Don White Photography

After years and years of shooting photographs I've decided to try marketing some of them online. Granted, I've sold matted and framed photos locally but that has been as a result of word-of-mouth, so I've decided to see what the Internet can do for me. The site I've set up is Don White Photography. I also have accounts at Artist Websites and RedBubble. Photographs, cards, T-shirts and stickers can be purchased at these locations.

Feel free to drop by Don White Photography or go directly to my accounts at Artist Websites and RedBubble.

If nothing else, I hope I bring some enjoyment to you with my pictures.

That's the way I see it from Between Keyboard and Chair

Don

Walter Cameron's 75th Birthday Party

Walter and partner, Marlyn

On Saturday, January 29, I had the pleasure of attending the 75th Birthday Party for Walter Cameron in Almonte at the home of  his daughter, Wanda, and her partner, Rob. I also had the pleasure, at the invitation of Wanda, of being the MC during the sit-down meal. There had to be at least 40 people in attendance and many of them were accomplished musicians that Walter has played with over the years. Needless to say, the evening ended up with a lot of good music being played until we finally shut down around midnight. An excellent way to pass a Saturday night.

One nice touch to the evening was the presence of four generations: Walter, his daughter Wanda, grand-daughter Amanda, and great-grandson Dallas.

Wanda, Walter, Dallas and Amanda

I've known Walter for almost as long as I can remember. In fact the first time we ever met we attended a dance together in Canonto, Ontario.  Apparently, Walter wasn't too impressed with my vocal capabilities at that event. However, I was only about 18 months old at the time and he had to look after me while my parents and his older sister were up dancing. He was somewhat underwhelmed that he had to entertain a squalling kid.

Walter in 1961

We lost touch with one another after that inauspicious start to our friendship and we didn't really connect again until 1960 when Walter joined the Mississippi River Boys as a vocalist and guitar player. The Mississippi River Boys was a country dance band that played throughout Lanark, Renfrew, Frontenac and Carleton counties in Eastern Ontario from 1956 to 1985.  I had been playing with the band since New Years Eve 1958. Walter and worked together from 1960 until 1977 when he left to play with the late Ron McMunn.  Since then we've run into one another at various events but as we've gotten older those meetups have become all too infrequent.  About three years ago we had the good fortune to have Walter sit in with Grateful We're Not Dead at a show we were doing at a Western Games event at Drummond Center. Maybe we can arrange for him to make another guest appearance.

As I mentioned, there were a large number of talented musicians at Walter's party and everyone had a chance to perform. Of course, the night would not have been complete without getting Walter up to the mic and he finished off the entertainment for the evening.  I had my iPod Touch with me and was able to catch him on video.

Performing with Walter are Ray Donaldson - peddle steel, Mac Knowles - lead, Wayne Munroe - drums, and Tom Gardiner - bass.

So Walter, I expect to be invited to your 80th, 85th, 90th and 95th birthday parties. And if you make 100, I'll see to it that Grateful We're Not Dead is there to entertain you.

And a final insight garnered at the party: As young bucks, all the guitar players I knew had belt buckle scratches on the back of their guitars. As I looked around the room on Saturday night, I realized that none of us has to worry about scratching the back of our guitar anymore.  There's a lot more padding now.

At least that's how I see it from Between Keyboard and Chair.

Don

Fifty Six Seconds

Well I'll be damned!!! It's amazing how things eventually connect together. Recently, from my position Between Keyboard and Chair I came across an article that states:

"FIFTY SIX SECONDS is all the time a person will spend watching your loading animation, clicking through your site, reading your copy, and watching your content. A 60-second spot."

This article was posted in 2009 on Annoying Design.

Back in 2006 I read an article in the Ottawa Citizen which quoted a study that had shown:

"women think of sex once every two weeks whereas men think of sex every 58 seconds"

and as a result, in 2007 I wrote a song for Grateful We're Not Dead entitled At Least Once Every Minute.

Needless to say, it's likely the men surfing the 'Net who have had the greatest impact in generating the 56 second statistic. It then allows them 2 seconds to switch over into thinking about sex.

At least that's how I see it from Between Keyboard and Chair.

Don

Good Bye, Mr Kitty

It is with sadness and a sense of loss that I sit Between Keyboard and Chair writing these words. I feel as if I've lost a good friend.

