Freddie P's Blog

I'm finally going to see a Beatle in the flesh.

Yesterday I received a phone call with an offer I couldn't refuse. I could have a choice pair of seats for Paul McCartney's August 9th concert at the ACC for $278.00 each. Up close, face value.

Well let me tell ya, this sets a new Freddie P. record for ticket buyin'. I think the most I've ever spent on a pair of tickets for anything is $175.00, so $556.00 blows that right out of the water.

But to me, it's worth it for a number of reasons.

First of all, my favourite Beatle John Lennon is dead, so I can't see him - same with George Harrison.

It would be alright to see Ringo at Rama during one of his visits, but I'd only do that if McCartney was dead too and my limit for Ringo would top out at one hundred bucks.

When I pulled the trigger on yesterday's purchase a lot went through my head. I knew McCartney's 68th birthday was today, so the time factor came into play. I hear he still puts on a great show, but how long will that be the case?

I realize he's still slim and somewhat fit and looks many years below his age, but let's get serious, how much longer is the guy going to be able to put on a great show and he probably won't be back for a few years, if ever.

If I was going to see a Beatlle in the flesh, and not Ringo, I'd have to bite the bullet and set a new Fred record for a ticket purchase.

Please understand, it's hard for someone such as myself to get his head around spending that much on concert tickets because for the past 30 years I've been in the radio business and most of the shows I wanted to see didn't cost me anything.

I'd simply put out the word and things would happen. Unfortunately, Paul McCartney doesn't fall into that category. I don't think "any" radio wanks get free tickets to McCartney, so it immediately became a case of justifying the expenditure.

And I came up with it.

A week from Monday marks my 30th wedding anniversary and me and my darlin' had delayed a trip to Spain until next year.

This is a great compromise. We both love the Beatles, so I bought Delyse's ticket and she bought mine.

And to top it all off, we'll be spending the night (the concert, not the entire night) with our good friends Darren and Lori who were a big part of our 20th and 25th anniversaries as well.

Hey Dol. At the concert, I wanna hold your hand.

Category: Friends | Stuff

I was clicking around facebook last night and I went into that area where you accept friends.

Since the playoffs started I've received a lot of "friend" requests. It seems I'm not the only Hab hater in the world. But that's not what this is about.

This is about Todd Shapiro, the Todd part of the Dean Blundell Show.

Todd's a good fella, I've known him for more than ten years now. He came to the Edge as a Humble and Fred intern a couple of years before we made the brilliant decision to try talk radio on the AM band.

Anyway, while I was in the facebook area where you accept friends, I got the notification that I might want to be the friends of several other people, and on the list was Todd.

I was surprised because I thought Todd was already my friend. I just assumed that since I joined facebook two years ago that somewhere along the line Todd and I would have become friends. I was wrong, so naturally I clicked on the tab that said "send request."

Well slap my ass and call me Henry, guess what happened? A message came bouncing back immediately that said "Sorry, this user already has too many friends."

What the fuck does that mean? How can you have too many friends on facebook? I mean really, what does it matter whether your have 49 friends, or 49 hundred like Todd does? It's not like you have to invite everybody over to your goddman house for dinner.

It goes without saying you can have too many real friends. Friends that actually have your phone number and are bugging you to do stuff all the time. And there are those people who you meet casually face to face and they show way more interest in being your friend than you do in being theres.

But facebook friends? Give me a goddamn break. I have about 750 friends and I haven't made a commitment to any one of them. Sure there are family and friends who are my facebook friends, but I'd have to deal with them whether they were facebook friends or not.

Todd's a good guy and everything, but does he really think that by allowing me to be his facebook friend he's going to have to service me in some way?

Maybe I'm not aware of all the facebook rules. Maybe your not allowed to have more than 4975 friends, that's what Todd has. Maybe that's the limit. Maybe he'd like to be my friend but facebook won't allow it.

Then again, maybe there is some kind of a limiter or monitor that Todd controls. For all I know maybe he's complied a list of people that he doesn't want to be his friends and for some reason I'm on the list. Maybe he's a Hab fan. I don't know.

What I do know is that its pretty weird when you click on the "send request" button and it tells me that Todd Shapiro has too many friends.

Todd, the nice young fella who wandered into the Humble and Fred studios so many years ago wanting to be a radio star. At the time we thought, fat fuckin' chance. But look at him now. One of the most popular guys in the city.

And he doesn't have room to be Freddie P's friend.

What gives ya pecker!

Category: Friends | Radio

My good friend Darren Wasylyk sent this to Canadian Thinker today, and I find it very disturbing. Another example of how the Montreal Canadiens work in evil ways.

This is a guy I've travelled to Montreal with on many occasions to cheer on our beloved Maple Leafs. We wore Leaf jerseys and walked boldly into the Forum and Bell Centre prepared to spit in the eye of any Hab fan who got in our way.

It looks like we've lost him. I think he needs an intervention. I read and weep!

A Confession

I will never be obnoxious or an asshole.
I will never chant "1967" or sing " Ole Ole Ole".
I will always stand for the national anthem and will refuse to smoke cigarettes or drink Brador.
Although my intense hatred for the Habs was tempered the day The Ottawa Senators were born, I could never wish them anything but misfortune.
Until now.
I must confess that last night, I cheered for them.
Against the powers of law, order and all things right, I think I may have crossed to the other side.
I believe I am becoming a Habs fan.
Go Habs Go.

Category: Friends | Sports

I attended a full day at Canadian Music Week today and I was inspired. Not so much by the panels I attended. I was more inspired by a meeting that took place in the Business Centre of the Royal York Hotel.

I was there to drop something off for a friend when I ran into Liz Janik. Liz and I go way back to the formative days of CFNY. The late 70's and early 80's when a special group of people made a meager living while having a whole lot of fun at a great little radio station.

Liz left the station in the late 80's and went on to become a programmer, consultant and researcher which led to the formation of Janik Media.

But that's not what this story is about. It's about Liz and her eyes.

About seven years ago Liz developed a disease that slowly took her sight away to the point where two years ago she was declared legally blind. It was horrible. Still very young with a lot of life to live and a lot of knowledge to share she was literally grounded by the disease.

I saw Liz a couple of times over the past few years and it was sad to see what had happened to her and whenever I'd hear her name mentioned or see her picture in trade magazines I'd get a lump in my throat and a twist in my stomach.

But today that all changed. I walked up behind her and tapped her on the shoulder expecting I'd have to identify myself, but when she turned around she burst out with a greeting I didn't expect.

"Freddie, it's great to see you."

She was wearing glasses and she knew exactly who I was because she could see who it was and as she gave me a hug she told me the wonderful story.

She had undergone several diagnosis' and tests and eventually doctors attempted a surgery that could have gone either way.

Lucky for Liz it went the right way.

She woke up after the operation and the first thing she saw was something she hadn't seen in a couple of years.

"I saw the back of my hand and saw how old I had gotten" she said "And now I can see how old you've gotten Freddie, but you're not bad for an old guy."

It really was a great moment. As I've said many times on this blog I will always have a special place in my heart for the old crew from CFNY. We were family.

I've kept in touch with some, lost touch with too many and a couple of others have passed away.

Liz Janik is doing just fine.

Category: Friends | Radio

I received the following e-mail from my good friend John Ellefson who grew up in Buffalo but now resides in Washington D.C.

Hi Freddie:

John

Category: Friends | Stuff

Ted Bird is a Montreal broadcaster who recently left CHOM-FM on his own accord. After 32 years in the business, including 25 years of getting up in the middle of the night to co-host a morning show, Ted decided to pack it in.

Apparently Ted ran into a few creative-freedom issues at the radio station, so rather that suck it, he spat it out and walked away.

He has mighty big nuts.

But all that aside, Ted has done the right thing. During his sabbatical Ted has decided to do what I did after I was tossed out of 2 St. Clair back in '05. He's decided to blog.

It's good therapy.

Ted and I go way back to the early 80's when I was doing the sports beat for CFNY and he was doing the same thing for CFTR

Bookmark this. You'll enjoy it.

"Bird Droppings"

Category: Friends | Radio

Wow. Where does the time go?

Today my friend and former radio partner Humble Howard turns 50 and it is milestones like this that make your head spin. How could Howie be 50 already?

I first met Humble Howard in July of 1989, he was 29 and I had just turned 33.

Danny Kingsbury was Program Director of CFNY at the time and it was he who thought we'd work well together. So one day Danny and I flew to Montreal and I met Howard and it marked the beginning of a 16 year association that ended professionally in 2005.

Thanks Gary??

But this post isn't so much about Humble and Fred as it is about time.

When you're 29 and 33, turning 50 seems like an eternity away, but its amazing how quickly it catches up to you. The years clip by and then one day you wake up and you're 50. And the scary thing is, 40 to 50 goes a lot faster than 30 to 40, so I imagine it will be far too soon before I'm writing about turning 60.

I think of all the things that Howard and I went through in radio and it leaves my head spinning, him getting married, both of us buying new homes, watching our kids grow up and amazing highs and lows that very few will ever experience.

If I'm left with anything, it's that we all tend to take so much for granted and its not until it's gone that you realize how much you had. It always makes me think one of the many profound lines that John Lennon wrote.

"Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans"

But there's an encouraging aspect to this. The older you get, the more you tend to focus on what really matters and that's good. The older you get the more you realize you're not invincible and your stay on this planet isn't indefinite.

It's great for perspective and it's a point that Humble makes in a little piece he wrote about turning 50.

Let's be doing it.

"I have been thinking a lot about age lately, mainly because it's not everyday you turn half a century old and it seems like a big deal, at least to other people. For me it's just a number. When I hit 30 or 40 those numbers didn't vex me and I'm not too freaked out by this milestone... it beats the alternative of "not turning 50!"
I will say that 50 seems a lot younger than it used to. My Dad's 50 was way older than mine. I was 12 when he was this age and I thought he was super old. I don't think it's the same for my kids, I'm far too active and immature and I'm guessing they think of my 50 as younger than my father's.
We all think that as we age the age we used to think was ancient gets older and older. 60 year olds are old but I guarantee you that when I'm 59 I'll think 60 is the new 45.
Getting older is just a way of marking time and time marching on is what is scary to all of us. I'm not going to lie. I've been keeping track of celebrity deaths that are close to my age and going, "He was only 59? That's only 9 years older than me!" That's' the really scary part of getting older-getting older is when people die. Yes they do. And that's the real reason we all want to stall the number of candles on the cake. Fun huh?
So I'm viewing this as an opportunity for adventure and to find new forms of life on the other side of my half-century. And I'll look at it this way- tomorrow I won't be a year older, I'll just be one day older than 49."

Humble.

