We Are The World - 2010

I'm not sure how I missed this but I'm glad I found it. It's a remake of the classic "We Are The World". Recorded in the same studio as the original, 25 years later and Lionel Richie and Quincy Jones are back directing the stars and mixing the audio.

To be honest, I don't recognize alot of the artists. Put Christian artists in the group and I could tag them all!

There's two things I don't like. First, the length. It's about 3 minutes longer than the original and for me that's 3 minutes too long. Secondly, Michael Jackson's chorus is edited in and it's unnecessary. The starpower of the group is more than enough.

It's a fabulous group of people and some of the original artists are back - Diana Ross, Tony Bennett, Ray Charles. Newcomers like Miley Cyrus, Justin Bieber, Randy Jackson and Usher are mixed in with the legends. Celine Dion takes on Cindi Lauper's classic line and it's awesome. I think I even spotted Al Jardine from the Beach Boys in the chorus.

My favourite part is Jamie Foxx singing Ray Charles' lyric line! He absolutely nails it!

Enjoy!

The Dentist

Yesterday was my first "cleaning" in 14 months. Is that too long? My dentist says I should be coming every 4 months. Who wants to go to the dentist that often? Plus the follow-up appointments for fillings and crowns. It's no wonder our benefits cost so much! Every four months, yeeeesh!

So, I'm in the chair and she's poking me with sharp objects to make my gums bleed. "Scott, your gums are bleeding!" No kidding. "Maybe if you didn't jab your spear into my gums they wouldn't!"

Next is the seminar about flossing. I have dozens and dozens of these cute little sample floss packs stuffed in the bathroom drawer next to the mosquito repellent. Maybe one day I'll put them on e-bay and make some money. She asks, "How's your flossing, Scott?" I tell her - "it's consistent". Well - that's the truth.

Then, she lectures me about my negligent cleaning appointments. "If you don't come every four months you will have many health problems."

"Oh really" I said and rolled my eyes. Here we go.

"Without good periodontal health you could have a stroke..." A stroke? Are you kidding me? I'll have a stroke if I don't get a cleaning every four months?! She continues, "You can get respiratory infections, heart disease and uncontrolled diabetes."

I couldn't keep my yap shut, partly because I was chocking on her elbow which was halfway down my throat. Somehow I managed to mumble - "all you doctors use scare tactics to get us back in the office. I'll pass".

"Well, you need to make a decision today. Every four months or every nine months. It's a big decision and I'm telling you for the good of your health. You can't take this lightly."

Whatever.

"Consider your options and make the best decision."

I said, "Huh, listen lady, I'm not buying a car! It's just teeth cleaning!" Yeeeesh!

After all the chemicals and pokers and xrays I left to pay my enormous bill. The secretary took my visa card and pleasantly asked me - "so, have you made a decision?"

A decision? Like accepting the Lord to be my Saviour? Come on - it's just teeth for crying out loud! "Yes I have made the big decision - it's gonna be every 36 months - goodbye!"

It's time for a new dentist.

LIFE 100.3 Staff Christmas Party

Another spectacular LIFE 100.3 Christmas Party with the staff. A magic performance by Sawyer Bullock, music by Handsome and Gretyl, "The Price Is Right" game by Crystal Summers, "The 12 Days of Christmas" video by AJ the Wonderdog and lots of turkey! Here are a few photo memories.

Treasure House owner and Trust Communications Director Bob Fitzgibbon, with Joy Fitzgibbon and LIFE's Steve Jones.


Magician Sawyer Bullock amazing us with card tricks, rope knots and slight of hand. Nice!


Rozz Maassarany, Maria Lopez, Tim Maassarany, Gabrielle VanDyk and "The Price Is Right" hostess Crystal Summers.


Emile Dugard with LIFE's Jordan Cruz.


Office Manager Janice Baird and husband/Station Manager Scott Jackson.


Handsome and Gretyl performing "Darlin'"


Artist Chris Bray with his wife Katie, Street Team volunteer Billy Chase and Slam Host Evan Duran.


Brian Cathline and his wife/Receptionist Marliene.


Breakfast Club host Ben Davy and his wife Rachelle.


"Ask The Pastor" host Andrew Roberston, with AJ The Wondedog and producer Tim VanDyk.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!

Video Blog - Top 50

A video blog for today!

End Of The Year Favourites

I love the Top 50 countdown! Maybe this is a bit obsessive, but I've been listening to end-of the-year radio countdowns since I was about 11 years old. Seriously. I would listen every new year's eve to 1050 CHUM as they played back their top 100 hits and I would tape the whole 8 hour show on cassettes.

Then when I got into radio. The tradition continues but it was my turn to produce a hit list. And - I get to be the host!

Be listening December 31 at Noon to LIFE 100.3!

Here are some of my favourites from 2011:

Background/Lecrae
Safe To Say/To Tell
Up Down/The Ambassador
So Far Away/House Of Heroes
Only You/Dan Bremnes
Blessings/Laura Story
Broken Glass/Silverline
Knockin' On My Door/B. Reith
I Refuse/Josh Wilson
More Each Day/Chris Bray

Show Stopper/Deitrick Haddon
Loud/George Moss

Rollercoaster

Here's the new ride coming to Wonderland next summer! Wooooo.....

