Bah humbug

Most of my life I have been accused of being a bah-humbug person. Not a Scrooge, mean-spirited character, merely one who did not "get into the spirit of the season" I was definitely a bit like that when it came to discussions or fighting crowds in a Mall or down Oxford Street; However, I never minded buying gifts nor wrapping them and love the look of a lit up Christmas tree. I just get sick of hearing 'Santa's Coming to Town' sung everyday, 20 times a day, from November 1st on the radio TV or even the Supermarket!!
I have great memories of childhood Christmases, and prefer Christmas Carols to the pop songs of the season. (Although, 'Grandma Got Run Over  by a Reindeer' is a classic.) Somewhere in my twenties, when I thought science and religion were opposite sides of a universal coin, I thought going to church at Christmas meant I was being a hypocrite.
Then, I realized that going to a Christmas service and singing those carols were a ritual sharing of a  celebration with my family. One that we all would remember for decades. Especially, as I am much older now and many of those family members are not sitting in the pew beside me, the happy memories remain.
So forgive me wincing at the radio's choice of music, but let me smile inwardly when 'Hark, the Herald Angels Sing' comes on and I shed an inward tear for my beloved family.

Blade Runner

I saw Blade Runner on my own in 1982; paid extra because it was a Cinema with Dolby Stereo Sound, and in Scarborough, Ontario, that was the regular practice. Similar to paying a premium for IMAX now.
I have loved Science Fiction since my childhood. I was lucky enough to have people give me Astounding Stories and Fantasy magazines back then. They were small, thin paper editions similar to the Soap Opera Digest and Astrology ones that line the shelves of Supermarket Checkouts nowadays.
In my early days in Toronto, I walked up and down Yonge Street checking out the huge number of second hand books stores that were there, before Urban Re-vitalization took over. I am well aware that the bulk of the customers were flipping through the nude magazines, which were not shrink-wrapped in plastic in those days; However, there were shelves and shelves of old classics, Sci-Fi and cowboy paperbacks. I acquired F. Scott Fitzgerald stories, Evelyn Waugh, loads of Penguin Paperbacks with their unique orange spines and all the new science fiction releases, but second-hand. I read all of Philip K. Dick's material. "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" was a favourite of mine.
It is the basis for Blade Runner. So, naturally, I fell in love with the 1982 film which one could recognize as a definitive new look at a dystopian future. No sweet Star Trek aliens or Universal brotherhood and Peace in the Galaxy. All the "Off-World" stuff was just alluded to, the plot centred on happenings on Earth. It was intelligent and visually stunning.
So is Blade Runner 2049. I like how the story has evolved, and the way it builds on the previous story.  Too many sequels merely tell the same story merely ten years later, or whatever...
If you enjoyed the original, you should like this. I doubt that anyone wanting to see it because they are a Ryan Gosling fan will like it though. It is long, darkly photographed and imagined darkly. Again.
I will see it again though when iit comes to Netflix in January 2018.

Messing about with clocks

Growing up in London, the bi-annual meddling with clocks had little or no effect on me. Spring or Autumn, I was going to be late for school or college or work... my body just plugged on, ignoring the world's routines and rituals.
Then I emigrated to Canada.
That first year in Toronto, I usually spent Sunday afternoons sharing lunch with the couple that had emigrated along with me. As well as a lot more time during the week with them, too.
However, that first year, 1970, "clocks going backwards weekend" saw me spending that Sunday alone.
I lived on St.George Street, and a couple of blocks from my apartment building was the subway. After a dreary morning, I decided to take the subway downtown and walk around. I got off at Toronto City Hall and walked around Nathan Phillips Square. I thought I would people-watch. In those days, there was no kiosk to buy a coffee or hot chocolate; I cannot recall if the wading pool had become an ice rink yet. What I do remember is, that the piazza/plaza/public space was unusually empty. I stood beside the entrance to City Hall and looked towards the Simpson's Tower and two towers of the Toronto Dominion Centre and wondered what I was doing there. (The third TD tower had not been built yet, nor had the Sheraton Hotel which is nowadays directly opposite City Hall.) The darkness and gloom at 5 p.m. made me really sad. I thought about the family and friends I left behind. I wondered if they were in our usual Sunday haunts; the pub. It was not winter-cold yet, but a chill went through me.
I stayed for about 15 minutes, then took the subway home. I had no TV nor record player, just a transistor radio and a Sony Stereo Cassette player, but I only has about 4 tapes!
I had a cup of tea, put on the radio and read a book. I read hundreds of books that year. In October 1970, I was not sure that I would be staying and building a life in Canada, and that first Sunday that the clocks went back, I really felt like I wanted to return to England soon. I had planned to stay for at least 3 years. I thought that North American work experience would be a good addition to my (then) meager Resume.
However, a Christmas in Florida and a road trip across this continent changed everything within 12 months.

