Lindsay Melhoff

Despite the enormous success this movie had at the box office this past weekend, my review is less than fab.  Although they successfully kept the plot secret, I found the 90 minute movie still struggling to keep my attention.  Jammed packed with nearly every character, the movie jumps around and introduces and removes characters without any kind of rationale.  Don’t get me wrong here, there were some tremendously funny parts and I’m sure every half-ass fan will see it regardless of my review.  However, it should be noted that after a 20 year wait, and the money, technology, and creativity that one would expect was expended for this project, I was slightly disappointed.  Perhaps my wandering attention and my heavy eye-lids were not solely caused by Simpson boredom, but my outting the night before.  Although perhaps financial successful, shows like this are going to hurt the TV ratings and I urge the Simpsons and all other similar shows to stick to what they are good at and stay out of the theatres!

MY RATING: 6 out of 10

A magical piece of musical history written by Stephen Davis.  This novel chronicles the life and times of not only Led Zeppelin but Jimmy Page.  The book starts with his childhood and progresses through the Yardbird era, with the main focus on the brilliant times of Zep.  Although not to my surprise (or any Led Zep fan for that matter), the death of Bonzo comes crushing down near the end of the novel, leaving the reader with only a feeling of despair, wondering how many more greats would have come had this tragedy not taken place.

Although at times crude, and at others, a little slow, this is by far one of the best books I’ve read this summer and highly recommend it to anyone, especially those with an interest in Jimmy Page, Led Zeppelin, Thelema or magick. 

MY RATING: 9 out of 10

My newest literary obsession is Aleister Crowley (or Edward Alexander Crowley).  He was born in 1875 and died in 1947.  Crowley was an English occultist, writer and social provovateur.  I came across him through one of my most favorite books, The Hammer of the Gods: The Led Zeppelin Saga.  The one and only Jimmy Page had a larger than life obsession with Crowley, collecting not only his works, but also any artifacts associated with his life.

Crowley’s The Book of The Law is not a book that Crowley himself claims to be the author of.  He insists that he received it from Aiwass, a god or higher power, and wrote it down over the course the three days (writting only from noon to one each day).  The official title is Liber AL vel Legis.  This book has served as the foundaiton of the religious and philosophical system he called Thelema.  His book also served as the basis which the well-known quack L. Ron Hubbard used to develop his fantasy-filled Scientology.  Don’t be mislead by this coincidence; Scientology and The Book of The Law have nothing in common.

The Law of Thelema is summed up in some of the most famous lines from The Book of The Law:

“Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law”

“Love is the law, love under will”

“There is no Law beyond Do what thou wilt”

Although at first read, it may seem that Crowley is supporting a license to indulge in casual whims or mindless cultural mores, but that is not so.  Thelema focuses on discovering and manifesting one’s True Will, which Crowley describes as one’s inner divine nature, spiritual destiny, or porper course in life.

Crowley was known as the wickedest man in the world to some, brilliant writer to others.  Heroine addict for most of his life, he didn’t have any close friends, although he was wed a few times.  Crowley practiced magick and used Kabbalah inspired principles to interpret The Book of The Law in the many literary works that follow the original.  Interpretation of The Book of The Law was later believe to be a solo journey, something each reader must do for themselves.

However, Crowley was more than an interpreter of manuscripts, also writting fictional stories who’s characters strongly resemble himself.  Diary of a Drug Fiend is likely the most notorious, although it did spend many years being banned from publication.

Crowley’s life and works are beyond interesting and a must read of any one interested in occultism, religion, magic, history and/or higher powers.  Crowley’s message is powerful and still applicable (and recognizable in many modern religions) today. 

The Canadian media-mogul was recently convicted in Chicago’s Federal Court, with Judge Amy St Eve presiding.  The charges stem from the accusations that Black - a member of the Britain’s House of Lords - and three former associates at Hollinger International diverted more than $80 million US in bonuses to themselves, in the form of non-compete payments. 

Black faced nine counts of mail and wire fraud, two counts of tax evasion and one count each of racketeering and obstruction of justice.  The Toronto resident was found guilty of criminal fraud and obstruction of justice but was cleared of the racketeering charges.    It was a complex trial, with a total of 42 counts against four defendants. 

Black’s lavish lifestyle was at the center of the prosecutions case, claiming that it was partly funded in this way.  The billionaire was accused, amongst other things, of cheating Hollinger International by taking the company plane on a holiday to Bora Bora, billing shareholdes $40,000 for his wife’s surprise birthday party and paying below the market rate when he bought a compnay apartment on New York’s Park Avenue.  Black’s team of defence lawyers claim that the US government wast trying to sow prejudice among the middle-class Chicago jurors by stressing the wealthy newspaper exec’s “champagne and caviar” lifestyle.  Whether it was underhanded or not, it worked and Black is awaiting sentencing. 

But is this the end of the Conrad Black saga?  By no means, as word has it, he is already launching an appeal.  Black has been quoted by various media outlets saying that if he had done it, he would have plead guilty and accepted his punishment.  Oh how noble a man that Conrad Black!  Too bad his greedy paws could be facing decades behind bars.    

With the release of his new movie, Sicko, Micheal Moore has been receiving (or accepting) more press than usual.  A few nights ago he appeared on CNN with Wolf Blitzer, his first appearance in three years with the network, despite numerous invitations.  During this appearance, he was outraged, not only at CNN’s report on the movie but also their failure in the past to ask the right questions that the viewers want answered.  Of course, the war came up and Moore belligerently asked Wolf to apologize to the viewing public for “failing” them on that front. 

