Tuesday 28 June 2016

What a con!

I feel gutted. According to page 42 of the June edition of Hippy Monthly, and I quote.  "If you suspend an avocado pip semi submerged into clean fresh water from some spring in the Welsh mountains, bless it daily and chant some odd noise whilst nodding in a knowing sort of acknowledgement of some other hippy in a dim smoke filled room adorned with dirty paisley patterned cloth, then the chances are after 2-3 weeks you will be blessed and rewarded with your very own baby avocado plant shoot thing".
BOLLOCKS!   I waited over 4 weeks without all the hippy props and absolutely nothing happened! Not a shoot or a root, nothing!
Cant even cancel my subscription as Hippy Monthly's office and bank are in the Himalayas somewhere....what a con! 

Custom cars and Elvis.

This weekend saw the Penticton 15th annual Elvis lookalike convention and the custom car show on the lake front.
I never really liked Elvis so not much to say on that one other than the Elvis we met took off his wig and sunglasses, I thought he might have been a contender in the little known Elvis's grandad contest
On the other hand the cars were really quite impressive. It was estimated that over 700 cars took part. 
My favourite was a low red sedan that looked as though it came out of that Roger Rabbit movie, make unknown but photo included. 
  What also took my eye was the collection of new Chevrolet Cruisers. Two seats, V8 auto pick up type thing, gorgeous, photo included.  It was a very hot day which soon took its toll, felt ragged after a couple of hours, home for some cold beer was the remedy!

Sunday 19 June 2016

Canada Facts.

By law, 35-50% of all music played on Canadian radio must be Canadian.

Downtown Penticton

Its amazing what one might stumble upon whilst ambling about.  Last Saturday whilst ambling about we stumbled upon a vintage car show downtown Penticton.  The main street was closed all afternoon and evening allowing folk to amble about at will.
The theme was the 50s with many cars from then, also you were invited to beat Elvis at billiards or you might be tempted to dance in the evening sun to one of the bands playing their hearts away.
One car in particular caught my eye, it was a 1956 Ford Consul estate from jolly old England in remarkable condition. It turned a fair few heads.
There was a large range of food from all manner of restaurants available but noticeably no alcohol at all which gave the day a real family atmosphere. 


Wednesday 15 June 2016

Guns, guns and guns!

What is it about our American cousins and their deadly obsession with firearms?  The right to bear arms is of course a legal right within the US but I struggle with the attitude of many of these citizens toward anyone suggesting a connection between gun killings and the amount and type of firearms legally available and of course currently in circulation.

I have read that there are more guns in the united states than there are citizens, some 300,000,000 (three hundred million!) weapons.  That is weapons; handguns, automatic handguns, revolvers, hunting rifles, assault rifles, shotguns, machine guns and goodness knows what else, all in the hands of ordinary people.  People running the corner store, gas station, library, hotdog stand and in handbags, trouser pockets, shoulder holsters, everywhere. People involved in car accidents, road rage, students pissed off with their teachers, anyone and everyone.
Imagine for a moment if gun law was as relaxed in Europe as it is in the good old USA.......the Russian football fans might have opened fire with their AK47's in reply to the English fans culturally obscene chants.

I also read somewhere of a US senator, and no doubt an NRA supporter from down south who said had everyone at the nightclub in Orlando been armed then they might have been able to protect themselves......WHAT?   Surely had guns been unobtainable in the first place then maybe nobody might have died?     The type of weapon plays a major part in all this.
Omar Matin used a legally held automatic assault rifle designed to cause as much damage as quickly as possible. Im not sure of the figures eg bullets per minute but something akin to having ten chainsaws on twenty foot extended arms wading into a crowded room.....no chance of escape.
Makes Eddie Scissorhands seem like a bit of a pussy.
Why would anybody need such an obscene piece of kit?

So the question must be something like why?   Why do you need these awesome weapons to conduct yourself in everyday life?   And what do your children learn from this? 
Remember some months back, in the US of course, the story of a loving mother who took her 3 year old daughter for some "gun training"?  The poor child was so frightened by the first round she let off from the automatic handgun, she spun around and put the next one through her instructors temple. But thats OK, we need our guns, we love our guns we must have them at all cost!

