Guilty pleasures

I watched a movie this week where the lead actor, John Travolta, was lighting a cigar. Oh my goodness, I suddenly stopped listening to the movie and just focused on the cigar. I LOVE cigars. I wish I could smoke one, but I am sure that if I did I would be so tempted to begin smoking again. Anyway, the scene in the movie was about 30 seconds long and you could tell that Travolta was really enjoying the moment. It is one of life's guilty pleasures to pick up a cigar and inhale that fabulous smell of dry, cured tobacco and to anticipate the first puff of smoke once you light it. And then the smoke is sweet and it lingers around your head and takes over your senses for a few minutes.  My mouth is watering at the thought of it. I think I am going to have a cigar ... on my 80th birthday.

One of those days ...

Today is one of those hot summer days that so many people enjoy. The sun was high in the sky and there was barely a breeze at noon, but I could hear kids out there shouting and playing despite the heat. I am betting the beach down by the lake was packed. I stayed in all day reading, except for a brief trip to the recycle bin. Oooh I could feel the heat beating down and I began to sweat within minutes of stepping outside. A couple of the older neighbour ladies were sitting in the shade, so I had to say Hello. Of course they were the kind of people who just loved this weather and the heat. Maybe there's something about getting older, that you get colder.  I don't know yet!
Well I have made a big jug of iced tea, and I was going to have fried chicken for supper, but to be honest I don't feel like cooking. Did I mention that I broke my Nestle boycott for one product? Yeah, I am not proud of it, but I like sweet iced tea. I looked all over for a non-Nestle product, but I found a non-sugar product called Nestea Zero, which I like very much. I mix it with my own ice tea and it is very refreshing. Oh yea, it also tastes quite nice with bourbon and a bit of lemon.

Happy July

July has been miserable so far in Timmins. It was cold last week ... so cold and rainy that everyone was wearing jackets. No worries, it will get better. I am thinking at least the bugs aren't bad. Here's something funny. Visited a house last week where there was a party. A good friend was coming through town, and she invited many of us out to see her. So I did. I always bring a few beers to enjoy and I always leave several behind. I figure it is a small gift for the party host. So I had my three drink limit after about four hours, and decided it was time to go home. All good, except I forgot that I had pulled out a brand new bottle of Muskol lotion (bug dope) and left it at the party. Arrghh. I hate that. I don't mind leaving the booze, but that bottle of Muskol cost $6! Am I cheap or what eh?
That reminds me... I have the camera-buying bug again. I have been checking out prices on new photo equipment. Some of the prices are pretty amazing. I am also looking at UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) that can carry a camera. Amazing stuff. Yup, drones are gonna be the hottest new thing.  A bit costly right now, just over $2,000 ... but I am watching the prices closely.

Back online with NYT

I was pleased today to sign up for another year with the New York Times, online edition. I first signed up back in 2011 and after many months, when I had gathered all the research I wanted, I quit. It works out to less than $3 a week.
Here's something interesting. The NYT has better archives about Canadian news than either the Globe and Mail or The Toronto Star. The Globe and the Star both began doing digital archives in the late 1980s. Their archives are pretty basic. The New York Times has incredible archives going back to the mid-1800s and they've been able to reproduce it in a nice PDF doc form. When I need to look something up about Canada, or even Timmins or Northern Ontario, I can search the archive and find what I need. Excellent! Below is a news clipping from the front page in 1928, when there was a disaster at the Hollinger Mine.

Concert season

Timmins is struggling with the fact that a lot of big name music acts don't bother coming here. The problem seems to be the fact that no one wants to buy tickets ahead of time and the promoters are not willing to take the chance of bringing in a big-name act without financial security of advanced sales. So a local committee has been formed to try to convince people to be more accepting. I agree with that. The Tragically Hip is performing in Kirkland Lake for two nights this week, and the concerts are sold out. Here's the thing. A lot of people will not pay $100 for a concert ticket but they will think nothing of going out of town, paying gas, paying hotel, paying restaurants etc to see a concert. I would rather go out to a great dinner with friends and then take in a nice concert right here in town. $100 would be a bargain!

Socks and suits

I mentioned I was in court last week. And the lawyers were there. Suits and socks. Did you know that it’s a fashion thing now to have loud colourful socks? Oh yeah! That’s the thing when you have to wear a suit now. So when you’re in court, you’ve got lots of time to look around. Sure enough, Toronto lawyer guy is wearing socks with big polka dots on them. Oh well, if that’s what you like, enjoy.

 

But then I noticed all these guys wearing suits that looked just so, so uncomfortable. I mean, the men’s fashion industry is just terrible. I know these people have to change things around every now and then make money, but holy moley, these new suits just suck. They may look pleasing to some people, but I think they look so uncomfortable to wear. I am sure I felt uncomfortable just looking at them. I dropped into a men’s store last week to check out some blazers. By mistake I grabbed a suit jacket, with my size, and tried it on. OMG it was terrible. The arms were so skinny and the armpits felt like they were up to my ears. I couldn’t possibly imagine wearing a suit jacket all day. The guy said it was the “European cut”. I mentioned that I thought we got rid of all the dumb stuff from Europe in the last war. The guy just looked at me. Blank. I don’t think he got it.

Anyway, I wore suits for years. Still have one, just in case somebody dies! LOL I am not being disrespectful to the courts. I like to wear a nice cashmere blazer, a crisply pressed shirt and my best jeans. I don’t have any loud socks. Just sayin’

Helicopters and Horses

It has been a crazy week for news in Timmins, but as I always tell the younger reporters, there is more news in Timmins than you can wish for. On Wednesday we learned there had been a break-in at Canadian Tire and that it was suspected an armed gunman was still inside the store. It created a huge response from local police and OPP. As it turned out, the guy who did the break-in got away minutes before police showed up, even though he was on the surveillance video.

