Monday April 16, 2007 6:50 am Jasper Sunrise 6:53 Sunset 20:52 Hours of daylight: 13:59

A. Morning Musings

6:50 am It is +3 C with a high forecast of +8 C.

Here are the news.

CBC Headline: Zaccardelli To Testify On RCMP Pension Scandal

Giuliano Zaccardelli, the former head of the RCMP will be asked to explain why no one was 'disciplined, sanctioned or charged' over RCMP pension fund irregularities when he testifies before a Commons committee this afternoon. Since he has admitted lying under oath before, it is difficult to totally believe his testimony in this case.

Canadian Headline: see above

Australian Headline: (from The Australian): Sacked NSW Minister Denied Bail On Child Sex Charges

A former cabinet minister is facing 21 new charges, bringing the total to 54, relating to child sex, drugs and child porngraphy. The evidence must be fairly strong to have both that many charges and to have bail denied.

B. Plan

Immediate
Birds	Birdwatching on the trip from Jasper to Lethbridge	1 hr
Mathematics	Continue reading "Algebra: Abstract and Concrete" by Frederick Goodman	1 hr
Literature	Read & make notes for book 4 of "The Brothers Karamazov" by Fyodor Dostoevsky	1 hr
Later
Technology	Convert LPs to MP3 format
	Make notes for chap. 4 of "Switching to the Mac"
	Burn backup of images onto DVD
Mathematics	Read & make notes on The Humongous Book of Calculus Problems
	Read "Symmetry" by David Wade
	Make notes for "Mathematics: A Human Endeavor" ch 1
	Read "Fearless Symmetry" chap 9: Elliptic Curves
Model Trains	Add ground cover to oil refinery diorama
	Follow tutorial for version 8 of 3rd PlanIt
	Continue assembly of coaling tower
	Purchase DCC system
Birds	Create notebook pages birding in Mexico
History	Begin reading "Maya"
	Read Watson "Ideas"
Philosophy	Read & make notes for "Breaking the Spell"
	Begin reading "How Are We To Live?" by Peter Singer
Literature	New York Times easy crossword puzzles
GO	Complete reading "Lessons in the Fundamentals of Go"
Puzzles	The Orange Puzzle Cube: puzzle #10
Major Goals
Learning	Review week's pages each Sunday
	Review all pages for the month at the end of each month
Technology	Review & edit iPhoto files for 2006
Model Trains	Become proficient with 3rd PlanIt software
	Install DCC on model train layout
GO	Learn to play GO at something better than a beginner level
Drawing	Learn to draw!! (I keep saying this, yet I have yet to put a pencil to paper).
Mathematics	Continue to play with mathematics.
Literature	Continue to read Literature
Bird Watching	Continue to engage in bird watching activities.

C. Actual/Note

7:10 am There is high cloud overhead. The forecast today is not too bad, but the forecast tomorrow for Banff is 60% chance of showers. We were considering staying here a second day for some birdwaching but I think we will head south today. But we will have a look at the place we saw the Hoary Redpoll yesterday as well as take a quick trip to the Cottonwood slough before going south to see the Icefields, Lake Louise, and Banff. Depending on the weather and how we feel we will then decide whether to press on to Lethbridge or stay overnight in Banff or Canmore.

10:00 am In addition to about 20 American Robins, a pair of Mallards and a couple of Canada Geese, we saw one new "lifer": a Ruby-crested Kinglet.

9:00 PM Here are eight photos of our trip through the mountains.

Roche Miette near Jasper Park east gate	Elk
Mount Hawk east of Jasper	Snow at Num-ti-jah Lodge
Num-ti-jah Lodge
Dining area	Dining

D. Reflection