Good thing it was mild weather eh...

Sometimes you have to be grateful for the little things. I just wrapped up my grocery shopping this afternoon and was in the parking lot of the grocery store, not too far away from home. The fanbelt on my vehicle snapped. I have full roadside assistance, so towing is free. I called a cab to get home and had only two bags of groceries. And my shift tomorrow doesn't start until 1:00 P.M. So things aren't so bad after all. Good thing the weather was mild.

Bye Bye Keurig

The Keurig experiment is over for me. I got a machine a couple of years ago, because like a lot of people I know, it was the thing to do. It was just so convenient and easy to make a cup of coffee. To be honest, I never found it to make a really good robust cup of coffee. Yesterday I took my Keurig, cleaned it up and I will be putting it away. Maybe I will give it to a church group or something. For several months now I have been drinking tea in the mornings. I put the kettle on before my shower and soon the water is boiling. I like my King Cole and occasionally Tetley BOLD tea. Not long ago there was a sale on Maxwell House instant coffee, so I bought a jar. What is nice about it is that I can make a really strong cup of coffee, usually around lunch time. Then a few weeks back I saw a Maxwell House flavoured café mix in a little square can. So now I mix a bit of that in with the instant coffee and it is very nice. Here’s the other thing. I know I will be saving money. A box of 10 or 12 Keurig pods is $8 or $9. Good instant coffee with the specialty café flavours is much less for roughly 100 cups of coffee, and it tastes good.

Texting and Etiquette. Really?

I was a bit surprised to read there is etiquette regarding texting. Hmmm. Well I believe in courtesy and being polite. I usually apply that to conversation. But when it comes to texting, I think things are different. Well, that is my take on it. If I get a text I don’t always respond immediately. That’s because my BlackBerry is often in a jacket pocket or on a desk under a pile of papers. I even forgot the phone at work one night and I didn’t miss it. I rarely have the ringer on. I go to so many places where I think it would be rude to have a ringer sounding from my coat or camera bag. Court, council meetings, restaurants.  I figure if somebody needs a response right away to something urgent, they can telephone me. I don’t always answer quickly, so that can be a problem too. So, I find the articles on texting etiquette to be moot. In fact, I find it can be argued that the whole idea of texting is intrusive. But I put up with it. I was in a bar chatting with a friend last week when I mentioned I intended to find something online, once I got home. He asked why not check it on the phone. I told him I have the internet on my phone turned off. He was wide-eyed at the thought that I wasn’t “connected”. As afar as etiquette goes, I am often put off by people who will stop a conversation with a live person to answer their phone. You’d think they were getting a call from the Prime Minister the way they fumble and fight to get their phone out. It’s funny how the etiquette articles don’t seem to mention that. If you’re talking with a real person and the phone rings, it can keep ringing. You can check it a few minutes later and the person you were speaking with will feel much better for knowing you. 

Should be walking more ...

Do you walk enough? I don’t think so. I know I don’t. But I try. Daughter Jenn recently commented on the fact I parked so far away from the door when I was shopping recently. I said it is one of the few ways I make myself walk, knowing that during a normal workday I don’t afford myself enough time to go walking. I really noticed it last week when I went through the tunnel at Toronto’s Billy Bishop Airport for the first time. Like many others I was carrying a shoulder bag and pulling a suitcase. I got out of the cab, went down an elevator, walked a few metres and then descended on an escalator to the tunnel level. I was amazed at the length of the tunnel and then I noticed I was on a “moving sidewalk”. I suppose I could have walked in the centre area of the tunnel, but I didn’t think about it at first. Interestingly, all of us on the moving sidewalk were walking as the sidewalk progressed forward. So I did get some walking in.

They're still talking about the murder at PDAC...

This is a story I wrote several years ago, based on the original murder story which I covered in the 1980s.

They were still talking about at it the prospector's convention this year. 

Some people thought it was an urban legend!

*************************************************

By LEN GILLIS

"You bastard," the dying man shouted.

Those were the last words that Timmins "Timmy" Bissonnette was ever to hear from his lifelong friend Guy Maurice Lamarche just moments after Bissonnette shot Lamarche with a .38 calibre pistol.

It was 25 years ago this week that the people of Timmins and the Canadian mining exploration community were stunned when the news of the shooting flashed out from The Royal York Hotel in downtown Toronto where the annual Prospectors and Developers Convention was underway.

It was the tragic end of a friendship that had begun years earlier when two Timmins boys became close friends, drinking buddies and lifelong pals.

It was the supper hour on Monday March 9th, 1987. It was the first full day of the convention. Lamarche was standing near the top of the up-escalator leading to the main exhibit hall at the Royal York. Lamarche was well known to the mining crowd and was smiling and greeting many friends and associates.

That was standard procedure for Lamarche, who was described by many of his friends as not merely handsome, but dashing. While many men might be comfortable in jeans and a tee-shirt, Lamarche was right at home wearing expensive tailor-made tuxedos.

Bissonnette, wearing a fedora hat and a beige trench coat had worked his way through the crowd and, according to witnesses, seeing Lamarche, he moved toward the escalator.

Suddenly, there was a commotion and some shouting.

"He's going to shoot me. The son of a bitch!" one witness recalled hearing.

A 6:20 p.m. a shot rang out. Many of the witnesses at the scene never saw the first shot fired, but they heard it. And then turning their attention toward the noise, they saw Bissonnette fire a second shot into Lamarche.

A BULLET THROUGH THE HEART

Months later, during the murder trial, it would be revealed that Bissonnette had fired the first shot as Lamarche was turning away. The bullet hit Lamarche in the back and spun him around. Bissonnette fired a second bullet that hit Lamarche in the heart, court was told.

With that Bissonnette turned and ran down the upward-moving escalator. Shocked spectators moved to help Lamarche, now laying on the carpet and bleeding heavily.

