I saw my first toad of the season. While I was on my hands and knees cleaning out my garden, he hopped about an inch from my face. I screamed so loudly that I couldn’t speak for an hour. I am not afraid of toads or frogs or any critters for that matter, but I do tend to startle easily.
As a matter of fact, if the Seinfeld show was still on, I would probably write to the show and ask that they create a character called ‘the easily startled woman’. You know the type, constantly jumping or shrieking at the smallest thing. That’s me. I do that. I probably let out a gasp or a shriek or a scream at least three or four times a week. I could be in an office with 4 or 5 other people, everyone chatting, etc., and I happen to be doing something on the computer, and someone taps me on the shoulder and I let out a blood curdling scream. When my poor husband comes home from work, the first thing he is likely to hear is my startled shriek. The other day he proudly told me that he now had a Senators flag affixed to the window of his car. The next morning, when I went to get into my car and drive to work, I mis-took my husband’s Senators flag for a man. A man, who, for whatever reason, at 4:30 in the morning, was affixed to my husband’s car window. I think my scream woke up everyone within a two mile radius. I have no idea why I’m like this. I’m not really afraid of anything, just easily startled. Oh, wait a minute. I am afraid of clowns. But that’s about it.
Now that I get the Animal Planet TV channel, once I get past all the human-shows-that-maybe-have-an-animal-in-them, what I love the best are all the animal programs filmed in Africa. I am now utterly determined to one day go on an African safari. It must be absolutely amazing seeing lions and elephants and zebras in the wild! If you’re reading this and you went on an African safari , please let me know how it was, and if you would recommend the place you went. I have been doing a bit of research and so far all I’ve found are African safari tours that are about $1000 U.S. a night. Is that what they all cost? Sheeeshh!!! Its probably not a good idea to do a ‘discount’ African safari, but maybe something in the middle? I guess a cheap African safari would involve sightings of grassland poodles.
My American Idol prediction: Elliott is going to win. I thought Elliott had the best voice of anyone on the show right from the start, but I admit that I was a bit hesitant about him. The reason being, the judges all seem to emphasize the ‘whole package’. The looks , the personality, the ‘it’ factor, as well as the singing voice. At first I wasn’t sure that Elliott had all that, but now I really think he is going to win. Besides, why would I care what the American Idol judges are saying. Everyone on that set is so busy arguing with each other, American Idol has become like a night at the Bickersons.
Go Sens Go!!!! Didn’t you get quite a chuckle out of the family that was chastised for ringing their cowbells at one of the Sens-Lightning play-off games at Scotiabank Place? They were actually told by a security guard to stop clanging their bells. They were making too much noise!! Ha! The Senators organization did the right thing, and when they were apprised of the situation, they gave the cowbell-toting family some free tickets to the next game. I would love to take my big iron dinner triangle to the next game…you know the ones….ranchers use them to call people in for dinner! Don’t think there’s anything louder than one of those. I don’t know if they still sell them, but I bought my big iron dinner triangle at Lee Valley Tools. Just an idea for the next home game.
Wednesday, April 26, 2006
Wednesday, April 19, 2006
My Dog Loves Watching 'Deal or No Deal'!
Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes had their baby. A girl. Now I can get on with my life.
Actually, no….I can’t move completely on…. Brad and Angelina have yet to bring their child into the world. In order to get away from the paparazzi, Brangelina has holed up in a remote African resort, where they will have their baby. The couple chose this spot so they will be protected by lions, cheetahs, elephants, charging rhinos, and angry ground squirrels. I guess they don’t have an alarm system back home.
Every time I tell someone that my dog Hudson loves to watch tv, I usually get a strange look. But since this is in writing, I will just have to envision the strange look from anyone reading this. Unless, of course, your dog watches tv too. Then you know what its like to be on the receiving end of a strange glare. My dog Hudson especially likes any tv shows that feature Shania Twain. But lately, Hudson has really become quite fond of ‘Deal Or No Deal’. We enjoy sitting together on the couch watching this game show, and when the studio audience shouts ‘NO DEAL!! NO DEAL!!, Hudson’s ears always really perk up for some reason. The only thing I can figure, is that Hudson thinks these people are shouting ‘NO HEEL’!! NO HEEL!!! Which, of course, is a dog’s dream come true.
Unless it pours rain this weekend, I plan to make a visit to the ‘Big Sky Animal Sanctuary’ near Kemptville. Owner Andy Parent takes in unwanted animals and currently has over 170 in his care, from dogs to horses and goats. I’ve mentioned this before, but its worth repeating, its never too early to write something down on your calendar. July 8th, Big Sky Animal Sanctuary, the first ever ‘WOOFSTOCK”, hosted by yours truly. This is going to be a huge ‘Woodstock’’ themed fundraiser out on the farm and a great day for the whole family. Wear your hippie clothes , and join ‘Grateful Dog’, ‘Joe Cocker Spaniel’…’Jefferson Airedale’…and any other hippie themes we can think of. We have a link to the Big Sky Animal Sanctuary on this website’s ‘pet friendly’ section. And of course, anything you can donate to the cause would be fantastic.
At this time of year, I feel so lucky to be working in the Byward Market. Having our radio station right in the midst of all the action is great year-round, but right now, the street vendors are coming back and I can’t resist buying their stuff. It seems that each day, by time I get back to my car, I have bags stuffed with apples, green peppers, bananas, lettuce, berries, I buy it all. Something about buying fruits and vegetables from the street. Then, I bring it all home, put it in the fridge, and completely forget its there. And, a week later, I throw it all out. Aaahhh… I just love the street vendors!
Actually, no….I can’t move completely on…. Brad and Angelina have yet to bring their child into the world. In order to get away from the paparazzi, Brangelina has holed up in a remote African resort, where they will have their baby. The couple chose this spot so they will be protected by lions, cheetahs, elephants, charging rhinos, and angry ground squirrels. I guess they don’t have an alarm system back home.
Every time I tell someone that my dog Hudson loves to watch tv, I usually get a strange look. But since this is in writing, I will just have to envision the strange look from anyone reading this. Unless, of course, your dog watches tv too. Then you know what its like to be on the receiving end of a strange glare. My dog Hudson especially likes any tv shows that feature Shania Twain. But lately, Hudson has really become quite fond of ‘Deal Or No Deal’. We enjoy sitting together on the couch watching this game show, and when the studio audience shouts ‘NO DEAL!! NO DEAL!!, Hudson’s ears always really perk up for some reason. The only thing I can figure, is that Hudson thinks these people are shouting ‘NO HEEL’!! NO HEEL!!! Which, of course, is a dog’s dream come true.
Unless it pours rain this weekend, I plan to make a visit to the ‘Big Sky Animal Sanctuary’ near Kemptville. Owner Andy Parent takes in unwanted animals and currently has over 170 in his care, from dogs to horses and goats. I’ve mentioned this before, but its worth repeating, its never too early to write something down on your calendar. July 8th, Big Sky Animal Sanctuary, the first ever ‘WOOFSTOCK”, hosted by yours truly. This is going to be a huge ‘Woodstock’’ themed fundraiser out on the farm and a great day for the whole family. Wear your hippie clothes , and join ‘Grateful Dog’, ‘Joe Cocker Spaniel’…’Jefferson Airedale’…and any other hippie themes we can think of. We have a link to the Big Sky Animal Sanctuary on this website’s ‘pet friendly’ section. And of course, anything you can donate to the cause would be fantastic.
At this time of year, I feel so lucky to be working in the Byward Market. Having our radio station right in the midst of all the action is great year-round, but right now, the street vendors are coming back and I can’t resist buying their stuff. It seems that each day, by time I get back to my car, I have bags stuffed with apples, green peppers, bananas, lettuce, berries, I buy it all. Something about buying fruits and vegetables from the street. Then, I bring it all home, put it in the fridge, and completely forget its there. And, a week later, I throw it all out. Aaahhh… I just love the street vendors!
Tuesday, April 11, 2006
Moths ate my Rolling Stones Shirt
Its about that time of year, when students are looking for summer jobs. I came across a story the other day called ‘First Jobs of the Rich and Famous’. Did you know that Bill Murray used to sell chestnuts outside a grocery store? Robin Williams was a street mime (not too hard to believe), Jerry Seinfeld sold light bulbs over the phone….Madonna worked behind the counter at Dunkin’ Donuts….Jennifer Aniston was a waitress…Demi Moore worked at a debt collection agency…and David Lee Roth emptied bedpans as a hospital orderly. So, there you go! Good luck with that summer job, and remember, David Lee Roth emptied bedpans.
I’m still needing some help with my vole problem. Once the snow melted off my front lawn, I was quite surprised to find little ‘hills of dirt’ scattered everywhere. If you can picture little brown ski hills about six to eight inches high, that’s what I have all over my lawn. I did some research and it looks like I have an entire vole network under my lawn, but I don’t know how to get rid of them. Naturally I don’t want the voles to be hurt in any way. I just want them to find somewhere else to built their transit system. Maybe if I blast Michael Bolton’s new CD across the yard, that’ll do it.
I wish Manhatten was only a short drive away! Because I would definitely get down there this week, for the Elton John clothing sale! Elton John has set up shop at Rockefeller Centre and he’s selling 10,000 pieces of his own clothing to raise money for his Aids Foundation. There’s everything from bright orange blazers to Adidas track suits and ball caps, prices are anywhere from $10.00 to $10,000! I think it would be super cool to walk around in a lime green sweater with matching boa that once belonged to Elton John.
Crocuses? Croci? Which one is correct? Those little purple flowers that are coming up right now. It seems I get into this debate every year at this time. What’s the plural of crocus? Usually, before I get the right answer, the crocuses, or croci, are gone.
Bob’s ‘Deal or No Deal’ has started, with the chance for someone to win $10,000 each morning on Bob FM. I can’t believe how nervous I get when we play this game, not only because there’s big money on the line, but you never know how far someone is willing to go. On the tv show, Deal or No Deal, the audience is always shouting ‘NO DEAL”! Of course they’re going to shout “NO DEAL”, they have nothing to lose! On our radio version, the contestant has to decide for themselves whether they want to accept the banker’s deal or chance it all for $10,000. Anyone can play, but you have to register first on this website. Its crazy fun, but I have to warn you, a really good anti-perspirant is very much required.