Happy Birthday Howard. See you in a couple of weeks for Humble and Fred's Olympic Podcast of Bronze.

Category: Friends | Radio

If you frequent this blog often, you know that a large part of my life deals with a trailer that sits on a beautiful lake in the Kawarthas.

This coming year will mark our 19th summer in this little piece of paradise, and like most of the others in the park, once the New Year hits, we start counting down the days until the second Saturday in May when we "open up" for another season.

Unfortunately, this summer will be a bit different. It will require a transition for quite a few of us because we lost a good friend over the holidays.

I don't mean to be overly dramatic because I'm sure a few will find it odd that I'm talking about a dog, but this was a special dog. This was a dog that was part of the trailer fabric, a dog that had been around for 17 beautiful years, a dog that everyone loved.

Her name was Jo and belonged to my next door neighbors, Tracy and Dan.

Actually she belonged to Tracy well before she belonged to Dan, because Tracy and Dan didn't become an item until a few years after Tracy had bought Jo to be a companion in the new house she had bought.

From what I understand, Jo was a handful at the beginning. She liked to chew things and she liked to run away. In fact Tracy once told us that way back when, when Jo would run away, she actually hoped she wouldn't come back.

She was kidding of course because Jo turned into a quite the mutt, obedient, loving and extremely loyal. You've heard of invisible fences, well Jo had an invisible leash that was tied to Tracy's ankle. They were inseparable. Tracy was always in Jo's line of site and followed her everywhere.

Even when Tracy would go out on the water her Sea-Doo, Jo would run up and down the shoreline waiting for her to come back.

Needless to say, a lot of us fell in love with Jo, me in particular. Somehow along the way I bonded with this dog and she'd show her affection for me by literally putting her paws around my neck while I was sitting and then she'd put her head on my shoulder.

Sure, it might have had something to do with the bag of jerky-treats I kept in the trailer, but this dog had more depth than that. She was genuine.

She was also a great friend to my dog Billie. Billie was born after Jo, and died before Jo, but in between there was a special connection between these dogs that I've never witnessed before.

When we'd arrive on a Friday night I'd let Bill out of the truck and she'd immediately look for Jo, and they'd go through a bizarre ritual. Jo would growl, Billy would become submissive and roll on the ground, growling Jo would put her jaws around Billy's neck, softly of course, and then they'd jump up and take off never to be apart for the rest of the weekend.

It was a wonderful relationship. Most mornings when I'd get up, Jo would lying outside our trailer door waiting for Bill to come out.

When Billy died back in 2007, one of the hardest parts for me was going back up north and having Jo look for Billy.

Good dogs don't happen by mistake. They're an extension of the people who raise them so that tells you something about Tracy Calderone.

I haven't talked to Dan or Tracy yet and to tell you the truth, I don't think I'm ready for that yet. Seventeen years is a long time to have someone in your life so I imagine they're busted up right now. Hell, I'm busted up. I don't think I could get through the conversation.

I can only offer this. It's what I told myself after Billie died.

Dogs have short lives and the day you get them, is the first day of setting yourself up for guaranteed heartbreak. When they go you just have to keep thinking of the good things, the good times and the special moments.

And thanks to "our" wonderful Jo Jo, Tracy and Dan have a ton of those.

Category: Friends | The Trailer

Neil Morrison aka Brother Bill from his CFNY / Edge days sent me this e-mail yesterday. Neil does afternoon drive at CFOX in Vancouver and H1N1 has kicked him in the nuts.

Look what it's done to his hair!

Freddie - I have been away all week after contracting the H1N1 virus.
Buddy, it's NOT FUN!
NM
p.s this is the note on my webpage at cfox.com

Update: Thursday November 5, 2009
Greetings.
As you may know, I have been away for the past week. Last Friday night I arrived home and started feeling, 'pressure' on my chest. I thought I was perhaps coming down with a cold. I couldn't be any further from the truth. By Halloween night I was SICK. Very Sick. For the next three days, it was impossible to get out of bed. Hell, it was impossible to do anything! For two days I lay in bed and struggled to breathe. Very close to going to hospital but thanks to a fantastic new wife...(...in sickness and in health!) managed to keep breathing despite a fever of over 102f. Nurse practitioner Sue diagnosed me with H1N1 on Monday. ( She will be on the show Friday if I'm in ) After another couple days, I managed to walk up and down my stairs more than once without almost passing out. As of today - Thursday November 5 - I can breathe and am 99% better. I hope to be back at work tomorrow but that decision is not up to me.

Let me just say this.
If you are thinking that H1N1 cannot get you... and/or you believe the H1N1 Shot, 'Ain't for you'...you are insane.
Get your shot.

Shame on the people responsible for its production and distribution and shame on those who believe professional sport means more than pregnancy and people who work in the medical fields.

Talk soon,

Category: Friends | Radio | Stuff

I've been pounding the same message on this website for years and I'm sure some of you have grown tired of it. But I don't really give a shit.

When you know something, feel something and downright want something you tend to not let it go. That's the way I've been with Mike Stafford who's been delivering the goods in this city since he was an 18 year old kid reading the news on CFNY way back in the late 70's.

Mike Stafford is the most talented talk show host in the city of Toronto, but it's taken way too long for recognition to play out. Finally it has.

I won't get into all the tedious details because to most people it really doesn't matter, but recently the major radio markets in Canada adopted a new ratings system called PPM.

PPM stands for "portable people meters" and they record the actual minute to minute radio listening habits of people in Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, Toronto and Montreal. Excuse me if I've left anyone out, but it doesn't matter towards my point.

My point is, PPM although open from criticism is a far better methodology the old diary system (BBM - Bureau of broadcast measurement) where listeners filled out ballots by memory, and more often than not, mom would end up filling them out for the whole family.

Over the years, the old method was extremely frustrating for a lot of people in the business because we knew if was inaccurate and it was disheartening to see decisions made and people lose jobs over a system that basically sucked.

Now to a large degree that has been corrected and it's great to see justice served in a couple of areas in particular.

CFNY / The Edge has always had way more listeners than it was ever given credit for because its target demographic was young males. Young males don't / didn't fill out ballots.

It was tough to take in the 90's when the Humble and Fred Show performed well in every goddamned survey under the sun, except the one that mattered, BBM.

Well now, through PPM, the Edge has lurched forward and the boys in the morning are kicking some major league ass. Way to go fellas, justice prevails.

Same with am 640. When Humble and I were part of the MOJO launch we knew there were a lot more people listening than we were given credit for. It was crazy, we were getting weak shares in males 25-54, but everywhere we went people claimed they were listening and it remained that way til last week. Although 640 was delivering a much better product than heritage stations CFRB and The Fan, when it came to results on the AM band, 640 lagged.

That is until last Thursday when the first PPM results were announced and more justice prevailed. In the prime 25-54 demographic 640 is now ranking right up there with the other AM players in the market. In fact in some cases, it's trouncing them, especially that station that your grandparents listen / listened to.

And this brings me all the way back to Mike Stafford. When Mike is on the air there is no equal on the AM band. He has the clear cut number one show, and why wouldn't he?

Stafford is by far the best in the city. His balance of humour, intelligence and irreverence has been enjoyed, but obviously not fully recognized in Toronto for years, but now that has changed because there is justice in the numbers.

Problem is, it took way too long and that's a bloody shame.

Category: Friends | Radio

Peterborough, Ontario - Former Toronto/Calgary broadcaster Freeway exposed himself in the city of Peterborough last night when he sent fellow former broadcaster Fred Patterson and e-mail that said the following.

LEAFS SUCK -You outshoot us but we still beat you. LOL. Your team is bad. Watch out for Gionta, Gomez and Cammy and Price looked amazing."

This from a man who grew up in Montreal and because of that automatically thinks he knows everything about the game. Obviously, he does not. He exposed himself as a hockey fraud.

Yes, the Montreal Canadiens beat the Toronto Maple Leafs in over-time last night, but they were widely outshot, outplayed and outhustled. Goaltending was the difference.

How this turns into "your team is bad" is something only a delusional Hab Fan could explain. It's obviously the ramblings of a Hab fan who is scared for his team which obviously is too small and timid to compete in the NHL over an 82 game schedule.

The ramblings of a Hab fan that's got to enjoy the few special moments this season will offer a team that barely made the playoffs last year, a team that is actually weaker this year than it was last.

The ramblings of a man watched his team litterly ground into the ice last night by a team that he refers to as "bad."

The ramblings of a man who chooses to ignore the Leafs were missing three regulars last night, while the Habs had their full complement of small frys who will slowly disappear as the season wears on.

The ramblings of a man who knows Carey Price, the only reason the Habs won last night, will get worn out by Christmas and have trouble stopping a beach ball again.

The ramblings of a man who will probably respond to this posting by accusing me of rambling myself.

And he'd be right.

NO PLAYOFFS FOR THE HABS THIS SEASON

Category: Friends | Radio | Stuff

Wouldn't you know it, the best weekend of the summer and I wasn't at the trailer. I've been bitchin' about the weather all year and when the heat finally hits, I have my ass parked in East York on Saturday.

But it was worth it. My good pal and former CFNY colleague Ivar Hamilton hosted his 50th birthday party in his backyard and we had a great time. Another friend of ours, Frank Tamprile also celebrated his 50th.

Like most houses in the city, Ivar doesn't have a big lot, but that didn't stop him from inviting about 100 people to his house for a bash that featured a couple of live bands.

To be honest, I don't know what the name of the first band was, but the second band was the Slime Dogs, or, as we used to refer to them back in the 80's, the Slime Dogs from Hell.

I have a bit of a history with this band because they were the guys I used to perform Snow Removal Machine with at CFNY Christmas parties...... and I did again on Saturday.

Admittedly, I forgot some the lines, and my timing was a bit off, but it's amazing what you can pull off when you just scream words into a microphone and most of the audience is hammered.

I saw some good old friends at Ivar's. Like David Marsden (picture to the left), Kevin O'Leary, Jim Reid and his wife Pauline. Freddie Ball and Pete Griffin's son Dylan. I saw the sweet Leanne Baumann and my American buddy John Elleffson.

Darren Wasylyk and Dan Duran were there as well, but I see those fuckers all the time.

Good food, good booze, good friends, good fun and good weather. It made for a great day.

CFNY boys - Kevin O'Leary, Ivar Hamilton, David Marsden, Jim Reid, Me and Darren Wasylyk.

Performing with the Slime Dogs.

Category: Friends | The Trailer

This is my trailer buddy Jason Wooley. He went fishing last week but only lasted two casts.

The second one ended up in the back of his head. He had to go to the hospital to have it removed.

He sat in the emergency room of Peterborough Hospital for six hours and provided lots of entertainment.

