Rod Spittle

   Mackenzie Hughes is a Canadian golfer who, last week, finished in third place in a golf tournament in the Dominican Republic. Apart from getting a tan, he received $276,000. At the richer Travelers Championship, back at the end of June, he tied for third and won $436,000. On the first of March he finished second at the Honda Classic and the number on the check was $763,000. Playing golf as a professional was not always so financially rewarding.

  Rod Spittle was born in St. Catherines in 1955 and, like Hughes, headed south to Ohio to play golf and get a college education. He went to Ohio State, while Hughes attended Kent State. The economic prospects for professional golfers were not so bright back then and Spittle decided to go into the insurance business which was likely to be more lucrative and, some would say, more exciting.  In an interview back in 1977 he indicated he was spending time in the pro shop and supplementing his income by making wooden drivers like the one illustrated above (a link to the video is provided below.)

Apart from a fine collegiate career, Spittle won the Canadian Amateur Championship in 1977 and 1978. If you recognize him, however, it is likely because you have seen him on the Champions Tour, which is the professional tour for older players. It was only after a long career in insurance that he attempted to become a professional golfer. In 2010 he won the AT&T Championship in San Antonio and has made over $4 million. He retired from golf in 2018. Apparently he is a fine fellow and you can learn more about him below.

Television Archives

I stumbled upon Mr. Spittle when I discovered that some television news footage from a neighbouring state is now available over the Internet. Those who would rather watch events from the past than read about them, will be pleased to know that more archived video material is now being made available. In this case, the Buffalo Broadcasters Association is providing content as part of the New York Heritage Digital Collections.

The Channel F Sports Director interviewed Spittle back in 1977 when he was the Canadian Amateur Champion. You can see the entire interview by clicking on the link provided. There is a short opening glitch, but stick with it and listen to the southern-sounding Spittle talk about his career and the club he has made. It looks better than the one pictured above. (the video is only 2 minutes) WIVB-TV Featured Segment - Rod Spittle-1977.

The Bonus - Local News Coverage

   Those who would like to view local television news coverage will be pleased to know that the archives of the London TV Station CFPL are available at Archives Ontario. Footage is provided for the years from 1953 to 1968. Here is the link to the Ontario Archives. 

   I used the CFPL footage in a post I did about Western students winning a bed-pushing contest in the early 1960s -see, The Important Subject of Bed-Pushing.  Lately, however, I have had problems opening the videos. I hope you have better luck. A few of the CFPL broadcasts are available on YouTube. 

Sources:

   There is a Wikipedia entry for Rod Spittle and a profile on the PGA Tour Champions website. He is also in the Canadian and Ontario Halls of Fame. 

Ontario Golf Hall of Fame 

Canadian Golf Hall of Fame 

For a good profile see:

"Rod Spittle Returns to Hamilton For Historic Career Milestone," Brent Long, Golf Canada. 

My only other post about golf is about golfing in London in the 1930s - see Joy in Mudville. 

Fall Blues

    When I started the series of posts titled "Periodical Ramblings",  I noted that I shared a fondness for magazines with a sister who had tons of them piled around her house.  It has been pointed out to me that I also have several pounds of them as well, many of which I can access electronically. As fall approaches I have been throwing them out. Reluctantly. While doing so, I paused over the covers of the New Yorker. Here are two from almost a decade ago and they seem still to have some relevance. Unfortunately. 

The Bonus:

   Loyal readers will know that this often is where the good stuff is found. In this instance, it is not so much a clever remark or insightful insight, but an actual gift. The first reader to respond, and who has a pickup truck, can have a huge stack of Spy magazines. Here is the cover of one from 1993, which is also relevant since it will apply to a sizeable segment of the U.S. electorate in early Nov. 

Names on the Land

   

   There are more examples this week of linguistic puritans roaming the countryside looking for names to be erased and eliminated from the geographic vocabulary. I don't think they should be. Rather than treat established place names as bits of graffiti that should be painted over, perhaps they should be looked at as we do pictographs and petroglyphs and regarded as something from which we can learn.