In the department of ‘things that make you shake your head’… About a month ago, I bought a 50 pound bag of sunflower seed for my birdfeeder. When I opened the bag, a bunch of small moths flew out into my living room, my bedroom, some landed on the bathroom mirror, others headed for the tv room in the basement. I recognized these moths as clothes-eating moths. So, here we are, a month later, and the moths seem to have finally disappeared. The other day, I was going to a party and I thought I’d wear my favourite shirt. A green shirt that I was given to wear by the wardrobe lady at last summer’s Rolling Stones video shoot (another story altogether). I pulled it out of the closet and ….’lo and behold’….now I knew what happened to all those moths!! They had gorged themselves on my Rolling Stones shirt. I checked every other piece of clothing I own, and nothing. No holes, no damage. The moths had just eaten one shirt. My favourite shirt. How did they know?! Why couldn’t the moths have eaten my shiny pink shirt with the big lapel?
I’m still needing some help with my vole problem. Once the snow melted off my front lawn, I was quite surprised to find little ‘hills of dirt’ scattered everywhere. If you can picture little brown ski hills about six to eight inches high, that’s what I have all over my lawn. I did some research and it looks like I have an entire vole network under my lawn, but I don’t know how to get rid of them. Naturally I don’t want the voles to be hurt in any way. I just want them to find somewhere else to built their transit system. Maybe if I blast Michael Bolton’s new CD across the yard, that’ll do it.
I wish Manhatten was only a short drive away! Because I would definitely get down there this week, for the Elton John clothing sale! Elton John has set up shop at Rockefeller Centre and he’s selling 10,000 pieces of his own clothing to raise money for his Aids Foundation. There’s everything from bright orange blazers to Adidas track suits and ball caps, prices are anywhere from $10.00 to $10,000! I think it would be super cool to walk around in a lime green sweater with matching boa that once belonged to Elton John.
Crocuses? Croci? Which one is correct? Those little purple flowers that are coming up right now. It seems I get into this debate every year at this time. What’s the plural of crocus? Usually, before I get the right answer, the crocuses, or croci, are gone.
Bob’s ‘Deal or No Deal’ has started, with the chance for someone to win $10,000 each morning on Bob FM. I can’t believe how nervous I get when we play this game, not only because there’s big money on the line, but you never know how far someone is willing to go. On the tv show, Deal or No Deal, the audience is always shouting ‘NO DEAL”! Of course they’re going to shout “NO DEAL”, they have nothing to lose! On our radio version, the contestant has to decide for themselves whether they want to accept the banker’s deal or chance it all for $10,000. Anyone can play, but you have to register first on this website. Its crazy fun, but I have to warn you, a really good anti-perspirant is very much required.
In the department of ‘things that make you shake your head’… About a month ago, I bought a 50 pound bag of sunflower seed for my birdfeeder. When I opened the bag, a bunch of small moths flew out into my living room, my bedroom, some landed on the bathroom mirror, others headed for the tv room in the basement. I recognized these moths as clothes-eating moths. So, here we are, a month later, and the moths seem to have finally disappeared. The other day, I was going to a party and I thought I’d wear my favourite shirt. A green shirt that I was given to wear by the wardrobe lady at last summer’s Rolling Stones video shoot (another story altogether). I pulled it out of the closet and ….’lo and behold’….now I knew what happened to all those moths!! They had gorged themselves on my Rolling Stones shirt. I checked every other piece of clothing I own, and nothing. No holes, no damage. The moths had just eaten one shirt. My favourite shirt. How did they know?! Why couldn’t the moths have eaten my shiny pink shirt with the big lapel?
Monday, April 03, 2006
I Will Get Fooled Again
I let out a ‘GASP’ unlike any gasp I’ve ever released before!! Why the gargantuan ‘gasp’?! I was checking my favourite Bruce Springsteen website, www.backstreets.com, for no reason in particular, when I saw the headline on the website: Its Bruce Springsteen week on American Idol! There was a photo of Bruce arm-in-arm with Paula Abdul, next to a smiling Randy and Simon….and another photo of Bruce playing guitar next to Idol finalist Chris Daughtry. Horrified, I continued reading the story….. Bruce Springsteen songs would be featured on this Wednesday’s ‘American Idol’, and there was a list of which Bruce songs the contestants would sing. My heart was in my throat!!! How could The Boss do this? Why would he do it!!!! He doesn’t need to do it!!! Uuughhhh…. Not since the Rolling Stones premiered their video for ‘Streets of Love’ on a daytime soap opera have I been so incensed at ‘marketing gone wrong’. Bruce Springsteen week on American Idol. It was enough to make me bawl like a baby. But then I saw the date on the top of the story. April 1st, 2006. April Fools Day. Sheesh. Fished in by my own fan site! Nice to know I can turn beet red even when I’m the only one home.
Speaking of April Fools Day, check out the website www.museumofhoaxes.com. They list the top 100 April Fools jokes of all time. Some of my favourites include ‘Smell-o-vision’, when the BBC tv network convinced tv viewers that new technology meant you could actually smell what you were watching on tv. There was also Burger King’s ‘left-handed Whopper’ commercial, causing left-handed people to rush to the fast food restaurant for a burger especially for them. And of course, what April Fools Day should pass without some mention of ‘killer bees’. They should arrive here any day now.
I love the month of April, the change of seasons, all that stuff, but wow….is it ever muddy at my place! I keep a Swiffer right by the door because every time my three dogs return from the yard, I have 12 paws dipped in mud, which translates into about 120 mud prints on my floor. Yes, I know I can ask all my dogs to ‘sit’ and ‘stay’ on the welcome mat, then I can take a rag and wipe all of their paws before they enter the house. The problem is, my dogs have no training in them whatsoever. I prefer to let them learn things on their own. For example, my dog Hudson has learned that if he pulls back the bedspread on the spare room bed, its much more comfortable to sleep under the covers. He taught himself that one.
Thank you to Luc Lemay, owner of John’s Street Sweepers, for giving JR the dream experience of a lifetime. A ride in a street sweeper. It really is all about the simple things in life, isn’t it?
I plan to get my bike out of the shed this week. It’s a tough bike, I know that because I have ridden it straight into a wooden fence at full speed, and its also survived a summersault into a roadway ditch. I can really see why helmets are now mandatory.
Speaking of April Fools Day, check out the website www.museumofhoaxes.com. They list the top 100 April Fools jokes of all time. Some of my favourites include ‘Smell-o-vision’, when the BBC tv network convinced tv viewers that new technology meant you could actually smell what you were watching on tv. There was also Burger King’s ‘left-handed Whopper’ commercial, causing left-handed people to rush to the fast food restaurant for a burger especially for them. And of course, what April Fools Day should pass without some mention of ‘killer bees’. They should arrive here any day now.
I love the month of April, the change of seasons, all that stuff, but wow….is it ever muddy at my place! I keep a Swiffer right by the door because every time my three dogs return from the yard, I have 12 paws dipped in mud, which translates into about 120 mud prints on my floor. Yes, I know I can ask all my dogs to ‘sit’ and ‘stay’ on the welcome mat, then I can take a rag and wipe all of their paws before they enter the house. The problem is, my dogs have no training in them whatsoever. I prefer to let them learn things on their own. For example, my dog Hudson has learned that if he pulls back the bedspread on the spare room bed, its much more comfortable to sleep under the covers. He taught himself that one.
Thank you to Luc Lemay, owner of John’s Street Sweepers, for giving JR the dream experience of a lifetime. A ride in a street sweeper. It really is all about the simple things in life, isn’t it?
I plan to get my bike out of the shed this week. It’s a tough bike, I know that because I have ridden it straight into a wooden fence at full speed, and its also survived a summersault into a roadway ditch. I can really see why helmets are now mandatory.
Tuesday, March 28, 2006
Which came first - the Muskoka Chair or the Adirondack Chair?
What a furr-tastic success! Ok, furr-tastic is not a word and I promise you will never see it here again. But, the Humane Society Fur Ball was a night to remember and best of all - $70,000 was raised for the animals!!! A sincere thank you to everyone involved, (if I had a tail, it would be wagging right now) and to all who attended and helped to raise much-needed funds for the Humane Society emergency services program. Thank you to Jefferson Sukhoo, ‘designers on Dalhousie’, for dressing me for the evening.
We better not get one of those weird spring snowfalls. All my patio furniture is out. Dining table, lawn chairs, Adirondack chairs…oooops, I mean ‘muskoka’ chairs. Who invented these chairs? The Adirondack people or the Muskoka people? One has clearly stolen from the other.. but WHO? These are things I like to ponder. I even have a muskoka/Adirondack chair that reclines like a Lazy-Boy chair. Hope it doesn’t snow.
The new line-up of teachers has been announced for the upcoming ‘Rock and Roll Fantasy Camp’. This summer, it takes place in August in New York City. If you’ve always wanted to be a rock star, check out the website www.rockandrollfantasycamp.com ! For the reasonable price of $8500 U.S., meals included, you will learn how to ROCK!!!! Teachers include: Jon Anderson from ‘Yes’, Levon Helm from ‘The Band’, George Thorogood, Dee Snider from ‘Twisted Sister’ and Max Weinberg from ‘the E Street Band’! And, if you want to bring your spouse, that only costs an extra $500. Wow! I’d love to go to this camp just to make s’mores around the campfire with Dee Snider.
When my husband and I decided to get digital satellite tv, I wanted it for one reason only. To get the channel ‘Animal Planet’. So far on Animal Planet, it seems that there are just three shows. ‘Crocodile Hunter’, which is not about animals, its about a man who has lost his mind. Then there’s ‘Animal Cops’, which is just like the show ‘Cops’, except this time they are arresting people who have animals. And the other show is about meerkats.
At least the show about meerkats is an animal show. Its just that, after having ‘Animal Planet’ for two weeks now, I know enough about meerkats. I would like to move on to some other animal now. Even a show about ants would be fine.