Another Christian Movie with Randy Wayne?

There's a new movie you might be interested in. "Hardflip". It stars Randy Wayne who played Jake in "To Save A Life" and his co-star is Sean Michael Afable who played his friend Jonny (the kid drops his ice cream cone). John Schneider also stars.

It looks like a Christian movie. It would be nice to see Randy Wayne back in a good wholesome movie after some of the junk he's done recently.

I was in Los Angeles last year, at this skate park off Santa Monica pier during the filming. I didn't see these stars - just the skater pros doing tricks and the film crew.

Peter Furler and Building 429

If you follow Christian music, you probably know that Peter Furler is no longer with the Newsboys, although he still writes songs and remains connected with the business side.
As a soloist, he is on tour and made a stop tonight in Barrie, at Mapleview Church. The show was a surprise to me. Peter Furler singing in a church? Isn't he more of a arena or stadium performer? I guess not.

Tonight's show was big. Big lights, big sound. In fact the sound was fabulous!

I missed Me In Motion - the opening act. Building 429 was excellent. Great songs about faith.

Singer Jason Roy spent alot of time talking to the crowd, enjoying the crowd, bouncing from stage right to stage left. Their set concluded with a pitch for World Vision by Jason, who is truly a dynamic speaker. He talked about how he never wanted to sponsor a kid because the pitch from the speaker seemed manipulative to get people to respond. That is until he saw first hand kids in third world countries and how a sponsorship can make big changes. Jason is a great ambassador for World Vision and a gifted speaker. Even my pastor said so!

After a long intermission (so we could spend lots of money on merch) Peter Furler came out with a small 3-piece band. Thanks to the Nashville music track and gang vocals, the sound was big. I'm not sure if the audience never noticed the incredible back-up vocals that weren't coming from the stage - or maybe they don't care. I also think it's funny.

The setlist was half solo material and half Newsboys. It was well-balanced. "Way Beyond Myself" was a treat to hear.

Peter, still with the guyliner and dressing in black, still giving that sinister expression like he might snap at any moment.

What is truly funny is the audience was mostly 30-40 year olds. And nobody seems to notice the guyliner on the 40-year old bald performer.

The show rocked! I can't believe it was in a church, not an arena.

The Dance Machine

I'm making a photo album for my Dad for Christmas and combing through old photo albums.

I was a DJ in Kingston at CKLC from 1978 til 1985. Mostly really good years. The most fun came from the “Dance Machine”.

(L-R - Joe, Charlie Watts, Jim Elyot, me and Bruce Anfossie)

The CKLC jocks hosted the show. Sometimes Charlie Watts hosted. (Charlie did the overnight show and was a full-time Queens U student during the day.) Other dances were hosted by Jim Elyot, or Chris Ryan, or Steev Jordan, or “the Dude” Bob Keys, or me. It was common that one of the DJs would make a guest appearance at another jock's dance just for fun. Jim and I would air-guitar to AC/DC songs and dance around like goons, sometimes cracking open the mic to singing along.

What began as a couple of turntables and a DJ turned into a silly, egotistical, possibly outstanding roadshow with lighting, fog and free pop.

(L-R Jim Elyot and me, rockin' out to the Knack or the Stones)

When we peaked around 1983/84 we had four guys as roadies. Bruce our sound guy would oversee the logistics of the show. John our bodyguard wore a beat up leather jacket and sported a long Motley Crue haircut to look tough. There was Joe our lighting tech and a couple of other guys who came and went. Plus the CKLC groupies.

Being a the big Rolling Stones fan that I was, I tried to use any 1981 Stones tour idea I could, mostly in the wardrobe department. (The football pants were my favourite I think although the Platinum Blonde black and white spandex were kinda cool, too!) If CKLC management had provided a budget for set design I would have really gone nuts!

One of the contests I ran on stage was awarding a disco album - to a guy, who absolutely hated disco. (It would be the equivalent of giving a teen guy a Justin Bieber record now.) Once he got the album in his hands I would taunt him until he tore the album jacket in half, for which the crowd would go nuts!

(I bought this jacket from a kid for $10. It was ready to be given to good-will but I thought it had some life left in it!)

We’d take two or three vehicles in a convoy to the schools, most of which were in K-town, but other times we’d visit “Gan”, Sharbot Lake, Sydenham, and Snap-a-nachee! As I recall, Regi (the Catholic school) was the most enthusiastic. Frontenac was the school that other schools hated cuz they won all the football games - and Frontenac gigs made me nervous. I guess I thought Frontenac was the pinnacle of doing dances.

Good times.

This is the best I can recall it. It’s been nearly 25 years. Some of the facts may be somewhat embellished.

X Factor Predictions

X Factor is awesome! I'm lovin' all the "upgrades" beyond American Idol. The judges acting as mentors has added so much passion. We can see the judges rooting for their proteges.

