Welcome to my blog.
This is my creative outlet that could include my thoughts on anything from current affairs, my weight loss quest and things that just make me need to voice an opinion.
I like to sleep. I’d call it my “beauty rest” but lets be honest, by now I should look like Brad Pitt with all the sleep I’ve had over the years.
I was never a morning person. From the time I was going to school and college and then all the years I spent working the morning show for the local radio station, getting up before the sun was never my cup of tea.
I never saw any reason to wake up early on my days off. I was a night owl and still am. The only difference is now I’m finding myself out hooting at work until 7:00am instead of waking up before sunrise.
Why on earth would anyone want to get up early in the morning? What’s the benefit? Lets forget about work for a moment and assume you have the day off, you’re retired or it’s the weekend. What possible reason could there be to haul your butt out of bed before 6:00am?
I’ll be the first to admit that on a nice clear spring or summer morning, the sunrise can be very nice and often quite pleasing to the eye. But beyond that and maybe being a photographer and wanting to capture some photos with the early morning light, I just don’t see the benefit. You can only watch so many sunrises before the novelty wears off.
I see only negatives after that. The stores don’t open until around 9:00am so you can forget trolling the aisles of Zellers at dawn. The early morning television programs are just bloody awful. Once you’ve seen the news of the morning and the forecast once, you’re set for the rest of the day as they only repeat it over and over again. You can’t cut the lawn since all of the normal people are still in bed just like you should be.
Perhaps you’re one of those people I see on the way home from work who enjoy an early morning stroll for exercise. But for me, if it’s a choice between going for a walk or staying in bed and sleeping…sleep wins every time.
The only time I vacate my sleeping quarters on my day off by 6:00am is if I’m going golfing. But at least I have a good reason to wake up. But just getting up with no plans or need to makes zero sense to me.
At this time of year the sky starts to lighten up around 4:30am or a bit earlier and the sun is up by 5:30am or sooner. That makes for a bloody long day and there’s just too much TV you’d miss when you’re in bed for the night at 8:00pm.
No, I’m afraid rising early in the morning is a bit overrated as far as I’m concerned. I say let there be light…provided I don’t see it until at least noon.
In case you hadn't guessed already, I'm not a fan of the NBA and I just can't get excited about a game that is only slightly more interesting than soccer.
Having said that, there is one former basketball player I do enjoy watching on talk shows and in interviews because he's usually quite entertaining.
Charles Barkley can be a pretty funny guy but recently the joke was on him...and it was all caught on tape.
If you've ever seen the movie Anchorman starring Will Ferrell then you'll probably enjoy this even more.
I’m not a “tree-hugger” or activist but I care about the planet, honestly I do. You won’t find me holding a sign and squaring off with riot police voicing my opinion and I don’t have any children to worry whether or not the planet will be in good shape when they’re older but I’d still like to know the earth will be in good shape for years after my bones have turned to dust.
The problem with activists is they always seem to be searching for the next great cause to support and I wonder how much they really believe or know about the subject. I think the majority of activists are just “free-thinking challenged” individuals who might have good intentions but don’t really know what it is they’re getting up in arms about. They’re just a bunch of followers whose beliefs seem to be determined by the latest and greatest bandwagon cause to jump aboard and support.
I do have a bit of a problem with all this talk about “Global Warming” because I just don’t know if I believe it or not. Sure the scientists and so-called experts all say the ozone layer has a hole in it and the polar icecaps are melting but how do they know for sure what’s causing it? Where’s the proof?
Just saying greenhouse gas emissions are the cause doesn’t really mean a lot to me. The worlds greatest minds used to think the world was flat at one time but I think that theory was quickly put to rest when Columbus didn’t take a plunge before reaching the New World.
I’m not saying Global Warming doesn’t exist, I’m only saying I haven’t seen enough proof to convince me but I’m willing to do so more research on the subject.
Perhaps the name is wrong because for most people who live in the Northern Hemisphere we have a hard time believing the planet is getting warmer. We just suffered through one of the worst winters on record and here it is the middle of May and we are still wearing winter and warm spring coats.
