Mike Tyson vs. Buster Douglas Japan 1990 - Trump Promoter

I arrived in Japan in August of 1989 and the Tokyo Dome was not even a year old. For my first week in the country, I was at all day orientation and seminars in Shinjuku at the Keio Plaza Intercontinental Hotel. Built in 1971 and was the tallest building in Japan for a time till other nearby towers surpassed it. While I was there, the immense Tokyo Metropolitan Government Headquarters was being constructed and was complete in 1990 and it became the tallest building for many years. The Keio Plaza had been rumoured to have a U.S spy station in the 1980s for the U.S. military. Even now there are bases all over such as the Hardy Barracks in Rappongi and naval stations, air stations near Yokohama and the Marine base near Mt. Fuji. Not to mention most of Okinawa.

The picture above is the Keio Plaza being built on what used to be city land for the water filtration plant in 1970. It now looks like Manhattan but it all started out with that hotel. Stayed there for a week in 1989 and was back for events in 1990, 1991 and 1992.

I arrived on a rainy, desperately hot and sticky night at rush hour. My first views of Tokyo were like that of Blade Runner. It was all neon and colour and umbrellas. Thousands of people everywhere. At Narita Airport, the Japanese English Teaching program participants packed the airport as people disembarked a few dozen 747s that had transported everyone from several countries. The Manitoba and Saskatchewan contingent numbered just under 50 people.

I befriended a Saskatchewan person and one afternoon and each evening thereafter ventured into Tokyo when work assignments were over. Well, not quite. One afternoon was skipped. It is why I was able to quickly learn the massive and sometimes befuddling Japanese subway, rail and transit system. Thankfully I inherited my mother's sense of direction rather than my dad's or I would have still been lost in Japan till today.

By the second day and with clearer weather I travelled up and down the Marunouchi Line and transfer points to get me to the Rappongi area where many foreigners went because it had many of the embassies nearby including the Canadian embassy. It also had western restaurants and bars including the Hard Rock Cafe which sat on the second floor over a Tony Roma Ribs. It was here that I met NFL players who were there to play the first American Bowl Japan game (although everyone I knew in Japan called it the Coca Cola Bowl) at the recently built Tokyo Dome Stadium. The 50,000 seat facility was like a sister to the 1986 built B.C. Place.

The NFL teams were the Los Angeles Rams and the San Francisco 49ers. Now this is not the story I want to tell at this time but meeting the players and see quarterback Joe Montana, I ended up with tickets to the August 5, 1989 game. The 49ers would in that season go on to win the Superbowl in a lopsided victory against Denver Broncos televised on Japanese TV. The Hard Rock at the time had King Kong peaking in the window of the second floor. He is no longer there.

My familiarity with the Marunouchi Line helped me find the Tokyo Dome in the Bunkyo district. I give this background because as a new facility,  the stadium was attracting every major concert or event in the world and my living just 90 minutes outside the city gave me a unique opportunity to see sports and performances.

Once I settled in at my home and job outside, I subscribed to the Japan Times and got a number of magazines like Tokyo Journal and Tokyo Weekender. I wanted to to see as much as possible on semi-weekly trips into the city. I quickly learned that Paul McCartney would be performing for the first time in 10 years live and since his arrest by Japanese police for marijuana in 1980. There was to be 6 concerts at the Tokyo Dome from March 3 to 13, 1990!

I was determined to get tickets for the concert and was shocked that it was sold out before I finished working that day. This was prior to any Internet and I was not sure how scalping took place or if it was even permissible.  I tried every source to see if I could latch on to tickets as I'd been successful in the past finding them but no dice. Paul McCartney was simply beyond me to get.

I was back in my hometown in Tsuru and often on a Friday after work had pizza at Popcorn restaurant down the street from the university campus where I lived at. I dejectedly told the bartender or owner (I can't remember which) about my Paul McCartney problem. It was a familiar story to many Japanese also denied tickets. It was at that time I was told there was another big event that he had an extra ticket for and would I be interested.

Popcorn in Tsuru city is still around 30 years later down the mountain alongside Tsuru University that my apartment looked over. Much of my street has changed including my old Yamura High School which was knocked down in the 2014 and re-built as a high school for more of the surrounding communities. A new train station was also built at the end of my street which I would have appreciated after so many 30 minutes walks up hill from the main city station.

My old high school Yamura above being re-built and my favorite Italian restaurant Pips still standing over 30 years later. Best baked spaghetti in the world until I went to Garwood Grill in Winnipeg

Anyways, that ticket I mentioned happened to be for the Mike Tyson versus Buster Douglas fight Sunday, February 11 at the Tokyo Dome. I had never seen a boxing match live so I was very interested. And Mike Tyson was the most famous fighter in the world at the time defeating challengers in seconds. I immediately said yes and was prepared to pay but was told I was a guest so not necessary. It was useless to argue so one did their best by buying drinks or doing what you could hospitality-wise. As an aside, I would be invited to many events in the years ahead including two Mt. Fuji Jazz Fests at Lake Yamanaka and another at Mr. Yatsugatake.