 Let Them Be

   The current problem is named 'Squaw's Tit' which is pictured above and located near Canmore, Alberta. Even though the word 'squaw' is an indigenous one, it is now regarded as a racist term and when situated next to 'tit' it is doubly offensive because it is clearly misogynistic as well. It will surely be changed. The half as offensive 'Squaw Valley' in California is going soon and clearly we are more 'woke' than the Americans.  Shame on you if you ever skied there.

   I am not a racist or misogynist, but I am also not a toponymist so I am unlikely to be able to convince you that we should not so quickly erase what has been labelled over a long period of time and for many different reasons. Before you join the protests of the puritans, or sign the petition to have the name of your street changed, pause and read these two books.

   The first one is Names on the Land, by George R. Stewart, who also wrote, Names on the Globe and American Place-Names, as well as other books and novels. From him you will learn to appreciate names, no matter how crude or offensive. Consider this:

   The land has been named, and the names are rooted deep. Lake Mead may fill with silt, and Lake Michigan again spill south to the Gulf -- but the names may still remain. Let the conqueror come, or the revolution rage; many of our names have survived both already, and may again. Though the books should be burned and the people themselves be cut off, still from the names -- as from arrowheads and potsherds -- the patient scholar may piece together some record of what we were. 

   The second book is, From Squaw Tit To Whorehouse Meadow: How Maps Name, Claim, and Inflame by Mark Monmonier. So far, this book has not been burned, nor has the author been forced to erase the title (he almost called it, Fighting Words). Although this book is about applied toponymy and is by an academic, it is written in prose the rest of us can understand.  Here is what the publisher's blurb indicates. The publisher is the University of Chicago Press:

“Brassiere Hills, Alaska. Mollys Nipple, Utah. Outhouse Draw, Nevada. In the early twentieth century, it was common for towns and geographical features to have salacious, bawdy, and even derogatory names. In the age before political correctness, mapmakers readily accepted any local preference for place names, prizing accurate representation over standards of decorum. Thus, summits such as Squaw Tit—which towered above valleys in Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, and California—found their way into the cartographic annals. Later, when sanctions prohibited local use of racially, ethnically, and scatalogically offensive toponyms, town names like Jap Valley, California, were erased from the national and cultural map forever. 

From Squaw Tit to Whorehouse Meadow probes this little-known chapter in American cartographic history by considering the intersecting efforts to computerize mapmaking, standardize geographic names, and respond to public concern over ethnically offensive appellations. Interweaving cartographic history with tales of politics and power, celebrated geographer Mark Monmonier locates his story within the past and present struggles of mapmakers to create an orderly process for naming that avoids confusion, preserves history, and serves different political aims. Anchored by a diverse selection of naming controversies—in the United States, Canada, Cyprus, Israel, Palestine, and Antarctica; on the ocean floor and the surface of the moon; and in other parts of our solar system—From Squaw Tit to Whorehouse Meadow richly reveals the map’s role as a mediated portrait of the cultural landscape.”

  See especially Chapters 3, "Purging Pejoratives," and 4, "Body Parts and Risqué Toponyms." It is an enjoyable book.

Bonus Material: (from the book):

   Some officials chose the toponym "Naughty Girl Meadow", for an area in Oregon, but the locals protested and it was changed back to "Whorehouse Meadow", "officially recognizing the historical and cultural significance of the established local name for the area."

   Even original, indigenous names are not safe: "Another Indian name to bite the dust is Paska Township (in Ontario)—although paska means “shallow” in Cree, the province changed the name after a local Finnish family objected that a word with a similar sound means “shit” in Finnish."

   When the word "gay" began to mean something other than "happy", the locals in Gayside, Newfoundland decided they were more comfortable with Baytona. 

Post Script: 

    For now, Dildo is still in Newfoundland and Swastika is still here in Ontario. 

Sources:

   "Lawyers Hope to Erase Racist and Misogynistic Nickname of Mountain Landmark: Momentum is Building to Properly Name the Landmark, Which Can be Seen From Canmore, Colette Derworiz · The Canadian Press · Posted: Sep 06, 2020.

