Two Sentence Tuesday: 7 April 2009

My reading material often goes from fiction to nonfiction as I like to keep a mix of ideas going to stir up my creativity for my WIPs. Two recently read sentences are from You Are Here: A Portable History of the Universe by Christopher Potter, a book I will be preparing a review for in the near future: “As children we soon become aware that the universe must be a strange place. I used to keep myself awake at night trying to imagine what lay beyond the edge of the universe.”

An interesting thing about studying the nothing in the universe is that it does contain matter.

Three recently written sentences from my second very draft dark fantasy manuscript WIP, Keeper 2, are: “The path was narrower still, maybe two feet wide, with a large gap of vacant space. The group moved carefully forward, taking the harrowing step across in turn.

"Maggie’s foot dislodged some pebbles that rolled down the rock and off the edge; she listened but heard nothing of their eventual landing.”

For other participants please visit Women of Mystery.

Tuesdays for Travis - Maligne Lake

[1– Maligne Lake – Curly Philips boat house is a registered historical building - click to enlarge]

For fishing, full and half-day guided fishing trips can be arranged which included round trip transportation from all Jasper hotels with all the necessary equipment for a day of fishing with an experienced guide. Full day trips have lunch provided. For those wishing to rent boats and gear arrangements may be made at the Curly Philips Boat House. The lake is stocked with a self-sustaining population of rainbow trout and brook trout. The largest rainbow trout in Alberta was caught in this lake weighing 20 pounds, 4 ounces by sportfishing.

Maligne Lake is in Jasper National Park, Alberta, located 44km (27 mi) south of Jasper townsite. A daily Jasper shuttle bus service is available from several of the town’s hotels to Maligne Lake. The length of Maligne Lake is approximately 22.5 km (14 mi) long with its deepest depth at 97 m (318 ft), though it averages 35 m (115 ft) in depth. The surface elevation is 1,670 m (5,479 ft).


[2-Spirit Island - click to enlarge}

Boat trips of 90-minute duration run to Spirit Island, a popular sight in the park well hidden at the southern end of the fjord-styled lake and surrounded by miles of wilderness. Passengers are allowed to get off the boat for a short walk to the viewpoint Lodge where delicious cuisine is available. The encircling mountains are known as “the Hall of the Gods.”

Maligne Lake is the second largest glacial fed lake in the world. The lake was discovered by Mary Schaffer, a female explorer of the region.



Sources: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maligne_Lake

Photo Credits: [1]-Leto A CC=nc-sa-flickr, [2]-n willisley CC=sa-flickr.

When Gods Die - C. S. Harris (Book Review)

This book is a well written early nineteenth century mystery about Sebastian St. Cyr, Viscount Devlin, in his second appearance. Although I have not read the first book in this series, What Angels Fear, I had no difficulty in understanding the story as it unfolded. Ms. Harris places bits of information about the characters throughout the story to keep most unanswered questions at bay.

Sebastian St. Cyr is a Napoleonic war veteran, and heir to the Earldom of Hendon. He is his father’s only surviving son, his mother was presumed dead when lost at sea, is estranged from his sister and in love with an actress whom he turns to for comfort or to present puzzling pieces of the mysteries he solves. There is admitted love between the two of them, although Kat Boleyn is keeping a secret from him.

The mystery begins in Brighton, England, 1811 with the young Marchioness wife of an aging marquis found stabbed and dead in the arms of the Regent, Prince George. The Regent, known for his decadence, is unpopular with the people. The Regent’s cousin, Lord Jarvis, summons Devlin and requests him to investigate who killed the Lady Angelessy and how her body was smuggled into the Royal Pavilion. Devlin only agrees after he is shown the necklace worn by the dead woman. The last time he had seen it was on his mother who had been lost at sea, her body never recovered.

Being an insider to the royal circle and commerce, Devlin is able to move about with ease. During his investigation he finds Lady Angelessy, in her twenties, and her elderly husband had made an arrangement for her to conceive a child by another man to prevent his odious nephew from being his heir.

As the story unfolds while covering minute details of Regency life in England, Devlin begins uncovering clues such as when Dr. Gibson does an autopsy on Lady Angelessy, he learns she had been poisoned, bathed, redressed in a gown that didn’t fit and had been dead six to seven hours before she had been discovered. With new pieces of information come more murders, one of Devlin’s servants, a former street urchin now under his protection is falsely imprisoned, an inn gutted by fire; all connected in a complex pattern of political intrigue that threatens the monarchy.

