In this issue...
• Canadian coins featuring King Charles III are finally on their way
• Carolina Reaper dethroned as world's hottest pepper. Ladies and gentlemen, meet Pepper X!
• By the numbers X 10 + 1
• Ontario Provincial Police's X (Twitter) account attacks Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and then swiftly apologizes. Oops!
• Man receives world's first eye transplant and a new face after horrible accident
• Only five weeks until Ho Ho Ho Day!
• Next Greater Moncton Sunrise Rotary Trivia Night: Monday, November 27
• A great Christmas gift! Acadian mugs with family names - dozens of options!
• Terrible vintage ads from yesteryear
• Before you go: 7 things you may have missed last week!
... and trivia, quotes, community events and more!
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Canadian coins featuring King Charles III are finally on their way
More than a year after the death of Queen Elizabeth II, the Royal Canadian Mint is releasing new coins with the image of her successor, King Charles III. for the first time in 70 years, Canadians will be seeing someone else other than the late Queen on our currency.
Article excerpt: "The Royal Canadian Mint unveiled the first coins bearing the face of King Charles III on Tuesday at its Winnipeg manufacturing facility.
Marie Lemay, the president and CEO of the Mint, introduced the effigy that will soon adorn one side of Canadian coins and which will also be pressed onto a loonie for the first time.
'This is a big day for us at the Mint,' said Lemay during the unveiling. 'Today, a new chapter in Canadian history begins.'
Lemay said it normally takes between a year to 18 months to circulate a new design on coins. However, the Winnipeg team worked tirelessly to meet the 'ambitious timeline.'
To uphold long-standing traditions, the King’s profile faces left, opposite to the direction his late mother, Queen Elizabeth II, faced. This change of direction is to differentiate one monarch’s reign to the next.
The description surrounding the King’s effigy is also different, changing from 'Regina,' meaning 'Queen' in Latin, to 'Rex,' meaning “King.'"
It's a bittersweet transition, but life goes on.
Read: The Royal Canadian Mint unveils the first coins bearing the face of King Charles III.
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Carolina Reaper dethroned as world's hottest pepper. Ladies and gentlemen, meet Pepper X!
I can handle food that is "a bit" spicy - but I'm very Canadian about it. Compared to people who grew up in other cultures with spicy food, I'm a big wimp when it comes to these things. In my circle, most people seem to think that white bread is too spicy. (Only half joking.)
With that said, let's just say that the newly minted hottest pepper in the world likely won't be showing up in my shopping cart at the grocery store anytime soon.
Article excerpt: "The Guinness World Records has crowned Pepper X as the hottest chili pepper in the world, dethroning the Carolina Reaper chili pepper after 10 years.
For comparison, a habanero pepper typically hits 100,000 Scoville heat units, but Pepper X registers at 2.69 million units.
Breeder and grower Ed Currie created both record-breaking peppers.
As a proprietary pepper, Pepper X pods and seeds will not be sold.
Mr. Currie cultivated Pepper X for a decade on his South Carolina farm, but remained tight lipped about his project to protect his intellectual property.
'This was a team effort,' Mr. Currie said in a statement. 'We knew we had something special, so I only let a few of my closest family and friends know what was really going on.'
In lab tests at Winthrop University in South Carolina, Pepper X registered an average of 2,693,000 Scoville Heat Units (SHU), which is more than one million units hotter than Mr. Currie's previous innovation, the Carolina Reaper which averaged 1,641,183 SHU."
If you check the second article linked below, if even someone who would be quite accustomed to very spicy food took six hours to recover from it, you know it's beyond anything that virtually anyone on the planet has experienced.
Which leads me to my next question: "Why bother inventing something that practically no one wants to - or can - eat?" When it comes to spicy food, however, there are always people willing to step up and try it. I'll leave that to the experts.
Read: Guinness World Records crowns new hottest pepper. Related: How hot is 'Pepper X'? Its creator spent six hours recovering from eating it.
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Ontario Provincial Police's X (Twitter) account attacks Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and then swiftly apologizes. Oops!
