At Home in Hespeler

When Wayne Gretzky, Bobby Orr and Cliff Fletcher are leaving best wishes, it’s possible that blog posts by, “some guy from Hespeler” may slide under the radar. That said, congratulations to Doug Gilmour, Hockey Hall of Famer and the greatest Maple Leaf I’ve watched play, from a guy who once had a lovely telephone conversation with Bobby Orr’s brother.

Hockey Doug Gilmour, Hockey Hall of Fame, Maple Leafs, NHL

All the fluffy news about those nutty celebrities

Amy Winehouse was planning to tour Europe. At the first show in Belgrade she could barely stand or sing, couldn’t remember the words and wasn’t doing much better reading them off the teleprompter. It was, and this is a quote, “shambolic.”

It was so bad that her management – the people responsible for profiting off her work – have cancelled all shows and ordered her to “address her problems.”

According to one source:

It has been hard for Ray (manager Ray Cosbert) to watch her get into trouble over the years. There’s only so much he can do – but enough’s enough. She’s going away and this time it could be for years.

Hands up everybody who read the headline, Porn Star Says She Was An Intern for Clinton, and assumed it was Bill, not Hillary she worked for?

Former Bikini Kill rocker Kathleen Hanna has taken aim at Katy Perry, Lady Gaga, Jason Mraz and James Blunt in a new CNN rant.
Wait… who? Kathleen Hanna?

If your going to do a celebrity spat story, shouldn’t everybody involved be known?

The creep of the week award goes to actor Doug Hutchison, 51, who this week married country singer Courtney Alexis Stodden, 16, in Las Vegas.

Hutchison is best known for his role as the unpopular, sadistic prison guard, Percy Wetmore, in 1999‘s The Green Mile… Stodden was toilet trained in 1999, but only just.

Ryan Dunn (1977-2011)

Jackass star Ryan Dunn met an untimely demise last weekend when his last stunt, drunk driving in a Porsche 911 GT3, went horribly wrong.

Dunn’s Porsche crashed into a wooded area at high speed in West Chester Pennsylvania.

A few hours before the crash, Dunn uploaded a twitter-pic of himself, drink in hand, from a local bar. The owner of the bar, however, claims Dunn only had a few drinks and was not drunk. Police disagree, noting that toxicology tests indicate he was more than twice the legal limit at the time of the accident.

Dunn as well as his passenger, 30-year-old Zachary Hartwell, a friend of Dunn’s, were both killed immediately.

Peter Falk  (1927-2011)

Peter Falk was a prolific and dynamic actor, who starred on Broadway, in movies and on television.

After a stint in the Merchant Marines and getting a degree in English Literature, he began cutting his teeth on stage in the 1950’s.

By the end of the decade, he was acting in movies. In 1960 he received a Best Supporting Actor nomination for the role of Abe Reles in Murder Inc.. He was back with another nomination in 1961, for the role as Joy Boy in Pocketful of Miracles.

It was in TV where Falk achieved his greatest success, portraying Lieutenant Columbo 69 times in the TV drama, Columbo. Columbo ran intermittently from 1968-2003.

Falk died this week at his home. He had been suffering from Alzheimer’s and Dementia in his later years.

Fluffernutter Amy Winehouse, Courtney Alexis Stodden, Doug Hutchison, James Blunt, Jason Mraz, Kathleen Hanna, katy perry, Lady Gaga, Lieutenant Columbo, Peter Falk, Ray Cosbert, Ryan Dunn, Zachary Hartwell

Clarence Clemons (1942-2011). Live in Toronto, 1984.

And earlier in the week I linked to a picture of Abigail Clancy. Here’s the picture:

Cool For Cats Abigail Clancy, Bruce Springsteen, Clarence Clemons, Toronto 1984

My man, Gerry Nicholls (and I mean in the most 70’s, Huggy Bearish kind of way) has started a new website, Freedom Forum.  It is, says the welcome message, “an online sanctuary where the focus is on ideas not partisan political spin.”

Here’s more from the welcome:

It’s a site I’ve put together with some friends with one goal in mind: to promote economic and political freedom.