Mr Kitty

Mr Kitty was a cat. He wasn't my cat. He was a neighbour's cat. Or more accurately, he was the neighbourhood's cat.

Mr Kitty came into our lives when his owner, Frank, rescued him when his mother had abandoned him. Frank fed the kitten from an eyedropper every few hours and Mr Kitty survived to become a beloved character amongst most of the neighbours.

The young Mr Kitty

The Alpha Cat

Mr Kitty was neutered and de-clawed but he was very much the Alpha Cat at our end of Ariel Court. Other cats knew to keep their distance when Mr Kitty was making the rounds of his domain and if they didn't show the proper respect they were quickly brought into line. He certainly knew how to use his teeth and his back claws.

The Food Circuit

Mr Kitty knew exactly where to go on the Court to get fed. He made his rounds to all the accommodating houses every day. At 5:00 AM he would be on our kitchen window sill waiting for his breakfast. He'd return a few times a day for a snack. If you didn't notice him or didn't pay attention to him he'd stand on his back legs and paw against the screen until you fed him. Anytime our van turned onto the Court, we'd likely see Mr Kitty making a beeline for our doorstep to greet us. At those times he likely wasn't hungry, he was just dropping by to get his head scratched.

King of the Court

When it came to petting him, you had to show the proper respect. If he felt you were getting too familiar he'd quickly warn you with a little nip on the fingers. After all he was the King of The Court. He was quite picky about his friends. If you were his friend, he'd rub up against your legs and let you pet him lightly. If you weren't his friend, then beware. He wasn't adverse to giving you a little nip just to show you your position in the pecking order.

A Fatal Weakness

Mr Kitty had a fatal weakness. He wasn't afraid of cars. He would sleep on, in or under vehicles. If you left a car window open you would likely find Mr Kitty sleeping in the car. If he was lying on the hood or roof, he wouldn't move even when you started the vehicle. He once spent two days locked in the trunk of a car because he had crawled in and gone to sleep. He was found when the owner took the car to a garage for maintenance. That attitude can be deadly and unfortunately, fate caught up with Mr. Kitty a week ago. He was lying under a vehicle and was accidentally run over. His injuries were too severe and he had to be euthanized the following day.

Mr Kitty on April 23, 2010

During the years Mr Kitty was with us, he became a habit for us. First thing in the morning we'd put cat food out on the window sill for him. If we saw him coming across the walk between the houses we'd go to the door to greet him. He certainly had trained his subjects well over the years and we all had learned to show him the proper respect for one in his position.

Bless you Mr Kitty. You are sorely missed.

At least that's how I see it from Between Keyboard and Chair.

Don

Sean Rasmussen Fan Club

Time for an update for everyone who has been following my progress in Sean Rasmussen's For A Few Dollars More Learn and Earn Competition.

Firstly, I'd like to thank all of you who supported me during the affiliate marketing exercise by registering for access to the contest forum. If you haven't registered there is still time until July 31. Have a look at With A Little Help From My Friends for the details. If you're feeling brave you can go straight to the Registration Form.

My apologies to those who tried to register and received an error message. The server has been configured properly again and the registration process is working once more. I lost a few points during that fiasco.

You can check out my standing in the competition at For A Few Dollars More.

Yesterday, Sean gave us the task of writing a blog article. The topic is to be (surprise, surprise) Sean Rasmussen. We have until Friday evening (Australian time) to get the post ranked on the first page of Google with the keyword Sean Rasmussen as the search criteria. At that point, Sean and his lovely wife, Cherie, will be reviewing the blogs and allocating bonus points in the contest.

I decided I needed a new domain with Sean Rasmussen as part of the URL if I was going to make any progress in this exercise so I registered seanrasmussenfanclub.com. I then set up the domain on my Hostgator account and proceeded to learn how to use Wordpress to develop the new blog.

After 14 hours, I finally published the blog article Sean Rasmussen: Gentleman And Internet Marketer Extraordinaire. Surf on over and have a look. Feel free to leave a comment. If you wish you can also promote it by Digging, re-tweeting or sharing it on Facebook. Extra appreciation will radiate from me if you also share it on other social bookmarking sites.

