The Squamidian Report – May 21 / 16
Issue #730
Including:
The Ontarion
Hi All,
Well, I had said I'd let you know how that gondola anniversary gig that
I played at while half deaf went, so, I am. It went good. I must admit
I was a bit apprehensive because the deaf ear issue had not yet cleared
up and I had no control over the PA system that was being used but that
worked out ok. That PA system has big stage monitors and the people who
set it up and use it seem to like the monitors set very loud. In fact,
they were so loud I could have been deaf in both ears and still hear
myself sufficiently.
It worked out well to use their system because there were 4 bands
booked for the afternoon and in order to avoid total kayos, they all
used the same system. Can you imagine if all 4 bands tried to bring up
their own equipment and set it up, just wouldn't work. As well, the
members of those bands seem to be interchangeable and some are part of
each other's band. They are all part of the local 'inner' circle that
really doesn't care much for outsiders. Outsiders like me. The owner of
the sound system was a bit suspicious and even a bit prickly with the
fact that I'd somehow managed to weasel in on what he considers 'his'
territory, that being anything with live music open to the public in
this town. Kind of silly. And although I had nothing to do with it,
ironically, I was the one who's picture turned up in the local
newspaper as the local musician playing at the celebration. Cool.
The other challenge I had to deal with was the fact that I've still got
a lingering cough from the pneumonia. I found that if I took a big
breath, which is normal when trying to do vocals, I'd set off a
coughing spell but if I took numerous small breaths I could generally
get by so thats how I had to do it. OH, there was one more challenge.
It was got awful hot. Thats exhausting. That was also the last of our
hot weather. We had had way too much of it for this time of year but
now we are back to west coast normal and thats a good thing.
They had given me a half hour time frame to work with. Because I was
doing my locally inspired original numbers, I wanted to do the ones
that fit the occasion best and chose 7 songs. In order to fit them into
the short 30 minute window I had to make good use of every one of those
minutes. A bit of talking was necessary to explain each song and I kept
that to the bare minimum. I left out any instrumental breaks and
unnecessary repeats of choruses that you'd normally use to stretch out
each number, and managed to come in at almost exactly 30 minutes. They
asked for 30, I gave them 30. I'd have liked to have had a bit longer
but thats ok. I was part of the anniversary.
*
It is very frustrating how things just don't last
anymore these days. They wear out quickly or just plain fall
apart. And of course we don't fix anything any more, we just throw it
out and buy a new one. Thats the situation I found myself in this week.
My belt broke. The one that has held my pants up for the last 15 years
or so. There just isn't any quality built into anything, nothing lasts.
So, I had to go down to the local Mark's and buy a new one. I hate new
stuff. This new belt is stiff and will take who knows how long to
conform to my shape, soften up, and to take on a 'memory' so to speak.
Sign of the times I guess.
And if it weren't for Greg's column, I would have been totally unaware
that this is a long weekend. You see, as retired persons, we don't get
long weekend, or holidays, or overtime or anything. Its a rip-off when
you thing about it. I'd have been wondering why there was so much
traffic on the roads. Now I know.
doug
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THE ONTARION REPORT
Hello everyone!
Guess what, it’s the May 2 – 4 weekend once again and it’s going to be
a beauty for sure according to the weather girl on CTV Kitchener! I’m
not sure but I think the past dozen or more May 2-4 weekends have been
cloudy if not cold and rainy at best and I used to blame that all on
Dave McDonald’s inability to predict a good one! LOL! I guess poor Dave
got the blame for every shitty bit of weather we experienced during his
career on CKCO so I sincerely hope he enjoys this weekend and all it’s
glory. It seems that everybody in KW winds up in Grand Bend for the
upcoming long weekend at one point or another in his or her life. I
know that most of the people under 25 years of age when I was under 25
years of age spent this weekend at or near the waters of Lake Huron and
the highest percentage of them were at “The Bend”!