Category: Friends

CHFI just became better radio station. They've added my good friend Dan Duran to their roster as swing announcer starting mid-August.

Dan was almost the first producer of the Humble and Fred Show.

He came to Toronto a couple of months after Howard and he sat in front of the buttons for a good five years before his freelance career allowed him to stay in bed past four in the morning.

Dan Duran's voice has been used across Canada and around the world and now it will be added to one of the top three radio stations in the country.

Duran will be heard Wednesday, Thursday and Friday evenings from seven till midnight, then again from noon till six on the weekend.

Congratulations ya pecker!

"Toronto's Lite favourites, 98.1 CHFI.... I'm Dan Duran."

Category: Friends | Radio

Stayed home for Marty's funeral. Ivar Hamilton, Alan Cross and David Marsden were amazing.

Category: Friends | The Trailer

It was a bitter sweet night at the Charlotte Pool Hall last night as a couple of hundred people gathered for the wake of Martin Streek.

It went without saying, but everyone said it anyway, it was great that everyone could get together, but the reason for the gathering was shitty.

Looking across the room you could appreciate two things. Marty's length of service to CFNY / Edge and number of people he touched along the way.

Marty worked at the station from 1984 until 2009 and there were people there from all eras, and far too many to mention them all. But it was neat to be in a room with Geets Romo and Dean Blundell which more or less covered off the entire morning show history of CFNY.

Peter and Geets in the 80's, Humble and Fred in the 90's and Blundell since 01.

Again, forgive me if I miss anyone but it was great to see Don Berns, Ivar Hamilton, Jim Reid, Kevin O'Leary and Skot Turner from the early years.

Maie Pauts was there with her lovely daughter Lauren. Jason Barr and Todd Shapiro were there. So were Alan Cross, Josie Dye and Dave Bookman.

Darren Wasylyk, Jim McCourtie, Chris Van Allen and Earl Veale to name a few more. Jeff Domet (Chicken Shwarma) was there. So were Jeff Marek and Jeff Woods.

Maureen Bulley, Jamie Watson, Norm Spencer, Steph Hunter and Mike Rice.

One more time.. sorry if I haven't named everyone.. but the point is, the people I mention cover Marty's entire run at CFNY.

Some of the people I've mentioned met Marty was he was just a teenager, and some of them have only known him for the past few years. Several people I've mentioned don't even know each other, but they all gathered for the same reason, they wanted to acknowledge Marty.

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times and Martin would have loved it.

Category: Friends

Category: Friends

Look what I found.
Nice outfit, Martin.
This is from a weekend at Sherkston Beach 1984, hanging around with his older brother Rob's friends at CFNY, and hoping to intern with Ivar Hamilton at the station one day.
He's maybe 19. Just out of high school.
Must have been a Jethro Bodine stage that he was going thru at the time.

DW

Category: Friends

Marty! Why the fuck didn't you say something?

It was just over a month ago that a few of us spent a Saturday with Martin Streek. We gathered at a cottage on Stoney Lake to celebrate the upcoming marriage of another old Edge guy, Neil Morrison.

It was great to see Marty because I go way back with this guy. I remember when he first started to roam the halls of CFNY back in the mid 80's. Actually, I had first become good friends with Marty's brother Rob who never worked in radio, but it was Rob's association with a bunch of CFNY guys that opened the door for Marty.

Marty did all kinds of things for the Spirit of Radio and at the time I remember thinking what a great addition he was to the radio station; young, enthusiastic and always a fun, good natured presence.

Give Marty credit, he stuck with it and his ambition to rise from a radio grunt guy to an on-air personality came true through a lot of hard work and commitment.

Through my association with CFNY / The Edge, Marty was one of the constants. When I left in 2003, there were only a handful left from the previous era and Martin was one of my favourites. I loved being around the guy because he always had a story, and if he didn't, somebody else had a story that involved Marty.

When I saw him a few weeks ago, Martin seemed to be in good spirits. He was disappointed with leaving the Edge but he told me about several sticks he had in the fire and he was looking forward to heading out to the west coast for a vacation.

Obviously I didn't detect anything out of sorts beyond talking to a guy who had just left his job, I really felt he had turned a page and was looking at the next few years as a welcome change and challenge.

Needless to say there was some pain, doubt and darkness there that he didn't speak about, and I'm sure that's the frustrating part for people who knew and loved Marty.

I've said it on this blog many times before, I considered many of the people who worked at CFNY in the 80's to be family and Martin was one of them. There was an atmosphere at the station back then that I'm sure could never be duplicated in today's environment.

We were a good radio station parked out in Brampton delivering a unique product with a lot of stumbling blocks that other stations didn't have to deal with - a revolving door of ownership and bizarre CRTC commitments are just a couple of them.

But it brought us all together in a unique way and it's something I haven't been able to shake. Those people I worked with at CFNY in the 80's are literally part of me, they're part of who I am and what I became and Martin Streek is on that list.

When I first started at CFNY I was the young guy but then as I became older it was people like Marty who helped me stay young and on the air at a New Rock station well into my 40's.

And that's why, like so many other people today, I feel like shit. I don't want Martin Streek to be dead, especially when he doesn't have to be dead.

Over the past several hours things have been running through my mind. Like what if he had fed off my age like I fed off his youth? What if he had told me about what was going on in his head and asked for advice based on the fact that I too had been removed from the business I loved?

We could have had that talk just a few short weeks ago on Stoney Lake.

No doubt there was a lot more to Martin's horrific decision than just job loss, but if that was the clincher, then maybe someone could have talked him through it.

Marty! Why the fuck didn't you say something?

Category: Friends

Radio's Realities

Category: Friends | Stuff

"I still have never florched. I have great sphincter control. I have come close a couple of times, but never has there been a stain on my shorts. I don't care if you don't beleive me."

Jason Barr

Category: Friends | Stuff

"At this point I'm getting so old that I've probably florched but I've
forgotten..that or my normal wiping is so haphazard that there's always
a bit of doo doo in my undies.
Nice seeing you the other day..your son's a prince."

Humble

Category: Friends | Stuff

It was five years ago today that we got the call. My wife came into the back yard in tears with the horrible news that our friend Jeff had died.

It didn't register for a moment. When Delyse first said Jeff Laird my mind immediately jumped to his father Doug. Doug Laird died.

That was much more conceivable, after all he was in his 70s. Healthy people often die in their 70's, I could get my mind around this.

But then she said it again. Jeff had died. Jeff Laird my good trailer buddy. He was only 41 years old.

Jeff is probably the most generous person I've ever known. This guy would do anything for you anytime anywhere.

He also had connections - and those connections worked the benefit of everyone. If you needed something, Jeff could get it and if there was any way he could swing it, you could keep your wallet in your pocket. He was that kind of person. He got great pleasure from doing for others.

I sit here this morning blown away by how quickly five years has passed - and how time can let memories slip away.

For the first few months after Jeff died, I'd think about him often and get mad at what happened. 41 year old guys shouldn't die of heart attacks - if there's a god, how could he do this to someone who was so kind and generous, someone with a wife and young son.

But as time passes you think about it less - and eventually you hardly think about it all and that's simply not fair to someone like Jeff Laird. He was much too special to be forgotten.

And that's why I write about him today. Jeff wasn't a celebrity, in fact he didn't like attention at all, but I didn't want today to pass without acknowledging this guy in some way.

It's only my goofy little website - and most of the readers of this site never got the pleasure of meeting Jeff Laird - but at least the site allows me to put Jeff's name out there.

It allows me to make sure that on this fifth anniversary of his death, he is remembered.

He will not be forgotten.

Category: Friends

Dani Stover is a friend and the producer of the Dean Blundell Show on 102.1 The Edge.

Here is one of her blog entries from last week... It's fantastic!... She's a darlin'.

Hi everyone!

Be happy and be safe!

By the way Dani, it was great to see you at the Humble and Fred 20th Anniversary Podcast of Memories.

Category: Friends | Stuff

Thanks to all of you who showed up yesterday for Humble and Fred's 20th Podcast of Memories. Pretty well everyone we wanted to be there was there, short of Jason Barr and Jeff Marek.

Both had hockey commitments. Danger Boy pretty well runs Brampton Minor Hockey, while Marek has got himself a nice little gig on Hockey Night in Canada in case you didn't notice.

Dan Duran was there, so was Chicken Shwarma, Bingo Bob, Scary Pete, Andy Wilson and even lil' Spanky showed up.

Lil' Spanky's one of the guys who pulled his pud in the studio washroom during one of our Really Tough Contests.

Thanks to Nick Kypreos for taking time out of his busy schedule to pay a visit and we received a surprise appearance from Tyler Stewart of the Barenaked Ladies.

It was great to see Edge production chief Rob Johnston as well.

Lou Schiziz from am 640 was there and so was one of Howard's current side-kicks Colleen Rusholme.

And two people from the Wolf in Peterborough came all the way down to lend their support. Production whiz Ryan Lalonde and the super sweet Catherine Hanrahan.

The incomparable Psychic Niki came by and predicted that the Humble and Fred franchise is not dead. It will be revived, although considering current commitments I guess she means through Viagra commercials when we're 60.

We had listeners show up like Buffalo Mike and faithful twins Pam and Trish. Blog regular Horonymous was there and so was blog king and master mind Toronto Mike who will make sure yesterday's production will be available to the masses over the next few days.

Humble and me both had our families there, including my mom Junie P. who wouldn't have missed it for the world. Neighbour John was there too, and he's just like family.

How did Charlie grow up so fast?

Everything I've mentioned was fabulous, but not quite as fabulous as sitting at a table with a microphone in front of me and Howard to my side. What made it so great is that it didn't feel any different.

We just picked up where we left off and started pissin' our pants.

Thanks Howie. It was fun...... and thanks Dan, we know it wasn't easy pushin, twistin' and workin' all those buttons and knobs.

Category: Friends | Radio | Stuff

Toronto's best talk show host wrote this on his am 640 blog yesterday. Thanks buddy.

"For some reason April 30th always brings a smile to my face.

It shouldn't. It's tax deadline day. Not fun. But it is payday. That's fun. Except when you see the amount of taxes you've paid for the first four months.

April 30th makes me smile because of something that happened 23 years ago. When I worked the morning news shift on CFNY. It was called the "Pete and Geets Breakfast" and it aired on Rogers Cable 10 throughout the Ontario network.

I'm sure the audience count reached triple figures. But it didn't matter because Peter Griffin and Geets Romo, along with yours truly and Toronto radio stalwart Fred Patterson brought our goofy morning show to the parking lot at Rogers Cable 10 in Mississauga, hard by your 1979 train derailment site.