I had been in Japan less than a year and was fairly familiar with the commute to Tokyo and back as I did it every other weekend, it seemed. At this time I didn't have my Honda scooter so it was roughly a 30 minute walk from Tsuru University to one of two train stations. I chose Yamura Station in central Tsuru as it was a serviced ticket office. It was also the second most expensive private rail line called Fujikyuko off the main Chuo JR line at Otsuki station. The two hour commute had two train changes. Fujikyuko to Otsuki and Otsuki to Takao station and the rapid line to Shinjuku Tokyo.

Above is Shinjuku which was my go to for books, CDs and movies but I only stayed in hotels there when someone else was paying the bill. This is looking toward Shinjuku Station which is beyond the big towers. The twin towers were being built while I was there and completed in 1990. They are the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Headquarters. The Keio Plaza Intercontinental Hotel is immediately behind it. The three pointy towers are the Park Hyatt where Lost in Translation was filmed. It was under construction while I was there and completed in 1994.

The above picture shows that Shinjuku was wiped out in 1945 by American fire bombs in the last year of World War II. Illustrated is what came after.

Luckily for the journey to the Tokyo, our group was to take the Chuo Expressway from Tsuru to Tokyo. From my home into Tokyo on the highway usually took 90 or so minutes. All told it was probably just a 100 kilometers. From Shinjuku it was not much farther to the Bunkyo District where the Tokyo Dome was. This was the only time I ever travelled into the city in a car and used a parking lot. Likewise, I only did it once more on a holiday to Osaka, Kyoto to Kobe. It generally was expensive. Since it was not an overnight stay I think the day max was paid which might have been 8000 yen. With four people in the car, it wasn't a major hardship.

When I first came to Japan I was at the Keio Plaza Intercontinental Hotel in Shinjuku which had rates fit for execs. The picture above is the Keio Plaza, the original skyscraper in Tokyo. Thankfully I didn't have to pay for it. Stayed in a few others in Tokyo that were high as well before settling on the best priced hotel near Rappongi called the Asian Centre Hotel. Even my Japanese friends outside Tokyo regarded me as something of an expert in navigating Tokyo for the best prices and fun.

The Tokyo Dome was built on the site of the old velodrome beside Korakuen Stadium in the Bunkyo Ward and home of the Yomiuri Giants baseball team. Once the dome was complete in 1988 the main tenant became the Giants and the old stadium which had stood from 1937 was torn down and replaced with the Tokyo Dome Hotel. The entire surrounding area had been a military base that was destroyed in the Kanto Earthquake of 1927. And way before that it had been a home to a Japanese prince.

So there I was walking with our group into the area surrounding the Tokyo Dome and and was struck by how much international media was there along with the full phalanx of Japanese media. It was a full spectacle. In short, it was crazy! I had the Japan Times delivered to my home so I had brought that along with me but that day I went to Kinokuniya Bookstore in Shinjuku and bought all the Japanese English papers Mainichi Daily News, the Daily Yoimiuri, the Asahi News and the International-Herald Tribune all had articles and front page newspaper stories. All the TV networks from Japan and abroad were there.

The only thing to knock the fight build-up off the screen was Nelson Mandela being released from prison after 27 years locked up. On a cool day looking at the screens, a young Japanese asked me. "What does it mean?" I remember my reply was: "It depends what is in that man's heart. It could be good for South Africa."

It was getting increasingly crowded as we moved through the streets to the Tokyo Dome. I was the only gaigin (foreigner) in a group of Japanese headed in. There was so much promotional material up related to the fight. I wanted to take it all in. Typical of Japan there was large illustrated pictures of Mike Tyson and Buster Douglas everywhere. Any movie or concert would inevitably have giant pictures plastered a high as a few stories. It was very exciting.

We got to the entrance of the Tokyo Dome and there were so many staff and security there. I've seen heavy police presence but this was pretty big even against those standards. It took a while to get in. I had my ticket and it looked like good seating and I didn't realize how good till we were directed to the floor of the stadium. I've no idea why thought my seat was in the stands but I did. I did know that the price was pretty high. I had offered to pay but was told no, I was a guest. Had I known that I'd have that money, I'd have bought Rolling Stones tickets as they were slated to play 10 days in a row in the Big Egg three days after the fight.

We found our seats and I realized just how close to ringside I was. Row 8! In that close, there were tons of business people from Japan as well as the world all dressed in suits. So many print and television media who were distinguished by their clothing. All the TV people well dressed and the print people not so much. There were many women dressed elegantly in evening wear. Keep in mind it was February in Japan. There was a coat check somewhere but initially I found the cavernous 40,000 seat place cool. That soon ended as things heated up.

Eventually, as the main event neared people started filing to their seats, a guy sat right in front of me. I thought, swell. His stupid head with blond hair was standing up and blocking everything. I worried about my sightlines and looked to the ring to the person to his left where a blonde with plunging neckline was sitting next to him. Looking to the ring meant looking just past her boobs. Made me mad at the guy in front of me. I wondered: Who is this asshat?

He was chatting up the business people in front of me who I overheard had all come in private planes. It was when the man turned to in side profile that I realized was Donald Trump. And the woman? I knew it wasn't Ivanka Trump because I had see pictures of her with him. In the 1980s, he and his public life where fairly well known even outside of New York.

