THURSDAY FEBRUARY 28TH 2013

Mornin' everybody...mornin'...here we are "waking in a winter slumber land" for the final chapter of February for this year....So I guess tomorrow we will find out if March will come in like a Lion or a Lamb.  I predict a "Silence of the Lamb" Checking back 10 years we had a high on the day of -2 and a low of -19 and the big story of the day 31 years ago in 1982  was the huge CP Train Derailment in Medonte Township and the resulting Chemical  Spill.  The result was" Boxcars Willy-Nillys" all over the place and it took till March 9th of 1982 to clean things up.  

FROM THE HISTORICAL FILE....

Westminster Abbey opened in 1066, and in 1646 a fellow named Roger Scott was tried in mass for Sleeping in church...Imagine sleeping in his own Pew...yuch!
John Wesley Chartered The Methodist Church and in 1925 The Number one song was Marion Harris's "TEA FOR TWO".  She later gave up the drink and became the "NO TEA LADY OF SHADY LANE".
IN 1960 THE U.S. WON THE OYMPIC GOLD medal. 

 In 1983, the last episode of  the TV show "MASH" was shown and became the most watched TV show in the U.S. with a 77% share of the total audience even eclipsing the "Who Shot J.R." episode of Dallas....it even became known as
"HAWKEYE night in Canada.


FAMOUS PEEPS BORN ON THIS DATE:

The late Charles Durning would have been 90 today.  Gavin McLoed of the Love Boat is 82, Frank Bonner (AKA Herb Tarlick) of WKRP is 71, Bernadette Peters is 65 (lately of the TV show Smash (not Mash).  Moe Koffman was born 85 Years ago.  


ALSO BORN ON THIS DATE; Mario Andretti 73 years ago, singer Jason Aldean and former Hockey star Eric Lindross who is 40 today...He recently got hitched and surprisingly married a girl from the Province of Quebec of all places. One of the few people in Quebec who would actually speak to him I would think. (remember when he got drafted and wouldn't play for the Nordiques).  If you are celebrating today...."Joyeux Anniversaire"

and Finally.....
"if you are Driving these days in these conditions...remember it's easy to get into A RUT"

Mornin' everybody Mornin'

TUESDAY FEBRUARY 26TH, 2013

HOWDY.....tis Ken "Walking the Line" on a Tuesday  morn....a fairly mild  start to the day, with an expected high near Plus 2 or 3 but the winds will pick up this afternoon and bring with it snow and blowing snow tonight and overnight and that yucky weather will continue tomorrow. Back in 82 there was a gas war going on in our area and the "ICE OUT CAR" was almost ready to go for a skate on Kempenfelt Bay (the next day).  It should be a nice day to partake in a little Constitutional.

WHAT HAPPENED ON THIS DATE:

In 1867 The British House of Lords Passed the British North America Act, which was the cornerstone of our constitution. It came into effect of course on July 1st, 1867. It took many more acts before the final Canada Act act was completed in the Constitution Act in 1982. We had more Acts than a 3 RING CIRCUS. 
In 1870, The first NEW YORK subway line opened up, but it was very small and involved a Subway car being propelled by rushing air pushing the car.  It was a pneumatic system and last only 34 years before 
"going down the Tubes" (pardon the Pun).
In 1952, Winston Churchill announced that Britain had produced it's own Atomic Bomb (and it had nothing to do with Benny Hill.
In 1960 Ann Heggtveit won Canada's first Olympc Gold Medal in Skiing.
The year was 1991 when Tim Berners-Lee introduced the "World Wide Web". The information Highway started to flow but I keep hitting  so many "SPEED BUMPS".

FAMOUS BIRTHDAYS:

Victor Hugo was born in 1802,  King Wenceslas in 1361, Levi Strauss (1829-1902), Michael Bolton is 60, Mitch Ryder is 69 (Devil with the Blue Dress on), Tony Randall (1920-2004) and we have a couple of Legendary guys:

...in 1928 FATS DOMINO was born and he's still alive and kicking at 85...as a matter of fact his abode was in the path of the devastation of Hurricane Katrina and lost a lot including his barbecue.  As a mater of fact HE FOUND HIS GRILL, ON BLUEBERRY HILL.  Antoine's first hit was "The FAT MAN" in 1950 and it sold 500,000 to 1 million copies and the rest as they say is history.  

ALSO BORN ON THIS DATE "THE MAN IN BLACK" Johnny Cash who had his first hit with "I Walk the Line" in 1956.  It took 3 attempts before it went to Number 1 in 1956.  It also  crossed over to the Pop Charts and sold over 2 million copies. He hummed through-out the song to keep him in tune because of the key changes.  Johnny died of course in 2003, just a few shorts months after his wife June did.
Two ICONS of the music world born on this date in history. The Fabulous Fat Man & the Man in Black.

AND FINALLY....THE BURGER KING STORIES of using horse meat in England in their Hamburgers
should have come to the fore earlier because of their employees LONG FACES.  Also in Europe at Ikea for lunch..."On top of Spaghetti all covered with cheese...I lost my poor meatball from Horsing around".