If you and your dog have some spare time on Sunday, April 9th, come on out to the K-9 Spring Fling! It takes place from 10 to 4 pm at ‘Forever Friends Dog Training School’, for details check www.nccpd.org.
Crafts, dog treats, get your dog’s photo taken for just $5.00, all proceeds to support dog rescue in Ottawa!
Speaking of dogs, its time to stock up on this year’s supply of ‘Skunk Off’! It gets rid of the stink right away! Vets sell the stuff in the bottle, and keeping it on hand is a whole lot better than dealing with your freshly-skunk-sprayed dog at 3 in the morning. 5 out of 5 dog owners agree…’Skunk Off is the best product ever invented!!! Dogs don’t seem to mind the smell, though. Then again, dogs love rolling in cow poo.
We better not get one of those weird spring snowfalls. All my patio furniture is out. Dining table, lawn chairs, Adirondack chairs…oooops, I mean ‘muskoka’ chairs. Who invented these chairs? The Adirondack people or the Muskoka people? One has clearly stolen from the other.. but WHO? These are things I like to ponder. I even have a muskoka/Adirondack chair that reclines like a Lazy-Boy chair. Hope it doesn’t snow.
The new line-up of teachers has been announced for the upcoming ‘Rock and Roll Fantasy Camp’. This summer, it takes place in August in New York City. If you’ve always wanted to be a rock star, check out the website www.rockandrollfantasycamp.com ! For the reasonable price of $8500 U.S., meals included, you will learn how to ROCK!!!! Teachers include: Jon Anderson from ‘Yes’, Levon Helm from ‘The Band’, George Thorogood, Dee Snider from ‘Twisted Sister’ and Max Weinberg from ‘the E Street Band’! And, if you want to bring your spouse, that only costs an extra $500. Wow! I’d love to go to this camp just to make s’mores around the campfire with Dee Snider.
When my husband and I decided to get digital satellite tv, I wanted it for one reason only. To get the channel ‘Animal Planet’. So far on Animal Planet, it seems that there are just three shows. ‘Crocodile Hunter’, which is not about animals, its about a man who has lost his mind. Then there’s ‘Animal Cops’, which is just like the show ‘Cops’, except this time they are arresting people who have animals. And the other show is about meerkats.
At least the show about meerkats is an animal show. Its just that, after having ‘Animal Planet’ for two weeks now, I know enough about meerkats. I would like to move on to some other animal now. Even a show about ants would be fine.
If you and your dog have some spare time on Sunday, April 9th, come on out to the K-9 Spring Fling! It takes place from 10 to 4 pm at ‘Forever Friends Dog Training School’, for details check www.nccpd.org.
Crafts, dog treats, get your dog’s photo taken for just $5.00, all proceeds to support dog rescue in Ottawa!
Speaking of dogs, its time to stock up on this year’s supply of ‘Skunk Off’! It gets rid of the stink right away! Vets sell the stuff in the bottle, and keeping it on hand is a whole lot better than dealing with your freshly-skunk-sprayed dog at 3 in the morning. 5 out of 5 dog owners agree…’Skunk Off is the best product ever invented!!! Dogs don’t seem to mind the smell, though. Then again, dogs love rolling in cow poo.
Thursday, March 23, 2006
Blues Lady to the Rescue!!! (www.blueslady.com)
‘The Morning After’ on BOB FM welcomed Ottawa’s blues lady, Maria Hawkins, to give some much-needed singing tips to anyone planning to attend the Canadian Idol auditions, this weekend at St Laurent Centre. As a public service, we repeat them here:
1. Drink 6 – 8 glasses of water a day
2. Get plenty of sleep. Fatigue lowers your voice
3. Avoid yelling or screaming or talking, laughing, or singing louder than is necessary
4. DO NOT WHISPER, especially when you have a sore throat, this increases muscular tension and dries out vocal chords
5. eliminate habitual throat clearing and excessive coughing
6. DON”T SMOKE!
7. try to reduce your caffeine/alcohol intake
8. use an easy and gentle approach to voice production
9. have your hearing checked
10. when you have laryngitis or a sore throat, give your voice a rest. Take time to let your voice recover!
These suggestions all come from one of Ottawa’s best singers, blues lady Maria Hawkins!!! Maria says that ANYONE can learn to sing, anyone! Although, she did say that ‘before’ she tried to teach JR and me how to sing the lovely duet ‘You Don’t Bring Me Flowers’.
Please help!!! Maria Hawkins is currently teaching the kids at Manor Park Public School to sing… and right now, there is a serious shortage for this school’s breakfast program. Manor Park Public School desperately needs donations of breakfast foods, cereals, cereal bars, etc, and of course cash donations to support the breakfast program are certainly welcome too. Please drop donations off at Manor Park Public School, 100 Braemar St, which is in the St Laurent/Hemlock area. The phone number for the school is 746-8131!! Thank you so much!
1. Drink 6 – 8 glasses of water a day
2. Get plenty of sleep. Fatigue lowers your voice
3. Avoid yelling or screaming or talking, laughing, or singing louder than is necessary
4. DO NOT WHISPER, especially when you have a sore throat, this increases muscular tension and dries out vocal chords
5. eliminate habitual throat clearing and excessive coughing
6. DON”T SMOKE!
7. try to reduce your caffeine/alcohol intake
8. use an easy and gentle approach to voice production
9. have your hearing checked
10. when you have laryngitis or a sore throat, give your voice a rest. Take time to let your voice recover!
These suggestions all come from one of Ottawa’s best singers, blues lady Maria Hawkins!!! Maria says that ANYONE can learn to sing, anyone! Although, she did say that ‘before’ she tried to teach JR and me how to sing the lovely duet ‘You Don’t Bring Me Flowers’.
Please help!!! Maria Hawkins is currently teaching the kids at Manor Park Public School to sing… and right now, there is a serious shortage for this school’s breakfast program. Manor Park Public School desperately needs donations of breakfast foods, cereals, cereal bars, etc, and of course cash donations to support the breakfast program are certainly welcome too. Please drop donations off at Manor Park Public School, 100 Braemar St, which is in the St Laurent/Hemlock area. The phone number for the school is 746-8131!! Thank you so much!
Wednesday, March 22, 2006
Can't Get Enough of those Beer Nuts
The Home and Garden show is on this weekend at Lansdowne Park. I love going to this show, for 2 reasons. I get tons of ideas that inevitably lead to hard labour for my husband. And the second reason I love the Home and Garden Show is: the beer nuts. The aroma of the beer nuts fills the air as you descend the stairs of the Civic Centre, and before you know it, your hand is deep into a bag of warm sticky nuts, which then means that you can’t touch any of the exhibits. But its worth it. At the home and garden show last year, I learned a very important tip to make my gardening easier. Buy the biggest wheel barrow you can find. Even if it looks ridiculously huge, buy it anyway. With a monster wheel barrow, you can haul everything you need in one trip. Rocks, soil, the dog, plants, hose, shovels, fence, plywood, cordless tools, drink cooler, your bike helmet, Miracle Gro, lawn furniture, tomato cages, it all goes into one wheel barrow. And you can push all that quite easily if your lawn is fairly level. Just watch out if you’re going downhill, a fully packed giant wheel barrow can sometimes get away on you when you’re going downhill. Defeats the whole purpose.
As we await the birth of Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin’s second child, mostly just because we want to know what the heck they’re going to name this kid, with the first one getting the moniker ‘Apple’, this week, we learn that Donald Trump and his wife Melania have named their newborn son ‘Barron’. They’ve built the wealth right into the kid’s name. Why didn’t they just call him ‘Richie Rich’? ‘Barron Trump’ Wow. Quite a name. When I was a kid, a popular name for a rich kid was ‘Millhouse’. Somehow doesn’t fit anymore, ever since the Simpsons.
My husband and I finally got satellite tv. I think we get over 400 channels now. So far, this is what I’ve been watching over and over. The Price is Right, with Bob Barker in ‘high definition’, ‘Animal Cops’, and the educational show on the Discovery Channel, ‘How Its Made’. Last week, we learned how baseboard heaters are manufactured. When Bruce Springsteen sang about ’57 Channels and Nothing On’, maybe we shoulda believed him.
Good luck to everyone who is auditioning for Canadian Idol this weekend in Ottawa. It must be pretty nerve-wracking. I think this show has been on long enough, that the judges are probably hearing the same songs over and over again at the auditions. I think that a contestant would really stand out if they did a song that was a bit of an oddity, a bit of a surprise. I wonder if anyone has the courage to enter the Canadian Idol audition process with a rousing rendition of: ‘Love Removal Machine’ by the Cult.
Or the theme from the Mary Tyler Moore Show.
Go Sens go!! As we near the play-offs, the excitement is reaching a feverish pitch. I gotta get some of those Senators car flags that you clamp onto your car window. Then just hope it stays cold outside. Because as soon as you open the car window, there goes the flag. On a good day, with a play-off game taking place at Scotiabank Place, there are easily 20 to 30 Sens flags on the Queensway. Its tempting to nab a couple of these flags, but probably not a great idea during rush hour traffic. Funny. I haven’t seen many Leafs flags around this year.
As we await the birth of Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin’s second child, mostly just because we want to know what the heck they’re going to name this kid, with the first one getting the moniker ‘Apple’, this week, we learn that Donald Trump and his wife Melania have named their newborn son ‘Barron’. They’ve built the wealth right into the kid’s name. Why didn’t they just call him ‘Richie Rich’? ‘Barron Trump’ Wow. Quite a name. When I was a kid, a popular name for a rich kid was ‘Millhouse’. Somehow doesn’t fit anymore, ever since the Simpsons.
My husband and I finally got satellite tv. I think we get over 400 channels now. So far, this is what I’ve been watching over and over. The Price is Right, with Bob Barker in ‘high definition’, ‘Animal Cops’, and the educational show on the Discovery Channel, ‘How Its Made’. Last week, we learned how baseboard heaters are manufactured. When Bruce Springsteen sang about ’57 Channels and Nothing On’, maybe we shoulda believed him.
