Well, Patricia is sick. She has a flu like the one going around these days. This flu/cold is bad enough that it knocks you on your sitter downer for several days. A woman at work had it and was out for a week. Here's hoping I don't get it. I will use lots of hand sanitizer until she's feeling better.
I skipped Toastmasters this evening so that I could tend to Patricia. This mostly means I check in on her every once in a while to see if she is still living and making sure she's still hydrated. Otherwise, I leave her alone. I have been in my home office for most of the evening. That's fine. Lots to do down here.
Newbie is avoiding me. Maybe he expects me to spend more time with Patricia. I know that when I go upstairs to the kitchen, that he will greet me there, expecting a snack. Little so-and-so.
There is really not much to report. I haven't touched the Shane Wilson interview today. I am determined to finish it within a week if at all possible. I look forward to sharing the interview with you, at least all 6 of you who read my interviews that is. I guess it's niche reading. That's ok. I do them as a labour of love.
Any of you people listen to FX 101.9, the Halifax Country station? They fired a guy today by email! His name is Duffy. He was supposed to go on the air at noon, but was sent an email mid-morning telling him that his services were no longer required, effective immediately. He posted a thank you note using the official FX 101.9 Facebook page indicating what I just told you. There were a couple dozen replies to the message, mostly those of angry toward his former employer. Within a couple of hours, that entire thread, all those comments, was deleted. You don't see that kind of thing every day! Other than that, it's not a good idea for me to offer further comment.
I wish Duffy all the best in securing future employment.
Maybe I should send him an email.
See you tomorrow.
Bevboy
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Post 1925 - Yes. I'm Still Alive
It is Tuesday night, just before 10. I will go to bed shortly and try to catch up on my rest.
I was frightfully late for work today. I was wide awake until 3 o'clock this morning. I am not sure why. People at work teased me that it was because I did a spin class Monday night. If anything, that should have put me out at an early hour and I'd remain in bed until it was time to get up. Instead, I went to bed around 10:30 and slept fitfully for hours and hours. I awoke from what I was going through and watched Jimmy Kimmel. Julianna Margulies was the main guest along with Bruce Springsteen and Seann William Scott. Yes. I watched it all.
Finally, 5:30 came. I was unable to get out of bed so I wrote work and explained the situation. I got up around 8:30 and prepared for work, only to discover that Patricia was even sicker than I thought she was. She made an emergency doctor's appointment for 11:30. I took her there and thence to the pharmacy and then back here before I went to my work, arriving shortly after 1pm.
A long day. I know.
Tonight, I tackled the dishes even though I had done them just 2 days ago. They multiply like rabbits in heat, I swear. We watched the latest episode of Spartacus: Vengeance before I came back downstairs here to write this here blog post.
I am hoping to finish transcribing the latest blog interview within the next 5 days or so. It will be one of the longest interviews yet. Have you read the James Taylor interview yet? No? Well, the Shane Wilson interview will be close to that length.
OK. Let's see if I can get to sleep earlier this evening.
See you tomorrow.
Bevboy
I was frightfully late for work today. I was wide awake until 3 o'clock this morning. I am not sure why. People at work teased me that it was because I did a spin class Monday night. If anything, that should have put me out at an early hour and I'd remain in bed until it was time to get up. Instead, I went to bed around 10:30 and slept fitfully for hours and hours. I awoke from what I was going through and watched Jimmy Kimmel. Julianna Margulies was the main guest along with Bruce Springsteen and Seann William Scott. Yes. I watched it all.
Finally, 5:30 came. I was unable to get out of bed so I wrote work and explained the situation. I got up around 8:30 and prepared for work, only to discover that Patricia was even sicker than I thought she was. She made an emergency doctor's appointment for 11:30. I took her there and thence to the pharmacy and then back here before I went to my work, arriving shortly after 1pm.
A long day. I know.
Tonight, I tackled the dishes even though I had done them just 2 days ago. They multiply like rabbits in heat, I swear. We watched the latest episode of Spartacus: Vengeance before I came back downstairs here to write this here blog post.
I am hoping to finish transcribing the latest blog interview within the next 5 days or so. It will be one of the longest interviews yet. Have you read the James Taylor interview yet? No? Well, the Shane Wilson interview will be close to that length.
OK. Let's see if I can get to sleep earlier this evening.
See you tomorrow.
Bevboy
Monday, February 27, 2012
Post 1924 - That's Better
After work I returned to the gym and did another spin class. I hadn't been there for a few weeks. It was nice to see Nancy the instructor again. I think she kicked my ass a little harder than usual. My legs are very tired this evening.
I got home around 7:30 and found Patricia asleep on the couch. I stole downstairs here where I transcribed another piece of the Shane Wilson interview. It would be nice to transcribe all but the first audio file by this time tomorrow. The first audio file is a full 45 minutes long, and it will take me several days to transcribe it. How much do they pay me to do this again? Oh? I do it for free? Never mind.
It is Monday night, which is Hoarders night in Casa Bevboy. I watch this show and remind myself that maybe I shouldn't buy that complete set of 1963 Encyclopedia Britannica that I saw on kijiji this morning. Maybe I don't need that 5th toaster. Perhaps I can get by with just 3 desktop computers.
Maybe.
Oooh, it was the 1963 set. They don't make those any more. Might be worth something some day.
See you later!!
Bevboy
I got home around 7:30 and found Patricia asleep on the couch. I stole downstairs here where I transcribed another piece of the Shane Wilson interview. It would be nice to transcribe all but the first audio file by this time tomorrow. The first audio file is a full 45 minutes long, and it will take me several days to transcribe it. How much do they pay me to do this again? Oh? I do it for free? Never mind.
It is Monday night, which is Hoarders night in Casa Bevboy. I watch this show and remind myself that maybe I shouldn't buy that complete set of 1963 Encyclopedia Britannica that I saw on kijiji this morning. Maybe I don't need that 5th toaster. Perhaps I can get by with just 3 desktop computers.
Maybe.
Oooh, it was the 1963 set. They don't make those any more. Might be worth something some day.
See you later!!
Bevboy
Sunday, February 26, 2012
Post 1923 - Sunday Night
It's Sunday night and I will be heading off to bed soon. We're watching the Oscars. I've only seen "The Artist" so I can only root for them.
Being Sunday, I slept in until late. I spent 2 hours washing the dishes before throwing the roast into the crockpot for tonight's dinner. We watched 2 hours of Spartacus and are caught up on this show.
I talked to my mother twice today. How many times did you talk to your mother today? Probably not twice. Talk to your mother, every day. You won't have her forever you know.
Another work week commences in just a few hours. Yippee.
Is it Friday yet?
See you tomorrow.
From Bevboy's BlackBerry to Bevboy's Blog!
Saturday, February 25, 2012
Post 1922 - Sleep
Am I fighting something or something? A cold? A flu? VD? Why else did I sleep in until noon today? At least I didn't require a nap this afternoon. Patricia did, though! At one point, I walked in on Patricia. She was napping on the couch. Nestled below her knees was Cindy, curled up in a very similar position, sound asleep as well. Repeat after me: Awww!
Watched this past week's episode of "The Walking Dead" this afternoon. A marked improvement over the previous episode.
Watched this past week's episode of Supernatural tonight, as well as last week's Alcatraz.
Spent some time just now on Halifax Radio Memories, only the most fascinating group on Facebook. It is so much fun, listening to these classic radio highlights from 30 or more years ago. If you are interested in joining this group, let me know, and I will see what I can do.
Say, maybe on Sunday I will do some work. Maybe wash the dishes or do some laundry. Maybe Patricia will prepare a meal. Or maybe we'll just sleep the day away again. Worse ways to spend a weekend.
See you tomorrow.
Bevboy
Watched this past week's episode of "The Walking Dead" this afternoon. A marked improvement over the previous episode.
Watched this past week's episode of Supernatural tonight, as well as last week's Alcatraz.
Spent some time just now on Halifax Radio Memories, only the most fascinating group on Facebook. It is so much fun, listening to these classic radio highlights from 30 or more years ago. If you are interested in joining this group, let me know, and I will see what I can do.
Say, maybe on Sunday I will do some work. Maybe wash the dishes or do some laundry. Maybe Patricia will prepare a meal. Or maybe we'll just sleep the day away again. Worse ways to spend a weekend.
See you tomorrow.
Bevboy
Friday, February 24, 2012
Post 1921 - The Weekend Is Here!
It's been a long week. I took Tuesday as a vacation day, but it was anything but a restful day. I had my birthday as I trudge ever closer to 50. Just imagine the regrets I'll have then. Oh, boy!
The transit strike is going to be a long one, I fear. The union rejected the "last, final offer" this afternoon by a wide margin. Both sides are digging in, and people who need to get around will have to make other arrangements. Meanwhile, gas keeps going up in price on a weekly basis. Double whammy, much?
After work this evening, we decided to get a bite before driving home. Can't afford to do that every day.
Got home this evening and a mere 2 hours later, I am going to turn in. Long week. Need my beauty coma.
See you tomorrow.