Rogers in Mississauga back then worked in tandem with Maclean Hunter to bring Peel Region local news and entertainment with a spirited staff of volunteers, many of whom have moved onto professional careers, including Lance Chilton up in Barrie.

I remember it as a warm spring morning with Fred and I dressed as gay emcees from the movie "Cabaret". Pete was, God bless him, the anchor of the show while Geets would disappear at times to dress in his assortment of characters...climaxing with an appearance of "Lardette" as the show reached its conclusion.

Again, the show was loose and maybe we were the only people who thought it was funny. But 23 years ago seemed a somewhat more innocent time in radio and in local television. The Toronto Sun's Jim Slotek gave us a tepid thumbs-up review by suggesting the show worked without a net and nobody was killed or seriously injured.

I was a happy boy that morning because Claude Lemieux of the Montreal Canadiens had scored an OT winner over Hartford to move onto the second round of the playoffs which, you'll remember, Montreal won over Calgary.

That night, the Leafs lost in seven to St. Louis. But I didn't see that game because after the Pete and Geets Breakfast Show Fred and I and our producer Kevin went back to Fred's and kicked the top off a bottle of Crown Royal to celebrate our "network" premiere.

I'm a huge fan of nostalgia because, to tell the truth, there's not much these days you can look ahead 23 years and remember as "the good old days".

On that note, for my buddy Fred, he and his long time radio partner Humble Howard will get together this Saturday at the Dominion on Queen (500 Queen Street East) at 1:30 PM for a good old Humble and Fred podcast. No heavy lifting, nobody's going to get hurt. Humble and Fred worked at the former CFNY and were appointment tuning for many in the 1990s followed by our days at MOJO radio until that thing imploded.

I can't make it Saturday but I thought I'd mention that it might be a great time to hoist a pint and enjoy two pros who know how to do morning radio without the worry of process servers outside the studio door when they're finished.

April 30th, 1986.

What a great day."

Category: Friends | Radio | Stuff

I'm happy to report that Vienna Meats will live on.

Vienna Meats is a delicatessen on Birchmount Road just south of Eglinton in Scarborough and it's a place I hold very near and dear to my heart even though I haven't set foot in the place in almost 30 years.

Vienna Meats was the closest store to my house while I was growing up on Chopin Avenue, which is about a five minute walk from Vienna.

When I was kid there were two variety stores within walking distance of our house. There was Scarborough Variety on Kennedy Rd. at Eglinton and there was Birch-Lawr Variety at Birchmount and Lawrence.

When I was a kid variety stores were important because they carried the widest variety of candy, so when you got your twenty-five cent a week allowance that's where you'd go.

The problem is both stores were about a half hour walk away.

Vienna filled the gap when time was a factor.

Often after having lunch at home, and having only a short window of time to get some candy before going back to school, Vienna represented a reasonable opportunity.

The selection of candy was slim, but it was still good enough when you needed a sugar fix.

Vienna didn't have jawbreakers or bubble gum or McIntosh Toffee or any of the real good stuff, but they did have Mentos , wine gums and chocolate encased in what looked like gold coins.

Nothing at Vienna was over the top and really inviting, but it was there when you needed it and I'm thrilled that it survived a five alarm fire yesterday.

Ironically I received the news from my buddy Alan Falkner who's a big shot District Chief with the Toronto Fire Department. Alan lived in my neighbourhood, he also went to Vienna on many occasions, and there he was yesterday directing his men at the fire.

Way to go Al, thanks for saving Vienna Meats.

Category: Friends | Stuff

Hey everybody, do you like this website? Have you ever thought of having your own website or blog?

If you have, then let me recommend the Booner. Toronto Mike. Mike Boon.

Even though CanadianThinker.com rankles a few of you, if it wasn't for Mike Boon, this website wouldn't exist.

The guy is unbelievable. He know it all, he does it all. If I have a problem, no matter how big or small, Mike is right on it - bingo, bango, bongo it's solved!

He's a darlin'.

And don't worry about the dough, Mike is extremely reasonable and you can dictate the level to which you want to become involved.

Blogging is fun, blogging is rewarding and sometimes blogging can cause people to call you names, but I highly recommend it.

Beyond that Mike has put together some pretty neat websites for businesses. I know, I've seen them.

If you're interested, here's what Mike can do for.

-securing the domain name
-securing the appropriate web hosting
-installing Movable Type
-writing the XHTML / CSS and working to get the right site design
-mapping out navigational structure
-optimizing output for search (SEO)
-education transfer to teach how to manage own site / blog
-doing it all on budget and on time with a guy who's super easy to work with

You can contact Mike right here.

Category: Friends | Stuff

My Ionview friends are those people I attended public school with back in the 1960's.

Ionview Public Schools is located in Scarborough at 90 Ionview Rd. Ionview Rd, runs north off Eglinton Ave. between Kennedy and Birchmount Rd, and it was the place of many fabulous childhood memories.

I graduated from grade eight in the spring of 1969, and while I sitting here in my Peterborough office writing this I'm looking at my class picture from that year.

The picture is a gift I received this very afternoon from a class mate who appears in the same picture.

Trebor Hosier and I went through our entire public school careers together and then graduated to the same high school, Winston Churchill, before I buggered off to Stephen Leacock for grade eleven.

Trebor, known as TR when we wre kids, now goes by Trevor because many years ago he got tired of the puzzled look on people's faces when he introduced himself with a "b" rather than a "v".

Anyway, Trebor/T.R./ Trebor who has a huge brain, got his masters in psychology back in the 80's and now he operates a private practice in Lindsay,

He's also a life long music fanatic and over the years has accumulated quite a bit of rock and roll paraphernalia, so much in fact, that he opened a museum in Omemee a couple of years ago.

I wrote about it last summer.

It's funny how things happen. Brian Ellis, the afternoon announcer at the Wolf, where I now work, contacted Trevor about the museum and in the course of the conversation mentioned that I was now the Program Director in Peterborough.

Trevor gave me a call, and today we hooked up for lunch at a restaurant on George St. in Peterborough.

It was fascinating couple hours as we caught up on old times and old friends and shared and reminisced about some wild things that happened at school. He was as whacked as I was.

T.R's museum is closed for the season, but it will re-open in the spring, and when it does make sure if you're in the area, you're listening to 101.5 the Wolf.

You could win free tickets to the Youngtown Rock and Roll Museum.

Category: Friends | Fun Stuff

I've been meaning to tell a story about something that happened during my trip to Michigan a couple of weeks ago, but with the American election and all, I never got around to it.

It deals with sandwiches.

There's a place in Ann Arbor and its called Zingerman's and it carries the reputation of having the best beef brisket sandwiches in America. This reputation was helped along by Oprah Winfrey who actually talked about the sandwiches on her show. My buddy Darren got the word from his lovely wife Laurie, so from the moment Darren got up on Saturday morning it was the focus of his day.

Just before noon we headed over to Zingerman's only to find a long line-up out the door and around the side of the building, but being guys who like to try new things, especially big piles of meat, we decided to stand in line and order up four sandwiches. Our other buddies Doug and Bruce waited in the car.

It took about 40 minutes to get to the front of the line where we met a young woman who took our order. At this point, it all seemed worth it, we were inside and the smell was glorious.

Admittedly, we were a little taken aback with the prices. $12.50 for a basic sandwich with a pickle. But hey, what the hell, this was Zingerman's and it must be worth it because Oprah said so.

We were was also taken aback when the young woman who took our order told us it would be another 20 minutes before we got our food.

"Pardon me?" I said.

"OK, I've got to be honest with you guys, we're really busy it'll probably be more like 25 or 30 minutes." She replied.

I was stunned. Also known as "Mr. Impatient" in my house, I had trouble gathering my thoughts as took my wallet out of my pocket and paid 25 dollars.

I should explain at this point that Darren and I split the bill for four sandwiches, but for some reason, we got separate bills for two and two. Don't ask me why, but ultimately it turned out to our benefit. Let me explain.

After paying, I started to do a slow burn. It bugged the shit out of me that they had let us line up for 40 minutes and then didn't tell us it would be another 30 minute wait after we paid.

I conveyed these thoughts to Darren who just shrugged. From there I went out to the car where Doug and Bruce were waiting and when I told them it would be another thirty minutes, they too became annoyed.

Then I got it in my head to ask for my money back, and Bruce and Doug agreed.

Well that's all I need to hear so I stormed back into the store and demanded my money back because I hadn't been sufficiently notified of the ridiculous process. With no hesitation, I was given 25 dollars back.

But there was a problem with this. Darren didn't ask for his money back and he wanted his sandwich and was quite annoyed that I would bust back into the store and get my money back without consulting him first.

"What has it accomplished? He asked. "It's a Saturday, there's a huge football game in town so I can understand a wait."

Not wanting to give an inch, which is my nature, I told him it wasn't the wait, it was the principle and if he wanted to wait for his sandwiches fine, but on principle I didn't want mine.

As it turned out the wait wasn't thirty minutes. Far from it. It was only about fifteen, so it appeared that I had invested an hour in Zimmerman's only to come away hungry.

But wait. There were two more twists to this story.

First of all, when I cancelled my half of the order the message didn't get back to the kitchen so when Darren got back to the car we discovered that there were four sandwiches in it. Bonus.

We briefly considered going back and telling the people at Zingerman's that they had made a mistake but I justified not going back by claiming they owed us at least that much for the 45 minute wait. We all agreed. Not only that, but who knows, we may have had to line up to give the sandwiches back.

At this point I went from a feeling of embarrassment to a feeling of accomplishment. Mr. Impatience had managed to get the boys half price sandwiches, but that leads to the other twist in this story.

The sandwiches were average at best. No better than you'd get at Shopsy's or Switzers or any other deli in Toronto.

Half price was definitely the correct price.

Category: Friends | Short Stories

This is the itinerary for our weekend trip to Michigan as compiled by my friend Darren.

Michigan Road Trip 2008

10:00 am - Depart from Ann Arbor
11:00 am - Arrive-Ford Field.
- Park - Restaurant for lunch
1:00 pm - Detroit Lions vs.Washington Redskins
4:00 pm - Depart Home
8:00 pm - Arrive Mississauga/Brampton

Category: Friends

Yesterday while I was running the radio empire that is known as Corus Peterborough I came back to my office and noticed that there was a message on my phone.

I listened to it and on the other end was Humble Howard.

Howard left a message that left me heavy hearted. His sweet 14 year old daughter Charlie has one of those professional job shadowing days coming up and she has no interest in following her daddy to work to watch him do the wiener radio thing.

Instead she'd rather shadow my daughter Melanie who's a producer at MuchMoreMusic.

Howard's message was one of resignation. He knows Charlie has been around radio all her life and on many an occasion has come into work with her dad, so there's really nothing to be learned.