Another story was a happy news story about our local firefighters were rescued a horse that fell into a mudhole in a gully. I was happy to be there and watch the rescue. And yes, at last word, the horse is okay.

My hands were shaking...

Okay some days, the news gets a little too intense. It happened on the weekend when a seriously disturbed young man set fire to a two-storey apartment house, while arguing with the Timmins police. The man was refusing to leave the house. He holed up in an upstairs room, while the fire burned and the smoke grew thicker. After several minutes, he opened the window and decided to get out. I thought, holy crap, he's going to jump. I didn't like watching this, but I knew I had to photograph it. I felt ill and my hands were shaking. As it turned out, he jumped onto the little porch roof at the left. After several more minutes, police were able to convince him to climb down a ladder. The guy was arrested and charged with arson, among other things. I hope he gets some professional help.

Photo by Len Gillis ©

Waiting on my pears...

The doctor tells me I have to eat more fruit ... but nothing too sweet or sugary! What? Yeah, so he gave me a list of "good" fruits. Seems bananas are not on the good list, neither are grapes. I love grapes. So the other night, I closed the curtains and turned off my cell phone just in case. I ate some grapes. Oh god, they were so juicy and good. Now,  he says pears are good. I like pears. But you have to wait for pears to get just right, just when they're soft, and so juicy. I call it slooshy! So I am waiting. I bought these pears about five days ago. They're still hard, well not THAT hard. But I came home from work today just hoping to have them. They were not ready.  I figure sometime in the next day and half, they will be perfect. I can't wait!

Covering court

Spent a couple of days this week in court, covering police commission hearings, since our police chief was accused of improper conduct. It was all about a couple of traffic tickets and a member of city council. Here's the thing that worries me. There was very little news coverage of it since our local media companies are not willing to commit the time to sending their news people to cover local stories that requires some time and effort. The reporters are all great people. Young and hard working and willing to learn. Their bosses don't care. Only three reporters showed up the first day of the hearing. Four reporters showed up for the second day. I remember there was a time when our local radio station CKGB would run with a full ten minutes of news and sports every morning at eight oclock. Now they run 92 seconds of information, and it is certainly not news.
Rant number two: Court is boring. The lawyers and witnesses drone on and on, hour after hour, repeating the same testimony. It is hard to hear because even the air conditioning system is louder. Every now and then,  a real interesting bit of info comes up and you furiously take notes ... and then the reporter next to you, a smoker, breaks into a coughing fit and you can't hear a damned thing.

You still play CDs?

So when is the last time you played a CD? I was thinking about that last night just before I went to bed... You see my bedtime is something of a ritual. A glass of water, a book and music. I usually tune in to Grooveshark.com for my music, or CBC Radio and I set the time so the radio shuts off in 59 minutes. I am usually snoring by then and the book is stuck to my face. Eventually I will wake up, have a drink of water, turn off the bedlamp and go back to sleep.
Here's the thing. I found out Friday that Grooveshark was shut down for legal reasons. So there went my link to free music...  Music that I liked and that I picked. Oh well. So then I went to my ROKU box and picked up on another music service Shoutcast.com, which has thousands of free internet radio stations. Last night I found a very agreeable jazz station; Global Smoothjazz out of Monterey, California.  So I set the volume low and there was relaxing music all night. The other cool thing was that I could have chosen rock, country, classical or even folk. And that made me wonder, why do I even have CDs anymore. I guess every now and then, I can pull out an album, blow the dust off my CD player and listen to Bob Bylan or Jimi Hendrex, or even Shania.

Coffee

I have been on a real coffee jag in the past few weeks. I wasn't sure why but now I think I know. Usually I will drink tea in the mornings, which is great. But then during work hours I will run out and grab a hot cup of coffee to keep my engine running. So a few weeks back I had a really great cup of McCafe from McDonalds. It just hit the spot. So every morning now, and lunch too, I make my own coffee ... with the Keurig of course. My brand of choice these days is President's Choice, Costa Rica medium roast. I will go back to tea eventually, but only if I make a bad cup of coffee.

Work in the pit.

As the weeks go by in Timmins I have been checking out the work on the new Hollinger open pit. You can see the bowl developing gradually as they blast away the high ground that has been part of the landscape for the last 106 years. Actually the rock has been there for about two billion years, if you talk to any geologist. (Timmins has lots and lots of geologists, but's that another story).
So I am posting photos from the vantage point of the old golf course road, looking east. I will keep doing that as long as I can see the pit. They haven't put up the "berm" in that area yet. In the bottom photo here, you can see where they poured tonnes of concrete in the foreground. Somebody said that will become part of the road as the trucks will descend into the pit. By the way, some of those trucks are big. That truck near the upper right part of the top photo is as tall as a two-storey house!

Dreams and good smells

As I woke up a short time ago I realized I was dreaming about cigarettes. I have not smoked since 1986 but I remembered a good smell one morning this week as I was heading in to work. It was one of those really nice mild, sunny mornings with a light breeze. A guy on the sidewalk had just lit a smoke. As I walked by, I realized that I really liked that smell. For just a few moments. I remembered being a smoker and lighting that first cigarette in the morning, and inhaling it deeply. Yup, I liked that. Okay, so I am glad I quit, but there were some things about smoking I liked.
That reminded me of the time I worked a whole summer on a tobacco farm, near Simcoe, ON. It was hard work, but the money was good and I needed the money for school. The summer of '73. I have a great memory of a wonderful smell from that time. I worked for a farmer named Hank Bakker and he gave me responsibility for my own field of crop. I never worked in farming before, but I enjoyed it and so Hank kept me on beyond the greenhouse season, which was late May.
I don't know how big my field was, but it was several acres. I had to cultivate it, disc it,  plant it, hoe it, irrigate it, do the topping and suckering and by early August, it was one beautiful field of shoulder high tobacco plants. The plants get topped with very nice white flowers and I remember being out at about 5:30 one morning to admire the field. It's kind of like looking in the mirror when you're a teenager. That's when I realized how amazingly good the field smelled. The flowers give off a fragrance that is a cross between honey and vanilla. I won't forget how nice that smelled.

