The song “Fallen Angel” was written and released by Robbie Robertson in 1987 as a deeply personal tribute and prayer for his former bandmate from The Band, Richard Manuel, who tragically passed away on March 04 1986 by suicide at the age of 42. The track featured backing vocals from Peter Gabriel, while fellow The Band member Garth Hudson played keyboards on the song.
Manuel struggled with severe, long-term alcoholism and drug addiction for years and dealt with severe depression, a loss of confidence, and career struggles following the 1976 breakup of the original group (which was famously documented in The Last Waltz). Bandmates and colleagues later noted that the heavy touring schedule and demanding pace while trying to revive the group took a severe toll on his fragile state.
He was buried at the Avondale Cemetery in his hometown of Stratford, Ontario. Bandmate Rick Danko sang Bob Dylan’s “I Shall Be Released” at his memorial service. Stratford later honored him with a sidewalk star on Ontario Street and a memorial bench by the Avon River. He was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with The Band in 1994.
Possibly one of the most heartfelt tributes to a fellow musician I have ever heard. The whole album Robbie Robertson debut album is a must listen.
Note: It’s been 50 years since the Band’s 1976 farewell show that became the iconic concert film The Last Waltz, and a supergroup of Canadian artists will mark the anniversary with a Toronto tribute show. LW50: A Celebration of Bob Dylan and the Band will take place on November 25, 2026 at Massey Hall.
Prince Edward Island (PEI) has two distinct lobster fishing seasons: a spring season from late April/early May to late June; this is the largest harvest, accounting for about 75% of the catch, and a fall season from mid-August to mid-October. PEI splits its lobster fishing into two distinct regional seasons to protect the lobsters during vulnerable biological cycles like molting and mating.
The lobster fishery brings in tens of millions of pounds of catch annually, accounting for about 15% of Canada’s total lobster production. It provides vital jobs for over 1,200 licensed fishers and supports processing plants, local harbors, and tourism.
Nova Scotia catches the most lobsters of any province in Canada, accounting for roughly 45% to 50% of the country’s total annual catch. Additionally, the town of Shediac, New Brunswick, is widely known and promoted as the “Lobster Capital of the World” due to its rich fishing heritage and famous 90-tonne giant lobster monument.
For a traditional lobster supper there are three main places to partake of succulent, mouth-watering lobster and though it may appear expensive when you think about how everything is included with the meal and the price of appetizers and desserts now, it isn’t that bad. A special occasion for sure.
Lobster supper
Supper Location
Estimated Price Range
Key Feature / Unlimited Sides
Atmosphere
New Glasgow
CAD 40–60
a short drive from the city, serving a complete multi-course lobster meal with unlimited sides of mussels, chowder, and pie.
Historic community hall
Fisherman’s Wharf
CAD 40–80
60-foot salad and dessert bar & endless mussels.
Expansive & nautical
Lobster on the Wharf
CAD 30–80
À la carte platters & fresh pound
Scenic harbor deck
You are not limited to lobster suppers, you can go down to the local pier in most towns and get live lobster to take home or cook up, and there are plenty of places to grab a lobster roll. Some of the best places on Prince Edward Island include acclaimed spots like Richard’s Fresh Seafood in Covehead and Victoria-by-the-Sea, Blue Mussel Cafe in North Rustico, the Water Prince Corner Shop in Charlottetown, the Seafood Shack, and Point Prim Chowder House and Oyster Bar. I’m sure I have left some out but that’s what exploring on vacation is all about.
The 4th annual Festival hosted by Fergus, Ontario this past weekend, and my first visit. It will certainly not be the last. The costumes, the people, the incredible creativity and the friendliness of the occasion was off the charts.
Steampunk is a subgenre of science fiction and a lifestyle movement that imagines an alternate world where 19th-century steam power and clockwork machinery kept advancing instead of being replaced by electricity and electronics. Machines run on steam, gears, cogs, brass pipes, and dials rather than digital microchips.
Stories and styles typically take place during the 19th-century Industrial Revolution or an imaginary Victorian/Edwardian era. While it borrows from the 1980s cyberpunk naming convention, the “punk” in steampunk represents a DIY crafting ethic, independence, and a rebellion against modern disposable consumer culture but pretty much anything goes. Goth, Victorian, the Mandalorian, explorers, plague doctors, Poe, fairies, Around the world in 80 days, and numerous other influences from Jules Verne to H.G. Wells.
