NO CANADA DAY IN TORONTO

This is bloody ridiculous! Canada Day (July 1st) celebrations planned for Toronto this year have been cancelled due to the ongoing and repellent garbage strike. I'm tired of this already and at the risk of sounding like a real Archie Bunker, "the whole lotta dem should be fired, like what Reagan did with the air traffic controllers".

In all seriousness, they make a lot of money and have a good thing going; and they know it, too. (I hope my fellow Canucks know that we are a blessed nation.)

FRED TRAVALENA

Fred Travalena has died. I just learned that Travalena was a "master impressionist" -- I'm assuming that my news source did not mean "painter".

He had a role in The Buddy Holly Story (1978), which is one of my favourite films.


Fred Travalena's website...
http://www.fredtravalena.com/

KODACHROME SUNNY SIDE UP

Eastman Kodak's Kodachrome film was very special...
http://www.thestar.com/news/insight/article/657803

... and it made, and continues to make, great prints (Cibachrome, now Ilfochrome).

"NEW LEAFS" AGAIN?!

The NHL (National Hockey League) draft was last night. The Toronto Maple Leafs, once again (!), announce things are going to happen now that they possess, yet again (!), a dyno-draft-pick.

Yah, right! Give me a break. It makes no difference...
http://www.thestar.com/sports/hockey/article/657637

PUBLIC ACCESS TELEVISION NYC

Public access television in New York City...
http://www.movingimagesource.us/articles/out-of-the-vast-wasteland-20090618

MOTOWN "JACKSON 5" GREATEST HITS

I do have some Michael Jackson: Motown - Jackson 5 - Greatest Hits.

When I was young there was a Saturday morning animated show called The Jackson 5ive. I do not remember the plot-lines, but I'm sure they were aimed at kids.

PARIS AIR SHOW AT 100

The very first Paris Air Show took place in 1909, which is when that photo above was taken. The finest Hollywood production designer could not get that right.

By the way, Airbus hammered arch rival manufacturer Boeing at this year's Paris Air Show (which took place last week). The disparity in aircraft orders plays as a sick joke. In addition, Boeing has once again delayed deliveries of their new model-787 "Neverliner".

FARRAH FAWCETT

What a day. I never knew much about Farrah Fawcett even though Charlie's Angels ran when I was a teenager. For some reason I did not watch the show which is odd considering that I was an "excitable" young man. My favourite "angel" would have been Kate Jackson -- if I had been asked the big question -- as I knew her from a show I actually did watch a few years before: The Rookies.

There was that poster, and I don't mean a blog poster. I never had one, nor did anyone I actually knew, but eight million other souls sure did own that iconic piece of photographic paper.

I did see the David Letterman incident as I was watching a movie on my VCR, and since channel 3 was the default setting on my recorder, when I finished the movie, Farrah Fawcett and her bizarre appearance on the famous late-night host's show filled my television screen. "What is this?!" was probably my reaction at the time. It was not until the next day that I heard the controversy about how "out there" Ms. Fawcett was "last night". I guess I had not been imagining anything.

Why is it that we remember the wacky stuff more than we do the rest when it comes to these celebrities? Same goes for Michael Jackson.

There is no denying this was a sad day... and week, when you also count Ed McMahon's passing from a few days ago.

MICHAEL JACKSON

I was running a little behind; had to meet a friend for around 6:30; thought I would turn on the laptop and go on the Net one last time to check the news before I flew out the door. There was a story on the Toronto Star website that caught my eye -- it was after all, given some prominence. It said something about pop star Michael Jackson being rushed to hospital. The story had been posted barely five minutes earlier. I read the blurb quickly: Paramedics had found that Jackson was not breathing.

Out the door...

Met my friend at 6:25 and mentioned the story a few minutes later; of course, he had not heard anything as he had been in transit. "Oh, let's see", as he popped open his laptop. We shot the breeze for a few minutes then he blurted out, "there it is, Michael Jackson dies".

"What?"

Neither one of us was particularly shaken up by the news although there is no denying that Michael Jackson affected a lot of people.

TORONTO GARBAGE CAN GRAFFITI

As I touched upon on Monday, June 22nd, with my fine posting titled WELCOME TO TORONTO, there is a garbage strike in the wonderful city of Toronto, Canada.

A friend of mine, who lives a few miles East of downtown Toronto, sent me this nice picture he took of a city garbage container with an interesting affixed editorial.

By the way, Toronto is a wonderful city: It does have its problems, of course, but it is still "it".