The Blue Agave Forum: The Blue Agave Forum -> The Mumpsimus Blog

There's a poll on the Enterprise Bulletin Web site that asks who you would choose for our next mayor. The list of candidates includes six possible contenders for the job: Chris Carrier, Sandra Cooper, Rick Lloyd, Norm Sandberg, Mike Edwards and Kathy Jeffrey. You can also choose "none of the above/someone else."

Before you read any more of this, you should surf over to the EB and cast your vote. No registration required. The rest of this column is a bit of a spoiler because it discusses the results to date. And yes, I voted in the poll.

The poll offers a list of suggested candidates. No one can actually file papers until January 2. And while some of these people have bruited it about that they will run for mayor, or are considering it - that may just be testing the waters. No one can file until the first business day of 2010.

However, I'm sure all of the named candidates - and a few who may wish they had been listed - will be watching this carefully, weighing their choices and chances. Maybe even trying to seed it with votes from friends and family. Consider this poll the unofficial start of the 2010 election campaign. Or the 'silly season' as the media calls it.

So here's the spoiler:

At the time of this writing (Sept...

Been buying a lot of old song books and song sheets on eBay of late - and a few at local used bookstores, too. I'm looking for songs with ukulele chords, of course. Back in the 1920s and 30s, many songs were arranged for uke and piano. But many were arranged for uke alone. The instrument was that popular.

Much of the material I've collected is pre-1930, so it's generally outside anyone's copyright. A lot of the post-1930 material includes arrangements of songs written pre-1930, some as early as the 1890s. It's hard to find copyright records for most of this material and, frankly, few people give a damn about it simply because it's old, it's forgotten and no one is getting any royalties from it. It's yard sale material.

It's not expensive to buy a few song books or sheets, but it can get pricey when you start to be serious about collecting. I'm scrambling to find things to sell on eBay to pay for my purchases. Shipping is often more expensive than the purchase itself*.

Of the several dozen songs I've collected so far, I recognize only a handful. The rest have simply come and gone, unremarked and forgotten. Jeepers Creepers, Sunny Side of the Street, Side by Side, Somewhere Over the Rainbow, Me and My Gal, Sweet Sue,...

I see Ian Adams - aka Scoop - has restarted his East End Underground blog, this time apparently with approval from his publisher. While it's a bit more restrained than the old EEU, I see Ian still carries a sharpened pencil - at least metaphorically - to poke in the side of any self-inflated politicians.

I suspect Collingwood Council will be the target of many such prickings in the near future. After all, this fall we enter our last year of this term. People are jockeying for position in next year's race (some have been campaigning since the last election). I'm sure Adams won't let the opportunity to deflate a few egos slip past him.

Blogs are, of course, de rigueur in today's modern media. Broadcasters, columnists and reporters have them and they have become integral to the new media presentation. Blogs give us the other side of the news - the subjective, the personal comments, the opinions of the writer - not merely the facts and events around an issue.

Blogs are also very hoi polloi. Anyone can write one, with no qualifications or restraints. They can be voices of the masses, not just the Voice Of The Elite.

Some blogs have become serious political levers in Canada and the USA. Others are merely thorns in the side of local...

Saturday night's concert at the Gayety Theatre by the Erin McCallum band was probably the best night of blues we've had in this town for many years. The band was smoking.

The show followed closely on the heels of the release of their second CD, Feel This. A previous CD, 5 a.m. Blues, was released a couple of years ago. But as good as the CDs may be, they can't capture the electricity of hearing them live.

McCallum has a great alto-tenor blues voice; a lot more powerful than you'd expect from a slender, almost frail woman. But when she starts to sing, it 's a hurricane of sound. She reminds me a bit of Bonnie Raitt in her vocal depth and capacity, but also in the way she phrases her songs. She's also a bit like Janis Joplin, albeit without the gravel. Several songs nicely showcased her range, but for me it's when she sinks into the lower tonal reaches that the smoky sound really moves me.

Backing Erin are three highly polished band members: Joe Pace on drums, Ron Lombard on bass, and Trevor McKenzie on guitar. McKenzie simply steals the show when Erin isn't singing. He's hot, animated and expressively talented. His playing shows a blend of blues styles; from delta to Chicago, from Texas to Gary Moore and Stevie Ray. He played...