The story is full of detailed characters and their environment, fast-paced, laced with twisting clues and suspense. I look forward to reading the next in the series, Why Mermaids Sing.

Format: Paperback, 377 pages
Publisher: Signet Mystery
Author: C.S. Harris

My Town Monday - Toronto's Industrial Exhibitions

On September 3, 1879 the first Toronto Industrial Exhibition opened for three weeks on what is now known as the Exhibition Grounds. Its mandate was to foster the development of agriculture, industry and the arts. The first Industrial Exhibition replaced the earlier provincial fairs. General admission was 25 cents and over 100,000 people attended. The Crystal Palace was its main building, but by 1894 more buildings had been erected.








[1- Toronto Industrial Fair - 1884]
























[2- Toronto Industrial Exhibition - 1888 poster]







[3- Toronto Industrial Exhibition - 1894]





















[4- Canadian National Exhibition Midway in 1904]

The Toronto Industrial Exhibition later became the Canadian National Exhibition in 1904. None of the original 19th century buildings have survived, but the oldest existing exhibition buildings are about 100 years old, which comprise a national historic site, including the Press Building (1905), the oldest among them.





[5- CNE Press Building - built in 1905]









[6- CNE Fire Town Hall - May 28, 1918]

This building today is manned by the Toronto Police Service.














[7- Canadian National Exhibition Poster - 1919]
















[8- CNE circa 1925]




[9- CNE - The Plaza in 1927]




[10- CNE Princes' Gates]

In 1927, the Princes’ Gates were officially opened by Edward, Prince of Wales (later King Edward VIII), and Prince George (later The Duke of Kent), on August 31st during that year’s CNE. The Gates were built to celebrate Canada’s 60th anniversary of Confederation. First to pass through the gate was a Veterans Parade, a tradition that later became the annual Warriors’ Day Parade.



[11- CNE Princes' Gates]


The Princes’ Gates are made of a mix of stone and concrete. The statute at the top of the arch is the “Goddess of Winged Victory,” an interpretation of the original Winged Victory of Samothrace, designed by architect Alfred Chapman of Chapman & Oxley, and carved by Charles McKechnie in Beaux-Art style. In her hand she holds a single maple leaf. There are nine pillars to either side of the main arch, representing the nine Canadian provinces in existence at the time of construction. Flanking the central arch are various figures representing progress, industry, agriculture, arts and science.

In 1987 the gates became listed under the Ontario Heritage Act.


[12- Automotive Building]

The Automotive Building was opened in 1929. Both radio and television had their Canadian beginnings at the CNE in 1938 when a demonstration was done in the Horticultural Building with sound and pictures, traveling by wire to the Automotive Building.


[13- CNE Horticultural Building]




[14- The Old CNE Grandstand in 1929 before being destroyed by fire]



The CNE was not held between 1942 and 1946, when the land and its facilities were turned over to the Department of National Defence as a training ground. After World War II, it was used as a demobilization centre.

To date the CNE has always featured exhibits on the latest technological advances in industry and agriculture.


[15- Scadding Cabin - 1794]

Other buildings on the exhibition grounds include the Scadding Cabin, a small building, located adjacent to the Fort Rouillé Monument and in the shadow of the wind turbine, can be found on the western grounds of the CNE. It is not only the oldest building on the grounds, but the oldest building in Toronto. It was built by the Queen’s York Rangers in 1794 on behalf of John Scadding, who served as clerk (essentially, an executive assistant) to the first Lieutenant-Governor of Upper Canada, John Graves Simcoe.

It is a squat, two-storey log cabin with low ceilings, designed to retain the heat from the fire in winter close to its occupants. It is said that John Graves Simcoe, who was over 6 ft (1.8 m) tall, had to stoop in order to enter the building.

Scadding was given a plot of land from what is now just north of Gerrard Street East, south to the waterfront. The cabin was built close to the Don River's east side, on what is now part of the Don Valley Parkway, just south of Queen Street East.

Scadding sold the property in 1818 to William Smith. In 1879, his son William Smith offered the cabin to the York Pioneers, a local historical society. Around this time someone mistook the information concerning the original owner for the cabin, leading to it being erroneously called "The Governor Simcoe cabin". The original cabin was disassembled from its original site and rebuilt by the York Pioneers, along with an adjacent cabin made out of new logs, on the current site, just in time for the original Toronto Industrial Exhibition in 1879.

John Scadding's youngest son, Henry Scadding wrote an early history of York/Toronto and set the record straight on who the original owner of the cabin was. When he died in 1901, the York Pioneers renamed it "The Scadding Cabin", in honour of this son of the original owner, who had also been a past president of their society.