Mornin' everybody....Mornin'

MONDAY FEBRUARY 25TH 2013

Good Monday mornin "I don't usually watch the Oscars, but when I do, I choose the best cleavage".  and I didn't  watch last night but I see a movie called "Argo" won for best picture...I thought it was about Pinball Clemons...but apparently not. It was a movie that Americans turned into a Hero-worship backing of the C.I.A instead of what former President of the U.S. Jimmy Carter said was a 90% Story of Canadian heroism from former ambassador Ken Taylor and the staff of the Canadian Embassy. Oh well, we still got to see some beautiful gowns and one or two from Oscar De La Renta Wreck.

 It's not a bad morning although small amounts of snow continue to fall and there's more on the way tomorrow and Wednesday apparently.



WHAT HAPPENED ON THIS DATE:

 1836 - Sure as shootin’, Samuel Colt received a patent for a pistol that used a revolving cylinder containing powder and bullets in six individual tubes. (Pre-assembled loads [cartridges] came later.) Up to that time, the single-shot flintlock pistol had been the fastest firearm around. Colt’s Patent Fire Arms Manufacturing Company was incorporated in 1855 and some 30 million Colt pistols and rifles have been sold since making America the peaceful place it is today.

 U.S. INCOME TAX was established on this date in 1913...to our friends in the U.S. "many happy returns". 1924 - Ty Cobb, one of the legends of baseball, issued an edict to his team, the Detroit Tigers, that outlawed the playing of golf during training camp. A report in the Detroit Free Press said that Cobb went so far as to confiscate players’ golf clubs! Wow! Talk about being a little ‘teed off’, eh!
 1940 - The first televised hockey game was broadcast. The New York Rangers whipped the Montreal Canadiens at Madison Square Garden on W2XBS-TV in New York City. The Rangers won, 6-2.
 1964 - Twenty-two-year old Cassius Clay won the world heavyweight boxing title by defeating Sonny Liston in the seventh round in Miami, FL. Clay had been an 8-1 underdog. In fact, only 8,297 fans showed up for the bout.  

 1966 - Nancy Sinatra was high-stepping with a gold record award for the hit, "These Boots are Made for Walkin’". When she cracked open the wooden-framed award to check out the gold disk inside, she heard "Pink Shoe Laces" by Dodie Stevens. Nancy was reported to have been incensed. I wonder how many people Frank had bumped off for doing that, Mind you it was "SOMETHING STUPID" to do.







The Top Songs ON THIS DATE IN 1960 The Theme from "A Summer Place" - Percy Faith (born in Toronto) Handy Man - Jimmy Jones... What in the World’s Come Over You - Jack Scott (born in Windsor in 1936)and He’ll Have to Go - Jim Reeves

THE  BIRTHDAY FILE ).... 1841 - Pierre-August Renoir (Impressionist artist: He did a great John Wayne Impression.

 In 1752, John Graves Simcoe, after which our County was named was born. In 1913 - Jim (James Gilmore) Backus (actor,the voice of Mr. Magoo ,AND  he was Thurston Howell on ""Gilligan’s Island, He was also in  I Married Joan, Blondie, The Great Lover, Rebel Without a Cause, It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, and he was also the first host of TV's Talent Scouts. ( he died July 3, 1989). The youngest of The Marx Brothers, Zeppo was born in 1901 on this day and was put into the role of the straight man after his brother Gummo left the act. Zeppo also acted as an understudy to all three of his brothers, and he has been said to have played Groucho's part better than Groucho himself, but not nearly as well as Karl. After playing small parts in the first five Marx Brothers movies, Zeppo felt his talent wasn't being used to its full extent and left the act to join his brother Gummo as an agent. Somewhat of a mechanical whiz, Zeppo invented a wristwatch that would monitor the pulse rate of cardiac patients. He died Nov 30, 1979)   
OTHERS BORN ON THIS DATE: Faron Young (country singer Hello Walls etc) in 1932

 and George Harrison (known as the "quiet Beatle" was born on this date in 1943 and died Nov 29, 2001). HE WOULD HAVE BEEN 70 YEARS OLD TODAY.... His songs with the band include "Taxman", "While My Guitar Gently Weeps",  "Here Comes the Sun", "For You Blue", and "Something", which has become the second most-covered  Beatles song.  He also had many great tunes after the break-up.

and Finally...some people age well but for others like Joan Rivers, it's a matter of "NIP and Tuck"

Have a great day Mornin' everybody, Mornin'

FRIDAY FEBRUARY 22ND, 2013

Welcome to my little Friday "toast and Jammies" BLOG....although a friend of mine calls it a BLOB.....IT'S BEEN A FROST RATING EXPERIENCE this week with all the cold overnights...although it is suppose to be moderating over the next few days. OLD MAN WINTER is even throwing in a couple of plus temperatures, and of course a few chances of snow are added just to keep us from getting too excited with thoughts of Spring. Gas is very expensive these days ,around $1.30 but back in 1984 there must have been a gas-war going on.  Barrie was at 43.4 cents but Wasaga Beach was down as low as 29.9 cents per litre.  It was so low...The Queen came over for a Philip. (fill-up).
  On this date in history in 1810, Polish composer Frederic Chopin, who brought piano music to new heights by establishing the piano as a solo instrument was born near Warsaw.

