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Please refresh Screen, Last updated Aug 6, 1998

Art…I won't bore you with my choice of fine art, nor will I write about the pros and cons of the many art styles and media because I am not an expert. However, I know what I like (see Mona) and I assume you have your own artistic tastes. The web contains a great deal of entertainment, ahh Paris…try surfing here.

Following is a display of some of my art work. Why? Because, firstly; it took me a long time to paint them, secondly; my web friends persuaded me and thirdly; a picture is worth a thousand words. Displayed as thumb-prints, upon clicking, they will grow into small time consuming downloads (average about 80 kbs. or less). I hope you enjoy them.

Literature…I read quite a bit, mostly spies, intrigue and biographies. I don't care for horror type novels (sorry Stephen). Also, I enjoy thought provoking books on new-wave spiritual topics--yeah right, like reincarnation is new-wave? I am one of those feasts or famine type readers. I go for months reading two or three books at a time then switching to peruse magazines for a while. My biggest dislike, and one that I cannot escape, is any computer manual…yeeaak!

Volunteer…If you have a minute, please read a short story that I wrote for a friend's book. It's about a local hero, the late Doctor Beverley H. B. Hallam. The book should make an interesting read when published because Doc was quite a character and humanitarian. Click on the link to preview my small chapter about an interesting man. Chapter on Doc Hallam.

Music… What can I say about music that would be different? I could type the headline, "Kirk-White and Toad Pack Lounge in Northern Ontario Lodge". If you traveled this far into my web site you probably find that curious, so I'll explain. As a teenager, like so many others, I welcomed the new rock and roll beat with a passion. It seems like yesterday when I first heard 'Rock Around the Clock'…by Bill Haley and the Comets. What a prophecy! How appropriate that the first rock and roll song should be about time and it is time that has shaped today's rock and roll

Moi…However I digress, I was telling you about Toad and yours truly. I guess you might call me a late bloomer. Although, I gave music a try when I was a teenager, I eventually went to work, married the lovely Karen Watt and sold my guitar. Many, many years later, a reunion with an old friend, who was into music in a large way, stimulated my old craving to perform. The band's organist was David Letterman's late night show musician Paul Shaffer on his way to stardom. Need I say more?.

Before I knew it, I had purchased Toad and was singing my heart out. With Paul Shaffer you ask...of course not. I enjoyed a six year gig at Pickerel Lake Lodge while selling cottages for a living.

Toad… Total Orchestra Automatic and Dateless, invented by Bob Wiley of NY One of the first computerized music machines in the business. We were a great duet. Toad was always sober, and never late. Our fans liked Neil Diamond, Elvis, Willy, Waylon, Denver, Hank and Hank, Arnold and Reeves, etc., and sometimes us. I had a lot of fun, met super people and totally exhausted myself. My music career was over at the age of forty-three and not a minute too soon. Today I enjoy CD music while surfing the web and a Masonic friend's teenage son now owns and operates Toad. Grooooovy--but different, poor Toad.

Computers…are quite fantastic. I was born in '39 and all my life I have been privy to the pleasures of pioneering many great discoveries, e.g., TV, tapes, transistors, jets, space travel, radar, etc. New technology has been fairly constant and each new discovery struck me with awe and wonderment. However, nothing has been as awesome, to my little world, as the rapid advancement of the personal computer. I recall my stubborn refusal to become involved with computers and I shudder to think what I would be missing now if I had not changed. I am so grateful that my natural curiousity outweighed my fear of computer technology.

Sims…Today, I spend hours enjoying flight sims, such as F15E, Aces over Europe, Comanche, USNF, ATF, etc… and yes, I lean into high-G turns and even duck now and then. I can land on an aircraft carrier in the fog and I have completed a full campaign in USNF without resorting to cheat mode. I fly a P166 computer with a 17" monitor and have all the bells and whistles. Sometimes I think I have the power to rule the world-- that is until I hang-up and have to reboot.

Tech…I have witnessed a plethora of exciting high-tech advancement during my lifetime. However, I never imagined such a phenomenon as the WWW on the Internet. Each week, correction, each day there is something new--I have downloaded so many Internet phones, when I look at my desktop I feel like a bookie.

Chats…The experience I most enjoy, while surfing the WWW, is visiting the 'chat kibbutz'. GentleBen or Gben is my handle. I belong to a fantastic 50 plus cyber community, with a large membership from all over the world, but mostly from Canada and the USA. These folk are the nicest, friendliest people I have ever met.

My thoughts…on some cyber chat channels, based on the stunning behaviour of a few losers, could fill a book. I have been totally awed by humans who become so… 'electronically' human. Old values and prejudices are simply being replaced by new and sometimes strange but interesting ones. Attitudes are obvious. Cyber Sex…what the hell is that? And because you can't type fast, are you an idiot--not in our community.

Cyber Space…we, being the older group of cyber surfers, recognize the fact that we, along with you, are indeed pioneers--we love it, respect it and (almost) fear it--equally. It just proves that you are never too old to enjoy a rush. (Not referring to you, Rush Limbaugh sir.)