Politics aside, this is a nightmare scenario for people like me who manage social media accounts for corporations and public figures, including politicians. Obviously, people who manage these types of accounts would never purposely post something that would be unbecoming of these accounts' standards of conduct. But... what you'd post on your own social media accounts vs. what you'd post on your client's or employer's account are two different things. And if you forget to switch accounts when you're using social media, this is the exact thing that can happen.
Article excerpt: "The OPP vows to do a better job of policing its social media accounts.
Earlier this week, some of the almost 60,000 followers of the OPP Central Region X account (formerly Twitter) noticed some unusual traffic on the social media account for the provincial police agency.
On Monday, the account reposted a tweet from Brad Redekopp, MP for Saskatchewan West, which showed a photo of a Liberal MP making a gesture he said was akin to giving Canadians the finger over the carbon tax.
The OPP social media account also reposted a Canada Proud Tweet that included the same photo with the caption: 'The Trudeau Liberals are letting you know what they think of you wanting affordable heating this winter.'
Canada Proud, on its social media account, says of itself: 'Justin Trudeau is a threat to Canadian democracy and prosperity. He must resign. Sign our petition.'
The OPP Central account also reposted a tweet from Glenda Mcfarlane whose X bio, which features a photo of Conservative leader ‘Pierre Poilievre for PM,’ says: 'Zero tolerance for Liberals who still support Trudeau.'
The OPP account reposted her post that said: 'The million dollar question is what did Trudeau promise Blanchet in return for the Blocs votes.'
Bill Dickson, the OPP’s manager of media relations, says he and the force 'regret' the incidents.
'The OPP sincerely regrets the shares that were made on the OPP Central Region X account,' Dickson told OrilliaMatters.
'The OPP is non-partisan and has a responsibility to remain impartial. The ideas shared do not reflect the opinions of the organization,' he added."
Full disclosure: I've made this type of mistake, but it was certainly not at this level. It was quite benign, really. But if you manage others' social media accounts, the question is not "if" this will happen, it's "when" - and when it happens (which it will!), you'd best hope that you notice immediately before someone else screenshots it and the you-know-what hits the fan!
Read: OPP "sincerely regrets" anti-Trudeau posts on its social media.
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Man receives world's first eye transplant and a new face after horrible accident
This story has received a lot of coverage this week. The fact that the first eye transplant connected to a face transplant is being attempted is just incredible.
Article excerpt: "Surgeons have performed the world’s first transplant of an entire human eye, an extraordinary addition to a face transplant - although it’s far too soon to know if the man will ever see through his new left eye.
An accident with high-voltage power lines had destroyed most of Aaron James’ face and one eye. His right eye still works. But surgeons at NYU Langone Health hoped replacing the missing one would yield better cosmetic results for his new face, by supporting the transplanted eye socket and lid.
'You got to start somewhere, there’s got to be a first person somewhere,' added James, 46, of Hot Springs, Arkansas. 'Maybe you’ll learn something from it that will help the next person.'
Today, transplants of the cornea - the clear tissue in front of the eye - are common to treat certain types of vision loss. But transplanting the whole eye - the eyeball, its blood supply and the critical optic nerve that must connect it to the brain - is considered a moonshot in the quest to cure blindness."
I'm sure everyone wishes Mr. James all the luck in the world. If this works (eventually), lives will be changed dramatically.
Read: Man receives the first eye transplant plus a new face. It's a step toward one day restoring sight.
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Next Greater Moncton Sunrise Rotary Trivia Night: Monday, November 27
The next Greater Moncton Sunrise Rotary Club Trivia Night will be held at St. Louis Bar & Grill, 1405 Mountain Road, in Moncton on Monday, November 27, beginning at 6:30 p.m. $10 per person (cash only). Click here for the Facebook event listing.
Participants may play as teams or individuals. The winning team gets 50% of the door receipts as their prize.
It is strongly suggested that participants arrive by 5:15-5:30 p.m. for a seat. Trivia begins at 6:30-6:45 p.m. Everyone welcome!
Please note that restaurant reservations are NOT available for this event. First come, first served. Limited seating of approximately 50 guests.
