This page is officially dead. From here on out I'm streamlining the blog to the "This is my life" page. So check out all that matters to me over there, not here. 

Cheers,
-D-

Not sure how I managed to stay behind the camera man in every shot, but here's the official St.Catharines video release from the demolition on St.Paul St. downtown, which was covered here.

Cheers to revitalizing that section of town, it needs it bad!
-D-

P.S. Notice @ 2:37 friends of the blog Jeff and Zach who bared the frigid weather with me that morning. :)

Cheers to having some of the greatest bands on Earth playing right here in our own backyards!

-D-

The photos have been locked away for over 40 years; an enormous project to make Niagara Falls more stunningly attractive was underway in 1969 when U.S. engineers from both the army and civil sectors, diverted the flow of the American falls for months to "correct" the american's cascade falls.


The twin landmarks (triplets if you consider that the Bridal Falls is actually separate) are some of the world's more powerful waterfalls. It took a massive damn to stop the flow as the Americans put together plans to remove debris that collected at the base of the American falls. The U.S.Army Corp of Engineers strategically bolted faults in the rocks to delay the inevitable erosion of the falls. They planed on removing hundreds of thousands of tons of rock from the base of the falls, a plan later abandoned due to the sheer size and cost of the project.  

Much of the debris was left behind after a massive rock-slide in 1931 and again in 1954. In 1965, reporters from the Niagara Falls Gazette warned that the falls would eventually cease to flow completely if the rocks weren't removed. This was not very well founded, but it caught the attention of the media and later of the government.


These photos and this video show the extent of the project. 

It was the same year they put a man on the moon and it makes you wonder where all the money came from... it was a great year for incredible projects and immense spending on making the world a bit more awesome!

The Skylon tower stand in the background as seen from the middle of the riverbed that once flowed at more than 60,000 gallons a second. A 27,800 ton rock-dam was constructed to divert the water. On June 12, 1969 the river stopped flowing for the first time in over 12,000 years. The dam was later broken and the falls thundered again on November 25th before nearly 2700 onlookers.

We've all heard the stories of "The Day the Falls Stopped", but it usually refers to the ice-bridge dam that stopped the horseshoe falls. This project was proof that human engineering could master such an immense and incredible force. 

In the upper right of this image you can see the rock-dam holding back the waters of the mighty Niagara River.

Cheers to having a natural world wonder right here in our backyards. (And a huge cheers to the Americans spending millions on trying to make their falls as beautiful as ours... without fruition I might add!)


-D-

For Erie receives some unlikely guests from Toronto; any fans of the show Corner Gas will recognize the face of "Dan Phillips", played by Canadian actor Fred Ewanuick, in his new role on CBC's Dan for mayor. Hailing from Port Moody, B.C., Fred commented on the Niagara weather saying “It’s not so bad,” the temperature was -1 with wind-chill making it feel like -7, “No, that’s a lie. We don’t get this weather on the west coast.”

The cast and crew spent the weekend at the old fort filming different scenes from different angles and noting: “We looked at Fort York (Toronto) and Fort George (Niagara-on-the-Lake) and here,” The producer Sue Murdoch said. “We were looking for something that was small so we wouldn’t have to do a lot of running back and forth. Fort Erie was a little further to come but it’s perfect.”

This is the first time that we are aware of that Fort Erie Ontario receives CBC, or any national broadcaster. It's very nice to see that Niagara's scenery, cultural artifacts and our picturesque historical landmarks are drawing attention from far and wide. As industry in the region plummets we are very grateful for tourism and we thank the CBC for noticing us. The fort will be renamed "Fort Wessex" for the sake of the show's plot, but we'll all know that it's Old Fort Erie on our sets.

The 39 year old actor was pleasantly surprised by the welcoming atmosphere of the fort and was even a little out of his element, “This is my first time working in a fort,” Ewanuick said. “Usually we’re just filming out on the street.” The show spends most of its time filming in the urban setting of Toronto, Kitchener-Waterloo Ontario. He went on about the scenes of the Niagara River, “It’s cool,” he said. “It’s beautiful here. We drove down past all the big houses along the river.”
“I don’t come out this way and have never seen the Buffalo skyline before. Yesterday we saw the sunrise over the skyline. It was beautiful.”


The new season of "Dan for Mayor" airs in January, the episode with our fort in it will likely show sometime in April 2011. 


Cheers to Niagara being attractive, to the film industry at the very least.


-D-

It was the warmest December morning in years, but that didn't help us very much at all. The temperature of the Welland Canal was a mere 5 degrees Celsius and the air was a crisp 2. There were probably a couple dozen jumpers that took part in the dive which means we must have raised at least a couple hundred dollars and a bunch of food for the cause.




The event itself went very well, no one got hurt and by my counts everyone surfaced from the plunge. (Yes, I wore the suit, and I hate you all for it)

I may add to this blog later tonight, I just wanted to get the video up for everyone like I promised I would. 

