20th Annual Wiggle Waggle - $140,000 Raised!!!!!!

The 20th annual Iams 'Wiggle Waggle Walkathon' for the Ottawa Humane Society raised a record $140,000 today!!! It was fantastic to see all the families & dogs who participated in this great event! Thanks to Ottawa Police Chief Vern White (pictured here with his granddaughter and 2 dogs) for being the Honorary Chair of the Walk. Thank you to all who sponsored 'yours truly', for a total of $1485.00 in on-line pledges & cash...and congrats to Debbie for being the top bidder for our 'Morning After' Senators prize package - with an extra $610 going to the animals!
Here are some pics from the day:

Oasis, Ryan Adams and 7000 camera phones

A great time was had by all (I'm pretty sure, except for maybe some of the security people) at the Ryan Adams and Oasis concert Thursday night. What more could an audience ask for: Ryan Adams was in a good mood, and Liam and Noel Gallagher didn't get into a fight. Here are some pic's from the show!

Help!! Please! I Need Pledges! I'll Do Anything!

H-E-L-P!!!!


I am trying to raise $1000 for the Ottawa Humane Society's 'Wiggle Waggle Walkathon' Sunday Sept 7th at the Arboretum.
I have a HUGE FEAR OF CLOWNS.
So, to show how much I want to raise the money, I am willing to do something that involves clowns, if necessary.

I AM WILLING TO DO ANYTHING TO RAISE THE MONEY !!!!

hmmm...skydiving, walk on fire, cliff diving, mud wrestling...mud wrestling a clown..some suggestions below.....
Please let me know if you have an idea for me. Or, please let me know if you simply feel sorry for me. Either of those is fine. And...oh yeah...please pledge $10, $20...whatever you can afford. Here's the link to make the pledge :
http://www.ohsre.ca/NETCOMMUNITY/Page.aspx?pid=190&srcid=292&frsid=949


THANK YOU!!!

div>

div>

Sad Time for Olympic-a-holics

Adam van Koeverden

(above) Jill Henselwood on 'Special Ed'

(right)

Ian Millar!

(left)

Eric Lamaze on

Hickstead

What am I going to do with my days and my nights? The OLYMPICS ARE OVER!! Like millions of people around the world, I love the Olympics. I get no sleep but it's worth it! There were a lot of highlights, including Michael Phelps and Usain Bolt, the gold-medal winning Canadian mens '8' rowing team, Simon Whitfield, the list goes on.

I'm especially happy for Perth's own Ian Millar, who FINALLY won just about the only award that eluded him, an Olympic medal. At the age of 61, Ian Millar joined Oxford Mills' Jill Henselwood, Eric Lamaze and Mac Cone to win the silver medal in team jumping. And I'll never forget the moment that Eric Lamaze won the gold medal for individual jumping, with his magnificent horse Hickstead. I haven't cried that much since I saw Seabiscuit.

Now that the Olympics are over, I guess I'll get back to my 'to do' list. After I watch 'Celebrity Family Feud'.

The Return of Neil Young

Neil Young fans rejoice!

Neil is coming back to town with special guests Wilco, Dec 2nd at Scotiabank Place.

Neil was last here in July of 2006 with his buddies Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young. I snapped this shot at the show. Actually, I was taking a picture of the microphone but Neil somehow managed to get in the shot

McCain vs Obama: Abba vs U2

'Blender' Magazine asked both presidential hopefuls John McCain and Barack Obama to list their top ten all-time favourite songs. Here they are:

JOHN McCAIN:
1. Dancing Queen ABBA2. Blue Bayou Roy Orbison3. Take a Chance On Me ABBA4. If We MakeIt Through December Merle Haggard5. As Time Goes By Dooley Wilson6. Good Vibrations The Beach Boys7. What A Wonderful World Louis Armstrong8. I've Got You Under My Skin Frank Sinatra9. Sweet Caroline Neil Diamond10. Smoke Gets In Your Eyes The Platters

BARACK OBAMA:
1. Ready or Not Fugees2. What's Going On Marvin Gaye3. I'm On Fire Bruce Spingsteen4. Gimme Shelter Rolling Stones5. Sinnerman Nina Simone6. Touch the Sky Kanye West7. You'd Be So Easy to Love Frank Sinatra8. Think Aretha Franklin9. City of Blinding Lights U210. Yes We Can will.i.am

I'm not sure what these lists reveal about these men. But after seeing Barack Obama's number 3 choice, Bruce 'SPINGSTEEN', it does reveal the fact that Blender Magazine doesn't have a proof reader.

No hard feelings. I think people buy Blender Magazine more for the pictures.

Putting the 'Boss' in 'Boston'

Back from vacation! While on holidays I learned how to make words show up in different colors.

just kidding. I did have a lot of plans for my holidays, none of which ever materialized. I like to blame it on the rain.

We did manage to get away for a 3-day jaunt to Boston to see Bruce Springsteen. Best show ever!!! This was my 30th Springsteen show, and I know I say 'best show ever' for each and every one of them, but I really mean it this time.

Just before the show it was a huge thrill to meet Bruce's best friend, fellow E-Streeter and star of the Sopranos, Little Steven. What a nice guy. I forgot to ask him if there was going to be a Sopranos movie. Also forgot to ask him what the heck the final Sopranos episode was about. Little Steven was really nice but let's face it...isn't this a typical 'fan meets star' photo? Is there one photo that exists where the 'star' has as big a smile as the 'fan'? If there is, send it to me and I'll post 'er right here!