In 1965 the Beatles began filming "Help" their 2nd movie, in the Bahamas, Austria and England and they said it was filmed "in a haze of Marijuwana" and was sort of a "Frantic romp on Pot".  It was also a forerunner to music videos and was later copied by the Monkee's TV shows. I managed to see the Beatles at Maple Leaf Gardens in 1965.

Famous Peeps born this date:

In 1903 Canadian Writer Morley Callaghan, Edward Kennedy in 1932.  George Washington (1732-1799)  Drew Barrymore is 38, Julius Irving is 63, ViJay Singh is 50 in 1857, Lord Baden Powell was born. (the founder of theBoy Scout movement) . 

For those of you who are "Star Trek Fans".....The most beautiful of the female stars, although she was a Borg, She was a friendly Borg, "7 of  9" was her name although I would give her a 9 out of 9.  She was played by actor Geri Ryan and she is 45 today and in Ed Sullivan tradition  I  will show her only from the neck up so male readers won't have heart-attacks. (I don't want to be sued). She is "BORG-A-LICIUS"

and finally.....We leave you with a final thought for a T-Shirt Slogan...as the Cold weather continues.......'LETS SNUFF OUT COLDS"

MORNIIN' EVERY BODY...MORNIN"

THURSDAY FEBRUARY 21ST, 2013

Hi to you Thursday readers...this is "toast buster" Ken as February turns 21.  I am beginning to think our groundhogs were off the mark with their early spring prognostications...The first 5 years of the early 80's were mild with 4 of the five years having high's of over Zero.  In fact back in 1983 area Drive-Ins were already open for business. That was the earliest ever for them to start showing movies. In 1984 we even had a stretch of 10 days in a row of melting snow and what do we have today...more stretches of -20 at night...Bah Humbug!

It was on this date in 1941,Sir Frederick Banting died of wounds and exposure following a Lockheed L-14 Super Electra/Hudson plane  crash in Newfoundland. He was en route to England to conduct operational tests on the "Franks flying suit "developed by his colleague Wilber Franks.  It was a "Secret Weapon" that would allow allied pilots to outclimb, outdive and out turn the axis aircraft in a "dogfight."Banting of course was a Canadian medical scientist, doctor, painter and NOBEL laureate noted as the primary discoverer of INSULIN along with Dr. Charles Best. Frederick Banting was born on 14 November 1891, in a farm house near Alliston. He even use to get-together with a couple of the "Group of 7" and draw an Paint.



Also on this date in History 66 years ago, the Polaroid Land Camera was was first demonstrated by E.H. Land.  It was the first camera to take the picture, develop the picture and print it in 60 seconds. There are still lots of the camera's around but they do not make the film anymore. You can buy film on eBay and Amazon and I think Fujji is starting to make some that fit. Check it out on the internet. POLAROID went bankrupt in 1908.
The Maple Leafs were sitting in 18th spot in the 21 tem league in 1982, 3 points back of the Winnipeg Jets.  Edmonton was 1st and Gretzky had a 59 point lead in the scoring race.  I keep forgetting just how dominant he was. It has been such a long time for the Leafs, our "Terms of Endearment" should be called "Terms of ENDURE-MENT" .The leafs are doing much better this year but how about a Leaf joke for the road!

Q: Why did the Maple Leafs enforcer retire early?
A: He was ice fishing and got run over by the zamboni!

Who is celebrating today...Canadian actor Ellen Page is 26, Jennifer Love Hewitt is 34, Mary Chapin Carpenter is 55, Kelsey Grammar is 58, actor Ashley Greene is 26, and Larry Hagman was born 82 years ago today.

and FINALLY................

Q. How do you make a snooker table giggle?

A. Put your hand in its pocket and tickle its balls.

mornin' everybody.....mornin'

WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 20TH, 2013

Well here we go again with the Snowflake Parade with lots of streamers . It's about -8 at Orr lake at 7 am with more snow on the ground and more coming down at this time. We are in for some miserable weather with lots of blowing snow off Georgian Bay making driving conditions "tricky"

Today's happenings date included Yonge Street being opened for business from York to Lake Simcoe, 217 years ago. Just because it was officially completed earlier doesn't mean it was used. 
In 1944, the first comic strip with Batman and Robin showed up in Newspapers and of course The Riddler and the Joker came along later. (zap, boom, bash).
In 1945, Family Allowance cheques were in their INFANCY being introduced on this date becoming known as "The Baby Bonus"

In the middle 50's Canada's skies were flying high with the Avro Arrow and  By 1959, five Arrows had been successfully test flown and the Iroquois-equipped prototype was being readied for its expected world speed record-breaking first flight. Avro had also managed to increase the range of the Arrow and reduce its cost to $7.8 million each by redesigning it to accommodate a US radar fire-control and missile system. However, though there was no doubt that the superb Arrow was state-of-the-art, Avro was forced to fight a losing battle against critics in and out of government who declared that the missile rendered the manned interceptor obsolete. On February 20, 1959, Diefenbaker announced the immediate termination of the Arrow and Iroquois programmes and his intention to acquire nuclear warheads for the Bomarc-B and other weapons systems. Cancellation charges brought the total development costs of the Arrow programme to $470 million. In the furore that followed nationalists and the Opposition publically vilified the Diefenbaker government for its handling of the situation. There have been many conspiracy theories as to why "Dief" did it but I ,(despite liking him) think it came down to the fact he was a "chicken shit".

