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25 Jul 2011

July 2011

Yes, still around. All my blog posts are on Wordpress now. Hopefully MySpace changes will help bring this place back. Very quiet over the last year or so. I'm also on Twitter, search Rob Carnell. And trying out Google+ too.

Show still going strong. Pass the 4 year mark quietly in May. With my Bruins in the playoffs I was following that more and never got around to an episode to mark the anniversary.

5:45 AM

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29 Jan 2011

2011

Yikes, no MySpace blog since June. If it was easier to post from the Wordpress blog it would help.

Next two Fridays are part of the Funding Drive. So call in and pledge if you can. Or visit the CFRC website and donate online.

1:06 AM

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24 Jun 2010

June 18th Episode



New music for the entire first hour. Open up with Allison Crowe from her disc 'Spiral'. David Myles with his CD 'Turn Time Off'. Joe Belly's 'Nickels and Dimes' and Wintersleep's 'New Inheritors' keep the new music going.

Wrap up the first hour with a brand new song from Ian Foster called 'Sparrow'. Taken from a live radio appearance he made in the Netherlands. Interview from that show and his entire 6 song set is played during the second hour.



A chat with Stephane Racle about RCW 139 in the second hour. A fan convention being held in Toronto from August 13th-15th for the show Due South. Before the interview I play Holly Cole Trio 'Que Sera Sera'. She was in an episode of the show and that song was used. After the interview I play Stan Rogers 'Northwest Passage' which was also used in Due South.



End the show with a set Ian Foster did in Holland. Found this from his Facebook page. Contacted the host Thomas and asked if I could use it and he graciously agreed. Ian being interviewed on Blueprint then he plays a 6 song live set.

Some more information on Blueprint.

"Since 1998 Thomas Kaldijk is hosting his roots show 'Blueprint' at the Dutch local station Radio Parkstad. Since late 2003 it is also broadcast by another northern Dutch radiostation: Radio LOK. In 'Blueprint' you can listen to honest and genuine musicstyles like southern soul, blues, country and rock and roll: rootsmusic from past and present with heart and soul."



10:23 AM

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16 Jun 2010

Interview on RCW139

Friday on the show back live in the studio. Interview I taped last week with Stephane Racle about RCW 139. It's an event happening August 13th-15th in Toronto for fans of the show Due South. They've done this before in the past and are doing again this summer. RCW 149 will have people from the show there along with an RCMP panel. More information on their website.



Due South is a show I watched when it originally aired and in reruns afterwards. So I know the history of the show. Which is a unique one. Here is a history of the show from a Paul Gross fan page. They will have a presence at the event.



One thing you notice reading about the show is some of the writing staff who went onto other things. Created by Paul Haggis, who went on to write Million Dollar Baby, Crash and Casino Royale. Then something I didn't find out till after the interview so I can pass it along here. Was thinking that Due South was good at going from comedy to drama that some programs don't do well. Currently I'm a fan of House and thought they do a similar good job. Didn't bring up while talking to Stephane since it was off-topic. Turns out it was on-topic.

House was created by David Shore who is from London, Ontario. Guess what show David worked on in the mid 1990's? Due South. David was a writer on some episodes along with credits for story editor and program consultant. When it comes to different characters Benton Fraser and Gregory House are pretty much as different as you can get.

More details after the interview airs then I can link to that here on the blog. There is also a Twitter account and Facebook page for RCW 139.





Confirmed are David Marciano, Jay Semko, Kevin Rushton one of the stuntman on the show. Paul Gross is interested in coming. Others who might come depending on scheduling are Camilla Scott, Ken Quinn, Ramona Milano, Tom Melissis, Steve DiMarco, Tony Craig, Catherine Bruhier and Jim Bracchitta.

4:30 AM

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21 May 2010

3rd Anniversary Show Tonight

Tonight the 3 year anniversary of the show. Plan is to play a lot of different artists and CD's over the course of the 2 hours. Realized I've done so many interviews it is hard to pick and choose clips. Also it is the May 24/Victoria Day long weekend so a better time to play a lot of music. Thanks to everyone who has helped out over the course of the 3 years. All the musicians who I've come in contact with. Managers/publicists who have sent me CD's as well. CFRC of course since they approved the show in 2007.

I'll write a long post on the weekend with links to the episode itself. Original plan for the program was for it to last the summer months and go from there. As of today I have played 250 different Canadian artists. Kept a list compiled which I updated every few months. Here it is. A few are from other parts of the country which came to my attention for various reasons [concerts, musician recommendations] and I felt like including them on the show. All Canadian though and that's the main goal of the show. Spread the word of Canadian music that doesn't get much radio play in Ontario.

Here goes the long list. I'd include websites, however you can guess I'd be here for an hour or more doing that. I'll do that for a later post since that's almost it's own project. If I missed anyone or got a spelling wrong just point it out to me in the comments or by email.

1755

Abby Pond

Air Traffic Control

All of Green

Allison Crowe

Amelia Curran

Andrea Gauster

Andrea Simms-Karp

Andrea Wittgens

Andrew Hunter and the Gatherers

Andrew LeDrew

Ann Vriend

Anna Egge

Anna Wheeler

Ashley MacIssac

Banshee

Barra MacNeils

Barry Dewling

Beacon Point

Blue Rodeo

Bluegrass Diamonds

Bored on Sunday

Boswalos

Boy Ill

Brite Vu

Brothers in Stereo

Bruce Cockburn

Buddy Wasisname and the Other Fellas

Carmen Townshend

Carter Chaplin

Catherine MacLellan

Celtic Connection

Charlie A'Court

Chelsea Parsons

Chillin Room

Chris Colepaugh and the Cosmic Crew

Chris Kirby

Chris Picco

Chrissy Crowley

Christa Borden

Christine Crawford

Christine Donovan

Clarence Mason

Cliffy Short

Coco Love Alcorn

Cody Allen

Colleen Power

Collette Cheverie

Corey Isoner

Craig McIntyre

Crowdis Bridge

Cynthia Macleod

Damhnait Doyle

Dan Currie

Dana Parsons

Dayliner

Denielle Hann

Don Brownrigg

Down with the Butterfly

Duane Andrews

Eileen Joyce

Elyssa Mahoney

Emmy Alcorn

English Words

Ennis Sisters

Erin Costelo

Faded Blue

Fergus O'Byrne

Figgy Duff

Fitz

folkartlullaby

Frank Trainor

Garrett Mason

Gene Pawlett

Glamourpuss

Glitter Cinnamon

Grand Sass Parilla

Grand Theft Bus

Great Big Sea

Green Light Go

Greg Keelor

Grooveback

Gulliver's Spree

Haunted Hearts

Hey Rosetta

Holly Cole

Holly Larocque

Hot Toddy

Hugh Hall

Ian Foster

Ian Sherwood

In Flight Safety

J.P. Cormier

Jacobus et Maleco

James Phillips

Jeff Healey

Jenn Grant

Jennie Pardy

Jenny Gear

Jessica Rhaye

Jill Barber

Jill Porter

Jim Forward

Jim Payne

Jimmy Rankin

Joe Belly and the Sin City Ramblers

Joel Plaskett

John Campbelljohn

John Connolly

John Jerome and the Great 88

John Macpherson

Johnny Burke

Johnston and Lear

Jon McKiel

Justin Fancy

Justin Merdsoy

Keith Hallett

Kelly Sloan

Kendra Gale

Kenny Butler

Kev Corbett

Kevin Chase

Kevin Collins

Kim Stockwood

King Nancy

Kyra and Tully

Lazy Bones

Leanne Kean

Lee Fitz

Lennie Gallant

Leonard Cohen

Les Lahey

Les Paiens

Lisa Birt

Maddison Avenue

Madison Violet

Mark Bragg

Mark Haines/Tom Leighton

Mary Jane Lamond

Mary Stewart

Matchstick Mike

Matt Anderson

Matt Mays and El Torpedo

Max Murphy

Meghan Blanchard

Meghan Smith

Melanie Ross

Melanie Samson

Melissa Hunt

Michael Brennan

Michael Carey

Michael Lake

Mike Plume Band

Mike Richey

Mike Stevens

Milks and Rectangles

Molly Thomason

Natalie MacMaster

Nathan Condon

Nathan Wiley

Neil Conway

Neil Dobson and the Fabulous Hats

Norma Macdonald

Owen Steel

Pat Deighan

Pat Lepoidevin

Patrick Boyle

Patrick Molloy

Phobics

Quake

Queen's Maid

RA Lautenschlager

Racoon Bandit

Randy Bachman + the New Guitar Summit

Rankin Family

Rattlesnakin Daddies

Rawlins Cross

Rita MacNeil

Ron Hynes

Ron Leary

Rose Cousins

Ross Neilson

Ruth Minnikin

Ryan Neilson

Ryan's Fancy

Sam Ryan

Sarah Mclachlan

Scott Macleod

Sean Kemp Band

Shanneyganock

Share

Sharona Clarke

Shawn Lidster

Shaye

Shermann

Sherry Ryan

Shiest

Shores of Newfoundland

Slainte Mhate

Slate Pacific

Sloan

Smokin Joe Wiseman

Solid Gold Workout

Sora

Sproll

Stereotype

Steven Bowers

Stride

Tamara Nile

Tara MacLean

Teresa Ennis

Terry Whalen Band

The Angelshakes

The Band

The Barra MacNeils

The Blue Monday Band

The Carouslers

The Cashmere Disciples

The Contingencies

The Cottars

The Danks

The Dardanelles

The Divorcees

The Domestics

The Fables

The Human Soundtrack

The Idlers

The Irish Descendants

The Irish Rovers

The Kestrels

The Kremlin

The Lever Pulled

The Masterless Men

The Mountains and The Trees

The Novaks

The Olympic Symphonium

The Otherwise Called

The Reaction

The Subtitles

Tim Aylesworth

Tim Chiasson and Morning Fold

Timothy Chiasson [solo CD/fiddling music]

Todd Scott

Torres Band Duo

Tracy Starr

Trailer Camp

Trish Kerr

Under Pressure Music

Virginia Fudge

Vishten

Your Favorite Enemies

Told you it was a long list. Check out the show live on 101.9FM in Kingston or at cfrc.ca

8:01 AM

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27 Apr 2010

April 16th and 23rd Episodes

Catching up with the last 2 episodes, lots of new music on these ones. People still finding the blog from looking up news on Toni Marie in the last week. Maybe people visiting St. John's for the Junos and catching her on the news. She's on vacation this week for those wondering where she is on the news.

Bruins pulled off an upset, I picked Buffalo in 7. Glad Boston won. If you're wondering Bruins-Habs can't happen till the Conference finals. Boston gets either the Flyers or Penguins in Round 2. Either way not much traveling for the Bruins. Both teams in Pennsylvania.

Back to the music.



Joel Plaskett solo CD from a few years back before he opened for Barenaked Ladies that Tuesday in Kingston.

More music from Price Edward Island. First time on the show for The Danks, Carmen Townshend, The Cashmere Disciples and Racoon Bandit. Meaghan Blanchard to end the first hour.



Open up with a band from PEI, Haunted Hearts. Instrumental track called "The GST Cheques are here" which I had to play just for the title.

Followed by Juno nominee, and eventual winner Amelia Curran from Newfoundland. Stay with the Rock with Chris Picco.

End the show with Nathan Wiley, an unreleased Hey Rosetta! song and Teresa Ennis.



Open the show with brand the new CD from Air Traffic Control. Then back to the mid 90's with a Greg Keelor solo effort. More new music to end the first hour with a duo from out east called Lazy Bones. Couple of tracks from Allison Crowe too.



Allison Crowe to start the hour then back to a Joel Plaskett CD from a few years back. New music from a female duo, Madison Violet along with some blues from New Brunswick with Ross Neilsen. End the show with Hey Rosetta! who are in the midst of putting together a new album.

11:38 AM

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6 Apr 2010

Good Luck Matt/Redskins/CFL Out East

A non-music post for today. CFRC online archive has been down for a few weeks. Which is how I would grab the older episodes. Now I have to go to the station computers and get them that way. More out of the way then doing it from home as you can imagine.

Good luck to Matthew Bisson who is now working in Edmonton, Alberta. If you've listened to CFRC Sports over the last 4 years you'll recognize Matt. Play by play for the football team is what most listeners will remember. After doing a Vanier Cup victory that is as high as you can go. He also hosted GlobeTrotting which I worked on for 2 years. Weekly 30 minute soccer show that has now come to an end. Too bad since the World Cup was just around the corner in South Africa.

He was at CHUM in town and lately one of the morning guys at 98.9 FM The Drive. He will be at AM630 CHED in Edmonton. Home of the radio broadcasts of the Eskimos and Oilers. There is also another sister station but can't remember that off the top of my head. Congratulations to Matt on the move. He just got to Edmonton on the weekend after driving from Kingston. Yes, drove about 4000 km. At least it wasn't in the middle of winter.

Onto other football talk, since my NFL team is the Redskins. Which is why I follow the NFL in its entirety. Hasn't been a great decade or so for Washington. This season the word isn't hopeful as much as 'interesting'. I have no clue what the 2010/11 season will be like. Could be bad, could be good. No idea.

Donovan McNabb the starting QB. Woke up at 2am early Monday morning and put on the TV. I had NFL Network on before I went to sleep. I see "Redskins acquire McNabb" on screen. What? A rare trade in which there was no speculation about Washington trying to grab him. Talk about Raiders for the most part. This fall a new GM, a new coach, a new QB and two new running backs. Might not have heard about the running backs. Skins grabbed Larry Johnson and Willie Parker in free agency. As of today they still have Clinton Portis too. All this adds up to a fun season. Could go horribly wrong however it will be entertaining.

CFL in Moncton is sold out. A regular season game is being held in that town this September. Eskimos against the Argos called 'Touchdown Atlantic'. Few tickets are there for kids associations and bus trips. But other than that the tickets sold out in 32 hours. Keep in mind the first 24 hours only tickets were available to people who registered online ahead of time. For all the football fans in Atlantic Canada this isn't a surprise. Now there is finally some talk about an expansion team out east. Although why they're obsessed with trying Ottawa yet again I don't know.

Went to high school in Pembroke near the end of the Ottawa RoughRiders. They were viewed as a joke and fans had jumped on the Senators bandwagon. Heck, I saw more Ottawa Lynx merchandise the first time I went to an Ottawa mall around 1993. AAA Baseball was more popular than the CFL in town. Ended up going to college in Ottawa after the RoughRiders were gone and before the Renegades came to town. 3 years and I don't remember anyone complain about CFL not being there. I did 2 years of TV Broadcasting and no one did one thing about CFL in Ottawa. Was that far off the radar. You have the Senators, 67's and even the Gee Gees. Wasn't around during the Renegades years. A team that lasted only 4 seasons isn't a good omen. I get to end a post with a quote from Albert Einstein to describe the CFL in Ottawa.

"Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."

12:43 PM

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31 Mar 2010

MASSIVE Blog Update

Catching up. From the middle of the Olympics to last week. So that is a lot of stuff. You realize it when you copy and paste them all of them together. Be prepared MySpacers. :)

Here we go.

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Olympic-esque Blog Day 6 and 7

Changing my sleeping hours to watch Olympic Primetime didn’t quite work out. Was a quiet night on Wednesday. When CTV is reduced to showing 5 minutes of the Team Canada practice you chose the wrong night to watch.

First thing I saw on Primetime was Ben Mulroney so that was a bad sign from the get go.

“Own the Podium” isn’t working out. USA right now has almost tripled the Canadian medal total.

Skier from Norway Askel Svindal talked about it after winning a medal. In particular not letting other countries train at the facilities. Which after the death at the luge course has been something pointed out by many.

“I just want to make something clear. It was VANOC (the Vancouver organizing committee) or Own the Podium or something. It wasn’t the Canadian ski team.”

Before the games he said: “I was supposed to train with the Canadian guys. But then some, like, big dude from VANOC told the coaches that they do a lot of funding for the training and that I wasn’t allowed to be on the slope. I thought it was ridiculous but, whatever.”

Toronto Sun article pointed out something I had forgotten. Norway helping Canada out. It was the coach from Norway who helped Sara Renner by replacing her broken ski pole in the 2006 games which helped her win a Silver medal. VANOC really seems like the Keystone Kops of Olympic Organizers at this point.

And it’s VANOC not Team Canada as he went on to talk about.

“The Canadian team and Alpine Canada are great to work with. Erik Guay gave me a great report on the hill while I was here. I want to thank the Canadian ski teem. It wasn’t them who kept me off the hill.”

And Norway is ahead of Canada in the medal standings.

Congratulations to Christine Nesbitt on her Gold medal. Saw her medal presentation last night. Sure it’s been overshadowed in the Canadian media today because of hockey. One reason I don’t like the pros at the games was the possibility of taking attention away from others. At 6am when Olympic Morning began hockey was the top story. Guess I imagined a Canuck won a Gold medal.

Getting back into the swing of things after a couple of days away. Hoping to keep putting a post each day during the games.

Olympic-esque Blog Day 8 and 9

Friday night I was busy with radio and work. Long night from 5pm to 7am. Too bad the Queen’s hockey team didn’t show up for Friday’s playoff game. Outplayed by Carleton in a game in which they could’ve wrapped up the series. They play this afternoon in the nation’s capital in the deciding Game 3.

Saw the Gold medal in Skeleton live that night though. And him chugging beer out of a pitcher while walking to an interview. Looked like someone who was really enjoying himself. That seems to be the last bright spot for Friday and Saturday.

Had 8 women around the TV at work watching the speed skating final. Two Canadians in a group of 5 in a final. I thought “Canada should win a bronze” and that was too hopeful a prediction. Nothing. Two brothers got out in front but were all passed by the 2 Koreans and Ohno. Women watching were in shock. Nothing?

Story of the games so far. Expectations too high, but results much lower than expected. From a hydraulic part not working in the Opening Ceremony it has gone downhill. Talking about downhill, no medals at all for the ski team.

COC Chief Michael Chambers is either in denial or doesn’t understand sports. Said he still think Canada can finish 1st in medals. That’s just crazy talk. Not a question of Canada doing better but also having all the other countries in front not winning. US, Germany and Norway are not going to go on a cold streak. Even Korea is in front of Canada tonight by 1 medal.

He also thinks the federal government is not going to cut funding to Own the Podium after the games are over. Now that is rather funny. At this rate Canada will have less medals than in Turin. Simple equation for any government. Increase in funding = less medals. That does not compute. From what I’ve seen from Canadians watching these games is that they are not happy with bad results. Especially with their tax money going towards it.

Skiier Emily Brydon said Own the Podium has helped at the World Cup level and it should continue. But we all know nobody in Canada follows World Cup skiiing. If it doesn’t translate at the Olympics then it is looked at as a failure. Cold but true. Like the Indianapolis Colts or Atlanta Braves. They are good teams that choked time and time again. Emily didn’t even finish her run so she might not have been the best person to talk about keeping funding where it is. She called Saturday’s performance for the team a “train wreck”.

And I do use the word “choke” about more than a few of the bad results. If you finish 8th and that’s the highest you’ve ever placed that’s great. All you can ask of someone. However if you do well at World Cups and don’t finish in the top 10? That’s more of a “choke”.

Congrats to Rob Faulds for his call of the Skeleton win for John Montgomery. Much better than Jamie Campbell’s play by play of some medal performances. I felt it was like Jamie was auditioning for an Olympic ad instead of calling what he saw in front of him. Guess what I saw tonight? A McDonald’s ad that uses Jamie’s commentary from the first Gold medal. Hmmm. I think Jamie does a great job hosting/anchoring but I did not like his cheerleading play-by-play. Over the top. And completely different from his call of the Blue Jays. Which as you saw in ads on Sportsnet is now being filled by Buck Martinez. Read an article that Jamie’s contract is up in October and he still wants to do baseball. So maybe he thought this was a chance to audition for a job elsewhere, who knows. Not like he’s had much to get excited about with the Jays the last few seasons though.

Hey Rosetta! has been playing in Vancouver the last 2 nights. Great reviews and they play Sunday night at Atlantic House on Granville Island. Stephen Brunt from the Globe and Mail on their Friday gig.

“Heard Hey Rosetta! last night perform a very strong, very well-received set opening for Stars at the Orpheum.”

From Atlantic Canada House’s Twitter and Facebook page.

“Hey Rosetta was unbelievable. If you’re planning to see them Sunday night, be here early. Word’s out – they rock!”

Play tonight at Granville Island Back Stage, Monday at Whistler Village Square Stage. Finally Feb. 27th at the Surrey 2010 Celebration Site. From local Vancouver writer Kristina Campbell on Friday’s show.



Hey Rosetta Shines Brighter Than The Stars At Vancouver Orpheum Show

Last night’s duo of bands at the Orpheum had a clear winner: Newfoundland band Hey Rosetta shone with the energy of up-and-coming stardom while Montreal indie-rock veterans The Stars executed their lineup of beautiful, anthemic music with an undercurrent of jadedness that left many sitting, and few dancing.

Even if it weren’t for the 6-member Hey Rosetta’s soaring melodies and crash-tastic build-ups, even if it weren’t for delicious cello and violin undercurrents and lead singer Tim Baker’s heart-stopping smirk, there would still be the voice. Baker’s voice has a way of sounding like what he’s singing about requires your urgent attention. One moment he had everyone in the room hushed and hanging on his quiet melody, and the next moment he was belting out a note at the top of his lungs with a vital capacity that would put some opera singers to shame.

—

Click on the link to read the full review. When you get a glowing review compared to the main act that’s a sign you’re doing well. Given everyone on the West Coast enough of a heads up to their gigs. No complaining if you miss out.

Back Monday morning with another post. Probably some reviews overnight from the concert tonight if I can find some.

Olympic-esque Blog Day 10

Didn’t watch one second of the Canada-US game on Sunday. Getting up early to watch a game where both teams automatically get in the playoffs? Nah. Plus not a fan of pros in the Olympics so waking up 3 or 4 hours early wasn’t going to happen. My Mom has watched a lot of the Olympics, and she didn’t watch either. Said she watched Desperate Houswives, Women’s Curling and didn’t even see the hockey score till Monday morning. Not everyone in the country watched.

Bad results continued. Ski cross, bobsled, hockey. Did get a Silver in speed skating but the World Champion faltered and didn’t medal. Canadians patience is running out. CTV is not helping people’s expectations with graphics and promos like this for Monday: “Golden Opportunity: Virtue and Moir Go for Gold” Have they learned nothing so far? At this point aim for any medal.

The late Women’s Curling match was great. Although I’m sure you were asleep. Canada-China was close with the Chinese winning in 11 ends. Canada still first as it was only their first loss. Don’t file that under “bad results”. Does show how good the new Red Machine has come in Curling though. Betting Chinese sports officials looked at sports they can become competitive quickly in. Women’s Curling isn’t as deep as say downhill skiing. With over a billion people that’s a deep talent pool. The Chinese women are the defending World Champs who also live and train in Canada during the season. Curling is also their full time job as the government pays them just to do that. That’s an edge that is hard to beat.

Was going to take a day off from making fun of Olympic Morning but today they took the cake. In the first 30 minutes they had two people from MTV Canada on. Unbelievably they talked about the Australian commentator who got in trouble for homophobic comments during men`s figure skating. Couldn’t believe that since Canadian broadcaster RDS is in trouble for the exact same thing.

“Gay rights group to launch complaint over ‘homophobic’ comments by RDS analysts”



Among the quotes was ‘We should make him (Weir) pass a gender test at this point’. Classy. And a lot of gall for CTV to point out the Australians doing it but not mention RDS at all. Any thought of CTV getting better as they went along was thrown out the window around 6:20am. Even discussed a Facebook group about the Aussie getting in trouble called ’Eddie McGuire is ruining the 2010 Winter Olympics coverage’. It would be like making fun of another country’s broadcaster doing body shots during a taped piece. Oh right, MuchMusic did that for CTV. Almost forgot.

CFRC alumni Neate Sager with a couple of articles, you can find more on the Yahoo Sports blog. William Houston is also writing for them. Neate also not a huge fan of CTV’s coverage. I do remember CBC’s “on the cheap” attempt in Italy. Where Brian Williams was hosting from Toronto. Not their brightest moment.







Back tomorrow morning. Try and find some music links from all the East Coast artists that are playing in Vancouver.

Olympic-esque Blog Day 11

Gold medal in ice dancing for Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir. Missed the Canadians skating. Usually don’t work Mondays but here I was at work. Had it on TV but got a phone call and had to go help upstairs for a few minutes. Came back down they had skated and were in first place. Lot of happy people on Twitter. Those who watched Canada-US probably felt a bit better. Nice also in that 2 people who have trained for years together won. Opposite of the “millionaires” tournament where you throw together NHL-ers from different teams and hope they quickly figure out how to play well together.

Ice dance the rare [or only] case where CTV pumped up expectations a bit higher than needed but won Gold. You could say that they did what the Vancouver Canucks never did at the Pacific Coliseum and that’s win the big one. [Low blow but true.]

Still the “own the podium” debate will not end anytime soon. Will start using lower case letters for “own the podium” since it’s become a bit of a joke.

COC finally admitted they will not finish first in the medal count. Fact they were somehow hoping to still finish first says a lot about them. They knew they had raised Canadians expectations too high. Anything less is disappointing. Tried to put off talking about that as long as they could. Dan Wetzel of Yahoo Sports wrote a column about it. From an American perspective.



‘Canada struggling with high expectations’

Hoping to finally win Gold at home is one thing. But when they said the goal was to finish first in medals you are opening up Pandora’s Box. Most medals won by a Canadian team would be a high enough goal. They didn’t think so and now pay they have to pay the piper.

Strangely you have one of the athletes themselves blaming the increase in funding for their performance. Denny Morrison blamed ‘own the podium’ for his 13th finish. Why? Because he wasn’t allowed to train with his buddy Shani Davis of the US. Well then Denny, it’s amazing at all you even finished. Such a tough obstacle to overcome. Pretty sure the other countries who finished ahead of you didn’t train with Shani either. He tried backtracking on his comments after. Too little, too late as most Canadians would have seen his original comments and not his follow up.

Working on a longer blog entry for tomorrow.

Olympic-esque Blog Day 12

Olympics = Money.

This can be taken many ways. For some the Olympics is about the endless ads and sponsors. Others the money it cost to stage the games and the debt a city can go into. These days the tax money that ‘own the podium’ has used comes to mind also.

But that equation came to my mind when Vancouver got the games. Was glad to see them get the games. Then the question came to mind. Hmmm, can I afford to go to the games? No. Short and to the point.

I know people who traveled to Vancouver during the Olympics, even some at the last minute. But Vancouver’s reputation as one of if not the most expensive city in Canada came to mind first for me. Which has come to pass in small ways at first. Like a parking lot going from $10-15 a day the week before the Olympics to over 90 bucks. That was Day 1.

One of those things where it’s different if you have a job or a career. Chris Rock had a great bit about that in his last HBO special. My version is a tad different. For those not familiar with the radio show, CFRC is volunteer work for me. Rewarding and enjoyable. Being part of Queen’s radio broadcasts as they made a run to the Vanier Cup was great. Hosting Salt Water Music is great on a weekly basis. So the radio stuff is separate from job vs career.

A career, you can save up money and vacation time and possibly make the trip. When you work a job, not so much. A career you can extra time off and they’ll welcome you back. A job, you will be replaced quite quickly.

If the Olympics are close to where you live that’s a different story. However flying halfway across the country? That takes some planning. Also with almost all of my family on the East Coast you think about the full trip since you don’t know anyone in B.C. to stay with. I know some people in BC but not enough to crash at their place.

Getting time off from work, flying out there, getting a place to stay, tickets to games if you can get them, food, traveling around, flying back and paying for all of this…… whew. Not happening. If I had a Scrooge McDuck vault in my backyard that had so much money I could swim in then that’s a different story.

Since Vancouver got the games I knew “I’ll be watching on TV”. Not a question of “if”. But that puts me in the boat of 99% of Canadians who can’t afford to go. That’s where the Olympics have gotten out of touch. In your home country and not even thinking of going to see it because it’s for people in another tax bracket. That’s too bad.

A lot of Vancouver restaurants and bars are doing what I thought might happen. Price gouging. Even a bit more than I thought. Not only raising prices but some have started adding an automatic gratuity on top of the bill. So bad service or good service, too bad. You have to pay up to a 20% tip either way. These links have a list of the ones doing that and ones that aren’t. Two people came up with the idea. Mark Prince who founded CoffeeGeek a local coffee website from Vancouver. And Rick Green who has the BC Brews blog.





Started writing the post on the weekend so funny how Mark’s words match to mine from a few days ago. My thoughts of Vancouver being expensive in the best of times. Along with worry about what places would do this month have come to pass. Here is from Mark’s post.

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I have already been asked several times why I’m doing this – and the answer’s pretty simple for me. Vancouver’s already an expensive town. Cocktails are routinely $12 at a lot of places, mains are $25-$45 even at middle of the road restaurants. We have massive added on taxes (about to get higher with impending HST), and our servers in town are somehow trained to believe anything less than 15% tip is a slap in the face and an insult.

Jacking up prices, making “gratuities” compulsory – they all send a very bad message about this city. Tourists from around the world are visiting Vancouver for the first time, and if we send them home with memories of $7 “dollar pizza” slices, $12 for a plastic cup of Molson Canadian, and $35 prices for a $15 steak, you’re embarrassing us all. Tossing on a 20% compulsory tip at the end of the overpriced bill just adds insult to injury.

And, I might add, you’re damaging Vancouver’s reputation, long term.

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Gouging list



Good Businesses list along with some bad ones



Real Reason for Olympic Auto-Gratuity

Another article on Spiffle specifically about restaurants in Vancouver and how management also dips into the “tip pool”. Except Revenue Canada in the last few years ramped up investigating servers and their tips. But don’t with management. So they get extra income without reporting it. Things you learn during the Olympics.



Latest update as of 6am est Wednesday morning with the good and the bad.



Thanks to the guys for starting out the idea and all those who contributed to the list. Great use of the internet to call out the bad places and praise the good ones. Which I’ll do at the end of this post.

Olympics have become out of reach for the average person. Honest examples from Bob McCown from the FAN 590 in Toronto.



If you watch CTV/Rogers coverage you would be led to believe that Hockey House is a great place. Wrong.

“Hockey House is pretty impressive, but very elitist. If you think you’ll be rubbing shoulders with famous hockey types when you get in…think again. The IIHF has their own space and “the common folk” can’t get in. Hockey Canada…same thing. Plenty of celebs are around, but you probably won’t even know who they are there. Too bad since this was a good idea gone bad.”

Only VANOC could mess up something called “Hockey House”. Bob had someone come up to him saying he had gotten a ticket to Canada-US hockey game. How much? $2300. I think staying at home was for the best. Credit to Bob also for pointing out where he’s staying. Rogers put him in a place that must’ve cost an arm and a leg. Bob was honest about that fact and even gave a picture of his view. Lot of complaints about how it’s an Olympics for the high rollers. Completely true. As of today McCown is the only media person to actually say how good they have it.

“Staying in a penthouse condo just a block from Robson Street (the epicentre of 24 hour lunacy) with a 270 degree view of English Bay, Stanley Park and the mountains. Trust me…this does not suck!”

Think Brian Williams is at a regular hotel room? No way.

Just found another person writing about the cost. ‘Vancouver Olympics Fancy Price Tag’ from Meena Mann.



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The Olympic merchandise, the accommodations, eating out, and not to forget the event tickets can all add up to over $350/per day/per person.

The real drain to my bank account comes when I go out for lunch, dinner or even just a simple drink; the restaurants have definitely increased their prices for the Games. For instance, the first time I really felt the sting was when I had ordered one glass of house red at La Bocca. Upon receiving my bill my eyes popped out and my jaw fell to the floor. I couldn’t believe it, but that one glass of house red, which wasn’t even that great, cost me $16.67. Yup, that’s right. One glass of –house- is close to what the average 1/2liter would cost you. Hell, I’ve even seen wine bottles for less than that.

Another place which I found that has a high priced menu is Citta. It is located right across from La Bocca. Citta is a great pub environment, but the prices for drinks are way too high. I had ordered a bottle of wine, split between my roommate and me-just for the record. The bottle was no more than $25 but we had paid $56.00. I think that was one of their cheaper bottles as well.

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Vancouver not really helping their reputations over the last 2 weeks. Not surprising to me, but still disappointing.

To close the list of GOOD businesses in Vancouver that aren’t being greedy bastards. I could use stronger words but I better not. Got to be semi-professional even on a blog. Each business has where it’s located and the source of the information. If you see something like @robertcarnell that is a Twitter account. Kudos to these places. I might not ever get out to Vancouver but at least this list can help some people. Either now or keep it for a future trip.

Long time listeners of the radio show might remember I haven’t been back to Newfoundland since 1999. That is also my last vacation of any length. I realize 11 years is a long time when I write it down but don’t really think about it much. So the list of good places in Vancouver to leave on a bright note.

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Subeez Cafe, 891 Homer, Yaletown Great prices, no auto gratuity (one of the few Yaletown busineses to have #2010niceprices!). (source: @Network_Guy)

Sammy J. Peppers, Granville Island – prices stable, NO auto gratuity charged. (source: @hfguiere)

Ouisi Bistro, 3014 Granville Street – no price raises, great specials during Olympics, no auto gratuity. (source: me visiting).

Alibi Room, 157 Alexander in Gastown, prices stable, specials in effect, no auto gratuity, no cover charge. (source: @CAMRA_YVR)

On the Edge Pub, 303 Columbia Street (Gastown), Great prices (eg – $5.35 for 18oz of Phillips Blue Buck), no auto gratuity. (source: @ilford)

Black Frog Eatery, 108 Cambie Street, Gastown – No price increases, no auto gratuity, great beer prices in effect (as usual). (source: @loxyisme)

Pacific Culinary Institute, Granville Island – a favourite “secret” haunt of Vancouver locals, all prices etc as per normal even though Gastown is Olympics Crazy! (source: @SurreyMarket)

Irish Heather, Gastown no price increases, no cover, no auto gratuity – business as usual at this hopping Gastown favourite (source: @StephenLambie)

Salt Tasting Room, Blood Alley, Gastown – no increased prices, specials as per usual, no autogratuity. (source – personal visit)

Main Street Eateries on S. Main – word from a Main Street Restaurateur is that most, if not all Main St. eateries having prices as usual, no auto gratuities – Go Main Street dining! (source: @LatitudeonMain)

Urban Thai Bistro – Yaletown – featuring “as usual” happy hour, dishes under $5, no auto gratuity. Yay! (Source: @urbandiner)

Phat Sandwiches – Yaletown – nominal price increases, but Vancouver loyalty cards for locals to give a price break during Olympics. (was formely on negative list based on incorrect information via twitter). (Source: Global News Hour)

Au Petit Chavignol – nice discounts on weekends on fondues, wines during Olympics. (source: @petitchauvignol)

Incendio Pizza in Gastown – prices “as per usual” during Olympics, no autograt. (source: @IncendioPizza, @SBonnerABV)

Milestone’s in Yaletown – prices kept stable, $8 breakfast is available everyday. (source: @tellytelly

The Whip – 7th near Main has maintained their prices, service during Olympics. (source: @cbjerrisgaard)

The Diamond in Gastown has prices more or less stable. (source – me visiting)

Irashai Grill in Coal Harbour has promised to keep prices neutral during Olympics! (source: @Irashai)

Campagnolo on Main Street – reported to have no price increases, same service as always during Olympics. (source: @campagnolomain)

Refuel Restaurant and Bar keeping prices stable for some awesome food and drink. (source: same as previous)

Amarcord Ristorante of Yaletown – prices stable, no autogratuity for Yaletown! Yay! (direct from Restaurateur)

Provence Marinaside – removed – auto gratuity, realised it was bad policy – go Provence!

Corner Suite Bistro Deluxe, Thurlow at Alberni – no automatic gratuity, “launch” pricing in effect (they just opened), great service, killer deep bartending staff. (source: me, visiting).

Rerun Tonight

Bit under the weather so a rerun will air tonight. Did get into the station to tape a new intro. Mentioned Matt Andersen who plays the Grand Theatre on Monday Night. Tickets still available so visit the website. Some blues from New Brunswick hitting town.



The episode is the interview with Allison Crowe from September. Along with her music for the full show. Did mention her new CD is finished and coming out on March 17th. During our interview she was still working on the disc. It’s called “Spiral” and you can visit her website.



The Olympic-esque blog will return tomorrow. Didn’t watch as much as I had been earlier on the last couple of days. So an extra day should help. In case you want to hear tonight’s episode early I might as well give you a link to it. Already online. Full 2 hours and I edited out the September football references. Would’ve been a bit jarring to people listening on the radio in February.



Olympic-esque Blog Day 13-15 I think, starting to losing track

Soon as the ‘own the podium’ pressure got lifted all these medals start coming. Coincidence? Unless we’re talking about the ski team. They still have performed horribly. Speed skating was overshadowed Friday night but hopefully people found out about it this morning.

Olympic Morning still cringe-worthy. But Jay Onrait is trying his best. And he had some critical to say. Talking to a gossip reporter about who might appear at the closing ceremonies. Rumours Shania Twain is town and pictures of Alanis arriving in Vancouver. Then the part where Jay redeemed today’s show. About another rumoured act who might be there.

“Nickelback. That can’t happen can it? The world’s going to see Nickelback at the Closing Ceremonies, really Canada?”

Bravo Jay. If it’s true about Nickelback, my god. Let’s make Canada lame in front of the world. The Opening Ceremony did that in spades but the Closing can’t be worse.

The running blog will return for the Paralympics which start in a couple of weeks. TV coverage not as extensive but website says over 50 hours. Sure 99% of the media will hardly mention those games going on but I’ll try to pass along what I can.

6 crashes in the 4 man bobsleigh first run yesterday. So bad the Germans have said it’s dangerous. A coach and one of the bobsleigh pilots.

A good piece finally toning down the jingoism about Canada/US. CTV News had one comparing the countries to big brother/little brother. Best part was some intoxicated US fans in front of cameras after their win against Canada. Chanted “USA all the way” then one held up a Canadian fan and yelled.

“THANK YOU CANADA FOR YOUR HOSPITALITY! Thanks Canada!”

That was good to see.

Think I’ve seen more figure skating then hockey. They replay a tonne of figure skating overnight. Funny that I missed both the Canadians doing ice dancing and the bronze medal ladies performance. I’m at work and had to do something both times.

Hopefully CTV News learns not to anchor a local newscast in front of a crowd. Saw 2 nights ago a banner behind the 11pm pacific time Vancouver newsteam. “INVESTIGATE 9/11? popped up 3 times during the hour. I didn’t know that banner had appeared before in the previous 2 weeks. And again on Friday night. They’ve gotten to a point where they know where to stand to make it appear between the 2 anchors. Bet the director pulls their hair out every time he or she sees that.

Will write more tomorrow. Things wrapping up.

Olympic-esque Blog Day 16

Think I watched too much of the Olympics at the start. Haven’t caught much the last few days. Keeping track of the medals coming in has been a lot of catching up. Need a day off from work just to sit down and go back over what I missed.

Men’s Curling with a Gold medal. Which means Canada will finish first in the Gold category, no matter what happens on Sunday. Total medals is US by a country mile. First time someone from ‘own the podium’ sounded reasonable. Chris Rudge.

