Reflecting on the Week That Was
Something didn’t sit right in my news-junkie tummy last week when a Canadian-American family was freed from Taliban custody after five years. …
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Celebrities
Review – Where I Belong by Alan Doyle
Looking for something compelling to read over the Thanksgiving weekend? I’m a couple of years late getting to Where I Belong by Alan Doyle, lead singer of east coast band, Great Big Sea, but better late than never. It’s so good, so warmly and well-written with self-deprecation and laugh-out-loud moments, that I can’t wait to get into his new one out later this month, A Newfoundlander in Canada: Always Going Somewhere, Always Coming Home. …
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Throwback Thursday – The Times I Miss
Last week, nearly nine years after I left 680 News, someone contacted me to tell me that they still missed hearing me on the air with Paul Cook. If I’m honest, I still miss hearing me on the air with Paul Cook! Â …
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“Someone has opened a window into hell” ~ Jimmy Kimmel
I almost quit my job yesterday. I don’t mean that I wrote a page-long resignation letter and prepared to hand it in to HR or my supervisor, offering two weeks’ notice. I almost walked out of work while I was preparing my part of our show. …
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“Someone has opened a window into hell” ~ Jimmy Kimmel Read More »
Mission Accomplished
Our friend Al has just completed his first Invictus Games. He only started his sport, archery, in April and he gave some highly accomplished opponents a run for their money in Toronto last week. He also got to shake the hand of Prince Harry, co-founder of the competition for wounded and ailing veterans from around the world. …
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Throwback Thursday: Do I Make You Corny?
You have to be of a certain age to remember Hee Haw. It’s not a reference you can throw into casual conversation when there’s a variety of ages present. The collection of country performers and sketches about hicks aired from 1969-1992. In his autobiography, Buck Owens called it a “cartoon donkey” and admitted to humiliating himself for several weeks a year on the show, strictly for the paycheque. Corny isn’t a strong enough word to describe Hee Haw but it was much-loved anyway. …
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Throwback Thursday – The Beautiful Simplicity of the Gentle Giant
My first two full-time on-air radio jobs found me in country music radio, first in Red Deer, Alberta and then in Prince George, BC. I had some earlier experience with what was then called country & western, through my Mom and Dad and my cousin Wayne’s country band. But my exposure was limited and carefully curated. I grew to love Waylon Jennings and appreciate Conway Twitty. But some of the nasally, twangy stuff made me climb the walls. John Anderson’s Swingin’, anyone? …
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Throwback Thursday – The Beautiful Simplicity of the Gentle Giant Read More »
Repost – Throwback Thursday – Skip Calls it a Day
I posted this tribute to Skip Prokop in June of 2016 as he stepped down from performing. Skip died this past week and I noticed some new comments on this post, so I thought I would share it with you again. Skip was a genuinely nice man whose talent was under-appreciated, I think. He will be missed.
The name Skip Prokop has been part of my consciousness since I started choosing my own music to listen to. The founder of Lighthouse and Canadian rock icon has come in and out of my life over the years, although I doubt he’d recall my name if I saw him this week. In other words, his brief cameos in my life have been much more memorable than mine in his. Skip recently announced his retirement from performing. His son, Jamie, has been behind the drum kit for Lighthouse since 2014, but now it’s official. Jamie is also working on his Dad’s biography. Skip suffers from a long list of health problems including diabetes, heart issues – including surgery and having to be revived twice following major heart attacks – recovery from alcohol abuse and other fallout from a hard rock life.
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Repost – Throwback Thursday – Skip Calls it a Day Read More »
Twenty Years On
The first time in my lifetime that I remember the world feeling united was after the death of Princess Diana and Dodi Fayed in 1997. I was working at CHML in Hamilton but put 680 News on through the house, because they were live with continuous coverage. After the paparazzi chased their hired car into a Paris tunnel and it crashed, everyone wondered – would she live? Minute by minute it seemed less likely, although she was alive after the collision. Prince Harry recently said one of the hardest parts of what happened for him and his brother was knowing that their mother was still alive in the back seat of the car and yet photographers did nothing but continue to take photos of her. …
Carreying on with Art
Art, at its essence, can be difficult to describe. What moves one person might leave another feeling meh. And trying to explain what it feels like to create art is a challenge. I’ve likened it to feeling like I’m flying. But I’m not a prolific artist. It turns out that Jim Carrey is. …
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A Tale of Two Superstars
I hope your long weekend was wonderful. And if you worked, I hope people were kind to you. As I’ve mentioned before, losing track of the time is my ultimate indulgence. So, when social media pal (and world’s biggest tiny Donny Osmond fan) Carolyn retweeted Donny’s link to his and his wife Debbie’s new home furnishings collection, Donny Osmond Home, my inner child dove in to look at each and every piece. …
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Wearing Thin
Many people think sexism is a thing of the past. More women than ever are doing whatever they want -working or raising kids or a mixture of both – so they reason that it must mean they’re treated equally. Oh I wish it were true! Many individuals and companies aren’t sexist but some industries are still overwhelmingly that way, including my own: Media. …