1. Surviving
Two Days With John Turmel
Last week I got
a phone call from John Turmel, “”Can you come and stay
at my place for a couple of days? I’ve got a few ideas I’d
like to share with you.”
So Kit drove me
there on Tuesday night, and we all had dinner together. John has always
been a bachelor, so he’s learnt how to cook. Unlike me, who’s
only been on his own for the last 5 years, and ‘learning to
cook’ is still very low on my List Of Priorities.
Turmel, as you
must know by now, is very passionate about a few things, including
the legalisation of marijuana, politics and his UNILETS system, which
he uses to promote the abolition of interest rates.
John was the only
marijuana smoker amongst us, so we didn’t give that subject
much attention. And UNILETS was something I wanted to discuss in detail
over the next couple of days, so the evening was taken up almost entirely
with talk about politics and political parties.
Canada will be
going to the polls again soon, and Turmel is keen on running for Prime
Minister. Does he have any hope at all of winning? No. (so what’s
new?) But that’s never been an issue with Turmel. He just loves
using the electoral platform to promote his radical policies to the
entire Canadian population.
And he was eager
to recruit us into his new political party, which he still hasn’t
named yet. Although he felt that something like ‘The Paupers
Party’ may attract the support of the general public. We didn’t
take him up on his offer to join his party, but I’m sure he
won’t have any problems getting party representatives. Some
years ago he ran for Prime Minister with a party of 80 representatives.
So I’m sure he’ll be able to do it again.
And, did you know
that John Turmel wrote the Millennium Declaration Section
C6 to Governments on restructuring the global financial
architecture with a UNILETS interest-free time-based currency?
http://www.un.org/millennium/declaration.htm
6. To make serious
commitments to restructure the global financial architecture based
on principles of equity, transparency, accountability and democracy,
and to balance, with the participation of civil society organizations,
the monetary means to favour human endeavour and ecology, such as
an alternative time-based currency. To
give particular attention to eradication of unequal taxation, tax
havens, and money-laundering operations, and to impose new forms
of taxation, such as the Tobin tax, and regional and national capital
controls. To direct the international financial institutions to
eliminate the negative conditionalities of structural adjustment
programmes.
Well, that sure
impressed me!
So how would Turmel
be able to implement UNILETS all over the globe? I had 2 days, of
his undivided attention, to find out.
Well, when Turmel
gets passionate about something, he gets ‘vehement’ (as
he calls it). I just thought he was going crazy. Screaming, challenging,
ridiculing. I could imagine him in the political arena. I wouldn’t
want to be debating against him, that’s for sure. But I was
his guest! And I was on his side! My questions and doubts were simply
being aired in order to understand this incredible international UNILETS
concept he had.
Fortunately, from
time-to-time he’d notice that I’d be looking a little
concerned (not quite terrified), and he’d break out in a warm
smile and say, “James, I’m not angry. I’m just having
a vehement discussion with you.” Then he’d go straight
back into his antics without even missing a beat.
Actually, what
he was trying to get through to me was, “James, the UNILETS
concept is so simple and such a just cause, why can’t you understand
it? Or even if you can’t understand it, why don’t you
just accept it?”
So we spent those
two days mostly frustrating each other. But by the end of it, Turmel
had gleaned a few more ideas which he confessed would be very helpful
in promoting and implementing UNILETS.
John had also
arranged for us to meet with a local ISP (Internet Service Provider)
to discuss to mechanics of transferring UNILETS points from one account
to another by email. Unfortunately, the computer programmer suggested
this would be impractical because it would be too difficult for 99.9%
of computer users to be able to do it. But he assured us that using
a central operating system would work superbly, and Turmel could set
up as many ‘mirror-systems’ as he liked (50-100) in order
to protect his system and keep it functioning in case of some breakdown.
Turmel believes
that the UNILETS accounts should be operated solely by the individuals,
and without a centrally based system. And I don’t blame him.
Can you imagine the amount of work necessary if an office was responsible
for managing 6 billion accounts?
But after this
exhausting 2 day interaction, Turmel finally confessed that he would
even be happy to restrict his role to setting up UNILETS accounts
for everyone on the planet and then let the public decide on how they’d
use it. After all, as long as he’s given the world an interest-free
means of trading, then he’s content with that achievement.
And
you know what? I’m sure if anyone can do it, John Turmel can
do it.
Filling the
skidoo with petrol (or 'gas' as it's called in North America).
2.
Riding a Skidoo
From November
to March, all motorcycles are banned from being used on Canada’s
icy and dangerous roads. And that’s when the skidoos come out.
Well, as long as there’s enough snow.
