Facebook Pretenders

These days Facebook is an important social medium. I use it a lot. Kate says I use it too much.

For reasons which escape me I've had a number of occassions where someone pretends to be me -- they copy pictures from my profile, set up an account under my name, populate it with minimal data and then ask my friends to become their friends. They have not "hacked" me, they're just "pretending" to be me.

Many mistake the friend request as coming from me, after all the profile picture looks like me, and they accept the request without thinking further. Others, having been bitten by this before, don't accept the friend request and instead either ignore it or better, send me a message asking "have you been hacked?".  There's more you can do to help me and protect others.

What I do when notified that someone is pretending to be me is to start by looking up their profile on Facebook. To do that:

1. From the Facebook search bar I enter "Reg Quinton". You'll get a list of people, posts, mentions and much more.
2. Of all the results back I select for "People" rather than posts, videos, etc.
3. If there is one or more of me I check each one. Any recent additions to Facebook using my picture are people pretending to be me.
4. Click on the person pretending to be me (by clicking the name or photo) to see their profile.
5. Verify that profile is recent, the history is abbreviated and it doesn't include my postings over the years.
6. On their profile banner to the left side you'll find "Add Friend", "Message" and a "..." pull down menu.
7. From the "..." pull down menu select "Report Profile" and go through the effort to report them as pretending to be someone you know. Namely me!

Facebook will quickly act on a report, especially if they get several reports. A report from me, and reports from you who the pretender is scamming.

What you can do when you receive a friend request from someone pretending to be me is to click on their image or name in the friend request to get to their profile and follow steps 5-7. You should also send me a message letting me know that you've done so. If you're already a friend of mine you will not receive a second friend request from me.

Should you get a friend request from anyone you really ought to investigate a bit before accepting the request. There are a lot of scammers out there. Click on their image or name, investigate their profile and make an informed decision. I will sometimes e-mail or phone people to confirm that it really was them who made the request. You should do the same at least some of the time.

If you accept a friend request you are exposing profile information that is restricted to friends only, you're exposing postings that were private to your friends and, this is important, you are exposing your list of friends!

I have recently editted my security settings to make sure my friends list is not exposed to the public. You ought to do the same. See this Profile Tip from Facebook on how to keep your "Friends" list private.

My Dad

Click image for more photos ...

The following article was prepared by Paula Niall for a Grey County Historical Society newsletter back in November of 2012. I'm not sure when it was published or what came of her work.

I'm copying it here for friends and family on the occasion of dad's birthday -- he was born April 19, 2014.

MAURICE WATSON QUINTON

1914-2012

Maurice Quinton is remembered by Norman Seabrook as a very strong, active man with a good memory, who contributed a great deal to his community of Walter’s Falls.

“He loved to talk about the history and he had a sharp memory, in fact, much of what I learned about the local history I learned from him,” Norman told me over the phone. He was his neighbor and worked along side him for many years. “He sold me my first and only driving mare when I was 18 years old.”

Maurice was the great-grandson of John Walter (1804-1867) and Elizabeth Payne (1804-1883). John was the early miller, who emigrated from Somerset, England with his wife, claiming almost 800 acres of land from the Crown and founding Walter Falls in 1852.  

Maurice’s fraternal grandmother was Elizabeth, the second daughter of John and Elizabeth Walter. Elizabeth married Thomas Quinton March 30, 1858. Their son, Richard, Maurice’s father, was born June 21, 1861.

His father, Richard Quinton married Alberta Carney. Alberta was the daughter of Sidney Carney and Sarah (Watson) Carney, making, making them Maurice’s maternal grandparents.

Sidney was the brother of Richard Carney (1802-1885), who was the first Sheriff of Algoma, the First Warden of Grey County, the First Mayor of Owen Sound, later became the first owner of the Owen Sound newspaper, The Times, “Quite a distinguished connection,” Norman pointed out.

“Richard had a brother, Charles Carney, owned a store in Walter’s Falls, a tannery in Meaford, and a good number of mills in the area. The Carneys were a great pioneer family,” said Norman, whose own pioneer family, walked up to Grey County in 1853 with their three-month-old baby. 

Maurice was born on the family farm in the former Euphrasia Township just outside Walter’s Falls on April 19, 1914.  This was at the beginning of World War I.  He and the rest of the family survived the swine flu epidemic of 1918.  His mother died in 1933 when he was only 19 years old.

