Golfing with Mayor Vic has its pros and cons.

My folks and I joined him for nine holes Monday morning at the North Bay Golf and Country Club.

The marketing guru certainly can be entertaining. And Ma and Pa probably got a kick out of seeing their little boy hold his own with an elected official.

To be honest, I just didn’t know anyone as short as my parents who also has a membership there.

I’ve taken them to all the local courses and North Bay’s oldest was the last on the list. We’ve made Clear Springs in Chisholm a regular event, while playing Osprey a couple of times, as well as Highview and Laurentide.

The mayor was eager to get me out golfing because I haven’t been on a course for almost two years. Despite playing at some of the best clubs in Ontario, taking oodles of lessons and multiple games per week, Vic hasn’t had much luck beating me over the years. My crushing drive (consistently 1.5 fairways to the right or left), uncanny pinpoint chips (unless I top it, flub it or shank it) and Tiger Woods-like putts (hot or cold, depending on the weather), are too much for him to handle.

Most often, I can count on someone calling him on his Crackberry and causing a little work-related stress, making him double-clutch and take one of his famous back-breaking divots. If that doesn’t happen, I merely pitch unflattering column ideas until he starts worrying about what I’ll write next.

His fatal draw/hook, caused by a bizarre re-grip during the upswing and “cupping” of the ball with irons (he can’t hit with drivers at all), takes care of the rest.

Unfortunately, I didn’t take into account the calming effect Ma and Pa would have on the mayor, with their down-to-earth perspectives, easy-going nature and old golf jokes allowing him to feel way too comfortable.

The little guy had so much fun he completely relaxed, and to my detriment, played better than usual, beating me by a stroke. We should have played skins. I actually won five out of nine holes and tied one, but he drained a 60-foot par putt on No. 11, while I took a nine with two lost balls. It was the TSN-turning point and I couldn’t make up the deficit.

Had I known he’d get so much pleasure out of the round, I would have had him pick up the green fees as a “therapy surcharge.” We all know how much he likes those surcharges.

P.S. My folks were very impressed with the course. The greens were perfect, although impossible to read, and the scenery was awesome. And my mom was very complimentary of the mayor. With a straight face, she said his game had a lot of “loft.”

Of course, Mayor Vic asked what she meant.

“Lack Of Fucking Talent,” she said, chuckling away. She then asked if the city still had an annual air show.

Next year, if we go again, she’s riding with Vic. That’s sure to add a few strokes to his game.

-30-

Is it just me, or does society in general pretty much ignore film critics? Well, maybe we don’t ignore them, but we certainly tend to ignore their comments when they slice up a movie we had long anticipated coming out.
Why?
Because they are wrong so darned often they could rival the weather peddlers on the nightly news.
Film critics generally like to think of themselves as having a higher set of entertainment values than the rest of us. They’ve seen so many movies over the course of doing their job that perhaps they’ve become jaded in what they consider entertainment. It may take a little extra to keep them from fidgeting in their seats while previewing upcoming releases — you know, plush seats in prime movie theatres that come without a price tag as film companies give them private showings in the days leading up to a film’s widespread release.
Critics seem to favour foreign films. If it’s got a subtitle, it gets a thumbs up, by and large.
Perhaps North Americanmade movies should add subtitles. Leave the English dialogue for the general public, but add the title to appeal to the movie scribes.
Maybe I’m being a little hard on the average film critic. They do have to sit through the good and the bad. From my perspective, I’d rather have hot needles shoved into my pupils than have to regularly sit through such nausea as “Maid in Manhattan,” “Gigli,” “Sex and the City” (the movie), “The English Patient,” “Captain Corelli’s Mandolin,” or “Thelma and Louise” to name a few.
Heck, put a DVD player in my car and start showing that cinematic dirge and I’ll drive off a cliff just like poor Thelma and Louise. Barf.
But I’m not film critic; I just know what I like and don’t like.
Every film critic has their “Ishtar” moments of indigestion. Too many of those can create a jaded view.
And the further the view gets from that of the general public, the less relevant their critiques can become.
Critics get way out of bounds when spending the time to examine a children’s movie.
What six-year-old kid picks up on the nuances and cinematography a critic might find interesting or missing?
Talk about out of touch and a step past irrelevant. If the movie’s target audience is an age group of kids who can barely spell their own names, the critic is wasting his or her time.
We’ve all seen it. Critics review Disney or DreamWorks animated movies. “Kung Fu Panda” and “WALL*E” are two of the latest victims. Critics had issues with the fact one went for looks over plot depth, and said the other had a weak story line.
Sit in the theatre with a bunch of kids. Watch how their eyes are glued to the screen. Feel the power of their combined laughter.
We, as parents, do that on a regular basis. I have a feeling too many film critics spend too much time being force-fed cinema while sitting beside their personality-challenged peers, harrumphing their way through flatulence-based humour that would have the kids rolling in the aisles.
Critics should remember their target audiences and that of the movies they critique to keep everything in perspective.
Bruce Corcoran is the managing editor of The Chatham Daily News.