   For the Squaw Valley name change see this FAQ:

After extensive research into the etymology and history of the term “squaw,” both generally and specifically with respect to Squaw Valley, outreach to Native American groups, including the local Washoe Tribe, and outreach to the local and extended community, company leadership has decided it is time to drop the derogatory and offensive term “squaw” from the destination’s name.

Work to determine a new name will begin immediately and will culminate with an announcement of a new name in early 2021. Implementation of the name change will occur after the winter season concludes in 2021.

To learn more about Professor Monmonier, who is worth learning about see:

His website:

The official faculty link at Syracuse.

To order your copy of From Squaw Tit... and for more of his books, including, Bushmanders and Bullwinkles, see the University of Chicago Press website. 

Cattle Crossing

 More Flotsam

   The news is generally bad here and one can't avoid it even in the antipodes. I am referring to the recent story about a large ship sailing from New Zealand to China which capsized in the East China Sea off the coast of Japan. I mention it only because of the magnitude of the disaster and because I happened to have read about a similar one that happened over 100 years ago. If you are an animal lover or vegetarian, you might want to wait for my next post. 

The Recent Maritime Disaster

   A container ship experienced an engine failure during a typhoon and sank. It was an Exxon Valdez-type disaster, but almost 6,000 live cattle were lost, rather than millions of gallons of crude oil. Of course, one assumes there was also a fair amount of manure on board. I have generally assumed that when we eat meat from far away, it was shipped as steaks and chops, not as live cows or lambs. Apparently, however, the shipment of live cattle is quite common so that they can be fattened upon arrival and butchered appropriately in observance of religious rules.

The Older One

   The ship involved in this incident left the port of Baltimore bound for England in the early 1900s. One of those employed on the ship was W.H.Davies, the author of The Autobiography of a Super-Tramp, where the following description is found. I will spare you the details involved when loading seven hundred and fifty cattle and begin with a brief sample of what it was like once on board and what happened to the 2000 other 'passengers':

What soon breaks the spirit of these wild animals is the continual motion of the vessel. There is always plenty of trouble at first, when they slip forward and backward, but in a few days they get their sea-legs, and sway their bodies easily to the ship's motion. The wild terror leaves their eyes, and, when they can no more smell their native land, they cease bellowing, and settle calmly down. This restlessness breaks out afresh when nearing shore on the other side, and again they bellow loud and often, long before the mariner on the look-out has sighted land.

We also had on this trip two thousand head of sheep, quartered on the hurricane deck. When we were six days out there came a heavy storm, and the starboard side was made clean, as far as pens and sheep were concerned, one wave bearing them all away. This happened at night, and on the following morning the sheep men were elated at having less work to do during the remainder of the voyage. 

   It is difficult to avoid bad news even when one leaves behind current events and retreats to the past.

The Bonus Material

   Although I have not searched through this blog, I am sure the content may not be as 'diverse' as it should now be. For that reason, I will mention some additional material found in The Autobiography... which will be of interest to some of my readers who identify with the LGBTQ segment of the population. If I had any readers at all, I assume this would be a sizeable segment. 

   The description I provided above is found in Chapter X: "The Cattleman's Office". What follows is from the following chapter, "A Strange Cattleman" which begins this way:

Some days before this, a man came to the office, whose peculiar behaviour often drew my attention to him. He asked to be allowed to work his passage to England, and the skipper promised him the first opportunity, and a sum of ten shillings on landing there. This was the reason why some of us had to wait so long, because, having made trips before, more or less, we required payment for our experience. The man referred to above, had a white clean complexion, and his face seemed never to have had use for a razor. Although small of body, and not seeming capable of much manual labour, his vitality of spirits seemed overflowing every minute of the day. He swaggered more than any man present, and was continually smoking cigarettes—which he deftly rolled with his own delicate fingers. In the intervals between smoking he chewed, squirting the juice in defiance of all laws of cleanliness. It was not unusual for him to sing a song, and his voice was of surprising sweetness; not of great power, but the softest voice I have ever heard from a man, although his aim seemed to make it appear rough and loud, as though ashamed of its sweetness. It often occurred to me that this man was playing a part, and that all this cigarette smoking, chewing tobacco and swaggering, was a mere sham; an affectation for a purpose. I could not, after much watching, comprehend. He was free of speech, was always ridiculing others, and swore like a trooper, yet no man seemed inclined to take advantage of him.