Maurice was the youngest of six children; four girls and two boys. “His elder sister, Hilda Puddicombe of New Hamburg was born in 1910.  Now 102 years of age, she is still quite spry,” according to Maurice’s son, Reg Quinton. 

A Carney descendant, retired RCAF Colonel, Donald Carney, has written, The History of the Carney Family.  “Don lives in North Bay,” Norman explained during our telephone conversation, “and he gave me a signed copy of his book as I helped him gather some of his facts.” 

Until the late 1940s, it was the responsibility of the land owners to keep roads reasonable in the winter.  Maurice and his neighbors did so with a team of horses.  Later in his trucking career, he plowed roads for the township using modern equipment.

Maurice started out farming, but moved to trucking gravel in 1949, and then went into transporting in 1950 owning and operating Maurice Quinton & Sons Transportation, Ltd. 

His son Anthony was his partner. “He loved driving,” said Norman, “he was always driving.”

His son Reg confirmed his father’s love of driving.  He wrote that his father drove the ‘big rigs’ throughout Ontario for local businesses, (Hallman Lumber and Walter’s Falls Milling), local farmers (grains, apples and fertilizers), culverts and steel from Stelco in Hamilton and, more often than not, road salts (Allied Chemical in Windsor and Sifto in Goderich) for road maintenance and construction.  He drove these rigs until he retired to Owen Sound in his 80s. 

“In his final year, with his mind failing, he often talked about tending to his horses, his car parked out back of the Retirement Home, or a truck trip he had made that morning.  Trucking defined his life.  When he was no longer able to drive at the age of 96, it was a tragedy for him that he was never able to accept,” Reg wrote from St. Mary’s Ontario.

Maurice married Margaret Dixon on June 11, 1938 at St. Philip’s Anglican Church in Walter’s Falls.  Margaret was born and raised in Walter’s ‘Falls. Her parents were Russell and Nellie (MacKay) Dixon. Russ Dixon operated a garage in Walter’s Falls.  He also did custom threshing with his steam engine and late in life managed the Grey Lodge in Markdale.

Maurice and Margaret Quinton had seven children; one girl and six boys. They were: Ellen, Larry, Anthony, David, Reginald, Dale and Paul.  He was a grandfather of 10 grandchildren and 16 great-grandchildren. “Today, his descendants are spread all over Canada,” Norman said.

“Maurice and Margaret were very active in the community and in St. Philip’s Church, where he served as warden, secretary-treasurer for forty years and contributed in many other roles over the years. “He loved to laugh, Reg commented. The humor in a song made famous by George Formby, When I’m Cleaning Windows, would always get him chuckling.  Often, he was called upon to act as master of ceremonies at weddings and other events, where he would tell jokes, recite poems and give Irish blessings.    

On September 24, 2012, at the age of 98, Maurice was laid to rest beside his wife, Margaret, in the cemetery of the Church he loved so well. The charming stone church sits atop a knoll at the north end of Walter’s Falls, so reminiscent of an English Parish Church from whence his ancestors came.

Paula Niall

                       

Ripe Limes

Ripe Limes

When we were in Austin this winter we got a bag of ripe limes from our cousin Jamie and his wife Vicky when we visited their home with Judy. They have a lovely home on Lake Travis and a lime tree by the pool that over produces. They have so many they have to toss them.

In the picture at left these are limes from their tree that have ripened -- usually one wants to pick them when they're still green. They look like lemons, but they're limes. They're quite large, some the size of an orange. In any case from the dozen or so limes we squeezed out about a quart of fresh lime juice. And from that.....

The Perfect Margarita.

Take one fresh lime, cut it in half and squeeze the juice from each half. Measured juice (should be about 1.5oz) but whatever it is, that's your "measure". Slice one of the rinds (toss the other), add juice and rind slices to a shaker with plenty of ice (about 5-7 cubes), an equal measure of triple sec and a double measure of tequila. Shake vigorously and pour into a large glass. Sit back and enjoy.

Some like to salt the rim of their margarita glass. I don't, you might.

