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As *spoon* as Arch comes back from vacation Hepcat will still be Hepcat.
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1,113 posts in this topic

Here are some photos from Xmas a few years back. First here's Phoebe(2005-2008) in the large bedroom:

 

PhoebeTheManXmas2006.jpg

 

PhoebeXmas2006.jpg

 

PhoebeOnionLights.jpg

 

PhoebeXmas20062.jpg

 

The Christmas tree:

 

K1494974A408_1000057.jpg

 

tree.jpg

 

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Here's Deuce(2006?-2015) beside it:

 

K1494974A408_1000059.jpg

 

The tree is a fiber optic one to which we add multiple strands of seven(!) colour C6 LED lights and decorate it with predominantly silvery or white decorations including lots of little birds. Adding multitudes of silver icicles and swaths of angel hair turns the tree into a scene from a magical wintry wonderland where a riot of colour can be seen breaking through a haze of snow and ice. Unfortunately, The MAN has never been able to capture the effect with the camera.

 

Here's Phoebe with her soul mate Blizzard while he still shone brightly:

 

9f633835-786f-4e02-899d-74a40da9b69c_zpsp0s4djpk.jpg

 

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So after we'd taken down the tree in January 2007, we put Blizzard in the upstairs closet. One day the following summer I opened the closet door and Phoebe discovered that her long lost friend was dwelling there! She happily lay down beneath him again.

 

Here's Styx(2000?-2015) with Blizzard:

 

StyxBlizzard2.jpg

 

StyxBlizzard.jpg

 

c5d7d58a-71e5-4d88-af35-278d010f55bc_zpsc6542eed.jpg

 

Here's Cowboy with Blizzard:

 

CowboyBlizzard2.jpg

 

Here's Blizzard out on the front porch with Deuce:

 

BlizzardDeuce2006.jpg

 

DSCN0062.jpg

 

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:popcorn:

 

Edited by Hepcat
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Nice stereo and vinyl.

 

Indeed! We're all audiophiles and two channel purists in this household! We love our vinyl and classic turntables. Digital in comparison just doesn't offer the richness and warmth for our tastes.

 

AStyxstereo2.jpg

 

Arecord3.jpg

 

.A Blackhawks Jersey?

 

We're all big Chicago Blackhawk supporters in this household. The MAN has been a huge Blackhawk fan ever since he found four hockey cards on the street in December(?) of 1958 when he was in first grade. He couldn't yet read the team names but as soon as he saw that big Indian head he knew that was the team for him. Here he is showing off his current collection:

 

HockeyCards-1.jpg

 

Here's Styx proudly showing off two of the four Blackhawk jerseys we share in the household. The MAN insists that we share them of course although two of them fit The WOMAN the best.

 

AStyx.jpg

 

Here's Styx again happily admiring two of our Blackhawk jerseys after we added 2013 Stanley Cup patches to them:

 

9eb07e0a-2fcd-4493-8843-dca71b566504_zps6571319d.jpg

 

8d614de1-a9bd-4050-bbcd-4f7976923b27_zps97ba24e0.jpg

 

StyxWhiteJersey_zpsf2ca2ad1.jpg

 

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And here's Styx with our 2010 Stanley Cup Champions T-shirt and our red 2013 Stanley Cup Champions T-shirt:

 

StyxGreyTee_zpsb16983a5.jpg

 

StyxRedTee_zps782ba1a9.jpg

 

StyxBothTees-Copy_zpsd92ad89d.jpg

 

Here are Deuce and Cowboy admiring another one of our Blackhawk T-shirts:

 

DeuceBlackhawks_zps354efc4e.jpg

 

CowboyBlackHawks_zpsb3dfdf37.jpg

 

Blackhawkteeshirt_zps065e5d4f.jpg

 

Meanwhile Cowboy hasn't given up on the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and expects them to contend for the Grey Cup next fall:

 

CowboyJersey3_zps4a000c71.jpg

 

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The WOMAN is a big Blue Bombers fan while The MAN leans more toward the Edmonton Eskimos.

 

:)

Edited by Hepcat
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Here in alphabetical order by publisher and then by title are scans of twenty of my favourite covers from my collection for the year 1965:

 

4

 

03-06-201185622PM.jpg

 

23

 

09-05-201375748PM_zps1cb9d24c.jpg

 

76

 

29-06-201195237PM.jpg

 

77

 

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01-08-2012112714PM.jpg

 

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22-08-2011105848PM.jpg

 

Showcase57.jpg

 

25-06-2011101222PM.jpg

 

12

 

17-08-201191557PM.jpg

 

19

 

21-09-201191802PM.jpg

 

2

 

14-11-2011120630AM-1.jpg

 

:cool:

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It was the Gottlieb 2001 released in 1971 that was my own gateway machine to a lifetime of pinball addiction:

 

Gottlieb2_zps18fb0965.jpg

 

Gottlieb1_zpscad71e14.jpg

 

 

I had played various pinball machines as a kid but then they were banned in the Province of Ontario (or all of Canada?) for a twelve year period or so ending in 1974(?). But when the new student recreation center at the University of Western Ontario was completed in 1971, it had five pinball machines including the Gottlieb 2001! I was never short of cash as a student and I fed many a quarter into that machine, but it couldn't last. You see under the law it was an "illegal gaming device". Accordingly a City of London police officer appeared at the rec center after about three months, played the machines for two or three hours to satisfy himself that they were indeed illegal gaming devices which could very well corrupt students, policemen and whoever else for life, and the machines were gone for good the next day. Yes, seized they were by the fascist State!

 

While the draconian law was repealed a few years later, I've not forgiven the bastards. Smash the State I say!

 

:mad:

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As I look at those 1963 baseball cards, I can smell the chewing gum that came with each nickel package. But believe me the smell was far superior to the taste.

 

 

I still have many of my own from 1963 but my favorite was Juan Marichal and Willie Mays and Sandy Koufax. As a Dodger fan since 1960 I was a Giant hater but Mays was still the greatest position player I ever personally saw at Dodger Stadium and Marichal was as dominant on the mound as Koufax was for my beloved Dodgers. And who can forget that one-of-a-kind high leg kick. Confused the heck out of the batters.

 

PS--Love those Green Lanterns too.

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As I look at those 1963 baseball cards, I can smell the chewing gum that came with each nickel package. But believe me the smell was far superior to the taste.

 

I opened up a five cent pack of 1960 Topps Funny Valentine A cards in 2005 and ate the gum:

 

FunnyValentinesAwrappers.jpg

 

It hadn't improved with age. It was really crumbly and somewhat bitter.

 

The best tasting trading card gum though was that found in Parkies/Zip hockey cards issued by Parkhurst:

 

1960-61 Parkhurst

 

001_zpscc30b789.jpg

 

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1961-62 Parkhurst

 

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1962-63 Parkhurst

 

003_zps2a939bc4.jpg

 

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1963-64 Parkhurst

 

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The slab of gum included in the Parkhurst cards was not only somewhat thicker than the Topps slab, but it was juicier and less crumbly and had a delicious cherry taste. Mmmmmm, I wish Parkhurst still made bubble gum!

 

:)

Edited by Hepcat
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So has anyone seen a Whoa Nellie! Big Juicy Melons! pinball machine in their own neck of the woods yet?

 

Nellie2_zpsqwl4j1bb.jpg

 

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It's made by Stern and it's the first new electro-mechanical pinball game in over 36 years!

 

 

 

:cool:

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We were released from St. Anthony's High School for the customary three week or so break from school over Xmas and New Year's fifty years ago. Interesting that I recall next to nothing about either my journey home to London, Ontario on the dog in December or back to Kennebunkport, Maine in January, only that the trips were grueling and tedious. I do remember the comics that caught my eye on the various spinner racks in the Greyhound stations though.

 

I picked up these three on my trip home:

 

02-07-201164248PM.jpg

 

While I was glad that Metamorpho wasn't going to be a member of the Justice League, I still found it somewhat disturbing that a character so unlike the other members had gotten an invitation in the first place. Metamorpho just didn't fit the "competent man" mold that I expected from my superheroes.

 

Comic205jpg_zps3arijrqg.jpg

 

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While I was glad to see that the Teen Titans had been awarded their own title, their portrayal was somehow off the mark. I wasn't yet aware of the concept of "camp"....

 

The one I really wanted though continued to elude me:

 

04-12-201293545PM.jpg

 

My subscription to the The Fox and the Crow had not yet expired so this comic awaited me at home:

 

Fox_and_the_Crow_Vol_1_95_zpsxzovzaki.jpg

 

I didn't realize it at the time but the intro of that execrable pair, Stanley and His Monster, was the harbinger of the end for DC's long running Fox and the Crow title. That issue #95 was actually the last before the process of crowding the Fox and the Crow out of their own title swung into high gear.

 

As opposed to any comic it was the latest issue of Creepy that drew my attention at my local variety store newstand in London though:

 

Creepy7.jpg

 

So compelling did I find the stories that a few days later I went out to comb the newstands at variety stores in my neighbourhood looking for that first issue of Eerie that was being advertised in Creepy. I tracked one down just three or four blocks away on Wortley Road:

 

Eerie2.jpg

 

I was so captivated by the gritty tales contained in Creepy and Eerie that I dutifully sent in my remittance to subscribe to both. Anyone who ever had any dealings with Warren or their subsidiary Captain Company at the time though will tell you that ordering anything from Warren imperiled your funds. I received notification of my subscription to both publications, but ended up actually getting only the Eerie.

