February 4, 2010
comments 16

What was the first record you ever owned?

Ok, I know I’m showing my age here. For those of you who don’t know what I’m talking about, records were those curious vinyl items used to play music before mp3s and before CDs, back when dinosaurs roamed the earth. When I was a little kid, my father came home with a record player for me. It was a previously loved item he bought from Ross’s junk store in the Junction. It was one of those record players that required you to place a penny or perhaps even two pennies on top of the tone arm to weigh down the needle so it didn’t skip over grooves in the record. He also brought me my first ever record. I remember it clearly. It was a 78 from the 40s called Walking the Floor Over You by Earnest Tubb. Here’s Mr. Tubb performing the tune live.

I still remember the lyrics. I listened to that record over and over. Maybe that’s why I still have such an affection for old time country music.

The next record I added to what would eventually become a bit of a collection was by Burl Ives. It was a 331/3 recording. I don’t recall the title of it, but it had on it Mr. Ives version of the great hobo tune, Big Rock Candy Mountain.

I think that song dates back to the 20’s. It may have been penned by Harry McClintock AKA Haywire Mac. The song was all about hobo paradise, where you go after you board the Wabash Cannonball I guess.

In the Big Rock Candy Mountains
There’s a land that’s fair and bright
Where the handouts grow on bushes
And you sleep out ev’ry night
Where the boxcars are all empty
And the sun shines ev’ry day
Oh, I’m bound to go where there ain’t no snow
Where the rain don’t fall and the wind don’t blow
In the Big Rock Candy Mountains.

Oh, the buzzin’ of the bees in the cigarette trees
‘Round the whiskey fountains
Where the lemonade springs and the bluebird sings
In the Big Rock Candy Mountains

In the Big Rock Candy Mountains
You never change your socks
And little streams of alcohol
Come a-tricklin’ down the rocks
The hobos there are friendly
And their fires all burn bright
There’s a lake of stew …and whiskey, too
You can paddle all around ’em in a big canoe
In the Big Rock Candy Mountains.

Oh, the buzzin’ of the bees in the cigarette trees
‘Round the whiskey fountains
Where the lemonade springs and the bluebird sings
In the Big Rock Candy Mountains

I’ve also heard a version that talks about “a jerk that invented work” Har!

February 3, 2010
comments 6

How come….

Gyms always seem to blast dance music. So many people come equipped to plug their favourite music directly into their skulls, it seems like its mostly an irritant. Some of us would prefer no music at all. Some folks are even ok going through their lives, including their workouts without dance music. I’m one of those. Now it might be different if the dance music we were talking about featured polkas, schottisches, huapangos, waltzes, two-steps, paso-dobles, fandangos and on and on. Last night I went swimming only to find that annoying dance music was being pumped into the pool area. I confess I looked around to see if there was a discreet way of disabling it.

February 2, 2010
comments 8

That time of winter…

It seems that every year about this time, knowing full well we have plenty of winter left, I start thinking about spring activities. Recently, I’ve started to consider possible places to look for morels. I’ve been thinking further ahead too, about other mushrooms I might find in our local woods later in the season. Right now, I’m adding to my mycological knowledge by reading Michael Kuo’s 100 Edible Mushrooms.

At the same time the morels will appear in Ontario, trout will become interested in mayflies like the Ephemerella subvaria – the Hendrickson – and others. Soon I’ll clear the accumulated junk from my tying desk and sit down to tie a few dozen trout flies to imitate these little bugs. I wonder how my river will look in the spring. Each year its just a little bit different. Pools and runs change. Spots that have held good trout for years suddenly don’t look so good and other spots, apparently barren previously,  now look very trouty indeed. I always look forward to those first two or three times out at my favourite stretches, getting to know the river again, getting to know the new spots, smelling the river and the forest, taking it all in.

Meanwhile, I’ve shovelled snow exactly once this year and I could have just as easily accomplished it with a broom. The last week or two has been cold, but where is the snow?

February 1, 2010
comments 2

Coyote Attack

Saturday, two coyotes attacked a dog near Bluffers Park in Scarborough. For those not from around these parts, Scarborough is a suburb to the east of Toronto and Bluffers Park is parkland along Lake Ontario. The owner of the dog fought off the coyotes as they bit her dog.

Normally, we don’t even see coyotes around the city, much less hear about attacks. This last year though, there have been a number of sitings, including in Colonel Sam Smith Park, just down the street from Anchovy World Headquarters, and also along the Etobicoke Creek valley.

I haven’t seen the coyotes in our park, but I know they’re around. If I take Memphis out into the park late at night, I carry a hardwood walking stick with me, just in case. Hopefully Memphis is big enough that her size would deter a coyote, but still I try to be careful.

