ENOUGH IS ENOUGH, NHL! Bettman and the league bury their heads in the sand

FRIDAY, MARCH 11, 2011

I grew up in Toronto as an avid hockey fan and an ardent supporter of the Maple Leafs. The Blue and White have always been my team. Now, however, I am thoroughly disgusted with the National Hockey League and its Commissioner, Gary Bettman. I am also appalled by the ownership, management and coaching style of the Leafs, but that’s another story.

During Gary Bettman's 18 year tenure as head of the NHL, the number of teams in the NHL has grown from 24 to 30.  Overall revenues have increased significantly. The league has also lost its soul.  Something is rotten at its very core.

The Almighty Buck has ruined professional sport to a great extent, but hockey more than most. There are too many teams and too many games and the playoffs are far too long. Unlike baseball, hockey is not designed to be played four or five times a week. Baseball moves at a slower pace and starting pitchers play every fifth game.

The product has been diluted and it is often watered down to a shadow of its former glory. As long as money controls the game, that is not going to change. Those of us of a certain age, however, remember a time when almost every game was special and important.

Professional hockey has always been rough, but now it is becoming downright perilous. It is quickly and inexorably turning Roller Derby on ice. For me, this latest incident involving Boston Bruins defenceman Zdeno Chara is the final straw. On Tuesday, March 8, at the Bell Centre, Chara, a 6 foot 9 inch giant of a man, hit Montreal Canadiens left winger Max Pacioretty into the boards. Pacioretty was severely injured. His head slammed into the metal support holding up the glass. He was knocked out cold and collapsed to the ice.

Max Pacioretty found himself in the hospital with a broken vertebra and serious concussion. He was released yesterday. Zdeno Chara received a five-minute major penalty and a game misconduct. He was not, unfortunately, suspended by the league. On Wednesday, the NHL ruled that Chara would receive no further discipline.

Commissioner Bettman does not see a problem. According to Bettman, “Our hockey operations people are extraordinarily comfortable with the decision that they made.” Yesterday, during an appearance before a U.S. congressional panel, he declared that there is no need to “over-legislate” head hits. He also suggested that the increase in reported concussions is a result of accidental collisions, not head hits.

Well, of course, Mr. Commissioner, that has to be the reason. Under your stewardship, Gary, the NHL has no problems whatsoever. Its franchises in Atlanta and Phoenix and Nashville are doing extraordinarily well. It’s unfortunate Sidney Crosby, the league’s biggest star suffered a concussion, but it’s all part of the game. Don’t worry, be happy! 

Despite the NHL’s delusions, the Pacioretty/Chara story is far from over. Montreal police are investigating the incident and there is the possibility that Chara could be charged with assault. In a letter addressed to Bettman, Air Canada has expressed its extreme displeasure with the NHL. I am pleased that the airline, which just happens to be one of the NHL’s largest financial corporate backers, has threatened to remove its sponsorship of the league if it doesn’t take “immediate” and “serious” action on headshots.

Geoff Molson, chairman and owner of the Montreal Canadiens, has stated that he does not agree with the NHL’s decision. Prime Minister Stephen Harper, to his credit, has urged the league to assess the “growing number” of serious injuries and headshots.

What has to happen for the NHL to take this seriously? What will it require to awaken Gary Bettman and the league from their stupor? Does a player have to die? Is that what it will take? Sadly, I’m beginning to think so. Then again, maybe even a death won't wake them up. They may just repeat their usual mantra that it’s part of the game.

- Joanne

Zelda Fitzgerald: Her marriage to Scott and her mental illness

THURSDAY, MARCH 10, 2011

Anyone who met the beautiful, young Zelda was immediately struck by her spirited self-confidence, energy, and determination; a person so absolutely sure of her herself that anything seemed possible. Spontaneous and exciting, she shone in any situation. With talent and the will to succeed, she should have accomplished much. How was it, then that in an age of opportunity she failed to find her own voice?

 - Kendall Taylor
From Sometimes Madness is Wisdom - Zelda and Scott Fitzgerald: A Marriage

Zelda circa 1918

Novelist F. Scott Fitzgerald and his wife, Zelda, were the golden couple of the Jazz Age. Together they were the embodiment of the Roaring Twenties. In an age of prosperity, they were young, talented, wealthy and brash. Scott referred to Zelda as “the first American flapper” and the New York newspapers adored them. Behind the scenes, however, things were not as rosy. Today, on the 63rd anniversary of the death of Zelda Fitzgerald, let us explore how and why everything went so wrong.

Born Zelda Sayre in Montgomery, Alabama on July 24, 1900, she was the youngest of six children. Her father, Anthony Sayre, was a highly respected judge of the Alabama Supreme Court. Soon after finishing high school, Zelda met F. Scott Fitzgerald at a dance in Montgomery during the summer of 1918. World War I was still raging and Fitzgerald, a northerner from St. Paul Minnesota, had left Princeton University to join the U.S. Army. He was stationed at a training camp in Montgomery when they met.

Zelda was very popular and had many suitors, but Scott was different from her Southern beaus. He was an aspiring writer and he oozed Ivy League charm. Still, Fitzgerald faced much competition for Zelda’s attention and affection. After his discharge from military service in February of 1919, he returned home to Minnesota to rewrite the manuscript of his first novel, This Side of Paradise, which dealt with the post-World War I flapper generation. With This Side of Paradise slated for publication by Charles Scribner and Sons in the spring of 1920, Scott was able to achieve the measure of financial success needed to persuade Zelda to accept his marriage proposal.

The wedding took place at Manhattan’s St. Patrick Cathedral on Easter Sunday, April 3, 1920. On October 26, 1921, their only child, a daughter, was born in St. Paul, Minnesota. They named her Frances Key Scott Fitzgerald, but she was commonly called “Scottie”.

This Side of Paradise became a bestseller and the Fitzgeralds spent the early part of the 1920s as literary celebrities in New York. For some time they settled in Long Island, the setting for Scott’s acclaimed novel, The Great Gatsby. They lived extravagantly and held lavish parties in a fashion similar to the characters in his 1925 classic.

Later in the decade, Scott and Zelda relocated to Europe and became representatives of the celebrated “Lost Generation” of that era. They moved to France and socialized with other expatriates such as author Ernest Hemingway and his first wife, Hadley. Spoiled and self-indulgent, by 1924 the Fitzgeralds were living like royalty on the French Riviera.

The marriage of Scott and Zelda was tempestuous and filled with jealousy and acrimony. Scott had always been a heavy drinker and his increasing alcoholism put additional strain on their relationship. Throughout her life, Zelda sought to establish an identity of her own. Through the years, she wrote many articles, short stories and a novel, most of which were published in the 1930s. She also enjoyed painting which she found it to be relaxing and soothing. Her art was displayed in museums and sold to friends.

Scott and Zelda

While in France, Zelda Fitzgerald rediscovered her love of ballet. She had danced as a child, but quit at the age of 17. In 1925 she signed up for lessons with Lubov Egorova (Princess Nikita Troubeska) who had opened a studio in Paris. By 1927, ballet had become Zelda’s obsession. She practised incessantly to the point of exhaustion.

As the years passed, Zelda’s behaviour became increasingly unstable and erratic. In April of 1930, at the age of 29, she had a complete mental breakdown in Paris. She was hospitalized and diagnosed as a schizophrenic. In July of 1931, after Zelda’s release from Prangrins, a clinic in Switzerland, the Fitzgeralds returned to the United States permanently.

Back in the U.S., Zelda Fitzgerald continued to struggle with mental illness and was confined to sanatoriums for the rest of her life. She had a second breakdown in February of 1932 and was admitted to the Phipps Psychiatric Clinic of Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. While at Phipps, Zelda wrote her only published novel, Save Me the Waltz. She completed the semi-autobiographical novel in just six weeks and sent it to Scott’s publisher, Maxwell Perkins. Scott was incensed at the manner in which his wife’s book portrayed their marriage and their personal lives. He drastically altered the novel and forced her to leave out the section which portrayed him as an alcoholic. Save Me the Waltz arrived in bookstores in October of 1932 and quickly fell into obscurity.