John Glenn made 3 orbits around the earth on this date in 1962 and just a few years later on Star Trek Captain James T Kirk was seen fighting off a series of attacks from Red and Purple Klingon vessels, but ever the tactical master, outmaneuvred the enemy quickly resulting in the the enemy ships colliding and leaving their crews Marooned.

Lots of birthdays to choose from today including Hockey's Phil Esposito turning 71. Sidney Poitier is  86. (He was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Obama in 2009). Also born on this date : Patty Hearst is 59, Rihanna in 1988, Charles Barkely (1963), Singer Nancy Wilson (1937) and Cindy Crawford in 1966. One of my favs of the Golden Years of T.V..... Gale Gordon (February 20, 1906 – June 30, 1995) was an American character actor perhaps best remembered as Lucille Ball's longtime television foil—and particularly as cantankerously combustible, tightfisted bank executive Theodore J. Mooney, on Ball's second television situation comedy, The Lucy Show. Gordon also had starring roles in Ball's third series, Here's Lucy and her short-lived fourth series, Life with Lucy. Prior to his television career, Gordon was a respected American radio actor.
                               

Have fun blowing out candles if it's your time to celebrate, but please no starting forest fires in the process.

and finally..... Downton Abbey was ripped by a liberal news site Sunday for glorifying the old British aristocracy of a century ago and making them appear to look generous and honest and moral. The British producers were never taught the rules of Hollywood. You're not allowed to portray the rich as generous and honest and moral unless they are DEMOCRATS.

 MORNIN' EVERYBODY...MORNIN'

TUESDAY FEBRUARY 19TH, 2013

Good morning...
it's a snowman making day for sure with the snow coming down in Gobs and Goblets for Tuesday the 19th as of 8:30 anyway.  One of the days you can run outside (well maybe hobble) and catch a snowflake on your tongue. 
In 1981 it was an amazing +13 for the high and a +6 for the low.  The snow was melting big-time and the grass was visible in many places.  1984 clocked in with a plus 7.
In Non-weather related news...
Times are bad financially in Italy "HOW BAD ARE THEY" ....they are so bad...dentists have stopped doing "root canals" in Venice....times are so tough...someone has put a LIEN on the Tower of Pisa...and times are so tough in Vatican City...they've started taking in Laundering instead of sending it out. On  this Date: The CPR was incorporated in 1873 with Sir Hugh Allen as their first President.  (he had taken a course in CPR).

In 1897 "the Women's Institute" (W.I) was formed at Stoney Creek led by Mrs. Adelaide Hunter Hoodless which spread to other Provinces and then to Britain.

A.J. Casson, the last of  "the Group of 7" died in 1992. This print is one of my favouites that i managed to pick up at auction.  I wish it was the original but of course who can afford that.  It is lovely to see over our fireplace.  By the way Casson was also in a group of 30:  30 siblings from 7 stepdads and 3 stepmoms. That's a lot of steps.

Way back in 1473, The founder of modern astronomy, Copernicus, was born in Poland and there is quite a nice tribute on the Google Page. Continuing with birthdays, Prince Andrew is 53, Mama Cass Elliot (1943-1974) and according to Snopes she did not choke on a ham sandwich.  Also born on this date Jeff Daniels is 58 and Seal is 50 years old (his latest release is Heidi Klum or vice versa). Also born on todays date is Lou Christie who is 70.  

Lou supposedly wrote songs with his musical partner Twyla Herbert and she was into spiritual reading and she would choose the songs that she felt would become hits. He had hits like "Lightening Strikes", "Two Faces Have I" and "Rhapsody in the Rain" which caused quite a stir with the words and was banned by a lot of radio stations because of the words.

Released in the spring of 1966, "Rhapsody In The Rain" featured a haunting melody inspired byTchaikovsky's "Romeo and Juliet", telling of a teenager's memory of his sexual experience in the back seat of a car during a rainstorm as the windshield wipers Made a rhythmic sound of "together, together".

Later after the romance ends, the wipers seem to say "never, never". Many radio stations banned the song after hearing the opening lyrics:

Baby, the raindrops play for me/ A lonely rhapsody 'cause on our first date/ We were makin out in the rain/ And in this car our love went much too far/ It was exciting as thunder/Tonight I wonder, where you are? 

MGM insisted on a re-recorded version that toned down the lyrical content. The re-dubbed lyrics for the "clean" version of the song were changed to:

Baby, the raindrops play for me /A lonely rhapsody cause on our first date/ We fell in love in the rain /And in this car our love came like a falling star/ It was exciting as thunder /Tonight I wonder, where you are

and on those notes I guess its time to end our time Together/together....and finally: 
A tv can insult your intelligence but nothing rubs it in like a computer.

mornin' everybody....mornin'

MONDAY FEBRUARY 18TH, 2013

There is quite a bit of Huronia Frost-bitality again this morning with a -21 here in Orr Lake. It's so cold the Blue Jays at the bird feeder even have Blue beaks on this "Family Day Monday". 10 years ago we had a high of -4 and a low of -9....lets go back 20.  It was an afternoon high of -11 and our low was -21 just like this morning.
  It was on this date in 1880 an assassin blew up the Czars Dining Room even after a plea of "please don't squeeze the czar men" was posted. Luckily the czar was Roman-Off at the time.
In 1915 Pancake Make-up was introduced.  As the years went by people gradually learned to use Maple Syrup instead.  It was hard work to make it but it tasted so much better.