Good luck to everyone who is auditioning for Canadian Idol this weekend in Ottawa. It must be pretty nerve-wracking. I think this show has been on long enough, that the judges are probably hearing the same songs over and over again at the auditions. I think that a contestant would really stand out if they did a song that was a bit of an oddity, a bit of a surprise. I wonder if anyone has the courage to enter the Canadian Idol audition process with a rousing rendition of: ‘Love Removal Machine’ by the Cult.
Or the theme from the Mary Tyler Moore Show.
Go Sens go!! As we near the play-offs, the excitement is reaching a feverish pitch. I gotta get some of those Senators car flags that you clamp onto your car window. Then just hope it stays cold outside. Because as soon as you open the car window, there goes the flag. On a good day, with a play-off game taking place at Scotiabank Place, there are easily 20 to 30 Sens flags on the Queensway. Its tempting to nab a couple of these flags, but probably not a great idea during rush hour traffic. Funny. I haven’t seen many Leafs flags around this year.
Tuesday, March 14, 2006
No Thanks, I'll Roll Up my Own Rim
Its day 77 since I got an ipod for Christmas. I’ve downloaded 2483 songs onto my Ipod. But still haven’t used it. Although, its good to know, if a robber came by and stole my entire CD collection, I’d
still have all my favorite songs tucked safely onto my IPOD. This is definitely one of the reasons to love an Ipod. The other reason, I suppose, is actually ‘using’ it.
Its Irish week! Of course, on St Pattys Day, everyone is Irish. I’m half Irish and half French Canadian, so on St Pattys Day I usually have some green beer and a big plate of poutine. On this Friday’s morning show, we hope to connect with Brian Connelly, who is a radio announcer with a radio show from Dublin. He’ll be joining us by phone to give us the full scoop of St Pattys celebrations straight from Dublin Ireland! Problem is, our interview time is 12:45 pm Dublin time. The pubs will have been open for quite some time by then!!!! Make sure you tune in for some authentic Irish fun at 7:45 am Ottawa time.
Can you believe the controversy over that huge Tim Horton ‘Roll Up to Win’ story? In case you hadn’t heard, in a small town outside of Montreal a 10 year old girl found an empty Tim Horton’s coffee cup in the garbage. When her little fingers were too tiny to ‘roll up the rim’, she asked her 12 year old friend for help. Sure enough, the 12 year old peels back the rim and ‘booom’, it’s a winning coffee cup!!!! The Prize: A Toyota RAV 4 SUV!!!! Here we are, over a week later, and a) the 10 year old’s parents think she should get the truck b) the 12 year old’s parents think that she should be the sole winner of the truck and c) the custodian who threw the coffee cup in the garbage in the first place, has hired a lawyer, and is demanding DNA samples be taken from the cup to prove that it ‘was’ his in the first place, and that HE should be the winner of the truck. So far, Tim Horton’s Donuts has remained silent on the issue. Probably a good idea. I’m sure its just a matter of time before we hear that the school bully is also demanding the truck.
It may only be the month of March, but it won’t be long before our schedules start to fill up quickly for the summer, especially on the weekends. If you’re an animal lover, circle the date ‘July 8th’ 2006 on your calendar. The whole family is invited to a good old fashioned country fair at the Big Sky Ranch Animal
Sanctuary, just outside of Kemptville. Big Sky is a safe haven for unwanted and abused animals. Right now there are 171 animals living here, from horses and donkeys to cats and dogs. Owner Andy Parent and his volunteers do their best to rehabiliate these animals and find them homes, but many are here to live out their days in a comfortable, peaceful setting. Donations are desperately needed! For more info, click on the ‘pet friendly’ section of BOB FM’s website and you’ll find a link to the Big Sky Ranch! And don’t forget to book July 8th, for tons of fun, entertainment, animals and prizes at Big Sky! Bob FM will be there, hope to see you!!!
still have all my favorite songs tucked safely onto my IPOD. This is definitely one of the reasons to love an Ipod. The other reason, I suppose, is actually ‘using’ it.
Its Irish week! Of course, on St Pattys Day, everyone is Irish. I’m half Irish and half French Canadian, so on St Pattys Day I usually have some green beer and a big plate of poutine. On this Friday’s morning show, we hope to connect with Brian Connelly, who is a radio announcer with a radio show from Dublin. He’ll be joining us by phone to give us the full scoop of St Pattys celebrations straight from Dublin Ireland! Problem is, our interview time is 12:45 pm Dublin time. The pubs will have been open for quite some time by then!!!! Make sure you tune in for some authentic Irish fun at 7:45 am Ottawa time.
Can you believe the controversy over that huge Tim Horton ‘Roll Up to Win’ story? In case you hadn’t heard, in a small town outside of Montreal a 10 year old girl found an empty Tim Horton’s coffee cup in the garbage. When her little fingers were too tiny to ‘roll up the rim’, she asked her 12 year old friend for help. Sure enough, the 12 year old peels back the rim and ‘booom’, it’s a winning coffee cup!!!! The Prize: A Toyota RAV 4 SUV!!!! Here we are, over a week later, and a) the 10 year old’s parents think she should get the truck b) the 12 year old’s parents think that she should be the sole winner of the truck and c) the custodian who threw the coffee cup in the garbage in the first place, has hired a lawyer, and is demanding DNA samples be taken from the cup to prove that it ‘was’ his in the first place, and that HE should be the winner of the truck. So far, Tim Horton’s Donuts has remained silent on the issue. Probably a good idea. I’m sure its just a matter of time before we hear that the school bully is also demanding the truck.
It may only be the month of March, but it won’t be long before our schedules start to fill up quickly for the summer, especially on the weekends. If you’re an animal lover, circle the date ‘July 8th’ 2006 on your calendar. The whole family is invited to a good old fashioned country fair at the Big Sky Ranch Animal
Sanctuary, just outside of Kemptville. Big Sky is a safe haven for unwanted and abused animals. Right now there are 171 animals living here, from horses and donkeys to cats and dogs. Owner Andy Parent and his volunteers do their best to rehabiliate these animals and find them homes, but many are here to live out their days in a comfortable, peaceful setting. Donations are desperately needed! For more info, click on the ‘pet friendly’ section of BOB FM’s website and you’ll find a link to the Big Sky Ranch! And don’t forget to book July 8th, for tons of fun, entertainment, animals and prizes at Big Sky! Bob FM will be there, hope to see you!!!
Better Roll Up Your Own Rim
Its day 77 since I got an ipod for Christmas. I’ve downloaded 2483 songs onto my Ipod. But still haven’t used it. Although, its good to know, if a robber came by and stole my entire CD collection, I’d
still have all my favorite songs tucked safely onto my IPOD. This is definitely one of the reasons to love an Ipod. The other reason, I suppose, is actually ‘using’ it.
Its Irish week! Of course, on St Pattys Day, everyone is Irish. I’m half Irish and half French Canadian, so on St Pattys Day I usually have some green beer and a big plate of poutine. On this Friday’s morning show, we hope to connect with Brian Connelly, who is a radio announcer with a radio show from Dublin. He’ll be joining us by phone to give us the full scoop of St Pattys celebrations straight from Dublin Ireland! Problem is, our interview time is 12:45 pm Dublin time. The pubs will have been open for quite some time by then!!!! Make sure you tune in for some authentic Irish fun at 7:45 am Ottawa time.
Can you believe the controversy over that huge Tim Horton ‘Roll Up to Win’ story? In case you hadn’t heard, in a small town outside of Montreal a 10 year old girl found an empty Tim Horton’s coffee cup in the garbage. When her little fingers were too tiny to ‘roll up the rim’, she asked her 12 year old friend for help. Sure enough, the 12 year old peels back the rim and ‘booom’, it’s a winning coffee cup!!!! The Prize: A Toyota RAV 4 SUV!!!! Here we are, over a week later, and a) the 10 year old’s parents think she should get the truck b) the 12 year old’s parents think that she should be the sole winner of the truck and c) the custodian who threw the coffee cup in the garbage in the first place, has hired a lawyer, and is demanding DNA samples be taken from the cup to prove that it ‘was’ his in the first place, and that HE should be the winner of the truck. So far, Tim Horton’s Donuts has remained silent on the issue. Probably a good idea. I’m sure its just a matter of time before we hear that the school bully is also demanding the truck.
It may only be the month of March, but it won’t be long before our schedules start to fill up quickly for the summer, especially on the weekends. If you’re an animal lover, circle the date ‘July 8th’ 2006 on your calendar. The whole family is invited to a good old fashioned country fair at the Big Sky Ranch Animal
Sanctuary, just outside of Kemptville. Big Sky is a safe haven for unwanted and abused animals. Right now there are 171 animals living here, from horses and donkeys to cats and dogs. Owner Andy Parent and his volunteers do their best to rehabiliate these animals and find them homes, but many are here to live out their days in a comfortable, peaceful setting. Donations are desperately needed! For more info, click on the ‘pet friendly’ section of BOB FM’s website and you’ll find a link to the Big Sky Ranch! And don’t forget to book July 8th, for tons of fun, entertainment, animals and prizes at Big Sky! Bob FM will be there, hope to see you!!!
still have all my favorite songs tucked safely onto my IPOD. This is definitely one of the reasons to love an Ipod. The other reason, I suppose, is actually ‘using’ it.
Its Irish week! Of course, on St Pattys Day, everyone is Irish. I’m half Irish and half French Canadian, so on St Pattys Day I usually have some green beer and a big plate of poutine. On this Friday’s morning show, we hope to connect with Brian Connelly, who is a radio announcer with a radio show from Dublin. He’ll be joining us by phone to give us the full scoop of St Pattys celebrations straight from Dublin Ireland! Problem is, our interview time is 12:45 pm Dublin time. The pubs will have been open for quite some time by then!!!! Make sure you tune in for some authentic Irish fun at 7:45 am Ottawa time.