Bissonnette left the hotel, ran out onto Front Street, and jumped into a taxi that drove away. Witness Lloyd Bardswich told court he followed Bissonnette, saw the taxi and he himself got into another taxi and gave chase. Within two blocks, Bardswich was able to get the attention of a police officer and point to Bissonnette.

Toronto Police Sergeant Emory Gilbert would testify that Timmins Andre Bissonnette, age 54, was arrested and searched. Police recovered a silver-plated pearl-handled revolver with two spent cartridge casings.

As Bissonnette was being taken into custody, Lamarche was rushed to Toronto General Hospital, roughly one mile north of the hotel.

Guy Maurice Lamarche, age 53, was pronounced dead at 6:49 p.m.

Police would eventually learn that both men were known to each other, that they were both from Timmins and had business dealings with each other.

But the question that was being asked in Timmins and at the convention was, what had happened that these two former close friends had become such deadly enemies.

"I can't tell you what happened," said the 79-year-old Bissonnette in an interview with The Timmins Times last week. "My thing with him was personal, him and I. Something happened and I don't want to get into that."

Court transcripts however, reveal there were some hard feelings that arose over money.

In the early 1980s Lamarche, who was a well-known mining stock promoter, was found guilty of defrauding a bank when loans were secured to allow clients to buy mining stock. Lamarche did not put the all money into the stocks, but into a personal account. Lamarche pleaded guilty. He was fined $200,000 and ordered to make restitution.

Bissonnette told the court that Lamarche became angry when Bissonnette could only scrape together about $13,000 to help Lamarche pay off the fine.

Bissonnette also told the court that over the years he had given Lamarche between $125,000 and $150,000 to help him out when he needed it.

In return, Bissonnette told the court, Lamarche had promised to give him $100,000, several hundred mining shares and would allow him to stay in his luxury condo on the Toronto waterfront for several weeks.

In the mid-1980's Bissonnette had financial hard times. He had to sell his night club. Court was told he hired a private detective to find Lamarche since he heard Lamarche had been successful in stock promotions in Holland and England.

In March 1987 Bissonnette was in Toronto where he confronted Lamarche and asked him to share the wealth.

Bissonnette told the court that Lamarche told him that day "I changed my mind, you're not going to get no money." He further testified that Lamarche had threatened to "have him blown away" by some thugs that Lamarche knew from Amsterdam.

'YOU'RE GOING TO BE DEAD ...'

"You won't need no money," Lamarche allegedly told Bissonnette "You're going to be dead in a couple of days," Bissonnette said he was told.

Bissonnette returned to his hotel room and got the gun. He then headed over to the Royal York.

Looking back on it all, Bissonnette said he regrets his actions that day.

"Oh yeah, very much so. I spent 18 years in prison. I should never have went there that day.

"It should have never happened, but I was angry, or whatever it was," Bissonnette said quietly.

He said that he and Lamarche were once as close as brothers.

"Well we grew up together, you know. He was a good guy, a good talker and he was a good hustler. I was a hustler. I was making money. I lived in Puerto Rico. He used to come and live in my apartment. I had a beautiful penthouse," said Bissonnette.

He also recalled that Lamarche was popular with women.

"Yeah, we used to hang around Vegas together. And wow, all the broads loved him," he laughed.

Bissonnette's case eventually went to trial in February 1988. Although he was initially charged with first-degree murder, Bissonnette argued that the killing was not premeditated. After several days of testimony, the case was put in the hands of the jury on February 5, 1988.

Seven hours later, the jury determined that Bissonnette was guilty of second degree murder.

A week later, on February 11th, associate chief justice Frank Callaghan sentenced Bissonnette to life in prison with a minimum of 13 years before any parole would be considered. Callaghan said the killing was motivated more by stupidity than by evil. Callaghan basically said Bissonnette was not an evil man.

Prison time can be hard time for anyone, but Bissonnette endured. In the words of the prison underworld, Bissonnette was respected, connected and protected.

Bissonnette said connections with "the Quebec mob" meant he, as a middle-aged man, could do prison time in safety.

"There was lots of respect. No problem. I got close to two, three tough guys," he recalled.

"I looked after them. I had some money on the street. I took care of a couple of families."

But the salad days for Timmy Bissonnette were definitely over. He would eventually spend 18 years behind bars. It was a far cry from those easy days when he owned a swank nightclub in Puerto Rico. Still, his jail cell was adorned with photos of himself with famous entertainers and athletes of the 1960s and 1970s.

"I owned a bar you know. It was a big nightclub in San Juan. It was called Danny's Living Room. It was open for 40 years! You don't see restaurants and bars open 40 years," he said.

"I became rich. I was a rich guy you know. I had a home on the beach in Puerto Rico, an apartment in Las Vegas at the same time. And I was married five times," he said.

"Did ya know I used to hang around Las Vegas?" he asked.

"I was close with the Rat Pack. Dean Martin, yeah, Dean Martin was close to me. I have picture of us in my apartment," he laughed.

The nightclub not only attracted famous people, but also old friends and acquaintances from Timmins.

One Timmins man, who knew Bissonnette well, said part of his success in San Juan was because the bar was open 24 hours a day. San Juan had several large hotels and casinos where famous entertainers would perform. Once their show was done, they liked to get away from the crowds and the hip place to go was Danny's. That's how Bissonnette came to rub elbows with the rich and famous.

"There was Peter Lawford, Sammy Davis and Frank Sinatra," Bissonnette recalled with a laugh. "We should sit down and talk some day. I can tell ya all about 'em."

That sense of celebrity paid off eventually when Bissonnette realized he could do something good while in prison.

One day, he was given a brand new sweatshirt from a Superbowl game. Bissonnette, knowing that his fellow inmates made a few dollars a week doing menial jobs, decided to raffle the sweatshirt. He was able to raise roughly $500 which he donated to a children's wish foundation.