She knows daddy gets paid a lot of money to say stupid things on the air and make funny smells off the air. It became a big yawner about ten years ago.

But that's not the point of this posting.

What struck me about Howard's call was the passage of time. We went through a lot together, and among those things was the raising of our kids. Howard was invited to Melanie's seventh birthday, while I was at the hospital the night Charlie was born.

Where did the time go?

How can Charlie be a stunning 14 year old and how on earth can she be job shadowing my Melanie who's grown into an impressive and successful young woman?

Melanie used to baby sit Charlie for crying out loud, so it's extremely difficult to sit here and imagine that one day in the next few weeks, my daughter, who has a career, will be mentoring Charlie who ain't that bloody far away from a career.

I don't want to think about it.

Category: Family | Friends

My sweet darlin' had to work this week so I was up at the tin palace all alone, until yesterday. In the late afternoon, my buddy Doug arrived.

Doug is my longest and dearest friend. We've been friends since we were five years old, and we've been through a lot together, including many great times on the lake where my trailer sits.

As kids our parents rented lots at a nearby park and we spent every summer in the Kawarthas gathering memories which have led to great stories.

A good portion of yesterday was spent looking up the lake and prefacing most of what we said with "do you remember that time?"

It's actually bitter sweet because as much as fun as it is to remember, it's a bummer to realize how the years have flown by.

Doug and I talked about things that happened 40 years ago, as if they happened last week.

Spin the clock ahead by the much and we'll probably be like Scruff Connors isn't.

Category: Friends | Stuff

That didn't last long.

On the very first morning that I got to enjoy being the King of Tyrania, I found out the Royal Council had endorsed a sword fight between me and my supposed friend Darren.

Apparently Darren, upon getting word that I had been named King, decided to work behind the scene in an effort to dethrone me.

He said all the right things to the Council, and in the end, in the wacky land of Tyrania, the Royal Council holds more power than the King himself.

So there I was, forced into a sword fight I really didn't want, up against an evil doer who would stop at nothing to grab the power that I had so graciously accepted.

It was a simple match. The first warrior to touch the other warrior with his sword would be declared the winner.

If it was me, I would remain King. If it was Darren, Tyrania would be thrown into instant turmoil by a ruthless man whose thirsts for power, and once achieving it, puts it to no good.

Category: Friends

I was anointed late afternoon on Wednesday, July 23 by Jordan and Josh Bonchek, the two children of our good friends Dan and Tracy.

It was another grey and unsettled day in the Kawarthas and these two young fellas, who are blessed vivid imaginations, created the kingdom of "Tyrania", which, as it turns out, is anywhere you want it to be.

Yesterday afternoon it just happened to be to the right of my tin palace through a portal.

When I returned home from golfing nine holes at Marvel Rapids, I was immediately met by Jordan and Josh who quickly informed me of the existence of Tyrania and that my wife Delyse had been named Queen.

“How did that happen?” I asked.

“She signed all the papers.” said Jordan.

Turns out that in the creation of Tyrania, Jordan and Josh decided to there should be a King and a Queen but they weren’t interested in having their own parents take on the roles.

So they chose Delyse, and according to the creators of Tyrania, a royal council had decided she should be Queen, but before she could receive the title officially, she would have to read the “Field Guide” and then initial a series of documents.

Initial, not sign. For some reason the creators of Tyrania decided that was part of the official coronation process, and because of it, I was nearly dethroned mere moments after becoming King.

Needless to say I quickly agreed to become King when asked, but instead of initialing the official documents, I signed them.

This did not sit well with Josh, who quickly declared to the Queen that the King had been dethroned. It took some convincing but Josh relented allowed me to “initial” another document before it went to full royal council.

Who knows what the consequences could have been? I might have been beheaded.

Man did it ever feel good to hold on to the title of “King”. Right then and there I decided not to screw it up, so I asked the creators what my responsibilities were as King.

It was at that point I was given a copy of the “Field Guide” to read.

It states that Tyrania is "a wonderful world filled with imagination and creatures.”

Creatures like “Blueberry, Lolipop, Nitelite, Dandylion, Wing and Electric Daisy.”

Nitelite can light up the dark. Electric Daisy tells how much electricity there is, Blueberry can sail a ship and Dandylion can be used as a pillow.

Amazing when you consider for an adult to come up with this stuff you’d have to eat half a bushel of mushrooms.

But not the creators of Tyrania.

They provided all this yesterday, and apparently there’s more, but I couldn’t find out last night because the royal council had to be in bed by eight.

Check back tomorrow.

Category: Friends

When I say for my Ionview friends, I mean friends of mine who went to the same public school that I did.

Ionview Public School on Ionview Rd in Scarborough. Ionview Rd is the first right off Eglinton Ave, heading west from Kennedy.

I went to Ionview Public School from 1961 to 1969 and while I was there one of my friends was a guy named Trebor Hosier. (yes Trebor, not Trevor) He lived on Lozoway Dr. and he was a bit different. Not in a bad way, in a creative way.

In fact when we were still at Ionview he put a band together called "Hosiers's Hotshots", and they played in front of the school a couple of times.

Hosier's Hotshots also featured Alan Falkner and Mike Adomite.

Anyway, needless to say, like most people I've lost touch with most of my friends since the Scarborough days, and I haven't seen Trebor since the early 1970's.

But thanks to facebook, and the wonderful way it brings people together, I got an e-mail from someone else who went to Ionview (someone I don't even remember), and she told me about an article in the Lindsay Post Newspaper.

It turns out Trebor still has a passion for music and he's turned it into a business enterprise. He's opened the "Youngtown Rock and Roll Museum" in the town of Omemee, which is just west of Peterborough and was once the home of Neil Young.

That's where the "Youngtown" comes from.

It's small and somewhat out the way, but it's something and it's something that was created by one of my old Ionview friends, and that's pretty cool.

On that note, if your read this blog and you used to go to Ionview or you know Trebor, hit the discuss button and let me know. I'd love to hear from you, and I'll pass it along to Trebor.

And thanks to Michele Miller Dames for tipping me off.

Category: Friends

Yesterday I spent part of the afternoon at the Rogers Empire at Jarvis and Bloor, and found myself in one of those frustrating situations.

On my way out I ran into an old colleague from the CFNY days and I couldn’t remember her name.

Her name was in my head and it was trying to claw its way out, but it was one of those situations that as soon as I saw her and gave her a hug, I so desperately wanted to say her name that it created a block.

I knew her name because I’ve thought of her many times over the years and when I’ve thought of her I’ve said her name in my head. But yesterday, it wouldn’t happen for me.

So, I did what I usually do when I meet someone whose name I can’t remember. I called her "darlin’." If it’s a guy, I call him "pal."

Anyway, for the better part of fifteen minutes we stood and talked in front of the elevators on the fifth floor and the entire time I was kicking myself in the ass for not being able to come up with her name.

We talked about old times, we talked about present times, we talked about old CFNY people and we talked about the Kawartha’s.

Finally, when it was time to leave rather than say, “see ya darlin” I decided to be honest.

I looked her in the face and said just that. “I’m going to be honest with you.”

But before I could finish the sentence she said “you don’t remember my name do you.”

And I replied “no”

And she said. “Jay”

And then it all came back to me, including her last name. Stinson.

Jay Stinson is Promotions Director for 680 News.

Jay Stinson, is also one of the many fabulous people that I met, worked with and partied with during my wonderful days at CFNY in 1980’s.

Someone I hadn’t seen in close to twenty years.

Sorry if I offended you Jay.

Ya darlin’.

Category: Friends | Radio

Al Falkner is a long time friend of mine. We grew up in Scarborough and went through a lot of things together, including the tragic death of his father in a car accident way back in 1977 when we were only 21 years old.

Yesterday he sent me this e-mail.

Thanks Al.

Freddie,

Hope to see you soon,
Al and Brenda

Category: Family | Friends

Tomorrow night I plan to be at Dan Duran’s with several friends to celebrate his 50th birthday.

Dan’s wife Jackie is recovering from recent surgery, so we plan to buy dinner at a good Thai restaurant and take it over the Duran house to save sweet Jackie the work.

And apparently we’re going to be observing Earth Hour, that silly pile of shit that some over-reacting tree hugger came up with.

According to those in the know, if everyone was to turn off their lights in Southern Ontario at eight, the power surge when all the lights were turned back on at nine will waste more energy than was saved by turning them off.

Personally I have no time for this nonsense, but it’s not my house and if the Duran’s want to do it, then I have no problem eating by candlelight.

Category: Friends

This is a picture of my buddy Doug. Even though it looks like it, he’s not dead. This is him asleep during a road trip to Michigan.

Doug is my longest and dearest friend. He moved onto my street when we were five years old and we’ve never lost contact.

At one point he almost became my cousin, and then several years later we actually did become somewhat related when Doug married Leverne, who’s my wife’s cousin.

Anyway, on Friday night we got together and had dinner at a place I’ve mentioned before, but a place I just have to mention again because Friday night may have been the best restaurant dinner I’ve ever had.

We went to "Gio Rana’s Really Really Nice Restaurant" at Queen and Leslie. It’s owned by the same people who used to own The Nose on Yonge Street, in fact they’ve moved the actual “nose” down to this location.

I consider Gio Rana’s an authentic Italian restaurant because I’ve been to Italy and it’s probably the closest thing to Italian food that I’ve experienced without having my ass parked in Rome.

Friday night I had the Involtini – shredded pork wrapped with rib eye steak and a glob of goat cheese and top with a thin gravy or sauce.

I won’t even begin to try and describe it because I don’t have the literally talent. All I can tell you is that it was fabulous, an interesting combination of tastes in a portion that wasn’t overwhelming.

I had started with the grilled calamari that is done to perfection at Gio Rana’s, and we also ordered a vegetable tray that featured new potatoes, sweet potato mash with chestnut butter, asparagus with gorgonzola and shredded brussel sprouts with asiago and pancetta.

What a meal. It was freakin’ fantastic and I highly recommend that you give this restaurant a try.

They don’t take reservations.

After dinner we went back to Doug and Laverne’s to witness the new addition to their house, a lovely sun room that includes a 47 inch plasma.

After pouring me a nice cognac Doug fired up the new TV and being a Beatles fanatic he chose one of his many Beatle-esc DVD’s to show me his outstanding resolution.

It was the “Concert for Geroge” put together by Eric Clapton in 2002 exactly one year after George died of brain cancer. I remember hearing of the concert, but I had never seen the DVD or really heard any of the music from it.

I’m always behind the times when it comes to this kind of stuff.

Anyway, it was fabulous and it featured appearances by Tom Petty, Ringo Starr and Paul McCartney. George’s son Dhani was also part of the mix and it’s remarkable how much he looks like his old man. At least he did back in 2002.