Can you believe the controversy over that huge Tim Horton ‘Roll Up to Win’ story? In case you hadn’t heard, in a small town outside of Montreal a 10 year old girl found an empty Tim Horton’s coffee cup in the garbage. When her little fingers were too tiny to ‘roll up the rim’, she asked her 12 year old friend for help. Sure enough, the 12 year old peels back the rim and ‘booom’, it’s a winning coffee cup!!!! The Prize: A Toyota RAV 4 SUV!!!! Here we are, over a week later, and a) the 10 year old’s parents think she should get the truck b) the 12 year old’s parents think that she should be the sole winner of the truck and c) the custodian who threw the coffee cup in the garbage in the first place, has hired a lawyer, and is demanding DNA samples be taken from the cup to prove that it ‘was’ his in the first place, and that HE should be the winner of the truck. So far, Tim Horton’s Donuts has remained silent on the issue. Probably a good idea. I’m sure its just a matter of time before we hear that the school bully is also demanding the truck.
It may only be the month of March, but it won’t be long before our schedules start to fill up quickly for the summer, especially on the weekends. If you’re an animal lover, circle the date ‘July 8th’ 2006 on your calendar. The whole family is invited to a good old fashioned country fair at the Big Sky Ranch Animal
Sanctuary, just outside of Kemptville. Big Sky is a safe haven for unwanted and abused animals. Right now there are 171 animals living here, from horses and donkeys to cats and dogs. Owner Andy Parent and his volunteers do their best to rehabiliate these animals and find them homes, but many are here to live out their days in a comfortable, peaceful setting. Donations are desperately needed! For more info, click on the ‘pet friendly’ section of BOB FM’s website and you’ll find a link to the Big Sky Ranch! And don’t forget to book July 8th, for tons of fun, entertainment, animals and prizes at Big Sky! Bob FM will be there, hope to see you!!!
Sunday, March 05, 2006
Fashion takes my breath away
Looks like I’ll have to put away my black lipstick and my black nail polish and my white face powder, and save it for another time. The Nine Inch Nails concert has been post-poned. Apparently lead singer Trent Reznor isn’t feeling well, word is its nothing serious, touch of the flu, but he needs some time off to get better. Sources said that Trent Reznor was looking quite pale.
Had a great day of skiing at Edelweiss! I found myself sharing a run with a skiing raccoon. Actually, the raccoon was snow-boarding. Every time I go skiing, I’m inspired by the young children, 4 and 5 years old, that ski circles around me. They don’t know it, but they always encourage me to become as fearless as they are. This time, I was given a shot of courage by a snow-boarding raccoon. If that raccoon could fly down those steep runs, so could I! But of course, I fell flat on my back. The last thing I saw was the raccoon’s striped tail disappearing down the hill. Just as well. The last thing I needed was a raccoon helping me back on my feet. I prefer help from my usual good skiing buddies, the four and five year olds.
A rather embarrassing thing happened to me the other day. James Jefferson and Frank Sukhoo are two fabulous local fashion designers, who have a design boutique called Jefferson Sukhoo on Dalhousie Street. James and Frank kindly offered to loan me a dress for the upcoming Humane Society Fur Ball. They chose a gorgeous black gown for me, and away I went into the change room to try it on. At first I tried to ‘step into’ the gown, but that didn’t work. Too tight. So then I tried to pull the gown over my head. That’s when it happened. I got completely stuck. My arms were pointed straight up into the air, the gown was bunched up around my head and shoulders, my jeans were crumpled down at my ankles and I couldn’t move. Not only was I afraid I might rip the dress, I was having trouble breathing. I wondered if I should allow myself to asphyxiate instead of going through the embarrassment of having to call out for help. With James and Frank busily chatting with customers in the boutique, I lost track of time, feeling like Houdini wrapped in an impossible straight-jacket, the difference being, Houdini made a living as an escape artist, and I, well, I am a radio announcer. Finally, a call from beyond. ‘Sandy’? Is everything ok in there’? ‘I’mmmmmm sssshhhtuck in the dr-e-e-ssss and I caannn’t (gasp!) breathe!
James asked permission to help me. ‘YEESSSS’! I was saved!!! Being the designer of the dress, he knew exactly how the zipper worked – how the sleeves worked – it was incredible!!! With my arms shot straight up, my head swathed in gown, my jeans at my ankles, James freed me from my elegant prison! Ok, maybe I’ve been watching too many spy movies lately. But at least the dress didn’t get ripped. And I am alive to tell the story. Best part of all, James and Frank are gonna make me something that I can put on all by myself!!! p.s. if you have any stories of a similar nature to share, please write to me. I’m sure this happens to people a lot………doesn’t it?
Had a great day of skiing at Edelweiss! I found myself sharing a run with a skiing raccoon. Actually, the raccoon was snow-boarding. Every time I go skiing, I’m inspired by the young children, 4 and 5 years old, that ski circles around me. They don’t know it, but they always encourage me to become as fearless as they are. This time, I was given a shot of courage by a snow-boarding raccoon. If that raccoon could fly down those steep runs, so could I! But of course, I fell flat on my back. The last thing I saw was the raccoon’s striped tail disappearing down the hill. Just as well. The last thing I needed was a raccoon helping me back on my feet. I prefer help from my usual good skiing buddies, the four and five year olds.
A rather embarrassing thing happened to me the other day. James Jefferson and Frank Sukhoo are two fabulous local fashion designers, who have a design boutique called Jefferson Sukhoo on Dalhousie Street. James and Frank kindly offered to loan me a dress for the upcoming Humane Society Fur Ball. They chose a gorgeous black gown for me, and away I went into the change room to try it on. At first I tried to ‘step into’ the gown, but that didn’t work. Too tight. So then I tried to pull the gown over my head. That’s when it happened. I got completely stuck. My arms were pointed straight up into the air, the gown was bunched up around my head and shoulders, my jeans were crumpled down at my ankles and I couldn’t move. Not only was I afraid I might rip the dress, I was having trouble breathing. I wondered if I should allow myself to asphyxiate instead of going through the embarrassment of having to call out for help. With James and Frank busily chatting with customers in the boutique, I lost track of time, feeling like Houdini wrapped in an impossible straight-jacket, the difference being, Houdini made a living as an escape artist, and I, well, I am a radio announcer. Finally, a call from beyond. ‘Sandy’? Is everything ok in there’? ‘I’mmmmmm sssshhhtuck in the dr-e-e-ssss and I caannn’t (gasp!) breathe!
James asked permission to help me. ‘YEESSSS’! I was saved!!! Being the designer of the dress, he knew exactly how the zipper worked – how the sleeves worked – it was incredible!!! With my arms shot straight up, my head swathed in gown, my jeans at my ankles, James freed me from my elegant prison! Ok, maybe I’ve been watching too many spy movies lately. But at least the dress didn’t get ripped. And I am alive to tell the story. Best part of all, James and Frank are gonna make me something that I can put on all by myself!!! p.s. if you have any stories of a similar nature to share, please write to me. I’m sure this happens to people a lot………doesn’t it?
Friday, February 24, 2006
Frank and Gordon rock!!!!!
I can’t get enough of Frank and Gordon. I love them. The Bell Canada beavers are brilliant. I want to meet them, have them over for dinner. I think they eat wood. And sandwiches. I have friends that are tiring of Frank and Gordon. Not me. I just hope they don’t get too big for their britches. But for now, I love seeing them on tv all day. Especially since I got satellite tv, and I have 43 CBC channels. Frank and Gordon appear a lot! Check out www.frankandgordon.ca, for your beaver fix, just in case you’re at work and you can’t watch tv.
How’s this for irony. Since my alarm goes off at 3:30 every morning for my early shift, I tend to have a nap every afternoon. I don’t shut my phone ringer off, because I would probably never remember to turn it back on again. But luckily my friends and family know, I sleep in the afternoon so they don’t call me and wake me up. Oh yeah, finally, here’s the ironic part. The other day, the phone rang in the middle of the afternoon and woke me up. After trying to get back to sleep, but to no avail, I retrieved the message. It was from the ‘sleep disorder’ clinic. They were calling to tell Norm Dupuis that he had an appointment at the sleep disorder clinic at 9 am on June 11th. If anyone knows a Norm Dupuis, please pass that along to him. And I thank the sleep disorder clinic for waking me up.
As we wrap up a fabulous winter Olympics in Torino, all eyes turn to Whistler in 2010. Does anyone know anyone who knows anyone who has a room for rent in Whistler…..say….sometime around February….in the year 2010? If you’ve been to Whistler, you know what an incredibly vibrant and fun place it is. Now that Whistler has been chosen to host the world at the next winter Olympics, just how hard is it going to be to get a hotel room? Hmm….. its hard enough RIGHT NOW! Anyone who lives in Whistler can probably get $5000 a night for their fold-out couch during the Olympics. I had to laugh about a contest that ‘SKI’ magazine had, looking for Whistler’s biggest ski bum. The winner was a guy from Ontario, who went to Whistler to ski everyday for an entire winter, but had no money left for anything else. So he lived in the stairwell of the Marriott Hotel beside the ski hill. He had a sleeping bag, change of underwear, some ski magazines. Lived there all winter long. Skied at Whistler every day. This dude had his priorities!
The premiere of my acting debut is coming up Monday, March 20th. I play the part of a woman who gets her purse stolen in a Crimestoppers video. It will be on the CTV news at 6. Unless of course, I end up on the cutting room floor.
I still haven’t used the Ipod I got for Christmas. My Ipod holds 7500 songs. So far my husband has downloaded only about 850 songs on it. So its kinda pointless to use it, with just 850 songs.
Have you seen the movie ‘Eight Below’? As soon as I heard about the movie, starring 8 huskies in a struggle to survive alone in the Antarctic, I went to see the first showing at 10:40 am. I was by myself. I sobbed uncontrollably at the end of the movie. But so did the other woman and the other man who were there. ‘Eight Below’ is a great movie. And if you go to the theatre early in the morning, no one sees you cry.
How’s this for irony. Since my alarm goes off at 3:30 every morning for my early shift, I tend to have a nap every afternoon. I don’t shut my phone ringer off, because I would probably never remember to turn it back on again. But luckily my friends and family know, I sleep in the afternoon so they don’t call me and wake me up. Oh yeah, finally, here’s the ironic part. The other day, the phone rang in the middle of the afternoon and woke me up. After trying to get back to sleep, but to no avail, I retrieved the message. It was from the ‘sleep disorder’ clinic. They were calling to tell Norm Dupuis that he had an appointment at the sleep disorder clinic at 9 am on June 11th. If anyone knows a Norm Dupuis, please pass that along to him. And I thank the sleep disorder clinic for waking me up.