"It's to help those little kids with cancer," said Bissonnette.

Known inside the prison as Mr. B, he continued the fundraising effort for children.

He said he still works to help raise money for various foundations especially since he too is a cancer survivor, having overcome a struggle with leukemia a few years ago.

Bissonnette now lives in the Greater Toronto Area, where he is still on parole.

"I did 18 years in the joint, but I will be on parole for the rest of my life," he said matter of factly.

He added that he remembers his early days fondly, growing up in the town he was named after. He worked as a shoe-shine boy, a newspaper boy, helping milk delivery and washing store windows on Third Avenue.

When he was 19, he joined a travelling carnival and travelled across Canada, the U.S. and Latin America. Eventually he partnered with other "carnies" and began making serious money running big shows and games of chance.

All in all, Bissonnette said he has few regrets in life, save for that fateful day in March, 25 years ago at the prospector's convention. "I should never have went there," he said again.

Bissonnette is sensitive to the fact that he took the life of a fellow man, another human being.

"Yeah, I think of that often. I'm Catholic. I go to church. And you know, between you and me, I light a candle once in a while," Bissonnette said softly.

"I feel bad for the family you know. They've got to live without their father. And the grandkids won't see their grandfather ... all because of what I did, you know. That's a little rough for them."

Nice to be home...

I was pleased to get back home Wednesday from the annual prospector’s convention held in Toronto this week. As soon as I unpacked, I headed for the couch for a quick nap. I woke up almost four hours later. That’s from all the early mornings and late nights.  The final dance was Tuesday night, with a really good band, and hundreds of people. I bumped into Shawn Ryan there, one of the most famous prospectors in the world. He’s a Timmins fellow, but is now better known as the King of the Klondike after he discovered the White Gold deposit in the Yukon. Funny thing is that most people have no idea how famous prospectors can be within this unique community. I also met KarlBjorkman and his family (four of his daughters and his son) who do prospecting from a base camp near Atikokan, Ontario. I talked with Karl for nearly half an hour.

I also got reacquainted with people I had not seen in nearly 20 years. One fellow even remembered the night we pounded back a few beers at a pub in Timmins, it was the last time we had seen each other. It was also nice to meet many of the mining execs that I talk to on the phone every now and then.

The fun part was seeing prospectors pitching their discoveries, hoping that the big bosses with the money would be interested. There were people, industries and government reps there from around the world. One fellow who has a small gold property in Northern Quebec up in the Abitibi region, actually brought a few small bars of gold. Other people brought rocks. And everyone there, myself included, had a loupe for examining rock samples up close.  I also bumped into a Timmins prospector who has a few acres of a rocky outcrop with gold sparkles all around. Sure enough, one of the big mining corporations has been talking with him and they’re going to send in geologists to check out his find.

But my oh my, I am not used to being up at 6:30 a.m. and going to bed at 12:30 or 1:00 a.m. There was lots of partying with rich food and the drinks never stopped. I felt like I was at Downton Abbey! I was kind of glad to be home last night where I had tea and toast with peanut butter.

Tipping

God, this is going to sound so smarmy, but here goes. I talked to people at work and they weren’t entirely helpful. I had to read up on it, but I think I am ready to spend a few days tipping other people. I am going to visit the city next week and I wasn’t sure what passes for an appropriate tip these days when one stays in a fancy hotel and takes advantage of other services. When I was working in tourism – yes, that was ten years ago! – I had a better idea as I travelled often. So thank goodness for Trip Advisor and the Internet because I now have a much better understanding of how to treat those helpful folks who make things nicer and more comfortable when you’re a tourist. People like the doorman, the concierge, room service, laundry service and the chambermaids. So I have been saving up $5 bills for the past week or so. It seems loonies and twoonies are not quite enough, but a $5 tip is deemed quite appropriate for most occasions. And yes, I am aware this doesn’t include restaurant meals.  I know it sounds pretentious as hell, but I believe in tipping. So I will be prepared.

Reruns. Well it happened by accident this week that I stumbled across the opening episodes of Downton Abbey. I watched for a few minutes and remembered how much I enjoyed watching that series when it first began. As that was happening I realized that even though I had watched the entire series so far, there was stuff that I don’t remember from the first season… it was like reading a book you hadn’t seen for 20 years. So now I am hooked, again. Oh well, I am off to enjoy another episode with a nice 'ot cuppa tay!  

So much secrecy

I was researching this week about some prospectors I had met over the years. One of them was Franc Joubin. I interviewed him several years ago. He is the man who made the famous Blind River Uranium discovery that lead to the creation of the town of Elliot Lake. Joubin is legendary among prospectors as a Mine Finder. I count myself lucky to have met a handful. Anyway, discovering a new mine takes a lot of work, and a lot of secrecy. I know there are many stories about all the secrecy surrounding the discovery of the fabulous Kidd Creek orebody. I never realized until Thursday about how Joubin kept the uranium discovery secret so that he would have time to stake his claims. I read about it in a 1955 edition of LIFE magazine of all places.

Back then, when you staked a claim, you had 30 days to file the claim with the Ontario Mine Recorder’s office. In order to capture the full extent of the uranium discovery, Joubin had to stake hundreds of claims. As it turned out, Joubin and his team hired scores of claim stakers from Timmins and they flew out in a squadron of float planes from South Porcupine in July of 1953. The landed secretly on a series of lakes in the bush around Blind River, 250 miles southwest of Timmins. Within that month they staked 1,400 claims covered more than 50,000 acres. This would eventually see the creation of the Denison, Rio Algom and Eldorado Mines. What a time that must have been. Who says mining isn’t exciting.  

