The Squamidian Report – Oct. 29 / 05
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Hi All,
No dirt biking yet, the weather hasn’t been co-operating very well. At least not when I could have gone out. One thing dirt bike related this time of year is the fact that the logging roads and trails high up in the mountains become visible. Logging roads and trail tend to grow in with alders which turn bright yellow in the fall. The rest of the mountain sides are green so the slashes of colour outline where the roads are. They can be seen from miles away, zigzagging up the slopes. So the tendency is to look up, see some tails and say “wow, how do we get up to those one”?
There are trail outlined on mountain slopes that we have absolutely no idea of how to get to. Part of the reason is that the lower sections may be totally overgrown to the point where we can’t even find them anymore, or they may be washed out or covered with a slide. Maps don’t help much. The topo maps are based on data that is decades old. Any trail that was there when the aerial photos were taken are most likely washed out or grown over. Anything carved into the mountain side since then won’t show up on the map. So many of the trails we do end up riding we have found by exploring.
*
You may remember me talking about the Google Earth program a while ago. It taps into a database of satellite photos of the earth’s surface, making viewing pretty well anywhere on the world possible. Vast parts of the world have been photographed at a fairly low resolution so you loose clarity if you zoom down lower than about 10 thousand feet. However, a fair amount of the Earth’s surface has been photographed at a higher resolution. You can zoom down to a thousand feet or so and see cars, houses, bridges, that kind of thing.
The Courtenay area over on Vancouver Island is in high resolution. The Vancouver area is in high resolution as well as Toronto and many other major cities. Most US cities are high resolution as well as a lot of US territory. One surprising section of Canada that is high resolution is the section of Nova Scotia where Nova Scotia Sus lives. You can zoom right down and see their house, barn and driveway as well as the nearby houses. Their pond is there, the old farm is there, the whole thing.
Sus’s hair dressing shop and the rest of Scotsburn are all there at the higher resolution. The higher area catches most of Pictou and the inner harbour but misses New Glasgow. It reaches to a couple of clicks west of where Sus lives. It reaches north out into the Northumberland Straight and south to just short of the Atlantic Ocean. Halifax is in a high-resolution area but not the same one so there is a gap, covered by the lower quality shots. So if you want to check out Nova Scotia Sus country, just type ‘Scotsburn, NS’ into the Search box and away you go.
*
We had quite a heavy rain during the night last night. As I look out this morning I can see the snow line has moved down from the peaks and is now flanking the upper sides of the mountains around us. The bowl area up in Mulligan is now white as is the sides of Sky Pilot and Fry’s Creek Canyon. And as I looked out, my little squawky Stellar Jay buddies were looking in, wondering where their bird food was.
Berra's Law: You can observe a lot just by watching.
d
****
Hello All,
You'll have to forgive me for not joining in with the post Squamidian banter, or answering questions. I haven't figured out how to "reply all" to so many people from my canoemail account! Oh well, it keeps me from spending too much time there.
Suffice to say, I really got a kick out of reading the Squamidian recently. I really enjoyed hearing from Sus again, it amazed me to hear about how the Squamidian and also the Fern Glenn Inn website helped Heather reach her. There have been some interesting reads provided by the Squamidian, and that one was really special.
It's time for another glimpse in to life in Toronto. Recently I had a whisky tasting at my place, and we tried a variety of fine scotches. Aj, a friend of mine, was there and told me about a game of capture the flag. This is essentially the same classic game, the twist was only the location.
I guess some group of people held a couple of them, the second one being in the King and Bay Street area. This is in the heart of the financial district, with huge office buildings on every corner and no green space in between. Totally inappropriate for a game.
I don't know how many blocks it was played on, but the "field" included the PATH system (underground walkways) as well as outside. People can use roller blades, skate boards, bicycles, the TTC (subway and street cars) and just on foot. Anyone actually carrying the flag must remain on foot.
About 300 people showed up. He had a really good time. At one point he landed in a fountain while jumping down to evade someone. I was talked in to showing up for the next one, which was last Friday.
The field was between Bloor and College, and Spadina and Yonge. University Ave divided the two sides, with Queen's Park as a neutral zone. This is about 120 square blocks (small urban blocks). They say about 500 people showed up, but it seemed like less to me. The interesting thing about the area is that it includes the main campus of U of T. There are a lot of old buildings, alcoves, statues etc.
