Noteworthy: Musical generation gap

By Bruce Penton on November 8, 2023.

Had trouble concentrating last week while trying to figure out the best way to score a couple of Taylor Swift tickets for her three early December Eras Tour shows in Vancouver.

• Actually, most people my age would far sooner show up at Co-op Place this Friday night to see Canadian superstars Tom Cochrane and rock group Trooper perform. Cochrane will remind the audience once again life is a highway while Trooper will certainly raise a little hell.

• We see the Take Back Alberta faction of the governing UCP has taken control of the party at its convention last weekend, so are we headed for a Utopian life on the far right? Or will the TBA’s control of the government steer the province toward a “ticking bomb,” as suggested by Christine Myatt, former press secretary to ex-premier Jason Kenney? We’ll have to see how it plays out, but one can imagine Rachel Notley rubbing her hands in anticipation of the next provincial election.

• While thousands of Hatters will commemorate Remembrance Day this Saturday, a few hundred will take part in the annual service that starts at 9:15 a.m. at the Esplanade. Following the service, the parade procession will march to the Cenotaph for the sombre 11 a.m. ceremony that pays tribute to those who gave their lives so we could live a life of freedom in Canada.

• From the ‘You Got What You Deserved’ department comes the story of a carjacker in San Antonio who used a gun to get keys from the victim, but couldn’t do a quick getaway – or a getaway at all – because he didn’t know how to operate a manual transmission. Any Prairie kid from the age of 9 or 10 would get how a manny tranny works.

• Off to Paris? Local breakdancers Aaron and Kendra Melanson, who organized the annual Last Standing event in Medicine Hat in June, were probably excited to learn breakdancing will be an official event at the Paris Olympics in 2024. Will any locals try to qualify for the Canadian breakdancing team?

• Other fringe sports/activities – surfing, skateboarding and rock climbing – are also returning to Paris after their debuts in Tokyo’s 2020 Games.

• Medicine Hat Skateboard Association members are proving their solid citizenship again with an upcoming humanitarian skateboard trip to Mexico. A spokesperson says the group of more than 30 skateboarders and leaders will be in Mexico Jan. 1-8 “to make a difference.”

Similar past trips have been to Mexico and Nigeria. The group recently raised $1,250 for the Ronald McDonald House in the Hat through a bottle drive. In Mexico, the local skateboarders will be involved in building a home for a family in need, and partnering with a girls’ home called el refugio – a home operated by a couple from Canada rescuing girls from sex trafficking.

• Most annoying family on TV: The Save-on-Foods quartet.

• Hearing a couple of Alberta ski resorts have opened for the season about one week earlier than normal is good news on a couple of fronts: One, avid skiers have a chance to get an early start on their season; and two, maybe it means we’ll get a good dump of snow this winter and get our rivers and streams flowing with more volume.

• Danielle Smith’s hopes of holding a 2025 referendum on Alberta leaving the Canada Pension Plan and setting up an APP appear to be dashed, with the federal government suggesting a “complex and multi-year process” required to do all the ‘cipherin’, as Jed Clampett might call it. So what does ‘multi-year’ mean in Ottawa-speak? Two years, five, 10? An overnight solution it will not be.

• Visited family in Kelowna last week and enjoyed using air travel rather than a vehicle. Flight time from Medicine Hat to Calgary, normally a three-hour drive: 50 minutes. Flight time from Calgary to Kelowna, normally a seven-hour drive: 49 minutes.

• Nice to see Ethan McCallum, the 16-year-old goalie for the Tigers, earn his first WHL victory last week. McCallum is the latest goaltender in a long line of netminders from my old home town of Brandon to make their mark. Ron Hextall, Glen Hanlon, Ken Wreggett, Bill Ranford and – for you old-timers- Turk Broda were all born in Brandon. Coincidentally, McCallum’s first WHL win came against the Everett Silvertips, whose assistant general manager is a guy named Mike Fraser, who grew up in Brandon and yes, played goal in Junior A and U.S. college hockey.

Bruce Penton is a retired News editor. He may be reached at brucepenton2003@yahoo.ca

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