And that story is only half as interesting as how Joubin found the uranium in the first place. Several years before, sitting in a tent north of Sault Ste. Marie, another prospector gave Joubin a chunk of rock that was radioactive, and set his Geiger counter ticking like crazy. Turning the rock over, Joubin saw the word LONG had been written on a piece of paper with that rock. That was the only word.

It would take him years of searching before he realized there was a remote place called Long Township near Blind River. Even then, it would be years before he found the Uranium deposit. 

These guys are champions!

Everyone I talk to in Timmins knows about it, so I figured it was about time I put a mention here about what a great hockey team the Valley East Outlaws are.  This is the team that includes Scott as a coach and Nathan as a player. They came to Timmins in January and won the tournament. A couple of weeks back they played in Ottawa and won that tournament too! So congratulations team. I am really proud of all your hard work.

So this was another good week at work, made a bit more interesting by the fact my vehicle was in the shop and I had a rental. It was a 2016 Santa Fe. I picked it up first thing Monday morning and barely got used to it when I had to return it Friday afternoon. It was nice with all the tech stuff on it. I liked the fact that many of the controls were located right on the steering wheel. Oh my vehicle has another brand new front bumper. It got smashed by a lady who drove through a stop sign. Good thing is that no one was hurt. And HER insurance paid everything!

Honeyed whiskey ...

I haven't been spending much time with my whiskey glass lately. That changed last night when I decided to enjoy a couple of glasses of Forty Creek Spike. It's a very smooth honeyed whiskey and, as expected, it is sweet. I didn't add anything to the whiskey. No water, no ice. So this was after 10 p.m. I knew I would be going to bed soon. The whiskey was nice. Very nice. I was up around 6:20 this morning and did a normal blood-sugar test, as I do every morning. Whoa! My blood sugar had sure spiked to near double to normal levels. So that is that. I will have to set that aside and serve it to company only.

A perfect day ...

It’s one of those things when you really feel alive and well. I took in the winter hike today at Hersey Lake. I missed it last winter and so it was important to me to get out this year. I absolutely love the silence in the forest and the hike itself was indeed refreshing. Although I should not have worn my parka. It was minus 18 when I headed out, but I would have been better off wearing a couple of layers of fleece and a windbreaker. The parka was just too warm for this sort of thing. And soon I was sweating. And then my glasses fogged up! But it was still a good thing because the weather was so sunny and perfect. And I also met so many people out enjoying the day. It was so nice. I think I expended too many calories. I will have to import a few Single Malt calories after supper tonight.

By the way I shot the photos with my new Nikon coolpix pocket cam. It is water proof and weather proof. It works so nicely. I am very pleased.

Blatch ... you suck!

Okay so this is my rant today and it’s a media thing. I like to go online and read newspaper stories. That’s because newspaper articles are usually in-depth, with good quotes, good background and good sources.  That’s what I expect from a newspaper article.  I also go to broadcast websites to see television coverage of stories. I like TV news. When it is done right. 

I don’t like it when I click on a news headline and a little video screen pops up with a really lame print reporter trying to tell a broadcast story. When I want to see a video, I will go a broadcast website and watch a TV story done the right way, with good video and a good TV reporter telling a story. Example, NatPost reporter Christie Blatchford has been reporting all this week on the Ghomeshi trial. I love reading what Blatch writes. Her writing style is great. But whoever put Blatch in front of a TV camera needs their ass kicked. OMG, it is painful to watch. It is so bad that it takes away from the fact that she is a wonderful reporter   … for newspapers. 

Yes, spring is on the way...

February is here already, and I like that. It means spring is not far away. That has to be my favourite season. I was out walking in the forest the other day and just marvelled at how fresh the air is in Northern Ontario. I am not being trite. I am actually laughing because my apartment air gets stale sometimes. That’s only because my building is energy efficient and a bit airtight. Sometimes when I cook with onions I make the mistake of throwing the scraps in the garbage without wrapping the onions scraps. I will come home from work and the whole place smells like onion! So yes, I enjoying getting out for a walk on a trail to enjoy the fresh air.

I was out in the bush this morning as well. It was minus 32 with the windchill, but I barely noticed it because it was such a nice day. 

Interesting times lately. Trading was halted on shares of Lake Shore Gold on the TSX on Friday after the company released drill results with some nice high grade gold zones in Timmins. This has caused quite of bit of excitement. I am hoping this is good news for the city.

I am looking forward to next month, when I take a bit of a mini-vacation. People will laugh at me, but I am going to the annual prospector’s convention in Toronto. I am going at my own expense, but I know I will have fun. There will be mining people there from around the world, and any mining reporter worth his salt should drop in. So I will spend a few days rubbing elbows with these folks and enjoying myself. Prospectors are interesting folks and they drink the best whiskey. If I am tempted enough, I might even enjoy a cigar! I should mention that all the high finance people will be there too. It is quite something to see when the bearded fellows in the plaid shirts mix it up with the fellows in tuxedos. I couldn’t get a room at the Royal York this time. But I will be staying at the Harbour Castle. It’s a nice place and not far from the convention. 

Women's curling is so good ...

This being a Sunday I got up a bit earlier than normal to head out to the McIntyre Arena in Timmins to take in the Northern championship game for women’s curling, the Scotties Tournament of Hearts. I don’t often take advantage of having a media pass, but today I did and I am glad. The curling was just awesome. Now a lot of folks just yawn and look the other way when you talk about curling, but I tell ya, there is so much grace and finesse in this game, it is compelling to watch when excellent teams are on the ice.

In this case the final game was between the Tracy Fleury Rink of Sudbury and the Krista McCarville Rink of Thunder Bay. I had my hopes up for the Sudbury team, but they were defeated by Thunder Bay, which now advances to the Canadian women’s championship.

It was also a chance to experiment a bit with my camera to do some “still blurred motion” shots, which are still shots that depict motion. I think they worked out okay.