There is another Webinar on Friday morning (my time) at 3am so I'll have to get my napping schedule in order so I can be bright-eyed and bushy-tailed for participating.

So that's how things stand right now. We're quickly approaching the final day of the contest and excitement is building. I'd like to wish Good Luck to all the great people I've met during the competition.

Don't forget to check out the blog article Sean Rasmussen: Gentleman And Internet Marketer Extraordinaire, leave a comment, give it a wee bit of promotion and/or link back to the article from your own blog. All means of support is really, really, really appreciated.

Now may the best person win. (I had to be politically correct there.)

At least, that's the way I see it from Between Keyboard and Chair.

Don

With A Little Help From My Friends

G'day, eh?  A standard Canadian greeting. And now I'll do something else we Canadians are renowned for; I'll apologise in advance of doing something. Sorry, eh? And finally the request for assistance.

This is not spam. At least I don't consider it to be, but then I'm somewhat biased.

Back in the middle of June I began to participate in an Internet Marketing competition. There is $20,000 AU in prizes up for grabs in the contest with the 1st prize being $3,000. My main reason for participating was to meet new people and have some fun.  But now I'm in 5th place and within striking distance of 1st prize. So I'm seeking a little help from my friends, family, relatives, acquaintances, friends-of-friends, neighbours, in-laws, outlaws, complete strangers, and maybe even peoples' pets. The rest of this article explains what is going on and the assistance I'm seeking. Be assured there is no cost involved for you. All I need is a little of your time, some mouse clicks and a bit of typing.

As mentioned, I'm competing in a 7-week Internet Marketing competition out of Australia (Sean Rasmussen's For A Few Dollars More Learn and Earn Competition) and, now in the middle of the 6th week, we are engaged in an affiliate marketing exercise. In order to gain points I have to try to persuade people (and who better to ask than friends, relatives and acquaintances) to sign up for access to a Year Of The Affiliate (YOTA) forum that has been set up for the duration of the contest. A few weeks after the contest is over the forum is to be taken down.

The process is relatively easy. Simply follow the link I've provided above and at the end of the article and fill out the YOTA application form. When you are filling out the form you are required to choose a password. Please make a note of the password so you can login to the forum after your application is processed. No credit card information is required but a physical mailing address has to be provided. The physical address goes in the section called the Billing Details. The address is simply used in the $0 receipt that is emailed to you. Once you have completed the form, click on the Submit button. You will then receive two emails. One is the receipt for $0 and the second gives you a username to use when accessing the forum.

Be sure to follow the link in the second email and sign into the forum. That's when I get my points.

For those of you kind enough to give me this assistance, there is a special bonus. When you login to the forum you will have access to an excellent 30 page ebook - The Ultimate Twitter Guide. Simply enter the Welcome Aboard! section of the forum, click on The Ultimate Twitter Guide (download) thread and follow the link to the download.

I've included an image below of what the application page looks like. My wife signed up on the forum in order for me to test it and, of course, to give me the ten points. If you can't market something to your wife, then who can you market to. (Hmmmm, I wonder if I should mention the iPod Touch I really need?)

And now the link to the registration form for the Year Of The Affiliate (YOTA) forum.

There is no cost associated with joining this forum. And the forum is to disappear after the contest. Thank you for your consideration of this request.

If you have any questions or concerns about the process, please feel free to contact me by leaving a comment and I'll do my best to answer any questions you have. Also, if you're so inclined, feel free to ignore the request as well.

But remember, you'll have my undying gratitude if you help me, whether or not I reach first place












That's how I see it from Between Keyboard And Chair.


Don

Plurk And Me

Back in September of 2008 I wrote a guest blog on a website that has since changed it's focus. After a bit of creative searching I managed to track down the article and have brought it home to Between Keyboard And Chair. So after some minor changes and with no further ado here is Plurk And Me

I assume if you’re reading this article you may already know about Plurk. If not, there are plenty of other articles online that will explain Plurk. As for the “me” in the title, I’m a 67 year old, retired Public Servant, Linux advocate, computer aficionado, avid Internet user, social networking junkie, photographer and musician (see Grateful We're Not Dead) - all of which I engage in with varying degrees of success. But the only thing I intend to talk about today is social networking: Plurk and me.

