Peter VS Presto

It’s been an interesting week for me, as I have been having problems with my “Presto Card”. For years I have purchased a monthly transit pass. I appreciated the economy and convenience and the utility which my monthly pass offered. I proudly carried it in my left back pocket for ease of access. However, as transit in the Greater Toronto Area began to change in scope, the”powers that be” announced the advent of the “Presto Card” program, and they began phasing out tickets, tokens, transfers and passes, inter alia.

Peter Returns to Music

(Strap in for a very interesting column today. I had to leave a lot on the “cutting room floor”, but I hope you’ll find the journey worth it in the end.)

Some say that music took its first baby steps when Grok banged a rock against a hollow log, or against Gork’s a) head. b) As civilization blossomed, a basic framework for music was established and rules of composition were composed. Growing intelligence, innovation and industry led to the development of musical instruments. Some faded away to obscurity pretty rapidly, (exhibit number one, the krumhorn) while others still exist in modified form, such as the sackbut, which is a form of trombone and is available for purchase on line.

Pat Blythe: Keeping the music alive…one “note” at a time

It has indeed been a busy summer for everyone. 2016 has been a peculiar, curious and rather dramatic year. A year of extreme change, upheavals, death, excessive busyness, new connections, sheer stupidity, life transformations and adjustments — nothing has been minor. It’s all been “in our faces”, screaming and shouting at us, begging us to take notice, pleading with us to address whatever is coming at us.  I think many will be glad to see the back end of 2016 and look forward with hope to 2017. No, this is not a ‘year-end’ column, just a bit of reflection on the summer that seemingly whizzed by and all that happened in just that short timeframe.

JAIMIE VERNON – ALL THINGS MUST PASS

I was hoping to go a full week without reporting another celebrity death. But we’ve had half-a-dozen since the passing of The Eagles’ Glenn Frey including actor Abe Vigoda (‘Barney Miller’, ‘The Godfather’) whose website has finally been changed to no longer read the whimsical “still alive” message.

JAIMIE VERNON – FREE TO BE U2 AND ME