The second shot is of the winning skip, Krista McCarville.

You must listen to this CBC story

If you get a chance to listen to CBC Radio’s Sunday Edition news program, I urge you to take in the story about UPEI professor Ron Srigley Ph.D. lamenting the poor teaching and poor education standards in Canadian universities.

Prof. Ron Srigley wrote: "There is no real education anymore, but I still have to create the impression that education is happening. Students will therefore come to class, but they will not learn. Professors will give lectures, but they will not teach. Students will receive grades, but they will not earn them. Awards and degrees will be granted, but they will exist only on paper. Smiling students will be photographed at graduation, but they will not be happy." 

 Interestingly, Srigley’s essay on education was not published in Canada, but it was published in the United States.  Srigley said he is deeply troubled by the education system.

Here is a link to the radio programs. It is important. Give it a listen.

http://www.cbc.ca/radio/thesundayedition/dear-parents-everything-you-need-to-know-about-your-son-and-daughter-s-university-but-don-t-1.3405807?autoplay=true

Demise of The Dome

Friday was a sad day in the history of gold mining in Canada. It was announced that the famous Dome Mine, the first major gold mine discovered in Timmins, was going to be closed.  It has been the longest running gold mine in Canada, and when the gate is closed for the last time in July, it will have been in operation for 106 years. The mine was discovered in 1909. It went into production in 1920. In that time the mine has produced 18 million ounces of gold. That is more than the gold that was produced during the height of theKlondike gold rush.  I covered the news conference Friday but didn’t feel good about it. The Dome was the first mine where I went underground for a visit. That was in 1974. Nearly ten years later, I went underground there again when I was in mine rescue training. It really is a special piece of mining history. 

Hockey weekend.

This was an exceptionally nice weekend because Scott and Jennifer and the boys came to Timmins to take part in a hockey tournament. It meant sitting in cold arenas for the past three days watching hundreds of kids enjoying themselves on the ice. There is a certain sense of being Canadian in that. There were pickup trucks in the parking lot, the smell of hockey equipment in the crowded arena lobby, seeing your breath as you cheered from the stands and the aroma of Timmies was everywhere. There was even a guy with a cowbell! There were teams from all over the North, from Wawa, to Cochrane to Sudbury. What struck me was how many families were together enjoying themselves. Kids, parents, aunts, uncles, grandparents. I really enjoyed being a part of it all.  Oh, one other thing; Scott’s team won the tournament as overall champions!

Women deserve the credit ...

I know it sounds terrible, but the women I know have made it possible to enjoy another fabulous Christmas. Women do all the work and I don’t think men should be involved.  I don’t think men are as well organized when it comes to putting together a family celebration. Heck, they’re not organized at all.  So I have to say thanks to Jennifer and her mother-in-law Denise for making this Christmas just another perfect time.  But the men do follow instructions well enough. So Don and Scottie deserve credit also.

I have also learned that it helps to make sure the women have wine, lots and lots of wine, whenever they feel like it. Men use duct tape to get things done. Women use wine. Suddenly the parable of Jesus at the Wedding at Cana, as described in the Gospel of John, makes sense. Jesus had no idea the wedding had run out of wine. His mother did.  Without her, Jesus would not have performed the miracle.

I was also pleased to bring along some Beaujolais which some wine experts say is just a great Christmas wine, since it is always released in the third week of November. Some wine snobs dispute this. But my experience is that it just always tastes good.  Always light and fruity. I don’t think I’ve ever had a bad Beaujolais. So that’s all I can say. We also enjoyed a couple of bottles of Chianti, a Ruffino and a Gabbiano. Great stuff. 

Hollywood shower

I had a Hollywood shower this morning. That means I turned the water to the hottest hot I could stand just stood there soaking up the heat for as long as I could. For several days now I have endured a cold; not just your ordinary cold, but a real miserable MANcold. Ha Ha Ha. So the hot shower was indeed a comfort.  Now get this. Recent medical research indicated that men and women do respond differently to some illnesses, and the cold it one of them. It was just a study, but the indications were that when your body responds to the cold germs, it can either respond massively by causing swelling, fever, pain, congested lungs and sinus, runny nose, runny eyes, all in a bid by your anti-bodies to overcome the cold germs, --- or it can respond passively over a period of several days. So the study found that in most men, the body responds quickly, thus causing more initial discomfort. It said cold symptoms are actually the body’s response to fighting the cold. The study said for women, the response is milder. So there, MANcolds are real.

P.S. Belated happy birthday to Jennifer. Yeah, yeah, I know you're a December baby. You will get your gift at Christmas... i promise something extra. ha ha ha. 

Is this the start of something great?

Maybe I am becoming a food activist. I am not sure. I know that I don’t eat Nestlé products anymore, for political reasons. The Nestlé corporation has some very unsavoury views about acquiring fresh water for profit. I disagree, so I have stopped buying Nestlé water and all their food products… including those wonderful ice cream treats. Oh well. Today I am trying something new. Like most people I know I would only buy Heinz Ketchup. But since that company closed its Canadian plant at Leamington, Ontario it appears that our favourite Heinz is no longer made in Canada. I have been told, but have not been able to confirm, that it is made in Mexico. Well now, Mexico I am told is nice place. But I prefer to buy local. Tonight I was picking up some groceries when I noticed that French’s now makes a ketchup product. So yes indeed, I purchased a bottle. I am not sure yet that it is made in Canada, but the label said ten cents from every bottle sold goes to Ontario Food Banks. Oh please, I hope it tastes good. Or I will feel like a bloody fool.