I originally became involved with computers in 1978 when I purchased a Commodore PET 2001. By the early 1980s I had my first exposure to what could be called “early social networking” via Bulletin Board Systems (BBS) and I actually ran a BBS out of my home for a number of years. By the early-90s Internet access had become available at home and I started using email and Internet Relay Chat (IRC) to communicate with people.

Then along came ICQ in the mid-90s and I started to connect with people world wide. I used various Instant Messaging Services until 2007 when I was introduced to the social networking / micro-blogging service, Twitter, during Ed Dale’s Thirty Day Challenge. I started using Twitter on a regular basis meeting more and more people around the globe. One of these, Allan Cockerill, a friend in Australia, introduced me to Plurk in June 2008.

Once I saw Plurk’s horizontal, scrollable timeline of time stamped messages (Plurks) along with the drop-down window containing all responses to the Plurk, I was hooked.

Plurk has become my main means of communicating within the social networking milieu mainly because of the ease with which I can track ongoing conversations (Plurks and responses). I quickly came to realize that Twitter was good for making announcement but Plurk had put the “social” back in social networking. I build my network of connections (friends) by checking the timelines of those who have responded to a Plurk, if I have not encountered them before. If the content of their timeline looks interesting I will either add them as a friend (once they have agreed to the request) or simply follow their Plurks. And in turn, I receive friendship requests from Plurkers who have come across me in a similar manner.

The one thing I find within Plurk is a sense of community that quickly builds up amongst the users. You can quickly become emotionally involved with the successes and failures, the joy and the sorrow of these on-line friends. If they disappear for a number of days you begin to worry about them and make inquiries of common friends. If they have a birthday, get a new job, have a baby, get married, etc., you celebrate with them. If they feel down you try to raise their spirits. As in any relationship, occasionally there are disagreements and arguments but as in most friendships these are usually resolved in an amicable manner.

As my group of friends has grown it has become virtually impossible to respond to every Plurk that appears on my timeline. However, there is a core group that I normally converse with, however briefly, each day. I then scan the timeline looking for interesting Plurks for which I may have a response. After that, I must confess, the remainder get MAAR’ed (Mark All As Read). But I do try to respond to every active friend at least once or twice a week.

Will I continue to use Plurk in the foreseeable future? I believe so, simply because of the emotional connections that have developed in this community of users. These are people I would miss if I didn’t hear from them occasionally. These “digital world” friends do not replace those in my “analogue world” but strongly supplement them.

I imagine I’ll continue to build my network of friends and acquaintances for quite awhile to come. And hopefully, if you’re interested, I’ll meet you in Plurk as well.

And if you want to link up with me on Plurk you'l find me at http://www.plurk.com/user/donwhite

You Can't Throw That Out!

Having lived in our home for almost 39 years, Helen and I have accumulated quite a bit of what would be considered by some to be junk. Now granted, it's all good junk but occasionally we get the urge to free up some space by passing on some of this excellent material to others. Of course, when that decision is made then comes the problem of deciding what we really, really need to keep and what we can gift to our friends, relatives, neighbours or whomever. Needless to say, as this task proceeds the keep pile always stays larger than the give pile.

However, the one area that is sacrosanct is Helen's stash. Anytime I look towards any of it, her immediate response is, "You can't throw that out!". Now when I was 40 years younger stash meant a whole different thing to me than it does now. Today's stash doesn't cause shivers down your back every time you see a police car cruise down the street. Of course, I'm talking about the fabric stash, that continually increasing collection of fabrics used for quilting. Helen is one of those quilters who keeps every little remnant of fabric just in case there might be a need for it. All of this material is stored in see-through plastic bins somewhat sorted by type of material and colour.

Part of the Stash

Now I thought it was getting a bit much awhile ago when I came across a bag of fabric scraps that were at least 40 years old. She said her mother had given them to her a few years ago and some of them were left-overs from quilts an aunt, long deceased, had made. My immediate response was, "What in Hell do you need 40 year old scraps for?". But being a well trained husband I didn't touch that bag.

Typical condition of frayed logs.

Well I've been put in my place. A few days ago, Helen started restoring a 50 year old Log Cabin quilt that belongs to one of her sisters. The quilt had been a gift from the same aunt whose scraps are in that bag in the basement. And guess what - some of that material is the same as was used in the quilt! So as part of the restoration, some of the original fabric will be used. A nice touch!