   If you are interested and want to learn more about the "Strange Cattleman" you can read The Autobiography of a Super-Tramp, for free on Project Gutenberg. 

Sources: 

   The recent disaster happened in early September, 2020 and many articles can be found. See, for example: "Cattle ship Capsize: Role of Live Export Trade Under Intense Scrutiny," Natalie Akoorie, New Zealand Herald,  Sept. 5, 2020:

A Government review into the live export trade will not be released before the election despite calls for it after the capsizing of a ship carrying thousands of cows and two New Zealanders, during a typhoon.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said she would not pre-empt the outcome of that review or be drawn on whether the trade should be banned.

It comes three days after the Gulf Livestock 1, a container ship carrying 5867 New Zealand cows and 43 crew, is believed to have sank in the East China Sea near Japan after its engine failed during a typhoon.

   I learned, unfortunately, that there have been other recent examples. See:

"4,400 Dead Cows Are Decomposing in a Sunken Ship in a Brazilian River," Thiago Medaglia, Mother Jones, Oct. 28, 2015:
Shipping live cattle is a relatively common practice in Brazil—last year, according to the country’s Ministry of Agriculture, it exported 646,700 live cattle with a total value of $675 million. 

A Dance to the Music of Time

 A Pandemic Project For You

     Over the years before I retired, I would occasionally run across references to a series of novels by Anthony Powell which were produced over a long period of time. The title of the series is attractive, as it should be since it is taken from a painting with that name by Nicolas Poussin. I thought if the author could expend all that labour over a number of years to write the novels, I could at least exert a little in reading them. 

   I just ran across the few notes I made when I undertook the project. I was not up to the task, which is often the case, and abandoned the project, which I usually do.  I did read the first three, but I am sure you can do better.  I also am sure you will enjoy them since they are highly ranked by people far more discerning than I.

12 Novels to Get You Through Covid-19

   I do remember that the first problem I encountered was rounding up the titles which were not catalogued as a series in the library I used.  You may be able to find them packaged together as in the set pictured above, or you can shop title-by-title from the list provided below.

   You should know that there are around 400 named characters and one of them has one of the worst names I have ever encountered - Widmerpool. If you get bogged down, you can also read the guide written by one of his biographers, Hilary Spurling: Invitation to Dance - A Handbook to Anthony Powell's A Dance to the Music of Time. If the pandemic continues, or you need more help, you can read yet another guide - An Index to A Dance to the Music of Time, by B.J. Moule.  (It might be better before you begin all this reading to have a look at the Wikipedia entry for A Dance to the Music of Time.)

The Titles: 

A Question of Upbringing:Heinemann, 1951

A Buyer's Market; Heinemann, 1952

The Acceptance World; Heinemann, 1955

At Lady Molly's; Heinemann, 1957

Casanova's Chinese Restaurant; Heinemann, 1960

The Kindly Ones; Heinemann, 1962

The Valley of Bones; Heinemann, 1964

The Soldier's Art; Heinemann, 1966

The Military Philosophers; Heinemann, 1968

Books Do Furnish a Room; Heinemann, 1971

Temporary Kings; Heinemann, 1973

Hearing Secret Harmonies; Heinemann, 1975

The Bonus

   This should keep your book club going for months and you can further impress the members by letting them know that the author's last name is pronounced as "Pole". 

For that tidbit see: "Preposterously British: The Life of Anthony Powell," Christopher Taylor, Harper's Magazine, Nov. 2018.