Timmins is changing...

Just a photo I was able to shoot today, showing the change in Timmins as the Hollinger Open Pit mine continues to progress, as you can see in the left side of this photo. Algonquin Boulevard runs along the right side. That's the water tower in the upper left corner. Click on the photo to see a larger size.Too bad it was raining. A sunny day photo would have been nicer...

Fish from China ... I don't trust it!

I was shopping for groceries today when I decided that I should buy more fish. I like frozen fillets because they're easier to prepare when I am in a hurry. So there was Captain Highliner haddock in a nice package with several nice portions. The fine print said Captain Highliner of Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, which is fine by me. I looked closer and the package said Product of China. What the heck? No Thank You! I threw the package back in the freezer bin.
From what I have read, the preparation and packaging of fish by fishing companies in China sees different chemicals added to keep the fish "fresher" for longer periods. That's just not appealing.
So then I saw another package of frozen fillets. Alaskan Pollock it said. Sounds good. I picked up the package, which said it was "imported" by some USA company. Okay, fine. I looked closer. Product of China. No Thank You!
So now when I want a fish dinner, I will have to go out and buy "fresh" fish, the non-frozen fillets you see in the glass case, on those beds of ice, in the grocery stores. I just hope that stuff doesn't come from China either.
So there you have it. The only China I want with my food is the Royal Doulton dinnerware I serve it on.

On being impatient ... or I am bored?

Okay so I am disappointed with myself for being, hmmm… for being impatient I guess. Here’s the thing. I rented a movie this week. It was okay, but predictable. So I was watching the movie, got the gist of the story and grabbed the remote and zoomed ahead by about 35 minutes. Watched a few minutes more then zoomed ahead to get the ending. It was okay.

Good thing I didn’t have company eh. But hold on, it gets better … or worse. I was reading a book, one of those adventure thrillers. The good guys are chasing down the bad guys, except in one part, they have to crawl through a tunnel. Hell no, it wasn’t a tunnel, it was a pipe! About 22 inches wide. So the story goes on for about 25 pages describing how they get through it. So I just said blah, blah, and skipped ahead. There was still about 150 pages page, so I knew the good guys were going to make it. Now I am angry at myself for the principal of it. If I am going to read a book or watch a movie, I promise to read ALL of it. As for movies, if I don’t like it, well that’s it, I just stop watching.

Things change in Timmins.

The landscape in Timmins is changing quickly with all the work going on at the new Hollinger mine open pit. In the first photo you can see the rocky area behind the fence, which is just across the road from the Food Basics store and the  Salvador soccer field, taken this morning. In the second photo you can see a nice photo of the blast this afternoon of that same area. Nearby, work progresses on the berm, the big wall of broken rock that is going to surround the pic. That bulldozer in the third picture is a big D9, one of the larger Caterpillars out there. It is indeed big. But in the fourth photo you see how small that D9 looks next to a Cat 75 tonne mining truck. Click on the pic to see them large size.

That's right, snow in Timmins on May 19th.

Yup, this is what Timmins has been talking about today. SNOW! On the day AFTER the May Run long weekend. Oh well, that's just Timmins...

Timmins is sure changing...

This is the new Hollinger Pit, looking eastward and this area used to be the Hollinger Golf Club. looking toward No. 1 hole. And that high spot near the water tower is where the No. 2 tee off used to be. Things sure do change...

Buying online... not right now!

I have become an online shopper. I am not one of those people who enjoys wandering around a store looking for sales. If I need something, I will buy it. If it is on sale, then all the better. The nice thing about online is that you can search out the one thing you really want or need, and then get it. I do support shopping locally, but I have to say, many of the things I want, I cannot find in a store.
That being said, I haven't purchased anything online since before Christmas. The value of the Canadian dollar has really tanked in recent months. On Friday, the U.S. dollar was at $1.20 compared to our canuck buck.  So even though I was thinking of getting some new shirts, I am going to wait.
Oh here's the other thing. I like to buy shirts at L.L.Bean ... They're usually at a very good price, AND the quality is great. I am still wearing shirts that I bought five years ago. They just don't wear out. But I will not pay the inflated U.S. price... well, not unless they're on sale at more than 20 per cent off!

Five CN towers!

The May long weekend has finally arrived and so I guess I can safely put my parka away for another year (Knock on wood!). Although I remember one year, maybe about ten year or 12 years ago, there was still ice on some of the lakes around here.
In Timmins, the weekend is called the May Run and it is sort of a rite of passage for young people about to graduate high school to get out in the bush and have one last party with all your school chums. The other tradition is that we always seem to have rain on the May Run weekend. Sure enough, there was rain last night and early this morning.
I had another good week at work and one the stories I was writing was about the big mining show coming at the end of the month. Now for those in the know, there is a slump right now for mining exploration.
That’s the process where prospectors, claim stakers, geologists and other rock science people are out there looking for new mineral prospects.
The price of gold is in a slump and so the investment money is in a slump too. All across Canada. But not in Timmins; well not as bad as other places.
Yup, the prospectors here are still hard at work and a lot of diamond drills are still active. Now a diamond drill is a machine that bores deep into the earth and pulls up rock samples in the form of rock core. They’re called diamond drills because the drill bits that cut into the rock are actually hollow tubes crusted with diamonds that allow the bits to drill a nice circular hole in the rock. Imagine digging into wet sand with a paper towel tube and bringing up a sample of sand. That’s how it works. So there is still that optimism here that you don’t see in some other mining towns.