Fitzgerald, however, went on to publish his own thinly-disguised account of their marriage in Tender is the Night, his fourth novel. Published in 1934, Tender is the Night it is the story of Dr. Dick Diver, a promising young psychoanalyst whose wife, Nicole, suffers from mental illness. It was written at a dark time in Fitzgerald’s life and often reflects a bleakness of outlook. Experiencing financial difficulties at the time, Scott was forced to borrow money from his editor and agent. During this period, he also wrote short stories for magazines in order to raise money.

After a third breakdown in 1934, Zelda became a patient at the Sheppard Pratt Hospital in Towson, Maryland, just outside of Baltimore. In April of 1936, she was transferred to the Highland Mental Hospital in Asheville, North Carolina. Scott eventually moved to Hollywood and became a screenwriter. It was there that he began a romantic relationship with the movie columnist Sheilah Graham. In November of 1940, Scott suffered a minor heart attack in Schwab’s Drug Store on Sunset Boulevard. On December 20, 1940, after attending the premiere of a film with Graham, he experienced a dizzy spell. He decided not to see a doctor because he had an appointment with his physician the next afternoon. The following morning, however, he collapsed to the floor and Graham called the fire department.

F. Scott Fitzgerald died in Hollywood of a massive heart attack on December 21, 1940 at the age of 44. His final novel, The Love of the Last Tycoon, about the Hollywood motion picture industry, was unfinished at the time of his death. Literary critic Edmund Wilson edited the manuscript and it was published as The Last Tycoon in 1941.

On the night of March 10, 1948, a fire broke out in the kitchen of the main building of the Highland Mental Hospital. The flames spread rapidly to every floor of the premises. Despite the efforts of firefighters to evacuate everyone from the building, nine women perished in the fire. Among them was Zelda Fitzgerald who was identified by her slipper. She was 47 years old at the time of her death.

Frances Scot Key “Scottie Fitzgerald” became a writer and journalist for such publications as the Washington Post and The New Yorker. Scottie had four children with her first husband, Samuel Jackson “Jack “ Lanahan, whom she married in 1943 and divorced in 1967. In 1975, her eldest son Thomas (known as Tim) committed suicide at the age of 27. The surviving children are Jack Jr., Eleanor (Bobbie), an artist and writer, and Cecilia. Scottie’s second marriage to C. Grove Smith ended in divorce in 1980. The daughter of Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald died of esophageal cancer on June 16, 1986 in her mother’s hometown of Montgomery, Alabama. She was 64.


ON THIS DAY IN SPORTS

On May 10, 1934, the Toronto Maple Leafs achieved the longest undefeated streak in home games in their history – 18 games. The 18-game streak began on November 28, 1933 and consisted of 15 wins and 3 ties.

- Joanne

Reflections and Quotes on International Women's Day

TUESDAY MARCH 8, 2010

Today is International Women’s Day. We’ve come a long way, baby, but there is still a long way to go. Millions of women live in abject poverty. Millions of women are victims of violence and sexual assault. There are still some countries where females are treated like third class citizens and denied a decent education. In Saudi Arabia, for example, women’s rights are severely restricted. As long as these conditions exist, an International Women’s day is necessary.

Here are some points to ponder on this day.

* Remember that it wasn’t until 1920 and the 19th Amendment to the United States Constitution that American women had the right to vote in federal elections. Remember too that the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) has never been ratified. Although the ERA passed both houses of Congress in 1972, it did not succeed in gaining ratification before its June 30, 1982 deadline. The amendment guarantees American women equality of rights under the law.

* Wyoming is known as the “Equality State” due to its record on women’s rights. In 1869, Wyoming became the first state in the Union to grant women the right to vote. “Equality” is also the state motto.

*  On May 24, 1918, female citizens, aged 21 and over, were granted the right to vote in federal elections in Canada.  Manitoba was the first province to give women the right to vote in provincial elections on January 27, 1916.  Saskatchewan followed suit on March 14, 1916 and Alberta on April 19, 1916.  British Columbia continued the trend on April 5, 1917 and Ontario suffragettes won their victory on April 12, 1917.  Women became eligible to vote in Nova Scotia on April 26, 1918, New Brunswick on April 17, 1919, Prince Edward Island on May 3, 1922 and Newfoundland on April 13, 1925.  Quebec women were not eligible to vote in provincial elections until April 25, 1940, after exercising their franchise for over twenty years in federal elections.  The hard work and determination of Therese Casgrain was largely responsible for the victory in Quebec. 

* There are still too few women in positions of power in politics and in business. On March 14, 2011, Christy Clark will be sworn-in as the premier of British Columbia. Clark will become only the third female in over 143 years of Canadian history to lead a province. Only one of those three women, Cathereine Callbeck of Prince Edward Island, has led her party to electoral victory. Clark and Rita Johnston, both of British Columbia, won the leadership of their respective parties after the resignation of a premier. In Clark’s case, Premier Gordon Campbell resigned as leader of B.C.’s Liberal Party and Clark was subsequently chosen as party leader. In Rita Johnston’s case, it was Premier Bill Vander Zalm who resigned as head of a scandal-plagued government. Johnston was deputy premier at the time and she was named interim leader of B.C.’s Social Credit Party. As such, she was sworn in as Premier of British Columbia and Canada’s first female premier on April 2, 1991. Yes, it was not until 1991.   

By the way, Catherine Callbeck is now a member of the Senate of Canada. 

* Google is marking International Women’s Day with a colourful logo featuring a woman graduate and physician in place of the last two letters of “Google”. Google has also added a female sidekick- Pegwoman - to its Google Maps’ icon Pegman.

Number 16 presents a selection of  interesting and provocative quotations on women. 

Charlotte Whitton in 1951

Whatever women do they must do twice as well as men to be thought half so good . . . luckily, it’s not difficult.

- Charlotte Whitton, 1951

How appropriate that Charlotte Whitton, the first female mayor of a major city in Canada, was born on International Women’s Day. She was born on March 8, 1896 and she was mayor of Ottawa from 1951 until 1956 and again from 1961 until 1964. A colourful and controversial figure, she was an outspoken proponent of women’s rights. Sadly, she also held anti-Semitic views.  Charlotte Whitton became an Officer of the Order of Canada in 1967.  She retired from politics in 1972 and died in Ottawa on January 25, 1975 at the age of 78.


But if God had wanted us to think just with our wombs, why did He give us a brain?

- Clare Booth Luce
In Life magazine, October 16, 1970


The Queen is most anxious to enlist everyone who can speak or write to join in checking this mad, wicked folly of ‘Women’s Rights’, with all its attendant horrors, on which her poor feeble sex is bent, forgetting every sense of womanly feeling and propriety.

- Queen Victoria (1819-1901)
Letter to Theodore Martin, May 29, 1870


Women have, commonly, a very positive moral sense; that which they will, is right; that which they reject, is wrong; and their will, in most cases, ends by settling the moral.

- Henry Brooks Adams (1838-1918)
From The Education of Henry Adams [1907}, Chapter 6


You don’t have to be anti-man to be pro-woman.

- Jane Galvin Lewis


If you have any doubts that we live in a society controlled by men, try reading the index to a volume of quotations.

= Elaine Gill


Fraily, thy name is woman!

- William Shakespeare
Hamlet, Act 1, Scene 2


There is no female Mozart because there is no female Jack the Ripper.

- Camille Paglia
Intrnational Herald Tribune, April 26, 1991


The great question that has never been answered and which I have not yet been able to answer , despite my thirty years of research into feminine soul, is 'What does a women want?'

- Sigmund Freud
to Marie Bonaparte
Sigmund Freud: Life and Work; Ernest Jones [1955]


LANGUAGE CORNER

Tuesday Palindromes

Here are the usual ten palindromes for a Tuesday.

1  Anne, I vote cars race Rome to Vienna.

2. Are we not drawn onward, we few, drawn onward to new era?

3.  Go deliver a dare, vile dog!

4. Do geese see God?

5.  Eva, can I see bees in a cave?

6.  T. Eliot, top bard, notes putrid tang emanating, is sad.  I`d assign it a name: gnat dirt upset on drab pot-toilet.     

7.  Hey, Roy!  Am I mayor?  Yeh!

8.  Some men interpret nine memos.  

9.  Oh, cameras are macho.   

10.  peep
        
- Joanne

The Magnificent Patsy Cline: Her Tragic Death

SATURDAY, MARCH 5, 2011

Country music star Patsy Cline died on this day 48 years ago. On March 5, 1963, she perished in a plane crash near Camden, Tennessee. She was only 30 years old and at the pinnacle of her career when she lost her life.

