The Squamidian Report – Oct. 24 / 09
Issue #387
Including:
The Ontarion
Hi All,
We have finally had our first major rainstorm of the season. It only lasted about 3 or 4 days or so but it sure dumped on us at times. A couple of the stormy days saw only an inch or so of rain each but on the other days we received 4 inches or more. Now that makes for some pretty wet weather. Its like being under a fire hose. The up-side is that we needed the rain. It was still quite dry here. A visual perk from all the rain was the local streams. Wow, every creek, river and stream was high and raging. Makes for some interesting viewing of the surrounding hills.
We are also seeing a lot of helicopter traffic in our skies these days. The military and air force are moving in and taking over as they get ready for the 2010 Olympics. The result is an endless procession of copters heading up and down the valley. At the moment they are training and practicing for any ‘possible’ threat. When the actual time comes they will be everywhere all the time. There are temporary bases here in Squamish and up in Whistler. The security noose is getting tighter every day and by next February we won’t be able to sneeze without attracting attention.
As it is, it is now illegal to even voice out loud any concerns or objections and the simple act of posting an unapproved sign on your own private property will bring the full force of the law down upon you. It is also a greaves crime to post any competing advertising that could distract from the ‘official’ sponsors of the 2010 event. A large and continually growing segment of the west coast population in fully fed up with the heavy handed tactics of VANOC and the endlessly growing financial cost that we are being stuck with.
Local businesses are discovering that the Olympics are not such a good deal as well. Many streets in Vancouver will be closed to traffic for over a month and the businesses on them will be left with no customers. Other businesses have been shut out by VANOC. One example is a company that makes flags. They have supplied flags to organizations all over the world but weren’t even permitted to bid on any Olympic flag or banner needs because they are not affiliated with any of the official sponsors. Then there is the absurd Cowichan sweater debacle. When VANOC introduced the official Olympic clothing line, it included knockoff fake Cowichan sweaters and vests. No discussion was ever held with the Cowichan knitters or any of that tribe. In case you aren’t familiar with them, they have been knitting and selling their product since trade began with the early explorers. They make world famous sweaters and mitts and vest from wool. Anyway, the fake products are ‘made in China’ but supplied by the official Olympic supplier. The knitters, all women of the Cowichan tribe over on the Island, told the media that they were going to protest by wearing their own ‘real’ sweater when the torch passed through their area. That statement brought a visit from the RCMP who warned them against causing any trouble. Just one more case of the heavy handed out of control approach to the games, which are more about big business and egotistic politicians than they ever were about sports or athletes. In fact, any of the past Olympic athletes, including metal winners who have tried to get tickets have been shut out. All the tickets have gone to the corporations.
My advice to anyone who may find themselves living in an area that may at some point be competing for a future Olympic is put your arrogant, egotistic politicians in their place the second they even mentions the possibility with a big loud and final NO.
doug
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Hello
everyone!
Halloween
is fast approaching and I’m curious as to how many people in our group
celebrate this occasion any more? Over the years we’ve done everything from
just putting pumpkins out, to posing in a costume as a statue to scare the
little trick or treaters as they approach our house to open their greedy big
bags to ask for or should I say “demand” a Treat. I can’t say it hasn’t been
fun because it has but once your kids are grown out of participating in this
yearly gala it’s hard to get enthused about it any more. Many years ago when
Adam was small, we spent a few days getting ready for Halloween. We sat in our
kitchen one evening with my old reel to reel tape recorder screaming and
howling into the microphone to make a scary background sound track to be played
outdoors as the kids in costume came to beg for candy. I had a couple of
speakers that I stuck in the bushes and ran wires back into the front hall of
the house to the tape recorder. We always had the biggest pumpkin we could find
sitting on the porch with a light in it of course to spook the kids. Being in
the heating and air conditioning business I had a couple of old squirrel cage
fans in the garage. I took one of them and taped a shredded black garbage bag
to the front of it so its fingers fluttered in the breeze and placed it along
side the walkway so the kids would have to walk through the wind and spooky
black fingers as they approached the house. This was a big hit and we would
watch as the little kids would stop and refuse to walk through the wind and
their parents tried to encourage them not to be afraid. With the combo of the
spooky sound track and the big ugly pumpkin the size of most of the kids as
well as the terrifying “Witchy” wind fingers reaching out to grab the kids we
had a winning combo in the darkness of “All Hallows Eve”. Carole would dress up
as a witch complete with ugly warts on her face and a big hooked nose with
green make up on to greet the kids in her long black robe and pointed hat!
We really
did put a lot of effort into this evening and it was fun for many years. I
remember one year, probably the last year we celebrated this event when I
dressed up as an axe murderer. We lived in Linwood a small town about 20 km to
the west of Waterloo. We had a huge rock that was out by the street at the edge
of our driveway. We had a small garden planted around it as part of our
landscaping. I decided to put on a Devil mask that I have and an old pair of
coveralls with a red and black checkered “Lumber Jack” jacket along with a pair
of old leather work gloves and stand on the rock motionless with an axe in my
hands. I’d stand as still as I could waiting for the kids to approach. Most of
them didn’t even blink as they walked up to the driveway. Once they were close
enough I’d scream bloody murder and jump off the rock with the axe raised over
my head as if to strike them dead! WOW! Did I scare the hell out of some of
these kids! There was one group of three boys that approached and I leapt high
in the air and landed in front of them on the road. They hadn’t been paying any
attention to me as the walked and talked and I caught them completely off
guard. They all jumped and screamed but there was one of them that hit “C”
above high “C” in the girliest scream I’ve ever heard come out of a boy! LOL!
Hahahahaa…….! I had to rip off the mask and chase after him to “unterrify” the
poor kid. He was shaking and crying which surprised me because he was in his
mid teens at the time. He was a friend of Adams but I’m not so sure they remained
friends after his terrifying experience. After he calmed down I couldn’t
convince him to rejoin his friends at our house for a treat. He just wanted to
get the hell out of there I guess. He probably wanted to go home to change his
shorts! LOL! He walked down the road a
few houses and waited for his buddies to catch up to him. I actually felt a
little bad for having scared the poor kid so badly but what the heck, isn’t
that what Halloween is all about, scaring each other and laughing about it
afterwards? I’m sure he had a great story to tell his friends the next day and
will probably have that event as a life long memory to pass on around the time
of Halloween each year.
We no
longer celebrate Halloween and usually just go out somewhere for the evening like
to a show or just out for dinner in stead. We live as you know on a corner lot
and it seems the kids just don’t bother coming to the door of the last house on
the block anymore. So it has become a waste to even bother buying a load of
candy for the occasion when we get next to no kids at the door. The lights are
out on the porch and in the front of the house so even if we don’t go out for
the evening it just appears that nobody’s home anyway. I look at it this way we
paid our dues and participated for a good 30 years so we don’t feel obligated
any more to get involved in Halloween. Maybe that sounds selfish but we’ve just
had enough and choose not to do it anymore! I hope the kids can find enough
people that do participate that their bags don’t get taken home empty! LOL! No
chance of that I’m sure! It’ll probably rain again this year and people will
wind up eating their own bowl of candy over the next few weeks anyway when no
kids venture out because of it!
Oh well,
Happy Halloween to the kids of the neighbourhood anyway. I’m sure they’ll all
have fun no matter what!
That’s it
for this week folks!
Thanks
for tuning in and I look forward to talking to you all again next time in The
Ontarion Report!
Bye for now… Greg.
PS:
Something To Think About>
If you
look like your passport picture, you probably NEED the trip!
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Have a good one..
the doug
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