Chers

To celebrate Small Business Sunday this week we’re showcasing a store that sprung to the Niagara stage in May of 2009. Having recently past its one year anniversary, it looks like this little comic-book-store-that-could is here to stay!

 
The story behind the creation of this store is a touching tale of heroism between father and son, and is available on their website here.  The long and shot of it is that Paul Tappay, 34, put together the business plan and went through no small effort to make the store a reality. After undergoing a procedure that gave his dying father part of his liver and a new lease on life, Paul settled on the store, which was always a dream of his. 

 

The storefront itself is located at 4413 Queen Street in Niagara Falls and is a new take on an old concept. The store is bring and clean and allows you to browse and to buy all your new release comics, graphic novels, toys, t-shirts, and collectibles. They have over 10,000 vintage back issues to peruse in the “Back-Cave”, free WiFi, classic Arcade Game, posters, DVDs and more.



Lucky for these guys, there is no comic book section at your local WalMart, which means there are still hard-working independent owners of small businesses making our community a better place and improving our local economy. For this we raise a glass to Pulp Comics in our first of what will be many “Small Business Sunday” stories.

 









Cheers to helping out at home,

-D- 

Looking for a last-minute thing to do tonight? Why not check out the candle-light stroll in beautiful Downtown Niagara Falls, on Queen Street. There will be a Chistmas Choir, festive stories, and other entertainment lined up for a lovely evening on the town. 

Plenty of pubs and restaurants to meet any social needs, or just check out the Comic Book Store open until 9pm tonight ( Pulp Comics 4413 Queen St.) because I know it's the geeks who are really reading this blog... :)

For the official post, click Here!
For Facebook Event, Click Here!


Cheers to a season of entertainment and joy!


-D-

Oh right! Jeff Hutcheson interviewing Stephanie Tritchew, a soloist in Niagara's chorus group, Chorus Niagara (bet that took a few meeting to nail down!) The singer was in shock and awe, broadcast to the nation talking about the recent "flash mob" style caroling that stunned the unsuspecting patrons of this shopping centers eatery some time ago. 

The event was staged by Jennifer Blakeley of Alphabet Photography who said. "“I’m a big fan of flash mobs. This year for Christmas, we wanted something special for our customers. Our photography ships all over the world,” completely unprovoked (but who doesn't love a good self-plug). The stunt took 8 weeks of planing and setting up and took to the internet in a viral way. It wasn't Jennifer added “After it was produced, we mailed it out. I have about 20,000 people on our newsletter list and about 17,000 Facebook fans. We mailed it out to them the night it went online, and that’s how it really started. Right there, that’s 30,000 or 40,000 people,”

As you read this, the video has been seen over 15 million times! Which for a Welland YouTube clip is outrageously astonishing!
Check the video out here:

Cheers to Welland being on the internet-social-map, maybe just for now, but it's something special for the holidays,
-D-

Ahh, those hot summer days hang out on the banks of the Welland Canal. Beating the heat by sheltering from the blazing sun under a perched willow tree and wading into the cool refreshing waters. (Not to mention concealing your wine coolers and beer in inconspicuous bottles and cups...)


You can almost feel the humidity in your every breath but it's alright because the water is just right... Well, it's December now and those days are gone! Long gone in fact, but that doesn't mean the canal is off limits :)


This weekend, December 11th to be precise (that's Saturday if your too lazy to click on your calendar), we take a plunge for charity. That's right, it's time for a swim! At 11am the group of mildly insane philanthropists will be wading, shivering, and cringe their way into the frigid temperatures of the Welland Canal and all for a good cause.  

So come out on Saturday and encourage the polarbear wannabes. Just remember to bring a can or non-perishable food item for the Hope Center. (Also if you plan to dip, registration is 10 bucks and it gets you a raise the roof toque).


There will definitely be a blog and video up about it sometime early next week. There's even a good chance I take the plunge in a suit (It's all up to you guys what happens so leave a comment on what you think would be the funniest way to dive)


Check out more detail on the Tribune's site.

Hope to see you guys there,
Cheers to mild insanity (though this time mild is not going to describe the lunacy OR the temperature...I'm going to be begging for "mild" when I get in there!)


-D-

So it's been decided (against my will) that I am to adorn this lovely (really kinda scary) sport jacket and tailored trouser ensemble (suit made from couch-weaving fabric) for the swim! I really hope you guys like this video because I'm going to lose all respect for myself (I don't have any respect for me, that's why I'm on the internet) and I won't be able to live this moment down (there's a good chance after these waters that it takes my testicles a week to reappear! :S) So with this being said, I hope you all remember to donate generously this holiday season. Particularly to needy food banks. Because without them, I wouldn't be the only one freezing my gonads off this winter. (And without your donations of food and clothing, the less-fortunate might have to wear really tacky suits like this one!)


So cheers to those making a difference, and the support from our community!


-D-

P.S. All funds raised go towards the Hope Centre and Salvation Army. Visit the hope center's website at http://www.thehopecentre.net/