Cheers & Jeers
Jeers: to silence. As of this writing, there have been no arrests and precious little by way of updates in the death of 36-year-old Victoria Head, mother of one, in St. John’s on Nov. 11. Head’s body was found near Oxen Pond Road in St. John’s on a Saturday morning. More than a month with a killer on the loose, and there has been no news on the homicide for weeks. The Royal Newfoundland Constabulary is no doubt investigating diligently, but the silence is unnerving. More information, please.
Jeers: to being in limbo. Connie Parsons’ attempts to get city approval to create a larger parking space at her eponymous School of Dance on Portugal Cove Road have been frustrated at every turn since August. Now, some residents of nearby Kent Place in east-end St. John’s are lawyering up in their opposition to the expansion. Parsons bought the lot next door in order to create more parking for the well-established centre and deal with congestion on the street. Neighbours say added parking will mean more traffic and noise. Opposition to commercial activity in a quiet residential area is understandable, but we’re talking girls in tutus and tap shoes here, not a busy fast-food drive-thru or a motorcycle gang clubhouse. The matter will come before council again soon for another vote.
Cheers: to new words. Coming soon to a conversation near you: “youthquake.” Oxford Dictionaries in London, England has made youthquake word of the year for 2017. Meaning “a significant cultural, political, or social change arising from the actions or influence of young people,” The Associated Press reports the word was apparently coined half a century ago by Vogue editor Diana Vreeland and says its usage increased fivefold between 2016 and 2017. While the word is not oft-heard on these shores, Oxford Dictionaries president Casper Grathwohl says its strong presence in the U.K. makes it a “word on the move.”
Cheers: to cow capers. We’re thinking “Don’t Fence Me In” probably the favourite song of Stormy, a seven-year-old brown and white Hereford owned by a high school 4-H club in Philadelphia. Stormy had a role in a live nativity scene last week and kept stealing the show by opening a latched gate. Her first escape saw her strolling near an interstate on-ramp at 2 a.m. Thanks to a cowsavvy state police trooper she was escorted safely home. The next day she took off again and headed for a major thoroughfare during morning rush hour, then ended up on the fourth floor of a parking garage. Because of her unpredictability, Stormy had to give up her acting gig. She’s been replaced by her understudy, Ginger. What’s that old saying? To err is human, to wander free is bovine.