PREDICTED WINNER - JOSH KRAJCIK

I'm also loving the sets. Each song has it's own lighting and set design. I wonder how much work that is! It sure adds to each performance.

X Factor is everything great from American Idol, on a bigger scale, plus some new ideas. Who would have thought you could out-do the number one show?! Both X Factor and American Idol have done something unique - they are both shows that the whole family can watch.

A quick review of Facebook and you see all aged people comment on their favourites.

2ND PLACE - MELANIE AMARO

I was sad to see Leroy Bell leave the show. I think we all hope we would look that good at his age! (60) Great attitude, great vocals!

Who's going to win? Here are my picks.

WINNER - Josh Krajcik
RUNNER UP - Melanie Amaro
THIRD PLACE - Astro

How do you follow that up? Easy - "American Idol"!

3RD PLACE - ASTRO

Toronto update!

It's been a long, tedious project assembling an application to acquire 88.1FM in Toronto for a new radio station.

For 12 years listeners have asked us to start a Christian station in Toronto and until now it has not been possible. Why? Because the FM dial is jammed. There are no places on the dial for even one more station. But with Ryerson losing their license, (so sad!), now 88.1 is available! Woo hoo!

The application I have been working on feels like "the application that will never end".

I have hired two consulting companies to provide factual data to back-up my ideas. Two engineers have consulted us on the technical feasibility. I have formed an Advisory Committee that consists of artists, media, technicians and event planners to help contribute to the development of the new station.

And the LIFE staff has backed me in prayer every week.

Last week, additional, last minute information was added.

This week, "the application that will never end" grew again as I enhanced it with another idea that I believe will appeal to the CRTC's concept of "the best application".

One non-Christian consultant told me he would not help us with this application, even if we paid him a million dollars because "that's how sure I am you will not be successful to get the license". That's ok. I have a secret weapon.

So - listen! I am 100% excited about this project. It is a NEW station, not a repeater station of LIFE. It is designed specifically for the GTA and has a new name that won't be revealed for a while. Already a couple of potential employees are on the "hire me" list!

I can hardly wait!

Louder

This song by Dominic Balli is in high rotation in my iPod. LOVE IT!

Devo - Getting Through Today

Today I am not burdened. I have time to do devotions, think about what I am reading, meditate on it. When there's alot of distractions blowing through my mind, only the first part happens and it's not a quality job either.

The devotional I am using is "Live Loved" by Max Lucada. The devotions are two pages each, a different topic each day and several verses to support it. Today I'm reading about God giving us our daily bread; which means providing for us one day at a time. One of the examples is about God giving Moses the strategy, not the whole plan at once. The people saw dry land and problems and God showed them provision for that one day. (Exodus 16:4)

I tend to look at my "to do" list and see all of it at once. I thought that was a good thing - sizing up the list and going for it. I'm a fairly good organizer. But now I'm thinking, I need to take that list, select the assignment for today and ask God to help me with it. Ask God to give me strength for it today, and whatever is left over to do tomorrow, then I ask him to get me through that tomorrow.

Same thing with the junk (on-going sins) that bugs me. I'm going to just focus on getting through ONE DAY and not whether or not I'll get through two or three days without messing up.

I don't know if this plan will work - praying over the daily steps rather than the whole deal. I'm going to give it a try. If nothing else, I will be able to see everything in smaller portions.

My iPod

The iPod is amazing! In the 80's when I worked at CKLC, I would haul a bunch of vinyl albums to the after-hours production studio and, using two turntables in the production studio, I would create a "mix" tape, that had all my favourite songs from the month. Songs were mixed together. Of course if I made a lousy mix, then I would have to either a) just accept it, or b) re-record the entire tape over.

My mix tape only appealed to me. Friends would wonder how I could enjoy a diverse selection of Sly and The Family Stone with John Cougar and Bon Jovi. Ah, but it was a good mix!

Then came the CD, although I didn't make too many "mix" cds. Then came the iPod. The flexibility of adding and deleting songs, changing playlists, shuffling or not, the digital quality - not to mention the convenience of the iPod shuffle...! Wow! I love it!

My iPod gets primary play at the gym and secondary useage at bedtime.

At night, as I go to sleep, I will listen to "Sleepless Nights" - an instrumental soft recording of popular worship songs. Or maybe some 80's Vineyard "Psalms".


Or, "Ram" by Paul McCartney. Love the variety of sounds and ridiculous lyrics! ("Monkberry Moon Delight"!?

Still my favourite "go to sleep" album is "Coram Deo" - a collection of Christian artists, their original songs, produced by Charlie Peacock specifically assembled for this project. It's one of those albums you can put on and listen straight through. It's a "desert island" album on my list.


In my "November new mix" playlist, here's what's shuffling this week!

Up Down/The Ambassador
Simple Days/B. Reith
You Lie/The Band Perry
Never Wanna Lose/Dan Bremnes
Crawling Back To You/Daughtry
People Know You By Your First Name/Dean Brody
Breakdown/Group 1 Crew
Darling/Handsome and Gretyl (my son)
Blessings/Laura Story
I'm Gonna Love You Through It/Martina McBride
Start Somewhere/Toby Mac
How He Loves/David Crowder
Not So Average/V. Rose
and - just added... "Alive" by Whosarmy.