As we wrap up a fabulous winter Olympics in Torino, all eyes turn to Whistler in 2010. Does anyone know anyone who knows anyone who has a room for rent in Whistler…..say….sometime around February….in the year 2010? If you’ve been to Whistler, you know what an incredibly vibrant and fun place it is. Now that Whistler has been chosen to host the world at the next winter Olympics, just how hard is it going to be to get a hotel room? Hmm….. its hard enough RIGHT NOW! Anyone who lives in Whistler can probably get $5000 a night for their fold-out couch during the Olympics. I had to laugh about a contest that ‘SKI’ magazine had, looking for Whistler’s biggest ski bum. The winner was a guy from Ontario, who went to Whistler to ski everyday for an entire winter, but had no money left for anything else. So he lived in the stairwell of the Marriott Hotel beside the ski hill. He had a sleeping bag, change of underwear, some ski magazines. Lived there all winter long. Skied at Whistler every day. This dude had his priorities!
The premiere of my acting debut is coming up Monday, March 20th. I play the part of a woman who gets her purse stolen in a Crimestoppers video. It will be on the CTV news at 6. Unless of course, I end up on the cutting room floor.
I still haven’t used the Ipod I got for Christmas. My Ipod holds 7500 songs. So far my husband has downloaded only about 850 songs on it. So its kinda pointless to use it, with just 850 songs.
Have you seen the movie ‘Eight Below’? As soon as I heard about the movie, starring 8 huskies in a struggle to survive alone in the Antarctic, I went to see the first showing at 10:40 am. I was by myself. I sobbed uncontrollably at the end of the movie. But so did the other woman and the other man who were there. ‘Eight Below’ is a great movie. And if you go to the theatre early in the morning, no one sees you cry.
Wednesday, February 15, 2006
A Helmet is Always a Good Idea
Well, it was a long time coming, but I finally got my first acting part in a film. Ok, it’s a video. OK, it’s a Crimestoppers video. I’m the one getting my purse stolen. Not sure if it’s a speaking part, but I do have to show a wide range of emotions. I may also have to shake my fist at the thief as he runs down the street with my purse, but I’ll let the director decide that. Wow. I can’t believe I landed the role.
My first Crimestoppers video!!!
This Sunday, I can’t wait for the Winterlude media ice carving challenge. It starts at 11 at Confederation Park. I competed in this media challenge two years ago and finished in last place. As this was a ‘media’ challenge, the other teams turned their blocks of ice into carvings of their media logos. CBC carved out a big shiny ‘CBC’, the team from the New RO (now the A-Channel, but it was the New RO back then) carved a beautiful logo of their station name, and the other media competitors did the same. I did an ice carving of a dog. This year, I plan to do something different. I just don’t know what yet. Any suggestions? Maybe I’ll carve out the Parliament Buildings! Or a cat.
I’ve been watching the mens hockey games at the Olympics. This has to be one of the most popular sports at the winter games. At one point Alexi Yashin stepped out onto the ice in Turin, and I heard some fans in the stands booing. Obviously they were long-time Ottawa Sens fans. Wow! Can we ever hold a grudge.
I’m embarrassed to admit it, but I’ve really been enjoying the show ‘Skating with Celebrities’. I have no idea why. These are c-list, maybe even d-list celebrities matched up with professional figure skaters, and the thing is, skating can be dangerous. Last week Bruce Jenner soldiered on after landing face-first on the ice and getting twelve stitches in his head. That’s the spirit! But I think the celebrities should be wearing helmets. It may not compliment their dazzling outfits, but maybe, just maybe the celebrities would be more likely to try the triple toe loops if they wore safety helmets.
Congratulations to ‘Rufus’ the bull terrier who won ‘best in show’ at New York City’s Westminster Dog Show …probably the most prestigious dog show in the world. If you haven’t seen a photo of Rufus, just picture Don Cherry’s dog, except Rufus is a tan colour. I love the fact that ‘Rufus’ did everything right in the competition , edging out hundreds of dogs from all over the world, but not letting it go to his head. Apparently, just after he won this huge event, Rufus went right back to his favourite past-time…jumping up in the air and slamming his butt into the door so someone would let him outside. ‘Show dog’ by day, ‘regular dog’ by night. Gotta love it!
My first Crimestoppers video!!!
This Sunday, I can’t wait for the Winterlude media ice carving challenge. It starts at 11 at Confederation Park. I competed in this media challenge two years ago and finished in last place. As this was a ‘media’ challenge, the other teams turned their blocks of ice into carvings of their media logos. CBC carved out a big shiny ‘CBC’, the team from the New RO (now the A-Channel, but it was the New RO back then) carved a beautiful logo of their station name, and the other media competitors did the same. I did an ice carving of a dog. This year, I plan to do something different. I just don’t know what yet. Any suggestions? Maybe I’ll carve out the Parliament Buildings! Or a cat.
I’ve been watching the mens hockey games at the Olympics. This has to be one of the most popular sports at the winter games. At one point Alexi Yashin stepped out onto the ice in Turin, and I heard some fans in the stands booing. Obviously they were long-time Ottawa Sens fans. Wow! Can we ever hold a grudge.
I’m embarrassed to admit it, but I’ve really been enjoying the show ‘Skating with Celebrities’. I have no idea why. These are c-list, maybe even d-list celebrities matched up with professional figure skaters, and the thing is, skating can be dangerous. Last week Bruce Jenner soldiered on after landing face-first on the ice and getting twelve stitches in his head. That’s the spirit! But I think the celebrities should be wearing helmets. It may not compliment their dazzling outfits, but maybe, just maybe the celebrities would be more likely to try the triple toe loops if they wore safety helmets.
Congratulations to ‘Rufus’ the bull terrier who won ‘best in show’ at New York City’s Westminster Dog Show …probably the most prestigious dog show in the world. If you haven’t seen a photo of Rufus, just picture Don Cherry’s dog, except Rufus is a tan colour. I love the fact that ‘Rufus’ did everything right in the competition , edging out hundreds of dogs from all over the world, but not letting it go to his head. Apparently, just after he won this huge event, Rufus went right back to his favourite past-time…jumping up in the air and slamming his butt into the door so someone would let him outside. ‘Show dog’ by day, ‘regular dog’ by night. Gotta love it!
Wednesday, February 08, 2006
Just 24.95 makes you a bigger fan!!!
Hey! Great news!! INXS is coming to Ottawa’s Scotiabank Place on May 12! Not-so-great-news……. INXS is offering pre-sale tickets (as of Feb 14th) to members only! For the low price of $24.95 U.S, you can buy an INXS fan club membership, which entitles you to tickets w-a-a-y before anyone else! I really like the new INXS, but I’m starting to wonder about this ‘pre-sale’ stuff. Maybe its just me. What do you think? Why do we always have to be in a ‘club’? I’ve spent most of my life trying to avoid being in a club. Unless you count the yearbook club. Anyway, see you at the show. No doubt I will soon be a member of the INXS club for 24.95. Hope taxes are included.
I was at my gym today at the University of Ottawa. Sometimes visiting NHL hockey teams go there for a game-day practice. On two separate occasions, I found myself pounding away on a Stairmaster next to Joe Sakic from the Colorado Avalanche. OK, maybe I was reading a People magazine on a Stairmaster, but the Joe Sakic part is absolutely true. Today, as soon as I entered the gym building I could feel the buzz! There were people with cameras everywhere so I went right to the rink and there they were!!! NHL hockey players, having a practice! Problem was, I had no clue which team I was watching. As the players zipped up and down the ice, I tried to identify the logo on their jerseys. After a great deal of time I decided that the logo on their shirts was a ‘bowl of soup’ with a ladle sticking out of it. What NHL team was that, exactly? Too proud to ask anyone at the rink who these famous guys were, I went home and checked my trusty Ottawa Senators magnetized fridge schedule. Aha!! They were Atlanta Thrashers! Can someone tell me why the team logo is a bowl of soup?
Some things in life are just plain funny. Last fall, Hall and Oates came to town for a show at the Civic Centre. To talk about the concert, John Oates joined us for a radio interview on ‘the Morning After’. During the interview, I told him a quick story, about being at a wedding a few years back and the bride and groom’s ‘special song’ at the reception, was Hall and Oates’ “Maneater”. You know the song….’oh-oh here she comes…watch out boys she’ll chew you up….she’s a maneater…..’
John Oates thought that was pretty funny. Now, fast forward, to the month of February, to the next episode of ‘Will and Grace’. In the episode, Hall and Oates guest star as wedding singers. The bride and groom’s song? ‘Maneater’. Coincidence? Yeah, probably.
Got your tickets yet for the Humane Society ‘Fur Ball”? The theme is ‘Venetian Carnivale’ and it’s a very classy evening with food, entertainment, and unbelievable prizes including trips and fabulous jewellery from Jubilee. Join me and CTV’s JJ Clarke at the Chateau Laurier March 25th, and don’t forget to wear a mask! All proceeds to the Ottawa Humane Society!! For ticket info, click on the ‘pet friendly’ section of this website or go to www.ottawahumane.ca!
This coming Tuesday, we welcome a special guest to ‘the Morning After’ on 939 bob fm. Be sure to listen just after 8 am, because the always hysterical Mary Walsh will be joining JR and I for some fun. We loved Mary on ‘This Hour Has 22 Minutes’, and now she’s back with a new comedy, ‘Hatching, Matching and Dispatching’, on CBC Television. We’ll talk to Mary about the new show, and Mary has also agreed to do me a big favour. At 8 pm on February 14th, I will be in a local production of The Vagina Monologues. Mary Walsh has agreed to help me with rehearsing some of my lines. So tune in for that. And if you’d like to catch the Vagina Monologues, there are two showings, Feb 14th and 15th, at the Bronson Centre. For details go to www.ottawavday.ca. This is a fabulous play – and all proceeds go to the Sexual Assault Support Centre of Ottawa. See you there!