What I didn't know was that Trump was there because Buster Douglas was the guy he was promoting. The Japanese I was with were less impressed with Trump despite his fame and more alarmed at who he was with: Akio Kashiwagi, a billionaire with dubious ties. How dubious? Well, someone behind me took a picture and one of the security people for the businessman took the camera, a throwaway Fuji, and put in his pocket. He didn't speak English except for "no picture." As reached past me, his sleeve lifted up and I saw tattoos all the way up the wrist. One of my Japanese leaned over to me and very quietly clutched my arm and whispered: "Stay still."

He probably sensed my annoyance for Trump and his stupid party. Thankfully, they got up from what was a temporary seating and moved in closer to the ring. The woman rose and leaned over to pick up the program and right in my face were boobs. I had just had a close encounter with Marla Maples as I would learn much later.

I was elated they had left as they were replaced by much shorter and much more reasonable Japanese businessmen who did not have stupid floppy hair or big boobs blocking my view. My Japanese friends were visibly relieved. They told me that the men with Trump and his party were Yakuza. I thought they were being a little over dramatic although my prefecture had many gangsters as well as links to prominent local Liberal Democrat politicians.

As for Kashiwagi, he lived near my home in a palatial house by Mt. Fuji. The visit in 1990 led to many trips to Atlantic City where he gambled in the tens of millions. I had heard about Kashiwagi's legendary gambling. The man had won $20 million in Australia and lost nearly $6 million in Las Vegas. He would eventually be Trump's special guest in Atlantic City and be up on the house in the millions upon millions. Some say the fear was he could win near $50 million and bankrupt Trump.

The truth is somewhere in between. Tens of millions were lost on both sides maybe more. Many of Trump's casinos were bankrupt by 1992 and in January 1992, Akio Kashiwagi was stabbed 150 times in his home by a Samurai sword in a case that remains full of mystery. My Japanese friends were wise to tell me to keep my distance. Picture below of Trump Plaza Atlantic City being dismantled.

But back to the fight. Tyson had black trunks and Douglas had white trunks. The moment Tyson entered the stadium was pandemonium. The crowds was in on its feet and cheering. Douglas came in and some in the crowd near us booed. The ring was so bright that all I could focus was the red Toyota turnbuckles and blue Toyota apron. The light in the audience dimmed to very dark and the crowd took its seat as the intros were announced. The audience roars shook the building.

The Round 1 card was hoisted up and the bell rung and the fight was on! Some people had bet it wouldn't last thirty seconds. The response of Buster Douglas disabused them of that notion as he took punches and dished them out...hard. I'm not a boxing judge but I was thinking Douglas looked strong and Mike Tyson was more on the defensive. As the rounds went on, it looked to me like the left jab from Douglas was making Tyson's eye swell up.

Round after round went past and the crowd got more intense. Douglas had Tyson on the ropes in the Round 8 and the suddenly Pow! An uppercut came completely unexpected on the chin and spray from the hit flew into the crowd. Douglas fell back onto the canvas. A ten count began and Douglas got up and moved to stand and by eight was back on his feet. Some people said it was a slow count but that was not my impression.

He stood and then ding! It was end of the round. Any momentum Tyson hoped for was lost as Douglas went toe to toe with him again and had him on the ropes a lot in the Ninth. When Round 10 was rung in, Tyson's eye was closed up from repeated jabs. It was about to get worse when Douglas again had him on the ropes and jabbed and hit with a right cross and then one almighty jab and Tyson was out.

There was an audible whoa sound from the crowd. A ten count was started and Tyson was very slow to get up and when ten was counted, he stood and was caught before he fell again. It was over and three belt titles ended up going to Buster Douglas. The crowd was awed and also cheering. History was made.

There were some speeches after and then the boxers filed out and the house lights came up and there was a bit of gasp from the crowd as the 40,000 people present became visible. The crowd left shocked and exuberant. The last I saw Donald Trump, he was leaving with other celebrities out an entrance restricted to VIPs. I was so thankful he didn't sit in front of me with that hair in my face.

Oakland Raiders Versus Green Bay Packers August 11, 2019

There will always be controversy about this game in Winnipeg where Oakland Raiders played Green Packers in Week 3 of the Exhibition Season for ticket prices that even the more ardent fans in the U.S. would have rejected wholeheartedly.

Me above. This fall I'm working on no sugar drinks. I started earlier this year just to be overwhelmed by my mom's heart attack just as I had shed some weight in the four weeks before. This fall I am now having to re-locate my business after 12 years in the same spot. Wish me luck.

In any event, I enjoyed the game despite the 80 yard field that Green Bay insisted upon and the pulling of 33 of their players to sit out the game. I had free tickets with my brother and family as a result of work done last minute to assist the game getting done.

It seems no NFL teams should be criticizing Winnipeg's field when Oakland's has looked like below for years.

For the middle of August it was not a blazing hot day or even amazingly bright. IG Field can be a steamy sweatbox in August for Bombers game. I went to the game with my brother and his girlfriend. The road was not nearly as crowded as it would be for a sell-out game though. A lot of tickets went out the last day or two but no one knew what attendance would ultimately be. My brother below.

Despite the high ticket prices people were festive in various NFL jerseys with both lots of Green Bay and Raiders wear being worn.

Without first comment, the rest of the pics that day. I had a good time even no regular players played and the field was short and there was no additional NFL experience such as a tailgate party. But then, I didn't pay hundreds of dollars.

