Saturday Morning Musings

Article © Stephen Vance, 2009

Good morning everyone.

This morning I'd like to talk a little bit about Indie music, and in particular Canadian Indie music.

As was reported in The Meaford Independent yesterday, Canadian rock band The Trews are set to take the stage at Meaford Hall in a few weeks.

I was very impressed when I saw a booking of this caliber for Meaford Hall. I often hear complaints about some of what gets booked into the Hall. Even I at times have taken a jab at what seemed to be a never ending string of 'tribute bands' performing there.

Perhaps that isn't fair. I don't pretend to know how to run a facility like that, and I also can't pretend to know what types of productions are available and willing to come to a small market like Meaford.

It would be nice to see more live theatre at the Hall, and many people complain about the lack of stage plays, but who knows if there are many that could be booked.

But to see high quality, and relatively well known bands like The Trews booked is indeed exciting.

I've seen The Trews perform a few times. The first time was back in 2004 when I went to see Big Sugar at The Roxx in Barrie. At that time I had never heard of The Trews, but they completely blew me away with their high energy performance.

Their musicianship was very tight, and their sound was bold and confident. I saw them again at a music festival in Burlington, and I've also seen them at one of my favourite venues anywhere- The Opera House in Toronto, and I saw them perform a short set at Lee's Palace during an Indie Music Showcase. They have never failed to impress.

In Canada we are pretty lucky really. We have a music scene that is the envy of many. Canada churns out bands at an amazing rate. Many of our home grown musical acts go on to achieve huge success, while others build a solid and long lasting career right here at home.

The Tragically Hip are likely the epitome of a Canadian success story. Many people assume that The Hip are internationally famous given their headlining presence here at home. While they sell millions of albums in Canada, they have actually only had limited success beyond our borders. They might play The Air Canada Centre in Toronto to 20,000 appreciative fans, and then the next week find themselves in Wisconsin playing "Larry's Bar" with a seating capacity of 150.

One of the things I have always loved about The Hip, is that they haven't seemed bothered by what some consider their lack of international success. For them it would seem that it isn't about the money, or the fame, or playing huge stadiums. They just want to make music.

Those are the kinds of bands that I like. The Trews are one of those bands.

We do get bombarded in Canada with the glitzy, shallow, big name acts that sell multi-millions of albums every time they belch. It has often been said that in order to achieve that level of "success" the "artist" must appeal to the lowest common denominator, and in doing so the quality is sacrificed in favour of gimmickery in order to generate large quantity sales.

That is not always true, there are many very talented and creative acts that have achieved enormous success while still maintaining an impeccable quality in their art.

Personally though, I gravitate toward the independent artists who focus on their craft and not on how many units they sell.

I would like to suggest some other top notch Canadian artists that Meaford Hall would do well to bring in for some shows:

First & foremost, my favourite artist of all time is Kitchener-Waterloo bred Danny Michel. There is no finer lyricist on the planet, and this guy is a pure talent who plays all instruments, and plays them well. He has built a solid following of fans who appreciate his unique approach to making music, and the diverse genres that his music spans. I've attended more than 25 of his live shows, and every one has been a fun and memorable experience.

Manitoba's Lindy is also a true craftsman who has a gift for creating a mood through his music like few are able to do. He is also funny as hell in person.

Nova Scotia born, and Prairie raised Feist has in recent years hit the big time but it hasn't changed her dedication to producing music that is true to the art.

Luke Doucet is another Nova Scotia born, and Prairie raised artist who is now based in Vancouver. A phenomenal guitarist, Doucet is also known for telling some fabulous stories in his songs. He has played with the likes of Sarah McLachlan and is married to the stunning singer song writer Mellisa McLelland.

There are many, many more that I could suggest. We are so fortunate in this country to have such a vast pool of talented people in all of the arts.

Anyway, in a rush this morning as the Downtown Window Unveiling day has finally arrived, and I have a boat load of last minute things to get done.

If you have some time tonight, head downtown before 7 p.m. for another fabulous Meaford event. Santa will be arriving by fire truck at 7 when the holiday window displays will also be unveiled, and the tree will be lit at Meaford Hall.

