Hope everyone had a fabulous Christmas! I’m still staring at my new ipod, which is staring back at me from its original packaging. I love the fact that I got an ipod for Christmas, but I’m not too keen on the instruction booklet that comes with it, which by the way is much bigger than the ipod. This thing has the potential to play back 7,500 songs. To put 7500 songs on my ipod, I’ll have some serious decisions to make. What about song number 7501? The Ozark Mountain Daredevils are just not good enough to be on my ipod? And what about songs that I really really love, like ‘Born to Run’. With the capacity to hold 7500 songs, seems a shame to have ‘Born to Run’ on there just once. I think I’ll make it every eighth song.
I was hoping that no chocolate would make it into the house over the holidays, because I can’t sleep when I know we have chocolate. But Rob got one of those giant Toblerone chocolate bars in his ‘stocking’, and he did just as I asked, he hid it from me. As I write this, Rob is off to work, and I’m alone in the house with a hidden Toblerone chocolate bar. Well, me and the three dogs. But they don’t care about Toblerone because they all got Pup-eroni and Schnausages for Christmas. If I don’t look for the Toblerone, the thought of it consumes me. If I look for and find the Toblerone, I will consume it. Great. What a dilemma. And I have so many other things I have to do today.
I am s-o-o excited about Bob Fm’s big announcement, that we are now the world’s only PET FRIENDLY radio station!!! This means great things for pets, pet owners and pet lovers in the Ottawa area! You’ll see our BOB FM ‘Pet Mobile’ on the roads very soon, dishing out doggie treats and fresh water and other goodies. We have also aligned ourselves with the Ottawa Humane Society and the Canadian Guide Dogs for the Blind, and we are committed to helping these important organizations with fundraising initiatives! Be sure to click on the ‘pet friendly’ icon on our website www.939bobfm.com, for tons of pet information, tips, and photos! Send us a photo of your dog, your cat, your snake, your budgie, join the club! And be sure to turn BOB FM way up before you leave the house. Your pets are less likely to eat your shoes while they’re listening to BOB FM.
Just before Christmas, I made some dog cookies (the recipe is in the previous blog post) and I brought some to work. After actually getting JR to eat one, I had three dog cookies left in a zip loc bag on my desk. I share an office with Lowell Green and Steve Madely. Steve Madely never eats food on my desk, but Lowell Green does. The next day I came back to the office to find that one of my dog cookies was missing. I’m pretty sure Lowell Green ate it. The good news, is that Lowell will probably stop stealing my food. The bad news, is that Lowell must think I’m the worst baker on the face of the earth.
What are your plans for New Year’s Eve? Getting all dressed up and going out for a big night on the town? Staying in and having friends and family over? Hope you enjoy the evening, and that at the stroke of midnight, the person closest to you is not your drunk uncle.
Happy new year!
Wednesday, December 28, 2005
Monday, December 19, 2005
Wake me up when its Christmas
The only Christmas presents I have left to buy, are the gifts for the dogs. And this year, it looks like my dogs are getting some good old fashioned home baking. Thank you to Patsy, who sent along this recipe for dog cookies. Mix 1 ¼ cups of water with same amount of peanut butter. In another bowl combine 2 cups whole wheat flour, one cup all purpose flour, and 1 ¼ tsp of baking powder. Mix the wet stuff with the dry stuff, roll it out, cut with a cookie cutter, and bake at 400 for 15 minutes. That’s it!! I probably should use a cookie cutter shaped like a bone, because everyone knows that dogs insist on all baked goods being shaped like a bone. But the only cookie cutter I have is shaped like a shamrock. Don’t think my dogs will mind if Christmas has a bit of a St Pattys Day theme. One final note about this recipe: if you notice, there’s nothing in the ingredients that we don’t eat ourselves. I’m wondering if I should make an extra batch for co-workers…………just kidding. I’ve been saving a fruitcake for them.
I saw a Christmas tree driving down the road the other day. I estimate it was about 14 feet long. The tree was strapped to the top of a Smart Car. For that one trip, I’ll bet that Smart Car felt like it was in the big leagues.
Have you seen the movie King Kong? The critics seem to love it but it didn’t exactly come out of the starting gate with a huge tally at the box office. At three hours ‘plus’, I wonder if that has something to do with it. When you figure in the time it took after arriving at the theatre, waiting in line to get your ticket, waiting in line to buy your popcorn, waiting in line to be searched for a recording device, then to watch the 22 minutes of commercials and trailers, you’ve already invested an hour and the movie hasn’t even started yet. No wonder we end up with numb bum.
It was quite the experience last week at the Bon Jovi concert in Montreal. I found myself standing about 8 feet away from Heather Locklear. Heather, of course, is married to Bon Jovi guitar player Richie Sambora. I asked her to sign my concert ticket stub, which she did quite kindly. When she handed it back to me, I dropped it and it fell behind a speaker. Heather Locklear bent down and fished my newly signed ticket stub from behind a speaker, then handed it to me once again. All this happened during ‘Living on a Prayer’. I didn’t feel too badly, as I’m sure she’s seen that song performed before.
I have a friend who has a one year old daughter, and an eight year old daughter. And another friend with a six year old daughter. I gave the kids their Christmas gifts the other day, for the six year old and the eight year old, I bought them each a singing gingerbread man. For the one year old, I found a cute fuzzy snowman. A day later, the Moms thanked me very much for the gifts. As it turned out, I had given the one year old a cute fuzzy snowman wine bottle cover. And for the other two kids, the gingerbread man sings, yes he does. He sings at the top of his lungs, as a matter of fact. And here’s what he sings about: how much he likes to run down the street with no clothes on. He’s naked, he loves it, and don’t anybody try to catch him.
Next year everyone’s getting a gift certificate.
I saw a Christmas tree driving down the road the other day. I estimate it was about 14 feet long. The tree was strapped to the top of a Smart Car. For that one trip, I’ll bet that Smart Car felt like it was in the big leagues.
Have you seen the movie King Kong? The critics seem to love it but it didn’t exactly come out of the starting gate with a huge tally at the box office. At three hours ‘plus’, I wonder if that has something to do with it. When you figure in the time it took after arriving at the theatre, waiting in line to get your ticket, waiting in line to buy your popcorn, waiting in line to be searched for a recording device, then to watch the 22 minutes of commercials and trailers, you’ve already invested an hour and the movie hasn’t even started yet. No wonder we end up with numb bum.
It was quite the experience last week at the Bon Jovi concert in Montreal. I found myself standing about 8 feet away from Heather Locklear. Heather, of course, is married to Bon Jovi guitar player Richie Sambora. I asked her to sign my concert ticket stub, which she did quite kindly. When she handed it back to me, I dropped it and it fell behind a speaker. Heather Locklear bent down and fished my newly signed ticket stub from behind a speaker, then handed it to me once again. All this happened during ‘Living on a Prayer’. I didn’t feel too badly, as I’m sure she’s seen that song performed before.
I have a friend who has a one year old daughter, and an eight year old daughter. And another friend with a six year old daughter. I gave the kids their Christmas gifts the other day, for the six year old and the eight year old, I bought them each a singing gingerbread man. For the one year old, I found a cute fuzzy snowman. A day later, the Moms thanked me very much for the gifts. As it turned out, I had given the one year old a cute fuzzy snowman wine bottle cover. And for the other two kids, the gingerbread man sings, yes he does. He sings at the top of his lungs, as a matter of fact. And here’s what he sings about: how much he likes to run down the street with no clothes on. He’s naked, he loves it, and don’t anybody try to catch him.
Next year everyone’s getting a gift certificate.
Sunday, December 11, 2005
Fruitcake! Food or Science Project
Artificial Christmas tree versus real tree? The debate has been going on as long as……..hmm.. I dunno. When was the first artificial tree invented? And was it the same person who invented artificial flowers and artificial grass? I have an artificial Christmas tree. Its quite a sad tree. I somehow misplaced all my ornaments just before Christmas last year, then at a Christmas party I won an ornament. It was a huge orange goldfish Christmas ornament. So, last year my Christmas tree consisted of one hanging fish. This year, its not going to be too hard to top that.
Most of my friends go out and get a real Christmas tree. They love the pine smell. I read that the most popular size for a real pine Christmas tree this year, is fourteen feet. Wow! That’s a tall tree. Probably being scooped up by all those people buying loft condo’s with high ceilings. Anyway, I have a question about these trees. Chopped down, tied up and tossed onto a gas station parking lot, these 14 foot pine trees cost about $50 - $60. This past summer, I went tree shopping. I needed two pine trees about 10 feet tall for my cottage. Two living trees, of course. For that size, they cost about $450 each. So…..lets see….a chopped down 14 foot pine tree is $50….. a living 10 foot pine tree is $450. Wonder if I can convince any of these Christmas tree farms to let me get my Christmas tree in May. I’ll bring my own shovel.
I was offered my first 2005 Christmas season piece of fruitcake the other day. Of course I politely said ‘no thank you’, because I despise fruitcake. I won’t eat anything that can actually out-live me.
Have you been to a re-gift party yet? These are getting increasingly popular. Instead of going out and spending tons of cash on something that someone doesn’t need, you simply go to your garage or basement and choose something that someone doesn’t need. Then you wrap it in pretty Christmas paper. Since everyone at the re-gift party has done the same thing, there is absolutely no shame. My friend recently went to a Christmas re-gift party but took it one step further. She gave me her re-gift because she thought I would love it. I am now the proud owner of a huge ceramic garden ornament, multi-colored, the theme being a family of turtles climbing up a wall. Who knew turtles could climb?
There’s a new dog food product, I won’t say the brand name, but basically its ‘dog food gravy’. You buy it in a bottle, and you pour it onto your dog’s bowl of dry dog food. I decided to buy a bottle and try it out. After I poured the gravy onto their crunchy kibble, my dogs ate their dinner in about 10 seconds. I swear I even heard them say ‘mmmmm’’ while they were wolfing down their new gravy-topped dinner. Apparently, dogs love gravy. I also know for a fact that dogs love cheese. Dog poutine! That’s it!!! I’m going to invent dog poutine. It’s a surefire winner. You heard it here first.
Most of my friends go out and get a real Christmas tree. They love the pine smell. I read that the most popular size for a real pine Christmas tree this year, is fourteen feet. Wow! That’s a tall tree. Probably being scooped up by all those people buying loft condo’s with high ceilings. Anyway, I have a question about these trees. Chopped down, tied up and tossed onto a gas station parking lot, these 14 foot pine trees cost about $50 - $60. This past summer, I went tree shopping. I needed two pine trees about 10 feet tall for my cottage. Two living trees, of course. For that size, they cost about $450 each. So…..lets see….a chopped down 14 foot pine tree is $50….. a living 10 foot pine tree is $450. Wonder if I can convince any of these Christmas tree farms to let me get my Christmas tree in May. I’ll bring my own shovel.
I was offered my first 2005 Christmas season piece of fruitcake the other day. Of course I politely said ‘no thank you’, because I despise fruitcake. I won’t eat anything that can actually out-live me.
Have you been to a re-gift party yet? These are getting increasingly popular. Instead of going out and spending tons of cash on something that someone doesn’t need, you simply go to your garage or basement and choose something that someone doesn’t need. Then you wrap it in pretty Christmas paper. Since everyone at the re-gift party has done the same thing, there is absolutely no shame. My friend recently went to a Christmas re-gift party but took it one step further. She gave me her re-gift because she thought I would love it. I am now the proud owner of a huge ceramic garden ornament, multi-colored, the theme being a family of turtles climbing up a wall. Who knew turtles could climb?
There’s a new dog food product, I won’t say the brand name, but basically its ‘dog food gravy’. You buy it in a bottle, and you pour it onto your dog’s bowl of dry dog food. I decided to buy a bottle and try it out. After I poured the gravy onto their crunchy kibble, my dogs ate their dinner in about 10 seconds. I swear I even heard them say ‘mmmmm’’ while they were wolfing down their new gravy-topped dinner. Apparently, dogs love gravy. I also know for a fact that dogs love cheese. Dog poutine! That’s it!!! I’m going to invent dog poutine. It’s a surefire winner. You heard it here first.
Monday, December 05, 2005
Say....Do you Work Here Often?
I bought my husband a Christmas present the other day, and I still haven’t given it to him! This is a record for me. Traditionally, if I find the perfect Christmas gift for my husband, it doesn’t matter if its November 14th or December 5th, I give it to him that night, the minute he gets home from work. Because I can’t wait for anything that has the potential of being good. Part of the reason that I have yet to give this gift to my better half, is because I’ve hidden it so well, I don’t know where it is. Too bad its not a gift of food, because my dogs would definitely have found it by now.
Its office Christmas party season! Don’t you just love stories about office Christmas parties? If you have any you’d like to share, please e-mail me back and I’ll post them here. Who doesn’t love a good office Christmas party story ….like the one that involved Todd in accounting and Michelle from marketing, some mistle-toe, too much rum and egg nog, and a photocopy machine.
Congratulations to everyone who participated in the 580 CFRA Christmas Cheer Broadcast on the weekend, and to everyone who donated for a total of $127,000 –plus to provide needy families with holiday food hampers. JR and I were happy to be part of CFRA’s 55th annual Christmas Cheer broadcast. Growing up in Ottawa, this has been a tradition that I look forward to each year. I apologize to all the guests who shared my chair throughout the day, and I hope my coffee spill dried up eventually.
It seems these days that you can’t pick up a national newspaper without reading some columnist’s opinion about our beloved Ottawa Senators. More and more writers are daring to say that this year’s Ottawa Senators are perhaps the finest hockey team of all time. That includes any team that’s ever played in the NHL, and any team that’s ever played in the Olympics. Wow. I hope this doesn’t jinx anything. I’m a little leary about big wide sweeping statements like the ones these columnists are making…’Best hockey team ever assembled’…because I’m afraid of the ‘jinx factor’. That being said, I can’t wait for the Stanley Cup parade down Bank Street. Can you buy ticker tape on e-Bay? Oops. I take that back. Can I take that back?
Thank you to the hundreds of people who did the same thing I did. We all got completely, 100 percent, sucked in by an internet hoax. It came to me by e-mail last week, a litter of golden retriever puppies who needed homes right away – OR ELSE! I responded to the email right away, gave my phone number, said I would come over and get the puppies right now, blah blah……only to find out, this was a hoax that has traveled through cyberspace since the fall of 2002! My sincere thanks to everyone who called the ‘Morning After on Bob FM’ to tell me that they had responded to this email too…even forwarding it to every animal lover they knew. Thank goodness I’m not the only one who once believed a friend who told me ‘you know, the word ‘gullible’ is NOT in the dictionary!
Its office Christmas party season! Don’t you just love stories about office Christmas parties? If you have any you’d like to share, please e-mail me back and I’ll post them here. Who doesn’t love a good office Christmas party story ….like the one that involved Todd in accounting and Michelle from marketing, some mistle-toe, too much rum and egg nog, and a photocopy machine.
Congratulations to everyone who participated in the 580 CFRA Christmas Cheer Broadcast on the weekend, and to everyone who donated for a total of $127,000 –plus to provide needy families with holiday food hampers. JR and I were happy to be part of CFRA’s 55th annual Christmas Cheer broadcast. Growing up in Ottawa, this has been a tradition that I look forward to each year. I apologize to all the guests who shared my chair throughout the day, and I hope my coffee spill dried up eventually.
It seems these days that you can’t pick up a national newspaper without reading some columnist’s opinion about our beloved Ottawa Senators. More and more writers are daring to say that this year’s Ottawa Senators are perhaps the finest hockey team of all time. That includes any team that’s ever played in the NHL, and any team that’s ever played in the Olympics. Wow. I hope this doesn’t jinx anything. I’m a little leary about big wide sweeping statements like the ones these columnists are making…’Best hockey team ever assembled’…because I’m afraid of the ‘jinx factor’. That being said, I can’t wait for the Stanley Cup parade down Bank Street. Can you buy ticker tape on e-Bay? Oops. I take that back. Can I take that back?
Thank you to the hundreds of people who did the same thing I did. We all got completely, 100 percent, sucked in by an internet hoax. It came to me by e-mail last week, a litter of golden retriever puppies who needed homes right away – OR ELSE! I responded to the email right away, gave my phone number, said I would come over and get the puppies right now, blah blah……only to find out, this was a hoax that has traveled through cyberspace since the fall of 2002! My sincere thanks to everyone who called the ‘Morning After on Bob FM’ to tell me that they had responded to this email too…even forwarding it to every animal lover they knew. Thank goodness I’m not the only one who once believed a friend who told me ‘you know, the word ‘gullible’ is NOT in the dictionary!
Monday, November 28, 2005
U2 U-phoria
After waiting months and months and months, U2 finally came to town Friday night. One of the ways that I rate a concert, is by ‘the day after’ factor. If I’m still re-living the show throughout the next day, that means it was, in my humble opinion, pretty great. As I write this, three days later, I’m still buzzing about U2’s awesome assault on our city. The moment Bono appeared – in what seemed like the middle of the crowd of adoring fans – we all knew we were in for one of those rare concert experiences. ‘The City of Blinding Lights’, the show opener, is one of the tracks on U2’s most recent album. With a body of work that goes back 25 years, it would have been all too easy for U2 to start the show with a mega hit from the past: a nod to nostalgia, an easy way to have the crowd eating out of the palm of their hands. But that is what sets U2 apart. U2 is still vital, still writing, recording, and performing new songs, still finding new ways to impress the toughest critics. This past Friday night, U2 raised the bar once again. Today’s new bands should study the phenomenon that is the U2 concert. This is how you do it!! Ottawa waited 20 years for the return of Bono and the boys. I’m sure I’m not alone when I say it was well worth the wait. Now….let’s see……who else can we convince to come to town………..
I’d also like to congratulate the many volunteers from the Make Poverty History Campaign, who were out in full force at the U2 concert. 18,000 concert-goers were made aware of your important message to end poverty in this country and around the world. For more details, www.makepovertyhistory.ca
I’ve actually started my Christmas shopping! This is the earliest date yet for me to head out to the malls in earnest. And I’ve purchased a few things. So far, while out Christmas shopping, I’ve bought myself two sweaters and a pair of jeans. I love Christmas shopping!
I bought a big can of peanuts the other day. Not sure exactly why, but I decided to check the label to see how many calories were in a peanut. The answer: a lot. Sheesh. I’m glad that I checked the label so closely, because also printed on the sign of the can was: ‘Caution. May contain peanuts’.
