Simon Tonekham’s Blog

If you people haven’t heard the news lately, the union representing GO Transit’s, bus drivers, maintenance staff and ticket operators decided to walk off the job because they had rejected a new offer from the Amalgamated Transit Union, Local 1587. If they don’t accept a new offer anytime soon by December 10th, 2007  at 12:01 Toronto time, they will walk off the job. GO Trains are not affected for the strike as they are operated by CN (for all other lines) and CP (for the Milton line) respectively.

Let’s hope that this shouldn’t happen, unlike the strike by the CAW (Canadian Autoworkers Union) Local 222 representing transit drivers for Durham Region Transit last year. From my experience, transit service was severely disrupted throughout Durham Region, except for Whitby as they are contracted out. I survived one strike on my first year at Durham College and I don’t want another strike to happen again. I would be forced to eat many bowls of All Bran Guardian cereal (which happens to be my favourite cereal of all) for the duration of the strike!!!

I wonder how other transit authorities will cope with the ongoing situation for GO bus drivers….hmmm….we’ll have to wait and see……..

Information:

http://www.atu1587.org/GoTransit/index.htm 

http://www.citynews.ca/news/news_17195.aspx 

Well, it’s finally official. The new mascots for the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics/Paralympic games has finally unveiled. When the news first broke out, my tears began to water! Those mascots look really cute!!!! The mascots are:

Quatchi: A very shy sasquatch who likes to meet new friends and explore new places.

Miga: A half-orca (whale), half kermode bear, who likes to do anything fun and exciting.

Sumi: An animal guardian spirit with the wings of a thunderbird and legs of a black bear

Mukmuk: A Vancouver Island Marmot that acts as their official sidekick.

Speaking of Marmot, I was watching a news report yesterday and I heard that the Marmots are considered to be an endangered specie - meaning that they are on the verge of extinction. There was a connection to the marmot. A zookeeper at the Toronto Zoo set up a special project to save the Vancouver island marmot. They decided to go out west and capture as many marmots as they can. As a result, there’s some mixed reviews on the Toronto Zoo’s project to save the Vancouver Island Marmot. I was very impressed by the effort they made.

Anyways, if you want to checkout the mascots for yourself, please do so at this link: http://vancouver2010.com/mascot/en/index.php

Here’s a video on where you can see the mascots in action: http://vancouver2010.com/mascot/en/meet.php

Or, if you are anxious to view this right away:

Alternate link to the video above: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lnSncdPP8VY

The opening on the Youtube video is slightly cut, but that doesn’t matter. Here’s what the mascots look like: http://www.notcot.com/archives/2007/11/2010_vancouver.php

By the time I saw the video and the mascots in action, I literally cried…My tears began to water and I want to get a hold of these mascots! But fear no more, HBC has started to release some swag (merchandise) for the 2010 Winter Olympics just in time for the holiday season! If you want to check out the swag and have the opportunity to buy them online (some Zellers and The Bay stores are selling these merchandise at their participating stores), please check out this link: http://www.hbc.com/mascots.html

I really love to hug those mascots for sure!!!! ^_^

Changing gears, I’ve put up my first “Flashback” posting on my blog. This week is going back through time when Blink 182 performed for their last every concert in Canada:

It’s been almost three years since Blink 182 ran into an indefinite hiatus. That hiatus isn’t complete with the last-ever show by the band. As our concert reporter Kevin Talbot reports back on that day on May 29, 2004, Blink 182 performed at Toronto’s Molson Amphitheatre with a sold-out crowd.
[View our report]
The ball had finally come down in early 2005 when Blink-182 made a big announcement that they are taking an indefinite hiatus. From then, they are no plans for a possible reunion. In November 2005, the record label had released their Greatest Hits CD compiling of hit songs from their musical career. Guitarist Tom Delonge is now in another band called Angels & Airwaves. Their new album “I-empire” was released in November 6^th, 2007. This was a follow-up to their debut album “We Don’t Need to Whisper” which was released back in May 23^rd, 2006. As for drummer Travis Barker and Bassist Mark Hoppus, they are now in a new band called +44 (Plus 44). Their debut album “When your heart stops beating” was released last year on November 14, 2006. Work, currently underway for their second follow up album, is slated to be released tentatively in 2008.

