November 10, 2009
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Police to search thousands of residences

“There will be a large presence of police in your neighbourhood. You will expect a knock at your door and police will keep knocking at your door,” Det. Sgt. Dan Nealon told a news conference Monday morning. “We’re also asking to be invited into your home just for a quick peek into areas of your home to ensure that there is no evidence in relation to this case with respect to you and we can move on.”

Police and public alike want to find out what happened to now 18 yr old Mariam Makhniashvili, who was last seen back on September 14. The police representative I heard on the radio early this morning said that they didn’t have any specific evidence or leads behind their latest tactic to knock on thousands of doors. They’re going back to the area of the disappearance and they’re looking at everything again.

I’m troubled, though, that police are asking to search homes without any cause. The fellow on the radio understood that some people might not like this. He said that if people refused to allow a search, they would have to consider why. In other words, if people want the police to observe their rights, those individuals might be subject to further investigation. The message is that we have rights and freedoms unless something serious happens. Then it’s OK to use extraordinary means, to forget the rules just for this one time.

I think if we are going to change the rules, it has to be done through legislation. That said, if the police came knocking, I think I would simply let them in. Still, I feel very uneasy about the whole business. We’re starting down an ugly path here.

 

November 9, 2009
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Got you covered

The recent posts I made on Songs about Cars were a lot of fun, so I thought I’d follow them up by checking out some cover tunes. I did a series of posts back on the old blog called Got you Covered. I’m going to revive that format here and do some occasional posts featuring cover tunes that turn my crank for various reasons.

Right now I have the Steve Earle tribute album to the late Townes Van Zandt in my car CD player. If you haven’t heard it, and you like Townes, I think you’ll enjoy this CD a lot. Townes Van Zandt wrote some of the most gut-wrenching sad tunes I’ve ever heard. Here’s Steve Earle performing live what may be the saddest of them, Marie. If you’d like a comparison, here’s Townes playing the same tune. Here’s Steve Earle and his son, Justin Townes Earle playing another Van Zandt tune, Mr. Gold + Mr. Mudd.

On more of a rock ‘n roll note, here’s another favourite cover, Johnny Winter playing Bob Dylan’s Highway 61 Revisited. There are countless covers around of Bob Dylan tunes. Another one I really like is the late R.L. Burnside’s version of Everything is Broken. Burnside was a tremendous bluesman. Here’s a Bob Dylan alternate version of his own tune.

The question of the day – What are your favourite cover songs? In the coming weeks, I’ll share a bunch more of mine.

November 9, 2009
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Smitherman to Run

To all those readers from outside the Toronto area, thanks for your patience with my occasional posts about local politics. How can I not comment on the news that Deputy Premier George Smitherman is resigning his post to seek the office of Mayor in the municipal elections here next fall. Smitherman is the first “big name” to declare in a race that will be wide open since Mayor Miller has announced he will not be seeking a third term.

As interesting as it is to see Smithman throw his hat into the ring, it will be equally interesting to see how the Premier McGuinty handles the huge gap created in his government with Smitherman’s resignation. Smitherman is reknowned as the “get things done” guy in the McGuinty camp. These are challenging days for McGuinty on the heels of the ugly e-Health scandal. I’m very interested to see how he handles the departure of Smitherman. So far, not much of the scandal has stuck to Smitherman, who used to be the health minister. Now that he has poked his neck out and made a move to run, know that his opponents will look for every possible way to link him to the tremendous waste of money we now associate with e-Health.

The next question will be around who else is going to run. Candidates have until March to declare, but I think few will wait that long. What about John Tory? He’s positioned himself well as the new “drive home” radio host on Newstalk 1010, where he can lay out his positions every day and give people an opportunity to get to know him over and over again.  I’m not convinced that Tory will run, but we should have a better idea in the coming weeks.  Who else? I’m betting there will be some candidates emerge from Council, but I don’t think any of them have a prayer of winning.

November 8, 2009
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A Beautiful Day to BBQ

Fantastic weather today – sunny and almost warm – a perfect day for yard work, and for bbq. I decided to make smoked turkey legs, and here’s how I go about it.

First make a brine. I used water, loads of salt, some soy sauce and loads of crushed red peppers. Some people use sugar in their brines, but I don’t think it’s necessary. Pour the brine over the turkey legs and let them sit as long as you can.  I’ve seen recipes that call for the turkey to sit in the brine for upwards of a day, but I don’t think it’s necessary to leave it that long. If you only have two or three hours, so be it.

Prepare the smoker. I use a Big Green Egg smoker. We use this for all our BBQ. We’ve had it for several years and I swear by it. I’ve never done this with a gas grill. Gas grills are a mystery to me. I know some people get good results with them, but I’ll take charcoal any day. I set up indirect heat with the grill over a drip pan and a temperature of about 200 F. I used plenty of damp hickory chips for additional smoke.