In time for Christmas, I have once again put myself on the ‘delicious’ diet. When I’m at a party and someone offers me an hors d’oeuvre, I ask them if its delicious. If they say ‘why yes, it is very delicious’, then I don’t eat it. Because if its delicious, it is loaded with calories. So then I ask the hostess if she has anything that isn’t delicious. So far, no one has provided me with that at a party. I, on the other hand, am only too happy to offer guests food that is not delicious.
Every year, I look forward to all the latest products that come out in the world of Christmas decorations. This year, it’s the giant snow-globe on the front lawn. So far I’ve seen two different snow-globes, one with two snowmen and one with Santa and a reindeer. I’m still waiting for the giant Niagara Falls snow-globe.
I’d also like to congratulate the many volunteers from the Make Poverty History Campaign, who were out in full force at the U2 concert. 18,000 concert-goers were made aware of your important message to end poverty in this country and around the world. For more details, www.makepovertyhistory.ca
I’ve actually started my Christmas shopping! This is the earliest date yet for me to head out to the malls in earnest. And I’ve purchased a few things. So far, while out Christmas shopping, I’ve bought myself two sweaters and a pair of jeans. I love Christmas shopping!
I bought a big can of peanuts the other day. Not sure exactly why, but I decided to check the label to see how many calories were in a peanut. The answer: a lot. Sheesh. I’m glad that I checked the label so closely, because also printed on the sign of the can was: ‘Caution. May contain peanuts’.
In time for Christmas, I have once again put myself on the ‘delicious’ diet. When I’m at a party and someone offers me an hors d’oeuvre, I ask them if its delicious. If they say ‘why yes, it is very delicious’, then I don’t eat it. Because if its delicious, it is loaded with calories. So then I ask the hostess if she has anything that isn’t delicious. So far, no one has provided me with that at a party. I, on the other hand, am only too happy to offer guests food that is not delicious.
Every year, I look forward to all the latest products that come out in the world of Christmas decorations. This year, it’s the giant snow-globe on the front lawn. So far I’ve seen two different snow-globes, one with two snowmen and one with Santa and a reindeer. I’m still waiting for the giant Niagara Falls snow-globe.
Sunday, November 20, 2005
Poinsettia Push-over
I’d like to take a moment to thank the Ottawa Citizen sports section. Usually, November is a dull, dreary month. Not a lot happens. But, bless their hearts, the Ottawa Citizen sports writers have all given us something to talk about! Better still, something to argue about! Someone at the Citizen thought it would be a good idea to come up with a name for the Ottawa Senators fantastic trio, Alfredsson, Spezza, and Heatley. They held a ‘name that line’ contest, narrowed it down to three options, the ‘Cash’ line, the ‘Dash’ Line, and the ‘Dazzle’ line. So, with an overwhelming 12,000 votes, the ‘Cash’ line was the winner. End of story. Right? Nope. Every man, woman and child in the Ottawa area has come up with a name for the Alfredsson-Spezza-Heatley line. Yours truly came up with ‘Scorius Maximus’. I got no backers. JR from the Morning After on Bob Fm has quite a campaign going behind ‘the Pizza Line’, and I have to admit, I’m backing him on that one. I love the fact that the crowd at the Corel Centre starts chanting ‘Pizza Pizza’ once the Sens are closing in on 6 goals, because everyone gets free pizza if that happens. JR’s ‘Pizza Pizza’ line not only got a mention on TSN the other night….it got the biggest exposure of all, a mention on Saturday night’s Hockey Night in Canada! Color guy Ron Tugnutt slipped it in! Way to go, Tugger!! And thanks again to the Ottawa Citizen for giving us something to raise our fist about in dreary November. It sure beats talking about freezing rain.
Here’s something unique to mark on your calendar! Saturday December 3rd, grab your bathing suit and your towel and head over to the Orleans Recreational Complex, 1490 Youville Drive – for an underwater photo with Santa Claus himself! The Ottawa Beavers Underwater Scuba Club provides all the snorkel equipment so you don’t need to worry about that. Your unique photo with Santa is just ten bucks, and all proceeds go to the Champions for Children Foundation! No word on whether or not Santa Claus will be wearing a speedo.
Did you watch the Gemini awards the other night? No? Neither did I.
Each year, I buy a poinsettia at this time of year, usually from a charitable organization. Problem is, I still have all the poinsettias that I’ve bought for the last five years. Is it just me, or aren’t these things supposed to die off after Christmas, you know, just turn into brown twigs by February? Are they breeding poinsettias now to last for years and years? I don’t have the heart to toss out a perfectly healthy plant, but I can only keep so many poinsettias. I kinda resent their cheery yuletide spirit in the middle of July. People come over for a barbeque on a hot humid day and my house is filled with poinsettias. Does anyone else have this problem?
I’ve officially purchased my first Christmas gift. This is definitely the earliest I have ever purchased a Christmas gift. Maybe I’m in the mood because of all the poinsettias. This year, I’m going to do everything early and not leave it to the last minute. I even have the new Barenaked Ladies Christmas cd. I want to be one of those people who brags about being finished her shopping by December 1st. I’m going to make cookies too. And hot toddies. My life is going to be straight out of a Martha Stewart how-to Christmas magazine! Sure thing! Or maybe not. I just want to do things differently this year…. I have to remember that not everyone wants a fruitcake for Christmas.
Here’s something unique to mark on your calendar! Saturday December 3rd, grab your bathing suit and your towel and head over to the Orleans Recreational Complex, 1490 Youville Drive – for an underwater photo with Santa Claus himself! The Ottawa Beavers Underwater Scuba Club provides all the snorkel equipment so you don’t need to worry about that. Your unique photo with Santa is just ten bucks, and all proceeds go to the Champions for Children Foundation! No word on whether or not Santa Claus will be wearing a speedo.
Did you watch the Gemini awards the other night? No? Neither did I.
Each year, I buy a poinsettia at this time of year, usually from a charitable organization. Problem is, I still have all the poinsettias that I’ve bought for the last five years. Is it just me, or aren’t these things supposed to die off after Christmas, you know, just turn into brown twigs by February? Are they breeding poinsettias now to last for years and years? I don’t have the heart to toss out a perfectly healthy plant, but I can only keep so many poinsettias. I kinda resent their cheery yuletide spirit in the middle of July. People come over for a barbeque on a hot humid day and my house is filled with poinsettias. Does anyone else have this problem?
I’ve officially purchased my first Christmas gift. This is definitely the earliest I have ever purchased a Christmas gift. Maybe I’m in the mood because of all the poinsettias. This year, I’m going to do everything early and not leave it to the last minute. I even have the new Barenaked Ladies Christmas cd. I want to be one of those people who brags about being finished her shopping by December 1st. I’m going to make cookies too. And hot toddies. My life is going to be straight out of a Martha Stewart how-to Christmas magazine! Sure thing! Or maybe not. I just want to do things differently this year…. I have to remember that not everyone wants a fruitcake for Christmas.
Monday, November 14, 2005
It all started with the goldfish
An entire kitchen renovation usually starts with something like….the dishwasher being on the fritz. A new dishwasher easily leads to all new kitchen appliances. The wallpaper is the next to go, because it doesn’t fit the new look of the new appliances. Then, of course, the cupboards need to be ripped out because they don’t match the new paint and the new appliances. What the heck, you’ve gone this far, guess you should get the new kitchen table and chairs too. The reason the dishwasher didn’t work in the first place? A plastic Barbie tv got stuck in the dishwasher’s thing-a-ma-jig. But you got a whole new kitchen, and it just cost $20,000!
That’s kinda how my recent basement renovation started. I have 5 goldfish. They live in an aquarium in my basement. One day, we noticed that the aquarium seemed to be on a bit of an angle, and I thought that might be upsetting to my five goldfish. That was sometime back in September. Since then, the basement floor has been ripped up and replaced, the basement walls have been torn down, a new wall was built where there was no wall before, and now, all the electrical stuff is being wired for a surround-sound stereo system. I don’t know who loves our basement reno more, my goldfish or my credit card company.
Sad news for fans of Arrested Development. Fox TV has cut back on new episodes, and it looks like its going to be cancelled. Say it ain’t so! This is my favourite tv show!! Its crazy and often makes no sense!! Wonder if there’s anything fans can do to save the show. If not, I hope they have an auction of show memorabilia because I’d love to buy that truck with the staircase on top of it. I could just put it on my credit card.
If you want to be a part of the big fight scene being filmed for the upcoming movie ‘Rocky 6’, have I got a scoop for you! On December 6th at the Mandalay Bay Hotel in Las Vegas, Sly Stallone takes on some yet-to-be-named boxer in the ring, and you could be in the audience. Its as easy as going to the website, BeInAMovie.com, and signing up! I signed up, but then I realized that I can’t go to Vegas, because the electrician is coming over that day.
And for tramps like us, that is, Springsteen fanatics, not sure if we can wait to get this under the Christmas tree: the ‘Born to Run’ 30th Anniversary re-mastered CD /DVD special edition set. Not only has the Born to Run album been digitally re-mastered, you also get a DVD with a ‘behind the scenes’ look at the making of the album, AND some rare concert footage from a rockin’ Bruce show at the Hammersmith Odeon Theatre in London, 1975. This goes right into my Bruce collection, along with my ripped jeans and bandana. Can’t wait to get my hands on it!
That’s kinda how my recent basement renovation started. I have 5 goldfish. They live in an aquarium in my basement. One day, we noticed that the aquarium seemed to be on a bit of an angle, and I thought that might be upsetting to my five goldfish. That was sometime back in September. Since then, the basement floor has been ripped up and replaced, the basement walls have been torn down, a new wall was built where there was no wall before, and now, all the electrical stuff is being wired for a surround-sound stereo system. I don’t know who loves our basement reno more, my goldfish or my credit card company.
Sad news for fans of Arrested Development. Fox TV has cut back on new episodes, and it looks like its going to be cancelled. Say it ain’t so! This is my favourite tv show!! Its crazy and often makes no sense!! Wonder if there’s anything fans can do to save the show. If not, I hope they have an auction of show memorabilia because I’d love to buy that truck with the staircase on top of it. I could just put it on my credit card.
If you want to be a part of the big fight scene being filmed for the upcoming movie ‘Rocky 6’, have I got a scoop for you! On December 6th at the Mandalay Bay Hotel in Las Vegas, Sly Stallone takes on some yet-to-be-named boxer in the ring, and you could be in the audience. Its as easy as going to the website, BeInAMovie.com, and signing up! I signed up, but then I realized that I can’t go to Vegas, because the electrician is coming over that day.
And for tramps like us, that is, Springsteen fanatics, not sure if we can wait to get this under the Christmas tree: the ‘Born to Run’ 30th Anniversary re-mastered CD /DVD special edition set. Not only has the Born to Run album been digitally re-mastered, you also get a DVD with a ‘behind the scenes’ look at the making of the album, AND some rare concert footage from a rockin’ Bruce show at the Hammersmith Odeon Theatre in London, 1975. This goes right into my Bruce collection, along with my ripped jeans and bandana. Can’t wait to get my hands on it!
Monday, October 31, 2005
Don't turn the car on twice, it makes a horrible sound
Darn that time change weekend thing! The time in my car is off by one hour and I guess it will stay that way for the next 6 months, because I seem to have mis-placed the car manual. Come to think of it, isn’t it kinda odd that a car comes with a ‘manual’? Pg 2: put key in ignition. Pg 3: while in ignition, turn key. Pg 4: if there’s a screeching sound like a thousand hell-cats coming from the engine, you’ve already turned the car on. You don’t have to do it twice.
I can’t find my car scraper, either. Car scrapers are like socks. I think they all end up in the same place. There’s an island that no one has ever stumbled upon, filled with single socks and car scrapers.
I was surfing on the internet the other day and came across a special cruise that’s taking place next February. It’s the Dave Matthews Rock and Roll Cruise. Leaves from Miami, then you spend three days on the ship with Dave Matthews, then you go to a ‘secret’ island in the Bahamas and Dave plays a show on the beach. Sounds pretty cool. For US! For Dave, hmmmm. When you’re on a cruise ship, there’s no escaping. If the fan from hell is also on board, yikes. I can just imagine Dave Matthews trying to grab a shrimp cocktail at midnight. “Hey! Look everyone!! Its Dave Matthews!!! Hey Dave!!! Do you know any Beatles songs?!’ Anything by Chumbawumba?’ Looks like you got too much sun today, Dave! How’s the shrimp, Dave?
I enjoy running into friends that I haven’t seen in ages. But today, I was exiting a pharmacy with a total of 48 rolls of toilet paper under my arms. It was on sale. I heard someone call out ‘Sandy!” and it was an old friend that I hadn’t seen in probably ten years. We made small talk, you know, the usual stuff, what are you up to these days, blah blah do you ever see anyone from school, blah blah blah…but the whole time I was wondering….does this person think I have a rather abnormal amount of toilet paper tucked under my arms? Should I just volunteer the information that there was a fantastic sale on toilet paper? Or would that shift the conversation to a really boring place? Why would someone need 48 rolls of toilet paper? Or did he even notice? What am I supposed to do in this situation? Just before I got myself into a self-induced sweat, my friend simply walked away. Sheesh. Nice talking to you , too.
I can’t find my car scraper, either. Car scrapers are like socks. I think they all end up in the same place. There’s an island that no one has ever stumbled upon, filled with single socks and car scrapers.
I was surfing on the internet the other day and came across a special cruise that’s taking place next February. It’s the Dave Matthews Rock and Roll Cruise. Leaves from Miami, then you spend three days on the ship with Dave Matthews, then you go to a ‘secret’ island in the Bahamas and Dave plays a show on the beach. Sounds pretty cool. For US! For Dave, hmmmm. When you’re on a cruise ship, there’s no escaping. If the fan from hell is also on board, yikes. I can just imagine Dave Matthews trying to grab a shrimp cocktail at midnight. “Hey! Look everyone!! Its Dave Matthews!!! Hey Dave!!! Do you know any Beatles songs?!’ Anything by Chumbawumba?’ Looks like you got too much sun today, Dave! How’s the shrimp, Dave?
I enjoy running into friends that I haven’t seen in ages. But today, I was exiting a pharmacy with a total of 48 rolls of toilet paper under my arms. It was on sale. I heard someone call out ‘Sandy!” and it was an old friend that I hadn’t seen in probably ten years. We made small talk, you know, the usual stuff, what are you up to these days, blah blah do you ever see anyone from school, blah blah blah…but the whole time I was wondering….does this person think I have a rather abnormal amount of toilet paper tucked under my arms? Should I just volunteer the information that there was a fantastic sale on toilet paper? Or would that shift the conversation to a really boring place? Why would someone need 48 rolls of toilet paper? Or did he even notice? What am I supposed to do in this situation? Just before I got myself into a self-induced sweat, my friend simply walked away. Sheesh. Nice talking to you , too.
Tuesday, October 25, 2005
I'll take an interesting life for $100, Alex
I have to write a 6-line biography about myself. I have no idea what to say. All Bob FM announcers have been asked to give a ‘bio’ about themselves for this website. Hmm. The only thing I can think of, is that when I drive, I have trouble seeing over the steering wheel, yet I’m 5’8”. And I have 6 goldfish in a 130 gallon aquarium, but only one has a name. His name is Todd Chunder. All the other goldfish are Todd Chunder’s friends. There. I’ve done a bio!
It is now officially less than one month to go before the U2 concert. We got the word that U2 was coming w-w-w-ay back in March. I think that this is the longest period of time that I’ve ever looked forward to something. A lot of people plan weddings one or two years in advance, so they know what its like. I’ve never done that. I have been looking forward to U2 in Ottawa for eight months. Sheesh. Quite the build-up. Usually I just look forward to next weekend.
Since Ken Jennings finally got bounced off the show ‘Jeopardy’, after winning a gazillion dollars, I don’t watch the show much anymore. I rarely get past the beginning of the show, when the contestants have to divulge something amusing about their lives. Is it just me, or are Jeopardy contestants really that dull? I just watched Alex Trebek ask a contestant to tell a story about his dogs. Turns out, the guy didn’t have dogs anymore, but he did at one time. Holy crap.
Speaking of Jeopardy, ok, its not the same thing (because its w-a-a-ay more fun).. you gotta join us at World Trivia Night! Friday, Nov 4th, Aberdeen Pavilion, a fundraiser for ‘Champions for Children’. Get your team together, collect some pledges, then get set to answer as many trivia questions as possible, usually the one who shouts the loudest has their answer accepted by the team! We need to fill out our team, ‘Bob’s Big Brain’, details on this website! Or, go to www.worldtrivianight.com! This is the one night when knowing your marsupials may actually come in handy!
It is now officially less than one month to go before the U2 concert. We got the word that U2 was coming w-w-w-ay back in March. I think that this is the longest period of time that I’ve ever looked forward to something. A lot of people plan weddings one or two years in advance, so they know what its like. I’ve never done that. I have been looking forward to U2 in Ottawa for eight months. Sheesh. Quite the build-up. Usually I just look forward to next weekend.
Since Ken Jennings finally got bounced off the show ‘Jeopardy’, after winning a gazillion dollars, I don’t watch the show much anymore. I rarely get past the beginning of the show, when the contestants have to divulge something amusing about their lives. Is it just me, or are Jeopardy contestants really that dull? I just watched Alex Trebek ask a contestant to tell a story about his dogs. Turns out, the guy didn’t have dogs anymore, but he did at one time. Holy crap.
Speaking of Jeopardy, ok, its not the same thing (because its w-a-a-ay more fun).. you gotta join us at World Trivia Night! Friday, Nov 4th, Aberdeen Pavilion, a fundraiser for ‘Champions for Children’. Get your team together, collect some pledges, then get set to answer as many trivia questions as possible, usually the one who shouts the loudest has their answer accepted by the team! We need to fill out our team, ‘Bob’s Big Brain’, details on this website! Or, go to www.worldtrivianight.com! This is the one night when knowing your marsupials may actually come in handy!
Wednesday, October 19, 2005
Hey! That's my arm!
I only watched the new Stones video for the song ‘Streets of Love’ about 20 times. We taped it right from the show ‘Days of our Lives’ and I sat there with the remote control and my finger firmly on the ‘pause’ button. Since I snuck my way into Zaphod Beeblebrox for the Stones video shoot back in August, I was quite curious about the final product. I was pretty sure I wasn’t going to actually be in the video, but I thought my fist-pumping may be. So, as I sat on the couch, watching the Streets of Love video frame by frame, inch by inch, I finally saw it. My arm. That was definitely my arm, and my fist. I was pumping it madly during the chorus of the song, and when I put the video on ‘pause’, I got a good look at my arm, sticking up in front of the boys on the stage. Wow. Maybe I should get a casting agent for my arm.
