The Olympics

Who cares? Not me.

I'm not a sports guy. I don't follow any teams - I guess I'm just a music guy. Music is my thing and sports is not. I leave that to my brother.

But here's the deal.

Why on earth did the Olympic committee, in all of their vast wisdom, pick Vancouver for a location? It RAINS all the time in Vancouver. All the time. It rains so much that Vancouver has the highest population for depression in all of Canada.

It's raining now. It's almost washing out Whistler. The staff are covering the hills because it's ice on top from the rain and pools of water at the bottom. I thought Whistler was the king of ski hills but the Olympics are a weather-related event and if it rains - it's a wash-out.

Calgary - great choice. Vancouver? Hahaha - it rains!

Think of all that money spent to construct a new highway - the only highway - to take people on the two-hour trek from Vancouver to Whistler. It's a coastal highway - it's the only highway and two years ago it was in such poor condition they had to rebuild it - just for the Olympics. I'm not sure if the mountain slide happened before or after the construction.

Vancouver. Yeeesh. Have you driven through Vancouver? It's a traffic jam all day. It's worse than Seattle. Driving. Rain.

Now I heard on CTV news that people who live in Vancouver don't even care about the Olympics. It's an "out of town" thing. The "man on the street" suggested that residents don't know much about what's going on and it starts in less than two weeks?

Remember the summer Olympics in China two years ago. The incredible fireworks that lit up the city skyline? It was amazing. And then we found out it was studio produced! Half of what spectators saw didn't even happen!

How much money do they spend on the Olympics? The new stadiums, the hotels, the "Village", the promotional advertising? How much money do big advertisers spend during the Olympics that maybe nobody cares about. My goodness I hope they made a lot of money on those stylin' red mittens coz Canada is gonna be paying off this misadventure for decades.

Ok, I watch a tiny wee bit. The gymnastics. That's it. I guess you might say I'm not a big fan.

So, uh, who's on Larry King tonight?

Holden Lives On

Many of us have read "Catcher In The Rye" by J.D. Salinger.

Love it or hate it, the 1951 book has become an American classic. Did you read it in school? It's about a misunderstood teenager named Holden Caulfield. In real life, it was the book Mark David Chapman had in his pocket when he assassinated John Lennon, making "Catcher" all that more eerie. It was the only full length book Salinger published. School board and religious organizations objected to the book that was sprinkled with profanities, making it an odd choice for "required reading in high school.

There are some of us who relate to the main character in "Catcher" - Holden Caulfield.He's a confused character with the angst of James Dean and the mental innocence of Michael Jackson. Holden's perspective was that "everyone is a phony". As I recall, when Holden saw the "F" word written on a wall, it upset him so much that he wanted to become a type of "catcher" who rescued kids (in the rye) before they lost their innocence the the phoniness of the world.

Salinger, the author, became a recluse after the publication and barely spoke to press for 40 years. The mystery of the real man began. He declined all requests to talk about the book, the characters and rejected every offer to bring "Catcher" to film, even coming from Hollywood's most notable stars including Steven Spielberg and Leonardo Dicaprio.

Many people say the movie "Finding Forrester" starring Sean Connery is loosely based on the life of Mr. Salinger.

Me? Ya, I remember reading "Catcher" in Grade 11 and after all these years I still have it on my bookshelf.

J.D. Salinger died yesterday. But Holden lives on.

What's Wrong With Blogging?

I was listening to Ben and Woody on the LIFE Breakfast Club this morning talking about blogging. Woody shared about an L.A. advice columnist who wants more politeness on public blogs.

So how nice do our blogs have to be? Can we state opinions? Be personal? Where does meanness begin?

On my blog, I feel very comfortable being transparent about my life - my feelings, my health, some personal situations. For the most part I try to keep my thoughts positive and uplifting although I'll admit there have been one or two occasions where I may have over shared and stepped on toes.

Sorry.

My blog is a bit like a written version of something I might talk about on the radio. And you may not always agree with my blog or my radio stories - and that's ok. I probably disagree with some of your ideas, too. It's just commentary.

No, blogs should not be gossipy. I enjoy blogs that are insightful and help me to think of things from a different point of view.

Listeners have told me "I dont think you should say THAT on the radio!" I disagree that everything a DJ says on the radio must be positive. Do you agree with everything your friends say? Probably not. Do you agree with Don Cherry? No - nobody does! Haha! It's just commentary. And it's ok to say how you feel.

