cktimes.ca Archives for Notes from a Garage


Notes from a Garage

With John Gardiner

My buddy Phil, watch us grow, frivilous living, rampant capitalism and rockin' 'n' rollin'

Tuesday, February 21, 2006

This week I'd be remiss if I didn't start off this column by writing about my good friend, Philip Shaw, and how incredibly proud I am of him. Phil is out on the trail this winter working hard for his farming friends, trying to get the message about a beleaguered farm economy to politicians who can make a difference. During the federal election campaign, Phil was called on to consult with the leaders of four of the major political parties and he's now much in demand as a farmer/spokesperson for his industry. I am cheering him on. He has the chance to make a difference in the hallways of power in this country. A long way from when he and I started Under the Agridome back in 1986 at the old Wallaceburg News. I could see then what a unique guy Phil was. And he's been the most faithful friend I've had – always there for me, even through the dark days. He told me one day he regards me as his mentor and I was extremely humbled. In many ways, the student has surpassed the teacher and gone on to great things in the wide world. I wish I could have been there today to see Phil speak on the national stage in Ottawa at the big farm rally. Way to go, Phil – that's one for all us little guys.

Phil was the first person to sign on to cktimes when I started this little paper. And it's starting to look like we're the little paper that can rather than the little paper that could. In January, we set a record of 168,200 hits and already this month we're on track to break that. In fact, we had two record-breaking days in one week last week – We broke our record for most hits in a day, then we broke it again. More and more people are tuning in each week. Why? Great local columns! Good news stories from across Chatham-Kent! Locally owned and locally operated by people who care about your community! We have what it takes! Watch us grow!

I don't know, folks, where I'm going in this life, but some very peculiar things are starting to bother me. For example, it bothers me that we spend so much time and money worrying about how we look – weight loss stuff, cosmetic surgery, hair care and on and on – while a significant number of people in this world are starving and dying because they're a little short on cash. African children dying because they can't afford a few dollars for mosquito netting. Farmers in Third World Countries who can't afford a few cents for fertilizer so they can grow enough to eat. How can we have so much in our corner of the world that we wantonly waste time, money and everything else on mainly frivilous things that don't really make much of a difference at all? Don't know, folks! Don't know what we're thinking.

I'm not sure what the answer is to world poverty. If you read this space regularly, you'll know how I feel. The world's economic system is seriously flawed – it disadvantages huge numbers of people through no fault of their own. If you happen to live in a part of the world that has no commodities that anybody wants, you're in serious trouble. I told a coffee mate this morning that I think we're in the beginning stages of a period of rampant capitalism on planet earth. Money and the almighty dollar are going to become more and more powerful and soon nothing else will matter – as if that's not already the case. The problem is that inequity between the rich and the poor will grow. We will educate the poor because we're wonderful people and in the end what the poor will learn is that they don't like being poor and they will learn how to take back what is rightfully theirs. And us rich folks won't be able to find a deep enough hole to hide in then. Remember, you read it here first!

Well, I'll get to be a rock star again this weekend. North of Forty plays on Friday night at Roxxy's Tap & Grill in Wallaceburg. I think we're ready to roll, but it's tough keeping a band sharp these days. Back in high school, we'd practice every night after school and most of the day Saturday – that's all we did was practice. Now we're abl to squeeze in a couple of hours a week – if we're lucky. Man, I'd like to go back to high school and have the ability on guitar I have now. I often wonder if we were any good back in the old days. I mean, people came out to see us and they seemed to like the music, but, man, I wonder if we could really play. These days we can play but we hardly have the time. And that's too bad.

Well, I think I'm going to sign off for today. Hope you're enjoying ckimes.ca, Chatham-Kent's Good News on the Net. 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.