Dior's New Look

70 years ago this past February, Christian Dior brought out his "New Look". It put Paris and fashion back on the world's front page of newspapers. It signaled the end of war time austerity.
PBS' current Masterpiece series 'The Collection' is a veiled look at those heady days but they have used a fictitious Fashion House, with Nazi collaborator undertones for its story. Having lived through those times, and having a mother who loved fashion and told me stories about the impact of The New Look, it is interesting to me; However, I find this Masterpiece production below their usual fine standard. Watch it to see what Mary Quant was rebelling against in the 1950's with her mini skirts and "Mod" look which truly caught on in the sixties with the Beatles music and fashion melding together in pop culture sensibilities.

Quote from DW.com:
Sociologists and historians who've analyzed the first post-World War II years agree. The long hems and petticoats made of yards of fabric were a sign of the end of the governmental restrictions on materials, while the comeback of corsets signalized the return of women from offices, hospitals, and munitions factories back to homes.

men and women

Let's start with an unusual example. Forty years ago, I was in a  Urban Geography lecture, the lecturer was actually also my friend and mentor. The class began discussing an issue concerning The Toronto Islands. When the islands were acquired by the city for recreational purposes, there were residents on it who were permitted to stay. The homes were to be acquired later as they became vacant. That never happened. Many owners, moved out but rented the houses to people who were warned that it could not be a permanent situation. Now decades later, the City wanted the houses to use the land for "The people of Toronto" It was the Seventies, so, naturally, there were marches protests, etc "Save the Island Homes."
I actually felt that they SHOULD be evicted. The renters knew exactly what the deal was; why complain now. I wanted the greater good to prevail and said so in the class discussion.
The lecturer said, "Yes, Michael, but sometimes we need to re-assess our position. It is OK to change our minds. Having people living on the Islands is a good thing for the whole city. Haven't you ever changed your mind?"
Well... he was exactly right. I was annoyed at people who knew what they were getting into claiming "It's my home, leave me alone." They should have known better. However, having citizens in the heart of city is a good thing for everyone. I should change my mind.
Well, back in those days, just like so many other young men, I called women "girls" thought it OK to "check them out" and went up to women I did not know and ask "would you like to go for a coffee?" (For what it is worth, my success rate was dismal. That should have told me something  about my approach, rather than about my looks.)
Anyway, the times have changed, so should we men. It is not OK to view women in that fashion. Everyone is NOT dating material. I do believe I changed my attitude all those decades back, because I was fortunate enough to mix with women who were intelligent and modern and let me know how they wanted to be treated. I lived my life accordingly.
It is entirely possible. However, it is not just women who should be calling out men about their behaviour, we men  need to call out our friends who treat women this way, too. Society has changed, we men must do so, too.

Kids on the bus

A Canadian father is mounting a legal challenge after child safety officials told him his children aged 7-11 could no longer take the bus alone.

CBC headline

What is the modern world coming to.

When our family arrived in London in 1953, I was 9. By January 1954, we were living in our own home. On arrival, we shared a 3 bedroom house with friends who had 3 children also. Four adults, 5 children, one small bathroom and a small kitchen.
Imagine the joy of our own 3 bedroom home with a garden.
However, my parents decided to let me continue attending the Elementary school I had begun in July 1953;It was in another school district, but the people in charge agreed to let me stay on.
It was not only in another district, it was two bus rides away. I made both bus journeys un-escorted; Well, usually. If we got our acts together, my 13 year old sister, who also attended a school in that district, took the first bus journey with me. However, the second bus journey as well as the return home journeys, I did on my own. Each leg of the bus journey cost one penny. No such thing as transfers back then.
Often, on the second leg of the return journey, the bus conductress would say to me: "Keep it sweetie, buy yourself a lolly." That is what I usually did. Right where I got off was the newsagent/confectionery shop and I would go in and buy a 'penny lolly!' I would then walk around the corner to our house and let myself in with my own key.
I never had any problems; never got lost, never lost my key nor was I ever accosted by strangers.
My memories are sweet and of a happy, quite safe, world.

