My grandfather Vincent died over a decade before I was born. There’s a legend that he jumped ship in Halifax in 1908, meant to explain how he ended up in Canada. While going through some old photographs this weekend, I found one of the few of him that I have. This one is undated, a group picture that looks like a British rugby team. Several rows of men in the same dark uniforms. The guy in the middle of the front row is holding a ball that has “RFA Petroleum” written on it. Previously, I hadn’t given that a second thought, assuming it was the name of a team. However, on a whim, I plugged the expression into Google this weekend and discovered that it is the name of a ship. RFA is Royal Fleet Auxiliary, and the RFA Petroleum was a supply ship that helped fuel navy vessels at sea. This fits in with the legend, which said that he was a merchant marine at the time of his arrival in Canada. It’s an interesting new lead into finding out more about the family history. (If anyone knows of any resources for finding out more about RFA vessels, itineraries and crews, please let me know.)
I’m looking forward to seeing the finale of Mad Men, which aired on AMC last night. I’ve never seen an episode “live.” The first season I watched over the course of a few days via OnDemand and this season I’ve been watching it weekly OnDemand anywhere from a day to a week after the episodes air. I am very curious to find out what’s going to happen with Don, who seems on the verge of chucking his life (again) and reinventing himself, though I can’t imagine the show going on without him. I liked finding out more about his past life in the previous episode, where we discover how he resolved things with the widow of the man whose identity he assumed after the war. And what will befall Sterling Cooper if they are acquired by the British company. I loved the little dig the partner made at Sterling about his “children.” I only have one, he says. “Really?” she responds, alluding to his new girlfriend.
Poor Ty and Aja. By the luck of the draw they ended up missing the main flights to Cambodia and were never able to catch up again, though the show’s editing made it seem like they were neck and neck with the frat boys. Glad to see that Starr’s injury wasn’t debilitating. I think Nick and Starr is the team I’d like to see win, for no good reason. The separated couple have had a few good weeks, but it looks like they’re going to be in the doghouse with each other next week. This season, the CBS website has an “Elimination Station” feature that shows what happens with the eliminated couples: they’re flown to Acapulco, where they spend the rest of the race in a gorgeous villa and get to go out on cool excursions. The hippies are in hoggie heaven to be there all that time.
The Unit is shaping up to have a good season this year, with the help of an ongoing thread of a terrorist conspiracy. Molly ended up like poor Dexter last season, being forced to go to a 12-step program to cover up for something she was caught doing.
I’m almost finished with The Connors Tone, the second of Stompin’ Tom Connors autobiographies. He sure has a thing about CanCon and his belief that Canadian artists who go the US to further their careers don’t deserve Juno awards. He also believes that Canadian radio stations didn’t play his music. He must have reason to believe this, but I grew up hearing his stuff on the radio all the time. Where else would I have heard it?