Moore took objection to the report done by CNN’s own medical expert/journalist Dr. Sanjay Gupta.  He attacked not only Gupta’s credibility but morality as well, questioning what pharmaceutical company had CNN in their pocket.  Moore’s anger started over a disagreement over the actual figures and number, something Moore takes great pride in ensuring their accuracy. 

The feud didn’t end there, with Moore appearing on Larry King Live, with the challenged Gupta.  The debate centered on the numbers for a while and then got down to the real issues, the US health care system, or lack there of.  Gupta’s points were minimal and somewhat irrelevant.  Who cares if Cuba spends $251 per person on health care or $224?  What bloody difference does it make??  Gupta however, was devoid of intelligent comment when Moore pointed out the flaws in the system and the growing number of unhappy Americans.

Although Moore may be controversial, egotistical and sometimes even ignorant, he makes good points that are hard for even the best of experts to refute.  Sicko has received wonderful reviews with some even saying “you’d have to be dead to be unaffected by this movie”. 

This whole debate raised another issue with respect to media coverage.  Moore’s anger was focused on the fudging of the health care facts by CNN but was directed at inaccurate and incomplete media coverage.  When will the day come when media is not censored, reporting solely with their sponsors in mind?  The American, and Canadian, people are capable of interpreting real facts and making judgments for themselves.  They are entitled to this right. 

Will Moore’s spat lead to more fair coverage debates?  Will CNN and other major news outlets take to heart the message being sent, not only by Moore but by the viewing public?  News should be news, not spun or colored or edited to suit a mega sponsor.  Tell the facts as they are and leave the deciphering up to the public.  There is a valuable lesson here to be learnt by all news medias…will they take it??

check out www.michaelmoore.com for videos of the Larry King debate and other info re health care

The perfect lawn is the goal of many homeowners and an elusive dream to others.  Some people will try anything to get a green, lush lawn - from products that you buy to home remedies that promise perfection.  Brad Fresenburg, an extension and research associate at the University of Missouri, was asked to test “The Perfect Lawn Tonic”, an internet recipe that promises the greenest grass on the block.

So what’s in this tonic?  It’s a mixture of five ingredients you can find right at home: beer, non-diet soda, mouthwash, household ammonia and dish soap.  Fresenburg says that “it’s really a home remedy that is simulating a lot of bio-stimulants”, where none of the ingredients are harmful to grasses.

Each ingredient is added for a reason.  The beer and soda feed the microbes in the soil.  The mouthwash is thought to have some fungicidal and insecticidal properties, given the high percentgae of alcohol that’s found in it.  The ammonia is a fertilizer because the nitrogen that is in the product will serve as a product that is causing the green color.  And finally, the dish soap will serve as a wetting agent which breaks down the tension of water and helps water to penetrate into the soil or cover the leaf titesu a little bit better. 

Fresenburg will present the results of the testing later in July but confirmed that the tonic will leave your grass greener and more lush.

On with the competition neighbors!  Mix up a batch of this Perfect Lawn Tonic and watch the results!

This past weekend, the July Long Canada Day weekend, we had one of the worst storms I’ve ever seen blow through Lac Pelletier.  We were down at the south end campgrounds visiting some friends.  Lightning was crashing and the dogs were freaking out, yet some still thought the storm was going to miss us.  I’m terrified of storms, and tried endlessly to convince my boyfriend and sister that it was time for us to return to the safety of our cottage.  We arrived back at our cottage with literally seconds to spare before the trees came crashing and the neighbors roof came flying.  Dustin, my boyfriend, while trying to save his newly purchased motorcycle from the storm, was struck by a piece of the neighbors roof and nearly knocked out.  We all made it inside in time to watch the destruction.  I’ve never seen anything like it.  It was like watching a scene from Twister or the like.  Trees, plants, garbage, and debris flying past the windows.  We couldn’t see a thing until the lightning would strike and light up the whole lake like it was day time.  I curled up in the cottage, holding on firmly to my puppy (who surprisingly wasn’t even half as scared as I was), and waited for the nightmare to end.

From what I was told, the Storm Chasers (my father, brother and boyfriend) went out and cruised the lake afterwards to ensure there wasn’t anyone in danger needing help.  They figured the whole lake got hit pretty hard but our little strip got it the worst.

The 6 a.m. walk around the neighborhood was surreal and depressing.  Trees trampled over everywhere, on cars, on boats, on cottages.  Our neighbors even had a huge tree completely uprooted.  The extent of the damage to our cottage was a broken window, many lost shingles and a few destroyed antennas.  Our cottage was fortunate.  Our out-buildings however, were not quite as fortunate, with a couple holes in the roof of the ski shack and the treehouse split right open.  I must say that I was astounded to see that the treehouse survived (was still in the air), all thanks to my father’s skilled engineering.  Dustin had the worst luck of the weekend, having both his motorcycle and truck parked right out back our cottage.  Two trees fell on his bike, with one smashin on the hood of his truck.  Thanks again to great construction on my father’s part, the fence held a lot of the weight and miraculously both the truck and bike survived with relatively little damage.

Our dock was by far the worst sight.  Pieces of it were flown everywhere and it took the guys a while to even find them all.  The fishing boat was underwater on the other side of the dock and one of the watercrafts was a few cottages away, upside down in the lake.  But thankfully the Malibu was untouched.  It was the glimer of hope in an otherwise completely desolate scene. 

By the end of the day, through the help of family and kind neighbors, we had our lot cleaned up and our dock restored to its previous glory.  It was definitely a sight to be scene.  Such destruction to the place we all love so much was hard to take.  But however tragic the storm was, it definitely brought the community and our family together through hard work and dedication.  In times like these, you see the true compassion and heart that those around you have.  Thanks to all who helped out with the cleanup….it’s greatly appreciated!!