledgeable than me) on this travesty.  The following link is to the Facebook group:

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2342193372

JOIN!!