This was entertaining.
A 10min wait watching this ship cross the Erie Canal in Ontario.
Category: travel
Niagara Falls in winter
The weather too lousy to hike, I visited Niagara Falls Ontario, instead, last week.
Sure $14 seems expensive to enter an empty parking lot, but that money (I assume) goes to pay for some of the landscaping. These streamers decorating the bare trees, for example.
Niagara on the Canadian side is like a frozen Reno, … but not quite so classy. I’d think twice before getting married, if contingent on honeymooning here.
… maybe I should return in Summer.
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is a museum located on the shore of Lake Erie in downtown Cleveland, Ohio …
It’s pretty cool. I am impressed.
… The main criticism of the Hall of Fame is that the nomination process is controlled by a few individuals who are not musicians, such as founder Jann Wenner …
Jann always hated my University Archies tribute band. It had something to do with our name: “Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame“.
You won’t find us on the List of Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees.
Cleveland Rocks
Arrived at the “mistake by the lake” today, my first trip.
To celebrate …
… a rock song by Ian Hunter from his 1979 album You’re Never Alone with a Schizophrenic. The song is seen as a de facto anthem in Cleveland, Ohio.
Click PLAY or watch Ian Hunter on YouTube.
The song was inspired in part by the songwriter’s desire to counteract the poor reputation of a city for which he had some affection. Hunter states on his web site, “the inspiration for ‘Cleveland Rocks’ goes back to the old days when people used to make fun of Cleveland. Cleveland was ‘uncool’ and LA and NYC were ‘cool’. I didn’t see it that way. Lotta heart in Cleveland.” …
Of course it gained a lot of popularity when used as a theme song for the Drew Carey Show.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
I’ve been a fan of Ian Hunter dating back to Mott the Hoople Live (1974).
Pete’s California vacation cut short
PETE DOESN’T FLY.
So we drove to find the SUN on the southern California beaches.
I’m the chauffeur. Dad’s the chef. Mom the gofer.
Pete most enjoys hotel living. And restaurant eating.
Sadly fears of a California superstorm made Pete decide we’d best head home to Parksville, B.C. a couple of weeks early.
finest Motel 6 in Christendom
Motel 6 Newport Beach <strong>#4460
Modern, minimalist look. Faux bamboo flooring. Hot tub. Great laundry room.
WOW. … I’m not worthy.
The Tree Where Man Was Born
by Peter Matthiessen (1972)
A perfect moment. …
Sitting in the outdoor hot tub looking out over Pismo Beach. Listening to classic Matthiessen as an audio book.
Africa in the 1960s
On the great East African plain it is the human who feels himself the intruder. Here, and perhaps only here, the world is that of the animals. It is they who belong, as humans do not. In the more sensitive traveler this evokes a feeling of being privileged to observe ancient forms, settings and behavior that have survived intact from pre-history.
“Matthiessen has the language to express this feeling of awe…Matthiessen also goes into the relationships between humans past and present in East Africa’s great fauna with many a flash of insight into the instincts each has bred in the other…This is the Africa book par excellence.”
Here’s where Matthiessen first met famed field biologist George Schaller, the man he’d join in the Himalayan adventures documented in The Snow Leopard, one of my very favourite books.
Both Schaller and Matthiessen are still alive. In fact Matthiessen in 2008, at age 81, received his second National Book Award for Shadow Country, an 890-page revision of a trilogy of novels he released in the 1990s. (41hrs audio)
new mailing address for McRick …
Please have Revenue Canada send my tax rebate to the Sandcastle Inn, Pismo Beach, California.
Look for me in the hot tub.
Japanese tsunami hits California
I’ve only seen a few of the terrifying videos from Japan. We’ve been in transit, driving the coast of California.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
There were warnings. But we were little affected.
There was one detour (HIGHWAY CLOSED) near Half Moon Bay.
… Mom and I were turned away from walking one beach at 5pm (many hours after the tidal wave) by a sheepish Parks Ranger. They were being extra cautious.
(via io9)