There will be fire barrels, clowns, singing, face painting for the kids, and an overall fun event with a whole lot of small town charm.

Since the theme is Olympic Torch Spirit in recognition of the fact that the Olympic torch will be passing through Meaford on December 29th, it is only fitting that our window judges have Olympic ties. One is a former Olympian wrestler- Brian Renken of Meaford, and the second judge Kevin Hooper, will be heading to Vancouver for the 2010 Winter Games to offer his chiropractic services to the athletes.

I hope to see you there.

Have a great weekend everyone!
Thanks to you, Mr. Writer: Musings From Meaford is now listed in the Top Three at Canadian Blogosphere. To help this blog climb even higher click on their icon below, then hit the green button to vote - limit 1 vote per day per IP - thank you for voting.

Click Here to Read The Full Story...

The Frustration is Over

The Meaford Independent is back online.

Thank you for your patience.

Stephen

Click Here to Read The Full Story...

Check Out The Meaford Public Library!

Article & Image © Stephen Vance, 2009

Speaking of stuff that can happen that is beyond our control, and having to deal with it, if you haven't been to The Meaford Public Library since they re-opened their doors on November 3rd, you definitely should go check it out.

As you might recall, I was given a tour of the devastation at the library by Library CEO Rita Orr after the flooding that occurred back in August. At that time walls were destroyed, floors were soaked, and it was a pretty depressing scene.

I stopped in to visit with Orr a few days before the official re-opening on November 3rd, and the transformation was incredible. I have since visited the library twice, once with my sons, and again on Friday with the girls.

Everyone involved with the library should be commended for dealing with this unexpected incident in such a professional, efficient manner.

In a matter of days a temporary location had been established on Sykes Street so that patrons could return borrowed book, and borrow material that had been returned by other patrons.

In just 10 weeks, after extensive repairs to walls, floors, ceilings, and the roof of the building, the Library was back in business. Very impressive indeed.

For those that haven't visited the library since the re-opening, here are some before and after photos:

Main reception area after the flooding:

Main Floor After Renovations:

Children's Library After The Flood:

And after renovations:

Thanks to you, Mr. Writer: Musings From Meaford is now listed in the Top Three at Canadian Blogosphere. To help this blog climb even higher click on their icon below, then hit the green button to vote - limit 1 vote per day per IP - thank you for voting.

Click Here to Read The Full Story...

A day of frustration......

Ever have one of those days when things just went wrong?

That has been my day since yesterday morning.

The poor folks at the hosting company that I use for websites including The Meaford Independent ended up with a big problem yesterday.

Simple server maintenance should have meant little more than an hour or so of downtime- often there is no downtime at all, but they didn't even get that far.

There was some sort of power issue that ended up destroying the operating system drive for the servers before they even got to doing any routine maintenance, and they have been working around the clock to get it fixed and to get all of the websites they host back up and running.

I called their Montreal office a couple of times yesterday, and the owner, who I typically deal with, was extremely frustrated and apologetic, but at the same time he was very professional, and explained to me the steps that they are taking to get it repaired.

He could get all of the sites back up online very quickly by moving them to a different server, and one might think that would be a great idea, but then you get into a huge issue with IP addresses for each of those sites changing, security certificates would need to all be re-issued, and a host of other issues would need to be dealt with. The hosting company decided that rather than go for a quick fix that would not necessarily be the best for the clients whether they understand that or not, they would work on fixing the problem from the ground up as it should be fixed and get everything back to normal as quickly as possible.

He seemed relieved that I wasn't yelling and screaming at him as I am sure some of their other clients had been doing yesterday. He also told me that he too wants things fixed as quickly as possible as he is not sleeping until it is all running properly- and he likes his sleep.

I just don't see the point of venting frustration by yelling at my service provider. Obviously the hosting company, who have been in the business for ten years, and who I have dealt with for the last three years want everything back up and running as badly as I do.

Sometimes stuff happens. Stuff happens that is beyond our control. And there is never a good time for bad stuff to happen.

