Vicky’s Big Day
Happy Birthday Queen Victoria! …
Celebrities
Throwback Thursday – Prime Time Television
It wasn’t the golden age of television, but it’s an age that no longer exists. CKNX-TV in Wingham used to create original programming and host its own newscasts and commercials. It was a “thing”. And when I worked there, from 1986-1990, there were many opportunities to be part of that thing. …
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Smart Young Women
Two younger broadcasters I work with recently made decisions that made me want to stand up and cheer for them. …
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The Ointment Fly
Recently, someone in our industry died and social media was filled with tributes to him. From my first introduction to him in the early 80’s, to our last encounter at Rogers radio in Toronto, I didn’t have a good experience with this person. Ever. So I simply stayed out of it and didn’t comment. It was as if they were all talking about someone I’d never met. …
The Heimlich Validation
If I asked you to identify Henry Heimlich, you might say he’s the guy who invented a life-saving technique called the Heimlich Manouver. And you’d be right. But did you also know that he’s not popular in the science world? For one thing, who puts their own name on something that saves lives? If that was common, a defibrillator would be known as Johnson’s Chest Paddles. …
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Throwback Thursday: Scott Shannon, Still Tops
There aren’t too many people to look up to in broadcasting anymore. Thousands who thought Jian Ghomeshi was all that sure got a slap upside the head in the past year or so. And the business is less stable than ever. Even some of the well-liked, long running hosts find themselves at the wrong end of a pink slip. Take Jennifer Valentyne. She was let go from CITY-TV after 17 years simply because they found a cheaper way to do what she does. …
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A Princely Visit
Whenever someone mentions Prince, the following story comes to mind. And yesterday, when news of his death at 57 started burning up social media, it came back in vivid purple colour. It was the time Prince came to London, Ontario. In 1984, I was working at CKSL and so was Derek when his purpleness was spotted in the Forest City. As my friend Dan Brown writes, this was long before he lived in Toronto or had any ties to Canada. …
A Great Boss
Back in the late 1970s when I discovered Bruce Springsteen, who knew that it would become a life-long relationship? Loving his music offered no guarantee that he wouldn’t go all Ted Nugent on us. …
What’s In the Middle
This week, NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. burned up the Twitterverse with a post about his favourite sandwich. You remember Elvis’s ‘nana and peanut butter? Try banana and mayonaisse on white bread! …
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Sepsis Awareness
It had to take the death of Patty Duke last week at the age of 69, for sepsis to hit a new level of awareness. Thanks to her family listing sepsis as her cause of death, following a ruptured intestine, millions of people around the world read the word for the first time and wondered what it was. …
Adele’s Righteous Potty Mouth
During her concert at London’s O2 Arena last week, an audience member asked Adele about “breastfeeding mummies”. Adele said chef Jamie Oliver could go F himself! Â …
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It’s Garry Shandling’s Life
Garry Shandling always made me laugh. From his early stand-up days through It’s Garry Shandling’s Show, The Larry Sanders Show, and a recent appearance on Jerry Seinfeld’s Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee, there was never a time when he seemed dated or out of touch. Fellow comics had mad respect for him. …
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Dishing on Demoting the Captain
Instead of wondering why the Captain and Tennille broke up – the marriage, not just the singing duo – Toni Tennille’s new book prompts the question, why did they stay together so long? Â Â …
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Throwback Thursday – Rula Lenksa
I can’t remember how we got onto the topic on CJBK’s First Thing, although I am the queen of diverting the topic into semi-related subjects. I mentioned Rula Lenska, and the guys’ eyes all went blank. Rula Lenska separates the 50-somethings from those who are younger, because I got tweets and emails from listener/peers who knew exactly who I was talking about. …
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President Trump
Donald Trump has to be stopped because a formula that predicts with 96% accuracy who will win the US Presidency has him blazing a trail to the White House. …
Idle Television
Except for the first couple of seasons and one when Nicky Minaj was a judge, I’ve been a pretty faithful watcher of American Idol. The success of Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood and Daughtry legitimized the reality show/talent hunt and it’s fun to watch these impossibly young kids develop into potential stars. …
The Sugar Conspiracy
While I recover from the bug I caught in Iceland – yes, I’m still recovering – I haven’t had much of an appetite. I’ve been eating protein and salad and fruit, but haven’t felt like indulging in my carb cravings or satisfying my sweet tooth. These are good things because both have been in overdrive for the past couple of years. …
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Working on my Hillary
Our friend Ed has been in the voice-over business for decades. He has voiced national campaigns in the U.S. including a huge one for Lincoln. He’s also a man of a thousand voices. So, when he suggested I work on a Hillary Clinton impression, he brought me in on an important aspect of voice work. …
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