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Issue #1039
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From Russ

The Ontarion

Hi All,

A few years ago, the PBS network ran country music documentary series that was titled simply, ‘Country Music’. The series consisted of 8, 2-hr episodes and covered the history and evolution of country music from it’s beginnings in the 1920’s up to about the mid 1990’s. It was put together by Ken Burns, who did all those US national parks documentaries, and is narrated by Peter Coyote who’s voice most people recognize. I had watched the series when it came out on PBS, one episode per week and had thoroughly enjoyed it. In fact, I enjoyed it so much that I had purchased a copy which consisted of a box set of 8 DVDs. Once a winter, we drag it out and re-watch all the episodes as they track the life and careers of the various country artists. My personal interest in Country music spans most of the time period covered by the series but actually ends before the last episodes does as Country music lost me when it evolved into what was called ‘New Country’. I have never been able to listen to the ‘new’ or ‘modern’ product as it seems to have lost it’s way in it’s pursuit of whatever audience it seems to be trying to attract. I guess there are still a few country artists who pursue the traditional music but they are pretty scarce and few of them make it to the ‘big time’.

But that aside, the first episode starts with the roots music of the Black south which was called ‘Race’ music in those days. It moves on to the formation of what would become the Carter Family, and the rise of Jimmy Rogers, and the inevitable blending of the old time music with the Race music and the blues music and gospel music etc. As the stories unfold and new artists came along, the music evolved with them as it moves through the depression of the 30’s and becomes the Hillbilly sound of the south and mid west, being dominated by names like Hank Williams, Bill Monroe and so on. It then becomes the sound of the Honky Tonk establishments. Names like Johnny Cash and Elvis Presley begin to dominate with a ‘Rockabilly sound’, as does Patsy Cline. Included with some of the early video of Presley is some footage of one of his performances where the audience is mostly young girls, screaming and crying. That same footage has somehow and shamefully made it into a modern hamburger commercial where it shows people cheering about a ‘Wendy’s burger’. That just doesn’t seem right to me.

As you move up through the episodes, the stories of Loretta Lynn and Charlie Pride and others are told, as are the struggles many of the artists made. Many of the stories are told by other, later artists. The story of Nashville and the Grand Old Opry is intermixed with that of the county stars. The stories of the singing cowboy mixes in and influences the music. The stories of the old radio stations which were so important to the early music industry are told. As the episodes unfold, the blending of ‘old county’, ‘country’, ‘western’, ‘folk’, ‘blues’, ‘country swing’, ‘country and western’, ‘bluegrass’ is shown. The brightest shining stars all took the music in new directions. The Nashville producers and record companies all tried to take the music to wherever the profit was. The Bakersville sound took hold and put an edgy feel back into the music to offset the overly smothered sound that Nashville started to pushed. The outlaw movement took the sound of country music in a new, freer direction and opened the scene for artists that the Nashville establishment would not consider. And so on. There was constant struggle and evolution throughout.

Given that there are a total of 16 hr worth of very entertaining information and music, I could go on and on but there is really no point. The documentaries are a real treat for anyone who has any interest at all in the evolution of (North) American music and would be enjoyable to pretty well anyone who likes, or has at one time liked, music. If you get a chance to view the PBS series, County Music, do so. You won’t regret the time needed to watch the episodes, especially if you watch them over a period of time on those cold wet dark evenings. I’d lend you my box set but then I’d have to try to get it back and anyone who has ever lent out a book knows how that goes.

*

And in parting, given an over abundance of those cold wet dark evenings around here that I alluded to above, I’ve personally decided to request that the Weather Network change it’s name to the Nether Wetwork. It’s just somehow much more fitting.

doug

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From Russ

A bull in a china shop - that's my boy!

"He can do anything" - at least that's his reputation around these parts. A more accurate statement might be, "He can do anything, as long as it's something he likes to do" - and plumbing isn't one of them. But, he'll still 'give it a try'.