It's quite a mix-mash of stuff. Ah but - I like it.

My Dog Watches TV

My dog loves to watch TV! (dogs cannot see 2D!) Well mine can. She likes other animals, loves Animal Planet, loves the MGM lion, any football game and action movies! Favourite movie is 8 Below. Don't believe my dog watches TV?

Funny Wedding Proposal

The Oro Station Super City Centre Casino and Resort

Shout-out to and from Scott Carpenter

You're reading my blog. By the way, thanks. I hope you find it entertaining, or informative, or whatever it is supposed to be.

Meanwhile, I'm reading the other blog by the LIFE 100.3 jocks. And - I'm reading Scott Carpenter's blog. Scott Carpenter is the CHUM radio DJ from the 70's whom I not only idolized when I was a teen, but he was the catalyst for me choosing radio as a career.

Today I read Scott's blog titled "The Birth Of The Boogieman" - and to my surprise I got a shout-out! How cool!

Thanks Scott!

Click here for Scott Carpenter's blog.

GMA Calgary

Just woke up. Good sleep. Silly that a two hour time zone change would give me jet lag. Maybe not. Maybe I'm just plain tired.

Spend three days in Calgary at GMA Canada - gospel music association - hooking up with Canadian artists and radio peeps. Schmoozing is the main activity, although some seminars were also good!

While radio is my job and my hobby, my other hobby is working with artists. I'm not sure what my position might be; perhaps Professional Encourager. In a previous lifetime, I managed artists and I think I have a good sense of performance observation. Some people seem to agree and came to my seminar at GMA called "Why Some Artists Make It And Others Don't". I love giving that message and didn't get off stage without 20 questions.

Steve Taylor gave a session about the production of Sixpence's song "Kiss Me". He is a very colourful, animated, clever artist but unfortunately, after viewing the new movie "Blue Like Jazz", I wouldn't recommend it to a Christian audience. Way over the line of good taste for me.

My hero and first artist I heard playing Christian music, and thus my journey into the Christian radio industry - Geoff Moore - hosted a luncheon and sharing his experience as an artist. Geoff is ALWAYS great and an American who understands Canada and encourages us.

Hanging with my good friends Chris Bray, Dan Bremnes, Sean Dayton and Zach Havens was awesome. All of these guys are class acts. Then meeting new friends was cool - including Ash Militsala in "From Love To Forfeit" from Edmonton and David Millar from Cities Under Fire from North Battleford.

Friday night was the Covenant Awards - our version of the Grammy's. Most winning artists were not there to accept their award. Sidebar - most of my favourites did not evan win, despite substantial radio airplay. Zach Havens from To Tell dined with me and performed "Safe To Say" with the house band. Evan Duran from LIFE 100.3 presented an award at the Covenant Awards.

I took a side trip to CJAY and Virgin Radio (secular) and brought back some new radio ideas for LIFE 100.3. CJAY is owned by Astral with a great radio history in the market.

Gleaning ideas from their operation will certainly make LIFE back home a slicker product. After CJAY, my buddy Ryan took Evan and me to a burger joint, that is a walk-up/drive-thru, with NO INDOOR TABLES! So we sat outside at the picnic table, freezing and eating! Haha! Great time!

I suppose I've left out some of the best parts of the trip - thanks everyone who I connected with and chaffeured me around town!

Roger Hodgson

Tonight, I scored amazing tickets to see Roger Hodgson, one of the two main singer/songwriters in Supertramp. The seats were unbelievably close -6th row. Perfect view of Roger on keyboards.

A 30-piece orchestra and 24-person choir backed up Roger and his 3-piece band. Sound-wise I don't think I've heard a better live mix!

Roger played thru most of the Supertramp songs that he wrote and sang on - like "The Logical Song", "Take the Long Way Home" and "School". The crowd aged 40 plus gobbled it up.

Supertramp is not a Christian band but lyrcially, "Fool's Overture" sounds very much like he's singing about Jesus. Is he?

Called the man a fool, stripped him of his pride
Everyone was laughing up until the day he died
And though the wound went deep
Still he's calling us out of our sleep
My friends, we're not alone
He waits in silence to lead us all home

Well, I don't know for sure, but Roger said "God is getting a bad rap from this world. He gives me hope and the most important thing is love". He also played the song "Lord Is It Mine". Interesting!

I don't think I've seen a singer look so happy performing! Here's a piece of the show.

Everybody Cut....

My friends gave it a thumbs up. Maybe they won’t be my friends after they read my review of the movie.

It was - just ok. If you haven’t seen the original version, the new Footloose will probably pass.

The characters are all the same. Much of the script is word for word from the original but none of it is performed as well. Dennis Quaid plays Pastor Shaw Moore, and while the character is an important part of the film, Dennis Quaid fails in believability.