Original green fabric used in restoration.

So this old quilting-widower knows that when She Who Must Be Obeyed says, "You can't throw that out!", then I don't touch it no matter what it is, because her intuition is telling her that it will be needed in the future.

At least that's the way I see it from Between Keyboard and Chair.

Have a good one,

Don

Get Yourself A Flu Buddy

Between Keyboard and Chair sees that the public health system in Canada is recommending that you find yourself a flu buddy for the predicted onslaught of the H1N1 virus this Fall. They expect at least 50% of the population to contract Human Swine Flu. However, most people will not be sick enough to require hospitalization. In order to prevent overloading of hospital emergency rooms by people with non-life threatening symptoms during the expected pandemic they are suggesting that you team up with a flu buddy to look after you in the event you are "not well enough to go to the drugstore to buy some Tylenol".

Now is the time to make arrangements with family, friends and/or neighbours as to who will look after whom if that annoying little virus comes a-calling. Be prepared to help if you are the healthy one. Make arrangements to check with the elderly and those living by themselves on a regular basis if the flu strikes your neighbourhood. If you're heading out to shop, see if anyone needs you to pick up something.

Actually, there is nothing new in this approach. It's the way things used to be done before we became islands unto ourselves. When I was a youngster in the country, neighbours always helped neighbours. The hospital and the health system was the last line of defence and support. I think it's time to start using this approach again.

At least that's the way I see it from Between Keyboard and Chair.

Don

With apologies to the artist

A Link To The Past

Years and years ago, it seems like half a century, I played in a country dance band called the Mississippi River Boys. We played the dance hall circuit throughout Lanark County as well as the surrounding counties. During the 1970s I penned a number of songs that we used by the band on a regular basis. We still include a couple of these in the Grateful We're Not Dead repertoire as well.

Yesterday I was cleaning out some boxes and came across a couple unlabelled cassette tapes. Out of curiosity I decide to see what was on them and too my surprise I came across one of the songs which I had recorded at home using multi-tracking and over-dubbing on a Dokorder 4-track open reel tape recorder. I guess I had mixed the tracks down to the cassette as a test mix. So I present here with all its glitches and warts, a link to my past. Any messups you hear are wholly attributable to me seeing as I played all parts - guitar, bass, harmonica, vocal, and backup vocal. Just click on the play button to hear it.

I hope that wasn't too painful.

Don

Win a Subscription to Linux Journal

Are you a Linux user? Are you considering migrating your computer(s) over to Linux? Are you going to set up a dual-boot system with Linux and that other OS? If so, you might want to consider a subscription to Linux Journal, one of the top resources for the Linux user. And if you feel lucky you can participate in the contest Linux Journal announced last Friday:

Houston, TX - March 5, 2009 - Linux Journal, the original magazine of the Linux community, announces a contest for viewers of LinuxJournal.com Tech Tip videos. During the week of March 9 - March 13, 2009 the daily Tech Tip videos will feature hosts Shawn Powers and Mitch Frazier announcing a few secret letters of the day. Viewers will need to collect the letters from each video that week (videos will be released daily) and come Friday March 13, unscramble the letters to reveal the secret word(s).

Contest rules: Participants must e-mail the correct secret word to contest@linuxjournal.com by 11:59:59PM U.S. Eastern Standard Time on Friday of March the 13th, 2009. In addition to the secret word participants must provide us with their full name, postal mailing address and e-mail address (none of which will be shared with anyone outside of Linux Journal at any time).

Prizes: Every participant who responds with the correct information by or before the 11:59:59PM U.S. Eastern Standard Time March, Friday 13th, 2009 deadline (03:59:59 GMT March 14, 2009) will receive a free 1 year digital subscription to Linux Journal -- one entry allowed per e-mail address. For those who already subscribe to Linux Journal, a free digital subscription will be appended to their current subscription.

You can check out the contest rules or if you feel lucky, just hop on over to this first article at Linux Journal and give it a whirl. Who knows, you may just be one of the winners of a free subscription to Linux Journal.

That's how I see it from Between Keyboard and Chair.