Bevboy
The transit strike is going to be a long one, I fear. The union rejected the "last, final offer" this afternoon by a wide margin. Both sides are digging in, and people who need to get around will have to make other arrangements. Meanwhile, gas keeps going up in price on a weekly basis. Double whammy, much?
After work this evening, we decided to get a bite before driving home. Can't afford to do that every day.
Got home this evening and a mere 2 hours later, I am going to turn in. Long week. Need my beauty coma.
See you tomorrow.
Bevboy
Thursday, February 23, 2012
Post 1920 - Happy Birthday To Me
Today was my birthday. I am 48 years old.
There. Got that part out of the way.
I told you the other night that I was given an early birthday present the other night from my sister. That wasn't quite accurate. Here: Take a look at it.
As you can see, it is a cross stitch thing of a ship with a famous quotation. It was made by my sister, and she worked on it all Winter.
Of particular note is the frame. It was built by my father some years ago, back when he could do such a thing. To receive a present from my sister and my father, two years after his passing, is really something. I'm very proud of it. I love it. Thank you, Gayle, for making this for me. Thank you very much.
I'm so proud of it, in fact, that I am keeping it at my work. I am not going to keep it at the house, where a cat can scratch it to pieces. At work, where colleagues can admire it with a degree of jealous and envy. Yeah. Work. Get over it.
I'm 48 today. I noted that it was my 24th birthday, 24 years ago today, when I signed the contract for my first job after university. I met people at that job who remain friends to this day. At least one is a regular reader of this blog.
Things haven't changed much in the last year. I work in a different part of the city, which is growing on me. I continue to have the capacity to learn new things, and I like that. I still miss my father. I still wish I had more time to read more of the books that are cluttering my house. Newbie is still a strange cat who likes to sleep under the covers and seldom meows. I still spend time at my mother's and love the town of Wolfville more by each passing day. People still hit me up to fix their computers in the same way they used to hit up my dad to do free carpentry work for them.
Patricia asked me this week what I needed for my birthday this year. I fear I am getting to the point in my life where I don't need that much. I want stuff, but don't need it. I indicated that I needed a new battery for my watch, so that was done. I need new running shoes, and I will get those. I don't need the "Repairman Jack" novels by F. Paul Wilson that are missing from the ones that I own. I want them. It's taken me a long time to learn the difference, sometimes subtle, between wanting something and needing it. Some people never learn.
The watch runs much better now. Thanks for asking. I still don't have those Repairman Jack's. Maybe some other day. I can wait.
That's it for tonight.
See you tomorrow.
Bevboy
There. Got that part out of the way.
I told you the other night that I was given an early birthday present the other night from my sister. That wasn't quite accurate. Here: Take a look at it.
As you can see, it is a cross stitch thing of a ship with a famous quotation. It was made by my sister, and she worked on it all Winter.
Of particular note is the frame. It was built by my father some years ago, back when he could do such a thing. To receive a present from my sister and my father, two years after his passing, is really something. I'm very proud of it. I love it. Thank you, Gayle, for making this for me. Thank you very much.
I'm so proud of it, in fact, that I am keeping it at my work. I am not going to keep it at the house, where a cat can scratch it to pieces. At work, where colleagues can admire it with a degree of jealous and envy. Yeah. Work. Get over it.
I'm 48 today. I noted that it was my 24th birthday, 24 years ago today, when I signed the contract for my first job after university. I met people at that job who remain friends to this day. At least one is a regular reader of this blog.
Things haven't changed much in the last year. I work in a different part of the city, which is growing on me. I continue to have the capacity to learn new things, and I like that. I still miss my father. I still wish I had more time to read more of the books that are cluttering my house. Newbie is still a strange cat who likes to sleep under the covers and seldom meows. I still spend time at my mother's and love the town of Wolfville more by each passing day. People still hit me up to fix their computers in the same way they used to hit up my dad to do free carpentry work for them.
Patricia asked me this week what I needed for my birthday this year. I fear I am getting to the point in my life where I don't need that much. I want stuff, but don't need it. I indicated that I needed a new battery for my watch, so that was done. I need new running shoes, and I will get those. I don't need the "Repairman Jack" novels by F. Paul Wilson that are missing from the ones that I own. I want them. It's taken me a long time to learn the difference, sometimes subtle, between wanting something and needing it. Some people never learn.
The watch runs much better now. Thanks for asking. I still don't have those Repairman Jack's. Maybe some other day. I can wait.
That's it for tonight.
See you tomorrow.
Bevboy
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
POST 1919 - On Peter Kelly
Our esteemed mayor, Peter Kelly, announced this afternoon that he will not seek re-election this October.
This is probably a good thing for all parties. Kelly admitted that he works 90 hours a week or more, and that this kind of workload has taken a toll on him and his family. It cost him his marriage for one thing.
I have only met Peter Kelly a couple of times. On those occasions he was always nice to me. He was always working.
When he was brand-new to the job, he celebrated the continuation of the Hotline open line radio show on CJCH. CJ was moving to an all-sports talk format later on that year (2001), and Rick Howe and Deb Smith were on hand that fine Saturday afternoon at the Halifax Forum. It was the Winter, February or March. Rather than get someone to shovel the walkway leading to the entrance to the Forum, Peter Kelly himself was doing it. Says something about the guy.
Skip forward a few years. My Toastmasters club was turning 35, and I thought it would be cool for the mayor to come to the club and say a few words. I had heard he had been in Toastmasters back in the day.
Kelly arrived at the appointed time. Table topics that night was one where people would write down a secret about themselves and participants had to speculate on whose secret they ended up with. Peter Kelly was one of the people who wrote down a secret about themselves. Afterward, Kelly spoke about his career in politics and took questions from the audience. We had a couple of members who had earned educational achievements in TM; Kelly kindly agreed to give these folks their new badges.
Our paths crossed a few more times over the years. Most recently, in 2010, he posed for me for one of my Bevboy's Blog Christmas Tie Extgravaganza pictures.
Say what you want about Peter Kelly. He worked like a dog. His heart was in the right place. The mistakes he made, he made with the best interests of the city in mind. And he took loads of shit from detractors of every political persuasion and from members of the media whose career seemed to be all about writing crappy things about him. Marilla Stephenson, how do you sleep at night? What precisely did Peter Kelly do to you? Why did you decide to make it your life's work to drive that man from public office?
I am beginning to wonder why anybody would want the job of mayor of any place. I can't see the upside of pursuing such a position. It is thankless. It costs you so much of your personal life. And, let's be pragmatic: the pay isn't that good, in relative terms.
FWIW, my best to Peter Kelly as he leaves this office and goes on to something else.
See you tomorrow.
Bevboy
This is probably a good thing for all parties. Kelly admitted that he works 90 hours a week or more, and that this kind of workload has taken a toll on him and his family. It cost him his marriage for one thing.
I have only met Peter Kelly a couple of times. On those occasions he was always nice to me. He was always working.
When he was brand-new to the job, he celebrated the continuation of the Hotline open line radio show on CJCH. CJ was moving to an all-sports talk format later on that year (2001), and Rick Howe and Deb Smith were on hand that fine Saturday afternoon at the Halifax Forum. It was the Winter, February or March. Rather than get someone to shovel the walkway leading to the entrance to the Forum, Peter Kelly himself was doing it. Says something about the guy.
Skip forward a few years. My Toastmasters club was turning 35, and I thought it would be cool for the mayor to come to the club and say a few words. I had heard he had been in Toastmasters back in the day.
Kelly arrived at the appointed time. Table topics that night was one where people would write down a secret about themselves and participants had to speculate on whose secret they ended up with. Peter Kelly was one of the people who wrote down a secret about themselves. Afterward, Kelly spoke about his career in politics and took questions from the audience. We had a couple of members who had earned educational achievements in TM; Kelly kindly agreed to give these folks their new badges.
Our paths crossed a few more times over the years. Most recently, in 2010, he posed for me for one of my Bevboy's Blog Christmas Tie Extgravaganza pictures.
Say what you want about Peter Kelly. He worked like a dog. His heart was in the right place. The mistakes he made, he made with the best interests of the city in mind. And he took loads of shit from detractors of every political persuasion and from members of the media whose career seemed to be all about writing crappy things about him. Marilla Stephenson, how do you sleep at night? What precisely did Peter Kelly do to you? Why did you decide to make it your life's work to drive that man from public office?
I am beginning to wonder why anybody would want the job of mayor of any place. I can't see the upside of pursuing such a position. It is thankless. It costs you so much of your personal life. And, let's be pragmatic: the pay isn't that good, in relative terms.
FWIW, my best to Peter Kelly as he leaves this office and goes on to something else.
See you tomorrow.
Bevboy
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Post 1918 - The Quick Trip Is Over
I am now back in my home. I arrived here about 90 minutes ago.
Without getting into detail, the reasons for my quick trip to my mother's were resolved to our satisfaction. Then, the real fun began.
Mom wanted to go to breakfast. Her new fave place is Cora's, and she goes there fairly often. We did.