Zac Efron was the original star but he declined - I think he would have pulled it off better than Kenny Wormald. Not that he was bad but since the majority of his lines were identical to those of Kevin Bacon, the comparison is inevitable.

The big scene in the court room where Ren goes before council is acted without passion. It's almost like they were trying to hard.

The new “Footloose” was the same; it was not better, maybe the unneccessary profanities discouraged me. Certainly where there is something magical about the original, there is none of it on the re-make.

If you choose to see "Footloose", be aware that the PG rating is under-rated.

Daughtry in Toronto

Chris Daughtry - he didn't win American Idol but is certainly the proof that being #4 is a great honour. Who won that year? Taylor Hicks. Who? Exactly.

Daughtry recorded a string of hits immediately after Idol finished and he's proved to be a great songwriter. Last night in Toronto at the Phoenix Concert Hall we rocked our faces off to "Home", "It's Not Over", "Over You", "Feels Like Tonight", "Crashed" - all hits coming off his debut album!

"No Surprise" and "September" from the second album sounded great in concert.

But it was the four song acoustic set in the middle - just Chris, pouring it out with passion and finese. "Rocket Man", the Elton John song really scored last night!

The boys in the band were tight, they rocked, they loved all over Toronto. The mostly 30's and 40's crowd scored a zillion iPhone photos! (I'd post my iPhone photo but the quality level is about two notches below my old instamatic!)

Ya nice.

Stellar Kart - To Tell - rockin' Queensway!

Stellar Kart - pop-punk band with a slew of great songs! Friday night they performed at Change Conference in Toronto. The conference age was pretty young - 13-17 age, maybe? So, I posed as a youth leader in order to fit in and enjoy the music. (Enjoying the music is easy - fitting in is more of a challenge.)

(right - Adam Agee singing "Me and Jesus")

Stellar Kart surprised me. Adam Agee was the only original guy in the trio. Whaaat? A trio? When they played in Barrie there was four of 'em. Where's Cody? (ripped guitarist),Jordan (in photos he usually has a finger up his nose) and Bryan (geeky but master of the stratocaster). Those boys are gone? Who are these two replacements?

The trio played ok and the recorded tracks kept it from sonically falling apart but there wasn't much of "a show". (I like a show!) Visually SK looked like an opening act with a lousy light show and no stage movement. But singer Adam Agee was a great encourager and communicator and the SK songs were, of course, great. "Me and Jesus", "Activate", "Shine Like Stars" and Bon Jovi's "Living On A Prayer".

Opening the show, (which was running late), was To Tell. I love these guys. In three years I've seen at least 20 shows and never have I seen them do a bad show. Always a great performance. Zach Haven's, the lead singer, is mature beyond his years. He says all the right stuff and instinctively knows what to do on stage to keep the show exciting. Backing him up are Nate, Justyn and Mike who all rock it out!

(left - Zach Haven's kicking out "Safe To Say")

It is my hope that next year To Tell would be the headlining act at Change Conference next year. It's a waste for To Tell to only play five songs and they can easily pull it off.

I love SK but it would be fair to say - To Tell stole the show.

AIR RAID 20 - THE BIG ONE

LIFE 100.3 presents "Air Raid 20"! Is it a dc Talk reunion show? No, we could only hope. Is it the Newsboys? Uh no. I'm still dreaming about that.

HEADLINER - HOUSE OF HEROES
SUPPORT ACTS - MANIC DRIVE, V ROSE

We're bringing the video screens, the bat-lights outside, food, prizes and all the bells and whistles!

February 25, 2012 - Timothy Christian School in Barrie.

Love the songs:

HOUSE OF HEROES - Buckets For Bullet Wounds, The Invisible Hook, Mercedes Baby, God Save Us The Foolish Kings, So Far Away, Elevator

MANIC DRIVE - Blue, Walls, Music, Rain

V ROSE - Oh My Ah, Not So Average, Battery, Girl What U Lookin' At?

Longboarding

Thanksgiving Saturday. AJ brought his longboard over for a tour on Lake Simcoe. After his ride he offered it to me. I paddled a very short distance!

Cover Me Canada - Whosarmy

Another reality show - "Cover Me Canada".

Selected Canadian bands take the stage each week and are each given a Canadian classic song to cover, their way.

My favourite band is Whosarmy. (say "who's army") The first week they covered "Raise a Little Hell" by Trooper - it was great! (Well, it's Trooper!) The next week they played "American Woman" and last week it was Nick Gilder's "Hot Child In The City" - a fabulous performance.

These guys are great! I know nothing about them - I'm just lovin' their performance.

Here's the funny thing, as is the case with most "all Canadian shows" - it's infiltrated by Americans - of course. The 3 judges are Jordan Knight (new kids on the block), Deborah Cox (canadian urban artist, probably the only...) and Ron Fair (A&R guy from California). Why is it funny? Well we all know how much Americans know about Canada. Haha! So here's Jordan and Ron on a Canadian show, listening to Canadian bands, cover Canadian classics, which they probably don't know anyway. Except "American Woman", which is anti-American. Funny.