“Through some kind of transference, I might segue over to gold medals and say Own The Podium met its goal, but that would be unfair and that would be a rationalization. Our goal was the most medals and we didn’t get the most medals.”

Glad he didn’t do the politician spin on it. As I said yesterday, strange coinicidence that once they admitted Canada wouldn’t get the most all these medals came in. A lot of the Canadians not used to intense pressure or don’t perform well under it. Exceptions of course with the ones who did.

However you have the entire ski team that didn’t win one medal. They got an extra $10 Million in funding for these games. Pressure they couldn’t handle apparently. Some got injured before the games but zero medals means they choked. Can’t sugarcoat it.

Paralympics start up in a couple of weeks. For those on the West Coast I’d advise checking it out. Friend from Twitter Katie Lawrence pointed out tickets for sledge hockey between Canada and Italy are $20. Twenty bucks. Not $200 or $2000. Twenty bucks. Impressive pricing considering the gouging we’ve seen in Vancouver.



Going with USA beating Canada 4-2. Not watching the game since it is the equivalent of 3am to me and who wins doesn’t interest me. American Moneybags or Canadian Moneybags. Not like Women’s hockey where you can see this is the end all and be all for the year. The guys? Back to their NHL jobs and push for the Stanley Cup playoffs. One of the women on Team USA even said as much. “It’s different for the guys.” Especially with World Cup 2011 next year for the Men.

Simple prediction for me just looking at scores. USA hammered Finland. Finland just squeaked by Slovakia for a Bronzel. Canada also just got by Slovakia. US beat Canada already. That’s it. Could be wrong but based on results you would pick the US. From a unbiased point of view.

You must have heard by now about Team Canada crushing the dream of Brian McKeever. When you think Team Canada officials might have their heads on straight they do something like this. Why bring him to the games if you’re not going to have him ski? Lot of people upset because the same officials used Brian as good P.R. before the games. Story of him being the first to compete at both the Paralympics and Olympic games. Went around the world and they liked the publicity it gave them. When push came to shove they don’t allow him to be part of the 50km Cross Country ski team chosen for Sunday. Insane.

Talking about putting in 4 guys who could possibly win a medal. The team has done better than expected but none of them won any medals so far. Brain dead thinking from the Cross Country side. After seeing people’s reaction to Rochette’s skate you would think they would clue in. Final day of the Olympics and which would people care about more. McKeever skiing or some other Canadians finishing 8th. Even if one of them won a medal it’s the same day as Hockey and the closing ceremony. Talk about being overshadowed win or lose. Chance to get your sport noticed to people who don’t watch it was McKeever. So you now have a race many Canadians will not want to watch because of how the team treated him. Nice going. A tweet from him Saturday morning as you can tell he was not expecting it either.

“Olympic dream over. Don’t think I’ve ever been so sad.”

Closing ceremonies shouldn’t be as bad as the opening. Let’s hope they improved the lip synching. Some good news to end this post. Website with the places in Vancouver that are not trying to ripoff customers during the Olympics.



Similar to the list earlier in the week but updated as of this morning with some new entries.

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NEW – Charm Modern Thai on Hamilton has no olympics autograt (Source: @asml)

NEW – The Greedy Pig – reported as having nice prices (Source: @thegreenpagesBC)

NEW – The Whip on Main – reported as having nice prices (source: @Kafkascoffeetea)

NEW – Maenam – good review and nice price report (source: @mbender88)

NEW – Ontario Pavilion – regular prices (source – personal visit)

NEW – PumpJack Pub on Davie- regular prices, no auto-grat, specials through Olympics (source: @ReiveD)

NEW – Joseph Richard on Granville – regular prices, no auto-grat (source: venue’s promoter @Bacardi_live)

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Funny a place called “The Greedy Pig” isn’t but on the bad list is a place called “Smiley’s”. They’re smiling as they gouge you which means you won’t be smiling later on.

When the Paralympics I wonder if they will ease off on the price hikes. Still a lot of people in town from around the world so you never know. With the internet the good and bad list will live on way past the times the games end. Old adage about getting good service you tell 1 person, you get bad service you tell 10 people. It’s true.

Even on this blog. The horrible stuff on CTV has gotten repeated by a lot of people online. Good stuff like the pieces on difference between athlete’s bodies and ours, first time I’ve mentioned it. Although seeing the General Electric logo is a bit annoying. Does every taped thing on CTV/Rogers have to have a sponsor? The ‘unholy alliance’ overpaying for the Olympics shouldn’t force “Product Night in Canada” on us every single day of the Olympics. Last night saw something taped which ended “brought to you by Bell” and faded into commercial. Immediately followed by a promo for the Fan Choice Awards presented by Bell.

During CFRC football and hockey broadcasts I know not to put the same sponsor on back to back ads. You annoy the listener if that happens. And this is a volunteer position. When you’re getting paid you should know to spread out the advertising. Common sense.

Jay Onrait still trying his best on Olympic Morning. Almost redeemed the 2 weeks of Olympic Morning today, almost. “A lot of people have been wondering. How do I get the I Believe song? We haven’t been telling you about this much on the show. We haven’t been playing it that much.” Thank you Jay.

Olympic-esque Blog Day 17

Nodar Kumaritashvili’s death is a big part of what will be remembered about vancouver 2010. Anytime an athlete dies that will leave a mark on an event. For me the Luge Federation’s horrible attempt to blame Nodar himself the next day is why I thought I’d open up the last blog with it. One of the lowest points of an Olympics I’ve seen.

Also saying the track wasn’t dangerous but then putting in various changes because it clearly was showed how two-faced they were. Case where I don’t blame the IOC but it fell on VANOC. Various racers leading up to these games warned them about it. Luge, Skeleton and Bobsleigh are treacherous no matter what. When they are worried about a track you listen and don’t blow them off. From Yahoo Sports.



LOSER: Vancouver Organizing Committee

It was obvious they had built a sliding track in Whistler that was too fast and too challenging. Luge athletes were complaining from the start of practice. Then Nodar Kumaritashvili died when he was ejected from the track and into a steel pole. They slowed the luge track, yet then watched bobsledders struggle to make it down later in the Games.

Later, documents, emails and other smoking guns became public that showed concern about the track from officials, including those within the International Luge Federation. Luging is a dangerous sport, but there is no need to make it this difficult. The death of Kumaritashvili should be used to improve safety going forward. It was a terrible and unfortunately lasting moment from these Games.

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Those athletes take risks everytime they race so it takes a lot for them to raise a red flag. Similar to race car drivers.

Takes a lot for me to agree with Jacques Rogge but I did in some quotes he’s said in the last few days. He said the IOC didn’t set the standards for the Whistler track.

“But we are morally responsible. Our responsibility is to make sure that no unnecessary risks are taken. There will always be risk in sport but it has to be reasonable. And the athletes take a lot of risk themselves.”

“The IOC has been very clear in saying to the Russians [2014 Winter Games] please deliver us a track that will be not hazardous. We never ask for more speed on the ice. Never. There has never been any requests to say you should go faster, it should be more difficult. This is something that clearly emanated from the international federation who approved the design.”

About Kumaritashvili’s death compared to other Olympic tragedies.

“It will be a part of the Games. It would be stupid to say the opposite. Just ask about what happened in Munich. What happened in Munich is part of the Games. What happened in Atlanta is part of the Games. There is no way you can isolate it.”

Rogge said the death affected him “very strongly,” and he didn’t sleep for two nights.

“In my profession, you are used to seeing people pass away, but for acceptable reasons, because of disease, because of age. [Rogge was a practicing physician.] And when you see a young athlete pursuing his dream of participating in the Olympic Games and end up in such an accident, it hurts.”

CTV Sunday morning had Rod Black and Jamie Cambpell on. I said before on the blog how I wasn’t a fan of his play by play. I do like him as a broadcaster. Always heard good things about people meeting him as well. Host asked them near the end what you would remember most about these games. Jamie gave the brutally honest answer.

The face of luger who died. Jamie was at the Broadcast Centre that Friday preparing for the sports he was going to call on Saturday. He saw the crash on TV, possibly before most of us had even heard about it. Once he heard he died he admitted he broke down. Betting CTV was looking for the first Gold Medal on home soil story from Jamie. Some things are more important.

Still haven’t watched an Olympic Gold Medal hockey game since 1994 between Canada and Sweden. Don’t like the professionals at the games. That’s it. I have to say the pros are the only ones who I saw cause anger in people the last 2 weeks. Where I work we had a lot of people come by and watch parts of the Olympics on a TV we have in the lobby. If Canada didn’t win in other sports no one got angry.

End of the Canada-Switzerland game which Canada won I saw angry people. Think I quoted this before but one guy before the shootout. “These Motherf$%kers get paid millions of dollars and they can’t beat the Swiss”. Didn’t hear anything like that if a speed skater finished 4th. More swearing at the team at the end of the Canada-Slovakia game.

Reading Twitter tonight and the word “relief” came up alot. Not happiness as much as people relieved they won. A bit strange. Felt much more happiness online when Moir/Virtue won. Tweets from women crying during that so it was memorable reading.

I’ll have one more Olympic-esque blog tomorrow as I catch up on things I missed. I’m a big sports fan but I know sports are a fun distraction. Nothing more and nothing less. Enjoy the game while watching it however it shouldn’t eat away at you if your team loses. Was my opinion of Canada or self worth going to change if the country didn’t win the ‘battle of the millionaires’ ? No, that be crazy. Tomorrow is another day win or lose.

In June it’s the world’s biggest sporting event of the year. 2010 World Cup in South Africa. Winter Olympics are big, but not World Cup of Soccer big. Don’t kid yourself. Those fans border on the insane from time to time. Killing a player for scoring on his own net for example. Not everyone knows the story about Andres Escobar. Scored on his own net against the USA in 1994. A month later in Columbia he was shot 12 times as the shooter reportedly yelled “GOAL!” after each shot. Whether the murderer was hired by Colombian drug syndicates who had bet heavily on the game was never proven. You can imagine that would be difficult and dangerous to prove in that country. The murderer was sentenced to 43 years in prison, then reduced to 26 years. And he only served 11 after being let out for ‘good behaviour’. No, that’s not fishy at all. To also show how big soccer is his funeral was attended by a few people. 120,000 to be exact.

Dark side of sports but let’s hope nothing approaching that happens this time. Does put “crazy hockey fans” in perspective though. Imagine a hockey player getting hurt at all for making a mistake. Unfathomable.

Remember Vancouver 2010 is not over yet. Even though some of the TV coverage would have you believe it is. The Paralympics start on March 12th. CTV/Rogers is doing more coverage than CBC has done. Didn’t see it but Brian Williams even said he’s hosting it. Glad they’re finally giving those games their due. I’ve tried to watch in the past but it would be tape delayed till late at night. CTV, TSN and Sportsnet showing it. We’ll see how they do. I’ll be here to write about it.

Thanks to Olympic Price Watch for linking to the blog yesterday. I’ll post tomorrow any updates from the site. Let’s hope the bad ones smarten up before the Paralympics start.

Quite easy to sum up the games’ ups and downs. Got the new Peter Gabriel CD as he covers various artists. Does a song by Randy Newman from 1968. Vancouver in one sentence over the last 2 weeks.

“Human kindness is overflowing and I think it’s going to rain today.”

Congratulations to Toni Marie and Kenny/ECMA’s

First off, some great news from Sunday. Really tired during the weekend so woke up after a few hours sleep to watch NTV Sunday Evening Newshour. Those who saw it know why I tuned in.

Congratulations to Toni Marie Wiseman and Kenny Butler as they’re expecting a baby girl in July. I can now say I’ve known for a while. I didn’t say anything on the radio or blog out of respect of her wishes. Toni wanted to keep it quiet till she was a few months along and things were going smoothly. She joked about having her first child later than most and Larry said “25?”. That was funny. At the end he said something along the lines of “goodnight from me and them” pointing to Toni Marie. That is correct now.

I did find out something new last night. I didn’t know if it was a boy or a girl. Now I do. Great news for both of them. Known Toni Marie for years so I can attest how thrilled she is. Kenny is extremely happy as well and looking forward to July. Congrats again to them.

Onto the ECMA’s. After my lack of sleep and catching Toni talk about the good news I crashed and fell asleep. Combine that with working Sunday night and I missed the awards. Not archived yet but I read it will be. By all accounts it was a LONG show. Kevin Kelly of the Newfoundland Herald on Facebook said it was 4 hours and 17 minutes! Couldn’t show that much on TV. Although Patrick Molloy on Facebook also said that almost half of the crowd had left by the end of it. That’s a long haul for anyone. Lots of music from the reports. 4 hours is a marathon especially since most of the crowd has probably seen other musicians during the previous few days.

Still wish it had some TV exposure this year. Only big East Coast fans would’ve found it online. Not even mentioning the scheduling against the Oscars. That was bad timing. ECMA’s scheduled it before the Oscars released their date so I can’t complain about that. Oscars are same town, same theatre every year. So they don’t need to plan that far ahead. For instance there is no date for the 2011 Oscars. ECMA’s just got hit with some bad luck this year. Next year Charlottetown hosts the awards, but in April. On one hand it is hard for people to travel to these things in February/March. April does raise other problems as acts are starting to tour across the country with the nicer weather. We’ll see how the change affects things. That month is also when CBC gets taken over by NHL Playoffs. So not sure if the TV situation will get better next year.

Onto the awards. First industry night on Friday. Reports today saying Joel Plaskett won 6 ECMA awards this weekend. Wrong. He won 1 on Friday along with 6 on Sunday, so that’s 7.

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Broadcast of the Year presented by Atlantic Tractors : Atlantic Airwaves

Event of the Year presented by Cape Breton University: Halifax Pop Explosion

Independent Company of the Year presented by Sampson McDougall : Sonic Entertainment Group

Industry Professional of the Year presented by CARAS : Darren Gallop

Manager of the Year presented by Gillis Home Building Centre : Heather Gibson

Media Person of the Year presented by Tim Hortons : Doug Gallant

Producer of the Year by Shure : Joel Plaskett

Record Company/Distributor/Independent Label of the Year : Sonic Records

Studio of the Year presented by Bay Music : The Sonic Temple

Studio Engineer of the Year sponsored by OIART (Ont. Institute of Audio Recording Technology) : Mike “Sheppy” Shelfpherd

Venue of the Year presented by Casino Nova Scotia : The Company House

Visual Artist of the Year presented by Marcato Digital Solutions : Chr!s Sm!th

Stompin’ Tom Award presented by Jim Sampson Motors : Billy and Cornelia MacLeod

FACTOR Industry Builder Award : Stephen “Beak” MacDonald

Musician’s Achievement Award : Dave McKeough

Atlantic Lottery Volunteer of the Year Award : Marie Doyle and Margie MacNeil

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Onto Sunday night’s awards. Where Joel cleaned up. Other artists I’ve played on the show.

Entertainer of the Year: Joel Plaskett.

Female Solo Recording of the Year: Catherine MacLellan – “Water In The Ground.”

Group Recording of the Year: In-Flight Safety – “We Are an Empire, My Dear”

Male Solo Recording of the Year: Joel Plaskett – “Three”

Recording of the Year: Joel Plaskett – “Three”

Rising Star Recording of the Year: Kim Wempe – “Where I Need To Be”

Single of the Year: Joel Plaskett – “Through & Through & Through”

Songwriter of the Year: Joel Plaskett – “Through & Through & Through”

Video of the Year: The Tom Fun Orchestra – “Throw Me to the Rats”

Aboriginal Recording of the Year: Forever – “Reborn”

Alternative Recording of the Year: In-Flight Safety – “We Are an Empire, My Dear”

Bluegrass Recording of the Year: The Grass Mountain Hobos – “ZOOT!”

Blues Recording of the Year: The Hupman Brothers – “Countin’ Quarters”

Country Recording of the Year: The Divorcees – “Last of the Free Men”

Folk Recording of the Year: Catherine MacLellan – “Water In The Ground”

Francophone Recording of the Year: BLOU – “Noel Blou”

Gospel Recording of the Year: The Ascensions – “No Greater Love”

Instrumental Recording of the Year:

10:30 AM

Views (56)·Edit

30 Mar 2010

Fell Behind

Sorry MySpacers, with my long Olympic blogs I got distracted and forgot to post them on here. Oops. I'll catch up later tonight with all the posts from the Wordpress blog. That will be a LONG post. Fair warning.

Easter Weekend snuck up on me. Weather is going to be nice, but I'll be working. However 17 or 18 degrees is nice no matter what.

9:43 AM

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17 Feb 2010

Olympic-esque Blog Days 1-5

Forgot to post these to MySpace from Wordpress. So my daily Olympic blog. First 5 days. LONG post. You've been warned. :)

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Don't think I can do a blog post on each day of the games but Day 1 was a big one.

First for the bad news of the death of the Luger from Georgia, Nodar Kumaritashvili. Heard about it before I headed to the station last night for my show. Had to mention it during the show since I'm sure some listeners would'nt have heard it before they flicked it on tv that night.

Olympics will do things that just make you go nuts. For instance overnight they put out an international press release pretty much saying the accident was Nodar's fault and not the track. Somehow the investigation has wrapped up in less than 12 hours and they're going to run on the track as scheduled today. They go from honoring him during the ceremony to throwing his name under the bus. Classy.

I'll move onto a lighter topic the Opening Ceremony. I don't sit through opening or closing ceremonies of any Olympics since Salt Lake in 1996. Had to draw the line in the sand after the "talking dinosaurs" that year. Which lives on thanks to YouTube. Donny and Marie Osmond as Dinosaurs. Nothing in Vancouver's opening or closing will top this when it comes to embarrassing.



Wow. How that got through a planning stage and part of an actual event is amazing.

Saw bits and pieces of last night. Some East Coast content. I would like to say Sarah McLachan "sang" but you can't escape the lip synching at these things. Last night seemed like a bad night for all of them. Always heard BC Place was horrible for acoustics so it was fitting in a way.

Oh.... the torch hydraulics screw up at the end. You've got to be kidding. $20 Million spent on the ceremony last night but not apparently enough on a little detail at the end. The lighting of the damn thing. You might want to throw some cash that way to make sure it works. Insane.

Gretzky being the choice at the end I thought was wrong. Betty Fox all the way. They went with "most famous" as opposed to anything else. Wayne didn't even medal in the one games he competed in. Some will say he put together the Gold medal team. Picking a bunch of millionaire hockey players to compete against other millionaires isn't that impressive to me. He also put together that team that finished 7th place 4 years ago too. They don't like to mention that.

I've never followed Men's Hockey at the Olympics since the pros came in. Didn't even watch 2002 US-Canada Gold Medal game. Our rich guys better than theirs? Who cares. At their own tournament that's one thing. But the Olympics are different.

Also the hockey overshadows the other sports for Canadians. Most people remember how well or badly the hockey team did in a given Olympics first. "Did a speed skater win some medals last time? Ummm, ya I remember that a bit."

Not a very positive post to start things out but you can't blindly be "rah-rah-rah" less than a day after the death of an Olympian. I'll leave you with a column Jody Vance wrote two years ago. Saying Jody's not a fan of BC Place is putting it mildly. It was built in 1983 and I think that had something to do with the problems. I read last summer an elevator used by CFL staff wasn't working for close to 3 months at the stadium. Jody got the Super Bowl wrong but she got this right.

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How can Vancouver top Beijing?

The big Olympic hand-off from Beijing 2008 to London 2012 went like everything else in China did over the course of the '08 Summer Games: Like clockwork.

But before the Brits take over, in just 18 short months the Olympic torch will be lit right here on Canadian soil when the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics begin.

I'm nervous. Are you nervous?

Can Canada top what was achieved in China?

Beijing proved to be pretty close to perfect over the course of the Olympics of 2008 — it's an almost impossible act to follow.

Follow it we shall.

My biggest worry is the opening and closing ceremonies in 2010. Did you know they will, in part at least, be held at B.C. Place Stadium?

B.C. Place is, hands-down, my least favourite sports venue on the planet. It's void of personality and, for now, has an immovable roof — in a city where the temperature rarely dips below -5 C!

Yes, there are plans for a retractable roof as part of a renovation outline that's also key to Vancouver's MLS bid, but I didn't like this place when it opened as the jewel of Expo '86 and after years of covering sporting events there, I like it even less today.

How can B.C. Place deliver an experience even close to that of the likes of Beijing's Bird's Nest?

It boggles the mind that landing the Olympics wasn't considered the ideal opportunity to knock that sucker down and put up a stadium worthy of both beautiful British Columbia and the Olympic Games.

It's too late now, of course, and the compromise is that the opening and closing ceremonies will be "split" between downtown Vancouver and Whistler.

I have great faith in the Vancouver Olympic Committee and its plan to present a seamless and stellar experience showcasing the ultraunique culture that is the Pacific coast of Canada.

But, to get past that whole B.C. Place vs. Bird's Nest thing will be next to impossible.

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Day 2

Silver but not gold. That sums up the side effect of all those annoying 'I Believe' ads and the 'Own the Podium' program. Expectations have been raised a bit too high. A Silver medal at any other games would make people happy.

Day 2 and at work we had the moguls on TV. Few people watched Jennifer Heil get a medal. Their reactions:

"Silver is nice but she was supposed to get Gold"

"So we spent millions of dollars for Silver"

That is from regular people. Not the media, just some regular Canadians. It is a tad harsh on the first day of competition. However you get what you asked for. You can't pump people up for a long time and not expect them to be annoyed when you don't deliver. Oh wait, am I talking about the Opening Ceremony again? No, but I could be.

My Mom did watch the entire Opening Ceremony. She was underwhelmed. That's my barometer of doing a good job at these things. If my Mom stayed up through the entire thing and still didn't like they did a bad job.

That's not even discussing CTV's coverage so far. Tried watching Olympic Morning after getting home from work. They had someone from E-Talk discussing whether Sarah McLachlin is single or not....... years of preparation and this is what they come up with. Going to be a long 2 weeks if this keeps up.

Heil's medal even had some suspect commentating. I know you want the event you're covering to be the one where Canada gets a Gold but setttle down. Before Hannah Kearney, the American who won, started her run CTV Commentator Veronica Brenner said something. "She has a history of choking". Choking is a strong word and if an NBC commentator said that about a Canadian in Salt Lake people imagine the reaction in Canada.

Sportsnet still comes across as, well Sportsnet. Even in Vancouver they have problems. After an Olympic sportscast they go to Sean McCormack doing one with other sports news. Starting off sounded like an audio problem then the camera that is moving starts to shake. Not good. Moves again in a jerking motion then zooms in quickly on him. Wow.

Hopefully the weather helps out with other events on Sunday. However figure skating also starts. [shudder]

Trying to see if I can find footage of MuchMusic's contribution on Friday night. Body shots in a hot tub and asking girls to "drop their gear for beer". Guessing they might not pop up during the closing ceremonies.

From what I've seen so far NBC's production has been more professional and smooth. Just put it on Olympic Morning again. Still not good. A very "herky jerky" feel to it. They've said they spent months getting ready and rehearsing. I don't see it yet. The morning show especially is painful at times. Right now some people from MTV Canada are attempting some "comedy" about figure skating with Elvis Stojko.

Finally the Olympic cauldron looks ugly. I don't mind saying it. Read it described as a bunch of logs leaning against each other or on Yahoo Sports some joints. Drug humour about B.C.? I'm shocked. lol.

I would hope the TV coverage improves but so far it shows they are really out of touch with what viewers want. Comedy pieces and gossip about singers is not what people are watching for.

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Day 3

Glad the first Canadian Gold Medal went to someone that the media wasn't expecting. 4th time the charm for Alexandre Bilodeau. Didn't qualify for 1998, broken neck in 2002 and battling mono in 2006. 13 years on the team and his first Olympics.

As for the reaction I saw where I am in Kingston, one word "quiet". Mainly because of timing. Here in Ontario, Monday is a holiday. Family Day. It was really quiet due to the holiday. Myself, I woke up after it had happened. I stayed up to watch some afternoon events but I work at 11pm so I did have to catch some shuteye. Men's Nordic Combined had a great finish. Top 4 raced to the line and all finished within a second of each other and collapsed.

As for the Gold in the moguls a couple of people came by during work and asked about it. Both were from Quebec and had my reaction. Glad but more relieved that we I don't have to hear all that talk.

Woman I spoke to said "I'm happy I don't have to hear Canada has never won a gold medal at home anymore." Not the reaction I think a Gold Medal is supposed to have. Thanks CTV/Rogers for running the ads so much you made us sick of the Gold Medal talk. Bravo. Relief is a strange emotion to have after someone winning something.

I bet if Canada gets a second Gold people will be more excited and happy around here. They're going nuts in Vancouver but with the holiday it's been subdued. Saturday night a lot people coming by asking about what medals were won. Sunday I spoke to two people.

Walking downtown after work and the majority of places are closed downtown. Even a convenience store and Indigo Books. Only thing I saw open was the fast food joints.

Wonder if the other sports today had anything to do with it. TSN wasn't "Canada's Sports Leader" Sunday. Olympic coverage? Not Sunday afternoon. TSN showed Daytona 500 which you could get on FOX. I change it to TSN2 and get the Pebble Beach Pro-Am which was on CBS. Huh? If I have TSN I have CBS and FOX.

Sunday Night TSN continued with non-Olympic programming with the NBA All Star Game. At least with the NBA case TNT is not available in Canada. But showing all that on Sunday during the Olympics seemed a bit much. I have TSN2 so the NBA could have been put there. I know not a lot of people have TSN2. Basketball fans should since Raptors get bumped to TSN2 a lot.

Some blogs about the weekend coverage. Chris Zelkovich from the Toronto Star, once a guest on CFRC Offsides with Tyler King. Julie Stewart-Binks who worked on our CFRC broadcasts. She's currently in England. Finally William Houston with the same thoughts I had about the "choking" comment during the moguls on Saturday. See yesterday's blog for that. I'm not the only one who used the "if NBC had done that Canadians would've went nuts" line. :)







Bad luck so far for these games. Weather causing headaches and they've canceled 4000 tickets for events at Cypress. Too bad if you had standing room general admission. Because you will get a refund but no chance to watch. Heavy rains have washed away so much snow they had to cancel tickets. That's $400,000 in sales that will have to be paid back.

Not the only problems at Cypress. Buses running late and drivers getting lost. Not a shock because Kingston Whig-Standard had a story about Kingston Transit drivers going to Vancouver to drive buses. Drivers from across the country came there to be part of it. Great for those guys. However if you are not from an area and get their shortly before an event that is not a recipe for smooth transportation. You take a wrong turn you might not know how to get back.

Some quotes from Renee Smith-Valade of Vanoc about what's been going on.

“Cypress is like your special child. Your special child that’s bright and talented and good-looking and causes you all kinds of worries, but they’re still your special child. So that’s what Cypress is.”

That's strange enough I don't need to make another comment.

Sounds like they might smarten up about one really silly thing. Having a fence around the Olympic Cauldron keeping people from getting to it. This is where I can blame that ugly design for part of it. Clearly someone who might be intoxicated might attempt to climb it. The way the logs [or whatever you want to call them] are at an angle makes it easy or at least inviting for troublemakers.

Fencing it off though has been bad P.R. The point of the cauldron outside is for the public. The IOC mandates it has to be outdoors. Which has never been an issue till this time. Decision to hold it indoors at a stadium that sucks like BC Place is still mind boggling. See Jody's article I put up on Day 1. I thought too that Vancouver getting the games meant a new stadium. Wrong.

If you don't know they are putting $200 Million worth of renovation into BC Place. After the Olympics. Don't bother trying to figure that out. Call me crazy but I would want to put money into something before the world comes to visit. Not afterwards.

Leave to Atlantic Canada to bring a tonne of talent to the Olympics. Anyone in BC should visit Atlantic Canada house.



Amount of music there is huge. Tonne of people I've played on the show since I started. This is the list of ones that have been played on 'Salt Water Music' that are playing vancouver over the next 2 weeks. I must have a good memory.

Amelia Curran



Grand Theft Bus



Tim Chiasson and Morning Fold



Sloan



Lennie Gallant



The Trews



Vishten



Jimmy Rankin



Meaghan Blanchard



Sherman Downey



In Flight Safety



Hey Rosetta



Jessica Rhaye



The Irish Descendants



Matt Andersen



Rawlins Cross



Jill Barber



Ron Hynes



Catherine MacLellan



Chris Kirby



Wintersleep



Shanneyganock



Rose Cousins



The Olympic Symphonium



Matt Mays



The Navigators



Jim Payne & Fergus O'Byrne





Whew. And there are even more artists. That is a big list.

Luckily I have 3 days off from work so I can watch more of the events live. Saw many things but just replayed on overnights at work. Not quite the same but at least I get to see them.

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Day 4

With my strange midnight hours it led to some weird tv watching. Family Day meant almost everything was closed. When you hear Walmart isn't open that's a sign there is not much to do in the city. Stayed up into late afternoon then fell asleep. Working 11pm-7am means your day is backwards. Get used to it but your first night off after a work week you just kind of do nothing but rest.

Flicking around around 3am and I find the Gold medal presentation on NBC Detroit of all things. Overnight they are re-running the primetime show with Bob Costas. So I got the "Live" version just a few hours later.

Kudos to Costas for saying that Australian got rich from an "online internet scheme". Other stations say it's a business but it's not. Online advertising that's been linked to invasive software and spam. That's a version of a con-man I would say. 'Click here you might have a virus' or something along those lines I imagine.

Lost in all of the Canadian coverage is that..... the Australians don't like him either. Their media is the one who found out about his interent business and a headline ran "Spam Man Wins Gold". And this from another Aussie newspaper.

"Has there ever been a more unloved, more unlauded, more unpopular Australian Olympic champion than Dale Begg-Smith?"

Sometimes things do work out in sports. Alexandre wins the Gold and the jerk doesn't.

Saw the 500m rerun. Jeremy Wotherspoon finished 9th. His first Olympics he finished with a Silver. Since then it's like he's had a mental block. Falling down at the start in 2002 and admitting to being too cautious in 2006 with another 9th place finish. World record holder in the 500m and all the fans were cheering for him. Even fans of other countries, He's a skater with more World Cup wins than anyone else. His competitors have said before they are all puzzled by his struggles at the Olympics.

Short post today. Slept through most of the coverage. Catching up now.

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Day 5

Another Gold medal. Missed this one too. Stayed up to late afternoon [like 3 or 4am to regular people] and saw the end of Canada-Norway curling. Would have seen Maelle Ricker win Snowboard Cross but weather delays again. And even worse headaches with the weather as VANOC canceled another 20,000 general admission tickets. Worth about $1.5 Million. Ouch.

Weather delay meant I did see James Duthie talking to Jamie Campbell about the delays. Most people probably saw it as a TSN anchor talking to one from Sportsnet. Not me. They both were the local sports anchors at the CTV affiliate in Ottawa, CJOH. At different times so they never worked together. Which means they both worked with Max Keeping who is retiring soon from CJOH. Max is from Newfoundland and has been at CJOH for decades. Really bad news recently with the fire at the station which gutted it. Some friends from college work there and I found out about the fire from Facebook on a Sunday morning. Bit lucky though that the A-Channel station in town is under the same corporate umbrella so they've moved the newscasts over there.

I hope Jamie stops saying "it's a great country" soon though. Laying it on a tad thick.

CTV Olympic coverage still sloppy. Tuesday morning they had Jan Onrait standing next to a big screen TV. Twice that morning I saw these words beside Jay on my non-HD screen.

YMPIC

PDATE

Hmm, should say Olympic Update. Maybe a mistake like that could happen the first day. Even then I would say no. You've had months of prep time how does something as simple as that get by. And this was me watching it on Day 5. Most people don't have HDTV so you have to frame the screen accordingly. Sloppy. I took TV Broadcasting in college so I'm familiar with doing camera. Shoot for a "safe area" that can be seen by everyone. This is something the director should catch as well.

Olympic Morning has become a running joke. Tuesday some MTV Canada people talking to Andre Phillipe Gagnon for an entire segment. For reasons unknown. Then Gino Reda spoke to Wayne Gretzky for a segment. Wayne and Andre were on for the equal amount of time on the morning show.

Hang on, Darren Dutchyshen is knocking on my door. I'll be right back....

He had some champagne and wanted to know if he could "help" out. Told him I can handle this one on my own. He left saying something about an "icon".



Hockey has begun. Yawn. I have never watched since the pros joined in 1998. Just look at this morning's SportsCentre. More time discussing Canada-Norway than a Gold Medal victory. It was 8-0, why are you wasting all that time talking about it? Side effect of the pros is overshadowing everything else. It was the IOC wanting the US Dream Team in Basketball so it purely was a cash grab.

One story had a funny ending for me. Zamboni is a brand name for an ice resurfacing machine. But it's become like Kleenex is to tissue. People use both names back and forth. But for these games they went with Olympias which were more "green". Only problem is they were horrible. First one on Monday caused problems. So they brought in another one. Same thing. Went with a third Olympia. Same thing.

Bad enough that VANOC air lifted a gas powered Zamboni from Calgary. One headline "Never Fear Zamboni is Here". Something else VANOC has screwed up. Not a good games for them. Column from the Vancouver Sun.



Can see a picture of the Olympic cauldron behind a chain link fence. Nice.

5:44 PM

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5 Feb 2010

Funding Drive starts

Here is all the info from the CFRC website. No plan for tonight's show. Playing some music and plugging the phone line for 2 hours shouldn't be too hard. :)

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CFRC 101.9fm, Kingston’s only campus and community radio station, wants to be your Valentine this year. Help us celebrate our fifth annual Funding Drive, February 5-14!

As a not-for-profit, volunteer-based, listener-supported station, CFRC relies on contributions made during the Funding Drive for a significant portion of its operating revenue. The goal for this year’s campaign is $25,000, to be raised during 10 days of special on-air programming and exciting community events.

There are several ways to donate:

1) Phone: Call 613-533-CFRC between 8am and 1am, February 5-14.

2) Online:



to donate with your credit card (note: eligible for charitable tax receipts only)

3) Mail: Send a cheque payable to “CFRC” (or “Queen’s” for a charitable tax receipt) to:

CFRC 101.9fm

Lower Carruthers Hall

Queen’s University

Kingston, ON

K7L 3N6

4) In Person: Drop by Lower Carruthers Hall at Queen’s University to make a pledge or payment in person.

Phone, mail and in-person contributions are eligible for either a charitable tax receipt or thank-you gifts that include organic cotton CFRC tote bags and long-sleeved shirts as well as CDs and gift certificates.

Download our 2010-gift-list to find the right thank-you gift for you!



On behalf of the 5 staff and 180 volunteers at CFRC, thank you for supporting community radio!

8:16 PM

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3 Feb 2010

CFRC Funding Drive/2 Newspaper Articles

The annual CFRC Funding Drive starts on Friday and runs for 10 days. Can phone in with your pledge each day from 8am to about 1am. Or visit the website and you'll see a link to online donations.



The fundraising started since I began at the station. CFRC runs at a deficit and this helps out. Also shows the AMS, who is in charge of the station, how popular it is to the area. Any drive of this sort is a challenge, but you can figure out this year might be a bit harder than usual. Lot of people have given money to a worthy cause in helping out the victims of the Haiti earthquake in recent weeks. Hopefully listeners have a few more bucks this month.

Putting together a big Super Bowl blog for Thursday or Friday. Some friends helping out so look forward to that. In honour of the funding drive two recent articles in local Kingston newspapers you might like to read.

CFRC celebrates 50th anniversary in Carruthers Hall

Posted Jan 14, 2010

BY KRISTEN COUGHLAR

CFRC 101.9 FM celebrated 50 years of broadcasting from Lower Carruthers Hall at Queen's University last Thursday.

Staff and volunteers opened the station's doors to the community for a special open house, People were invited to enjoy food and refreshments and share in some of the station's history via a series of photographs and displays.

"To my knowledge it's extremely rare for a station to be able to sustain operations in the same facility for half a century," said operations officer Kristiana Clemens. The station itself is now is celebrating its 88th year of broadcasting in 2010.

Clemens said CFRC began as an experiment by a group of electrical engineering students that was looking to learn more about what was at the time new technology.

"The first successful broadcast was of a Queen's Gaels football game in 1923," Clemens said.

Clemons said that over the years CFRC, which translates to Canada's Famous Rugby Champions, has had many roles and affiliations.

Today the station is a diverse mixture of classical, oldies, electronica, indie rock, jazz, folk and metal music as well as spoken word programming with a spotlight on issues related to the Kingston community, including Muslim and Jewish perspectives, queer issues, feminist matters, local sports, municipal politics and student affairs. Clemens also notes that the station is also the only local broadcaster to air North America's most popular alternative radio news program Democracy Now!

"It's really an amazing diverse mixture of all the things that are missing from other spots on the FM dial," Clemens said.

That diversity is made possible by 150 different volunteers, 50 per cent of whom are university students and faculty and the other half are community members.

"The most wonderful thing about it (CFRC) is the sincerity people bring to their work here...In terms of content people really bring to the table what they care about," Clemens said.

And as the station team celebrates its role in making CFRC Canada's longest running campus broadcaster, Clemens was looking forward to meeting some CFRC alumni who have also played a role in the station's success.

She noted that each time the station hosts an open house CFRC alumni drop by to share some of their memories. Last year she met a man who worked at the station before the Second World War.

"For me that's the exciting part of it (the open house). You're not sure who is going to show up and bring their memories and experiences from the station," Clemens said.

Just as the 50th anniversary celebrations are a time to celebrate the rich history of the station it's also a time to look ahead to its future, which Clemens hopes will see the station in a new facility.

"I think it's doing great right now and I would just like to see the station continue to grow and evolve...I think we're hoping in the next five to 10 years to move into a new facility. That's part of our vision for the future: to be in a new and more modern facility for our second century of music making."

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Radio station defies stereotype

Posted By

MICHAEL LEA, THE WHIG-STANDARD

Tune in to CFRC any Wednesday at 4 p.m. and you can laugh at the comedians.

Stick around until 5 p.m. and hear a discussion of Jewish issues.

Leave the dial until 6 p.m. and relax to classical music. At 8 p.m., the pace picks up with Latin rhythms, and by 9 p.m., the sound has switched to dance music.

Queen's University's radio station, at 101.9 FM, is nothing if not eclectic. Add to the mix programs on cooking, municipal issues, the law, aboriginal and women's issues, as well as programs dedicated to Kingston's Cantonese, Spanish, French and Portuguese communities.

"There is everything," said Michael Morreale, the music programming manager at the station. "We are always looking to diversify.

"I always say whoever can come up with the strangest idea will get a show."

There is a 50-50 mix of music and spoken word in different program blocks throughout the day.

"It's designed for people who like to be surprised and don't like to hear the same thing all the time," Morreale said.

"Within the music we have everything from opera (to) a Swedish music show. In spoken word we (have) everything from religious programming through to sports."

One show saw Queen's students present their theses on air.

"We call ourselves campus and community and try to represent all of the different communities in Kingston," Morreale said. "Many are not represented at all in the traditional mainstream media. We try to represent the people that aren't represented."

The station celebrated its history and diversity yesterday with an open house.