After the breakfast, Mom indicated that she wanted to get "a few groceries". A few! Yeah. Right. It was more than 3 hours of shopping I will have you know. Superstore. Then, she remembered she had forgotten a few things, so we went to Sobeys. That's fine. I always enjoy pawing through the bin of old books for 25 cents each and selected a book called "The Wailing Frail" by Richard S. Prather. I don't think it is a book I will read at work during my lunch hour, folks!
Anyway, we shopped at Sobeys for over an hour. Then, Lawton's. Then, the store that sells sketchy meat products in a location not generally known to the public. Then, the Tin Pan Bakery in Port Williams. Then, at long last, some 6 hours after we left the house this morning, we finally returned.
I needed a nap, so wiped out was I from the day's excursions. I got up around 3 and went out to the garage to poke around for a bit. Around 4:15, I strolled over to the nearby church for the Shrove Tuesday supper. I am not Catholic or even Anglican; but I do like pancakes and sausages.
I ate what they put in front of me before returning to my mother's with some take out. I hung around her place for a while before driving back here.
Newbie met me at the door. As I write these words, he is about 5 feet away in his box, serene in his knowledge that I am back home.
I brought back a couple of things with me. One of them is really cool and will form the basis of Thursday's blog post. The other one is an old desktop computer running linux that I have been keeping at my mother's. I brought it back with me to install some much-needed updates on this machine. I will take it back with me when I return to my mother's soon.
Back to work in the morning. I missed the place. Well, on record, officially, I missed the place today.
See you tomorrow.
Bevboy
Without getting into detail, the reasons for my quick trip to my mother's were resolved to our satisfaction. Then, the real fun began.
Mom wanted to go to breakfast. Her new fave place is Cora's, and she goes there fairly often. We did.
After the breakfast, Mom indicated that she wanted to get "a few groceries". A few! Yeah. Right. It was more than 3 hours of shopping I will have you know. Superstore. Then, she remembered she had forgotten a few things, so we went to Sobeys. That's fine. I always enjoy pawing through the bin of old books for 25 cents each and selected a book called "The Wailing Frail" by Richard S. Prather. I don't think it is a book I will read at work during my lunch hour, folks!
Anyway, we shopped at Sobeys for over an hour. Then, Lawton's. Then, the store that sells sketchy meat products in a location not generally known to the public. Then, the Tin Pan Bakery in Port Williams. Then, at long last, some 6 hours after we left the house this morning, we finally returned.
I needed a nap, so wiped out was I from the day's excursions. I got up around 3 and went out to the garage to poke around for a bit. Around 4:15, I strolled over to the nearby church for the Shrove Tuesday supper. I am not Catholic or even Anglican; but I do like pancakes and sausages.
I ate what they put in front of me before returning to my mother's with some take out. I hung around her place for a while before driving back here.
Newbie met me at the door. As I write these words, he is about 5 feet away in his box, serene in his knowledge that I am back home.
I brought back a couple of things with me. One of them is really cool and will form the basis of Thursday's blog post. The other one is an old desktop computer running linux that I have been keeping at my mother's. I brought it back with me to install some much-needed updates on this machine. I will take it back with me when I return to my mother's soon.
Back to work in the morning. I missed the place. Well, on record, officially, I missed the place today.
See you tomorrow.
Bevboy
Monday, February 20, 2012
Post 1917 - A Quick Trip
Greetings from my mother's. I drove here after supper tonight. I will return to the city Tuesday evening and to work on Wednesday.
I'm here to do some stuff with and for my mother. These things require my attention tomorrow.
It's not so bad. She's got cable here. Growing up, cable was not an entertainment option. It just didn't exist. Around 1984, they came up with a way to get a version of cable involving some kind of microwave receiver attached to your house. Traditional coax-based cable wasn't available here until 1999.
Hmm?
What's that?
Oh, you don't care?
OK.
Watching "Hoarders". It's one of those shows I can watch and not feel guilty about the stuff in my own house. We only have 2 cats, not 20. And they're both fixed.
Got a very early day tomorrow. Should call it a night.
It's a night.
See you tomorrow.
From Bevboy's BlackBerry to BevBoy's Blog!
Sunday, February 19, 2012
Post 1916 - Now, That's More Like It!
Slept in until so late in the morning, it was barely morning at all. And, by 2:15 or so, I had to take a nap, not getting up until after 4pm. Today was one of those days when I didn't know if there was something wrong with me, or if I was just being terminally lazy. I'd be willing to bet on the latter.
I will be taking Tuesday as a vacation day, in the Valley. It will be Shrove Tuesday. I am not Catholic, or even Anglican; but I do not ignore any excuse to check out pancakes and sausage. Turns out that there will be a Shrove Tuesday supper at the church that's an easy distance from my mother's. I will probably go there and cover this important event for Bevboy's Blog.
I am learning more and more about Halifax radio history from the FB group I am on that's called "Halifax Radio Memories". One guy, Scott Snailham, managed to save 100 or more reel to reel tapes from the dumpster when CHNS moved from its old Tobin Street offices to Barrington Street. It is so interesting, listening to these old radio shows that he managed to save. A couple are from the 1940's. It is so sad that 99.9% of this material is lost to us forever. You may not care, but those of us in the group, do. It does speak to our cultural heritage.
Have a good evening.
See you tomorrow.
Bevboy
I will be taking Tuesday as a vacation day, in the Valley. It will be Shrove Tuesday. I am not Catholic, or even Anglican; but I do not ignore any excuse to check out pancakes and sausage. Turns out that there will be a Shrove Tuesday supper at the church that's an easy distance from my mother's. I will probably go there and cover this important event for Bevboy's Blog.
I am learning more and more about Halifax radio history from the FB group I am on that's called "Halifax Radio Memories". One guy, Scott Snailham, managed to save 100 or more reel to reel tapes from the dumpster when CHNS moved from its old Tobin Street offices to Barrington Street. It is so interesting, listening to these old radio shows that he managed to save. A couple are from the 1940's. It is so sad that 99.9% of this material is lost to us forever. You may not care, but those of us in the group, do. It does speak to our cultural heritage.
Have a good evening.
See you tomorrow.
Bevboy
Saturday, February 18, 2012
Post 1915 - Where Did The Day Go?
Let's see here. I slept in until very late. I got up. I tackled the laundry all afternoon and into the evening. I cooked fish for dinner, so the house smells like a brothel on a Sunday morning. Sorry for that mental image. It's late and I can't think of anything better.
Tomorrow, when I eventually get out of bed, I will do more laundry and probably, sigh, wash the dishes. If there is a more unholy task other than washing dishes, I'd like to know what it is.
Newbie has been strangely standoffish this evening. I mean, all cats are like that. He is more standoffish than usual. He sits atop my modem and router. I think he just wants to head off to bed. I will oblige him shortly.
See you tomorrow.
Bevboy
Tomorrow, when I eventually get out of bed, I will do more laundry and probably, sigh, wash the dishes. If there is a more unholy task other than washing dishes, I'd like to know what it is.
Newbie has been strangely standoffish this evening. I mean, all cats are like that. He is more standoffish than usual. He sits atop my modem and router. I think he just wants to head off to bed. I will oblige him shortly.
See you tomorrow.
Bevboy
Friday, February 17, 2012
Post 1914 - Hal Sproule on Annapolis Valley Radio
Welcome to my weekend, folks!
You are looking at a jpeg image of the obituary of Annapolis Valley Radio broadcaster Hal Sproule. As you can see, it is from early 1983. I would have clipped it from the paper back in the day. I recently found the obit in a scrapbook and scanned it into my computer.
I don't know much about Hal Sproule. I do recall he pronounced his last name on air so that it would rhyme with the name of his show, called "Hal's Corral". I remember that he left the air for a time only to return. Then, he died.
I have one other memory of Hal Sproule, and it is possible that I am mis-attributing it to another AVR broadcaster. Some of you older folks may remember "Kung Fu Fighting", a 1974 hit by one-hit wonder Carl Douglas. You can find the original video/song on Youtube. It is far too cheesy to run here (I do have some standards), so I will run the Cee Lo Green version below:
(How cheesy is the original version? As cheesy as the cheese on sale at Superstore the week before Christmas. Yeah. That cheesy!)
Anyway, Hal Sproule/whoever was playing "Kung Fu Fighting" one morning and back sold it when it was over. So smitten with the song was he, that he picked up the needle and dropped it again on the latter part of the song, replaying that portion of it.
I used to think it was a dumb thing to do, but if it has stayed in my brain for the better part of 40 years now, it may have been one of the smartest things I have ever heard on the radio. And, I am pretty sure it was Hal Sproule who did this, all those years ago!
I am going to link this blog post to that FB group in the hope that people reading it will have some comments to make about this veteran broadcaster, either as direct comments to the post, or on the FB group.
What are your memories of Hal Sproule?
See you tomorrow.
Bevboy
You are looking at a jpeg image of the obituary of Annapolis Valley Radio broadcaster Hal Sproule. As you can see, it is from early 1983. I would have clipped it from the paper back in the day. I recently found the obit in a scrapbook and scanned it into my computer.