Blogs are the new version of a "letter to the editor". We write them - you can comment below.

Do you agree?

The Answer To The Question

A bunch of questions are in my email box.

Question: "Where are you playing with the band Ascension?" Answer: Looks like my band has disbanded. One of our musicians has health problems and withdrew. So, I'm looking for a band where I can play drums on an irregular basis.

Question: "do you miss being on the air?". Answer: no, not really. The only part I miss is the show preparation which keeps me in touch with current events. If I don't show prep, I feel out of touch with entertainment and world news.

Question - "why are you off the air?" Answer: I feel like I have nothing new to say. I've been on the radio for 32 years, with a short break here and there. I'm sure I'll return. In fact, I'll fill in for Jen Melanson during her holidays, but as for a permanent return - we'll have to wait and see.

Question - "do you like speaking at churches?" Answer: I really do. I like seeing how other churches worship - different music styles, some charasmatic, some conservative, different pastors each with their own characteristics. Most of the time the Sunday speaking engagements are good fun. It's fun to worship with a different group of people every month.

Question - "what music are you listening to now?" Answer: In my iPod the most played songs are:

"We Weren't Born To Follow"/Bon Jovi
"Can't Stay Away"/Kris Allen
"Down And Out"/Hello Kelly and To Tell
"No Be Nah"/John Reuben
"Salvation Is Here"/Lincoln Brewster

Thanks for the questions. Have a great night!

Pefferlaw Rocks!

I got very little sleep last night and you know when you have an early date in the morning, the anxiety of not getting a good night's sleep contributes to a really bad sleep. Well, with no sleep, we had an amazing time at Cedardale Church in Pefferlaw this morning. Junky picked me up at 7:30 - yawn. Good ride - great weather.

Pastor Ken is an amazing cheerleader for LIFE. He really researched us well because alot of the time when they introduce me, they say something wrong - like LIFE-FM or 100 point 3, or something.

Even with Pefferlaw being on the fringe of our listening area, they still partner with us. I was surprised to see an advertisement for Air Raid 17 in their lobby! Everyone was so encouraging. Nice!

Thanks for the love offering!

What A Retarded Day

I woke up feeling a bit "off". You know ... things just not clicking. Not feeling myself. My first assignment was to give a speech at Georgian College about starting a business - obviously the story of LIFE 100.3. It's a great story. I love to tell it because it's amazing - AND - the story evolves.

So while I didn't feel myself at 8am, the students had questions, made the class enjoyable and it ended up pretty good I think.

Then at 10am things went from stupid to worse.A cranky listener blasts me on email because we don't have a link to Haiti on our website. (Even though on air appealing for Haiti with a variety of initiatives.)

Another listener whining because we've decided to play U2 on LIFE "and I'm pulling my support if you're gonna play their music." Of course they don't sign their name.

Another listener doesn't like the fact that we're playing Creed on LIFE. Again, no signature.

Then, Boston Pizza messed up the dinner order.

But there was a glimmer of hope in my day. NBC finally fired Conan O'Brien! Praise the Lord.

And even better - I see my psychologist tomorrow. Maybe he can figure out my shitty week.

Have "a nice" weekend.

Pre-Shows!

Air Raid 17 is coming! Actually, it's been coming for a year and a half. The last big show was Air Raid 16 with Stellar Kart - and it was big! Technically, we beefed up the production and, we think, we out did ourselves.

To ramp up to 17, we added Air Raid pre-shows.

The first show was in Newmarket January 15 at the Valleyview Alliance Church. Ryan Bordihn was the opening act along with his fanbase. Then The Light Division, who are on the roster for Air Raid 17, hit the stage, playing most of their CD tracks. Good spirit. Good venue. Definitely a church audience.

The second pre-show was January 16 in Peterborough at The Bridge/Youth For Christ. Here We Stand was the opening act from Lakefield. They surprised us as we expected a rock act and they performed all familiar worship songs. The Bridge is a youth centre in downtown Peterborough that is a hangout for mostly non-church kids, so the worship music emptied the place out, except for the parents' of the Here We Stand.

Then To Tell featuring Zach Havens hit the stage doing tracks from his EP including the radio- hit "Closer To You". To Tell is one of the performers at Air Raid 17.

Now the pre-shows are done. Now all we need is Group 1 Crew to get to town to headline Air Raid 17.