Sep 20 2023 - No News Now

Metroland is the publisher of community newspapers across Ontario - and it is moving to a digital-only model with only six of its papers in print.  These daily publications include the Hamilton Spectator, St. Catharines Standard, Niagara Falls Review, Peterborough Examiner, Welland Tribune, and the Waterloo Region Record.  Isn't that an ouch! We'll still have NewsNow in Grimsby as it is independent. But Niagara This Week will join the online group.  And how did I find that out?  Only by looking at Wikipedia.  The other reports from various newspapers and sources did not give a list. And the Globe and Mail?  That print subscription will be heading towards $1,000  in 2024.  It currently is listed as costing $10.99 per week – not including Sunday ($43.96 per month) for the digital and daily delivery. I looked up the subscription rates for the newspapers.  This is hard work.  There are so many different costs listed.  The Toronto Star is $19.90 per week for the digital edition.  The National Post?  Tuesday thru Saturday 1 month at $45.50/month.  The digital edition is $14.00. And finally, the New York Times?  It is hard to figure that one out - there are so many listings of different rates.  In Canada, it is distributed by the Globe and Mail.   All in the span of 50 years - from the zenith of prestige and the elite, to barely existing.  Our steam engine reminds us of how fast technology changes.

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April14 2020 - What's in a Name?

There are people who see things in very funny ways.  Here's an example that popped up last week when the bad dog jokes popped up.  Perhaps there was a google humour day in the searching and retrieval algorithm. It makes me wonder about first names and surnames.  We think of surnames as coming about in England.  They were adopted between the 11th and 16th centuries. The aristocracy started the consistent use of surnames. The Domesday Book in 1086 is the marker for the introduction of family names.  That was so they could tax everyone, and know that everyone had been taxed. But much earlier, the Romans had personal and family naming conventions - both a personal name and regular surname. Well, quite complicated, with the tradition evolving over centuries.  But it broke down following the collapse of imperial authority in the west.   Today, we engage in names as a social convention and personality statement. Websites have recommendations for turning surnames into first names.  A great example is Beyoncé:  "The singer's full name is Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter. Her mother, Tina Knowles, chose the name because of her own French maiden name, Beyince."  I put that in quotes, because I wonder if her mother had spelling issues. Johnny Depp?  This is more traditional:  Depp is a surname of South German origin, from a nickname for a 'maladroit' person, or according other sources a comedian.  Ellen Page's surname is traditional - status name for a young servant, Middle English and Old French. And 50 cent? This is the personality statement name:  Curtis James Jackson III adopted the nickname "50 Cent" as a metaphor for change. The name was inspired by Kelvin Martin, a 1980s Brooklyn robber known as "50 Cent"; Jackson chose it "because it says everything I want it to say. I'm the same kind of person 50 Cent was."   It is a Cumbers and Toltec day - these are from our visit to Colorado in 2017.

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Olive the Reindeer

It is Sunday and time for a selection of Christmas jokes: Why does Santa have three gardens? So he can 'ho ho ho'! What do Santa's little helpers learn at school? The elf-abet! Why was the snowman rummaging in the bag of carrots? He was picking his nose! What did Adam say on the day before Christmas? It's Christmas, Eve! How come you never hear anything about the 10th reindeer? 'Olive, the other reindeer, used to laugh and call him names.' What do you call a bunch of chess players bragging about their games in a hotel lobby? Chess nuts boasting in an open foyer! Now what about the oddest Christmas records from the Guinness Book of World Records? The largest gathering of Santa Clauses - 14,000 people in Derry City, Northern Ireland on December 9 2007.  I expect they are having an anniversary get-together today. The largest gathering of Santa's elves - in Wetherby, North Yorkshire, on November 9th, 2013 with 1,110 elves. The largest gathering of people wearing Santa hats.  Anaheim, California in the Angel Stadium June 2014 - 30,333 people. We're at the Cumbres and Toltec rail yard in pictures today.

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Sundance Trains

There's a model layout tour in Niagara tomorrow.  This layout is Sundance. I must have thousands of images of the Sundance layout.  It has been to the narrow gauge conventions for the last several years.  It retired from travel this year and is on display in Orlando Florida.

So for those who love trains, here are more scenes from that beautiful layout.