Pre-release photo of new NikonD700

The Internet has been abuzz over the release of new cameras lately.  There are now even web sites devoted to reporting on the rumours, such as NikonRumors.  Sometimes, the Internet gets the news right as with the release of the new Nikon D700 on July 1st.  Sometimes, there is just idle speculation.  However, we are heading toward the fall and the upcoming Photokina photography trade show in Germany in September. So, expect to hear more and more about new cameras.

The question is should you be listening to the news.  If you have purchased a new digital single lens reflex camera within the past year, you may not need to listen.   The current generation of new single lens reflex cameras offer 10 mega pixel or greater resolution and improved high ISO performance and are suitable for a wide range of applications.  Some offer a host new convenience features, such as in-camera sensor cleaning, in-camera editing, larger LCD screens, in-camera image stabilization.  A few, such as the Canon 40D and Nikon D300, do truly offer improved image quality, largely through new metering systems, 14-bit data processing, improved image processing.

The hot topic right now is the launch of new full frame sensor cameras, that have sensors the same size as traditional 35 film cameras and/or much improved resolution and high ISO.  Nikon just introduced the D700 full frame camera and Canon will likely update the Canon 5D this summer too.  However, if you have been using a digital single lens reflex camera already you  may find you have to buy additional lenses and even flash guns to work with these cameras.  A full frame camera will allow you to use a super-wide lens and a full frame camera will not extend the range of telephoto lenses.  So, a new camera is not just a new camera, it is also a new camera and new lenses.

If you have a budget closer to $1000 (+/-), you have great opportunities to buy cameras that have been replaced in the past year or are about to be replaced.  The Canon 5D, even though it is 2 years old, is a great full frame camera and its price has come down substantially.  The Nikon D200 remains a favourite of Nikon users and it can be found for under $1000 used now.  Look for the bargains and you can set yourself up well for the fall season.

If you use a point and shoot camera, you are faced with fewer choices.  Most point and shoot cameras have significant limitations, including poor low light abilities/poor high ISO performance, lack of raw capability or slow raw processing, short zoom length which often does not include a wide angle perspective.  There are other issues with these cameras.  Canon has almost got it right with the Canon G9.   Outside Canada, Ricoh offers high performance point and shoot cameras, such as the recently released Ricoh GX200.  So, if you are looking for an advanced point and shoot camera, it is very hard right now.  Whether this will be remedied in the fall by new products is too early to know.

In the meantime, ignore all the new product news and get out and shoot this summer.  When the fall is here, you can turn to the major web sites, such as DpReview, and see what has been announced.

It’s all coming to a head.

Negotiations between the North Bay Skyhawks and representatives from Nipissing University, who plan to launch a men’s varsity team in North Bay in 2009-10, have apparently come to a halt without an agreement to co-exist at Memorial Gardens. As a result, North Bay City council will likely have to choose one or the other, perhaps at Monday night’s council meeting. The university has an Aug. 1 deadline to finalize details with Ontario University Athletics before proceeding with building a hockey team.