Here are the buses I took. First the route 52 to Burnt Oak, then the 251 to the Watling Estate where my school was located. It was called Woodcroft Primary School. It has a web page now!! 

August 31

I finally got a new printer that works!!
After years of dodgy functioning of my devices, we (Margo,) got a new one on sale, absurdly cheap... so, of course, I worried that it would not only fail  to print but more importantly, print from my iPad.
Whoopee! It does both: prints from the PC and the iPad. (A public thank you to my wife.)

Today is one of those life-stones (my word for events that mark a milestone in one's life, either in a physical sense or emotional one.) August is in fact one of those life-stones that is shared collectively by a whole community - or in this case, the whole World : the day that Lady Diana, Princess of Wales died. Millennials all remember where they were when they heard the news of her death. It is burned into the collective consciousness.  For us baby boomers, it was the day that President John F. Kennedy was assassinated that marks a similar Life-stone.

On August 31, 1997, The children, my mother and I had returned from a touring holiday in Cape Breton; My mother was sleeping in my son Andy's bedroom; I had a bed in the living room. I could not sleep so was watching CNN. Around 4.a.m. AST it came on as Breaking News. I flicked between CNN & CBC to get as much detail as I could. It was stunning, an emotional  shock, This woman whom I had never met, died and I  was profoundly sad. I cried. My mum came down around 5:30, she was an early riser in the days before Alzheimer's cruelly took her simple functions away from her. We sat and watched the TV for the next 24 hours - straight.

Lady Diana was arguably the most recognizable woman on the planet, and possibly, save for the Royal Family, the most loved celebrity. The Princess is dead! Long Live the Princess, at least in our memories.

After school snacks

My sister and I had some weird after school snack experiences. In Calcutta, after the school bus brought us home, the Ayah would have our cuppa Chaa waiting, (not Chai, regular, most probably Darjeeling tea.) However, she would also bring us each a plate of toast with a thick spreading of Nestle's Condensed milk. We loved it ! All dripping and gooey and sweet.

When we moved to London, and then when  Sis & I got home from school, (I was 10 and took 2 London Transport Double-deckers to get home. One penny for each leg, no such thing as "transfers" back then,) we still had tea and toast. Mum worked, so dinner was later after she and Dad returned. On our toast in this period we favored Kraft's DairyLea cheese spread. Mild and yet tasty.

Beatles and Beyond - playlist for August 16th

Hello, this is the playlist from The Beatles and Beyond on   97.5 CIOE-FM for August 16th 

The perfect Beatles song for a summer gathering, from their final studio LP, Abbey Road, Come Together.

SONGS

Come Together - The Beatles

 Ob-La Di, Ob-la Da - Marmalade

After "Come Together" we heard  Ob-La Di, Ob-la Da done here by Marmalade. Their version was the hit single as the Beatles track from the White album was never released as a single in the UK. Marmalade's tune topped the UK charts.

One of the big groups of the British invasion but not from Liverpool, were the Zombies. Here is their Time of the Season. It is followed by a Motown stalwart covering the Beatles' We can work it out from, no longer Little,  Stevie wonder.

SONGS 

Time of the season - the Zombies

We can work it out - Stevie wonder

The first Beatles' film was A Hard Day's Night and it was a really good depiction of the crazy times they were going through. Here is the movie's title song plus others from the soundtrack,  I should have known better and If I Fell. 

SONGS

Hard Day's Night - The Beatles

 I should have known better - The Beatles

If I Fell - The Beatles

 A British singer who had many US hits, remained a TV and Broadway celebrity for decades, right up to this century, is Petula Clark. This is Pet's I Know a Place.  An American Duo who truly embodied the spirit of the 1960's and continued into the late part of the C20th as this duo, then as solo artists were  - Sonny & Cher. After Pet Clark is the iconic 1960's  hit, I Got You, Babe.

SONGS

I Know a Place - Pet Clark

I Got You, Babe - Sonny & Cher

Can't Buy Me Love -  - Beatles

Right after the Break we heard the Beatles  with Can't Buy Me Love - which is also from the Hard Days Night movie. Coming up are 2 more tunes from the soundtrack album,  I'll Cry Instead and Things We Said Today. I really like this soundtrack LP it has so many lovely simple pop song melodies. The Boys at their early days' best.  The Hard Day's Night tunes are followed by Am I that Easy to Forget from my fellow Anglo-Indian,  Englebert Humperdinck. Real name Arnold Gerry Dorsey who born in Madras.

