While living in England I became a fan of many British entertainers. British humour is way out there--and I love it. When I first saw Graham Norton on his show "So, Graham Norton", I was shocked at his uncensored comments. However, I had to laugh and was soon a regular viewer.
Being a Monty Python fan--I loved their shows and movies even more. And, if you haven't seen Dave Gorman--get out there and Google him (or Googlewhack him) right now.
Another favourite entertainer of mine is Jonathon Ross. Ross almost lost his job at the BBC with a live, on air, stunt. Last year Ross and the comedian Russell Brand left a series of messages on the answering machine of the actor Andrew Sachs in which they made crude remarks about Sachs' 23-year-old granddaughter, Georgina Baillie. I will not debate the appropriateness of the incident but did not feel Ross or Brand should be sacked over it.
Ross has a brilliant radio program on BBC Radio 2 on Saturday mornings and a hit TV show on BBC television. This past week Ross returned to his radio and TV spots.
The only comment I'll say about Ross' show is this: Leno has Kevin Eubanks. Letterman has Paul Shaffer. Ross has four puffs and piano.
Monday, January 26, 2009
Friday, January 9, 2009
It's official, I'm a Flexitarian
I knew there would be term for it.
At various times during the past decade the females living in our household made the switch and became vegetarians. I tried usual lures to get them back. Oven roasting with a lovely roast beef to the overwhelming aroma of bacon frying on Sunday morning were all tried to no avail.
Instead my son and I had, by default, with little effort on our part, dramatically reduced our meat intake. However, with the occasional dinner out to Harvey's (and the list goes on) we are not vegetarians.
According to this posting today I think my son and I can be labeled flexitarians. Okay, we do not fit the model of flexitarians they are suggesting. Our meat intake was not reduced because of climate change. However, I feel that being a vegetarian does not necessarily help out with climate issues. There is the small matter of the other things we all do... i.e. all that waste in take out orders; not to mention the other junk in our diets. I'm sure my family can highlight a nice long list of crap I eat (don't bother commenting).
It's Friday. Shelley, shall we eat out tonight (no take away, a place with real dishes)?
At various times during the past decade the females living in our household made the switch and became vegetarians. I tried usual lures to get them back. Oven roasting with a lovely roast beef to the overwhelming aroma of bacon frying on Sunday morning were all tried to no avail.
Instead my son and I had, by default, with little effort on our part, dramatically reduced our meat intake. However, with the occasional dinner out to Harvey's (and the list goes on) we are not vegetarians.
According to this posting today I think my son and I can be labeled flexitarians. Okay, we do not fit the model of flexitarians they are suggesting. Our meat intake was not reduced because of climate change. However, I feel that being a vegetarian does not necessarily help out with climate issues. There is the small matter of the other things we all do... i.e. all that waste in take out orders; not to mention the other junk in our diets. I'm sure my family can highlight a nice long list of crap I eat (don't bother commenting).
It's Friday. Shelley, shall we eat out tonight (no take away, a place with real dishes)?
Thursday, January 8, 2009
The Answer to my music collection
My music collection is made from very different genres. My collection consists of music from every decade since 1940 and includes easy listening, big band, country, bluegrass, blues, R&B, pop, rock and roll and rock (a.k.a. proper rock). Artists from Glenn Miller, Dean Martin, Bette Midler, Danny and the Juniors, Earl and Scruggs, Jim Croce, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Paul Simon, Deep Purple, AC/DC, and Led Zeppelin. Hey, whatever happened to the Humber River Valley Boys?
My all time favourite album is Deep Purple's Made in Japan. They may not be my favourite group of all time, but they are in amongst the top two. I was introduced to this album in 1973 when my father worked for Warner Bros Records. Since then I have had three things I wanted to see in life--The Coliseum in Rome, the Great Pyramids, and Deep Purple live.
I saw the Coliseum in September 2003 and Deep Purple's final concert with Jon Lord (keyboards) in 2002 at the NEC in Birmingham, Northamptonshire--Two out of three--not bad. I have been looking for more music to fill the proper rock category of my collection--Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin, and AC/DC style. Back in September I found what I was looking for.
I am a regular viewer of the Rock n Roll TV podcast with Share Ross. On this particular podcast she introduced the Irish group, The Answer. They are absolutely brilliant. They mentioned they were working on an album, but their first album, The Rise, had been out for some time. I struggled to find a copy. My daughter's boyfriend, from England, too struggled to get a copy. However, on Christmas Eve the album arrived. For £9.99 (I gave him $20 Canadian) I received the special edition copy.
