August 14 2021 - Port Dover Under the Weather

 

It was a non-event yesterday in Port Dover for the Friday the 13th motorcycle "rally".  The Norfolk County Mayor had declared it to be a "non-event."  I could see that they prepared for the crowds with portable sanitation booths, and lots of OPP directing traffic.  But there were to be no vendors and other services.  How many people ignored the declaration?  Up to 35,000 bikers came to town.   The town's businesses stayed open, too.   Pre-pandemic participation numbers in the summer top 100,000 people (and bikes).  From the pictures, it looked like there was lots of entertainment on the streets, so a lively time despite the circumstances. The articles don't have much to say in words - the point of the event is captured in pictures of bikes and bikers.   Here's an example: Gary Baker is a regular at Friday the 13th bike rallies in Port Dover. Baker, 72, of Corunna said he comes every year to the get-togethers. Now driving a Harley with a sidecar, Baker said he’s been to 48 Daytona Bike Weeks and 16 motorcycle festivals in Sturgis, South Dakota.  “I’ve been across the country (on my bike),” Baker said. Photograph taken on Friday, Aug. 13, 2021. (Mike Hensen/The London Free Press).   And this one: Michael Buchkovsky of Toronto cannot believe his eyes as he asks in delight, “What is it?” as Giuseppe Agrippa of Vaughan rolls up in his custom-built three-cylinder diesel chopper and enthralled the crowd at Port Dover on Friday, Aug. 13, 2021. (Mike Hensen/The London Free Press).   Here are combinations of the  abstract Aga Khan sculpture images with Flexifly manipulations.  It seems to me to look like views of the earth from space.

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Aug 13 2021 - The Famous Friday the 13ths

 

Has someone put together the list of historic Friday the 13ths?  This version comes from History.com HERE.    "On Friday, October 13, 1307, officers of King Philip IV of France arrested hundreds of the Knights Templar, a powerful religious and military order formed in the 12th century for the defense of the Holy Land. Imprisoned on charges of various illegal behaviors (but really because the king wanted access to their financial resources), many Templars were later executed. Some cite the link with the Templars as the origin of the Friday the 13th superstition, but like many legends involving the Templars and their history, the truth remains murky. In more recent times, a number of traumatic events have occurred on Friday the 13th, including the German bombing of Buckingham Palace (September 1940); the murder of Kitty Genovese in Queens, New York (March 1964); a cyclone that killed more than 300,000 people in Bangladesh (November 1970); the disappearance of a Chilean Air Force plane in the Andes (October 1972); the death of rapper Tupac Shakur (September 1996) and the crash of the Costa Concordia cruise ship off the coast of Italy, which killed 30 people (January 2012)." I more more events - but they are all very unpleasant to horrible - they are covered in Livescience.com HERE.   But I did find the famous Friday the 13th movies all be ranked by Tomatometer Here. The full name is Rotten Tomatoes - clearly ranking bad movies.  There are 12 movies to rank so this would have taken some work effort.  The titles are all over the place in terms of approach and consistency - titles like Friday the 13th Part 3 or Part V - A new Beginning.  What about The Final Chapter or the Final Friday,  And there's Freddy Vs. Jason.  The original movie is ranked #1.  It was called "quaint". Here's another image of the sculpture at the Aga Khan Museum.  I so enjoy metal reflections where lines are distorted.  I look forward to being able to visit Toronto again and all its variations of sculptures.  Such a dilemma with the pandemic - one goes directly from destination to destination, minimizing contacts.

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