Anyway, I love the show. Great production. All Canadian (almost...) and Whosarmy!

Twitter

Thought this was pretty funny.

Basement Flood

As you may know, we are applying for new station in Toronto. Applications are a monster of a project - quiet time to think and focus is critical so I took the day off yesterday to bring it all together.

And then -

I was down in the basement and noticed water creeping around my drums. Then more water. Oh crap we have a mild flood!

The sump-pump stopped working! There was an inch of water in the front half of the basement, and since we are still unpacking from the move, there are boxes and boxes everywhere, sitting in water -including my record collection! (The last time this happened was 20 years ago and it was an oil spill - I lost my whole album collection!)

I figured out that the hose from the dehumidifier had jammed the float switch, causing the water to rise.

Frantically I'm trying to lift up soagy boxes before the cardboard bottoms fell out. And figure out which boxes had my 45 record collection, while I'm walking around in a low ceiling basement, wading thru water, in the near dark.

Here's what's funny - I'm feeling blessed. I caught it in time before the whole basement filled up and we lost everything. By chance, when I touched the hose the floater started working. When the plumber came he recognized that it was working fine and it was a simple case of misfortunate that the hose got in the way. He could have sold me a whole new unit and I wouldn't have known the difference.

So, I'm praising God that it wasn't as bad as it could have been.

I wonder why I happened to go in the basement in the first place? Hmmm! Thank you, God!

Meantime, I lost a day of working on the Toronto application. Well, I wasn't in the mood anyway!

Better Than Freddie!

Marc Martel of the Canadian Christian band DOWNHERE, has the most awesome voice! Downhere have two lead vocalists, (with Jason Germain) and Marc is the higher pitched of the two.

You might recognize "Little Is Much", "Hope Is Rising", "Let Me Rediscover You" or "My Last Amen" as a few of their many radio hits.

Last time I saw Downhere I thought - this guy's voice is like Freddie Mercury's. High, powerful, gutsy - a rock killer! I wonder what he'd sound like singing "Bohemian Rhapsody". Well, now we know.

Watch this! Especially after the the instrumental break where he comes back with "...so you think you can stone me and spit in my eye." It's the climax of the song and Marc sings it effortlessly.

And I think - better than Freddie.

Living For Jesus!

This morning Tom Roe invited me to join the band for the worship set at Living For Jesus Outreach in Orillia.

This place is A-MAZING! Pastor Jim Woolcott not only oversess Sunday church but LFJ also prepares meals for 70 people every day! Wow - 70! Donations of food, clothing and cash run the charity. This is Jesus Christ in action - sharing the gospel, feeding and clothing the needy!

LFJ is also kind of rare because it's not part of a denomination - you could feel it. (They may be part of a greater organization that I'm not aware of). The vibe wasn't pentecostal or baptist or luthern or vineyard - just a room full of people who follow Jesus, read the Word, sing his praises and often hurting. No announcements, no churchy programs - just Jesus. Nothing fancy.

I'm going back on October 23. Come check it out at 11am.

Setlist:
Awesome God
Glorious One
Amazing Love
Let There Be Joy
Majesty (improv)
I will Give Him Glory
How Marvellous

Riding The Ferris Wheel

Ben Davy on the ferris wheel for 49 hours - I took a 5 minute spin!

Hazel - Mayor of Mississauga. Inspiring!

The Mayor of Mississauga - Hazel McCallion. Watch this video - you'll be inspired! Especially, "Hot Child In The City". Woo hoo!

Go Hazel!

Oro World's Fair

Today was exciting here in the Oro Station Super City Centre. It was the annual ORO WORLD'S FAIR!

Can you say - WOW! Words cannot describe the excitement so I thought I would post photos with captions. Consider this your invitation to come next year!


Me and a heffer. I'm not getting any closer. Robert, the owner, sold her for $45,000. I'm in the wrong business.



Janice and the pony rides.



Apparently there are prizes if you add "art" to your hay stacks. Yes, they hand out red ribbons for the finest. Ok.



What are these things? And why are we compelled to shove our faces in and snap a goofy photo. Why? IDK.



Ok, now this just gets weird. There are rows and rows and rows of chickens and roosters and geese - with first place ribbons. Yes, I'm a city boy. I don't get this. How do you decide which is "the best chicken"? And aren't you going to eat it anyway? Ribbons and awards for poultry? Maybe if I continue to live in Oro I'll learn to accept it. Maybe I'll enter my chicken, if I get one. Where do you get one?



The Demolition Derby. This was huge. The audience seating area was packed out. Ok, so maybe there's no rock stars playing at Casino Rama and this is the only entertainment around. But cars smashing into cars? Cars that are already a right-off? Smashing? I'm from the city - this is an average day on the DVP. Move on.



What's a World's Fair without music, right? Here are The Rugby Boys - a little country, bluegrass and gospel. I sat on a haystack with the other five people in the audience and enjoyed the show. It's a bit small-time but, like I said, another year living in Oro and I'll probably be managing these big boys!


