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Sean, of Duncan's Cafe in Cllingwood, sent me this ad he plans to run in the local newspapers. He gave me permission to post it here.

I don't think I need to comment - the ad says it all.

Most of you know I play the ukulele. For 40-plus years before I discovered the uke, I played the guitar. I was never very good on the guitar: my passion for making music far exceeded my technical skills. But I had a passion for playing music that has sometimes translated itself into a variety of instruments, from flutes to sitar. I've managed to develop my musical skills somewhere between mediocre and adequate. But I love playing almost beyond my love for writing.

Since I discovered the ukulele, more than two years ago, I've been working hard to learn a lot of the music from the 1920s through to the 50s. It's music my parents would have known. Odd how that happened. I still play a lot of the music from the 1960s-70s, but I am...

...until we make the recently-passed licensing bylaw more culture-friendly and busker-friendly, we'll never see any of these type of performers or events:


Wow. Can you imagine Collingwood musicians being part of one of those videos? Maybe next term...

http://www.youtube.c...h?v=fgWFxFg7-GU'>YouTube
Either all of these buskers use amplification, aren't in a rigidly controlled location, or there are more of them than we allow. Yet look at the excitement many of these groups generate on the street. People dancing, clapping, singing along with them. That's the sort of entertainment and animation we could have had, with a less authoritarian busking bylaw.

I'm obviously a dunce when it comes to mathematics, much less economics. To me, the simple equation two minus one would equal one. Dalton McGuinty's government, apparently, has a new math, and in their calculation two minus one equals three. My schooling was obviously inadequate.

McGuinty's Liberals are boasting how more taxes will boost the economy and create hundreds of thousands of jobs - 591,000 according to one form, "nearly" 600,000 according to another. So, according to Liberal economics, having less money means we will spend more and create more jobs. Interesting theory. That means, I suppose, the poorest people in the province will become the largest employers.

It's also directly opposite to the theory...

I just learned that the traditional pancake breakfast will not be taking place downtown on Canada Day this year. Council wasn't informed of this change, nor was council even asked whether or not we wanted to participate. It was just cancelled.

I only found out because an email meant for Helena Guergis' office was misrouted to my inbox. Our MP had already sent out an information flyer about Canada Day events mentioning the pancake breakfast. She's wrong, but I can understand the confusion. For the past decade or two, it has been held here. And hundreds of residents and visitors have enjoyed a low-cost breakfast courtesy of the town. Helena usually joined us at the grill for an hour or two.

Now it isn't happening and I have...

Duncan's Cafe has launched a series of colour newspaper ads in response to the unpopular but determined efforts for five members of council to force restaurants to move their patios to the curbside. Here are three so far:






I think they're brilliant. Well done, Sean.

And for those of you who either forget or aren't aware of the score in this running debate:

Voting to move the patios to the curbside:
Councillors Jeffrey, McNabb, Labelle, Sandberg and Foley.
Voting against (keeping them beside the buildings):
Mayor Carrier, Deputy Mayor Cooper, Councillors Edwards and Chadwick.

None of those buskers would be allowed to play on Collingwood's streets, because they use amplification.

Neither would this busker who performs to large crowds in Sydney, Australia.

But we won't allow any of them - or tens of thousands like them - to play here because they use amplification. Just check YouTube to see dozens, maybe hundreds of other busking videos.

Collingwood: We license culture, we tax culture and we control culture. But we don't embrace it.

Check the comments for more examples.

Brother, Can You Spare a Dime is one of the most memorable songs of the 1930s, written at the height of the Great Depression, by the son of Jewish immigrants, Yip Harburg, with music by composer - and another Jewish immigrant - Jay Gorney. It was written in 1931, and later included in a musical, New Americana, in 1932. I thought it might be time to revise it for today.

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The good news is that Collingwood residents face only a very modest tax increase in 2010: 0.0030% according to a sheet provided by the treasurer, Monday night. On a house assessed at $200,000 that translates to a $0.08 increase over 2009's taxes. Whew. That's a bullet dodged for most of us.

The bad news is that it's not because of Collingwood's efforts to be economical. It's because the county and the boards of education collectively showed their wisdom in the face of an economic slowdown and lowered their levies enough to counteract Collingwood's expected tax increase.

Here's how it goes: Collingwood's tax increase was pegged at an average 2.51%. Average is a bit misleading because it...

The patio at Duncan's restaurant can stay where it is - for now. The councillors who wanted to repeal the old patio bylaw decided at the last moment to defer the motion (moved by Councillor Jeffrey, seconded by Councillor Labelle). Had it passed, it would have made all downtown patios illegal until (or if) a new patio bylaw comes into force.

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