The other interesting thing is that the world famous Kidd Mine (famous for copper, zinc and silver) has only six years left before the mine is empty. Well, that’s not all true. There is still ore at the Kidd Mine, but it is too deep… more than 10,000 feet, to get at it and bring it to surface economically. So how deep is 10,000 feet. Imagine FIVE CN towers stacked one on top of the other… And it is still deeper than that.
So a lot of people are putting their hopes into gold again. By the time the Kidd mine is ready to close, the price of gold should be back up there close to $2,000 per ounce.

Rambling on

Went out with the gang Friday night to a sushi restaurant. So I am not adventurous with food anymore. I ordered rice and steak. I don't know where the seafood comes from for these restaurants and I have heard of fish farms in the far east located next to sewage plants. So I passed on the fish. From now on I am only buying fish caught by U.S. or Canadian fishers.
By the way, I left my vehicle parked downtown, in the company parking lot Friday night. Took a cab home.  So I got some exercise Saturday walking back downtown.
Things are slowly changing at work, now that Sunmedia has been purchased by Postmedia. We had the eastern Canada vice president visit last week. She spent a day meeting with all the staff. She gave the gang a pep talk on the importance of print journalism, how it will continue to be vital to small communities especially as radio and television keeps cutting their news departments. These things never happened with Sunmedia. She even had dinner with the mayor. . I think the best change was the decision to shut down anonymous comments that we allowed on the website. Thank goodness. There is enough stupidity in the world without encouraging people to leave anonymous comments. It was obvious that the same handful of people were the only ones leaving comments and more often than not, those commenters resorted to attacking each other. I think some bright-eyed university student could do a sociological study on the degrading behavior people display when anonymous commenting is permitted. It's like the moment people go online, they step into a bubble of dumbness. I can't figure it out. I used to get upset about it. Now I just get embarrassed for those people.
Neil's birthday happened last week. So we had a quick online chat. He is happy. Life is treating him well in Vancouver. I don't think he plans on returning to Timmins. That's okay. But OMG, he is 35 now. Can you believe that?

I had to laugh...

I am not the only guy who thinks about these things! That was my thought earlier today when I wondered about my love for whiskey. I checked the Internet about what options are open to diabetics who like their whiskey. OMG. There were more than 77-thousand Google returns. I have some reading to do!

Yummy or what!

Well it all began innocently enough, Monday morning with a Vicky D'amours buttertart. Vicky is a popular baker in Timmins who makes the best cookies, cakes and pastries. Let me share a story about her food. A few years back there was a civic reception in Timmins at the opening of a new building. I was there to take pictures. It was a gala thing. Men in suits, women in gowns. Soon enough, the VIPs and politicians were making a few speeches. At the back of the room, the caterer arrived and quietly began moving food and drinks in.  I heard whispers. "Vicky... Vicky D'amours. People were turning to look and the whispering became a bit louder. People were noticing that Vicky D'amours was setting up the tables, loaded with  hors d'ouevres and pastries. The speeches continued. People began leaving their chairs and heading for the food! 
So that will explain why on Monday I decided to have one of her buttertarts for breakfast. It was delish. I also had a cup of tea, and a glass of apple juice. That was it. I remember telling Jennifer I don't feel that hungry some mornings, so a buttertart and tea is fine.

Here's the thing, I had to go to Life Labs for a blood test, among other things. The lady at the front counter asked me when was the last time I ate, since I would be having a random glucose (blood-sugar test). So this test is a set up for another appointment, sometime soon, for a colonoscopy. I also had to do an electro-cardiogram, pee in the jar, blah blah blah.
So it was all good. I remember commenting to the lab girl as she was taking blood how much I enjoyed my buttertart, that it was a Vicky D'amours. Her eyes went wide and she smiled.
"Lucky you!" she said. Oh by the way, don't you love it when you get a good lab person who knows how to pull blood? I barely felt the needle and she hit the vein on the first try!
So on Tuesday, I was walking through the parking lot, getting ready to drive home for lunch, when my phone rang. Caller I.D. said it was a Toronto number. It was a doctor, from Life Labs. He identified himself and asked how I felt. I feel fine, I said. This was strange, I thought.
He explained that he had my lab results and my blood sugar number was high. 31. Hmmm. Okay, I said, what does that mean. He explained that the blood glucose level should not be that high, ever. I told him about the butter tart. He paused and then said, well that might influence it ...because he said he was about to ask me to go to the emergency room.
Well, that sure got my attention. So he made me promise to see a doctor right away. I told him I don't have a family doctor, but I said I could see a doc at 5:30 p.m. at the walk-in clinic. As I was back at work Tuesday afternoon, the phone rang. It was the walk-in clinic. The Toronto doc had faxed my lab results to Timmins and they wanted to see me. So I said, okay, see ya soon. So the doc was a pleasant fellow. I remember he used to be chief of staff at the hospital.
How are you feeling, he asked. Fine, I said. Are you thirsty, do you urinate a lot? I told him I get thirsty every now and then, but I didn't think anything unusual. So he sat down and we went through four pages of lab results.
So that's it, he said, as he described his diagnosis for me. I will book you in to see a specialist, he said.  He will do a whole new series of tests and then prescribe new meds, I was told. 
I couldn't help but think of the buttertart and how good it was. I don't think I will get to enjoy too much more Vicky D'amours treats now that I have Type 2 Diabetes. Darn.

Beans, booze and tea bags

What the hell is going on with the price of beans? I shop on a regular basis throughout the week, grabbing stuff as I need it. All the stores now have beans priced at about $1.99 a can. Give me a break! I am not paying that price. The good news? I am sure my apartment will smell nicer. Ha ha ha.