The Answer are opening for AC/DC in Toronto at the Roger's Centre tomorrow night.
If you love proper rock--here is the answer to your collection--The Answer.
My all time favourite album is Deep Purple's Made in Japan. They may not be my favourite group of all time, but they are in amongst the top two. I was introduced to this album in 1973 when my father worked for Warner Bros Records. Since then I have had three things I wanted to see in life--The Coliseum in Rome, the Great Pyramids, and Deep Purple live.
I saw the Coliseum in September 2003 and Deep Purple's final concert with Jon Lord (keyboards) in 2002 at the NEC in Birmingham, Northamptonshire--Two out of three--not bad. I have been looking for more music to fill the proper rock category of my collection--Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin, and AC/DC style. Back in September I found what I was looking for.
I am a regular viewer of the Rock n Roll TV podcast with Share Ross. On this particular podcast she introduced the Irish group, The Answer. They are absolutely brilliant. They mentioned they were working on an album, but their first album, The Rise, had been out for some time. I struggled to find a copy. My daughter's boyfriend, from England, too struggled to get a copy. However, on Christmas Eve the album arrived. For £9.99 (I gave him $20 Canadian) I received the special edition copy.
The Answer are opening for AC/DC in Toronto at the Roger's Centre tomorrow night.
If you love proper rock--here is the answer to your collection--The Answer.
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
More details please
Whether reading a book, a blog, or the newspaper I find writers assume the reader has a given set of skills or knowledge on the topic being read. Newspapers are typically written for an easy read, but in many cases the article assumes I know something about the area or the topic. If you dive right in you may get lost not knowing who Joshua Chamberlain is and how he is associated with GETT. If you know what GETT means you might know Chamberlain. I was taught to define my acroynms when I first use them. I deliberately did not do that here to help me with my point.
Whether it be a casual read or a technical read I like it when the author spells out the acryonm, summarizes the situation and tell us who the players really are--not just a name. Have you performed a web search on Chamberlain yet?
See how well I do here on the next paragraph!!
I read with interest this week about David BeBee and Mathew McCarthy, two photojournalists for the Kitchener Record, who have started a blog called "A Year on the Grand". I asked them (they are looking for feedback and ideas) if they were going to cover the Grand River from source to mouth. They both individually replied with yes. I also suggested that they geo-tag each blog entry so the reader knows exactly where the image on the Grand River was taken. It is this sort of information that extends the information and helps to provide context for the reader.
One more example. For Christmas, my wife gave me a video entitled Gettysburg and Stephen W. Sear's book, not associated with the video, but with the same title. After watching part of the video I decided to get out the book. Though I was following the story and drama of the video I failed to pay much attention to the names and places being mentioned. I am no historian and by no means do I know much about the battle of Gettysburg. Oddly, I was able to follow along in the book with the video. I was able to get officer profiles, further battle information, and maps, all giving me reference and context to the video.
BTW, in the video Jeff Daniels played Lieutenant Colonel Joshua Chamberlain and GETT is the acronym for Gettysburg National Military Park (US National Park Service). See, don't you hate it when the writer does not tell you this stuff up front.
Whether it be a casual read or a technical read I like it when the author spells out the acryonm, summarizes the situation and tell us who the players really are--not just a name. Have you performed a web search on Chamberlain yet?
See how well I do here on the next paragraph!!
I read with interest this week about David BeBee and Mathew McCarthy, two photojournalists for the Kitchener Record, who have started a blog called "A Year on the Grand". I asked them (they are looking for feedback and ideas) if they were going to cover the Grand River from source to mouth. They both individually replied with yes. I also suggested that they geo-tag each blog entry so the reader knows exactly where the image on the Grand River was taken. It is this sort of information that extends the information and helps to provide context for the reader.
One more example. For Christmas, my wife gave me a video entitled Gettysburg and Stephen W. Sear's book, not associated with the video, but with the same title. After watching part of the video I decided to get out the book. Though I was following the story and drama of the video I failed to pay much attention to the names and places being mentioned. I am no historian and by no means do I know much about the battle of Gettysburg. Oddly, I was able to follow along in the book with the video. I was able to get officer profiles, further battle information, and maps, all giving me reference and context to the video.
BTW, in the video Jeff Daniels played Lieutenant Colonel Joshua Chamberlain and GETT is the acronym for Gettysburg National Military Park (US National Park Service). See, don't you hate it when the writer does not tell you this stuff up front.
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