The NOJHL’s North Bay Skyhawks recently completed a one-year lease agreement with the City of North Bay for the use of Memorial Gardens, but the Skyhawks’ future beyond the coming season is dependent on:

1) co-existence with a Nipissing University team, if the city opts to enter into a lease agreement with the university as the arena’s main tenant

2) the city choosing to stick with the Skyhawks and the NOJHL as the arena’s main tenant, and opting not to enter into a lease agreement with the university.

At issue, is the revenue generated from the sale of rinkboard advertising in the city arenas, which would be controlled by the team holding the lease agreement; with the Skyhawks and Nipissing unable to come to terms to divide up the revenue pie, North Bay city council will be forced to choose between one or the other.

Skyhawks general manager Guy Blanchard said in May that the Skyhawks would likely pull out of the NOJHL if they did not have an arena lease at Memorial Gardens.

There’s going to be a lot of stickhandling in the next few weeks, but it will be political stickhandling, not dangling on the ice.

I might need to self-medicate myself this week, as I’m bouncing around on a couple of topics that caught my eye in recent days. Oh, well, it’s summer, the season of delicious beverages to go with the barbecuing, so the self-medicating will have to come in the form of spirits.
But I digress. Onto the topics.
Too many of us have experienced it; most of us have seen letters of praise on the subject, yet we fail to truly appreciate this small aspect of Chatham- Kent that can send a tear to one’s eye.
I’m talking about the quiet tradition around here of showing one’s respect to the recently deceased, as in how we react to an approaching funeral procession.
I’ve seen it from inside a lead car in the procession too often in recent years here in Chatham- Kent. But I must say it never ceases to move me when local residents pull over to the side of the road when a funeral procession passes.
We do it regardless of which direction on the street the procession is travelling. It is an incredible and simple show of respect. Trust me, it is appreciated.
I’ve even seen pedestrians stop, take of their hats and wait as the procession drove past. Amazing.
In Chatham-Kent, periodically, there is a driver or two who didn’t notice the procession in time, or didn’t care enough to pull over.
But in Toronto, judging from what I observed Monday, people pulling over are the exception, and lack of respect is the norm.
It’s such a difference. Our vehicle was perhaps half a dozen cars back from the hearse as we headed towards Mount Pleasant Cemetery from a Toronto funeral centre (big city, big funeral business). The only reason I got out of the parking lot and onto the street in my place in line is because a traffic light changed.
But about a block later, someone forced their way into to procession right in front of me, and stayed there for about a kilometre until it was time to turn into their targeted shopping plaza.
I remembered how you had to stay all but glued onto the bumper of the car in front of you on the highway if you wanted to avoid being cut off in Toronto, but I did not expect this to occur in a funeral procession.
Traffic heading in the other direction could have cared less that a person was heading to his final resting place. All told, three vehicles pulled over and stopped. And I’m pretty sure the third vehicle pulled over because the second blocked its route.
Here in Chatham, the pace at which the funeral procession heads to the cemetery is slow and somber. In Toronto, it approaches the speed limit. Ah, the pace of Toronto.
At least we weren’t fishtailing our way into the cemetery and screeching to a halt in front of the gravesite.
Thank the heavens for small miracles.
And thank the same heavens for us living in Chatham-Kent, and not that roadblock on the 401 known as Toronto.
I’ve seen yet another example of why people outside Toronto call that city’s residents “city-ots.”
* * *
Back bacon and beer. Kenora dinner jackets, toques and work boots. All this says “Canadian” in terms of Bob and Doug McKenzie.
On the eve of Canada’s birthday, my wife found a replay on CBC Newsworld of “Bob and Doug’s Two-Four Anniversary,” a documentary celebrating Canadian fictional icons Bob and Doug McKenzie.
These two hosers, played since 1980 by Rick Moranis as Bob and Dave Thomas as Doug, did the movie “Strange Brew” 25 years ago. For anyone who followed and loved their Great White North skits on SCTV, having a two-four anniversary in 2007 was so appropriate.
For most anyone going to high school in the early 1980s, Bob and Doug went with them. Schools had days where students were to dress as hosers -toque, Kenora dinner jacket (plaid flannel shirt or jacket for those of you who don’t know the term), and jeans. Chances are you knew friends who tried to talk like Bob and Doug, saying, “take off,” or “you hoser” or “good day, eh?” It is pure Canadiana. Moranis and Thomas took Canadian affectations to the extreme and played them to the max in front of the TV world. Americans had their stereotypical Canadians in front of them.
The anniversary show tracked down the likes of comedian Ben Stiller and Simpsons creator Matt Groening, along with a host of famous Canadians such as comedian Brett Butt, Rush bassist/vocalist Geddy Lee, and even former Prime Minister Paul Martin (to his credit, he was quite funny).
It really captured the spirit of Bob and Doug, and was a fitting Canadian comedic piece of programming the night before Canada turned 141.
Beauty, eh?