The Oro World's Fair - everything I expected - AND MORE!

Newsboys STILL rock!

Ok, I've been apprehensive about the Newsboys. I saw their show a couple of years ago in Toronto, just after Tait joined. It was good. HE was good, but the band was different. I figured Tait would finish the tour and that would be it.

I was wrong. Again.

Tonight was "Maple Noise 2011" in Toronto, part of the 10 city cross-Canada tour. Several Canadian bands were on the bill - my friends in To Tell, Jodi King, Greg Sczebel, Jon Bauer, Manic Drive, Manafest, TFK - and Newsboys.

When Newsboys hit the stage, they SCHOOLED everyone else! Michael, Jody, Jeff and Duncan were wearing skinny, cool suits and even on these 40 year olds, they were stylin'. While a great deal of the music was tracked, it only enhanced the sound. (It's hard to jump around stage, play an instrument and not be pitchy.)

(Michael Tait on left, Jeff Frankenstein bent over behind the keyboard.)

A long catwalk poked out into the crowd, quite a distance and Tait made great use of it. As he strutted the catwalk, singing the songs we know well when sung by Peter Furler, Tait gave it a richness that is - different. Tait is probably a better vocalist whereas Furler is a personality waiting to go off the deep end. Both great performers.

But Tait and the boys are "a new Newsboys". They should probably change the name of the band - it just isn't the same. Not better, not worse, just different. And very, very pro.

"Way Beyond Myself" sounded awesome. All songs sounded awesome, but better than the music was Tait's preaching. He is sincere, truthful, relatable and makes you feel like "you can do this Jesus thing if you just give it more effort." That was the message I got.

What a night! Newsboys rocked it! (Now, how do we get them to play Barrie...?)

Reflecting on my first day in Barrie - 1997.

Thanks for all your comments on today's Facebook status. It’s been 15 years since I moved to Nashville and 14 years since my relocation to Barrie. I’m not sure why I’m so reflective on this event today more so than the last decade. Maybe I'm supposed to write this blog - for someone else.

The last dozen years of my life have been the most exciting. Working in Nashville at WAY-FM was my dream job. The day I left Nashville I cried like a girl. It was a great city; I had made good friends; it was an exciting place to live; O'Charley's Restaurant, Cool Springs Mall - arrrrg - I could go on and on.

In September 2997, it was like God was dragging me out of the country with me kicking and screaming. And I was very verbal about it! As I crossed the border from Tennessee to Kentucky I felt like I was leaving everything that was good, behind. It was a horrible, long drive back to Canada. I had no idea that WAY-FM would be the catalyst for LIFE 100.3.

I moved to Barrie for one reason only - I had nowhere else to live. I spent all my money in the U.S. avoiding coming home to Canada. My parents brought me and my family to Barrie to live with them. It was a humbling time - having a wife and kids, no job, no prospects of a job and having to live off my parents.

I remember picking up three part-time jobs and grossing $12,000 in 1998! I could put gas in my car and pay my insurance.

This was a valley in my life. I was fed up with secular radio and the sexy rude music. It was evidently more offensive having come from a Christian format where the lyrics proclaim virtues like trust, honour, purity and love. While living with my parents in their basement I continued to attend church, pray, seek God and ask people for advice.

One day I was leaving my parents house to go to my part-time weekend job and my Dad was in the driveway. I was totally forlorn at my hopeless situation. I stared at my Dad, my eyes welled up and I grabbed him for a hug. He patted me on the back, like a father and told me everything would be alright. I know he felt my pain.

Living with my parents in their basement lasted a year a half. I often was angry at my parents about my situation. As if it was their fault that I got fired. I am embarrassed to say that I was ungrateful for their generosity and hospitality, blind to the fact that they fed me, clothed me, paid my dentist bills while I searched for the next chapter in my life.

Most people think that starting a Christian radio station was my lifelong dream. It wasn’t. It just happened. The CRTC had changed the broadcast rules and were awarding licenses to full-time Christian stations and I wondered what might happen if I combined my faith and experience. So, I sent in a pitiful application that not only won me the license for LIFE 100.3, but skipped the entire hearing process.
Now LIFE 100.3 is here. Today I continue to lead this radio ministry and realize that wherever God has you, that's the best place to be.

The advice I got along the way:

Pastor Ian McLean told me “you have to give up your idols before God will reveal the next plan”. What’s your idol? Figure it out and surrender it.

Rebecca St. James told me “God doesn’t call the equipped, he equips the called.” While I had a substanial amount of radio experience, it was God who led me to the people who cheered on my vision and supported me.

Kevin Bushey told me “God gives grace to the stupid”. I interpret that as meaning, I knew programming but not business, not engineering and not fundraising and so God gave me a shortcut before I gave up.

Bob Augsburg, the head of WAY-FM told me “To whom much is given, much is required”.

If you’re stuck in a valley - seek God. He will bring you out of it.

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A Happy Ending?

Because we’re Christians, and God is for us not against us, I think we have the impression that everything will work out in our favour because we ask God to do it. But, God doesn’t promise us a happy ending to our lives. People die; we grieve; it’s not happy.