SONGS

I'll Cry Instead - - Beatles

Things we said today - - Beatles

Am I that Easy to Forget - Englebert Humperdinck

Now,  2 groups that had major hits with the British invasion were  Edison Lighthouse mostly a studio-group, with Love Grows and Build Me Up (Buttercup) from  The Foundations.

SONGS

Love Grows - Edison Lighthouse

Build Me Up (Buttercup) - The Foundations

 

The second Beatles film was called Help! Here is the title song plus You Like Me Too Much, also from the soundtrack.

 SONGS

Help! -  - The Beatles

You Like Me Too Much -  - The Beatles

 

The next song is the most covered tune in recording history, but was also included in the Help soundtrack. McCartney's beautiful Yesterday.

SONGS

Yesterday -  - The Beatles

For the Millennials listening to this show, it may come as a surprise that American Idol, or America's Got Talent are nothing new in concept. From the days of radio, programmers have had talent shows from the earliest days of mass communications. For us in London in the 60's it was a show called Opportunity knocks. The world famous petite  model Twiggy, saw welsh singer Mary Hopkins winning the British ITV 's talent show, Opportunity Knocks and she telephoned Paul McCartney and recommended her. She became one of the first artists to record on The Beatles' Apple record label.This is her first big hit -- Those were the Days. It produced by Paul McCartney.

Listen in again next week to the Beatles and Beyond with Michael Lavalette on 97.5 CIOE.

 

SONGS

Those were the Days - Mary Hopkins

PLAYLIST SONGS

Come Together - The Beatles

Ob-La Di, Ob-la Da - Marmalade

Time of the season - the Zombies

We can work it out - Stevie wonder

Hard Day's Night - The Beatles

 I should have known better - The Beatles

If I Fell - The Beatles

I Know a Place - Petula Clark

I Got You, Babe - Sonny & Cher

Can't Buy Me Love -   Beatles

Help! -   The Beatles

You Like Me Too Much   - The Beatles

Yesterday -  - The Beatles

Those were the Days - Mary Hopkins

Life in the 1950's London

Not surprisingly as a child of 8, going on 9, I had no pre-conceived notion of what to expect when we arrived in London. All I knew is that Queen Elizabeth II 's coronation had occurred 4 days before we arrived. The city was still decked out in bunting and Union Jacks and all manner of fancy decorations. It looked lovely to a young child's eye.
However, six months after arriving we moved into our first (and only,) home in London.
It was about 900 square feet; no basement, no attic as  livable floor space. It was exciting nonetheless.
Outside, on the pavement, (sidewalk,) beside a street lamp stood the garbage can for "pigs swill" as the neighbours told us. In 1953, a war measures attempt for the UK to be more self-reliant, lots of communities still had this productivity item. A truck came along and emptied it regularly for distribution to Farmers to supplement live stock feed.

Summer of 1967

There has been a lot written about the summer of love in 1967. It seemed as if young people were trying to create a peaceful and more loving life style. It is particularly associated with Haight-Ashbury district in San Francisco and very significantly, The Beatles Sgt.  Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, followed by Scott Mackenzie's If you're going to San Francisco, (wear some flowers in your hair.)
It was about trying a new social-ethos of sharing.
However, it is not surprising, but the summer of love in Haight-Ashbury turned into a dismal autumn.
By 1969, the same mass of youth were the Woodstock generation.
We tried to keep the spirit going up until late 69, but many factors formed road blocks for the crowds to move forward.
The peace & love & music culture was happening before the Human Be-In that occurred in San Francisco in January 1967.
I was in New York in the summer of 1966. I hung around Greenwich Village, Washington Square, all the places I heard mentioned in songs. The place was full of young people (yes, just like I was,) who were sleeping rough and simply bonding.
The big societal changes were already underway; The "anniversary" shows gloss over how many young people were hitch-hiking away from their safe suburban communities to the big cities on the coast; New York and California primarily.
There was a lot of segregation still that summer. I witnessed it on my Greyhound Bus ride from New York to Florida.
The summer of 1967 is also remembered as the time America's big cities were a cauldron of unrest. Riots, primarily in Detroit and New Jersey, set the black community on fire. The Detroit riot is the basis on a forthcoming movie, called, simply Detroit.
I recall the events vividly. I arrived in Windsor, Ontario in 1976 and people were still talking about that year when they stood on Riverside Drive and could see the flames and hear the police sirens and gunshots.
LBJ's "Great Society" took a little longer to foster real change.