Patsy Cline was born Virginia Patterson Hensley on September 8, 1932 in Winchester, Virginia, the eldest of three children. Her father, Samuel Lawrence Hensley, was a blacksmith, and her mother, Hilda Patterson Hensley, was a seamstress. The young Virginia was commonly called “Ginny”. In 1947, when Ginny was 15 years old, Sam Hensley abandoned the family. After her parents divorced, the teenager was needed to help pay her family’s expenses. She dropped out of high school and began toiling at various jobs such as waitressing at a diner and working as a soda fountain attendant at a drug store. By night, however, she could be found singing at an assortment of local nightclubs, wearing Western stage outfits that she herself designed. Her seamstress mother made the costumes.

Her voice was remarkable. It was a silky, contralto voice, perfectly suited to torch songs. She first began singing in a Baptist church choir. At the age of 13, she became seriously ill with rheumatic fever and her doctor placed her in an oxygen tent. When she recovered, she discovered that the fever had affected her throat and left her with a booming voice, similar to that of Kate Smith, a singer she admired greatly.

In 1952, Ginny Hensley performed with Bill Peer and His Melody Boys at Moose Lodge in Maryland. Bill eventually became her manager. It was he who encouraged her to use the stage name “Patsy”, from “Patterson”, her middle name and her mother’s maiden name. That same year Patsy met a construction industry mogul named Gerald Cline, a man considerably older than she. They married in 1953 when Patsy was 20 years old. In September of 1954, Patsy signed a contract with Four Star Music Sales. Gerald was not supportive of her career ambitions at all.  In fact, he wanted her to give up singing and reamin at home.  The unhappy couple separated in 1956 and divorced in 1957.

In 1956, Patsy was presented with a song for her first album, Patsy Cline. It was titled "Walkin’ After Midnight", written by Don Hecht and Alan Block. Although the song did not originally make a strong impression on Cline, its writers and Four Star Music insisted that she record it.

In the summer of of 1956, Patsy Cline went to New York City to audition for a second time for Arthur Godfrey’s Talent Scouts.  It turned out to be her big break.  She was accepted to appear as a contestant on Godfrey’s CBS television program on January 21, 1957. Her rendition of "Walkin’ After Midnight" won first prize and Patsy became a regular on the show for the next two weeks. On February 11, 1957, "Walkin’ After Midnight" was released as a recording. It reached Number 2 on the Country Charts and Number 12 on the Pop Charts.

In 1956, Patsy met “the love of her life” while singing at a local dance. His name was Charles Allen Dick. Charlie Dick worked as a linotype operator at the Winchester Star newspaper.  In March of  1957, Charlie left to join the Army.  His separation from Patsy, however, was brief.  They married on September 15, 1957, a week after Patsy's 25th birthday.  The groom was 23.  After the wedding, the newlyweds moved to Fayetteville, North Carolina because Charlie was stationed at Fort Bragg. 

Patsy with Charlie Dick

In the summer of 1958, Patsy returned to Winchester, Virginia to give birth to the couple's first child.  On August 25, 1958, their daughter Julie was born.  When Charlie's two years of draft service ended in March of 1959, they returned to Winchester but did not stay there long.

In 1959, Patsy and her family moved to Nashville. That same year, Patsy met Randy Hughes who became her manager. In 1960, Patsy’s recording contract with Four Stars came to an end and she signed with Decca-Records - Nashville. Clline’s first release on her new Decca label was “I Fall to Pieces”. “I Fall to Pieces” was a great success. It was a crossover hit and was promoted on both country and pop music stations. Patsy’s career began to thrive under the direction of manager Randy Hughes and legendary Decca producer, Owen Bradley. Her dream of joining the cast of the Grand Ole Opry came true and she became one of its biggest stars.

The year 1961 started off well for Patsy Cline. In January, she and Charlie welcomed their second child, a son, Allen Randolph “Randy” Dick. On June 14, 1961, however, disaster struck! Patsy and her brother, Sam, were involved in a near-fatal car accident on Old Hickory Boulevard in Nashville. The head-on collision took place in front of a high school and Patsy almost lost her life from the impact of hitting the windshield. Her injuries included a jagged cut across her forehead, a broken wrist and a dislocated hip. She was required to spend a month in the hospital in order to recuperate. Patsy miraculously survived the crisis, although she did incur a visible scar on her forehead. After the accident, she wore wigs and used makeup to conceal the scar during her performances.

After the success of “I Fall to Pieces”, Patsy Cline was in need of a worthy follow-up. She found it in “Crazy”, a song composed by Willie Nelson in 1961. "Crazy" was an immediate country pop crossover hit, and her most successful pop hit.  It became a classic and Patsy’s signature song.  With the popularity of “Crazy” and the rise of “She’s Got You” and “Imagine That” on the charts, 1962 turned out to be a banner year for Patsy Cline.  In February, she made an appearance on American Bandstand and then headlined a 35-day show in Las Vegas in November.

On March 3, 1963, Patsy travelled to Kansas City to perform three shows as part of a benefit concert for the family disc jockey Cactus Jack Call who had recently lost his life in a car accident. Cline gamely took the stage in Kansas City although she was suffering from the flu. Singer Dottie West offered to drive Patsy  back to Nashville, but Patsy declined because she was anxious to get home to her family and had decided to fly home instead in her manager’s yellow Piper Comanche. The plane flew into severe weather and crashed near Camden, Tennessee on March 5, 1963. Cline and three others died in the crash. Grand Ole Opry stars Cowboy Copas and Hawkshaw Hawkins were also victims of the accident. Patsy Cline’s manager, Randy Hughes, was the pilot of the ill-fated aircraft.  

After Patsy's death, Charlie Dick considered returning to Virginia.  Loretta Lynn and Dottie West and their husbands persuaded him to remain in Nashville.  On July 4, 1965, he married country singer Jamey Ryan.  They had a son, Charles Allen Dick, Jr., known as "Chip", and divorced in 1972. 

Were she alive today, Patsy Cline would be spending time with her 4 grandchildren and 3 great-grandchildren (as of July 2006). 

To watch a video of an interview with Charlie Dick, click on the link below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UTb7AU14eIQ

To watch a video of Patsy Cline singing "Crazy", click on the link below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zzq5X-p2C0Y

- Joanne

The Brooklyn Dodgers and Ebbets Field

FRIDAY, MARCH 4, 2011

In Brooklyn, it was as though you were in your own little bubble. You were all part of one big, but very close family, and the Dodgers were the main topic of everybody’s conversations and you could sense the affection people had for you. I don’t know that such a thing exists anymore.

- Don Drysdale

ON THIS DAY 99 YEARS AGO

On March 4, 1912, the groundbreaking ceremony was held for Ebbets Field, the Brooklyn Dodgers’ new stadium. The ballpark was named in honour of Charles Ebbets, the Dodgers’ bookkeeper. In 1905, Ebbets went deeply into debt to purchase the Dodgers and keep them in Brooklyn.  The new stadium was constructed in just over a year at cost of $750,000.  The first game was played there on April 9, 1913.

Fans of the Dodgers fondly referred to them as “dem bums”. The Brooklyn team, however, had its moment of glory. “Dem bums” actually won the World Series in 1955 over the New York Yankees. Just two years later, in 1957, the club was moved to Los Angeles. Real estate business man Walter O’Malley, who had acquired majority ownership of the team in 1950, decided to relocate the team westward.

By 1957, the beloved home of the Brooklyn Dodgers had deteriorated badly. It appeared worn and outdated. Attendance was sagging badly. When Los Angeles officials offered O’Malley what he wanted – an opportunity to purchase land suitable for a ballpark, ownership of the new stadium and control over its revenue – he accepted the deal. The loss of the Dodgers was quite a blow to Brooklyn. Comedian Joe Flaherty said that when they left, “it was not only a loss of a team, it was the disruption of a social pattern. A total destruction of a culture.”