I don't know much about Hal Sproule. I do recall he pronounced his last name on air so that it would rhyme with the name of his show, called "Hal's Corral". I remember that he left the air for a time only to return. Then, he died.
I have one other memory of Hal Sproule, and it is possible that I am mis-attributing it to another AVR broadcaster. Some of you older folks may remember "Kung Fu Fighting", a 1974 hit by one-hit wonder Carl Douglas. You can find the original video/song on Youtube. It is far too cheesy to run here (I do have some standards), so I will run the Cee Lo Green version below:
(How cheesy is the original version? As cheesy as the cheese on sale at Superstore the week before Christmas. Yeah. That cheesy!)
Anyway, Hal Sproule/whoever was playing "Kung Fu Fighting" one morning and back sold it when it was over. So smitten with the song was he, that he picked up the needle and dropped it again on the latter part of the song, replaying that portion of it.
I used to think it was a dumb thing to do, but if it has stayed in my brain for the better part of 40 years now, it may have been one of the smartest things I have ever heard on the radio. And, I am pretty sure it was Hal Sproule who did this, all those years ago!
I am going to link this blog post to that FB group in the hope that people reading it will have some comments to make about this veteran broadcaster, either as direct comments to the post, or on the FB group.
What are your memories of Hal Sproule?
See you tomorrow.
Bevboy
Thursday, February 16, 2012
Post 1913 - The Weekend's Here!
In off on Friday, which means that I have a 3 day weekend. Sleeping in! Eating. Afternoon naps. Catching up on "Supernatural". Another nap. Watching "Spartacus" before lying down for a spell.
Ah!
I can hardly wait.
See you tomorrow.
From Bevboy's BlackBerry to BevBoy's Blog!
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
Post 1912 - Burp!
You are looking at today's lunch. Actually you are looking at the second helping of today's lunch.
I was on an Oracle overview course all day, downtown. Usually at these things, you are lucky if they give you 3 day-old sandwiches somebody found in a dumpster and dusted off and presented to you for your eating pleasure. If they have cookies, they are the kind that bakeries sell on a given day because if they don't sell them that day, then they cannot be sold at all. The coffee is the kind of coffee that you wouldn't want to ingest for fear of what it will do to your gastro-intestinal system.
When I got there this morning, they had juice. They had really good coffee and muffins and other things. I saw cereals. Cereal. Corn flakes! Count Chocula. Whatever it was, it was cereal. I don't have that stuff at home!
The lunch was served around 11:15, so that we could reconvene the session at noon sharp. In the above picture, those are cubes of roast beef. Underneath is some kind of potatoes stuffed with what may be cheese. They had steamed veggies. All manner of bread. Some kind of lobster-based side dish.
There was soup, chicken with 7 types of rice. I didn't count them all. I saw the sign next to the soup and took their word for it. Sometimes, you just have to do that. Know what I mean?
I decided to load up a second plate but only managed to eat about half of it. Eyes bigger than belly syndrome affected me.
The afternoon was all about staying awake after all those carbs and all that meat. We finished the session around 2:15 and walked to the car that would transport us to work.
The rest of the afternoon was full of regret over having eaten so much. I know other guys ate as much as I did, and probably more, but I am not responsible for them. I am only responsible for myself. I hate it when people get more food than I do.
I went to TM after work, and it was a good meeting. Of course, the day after Valentine's, there was left over candy. More damned food. Was Bev-Girl trying to kill me? What did I do to her?
Patricia and I met where I told her my car was. I got there by rolling down the hill and hanging a right on Granville and stopping when I reached the legislature. On the way here, she got something to eat at Planet Organic on Quinpool.
Frig, I can't even look at food right now, so I left Patricia upstairs and came down here while she ate her dinner. It is an hour later, and I will shortly move my bloated carcass upstairs and go to bed, sleeping off all the victuals I consumed today.
The moral of the story is, there will always be more food for another meal, so don't stuff yourself at any one sitting. Nothing good can come from it.
Oh, one final thought.
When can I go on that kind of course again? After all, tomorrow is another day.
See you tomorrow.
Bevboy
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
Post 1911 - A Glasses Rant!
First of all, Happy Valentine's Day, everyone!
I ordered flowers for Patricia last week, and they arrived at her work this morning. She likes them. I just tell them every time, "Send her more of what I ordered last time", and they do. In return, this evening, she made me a grilled cheese sandwich. It was a really good sandwich, with onions and salami, and two layers!
I just had an observation about glasses, the kind you wear over your eyes to augment your vision. I have had to wear glasses since I was 6 years old, which wasn't yesterday. I have become so reliant on them that I need them for nearly everything. I need them for when I evacuate my bladder. I need them for reading. I need them for driving. When I renewed my driver's license 2 years ago, I was asked if I wanted it specified on the license that I must wear "proper visual correction". I told the clerk that she could put it on there if she wanted to, but that I was going to wear glasses whether the wording was present or not. She nodded knowingly, and didn't bother to add that phrase to my license.
This sets me up for my mini rant.
I don't get it how people who don't need glasses for everything, treat their spectacles. They place the lenses on top of their head and walk around as if they had a second pair of eyes up there. Civil rights attorney William Kuntsler did this for several decades. He'd wear his glasses on top of his head and them bring them down over his eyes like a visor when he needed them for some reason, like this:
If you can find me a picture on the internet of Kuntsler actually wearing his glasses, I'll give you a big kiss, especially if you're an attractive woman of child-bearing years on the rebound after your latest failed relationship, and about to ovulate.
Other people fold their glasses up and carry them around in their hand, getting sweat and hand grease all over them. They can never keep them clean. I don't know how they can manage when they do wear them.
And, my very favourite, something that happens in movies all the time, but never in real life, not even once. A man is having a conversation with another person. The first man makes some kind of point. The second man, wearing glasses, to emphasize his own point, snatches them off his face and says something like, "You don't say?"
Here's an example of this:
In my nearly 48 years on this planet, I have never seen the above happen. People who wear glasses all the time, need to. We don't take them off except at night when we go to bed. Why do these silly actors and screen writers get this wrong? Don't they ever wear "proper visual correction"?
In the world of 7 billion souls, hundreds of millions of us wear glasses. We don't want to, but we do. It is a curse of myopia, of our genes, of the eventual macular degeneration which will eventually make the books in my house suitable only for wiping my nose after a good sneeze. Why do people continue to make fun of us, mock us, ridicule us, for something that's not our fault? And, why do the folks who don't need glasses very much, bother wearing them in places other than in front of their eyes? Or carry them around to attract dirt and dust and grease? What the frig is wrong with these people? Makes me want to kick their ass.
As soon as I can find my glasses, that's exactly what I'll do.
See you tomorrow.
Bevboy
I ordered flowers for Patricia last week, and they arrived at her work this morning. She likes them. I just tell them every time, "Send her more of what I ordered last time", and they do. In return, this evening, she made me a grilled cheese sandwich. It was a really good sandwich, with onions and salami, and two layers!
I just had an observation about glasses, the kind you wear over your eyes to augment your vision. I have had to wear glasses since I was 6 years old, which wasn't yesterday. I have become so reliant on them that I need them for nearly everything. I need them for when I evacuate my bladder. I need them for reading. I need them for driving. When I renewed my driver's license 2 years ago, I was asked if I wanted it specified on the license that I must wear "proper visual correction". I told the clerk that she could put it on there if she wanted to, but that I was going to wear glasses whether the wording was present or not. She nodded knowingly, and didn't bother to add that phrase to my license.
This sets me up for my mini rant.
I don't get it how people who don't need glasses for everything, treat their spectacles. They place the lenses on top of their head and walk around as if they had a second pair of eyes up there. Civil rights attorney William Kuntsler did this for several decades. He'd wear his glasses on top of his head and them bring them down over his eyes like a visor when he needed them for some reason, like this:
If you can find me a picture on the internet of Kuntsler actually wearing his glasses, I'll give you a big kiss, especially if you're an attractive woman of child-bearing years on the rebound after your latest failed relationship, and about to ovulate.
Other people fold their glasses up and carry them around in their hand, getting sweat and hand grease all over them. They can never keep them clean. I don't know how they can manage when they do wear them.
And, my very favourite, something that happens in movies all the time, but never in real life, not even once. A man is having a conversation with another person. The first man makes some kind of point. The second man, wearing glasses, to emphasize his own point, snatches them off his face and says something like, "You don't say?"
Here's an example of this:
In my nearly 48 years on this planet, I have never seen the above happen. People who wear glasses all the time, need to. We don't take them off except at night when we go to bed. Why do these silly actors and screen writers get this wrong? Don't they ever wear "proper visual correction"?
In the world of 7 billion souls, hundreds of millions of us wear glasses. We don't want to, but we do. It is a curse of myopia, of our genes, of the eventual macular degeneration which will eventually make the books in my house suitable only for wiping my nose after a good sneeze. Why do people continue to make fun of us, mock us, ridicule us, for something that's not our fault? And, why do the folks who don't need glasses very much, bother wearing them in places other than in front of their eyes? Or carry them around to attract dirt and dust and grease? What the frig is wrong with these people? Makes me want to kick their ass.