January 31, 2010
comments 9

Swimming

I recently took advantage of a deal through my workplace for a gym membership. I did so because this particular outfit has a gym near me that has a nice pool and the cost was reasonable and I decided it was time I did some swimming. I started last week, and I’m aiming to swim three, maybe four times per week. That will likely mean I’ll manage to do it two, maybe three times, but hey I have a goal.

I remembered from the last time I had a gym membership that I would have to endure a sales pitch or two – for personal trainers, special programs, classes, supplements and so on. This place was no different. I called them up for an orientation (so I could find the change room). They wanted to do an assessment. In my experience, assessments are sales tools. I said no thanks, I’m really mostly interested in swimming. But we could give you tips? Thanks but I don’t need tips. I know how to swim. Have you considered strength training? Right now I mostly want to swim. You should consider strength training. We have excellent personal trainers. Thanks, but…. If you don’t want an assessment, I’m going to have to ask you to sign this paper saying you refused. Can’t I just refuse? No, you have to sign the paper. I signed the paper.

A few days later I received a phone call at home from the gym. Is there a problem with my membership? No, not at all. I just wanted to ask you if you’d like to set up an appointment for an assessment. Um, I’ve had this conversation. I mostly want to swim. Swimming can be an excellent part of a well-balanced program. We can talk to you about that. Look, the only person who is going to do any physical assessment on me is my doctor. Oh, does your doctor work out custom programs for you? Look, I mostly want to swim.

Grrrr.

I’m enjoying the swimming. I’ve been doing laps, alternating each lap from one stroke to another. When I get tired, get out of the pool and do some Chi Kung (pick your spelling) movements I learned years ago when I practiced Tai Chi. Then back in the pool for more laps, followed by a few minutes in the sauna and to the showers and home.

January 30, 2010
comments 3

Lunch on Ossington

I found myself filled with memories as we drove with friends up Ossington Ave to Pizza Libretto for lunch. Look, there, I used to live in that storefront back in the 80s. Yeah, right in the store. It used to be a hardware store and had pegboard walls. We made a little kitchen and had a couple painting studios. It was good.

King, a husky that ruled the neighbourhood used to get on the bus right there every day, go up two stops and then get off. The storefront church with the rockin gospel music was right there. There used to be a Vietnamese tough guy who parked his car right there in front. It was a Monte Carlo with mag wheels and a jacked up back end and the words Monte Carlo painted on the trunk. And the Portuguese bakery, look it’s still there. Up there, that’s where Mendelson Joe lived. Sometimes he would sit on the stoop and play the guitar. Up there around the corner. I remember the Lakeview when it was a real old-school diner, before it was designed and redesigned into a retro vintage old-school diner.

Now Ossington is home to trendy galleries and restaurants (I hardly recognized parts of the street) and Pizza Libretto is one of them. Nice design, nice menu, very good pizza with a unique crust, and fabulous, fabulous bruschette.

January 29, 2010
comments 5

He’s Adam Giambrone and he thinks he’s ready

Many Torontonians have either seen or heard about Adam Giambrone’s “I’m ready” YouTube video, strongly hinting that he will announce a mayoralty bid on Monday. It has received a lot of attention on radio stations, mostly making fun of how bad it is. Is he just funning us, or is he serious about running for Mayor? After all, Councillor Giambrone, who runs the Toronto Transit Commission, just finished apologizing to riders for poor customer service. Apparently there is a new focus now and things are going to get better. He is the Councillor who pushed the narrowing of Lansdowne Ave in the west end, something that still gets my hackles up.  You may remember all the construction. Or perhaps you’ll remember the yellow signs up and down the street screaming “Giambrone don’t narrow Lansdowne”. Or maybe you’ll remember the residents fighting the City’s effort to cut down 30 year old trees to make room for newly designed trees.  As the guy in charge of the TTC, Giambrone has to take responsibility for the problems around the TTC right-of-way construction along St. Clair, a project that divided the neighbourhoods then dragged on for years longer than planned.

If Giambrone runs, I wonder what he’s thinking? He’s known as a “left” or “NDP” candidate, and it is true that is a popular position in Toronto. Still, there is another candidate on the left, well-respected veteran Councillor Joe Pantalone, who will certainly gain some measure of support. Maybe Giambrone thinks support for George Smitherman is soft, or will be split with Rocco Rossi? Maybe he expects an endorsement from outgoing Mayor David Miller? Who knows.

Although I’m not a Giambrone supporter, I welcome his participation in the Mayoralty race and wish him luck. I think it’s healthy to have a good variety of candidates. Also, if a Councillor runs for Mayor, he or she can’t be running for Council at the same time, and we need some change at City Council. It’s very hard to unseat an incumbent in this City, so I like the idea of some empty seats out there to be contested. In fact I’d like to urge all the do-nothing Councillors out there to launch a Mayoralty bid. Make a video. Maybe I’ll even publish it here.