The Brooklyn Dodgers played their final game at Ebbets Field on September 24, 1957. They defeated the Pittsburgh Pirates by a score of 2-0. It was the end of an ear so fondly remembered by so many people. That is why I wish I could have attended a game at Ebbets Field in its heyday. If I possessed a time machine, I’d arrange to be a fan there for just one game.  There was an unforgettable character at  Ebbets Field I would certainly enjoy watchng.  Her name was Hilda Chester and she sat in the bleachers ringing a brass cowbell.  Her face was pink and her hair was stringy.

I must admit that I had never heard of Ebbets Field until I studied Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman in high school. Ebbets Field is mentioned frequently in the play. If you enjoy baseball nostalgia, especially concerning the Brooklyn Dodgers, I recommend the book Wait Till Next Year: A Memoir by Doris Kearns Goodwin. It is the childhood memories of a girl growing up in a New York suburb during the 1950s and her love for the Brooklyn Dodgers.
 
 
RANT OF THE DAY

It is one thing for journalists or even the public to use the more partisan “Harper government", but it is another thing for the state to equate the Government of Canada with the leader of the governing party.

- Jonathon Rose, a specialist in political communications at Queen's University.

According to a Canadian Press story yesterday by Bruce Cheadle, a directive went to public servants late in 2010 that “Government of Canada” in federal communications should be replaced by the words “Harper Government.”

Are you upset by this revelation? After what I’ve seen of the way the Harper government operates, it doesn’t surprise me one iota. It does, however. upset me considerably. I am appalled by such unmitigated gall. In fact, it makes my blood boil! “The Government of Canada” belongs to the Canadian people, not to any political party or prime minister. It is not the exclusive domain of Stephen Harper or the Conservative Party.

Back in 1979, when Joe Clark’s government formed a minority government, Clark was criticized and ridiculed for saying that he intended to govern as if he had a majority. About nine months later, his government’s budget was defeated in the House of Commons. An election was called and the Liberals were returned to power with a majority.

Well, Joe Clark, Stephen Harper is doing what you tried to do and failed. He has a minority government and he is governing as if he has a majority. The Harper government is a de facto majority government. Just imagine what Stephen Harper will do if he achieves his goal of forming a majority government? I shudder to think about it!


SPORTS

Hockey

What’s going on with Sidney Crosby? How bad is his concussion? I hope he’ll be playing again soon, but I’m getting some scary vibes. The NHL can’t afford to be without Crosby for too much longer. The number of concussions in the league continues to rise. The NHL shamelessly refuses to crackdown. It refuses to stop the unnecessary brutality. We’ve just learned what happened to Bob Probert’s brain.

- Joanne

Here's to the Welsh on St. David's Day!

TUESDAY, MARCH 1, 2011

Wales, Wales, sweet are thy hills and vales,
Thy speech, thy song
To thee belong,
O may they live ever in Wales

- Evan James, Welsh poet (1809 – 1878)
From Land of My Fathers {1856]

Today is March 1, the feast day of St. David. St. David is the patron Saint of Wales. Although his exact date of his birth is uncertain, David was born around the year 500 A.D. and is thought to have died on March 1, about 90 or more years later. He was a church official and a native of Wales. He gained recognition as a teacher and preacher who founded monastic settlements and churches in Wales, Dumnonia and Brittany.

* David is depicted as a bishop with a dove, usually on his shoulder.

* The remains of St. David were buried at what is now the Cathedral of St. David's in Pembrokeshire, west Wales.

* In 1120, David was officially recognized by the Vatican under Pope Callixtus II.

* In Cardiff, Wales, there is an annual St. David’s Day parade. It is a very colourful and enjoyable event.

Below is a depiction of St. David on a 19th century stained glass window in Jesus College Chapel, Oxford.  Notice the dove on his shoulder.



St. David



QUOTATIONS ABOUT WALES AND THE WELSH

The land of my fathers. My fathers can have it.

- Dylan Thomas
In Adam, December 1953

‘I often think,’ he continued, ‘that we can trace almost all the disasters of English history to the influence of Wales.”

- Evelyn Waugh (1903 1966), English novelist
From Decline and Fall [1928]


There is no present in Wales,
And no future
There is only the past,
Brittle with relics . . .
And an impotent people,
Sick with inbreeding,
Worrying the carcase of an old song.

- R.S. Thomas (1913–2000), Welsh poet and clergyman
From Welsh Landscape [1955]


It profits a man nothing to give his soul for the whole word  . . .  But for Wales - !

- Robert Bolt, English playwright
From A Man for All Seasons [1960]


Everyday when I wake up, I thank the Lord I’m Welsh.

- Cerys Matthews, Welsh singer
From International Velvet (1998 song)


LIST OF FAMOUS WELSH MEN AND WOMEN

Here is a random list of the most famous Welsh men and women I can think of, living and dead.

Actor Richard Burton (1925–1984) was born in the village of Pontrhydyfen, Neath Port Talbot, Wales.

The poet Dylan Thomas (1914-1953) was born in Uplands, Swansea, Wales.

Actress Catherine Zeta-Jones (1969- ) was born in Swansea. West Glamorgan, Wales.

Actor Sir Anthony Hopkins (1937- ) was born at Port Talbot, Glamorgan, Wales.

Singer Tom Jones (1940- ) was born at Treforest, Pontypridd, Wales.

David Lloyd George (1863-1945), former British Prime Minister, was born in Chorlton-on-Medlock, Manchester, England. He was, however, a Welsh-speaker and of Welsh descent – the only British Prime Minister so far to have that distinction.

Designer Laura Ashley (1925-1985) was born at Dowlais, Merthyr Tydfil, Wales.


FACTS ABOUT WALES

* Wales has a population of approximately 3 million based on findings of the last population census (2,903,085 in 2001).

* The Welsh flag has two equal horizontal stripes, white above green, and a large red dragon passant.  The red dragon is probably of Roman origin.

 * Wales has two major emblems:

1. The Leek













The leek is known to have been displayed as a Welsh emblem in 1536 and in Henry V, Shakespeare acknowledged this as an ancient custom.

"On the evidence of Shakespeare (Henry V, VI 1), the leek was the recognised emblem of his day, and there is written evidence that it became the Welsh emblem considerably earlier. Entries in the household accounts of the Tudor Kings include payments for leeks worn by the household guards on St. David's Day. According to one legend, the leek is linked to St. David because he ordered his soldiers to wear them on their helmets when they fought a victorious battle against the pagan Saxons in a field full of leeks. It was more likely, however, that the leek was linked with St. David and adopted as a national symbol because of its importance to the national diet in days of old, particularly in Lent."

- The Welsh Tourist Board

Leek soup on St. David’s Day, anyone?


2. The Daffodil

The daffodil is another emblem of Wales. The reason is obscure because the daffodil does not have any distinctive literary or historical link to Wales. It does look attractive on a lapel on St. David’s Day.


END NOTE

In the year 2000, I had the pleasure of touring Wales. I rode a train on Snowdon Mountain and I visited Cardiff Castle. I also walked around the seaside town of Tenby. I remember having problems pronouncing many of the Welsh place names.


LANGUAGE CORNER

Palindrome Day

Tuesday is palindrome day on Number 16 and ten palindromes are presented for your enjoyment and edification. A palindrome is defined as a word, phrase, verse, sentence or number that reads the same backward or forward.

1. Sit on a potato pan, Otis.

2. Draw nine men inward.

3. Too bad - I hid a boot.

4. Ed is on no side.

5. Stella won no wallets.

6. Some men interpret nine memos.

7. Murder for a jar of red rum.

8. Go hang a salami. I’m a lasagna hog.

9. Rise to vote, sir.

10. Bombard a drab mob.


SPORTS

Baseball

I’m glad that Grapefruit League baseball is underway. It’s only exhibition baseball, but the Toronto Blue Jays have lost their first 3 games. They were defeated twice by the Detroit Tigers and scored nary a run. Yesterday, they lost 6-3 to the Philadelphia Phillies and Roy Halladay. Doc pitched two shutout innings.

R.I.P. Duke Snider

Another one of the greats is gone. Edwin Donald “Duke” Snider died on Sunday (February 27, 2011) at the age of 84. The Hall of Famer and Brooklyn Dodgers legend was a contemporary of Willie Mays and Mickey Mantle. He was the last prominent survivor of the renowned “Boys of Summer” Brooklyn Dodgers’ teams of the 1950s.