A skidoo is like
a cross between a motor cycle and a jet-ski. It’s a 1-2 rider
vehicle, specifically designed for traveling on snow, with a rear
wheel which looks like it would be more at home on a tank.
From my first
week in Canada, I had wanted to get a ride on one of these snow-travelling
machines. But I never imagined it would happen the way it did.
We were on our
way back from John Turmel’s, when I saw a skidoo stopped at
a petrol station. It looked so out-of-place that I asked Kit to turn
back so I could take a photo of it.
Kit went up to
the rider and asked if he’d mind being photographed with his
skidoo and a curious Aussie traveller. Richard, as he introduced himself,
was flattered with the proposal, but he insisted on turning the skidoo
around because the other side didn’t have any scratches on it.
Watching Richard rev the throttle, and scrape the concrete mercilessly
as he took his skidoo off the property and onto the snow, where he
finally was able to maneuver his vehicle around, motivated me to ask
if he’d mind taking me for a short ‘spin’ as his
pinion passenger.
Well, he took
off his helmet, handed it to me and said, “You can ride it yourself.”
I was startled.
I didn’t expect that, and I wasn’t sure I could handle
it. What if I crashed it?
“You’ve
got a drivers licence, don’t you?” he asked.
And when I told
him that I did, he insisted that I’d be OK.
“There’s
no gears”, he said, “and the handbrakes are really good,
so you don’t have to worry. Just give it lots of throttle to
get it started.”
He could see I
was still looking a little tentative, so he offered to ride the skidoo
out of the petrol station and onto the snow. He dropped a wheelie
with his metal rear track wheel and tore a straight groove out of
the concrete station floor. He spun it around and took it to the top
of a 4 foot mound of snow, balancing on top for a couple of seconds
before shifting weight forward and launching it down the other side
and onto the barren block of land below.
Getting ready
to take a solo spin on the skidoo.
I couldn’t
believe it was happening, but soon I had the helmet on and began revving
slowly.
“Rev it
hard”, Richard shouted.
So I did, and
off it went. I immediately slammed on the brakes so I could get an
indication of how quickly it would stop, and the skidoo stopped dead,
motionless. This was great, so I revved hard again and this time I
was away! I took it straight to the end of the field, weaving in and
out and doing a figure 8. Then I rushed at a 3 metre (10 foot) snow
hill and sailed over the other end, with a perfect 3-point landing
on the other side. And when I finally came back to my starting point,
I came to an abrupt stop after doing a broady which scattered snow
all over Kit and Richard. (And if you believe all that, I’ve
got a nice block of swampland I’d like to sell you).
But I did ride
it alone, and I did bring it back in one piece. And, of course, I’ve
got photos to prove it!
Up close and
personal in a tightly contested hockey competition.
3. Ice-Hockey
Fight
On Friday night
I went to see an ice-hockey fight and a game broke out. This a popular
Canadian saying, and watching my first ice-hockey game made me realize
just how accurate this saying was. And this was the Junior Hockey
League with all the players aged 16-19.
I must’ve
been quite a sight. During the entire game I kept jotting notes down
for the story that would eventually follow. So if you’re curious
about the things I write, then here’s my notes … word-for-word.
NOTES
Ice-Hockey:
@ Kitchener Aud(itorium) or stadium
40 mins.
Warm-up. 2x zambonies (like street sweepers) water the ice to smooth
it out. 19 players on team (practicing). High clear plastic walls
(3 metres) to protect crowd from stray pucks. Goal replaced. Holes
cleared of water/ice to insert plastic pegs.
OK. I know. It’s
not making much sense. So I’ll elaborate.
Kit had got 2
free tickets from work and luckily we arrived at the Kitchener Stadium
(more fondly known as Kitchener Aud) about 90 minutes before the game
was due to start. It was cold, wet and snowy outside, so getting a
parking space near the entry was very welcomed. I noticed the tickets
were for a Senior/Student. But I was assured this wouldn’t be
a problem. In fact, we showed the tickets to 2 different ticket officials
while asking for directions to our seats, and neither of them seemed
fussed that we were obviously not Seniors or Students.
We sat next to
some friends of Kit’s boss, so I was able to have all of my
questions answered quite happily.
The ice-hockey
rink was maybe 50m long and 20m wide, with each end in a semi-circle.
And at each end was a goal net, about 1.5m wide and 1m high. And they
were set about 2.5m from the curved back walls. Around the perimeter
was a 3m plastic wall which protected the supporters from stray pucks,
and for added protection at the scoring ends, another 4m of netting
was tacked above the plastic walls.
Forty minutes
before the match, both teams came out and began practicing. Each keeping
to one end of the ice-hockey rink. I counted 19 players in each team.