Forever 21 to Close All Stores in Canada

The first store opened in Winnipeg in 2011 at Polo Park. It was a massive 34,000 square feet and crowds lined up at 2 AM to go inside. It was joined by Forever 21 Red at Outlet Collection of Winnipeg at Seasons of Tuxedo in 2017. That store was 26,000 square feet.

Now all 44 stores in Canada will close as the U.S. struggles into bankruptcy. No word on how the Canadian stores were doing but it would not be the first times stores were closed in Canada to save the U.S. stores. Hello, Sears.

For Polo Park this represents a major blow. Both Kildonan Place and St. Vital Mall are going through multi-million developments to fill the Sears closures and re-fresh the malls. Garden City has already addressed their Sears problem and malls like Northgate have worked on the Zellers/Target closures.

Polo Park has done nothing yet and will go another Christmas without filling the spot of a major anchor. Now, another huge store is closing. Three malls in town have added fitness centers generally in the 30,000 square feet range. As far as Sears goes with its 300,000 square feet...who knows.

Retail as we know it is changing fast. Expect housing to go up in malls, on top of malls and on mall parking lots fast.

A Little Pizza Heaven Coming to Regent and Day

A Little Pizza of Heaven was approved for Regent and Day at the Committee level for their new sign at the former location of Pizza Pizza and before that Pizza Hut. The local Councillor added that exterior colours (now orange) be changed to colours matching the sign.

This will be the fourth location for the pizza restaurant that will be trying to make it where an international Goliath was as well as top Winnipeg group. From humble beginning on Portage Avenue where University of Winnipeg students once munch on their fare, they have thrived in Osborne, St. James, St. Vital and Regent.

Regent and Day is a prominent corner in Transcona and hearkens back to a time when the street was the main commercial drive for a city. It still is although malls have made it more difficult. Still, it is places where you can hang your hat and take-out and have delivered that can thrive.

Look to see them open in the near future.

Bed Bath and Beyond in Grand Forks to Close Thanksgiving

Grand Forks and Fargo have to be wondering when it ends. One retailer after another is closing in their cities at a pace that is breathtaking. And now another has announced it will be closing in Grand Forks. Bed Bath and Beyond has given U.S. Thanksgiving in November as a timetable of its closure.

There will be 20 workers affected by the closure which has been blamed on a failure to renew a lease on land adjacent to Columbia Mall. Stores in Fargo and Bismarck will remain open. The store has been a fixture of Grand Forks and a favourite for Manitoba shopping for 18 years.

Trips by people to North Dakota and Minnesota the most recent long weekends have been greeted with shock at the devastating closures. They don't even come close to what has been happening in Canada.

It would appear that West Acres in Fargo and Columbia Mall in Grand Forks are trying to re-vitalize their malls with with so many store closures, it won't be retail that fills all the spaces.

Meanwhile in Winnipeg Grant Park, Northgate, Garden City and Kildonan Place have all gone through or are going through major upgrades that fill lost retail space from the last three years.

Kenaston Goodlife to Close and Relocate in 2020

Well, the news is officially out. Staff and members have been informed and now the public is being made aware. Kenaston Goodlife, the first co-ed for the company in Winnipeg is closing in 2020 and moving to their much larger location at Bishop Grandin. All staff will move to that club and present members will find the terms of the memberships continue in the new fitness centre. Obviously, every member of the gym should speak to managers to get details that are relevant to their own membership but it goes without saying that efforts are being made to make the process a smooth one.

Alas, the massage and athletic therapy clinic will not be making the move to the new club. Space at other clubs for Goodlife is also being re-purposed where at one time they all had massage therapy clinic rooms. Attempts were made to find me space but the nearly $30 million being spent means that every corner of the Goodlife clubs in the city is being examined to be competitive with the booming fitness in dusty. Where once there was several massage therapists working within Winnipeg clubs, I am the last along with my athletic therapy colleague. The last I heard I was the last in western Canada still working. Not sure about the country but could very well been the last one altogether.

I'm not bitter. At my club I worked with great colleague at the clinic such as Cherlaine and Jamie. For the most recent years I have been a colleague of Sue and now her husband Eric was also coming aboard. My new lease had just started at the beginning of the month. I knew that there was talk about the future of the club but also felt that the Kenaston area was still growing. IKEA is only six years old. The Outlet Collection at three years. Housing, hotels and further development happen every month now.

Still, there is a heavy duty amount of competition being built. Goodlife is building three new clubs. One of those clubs, Portage and Main, will be a re-location across the street. Expansion of their old club which took a full floor of the RBC tower was not permissible. St. Vital Mall's club will be a completely new club and so it seemed was the Bishop Grandin one.

Still, what to do with Kenaston? With all the new building taking place, Goodlife Kenaston had three choices: 1st was to spend a lot of money and upgrade the club within its footprint. 2nd was spend a lot of money and strip down the club to become discount sister company Fit 4 Less. 3rd was close the club and re-locate all staff to the new club and save a recruitment process and add to staff for the large location.

It is important to know that Goodlife does not own the Kenaston site. A new lease would have to be signed and the terms of which might not have been to meet profitability criteria after club investments. Goodlife Kenaston was built in spring of 2008 and was a giant in its day. People came from all over the city and even outside it to work-out in. Goodlife now has several clubs including  Grant Park. The heady days that lasted years was only going to continue if Goodlife Kenaston had a long term plan.

