Monthly Archives: February 2012

The Hespeler Legion Road Hockey Allstars


Saturday February 11th was Hockey day in Canada and from Whitehorse in the West to St.John’s in the East and all points in between  the game of Hockey was Celebrated in all it’s glory and here in Cambridge it was no different. As High Noon approached the winter warriors started to arrive and assembled at Legion branch 272 to prepare for another round of the battle between the Blue and Red, and this year was a benefit in the name of Fred Maltby who had passed away recently. The usual bravado was displayed by the combatants who joked with each other and tried to come up with new insults for each other and if the truth be known a grudging respect floated around the room as everyone was just looking forward to a little fresh air, exercise and perhaps a fleeting moment of glory.  As for the game, well it was as expected, there were some great plays and plenty of jawing at each other and of course the beer breaks that were almost as welcomed as a bathroom break(at least for me). And again it doesn’t matter who won or who scored it was all in good fun and as usual no ambulances were required.

The previous two years I had a video to go with these storys but this year I was actually playing and as such had no real pictures to use, but if you follow the links here you can see the video from the previous two events.  2010    2011     And here is a picture of the 2012 Hespeler Legion Road Hockey Allstars

Annie and Stevie


The title of this story refers to two of my favorite woman in the world of popular music. One is very well-known while the other may be known to some but not to most music fans except for the truly hard-core fans. Stevie is of Course Stevie Nicks of Fleetwood Mac fame while the Annie is Annie Haslam a British singer songwriter of immense talent. They both have a lot in common, they came to fame as members of a popular act, Nicks with Fleetwod mac and Haslam with Renaissance a progressive rock band of the early 70′s, Annie was born in June of 1947 while Stevie was born less than a year later in May 1948. They have both been involved with fellow musicians that influenced their respective careers, Nicks was dating Lindsay Buckingham when they both joined Fleetwood Mac while Haslam was engaged for 4 years to Roy Wood an English Musician and the man who Produced her first solo album in 1977,  Stevie Nicks has released 7 solo albums and Annie Haslam has released 8. The two also have a few small things in common including the way they moved and the attire that they wore during their 70′s period, Stevie Nicks is known for her mystical image, her billowing chiffon skirts, shawls, layers of lace and long blonde hair, Annie Haslam had almost the same look during her day’s with Renaissance, and Both Woman battled health problems during their careers, Haslam with breast Cancer and Nicks with Drug addiction. While Stevie has enjoyed a more high-profile music career, Annie has nothing to be ashamed of as to her fans it is just as important. but you can be the judge of that.

Stevie Nicks 1974

Annie 1976

Sunday at Jacobs landing


Just some pictures from a walk with the dog.

The Beginning of the Benefit Concert


Every year it seems there is another benefit concert for someone or some cause that is close to a celebrity’s heart. We have had benefits for SARS, Aids,No nuke Benefits,Farm Aid, there was even one in 1976 called self-aid that was held in Dublin to address the chronic unemployment situation in Ireland at the time. There was the Concert for New York City that was held after 9/11 and Amnesty international continues to run benefit concerts to help their cause. Almost all of the top musical acts of their generation have appeared at these shows to show their support for the causes, from Abba to ZZ Top and everyone in between have shown up at one time or another.

But at one time these type of shows were unheard of, at least until George Harrison got the ball rolling, The Concert For Bangladesh in August of 1971 was the biggest gathering of musicians to appear at a fund-raiser ever up till that point, the list of whom appeared is legendary and the movie that came out of it is still moving to see. Beside George Harrison there was Ringo Starr,Leon Russell,Bob Dylan,Eric Clapton,Ravi Shankar and Badfinger to name just a few. The soundtrack contains some of the best collaborations around and  Leon Russell electrified the Madison Square Garden crowd with his version of Jumping Jack Flash/Youngblood that still is considered one of the highlights of the 70′s. The concert raised almost $300,000, and the film and CD sales still makes money for the George Harrison Fund for UNICEF. As for the other two beatles that did not show up..John lennon was going to show but Harrison did not want Yoko and while Lennon was originally ok with that a few day’s before the show he changed his mind and headed to london while Paul McCartney  declined because of the bad feelings caused by The Beatles’ legal problems on their break-up. “George came up and asked if I wanted to play Bangla Desh and I thought, blimey, what’s the point? We’re just broken up and we’re joining up again? It just seemed a bit crazy,”

While the concert was considered a success and did indeed raise money but by 1985 despite having made over 12 million for the Bangladesh refugees most of it was still tied up by the American internal revenue service because the organizers had not filed the proper tax exempt papers.  You can read more about the Concert at this link  CONCERT FOR BANGLADESH 

What if?


What if February 3rd 1959 had never happened? What if plane # N3794N did not develop trouble and never crashed at around 1am in Clear Lake Ohio and Buddy Holly, J.P.(The big Bopper) Richardson and Richie Valens were allowed to continue their lives as you or I can do? Would it have made a difference to the music world? One can only imagine Richie Valens being a guiding light for artists like Carlos Santana and even doing some side work with Carlos, being an inspiration for many Latin American kids as he piled up many hits thru the ’60′s and becoming known as the grandfather of Latin Rock and perhaps allowing  some of the under privileged Latinos a chance to escape the poverty of their life and allowing them to have an inspiration to help on their way. Hell, he most likely would have been playing at President Obama’s Inauguration.
The Big Bopper? Well who knows what would have become of him but I sense he could have become another Wolfman Jack type of personality that would spin his favorite tunes to a generation of young men and woman looking for something different to grove to and occasional release a Country and Western song that would keep his name in the news.
But Buddy Holly, now there was no stopping him if “The Day the Music Died” had never happened. A tour with the beatles, an album with Mick Jagger, perhaps in the 70′s the ultimate Rock and Roll tour. He would have had a few more hits but would more than likely been able to write a few hits for other artists and then like Johnny Cash , Rick Rubin would have gotten a hold of Buddy and record a few albums in the same vein as “American Recordings” bringing his back into the public spotlight and allowing him to retire gracefully from the industry he helped form.
But alas is was not to be as the plane did not stay in the air and the three young men died instantly leaving us all to wonder, What if?