 

So in January gifted with a pair of spanking new skates endorsed by Bobby Hull (so bereft were these of ankle support that you had to be Bobby Hull to manage to skate in them), I boarded the dog again to return to Kennebunkport.

 

I remember buying only this Aquaman comic on the way back:

 

03-08-201272641PM.jpg

 

I glanced at the latest issue of Wonder Woman, but the retro setting and artwork caused me to put it down in disgust:

 

Wonder_Woman_Vol_1_160_zpseq2sg774.jpg

 

And I still refuse to add those retro look Wonder Woman comics to my collection!

 

All in all though, I just wasn't nearly as compelled to pick up DC's monthly offerings as I had been two years previously. I now realize that it wasn't just a function of growing out of comics. I'd really been a fan of DC's house look covers and DC's decision to compromise this look with Marvel-style bombast lost me.

 

:(

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Here's a list of the brands of soda pop no longer available in my neck of the woods that I miss the most:

 

1. Wishing Well Beverages

 

pop2_zps0owpjgoj.jpg

 

Orange, lemon-lime, grape, cream soda, ginger-ale, Wishing Well bottled a complete line at a plant just across the street from Labatt Breweries in London. And they were all really good! Store signs, vending machines, Wishing Well was all over the place in London up to the late sixties.

 

2. Kist Beverages

 

pop4_zpsyjobo3uq.jpg

 

Kist_zpsyxau4fla.jpg

 

Like Wishing Well, a complete line. The local bottler was out of Stratford, Ontario, home of the Shakespeare Festival. How could you not like a brand called Kist?

 

3. Frostie Root Beer

 

Pop1_zps8gfqyewp.jpg

 

Great taste right up there with A&W! It didn't have the unpleasant aftertaste of Hire's Root Beer. And fabulous graphics!

 

4. Squirt

 

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Retreated to Detroit and area. I haven't seen it here in stores for about twelve years anyway. A sour-sweet grapefruit flavour.

 

5. John Collins

 

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A unique light lime rickey flavour if I remember correctly. It's been over fifty years though.

 

6. Nesbitt's Orange

 

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It's the bottles with the white pyroglazing I remember as a kid. Good orange! I haven't had it for fifty years though.

 

7. Royal Crown Cola

 

I haven't seen it in the Toronto area for nearly ten years. It was bottled by Wishing Well in London back in the sixties. Royal Crown Cola introduced the concept of the sixteen ounce bottle to my neck of the woods. And from an iced water cooler no less! Mmmmmm, what more could a young fellow need on a hot summer's day? Except a few more dimes for an ice cream cone, a bunch of comics and several packs of baseball cards....

 

8. Stubby Beverages

 

DSCN3368_zps89f66255.jpg

 

A complete line like Wishing Well and Kist. It just wasn't as good though despite the great graphics. Stubby may have been bottled out of Toronto.

 

:cool:

 

 

Edited by Hepcat
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So on Saturday I had a Cornish pasty from the Brick Street Bakery outlet on Queen Street East in Toronto:

 

Traditional-Cornish-Pasti-007.jpg

 

20090721-brick-street-beaches.jpg

 

I also had most of a sausage roll.

 

While the quality was truly excellent, I was somewhat disappointed. I didn't like the flavour of the sausage filling of the sausage roll, and there was also a spice in the Cornish pasty that brought down the taste for me.

 

In future I'll stick to the range of meat/steak/chicken pies sold at the Brick Street Bakery.

 

Celena's Bakery on Danforth Avenue in Toronto sells the most fabulous Cornish pasties I can remember having in recent years. They seem expensive at $6 each but they're really big compared with most other ones.

 

139616.jpg

 

There's also a fellow from Simcoe who sells very good British meat pies and Cornish pasties at the St. Lawrence Market on Saturdays. And his prices are very friendly so when I make the trip downtown on Saturdays I stock up.

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Here are a few group shots of the tapered half pint chocolate milk bottles I have from Ontario dairies:

 

ChocolateMilkHalfPints3.jpg

 

ChocolateMilkHalfPints4.jpg

 

ChocolateMilkHalfPints.jpg

 

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And here are a few group shots of the quarter pint bottles I have from Ontario dairies:

 

QuarterPints3.jpg

 

QuarterPints4.jpg

 

QuarterPints5.jpg

 

QuarterPints6.jpg

 

:cool:

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My favourite passenger train of all time is the Turbo which I took five times from Toronto to Montreal or back in 1981-82:

 

Turbo1_zpsyeva25sh.jpg

 

Turbo3_zpsucmgsggc.jpg

 

turbo.jpg

 

It was the fastest, sleekest train to ever traverse the rails in North America. As a young fellow at the time I thought myself a big-shot (I've long since abandoned those pretensions) so I used to travel first-class and on at least one of those trips I sat in the upstairs cab in a big swivel chair right behind the engineer driving the Turbo! I sorely miss the Turbo.

