Comments on The Burd Report: Another decree from Councillor NO

Hmmm, bag checks; I think that the park was a lice...

2010-09-01T16:59:13.852-04:00

Hmmm, bag checks; I think that the park was a licensed area, thus the fencing and the security. I do not think you can bring in alcohol or any other beverage into a licensed establishment, be it a bar or a restaurant. I do believe that the signage at the gates said that it was a licensed venue. Damage to the grounds, while there are/were some tire tracks a little grease and some yellow spots, most with a very little time would be self correcting. The wood chips, well they were put there to soak up the rain water from Saturday night’s rainfall. I might add, there were wood chips there prior to the event even being set up due to prior rainfalls.
I have to ask, what else do you want removed from the park? Perhaps the children who are there during the week? Hundreds of little feet and hands running amok on the grass. This will grow back quite nicely thank you very much.
The suggestion to move the event to another location has merit, except that the only other location does not have the necessary infrastructure to hold the event. I.e. Power, water, etc, not to mention no band shell, no shade, and also there are people living in that area as well, or don’t they count??
This is an extremely well received event, the people of Northumberland, voted in favor of it by merely attending in droves. Yes we had people from out of town, many of them. To say you saw hardly anyone from Cobourg attending, well I would suggest you get out more, I saw a lot of Cobourg residents at this event. Many who look forward to this event each year, with a great deal of anticipation!
Yes, there are some issues, nothing that cannot be overcome with some thought. Knee jerk reactions of stopping a great event for the residents of Cobourg and Northumberland County are just that, knee jerk.
They say its “location location location location” when setting up a business, I think, as do thousands of other residents of this fine town and county, that the location is perfect.
Why not try to be proactive instead of being confrontational and try to work with this group of people. The money raised goes back into the community and county for the benefit of all, i.e. the park at the marina, or the new community centre, etc, the list is long and varied.
Just my two cents worth.

Three days after Northumberland Ribfest departed f...

2010-08-25T15:44:18.347-04:00

Three days after Northumberland Ribfest departed from Victoria Park, the scars remain. See them HERE

Poor widdle 'the Critic' has it all solved...

2010-08-25T14:31:59.977-04:00

Poor widdle 'the Critic' has it all solved. the Critic doesn't care about the welfare of Victoria Park. The role that 'the Critic' has adopted is that of a squid, squirting ink to blind the perception of what is quite visible. The Critic, is so small-town small-minded that they are deeply ashamed of what they post here. How do I know? Because they cannot bring themselves to have a teeny tiny bit of courage to put their name behind their words.

Of course, if the spineless coward known as 'the Critic' actually posted their name, they wouldn't slander as they have.

But let's say that 'the critic' is correct. So what? Does that heal the park from the damage that was done to it? 'the Critic' is a spoiled arrogant child.

I suspect I hurt the thin-skinned feelings of 'the Critic' at some time or another. Tsk tsk.

the Critic typed, "Interesting, I don'...

2010-08-25T14:22:45.338-04:00
the Critic typed, "Interesting, I don't see blogged pictures about the damage done to the grass at Donegan Park every year by the Highland Games."

Victoria Park is the crown jewel of Cobourg's parks. It should always be treated with exemplary respect. Donegan Park is not a crown jewel.

"Let's be honest WK is it maybe because Rotary sponsors it?

I have the photographic evidence of the disrespect that Northumberland Ribfest did to Cobourg's crown jewel. Whatever my motive may be, is irrelevent to the issue of the negligence and disrespect shown to the crown jewel.

I dealt with a good numer of commies during the Cold War. Whenever the state was criticized, the dissident was accused of being anti-communist.

Get a load of this; I ain't anti-Rotary. I am very pro-Victoria Park. It seems that 'the Critic' is more concerned about the spotless record of perfection by the sponsors, than they are about the health of Victoria Park.

For the Anonymous wondering why Mr. Keeler has suc...

2010-08-25T12:54:06.012-04:00
For the Anonymous wondering why Mr. Keeler has such a hate-on for Rib Fest, here's my take on it.

Mr. Keeler is like a kid shouting "LOOK AT ME". Constantly. His choice of hobby horses is dictated by what he thinks will focus the most attention on him. Always. The issue is secondary to his need for attention. Always.

KRJ typed, "Vic park is no worse than some...

2010-08-25T10:35:05.060-04:00
KRJ typed, "Vic park is no worse than some of the lawns in Town with their long grass and weeds that are probably worse for peoples health than what Vic Park is after the Rib Fest."

KRJ is sly, unable to name the lawns they suggest are health problems. If anyone truly believes that a town councillors lawn is a health hazard then they have a duty to report it. Let us note that KRJ uses the word "probably" which means that KRJ doesn't have a single bit of evidence to support their looose-mouthed contention'

KRJ typed, "I did not find the park in that bad of condition . If it had not rained so much on the weekend the park would not have been so bad."