Mike Fisher Eats Fresh

Mike Fisher signs autographs at Subway on Laurier yesterday.

thank you to Greg Marcus for the photo.

Note the women waiting on the street to get in and see Mike.

(apologies for you having to turn your head sideways to look at this photo. I have no idea how to make it 'right side up')

Buzz

Everyone called him 'Buzz'. His real name was Tim Kilpatrick but 'Buzz' was the name that Ottawa knew. He was down-to-earth, wickedly funny, a persistent Toronto Maple Leaf fan. Amused by pop culture, friend to the 67's, loyal to the New York Yankees, and a voice that became part of the fabric of an Ottawa morning. 'Buzz', from the Team 1200's 'Three Guys on the Radio', passed away on Friday. He was good stuff. In memory of Buzz, donations to the Ottawa Senators Foundation would be greatly appreciated.

Do You Know Who These People Are?

Thank you very much to Steve Koch for sending this photo along. Steve titled the photo 'JR and Sandy at the 2007 Help Santa Toy Parade'.

Only problem is, these people are not JR and Sandy. They do look like very nice people, but we just don't know who they are. If you can identify them, please let us know!

The Dark Knight vs Rocky

Have you seen 'Batman: The Dark Night' yet?

I usually judge a movie in a very rudimentary way: after I've seen the movie, how long do I think about it? Have I put it out of my mind by the time I've driven home?

Do I not give it another thought the following day...unless someone asks about it? A friend of mine judges a movie by how many times he looks at his watch while its's playing.....five glances at his watch, the movie ain't great....two to four glances, there are some highlights....one glance, its a good movie. Not looking at his watch at all, now THAT's an entertaining film. 'The Dark Knight' is one of those movies. I was lucky enough to see the premiere last Wednesday, and five days later I'm still thinking about the film. Its intelligent, the plot is like a roller coaster...the acting is superb and The Dark Knight leaves you breathless. I may even go and see it again.

There is only one movie that I've seen more than once in a theatre. In fact, I saw it 4 or 5 times. I was a kid and I took the bus to the Elgin Theatre on Elgin Street every Saturday, to see 'Rocky'. I thought Rocky was the best movie ever. Not only was Rocky a down-and-out, very sympathetic character, he loved animals too. It was the perfect film for me. I even had the soundtrack album which I played over and over again in my bedroom. I kinda lost touch with the original 'Rocky' movie because things started to get a bit silly, with ridiculous plots catapulting the Rocky sequels into eternal mockery. But 3 years ago I took a screen-writing workshop and for one magical class, the teacher brought in a DVD copy of 'Rocky', the original, and popped it into the DVD player. She wanted the students to watch some pivotal scenes in the movie, and to learn from it. That day, the teacher told us something I guess I knew all along: Rocky was about as perfect a movie as has ever been made, before, or since.

Will 'The Dark Knight' still have people talking years from now? It just might. Then again, I have friends that are still talking about 'Meet the Klumps'.

Images of Bluesfest 2008

Anything goes at Bluesfest. Here is a guy dressed up as a walking box, hitting on girls

The Velvet Dolls pose between shows at Bluesfest

Sam Roberts screams on guitar!

In an ironic twist, Sam Roberts thinks he's too loud

Selling tickets for an artist-signed guitar. The last I heard, a Fender Strat was being auctionned off......signed by James Taylor, Snoop Dogg, and Primus. I understand things went well and those three acts are going to continue to tour together..............

Bluesfest gave local bands the royal treatment! Here are the Bushpilots on the River Stage

Definitely one of my favourite Bluesfest hang-outs: the Black Sheep stage. Ray Davies, Dave Bidini, Shelby Lynne, Nation Beat, the 'Sauce Boss'...the list goes on...this stage was too much fun!

Kicking back at the Black Sheep Stage !

A crowd starts to gather at the 2 main stage areas for Sam Roberts and Donna Summer........only at Bluesfest would Sam Roberts play back-to-back with Donna Summer !

One of the craft vendors takes a moment to enjoy the late afternoon sun

This is 'Uncle Bob', who runs the coolest clothing shop in town called 'Fab Gear 64' on Wellington Street. Bob's shop dressed several of the musicians at Bluesfest. The next time a musician friend has a birthday, check out Bob's stuff at fabgear1964@rogers.com

I love this picture. Right in the middle of one of the world's biggest music festivals, we find the 'Honey Bunch of Oats' guy. I hear he didn't get lucky that day.
At least he wasn' telling everybody to stop standing in front of his chair !

Canada: Don't Worry Be Happy!

We like us! We really like us!
A recent study by 'World Values Surveys' found the answer to the question: 'What's the world's happiest country'?
The happiest country in the world is...Denmark!
But Canada comes in at a solid # 9, which I think is pretty good! The U.S is # 16.
Here are top 10 'happiest countries in the world'"

1. Denmark
2. Puerto Rico
3. Colombia
4. Iceland
5. N. Ireland
6. Ireland
7. Switzerland
8. Netherlands
9. CANADA!!!!
10. Austria

Being happy is a national past-time here in Canada. Yay!! For me, one of my happiest moments is when I find a $5.00 bill in my jeans pocket!