Just One More Beer With Dad

Today was my Dad's birthday. He died in 2003, but he would have been 71 today.

So this evening after supper, I cracked open one of the 3 last beers I have from that very last batch of beer he made before he passed away. The beer was yeasty and likely already gone, given that it had been sitting around for more than 5 years.

But it didn't matter. Sipping that beer my father had crafted was as close as I could get to sitting down and having just another beer with him -- one of the things I long for most of all.

So Happy Birthday Dad! Cheers! I love you and still miss you terribly every day.

A Novel Idea

Today's Hamilton Spectator features a full page splash of related articles that I produced for books editor Rob Howard. (Okay, I stretched the truth a tiny bit - it's not entirely a full page -- the bottom couple of inches of the page contain the weekly bestseller list)

Photo illustration by Peter Haentjiens, The Spectator

Page E6 of the A&E section features a review I wrote for the Terry Fallis novel The Best Laid Plans (or, more accurately a review of the podcast version of The Best Laid Plans) -- this is the self-published novel that McMaster Alumnus Terry Fallis won the Stephen Leacock Medal for Humour for earlier this year. It also features my article "Novel idea" that introduces readers to podcasts as well as the growing popularity of authors giving away the audio version of their novels entirely for free via podcasts as well as a sidebar on how to listen to a podcast novel that walks the reader through the four simple steps required.

HNT - CRAMing

I spent three days this week with a group of other campus bookstores and student representatives from across Canada. We were meeting as a collective known as CRAM (Canadian Roundtable on Academic Materials). The group begin meeting in November of 2007 as an attempt to bring students, booksellers and publishers together to discuss the state of academic materials, the rising costs continuing being pushed out to students and what we might all do, working together, to help make a difference in an industry that has spiraled out of control in vicious cycles for far too long.

For this week's HNT picture, I thought I should post a picture of the first two editions of David G. Myers psychology.


For my own first year Psych class, I believe I was instructed to use the Darley/Glucksberg/Kinchla text (4th edition - 1988) - it was $34.15 at Carleton University that year.

However, because I was extremely interested in Psychology, wanted to do further reading and considered majoring in it, I ended up getting my hands on some additional textbooks and took a liking to the David G. Myers textbook -- I likely got my hands on them via friends. I ended up taking Myers Social Psychology in 2nd year and quite enjoyed Myers' approach to that subject. (So this blog rant isn't an attempt to discredit David Myers -- I have found his writings on psychology both approachable and interesting -- this rant is about the bizarre nature of the textbook industry)

The 1986 1st edition of Psychology by David G. Myers retailed at Carleton for $31.95.
The 1989 2nd edition of Psychology by David G. Myers retailed at Carleton for $36.95.
There are a ton of stats for years in between that I do not have.
The 2007 8th edition of Psychology by David G. Myers retails for about $128.00.

In 20 years the cost of a book that, fundamentially hasn't changed (remember, we're talking BASIC principles of a 1st year introduction to psychology course -- basic concepts of psychology, which are a combination of biology, development and society) has increased by almost $100. So basically, in 20 years, the price has increased by approximately 400%. Terrifying.

I AM going to try to get my hands on the 2007 edition, but just comparing the preface from the 1st and 2nd, I see a few interesting changes and want to remind you that all a publisher needs to declare a book a NEW edition is to change 10% of the book.

10 % can constitute revising or adding a single chapter to a 10 chapter book. But I'd be curious to learn if the following types of changes consistute changes.

Example - from the Preface of Myers 1st Edition Psychology (1986):

My goals in writing this book can be reduced to one overriding aim: to merge rigorous science with a broad human perspective in a book that would engage both the mind and the heart.

From the Preface of Myers 2nd Edition Psychology (1989):

My goals in writing this book can be reduced to one overrising aim: to merge rigorous science with a broad human perspective in a book that engages both the mind and the heart.

Interesting change of wordage there -- the second is a bit tighter, a bit more concise, so I'll give the editors of the book that. But does that minor tweak in style constitute one of the changes making it 10% change?

Similarly, the Preface numbered points of 8 priciples are flipped around.