I went through the park tghis morning and gthere are still many places where the lawn continues to display the scarring from tires and grease/oil stains all over the park. I will be photgraphing the park again this afternoon, three days after Northumberland Rubfest vacated.

Yes, the rain contributed to the damage. I knew rain was coming, so did Northumberland Ribfest. It is unfortunate that negligence and carelessness caused this damage.

And let us note that The Visitors from out of town did not leave behind such damage. I took photos of the lawns after The Visitors departed, and there were not oil/grease spills, the lawns were not scarred. If you were upset by what The Visitors allegedly did, then one would expect Locals to be exemplary by comparison. Sadly, Northumberland Ribfest failed this comparison.

Interesting, I don't see blogged pictures abou...

2010-08-25T09:41:15.213-04:00
Interesting, I don't see blogged pictures about the damage done to the grass at Donegan Park every year by the Highland Games. Let's be honest WK is it maybe because Rotary sponsors it?

Anonymous typed, "wk doesn't go off ab...

2010-08-24T23:48:38.569-04:00
Anonymous typed, "wk doesn't go off about these so why the unique interest in the one just past?

None of your business, because the answer has no relevance to the issue of the damaged grounds of Victoria Park caused by negligence.

For instance the multiple cooking oil/grease stains throughout the cooking area, right by one of the sites where Cobourg Mayor Peter Delanty had sat to judge the juicimess of the ribbers could have been prevented if the organizers required some sort of impermeable surface to be laid down (plastic tarpaulin?) underneath the high powered Ribber Rigs.

Could that have been predicted? Yep. I took photos of the same oil/grease smears and burning of the lawn and posted them to my blog. The damage to the grounds was seen by the organizers as they cleaned up what they could, so they knew.

This damage that was done to the grounds can be easily avoided for future Ribfests. I can offer solutions, if the brain trust of Northumberland Ribfest cannot find any solutions on their own.

Anonymous typed, "Did someone in the sponsor group cause him some grief at one time

Oh, you ask if I am doing it for personal revenge against someone who belongs to Northumberland Ribfest. The answer is NO!

Anonymous typed, "or is it just a random choice of target

The answer to this is also NO.

I was at Vic Park tonight and besides not many Cob...

2010-08-24T21:38:35.915-04:00
I was at Vic Park tonight and besides not many Cobourg people there, I did not find the park in that bad of condition . If it had not rained so much on the weekend the park would not have been so bad. Vic park is no worse than some of the lawns in Town with their long grass and weeds that are probably worse for peoples health than what Vic Park is after the Rib Fest.

what's so special about the special interest o...

2010-08-24T17:10:35.048-04:00
what's so special about the special interest occupancies and "damage" that occurs as a result of the rib-fest as compared to that from the waterfront festival, the occasional antique car shows, the firefighters' challenge, etc.?

wk doesn't go off about these so why the unique interest in the one just past? Did someone in the sponsor group cause him some grief at one time or is it just a random choice of target for his brand of badmouthing?

as to the original post - the motion to ban diving...

2010-08-23T21:17:14.096-04:00
as to the original post - the motion to ban diving was defeated by council vote.

Please, I ask everyone reading this to go to Victo...

2010-08-23T13:17:41.078-04:00
Please, I ask everyone reading this to go to Victoria Park to witness and/or photodocument or video record the damage done to the lawns. There is more damage done to the park than was done by subsequent weekends of out of town visitors. I will post images of the damage in a few hours on my blog.

It's not likely that Pete Fisher will photodocument this. Note that the Northumberland Ribfest web site lists the parent of Northumberland Today as a "media partner."

Ribfest cannot be held in Vic Park again. It must go elsewhere, the former depot lands would be appropriate, or on the grounds where the Rotary Club convenes.

Go Forth. Document document document.

Anonymous wrote "And as far as the search ...

2010-08-23T09:06:14.937-04:00
Anonymous wrote "And as far as the search at Ribfest, do you know how many closet drunks try and sneak their own booze into events then try and blame the organizers got them pissed. Good on the Rotary Club for protecting themselves. No rights violated here, if you don't like it move on.

and

Anon II wrote: "I have no problem with the searching of purses ... at rock concerts, ball games, football games and sometimes even high school dances. If you object, stay away."

The naivity of the first statement is shocking. The "official" reason that the Rotary Club might request security to search bags may be that they are worried about what AnonI proposes. However as AnonII rightfully asserts other places search bags too. My suggestion is that they all search bags for the same reason. They are selling booze and they don't want you to undercut them by bringing your own.

This event was happening in a PUBLIC park. There should be no additional security risk at Ribfest than any other event that occurs there. Is this how to treat people in "Ontario's Feel Good Town"?

