WEmail for November 2017

Good Day to you all,

Sandra Rocha invited us to attend Club Milonga on Tuesday October 31^st 2017 which was Halloween Night and they (Club Milonga) were having a pot luck milonga party after the lesson which Sandra was teaching.  It was also Sandra’s birthday and so we said we would go so as to celebrate both Sandra’s birthday as well as to enjoy the Club’s party.

Pam considered baking a cake for their pot luck table but as we had no idea as to what others may or may not bring, we opted to take some Armstrong Old Cheddar plus grapes and crackers as this combination was always a popular combination when we provided it for WE Tango.  It turned out be popular at the Club Milonga party too as it all disappeared rather quickly along with all of the other food.  There was some forty plus people in attendance that night.

 

 

 

Before setting off for Club Milonga via the subway we stopped off to see our grand- daughter’s “Angel” Ella and “Wonder Woman” Sophie and provide them with treats.

 

 

 

 

Attending Club Milonga brought back many pleasant memories as I had been the President back in 2005 and prior to that the Treasurer.  We stopped attending a year or so later when we were advised by T.G.H. that Pam needed radiation treatment and we never got back into regular attendance at Club Milonga after the treatments ceased.

I was going through my filing cabinet a couple of weeks ago and came across many of my old files from when I was on the executive there including a group photo that was taken during my presidency there.  It is quite amazing when I look at the picture as to how many people who were in the photo are still very much into tango. I also noted from one of my Attendance Statistics sheet from June to December 2005 that attendance ranged from a low of 46 to a high of 101 with an average of about 60 over the six month period. There was not as many Argentine Tango Milonga/Lesson options back than as there is today.

John

LIFE IS GOOD

 

October WEmail

Good Day to you all,

A few weeks ago whilst shopping for cheese (Wensleydale with pineapple as well as a Cheddar Cheshire combination) at Global Cheese, I noticed a magazine entitled “all you need is Cheese”.  It is a Canadian magazine which was available at no charge at the store.  The young lady that was serving me told me to take it home as it a quite an interesting read with some excellent recipes.  I thanked her and then she said hold on a second and went off to get a couple of earlier editions of the magazine which she also gave to me; one of which was the winter 2016 issue.  I mention that one specifically as it had an article noted on the front cover entitled “Canada’s Ciders, Ice Ciders and Ice wines” and I do enjoy ciders.

After getting home settling down in my easy chair, I determined that there was three, (3) different articles regarding three, (3) different manufacturers of Cider manufacturers; one in Quebec, one in Ontario and one in B.C.  The one that is located just north of Victoria BC was the one that really caught my attention.  It is called Sea Cider and is owned and operated by a female named Kristen Needham.

I believe that I have mentioned once before that many years ago whilst cutting the grass at our house in Mississauga I reached for my tin of Whiteway’s cider only to discover that it was almost empty.  Our young son Jonathan looked up at me with somewhat glassy eyes and said “that’s good Dad.”  To this day, Jonathan still drinks cider and always has some in his fridge.

It was about a month ago that I read the article on cider and decided that I should buy some of this as a birthday gift Jonathan’s upcoming 43^rd birthday on October 1^st. It is also Adrian’s birthday on that same day; there is a six, (6) year age difference between them.  Adrian does not drink and as he lives in Houston and whilst his house was not flooded, it did have a chimney leak and some seepage into the floor which was/is not covered by insurance which meant that we thought cash would be a better present for him this year.

I emailed Sea Cider to find out where there product could be obtained here in Ontario.  Unfortunately their product is presently only available in stores in B.C. Alberta and Saskatchewan.  In view of this after talking with Sea Cider directly I ordered on line but as the shipping costs were about the same for six bottles as it was for twelve bottles, I ordered and received twelve bottles but chose four different varieties.

We were invited down for a birthday brunch at Jonathan’s yesterday along with his in-laws.  Jonathan prepared lunch which we enjoyed and was quite excited with his gift putting one bottle in the fridge and suggesting we go down next week to enjoy a glass of it.

We did dance tango on Friday and Sunday this weekend, we were a little under the weather on Saturday so stayed home all day.

I have noted in the past that based upon my personal observations, early fall attendance at milongas is quite unpredictable.  Masha always works very hard at her Friday milonga and the weather was cool which meant that Dovercourt House was quite pleasant regarding ambient temperature but sadly attendance was not where it should have been.

Same scenario regarding temperature on Sunday and as always, it was slow to get going and it was not overly well attended.  The Argentine folk dance demonstration was excellent and was very well received by all in attendance.