Quarry Men + Dylan from Beatles & Beyond show on Wednesday July 12th

Because of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band LP along with the summer of love blossoming around the world, 1967 appeared to be an auspicious year and of course, it is 50 years ago, so the media frenzy is in overdrive doing anniversary shows.

One small anniversary that got little attention is: the 60th anniversary of Paul & John's first meeting. It happened  on Saturday 6 July 1957. The Quarry Men played at St. Peter's Church Rose Queen garden fête in Woolton. This was John's group and Paul attended the fete and was introduced to John. Paul joined the Quarry Men in October of that year.

SONGS

That'll be the day - The Beatles

How Do You Do it  - The Beatles

After "That'll be the day." we heard  How Do You Do it  from The Beatles which is also from their Anthologies & Artifacts series of releases. 

Other groups that were part of the British invasion or "Liverpool Sound" were   Billy J. Kramer and Gerry & the Pacemakers. All of them played the cavern and were signed up by Brian Epstein. However, they did not have a sustained  career as the Beatles did. Here are Bad to Me by Billy J. Kramer then, Do You want to know a secret from  The Beatles followed by I Like it from Gerry & the Pacemakers.

SONGS

Bad to Me - Billy J. Kramer

Do You want to know a secret - - The Beatles

I Like it - Gerry & the Pacemakers

Before the British invasion dominated the american charts, the 60's began with the so-called folk & Hootenanny styles of music. The artist that began quietly with a largely ignored first album, suddenly erupted on to the world's music scene, and grew along with the Beatles. That person was Bob Dylan. Coming up is the decidedly pop style of the Beatles and I Feel Fine then two landmark Dylan tunes, the astoundingly prescient Times They are A-Changing and Subterranean Homesick Blues.

SONGS

I Feel Fine - The Beatles

Times They are a changing - Bob Dylan

Subterranean Homesick Blues - Bob Dylan

George Harrison was an early friend of Bob Dylan that lasted his whole life. He & Dylan & others became the travelling Wilbury's. A mock band in the manner of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. Here he is with Dylan's If Not For You, which is from George's solo career, then another pop hit from the Boys, A Hard Day's Night. 

SONGS

If Not For You - George Harrison

Hard Days Night  - The Beatles

Just as Lennon-McCartney compositions overtook the singles and album charts, Dylan's songwriting output in the mid-60's was prodigious. Many performers had hits with his material. Here are two, one very famous, the other less so. Peter, Paul & Mary's chart topping version of Blowing in the wind is followed by Manfred Mann and If you got to go, go now.

SONGS

Blowing in the Wind - Peter, Paul & Mary

If you got to go, go now - Manfred Mann

This is  In the Bad, Bad Old Days from The Foundations a British group. This was a minor hit but they had a huge world wide hit with Baby, Now that I found you, in 1970.

SONG

In the Bad, Bad Old Days - The Foundations

Of course, the other prominent British hit makers were the Rolling Stones. This is their signature  tune, Satisfaction, and Joe Cocker doing a Bob Dylan composition, Just like a woman.

SONGS

Satisfaction - The Rolling Stones

Just Like a Woman - Joe Cocker

When Bob Dylan moved from the austere sounds of folk to the electric sounds of folk-rock or even outright rock, he was backed by a group called, simply, the Band. They were a mixture of Canadian & American boys. Depending on whose biography you read, the leader was Canadian Robbie Robertson or American Levon Helms. Both wonderful musicians. The Band were big in their own right, without Dylan at the mic. This is their Up on Cripple Creek followed by Irishman Gilbert O'Sullivan (real name Raymond O'Sullivan) and the charming Claire.

SONGS

Up on Cripple Creek - The Band

Claire - Gilbert O'Sullivan

Closing today's show  with Ob-la-di, Ob-la- da from the Beatles' White Album, and a perennial favorite of people and especially party goers for decades. Definitely a pop song and not a protest or hippie song. Just fun loving sing-a-long material.