I will sure miss Conrad Carriere

I was saddened greatly Friday to learn of the death of Conrad Carriere. His funeral mass is tomorrow. I will go. I won't go the funeral home, because I find that part of the funeral process a bit too overwhelming. I am not going to sing sweetly about him being a great man. Conrad was an ordinary guy who worked hard, loved his family, loved his community and was just a pleasure to know. He was one of the first people I met when I came to Timmins in the mid-1970s. We eventually became co-workers at CFCL, I liked him because he was a straight shooter. One of his favourite words was horseshit. If he thought some was wrong, he would say it was horseshit. I remember joking once that he must have seen enough horseshit in his boyhood when he was growing up in Gogama. When he retired I was always pleased to meet Conrad for a quick chat in the mall or coffee shop. He always had a smile and a twinkle in his eye and he would be so pleased to clue me in on the latest horseshit going on in Timmins. We miss him in Timmins, but I know the folks in Heaven are smiling now that they've met Conrad.

It's not bad!

So I am not usually a Crown Royal drinker. I have always found it a bit too sweet. But good marketing has made CR one of the best selling Canadian whiskies out there. There was some more good news last week that piqued my interest. Crown Royal produced a new product, a Northern Harvest Rye and on Friday a well known whiskey authority declared it the World Whiskey of the Year. Well, isn't that special? So on the way home from work Friday afternoon I dropped in at the LCBO to grab a bottle. Had a nice little sip Friday night, and yes, it is quite nice, very smooth. And it is a RYE whiskey. Many Canadians don't know it, but most whiskies in Canada are made from corn. The notion of rye whiskey goes back to the 1800s when some Canadian distillers added rye in their whiskey making process. Some experts have declared that rye produces a smoother flavour. I don't know. They use corn now mainly because it produces alcohol more quickly and more cheaply. But this new version of CR is made with 90 per cent rye. So yes, I bought a bottle and I am pleased. Christmas is coming. Woohoo.

Yes, I am so guilty.

I am guilty. Yes, I have been doing it again. I would feel better I think if it was alcohol or chocolate. But no. I have been on a TV binge. I am so guilty. For the past few nights after work, I whip up a quick supper, pour a glass of wine and park myself down to watch Netflix and the newest mega-documentary by Ken Burns, which about The Roosevelts.  It is 14 hours long, divided into seven episodes. This is television at its finest. I think every student of broadcasting should be exposed to this sort of work. Of course Ken Burns is the accomplished master of the TV documentary.  I think CBC producers should also be exposed to this to see how to produce a doc without inserting a political aspect into it. 

Talking is good

Some days I am not sure how to react when I see news stories about how others react to free speech. Two incidents come to mind. One is the protest at the University of Missouri where students are upset with racial slurs seemingly being tolerated. That sounds like a worthy protest. But when a student journalist tried to cover a part of that protest, he was shouted down and pushed away,.. by the protesters.  I know have that feels.

The other incident happened at Yale University when some administrators spoke against a printed warning about offensive Halloween costumes. The admins took the position that Yale students should be mature enough to select costumes without getting mandates or orders from above. Well, that just set off a firestorm of angry debate, suggesting that the admins were not being culturally tolerant enough.

I really have to wonder if some of these people will be ready for the real world. Some people get so offended when other people disagree with them.  I think universities should be places of academic freedom and discussion. There is no room at all for racism or intolerance of others. But people have to learn to calm down, and not get offended at what they perceive or think the other guy is saying.

The funniest thing happened ...

I was at the city hall parking lot earlier this evening as I was leaving a meeting. I ran into a well-known city councillor, who is a former mayor and broadcaster. As usual we took a minute to say hello, get caught up on news and gossip. Now this fellow is almost 80 and he knows so many people, and attends a lot of funerals. He is a sharp fellow and I enjoy chatting with him.  So it seems he was more than impressed with a speaker in church earlier in the day. A young woman had delivered a eulogy for her late uncle during the funeral service. “She was just the best speaker I have heard in a long time”, he told me. Apparently this woman gave the best send-off a person could possibly imagine. She was marvelous, he said. When my friend stopped talking, I looked at him and said, “Jeez, at our age, maybe we should get to know her…”. There was a pause of silence and then we both broke out into gales of laughter. I mean, we really laughed, and howled and laughed some more. It was just the best thing, two old fellows standing in the city hall parking lot roaring with laughter. 

This is so good!

The Portugese sure did a good thing a few hundred years back when they invented that fabulous fortified beverage known as Port. I have enjoyed several over the years and have always found them to be warm, comforting and delicious. National Geographic had an excellent article on the Duoro Valley a few years back. That’s where port is made.  So today when I was in the liquor store, I grabbed a couple of bottles of white wine and was looking at some reds as well. Nothing seemed to stand out for me and then I saw the Ports on a shelf. With winter coming, I had this urge to have something so sweet and smooth and warming. Usually, a good whiskey does the trick. But today I grabbed a bottle of Graham’s vintage LVBP. This is the talented little sister to the really expensive vintages that usually run about $100 a bottle.  I usually choose the tawny, medium sweet, but today I went traditional. Oh my. And it is just so fine. The critics love writing about this stuff and have mentioned that there are hints of chocolate, cranberry, blackberry, caramel and fruitcake! I honestly don’t know about that except that I love the taste and it makes me smile.

Tear the house down!

I was pleased to see so much good discussion about the future of 24 Sussex Drive, the prime minister’s residence. I have to say I am in with the group that believes it is time to tear that building down. The building is more than a century old, and filled with things like asbestos and bad wiring. If it was a school, a hospital or a day care, we wouldn’t give it a second thought. There is really no significant historical reason for keeping it. I think that tearing the old house down and creating a brand new official home is appropriate. It will indeed be interesting to see how this all unfolds in the coming weeks and months. 

Try it. You might like it.

