Hi John- No sweat! The mayor's term is supposed to run for another two years but I have a feeling that he will be turfed before that due to campaign financing "irregularities." It always amazes me how when politicians finally accept that fat brown envelope they always think that they won't get caught. "Hey, no ones ever done this before, have they?"
I was at a party last year at the Ontario legislature, one promoting micro-brewed beer and other local foodstuffs. I was quite taken by all the young aides and staffers, how keen they act and how idealistically they spoke. Going to make a difference! Sooner or later, the brown envelope shows up.
Why has Toronto and Ontario fallen so far behind in transit? The biggest employer in the province is the car industry, followed by the concrete industry.
54light15I was at a party last year at the Ontario legislature, one promoting micro-brewed beer and other local foodstuffs. I was quite taken by all the young aides and staffers, how keen they act and how idealistically they spoke. Going to make a difference! Sooner or later, the brown envelope shows up.
These young people are idealists. Yet Mayor Ford has to be pretty busy defending himself from charges of illegal funding. I did some net surfing and found he escaped being put out of office but he is not out of the woods yet. And the charges will live on to haunt him. I wonder how the young idealists will come to terms with their leader's corruption.
How will these young idealists come to terms with their "leader's" corruption? Well, if they're resiliant, they'll realize he's only one man, and there should me another out there who's worthy of their trust. Hopefully they'll find him or her.
Unfortunately, I suspect a lot of them will feel they've been played for suckers and say "to hell with politics and politicians! I'm going into something else and take care of ME first!" It's a sad old story that seems to re-occur with every generation.
Can we get back to talkin' about something happy, like streetcars? What do you think the new ones should look like? Brills? Jewetts? Or maybe, the ELECTROLINERS!
Electroliners! Yes, a streetcar on which you can order a hamburger and a beer- what' s not to like? I wish I was around when they ran. In Toronto you used to be able to charter a streetcar and travel around the city drinking adult beverages of a refreshing nature. I wonder if that could still be done, I did witness it years ago. Here, we have Broadview station where the Bloor/Danforth subway, several buses and the King and Dundas streetcar lines come together. If this was Germany, there would be a small beer garden at the far end of the streetcar platform. How civilised.
Well 54Light, if they ever start renting streetcars for rolling parties in Toronto again let me know and I'll come up for a ride! Oh boy, does that sound like fun or what?
Firelock76Can we get back to talkin' about something happy, like streetcars? What do you think the new ones should look like? Brills? Jewetts? Or maybe, the ELECTROLINERS!
Wayne,
I never heard of Electroliners before. At first I thought you wrote Electroliers. But you didn't. I found some sites and some pictures and even a site on restoring Electroliners. For anyone who is interested here it is: http://northshoreline.com/liner.html
As far as Brills and Jewetts are concerned, I think they are perfectly good streetcars and it was a mistake to get rid of them. And I continue to believe that many of them were trashed because of GM. But that was a long time ago. If we today build new lines I would get new cars in modern designs.
But the Electroliners look pretty modern to me. John
Light,
Does Toronto still have Men's Rooms? John
Firelock76fortunately, I suspect a lot of them will feel they've been played for suckers a
They have been played for suckers. Or maybe they haven't been; maybe their leader deeply believes in what he is doing even if he cut a few corners. So lets hope they come to terms with the reality of their own lives.
John
Firelock76 Well 54Light, if they ever start renting streetcars for rolling parties in Toronto again let me know and I'll come up for a ride! Oh boy, does that sound like fun or what?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_BaVNUPv97g&list=FLQ-uhpy3nYTFzaxmpKonFQg&index=7
_____________
"A stranger's just a friend you ain't met yet." --- Dave Gardner
The TTC will be glad to take your money to allow you to charter a streetcar to tour system and host a party. It won't be cheap, but it will be a lot less expensive than attaching your private railroad car to an Amtrak train for an overnight journey. You may even be given the choice of a long articulated car, a regular sized modern car, or a PCC. And if you are willing to pay extra and sign some insurance papers and be willing to pay for any damages, they may even be able to furnish a restored museum-quality 1920's era Peter Witt.
John- Men's Rooms? Say what? Dave, you're right as a a few years ago a British group chartered a PCC and toured around town. I met a friend of mine who was with the tour and I got to ride around and see some track that is not normally used in service. I think the TTC has two PCCs available and yes, around ten years ago I saw a Peter Witt car tooling around town. I think that one is kept at the museum in Halton region, the PCCs are kept at the Connaught streetcar yard. I also remember two PCCs on flatbed trucks heading for the States, where, I don't know.
Paul of Covington Firelock76 Well 54Light, if they ever start renting streetcars for rolling parties in Toronto again let me know and I'll come up for a ride! Oh boy, does that sound like fun or what? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_BaVNUPv97g&list=FLQ-uhpy3nYTFzaxmpKonFQg&index=7
Interesting video Paul, but I'll tell you what, I don't want to dress up like a goofball, I just want some good beer/liquor and food and a good ride. Quite honestly, I think the folks on that streetcar are too old for that stuff, and I'm 59, so I think I'm qualified to critisise. But what the hell, they're having fun.
54light15John- Men's Rooms? Say what?
In Toronto (I don't know about other Canadian cities) a Men's Room is (or used to be) a bar where only men are served. It is not what Americans would known as a Men's Room.