So Madonna has been popping up everywhere lately, promoting her upcoming album ‘Confessions on a Dance Floor’. She even walked in to a college class this week and surprised the students with a lecture about her life. Hmm. She’s been on tv a lot, on talk shows, etc, and every time she’s on tv she doesn’t miss the opportunity to announce that she never lets her kids watch tv because tv is bad. TV is only bad when it involves Bob Saget. Anyway, Madonna wants to help us clean our souls by hearing our confessions, or something like that. If you call the toll-free number 1-888-2confess, you can leave Madonna a list of any sins you’ve committed in the past week. She wants to know. I ate ice cream at 2 in the morning. There. I’ve confessed! Help me, Madonna!
They are draining the canal. If that’s not a sure sign of what’s to come, I don’t know what is. Soon, the skating shacks will be in place. They usually put those in during morning rush hour. I’ve been doing some serious cleaning and came across my never-worn skates recently. I say this every year, but THIS is definitely the year that I am going to go skating on the canal. Problem is, one of my skates has been half-eaten by a mouse. The soft foamy stuff on the inside and most of the tongue of the skate have either been eaten or carried off to make a nice little mouse bed. At least this year I have a legitimate excuse for not going skating. Mouse ate my skate.
So Madonna has been popping up everywhere lately, promoting her upcoming album ‘Confessions on a Dance Floor’. She even walked in to a college class this week and surprised the students with a lecture about her life. Hmm. She’s been on tv a lot, on talk shows, etc, and every time she’s on tv she doesn’t miss the opportunity to announce that she never lets her kids watch tv because tv is bad. TV is only bad when it involves Bob Saget. Anyway, Madonna wants to help us clean our souls by hearing our confessions, or something like that. If you call the toll-free number 1-888-2confess, you can leave Madonna a list of any sins you’ve committed in the past week. She wants to know. I ate ice cream at 2 in the morning. There. I’ve confessed! Help me, Madonna!
They are draining the canal. If that’s not a sure sign of what’s to come, I don’t know what is. Soon, the skating shacks will be in place. They usually put those in during morning rush hour. I’ve been doing some serious cleaning and came across my never-worn skates recently. I say this every year, but THIS is definitely the year that I am going to go skating on the canal. Problem is, one of my skates has been half-eaten by a mouse. The soft foamy stuff on the inside and most of the tongue of the skate have either been eaten or carried off to make a nice little mouse bed. At least this year I have a legitimate excuse for not going skating. Mouse ate my skate.
Sunday, October 16, 2005
its never dull with a Humunga Tongue!
Thank you to one of our wonderful listeners, Nathalie Cox, for sending me the link to a pretty amusing website. Its www.dullmen.com. This website is a tip of the hat to men who are dull, and lovin’ it! Dull men truly embrace their dullness. On this website, you’ll find: 61 pictures of picnic tables. Someone’s lawn mowing diary. Eight pages dedicated to the topic of ‘banning creosote’. And a father’s conversation about ‘rust’ with his son. Check it out for yourself. Not sure if there’s a similar website for dull women. If so, let me know. I’ll post something about one of my favourite topics, ‘zip loc bags’.
Fantastic news for those of us who are fascinated by weather. You know you’re in the club if you watch more than five hours of ‘The Weather Network’ each week, and you know the names of at least three of the Weather Network broadcasters. Anyway, its finally here! The new 2006 Environment Canada Weather Trivia Calendar! Why wait til 2006! Pick it up now and enjoy tidbits of information about weather that will make you a much more interesting person, especially at parties! (see, I told you, there should be a ‘dull women’ website!) I do admit to spending an alarming amount of time staring up into the sky.
I came across something on the internet that could be a great gift (Christmas?) for any dog owner. The website is www.asseenontv.com. The product is called ‘the Humonga Tongue’. It’s a red rubber ball with a giant red rubber tongue attached to it. You give it to your dog, and naturally your dog puts the ball in his/her mouth right away, wags its tail and wants nothing more than to play with this ball forever. The funny part is, while the dog has the ball in his/her mouth, the giant tongue part sticks w-a-a-y out. It looks like your dog has a 12 inch tongue. And the dog doesn’t care if you laugh, he’s having a great time with the ball so he’s not uncomfortable in any way. This makes ‘Humonga Tongue’ a much better product than doggie reindeer antlers, which I think dogs hate. If you ever see a photo of a dog wearing reindeer antlers, they always look really embarrassed.
Fans of ‘Rock Star INXS’…something cool to look forward to! Tara Sloan, one of the contestants on the show, will be in town this Friday. Tara will perform Friday at noon at the LCBO , Rideau at King Edward, a celebration called ‘Whisky Rocks’. Tara will join us in the studio, on ‘the Morning After’ on 939 BOB FM around 7:30 Friday morning. If you have any questions for Tara, send me an e-mail!
Getting tickets to the U2 show in Ottawa seems to be about as hard as, oh, I don’t know, maybe getting tickets to the Superbowl or the 2006 Olympic gold medal hockey game in Torino Italy. I’ve lived in Ottawa my entire life and I’ve never seen this kind of furor over one event! All the more reason to keep listening to 939 BOB FM, because this Friday is U2 Day – all day – 6 to 6 – we give away one pair of U2 tickets an hour. The contest is called ‘Who Do You Want to Take to U2’? and all the details are right here on our website. If you haven’t entered yet, do it right now!
I tested ‘spray on tan’ in a bottle the other day, just on my left arm to see what would happen. Thank you to the listeners who called to warn me that I should thoroughly wash my hands after rubbing the fake tan stuff onto myself. So I did. Hours later, I had quite a nice brownish-orangish left arm! Except the color stops quite abruptly at my wrist, and my left hand is still very white. Good thing its long-sleeve season!
Fantastic news for those of us who are fascinated by weather. You know you’re in the club if you watch more than five hours of ‘The Weather Network’ each week, and you know the names of at least three of the Weather Network broadcasters. Anyway, its finally here! The new 2006 Environment Canada Weather Trivia Calendar! Why wait til 2006! Pick it up now and enjoy tidbits of information about weather that will make you a much more interesting person, especially at parties! (see, I told you, there should be a ‘dull women’ website!) I do admit to spending an alarming amount of time staring up into the sky.
I came across something on the internet that could be a great gift (Christmas?) for any dog owner. The website is www.asseenontv.com. The product is called ‘the Humonga Tongue’. It’s a red rubber ball with a giant red rubber tongue attached to it. You give it to your dog, and naturally your dog puts the ball in his/her mouth right away, wags its tail and wants nothing more than to play with this ball forever. The funny part is, while the dog has the ball in his/her mouth, the giant tongue part sticks w-a-a-y out. It looks like your dog has a 12 inch tongue. And the dog doesn’t care if you laugh, he’s having a great time with the ball so he’s not uncomfortable in any way. This makes ‘Humonga Tongue’ a much better product than doggie reindeer antlers, which I think dogs hate. If you ever see a photo of a dog wearing reindeer antlers, they always look really embarrassed.
Fans of ‘Rock Star INXS’…something cool to look forward to! Tara Sloan, one of the contestants on the show, will be in town this Friday. Tara will perform Friday at noon at the LCBO , Rideau at King Edward, a celebration called ‘Whisky Rocks’. Tara will join us in the studio, on ‘the Morning After’ on 939 BOB FM around 7:30 Friday morning. If you have any questions for Tara, send me an e-mail!
Getting tickets to the U2 show in Ottawa seems to be about as hard as, oh, I don’t know, maybe getting tickets to the Superbowl or the 2006 Olympic gold medal hockey game in Torino Italy. I’ve lived in Ottawa my entire life and I’ve never seen this kind of furor over one event! All the more reason to keep listening to 939 BOB FM, because this Friday is U2 Day – all day – 6 to 6 – we give away one pair of U2 tickets an hour. The contest is called ‘Who Do You Want to Take to U2’? and all the details are right here on our website. If you haven’t entered yet, do it right now!
I tested ‘spray on tan’ in a bottle the other day, just on my left arm to see what would happen. Thank you to the listeners who called to warn me that I should thoroughly wash my hands after rubbing the fake tan stuff onto myself. So I did. Hours later, I had quite a nice brownish-orangish left arm! Except the color stops quite abruptly at my wrist, and my left hand is still very white. Good thing its long-sleeve season!
Tuesday, October 11, 2005
why everyone should have a personal trainer
Did you happen to catch U2 on the Conan O’Brien show last week? We taped the show (its on too late for me) and just got around to watching it. That in itself is pretty impressive, if I do say so myself, for once I’ve actually watched something within a week of taping it. I still haven’t watched the opening ceremonies of the winter Olympics in Lillehammer, which I believe took place in 1994. But the tape awaits. Anyway, back to U2. I loved watching them on the Conan show because they were so relaxed, they were candid, they showed their sense of humour. Bono works so tirelessly to take care of serious global problems, and the world admires him for it, but it was nice to see him just kick back and have fun and share some laughs with Conan and the band. I loved how Conan dug up some tidbits from the past. With Larry, the Edge, Adam and Bono on Conan’s couch we learned that Bono started in the band as the drummer, but couldn’t quite cut it, then he was the lead guitar player, and that didn’t work out, then he wasn’t in the band at all, he was gently removed and given the role of manager. Then somehow he wormed his way back in, and became U2’s lead singer. Thank goodness for that. U2’s concert in Ottawa, we can actually say, is NEXT MONTH!! In my lifetime I have never seen a concert ticket so hard to come by. But, here at BOB FM, we want to thank all the listeners who signed our petition last winter and brought the band here. We have tons of U2 tickets to give away. All the details, right here on this website.
I’ve hired a personal trainer, his name is George. Having a personal trainer is fantastic. When you have a personal trainer, you use the phrase ‘personal trainer’ in as many conversations as you can in one day. For example, ‘Oh, that’s a nice color of t-shirt, that reminds me of the shoes worn by my personal trainer’. Or, ‘I’ll have a big Mac, fries, and, since I just left my personal trainer, I’ll have a diet Coke’. If you pay someone to be your personal trainer, you can say all these things. And then there’s something about getting in shape, too, but that’s not as big a deal.
My personal trainer is a caber tosser. He wears a skirt and throws telephone poles as far as he can. Can anyone tell me how this chain of events came to be? Did early Scotsmen decide that tossing telephone poles across a river was easier than building a bridge? And why didn’t they wear pants?
I’ve got my Hallowe’en costume all figured out. I know its early, but when inspiration strikes, you just have to go for it. I was watching ‘Arrested Development’ the other night, the show that is so funny but so twisted that its impossible to explain to someone at work the next day. Anyway, on the show, there’s a bit of a recurring theme involving the Blue Man Group. Perfect. I’m going to be a member of the Blue Man Group. Anyone know where I can get some metallic royal blue paint?
I’ve hired a personal trainer, his name is George. Having a personal trainer is fantastic. When you have a personal trainer, you use the phrase ‘personal trainer’ in as many conversations as you can in one day. For example, ‘Oh, that’s a nice color of t-shirt, that reminds me of the shoes worn by my personal trainer’. Or, ‘I’ll have a big Mac, fries, and, since I just left my personal trainer, I’ll have a diet Coke’. If you pay someone to be your personal trainer, you can say all these things. And then there’s something about getting in shape, too, but that’s not as big a deal.
My personal trainer is a caber tosser. He wears a skirt and throws telephone poles as far as he can. Can anyone tell me how this chain of events came to be? Did early Scotsmen decide that tossing telephone poles across a river was easier than building a bridge? And why didn’t they wear pants?
I’ve got my Hallowe’en costume all figured out. I know its early, but when inspiration strikes, you just have to go for it. I was watching ‘Arrested Development’ the other night, the show that is so funny but so twisted that its impossible to explain to someone at work the next day. Anyway, on the show, there’s a bit of a recurring theme involving the Blue Man Group. Perfect. I’m going to be a member of the Blue Man Group. Anyone know where I can get some metallic royal blue paint?
Thursday, October 06, 2005
The Cute Team Is On Top!
I’m not sure how long it will last, but at this moment I am leading in the office NHL pool. I didn’t make my picks. I trusted that role to JR, and our producer ‘Hammer’. All I really cared about was that Ottawa Senators’ Mike Fisher was on my team, and that I had no Toronto Maple Leafs. The criteria for the rest of the players, was that they were cute. JR and Matt filled out my roster, I have 12 guys from all over the NHL, and I currently lead the pool. My pool-mates? John Rodenburg, of Bob FM and the Team 1200 Sports Radio, the biggest sports fanatic I know. Team 1200 afternoon host and former NHLer Gary Galley. Sens play by play guy Dean Brown. Sens color guy Gordie Wilson. 67’s and Sens play by play guy Dave Schreiber. Team 1200 morning guy Steve Warne. Team 1200 sports guy Al Jakubec. A Channel news & sports guy Dave Gross. And Bruce Garrioch, aka ‘Boo Boo’, sports columnist for the Ottawa Sun and frequent guest on the Team 1200 sports radio. And my team of cute guys is on top of the NHL pool. Like I said, it probably won’t last. But right now, I am enjoying the sweet taste of victory! When’s the next game?!!!!
What’s one of the most fun fundraisers of the year, guaranteed to make you shout out gems of trivia like ‘Moose was the real name of the dog on Frasier’?! Its World Trivia Night! With all proceeds to ‘Champions for Children’, World Trivia night is an absolute blast! Get your team together, up to 10 people. Get one person who knows a lot about history. One who knows a lot about pop culture. One who knows a lot about nature. And always round out your team with a sports nut. Give your team a funny name. Then register your team on-line at www.worldtrivianight.com. It costs $200 to enter, then you raise pledges, and if you raise enough pledges, you are eligible for the grand prize, $10,000!!! World Trivia Night takes place Friday November 4th at the Aberdeen Pavilion. The food is fantastic, the beer is cold, the team next to you will brag profusely (in a good way, of course) and its just a really fun night. Enter your team right now, because this event is always a sell-out!!!
Its Thanksgiving time! Can’t wait for the big turkey dinner. I have friends who are vegetarian, and they can’t wait for the big torfurkey dinner. Its tofu but they shape it exactly like a turkey, it even tastes like turkey. But the only thing they haven’t quite worked out with the torfurkey, is that it jiggles.
Whether you’re having turkey or torfurkey, enjoy your long weekend! And remember all that you have to be thankful for. Like being first in the office hockey pool.
What’s one of the most fun fundraisers of the year, guaranteed to make you shout out gems of trivia like ‘Moose was the real name of the dog on Frasier’?! Its World Trivia Night! With all proceeds to ‘Champions for Children’, World Trivia night is an absolute blast! Get your team together, up to 10 people. Get one person who knows a lot about history. One who knows a lot about pop culture. One who knows a lot about nature. And always round out your team with a sports nut. Give your team a funny name. Then register your team on-line at www.worldtrivianight.com. It costs $200 to enter, then you raise pledges, and if you raise enough pledges, you are eligible for the grand prize, $10,000!!! World Trivia Night takes place Friday November 4th at the Aberdeen Pavilion. The food is fantastic, the beer is cold, the team next to you will brag profusely (in a good way, of course) and its just a really fun night. Enter your team right now, because this event is always a sell-out!!!
Its Thanksgiving time! Can’t wait for the big turkey dinner. I have friends who are vegetarian, and they can’t wait for the big torfurkey dinner. Its tofu but they shape it exactly like a turkey, it even tastes like turkey. But the only thing they haven’t quite worked out with the torfurkey, is that it jiggles.
Whether you’re having turkey or torfurkey, enjoy your long weekend! And remember all that you have to be thankful for. Like being first in the office hockey pool.
Tuesday, October 04, 2005
INXS AND PRE-SALE MADNESS
This just in! The upcoming tour dates have been announced for the brand new INXS – featuring Canada’s own JD Fortune stepping in as the new lead singer….and….guess what? Ottawa’s not on the tour. The ‘Switched On’ Tour starts January 18th in Vancouver, then INXS do a bunch of shows in the U.S., then they are back in Canada on February 7th, Massey Hall in Toronto. Considering the fact that Canada supported the Rock Star INXS tv show more than any other country, including the U.S, I think that INXS should play every city in Canada. Just like those Corner Gas people.
I found out about the INXS tour by going on the INXS website, www.inxs.com, and surprise, surprise! INXS has jumped on the ‘pre-sale’ ‘fan club’ bandwagon, or as I like to call it, the ‘pre-pay for nothing’ club. More and more bands are doing this! On the INXS website, for the low price of $24.95 U.S., you’ll get information about the band before anyone else, and you can get concert tickets before anyone else. Does this drive you nuts? Can’t we just all be equal? Last week, when the Aerosmith show was announced, the ticket sale information came out something like this: As of Wednesday, American Express card holders could buy their Aerosmith tickets. As of Thursday, Corel Centre members could buy their Aerosmith tickets. As of Friday, me and you could finally buy our Aerosmith tickets. Oh well, at least we know that everyone in section 330, row Z refuses to buy into pre-sale ‘pay for nothing’ exclusive-fansite-members-only offers. We’re rebels!! Rebels with lousy seats, but still rebels.
This time of year is fantastic for anyone who loves taking pictures. With the trees starting to turn orange and red, I take my camera with me wherever I go. You never know when you’re driving along and right at a certain moment, the sunset meets a lone crimson maple tree and ‘click’! You’ve captured the moment forever. Except you’ve also captured the gas station next to the tree, with the price of gas at $1.19.
I came across this website, called ‘SaveMyAss.com’. Its directed at guys who tend to forget their wives’ birthday, Valentines Day, anniversary etc. ‘SaveMyAss.com’ will send your wife flowers on all special occasions, AND, they will also surprise her 6 times a year with ‘just because’ flowers, for no reason at all. You simply give them your billing information, and you can write all the little notes that go with the flowers in advance, one entire year’s worth. For guys, it means they never have to think about buying their spouse flowers. For women, they get the flowers 10 times a year from a company called ‘SaveMyAss.com’. I’m not so keen on this myself. I think I’d be more impressed by a squished donut that my husband actually picked up for me for a surprise, than a big beautiful bouquet of roses from the SaveMyAss company. But I’d love to hear what you think!