I was at my gym today at the University of Ottawa. Sometimes visiting NHL hockey teams go there for a game-day practice. On two separate occasions, I found myself pounding away on a Stairmaster next to Joe Sakic from the Colorado Avalanche. OK, maybe I was reading a People magazine on a Stairmaster, but the Joe Sakic part is absolutely true. Today, as soon as I entered the gym building I could feel the buzz! There were people with cameras everywhere so I went right to the rink and there they were!!! NHL hockey players, having a practice! Problem was, I had no clue which team I was watching. As the players zipped up and down the ice, I tried to identify the logo on their jerseys. After a great deal of time I decided that the logo on their shirts was a ‘bowl of soup’ with a ladle sticking out of it. What NHL team was that, exactly? Too proud to ask anyone at the rink who these famous guys were, I went home and checked my trusty Ottawa Senators magnetized fridge schedule. Aha!! They were Atlanta Thrashers! Can someone tell me why the team logo is a bowl of soup?
Some things in life are just plain funny. Last fall, Hall and Oates came to town for a show at the Civic Centre. To talk about the concert, John Oates joined us for a radio interview on ‘the Morning After’. During the interview, I told him a quick story, about being at a wedding a few years back and the bride and groom’s ‘special song’ at the reception, was Hall and Oates’ “Maneater”. You know the song….’oh-oh here she comes…watch out boys she’ll chew you up….she’s a maneater…..’
John Oates thought that was pretty funny. Now, fast forward, to the month of February, to the next episode of ‘Will and Grace’. In the episode, Hall and Oates guest star as wedding singers. The bride and groom’s song? ‘Maneater’. Coincidence? Yeah, probably.
Got your tickets yet for the Humane Society ‘Fur Ball”? The theme is ‘Venetian Carnivale’ and it’s a very classy evening with food, entertainment, and unbelievable prizes including trips and fabulous jewellery from Jubilee. Join me and CTV’s JJ Clarke at the Chateau Laurier March 25th, and don’t forget to wear a mask! All proceeds to the Ottawa Humane Society!! For ticket info, click on the ‘pet friendly’ section of this website or go to www.ottawahumane.ca!
This coming Tuesday, we welcome a special guest to ‘the Morning After’ on 939 bob fm. Be sure to listen just after 8 am, because the always hysterical Mary Walsh will be joining JR and I for some fun. We loved Mary on ‘This Hour Has 22 Minutes’, and now she’s back with a new comedy, ‘Hatching, Matching and Dispatching’, on CBC Television. We’ll talk to Mary about the new show, and Mary has also agreed to do me a big favour. At 8 pm on February 14th, I will be in a local production of The Vagina Monologues. Mary Walsh has agreed to help me with rehearsing some of my lines. So tune in for that. And if you’d like to catch the Vagina Monologues, there are two showings, Feb 14th and 15th, at the Bronson Centre. For details go to www.ottawavday.ca. This is a fabulous play – and all proceeds go to the Sexual Assault Support Centre of Ottawa. See you there!
Tuesday, January 31, 2006
Its a bird! Its a plane! Its a woodpecker!
It all started one morning when I looked out into the yard and saw a chicken fly by and land in a tree. I had just woken up and all of my sensibilities had yet to kick in, so I really did think this was a chicken in my winter-naked maple tree. Then I got a better look. It was the world’s biggest woodpecker. It was the size of a chicken. I felt like I had just seen a UFO or Sasquatch or the Loch Ness Monster. I knew that if I told someone that I had a ten pound woodpecker in my yard, they would roll their eyes and change the subject quickly. It would later be confirmed (by my trusty Audobon bird guide) that sitting in my tree was a pileated woodpecker. And yes, it was the size of a chicken. Giant woodpecker, with a red crest and a moustache. Kinda looked like William H. Macey in the movie ‘Fargo’. Anyway, since I blabbed about my sighting on the radio, I would personally like to thank all of the listeners who have shared their pileated woodpecker stories with me. As it turns out, these giant birds are fairly common. Who knew?
I was sitting on the couch the other day, eating a bowl of Lay’s potato chips. Mostly because I had housework to do. My three dogs don’t usually beg for food, but my dog Hudson really likes chips. So he sat at my knees staring at me and my chips for a while, then disappeared. Moments later, he returned with his rawhide bone, which he promptly dropped into my bowl of chips. This was a new twist. He was offering me a trade. Of course, it worked. He got chips. I got a slobbery rawhide bone. Drat! Out-smarted by one of my dogs yet again.
This year, more than 7 million Americans will be buying a 52-inch (or larger) plasma tv. I don’t have the Canadian stats, but per capita, its probably similar. Men are doing everything they can to convince their wives that a tv which takes up two thirds of the living room is not only quite acceptable, its really cool. And the funny thing is, this has lead to record sales in jewellery. Believe it or not, your man wanting a giant screen HD plasma LCD whatever tv, often leads to you getting some surprise jewellery. Not a bad deal. Except you may have to climb over the tv to get to your new necklace.
Its Olympics time once again! If you’re like me, you can’t get enough of Olympics coverage. I think I must watch about 5 hours a day, of course while wearing my Canadian Olympic sweater. My vote for most fearless Olympians has to go to the members of the various skeleton teams. Nothing like going head-first down a track at a gazillion miles an hour. I salute all of our Canadian athletes. The difference between them and people like me, is that they actually stuck to a plan.
I wonder if there are any tickets available for the gold medal mens hockey game.
I was sitting on the couch the other day, eating a bowl of Lay’s potato chips. Mostly because I had housework to do. My three dogs don’t usually beg for food, but my dog Hudson really likes chips. So he sat at my knees staring at me and my chips for a while, then disappeared. Moments later, he returned with his rawhide bone, which he promptly dropped into my bowl of chips. This was a new twist. He was offering me a trade. Of course, it worked. He got chips. I got a slobbery rawhide bone. Drat! Out-smarted by one of my dogs yet again.
This year, more than 7 million Americans will be buying a 52-inch (or larger) plasma tv. I don’t have the Canadian stats, but per capita, its probably similar. Men are doing everything they can to convince their wives that a tv which takes up two thirds of the living room is not only quite acceptable, its really cool. And the funny thing is, this has lead to record sales in jewellery. Believe it or not, your man wanting a giant screen HD plasma LCD whatever tv, often leads to you getting some surprise jewellery. Not a bad deal. Except you may have to climb over the tv to get to your new necklace.
Its Olympics time once again! If you’re like me, you can’t get enough of Olympics coverage. I think I must watch about 5 hours a day, of course while wearing my Canadian Olympic sweater. My vote for most fearless Olympians has to go to the members of the various skeleton teams. Nothing like going head-first down a track at a gazillion miles an hour. I salute all of our Canadian athletes. The difference between them and people like me, is that they actually stuck to a plan.
I wonder if there are any tickets available for the gold medal mens hockey game.
Monday, January 23, 2006
Hey! You 'do' have to shovel it!
If you’re a Tom Cochrane fan, its great news that he’ll be playing the ‘snowbowl’ to kick off Winterlude on the Rideau Canal (the stretch of canal that’s right in front of the NAC) on Friday, February 3rd. Last year, the Rheostatics had the same honour and put on a great show, although they may have wondered if the crowd did like them. Its just that you can’t hear applause when people’s hands are covered by mittens.
Speaking of the canal, maybe you’ve noticed that the NCC has made it official: there are now giant signs on the canal touting the fact that we are in the Guinness Book of World Records, yes we are, THE longest skating rink in the entire world!!! Just in case there was any doubt. Every few years the argument returns, and a frozen Dutch surface tries to claim the honour, but we are sticking to our story. Although this winter has been so mild, we may have another world record: the most people standing and staring and wishing they could skate on the world’s longest skating rink.
The debate continues: should the city of Ottawa snow plow drivers not only clear our streets, but also take out the ‘hump’ at the end of our driveways? Apparently, the ‘taking out of the hump’ will cost taxpayers another million dollars. In the meantime, most people handle the driveway hump one of two ways: with a snowblower, or, putting pedal to the medal and flooring the family mini van. A crowd often gathers when this Indy 500 manouevre results in the belly of the mini van straddling the hump, while all 4 wheels spin in the air. I’ll bet this has never happened to the Canadian Tire guy.
The 939 BOB FM ‘pet friendly’ coffee mugs are here! Let us know when you’re going to be gathering at a dog park with your 4 legged and 2 legged friends, and our ‘pet friendly’ van will swing by to deliver these super cool traveler coffee mugs! Send us the info by clicking onto the ‘pet friendly’ section of our website. The BOB FM pet friendly coffee mug is quickly becoming the ‘must have’ item for hip dog owners. OK. Maybe I should stop watching ‘Fashion TV’.
Just heard a startling statistic: pizza sales are down by 10 percent across Canada. The culprit? The calories and the carbs. A piece of pizza can have 500 calories and 30 g of carbs. No wonder its so delicious. Now, pizza makers are designing pizza pies with healthy whole wheat crusts and toppings like spinach and tofu and artichokes. Yuk. I’m sure the guys are gonna order a couple of those while they’re watching the Superbowl.
Speaking of the canal, maybe you’ve noticed that the NCC has made it official: there are now giant signs on the canal touting the fact that we are in the Guinness Book of World Records, yes we are, THE longest skating rink in the entire world!!! Just in case there was any doubt. Every few years the argument returns, and a frozen Dutch surface tries to claim the honour, but we are sticking to our story. Although this winter has been so mild, we may have another world record: the most people standing and staring and wishing they could skate on the world’s longest skating rink.
The debate continues: should the city of Ottawa snow plow drivers not only clear our streets, but also take out the ‘hump’ at the end of our driveways? Apparently, the ‘taking out of the hump’ will cost taxpayers another million dollars. In the meantime, most people handle the driveway hump one of two ways: with a snowblower, or, putting pedal to the medal and flooring the family mini van. A crowd often gathers when this Indy 500 manouevre results in the belly of the mini van straddling the hump, while all 4 wheels spin in the air. I’ll bet this has never happened to the Canadian Tire guy.
