What Ho! To and Fro with Reginald J. Titterbottom

Greetings and salutations from me, Reginald J. Titterbottom: gentleman, gadfly, and perpetual busybody. I am positively gleeful to return to the august pages of … what’s this called? … the …Fishwrapper … to convey to you the to-ings and fro-ings of Upper Canadians and their ilk. 

Miss Marilyn Casswell arrived via Via Rail 14 hours behind schedule to meet her newly betrothed, the eminent codger Mr. Addison DeWitt of Cardinal, for a weekend of “how-do-you-do” and estate updating. I’m pleased to report Miss Casswell found Mr. DeWitt alert and alive, which is more than I can say for some Via passengers.

Goodness gracious – a little birdie told me that somebody didn’t  leave money for eggs taken at a self-serve stand on County Road 8. For shame, egg pilferer! You know who you are! Is this slither into cozenage a harbinger of the social contract’s downfall? What next – shutting down the Strait of Hormuz?

Hold the phone – did a recent dustup at the monthly Wine and Whine Book Club in Spencerville really end with book club member Mrs. Esther Blodgett handcuffed and hauled away by OPP? Apparently Mrs. Blodgett took issue with the group’s selection of the 1939 novel The Grapes of Wrath because “it wasn’t about wine at all”, and for its general “wokeness”. According to trustworthy hearsay, Mrs. B sped off from the meeting in her 2026 Ford F-450 Platinum Plus, only to be intercepted by an OPP car on patrol. DUI? LOL! What’s next for Mrs. Esther Blodgett? Back On Track: Ontario's Remedial Measures Program for Impaired Drivers je pense. 

Hot take – a list of tribute acts pitched to and rejected by the Brockville Arts Centre was leaked to the press by an anonymous source. Mr. Jonathan Hanna, BAC administrative coordinator and perennially saddled fine fellow, can neither confirm nor deny said list. For the sake of the public good, here is some of the tribute entertainment spurned:

1. The Elvis Elvis Show: A Tribute to Napanee Elvis Impersonator Berry Chumbley with Smith Falls Elvis Impersonator Impersonator Myles O. Glasscock 

2. Favourite Gregorian Chants with the Sam’s Brass Rack Sunday Morning Choir of Brockville.

3. From Chachi to Chachkas: A One Man Show with Scott Baio impersonator and merchandise seller Todd Poal of Cornwall

4. Rodents Do Magic

5. Ten Theremins One Stage: Tribute to Clara Rockmore with the students from Sweet Corner’s Elementary School 

6. Vanilla Ice: Not So Nice with Athens rapper/drywall installer L’il Boy Boos.

7. Legendary Stardust Cowboy: He’s So Bad He’s Good, No He’s Just Bad starring former MPP Randy Hillier

8. Dr. Pimple Popper Live: An Afternoon of Facial Extractions and Audience Participation with GLOW College Student Ineeda Bath of Waterton

9. Four Impersonators No Stage: An O-Town Retrospective with TBA performers and TBA producers

10. The Pig & Whistle Reunion Tour: With John Hewer impersonator Captain Birdseye Jr. and Billy Meek III

Finally, as we crawl along to October 2026 and the greatest show on earth – Ontario’s municipal elections, I would be remiss if I did not bid a fond fare thee well to Brockville Mayor and aging boy scout Matt Wren. Mr. Wren has announced that he will not seek a second term coronation. Understood, Mr. Wren. Thank you for dedicating four long years to public service so that Brockvillains can continue to bitch and moan about everything and anything. His Worship will be forever remembered for using the term of endearment “wackadoodles” for his less than sane constituents. Sure beats “you pathetic mother@#$%!rs”, n’est pas?

That’s a silk wrap from yours truly.  Cheerio, Toodles, Auf Wiedersehen and  remember – don’t sit under the apple tree with anyone else than Reginald J. Titterbottom!

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Expos Yourself!

Terry Mosher a.k.a Aislin and Carolyn Bennett Writer/Comic outside Brockville's From Here to Infinity Gallery.

