Issue #908
Including:

From Russ
From Lorne
The Ontarion

Hi All,

As you know, the gondola is still closed and will stay that way for a while yet. You also know that they have been doing cool thinks like having weekend drive-in shows and there are other events planned for the future. Along that line, the Vancouver Classic Car Club has been doing a rally to the gondola parking lot every Thanksgiving Monday since the place opened and that's what they did again this Thanksgiving Monday. I was there, at the base camp coffee shop for my morning coffee and visit when the car club vehicles started arriving. In total, there were over 200 cars and they filled the front lot and then spilled over into the big back lot.

The definition of a ‘classic car’ seems to be a bit forgiving because while many of the cars were old restored beauties, many were collector type cars, and many were new exotic cars. Heck, there was a brand new Alpha Ramiro or some such thing that had to be worth half a million bucks. And to make it even more mind boggling was the fact that the owner was a guy about 20 years old or so. No idea how he could possibly have been able to afford such a machine but I guess daddy must have big pockets. There was pretty well every kind of old, interesting or unique vehicle imaginable as well as souped up hot rods and things I’d never seem before that must have been imported from overseas. There was even one car that looked like a bathtub with a steering wheel and a roof. It got there late but seemed to be so under powered that it probably had trouble making it up the Furry Creek hill.

Many vehicles were topless and those drivers were bundled up to keep warm, it was a nice day but a bit on the chilly side. I was there on my motorcycle and can attest to the temperature. Most vehicles adhered to the winter tire requirements for this highway. Here in BC, all vehicles except motorcycles must have winter rated tires when driving on highways from Oct. 1 to March 31. These tires must have a minimum of 3.5mm of tread and have the Mountain/snowflake symbol on the side wall. In order to legally drive up the highway from the city, all the cars had to have proper tires, and most did. Motorcycles are exempt from this law because bike tires are made from the soft rubber that gives winter tires their grip on cold pavement. Bike tires don’t have the tread grip required for ice and snow because face it, a bike couldn’t get TO a highway if it were slippery let alone ride ON and snowy highway. So, bikes can ride the BC highways, weather permitting, all year round, on proper bike tires.

Anyway, it was fun to watch all these cars pull in and fun to walk around looking at them. It would be interesting to know what the total value of all these cars would be, I’m guessing it would be a lot. Oh, there was a cherry red tiny little Triumph with a hard top that was, well, perfect. It should be sitting in someone’s living room but it also should be driven and obviously it was. Greg, you would have loved to see that car as well as all the others.

*

Well now, here’s a rather strange situation, I’ve just had a disappointing surprise, partly because I forgot something and I don’t usually manged to forget things very well. Here’s what happened…. Given the fact that its been a bit on the cold side around here and that I’ve gotten back into a bit of recording lately, I decided to do another old song. An old Peter Paul and Mary tune (they didn’t write it) called ‘Last thing On My Mind’. Its a song cousin Sus of Nova Scotia fame used to sing. In fact, the last time she (you, if you are reading this Sus) was out here several years ago, I tried to talk her/you into recording it but to no avail. So, moving on to this past week, I set up my mic and laid down some tracks, added harmonies and so on. After mixing the results I went to save the music file only to find there was already a song of that name stored on my computer in the location that I put the mp3 song files I’ve recorded. Thats the surprise part of this. I had completely forgotten that I’d done a version of that song way back in 2012. Back when I was much younger, in my early 60s instead of at my current age which is in my 70s.

Needless to say, I gave a listen to the older version. Here’s where the ‘disappointment’ part comes in. The older version from 2012 is way better than my current attempt. Its more folky, moves better and has better harmonies, at least in my opinion. So I now have the dilemma of deciding between keeping the new version or trashing it. Even if I do delete it, its not a waist because the process of creating the recording is what its all about, the journey rather than the destination, so to speak. Anyway, just for the fun of it I’ve uploaded both the new and old version for anyone interested in comparing the two.

New, boring version.
Last Thing On My Mind

Old, folky version.
Last Thing On My Mind

doug

****

From Russ

WHAT NEXT! (cont'd)

For the one or two of you who read the first part of my story about the “invasive wild pigs”, you may recall lady pig asking her wild boar mate,

“We’ll have to go South for the Winter won’t we?”