NO MORE NO The best way to get into Ribfest witho...

2010-08-22T16:50:02.795-04:00
NO MORE NO

The best way to get into Ribfest without being searched is to wear a burqa or hijab. It works at airports. It works for the ocassional male criminal. It's concealment with a religious blessing.

Anon II wrote: "I have no problem with the...

2010-08-22T16:26:48.330-04:00
Anon II wrote: "I have no problem with the searching of purses ... at rock concerts, ball games, football games and sometimes even high school dances. If you object, stay away."

My method is to object by complying. As I said before, entrances can be clogged by sheep willing to go over the top in their compliance. Ask for a pat down.

Last month I went to the local Wally-Mart. Went I entered, a female employee instructed me to check my backpack at the courtesy desk. So I walk over & inform another female clerk that I was instructed to drop off my backpack here. I took off my backpack and put it on the counter top. When she reached for it, I requested a receipt.

Uh?

I said I had some security concerns. The female assured me it would be safe behind the counter. I replied that the reason I was requested to leave it there was because it was the policy of the store and that policy was based on the premise that someone can steal something by concealing it in a back pack. This is true. No dispute. Such things happen. Yes they also have narrow wand walls to walk thru, but still...

I added that, since the store does not trust me with my backpack, likewise I didn't trust the store with my backpack, thus I wanted a receipt indicating that my backpack was in its custody. Enjoy the flabbergasted reaction to this offer of reciprocal petty mistrust.

What??? Who the hell granted search authority to ...

2010-08-22T14:59:02.645-04:00
What??? Who the hell granted search authority to security guards for something as innocuous as Rotary's Ribfest??? There have to be specific, and really good reasons for searches of personal property. Even the police need reasonable and probable grounds to search people and vehicles, etc.; and a warrant is almost always required to search houses. Why then should anyone attending a FOOD festival be subjected to search? With respect, someone in Cobourg needs to explore this situation further. In my humble (ex-cop's) opinion, this type of search is illegal, and a very dangerous line has been crossed in a civil, democratic society. At the very least, knuckles should be rapped and public apologies issued.

Maybe The Burd Report is the right vehicle to make this investigation happen.

Hmmmm. No comment on the surfeit of NO Signs in Vi...

2010-08-22T14:54:41.343-04:00
Hmmmm. No comment on the surfeit of NO Signs in Victoria Park. I'd like to see a sign outside Victoria Hall, NO STUPIDITY ALLOWED.

Does anyone else see the peculiar parallel between...

2010-08-22T13:35:22.623-04:00
Does anyone else see the peculiar parallel between our "nanny society" as insightfully pointed out by anonymous earlier and the movie "Nanny" just out? In it, in answer to the question, Why are you here?, she says something like "When you want me, you don't need me, but when you need me, you don't want me.."

Such is the state in which we find our society - a good example of "conundrum" and just as good an example of why we complain about everything all the time.

some time ago, way back in the USSR, when I was be...

2010-08-22T13:25:50.424-04:00
some time ago, way back in the USSR, when I was being intero... (stopping here because you'll probably stop reading from here on)

Anonymous made a persanal slander, "a poor...

2010-08-22T13:13:29.044-04:00
Anonymous made a persanal slander, "a poor Cho Cho driver who was a victim of not being able to swerve..."

So where is the righteous 'the Critic' who admonished me for what they regarded as personal remarks? Hmm, the Critic admonishes only one person -- everyone else gets a free ride.

I cannot envision the extent of the catastrophe th...

2010-08-22T13:07:53.822-04:00
I cannot envision the extent of the catastrophe that would descend, like an ominous thunder cloud, upon the desolate existence of those that make it their purpose in existence to revel in the inexplicable satisfaction of seeing, hearing, smelling and feeling only the intolerable oppression that they perceive to be pervading our lives everywhere, if they ever came to realize that they are oblivious to all else that life has to offer those who assign a reasonable, yet limited, level of importance, to the impact of those all-consuming perceptions on their lives.

Then again, if they were to do something like that, it would fall back on them to take some responsibility for the level of impact that they would permit without challenge, and that may just be too terrifying for them in the bigger scheme of things.

The part I find most troublesome is that they even instinctively berate the efforts of those who try to deal with those impacts, and find some sort of redemption in pointing to the inevitable failures that are necessarily a part of dealing with issues for the benefit of a broad segment of the populace who often could not care less about things until they are banging at their front or back door.

It must be difficult for these critics to have the answers and at the same time be so reluctant to share them with those willing to actually risk ridicule in efforts to try them.

It sure is a funny, in every sense of funny, world, isn't it?

I have no problem with the searching of purses etc...