Cartoonist Aislin’s Sketchy Baseball Memoir 

From the September issue of The Fishwrapper

When the Washington Nationals won the World Series on October 30, 2019, some baseball fans knew that it was really the Montreal Expos that triumphed. After Daniel Hudson pitched the slider that struck out Houston Astros batter Michael Brantley, I leapt and whooped around my Toronto apartment like I was rioting on St. Catherine Street; I had to stop myself from flipping over my coffee table, the jubilation was so intense. It had been nearly 35 years since I’d last seen an Expos home game at the Big O, but growing up in MTL during the heady days of Nos Amours hardwired me to love anything remotely  ‘Spos. So when the Montreal Expos franchise moved to Washington in 2005, an inevitable yet still demoralizing goodbye, many MTL fans shifted their allegiance to the Nationals. The love for Canada’s first major league baseball team runs deep.

Terry Mosher a.k.a. Aislin knows all about that love. The legendary political satirist and cartoonist for the Montreal Gazette will be signing copies of his latest book Montreal Expos: A Cartoonist Love Affair on Sunday, September 15 beginning at 1pm at the From Here to Infinity Gallery and Bookstore in Brockville. Many former Montrealers have made Brockville their home, including notables such as the late great Don McGowan and longtime Recorder and Times journalist and author Ron Zajac, so Bville was a natural stop on Aislin’s book tour. 

This past June, Mosher was awarded the prestigious Michener-Baxter Award for exceptional service to Canadian public service journalism. An OC (not obsessive compulsive, but Officer of the Order of Canada), Mosher has had his cartoons published in Punch, The Atlantic Monthly, Harper’s, National Lampoon and the New York Times. 

Not bad for a kid who grew up in downtown Montreal, where he developed his caricature talents under the encouraging eye of renowned painter and family friend John Little. Mosher would watch Little work in his studio and listen to his stories about sports and baseball, of seeing players like the Montreal Royals’ Jackie Robinson, who would go on to make history by being the first African American to play in major league baseball. That early influence helped shape Mosher's career trajectory, and his book is dedicated to Little.

Mosher’s “memoir of a baseball team” is chock-a-block with photos, cartoons and stories about the rise and fall of the celebrated crew. Mosher’s story runs parallel to the Expos chronology and the book is sprinkled with anecdotes from his own life. He recounts the substance abuse in the 1980s that not only had to be reckoned with within the Expos organization and MLB, but that he had to face personally. He checked himself into rehab in 1985, and along with Expos notables Tim Raines and Ellis Valentine, continues to be open about his recovery and sobriety. As sports journalist Michael Farber wrote, “in the 1980s the Montreal Expos became Colombia’s favourite team”. 

From Jarry Park and Rusty “Le Grand Orange” Staub, through to the Big O and Warren Cromartie, Steve Rogers, Andre Dawson, Bill “Spaceman” Lee, Vlad Guerroro, Gary Carter and all the other names that will make Expos fans salivate, the book is an easy read, a picture book for grownups. It highlights the baseball coaches, sportscasters, politicians and other cast of characters (Youppi), that electrified, enraged and entertained a great city. With a foreword from original Montreal Expos owner Charles Brofman and coming in at 336 ages, Aislin’s Montreal Expos: A Cartoonist’s Love Affair is a must-read for baseball fans, anyone nostalgic for Montreal’s bygone days, and for those who appreciate the art of cartooning. Mosher has given us a gift by sharing his reminiscences of this giddy time.

Don’t miss this chance to meet Terry “Aslin” Mosher on Sunday September 15 from 1pm at From Here to Infinity Gallery, 213 King Street West, Brockville. Proceeds of book sales are going to the Montreal Children's Hospital through the Expos Fest organization. IT HAPPENED AND IT WAS GREAT!!

Valderi Valdera!

Listening to:

Annakin Slayd - Remember (Expos 50th Anniversary Version) - YouTube