Mr Trump has been very quick to denounce the horrific events in Florida, he also utilised the situation by announcing should he, and I have no doubt he will become the next president of the United States, he will of course introduce new gun control law.  What? Compulsory firearm training for all high school children?  Cheap and hurtful promises to catch votes.

I feel very strongly about the gun situation in America, not because at the moment I am less than 20 miles from the border. Not because I feel if Mr Trump steps onto the presidential podium as a full supporter of private gun ownership, what will be his take on nuclear devices as weapons?
I just think they have missed something about the value of life.
I feel there is no short term solution to this problem other than the rules of the wild wild west will carry on until all gun toting Americans are dead or that maybe one day someone will realise the gravity of all this and will then ask the same question, why?

From my childhood I remember all the popular TV shows, mostly American where a scene is played out until it is always resolved by someone getting shot.    And today anyone can play a computer game where you are in charge of any weapon you choose to go on a killing rampage.  
It kind of normalises killing by gunfire.
I do actually know a little of what I talk about, whilst a Metropolitan police officer I spent quite a few years being armed on a daily basis not with just a handgun but with a machine gun as well.  Been there, done that!

Somewhere not so deep in my an ancient brain, is the thought that a very diluted Darwinian theory might be playing out here. Give them enough rope etc.

There we are, said my bit. Oh and by the way, since the murders in Orlando, there have been 93 illegal gun killings in the USA. Not bad for just a few days eh?


Thursday 9 June 2016

Good things come to those that wait.

As always, a great send off from the Beatties on the latest leg of our adventure. Our hosts always make sure we are fed, watered and happy before being delivered to the correct terminal at the correct airport at the correct time. Friends like this don't come and go, they are forever.

However, I have a confession which might rock the very foundation of said friendship.......here goes!
Whilst being well fed & watered I happened to mention to Derek I was particularly fond of malted whisky from certain areas of Scotland at which point he produced a presentation box containing one of Scotland's finest exports.                     
He demanded I take it to Canada and sip the evenings away in bliss.
I could not believe it.  So, very carefully, I packed the boxed bottle into my rucksack for the trip in the morning, adamant those buggers at Thiefrow wouldn't get a sniff of it.
We checked our bags at Terminal  2 and went for coffee at Costa feeling relaxed and relieved of our heavy bags which we would not see until our arrival in Penticton.

Of course, when we went to go through security I suddenly remembered the whisky in my rucksack!     I was beside myself, how could I be so stupid? I was about to lose one of the best presents I had ever had and there was no way around it. Derek will never forgive me!   I couldn't go through with it, I just couldn't go through the gate. The man was beckoning me to be scrutinised but in my mind I could see him at home drinking my whisky!

At this point we meet Monika the manager of Costa who had seen the look of distress on my face and stopped to ask if all was OK.    What she actually saw was me considering downing the whole bottle before the flight.
Anyway, long story short etc, we felt we would rather Monika had the whisky than any of the security storm troopers who I think by now had got a sniff of something rather good coming their way but would now be bleddy disappointed.
Monika agreed to assuming custody of the golden liquid and I wished her well and through gritted teeth suggested it neat to really appreciate the flavours I could only imagine...........She surprised me by stating she would keep the bottle in her locker at Terminal 2 until a suitably qualified person or myself was able to reclaim it, no time limit.   Yeah right.

I accept I will never see the whisky or Monika again and carry on with my travel plan, feeling as though a member of our party has been arrested and wont be joining us.   Meanwhile, Lyn sends a distress text to her brother Paul as a final act of hope.   This was over a month ago.

Today I learn that Pauls wife, the Reverend Julia had taken on a rescue mission involving goodness knows who or what but the result is the whisky is in the custody of the family. Monika the manager was true to her word and handed over the goods on a bridge at night in the rain with soldiers watching and dogs barking, very tense.

Thank you all involved, cant wait to sample the stuff sometime near Christmas.  

Saturday 4 June 2016

Water bombers

Today I met the very cool BC fire & rescue water bomber crew at Penticton airport. They are placed here on standby each summer just waiting for the call.
The planes are Convair 440s built in 1953 as passenger planes, now stripped inside to the bone and a bladder tank fitted underneath to carry 8000 litres of water to drop onto the nearest forest fire. They have just returned from the fires in Alberta and spend their days preparing for the call. Each Wednesday they have a practice/training day in the air, now we are best friends, I might be allowed to tag along next week. I missed them yesterday by half an hour, darn it!