The station first went on the air in 1922 in Fleming Hall. Canada's oldest campus broadcaster -- and one of the oldest continually operating radio stations in the world -- moved in late 1959 to its current home in lower Carruthers Hall.

Yesterday's 50th anniversary open house marked its official restart on Jan. 7, 1960.

Morreale is one of five full-time staff members at the station. Kristana Clemens is the operations officer, Scott Stevens is the music co-ordinator, Aleksandra Bragoszowska is the business manager and Chris Trimmer is the spoken work program manager.

"On the air, it's all volunteers, about 150 in total," explained Morreale. "Half of them are longtime Kingston residents, some are young students, some of them are grad students.

"There is no one stereotypical CFRC person."

They try to distinguish CFRC from commercial radio stations by limiting the number of hits they play. Not too many top-10 stations would play accordion music, but CFRC would.

The station has a community access mandate. People come up with an idea, talk it over with the staff and get on the air.

"If there is someone who wants to make radio, but doesn't know how to, that's fine. We'll teach them everything. It's free," Morreale said.

People can be intimidated by the medium, he said, "but there's no need to be."

"Sometimes the first time they are a little bit shaky, but that's OK if it's not 100% professional. That's not what we are going for."

There are limits to what CFRC allows on the air. Nothing offensive to anyone or any particular ethnic group would be tolerated.

"We fall under CRTC rules because we are a broadcaster. Yes, we do need our 35% Canadian content in most genres, (but) in terms of the university, they don't put any guidelines on us. We are officially run by the Alma Mater Society."

Some of the programmers on the station have been there for 30 years, while undergraduates might only stay while they are at the university.

"In some areas, people are in the same spot for a long, long time. They get an audience of all their friends, taxi drivers."

A few of the CFRC alumni have gone on to make names for themselves in the mainstream media. They include: Lorne Greene, actor and CBC; Shelagh Rogers, CBC; Stu Mills, CBC; Jaime Stein, TSN; Chris Cuthbert, CTV and TSN; Chris Harvey, CKWS; Matthew Bisson, 98.9; Rick Choma, K-Rock; Richard Zussman, City TV; Peter Watts, CHQR; and Jeffrey Simpson of theGlobe and Mail.

Morreale said CFRC also tries to be "a creative hub," trying new things over and above its normal radio shows. As an example, the station will be airing a live radio drama during a funding drive in February.

"You get a team of people working together who would, under no other circumstance, be in the same room as each other."

The station gets a student levy and grants to help with the bills, but its funding drives pay most of the operating costs.

Just who exactly listens to CFRC has always been a bit of a mystery.

"We're not sure, because the kind of person who would like to wake up to this kind of music and then switch to this kind of program has to be someone that's really eclectic.

"We're actually not really concerned with numbers, how many people are listening."

The station has never commissioned a poll to see what the audience might be for any particular show, he said. "Polls are both expensive and inaccurate."

Instead, they rely on listener feedback.

"We do know that people are listening."

Morreale knows the concept of producing the best shows it can -- irrespective of how many people tune in -- would be heresy in a commercial radio station, "but that's what we're all about."

As well as being music programming manager at the station and doing his own Friday classical show, Morreale is also in his third year as a music student at Queen's. Both are virtually full-time commitments, he said.

"I discovered that when you are really busy you can have perfect work habits because there is no other option," he said, "and this is such a fun place to be that I couldn't give it up. I can take a few steps from my office and get into a giant music library. How cool is that?"

The station is one of the few archives for local music. Thousands of vinyl records and CDs, many of them from local bands, cover the walls of the narrow corridors that lead to the broadcast booths.

"To have them all in one place is really important for Kingston."

1:42 PM

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30 Jan 2010

January 8th and 15th Episodes

Finally catching up with past episodes.



2nd episode of the new year. 90 minutes due to Queen's Hockey that night.

Start off with Kev Corbett. Two long Blue Rodeo songs from the new album for those who didn't catch the show on New Year's Day. End off with Andrea Curran and The Trews.



New blues music from New Brunswick's Ross Nielsen and Newfoundland's Chris Kirby. Then Reggae with The Idlers and their new CD. Another shorter episode with CFRC's Queen's hockey that night

10:44 AM

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22 Jan 2010

January Wrapping Up

January 22nd already? Month is flying by. Got a new computer so that explains why I've fallen behind uploading episodes. Got some ready to put up on the weekend.

Tonight the last shorter than usual episode due to Queen's sports. Basketball is at 8pm from Ottawa, and I don't think we'll throw it over to them much earlier than that. If it's like the games in Kingston they probably do women's and men's games back to back. We've had the start times pushed up already once this year by a few minutes.

Start of next month is the annual CFRC Funding Drive so I'll be plugging the pledge line and website for 2 episodes, so be ready. :)

10:38 AM

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16 Jan 2010

NFL Playoffs Week 2

Cowboys won a playoff game after 13 years and I didn’t have a blog up with my predictions last week. I’m a Redskins fan but would’ve liked to write about it. Reason for no blog last week was my midnight shift job, 3 CFRC sports broadcasts in 4 nights, along with my radio show and that the games started on Saturday. I write the NFL blogs late on Saturday night when it’s quiet so that didn’t happen last week.

On Twitter I did pick Eagles, Patriots, Jets and Cardinals. 2-2 which is better than most did. Crazy thing was last week I heard the amount of people betting on the Packers kept going up and up as the week went along. Huh? Thought they were pretty even but I gave Arizona the edge. Nothing worth putting money on though.

This is where an American blogger would say “of course sports betting is illegal outside of Nevada” but we have ProLine in Canada. Go to a local convenience store and fill out a ticket for what team you want and put some money down. Maximum of 100 bucks. So it’s not crazy.

As for this weekend, I’m going with “4 C’s”. When I wrote them down I noticed they all start with the letter “C”.

Cardinals over Saints. Never thought I’d call Arizona a “playoff tested” team but here we are after a run to the SuperBowl last year. And they held off a valiant Packers team who kept fighting back. Saints looked bad after the loss to Dallas. No excuse for losing at home to Tampa Bay the following week. New Orleans have seemed to peak in that Monday Night game against New England. If the Superdome didn’t help them against the Bucs I think the Cards will win this game.

Colts over Ravens. Back and forth on this one. But key for me was Ravens QB Joe Flacco throwing for 34 yards last week in a win. Really think Colts could lose this one but 34 yards is a number sticking in my head too much.

Cowboys over Vikings. Dallas got their first playoff win since the Clinton administration last Saturday. They’ve played well over the last month, surprisingly. Minnesota the opposite. And I ignore their last game against the New York ‘rolling over and not trying’ Giants.

Chargers over Jets. Matchup is a good one for the Jets. San Diego can’t run well this year, NY defense stops the run. NY is a good running team, SD can’t stop the run. Comes down to the QB’s and I think Rivers will have enough for the win, but a close game.

11:29 AM

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6 Jan 2010

All interviews from 2009

Time for a blog entry with all the interviews from 2009. One of those things where I knew there was a few but once I added them up it got to be a longer list than I though.

Thanks to all those who gave time to be interviewed for the show in 2009. Time to go "Romper Room" and say thanks to Sora, Fergus, Ray, Andrea, Melanie, Tim, Melissa, Bryan, Ian, Toni Marie, Robin, Neate, Laurie, Gerry and Kirsten. Whew. Close to 18 hours of radio here so many weeks worth of listening if you missed some of them.

Sora on her latest CD and her music for this episode.



Fergus O'Byrne from the legendary Newfoundland group Ryan's Fancy joins the show.





Ray Johnson from Buddy Wasisname and the Other Fellers before their tour stop in Kingston.



Andrea Wittgens, the first Queen's graduate to join the show. Originally from Antigonish, NS and currently living in Seattle.





Melanie Samson a singer/songwriter from Newfoundland who sings in English and French. And she's also a schoolteacher and we discuss that and her experience at the ECMA's.



Tim Baker from Hey Rosetta! in an interview where he was walking around Toronto on a day off on his cellphone. Put together at the last minute before they came to Kingston last spring but it worked out well.



Melissa DiMarco from Out There before an episode where she visited Nova Scotia.



Bryan Page from Faded Blue on the 2 year anniversary show of the radio show. Interview was done live during the show as opposed to the usual taped scenario.



Ian Foster joined the program for the 3rd time before his 2009 tour. This time he drove from Newfoundland to Ontario, then flew to British Columbia for some dates.





Toni-Marie Wiseman from NTV who interviewed me for the Newfoundland Herald and helped get the Fergus O'Byrne interview. We talk about how she started out in radio and then moved to TV. Cover a lot of topics including her favorite songs.





Neate Sager on the Queen's Golden Gaels Vanier Cup run.



Robin Meade from HLN's Morning Express joined the show during her book tour. Day we taped it she was doing a book signing that night in her native Ohio.



Two Olympic torchbearers from the Kingston area, Laurie Walker and Rev. Gerry Moore. Then with Kirsten Mihailides from the Coca-Cola side of the Torch relay organizers.



Thanks again to all those who joined the show during 2009. Going to be hard to top that list of guests in 2010, but I'll see who I can bring to the airwaves.

Queen's Hockey tonight at 7:30pm against RMC. Friday the show will be a bit shorter due to another hockey game at 7:30pm followed by Queen's Basketball Saturday at 8pm. Busy week of University sports on the station.

8:19 AM

Views (54)·Edit

30 Dec 2009

Winter 2010 CFRC Sports Schedule

Back on air Friday with the first show of 2010. Plan to do a bit of a year in review for 2009 but not completely sure. Worked over Christmas so this is my 4 day stretch of not working. So trying to relax and do as little as possible. I said on Christmas that I thought I had too many interviews to cram into 2 hours and that's true. I'll write a long blog post later in the week with links to the interviews from 2009. Lot of them.

Christmas went well when I had some time off. Working Christmas Night a bit longer than usual from 10pm-7am. Which messed up the holiday more than I thought. You have to get some sleep on the 25th and then on Boxing Day you're too tired to go out and do anything. Oh well. But I have New Year's Eve off. Whew.

Just got the revised 2010 CFRC Queen's Hockey/Basketball schedule. Going to have a couple of busy weeks ahead of me in the new year.

Hockey

Queen’s Vs. RMC. Wednesday January 6th, Kingston Memorial Centre @ 7:30pm

Queen’s Vs. U of T. Friday January 8th, Kingston Memorial Centre @ 7:30pm

Queen’s Vs. Nipissing. Friday January 15th, Kingston Memorial Centre @ 7:30pm

Queen’s Vs. RMC. Wednesday January 20th, Constantine Arena @ 7:30pm

Queen’s Vs. RMC. Thursday February 4th, Kingston Memorial Centre @ 7:30pm

Queen’s Vs. Ryerson. Wednesday February 10th, Kingston Memorial Centre @ 7:30pm

Basketball

Queen’s Vs. Ryerson. Saturday January 9th, Kingston PEC @ 8:00 PM

Queen’s Vs. Carleton. Friday January 22nd, Ottawa @ 8:00 PM

Queen’s Vs. Ottawa. Saturday January 23rd, Ottawa @ 8:00 PM

Queen’s Vs. York. Saturday January 30th, Kingston PEC @ 8:00 PM

With the hockey and basketball broadcasts this Friday will be the last full 2 hour episode till January 29th.

9:28 AM

Views (32)·Edit

25 Dec 2009

Christmas Night

Wrote a long post with NFL picks and hit publish and the entire post disappeared. What a nice way to start Christmas Day. Skip NFL picks today, write that later on the weekend.

Tonight at 6pm I'll be on CFRC for 2 hours with the show. Christmas music from Jenn Grant, Christa Borden, Great Big Sea and Andrea Gauster.

Merry Christmas to all readers. I'm working tonight so if you have the day off enjoy it.

2:20 AM

Views (32)·Edit

20 Dec 2009

NFL Week 15/HLN Special

Two games in the books already. Colts hung on to beat the Jaguars in a back and forth game. Cowboys beat the Saints by getting out in front and holding off a late surge from New Orleans. Now Indy gets all the media focus with being undefeated. When it was split up all season between 2 teams it didn't seem that big a story.

Still think the Colts should try and stay on a roll since their arch-nemesis San Diego is on a tear. People think Colts-Pats but the Chargers are the ones who've had their number lately. Knocked Indy out of the last 2 playoffs.

Onto Sunday's games which is already dealing with a lot of weather issues.

Chicago at Baltimore has been moved up to 4pm because of snow. Bears didn't get there till late Saturday night. Go with Ravens in this one.

San Fran. at Philly also moved up to 4pm. Picking the Eagles.

If you're sitting down to watch games tomorrow on FOX you might get a different one than you're expecting. You've been warned. I'll put the station for each game since that will affect things.

Browns at Chiefs [CBS] Maybe we'll get a Browns/Lions shootout. Cleveland coming off a win over the Steelers. However rumours of Mike Holmgren coming in to take over are swirling around. Distraction possibly. Go with the Chiefs.

Falcons at Jets [FOX] Both teams still have a shot at the playoffs, mathematically anyway. Atlanta at 6-7. As I pointed out at the start of the season the Falcons have never had back to back winning seasons in their history. History is repeating, New York with the win.

Dolphins at Titans [CBS] Titans are on the outside looking in now. Miami is hanging around. As of today they would be edged out for the last spot by Baltimore (i.e. Conference record tiebreaker). I'll pick Miami to keep their hopes alive.

Patriots at Bills [CBS] Strangely no large amount of snow in Buffalo. Not sure about the Pats lately. Especially on the road where they've sucked this year. But I can't pick Buffalo this week.

Cardinals at Lions [FOX] This could be a game your FOX station has on instead of the ones that got bumped. Damn. There are a couple "lumps of coal" when it comes to games this week. Arizona on Monday Night against the 49ers were pathetic. I watched a lot of that. They better be able to beat Detroit though.

Texans at Rams [CBS] St. Louis, one win. Houston chokes in big games every year, this is not a big game. Texans get their record to .500.

Now the other late games.

Raiders at Broncos [CBS] Good rivalry game here. Oakland has swept the state of Pennsylvania this year with wins over the Eagles and Steelers. Hard to believe but they do show up to play sometimes. Denver is over-rated so Raiders are my upset pick.

Bengals at Chargers [CBS] Picking Chargers here. Lot of emotion with the Bengals after the death of Chris Henry this week. But San Diego is on a roll and at home. Both are playoffs teams so a loss won't hurt either one that much.

49ers at Eagles [FOX] It wasn't as much San Fran. beating Arizona on Monday, as the Cards handing them the game. Philly with a victory clinches a playoff spot. Going with Eagles.

Packers at Steelers [FOX] Not sold on Green Bay. When they were on the big stage against Favre they lost. Think Pittsburgh finally ends their losing streak.

Bucs at Seahawks [FOX] Oh no, what poor soul has to sit through this one? Don't care either way but it's in Seattle so go with the Seahawks.

Sunday night on NBC, Vikings at Panthers. Stuck with Carolina on a nationally televised game. Wasn't the flex schedule supposed to get rid of stuff like this? Minnesota with another win.

Monday night Giants at Redskins. Washington should have ended New Orleans streak but put up a good fight even with a loss. NY defense wasn't there at all in that shootout against Philly last week. None of the NFC east teams will get very far in the playoffs. Go with the Giants.

For those who don't want to see the Carolina Panthers play on Sunday night there is an alternative. Since Robin Meade was nice enough to give my show a phone interview with her book tour I thought I should plug this.

'With All Due Respect' on HLN [formely Headline News] is a 1 hour special Robin is hosting with Charles Barkley, Dennis Eckersley and Kyle Petty. They discuss the past year in sports and news. Was taped last Monday in New York City and airs a few times over the holidays.

Some news came out of the taping as Charles Barkley mentioned he can't get a hold of Tiger Woods at all and they're friends. He must not be taking this well. But Tiger was an idiot so I have no sympathy for him. If a U.S. President got caught you're just tempting fate till evidence pops up online or in the tabloids. And a lot of women of too.

You play Russian Roulette long enough you're going to lose. Someone should have shown Tiger what happened to Christopher Walken in 'The Deer Hunter'. [Not a reference made very often about Tiger]

First airing of the special is Sunday night at 10pm EST and replayed at 1am. Did find a small tidbit buried in a L.A. Times that it could be more than a one time special. Hasn't been mentioned elsewhere.

'It's kind of an audition. The show might become more regular. "Hope so," Barkley said.'

Another blog found the schedule and some fans of Robin online also had a link to it. I'm working Sunday Night so I'll catch one of the replays.

Sunday, Dec. 20 (premiere) 10 p.m.

Friday, Dec. 25 6 p.m.

Saturday, Dec. 26 7 p.m. & 10 p.m.

Sunday, Dec. 27 7 p.m. & 10 p.m.

Thursday, Dec. 31 7 p.m.

Friday, Jan. 1 6 p.m.

Reminder on Christmas Night from 6-8pm I'll be on air as usual for a Friday night.

11:49 AM

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17 Dec 2009

Olympic Torch Footage from St. John's

Strange that I'm putting this up after it's come through Kingston. But footage from YouTube of the Torch when it hit Newfoundland.

First up from RetroWinnipeg reports from NTV News the day before it came to St. John's. Included is Toni Marie anchoring at noon, Glen Carter at 5:30pm and Fred Hutton & Lynn Burry at 6pm. Later you'll see Toni chat with Seamus O'Regan from Canada AM as he was also a torchbearer in the area.

NTV News - Vancouver 2010 Olympic Torch Relay - Newfoundland (November 12, 2009)



Now this is what we call a WINDY day. Toni at Cabot Tower with the torch before her run as a speech was wrapping up. Bit of a laugh as you can hear 2 guys saying "we love you" as she starts the walk. I told you she's popular.

Toni Marie Wiseman at Cabot Tower Olympic Torch Relay 2010 St. John's



I missed seeing this next clip before, not sure how. The flame with all that wind, did go out for a few seconds. Which does happen along the way. You won't see that on the news though. So a chance to see how it really is.

"This is just after the ceremony was held at the top of Signal Hill at Cabot Tower, as Toni Marie Wiseman started walking down the hill at the very top, the torch with all the wind went out for a few seconds and was relit again - here. It was very windy at the top and impossible to avoid, but as Toni Marie moved her way down the hill, the wind was calmer. "



Another one I missed before, probably because there wasn't a description on the video. But the file says "Toni with Horses" so it's easy to figure out. With the high winds they had extra people around her and even police on horseback. Large crowd.



Apparently the handoff is called "the kissing of the torches" as you have your torch light up the next one. Luckily it worked even in this extreme weather.



Move on to NTV News again with reports from that Friday's news.

Vancouver 2010 Olympic Torch Relay - Newfoundland (November 13, 2009, Part 1)



Vancouver 2010 Olympic Torch Relay - Newfoundland (November 13, 2009, Part 2)



Finally Sunday's news with Toni Marie and Larry Jay as the relay left the province. And you get to see her torch at the end on the set. It's now residing at her parents' house as a gift. Quite nice of her.

NTV News - Vancouver 2010 Olympic Torch Relay - Newfoundland (November 15, 2009)



I typed Kingston and Torch into YouTube and only got 3 results. Part of that is we got lucky with someone from Winnipeg grabbing the NTV clips from satellite. Manitoba and Newfoundland aren't two places thought of being together very often. :)

5:44 AM

Views (30)·Edit

17 Dec 2009

Dec. 11th Show



Some Christmas music and a Curling song from R.J. Lautenschlager.

Songs from Teresa Ennis' latest CD "Stars" and go back to 2004 with The Irish Descendants as they're coming to Kingston in March.



Start off with a chat with two Olympic torchbearers from the Kingston area, Laurie Walker and Rev. Gerry Moore. Then with Kirsten Mihailides from the Coca-Cola side of the Torch organizers.

Couple of songs from Kenny Butler then tracks from Ian Foster's ECMA nominated instrumental album. Almost 30 minutes worth of that.

2:24 AM

Views (18)·Edit

16 Dec 2009

Upcoming Shows

I will be doing the show live the next few weeks. Hard to believe but this Friday is the last non-holiday episode till January 8th, 2010. Think the holidays are sneaking up on a lot of us. After this week the shows will be on Christmas Day and New Year's Day.

On the 25th I might do a bit of an end of year wrap up. However I think I'll save that for New Year's Day. Trying to combine a Christmas episode with the "End of the Decade with no name" might be a bit much.

[Note to Neate who might be reading this : Yes, I know there was no Year Zero. LOL.]

Not only do we have to get used to writing 2010 in a few weeks, but no more saying Two Thousand and.... whatever. Back to short form so we can say Twenty Ten.

Luckily the night before both holiday episodes I'm not working so I'll be well rested.

7:14 AM

Views (18)·Edit

13 Dec 2009

NFL Week 14

After a Sunday with no football talk I'm back again.

No one picked Browns over Steelers, I'd say even family members of the Browns bet on Pittsburgh. Yahoo Sports said 3% of users picked Cleveland to win. Troy Polamalu is the most valuable player to his team this season. Difference between him playing and not is huge for Pittsburgh. Which is quite strange when you think he's only one player on the defensive side of things. But, something happens to the Steelers without Troy.

Onto Sunday's games. First up Saints over Falcons. Didn't catch Redskins-Saints live last week thankfully. Slept a few hours after work and woke up right after the game had ended. Saw the score then saw how Washington let that one get away. Seems like New Orleans would go for 16-0 unlike the Colts.

Colts over Broncos. Sounds like Indy hasn't learned the lesson from their SuperBowl year. Other years they always rested everyone for 1, 2 or 3 weeks. Never got to the SuperBowl when they did that. They won the season they didn't have that layoff.

If they meet the Chargers in the playoffs they'll lose anyway. San Diego is Indy's Kryponite. They always struggle against them. Knocked them out of the playoffs last season and the last time they were undefeated this late in the season it was San Diego who ended that.

Seahawks over Texans. Both are 5-7 and you don't know what you get each week.

Patriots over Panthers. Add injured ribs to Brady's list of problems this year. Pats are 6-0 at home and it's home game.

Bills over Chiefs. Ravens over Lions. Not wasting words with those teams.

Vikings over Bengals. Favre hasn't done well outdoors in the last few winters. But they're in the dome this week.

Jets over Bucs. Unless Tampa pulls out the orange uniforms again [their only win this season] the Jets should win.

Dolphins over Jags. Two more teams you can't figure out.

Packers over Bears. Green Bay's 8-4 but I don't trust them to get very far after their two losses to Minnesota.

Titans over Rams. Raiders over Redskins. Not much to say.

Chargers over Cowboys. The usual December slide for Dallas began last week. Cowboys media attention is completely out of whack with their playoff success. No playoff victories since 1996! My Mom couldn't believe that when I told her recently. She got into Queen's run for the playoffs and we were talking about Dallas.

December 1996, month after Bill Clinton was re-elected. That is a long time ago. Heck, my team the Redskins have two playoff victories since then. But you still have "experts" who pick the Cowboys to get to the SuperBowl in pre-season rankings. Have them win ONE game first.

Giants over Eagles. Andy Reid with a contact extension which means he'll cost his team a game this week with some of his horrible decisions. Or McNabb will throw up/dry heave because of the pressure of a Sunday night game. Recently saw a NFL Films program on NFL Network and they had a clip of McNabb throwing up during a game from years ago and his team having to call a timeout. Ahhh, the Eagles.

Cards over 49ers. Almost want to pick San Francisco. Arizona can be like a see-saw.

New shows all throughout the holiday season. This Friday, Christmas Day and New Year's Day.

9:04 AM

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9 Dec 2009

Torch Relay in Kingston on Monday

Kingston is not just a town where the Olympic Torch is coming through, but one of the places chosen to have a community celebration. So the relay stops here overnight. Which means you have a chance on Monday night and Tuesday morning to see it.

As I write it I'm getting things lined up for a couple of interviews involving the torch run for Friday's show. After I've already shoveled three times this morning. School buses canceled all over town and just miserable weather outdoors.

Here is a rundown of the stop in Kingston and the things going on. Got this from the City of Kingston website. Might have some more details on the weekend.

MONDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2009

5:30 p.m. Limestone Choristers

6:00 p.m. Introduction by the Vancouver Olympic Torch Relay Committee

Aboriginal Community Welcome by the Katarakwi dancers

Musical performances by Le Clan D'estin and Tea for the Voyage

7:00 p.m Vancouver Olympic Committee prepares crowd to welcome the Olympic Torch Relay to Market Square

Torch Arrives in Kingston

Entertainment provided by Olympic Torch Relay sponsors Coca Cola and the Royal Bank of Canada continues until 8 p.m.

Well wishers encouraged to line relay route in Kingston.

En route to Springer Market Square, the Olympic Torch will travel in Kingston from:

* The Parade Square in Fort Henry (starting about 6:20 p.m.) toward the La Salle Causeway. It is expected to pass the Memorial Arch at the Royal Military College at approximately 6:30 p.m.

* Along Ontario Street over to West Street.

* Up to King Street to pass in front of the City Park statue of Sir John A. Macdonald.

* Loops back toward Springer Market Square along King Street aiming to arrive in the Square at 7 p.m.

The Olympic Torch Relay leaves Kingston on Tuesday, Dec. 15 along this route:

* Tours Portsmouth Olympic Harbour (the sailing venue for the 1976 Montreal Olympics) by boat starting at 6:43 a.m.

* After landing near the foot of Yonge Street, the Relay jogs along Logan Street and then up Mowat Avenue to King Street.

* The Relay turns up Portsmouth Avenue and continues along it all the way to Princess Street. It is expected to pass the Ongwanada Resource Centre at about 7:14 a.m.

* The Relay will turn up Princess Street heading toward the Ambassador Hotel - its final stop in Kingston - where it is expected to arrive at 7:39 a.m.

---

Think I forgot to give the links to some video of Toni Marie's torch run. I'll put that up on the weekend as well. Such strong winds they had some mounties on horses blocking the gusts from possibly putting out the flame. Never happened though. :)

11:36 AM

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8 Dec 2009

December 4th Episode

Both hours from Friday night are now online.



Hour 1 with brand new music from Teresa Ennis' CD Stars. Then Amelia Curran's album which is up for some ECMA awards. Including a song called The Mistress, which made for an obvious Tiger Woods reference. End the hour with some songs from Jenn Grant's recent concert in Kingston.



Hour 2 we move to pop/rock side of things with In Flight Safety and Hey Rosetta!. End the hour with a chat with Neate Sager about the Queen's Golden Gaels Vanier Cup winning season.

10:06 AM

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3 Dec 2009

Friday Night Live

The return to doing the show live is on Friday night. Back to regular schedule for me for the first time since…. August! Did have one live show between then during a playoff bye.

But it was only an hour leading up to a Queen’s hockey game. That 10-1 loss to McGill.

Wrap up the Golden Gaels’ football season on Friday as I air an interview I did with Neate Sager. About 30 minutes or so. Might divide it up into parts during the show.

Then new music that I’ve gotten over the last few weeks. Got a lot of artists to find through the internet as well with MusicNL handing out their awards and the ECMA nominations coming out. So next few weeks will be easy to program.

The scheduled CFRC hockey broadcast for Saturday is not happening. Game will be added in the new year. It was a road game in Ottawa and after the long football season I think another road trip would a bit much. Need to give the guys a bit of a break.

Here are couple of links for University sports fans to visit.





2:45 PM

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2 Dec 2009

2010 ECMA Nominations

Post will be a bit long since the 2010 ECMA nominations came out today. Friend of the show Ian Foster is up for Instrumental Recording so that's great news. Singer I've been in contact with since the first summer of the program, Jessica Rhaye's up for a couple of awards as well.

Getting plans co-ordinated to interview Jenn Grant in the new year so is another nominee. Will be playing some songs from her Kingston concert in the upcoming weeks.

One category was fun to read. Broadcast of the Year in the Industry category. 4 of the 6 titles have EAST COAST in them. One of those times I have to try and remember which show is which.

ECMA 2010 MUSIC & INDUSTRY AWARD NOMINEES

MUSIC AWARDS:

Entertainer of the Year

Classified (NS)

Dave Carroll (NS)

David Myles (NB)

Gypsophilia (NS)

In-Flight Safety (NS)

Joel Plaskett (NS)

The Divorcees (NB)

Female Solo Recording of the Year

Amelia Curran (NL) - Hunter, Hunter

Catherine MacLellan (PE) - Water In The Ground

Coco Love Alcorn (NS) - Joyful

Erin Costelo (NS) – Fire and Fuss

Jenn Grant (NS) - Echoes

Jessica Rhaye (NB) – Good Things

Kim Wempe (NS) – Where I Need to Be

Group Recording of the Year

Caledonia (NS) - We Are America

In-Flight Safety (NS) - we are an empire, my dear

Madison Violet (CB) – No Fool for Trying

The Motorleague (NB) – Black Noise

The Novaks (NL) - Things Fall Apart

Two Hours Traffic (PE) – Territory

Konica Minolta Male Solo Recording of the Year

Chris Kirby (NL) – Vampire Hotel

Classified (NS) – Self-Explanatory

Dave Gunning (NS) – We’re All Leaving

Dave Marsh (NS) – The True Love Rules

Joel Plaskett (NS) - Three

Lennie Gallant (PE) – If We Had A Fire

Pascal Lejeune (NB) - Adélaïde

FACTOR Recording of the Year

Amelia Curran (NL) – Hunter, Hunter

Classified (NS) – Self-Explanatory

Chris Kirby (NL) – Vampire Hotel

Dave Gunning (NS) – We’re All Leaving

Duane Andrews (NL) - Raindrops

Jenn Grant (NS) - Echoes

Joel Plaskett (NS) - Three

Rising Star Recording of the Year

Caledonia (NS) – We Are America

Haunted Hearts (PE) – Thank You, Goodnight

Kim Wempe (NS) – Where I Need To Be

Share (NS) – Slumping in Your Murals

Sleepy Driver (NB) – Steady Now

The Danks (PE) – Are You Afraid Of The Danks

Vibe Creative Group Single of the Year

Alert the Medic (NS) – Atlas

Caledonia (NS) – Scott’s House

Classified (NS) - Anybody Listening

In-Flight Safety (NS) – Model Homes

Joel Plaskett (NS) - Through & Through & Through

Joel Plaskett (NS) - You Let Me Down

SOCAN Songwriter of the Year

Amelia Curran (NL) – “The Mistress” (Performed by: Amelia Curran)

Brenley MacEachern & Lisa MacIsaac (CB) – “Small of My Heart” (Performed by: Madison Violet)

Catherine MacLellan (PE) – “Take A Break” (Performed by: Catherine MacLellan)

Coco Love Alcorn/Chris Hockey (NS) – “Revolution” (Performed by: Coco Love Alcorn)

Dave Gunning/Jamie Robinson (NS) – “Made On A Monday” (Performed by: Dave Gunning)

Joel Plaskett (NS) – “Through & Through & Through” (Performed by: Joel Plaskett)

Mullane, Goodsell, Nicholson, Ledwell (NS) –“Model Homes” (Performed by: In-Flight Safety)

Video of the Year

Classified (NS) – Anybody Listening (Directed by: Harv)

Down with the Butterfly (NS) – Tanks (Directed by: Aram Kouyoumdjian)

George Canyon (NS) - Just Like You (Directed by: Colin Minihan)

In-Flight Safety (NS) – Model Homes (Directed by: Drew Lightfoot)

Joel Plaskett (NS) – Through & Through & Through (Directed by: RT!)

The Motorleague (NB) – Hymn For the Newly Departed (Directed by: Marc Savoie)

The Tom Fun Orchestra (CB) – Throw Me to the Rats (Directed by: Alasdair Brotherston & Jock Mooney)

Alternative Recording of the Year

Caledonia (NS) – We Are America

In-Flight Safety (NS) – we are an empire, my dear

Sleepy Driver (NB) – Steady Now

The Danks (PE) – Are You Afraid Of The Danks

The Easy Bleeders (CB) – The Easy Bleeders

The Slate Pacific (NB) – Safe Passage

Bluegrass Recording of the Year

Catherine Lawrence (NS) – Sweet Memories

Cousin Cletus and the Six-Fingered Stringband (PE) - DISCOGRASS

Ryan Roberts (NS) – Ryan Roberts

Smokin’ Contra Band (NS) – Slim Pickins

The Grass Mountain Hobos (PE) – ZOOT!

The Spinney Brothers (NS) - When The Golden Leaves Begin To Fall

Blues Recording of the Year

Chris Kirby (NL) – Vampire Hotel

Easley Stevenson Arsenault (NS) – Nine Steps

Rick Jeffery (NS) – 13 Vultures

The Hupman Brothers (NS) - Countin’ Quarters

The Terry Whalen Band (NB) – A Wicked Driving Rain

Country Recording of the Year

George Canyon (NS) – What I Do

JD Clarke (NS) – Satisfied

Karla Pilgrim (NL) – I’ll Think of You

Melanie Morgan (NB) – Goodbye Birmingham

Rik Reese & Neon Highway (NB) – Mama Raised a Good Boy

The Divorcees (NB) – Last of the Free Men

The Keats (NL) - Good to be Home

Folk Recording of the Year

Amelia Curran (NL) – Hunter, Hunter

Andrew White (NS) – Walk in Light

Catherine MacLellan (PE) – Water In The Ground

Jessica Rhaye (NB) – Good Things

Joey Kitson (PE) - STAN

JP Cormier (CB) – The Messenger

Instrumental Recording of the Year

Andrea Beaton (CB) – Branches

Curtis Andrews (NL) – The Offering of Curtis Andrews

Darren McMullen (NS) - Decade

Ian Foster (NL) – Found: Music from the Unmade Film

Spanner (NL) – Dark Boat

The Dardanelles (NL) – The Dardanelles

Jazz Recording of the Year

Bill Brennan (NL) – After Hours

Gypsophilia (NS) - Sa-ba-da-OW!

Jeff Torbert (NS) – This Weather Honest

Les Paiens (NB) – PYRAMYD

Paul Tynan (NS) - BiCoastal Collective: Chapter One

Swingology (NS) – Swingology

Loud Recording of the Year

Big Game Hunt (NS) – Goliath

Black Moor (NS) – The Conquering

Shelter with Thieves (NS) - Confessions of a Toxic Generation

The Motorleague (NB) – Black Noise

Uncooperative Death (NS) – Uncooperative Death

We, the Undersigned (NB) - Bleed the Constants

Pop Recording of the Year

Jenn Grant (NS) – Echoes

Joel Plaskett (NS) - Three

Mel Keith & The Strombachs (NB) – Mel Keith & The Strombachs

Stephanie Mainville (NB) - Out of Nowhere

Tim Chaisson and Morning Fold (PE) - Broken Hearted Beat

Two Hours Traffic (PE) – Territory

Sirius Satellite Radio Rock Recording of the Year

Alert the Medic (NS) – We, The Weapon

Andrew Hunter & The Gatherers (NS) – Andrew Hunter & The Gatherers

Carleton Stone Drives The Big Wheel (CB) – Carleton Stone Drives The Big Wheel

Dave Marsh (NS) – The True Loves Rules

Smothered in Hugs (PE) - The Healing Power Of Injury

The Novaks (NL) – Things Fall Apart

Roots / Traditional Solo Recording of the Year

Allan Ricketts (NL) - Rivers

Anna Ludlow (NS) – Reel To Reel

Colette Cheverie (PE) – Hours Before Dawn

Gillian Boucher (CB) – Elemental

Lennie Gallant (PE) – If We Had a Fire

Samantha Robichaud (NB) – Collected

Roots / Traditional Group Recording of the Year

Dawn and Margie Beaton (CB) – Taste of Gaelic

Lazy Jacks (PE) – East Coast Live

Shanneyganock (NL) – Volume VII

The Navigators (NL) – Sea Miner

The Once (NL) – The Once

Aboriginal Recording of the Year

Forever (CB) - Reborn

Gary Sappier Experience (NB) – Project III

Lone Cloud (NS) – Live at North Street Church

Richard Poulette (CB) – Let Go, Let God

Francophone Recording of the Year

BLOU (NS) - Noël Blou

George Belliveau (NB) - Prise 2

Joseph Edgar (NS) - Y'a un train qui s'en vient...

Nathalie Renault (NB) - La chance

Pascal Lejeune (NB) - Adélaïde

Soleil (NS) – Soleil

Gospel Recording of the Year

David John Hensman (NL) – Find Me

Elizabeth and Scott Rhyno (NS) – Something Beautiful

Evangeline Inman & Women Who Worship (NB) - Evangeline Inman and Women Who Worship

Matt Brouwer (NS) – Where’s Our Revolution

The Ascensions (NB) – No Greater Love

Tim Milner (NS) – Kiss the Son

Rap / Hip-Hop Single Track Recording of the Year

Classified (NS) - Anybody Listening

Hotbox (NB) - Knowledge is Wealth feat. Radar

Mischif (CB) - C.B. Summer

Mista Mack (CB) - Gone with the Breeze feat. Mischif

Shiest (NL) - Nuttin New

Three Street (NS) - How it Goes

R&B/Soul Single Track Recoding of the Year

Chris Kirby (NL) - Come Clean

Gary Beals (NS) - Jump Off feat. Blessed

Jamie Sparks (NS) - All I Need – Remix

Mark Duggan (NS) – Sambaiosis

Industry Awards:

Broadcast of the Year

Atlantic Airwaves

Cape Breton Christmas Daddies

East Coast Countdown

East Coast Music Show

East Coast Road Trip

That East Coast Show

Event of the Year

24th Annual Lunenburg Folk Harbour Festival

Celtic Colours International Festival

Festival acadien de Caraquet

Halifax Pop Explosion

Harvest Jazz & Blues Festival

New Glasgow Riverfront Jubilee

Independent Company of the Year

Malkin Music

Marcato Digital Solutions

Music Marketing International

SpinCount

Sonic Entertainment Group

The Joseph Scott Entertainment Agency

Industry Professional of the Year presented by CARAS - The Junos

Bruce Morel

Darren Gallop

Eirinn Fraser

John Poirier

Lyle Drake

Tony Murray

Manager of the Year

Bruce Morel

Christopher K Daw

Heather Gibson

Jeff Liberty

Media Person of the Year

Doug Gallant

Kurt Fawthrop

Jeff Liberty

Jimmie Inch

Marc Xavier LeBlanc

Tom Bedell

Record Company/Distributor/Independent Label of the Year

Avondale Music

Diminished Fifth Records

Forward Music Group

Sonic Records

Sound of Pop Records

Warner Music Canada

Studio of the Year

Big Grey Sound Studio

Denmark Productions

Ferguson Music Productions

Lakewind Sound Studios

Soundpark Studios

The Sonic Temple

Studio Engineer of the Year

Dennis G. Field

Jamie Foulds

Jon Matthews

Mike “Sheppy” Shepherd

Scott Ferguson

Tim Feswick

Venue of the Year

Fredericton Playhouse

Harmony House Theatre

Membertou Trade & Convention Centre

St. Mary’s Church, Indian River

The Company House

The Oxygen Complex

Visual Artist of the Year

Cheryl Smith

Chr!s Sm!th

Jessica Rhaye Design

Jocelyne Vautour

Kelly Clark

Mat Dunlap

3:12 PM

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30 Nov 2009

Monday Wrap Up

Only caught the end of the Grey Cup, but that was the only part that mattered. I will copy my Facebook status.

