The first hurdle nearly became my undoing – Customs are notoriously difficult with film crews but when one of the cases slipped, broke open and bullets spilled on to floor around the custom’s officer’s feet, I knew by his bulging eyes he was about to take an ugly pill and be very, very difficult. After…

So where exactly is Papua New Guinea or PNG as it is affectionately known? Crudely, if you draw a line straight up, north from Cairns in Australia’s Queensland, you will get to Port Moresby, PNG’s capital. The first time the Beetle visited PNG, she flew from Cairns (about 2 hours) – a big mistake as…

If you were around a few years back you may have noticed the sudden embracing of the region of Macedonia as Greece, or more specifically, the name Macedonia . It was the period of disintegration of the country once known as Yugoslavia and a small, poor region calling itself Macedonia declared independence and laid claim…

It is easy to make the mistake of thinking that those who live in what we would consider a hut are lazy and stupid. Fortunately, that is often far from the truth. In fact, they are often very resourceful. My first experience with the ingenuity of Mexicans was during our year of volunteer work in…

Hoedspruit – Daktari Wildlife Orphanage is a new conservation initiative that has been started by Ian and Michele Merrifield. Their passion towards wildlife and nature conservation led to the establishment of Daktari which is a non-profit organisation. As the name suggests, Daktari is a wildlife orphanage that takes in injured, orphaned, or animals in general…

Ever wondered which countries still enforce the death penalty? The United States, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore are said to be the only developed nations to use capital punishment in practice. According to Amnesty International, during 2005 at least 2,148 people were executed in 22 countries, 94% in China, Saudi Arabia, Iran, and the United…

Ryanair recently lost its claim against the website www.ryanaircampaign.org which allows users of Ryanair complain about the service they receive. The airline took its case to the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) Arbitration and Mediation Centre which sorts out disputed internet domains. Ryanair claimed that the website was misleading and claimed that it infringed on…

Our first meeting of the new year was as always 4 mini talks given by club members. Tony Annis was first with his talk about Saudi Arabia – Filming. Tony was involved in making a film about King Abdullah’s life, this included charging camels and the logistics of getting equipment and props into the country.…

Our first meeting of the new year was as always 4 mini talks given by club members. Tony Annis was first with his talk about Saudi Arabia – Filming. Tony was involved in making a film about King Abdullah’s life, this included charging camels and the logistics of getting equipment and props into the country.…

For information on Ontario meetings, please contact Svatka Hermanek: shermane@schulich.yorku.ca or Bruce Weber: tel. 416-203-0911 or Paul Webb: tel. 416-694-8259. Meetings are held on the third Friday of January, March, May, September and November, usually at the Old York Tower, 85 Esplanade (It is at the south-east corner of Church & Esplanade – 2 blocks…