Variations and notes:

1. I like to use the lime rind, others prefer a slice on the side. 
2. Shaking the rind releases the aromatics. 
3. Don't strain the lime juice. The pulp that you have is tasty. 
4.  Prepared lime juice in a bottle is ok but fresh is always better. 
5.  When you develop a taste for margaritas you'll recognize the fresh plump limes. 
6.  You can substitute simple syrup for triple sec but then it's not a perfect margarita.
7.  Never, ever add soda water. Blasphemy! 
8. Any tequila will do, top shelf Tequila and Grand Marnier make a "Cadillac Margarita". 
9.  If you add a splash of orange juice then you have a "Morning Margarita". 
10.  If you add a splash of brine from your jar of olives then you have a "Mexican Martini". 
11.  If you substitute Mezcal for Tequila you have a "Mad Dog Margarita" 

P.s. National Margarita Day is February 22. But you can have them any time you like.

John Prine

Click image for more photos...

Yesterday, Tuesday, was for us and many of our generation truely the day the music died. The news is that John Prine has passed away from COVID-19 complications in Nashville. He was 73 years -- we are of a similar age so it hits hard.

We only got to see him a few times over the many years in spite of being die hard fans. Mariposa '91 at Ontario Place in Toronto was a notable time. The picture at left is a signed copy of his CD "Diamonds in the Rough" that we bought at the festival  -- click on the image to see some scanned photos of John from that event. There's a story there.

We had picked up a couple of his early CD's that had recently been re-released at a "merch tent".  We were replacing much loved LP's  (this was a transitional time between analogue and digital media). We bumped into John having lunch (or perhaps his late breakfast) at a sunny outdoor patio and had caught his concert in the Forum the night before. I approached him to ask if he would sign the CD's and had a brief conversation. He was surprised to see these early albums on CD and told me he didn't have them. Really? How can that be? He went on to tell me that his first records were still the property of the record companies and he hadn't, as yet, been able to buy back his rights to them. I offered to give him the CD's and he said something to the effect of "Oh no, don't be foolish". He happily signed them and I returned to our friends.

When I told Kate and our friends this story we all agreed that John ought to have his own CD's and decided that we'd buy another one, sign it our selves as loyal fans and give it to him later in the day when we were to see him at a workshop with Jimmie Dale Gilmore. We did -- I went back stage and gave him the CD we had signed. John, and Jimmie too, had a bit of a laugh about it. We really hope he appreciated this token of our affection for him and his music. It can't be often that your fans give you their autographs.

Here's another funny story from the same event. At the Friday night concert in the Forum there was a drunk in the audience who kept yelling out, "Play Sam Stone, play Sam Stone!". After a bit, in response, John replied "We play no song before it's time." He had a set list and he was working his way through it. Sure enough, "Sam Stone" was on the set list and John did sing it after a bit. However, a few tunes after that the same drunk yells out, "Play Sam Stone, play Sam Stone!". John rolled his eyes and everyone had a good chuckle. The joys of playing live music to an appreciative audience.

We hope John is in Paradise, chewing some fat with Jesus, maybe hammerin' some planks with his grandpa, meeting up with that Angel from Montgomery, Pamela from the 4-way stop delimma, Donald & Lydia, and all those other rich characters we know so well.

Finally, at Christmas we always first play our "Christmas in Prison" mix-tape collection. This year we got a pair of "Sitting on a Rainbow" T-shirts from the Oh-Boy record store to celebrate our 40th anniversary. Because, after all, "we're the big door prize". We'll miss you John.

The Enemas

Click image for more photos ...

The Enemas were a Guelph college/punk band who we saw a few times at the Cedar Lounge in London Ontario. I really liked them — they were outrageous. The group was Greg Jarvie (drums), Oliver Kellhammer (vocals), Derek Graham (guitar), Blaine White (guitar) and Brian Lambert (bass).

 Brian Lambert, who played bass in the band and later in a group "Nach dem Tode", was from London and we became acquainted in later years. Recently Brian posted a YouTube video of the band performing "Joe Wyatt" using and crediting some of my photos from that time. Many thanks.

I have a CD I digitized from a C90 Brian had given me. It includes this tune and more. I've shared it with a few friends over the years.

If you're interested in more pictures of the band click on the image at left. These are all the pictures I have from that era — they have not been edited down to a "best of" collection.

See also my blog of 2012 on the London Graphic Underground — there was a gallery showing, a book released (Brian Lambert & Mike Niederman) with some of my photos and a reunion concert where the Enemas and several other bands played Call the Office in London.

It's nice to see history preserved.

P.s. Brian has also posted a version of the Enemas "Gang War" on YouTube. Another great tune.