Red Rose tea bags. Bahhh. They have created tea bags made of 100 per cent renewable plant material. Big deal. The bags keep breaking apart in boiling water. No more Red Rose. Good news. Tetley Tea has a new product… BOLD tea. It is a blend of teas from Kenya and Africa. Tastes pretty good and the tea bag doesn’t break in boiling water.

Whiskey. Everyone who likes whiskey knows that 40 Creek has been winning all sorts of awards in the past few years. They make an incredibly smooth product. This week I have been enjoying Spike, a honey whiskey blend. Very nice. 

Oh by the way, I am upset at myself for inadvertently breaking my Nestlé boycott. I wanted to grab some easy coffee for work and I saw these very nice Cappacino coffee packages. So I grabbed a couple, and they were excellent. Problem is they’re made by Nescafé. I honestly didn’t notice. I will have to find a new product.

Yeah, we sure had fun.

I was pleased this week to have some time to drop by the annual chamber of commerce Nova Awards. It's a big deal in Timmins. It's quite the gala affair and everyone who is anyone goes. I had to shoot a few photos... so I had to be there. I ran into the new managing editor for the CTV Northern Ontario, Michelle Tonner. We worked together so many years ago. If I had stayed at CTV, she'd probably be my boss now. Anyway, it was great to catch up on all the old gossip. I also met her boss, Scott Lund, who is the general manager. I remember Scott from when he was a high school student and worked as the night camera operator for the late news. Whoa, that was back in the 1970s. So we had some more catching up to do. I also met a really good friend who still looks as good as when we worked together in the 1980s, Sharon Bowes. Wow, those TV gals always look good. But it was great to chat with her too.
I remember thinking how much fun it was fun to work in the old CKSO newsroom in Sudbury. I was the rookie assigned to cover stories across the North from a Bureau in Timmins. Back in the day, newsrooms were loud, smoky places will with a good deal of profanity, argument, debate and laughter. Especially laughter. And it was not unusual for some of the bosses and senior reporters to have the smell of liquor on their breath before lunch. I enjoyed my visits to Sudbury, because it usually meant I had an important story and the older staff were always welcoming and helpful. One of the best things is that this was back in the day before fax machines, before cable TV, before satellite TV and before the InterNet. We learned to do research the old-fashioned way ... on the telephone, or face to face. I remember calling up cabinet ministers at Queens Park at 10 o'clock at night, and they would take our calls and give us comments and reaction. At least two or three times a year, I could get through to premier Bill Davis for comments. It was a lot of fun to be a reporter back then. 

By the way, the winners are the NOVA event are all pretty amazing people, who are doing amazing things for Timmins. That's one of the reasons why I enjoy this town so much. 

Fabulous news from Jennifer

Wonderful news today. I called Jennifer to chat and discovered she had her six-month check-up with her oncologist on Friday. The doctor said she was fine and informed her he is about ready to declare her fully cured from the terrible cancer that knocked her down back in 2009. Jennifer said the doctor told her this doesn’t normally happen until ten years on, but he was confident about her situation. So that is just excellent news.

I had called Jenn to let her know I finally have a family doctor again. So that is good also. I have just gotten a referral for a colonoscopy at the urging of some friends, so that will be interesting, but I promise, no pictures.

On to culinary matters. I enjoyed the basmati rice I cooked for supper last night, but like I told Jenn today, it’s not a big deal. It was okay. Jenn said she liked it because it is less starchy. I still like the old fashioned Uncle Ben’s. So today I was looking for a ride pudding recipe. And I found one… that includes Whiskey! The recipe called for bourbon. But I switched it to Scotch. I will let you know how incredibly perfect this will be! Ha ha.

One other thing. I mentioned here awhile ago that so many Hollywood movies suck lately.

Well I enjoyed a wonderful film last night, based on the true story of Chess Records from Chicago in the 1950s and 1960s. The movie is called Cadillac Records. It includes great stories about Muddy Waters, Chuck Berry, Howlin’ Wolf and Etta James. The character for Etta James was played by Beyonce. Incredible. So find this movie, get some popcorn and enjoy.
Listen to this YouTube Clip from the movie: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dh-0jH4Rb7Y

New shoes!

So it’s Friday evening. I haven’t had supper yet. It’s still cooking. I am trying something called Basmati Rice, with carrots, peppers and beef. I will let you know if it is okay. In the meantime, I just made lovely bourbon/dubonnet Manhattan. I will let you know if it is okay. Wait a minute. Of course it is okay!

Today was a pleasant day, not just because it was Friday but because it was pleasant and mild. But right now at 8:10 p.m. there is a bloody snowstorm outside. Thank goodness for my perfect Manhattan. I can close my eyes and imagine I am back living on the south side of Timmins where the snow isn’t as fierce. Ha ha. Just kidding.

I also did something today that some of my friends think is a bit overboard. I purchased some new shoes. They’re exactly, precisely like the shoes I bought two years ago. But they were on sale. I like them and I know I will get months, no, years of good wear out of them. Actually, they’re low rise boots made of buffalo leather. They might not be as stylish as my Doc Martens, but I like them.  So buying a second pair is entirely appropriate. By the way, I think the current “fashion” for men’s shoes is pretty blah. Those long pointy things where the toes curl up just …hmmmm… retarded.

 The week has been good, thanks mostly to the fact I visited Jenn and her fellows last weekend. It was a wonderful Easter weekend and Don and Denise were there as well. So the whiskey was nice and the food was outstanding. By the way we celebrated Tyler’s 15^th birthday… something I will remember because he is now taller than I am, or at least the same height. I was able to spend most of the Saturday with Tyler and Nathan and we had a great lunch. I hope I didn’t bore them too much with stories of my hitch-hiking days back in the 70s and how I visited the west coast and road a freight train through the Rockies.

So things are good with the boys. Tyler is obviously making a good impression in his first year of high school. His average is in the 90s and he is exempt from all the exams.