Snider broke in with the Dodgers in 1947 and retired after the 1964 season with 407 career home runs. In 1980, he was voted into the baseball shrine at Cooperstown, New York. His health had been failing in recent years and he suffered from diabetes.

Joanne

Bing Crosby and Inger Stevens: Their brief, ill-fated romance

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2011

In September of 1930, Bing Crosby married Dixie Lee, a nightclub singer and actress from Harriman, Tennessee. Dixie suffered from acute alcoholism and she died of ovarian cancer on November 1, 1952, three days before her 41st birthday. After Dixie’s death, the enormously popular entertainer found himself a widower with four sons: Gary (born October 1933), twins Dennis and Phillip (born 1934), and Lindsay (born 1938). Bing was overwhelmed by Dixie’s death and the challenge of raising their four boys.

Of the children of Bing Crosby’s first marriage, only Phillip survives. Dennis and Lindsay both reportedly committed suicide and Gary died of lung cancer in 1995 at the age of 62. After Bing’s death, Gary published a memoir titled Going My Own Way. In his book, Gary, who was also a singer and actor, accuses his father of both physical and psychological abuse.

In late 1956, Crosby began filming Man on Fire with a beautiful blonde newcomer named Inger Stevens. Stevens was 22 years old when she was cast opposite Bing. Man on Fire was her big break, her motion picture debut. The drama, about the effects of divorce on a family, was not enthusiastically received.

Man on Fire marked the first time Bing Crosby starred in a film without any singing, although he did croon the title song over the opening credits. Crosby portrayed wealthy businessman Earl Carleton, a troubled father devastated by his bitter divorce and the ensuing custody battle for his son. Stevens, who played the role of Crosby’s sympathetic attorney, earned favourable reviews for her performance.

To watch the original trailer for Man on Fire (with Ed Sullivan and Bing), click on the link below.

http://www.tcm.com/mediaroom/video/93474/Man-On-Fire-Original-Trailer-.html

Inger Stevens was born Inger Stensland in Stockholm, Sweden on October 18, 1934, the eldest of three children. She had a difficult childhood. When she was only 6, her mother abandoned the family for another man. Her parents divorced when Inger was 9 years after which Inger’s father immigrated to the United States and remarried. In 1944, he summoned Inger and her younger brother, Ola, to join him and his new wife in New York City.

When Inger was 13, the family moved to Manhattan, Kansas. In July of 1951, an unhappy Inger ran away to Kansas City and at the age of 16, she appeared in a Kansas City burlesque show. Her father brought her back home and she graduated from Manhattan High School in May of 1952.

Inger studied dance at Kansas State University, then moved to Kansas City where she worked as a dance instructor and got a start in modelling. In October of 1953, she relocated to New York and found employment as a model while studying acting at the Actor’s Studio. Her career began to blossom as she appeared in television series, commercials and in plays.

In July of 1955, Stephens married her agent, Anthony Sogio. Their marriage was short-lived and the couple separated in early 1956. Ingrid then moved to California and obtained American citizenship. In 1957, while filming Man on Fire, Inger Stephens filed for divorce from Sogio (it became official in 1958).

Man on Fire was released in 1957. Although it did not create a sensation, it led to a romance between the baritone crooner and the young Swedish-born actress. Throughout her career, Stevens displayed a propensity for falling in love with her co-stars and Bing Crosby, 31 years her senior, was no exception. The affair began after Inger suffered an appendicitis attack on the set in December of 1956. The two grew close during Crosby’s visits with her at the hospital.

Inger had hopes of marrying Crosby although she refused to convert to Catholicism for him. Soon after the release of Man on Fire, Bing invited her to supervise the renovation of his Palm Springs home. Stevens was under the mistaken impression that this was to be their matrimonial home. Unbeknownst to her, Bing was also seriously involved with another young actress named Kathryn Grant. It was while working on the house that Inger learned about Bing’s marriage to Kathryn.

Bing first met the Texas-born Grant on the Paramount set in 1954 when he was filming White Christmas. The two had an on-again, off-again relationship, but finally wed on October 24, 1957 in Las Vegas, Nevada at St. Anne’s Church (Grant converted to Catholicism). The newlyweds settled in Hillsborough, California and raised three children: Harry (born 1958), Mary (of Dallas fame, born 1959) and Nathaniel (born 1961).

Bing died on October 14, 1977 at the age of 74 while playing golf in Madrid, Spain. Kathryn was left a 44-year-old widow and she became the author of several books about her life with Bing. After Crosby’s death, she took on some minor stage roles and the lead in the 1996 short-lived Broadway musical State Fair. In 2000, Kathryn married for the second time to Maurice William Sullivan. On November 24, 2010, she was seriously injured in a car accident in the Sierra Nevada. Her 85-year-old husband lost his life in the accident.

Inger Stevens returned to New York City after her ill-fated love affair with Crosby.  Distraught over her failed romance, she attempted suicide in her Gramercy Place apartment in January of 1959. The following year, she returned to California and resumed her career. Although she had roles in major films, she achieved her greatest success on television. In 1960, She starred in two memorable episodes of The Twilight Zone and also appeared in episodes of Route 66 (1961 and 1962), The Detectives (1961) and The Eleventh Hour (1962). In 1963, she became a household name when she won the leading role in The Farmer’s Daughter.

In The Farmer’s Daughter, Inger Stevens portrayed Katy Holstrum, a Swedish farm girl who left her home in Minnesota to become a housekeeper for a congressman in Washington. Inger’s character was quite opinionated and somewhat of a feminist for her era. The show was a smash hit for her and co-star William Windom who played Congressman Glen Morley. It ran on ABC until 1966.

After the cancellation of The Farmer’s Daughter, Inger returned to the silver screen. In 1967, she starred opposite Walter Matthau in A Guide for the Married Man. In 1968, she appeared in films with such luminaries as Henry Fonda, Richard Widmark and Dean Martin. By 1970, she was ready to attempt a comeback on television with the detective drama series The Most Deadly Game. Alas, it was not to be. On the morning of April 30, 1970, Stephens was found lying face down on the kitchen floor of her Hollywood home. She died en route to hospital of "acute barbiturate intoxication," a deadly combination of drugs and alcohol, according to Los Angeles Coroner Thomas Noguchi.  She was 35 years old.

After Inger’s death, Ike Jones, an African-American actor and producer, claimed to have married the actress in Mexico in 1961.  During the settling of her estate, Inger's brother,Carl O. Stensland, backed Jones' claim.  Since interracial unions were frowned upon in Hollywood in the 1960s, Stensland stated that the marriage was kept secret so that Inger's career would not be jeopardized. Although estranged, Inger and Ike remained married at the time of Stevens’ death.  Jones, who was born on December 23, 1929, is now 81 years old.

Ike Jones

EDITOR'S UPDATE (January 2, 2013): Ike Jones passed away on October 5, 2014 in Los Angeles, California.  He was 84 years old at the time of his death at an assisted-living facility.

- Joanne

2011 Oscars Quiz

FRIDAY, FEBRURARY 25, 2011

On Sunday, the Academy Awards will be given out in Hollywood. To mark the occasion, Number 16 proudly presents its first annual Academy Awards quiz. Get ready and test your knowledge by answering 10 questions about the Oscars. Good luck.

1. Despite a long and distinguished acting career, Humphrey Bogart only won one Academy Award. What was the name of the film that earned Bogie his only Oscar?

A. Casablanca

B. Key Largo

C. The African Queen

D. The Maltese Falcon

E. The Big Sleep


2. How many Canadian-born women have won an Oscar for Best Actress in a Leading Role?

A. 3

B. 1

C. None

D. 2

E. 4


3. What year was the first Academy Awards ceremony held?

A. 1932

B. 1928

C. 1930

D. 1929

E. 1931


4. Who was the youngest person ever to win an Oscar?

A. Tatum O’Neal

B. Shirley Temple

C. Margaret O’Brien

D. Anna Paquin

E. Judy Garland


5. Paul Newman won only won one Academy Award during his stellar career. For which movie did Newman win an Oscar?

A. Cool Hand Luke

B. The Hustler

C. Cat on a Hot Tin Roof

D. The Color of Money

E. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid


6. How many Oscars did Alfred Hitchcock, the great director and “Master of Suspense” win?

A. 1

B. None

C. 2

D. 4

E. 3


7. Elizabeth Taylor was born on February 27, 1932. She turns 79 years old on the day of the day of the Oscars. For which film did she win the first of her two Academy Awards.