Only 5 players and a goalie are allowed on the field at any one time,
but because it’s a very tiring game, each team is made up of
3 lines (5 in each line), 2 goalies and 2 reserves.
Directly above
the center of the ice-hockey rink was a 4-sided T V screen and digital
clock. It also displayed time penalties for players who were sent
off for fighting or dangerous play. And for the entire duration of
the game, there was hardly a moment when this feature was unused.
After the practice
session, 2 zambonies (like street-weepers) came out to water the field.
The water soon froze, smoothing out the icy surface in preparation
for the forthcoming game. And they did this after each of the three
20 minute sessions.
We were supporting
the home team, Kitchener Rangers (KR), who were playing Owen Sound
Attack (OSA).
Only the KR had
their mascot in the auditorium. He was like a giant cartoon character.
A Texas Ranger with a massive foam head featuring long grey sideburns,
drooping grey moustache and a huge cleft chin about the size and shape
of a baby’s butt. He wore a bright blue hat with a sheriffs
badge on it. And he also wore a KR shirt with Tex written on the front,
and the number 00 on the back.
But let’s
get on with the game …
The teams got
onto the ice again accompanied by loud rock music in the background.
This music only stopped when the game was in progress, and came on
again immediately play was stopped for any reason. After just 20 seconds
of play, the first player was sent off for ‘roughing’
(although this seemed very tame compared to our Aussie Rules football
tackles). He was a KR, and would be out of the game for 2 minutes,
reducing his side to only 4 field players.
A minute later
an OSA was sent off for ‘obstruction tripping’. Then 2
minutes further on, an OSA targeted a KR but missed, slamming into
the hard plastic wall. There wasn’t going to be a dull moment
in this game!
Every 3 minutes
or so, the teams made changes to their lines, often changing all the
players in order to give them a rest.
At the 15 minute
mark, 2 players took their gloves off and began punching each other’s
face. The supporters cheered them on, and all 3 referees stood back
until they saw an opportunity to sneak in and pull them apart. In
Aussie Rules Footy, this would usually mean an instant suspension
of 4-6 games for each player, for striking, but this was ice-hockey,
and this was Canada, and they were both taken off the field instantly,
for only 5 minutes!
So at the end
of the first session, KR was losing to OSA, 0:2.
After a 15 minute
break, Session 2 began. Three minutes into the session and 2 separate
fights broke out, with all 4 players penalized the mandatory 5 minutes
each. It was looking like soon there wouldn’t be any players
left to play if they kept that up!
In the meantime,
Kit and I sat in amusement and ate warm beer nuts (sugar-candy coated
peanuts). Drinking beer is banned in the auditorium, so most of the
supporters just drank bottled water, like us.
Several hockey
sticks were broken that night. Fortunately, none were broken over
anyone’s head, although this has been known to happen. And when
a hockey stick is broken, the player must immediately drop it on the
ice, otherwise he gets penalized for carrying a dangerous weapon.
Those broken sticks can be used like spears when a player is intimidated.
Other penalties
imposed during the game were for ‘slashing’, ‘high
sticking’ and ‘holding puck in clenched fist’. And
whenever things got a little quiet in the stands, and play had been
stopped by the referees, the TV screens would rev up the crowd with
a series of signs saying, ‘make some noise’ then ‘louder’
and ‘LOUDER’.
At the end of
the second session KR was further behind at 0:3.
During the final
break, 2 teams of toddlers took to the ice-rink. They were all about
5-7 years old, and falling over just as much as they were standing
up. It looked like it would be impossible to see a score during the
match as there were about 12 kids on each side, and it was a very
cluttered field. But one bright spark managed to break away from the
pack as his opponents tripped over themselves trying to catch him,
and shot the only goal of their short game.
The last session
started. At the 3:52 mark of the final period, the OSA shot their
4th goal for the night, and the last score for the entire match. This
was too much for the local side’s supporters, and they began
to leave the stadium. By the end of the game, half of the supporters
had gone, which must’ve been very depressing for the Kitchener
Rangers. Especially after having another huge defeat in their previous
game, 2:5.
I asked to stay
back and just soak in the atmosphere after the game. So while the
zambonies came out for their final watering of the ice-rink, and the
stands cleared from all human life, I thought about my experience
which resembled more like a coliseum rather than a sport stadium.
This
article is taken from the ebook,
400-Day LETS Odyssey
About
the book
|
James
Taris web sites
JamesTaris.com
LETS-Linkup.com
Rich-Bastards.com
Honey-BeeBooks.com
TheGloryOfAthens.com
TravelWithoutMoney.com
ChineseArt-ChineseArt.com
ShanghaiPhotoGuide.com
ShockProofMaterial.com
2pups.com