“As a Bruins fan I’d like to welcome the Saskatchewan Roughriders to the “too many men penalty against Montreal in a big playoff game” club. After 30 years we have company.”

Got to sleep later than usual so when I got up Montreal had won and I heard about how they won. Luckily had TSN on the PVR and rewound it. Damn. Talk about a game where the losing team really did give away the victory.

I forgot earlier to mention Mike Giffin is on the Montreal roster. He didn’t play last week with an injury and was questionable for the Grey Cup. So either was Queen’s was going to have an alumni on the winning side.

TSN’s technical problems continued. As I watched TSN The Reporters Sunday morning

I saw a graphic for the TV schedule that afternoon.

“2009 Grey Cup : Blue Jays vs Tigers”

Wow. And to make sure I didn’t imagine that with my lack of sleep Chris Zelkovich saw it as well.



Another columnist at The Toronto Star mentioned missed plays by the cameramen and announcers as well during the Vanier Cup.

–woolsey-roughriders-no-1-in-fans-feverish-fervour

TSN pushed the blame for the Vanier Cup errors. So it was fitting that graphic thing happened to show the last 2 weekends of errors were not just someone else’s fault.

If you are “Canada’s Sports Leader” then stop making excuses. They had too much coverage on the weekend for their resources it came back to bit them. Queen’s/Calgary suffered as I heard the halftime show was spent on the Grey Cup.

How about talking about the game at hand?

Let’s hope these problems don’t come up at the Olympics. If they can’t handle Queen’s/Calgary properly I’m not hopeful for all the sports they have to help cover.

The Score had much better coverage this season when they were handling CIS Football. They are 3rd place among the sport stations and games on The Score didn’t have all those technical issues.

Other blogs about the Vanier Cup.





By the way, it is still stupid the Grey Cup is only available on cable TV now. Should be TSN doing the game for CTV so more Canadians can watch. Last year I found out the contract between TSN and the CFL does not allow that. Not everyone has cable/satellite. I still read about many fans who can’t watch the game across the country.

Now we’re in the situation where the SuperBowl is on CTV but you have to have pay to watch the Grey Cup. Slightly backwards.

10:20 AM

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30 Nov 2009

Schooners, Manatees and a Posse

Glad to find the Atlantic Schooners group got to the Grey Cup this year after a 1 year absence. Found out about them a year ago or so.

Quick history lesson. Atlantic Canada did get a CFL expansion team, once upon a time. Halifax was awarded a franchise in 1984. When cell phones were the size of a shoe box.

Years before the failed US expansion which didn’t make sense then and still doesn’t. If you’re going to expand to the US, go to states near the border. Baltimore worked out.

But picking places like Sacramento and Memphis was head scratching.

Team didn’t start up because financing couldn’t be found for a new stadium in Halifax. You’d think between 1984 and today the league would look at the east coast instead of Ottawa, again.

In case you’re wondering if that’s the only CFL team to fold before they began, you forget the Miami Manatees. Don’t laugh that was a real name.

The Las Vegas Posse had ceased operations and a group from Miami wanted to start it up again. One of the stranger ideas since the team’s players had already been dispersed in a draft a year earlier. Then what were they buying exactly? Not sure but the price was less than an expansion team. Go figure.

The Miami story has one link to this Sunday’s Grey Cup. Starting QB for the Las Vegas Posse was Anthony Cavillo. The Posse was his first CFL team.

You can use that trivia at a Grey Cup party if you like.

Back to the Schooners, they have some places on the web to keep track of them this Grey Cup weekend. And more information in general.







One of the “urban legends” of the team I had heard before. Story goes the owner in preparing for the expansion team bought the old scoreboard from Foxboro Stadium. It would’ve been used in the new stadium. That never was built so the legend is that scoreboard still sits in a warehouse in the Halifax/Dartmouth area.

The other one is that the owner had also bought turf for the new facility. He didn’t keep that. Rumour is he dumped the turf into the Atlantic Ocean….. OK then.

Can we believe these stories? They’re not any stranger than before the playoffs the league saying it wanted to reduce the amount of Canadians on each team. Nice timing on that guys.

“It’s OUR League”, except for the East Coast and the fact we want less Canucks on the teams….. other than that it’s Canada all the way.

They are having a regular season game in Moncton next year which is a good step in the right direction. If they can take their eyes off the Ottawa obsession.

I lived in Ottawa for 3 years [1998-2001] when there was no CFL team. I honestly

cannot remember anyone complaining about not having a team. The previous ownership was a big reason for that. Went to high school in Pembroke and the Red Riders were covered more for their wacky owners than any on the field success.

Less said about the Renegades the better. Any franchise that had to be taken over by the Gliebermans deserved to be eliminated. [I won't go into those guys, it would take too long.]

Back to present day. Usually I watch some of the Grey Cup, but after the long day with the Vanier Cup broadcast and work I’ll have to skip it this year. Might catch the tail end.

10:19 AM

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30 Nov 2009

Golden Gaels Win the Vanier Cup

Catching up with blog posts from the weekend.

---

The Golden Gaels are the 2009 Vanier Cup champions after erasing a 25-7 deficit at halftime to beat Calgary 33-31. First win since 1992 and Queen’s fans on Twitter exploded at the end of the game. Searched “GAELS” and there was a tonne of messages.

CFRC hit the maximum amount of online listeners within a few minutes of kickoff. If we could have had more listeners we would have since TSN’s technical difficulties caused a lot of headaches. Their feed wasn’t working at the start of the game and it went out 2 more times in the 1st quarter. Little embarrassing for “Canada’s Sports Leader”.

Glad the refs didn’t decide the ending because that was a bad officiating crew. At halftime on CFRC we had someone from the Calgary broadcast drop by and he also agreed about the blown calls by the refs.

But back to the positives, congratulations to the team on the victory. It looked a little bleak at halftime. I did say to someone at the station “holding Calgary to some field goals in the first half is a good thing”. Queen’s took over the second half and holding Calgary to less points in the 1st half was a big difference in the game. Made the deficit a manageable one.

In my 4th season of working on the Queen’s broadcasts they win the entire thing. That means I can’t put the win in in perspective as Alumni or fans can. But you can search on Google for those who have been fans for a long time. They can put the victory in words better than I can.

I’m glad the season is over since I can get a regular amount of sleep on Saturdays before work again. Whew.

Another post coming up, thought I’d separate them.

10:16 AM

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26 Nov 2009

U.S. Thanksgiving Football Picks

With 3 Thursday games in honour of American Thanksgiving I better do an early post this week. So happy Thanksgiving to my American friends, and family members living in the U.S.

First up this afternoon Green Bay vs Detroit. Lions with a great win last Sunday, especially after you see the NFL films footage of Stafford since he had a microphone on during the game. After he got hit you can really hear how much in pain he was in. Told the coach couple of minutes later he could throw the ball and went in and got the winning TD.

Best part was him on the bench awaiting the extra point. Still in pain but able to get out this about the kicker "Come on Jason Hanson, do what they pay you for baby" Couldn't have written that, especially that he said the kicker's first and last name. In case we weren't sure who he was talking about. :)



4 minutes in is after the hit.

After all of that, Stafford isn't playing today. Damn. So I'll go with Green Bay, but they better not take Detroit for granted.

4:15pm game is Oakland at Dallas. Cowboys should win this but after that terrible performance against the Redskins I'm not positive. A 7-6 win? Stars-Capitals could have a 7-6 game.

Night game Giants vs Broncos. NY with the win here. Last year Denver fell apart but had a different QB and coach. Must something in the Colorado water lately. I wasn't sold on the Broncos and when I finally picked them they started their losing streak. Go figure.

Sunday games I'll go through quickly.

Dolphins over Bills, Seahawks over Rams, Eagles over Redskins, Falcons over Bucs, Texans over Colts [one of these times Houston will beat them], Bengals over Browns, Panthers over Jets, Chargers over Chiefs, Jags over 49ers, Titans over Cards, Vikings over Bears and Ravens over Steelers.

Monday night Patriots vs Saints in New Orleans. Hmmm. If it was a Sunday game I'd barely pick the Pats. But Saints at home on a Monday night is going to ramp them up even further. New Orleans by 3.

I won't be watching much of the Grey Cup. But easy pick of the Roughriders over the Als. Montreal chokes in this game on a frequent basis. 1-6 record the last 7 times! That's insane.

Kingston's Rob Bagg is with Saskatchewan. He was with Queen's when I started at CFRC so be nice for him to win.

As for Saturday's Vanier Cup I'll pick Queen's over Calgary. Wild guess of a score of 35-28. But honestly I don't know much about Calgary's team.

Kick off at 12pm with a pregame starting around 11am on CFRC. It's getting a lot of attention in town. The Ale House downtown is opening at 11am on Saturday for the game. Wow, for a Queen's football game.

It's on TSN for those who want to watch the game. But who wrote the TSN promos for the Vanier Cup? It keeps saying Canada's COLLEGE football championship.

No. The U.S. has College Football we have University Football. Why The Score calls their coverage "University Rush". Very sloppy mistake from TSN. And I've seen different ads in which say 'college'.

Friday's show I think I'm going to play a lot of songs from The Band's The Last Waltz. Bring out the hour I played on Canadian Thanksgiving. Then some bonus songs I have. With one of the boxsets they had songs from the rehearsal of the concert. Very rare to hear those.

Next Friday finally back LIVE on the show. First week in December by the time that rolls around. Will have Neate Sager on to talk about the Queen's Football season, win or lose.





Now offline for a while. Watch some NFL football this afternoon.

10:48 AM

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23 Nov 2009

Monday

Queen's won the Mitchell Bowl on Saturday, in case you didn't hear somehow. Beat Laval 33-30 so my streak of playoff predictions came to an end. Oh well. LOL.

Calgary vs Queen's in the Vanier Cup on Saturday. First time in that game for the Golden Gaels since 1992. For those who will be listening or watching it is a 12pm EST kickoff so an hour earlier than usual. Keep that in mind.

Wasn't a post on Sunday since I was tired from a long day/night with football and work. So here are the links to Friday night's show.



Kyra and Tully before their CD release party and the music of Jenn Grant who also played at that concert.



Second hour with live music from Bruce Cockburn who played a few songs at the Kyra and Tully CD release concert that weekend.

10:24 AM

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18 Nov 2009

Saturday Concert

Friday's show is taped again. All music of a concert on Saturday night in Kingston. CD Release for Kyra and Tully. Jenn Grant is performing too. But I heard a week ago that Bruce Cockburn will also make an appearance. Now that's a great lineup.

And it's a concert I can't go to because of Mitchell Bowl and work Saturday night. So hope a few readers can go. Think CFRC is recording part of the concert so at least I'll have to listen to in the upcoming weeks.

In case I don't write again before Saturday I'm picking Laval by 10 against Queen's in the Mitchell Bowl.

As a headline in The Whig said it was "Yates Cup or bust" for Queen's. So they accomplished their goal. For Laval every year it's "Vanier Cup or bust" but this year's game is also in Quebec City. That adds a bit extra incentive for the Rouge et Or.

Was going to write a Yates Cup post this week, but there are a lot of good stories online elsewhere to read about that. Not much for me to add right now.

Here is more info on Saturday's concert.

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Sydenham Street United Church to Melt on November 21st.

On November 21st Halifax's Jenn Grant and Kingston's Kyra and Tully will share the stage for an eagerly anticipated concert that promises to be one of the Limestone City's most magical shows of the year.

Jenn Grant, the beautiful orchestral pop singer will be in Kingston in support of her latest record, 'Echoes'. She will headline the CD Release concert for Kingston's own Kyra and Tully at 7 p.m., Saturday, November 21 at the Sydenham Street United Church (89 Sydenham Street).

Kyra and Tully will release their new album, 'Wildlife (in and out of the city)' which features some incredible songs that are sure to capture the hearts of music-lovers everywhere.

Tickets are 12$ in advance (15$ at the door) and are available at Queen's Performing Arts Office (JDUC), Zap Records, Tara Foods, and Brian's Record Option. Children under 12 get in free

1:42 PM

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15 Nov 2009

Yates Cup Win

The Queen's Golden Gaels are the 2009 Yates Cup Champions. Back and forth contest which lived up to the hype the last few days. I'll write a more detailed post later on. After that 5 hour broadcast including pre-game and post-game I'll wait a day to talk about it. LOL.







One thing though, CFRC is the ONLY place to catch the game live next week between Queen's and Laval. Kickoff at 1pm, but on TV it is on at 3:30pm. Confused? TSN got the rights to the Churchill Bowl but they are airing it on a tape delay next Saturday. The Score was doing a great job and then TSN drops the ball in a huge way like this. Amazing.

Off to the NFL picks which I wrote on Thursday night.

Went with Bears over 49ers, that didn't work. I'm just glad I didn't decide to watch that game. Ugh.

Falcons over Panthers. Battle for the scraps in the division with the Saints so far in front.

Dolphins over Bucs. The Bucs' creamsicle uniforms didn't look too bad. Plus they finally won which helped. But their streak should end at one.

Vikings over Lions. 7-1 vs 1-7.

Jets over Jags. Both 4-4 so not much to say, they're middling.

Bengals over Steelers. Might meet again in the playoffs, I'll pick the Bengals in this matchup.

Saints over Rams. Don't even pay attention to that game.

Bills over Titans. No clue on this game. I think Buffalo will lose, but since they're a backwards team I'll pick them to win.

Broncos over Redskins. Can we send the Skins home for the rest of the season?

Game of the Week. Chiefs over Raiders, someone has to win. Unless they tie somehow.

Cards over Seahawks. Arizona is maddening to figure out this season.

Cowboys over Packers. Tony 'it's still November so I'll play well' Romo over Aaron 'how many times will I get sacked this week' Rodgers.

Chargers over Eagles. Andy Reid sucks as a coach, just look at the end of the Cowboys game. Decisions that make no sense.

The real Game of the Week. Patriots over Colts. Colts have squeaked by the last few games. Barely beating Houston and San Fran?

Baltimore 'formerly the Browns' Ravens over Cleveland 'wishes they were a team other than the' Browns. Browns on Monday Night Football, go watch a DVD that night or something.

9:13 AM

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13 Nov 2009

Torch Run/Friday's Show

Not sure how many readers might be in St. John's and have some free time Friday afternoon. In case there is, you can see the Olympic Torch run go through town. Friday's show I'm re-airing the interview with Toni Marie Wiseman from this past summer. She has the torch at 4:24pm Newfoundland time tomorrow. From her Facebook page.

"I'd love to have people come cheer me on Friday when I'm carrying the Torch I start at Cabot Tower at 4:24pm. (Friday the 13th--Yikes!)"

It won't be airing live on NTV, from what I can tell. Possibly shown on tape during Friday's news but that's not confirmed. With the internet I'm sure there will be pictures and video up soon enough.

So tonight at 6pm Toni's interview from this past summer and music for 2 hours. Some of her picks and other Newfoundland artists. I also give my football pick for Queen's-Western at the start of Hour 2. Going with Queen's but I forget if I said by 7 points or not. I taped it Monday morning so it's been a few days.

Show with Robin Meade is on as well, forgot to put up a link before.



Looks like I didn't upload the first hour, but the interview was during the second hour. I might go in and take out the interview separately for another link. Make it a shorter download but that won't be till next week. Middle of working 6 nights in a row, so I'm busy. LOL.

Thanks again to Robin and Toni Marie for doing both interviews.

11:02 AM

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8 Nov 2009

Yates Cup/Plan for Friday

Queen's won Saturday afternoon by a score of 32-6 against McMaster. Most obvious reason is 8 turnovers by Mac. You better win a game when that happens. All of those touchdowns were direct results of the turnovers and short field position. So the score doesn't indicate the whole story. Offense wasn't as good as it has been as Brannagan threw for 161 yards. Quite low for him but he didn't make the mistakes Mac did. With the Queen's running game and defense that was more than enough for a win. Need to play better against Western next week though.

Bit of misleading trivia coming out of this, already seen "Queen's hosting the Yates cup for first time since 1978". Technically true, but part of the reason is Queen's joined up the Ontario-Quebec Conference in 1980. They played for a different championship for the next 2 decades. The Golden Gaels hosted the Dunsmore Cup in 1997, but that doesn't sound as good as 1978.

1pm kickoff next Saturday on CFRC and on The Score. Or catch the game in person in Kingston. Did you see the crowd? Or should I say lack of a big crowd. Less than 2,500 for a playoff game is disappointing. Weather was nice and sunny so can't use the weather excuse.

Mac got a bit of revenge as the basketball team won Saturday night on CFRC. My streak of working on every live sports broadcast since I started in 2006 came to an end. Bound to happen with the increase of games this year and my work schedule. I'll give out the schedule for hockey and basketball for everyone. Basketball isn't on the CFRC website right now so this is the only place to read them right now.

Hockey

11/11/2009 7:30 PM Royal Military College of Canada

11/14/2009 2:30 PM Toronto (women’s Hockey)

11/28/2009 8:00 PM Concordia University

12/5/2009 7:00 PM at University of Ottawa

1/6/2010 7:30 PM Royal Military College of Canada

1/8/2010 7:30 PM Toronto

1/20/2010 7:30 PM at Royal Military College of Canada

1/29/2010 7:30 PM at University of Toronto

1/30/2010 2:30 PM UOIT (women’s hockey)

2/4/2010 7:30 PM Royal Military College of Canada -Kingston, Ont.

With the possibility of playoffs from 2/17 to 3/15 all taking place in Kingston at the Memorial centre.

Basketball

11/27/2009 8:00 PM Guelph

1/9/2010 8:00 PM Ryerson

1/22/2010 8:00 PM at Carleton

1/23/2010 8:00 PM at University of Ottawa

1/30/2010 8:00 PM York

2/12/2010 8:00 PM University of Ottawa

2/13/2010 8:00 PM Carleton

2010 is getting close.

Quick version of NFL picks since work was quite busy on Saturday night. Made the picks on Friday night's show, but I can't remember if everyone is the same.

Falcons, Bears, Ravens, Colts, Jags, Pats, Packers, Saints, Seahawks, Giants, 49ers, Cowboys and Steelers.

Think for Friday I'll re-air the show with Toni Marie Wiseman. It did air in July when a lot of people in the Kingston area might have missed it. Summer is a slower time at the station and this Friday is the day she'll be running with the Olympic Torch in St. John's. It makes sense to play that show again this week.

Will be taping a new voiceover for it. Can talk about the feedback for it this past summer and a few other things.

8:47 AM

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7 Nov 2009

Queen's vs Mac

Quick post late on a Friday night. Queen's vs McMaster starts at 1pm Saturday on CFRC. Game might go longer than usual since The Score is broadcasting it which means more stoppages in play with TV timeouts.

During Friday's show I had to make my prediction. Went with Queen's 26-23. Tough to pick since the previous matchup had different QBs at the helms and was a game where neither team got into double digits in points.

Will write my usual late Saturday/early Sunday morning post on the weekend.

9:03 AM

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5 Nov 2009

Playoffs/Torch

Back to Queen's football on Saturday with the playoff game against McMaster. So a taped show on Friday. Still figuring out what the show will be on Friday. Worked six nights in a row so that messed up my plan to tape it earlier.

No prediction yet for the game on Saturday. I'll have to come up with one but this one is up in the air. They did play earlier in the season but this is a rare case where that really doesn't help figure things out. Queen's won 8-7 but more to the story.

Brannagan was knocked out of that game and the backup was put in. However on the McMaster side they had some changes as well. Ryan Fantham was the QB earlier in the season but Kyle Quinlan has taken over since then and led them to that road victory last week in Ottawa.

Leaning towards Queen's but the Marauders been playing quite well as of late and I don't think Queen's being at home affects anything.

On the Olympic front, congratulations to Toni Marie Wiseman on being chosen to be one of the torch bearers. She mentioned it on her Facebook page last night. The torchbearer uniform just came in the mail and she gave some details on her part of the relay.

"My leg is from Cabot Tower to the Queen's Battery sign. 4:30pm November 13. Yep FRIDAY the 13th."

I don't believe in bad luck on that day, but if you do that's not the best date to be carrying the Olympic torch in front of people. ha ha. So if you know anyone in St. John's you can pass the word along that they can see the relay next week.

"I wonder if anyone will be there to cheer me on? Gosh, I never thought of that. Am I suppose to ask people to come? Eeeeks."

I'm sure they'll be people there to see her. I mentioned how she worried a bit about our phone interview for the show this past summer. So imagine how she might be for this? At least it's happening quickly.

5:48 AM

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1 Nov 2009

November 1st

OUA playoffs started on Saturday, I saw none of it. First time I've had a full amount of sleep before working in 7 weeks. With a week off for Queen's thought I'd pass along how my Saturdays have gone.

7am - Get off from work. Which explains why I've been taping Salt Water Music during the week. Saturdays are a long day.

7:45am - Get home after taking the city bus home. Very quiet on Saturday mornings, sometimes even more quiet than Sundays.

8am-11:30am - Watch TV and try and relax. Thought I could do a nap in between that and leaving for football. But after one week I gave that up. Knowing you have to wake up in a couple of hours doesn't help trying to have a nap.

11:30am-12pm - Leave for the station. Game doesn't start till 1pm but I try and get there a little bit after noon.

12pm-4pm - At CFRC until the football game is over. Luckily this season they games haven't gone long that often.

4:30pm-5pm - Get home around that time. Get some food in me then head to bed.

5-10pm - Hopefully getting a good 5 hours of sleep.

11pm - Back to work on Saturday night.

7am - Off work on Sunday morning, but no city bus till later in the morning. So I walk a few blocks and call a cab home.

Get to bed a couple of hours later. Even after all of that I can't get to sleep right away. You get home from work you probably don't go to bed that quickly either. Same thing.

It's November now? Thought the Queen's students just got back. 7 Saturdays in a row of that crazy schedule makes the time fly by.

Does mean I've only caught the Sunday Night NFL games this season. Oh well, the better games are starting. I will be able to watch Packers-Vikings Sunday afternoon.

Back to sports, Queen's will be hosting McMaster next week here in Kingston. 1pm kickoff on CFRC. The Golden Gaels beat McMaster earlier in the season and in the playoffs 3 years ago.

However the last 2 seasons the number 1 seed in the Ontario has lost their first playoff game. Queen's was the team last year when they were undefeated.

Neate Sager pointed out to me in 1997 they also had clinched "home field till the Vanier Cup" and didn't win the OUA either. Last Vanier Cup for Queen's in 1992 they had to go on the road.

Last week's loss could be a good thing though. I thought they hadn't been challenged much at the end of last year which cost them in the playoffs. One of the Golden Gaels agreed. Quote in the paper from centre Dan Bederman about what happened last year.

"Last year, we were 8-0 and I think we kind of thought we were the cock of the walk. We know we have things to improve on the next two weeks to be ready for the playoffs."

McMaster won on the road Saturday in Ottawa in a game with wet conditions and high winds. Queen's beat the Marauders 8-7 in September in a game I've hopefully erased from memory. Defensive struggles aren't exciting to hear on the radio as you can imagine.

Onto the NFL Week 8. Almost halfway through the season? And for quite a few teams they wish it was already over. Start the picks with the a game to watch if you are a glutton for punishment.

Rams [0-7] at Lions [1-5]. Detroit can win this one. Would make the Rams the losers of 16 in a row by the way. Thinking of the TV crew working on this one, they pulled a short straw this week.

Broncos over Ravens. Watch I finally pick Denver and they'll lose.

Bills over Texans. Both teams are Jekyll and Hyde so flip a coin.

Bears over Browns. I can't see picking Cleveland at all this season.

Dallas over Seattle. Seahawks decimated with injuries.... it's their 2008 season all over again.

Colts over 49ers. Last time San Fran went to Indy was historic. Not for the game but the post game press conference from Colts coach Jim Mora. Someone asked if the Colts would make the playoffs. Yes that game was the reason for the infamous, "Playoffs? Don't talk about playoffs" rant. I don't think Manning will throw 4 INT like he did in that game.

Dolphins over Jets. Beat them on Monday night so I'll go with Miami.

Giants/Yankees over Eagles/Phillies. Going with both New York teams to win on Sunday.

Chargers over Raiders. Although Oakland played them very tough in Week 1 on Monday Night Football. 10:30pm EST start that night so you probably didn't see it.

Jags over Titans. I would've picked the Titans but now Vince Young is the starter again.

Vikings over Packers. Main part I took away from the earlier game was Green Bay's offensive line not showing up. Rodgers has been sacked 25 times in 6 games. He's on pace for 67 sacks this year. If he's not injured between now and the end of the season.

Cardinals over Panthers. Arizona won in Giant Stadium on a Sunday night game. I saw it and still didn't look right.

Saints over Falcons. New Orleans keep the streak going on Monday night. By the way no Sunday night game due to not wanting to compete with the World Series. I'd rather watch football.

Halloween is over for another year. Never been a big fan. Even as a kid I wasn't that into it. Probably because I never had a sweet tooth. Candy? Eh. Liked getting chips and chocolate bars but not many houses gave them out. Now I just see the day as lame. Not if you have kids of course, that makes sense. But seeing drunk grownups the last 2 nights in costumes in downtown Kingston just backs up my opinion. Yep, they were out on Friday and Saturday night at the bars. You can't stretch it to 2 nights. Don't even do that for Christmas. LOL.

Spent most Halloweens growing up just being a "chaperone" for my younger sister as she went door to door. She's the opposite. Loved candy and would go out for a long time if she could. Since my Dad was in the army, every year I did the laziest costume. Grab some army gear from him and I'm a soldier. Piece of cake.

Since I just passed 1000 words I should stop for the night. It's 1:55am and it will be again in an hour since the clocks go back in 5 minutes. No extra hour of sleep for me as I'm at work. :)

9:11 AM

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29 Oct 2009

Live on Friday, for an hour

Back to doing the show live on Friday, but it's only an hour this week. Hockey game at 7pm EST.

CFRC, the only radio station in Kingston that now has live local hockey broadcasts. None of the stations in town wanted to pick up the Kingston Frontenacs games so a station in Napanee got them. A town over 40 km away from the arena. I'll be writing a longer post about that. Which might also be popping elsewhere on the web. More details later on.

So I'll be playing some new music on Friday during the shorter episode. Be nice not having to tape it ahead of time after 7 weeks.

8:15 AM

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25 Oct 2009

Golden Gaels Streak Over

Queen's lost their first regular season game since October 2007 today against Laurier. Laurier was playing to get a 1st round bye which they ended up getting. So you know they were going to go all out. Win or lose Queen's had nothing to gain and I thought they should sit a lot of starters in the 2nd half. Especially after last year's injury to Mike Giffin.

Which they didn't do. Assume part of that was wanting another undefeated season, but trying to help Brannagan get the passing record might've been part of it. When your QB is still in the game in the 4th quarter of a meaningless game for the team there has to be a extra reasons. Especially since he's had 2 concussions in the last 2 seasons.

Should play it safe. Luckily no big injuries out of this game.

My pre-season prediction was 6-2 for Queen's so I was close.

Brannagan did have the all time CIS passing record, for about half an hour it sounds like. Michael Faulds of Western passed him with 550 passing yards as Western hammered Toronto.

Next game is November 7th in Kingston as Queen's host the lowest seed out of the remaining teams. Which will be McMaster, Ottawa or Guelph. 2 out of those 3 teams gave Queen's a fight earlier in the season.

Guelph was involved in that crazy 52-49 Labour Day game which the Golden Gaels won on a last second field goal. Few days later McMaster came to town and it was an opposite type of game. 8-7 win for Queen's, in what might have been the worst game I've been a part of in 4 seasons. Sitting through that one was a chore.

We have Queen's hockey next Friday night, so my return to doing Salt Water Music "live" will be a shorter edition. About an hour or so as Queen's plays McGill at 7pm.

Onto NFL Week 7 picks. Try to buzz through these ones.

Packers over Browns, 49ers over Texans, Chargers over Chiefs, Vikings over Steelers, Colts over Rams, Patriots over Bucs [in England], Panthers over Bills, Jets over Raiders, Bears over Bengals, Falcons over Cowboys, Saints over Dolphins, Giants over Cardinals and Eagles over Redskins.

Not picking Redskins for the rest of the season after this dumb week. Even dumber than usual for Washington. Pulling the play calling duties away from the head coach in an effort to make him quit. Thanks to Hall of Famer Steve Largent for getting the story out on what happened.

Still think Zorn will be fired but this has made the management look more horrible.

Now I'm glad Zorn didn't quit because that was Dan Snyder's way of not wanting to pay him. Since when does Dan care about spending? $100 Million on one player in the offseason says otherwise.

Could be worse, Redskins still aren't as bad as the Maple Leafs have been so far. Ouch.

9:01 AM

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21 Oct 2009

Wednesday Update

About yesterday's post, I now have the proper spelling thanks to a comment from Jesilou last night.

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Hi Mr. Carnell,

I found your blog through following the links from your Twitter page. Thanks for blogging about Tyler and me. It was a pleasure to meet him yesterday and he’s clearly very talented.

Also, thanks for pointing out the multiple misspellings of my name on the article. Just when I thought my name couldn’t be more of a typo!

Have a good week and keep up your great work.

- Jesilou

---

After the blog I found her Twitter page so I had the right spelling but I had already posted. For those who Tweet here is her page.



Having a computer about to kick the bucket so I'm dealing with that. Luckily not my main computer but it's still a pain. Some files on there I have to get off.

I'll upload the last episode of the radio show late tonight. Unless this computer does something strange too.

Redskins lost to the Chiefs, like I said they would but the Skins' coach is still there. The owner is horrible and I don't know when it will turn around. At least I'm a big NFL fan so the fact Washington is horrible doesn't affect me too much. Rather follow the rest of the league as my team does a downward spiral, again.

9:37 AM

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20 Oct 2009

Tuesday Update

Almost wrote that it was Monday Update, but it 1:30am.

Some things to start working on over the next day or two. Uploading the Thanksgiving episode with the Robin Meade interview. And start putting some more work into the NTV/Rogers Facebook group. Keep seeing hits coming in to this blog about it so we’ll see where to go from here.

Congrats to Tyler King on getting a bursary award from Sports Media Canada. Worked with Tyler on CFRC Sports broadcast and Offsides until this past June when he left for Syracuse. Here’s the link.

One funny thing in the article about the other winner. Mentions how her name is different than most, but then the same article has THREE different spellings of what it is. Oops.



2009 Student Award

Tyler King & Jessilou Tongio

In 2009 two students receive a Bursary Award. Tyler King of Bath, Ontario, just graduated from Queen’s University will work on a Masters Degree at Syracuse U and Jesilour Tongio continues her Journalism studies at Ryerson.

After graduating from Queen’s University, King already had a well-rounded resume. He hosted his own weekly sports talk show for the campus radio station, earned a multi-year gig as the school’s hockey and basketball play-by-play commentator and covered the Kingston Frontenacs as a TV feature reporter and backup host of The OHL Tonight.

Hoping to gain an edge in the job market, the Toronto native is now completing a Master’s degree in broadcast journalism at Syracuse University. “The guy is very good,” notes Toronto Sun TV critic and former NBA reporter Bill Harris after reviewing King’s demos. “He’s calm … better than a lot of guys working professionally today that I’ve seen … I say show him the money!”

For years, Jesilou Tongio worried that her given name wasn’t suited to a byline. “I hated that Microsoft Word always underlined it with a red squiggle as if it was a typo. And it got to me that female sportscasters all had names like Jennifer, Sara and Holly,” she says.

But Tongio, 20, learned to care less about those things and more about what feels right. Basketball and hockey features – on camera and in print – ensued. “It’s all prep work,” she says, for a seminal moment in her dream career – a double-digit drama for which Toronto hockey fans have waited decades.

A life-long NHL enthusiast, Tongio, 20, plans to be on the sidelines, as a reporter, when the Stanley-Cup starved Maple Leafs finally turn 13 into 14.

—

I would have corrected her name but I don’t know which one is right. :)

Queen’s Hockey on CFRC is starting up again. So the show will have a few times where it’s cut down to an hour or so. I’ll pass along details closer to those dates.

1:56 AM

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20 Oct 2009

NFL Week 6/Golden Gaels

Yep, fell behind on posting this one. Oops. You can see what I thought would happen in the NFL this week.

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Queen’s got the win over Western. Didn’t tweet during the game since the playoffs are more important. Playoff record in the last 4 playoff games for the Golden Gaels, 1-3. Worked on all those games so while beating Western was a big win which gives them a 1st round bye, I’m not that excited.

That one playoff win was on the road in Hamilton. Their 2006 victory over McMaster was the first time they’d won in that city since 1975. Followed that up with a great effort in Ottawa but lost to the Gee Gees.

As for the last 2 home playoff games, you probably know about them. 2007 Western came in and beat Queen’s in the first round. 2008 the Gaels had a first round bye and a week off, but lost at home again this time to Ottawa.

The win Saturday also means next week’s game is rather meaningless. Clinched 1st in the OUA so a win or a loss versus Laurier doesn’t affect the standings. I’m not going to pump it up like the Whig Standard has on their website. This is the opening line from the story.

“The road to the Vanier Cup goes through Queen’s University after the Golden Gaels posted a thrilling come-from-behind victory Saturday at Richardson Stadium.”

How about getting to the Yates Cup first? Call me crazy, but you might want to focus on the championship for winning the province first.

After that is the Mitchell Bowl, which this year in the rotation is being hosted by the OUA Conference. However they will be hosting the winner from Quebec. Tough game there.

Finally after all of that is the Vanier Cup, November 28th in Quebec City. So calm down people a regular season win doesn’t mean a whole lot with that long road ahead.

We remember the 8-0 Queen’s getting beat by the 4-4 Gee Gees last year. I recall it the most since I predicted Ottawa would win the night before on my show. Yep, going on CFRC and picking the opposition. I’m not a homer and if I think you’ll lose I’ll say so.

Onto the NFL picks.

Bengals over Texans. Division leaders against Houston, nuff said.

Lions over Packers. Yes, I’m picking the Lions to win a game. Only 1 win but they’ve put up a fight each week. Unlike the Jaguars, Raiders, Bucs, Rams, Panthers, 49ers,

Redskins, Browns…. long list.

Jags over Rams. Ugh.

Vikings over Ravens. Baltimore looked really good until the last 2 games. Minnesota is well balanced so I’ll go with them.

Giants over Saints. If it was in NY I’d pick the Saints, but it’s in New Orleans so I’ll pick the Giants. Eli Manning is much better on the road than in Giant Stadium.

Steelers over Browns. Shouldn’t even waste time on the Browns.

Panthers over Bucs. Ugh, part 2.

Chiefs over Redskins. Yes, every team Redskins have played this season has had zero wins. But that’s a bit silly since people keep counting Week 1 vs the Giants. When the season is starting you can’t have a win since you haven’t played a game yet. Picked the Panthers to beat Washington so I’m going with the Chiefs.

Eagles over Raiders. Oakland blown out again.

Seahawks over Cardinals. Different team with Hasselback at QB.

Patriots over Titans. Like I said last week, the Titans are bad. Pundits need to get over it.

Jets over Bills. After the Bills/Browns joke last week I can’t pick them.

Bears over Falcons. Sunday Night game which seems a bit strange. Chicago-Atlanta doesn’t come to mind as a big game.

Chargers over Broncos. Think San Diego can get the upset, but this pick is also a protest against those Bronco uniforms from last week. Good lord.

1:53 AM

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14 Oct 2009

Flu Bug

Looks like a flu bug going around at work and it's finally gotten to me. Think I slept 12 hours yesterday. Was going for a nap and just kept sleeping.

Messed up my plans this week. Uploading the last episode will wait a bit longer, with The Band in Hour 1 and the Robin Meade interview in Hour 2.

Friday's show I'm going to pull out a rerun. Maybe the 2 hours with Ian Foster since it was his birthday last week. Try to tape a voiceover explaining to listeners it is a rerun. But we'll see how my voice is holding up.

Flu is one where people have a chest cold and you cough a lot. Fun. But the forecast of flurries isn't happening so I'm glad about that. It's -1 C right now so it would be snow but no precipitation for the next few days.

8:38 AM

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10 Oct 2009

Happy Thanksgiving

This is for the Canadian readers of the blog as it is Thanksgiving weekend. I work all weekend but have Monday/Tuesday off. It's something but not really the same.

The link for Friday's show will be up after the long weekend. First hour I played songs from The Last Waltz since that was recorded on Thanksgiving night. Sure it was American Thanksgiving but most of The Band was Canadian so it makes sense.

Second hour is the interview with Robin Meade and the music of The Lever Pulled. You can get it from the CFRC archive but I'll upload it in a couple of days.

2:14 PM

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4 Oct 2009

Sunday Sports Post

Very early on Sunday morning. But time for a post. [I did write it earlier but couldn't access MySpace]

Queen’s beat Windsor 42-13. Score doesn’t indicate that the Lancers were putting up a good fight until halftime. Blocked a punt and returned it for a TD at the end of the 2nd quarter to get within a touchdown of Queen’s. But the Golden Gaels figured out the bad weather conditions and adapted well to finish them off.

Kingston was sunny and a high of 17, couple of days after it was 3 degrees when I came home from work in the morning. Windsor was cool, wet and windy. Combine that with a 9 hour bus trip on Sunday might explain the slow start this week.

But at least Queen’s recovered from some sluggish play. Upsets in the OUA across the province. The number 2 ranked team in Canada, Western lost at home to McMaster. Won’t be number 2 for long after that performance. Fell behind 28-0 at halftime! They tried to come back but it was too big of a hole and lost 42-35.

No. 8 Laurier was upset as well at home. They fell to Ottawa 27-25. Which means Queen’s is the only unbeaten team in the OUA now. So book a playoff date for them. Not exaggerating as 6 out of 10 teams in the province get in the playoffs. Like the CFL, but not in a good way. 4 would be a better number but that’s me.

Better get to the NFL picks. Bye week for Philly, Carolina, Arizona and Atlanta. Makes no sense to have a week off so early in the season. Which I’m sure those teams would agree with. Injuries pile up later in the year.

Tough week to pick, a lot of games with teams that are in the middle of the pack.

Bears over Lions. Almost picked Detroit last week on air, but couldn’t do it.

Bengals over Browns. Browns are horrible.

Texans over Raiders. Both 1-2 but can’t pick Oakland.

Colts over Seahawks. Picking against Seattle just for those horrible neon green uniforms they wore last week. Good lord.

Jags over Titans. Would make Titans 0-4 but I think it will happen.

Giants over Chiefs. KC in the running for worst team in the NFL.

Ravens over Pats. Can’t pick against Baltimore with the way they’ve played so far.

Bucs over Redskins. I should just pick against Washington till they get a new coach.

Bills over Dolphins. Gotta pick one.

Saints over Jets. A game I don’t care about.

Cowboys over Broncos. Denver is not good at all, 3-0 but 2 bad teams and a fluke win.

49ers over Rams. San Fran. would be undefeated except for that Favre pass last week.

Chargers over Steelers. Both teams I think will be scratching to even make the playoffs.

Vikings over Packers. One time I’m glad we don’t have ESPN in Canada. Couldn’t stand the all day Favre hype. Game should be great but all the crap beforehand not so much.

Thus ends a long sports post.