Anyway the weekend was so nice. I think one of the best parts was being out by the bonfire Friday night, enjoying that big full moon, the fresh air and the great company.

Well the ice is clinking in my empty glass. Time to go.

Help is on the way ...

Funny thing about the Air Ambulance, there are so many of them down south, where so many communities and hospitals are close together.  In Northern Ontario, the air ambulance is literally a lifesaver for so many because medical facilities are so few.  If somebody in a remote reserve or a mining camp gets sick or injured, it would take hours for a land ambulance to get the proper attention for the victim. Thank goodness that the helicopter service is there. By the way, the air ambulance service was set up in the 1970s, mainly to serve the North. I live in the part of Timmins where I see the helicopter come in to the hospital quite often. I am glad to see people getting help. This patient was injured this past Sunday while out on a frozen lake about 50 kilometres west of Timmins. Luckily, he was found and rescued.

Remembering Bwian...

I don’t know how or why this came to mind today, but I was remembering a friend from several years back. His name was Brian. He was a mentally challenged adult who had a hare lip and could not speak correctly. Brian could not say a word with the R sound. He replaced it with a W. So when he introduced himself, he would say, Hiya, I’m Bwian. And Brian knew just about everyone in Timmins. And he always had a wave and a smile for you. He was always at every hockey game, or baseball game. So one fine summer day I was sitting in my car on Third Avenue, at Pine, facing the bus station. The light was red and Brian was walking along the street saying hello to everyone. “Hiya Len. How’s Tewwy?

So as he was crossing the street, Brian suddenly stopped. Something had caught his eye. It was a pop truck, parked in front of Bucovetsky’s department store. Now back in the day, pop trucks used to have open sides. I guess this made it easier for the driver to reach the cases of pop and bring them into the stores. It also made things easier for Brian. He looked around the intersection and brought his finger to his lips with a big Shhhh sound. And he smiled. And then he ran over to the pop truck, reached in and stole a six pack of orange pop, turned and ran back along Pine Street.  I will never forget how happy he looked. I looked around and saw other people on the street watching and smiling. Several of us made eye contact and we all laughed. I guess it’s one those reasons I’ve always enjoyed living in Timmins. I haven’t seen Brian in years, but if I do I will tell him he has to buy me a coffee or I will snitch on him. Just kidding.

Hollywood sucks. Thank God for books.

I was feeling disappointed these past few days as I sat down to call up an online movie through my Roku box. I went to Google Play, which is supposed to have all the best movies from recent years. Bahhh on that.  Roku is great, but the movie choices from the past few years are just terrible. No wonder I am not inspired by the Academy Awards any more. It has become such a dog and pony show and it seems the only thing people care about is what other people are wearing. Well they should be wearing shame for one thing. Hollywood really sucks lately.
There are always exceptions of course. I was pleased to watch the film Lincoln starring Daniel Day-Lewis. For a few moments I really believed I was seeing the face of Abraham Lincoln.  Brilliant movie. And it was directed by Stephen Spielberg, who is beyond brilliant. But when I look the few choices left of really good movies, I say thank God we have books.

Bye Buddy.

I was saddened this week to hear that Jennifer’s dog Buddy died. He had cancer. He had to be put down. Jennifer was obviously sad when she told me, saying she and Scott were just at a loss. Tyler and Nathan were also terribly upset. One forgets how much a pet can connect to a family. Buddy was so much a part of Jenn’s family. He was big, very big. He was calm and he was gentle.  I confess I didn’t spend much time with him, but whenever I went to Sudbury and drove up the driveway, Buddy would get up and come over to me, tail wagging, and sniffing around. Once he was satisfied everything was okay, he’d go back to the snoozing by the front step. That’s how he was. Reassuring. I am glad there were times I could sneak him a piece of bacon, or a beef bone. I am going to miss him.

Trains are still the best ...

In the past month I have covered two major CN rail train wrecks near Gogama, just south of Timmins. Luckily, no one has been hurt. But the two train wrecks have caused a huge mess in the environment. One wreck involved a train on the mainline between Foleyet and Gogama. The other was also on the mainline just a few kilometres west of Gogama. In both cases the trains were hauling tank cars loaded with crude oil. Both trains had massive fires.

Here’s the thing. Regardless of the huge mess involving dozens of broken and burning tank cars, CN managed to get the tracks repaired and the mess cleaned up within three days. I am not praising them, just saying I find it amazing they can work so fast to get back in business.

I expect there will be a lot more in the news about these particular derailments in the weeks and months ahead.

 Anyway, I still like trains. Several of my friends have suggested they will never travel by train. I still look forward to my next train trip.

I have enjoyed several excellent train trips over the years. One of my favourites was the night train from London to Edinburgh, where we sat up till 2:30 a.m. drinking excellent FREE Scotch, and eating bread, cheese and fruit. Another was the VIA Canadian from Vancouver back home to Ontario. I really enjoyed riding VIA from Sudbury to Toronto one night with Tyler and Nathan so we could have a short holiday in the city.  It was great.

I find trains just so relaxing and a great way to spend that other luxury – time.

