Visit Menton

Years ago my wife and I spent a day in Menton in Provence. In fact, one of the table cloths that we use daily came from Menton.

It is one of the warmest places in all of France, nestled into a little nook in the coastal mountains just a short distance from Italy. Menton is famous for its lemons and once a year actually celebrates them with a Fete du Citron. (Now where did I place those French accents?)

I'm off to visit my sister in the hospital where she is recovering after breaking her hip - thank God for the Canadian medical system. You should visit the Menton Daily Photo site and if you're still curious about Menton you should check out the official Web site.

If you're ever in Provence, and trust me you should make it a goal, be sure to spend a little time in Menton relaxing with a nice bottle of Rose and whatever cool food you can find. (I was introduced to pissaladière one night in Provence, and what a night that was . . . ah, the memories, the food, the good people, someday I'll blog on that night.)

Must go,
Cheers,
Rockinon

. . . and les villages perches: Roquebrune, Gorvio, Sainte-Agnes . . . If you've got the time, Google these. I had one of the best omelets of my life in a little restaurant hanging over a mountain village. Go in the off season and meet the folk who actually live in the little towns and I guarantee and great time. These people know more about "placemaking" than all the pompous city planners hired by London, Ontario, where I live.

If you're interested in English...

I have one visitor to my blog who teaches English and I have a few others who are newspaper editors. Oh, they're retired editors but once an editor always an editor. I have learned from one and fixed some embarrassing errors thanks to a couple of others. (When talking about a company I have learned do not say 'they' when referring to the company; You must say 'it'.)

I found a copy of CP Copy Talk while cleaning my basement this afternoon. It's an old copy but an entertaining read nevertheless. Finding it got me to wondering, is CP Copy Talk still in production? And the answer, amazingly enough, is yes!

CP, Canadian Press, is in trouble. The all-important member papers are leaving. CanWest left over a year ago, I believe. You know the CanWest newspaper chain. It made news itself recently when it came out of the closet to reveal that it was bankrupt, and this time it's money they're lacking and not ideas.

Quebecor, CanWest's competitor, is taking all the SunMedia and Osprey papers out of CP sometime this year. That explains the QMI credits running in these papers. QMI stands for Quebecor Media Inc.

It's a shame to see the once strong Canadian news service rendered almost impotent. But that is a post for another day. But all cannot be lost if CP Copy Talk is still going. Something is right with the world.

There was a time when newsrooms were filled with folk discussing word usage. I can recall going for a beer after work and sitting quietly listening and drinking (and drinking, and drinking) as a couple of editors and a reporter engaged in a heated exchange over the use of a word or phrase in the day's paper.

The people who work at papers still care but their bosses don 't.
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From the Dec. 2009 Copy Talk

Eagle-eyed reader Michael Boulet caught a mistake in a Canadian Press story that used the word barter to describe negotiations by travellers who had to pay their own hotel bills when their travel company went bust. Barter "does not mean negotiate, it means to trade goods or services for other goods or services. Therefore, unless the Canadian tourists abandoned by Conquest Vacations in Mexico were attempting to pay for their stay at the Golden Parnassus with goats or back rubs, they were not in fact 'trying to barter down the charges.' "

I didn't believe it, nor did my wife, but I checked and the Canadian Oxford Dictionary agrees that this is correct and this fact is not open to barter.
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Would you believe that it is not accurate to refer to the Yukon Territory? Joanna Lilley, senior communications adviser for the Yukon government, pointed out that the territory's official name has been, simply, Yukon since 2003.
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From the February 1997 Copy Talk I found in my basement.

A CP editor Ross Hopkins spotted the word parametres in a story. It is parameter, derived from the Latin; not to be confused with metre, derived from French. Hence the spelling difference.
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And then I came across this in the October 2008 Copy Talk: Canadian spelling takes a blow. It seems that Oxford University Press announced it was laying off the entire staff of the Canadian Oxford Dictionary. Future editions will be published with the assistance of freelancers and the lexicography department in Oxford, England.

Our one truly Canadian dictionary is done. It is back to reprints of U.K. or American books, with a few changes added for a Canadian audience.

If you've gotten this far, please go on. You can explore the Copy Talk PDFs without me. I'm going to go and crack open a Brick beer in memory of retired editors, bought out reporters and laid off Canadian lexicographers.

Cheers,
Rockinon

Children have fingertips severed!

In an attempt to make as many people as possible aware of the recall, and to alert folks to potential serious injury, I've posted to the Digital Journal Health Canada's recall affecting baby strollers.

