Smile for Today ~



Banks of The Grand ~ Cayuga





Cayuga Bridge

 Construction is to begin in September, 2012, on a new bridge.  This according to an update on the Haldimand County website ~ Ministry of Transportation of Ontario.

 

The Neat Little Bookshop has Story Hour, as many of you know, on Wednesdays after school.  This week our friend and Story-Hour teacher, Yvonne, had her purse stolen from her van that was parked at the Anglican church in Cayuga.
The heart-breaking part is that Yvonne spent many summer days at her home on the east coast collecting ancestral photographs and genealogy.  These irreplaceable items were in the stolen purse.
We are appealing to our friends and neighbours to please report anything suspicious to the O.P.P. and to be on the lookout for a black leather handbag and discarded items.

~ The Neat Little Bookshop 905-577-5635



Elvis Festival 2012, Collingwood, ON



"When Elvis danced in the studio it created a problem. In the session I'd say, 'Elvis, can't you stand still?' And he'd say, 'No, I can't.  I'm sorry.  I start playing and the movements are involuntary.'  The reason I wanted him to stand still was because he kept getting off-mike." ~ Steve Sholes.

"In time Elvis stopped playing the guitar and merely thumped it on the side or back on the after-beat.  This often was added as an "overdub," in another session, which made it easier for Sholes and the others to record his voice."

~ ELVIS by Jerry Hopkins, Simon & Shuster, 1971.

Commemorating the 35th Anniversary of Elvis' Death ~

". . . pull on some Elvis Presley bobbysocks, Elvis Presley shoes, an Elvis Presley skirt and Elvis Presley blouse, an Elvis Presley sweater, hang an Elvis Presley charm bracelet from one wrist, put an Elvis Presley handkerchief in her Elvis Presley purse and head for school."
To handle the merchandising in the 1950s, Colonel Parker engaged the same marketing company that had promoted Peter Pan, Mickey Mouse and Davy Crockett for Walt Disney.


Elvis Festival, 2012, Collingwood



"For every item in the Presley line, Elvis and the Colonel collected a royalty of 4 to 11 per cent of the manufacturer's wholesale price.  This probably didn't come to more than two to five cents for each dollar item, but when that was multiplied by several million, it was like having another number one record."

~ Elvis By Jerry Hopkins,  Simon & Schuster, 1971.

Photos:  lbwalker

Gone ~

Canborough Road ~ East of Attercliffe, Haldimand County

"Nice working with wood again."
Murphy nodded.  Dusty unplugged her nail gun and took her apron off.  It was five past five, she knew--she had just checked her cell phone for the time--and she needed to pick Travis up.
"You still looking for extra work?"  he asked.
"Yeah."
"I bought an old three-story brownstone, the corner of Madison and Canfield.  Needs to be gutted."

The above, a few lines from Brad Smith's new book, Crow's Landing.  Brad's dialogue is authentic and entertaining.  These are real people.  The author's background knowledge and experience ~ not to mention his humor ~ makes for good reading.  Brad has worked as a "farmer, signalman, insulator, truck driver, bartender, schoolteacher, maintenance mechanic, and carpenter."  We suspect he has run into a few characters along the way.

The author's other books:   Red Means Run, All Hat, Big Man Coming Down the Road, Busted Flush, One-Eyed Jacks, Rises a Moral Man.

Meet and chat with Brad in The Neat Little Bookshop on Saturday, August 18, 1- 3 p.m.