As soon as I can find my glasses, that's exactly what I'll do.
See you tomorrow.
Bevboy
Monday, February 13, 2012
Post 1910 - Getting There
I spent my lunch hour today, and about 2 hours tonight, transcribing a blog interview I conducted more than 3 months ago. I am sorry to my client that it has taken this long. I have quite a ways to go yet. I will get there.
Some of you wonder why some of these posts are so brief. It is often because of the circumstances described in the previous paragraph. When I spend 2-3 hours a day typing my little paws off, it is hard to find the time to turn around and write some kind of decent blog post.
I am getting there, though, with the interview. It is taking nice shape. I hope to be finished it within the next 10 days or so. One audio file is 45 minutes long. It will take me a couple of days to make my way through that one.
After that, I have an interview with Julia Kirkey to crack open and transcribe. Katey Day and I talked for 90 minutes or so a few months ago and we barely scratched the surface of her fascinating life. She's met so many interesting people like Mick and Keith of the Rolling Stones. She will work at Lite 92.9 until she goes off the air on Friday, and then hightail it do a show in Moncton that evening, going on stage at 10 or so. I don't know how she maintains that kind of schedule. I'm looking forward to sharing the interview with you.
Haven't seen Patricia for a couple of hours while I have been down here typing my finger tips off. Guess I'll go see how the old gal is doing.
See you tomorrow.
Bevboy
Some of you wonder why some of these posts are so brief. It is often because of the circumstances described in the previous paragraph. When I spend 2-3 hours a day typing my little paws off, it is hard to find the time to turn around and write some kind of decent blog post.
I am getting there, though, with the interview. It is taking nice shape. I hope to be finished it within the next 10 days or so. One audio file is 45 minutes long. It will take me a couple of days to make my way through that one.
After that, I have an interview with Julia Kirkey to crack open and transcribe. Katey Day and I talked for 90 minutes or so a few months ago and we barely scratched the surface of her fascinating life. She's met so many interesting people like Mick and Keith of the Rolling Stones. She will work at Lite 92.9 until she goes off the air on Friday, and then hightail it do a show in Moncton that evening, going on stage at 10 or so. I don't know how she maintains that kind of schedule. I'm looking forward to sharing the interview with you.
Haven't seen Patricia for a couple of hours while I have been down here typing my finger tips off. Guess I'll go see how the old gal is doing.
See you tomorrow.
Bevboy
Sunday, February 12, 2012
Post 1909 - Yes
Yes. I am back in the city. I drove back this afternoon. I wonder: When did it become fashionable not to salt the roads or even to clear them? I had to drive along the middle part of the101 this afternoon to avoid driving in the snow.
It was no better on the side roads. Even the road my mother lives on wasn't plowed or cleared or salted or anything else'd. Once again: when did they decide that doing those things on our roads would not be a wise thing to do?
Anyway.
I got back here mid-afternoon. Patricia greeted me as only she could: She presented me with some rotted vegetation from the back of the refrigerator and "asked" me to throw it in the green bin. "Asked" in the way a woman "asks" a man to do anything. You know what I mean, guys. And you know what I mean, too, ladies. Shame on you all.
I was white-knuckled the whole time driving back to the city. I managed to get on Live 105 with a brief traffic report, which is always cool, to hear myself on the radio. But it tuckered me out, so I decided to take a short nap when I got home. Two hours later, I got up and watched the news and ate something and made my way downstairs, where I've been for the last 2 hours. Time just flies by down here in my home office.
It's the beginning of a shorter work week for me. Four day work week. I promise to think about you on Friday.
See you tomorrow.
Bevboy
It was no better on the side roads. Even the road my mother lives on wasn't plowed or cleared or salted or anything else'd. Once again: when did they decide that doing those things on our roads would not be a wise thing to do?
Anyway.
I got back here mid-afternoon. Patricia greeted me as only she could: She presented me with some rotted vegetation from the back of the refrigerator and "asked" me to throw it in the green bin. "Asked" in the way a woman "asks" a man to do anything. You know what I mean, guys. And you know what I mean, too, ladies. Shame on you all.
I was white-knuckled the whole time driving back to the city. I managed to get on Live 105 with a brief traffic report, which is always cool, to hear myself on the radio. But it tuckered me out, so I decided to take a short nap when I got home. Two hours later, I got up and watched the news and ate something and made my way downstairs, where I've been for the last 2 hours. Time just flies by down here in my home office.
It's the beginning of a shorter work week for me. Four day work week. I promise to think about you on Friday.
See you tomorrow.
Bevboy
Saturday, February 11, 2012
Post 1908 - Jump
I really liked it. It was a high school show that featured tons of pop songs from the 1980's. Much of the acting was good. The singing was inconsistent but the girls seemed to be better.
The production was marred by some mistakes that were hard to overlook. More than a few times, people who were micced were cut off as they sang. Voices dropped in and out. Disappointing.
My friend Neil Spence played bass guitar as part of the production's house band. He was great. He's in the accompanying picture.
I really enjoyed Jump. I wish I had gone other years. If it's back next year, I'd like to go. Maybe I'll take you if you're nice to me.
See you tomorrow.
From Bevboy's BlackBerry to BevBoy's Blog!
Friday, February 10, 2012
Post 1907 - Oh
The final Cub Carson show today was very good. I'm really gonna miss him. Wish him and his family all the best.
Judging from the Facebook page for Cub and Live 105 today, lots of other people will miss Cub as well.
Sniff!
From Bevboy's BlackBerry to BevBoy's Blog!
Post 1906 - Newbie in The Valley
Tomorrow, I will be taking my mother shopping. That involves a multi hour expedition to the malls that will leave me exhausted but my mother wanting more. Sigh.
See? Even Newbie has no sympathy for me.
See you tomorrow.
From Bevboy's BlackBerry to BevBoy's Blog!
Thursday, February 9, 2012
Post 1905 - Cub Carson: Farewell To Nova Scotia!
Canadian radio folks have a website to go to when they want their radio news or to hear, officially, of a job opportunity somewhere. It is called The Milkman. I do not understand why it's called that, but here's the website.
In it, I have learned all kinds of things. Who's been hired. Who's been fired. Radio station format changes. My recent favourite story was the radio station in Calgary that decided to fire every one of its on air staff and replace them with new folks they were hoping to hire from ads in The Milkman. The new station would be called Up! 97.7. I don't think it was a very "up" day for the poor sods who lost their jobs that day. But that's the way the radio medium works. And I'm digressing again.
You can imagine my surprise when, 10 days ago, I went to The Milkman and saw that Cub Carson, who has been with Halifax's Live 105 since they went on the air in October of 2010, was going to leave that fine station and return to Ottawa, where his many fans have missed him, where much of his family is. His first day at Bob FM in Ottawa will be February 13th, a scant 4 days from now.
I wrote Cub, and he confirmed it. He was told to keep it fairly quiet until his last day at Live 105, which is Friday the 10th. I have respected that wish and not written about it until now.
Live 105's former PD, Rob Johnson, actually told Cub and Floyd that there was a guy in Halifax named Bevboy who would contact them both for an interview. Rob assured them that I was harmless and meant no ill will to them. I hereby thank Rob Johnson for paving the way for me!
When Cub and I met for lunch at The Pogue Fado in early 2011, he was friendly and gregarious and fulsome as he regaled me with his radio stories. He treated me as if we were old friends instead of the merest of acquaintances, and I will never forget his kindness to me. Most of those stories are in the published interview, which you can find easily by tracing your mouse down the right hand part of the screen and clicking on the Cub Carson label.
A few months later, Patricia and I ran into Cub and Floyd as they were cleaning windows outside Durty Nelly's in downtown Halifax. Cub was a gentleman with Patricia, and she never forgot that.
Not long after that, Brad Dryden from C100 invited me to Durty Nelly's for some appetizers as a way to thank me for something I had done for him. He promised that Cub would be there as well. They are old friends, you see, who worked together for a time in Ottawa. They posed for a couple of pictures with me. I will try to include one with this blog post.
Where was I?
Oh, yes.
Cub Carson has been the driving force behind the success of Live 105. He took a station that interested me from and for Day One, and made me come back for Day Two and Three and a whole lot of days that followed. Halifax radio won't be the same without Cub Carson. I will miss him a lot.
(Of course, Floyd and Christina and Scotty Mars and JD Desrosiers all played a strong role in getting the station off the air as well; not taking anything away from them. New hires Neil Spence (I'd kill to have a voice like his!), Morgan and Dexter have done a great job delivering the Live sound.)
I will come out and state now that, of all the private radio stations in Halifax, I listen to Live 105 the most, by a wide margin. Cub has been a big part of the reason why. Honestly, ladies and gentlemen, if you don't listen to Live 105, then give it a try. Even though Cub is leaving, it will still be around and still be terrific. His successor is my friend Jeff Cogswell, and you will love him, too. Here's the link to their website.
Cub, thank you for your service to Halifax radio over the last 15 months. You have made me laugh and cringe at some of the "Which One and Why" questions, and because of my participation in that contest last year, I won the biggest prize I have ever won on the radio. I wish you and yours all the best in your future career.