CBC and the BBC

 The national public networks both here and in the UK are under some pressure and the BBC created more by offending a large segment of the conservative population, which is perhaps a dwindling portion of the larger one. Still, it is powerful and many of its members did not like the idea that the BBC was not going to play the lyrics of Rule Britannia! and the Land of Hope and Glory at the conclusion of The Proms at the Royal Albert Hall, lest the lyrics offend. 

The Prime Minister Was Not Happy

   Here is what he said and it is worth repeating:

“It’s time we stopped our cringing embarrassment about our history, about our traditions, and about our culture, and we stopped this general bout of self-recrimination and wetness,” said Prime Minister Boris Johnson to reporters, adding with an indignant flourish, “I wanted to get that off my chest.”

Those in charge at the BBC changed their minds.

Sources: 

"BBC Lost a Battle Over British Songs, and the War Is Far From Over," Mark Landler, The New York Times, Sept. 2, 2020.

LONDON — It had all the ingredients for a juicy skirmish in Britain’s simmering culture war, so when the BBC announced last week that it would strip the lyrics from two popular patriotic songs in its telecast of a beloved annual concert, Conservative leaders predictably lined up to express their outrage....

On Wednesday, the BBC reversed itself, announcing it had decided to have a small choir sing the words to “Rule, Britannia!” and “Land of Hope and Glory” after all. Critics say the lyrics evoke a British colonial, imperialist past that is at odds with the values of the Black Lives Matter movement that has spread across the Atlantic….

Score another point for the government in its feud with Britain’s revered, but embattled, public broadcaster. And though the BBC’s viewer numbers have been as strong as ever, the decision was only the most visible setback for the broadcaster, which faces commercial as well as cultural headwinds.

Post Script:

   To some, Defunding the BBC/CBC is more frightening than Defunding the Police. Nevertheless, both Boris and Erin O'Toole have threatened to do so. For more about the Tory policy here see:

Defund CBC 

For some reactions:
"Erin O'Toole's 'Defund the CBC' Plan is Bogus Policy," John Doyle, Globe and Mail, Aug.31, 2020.

"Defund the CBC and Shower Parents With Cash: Four Things Erin O'Toole Has Promised to do Earlier, " Stuart Thomson, National Post, Aug. 24, 2020.

The Bonus:

 I wasn't sure what the Prime Minister meant by 'wetness', but it sounded right. I looked it up:

INFORMAL•BRITISH

a lack of forcefulness or strength of character; feebleness.

"a profession which regards loyalty as weakness and decency as wetness"

Grassroutes

Staying Close to Home

 The pandemic is still with us and we are not supposed to wander too far. A short solitary road trip is an option and this brief post will provide you with some local destinations.

   During rural meanderings in our area you have probably seen signs like the one above and wondered about them.  I often have and finally got around to looking for the answers to these questions: What are Grassroutes and toward what are they pointing? 

   Grassroutes is an initiative by Middlesex County to encourage tourism in our area and here is a formal definition:

"The journey is the destination on the Middlesex Grassroutes. The Grassroutes meanders through Middlesex County, giving travellers a taste of the local food, culture, heritage and natural sites all along the way. Follow the Grassroutes in its entirety or hop on along the route. Either way you’ll find signs to point you to the highlights and diversions in Middlesex County."

   If you visit the website below you will find various options divided into these seven categories: Activities, Dining, Experiences, Plan, Shop, Stay, Events. Among the sub-categories subsumed under Experiences, you will find a direct link to Grassroutes. A map is provided.

   If you travel along the routes you will find many different things, among them a place where you can have a medieval banquet and a place where you can stay in a Covered Wagon B&B.

Sources:

A link to Grassroutes is provided above.
This link will take you directly to the Entertainment Category
Here is a link to the general Middlesex County website: https://www.visitmiddlesex.ca/

 The medieval banquet is offered by Golden Gryphon Medieval Entertainment and Catering and the covered wagon pictured below is at the Texas Longhorn Range in Strathroy. Activities at some of these places are somewhat curtailed by Covid-19.

   

A Map: