June 24, 2010
comment 0

Algoma Central 69

Have you ever been on the ACR? East Texas Red and I rode it a few years back with a couple packs and a canoe for a trip down the Sand River.

This song is by Stompin Tom Conners. Here are the lyrics:

She's on a bar hoppin spree back in Sault Ste. Marie,
Because of me she's now fallen star.
She could  have been true, but I left her in the Soo,
& I travelled north upon the ACR
Chorus:
But if it's go home or be a roamer I've made up my mind
So take me home tonight Algoma Central 69
I was workin one day when I heard this fella say
he met my girl while drinkin at the bar
Though we fought between us two, still he swore that it was true-
Now I curse that day I rode the ACR
Chorus: But if it's go home or be a roamer, I've made up my mind..
Solo
Though it might be in vain, here I wait for the train,
I hope it's not too late to right the wrong
When she rolls around the bend, we'll be southbound again,
C'mon old ACR wheels move along.
First Verse:

She's on a bar hoppin spree, back in S. S. Marie,
Because of me she's now a fallen star
She could have been true, but I left her in the Soo,
& I travelled north upon the A.C.R.-
Chorus:

Here's Mr. Connors:

The Algoma area was painted extensively by the Group of Seven. Here's a pair of videos about the Group and the ACR.


And here's a video about the trip from Hearst to the Soo.
June 24, 2010
comment 1

Story idea…

OK. The leaders of Canada, Russia, the United States, France, Japan, the UK, Italy and Germany show up in Huntsville Ontario for the G8. They decide to go on a fishing trip in Algonquin Park. CSIS hires some local First Nation fishing guides and off they go in Canoes. All the secret service guys paddle canoes while dressed in black suits with earpieces. The leaders of Italy and France are paired in one canoe, and they get involved in an ugly canoe jousting match over who has the best soccer team. Canada and Russia are in a canoe together and it seems the Russians are still bitter about Paul Henderson’s 1972 winning hockey goal. Mayhem ensues. Meanwhile, the blackflies are fierce and the secret service guys lose the DEET…. to be continued.

June 24, 2010
comments 7

Yesterday (wtf?)

I’ve lived in the greater Toronto area for all of my 49 years, and yesterday marked the first time I experienced an earthquake. It wasn’t a big earthquake, but an earthquake it was. I was sitting at a desk and the whole floor rumbled twice. It was a strange feelings. Some people felt nothing, but in some areas, such as in Ottawa, buildings were evacuated.

Then a nasty storm hit Midland. On the radio this morning, I heard that the Tornado authorities had yet to declare it an official tornado. Ask the folks in the trailer park that got wiped out if it mattered to them if it was official or not. In my view the very fact that it hit a trailer park tells me it was a tornado for sure. After all, any old fool knows that trailer parks actually cause tornados.

Meanwhile the G8 leaders are on their way to beautiful Huntsville. I wonder if the black flies are still really active up there, or will they be mostly facing mosquitos? Maybe they won’t even go outside. They can look at pictures of Fake Lake on TV instead.

June 23, 2010
comment 0

You left enough clues to sink a ship…

Almost every day, somebody stumbles onto this blog after using the search term Columbo or Peter Falk. I wonder what they think when the get here? WTF? This isn’t a Colombo fan site. There are entire generations who have never heard of Columbo or Peter Falk for that matter, and yet every day, somebody enters that search term into an apparently good search engine and they come up with my little island in the sun. Go figure.

I believe I’ve only made one post about Columbo on this blog. It was back on October 19 and the post was titled What Happened? The post was about my realization that the fact that I know about Columbo may have earmarked me for crusty old fart-hood.

Maybe it’s the same person every day searching Columbo but doing so in order to get to 27th Street. But then again, if that person really wanted 27th Street, he or she could simply bookmark the page, or maybe simply search 27th Street. I’d like to use this opportunity to say that here at 27th Street, we like Columbo fans. If you’ve stumbled here by mistake, stay awhile. Can I get you a drink?

June 22, 2010
comment 1

Blast from the past department…

It’s folk music time again. I’ve been thinking about Ian Dury and the Blockheads.

I was pretty much a teen-age blues freak (OK I allowed Weird Bob, some folky dolky performers, and a few others into my little pantheon of good music) when along came Ian Dury and the Blockheads as well as a bunch of other British musicians like Nick Lowe and Elvis Costello and Dave Edmunds and those Clash guys to convince me that rock n’ roll was alive and well after all. Who knew? I think some of that music has really stood the test of time, particularly the Ian Dury material.

Anybody remember Billericky Dickie?

Sex and Drugs and Rock n’ Roll….is this the greatest ever rock n’ roll song?

OK, just one more…who can forget Spasticus Autisticus?

June 22, 2010
comments 3

The Comfort Food Diner

The Braise

It wouldn’t be a comfort food diner if there wasn’t a braise on the menu at all times. Although you can braise vegetables (braised cabbage for instance is fantastic), braising usually refers to cooking meat, in particular tough cuts of meat. The method involves first searing the meat at a high heat, then adding a cooking liquid and a few veggies such as onions and carrots and parsnips, and slowly simmering the concoction for a long time with the lid on. I recommend All About Braising by Molly Stevens as an excellent book on the subject.

My single favourite braise involves short ribs of beef and beer. It doesn’t get much simpler. Brown the short ribs with a little oil in your Dutch oven. Add enough beer to almost but not quite cover the short ribs.  Chop up an onion and a couple carrots and one potato and add them. Add a little Worcestershire Sauce, some dried thyme and basil, a pinch of hot chile flakes, and a little salt. Stir it about. Put the lid on, and put the pot in your oven at about 300F. Drink the rest of the beer, and perhaps crack open another for good measure.

In about an hour and a half, take the pot out of the oven and have a look, just to reassure yourself that you’re on the right track. Put it back in and go have another beer.  After about three hours, take the meat and veggies out of the pot and reduce the remaining liquid on the stove (if required) to make a fantastically concentrated sauce. Serve it up with big chunks of fresh crusty bread. To really jazz it up, sautee some wild mushrooms in butter and spoon the mushrooms over the short ribs when you serve.

June 21, 2010
comments 2

Underneath the Weather

Yesterday evening and much of today, I’ve been under the weather. This morning I felt sick to my stomach and decided to hibernate at home all day. I slept on the couch on and off all day. I must have logged six or seven hours of zeds (zees for my American friends). I still have low energy and a bit of a headache, but hopefully by morning, I’ll be back in business. See you then.

Meanwhile, here’s a very young Johnny Cash. Get Rhythm, friends.

June 19, 2010
comment 0

Go

Lately I haven’t played as much Go as I usually do. My habit has been to play about once each week with my friend Vox, but for one reason or another we haven’t managed to get together as often over the past couple months. So, it was good to get in a few games last night.

I found myself victorious in all four games, a condition I don’t see very often. I’d say we were both playing very well last night. The difference was in the battles. I think throughout the night I was able to get a little ahead in the local battles and left a number of his groups stranded and helpless. I’m not sympathetic though, as Vox has won more than he’s lost over the past few months.

Hopefully our schedules will allow us to settle back into a regular structure of weekly games. I’m convinced that regular play leads to good play with fewer big errors.

Filed under: Go