In the end supersized clubs like Bishop Grandin cost a lot of money and need a lot of staff. The re-location plan and opportunity to move jobs over and not go through a massive recruitment and training program as well as spend more money on Kenaston upgrades won out.

None of this will happen immediately. Construction being what it is will mean that sometime in early 2020 all this will take place. A grand opening will take place and the final days of operation at Kenaston will have a final deadline. As for myself, I will continue to operate for some time yet. However, the company has freed me to seek a new location either as an employee or as a business clinic. At least half my clients are Goodlife members but I've been operating as an independent business now for two years. Members will have to find a non-club option for their injury and maintenance therapy. The new club will have hydrotherapy for relaxation massage.

As for the old club, I guess that will be up to Terracon which owns it. It is in a business park that has been quite successful. It doesn't stand to reason that another fitness center would want to jump in there. It could be ideal for many uses. There have been a few companies bursting at the seams in the park that might be all over that building.

Before going further, I've identified the club as being Bishop Grandin but the district it is being built on is called Refinery. No, not an oil refinery but sugar. Or at least at one time it was part of Manitoba Sugar lands. I suggested Sugarland for the district but was shot down. Maybe not ideal for a fitness center.

In the days of supersized clubs arriving in 2020, they all have much more of everything and beyond. Unlike Kenaston, Refinery will hot yoga, a pool, a high intensity work out area and a ninja obstacle course. In addition, it will have boxing. Understandably, even with a transfer of experienced staff from Kenaston, it will have a layer of staffing needed for support of maintenance, group exercise and personal training.

It will be Winnipeg's largest Goodlife. Safe to say that a real battle is shaping up for Winnipeg for fitness centers. Millions are being spent and people will benefit as their work-out choices evolve and change.

Goodlife, Shapes and soon to arrive Altea will compete hard in southwest Winnipeg. I will miss Kenaston Goodlife when it closes. Many good people and members over the years and it was once the biggest and best. I might be the last Registered Massage Therapist left in the west and quite possibly the country when they turn out the lights at the club.

I'll be good. Leaving on good terms. I own my own business. I do other things as well with other business ventures. I have great colleagues and good friends and support from family. Got months left before I am out in the world but this is Winnipeg. In the city we make our own futures. And relationship are built forever.

Grant Park Plaza - The Early Days 1967

Grant Park started construction in 1962 and by 1964 it resembled more a big box strip mall than the enclosed mall today. By 1967 it looked like the store directory above. As seen, the mall had two groceries to start: Dominion and Safeway. It was also anchored by two department stores Woolco and Clark's.

But what is Clark's? This store seems to have slipped from the mists of memory for many. It wasn't the only Clark's in town either. There was one on Panet Road at Regent/Nairn.

The above was the Winnipeg location at Panet in 1962. The picture is commonly mistaken for Grant Park and I made it as well.

Clark's was the forerunner of Gambles and was owned by St. Louis-based Gamble-Skogmo which had a stable of stores under many brands. They also owned MacLeod's Hardware of Winnipeg.

Clark's actually went all the way to the Supreme Court and lost to prevent further expansion of Grant Park Plaza in 1967. It was to prevent becoming an enclosed mall as well as stopping Woolco from coming in. Their legal challenge didn't work and eventually the mall was enclosed and Clark's became Gambles.

Eventually Gambles was purchased by Zellers and the Clark's and Gambles names were gone forever from Winnipeg. It would take decades but the Zellers name itself would disappear as owner Hudson's Bay Company would sell it to Target. Some stores remained Zellers but in 2019, HBC will close the final two stores in Ontario.

Grant Park Shopping Centre as one of the oldest malls in Canada has seen tremendous change but was never allowed to simply deteriorate as some malls have in Canada. It was innovative in getting a movie theatre of substance even before places like Polo Park. It became home to the first big box book store in Winnipeg which remains strong today. And it was one of the first to have restaurants in its parking lot.

After its most recent makeover, that added Canadian Tire and Goodlife, it seems the mall has settled into a format that is working for it even where some of its competitors have undone their enclosed concept.

The Purge, The Mist, Lost in Space Reviews

The Purge movies have always been just a little bit more than violence. The politics behind it seems vaguely what an out of control America might do. The movie series introduced the concept and went back and explained a bit how it all started. The TV series gives even more background but delves right into the action with a new Purge just about to happen.

The series from 2018 runs 10 episodes and in Canada was on Amazon Prime. The second season begins this October.

The series follow a number on people who are willing participants in The Purge to those that are the victims of it. No particular actor stands out though a few are known actors. The rest are carrying their first show. Any thought that a long form story would be more compelling is lost by the fact that the actors are not particularly likable. That isn't always a problem but if that is the case, the character has someone you love to hate instead. We don't get that either.

The Purge only take places for 12 hours once a year. Not sure what I was expecting but perhaps it was a better character arc. For example, The Walking Dead first episode really set up a good reason to follow the entire first season. The Purge really didn't do that for me.

By the way, one of the reasons I left The Walking Dead and stopped watching Fear The Walking Dead was that they were relentlessly downbeat. And increasingly they had unlikable characters. And I'm not talking about the villains. The Purge never caught me is that they didn't have characters I wanted to follow. Moreover, they had characters that struck me as too stupid to live. This is a worse crime in my book.