The main aspect is having fun with whatever you choose to create and making friends and having a good time. People often wear top hats, corsets, leather goggles, and brass accessories. Most people start out with an elaborate hat and accessorize as they attend more events as there are booths full of great ideas. Gathering a mood board and collecting small hardware items like springs, old keys, and gears is a good way to start any steampunk crafting session.
Key Clothing Pieces
Corsets and Waist Cinchers: Worn over blouses or shirts to create a classic Victorian silhouette.
Vests and Waistcoats: Structured layers in velvet, brocade, or tweed for both men and women.
Shirts and Blouses: High-neck ruffled blouses or crisp collared button-downs.
Skirts and Trousers: High-waisted, tiered, or asymmetrical skirts (often shorter in the front and longer in the back) paired with tailored or striped trousers.
Essential Accessories
Goggles and Spectacles: Often worn perched on a top hat or across the forehead.
Hats: Top hats, bowler hats, or feathered mini-pillbox hats and fascinators.
Gear and Timepieces: Pocket watches on chains, brass jewelry, and decorative cogs.
Footwear and Gear Bags: Sturdy leather lace-up boots and utility belts with pouches or satchels
vendorbirdman
The Steampunk Capital of the world is in Oamaru, New Zealand.
Steampunk HQ was founded in 2011 by a group of creative minds (Don Patterson, Jac Grenfell and Brian de Geest), who were passionate about Steampunk, and showcasing it to the public. They are constantly working with talented individuals to collaborate on projects and expand their collection.
Steampunk HQ promotes sustainability and recycling; it features an interesting collection of retro-futuristic sci-fi art, movies, sculpture and sound.
Oamaru’s Victorian precinct (historical building) is the perfect setting for steampunk, as the architecture is a great backdrop for this alternative version of 19th century England.
Let me know if you have attended a similar festival and what you liked most about it!
Long before glowing smartphones and endless streaming algorithms fractured our evenings, Sunday nights belonged to a single living room ritual: turning on CBS at 8:00 PM to see what Ed Sullivan had brought into the living room.
For twenty-three years, from 1948 to 1971, Sullivan served as America’s grand master of ceremonies. Unlikely as it seemed—with his stiff posture, trademark hunch, and famously dry delivery—he possessed an incomparable knack for giving everyone in the house a reason to gather around the tube.
Ed Sullivan was popular because his Sunday night variety show offered a unique “window to the world” with something for every family member. On any given Sunday, 30 to 40 million viewers tuning in might witness: Opera singers belting a classic aria followed immediately by graceful ballet dancers, plate-spinners, acrobat troupes, ventriloquists, and trained animals doing backflips. Fiery rock ‘n’ roll legends, soothing folk singers, and soulful Motown hitmakers sharing the same stage. It was a delightful, eclectic mix where a teenager waiting for a pop star had to sit politely through a classical violinist, and a grandparent tuning in for a big band tune might just end up tapping their foot to rock ‘n’ roll.
Beyond the glitz, Sullivan was a quiet pioneer with a big heart. During a time of deep segregation, he routinely defied racist sponsor pressures and southern station resistance, insisted on booking prominent Black performers, and championed talents like Nat King Cole, Ella Fitzgerald, James Brown, and The Supremes on prime-time national television.
He also had a uncanny pulse on youth culture:
Elvis Presley’s 1956 appearances popularized rock and roll globally, despite network censors famously filming him only from the waist up to hide his provocative dancing. The Beatles made their legendary U.S. television debut on the show in February 1964, watched by an estimated 73 million people, which instantly ignited nationwide fandom.
The stage hosted breakthrough performances from foundational acts like the Rolling Stones, the Doors, and the Supremes. Young or counter-cultural comedians—including George Carlin, Richard Pryor, and Woody Allen—gained mainstream viability after performing on the program.
By the time the curtain finally fell in March 1971(after 23 years on the air) as networks shifted toward modern, youth-focused programming, The Ed Sullivan Show had left an indelible mark on history—a charming relic of a time when the whole family, and indeed the whole country, shared the very same front-row seat.
Many years ago, I took my nephews to a kite festival and they were just as enchanted as I to see all the various kites flying above them. Today there are much more elaborate kites available, and on show in abundance this past weekend. Kite flying apparently originated in ancient China over 2,000 years ago. (some say South Pacific)
A quaint little Ontario town by the name of Hopeville located just west of Dundalk held the largest kite festival in the province Saturday, Aug 29 through Sunday, Aug 30th., which turned out to be “a magical weekend of flight, music, food and more.”