Wild boar, “South? The Hell you say! We’re hardy in Winter as well – just look at this wiry, bristled hair on me! And with our snouts we can burrow under the snow – ain’t ya never heard of “pigloos” ?

Some jurisdictions allow farmers to breed wild boar for meat – and it’s a lucrative investment, when you learn the meat from adult boars is worth between $1,000 and $2,000 each! Where wild boar meat-farmers are legal, serious precautions must be in place so there are none who escape. A Yukon farmer had 7 who escaped and was find $400.00 – not because of inadequate fencing, but “for allowing the animals to escape”. The escapees were quickly killed by Authorities before they could reproduce (they hoped). But the ‘real’ loss to the farmer was the value of the meat. Do the Math.

Wild boar are a very dangerous, invasive animal with no natural predators in S. Ont. (except for hunters – and we’re told sometimes the hunter becomes prey when the ill-mannered, vicious boar turns on the hunter!) Coyotes may attack piglets, but not adult pigs – their sharp tusks (over-size, lower incisors), will often kill their attackers – including humans!

In 2014, the MNRF (Ministry of Natural Resources and Fisheries), issued a ‘Memorandum’ to the Counties of Prescott and Russell in Ontario “Authorizing land owners and hunters, to kill any wild boars sighted; as per Sec. 54(5) of the FWCA”

“Wild boars are many things, including pests. The Agricultural damage in the U.S. is estimated to be $1.5 billion Annually”.

Well folks – they’re here and here to stay unless something can be done to stem the flow!

Diane Saxe, Ont. Environment Commissioner, has said that, “feral boars are heading North from the U.S.A. into eastern Ontario”. (Ya think?) We can’t depend on government to solve the problem - - it’s just not yet awake!!

We all know about ‘climate change’, and the harm it’s doing to us, but what about (wild) animals? As our winters get warmer and warmer, many wild animals from the south are heading here (Can.) for “winter break”. Just to name a few that have taken up ‘permanent residency’ here in S. Ontario:

Opossums; wild turkeys; turkey vultures; killer bees;

Asian carp; killer whales (N. Ont.); Cormorants; etc.

“Hey Hon, are we healthy?” asks lady pig, “I wouldn’t want to spread any diseases in our “new Homeland”.

“No, I can’t say we’re all that healthy, we’ve been known to spread a few diseases like E.coli; giardia; rabies; foot-and-mouth disease; salmonella; Anthrax and encphalomycarditis that are harmful to humans, wildlife, and livestock”.

“Whaaat!” exclaims lady pig in shock. “I want a divorce!!”

“If you have a feral pig sighting, please contact the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry at 1-800-667-1940 and ask to be connected to the related district office”.

Note: “It is possible there are wild boars in Grey County (right next to us here in Bruce County). Two sites that host wild hog maps, show sightings have been reported in the area”. MNR&F

Hmmm, I’m hungry – think I’ll have pork chops.

Your old Uncle Russ.

****

From Lorne

Continued from last week…..

has commented that I haven't finished sentences. Or you just shrugged it off as typical of one so ancient. Well here is the truth ! Many years ago my paternal grandparents subscribed to a monthly publication that always ended that way. Right in the middle of a sentence then carried on in next month's issue. This created quite a lot of interest for those simple folk back then that they could hardly wait for next month so they could find out how it all ended. But it never really did. It seemed like a fun trick to try on you readers, but it apparently not. Just a sign of our changing world and society. I do have those same publications stashed around here somewhere if I can just remember where.

Lorne

****

THE ONTARION REPORT

Hello everyone!