I won't be watching the second season.

The Mist which aired on the Spike Channel in the U.S. and Canada was based on the Stephen King story and the movie of 2007. The series ran an episode run in 2017 and can be caught on some streaming services now. It was cancelled by Spike.

The book, the movie and the series have various difference but the one consistency is that a fog descends on a town and traps people in their homes or for many, a supermarket/mall. Also consistent is that in the mists are creatures that are killing people.

The series started off promising and the ratings indicated a winner. However, somewhere along the show went off the rails. A major departure was that the mist did not only have creatures within it but mind altering visions. While this might have made for interesting back stories, it also raised serious questions.

There were hints that there were chosen people who were immune. This led to persecution or blindly following someone for messianic reasons. The book and the original movie were more clear that people took sides out of fear not and that religion took a part in dividing people. The series took the position that nature was judging humanity. To say the least it was a bit muddled.

What wasn't muddled was the same thing that The Purge was guilty of: no likable characters.

The book left things off somewhat hopefully that somewhere far off there was a place the mist had left alone. Our remaining characters head there. The movie had a Twilight Zone-like ending which I won't spoil. The TV series left things off that our major characters have escaped the mall and are now headed to where the mist all began.

We'll never know what that is cause the show was cancelled. Even if it had been renewed I would have not watched.

Lost in Space on Netflix, not be confused from the TV series of 1965-1969, is a 2018 releases series released on the streamer. Like the series before it, the show is based on the 1812 novel Swiss Family Robinson by Johann David Wyss about a family shipwrecked in the West Indies. It has been adapted countless times but putting the story into space was possibly the most innovative. There was also a movie in 1998 that had some seriously questionable special effects and wooden dialogue. The bad dialogue might have been forgivable for sci-fi but not terrible special effects.

A family caught up in extreme circumstances makes for a compelling story. Setting it in space sets the imagination running. The original series went through a number of phases including from black and white to colour and from more serious to whimsical. Some people loved part of the show but not all of it and that varied year to year. And eventually, the show fell into a trap of Dr. Smith, Robot and youngest boy Will Robinson as the central characters. That would be popular and also be its undoing. The robot's phrase of Danger Will Robinson Danger would live on long after the series.

It seems that the space version of Swiss Family Robinson falls into the same traps every time. There is nothing wrong with the initial premise that Earth is facing increasing pressures due to population or catastrophe or hostilities. Colonization and using families as a unit makes sense insofar as cohesion, especially if there is no return to Earth. However, it can make things boring too if you have no outsiders who may be friends, foes, romantic partners, competitors or any and all configurations.

It seems Lost in Space writers have considered this and the reasons previous versions of the show failed. However, ultimately the same Dr. Smith, boy and robot format appears to what is relied upon. In 10 episodes it is surprising how little character depth actually happens. Almost everyone is a cardboard cutout.

There are a few good actors on the show but they hardly seem to have enough that makes standout. The series has been renewed for another season. I'm prepared to see if the show breaks out. It is important to know that many of the best TV series of all time had at least 20 to 24 episodes to show their worth. Still, my patience is wearing with this show.

Fargo North Dakota K-Mart to Close in December

In 1962 Fargo was one of the first places to get a K-Mart. Prior to that the name was Kresge's, a name Winnipeggers were equally familiar with at Polo Park or Portage Avenue. Winnipeg's Kresge's was constructed in 1954 downtown and then another in 1959 in Polo Park. Kresge's ended in Winnipeg in the 1980s and K-Mart ended in Canada in 1994.

K-Mart has been a mismanaged company for decades after once numbering over 2000 stores. The Canadian stores, in a pattern we have seen from U.S. retailers, were bled dry to pay for missteps in the U.S.

In the U.S. we have seen two sinking ships K-Mart and Sears bound together in failure. Sears in Canada was sacrificed to keep the U.S operations afloat. It hasn't worked. Stores keep closing.

Fargo and Grand Fork, North Dakota have seen Sears and K-Marts shut down in their metros. Fargo-Moorhead lost the Moorhead K-Mart in 2016. Sears closed at West Acres in 2017, Sam's Club in Moorhead in 2018. Herberger's in Fargo West Acres in 2018.

Macys in Columbia Mall Grand Forks closed in 2017. Sears closed in the same mall in 2018. Pier 1 Imports at the parking lot there closed 2018 as well. Horbacher's Grocery store nearby closed in 2018.

In short, it is a disaster. Both major Grand Forks and North Dakota malls are looking to change things up. There is no such thing as an anchor store anymore.

And now in Fargo along University, south of North Dakota State University, the city loses their last K-Mart.

Too many stores, too much online shopping and and changes in what people like are the main culprit.

Winnipeg has not seen as deep a smackdown but even in this city, we are re-evaluating what a mall is known for. Polo Park is considering residential which may be the smartest dynamic for future success.

For Winnipeg's travelling to North Dakota, the question is: Will their shopping stop in Pembina, North Dakota just for pick-ups?

University of Winnipeg - The Early Days

The above picture is from 1926 and shows the present University of Winnipeg Collegiate and behind it Sparling Hall. In the time of the photo, it the building fronting Portage Avenue was Wesley College. The building was built in 1894-95 and is one of the Canada's historic buildings and remains an integral part of the University of Winnipeg campus. The building behind is Sparling Hall but at time of construction was called the Annex. It took the name of J.W. Sparling, the founding principal of Wesley College. He would die the year Sparling Hall was built.