Photos: 1-CN Rail derailment and fire Gogama, March 7, 2015.
2-Amtrak Cascades train in Seattle station.
3-VIA Canadian stop for sandwich and beers in Jasper.
4-Jacobite steam train arriving in Morar, Scotland.
Photo 1 by Transportation Safety Board.
Photos 2,3, 4 by Len Gillis ©

Getting mellow

I told some of my fellow reporters this week that I think I am getting old and mellow.There was a time that drama was everything in a news photo. I ignored that this week. I was at the scene of a house fire at 5:30 in the morning. These things are never happy occasions. But they are dramatic.
A house was burning. The air was thick with smoke. The street was awash in frozen spray and water. Firefighters were shouting above the noise of the engines from several firetrucks. Neighbours were out on the street, wearing parkas, pyjamas and snowboots to see what's going on. I always have my camera ready, holding it inside my parka. It takes only a moment to move it to my eye and snap off five or six photos when I have it in burst mode. I looked up to see paramedics coming toward me from about ten feet away. I realized the ambulance was behind me. The two paramedics were walking either side of a distraught woman. She was wearing only a blanket. Her bare shoulders and bare legs were obvious. It was 33 below zero. The woman was crying and oblivious to everyone, except perhaps the paramedics supporting her. What a picture it was ... or might have been. I didn't raise my camera. I stepped aside and let them pass by. I felt awkward for being there. Twenty years ago, I would have snapped the picture, telling myself this shows the true drama and tragedy of a domestic fire. On Wednesday morning I just felt I was intruding on a terrible day in another person's life.

Overdose on television

Frank Underwood is back on television so I cocooned this week, watching the new season of the hit television series House of Cards. I feel guilty about it ... for a couple of reasons. Firstly, the new season was released on Netflix last Friday. So this past week, I watched every new episode. Yes, an entire season. Sometimes staying up as laste as 2:00 a.m. on a worknight.
Secondly, I was secretly admiring the main character Frank Underwood, who fought like a deranged animal to become president of the United States. Frank is a despicable person, but he does whatever it takes to win. Why on Earth would I cheer for the bad guy? I don't know.
By the way, Frank has monogrammed cufflinks. They say F U.

3K on snowshoes? No problem!

So there was a train wreck in Northern Ontario last night. 100-car freight train with 29 cars off the tracks in dense bush north of Gogama. No injuries, but the train was burning.  I was up early this morning and figured I could drive out and get some photos. The first word I got was that the wreck was only three kilometres back from the highway. Hey, no problem. Grab the snowshoes and go for a hike. I figure 3K is just fine. It has been so cold, minus 45 last night, and there is a nice crust on the snow. Good thing I checked with the CN Rail office in Toronto before heading out... I wanted to get precise information. Whoa, it's not three kilometres. It was 30 kilometres up the tracks from the highway. Forget the snowshoes! Anyway, it is so far in the bush that the heavy equipment guys with excavators and bulldozers still have not arrived as of suppertime Sunday.  I didn't get photos of the wreck, but I did snap a couple of pictures in the freight yard in Gogama. So I will try again tomorrow and either find a plane or hitch a ride with a CN crew. Although many of those poor guys will be out there working all night tonight.That doesn't sound like fun!

Lyin' Brian

I really struggled this past week with the incident involving NBC reporter Brian Williams telling a lie while on a TV talk show. Everybody lies. But I still think it was so wrong for Williams, a journalist of some renown, to do it so publicly. He didn't just lie, he made up a whole story about being attacked by jihadists. What makes it so wrong is the fact he is a journalist. If it was a sports guy or an actor, he might get away with it. But when your job is to tell people what is going on in their city or country, you have to tell the absolute truth. Everytime. Without exception. I cannot tell you how many times we have sat back on a story because we were not able to confirm a detail or a fact. If you're in doubt, the story is pulled out.  Otherwise, people will lose faith in what we are reporting.
Even in small towns, journos live interesting lives and they see and do some pretty interesting things. There is no need to make stuff up. I am fond of telling crazy stories to my younger newsie friends, and they are often amazed at the weird and unusual things that  have happened.
I also struggled this week with a really nasty chest and sinus cold. Yeah, so I am a big baby whiner. But the thing is, I have to work out in the public and it is so annoying when you're talking to somebody and suddenly your nose starts running and running and it's so bad the salty mucus runs into your mouth, like when you were a four-year-old. I am now in the habit of carrying pockets full of Kleenex everywhere.
The other thing is that eating is such a boring chore. For the past week, my taste buds have shut down. I had a glass of whiskey on Monday, but that was it. I could barely taste it. So that was a waste.
Regardless, all week I forced myself to eat just to keep my strength up. On Wednesday, I tried some Szechuan noodles for supper. It was filling, but I don't know if it tasted good or not. I did have one of those lime-flavoured Budweiser beers. It seemed okay. I could taste the lime! Oh, almost forgot. On Monday I had Lipton chicken noodle soup. Yes! It was good. Three cheers for Lipton soup!

Cake for breakfast is okay!

Saturday morning and I am baking a cake and nursing a cold! Don’t know where it came from, but I am keeping company with a pot of tea, a book and a little bottle of cough syrup.

I was pleased this week to interview a lady who runs the eating disorder clinic at the hospital. As she was describing various food disorders, I confessed that I like to share chocolate cake for breakfast with my two grandsons. She assured me this is NOT a food disorder, since it only happens a few times a year. She agreed that it is a nice tradition. So there you have it!

I was upset this week to see that Sudbury voters elected Glenn Thibeault as their new MPP. I am not so upset at the fact that Thibeault crossed the floor and went from being a New Democrat to a Liberal. I am more upset that the Liberal party officials ignored the fact that a local candidate had already been chosen and then pushed him aside and gave the nomination to Thibeault. It really stinks to see how they ignored the democratic process. Shame on voters in Sudbury! At the same time, some Liberal party folks were offering the old candidate a cushy government job in return for stepping aside. Now the police are involved because of that. It stinks, it stinks, it stinks. I hope the police can do something.

Great song, but not what you'd expect

That's right, I don't watch "normal" TV but on Sunday afternoons, I do a bit of reading and listening to music... usually from YouTube. So here is a really different, but cool,  version of Ring Of Fire, by an acappella group called Home Free. I think they really put a nice touch on the song. So click here and enjoy!

