Tragically Hip concert, so emotional ...

Still buzzing after last night’s concert performance by the Hip. It’s hard to say exactly how great it felt to be with friends to see the final show on CBC. Claudette and I had planned to go to the special concert broadcast in the park in Timmins, but we were at a family gathering of sorts at Marie and Moe’s place. Had a great dinner and then the rain came. It poured and poured. We all moved to the rec room. There was easily 30 people in the room and when the concert began, we were pumped. The concert was everything we expected and more. Especially when they opened with Fifty Mission Cap, the story of Timmins hockey great Bill Barilko.  When Gord Downie began singing Fiddler’s Green, I could barely believe it. Fiddler’s Green refers to folklore about a better life in the afterlife … like he was facing his own mortality and having the courage to sing about it. I was in tears! The best part was being in the room with people who truly enjoyed the concert. I will never forget last night. 

I use it every day!

At first glance, it looks like a cute little twin-lens reflex camera.  On closer inspection it is a very clever little pencil sharpener with a unique design. Jenn got this for me at Christmas and at first I thought it would be an ornament on my desk. I use pencils every day and I am fussy about them being sharp. So yes, I use this neat thingy every day and I am glad to have it. Who thinks up stuff like this?

In praise of home cooked food ...

We’ve had some hot weather in Timmins lately. Hot enough that it saps my appetite and I do indeed lose interest in cooking. It is so much easier to order a pizza or grab some take-out burgers. So it was quite a treat this weekend when Claudette outdid herself with a fabulous roast beef dinner. Potatoes, carrots, home bottled beets, fresh bread and even horse radish. (Wow, the beets were amazingly tasty.) It was made even better by a bottle of Pinot Noir. So of course we could not eat it all. Sunday night rolled around and the beef dinner became beef stew. How could I say no!

Just stuff...

The Olympics have become interesting to watch because so many Russian athletes have been banned from participating. I wonder if this will become an issue at some point in the future, when people claim that the games are no longer truly representative of the world’s best because so many missing athletes cannot compete. On the other hand, I wonder if the IOC will at some point declare all the Russian medals won at Sochi in 2014 to be null and void because of the doping scandal uncovered by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).

It is sad to think that this is what international sport has become.

I sat down last Friday and told myself how much I like Northern Ontario. That’s because I was with my friend Claudette at a pre-wedding celebration in Sudbury, sitting in a backyard, with several other folks just enjoying their company, although I had not met most of them before. I could have been in any backyard in Timmins or Kirkland Lake or Chapleau on a summer evening. I like to think that Northern Ontario folks are especially relaxed and welcoming. Anyway, the weather was warm, a light breeze kept the bugs away and the people were just so friendly.

I am getting more concerned about Donald Trump, his comments, his attitude and his seemingly unstable personality. I was especially disturbed by his comment that Second Amendment enthusiasts (right-to-bear-arms advocates) might to be able to take care of Hilary Clinton and her choice of Supreme Court judges. Wow, that is a bizarre comment. Absolutely bizarre.