I found out about the INXS tour by going on the INXS website, www.inxs.com, and surprise, surprise! INXS has jumped on the ‘pre-sale’ ‘fan club’ bandwagon, or as I like to call it, the ‘pre-pay for nothing’ club. More and more bands are doing this! On the INXS website, for the low price of $24.95 U.S., you’ll get information about the band before anyone else, and you can get concert tickets before anyone else. Does this drive you nuts? Can’t we just all be equal? Last week, when the Aerosmith show was announced, the ticket sale information came out something like this: As of Wednesday, American Express card holders could buy their Aerosmith tickets. As of Thursday, Corel Centre members could buy their Aerosmith tickets. As of Friday, me and you could finally buy our Aerosmith tickets. Oh well, at least we know that everyone in section 330, row Z refuses to buy into pre-sale ‘pay for nothing’ exclusive-fansite-members-only offers. We’re rebels!! Rebels with lousy seats, but still rebels.
This time of year is fantastic for anyone who loves taking pictures. With the trees starting to turn orange and red, I take my camera with me wherever I go. You never know when you’re driving along and right at a certain moment, the sunset meets a lone crimson maple tree and ‘click’! You’ve captured the moment forever. Except you’ve also captured the gas station next to the tree, with the price of gas at $1.19.
I came across this website, called ‘SaveMyAss.com’. Its directed at guys who tend to forget their wives’ birthday, Valentines Day, anniversary etc. ‘SaveMyAss.com’ will send your wife flowers on all special occasions, AND, they will also surprise her 6 times a year with ‘just because’ flowers, for no reason at all. You simply give them your billing information, and you can write all the little notes that go with the flowers in advance, one entire year’s worth. For guys, it means they never have to think about buying their spouse flowers. For women, they get the flowers 10 times a year from a company called ‘SaveMyAss.com’. I’m not so keen on this myself. I think I’d be more impressed by a squished donut that my husband actually picked up for me for a surprise, than a big beautiful bouquet of roses from the SaveMyAss company. But I’d love to hear what you think!
Wednesday, September 28, 2005
You know you loved K-Tel
Remember when you were a kid, (or a teenager), and every time you saw a tv commercial for K-Tel Records, you couldn’t wait to run to the record store and get it? I had quite a collection of K-Tel albums, but my favourite was ‘Believe in Music’, 22 original hits, 22 original stars. What they didn’t tell you is that they just gave you half of every song. On ‘Believe in Music’, there are such gems as ‘Go All the Way’ by the Raspberries, ‘Long Cool Woman’ by the Hollies, ‘Sylvia’s Mother’ by Dr Hook & the Medicine Show, and ‘Gypsys, Tramps and Thieves’ by Cher. And that was all on side one. If you have a K-Tel classic still kicking around, let us know! This Friday Sept 30th, on the ‘Morning After’, we’re kicking off Bob’s ‘K-Tel Weekend’! Original hits, original stars, like Maggie May by Rod Stewart. Only difference is, on the K-Tel album, Maggie May has been cut back to about 2 minutes long. We’ll play the ‘entire’ song! Should be fun. We’re also looking for other K-Tel or Ronco purchases you’ve made, maybe at 3 am while watching TV. Pocket Fisherman, anyone? Yes, I had one of those too.
The fall colors have started to appear, and a trip on the Wakefield Steam Train is a great way to see the gorgeous trees of the Gatineau Hills. Not to mention, the train drops you off in Wakefield so you can check out the shops and restaurants. But, a word of advice, someone you’re with should wear a watch because the train does leave without you if you miss the departure time because you’re eating beef stew in a Wakefield café.
You don’t need to be accurate, you just need to be aware if someone is nearby. If you have these two traits, why not come out and join us next Wednesday, Oct 5th, for the ‘Renegades Dart Showdown’ at the Lone Star Café, St Laurent Blvd. For just $125 for a team of 4, you get fabulous Lone Star food, plus tons of fun playing darts and the best part of all, most of the teams include an Ottawa Renegades player. Or, you can just come out for the food and fun and enjoy being a spectactor for $25. There will be prizes auctioned off, and all proceeds go to the Canadian Hearing Society. I will once again be on the team that finds new ways to lose each year, ‘The Screaming Hellfish’! For more information, contact the Canadian Hearing Society, www.chs.ca or call 521-0509! Hope to see you there!
The fall colors have started to appear, and a trip on the Wakefield Steam Train is a great way to see the gorgeous trees of the Gatineau Hills. Not to mention, the train drops you off in Wakefield so you can check out the shops and restaurants. But, a word of advice, someone you’re with should wear a watch because the train does leave without you if you miss the departure time because you’re eating beef stew in a Wakefield café.
You don’t need to be accurate, you just need to be aware if someone is nearby. If you have these two traits, why not come out and join us next Wednesday, Oct 5th, for the ‘Renegades Dart Showdown’ at the Lone Star Café, St Laurent Blvd. For just $125 for a team of 4, you get fabulous Lone Star food, plus tons of fun playing darts and the best part of all, most of the teams include an Ottawa Renegades player. Or, you can just come out for the food and fun and enjoy being a spectactor for $25. There will be prizes auctioned off, and all proceeds go to the Canadian Hearing Society. I will once again be on the team that finds new ways to lose each year, ‘The Screaming Hellfish’! For more information, contact the Canadian Hearing Society, www.chs.ca or call 521-0509! Hope to see you there!
Thursday, September 22, 2005
Feng Shui Beaver
Congratulations to everyone involved in the Chum – Byward Market Association Katrina Relief Auction! Thank you to those who bid on the 939 Bob FM website items, close to $8000 raised for the Red Cross to help our American friends. And now, to help our ‘4 legged’ American friends, a group of people from Ottawa organization B.A.R.K (Bytown Association of Rescued Canines) is headed to Louisiana to help out dogs displaced by hurricane Katrina. The plan is to bring back 25 homeless dogs, and they need help! Cash, crates, even vans and drivers to assist the rescue effort. If you can help, please go to BARK’s website, www.bark-ottawa.com.
I’m still so excited about JD Fortune coming out on top, and being named the new lead singer for INXS. JD’s real name? James Dean Bennison. With either name, the guy has rock star attitude and I think he’s going to be a great front-man. Everyone’s loving his single ‘Pretty Vegas’. Word is that when INXS tours in a few months, Ottawa is definitely on the map because we were so supportive from the beginning. Plus, JD loves Ottawa. He spent Canada Day here. We told him Ottawa’s always like that, year round.
There seems to be a new trend in hotels these days. It’s a combination of feng shui, minimalist décor, bamboo in vases, ocean breeze scent sprayed on your pillow at dusk, and incense in the lobby. That’s some of the stuff we had at the Toronto hotel we recently stayed in. But the clincher, was the elevator. In the elevator was a plasma tv, that showed ‘soothing’ scenes. On our first elevator ride, from the bottom floor to the 9th floor we were treated to a babbling brook. But for all other elevator rides for the rest of the weekend, up there on the plasma tv, was a beaver eating a branch. I guess it was soothing. If you’re Canadian.
Let the rivalry begin. It’s the season of the Sens versus the Leafs. Sure, we’ll play other teams, but really, its all about the Sens versus the Leafs. Leaf fans paint their faces more than Sens fans. But Senators hockey players are better than Maple Leaf players. Which, in the long run, is far more important.
I’m still so excited about JD Fortune coming out on top, and being named the new lead singer for INXS. JD’s real name? James Dean Bennison. With either name, the guy has rock star attitude and I think he’s going to be a great front-man. Everyone’s loving his single ‘Pretty Vegas’. Word is that when INXS tours in a few months, Ottawa is definitely on the map because we were so supportive from the beginning. Plus, JD loves Ottawa. He spent Canada Day here. We told him Ottawa’s always like that, year round.
There seems to be a new trend in hotels these days. It’s a combination of feng shui, minimalist décor, bamboo in vases, ocean breeze scent sprayed on your pillow at dusk, and incense in the lobby. That’s some of the stuff we had at the Toronto hotel we recently stayed in. But the clincher, was the elevator. In the elevator was a plasma tv, that showed ‘soothing’ scenes. On our first elevator ride, from the bottom floor to the 9th floor we were treated to a babbling brook. But for all other elevator rides for the rest of the weekend, up there on the plasma tv, was a beaver eating a branch. I guess it was soothing. If you’re Canadian.
Let the rivalry begin. It’s the season of the Sens versus the Leafs. Sure, we’ll play other teams, but really, its all about the Sens versus the Leafs. Leaf fans paint their faces more than Sens fans. But Senators hockey players are better than Maple Leaf players. Which, in the long run, is far more important.
Monday, September 19, 2005
Up Up in the Air
Tuesday night – we find out the exciting conclusion to ‘Rock Star INXS’! The poll on this website tells the story: Bob FM listeners want JD to be the new lead singer of INXS! Don’t think it has anything to do with the fact that JD is the only Canadian left in the top 3…… he’s certainly been consistently talented, he has the rock star moodiness, and his voice best fits the INXS sound. This is a guy who was living with his dog in a car under a bridge in Toronto a couple of months ago. JD was busking with his guitar to save enough money to buy a battery for his car. Don’t you love a story like that. All we need is the happy ending!
One of the side effects of my job, is that I tend to need a nap sometime in the afternoon. My alarm goes off at 3:30 in the morning, so I usually get sleepy just after lunch time. This week I brought my car into one of those oil change places and I asked if I could stay in the car while they hoisted it up in the air to do their work. They said sure. I guess I feel asleep while my car was w-a-a-ay-y up in the air. I woke up and couldn’t remember what series of events could possibly have lead to me being in my car twenty feet off the ground. And not moving. Just frozen up there in the clouds. It was somewhat disappointing when I realized I was just getting an oil change.
Thank you to Janet and Greta Podleski for stopping by ‘The Morning After’. These two vivacious ladies have put out their third cookbook, ‘Eat, Shrink and Be Merry’, and its just as much fun as their 2 previous books, ‘Looneyspoons’ and ‘Crazy Plates’. Recipes include ‘Eric Eggstrata’, ‘Life in the Fast Loin’, ‘Turk de Soleil’…half the fun of this book is just chuckling at the titles Janet and Greta come up with for the recipes. After an hour with these two, you can’t help but talk in puns. Pick up their new book, or win it here on BOB FM on the ‘Morning After Mystery’. It’s ‘worth every penne’. P.s. I’ve been told to leave the puns to the experts. My attempt, ‘Fleetwood Mac ‘n cheese’ was met with blank stares.
One of the side effects of my job, is that I tend to need a nap sometime in the afternoon. My alarm goes off at 3:30 in the morning, so I usually get sleepy just after lunch time. This week I brought my car into one of those oil change places and I asked if I could stay in the car while they hoisted it up in the air to do their work. They said sure. I guess I feel asleep while my car was w-a-a-ay-y up in the air. I woke up and couldn’t remember what series of events could possibly have lead to me being in my car twenty feet off the ground. And not moving. Just frozen up there in the clouds. It was somewhat disappointing when I realized I was just getting an oil change.
Thank you to Janet and Greta Podleski for stopping by ‘The Morning After’. These two vivacious ladies have put out their third cookbook, ‘Eat, Shrink and Be Merry’, and its just as much fun as their 2 previous books, ‘Looneyspoons’ and ‘Crazy Plates’. Recipes include ‘Eric Eggstrata’, ‘Life in the Fast Loin’, ‘Turk de Soleil’…half the fun of this book is just chuckling at the titles Janet and Greta come up with for the recipes. After an hour with these two, you can’t help but talk in puns. Pick up their new book, or win it here on BOB FM on the ‘Morning After Mystery’. It’s ‘worth every penne’. P.s. I’ve been told to leave the puns to the experts. My attempt, ‘Fleetwood Mac ‘n cheese’ was met with blank stares.
Tuesday, September 13, 2005
Do Barbers Know Everything?
Wow, was I wrong! My informal poll asking women if they ever used a mens washroom in a public place, yielded surprising results. Well, surprising for me. Turns out that most women just don’t do it. Even if there are long line-ups at the womens washroom and the men are coming and going into their washroom without a care in the world, most women will not go into mens world. I started this poll because I find the women’s facilities at the Civic Centre are just not enough to handle all of us during a concert. Thank you to the women who wrote in…..you have inspired me to stop using the mens public washroom. Unless I really need to go.
I ran into CJOH’s Brent Corbeil recently at Bayshore Shopping Centre. He and his cute young son had just gotten their hair cut. Brent said he has been getting his haircut at the same place for, like, 22 years. This made me think, there is no truer loyalty than that between a man and his barber. If you can top 22 years getting clipped by the same guy (or woman) let me know. Just think of the stuff the barber must know about you. If there was a trivia contest about personal information, I’ll bet your barber would win. I’ll bet your barber knows your most embarrassing moment, your worst trip experience, and the names of all your kids. All that plus every inch of the top of your head! Stories?
Isn’t it cool that Robert Plant spent last Saturday in Wakefield, before his show at the Corel Centre? Wonder what he did there. Maybe he rented a canoe. Or maybe he shopped for home-made jams. Or maybe he watched the Wakefield steam train. Or maybe he posed by the red covered bridge. But chances are he probably had a beer at the Black Sheep. If anyone knows what he did, enquiring minds want to know.
Be sure to check out the CHUM / Byward Market BIA auction for Katrina Hurricane relief, right here on our website. There’s some cool stuff to bid on, concerts, dinners, or how about a double invite to CHUM movie premieres for one full year. All proceeds go to hurricane disaster relief. I have my eye on the art lessons from the Ottawa School of Art. I’ve always wanted to be able to draw. Sometimes in a shopping mall you see an artist selling their paintings, and to be honest, well, the paintings just aren’t very good. I’d like to be at least as good/bad as those people.
I ran into CJOH’s Brent Corbeil recently at Bayshore Shopping Centre. He and his cute young son had just gotten their hair cut. Brent said he has been getting his haircut at the same place for, like, 22 years. This made me think, there is no truer loyalty than that between a man and his barber. If you can top 22 years getting clipped by the same guy (or woman) let me know. Just think of the stuff the barber must know about you. If there was a trivia contest about personal information, I’ll bet your barber would win. I’ll bet your barber knows your most embarrassing moment, your worst trip experience, and the names of all your kids. All that plus every inch of the top of your head! Stories?
Isn’t it cool that Robert Plant spent last Saturday in Wakefield, before his show at the Corel Centre? Wonder what he did there. Maybe he rented a canoe. Or maybe he shopped for home-made jams. Or maybe he watched the Wakefield steam train. Or maybe he posed by the red covered bridge. But chances are he probably had a beer at the Black Sheep. If anyone knows what he did, enquiring minds want to know.
Be sure to check out the CHUM / Byward Market BIA auction for Katrina Hurricane relief, right here on our website. There’s some cool stuff to bid on, concerts, dinners, or how about a double invite to CHUM movie premieres for one full year. All proceeds go to hurricane disaster relief. I have my eye on the art lessons from the Ottawa School of Art. I’ve always wanted to be able to draw. Sometimes in a shopping mall you see an artist selling their paintings, and to be honest, well, the paintings just aren’t very good. I’d like to be at least as good/bad as those people.
Thursday, September 08, 2005
women! Lets stand up for our washroom rights!
I’m doing a bit of an informal poll, wondering something about the women of Ottawa. If you are at an event, and you have to use the washroom, and the line-up is s-o-o-o long that you start to chew on your sleeve, do you have the guts to go into the mens washroom? Because inevitably, the men are zipping in and out of their washroom, nary a line-up to be found. When I was at the Stones concert, a group of us broke free from our women’s line-up and stormed into the mens loo. There was certainly strength in numbers. However, the other night at the Hall and Oates concert, as I waited painfully in a washroom line-up, I vocalized the idea of a bunch of us hitting the mens washroom. No one had the guts to join me, and I didn’t have the guts to go by myself. So, I figure we have two choices. We get the Civic Centre/Lansdowne Park people to expand the ladies washroom facilities, or we just get really brave and consider it open season on the mens’ facilities. What do you think?
The Humane Society Wiggle Waggle Walkathon is on this Sunday at the Experimental Farm Arboretum! Registration starts at 8:30, it’s a fun day with all kinds of activities and prizes and of course a 2 km or 5 km walk through the park. If you’ve never been, you gotta bring your dog out. You’ve never seen so many dogs of all shapes and sizes in one place, and everyone gets along beautifully. And dogs really love it, not only is it a cool outing, they get to go for a car ride. Most dogs love going in the car. Today’s dog hanging his head out of the car window is the modern day equivalent of the ancient wolf enjoying the breezes on a mountain top. Or something like that. But I still don’t have an explanation as to why dogs always prefer the driver’s seat. If you need more info for the Wiggle Waggle, check www.ottawahumane.ca.
Speaking of dogs, my Australian shepherd Mojo has long, fine silky hair. Most of the time. Since he spends a lot of time in the lake in the summer, his hair became pretty matted and he went to the groomer today. I picked him up and tried not to laugh. Dogs hate it when you laugh. His butt has been shaved. I told him he looked beautiful, but I was laughing inside. I think he’s too embarrassed to go to the Wiggle Waggle Walkathon.
If you’ve been following the show ‘Rock Star INXS’, it really is getting down to the wire. This show just seems to get more and more cool every week. We are now down to 2 Canadians, JD and Suzie, and Marty and Mig, and any one of them has the talent to be the new lead singer of INXS. But I think JD has the edge, just because his own personal style seems to fit the band INXS a bit more than the other performers. Anyway, I’ve become ridiculously attached to this show, and I will be very sad when its over. Thankfully, Fox TV has come up with ‘Skating with Celebrities’. This should help me move on.
The Humane Society Wiggle Waggle Walkathon is on this Sunday at the Experimental Farm Arboretum! Registration starts at 8:30, it’s a fun day with all kinds of activities and prizes and of course a 2 km or 5 km walk through the park. If you’ve never been, you gotta bring your dog out. You’ve never seen so many dogs of all shapes and sizes in one place, and everyone gets along beautifully. And dogs really love it, not only is it a cool outing, they get to go for a car ride. Most dogs love going in the car. Today’s dog hanging his head out of the car window is the modern day equivalent of the ancient wolf enjoying the breezes on a mountain top. Or something like that. But I still don’t have an explanation as to why dogs always prefer the driver’s seat. If you need more info for the Wiggle Waggle, check www.ottawahumane.ca.