In 1953 "Bwana Devil" the movie that started the 3-D craze of the 50's opened in New York City.  It starred Robert Stack , Barbara Britton and the fellow who played Dr. Watson to Basil Rathbone in the 40's Sherlock Holmes movies...Nigel Bruce who actually was born in Mexico and played the perfect  blustering Englishman.
On this date in 1980 Nancy Greene won a Gold Medal for Canada in the Giant Slolom at the Grenoble Winter Olympics.  On the very same day Gordie Howe and his son Mark played the Maple Leafs as "the Father, Son and Goalie post line".
In 1980 Pierre Elliot Trudeau became Prime Minister again after a 6 month hiatus with Joe Clark at the Helm ..."Joe Who?"

Is it your birthday today?  Well you are in pretty good company. In 1745 Alessandro Volta after which the VOLT was named.  Lots of singers and actors, including John TraVOLTA..(59), Smokey Robinson (73), Tommy Edwards (1922-1969), Juice Newton (especially love "The Sweetest thing" is 61 today.  Juice also did "Angel of the Mornin". Yoko Ono is 80 years old today (I think Newfie Screech was Named after her singing). Vanna White (of vowel movement fame) is 56 and Dennis DeYoung of Styx is 66.

and finally...from our "I wonder dept.", with The Pope's real name being  Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger did they call the photographers of "his Holiness" ....THE POPE-A-RATZY.

Hope you are having a great "family day"

mornin everybody' Mornin'

FRIDAY FEBRUARY 15TH, 2013

hello and welcome . It is a TGIF day....(.It was Robinson Crusoe who said it first) how about a KNOCK KNOCK JOKE.. .knock knock....who's there.....europe...europe who..
europe early this morning.  It's an overcast windy day...Back in  1983 we had quite a "Gas War" going on with "Take me to your Litre" the order of the day.  Gas was only in the range of the 30 cents per litre in the Angus and Stayner areas, and you could see the grass through the snow.  In 1984 we were into day number 6 of a big February Thaw with a plus 3 the days top temp.

WHAT HAPPENED ON THIS DATE....

In 1931.... The first Dracula movie was released by Universal. It starred Bella Legosi and was the first movie called "DRACULA"...It had a Biting sense of Humour, but it sucked the life out of movie goers. But I know that on Valentines day, The Count always liked to take his lady out for a BITE. 

1965 - A new red-and-white maple leaf design is adopted as the flag of Canada, replacing the old Canadian Red Ensign banner. It was first raised on Parliament Hill at 12 noon.Lester B. Pearson was Prime Minister at the time.  By the way  CANADA'S OFFICIAL COLOURS ARE RED AND WHITE.  proclaimed by King George the 5th on November 21st of 1921. 

In 1965 Nat King Cole died at age 47 at around the same time that he finished the movie "Cat Ballou"  I can remember going to the Roxy in Midland (or was it the Odeon theatre by then) to see it which at the time they said it was either the Canadian Debut or the Ontario Debut of the movie.

In 1975  Montreal's Gino Vanelli became the first white artist to appear on "SOUL TRAIN"
In 1979 Anne Murray won the Grammy for Top Female Vocalist.
 2005 - YouTube, the popular Internet site on which videos may be shared and viewed by others,was launched in the United States and now is all over the place.

"You say its your Birthday"

Galileo Galilei was born in Italy on this date.

 Jane Seymour turns 62, Susan B. Anthony (1820 - 1906), Chris Farley (1964 - 1997)
John Barrymore (1882 - 1942), Harvey Korman (1927-2008) If you are Blowing out some candles today...Don't start a forest fire. 

and finally....with RRSP time and tax preparation time looming remember these wise words
"Too err is human...but this you should learn, don't be Human on your tax return.

mornin' everybody mornin'

THURSDAY FEBRUARY 14TH, 2013

Good Thurday morn....hope you had a good nights' sleep...and you are ready for a Hearty Valentines day.....To an insomniac..".love means never having to say your Snory"...
We had some pretty Mild weather on the date in the past especially in the early 80's.  Lets keep our fingers crossed that will continue today... "Love is like a fire...it goes out if unattended".....if you are celebrating, PARTY HEARTY.

On this day: in 1661, Canada was a Royal Province of France (of course it was not called Canada back then). 
In 1779 Captain James Cook, the British explorer, was killed by Hawaii natives. (they weren't called the Sandwich Islands for nothing.)
In 1826 Colonel John By arrived in Upper Canada with a company of Royal engineers to start building the Rideau Canal.