Last week, Simcoe County Council voted for a one-year moratorium on building Site 41 - the proposed landfill site in North Simcoe county. But even though it seems geographically distant, that landfill decision promises a significant impact for Collingwood.

Of course, Collingwood Council was not asked to come up with a collective decision for our country reps to bring forward or a direction to follow, even though it affects us locally. The "wisdom of council" has no role to play in county decisions for the mayor. He votes as he sees fit, not necessarily what others believe would be the best for the town. Certainly not what reflects Collingwood Council's wishes.

Water issues aside, landfill sites are always NIMBY issues. You can wrap almost any other argument around them, but that's merely lipstick on the pig. The simple truth is no one wants them nearby. Period.

Of course, you can't blame people for not wanting garbage beside or near them. Garbage is smelly, dirty, hazardous, lowers property values, pollutes land and water, attracts pests, ruins vistas - but isn't the better solution to reduce the garbage going into the landfill, rather than just finding new places to put it? That's what the county has been attempting to...

It's not unusual for politicians people don't like to be called "Nazis" or particular politicians to be likened to any of the Nazi leaders - Hitler, Goering, Borman and so on, depending on the situation or person. In the Internet age when a particularly large but strikingly uneducated and uninformed populace has access to powerful media tools to broadcast these comments worldwide, it happens a lot. Simply read the comments posted below stories on major news sites like the CBC to get a taste of how the hyperbole flies.

Or you may call it satire. Yet it's one thing to make a satire of politicians and another to associate them with an egregious evil. It's acceptable to parody the Nazis and make them look foolish - nothing will deflate an ideology faster than being snickered and guffawed at (witness Springtime for Hitler spawned from The Producers).

But I hadn't really expected to see a Youtube video depicting Collingwood council as a group of Nazis in the bunker - the mayor predictably cast as Hitler. Humourous, perhaps at times - but the Nazis were evil in a way most of us cannot begin to fathom. There have been few who have equalled the Nazis in their horror - Stalin and his henchmen, the Taliban, and Pol Pot share the dubious...

I try, whenever possible, to attend the annual AMO (Association of Municipalities of Ontario) convention. In my term as councillor - six years now - I've only missed a couple of years because of personal/medical reasons.

AMO gives me an opportunity to expand my learning and my understanding as a politician. It generally has relevant workshops, discussions, demonstrations and a good trade show that all help me become a better representative.

Wednesday evening, I returned from the most recent AMO convention. This year I drove to the event - it was held in Ottawa - although I generally fly there and back. I drove with the Deputy Mayor, and this gave us several hours (without air conditioning in the hottest week this summer!) to discuss local politics, politicians, and issues. And in doing so it increased my respect for her and her stand on issues (and, I hope, her respect for me).

In previous terms, councillors discussed beforehand what provincial or federal ministers we wanted to meet with, and tried to spread out our attendance at workshops so we could collectively benefit from the wisdom and information being presented. And wherever possible, we got together (often with other local politicians) for social events like dinner, so we could strengthen...

Ukuleles have been a challenge to me of late. Fixing same, not the playing thereof.

First, I recently purchased a Boat Paddle uke online, secondhand, but a trusted seller. Unfortunately, it arrived with the neck separated from the body. Apparently the glue joint was affected by the climate in transit, probably drying it out, and the pressure of the strings (about 39 lbs for a tuned tenor uke) caused the glue to let go. The result was the neck pulled away from the block in the body. Still playable, but any pressure on the neck during play pushed it outwards, and the uke went out of tune. Despite the advantages for travel of a folding uke, I thought it had better be fixed.

The seller offered to pay for the shipping and to refund my money, but I was intrigued by the instrument and had been eager to get it, so I decided to keep it and make the effort to fix it myself. Keep in mind I'm not a carpenter or woodworker of any skill. I'm more the fence-and-deck type home builder.

I called the uke's maker - Jerry - and discussed options. While he offered to fix it if I shipped it to him, the cost of shipping across the border, plus the time lost while it was bring repaired, seemed excessive. I asked for advice about fixing it myself. He recommended epoxy,...