Speaking of dogs, my Australian shepherd Mojo has long, fine silky hair. Most of the time. Since he spends a lot of time in the lake in the summer, his hair became pretty matted and he went to the groomer today. I picked him up and tried not to laugh. Dogs hate it when you laugh. His butt has been shaved. I told him he looked beautiful, but I was laughing inside. I think he’s too embarrassed to go to the Wiggle Waggle Walkathon.
If you’ve been following the show ‘Rock Star INXS’, it really is getting down to the wire. This show just seems to get more and more cool every week. We are now down to 2 Canadians, JD and Suzie, and Marty and Mig, and any one of them has the talent to be the new lead singer of INXS. But I think JD has the edge, just because his own personal style seems to fit the band INXS a bit more than the other performers. Anyway, I’ve become ridiculously attached to this show, and I will be very sad when its over. Thankfully, Fox TV has come up with ‘Skating with Celebrities’. This should help me move on.
Monday, September 05, 2005
Lets Give What we Can
Like everyone else, I have been watching CNN, trying to imagine the horror that the Hurricane Katrina victims are going through. Its impossible to realize. Not only have lives been lost, the survivors have nothing to go back to. No homes, no possessions, no jobs. Everything wiped out. The relief agencies are working over-time to feed, clothe, provide shelter and return dignity to the victims. How can we help? Cash. Whatever you can afford. The Red Cross needs our cash, fast. There’s a link to the Red Cross on this website, its easy to find and its easy to donate. We all know that returning to normalcy towns and cities decimated by Katrina will take time. But our donations will go a long way towards helping these people find promise and a brighter future.
Its unofficially ‘New Years’. Someone said that once, I’m not sure who, but it makes a lot of sense. The first week of September, back from vacation, back to school, back to work. At my cottage on Labour Day Weekend, the lake was really quiet, very few power boats roaring past my dock. Guess it was because families were in ‘back to it’ mode. Or, because the gas needed for these power boats is $1.30 a litre. Either one.
As Ottawa’s year of incredible concerts continues, I’m pretty charged up about going to back-to-back concerts, Green Day at the Corel Centre followed the next night by Hall and Oates at the Civic Centre. I’m sure that it’s the same audience for both shows.
Have you ever been to the New York City club CBGB? Its dark, its dingy, it actually stinks. But it was the nightclub that started the careers of punk gods the Ramones, Blondie, Bush, the Talking Heads and many others. I visited the club last summer and saw four bands in one night, and the vibe was about as cool as you could get. Well, sad news, it looks like CBGB is no more. The lease has expired and there’s some sort of legal battle, but Steven Van Zandt is not giving up without a fight. He’s enlisting the help of fellow Sopranos co-stars to get involved. One visit from Tony Soprano should just about do it!
Its unofficially ‘New Years’. Someone said that once, I’m not sure who, but it makes a lot of sense. The first week of September, back from vacation, back to school, back to work. At my cottage on Labour Day Weekend, the lake was really quiet, very few power boats roaring past my dock. Guess it was because families were in ‘back to it’ mode. Or, because the gas needed for these power boats is $1.30 a litre. Either one.
As Ottawa’s year of incredible concerts continues, I’m pretty charged up about going to back-to-back concerts, Green Day at the Corel Centre followed the next night by Hall and Oates at the Civic Centre. I’m sure that it’s the same audience for both shows.
Have you ever been to the New York City club CBGB? Its dark, its dingy, it actually stinks. But it was the nightclub that started the careers of punk gods the Ramones, Blondie, Bush, the Talking Heads and many others. I visited the club last summer and saw four bands in one night, and the vibe was about as cool as you could get. Well, sad news, it looks like CBGB is no more. The lease has expired and there’s some sort of legal battle, but Steven Van Zandt is not giving up without a fight. He’s enlisting the help of fellow Sopranos co-stars to get involved. One visit from Tony Soprano should just about do it!
Tuesday, August 30, 2005
hey you get off my video
The Stones have left the building. And the Byward Market. And the city of Ottawa. Phew! Good thing. I don’t think I could have another night with 2 hours’ sleep. On Sunday night, 43,000 people were treated to more than a concert, more than a night out. It was one of those rare, beautiful experiences. The world’s biggest rock and roll band came to our town and blew our doors wide open. For first-timers, it was a chance to see a bit of rock history. For those who have seen the Stones in the past, it was all the more special, with Mick and the boys finally being on our turf. What a show! I just couldn’t get enough. Which leads into why I did what I did the very next day after the concert.
Ottawa is a really big small town. Word about something juicy going on travels pretty quickly, so at 10 am on Monday morning, I found myself standing outside night-club Zaphod Beeblebrox in the market, the rumoured location of a Rolling Stones video shoot. At this point there was a couple of pigeons, two tractor trailers, and my friend Ann Marie McQueen, a reporter with the Ottawa Sun, who had heard the same rumour. I was armed with a tape recorder to interview the throngs of fans that would be there to capture a glimpse of the Stones. After waiting a while, no one came. So I interviewed Ann Marie McQueen instead.
Hours later, I returned to nab a spot with friends at the pub beside Zaphod’s, on the outdoor patio. That’s when things really started to happen. Trailer after trailer arrived, the street was completely closed off, production crews were barking orders all day and beautiful people started streaming into restricted areas, signed up as ‘extras’ for the Stones video shoot. I found an adjoining patio between the pub and Zaphod’s, and lo and behold, the ‘extra’s’ were all hanging out, waiting patiently to be called in to take their place inside the bar, waiting patiently to be part of something so cool, wow, a Stones video. That’s when it hit me. I decided to act like an extra. Sure, I didn’t look like one of them. These were hip rocksters in super funky clothes, clothes chosen just for them by a wardrobe lady that kept disappearing into a giant wardrobe trailer. I was wearing hiking boots, jeans, and a giant grey sweatshirt. I spoke to no one, afraid to blow my cover. Every once in a while, from my spot on the ‘extra’s patio’, I would hear a big roar from the ever-expanding crowd lining the sidewalks. Ronnie Wood had just arrived and disappeared into a trailer. Another roar. It was Keith! Then Charlie. Then Mick. Incognito amidst the extra’s, I waited patiently as they were called in to the bar, to take their place in the video shoot, one by one. Of course I had never given anyone my name, I didn’t fit the physical ‘look’ that these people had been hired for, and I wasn’t quite sure how to handle that moment when I would be the only one left, with absolutely no explanation of what I was doing there, no paperwork filled out, nothing. I was fully prepared to be busted and return to my friends outside on the pub patio. That’s when something incredible happened. The wardrobe lady came into the ‘extra’s’ holding tank and asked me if I had something else to wear. I said no. Then she handed me the hippest green shirt, and told me to change, fast. The last round of extra’s were summoned to the video set, and I was one of them. I was now inside the club, doing my best to blend in, tucking myself into the crowd on the dance floor. I kept praying the director wouldn’t notice the one woman in the middle who just didn’t project hipness. A couple of moments later, the Stones entered Zaphods, climbed on the stage, and the fantasy began. The band kicked into their single, ‘Streets of Love’, and our job was to act like a bunch of bar patrons doing what they do, grooving to the band. I was in so much shock over what I was seeing, Mick and the boys a mere ten feet away on a tiny stage, and I tried to pump my fist to the song but my entire body froze. Eventually I did pump my fist, and swayed with both arms in the air, showing off my prop drink, sharing a laugh with Ronnie Wood. Cameras rolled, production people shouted, beautiful people were put in strategic positions, regular people like me maintained the important role of padding out the bar. I wasn’t trying to get into the video, I just wanted to see the Stones play in a tiny bar. It was an experience I will never ever forget. Watch for the video ‘Streets of Love’ coming soon to Much Music. I wonder if my fist ended up on the cutting room floor.
Ottawa is a really big small town. Word about something juicy going on travels pretty quickly, so at 10 am on Monday morning, I found myself standing outside night-club Zaphod Beeblebrox in the market, the rumoured location of a Rolling Stones video shoot. At this point there was a couple of pigeons, two tractor trailers, and my friend Ann Marie McQueen, a reporter with the Ottawa Sun, who had heard the same rumour. I was armed with a tape recorder to interview the throngs of fans that would be there to capture a glimpse of the Stones. After waiting a while, no one came. So I interviewed Ann Marie McQueen instead.
Hours later, I returned to nab a spot with friends at the pub beside Zaphod’s, on the outdoor patio. That’s when things really started to happen. Trailer after trailer arrived, the street was completely closed off, production crews were barking orders all day and beautiful people started streaming into restricted areas, signed up as ‘extras’ for the Stones video shoot. I found an adjoining patio between the pub and Zaphod’s, and lo and behold, the ‘extra’s’ were all hanging out, waiting patiently to be called in to take their place inside the bar, waiting patiently to be part of something so cool, wow, a Stones video. That’s when it hit me. I decided to act like an extra. Sure, I didn’t look like one of them. These were hip rocksters in super funky clothes, clothes chosen just for them by a wardrobe lady that kept disappearing into a giant wardrobe trailer. I was wearing hiking boots, jeans, and a giant grey sweatshirt. I spoke to no one, afraid to blow my cover. Every once in a while, from my spot on the ‘extra’s patio’, I would hear a big roar from the ever-expanding crowd lining the sidewalks. Ronnie Wood had just arrived and disappeared into a trailer. Another roar. It was Keith! Then Charlie. Then Mick. Incognito amidst the extra’s, I waited patiently as they were called in to the bar, to take their place in the video shoot, one by one. Of course I had never given anyone my name, I didn’t fit the physical ‘look’ that these people had been hired for, and I wasn’t quite sure how to handle that moment when I would be the only one left, with absolutely no explanation of what I was doing there, no paperwork filled out, nothing. I was fully prepared to be busted and return to my friends outside on the pub patio. That’s when something incredible happened. The wardrobe lady came into the ‘extra’s’ holding tank and asked me if I had something else to wear. I said no. Then she handed me the hippest green shirt, and told me to change, fast. The last round of extra’s were summoned to the video set, and I was one of them. I was now inside the club, doing my best to blend in, tucking myself into the crowd on the dance floor. I kept praying the director wouldn’t notice the one woman in the middle who just didn’t project hipness. A couple of moments later, the Stones entered Zaphods, climbed on the stage, and the fantasy began. The band kicked into their single, ‘Streets of Love’, and our job was to act like a bunch of bar patrons doing what they do, grooving to the band. I was in so much shock over what I was seeing, Mick and the boys a mere ten feet away on a tiny stage, and I tried to pump my fist to the song but my entire body froze. Eventually I did pump my fist, and swayed with both arms in the air, showing off my prop drink, sharing a laugh with Ronnie Wood. Cameras rolled, production people shouted, beautiful people were put in strategic positions, regular people like me maintained the important role of padding out the bar. I wasn’t trying to get into the video, I just wanted to see the Stones play in a tiny bar. It was an experience I will never ever forget. Watch for the video ‘Streets of Love’ coming soon to Much Music. I wonder if my fist ended up on the cutting room floor.
Thursday, August 25, 2005
The Stars Just Keep Coming
Wow! What a week this has been! My birthday is actually in February, but I moved it to August 22nd. So, for a birthday gift, JR and Morning After producer ‘Hammer’ got me the most amazing gift. A personal phone call from my favourite guy on the Weather Network, Chris St. Clair! He’s the guy on the Weather Network on Saturdays and Sundays. I find myself mesmerized by his knowledge of weather. Chris St Clair was kind enough to call me on the air on Tuesday morning, and offered me the chance to be the head of the Chris St Clair Fan Club, which, at this point, does not yet exist. What a great birthday!
Definitely planning to take in the Ottawa Air Show this weekend at the Carp Airport. For info, go to www.airshowottawa.com. I’m going for a flight in a vintage plane, I think it’s a B-25. Oddly enough, I have no fear of climbing into any kind of plane, no matter how small or how old or how loud it is. However, I am deathly afraid of clowns.
The ‘back to school’ feeling is everywhere now. Not having any kids, I do miss out on some of the fun this time of year. If it is fun. I’m not even sure. I know that when I was a kid it meant the end of a lot of the things I did all summer long, and just before the first day of school I had to release all of my frogs. One of the things I do enjoy about the back to school time, is that I can go into any drug store and they have these big product packs filled with shampoo and toothpaste and pens and stuff for 5 bucks. I pretend I’m buying it for my kids.
Rolling Stones in Ottawa. Biggest show ever. If you live in the Glebe, let me know if you’re willing to share your driveway. Yeah, like I’m the first one to mention that! I’m so charged up about this show because the Stones are without a doubt one of the best live acts in the history of music. I wasn’t going to spoil the surprise by checking out this tour’s set list, but I did anyway. ‘Doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doooo doo doo Heartbreaker’ is on the set list!!! That’s my favourite Stones song. Hope they play yours, too.
See you there!
Hey, if you’re a fan of ‘Rock Star INXS’, don’t miss this Tuesday’s ‘Morning After’ show on BOB. JR and I are going to be chatting with the one and only ‘J.D’. He’s Canadian, eh! He’s agreed to join us on the air to talk about all the ‘behind the scenes’ stuff from the show, as he continues his drive to be the new lead singer for INXS. I say he’s definitely in the running, along with Mig. One thing you can say for sure about J.D, he’s been the most colorful character on the show. Should be a great interview! Don’t miss it!
Definitely planning to take in the Ottawa Air Show this weekend at the Carp Airport. For info, go to www.airshowottawa.com. I’m going for a flight in a vintage plane, I think it’s a B-25. Oddly enough, I have no fear of climbing into any kind of plane, no matter how small or how old or how loud it is. However, I am deathly afraid of clowns.
The ‘back to school’ feeling is everywhere now. Not having any kids, I do miss out on some of the fun this time of year. If it is fun. I’m not even sure. I know that when I was a kid it meant the end of a lot of the things I did all summer long, and just before the first day of school I had to release all of my frogs. One of the things I do enjoy about the back to school time, is that I can go into any drug store and they have these big product packs filled with shampoo and toothpaste and pens and stuff for 5 bucks. I pretend I’m buying it for my kids.
Rolling Stones in Ottawa. Biggest show ever. If you live in the Glebe, let me know if you’re willing to share your driveway. Yeah, like I’m the first one to mention that! I’m so charged up about this show because the Stones are without a doubt one of the best live acts in the history of music. I wasn’t going to spoil the surprise by checking out this tour’s set list, but I did anyway. ‘Doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doooo doo doo Heartbreaker’ is on the set list!!! That’s my favourite Stones song. Hope they play yours, too.
See you there!
Hey, if you’re a fan of ‘Rock Star INXS’, don’t miss this Tuesday’s ‘Morning After’ show on BOB. JR and I are going to be chatting with the one and only ‘J.D’. He’s Canadian, eh! He’s agreed to join us on the air to talk about all the ‘behind the scenes’ stuff from the show, as he continues his drive to be the new lead singer for INXS. I say he’s definitely in the running, along with Mig. One thing you can say for sure about J.D, he’s been the most colorful character on the show. Should be a great interview! Don’t miss it!
Monday, August 22, 2005
See the Stones from the Ferris Wheel
Hard to believe that the Rolling Stones will be here in a few days! Wonder if they spent any time here the last time they played Ottawa, in 1965. In 1975, Ronnie Wood played the Civic Centre with Rod Stewart and the Faces. A friend of mine, Dave, was at that show, at the age of 13 it was his first concert. Dave was near the front of the stage and getting a bit crushed by fans, and Ronnie Wood actually grabbed him and plunked him onto the side of the stage to watch the rest of the show. Every few songs, Ronnie went over to check on Dave to make sure he was having a good time. What a guy. Speaking of Ronnie Wood, not only is he in town this weekend, his art is coming too. The Ronnie Wood Art Exhibition is on at the Congress Centre this Thursday to Sunday. Ronnie’s art is mostly portraits of the Stones, and the prices for signed lithographs range from $1500 to $10,000. You can check out some of his work at www.klimart.com. Will the man himself appear at his own exhibition? Let me know if you spot him.
If you don’t have tickets to the Rolling Stones, of course you can always win a free pair by being the 9th caller through when you hear the ‘Stones Lick of the Day’ on BOB FM. Or, you can try this: I did some research at the Ex the other day. I went on both the ferris wheel and the Cannon Ball ride. From both of these rides, you have a pretty good vantage point to see the Rolling Stones on stage. At least for a few seconds. Unless you tip ride operator and he stops the ride for you while at the top. Then you may get to see the Stones do an entire song.
The social event of the year returns this Sunday, with a bit of a twist. For years, NAC executive chef Kurt Waldele and his lovely wife Dr. Suzanne Beachemin have hosted the ‘Humane Society Garden Party’ at their Cumberland home. This year, its being billed as the ‘Urban Garden Party’ and its taking place on the terrace of the NAC. It all starts with a cocktail reception, a sumptuous 4-course luncheon, fine wine and entertainment. The Humane Society Urban Garden Party starts at noon so there’s no conflict with the Stones show. I just have to figure out what outfit will suit both an elegant garden party and a kick ass rock and roll show. Could be a bit of a challenge. Tickets for the garden party are still available but hurry because it always sells out. Check the Humane Society’s website, www.ottawahumane.ca.
If you don’t have tickets to the Rolling Stones, of course you can always win a free pair by being the 9th caller through when you hear the ‘Stones Lick of the Day’ on BOB FM. Or, you can try this: I did some research at the Ex the other day. I went on both the ferris wheel and the Cannon Ball ride. From both of these rides, you have a pretty good vantage point to see the Rolling Stones on stage. At least for a few seconds. Unless you tip ride operator and he stops the ride for you while at the top. Then you may get to see the Stones do an entire song.
The social event of the year returns this Sunday, with a bit of a twist. For years, NAC executive chef Kurt Waldele and his lovely wife Dr. Suzanne Beachemin have hosted the ‘Humane Society Garden Party’ at their Cumberland home. This year, its being billed as the ‘Urban Garden Party’ and its taking place on the terrace of the NAC. It all starts with a cocktail reception, a sumptuous 4-course luncheon, fine wine and entertainment. The Humane Society Urban Garden Party starts at noon so there’s no conflict with the Stones show. I just have to figure out what outfit will suit both an elegant garden party and a kick ass rock and roll show. Could be a bit of a challenge. Tickets for the garden party are still available but hurry because it always sells out. Check the Humane Society’s website, www.ottawahumane.ca.
