The Passing of Tom Gaspick

 Tom Gaspick sadly passed away today in the early AM of January 14th after a short battle with Cancer. 

He will be missed and remembered by all those who loved him and all those he touched with his writing. 

Details of his funeral will be posted here when available. 

Ultramar Gas Station At 98 Island Road, Scarborough, Ontario, Canada

The station has been closed and fenced off for many weeks now. The pumps have been removed and the tall 'roof' over the pumps island has been demolished. The eastern front of the convenience store is boarded up. The 'Ultramar' sign out front is still up. There's no signage indicating what is going on.

A google search for 'island road ultramar' returns a result that indicates that the station is still a going concern. There's a phone number, 416-282-6161. I called that number and the call was answered. A gentleman with a rather thick accent told me that the station is being renovated -- pumps are to be added -- and the station will reopen in late January.

I find it all passing strange. The station hasn't been in operation all that long. It was a spiffy new station with a convenience store -- entirely adequate for its location and traffic. I can't see why they would need to add pumps.

The station was a real convenience for the neighbourhood, and it's missed. I'll be keeping a close eye on the 'renovations', and will report further on progress.

Vodka

 If health food stores sold hard liquor, they'd only sell vodka.

Radar Love

Madeline Kahn's 'Sizzle' Scene In "Young Frankenstein"

This cracks me up.

# # #

Goodnight Irene -- Johnny Cash

# # #

Goodnight Irene -- Keith Richards

# # #

Buddy Holly -- All Of My Love ...

# # #

Anything?

A hallmark of the finest singers is that they enunciate clearly. One is never puzzled by the lyrics. Teresa Brewer was one of the finest of the fine.

And I have a question -- why can't I get these videos to display in proper, full-width proportion on my blog? Sometimes they display ok, but mostly they get truncated at the right side, like this one.

# # #

Old Man Mose

Baby, Baby, Baby

House Of The Rising Sun

And The Last Tuna Hauled Out Of The Sea Fetched A Fine Price

Whoops!

A house renovation gone awry.




Here's the brief story.

# # #

Ian & Sylvia -- Darcy Farrow

# # #

Restitution

I've long and often wondered why restitution doesn't figure more heavily in our criminal justice system.

I suppose that one reason is that it simply can't -- some crimes can't be restituted for. Here's a case in point.

To summarize, a woman name of Catherine McKay got loaded, ran a stop sign and caused the death of a family of four. How does one ever make restitution for such a crime? -- one can't.

And yet, and yet, I still can't see what a ten-year prison sentence accomplishes, aside from presenting the taxpayer with a huge bill for food and shelter for the convict.

Even though I can't propose a better way, the thought won't leave me that there has to be one.

# # #

Solar Impulse Completes Historic Round-The-World Flight

Here's the story.

It was an amazing project, and sincere congratulations are in order to everyone involved.

That said, I have great difficulty in seeing this as the future of aviation.

# # #

LCBO Launches Online Sales Of Beer, Wine, Cider, Spirits

Here's the story.

Who can now deny that every day, in every way, life in Ontario just keeps getting better and better, if you have money to burn.

Canada Post's delivery fee per $50.00 minimum order will be $12.00 plus tax. 'Looks reasonable to me; what's not to like?

At the rate that things keep improving in Ontario, there'll soon be no problems left to solve.

# # #

Eric Burdon And The Animals -- Tobacco Road

One of my all-time favourite songs:

# # #

Teresa Brewer -- Old Man Mose

# # #