The Squamidian Report – July 11 / 09
Issue #372
Including:
The Ontarion
Hi All,
Well, we are back from our bike trip. Did about 6850 kilometers of motorcycling. Saw a lot of very beautiful country.
For the most part the riding was great. The only real busy traffic areas were through Spokane, then anywhere within a hundred miles of Denver where the traffic was brutal, then through the Salt Lake City area. After that coming back through the Vancouver Lower Mainland was a breeze. We had some very hot sunny riding and some down right wet riding. On the last day we needed our full leathers, with rain gear over top and heated vests underneath.
But that’s all part of doing a road trip on a bike. You don’t look out through a closed car window from a climate-controlled bubble. You experience each mile of road. You see, feel and smell what the area you are riding through is like at that particular moment in time. Many areas we rode through are not having a ‘normal’ summer and we experienced that. There has been more rain this year than most can remember. The normally dry desert conditions of Wyoming, Colorado and Utah are green and blooming. Almost every afternoon the cumulous clouds would build and turn dark. Then curtains of rain would fall from them bathing the land in heavy downpours. On one afternoon we pulled off and found a motel just in time to avoid getting soaked only to find that the town we just rode through was being evacuated because a flash flood had filled the town with water up to the doorknobs on the houses. Good thing we didn’t get a motel there. Bikes don’t tread water all that well.
We saw a lot of wild life. Mostly deer, and they are a bit scary if you are on a bike. They have a tendency to jump out of the ditch and onto the road right in from of vehicles. That’s bad enough if you are in a car or truck but it can be quite serious if you are on a bike. One big buck jumped out in front of Ryan. He had the presence of mind to swerve in the direction the buck had come from so that when it did its next leap they separated rather than intersected. Both came through the encounter unscathed but Ryan was a bit shook up for a few minutes.
The bikes all ran great and gave us not trouble at all. They came home dirtier than they have ever been because of the rains we rode through but a couple of back-to-back baths takes care of that. Ryan’s Sportster needed a tire when we left and we found a Harley Dealer in Montana, Yellowstone Harley Davidson, who not only installed a new tire at a very reasonable price, but did it on a Sunday afternoon. They also did a service and some brake work on Paul’s bike at the same time.
We had hooked up with Paul and Sherry on their Harley in Sturgis, SD as planned and then we all rode together for several days of touring. It was the morning after spending some time at Yellowstone Harley in Bozeman Montana that we departed was and each headed for home.
I’ve posted a full account of our journey to my web site, it can be seen at:
http://www.thedougsite.net/09-Trip/2009Trip.htm
There are 4 interlinked pages of text with pictures and then another 3 pages of just pictures. Don’t try to view the 3 pages of just pictures unless your Internet connection is faster than basic dial-up, unless you are the patient type.
doug
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Hello
Everyone!
Last week
I was looking back on some of the buildings and places that are in my past.
It’s always interesting to me to think back on such topics. There is a lot of
history in 60 years and I just happen to be one of those people that remember
past events, characters and things in my life. Many of my memories are those
that happened with my dad. While reading the Record Paper a couple of days ago
I came across an article about the death of one of my favourite characters in
my past. He was a celebrity that my father and I spent many a Saturday evening
watching and cheering against at the Kitchener Auditorium. He his name was
Walter Paul Sieber AKA: Waldo Von Erich and he was one of the greats in
professional wrestling back in the 50’s 60’s and 70’s. My dad and I used to
attend the wrestling events at The Aud all the time and Von Erich was one of
the most villainous characters in the business. He was a native of Toronto and
his character was that of a Nazi officer from the Second World War. He wore an
SS officer’s hat, a black leather jacket, britches with the wide hips and knee
high black leather boots. He carried a black leather riding crop and had a Nazi
black iron cross around his neck. He was of course the villain of the wrestling
world. He was a huge star and was the most hated wrestler of his time.
Remember, this was only a dozen years after the end of WW II and even though he
was much too young to have been an SS officer in the war, people saw nothing
but evil when he stepped into the ring. It was a thrill for everyone in the Aud
when he wrestled. He was one of a handful of wrestlers from southern Ontario
that headlined the cards at Madison Square Gardens in New York City and drew
capacity crowds week after week for many years. As it turned out, he was a
gentle loving giant of a man who lived with his family in Elmira Ontario and
was of course nothing like his alter ego in the ring. I was saddened to hear of
his passing and surprised to hear at the same time that he lived a life of
relative anonymity right here in Elmira. Wrestling fans all over North America
were I’m sure also saddened to hear of his demise. His death was preceded by
that of another great wrestler and friend of his by the name of “Billy Red
Lyons”. Red’s real name was William Snip and he was a resident of Kitchener
until his passing. Billy was born in Hamilton and was the “GOOD GUY” of the
wrestling world back in my youth. He was in fact the “Hero” that fought the
“Evil” of Waldo Von Erich. In real life they were close friends and worked in
the wrestling promotion and teaching profession until their passing.
The news
of Von Erich’s death brought back so many good memories of attending the fights
with my dad. We used to laugh so hard at the little old ladies that dumped
their drinks on the heads of the “bad guys” as they exited the ring to go back
to their dressing rooms. It was reported that Von Erich and I’m sure other “Bad
Guy” stars of wrestling had to hide in the trunks of others wrestler’s cars in
order to be driven safely out of the arenas and stadiums they had performed in.
This was done to protect them from the fans that “hated” them and wanted to
exact revenge on them for “cheating” in the ring and using vile acts to win
over the good guys on any given evening. That is IF it was the “Bad Guy’s” turn
to win the match! LOL!
You can
just imagine how hated Waldo Von Erich was as he strutted around the ring in
his Nazi uniform. He would do so while raising his right arm and shouting “Hile
Hitler” (not sure of the spelling of Hile) and marching around the ring doing
the German “Goose Step”. The fans would go wild with hatred and Waldo loved it.
The idea of the “villain” of wrestling was to stir up the fans so they
literally hated the bad guys and of course this brought them out by the
millions over the years to watch these matches. I used to love the action and
so did my dad. It was one of the best things I remember doing with my dad and
I’ll be forever grateful to the “Good Guys” and “Villains” of professional
wrestling of those early days. They weren’t paid anywhere near the money of
today’s big stars but they sure did have the fans!
I
dedicate this “Ontarion” to my Dad who showed me how to enjoy the entertainment
aspect of Professional Wrestling and in doing so bonded with me on a one on
one, father son night out! Thanks Dad!
That’s it
for this week!
Thanks
for tuning in and I look forward to talking to you all again next week in The
Ontarion Report!
Bye for now… Greg.
PS:
Something To Think About>
How many
of you attended “Wrestling” back in the early days of the sport? Where did you
see these entertaining events?
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Greg’s Sonny’s pictures from last week posted to the web…
http://www.thedougsite.net/Greg/sonny.htm
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Have a good one..
the doug
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