Chasing a fire

Well the news came out this week that Ontario's Ministry of Natural Resources is suing CN Rail, claiming that it was sparks from a passing train that caused the big Timmins No. 9 forest fire in May 2012. It was a huge, huge fire. So I was looking through some photo files this week and I came across these photos which tell a little story. I remember the day the fire began, going down to Tatachikapika Lodge to get some pictures. The fire had started south of the Lodge and north of Gogama.

By the time I got there, during the supper hour, the fire was going strong. I could only get photos from a distance. Heading back to Timmins along Highway 144 I noticed there were scores of sideroads leading into the bush, west of the highway. Many were blocked. Most were not. I figured if I wanted to get some photos of the fire I would have to take a sideroad. So I just picked one, put on the 4-by-4 and starting driving west.

Soon enough, after about 10 kilometres, I knew I was getting close to the fire, but I was a bit worried about going too close. The sky was filled with thick, black and grey smoke. I pulled into a clearing where there was an esker. I climbed to the top of the esker to look around and get photos. Yes, the fire was just over the next hillside.

Suddenly there was a helicopter hovering nearby. Great! I started snapping photos and then the helicopter got closer. Guy inside was waving at me. I waved back. So then the chopper circled around and landed. You can see my little truck in the photo. The guy got out and he was angry! He was an MNR Conservation Officer and told me I had no business being there, to get the hell out. Once I explained I was with the newspaper, he calmed down and explained that the fire zone was being declared and no one allowed in the hot zone. So I got out. But I also got some nice photos.

Whoa! Enough pizza!

Here's the thing. Monday was a long day at work... one guy got sick, so I covered for him and didn't get home until about 8:30. Then Tuesday, another long day. A federal cabinet minister interview... but he was an hour late. So I was at the office, just wrapping up when I decided it was too late to go home and cook supper. It was 8:00 p.m. So I went online and ten minutes later I was picking up a fresh pizza! Excellent. Got home, opened a beer and put my feet up. Having half a medium pizza was just about perfect. Tonight, I got home and decided ... leftovers! Pizza, yeah! Let me tell you... I was hungry... but Jeez, having pizza two days in a row is enough, thank you. So now I am full, but I don't think I will be having pizza for awhile. Tomorrow, Mr. Noodles. That's another story!

RIP Uncle Joe and Uncle Sonny

It has been a rough week or so. I was saddened to learn of the deaths of two of my uncles. Uncle Joe Gillis died on January 9th, and Uncle Sonny Rostek died on the 15th. Joe was my Dad’s little brother and Sonny was married to Aunt Theresa, my Mom’s little sister. I remember both of these fellows so much from my childhood. The great thing about uncles is that they always had a smile and a kind word for their nephews. I remember both Joe and Sonny as a couple of guys who were always smiling.
I spent a couple of days in court this past week covering the sentence in a manslaughter case. It was so bizarre. Murder and manslaughter cases are like that. More members of the public should drop in at court to listen to what goes on. It is so real and so raw.

Last weekend was a hoot. Jennifer and Scott and Tyler and Nathan were all in Timmins as the boys had a hockey tournament.
They did very well and had a lot of fun. Scott and Jenn are incredibly dedicated hockey parents and I was amazed at the energy and effort it takes to do that. The best part was seeing how much the boys enjoyed themselves. I snapped a couple of photos of the boys. Ty is No. 91 and Nate is No.13.

Ten years ago...

Just to make things interesting, here are a couple of photos of Jennifer and her boys from Christmas 2004.

So, 2015 is here...

Well, happy January. This means I am entering my 9th year as a blogger. I am also on Facebook, but I am thinking of gradually getting away from it. In a word, Facebook has become just plain stupid. It’s not that people don’t say interesting things, it is just that there are too many others that react so stupidly. Enough ranting.
I had a fabulous Christmas holiday at Jennifer’s place. It was just so nice and relaxing and it was great to spend time with Jenn and her guys. The boys are amazing. They’re turning into men and I am pleased to see that. Yeah, they’re still boys in some ways, but they are pretty cool young guys too. I am amazed at how tall the boys are. I got a real kick out of getting up early Christmas morning, only to find the boys were up ahead of me and making coffee for the adults!
Also on Christmas, we did a Skype hook-up with Don and Denise in Florida. It was the first time I have seen Skype and I was impressed. Jenn and I also enjoyed a great phone call with Neil in Vancouver. We were going to do the Skype thing with him also, but with the time difference and the schedules, it just didn’t happen.

Christmas Day was excellent overall. Jennifer is outstanding in the kitchen and I am always amazed at how organized she is. Of course she was enjoying herself too. Now that she is in school full time, her days normally start at about 6:00 a.m. so she really enjoyed the time off.
Driving back to Timmins last weekend was nice at first as the roads from Sudbury to the Watershed were mostly clear and wet. After that, the snow started and the highways were crap. I just took my time. It took nearly five hours to get to Timmins.
This past week has been enjoyable as I had time off. I am totally relaxed and ready to begin the new year. I was invited to a New Year ’s Eve party and it was nice. It was basically the Timmnins media crowd. Taylor Ablett from Moose FM was our host. It was a good time to brush off the kilt and celebrate in style, which I did. I was not much in the mood for drinking, so after two drinks in six hours, I was the driver for the others. It was kind of funny to watch people transform themselves when they are partying. I am glad I was able to get folks home safely. I got home around 3:00 a.m. poured myself a nice glass of Scotch, sat down, did some reading and went to bed. I slept till 10:00 a.m. and then I had to get up. I was starving. LOL. Breakfast was porridge and strawberries.
This will be a good week. Jenn and her men are coming to Timmins next weekend for a hockey tournament. It’s going to be excellent to see them again.
I have attached a few photos. These include Tyler and Nathan by the Christmas tree, I always get a photo of the boys on Christmas morning. There’s also a few shots of Jenn, making coffee, shovelling the slush and talking to Buddy. There is also a nice night shot of Scott and Jennifer by the bonfire.