Sure it is terrible time for me personally having just launched the new website for The Meaford Independent which has been receiving hundreds of visits and thousands of page views in the first two days of operations, but you can buy a new car tomorrow, drive it off the lot and get in a car accident, and though it might seem so much worse because you just bought the car, it is still just a car accident.

I understand the frustration of trying to get onto a website that is down though. A few days ago I tried for over three hours to get onto the website for The Ontario Legislature, and every time I tried, the result was the same- a blank screen. After trying for three hours the site was finally operational again, and I was able to get the information I was looking for.

People trying to buy tickets for Olympic events had a similar experience last weekend when the website for purchasing tickets crashed due to technical difficulties stemming from components of the site that were not properly acknowledging each other. Ticket sales were delayed for an entire week.

All websites at one point or another experience an outage. Typically outages are short lived as problems can be fixed easily. Sometimes things take longer than we would like to repair.

Ever had a computer crash? It can be frustrating and take a while to fix.

Ever had a car break down? You almost never plan for your car to break down, and the timing of the breakdown isn't usually good.

Ever had a lengthy power outage that leaves you wondering how you are going to save all of the food in the freezer?

Stuff happens, and yes, it certainly sucks when it does. Yes I am frustrated, but I am trying to remain calm and not vent. It wouldn't do any good. The hosting company will get it fixed and will get the websites for all of their clients back up and running on the internet, and everything will be fine again.

As the owner of the hosting company told me yesterday, in ten years of website hosting, this is the first time he has ever seen a problem such as the one they currently have on their hands.

These guys have done a great job for me and the roughly 20 websites that I have hosted with them for the last three years, and I know that they are doing their best.

As soon as The Meaford Independent is back online I will post an update here.

Stephen

Thanks to you, Mr. Writer: Musings From Meaford is now listed in the Top Three at Canadian Blogosphere. To help this blog climb even higher click on their icon below, then hit the green button to vote - limit 1 vote per day per IP - thank you for voting.

Click Here to Read The Full Story...

Saturday Morning Musings

Good morning everyone,

It has been a super crazy week with the launch of The Meaford Independent, and some other projects that we have been working on.

I had a fun Morning Musings prepared for this morning, dealing with the fact that Ms. Writer and the girls have gone out of town for the weekend to visit "The Mother in Law" and other family members while I stayed home to work all weekend in blissful silence.

However, last night there was a death in our family, and it just is not the time for such a lighthearted article.

I will say that as sad as it is, I am glad that Ms. Writer at least was able to spend a few moments with her grandfather (her Dido) before he suddenly and unexpectedly passed away last night.

I will be spending today and tomorrow trying to wrap up a bunch of loose ends on projects as I too will likely have to head out of town mid week to be with Ms. Writer and her family.

So, I am sorry there are no Saturday Morning Musings this week, but things will get back to normal shortly.

Lastly, if you are trying to get onto The Meaford Independent website this morning, and are finding that you can't, no worries, it is simply inconvenient timing as there was scheduled semi-annual server maintenance & repair taking place this morning on the servers where the site is hosted.

It will be back up and running later this morning.

Enjoy your weekend everyone, and take some time to hang out with someone you love.

Stephen

Thanks to you, Mr. Writer: Musings From Meaford is now listed in the Top Three at Canadian Blogosphere. To help this blog climb even higher click on their icon below, then hit the green button to vote - limit 1 vote per day per IP - thank you for voting.

Click Here to Read The Full Story...

Meaford Has a New Newspaper!

Hello everyone!

I am very excited to introduce a brand new online newspaper serving the community of Meaford.

In the months since I published my first article on this blog site, it has become clear to me that there is a large interest in this community in alternatives to conventional news sources. The feedback I have received over the last year has inspired me to take the big leap and start my own independent newspaper.

And, as you would likely expect, I decided to save a few trees and keep moving toward the future by publishing an online only newspaper.

The Meaford Independent is committed to providing community based news, and doing so using the internet instead of conventional newspaper format.

News media has changed a lot over the last several years, and it will be changing even more in the future. Conventional newspapers have been, and will continue to shift from print editions to digital versions, and the Independent is part of this new era of information dissemination.