Jennifer often jokes about my choice of beer. That’s because I am not really brand loyal. I drink whatever happens to be good, or new or different. She calls my choices “weird beer”. I have tried a new brand in the past few weeks and next time we meet, I will see if I can get Jenn to try it. It’s a very nice stout with a vanilla flavour. It also uses the same widget technology that Guinness uses, so you get that draught beer flavour with every can.
Jennifer is very brand loyal. I don’t think she will drink any take-out coffee but Timmies. I will not reveal her favourite beer, and let me tell you Bud, you won’t be any wiser. 
But she might be willing to try this brand, only because it tastes so nice. I will let you know.

Treat yourself!

Like a lot of Canadians, I was disappointed to see the Blue Jays lose to the Royals. But I did enjoy seeing some fabulous baseball being played this past month. It’s one of life’s guilty pleasures to sit down and watch a whole ball game. The game is so laid back and so enjoyable. I confess to watching the highlights more than anything. So here’s the thing. I like to go to YouTube to watch the highlights everyday, posted by MLB. It’s on the big screen smart TV, so it’s great to watch. That’s where I came across some of the documentaries created several years ago by PBS producer Ken Burns. This is amazing television. If you get a chance, sit down with a pot of tea, a bottle of wine or a few glasses of whiskey and treat yourself to some fabulous documentaries. If you can’t see it on the PBS online channel, go to YouTube. It’s there.

A bit too fussy maybe?

Standing in line at the grocery store this past week when a nice looking lady ahead of me glances up and gives me The Smile. I call it that, because it can translate into I-might-be interested-in-a-cup-of-coffee smile. I just smile and nod for the time being. She’s nicely dressed (as in no sweat pants or athletic wear). And no rings on the left hand. We’re both in the express line. Neither one of us is buying a cartload of groceries. Another good sign. (This means retired or semi-retired and there’s no crowd at home.) So maybe I will say hello. Just then, she says something to cashier. The cashier walks over to the shelf and comes back with cigarettes. Arrghh! Deal killer.
It happened again Saturday. Express line. I’ve got milk, juice and Danish. It’s all in one of those plastic grocery baskets. Lady ahead has a cart with a few things in it. Waiting patiently. She looks back casually, notices me, and yes, The Smile. Nice looking. My age or thereabouts. No rings. Looks good in jeans. So this is pleasant. Then she reaches into her cart and pulls out a very large item. So here’s my chance. Step forward and offer assistance. It’s a big, big pail. She struggles. OMG it’s a 25 kilogram pail of cat litter! Quickly, I step back. And the cart is loaded with several cans of cat food. Whew. That was close. A middle-aged cat lady. Deal killer.

Another perfect weekend in Westree ...

Happy to say the Thanksgiving weekend was extra special, as it should be. Once again, I was pleased to be guest of the Alexander Family in Westree, where the food was fabulous and the hospitality was outstanding. Denise and Don were terrific hosts as usual. Being there with Jenn, Scott and the boys was excellent. Sitting around the fire Saturday night was so relaxing just to hear the wind blowing through the trees. A perfect way to relax after a perfect supper. I am surprised we were able to pull ourselves away from the fire to go watch the hockey game. No Leaf jokes please. Ha ha. The boys had fun when Scott took them out hunting for partridge early Saturday and Sunday. As Jennifer suggested, we spent Sunday morning fishing. I figured it would be a nice quiet couple of hours on the lake. Who knew? I got the first bite within minutes, landing a small Northern Pike, that we put back in the water.(Fishing in the North isn't fishing until somebody catches a pike!) After that, it amazing as the smallmouth bass were biting like crazy. We caught lots of fish, took a few fun photos and put them back in the lake. At one point, three of us were all reeling in a different fish at the same. At one point, Tyler caught a bass, but in the process he snagged a line. I thought it was a line from the bottom of the lake, so I grabbed a knife and sliced it. I didn’t know it was Jennifer’s fishing line! Yeah, so I am going to hear about that for awhile. Anyway, it was just the best time and I do have so much to be thankful for.

Thankful

I have to admit I was a bit skittish about a hospital test I took today. It was my first time ever for a colonoscopy. Given my age and family history, it was something that was overdue. So I think I acted cool and calm about it, but my blood pressure and heart rate were a bit higher than normal according to the nurse this morning. Yeah, I was nervous. Good news though. The doctor said no polyps, no tumours, nothing unusual at all. He said to come back in five years for another one. Woohoo!
I have also been getting used to a new set of specs this past week. My other ones were more than ten years old. So yes, it was time. Well, what a difference. My prescription changed quite a bit in the past ten years, so I can see much better now with my new glasses. Imagine my surprise when I picked out the "old man" style horn rims only to be advised they're back in style. The only wildcard is that my right eye is significantly weaker than my left eye for some reason. The eye doctor said he couldn't pin down the problem, but to go back in six to nine months for a check up. I was also using Visine everyday because my right eye would be bloodshot in the mornings. Doc told me to stop using it, and in a couple of days, it would clear up. He was right.

This is going to be a good weekend. I am heading out to Westree shortly to enjoy Thanksgiving with the Alexander family. It has been awhile since I enjoyed the amazing peace and quiet of a nice camp in Northern Ontario. Well, that's a relative thing. Moose season opened today, so it will be quite busy in the bush. Maybe a bit noisy.
I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving weekend.

Remembering tea with Grandma.

I guess I will have to find out for myself what the fuss is all about. I have read about it, and even watched a short National Film Board documentary about it, and now I will have to try it. King Cole Tea. The company’s roots are in Sussex, New Brunswick and many Atlantic Canadians are fiercely loyal to King Cole Tea. So I am having it for breakfast today. I am not sure what great tea tastes like.
Tea is part of my heritage. I grew up in a home where the tea pot was on the stove all day.