A. Giant

B. Cat on a Hot Tin Roof

C. Butterfield 8

D. A Place in the Sun

E. Cleopatra


8. For which of these films did Shelley Winters win an Oscar for Best Actress in a Supporting Role?

A. The Poseidon Adventure

B. A Place in the Sun

C. The Night of the Hunter

D. A Double Life

E. A Patch of Blue


9. Shelley Winters received one other Oscar for Best Actress in a Supporting Role. Name the film that won her that Oscar (This is your bonus question, so give yourself an extra point if you answer it correctly).

A. The Great Gatsby

B. The Diary of Anne Frank

C. Lolita

D. Alfie

E. Executive Suite


10. Who was the first black to win an Oscar for a performance in a leading role?

A. Hattie McDaniel

B. Denzel Washington

C. Halle Berry

D. Sidney Poitier

E. James Earl Jones


ANSWERS:

1 C. The African Queen

In 1951, Humphrey Bogart won the Best Actor in a Leading Role for his performance in The African Queen.

2. A. 3

Three Canadian-born women have won Academy Awards for Best Actress in a Leading Role and they won them in three consecutive years. They are Mary Pickford for Coquette in 1929, Norma Shearer for The Divorcee in 1930 and Marie Dressler for Min and Bill in 1931. Mary Pickford was born in Toronto, Norma Shearer in Montreal and Marie Dressler in Cobourg, Ontario.

3. D. 1929

The first Academy Awards ceremony took place at a private dinner at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel in Los Angeles, California on May 16, 1929.

4. A. Tatum O’Neal

In 1973, Tatum O’Neal was only 10 years old when she won the Oscar for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for her performance in Paper Moon.

5. D. The Color of Money

In 1986, Paul Newman won the Oscar for Best Actor in a Leading Role for The Color of Money.

6. B. None

Although he received five nominations, famed director Alfred Hitchcock never won an Oscar. He received the Irving Thalberg memorial award at the 1967 Academy Awards.

7. C. Butterfield 8

Elizabeth Taylor won the Oscar for Best Actress in a Leading Role for Butterfield 8 in 1961. In 1967, she won a second Oscar for Best Actress in a Leading Role for Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966).

8. E. A Patch of Blue

In 1965, Shelley Winters won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in A Patch is Blue.

9. B. The Diary of Anne Frank

In 1959, Shelley Winters won the Oscar for Best Actress in a Supporting role for performance in The Diary of Anne Frank.

10. D. Sidney Poitier

In 1963, Sidney Poitier won the Academy Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role for his performance in Lilies of the Field.

- Joanne

Amelia Earhart and reflections on courage

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2011

Courage is the price that
Life exacts for granting peace.

The soul that knows it not
Knows no release from little things:
Knows not the livid loneliness of fear,
Nor mountain heights where bitter joy can hear
The sound of wings.

Nor can life grant us boon of living, compensate
For dull gray ugliness and pregnant hate
Unless we dare
The soul's dominion.
Each time we make a choice, we pay
With courage to behold the resistless day,
And count it fair.

- Amelia Earhart

This poem by famed aviator Amelia Earhart first appeared in a 1928 issue of Survey Graphic magazine. It certainly reflects her adventurous spitit.  The poem, titled "Courage",  was published in an article called “Who is Amelia Earhart?” by Marian Perkings. The topic for this February day is courage. Amelia had plenty of it.

Here are some more reflections on courage.

Courage is rightly esteemed the first of human qualities because as has been said, it is the quality which guarantees all others.

- Winston Churchill
From Great Contemporaries (1937)


Courage is not simply one of the virtues but the form of every virtue at the testing point.

- C.S. Lewis
From The Unquiet Grave (1944)


Grace under pressure.

- Ernest Hemingway
(When asked what he meant by “guts”, in an interview with Dorothy Parker in the New Yorker, November 30, 1929)


UPDATE ON THE MYSTERY OF AMELIA EARHART’S DISAPPEARANCE

On January 29, 2011, I wrote about the July 2, 1937 disappearance of celebrated aviator Amelia Earhart. Earhart and her navigator, Fred Noonan, disappeared during their attempt to circumnavigate the globe at the equator. The pair left New Guinea in a twin-engine airplane over 74 years ago and never returned. Their destination was a small island in the central Pacific Ocean called Howland Island.

According to a February 21, 2011 Canadian Press story, a scientist at Simon Fraser University in British Columbia hopes to extract Amelia Earhart’s DNA. Doongya Yang, a forensic archeologist, is endeavouring to create a genetic profile that can be used to determine whether bone fragments recently discovered on the remote, uninhabited Pacific island of Nikumaroro.

Yang became involved in the research at the behest of a Simon Fraser health student named Justin Long. Long’s grandfather, Elgen Long, is considered an authority on Amelia Earhart and owns a collection of about 400 of her letters. Earhart’s letters have been opened with letter openers, leaving the seals intact to capture DNA. Justin Long revealed that Yang will be testing four letters, including one written by George Palmer Putnam, Amelia’s husband. This way he will be able to have comparison DNA of someone close to Earhart in the event that the letters were sealed by someone else.

Elgen Long is 88 years old and has devoted about forty years collecting Amelia Earhart items. He even possesses some of her clothing. Unfortunately, DNA cannot be extracted from Amelia’s attire because it has been dry cleaned. The elder Long noted, however, that Earhart has some surviving relatives whose DNA could also be matched with Yang’s findings.

Interestingly, Justin Long doubts that the remains found on the island of Nikumaoro are those of Amelia Earhart. He said, “It is extremely unlikely because ocean currents don’t support any debris or people floating in that direction. And it’s 653 kilometres away from where Earhart’s destination was in the Pacific, which was Howland Island.”

The intriguing mystery of Amelia Earhart continues. Number 16, will keep you posted.


SPORTS

Baseball

The Toronto Blue Jays, in my opinion, did the right thing in signing Jose Bautista to a multi-year contract. Yes, it’s definitely a risk, but it’s one that’s worth taking. Even if his home run production decreases considerably, his value to the team cannot be measured entirely with statistics. His leadership qualities are needed. Now, Mr. Anthopoulos, go ahead and get a decent third baseman so that Jose can play in the outfield.

- Joanne

NUMBER 16 EXCLUSIVE: The Secret Plans of the Conservative Party – Stephen Harper, Jim Flaherty and Peter MacKay meet to discuss Tory strategy for the next election.

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 2011

You can read it here first. Number 16 has unearthed Conservative secret plans and the true reason why Prince William and his bride-to-be will not be visiting the largest city in Canada this summer. Once again, your intrepid reporter, Joanne Madden, has infiltrated the most secret corners of the Conservative war room. A conversation was recorded between Prime Minister Stephen Harper, his trusted Minister of Finance, Jim Flaherty and Defence Minister Peter MacKay.

(Stephen Harper smiles confidently as he sits down to converse with Jim Flaherty and Peter MacKay)

SH: Well, boys, I think everything is under control. We’re just about ready for the next election. This time we are going to win our majority. Nothing’s going to stop us now! (He rubs his hands greedily)

JF AND MacKAY: (clapping their hands) Here! Here!

SH: Our new attack ads are great. We are going to make mince meat of Iggy and the Liberals.

JF: That’s for sure, Mr. Prime Minister. We’re getting the message across that Iggy is only in it for himself. He’s not devoted to this country like you are.

MacKAY: Anybody can see that, Stephen. I just love our new ads showing you alone in your office working so hard at your desk. You look so calm and cool and in control. And your glasses, what a nice touch!

SH: They don’t make me look too intellectual, do they? I don’t want to look too intellectual.

MacKAY: Oh no! You look more like Clark Kent than some intellectual. You look so dedicated. The people will realize that you are running the ship of state right on course.

JF: That’s right. We Conservatives are running the economy competently. Voters will get the message and they won’t want to change course.

SH: What about the big cities? We don’t have a single seat in the three biggest cities - Montreal, Vancouver and Toronto. We’re going to have to win seats there to get our majority.