10:50 AM

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2 Oct 2009

Tonight

Hectic week with work, taping the interview with Robin and a road football game this week. So I dipped into the archives this week to last March. Episode with an interview I did with Andrea Wittgens and her latest CD in its entirety. Good chat with Andrea so for those who missed it last winter you can check it out tonight. Along with some other music in Hour 2.

This morning after work it was 3 degrees. So I think we might be skipping fall around here. That's cold for early October.

I did a couple of new voiceover parts, but just saying it's a rerun and that I'll be back with a new show next week. Also mention the Robin Meade interview will air next Friday.

8:38 AM

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29 Sep 2009

Robin Meade on upcoming show

Wanted to wait till I had done the interview to mention this one. Took a few months of planning and emails but I spoke to Robin Meade from HLN [formerly Headline News] this morning.

She wrote a new book that came out this past month and since I've watched the show for a few years thought I might as well give it a try. Authors do radio interviews to help promote the book so I threw my hat in. The long version will wait for another post. Need to head to bed.

Robin was very nice and generous with her time. Knew she was phoning at 10am but forgot to check how long she had to speak with me. Oops. Went close to 30 minutes which was longer than I thought. Thanks to Robin, especially since she's on the book tour today and tomorrow. She's doing some book signings in her home state of Ohio. These will be some long days.

I'll air it next Friday as this week is almost done. And I wasn't sure how long we were going to chat for. Gives more time to spread the word too.

You'll get to hear me tell her one big Canadian/American difference of a certain beverage she liked. If you read the book you'll know what drink she used to like a lot in Chicago. [Nothing to do with alcohol. Come on. LOL.]

A lot of Canadians don't even know there is a difference between the countries when it comes to this one.

I quickly mentioned the Facebook page at the end as I found out Brent Maclean from The Lever Pulled also watches Robin. She said she does read the comments during the commercial break and knows there are a lot of Canadian viewers. So feel free to visit that page.



And places to get the book online in Canada. I'd recommend it to viewers of the show and people interesting in how someone dealt with panic attacks. She started having them after being in TV for a few years but pulled through it. Came close to quitting which is hard to imagine if you see her on TV now.

Also a fun read for someone like me who is in broadcasting. Always interesting to read about how other people started out.





Made the NY Times Bestseller's list on the "Advice, How-To, and Miscellaneous" section. "Advice and How To" is a category that makes sense. But adding the word Miscellaneous? That's vague.

Now off to bed, up quite late being on midnights. Funny thing as I ended the phone call, Robin told me to get some rest. When a morning TV person is saying that, you know you have strange hours. :)

12:07 PM

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28 Sep 2009

NFL Week 3

Forgot to post this yesterday so here was Sunday's post. With the NFL picks. I said I wasn't certain about Redskins over Detroit...... boy was I right.

---

Another thrashing of York by Queen's today. 67-0 which is not as bad as last year's 80-0 win but still makes for a boring game to sit through.

Those interested in the "Fauxcoming" street party on Aberdeen Street this year check out the Queen's Journal Twitter feed. They have been updating all night.



From the reports there was less people than previous years and the police were taking a hardline. About time. Giving leeway really doesn't work in cases like this with people coming from out of town just to get drunk and trash things.

Talking about rowdy crowds, time for the NFL's Week 3.

Ravens over Browns since Baltimore looks like the best team in the AFC right now.

Redskins over Lions, but I'm not very certain about this one.

Texans over Jags. Houston woke up last week so should be able to get another win.

Vikings over 49ers in what should be a good game

Patriots over Falcons since I'm not sold on Atlanta yet.

Eagles over Chiefs. With the Philly QB situation Chiefs have a shot at winning but I don't see it happening.

Packers over Rams. Rams, ugh.

Giants over Bucs. Jets over Titans. Picking both NY teams this week.

Saints over Bills. New Orleans offense is too much for Buffalo.

Bears over Seahawks. Not excited about either team but I'll go with Chicago.

Steelers over Bengals. Bengals surprised last week over Green Bay, but a division rival will not take them lightly.

Broncos over Raiders and Chargers over Dolphins. Not much to see in those games.

Sunday Night Colts over Cards and for Monday Cowboys over Panthers.

8:39 AM

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26 Sep 2009

Sept. 25th Show/Allison Crowe

Would've posted during the week but spent my 2 days off fighting a flu. But I already have up the episode from Friday night with Allison Crowe online. Didn't divide it up into separate hours, it's the full 2 hours in one shot.



I play both CD's "Little Light" and "Tidings" in their entirety. Along with 2 covers at the end. One of Radiohead's Creep which is new to the show.

Since it's exactly 3 months till Christmas I thought it be OK to play Christmas music. :)

8:15 AM

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20 Sep 2009

Friday's Show/NFL Week 2

First Friday's program, taped on Tuesday morning. If I remember correctly. Been a long week.



Music of Ron Hynes to open the show. Then Sharona Clarke, Christine Crawford and Jenn Grant.



Three female singers, all with names that start with the letter "A". Not a plan but it worked out like that.

Andrea Gauster, Allison Crowe and Andrea Wittgens

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NFL Week 2 picks, which I again forgot to call by it's name on the show. "Carnell Knowledge". That happens when you tape a show 7:30am after a long week of work.

This week's post will be shorter about the picks.

For the 1pm games: Atlanta over Carolina, Minnesota over Detroit, Green Bay over Cincinnati, Jacksonville over Arizona, Chiefs over Raiders, New England over NYJ, New Orleans over Philly, Tenn. over Houston and Washington over St. Louis.

4pm kickoff for these ones. Seattle over San Fran., Tampa over Buffalo, Pittsburgh over Chicago, Denver over Cleveland and Baltimore over San Diego.

Sunday night I went with Cowboys over Giants [I think, I've gone back and forth] and Indy over Miami on Monday.

8:35 AM

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18 Sep 2009

Tonight's Show

Taped the show earlier in the week, before I went to Toronto to see U2 on Wednesday. Leaving a stadium at 11pm with 62,000 other people? Crowded. I'll write a post about the trip later on.

Tonight on the [taped] show we have Ron Hynes, Sharona Clarke, Christine Crawford, Andrea Gauster, Allison Crowe & Andrea Wittgens. I mention Andrea Gauster's show on Wolfe Island tonight. One problem with taping ahead of time is that the show is sold out. D'oh. But she's living in Kingston now so you'll have other chances to see her play in the area.

Queen's Football tomorrow as well. The Golden Gaels travel to Ottawa with a 1pm kickoff. Hopefully another quick game as I get some sleep after the game and before I work Saturday night at 11pm. LOL,

8:40 AM

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13 Sep 2009

Week 1 Picks

Let's hope the games you watch on Sunday isn't as bad as the Queen's game was on Saturday. 8-7 win for the Golden Gaels over McMaster. That's more like a baseball score than a football one.

Picked Steelers to win on Thursday so got one right. I did the Week 1 picks on the show, going by memory since I just brought up the schedule and picked them on the fly. It's Week 1 though and it's a hard week to get right no matter what. Which teams are good, bad or average? Don't know yet.

Starting off with the 1pm games.

Miami at Atlanta [CBS]: Both teams had easier schedules last year so they'll have a tougher time in 2009. Plus the Falcons have never had back to back winning seasons. But this week I'll pick them to beat the Dolphins.

Kansas City at Baltimore [CBS]: Baltimore, this is a big mismatch.

Philadelphia at Carolina [FOX]: Philly. Do you remember how badly Carolina played against Arizona in the playoffs? And they rewarded the QB with a new 5 year contract. Mind boggling.

Denver at Cincinnati [CBS]: Yuck. Have to pick one of them so the Bengals.

Minnesota at Cleveland [FOX]: Vikings. Picked them before I knew who would be starting for the Browns this week. Like that will matter.

NY Jets at Houston [CBS]: Jets. The Texans have a great offense, but can't stop anyone. That's a slight problem.

Jacksonville at Indianapolis [CBS]: Colts. Think this is the year where Indy starts to slip a bit. But they'll beat the Jags. Who have new uniforms.... a new coach would've made more sense.

Detroit at New Orleans [FOX]: Saints.

Dallas at Tampa Bay [FOX]: Dallas. Think I picked the Cowboys to win on the radio. Not sold on them but I have no confidence in Tampa. They fired the offensive co-ordinator in the preseason, which make them look they don't know what they're doing. Which is the case when you have Leftwich as your starting QB.

Now the 4:15pm kickoffs.

San Francisco at Arizona [FOX]: Cardinals. They're not getting back to the Superbowl but they can handle the Niners.

Washington at NY Giants [FOX]: Redskins. My team, but picking them because I think the Giants have been overrated this year. Mainly because of the Giant receivers or lack of them. Burress is going to jail and Amani Toomer is with the Chiefs. I would have to search to name the ones they have this season.

St. Louis at Seattle [FOX]: Seahawks. Rams have been bad so an easy pick. Seattle was decimated with injuries last year. Think they can win that division, but that's not saying much. Arizona needed a 9-7 record to win it in 2008.

Sunday Night, Chicago at Green Bay [NBC]. Packers with a victory since I don't think the Bears and their new QB have gotten things going yet. Green Bay was scoring left and right in the preseason.

A pair of Monday Night Football games. One time of the year they air a game at a good start time. Other one is for the west coast or night owls like myself.

Buffalo at New England 7pm [TSN]: Patriots. Bills decided to copy Tampa and they also fired the Offensive Co-ordinator in the preseason. Dumb. I'm writing off their season. New England is getting someone named Tom back who might make a difference.

San Diego at Oakland 10:15pm [TSN]: Not many people going to see this one. Chargers with the victory. Raiders have become a joke.

When does the CFL playoffs start? I don't pay attention till then. Not much point when so many teams make the playoffs. The ads touting it as

"Canada's Game" are always annoying.

No shots of the East Coast, eh? Oh that's right you don't have teams across the country.

Finally there is a story recently that "Moncton finalizing deal for 5 CFL games". One regular season game a year would be held in town. Small step considering the CFL awarded an expansion team for Halifax in 1984. That's a story for another time.

They don't want to expand to a new market but they're fine with going back to Ottawa again from what it sounds like. Another reason for me to ignore the league till the playoffs.

8:52 AM

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12 Sep 2009

Link to All Live Edition

Quick post as I am at CFRC tech. producing the football game. Link to Friday's show, All Live Edition with some NFL picks at the start of the 2nd hour.



Live music for the entire show, first hour with Jeff Healey and Coco Love Alcorn.



All live edition continues with Teresa Ennis and Jenn Grant.

2:05 PM

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11 Sep 2009

All Live Edition

Taped the show yesterday morning. All live music for the 2 hours. Long sets from Jeff Healey, Coco Love Alcorn, Teresa Ennis and Jenn Grant.

Queen's Football Saturday afternoon at 1pm as the Golden Gaels host McMaster.

Falling further behind in uploading the shows. I'll try and catch up a bit on Tuesday, my next day when I'm not working. :)

9:15 AM

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8 Sep 2009

Queen's vs Guelph Recap

Good thing about using Twitter during the game yesterday it saves me typing a long recap. From Labour Day, my live Twitter updates during the game. Including two surprise phone calls I got during the game.

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Queen's vs Guelph on CFRC, kick-off at 2pm. cfrc.ca 101.9FM I'll either be working on it with little or no sleep. Should be fun. :)

During halftime today on CFRC..... no clue. Might be something from the stadium, but could be me reading some scores and playing music.

Just helped a caller from Halifax connect to CFRC online. Yep, Halifax. I tell people the station has a wide reach. :)

Broadcast has begun. Think the audio levels of the the two guys have evened out. One headset can't hear what's on air. Oops.

Brannigan throws an early INT, Guelph had a 1st goal and scored. Under 2 mins in and Guelph up by a TD.

7-0 Guelph, 13:07 to go in the first quarter..... not a good start

Dunk fumbles in the red zone and Queen's recovers the ball.

Golden Gaels return the favour by fumbling the ball back to Guelph. Sloppy contest early on.

Dan Branigan's grandfather called in, trying help him to listen online. Computer issues. :(

11-0 Guelph by the way, got busy with the phone call.

11-7 Guelph after Queen's gets their first TD of the season in the 2nd quarter

Jimmy Allin with a 61 yard punt return for a TD. Make it 14-11 lead for Queen's. That was quick.

TD Queen's, Morrison with the catch makes it 21-11. 21 unanswered points.

Player slow to get up so the PA system plays "Don't Worry Be Happy" as he's attended to. LOL.

Another punt return for a TD by Jimmy Allin near the end of the 1st half. Damn. 28-11 Queen's. 2 mins left till halftime.

Make that 29-11 Queen's. Typed it before the extra point.

Don't know how but I timed 2 Jeff Healey songs quite well at halftime. Only 2 ads to play after them before the 2nd half started.

29-18 Queen's in the 3rd quarter, sounds like the game is slowing down a bit.

Things changing a bit, Guelph closing the gap Queen's up 32-26

But then Guelph decides it to kick it to Jimmy Allin again?? Bad move, his 3rd return for a TD today. 105 yards this time. 39-25 Queen's

46-25 Queen's as the Gaels pull away again from Guelph.

46-32 Queen's and Guelph has the ball with 9 minutes to go. Still some fight in the Gryphons.

TD Guelph which makes the lead 46-39 for the Golden Gaels. 7 minutes left in the game.

Jimmy Allin returning the ball again, but this time fumbles it. Guelph deep in Queen's territory. Uh oh.

Guelph held to a FG so it's 46-42 Queen's. A TD by Justin Dunk was called back due to a holding call.

FG by the Gaels make it 49-42 with 1:45 to go. Lack of sleep hasn't affected me at all with this type of game.

1st and goal Guelph, crazy game. 1:08 to go. Overtime maybe?

Touchdown Guelph with 42 seconds to go...... tied at 49. I'll never be getting out of here. LOL.

Queen's lining up for a FG, 37 yards....... and it's good. 52-49 win for Queen's..... good lord.

Time to get some food and get some sleep after this long day.

---

The back up kicker who got the winning field goal is Mike Petranovic by the way. Didn't want to spell his name wrong during the game.

This evening going for "Take 2" of the interview with Allison Crowe. Not exactly sure if the studio is back to normal but I'll find out a little after 6pm today if it is. Taping of this Friday's show will happen later in the week.

Might play a lot of live stuff this week. Idea came after playing some of the new Jeff Healey disc during halftime of the football game. "Songs from the Road" is from Stony Plain Records and is endorsed by his family. Jeff passed away in March 2008 and there was a company that released an unauthorized disc after his death. But this one is an official release.

Think I'll play a bit of that disc on the show Friday. Played "While my Guitar Gently Weeps" at halftime which is a great version. Even has the crowd singing along with it.

Also have some songs from a concert Jenn Grant did. If I can find enough stuff I might do an all live edition for Friday.

9:06 AM

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7 Sep 2009

Football Preview

Another article on the upcoming OUA Football season.



One sentence in particular summed up last season.

"Scored most points and allowed fewest in 2008 OUA league, then lost first playoff game." Ouch.

Which I predicted by the way. Long time listeners might remember the night before Queen's hosted Ottawa I picked the Gee Gees to win. 8-0 Gaels hosting a 4-4 team and I picked Ottawa. I was right. Why did I pick them?

One big thing in football I've seen over the last few years is momentum going into any playoffs. Ottawa HAD to win near the end of the season to get in. Queen's had it wrapped up early. Too soon I would say. I saw Ottawa win the week before and thought they looked good.

Other main reason was Mike Giffin's injury and how it was handled. Last regular season game and Queen's had the starters in the game. Which is always dangerous especially with your star running back. He hurt his knee early on and doesn't return. Matt Bisson was calling the game and said he was obviously hurt.

Then the strange thing started to happen. Queen's denied he was hurt that much. Which they kept saying for 2 weeks up until the playoff game. That doesn't scream a confident team to me. You don't go 8-0 on the back of one guy, so just say he's hurt and might not play. Plenty of players to pick up the slack on both sides of the ball.

But they didn't think like that. Kept up the charade. Did he end up playing any part of the game against Ottawa? Of course not.

With that out of the way, I'll throw in my prediction for this season. Stuck between 6-2 and 5-3. Mainly because of the last 2 games and whether or not the teams have clinched a spot by then.

Monday against GuelphSept. 12th mcmasteroct 10th @waterloooct 17th western

oct 24th @laurierMonday against Guelph

Sept. 12th host McMaster

Sept. 19th at Ottawa

Sept. 26th hosting York

Oct. 3rd at Windsor

Oct. 10th at Waterloo

Oct. 17th host Western

Oct 24th at Laurier

Western/Laurier/Queen's could all be close to clinching a playoff spot at the end of the year. If you might play that team again in 2 or 3 weeks do you try that hard in one of those games? I'd say rest the starters for the last on. Lesson hopefully learned after last season.

I'll say 6-2 for Queen's. Might be better if they have to play a first round game this year.

Later in the week I'll start my NFL picks. Did it last year on the radio but I should make some blog posts out of them. Already picked the Steelers against the Titans for Thursday's game.

There was one week in 2008 I only got one game wrong. Lot of luck but it was fun to see them all those games line up. If you're wondering, yes I picked Detroit to win once during the season. Had to try it one week for an upset.

Kickoff of Queen's vs Guelph is a special start time of 2pm on Monday.

or 101.9 FM in Kingston

8:53 AM

Views (14)·Edit

6 Sep 2009

Sunday Update

Hope everyone is enjoying Labour Day Weekend, unless you are like me and working. Then you don't really care about a 3 day weekend. :)

Queen's Football on Monday afternoon, kickoff at 2pm. Regular season begins as Guelph travels to Kingston. Should be a good game, better than the UofT one last Monday.

Facebook group is slowing coming along. 11 members but since I started it right before a long weekend I'm not expecting the numbers to rise too quickly.



Some familiar names. Jennie Pardy, from Nova Scotia who I have played before on the show. One of the first musicians I found the first summer of doing the show.

Brent MacLean from The Lever Pulled and Toni Marie are also on there. Along with 'Airchecker', friend from Twitter and Facebook.



He or she, started the account a few months ago. Billed as "Canada's number one source for the Canadian Radio Industry" they have had a tonne of great updates.

Protected updates on Twitter so you can't see them right away.

Airchecker is in Vancouver and from what I've gathered is VERY knowledgeable about the radio industry. Stays anonymous but that makes sense when you are getting news tips from people across the country.

Back to my program, I fell a bit behind on uploading the last episode of August. So I'll have to put that up, along with the one this past Friday. Won't be up till Monday. But I haven't forgotten about it.

10:10 PM

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3 Sep 2009

NTV on Rogers Facebook Group

It is now up and running. Facebook Groups don't really get going till members join up and contribute. But you have to start with getting it up there in the first place.



I know, not an easy link. Thought it be easier now that you can pick your own name. Here's mine in case you were wondering.



I'll just put the same text here I put up on Facebook description. Since it's 1am EST.

---

Started this group as a response to Rogers getting rid of NTV from the digital cable lineup in Ontario. Only gave customers a month's notice too. Letters went out in July and it was dropped in the last week of August.

People in Ottawa dealt with Rogers dropping WPBS by starting a Facebook group. They eventually won and changed Rogers' mind.

This case might be tougher but it's good to give it a try. Thought to start this after getting a lot of search terms coming into my blog the last month or so. An example from just one day, the last one was my favorite.

ntv on rogers

ntv newfoundland live stream

ntv change rogers

where is cjon ntv on rogers cable

rogers dropping ntv

ntv and rogers cable complaints

rogers cable dropping cjon why?

The direct line to Rogers for customer complaints is 1-800-379-7597

General Toll Free Number is 1-888-764-3771

Or by email visit this website, you have to click on the Email tab and fill in a form.



The quote from the letter customers got in the mail is they did it to “provide more choice and variety in the future”. Couldn’t make that up if I tried.

Emailed a friend from the station and mentioned starting this group up and was told NTV was OK with it. So pass the word about the group and how to contact Rogers.

Luckily I can still watch NTV since I have satellite but many people are missing out.

Just found quite a few entries on NTV's Guestbook about Rogers dropping the station.



Here are the websites for other providers. If you can switch to satellite where you live.

Bell TV formerly Bell Express Vu



ShawDirect formerly StarChoice



1:18 AM

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2 Sep 2009

Technical Problems

Maybe I'll write a long post about Monday's crazy technical problems. Not today though. :)

Ended up being so strange that a technician had to be called to fix it the next day. Which meant I had to postpone the interview with Allison Crowe for another time.

Think I'll try and put together that NTV/Rogers Facebook group idea tonight. Yes, it's late right now. But once you're on the midnight shift even on your nights off your up quite late. Can't change your body clock on a dime.

Friday night I'll be on LIVE. No plan yet but I have a couple of days.

Found this today, you can pre-order the new CD from Teresa Ennis. It will be autographed by Teresa so check it out if you're interested. Only $12.99 Canadian too.



10:55 PM

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31 Aug 2009

Monday Night Football/Allison Crowe

Later tonight the return of Golden Gaels Football on CFRC. I assume we will not have the confusion this season over the word "Golden" in the nickname. Long story, which I won't go over here. Google it. :)

Pre-season action Monday as Queen's travels to Toronto to face the Varsity Blues. Kickoff is 7pm. I'll be handling the technical producing as usual. Get the game on air, play the ads and do something during halftime. Few sports scores and some music during the halftime show is the plan.

Post game I might be playing some more music, depending on the length of the game and what show is on after. I man the fort till the next program begins.

Here is a preview of the football team at the CIS Blog from Neate Sager. CFRC alumni and frequent guest of 'Offsides' the last couple of years.



'Offsides' is no more by the way. Tyler King is at Syracuse as we speak taking a journalism course there. So Queen's Athletics will escape Tyler's wrath this season. I could bring him on my show to talk about the team at some point in the year.

Last season I did my weekly NFL picks between the 1st and 2nd hour so I do talk sports for those new to the show. Thanks to a listener in the U.S. named Cat I have a good name for the segment now. Mentioned it earlier in the year. "Carnell Knowledge". Yes, a bad pun. But it's memorable especially since I didn't come up with it.

Tuesday night I'll be taping a phone interview with Allison Crowe. That should air next Friday night. Good way to start Labour Day Weekend with her music for most of the show. The incident at the airport in the UK of course will be a topic. But we'll cover a lot of things.

She's in Corner Brook right now before heading to BC as part of recording her new album. So at least we'll chat during one of her breaks this year.



Friday I will be in LIVE doing the show. Looks like a lot of taped shows once the football season starts. New shows but on tape. During the week I'll explain my crazy schedule during the football season. You'll understand why I'll be taping the program.

I'll start the NTV/Rogers Facebook group this week, had to pushed it up a bit. Worked all weekend which ate a lot of time. With football and the Allison Crowe interview to prep for I thought I'd wait a bit to get that started.

8:15 AM

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27 Aug 2009

Correctional Facility

Oops, somehow I forgot to post this part of the interview with Toni Marie here on MySpace.

---

Today's post is just on one story. As part of a TV report Toni Marie spent a few days in the Women's Correctional Facility in Clarenville. Darker topic than usual, but you can tell it was a story that had a big effect on her. She still remembers a lot of details from it.

ROB: A few years ago you had an report where you spend a few nights in a women’s correctional facility. That must have been an incredibly interesting few days.

TONI: It was. I got the idea from watching a story from an American network where a really well known news anchor did that. She went in and stayed in a women’s correctional facility for a few days.

I called a few people that I knew in the Justice Department. Some of them pulled a few strings for me. I was able to stay a few nights in a minimum security women’s prison in Clarenville.

Myself and a female camera person went. We weren’t strip searched or anything, but had to shower when we got there. Gave them our civilian clothing and wore hand me down clothing that they had. At first we had to wear that. Then they laundered our clothing and gave it back to us.

We slept in a cell and ate with the inmates. At first when we got there we were quite nervous.

But most of these women weren’t in there for violent offenses. They were in for fraud and that type of thing. We learned pretty quickly that we weren’t in any physical danger.

It was really emotional to speak to some of these women. To find out why they were doing the things they were doing. Most of these women were moms and missed their families tremendously. They had photographs and letters from their children. It was really heart wrenching.

Very few of them acted as if they didn’t deserve to be there. Most of them said, “Look, I have committed these crimes. And I’m serving the time.” That was an interesting thing, because usually you think that everyone is going to say they were wrongfully convicted. But we didn’t get that.

One woman was serving a much longer sentence. She was convicted of manslaughter for having killed her common law husband. Through the interview with her, and in the trial it came out that he abused her quite a bit. This was her way of trying not be attacked this particular night.

She picked up small kitchen knife. When he came towards her she poked at him to get him away. Knife went in and nicked his heart, he died instantly. Could’ve gotten him in the shoulder, but she didn’t. It wasn't premeditated.

From talking to her we found out that she’d been abused in every way possible since she’d been about four years old. Practically every relationship she’d been in with a man had been abusive in some form or another since she was that age.

She had very low self esteem, and ended up finding herself in this sort of relationship over and over again. I guess she was at the breaking point. It was heart wrenching for her. She also had a child that wasn’t able to see her for years. So, it was really tough.

One of the interesting things is something that I’m sure has changed. The only work duty that these women could do was to repair the uniforms from the male prisoners. They sewed buttons or knitted socks. That was their job. Which is a little bit sexist that they weren’t able to do other things.

When we packed up and got ready to leave we were saying goodbye to the women. This is my soft news person again, I started to cry.

The inmates said, “Why are you crying? You get to leave here. You know, we’re the ones that have to stay. Why are you upset?”

And I said, “Because I almost feel guilty.”

You know for me it was, “Oh look at Toni doing the bad girl thing for two or three days. And I get to hang out with you guys.”

I always knew in the back of my mind that I could leave in a few days. In some ways I almost felt as though I was taking advantage. Even though I thought I was sincere when I was leaving I had a real guilt about me.

ROB: The fact you were kind of coming in and do the report.

TONI: And then leaving again. But one of the women said, “Well, you are the first reporter who’s actually stayed here. Most just come in and do a quick interview and leave. At least you ate the food that we ate. You sat at the table with us. And you were as bored as we were for the last three days.”

That was really nice. They actually made me feel better, which is funny since I was the one getting out.

About six months later I was walking through a store in one of the malls. One of the women I met she was very funny. Very clean humor, just genuinely hilarious.

Walking through this store and all of a sudden I hear this voice. And I know right away it’s her. She was about fifty feet away from me. She says, “Gosh I haven’t seen you since we were in prison together.”

Everyone in the store just kind of stopped and looked at me and thought, “Oh my. I didn’t know Toni Marie was in prison.” But she did it for the comedic affect, it was funny.

11:29 AM

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26 Aug 2009

Blues Music, Football, Search Terms and a Bad Tooth

Show is taped for Friday night, did it on Monday since a few hours ago I had a tooth pulled. Once they numb the area you don't feel a thing. But the needle to the roof of your mouth isn't enjoyable. But at least it's over quickly.

Did have some extractions done years ago. Before I had braces I had overcrowding to take care of. 4 pulled out then. One was real stubborn since when he finally got it out it flew across the room. That's a strange sight to see. Your mouth numb and seeing one of your teeth in mid air. Memorable though. LOL.

Friday's show is a lot of Blues music since the Limestone City Blues Festival is this weekend in Kingston. Starts Thursday and runs to Sunday. Garrett Mason from Nova Scotia is playing every night at the Tir Nan Og downtown. He's also part of the Saturday concert at Market Square. Here are the sites for each.







The last 45 minutes of the show I play Ryan's Fancy record Sea People. Station has it on vinyl and I thought the last show of August would be a good time to play it. Yep, for me summer is over after this weekend. Our pre-season football broadcast is Monday Night. Football season = Fall.

Asked Toni Marie about starting a Facebook group about Rogers in Ontario dropping NTV. Wanted to see if they would have a problem or not with that idea. Reply was that management would be OK with it. So I'll start working on that.

Probably get it ready for a launch early next week. I've seen people looking up NTV and Rogers a lot lately. When I sign in to Wordpress it gives you terms every day that people use on search engines. This just a few from today. See a pattern?

ntv on rogers

rogers ntv

ntv rogers

ntv newfoundland live stream

ntv change rogers

ntv on rogers cable

where is cjon ntv on rogers cable

The WPBS/Ottawa page is still up and running so maybe I'll contact them for advice. They won and made Rogers change their minds. In this case it's trying to get NTV back up across the province. Without a doubt, a harder challenge. But it doesn't hurt to try.

The date given for dropping it was yesterday. So I bet the amount of people upset is just going to rise as Newfoundlanders find out across the province.

1:16 AM

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21 Aug 2009

SWM Classic

Rerun? No it's a "classic" episode. Ya, it's a rerun. Working all weekend, feeling tired and getting a tooth pulled early next week adds up to airing a "classic". I've had teeth pulled before, before they gave me braces I had overcrowding to deal with. I was awake while they pulled FOUR teeth. Remember one flying across the room. Fun times.

Episode is from April and one people have been searching for the last few days apparently. First hour an interview with Tim Baker from Hey Rosetta! and tracks from their latest CD.



Then live music from Teresa Ennis during ECMA weekend. Live music from Blue Rodeo, from a promotional EP only given to radio stations in the mid 90's.



Good content for a 'rerun'. You can listen to it now, or wait for it to play around 6pm on the radio.

Back next week with a new episode, quite a bit of blues is the plan with Limestone Blues Festival in town. Tape that ahead of time this Monday, before my trip to the dentist the next day. Fun summer evening that will be.

8:59 AM

Views (8)·Edit

19 Aug 2009

Links/2010 Junos

Up first the link I found a few weeks ago that led to a few hits on this page. Luckily this story worked out in the end. If you read the comments you'll see what I mean. Toni accepted the apology and mentioned it on her Facebook page.



Started with an original blog post about the audio interview with Toni Marie when I put it up. It's described in The Telegram blog so I won't reprint it again.

Here is a link to Darcy's blog, mistakes happen and I know he wrote that entry before listening to the entire interview. Sure he would've written a different one after he finished listening to it.



First place I found the 2010 Junos logo in a recent post. Better than most logos for these things but that slogan leaves a lot to be desired.

"Ruckus on the Edge"

If they thought to come up with something that will people say 'huh?', mission accomplished.

Still looking forward to it coming to the East Coast next year. But, do you even need a slogan? Just mention George Street to people who might go. :)



I knew this summer had been bad weather wise. Read that last month was the wettest July in Toronto history. More proof.

11:08 PM

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18 Aug 2009

5:30pm Nfld

Little back and forth when it comes to local news in St. John's.

Was reported over the summer that along with other CBC stations, St. John's local news will be increased to 90 minutes at suppertime. Link from Geoff Meeker's blog.



Forgot to talk about how this blog got linked on Geoff's a few weeks ago. Talk about that tomorrow. Back to the topic today.

Saw an ad on NTV about the fact they are also going to 90 minutes. Glen Carter will be hosting an extra 30 minutes of news at 5:30pm local time. NTV will start this on August 24th. Which is a week earlier than when CBC changes. I wonder if it was planned to get a jump on them. LOL.

Found a lot of search terms coming into this blog about NTV getting kicked off of Rogers in Ontario. People wondering where it is, what's going on and such. Must be a way to rally all the people who want this fixed. Don't know if a Facebook group might be a good way to start. Any ideas or suggestions leave a comment on the blog or email me

saltwatermusicrob@

Lot of Newfoundlanders around to get Rogers attention. And the people of Ottawa did get them to change their mind on kicking off WPBS in Watertown.

Back to reading about the rumour of Brett Favre about to sign with the Vikings. You thought that was over? Please.

12:10 PM

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17 Aug 2009

August 14th Show



DAWG FM finally was approved a few days before this episode. With that news I kicked off the show with some blues from the East Coast with GlamourPuss and John Campbelljohn.

Move on to brand new music from Teresa Ennis. Ahead of her new CD "Stars" which is coming out this fall.

Then a couple of tracks from Nova Scotia's Emmy Alcorn's CD "Unveil".

End the hour with 3 covers from Allison Crowe's CD "Tidings". Which is primarily a Christmas CD but these are covers of The Beatles, Rolling Stones and Sarah Maclachlin.



Traditional music from Newfoundland starts the second hour with Jim Payne and Fergus O'Byrne.

Move over to rock/pop side of things with two bands I've had a chance to chat with. Talked to one member of each band on the phone for interviews last year. Grand Theft Bus and Air Traffic Control.

End the hour with Ian Foster as he was doing his last tour date in New Brunswick that night. After that back on the way to St. John's. His cross country tour has come to an end for this summer. Mix of stuff from some of his MySpace page to end the show.

10:47 AM

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16 Aug 2009

TMW : Patrick Roy/ROY

For a short post on a Sunday, Toni's story about saying Patrick Roy the wrong way on the radio. For this blog if you see "Roy" it is the proper way to say it. If you see "ROY" in caps it is ROY Rogers.

People still remember this trick played on Toni Marie from years ago.

---

ROB: Since we’re on the radio what's the first thing that comes to mind from doing radio?

TONI: I could tell you a really funny story, since you’re also involved in sports and I know you would appreciate this story quite a bit. I had been in radio for a while, I mostly was a DJ. I played music, did voice commercials and that sort of thing. Also I had written some news and a bit of sports. But I hadn’t done a lot of sports. Normally there’s a sports person.

This one summer someone from our sister station OZ FM went on vacation for an extended period. They needed someone to read news, sports and weather. Not being an avid sports watcher, I was not quite familiar with all of the names.

This one particular newscast I was reading, I came across the name Patrick Roy. I asked my producer the proper way to pronounce it. Now, I’d assumed it was Patrick Roy.

I said, “It’s Patrick Roy isn’t it?”

He says, “How’s the last name, spelled, Toni?”

“It’s spelled, R-o-y.”

My producer said, “Well, it sounds like ROY to me.”

“Are you sure?”

“Would I steer you wrong?”

“No, I’m sure you wouldn’t, Bill.”

We recorded three newscasts during each one I called Patrick Roy, Patrick ROY.

He knew the difference and was having some fun with me.

That probably happened about nineteen years ago. And I still have men who come up to me now, and ask me how Patrick ROY is doing.

The next day after work I was so embarrassed. Bill who’s a veteran of radio thought it was the funniest thing.

I guess OZ FM was kind of the cutting edge FM radio station at the time, and got away with a lot more than other radio stations would.

So management wasn’t upset with me they thought it was a little funny.

And kind of sweet, you know.... “Aw, the young girl.”

I asked Bill why he did that. And he said, “Well, they don’t say it’s Roy Rogers. They say, ROY Rogers.” Which really didn’t make it any better. :)

8:17 AM

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15 Aug 2009

Wrapping up with Toni Marie

This part talks about songs Toni Marie requested so here is the link to that part of the show.



First part I ran out of time to play, a short bit about St. John's

TONI: St. Johns has become very cosmopolitan. It’s not a large city by any stretch about 195,000 people. But there’s so much to do here. You can go any night of the week and see live music or a live theatrical performance.

We’ve got a beautiful new facility, called the Rooms. That houses the provincial art gallery, theater and archives. It’s fantastic.

I love St. Johns. I can walk by myself downtown at midnight and feel pretty safe.

-----

I knew Toni would try to "turn the table" at one point. I steered it back to it being about her eventually. LOL.

---

TONI: But we should talk more about music, because you have a fantastic show, Salt Water Music. And I know that now it’s kind of the place to be for Newfoundland and Labrador and east coast artists to be played. Maybe I can kind of turn the table on you a little bit and ask if there’s anything maybe you want to know about some of your favorites or some of the people you’ve interviewed or played on your wonderful show?

ROB: You’ve done a lot of interviews with people, I've talked to like Ian Foster and Teresa Ennis.

TONI: Fergus O’Byrne too I believe.

ROB: Yeah. For Fergus you were partly responsible for that since we did the Newfoundland Herald interview then you were talking to Fergus during one of the weather hits.

You mentioned the interview and got my contact information and that’s how I got the interview with Fergus. So, thank you for that.

TONI: After I wrote that article a number of artists contacted me and wanted to know how to get in touch with you. Because you’re doing such a great service. Obviously every musician wants to have their music played on any radio station that will take them. But the unique thing about your program is that it possibly reaches a larger audience.

They get to play their music now for people who maybe hadn’t heard Teresa Ennis’s solo album since she was no longer with the Ennis sisters. Or maybe had never heard Fergus O’Byrne talk on the radio. Especially when you told me that wonderful story about your inspiration for Salt Water Music came from Ryan’s Fancy and from the death of Dermot O’Reilly.

Fergus will probably be one of the first to admit that their first stop in this country aside from Newfoundland was Ontario. Ryan’s Fancy did quite well there. It was great for Fergus knowing that there was somebody who was helping to keep great east coast music available to people in that part of the country.

-----

ROB: Before we go, Toni, any favorite songs from Newfoundland artists that you’ve been listening to?

TONI: I think you know this but my boyfriend Kenny Butler is a musician. He does have a beautiful song and I believe you play it on your show.

It’s called Breathe the Air. It’s a beautiful song. And so, I’d love to hear that one.

There’s another one and it’s by Ron Hynes, which I’m sure everyone in your listening audience is familiar with.

The wonderful Ron Hynes, a man of a thousand songs. Years ago many people will remember the Ocean Ranger, which was an oil rig off the coast of Newfoundland that sank on one horrible night around Valentine’s Day.

He wrote a song about that disaster and about the people left behind. The song is called Atlantic Blue and it is one of the most beautiful songs I’ve ever heard. It’s so beautiful that I don’t think I’ve ever been able to listen to it and not cry. So, you could play that one for me too, if that’s okay.

[After playing those songs]

ROB: Your favorite song is one from the 80’s, is there a particular reason why that song became your favorite?

TONI: You’re talking about No One is to Blame, Howard Jones.

I think it’s just a very peaceful song that back in those days was around summer vacation. Probably came out when I was close to the end of high school. It’s just a very relaxing beautiful song.

And it talks about life too. No matter what happens, we can try not to hurt people but in the long run no one really is to blame for where their heart goes, where their heart leads them. I like that one.

ROB: I know you have a copy on vinyl.

TONI: I do. I wonder where I got that.

ROB: I don’t know.

TONI: Maybe a really good friend of mine in radio might have been able to track that one down for me.

ROB: Possibly.

TONI: Rob, thank you so much for inviting me on this show. I hope I haven’t bored you or your listeners too much. You’ve got such a fantastic show there, I’d hate to do anything to jeopardize it.

I want to thank you, not just for inviting me but for creating this wonderful show, Salt Water Music. I know that people not just in Newfoundland and Labrador appreciate that you’ve done this. But throughout the east coast of Canada, the artists who get to be played on this fantastic program.

I’m your numerous listeners love it too. And I know they appreciate that you’re bringing the east coast music back to Ontario.

ROB: I try my best. So, thanks for that. And thanks for joining us, Toni.

TONI: Thank you. You take care.

---

Thanks to Toni Marie for doing the interview. I told her it wouldn't be "boring" and I think you did learn a few things about her you didn't know.

Even with how long we went there were things I forgot to talk about.

Toni said she can't sing or act but I've seen her do both. Don't know if they do them anymore but they used to have a charity fundraiser called Celebrity Secrets in town. Local media people would go on stage and sing songs or do skits.