We plan on dancing Tango this coming Wednesday and on Friday and probably other days as well but let us see how things go.

John

LIFE IS GOOD

WEmail for Wednesday September 20th 2017

Good Day to you all,

Yes, I know, WE TANGO is now closed and Marika and Tibor’s MILONGUUITA is now running every Wednesday so why, you might ask, am I sending out a WEmail.  The answer to that question is simply because several ladies told me that they would miss my weekly WEmail’s and asked if I would continue to send them out, if not weekly, occasionally at least as they enjoyed reading them and in view of this I decided to do so.  If any of you wish to be removed from my posting list, just kindly respond to this WEmail asking to be removed from the list.

I was asked by several people (both men and women) as to what I would now do with my spare time.  On the Tuesday last week during the day, instead of reviewing the many pre-prepared playlist’s that I made out for WE TANGO I decided to log my vinyl records so as to decide what to do with them.  I have some eighty, (80) 45 R.P.M. records which needless to say I have had for many years.  Most of them were given to me when I was in my late teens by a friend that I used to work with who was quite an accomplished jazz pianist who played at dances quite regularly and who used to take me along so that I could dance with his wife whilst he was playing.  Needless to say, most of the records are jazz including a couple featuring George Shearing; George was always one of my favorites even in my early teens back in England.

I have not played any of them for years and cannot play them today as our son Jonathan “borrowed” my B&O Beomaster 3000-2 receiver and its complementary turntable quite few years ago and still has it.

I also started listing my L.P’s which includes a three record set of Rise Stevens as Carmen which my Late Brother Roy and Brother Colin bought for my 21^st birthday after we had all attended Maple Leaf Gardens together to see her performing the  role in person; the O’Keefe Center had not as yet been built.

Whilst I was sorting and listing these records I was listening to some of my CD’s, namely Kiri Te Kanawa and later, Angela Gheorghiu with Roberto Alagna singing opera; quite the change from Argentine Tango which I would normally be listening to on Tuesday at this time as I reviewed the WE Tango playlist that I would be playing the following night.

Pam and I attended Marika and Tibor’s “MILONGUITA” on Wednesday at Swansea Town Hall which we enjoyed.

Thursday we were at P.M.H. for a review by one of Pam’s cancer Specialists.  It would seem that the news was/is good insofar as no further deterioration has taken place and the regular infusion that she receives every four weeks will now be given every twelve weeks.  Pam also has an upcoming visit with a different Specialist at T.G.H. again regarding her cancer as well as an M.R.I. let us hope that these tests are also as positive.

We went out dancing Argentine Tango and enjoyed ourselves on Friday and on Saturday.  I went out on my own on Sunday primarily to hear Aparna Halpe and Elena Losseva playing tango on violin and keyboard at Tango Tea.  I enjoyed their performance very much.

Tibor has flown to off to his country of origin to visit his mother for her birthday and asked if I would DJ at this Wednesday’s MILONGUITA, naturally I said yes.   Marika will be the Hostess.  Hope to see you all there.

 

John

LIFE IS GOOD

This Wednesday ~ welcome to Milonguita

Good Day to you all,

Last Wednesday August 30^th 2017was the final “WE TANGO” milonga.

However, Marika and Tibor Blaskovits are starting a new milonga every Wednesday at Swansea Town Hall, namely “MILONGUITA” which is scheduled to commence operating this coming Wednesday evening September 6^th 2017

 MILONGUITA takes place in the 2nd Floor Council Chambers,

Of

Swansea Town Hall

Swansea Town Hall is located at. 95 Lavinia Ave.

In

Toronto’s Bloor West Village.

Milonga runs from 8:00 p.m. – 10:45 p.m.

Hosted by Marika and Tibor

 

In order to help Marika and Tibor keep their start-up (capital) costs to a minimum, Pam and I have agreed to allow usage of the table cloths, speaker tripods, the coffee maker and the portable hot water heater for tea which we utilized at WE TANGO.

Some of you may recall that a couple of years ago with respect to Emailing lists, C-28 compliance came into effect which meant that email lists should not be transferred to others and could only be made up if you had the permission of each and every individual on the list which means that I cannot transfer my WEmail list to others.  In view of this, I would suggest that if you wish to be kept up to date on MILONGUITA happenings that you contact Tibor directly by going to milonguitatango.com and advise him of this.

 

Hope to see all of you there.

Thank you !

Many thanks to all who attended WE TANGO last night which happened to be our final one.

