cktimes.ca Archives for Notes from a Garage


Notes from a Garage

With John Gardiner

A trip to see the grandkids, the war in Iraq and some great live music

Tuesday, May 20, 2003

Back for another week and kind of a slow week for cktimes. Sorry, folks, but I simply had to take my wife up to see her grandkids in Barrie over the long weekend and that meant missing some of your events. One of the big problems with doing this the way I am is that I'm literally working 24-7 in most cases. That means very little time to get away to visit family and friends. But I knew what I was getting into when I started cktimes and I'm in this for the long haul. I really believe that this little newspaper can make a difference. The more I'm exposed to the mainstream media, the more I know I've got to try to keep cktimes on the rails. We need more good news in our lives, folks. While we were up in Barrie, I was watching a few minutes of TV with my wife's daughter and it happened to be news time. We didn't make it through – another suicide bomber – a bus crash that killed 47 – and on and on. I'm sorry but I don't really need to know all this evil stuff. In fact, I'm convinced it can have a bad effect on your life. No, cktimes must soldier on and we have to try to continue to bring you good news and to make you feel better about where you live and who you are.

Speaking of being in an awkward situation, there I was the other night sitting around a table with a whole lot of former soldiers (retired) and the topic of the war in Iraq came up. Well, I knew I should have kept my mouth shut, but eventually I got drawn into it. And I expressed my view – we should have killed the Iraqis and overthrown Saddam with kindness, not bombs. Of course, I was immediately told that you can't solve problems and deal with mad dictators by being nice to them – that I'm far too idealistic and, by inference, silly. Well, all I know is that we've never really tried to solve our problems any other way than through violence – and hasn't that worked well. Half the world is at each other's throats and the other half is starving – good work if you can get it. Maybe I am being overly idealistic talking about flower power and all that stuff here in 2003, but I'd like to see if we could work things out if there was no recourse to violence. Imagine a huge spaceship hovers over the earth and its occupants, who have enormously powerful weapons, won't let us fight each other any more. Every time we try to pick a fight with a fellow passenger of Spaceship Earth, we'd get zapped or something like that. If something like that happened, could we somehow resolve problems in a peaceable manner? I'd like to see us really try – for once.

Wow, what a night out at the Eight Ball Tavern last Wednesday as two great bands were featured in the Festival of Nation's Band Spotlight. Local group Carpedium is simply a blow-you-away outfit that can really rock a spot. The group features Mike Goldhawk and Dwayne Stephens and plays some incredibly complex and musically difficult stuff and makes it look pretty easy. The other group, Trole, were all young guys and, man, could those guys cook. They played a type of Stray Cats music, even featuring an upright bass and the cool sound that instrument adds to a group. In any case, I said to someone at the end of the night that there is indeed hope for live music. Great work! Great idea by Tony Meriano and his Festival of Nations' Entertainment Committee to operate this Band Spotlight. The Eight Ball has been packed most nights I've been there and I can't imagine you'd see a crowd like that on an ordinary Wednesday. You gotta love live music.

Had a chance to talk to local musical icon Tom Lockwood last week about the release of his new CD, Hands On. And what a great piece of work it is. But what else would you expect from one of Canada's great guitar players? That's right, folks! Tom Lockwood, the guy who hails from Chatham, is one of the very best guitar masters in the land and a local treasure. Tom will be doing a live show at the Cultural Centre on Sunday, June 1 and I'd like to encourage people to attend if they can. Not only will you have the chance to see and hear this great talent, but it's a chance to show your support for some of the great local talent we have in Chatham-Kent. Way to go, Tom.

Well, I've got most of my garden in this spring – really it's my wife's garden, but I like to claim a little ownership too. As the good people of Wallaceburg know, my gardening exploits are somewhat legend. My battle with the rabbits in our neighbourhood was a hot topic of conversation a few years back. Really, though, I truly enjoy mucking about in the dirt, although the results are usually somewhat mixed. My wife is the real gardener in this family and she continues to amaze me with all the great stuff she makes grow around our place. I really appreciate her efforts.

I've managed to watch the two Harry Potter movies over the last couple of weeks and, while they're good efforts, they're strictly kids' stuff to a guy like me who was raised on Star Trek. I found the plots simplistic and the special effects pretty basic, but, hey, these are kids' books and movies. And I could sort of understand some people's concerns about children getting caught up in the black arts through this stuff – not a big concern, but still a concern.

Anyway, out of time for another week. Thanks so much for supporting cktimes over the last number of months. Our numbers remain strong which means we're hitting a chord out there in the community. I'll keep trying to give you a good product and you keep reading.

Take care and remember..."Hew to the line; let the chips fall where they may."



John Gardiner is a 25-year-veteran of the community newspaper business, but he is also a prolific writer of moralistic short fiction he refers to as "emotional thoughtscapes" or "adult fables". Samples of his fiction can be found at:

He has also produced a noteworthy piece of humanist philosophy which can be found at: http://www.xs4all.nl/~aboiten/ad502.htm He welcomes comments on his work.