Five children in the States have had fingertips amputated after catching them in the canopy hinge.

If you have a Graco stroller or any stroller from Elfe Juvenile Products of Toronto/Montreal, please click on the Digital Journal link above.

This is the appearance of the hinge in question.

What is happiness?

I was raised in the Anglican Church in a parish in Canada. As a teen I taught Sunday school. But the Anglican Church was not for me. When I left my teens, I left the church. (Although I did return for a number of years when I discovered that the young man who had been a curate at my original church was now the minister of a local Anglican church. When he left, retired, I left, also retired.)

Last year I attended a Buddhist ceremony in a temple about ten minutes from my London home. I find Buddhist koans and Christian parables have a lot in common. Each Christmas, kind of odd when you think about it, my wife gives me a small Zen Buddhist gift - a book of koans, for instance.

Now that my granddaughter of four months is starting not only to smile but to laugh with little shrieks of pure joy, it makes me think of the story of Han Ong.

Today's post is inspired by a talk given by Zen Master Seung Sahn entitled: What is Happiness, What Is Sadness?, given in London in 1978. This talk has become quite famous. My version will never be so well known or oft quoted.

What is Happiness, What Is Sadness?

Han Ong was a student of Zen Master Ma Jo. Everyone, on learning that Ong's master's was Ma Jo, would tell Han Ong, "You're lucky; You must be happy." He would reply, "What is luck? What is happiness?"

Han Ong had a horse which he rode every day and everyone said, "You're so lucky." He'd reply, "What is luck?"

One day the horse was stolen and everyone said, "You're so unlucky." They asked, "Are you unhappy? Are you sad?" Han Ong replied, "What is luck, or happiness or sadness?"

Everyone agreed, "This man has no feelings.''

A week later Han Ong replaced his lost horse with a much better steed for which he paid a very fair price. Everyone said, "You're lucky; You must be happy." He replied, "What is luck? What is happiness?"

Han Ong's son also liked the horse and he rode it every day. Then one day the horse balked and threw Ong's son hard to the ground, badly breaking his leg. Everyone said, "We're sorry your son broke his leg. How unlucky." Han Ong only shrugged his shoulders.

Soon after this, there were a string of wars between North China and South China. All the young people joined the army but for Han Ong's son who had a lame leg after having broken it so badly. He could not go; He had to stay home and help his parents. His leg was not so bad that he couldn't work in the garden and help his parents. Everybody said, "You're so lucky. You must be happy." Han Ong replied, "What is luck? What is happiness?"

But many who heard his words thought they saw a smile --- a twinkle in the old man's eyes --- as he turned and rode away on his horse, his son holding on tightly behind him.


I've messed with this story but then I'm not a Buddhist. For an accurate telling try the blog, Handful of Sand and scroll down to A Day of Mindfulness.

Little Fiona is only four months old. She still has a clean little mind, unencumbered with language and the labels that come with language. She appears to feels happiness and sadness. But she doesn't appear to have much memory.

She seems to take life as it comes. If it's good, she makes the most of it. She doesn't let the horrors of a recent bath sully the quiet pleasure of being held in grandpa's arms. She lives in the present.

And they asked Fiona, "Are you happy?" The little girl couldn't reply but many thought they saw a smile - a twinkle in the little girl's eyes.

And they were right; She was laughing at the question and thinking: "Happy? What's happiness?"

Destroy that old crib!

If you have a young child using a crib which was made before September 1986, destroy it.

Crib design has changed a lot since '86. Even with the improvements one still hears of recalls of poorly designed or poorly made cribs.

What is wrong with the picture on the left? The side bars on the crib are too far apart. The maximum space allowed by law is 6 cm (2 3/8 in.). Also, it is possible for an infant to trap a small hand in the space between the bottom and the side.

Health Canada has a crib safety booklet online. If you have a baby, or a crib in your home for that matter, please take the time to read this booklet.

You have to very diligent when it comes to buying products for a young child.

Consider the Amby Baby Motion Bed which Health Canada is advising parents and caregivers to immediately stop using. This is a hammock advertised for use with infants up to 12 months of age.

Health Canada and the US Consumer Product Safety Commission (US CPSC) are aware of two infants suffocating in the United States while using these products. In the United States, along with the two fatalities, there have also been three other incidents reported.

The product's inclined sleeping surface increases the risk of the infant rolling and becoming wedged in a position where they can no longer breathe.

