Tyde On The Web

Currently busy on a new project that I hope will be a neat idea and a great success, not gonna get into too many details here today, just gonna say that it will definitely change how things are done on the web.

Been playing with some ajax interfaces lately, they’re pretty cool and I may have to do more with them shortly.

Other than that, just been busy with the move and work and getting ready for my vacation next week. Heading back to Newfoundland for 10 days of relaxation and visiting

This is probably going to turn into some big thing that will get me totally spammed, but I have to make a comment here about the seal hunt.

The seal hunt has been a strong thing in Newfoundland every year for a lot of years. It’s seen tragedy, and setbacks. It has a strong history and also serves a purpose.

The seal hunt has been around for over a hundred years. It’s been used to help fishermen make a living during the winter and also to help keep the seal population down. Overpopulation of seals means underpopulation of fish stock which hurts fishermen trying to survive. This has been a repeating cycle that the protesters tend to forget about.

One of the biggest tragedies related to the seal hunt happened in 1914,when 78 fisherman spent 53 hours stuck on the during a harsh blizzard. They got seperated from their ship following a pack of seals and were stuck in the middle of the ice surrounded by snow and howling winds. There were no survivors. A book was written about it back in the 70s called “Death On the Ice” which is actually required reading for Newfoundland children. There was also a condensed poem of sorts written about it:

Death On The Ice (The Story)

In the spring of nineteen fourteen, the sealers came to town,
Trying to book a passage on a ship iceward bound;
To try and earn a dollar when none was being made,
They would risk life and limb but they were not afraid.

There was the Bonaventure and the Belleventure, too,
And there was the Newfoundland just waiting for her crew;
There stood the Stephano, what a great ship was she,
And also the Florazelle, a part of this tragedy.

They came from every bay and town, they came both young and old,
They came not for the sport, but came for a little gold;
Maybe if they were lucky, make a hundred or more,
But would they be so eager if they knew what was in store.

Now when they made it to the front the Newfoundland got froze,
She found it hard to maneuver in the heavy ice flows;
Her captain was frustrated, the seals were very scarce,
He never seen it quite so bad, the ice was mighty fierce.

He spotted the Stephano about five miles away,
They were in the main patch and really making it pay;
Then the captain took a chance, sent his men across the ice,
To try and pan some whitecoats but couldn’t foresee the price.

When they reached the Stephano they were hungry and beat,
So captain Kean took them aboard gave them a bite to eat;
Then he put them on the ice to head for the Newfoundland,
By this time a storm was brewing, and death was close at hand.

They started for the Newfoundland but soon they were lost,
A blizzard now blew fiercely, they’d soon pay the cost;
More than a hundred thirty men were stranded on the ice,
No one knew that they were there, they’d pay an awful price.

For two days and two nights they suffered on the flows,
With little shelter and little food, in soaking wet clothes;
When the temperature dropped down, their bodies turned to ice,
Seventy-seven men then perished, they paid the ultimate price.

They tried to keep on moving so they would not freeze,
Some died while walking, some died on their knees;
Some grew so weary that they no longer cared,
Some walked out in the water and soon disappeared.

The second day they found them, oh what an awful sight,
Bodies strewn every where, survivors in a plight;
Frozen hands and frozen feet, frostbitten on the face,
What caused this dreadful tragedy, what caused this awful waste?

They piled their bodies on the deck several layers high,
Their remains like statues, silhouettes against the sky;
With their gruesome cargo, they headed back to shore,
In a history filled with tragedy, just add one chapter more.

####…. Everett Adams. Recorded by Gary Callahan (Death On The Ice, Newsflash Sounds ©1996, SOCAN) ….####

Since then, the seal hunt has seen a lot of changes take place. It’s come under more strict regulations. It’s been heavily enforced. It’s also been heavily protested. And each person who has protested the seal hunt has never looked at the other factors. These are the factors I mentioned above. The fish stock.

The Seal quota was drastically reduced a few years back to the point of almost nothing and the result was the end of the northern cod fishery for a few years. The seal quota was increased as the years went by until finally, the fish stock started coming back to life again.

