CBC News: Martin promises to keep promises: "Martin promises to keep promises"

This is interesting, Martin went on the offensive against his opponent, although his opponent isn't Stephen Harper of the Conservatives, or Jack Layton of the NDP or even Gilles Doucette. It's Dalton McGuinty. I know, wait a minute, isn't Dalton the premier of the largest province and isn't he the head of the provincial Liberal party. Don't Liberals kind of work together at election time? Welcome to Election 2004 where the excitement is lost and the PM has the look of a deer in the headlights. Now Martin promises to keep his promise. Obviously he hasn't looked at his party's track record has he? Shall we? Yes, lets. Okay in 1993 it was perceived by the electorate that if elected the Liberals would get rid of the GST. While the PM of the time denied ever saying those words he did not to get rid of the perception. In fact they didn't get rid of the GST. They at a later election promised to put more money into the country's infrastructure and cities. Also the government promised to alleviate child poverty. Just to name a few. Let's be honest the Liberals are bad at keeping their word. They break as many promises as they make.

I thought this was interesting: Martin said at a weekend speech that he will resign if he doesn't fulfill three of his major campaign promises. What are they? Here they are:Martin vowed to improve health care, pour more money into cities and balance the budget while maintaining social programs. Let's see the track record they sacrificed social programs for the balanced budget during the 90's and the early 21st century. In fact the only place where more money was allocated was to the "Friends of the PM" fund. They squandered billions, let's not forget the HRDC debacle and this is to say nothing of the gun registration program, almost 2 billion and counting.

I was trying to consider what this election is like and it came to me, I used to work at a nursing home and I remember when the family would come for their dying loved one. It was always sad and quiet, an expectation of something not going to get better but will end soon. This is election 2004, it's a death vigil and we're waiting for Paul Martin's demise.

It's not coming soon enough.


Peace

I thought I'd give an update on my life. Well yesterday I spent about 3-4 hours putting together a nice armoire for the computer. It actually looks nice and hides everything. Seems to be that the more peripherials you have the more cords and plugs you got to deal with. Now they are well hidden. It's amazing what you can do with a screwdriver and a hammer.

The only other thing I did last night was watch Iron Chef. Hey tonight it's another Iron Chef-FoodTV cooks battle, should be good. I thought about watching the Flames-Lightning game but when I saw the score (2-0 Flames) I thought the better.

Well if the weather stays nice I'll probably go for a run.


Peace

News | canada.com network

Let's take a time trip to this past weekend, Paul Martin wakes up on Saturday, goes to the door and picks up the National Post. Sorry I don't see him reading the Toronto Star (the in-house organ of the Liberal Party of Canada). At the breakfast table he looks at his lovely wife Sheila and says, 'Hon, I think I'm going to visit Adrienne (the governor-general) and have her dissolve parliament and call an election'.

So Sunday he gets Ralph Goodale (finance minister) to press his best suit and goes to Rideau Hall. So far so good one would think. However that may have been the best moment of the election. Since then what has happened; his call to put more money into healthcare brought nothing but laughter from the average Canadian. Also the Premier of Ontario ( a Liberal) to whom Paul should look for support, says the promise is 'just an election promise that you shouldn't count on, he should know. This causes Paul to snipe, 'well, I would have kept My promise not to raise taxes. Well guarantee Dalton isn't going to be on any platform with Paul anytime soon, unless its to stand behind him and flip the bird. Add to that Jack Layton accuses Paul of being responsible for the death of homeless people. This may be a stretch but government have to take responsibility for cutting the social safety net. To be honest under Paul's watch the gulf between the rich and poor has widened. Add to this Stephen Harper accuses Paul of endangering our troops by giving them bad equipment. Can you say "Sea King" Mr. Martin? Of course Paul's response is to say, 'we're going to get them those new helicopters. Wait a minute you had 10 Years to get them new helicopters and now you can???

So far the campaign is lurching badly add to this the fact that the BC Liberals are at war with each other, Sheila Copp's followers are helping the NDP in Hamilton and Chretien has said he's not going to campaign for Martin. Now this is all bad and now the news of the day, Alfonso Gagliano is going to sue Martin and the feds for wrongful dismissal. Beautiful. Bring the adscam to everyone's radar again. Gee I wonder who was behind this idea. Maybe Martin should have asked Chretien not to campaign against him.

