No smoking in movies? Cowboys without their tobacco pouch or chaw?
The latest in the war against tobacco is a movement by some American public health officials to discourage smoking in the movies (I mean on screen) by giving them an R-rating. It sets a bad example for young people, they say. The restricted rating is meant to spare millions of kids a year from being exposed to the filthy weed. And, no doubt, by reducing the potential audience, impact on the movie’s profits thereby encouraging studios to comply. They’re targeting actors who deliberately light up on screen, not as part of their character or role but as a subliminal advertisement. Just like when your favourite star reaches for a clearly labelled Coke. It could be anything, even water, but, no, it’s made very clear with a close-up for the world to see that he’s/she’s drinking a Coke even if...
Read More‘Balloonatic’ Daniel Boria Recall’s British Columbia’s First Air Fatality
Dare-devils have always been with us, probably as long as Man’s fascination for flying, so Dan Boria isn’t unique. Hot-air balloons have been around a long time, too—originally in default of powered flight, latterly as recreational toys. But none like with which Dan made aviation ‘history’ at the 2015 Calgary Stampede. The mid-20s former Victorian launched himself an estimated 14,000 feet high on a lawn chair ‘powered’ by more than 100 large helium balloons! With the intention of parachuting over the chuckwagon races, he said, as a publicity stunt for his cleaning company. But high winds forced him to jump early, before he made it to the race track. He managed to land safely, into the arms of police who charged him with the dangerous operation of an ‘aircraft’. In March of this year he received a scathing lecture...
Read More‘Island idyll Just Minutes from Nanaimo’
So read the headline in the Vancouver Island Free Daily of the idyllic Newcastle Island, immediately off Nanaimo. And make no mistake, Newcastle truly is a treasure island of natural beauty. It also comes with a fabulous pedigree of industrial and dramatic history. There’s something for everyone including summer camps for kids. For me, of course, it’s the historical provenance that has been the draw to Newcastle (and its immediate southern neighbour, Protection Island) numerous times. What’s now Newcastle Island Marine Provincial Park owes its christening to officers of the Hudson’s Bay Co. who named it for the Northumberland, Eng., coal city, Newcastle-upon-Tyne. On maps, Newcastle Island and Channel date back only to 1853; their namesake was thriving in the days of the Roman occupation. HBC officials obviously coined Newcastle because of its long history as a coal port—surely...
Read MoreMorden Colliery Park’s New Memorial Crowns 12-Year Campaign
Yesterday’s doubleheader began with 90 minutes of taking over 100 pictures in Nanaimo’s Bowen Road cemetery before the unveiling of Morden Colliery Park’s new memorial. I was waiting to join an hour-long tour of Masonic graves led by fellow Duncanite and Mason historian Mark Anderson. His tour was part of the day-long 150th anniversary celebration of Nanaimo’s Ashlar Lodge No. 3. In purely historic (and storytelling) terms, this is a really great cemetery: headstone after headstone bears the sad epitaph, “Killed in the explosion of…” Or: “Killed in Extension Mine…” Or some other industrial tragedy. This isn’t surprising for a city that was founded on coal mining What was unexpected was the extent of vandalism as evidenced by broken and missing headstones and columns. A story in itself, I’m sorry to say. Not all of the markers are for...
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