I can remember vividly just over 20 years ago when every May was warm and sunny. When I used to play rugby or participate on the high school track team I always had sunburns early in the season. We’d have rain but we were still able to wear our shorts. If I wore shorts the last few years in May I’d have little frozen bits falling off my body.
If the climate is changing, I just don’t see it going in the direction the scientists and Al Gore would have us believe. Of course, they probably justify their theories by saying the cold weather is still an effect of the Global Warming. If that’s the case, call it Global Cooling or Climate Instability or anything other than what they are calling it now because I just don’t buy it.
Since 1975 one show has given people a reason to stay up late on Saturday night and of course I'm speaking of Saturday Night Live (SNL).
SNL has had its ups and downs over the last 30+ years but it has survived and has spawned the careers of some of the best funny people past and present.
The list reads like a who's who with the likes of Dan Aykroyd, John Belushi, Chevy Chase, Billy Crystal, Will Ferrell, Chris Farley, Phil Hartman, Mike Myers, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Eddie Murphy, Bill Murray, Gilda Radner, Chris Rock, Adam Sandler and Martin Short to name only a few. Many of those are Canadians as well and the show was created by and is still run by Canadian Lorne Michaels.
Over the years there have been hundreds of musical guests, my all-time favourite was on December 9, 2000 when U2 performed and it was one of the greatest performances in the history of the show. I used to have a copy on my computer but it is long gone so I can't let you share the experience.
However, I can share with you one of my favourite sketches ever on the show. The date was April 8, 2000 and it was about the recording of the song "(Don't Fear) The Reaper" by Blue Oyster Cult. The sketch featured guest host Christopher Walken as music producer Bruce Dickinson and Will Ferrell as fictional cowbell player Gene Frenkle. In the television special Saturday Night Live: 101 Most Unforgettable Moments, this sketch is moment number five.
Love 'em or hate 'em, fights in hockey are part of the game and unless something drastic happens in the future, they'll always be a part of the game to some extent.
The thing about hockey fights is usually they only involve two players, one from each team. Every so often you get "line brawls" where all five players on each team on the ice will square off with some punches thrown and like most hockey fights, nobody gets injured other than maybe a bloody or broken nose. And on rare occasions the goalies will get into the action also.
The one thing you rarely see in the NHL anymore are bench clearing brawls when every player on both teams flood the ice and start fighting. I'd be lying if I said I'm glad we don't see them anymore as I think every now and then it would be OK if they happened but nobody wants to see them all the time. But sometimes the tensions run high and tempers boil over and they erupt into a real donnybrook.
On the other hand, bench clearing brawls in baseball look ridiculous. Usually they happen when a pitcher throws at a batter, the batter charges the mound and then everyone runs onto the field and stands around looking stupid. Most of the time there are only a few punches tossed so the whole thing is asinine.
I think baseball should be like hockey and if anyone leaves the bench, they should be fined or suspended and that might cut down on incidences of this type.
While benches clear all the time in baseball, I can't recall the last time it happened in an NHL game. Their have been some classics like the Montreal and Quebec dust-ups of days gone by but the most recent one I could locate was from the 1986-87 season where during the game teams left the bench. That game involved the Bruins and Nordiques and the clip is below.
The most recent baseball dance happened just this past week and of course it was just another waste of time. Seattle's Richie Sexson charged the mound after nearly being beaned in the head...or so he felt. I honestly don't think it was that bad but then again, I wasn't the one being thrown at.
I'm not a huge horse racing fan but I do enjoy watching the "BIG" races like the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and some of the more prestigious races.
Saturday was the latest running of the Kentucky Derby and Churchill Downs and it was a great race to watch with one of the favourites to win the Triple Crown, "Big Brown", coming away with the win.
Sadly the horse that finished second collapsed shortly after finishing the race. "Eight Belles" ran a great race but as she was slowing down she broke both front ankles and dropped to the ground. The Vets were on the scene quickly and with her in a lot of pain, euthanasia was the only choice for the animal. A very sad ending to a great race.
I know a lot of animal and horse lovers are upset over this but I think these horses love to race and sadly stuff like this happens.
If you missed the race, here is a replay for you to view.