When I went down home to visit my relatives, they all drank tea. All the time. I remember summer afternoons in Mira in Grandma’s kitchen, having hot, sweet tea with fresh cow’s milk and cinnamon rolls. Other times, Grandma would make perfect tea biscuits topped with butter she made herself from the thick sweet butter cream. The seemed to make the chore of milking the cows every morning somehow worthwhile. At my Dad’s funeral, the reception was held at the Mira hall. I remember the ladies there serving tea with sandwiches. The milk was already added to the tea. They didn’t ask; that’s just the way they served it. I don’t know how good tea should be, but it should be reassuring; comforting.

Unbelievable!

Every now and then when I feel like some cooking inspiration, I go to YouTube and find a recipe. It can be amazing how well some people can cook. So today I picked up some pork chops. Then I checked out YouTube and found a guy pan frying pork chops.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rr8MyKoNBYY
He seemed to know what he was doing, but I gotta tell ya, I was put off by his kitchen ... it was not the cleanest I have seen. I figured, OMG this guy is a slob. In the early part of the video, it looks like he hasn't cleaned his stove in a month! So he may know cooking, but I wouldn't eat in his kitchen! LOL

Holidays

One of the good things about having a few years of experience at work is that I have a tonne of holidays. And as they like to tell us at the office, if you don't use them, you lose them. So the boss sent me home early this week, to take Thursday and Friday off and make a long weekend. I still have about three weeks of holiday time left that has to be used up before the New Year. so I am here listening to some Motown favourites, reading, drinking tea and enjoying the day. I have to admit, I can only take so much of this before I get bored. I am too nosey. If there is something happening in town, I like to snoop around. Oh well, back to the book.

My new teapot!

So the day started with my decision to buy a tea ball. I get tired of tea bags that break open in boiling water sending tea leaves everywhere in the teapot. And then there's loose tea in my cup. I figured a tea ball would do the trick. You know, you've seen them. They're made of metal, about the size of a big egg. They have many tiny little holes to let the boiling water in. You place tea inside, the snap the ball shut and put in the boiling water in a tea kettle. Well, that was the plan. So I went to the tea shop at the mall. Figured that would be a good start. The sales clerk said yes, and proceeded to show me the tiniest little metal ball you can imagine. It was smaller than a golf ball. She said it was good for one cup of tea. I smiled, thanked her and shook my head, no thanks. After checking Sears and Stokes, I had no luck. Next stop was Winners, which always seems to have a good selection of kitchen thingies.
Well that's where I found my new tea kettle, all shiny and fancy. And right next to the kettle was a perfect tiny little tea strainer. Now that's something my Mom used. Mom and Dad used to boil their Red Rose by toss a big handful of loose tea into the teapot and then use the fine mesh strainer to catch the leaves as they poured their tea.
I bought the teapot for $16 and the strainer for $5. I rushed home and made a fresh pot of tea this afternoon. Here's the good part. I checked the price of the teapot on eBay. It was $41. Okay, I know I didn't really need this, but I am glad I bought it. And now that I know the price, I feel so much better.

Phones are necessary, but annoying ...

Well I survived my first week with my newest cellular phone, a BlackBerry Classic. There were some glitches and I have spent part of my Saturday morning working out the bugs. One of the problems is that many of the apps (applications in real English) keep running in the background. Of course that made my data usage go way up, and that means more dollars for the phone company. So this morning I went through the phone and deleted several of the apps… things like Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, FourSquare, and a bunch of others. I use my phone for talking, sending texts and checking e-mail. There was even an app for writing stories. Jeez, these people must think we’re all 11 years old. And music! Hell, I hardly listen to the car radio anymore. As if I am going to stick little plugs in my ears to listen to music. I can listen to stereo music at home. I almost expected to see a toilet paper app spitting out little squares of paper. The one thing I do like is that I can log in to my computer and activate the phone ringer. That will help when I lose the phone under a pile of newspapers on the dining room table.

Neil would like this ...

I think Neil would be impressed. I have been enjoying many non-Corporate beers this summer. This English Bay pale ale is a Vancouver product, from a city where people seem to take craft beer pretty seriously. I know Neil does. He likes pale ales. He also told me that craft beer is more about the recipe and freshness than about the corporate beers, which he says all seem to taste the same. Imagine that. A son teaching his dad about beer! Anyway, I had this beer with supper tonight and it was pretty fresh and crisp and enjoyable with mashed potatoes, beef and gravy. Doesn’t get much better than that eh?

So, it's September ...

Hard to believe September is already here. Although I do like it. With the start of the new school year, it seems like everyone has the idea of a fresh start on their minds. People seem energized and ready for whatever comes next. A good attitude with fall and winter on the way. I was pleased to spend some time last weekend with Jennifer and her family in Val Caron. It was a great visit because I needed some peace and quiet. A really nice thing is that Jennifer has become so talented in the kitchen. She amazes me with her cooking skills. It was nice to see the boys again too, even though they were here in Timmins for the last week of August, for the Kayak Festival. I got a kick out of bringing the boys around town. They seemed to enjoy meeting some new people.

The boys met our local mayor, they met some friends from the TV station and they even met the moose outside the hunting store.
I am pleased to see such a change in the boys in the sense that they like to have fun, like any teenagers, but they also have a definite serious side. They're bright guys and I just hope I can live up to whatever their expectations are for a grandfather. This is new stuff for me. They don't fall for the old "pull my finger" joke anymore.
Anyway, I am looking forward to fall. If only for the milder weather. Our summer has had a lot of rain, and according to a lot of people, it has been gloriously hot, hot, hot. Whew, I tell ya, some of those hot days were scorchers. I would hide out in my apartment. This was not whiskey drinking weather. I even went to the liquor store and bought some pre-mixed margarita drinks. How's that for a manly beverage? Yeah, I know it's a girly drink but they're cold and sure quench your thirst. I have also been drinking quite a few craft beers this summer. Some are pretty good. I got so tired of the same old, same old taste of the corporate beer so now I experiment.