Bruce Corcoran is the managing editor of The Chatham Daily News.

Win Barton never had a child in her 93 years on this earth, but youngsters, particularly newborns, held a special place in her heart.
The Chatham-Kent IODE donated a rocking chair to the maternal newborn unit at the Chatham-Kent Health Alliance in memory of Barton, who passed away last spring.
Barton was well known in the community several decades ago as the supervisor of the maternity ward at the hospital.
“We knew this is where her heart had always been,” said Linda Oldershaw, an IODE member.
Fellow IODE member Ev Reeve said Barton “ruled with an iron fist, but everyone loved her.”
Reeve said Barton was fond of reminding her she was there when both her sons were born.
Jean Arbour only worked with Barton for a few months while a nursing student, but she still remembers her.
“She was a task master,” Arbour said.
She said the nurses weren’t afraid of her, but they knew “we wouldn’t live up to her expectations.”
Arbour said Barton “was a good person,” adding, “nursing was her life.”
Oldershaw said Barton was a petite woman “who always looked like she walked out of a fashion magazine.”
She said Barton worked at a dry goods store in Wallaceburg, before deciding to go into nursing.
“Once she became a nurse, she really dedicated herself to it,” Oldershaw said.

A group of Chatham Collegiate Institute alumni, ranging from the 1950s to late 1990s, are seeking the help of other former CCI grads to create an elaborate display that will chronicle the history of 117-year-old high school.
A web site has been established to make it easier to gather memorabilia.
Committee chairman Ed Myers said, “we’ve got a wide range of experiences and talents available to really get this project off the ground. But the key will be the involvement of the broader CCI alumni community — that’s where we really need to get the word out.”
The web site, www.ccicougars.com, has list of materials being sought for display, as well as information on the need for volunteers and much-needed funds for the project. It will also be used to provide updates on the display, which will be housed at Chatham-Kent Secondary School.
“We set up the web site in order to reach as many alumni and friends of CCI as possible, both in Chatham-Kent and beyond,” said committee member Todd Haskell. “This is a streamlined way to let our alumni know what types of material we’re looking for, and for our alumni to let us know what they have to offer.”
Anyone with information about CCI memorabilia can also leave a voice mail at 519-352-2870 Ext. 800 and receive a response within the week.

Thousands of Chatham-Kent students weren’t the only ones looking for a little time off from their studies this summer.
Approximately 80 adults who have recently immigrated to Canada, recently celebrated the end of their school year at the Adult Language and Learning Centre with a multicultural feast featuring 20 different dishes.
Joshua Kaijuka, 28, who recent came to Chatham-Kent from the African country of Uganda, enjoyed the variety of food available.
“I like everything,” he said with a smile, noting he tried dishes from Rumania, Poland, Mexico and Korea to name a few.
He also learned to use chopsticks, noting, “I find it better than a fork.”
Tracy Callaghan, Adult Language and Learning executive director, said the program is taking off and will likely increase now that the agency is also providing an Immigrant Settlement and Adaption Program, funded by Citizen and Immigration Canada.
“We have a full house,” Callaghan said, noting the operation is in the process of expanding again.
Located on the third floor of 48 Fifth St. in Chatham, the agency is currently preparing to take over a large section of the second floor with the goal if providing on-site daycare to allow recent immigrants to receive language instruction.
Callaghan said the program not only helps immigrants learn English it also teaches them about the Canadian culture and discusses the laws that apply here.
She said immigrants coming to Canada are anxious to work, but many often find that their lack of English skills hold them back. She said the goal is to improve their understanding of the language and the culture in order to eliminate those barriers for employment.