The 939 BOB FM ‘pet friendly’ coffee mugs are here! Let us know when you’re going to be gathering at a dog park with your 4 legged and 2 legged friends, and our ‘pet friendly’ van will swing by to deliver these super cool traveler coffee mugs! Send us the info by clicking onto the ‘pet friendly’ section of our website. The BOB FM pet friendly coffee mug is quickly becoming the ‘must have’ item for hip dog owners. OK. Maybe I should stop watching ‘Fashion TV’.
Just heard a startling statistic: pizza sales are down by 10 percent across Canada. The culprit? The calories and the carbs. A piece of pizza can have 500 calories and 30 g of carbs. No wonder its so delicious. Now, pizza makers are designing pizza pies with healthy whole wheat crusts and toppings like spinach and tofu and artichokes. Yuk. I’m sure the guys are gonna order a couple of those while they’re watching the Superbowl.
Monday, January 16, 2006
You Can't Always Get What you want, eh?
The Rolling Stones ‘Bigger Bang’ tour is back after the holiday break and I was lucky enough to catch the Montreal show, which was ‘the same but different’ from their performance here at Lansdowne Park in September. They played some old gems like ‘As Tears Go By’ and ‘Midnight Rambler’ , along with new tunes. But there was one moment at the Stones show that I will never forget. Was it …their rendition of ‘Tumbling Dice’? Nope. Was it….Keith’s solo performance on ‘Happy’? Nope. It was….Ron Wood eating a banana. Yep. Right in the middle of ‘Midnight Rambler’, Ronnie just reached over and grabbed a banana from the top of a speaker, enjoying a good mouthful or two of Chiquita’s finest. For the first time in my life, I got the real answer to the question, ‘Does Ron Wood like bananas’? The answer is yes.
I don’t know about you, but I like keeping concert ticket stubs for souvenirs. Its fun to go through them every once in a while and reminisce about a certain concert. I don’t have my ticket stubs framed and hanging on the wall, or anything quite that organized. Some are in my wallet, some are stuck to the fridge, some are pinned to the wall in the workshop. But it would appear that the art of collecting concert ticket stubs may soon be obsolete. For the Stones show in Montreal, we got an ‘e-ticket’. Instead of giving the Bell Centre ticket takers a ticket, we handed them an 8 ½” by 11 inch piece of paper with seat numbers and a bar code on it. They scanned it and handed it back, so we could find our seats. There were thousands of people walking around with these pieces of paper. It looked like we all brought our homework to the Rolling Stones show.
My good friends at BARK (Bytowne Association of Rescued Kanines) are gearing up for their major fundraiser, the ‘Woofs and Wags’ Walkathon. OK , so its not til May…May 7th, to be exact, but who doesn’t like to think about the month of May during the dark cold month of January. Anyhow, to raise even more funds and get some friendly competition going, all RETREIVERS are challenging OTHER retrievers to raise the most money for the Bark walkathon on May 7th. If you have a retriever, join the ‘Retriever Fever’ team! Let’s see if we can extend this challenge to other dog breeds too…..how about a ‘Poodle Patrol’ or the “Jogging Jack Russells’…maybe the ‘Marching Malamutes’….or, what about the ‘Hiking Heinz’s’’..? For info on the walk, check www.bark-ottawa.com
Fantastic news about the Ottawa Senators games now being broadcast on both the Team 1200 AND in crystal clear 100,000 watt stereo on our very own 939 BOB FM! Just outside of Ottawa in cottage country, the ice fishermen can now have the Sens games blaring from their radios as they sit in their chairs overlooking the hole that they’ve cut into a frozen lake! Now ‘that’s’ Canadian!!
I had to chuckle while watching tv the other night, of course the federal election has hit a feverish pitch and it seems that every second tv commercial is either promoting or lambasting one political party or the other. But one particular tv commercial caught my attention, simply because at the end of the spot, a very serious female announcer asks the viewer a question. The question itself, ends with the word ‘eh’.
I think the question was something like, ‘as Canadians, we don’t want that, eh? Sheesh. Maybe they added the ‘eh’ to really speak our language. They should also offer us beer and bacon in exchange for votes. And maybe a toque, eh?
I don’t know about you, but I like keeping concert ticket stubs for souvenirs. Its fun to go through them every once in a while and reminisce about a certain concert. I don’t have my ticket stubs framed and hanging on the wall, or anything quite that organized. Some are in my wallet, some are stuck to the fridge, some are pinned to the wall in the workshop. But it would appear that the art of collecting concert ticket stubs may soon be obsolete. For the Stones show in Montreal, we got an ‘e-ticket’. Instead of giving the Bell Centre ticket takers a ticket, we handed them an 8 ½” by 11 inch piece of paper with seat numbers and a bar code on it. They scanned it and handed it back, so we could find our seats. There were thousands of people walking around with these pieces of paper. It looked like we all brought our homework to the Rolling Stones show.
My good friends at BARK (Bytowne Association of Rescued Kanines) are gearing up for their major fundraiser, the ‘Woofs and Wags’ Walkathon. OK , so its not til May…May 7th, to be exact, but who doesn’t like to think about the month of May during the dark cold month of January. Anyhow, to raise even more funds and get some friendly competition going, all RETREIVERS are challenging OTHER retrievers to raise the most money for the Bark walkathon on May 7th. If you have a retriever, join the ‘Retriever Fever’ team! Let’s see if we can extend this challenge to other dog breeds too…..how about a ‘Poodle Patrol’ or the “Jogging Jack Russells’…maybe the ‘Marching Malamutes’….or, what about the ‘Hiking Heinz’s’’..? For info on the walk, check www.bark-ottawa.com
Fantastic news about the Ottawa Senators games now being broadcast on both the Team 1200 AND in crystal clear 100,000 watt stereo on our very own 939 BOB FM! Just outside of Ottawa in cottage country, the ice fishermen can now have the Sens games blaring from their radios as they sit in their chairs overlooking the hole that they’ve cut into a frozen lake! Now ‘that’s’ Canadian!!
I had to chuckle while watching tv the other night, of course the federal election has hit a feverish pitch and it seems that every second tv commercial is either promoting or lambasting one political party or the other. But one particular tv commercial caught my attention, simply because at the end of the spot, a very serious female announcer asks the viewer a question. The question itself, ends with the word ‘eh’.
I think the question was something like, ‘as Canadians, we don’t want that, eh? Sheesh. Maybe they added the ‘eh’ to really speak our language. They should also offer us beer and bacon in exchange for votes. And maybe a toque, eh?
Thursday, January 05, 2006
How to Get a Parking Ticket
Bob FM’s ‘paying off your bills’ right now. Since Bob decided to give our listeners some sweet relief after the expense of the holidays, behind the scenes we’ve been quite entertained at the nature of some of the bills people are sending us. (incidentally, you can send us your bills too, all the info is on this website) Of course we’re getting the usual bills, Visa, hydro, cable, but my favourite so far….today BOB FM picked up the tab for 2 parking tickets. Which actually lead to quite a lesson for me. On the morning show, I advised listeners to do what I do….if you’re parking illegally for a few moments, just leave your hazard lights on and you won’t get a parking ticket. A parking ticket officer called us right away to set me straight on this. ‘Green hornets’ have their own name for hazard lights. They call them ‘come and get me lights’. If your vehicle’s lights are flashing you will actually be the first on the block to get that parking ticket. Sheesh. Foiled again.
I finally saw the movie ‘The 40 Year Old Virgin’. I thought it was pretty funny but I think my favourite running gag in the movie, was the fact that at the electronics store where everyone worked, a music DVD from singer Michael MacDonald played over and over and over again on every single plasma tv in the store. In my experience, every time I go to any ‘high definition’ tv department, they are playing the Eagles dvd, ‘When Hell Freezes Over’. I have seen this Eagles DVD play about a hundred times. If I ever get the urge to watch it, I just go to a tv store.
I came across an interesting website the other day, its www.myheritage.com. This website actually matches your face with the celebrity face that most resembles your face. You simply submit a photo of your face, and they send back the celebrity match! Use this site with caution, though. No one wants to be told that they look like Danny de Vito.
I love reading Sue Sherring’s column in the Ottawa Sun. Sue covers the goings-on at city council, and today she was offering up the latest: city council is thinking of banning ‘personal scents’, such as perfumes, colognes, scented soaps and deodorants, from municipal buildings, recreational centers and even OC transpo buses. Sue envisioned the scene on the bus when each driver has to not only collect fees and check bus passes, they have to actually take a big whiff of every passenger. If they smell at all like a flower, they are not allowed on the bus. But if you stink like garlic, grab yourself a seat! Don’t you just love living in Ottawa?
I finally saw the movie ‘The 40 Year Old Virgin’. I thought it was pretty funny but I think my favourite running gag in the movie, was the fact that at the electronics store where everyone worked, a music DVD from singer Michael MacDonald played over and over and over again on every single plasma tv in the store. In my experience, every time I go to any ‘high definition’ tv department, they are playing the Eagles dvd, ‘When Hell Freezes Over’. I have seen this Eagles DVD play about a hundred times. If I ever get the urge to watch it, I just go to a tv store.
I came across an interesting website the other day, its www.myheritage.com. This website actually matches your face with the celebrity face that most resembles your face. You simply submit a photo of your face, and they send back the celebrity match! Use this site with caution, though. No one wants to be told that they look like Danny de Vito.
I love reading Sue Sherring’s column in the Ottawa Sun. Sue covers the goings-on at city council, and today she was offering up the latest: city council is thinking of banning ‘personal scents’, such as perfumes, colognes, scented soaps and deodorants, from municipal buildings, recreational centers and even OC transpo buses. Sue envisioned the scene on the bus when each driver has to not only collect fees and check bus passes, they have to actually take a big whiff of every passenger. If they smell at all like a flower, they are not allowed on the bus. But if you stink like garlic, grab yourself a seat! Don’t you just love living in Ottawa?
Wednesday, December 28, 2005
Does anyone know 7500 songs?
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!
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!
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.
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