I wonder what the disciples thought at the Last Supper when Jesus passed around the wine and said - "Drink from it, all of you. This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins."

Wouldn’t that be freaky? Imagine if, today, someone told us they were “the new covenant” - would we nod our heads “ya ok, I get it”. Or would we think “uh, I don’t know about that, man”. It must have been hard for the disciples to accept those words.

Then, Jesus was betrayed by Judas and his buddy Peter pretended he didn’t even know Jesus. Jesus was beaten to bits and hung as a bloody mess on a cross as the soldiers made fun of him. That’s not a happy ending. (Yes, I know the resurrection is a happy ending.)

We have the Bible to give us the whole story, but in Jesus day, they didn’t have the whole book. So what was happening then was a current event. Imagine that. Being there with Jesus, watching the miracles and watching him die. Wow.

My point is that our lives may not end happily. Am I getting it?

View From Ashore

The views from the new house are amazing!

A few nights ago there was an amazing sunset. We were watching TV and out of the corner of my eye I saw the oranges clouds. We dashed outside. My dad and Janice were the first ones on the dock while I pulled out my iPhone to grab this photo. The sky really looked like this. I like how the left side and the right side of the rainbow are distinctly different. And the reflection on Lake Simcoe is pretty cool.

The next night we were taking a walk and it was dusk. The sun was bouncing off the lake but the park was getting dark. The moon was fully visible in the bright sky. The moon, the sunset, the water, the park - it was like a painting.

For a few nights the waves have been much more than I expected. How rough could Lake Simcoe be? Well, now I know why everyone puts their boats on a lift - it's to prevent the waves from bashing it to bits against the dock! Wish I could get a photo of the waves but it's at night.

Then, if that wasn't enough, we woke up early yesterday. Our renovator was on the way over to build a gate and some other stuff.

As we turned off the alarm we noticed the sunrise and ran outside to enjoy it, and snap a picture.

It takes alot to get me out of bed in the morning, but this time it was easy!


I am so blessed to live here. It's absolutely awesome!

New Music by To Tell!

One of my favourite Canadian artists is To Tell, based in London, Ontario. Their new song is "In Your Eyes", which you can hear on LIFE 100.3 in Barrie.

Here's the audio. No video available.

Moved

At last, with the end of summer, we've moved from Barrie, about 15 minutes north. Moving is stressful, exciting, rewarding!

With early excitement for our new house, Janice and I laid a couple of patio mattresses on our bedroom floor and had "a sleepover" - in our new house. Fun idea, nothing but mattress and a toothbrush - but our backs were siezed up in the morning!

Friday was the move-out and move-in. Having spent a few days packing up each room we thought we were ready but the amount of "yet to be packed" stuff was unbelievable. Thankfully my brother stopped by for assistance. Then, a 5-man moving company came in, threw boxes on their packs like they weighed nothing and hauled them out to the van. By 4pm, we were moved in, more or less!

After a quick dinner, we dropped by an art gallery on Maple Street in Barrie to see Brett's band (Handsome and Gretyl) perform for 75+ people. A great night of music and a nice break from unpacking.

Saturday, a bunch of friends came to help unpack boxes. AJ sanded down the balcony, Jon unpacked books and photo albums and clothes, John hauled boxes up and down to the basement, Betty Jean and Crystal organized the kitchen. A good team!

Sunday morning I was scheduled to speak at Trinity Community Church in Oro. I was lucky to find a shirt and pants that weren't wrinkled!!

For the last three days we've been climbing over boxes, searching for various pieces of clothes and flashlights, moving around couches for the best fit and mopping duck poop off the dock.

Last night there was an amazing rainbow that shone over Lake Simcoe. From the sky to the water and the colourful reflection on the water - quite awesome! Quite the glorious sight.

Today, everything is where it should be - more or less. Each room sounds like a bathroom until we put up wall photos, etc. But we're settling in and there's still time to blog.

I'm Going Hip Hop. Tell Your Friends.

Sup!

The whole world has gone hip hop. And ya know, I kinda like it! I'm diggin' the new beats by LeCrae, The Ambassador, V Rose. Sometimes I go old school with John Reuben. Getting ready to lay down them funky beats on my first hip hop CD!

Aw yeee.

Me - Scott Jackson - going hip hop! Am I 730?!

Listen peeps. It's bout the music, y'all. I ain't talkin' no mean-muggin'. I wanna bring it to dah shtreets in the east end of Barrie. Lay it down on my 808. That's dope, Randy.

Gonna ask my main man Horrocks to keep it tight. Record it - go to number one on the charts. Make my pockets fat. Ya man.

Beats so fly we off the chain.

Photo 1 - I think the wall plug brings out the ambience. Photo 2 - blue screen effect. So I can drop in my hommies in the hood.

Ok, for now it's bout the cd jacket. Got two choices. I like both. Real fly, fo 'Shizzle. Which one for the cover? Gotta get the cover done. Worry bout the music later.

Much later. Gotta bounce.

Peace out.