When this spring weekend approaches each year
I tend to have one special year that comes to mind from my youth and my
memories of “The Bend”. Way back in 1972 I decided it was time for me
to treat myself to a brand spanking new vehicle so I blew the wad and
went out and purchased a beautiful new Elkhart Green Corvette 350 coupe
from Bennett “Chev Olds” on Hwy 24 in Cambridge. It sure was a beauty
and I managed to take delivery of it just two weeks before the May 2-4
weekend. I couldn’t wait to cruise the beach strip at The Bend in my
new machine. On the special weekend in the previous 5 years I had
always had a place to spend the night at The Bend since my friends “The
Copperpenny” played “The Colonial Hotel” every May 2-4 and would invite
me to stay in one of their cottages provided by the owners of the
Hotel. On this particular weekend though, I hadn’t made arrangements to
take them up on their generous offer. I called another buddy of mine
that I had been sharing rides to Mohawk College with as we both
attended that school in Hamilton as part of our apprenticeships in
Refrigeration. He agreed to accompany me in my new Corvette to spend
the weekend in Grand Bend as it was supposed to be a sunny and fun
filled time. We decided not to head to The Bend until Saturday morning
since we both had to work on Friday. We got down there around noon hour
and found a parking spot on the main drag and headed to The Colonial
for some lunch and a few beers. There was no fear of drinking and
driving in those days but if you did get stopped, you were either given
a ticket for $100.00 or had your keys taken away for 24 hours and that
was no big deal! So, after a hearty lunch and a pitcher of ale we
walked the strip for an hour and then jumped back into the Vette. We
cruised around until we managed to find my buddy Rich Wamil, the
keyboardist and singer for The Copperpenny. He was sitting out front of
a cottage on one of the side streets having a beer. We stopped and
joined him for a few more Golden Ales and a chat. I told him we hadn’t
found a place to spend the night and could he manage to put us up for
one night as we were staying in The Bend to watch his show that evening
at The Colonial. He said he was sorry but since I hadn’t let him know
in advance they were full up with other band members and their friends
and family. So we were on our own!
We thanked him for the cold ones and took a drive around the beach loop
and on up Hwy 21 to Goderich just to see what was happening up that
way. After spending a couple of hours up 21 to two other beaches, we
wound up back in The Colonial to have some supper and take in the show
by The Copperpenny for the evening. We staggered out of there after the
show at around 1:15am and got back into the Vette to head for home. We
drove about two blocks north on Hwy 21 from the Hotel and I decided I
didn’t want to and was in no shape to drive back to Kitchener. So I
wheeled into the Beer Store parking lot and parked in a quiet spot in
the empty lot to spend the night. We figured we’d just sleep until sun
up and then get breakfast and maybe cruise The Bend strip a while
longer and then head for home. We were just nicely off to sleep at
about 4am when we were rudely awakened by someone with a very loud
voice shining very bright lights in our faces and screaming “Put your
hands where we can see them and slowly get out of the car!” It was the
local OPP with their hands on their hips ready to draw their guns if
necessary and they were demanding we put our hands on the hood of my
new Corvette and spread our legs. Of course I didn’t want to put any
greasy fingerprints on the new paint but under the circumstances I
figured I’d better do what I was told! LOL! Brian, my friend started to
laugh and of course that got me laughing as well. The cops didn’t think
anything was funny and yelled at us to quiet down. I think their words
were “Shut the Hell Up!” Once we took their advice they came closer to
us and asked us what we were doing in the Beer Store parking lot so
late. I guess they had had reports of people breaking into a couple of
businesses in the area and thought we might be the “Perps”!
After they checked our “ID” and listened to our story of not
wanting to drive home after drinking all night, they let us off with a
warning and told us to be gone by sun up or be charged with
trespassing! We thanked them for their kind words and got back into the
car to finish our nap! We didn’t get much sleep from that point on but
at least we didn’t have to head for home. In the morning we found a
place to eat and didn’t feel much like spending any more time idling up
and down the strip so we took the cops advice and headed for home. It
was not a bad weekend after all and just look at the great story I have
to relate to this Long Weekend after all these years! Cool eh!
Doesn’t seem like a big deal now but it was sure an adventure when it
happened in the Spring of ‘72! Oh yeah, and Gordon Lightfoot’s
“Sundown” was the big hit that Spring and hearing that song brings back
many of the same memories!
Funny how music does that for you isn’t it?
One of these times maybe we’ll talk about different memories stirred by
different songs! I’m sure we can all relate to that, music and memories!
That’s it 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! Enjoy the Long Weekend!
Bye for now … Greg
PS: Something To Think About>
The biggest troublemaker you’ll ever have to deal with, watches you from the mirror every mornin’!
****
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.
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