Who knows? Maybe you'll want to come back here some day. We'd all love that.
A Bevboy can always hope, can't he?
See you tomorrow.
Bevboy
In it, I have learned all kinds of things. Who's been hired. Who's been fired. Radio station format changes. My recent favourite story was the radio station in Calgary that decided to fire every one of its on air staff and replace them with new folks they were hoping to hire from ads in The Milkman. The new station would be called Up! 97.7. I don't think it was a very "up" day for the poor sods who lost their jobs that day. But that's the way the radio medium works. And I'm digressing again.
You can imagine my surprise when, 10 days ago, I went to The Milkman and saw that Cub Carson, who has been with Halifax's Live 105 since they went on the air in October of 2010, was going to leave that fine station and return to Ottawa, where his many fans have missed him, where much of his family is. His first day at Bob FM in Ottawa will be February 13th, a scant 4 days from now.
I wrote Cub, and he confirmed it. He was told to keep it fairly quiet until his last day at Live 105, which is Friday the 10th. I have respected that wish and not written about it until now.
Live 105's former PD, Rob Johnson, actually told Cub and Floyd that there was a guy in Halifax named Bevboy who would contact them both for an interview. Rob assured them that I was harmless and meant no ill will to them. I hereby thank Rob Johnson for paving the way for me!
When Cub and I met for lunch at The Pogue Fado in early 2011, he was friendly and gregarious and fulsome as he regaled me with his radio stories. He treated me as if we were old friends instead of the merest of acquaintances, and I will never forget his kindness to me. Most of those stories are in the published interview, which you can find easily by tracing your mouse down the right hand part of the screen and clicking on the Cub Carson label.
A few months later, Patricia and I ran into Cub and Floyd as they were cleaning windows outside Durty Nelly's in downtown Halifax. Cub was a gentleman with Patricia, and she never forgot that.
Where was I?
Oh, yes.
Cub Carson has been the driving force behind the success of Live 105. He took a station that interested me from and for Day One, and made me come back for Day Two and Three and a whole lot of days that followed. Halifax radio won't be the same without Cub Carson. I will miss him a lot.
(Of course, Floyd and Christina and Scotty Mars and JD Desrosiers all played a strong role in getting the station off the air as well; not taking anything away from them. New hires Neil Spence (I'd kill to have a voice like his!), Morgan and Dexter have done a great job delivering the Live sound.)
I will come out and state now that, of all the private radio stations in Halifax, I listen to Live 105 the most, by a wide margin. Cub has been a big part of the reason why. Honestly, ladies and gentlemen, if you don't listen to Live 105, then give it a try. Even though Cub is leaving, it will still be around and still be terrific. His successor is my friend Jeff Cogswell, and you will love him, too. Here's the link to their website.
Cub, thank you for your service to Halifax radio over the last 15 months. You have made me laugh and cringe at some of the "Which One and Why" questions, and because of my participation in that contest last year, I won the biggest prize I have ever won on the radio. I wish you and yours all the best in your future career.
Who knows? Maybe you'll want to come back here some day. We'd all love that.
A Bevboy can always hope, can't he?
See you tomorrow.
Bevboy
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
Post 1904 - A Long Day
Is it the weekend yet? I mean, really? Is it the weekend yet?
Been a very long day, and it's not over yet. I have to get up for work in a scant 7 hours.
I had a good TM meeting tonight. The table topics were especially fun. I will tell you about them.
We were presented with 4 envelopes. The first one contained a noun. The second, a verb. The 3rd, a colour. The final one, another noun. The sequence would produce a sentence, and we had to find a way for it to make sense. Mine was "Elvis Presley running gray hair". I likened it to a conspiracy as to how Elvis Presley could make it to the age of 42 years old without getting any gray hair. I started going gray a long time ago, long before 42. Yet, Elvis didn't get any. What's up with that?
Grabbed a slice of pizza on the way home. Got home and fed Cindy and Newbie. Watched a bit of tv. Tried to connect to work via rdp and realized I forgot some information I need to do so. Silly me.
Tomorrow is Thursday, and Patricia tells me that she will be so busy at work that she won't have time to talk to me, probably all day. I'll have to have a liquid lunch to get over this terrible repudiation. Maybe I'll have a good cry. Have a Dr. Phil tear-up-my-pictures-of-her moment. Works for me.
See you tomorrow.
Bevboy
Been a very long day, and it's not over yet. I have to get up for work in a scant 7 hours.
I had a good TM meeting tonight. The table topics were especially fun. I will tell you about them.
We were presented with 4 envelopes. The first one contained a noun. The second, a verb. The 3rd, a colour. The final one, another noun. The sequence would produce a sentence, and we had to find a way for it to make sense. Mine was "Elvis Presley running gray hair". I likened it to a conspiracy as to how Elvis Presley could make it to the age of 42 years old without getting any gray hair. I started going gray a long time ago, long before 42. Yet, Elvis didn't get any. What's up with that?
Grabbed a slice of pizza on the way home. Got home and fed Cindy and Newbie. Watched a bit of tv. Tried to connect to work via rdp and realized I forgot some information I need to do so. Silly me.
Tomorrow is Thursday, and Patricia tells me that she will be so busy at work that she won't have time to talk to me, probably all day. I'll have to have a liquid lunch to get over this terrible repudiation. Maybe I'll have a good cry. Have a Dr. Phil tear-up-my-pictures-of-her moment. Works for me.
See you tomorrow.
Bevboy
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
Post 1903 - That's Better
It's been a funny day for me. Work meetings this afternoon when I don't go to very many meetings. Some people take them for granted. I really don't.
There's a new Chinese restaurant in our neigbhourhood, so we went there after work this evening. It's in the same spot as the previous Chinese place, which pulled up stakes and left town very suddenly. Have no idea what happened there. It had been there for years. Just as mysteriously, another Chinese place opened up in the very same location. The food is better than the old place. The prices may be a bit cheaper. At least at this place, they don't keep a big bowl of cooked rice just outside the Men's room.
We watched the second episode of the current season of Spartacus just now. The new Spartacus is not as compelling an actor as the late Andy Whitfield, but I understand why the producers wanted to carry on with the show.
Later on this evening, "The River" starts, for 2 hours. The New York Times didn't like it much. I am not sure what to expect. I figure, if I'm still awake when it's over, I at least tolerated it. If Newbie is able to convince me to turn in for the evening during the show, then I guess it wasn't meant to be. You know how convincing he can get.
Tomorrow night is Toastmasters night. We're having a special meeting. Come to think of it, all the meetings are special. But this one's extra special because of the bus strike. Patricia will be attending, something that she hasn't done in quite some time.
No. Didn't transcribe anything today. Sorry. Soon. Very soon.
Have a good evening, folks.
Bevboy
There's a new Chinese restaurant in our neigbhourhood, so we went there after work this evening. It's in the same spot as the previous Chinese place, which pulled up stakes and left town very suddenly. Have no idea what happened there. It had been there for years. Just as mysteriously, another Chinese place opened up in the very same location. The food is better than the old place. The prices may be a bit cheaper. At least at this place, they don't keep a big bowl of cooked rice just outside the Men's room.
We watched the second episode of the current season of Spartacus just now. The new Spartacus is not as compelling an actor as the late Andy Whitfield, but I understand why the producers wanted to carry on with the show.
Later on this evening, "The River" starts, for 2 hours. The New York Times didn't like it much. I am not sure what to expect. I figure, if I'm still awake when it's over, I at least tolerated it. If Newbie is able to convince me to turn in for the evening during the show, then I guess it wasn't meant to be. You know how convincing he can get.
Tomorrow night is Toastmasters night. We're having a special meeting. Come to think of it, all the meetings are special. But this one's extra special because of the bus strike. Patricia will be attending, something that she hasn't done in quite some time.
No. Didn't transcribe anything today. Sorry. Soon. Very soon.
Have a good evening, folks.
Bevboy
Monday, February 6, 2012
Post 1902 - A Long Monday
It's the 3rd business day of the bus strike. I have to admit, traffic could be a lot worse. Even after work, when I picked up Patricia around 4:40, and a quick trip to a friend's house on the way home, we got home by 5:25, which is not that unusual.
I have done not much this evening. There were a bunch of cardboard boxes in the house that I had to break down and prepare for the recycling folks tomorrow. They make you work so hard for the privilege of taking your stuff. In the good old days, you could take those boxes and throw them out your window or something. Today, you have to break them down and lash them together with string or twine. I am surprised that they don't try to make you use string or twine of a certain colour or length.
Anyway, a bunch of those boxes will go in my recycling tomorrow. Which took a while to do. Which means I didn't have a chance, yet again, to get back to transcribing pieces of the latest Bevboy's Blog interview. Which I know you're wondering about to the point of distraction. Which makes me feel bad. Which makes me want to work on it during my lunch hour. Which means that an email I owe a friend will have to wait. Which will disappoint me for taking so long to get back to him. Which will make him not be my friend any more. Which will made me feel sad. Which will make the quality of the blog go down. Which will upset all ten of you who read it every day. Which will... oh, never mind.