Wednesday, August 17, 2005
Sweating Over Beads
There’s a bit of a battle going on here in town, and it all revolves around some strings of beads. Renegades owner Lonnie Gleiberman thought it would be fun to do a Mardi-gras style ‘gimme your beads’ promotion in the upper deck, with the woman begging/borrowing/stealing the most beads from nearby men winning $1000. Word is that some women are even doffing their tops!! Oh no! The Renegades ‘Mardi gras’ promotion is getting ‘exposure’ all over the country, to the point that the producers of ‘Girls Gone Wild’ were actually in the stands with their video cameras at the last game. This whole thing isn’t sitting well with City Councellor Jan Harder, who has referred to Lonnie Gleiberman as an ‘immature twit’. She wants the plug pulled on all this tom-foolery immediately. JR from ‘the morning after’ on BOB FM came up with a great idea: why don’t the Renegades set up a ‘no holds barred cage match’, center field, half time, Gleiberman versus Harder, one big mat and gallons of Mazola oil. This would garner much more attention than Mardi gras night.
Nothing like people watching on the patio during a late summer evening in the Byward market. Lately I’ve noticed streams of people following someone in a big black hooded cape with a lantern, winding through the market. I’ve learned that this is the ‘Haunted Walk of Ottawa’. People are guided around at night to see things that are scary in the market. Hmmm. Wonder if they stop at the Dominion Tavern.
The Ex is back! I love the Ex, but I have a hard time finding someone to go on rides with me. Last year I went to the Ex as soon as the doors opened, by myself. I went on the Himalaya, the Pirate Ship, the Scrambler, and the Gravitron. All by myself. Then I went on the double ferris wheel. By that time, crowds had developed and they couldn’t afford to let me take up a seat all by myself. Some kid had won a giant Spongebob Squarepants and he started to cry because he wanted it to go on the ferris wheel with him, but there wasn’t room in his seat for him and his Dad and the giant Spongebob Squarepants, so the ride operator compromised and put the giant Spongebob next to me. Needless to say, the ferris wheel stopped or got stuck or something and I was sky high, just me and Spongebob. At least he didn’t throw up on me.
I received an ‘out of the blue’ gift this summer from a friend of mine, Janet Podleski , who puts out those fabulous Looneyspoons cookbooks with her sister Greta. (their newest book ‘Eat Shrink and Be Merry’ is out soon) . Janet bought a book for me, called ‘Pack of Two’ by Caroline Knapp. Janet loves dogs as much as I do, and she wanted me to read this book. I thanked her profusely, then drove home thinking ‘uh oh’…. I haven’t read a book in two years. I started to read ‘Seabiscuit’ in January 2003 and I’m still not finished. Anyway, if a friend goes out and buys you a book, you have to read it, you have no choice, its all you think about, you’re sitting there eating chips and dip or listening to the radio and you see the book on the coffee table and it still has the new book smell. Well, I read it. Cover to cover. Took me two days on the dock at the cottage and one day in the car on the way home from New Brunswick. If you love dogs, read ‘Pack of Two’. This book is about the incredible bond we share with our dogs. Its beautifully written and it may make you cry, especially if you’re the type of person who hugs your dog a hundred times a day. Thanks for making me read a book, Janet! Maybe I should start a Book Club. The ‘One Book Every Two Years’ Club.
Let me know if you’d like to join.
Nothing like people watching on the patio during a late summer evening in the Byward market. Lately I’ve noticed streams of people following someone in a big black hooded cape with a lantern, winding through the market. I’ve learned that this is the ‘Haunted Walk of Ottawa’. People are guided around at night to see things that are scary in the market. Hmmm. Wonder if they stop at the Dominion Tavern.
The Ex is back! I love the Ex, but I have a hard time finding someone to go on rides with me. Last year I went to the Ex as soon as the doors opened, by myself. I went on the Himalaya, the Pirate Ship, the Scrambler, and the Gravitron. All by myself. Then I went on the double ferris wheel. By that time, crowds had developed and they couldn’t afford to let me take up a seat all by myself. Some kid had won a giant Spongebob Squarepants and he started to cry because he wanted it to go on the ferris wheel with him, but there wasn’t room in his seat for him and his Dad and the giant Spongebob Squarepants, so the ride operator compromised and put the giant Spongebob next to me. Needless to say, the ferris wheel stopped or got stuck or something and I was sky high, just me and Spongebob. At least he didn’t throw up on me.
I received an ‘out of the blue’ gift this summer from a friend of mine, Janet Podleski , who puts out those fabulous Looneyspoons cookbooks with her sister Greta. (their newest book ‘Eat Shrink and Be Merry’ is out soon) . Janet bought a book for me, called ‘Pack of Two’ by Caroline Knapp. Janet loves dogs as much as I do, and she wanted me to read this book. I thanked her profusely, then drove home thinking ‘uh oh’…. I haven’t read a book in two years. I started to read ‘Seabiscuit’ in January 2003 and I’m still not finished. Anyway, if a friend goes out and buys you a book, you have to read it, you have no choice, its all you think about, you’re sitting there eating chips and dip or listening to the radio and you see the book on the coffee table and it still has the new book smell. Well, I read it. Cover to cover. Took me two days on the dock at the cottage and one day in the car on the way home from New Brunswick. If you love dogs, read ‘Pack of Two’. This book is about the incredible bond we share with our dogs. Its beautifully written and it may make you cry, especially if you’re the type of person who hugs your dog a hundred times a day. Thanks for making me read a book, Janet! Maybe I should start a Book Club. The ‘One Book Every Two Years’ Club.
Let me know if you’d like to join.
Thursday, August 11, 2005
Thumbs up to Greekfest!
Sandy’s Blog
Somehow, on ‘the Morning After’ morning show, we got on the topic of soft drinks and other drinks that you just never see around anymore. JR mentioned ‘Tahiti Treat’, which I had never heard of, and I mentioned ‘Beep’, a weird orange drink we used to get as a kid, which JR had never heard of. Now we’re on a mission to find out if ‘Tab’ still exists. Tab had the unfortunate timing of being a diet drink ‘before’ they invented aspartame. I remember it tasting like tree bark. Does anyone know if Tab is still around? In my quest to find some of these drinks, I stumbled upon a whole new drink at Shafali Indian takeout restaurant in the market. Shafali has a big cooler full of the usual pop drinks, but they also carry ‘Thums Up’. Comes in a bottle that looks exactly like a Coke bottle, the drink looks like Coke, then on the label it actually says this is a Coca-Cola product. Its made only in India. On the ‘Thums Up’ bottle is a drawing of a thumb pointing up, like it’s hitchhiking. I’m not about to tell the folks at Coca-Cola that there’s usually a ‘b’ at the end of the word ‘thum’. Anyway, I think I’m now going to start a soft drink collection. So far, I have a bottle of ‘Thums Up’, and a can of Diet Pepsi.
If you’ve ever left a banana on the back seat of your car, you know the trouble that can cause when the temperature is 40 degrees with the humidex. Enough said.
Despite all the criticism of the show ‘Rock Star INXS’, I must say, I love watching it. I agree that it’s a questionable way to replace the late great INXS front-man Michael Hutchence. But I’m absolutely glued to the tv when this show comes on. My choice to win this whole thing is Marty. But the two remaining Canadians, J.D and Suzie have really provided the most entertaining moments. I just hope Van Halen doesn’t start a reality show looking for a new singer. Its highly probable that David Lee Roth would apply for the job.
Uh oh.
The Greek Festival is back!! If you’ve never been, you really have to get a group together and head down to the Hellenic Centre on Prince of Wales. The fun continues til August 21st and the admission is free. Watch for the Zorba dance every night. If they grab you and bring you up on stage, they may give you ‘ouzo’, and you may not make it to work the next day. Just to let you know. Opa!
Somehow, on ‘the Morning After’ morning show, we got on the topic of soft drinks and other drinks that you just never see around anymore. JR mentioned ‘Tahiti Treat’, which I had never heard of, and I mentioned ‘Beep’, a weird orange drink we used to get as a kid, which JR had never heard of. Now we’re on a mission to find out if ‘Tab’ still exists. Tab had the unfortunate timing of being a diet drink ‘before’ they invented aspartame. I remember it tasting like tree bark. Does anyone know if Tab is still around? In my quest to find some of these drinks, I stumbled upon a whole new drink at Shafali Indian takeout restaurant in the market. Shafali has a big cooler full of the usual pop drinks, but they also carry ‘Thums Up’. Comes in a bottle that looks exactly like a Coke bottle, the drink looks like Coke, then on the label it actually says this is a Coca-Cola product. Its made only in India. On the ‘Thums Up’ bottle is a drawing of a thumb pointing up, like it’s hitchhiking. I’m not about to tell the folks at Coca-Cola that there’s usually a ‘b’ at the end of the word ‘thum’. Anyway, I think I’m now going to start a soft drink collection. So far, I have a bottle of ‘Thums Up’, and a can of Diet Pepsi.
If you’ve ever left a banana on the back seat of your car, you know the trouble that can cause when the temperature is 40 degrees with the humidex. Enough said.
Despite all the criticism of the show ‘Rock Star INXS’, I must say, I love watching it. I agree that it’s a questionable way to replace the late great INXS front-man Michael Hutchence. But I’m absolutely glued to the tv when this show comes on. My choice to win this whole thing is Marty. But the two remaining Canadians, J.D and Suzie have really provided the most entertaining moments. I just hope Van Halen doesn’t start a reality show looking for a new singer. Its highly probable that David Lee Roth would apply for the job.
Uh oh.
The Greek Festival is back!! If you’ve never been, you really have to get a group together and head down to the Hellenic Centre on Prince of Wales. The fun continues til August 21st and the admission is free. Watch for the Zorba dance every night. If they grab you and bring you up on stage, they may give you ‘ouzo’, and you may not make it to work the next day. Just to let you know. Opa!
Monday, August 08, 2005
My bike: friend or nemesary?
Back from holidays, I feel like a kid talking about ‘what I did on my summer vacation’. Spent time at the cottage, went to Mont Tremblant, then back at the cottage, then one night in Quebec City, then onto Woodstock New Brunswick, then Maine, then New Hampshire, then back at the cottage, then off to Lake Huron, then I got a new bike. That’s about it. The thing about getting a bike, is that it sits there reminding you that you should go for a bike ride. On my first bike ride, I chose a lovely uphill dirt road. So I walked my bike up the hill. Therefore I didn’t actually ‘ride’ my bike, but we both had a lovely uphill walk. It was quite bonding, actually. Probably didn’t need my helmet.
Have you ever used a word regularly for your entire life, only to discover one day that it isn’t actually a word? The word, is ‘nemesary’. I’ve used it often. I’ve used it in conversation over dinner with my husband, I’ve used it on Saturday nights playing board games with friends, I’ve used to fairly regularly on the air in the morning show. Turns out, ‘nemesary’ is not a word. I was questioned about it recently and checked in the dictionary. It ain’t there. Anyhow, I don’t give up easily and I think ‘nemesary’ deserves to be a real word. ‘Nemesary’, in my definition, is ‘a thorn in your side, as in, your worst competitor ever’…ie…The Ottawa Senators once again had to get past their nemesary, the Toronto Maple Leafs’. I have now officially entered my word for editors’ consideration on the website, www.urbandictionary.com. It apparently takes 21 days for their people to decide whether or not ‘nemesary’ will be accepted as a word. I will keep you posted. In the meantime, let me know if you’ve ever made up a word. Something that can be printed here.
We’re all counting down the days til the big Rolling Stones concert here in Ottawa. While the Stones continue to rehearse in Toronto, I have some friends in T.O who are desperately hoping to catch the Stones in a small club venue, as they always put on a couple of surprise shows before they head out on a big tour. No one knows when or where Mick and Keith and the boys will show up for an impromptu gig. As someone who has never had the thrill of some huge artist jumping up on stage in a small establishment that I happen to be patronizing, I would love to hear stories from anyone who has. The closest I ever came was one night, years ago, standing on Bank Street trying to decide whether or not to go into Barrymores. My friends and I went to Wendy’s instead. Bob Seger showed up and rocked the place til 3 am. Sigh. So close, and yet so far. Fill me in if you have a story!
Have you ever used a word regularly for your entire life, only to discover one day that it isn’t actually a word? The word, is ‘nemesary’. I’ve used it often. I’ve used it in conversation over dinner with my husband, I’ve used it on Saturday nights playing board games with friends, I’ve used to fairly regularly on the air in the morning show. Turns out, ‘nemesary’ is not a word. I was questioned about it recently and checked in the dictionary. It ain’t there. Anyhow, I don’t give up easily and I think ‘nemesary’ deserves to be a real word. ‘Nemesary’, in my definition, is ‘a thorn in your side, as in, your worst competitor ever’…ie…The Ottawa Senators once again had to get past their nemesary, the Toronto Maple Leafs’. I have now officially entered my word for editors’ consideration on the website, www.urbandictionary.com. It apparently takes 21 days for their people to decide whether or not ‘nemesary’ will be accepted as a word. I will keep you posted. In the meantime, let me know if you’ve ever made up a word. Something that can be printed here.
We’re all counting down the days til the big Rolling Stones concert here in Ottawa. While the Stones continue to rehearse in Toronto, I have some friends in T.O who are desperately hoping to catch the Stones in a small club venue, as they always put on a couple of surprise shows before they head out on a big tour. No one knows when or where Mick and Keith and the boys will show up for an impromptu gig. As someone who has never had the thrill of some huge artist jumping up on stage in a small establishment that I happen to be patronizing, I would love to hear stories from anyone who has. The closest I ever came was one night, years ago, standing on Bank Street trying to decide whether or not to go into Barrymores. My friends and I went to Wendy’s instead. Bob Seger showed up and rocked the place til 3 am. Sigh. So close, and yet so far. Fill me in if you have a story!
Tuesday, July 26, 2005
I'm on holiday!
Hi. I mean, bye. I'm away on holiday doing research into family reunions in Woodstock New Brunswick. Back August 8th. I won't forget to write.
Thursday, July 14, 2005
Are you hot? I'm hot
How are you dealing with the heat? JR from the ‘Morning After’ on BOB FM visits his local beer store and just stays in the cooler room. At my place we don’t have air conditioning, just a couple of fans. One way for me to beat the heat is to skip dinner and just have a giant bowl of ice cream. Not sure if it cools me down, but who cares.
A listener called us from upper New York State to tell us that she’d been whitewater rafting with Bruce Springsteen last week. She didn’t have tickets to the show in Ottawa because she was too shy to ask him at the time. They were rafting down the Hudson River in the Adirondack Mountain area. She wanted BOB FM to give her some Springsteen tickets, and she promised a secret about Bruce in return. Hmmm. She had to win the tickets fair and square, we couldn’t just give them to her, so we never did find out that secret about the Boss. Oh well. All I could picture was Bruce Springsteen in a wetsuit.
If you have goldfish or your kids have goldfish, maybe you can explain this one. I have a goldfish that looks like he’s no longer living, about every 2nd day. One day he’s belly up, not moving, game over, then the next day he’s swimming around like crazy. This has been going on since January. I have spent about $200 on various medications for this 19 cent fish, and he still pretends he’s expired on Sundays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. If he’s doing this just for attention, not a bad idea. Here I am writing about him.
Many thanks go out to a wonderful BOB FM listener, Val. Val has offered me a horse. I can’t take the horse right now, as my yard is not big enough, but I sure appreciate the offer.
Looks like they’re going to have to bring in more porta-potties at Bluesfest. The beer sales are soaring this year and the line-ups for johnny-on-the-spot are crazy. People are dancing more in the loo line than they are watching the live bands. I’m ok with porta-potties as long as there’s still some light in the sky. As soon as the porta-potty is under the dark of night, and I can’t see what lies in wait, thats when things get sticky. Sorry about that.
A listener called us from upper New York State to tell us that she’d been whitewater rafting with Bruce Springsteen last week. She didn’t have tickets to the show in Ottawa because she was too shy to ask him at the time. They were rafting down the Hudson River in the Adirondack Mountain area. She wanted BOB FM to give her some Springsteen tickets, and she promised a secret about Bruce in return. Hmmm. She had to win the tickets fair and square, we couldn’t just give them to her, so we never did find out that secret about the Boss. Oh well. All I could picture was Bruce Springsteen in a wetsuit.
If you have goldfish or your kids have goldfish, maybe you can explain this one. I have a goldfish that looks like he’s no longer living, about every 2nd day. One day he’s belly up, not moving, game over, then the next day he’s swimming around like crazy. This has been going on since January. I have spent about $200 on various medications for this 19 cent fish, and he still pretends he’s expired on Sundays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. If he’s doing this just for attention, not a bad idea. Here I am writing about him.
Many thanks go out to a wonderful BOB FM listener, Val. Val has offered me a horse. I can’t take the horse right now, as my yard is not big enough, but I sure appreciate the offer.
Looks like they’re going to have to bring in more porta-potties at Bluesfest. The beer sales are soaring this year and the line-ups for johnny-on-the-spot are crazy. People are dancing more in the loo line than they are watching the live bands. I’m ok with porta-potties as long as there’s still some light in the sky. As soon as the porta-potty is under the dark of night, and I can’t see what lies in wait, thats when things get sticky. Sorry about that.
Wednesday, July 13, 2005
Stayin' Cool and Porta Blues
Sandy’s Blog
July 13, 2005
How are you dealing with the heat? JR from the ‘Morning After’ on BOB FM visits his local beer store and just stays in the cooler room. At my place we don’t have air conditioning, just a couple of fans. One way for me to beat the heat is to skip dinner and just have a giant bowl of ice cream. Not sure if it cools me down, but who cares.
A listener called us from upper New York State to tell us that she’d been whitewater rafting with Bruce Springsteen last week. She didn’t have tickets to the show in Ottawa because she was too shy to ask him at the time. They were rafting down the Hudson River in the Adirondack Mountain area. She wanted BOB FM to give her some Springsteen tickets, and she promised a secret about Bruce in return. Hmmm. She had to win the tickets fair and square, we couldn’t just give them to her, so we never did find out that secret about the Boss. Oh well. All I could picture was Bruce Springsteen in a wetsuit.
If you have goldfish or your kids have goldfish, maybe you can explain this one. I have a goldfish that looks like he’s no longer living, about every 2nd day. One day he’s belly up, not moving, game over, then the next day he’s swimming around like crazy. This has been going on since January. I have spent about $200 on various medications for this 19 cent fish, and he still pretends he’s expired on Sundays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. If he’s doing this just for attention, not a bad idea. Here I am writing about him.
Many thanks go out to a wonderful BOB FM listener, Val. Val has offered me a horse. I can’t take the horse right now, as my yard is not big enough, but I sure appreciate the offer.