Consider - 1st edition:

1) To put facts in the science of concepts
2) To exemplify the process of inquiry
3) To be as up-to-date as possible
4) To integrate principles and applications
5) To enhance comprehension by providing continuity
6) To teach critical thinking
7) To reinforce learning at every step
8) To provide organizational flexibility

2nd edition:

1) To exemplify the process of inquiry
2) To teach critical thinking
3) To put facts in the science of concepts
4) To be as up-to-date as possible
5) To integrate principles and application
6) To enhance comprehension by providing continuity
7) To reinforce learning at every step
8) To provide organizational flexibility

Well, at least 7 and 8 are in the same spot as in previous years -- but someone please tell me the reason why the exact same principles have been flipped around? Is that to meet ye olde 10% edition change requirements? And how much more of the same type of unsubstantial types of changes occur throughout the rest of the book? IE, chapters flipping around, or changing titles, etc.

It looks to me like a little bit of smoke and mirrors is going on here. But it's interesting how, within almost every single discipline that requires a college or university textbook and across the 5 main publishing giants that are producing these textbooks, there's an overwhelming cycle of 3 years between edition updates. Is collusion too strong a word to use here? It likely is, but it does nicely capture what seems to be an intense desire to deceive or mislead, both in the actual pedagogical requirement to update a textbook and in the costs associated with such updating.

Sure, there are cases where examples and pictures need to be updated. When seeing instructional videos (like the one that Fran and I saw a few years ago during a parenting preparation "course" we attended) we often laugh when we see people in their cool dude 1970's clothing. So sure, drawing on newer photographs and examples is likely a good thing. But the truth is, in most cases, particularly at an introductory level, the content is the same. I mean, if there's a picture of a young man standing in a 1970's leisure suit it's understandable to replace that picture in a textbook with a student wearing those stupid low never-ending hanging ass jeans that are popular (you can tell I've never been much into popular fashion) -- but it's hard to tell if that cross-section of the human brain defining various lobes was created in the 70's rather than in 2007. While fashion has continually changed I don't think the actual shape or structure of the brain has evolved all that much in 30+ years.

Okay, so my ranting and frustration about this situation aside, the textbook publishing industry as we know it needs some serious investigation and analysis done so we can bring it all back to the basics: Students require a reasonable balance between quality and affordability for academic materials.

And I am confident with the brilliant young minds I spent three days sharing ideas and strategies for improvement with, that groups and efforts such as those seen in CRAM are going to help drive the industry in exactly that direction.

Seven Words I Don't Want To Say

George Carlin died on Sunday June 22nd.

Seven words I didn't want to say.

Anyone who is even remotely familiar with Carlin's work has likely heard of his infamous "Seven Dirty Words" (or "Seven Words You Can Never Say on Television") routine. Carlin properly shook up the establishment with this routine.

As Carlin stated, there's nothing wrong with so many of the words that offend people. It's not the words themselves, it's the context that counts; it's the context that makes them good or bad. Words themselves are innocent, it's the racist asshole who is using the words that we ought to be concerned about.

I loved how Carlin described the use of language and words as evolving into mis-truths and mis-information because of the softening of them. How the truth and reality can lose all meaning when they get entirely buried under jargon. He used the example how the condition known as "shell-shock" in WWI evolved into "battle fatigue" in WWII then "operational exhaustion" in the Korean War and then finally "post-traumatic stress disorder" by the time we reached the Vietnam War. The softening of the condition removed the basic humanity and reality out of what the condition actually is.

Through comedy, Carlin allowed us to challenge society's norms and take a second look at the way we classify things. He pushed the envelope in a way that allowed us to take a better look at ourselves. And I applaud him for that.

I classify Carlin as an original, a one and only, a pioneer.

Rest in peace, George! In honour of your desire to use simple words to speak the truth, I won't say that you are "gone" or "passed away", "laid to rest" or "no longer of this earth" I will simply state that you're dead.

And I'll also say that you made the world a better place and gave us a lot of fucking laughs over the years. Oh shit, I used a derivation of one of those seven dirty words. Whoops, I did it again. I hope I didn't piss anyone off.

HNT - Fire Station

And here's another sign that when spring and summer comes, I get even busier doing fun family things and spend less time blogging. (It must have something to do with all that extra sunlight drawing me out of the basement cave where I like to compose my blog posts, articles and fiction.)

This week, for Half-Nekkid Thursday, I'm posting pictures taken back in early May - they were taken during the "Doors Open Hamilton" weekend where various landmark locations, services and attractions open their doors to the public and allow people to tour through and learn more about integral parts of their community.

One of the places that we made sure we visited was Hamilton Emergency Services Fire Station #1 (built in 1913) on John Street North.


