The Film Tax Credit Saga

Nova Scotia is a great place to make films.
Over the last 15 years or so, many of the big players, such as

CBS and Disney, have come here to produce excellent feature films, TV series and a host of world-famous childrens animated shows, such as 'Inspector Gadget.'
They are impressed with what we offer: beautiful scenery, teams of well-trained and hard-working actors and technicians and state-of-the-art production facilities.
And, excellent food services.
One of the major rules in film production -- anywhere -- is that the catering service has to be top-notch. Here, it’s GREAT!
The Nova Scotia government had provided a $24-million financial catalyst called the Nova Scotia Film Tax Credit, which allowed the production companies to write off a good portion of their costs.
The film industry here is worth $150 million annually, and supports 2,700 full-time jobs.
Our family has an important connection here: our nephew, Chris, has been active in the local film business for several years, having worked recently on such productions as: CBS Movies of the Week, the 'Jessie Stone' series, with Tom Selleck, 'The Book of Negroes,' 'Lizzie Borden,' and even 'The Trailer Park Boys.'
But, this spring, the time of budgets and bean-counters,

If you like sports …

Spring is a great time for a sports fan, because there is so much going on.
Let's have a look at some of the sports in my orbit:

- - Cricket, yes cricket: The World Cup has just wrapped up in Melbourne, Australia; the title was one by New Zealand. I watched the highlights of the final match, which showed had some Great plays! Australia overwhelmed New Zealand to win the World Cup for a fifth time at an ecstatic Melbourne Cricket Ground.
- - Hockey: the Stanley Cup playoffs begin tonight; of course, Toronto Maple Leafs didn't make it (again!!), but quite a number of Canadian teams did: Calgary, Winnipeg, Vancouver, and, of course, my Montreal Canadiens, who will face Ottawa Senators in the first round.

A Scoop for Seaside FM

Last Saturday night, 12:36 a.m., Air Canada AC624 airbus from Toronto made a "hard landing" at Halifax Stanfield International Airport.
Heavy snowstorm is in progress, with winds gusting up to 100 km an hour.
Here is the timeline, as I saw it from our house:
A minute later, my wife is awakened by a chorus of sirens from the local police / fire / ambulance station here in Bedford.

1:30 a.m.: Seaside FM has broken into regular program, and is presenting live tweets, read by Wayne Harnett from his Twitter screen. He states from many sources that there has been a "hard landing" at HSIA, and ALL 138 passengers and crew have been safely evacuated.
Some tweets are already being posted by passengers, beside the wreckage.

Evernote Never Forgets

My first meeting with Evernote took place some years ago (as listed in my 'Note’), and I have been using it continually, often several times a day.

Before that when I need to remember some information, I used to reach for my pen and trusty note pad in my shirt pocket, and write a name, phone number, and email address.
This notepad system was not efficient; information became difficult to find, it would become full, and I'd have to replace it. If I hadn't transferred the information

Bye-Bye, February!

... And Don't Come Back!
Earlier this week. I was preparing a schedule for the next few weeks, and realized it was so great to write ’March’ in the heading.
We have experienced a brutal February.

And, we Maritimers are not alone: folks from New England all the way down to Georgia have had (and are having) record low temps, snow and ice.
Low temps here - minus 30-degree Celsius in Bedford - have persisted since before the last week of January.
Because it affects everybody, certain phrases have re-entered our conversations:
‘Flash-freezing:’ The storms came by from the Eastern Seaboard, and brought: blizzards, with white-outs and strong winds, usually followed by freezing rain,

Our Flag at 50

It may still be called the “maple leaf flag” or even the “new flag” my some of my older friends, but today marks the 50th birthday of our Canadian flag!

In fact, a story on CBC News today by Janet Davidson, “Canada's Maple Leaf flag turns 50, middle age still gives off a nice red glow,” also sets it well.
Sub-heading: “Fought over at first, our new symbol soon won over continents, and even Canadians.”
It won me over early … as soon as the red maple leaf design was revealed back in 1964 … and became instantly recognizable as a symbol of Canada.
Every teaching day, during my teaching career of 31 years, I proudly displayed our flag in a prominent spot in my classroom.
It DOES look great, doesn’t it?
It was born after years of often stormy and divisive debate.

Taking the ‘e-book Plunge’

We have always liked to read, since we can remember … and our house is full of books!

While we were both active teachers, we had to do a lot of ‘professional’ reading: reports, school policies, course assignments, etc., along with our reading to keep up with the news.
So it was a treat to find a nice quiet spot and read a good romantic or detective story (for my wife and for me, resp.).
We have been finding the time lately -- and believe me, it’s tough sometimes, even when we’re retired -- to read our favourite stories.
We cased our local book stores, armed with discount cards, exchanged books with friends, and were active borrowers from our excellent Halifax Public Library.
We were enjoying reading books again.
And, presto, along comes the … ’eBook reader!’
What to do, Dear Reader?