The building as it now stands is little changed from its original construction. Apparently an additional 7 ft (2.1 m) extension that would have appeared to the south of the building was not moved. The second cabin constructed next to it by the York Pioneers was built using wood that was too green, and it was demolished a few years after construction. Over the years some of the timbers have been replaced, and the cabin was remounted on a stone foundation in the late part of the 20th century. Inside the cabin are furnishings appropriate to a house in Upper Canada in the 1830s, and some known to have belonged to Simcoe.


[16- The Government Building - 1912]

The Medieval Times Building on the exhibition grounds was formerly known as Government Building and later as Arts, Crafts and Hobbies Building. It was built in 1912 by architect G. W. Gouinlock, in a similar style to the Horticulture Building.

The Horse Palace (1931) is used to host the annual Royal Agricultural Winter Fair. When built the Art Deco building was considered the best equestrian facility in Canada.



Sources:
http://ve.tpl.toronto.on.ca/TPM/frame3.html
http://www.theex.com/downloads/Early%20Beginnings%20of%20the%20Fair.pdf
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_National_Exhibition

Photo Credits: [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16]-wikipedia commons.

Travis Erwin from Amarillo, Texas is the founder of My Town Monday. For other locations to visit please go to Travis' site here.

Spirit Island

[1-click to enlarge]


This is Spirit Island on Maligne Lake in Jasper National Park, Alberta.



It is reached by taking one of the scheduled boat tours of the lake.

[2-click to enlarge]














Photo Credits: [1]-raindog CC=nd-flickr, [2]-steeljam CC=nc-nd-flickr.

Hiking Trails - Skyline - Day 1

[1-Maligne Lake]

The Skyline Trail is located south of the townsite of Jasper in Jasper National Park in Alberta. This mountain region is accessible via a truly spectacular trail crossing beautiful alpine meadows and ascending over several passes. Renowned for its scenery and resident wildlife, the area is resident to Big Horn Sheep, Elk, Caribou, Mountain Goats, Marmots and many others. Alpine wild flowers are in full bloom by late July and into August. The highest pass on the Skyline trail is called the Notch. From here the full skyline is visible as the route follows a safe but exposed ridge.

[2-Stream on Skyline trail]

The Skyline trail has horseback trips ranging from 3 to 4 days. Shovel Pass is home to Jasper Park's oldest backcountry horse camp: The Shovel Pass Camp. For the slightly more energetic hikers wishing to hike the trail but without the burden of carrying any gear, they may have it packed into the Shovel Pass Camp on horseback. Private cabin accommodation is available here mid June to mid September. Guided trail rides to the Shovel pass lodge .

[3-Stream on Skyline Trail]

The Shovel Pass Lodge received its name from the shovels the original railroad surveyors carved from trees in 1911 to dig out the heavy snows along a pack trail they had created from the railway head. Many of those shovels were left as trail markers, and others are now displayed at the museum in Jasper.

[4-Pine Nuts - click to enlarge]


The Skyline trail is considered difficult, covering a distance of 45 km with an elevation gain of 1,380 m (4,526 ft) and a maximum elevation of 2,490 m. The best time to tackle this trail is in summer or fall.


[5-Cow Moose - click to enlarge]


There are two trailheads: one at Maligne Canyon at the North end and Maligne Lake for the Southern end. The preferred direction is to start at the south and head north as the southern trailhead is a few hundred metres higher than the north. Half of the trail is above the treeline for great views and often in colder temperatures due to altitude.

[6-Unnamed lake]


There are six campsites on the trail. Due to the delicate nature of the area there is a ‘leave no trace’ practice in effect, thus no campfires and what you pack in, you pack out. Reservations must be made in advance to stay at the campsites. There are camping fees. Information can be found here.


[7]



[8]

The trail from the trailhead at Maligne Lake to Evelyn Creek campground is 4.8 km of forest.

After crossing the bridge the trail begins a steady elevation gain with many switchbacks leading to the Little Shovel campground at 10.3 km.

[9-Breaking out of trees]


[10]




[11]



[12-View toward Maligne Lake]



[13-Southeast view toward Maligne Lake]




[14-South view from Skyline Trail]




[15-Wildflowers]




[16-South view from Skyline Trail]



[17]



[18]



[19]




[20-Waterfall in distance]




[21-Trail toward Little Shovel Pass]




[22-Little Shovel Pass in sight]




[23-Good spot to have a break]


CONTINUED

Source: ParksCanada

Photo Credits: [1]-LazyGun CC=nc-sa-flickr, [2][3][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23]-brilang CC=nc-sa-flickr, [4]-Evan
CC=nc-nd-flickr, [5]-Leto A CC=nc-sa-flickr.