Hey guys,

I’ve set up a new flashback section of my blog and I have a feeling that I really wanted to create a need for a flashback page on my blog. I got this idea from the “Flashback” section from a TV station in Peterborough, ON called CHEX-TV. The link can be founded here: http://www.chextv.com/newswatch/flashback.html
My flashback section can be founded here:

http://simontonekham.wordpress.com/flashback/

The page is still under construction, so please bare with me. I’ve decided to recreate the events that shaped my life, by combining experiences by people in the past with some fictional realization. In layman’s terms, what if the news reporters were there to cover all the action and excitement of those events? I hope this information will help you people relive the times.

The music industry and the fans of Hawthorne Heights were very sad about the sudden death of Casey Calvert, the guitarist of the band. We don’t know what might had lead to the death of him, but official reports reasoned to believe that Calvert died of unknown causes, while other thinks that he died from acute asthma. This hasn’t been discovered when the band was doing a sound check at their Detroit show until it became official. One of the member believed that the guitarist was drunk, while others believe that he is fooling himself.

The band immediately released a statement briefly after the death of Calvert. I will read an excerpt from the statement:

“Its with our deepest regrets that we have to write this. We’ve spent the entire day trying to come to grips with this and figure out as much as possible. At this time we’re not sure what exactly happened. We can say with absolute certainty that he was not doing anything illegal…….Casey was our best friend. He was quirky and awesome and there will truly be no others like him! His loss is unexplainable.”

Immediately after the death, the band has canceled all remaining shows of the tour If you are listening to Hawthorne Height’s tunes and you are reading this blog right now, please stop whatever you are doing, reflect on the time that the band was very successful of performing for the fans and most importantly, the challenges and opportunities that the band had encountered in their music career.

Despite the ongoing dispute with Victory Records (the band filed a lawsuit against the label back in August 2006), everything seem to be “incomprehensible”. I’m leaving you a quote by former Saskatchewan premier Lorne Calvert (no relation to Casey Calvert of course!) that has to tie in with this news:

“Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me, … I don’t think people are going to fall for that one again.”

References:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21962397/

http://news.cincypost.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071126/LIFE/711260358/1005

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071127/ENT04/711270412/1035

http://wws.tmz.com/2007/11/26/guitarist-dies-aboard-bands-tour-bus/

http://www.chartattack.com/damn/2007/11/2604.cf

Picture Source: http://www.floridaentertainmentscene.com/music/artists/hh/gallery/gallery.html

Remember a couple weeks back when I did a post about a common and fool-proof payment system that doesn’t exist in real life? Well, this is what I had in mine. I already had mentioned about chip cards coming to Canada in the next several and from what I had googled on, there were a few attempts by major banks with credit card companies trying to get the idea.

A couple years ago, CIBC (with the help of American Express) launched the entourage credit card. This particular credit card has a chip embedded on the card. When shopping online, the user has to insert his/her credit card in a convenient chip card reader (providing if its connected to the computer’s USB port) and they don’t need to enter their credit card number by typing it. The software automatically detects the smart card reader and prompts the user to enter a password. The information is then authenticated and passed over by the bank.

The entourage card wasn’t able to appeal to many customers (CIBC holds a major agreement with VISA currently), as it has with many chip embedded cards, it quietly flopped sometime between 2003 and 2004. As for the redundant credit card readers that cardholders applied for, they’re completely useless. If the system was in place today, I could have took that opportunity - however there are lots of countless security flaws with the system - especially if you do online shopping with another web browser (such as Mozilla Firefox).

However, two new security initiatives are being (but slowly) implemented: Mastercard’s SecureCode and Visa’s Verified By Visa. The user has to simply enter a password that he/she configured online and in moments, the user shops with confidence. I’m not sure if American Express has a similar feature competitive to Visa and Mastercard’s secure feature.