Also part of the show was Billy Preston who was often referred to as the fifth Beatle.

It was Preston’s version of My Sweet Lord that was my favourite part of the concert, and here it is.

If you haven’t seen it, take a few minutes to enjoy it.... if you have seen it, and your chuckling about how out of date this is, then piss off or watch it again.

Category: Friends | Stuff

One life ends, another begins.

I got a nice note from Jeff Domet yesterday, announcing the birth of his second child, a boy named Ryan Christopher.

Jeff is also known as Chicken Shwarma from his days working with us at the Edge.

Mother Michelle and child are doing well, but I know Jeff, although bursting with pride yesterday he must have had a heavy heart.

Ryans middle name came from Shwarma’s beloved brother Chris who like Jeff Healy was cut down by cancer long before his time.

Congratulations everybody!

Category: Friends

I got a call from Bingo Bob today and my pseudo son is doing quite well these days, loving his gorgeous wife Laura and his brand new job.

Yes, Bobby has been named program director of Proud-FM

Not bad for a nice young fella who wondered into the Edge studios about ten years ago looking for work.

Bob delivered the goods as an intern, then a technical producer, then a morning show producer and then an assistant program director.

And now he’s the big cheese at a young and growing radio station.

I couldn’t be happier for Bobby. He deserves every goddamn thing he gets.

Category: Friends | Radio

Earlier this week I wrote about attending Winston Churchill Collegiate Institute in Scarborough, and this prompted and old friend to send me a page from our grade ten year book.

Can you pick me out? It was only 36 years ago.

Category: Friends | Fun Stuff

During the afternoon on New Year’s Eve I had the opportunity to spend some time with Craig Venn.

I’ve been doing bits on Craig’s morning show in Windsor every Wednesday at 8:40 and it’s been quite enjoyable. In fact I was on this morning and told my scalper story.

Craig, who was raised in Brampton, was home for the holidays to visit his in-laws, and it was great to see the young bugger.

He’s enjoying life in Windsor while building a morning show that has to complete on some level with stations in Detroit and that ain’t easy.

We had a few beers at a neighbourhood bar called TJ’s and we talked about the good old days at CFNY, where he was jack of all trades before moving on to become Derringer’s producer and sidekick.

Craig says in some ways he misses Toronto, but in other ways he likes the pace of a smaller market and he plans to stay in Windsor for the next several years because it’s a good place to raise his kids.

If you want to catch a little of the Craig and Matt Show on the Rock in Windsor, go here.

Category: Friends | Radio

It was just by chance that I happened to be on my Ottawa Starchoice feed last night and saw Jeff Marek on Hockey Night in Canada.

He was doing the rink side stuff that Elliotte Friedman often does in Toronto and Jeff looked right at home.

I don’t know if this was Marek’s debut on Hockey Night in Canada, but when I saw him I wondered what must be swirling around his head. Appearing on Hockey Night in Canada is the dream of any young sportscaster in this country, and Jeff Marek has made it.

Eyebrows were raised when Marek left am 640 and his association with Bill Watters because many felt he was leaving conventional radio for satellite radio and that’s still considered precarious at this point.

But that wasn’t the entire story. Marek was leaving 640 to work for the CBC and Hockey Night in Canada, the vehicle that he would be hosting just happened to be on Sirius satellite radio.

Marek made the move with a long term goal in mind. He was promised opportunity within the HNIC franchise and other work with CBC including the Olympics so it was something he couldn’t say no to, and last night was just the first step in what I’m sure will be a long and lucrative career.

Jeff’s a good boy and I can’t help but think back to 2001 when I first started working with him at MOJO.

Marek became the newscaster on the Humble and Fred Show and I remember knocking heads with him during the aftermath of 911.

Jeff subscribed to the idea that American foreign policy was to blame for 911 and it would probably open the door for a war in the Middle East and an excuse for George W. to go into Iraq.

Marek laughed at the weapons of mass destruction stories while I supported them whole heartedly. Marek predicted a long and useless war in Iraq that would accomplish nothing but make a whole lot of people rich, and Marek predicted that Osama Bin Laden would never be caught because the Americans really didn’t “want” to catch him.

I vehemently disagreed with the naive young man and figured time would tell the real story and eventually he’d be forced to understand the realities of the situation.

Oh well.

Category: Friends | Sports | Television

I had dinner with my friend Abu Hasan on Friday night.

Back in March Abu sent me an e-mail that led to a meeting at a local Tim Horton’s and we’ve stayed in contact since then through the website.

On Friday our schedules finally allowed us to get together again and we met at a Somali restaurant called “Hamdi” on Rexdale Blvd in Etobicoke.

The food was interesting and was best described by Abu, who said it’s like Indian food without the hot spices. We had chicken and beef over a bed of rice and we washed it down with Mango juice and it was quite tasty.

When we first arrived at the restaurant I asked for a beer but quickly found out there was no liquor served at this Muslim restaurant. Liquor is a no no.

Oh well, I can go a few hours without a beer so I settled in and enjoyed the meal and good conversation with Abu who frets over the reputation of Muslims in Canadian society.

The vast majority of Muslims in Canada are good people he says. They are people who want to live in a peaceful and prosperous country and have nothing but distain for extremists who promote hate and violence.

They’re not even real Muslims says Abu because it’s widely believed within the religion that to kill one person is the equivalent of killing all mankind.

Abu Hasan has some other concerns as well. He’s concerned that Canada is being infiltrated by radicals and he’s concerned with cultural problems that are not being addressed by South Asians in particular.

We talked about the young girl in Mississauga, Aqsa Parvez, who was murdered by her father and Abu maintains that violence against women and children in South Asian homes is common and not really considered a problem as it is a way of life.

Like any problem it can’t be addressed until it’s recognized and to this point, it’s simply not recognized.

Again, this is not to say that this applies to all South Asian homes or that it's exclusive to South Asian homes because that wouldn’t be fair. But according to Abu, who’s a Canadian of Indian heritage, it definitely is a problem within that culture in Canada.

Give him credit for admitting it.

Category: Friends | Stuff

I received an unsettling e-mail from former colleague Rick Loewen yesterday. You probably know him as “Ripkin.”

“Ripkin” wrote to tell me about the passing of a mutual acquaintance named G. Bain Arnold.

Those of you who work within the radio industry probably know Bain; he worked at Angus Glen Golf Course from its inception until 2005 where he was usually heavily involved in corporate and media tournaments.

More recently he ran GBA Consulting.

On Friday Bain had an allergic reaction and died leaving behind his wife Margo and baby Wilkin. G. Bain Arnold was only 35.

I won’t pretend I was great friends with Bain because I wasn’t, in fact the only time I ever saw Bain was at Angus Glen or various other "events" but he was always happy and helpful and I kept in touch with him through “facebook.”

My favourite golf shorts were courtesy of Bain. I showed up at Angus Glen one day for a media tournament a few years back and it was unseasonably hot.

Bain couldn’t stand to see me go out on the course in black pants so he “donated” a pair of PGA khaki shorts and I still wear them.

A memorial visitation will be held on Wednesday, December 5th, 2-4 and 7-9 p.m. at the Dixon-Garland Funeral Home, 166 Main Street N. (Markham Road), Markham, Ontario. Memorial donations can be made to the Lung Association.

''A musical and spiritual celebration of Bain's life will be held early in the new year''

Category: Friends

My wife phoned me last night to tell me that Maie Pauts had left me a phone message.

Sweet Maie said she was just calling to catch up because we hadn't talked for a while and if I wanted to call her back, call later in the day this week because she'd be filling in for Marilyn Dennis on the CHUM-FM morning show.

So of course I got up this morning in the trailer and pointed my Starchoice Satellite towards Toronto so I could hear "my darlin" do her thing - and it was a pleasure.

Everybody loves Maie Pauts and its not tough to realize why. That sweet ingratiating voice you hear on the air is what you get when you're with this woman face to face in any situation.

Maie is one of those old "CFNY" family members. Before the days of convergence and corporate squeeze in radio we had a pretty special thing going on at CFNY - we were a small group who really cared about each other.

A lot of us got married or had kids during those years and together we lived through the struggles that CFNY experienced as it grew to be what it is today - and Maie Pauts was one of those people.

"You don't know what you've got till it's gone" is one of those old sayings that's got a lot of play in my head since I was tossed from the business. When you miss something you tend to really miss the small things, the subtle things and one of the things I miss is the daily cross-over at 9:30.

The Humble and Fred Show would end, and the Maie Pauts would begin but Maie would always come into the studio a few minutes early and it was fun to catch up and goof around and trade "kid" stories.

I've worked with a lot of people throughout the years buy Maie Pauts is near the top of my "special" list.

Maie Pauts is good people.

Category: Friends | Radio

Jason Barr of the Edge morning show is writing a book and he needs your help.

Jason has two boys and he's heavily involved in minor hockey on both the parenting and coaching levels.

Over the past few years he's been witness to some unbelievable situations involving hockey mons and dads that would make your head spin, and now he'd like to put it all in a book.

But he wants more stories and he'd love you to contribute. For more information, go here.

Category: Friends | Radio | Sports

Between this website and my facebook page yesterday, I recieved more than 350 birthday wishes.

Much appreciated, but too much to answer individually.

Thanks everybody, but to be honest birthdays aren't so much fun any more, in fact I'd rather delay them

Loving yooze all. Each and every one of ya.

Category: Friends

I apologize for not posting yesterday. It's funny with this website, I feel like its become my job, and if I don't post on a week day, it just doesn't feel right.

Just so you know, I had to get up early yesterday and make the trek back to Brampton from the trailer with my buddies Ivar Hamilton and Kevin O'Leary.

They're a couple of old friends from the CFNY days and they came up north on Friday and spent three nights with me.

We shared a lot of stories, ate some great food and drank a lot of booze. It was a lot of fun to catch up with these guys who've gone on to other things outside of the radio business.

Ivar is Vice-President of Marketing at Universal Music, and Kevin is a production/sound engineer at Amp' Mobile.

After three days of bumming around at the lake we had to get back to the city for various reasons, and on the way back they offered to buy me lunch because yesterday was my birthday.

We planned on going to a little place in Brampton called Calypso Garden on Kennedy Rd.

It's actually in the same plaza that was home to CFNY for most of the 80's, and a lot of guys, including Kevin and Ivar used to go to Calypso Garden for what is called Caribbean Chinese food.

Son of a bitch. It was closed so we went up the street to Hooters.

Quite the place this Hooters - if its possible to be physically deformed in a good way then all three girls who were working yesterday afternoon fall into this category.

Petite frames with small bottoms and massive boobs, or to keep with the theme, massive hooters.