Alexander, of course, has long been fascinated by Firefighters and fire trucks -- for the past 6 months if you asked him what he wanted to be he would tell you he wants to be a Fireman. It used to be that it was the fringe benefit of getting to drive the big truck that attracted him, because he used to be torn between firefighter and garbageman (I mean just check out that awesome huge truck that collects and crushes garbage - how can that NOT be one of the coolest things?) But more recently if you asked him WHY he wants to be a fireman, he won't explain it has to do with the truck but instead it's because he wants to help people.

Yet, despite his more altruistic reasoning behind the current career choice, I'm thinking it might still have something to do with the truck. Because while we were touring the facility of Fire Station #1, learning much about the history of firefighting in Hamilton as well as the way in which these services work today, he had the opportunity to ask the firefighters and emergency service personnel virtually ANY question about what they do.

And what does he ask?


"Where do you put the oil in the fire truck?"

After a long pause, perhaps reflecting on how he might have repeatedly been asked questions about sliding down the fire pole, how fast the trucks go, the volume of water that can be pumped through per minute or various other exciting specifics about firefighting or the fire truck, one of the firemen graciously showed him where and how they checked and filled the oil. (From the particular truck he showed us, you have to sit in the "back seat" of the truck cab to access it)

It proved to be a great weekend, particularly since we ended up learning about way more than we originally thought we'd learn during our tour of Fire Station #1.

HNT - Beginnings and Endings

As I've said before, I'm a very lucky guy to work in the book industry. Every single day I am surrounded by something I am very passionate about: books and book people.

But ever since 2006 when I moved into the world of academic bookselling, I've been privileged to experience the joys and thrills of two of the defining moments of the student experience. Those first introductory days on campus (or at least the seeking out the required textbook aspect of it), and the celebratory ritual of graduation.

This week at work we've been involved in the June Convocation. Our university bookstore is involved in convocation to offer complimentary gowning for the students and faculty as well as caps for the Masters, PhD students and academic procession.

While the days are long (I had to be there for setup at 5 AM on Monday) and there are moments when it is extremely busy, working at Convocation is one of the highlights of the year. It is an absolute blast to get the students into their gowns and then help them find their way to the next post where they'll get the appropriate coloured hoods for the department they're graduating from. Everyone is beaming with big smiles and nervous energy, and like that first visit to the bookstore, I'm honoured with the thrill of offering them guidance and support.

At Convocation, we also have a booth to sell degree and portrait frames, McMaster crested merchandise and other items to help them remember their years of hard work and study. With it we offer complimentary framing. Watching the smiles almost bursting with pride of students and their parents as you hold up the frame holding their newly earned diploma is a very fine moment and one that very often brings me close to tears.

I'm not sure why -- since, except for the students I know, either through having served them repeatedly through their time on campus or from having worked with them, most of them are complete strangers. But I can certainly remember what it was like to reach graduation day and the pride that I and my parents felt that fine afternoon. It was 16 years ago since my own graduation, but helping gown the students, watching them take pictures with their families and loved ones and sharing in the moment certainly brings it all back to me and makes me feel young again.

So, in honour of feeling young, I present a photo taken from one of my first days in university when I'd moved into a shared house in Ottawa back in 1988 -- yikes, 20 years ago. I'd originally been searching the archives for a picture of me at graduation, but this one is a lot more fun.


In the photo are my cousin and roommate Rodney, me (look I had hair back then, but it's clear I was just as nerdy back then if not more so), roommate Maureen (my buddy Taki's girlfriend), Tammy (Rodney's girlfriend) and Taki. Oh, and in the back beside me and behind Tammy and Maureen, well that's Gumby, dammit)

Da Count - Hamilton Wingfest

Last weekend Francine and Alexander and I headed out of town for a few days -- we went up north to give my Mom a hand with some yard work that desperately needed doing.

But we just couldn't leave town without first making a visit to the first annual Hamilton Wingfest!

Given our love for chicken wings and the fact that Hamilton was one of the first Canadian cities to embrace the food (something having to do with our proximity to Buffalo, commonly associated with being the birthplace of chicken wings or Buffalo Wings) we just couldn't miss this historic event.

I mean, Burlington has its annual awesome Rib Fest, so why shouldn't Hamilton have a Wingfest? (I still have to go to Toronto for the Beer Fest to properly round out the fests, but we'll get one here soon enough - I have faith)

We headed down on the Friday night, which was rather chilly for late May and the sky was threatening rain. By the time we parked and walked in to Pier 8, the rain had started spitting down on us, but by the time we got to the kid's midway and bought our tickets, the rain stopped again. Alexander enjoyed a bunch of fun rides there -- he even won the prize of his choice at the kiddie duck pond, a giant blow-up dolphin.