Back in 2003, the seals actually drove thousands of code inland early so that when they hit the colder inland water, they all died.
Fishermen were out in droves in early April bringing in fish by the bucket loads that were frozen solid and floating in the sound.

Now despite all my posting above about history and everything do I support the seal hunt? To a point, yes, but within reason. I understand it’s strong history and it’s reasons. I understand it’s great history filled with tragedy. Tragedy I could dwell more on if I wanted to. But in the end, I agree that the seal hunt should take place each year but only under supervision and proper restrictions. Which it does and it has for the past several years.

The protesters seem to miss that detail. They seem to forget that the seal hunt is heavily protected. Heavily restricted and heavily monitored. They seem to think that the fishermen who take place in the hunt just go out and take down every seal they see, but that’s wrong, and they need to be aware of that detail.

Personally, I see the protesters as just needing a way to get attention and get on TV. You have things like an aging actress who hasn’t been in Canada for 30 years deciding to get a little more attention to herself by returning to Canada and demaning a meeting with the Prime Minister so she can tell him why seal hunting is wrong. She knows her words will mean nothing, but she wants to try to get one final moment of glory.

The other protesters are the same. They all want to get in 15 minutes of fame by getting their names on TV. And of course, with the Internet these days, 15 minutes of fame on TV or in a newspaper means that when ever someone googles their name, they will show up with these articles appearing besides them.

So in ending, as long as the seal hunt is kept controlled, then it’s fine. What we need to control is the guys who seem to jump at every little item as a way of getting famous. These are the same people who stand in bikinis in a snowstorm protesting KFC, and who seem to think that any place that serves meat of some kind is violating some ethics code at some point. We can’t win with these people, so let’s leave them alone. Stop making them famous and they’ll disappear and find a new cause that we can also ignore.

That’s the key.

I thought I’d mention quickly that the eComXpo is coming up on April 4-6, 2006 and they have allowed free registration to take part here:
http://www.ecomxpo.com/freepass01.

eComXpo is a virtaul tradeshow for ecommerce marketers, and I’ve gone to the last couple of these shows and have made some good contacts there from both presenters as well as fellow tradeshow visitors so I thought I’d pass this link on to everyone else.

I freely admit it, I’m from Newfoundland. I grew up a Newfie as we call it, and will always be one, even though I now live on the other side of the country and only go home every couple years, it’s still my home.

The following is something that was written by a well-known Newfoundland music group called “Buddy Wasisname & The Other Fellers”, and it’s something that’s true with just about every Newfie living away:

Hey

I’m not on pogey, and I’m not married to my sister.

I don’t eat codfish tree times a day, ah well, that’s cause dere ain’t no more codfish left.

I don’t own a boat or a sou’wester but I can see a boat from me window.

I don’t drink screech, at least not before noon on a weekday anyways.

I don’t know Gordon Pinscent or Mary Walsh or Jimmy Flynn or Rick Mercer, but I watch dis hour has 22 minutes every week eh.

I got a Premier named Brian Tobin, he went to war against spain over somethin’ called a turbot.

I’m not sure what a turbot is actually but I’m damned if I’m going to any guy from spain take him away from me.

I ain’t de b’y that builds the boats and I ain’t the b’y that sails em, but like I said before I can see a boat from my window, eh.

I don’t dance a jig everytime I hear celtic music, but I’ll do dat kareoke ting if I got enough blackhorse beers in me.

I’m still pissed off at Prince Edward Island for buildin’ dat dere bridge and not buildin’ one out to the rock, dem stupid spudheads.

And even though he ain’t really a newfie I think stompin’ tom connors should run for Prime Minister.

Newfoundland is the oldest settlement in North America, and the youngest province in confederation - oh, my grandfather’s still pissed
off about dat one, you don’t even wanna talk about Joey Smallwood to Grandpa.

And even tho I lives in Fort McMurray, Lord thunderin’ Jesus I still tinks that Newfoundland is the best damn province the country.

My name is Buddy and I is a Newfoundlander!