It certainly turned out to be a night to remember; we received so many flowers and plants that our apartment looked somewhat like a florists when we brought every gift that we received last evening from the many attendees who attended the milonga into our unit. We also received a couple of bottles of wine and a bottle Cognac and cards with some wonderful, warm and heart-warming messages of thanks and good will.

I cannot believe that it is some eight and a quarter years since we started WE TANGO simply because I wanted a place to dance Argentine Tango mid-week here in Toronto’s west end.   A very special vote of thanks to my lovely wife Pam who provided wonderful support through her baking some four hundred, (400) cakes over this same time period as well as ensuring that the Council Chamber at Swansea Town Hall looked very warm and inviting for attendee’s as well as working diligently behind the front desk.  The Staff at Swansea Town Hall also deserve a special vote of thanks as they have also been most supportive over our time there and had a lovely sprung wooden floor for dancing installed shortly after we opened.

Again, thank you all, for we now have many wonderful memories to look back on.

I mentioned earlier that WE TANGO was started as I wanted to be able to dance Argentine Tango mid-week; fortunately Tibor and Marika will be running “MILONGUITA” every Wednesday at Swansea from 8:00 p.m. until 10:45 p.m. so Pam and I hope to both see and dance with you there.

LIFE IS GOOD 

WEmail for Wednesday August 30th 2017

Good Day to you all,

Many of you will remember that Pam and I were not at any milonga’s last weekend as were up North having a family get together and Adrian had flown in from Houston Texas to be with us.

Adrian left late Monday evening to return home to Houston; his flight was late leaving which seems to be the norm these days at Pearson International.  Adrian had to fly to New York City the following day on business which he did but his trip there was cut short as he had to return to Houston to prepare for HARVEY the incoming tornado that was predicted to hit Corpus Christi and possibly Houston.  Needless to say, we were quite worried and as a consequence did not much feel like dancing on Friday night.

As it turns out, the tornado was downgraded but Houston did get hit with a tremendous amount of rain and it’s still raining there.  The roadway where Adrian and Grace’s house is situated was/is flooded.  The water had risen about halfway up their driveway.  Adrian had drained some nine, (9) inches of water from their swimming pool but the rain refilled it to overflowing.  It’s predicted that Houston will be subjected to rainstorms for the balance of the week and so I suspect that he will have to keep pumping the pool out.  I just hope that the power is not knocked out down there and that they remain safe.

Pam had an appointment at Toronto General Hospital for an M.R.I. at 6:30 a.m. Sunday morning which meant that we did not go out on Saturday night to dance as we had to be up very early on Sundaymorning to be at T.G.H. at the specified appointment time.  We returned home driving along Harbord St. at about 7:30 a.m. which is the same route that we would have been driving from the Polish Hall a few hours earlier had we gone dancing on there on the Saturday night.

Those of you who were at WE Tango last Wednesday already know that our attendance was impacted somewhat negatively by the “Freebie” Milonga/dance lesson which took place at the Polish Hall on the same night.  There is of course always a bright side and in this case it meant that we got to take some of Pam’s home-made fruit salad home and I enjoyed it for breakfast along with cereal over the next couple of days.

WE TANGO is scheduled to operate this coming Wednesday evening

August 30^th 2017

WE Tango takes place in the Council Chambers, 2nd Floor

Of

Swansea Town Hall

Swansea Town Hall is located at. 95 Lavinia Ave.

In

Toronto’s Bloor West Village.

Milonga runs from 8:00 p.m. – 10:45 p.m.

Admittance: $10.00 per person. Tea, and/or coffee as well as a small sweet (usually home-made) and fruit are included in the price.

Hosted by Pam and John

LIFE IS GOOD

WEmail for Wednesday August 16th 2017

Good Day to you all,

It was quite the busy tango experience for Pam and I this weekend; we decided to go dancing on Friday, Saturday and Sunday as we will not be dancing at all next weekend as Adrian is coming in from Houston on Thursday. We recently found another one of Adrian’s old Gumby’s (now some forty five, (45) years old) and he (Gumby) will be there on the folding bed to welcome Adrian’s stay overnight before we head north on Friday along with Jonathan for a family get together with Jonathan’s wife Allison and grand- children Ella and Sophie plus Lucy the dog at Snug Harbor. Interestingly enough, Linda has her open air milonga at Kew beach this coming weekend which is where we took Adrian to play in his early years when we lived at St. Claire and Kingston Rd. in Scarborough which means he would have been with us in our very fond memories only had he not been coming into town this weekend as we would have been at Linda’s Kew Milonga.