Don

I Was Tagged

On checking my private Plurks last week I found that Between Keyboard and Chair had been tagged by a Plurk friend, Rantz, in Australia. Now according to the rules of tagging, you have to do three things:

1. Shout the tagger's blog
2. Write 5 interesting facts about yourself
3. Tag six more blogs

So the first task at hand is to shout Rantz's blog: rantz, the content of which he describes in the header as "blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah". Actually, the blog covers a variety of topics and is worth dropping by for a read and a look at his pondcam.

Now to come up with five facts about myself. You'll have to decide if they're interesting.

1. As anyone who reads this blog knows, I've met my wife 50 years ago and have been married to her for 44 years.


2. I'm a Linux junkie and have been running openSUSE Linux almost exclusively on my 5 home systems since 2000. I keep Windows on a partition on one laptop in order to do my taxes each year.


3. If you're familiar with the Grateful We're Not Dead blog here's another tidbit. After I finished playing in the Mississippi River Boys in 1985, I put my guitars away and didn't pick them up for another 13 years. In May, 1998 I started attending a monthly Music Night held at the home of Gord Breedyk and Evelyn Voigt. This was a sing-along event and I played guitar to accompany the singers. Common interests with Gord Breedyk and Bruce Penniston discovered at Music Night led to the formation of Grateful We're Not Dead.


4. I started Carleton University in 1962, dropped out in 1964 and didn't complete my BSc in Chemistry until 1976.


5. In July 1988 I took a contract in Kingston, Jamaica for 3 weeks to teach basic computer skills to Civil Engineers. I fell in love with the country and the people and from 1989 until 2001 my wife and I used to spend 3 to 4 weeks in Kingston, Jamaica each year on holiday.

And finally, the last task: tag six other blogs. Some of these may have already been tagged, but here goes in no particular order:

• rudy10 Copingwithdisability.com
• RenegadeScribe Renegade Sanctuary
• th13rteen WebRampage!
• spotrick Letters from Adelaide
• rah LRKane.com
• randomnicole Randomly Nicole

So with this final task completed I'll go back to sleep until inspiration hits me with an idea for the next article. At least that's how I see it from Between Keyboard and Chair.

Bloggeries: Next Year's New Word In the English Language?

Bloggeries is a synonym for articles posted in a blog. Presumably, a bloggery would be a single blog article. The term is being promoted on the Bloggeries Blog forum. If the term is used frequently enough and starts to be used in written and oral communication without an explanation required as to its meaning then the chances of it being accepted into English dictionaries becomes very likely.

When Merriam-Webster released its list of new words for 2008, Peter Sokolowski, an editor-at-large for Merriam-Webster, was quoted in a San Francisco Chronicle article in July 7, 2008:

"As soon as we see the word used without explanation or translation or gloss, we consider it a naturalized citizen of the English language. If somebody is using it to convey a specific idea and that idea is successfully conveyed in that word, it's ready to go in the dictionary."

John Morse, Merriam-Webster's president and publisher, said the cleverness of many Web-related terms makes them easy to grasp and gives them staying power.

"There's a kind of collective genius on the part of the people developing this technology, using vocabulary that is immediately accessible to all of us. It's sometimes absolutely poetic."

So here's your chance to help promote a new word for the English language and to assist in getting it officially recognized. Start using the words bloggery and bloggeries to refer to blog postings. Use it in your written material and use it when you're speaking to people. With enough usage it will gain wide acceptance and you will have done your part in adding this term into the world's English vocabulary.

Anyway, that's how I see it from Between Keyboard and Chair.

How Queen Elizabeth Changed Our Wedding Date

On July 2, 1964 I proposed marriage to Helen Ireton of Drummond Center and the proposal was accepted. Helen worked at the Royal Bank in Perth, Ontario and I was working in the darkroom at Defence Research Board (DRB) in Ottawa. In August I started a full-time position with DRB at the princely salary of $3220/year. Our plan was to relocate to Ottawa after Helen received a transfer to the city. We decided that we would be married on Thanksgiving weekend: Saturday, October 10, 1964 at St. John's Anglican Church, Innisville. Planning for the wedding commenced. In those days it didn't take a year to plan a wedding. Helen's transfer was arranged very quickly and she was to start work at the Royal Bank, 90 Sparks Street, Ottawa on October 13. We located a new apartment in early September with occupancy on October 1. Seeing as I was in a new job I hadn't accumulated any leave credits so our honeymoon would consist of Sunday and Monday at our new apartment.