Conquest of New France - Louis de Buade, Comte de Frontenac - Part 1

[Statue of Frontenac at the National Assembly of Quebec]

Louis de Buade, Comte de Frontenac (May 12, 1622 to November 28, 1698) was the Governor General of New France from 1672 to 1682 and from 1689 to his death in 1698.

Frontenac was a man of noble birth, his father and uncle had been playmates of the young Dauphin, later Louis XIII. He entered the army at an early age. In 1635 he served under the prince of Orange of Holland, and in 1643 he was promoted to the rank of colonel in the regiment in Normandy. This was followed three years later of obtaining distinguished honours by being made a marshal de camp. At the Peace of Westphalia in 1648, Frontenac returned to Paris and married, without the consent of her parents, Anne de la Grange-Trianon, a girl of great beauty, who later became the friend and confidante of Madame de Montpensier.


[2-Fort Frontenac ruins in Kingston, Ontario - click to enlarge]


During Frontenac’s first term as Governor General of New France, he had supported the expansion of the fur trade, and established Fort Frontenac (now Kingston, Ontario). However, “he had been recalled to France in 1682, after ten years of service, chiefly on account of his arbitrary temper. He had quarreled with the Bishop. He had bullied the Intendant until at one time that harried official had barricaded his house and armed his servants.

“He had told the Jesuit missionaries that they thought more of selling beaver-skins than of saving souls. He had insulted those about him, sulked, threatened, foamed at the mouth in rage, revealed a childish vanity in regard to his dignity...”*


[3-Fort Frontenac ruins in Kingston, Ontario - click to enlarge]

To the Europeans who had come to the New World, the wilderness was occupied by savage tribes. The natives had been clever enough to pit the English against the French. Until their arrival, the natives’ sharpest tool had been made of chipped obsidian or hammered copper. Their weapons had been the stone hatchet, axe or bow and arrow. When steel and gunpowder reached them, the natives craved the supplies from Europe and their trade became a necessity.

The Iroquois held the lands bordering Lake Ontario, and from the time of Champlain, there had been trouble between the French and the Iroquois. The French had tried to make friends, sent missionaries, most who met with massacre and torture. With the Iroquois being hostile it was difficult for the French to travel inland on the waters of Lake Ontario.

In 1689, Frontenac was again sent to New France for his second term of office where he was to confront the Iroquois. He learned the Iroquois had real grievances against France. Frontenac’s predecessor, Denonville, had met their treachery by treachery of his own. “Louis XIV had found that these lusty savages made excellent galley slaves and had ordered Denonville to secure a supply in Canada. In consequence the Frenchman seized even friendly Iroquois and sent them over seas to France. The savages in retaliation exacted a fearful vengeance in the butchery of French colonists. The bloodiest story in the annals of Canada is the massacre at Lachine, a village a few miles above Montreal. On the night of August 4, 1689, fourteen hundred Iroquois burst in on the village and a wild orgy of massacre followed. All Canada was in a panic.

“La Potherie, a cultivated Frenchman in Canada during Frontenac's regime, describes an amazing scene at Montreal, which seems to show that, whether Frontenac recognized the title or not, he had qualities which made him the real brother of the savages. In 1690 Huron and other Indian allies of the French had come from the far interior to trade and also to consider the eternal question of checking the Iroquois. At the council, which began with grave decorum, a Huron orator begged the French to make no terms with the Iroquois. Frontenac answered in the high tone which he could so well assume. He would fight them until they should humbly crave peace; he would make with them no treaty except in concert with his Indian allies, whom he would never fail in fatherly care. To impress the council by the reality of his oneness with the Indians, Frontenac now seized a tomahawk and brandished it in the air shouting at the same time the Indian war-song. The whole assembly, French and Indians, joined in a wild orgy of war passion, and the old man of seventy, fresh from the court of Louis XIV, led in the war-dance, yelled with the Indians their savage war-whoops, danced round the circle of the council, and showed himself in spirit a brother of the wildest of them. This was good diplomacy. The savages swore to make war to the end under his lead.”**

TO BE CONTINUED

Sources:
The Conquest of New France, Vol 10, by George M. Wrong, 1918, pp. 4, *5, **9, 12,.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_de_Buade_de_Frontenac

Photo Credits: [1] wikipedia, [2][2]-KirrilyRobert CC=nc-nd-flickr.