Ongoing History Daily: Pearl Jam bootleg overload

Back when Pearl Jam was at their height, they had the clout to do anything they wanted. Anything.

On September 26, 2000, the band released 25 double CD live albums—what they referred to as “official bootlegs”—featuring performances from virtually every show they played on European tour in support of their Binaural album. Of those 25, five immediately made the top 200 album chart. This was the first time any act ever saw more than two new albums show up on the chart in the same week.

Two other sets just missed the cut. Had they made the charts that week, Pearl Jam would have joined The Beatles, The Monkees, and U2 as the only acts to that point with seven albums on the charts at the same time.

This was decades before Taylor Swift came along.

© 2023 Corus Radio, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

Ongoing History Daily: Babies and live music

A question from new parents: “Should I expose my baby to live music?” The answer is “yes.”

A recent study at the University of Toronto revealed that infants have longer attention spans when experiencing live music. Sure, you might want to give them an iPad to stare at, but that apparently doesn’t work as well as live music. Videos don’t captivate them a whole lot but live music elicits physiological changes like a synchronization of heart rate to the music.

The final conclusion? “Findings suggest that performer–audience interactions and social context play an important role in facilitating attention and coordinating emotional responses to musical performances early in life.”

The big caveat? Volume. The live music cannot be too loud for those delicate little ears.

© 2023 Corus Radio, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

Ongoing History Daily: The weirdness of the Flaming Lips

The Flaming Lips are certainly unconventional and experimental. One of their weird projects was a very, very long song called “7 skies H3” which, in its original form, ran for 24 hours.

It consisted of several separate pieces, each running anywhere from 25 minutes to seven hours. If that wasn’t enough, just 13 copies were released on flash drives that were encased in actual human skulls. They went on the market (appropriately) on Halloween 2011 and cost $5,000. And yes, they sold them all. If you can’t find your own copy—imagine that—they also set up a website with the song on a continuous loop.

And if you would rather have a physical copy, there is an edited version that runs 50 minutes and was released for Record Store Day 2014.

© 2023 Corus Radio, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

Ongoing History Daily: The cruelty of dance marathons

Back in the 1930s during the Great Depression, there was a phenomenon known as the dance marathon. Basically, couples would take up a challenge to see who could remain dancing longer than anyone else. They were held in ballrooms and auditoriums and could continue for not just hours, but days and even weeks.

Spectators paid to watch, too. The longer the marathon went on, the higher the admission price. Couples had to stay in motion continuously resulting in blisters, injuries, and collapse from exhaustion.

Why would anyone subject themselves to such a thing? Like I said, it was during the Depression. Many people signed up for these marathons because it meant food, shelter, and a place to sleep, even if it was just a few minutes an hour. Those who won were given a cash prize. Hey, the Depression was rough. People were willing to do anything to survive.

© 2023 Corus Radio, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

Ongoing History Daily: The Ramones vs. cancer

All the original Ramones are no longer with us. While Dee Dee died of a heroin overdose, his three bandmates suffered from different forms of cancer. Joey died of lymphoma. Johnny? Prostate cancer. Tommy suffered from bile duct cancer. Coincidence? Maybe not.

Some suspect these cancers are the result of the conditions of a loft on East 2nd Street where the Ramones rehearsed and printed t-shirts. It was the former home of a plastic flower factory and some believe that the toxic residue left over from the chemicals used in their manufacture. They permeated the entire building.

Oh, and one more thing: Arturo Vega, the Ramones’ art director and the guy who designed and pressed up all those t-shirts in that loft? He also died of cancer.

© 2023 Corus Radio, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

High-speed car chase yields arrest of wanted Winnipeg man

A man is in custody after leading Winnipeg police in a stolen vehicle on a high-speed car chase Friday evening.

Police say around 5:15 p.m. officers spotted a man driving a 2001 GMC Savana 1500 cargo camper van near Salter Street and Flora Avenue in the city’s North End.

When police attempted to pull him over, the suspect rammed into their cruiser and sped off, a Saturday press release says.

While trying to flee from officers the suspect collided with two other vehicles before abandoning it and taking off on foot near McPhillips Street and Redwood Avenue.

Police later found out the vehicle was stolen from a business in the 2100 block of St. Mary’s Road on Monday. No one was hurt.

Using extra officers and the police K-9 unit police arrested the suspect in the 1200 block of Troy Avenue. A search of the abandoned vehicle yielded around 1,000 prescription pills, including roughly 800 Xanax. They say he was already wanted.

Travis Terry Lee Thayer, 31 faces several charges including assaulting a peace officer, flight while pursued by a peace officer, possession of property obtained by crime over $5,000, trafficking and failure to comply with conditions.

He remains in custody.

 

 

© 2023 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

Highway 97 rockslide: Full reopening will require cliff blasting

Motorists in the Okanagan received a double dose of good news this week regarding Highway 97 and the rockslide area near Summerland.

Not only did officials open the highway to two lanes on Friday, but the Ministry of Transportation discussed long-term plans for the troubled section.

In an interview with Global News, a ministry spokesperson said future plans include blasting the massive rock cliff to prevent more slides.

Until then, motorists will continue to deal with ongoing repairs, including crews building a 150-metre-long large berm and block wall at the base of the cliff and extending onto two of the highway’s four lanes.

“The slide (area) continues to show stable to little to no movement,” said ministry spokesperson Steve Sirett. “We’ve been able to get some additional monitoring equipment there, including some real-time monitoring.”