Note to all banks, credit unions and online retailers: Implement an option for users to pay for online purchases directly from their bank accounts and/or provide support for users to insert his/her chip-embedded card without the use of entering their credit card number. Top that off with allowing the user to enter his/her secure PIN number so they can shop with complete confidence.

References:

http://www.evalu8.org/staticpage?page=review&siteid=9727

http://www.tsys.com/news/press_release_article.cfm?News_ID=96

http://www.internetsecure.com/press/pressrelease4.htm

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6W6X-4D671FF-5&_user=2900775&_coverDate=09%2F01%2F2004&_rdoc=1&_fmt=&_orig=search&_sort=d&view=c&_acct=C000059114&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=2900775&md5=d89ad70376495f9ddc97af605ba4cbfe

If you people have remembered the death of Canada 3000 way back in 2001, you are not alone. There is still 3/4 of a million ($750,000 to be exact) Canadian Dollars still remained unclaimed and untouched. The money were supposed to be refunded for travellers who had intended to fly with that airline, but the airline filed for bankruptcy back in November 2001. The trustee who managed Canada 3000’s refunds were able to process 40,000 refunds, but at least 3,000 still remained unclaimed. The people were either have their names changed, moved out of the country and most importantly, deceased.

Canada 3000 was a complete failure on trying to reshape the airline industry in the wake of the September 11th terrorist attacks at the World Trade Centre way back in 2001. Security was tightened at all airports, the whole entire airspace is completely closed off! Airports congested with immovable planes standing in the tarmac! The list goes on and on and on.

We’ve lost so many airlines in Canada. They are: Harmony Airways, Canjet, Roots Air, Ward Air, the list goes on and on…..

The average refund per person is $250CDN. The refunds range from as little as $50 dollars to as large of $2,000! I’m not sure what people are going to do with that excess money generated, but perhaps, it’s only up to them what they are going to do with it - perhaps they should use that money for Christmas shopping.

http://www.canada.com/saskatoonstarphoenix/news/business/story.html?id=97aee715-15c2-407a-b9c6-74285c19976a

http://www.canada.com/theprovince/news/money/story.html?id=e70d07fd-f6cf-489c-869b-e09b13269e07

http://communities.canada.com/financialpost/blogs/fpposted/archive/2007/11/21/750-000-in-canada-3000-refunds-still-unclaimed.aspx

I’ve been thinking on this issue for almost four to five years now and I’m studying a possibility on going to the Vans Warped Tour (a popular music tour of the summer in which mainly punk rock bands perform) and I spent my time studying the various factors on going to the Warped Tour. These factors are divided into three topics:

Financial: Costs associated on going to the Warped Tour including Ticket prices, transportation costs and buying merchandise (clothing, music CDs, etc…..). I have to budget on what I intend to spend to avoid being broke.

Physical:There is some serious involvement on attending the Warped Tour.For me, Moshing remains the dangerous and controversa concern on going to the Warped Tour. To add insult to injury, there lots of serious dust blowing at the tour. People try to protect their eyes and their entire face from the dust on a nice and sunny day. If I end up with someone I don’t know, I will be caught in a tangled web of people stuck in a middle of a mosh pit in the middle of nowhere.

Logistical: Over the years, the use of reliable transport links to the Warped Tour have diminished over the years and since the Warped Tour’s inception in 1994, the demand of punk/alternative rock music has exponentially increased over the past 13 to 14 years, at a rate of 200%! The first time that the Warped Tour has established in Canada was back in 1995. Toronto was the first Canadian stop of the tour, followed by Vancouver, then Calgary and then Montreal.

The Toronto date has changed over the years. Currently, it’s being held in Barrie at Park Place (formerly Molson Park) for the past 5 years. This year’s Warped Tour was supposed to be held back in the Toronto for the first time in 6 years, but then it was supposed to be held at a park called Burls Creek Park, then finally the event venue was finally shaken up - staying where it belongs - Park Place.

