Book Review: Revenge of the Vinyl Cafe ~ by Stuart McLean

I had a dream the other night. In that dream I went in to the local video store to look for some comedy tapes. I know they were on the back wall. When I got to the back wall - it was just a wall. No shelves, definitely no comedy!

It’s been several months since I’ve done a book review, so it’s way past time that I did. Revenge of the Vinyl Cafe was the first book for this year’s book club. The Vinyl Cafe fills that blank back wall. 

The Revenge of the Vinyl Cafe is a compilation of eighteen short stories written and told by Stuart McLean. Dave was raised in Big Narrows and is the lead character in a vast array of Vinyl Cafe stories. Stories when Dave was young in Big Narrows, stories when Dave was married and a dad in Toronto, where he runs a store known as the Vinyl Cafe. Stories of Dave and Morley, Kenny Wong of Wong’s Scottish Meat Pies, Sam and Stephanie - Dave and Morley’s children - and Arthur their dog. These are only some of the characters that people Stuart McLean’s stories. I listened to Stuart McLean tell each of these stories on the Saturday morning CBC radio episodes of the Vinyl Cafe. To read them for myself was to hear his voice, his gentle modulation of tones, with just the right touch of humour throughout. I find I don’t need a visit to a video store to find comedy. Stuart, through his characters and with so much humour shares beautiful perspectives of family life in an ordinary neighbourhood. Stuart McLean, Canada’s most well known story teller and beloved by many CBC listeners, died at the young age of 68, February 15, 2017. Thank you, Stuart McLean. You are missed greatly.

“It is not said enough, so I’ll say it again: the world 

is a good place, full of good people, and when we 

act out of that, when we act out of hope, 

and optimism, and faith in our fellow humans, 

we act out of our best selves, and we are capable of 

doing great things, and of contributing to the greater good.”

~ Stuart McLean, humourist and storyteller

Title:  The Revenge of the Vinyl Cafe

Author:  Stuart McLean

Publisher:  The Penguin Group Canada

Publication Date: First Published in 2012

Format:  Hard Cover

ISBN: 978-0-670-06474-8

Type:  Fiction

Ode to My RGH Classmates

Starting as the small ember

built on dolls and plastic stethoscopes

nursing kittens and puppies

although quite healthy but

ready for cuddles

growing stronger each year

nursing school and new friends

learned giving injections in oranges

wrapping tensor bandages

taking out stitches

first bed baths on strangers

cleaning messes that were just gross

relieving shame and discomfort of the sick

our perspectives of what is really gross changed

earning white stockings from black stockings

graduating from a white cap with no band

to a blue velvet band and finally

the black signature band of an RN

the fire in our bellies grown strong

while we worked through shifting hours, days and years.

we are the smoke from that fire in our bellies.

“Each of us is born with a box of matches inside us 

but we can’t strike them all by ourselves.”

~ Laura Esquivel, Like Water for Chocolate

Still Singing

“We are the General girls. We wear our hair in curls………”. These are the opening words to our school song at the Regina General Hospital School of nursing. This Alumnae brunch was the 44th gathering of students and instructors of a nursing school that is no longer operating. Nurses take their training in different venues today and have for many years. Still it is always a joy for me to come home to this vibrant group of women. We were 206 strong today. Our class, the class of 1968, occupied two tables of eight today, an increase from the past couple of years. The oldest class here were women from the class of 1949. All of the classes have lost many colleagues over the years and they are still missed. To still be part of this strong group of women is a privilege. Whether high points or low points, these ‘General girls’ are always with me. And I’m not the only one still working, although the majority are retired. One of our group remarried this past June! We support each other with our various perspectives gleaned through our journeys. Dedicated, serious but always a fun bunch, this weekend each year is one that I cherish.

Classes celebrating five year reunions were:

Class of 1952 - 65 years

Class of 1957 - 60 years

Class of 1962 - 55 years

Class of 1967 - 50 years (known as the Golden Girls)

My class, the class of 1968, will celebrate our Golden anniversary of 50 years next year.

“Panic plays no part in the training of a nurse.”
~ Elizabeth Kenny