Families mourn dead soldiers

Three Canadian soldiers killed in Afghanistan earlier this month are being laid to rest today

KINGSTON, Ont. - At least 2,300 mourners packed into a community centre at CFB Kingston on Saturday to remember Capt. Matthew Dawe one of the six Canadian soldiers killed in Afghanistan earlier this month in a massive roadside explosion.

The 27-year old died on July 4 alongside Cpl. Jordan Anderson, Pte. Cole Bartsch, Pte. Lane Watkins, Capt. Jefferson Francis, Master Cpl. Colin Bason and an unnamed Afghan interpreter when their armoured vehicle struck a roadside bomb in Kandahar province.

Funeral services were also held on Saturday for Anderson and Bartsch.

Dawe's procession began at 11 a.m in Kingston at the Royal Military College where he was once an honoured student and star volleyball player. He also came from a family with a rich military tradition. Dawe, along with three of his brothers, followed their dad into the Armed Forces.

A large photograph of Dawe also stood on stage, showing him with his son, Lucas, who turned two the day his father died.

During the funeral service his mother took the opportunity to celebrate her son's memory. "I don't know who killed my son, but I_know what - hatred killed my son," said Reine Dawe.

She said to avoid conflict, people must be tolerant of others and to not be afraid of differences.

Dawe's widow also spoke to mourners.

See Fallen Soldiers / A6

No foul play in death of man found on westside lawn

SASKATOON – Saskatoon Police Service major crimes investigators have determined foul play was not involved in the death of a 37-year-old man found lying on a lawn in front of a house in the 300 block of Avenue S South Thursday morning.

Just before 6 a.m., police arrived at the house where two men were found lying on the front lawn. After a brief investigation, police found that one of the men was dead. His name will not be released until next of kin are notified.

Investigatiors looking into suspicious fire; arson a possibility

SASKATOON – At approximately 23:47 hours July 10 2007, Saskatoon Police Service and Fire and Protective Services responded to a fire at Juicy Autobody. Initial investigation shows the fire started in an outside storage area. Estimated damage is between $100,000-$150,000.

A Saskatoon Police Arson Investigator attended the scene. The cause of the fire has yet to be determined, but police have stated that arson was “a serious possibility” and are currently investigating.

There were no injuries during this fire.

P.A. Church houses rare painting

PRINCE ALBERT -- A rare painting in Prince Albert's St. Alban's Cathedral has gained international attention.

The painting, of the English martyr St. Alban, is now confirmed to be one of the few surviving paintings of British pre-Raphaelite artist Kate Elizabeth Bunce.

London, England-based art historian Jan Marsh, who co-authored a book on female pre-Raphaelite artists, visited Prince Albert last Monday to see the Bunce painting. She was later in Saskatoon for a talk at the Mendel Art Gallery.

"Kate Bunce mentioned the painting and its destination in her will, which was reported by newspapers in Birmingham, U.K., where she lived and died," Marsh said in an e-mail interview.

Bunce never visited Canada, but Marsh believes the painting was made for the church after Bunce met someone from Prince Albert. She may have met a bishop or another clergy member from Prince Albert in England.

"Bunce had previously contributed decoration to a church dedicated to St. Alban in Birmingham, so she was already knowledgeable and sympathetic to the subject," Marsh said.

It is certain that Bunce did the painting as a gift for St. Alban's Cathedral in Prince Albert sometime in the 1920s and it was sent after her death possibly through her will executors.

Marsh published a book with Pamela Gerrish called Women Artists and the Pre-Raphaelite movement, which included Bunce and sister Myra as late members of the movement. At the time the only known work by Bunce were two in the Birmingham Art Museum but more of Bunce's paintings are coming to light, she said.

St. Alban's rectory's warden Fred Payton said church members thought the painting was a Kate Bunce but are glad to have it confirmed by an art historian.

For the most part, the painting has gone relatively unnoticed by the congregation, said Payton who has been a member of the church for 55 years.

"We enjoy it but it has hung here for so long, it is basically common place," Payton said. "No one pays special attention to it."

Payton said church members will discuss moving the painting back to its original location over the organ console where there is better airflow. The church has no plans to sell the painting.

Genre’s Popularity on the Decline

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) -- Torture, it seems, doesn't pay at movie theatre box offices like it used to.

In recent years, films dubbed "torture porn" have been the darlings of many a Hollywood producer looking to make a quick buck. The latest such release, Captivity, opened in theatres Friday.

But the popularity of movies like blood-and-guts thriller Hostel: Part II and zombie flick 28 Weeks Later, appears to have waned, prompting some to wonder if the trend is on its way out.

"The horror genre has had more ups and downs over the years -- maybe only musicals have more," said Paul Dergarabedian of box office tracker Media By Numbers. "I think what happens is subgenres like (torture) become popular, then play out."

Dergarabedian noted the old Universal Pictures' monster movies such as Frankenstein were hugely popular in the 1930s, but eventually died off. In the 1950s, horror was represented by alien invasion flicks such as The Thing from Another World, but these went the way of the graveyard, too.

This current wave of horror films seems to have begun in 2004, when Dergarabedian tracked 19 of the movies that raked in more than $1 billion at U.S. and Canadian box offices. The figure was roughly double the $525 million from 13 movies in 2003.

See Torture no longer pulling in big money / E2

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