At the beginning everyone gathered to choose sides and go over the rules. Lots of common sense stuff, and no one too focused on winning. I quickly noticed that I was one of the older ones present. Most of us exchanged cell phone numbers with various others on the same team at the beginning. It was a co-ed crowd, and I realized why most of them were there.
An alarm bell went off in my head when I thought about people getting on to the roads. But it turned out great. I'm happy to say that I can out sprint just about everyone that I ran against, most of whom looked about five or ten years younger. The guy who eventually tagged me was on a bike. The smart thing to go if you're on a bike is to hunt for people on foot, and then run them for a while before dismounting for the tag. He didn't break a sweat.
It was a lot of fun to skulk about in enemy territory. The trick is to blend in with the crowd of non participants. My team had an advantage because our arm bands were made of red caution tape, as opposed to the bright yellow kind. At one point we rallied about 40 people for a large attack on the enemy flag (near China town). We laid low, and snuck towards it through some grad building. Our strategy of hugging anyone who catches us fell apart when people panicked and fled. Chaos ensued, and the attack broke up before getting close enough.
Back on the defensive side was even more fun. It's great fun to sneak up on and tag people on the street! Aj and some of his friends hunted in a pack, closing people off on all sides. It has been many years since I "chased girls" in the literal sense. It's still fun! They're still slow.
In the end the game was called off a half an hour early because someone got hit by a car. Inevitable I suppose. Everyone just shook their head and mumbled about Darwin. I heard the person wasn't hurt bad, and actually wanted to keep playing. The people who set it up took it as a warning anyway. The final score was 0-0. We went to the pub afterwards. A great night. They had big "zombie walk" the next day which I'm sorry to have missed. I heard they're also having a huge snow ball fight in December.
A special constable showed up for the gathering at the end, just making sure everyone was under control. Beyond that the police weren't required. The fact thay were on work to rule also didn't seem to affect the game or the players. Toronto is far from the brink of riot. Most of the people here, including the students, seem to see them in a positive light.
*
I never owned a car, so I'll rent one when I want it. The weekend was very busy, and although I didn't really need a car it made it easier. It rained the whole time, so I was glad for it.
On Monday morning I didn't have to be in until 10 am, so I planned to drop it off on the way to work. Of course I slept in, and I wasn't sure if I could make it on time if there was any delay at the rental place. It didn't matter, I had it until mid afternoon anyway.
I don't like driving to work during the day though, because it's really busy, parking is a hassle and the whole thing is very slow and inconvenient compared to the subway. I found a place to park near work, and dropped it off at the rental place during lunch time.
I found out that afternoon that just before 10 am there was a short gun battle outside the Sherbourne subway station. This was the exact time and place that I would have been if I'd taken the subway that day, as I do almost every day. The news said that the police were amazed that no one was hit, only one bullet lodged in to the driver's side door of someone's van. I must have driven past minutes after it happened, oblivious.
I hear so much in the media about gun related violence in Toronto. Frankly, most of the time it doesn't phase me. It seems like such an insignificant minority of people affected. Most of the time it's poor, black families that lose someone. The shootings usually seem confined to night clubs, drug dens and rough neighbourhoods. I'm against guns, but I never would have even worried about such things affecting me. But the thing that bothers so many people, reasonably I think, is fear of the sheer randomness of gun violence. Criminals do not weigh their actions, and rarely display any skill or ability. Bystanders are more likely to be hit than their intended target, if there is one. So many people live in fear.
Apparently this was a petty, street level drug deal gone sour, or possibly small time rival dealers clashing. It's likely that the shots fired were intended more to terrorize and intimidate than to kill or injure. No one was arrested. There are five suspects.
The area around the subway closest to work is definitely sketchy, which may or may not be relevant. There are always any number of bums and nut cases there. After the last few years they don't bother me any more than the smell of manure bothers someone working on a cattle farm. I just mentally block them out, as much as I can. It's sometimes hard to remind myself that they are human. In that I believe I have sacrificed a small part of my humanity to them, and to the city. I'm not against helping people, but it seems as though anyone without the strength and apathy to step over another human being simply can't walk here. I think that's the saddest part, and it scares me much more than guns.