He's about the only one using the spare bathroom at my place these days, therefore it was he who discovered the puddle on the floor in front of the toilet the other day.

"Where's the water coming from?" he asked. I responded by making some weak joke about his "poor aim", and then said we'd better call a plumber.

"Nah - I'll have a look - it's probably something simple to fix", he said with confidence. I'm still thinking we'd better call a plumber, and I said so. Sometimes he doesn't hear - sometimes he ignores what's being said.

"Let me get some tools" he says (too late - he's 'into it!) In a short while he reports he needs a new part,

"Will the hardware stores be open today?" he asks. Not likely - it's Good Friday and everything in town will be closed.

"How about Amberly?" he asks. Yeah, they're open all the time - let's go. Amberly Store is a 'general store' and does stock almost anything one might need in a pinch. Sure enough he finds the part he thinks will do the job of stopping the leak.

We're back home, and about to start - "Better shut off the main water valve", I caution, in case he hadn't thought of that. He hadn't, so down to the basement he rushes, shuts the valve and comes puffing, back upstairs (He has both heart & breathing problems and should "take things easy and not rush")

Like most other toilets, mine is installed in a corner of the bathroom, leaving hardly enough room to breathe, let-alone work!

"Can't get the old part disconnected", he grunts "I've turned the shut-off so it won't leak any more" says he. We will have to call a plumber now, says I.

"Yeah - I'll give Ken a call" (My son Greg knows everyone in the small town of Ripley - he's lived there for 18 years!) He phoned Ken the plumber, and apparently told him, "There's a slow leak in the toilet at my Dad's place in Point Clark - we'd like you to have a look at it - there's no rush - anytime you're down his way was will do". That's the wrong thing to tell a plumber these days - they are all so busy with new installations - he may not get here in my lifetime!

Next morning (I do my washing on Saturday as it's a lower rate) I'm all ready to start, and as I approach the laundry......"OH NO!!" the floor is flooded - water everywhere!! I immediately phone Greg.

Good morning. How are you? We exchange 'niceties' - I'm OK, but we've got a flood in the laundry room (which adjoins the bathroom, where commeth the water).

"Be right down!" and he was. (doing the 10 miles in ten minutes!) Bettie made him bring sheets, towels, and blankets to absorb the water - good thinking on her part!)

Better shut the main water valve, I advise Greg. (otherwise, the water will keep on flooding the room)

"Oh, yeah" he responds while running down to the basement. He 'almost' runs back up - is breathing hard and has to stop on the way up. He does everything in 'high gear' as he grabs things and puts them anywhere up-out-of the water (most things fall back down to the wet floor as he's doing everything in great haste!) When he's 'on-a-role' we don't dare talk to him, but I don't want him to carry the dripping-wet stuff through my kitchen to hang it onto the deck-rail to drip dry.

Open the side door and put wet things out onto that railing I caution- and don't forget ...R I P P!!! to open the sliding screen first. Too late! He's pushed a table loaded with stuff through the screen!! Angry at himself, he took his feelings out on the poor screen door, and I won't have a sliding screen-door anymore!! More haste - more waste! Now, we can watch a bull in a china shop in action! But I must admit, he did a good job of mopping-up the water. Water that would not have been present had he let me call a plumber in the first place!

I was not home when the plumber arrived (and surprise, surprise, he came the next day!) I don't know how much his bill will be, but, you can bet it will be high. We never did use the new, part I bought. The floors are now dry. Everything is back in place. It is peaceful again in Point Clark.

Russ.

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THE ONTARION REPORT

Hello everyone!

I’m sure you all are as surprised as I am to see that the 2” of snow we had earlier in the week have disappeared once again! Let’s hope that was the last blast of winter for this year! I can remember way back in the late 70’s when we had snow on our tulip garden in the month of May! I guess anything is possible when it comes to late spring snowfalls! I’m just glad we’ve seen the last of the snow for this year, I hope! Oh well, Mother Nature is full of surprises isn’t she!