Why?

Because as Ronald Reagan once put it,

Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn’t pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same.

So this site will be a forum for those who wish to stand up for the ideals of limited government, free enterprise and individual freedom.

After all, a “war of ideas” is raging in this country and it’s a war those of us who cherish freedom simply can’t afford to lose.

We need to effectively communicate to Canadians, especially to younger Canadians, why freedom is important, and why only the free market system can ensure continuing prosperity and why big government isn’t the answer to all our problems.

Previously, Gerry launched Libertas Post, which I was honoured to be involved with. Unfortunately, he got called away by the need to earn a living just as it was getting going, and Libertas Post never regained it’s momentum.

Now, if only I could figure out how to get an article under the door at Freedom Forum…

freedom for the individual is the only truly progressive policy, Gerry Nicholls Freedom Forum, Gerry Nicholls, LibertasPost

Pretty self explanatory.

Mark Steyn on Free Speech at the IPA from Institute of Public Affairs on Vimeo.

Speaking of Mark Steyn, his latest book, After America: Get Ready for Armageddon, is listed at Amazon as having an August 8 release date. Hope that proves true.

Mark Steyn After America, Andrew Bolt, Institute of Public Affairs, Lights Out, Mark Steyn

The story goes that Kris Kristofferson had to talk girlfriend Janis Joplin into recording Me and Bobby McGee. He never heard it however, until after her death in 1970.

That recording would go on to make Bobby McGee one of the true great songs of all time. Forty years on, it still sends chills up your spine.

Kristofferson has lived a varied life, including a stint as a helicopter pilot in the US Army. Upon completing his tour of duty the former Rhodes Scholar and BPhil in English literature was offered a position as professor of English Literature at West Point. He declined, opting for a life in music instead, a decision that led him to be disowned, and never reconciled, by his family.

Besides Me and Bobby McGee, he wrote Help Me Make It Through the Night and the brilliant Sunday Morning Coming Down, to name just two of dozens of hit songs. But today, on his 75th birthday, I offer a tip of the hat to Kris Kristofferson for Me and Bobby McGee, and of the truly great moments in music.

Birthday Wishes Janis Joplin, Kris Kristofferson, Me and Bobby McGee

Hot Chicks…

What you were expecting Abigail Clancy?

Memo to all politicians, and really, I shouldn’t have to say this:

Never tweet your wiener and never, ever tweet what  your wiener is thinking.

Silly Politicians

One likes to believe in the freedom of music.

Rush – Spirit of Radio.

I wasn’t always a Bruce Springsteen fan. When The River was released in 1979, I well remember the hype CHUM FM gave the album, and not having a clue what the fuss was about. Where’s the hot guitar solos? Springsteen himself wears a suit vest onstage for gosh sake. All hype, seemed a reasonable response.

It’s not that I disliked, you understand, not really. Born to Run, I would have to admit was a great song. And the other songs I knew, Tenth Avenue Freeze Out, Candy’s Room, Prove it All Night and later Hungry Heart, were all good songs. And if I had sat and put it together in that way, thought about his songs, I probably would have been a convert much earlier than I was.

There really was no excuse. Darkness on the Edge of Town is a great album, a work of art as much as any album of the rock era can be called that. I was 15 when Darkness was released in 1978, so I had no excuse. Except, I knew nobody who had it, liked it, talked about it. An album that good, by an artist that good, an artist we all knew just never listened too, and it seems nobody in my high school bought it.

I regret that I didn’t get Springsteen then. I was doing the concert scene by then, and had I seen Springsteen in ‘78, I would have been catching an astounding performer at his absolute peak. Even a few years later, when I had less excuses, I would have been seeing him perform at a level that few others ever do.

The conversion would take a few more years. It began in the middle of the night in 1983. I was working midnights at the local Food City, and had the night off. I stayed up, and when the TV was done for the night, turned on the radio. At 4:30 the DJ said he had tickets to Springsteen’s legendary sidekick and saxophonist, Clarence Clemons, and his band, the Red Bank Rockers at the El Mocambo. I called, got through immediately and had my name put on the list for the show – apparently virtually nobody else was listening at that time. On one days notice, and knowing nobody who was a Springsteen fan, I couldn’t find any takers for the second ticket, so I went by myself.