SONGS

 Obla- di, Obla- da - The Beatles

When the Lights Come On Again celebrates Canada's 150th birthday

PLAYLIST for June 28th Show

This show is going to celebrate Canada's 150th Birthday. All the selections have a Canadian connection. Some are Sung by Canadians, others are written by Canadians, and a couple are performed by Canadian singer/songwriters. Beginning with the great sound of Guy Lombardo and his band telling us to Enjoy yourself, it's later than you think. A song I remember my grandmother playing on the piano in Calcutta. So, I feel a special link to this great Canadian. Followed by Gisele McKenzie, from Winnipeg doing Answer me, my love.

SONGS

Enjoy Yourself - Guy Lombardo
Answer me, my love   - Gisele McKenzie

The next song was written by Toronto born Ruth Lowe. I'll never smile again. Written in the 1930's when her first husband died, in the war years, Frank Sinatra recorded it, and while numerous other artists have recorded it, Frank's is the definitive version. It is credited as launching his career with the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra. After Frank, is one of the biggest hit of the 1950's Theme from A Summer Place from Canadian Percy Faith.

 SONGS

I'll never smile again -  - Frank Sinatra

Theme from A Summer Place - Percy Faith

In my early days in Toronto in the 1970's, Moe Kaufman was on the television frequently. Moe is known for his 1958 hit Swinging Shepherd Blues. It was a hit everywhere, I remember hearing it on the BBC. After Moe's instrumental, is a vocal version from  Ella Fitzgerald. 

SONGS

Swinging Shepherd Blues - Moe Kaufman

Swinging Shepherd Blues - Ella Fitzgerald  

Here is My True Love from Ontario born Jack Scott.

SONGS

My True Love - Jack Scott

Coming up is american heart throb from the early 1950's, Johnnie Ray with his big hit Cry. However, Johnnie is assisted on the vocals by the Canadian harmony group  the Four Lads. I have mentioned before that the Four Lads grew up together in Toronto, Ontario, and were members of St. Michael's Choir School. After Cry, there is country hit Slow Poke  by  Gisele McKenzie

 

SONGS

Johnnie Ray & the Four Lads - Cry

Slow Poke   - Gisele McKenzie

 

another song from my  childhood is Earth Angel by The Crew cuts. We had the 78 RPM and I loved it. However, my dad was less than fond of it and complained when I played it as he did not understand  what a the noise was.  Followed by Paul Anka and Put Your Head on My Shoulder..

 

SONGS 

The Crew cuts - Earth Angel

Put Your Head on My Shoulder - Paul Anka

 

Now another favorites of Michael's , and definitely annoying to my Dad, Little Darlin'  by  The Diamonds and Another tune from Jack Scott, the sad Goodbye Baby.

SONGS

Little Darlin'  - The Diamonds 

Goodbye Baby  - Jack Scott

For a long time, the biggest selling single in the world, even according to the Guinness Book of Records, was Diana by Paul Anka. Another, Ottawa born performer. It is coming up now followed by New Zealand born,but raised in Canada, Gale Garnett. We'll sing in the Sunshine. In 1970, when I arrived in Toronto, I found that she was also a writer, and her articles appeared in the Toronto weekend papers.

SONGS

Diana - Paul Anka -

We'll Sing in the Sunshine - Gale Garnett

Seasons of the Sun - Terry Jacks was one of the biggest hits in North America in the early 70's. When I traveled to America to see my family I was proud to tell them "He's a Canadian, you know."

SONG

Seasons of the Sun - Terry Jacks

Ending with 2 classic Canadian icons  and one with a special Nova Scotia connection. When I heard Elvis' version in the summer of 1959, I fell in love with A Fool Such as I. Here is Liverpool NS' Hank Snow with his version, also great. He wrote it.

47 years ago, I arrived in my now adopted country, one of the first Canadian singles I recall was Mashmakan's As years go by. A fitting title to include in an oldies show! A big hit for them; almost half a century ago.

SONGS

A Fool Such as I - Hank Snow

As the years go by - Mashmakan

Lord Mountbatten

• 1948 Lord Mountbatten resigns as Governor General of India (formerly the last Viceroy) on June 21st.

One of my earliest memories. He came to our house (because it was the vicarage,) and was given a tour of the church ( the oldest Church of England church in the British Empire, outside of Britain, that is.)

With a historic graveyard featuring Job Charnok's grave. The founder of Calcutta.