If you are involved in a business or organization, contact The Independent to find out about our outstanding advertising opportunities.

If you have news or events to pass along, contact the editor at: editor@themeafordindependent.ca

Put The Independent on your media release contact list so that we can help get your news out into the community.

Take some time to check out The Meaford Independent!

Alternative news sources are always great for readers as everyone benefits from a variety of angles and viewpoints.

It is only day one, so we are just getting started, but there is lots to come!

And don't worry, there will still be lots going on here on the Mr. Writer: Musings From Meaford site, so check back often!

Click Here to Read The Full Story...

Saturday Morning Musings- Municipal Operational Review

Article & Image © Stephen Vance, 2009

As has been noted by several people, there has been a lack of articles posted on this site over the past week. This is in part because I have been waiting for a couple of important municipal reports to be released that need to be written about. I have also had a very busy work week, so I haven't had much time for writing.

Someone else who has had an extremely busy several weeks is Meaford CAO Frank Miele. In addition to preparing his 3rd Quarter Report that outlines the status of the 2009 municipal budget, Miele has also been sifting through the mountain of recommendations put forward by the Citizen's Task Force (CTF), and the independent consultant after the completion of the long awaited "Municipal Operational Review".

As most of you will recall, there have been some vocal residents and politicians who have insisted that Meaford has a bloated roster of municipal employees, and given the current and ongoing financial difficulties being experienced in Meaford, the municipality must slash staff in order to lower expenditures.

It was acknowledged that such views though prevalent, were somewhat anecdotal and were not supported with any hard data, so Meaford Council directed the CAO to undertake a comprehensive review of municipal services, and the staffing in place to support those services. In an effort to ensure transparency and objectivity, an independent consultant was hired, and a citizen's task force was formed to conduct the audit.

During the process every department within the municipality was evaluated, and every member of the municipal staff from the front line workers to the senior management team were interviewed.

The result of this extensive look into the workings of the municipality was two reports submitted to the CAO- one from the Citizen Task Force, and one from the consultant. The CAO has prepared his own report, and this report is included in the agenda package for the November 9th council meeting.

The 23 page report which begins on page 98 of the meeting agenda package, includes 128 recommendations from the CAO. The recommendations are in the form of a work plan that includes target completion dates, associated costs if any, and functional responsibility for each recommendation.

I am already bracing for the onslaught of criticism from those that were confident that the review process would result in a finding that there were far too many staff members, and recommendations for staff reductions which would save hundreds of thousands of dollars.

There will be some that will be quick to point out that aside from the recommendation to eliminate the position of General Manager of Meaford Hall upon the expiration of the contract for that position next year, there are no proposed job cuts. In fact, there are expressed needs for additional staff.

The fact is that both the committee that was composed of every day Meaford residents, and the independent consultant, after conducting their extensive reviews determined that given the services currently provided by the Municipality of Meaford, the corporation is adequately staffed. In some areas in fact, it was determined that the municipality is under-staffed.

As in any organization, there are many areas that can be improved, and there are many efficiencies to be found, but if you are looking for positions to cut, they just aren't there.

Does this mean that there is absolutely no way that staff could be cut to save costs?

There certainly are. And to anyone who feels compelled to put forward an argument that the Municipality of Meaford still must cut staff, there will be one very important component that must be included in such an argument:

Which services would you like to see cut?

Staff can certainly be reduced, but there is no way of reducing municipal staff without cutting services, because the current staff is already stretched pretty much as thin as they can be.

As an example, if you take a look at winter snow plowing for the 544 square kilometre area that Meaford covers, we have 17 plow routes, 17 trucks, and 17 drivers. That is pretty tight staffing if you ask me.

If you want to reduce staff in the Operations Department, which incidentally is the largest department in the entire municipality, you would need to combine plow routes which would result in reduced service as it would take the plows longer to clear the municipal roads of snow. This raises safety concerns, and would no doubt frustrate already frustrated taxpayers. Not to mention, the actual cost savings would be pretty insignificant.