Portage Avenue was not very busy with cars in 1926. The stretch of retail on the north side consisted book stores, pharmacists, hardware stores and the like. Angle parking was the norm on the street. Streetcar lines are in the middle of the road.

Wesley College's founding was 1888 and several students were taught in Grace Church till money was raised and construction began on property that was acquired on Portage Avenue. Manitoba College, Wesley College's some time competitor/sometime partner was founded in 1871 and in 1882, built on Ellice Street, kitty corner to what would be Wesley College 12 years later. Manitoba College would eventually be sold to St. Paul's College when Manitoba finally joined Wesley College. The site presently is home to under utilized research laboratories of the National Research Council built in 1985 with a second lab built later 2006.

The former Manitoba College in 1932 which St. Paul's High school beside. The buildings would gall to the wrecking ball in 1964 after St. Paul's College went to the Fort Garry Campus of the University of Manitoba and St. Paul High School would go to Charleswood. The land thereafter law fallow for decades.

The picture above shows the United College (Manitoba and Wesley Colleges) in 1948 right in the middle along Portage Avenue. The Hudson Bay Company store built in 1926 in seen on the right side. Immediately above on the top of the picture are the grounds of St. Paul's College and St. Paul's High School (formerly Manitoba College).

United College shows an enormous field behind it that was used for a variety of sports such a soccer and football. It also had a baseball diamond.

Here is the field looking northward from Wesley College in the 1920s. Quite the baseball game going going on.

Misericordia Seniors Housing Opposed

Social media lit up in regards to Misericordia proposing seniors housing in its largely vacant education and resource center at 691 Wolseley, directly across from Misercordia Health Centre. The six story Misericordia Education and Resource Centre has been 80% empty ever since the Massage Therapy College of Manitoba decamped to the Clarion Hotel office spaces as Evolve Massage Therapy school. For many years three floors of what used to be the in-house training center for nurses were used by the school. Downstairs has been used by four non-profits, two of which have already found spaces. Health, family and seniors had been the focus of the organizations that operated in the building.

The proposed building seen above would be constructed once the old building is demolished some time in December once all the tenants have left. Thoughts on refurbishing the building were dismissed when the total started to climb northward in terms of bringing the building to code. Electrical, plumbing, heating and cooling as well as accessibility were far from ideal. A study done by Misericordia pegged costs at $7 million.

The 1962 built building is neither distinct nor well utilized for a 60 year old building and yet some people are advocating for its preservation and restoration. The argument for halting the demolition has to be taken in contrast to what will replace the mostly empty six storey building. What is being proposed is an assisted living seniors apartment that has 97 units that start at 20% below market rates for rent. Further, 29 units will be 30% below market rental rates.

Misericordia Corporation, a non-profit will plow all income back into the building. Moreover, it will be connected by skywalk to the hospital itself. The new building appears to attractive and unlike its old counterpart, seems to have a presence to Sherbrook Street. This is important because Sherbrook through fits and starts as been slowly becoming a more people oriented and likely street. Entrances to Sherbrook would go a long way to facilitating more activity.

It seems everything Misericordia does is resisted. The personal care home Misericordia Place was resisted in 2000 by many. Nearly 55 years ago Villa Rosa was opposed. The parkade has been opposed since 1985 but people parking anywhere near the hospital is opposed. The hospital has gone through many changes. The original 1971 construction of the Emergency and ICU was opposed. Later, its closure was opposed. The closure of the Urgent Care was opposed.

It is a very long list of resistance to change. However, a seniors home on an underused building site should not be opposed. One complaint was that climate change suffers when an old building is not revitalized. I am dubious on this as the building does not meet any codes now, is not dense enough and has huge problems on accessibility.

This city needs below market seniors housing in the Wolsely area. It is exactly what is needed and a brilliant addition to the neighbourhood. There are a lot of things to oppose in this city but inexpensive housing is not one of them.

Jerry Lewis Telethon and the Start of CKND 1975

The star in the middle is supposed to represent Winnipeg for the Jerry Lewis Telethon.

It was 44 years ago this week (August 31, 1975 to be exact) that CKND went on the air. A half hour program called Introducing CKND aired at 9 PM and then at 9:30 PM the Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon came on the air. At 10 years old I had never really seen a Jerry Lewis film before. We had only gotten cable four years earlier after starting the decade in 1970 with a black and white TV and only two English channels CBWT and CKY.

We got cable in fall of 1971 which brought KTHI, WDAZ and KXJB from Fargo and Grand Forks, North Dakota. Suddenly a flood of new television programming was flooding in from five English networks and one French network. In 1975 they were joined by two more channels Prairie Public Television and CKND.

CKND was anagram for KCND which broadcast into Winnipeg from Pembina, North Dakota from 1959 to 1975. Izzy Asper and partners bought all the equipment from the station, set up in an old supermarket on St. Mary's, hired 17 of the former owner's staff and on Labour Day weekend went on the air. The 21 1/2 hour MDA Telethon would dominate the airwaves that weekend. There was a lot of excitement and the live performances by so many stars would captivate people the city in a major way.

