WHO In Their Right Minds

So the WHO (World Health Organization) has done it again with the fear mongering.

They are saying an ingredient in many popular products contains a substance that possibly causes cancer.

Aspartame has to be one of the most studied and investigated products of all time.

The US FDA, on the other hand, approved it way back in 1981.  After extensive testing.

And they have strong disagreements with WHO's current characterization of this.

From the testing results, yes, it could be a possible carcinogen, but you would have to drink 36 cans of Diet Coke, every day, to be at any risk.  

So sure - to paraphrase Joe Jackson - everything gives you cancer.

Come on, WHO.  They just can't help themselves with these crazy, scary pronouncements.

Now, I don't drink Diet Coke, so don't really care.

But if they ever put Aspartame in beer.......

Old School

 

What Is She Thinking?!

Paddle boarding is becoming quite popular. Great exercise and a lot of fun.

But, as you will find out if you try it in Ontario, fraught with danger!

So, can you spot all the things this girl is doing wrong?

Come on, it's easy!

No lifejacket.

No leash. 

No whistle.

And not one ounce of common sense.

Here, good citizens of Ontario, is how you should be outfitted.

Wait, is she smiling?  She should be concentrating the entire time!

The reason I found this out was my friend's daughter - and I am now questioning my judgement in having a friend with a daughter like this - was out paddle boarding with, you got it.....no life jacket, no leash and incredibly, no whistle. 

And the reason my friend found out about this - and his daughter is alive today to talk about it - an OPP water patrol officer stopped her, I mean saved her, and gave her a $250 fine. 

He said she was lucky he did not also fine her $250 for no leash and another $250 for no whistle. No whistle?  It should be $500 for no whistle.

The rest of the world could be courting disaster at every turn, but in Ontario, you know you will always be safe.

Awk!

This girl should be in jail!

"We're Still Standing!"

In tribute to Elton John's final concert last night on his Goodbye Yellow Brick Road tour - not that we are going anywhere - but attended my 50th high school reunion this weekend. 

And can report that the gang is still standing strong.

But truthfully, apart from standing and waving we were mainly sitting and talking and eating and telling stories of daring do.

So Sir Elton might not be putting this tribute up on his fridge, but not too shabby on our part, in my opinion!

Another Feel Good Story - This Time Canadian

Was up in North Bay last weekend.  Sauntering around some side streets, came across a mural painted down an alley.

Didn't think much of it, black and white, running about half the length of the alley.

But I was waiting for a pal, so decided to take a closer look.

And holy cow - someone has painted a mural all of famous Canadian musicians.  And as I later found out, there are 38 of them honoured here.

So here is my attempt to identify them. I'm going to need help with some I don't recognize and some I may not have right.

But here goes.....

[Click on each picture to zoom in.]

One more......

Absolutely amazing.

So who did this?

Canadian airbrush mural artist Jeff Marceau, from North Bay.

He said after the death of Tragically Hip frontman Gord Downie in 2017 (was it that long ago?!), he felt he needed to do something to pay tribute to him. 

And with Leonard Cohen dying the year before, he would honour him as well with an airbrushed mural.

So he started the mural half way down the alley, with Gord & Leonard, and worked his way towards the street.

He had originally planned only to do the two of them and then thought...well, you can imagine what he thought. And he carried on.

It's a little after Canada Day, I know, but it's always a good time for some Canadiana.

Feel Good Story For Canada Day

 

Vanilla had spent her entire 28 years of life caged in a New York primate research facility.

That was until she was recused and moved to the Save The Chimps sanctuary in Florida.

At first she is hesitant to come out of her enclosure.

But the Alpha male at her new home, Dwight, coaxes her to come outside and she jumps into his arms for a big hug.

And then the look of wonder.

The video then shows her running through the grass and every few moments just stopping and staring up at the sky. 

Pretty good stuff.

From The "Why Didn't I Think Of That" File

 

Able bodied people pretending to need wheelchairs so they can pre-board.

Outrageous!  Or......

Brilliant!

And even better, I'm not sure what the curative powers of pre-boarding are, but this fellow said of the 20 boarding in wheelchairs, only 6 needed them when they landed.

Truly a miracle!

