Say It Ain't So

Outside of Davey Keon, Johnny Bower was my favourite hockey player.

The ageless wonder played when goalies were goalies.

He also played when the world was in black & white. Colour was only invented sometime in the late 60's.

And after his playing career he was a constant presence at Maple Leaf hockey games.  Shaking hands and smiling every time the camera turned toward him.

Which was often, as (long suffering) Leaf fans haven't had much to cheer about since he retired.

He was the greatest ambassador the Leafs ever had - and will ever have.

We will all miss you, Johnny.

A buddy and my tribute to the last of those great Leafs teams.

[In case you are scratching your head, it's been not since 67 that the Leafs won the Stanley Cup.]

Finally, I Now Know What Excites Women!

And all that wining and dining......

Too Good To Be True?

A diet that encourages eating fat?

Wait. What?

There is an article in today's Globe & Mail that discusses just that.  Here is the link; Minimal Carbs Lots Of Fat. 

Turns out I just read this guy's book.

Now I am not necessarily fat, but this is more about reducing inflammation markers in your blood.  So I've tried to cut the carbs to reduce blood sugars.  And increase the fat.

Crazy?  Maybe, but even my doctor told me to do it.

Whoda thunk it.  After all these years, bacon & eggs is a health breakfast.

What's The Over/Under......

....on how soon these jokers wind up in jail, in Lithuania.

Some Background
LiAngelo Ball, on the left, was one of three UCLA basketball players arrested for shoplifting during a tournament in China. 

They were thrown in jail and faced ten years in prison.  Trump intervened with the President of China and had them sent home.

UCLA suspended them.  LaVar Ball, LiAngelo's father, then pulled his son off the team.

LaVar now has him, and his younger brother, LaMelo, on the right, playing pro ball in Lithuania.

How long will it take for things to south for them over there?


[BTW, LaVar blamed the UCLA coaches for his son's arrest.  Papa Ball said the coaches should have enforced stronger rules during the trip. Uh huh.]

I Finally Bought The Farm........

.....Equipment company.



[Okay, so I poached this from my Instagram account - so sue me. I don't know how to use it anyway...]

Another (Beautiful) One Bites The Dust

So looks like Hurricane Irma knocked one tree over that didn't damage my ride.

But she also knocked one over that was my favourite in all of the town.

Here is a picture of two big beautiful, and old, Banyan trees, as they used to be.

My fav is on the right, and here is a link (I Knew Things Were Old) to find out more about it, also in better days. Some of the pics in that link show the incredible majesty of those trees.

And here they are today, after Irma.

And, a Before & After in incredible 3D Surround Sound.....

[Double click to zoom in, eh.]

The one on the left was uprooted when a tornado blew through a year ago. As you can see, it's sort of growing back.

But they had to completely take down his partner of the right.

But he didn't go down without a fight.  It took those tree cutting guys a long, long time to cut that behemoth up......

....and haul him away.

Meanwhile, a couple of blocks over, the extent of damage at Mia Casa?  Ha! 

Is that all ya got, Irma?

[Okay, I wasn't such a big shot when I was lying like a baby on the floor when she came screaming up through the Gulf in September.]

Unbelievable!

I was at a bar last night (that's not the unbelievable part) and start talking to a guy beside me, who lives a few miles away.

I asked him how his place fared after Hurricane Irma.  He said, fine.

Then he asked me the same.  I said, Fine, except a tree fell on my car.

Buddy says, there was a lot of that. I saw a car with a huge tree lying on top of it.  I think I have a picture somewhere.


Dude, That's My Car!

What are the chances?  Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all.....

For those not in the know, here are some earlier, non-stranger pics of my baby in the aftermath of Hurricane Irma.

Ouff, day after Irma pic.

At least our condo was still standing.

Ouff, Part Deux.  That's gotta hurt.

One buddy said he thought he saw a palm frond sticking through the top.

Upon further inspection, I think a palm tree saved it as it broke the fall of the big boy.  And therefore it ended up just wrapping my little guy in a warm, leafy embrace.

Of course, at the time, didn't know that and thinking the worst.

This was actually the night before Irma, when tales of 15 foot storms surges and 140 mph winds danced through my squirrelly little head.

But a month later, five fellows with chain saws spent an entire day and voila - good as new.