No, Men's Rooms are a thing of the past. Here's something else, years ago you could not have a drink in a bar unless you had food. The bar would give you a plate with a stale sandwich on it to keep in front of you in case the liquor inspectors came in. You did not, nor were you expected to eat it as it was only for show. This was back in the 50s and early 60s I am told. I do recall going to a bar, ordering a drink at the bar and attempting to take it to my table. That was not allowed, the waiter had to carry it for you. That was the rule in 1989. My friends say that a typical old-time Ontario bar had no windows (and there are still a few of these but they are dying off) and no actual bar as such, but merely a serving counter. The various legion halls (there are many) still operate this way. About legions, anyone can join whether you served or not (most are not like the American Legion but are smaller, regimental specific) and they are cheap places to drink and in a smaller city such as Kingston, it would be the only place open on Christmas day. Who wouldn't need a drink after the presents for screaming kids, family angst and all the other "love" at the holidays.There used to be a bar east of the downtown that had an old sign above one door that said "ladies entrance," but that's long gone.
But, back to streetcars, I know that in many cities in Germany you can rent one set up for a rolling party with beer taps, music, a galley kitchen. Usually this would be a vintage model restored for this kind of service. The Harz narrow gauge railway has an open car sort of like a gondola with benches and a bar in the middle. Now, that is the way to travel! I know because I've done it. German beer, beautiful scenery and coal smoke!
yes, Firelock, I would not dress like that either, even if it is New Orleans!
John WR Firelock76Can we get back to talkin' about something happy, like streetcars? What do you think the new ones should look like? Brills? Jewetts? Or maybe, the ELECTROLINERS! Wayne, I never heard of Electroliners before. At first I thought you wrote Electroliers. But you didn't. I found some sites and some pictures and even a site on restoring Electroliners. For anyone who is interested here it is: http://northshoreline.com/liner.html
The short answer is YES. I won't say more, yet...
Firelock76I don't want to dress up like a goofball, I just want some good beer/liquor and food and a good ride. Quite honestly, I think the folks on that streetcar are too old for that stuff, and I'm 59, so I think I'm qualified to critisise. But what the hell, they're having fun.
Everyone in New Orleans enjoys good food and good drink. And everyone, regardless of age, enjoys dressing up for Mardi Gras. Some people spend the entire year making their Mardi Gras costumes.
54light15But, back to streetcars, I know that in many cities in Germany you can rent one set up for a rolling party with beer taps, music, a galley kitchen.
I don't guess Toronto is much like Germany.
Nein!
If I'm not careful I'll try my college German and embarrass myself.
Yeah, one time in Munich I was at this restaurant. The waiter says, "Vee thank you fur ordering in Cherman, but you did order a deep-fried telephone book, und here it is." I do remember that I ordered it broiled.
Actually I think English is a Germanic dialect.
I told Juniatha once I took German in High School but only know enough of it now to get in trouble. I'll tell you, if I watch a movie like "Das Boot" or "Der Untergang" or even "Battle of Britain" I thank God for the subtitles, I can't understand a word the German actors are saying!
I probably could have kept up with it but, well, you know how it is.
I'm not gonna say I'm proficient in German but I speak and understand it enough to get by in Germany as far as ordering a train ticket, meal, hotel room and beer is concerned. Especially beer. Funny, one ethnic group in Toronto that's kind of under the radar are Germans. There's one German restaurant in the whole city that I know of and one in Hamilton. There's a large sausage factory with a factory outlet store that' s always busy, but there is no "Germantown" here.
Somebody has probably done a version of the Hitler bunker 'meme' regarding the scrapping of the F40PHes... like this:
Hitler and railfanning
but more specific.
The one thing wrong with these is that they leave the original German undisturbed. That should be fixed too. If anyone here remembers the Monty Python supersonic-sheep sendup -- yes, the French seems to be a fairly realistic description of the aerodynamic issues with supersonic sheep. This makes it FAR more funny. (Twain covered this very, very well in his essay on the German language, which I shall not cite in deference to Juniatha's finer sensibilities...)
Hals- und beinbruch,
RME
Firelock76I probably could have kept up with it but, well, you know how it is.
We're Americans! We don't talk none of them fancy schmancy furrin langwidges. Let them speak our langwidge!
John WRWe're Americans! We don't talk none of them fancy schmancy furrin langwidges.
No, we'll just do what we've always done: take the best parts of each 'invading' language and spice up what we have. ;-}
Some (including TR) think that we've kept far too much weird stuff along with the spice. But I say (as a card-carrying honoree of the NCTE... look it up) that even the odd grammatical stuff is fun. (And it keeps the scruffy furriners on their toes!)
On various British-run rail trips to east Germany that I've done over the years, one common thing that you hear from the Brits is "Whatever you do, don't mention the war." From Fawlty Towers, I think. I asked a group of people on a tour in Trier about why the track numbering in the station started with track 5, one guy said, "I think the RAF did a little urban renewal." Quiet laughter all round.
I think the one who nailed it best was Tom Lehrer in MLF Lullaby:
"We taught them a lesson in 1918, and they've scarcely bothered us since then..."
(Song and its context are recommended!)
I always enjoyed Young Frankenstein. Just be sure to get off at Transylvania Station.
For razzin' the nazzys, go to Youtube and see if you can play Spike Jones and the City Slickers "Der Fuhrer's Face." Also, enter in Youtube, "Germans marching to Lambeth Walk." A British made film that made Josef Goebbels foam at the mouth when he saw it. Hermann Goering had a chuckle at it. What a guy. What Hitler did is not recorded. Who didn't enjoy "Young Frankenstein?" No one I know.
Our community is FREE to join. To participate you must either login or register for an account.