Sunset Grill Restaurant, Blue Mountains, ON

Gord and I had breakfast this morning at the Sunset Grill.  If you want a hearty breakfast, it's the only place to go in Blue Mountain Village.  It's a popular spot.  We got there about 9am and it was jammed ... and there was a line-up after that.

I ordered three eggs and ham and it was good.  We'd gotten lazy last night and skipped supper so I was hungry ... and I ate most of it.

Firehall Pizza Co., Blue Mountains, ON

Gord and I had lunch this afternoon at Firehall Pizza Co. in Blue Mountain Village.  We'd been there before and liked it.

Blue Mountains, ON

Gord and I took a walk to the base of the ski hills this afternoon before lunch.  It was a bright sunny but freezing day.

Copper Blues Bar & Grill, Blue Mountains, ON

Gord and I had supper tonight at Copper Blues Bar & Grill.

Mark, our server, started us rolls with balsamic vinegar and olive oil, which was yummy.

Blue Mountains, ON

Gord and I took a walk around Mill Pond, which is in Blue Mountain Village.  The air was freezing and fresh and they've had some snow.

Gord

Me

The ski was quite dramatic!

Courtyard by Marriott Waterloo St. Jacobs, Waterloo, ON

I spent last night at the Courtyard by Courtyard by Marriott Waterloo St. Jacobs.

Here was my room ...

My bed was comfy

Book ~ "Go Ask Alice" (1971) Anonymous

From Goodreads ~ A teen plunges into a downward spiral of addiction in this classic cautionary tale.

January 24th

After you've had it, there isn't even life without drugs ...

It started when she was served a soft drink laced with LSD in a dangerous party game. Within months, she was hooked, trapped in a downward spiral that took her from her comfortable home and loving family to the mean streets of an unforgiving city. It was a journey that would rob her of her innocence, her youth - and ultimately her life.

Read her diary.

Enter her world.

You will never forget her.

When I was in my early teens, girls (including me) were reading Go Ask Alice.  Because it was such an important book in our lives, I thought it would be interesting to reread it today.

The book is the "diary" of a fifteen-year-old girl.   She gets invited to a party of one of the cool kids and they play Button.  She doesn't realize what the game is until afterwards.  Everyone is randomly served a pop ... most are laced with LSD and those who get pop that aren't are the "babysitters".  She ends up with a pop with LSD and has a wonderful mind-blowing experience.  And that sets her on the path to want more drugs.

She ends up getting involved with some drug dealers and selling to elementary students.  She and a friend run away from home a couple times because their families are putting many restrictions on them.  When she tries to lead a clean life, her past keeps pulling her back.

I don't remember what my early teen self thought of the book.  But more than 40 years later, it was interesting to reread it ... granted I'm not the target market for it anymore.  I found the writing style not great and boring and the story itself is pretty lame and unbelievable.  The book is definitely dated.  Does anyone do LSD, acid or bennies anymore?  Her mother is concerned that she is dressing like a hippy and nags her about it.  The girl is out hustling for "bread".  And there's no way two teenagers under 18 could take off to San Francisco, get jobs right away and then give them up to start their own business.

The Crazy Canuck, Waterloo, ON

I had supper this evening at The Crazy Canuck (on Weber Street N).  It's at the end of a big antique market.

Carlo’s Bake Shop, Richmond Adelaide Centre, Toronto, ON

Recently three cake vending machines from Carlo's Bake Shop appeared in the PATH downtown.  I'd read about them and how there have been line-ups and the machines have been running out of cake.  The machines are now filled twice a day.

I don't get downtown often but was today so figured I'd check one out.  The closest one to me was in the Richmond Adelaide Centre, just north of Rexall.  When I got in line, there were five people ahead of me and the line continued behind me as I waited my turn.

First you see what's available, pick what you want and then pay (credit or debit only).  A slice comes to about $11.

Book ~ "I'm Not What I Seem: The Many Stories of Rita MacNeil's Life" (2016) Charlie Rhindress

From Goodreads ~ Rita MacNeil has long been recognized as one of the East Coast's great singer-songwriters. As a young girl with the dream of becoming a singer, she overcame a series of seemingly insurmountable obstacles and achieved success by believing in herself and refusing to give up. A trailblazer, Rita played an integral role in the women's movement in Canada and forged a path that was unique to her, paving the way for future generations of east coast musicians. 

Charlie Rhindress first came to know Rita as he collaborated with her on his play "Flying on Her Own", incorporating more than twenty of her songs into a script that told the story of her life. 

For this biography, Rhindress did extensive research and interviewed many of the people who worked with her and knew her best. The story of a strong, sensitive, complex woman emerged and the result is a powerful and moving portrait of a unique woman and important artist of her times. 

