Posted on February 22, 2018 under Thursday Tidbits with one comment

Coffee and conversation

 

In the year 5555,

Your arms hanging limp at your sides,

Your legs got nothing to do,

Some machine’s doin’ that for you.

In The Year 2525 – Zager and Evans

I’m seriously thinking of heading for the hills and crawling back into my cave.

While more than half of the population of the world struggles to find food on a daily basis, we in the west can simply pick up our smart phones and order our groceries on line and have them delivered to our door. Before you start accusing me of being a Luddite, hear me out.

I have no objection to having one’s groceries delivered to the door. The old IGA on College Street did that for a long time but it was mainly a service for people who were elderly or who didn’t own a car. But you can be damn sure of one thing: those old people got their arses out of the house and probably walked to the grocery store and actually had human contact. They chatted with the clerks, the butcher, the baker and most likely the store owner.

Now, Zager and Evans were no Lennon and McCartney but some of their words from this one hit wonder in 1969 were remarkably prescient. Are we quickly becoming the laziest species of all time where it is entirely possible to avoid all human contact? It sure seems like this some days.

Speaking of Luddites, I made my very first on line purchase from Amazon two weeks ago. I can see the appeal. Browse, click, pay and presto, my new microphone for recording “Live from the Beach” was at my doorstep. Before you accuse me of not shopping locally, I tried but couldn’t find this device that plugs into my iPhone. And yes, like just about every living soul in North Eastern Nova Scotia, I have ordered a Wheel pizza and had it delivered when it was just too comfy to stay put… or too stormy! The Wheel always finds a way to deliver the goods.

Shopping on line definitely has a huge appeal. You can do it any time of day or night from the privacy of your own home. Prices are usually reasonable and you don’t have to step outside and face the elements. I can see this being a big deal for older people who dread winter and icy conditions.

We are fast becoming a world of Zombies. We are so attached to our mobile technology that human contact is becoming a lost art. I won’t be around to read the studies but I feel fairly confident that the wide spread use of mobile technology will be shown to have serious long term health consequences. I have been watching the Olympics and every time they pan the spectators, everyone is looking at their cell phones. Why did they bother traveling to South Korea?

I don’t know about you, but my most pleasant times are still sitting face to face with actual humans in a “no cell phone” zone, sipping coffee and telling lies. ( Thanks Rob, Dan and Dave yesterday at Java Blend in Halifax ).

Here’s a novel idea. Leave your cell phone home. Drive or walk (another lost art) to a local business. Buy something. Talk to the salesclerk. You just increased your life span and that of your local community. If we continue to shop on line, which businesses will be left to support sports teams, arts groups and local charities? Think about it.

Or you can just get your club and head back to the cave with me. We can chat with Fred Flintstone and Barney Rubble. “ Yabba-Dabba-Do”!

Have a great weekend.

 

Posted on February 15, 2018 under Thursday Tidbits with no comments yet

 

SAFE is having its Annual General Meeting on February 27, 2108… and you’re invited to come.

Our Syrian families have settled in quite nicely in our community but this doesn’t mean the crisis is over in Syria. Not even close. If it is humanly possible, things are worse and there are millions of families desperately seeking refuge.

The work of SAFE, CARE and Tri- Heart, the three sponsorship groups in Antigonish continues. It is not likely to end any time soon.

We need your help. There are two new Syrian families arriving in the very near future. One of the families, we were expecting and we have housing lined up for them. The second family was not supposed to come until late 2018 but SAFE has now been informed that their arrival is imminent.

We need your help… specifically housing.

SAFE needs a three bedroom house, preferably near the town of Antigonish. We all know how hard housing is to find and how expensive it is. The people of Antigonish Town and County have been extremely generous in assisting with housing for the Syrians who have already arrived. They have provided inexpensive rents, in some cases for a two year period to help new families get on their feet.

So. if you know of anyone who might have an unoccupied house and might want to partner with SAFE in providing a home for one of the families coming soon, please get in touch with me or any member of SAFE.

Our new Syrian neighbors and friends have proven that they belong in our midst. They are friendly and incredibly industrious.

Please help our new families make Antigonish their home.

Thanks and hope to see some of you at the AGM.

P.S. It would be appreciated if you would ” share” this with your Facebook contacts. Thanks.

Posted on February 8, 2018 under Thursday Tidbits with 2 comments

My 15 minutes of fame. Check the caption ( Compliments of Peter! )

 

“And it goes on and on, watching the river run.”

Watching the River Run. Loggins and Messina.

People are fascinated with natural disasters. It’s like going to a car race waiting for a pile up to happen or watching a tightrope artist crossing Niagara Falls. There’s a bit of voyeurism in all of us.

By historic standards, the recent ice build, heavy rains and ensuing flood certainly wasn’t an anomaly. Here’s an old photo from the Antigonish Heritage Museum’s Facebook page:

The confluence of the Wright’s River, West River and Brierly Brook, combined with tidal water and a flood plain, has caused problems in Antigonish forever. Remediation to the Wright’s River years ago more or less solved the problem at the east end of town. But in the downtown core, when the ice builds up in the Brierly Brook and you get a torrential rainfall like we did last Friday, flooding is sure to follow. It happened suddenly and dramatically resulting in the stranding of 23 vehicles in the town parking lot behind the 5 to $1.00.

Living close to the action, I wandered over on Friday evening and took a short video. Pete Norman’s video was the best I’ve seen. I knew people were engaged when I received tens of thousands of views on Facebook.

After more rain overnight on Sunday night, my curiosity got the best of me and I shot another video first thing Monday morning. I now fully understand the concept of a video going viral. That video received over 42,000 views and 982 shares… and counting. Heavy rain continued unabated for hour’s .Realizing that people locally and globally were engaged with the story; I took a few more videos throughout the day and felt like a roving storm chaser. For a while, it looked like our apartment buildings adjacent to the Brierly Brook were in danger of being flooded as the water crested at high tide. We had to evacuate all of our cars. When the media got a hold of it, the end of Court Street became a very popular spot. We should have charged admission. Hundreds of people wandered down to check things out.

My appearance on CTV prompted my son, Peter to do a little photo shopping of my image!

“Please sir, I want some more.” (From the musical “Oliver)

If you haven’t had a chance to see Oliver yet, you must go. It is an excellent production. It’s in the home stretch of its run at Immaculata Hall. There are performances Friday the 9^th. At 7:00 p.m. Saturday 10^th. At 2:00 (matinee) and 7:00 p.m. and Sunday the 11^th. At 2:00 p.m. I’ve seen it once already. “I want some more!”

I attended the official opening of African Heritage Month yesterday in the McKay Room at St. F.X. The ceremony was exceptionally well attended. As usual, the African Drumming Group comprised of students from Grade 5 all the way up to Grade 12, stole the show. The theme this year is “Educate, Unite, and Celebrate Community.” It was a wonderful event. I hope to join in the celebration by doing a “Faces in the Crowd” piece sometime this month.

“Like a bridge over troubled waters.” Hallelujah. The ice jam is gone and the Brierly Brook is running as it should.

Have a great weekend.