Congratulations to Bill Pachkowski, supervisor of horticultural services for Chatham-Kent, on recently being awarded a Paul Harris Fellowship by the Chatham Sunrise Rotary Club.
He received the award, named after the founder of the Rotary movement more than century ago, for being a key person in the beautification of the Rotary Trial.
Pachkowski has provided assistance, guidance and manpower in developing the trail along Grand Avenue West near the bank of the Thames River, between Smitty’s Family Restaurant to the flags across from the Zellers store.

Participants in this year’s Chatham Kiwanis Music were recognized for their talents during a provincial competition, held earlier this month in Toronto.
William Lindsay of Chatham was winner in the Speech Arts Advanced Level and Eric Bleyendaal of Windsor won in Speech Arts Senior Level.
Chatham resident Elise Brazeau received honourable mention in Grade 7 Voice and Kadianne Webb, also from Chatham, received honourable mention in Junior Level Music Theatre.

Summer has been late coming to southern Ontario. We continue to have clouds, rain and below normal temperatures.  However, summer will be here soon….

Summer does pose some challenges for photography.  The days are long, particularly in June and July, and beautiful morning light is only available to those who awake early in the day.  Evening light, though, is more accessible to all.  The hot hazy days of summer often create difficult day time lighting conditions and you need to be careful with your exposures.

Summer can be fun, though, as summer events and summer sports present numerous opportunities for dynamic images.  Across the province, there are many special summer events, ranging from highland games, folk festivals, to shows and sports events.  All these special events present really interesting opportunities to photograph people and the event participants.

As well, summer sports are exciting subjects and allow you to practise panning on fast moving water-skiers, mountain bikers and sail boats.  You may not use the advanced continuous autofocus functions of your camera but in the summer, you can have a lot of fun trying to capture the fun of summer sports.  This can be even more special if a friend or family member is involved and you can share that special moment with them.

So, consult your community’s web site and check out the summer arts activities, sports events and other activities.  Make a list for yourself of special events that appeal to you and see how you can capture the action of summer and have fun at the same time.

My Beyond City Hall column published June 30 . . .

Greg Briggs should know better than make assumptions about my assignments or intentions. Thumbs up to management for allowing me to address his recent letter to the editor.

Readers sometimes need extra insight. Mr. Briggs, obviously, is one of them.

My assignment the day before the Canadian government was scheduled to apologize to Indian residential school victims was to get comment from native people on the issue.

Dropping by Nbisiing Secondary School was a good start. Nipissing First Nation’s modern educational facility contrasts nicely with the past practice of shipping kids off to the Garnier residential labour farm in Spanish River.

As the conversations with teachers, students, staff and principal came to an end, the idea of sticking around for the co-operative education program’s year-end lunch was mine. The story needed artwork to illustrate what words can’t and an event celebrating young people who learned working skills without being beaten and starved seemed appropriate. This lunch was also a gesture of thanks to the businesses involved for taking the time to help give young people a chance to experience different fields of work.

It’s hard to understand exactly why the cackles of Mr. Briggs stiffened so much. I’m sure many Conservatives were on edge that week after watching Prime Minister Stephen Harper apologize on behalf of the Canadian government. Maybe Mr. Briggs just didn’t like to see a certain business linked, even in juxtaposition, with such a historic embarrassment?

Whatever the case, his presumptive letter suggested I failed my appointed duties.

What to do, what to do? Usually we just let people take their best shots and reporters are forced to endure inaccurate letters to the editors. But in this instance, with the caustic tone of Mr. Briggs in mind, I take offence and challenge him to an old-fashioned duel on my blog.

Consider your face slapped with a leather glove . . . it’s sharp words at 10 paces if you dare. Any topic will do.

Mr. Brigg’s letter to the editor . . .