Looks like they’re going to have to bring in more porta-potties at Bluesfest. The beer sales are soaring this year and the line-ups for johnny-on-the-spot are crazy. People are dancing more in the loo line than they are watching the live bands. I’m ok with porta-potties as long as there’s still some light in the sky. As soon as the porta-potty is under the dark of night, and I can’t see what lies in wait, thats when things get sticky. Sorry about that.
July 13, 2005
How are you dealing with the heat? JR from the ‘Morning After’ on BOB FM visits his local beer store and just stays in the cooler room. At my place we don’t have air conditioning, just a couple of fans. One way for me to beat the heat is to skip dinner and just have a giant bowl of ice cream. Not sure if it cools me down, but who cares.
A listener called us from upper New York State to tell us that she’d been whitewater rafting with Bruce Springsteen last week. She didn’t have tickets to the show in Ottawa because she was too shy to ask him at the time. They were rafting down the Hudson River in the Adirondack Mountain area. She wanted BOB FM to give her some Springsteen tickets, and she promised a secret about Bruce in return. Hmmm. She had to win the tickets fair and square, we couldn’t just give them to her, so we never did find out that secret about the Boss. Oh well. All I could picture was Bruce Springsteen in a wetsuit.
If you have goldfish or your kids have goldfish, maybe you can explain this one. I have a goldfish that looks like he’s no longer living, about every 2nd day. One day he’s belly up, not moving, game over, then the next day he’s swimming around like crazy. This has been going on since January. I have spent about $200 on various medications for this 19 cent fish, and he still pretends he’s expired on Sundays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. If he’s doing this just for attention, not a bad idea. Here I am writing about him.
Many thanks go out to a wonderful BOB FM listener, Val. Val has offered me a horse. I can’t take the horse right now, as my yard is not big enough, but I sure appreciate the offer.
Looks like they’re going to have to bring in more porta-potties at Bluesfest. The beer sales are soaring this year and the line-ups for johnny-on-the-spot are crazy. People are dancing more in the loo line than they are watching the live bands. I’m ok with porta-potties as long as there’s still some light in the sky. As soon as the porta-potty is under the dark of night, and I can’t see what lies in wait, thats when things get sticky. Sorry about that.
Thursday, July 07, 2005
Tough to Stay Outta the Trees
Sandy’s Blog
July 7, 2005
It looks like Ottawa Senators hockey is returning to the Nation’s Capital! Did you miss it? I know I did. While CBC TV made a valiant attempt to entertain us every Saturday night with movies like ‘Raiders of the Lost Ark’ introduced by Ron McLean, it just wasn’t the same. This past year I missed going to the games. I even missed Spartacat and his Master Blaster. Nothing like enjoying a turkey sub that just travelled seventy feet through the air. Welcome back, Wade Redden, Mike Fisher, and Alfie. And welcome, Domenic Hasek. Its a heck of a lot better having you on our side. This fall I will look forward to being part of the west-bound Queensway convoy to the Corel Centre, making that long frigid walk through the parking lot, buying $11.00 beers, running into everyone I know on the Corel Centre concourse, and, oh yeah, watching a great hockey game. Even the Leafs fans will not bug me this year. Well, maybe not that last one.
This week I spent an entire afternoon in the trees. Thank you to the Suderman brothers, owners of Camp Fortune, for an incredible experience at ‘Aerial Adventure’. The best way to describe ‘Aerial Adventure’, is to call it an obstacle course way high up in the trees. You are strapped into a harness and you are 100 percent safe, a concept you sometimes forget when you are straddling suspension bridges, diving off tree-top platforms, swinging on giant ropes and, in my case, dangling helplessly on occasion. The staff is always there to help you if you get caught in a ‘predicament’, as I did at the snowboarding section. My excitement at the thought of snowboarding from tree-top to tree-top turned into a fairly embarrassing moment, the snowboard sailed to the tree without me, leaving me dangling like a pair of underwear on a clothes-line. Camp Fortune’s ‘Aerial Experience’ ranges from exhilarating to scary to hysterical to funny, and I can’t wait to do it again. For info, check out www.campfortune.com. Do it with your spouse and you will trust them forever.
For about a month, I’ve been playing a little game with gas stations. When the gas is up around 95 cents, I just get a little bit of gas, thinking it will be much lower the next day. The next day, its around 96 cents. So I do the same thing. I have been in denial, driving around on fumes, waiting and praying for the gas to come down. This concept I also apply to my gas lawn mower and my 9.9 hp outboard boat motor. Maybe thats why my lawn is only half cut and I can only go for a two minute boat ride. But I’m sure one of these days, the gas will return to 59 cents a litre. It will happen, I’m sure of it. This gas stuff reminds me of a boyfriend I had a long time ago, who used to charge me the gas money to pick me up for a date. Our dates always started with me handing him two bucks for gas. If I was still with him, each date would probably run me about thirty bucks. Then again, if I was still with this guy, I’d have a lot greater problems than paying for gas! Sheesh
July 7, 2005
It looks like Ottawa Senators hockey is returning to the Nation’s Capital! Did you miss it? I know I did. While CBC TV made a valiant attempt to entertain us every Saturday night with movies like ‘Raiders of the Lost Ark’ introduced by Ron McLean, it just wasn’t the same. This past year I missed going to the games. I even missed Spartacat and his Master Blaster. Nothing like enjoying a turkey sub that just travelled seventy feet through the air. Welcome back, Wade Redden, Mike Fisher, and Alfie. And welcome, Domenic Hasek. Its a heck of a lot better having you on our side. This fall I will look forward to being part of the west-bound Queensway convoy to the Corel Centre, making that long frigid walk through the parking lot, buying $11.00 beers, running into everyone I know on the Corel Centre concourse, and, oh yeah, watching a great hockey game. Even the Leafs fans will not bug me this year. Well, maybe not that last one.
This week I spent an entire afternoon in the trees. Thank you to the Suderman brothers, owners of Camp Fortune, for an incredible experience at ‘Aerial Adventure’. The best way to describe ‘Aerial Adventure’, is to call it an obstacle course way high up in the trees. You are strapped into a harness and you are 100 percent safe, a concept you sometimes forget when you are straddling suspension bridges, diving off tree-top platforms, swinging on giant ropes and, in my case, dangling helplessly on occasion. The staff is always there to help you if you get caught in a ‘predicament’, as I did at the snowboarding section. My excitement at the thought of snowboarding from tree-top to tree-top turned into a fairly embarrassing moment, the snowboard sailed to the tree without me, leaving me dangling like a pair of underwear on a clothes-line. Camp Fortune’s ‘Aerial Experience’ ranges from exhilarating to scary to hysterical to funny, and I can’t wait to do it again. For info, check out www.campfortune.com. Do it with your spouse and you will trust them forever.
For about a month, I’ve been playing a little game with gas stations. When the gas is up around 95 cents, I just get a little bit of gas, thinking it will be much lower the next day. The next day, its around 96 cents. So I do the same thing. I have been in denial, driving around on fumes, waiting and praying for the gas to come down. This concept I also apply to my gas lawn mower and my 9.9 hp outboard boat motor. Maybe thats why my lawn is only half cut and I can only go for a two minute boat ride. But I’m sure one of these days, the gas will return to 59 cents a litre. It will happen, I’m sure of it. This gas stuff reminds me of a boyfriend I had a long time ago, who used to charge me the gas money to pick me up for a date. Our dates always started with me handing him two bucks for gas. If I was still with him, each date would probably run me about thirty bucks. Then again, if I was still with this guy, I’d have a lot greater problems than paying for gas! Sheesh
Tuesday, July 05, 2005
Live 8 Was Great
The statistics are out, and they’re impressive. One in three households in Canada watched the Live 8 concerts this past Saturday, some 10.8 million Canadians. The viewership peaked when Neil Young took the stage in Barrie and belted out ‘Keep on Rockin’ in the Free World’, with a little help from the Tragically Hip, Gordon Lightfoot, Bruce Cockburn and Blue Rodeo among others. It was a Canadian music lover’s dream. But more importantly, Live 8 raised the world’s awareness of the devastating poverty that continues to haunt Africa. As the leaders of the 8 richest nations gather at the G-8 Summit in Scotland, it is hoped that they got the message the world was sending. Ours is the generation that must help these people. Please log onto www.makepovertyhistory.ca and add your support. The effects of Live 8 will continue long after these concerts, but in the meantime, you can also go to www.live8live.com and download the day’s opener, ‘Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band’ with Bono and Paul MacCartney, as well as the big Hyde Park finale with our favourite Beatle leading Elton John, Eric Clapton, Sting and others in a very emotionally charged ‘The Long and Winding Road’. Proceeds to these downloads go directly to helping the poor in Africa. Well done, Sir Bob Geldof.
Did you hear the one about Bruce Springsteen playing an impromptu gig at the Iceland Airport? On his way home from his European tour, (so he can rest up for his next gig, which is right here in Ottawa on July 13th!!) Bruce’s plane had to stop and re-fuel in Iceland. He pulled out his acoustic guitar and played six songs for airport workers. Sure beat watching the in-flight movie, ‘Fat Albert’.
Speaking of Bruce, make sure you join JR and me right here at the radio station for the ‘Bruce Springsteen Ticket Swap’, at 8 this Sunday morning. Come to BOB FM’s parking lot on York armed with the most creative, inventive, sentimental and/or valuable thing you own. Then swap it for a pair of 100 level Bruce Springsteen tickets. Your item will be judged by a non-biased panel, and if you don’t get chosen for the swap, you can still enter our draw for a pair of beautiful Boss seats. I sure hope someone shows up with a pony.
Its Bluesfest week and that means another round of ‘chair sitters’ vs ‘standers’ the concert. May the person with the biggest voice win. Or the biggest lawn chair.
Did you hear the one about Bruce Springsteen playing an impromptu gig at the Iceland Airport? On his way home from his European tour, (so he can rest up for his next gig, which is right here in Ottawa on July 13th!!) Bruce’s plane had to stop and re-fuel in Iceland. He pulled out his acoustic guitar and played six songs for airport workers. Sure beat watching the in-flight movie, ‘Fat Albert’.
Speaking of Bruce, make sure you join JR and me right here at the radio station for the ‘Bruce Springsteen Ticket Swap’, at 8 this Sunday morning. Come to BOB FM’s parking lot on York armed with the most creative, inventive, sentimental and/or valuable thing you own. Then swap it for a pair of 100 level Bruce Springsteen tickets. Your item will be judged by a non-biased panel, and if you don’t get chosen for the swap, you can still enter our draw for a pair of beautiful Boss seats. I sure hope someone shows up with a pony.
Its Bluesfest week and that means another round of ‘chair sitters’ vs ‘standers’ the concert. May the person with the biggest voice win. Or the biggest lawn chair.
Wednesday, June 29, 2005
Show Us Your Stuff!
June 29, 2005
Thank you to the Certified General Accountants of Ottawa for inviting me to MC the golf tournament for Big Sisters/Big Brothers of Ottawa, although the request for me to tell ‘accountant jokes’ at the dinner is a bit of a challenge. I am not one to remember jokes, but I did check on the internet and lo and behold, there are thousands of accountant jokes! But my personal favourite: why was the accountant so excited that it was Saturday? Because he gets to wear casual clothes to work! Now you can see why I don’t tell jokes.
Friday morning, Glass Tiger lead singer Alan Frew is joining us in the studio on ‘the Morning After Show’ on Bob FM. He’ll not only treat us to some stories about appearing on the hit NBC show, ‘Hit Me Baby One More Time’, he’s also coming with food! Alan’s wife Marcy has created a new line of salad dressings, appropriately called ‘Marcy’s’ dressings. He’s bringing a cooler full for us to try. We’re not used to delicious, healthy food in morning radio. Usually I’m surrounded by people eating microwaved pizza pops or hot dogs at 6 in the morning.
Saturday is ‘Live 8’ day. I for one hope it rains on Saturday, so I don’t feel so guilty watching TV indoors on a beautiful sunny day. JR and I were wondering if the CTV coverage is being hosted by Ben Mulroney. Uh oh. Anyhow, it should be an awesome day, with Live 8 being beamed all over the world, some 1.2 billion people expected. The day of entertainment does send out an important message, so check out the website www.makepovertyhistory.ca to get all the background info you need. And wear your white wrist-band!
Thanks to BOB FM listeners for their concern about my snapping turtle nest. A female laid 24 eggs in my lawn last week, then buried them. To keep the eggs safe from marauding skunks or raccoons, I was told to get my husband to ‘pee’ on the turtle egg nest. I must admit its one of the stranger things I’ve requested of my husband. The eggs are supposed to hatch on September 3rd. So far, none of my friends has stepped in to offer to host a turtle shower for me.
If you don’t have Bruce Springsteen tickets, mark it on your calendar: Sunday morning, July 10th. JR and I will be out in the parking lot of the radio station, here at 87 George Street in the market. Decide what you’d be willing to trade for Springsteen tickets. It could be anything. Signed Springsteen memorabilia, a bike, a high definition TV, your concert ticket stub collection, a lawn mower, wedding gifts you’ve never used, your lava lamp collection, a pressure washer, whatever. You simply exchange your stuff for our tickets. The more creative, the better! This is one of those contests I wish I could enter myself.
Happy Canada Day! See you on Parliament Hill. I’ll be the one wearing red and
Thank you to the Certified General Accountants of Ottawa for inviting me to MC the golf tournament for Big Sisters/Big Brothers of Ottawa, although the request for me to tell ‘accountant jokes’ at the dinner is a bit of a challenge. I am not one to remember jokes, but I did check on the internet and lo and behold, there are thousands of accountant jokes! But my personal favourite: why was the accountant so excited that it was Saturday? Because he gets to wear casual clothes to work! Now you can see why I don’t tell jokes.
Friday morning, Glass Tiger lead singer Alan Frew is joining us in the studio on ‘the Morning After Show’ on Bob FM. He’ll not only treat us to some stories about appearing on the hit NBC show, ‘Hit Me Baby One More Time’, he’s also coming with food! Alan’s wife Marcy has created a new line of salad dressings, appropriately called ‘Marcy’s’ dressings. He’s bringing a cooler full for us to try. We’re not used to delicious, healthy food in morning radio. Usually I’m surrounded by people eating microwaved pizza pops or hot dogs at 6 in the morning.
Saturday is ‘Live 8’ day. I for one hope it rains on Saturday, so I don’t feel so guilty watching TV indoors on a beautiful sunny day. JR and I were wondering if the CTV coverage is being hosted by Ben Mulroney. Uh oh. Anyhow, it should be an awesome day, with Live 8 being beamed all over the world, some 1.2 billion people expected. The day of entertainment does send out an important message, so check out the website www.makepovertyhistory.ca to get all the background info you need. And wear your white wrist-band!
Thanks to BOB FM listeners for their concern about my snapping turtle nest. A female laid 24 eggs in my lawn last week, then buried them. To keep the eggs safe from marauding skunks or raccoons, I was told to get my husband to ‘pee’ on the turtle egg nest. I must admit its one of the stranger things I’ve requested of my husband. The eggs are supposed to hatch on September 3rd. So far, none of my friends has stepped in to offer to host a turtle shower for me.
If you don’t have Bruce Springsteen tickets, mark it on your calendar: Sunday morning, July 10th. JR and I will be out in the parking lot of the radio station, here at 87 George Street in the market. Decide what you’d be willing to trade for Springsteen tickets. It could be anything. Signed Springsteen memorabilia, a bike, a high definition TV, your concert ticket stub collection, a lawn mower, wedding gifts you’ve never used, your lava lamp collection, a pressure washer, whatever. You simply exchange your stuff for our tickets. The more creative, the better! This is one of those contests I wish I could enter myself.
Happy Canada Day! See you on Parliament Hill. I’ll be the one wearing red and
Friday, June 24, 2005
Chair people versus Standing People
June 24, 2005
The count-down is on! Just a few days before the kids are outta school! Not having any kids, I miss out on the ultimate glee that kids feel at this time of year. I remember the last day of school, and I’m not sure if this holds true today, but somehow I always had the kind of teacher who gave us a test on the very last morning before we were finally let out for the summer. I spent the whole time starting out the class window. The first thing I did when I finally got out of school was catch a big jar of bees or frogs. Somehow they always escaped. Growing up on Alta Vista Drive, I’m pretty sure we had the only backyard that was filled with frogs the entire summer. Never went to camp but my two brothers, Paul and Bob did. When my brother Paul was at camp he mailed a letter back to my parents that said, ‘hi. We’re ok, food is ok. Bob threw up. Love, Paul’.
Its cottage squatter time, too. This is JR’s term for people who don’t have a cottage but show up unexpected at other people’s cottages each weekend with 6 hot dogs and a 6 pack of Wildcat beer. Then, come Sunday night, they leave with their 6-pack of Wildcat.
I was driving down the Queensway the other day behind a Harley that had one of those side-cars. In the side car was a dog. Ears flapping, lips flapping, he looked pretty cool. He even seemed to be snickering at the dog next to him in the front seat of a mini van. Don’t know where you buy a motorcycle helmet for a dog, but this dog had one.
It wouldn’t be an Ottawa summer without the return of the great debate. People who attend summer music festivals are once again divided into two groups: those who stand and those who bring lawn chairs. I usually get to a music festival early and stand. Its not long before someone in a lawn chair is shouting at me to get out of the way. Where do you stand, er, or sit, on this issue? I suggest that people who bring chairs don’t want to stand because its hard on their legs. So, here’s my solution: festival organizers rig up rows and rows of ‘Jolly Jumpers’. You know those contraptions that are hooked up to doorways, there’s a seat and you plunk your infant into it. The kid is in a standing position, but he’s not using any leg muscles to stand. So the people who go to Bluesfest can leave their chairs at home, climb into a jolly jumper, and everyone’s happy. What do you think?
The count-down is on! Just a few days before the kids are outta school! Not having any kids, I miss out on the ultimate glee that kids feel at this time of year. I remember the last day of school, and I’m not sure if this holds true today, but somehow I always had the kind of teacher who gave us a test on the very last morning before we were finally let out for the summer. I spent the whole time starting out the class window. The first thing I did when I finally got out of school was catch a big jar of bees or frogs. Somehow they always escaped. Growing up on Alta Vista Drive, I’m pretty sure we had the only backyard that was filled with frogs the entire summer. Never went to camp but my two brothers, Paul and Bob did. When my brother Paul was at camp he mailed a letter back to my parents that said, ‘hi. We’re ok, food is ok. Bob threw up. Love, Paul’.
