Miningman - You are right. Just as we heard a lot of heroic stories during the WWII which shown the beautiful side of human nature. And I am really grateful that I met a lots of sincere and helpful forum members here. Civilian, local folks are always nice and helpful, but the root of many problems are always created from the people with power.
Penny Trains - Thanks for the nice quote! I am psychologically ready to see some drones hijacked by A.I, carrying some mini nukes outside my windows.
Jones 3D Modeling Club https://www.youtube.com/Jones3DModelingClub
John Ford speaks through John Wayne, and truer words were never spoken...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wCCCwkcBOOw
And that's a gorgeous poster Mr. Jones! "Antiques Roadshow" gorgeous!
Just back from a 3 day annual Conference in Saskatoon put on by Sask. Geo. Society highlighting exploration activity in Saskatchewan. Very nice, very fancy, yada, yada, yada. We ,( my 3 senior students and self) stayed at the historic old CNR Hotel Bessborough.
Now here's the thing.. they call Saskatoon the 'Paris of the North' ( all streets are tree lined with magnificient elms and lights lights lights and art art art everywhere)...so then is Paris the Saskatoon of Europe, or France?
Then this arrives:
In Paris, the Saskatoon of France, CNR owned Hotel Scribe.
....more fun stuff........ there are red lions on the brass elevator doors. Why?, I dunno, but it sure looks regal.
Realized it ended up being a selfie!
CNR items in display case at the Hotel
......and you could buy this at the show, parked right outside the front doors of the Bessborough, a new exploration tool.
WOW! I don't know what I like more, those neat old CNR artifacts or that street rod for the New Millenium!
Wonder what kind of gas milage it gets?
It's a Sherp. Making exploration fun again. Beats a portage with a gazillion bugs and heavy packs.
I'll bet! As we used to say in the Corps, "Don't walk when you can ride!"
4 cylinder Diesel... Floats and operates over and on water....Russian! Built in St. Petersburg. Hauls 5,000 lbs.
Russian? Now that's interesting, but maybe I shouldn't be surprised.
It wouldn't win a beauty contest, but then the Russian philosophy is typically "It doesn't have to look good, it just has to work!"
Kind of like the T-34 tank, the AK-47, and the Moisin-Nagant rifle.
There was a manufacturer from Australia there as well. They make a new high tech very innovative core box for diamond drill core... not as exciting as the Russian Sherpa but it was to me. They told me they tried to come last year but needed a work visa to come into the show and were stopped at the border. I said "whaaat"... what happened to the Commonwealth? and he raised his hands and said "poof, gone". They sent me 5 boxes for my classroom and several boxes of Tim-Tams. Super nice people.
Australia, Australia, we luv ya!
More on the Hotel Scribe. It turns out that during the Nazi Occupation of France the Hotel Scribes manager collected a very handsome rental fee from the Gestapo, which made it one of their headquarters, and did so without revealing the Hotels ownership as being Canadian National Railways. Apparently he invested the rental monies and made quite a tidy sum for the CNR. How weird is that? Strange things happen in war.
https://books.google.com/books?id=9kGMs4hokcgC&pg=PA65&dq=%22the+transmission+centre+was+the+hotel+scribe%22&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi7ksCA1YzfAhWMm1kKHWRKD80Q6AEIKDAA#v=onepage&q=%22the%20transmission%20centre%20was%20the%20hotel%20scribe%22&f=false
https://www.amazon.com/Grand-Way-Chronicle-War-Pariss-ebook/dp/B01E5WU3OQ?ie=UTF8&*Version*=1&*entries*=0#reader_B01E5WU3OQ
CNR President Thornton purchases the Hotel Scribe for $75M and sets a new direction fir the CNR
Miningman There was a manufacturer from Australia there as well. They make a new high tech very innovative core box for diamond drill core... not as exciting as the Russian Sherpa but it was to me. They told me they tried to come last year but needed a work visa to come into the show and were stopped at the border. I said "whaaat"... what happened to the Commonwealth? and he raised his hands and said "poof, gone". They sent me 5 boxes for my classroom and several boxes of Tim-Tams. Super nice people. Australia, Australia, we luv ya!
Should you explain Tim Tams?
Mining is very important in Australia.
As in Canada it is often in remote areas but hot more often than cold.
Peter
M636C-- Yes you are right. Tim Tams are delicious chocolate biscuit cookies. Fairy large for a cookie, they are thick and layered, almost a chocolate bar.