In the Wednesday, June 11 edition of the Nugget, an article was written by Dave Dale titled Nipissing First Nation looking for Sincerity.” It described the anticipation with which local First Nations people were awaiting Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s upcoming apology regarding the treatment of our First Nations countrymen during the Residential Schools era.
Under Mr. Dale’s article was a picture of a local business owner by the name of Khouri Long from Cor Maximus who was attending an event celebrating the partnership between businesses such as Cor Maximus and the co-operative education program at Nbissing Secondary School.
Also in the picture were Rachel Couchie, a student of the program who has recently completed a co-op placement at Cor Maximus and Judy Manitowabi who runs the Nbissing school’s co-operative education program.
The article written really had nothing to do with the event portrayed in the picture, which presumably Mr. Dale was there to report on.
Why not write the good news story the event was held to celebrate about the partnership between local business people and local First Nations people, which is providing hands-on opportunities to First Nations students for learning various skills they will need to succeed in today’s world and building bridges between our cultures?
It is not my intention to minimize the importance of what Mr. Dale wrote about, given its obvious importance to all Canadians, but it could have been written in a separate article.
GREG BRIGGS North Bay

Having fled the Outlaw League for a safer haven that is the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League, the Temiscaming Royals have scheduled a press conference for July 2 to officially proclaim their new status.

Their arrival is welcome news for the NOJHL. The Quebec-based Royals, along with the Michigan-based Soo Eagles, have combined to add strength to the NOJHL and make it an eight-team league again.

Well received during the ‘07-08 season by fans in Temiscaming — which is tucked just inside the Quebec border, less than an hour’s drive from North Bay — the Royals will play within the East Division of the NOJHL in ‘08-09 with their primary rivals being the Abitibi Eskimos, North Bay Skyhawks and Sudbury Jr. Wolves.

While much has been made of the obvious geographical rivalry with North Bay, I suspect that Temiscaming might have just as intense a relationship with Abitibi. As the Royals will feature a lineup heavy with French Canadians, let us not forget that the Eskimos have long drawn on Francophone players from the Iroquois Falls area and the Hearst Elans AA midget program.

At any rate, after making it through the ‘07-08 season with just six teams, the NOJHL again numbers eight and in the process has added a Temiscaming team that was a jewel franchise in the Outlaw League last season.

The Royals will bring credibility with them beginning with coach/general manager Steve McCharles. I don’t know McCharles personally but I do remember him as a defenceman with the Ontario Hockey League’s Sudbury Wolves during the early 1980s. Besides, he has good references from good people, including Joe Drago, the well-respected President of the Ontario Hockey Federation, who managed and co-owned the Wolves when McCharles played in Sudbury.

I have heard many good things about the Temiscaming franchise from ownership to McCharles to public relations person Chris Dawson to the hundreds of fans to the atmosphere in the rink in which the Royals play.

Ergo, I say: Welcome aboard.

by Randy Russon, Osprey Media

CLARKSBURG – Not even torrential rain and lightning can keep the stars from shining today in the Blue Mountains as the Ford Wayne Gretzky Classic Nationwide Golf Tournament presented by Samsung (feel free to take a breath here) got underway with the first day’s play.

And it was like an Edmonton Oilers alumni tournament with Paul Coffey, Mark Messier, Marty McSorely, and Gretzky taking part as amateurs and Grant Fuhr again proving he was the real golfer of the bunch by competing as a pro.

Make it 24 pro hockey players and counting to give the tournament a true Canadian feel. So Canadian, that the focus of the day was on now former Toronto Maple Leaf Darcy Tucker who was a popular interview subject.

But beyond all this blue and white, there was a golf tournament here as Aron Price overcame hooking his tee sot into the trees on his first hole to finish at -7 and a two-shot lead. 

Complicating the day for the fans is that the tournament is being played on two courses – Thornbury’s The Raven at Lora Bay and at Clarksburg’s The Georgian Bay Club. And while shuttle service is available from two off-site parking areas, it does make it a little tricky to figure out which course you’ll visit first.

But with morning and afternoon rounds, fans should have no trouble seeing most of the celebrities they want.