One year she was part of a group of women from NTV with a song parody of a Dixie Chicks song. Another year she did a skit where her and another woman were playing older women from Newfoundland talking about hospitals. They broke out into "Sneeze Away" a parody of "Heave Away". Which was quite funny. I recall she had so many requests to see it she played it on Entertainment News 2 weeks in a row.

Other thing I forgot was how she enjoys certain Hard Rock/Alternative music. Playing Nine Inch Nails and Marilyn Manson in her car for example.

Tomorrow I'll put up the story where she got tricked into mispronouncing Patrick Roy on the radio. Something extra. I'll use Roy for the proper way to say it, and ROY in caps as in ROY Rogers.

Probably upload Friday's episode tomorrow or Monday at the latest.

8:59 AM

Views (15)·Edit

14 Aug 2009

TMW: Facebook/World of Warcraft

Toni talking about being on Facebook and playing World of Warcraft. Her Facebook address is:



Hasn't updated in a few days but she is on vacation. About WOW she says "For the Horde", whatever that means. Someone I'm sure will explain that to me. :)

---

ROB: I know you’re on Facebook. And you keep hitting the maximum amount of friends on there. How was that when you started going on Facebook and getting all these messages? I saw when you had your birthday recently I lost count how many messages. I think you had at least two or three hundred.

TONI: What happened was that everyone else was on Facebook except for me. One of my good friends that I work with, Mark Dwyer, he’s the managing editor for the Newfoundland Herald. He’s also our main sports reporter and asked me why I wasn’t on Facebook. “How can you not be on Facebook? Everyone is on Facebook.” So, I signed up.

Then I got people asking to be my friend. And I was quite flattered. I thought this was neat. “Yeah, of course I want Susie Smith, whom I’ve never met before to be my friend. That’s so neat.”

Then it got to the point where now as you said, I’m close to 5000. It’s hard to keep track of. I did get a good number of birthday greetings and it was so wonderful. But I can’t possibly reply to everybody, because I just don’t have enough hours in the day.

Facebook is an odd thing. People have asked me why wouldn’t I just set up a fan page? But that’s not really who I am. I don’t want to set up something and have somebody else monitor it for me.

I thought, “Why not have it be me?”

They were kind enough and took the time to contact me. The least I can do is try to do the same. A lot of the private messages I get are from people saying, “Is this the real Toni Marie?” And I write them back and say, “Yes, it’s me.”

I have friends in the industry though that say "But, you tell them you’re going on vacation. Or that you were tired today. Or that you had spaghetti for supper. Why do you tell people about you?”

The way I look at it is "Well... why not tell them?"

That way they can get to know me as a normal person. And not that as we spoke about earlier, being just an image in a box. They know that, “Hey, Toni Marie plays World of Warcraft.” or “Toni Marie likes to go to Deer Lake on the weekends.” It lets them realize that I not different from anyone else. I just have a different job.

ROB: I know you tried to explain to me World of Warcraft a few times. You’re on there a couple of nights a week playing that?

TONI: Yes, I’ve weaned myself to a couple of nights a week. First when I started about a year ago it was probably a few hours every night of the week. It can be a little addicting at first, but not so much now.

Any of your listeners if they play World of Warcraft I’m a Horde Blood Elf Hunter. "For the Horde" for any of you listening. Over 13 million people play this game worldwide. And it’s an online game so that means that you’re playing in real time with people around the world.

I play with people from Texas, California and New York, every night I’m on.

ROB: I know it mostly from the South Park episode, which I don’t know if that’s accurate or not.

TONI: Some of it isn’t but that’s for television. I think the addiction depiction was accurate in many ways. I don’t think I ate many pizza pops but I probably put on ten pounds first when I started playing. It’s a lot of fun.

8:14 AM

Views (11)·Edit

12 Aug 2009

TMW: Junos, Weather, Great Big Sea and Monty Python?

Enjoying two nights off from work, so I'm posting this now. It is officially Wednesday morning. Longer mid week post, covering a few topics. I'll divide it up a bit today. First is a chat about the previous Junos in St. John's, which is returning to town in 2010.

Thanks to Brent from The Lever Pulled for this comment on the MySpace page. [I assume Brent was the one from the band who posted it.]

"Toni is only young but she's already a legend in Newfoundland media and a big part of Newfoundland culture. That's not an exaggeration. Mention the name Toni-Marie to ANYONE in this province and they know who you are talking about."

Which shows how down to earth she is with the red carpet story she had at the last Junos.

----

ROB: One of the big events years ago was the Junos in St. John’s, which are coming back next year. From what I've heard that week there was a lot of partying going.

TONI: What happens at the Junos in St. John’s, stays at the Junos in St. John’s. I’m kidding.

It was great fun. We got to meet a lot of people. In Newfoundland people aren’t afraid to say hello to you. When you go live on location in Newfoundland you kind of expect the unexpected. It was just before the live telecast show, the red carpet walk.

Before that started happening for the mother network [CTV], I was doing some live remotes for our newscast that was happening. And there were reporters from across the country. Some of the top entertainment reporters from all the major stations.

And a young guy came out to vacuum the red carpet while I was speaking. And I didn’t flinch, because it was his job.

When I stopped that particular live remote, which was probably thirty seconds to a minute, all the reporters basically jumped on this poor young fellow.

'How could you do that? She was live.'

And I kind of had to get in there and say,

'Listen, it’s his job. He has to make sure that red carpet is clean before the live telecast. What I’m doing isn’t necessarily as important as what he is doing.'

They just kind of looked at me like, 'What? What?'

I said, 'Well, his job was that he was sent out here to vacuum that carpet.'

But they couldn’t understand how I was able to keep focus while a vacuum cleaner was running.

----

The TV people from the big cities can learn something from her. Then we talked about the weather hits. Don't be surprised if you see her lugging around equipment if you see her around town.

Onto a memory of talking to Great Big Sea when they started out. Which leads into talking about Alan Doyle/Russell Crowe and the Robin Hood movie they're in. Which left an opening for me to bring up that we both are big Monty Python fans.

----

TONI: When I do my live remotes a lot of people are surprised that it’s only myself and usually Dan Lake. Dan the camera man as we affectionately call him.

We don’t have a lighting person or a makeup person or a sound person. We don’t have someone to carry the equipment for us. I’m on the ground duct taping cables as well as Dan is. We’re used to having to do everything.

Being on our own, very little will throw us at this point. And if it does we just make it part of the show, because it’s live television. I think the viewers at home like to see that. I’m sure when I was reading and the guy came out to vacuum the carpet, everyone watching TV at that point thought that was the neatest thing they’d seen. Here is this young guy about seventeen years old out with his little vacuum cleaner.

ROB: Talking about the live hits sometimes you community ones and other times they just stick you outside in the snowstorm. I read you thought the people stayed tuned to the weather on bad nights just to see you outside in the storm?

TONI: Yes, and see the Tammy Faye Baker eyes. It can be really uncomfortable.

But it’s funny, when I first started doing the live remotes I was in my twenties. And all I cared about in my twenties as most of us women do when we’re in our twenties. Not all, but many. We want to look pretty.

We’re not going to wear a big bulky jacket to make us look heavier. We’re going to wear the teeniest little jacket we can get away with. And we’re going to try to have the hair perfect and everything, and I couldn’t possibly wear a hat.

Well, now that I’m considerably older than twenty, I wear a full snow-suit now. I just want to be warm and dry and comfortable. And when I’m warm and dry I perform better too.

ROB: Was this winter a bad one, worse or better than usual?

TONI: It was a lot colder than usual. So, I had to deal with that quite a bit. I started wearing the ear muffs along with the snowsuit. But we didn’t have as much snow as we had in previous years. I mean one year we had about six, seven feet of snow. In one snow fall we had seventy-four centimeters.

ROB: That’s a lot.

TONI: That’s a lot.

[Not a typo we said the same thing]

TONI: This year you know our worst month might have been thirty. This was a good winter, but very cold.

ROB: I did notice some storms where the snow is swirling around and blowing in your face.

TONI: And it takes your breath away. Because the camera is such an expensive piece of equipment we can’t throw away the camera to save me. So, it’s the other way around. I’m positioned in a way that it’s not so much that I look my best. But it’s so that the camera doesn’t get blown over or damaged from all the snow.

That usually means I’m in the most uncomfortable place to be. But I guess it’s almost like an actor on a stage and you have a prop to work with. And the prop makes you do different things.

When I’m out and there isn’t a whole lot to talk about other than the fact that I’m standing in a raging blizzard. Then the blizzard is my friend, because I have plenty to talk about. And people like to see weather people in weather.

That’s what we’re supposed to do. We understand how horrible the weather is. They can feel fine when they complain about it or if I complain about it, because they know I’m in it too.

I’m not in some cozy perfect little studio with a green screen behind me, which we have done from time to time. But in the major snowstorms I’m outside. I’m outside braving the elements as everyone else will have to do when they get out and pick up that shovel.

ROB: Wtih all the various jobs you have at the station, you must enjoy the mix. Every day is different, so to speak.

TONI: Every day is different and the same. I meet different people every day. That’s the best part of the job. I do an entertainment report or two every week, but it’s always somebody different. It’s fun. I feel guilty sometimes, because I have so much fun doing the work that I do.

It gets back to what I was talking about earlier, a feeling of attachment to what’s happening in the arts community. That adds to the fun, I really get caught up in how people advance.

I mentioned Teresa Ennis, but the first time I had interviewed Great Big Sea, they had never won any awards before. And they had been nominated for an ECMA.

We were at Alan Doyle’s house at the time. He and Sean McCann were there. And I saw like this little ornament on a mantelpiece. I handed it to them and said, 'Okay, pretend for me that you’ve just won your first ECMA. And what would say?'

Of course the first thing they said was, “We’d like to thank God.” Because that’s what everybody says, which was nice.

It was funny to see and I still have that tape. To remember that and be a part of that and their excitement. Now to see them as grown men with families.

Alan Doyle now starring in a movie with Russell Crowe, who’s apparently one of his good buds. And I can say that I knew them when.

ROB: I’ve seen pictures online of Robin Hood. Russell Crowe and Cate Blanchett I believe are in that movie. Alan is over there for I think about six to nine months.

TONI: Alan, oddly enough or maybe not that odd, he plays kind of like a minstrel does he not? Like a roving musician. And his name in the film, I believe is Alan A'dayle.

ROB: Kind of like the singing character from Holy Grail.

TONI: Yes. “He is brave sir Robin.” I think it’s quite fitting.

ROB: Slightly off topic, we’re both Monty Python fans. I guess you can’t use that in any report on NTV.

TONI: No.

ROB: I know The Meaning of Life is your favorite one.

TONI: I do like the Meaning of Life. I’ve seen it so many time that usually when I watch it now, I do need to watch it alone, because I recite the entire movie. It’s not good, when there are other people in the room. And Monty Python, I think it’s brilliant humor, as I know you do.

ROB: Yes.

TONI: Very intelligent, but a lot of people don’t get it. They just think it’s too foolish to talk about. When I’m singing some of the songs that are in the film that we won’t sing now, on this wonderful radio station people think I’m a little crazy.

ROB: And all the guys in Python were university educated.

TONI: Yes. We’ll have to watch these sometime. One of my co-workers Larry Jay, who anchors the Sunday evening news with me, is also a huge fan of Monty Python. I think he can recite even Flying Circus, the television program itself. He can recite I think everything they’ve ever done.

ROB: I was watching a few months ago the DVD of Holy Grail with John Cleese's commentary. He had a story about meeting an American football player in the 70’s. The player said him and a teammate were big fans of Holy Grail.

One game they’re just getting crushed by the other team. It’s getting near the end of the game. They’re in the huddle said “What should we do?” One guy whispered to the other one, “Run away. Run away.” And they started cracking up during the next play. John was amazed that this silly thing they wrote for this movie were being used by these players during a game.

TONI: Maybe they could all sing the Lumberjack song. That might do well.

---

Yes, Toni Marie can quote Monty Python. Imagine that.

Once in an email to me at the end she said "talk to you later, Sir Not Appearing in this film". Wow. If you get that reference you know why I was impressed. A one line joke in Holy Grail. :)

If you know a certain song in The Meaning of Life you understand why people might look at her funny singing it. LOL.

Last line always made me laugh, "Sorry but it has to be medical experiments for the lot of you".

1:28 AM

Views (6)·Edit

11 Aug 2009

Blues in Ottawa Wins

Nice surprise as I surf after work this morning. Blues music in Ottawa won at the CRTC. Dawg FM is going forward. I'd give more details but have you ever tried to read one of these decisions?



I'll give a further update once someone has translated that into an easy to read article. :)

Glad to see a Blues station finally getting off the ground in Canada. Especially in the city where Bluesfest is. One summer I saw Taj Mahal, Keb Mo, Al Green and Buddy Guy among others.

Listening to Shore 104 right now out of Vancouver. A station that's trying something different than other stations across the country. What a novel concept? Not doing the same old, same old.

Off to bed, since I work midnights. Tomorrow a further Dawg FM update and another part of my chat with Toni Marie. About covering weather and a fun story about when the Junos were held in St. John's. Shows how she's nicer and more grounded than some big city reporters . :)

11:49 AM

Views (5)·Edit

11 Aug 2009

TMW : Reach of NTV and covering Entertainment

The thunderstorms have stopped. We didn't have the power outages like Toronto had Sunday night luckily.

I would complain, but just for kicks I thought "maybe I'll see what the weather is like where Toni is right now". She is the weather girl after all.

Costa Rica's 5 day forecast: Scattered thunderstorms today, tomorrow and Thursday. Oh, and the same weather for Friday and Saturday. Damn. When you cover weather, that's some bad luck. LOL.

Today's part of the interview starts off with the reach of NTV. If you've wondered why their weather forecast always mentions Tampa Bay, Florida when they show North America there is a reason.

Also talk about when she started covering entertainment. Originally she was a news reporter but you'll read how that wasn't suited for her.

----

ROB: Now for those who might not have the seen the station. You have several jobs. You are a news anchor, Sunday evenings and noon hour weekdays. And you do the weather reports, 6pm Monday to Thursday.

TONI: Which are live. Actually they’re live hits in the community. And I read radio news still. I also write a bi-weekly column for our sister magazine called the Newfoundland Herald. That’s over sixty years old now.

We have a lot of viewers in Ontario and throughout the country.

A lot of Newfoundlanders moved to Ontario twenty, thirty years ago. I dare you to find somebody from Ontario who doesn’t know someone from Newfoundland.

We are on satellite, on Bell Express Vu and Star Choice. So, we're seen by Ex Patriot Newfoundlanders across the country and in the United States as well. They get to stay connected with home and see how Newfoundland has grown up quite a bit since they’ve left.

ROB: I know at least in some cities that NTV has also started popping up on digital cable. Ontario, Alberta among some places.

TONI: The oddest thing happened to me several years ago. I was visiting British Columbia, which is a beautiful province. I was on Vancouver Island and with some people who lived in Nanaimo. We went into a big box store and in the television section, NTV was on. That was a little strange. But it was really nice.

ROB: It’s also on in the Caribbean.

TONI: Yes, and in Tampa Bay, Florida. A lot of people across Canada and Newfoundland winter in Florida. Because of that I guess there’s a market for it.

ROB: I found that station online, I think about a year ago. And they even have a live stream, you can technically watch NTV online. They show, the Noon news and half of the 6 o’clock news. I was here at the station one night, just before my show. And I thought to try the feed and I watched a half hour of the news here on the computer. I think it’s mostly Greek programming of all things.

TONI: Yes, it’s a Greek television station.

ROB: So NTV is all over the place.

TONI: We are. I’m sure when Mr. Sterling, started this station many decades ago he never dreamed it would be seen around North America.

I’m sure he wished it would but it’s come a long way. And people are really embracing the station. We have fans across the country who have no real connection to Newfoundland. They stumbled on it and enjoyed watching our news.

Before stations went digital, when everything was still analog people could pick us up anywhere. We used to get fan mail from places like Montana and Kentucky.

We got a photo from a nudist colony. Because many years ago we would say, “If you’re watching us from somewhere else in the country or throughout North America, send us a picture of your group. And we’ll put it on TV.”

Well, that picture we couldn’t actually put on TV but we did mention it.

ROB: I know you have won several awards for your other job you at the station covering the local arts scene. You have also Entertainment News, which a program you tape during the week and airs on Saturday nights.

TONI: That’s right.

ROB: So, this must be one of the more rewarding parts of the job. Helping support music and the arts.

TONI: Absolutely. I would dare you to find a person who at some point in their childhood maybe didn’t want to be a rock star, or an actress or a dancer. I wanted to be all of those things... unfortunately I don’t sing very well. I don’t act very well. And I really am not a very good dancer.

So, for me to be able to meet all of these artistic people is such a thrill. To be able to sit down with someone like Teresa Ennis who is such a talented and beautiful woman. To talk to her about her music is fantastic.

I remember when she and her sisters were first signed to Warner Music. We were at an East Coast Music Association conference. And they were very young girls at that time. They kind of looked at me like a big sister for that moment in time. We all kind of bonded during that weekend.

And then they were signing their first record deal. It was really exciting for me too, and emotional. Even though I’m supposed to be this hardnosed TV person, I do get caught up with the people I interview. It’s great to see how well Teresa has done. It’s a beautiful thing to have been able to watch her grow since the beginning.

Damhnait Doyle is another. The first time I interviewed her, I guess she was about eighteen years old. And I mean she’s another fantastic talent. And to see how far she’s come.

ROB: What was it like doing your entertainment reports when you started? I know originally you were doing news and then moved over to covering the arts.

TONI: Yes, which was great for me and for the station. We’re supposed to be these hardnosed kinds of people in many ways. You’re not supposed to become personally involved or care about the people you interview.

It was quite difficult for me doing news stories and having to ask people questions that made them uncomfortable or made them upset. I really wasn’t that great at it.

If I was interviewing somebody and they didn’t want to answer the question I wouldn’t ask the question another way like most smart news reporters will do. I would just kind of say, “Oh that’s okay. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to ask you that question.”

That doesn’t fly when you’re a news reporter, at least not with the news director. They thought that I was a great writer and that I could read and speak well. That I had great creative ideas, but probably not for news.

They allowed me to explore the entertainment field. They didn’t have anyone covering entertainment on a full-time basis at that point. That became my new job, in addition to the anchoring roles and radio roles that I had. But it was great. I’ve been doing that now for many years. And I think it’s the best thing that ever could have happened to me or for the company.

8:41 AM

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10 Aug 2009

TMW: From Radio to TV

Keeping the daily posts going this week.

In this part of the interview, Toni Marie starts about the differences she found when switching from radio to TV. Also mentions how they are unique when it comes to how the teleprompter works. People at other stations will be surprised at that one.

But we start off with the day she went in for a job interview with NTV.

---

TONI: I was quite nervous since didn’t know if I was a television kind of person. Radio as you know is so much freer in many ways.

In many ways you can be more expressive physically than you can on TV. On TV people can see if you talk with your hands a lot. In radio they don’t see that.

One of the first things I had to do was read news on camera. I’d read news but never from a teleprompter. And the teleprompter that day wasn’t working. So, I had to kind of cheat. Where you look down and look up at the same time. Of course I didn’t have any experience in that. So, I thought I had done a terrible job.

But the next day they called and offered me the job. I guess they saw some potential and nearly twenty years later I’m still there.

ROB: I’ve used the teleprompter a couple of times when I took TV broadcasting at Algonquin College in Ottawa. Have a few memories of when the teleprompter would break down. And then we’d have to do exactly what you said, read off the script.

TONI: In many stations they have an auto-cue person. A a tech person who controls the teleprompter for the news anchors. Which means somebody else controls the pace of your reading.

People who have worked at other television stations and come to work for us find our set up very peculiar and aren’t used to it.

At our station we get to control it ourselves. I control the speed myself. And I find it works quite well, because I read a lot faster than most people. I’m not waiting or anticipating when the teleprompter or auto queue is going to move.

Also it gives you something to do with your hands when you’re on television. As I said, you can’t talk with your hands like you do in radio so it gives you something to hold when you’re there. That’s the one thing people say when I interview them is, “What do I do with my hands?”

When you’re anchoring a newscast at our station at least you have that problem solved for you.

ROB: What was the hardest part of the transition from radio to TV when you started? I guess it’s getting used to people recognizing you on the street instead of by your voice.

TONI: Well, yes, a lot of that. And also in radio you don’t really have to dress up.

A lot of what I’d done in radio was overnights when there isn't a lot of management around. They don’t care if you wear blue jeans and a T-shirt. You can’t wear that when you’re on television anchoring the news.

Radio is live and television is live, but they can see terror on your face. You can hide nervousness fairly well on the radio. You can’t on TV.

And it’s all those sorts of things that you don’t really pick up until you see yourself television. “Why do I tilt my head when I ask a question? That looks so foolish.”

I still love radio and a lot of the time I miss it. Radio is more personal in many ways. When people listen to their favorite radio announcer they really feel a warm, fuzzy connection to that voice.

When you’re on television they kind of view you in a different way. Many times over the years I have felt as if I’m just the person in a box. And when I’m in public and people look at me sometimes they don’t say, “Hi” to me. They stand a couple of feet away and talk about me to their friends, in a polite way. But as if I can’t really hear them, because I’m still inside this box.

ROB: I’ve heard stories over the years of people phoning various TV stations and instead of talking about the stories their comments are on the person’s hair or the wardrobe.

TONI: That happens a lot. I like to think that I don’t know why they do that. But I do that as well, if I’m watching a television show. I might say, “Ooh, I don’t like that dress that that woman is wearing.” But when it happens to me, I get kind of offended or bothered by it. I guess it’s just human nature.

And I think we have to understand that if we want people to welcome us into their homes that we are opening ourselves up to so much more than that.

If we are trying to make a personal connection in our program, we then have to accept the fact that they’re going to be quite personal with us.

But, it can be tough. You really have to develop a thick skin. And I still don’t have a thick skin.

So, if somebody calls and they say they didn’t like my hair. It really bothers me. I laugh it off and I say, “Okay, I’ll style it differently tomorrow.” When I have naturally curly hair, but I straighten it most often for television, because it just looks nicer.

But every now and then I will wear my hair curly. Once a gentleman sent me a comb in the mail and asked that I comb my hair.

ROB: Ooh.

TONI: I was devastated. But I’m sure he meant it in the nicest of ways. And if he had seen my actual reaction he probably would have felt bad. You have to realize that people really don’t mean any harm. And when they give you criticism they really mean it to be constructive criticism.

They may think they’re talking to their friend. “Hey, that’s Toni Marie. She’s in my living room every night. She’s been there for twenty years. I think I have the right to tell her if her hair is bad.” You have to try and get over it.

8:17 AM

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9 Aug 2009

Week of Daily Posts

Drizzle on a Sunday morning in Kingston. I've complained about how bad the weather has been this summer, but this officially shows me that fall might be starting up earlier than usual too. Did resemble weather in Newfoundland so I liked it better than rain.

Still awaiting word on Dawg FM. CRTC said on their website that the decision would come out last week. Guess what? Didn't happen. Friday came and went and nothing. So maybe it will come out after the weekend. But at this point, your guess is as good as mine.

As for the title, doing a new blog post every day this week. Have a text version of the interview with Toni Marie Wiseman I did recently. It's too long for one post so I'll divide it up over the week.

It is also a week where she's on vacation so you can't see her on NTV this week. Out of all places for her to visit, it isn't one I would have guessed. Costa Rica. I don't even want to guess how long that day of flying must've been.

Onto the interview. Not a word for word transcript since I edited to make it easier to read. Reading an interview is much different than listening to one.

Today it's how Toni Marie got into broadcasting and talking about her radio career before she started in television.

ROB: Welcome to the show, Toni.

TONI: Thank you very much for having me Rob.

ROB: I know myself as an Army Brat, I moved around a lot. And you moved around a lot on the east coast.

TONI: I did, yes.

ROB: So, how was growing up in different towns over the years?

TONI: You may feel the same way, when I was growing up I found it quite difficult. Being in a place for two years and then moving. Having to leave friends behind make new friends, and start all over.

But now especially because of the work that I do with NTV I find that having moved around, really allowed me to feel connected with each part of the province.

When I have to talk about a particular event that’s happening in Corner Brook I can relate to that. Because I lived in towns like Corner Brook, Gander and Grand Falls-Windsor.

While it was difficult when I was younger, it was really a blessing. It’s allowed me to find out much more about the province. Many people don’t have the luxury of having lived all over the place. So, it’s a good thing.

ROB: I got used to it pretty quickly. By the time I was five I was in three or four towns.

TONI: The only sad thing is when people that I know, some of them have friends that they’ve had since they were three or four.

And I don’t. That’s what I think I’ve missed out on. I don’t really have any friends that I’ve had for years and years. But I have lots of great friends now, so, I’m none the worse from my ordeal, I suppose.

ROB: I know you went to Memorial for one year and then went to journalism school.

TONI: I did. And that was my father’s idea. I was a very shy girl. I was always very young for my age. Probably five years younger emotionally than my peers were. When I went to university [Acadia] first I got sick. So, I had to move home.

Then I went to MUN [Memorial University]. You may have found this too, because I moved around so much, my parents, especially my mom were kind of my best friends. Moving away from them for the first time I found quite difficult.

My first year at Memorial University I didn’t do as well as I should have. Or I could have. And a lot of it was home sickness.

My father said, “Well, how about you take a year off and take this course? It's a broadcasting course. This is kind of what you want to do. Take the year do the course. And if you really enjoy it then maybe you’ll be more motivated.”

I thought, that’s fair, so to my dad who’s been paying for my education. So that’s what I did.

Began in September of ’86. By December, we were shipped off to various parts of the province to do some on the job training. I was sent to Corner Brook, where my brother lived at the time. And I did so well there that they hired me.

I realized that this was something that I really wanted to do. I was quite lucky.

I started working full time at CFCB in Corner Brook just a few short months after I started the program. Then I made a transfer to Grand Falls Windsor to a VOCM affiliate station. After that I went to the head station 590 VOCM in St. Johns.

Basically I was working with another affiliate station with VOCM called VOFM as the morning traffic person. You drive around and tell people if there are slowdowns or if this road is closed.

I had to be at work for four in the morning which I found quite difficult. It’s one of those jobs that can tire, can wear on a person after a while. It was a great entry level job, but it's not the most creative job you can do in broadcasting.

I was getting a little bored, when the opportunity arose that I could apply for a job at NTV and I did.

9:06 AM

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7 Aug 2009

Re-air of Ian Foster

Re-air or rerun? Either way that's what tonight's show will be. Playing the show with Ian Foster from a month ago. Two hours of his music and the third interview I did with him.

Saw him in Toronto during his tour and he's making his way back to Newfoundland after visiting BC for the first time. Ended up there the week that Vancouver broke their all time heat record, twice! Couldn't have timed it better.

Under the weather today, I worked all long weekend so that's probably catching up to me.

Show with Ian was a good one, us talking about tour dates is out of date. But that will happen anytime you play an episode again. After work this morning headed over to CFRC to bring the old episode onto the computers.

If you listen it's just an MP3 file on iTunes playing for 2 hours. Magic of radio. Next week a brand new show, either live or taped.

9:19 AM

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5 Aug 2009

Mid-Week Links

Weather co-operated so the Regatta is going on today. First up today a link to another blogger originally from Newfoundland. Nadine's blog is called 'Missing the Rock'.



"I am one of the many Newfoundlanders living and working away from The Rock, and I miss it dearly. Home is a constant image in my mind, even though I haven't lived there in over 9 years.

There is something about the Island that seeps into your soul, and never allows you to truly leave. It makes life away difficult. Lonely. But, I, like so many others make the best of it. I married my best friend, I have a sweet little boy, and a job I enjoy (ok maybe enjoy is a bit of a strong word).

So in many ways I have been very lucky. This blog is for anyone out there who longs for home, and far flung family and friends. I tend to prefer more interactive elements of the internet- and so I encourge you to leave a comment, or two. Let's have a conversation."

Add that to your bookmarks or Blogreader. Great posts on there. Nadine is part of the NL Blogroll which I just found. Now here is a LOT of Newfoundland blogs. Too many to even start with a list.



Over to sports with The CIS Blog. CIS is the name for Canadian University Sports. Used to be called the CIAU but they changed that a few years ago. Bit of news from my Twitter account on there.

Matt Bisson sent me a message on Facebook that we are doing the preseason game on the radio. Which I didn't know about so I passed it along on Twitter last night. Queen's is traveling to Toronto for a game Monday, August 31st with a 7pm kickoff . In a way that's a bit of Monday Night Football on CFRC.



Back to the CIS Blog, Neate Sager is one of the editors there. Former contributor to Offsides on CFRC. Or should the wording be, contributor to a "former" sports show on the station. Hmmm. Either way he also has the Out of Left Field blog as well.



Staying with Queen's Football, one of its newest members is on Twitter and has a blog. Shomari Williams transfered from the University of Houston to Queen's this year. Nice to see one of the Gaels online.

Would've linked to Shomari anyway, but he's a fellow Washington Redskins fan. A good reason to put it up as quickly as I can. :)





Finally a friend from high school has started a blog. Found Mellowdee Krieger Cliffe on Facebook before my radio show started. She told me about a script for a film she was working on. 2 years later it's getting closer to reality. I'll grab a paragraph from her first blog post about it. Her blog is called 'Mellowdee's Mindclutter'.

"Part of the reason I decided to start this ‘public’ blog is because some friends n’ family have suggested that it might be a neat idea to record this period of our lives.

For those I haven’t told yet, our script has entered ‘development’ – the first phase towards making it into a film for theatrical release. So yeah, it might be fun to write about this whole process, because I honestly don’t know what to expect on this journey into film and writing."



All right I think that's it for today. Busy post for mid-week.

I worked all long weekend, so I have today off. Get to watch the Regatta coverage on NTV today. Hope the weather stays nice.

10:33 AM

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4 Aug 2009

Regatta Day

Tomorrow is the biggest sporting event of the year in Newfoundland. The Royal St. John's Regatta. Since I just got off work, time to go to Wikipedia for a blurb.

"The Royal St. John's Regatta is North America's oldest annual sporting event with documented proof of 1816 boat races. There is credible contention that St. John's regattas were held even earlier than 1816, likely in the 1700s.

Held on Quidi Vidi Lake in St. John's, Newfoundland, the Regatta is scheduled for the first Wednesday of August. If weather isn't suitable, and wind conditions are very important, the event is postponed until the next suitable day.

Since Regatta Day is a civic holiday in St. John's, this means that the weather actually determines whether or not workers have the day off – a matter sometimes complicated by late-night partying associated with the end of the George Street Festival the night before."

Last year the weather came into play. Got delayed two days because of rain. So it happened on Friday. I remember that since if you watch NTV, Toni Marie has Friday-Saturday off. Since everyone works during the coverage of Regatta Day she was there as well, so that week she had a one day weekend.

But believe it or not years ago Toni was regularly working 6 days a week. Should've talked to her about that during the interview.

The text of that interview is almost ready to be posted. I'm leaning toward doing a few posts on certain topics. It's too long to read in one sitting. Audio is already up so you can check that out.

The text will be "edited for clarity". I learned that text of a conversation needs some tweaks. Imagine how often you might take a pause, or say 'ummm', or 'you know'. That doesn't read well.

New comment on the blog from Adrian, Allison Crowe's manager. Thought I'd pass it along. Also makes this post longer. LOL.

--

I was at a friend’s wedding – doing the PA/sound – and we had a giant thunder/lightning/rainstorm. The band was performing outside. I didn’t dry out until the next day (and I’m talking about the rain…)

Funny you played the earliest Sarah McLachlan tracks. Brings back memories to me of when she first relocated from H-town to Vancouver. I was living in Vancouver at the time, and was at several of Sarah’s first concert performances in that city. It was evident she was bound for great things.

I saw Sarah M at the Railway Club, two nights in a row, and there was a small but devoted audience at those shows. Same story for Blue Rodeo – with Bobby Wiseman – when they first hit the west coast.

It was special in a number of ways to return some 15 years or so later with Allison and her band for a two-night stand at “the Rail”. Especially memorable for the guys who hauled the baby grand up to the third story via the stairwell.

Yup, your crystall ball – or is it an eight ball – is working well. Alley’s recording some tracks and then will be breathing in later August, before she travels to BC for more recording. We can aim to get you together either while she’s still in NL, or, once she’s on this coast.

We all have it in mind, so, let’s just play the recording process by ear – and then, synchronize time zones/watches!

---

Getting closer to having a chat with Allison and her summer adventures.

Last piece of news. A new airline which will be serving Toronto-Ottawa-Halifax-St. John's. Finally some more competition on flights. I looked up recently prices on Air Canada from Kingston to St. John's round trip. Over $1000. That price does not include something on the flight called food. That doesn't help tourism.

Story about Porter Airlines from The St. John's Telegram. Where I was mentioned in a blog recently. I'll write about that tomorrow. It's a long story.



10:27 AM

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3 Aug 2009

July 31st Show



Open the show with a CD I got that week from Sharona Clarke.

Followed by the latest discs from Andrea Wittgens and Coco Love Alcorn.

End the hour with Scott Macleod and GlamourPuss.



Blues to start off the second hour GlamourPuss and Garrett Mason. Garrett is coming to Kingston as part of the Limestone Blues Festival at the end of August.

After that The Lever Pulled and Ryan Neilson.

End the hour with some folk/bluegrass/celtic with The Dardanelles.

9:54 AM

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31 Jul 2009

One Victory

Followup to the last post. Pleasant surprise as Ottawa viewers won. Today Rogers said they're keeping WPBS Watertown in Ottawa.

Even the website of the ABC affiliate in Watertown had a story on it. Not very often do you have TV stations with news on other ones in town. Although PBS is a public broadcaster so they're not viewed as competitors as much.

You knew there would be a funny line from Rogers somewhere in these stories. From Metro Ottawa.

"Rogers’ vice-president of video services, David Purdy, said that they did receive complaints, but downplayed their influence on the decision."

Sure. And the coverage in the following places had nothing to do with the changes either:

Ottawa Citizen, The Kingston Whig Standard, CBC.ca, WPBS Website, Facebook Groups, CNY TV News, North Country Public Radio, Watertown Daily Times, Newswatch 50, Barrhaven This Week, Digital Home, SOWNY.ca.

I bet that coverage made a lot of people take notice and complain.

The Canadian channels getting kicked off systems in Ontario probably won't be as lucky with a reprieve. The viewers are spread out across the province as opposed to this issue in Ottawa. But you never know.

Technically it is Friday. Tonight on the show there isn't any set plan. Back on LIVE though. Did get one of Sharona Clarke's CD in the mail so I'll be playing that among others.

2:46 AM

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29 Jul 2009

Rogers/NTV/Watertown

Saw my blog got linked to from the website of The Telegram. Hello to the new readers, how and why I got the link? That's a post for another day.

Today some news about Rogers Digital Cable in Ontario dropping a lot of stations from their lineup. Including NTV. Supposedly they're being eliminated for more premium channels and ethnic stations. You know anyone who wants more premium ones? I know friends who would like ESPN or HBO [not the Canadian one] but that won't be happening.

They're also dropping Global Saint John, Winnipeg and PBS Watertown among others. Quote from the letter customers got in the mail is they did it to "provide more choice and variety in the future". Couldn't make that up if I tried.

The direct line to Rogers for customer complaints is 1-800-379-7597.



A lot of east coasters like to watch NTV so I'm sure they'll be getting complaints once all of a sudden it's gone.

In Ottawa there are a lot of complaints about the PBS channel getting switched from Watertown to Detroit. Kingston people aren't happy either since but we live close enough to pick it up over the air.

Notice they decided to pull this stunt in August? When a lot of people aren't in front of their sets. No accident there.

This is where I'll give links to where you can switch providers. If you can switch to satellite. Both satellite ones changed their name in the last year or so. If you might be wondering.

Bell TV formerly Express Vu



ShawDirect formerly StarChoice



Kingston's cable provider isn't Rogers. But I'll try and avoid them if I ever end up somewhere where they are. It's not just the dumping of the stations, but the cowardly way it's been done.

Notice went out in July about them getting dropped August 17th. Especially in the case of WPBS in Ottawa, they've served them for 40 years and to get a timeframe like that is insulting. Clearly that's the Rogers way trying to get out as quickly as possible without protests. Which hasn't been the case. They have Facebook groups trying to get this changed and more. Right now without any luck.

The most unbelievable part is that WPBS and another station in Erie, PA first heard about this news from their viewers. That's right no phone call telling them ahead of time. Guess their Rogers cell phones weren't working.

Will complaining change this? Who knows, it did work with the "negative billing" in the 90's. At least they figured out it was a mistake. Don't know about the people who run it now.

11:12 AM

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27 Jul 2009

KidSport Canada/British Columbia

A post from Inside the Majors, but not on baseball. For those readers in B.C. who might be interested in a good cause. Spread the word.



Sports Skills Are Life Skills

By Bart Given

This isn’t a MLB post, but it’s about an important project I’ve been working on recently. Some of you may have noticed my sporadic posting the last couple of weeks (thanks to all the contributors for providing great content) – I’ve been busy helping out with a campaign for KidSport BC.

KidSport is a charity organization built around the belief all kids should have the opportunity to play organized sport regardless of their financial situation. In 2007, KidSport helped over 47,000 Canadian kids aged 6-18 participate in sport who wouldn’t have had the chance to play without the grants we provided. In total, KidSport funded children in 65 sports, including baseball.

Recently KidSport BC received the BCAB Humanitarian Award, part of the prize being approximately $3 Million worth of PSA placement on TV and radio in British Columbia. This one-time opportunity for exposure has led to a campaign titled “Sports Skills Are Life Skills” – which was created in conjunction with DDB Canada.

I wanted to share the PSA’s with you – thought some of you may like to know about the cause and many of you would enjoy the humorous spots.

KidSport BC



If you’re a fan spread the word through your usual methods.

There’s a finite number of kids we are trying to help. We need to let these kids know we exist – and of course are looking for additional financial support so we can. TCB.

More baseball content very soon.

8:23 AM

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23 Jul 2009

Link to Friday's show, on Thursday

What you can do when you tape an episode a day in advance.



Brand new music from a singer who is soon to be a Kingstonian, Andrea Gauster. She starts at the Queen's Medical School. Found her through Twitter. Open up the show with some songs from Andrea, including one about Twitter.

Then a new band to the show, Shores of Newfoundland. Based in Kingston but currently on tour in Newfoundland. Music from their 1999 disc and a live one they recorded here in Kingston at the Tir Nan Og.

End with the hour with one song from Allison Crowe. Taped this week's show ahead of time and saw I had 8 minutes to fill up till top of the hour. So I know her song Disease is a little over 8 minutes.



Start off the hour with a singer you might have heard of from Nova Scotia, Sarah Mclachlan. After the show found the list I had made up last year of all the artists I've played on the show. Sarah wasn't on there. 2 years of the show and not playing her once? My bad.

To make up for it a few songs from her debut album from 1988 and on vinyl to boot. Couldn't find any of her CD's at the station but luckily in the record collection they had the original 1988 album. A collector's item I found out since it was re-released in 1989 with some extra songs when she was also signed by a US record label. One song you might have heard before, the other 3 I bet you haven't.

Follow that up with a cover version of Angel by Allison Crowe.

Then some songs from Great Big Sea's Fortune Favour and Joel Plaskett's Three to end the show.