Some might feel that perhaps there is some excess to be found in the luxury services such as the arena, the pool, and the harbour. The fact is that those three facilities operate on less than 9 Full Time Equivalent (FTE) employees. Think about that. The arena, the pool, and the harbour are staffed by the equivalent of 9 full time people. There are probably more people working at the local Dairy Queen.

The library is staffed with roughly 5.5 FTE's, the museum with less than 2, the planning department 5, and Meaford Hall has 6.71 FTE's (5.71 after the General Manager position is eliminated).

Our entire municipality operates with the equivalent of less than 80 employees.

Less than 80 full time equivalent staffers to plow and maintain our roads, run our facilities, maintain our parks, supply our homes with water, operate the library, take care of the finances, and carry out a multitude of other tasks that quite frankly need to get done in order to keep our town running.

I'm amazed that it all gets done with that few.

Still, I understand the desire to fix all of the municipal financial problems by cutting staff, so I have a proposal:

We can save the cost of roughly 24 full time positions if we get rid of all of the community services. Let's shut down the library, Meaford Hall, the museum, the arena, the pool and the harbour.

Eliminating those positions should free up around $800,000 per year in salaries.

It would also provide us with some really cool empty buildings for us to store the huge piles of money that we are about to save.

Once this is complete we will be in a position to eliminate the five positions in the planning department since nobody will want to build or develop here after we obliterate every bit of community and cultural activity in the town.

Eliminating the planning department should save at least another $200,000.

Now that we have no athletic or cultural services to worry about, and we don't need to be paying people to ensure that development happens properly, there would be really nothing worth protecting or saving in Meaford so we could also get rid of the staff at the fire department.

Now with the elimination of a total of 34 full time equivalent staffers, we would have our municipal workforce reduced to slightly more than 40 full time employees.

That should save just about enough to cover the 2008 deficit and have a little left over to provide every household with a really big hose in case of an unexpected house fire.

Then all we'd be left with is the need to come up with a crafty plan to cover off the outstanding 2007 deficit.

Suggestions anyone?

Anyway, coffee is done, I must be off.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Thanks to you, Mr. Writer: Musings From Meaford is now listed in the Top Three at Canadian Blogosphere. To help this blog climb even higher click on their icon below, then hit the green button to vote - limit 1 vote per day per IP - thank you for voting.

Click Here to Read The Full Story...

Meaford 3rd Quarter Report

The 3rd quarter report from the Meaford CAO is now available on the municipal website.

You can check it out by clicking here.

Before you click- if you don't use Microsoft Publisher (or if you are on dial-up and don't particularly want to download a massive 48 MB file), read below:

I am guessing that most of you don't have Microsoft Publisher software on your computers, so you won't be able to open the file that the municipality has provided.

The municipality really should have considered this and posted the document in PDF format to ensure that it is accessible to everyone.

For those of you who are not able to open the file on the municipal website, I have converted the document to PDF for you - 'cuz that's just the kinda fella I am.

You can access the report in PDF format by clicking here, but if you are on dial-up be warned- it is a 49 page, 18.4 MB file.

Happy reading!

Thanks to you, Mr. Writer: Musings From Meaford is now listed in the Top Three at Canadian Blogosphere. To help this blog climb even higher click on their icon below, then hit the green button to vote - limit 1 vote per day per IP - thank you for voting.

Click Here to Read The Full Story...

Saturday Morning Musings

Article & Image © Stephen Vance, 2009

Halloween is one of those dates on the calendar that if it wasn't for the fact that I have children, I would completely ignore. I don't have anything against Halloween, it just doesn't appeal to me.

I'm not the type of person who would get dressed up in a costume, let alone spend hours upon hours creating one as some folks are wont to to. Even when I was a kid I wasn't overly thrilled with the events surrounding Halloween and the second I felt I was able to use age as an excuse, I discontinued my participation.

Just because something doesn't particularly suit me though, doesn't mean that I don't see the appeal to others. Our children are buzzing around the house in an extreme state of excitement for a couple of reasons this morning.