Upstairs at the El Mocambo was a small place, wider than it is deep with a low ceiling. It holds maybe a hundred people, who sit four each at a table. Rows of table run only 2 or 3 deep, thus about ten across. It is, it must be said, an intimate setting. I took a seat about ten feet from the stage and settled in to see I had no idea what. All I really knew was he played saxophone for Springsteen, and was on that album cover, the one where he’s leaning on Bruce. Hey, I was going to be ten feet away from a man on an album cover, and that was pretty cool. However, I was only ten feet away should it prove to be not very good and I wanted to leave halfway through.

I needn’t have worried. I remember sprinklings of the night. He started and ended with a couple of instrumentals. He brought out a little guy who sang great R&B, and had an on fire band behind him. He played for what must have been close to an hour and a half, but it seemed like ten minutes. And by the last song, Fire, I was dancing on my table, as was everybody else in the place.

I had often heard it said that music has energy, that it could be electric. I had no real idea what that really meant until that night when, like Ben Franklin standing in the storm with his kite, I learnt exactly what that electricity felt like. It was magical. I have said before that I learnt the meaning of the phrase raised the roof that night. The energy was so palpable in that little tiny room it felt like the roof must have moved upward so that the walls wouldn’t blow down.

How sad to hear the Big Man, he was 6’5” and 270 pounds, with the ever present big smile died yesterday, one week after suffering a stroke. He was 69, too young, too talented. I’ve seen Springsteen six times now, seen Clemons absolutely nail that astounding Jungleland solo. Seen him hanging out beside the speakers, like hoods at the drug store, while playing Rosalita. Seen him standing on one edge of the stage, while Bruce was on top of the piano, yet Clemons is the guy who was hard not to look at. I’ve even seen him kiss Springsteen, the singer on his knees after sliding across the stage to where Clarence was playing. But what I’ll always remember is that night 28 years ago when he seemed to come within’ an inch of literally blowing the roof off the El Mocambo. The night I learnt Rock ‘n’ Roll didn’t have to come wrapped in loud guitar solos and wailing singers.

No, Rock ‘n’ Roll is good time music, and nobody did good time better than Clarence, the Big Man, Clemons.

Springsteen is still Boss, The Freedom of Music Born to Run, Bruce Springsteen, CHUM FM, Clarence Clemons, Darkness on the Edge of Town, El Mocambo, The Red Bank Rockers, The River

All the fluffy news about those nutty celebrities

In the new book “Primetime Propaganda,” Ben Shapiro argues the television industry is overwhelmingly left wing. Not just that, but conservative/Republican’s are blacklisted in the industry. To be sure, if you have enough talent, or enough success before you get discovered as a conservative, and you’re a fiscal conservative with Libertarian social outlook, you can still work. There are two subjects, however, were according to Shapiro, dissent is not tolerated: abortion and gay rights.

To prove the point, 30 Rock’s Tracy Morgan went off reservation on a stand-up performance last month, that is being described as a “homophobic rant.” The hammer is coming down on Morgan, the same way it did on Michael Richards and Grey’s Anatomy star Isaiah Washington. Besides being called out by 30-Rock co-star Cheyenne Jackson (ed: who?) and fellow comedian Chris Rock, Morgan is being called to the carpet by his NBC bosses.

“We will always recognize an artist’s freedom to express him or herself, but not when reckless things are said no matter what the context,” said NBC Entertainment chief Robert Greenblatt.

Understand, along with the heckler case at the BC Human Rights Commission, that there is now one subject completely and utterly that may not be talked about in any way shape or form.

Sad news out of Florida this past weekend.

Bruce Springsteen’s long time sax player and sidekick, Clarence Clemons had a major stroke. Early reports suggested he was paralyzed on the left side of his body. More recent news suggests that Clemons is making “miraculous” progress.