Here’s a chronological years of when the Warped Tour was held in Toronto:

August 23, 1995 - Canadian National Exhibition Grounds

July 27, 1996 - Molsport Park in Bowmanville, Ontario (about 75 km from Toronto)

July 24, 1998 - The Docks

July 24, 1999 - The Docks

July 22, 2000 - The Docks

August 11, 2001 - Rogers Centre (formerly the Skydome)

The first time that the venue was moved to Barrie was in August of 2002. From my experience the city doesn’t like an idea on having the tour in their backyard! I was able to hear the Warped Tour experience when I was in Vancouver back in the summer of 2004, but I didn’t attend the tour. The reason is that my uncle and aunt is going to be mad at me on going to an event without their permission…..

My demand in punk music has been increased over the years. Think of this way: Punk Music is like a “commodity”, like the price of Electricity, Petroleum, Grains, Minerals and Uranium. That’s my humble opinion. Anyways, I was thinking for an idea on releasing my own budget of my future plans of getting more and more punk rock music. My own dream plan is under consideration and it’s going to be released sometime in the new year. This is going to be modeled after the MoveOntario 2020 plan (a plan on improving public transit in the Greater Toronto Area) or something similar.

In the past, Greyhound coaches shuttle Warped Tour goers to the concert venue from Yorkdale Terminal for a certain price (either one way or return trips), but this year, this is unlikely and the fact concert goers have to rely on GO Transit and the (iffy, but not user friendly) transit system in Barrie.

As for my dream plan on increasing the demand in punk music in my interests, I’m still brainstorming though…..

Reference:

http://www.chartattack.com/DAMN/search.cfm?EH=warped+tour

Something came to my undivided attention when I watch a news story on Global today - it’s about a Sarnia family who got a horrific experience with the U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers. The family was planning to go to Port Huron, Michigan to do some early Christmas shopping down there, when a CBP officer checked the birthdate and identification of the driver. Suddenly, without warning - the U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers immediately surrounded the family’s car, asking the driver to put his hands up and handcuffed the driver!

His estranged wife followed suit and as for the children, my experience from them they were crying and they were worried that their dad is going to jail for a crime he commit, which the driver didn’t. As for the entire family, they were taken into custody and released later.  It later turned out to be a case of mistaken identity. The guy’s name and birthdate were very similar to someone wanted for a crime.

It was very horrific story for the family and my tearful outcomes go to the family involved in the situation. As for you guys heading to do some cross-border shopping in the near future, be warned. A situation like that could happen to you someday. This advice goes to all of you cross-border shoppers: If in doubt that you are fearing for your own safety, even though that you did not commit a crime anywhere else in the world, then in all cases: DON’T GO.

Further reading:

http://torontosun.com/News/Canada/2007/11/14/4654553-sun.html

http://lfpress.ca/newsstand/CityandRegion/2007/11/14/4654156-sun.html

What a great increase in my blog viewing, guys. Keep it up. Anyways, There are countless news articles on the internet about Music World’s demise and when I watched a news story from the CBC yesterday, there’s a sign at Music World’s storefront in Toronto’s Eaton Centre saying these simple words: “Closing Sale - Everything MUST GO!” (or something like that). As for the people who worked at Music World, I wish them best of luck for the upcoming holiday rush.

As for the other retain chains (notably HMV in Canada), they have to struggle themselves to keep competitive in the very volatile music industry. Artists must demand royalties for the music the fans have purchased in order to keep the music coming and flowing in our music players and radios. Without it, there won’t be any beat after all!!!

