cktimes.ca Archives for Notes from a Garage


Notes from a Garage

With John Gardiner

National award winner at cktimes, a REALLY dumb idea, pitiful, Jed, just pitiful and Marlon

Tuesday, March 8, 2005

Back for another week with cktimes.ca. And some big news this week. Yours truly has been awarded a Canadian Urban Institute Community Leadership Award in the Local Heroes category. I am greatly honoured to have received this award and feel that perhaps someone is indeed noticing what we're doing down here in Chatham-Kent. And what are we doing? We're building our community and trying to make it a better place to live. I believe that if we worked at it we could dispell the huge cloud of negativity that currently hangs over this planet. We've got to start somewhere trying to make a positive difference, why not with a good news paper in Chatham-Kent. Already I've been contacted by one Bill Hetherington, formerly of Wallaceburg but now of the Kingston area, and Bill has launched amherstview.ca in the image of cktimes.ca. Maybe we can build a network of good news newspapers that encircle the earth. Think about it! Then, help me make it happen!

So, here's one of the dumbest things I've ever heard. One of my morning coffee buddies comes in the other morning with the news that his wife's been in a fender bender earlier that morning. "Much damage?" I ask politely. "Oh, it just broke the back bumper," he answers. "It broke the back bumper?" I ask. "Yea, well it's just plastic...." he answers. What!!!!! How can a car bumper be made out of plastic? It's a "bumper" – it's for people to accidentally bump into – that's what it's there for. Or at least that's what it's always been there for. Until now.....in the age of nonsense and silliness. Now, bumpers are made out of plastic and aren't really bumpers at all. In fact, they're probably more unbumpers or nonbumpers than they are bumpers. What rocket scientist came up with this great idea? Don't you ever think that the further we move ahead, the further back we really go. Strange, but true!

So, we were also back into the health care system this morning over coffee. Might I remind you that this was the best health care system in the world back when I was growing up. In this day and age, it's pitiful, Jed, just pitiful. Many people don't have a doctor, those who do can't get an appointment for weeks or months on end, we can't afford proper nurses in the system. And you know what the end result of this doctor thing is – the end of preventative medicine. I mean, nearly everyone I know has just quit going to the doctor on any type of a regular basis – it's just too much of a pain. The result is that people who would normally have gone to the doctor for an ache or pain are now taking more of a wait and see attitude – like maybe if I just tough this out, it'll go away and I won't have to put up with waiting for hours and hours to see the doctor for thirty seconds and he'll likely just tell me its a virus and there's nothing he can do. This is a very odd situation and one I wish the government would actually solve. It's not so bad for healthy people, but it's a real drag if you're sick.

Had a chance to see a real movie classic on the weekend – On the Waterfront with Marlon Brando. Wow! Darned thing kept me up until 2:30 Sunday morning. Great movie! It's the one where Brando delivers the lines, "I coulda been a contender, Charlie – I coulda been somebody". I'm not much of a late night person so it took a good movie to keep me up 'til such an hour. I saw Brando in movies like Last Tango in Paris and The Godfather when I was growing up, but I've never really understood the mystique that surrounded him as an actor. He always seemed somewhat pompous and overblown. He always seemed to get huge billing for appearing for a few minutes – like in Apocolypse Now. I couldn't figure it out. But I have now. Watch Brando in his early days and you'll see passion and fire on the screen – you'll see an intensity that actors today can only dream about. I didn't even give him a second thought when he died – now I mourn his passing.

Ever wonder whether we're actually evolving? Well, imagine watching a guy pumping gas into your car with a cigarette hanging out of his mouth – it was the way it was when I was a kid. Strange, but true.

Too bad about NHL hockey, although I heard a funny one – What's the good side of the NHL situation? Well, the Leafs are having an undefeated season! Hooray!

Out of time for another week – hope you're having an okay time and doing alright at this life stuff. I'm stumbling a bit these days. 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.