2010-08-22T12:32:32.939-04:00
I have no problem with the searching of purses etc. They do it at rock concerts, ball games, football games and sometimes even high school dances. If you object, stay away.

Circa 1am, Aug 4/85, the train pulled into a darke...

2010-08-22T12:16:53.431-04:00
Circa 1am, Aug 4/85, the train pulled into a darkened station. Swaggering country boy soldiers, armed with AKs secured the platform, while others extended mirrors attached to long metal poles under each train car.

Officers came on board. A woman officer did a body search of every Magyar woman on the car I was on. This was done in full view, hands squeezing the breasts outside clothing to ascertain if a brassieree contained contraband. A hand into the crotch.

In the aisle I watched security pore entire boxes of detergent and cereal onto the floor, swish it a bit in their search for contraband. Then they came for me.

I made a serious mistake during my confrontation with security. I assumed that I had rights. It was at this point that two soldiers shoved me against the wall and each stuck an AK in my stomach. Needless to say, I was out of my league, way way out of my league.

The train departed from Budapest, Hungary, then entered its fraternal ally, Ceausescu's Romania. I had a couple other unpleasant encounters with the Securitate during my stay there.

==========

A few years back, I went to a Sarah McLaughlin concert at the Molson Ampitheatre. Everyone's bag was searched for contraband. My girlfriend of the day and I went down two of the three admission chutes. When they wanted to search my back pack, I opened it to let them look.

But it was just a cursory look, so I insisted they do a proper job of it, pointing out the other sections of my backpack that they had not looked into. So I took things out and put them on the ground, and did what I could to prolong the search. The same for my girlfriend. We stretched the event out to almost 10 minutes.

Meanwhile an angry mob had accumulated behind us. Were they adminishing me? Nope. The Molson securitate were satisfyingly slandered.

On Friday night my handsome spouse and I ventured ...

2010-08-22T11:58:53.478-04:00
On Friday night my handsome spouse and I ventured down to Rib Fest to take in the fun. Lots of people were there, the music was playing, and lots of vendors were selling lots of stuff.

We noticed immediately that there seemed to be more fencing, and more security. While I was standing at the entrance to the entertainment area reading the rather large sign explaining all the rules to go inside, a man in a T-shirt proclaiming "Security" approached me, rather eagerly, and said he wanted to look inside my bag.

Taken aback, as they say, by this development, I declined, knowing my spouse would not agree to having his man-purse inspected either.

So, we each purchased an item from an out of town vendor who pays no town taxes and will leave with the profits in his pocket, and then we went home to listen to our own loud satanic music in peace.

The only good thing was that I figure I must still look young enough to be carrying a mickey in my purse. An older looking lady was allowed in without being checked, I guess senior citizens couldn't possibly be "closet drunks" as another poster stated.

We haven't gone back, and my enthusiasm for the Fest has diminished considerably.

This town is getting downright oppressive. I'm sure that somewhere, in a beautifully appointed home near the Park, upright citizens of good character are drafting a charter designed to cast the impure unbelievers out.

It will start with a ban on satanic music and motorcycles, those positive indicators of violence and crime.

They are stuck on how to reveal others' impure thoughts. Not being able to think themselves, they are having a hard time figuring that one out. All they know for sure is that poets will be banned outright.

Too late. (P.S. Looks to me like someone is usin...

2010-08-22T09:46:06.837-04:00
Too late.

(P.S.

Looks to me like someone is using your Anonymous tag to put words in your mouth and make you look foolish. I wouldn't put up with it if I were you.)

Comments on The Burd Report: Another decree from Councillor NO

Hmmm, bag checks; I think that the park was a lice...

Three days after Northumberland Ribfest departed f...

Poor widdle 'the Critic' has it all solved...

the Critic typed, "Interesting, I don'...

For the Anonymous wondering why Mr. Keeler has suc...

KRJ typed, "Vic park is no worse than some...

Interesting, I don't see blogged pictures abou...

Anonymous typed, "wk doesn't go off ab...

I was at Vic Park tonight and besides not many Cob...

what's so special about the special interest o...

as to the original post - the motion to ban diving...

Please, I ask everyone reading this to go to Victo...

Anonymous wrote "And as far as the search ...

NO MORE NO The best way to get into Ribfest witho...

Anon II wrote: "I have no problem with the...

What??? Who the hell granted search authority to ...

Hmmmm. No comment on the surfeit of NO Signs in Vi...

Does anyone else see the peculiar parallel between...

some time ago, way back in the USSR, when I was be...

Anonymous made a persanal slander, "a poor...

I cannot envision the extent of the catastrophe th...

I have no problem with the searching of purses etc...

Circa 1am, Aug 4/85, the train pulled into a darke...

On Friday night my handsome spouse and I ventured ...

Too late. (P.S. Looks to me like someone is usin...