They really were something to look at and believe me; you couldn't help but keep looking at them. They're unique specimens that not only have to serve food, but who obviously have to put up with a bunch of older guys who appear to be regulars.

You know what I'm talking about. Those guys who sit at the bar and constantly attempt to engage the young lovelies in conversation while leaving the impression they actually think they might have a chance with these girls.

It's rather sad really. But in the end, the girls usually get inflated tips and the horny old bastards get nothing.

Anyway, for the most part if was a pleasant experience, the restaurant was cool providing welcome relief from the oppressive city heat. The beer was cold and it was nice to spend a little more time with Kevin and Ivar.

The only downside of my Hooters visit was the chicken wings. On Mondays they have an all-you-can-eat special for 9.99 and we all decided to go for it, but let me tell you, they didn't lose money on us.

Right off the bat I noticed the wings were greasy but I didn't realize how much until I had almost finished. It was like a delayed reaction. After I was finished my stomach began to gurgle and I felt nauseous, and by the time I got home I had to have a real good sit down.

Three hours later I still felt like crap and couldn't enjoy my birthday dinner with my wife and daughter. They ate, I didn't. I just sat there and thought about how I'll never ever have the wings at Hooters again.

I'd boycott the place altogether but that wouldn't be fair to the waitresses.

Category: Friends | Stuff

Yesterday afternoon while sitting with Neighbour John trying to get past the taste of a Lakeport Light, we heard my buddy Jim Lang of Sportsnet do a segment on the Fan.

He was talking about the CFL, but that's not what grabbed my interest. It was his intro.

Mike Toth also of Sportsnet is filling in for Bob McCown this week and he introduced Lang as one of the world's greatest Elvis fans, and it brought back a lot of memories from our days at MOJO.

Jim did sports on the Humble and Fred Show and on more than one occasion I recall engaging him in an Elvis/Beatles debate.

Jim loves Elvis and doesn't care much for the Beatles. I love the Beatles but have never gotten the Elvis thing.

Jim would tell me how great Elvis was and how he influenced the Beatles and how he was a ground breaker and a trend setter. I would counter than I have never been able to take Elvis seriously. His movies, his songs and all that hip action were nothing more to me than some live action cartoon character.

I don't own any Elvis music, in fact I've never bothered to steal any Elvis music. There's not one Elvis song on my ipod. To me, Elvis was more an attraction than he was a talent.

- and he turned into a big bloated bastard who died on the toilet while pushing too hard on a turd.

This summer I'm doing a little through the Southern States which will make me through Atlanta, Nashville and then Memphis. Whenever I tell anyone I'm going to Memphis, the first thing they mention is Graceland, assuming I'll be going there, and they're probably right, I will go.

But not with the same interest and emotion that I had when I walked past the Dakota in New York City. Or the same feeling I had when visiting Strawberry Fields.

When I visit Graceland it will be more like visiting a fun house on the Midway, or some historical site that I don't really care about. I'll go because its there.

And I'll go for Jimmy. Jimmy Lang.

Category: Friends

To me it's a natural. Freelance actor and voice man Dan Duran should be Bob Barker's replacement on the Price is Right.

Forget the repulsive Rosie O'Donnell and the leather skinned George Hamilton, CBS should look north for the next host and there would be none better than our boy Dan.

Dan is very Bob Barkeresque. He's got the look and he's definitely got the demeanor and he's still relatively young. He's not even 50 yet.

Over the years I've always been impressed with the way women are attracted to Dan Duran and that would play nicely in Hollywood.

Most of the whacked out contestants on "The Price" are females, and having a Bob Barker clone such as Dan take the reigns would be a natural and sensible transition.

I'm very excited about this, yet at the same time somewhat disappointed.

I remember when it was first announced that Bob Barker was stepping down I phoned Dan and told him to get his agent on it. Contact the people at CBS and let them know that there's a hidden gem in Canada.

Let them know that Bob Barker Jr. is wasting his time in Toronto looking for bit parts in crappy Canadian productions while banging his head on anything that hangs lower than 6' 10".

But I don't think Dan pursued it. I think Dan took the attitude that it was too much, too fast and too far away and that makes me way too pissed off.

I want Dan in Hollywood. I want Dan on "The Price is Right" - granted I might eventually have to write every word he utters and make sure his clothes match, but I'm willing to do that.

For friendship, and ten percent of his gross.

Category: Friends | Show Biz

I've received many kind notes from many people over the past couple of days regarding the death of my dog Billie and its much appreciated.

My buddy Paul Romanuk who now lives in London, England has a couple of dogs of his own, and my situation prompted him to write this piece on his blog.

Take the time to give it a read.

Category: Friends

This is my friend Jackie DeKnock - she's actually the wife of my friend Dan Duran but she kept her own name rather than take Dan's which really isn't Duran. It's a long story.

Anyway, Jackie has a business called Gourmet Safari which offers fabulous world tours for people who like to cook.

Needless to say Jackie likes to cook herself and from time to time she shares some great food and recipes with my family.

This past weekend Jackie made some outstanding mini lamb burgers with a dipping sauce that was absolutely amazing. I loved them and I told Jackie I had to have the recipe.

She's a darlin' so she wasted no time in getting it to me. So here it is, for all to enjoy.

Small Moroccan Barbequed Lamb Burgers

Bon Appetit!

Category: Friends | Stuff

Leading up to Christmas my sweet wife Delyse wanted to buy a special gift for the son of our good friends Dan Duran and his wife Jackie.

His name is Colton, he's four years old and I've written about him before. He's nice little guy, very intelligent and sensitive and a pleasure to be around.

Given his intelligence and advanced maturity Delyse thought it might be a good idea to buy him his first pet, with the approval of his parents of course, so she went out and bought him a gold fish and all that goes with it.

It was a joyous evening of December 22nd when we arrived at the Duran house and presented Colton with his present. He was fascinated and was wide eyed as he watched the gold fish swim around its bowl.

Within seconds Colton noticed that his new pet had a shiny underside so it didn't take long for the Duran's newest family member to receive a name.

What else? The fish would be called "Shiny" and Colton would have his first taste of responsibility for another living creature.

Fast forward to Sunday, April 22, the call came about 9:07 am. Delyse picked up the phone and there was a crying distraught little boy on the other end.

"Dol" (that's my wifes nickname) cried Colton, "I've got something to tell you."
"What" said Dol.
"Shiney died"
"Oh Colton, I'm sorry to hear that, what happened?"
"I just came down today and he was dead."
"That's OK" said Dol. "He'll go to heaven."
"My cousins had a fish that died too"
"Well there you go" offered Dol who was now dropping tears herself. "Shiny will have friends in heaven."
"He will?"
"Yes, but first you have to have a funeral."
"What's a funeral?" asked Colton.

Delyse quickly changed the subject wanting to leave the explanation of a funeral to the boy's father. She was emotionally spent at this point caught up in the combination of Colton's sorrow and lovability.

She asked Colton to say a prayer for "Shiney" before he went to bed and the conversation was over.

Meanwhile, I can report that Colton now knows what a funeral is. "Shiny Duran" was laid to rest in the backyard of a home in Bloor West Village yesterday.

Category: Friends

Here's a contribution from my good friend Fred Ball. He's a big time businessman who wears a suit to work every day.

Like myself, Fred is 50.

Just came across this exercise suggested for the over 50's to build muscle strength in the arms and shoulders. It seems so easy I thought that I'd pass it on to some of my friends. The article suggested doing it three days a week.

1. Begin by standing on a comfortable surface, where you have plenty of room at each side. With a 5lb potato bag in each hand, extend your arms straight out from your sides and hold them there as long as you can. Try to reach a full minute, and then relax

3. After you feel confident at this level, the next step is to start putting a couple of potatoes in each of the bags.

Category: Friends | Fun Stuff

I'm a little late posting today because I turned the clock back about 25 years yesterday and I didn't get out of bed until 8:30.

Back in the old days at CFNY when Mike Stafford and I did the news and sports on the Pete Geets Show we'd often spend beautiful spring days suckin' back a few beers and shootin' the shit.

The station was in Brampton, we lived in Brampton and we were a couple of young guys always looking for something to do with the remaining hours of the day.

Mike is on holidays this week and I was thrilled when he called me and asked if I wanted to hook up for lunch. His fabulous girlfriend Linda lives in Brampton and he was going to be in the area.

We ended up at the Keltic Rock in Heart Lake, it was the only bar I could find that had their patio open yesterday and that was vital for Mikes smoking habit. Turns out the patio is a little fenced off area in the back, where the dumpsters are, but that didn't matter.

We got there about 2:30 and we didn't leave until well into the first period of the hockey game. And believe it or, we really didn't drink that much. We had lunch and nursed a few beers, and then we did something I've never done before, we had a dinner at the same place - lunch and dinner without moving.

But why would we? It had to be 23 degrees yesterday and the sun was like a magic medicine penetrating our bodies and all the other Brampton Bob's around us. It was a great afternoon and early evening.

There's nothing like a beautiful day to put the world in a good mood - and it didn't hurt that the Leafs capped things off by blasting the Hurricanes 6-1.

Category: Friends | Radio

It's been quite the week for my friend Dan Duran who went head to head with several FreddieP.ca readers over a political issue from last week.

I wrote a posting called "Security Breach" and Dan responded to it, and following that I invited readers to respond to Dan and the results speak for themselves.

To be fair, Dan's been a good sport through it all, and regardless of what the rest of us think of his position on the issue, at the end of the day Dan has something that most of us don't.

Category: Friends | Politics

I spent a very enjoyable afternoon yesterday. My son Danny and I had lunch with two old CFNY buddies at Wayne Gretzky's.

Several weeks ago I wrote about Kevin O'Leary who used to produce the Pete and Geets Show back in the 80's. Kevin is heavily involved with Amp'd Mobile, an exciting new cell phone company that's coming to Canada in the next couple of months. Amp'd Mobile is building new facilities in the old Indian Motorcycle building at King and Peter.

Also at the table yesterday was Ivar Hamilton. Ivar "was" the music department at CFNY is the golden era and eventually left to join Universal records. It was a good move, because now he's a vice-president. He's also a myspace guy.

I mention this get together because a lot of old CFNY people have started to visit freddiep.ca on a frequent basis. It's just to let you know that both guys are doing very well.

As a matter of fact Kevin just got engaged to his girlfriend Rene, and for those of you who know Kevin this is comparable to hell freezing over. But he's very happy and admits this could actually lead to marriage.

And one further note. Kevin just returned from a vacation in Nicaragua where he was stung by a stingray on a secluded beach. It got him on the heel and he endured a few tense hours before some Nicaraguan natives held his foot over hot coals in order to get the venom out. It's a fascinating story with a much better ending than the Steve Irwin tragedy.