MacKAY: Well, I think Quebec is a lost cause for us. We don’t have to worry about the Prairies. The Vancouver lefties won’t vote for us. Ontario is where we have to win big, especially in your birthplace, Mr. Prime Minister.

SH: (Sighs deeply) Don’t remind me that I was born there. My hometown is Calgary now. I’m a Westerner. I’m a Calgary Flames fan.

(A cell phone rings interrupting the conversation)

MacKAY (answering his phone): Sorry, I have to take this call. (Mackay rises from his chair and speaks in a low voice) Sorry, baby, I can’t talk to you about that now. I’m at a very important meeting. I hope you understand and I hope you won’t pull a Belinda on me . . . don’t hang up! (He puts his cell phone away) Women! It looks like I’m going to have to walk my dog again!

SH: Peter, you really should turn that thing off when we’re having a meeting.

MacKAY (in a sheepish voice): Sorry about that. Hey Stephen, can we invite Condoleezza Rice to Canada again?

SH: No, Peter! I know you like her, but, unfortunately, George W. Bush is no longer the President of the United States.

MacKAY: Rats! I was hoping to take her to Tim Hortons again!

SH (glaring at MacKay): The only Tim Hortons you’ll take her to, Peter, is the one in Kandahar. Now, let’s get back to the matter at hand: How to win votes in the City of Toronto. What do you think, Jim?

JF: We need to demonstrate to the people of Toronto what will happen if they don’t vote Tory. They need to know there will be consequences.

SH: Well, Jim, I sent them a pretty strong message when I chose Toronto as the site of the G20 Summit last summer.

MacKAY: Yeah, that was a great strategy!

SH: And did you notice my latest move. I invited Prince William and Kate Middleton to come to Canada. Fortunately, they accepted my invitation, but there are no plans for them to visit Toronto. I made sure that the city has been snubbed again. T.O. is finally going to learn that it will be snubbed until it votes Conservative Blue. Toronto will vote Tory and it will learn to like it.

JF: Brilliant, Stephen, just brilliant! I’m sure the message will not be lost on Torontonians. It’s not just an oversight that William and Kate are not visiting Canada’s largest city. It’s a glaring omission. The people of Toronto have been taught a lesson.

SH: I’ve even thought of another strategy. Let’s put a curse on the city. The Toronto Maple Leafs will never win another Stanley Cup until Hogtown votes overwhelmingly Conservative!  We'll call in some people from Boston to talk about how long the Curse of the Bambino lasted.  That should do it.  We'll guarantee them a Stanley Cup as soon as they vote Tory again.

JF: I don’t know about that, Stephen . . .  I wouldn't make any guarantees about the Leafs winning the Cup . ..

- Joanne

Nicolaus Copernicus: The search for his remains

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2011

Nicolaus Copernicus was a true Renaissance man and I honour him today on the 538th anniversary of his birth. This great thinker was born on February 19, 1473 in the city of Thorn, Royal Prussia, Kingdom of Poland. At the time of Coperncus’ birth, the city of Thorn was predominantly German-speaking. His father was a well-to-do merchant from Krakow and Nicolaus was the youngest of four children.

How much of a genius was Nicolaus Copernicus? Well, let’s see. He was a mathematician, astronomer, physician, classical scholar, translator, artist, jurist, Catholic cleric, diplomat and economist. Oh yes, and he was a polyglot. It is presumed that he spoke three languages with equal fluency - Polish, Latin and German. He also spoke Italian and Greek. The majority of his surviving works are written in Latin, which during his lifetime was the scholarly language of Europe. It was the official language of the Roman Catholic Church and of Poland’s royal court.

Copernicus’s seminal work, his masterpiece, On the Revolution of the Heavenly Spheres (De revolutionbus orbium coelestium, was written in Latin and was first printed in 1543 in Nuremburg, Germany. With that book, Copernicus challenged the dominant religious and scientific thinking of the day. He caused a stir by disagreeing with the conventional wisdom that the Earth was the fixed centre of the universe and argued that the Earth and all the known planets revolved around the stationary Sun. Based on years of astronomical observations, he put forth a heliocentric theory of cosmology. In the 16th century, this was a daring and revolutionary concept.

In 1539, prior to the publication of De revolutionbus, Martin Luther is quoted as saying in one of his "Table Talks", “People gave ear to an unstart astrologer (Copernicus) who strove to show that the earth revolves, not the heavens or the firmament, the sun and the moon . . . This fool wishes to reverse the entire science of astronomy; but sacred Scripture tells us [Joshua 10:13] that Joshua commanded the sun to stand still, and not the earth.”

Coernicus died May 24, 1543 at Frombork (Frauenburg), Kingdom of Poland at the age of 70. He was reportedly buried at Frombork Cathedral. For over two centuries, archaeologists searched fruitlessly for his remains. In August of 2005, a team of team of diligent searchers, led by Polish archaeologist Jerzy Gassowski, finally unearthed the remains of the Renaissance polymath at the Frombork Cathedral in north-eastern Poland. When they scanned beneath the cathedral floor they discovered what they believed to be Copernicus’s skull and leg bones below the St. Cross altar. In 2008, a DNA test confirmed that the bones did indeed belong to the Polish astronomer. They matched hair samples taken from an astronomy reference book owned by Copernicus that was housed at the library of a Swedish university.

A forensic expert at the Polish Police Central Forensic Laboratory used the skull to reconstruct a face that closely resembled that of Copernicus’s, including a broken nose and a scar above the left eye - features that were evident in a self-portrait of the great scholar. Copernicus had a crooked nose, the result of a childhood accident.

The forensic expert also determined that the skull was that of a man between 60 and 70 years old, (Copernicus was 70 at the time of his death).

Below is the forensic rendition of the face of Copernicus taken from the reconstruction of his skill.

On May 22, 2010, Copernicus was given a second funeral in a Mass celebrated by Jozef Kowalczyk, the Primate of Poland. His remains were reburied beneath a tombstone of black granite in Frombork Cathedral. The tombstone identifies him as the discoverer of the heliocentric theory and also a church canon.  On the tombstone, there is a depiction of the Copernican model of the solar system.

Nicolaus Copernicus was undoubtedly one of the greatest Poles who ever lived. He ranks with Chopin and Marie Curie (born Marie Sklodowska in Warsaw) among others. His ideas influenced another genius, an Italian named Galileo.


LANGUAGE CORNER

The Polish version of Nicolaus Copernicus’s name is Mikloaj Kopernik. The surname means “one who works with copper”.


HAPPY BIRTHDAY SMOKEY ROBINSON

I have always enjoyed the sound of Motown and Smokey Robinson has really made that sound come alive. William Robinson, Jr. was born in Detroit, Michigan on February 19, 1940. He turns 71 years old today.


SPORTS

Hockey

So Tomas Kaberle has finally been traded. He is now a member of the Boston Bruins and will play for a contender in Beantown. In return for Kabele, the Toronto Maple Leafs receive prospect Joe Colborne, Boston’s 1st round choice in the 2011 NHL Entry Draft, and a conditional 2nd round draft choice. It looks as if the Leafs have given up on this season and are once again rebuilding. No wonder their fans are so frustrated. Well, at least they seem to have a decent goaltender in young James Reimer.

- Joanne

Justin Bieber, Glenn Beck and health care

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2011

I don’t consider teenage singing idols to be authorities on the great issues of the day. Nevertheless, I feel compelled to congratulate teen heartthrob Justin Bieber for speaking his mind. In a preview of an upcoming cover story in Rolling Stone magazine, the 16-year-old from Stratford, Ontario praised Canada’s public health care system. He said, “Canada’s the best country in the world. We go to the doctor and we don’t need to worry about paying him, but here, your whole life, you’re broke because of medical bills. My bodyguard’s baby was premature, and now he has to pay for it. In Canada, if your baby’s premature, he stays in the hospital as long as he needs to, and then you go home.”

Not surprisingly, Bieber was roundly criticized by Glenn Beck of Fox News. On his radio show, Beck and co-host Pat Grey attacked and mocked the young pop singer. At one point in the show, Grey told to Bieber to “Go to Canada . . . Let’s see how many of your records they’re buying, you rotten little brat.”