Last Friday we were attended Milonga Ocho which was got very busy indeed later in the evening making me wish that it took place in the upper room which is far more accommodating for a group of the size that finally it turned. Unfortunately there is no alternative with respect to dancing Argentine Tango on a Friday as yet.

Saturday we went to Palermo which was a little lighter attended than normal possibly due to the fact that R & M was also running a milonga on the same night. We did enjoy ourselves and I was able to dance with a couple of ladies that I seldom see elsewhere these days.

The weather was not too hot on Sunday and as a consequence we decided to attended Fernando’s T.T.C. milonga at Dovercourt House. Unfortunately, the upper floor at Dovercourt house turned out to be much warmer this Sunday than it was last Sunday even though last weekend’s outside temperature was warmer than this week’s was. I can only assume that the ventilation system had not been running long enough. We left a little earlier than we normally do; not because of the warmth but due to the fact that we had to go to P.M.H. for Pam’s infusion at 8:45 a.m. on Monday morning.

WE TANGO is scheduled to operate this coming Wednesday evening

August 16th 2017

WE Tango takes place in the air conditioned Council Chambers, 2nd Floor

Of

Swansea Town Hall

Swansea Town Hall is located at. 95 Lavinia Ave.

In

Toronto’s Bloor West Village.

Milonga runs from 8:00 p.m. – 10:45 p.m.

Admittance: $10.00 per person. Tea, and/or coffee as well as a small sweet (usually home-made) and fruit are included in the price.

Hosted by Pam and John

LIFE IS GOOD

 

WEmail for Wednesday August 9th 2017

Good Day to you all,

This August holiday weekend was a very enjoyable one for Toronto’s tango attendees as there was several milonga’s operating beginning Friday August 4^th through Monday August 7th.

Pam and I attended Paradiso on Friday which was very well attended although I was a little disappointed in the fact that one lady that I seldom get to see, embrace and dance with and who regularly attends Paradiso was not there.  One of the highlights of the evening was a very good and inspiring demonstration by Anna Borshch and her partner.  Anna wore a very attractive black dress whose skirt had dual splits allowing for great free movement and kicks of her rather spectacular legs and yet was still quite conservative in other ways.  We enjoyed their performance as well as having a very enjoyable evening of dancing ourselves both with each other as well as with others.

Saturday was Tango Loft which we also attended; it was very busy but I must say that the floor craft was very good with very few dancers trying to get your attention through somewhat dangerous moves on a busy dance floor.  One of the many reason’s that I like Tango Loft is the fact that we can have a coffee or a tea there plus a chat with friends as we settle in for an evening of dance; fruit and sweets are made available a little later in the evening.

Pam did not feel like going out to dance on Sunday and so I went to Fernando’s on my own as I wished to listen to the Franco Luciani Trio playing live music for dancing Argentine Tango Milonga and Vals.  I enjoyed their music and did indeed dance with a couple of obliging ladies who were in attendance there and were kind enough to partner up with me for a tanda or two.

I bought the CD that was available for sale there but unfortunately I am a little disappointed with it for whilst it is a pleasure to listen to the recorded music on the CD, it is not Tango, Milonga or Vals and so I cannot incorporate it into a regular tango playlist.

WE TANGO is scheduled to operate this coming Wednesdayevening

August 9^th 2017

WE Tango takes place in the air conditioned Council Chambers, 2nd Floor

Of

Swansea Town Hall

Swansea Town Hall is located at. 95 Lavinia Ave.

In

Toronto’s Bloor West Village.

Milonga runs from 8:00 p.m. – 10:45 p.m.

Admittance: $10.00 per person. Tea, and/or coffee as well as a small sweet (usually home-made) and fruit are included in the price.

Hosted by Pam and John

LIFE IS GOOD

WEmail for Wednesday July 26th 2017

Good Day to you all,

I must apologize for not sending out a WEmail last week advising one and all of amongst other things that WE TANGO would be operational last Wednesday.  I did at least send out a reminder of this fact during Wednesday July 19th morning.

Last week was quite a crazy one for us, we were supposed to go to my brother Colin’s ninetieth, (90^th) birthday party which had been organized by his son Peter who had come in from California to do this.  We received an eMail from Peter the day before the event was to take place sent from Emergency advising us that the event was cancelled as Colin had experienced a nasty fall; it turned out that he had cracked two, (2) ribs and he was in a great deal of pain.  We were able to visit Colin a week later and enjoy a nice lunch with him as well as Peter and Peter’s his wife Margaret; Colin was mending quite nicely.