The yo-yo man

Sunday evening I caught a PBS special on the evolution of comedy in the United States over the past decades. There was Lenny Bruce, George Carlin and others, such as the Smothers Brothers. This sent me to YouTube searching for a Smothers Brothers clip. I found one of the brothers doing their yo-yo man routine.

Did the yo-yo man visit your school when you were a kid? Yes? No? If no, that's too bad, a shame.

In the '50s the yo-yo man would wander school yards at recess, but only once or twice a year, performing those oh-so-impossible yo-yo tricks. He made it all seem so easy; Anyone could do them: Walk the dog, rock the baby, round the world. Ah, the memories . . . and the frustrations.

We all fell for the yo-yo man's spiel, year after year. He was just so cool with pockets bulging with yo-yo's. The girls always bought pink yo-yo's circled with rhinestones. The boys favoured the black yo-yo's or the dark blue ones. At first the yo-yo's seemed to work. We all could make them sleep; waking them up was another matter. We could all walk the dog, but only a few of us could make rover return.

Soon all our yo-yo's had tightly tangled strings. If you could get your yo-yo to drop to the end of the tangled mess, it would simply sit at the end of the extended string and slowly twirl. Its yo-yoing days were over. Some of us would buy replacement strings but they too would soon fail.

We all took responsibility for the destruction of our yo-yo's. We never blamed the yo-yo or, even more unthinkable, the yo-yo man.

Now, watch this YouTube video of the Smothers Brothers doing "Yo-Yo Man." (It takes a moment to get into the fun but be patient. Tommy is one heck of a yo-yo man. He could have performed in my school yard anytime.



Cheers,
Rockinon

Food recalls

While I search for more answers on the food we eat, how about some food for thought?

As I searched the Web for stuff on food, a pattern emerged. There are an awful lot of recalls. Today I am going to start this post and then add to it until it contains the food recall information I have bookmarked in my Internet travels.

3 --- Perfection Packers

This is not a recall and so technically should not be here. On January 4, 2010, Perfection Packers Inc. pleaded guilty to labelling meat in a misleading manner. The use of the meat inspection legend is approved for persons who are licensed to operate registered establishments with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. Perfection Packers Inc. is not licensed but used an official symbol or something that was likely to be mistaken for one. Perfection Packers was fined $24,000.

Perfection Packers: What's in a name?


2 --- Company: Eat More Spouts

On January 10, 2010, Eat More Sprouts recalled two different products for E. coli 0157:H7 contamination: mung bean sprouts, and certified organic bean sprouts. Isn't it interesting that one of the products being recalled is certified organic.

This is a class I recall indicating that there is a high risk that eating or drinking the product will lead to serious health problems or death. The CFIA issues a public warning for all Class I recall when the product is available for sale or could be in the consumer’s home.

1 --- Company: Olymel l.p.

Olymel l.p. is a leader in the slaughtering, processing and distribution of pork and poultry meat products in Canada, with facilities in Québec,Ontario, and Alberta. The company employs more than 10,000 persons and exports nearly half its production, mainly to the United States, Japan and Australia as well as some sixty other countries. Its sales stood at $2 billion this year, with a slaughtering and processing capacity of 160,000 hogs and 1.7 million poultry every week. The company markets its products mainly under the Olymel, Lafleur, and Flamingo brands.

Canadian Food Inspection Agency issued the following "Expanded Health Alert" on January 5, 2010. It warns that "Certain processed meat products may contain listeria monocytogenes." The manufacturer, Olymel S.E.C., Montreal, QC, is recalling affected products.

Pregnant women particularly at risk: According to the CFIA, food contaminated with Listeris monocytogenes may not look or smell spoiled. Consumption of food contaminated with these bacteria may cause listeriosis, a foodborne illness . . . Pregnant women, the elderly and people with weakened immune systems are particularly at risk. Infected pregnant women may experience only a mild, flu-like illness, however, infections during pregnancy can lead to premature delivery, infection of the newborn, or even stillbirth.

It must be noted, there have been no reported illnesses associated with the consumption of these recalled meat products: Olymel cooked ham extra lean, Olymel cooked ham extra lean family pack, Olymel mock-chicken meatloaf family pack, Royal bologna and mock-chicken meatloaf duo pack, Royal chopped cooked ham and mock-chicken meatloaf duo pack (two sizes of packaging), Lafleur cooked ham extra lean and Roma pepperoni family pack. For more info to this link to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency bulletin.