Participants may bring an optional non-perishable food item (box of granola bars, Kraft Dinner, cereal, etc.) for distribution at Krista Richard's Community Sports Program events, of which the Greater Moncton Sunrise Rotary Club is a sponsor. Any donations will be gratefully received and provided to Krista for distribution to her program participants (school-aged children from Moncton-area schools).
Since Rotary Trivia Nights began in 2016, the Greater Moncton Sunrise Rotary Club has donated nearly $20,000 to Hospice SENB, Atlantic Wellness, Karing Kitchen, Ray of Hope Kitchen, Salvus Clinic, The Humanity Project, BGC Moncton (Moncton Boys & Girls Club), Junior Achievement New Brunswick, Project Linus - Moncton Chapter, and Krista Richard's Community Sports Program, among others. During the last Rotary Trivia Nights season (September 2022 to May 2023), more than $6,000 was raised.
The Greater Moncton Sunrise Rotary Club gratefully acknowledges the kind and generous sponsorship of its restaurant partner, St. Louis Bar & Grill.
See you on November 27! Click here for a larger version of the event poster shown above.
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A great Christmas gift! Acadian mugs with family names - dozens of options!
New from Acadistuff: Acadian flag mugs with family names. Dozens of options available! Shipping is included in all prices. Tax extra.
• 11-oz. mug: Click here
• 15-oz. mug: Click here
Don't see your family name there? Contact me via email to have it added.
These mugs have been shipped all over North America!
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Terrible vintage ads from yesteryear
Every time I see one of these horribly sexist ads, I just shake my head and wonder how in the world these things could have been considered acceptable - even during different times. They're just so blatant! To say times have changed is an understatement. In this ad for Brown Cooking Appliances (which is still in business today), an easy-to-clean oven is being marketed as being a "wifesaver" - a play on words for "lifesaver". Click here for a larger version of the ad. Needless to say, the ad didn't age well.
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Trivia: Did you know?
On February 28, 1976, the theme from the television series S.W.A.T. performed by Rhythm Heritage became the first TV theme song to hit #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart.
Click here to listen to the song on YouTube.
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Quotes of note
• 1. "I stopped believing in Santa Claus when I was six. Mother took me to see him in a department store and he asked for my autograph.”
- Shirley Temple Black (1928-2014), child actress and diplomat (see photo)
• 2. "November is usually such a disagreeable month as if the year had suddenly found out that she was growing old and could do nothing but weep and fret over it."
- Lucy Maud Montgomery
• 3. "One kind word can warm three winter months."
- Japanese proverb
• 4. "I'm on the path to being someone I'm equally terrified by and obsessed with. My true self."
- Troye Sivan
• 5. "Better a diamond with a flaw than a pebble without."
- Chinese proverb
• 6. "If you have wonderful moments, don’t second guess them. Just enjoy them."
- Martin Short
• 7. "Another fall, another turned page..."
- Wallace Stegner
• 8. "Never jump in a pile of leaves with a wet sucker."
- Linus in It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!
• 9. "That's the true spirit of Christmas; people being helped by people other than me."
- Jerry Seinfeld
• 10. "Adults can take a simple holiday for children and screw it up. What began as a presentation of simple gifts to delight and surprise children around the Christmas tree has culminated in a woman unwrapping six shrimp forks from her dog, who drew her name."
- Erma Bombeck
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Greater Moncton Walking Group
In November, the group is walking at Irishtown Nature Park, meeting in the parking lot on Elmwood Drive.
In December, the group will be walking on the Humphrey's Brook Trail. Parking is along the bottom of Martin Street near Mill Road in the Lewisville area of Moncton.
The group meets for walks every Tuesday and Thursday at 8:30 a.m. New participants are always welcome! For more information, please contact Wayne Harrigan at 506-386-2187 or via email.
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About this newsletter
Brian Cormier's Weekly Update is distributed weekly from September to June via email to more than 500 subscribers in addition to many others who access it online. If you're reading this newsletter online and want to subscribe, please email me, fill out the subscription form on my website, or subscribe via the "Join Our Email List" button at the top of the newsletter (if you're viewing this in a browser.) This newsletter is not published in July and August and on holidays.
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