 It was being done in case of another war with the Americans and included hydraulic locks, dams and channels but it was expensive and all he got was grief from the British Parliament.  He stated "It'll be a cold day in Hull if we let those Yanks catch us by surprise". It was Canada's first BI-Way.
IN 1918 the 1st "Tarzan of the Apes"  movie was released and he turned into a real swinger with many more movies to come.  They added Jane, then Boy and even a real Cheetah for a fourth for cards.
In 1926 in Chicago, the St. Valentines Day Massacre took place as Al Capone sent his adversaries a lovely Valentines Day message.
In 1972 the musical "Grease" opened off-broadway but soon made it to the big-time and ended up playing there  for quite a few years. In the Valentines theme, Elton and Renate John were married and how did that work out?
Here are a few "love quotes"..."Love is a disease of the NYMPH Glands", " Love is like a butterfly, it settles upon you when you least expect it.", " I could search my whole life but never can find another you..I love my life because it gave me you…. I love you because you are my life!", " If someone loves you, they don’t have to tell you. You will know from the way they treat you.", and "despite the fact that Galileo said "Love makes the world go ROUND"..Columbus' Crew was still a bit EDGY" and finally "Falling in love is awfully simple but falling out of love is simply Awful" 
BIRTHDATES.....Jack Benny (1894-1975), Singer Rob Thomas is 41. Meg Tilly (of Bomb  Girls) is 53. Jim Kelly, famous for his play on the football field is 53 and Jimmy Hoffa, famous for being UNDER THE FOOTBALL FIELD  was born in 1913, disappeared in 1975 and was declared dead in 1982. (thanks for the update Bill Mackie)
AND FINALLY....
"ROSES ARE RED.....VIOLETS ARE BLUE
THE NEW POPE'LL BE CATHOLIC
...UNLESS THERE'S A COUP"

mornin' everybody Mornin'

WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 13TH, 2013

Hi and hello to you on a mid-week work day  It's time to throw another Blog on the fire.  This is the month that Friday the 13th falls on a Wednesday.  I forgot all about "Shrove Tuesday" yesterday...no wonder all my jokes were "Flat as a Pancake".  Speaking of that I hear that the maple sap is starting to flow already...much earlier than it use to, and the producers are hooking up all their hoses to the tree's.

So that is why Canadians are sometimes called "HOSERS". Producers are hoping for frosty nights about -5 and Sunny days at about +5...some similiar foods to pancakes are Johnny cakes, waffles, griddle cakes, flap jacks and french toast and speaking of France they have their creeps (sorry) CREPES too. Shakespeare even referred to pancakes in "Alls Well, That ends Well". Don't forget the Elmvale Maple Syrup Festival coming up April 20th.

Famous Folks born on this date: Peter Gabriel is 63, Fergie Jenkins is 70, Tennessee Earnie Ford was born 94 years ago, (he of course sang the song about how to defeat Heartburn..."16 Tums"), Kim Novak is 80, Peter Tork of the Monkees is 69.

The BARBIE DOLL according to some sources, first went on sale on this date in 1959 although her official birthday is listed as in March. So Barbie is 54 and she has had many facelifts over the years. She was created by Ruth Handler and was named after her daughter Barbara.  Her son, Kenneth's name was also was used as she created  the Ken Doll as Barbie's boyfriend. She has had many different vocations through the years but be on the look-out for the new "Mechanic Barbie" complete with overalls, tools and of course KEN-DOLL motor oil.

On this date in history, Hamilton became a City in 1833, so Happy birthday to Steeltown and it's famous "OSKEE WEE WEE" football song. In 1895 The moving Picture Projector was patented making it possible to see all the body mutilations you can handle and of course all the Beautiful People who can't act there way out of a paper bag.

47 years ago today "the Rolling Stones" first appeared in North America, again on the Ed Sullivan Show. (of course they were only shown from the Eyebrows Up).

In 1984, The Maple Leafs were 18th in the standings and Wayne Gretzky had an unbelievable 68 point lead on his closest compeditor in the NHL scoring race.  The Oilers were first of course in the standings. In 1988

the 15th Winter Olympics opened in Calgary.  It was the Year of the "Battle of the Brians'), "Eddie the Eagle" and of LIZ MANLEY.

and finally....keep in mind....It's O.K. to be mediocre as long as you are good at it....Mornin' everybody...mornin'

TUESDAY FEBRUARY 12TH, 2013

G'DAY MATE tis a Trewsday the dozenth day of the shortest month with quite a bit of wind overnight and about 1 cm of snow this morning to greet us. That was quite a nice little mild respite from winter yesterday. I hope you had a good day with more on the way for today.  My little blogs tag line is "he who expects nothing shall never be disappointed."
Starting off with a bit of history, in 1541 Santiago, Chile was founded. It is not true that the founders asked people not to drink the water. In 1912 China became a republic. In 1924 George Gershwin played "Rhapsody in Blue" for the first time In Public.