That allowed highway officials to open the highway from single-lane, alternating traffic to two lanes at noon on Friday.

The highway was opened to one lane last week, three weeks after 3,000 cubic metres of rock crashed onto the highway on Monday, Aug. 28.

Sirett said the focus now is on the long-term stabilization of the area.

“Crews have been working on that, getting access up to the top of the slide,” said Sirett. “Up there, we’re going to do a little bit more engineering work, and then we’ll begin drilling and blasting soon to start bringing the slide down.”

The blasting, he said, will allow the highway to eventually reopen to four lanes.

Sirett said how much blasting and rock removal will occur is yet to be determined.

An aerial view of the rockslide that crashed down onto Highway 97 near Summerland on Aug. 28, 2023.

An aerial view of the rockslide that crashed down onto Highway 97 near Summerland on Aug. 28, 2023.

Global News

“Once we get into the drilling and blasting, and get some work behind us and how productive we can be, that might start to give us a sense,” said Sirett.

“But we’re still a ways away from that to fully understand when we might fully reopen.”

Sirett also mentioned that the area is still considered an active slide, “so with any adverse weather or change in condition, we are still set up to close with limited notice.”

He said motorists should visit DriveBC for the latest information and to obey traffic and speed signs in the area.

© 2023 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

Driver evades North Vancouver roadblock, crashes into Vancouver home and ignites fire

An early morning house fire near McGill and Renfrew streets was caused by a vehicle crashing into the home.

According to Vancouver police, a suspect evaded a North Vancouver RCMP roadblock.

Pictures from the scene depict a high-speed collision as the vehicle slammed through a wooden fence and into the home.

The fire caused extensive damage to the home.

The incident is a North Vancouver RCMP file. Global News has reached out to North Vancouver RCMP and Vancouver Fire Rescue Services for more information.

— More to come …

© 2023 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

Man dead after stabbing incident in London, Ont.

London, Ont., police have arrested a suspect after a man died following a stabbing incident.

A man went to a home on Forbes Street after allegedly being stabbed, police say.

Officers responded around 9:50 a.m. Friday.

The man was rushed to hospital but died due to his injuries.

A suspect was arrested and taken into custody.

Investigators believe the two knew each other.

Anyone with further information is asked to call the London Police Service at (519) 661-5670 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477).

© 2023 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

Stream flows on the Bow River at a record low and historic glacial melt recorded in the Rockies

Autumn is casting its signature hue across the Rockies. As tourists flock to its peaks and valleys to witness the splendor of one season dying and another beginning, others are zeroing in with great concern on the shrinking rivers.

“Stream flows on the Bow River are at the lowest ever recorded in some places including Calgary,” said Dr. John Pomeroy, Director of Global Water Futures with the University of Saskatchewan.

“These rivers enter Lake Diefenbaker which in Saskatchewan provides water for over 60 percent of the province’s population,” said Pomeroy. “It is now three meters below normal.”

The Rockies are the epicenter of a devastating drought that has had far-reaching consequences.

The hottest summer on record caused life-altering wildfires, devastating crop yields and forced water restrictions in many jurisdictions including Calgary. At the source of crucial waterways, there’s been historic glacial melt.

Pomeroy said the Athabasca glacier down-wasted nine meters, the largest melt ever measured. He said the ground in some parts of the mountains is “bone dry.” They even witnessed dust storms in the alpine.

“This year we didn’t get the rains, we had the reduced snowpack and early melt, so this is actually worse than the worst-case scenario that we had been predicting for the end of the century, so it’s a tremendous concern to have a year like this occurring in 2023,” said Pomeroy.

Those who rely on the Bow River for both business and pleasure are noticing the dropping levels.

“It’s pretty low, there are places we just can’t get into so yeah it affects it,” said Nick Schlachter with Wapiti Sports. “We need snow in the Rockies that’s what helps the system for sure.”

Canmore Kayaker Lawrence Nyman decided to pack up his season early because of the drastic drop in the water level.

“The river is so low that there are spots that become multi-braided channels that you ground out, it’s disappointing,” said Nyman from the banks of the Bow in Canmore.

The constantly changing landscape exacerbated by the changing climate has some well-known alpinists raising awareness and encouraging environmental stewardship.

Renowned alpinist Jim Elzinga is entering his 50th season of ice climbing. He admits a lot has changed in the past five decades altering where they can go in the sport he helped birth.

“A lot of the new routes that I’ve done over the decades no longer exist because the ice has disappeared, I find that quite sad,” said Elzinga who started a non-profit Guardians of The Ice to raise awareness about disappearing crucial landscapes.

“These glaciers and ice faces are just becoming big pieces of rock,” he said.

Dr. Pomeroy is calling the deficit of water in rivers like the Bow River a national emergency that can’t be ignored.

“They may not feel it in Ottawa because they had rain this summer, “ said Pomeroy.

“We are in unchartered territory for water management and we have to do more than just simple water restrictions,” he urged.

“We need to look at how much we expand our irrigation, how much more efficient our irrigation can be,” said Pomeroy. “And I dare say we might need to look at re-portioning water in the province.”

Pomeroy said it’s going to take a record year of snowfall and rain to quell the crisis and even that might not be enough. He added it’s an El Nino year which typically brings dry and warmer conditions. More than halfway through September, the Three Sisters are glistening with a fresh dusting of snow — many in the mountain town are hopeful there will be a lot more on the way.

© 2023 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

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