12:27 PM

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23 Jul 2009

New Music this Friday

Taping Friday's show on Thursday morning. New music to the show. First up Andrea Gauster, not from the East Coast but she will be a new Kingston resident at Queen's Medical school in September. About a 5 minute walk from CFRC. She found my page on Twitter, so if you have wondered yes Twitter does help me find music.





She just uploaded a new song on YouTube about Twitter. Lot of inside references but a good tune even if you don't get what she's talking about.



Also a new band to the show, Shores of Newfoundland. One member from Newfoundland and three from Ontario. Saw in the paper they have a new CD. By time I emailed them they had just left for a 7 week tour of Newfoundland. So I'm sure I'll get a response when they get back. That's a long tour.



Have 2 older CD's at the station. One a studio album other a 2 disc live set. Recorded here in Kingston at the Tir Nan Og. A sponsor of the live Queen's sports broadcasts last season. I played that ad so many times during games. Memorized every second of it. :)

Since it will be taped, I might be able to upload it online before it airs on the radio. If not I'll at least give the line up for the show tomorrow on here.

3:09 AM

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19 Jul 2009

Sunday Update

The rare Sunday update, especially in the morning. Came across a benefit concert Sarah McLachlan is having on the West Coast in September with Neil Young and Sheryl Crow. Since this is a blog and who knows where the readers are from I thought I'd point it out.

Sarah was born and raised in Nova Scotia of course. I know a lot of people don't know that. If I mention artists from the East Coast to people here in Ontario she's the one I like to throw out since the response is usually "really? I thought she's from Vancouver."

No, she was signed to a record deal in the late 80's and the record label was from Vancouver. So she moved out there after a bit of college. I was in New Brunswick when this happened and it was a big story. Then you had to move to a big centre for the most part to make it big.

Today with the ease of internet to spread the word about your music, I bet she wouldn't have had to move from the Halifax area. Look at all the artists who stay wherever they are across Canada.

Hey Rosetta! stays in St. John's and travels the country. Allison Crowe is in Corner Brook/Nanaimo and does concert dates in Europe. People across the country can hear my radio show on the internet.

Got me to thinking, have I played Sarah McLachlan on my show? I think I might've played her early on, but I'm not positive. Since CFRC is a campus/community station we avoid playing "hits". Such as the singles you hear over and over. Which is why I'll play tracks from Great Big Sea CD's that weren't released to radio.

So a lot of Sarah's best known stuff I knew I wanted to avoid playing. I'll check a list I made last year of artists I've played and see if she's on it. If not it will be funny that it's taken this long to play a track of hers.

Tickets are $89 general admission and $139 general seating for the 2 stage day long event. Limit of 9,000 seats which is a good idea, not one of those shows where the crowd is huge.

---

All proceeds from the concert will benefit the Sarah McLachlan Foundation, which provides music instruction and appreciation programs for under-privileged children.

"I am thrilled to have Neil and Sheryl join me on stage at Ambelside Park this September to help raise funds for my Foundation," McLachlan said in a release.

"We hope the event will entertain and inspire, while increasing awareness of the need for music in children's lives. I am also excited that the District of West Vancouver has partnered with us to bring this event into the community that I have been proud to call my home for so many years."

A concert headlined by Sarah McLachlan, Sheryl Crow and Neil Young is headed for a West Vancouver park on Sept. 12.

Proceeds will benefit the Sarah McLachlan Foundation, which provides music instruction and appreciation programs for under-privileged children."I am thrilled to have Neil and Sheryl join me on stage at Ambleside Park this September to help raise funds for my foundation," said McLachlan, a West Vancouver resident, in a release.Tickets go on sale Saturday at 10 a.m. at or at 1-866-514-5050

Tickets went on sale this past Saturday at or at 1-866-514-5050

---

Myself I would take a break for food and drink during Sheryl Crow. Not a fan.

But Sarah and Neil would be a great show to see. :)

8:29 AM

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18 Jul 2009

July 17th Show

2 weeks from today is August 1st. I don't know how the summer has gone by that fast either. Last night's program which might not have been heard outside of Kingston. Heard of problems with the online feed. So for those who missed it here you go. A show with a tonne of different artists.



Lots of music in this hour. This is a packed line up.

First up two singers I met at the Ian Foster concert the previous weekend. Andrea Simms-Karp and Ron Leary. Then a lot of female singer/songwriters from the East Coast.

Sherry Ryan, Rose Cousins, Colleen Power, Amelia Curran, Catherine MacLellan, Kelly Sloan, Meghan Smith and Ruth Minnikin.



Mike Plume Band, Tim Chiasson and Morning Fold, Christina Martin, Norma MacDonald, Jenn Grant.

Brand new music from Teresa Ennis, from her upcoming album 'Stars' which will be out in the fall.

End the show with Ian Foster's first CD as he's wrapping up his Ontario tour. And about to head out to the B.C. for the first time as part of his summer tour.

9:43 AM

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15 Jul 2009

Weekend in Toronto

Fun weekend in Toronto. Garbage strike wasn't as noticeable as I thought. Good for Toronto. However I'm sure some tourists have been scared off by the strike. Does mean more than just garbage. Can't get to Centre Island since no ferries running there with city workers not working. That sucks.

Saturday night's show was great, and close by the hotel which always helps. The Cameron House on Queen Street.

Went to the back room where the concert was and sat down with a beer. There was a CD playing. I thought "that sounds familiar". It was Toronto's own David Baxter with the title track from his CD "Day and Age". I know that since Melissa DiMarco requested that song after her interview a couple of months back on the show. That was strange timing to hear that song at that exact time.



First up during the concert was Andrea Simms-Karp from Ottawa. Think she filled in for Nick Rose who was originally on the bill. Andrea was great and I bought her CD after the show so you'll hear that on Friday night's program.





Ian was on second and had a great set. Talked to him before the show and he had some friends in the crowd too. He told the "moose story" he talked about on the show before a song. No, there is no "moose song" but it was something fun to talk about between songs.

Last on the bill was Windsor's Ron Leary with two other musicians. Another great act. In fact I was talking to Ron before the show too. He was going over the setlist with one of the other guys. Discussing which songs to play. That's the great part of seeing a show at a smaller place. You wouldn't get that chance at the bigger shows.

I'll play some of Ron's music on Friday as well.



After the show I hung around a while to pick up Andrea's CD. Helped Ian back to his car with his guitars and equipment since it was a little past 2am. He gave me a lift back to the hotel. Newfoundlanders help each other out.

Other than that music, not much of a plan for Friday night's show. Previous 2 weeks were the interviews so I'll see what new music might be at the station.

11:24 AM

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13 Jul 2009

Link to Toni Marie Interview

Back from Toronto so some time to upload Friday's episode with Toni Marie. Next few weeks I think and try and get someone to transcribe it. We'll see how that goes. Sure a few fans would be interested in reading it as well.

Show on Saturday with Ian Foster was great, I'll write more during the week when I'm not so tired from the weekend. :)

On to Friday's episode.



In this episode an interview I did with Toni Marie Wiseman of NTV. Play parts of the chat along with songs by Newfoundland artists throughout the show. First radio interview Toni's done in a long time. Since she also works for OZFM she can't chat with one of the competing stations in the province.

I open the show with Ian Foster, who was playing Toronto that weekend. I saw him at The Cameron House on Saturday Night.

During this hour's part of Toni Marie's interview I play songs by Ron Hynes, Great Big Sea and Teresa Ennis.



2nd hour with the rest of the interview with Toni Marie Wiseman. Touch on a few different topics like Facebook, World of Warcraft, her favourite songs and when she spent a couple of nights in a Women's Correctional facility for a TV report.

Music of Great Big Sea with Fergus O'Byrne and Dermot O'Reilly, Kenny Butler, Ron Hynes, and a surprise 80's pop song which is Toni's favourite.

End the hour with some instrumental Ian Foster as he was hitting Ontario that weekend with his Canadian Tour.

Thanks to Toni Marie for doing the interview.

11:46 AM

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9 Jul 2009

Tomorrow Night/Toni Marie

Finishing the editing of the interview with Toni Marie right now. I know, a bit late but there's not much to do. So I'll air the entire thing tomorrow night. Probably longer clips than usual during the show since she has some great stories. About starting out in radio, getting tricked during a sportscast, spending time at a jail for NTV [was for a TV report] and about a guy vacuuming the red carpet at the Junos. That last one I liked a lot. Shows the difference between St. John's and Toronto people. :)

During the show the music of Great Big Sea, Teresa Ennis, Fergus O'Byrne, Kenny Butler and Ron Hynes. And I'll have to make a Canadian Content exception for Toni and play a certain 80's British song. It's one of her favourites so it's only fair.

Visiting Toronto this weekend. Seeing Ian Foster play on Saturday Night. What good timing with the garbage strike in Toronto, eh? So I won't be walking the streets of the city too much if it's a scorcher. Day 16 of the strike I believe. Yikes.

So the link for the episode won't go up till Monday or Tuesday this week after I get back and have some time to get it online.

Tomorrow night as usual, 6-8pm EST.



10:47 AM

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4 Jul 2009

Ian Foster 2009

Both hours from last night's episode with Ian Foster. Interview and songs.





Preview clip of next week's show with Toni Marie Wiseman at the end of the 2nd hour. Short clip but that's why you have to tune in next week. :)

10:38 AM

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3 Jul 2009

Ian Foster Tonight

Tonight I'll be playing songs from Ian Foster's 2 brand new CD's that are coming out. 'We Begin Here' is a disc of demos and B-Sides. 'Found : Music from the Unmade Film' is the concept album. My chat with Ian runs about 26 minutes so I'll be playing parts of that during the course of the show.

Ian is hitting Ontario next week so if you're in a town where he's coming, hopefully you can catch him.

Then he's traveling to British Columbia, so for the West Coast readers of this blog [Adrian for example, lol] you can see him later in July/early August.

If you missed it Adrian left a comment on the blog a few days ago. Apparently Allison Crowe is another big World of Warcraft fan. I mentioned Toni Marie Wiseman is. Something in the Newfoundland water that's getting all these women playing WOW online?

Interview with Toni Marie should air next Friday. It's a longer chat, before editing it runs over an hour! This is what happens when you talk to someone you've known for years. :)

My plan is to see Ian play next weekend in Toronto. So that might cause Toni's interview to get pushed up a week if I do a taped show if I travel to T.O. on Friday. Plan is to do the show live on Friday, then travel to Toronto on Saturday. Keep an eye on the blog if anything changes.

Here are two of Ian's sites. To check out his music, the tour dates and his tour blog.





8:39 AM

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1 Jul 2009

Happy Canada Day

Have a nice Canada Day, for those Canadian readers of the blog. :)

Had some phone/internet problems fixed today. Yep, Bell working on Canada Day. Was a minor wiring problem inside but one I couldn't have fixed. And the technician didn't charge me for it. Nice.

You're thinking, "Wow, that's really nice. What part of the country was this tech. originally from?"

Newfoundland, of course. Found that out while he was wrapping up the visit, so the 'no charge' thing wasn't based on us both being from Newfoundland. LOL.

Since it's Canada Day, a little bit about Canadian radio. Shore 104 officially launched today in Vancouver. The on air people started this morning. Jody Vance and Bill Courage are on right now from 2-6pm Pacific, or 5-9pm Eastern. Check it out here.



Jody said she's become a fan of Joel Plaskett by hearing his music on the station. Glad to hear East Coast artists getting airplay on the West Coast.

Hope you're enjoying the holiday, if you have it off. The Bell technician didn't, Shore 104 crew doesn't and I'm working later tonight. I'll assume some of you have today off from work. :)

5:32 PM

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28 Jun 2009

Sunday Update

Might upload the voiceover I did for the "best of" show. Did them back to back and edited them as MP3's so it would play before each hour. Piece of cake.

Here was the 2 episodes I played. For the radio I edited out the commercials in each one. Since an ad from 2007 and 2008 doesn't make much sense if you're listening on the radio.





Thought I'd upload a clip on the blog from the interview with Toni Marie but for Wordpress you need to pay to upload Mp3's or video files. D'oh. Might look into that but not right now.

Clip was her talking about Great Big Sea and I mentioned Monty Python. Which got her to sing a very short line from Holy Grail. I know, now you want to hear it. I'll try and figure out something during the week. :)

8:41 AM

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26 Jun 2009

Best Of Show, Tonight

Been a long week and the plan for this week's show got pushed up a week. But there will be interviews tonight on the show, first "best of" show so to speak. After 2 years I'm finally digging into the archives.

Half the show will be the hour from 2007 with the first interview I did for the show. With Ian Foster. Had some of Ian's music along with some other bands on the old Saturday Night timeslot.

Second half will be the hour with Teresa Ennis from Feb. 2008. Had the interview with her and her CD 'Space'.

Next Friday will be the new interview with Ian Foster along with his brand new music for 2 hours.

Following Friday I have the chat with Toni Marie Wiseman I did a few days ago. Went very well. Talked over an hour and there were still things we never got to. Did cover a lot of things with Toni. She mentioned some artists during our interview so I'll play them during the 2 hours when that airs.

I'll probably upload a short sound clip here over the next few days to give you a preview of it.

If I can I'll see if I can get someone to transcribe it. Went quite well and people might like to read it too. Like her 5000 friends on Facebook. :-)

So hopefully you'll enjoy the "best of" tonight or its other name, a rerun. LOL.

3:12 PM

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23 Jun 2009

Upcoming Interviews

Looks like things are a go for taping an interview tomorrow with Toni Marie Wiseman. As readers might remember she did a print interview with me for the Newfoundland Herald. Which is the reason I got to chat with Fergus O'Byrne and Ray Johnson of Buddy Wasisname.

Toni's been a friend of mine for years so it should be fun.

For those not in Newfoundland or haven't watched NTV on satellite she has a few jobs at NTV/OZFM/Herald. Let's see. [For those who think I do a few things at CFRC, please she has me beat.]

On the TV side she does reports covering the local arts scene. She's a news anchor 4 days a week on Newsday and on the Sunday Evening Newshour. Also does the live weather remotes during the 6pm news, Monday-Thursday. Sometime during the week she writes/produces/hosts a 30 minute Entertainment News show that airs on Saturday.

Add to that she does some news updates on OZFM radio during the afternoon. Oh, and Toni writes pieces covering the arts for the Newfoundland Herald too.

Other than that she's not busy at all. :-)

Covering the music scene in Newfoundland is what I'll chat with her a lot about. She was awarded Media Person of the Year by MusicNL 4 years in a row from 2000-2003.

But since we're friends we can go off-topic. She's gotten hooked on World of Warcraft the last couple of years. I don't understand that game but she really enjoys it.

And we're both big Monty Python fans who can quote the movies. Yes, those type of fans.

Quite a "get" for a little show like mine. I'll give an update after it's over tomorrow night.

This Friday will be the Ian Foster interview, if the CD's get here by then. I'd say they get here so that's the plan for Friday Night.

8:49 AM

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21 Jun 2009

June 19th Episode



Salt Water Music June 19th Hour 2

Technically 45 minutes because I let the previous show run long, political show had some people from City Council Live in Studio. That's rare so that's why this is shorter than usual.

Kicked it off with Allison Crowe as she wrapped up her eventful tour of Europe.

Then some more of Joel Plaskett's triple album. After that some solo work from Rose Cousins and Ana Egge who contributed to Joel's new album.



Salt Water Music June 19th Hour 2

Couple of songs from Pat Lepoidevin to start off the second hour.

Mix of Jessica Rhaye. One song from her new CD, one from her previous album and one live track.

Continue with Scott Macleod. And end the show with some demos and live tracks from Ian Foster.

9:00 AM

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17 Jun 2009

Mid Week Update

First up another music video. They must be coming back or something. This time Joel Plaskett's first single from his triple album 'Three'. "Through & Through & Through" has Rose Cousins and Ana Egge on backing vocals. Both make appearances in this video. Lot of East Coast scenery in this clip.



So I'll play more of Joel's disc[s] on Friday night. Along with Rose and Ana since they're also Canadian content. :)

Interview with Ian Foster might air next Friday. If the CD's get here in time. His tour hits Quebec, Ontario and BC in July. So we have a little leeway to air the interview before the tour starts. Most likely will do the full 2 hour show on Ian's music. Since there is two albums worth of new music coming my way.

Another interview I'm closer to lining up. Not a musician, but someone who has covered the music scene on the East Coast music for years. Could be a text interview, phone or possibly both.

Lastly, a DawgFM update. Hearing was last Friday and sounded like got heated once in while. Not the parts with people from the blues station but other parts.



Chairperson was getting annoyed I think, read this exchange about frequency maps.

1106 THE CHAIRPERSON: You are going to file these maps -- one that is legible?

1107 MR. BRADET: Yes.

---

Ouch, sounds like a teacher calling you out in class. LOL.

DawgFM's Facebook group did have an update. Sounds like no decision till September. Not surprising with government. Think they do a lot of stuff during the summer? Nope.

Does sound hopeful for the blues gang. Maybe at a different frequency then they wanted but I'll be cautiously optimistic.

10:52 AM

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14 Jun 2009

June 12th Show

Friday's program is now online.

Interview with Ian Foster went well Saturday morning. Won't air next Friday since he's sending along his 2 new CD's. Yep, two of them. "Found : Music from an Unmade Film" which I play a track from at the end of the show. But he'll also have another disc of B-Sides and the like from his repertoire. Stuff he's played in concert but hadn't been available on CD yet.



Salt Water Music June 12th 2009

Was under the weather, so the 2nd hour was a rerun from the previous week. But in this first hour lot of new music to the show.

Ian Sherwood's most recent CD makes its debut on this show. Also music from Carbonear's folkartlullaby. New music from The Divorcees and Molly Thomason. End the hour with Ian Foster who I interviewed the following morning.

4:51 AM

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12 Jun 2009

Quick Friday Post

Tonight's show will be 50% new. First hour I'll be live in studio, 2nd hour will be the second part of last week's show.

Been under the weather all week and have a busy 24 hours. Try and get a few hours of sleep before I work overnight today, then doing a phone interview with Ian Foster tomorrow morning around 11am EST. So I finally am dipping into the "rerun" pool. But only a week old. So if you missed last week it will still be recent. If you did hear it already then you can skip the second hour. :)

In the new hour tonight brand new music so stay tuned for that.



Quick story about the Dawg FM/CRTC hearings. From yesterday's Ottawa Citizen.

"The tussle over Ottawa’s FM airwaves appears to be headed for a compromise that may give listeners three new stations on the radio dial.

At a CRTC hearing Friday, the commission will consider a proposal that would allow a new blues station called DAWG-FM to broadcast at 101.9; a woman-focussed, soft-rock and talk station called EVE-FM at 99.7; and a community station to serve franco-Ontarians at 94.5."

The hearing was today in Ottawa, I would've listened online but had to catch a few hours sleep after work today. Fridays I come in early to help out on Offsides, the sports show on CFRC. By the way only 2 episodes left of that program. So tune in on the next two Fridays at 4pm for that.

Hopefully it is all coming together for Dawg FM in Ottawa. When I get an update I'll pass it along in the next few days.

5:45 PM

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10 Jun 2009

Friday/Ian Foster

New music for Friday with Ian Sherwood's CD 'Art of Conversation'. It's also been a while since I played folkartlullaby so I'll be bringing some of his music's on the show for this week.

Taping the "3rd Annual Ian Foster Interview" on Saturday with, ironically enough Ian Foster. That works out well.

Ian was the first guest interviewed for this show in June 2007. Talked to him last summer before he went on tour. And he's doing another tour of Quebec/Ontario this summer. But this time he's also traveling all the way out west to B.C. for some gigs out on the left coast. Long trip since he lives in St. John's. Closet stop to Kingston is Toronto. Check Ian's website for details.



He's been adding dates but I think it's getting set in stone now. Interview should air the following week or the Friday after. Going to try and get his new CD before I air the interview.

8:16 AM

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5 Jun 2009

Long Friday Update

Busy week so not a lot of posts here. But a brand new show tonight at 6pm EST. Have a brand new CD from Andrew Hunter & The Gatherers, a 3 piece rock band from Halifax.

I think I'll also go find some Matt Mays and El Torpedo to play. Since as of this week they are "no more". Two band members had left recently and Matt decided to dissolve the band. Matt and his new 'unnamed' backing band are playing concerts this summer. Hitting Ontario in June and even Alberta in July. So he's still busy.

And I'll grab some Blues music from out east. The CRTC follow-up hearing with DawgFM and other possible stations in Ottawa is next Friday. We'll cross our fingers that Canada gets it's first All Blues station.



Remember they have the 24/7 Canadian Blues stream online. Listening to that right now. Great stuff.

For something different, a link to a new music video. From In Flight Safety, who I've played a few times on the show. It's for the song 'Model Homes'.



Remember music videos? Ahhh, the good ole days of Much Music before it became a wasteland.

These days at least with computers it's easy for anyone to be a video editor. A fan of the band did his own video for the song 'Big White Elephant'. Put the song to time lapse footage of Vancouver. Works quite well. Why Vancouver when the band is from the East Coast? I guess we'd have to ask the fan who put it on YouTube.



Talking about Vancouver. Congrats to fellow blogger Bart Given from 'Inside the Majors' on his family's move to Vancouver. Bart, Jody, their son Brady and the dog Fenway are all on the West Coast now.

Where this week the temperatures are in the 30's! This is backwards, we're still awaiting summer to kick off here in Kingston.

Jody is going to be part of Shore 104 FM in Vancouver. They're in testing stage for the month of June but you can listen to the online stream right now. I enjoy listening to stations from all over the place.



They have a nice mix of stuff from what I've heard. Their playlist is much deeper than the usual commercial radio station. If you listen to my show you're used to that, I play anything from any CD. But that's rare at most stations.

Check out Bart's blog too, it's had a redesign. He's had more contributors helping out and needed to change things up to make it less crowded. Looks nice.



Finally, update on Allison Crowe. First a column on what's been going on in the UK from The Observer/Guardian.



Mentions Allison. And even has a reference to the Brits, the Cossacks and the USSR. A chance to do that will not happen again.

Another article on what's been going on in England.



This last one is a more specific column on her from The Scotsman. And talks about a motion being passed in the Scottish Parliament because of what happened to them.



Adrian sent me a copy of the motion that was filed in the Scottish Parliament after the insane problems in England.

---

S3M-04279 Rob Gibson (Highlands and Islands) (Scottish National Party): Overseas Performers Don't Deserve Terrorist Treatment

— That the Parliament notes with grave concern the ramifications of the Home Office’s new immigration controls on non-EU artists who require a sponsor to allow them to enter the United Kingdom, as highlighted by the treatment of Canadian singer Allison Crowe and several band members who were held for 11 hours in Gatwick Airport before being barred from entering the UK to tour and visit friends in the north west Highlands; considers that Ms Crowe was treated as little better than a terrorist after enduring an 11-hour ordeal where she was locked up, questioned, had her fingerprints taken, her passport stamped “barred from entry” and was then deported; contends that this is no way to treat a legitimate and repeat visitor to the UK; urges the Home Office to rethink this draconian policy before it harms cultural links to Scotland and the wider UK; notes that Ms Crowe is allowed to perform in Germany, Austria and the Czech Republic and will do so; furthermore notes the German authorities’ reported reaction to the situation that they were horrified at the British treatment and that Allison would be welcomed to perform in Germany, and asserts that visitors to Scotland during the Year of Homecoming deserve a civilised and warm welcome.

---

Adrian had a good point, "Who's the last Canadian musician to have her own motion in Parliament in a foreign country. I don't know of any!"

Not something that would come up very often. :)

I think that's a long enough post to make up for a quiet week. LOL.

8:46 AM

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1 Jun 2009

May 29th Show

Bit late but both hours are now online. For those who might've missed it due to enjoying the last weekend in May.

Today is June 1st? Wasn't New Year's just recently? Guess not.



Some Allison Crowe from her Album 'Secrets' and an update on her UK/European travels and headaches.

Back to 1993 with Ron Hynes. Then some music from The Irish Descendants and back in time again with Figgy Duff also from 1993.



Brand new music from Jessica Rhaye's new CD 'Good Things'.

Then a few tracks from Joel Plaskett's solo project, 'Three'. Which is a Triple Album so it will take a while for me to get through all the songs.

Jenn Grant and Sora to end the hour.

8:56 AM

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27 May 2009

Faded Blue in Kingston Tonight

Reminder a band from Nova Scotia is playing Kingston tonight at BarNone. That's the former Smijie's downtown in the Hub, Princess/Division. If you're in Kingston you know where that is.

Hope they get a good turnout, despite the horrible weather. Pouring rain all day.

I was planning on going but have to sit this one out. Back really hurting today. Started last night and was in bed all day. Even hurts sitting down typing this, which kinda eliminates going out to a concert.

Kicking myself for deciding to go to this show as opposed to their one earlier this month in Kingston. D'oh.

6:27 PM

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23 May 2009

May 22nd Episode



Lots of Nova Scotia artists in this hour. Faded Blue who were playing their second Kingston concert of the month. Follow that with sets from Ryan Neilson, Neil Dobson and the Fabulous Hats and Christine Crawford.











---



Traditional Newfoundland music with Jim Payne/Fergus O'Byrne and Gulliver's Spree. Then 2 songs from R.A. Lautenschlager including a brand new one called the 'Canadian Beer Song'.







End the show with about 25 minutes of Allison Crowe. Decided to visit her site while I was playing the first 2 songs. And got the news of her and 2 bandmates being detained in the UK for 11 hours that week on some crazy thing. Brand new legislation that even the venues didn't know about. More details about it as I read it on air.

So I played a few songs of Allison's newest CD 'Little Light'.



---

Got a comment on the blog from Adrian, Allison's manager so thought I'd pass it along.

Hi Rob, everyone ~

This year has been busy already, now it's in overdrive. I should be able to confirm for you what's happening with Allison Crowe and band in Europe by this Monday or so...

If there's any silver lining to the situation - it's that we now understand the realities of what until now has been a protest moving growing mostly from within the UK.

Check out the Visiting Artists and Academics Petition @



peace, Adrian

11:17 PM

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23 May 2009

Allison Crowe's UK Debacle

No plan for Friday's show, but near the end I chose to play some of Allison Crowe and visited her website while the songs were playing. Did I get a surprise. I'll put up the episode later today but here was the news. First from the Telegraph in London, then today from CBC Radio 3.

One crazy dumb story. Someone who has done shows in the UK every year since 2005 gets held by authorities because of some new legislation the venues didn't even know about.

---

Canadian musician held for 11 hours at Gatwick before deportation

A Canadian musician flying into the UK to play in a concert was held by airport immigration officials for almost 11 hours and told she would be deported under strict new legislation governing visiting performers.

By Aislinn Simpson

21 May 2009

Allison Crowe, 27, claims she and her two band mates were fingerprinted and had their passports confiscated shortly after flying into Gatwick Airport.

She said they were shut in a room where they were denied contact with the outside world for six hours and that she was told she would never perform in Europe again once her passports had been stamped by the UK Border Authority as "barred from entry".

The group were targeted because they failed to obtain a Certificate of Sponsorship from the venues they were playing in, a little-known visa requirement brought in last November to combat illegal immigration and terrorism.

The new legislation is opposed by leading figures of the art world including sculptor Antony Gormley, the head of the National Portrait Gallery and of the National Theatre, who along with 5,000 others, have signed a petition calling the Government to review it amid fears it could restrict artistic freedom.

It was also blamed for the decision by celebrated Iranian director Abbas Kiarostami pulling out of his debut production at English National Opera earlier this month.

Both The Halo in London's Battersea, and the LOT in Edinburgh, where Miss Crowe was due to play this weekend, say they knew nothing about the new legislation and that other previous overseas artists who have performed for them since the legislation took effect had experienced no problems.

Miss Crowe's manager Adrian du Plessis said she and her colleagues were seized as soon as they arrived in London at 10am on Tuesday and were held until 8.30pm before being released, without their passports and with orders to return for deportation on Friday.

He said she was told by one immigration officer that she would struggle to ever work in Europe again once she had been rejected from the UK.

"Allison has worked very hard since she was 15 building up her career and Europe is one of her biggest bases so she was devastated," he said.

"We have since been in contact with the German authorities where she is going for the next leg of her tour and they say this is ridiculous and they will welcome her."

He said Miss Crowe has performed in the UK, sharing a stage with Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy on one occasion, every year since 2005 without problems.

"It's crazy that Allison has the wear the scarlet letter for the rest of her days simply because she came to Britain to perform and didn't know about some strict new legislation. This will clearly influence the cultural traffic to this country but there's also a human element – Allison is a Commonwealth citizen who did nothing wrong but was interrogated and treated like a criminal. Do the British border police really have more important things to do to protect the country?"

Manick Govinda, who is leading the campaign against the new rules, said many arts venues were still unaware of the requirements.

"There have been a number of incidents involving musicians but this seems particularly heavy handed," he said.

"You would have thought that an established Canadian musician, who has performed here many times before, would not have posed a threat."

A Home Office spokesperson said: "We recognise and welcome the contribution of creative artists but it's important that everyone coming to the UK plays by the rules.

"We have taken many steps to ensure that everyone – including foreign artists – know about the new rules. This includes a national advertising campaign, detailed guidance and a dedicated helpline for queries on the points based system, as well as wide consultation with arts organisations in the UK."

-----



Allison Crowe Held For Hours, Fingerprinted And Deported From The UK

Posted by Jennifer Van Evra

Canadian singer-songwriter Allison Crowe is on her way home to Canada after being deported from the UK.

Shortly after the musician arrived at London's Gatwick airport earlier this week, she and her two band mates were fingerprinted, had their passports confiscated, and were held in a room for six hours, where they were not allowed to contact anyone.

One authority told her that she will never perform in Europe again, now that her passport has been given a "barred from entry" stamp.

So what did she do to elicit such an extreme response? According to the Telegraph, she didn't get a "Certificate of Sponsorship" - a little-known and controversial visa requirement that was introduced last November to combat illegal immigration and terrorism.

The British venues where Crowe was scheduled to play say they had never even heard of the legislation, and had no idea they were supposed to supply Crowe with the certificate. They also said that other touring musicians have had no problems.

Crowe arrived in England at 10 a.m. Tuesday and was held until 8:30 p.m. She and her bandmates were then released without their passports, and were told to return for deportation today.

"It's crazy that Allison has the wear the scarlet letter for the rest of her days simply because she came to Britain to perform and didn't know about some strict new legislation," said Crowe's manager Adrian du Plessis.

"This will clearly influence the cultural traffic to this country but there's also a human element – Allison is a Commonwealth citizen who did nothing wrong but was interrogated and treated like a criminal. Do the British border police really have more important things to do to protect the country?"

The British authorities see the situation a little differently - even though the contentious legislation has elicited protests from artists both inside and outside the UK.

"We have taken many steps to ensure that everyone – including foreign artists – know about the new rules," said a Home Office spokesperson. "This includes a national advertising campaign, detailed guidance and a dedicated helpline for queries on the points based system, as well as wide consultation with arts organisations in the UK."

With high-profile gigs and accolades around the globe, Allison Crowe has been having a banner year - which has included several problem-free trips to the UK.

---

As I mentioned on the show last night she has a few dates in Germany next week. And as Adrian, her manager pointed out in the Telegraph, those shows are still going ahead. I'll try and confirm that this weekend.

We were trying to plan a phone interview with her this summer. Guess this is a story she'll have a lot to talk about.

8:32 AM

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17 May 2009

Link to 2 Year Anniversary Show

Link to the anniversary show from Friday night. Which might not have been heard by as many outside of Kingston as usual. My Mom had problems listening online, and she's in Kingston! Just tried it right now and it says the stream is "unavailable". iTunes, Windows Media Player and Winamp. None of them worked. Damn.

So some bad timing for the big show on Friday night. But here it is for those who missed it. Which might be a lot of you. :)



2 year anniversary show starts off with Faded Blue. And the first ever LIVE interview with Bryan from Faded Blue.

Also have music of Ian Foster for the rest of Hour 1. Since I've interviewed Ian twice since the show started and saw him in Toronto last summer.



Start off the hour with the start of Episode 1 from 2 years earlier. With the first two songs I ever played on the show, by Great Big Sea.

Then some new music from Coco Love Alcorn, as my sleep deprivation kicks in. Listen and you'll hear what I mean.

A song by Cody Allen who was opening up for Faded Blue on some of their Ontario tour dates.

Some songs by Jim Payne and Fergus O'Byrne. And end the hour with Teresa Ennis.

---

I know those links work OK. I'll try and see about the online stream for Friday Night. Enjoy your long weekend, if you have one.

9:17 AM

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15 May 2009

2 Year Anniversary Tonight

Current mood:accomplished

This weekend marks 2 years since the show started. So somewhat of a 2 year anniversary show tonight. Might have a LIVE interview lined up. So for the rest of the show I'll just play a lot of music.

Was going to play some older interviews I've done but with a new one I'll save them for another week. More music tonight.

Will have a clip from the first episode near the end of the show. So stay tuned for that. :)

New music from Coco Love Alcorn too. So tune in at 6pm EST tonight. And what do you know. The CFRC website is finally up and running. The new look website.



Still working out the kinks, the Archive does work. But only if you scroll through a long list of files and find what you want. Not easy as it sounds when you see things like "20090510130001.mp3", which means May 10th, 2009 at 13:00 or 1pm EST.

I'll write a longer blog post about the show on Saturday. History of the show so to speak.

Thanks to all the musicians who have sent me music over the last 2 years.

12:40 PM

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11 May 2009

CFRC Summer Schedule



Summer schedule at CFRC is available at the new blog. If you enter CFRC.ca it doesn't go to that blog page, yet. First time I've seen the new schedule I think.

The CFRC archives aren't working yet, but it looks like it's getting close. Every episode of this show since last July is on though. But there are a lot of other shows you can check out once the CFRC website is fully working.

9:52 PM

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11 May 2009

Friday's Show/2 Years This Week

Bit later than usual but Friday's radio show.



From the back up studio for the week as some repairs were going on in the main one.

So some longer sets of music. Hour 1 with Buddy Wasisname and the Other Fellers, Ron Hynes, The Lever Pulled and Andrea Wittgens.



Hour 2 of a night of long sets continue. New music to the show from Brite Vu. Then some blues from GlamourPuss. End the hour with some Great Big Sea from Fortune's Favour and end the show with Sora.

This Friday I think we'll do the 2 year anniversary show. Does work out to the same time as I started 2 years ago. Might have a new interview lined up, which would be good timing. I'll bring out some old clips and I'll figure out other stuff during the week.

10:24 AM

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8 May 2009

Friday Night in progress

Writing this as the show is going on. Thanks to Bart Given for coming on Offsides with Tyler King this afternoon on CFRC. We'll have a link to the interview over the weekend.



For those who missed the Nova Scotia episode of Out There with Melissa DiMarco it's on tonight at 10pm. Yes, I double checked and that's when it's on. New episode at 10:30pm on CITY TV, but one with Bubbles is at 10. Thanks to Melissa for doing the interview last week, and putting a link up to it on her Facebook group.

Back to the show.

6:31 PM

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6 May 2009

Early May Potpourri

Too many different topics, so I pull out the 'Potpourri' title from Jeopardy for this post.

New CD in the mail so that will be on Friday Night. Some rock from Halifax with the band 'Brite Vu'. And some more new stuff.

Haven't decided when I'll do the 'official' 2 year anniversary show. It was middle of May so it will air sometime this month. :-)

Good luck to fellow blogger Bart Given and his family on the move to Vancouver.



Hasn't the statute of limitations run out on the 'glass desk' joke? LOL. [For non-sports fans don't worry it would take a while to explain it anyway.]

Jody started working in radio so really is a full circle going back. Good for Bart since it will be easier for him to baseball being on West Coast time. Jays game at 4pm for example.

Congrats to Chris Zelkovich on the scoop. Tyler had him as a guest on 'Offsides' last year so that always get him bonus points if you're part of a CFRC show.

If everything goes according to plan Bart will be a guest on Offsides this Friday at 4pm EST on CFRC. So tune in then, or watch Out of Left Field for the interview once it's posted.



Saw Buddy Wasisname and the Other Fellers concert last night with my Mom. Very good and a packed house at the Grand Theatre in Kingston. Leaving the concert we were behind a car who apparently drove from Belleville for the show.

Here is the website for the band, wrapping up the Ontario part of their tour this month. They mentioned recording songs for a new CD, so I'll keep my eye out for that.



That's it for now. Covered a lot. :)

9:46 AM

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2 May 2009

May 1st Show/Melissa DiMarco



Demo and live tracks from Ian Foster to open the show. Then some folk with a bluegrass flavour from The Strangeboys. Some songs from Jenn Grant's new CD Echoes.

Then an interview I taped 30 minutes before the show started with Melissa DiMarco. East coast connection that night as on her show 'Out There' that night she traveled to Nova Scotia and met up with Bubbles of the Trailer Park Boys. We chatted for about 12 minutes.

At the end of the hour, Melissa's song request. For David Baxter with his title track, 'Day and Age'. He's a musician from Toronto who contributes to the Degrassi soundtrack. A show Melissa will be working on as they start shooting soon.



Buddy Wasisname and the Other Fellers who were playing Kingston that following Tuesday.

Some sets of music from The Fables, Ron Hynes and Meghan Blanchard.

End the show with 3 live songs. Allison Crowe's cover of 'Who Will Save Your Soul'. Greg Keelor and Cuff The Duke with 'Palace of Gold'. End with Jessica Rhaye, 'Holding Out'. Jessica has a new CD that's coming out soon which I'll be getting my hands on.

---

Here is Melissa's email address that she gave out during the show, fans of her show can contact it here. And the many places the show is online. Website, YouTube, MySpace and Facebook.

melissa@









Lot of places online to follow the show, as many things as me. I don't have a YouTube channel, but I'm on Twitter. Maybe that's next up for them. :)

Since I was running on little sleep last night I mixed up the start times. The new Out There episode was at 10pm, then the episode from the previous week was 10:30pm. Oops. But at least the episode in Nova Scotia is on again next week if my mistake caused you to miss it.

Thanks to Melissa for the interview.

Time to check out Bulls-Celtics Game 7, hopefully a close game.

8:25 PM

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1 May 2009

Running Late

Sorry for lack of update on the surprise interview I lined up. But if you heard the show you know it was taped 30 minutes before the show started so I was running around. Talked to Melissa DiMarco for about 12 minutes.

Tonight she visits Nova Scotia on her show and meets one of the Trailer Park Boys.

CITY-TV at 10pm and 10:30pm. The newest episode is the 10:30pm one. So if you miss it, you can catch it next week at 10pm as well.

I'll upload the radio show sometime on Saturday.

8:31 PM

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28 Apr 2009

Blues Support in Halifax/Friday Night

Focused on keeping track of DawgFM in Ottawa I forgot to post about an application the same group has for a station in Halifax. Oops. Deadline is today for support, but you can do one through email for those in Nova Scotia or any Blues fans out east. Makes more sense targeting people reading this out east than Ontario. :)



"The deadline for support for our Halifax FM radio application is today. please send a letter of support to the CRTC by going to and click on the Support Halifax DAWG."

Sorry for the late notice but any support is a good thing.