Well, after Carole and I had a lovely weekend last Friday and Saturday in the States we came home on Sunday and I came down with a terrible cold! I’ve been laid up ever since and didn’t I pass the darned thing on to Carole two days ago and now she’s laid up! It is said that it takes about 5 days to a week before a cold shows up so I guess I must have gotten infected shortly before we traveled to the States. That would make my meeting with the WFD retirees on the Tuesday before traveling the likely place I picked up the bug! Oh well, all one can do is get lots of rest and drink plenty of liquids to get rid of a cold. That’s exactly what we’ve been doing this week. Lots of hot toddies without alcohol of course. Carole has been making them for me with hot water, lemon and honey and they seem to do the trick. Of course I’ve also been taking Tylenol for the sore throat and cough syrup as well! The kind that tastes awful but works great! LOL! Hopefully I’ll be back to normal in another couple of days.

*

This past week has been filled with Oktoberfesters here in Waterloo Region and I guess the police have had their hands full. Most years there are quite a few drinkers that cause the cops to work a little harder than usual. Of course we also played host to our outgoing Prime Minister for a couple of days as he made the rounds of the fest halls and availed himself and his entourage of the Oktoberfest fun and of course another good German Meal on the taxpayer’s dime! LOL! I figure he wanted one more free meal before getting back to the life of a semi-normal Canadian citizen! Of course I could be wrong in my assumption he’s on his way out of office but let’s hope not! He’s somehow garnered the support of a well-respected X-president of our neighbors to the south whom we all know was ousted from office by the illustrious Donald Trump. So he might just not be the best supporter of Trudeau for reelection! LOL! Anyway, I guess we’ll soon find out won’t we? I’ve never been one for Oktoberfest. I went to the Concordia Club the first year of the celebration and was there for about an hour when a fight broke out and one of the drunken brawlers was pushed my way and he puked right on my new Adidas shoes! I had to take them off and toss them into the garbage bin and take a cab home wearing only my bare feet! LOL! I can laugh about it now but at the time I was turned off Oktoberfest for good! I must admit that I was at the Concordia Club one more time during the festival but only for a couple of hours. Back in 1993 when the Waterloo Fire Fighters produced a “Firefighter’s Calendar” and I was lucky enough to be picked as “Mr January”. We spent one evening standing in the hallway of the Concordia Club to promote and sell our calendars to the patrons before they got too drunk to have any money left for the purchase to support our fund raiser to fight Muscular Dystrophy! We didn’t join in on the festivities because we were there for a particular cause and also we were wearing our uniforms and were prohibited from consuming alcohol!

It was a successful campaign and that evening was only a few hours in length and of course only one of many we spent in malls and other locations touting our calendar sales. I believe we raised over twenty thousand dollars for the cause that year. That year was the only year Waterloo Fire did a calendar project but other Fire Departments in the Region went on for another couple of years doing the same project. I don’t believe that any of them were as successful as our department was with the amount of money they raised. That’s about as close to Oktoberfest I’ve been since that project and I really don’t miss all the muss and fuss!

I believe we still have a VHS video of the evening contest that was put on by the Waterloo Firefighters in the form of a fashion/talent show in order to choose the monthly stars that were photographed for the calendar. I should dig that video out and have it transferred to compact disc. It would be a laugh for sure to view it after all these years! Each entrant had to do some sort of talent act in hopes of being chosen for a spot on the calendar. Several of the firefighters performed songs and played instruments as their acts. I did a striptease and sang “Unchained Melody” and told my crew that if I was chosen to be on the calendar that I wanted to be Mr January and no other month. It was either luck or my incredible talent that made me successfully chosen for that spot. It was a lot of fun indeed as a project but once was quite enough! LOL!

I think I still have a few copies of the calendar around the house if anyone would like an autographed copy! LOL! Hahahahahaa………

Just kidding but it’s a fun memory indeed!

Some of the firefighters that were on the calendar including me even got to do some modeling after the calendar project was overwith! The photographer that did the picture taking and printing of the finished calendar asked us to model for his clients. We did some clothes modeling as well as commercial advertising photo shoots for a couple of weeks after the project was done. It was a lot of fun but that part of it was short lived!

What fun memories now that I’ve brought them back to mind!

That’s about all I have for this week folks!

Thanks for tuning in and I’ll look forward to talking to you all again next week in The Ontarion Report!

Bye for now … Greg

PS: Something To Think About>

Alcohol is like death. It makes no friends and plays no favourites!