How classy of you, Mr. Grey! Of course you have the right to oppose universal health care, but did you really have to resort to calling a 16-year-old “a rotten little brat” because he expressed a point of view that differs from yours?  If Justin had bashed the Canadian health system, you would have lauded him for being a smart and thoughtful young man. Since you disagree with him, he is a rotten little brat, ungrateful for the largesse that America has bestowed upon him. Who is behaving like an adolescent now?

Justin Bieber is extremely wealthy and he doesn’t have to worry about paying exorbitant health care bills. At least, he is concerned about those who do. Doesn’t that demonstrate that he has a social conscience? More Canadians should take a strong stand in the defence of universal health care.  Otherwise we may lose something we can be proud of, something that defines us as a nation.

To listen to the remarks of Glenn Beck and Pat Grey, click on the link below.

http://www.politicususa.com/en/glenn-beck-justin-bieber

- Joanne

Kim Jong-il: It's the Dear Leader's birthday

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2011

Oh joy!  It’s the Dear Leader's birthday. Yes, Kim Jong-il of North Korea is 70 years old today. The official line in North Korea is that Kim is 69 years old, but Soviet records reveal that he was born in the small Russian fishing village of Vyatskoye on February 16, 1941. His late father, long-time North Korean dictator, Kim Il-sung, commanded the 1st Battalion of the Soviet 88th Brigade, consisting of Chinese and Korean exiles. Kim Jong-il’s mother was Kim Jong-suk, the first wife of Kim Il-sung.

Kim Jong-ill succeeded his father as Supreme Leader of North Korea on July 8, 1994. He has been in power for over 16 years. Although small in stature, Kim rules his people with an iron fist. North Korea is a tightly-controlled totalitarian state and there is absolutely no dissent in this secretive country. Kim’s son, Kim Jong-un, has been promoted to a senior post in the ruling Worker’s Party and is considered to be the heir apparent.

Kim Jong-il loathes his short stature and always wears high platform shoes in public. His exact height is a closely guarded secret, but it is estimated to be between 5’3’’ and 5’6’’ (155 – 165 cm). Pyongyang rarely releases photos that show his elevator shoes. In 2005, however, the Dong-a Ilbo newspaper published a picture of a smiling Kim wearing 10-12 cm. platforms. The photograph was taken during a 2002 meeting with then-Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Back in 1994, North Korea’s first golf course was opened in Pynogyang and Kim decided to play it. The state-run North Korean media announced that Kim shot an astounding 38 under par on the regulation 18-hole course – including 5 holes in one. It was his first time playing the sport. What amazing athletic prowess this man has! Is there anything he can’t he do? Well, the North Korean press has not yet reported that Kim has walked on water . . . yet.

In honour of Kim’s 70th (sorry, I mean 69th) birthday, there will be a week of song and celebration in North Korea, including ice skating and musical shows. The Dear Leader even has a flower named in his honour, a hybrid begonia called Kimjongilla. Exhibitions of his floral namesake are on display. Although the states media reports that Pyongyang’s streets are festooned with lanterns and goodwill messages, a defector group claims that birthday handouts were cut back as the regime continues to have difficulty feeding its people.

Kim’s eccentricities, his enormous ego, and his extreme pomposity, would be quite amusing - except for one salient fact. The man is a brutal dictator and North Koreans are suffering immensely. His nation is poverty-stricken and has experienced terrible famine. Nevertheless, North Korea remains one of the most militarized countries in the world today. Its government spends billions of dollars on the Korean People’s Army.

This brings us to another Kim story. In 2006, the Dear Leader discovered that there was a man in Germany who bred giant rabbits the size of dogs. He thought that these enormous rabbits would provide a solution to North Korea's widespread hunger problem. The German man, Karl Szmolinsky of Berlin, informed Kim that that was not a very good idea. The rabbits would devour more carrots and other vegetables than they would yield in meat.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Kim Jong-il  died on December 17, 2011 at the age of 70.

Baseball

I’m pleased that the Toronto Blue Jays are delaying arbitration with slugger Jose Bautista. It is imperative for the team to sign Bautista to a multi-year deal. He has the ability to be the team leader. He is articulate and very helpful to the Hispanic players on the club. I’m waiting to see if GM Alex Anthopoulos can obtain a decent third baseman so that Bautista can play in the outfield where he belongs.

Hockey

It’s about time that someone in hockey spoke out strongly against the brutality of the NHL game. Bravo to Mario Lemieux. Hockey should not be allowed to degenerate into a roller derby on ice. After enjoying the great games at the Vancouver Winter Olympics last year and the World Junior Hockey Championship this Christmas season, I find it increasingly difficult to watch the diluted, fight-infested NHL game. 

- Joanne

Valentine's Day Quiz 2011

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2011

If you’re in the mood for love, why not give Number 16’s ten-question Valentine’s Day Quiz a try

VALENTINE'S DAY QUIZ 2011  - By Joanne Madden

1. Who sang the disco song Love is in the Air in the late 1970s?

A. Tony Orlando

B. John Paul Young

C. Andy Kim

D. Barry Manilow

E. John Davis and the Monster Orchestra


2. What does the Latin phrase, “Omnia vincit Amor” mean?

A. Love is everything.

B. Love is all there is.

C. Love is strength.

D. It is great to be in love.

E. Love conquers all things.


3. Which poet wrote “O, my love is like a red, red rose”?

A. John Keats

B. William Shakespeare

C. Elizabeth Barrett Browning

D. Robert Burns

E. Percy Bysshe Shelley


4. Which Beatles song did Frank Sinatra describe as “one of the best love songs, I believe, to be written in fifty or a hundred years.”

A. Something

B. Yesterday

C. Michelle

D. And I Love Her

E. All You Need is Love


5. Which of the following famous comedians was born Valentine`s Day?

A. Bob Hope

B. Lucille Ball

C. Jack Benny

D. Danny Thomas

E. Joan Rivers


6. Who sang the 1973 hit song I`ll Have to Say I Love You in a Song?

A. James Taylor

B. Cat Stevens

C. Paul Simon

D. Jim Croce

E. Don McLean


7. St. Valentine was a Christian martyr in what city?

A. Venice

B. Rome

C. Constantinople

D. Florence

E. Athens


8. The name “Valentine” is derived from “valens” meaning

A. noble

B. loving

C. beautiful and attractive

D. emotional

E. worthy and strong


9. The song What I Did for Love is from which Broadway musical? Remember Kiss today goodbye / The sweetness and the sorrow. / Wish me luck, the same to you. / But I can’t regret what I did for love . . .


A. Guys and Dolls

B. A Chorus Line

C. The Music Man

D. 42nd Street

E. Oklahoma


10. When asked if he were “in love”, who replied, “Yes . . . whatever that may mean?”

A. John Steinbeck

B. Ernest Hemingway

C. Prince Charles

D. Prince Harry of Wales

E. Eminem


ANSWERS

1. B. John Paul Young

To watch a video of the Australian pop singer, John Paul Young, singing Love is in the Air, click on the link below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NNC0kIzM1Fo


2. E Love conquers all things.

The Latin phrase “Omnia vincit Amor” means “Love conquers all things.” The Roman poet, Virgil, wrote “Omnia vincit Armor: et nos cedamus Amori.” Translantion: Love conquers all things: let us too surrender to Love.”


3. D. Robert Burns

The Scottish poet Robert Burns wrote “O, my love is like a red, red rose / That’s newly sprung in June”

To watch a video montage of a musical version of the poem, click on the link below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBCQMWMbeMU


4. A. Something

To watch a video of Frank Sinatra singing George Harrison’s Something, click on the link below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3J9FvFifcoA


5. C. Jack Benny.

Jack Benny was born on February 14, 1894.


6. D. Jim Croce

To watch a video of Jim Croce singing I’ll Have to Say I Love You in a Song, click on the link below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RabAcvizwKY


7. B. Rome

St. Valentine was a Christian martyr in ancient Rome.


8. E. worthy and strong

The name “Valentine” is “Valentinus” in Latin and is derived from “valens” meaning worthy and strong.


9. B. A Chorus Line

To watch a A Chorus Line photo montage of What I Did for Love, click on the link below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXW480B4ENs


10. C. Prince Charles

The Prince of Wales made the remark after the announcement of his engagement to Lady Diana Spencer on February 24, 1981.


A HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY TO ONE AND ALL

- Joanne