Well, I've been working out with it for the past couple of days. It doesn't help with composition or choice of subject, and it sure as hell doesn't make people better-looking, but hey, if you're gonna be ugly, you might as well be ugly and well-lit. Of course, the event I needed this thingamajig for was two weeks ago, but next time someone asks me to shoot people (come on, you know what I mean...) I'll be ready for anything.
Speaking of, er, shooting people, the recent news about a group of they-might-just-be-terrorists being arrested in the Greater Toronto Area is causing some stir. I've seen just enough detail to realize that I can't arrive at any sort of conclusion as to whether these guys are the real deal or not. There is discussion about the massive amount of ammonium nitrate fertilizer they had on hand (if you're not a farmer, that is). There was a cell phone in a box with wires coming out of it. At their first court appearance, many of their (female) family members arrived in burqas. Just those few elements are enough to keep the pundits yapping for days.
Next question: presuming that they were indeed planning to Blow Something Up, what where they lookin' at? The Toronto Star says that the police were quick to announce that public transit, i.e. the TTC, was not, definitely not, repeat, not a target, no really, we're not kidding, no sir, not a target at all. That's enough to convince me that the TTC was target number one. But what else? The CN Tower? Naah; although it's undeniably a Toronto landmark - how else are you going to figure out which direction is south in this town? - its destruction probably wouldn't generate much in the way of terror. The Toronto Stock Exchange? Not likely. The entire financial district, i.e. King & Bay? Possible. CSIS's Toronto bureau? I've heard that possibility mooted in more than one forum. That's the scariest one yet; not that I have any concerns about Canada's intelligence gathering, it's just that the CSIS offices are uncomfortably close to mine. Call me selfish.
To segue neatly into other international life-and-death struggles: I went to a rugby match yesterday. Scotland A vs. the England Saxons; that is to say, categorically not the international Test teams that we'll see at the World Cup, but pretty darn good. It was a great day for rugby, meaning that it was a bit cool and rain pelted down all afternoon. Fans and players alike were soaked, although I'd venture to say the players had a little more fun, since they could at least run around; those of us in the stands were a miserable bunch of drowned rats by the end. But it was a great game: Scotland looked very strong, particularly on defence. England did fine but looked considerably less disciplined - let's face it, when was the last time the Scots looked more disciplined than the English? There were a few brilliant offensive and defensive plays, and the real highlight of the match was the last few minutes, when the Scots held the line for several minutes against the English. Pretty stirring stuff.
Because of the crappy weather conditions, I only took my camera out of the bag a couple of times to get some action shots:
For the non-rugby-literate out there: if you're looking for the ball, England's #5 has it (please don't ask me his name; after shelling out 15 clams for parking (!!) I didn't feel like blowing another five bucks on a program) and he's about to have his lungs handed to him by a couple of hard-tackling Scots. He has his back to the opposing goal line, which I know doesn't seem very bright, but believe me, it's sound rugby technique. He's just taken the ball in something called a line-out, which actually involves people standing in two lines waiting to have the ball thrown back into play. Sounds orderly, doesn't it? Almost Canadian. Everyone in the photo is looking very intense, particularly those big second-row forwards with the no-cauliflower-ears-for-me-thank-you helmets on. Thanks, guys, for giving my pic that little extra something.
And finally, since I just need to get this off my chest: I saw one of the new Mercedes R-series vehicles today. I call it a vehicle 'cause it doesn't really look like a car, nor a truck, nor an SUV, nor a minivan. In fact, the first thought that popped into my mind when I took a good long three-quarter look at this thing was that it looks liked a kinda swoopy hearse. Go ahead, take a look; am I wrong?