Thanks Australia for Tim-Tams! Sometimes life is kind.
The Commonwealth, "Poof! Gone!"? What happened? Did 9/11/2001 have something to do with it?
One could write a book on that subject Firelock.
Here are some short answers:
The postwar Commonwealth was given a fresh mission by Queen Elizabeth in her Christmas Day 1953 broadcast, where she envisioned the Commonwealth as "an entirely new conception – built on the highest qualities of the Spirit of Man: friendship, loyalty, and the desire for freedom and peace."[21] Hoped for success was reinforced by such achievements as climbing Mount Everest in 1953, breaking the four minute mile in 1954, and in 1966 a solo circumnavigation of the globe.[22]However, the humiliation of the Suez Crisis of 1956 badly hurt morale of Britain and the Commonwealth as a whole. More broadly, there was the loss of a central role of the British Empire: the defence of the Empire. That role was no longer militarily or financially feasible, as Britain's withdrawal from Greece in 1947 had painfully demonstrated. Britain itself was now just one part of the NATOmilitary alliance in which the Commonwealth had no role apart from Canada. The ANZUS treaty of 1955 linked Australia, New Zealand, and the United States in a defensive alliance, with Britain and the Commonwealth left out. The second major function of the Empire made London the financial centre of the system. After the Second World War, the British treasury was so weak that it could not operate independently of the United States. The loss of defence and financial roles, furthermore, undermined Joseph Chamberlain's early 20th century vision of a world empire that could combine Imperial preference, mutual defence, and social growth arm. Furthermore, Britain's cosmopolitan role in world affairs became increasingly limited, especially with the losses of India and Singapore.[23] While British elites at first hoped the Commonwealth would preserve and project British influence, they gradually lost their enthusiasm, argues Krishnan Srinivasan. Early enthusiasm waned as British policies came under fire in Commonwealth meetings.
In March 2015, the Commonwealth Freedom of Movement Organisation proposed that the national governments of the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand and Canada — the four Commonwealth countries with a white, Anglo-Saxon majority — should advocate for freedom of movement between citizens of their countries, similar to the current arrangement existing between Australia and New Zealand through the Trans-Tasman Travel Arrangement.[115] In May 2016, Australian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom Alexander Downer expressed support for "freer movement" between Australia and the United Kingdom, stating: "Over time we would like to continue to talk to the British government about arrangements we could make to liberalise movement between Australia and the UK, if not have completely free movement...".[
I guess that part remained as a proposal.
The real only connection I witness any longer are the 'Commonwealth Games'.
You know the current 53? members, if they could get some of the old biggies on board like India, Saudi Arabia and Hong Kong back on board and form a true free trade zone that would make for one powerful economic entity.
But....you know, Money and Politics, not gonna happen.
I cannot say that I am a Globalist by any stretch but I am embarrassed and humiliated that an Australian manufacturer of core boxes for the Mining Industry needs a work visa and was prevented from entering the country with his wares. They made it this year though, after applying for the work visa.
While many were wrestling with log in problems and locked out of the threads temporarily I was among the lucky few who could post. During this time I posted about the CNR Hotel Bessborough in Saskatoon, where I was attending a Geological Society Conference. Anywho, I took a picture of the fabulous brass elevator doors and was perplexed about the Red Lions emplaced on the very centre of the doors. Posted a picture.
So here is what I uncovered.
The lion is a common charge in heraldry. It traditionally symbolises courage, nobility, royalty, strength, stateliness and valour, because historically it has been regarded as the "king of beasts".[1] Lion refers also to a Judeo-Christiansymbolism. The Lion of Judah stands in the coat of arms of Jerusalem. Similar looking lion can be found e.g. in the coat of arms of the Swedish royal House of Bjelbo, from there in turn derived into the coat of arms of Finland, formerly belonging to Sweden, and many others examples for similar historical reasons
Further reading explains the lions on the doors as being ' lions rampart'. There a quite a number of poses, each with its own name and meaning. Such is life and society.
I pointed out that Saskatoon is referred to as ' The Paris of the North' so then it was pointed out, and asked of me, " then is Paris the Saskatoon of France?".
That lead to the Hotel Scribe in Paris, purchased by the CNR and the Big Hank thread ( Sir Henry Thornton) as he did the purchasing!
Lions Rampart indeed!
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