I had been in Emergency a week or so before Colin’s mishap and it did seem as though the issue was returning; fortunately it turned out not to be the case but with this issue, a visit to my Dr. plus a trip to P.M.H. for Pam’s regular infusion did tie up quite a bit of time and I must admit I was not in the mood for writing a WEmail.

During this same time, Swansea Town Hall phoned to remind us that we had not provided them with written advice regarding our September through December commitment.  I advised them that Pam and I had decided that in view of our age and what had happened recently that perhaps it was time to close WE TANGO and as a consequence we would not be renewing our commitment to them after the month of August was completed.  Swansea said they were very disappointed and that everyone there would miss us for after eight, (8) years of being there every Wednesday night things just would not seem the same without Argentine Tango.  They (Swansea) suggested that I advise you all as early as possible of the projected closing of WE TANGO as perhaps someone else would like to operate a milonga there on Wednesday night.

If anyone is interested, you may talk to Carol (416-392-1954) at Swansea Town Hall about it.  I would also be pleased to speak with anyone wishing to operate a milonga there as just because we will no longer be running it does not mean we would not like to dance tango mid-week; after all, that is why we started WE TANGO in the first place as there was nowhere to dance Tango on  Wednesday.

Needless to say, Pam and I would like to thank one and all for your support over the years, it has been a lot of work but it was well worth it.    

 

WE TANGO is scheduled to operate this coming Wednesday evening

July 26^th 2017

WE Tango takes place in the air conditioned Council Chambers, 2nd Floor

Of

Swansea Town Hall

Swansea Town Hall is located at. 95 Lavinia Ave.

In

Toronto’s Bloor West Village.

Milonga runs from 8:00 p.m. – 10:45 p.m.

Admittance: $10.00 per person. Tea, and/or coffee as well as a small sweet (usually home-made) and fruit are included in the price.

Hosted by Pam and John

LIFE IS GOOD

WEmail for Wednesday July 12th 2017

Good Day to you all,

Fortunately the weather here in Toronto over the weekend was not the norm for this time year which meant we were able to both attend and dance quite comfortably at the Dovercourt House on Friday night and on Sunday night.

The Friday night milonga was of course PARADISO’s monthly event which took place in the main floor room and even though Friday was a little muggy, we enjoyed ourselves staying reasonably cool throughout the night.

Pam and I attended Tango Loft on Saturday which takes place in the very welcoming Polish Legion Hall and we always enjoy ourselves there.

The top floor at Dovercourt House where we attended Fernando’s milonga on Sunday night was warm but not overly so and it would have been a little better had the window fans been operating; I switched the one on adjacent to the area where we normally sit and it made a noticeable improvement almost at once.

Theddy Lizima and partner Pamela Ramos did a performance for the attendees which was a very nice, elegant example of the type and style of Argentine Tango dancing which they teach and which many of could us could learn to do.  In other words, it was not “Show Tango” but Tango for milonga’s where others are sharing the floor.

 

I will be back in the pool early Wednesday taking the second Aqua Fitness class.  Let’s hope that it is a little warmer this week than last week was.  I received the following reminder from the organizer last week which I found rather funny and it was when I learned that I was the only male taking the class.

“The water is still pretty cold so I suggest that the ladies wear pantyhose, John, a pair of long johns and a long sleeved tee shirt. I know this sounds odd but this will keep you warmer. Trust me, I know how this works.”

I hardly look elegant at the best of times but even I could not visualize this arrangement.  I did take the only pair of long John’s that I have ever owned but fortunately I did not find it cold enough that I had to wear them as well as my swimming trunks.

This coming Thursday we will be in Don Mills celebrating my Brother Colin’s 90^thbirthday.  Colin’s son Peter arranged the party at a local restaurant there.  Peter is flying in from California later this week; he will also be flying down to Bermuda with his dad Colin who will be taking his late wife Peggy’s ashes for burial.  Peggy was born in Bermuda: she was Peter’s step mother.  Peter lost his mother when he was a young lad in a level crossing accident in Weston in the mid fifties

 

WE TANGO is scheduled to operate this coming Wednesday evening

July 12^th 2017

WE Tango takes place in the air conditioned Council Chambers, 2nd Floor

Of

Swansea Town Hall

Swansea Town Hall is located at. 95 Lavinia Ave.

In

Toronto’s Bloor West Village.

Milonga runs from 8:00 p.m. – 10:45 p.m.

Admittance: $10.00 per person. Tea, and/or coffee as well as a small sweet (usually home-made) and fruit are included in the price.

Hosted by Pam and John

LIFE IS GOOD