See you tomorrow.
Bevboy
I have done not much this evening. There were a bunch of cardboard boxes in the house that I had to break down and prepare for the recycling folks tomorrow. They make you work so hard for the privilege of taking your stuff. In the good old days, you could take those boxes and throw them out your window or something. Today, you have to break them down and lash them together with string or twine. I am surprised that they don't try to make you use string or twine of a certain colour or length.
Anyway, a bunch of those boxes will go in my recycling tomorrow. Which took a while to do. Which means I didn't have a chance, yet again, to get back to transcribing pieces of the latest Bevboy's Blog interview. Which I know you're wondering about to the point of distraction. Which makes me feel bad. Which makes me want to work on it during my lunch hour. Which means that an email I owe a friend will have to wait. Which will disappoint me for taking so long to get back to him. Which will make him not be my friend any more. Which will made me feel sad. Which will make the quality of the blog go down. Which will upset all ten of you who read it every day. Which will... oh, never mind.
See you tomorrow.
Bevboy
Sunday, February 5, 2012
Post 1901 - Another Sunday
It is relatively late on Sunday night. I will be turning in shortly. Newbie is looking at me with that look of his. Soon, buddy. Soon.
I slept in this morning to a shameful degree. I got up and ate something. Watched a very funny SNL compilation of the best of Alec Baldwin. I hadn't seen some of those skits in 20 years and they're just as funny now as they were back then.
I finally decided to tackle the laundry, which took me into the evening. Whilst doing that, I surfed the web for a while.
Someone else wants a copy of the Ada McCallum documentary, so I made a copy thereof. I am providing these discs for educational and research purposes only. Not profiting in any way, shape, or form. Just so you know.
There is something new to learn in that documentary, every time I see it. I played back a small portion of it last night. Ada bought lots of land during her lifetime, some of it being in parts of Dartmouth. Rumour has it that she named some of the streets she had built, after some of her girls. I looked up some of those streets last night, and they're still there, out past Lake Loon. Angela Drive. Eunice Avenue. Other streets, all apparently named after hookers!
I will watch the documentary many more times. You don't care, but I do.
Back to work tomorrow. Business day 3 of the bus strike. We will leave as early as we can to avoid the heavy traffic. Wish us luck.
Newbie is looking at me again. Guess I'll call it a night.
It's a night.
See you tomorrow.
Bevboy
I slept in this morning to a shameful degree. I got up and ate something. Watched a very funny SNL compilation of the best of Alec Baldwin. I hadn't seen some of those skits in 20 years and they're just as funny now as they were back then.
I finally decided to tackle the laundry, which took me into the evening. Whilst doing that, I surfed the web for a while.
Someone else wants a copy of the Ada McCallum documentary, so I made a copy thereof. I am providing these discs for educational and research purposes only. Not profiting in any way, shape, or form. Just so you know.
There is something new to learn in that documentary, every time I see it. I played back a small portion of it last night. Ada bought lots of land during her lifetime, some of it being in parts of Dartmouth. Rumour has it that she named some of the streets she had built, after some of her girls. I looked up some of those streets last night, and they're still there, out past Lake Loon. Angela Drive. Eunice Avenue. Other streets, all apparently named after hookers!
I will watch the documentary many more times. You don't care, but I do.
Back to work tomorrow. Business day 3 of the bus strike. We will leave as early as we can to avoid the heavy traffic. Wish us luck.
Newbie is looking at me again. Guess I'll call it a night.
It's a night.
See you tomorrow.
Bevboy
Saturday, February 4, 2012
Post 1900 - It Holds Up. And A Special Blog Announcement
Welcome to post 1900, ladies and gentlemen!
Being a Saturday, we slept in until quite late. We did get up eventually, though.
I did the dishes. Of course, it took a long time. After they were over, I plunked down on the couch and watched a cooking show with Patricia. Yes, I was that bored. However, the host had such a good idea for a salad, what he called a chicken wing salad, that it inspired me to make something similar for lunch, so I did.
Rolled some cut up chicken breasts, boneless and skinless, in flour. Cooked it, adding some red pepper flakes. Let it rest. To the same frying pan, I added equal parts margarine and Frank's Hot Sauce and fried that with a bit of ketchup.
To the bowl that had the chieken, I poured on the liquid and then added lettuce and tomato and feta cheese. Mixed all of that together, and it was an excellent salad.
I know. You don't care.
Anyway, the emails started coming in requesting a copy of the Ada McCallum documentary. I made some copies of it, for research and educational purposes only of course. Late this afternoon, we watched the thing on TV. It still holds up. It is still fascinating, but at the same time, frustrating. So little is known of Ada, on the record, officially, that they had to work on speculation more than a little. It is intimated that, late in life, Ada bought and subdivided properties which ended up with street names named after some of her best girls. They showed some names. They refused to focus in on the house she lived in and ran her business from, on Windsor Street but indicated it was very close to the Jehovah's Witness Hall. I drive past there every day on my way to work. I still think it's across the street from the hall. Hard to say. Also hard to say whether this is the place where actress Ellen Page currently lives. Another viewing of the documentary will be in order. Many people who knew her, and availed themselves of her services, would not speak on the record. After all these years, I'm sure that they would still refuse to speak on the record. Cowards, all of them.
Watching the documentary is also depressing in that they show many old Halifax structures that simply no longer exist. The whorehouse at the former 51 Hollis Street, across from where the Lt. Governor lives, became a parking lot and will be part of a future development. The Morris Lodge was torn down and is now the eyesore at 1313 Barrington Street. The Dresden Hotel is history as well. They showed a picture of the old Halifax Police Headquarters, probably the one that was part of the section of the city razed to create Scotia Square and the Cogswell Interchange.
It is sad, contemplating the pieces of old Halifax that no longer exist. Which is what leads me to the following blog announcement: I am willing to discuss with anyone, any time, anywhere, aspects of the so-called "old" Halifax. If you have an anecdote to share about a building in the downtown or in the South End or something, then leave a comment on this blog and I'll be happy to publish it. Any stories of interesting old characters forgotten today? Any cool ghost stories or local legends? Send them my way. I want to know about them. Tell everyone that Bevboy wants to hear these stories and will provide a free forum for their exchange!
A couple of rules.
I'm primarily interested in the history of Halifax. I'll go as far as to include Dartmouth and the old County and the like. Also, the Annapolis Valey, where I'm from, would have many interesting stories that I'd love to publish here. Other places? Not so much. I'm sure there are Cape Breton bloggers who would love to write about the history of that fine place. I have to draw the line somewhere.
I am not interested in libellous stories. If you want to write about someone who's dead who was a child murderer or something, allegedly, then in the absence of a conviction to that effect I will not allow that publication here. I am the sole judge as to what I will and will not publish or discuss here. I'm liberal in that sense, but not willing to engage in character assassination. That's why I moderate all Blog comments here.
I am aware of other websites that discuss local history. They certainly are interesting. Most of them, however, feature a lot of pictures without much commentary. I would like to have the opposite: commentary without a lot of pictures.
Every time I run one of these stories as a comment to a blog post or whatever, I will use the "HalifaxAnecdotes" label, starting with this here post.
Well, what are you waiting for? Tell me these stories!
See you tomorrow.
Bevboy
Being a Saturday, we slept in until quite late. We did get up eventually, though.
I did the dishes. Of course, it took a long time. After they were over, I plunked down on the couch and watched a cooking show with Patricia. Yes, I was that bored. However, the host had such a good idea for a salad, what he called a chicken wing salad, that it inspired me to make something similar for lunch, so I did.
Rolled some cut up chicken breasts, boneless and skinless, in flour. Cooked it, adding some red pepper flakes. Let it rest. To the same frying pan, I added equal parts margarine and Frank's Hot Sauce and fried that with a bit of ketchup.
To the bowl that had the chieken, I poured on the liquid and then added lettuce and tomato and feta cheese. Mixed all of that together, and it was an excellent salad.
I know. You don't care.
Anyway, the emails started coming in requesting a copy of the Ada McCallum documentary. I made some copies of it, for research and educational purposes only of course. Late this afternoon, we watched the thing on TV. It still holds up. It is still fascinating, but at the same time, frustrating. So little is known of Ada, on the record, officially, that they had to work on speculation more than a little. It is intimated that, late in life, Ada bought and subdivided properties which ended up with street names named after some of her best girls. They showed some names. They refused to focus in on the house she lived in and ran her business from, on Windsor Street but indicated it was very close to the Jehovah's Witness Hall. I drive past there every day on my way to work. I still think it's across the street from the hall. Hard to say. Also hard to say whether this is the place where actress Ellen Page currently lives. Another viewing of the documentary will be in order. Many people who knew her, and availed themselves of her services, would not speak on the record. After all these years, I'm sure that they would still refuse to speak on the record. Cowards, all of them.
Watching the documentary is also depressing in that they show many old Halifax structures that simply no longer exist. The whorehouse at the former 51 Hollis Street, across from where the Lt. Governor lives, became a parking lot and will be part of a future development. The Morris Lodge was torn down and is now the eyesore at 1313 Barrington Street. The Dresden Hotel is history as well. They showed a picture of the old Halifax Police Headquarters, probably the one that was part of the section of the city razed to create Scotia Square and the Cogswell Interchange.