 

Work, Work, Work

 

Could This Man Be From...Florida?

 

Quite likely.  

And pretty sure someone must have uttered "Hold my beer" prior to this.

Don't think I'd be wading around in those waters either.

Then again, I'm not a Florida Man.

Well, not like those guys, anyway.

Huh?

 

Who'da thunk it?

Modelo is now the best selling beer in America. Now that Bud Light self imploded.

But how could that be?

What about Miller Lite?  What about Yuengling? What about PBR?

Well the analyst explains it in the bottom chyron.

Must be thirsty work crossing the border.

Or landscaping.....

You Know You're Paying Too Much....

 

....when your travel agent is in Rosedale and has a name like this.....

Birthday Gift For Some Gals I Know.....

 

Not surprisingly, this shirt is from Key West.

Good Anniversary Gift For Some Folks I Know....

 

Wow

 

I did not know that......

Apocalypse Now?

 

With all the wildfires burning, top is a picture of New York yesterday.  

Truly dystopian.  

And just to show you how dystopian, the bottom picture is from the Sci Fi movie Blade Runner.

Even Hollywood couldn't imagine anything like this!

Truly distressing? Or take a page from the old R.E.M. song

"It's the end of the world as we know it and I feel fine..."

Disaster has been staring us in the face for a long time.

In the meantime, Canucks are taking it on the chin all over....

.

  The last line being a reference to the old South Park song, Blame Canada. 

Toe Injury?

 

Toe injury?

Are you kidding me?

In 1964 Bobby Baun scored a game winning goal in overtime in the playoffs on a broken leg.

He was carried off on a stretcher and was presumed to be out for the remainder of the series. 

During the intermission, Baun refused to have his ankle X-rayed. Instead, he insisted it be frozen and came out for the overtime session.

And scored the feakin' game winning goal.

And the Leafs went on to win the Stanley Cup.  On my birthday!

I'm guessing that some of today's players want a safe place to go to when they get a boo boo. Or an injured toe.

Don't get me wrong. Arron Judge is an amazing player and seemingly, one of the nicest players in baseball.

But come on, he's making $40 million a year!

And to go on the injured list - for a toe injury?!

The greatest generation consisted of 18 year olds storming the beach......

 

  

Teeth? Sounds Like He Was Obsessed With Sex

 

What a piece of....work....that guy was.

Too Many

 It's amazing what you don't see when you are looking around.

I walk by this memorial almost every day and only just realized it is another one with the top sheared off, often indicating a life cut short.

I checked out the plaque and, unfortunately, that was the case.

Here is the inscription:

"In loving memory Joseph Tackleberry Walker, Lieutenant, 58th battalion cef,  third son of Frederick Walker who fell at the Battle of the Somme, France while leading a bombing attack, September 20th 1916, age 28 years, 3 days"

A short five months after the subject of Monday's post, Lieutenant Clifton Horsey, age 26, died in France.

Too many young lives cut short. But their sacrifices are long lived.

As long as we continue to value the freedoms their sacrifices brought. 

But today, I don't know.

As has been said many times the greatest generation consisted of 18 year old kids storming the beaches at Normandy. And now, a few generations later, some 18-year-old kids want to hide in safe rooms when they hear words that hurt their feelings. 

I would think they would be well served by reading the following poem, written by Canadian soldier, surgeon and poet John McCrae in 1915.

This has always been a favourite poem of mine, as it was also one of my mother's favourites.

Why?

She was born in 1915 and went to the same Guelph high school as John McCrae, where by the time she was in high school he was a treasured alumni.  He died in 1918, during WWI in France.

Read that poem again.

Read it to your kids.

That Didn't Take Long

So yesterday's post was about a tree that finally toppled into the Moore Park Ravine.

Well this morning another tree has fallen - across the hiking path this time.

Another One Bites The Dust

The only upside to this is I'm sure all the cyclists who come racing down this path way too fast got a nasty surprise.

And we all know about these mamils.  

You don't?

Middle Aged Men In Lyrca.  The scourge of hiking trails everywhere!

But fallen tress ae a part of life.

And death, as minutes later I saw this fallen tree branch in Toronto's Mount Pleasant Cemetery.

Hey, that could have killed somebody!