Although it is a free event, organizers welcome donations to help put on the festival year after year. The festival address is 125849 Southgate Rd. 12 in Dundalk, Ontario and if you missed it this year, you will likely be able to catch it next August as it is an annual event. The Hopeville Kite Festival is proudly funded by the Government of Ontario. The Family Fun Zone is made possible by a grant from Community Foundation Grey Bruce.
Attendees could bring their own kites or purchase one at the venue — the festival welcomes flyers of every skill level. There was a designated fly zone for the public and many people brought their own lawn chairs just to sit and marvel at all the kites soaring above and around them. Where else would you be able to see an ice cream cone flying about. Not to mention an astronaut, a sea horse, a tall ship, octopi, fish, and dragons. You could get dizzy just from having to swivel your head around to catch them all.
Gone fishingOctopusRacingspiky collarOctopus
Tip: The ultimate trick to flying a kite is maintaining tension on the string. Always stand with your back to the wind, let the kite catch the breeze, and pull gently on the line when it dips or feed it line when it climbs. Never let the line go completely slack.
Some interesting facts regarding kites:
The smallest kite in the world which actually flies is 5mm high.
The largest number of kites flown on a single line is 11,284. This record is held by a Japanese kite maker.
The longest kite in the world is 7,700 metres in length.
The largest kite in the world is the Megabite 55 x 22 metres (630sq metres).
The fastest recorded speed of a kite is over 120 mph. (193 km/h).
The record for the highest single kite flown is 3801 metres (12,471ft).
Some Japanese kites weigh over 2 tons. And some of the longest Chinese Dragon kites are over 600 metres long.
You do not need wind to fly a kite.
Kite flying is one of the fastest growing sports in the world.
More adults in the world fly kites than children.
People were flying kites 1,000 years before paper was invented.
The first powered aircraft were large box kites with motors fitted to them.
Kites have been used for fishing, bird scaring, delivering mail and papers, forecasting the weather and frightening evil spirits away.
Benjamin Franklin used a kite to prove that lightning was electricity.
What began as a community kite festival has grown into an event that attracts professional kite flyers from across North America and visitors from Ontario and beyond. Now in its fourth year, the Hopeville Kite Festival continues to combine the excitement of a major kite display with the welcoming atmosphere of a rural Ontario community.
If you have never had the opportunity to experience a kite flying festival, let your inner child emerge and attend one.
Upcoming 2026 Kite Festivals in Ontario
New Park Unveiling (Newmarket): September 19–20, 2026
Kites in the Field (Lucknow): September 26–27, 2026
Eau To Joy on the Beach (Erieau): October 17–18, 2026
In my previous post of June 11th (On a Carousel trying to catch up with you) I mentioned that I would be going to see this antique carousel in St. Catharines and how excited I would be to see it; and it did not disappoint! Every hand carved animal and chariot has been lovingly restored to its former glory by a group called Friends of the Carousel who help to keep it maintained with some help from City Council and public donations.
The Lakeside Carousel was carved between 1898 and 1905 in Brooklyn, New York by Charles I.D. Looff’s factory workers. The carousel was relocated in 1921 from its earlier home at an amusement park in Scarborough to St. Catharines. It was purchased for the amusement park flourishing in Port Dalhousie, which had 58 attractions. In those days, more than a quarter million people annually crossed the lake in steamships to visit Port Dalhousie on weekends. The carousel has 68 animals, including horses, lions, camels, goats and giraffes, plus four chariots. The accompanying music is played by an antique Frati band organ which uses a system of paper music rolls to serenade riders. Each animal was hand carved, and the horses still have real horsehair tails.
Lion
The Lakeside Park Carousel is one of approximately 350 antique hand-carved carousels still operating in North America – only nine of which are in Canada. The original Looff lion on the Lakeside Park Carousel is one of five existing Looff lions in North America and it is the only one that has its head turned to watch onlookers as it circles by.
The second lion on the Carousel was carved in 2004 by the Friends of the Carousel to replace the original lion that was stolen in the 1970s. One of the stipulations on selling the carousel to the City of St. Catharines was that the fee for riding the carousel would remain at 5 cents. This is the kind of attraction that you should take your kids and grandkids to see, not just for the history but for the genuine craftsmanship that went into its making and the fun of riding around in a circle with no place you have to be.
“The most beautiful discovery true friends make is that they can grow separately without growing apart.”
There are four types of friendship –
Acquaintances – those you have at work or school but don’t make plans with outside of that sphere, and those that you meet on your travels.
Casual friends are those in your group that you see from time to time and enjoy their company but don’t go out of your way to pursue. Those you share hobbies with or light-hearted social engagements.