My father, Ed White, worked in Ottawa at Rideau Hall, the residence of the Governor-General, as a greenhouse man and floral designer. Shortly after planning for the wedding started he found out that the Queen and Prince Philip would be staying at Rideau Hall on Thanksgiving weekend and he would be required to work. What to do? We could either postpone the wedding or move it to Friday, October 9. Seeing as our only honeymoon would be a long weekend, we decided on Friday.

Now I've never been much of a church goer but Helen and I had to attend for three Sundays in September for the reading of the banns. It was a bit of a chuckle to hear ourselves referred to as Donald Edward White, bachelor and Helen Isobel Ireton, spinster. Once that was out of the way with no objections raised, everything was a go.

A week before the wedding, I requested the Friday off without pay. As soon as my manager found out I wanted the day off to get married, he readily agreed and then recommended that I be paid for the day as well.

My father, being a floral designer, prepared all the flowers for the wedding. All the food for the reception was prepared at our parents and family friends. Helen's mother baked the wedding cake. A friend from my High School days, Bob Drader, agreed to photograph the wedding if I would return the favour when he was married. My long time friend and bass player for the Mississippi River Boys, Walter Cameron, was best man and his wife, Betty Cameron, matron-of-honour.

The guests at the wedding were all the aunts and uncles as well as a cousin of mine, Dave McCarthy, from Toronto whom I'd met while attending Carleton University. Following the wedding, the wedding dinner was held in the basement of the United Church in Boyd's Settlement and catered by the Anglican Church Womens' Guild. Following the dinner we visited with Helen's 84 year old grandmother in Scotch Corners who had been bed-ridden for four years. We then returned to the Ireton family farm for the remainder of the afternoon and early evening. Well the chores had to be done, eh! Cows to milk, pigs and chickens to feed, horses to care for.

After the chores were completed we headed off to the hall in Ferguson Falls for a country-style wedding reception. Because I played with the Mississippi River Boys throughout the surrounding counties, the invitation to the wedding reception was open to anyone. Needless to say, the hall was swamped. The music for the reception was provided by a family friend, Milton Symington and his orchestra, from Arnprior. The first dance of the evening was a square dance, something that I'm sure you'd never see at a wedding now.

To make a long story short, this was the start to what has been an interesting, entertaining and loving 58 years. (Updated for October 9, 2022)

And as a final note, as I now repose Between Keyboard and Chair, I'd like to offer my thanks to Queen Elizabeth for her role in making our married life one day longer than we expected.

A Day to Remember - September 19, 1958

On September 19, 1958 my family and I were invited to a wedding reception in the Perth Town Hall for Dick Warr and Shirley Code. My parents were unable to attend so it looked like another quiet Friday night unless I hopped on shank's mare and walked the 5 kilometres to Innisville, the nearest village.

*Enter fate, stage left*. Our landlord and his wife, Art and Lena McCall, were also invited to the reception and asked if I'd like to go with them. So at 9PM that evening I was on the loose in Perth at the dance.

The first person I ran into that I knew was Ivan Malloch, an acquaintance from Drummond Center. He was a couple years older than I and had a car. We stood around an listened to the music for a while and then the band announced that they were going to play a square dance. Now being a Lanark County boy, fiddle tunes and square dancing were second nature to me so I started looking around for someone to dance with. That's when Ivan pointed out a lovely young lady, Helen Ireton, sitting along the wall. He said she was a neighbour of his and she liked to dance. She was wearing a red sweater, plaid pleated skirt and slingback shoes and from where I was standing she looked fantastic. So, young buck that I was, I sauntered over and asked this vision of loveliness to dance. And she accepted! We ended up dancing together for most of the night. Helen says the thing she remembers most about the way I was dressed is how shiny my shoes were.

That was the beginning of a friendship that has lasted 50 years. That 50 years has included being married 6 years later, moving to Ottawa, raising a son, and for the most part just enjoying life together. We've had many interesting experiences and I imagine we wouldn't likely change any of it. And through it all I can safely say, we've stayed friends.

