Dog On A Root

Preparing For A Visit From St. Nicholas in 1959 - jim Young “Childhood joyland, mystic merry toyland,  Once you pass its borders, you can ne’er return again.” - Glen MacDonough and Victor Herbert If you shop at Costco, you might think that the Christmas season begins in late July. However, I remember the days when Christmas items didn’t appear on the shelves in Woolworths until after the Hallowe’en stuff was put away in early November. The first snowfall of the season was an indication that Christmas was quickly approaching. The Eaton’s Santa Claus Parade on TV was also a pretty reliable sign that the time was nigh. But for me, Christmas officially began with an Eaton’s Christmas Catalogue. And Oh! What a glorious time it was! I remember coming home from school to see the Eaton’s Christmas Catalogue sitting with the mail on the passthrough to the dining room. I had two older sisters and I knew I would have to bide my time until they had a chance to have their rightful first look....

- jim Young In her editorial in the last edition of the Great North Arrow our editor/owner/publisher Cyndi Culbert wrote, “Now’s the perfect time to start baking cookies, creating Christmas crafts, and mixing up your favourite egg nog and Bailey’s recipe…”   inviting GNA readers to share their special recipes. I was hoping to have my new book “Belly Up To The Bar (Cocktails for Two)” published in time for a Christmas Release, but I’m afraid it’s going to be delayed.  In the meantime, I’d like to share with you one of the many treats you will find in my book of cocktail recipes, trivia and personal anecdotes. Just in time for Christmas, here’s a little peek at just one of the many treats you can expect to find in my new book when it’s published in the New Year. It’s a cost saving method to help stock your bar with a special Christmas treat and it makes a great gift for friends. They won’t care if you share it with them in a jar or recycled whiskey bottle. Irish Cream L...

A nostalgic look through a 1959 Eaton's Christmas Catalogue.  I am not the copyright owner of the song Toyland written by Victor Herbert and Glen MacDonough and sung here by Doris Day. I will not receive any monetary compensation for the time it took me to put this little production together or by displaying it here. However, due to the current laws and YouTube regulations, this video will NOT be able to be viewed in some countries. I apologize for that. I would appreciate if you could take a moment of your time to leave a brief comment to let me know: 1) Is the video viewable to your or not? 2) Is just the sound muted? 3) What is your geographical location? 4) On what platform did you find this? ie: Facebook, YouTube, Dog On A Root etc. I mean Eaton's nor the copyright owners of this song no disrespect. I present them here together in this little production for the enjoyment of those like me who have a fond nostalgic memory of this time and to honor Eaton's annual traditio...

Pot Calls The Kettle Black - jim Young “Our peaceful trading partners are not our enemies, they are our allies. We should beware of the demagogues who are ready to declare a trade war against our friends, weakening our economy, our national security and the entire free world - all while cynically waving the American flag.” - Ronald Reagan, 1988 Trump called an anti-tariff advertisement, recently produced by the Ontario Government, a “fraud” and accused Canada of trying to “illegally influence the United States Supreme Court”, which will meet in a couple of weeks to decide if Trump’s tariff’s are constitutional. Really Trump? Pot? Kettle? Black? Does any of that ring a bell to you? But if Canada can do anything to help the United States Supreme Court come to a fair and just decision, then I say… more power to Canada. After seeing the advertisement for the first time, Trump had commented, “If I was Canada I would take that ad also.” Now, as a Canadian I would normally take a statemen...

 

- jim Young “If you see fraud and do not say fraud, you are a fraud.” - Nassim Talib My passport says it expires in November. Of course it can take some time to have a new passport processed so I have to apply for it well in advance of the expiry date. And I have to pay for it in full, up front when I apply for it - not when I get it.  And then some countries such as the U.S. won’t allow you entry unless your Passport is valid for 6 months AFTER the date you are LEAVING their country. Why is that anyway? If my passport is valid when I go INTO the country - what difference does it make if it expires AFTER I’m there? My personal data doesn’t change just because my passport expires. I don’t change just because my passport expires.  I don’t suddenly become a terrorist as of midnight on the day my passport expires and even if I did, I would still be in your country anyway. My birth date doesn’t change, nor does my social insurance number or eye colour.  My height, weight and h...