Akwesasne Powwow, 2024

Akwesasne Powwow 2024. Moved into Cornwall Civic Complex due to rain on Saturday.

 

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice premiers at 56 Auto Drive-in

It's baack! There were at least four drive-ins near me, around Cornwall in the 60s and 70s, the Colonial, the Mustang,the Seaway, and I think the last was called the Frontier or Border. Most were near the Quebec border and were probably built to take advantage of the ban Quebec put in after the 1927 Laurier Palace Theatre fire in Montreal that killed 78 children. After the co-archbishop called for a ban, the provincial legislature passed a statute forbiding under 16s from attending movies, even, somewhat illogically, in drive-ins, which was in effect up to 1961. The last time I went to a drive-in was a double feature - The Longest Day (1961) was first on the bill, although it had been out for about 10 years, and I couldn't stay up long enough to remember what the second was. My father complained for days about his back and that was the only time we went. The drive-ins on the Canadian side all closed, the last, The Colonial in Ingleside, was open as late as 1998. 

This was the first time in 50 years I went to a drive-in.

 The 56  Auto Drive-in in Massena, NY was built on soil from the excavation of the Seaway, the owner told me at the concession booth. They had home made pastries and fried bread as well as popcorn and hot dogs.  Small screen but still fun, although an SUV, which wasn't around back in the drive-in's heyday. blocked my view of the lower part of the screen.

I forget to turn off my headlights until an usher reminded me!

Still some mosquitoes around, even this late. I wonder if it isn't because of the bats dying from white-nose syndrome.

The movie was more than a sequel, it was almost a continuation of the first movie after a hiatus of 36 years. Winona Ryder as a mature woman was a shock to see and reminded just how long ago I saw the first movie. Michael Keaton looked and acted the same because of the heavy makeup from the first installment. Nice to see Catherine O'Hara had more screen time that in the first movie.

Still wish Americans would print their money in distinctively different colours. I have a hard time counting out the right amount. Only 8 dollars!

 

Owner said these are called "Redneck Windchimes". She gave me an empty can since they'd sold out of them.

Wind Farm, probably Jericho Rise, near Fort Covington, NY

 

filmed from Glengarry Campground, near Lancaster, Ontario - Sony DSC-HX99, very small camera but can zoom to720mm equivalent.

Bee in Campfire Rose

Campfire rose, bumblebee

The Campfire rose is part of the Canadian Artist Series of roses. This flower was inspired by Tom Thomson's 1916 painting Campfire:

 

Little Free Library, Smiths Falls Heritage House Museum

Smiths Falls Heritage House Museum, 11 Old Slys Rd, Smiths Falls, Ontario

 

Mobile cats

Cats, man, shopping cart

 

Aurora, 12 August 2024

Near Cornwall, Ontario, Canada

Pleiades can be seen on the right of some of these photos.

 

Kirkin o the Tartan

Traditional blessing of clan tartans

St. Columba Presbyterian Church, Dalkeith, Ontario

 

Midway, Ribfest 2024

 

Long exposures, Midway, Ribfest 2024, Lamoureux Park, Cornwall, Ontario, July 26, 2024

Coconut found floating in Lake St. Francis

Coconut found floating in Lake St. Francis, St. Lawrence River, July 21, 2024 - not native to Canada! Milk was still inside of it. 

 

Moon watching

 Speaking of Space, local astronomy group, had an observation event outside the Mr. Puffs in Cornwall.

                                         

Photos of moon taken with my phone through one of their telescopes

Promotional Mr. Puffs poster

Strike at LCBO

 

LCBO workers at the province's liquor store are on strike against further privatization of liquor sales - liquor in Canadian provinces is mostly sold at provincial monopolies. I liked the James Bond reference. 

A bowl of cherries

Dwarf cherry full of fruit. Also full of Japanese beetles which eat the leaves and the fruit. I will spray the tree with neem oil which seems to repel the beetles after I've gotten all the fruit off.

will pit and freeze

 

Chopsticks

In 1981 I went to a washroom in a Chinese restaurant in Toronto's main Chinatown along Spadina and I realized I'd just used chopsticks without any problems. A few weeks earlier I'd been at The Whippletree, a a fancy restaurant in the U of Guelph's main building. I'd taken my Singaporean girlfriend out for the first time, and I honestly thought she was extremely poor as she said she'd gone to a school run by missionaries, so I thought I was doing her a favour. The waitress, who we both knew, asked "Would you like chopsticks?"  She showed me how to use them. It was only in the Chinatown restaurant that I wondered why she'd been asked that, even though it was a western meal. She was Cantonese. After I got to know her better, she showed me a picture of  Lord Mountbatten, along with his autograph, when he visited Methodist Girls School when she was there. The school was run by Methodist missionaries, but was actually a fancy private school, among the best in Singapore.

2024 The Cornwall SDG International Afro Diversity Festival

Calla Lily

Calla Lily

 

Alan Jones plays pipes and examines some said to have been at Waterloo.

Glengarry Pioneer Museum, Dunvegan, Ontario -

Alan Jones examines pipe said to have been played at the Battle of Waterloo. 

No, a Mexican church is not selling plots of land in heaven

 The story went out that a Spanish or Mexican church was selling "Land In Heaven For $100/ Sq. Meter" as an MSN headline reported 'Biggest Real Estate Deal On Planet' it went on,  and bylines the story to Times Now Digital. The Nigerian Bulletin was the first news site I found that debunked this. It's been sourced back to a TikTok video that went viral, not a good source. 

The 'church', Iglesia del Final de los Tiempos, is obviously a satirical web page and Facebook group:

"Iglesia del Final de los Tiempos Heavenly Ownership Title is a document blessed and certified by Jehovah that guarantees that your lands in Heaven are under its inscription in the Book of Life.

Signed by God himself and the Prophet Andrés de la Barra and having a lacre stamp of the Iglesia del Final de los Tiempos - Sede Apostólica has eternal validity if you buy your lands.

Remember to read the fine print in order to access your property in heaven you need to fulfill the primary requirement of leading a Christian and Andreist life.

We look forward to your donations to exalt the Lord"

(Facebook translation)

The Facebook page has many obvious jokes - here's an appeal to buy its founder a Cybertruck:

Facebook page of the 'church'