So I'd like to raise a glass to Helen, my friend and lover for 50 years.

UPDATE: 2018-09-19
In 2018 I had to make a slight adjustment to the remembrance. After reading the posting, Helen pointed out to me that she wasn't wearing a red sweater that night because she didn't have one. She wore a brown plaid A-line skirt with a matching fitted vest and a white blouse.

So I guess it just goes to show, I'm not infallible. But then, what husband is?

Hmmmm... And I'm still wondering who was wearing that red sweater and did I miss out on anything?

That's how I see it from Between Keyboard and Chair.

My Celebrity Collage

Today I uploaded my photo to MyHeritage.com face recognition site. The MyHeritage technology purports to determine which celebrities you look like or as I prefer, look like me (lucky people). You can create a collage showing your very own celebrity matches, and if you're not too smart (present blogger excepted), post it on your blog. So I figured, being Between Keyboard and Chair, to give it a whirl. And I must admit, for the most part, I was impressed with the accuracy of this software. Michael Caine, James Garner, Jeff Bridges, Liam Neeson, Elton John, Vytautas Landsbergis, Eduard Shevardnadze. They should be proud that we look alike.

But Donald Rumsfeld. Give me a break!!! How in Hell could I look like Donald Rumsfeld??? I like people. I've never wanted to declare war on anyone. I'm all for negotiation, not confrontation. There's obviously a serious bug in this program. So I ask the programmers at MyHeritage.com to correct this obvious error. Before someone thinks I might be related to Donald Rumsfeld just because some erroneous algorithm calculates that I look like him. What an embarrassing situation.

Anyway, that's how I see it from Between Keyboard and Chair.

Jim Prentice - Dumbass of the Year

The "Honourable" Jim Prentice, Minister of Industry, has certainly stirred up a firestorm with the tabling of the proposed new Copyright Bill in Parliament yesterday. In checking out the CBC storyCopyright law could result in police state: Critics I found that if this bill passes I'm likely on my way to being on the RCMP's Most Wanted list. From what I can see with these aged eyes, little Jimmy Prentice now ranks right up there with his boss, Stevie (Shrub) Harper. Dumbasses both. (P.S. a Shrub is a little Bush.) I'd better be careful here; maybe That 70's Show has a copyright on the term dumbass.

From what I can see, the Conservatives propose to make me a criminal because I like to record certain TV shows (including full seasons) from my satellite service and save them to a DVD for later viewing. And I'll also be a criminal because I sometimes watch a DVD (which I've purchased) on my Linux-based computer using libdvdcss to bypass the encryption. And if I rip a digitally protected CD to make a copy to listen to in my car or create a compilation CD of favourite recordings, I'll now be a criminal. And what about ripping a digitally protected CD or DVD to my Mythbuntu system and making it available to any computer in the house. And am I to be criminalized for using the DownloadHelper Addon for Firefox to grab interesting video clips off Youtube? And God forbid, what if I create a clip, attach some music and upload to Youtube?

Hey people, we're on a slippery slope here. If we let dumbass and crew get away with this then we've only got ourselves and some lame politicians to blame. It's time the people took the country back from the American lobbyists and the political hacks in the Conservative party. As far as I'm concerned, when I buy a DVD or CD or pay to download some media from the internet, it's mine to listen to wherever, whenever and on whatever I want.

Anyway, that's the view between keyboard and chair.

Related Links:

• Online Rights Canada
  
• New Rights and Protections for Copyright Owners
  
• Bill C-61: First Reactions
  
• Appropriation Art Condemns Bill C-61
  
• Bill C-60's changes to the Copyright Act are THEFT

Hello, World

Well here I go with a new blog. Harking back to my programming days, I guess the first item should be the classic "Hello, World". On my old original Commodore PET purchased in 1978 that would have been the result of running the BASIC program:

10 print "Hello, World"

What you'll likely see on this blog are a random collection of thoughts, ideas, rants, music I like to play, interesting web sites I've come across, computing problems I've encountered, and the ongoing generation of other related drivel. As mentioned in the header, if you see any factual errors here the problem is between keyboard and chair.

As a starter, why don't you drop by the Grateful We're Not Dead blog to see what I'm up to in my spare time.

That's it for now, just to get the gears in motion.

Y'all come back soon

Don