Its cottage squatter time, too. This is JR’s term for people who don’t have a cottage but show up unexpected at other people’s cottages each weekend with 6 hot dogs and a 6 pack of Wildcat beer. Then, come Sunday night, they leave with their 6-pack of Wildcat.
I was driving down the Queensway the other day behind a Harley that had one of those side-cars. In the side car was a dog. Ears flapping, lips flapping, he looked pretty cool. He even seemed to be snickering at the dog next to him in the front seat of a mini van. Don’t know where you buy a motorcycle helmet for a dog, but this dog had one.
It wouldn’t be an Ottawa summer without the return of the great debate. People who attend summer music festivals are once again divided into two groups: those who stand and those who bring lawn chairs. I usually get to a music festival early and stand. Its not long before someone in a lawn chair is shouting at me to get out of the way. Where do you stand, er, or sit, on this issue? I suggest that people who bring chairs don’t want to stand because its hard on their legs. So, here’s my solution: festival organizers rig up rows and rows of ‘Jolly Jumpers’. You know those contraptions that are hooked up to doorways, there’s a seat and you plunk your infant into it. The kid is in a standing position, but he’s not using any leg muscles to stand. So the people who go to Bluesfest can leave their chairs at home, climb into a jolly jumper, and everyone’s happy. What do you think?
Tuesday, June 21, 2005
Summer in the City!
Happy summer! Its finally officially here. Its time to kick back and relax and enjoy the time of year we wait for ....for months and months and months. I’m pretty happy about the fact that I just finished a major landscaping project which meant that I was picking up hundreds of rocks from the side of the road. I was never really sure if this was legal. Who owns the rocks on the side of the road? Best not to ask, I guess. Its a bit of a ‘grey area’. So, whenever I found a road-side stash of nice looking boulders, as soon as I heard a car coming, I hid behind a tree. You can never be too careful. I’d hate to be apprehended for stealing somebody else’s rocks.
A report just came out identifying Ottawa as the least expensive North American city in which to live. I heard about this report a day after coming back from a weekend in Toronto, which is one of the most expensive cities. While in Toronto, four of us were charged a five dollar cover just to get into a restaurant. Sheesh! But nothing tops Belize City, where not only do you have to pay to use a public washroom, you have to pay extra for toilet paper. A dollar a square. No wonder everyone stayed away from the refried beans.
While in Toronto, my husband and I stumbled right into a Hillary Duff video that was being filmed off King Street. No one in Toronto seemed to care that this was going on. Thats one of the differences between Toronto and Ottawa. A few years back, Yasmine Bleeth was in Ottawa to film a movie. She was on the front page of the Ottawa Sun every day she was here. Crowds tailed here everywhere she went. She complained. She even cried. I wonder what Yasmine Bleeth is doing these days. Maybe she should come back to Ottawa!
Thanks to BOB FM’s very own Milky for his fast fingers. Milky had the magic touch when it came time to buy Bruce Springsteen tickets on line. My streak of getting shut out of concert tickets from internet sales continues, but Milky somehow got through on the website and got me a pair. Problem is, he still has my credit card number. If an Ottawa Renegades beer fridge ends up on my Visa bill, I’ll know why. p.s. if you didn’t get Springsteen tickets, not to worry, we are giving them away here on 939 BOB FM!
A report just came out identifying Ottawa as the least expensive North American city in which to live. I heard about this report a day after coming back from a weekend in Toronto, which is one of the most expensive cities. While in Toronto, four of us were charged a five dollar cover just to get into a restaurant. Sheesh! But nothing tops Belize City, where not only do you have to pay to use a public washroom, you have to pay extra for toilet paper. A dollar a square. No wonder everyone stayed away from the refried beans.
While in Toronto, my husband and I stumbled right into a Hillary Duff video that was being filmed off King Street. No one in Toronto seemed to care that this was going on. Thats one of the differences between Toronto and Ottawa. A few years back, Yasmine Bleeth was in Ottawa to film a movie. She was on the front page of the Ottawa Sun every day she was here. Crowds tailed here everywhere she went. She complained. She even cried. I wonder what Yasmine Bleeth is doing these days. Maybe she should come back to Ottawa!
Thanks to BOB FM’s very own Milky for his fast fingers. Milky had the magic touch when it came time to buy Bruce Springsteen tickets on line. My streak of getting shut out of concert tickets from internet sales continues, but Milky somehow got through on the website and got me a pair. Problem is, he still has my credit card number. If an Ottawa Renegades beer fridge ends up on my Visa bill, I’ll know why. p.s. if you didn’t get Springsteen tickets, not to worry, we are giving them away here on 939 BOB FM!
Thursday, June 16, 2005
Bruce the Boss and Bruce the Shark
Your reaction to the announcement that Live 8 is playing TORONTO, not OTTAWA, on July 2nd may have been the same as mine. Oh sure, once again, Toronto gets everything. But then I thought about it for a minute. And, as difficult as this is for me, I have put my ‘Toronto-gets-everything’ angst aside for this. The Live 8 concert needs to be in Canada. Somewhere in Canada. May as well hold it in a city that knows how to handle 150,000 people. The message is too important, and if you want specifics, check the makepovertyhistory.ca website. We need to make a big splash to send a message about finally doing something for the impoverished people in the world.
And now onto something frivolous. Its mosquito season. Stopped in at my favourite Giant Tiger store the other day and saw the funniest weapon yet in the war against mosquitoes. Its a hand held mosquito zapper that takes batteries and is shaped exactly like a tennis racquet. You simply sit out on your deck and swing away at the bugs, and the mesh of the racquet takes their lights right out. It looks like you’re playing a game of solo tennis when in fact you’re ridding your environment of mosquitoes. I suspect in the hands of Venus or Serena Williams, this thing is deadly.
Do you have your plan of attack yet for Bruce Springsteen tickets? 10 o’clock Monday, here we go again. This time there are two websites you can buy tickets from, www.capitaltickets.ca (a personal disaster for me), or you can try your luck at the House of Blues website, www.hob.ca. Then of course there’s always the option of standing in line at the Cataraqui Town Centre Sports Experts in Kingston.
This Monday on the morning show, we will be celebrating the 30th anniversary of the movie ‘Jaws’. Courtesy of the good folks at CD Warehouse, we have tons of copies of the new Jaws Anniversary dvd to give away. Time to bone up on your Jaws trivia! Seems fitting that we’re having a ‘Jaws’ themed show on the day Bruce Springsteen tickets go on sale, because the shark in the movie was named Bruce. Bit of a stretch, I know. Good luck on Monday!!!
And now onto something frivolous. Its mosquito season. Stopped in at my favourite Giant Tiger store the other day and saw the funniest weapon yet in the war against mosquitoes. Its a hand held mosquito zapper that takes batteries and is shaped exactly like a tennis racquet. You simply sit out on your deck and swing away at the bugs, and the mesh of the racquet takes their lights right out. It looks like you’re playing a game of solo tennis when in fact you’re ridding your environment of mosquitoes. I suspect in the hands of Venus or Serena Williams, this thing is deadly.
Do you have your plan of attack yet for Bruce Springsteen tickets? 10 o’clock Monday, here we go again. This time there are two websites you can buy tickets from, www.capitaltickets.ca (a personal disaster for me), or you can try your luck at the House of Blues website, www.hob.ca. Then of course there’s always the option of standing in line at the Cataraqui Town Centre Sports Experts in Kingston.
This Monday on the morning show, we will be celebrating the 30th anniversary of the movie ‘Jaws’. Courtesy of the good folks at CD Warehouse, we have tons of copies of the new Jaws Anniversary dvd to give away. Time to bone up on your Jaws trivia! Seems fitting that we’re having a ‘Jaws’ themed show on the day Bruce Springsteen tickets go on sale, because the shark in the movie was named Bruce. Bit of a stretch, I know. Good luck on Monday!!!
Monday, June 13, 2005
Orange grooms and orange popsicles
Thank you to the people who have written to me about their ‘spray-on tan’ stories. Most have a common theme, someone needs a tan fast for some occasion, like a wedding. I especially enjoyed Mike’s story. On the night before his wedding, he sprayed himself up and down and sideways to look good for wedding day. Didn’t bother to read the instructions on the fake tan bottle. Now he has a photo on his mantle that he will always cherish. The wedding party surrounded by orange day lilies. And Mike’s skin is exactly the same color. A nice orange.
On the morning show, somehow we got on the topic of Dickie Dee ice cream vendors. Isn’t this one of the hardest jobs in the world? You have to peddle fudgicles around on the hottest days of the summer, often times up hill all the way, and all you want to do is eat the profits. Our producer Matt Hamer tried it for one day as a summer job then parked the thing in his garage. He ate so many popsicles, he owed the company money at the end of the day.
With summer here, I’m trying my best to eat healthy, especially a lot of fish. The other day I went to a fish vendor. The clerk was super friendly, we talked about the weather, reality television, what its like working around a deep fish smell all day, stuff like that. Finally I said I wanted to try something different, so the fish vendor suggested sea bass. So I said sure, I’ll have two sea bass fillets. When I got to the cash, the total for two sea bass fillets was $38. My jaw dropped. I wanted to put the fish back but I thought I was in too deep. The moral of the story is, if you chat up a fish vendor, then you find out its $38 for two fillets, its your own fault, and you have to keep the fish. If you make no personal connection whatsoever with a fish vendor, you are not committed to keeping the fish. Just an observation you may find useful some day.
I’m no music critic, but I sure love the new Oasis album, ‘Don’t Believe the Truth’. I’m off to Toronto this weekend to see Oasis, and I can’t wait because these guys are amazing in concert. There are a lot of comparisons to the Beatles music, so its kinda ironic that Ringo Starr’s son Zak Starkey is playing drums for Oasis. The last time I saw Oasis at Molson Park, my buddy was working backstage and tried to stop Liam Gallagher from driving madly around the area in a golf cart. The incident ended with Liam driving the golf cart right into a wall. How’s that for rock and roll.
It is my pleasure to MC an upcoming golf tournament for the Canada-Africa Community Health Alliance. This is an organization that delivers much-needed medical supplies to Africa’s poor, and they need your help. Call up your golfing buddies and book off Wednesday June 22nd. Its a full day of golf, an awesome dinner and prizes, at the Kingsway Golf and Country Club just a short drive away in Aylmer. Golf and dinner just $95, dinner only is $40. Call the Kingsway for more info, 827-1855. Hope to see you, I’ll be the one passing out the prizes. Tough job but someone’s gotta do it! It’ll be a great time.
On the morning show, somehow we got on the topic of Dickie Dee ice cream vendors. Isn’t this one of the hardest jobs in the world? You have to peddle fudgicles around on the hottest days of the summer, often times up hill all the way, and all you want to do is eat the profits. Our producer Matt Hamer tried it for one day as a summer job then parked the thing in his garage. He ate so many popsicles, he owed the company money at the end of the day.
With summer here, I’m trying my best to eat healthy, especially a lot of fish. The other day I went to a fish vendor. The clerk was super friendly, we talked about the weather, reality television, what its like working around a deep fish smell all day, stuff like that. Finally I said I wanted to try something different, so the fish vendor suggested sea bass. So I said sure, I’ll have two sea bass fillets. When I got to the cash, the total for two sea bass fillets was $38. My jaw dropped. I wanted to put the fish back but I thought I was in too deep. The moral of the story is, if you chat up a fish vendor, then you find out its $38 for two fillets, its your own fault, and you have to keep the fish. If you make no personal connection whatsoever with a fish vendor, you are not committed to keeping the fish. Just an observation you may find useful some day.
I’m no music critic, but I sure love the new Oasis album, ‘Don’t Believe the Truth’. I’m off to Toronto this weekend to see Oasis, and I can’t wait because these guys are amazing in concert. There are a lot of comparisons to the Beatles music, so its kinda ironic that Ringo Starr’s son Zak Starkey is playing drums for Oasis. The last time I saw Oasis at Molson Park, my buddy was working backstage and tried to stop Liam Gallagher from driving madly around the area in a golf cart. The incident ended with Liam driving the golf cart right into a wall. How’s that for rock and roll.
It is my pleasure to MC an upcoming golf tournament for the Canada-Africa Community Health Alliance. This is an organization that delivers much-needed medical supplies to Africa’s poor, and they need your help. Call up your golfing buddies and book off Wednesday June 22nd. Its a full day of golf, an awesome dinner and prizes, at the Kingsway Golf and Country Club just a short drive away in Aylmer. Golf and dinner just $95, dinner only is $40. Call the Kingsway for more info, 827-1855. Hope to see you, I’ll be the one passing out the prizes. Tough job but someone’s gotta do it! It’ll be a great time.
Wednesday, June 08, 2005
The Boss is back!!!
June 8, 2005
The boss is coming back!!!!! Yay!!! Bruce Springsteen is bringing his acoustic tour to the Corel Centre this July 13th, and ‘tramps like us’ are ecstatic. Not only ‘cause we get to see him this summer, but we don’t have to drive for 8 hours to catch the show! How many times have you seen Bruce? (26 or 27 for me!) Do you have any Bruce stories you want to share? I will very gladly pass ‘em along or yak about them on the morning show. Yahoo!!! I’ve met Bruce Springsteen twice, actually shared a hot tub with him for about an hour in a hotel in Toronto. This was one of the top moments of my life. Well, that and winning a frozen turkey at a church bingo when I was seven. And of course, keep your radio on BOB FM, as we will definitely be giving away tickets!!
I’m learning how to play the guitar. My husband plays guitar, so he gave me a lesson the other night. Things were going OK with the G and the C chord, until the song I was learning required an F minor seventh with a drop down string. Or something like that. The guitar went immediately back in its case.
Apologies to a certain byward market produce vendor. Who knew that the one red pepper I had to have, was the one that was propping up all the other two hundred red peppers. Hey, did you know that red peppers bounce?
If you’re not familiar with the organization ‘Make Poverty History’, get on their website now, www.makepovertyhistory.ca, and sign up your support. This organization was the brain-child of none other than Bono from U2. With a goal of ending child poverty and encouraging our prosperous nation to forgive third world debt, Make Poverty History is catching on. Here at BOB FM we are committed to spreading the word about this important cause. Check out the MPH website and order some white wrist-bands. We’ll be along-side Make Poverty History at strategic events this year, including the U2 concert in November. Do what you can!
The boss is coming back!!!!! Yay!!! Bruce Springsteen is bringing his acoustic tour to the Corel Centre this July 13th, and ‘tramps like us’ are ecstatic. Not only ‘cause we get to see him this summer, but we don’t have to drive for 8 hours to catch the show! How many times have you seen Bruce? (26 or 27 for me!) Do you have any Bruce stories you want to share? I will very gladly pass ‘em along or yak about them on the morning show. Yahoo!!! I’ve met Bruce Springsteen twice, actually shared a hot tub with him for about an hour in a hotel in Toronto. This was one of the top moments of my life. Well, that and winning a frozen turkey at a church bingo when I was seven. And of course, keep your radio on BOB FM, as we will definitely be giving away tickets!!
I’m learning how to play the guitar. My husband plays guitar, so he gave me a lesson the other night. Things were going OK with the G and the C chord, until the song I was learning required an F minor seventh with a drop down string. Or something like that. The guitar went immediately back in its case.
Apologies to a certain byward market produce vendor. Who knew that the one red pepper I had to have, was the one that was propping up all the other two hundred red peppers. Hey, did you know that red peppers bounce?
If you’re not familiar with the organization ‘Make Poverty History’, get on their website now, www.makepovertyhistory.ca, and sign up your support. This organization was the brain-child of none other than Bono from U2. With a goal of ending child poverty and encouraging our prosperous nation to forgive third world debt, Make Poverty History is catching on. Here at BOB FM we are committed to spreading the word about this important cause. Check out the MPH website and order some white wrist-bands. We’ll be along-side Make Poverty History at strategic events this year, including the U2 concert in November. Do what you can!
Monday, June 06, 2005
non-swimming dogs and spray-on tan disasters
At the cottage on the weekend, I saw something I’ve never seen before. A woman was paddling by in her kayak, and on top of the kayak was a dog wearing a life jacket. I think it was a jack russell terrier and it never occurred to me that maybe a dog with such short little legs just plain can’t swim. Can’t even do the doggie paddle, which is pretty much the only form of swimming I can do. Do they have life jackets for cats too?
Has anyone out there had any luck with those spray-on tans? I was in the drug store the other day and I stood there reading the label of ‘tan in a bottle’. ‘Spray on evenly, towel off excess, don’t shower for 2 days, don’t go outside, don’t move, sit still, don’t wear clothes, don’t apply anywhere near your mouth or eyes, and if used properly you won’t have orange streaks’. Hmm. Sounds like something I should try! If you have any spray-on tanning disaster stories, please share them here. Because, like all things in life, what seems like a good idea at the time always makes a great story later.
I had one of my favourite summer dinners the other night, ‘beer butt chicken’. Take a can of beer, shove it into a chicken, put it on the barbeque, close lid and walk away for 2 ½ hours. Oh yeah, one thing thats really important: if you make beer butt chicken, be sure to OPEN the can of beer first. Otherwise your chicken ends up in the neighbour’s tree.
You still have time to get in on the Ottawa Humane Society Golf Tournament, this Thursday at the Pakenham Golf Course. For details, www.ottawahumane.ca. There will be lots of prizes, a great meal, and I guarantee its the only golf tournament attended by golden retreivers. See you there!
Has anyone out there had any luck with those spray-on tans? I was in the drug store the other day and I stood there reading the label of ‘tan in a bottle’. ‘Spray on evenly, towel off excess, don’t shower for 2 days, don’t go outside, don’t move, sit still, don’t wear clothes, don’t apply anywhere near your mouth or eyes, and if used properly you won’t have orange streaks’. Hmm. Sounds like something I should try! If you have any spray-on tanning disaster stories, please share them here. Because, like all things in life, what seems like a good idea at the time always makes a great story later.
I had one of my favourite summer dinners the other night, ‘beer butt chicken’. Take a can of beer, shove it into a chicken, put it on the barbeque, close lid and walk away for 2 ½ hours. Oh yeah, one thing thats really important: if you make beer butt chicken, be sure to OPEN the can of beer first. Otherwise your chicken ends up in the neighbour’s tree.
You still have time to get in on the Ottawa Humane Society Golf Tournament, this Thursday at the Pakenham Golf Course. For details, www.ottawahumane.ca. There will be lots of prizes, a great meal, and I guarantee its the only golf tournament attended by golden retreivers. See you there!
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