Oldtime Maxville

I’ve had this ripped page from a really old magazine ad hanging around my desk for ever – on my handy magnetic bulletin board, to be precise. I don’t know about you but I tend to put stuff up on the fridge or the bulletin board and have every intention of “doing something with it”. Clippings, photos, ticket stubs, all kinds of bits and bobs, I set it aside and the only thing that happens is I forget about it all – and corners curl from age (kinda like pipers). I can’t remember where this particular bit of paper came from. Maybe someone gave it to me. It looks like it came from Popular Mechanics or a mag of similar dimensions. But it’s kind of interesting. So, here’s me doing something with it.
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Happy New Year!

All the best to you and yours for a happy New Year – may it be the best ever!

And here’s one of the oddest postcards I’ve ever seen; someone actually posted this – in 1912!
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December Rose

An unusually warm November and a trellis along the warmish outside of my house made this oddity of nature appear this past weekend.
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The Last Day of the Year

A beautiful, crisp, clear, cold winter’s day here in Dundas, Ontario.  For lovers of winter, this is a perfect winter’s day.  I’m more a “liker” of winter.  But today is a shiny, bright punctuation point for the run-on sentence that was 2008.
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Scott MacAulay

What sad news that the dynamic force of nature known as Scott MacAulay has died. I’ve known him for pretty much as long as I have been piping, and, I guess, because of that, I’d expected him to be around for, at least, as long as I was. I hadn’t spent much time with Scott over the last number of years; like so many people we know, especially friends, we take them for granted: “I’ll call tomorrow”, “We’ll get together soon”.
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Benbecula

Labour Day marks the official end of summer for most people in this part of the world.School starts back tomorrow and there’s no more holidays in sight until mid-October and Thanksgiving.
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Summer Vacation

In honour of the looming and long-awaited Canadian summer I post for your edification and enjoyment a truly archival Grey family photo – summer vacation a good few years ago, Lake Massawippi, Quebec.
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My First Outdoor Pipe Band Contest

Southern Ontario in general and the Toronto area especially used to see a lot of teaching happening – and a lot of kids’ pipe bands.  I can’t say for certain today how much teaching is going on but I do know we don’t have many “junior” bands around, the kind built for kids. 
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Overcoming Real Challenges (John Wilson)

One of my prized “piping possessions” is a signed copy of John Wilson’s autobiography, “A Professional Piper in Peace and War”: the front page, inscribed in broad strokes, “With all good wishes, Michael, from the author, John Wilson, 13th, January, 1979″. Sweet. 
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Photographs: Italy September 2007

Here’s a stream of photos you can click through to get a sense of the fantastic scenery of the Molise region of central Italy and the good fun at the “Big Italian Gathering“. 

The Gathering, staged by the the Bagpipe Italian Group, in connection with the Associazione Piper Italiani in the Tuscan village of Tavarnelle Val di Pesa, is an annual event that includes workshops, a concert and a competition.  All are welcome.      

M.