Close Friends are those you get together with and have deep, philosophical discussions, catch movies together, go out to dine from time to time and have the same values. You know you can trust them and they provide a space where you can vent and grow without being judged.
Lifelong Friends are those that know where the bodies are buried. They have and will always have your back. When they call and ask you to come and pick them up no matter where or when, you go no questions asked because they would do the same for you.
True friends stab you in the front – Oscar Wilde
I think you need to have the ability to laugh at yourself and take the piss out of a friend that is getting too high on themselves and you should do all right in life! Gauche, but true, live, love and laugh.
If you should choose to have yourself cremated instead of buried in a cemetery perfectly preserved in whatever state you happened to be in when the grim reaper knocked on your door; there are certainly several methods available to you. Some of the conservative ways are to have your ashes put into an urn and then in a grave or interred into what looks like mailboxes at your local UPS store or placing the urn on your mantelpiece, provided you have a fireplace at home.
We are not interested in boring, we want the dramatic. If we can’t have a Viking shooting an arrow out over the water to set the barge with our remains on fire then – we might consider some of the alternatives in the list below.
Underwater Reefs: Ashes are mixed with environmentally safe concrete to form a reef ball placed on the ocean floor, helping to rebuild marine habitats.
Vinyl Records: Some services press ashes into a functioning vinyl record, which can include a personalized soundtrack or recorded voice messages.
Aerial Scattering: Ashes can be released during a skydive, often from over 10,000 feet, allowing them to disperse over a significant landscape.
Cremation Diamonds: Carbon can be extracted from the ashes to create synthetic diamonds which can then be set into jewelry.
Hot Air Balloon or Drone Release: Ashes can be scattered from a hot air balloon or a drone over a scenic location for an aerial tribute.
Glass Art Pieces: Ashes are mixed with hot glass by artisans to create unique, colorful vases, paperweights, or ornaments.
Memorial Tattoo Ink: Remains are sterilized and mixed with tattoo ink, allowing for a permanent memorial tatto
Space Burial: A portion of remains can be launched into space, with options for orbiting the Earth, traveling to the moon, or entering a deep-space journey.
Memorial Fireworks: Stuffed into fireworks so we can light up the sky one last time and shower sparks and ashes on the family and friends below
An Hourglass: Taking some of the ashes, putting them in an hourglass and using it to mark the time at family game nights, probably a preferable option if you spent most of your time at these games, yelling at your opponents or trash talking them. A quieter alternative, if you will.
Which ever method you choose, I feel it is vital that you honour the wishes of the person who requested it upon their death.
When my brother died, he had left instructions that his ashes were to be spread in various places in Ontario and a few in PEI. If you are of the mind that you will be reincarnated, this may become tricky; however we did do this for him. As this was not technically legal, we were very subversive in carrying out his instructions.
My brother had a certain sardonic sense of humour. I was to spread his ashes at the place where he worked, the place he lived most of his adult life, the grounds of the house where he lived when he died, and the garden at the house we grew up in. The first three were relatively easy and all in the same City. The last, not so much! Our old house had been torn down and a huge mansion built in its place and most of the garden had disappeared but there were a few bushes near the road just off their driveway.
My older brother and my best friend had come with me for moral support. He, however, parked the car at the end of the road in case the cops came and they could make a quick getaway leaving me to explain the situation. That’s a different kind of support! I had some of the ashes in a film canister and casually dropped them in the bushes as I languidly walked by the driveway. Thankfully no one came out to ask what I was doing, no alarms went off, no dogs barking, etc. We had pulled it off!
Even though there was some concern on my part, I respected his wishes and I hope that when my time comes, my family will respect mine. How would you like your remains to be scattered? Were there some methods I have left out that you would prefer?
Typically, men get old, they retire and they spend the rest of their lives golfing, fishing, hiking. etc. or sitting in a rocker on a porch watching the world go by.
My brother, although he does golf, does not sit around much. His wife sees to that! He has however always been involved in hockey; most Canadians have tried the sport at one time or another. He has played in leagues for decades and just recently was inducted into the 80+ hockey hall of fame.
The 80+ Hockey Hall of Fame is a non-profit organization which nationally recognizes active recreational players 80 years of age and over. You can get more details at http://www.hockey80plus.com
I just wanted to give a shout out to him because I think it is quite an accomplishment, he may not have the speed he once had but I know he enjoys the camaraderie and social aspects of the game. The games are non-contact so not so rough, but the prowess and stick handling is still there. Congratulations old man!
When adventure calls
I have been lucky enough to have travelled to some of the most beautiful places on earth but there are still many places I'd like to see.