The last ride enjoyed was the ferris wheel which I joined him on -- we had an awesome view of the grounds of Wingfest as well as the harbour. My favourite part of the ride was when on the quick descent of the ferris wheel Alexander started giggling and said: "That tickles" -- referring, I assumed, to that tickling feeling you get in your testicles when descending quickly.

We moved from there to the main grounds of the Wingfest, and, while we only had time to wait in one of the lineups (it was getting extremely cold, rather late and past Alexander's bed time), we quite enjoyed the experience. We polished off some french fries while listening to the Practically Hip -- a fantastic Tragically Hip cover band. Having seen the Hip in concert, I was amazed with this group and enjoyed their performance as much as the original band's. Actually, I enjoyed their performance MORE than the Hip -- and not just because frontman Dean (aka "Gordie") didn't almost kill me like Gord Downie did. (For a detailed explanation, read this blog post from 2006 that explains the details of an encounter many years ago with the original Gordie)

The music was great, the wings fantastic and Francine and I bemoaned the fact that we weren't going to be able to check out the rest of the fest over the weekend. We had originally planned on attending Wingfest on the Saturday night and enjoying seeing David Wilcox perform -- I've seen him dozens of times over the years and always enjoy his live shows.

But we did have a great time -- and made it out of there just before the rain really started coming down. We're certainly looking forward to next year's.

So, to sum up, this week I'm counting the fact that Hamilton, already rich with fun and wonderful things to do every single weekend has now added Wingfest to the repertoire. Needless to say: "WOO HOO!" and to the folks who organized it: "THANKS!" and "CAN'T WAIT UNTIL NEXT YEAR!"

HNT - Daddio

Last week while trying to get my attention, Alexander called me Daddio.

I'd mentioned about a year ago that he stopped calling me Daddy all the time and out of the blue switched over to Dad. Since then it's been a combination of Dad and Daddy -- then, out of nowhere, he came up with Daddio and started laughing when he called me that.

The trend has continued on in the use of this pet name for me. Each time it is accompanied by giggles from Alexander as well as from myself and Francine. It makes me want to come up with some cute nicknames for him. (Other than Mr. Man or Zander)

This week's HNT pics are from the archives and a few shots that I took over the past few years of Alexander and Daddio hamming it up for the camera.

Da Count - october road

One of the very few things you can count on is this: if Francine and I really start to enjoy what we feel is a quality television program with excellent writing, great acting and something that really speaks to us, you can pretty much guarantee that it is going to be dropped from the network relatively soon -- most likely in favour of some garbage mass-interest reality based television program that costs pennies to produce and, in my opinion reduces the television more properly to an "idiot box" than any time in the history of broadcasting.

But instead of getting on my soap box about the mass crap being produced, and bemoaning the loss of a show that we'd come to enjoy, I'd like to focus instead on a drama show that captured our attention and our hearts.

October road. (or, more properly: october road.)


Here's the premise for the show:

Acclaimed novelist Nick Garrett returns to his small New England home town as a "guest" author at the local college. He is reintroduced to the group of friends he both left behind and drew upon for characters in his bestselling novel. Confronted with a serious case of writer's block and trying to pick up the pieces from abandoning and exploiting his family and friends, Nick finds himself at a crossroads between his life in New York and his life among this close circle of friends.

The show was brilliant, powerful and a heck of a lot of fun. I was initially attracted to it because it was about a writer, but I came to love the interaction between the characters, the tension, the stories and the events surrounding this group of small town friends. Some of my favourite scenes are the group of friends playing air band to songs from the eighties -- obviously something they've continued to do in the decade since high school. In many ways a group of oddball nerds that I could easily connect with. And particularly in the initial conflict between Nick and the friends he is catching up with is a very strong sense of friendship and loyalty -- one of the show's strongest elements.

Tom Berenger (The Commander - Nick's father) was perhaps the best known actor on the show, as was Laura Prepon from That 70's Show fame. Them and the rest of the cast (mostly actors I didn't really know) including Bryan Greenberg in the role of Nick, were excellent. The casting was phenomenal and the actors really brought all of the main characters to life.

There was an artistic style to the show that I also liked -- not just in the writing, direction and acting, but in the subtle things like the way that the title script for the show was presented with a period "." at the end at the ending of each episode.