Anyway, both boys are doing well and the attached picture is a Christmas card they sent me when they were Brampton room-mates way back in the early 80s.

Category: Friends | Radio

Yesterday the attached picture was my banner picture. When I first saw it, it reminded of my good friend Dan Duran.

You may or may not know that Dan and I summer together in the Kawartha's and a few years ago I caught Dan in a similar situation to the man sitting on the right.

Dan was doing something at his trailer wearing a pair of loose shorts. At point he went down on one knee and something hung out of his cargos. Seems he wasn't wearing briefs.

I'll tell you for several seconds I ran the gamut of emotions. I was shocked, disgusted and repulsed - but most of all, I was impressed.

To say that Dan got more than his share of manhood is an understatement. Dan is blessed, and I'm surprised he doesn't need a blood transfusion whenever he becomes aroused.

At the time it happened I chastised Dan for exposing me to such a sight, and he quickly tucked things away. But that image never left my mind. Part of me wondered if I actually saw what I thought I saw.

And then it was confirmed again this summer on a quiet day in the trailer park. The only people in the park were Dan's family and me.

Needing to borrow a tool from Dan I wandered down to his place and upon rounding the corner I had a replay of those emotions from a few years before.

Only this time he was completely unclothed, standing on his deck with something extremely disproportionate banging against his knee while he dried his hair with a towel.

"What are you doing" I exclaimed.

"Drying my hair" he replied.

"But your not wearing anything" I gasped.
"
I like to be this way when nobodies around" he said.

"Well I'm around" I argued. "Put some clothes on." And he did.

I then went into Dans shed and grabbed a wrench - and as I wandered back to my place I became insanely jealous of Dan's selection of tools.

Especially one in particular.

Category: Friends

I had an interesting chat with my friend Dan Duran yesterday. He's up in Thunder Bay enjoying the holidays with his in-laws.

During our conversation I asked him how his son Colton was doing. Colton is fine little fella whose company I enjoy during the summer. He's burgeoning trailerite who enjoys everything about the great outdoors - and he also enjoys machines.

When I asked Dan if Colton had received more gifts while he was up in T-Bay, Dan said he had and he was enjoying them very much, so much in fact that he had gotten over the disappointment of not receiving a sewing machine.

That's right, a sewing machine. Colton had placed a sewing machine on the top of his Christmas wish list.

However before you jump to any conclusions and assume Dan may have a challenge on his hands let me explain. Colton wanted a sewing machine because it's a machine with moving parts that interest him. His mom Jackie does a lot of sewing and whenever she uses the machine it fascinates young Colton.

Believe me, he's not a suck or a sissy or confused with his orientation. Not that there's anything wrong with that. He's a young fella with an active mind and I can totally relate to this.
You see, when I was kid about Colton's age, I wanted a doll house. But not because I played with dolls, nothing could have been farther from the truth. I wanted a doll house because it would be the perfect accessory for my toy cars or my dinky toys.

I had tons of them and as a kid whenever I'd see a girl with a doll house I used to think how cool it would be to have one of my cars drive up to a house. Not a "doll" house necessarily, but a house that fit the scale of my cars.

So as you can see I can relate to Colton's request for a sewing machine and there's absolutely nothing wrong with it.

There is however one difference between his story and mine. I never asked for the doll house.

Category: Friends

It was nice to see the Leafs end their losing streak last night but at the same time I'm concerned for a member of the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Bolts assistant coach Craig Ramsay is a fellow trailerite. Yes, he has a tin palace very close to mine and we "hang out" in the summer.

The Lightning haven't been doing very well lately and there has been some rumblings about the future of head coach John Tortorella - and when the big guy goes, those under him usually follow.

I have mixed feelings on this subject. You don't like to see a guy get fired, but if Ramsay gets the flush, it means he won't have to leave the trailer in mid-August.

He can spend more time with us playing bocce and drinkin' beers at the Tiki Bar... Then again he could end-up with the head coaching job and we'd hardly see him at all.

Category: Friends | Sports

We left Ottawa yesterday. But before we left I visited a museum while Delyse did some shopping.

It wasn't the Museum of Civilization or the War Museum or the Art Museum - it was a "radio museum" located out in Napean.

I spent a couple of hours with Peter Griffin. Peter Griffin is Pete of the old Pete and Geets Show. He's a great man with a wealth of stories about Toronto radio.

He was the original morning man at CHUM-FM after it went rock and it was shortly after that when he teamed up with Geets.

In 1980 they made the jump to CFNY. It was actually a re-union. Pete came from CHUM-FM while Geets came from Q-107.

They stayed at NY till 1987 and then Pete headed for Ottawa where he worked part time in radio until he retired a few years ago.

I can't begin to re-hash all the stories that Pete told me yesterday, and it really wouldn't do them any justice. You have to hear them from Pete with his fabulous story telling ability and his infectious laugh.

Here's a man who worked all over North America. If I'm not mistaken he told he worked at 21 radio stations in his first three years. He enjoyed moving around, and that's a good thing because he pretty well had to. Back then you could be fired for anything with no re-course what so ever.

Pete and I sat in a Montana's for over two hours and it was probably the best two hours I've spent in a long time.

I thoroughly enjoyed the seven years I did sports on the Pete and Geets show and in retrospect it provides nothing but warm and wonderful memories.

I know lots of CFNY fans from the 80s frequent this site and I'm glad to report that Pete is alive and kickin' and still laughin' in Ottawa.

He's a beaut.

Category: Friends | Radio

The guy standing in front of my Tiki Bar with the fish is my trailer friend Jerry. Jerry Richard.

I call him Jerrod or Jerrold. For no particular reason other than he's the kind of guy you like to dick around with.

Jerrold is one of a kind. He's a generous man with a huge heart. He's also worlds greatest bargain hunter.

Every Saturday morning Jerrold and his wife Jen get up early, hop in the car, and go looking for garage sales and yard sales. It's amazing what they come back with, and what's even more amazing is he never spends more than five bucks.

This year alone he's purchased the following for five bucks. A chain saw (that doesn't cut) A lawn mower (that doesn't work) and a set of golf clubs (that work too well).

We all look forward to Jerrold's return from these shopping trips because we know there will always be a story. A story of how he talked a guy down from six or seven bucks - to five bucks.
Five bucks, five bucks, five bucks. That's our Jerrold. Always five bucks.

Except for one time this season. He went into a Chinese grocery store and bought two strip loins steaks for three bucks. That's right. Two New York strip loin steaks for three bucks.

I'm sure if he had to he would have spent five bucks on these. I'm sure most people would have preferred to spend ten or 15 or even 20 dollars on these. But never one to let a bargain go by, Jerrold grabbed the three dollar strip loin steaks.

He also barbequed the strip loin steaks. But he couldn't eat the strip loins. And you know why he couldn't eat the strip loin steaks?

Because that bloody chain saw doesn't work.

Category: Friends

Sunday July 9th marked my 50th birthday. I sit here and a look at that number and I can't believe it.

I honestly don't feel 50, but then again who really knows what 50 feels like. Age is just a number and to tell you the truth, I feel better now than I did five years ago when I was constantly battling back problems.

Age, when you get right down to it, is an attitude and I'd like to think I have the same attitude that I did twenty years ago. I don't feel any different.

Anyway, if there is anything that can keep you young it's with the company you keep, and that's another thing I love about my trailer.

Delyse and I have the greatest group of friends a couple could have - and Saturday night, as a celebration of my 50th, they went wild and made it a memorable one.

We thought our kids were taking us out for dinner. To the Old Bridge Inn in Youngs Point. Reservations were for eight o'clock, and we were running a little behind time when we jumped in the truck and headed out.

But we didn't get far. About seven trailers down, there was a bright orange pylon in the middle of the road. I thought it was odd, but then figured one of the kids might have put it there.

As I approached the pylon, someone stepped out from behind the Collins trailer - our good friends Brian and Karen Collins - the man who stepped out was the resident grandfather of the park, Doug Laird.

I rolled down the window and Doug asked if he could take my car keys.

"Why" I said.

"Because we offer valet parking here at the Lakeside Bistro" he said

It was at that point that Delyse and I noticed the red carpet and burning torches leading up to the Collins deck. And then we realized what as going on.

As a birthday present to me and Delyse.. her 50th was in May.. our friends decided to honour us with a gourmet meal.

As we got out of the truck and walked up the red carpet all our friends appeared, and it was a great feeling.

Mike Kimber was dressed as the maitre'de. Pam Kimber and Karen Collins were dressed as hostesses. And Brian Collins was dressed as the chef.

My daughter Melanie also acted has a hostess, and my son Danny instantly became the bartender.

We were escorted to the Collins screen room where there was a table set for two. It was absolutely beautiful - like any high end restaurant you've ever been to.

We were handed professional looking menus that featured several cocktails, and wines and beers.

The appetizer selection was seafood scallops, delicious breads and a wonderful curried mango salad.

The main course was unbelievable. Brian Collins had caught several pickerel and they were pan fried with a light dusting of flour. It's Brian's specialty, and it was absolutely outstanding.

We also had salmon and cold jerk chicken with sweet potato fries - and for dessert we had Karens famous sex in the pan and Irish Coffee.

While we ate, Erin Abrams played the acoustic guitar in the background. It truly was magical, a wonderful gift and very much appreciated.

But it wasn't over. After dinner we headed to the Tiki Bar to finish off the night. Everyone agreed to be there at midnight, for the official arrival of my birthday.

And once we got there, I got another surprise. My good friends Dan Duran and Bruce Mallory had been busy while we were eating. They had gone up to my place and totally wired the Tiki Bar with switches and outlets.

Not only that, but they had wired something to hang my golden shoes on (the bocce championship shoes) They hung from the Tiki Bar roof and slowly turned like a disco ball. And then they told me to flip another switch, and a spotlight pointed at the shoes. It was unbelievable.

And then the party really kicked in with my good buddy Darren manning the blender making all kinds of delicious drinks that make you feel like shit the next day.

I've got to be honest. I don't like surprise parties, and everybody I know was given strict instructions not to give us a surprise party.

This was a surprise, but it was the perfect surprise. We didn't have to walk into a room full of people… several we haven't seen for years… and go through all those awkward moments. The people who surprised us on Saturday night were the same people I had hung out with all day.

It was fantastic and really made us feel great. There's nothing like having fabulous friends and then having them acknowledge you with such a thoughtful, well planned and memorable event.

Several people played a part in the evening, including some I haven't mentioned.
Like Dan and Tracy, Gerry and Jen, Lisa and Lori, Glen and April, Pete and Sylvia, Darryl and Jen, Sandra and Jackie.

Thank you all…. Ya buggers.

Category: Friends