Our family was home that weekend after camping for a month to Florida. Like most people in the city, we tuned into the new channel. I went to bed after midnight and was up at the crack of dawn fascinated that the same program was soldiering on. And on. The cutaways to local call ins for Winnipeg would not start till a year later so the program pretty much was non-stop Jerry Lewis.

The telethon would be the first time I ever saw Frank Sinatra perform live. I was actually more familiar with Nancy Sinatra (picture below) as her song These Boots Were Made For Walking was played on Winnipeg radio stations and on the Cliffords department store ads. Watching Sinatra perform though with his orchestra was a command performance.

The year 1975, as mentioned, was also the year Prairie Public Television came to Winnipeg. Its starts was less glitzy but together with CKND brought older movies to the screen that the rest of the networks did not. History films like Where Eagles Dare with Clint Eastwood and Richard Burton would air on PBS. CKND, on the other hand, would broadcast The Bowery Boys and all the Jerry Lewis and Dean Martin movies.

By the time 1976 came along, many young people were up to speed up on Bob Hope, Jerry Lewis, Dean Martin and a host of others. The 1st anniversary of CKND would bring another WDA Jerry Lewis Telethon and at the behest of Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin would go on the Labour Day show. It would be the first time since 1956 that Lewis and Martin would re-unite.

The 1976 telethon would be the most watched of all the Jerry Lewis broadcasts ever and include the most stations. Families in Winnipeg watched together because many kids by this point were as familiar with the stars as their parents were. CKND featured cutaways to their call center and local celebrities were on and MDA took in the most donations in their new history at the time.

Despite seeing so many Jerry Lewis and Dean Martin movies in the first year of CKND's broadcast, I had felt that Dean Martin was the bigger celebrity and movie star. Although, I was really too young to see it, I was aware of the Dean Martin Show on NBC. To be honest, as a kid I was more happy with the Saturday morning cartoons of the U.S. major networks and Space: 1999 on CBC. As as family we were more likely to watch the Sonny and Cher or Carol Burnett shows.

However, on NBC in 1973, the movie Airport was shown on TV and had the highest ratings ever since Love Story broadcast by ABC the previous year. Our whole family watched Airport which had been released theatrically in 1970. I was probably too young to see it as I was scared about flying after. In my mind though, Dean Martin was a star.

It is no surprise then that when Dean Martin appeared with Jerry Lewis and Frank Sinatra on stage at the 1976 MDA Telethon that it was a huge moment in TV history. It was also a fairly amazing 1st anniversary for CKND as well.

The 1970s was really when cable exploded in Winnipeg. TV might have been around since the mid 1950s but for many families like ours, it was no longer just two channels and black and white.

My New Bike

Two weeks ago I finally received my Dutch bicycle from Utrecht, Netherlands. It came in a cargo container with a few hundred other bikes that had been abandoned or apprehended in Holland. Park in the wrong place and they can take away your bike and it will cost you 50 Euros to get back. Some people just opt to get an updated bike instead.

The bikes were being refurbished all summer and some were used sent to Winnipeg Folk Festival in exchange for bike mechanic services. My bike had number 1 written on it which I was told meant that it spent the weekend at the music festival as a rental.

The bikes were dispersed by height and by draw. Bikes for a given height were assembled and then numbered. A number would go on the bike and another in your envelope. After arriving in Point Douglas at a lovely fenced park by the warehouse where bikes were repaired, you went to a little table where they matched your name up and you got to pick an envelope.

You were supposed to open your envelope till later but mine opened and fell to the ground right at the table as it was not sealed. I had number 50.  The bikes were stretched out all the way against the fences and every tree and a few hundred people milled about looking at them.

I knew that I could match my number so that's what I looked for. Bikes were mostly black, a few painted other colours. Some had a side kick stand, front bike carrier, back bike carrier and some had all. All bikes were rideable but some looked like they could use some additional upgrades from their new owners.

I think I circled the entire perimeter before I spotted my bike. It was the only one featuring Partridge Family colours in the Mondrian style of contemporary art. I was a bit tickled by it. Some people unaware of how the bike were distributed also eyed the bike as a possible choice. However, I knew the bike was mine.

Once I established the positives of my bike I looked to see what the negatives might be. Those were that it would need a good lock. I wanted it to have lights. I also wanted it to have a basket. For in the house I wanted a stand.

Beer and hotdogs were part of the celebration and we heard about the work that went into bringing the bikes over. Lots of people and hard work made it happen. I transported my bike home and brought it inside and a day or two later took it to Olympia on Portage Avenue for its improvements.

I got my lights, lock and baskets installed and have done a small grocery shop with success and a few rides.

The stand I bought doesn't work. Even with advice from manufacturer, the free standing rack won't hold the bike. I'm looking at returning it and doing without. Disappointing as it cost $50. I'm not sure if it would work for any of the European bikes.

I'm still scared to ride down some roads including the one to my work. Drivers don't care and I don't want to be hurt or killed. I just want to ride my bike. No sidewalk or bike path to my work. Police stop people every week who race up the shoulder at 80 kms. It's inhuman.

Anyway, that's my bike. I hope to get one more rear wheel lock. Some people are saying that I need three locks. Might do that. However, I've been attacked personally so protecting your property still means they can attack you to get it.

Still, doing my best to have some fun, get exercise and be outside. This city can make it tough though.