I'll miss this show, particularly the aspect of dropping in on the group of friends in Knights Ridge, Massachusetts. If you never gave it a look you should consider getting your hands on the 1.5 or so seasons available (should they become available on DVD)

This week, I'm counting the fact that we started watching october road from the beginning and that such a show existed. I'd like to offer all the people at ABC behind creating and producing this show huge thank you. Shows like october road prove to me that there's still hope for prime time television.

HNT - Fran & Mark

I only have time this week for a quick pic from my digital picture archives. This one is a picture I took of Francine and myself using my Palm Treo at our annual Christmas dinner/party last December. It was a great time with fantastic food.

Not THIS Boy's Best Friend

Shreddies cereal recently launched a new campaign in which they released their new "Diamond Shreddies" -- it's a really cute campaign actually, since all they did was turn their classic breakfast cereal on it's side and called it a whole new flavour.

The ads and billboards are fun, too: talking about about their new geometric superiority and that it's no longer hip to be square. Of course, along with the campaign they have a "You could WIN 1 of 10 diamonds" promotion. Simply smart of them.

I wouldn't shut up about how much I enjoyed their campaign, so Francine bought me a box of Shreddies, which I'll admit I haven't eaten for years.

Unfortunately, smart campaign or not, the flavour didn't really do anything for me.

Not even when I tipped my head at a 45 degree angle.

Sigh.

Need You Like I've Never Done Before

For those of you quick on your lyrical feet, you might recognize the title of this post from the Beatles song - Help!

This past weekend, a charity anthology that is carrying one of my reprint stories (Distractions) was released. Help - an anthology of horror, fantasy and SF benefiting Preditors and Editors is available in hardcover, ($35.95) paperback ($28.94) and ebook ($6.25) versions from Lulu.com.

I donated Distractions to the anthology, which is attempting to help raise funds to support Preditors and Editors (a fantastic website designed as an information spot for writers that evolved into an authoritative warning spot for writers, helping them avoid pitfalls and publishers/editors that have been known to take advantage of writers).

I thought that Distractions would be a fitting story for the anthology because it's about a writer struggling to produce a sequel to a blockbuster fantasy novel he penned a decade earlier. Frustrated with all the normal life distractions that have gotten in the way of him getting the sequel written, Maxwell Bronte embraces a popular self-help book about eliminating distractions and takes its advice to a darkly disturbing extreme. It's a dark humour tale that I originally wrote for the World Fantasy Con 2001 CD-Rom edited by Nancy Kilpatrick and over the years I've gotten a lot of comments and positive feedback from readers about it.

Of course, you can read an early version of Distractions in its entirety online for free (follow the link for Distractions from my One Hand Screaming site -- yes, it was reprinted in my short story collection in 2004) -- and if you enjoy it, I'd ask that you please consider purchasing one of the 3 versions of this book that is available from Lulu.com and enjoying the other stories in this 629 page anthology featuring work by Gary Braunbeck, Garry Charles, Brian Knight, Stephen Mark Rainey, and many more.

[EDITED UPDATE: It appears as if the information at Predators and Editors is no longer working. So, for those interested in being wary of scams who find this article, you might want to check out Reedsy's up to date article about scams for authors to avoid called Authors Beware: Scams and Publishing Companies to Avoid.]

Well I Didn't Vote For You!

I didn't make it to the next round on AM900 CHML's Talk Show Idol. I lost in what was very likely a tight race to the lovely Karen Johnson of Hamilton. Karen moves on to the semi-finalist round on Friday June 6th.

I did listen to Karen's segment from last week and have to say that she was a natural -- she was very comfortable behind the mike and engaged her guest in a stimulating conversation about the local Hamilton music scene. I also quite admire her passion for supporting the local arts community -- Hamilton is indeed lucky to have such a dynamic arts, music and culture scene and deserves the chance to be spot-lighted regularly. I know I'll be throwing my own support behind Karen as she continues on in this competition.

I would like to thank everyone for their votes and support. It was a fun thing to try out. The title of this blog post, which I simply couldn't resist is a reference to that classic scene from Monty Python and the Holy Grail. It's the scene where King Arthur encounters the peasants in the mud and filth. After getting infuriated with Arthur, the old lady wonders how he could have become King when she didn't vote for him. Classic.

Of course, I know that a lot of people took the time to register on CHML and vote for me (despite the wonky web glitches pretending people from getting through) -- I also know that a lot of people listened and offered support and encouragement. So I applaud and thank those people who persisted in registering their vote.