With the holiday shopping season going into full swing, people are going to get very big deals for sure!!!! I leave you this blog posting with a few famous people:

“We really take our music seriously and we take the band very seriously. But we have a lot of personality. So if we’re going to write a song about kissing a girl, we’re gonna write it. And people think we’re a funny band, but we’re just realistic, we put our personality into our lyrics.”  - Tom Delonge, former member of  the now-defunct band, Blink-182 and currently the lead guy in Angels & Airwaves

“If you’re honest, there’s no guarantee that people are going to believe you, but if you get into some kind of a problem, and you’re not honest, boy you bury yourself: you get deeper and deeper in trouble, and you can tell the whole world that you’re honest, and nobody will believe you.” - the late Bob Edmonds, the man who sparked a probe on the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation

“Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me, … I don’t think people are going to fall for that one again.” - Lorne Calvert - Former Premier of Saskatchewan 

“I never thought it would last this long. I should be a schoolteacher somewhere.” - Kevin Lyman, creator of the Vans Warper Tour

“The worst case scenario . . . the flag blows in my face and I fall off the edge of the stage.” - Sam Sullivan, mayor of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

“The process is to stimulate questions of whether we are aiming high enough, … I want us to accept the idea that acceptable performance should be nothing less than great.” and “I hope you’re as excited as I am about making major moves,”- Mitch Daniels,  Governor of Indiana

“My relationship to power and authority is that I’m all for it. People need somebody to watch over them. Ninety-five percent of the people in the world need to be told what to do and how to behave.“ - Arnold Schwarzenegger, Governor of California 

“We can disagree on the laws that are passed, and we often do. But the foundation of our society is that once a law is passed that we agree to obey it. We do not get to obey the laws that we like and disobey the laws that we don’t like,” - Gordon Campbell, Premier of British Columbia

“Like the song says, you ain’t seen nothing yet. It’s one of the legacies I would like to leave.” - Ralph Klein, former Premier of Alberta

To top it all off, I’m finishing it with a excerpt of the song “Push” by Marianas Trench (one of my favourite bands):

Hey, don’t you feel it now?
My shiny side down
Hey, burning brighter still
And you’re getting sick
And you’re feeling it

It’ll wear you down and wear you down
You chase it, breathing in and out and in and out
They’ll push you up against the wall, against the wall
You didn’t think you’d feel it all but you were wrong about it
Push…

Articles:

http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/business/story.html?id=72c52602-c615-46e0-b427-83883ee8426f

http://thechronicleherald.ca/Business/978299.html

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20071112.RMUSIC12/TPStory/Business 

http://torontosun.com/News/Canada/2007/11/13/4651873-sun.html 

http://lfpress.ca/newsstand/Business/2007/11/13/4651485-sun.html 

I stumbled to my attention while reading an article on CityNews.ca today, until this has caught my attention that Music World is finally about to close for ever. Well it’s about time that that chain has filed for bankruptcy and finally about to close their doors. I was quietly fought that long and harsh battle against that chain to close for sure because when I was 13 years old, some bad lady tried to stop me because I thought I try to stole something which in case I didn’t. This was a very traumatizing event for me as the side effects from that incident remains for the rest of my lifetime. I could have got arrested as a result……
If that bad lady who used to work at Music World (at the Pickering Town Centre location, as of 12-Nov-2007 - she’s nowhere to be seen) were to read my blog posting right now, she’s is going to be shocked on what I had made some rude remarks about her. I should have filed a human rights complaint at that time demand a formal apology and some compensation, but I don’t know where to start back then. I was planning to create a facebook group demanding Music World to reveal their social responsibility and responsible care commitment, but it would have cost them a lot of money to create such a report. In retaliation, I’ve decided to post a YouTube of video of what she would feel like if she drove too fast in road works: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fyJIDO8XxK0

Back to the store in general, Music World has struggled to stay afloat with the ever growing demand of listeners/buyers heading to the internet to download the music they want directly. As for the other chains, HMV has grown strong and they started to sell DVDs and Video games. As for people who worked at Music World, I wish them a very good luck in their new opportunities and as for that lady, I can simply ask her this: “THINK! Don’t get too rude on me.” After all, it’s a free country.

Article:

http://www.citynews.ca/news/news_16662.aspx

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20071112.RMUSIC12/TPStory/Business

http://www.cbc.ca/money/story/2007/11/12/chain-musicworld.html