RETIREMENT: A Plan

     Most of my life I have had jobs that engaged some type of planning: Land Use, or Transportation Corridors or budgets. I encouraged friends and youthful family members to always try and have a 5 year plan. It helps in making decisions when we face choices. Will it lead me to where I want to be in 5 years? Or at least on the path to achieving it.

Naturally, the Universe has its own plan and events occur that we could not foresee but have to deal with when they come along. 

     So: I planned what I wanted to study, where I wanted to travel, when to have a family, the usual Timeline for a careerist!!  I am very happy with how the bulk of things turned out.

 

     However, in a ridiculously dumb act for a supposed "planner" I did not plan for Retirement. Not many people actually think they "need to plan for retirement". It is simply something that comes along. We look out for a pension plan to provide money to live during retirement, but what on earth was I going to do during the day. No commuting, healthy lunches to pack,  memos to write... I also was one of the lucky ones from the turn of the Century that had an opportunity to retire early. Then children left home and I began to think -- Now What? I hoped to have decades left of life - what should I do with it?  Clearly the Nobel Prize or Pulitzer Prize will not be on the horizon. 

     From my early childhood, I have loved music. Listening to it; reading about it  and going to concerts. I had accumulated this collection of grey cells in my skull that held info that was not being used ; nor likely to be used.

     Then, I saw a write-up in the local paper about a new Local Radio station who were looking for volunteers. I applied and managed to secure a position doing TWO radio shows a week. I absolutely adore it. Searching through my huge digital library for appropriate tunes to either create a theme or celebrate a singer/song's anniversary.

     I came to Canada long before Y2K was a threat, and had a "Plan" to quietly become a prominent Geographer, drool over maps, study communities in the daytime and at night be disc-jockey playing rock and roll music. Well, none of that happened 50  years ago, but at the tail end of my so-called working life, I have in fact achieved what I planned 50 years ago!! Guess my 5 year plan seems to be written on a very elastic medium.  I love my retirement now. Doing something I have wanted to do all my life and share my love of music with others.

     If you get a moment, listen to me on 97.5CIOE-FM over the airwaves or 97.5Community Radio on the Internet. Wednesday at 1pm (AST), I play oldies;  Perry Como, Patti Page, Al Jolson and Do-wop groups. (You know, those singers that pop up twice a year on the PBS Fund raising shows!!) It is called, When the Lights Come On Again.  Then in the evening at 7pm, (AST) also on Wednesday, it is the Beatles and Beyond show. Obviously featuring the Fab Four, but also what music in the sixties evolved into after the youth boom took over the world's developed economies.

 

So, I guess, some five year plans take a bit longer to achieve.  

CMHC + Canadian Housing Market

A recent article in Maclean's had an interview with Evan Siddall who is the CEO of Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC).

 

While it was very interesting, I feel it is much too narrow in its perspective. No acknowledgement of the history of homes in Canada. It solely looks at mortgages, banking and how money flow works in an economy.

Mortgages and Mortgage Insurance were only PART of what CMHC delivered and administered.

However, as he points out in one sentence, then never returns to the issue -- postwar Canada's housing was in poor shape.  Furthermore, the apparatus for delivering housing for a growing 1950s economy did not exist in Canada at that time. Both Canada and major Municipalities sought out Professionals from Britain to shore up the need for the processing the supply of homes for the booming demand.

CMHC built it all up,  dollars and bricks -- the non-mortgage side of housing is what made us significant... and Pierre Elliot Trudeau's  belief that Housing was important as the engine of economic growth and change  within (and between,) the Provinces; therefore, outside the Constitution's clauses that said housing & planning were Provincial jurisdictions. Economic Growth is a federal responsibility in the Constitution. (Siddall acknowledges that housing is an engine of growth but only views it from the monetary side. Because he is a money man by "trade".)

The planning and infrastructure and social housing aspects of CMHC were huge in the 70s up to late 90s as the impact of the Baby Boomers moved through society.

 

Even now, the social aspects of housing (i.e. subsidies for the poor) gets ignored. Everyone comments on the need for assistance --but nobody provides it; save for the government.

Look up the earlier Maclean's article on CMHC, written in 2011. All the doom and gloom never happened,  because it was about bankers and their worries... the Banking sector which Canada has managed better than the United States. ONE PERCENTERS do not buy the average house -- it is a different market and requires different controls.