I think the effort should be seen as symbolic, since we are fortunate enough to live in a free society, and registering your vote at any level (municipal, provincial, federal), making your voice heard is an important, nah, crucial aspect of our democracy. Voting for important things is relatively easy, and we're privileged to be able to give our opinions voice. (Whoops, okay, I'll get off my soap-box - don't worry, when it's election time again I'll get right back up on it)

My fellow contestants in week 5 of Talk Show Idol were great people and I know we all had a lot of fun. Hey, the very fact that we got out there, stuck our faces in front of live microphones means we gave it a try and though 3 of us didn't make it to the next round we all had a great opportunity, a fantastic experience.

And the folks at CHML were incredible to work with -- having a chance to be in the studio live on air and being trusted to fill 10 minutes of air time; well, it's quite the thrill and reminded me of being on stage. I'm delighted to have had the chance to give it a shot and also eager to support Karen as she advances to the next round.

Da Count - Building Brick

I'm currently at the bi-annual CCRA meeting today and tomorrow. These meetings switch between the "East" and "West" coasts of Canada -- this time, the hosting school is the University of Waterloo (my wife's Alma Mater) and we're in Waterloo, Ontario; not all that far from home.

Last night we had a reception at The Red Baron Lounge of Brick Brewery. Not only was it great to catch up with many of my colleagues from post-secondary institutions across Canada, but it was great to have access to about 8 different Brick beers on tap.

My favourite was Waterloo Dark, one of the wonderful craft brews created by Brick founder Jim Brickman. In a nutshell, Brickman started the brewery and started crafting beers after a world tour speaking with beer drinkers and beer makers around the world (The Red Baron Lounge has hundreds of beer bottles from around the world - a MUST see)

I was delighted to learn that I can purchase 20 litre kegs of Waterloo Dark from the Brick Brewery retail outlet for my home bar tap -- a great price, a great beer and I get to support a local brewery!

So this week I'm counting the adventurous founder of Brick Breweries.

THANKS, Jim Brickman! You make good beer! Cheers!

HNT - Audible To The Naked Ear

I was quite pleased to receive my subscription copy of Canadian Bookseller magazine today, particularly since this issue (Volume 2 - 2008) contains my article on podiobooks and what it might mean to traditional publishing and bookselling.


The article, which is just one column shy of being a two page spread is entitled Do You Hear What I Hear? and is summed up with the following description: Podiobooks have given voice to aspiring authors and garnered them a great audience for their work. Are traditional publishers and booksellers listening?



Within the article I examine the pioneers of the podcasted novel, including Tee Morris and Scott Sigler and the successes they've each seen by podcasting their fiction as well as the creation of such websites as Podiobooks.com where people can find and download a great selection of free audio books via weekly RSS feeds.

And I also explore in depth the roller coaster path that Canadian author Terry Fallis took from not being able to find a publisher or agent for his novel The Best Laid Plans, how he gave the novel away for free as a podcast, then self-published it and watched it go on to be nominated for The Stephen Leacock Medal for Humour and landing an agent. (Of course, just days after my article went to press, Terry won the award, and also landed a publishing deal for his novel. It'll be coming out this fall from Douglas Gibson Books.)

How Stella Got Her Growl Back

Yesterday, Francine and I took Alexander to see a live stage show featuring Diego from the popular Go, Diego, Go cartoon.

Diego Marquez is the eight year old cousin of Dora the Explorer the adventurous little girl who wanders around with her best friend, the monkey Boots. Diego is an animal rescuer and the show is modeled off of Dora's show -- likely as a ploy to reel in male children who can perhaps more easily associate with a little boy than a little girl (not that there seems to be that issue about Dora, because she's pretty widely loved by bother boys and girls). Hmm, come to think of it, they probably created Diego so that there could be a whole new line of tie-in products to sell to kids and their parents.

I have to admit, I do like Rescue Pack and his theme song much better than Dora's Map and his theme song. Sure, map is cool and helps you find things, but what kid (or 39 year old child like me) wouldn't want a cool dude rescue pack that can turn into almost anything you need?

And besides, how could you not like a song that goes "I'm rescue pack, I've got your back!" (Such a cool phrase and play on words)

Alexander was pretty excited to go see the show -- and, although he enjoys watching Dora and Diego, among other cartoons, on Treehouse, he's not one for sitting long; so we were a little bit concerned about confining him in a dark theatre for over an hour. The only time he sits still for long periods of time are when he's strapped into the car seat and we're taking that six hour drive up past Sudbury to visit my Mom. Most of the time he's bouncing around the room off the furniture while he's "watching" a show.