*
At work there are such strong rumours that we will be moving/expanding to Brantford that most people take it as a done deal, although it isn't official yet. This will mean moving, possibly to Kitchener or Guelph, getting a car and driving in each day. The market for borrowing and buying has changed, so I'm not sure where that would leave me for getting a house at this point. Right now I'm neutral about leaving Toronto. I have very little interest in Brantford. I think I'd rather be in the heart of the city, or all the way out of it, rather than in the asteroid field that surrounds it. There will be a good point and a bad point either way. I just have to make the most of it in either case.
Talk to you soon,
****
Hello
everyone!
Well,
it’s Halloween weekend once more and the little ghosts and goblins will be out
and about again. I heard that the most popular costume for little girls is
still the “Princess” getup! They say that this year will be a banner year for
little boys dressed up as “ZORRO” because of the new movie “The Mask Of Zorro”
that’s being released today across north America. I remember the “Zorro” tv
series from the late 50’s. I think it was on in 1959. The last Zorro movie
starring Antonio Banderas was really well done. They say that this one is even
better than his first.
(Greg’s update info: It ran through 1957, 58 & 59 and starred Guy Williams.)
One of
his co stars from this picture was on a talk show last week and they got
talking about sword fighting. He told how they trained for the picture and he
said it’s a fact that Antonio is recognized as one of the true sword fight
masters of our time. He’s apparently ranked among the top 5 in the world in
this art. Who’d a thunk it? Is there a difference between sword fighting and
fencing? I’m not sure but to me they look to be one in the same. I just think
it takes some skill to cut a “Z” into a man’s shirt without cutting it into his
skin at the same time. It’s all probably Hollywood magic anyway!
Speaking
of old TV series, do any of you remember the show “Cannonball”? It was a series
about a truck driver named Cannonball Mike Malone and his sidekick Gerry! They
had many an exciting brake failure on steep hills while carrying a ton of
“Nitro” or sweaty old dynamite about every second week. It wasn’t unusual to
see Gerry crawl out of the rig while speeding along the highway to reattach the
air brake line to the trailer to save the day! Not only did they carry
dangerous loads, they also made compassionate runs too. In one episode they
happened upon a woman who’s son was in an “Iron Lung” and the power failed in
their farmhouse so Cannonball and Gerry loaded the iron lung into the trailer
of their truck and transported the young lad to a hospital 50 miles away while
Gerry pumped the iron lung by hand. Needless to say, they saved the young man’s
life and made every trucker proud of his profession for another week. There was
a lot of amazing television in those days and not one of the shows had a swear
word or a gay person in it! I wonder how they managed to be successful without
either or those two characteristics involved? Hmmm….? Amazing eh?
Oh well,
times have changed and so has television. In those days we were hardly aware
that there were other countries in the world let alone people with other sexual
persuasions etc.
*
I gather
you all heard of the Big Lotto Win in Alberta. I read the story this morning in
the Record. It sure would have been nice to be part of that cash prize. There
were 99.4 million tickets sold for that draw alone in Canada. I was happy to
see that the winning ticket was split 17 ways. Even a 3.17 million dollar share
of the prize was a nice chunk of change. It seems that the west is becoming the
lucky area when it comes to large lotto wins. There was a couple that lived in
the same area of Alberta as the latest winners and they cashed in a 10.4
million dollar ticket about 6 or 7 years ago. I wouldn’t’ be at all surprised
to see our “Doug’s” name in the news one of these days, holding up the winning
ticket. All it takes is one ticket! Doug and I are in a group of ticket buyers
that I do the buying for each week. It sure would be nice to have to call him
some morning with the news of a Big Win. I think we’d be seeing a private jet
in the air within minutes of his receiving the news! LOL! What a thrill that
would be for sure. On the other hand, maybe I should let Doug start buying the
tickets out west, maybe that’d bring us some luck. Oh well, for now, I’ll just
keep on spending everyone’s money here in Kitchener and hope for the best.
Someone has to win the darned thing and you can’t win if you don’t have a ticket.
With the monthly contributions of our members, we’ve always got lots of
tickets. Let’s hope our numbers come up soon.
I’d
better go for now!
Talk to
you all again next week here in “The Ontarion Report”!
Bye for now!
GREG.
PS:
Something to Think About>
If you
steal from one author, it’s plagiarism. If you steal from many, it’s research.
****
The Family and the Squamidian sites:
http://members.shaw.ca/doug_b/ and http://www.thedougsite.ca
Have a good one..
the
doug
The Fine Print!
The articles in these issues are the sole property of the persons writing them and should be respected as such.