Speaking of surprises, I was climbing the stairs to go up to bed on Tuesday evening and got almost to the top step when my foot slipped off the step and I took a wild fall from the top to the bottom of the steps and flipped over the railing and landed on my back on the main floor of the hallway below! Both Carole and Adam helped me to my feet and I thought I’d broken my back! Instead I have a very soar back about midway between my waist and my shoulder blades! With the help of Carole taping an ice pack to my back it seems to be getting slowly better this past two days! I’ll just have to be patient and careful not to overdo things for a while until it has healed up! I guess I’ve just badly twisted the back muscles and bruised my back with the fall. It feels like someone sticking a knife in my back when I turn the wrong way or try to reach for something too quickly! It’ll likely take a week or so for this injury to get back to normal for sure! I guess I got lucky not to have broken anything in the fall. They say old people have brittle bones but mine seem to be still in good shape strength-wise! I’ve proven that after the couple of hard falls I’ve take over the past year! I’m sure I’ll be more mindful of my steps from now on! I’ll have to remember that I’m no longer in my 20’s while working and walking around the house. Although I don’t feel like an old fart most days I guess I’m sort of one when it comes right down to it! LOL!

I sure am looking forward to the warm weather after this last blast of winter. It seems that winter has lasted much longer this time around and everybody is hoping for a nice warm spring and a hot summer this year. I know that I am for sure! I haven’t seen any convertibles out and about this year so far but there are loads of motorcycles on the streets for sure. I can’t wait to get the MGB on the road again and enjoy a top-down cruise through the countryside. This coming week is supposed to be hitting the mid 20’s in temperatures so I may just pull the MG out on the first nice day and get her ready to hit the road. When Adam and I attended a car show and swap meet last weekend, there were quite a few little British cars at the show with their tops down. However, the temperature that day only hit around the 8 degree C mark and the occupants of those top-down British cars were well bundled up as they drove to and from the car show. It was good to see the first car show of the season and that of course was a first sign of Spring and more car shows to come!

The largest British car show of the year is in Bronte Park Oakville in September and of course it’s been cancelled this past two years due to the Covid problem! It’ll be great to see that it’s back on for this September. I received an email from the coordinator of that show telling me that it is indeed on again for this year! Hopefully Adam will have his Cooper S all finished and on the road for this summer so that we can attend the Bronte show with both his Cooper and our MGB together for the first time! The show is usually attended by over a thousand British vehicles and many more spectators than there are cars! If you like British sports cars, this is a terrific show to attend as most of the vehicles are from the 60’s and 70’s so they don’t all look alike, like the cars of these modern times. It’s hard to tell one Toyota from most other Japanese cars these days and they really don’t produce what I would call a “Sports Car” style vehicle any more. At least not like they did back in the Mid-20th century! Cars were more fun and better looking in my opinion back then! I’m glad to see that there are still car enthusiasts that are maintaining the sports cars of yesteryear so those sporty memories still exist for those of us who were involved with such cars back then! As long as I’m still kickin’ I’ll be enjoying such car shows as well as driving our MGB on the warm summer days ahead!

The MG gives us something to look forward to even if the Covid-19 crap is still around for a few more years! At least we can enjoy the fresh open air by driving the country roads with the top down on our LBC! (Little British Car).

Like Doug and Sue enjoying the open road and fresh air on their motorcycle, we do so in the MG and it’s worth keeping it in good shape so we can enjoy this activity for years to come!

Well, I think 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 time in The Ontarion Report!

Bye for now … Greg

PS: Something to Think About>

Do you have a favourite vehicle in you past that you’d like to tell us about? If so, please don’t be shy, write about it and send the write up to Doug so we can all enjoy hearing about it!

I know that Karl has some interesting vehicular history that he might tell us about! And also some pictures of said vehicles he might send for our enjoyment!

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Have A Good One
The Fine Print!
The articles in these issues are the sole property of the persons writing them and should be respected as such.