The Funnies

I started reading daily and weekly newspapers before I could hold the pages open.
So, I had to spread the broadsheet on the floor and sit on it to 'read' the news, and the funnies!'
The Halifax Chronicle-Herald, along with the Sydney Post Record -- later to be renamed the Cape Breton Post -- were the two dailies available in the early 1950s (but then, I'm dating myself!). There was a small local weekly, the Richmond Record, which was published from Arichat, and we also had a subscription to two national weeklies, the Family Herald, and the Farmer's Advocate,which were mostly about farming and other topics of interest to rural readers.
We were well equipped, Dear Reader, for getting the news, supplemented by the local radio stations,

The February … blahs?

During my teaching days, February was predictably a long and boring month. We were halfway through unusually bleak winter, and still had more than a few weeks to go before the magical “March Break.”
It has been slightly different since my retirement (when I am sometimes as busy as ever!), And I want to tell you about my February this year.

First of all, I caught a bad cold and spent most of 10 days in varying degrees of the classic “cabin fever.” You would think I was bored during that time, but, au contraire, news items have been quite riveting:
-- Groundhog Day revealed an assortment of predictions, with the local “Shubenacadie Sam” calling for more snow. We have had 2 major snowstorms in early February, amounting to almost all the snow that fell during last winter. And it's only the middle of the month!
-- Super Bowl XLVII (you figure it out!)

Radio ... and Me - 25

My fascination with radio goes back a long time, and it was during my 4 years at St. FX University that I had a chance to learn how to work on radio shows.
In January of 1966, the usual “mid-winter blahs” were claiming all our waking hours. These were the days before the Super Bowl, when sports fans and football fanatics take a fling on a football game. Many universities and some high schools, at that time, began to organize a … Winter Carnival, complete with sledding and skating and ice-sculpture events, and a round of social activities.

The highlight at St. FX was the legendary “Sophomore Variety Show,” a hilarious mix of amateur comedy skits and music numbers, performed by both young and veteran students, many of whom went on to careers in show business. The Carnival Committee of 1966 wanted to go all out: they organized an ambitious program, called the 'Klondike Karnival,' to run over two weekends and the week in between.
We planned an original radio production

The State of Hockey

You might think that 'hockey' around here lately is all about the N-H-L.
Not quite right.
-- The Halifax Mooseheads of the Québec Major Junior League (officially, 'la Ligue de Hockey Junior Majeur du Québec') are having an excellent season, and have been voted the Canadian Hockey League's top-rated team!

Two of their major stars, centre Nathan MacKinnon (from suburban Cole Harbour, home of superstar Sidney Crosby) and left-winger Jonathan Drouin, were both named to Team Canada at the recent world Junior hockey championships in Ufa, Russia. A third local team member, right-winger Martin Frk, played for Team Czech Republic.
Logo: sportslogos.net
At the juniors, Team Canada played well, placing 1st in the round-robin,

The Joy of Skype

It took me a long time to decide, but I am now the user of Skype.
You might ask, Dear Reader, what took me so long?

Skype is a universal, free, telephone and video program, used by many of our friends, and often adopted by TV news journalists who aren't able to use a camera crew or even an iPhone to file their stories.
Many families have used it for years, allowing members from all around the world to check out new babies, children, etc. One of our friends, who has a first grandchild (named: Colin), living in Toronto, even used Skype each evening

Place Names Guide … for C-F-As

Today, class, we will be providing some help for those who will be visiting Nova Scotia during the Christmas / New Year's holidays.

Place names in this province can present a real minefield for those who are not familiar with local pronunciation.
To save folks from being labeled as C-F-As (“Come From Away's”), we present this handy guide, which, at best, is a good start.

Dumping Day

Pop Quiz: Do you the meaning of Dumping Day?'
Throughout much of Nova Scotia, it refers to the day lobster traps are 'dumped' into the water in a race to get to the most coveted locales across fishing grounds. That event occurred yesterday, in fishing ports in Areas 33 and 34:

all the way from Digby around to Cole Harbour, near Halifax.
Fisheries and Oceans Canada had delayed the start by 24 hours because high winds would have made it dangerous for thousands of boats to leave port with high deck loads of traps.