That's what makes shows like Dora the Explorer and Go, Diego, Go fun -- they encourage kids to participate, yell things out, jump up, clap and other actions that help them in their adventures.

And the stage show was a wonderful translation of the cartoon, incorporating lots of music and singing and dancing and fun lighting and stage effects to bring the cartoon characters to life. The coolest part was when Diego first came onstage to the "Go, Diego, Go" theme song, swinging in from stage left on a giant vine. I also loved it when Dora swung onto the stage in the second act to her own theme song. The kids (and I'll admit, Fran and I too) went nuts when Dora first took to the stage.


Alexander was pretty quiet during the show, a bit overwhelmed at the whole experience, but he did get into the groove of things, managed to sit for the hour and a half long show, and yelled out the Baby Jaguar growl, clawed in the air, jumped, danced around and yelled out answers to various questions when prompted by the characters on stage. He also took the time during intermission to check out the Strand lights mounted on a lighting rack above our heads (can you tell he's the son of an ex-lighting designer? That's my boy!)

Around bedtime when he was settling down, he explained that his favourite part was when Baby Jaguar got his growl back (that was the point of the whole adventure) -- my favourite part was whenever Diego, Dora or the Bobo Brothers were swinging onto the stage on giant vines; Francine's favourite part was on the river ride when Dora and Diego encountered the silly animals making atypical animal sounds.


But the cutest part was, just before he drifted off to sleep, Alexander said with a huge grin on his face: "I can't believe they're real!" He then went on to ask if Max and Ruby were real too and started to speculate about how cool their big house would look on the stage.

That Wasn't Really Ten Minutes Just Then

On Friday May 16th I was in the AM900 CHML studio for my ten minutes on air as part of the CHML Talk Show Idol contest. I brought with me Dr. Nick Bontis and the title for my topic's discussion was: PLUGGED IN & TUNED OUT.

I began the top of the 10 minutes with an editorial in which I drew upon Henry David Thoreau's 1862 essay "Walking" in which he argues for the simple pleasure of connecting with nature by talking long, adventurous walks.

I contrasted that with the way in which we walk today, wearing ipods and carrying blackberries and cell phones -- in essence, ALWAYS plugged in and connected with technology rather than with nature.

I then moved on to a discussion with Dr. Bontis, who is the world's leading expert on intellectual capital and knowledge management. He shared speculation on what's next for technology and discussed strategies for how we can deal with the often overwhelming influx of stimulus like emails, text messages and demands for our attention -- in effect, how we should USE the technology to work smarter, not harder.

Being in the studio was an absolute blast.

Nick and I were sharing the studio with host Scott Thompson and judges Bill Kelly, Lea Carter and Jeff Storey. I loved the fact that for the contest they gave me a few paragraphs outlining what was expected; but other than that, the entire ten minutes was up to me -- and other than a brief explanation of how to take calls, there was no help -- I was on my own.

I loved the experience, but did find it tricky trying to maintain eye contact with Nick, keep an eye on my "script" of questions and discussion points, as well as on Scott Thompson, who was letting me know through hand signals if a) there was a caller on the line (indeed we did get one really great caller) and b) how much time we had left.

I was shocked when Scott signaled that there were only 2 minutes left and glanced down at the 2 page list of discussion points and questions I'd noted -- Nick and I had barely touched upon 2 or 3 of the points. I almost piped up with a stolen quote from the Monty Python "Argument" sketch to say: "That wasn't really five minutes just then!" The ten minutes had passed so quickly.

But instead, I scrambled to try to wrap up our discussion, and at the end of the 10 minutes breathed a sad sigh of relief. The 10 minute segment was over. Now it's up to the online voting results to see if I make it to the next round.

Below is a video clip featuring selected audio from the interview and runs about 1 and a half minutes. Unfortunately it only features a small selection of the wonderful Nick Bontis, but is still fun nonetheless . . .

Voting continues this week -- you can listen to audio clips online at http://www.900chml.com/

and VOTE BY CLICKING HERE.

Another Brick In The Wall

It's like a Bart Simpson dream come true -- a giant steel claw smashing down the walls of the local public school. But I wasn't laughing when I saw the pictures and video that my buddy Pete took of the old Levack Public School building being demolished.

Photo by Pete Mihajic

Interestingly enough, I found out about the plans for the school to be demolished through Facebook -- and using that same social media, I was able to get in contact with at least a dozen people I haven't seen since roaming the halls of Levack Public School (or LPS as we also knew it) And so, though we're connected, the building that originally connected us is no more.

