Samantha Stevens

Thanks for stopping by to read my blog….today….I’m handing it off to Paul from Hamilton.  In case you’ve missed it, we’ve spent a bit of time ‘hacking’ on The Hammer.  Springsteen is set to play a show at Copps Coliseum on March 3rd, 2008.  Our promo for the show, and the tickets we have, is based upon picking on Hamilton.  Some folks have taken exception to all of this.  Paul gets it and we’re glad.  Thanks for taking the time to send this in Paul.  It’s appreciated.  Let me preface this by telling you Paul’s grammar was correct before I cut and pasted his email…..so the missing indents, commas et al are my fault….I’m still working on figuring out this blog stuff……Sam

Hey Sam,

 Well, I live and grew up in Hamilton.  The problem here is that like usual, most Torontonians have NO CLUE or knowledge of anything outside of the GTA.  Call it self-centered, or oblivious to the rest of the world or whatever, but like every other city in Ontario (including Toronto), they have good areas and bad areas.  Most Torontonians judge Hamilton  from what they see while driving over the Skyway on the QEW going to the USA – and yes that is the heart of the industry area which is gross, dirty and the roughest part of the city.  The ones that actual venture into Hamilton for an event like the Springsteen concert only see the downtown core which is probably the second worst area of the city.  But what about on the mountain or Hessvillage, or Flamborough, or Dundas, or Westdale, or Ancaster…….(if you are reading this and don’t know where ALL these places are, you are proving my point).  Toronto has some really “scary” sections too – Jane/Finch, anywhere under the gardener, the east side industrial waste lands, portions of Etobicoke, portions of Scarborough.  In regards to the one-way streets comments, this just proves my point again; they change most of those years ago!   Did you know that if you go back on the history of Hamilton and Toronto, that Hamilton was the original point of settlement for people due to the habour off of Lake Ontario.  Hamilton was before Toronto.  Because of these first settlements, most industry was built close to where people lived – Hamilton.  As these settlements grew and prospered, good economics  help grow the population more and more which led to the development and growth of
Toronto.  So if it wasn’t for Hamilton, they very well may not have ever been a
Toronto.  So don’t judge a book by it’s cover.  Don’t leave shelter lives, get out and discover your province or country for that matter and it’s wonderful history.

 Lastly, please don’t get me wrong, I think the promo spot is classic and very funny.  Just like we make jokes about the Maple Laughs, the Blow Jays, The Purple Dinos, the squeegee kids, the street people, or all the shootings etc. – it is just in jest – laugh a little people and if you’re from Hamilton, for the sake of your sister Gina, try to get the joke!

 Cheers, I have to get back to my Lakeport now.

 Paul

Let’s say we use ’steeltown’ as a Jack Nation bonus code today, it’s worth 100 points…..thanks for stopping by……see ya on the radio….Sam