In 2010 the opening ceremonies were help for the Vancouver Winter Olympics.  What was your most memorable event from that night.  I think mine
was k.d.lang singing Leonard Cohen's "Hallejula"

In our BIRTHDAY FILE TODAY.....a couple of biggies...
Abe Lincoln and Charles Darwin were born on the very same day and the very same year, in 1809.  Lincoln was up to "bringing his Country together while darwin was up to "some MONKEY BUSINESS"

Also born on this date in Ottawa in 1915 was Lorne Green.  He began acting while attending Canada's Queen's University, and after graduation got a job in radio broadcasting. His rich, deep, authoritarian voice quickly propelled him to prominence as Canada's top newscaster...as "the voice of Doom"...because of his reports on the 2nd World War"...he later got into acting and appeared on many TV shows before he became " Pa Ben Cartright .  After running out of space on the Ponderosa he gained all kinds of space on the TV series "Battlestar Galactica". Greene was also known for his role as Commander Adama, another patriarchal figure, in the science fiction feature film and television series Battlestar Galactica (1978–1979) and Galactica 1980 (1980).
In 2007, TV Guide listed Ben Cartwright as the nation's second most popular TV Father (behind only Cliff Huxtable).
Happy Birthday if it is your special day as you Have your Cake and eat it too....

and finally....the big story yesterday of course was Pope Benedict the 16th..stepping down but is it any wonder with all the Christmas Turkeys over the years and everyone wanting to get rid of "the Pope's Nose"

Mornin'everybody...mornin'

MONDAY FEBRUARY 11TH, 2013

Good day to you ...and  we start the cycle all over again...We have a bit of a walk on the Mild side with the snow melting and our 8 am temperature at 0 degrees. In 1981 we had a top temp of +8  with still a lot of snow on the ground as  a  matter of fact we had a couple of feet ...so we have a bit of a parallel 32 years apart. It Took me forever to do this Blog...I HATE CHANGING COMPUTERS!

Checking out the date: Henry the 8th had continued his cycle of carnage with Kathryn Howard getting it in the neck. She was wife number 5. Just a drop in the bucket to Henry. On this day in 1871 in Canada, the population of Ontario was 1.6 million folks and the census showed 1.2  million in Quebec. 2 years earlier Patrick James Whelan was the last person to be publically hung in Canada and people said he was "well hung" for the murder of D'Arcy McGee.

91 years ago today, Banting and Best announced their discover of Insulin in Toronto, a monumental breakthrough.

King Tut's tomb was opened and Lord Carnarvon was one of the participants in that in 1927. He was one of the so-called cursed-ones who met his death soon after. He was also the owner of "Highclere Castle" which is featured in the tremendously popular TV show "Downton Abbey".

Margaret Thatcher won the Conservative Party Leadership on this date 1975 and in March of 1979 became the first female British Prime Minister.

She was the longest-serving Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of the 20th century, and the only woman ever to have held the post.


Here are a few of her Nicknames
 Attila the Hen, Iron Lady, Maggie, Thatcher, the Milk Snatcher


In the 1987 general election, Thatcher won an unprecedented third term in office. But controversial policies, including the poll tax and her opposition to any closer integration with Europe, produced divisions within the Conservative Party which led to a leadership challenge. In November 1990, she agreed to resign and was succeeded as party leader and prime minister by John Major.

SOME FAMOUS FOLKS BORN ON THIS DATE:

                                                                                                                                                                               Taylor Lautner turns 21, Jennifer Aniston turns 44, Thomas Alva Edison (1847 - 1931),Sarah Palin turns 49, Sheryl Crow turns 51, Burt Reynolds turns 77, Eva Gabor (1919 - 1995), Leslie Nielsen (1926 - 2010), Tina Louise turns 79, Sidney Sheldon (1917 - 2007), Mary Quant turns 79, Damian Lewis turns 42, Bobby Boris Pickett (1938 - 2007) and "CLEAR THE TRACK....EDDIE SHACK WAS BORN 77 YEARS AGO TODAY....still one of the most popular Maple Leafs ever.

and Finally....A pessimist is a person who looks on the world THROUGH WOE"S COLOURED GLASSES.
Mornin' everybody MORNIN'

FRIDAY FEBRUARY 8TH, 2013

Well I'll give it a shot and try another computer...as  I try to shovel off to Buffalo...or at least out the driveway. When this storm is over we could look like back in '82 when the snowbanks at the sides of the roads were 5 to 6 feet. Temps were much the same as well, hovering around -10 or -12 in the morning.   The U.S. media is calling this storm the BIGGEST WORLD EVENT... SINCE NOAH AND THE ARK. (or since Kim Kardashian tried on a new bra from Victoria's Secret)

Lets check out some of the things that took place on this date....
In 1870 The U.S. WEATHER BUREAU was set up to try and keep people apprised of weather doings but the thing is, how did they let people know?  Did they do the forecasts and send them to people by Pony Express? I guess they used newspapers but wouldn't the information been a little out of date by then?  Maybe  the fastest way was to have the American Indians sending  smoke signals. I guess all they could do was collect statistics.

On this date in 1793 The U.S. Presidential salary was set as $25,000 a year, which is a lot when you consider in 1962 baseball great sandy Koufax would not sign his contract unless it was bumped WAY UP from the $18,000 he was paid to win 18 games the previous year.  Now of course they get that much per game to sit in the dug-out and spit tobacco.

Mary Queen of Scots was beheaded in 1587 thanks to Elizabeth the first, who was not right-headed on that decision.

Jules Gabriel Verne was a French author who pioneered the science fiction genre in Europe. He is best known for his novels Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, Journey to the Center of the Earth, and Around the World in Eighty Days. He was born on this date in 1828 and probably without him we never would have had the opportunity to watch "Star Trek" with Capt. Kirk, Bones and of course Spock and his 3 pointy ears.  He was, I guess the first actor to wear "Ear Wigs." Yes he did have 3 ears....the left ear, the right ear and the "FINAL FRONT EAR".