I attended kindergarten through Grade 8 in this building -- my father also worked part of his days and had an office at Levack Public School. So there are many fine memories attached to it: Fighting for the "hills" on the giant snow piles made from plows clearing the parking lot and playground area of the school yard; sneaking onto the roof to climb around and pretend to be Spider-Man in the evening (and getting caught almost every single time I did so); getting beat up by school-yard bullies; getting and giving the "bumps" on various birthdays; playing basketball and "around the key" as well as baseball on the school grounds after school and in the summer when the school was closed; regularly visiting the Levack Public Library which was housed in the LPS building (which signaled the early beginnings of my book-nerd tendencies).

Photo by Pete Mihajic

So many memories -- so many ghosts that will continue to haunt those grounds long after the building has come down.

CHML Talk Show Idol - Today at 2:00 PM

Today is the day in this first round of AM 900 CHML's Talk Show Idol where I get to be in the studio and required to fill 10 minutes of airtime.

I'm very excited to be bringing in with me a special guest. Dr. Nick Bontis, the world's leading expert on intellectual capital and knowledge management. My topic this afternoon will be called: PLUGGED IN & TUNED OUT and we'll be discussing strategies for coping with the often overwhelming influx of stimuli that surrounds us in today's society.

If you are local to the Hamilton/GTA region, you can listen at 900 on your AM dial. Online you can listen at http://www.900chml.com. The whole show with all four guests starts at 1 PM.

You can also listen to my Current Events Quiz, 60 Second Editorial/Rant and 60 Seconds of Straight Talk With Scott Thompson at:

http://www.900chml.com/Station/TalkIdol/Week5.aspx

I'm up this week with a talented group of dynamic individuals. Adam Scott, Dawn Dillane and Karen Johnson have done very fine jobs in their own segments and I'm looking forward to seeing them again in person and sharing air time between 1 and 3 PM today as part of the contest.

(The video below contains my "editorial rant" from Wednesday on Handwashing - I did it in video format so you could look at goofy pictures of me while listening)

HNT - Third Anniversary

This week Osbasso, creator of HNT (Half-Nekkid Thursday) celebrates 3 years of leading bloggers around the world in getting nekkid every week. I joined a few months after it all began, offering up my first post in October 2007.

I called it "Naked Eyes" and thought it would be fun to show off my cool dude Halloween spooky eyes boxer shorts -- you can see that post here.

I've made many friends through HNT over the years, and have watched old friends "retire" from HNT and seen new friends join. It's been a fun haul, and at this anniversary date I wonder at how long I'm going to keep up posting half nekkid pictures every single Thursday.

Part of me, of course, enjoys the creativity of having to come up with something along the half-nekkid theme each week (check out the collage of HNT shots from within the first year, for example) . . .


. . . but another part of me, the part that is struggling to find time to work on my writing, and having less and less of that time to spare, wonders if it's time to retire myself from HNT.

There's an addiction element to it, of course, not to mention the fact that forcing myself to post something new and hopefully interesting each week has spawned some fun "storylines" like the death match between myself and Darth Tater that I called Spud Wars.

The first story was a fun adventure that I took 6 months to spin out. The sequel "Terror in Toyland" is one that got a bit out of hand and included my bloggy friend Susie who came out to help me against the toy threat -- as a matter of fact, things have been so busy crazy with my real writing lately that the second Darth Tater HNT storyline hasn't moved on much in a while . . . got to get back to that and find out what happened to poor Susie, after that great train accident . . .

In following Osbasso's theme of THREE for this week's post, I thought it might be nice to offer a retrospective of some multi-shot collages that have been put together over the past 3 years. You've already seen two of them above -- a nice summary of some of the fun stuff I've been up to each Thursday for almost 3 years.

Of course my favourite HNT "story" was one that my dear friend Steve Gaydos created after a visit last summer. He took a whack of pictures and then threw together a cartoon-style story called "Yes, My Dad Can Fly!" that was just too cute.

To make it easier for folks to find my HNT shots, I started creating a single page archive with links to them all. Of course, in that manner of "got busy doing other things" I haven't updated in a long long time - but so far, it's a fun look at the first 50 HNT posts I created. Some day, I'll have to complete it -- but that means adding an additional 100 or so links . . . sigh . . . who has time?

In any case, Happy Third Anniversary Osbasso and all my HNT bloggy friends!