Peachfest week has arrived
Hey, it’s finally here, my favourite week of the year — the Penticton Peach Festival. A tradition in the Miller home is we’ve invited the same friends from Alberta year after year (they love Country Night) to come and stay with us and they regularly tell us “we’d love to live in Penticton.”
So let’s keep it light. Here are a few random thoughts for Hump Day.
The Skyhawks parachute team offered a media day, Tuesday, where they invited accredited media to participate in a tandem jump with a Skyhawk.
I wasn’t able to participate because I cancelled out in all three of the criteria. Participants had to be no older than 50, less than 200 pounds and not taller than six feet. I also missed out on the fourth criteria — I’m chicken.
When people think about country cross-over success to the pop charts, Kenny Rogers and Shania Twain instantly come to mind. Everybody forgets about Glen Campbell who, in the 1970s, landed five singles inside the Billboard top 5 on the pop charts including “Rhinestone Cowboy” and “Southern Nights,” both which hit No. 1. Glen Campbell died Tuesday. He was 81.
Is it just me? When I watch a competition reality show like “America’s Got Talent” or “The Voice,” I prefer to see the act in its entirety. I can’t stand the constant cutaway shots to the judges or audience members.
Speaking of competition shows, how lame has Mike Myers become (his only interesting work was “Wayne’s World” and that was because of Garth) with his Tommy Maitland act on the reboot of “The Gong Show?” The success of the original was because of the brilliance of Chuck Barris. You can’t fake bad.
The original “Gong Show” was unintentionally bad. That’s what made it so appealing.
It was a bad week for baseball with three legends dying all within a few days of one another — Don Baylor, Darren Daulton and Lee May. It was an even worse weekend if you are a New York Mets fan. In seven games this year against the Los Angeles Dodgers — by far the best team in Major League Baseball — the Mets lost all seven by a combined score of 57-15.
True story. Police in Kelowna report a bizarre break-and-enter attempt that occurred at a residence on Scharf Road. A 24-year-old woman, who was completely nude, attempted to kick in the door of a residence. (There were children home at the time.)
After a brief struggle with the home owner, another woman, the suspect fled and was later arrested without incident.
I’d suggest to the suspect that if she wants to kick down a door, it works better when you’re wearing shoes.
Sidney Crosby turned 30 and celebrated in Halifax by bringing the Stanley Cup with him for a third time. Love him!
The Liberal Party of Canada is holding its summer caucus meeting in an unusual place on Sept. 5-7 — Kelowna, which is traditionally Conservative country. Stephen Fuhr, Member of Parliament for Kelowna Lake Country, scored what many political analysts described as the biggest upset in the country when he knocked off Conservative incumbent Ron Cannan in 2015.
You may notice Erin Christie’s byline this week. The veteran journalist who previously worked in Osoyoos and Peachland is helping us out for a few days while we juggle vacation relief. Look for her feature on Dragon’s Den art store on Page B1 of today’s Herald.
A belated happy 60th birthday to my friend Don Younie who celebrated the milestone birthday on the weekend with family and 100 of his closest friends.
Are you strongly considering running for Penticton city council, mayor or as a school board trustee in the next municipal election scheduled for November 2018? I’d love to hear from you privately. I can be reached at 250-492-4002 during regular business hours or by email at: editor@pentictonherald.ca. Anonymity is guaranteed.
James Miller is managing editor of The Herald.