 Other famous people born : James Dean 1931, Barry Mann 1939, Dan Seals 1948 (also known as England Dan) 1948, writer John Grisham 1955, Hockey's Dino Ciccarelli 1960, AND...........

songwriter Joe Rapso of Sesame Street was born in 1937...He wrote songs like "It Ain't Easy being Green" , C is for cookie, the "Sesame Street Theme"  and "SING" which was a hit for the Carpenters.

AND FINALLY.....Something to look forward to this week-end if you ever dig yourself out.....

The Royal Canadian MINT in honour of getting rid of the PENNY....are holding A huge "COIN" ROAST....this week-end  so don't forget to throw in your PENNY LOAFERS for eradication as well.

Mornin' Every Body....Mornin'

THURSDAY FEBRUARY 7TH 2013

It's Hi time for my Thursday Blog...so "Hi"! Quite a nice morning so far but it seems we are in for some more snow. Spring officially starts March 20th...at 11:02 UTC...what does UTC stand for...as close as I can figure out it is Greenwich Mean time...but more precise.  GMT is 5 hours behind our time. Nothing is easy anymore. They are calling for a possible historic snowstorm for the U.S. They even have a name for it.  "NEMO" (Something fishy about that name)
In 1792  John Graves Simcoe was advertising Upper Canada Crown Lands for sale with fee scales, how to apply, and the fact that US citizens wishing to settle could get free land grants. How about that..even back then people in the U.S. paid less than Canadians.
One source says on this date in 1877, the first rules for hockey were set up such as the Ball (puck)

could not be advanced by any part of the body and no one could raise his or her stick above the shoulder or trip. It also said Don Cherry had to wear very loud waistcoats. 
In 1940 Disney's Pinocchio opened in Theatres. The film involved an old wood-carver named Geppetto who carves a wooden puppet named Pinocchio who is brought to life by a blue fairy, who tells him he can become a real boy if he proves himself "brave, truthful, and unselfish".

Thus began the puppet's adventures to become a real boy, which involved many encounters with a host of unsavory characters. Of course he soon finds out telling  lies makes his nose grow....plus the fact that our hero was very "high Strung" as was his dog....Ge-pet-him. The movie also won 2 academy awards including..this...

In 1964 The Beatles had just arrived in North America and were touring and in sports in 1976, Darryl Sittler scored 6 goals and had 4 assists in a game against Boston and it is still a record to this date. He also became the first Leaf to hit 100 points in a season. 
Birthdays on this 7th of February contain some luminaries such as Steve Nash (39), Steven Stamkos(23), Garth Brooks (51), Sir Thomas More (advisor to Henry the 8th ) in 1478, Jack Lemmon and Lana Turner...also Charles Dickens (1812) and John Deere (1804).  Had they gotten together we might have seen "John Deere Letters" with the words " are there no Poor houses...are there no tractors?"...
Back in 1981 on this date there were rumours flying around that Prince Charles was going to get married.

and finally''....the words of  Charles Dickens "God bless us...everyone."
mornin' everybody......,mornin'.

WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 6TH, 2013

Howdy folks...a nice sunrise hump day for Simcoe county..still a bit cold with a -17 at Orr Lake at about 7:30am....Back in 1993 it was the Coldest day of the 92/93 winter with a minus 27. We have certainly outdistanced that this winter.  There was quite a bit of snow to go along with that -27...a lot more than we have here now. 

It's a busy day in history.  
George VI died in his sleep,in 1952 (he was born Dec. 14, 1895)

and his eldest daughter Princess Elizabeth acceded to the Throne as Queen Elizabeth II. The stamp was issued to commemorate her wedding to Prince Philip a year earlier. In 1892 on this date Canadian James Naismith invented the game which was later called Baseketball while teaching in the U.S...he had come into the school Gym wearing his wet goloshes and he proceeded to toss a ball into a bushel basket while his boots DOUBLE DRIBBLED all over the floor.
Puccini's "La Boheme" premiered in Turin in 1896 on this date leading to the song "PUCCI PUCCI lend me your comb" in the 50's. 1935 - The popular board game Monopoly went  on sale for the first time. 

Famous Peeps born on this date.  Babe Ruth in 1895, Ronald Reagon 102 Years ago, Patrick Mcnee 91 years ago (of The Avengers and "a Christmas Carol") , Mamie Van Doren 82 years ago, Mike Farrell of Mash, and singer Fabian 70 years ago today. I put a picture of Mrs Emma Peel in for the Avengers because Diana Rigg was a lot prettier than Patrick Macnee and after all it's my blog. Macnee is an avid nudist, sometimes to the dismay of his friends and co-stars: He once invited Honor Blackman to watch him play tennis in the nude, an invitation she declined. Patrick played the part of as young Jacob Marley in the Scrooge movie with Alister Simm.in 1952. If you are celebrating Many Happy Return (on your birthday and your income tax). 

AND FINALLY...if there was any justice in this world...people would occasionally be permitted to fly over seagulls.

Mornin' everybody....Mornin'

Ken