Rita MacNeil (1944 – 2013) was a Canadian singer/songwriter from Big Pond, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. She was the fifth of eight children and was born with a cleft lip and palate, which made her shy but she found happiness through singing.  In addition, her childhood wasn't overly happy with her parents always fighting and drinking. 

Her family moved to Toronto for work when she was young, before heading back home to Cape Breton.  Rita moved back to Toronto when she was 17, hoping to make a name for herself as a singer.  Instead, she ended up pregnant by a man who wouldn't marry her and moved back home to Big Pond to the support of her family.

Rita moved back to Toronto after her daughter was born to again pursue her singing career.  She met and married David and settled in being a wife and mother.  She wanted more and became in involved in the women's rights movement and wrote songs of protest.  Rita and her family moved back to Big Pond, with Rita figuring that would bring her contentment.  But she knew that singing was what she wanted to do and that became her goal ... and she did everything to make it, including leaving her marriage.  Rita ended up with many top selling albums and awards from around the world.

I didn't know a lot about Rita and wasn't a fan, though I didn't dislike her music.  I like reading bios/autobios and I knew Rita had had an interesting life. The book included interviews with Rita's friends and former colleagues, in addition to the author interviewing Rita.  I liked the writing style and found the book interesting and honest.

Quesada Burritos & Tacos, Stoney Creek, ON

I had lunch today at Quesada Burritos & Tacos (on Fruitland Road and Barton Street).

I love burritos and ordered a large chicken burrito on a white wrap. They heat up the wrap briefly before putting on the ingredients.  There were lots of ingredients to choose from and I got mine with chicken, cheese, refried beans, rice, salsa, corn, mild salsa and burrito sauce.  Then the burrito is put on another grill to heat it.  It was a good burrito.

The woman who made my burrito was very friendly.

Remembrance Day

The federal department of Veterans Affairs Canada states that November 11 is of "remembrance for the men and women who have served, and continue to serve our country during times of war, conflict and peace"; specifically, the First and Second World Wars, the Korean War, and all conflicts since then in which members of the Canadian Forces have participated.

Remembering my father, Frank (1935 - 1971)

Honouring Gord's dad, Ken (1925 - 1971)

Honouring Gord's paternal
grandfather, Sid (1890 - 1963)

Book ~ "One Man Grand Band: The Lyric Life of Ron Hynes" (2016) Harvey Sawler

From Goodreads ~ Author Harvey Sawler traces the life of Ron Hynes, one of the most respected singer-songwriters in Canadian history. Through personal conversations and interviews, Sawler captures the spirit of an artist whose stock-in-trade has always been authenticity over mere commercial acceptability, providing rare insight into the life of the man who penned some of the country’s best-loved music. 

Sawler guides us through the dark times of addiction to the triumphs of songs such as “Sonny’s Dream” and “Atlantic Blue” while capturing the true essence of Hynes and the source of his musical genius. 

Ron Hynes (1950 - 2015) was a folk singer-songwriter from Newfoundland and Labrador and was known as the Man of a Thousand Songs.  He wrote the song Sonny's Dream, which has been recorded worldwide by many artists and was named the 41st greatest Canadian song of all time on the 2005 CBC Radio One series 50 Tracks: The Canadian Version.  He was a founding member of The Wonderful Grand Band, one of Newfoundland's most popular performing groups (formed in 1978) and had released seven solo albums.   Hynes was a seven-time East Coast Music Awards winner and past Juno and Canadian Country Music Awards nominee.  In July 2012, Hynes was diagnosed with throat cancer and underwent treatment.  He died in St. John's in 2015 at the age of 64.

I didn't know a lot about Ron Hynes.  I knew he'd written Sonny's Dream and that was about it.  But I like reading bios/autobios and it sounds like Hynes had an interesting life.

The book included interviews with Hynes' friends and colleagues, in addition to the author interviewing Hynes many times.  While there was a lot of detail about his tours and the author would go off on tangents about non-Hynes things, it is written at a high level with not a lot of details about his personal life.  Apparently Hynes had been married at least twice and had four daughters but this was barely touched on.  To me, if you are going to write a book about a person, this would be important information to include.  Hynes' drug addiction took him to the dark side and he died destitute but this was also covered at a high level.

The editing could have been better.  I found the writing was a bit repetitive.  It seemed like the chapters were written individually for a newspaper article, for example, because the author would tell who someone was in Hynes' life (for example, his friend and guitar player) and then later on say who they were again as if this was the first mention of them in the book.  Plus some of the stories were told a couple times ... as if they weren't told earlier.  It was weird.  And there were some typos ... on the same page, the Barenaked Ladies is spelled correctly but in a couple paragraphs above was spelled Bare Naked Ladies.