It is sad, contemplating the pieces of old Halifax that no longer exist. Which is what leads me to the following blog announcement: I am willing to discuss with anyone, any time, anywhere, aspects of the so-called "old" Halifax. If you have an anecdote to share about a building in the downtown or in the South End or something, then leave a comment on this blog and I'll be happy to publish it. Any stories of interesting old characters forgotten today? Any cool ghost stories or local legends? Send them my way. I want to know about them. Tell everyone that Bevboy wants to hear these stories and will provide a free forum for their exchange!
A couple of rules.
I'm primarily interested in the history of Halifax. I'll go as far as to include Dartmouth and the old County and the like. Also, the Annapolis Valey, where I'm from, would have many interesting stories that I'd love to publish here. Other places? Not so much. I'm sure there are Cape Breton bloggers who would love to write about the history of that fine place. I have to draw the line somewhere.
I am not interested in libellous stories. If you want to write about someone who's dead who was a child murderer or something, allegedly, then in the absence of a conviction to that effect I will not allow that publication here. I am the sole judge as to what I will and will not publish or discuss here. I'm liberal in that sense, but not willing to engage in character assassination. That's why I moderate all Blog comments here.
I am aware of other websites that discuss local history. They certainly are interesting. Most of them, however, feature a lot of pictures without much commentary. I would like to have the opposite: commentary without a lot of pictures.
Every time I run one of these stories as a comment to a blog post or whatever, I will use the "HalifaxAnecdotes" label, starting with this here post.
Well, what are you waiting for? Tell me these stories!
See you tomorrow.
Bevboy
Friday, February 3, 2012
Post 1899 - Weekend Is Here!
The weekend is here. I am thrilled.
You will be pleased to know that I have successfully digitized the Ada McCallum documentary. It is a freshly-minted mp4 file that exists on the hard drive of nearly every computer I own, plus my external hard drive and a usb thumb drive. What was once considered to be close to be a "lost" documentary has now been found and can now be shared by the folks who really want to see it.
I have played back a portion of the show. It is as fascinating now as when I first saw it in 1998. If you want to see some old footage of Halifax from during the War, or some reminiscences of what Hali was like back in the day, then you really should see this documentary about Ada McCallum, Halifax madam.
Every morning, I drop off Patricia and drive to my own work. I have found it convenient to drive on Windsor Street. I am sure I drive past one of Ada's old brothels. The house is shown in the documentary, although obscured enough to make it hard to pick out. I'm told it was on the corner of Windsor and Charles Street, probably across the street from the Jehovah's Witnesses Hall, on the same side as the Sobeys. I plan to watch the documentary all the way through this weekend and see if my theory is correct. It may also be the place where actress Ellen Page lives when she's in town. I doubt very much if I will ever find corroboration for that, though. I do remember her saying when she was on the David Letterman show a couple of years ago that she lived in a house that used to be a brothel. Ada had several places in town, but I think Ellen lives in that one. Of course, I will probably never know.
It has been a long week fraught with stress and grief and other things I won't bore you about. I'm glad the weekend is here so that I can recharge my batteries and face the week again.
And so that I can learn more about Ada!
See you tomorrow.
Bevboy
You will be pleased to know that I have successfully digitized the Ada McCallum documentary. It is a freshly-minted mp4 file that exists on the hard drive of nearly every computer I own, plus my external hard drive and a usb thumb drive. What was once considered to be close to be a "lost" documentary has now been found and can now be shared by the folks who really want to see it.
I have played back a portion of the show. It is as fascinating now as when I first saw it in 1998. If you want to see some old footage of Halifax from during the War, or some reminiscences of what Hali was like back in the day, then you really should see this documentary about Ada McCallum, Halifax madam.
Every morning, I drop off Patricia and drive to my own work. I have found it convenient to drive on Windsor Street. I am sure I drive past one of Ada's old brothels. The house is shown in the documentary, although obscured enough to make it hard to pick out. I'm told it was on the corner of Windsor and Charles Street, probably across the street from the Jehovah's Witnesses Hall, on the same side as the Sobeys. I plan to watch the documentary all the way through this weekend and see if my theory is correct. It may also be the place where actress Ellen Page lives when she's in town. I doubt very much if I will ever find corroboration for that, though. I do remember her saying when she was on the David Letterman show a couple of years ago that she lived in a house that used to be a brothel. Ada had several places in town, but I think Ellen lives in that one. Of course, I will probably never know.
It has been a long week fraught with stress and grief and other things I won't bore you about. I'm glad the weekend is here so that I can recharge my batteries and face the week again.
And so that I can learn more about Ada!
See you tomorrow.
Bevboy
Thursday, February 2, 2012
Post 1898 - First Day
It was the first day of the bus strike today. Hoo boy!
I just thought you would like to know that, earlier this evening, I found the Ada McCallum documentary, the one broadcast on the History Channel on March 9, 1998. It was in a box of tapes that was on the floor of a closet in my middle bedroom. I had nearly given up searching for it. In the box there was a flap covering that tape. Nearly didn't see it.
I have already dubbed the show, on vhs, to a dvd. I am looking forward to watching it again, after all these years.
I will also digitize the show to an avi file or an mp4 or something.
How many of you want to see this documentary about Ada McCallum, the notorious Halifax madam?
See you tomorrow!
Bevboy
I just thought you would like to know that, earlier this evening, I found the Ada McCallum documentary, the one broadcast on the History Channel on March 9, 1998. It was in a box of tapes that was on the floor of a closet in my middle bedroom. I had nearly given up searching for it. In the box there was a flap covering that tape. Nearly didn't see it.
I have already dubbed the show, on vhs, to a dvd. I am looking forward to watching it again, after all these years.
I will also digitize the show to an avi file or an mp4 or something.
How many of you want to see this documentary about Ada McCallum, the notorious Halifax madam?
See you tomorrow!
Bevboy
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
Post 1897 - A Sick Day And A Bus Lament
My migraines kicked in this morning. I took a sick day.
I pretty much slept the day away. I got up just before noon and got something to eat. 90 minutes later, I went back to bed, where I slept for another 4 hours. Finally got up at supper time and have been up ever since. It's just past 8:30. After I write this, I'll probably have a shower and go back to bed.
There will almost certainly be a bus strike in Hali starting in just over 3 hours. Traffic gridlock tomorrow will be unreal. I do not look forward to driving through that crap. At least I have a car. I have no idea what folks will do who do not have wheels or access thereto. They're usually people who don't make much money to begin with. As much as I feel for the transit workers who will be hitting the bricks, I have sympathy for the people who require transit to get around.
Growing up, my mother didn't drive. My older sister had moved out by the time I was 12 and a half. My dad was the primary breadwinner and driver for the family. The day after my 16th birthday, he asked me why I hadn't applied for my beginner's permit yet. I finally got my license that Fall, much later than Dad wanted me to.
Anyway, before that, I knew all about being stuck at home with little means to get around. We didn't live on a bus route of any kind. Cabs were too expensive. Unless Dad were home, we didn't get out much. We weren't close to our school. We found things to do around the house, in those pre-internet, pre-cable tv days.
So, trust me: I know what it's like to have to rely on someone else to get me around. I didn't like it then. I don't like it now and can't imagine that the working stiffs who will be bus-less in the morning will like it much either. I feel for the people who need a bus or a ride from a third party to get to where they need to get.
I hope the strike, if it happens, is a brief one.
See you tomorrow.
Bevboy
I pretty much slept the day away. I got up just before noon and got something to eat. 90 minutes later, I went back to bed, where I slept for another 4 hours. Finally got up at supper time and have been up ever since. It's just past 8:30. After I write this, I'll probably have a shower and go back to bed.
There will almost certainly be a bus strike in Hali starting in just over 3 hours. Traffic gridlock tomorrow will be unreal. I do not look forward to driving through that crap. At least I have a car. I have no idea what folks will do who do not have wheels or access thereto. They're usually people who don't make much money to begin with. As much as I feel for the transit workers who will be hitting the bricks, I have sympathy for the people who require transit to get around.
Growing up, my mother didn't drive. My older sister had moved out by the time I was 12 and a half. My dad was the primary breadwinner and driver for the family. The day after my 16th birthday, he asked me why I hadn't applied for my beginner's permit yet. I finally got my license that Fall, much later than Dad wanted me to.
Anyway, before that, I knew all about being stuck at home with little means to get around. We didn't live on a bus route of any kind. Cabs were too expensive. Unless Dad were home, we didn't get out much. We weren't close to our school. We found things to do around the house, in those pre-internet, pre-cable tv days.
So, trust me: I know what it's like to have to rely on someone else to get me around. I didn't like it then. I don't like it now and can't imagine that the working stiffs who will be bus-less in the morning will like it much either. I feel for the people who need a bus or a ride from a third party to get to where they need to get.
I hope the strike, if it happens, is a brief one.
See you tomorrow.
Bevboy
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