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Owen Armstrong, Caring Kidpreneur Read More »
On Thursdays, we have a segment on the show called Ask Me Anything. Someone with a fascinating hobby or profession comes in and answers anything we and our listeners want to know about what they do. We’ve had a funeral director, a gun fanatic, a veterinarian, a former police chief and other interesting people. This week, I invited intuitive medium – psychic, if you like – Tania Thomas. She knew from the outset that I was a skeptic and she loves to talk about her work. But the result was unpredictable for another reason altogether. …
“Never work with animals or children.” WC Fields Read More »
Mistakes happen in voice-over like they happen anywhere else. Sometimes the lips don’t follow through with their task, and you need to redo a line. Or two. Or seven. That’s why most voice-overs are pre-recorded and not done live. …
Many people think sexism is a thing of the past. More women than ever are doing whatever they want -working or raising kids or a mixture of both – so they reason that it must mean they’re treated equally. Oh I wish it were true! Many individuals and companies aren’t sexist but some industries are still overwhelmingly that way, including my own: Media. …
If you’ve never had reason to buy advertising on Facebook, let me tell you that it works. You can micro-target your ad to reach the narrowest of demographics. Do you want to appeal only to Moms in their 30s with two children who belong to Pinterest and eat only organic arugula? Done. Or you can blanket the whole FB population. You control it and you set the budget. You pay by the click. It’s cheap and it’s effective. …
Facebook is Stalking Me Read More »
This novel was one of the darlings of Canadian publishing last year. It was nominated for this, won that, short-listed for something else – does it bother you that I didn’t even share the specific prizes? That’s kind of what reading this book is like. …
Review: The Best Kind of People by Zoe Whittall Read More »
When Ken’s away, I’ll do whatever it takes to not be boring.  Our morning show – a talk show, may I remind you – eats up so much more content when there’s just one person at the helm. Without Ken there to keep the conversation going, there’s only so much I can do alone that’s interesting. Oh, I could prattle on incessantly if I loved the sound of my own voice a bit more! But “interesting” is the key! …
Slings and Arrows of Outrageous Misfortune Read More »
A few months ago, a journalist with The Toronto Star contacted me for permission to use parts of a blog post I wrote last year about the Symphony of Fire, the fireworks competition that used to be held at Ontario Place. …
Looking for something different to do last Friday, my pal Jenn suggested we check out the new broadcasting exhibit at Museum London. At the time, we didn’t realize it was the second anniversary of the death of our then-patriarch at Free-FM, Richard Costley-White. Fitting that we had stood in front of his photo at the Museum and remembered what a good guy he was. …
Volunteers do lots of good things for others and never brag about it. And some researchers decided to try to put a dollar value on what they do, to figure out what would happen if they suddenly stopped. It’s called the Halo Project. …
I Can See Your Halo Read More »
When someone who woke up at the crack of stupid as long as Erin Davis did gives you a recommendation that she says will make wake-up time easier, you listen. You don’t have to wake up at 3:15 am to relate, but it helps. …
I’ve Seen the Light Read More »
Diamonds may be a girl’s best friend but I’m not a big jewellery nut. Oh, I can appreciate but I don’t often covet. When Derek and decided to get married I explicitly told him I didn’t want an engagement ring. There isn’t much in the way of bling that I wish I had for my own. Except for a Pandora bracelet. They’re beautiful and customizable and I’ve always wanted one. …
It’s been less than two years since I left Free-FM but sometimes it feels like decades. Derek and I both made some great friends there and there’s a photo of one in particular that makes me LOL every time. …
Throwback Thursday – Free to Be Read More »
Not all scientific studies are created equal. Having been a radio broadcaster for a long time, I also know how they can get distilled down to a couple of sentences of highlights, potentially making a worldwide study of thousands of people sound as credible as a small study of twenty. It rests on the public to look deeper into the data, but only three out of ten will bother in a stat I just made up.
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Studying the Studies Read More »
I used to own sleeplessness as a part of my personal profile. Because I get up so early, retire so early and nap in between, I felt my complicated relationship with sleep was special. We’re on-again, off-again. Sometimes sleep turns into a total bitch and won’t even text me back. Sleep crank-calls me in the middle of the night and just breathes and stands me up on a regular basis. …
The Ken and Lisa Morning Show pitched a contest idea some time ago: a wedding vow renewal. We’d choose a couple and give them a CJBK Wedding Do-Over. Mary and Fred’s entry was selected some time ago, and their mini-wedding was held last Wednesday evening. It was wonderful! We selected a couple whose first wedding had a lot of mishaps including a lost ring and no money for a honeymoon. It also happens to be their fiftieth anniversary year. …
Tall women have long been told that they shouldn’t wear heels, or look taller than men. This is, of course, ridiculous. A female friend who’s 6′ tells everyone she’s 5′ 12″. (She does it as a joke, though.) Â The crew dug a trench for Nicole Kidman to walk in as she was filmed alongside then-husband Tom Cruise for the 1992 romantic adventure movie Far and Away. And although there wasn’t much the royal spin doctors could do about live appearances of Prince Charles and his wife Diana – except perhaps require her to walk twelve paces behind him – their official portraits were doctored to hide the fact that they were the same height.Â
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Throwback Thursday – Rising to New Heights Read More »
A couple of weeks ago I put out a request on social media for coffee mug recommendations. Not ordinary mugs though, travel mugs, or something that would keep my coffee hot. I have a cheap, ordinary mug at work and my coffee turns ice cold within minutes, or so it seems. I take coffee pretty seriously and hosting a live talk show means I don’t have time to run around and heat it up again. I googled for solutions but I wanted real-life experiences with specific mugs. …