Do not blame CMHC for Mortgage-backed securities -- those happened because of changes the IMF made that permitted banks to securitize mortgages (MBS,) and remove the liability from the books;  Lending Institutions pressured the Government to allow MBS. The availability of these "extra" mortgage funds was supposed to facilitate growth. Of course, when MBS proved popular,  the sharks dove into the tank and created havoc with the "extra" dollars.

Canada is beautiful and its cities are great BECAUSE of everything CMHC did from 1947 right up to early C21st. It is too simplistic to look at the housing market in Vancouver or Toronto and think it was caused by CMHC and its insured mortgages.

2B or not 2B?

I feel sorry for today's children coming of school age and then young adulthood in the 21st century. They will not have the joy of writing on paper with a pencil in their everyday lives.
Everybody seems attached to their digital devices that spell out words for you before you have even typed a single character from the keyboard that pops up on one's "smart screen."




When my own children were of school age, one of the things I actually enjoyed as a parent was to go shopping for "School Supplies."  We would buy a dozen pencils usually a medium firmness HB box. They may have used them for art or math, but the box never lasted the year... before the end of the school year, they would be rummaging amongst my stationery items for a pencil.


When I went to school (I think Charlie Dickens may have been at the desk next to me...) I not only had an open topped ink well in the corner of the desk, I was given 2 pens to dip into the aforementioned ink-well!  How ever, the thrilling "supplies" I went to school with, was a compass set (look it up in Google. It seems fitting to mention here, that I still have that same set in my possession.) And 2 or 3 pencils -- generally HB ones, but possibly a B softness for drawing biology specimens. However, I and my friends were quirky individuals, interested in art, but not artists. So I am unclear why we adopted the habit of using a strong. firm pencil sharpened to a very fine point; My favourite was my 2H. Yes you read that correctly, a 2H. Extra hard, so one could press hard and not snap the point as well as giving one a fine straight line.  Great for drawing hot rods during chemistry and idolized sketches of "Julie" a few desks over in Maths ... well, any drawing. My note books had few lines of writing but had hundreds of drawings in them.


Now do not get my started on "propelling pencils". I loved them too, For more idiosyncratic reasons ...that I no longer recall, I used to use a green leaded one.


That pencil lasted me through college and in to my first  job. Whilst there, I was correcting a draft letter and my boss informed me that the "green" coloured ink (or pencil) I was using for corrections was a no-no. Green ink was for the excusive use of the accountants.


Had to revert to blues and blacks, but my 2H remained a useful tool for doodling during boring meetings!!

The day the music died

 I remember when young, and moaning about school and probably about homework, my mother would say: "Ah, these are the best days of your life. Time for fun and excitement." It did not seem very exciting being 15 in gloomy London in the 1950s.

England still had not fully recovered from WWII nor would it for many more years. However, what a privileged life we were living had not sunk in yet. Free education, even at the University Level, warm homes and food in the fridge. Yes, we had a fridge back then. The neighbours thought we were weird wanting a fridge in that climate, but of course, nowadays, it is a different story.

 

I think I have finally absorbed what my mother meant by those words. Childhood and schooldays appear to have been like a spaceship ride from one simple planet to another very complicated one called adulthood!

 Teachers, counsellors "life-style" coaches forget to warn you that even adulthood comes in a variety of stages: young adult, mature adult.... and the one most people ignore -- Old Adult!

I gave this portion of my life little consideration until it appeared like a wild dog on the scene and bit me! Ouch, being old aches!!

I have a good memory and feel blessed to be able to vividly recall many events from the 1950s and 60s. However, I have ended up in a location without the people that figure prominently in those memories. Similarly, there is a whole decade -- the Seventies, a time that truly helped shape me, and gave me the opportunities to realize a lot of dreams, plus learn "adult" skills. Now I find, those people also seem to be out of reach.

The factor that figures as links between all these events is music.

My memories are intrinsically wound up in melodies. Working on my radio shows leads me to refresh the memories and articulate many of my feelings from those times. Not surprisingly, I long to be able to sit with those people & relive those times; but time has robbed me of too many of the actors in my life.

I remember very well February 4th, 1959, when my Dad woke me up for school with a cup of tea and the newspaper whose headline shouted out that Buddy Holly had died. It was a huge shock.

Feb 3rd, the day that the plane crashed, is the "day the music died" according to Don MacLean in American Pie.  I feel blessed to have enjoyed a long life after that day, which has been filled with music and love and friendship.

 

Yet, I still wish, for just a moment, that I could experience things again with my friends from the best days of my life.  School Days !!