Feb. 20 through 27....

I'll soon be incommunicado for a couple of weeks so I'm preloading my blog with a few things in an effort to stay true to my goal to blog daily (I figure this is buying me a week's worth of entries!)

So, don't read this all at once unless you're a bear for punishment. This is for those of you who don't read newspapers:

This week, Feb. 15 to 21, in the Ottawa region is "choose to be kind" week. While I think most of the Canadians I know regularly do choose to be kind, we can all do with a reminder. Want to do a random act of kindness? Want to make someone smile? Read this press release and the local website for ideas or to send a "kindness card".

Tonight the moon will be fully eclipsed by Earth's shadow; it'll be viewable anywhere in Canada. It's safe to watch with the naked eye or via binoculars. Take a few minutes around 10:01pm tonight, the whole process will take about 50 minutes. An added bonus is being able to spot USA193, the out of control spy satellite which everyone jokes Roger Clemens should shoot down with his baseball. In truth, a US warship is tasked with aiming a non-explosive warhead to collide with the satellite at a cost of $40-$60M. USA193 will appear in the southwest sky moving northeast around 6:06pm tonight. Through on your parka and head out doors! Steal a smooch to two while watching the eclipse - how romantic!

Did you know...the Ontario Provincial Police will ticket you $490 + 3 demerit points (fine can go as high as $2000) if you do not slow your car down and move to an adjacent lane when passing stopped emergency vehicles with lights flashing? This law is 3 years old and according to the OPP "just common sense." Just a friendly reminder; consider this my act of kindness for today.

While we're talking transportation, have you heard of e-bikes? These are electrically-assisted pedal bikes, very cheap to run, environmentally friendly and free from insurance, licensing, parking fees and gas! Check out this e-bike site plus what our province has to say. I'm just wondering how well it would get me "up the mountain" (a local euphemism for climbing up the highland road that leads to White Lake)!

Try staying in touch with your inner child. I do: I still like reading some comics in the newspaper.

I believe everything goes better with music. A Finnish study concludes music helps people recover more quickly from strokes. Stuck in hospital? Stuck anywhere? I say slap on those ear-buds, ear-phones, call 'em what you will and get down! Three months later, music-listening stroke victims showed a 60% improvement in verbal memory compared with a 29% improvement in non-listening stroke victims.

You may or may not be on Facebook but the Citizen reports 7.8 million Canadians are...that's a quarter of our entire population - phew! And guess who else is? Yup, Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Liberal leader Stéphane Dion and NDP leader Jack Layton. So far M. Dion has the most "friends".

Monarchist alert! To obtain Canadian citizenship, new Canadians must swear an oath to "...be faithful and bear true allegiance to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, Queen of Canada (not a phrase one hears often), Her Heirs and Successors..." A Toronto lawyer Charles Roach has challenged the federal government because he objects to the monarchy's connection to slavery. He himself, a British subject born in Trinidad, emigrated to Canada more than 50 years ago (he's 74). He argues the requirement to swear the above oath above violates the Charter's freedom of conscience provision. Ontario Court of Appeal judges dismissed the government's appeal and the case can now head to the Ontario Superior Court. Ummmm.