Take the turkey legs from the brine. Rinse them in cold water and pat them dry with paper towel. I then apply copious amounts of my favourite bbq rub before putting the legs on the grill. I removed the skin prior to smoking. You can smoke the legs with skin if you air dry them first. Otherwise you won’t get a nice texture on the skin.

Turn the legs every hour or so. I had mine in the smoker for about 5  hours. Some people baste them after two or three hours but if your temperature is low enough, the legs remain very juicy and it really isn’t necessary.

While they turkey smokes, work around the yard, maybe have a cold beer, talk to the neighbours, walk the dog…all this knowing dinner is going to be fantastic.

November 6, 2009
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All in a name

Some readers here may be interested in a post I made this evening at SqueezeMyLemon, a blues blog I contribute to. It’s all about the importance of a good blues name. A good lesson to up and coming blues players is that you can make up your very own blues name. Just follow these rules:

Start with the name of a physical problem of some sort, like blind, lame, cripple, shaky, whatever one you like.

Add the name of a fruit, like lemon or lime or pommegranite or grapes.

Add the last name of a United States President.

A good real life example is Blind Lemon Jefferson.

If I started playing blues on my squeezebox and needed a good name, I might be:
Limpy Banana Nixon or Clubfoot Grapefruit Garfield or Stiff-neck Apples Carter. Ok, it needs a little work. Back to the drawing board.

November 6, 2009
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Chuck’s Sticks

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With Memphis in the back seat, this morning I drove to Guelph to visit my friend Chuck. We used to work together until he retired a couple years ago. Now Chuck is in the walking stick business. He fashions sticks he finds along the Eramosa river into what he calls “Urban Survival Sticks”

These walking sticks have metal points and a compass embedded in the butt. As well, they unscrew apart revealing a cavity where he has stashed a little package containing sterile bandage, strike anywhere matches, an alcohol swab, water purification tablets, safety pins, part of a space blanket, cotton swabs and a utility blade. 25 meters of string are wrapped around the body of the stick. Each stick also has a leather strap, with a wooden whistle attached.

Chuck’s sticks are handsome, fashioned with care and attention to detail, and very handy in the woods. I have one that I’ve been using while mushroom hunting.

Chuck and I went for a nice walk along the Eramosa, accompanied by Memphis and Chuck’s 12 yr old Golden Retriever, Champ. The dogs had a ball. Memphis of course went for several swims in the river. Chuck also canoes and fishes in the river. It’s a very nice place.

While in Guelph, I visited the Biltmore Hat factory. Biltmore have been Canada’s master hatters since 1917, and are known all over the world. I checked out the factory outlet. Good thing my buddy Stagg wasn’t with me or we’d still be in the shop. They had some excellent lids there. Here’s an excellent article from the Toronto Star on Biltmore Hats. All I bought was a nice toque for winter, but believe me I could spend some money in that place. While I shopped, Memphis snored in the back seat of the car, dreaming of Champ and the river.

When we got home, Memphis went for another nap and I did some grocery shopping. My object was to make a nice beef stew, which is slowly cooking away in a Dutch oven as I write this. It smells really great.

November 6, 2009
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Siting

Tuffy P was out walking Memphis early this morning (still dark), and saw something whitish up in a tree. Closer examination revealed a barn owl, sitting in the tree, looking about for breakfast. We see a lot of birds around 27th street, but this is our first owl.

November 5, 2009
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Is this silly?

I’m sure most readers of my generation are more than familiar with the 70s rock ‘n rollers BTO or Bachman Turner Overdrive.  Some of course will also remember Randy Bachman’s role in The Guess Who. Some younger readers may only know Randy Bachman from his excellent CBC radio show, Vinyl Tap.

Well, Randy Bachman and Fred Turner plan to play together again, as Bachman Turner Union. Former bandmates from BTO, Bachman’s brother Robin and Blair Thornton have their knickers in a knot about this, claiming the rights to the Bachman Turner name have long ago been signed away. Even if this is the case, is it possible sign away the rights to using your own names?

Randy Bachman must be plenty frustrated at this point. After all, when he plays with Burton Cummings, they can’t use the name The Guess Who, and now he and Turner may not be able to use their own names. Nevermind the importance of Bachman’s artistic role in both outfits.  What did Robin Bachman and Blair Thornton do again? Maybe Randy Bachman and Fred Turner should get together with Burton Cummings and tour the country under a new name – for instance, Prince and the Revolution. Har!

This is a lesson for other combos out there. Be very careful around all rights issues. There’s always somebody who wants to eat your lunch.