Good luck to the greatest rock and roll saxophonist as he fights his latest health problem.

Gene Simmons and his long time common law wife, Shannon Tweed, had a blow out on The Joyce Behar Show this week. Behar was asking Simmons about his legendary promiscuousness, when Simmons made a small joke about it. Tweed stood up offended and took off her microphone, saying “nice.”

Tweed then paced the room while Simmons tried to talk his way out of it, ostensibly blaming Behar for asking the question.

There has been trouble recently between the two, with rumours of a split circulating. On the other hand, their reality TV show, Gene Simmons Family Jewels, begins it’s sixth season next Tuesday.

Speaking of legendary promiscuousness, Hugh Hefner and his affianced, Crystal Harris have split. Five days before the octogenarian and the 24 year old bleached blonde were to tie the knot, Harris broke it off.

“What the hell am I thinking?” she is rumoured to have thought to herself.

Interestingly, Harris is on the cover of this months Playboy. In an interview with Ryan Seacrest she said:

For a while I’ve been having second thoughts… I haven’t really been at peace with myself recently.

It’s all about priorities: first, you get on the cover of Playboy, then you find internal peace.

There’s always one question on the minds of right thinking people: who’s the next Bond girl. It’s one of those issues that affects real lives, and so it is always a going question. Upon announcing the current one, who’s next will inevitably crop up.

So, who’s next?

According to actress Naomie Harris, the next Bond girl will be… Naomie Harris.

Please tell me no.

In March the proiducers of the Broadway musical Spiderman-Man: Turn of the Dark, shut down the show to overhaul the music, storyline and to address safety concerns.

U2’s Bono and The Edge re-wrote their score, and the revamped show premiered this week.

(The show) has become a straightforward children’s entertainment with a mildly suspenseful story, two-dimensional characters, unapologetically bad jokes…

OK, the story rewrite didn’t go so well, what of that reworked score:

The score sounds like a double album of B-sides

Fluffernutter 30 Rock, Ben Shapiro, Bono, Bruce Springsteen, Cheyenne Jackson, Chris Rock, Clarence Clemons, Crystal Harris, Gene Simmons, Gene Simmons Family Jewels, Hugh Hefner, Isaiah Washington, Joyce Behar, Michael Richards, Naomie Harris, Primetime Propaganda, Ryan Seacrest, Shannon Tweed, Spiderman-Man: Turn of the Dark, The Edge, The Joyce Behar Show, Tracy Morgan, U2

So many words spent trying to describe the bunch of tools who rioted in Vancouver Wednesday night. Dan Simon at March1Studios uses 11 pictures and a few words to cut through the verbiage and say it all: Way to go, Ass Hats.

Pictures Ass Hats, Riots, Vancouver

If you are in the Kitchener/Waterloo/Cambridge/Guelph area tonight, and looking for something to do, may I recommend The Circus Room. The band playing on this night is my own band, Modest Doubt. We go on at 10, and play ’til 2.

And if your wondering what song we’ll start the night with, it might be Sue Foley’s New Used Car.

Maybe.

Cool For Cats

As noted on these pages a few weeks ago, I was once in the middle of a riot. In 1981 Alice Cooper fans rioted when Cooper failed to show up for his show at the Canadian National Exhibition Grandstand. The cancellation was announced two hours after the scheduled show start.

Since writing about the riot it has stuck in my mind a little and some memories have popped up.

I was, for the record, 18, more than a little prone to dumbness and quite stoned. All the excuse I needed to act abhorrently. Surely I would have looted the joint if there was only a Starbucks at the CNE to loot. Except, that’s not what happened. While some tools were being, well tools, we ducked the mess. At one point a person fell while the police horses where slow walking us toward the gate, and we stopped and helped her up before continuing.

Because we were 18 and stoned was no reason to act stupid, and we didn’t.

So last night as I watched all those young men, most looking well past the age I was in 1981, I thought ‘no excuses’. They acted like self involved, uncivilized animals because that’s exactly what they are. There was a time when they shot looters and, watching on CTV last night, I couldn’t help feel it was high time that bit of policy was brought back into common use.