Obviously the primary reason for their excitement is that they are looking forward to getting dressed up in the costumes that they and Ms. Writer have put together. One of the girls will be wandering our neighbourhood decked out in some home fashioned pirate garb, and for the day has adopted the handle "Jackie Sparrow"- a reference to a Hollywood film that is far more annoying than anything relating to Halloween. The other half of the 'twindom' will don a cape and some fangs and will transform herself into a character she has dubbed 'Dracula's Girlfriend'.

They will then roam our 'hood asking people to give them the sugar filled candy that Ms. Writer and I, being the mean parents that we are, rarely let them enjoy.

The second reason that they are so excited, and admittedly I too am looking forward to this, is that our friends who live in rural Meaford are set to arrive at our home late this afternoon so that their daughter can enjoy the door knocking ritual with our little ones, without having to hike eight kilometres in order to visit only three homes.

Our friends will be arriving with a stash of organic lollipops to add to the pencils and granola bars that we will be distributing to all of the little goblins who arrive at our door. I believe the plan is that the men will stay home to act as the 'goody dispensers', and the ladies will march the fully costumed children around our block. Which is just fine with the men, because we will be much closer to the goodies that are emblazoned with that beautiful "40% Alcohol by Volume" label.

We will also be making a party out of the evening since Ms. Writer will be making her famous vegetarian paella, and we will also be whipping up some home-made, dairy free pizzas on amazing spelt flour pizza dough. Toss in some good wine and Russian water, and we have a pretty good evening to look forward to.

If you are looking to discover something fun with regard to this Halloween day, swing through our neighbourhood once it gets dark. Our neighbour, Jody-Lynn has a wonderful talent for carving pumpkins, and each year she and her husband place a custom made display rack on the front lawn, so that she can show off her creations.

This year Jody-Lynn has 15 of the orange gourds, each carved with an interesting design. The process is time consuming and each pumpkin can take her from one to four hours to work her artistic carving magic, but the results are amazing. In past years she has carved the face of Harry Potter, or Harley Davidson logos in her pumpkins. This year she has whipped up a wonderful Betty Boop, and some cool Fender & Gibson guitar logos.

Being a fan of Peavey guitars, and as an owner of a fine Peavey bass guitar, I asked her why she didn't include a Peavey guitar logo again this year as she had last year, and she explained that she never does the same design twice.

I asked her to explain how she creates these amazing jack-o-lanterns, assuming that she must use some sort of Dremmel like device, and Jody-Lynn told me that she first draws the design onto the pumpkin, and then uses only knives to carve them. Impressive indeed. Possessing a knife wielding talent like that is sure to keep the spouse in line.

Anyway, I hope everyone enjoys today. Even I can find some little part of the Halloween hubbub to participate in- it is a perfectly excellent excuse to watch a classic horror film. I'm not a huge fan of the horror genre, but once a year it is fun to give yourself a little scare!

Coffee is done, and Ms. Writer has left me with a list of chores to take care of in preparation for our company tonight, so I must be off.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Thanks to you, Mr. Writer: Musings From Meaford is now listed in the Top Three at Canadian Blogosphere. To help this blog climb even higher click on their icon below, then hit the green button to vote - limit 1 vote per day per IP - thank you for voting.

Click Here to Read The Full Story...

1st 'Blogiversary' For Mr. Writer: Musings From Meaford

Article & Image © Stephen Vance, 2009

Good morning everyone.

It is one year ago today that 'Mr. Writer: Musings From Meaford' was born.

Time has flown by so quickly. In this past year, 220 articles have been written and posted about everything from Meaford politics, to local business, to environmental issues, to some fabulous events that have taken place in and around Meaford.

Since the very first article was posted, this site has seen 19,000 visits and over 45,000 page views in it's first 12 months.

Thanks to everyone for coming by regularly, and for all of the interesting feedback and email that you offer. We certainly have a community that cares about our local issues.

Stay tuned, there are some very exciting things in the works, and those will be revealed soon!

Thanks again,

Stephen Vance
Mr. Writer: Musings From Meaford

Thanks to you, Mr. Writer: Musings From Meaford is now listed in the Top Three at Canadian Blogosphere. To help this blog climb even higher click on their icon below, then hit the green button to vote - limit 1 vote per day per IP - thank you for voting.

Click Here to Read The Full Story...