OK, maybe it would be considered going a little overboard if I actually wanted Don Cherry to be the next PM of Canada but just take a moment to think about what that could be like. My goodness, could you imagine having a politician in Ottawa who actually cares about our country and the citizens who live here.
One thing is sure, Cherry would make sure Canadians are taken care of first before we start helping everyone else in the world. He'd make sure our Armed Forces wanted for nothing and he'd make watching Question Period in the House of Commons more interesting than it has ever been.
Love or hate Don Cherry you can't deny he is a true Canadian and wears his patriotism on his sleeve. He loves Canada.
I remember back in 2002 during the Salt Lake Winter Olympics he took some time to remind hockey fans just how great Canada is at our National game.
Here's a clip from the Coach's Corner broadcast during the first intermission of the Gold Medal game where Cherry highlighted some of Canada's memorable moments.
Do you remember a time when you could actually be scared watching horror movies or suspense movies?
I have a hard time recalling the last time I watched a movie and was genuinely frightened and found myself looking over my shoulder or under the stairs when it was done.
Perhaps you grow out of it as you get older and your brain tells you that there’s just no way things that used to shock you are real.
I suppose times change and as technology changes so do our ideas of what’s terrifying. My dad tells the story of the time he went to the movies as a young lad and saw a film that scared the living bajeezus out of him. The movie he saw that day was “Abbot and Costello Meet Frankenstein” which came out in 1948.
The first thing I have to question, were movies actually around when my dad was a kid? The second is how could a movie about two comedians meeting a monster be scary? Perhaps I could convince my dad to take some time to elaborate on that some day. Now "Psycho" was a classic thriller but other than the shower scene...I don't think it was all that scary.
Some movies that scared me when I was younger just don’t have the same influence on me anymore. One picture that comes to mind is “The Exorcist” from 1973. When Linda Blair’s head twisted all the way around while she was possessed by the Devil, I have to admit I was peaking out from under the blanket. Today, knowing what I know about special effects, it just doesn’t have the same effect.
As a kid I can remember plenty of movies that freaked me out. Those flicks include “Nightmare on Elm Street” (the original), “Poltergeist”, “Carrie”, “Jaws”, “Alien”, “Friday The 13th” and “Halloween” to name a few.
I think sometimes the movie makers get too caught up in using special effects to try and create scary creatures when most times the fear comes not from seeing something scary but rather the anticipation and build up to a chilling moment.
Sadly in the last 20 years there hasn’t been one movie that has just terrified me like the good old days. That’s not to say there haven’t been some interesting horror movies that I thought were well done and provided some suspenseful moments. “Silence of the Lambs” and most of the movies about Hannibal Lecter were very good. He is just a great character.
“The Blair Witch Project” was probably the movie that has freaked me out the most since I was a young lad. When the kids started banging on the tent and the main characters went running into the dark, it frightened me a little and that was awesome. Of course I should mention that I watched this movie by myself late at night on Halloween. The best time to be scared.
There are some more recent movies that I’ve seen that have tried to keep the horror genre alive and succeed to some degree. “The Mist” based on the Stephen King short story was very well done and I would recommend it. The ending in particular is shocking. I won’t ruin it for you.
“Cloverfield” is another movie that kind of takes us back to the days of Godzilla without the Japanese style of humour and cheesy special effects of a guy in a costume devastating a small fake Tokyo. The movie is entirely from the perspective of a guy filming the events with a home video camera as they happen. It’s really quite well done and they don’t overdue it by mostly hinting at the presence of the monster.
It’s too bad movies today just don’t seem to have the same impact when it comes to fear. To be honest, the most horrifying movie anyone could make today would be if they filmed the signs at the local gas station as the price continues to rise. Now that’s a terrifying story with no end in sight.
For fun, here are a couple of movie trailers of scary or not so scary movies.
I was never a morning person. From the time I was going to school and college and then all the years I spent working the morning show for the local radio station, getting up before the sun was never my cup of tea.
The only time I vacate my sleeping quarters on my day off by 6:00am is if I’m going golfing. But at least I have a good reason to wake up. But just getting up with no plans or need to makes zero sense to me.