Speaking of CTV last night, their coverage of the Vancouver riot was outstanding. With a reporter and cameraman on the street, walking among the throng, they captured both the event, including shots of people committing criminal acts, and the mood. At times they had to move because things were getting tense exactly where they were.

I’ve long been a complainer about how bad the traditional media has become. Last night CTV proved how good they can be, how important to the reporting of the story it is to have somebody in the thick of things. It was truly compelling and excellent journalism.

Uncategorized Riot, Stanley Cup, Vancouver

When the Conservative Party of Canada met last week for their Convention in Ottawa, Police cordoned off a city street so protesters could have their say. The along came the Canadian Taxpayers Federation and their debt clock. The clock has been on the Canadian political scene for twenty years, and was pulled out of storage last year, yet the only thing that has blown up in that time is government spending.

So when Conservative delegates reported the clock as a “suspicious vehicle,” Ottawa Police naturally did what the RCMP did back in March, when the clock made a visit to Parliament Hill, they prevented it going about it’s useful business. Ottawa Police detained the clock, and CTF staff while they investigated the suspicious horse trailer with numbers. Police were able to determine that the large numbers, counting upwards, where not a detonating device, but not without calling in the bomb squad.

Just shameful!

Watch the CTF’s video of the morons of the Ottawa Police force violating the charter rights of CTF staff below:

If you have a blog of your own, get some suspicious numbers to put on your sidebar:

<iframe src=”http://www.debtclock.ca/ticker/widget.html” alt=”” width=”210? frameborder=”0? height=”135? scrolling=”no”></iframe>

watergate - shawanigate - profligate Canadian Taxpayers Federation, Conservative Party Convention, CTF, Debt CLock, National Debt, Ottawa Police, RCMP

At a Union Convention, a few hundred delegates get together and vote on a number of issues. The votes of those few hundred make up a decision for the whole union. Or, as Robert Smol self-servingly put it in today’s Toronto Sun:

…when a union of 45,000 make a decision…

See how that works, A few hundred leftists get together, vote on a leftist position, and call it fully democratic for the entirety of the 45,000 members.

In this case, Smol and his smug, self aggrandizing unionistas decided that the Ontario English Catholic Teachers Association would levy “ a $60-per-member fee increase specifically earmarked to help elect an ‘education-friendly government.’” In other words, they chose to stiff the hard working teachers to pay for an anti-Tim Hudak campaign. And because these few hundred delegates voted on the teachers behalf (without prior consultation, of course), that is a “democratic decision.”

Reminds one of an unnamed Parliamentary page, who truly believes democracy means only her vote counts.

Smol uses various familiar rhetoric to defend his version of democracy, including allowing that members can work to change the bylaws and motions at general meetings. What he fails to mention is he, and his activist brothers, will use company and union resources to oppose him, while the member must do any fighting on his time and dime. This is one of the tricks unions use to fudge democracy to their side, to keep mere members from having any real say.

The same applies to Mr. Smol on his arguments for allowing teachers to take paid days off to campaign for “education-friendly candidates.” The taxpayers won’t be picking up the tab, assures our teacher of logic, the union will. And if you are a catholic school teacher who votes Tory? What if you want to spend some time, and money, supporting your candidate? Well, stop your, “petulance,” and support your candidate on your time, your dime, while the union supports their candidate on… your time, your dime.

Nice democracy you have there at the OECTA. Pity if Robert Smol should happen to it.

unions

Cue Patrick Swayze:

Elizabeth May, the lone Green Party MP, is in the last seat of the last row on the opposition side of the Commons right against the curtains. She is jammed in between one of the four Bloc Québécois MPs and the translator’s booth. Justin Trudeau, the Liberal MP from Papineau, has the seat in front of her.

If only Elizabeth May could dance, we could get on with the happy ending. But dancing increases your heart-rate, resulting in faster breathing thus an increase in CO2 exhaled. Result: global warming all around.

Go back to your playpen, Baby.

Elizabeth May Dirty Dancing, Elizabeth May, House of Commons, Patrick Swayze, Seat