 

Here it is in its original CN livery:

 

Turbo2_zpsmoymxxk3.jpg

 

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Turbo5_zpsmfestii7.jpg

 

Penn Central and then Amtrak ran shorter consists of these Turbos on the New York - Boston run in the early seventies:

 

Turbo7_zpsbpgdwbxh.jpg

 

Turbo4_zpsbvhsjqvx.jpg

 

Turbo6_zpslbh2tmg1.jpg

 

:cool:

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Sheldon? I don't know Sheldon. Is he a big time rail fan as well?

 

Speaking of which one of my very favourite train stations is Canadian Pacific's stately and venerable old Windsor Station in downtown Montréal which sadly has now been severed from all rail lines and currently functions as merely a hotel and office complex:

 

windsor20station-montreal20gazette-1933_zpsqky37hir.jpg

 

windsor-station_zpsvjmx5zwh.jpg

 

Windsor%20Station_zpsoxy6vza4.jpg

 

Windsor_Station_in_Montreacuteal_zpssjziihdx.jpg

 

Here are a couple of excellent books on train stations here in Ontario:

 

615UlU-LNhL.jpg

 

51BBTGPCNYL._SX258_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg

 

They're sure to interest either rail buffs or local history buffs. I happen to be both.

 

These are the train stations (not counting strictly GO commuter ones) in which I can remember boarding trains in North America:

 

Montreal (CNR)

Ottawa

Havelock

Oshawa

Guildwood (Scarborough)

Toronto

Sunnyside (west Toronto)

Oakville

Burlington

Aldershot (west Burlington)

Dundas

Woodstock

London

Port Stanley

Windsor

Brampton

Guelph

Kitchener

Stratford

Hamilton (CNR)

Hamilton (Toronto, Hamilton & Buffalo)

Niagara Falls

Gravenhurst

Temiskaming

Cochrane

Moosonee

Sault Ste. Marie

Agawa Canyon

Winnipeg

Calgary

Vancouver

Buffalo

Rochester

Detroit (Grand Trunk)

Chesterton, Indiana

Chicago

 

And in Europe:

 

London (I can't recall which one though)

Wimbledon

Paris

Luxembourg

Brussels

Rotterdam

Den Hague

Amsterdam

Zurich

Basel

Lugano

Milan

Düsseldorf

Stuttgart

Munich

Vilnius

Trakai

Kaunas

 

:)

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Oh OK,I'll play.

 

Sheldon Cooper is a character on TV's "Big Bang Theory".

 

Sheldon is a theoretical physics genius, comic collector and train aficionado. Not necessarily in that order.

 

The train stations of Canada are indeed beautiful, although my real world exposure to them is limited to Banff, Toronto and the (they don't really count) stations on the GO train as far as Ajax.

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When it comes to passenger trains I really wish there were still daily trains to places such as St. Thomas, Port Stanley, Welland, Port Dover, Goderich, Owen Sound, Collingwood, Midland, Parry Sound, Washago, Gravenhurst, Bracebridge, North Bay and Peterborough. Strange as it may seem these days, daily train service was provided on short lines to whistle-stop towns across the length and breadth of North America up until the middle of the twentieth century. Many of these lines were served by mixed trains, i.e. consists of both freight and passenger cars like these:

 

Canadian National

 

Mixed3_zps9iukoyim.jpg

 

Georgia Railroad

 

Mixed20train2_zpsdqkc8ofn.jpg

 

Santa Fe

 

MixedTrain_zpsavb8zehd.jpg

 

Mixed trains are still run by Ontario Northland and the Alaska Railroad:

 

Mixed20Train_zpsgws8o1w1.jpg

 

:cool:

 

 

 

 

 

Edited by Hepcat
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Here are some newer pictures I've taken of some of my display cabinets. First my main model kit cabinet:

 

DSCN3173_zpsea8058c8.jpg

 

DSCN3174_zpsea461e53.jpg

 

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Then my board game, lunch box and overflow model kit cabinet:

 

DSCN3166_zpscf9768ae.jpg

 

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DSCN3169_zps8efbfe83.jpg

 

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Finally, the overflow cabinet in Ace's bedroom where I keep and display whatever cool stuff for which there isn't sufficient room in my comic and toy room:

 

DSCN3161_zpsc7049edc.jpg

 

DSCN3162_zps73be4eb4.jpg

 

DSCN3165_zps00438017.jpg

 

I like to think that it's still the best third toy cabinet on the block.

 

:cool:

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