The 2004 election campaign the textbook model of disaster. Bye bye Paul.


Peace

Reuters AlertNet - Canada to boost defense, aid spending - minister

You have to love election campaigns, they can always find the money to solve problems that they couldn't while in office. Here the Finance Minister is saying money will be available to help Canada's underequipped and underfunded millitary. I love the line by the Defence Minister: Defense Minister David Pratt has said there has been a 40-year decline in military spending relative to the size of the economy. Let's just remind ourselves who has been in power for most of those 40 years, the Liberals. They are the ones who have been strangling the military and now all of a sudden, lo and behold they can spend more money. Well it's a miracle.

I sometimes wonder how stupid the Liberals truly believe the electorate is, they want to operate like the last ten years don't exist. The last ten years of the Liberals cutting funds to healthcare, post-secondary school education and the military kinda sorta happened, but it was somebody else, not them because they can fix the problem. Hey if you believe that, I own a very tall structure in Canada I'm willing to sell for the right price.

You add to this what else Ralph Goodale said the West better vote Liberal, if they know what's good for them. That's true, because if you support the governing party all sorts of government favours will come your way. Why just ask the people of Toronto who have sent Liberals to Ottawa for the past decade, look at all the support they've received. The Waterfront is vastly improved, well, not yet. The infrastructure is improved, actually not. Their public transit system is second to none and if the lack of federal support keeps going they will be none. Okay, so maybe Toronto is a bad example, hey it was the Liberals that brought the Rolling Stones to the city for the SARSfest. Forget the feds didn't do anything during the SARS outbreak please they tell us, forget.

But I have to admit, if you live in Shawinigan, you got a lot of federal money, more so then any other place. Yes voting Liberal is the way to enjoy federal money but only if you're the PM's riding. Again, how stupid does Ralph Goodale think we are. Let's be honest the only people who have enjoyed Liberal largess are the friends of Prime Minister Jean Chretien. All the rest of us got were longer lines at emergency rooms, children with crippling university debt and a crumbling country. Yes, this is the legacy we've enjoyed.


Peace

I'm taking the evening off from politics to talk about my new DVD purchase. Last night I decided to pay out the money and buy Tron. A movie I haven't seen since it came out in theatre. I mean I went to see it then, part of my nerd pedigree, but since then, I may have seen it on Family Channel but only once. Well I put the disc in a spent a delightful 90 minute watching and listening to the movie. When it came out it was quite groundbreaking, it combined the best of the Disney animation tradition with the new CGI technology. I know that compared today the effects are crude and no doubt it would be quite amazing today. However it is still amazing. Disney did produce a movie that was radical in the format and beautiful in the rendition.

As I viewed it and since it's been a long time much of the story was sketchy, I thought we were seeing something from Medfield College, the scene of other Disney movies such as "The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes" and that, but when the movie leaves this world for the world of computer and games, it becomes beautiful. Wendy Carlos' soundtrack is gorgeous, her use of the synthesizer and electronics is wonderful.

What also impressed me was the cast, while all were youthful, Jeff Bridges and David Warner, what amazed me was the other cast members. Bruce Boxleitner and Peter Jurasik, it was the start of Babylon 5! Quite amazing.

I know the movie is one people either like or dislike it still is a delight and I'm glad I purchased it.

I know I promised to keep the politics out of it, but I noticed CBC doesn't even feature any political news tonight. The election in search of a reason that's what it should be called.


Peace

CBC News: Martin promises billion dollar health-care boost

There are times in an election campaign with an overwhelming sense of ennui sets in. For Paul Martin that feeling has appeared on the third day of the election. Okay he promises billions of dollars for our health care system, the same system he ransacked like Attila the Hun during his tenure as Finance Minister. You know why ennui sets in? It happens because you have the feeling you've heard it all before. Oh sure, all of a sudden during election campaigns the leaders all get some form of religion, for Paul it's healthcare. He did nothing to impliment the Romanov Report. Nothing, yet in the midst of the election he can find billions that couldn't be earmarked for healthcare. Shame he didn't do this a couple of weeks ago, maybe his pal Dalton in Ontario wouldn't have had to tax all of us to pay for healthcare. It never ceases to amuse me, a premium on healthcare, like we don't pay for it already?

Another thing about Paul is the fact he wants to wrap himself in the Canadian flag, pity he doesn't believe in flying the Canadian flag from any of his ships. The Canadian Steamship Line flies a number of 'flags of convenience', I sure it's to keep them competitive, after all Canada's rules are notoriously bureaucratic and interferring. Patriotism is the final refuge of the scoundrel. Truly Samuel Johnson was correct in his observation. I want to say right now the campaign is over, the Liberals are going to lose. This promise for healthcare is as meaningful as any other Liberal promise over the past decade, be it GST, NAFTA, urban renewal and revitalization, hey Toronto how's the waterfront, last election Chretien promised to fix it. It doesn't matter, another promise to break. Remember that on electon day.


Peace

News | canada.com network: "The visit kicked off Martin's bid to validate his prime ministership and win a fourth consecutive term for his scandal-plagued Liberals. "

Well, well, well, so it begins. The election is now upon us and we will be hearing all sorts of promises and accusations. The Martin Liberals will be stating they are the only ones who can govern the nation presumably doing a better job then they have over the last 10. I thought this was an interesting quote:The visit kicked off Martin's bid to validate his prime ministership and win a fourth consecutive term for his scandal-plagued Liberals. Let us remember the main point this is a scandel plagued, no a scandel ridden government. We have witnessed scandel that is breathtaking in the size and scale. This is a government that has stolen our money to give their pals. Never ever ever forget it. They will claim to be the only ones who can run Canada and in one way they are correct, they are the only ones who can run Canada into the ground.

Here's what Paul says about his government:I am proud of our record," he said. "But I want to do much more, so I will be setting out a plan to do just that. What is he proud of? The fact our military is flying antiquated helicopters, that our submarines are good as long as they don't stay in the water long? How about our healthcare, that he cut billions from. Is he proud of the boondoogle that is the gun registry program, or the fact this government has used gallons of pepper spray against ordinary Canadians who were exercising their freedom of expression? How about the money that disappeared into Liberal friendly advertising firms? What about the fact that students face crippling debt after graduating from universities and colleges? Is he proud of the cynicism that Chretien has allowed to develop because of his corruption? Oh yes, before you forget, Mr Martin was the Finance Minister during the messy Chretien years. He knew what was going on. I found this little comment in the article The Liberals accused the "Alliance-Conservatives" of dragging out the sponsorship scandal for partisan purposes and of trying to keep the government from pursuing its agenda for change. Darn those opposition type who want to know the answer for the waste of money. You would think they should simply be quiet and understand that's the way you do things in Ottawa. Why what do they want, integrity?? Just remember that on June 28th, the Liberals want Adscam to go away so they keep the status quo which is your money and mine ending up, not in hospitals or housing or the military but in the pockets of their cronies. Remember that.

Who to vote for? In a word, Not the Liberals.


Peace

Yahoo! Sports - NHL - Lightning 2, Flyers 1

You want to talk about nervous, that's what I was watching the third period of the 7th game. Thursday game drained me to be honest, I thought it was in the bag and then when Keith Primeau scored the tying goal. It was one of those goals you just knew was going to go in. Philly had the Bolts on the heels for the third period and then the overtime. It was a terrible.

To be honest I didn't want to watch game 7, but in the end I'm glad I did. I stared at that little clock in the upper left corner of the screen,it didn't go down fast enough. I counted down all the time. The first half I felt very nervous, I had this great dread that any moment, Philly would score the tying goal and it would be 'deja vu all over again'. What i feared was this. Another shot into the net by Keith Primeau. Let me say something about Keith Primeau, he is the MAN. This guy is incredible he is the team leader. He influenced game 6 it was he who decided they were not going to lose that night. I have nothing but the greatest admiration for the guy, he is great.

Enough of the Flyers, except to say "In your face, Bobby Clarke", enjoy another summer without the Cup. It's now the Bolts' time to enjoy the Stanley Cup Final. I will be wearing my jersey for each game. I got to tell you I was counting down the last 30 seconds. I couldn't believe it, the team I had cheered for since day one, the team that had such horrible seasons, is now going to the dance. I am so looking forward to this series.

There has been some great hockey this year: memo to the NHLPA and the NHL, don't screw it up!!! Get the CBA signed, sealed and delivered to the hockey fan, we want the momentum to continue.

I know what some of you are thinking, hey aren't you a Canadian?? Shouldn't I be cheering for the Flames?? Well, every other year the answer would be 'yes', but not this year. I am a Bolt Fan and proud to wear the Jersey. I hope that Calgary and Tampa gives all us hockey fans a great series and truly may the best team win. Personally I'm hoping that best team will be the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Bring on the Cup Finals


Peace

www.fiberal.ca

Okay, let's not mince words, the provincial Liberals broke their main promise. "No tax increase", well guess what, we have just experienced a tax increase. Call it a premium, call it a blue cow, it is still a tax increase. Today in the paper it mentioned the federal Liberals, to deflect the heat, are going to blame the provincial Tories for this huge increase. It was their fault, left left the huge deficit. Here's a few things I discovered, when Mike Harris took office in 1995 and understand I am not a fan of Mikey, he faced an 11 billion dollar deficit, almost double what McGinty faces, and he kept his word.

Before Paul Martin gets it on let's remember a few things, 1) when the federals took office one of their, alledged, promises was to get rid of the GST, is it gone? Also you have to understand why the health care is in such bad shape. The blame has to be laid at the feet of the Paul Martin Liberals, never ever ever forget he was the finance minister when the federal government slashed transfer payments to the provinces. They cut the heart out of the system. It was their work. Before the feds contributed almost half, now it's about what, 25%. Who did it, the guy who says 'blame the Tories for the mess'. No not quite true, blame the Liberals, they're the ones who have been running the show.

In their minds it's like the 90's didn't happen and if it did they don't know what happened. Remind them of this fact next time one of those lying weasels comes to your door wanting your vote.


Peace

TheStar.com - McGuinty defends health premiums, deficit

Here is my thought on the matter of premium. First of all, it's to be expected, after all we have had 'free' service for these many year. Understand as well 'free' is a relative term since I pay for these service through my taxes. So I wasn't too surprise. However I want to know what guarantee I have that the monies raised through the premiums will go to the place intended. I want to know that I can have better health because it's being used for this mmatter and not going into general revenue to be used for whatever. I know they've talked about a special tax in Ottawa for this, yeah right. I believe what one commentator said, Ottawa is the place where your money goes to die.

Here is what I truly believe, the government and this is both federal and provincial believe in the two tier system, everything points to it. However they know if they use the 'p' word they will be trashed in the media and killed in the polls. To come out and say it is politicial suicide. Consider another tact what if they starve the system; make it so bad that the only solution is to open part of it, at first to private investment. Nothing big at first but if they can prove that the system is got serious problems and even though more money is in the system it can't be fixed. It becomes inevitable. Now consider we are used to paying 'premiums', its expected so what if it goes to an HMO? I believe they are getting us ready for the day when instead of the government we will be paying for medical insurance. Does it matter in the end who gets the money? This will be the big lie.

The government has all but given up on public health, they are getting huge support from the Canadian subsidaries of the American HMO, and they want to introduce private care. They have to use stealth. It's like this, if you take the oxygen away from a patient, rip the mask off their face, you will kill them, but get charged. If you squeeze the oxygen just a little, you get the same result, it may take longer but no one gets charged.

This is what McGinty, this is what Paul Martin have been doing and will do until the patient, public healthcare is dead.

Peace

Well, this being Sunday, I was hoping for a quiet afternoon. It was just going to be me, a good book and my boombox, playing the tunes. It was a mild day, sunny and no rain which was something for this past week.

So what happen? Two neighbours decided to get our their riding mowers and cut their backyards. Now I have no problem with people doing whatever, but please one day just a quiet afternoon please. I know people work hard during the week, but to have two machines going, then another person on the next block decided to use the noisiest vacuum cleaner to do their car. ARGGH. I heard it over the two mowers, that's enough I thought. Fortuneately by this evening I was able to get out with a good book Fences and Windows, by Naomi Klein. Her dispatches from the anti-globalization struggle. It's a series of articles so a quick read. Well I was able to read it after all, so the day wasn't a total waste. Plus I decided to go for a medium length run (7 km), felt quite good afterwards.

Well, that was my Sunday.


Peace

CNEWS - Tech News: Poll: Cdns downloading less

You would think this is good news, that people are downloading less music. I mean hasn't the CRIA and RIAA been going on and on about how wrong it is to download music off the internet and what an evil thing Kazaa et al are? You would think this is joyous news, yet if you read the article it seems they have 'figures that disprove this'. Let me quote you from the article:The Canadian recording industry was quick to dismiss the results of the survey, saying their figures show downloading is just as popular an activity as ever. Hey guys, I want to challenge you, release your figures, I mean you can hide behind the statement that you have proof to the contrary, let us see it. It's like the document released by those two professors claiming downloading didn't harm record sales, the response was ridicule from the RIAA, I did a blog, look up the April archive. Okay, show us your numbers. Prove this one wrong. What I like is what Graham Henderson said: because most people lie when asked if they've done something wrong. So let me figure it out, a neutral party asks if I download and I will lie and say 'no', but if someone from the CRIA calls and ask the same question I'm likely to say 'yes'. Huh?

I wondered why they the recording industry would not want this news out, it didn't make sense why not trumpet the fact your strategy is working. Then it came to me in another article MPs' pan could end free music downloading. Here's the answer they want the parliament to enact stiffer copyright laws. Of course, if it's no longer a problem then you don't need this. Keep it a problem and you'll stifle initiative and force people to continue to buy your overpriced crap.

You see the recording industry wants to keep the spectre of p2p filesharing as the source of all their woes, otherwise they'd have to admit it's because their product is utter trash. Plus they want to get their way with the politicians which they alway seems to have money to buy off.

Again, let me make a challenge to Graham Henderson and weazels like him, show us the numbers. That's all, prove us how big a problem it is, prove us that statistics prove that downloading actually does hurt record sales. Come on, don't hide behind the statement, 'well our number..', show us those number.



Peace

I remember that a couple of days ago I mentioned about a person I consider a friend Les Wicks, an Australian poet. He has a new book out called "Stories of the Feet", I was fortunate enough to get a copy of it sent via email. I find him a fascinating poet probably because he writes about such a fascinating place, Australia. He makes the continent come alive and he gives us a vision of an exotic land, but not the one of the kangaroos. It's the people that make it such an interesting place one that I do want to one day explore. Some of the poems made me chuckle, a lot I had to google to understand the reference. A wonderful book, follow his link for more information.

With the arrest of a couple of the people behind Adscam I wonder if this will end the parliamentary investigation of the scandel? I noticed that the committee is hoping to wrap up and prepare their interm report. Now let's see, there is talk of an election within a couple of days and that will mean the committee will be closed until the results. Will that mean, if there is a return of the Liberals to power that we will never get a report, final, intermin or otherwise?
I am sure the Liberals would love to sweep this whole mess under the carpet so that they can continue to act in the same old way, I mean does anyone really believe that Paul Martin is a democrat? I find it a joke that he's so buddy-buddy with Bono, just because he said a few nice things about debt forgiveness in the third world. I'd like to sit down with Bono and tell him what this guy has done to 'improve' the needs of poor people in Canada. He has ensured they do not have access to good health or that if they find themselves unemployed, he was the guy that slashed back their EI benefits. Paul sounds concerned about issues but he acts like a neo-conservative. He has not done anything to help get generic drugs to the third world. In fact he cut back foreign aid to the third and fourth world.

Some people who I talk to think the Liberals will get back in, if that's the case then this blog will be very busy for the next while. I think I'll be keeping my thoughts before the people for a long time.
Information has reached me that we Canadians will be going to the polls on June 28th. With a 39-40 day campaign that means the writ will be dropped on the 20th or 21st of May, watch for it.


Peace

Well the news this morning is getting good. A couple of the people behind AdScam were arrested. As a person who has been following this scandel it just sickens me that these clowns played so fast and loose with my money. It's not the government money, it was the money that's taken off my paycheque every other week. As much as I like the idea of Guité and Brault spending time behind bars, this is what I really want to see happen. I want to go to the RCMP office where they are being grilled in that room with the old desk and chairs. I want the cops to take to them and say 'look, we have enough to put you away for a number of years. You will be spending time being the bitch of some really ugly guy, but let's be honest, you are just small potatoes. What we want is to get the Big Guy and all you have to do is provide the evidence.'

You may ask, who is "the Big Guy" behind this? I will tell you, it is The Poutine himself, Jean Chretien. You may wonder how I can say this? Very simple, he was the prime minister, he set the tone and the atmosphere for his government. None of the clowns like Guite or Brault would get a nickel unless the view from the government that friends of Jean need to be taken care of. I want to say to Guite and Brault, give Canadians what they want, finger Chretien. We want to see him do the perp walk into Division 51 or where ever they take them in Ottawa. That's all. This would be the way to clean up the ugliness that is Adscam.

I got a letter from my local MP telling me the government is going to 'invest' 30 million dollars into post secondary education through grants, well that's nice, but it's only 1/3 to 1/8th what they gave GroupeAction. Keep that in mind folks.





Peace

At the start of this new week, I realize it's going to be quite busy, besides watching a lot of hockey, I'm going to finish up my ezine for the month plus read a couple of books I have on the go.

I'm also going to read a manuscript of poetry by a friend of mine Les Wicks. He's quite a person and I met him through the pages of my ezine. He also introduced me to the fascinating world of Australian poetry. The poets down there have an amazing voice, probably a result of the fascinating land they live in. The title of the book is "STORIES OF THE FEET", and it examines the landscape of the continent, but don't think for a moment that Les has become some sort of 19th century Romantic in communion with Nature, he examines the landscape with the eye towards realith and the grittiness of life. Sounds like a review doesn't it? Well, I'm not finished reading it, but when I do, I'll post it in the ezine and put a link.

Peace

Just a quick "Happy Mother's Day" to my mom & my wife.

For all moms out there the same sentiment.

Peace

This finishes my look at the Cyberpunk Manifesto. The last words are the tenets of the faith. If you are a cyberpunk, you are, not because you wear black or think the Matrix is a totally cool movie, it's because you believe this:

* Information wants to be free.
* Access to computers and anything which may teach you something about how the world works should be unlimited and total.
* Always yield to the hands-on imperative.
* Mistrust Authority.
* Promote Decentraliztion.
* Do It Yourself.
* Fight the Power.
* Feed the noise back into the system.
* Surf the Edges.

Says it all doesn't it?



Peace

We're becoming CYBORGS. Our tech is getting smaller, closer to us, and it will soon merge with us. Here is the reality of the 21st century, our technology is becoming smaller and closer to us. Coupled with the line above it, how computers are the new cool tools, we understand the truth of this statement. It's interesting to note at one time the idea of 'cyborg' was a frightening one, consider science fiction of the 60's, 70's and 80's, becoming a cyborg was something to fear. From the cyberman of Dr. Who to the Borg of Star Trek, a cyborg was an amalgam of technology and flesh but the price was one's humanity, individuality and soul. The machine-person meld meant improvement but also loss of that which made us human. It was a price we did not want to pay.

However the idea of cyborg Gareth mentions is not the meshing of machine and flesh but the ubiquitous coupling of us with our technology. How many of us carry around technology? Aren't we now at the place where we feel naked unless we have our GSM or G3 cellulars, or our PDA's, or our Blackberries. How many of us have even more then one of these items, or at least one item that's a convergence of many features. We are becoming increasingly familiar with and comfortable with this new technology. It is no longer something we fear, but rather something we embrace.

It also comes to the idea what a computer is, I looked it up and here's a definition: A device that computes, especially a programmable electronic machine that performs high-speed mathematical or logical operations or that assembles, stores, correlates, or otherwise processes information. Can this definition be applied to a cellular with internet capabilities, or a smart phone? Certainly there are rudimentary calculation programs and it certain stores information. It is no longer a question of size, since the computer has changed, from a devise that covered floors, to rooms to desktops, laps and now devises we hold in our hands. As the technology becomes closer to us, we become closer to it. People who feared the large beige box may feel comfortable with it in the palm of their hands. We are seeing more people embrace technology then ever before. It is as if we believe we are now able to control it since it is closer to us and appears less threatening.

We are becoming cyborgs.

I started the day with a mug of hot tea with milk, tea without milk is so uncivilized and the latest issue of Enlightenment, the official zine of the "Doctor Who Information Network". I've been a member for about 10 years now, and have been a fan for about 20. I used to watch Dr. Who all the time on the PBS station out of Buffalo. Wonderful show, anyway, the big deal of the issue was the announcement of the return of Dr. Who and the Actor who will take up the scarf. The great news is BBC is bringing back the good Doctor with his TARDIS and great adventures. Do you have any idea what fabulous news this is? After 12? 13? years we shall see new adventures aired of our favourite Time Lord. The filming of the new series starts this summer, talk about a wonderful birthday present and then some time in 2005 we shall again hear, at least I hope so, the same magically tune.

I am so looking forward to the return. I think this is perhaps the best way I could have started my day.

Peace