Today's post got a lot of views for some reason, just one of those days I guess. People must've been on Twitter when I put up a link. Mid-afternoon is a good time to get people's attention on there I find.

95% sure I'll be 2 hours as usual on Friday Night. I'd say a usual show but I might have a surprise guest on the phone this week. With time constraints I might have to do it LIVE. That will be different. Any mistakes they're going out over the air, no "Take 2".

5:00 PM

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28 Apr 2009

2 Years Upcoming

First up Sharona Clarke is writing some tour updates on her new blog as she travels Newfoundland.



If you heard the end of the show on Friday then you know this week is going to be a surprise. I'll be on at 6pm as usual. But it might still be 2 hours. Or 60 minutes as I mentioned before. Right now even I don't know. So a surprise for me.

Summer schedule changes kick in on Friday, May 1st. And it's been a juggling act for a bunch of shows. So there's no plan for Friday's show. Luckily I have enough music over the last 2 years to do weeks of shows without a plan.

By the way the 2nd anniversary of the program is in May. 2 years since I started. Now those weeks I was scrambling for music. Each week I was burning off one CD of music I had compiled for each show.

May 19th was the first show. Which I uploaded a few months ago on for those who might want to hear it.



Forgot I played Hey Rosetta! on the first episode. Should've mentioned that to them while they were in town. :)

3:53 AM

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26 Apr 2009

April 24th Show



New music from Emmy Alcorn, The Salty Plains and Sora. Also some of Don Brownrigg's disc from 2007.



Some live Hey Rosetta! from a variety of sources and places. Victoria, Toronto and St. John's. Couple of tracks from Joel Plaskett's solo triple album "Three". End the hour with some Ryan's Fancy from 1982 and two more Hey Rosetta! songs from their set at NXNE 2008 in Toronto.

5:54 PM

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23 Apr 2009

Tomorrow's Show/Bruins Sweep

Got a new CD in the mail yesterday which I'll be playing some of tomorrow night, Emmy Alcorn. She's a Trinidadian/Nova Scotian singer-songwriter. That's a sentence you don't read every day.

Along with more new music from The Salty Plains and some live music from Hey Rosetta!. Probably some vinyl from Ryan's Fancy to end the last 2 hour till the fall.

Still on Fridays at 6pm for May-August but 60 minutes. The original length of the program in fact.

Enjoyed the Bruins sweep of the Habs. Thought Boston would win but Montreal didn't put up much of a fight after Game 2. Ending their 100th anniversary by getting swept by the B's wasn't their plan. But congrats Montreal on not trashing the city like you did last year. :)

Two teams to sweep the first round series are Vancouver and Boston. Possible Bruins vs Canucks final? Getting way ahead of myself but that be an interesting series.

4:49 PM

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21 Apr 2009

Bart Given on Sportsnet.ca

Sportsnet finally made a good decision, or the website anyway. Bart Given, from Inside the Majors is now blogging for Sportsnet.ca. More of a mini-blog compared to how in depth he can go at his site. But it's a nice way to get traffic and be read.

But Sportsnet can still do thing that make you shake your head and/or laugh. As you see from the screenshot.

["Cups overfloweth" doesn't scream professionalism"]

Some woman named Coco apparently has to do with sports. If you can't see it under her picture it says : "Our cups overfloweth with Coco in today's gallery."

Good to see Bart on that site, but of all things to see on his first post? And with the amount of pictures on the internet, that is not going to attract anyone to that site. Plus "overfloweth" isn't even a word. To be picky about.

From Jody Vance to Coco's Cups? Things have changed at the net.

7:12 PM

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20 Apr 2009

Plan for Friday

Have compiled some live tracks from Hey Rosetta! for Friday's show. New music from The Salty Plains.

Think it will be the last 2 hour show for a while. May 1st is the following Friday so that should be the kick off of the summer schedule. So from 6-7pm for May-August. Little easier to do, since I can tape the show more easily to get out of town on some weekends. And I'm working midnights right now so I can get home by 8pm and rest for a couple of hours before work.

2:18 PM

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18 Apr 2009

April 17th Show/23 Hours

Trying to recover from being awake for 23 hours yesterday.

Up at 5:30am for work, then go to CFRC around 5pm. Radio show over at 8pm.

Met some of the band while doing sound check at 8:30. Got bite to eat then back to Grad Club. Show started little after 10:30pm and finished up after 1am.

Walked for about 15 minutes to a coffee shop to call a cab and got home 1:45am. Watched last half of the new episode of "Out There" on CITYTV Vancouver.

Get some food and it's 2:30 am. But if you've worked nights or anything you know you still need time to wind down. So I watched Russell Crowe on Letterman, CBS Seattle.

At almost 4am and decided to put on the radio. CFRC programming from 2-7am are rebroadcasts from the previous day. So for example Offsides which airs at 4pm, comes on again at 4am. Sure enough, heard Tyler again at 4am.

So I think I would've come on again at 6am with the hour of Hey Rosetta!, but thankfully I was asleep by then.

Onto last night's program.



Interview with Tim Baker of Hey Rosetta!, and songs from their CD which I'll give the entire title here. "Into Your Lungs (and around in your heart and on through your blood)" for the entire hour.



Start off the hour with Jenn Grant, from her new CD 'Echoes'. Then 20 minutes of live music from Teresa Ennis. She performed live on the radio during ECMA weekend. More live tracks from Blue Rodeo's Daze in America EP.

End the hour with one more song from Hey Rosetta! who played Kingston later that night. Great concert. Opening act had to cancel so the band opened for themselves doing a 45 minute acoustic set. Still got their full set after a 10 minute break.

2:57 PM

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16 Apr 2009

Interview with Tim Baker of Hey Rosetta!

Was able to speak with Tim Baker of Hey Rosetta! yesterday and will air that tomorrow night. Before their 10pm concert in Kingston later that night.

It's about 12 minutes and Tim was on his cell walking around the streets of Toronto on a rare day off. Came together at the last minute but it worked out quite well.

So many tracks from the band tomorrow night. Yes, the exclamation point is in the name of the band. It does make the name "Hey Rosetta!" stand out.

4:21 PM

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14 Apr 2009

Ottawa Citizen Article on DawgFM/Summer Changes

Ottawa Citizen had a story that summed up what's been going on with DawgFM in Ottawa. Politics as usual in the nation's capital.



Looks like the show will be shorter during this summer. Same day and time, but from 6-7pm EST. Lot of schedule changes as usual during the summer months at CFRC. Students leave, and many shows go on hiatus. But Salt Water Music is still going, just for an hour a week during the summer. That's May through August.

Keeping it at 2 hours or it being 90 minutes was possible, but at a different day and time. I went with keeping it Fridays at 6pm. The Herald interview said 6pm EST and a lot of people have gotten used to the time. Changing it would cause some headaches.

Could you listen to the show if it was Wednesday at 1:30pm for example? I didn't think so. :)

But my show was 10-11pm on Saturday for the first 16 months. So for long time listeners the hour format isn't new. But I thought I'd give everyone a heads up.

Offsides the sports show I work on is coming to end when Tyler leaves in July. GlobeTrotting the soccer show I also work on, is taking a few weeks hiatus as well in the summer. So it's the summer of changes.

8:38 PM

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13 Apr 2009

Hey Rosetta! plays Kingston this Friday

Mentioned on Friday about Hey Rosetta! coming to Kingston for a show this Friday night at the Grad Club. Working on a possible interview with someone from the band this week. We'll see if it comes together for the radio show Friday since it's a short time frame. Concert is 10pm so you'll have time to listen and go to the show too.

Blog post from Tim on their website shows they had some transportation problems this past week. The possible end to the Van the band has used to tour the country. Last year Ian Foster drove his car from St. John's to do his tour in Ontario/Quebec. It made the trip back then it barely lasted a week before it headed into the repair shop.

04/12/2009 easter, terrace bay

Posted by: tim

we are in terrace bay, northern ontario. it's nice and quiet, but we don't want to be here. our dear van has succumbed to the wear of another trip across this enormous country. our transmission self-destructed early yesterday afternoon.

luckily the plucky dan mangan was just behind us and gathered some of us under the wing of his volvo and flew off to the safety of sault ste marie and then toronto. for the rest of us, we are in the norwood motel, waiting for monday mechanics. entombed, waiting for the resurrection of our own particular econoline saviour. oh, roll away the rock, local mechanic! let us fly home! to our show in ottawa.

we might be in a situation here. i'm having trouble considering leaving the van behind. but we might have to. oh yvonne. i'm not sure. i'm not sure.

i'll keep you posted.

---

The problems of traveling across the huge country of Canada. Hope things will pull together to get them through the tour and back to Newfoundland.

Hey Rosetta with opening act Zeus is this Friday, April 17 2009 at the Grad Club. Can purchase tickets online and pick them up at the door.



Doors open at 9pm for the 10pm show.

8:13 PM

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11 Apr 2009

April 10th Show

Had the show ready to upload last night, but wasn't co-operating. But they're up now.



The North Lakes and Pleasure Bridge to open the show. Then Hey Rosetta as they are playing in Kingston next Friday. April 17th at the Grad Club, 10pm start.

Sharona Clarke for the rest of the first hour with tracks from both of her CDs. 'On The Right Track' and 'The Secret Is to Dream'. 'Secret' you can download for free. 'Track' is on iTunes.



Included during the first hour is the short interview she did with Toni Marie on NTV Thursday night.

Also got an online request from Sharona so listen for that near the end of Hour 1.



Lead off Hour 2 with some of Ian Foster's new disc. Like Sharona he took part in the RPM Challenge for the month of February. Two instrumental tracks from his concept album, 'Found : Music From the Unmade Film'.

Then a song from Stone Richards and the Devil Folk.

Decided to take it easy for the rest of the show since it was Good Friday. So I played some live Blue Rodeo. From the EP, 'Daze in America' which was never released to the public. And a '5 Days in May' from 'Blue Road', their live acoustic CD from last fall.

End the program with 3 songs from Sharona, who was listening in St. John's during the show and sent me a few messages on Twitter.

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And in case you want to watch the last LeafsTV Pregame of the year today at 6pm here you go. I'll probably delete the link later tonight, for obvious reasons. Don't want MLSE complaining. LOL.

LINK DELETED

Why would I be linking to a pregame for a Leafs-Sens game? Both teams are done when it comes to the playoffs. Check out Jody's Twitter. Think it's a good reason to let more people catch the show today. :)



4:12 PM

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9 Apr 2009

Good Friday/Sharona Clarke

Yep, new show tomorrow on Good Friday. And live as usual. Enjoy your day off as I'm at CFRC for a few hours. 'Offsides', the sports show I work on, also is live Friday at 4pm. No holiday for us, new shows for you.

Just saw Sharona Clarke on NTV with Toni Marie. I have the audio of the 2 minute interview and I'll play that tomorrow. Along with some of Sharona's music. One CD you can download for free.

"The Secret... is to Dream" was done as part of the RPM Challenge '09. That's a challenge to record an album in the month of February. In her case she recorded the whole thing in her home studio.



I'll also play 'She' which she played on NTV today. Song got cut off but that happens a lot during a live newscast. But recording off the TV hurts the sound quality so it wouldn't have been good enough to air. Works well for interviews, but anything with music it usually doesn't.

So some of Sharona's music, and the rest of the show some longer sets as well. My version of a holiday show since that makes it easier for me.

Enjoy the long weekend. I'll upload the show by Saturday night.

6:04 PM

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8 Apr 2009

Sharona Clarke on NTV Thursday

For those in Newfoundland or have NTV on satellite, Sharona Clarke will be on with Toni Marie tomorrow. NTV Evening Newshour airs 6pm local time, 4:30pm est. It reruns at 12am local/10:30pm EST as well.

She'll chat with Toni and play a song. Nice to get some TV airtime. I'll play more of Sharona's music on Friday.

Usually the piece gets rerun on Entertainment News on Saturday, but Toni Marie tapes it tomorrow morning. So tune in either time on Thursday to catch her on the news.



10:22 PM

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7 Apr 2009

CFRC Update

Congrats to the new CFRC Operations Officer Kristiana Clemens. She's starting the new job so thought I'd mention it here. She's been in community radio for a while, recently with CKUT Montreal. Good luck to Kristiana.

CFRC's website is still on the backup as you can tell. Whoever hacked the AMS server really did some nasty work. That happened before the funding drive in Febuary and the main site still isn't up. But I was shown this. Preview of what the new site will look like. Uses Wordpress. Which I'm using right now. :)



So maybe the hack was a good thing as it gave a reason to change things up. That page is just for testing purposes but it's nice to see how it will look ahead of time.

Brand new show live this Friday. Easter weekend snuck up on me, didn't know the holiday was coming up till yesterday. I really should get a wall calendar. This happens a few times to me every year. LOL.

Just because Kingston Transit isn't running on Good Friday, doesn't mean I won't be. Enjoy your day off [if you're not working] and listen to some music.

4:01 PM

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7 Apr 2009

Jays Opener

Picked a good time to make fun of Sportsnet. Parts of the country didn't see the Jays game because of a Sens game. Who is the guy who scheduled this? Home opener of the Blue Jays and it's in a dome so you know it won't be delayed. But let's pick up this Senators game. Sure they didn't guess Sens would be out of it by now but this made no sense.

Ottawa Sports Guy has more in a blog post. And on the drunken fans at Skydome who caused a 10 minute delay in the baseball game. Nice way to open the season guys.



And Tyler King who I work with on Offsides, was stuck with the Sens game here in Kingston. He doesn't have the other feeds of Sportsnet. He's a big Jays fan so you can imagine how happy he was last night. :)

Day 2 of the Sportsnet pile on, but well deserved after the Jays/Sens debacle.

11:03 AM

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6 Apr 2009

Baseball/Sportsnet

Great post on Inside the Majors today about scheduling. And why they put a day off in the opening series of the baseball season. [Insurance against weather problems.]



Needed it today since Boston and Chicago both had some wintery weather. Games were bumped till tomorrow.

Jays season is a lot like the Leafs one that is about to end. Building for next year. And both teams admitted it before the season started. Good that they are up front about it, but does hurt the Jays more than the Leafs.

Leafs sell out the ACC no matter what and CBC ratings are even up this year for them on Saturday Nights. But Blue Jays have a tougher hill to climb. 81 home games for a team that's not going to contend. Going to see a lot more empty seats this season.

Watching a bit of the Jays opener, since having SkyDome that full will be rare this season. Can't understand why Sportsnet's broadcasts aren't better. Bland for a team owned by Rogers, which also owns the channel. You'd think they'd take great care into this. If the broadcasts were great I'd watch more games. But if they can't be bothered to put a great effort into the broadcast then neither can I.

Sportsnet itself has gone downhill over the past few years. So it's not a complete shock. They were catching up to TSN when I was in college. But man they've fallen off. In 2000 they even beat TSN on the NHL trade deadline. Jody Vance had a column about that in March.



Notice "CTV Sportsnet" beat TSN. Rogers taking over that place was the beginning of the end when it comes to quality. Their great idea 2 years ago was to have the 'Deal or No Deal Canada' models during a trade deadline show. Brilliant.

Back to watching House, now that's quality TV.

8:15 PM

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5 Apr 2009

CRTC Transcripts

CRTC put up the transcripts for the few days of the Ottawa radio hearings. Fair warning, they are LONG. I took a glance at them, would take me a while to read all of the info. But I thought I would send the links along for those interested in what goes on at these things.

Never heard of "contour maps" before when it comes to radio frequency. I just play the music on the radio. :)







Some parts are in French and not translated into English yet. Audio feed had translations of both, but it's impressive the transcripts are up this fast in the first place.

I heard some people in Kingston saw snow last night, but I didn't. Forecast of flurries on Wednesday? Hope not.

6:41 PM

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4 Apr 2009

April 3rd Show

Few computer/internet problems today but the shows are finally up.



Lots of different artists in the first hour. Hey Rosetta, David Baxter, The Lever Pulled, Remedy, Francis Arsenault and Christine Crawford.



Start off with a DAWG FM/CRTC update. Then back to music for the rest of the show.

Neil Dobson and the Fabulous Hats, Faded Blue, The Strangeboys and Great Big Sea.

---

If you heard the first hour you know I mentioned winning a mug from Out There with Melissa Dimarco. Last night's new episode was built around the "swag bag" they give out to actors who do interviews with them during the film festival. So I'm having a drink out of the mug and I see the mug itself on the show. Good timing. LOL.

As for the DAWG FM update, here is the update from the Facebook group I read part of on air last night.

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The re-hearing into our DAWG 101.9FM was adjourned yesterday until June 12th 2009. At which time the Commission will hear evidence about the feasibility of the use of 94.5 FM in the Ottawa market.

What does that mean? Let me give you the short history. We were awarded the licence on August 26th 2008, after an exhaustive process. The Decision included our ALL BLUES licence on 101.9FM and a licence to Astral Media for an ADULT CONTEMPORARY licence on 99.7.

An appeal was launched by a Franco-Ontario group that suggested that they should have been licenced. The appeal was granted by Cabinet and the decision was referred back to the CRTC.

We took a proactive, positive approach to this, at great expense, we found another frequency on which, the CRTC could licence another French Language station if it desired to do so. That frequency is 94.5FM.

The CRTC is going to study that frequency to see if it can be used and all of the applicants will get a chance to make comments at the new hearing on June 12.

So we think this is very positive for the Blues. We had the best engineers in Canada find this frequency, further we had it verified by two more engineers, lastly two of the other applicants said it would work….so we know it works period.

The sticky point here is that Astral Media needs to consent to the use of the 94.5 frequency or use it themselves instead of 99.7.

Bob Walsh, Quebec Blues Legend, Alexandre Petit, from Viree Blues Boreale and Ottawa City Councillor Eli El-Chantiry came to the hearing to address the CRTC and were awesome in support of our application, our thanks to them and to everyone – over 3000 people that have supported DAWG FM.

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Funny that a guy I read on a radio news message board seems to have guessed this ahead of time. User named Dan said this 3 weeks ago.

"My guess is the CRTC will re-grant those licenses to Astral and Frank Torres, plus give the go-ahead to the Gatineau Community Station (I assume it was this group that launched the initial complaint). That way everyone is happy."

Hmmm. Sounds like that's what's happening in Ottawa doesn't it? Does show you that sometimes people on an internet message boards really do have inside information. :)

April has snuck up on me. Hope everyone is having a nice weekend. Another gloomy day here in Kingston. Looks like winter is going to hit this area one more time. Possible rain/snow mix overnight and a chance of it from Mon-Wed. But I'll believe it when I see it.

4:57 PM

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2 Apr 2009

Friday's Show/Links

Tomorrow's show will be 2 hours with not much of a plan. Going to grab some new music and make it up on the fly. No taped interviews in the pipeline, first time I can say that since January. So I'll play a bunch of different things Friday night.

Up next a couple of Twitter links. Friend of the show Ian Foster joined up. Only musician I've interviewed twice for the show. And as of right now the only one I've had a beer with. Happened in Toronto last summer before he had his gig. :)



He said he's booking his summer tour as we speak. So maybe a third interview will happen. Like an annual summer tradition now. In fact Ian was the first person I ever interviewed for Salt Water Music.

Up next, Jody Vance. Well known sportscaster. She's married to Bart Given who has that new blog I talked about too.



She's currently on LeafsTV, and had a weekly column in '24 Hours Toronto' for 4 years. But this past Monday was the last column. And people wonder why the newspaper business is falling apart.

But that link is a place you can read Jody's thoughts, unfiltered. Which was part of the joke last week as I read out one of her tweets on air. [Can someone please come up with a better word than Tweet. It's like I'm in Grade 2.]

3rd in the batting order is local. Sarah Crosbie, formerly of The Whig-Standard. Now a radio host in town.



I found her page while she was in between jobs. She filled in on a morning show in town then was hired a week or two later. The next page belongs to someone else from K-Rock, Tony Orr.



He just joined Twitter recently. I didn't know he was a faculty member with Loyalist College. Things you learn online.

So tomorrow night, a lot of surprises as I figure out what to play. For sure Neil Dobson/Fabulous Hats since I just got the CD this week. As for the rest of the show, even I don't know right now.

5:06 PM

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31 Mar 2009

15 Albums

Did this in bits and pieces but finally done. Nancy Slater, formerly of K-Rock for those in Kingston posted this on her MySpace blog.



"Think of 15 albums that had such a profound effect on you they changed your life or the way you looked at it. They sucked you in and took you over for days, weeks, months, years. These are the albums that you can use to identify time, places, people, emotions. These are the albums that no matter what they were thought of musically shaped your world."

"This was NOT easy. There have been so many albums that have come into my life over the years. Some only for a short while, but they still had a profound effect on how I listened to and enjoyed music. Below is a list of the ones I seem to return to again and again, or that for a brief moment in time served the purpose of just pure musical enjoyment."

All right now my list. I eliminated anything from Salt Water Music, since I'm smart enough not to go down that road. I'd forget a CD, hurt someone's feelings, get complaints.... so I'm going with older stuff.

This list is stuff I picked up in my college days or earlier. Might not be the best I have but stuff I remember picking up. Or some story behind it.

1. Lionel Ritchie, Can't Slow Down

Got this on cassette tape when I was 5. So cut me some slack. It was the early 80's and this one was all over the radio. All Night Long is still catchy though. I looked up the album and found out it only had 8 songs on it. Really?

2. Stevie Wonder, In Square Circle

Picked up the new Stevie Wonder cassette [yep those things again] in 1985. On the cover he's sitting in front of a record. Records were these things... oh nevermind. Not the most memorable Stevie Wonder record, but I remember getting it.

3. Dire Straits, Brothers in Arms

Great album. And one of the first things I ever got on CD.

Dire Straits is one of those bands that had more than one hit in the 80's but they're not one of the first ones you think of when the decade comes up. But when you throw out their name people remember them.

And the title track has been used a lot on TV. Miami Vice, Due South and West Wing. I'll go with Miami Vice, since they played almost the entire song in the scene. And I just saw the episode again recently.



You'll recognize 2 of the actors from different roles. Bruce McGill from Animal House, and near the end is David Strathairn who was up for an Oscar for Good Night and Good luck. Go figure.

4. Pink Floyd, Dark Side of the Moon

Nuff said. It's Dark Side of the Moon. I can't say anything new. Except this piece of trivia if you don't know. How many weeks in a row was it on the U.S. Billboard top 200 charts? 591 consecutive weeks.

You're thinking 'that must be a few years', yes it is. 12 years straight from 1976 to 1988.

5. Metallica, Black Album

Picked it up on cassette [last time that comes up] just for Enter Sandman. One of the only times I picked up something for one song. I really can't name the other songs off the top of my head. LOL.

6. Nevermind, Nirvana

Someone online described this pretty well, one that killed off Hair Metal in one fell swoop. True.

7. Pink Floyd, Is There Anybody Out There? The Wall Live 1980–81

Got this in college in Ottawa and listened to it in one sitting. HMV had the deluxe version for $25 soon after it came out. Always thought it was a mistake the staff did so I grabbed it up. The end of the most well known Pink Floyd lineup.

Richard Wright was fired from the band by Waters. Reasons differ depending on who you talk to. But Richard stuck around for this tour. Ironically, since he had a fixed salary he was the only member of the band who made money from the concerts. The rest had to cover the cost overruns.

I always liked the live feel of this. Most will go with the studio version. But this has a link to my college days in Ottawa. So this wins.

8. Blue Rodeo: Five Days in July, Nowhere to Here, Tremolo

I count this as one. Because they were 3 albums in a row they put out and I got each soon after they came out. They're all linked in my head, even though they're all different.

Nowhere to Here is underrated. More rock than their other CD's. Tonne of people have Five Days in July which is more acoustic. Tremolo is in between. But the back to back on Tremolo of Brother André's Heart and Frogs' Lullaby is great. Tracks you would never hear on radio. Well I might play them but you know what I mean.

9. U2, Joshua Tree.

Big U2 fan, and I have a ticket for Skydome in September. When it comes to picking one I have to go with Joshua Tree. Sidenote, I still stick up for Pop. Maybe because I bought it in Placentia when I was back in Newfounland one summer. Buying a CD where you born does make it memorable. But I liked how they went out on a limb with that disc.

But it has to be Joshua Tree. Especially when you take in consideration the first 5 tracks on it. This is a stellar lineup when you hit play.

Where the Streets Have No Name, I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For, With or Without You, Bullet the Blue Sky and Running to Stand Still. Impressive. Those 5 songs are still played on U2 tours to this day.

10. Peter Gabriel, So

Lots of great songs on here. For me Sledgehammer was one of my favorite songs of the 80's. When I went on my first driving lesson in the 90's I turned on the radio and Sledgehammer was playing. Cool, if a bit eerie.

Nancy pointed out In Your Eyes, which was a huge song.

"I don't know too many gals my age that don't instantly think of John Cusack holding that ghettoblaster above his head in Say Anything while blasting In Your Eyes by Gabriel."

Great movie by the way. Ending is well done. Doesn't wrap up everything in a neat tidy bow. Which was how most 80's movie ended.

11. Miles Davis, Kind of Blue

Picked this up in college along with the next one. That PBS Jazz series was on and that got me to pick this up. Another one that has had a lot written about it. Amazing.

Once I listened to this, it made me picky about music for about a week. "that song is horrible" went through my head for a while when I heard most stuff on the radio. :)

12. Dave Brubeck, Take Five

This and Kind of Blue both came out in 1959. Good year for Jazz. Picked this one since I always like 'Take Five' which has been used a lot over the years. Movies, commercials, etc. Other tracks you don't hear used as often but they're great.

13. Bruce Springsteen, 18 Tracks

Easy to go with other Springsteen albums. But I'm going with a curveball. Another college disc and it had The Fever and The Promise which hadn't been released before.

And the original version of Born in the USA, from 1983. Exact same lyrics, shows you how music can change what you think about a song. People thought it was a patriotic song. It's about Vietnam vets and about a man's brother who got killed overseas. That's not a rah-rah song by any means.



14. Stevie Ray Vaughan : Greatest Hits Volume 2.

Always liked SRV from radio airplay. But picking this up I found Riveria Paradise, Lenny and his cover of Voodoo Child. Got me more into SRV so that's why it is on here. I have the boxset with an 11 minute version of Voodoo Child from Carnegie Hall. Great stuff but this is much easier to get a hold of.

15. This one is for reader comments. Think of one you remember really well.

Thanks to Nancy Slater for writing her blog in the first place. She just left the radio business after 17 years. Remember her on K-Rock when I moved back to Kingston. Ahhh, the good ole days.



One of the first surprises with the internet I had in Kingston was finding out Nancy was also the music director of K-Rock. I listened to the station more back then. So kudos to Nancy, since I'm sure she was the reason. :)

From MySpace it looks like she's back in Kingston. Which means I'm on the radio in Kingston and Nancy isn't. That is weird.

Feel free to give your album picks. I'll take the comments and put them together in a post later in the week.

And I'm done for the night after that long post.

9:09 PM

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29 Mar 2009

Sunday Update/Free Audio

For those with XM satellite radio, fellow blogger Bart Given is on MLB Live Weekend today. As of now he'll be on around 5:30pm on channel XM 175. Times have changed in the last 24 hours. I was included in an update since I found something people here might like to check out.



UPDATE #1: The time slot has changed to 6:30 p.m. ET

UPDATE #2: Rob C. has found a free trial for XM on their site. Sign-up and listen on your computer (not just to me…)

UPDATE #3: Bumped for James Shields, now on at 5:30 p.m. Just tune in for the whole show! (This never happened when I actually worked for a team…oh the life of a blogger)

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Usually when you see these "free trials" it's always with a credit card number. Which I'll never do. But XM Radio only needs an email address. That's it.



Now it does say "7 Day Trial", but I tried this trial last night and it says it will expire on March 31st. Might be something to do with the end of the month messing up their system but as you can figure out, that's not close to 7 days. Nothing free comes without a hitch I suppose. LOL.

But it is free and I am listening to XM right now. So if you're looking for something new to listen to for a few days for free you can try it out. Why not? It's the weekend. Time to do stuff like this.

Music channels are pretty good. One is Bruce Springsteen 24/7. Only one all Blues station, by the way I have a Blues link to give out too.

The 80's channel right now is playing an episode of Casey Kasem's Top 40 from March 29th, 1986. That's a neat idea. Dire Straits playing right now. Maybe they'll mention what episode of Miami Vice was on that week. :)

Anyway Bart will be on MLB Home Plate this afternoon so if you have XM Radio or have the free trial you can give a listen.

As for audio that's free with no expiry date here is DawgFM's website.



They now have the internet stream up and running. Nothing but all Canadian Blues music. Click on the link and there you go. Either way some free audio to enjoy on a Sunday.

Thanks again to those listeners/readers who sent letters of support for DawgFM. The CRTC hearing is this Tuesday. Good luck to the gang heading to Ottawa.

Was talking to Tyler King after Offsides on Friday at CFRC. Mentioned DawgFM and he logically thought there had been a blues station in Canada before. Nope. We know how popular 'The Blues Project' is on the station. That's on 6-8pm on Saturdays. Very good show for those who haven't tuned in before.

Off I go to listen to some music online. Enjoy what's left of the weekend.

1:08 PM

Views (17)·Edit

28 Mar 2009

Download Link, Fall Into the Ocean

Thanks to Julia for the comment on Wordpress. She found a site where you can download the song "Fall into the Ocean".



Strange to have something as tragic as that be the reason my blog has had a lot of views this month. To give people an idea last month it had 141 views. So far this month 1,657.

ECMA's was a small part of the bump but most of it was people searching for the song, so I'm glad to find a link so everyone can download a copy.

6:12 PM

Views (10)·Edit

28 Mar 2009

March 27th Show/Melanie Samson

Lazy Saturday afternoon in Kingston. But not too lazy that I didn't put up the show from last night.



Lead off the show with a request for Great Big Sea.

Then interview with Melanie Samson and her CD in its entirety.



End the hour with a song by Dominique Dupuis.

A link to purchase Melanie's CD is from her MySpace page. Thanks again to her for doing the interview.



Second hour starts with an idea to read some people's Twitter posts on air. I went longer than expected. :) Amazing the segment went since I had no script and just a few notes.

Then music of Hey Rosetta, Faded Blue, Ryan Neilson, Christine Crawford and Greg Keelor.

I figured out a segway from the Twitter segment to the Hey Rosetta song 'Holy Shit [What a Relief]'. It makes sense if you listen to it.

They're coming through a lot of Canada on a tour. Start in BC tonight. Then Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec and the East Coast on a tour. Stopping in Kingston April 17th at the Grad Club.



1:11 PM

Views (8)·Edit

27 Mar 2009

Tonight's Show

Yes, bit late on a Friday. 28 Minutes before the show starts. Tonight Melanie Samson interview and her CD in its entirety. Some new music too, which I'd write more about but I'm in a rush.

Idea tonight is to also read some Twitter posts on air for fun. Few caught my eye and it will transition well into a Hey Rosetta song. Which one? Stay tuned.

5:35 PM

Views (11)·Edit

26 Mar 2009

CBC Cutbacks/St. John's Example

Knew this was coming down the pike, but still surprised by the scope of the cutbacks.



800 jobs gone, shows on radio and TV canceled. As for the East Coast, well first Newfoundland.



That is one of the dumber moves. How many stations are in the province? Two. NTV and CBC. That's it. Not wanting to compete in a place where you're only against 1 local competitor is strange.



Sydney, Moncton and Saint John also facing deep cutbacks. PEI is losing one position. At least the stations are still there, heard talk about getting rid of them completly.

To get away from the CBC reports here is one from The Chronicle Herald in Halifax.



Great line describing the cutbacks.

"The source said 17 of the 31 jobs getting the axe are in Nova Scotia. All are in programming and none in management."

Bravo to the CBC for showing how out of touch you are on that front.

Bet these are the same people who decided to air 'The Devils Wears Prada' on a Sunday night and make the East Coast Music Awards air on a tape delay. Our tax money at work that night.

CBC Radio 3 is still going, so a bright spot for a lot of artists I've played on the show. Lot of them have been on that station. It will be a single feed now, they had different one for satellite and the website. That separation never made sense to me.

Sports programming takes a hit too. Strangely it says CBC.ca avoided any cutbacks.

Not like CBC is alone in this lately, I've seen what happened to some A-Channel stations. Ottawa really got hit hard lately, from the Ottawa Citizen.



Also A-Channel Victoria got rid of it's morning show and just airs video from an all news-radio station in town. But they're keeping the 6pm news.

As for the CBC. I think their online division and radio have done well over the past few years. TV side? Not so much. They change what they are every few years.

"We're all Canadian" and get rid of the U.S. shows. Except for The Simpsons, since that's Canadian.... I guess. Then last year they spend a chunk of money buying 'Jeopardy' and 'Wheel of Fortune'.

Maybe one day the TV side will make up their mind who they are. Probably not. A decade ago they gutted local news, then put money back in, and today are cutting it again.

I'll use St. John's as an example. NTV had been 2nd to the CBC Here and Now 6pm news for a long time. But by the late 1990's they had caught up in the ratings. Neck and neck for the most part, then the Canada Now debacle in 2000. Where they cut the 6pm shows across the country in half and have the first 30 minutes be national news from Toronto.

Bad idea. NTV surged in front and never looked back. Luckily I found a graph. NTV commercials have said say they're the number 1 rated newscast in Canada. They mean out of all markets in Canada they dominate the opposition by the most. They're not lying.

[caption id="attachment_324" align="alignnone" width="500" caption="CBC vs NTV Ratings"][/caption]



Damn, that really is an ass kicking. The CBC 6pm news became a full hour of local news again after a few years but too late.

Full disclosure, Toni Marie is a good friend of mine. So I'm glad for her they do so well. :) But I watched them on satellite rather than CBC before I knew her.

NTV also has a noon news and they rerun the 6pm news late at night. So CBC only has that 1 chance to get viewers. Thought people would like to see the Newfoundland example of what happened to a market where CBC used to do quite well.

6:51 PM

Views (14)·Edit

25 Mar 2009

Long Mid-Week Post

Touch on a few things today, first the interview with Melanie Samson is this Friday. You can visit her MySpace page to preview some songs and purchase the CD.



And her page on Twitter.



Next up, the CFRC end of the year awards. Which are held at this time of year because the end of the school year is coming up. These are voted by the volunteers. Since the CFRC site is still on the back up one [Wow, those hackers must've done some damage to the AMS servers] I'll publish them here.

Best Spoken word: Alternative Frequency

Best NEW program: Gender Bender

Best Music and Spoken word Hybrid: [Tie] Aboriginal Voices and Cognitive Dissonance

Best Cultural: Atlantis

Best Beats and Rhythms: Captain Funkbags Funktastic Funksplosian

Best Indie Rock/Pop: [Tie] London Calling and The Exploding Plastic Inevitable

Best Goth/Metal/Ind: Dark Carnival

Best Folk/Bluegrass: Small Towns, Big Dreams

Best Specialty: Artists and Music of the 20th Century

2 ties? Chance of that must've been really small.

I missed the awards night but heard from a fellow host on Facebook that I won an award. Went to the station yesterday and found out I was awarded the 'Broadcast Bear' this year. Goes to a volunteer for their dedication and hard work for the station. Cool.

I get my name engraved on a plaque at the station and on a Broadcast Bear metal mug that is at the station. All the winners since the early 1980's are on it. That's quite a few years. So my name will be at the station for years and years. Didn't think about that till today. :)



And since I'm on news from the station, last night this went up on Out of Left Field. Tyler King from the CFRC sports broadasts and Offsides is heading off to Syracuse University. Took this from Neate's post.

"Kinger, who's graduating from Queen's in a couple months, will be taking his master's degree in broadcast journalism at the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University. It's got a long name, so you know it's gotta be good."

Since I help out every week on Offsides I knew a bit about this. But now it's official. Congrats to Tyler. He was also the Sports Co-ordinator at the station the past year.

Away from a school that had that silly attempt at a name change from Golden Gaels to Queen's Gaels. Off to a place that changed their team name from the Orangemen to "THE Orange". Hmmm, so they sound like similar places. :)

Picked up my tickets for the Buddy Wasisname show in May at the Grand Theatre. Place looks great from the inside. First time I set foot in the place since the renovations.

And thanks to my sister I have a ticket for U2 in Toronto this September at SkyDome. Going with her and her boyfriend. Is a bit strange to have a concert plan for a date after the summer. It's not even April and here I am with a ticket for a show on a Wednesday night in the fall.

I better wrap it up for today. Finishing up editing the interview with Melanie. I'll play her entire CD on Friday's show.

12:23 PM

Views (11)·Edit

23 Mar 2009

Monday Update

Thanks to Gary Kelly for the comment on the Twitter blog post. He was wondering if Faye Grim was really Toni Marie. It is easy to fake people's identity on Twitter, but it is her. :)

Another account to add to the list. Bart Given from the Inside The Majors blog is on Twitter. Right now he has two followers. So we'll try to increase that. At least past 10.



Last week did show what happens online. Sometimes one post can start a snowball effect. My one post on Inside the Majors was read by Neate Sager on Out of Left Field. Neate posted about it, which then got picked up by some Jays sites. Now it's spread to baseball message boards. Latest I found is someone from Toronto who works for Google posting about it on Twitter.

Of course a blog by someone with a lot of baseball knowledge would've been noticed anyway. But we'll ignore that. :)

Friday night I'll have the interview with Melanie Samson I did recently. Then I'll finally have caught up with the interviews I taped over the last month. I'll also be playing her CD during the show.



U.S. is out of the World Baseball Classic. And it's hardly a story. After the game last night I go to . It's not the main story, not even highlighted as a big story. It was the 4th one down on the side of the page. Even now it's behind a story about A-Rod's rehab on his hip. Jeez, there's a sign how low on the totem pole the WBC is.

1:02 PM

Views (16)·Edit

21 Mar 2009

Twitter

I joined Twitter on a whim last June. Friend here in Kingston, Tommy Vallier, told me he was on it. He had good things to say about it. And a few podcasters I interviewed during Podcasters Across Borders was on it. So I thought, why not?

I've known it has grown a crazy amount in the last year. But not exactly how much till listening to the Net@Night podcast with Leo Laporte and Amber MacArthur.

How about this "unique visitors to Twitter increased 1,382 percent year-over-year, from 475,000 unique visitors in February 2008 to seven million in February 2009."

Damn, that's a big jump. And that growth is the reason for that new horrible Facebook layout. They're trying to copy Twitter and just annoying everyone.

I started finding musicians on there too last year which has helped me find stuff for the show. The one thing good about it, is unlike Facebook you don't have to sign up to read someone's account. So with the news about the growth I thought I'd go through some people I follow. Most with an East Coast connection, well not the first two.



David Lynch director of Twin Peaks, Blue Velvet and Mullholland Drive. He gives people a daily weather forecast 5 days a week from L.A. On his account there and video version of it on his website.



All those great, strange movies and there he is just saying what the weather is like. I check it everyday just because I can't believe he does it 5 days a week. Dedication.



Erica Ehm. Remember when MuchMusic was cool, and had music videos, and was a channel you would watch, and it didn't totally suck? Ya, it's been a long time. But you can read updates from Erica Ehm and remember the good ole days. lol.



Teresa Ennis just joined up recently, I made fun of her Habs losing to the Leafs a few minutes ago. 5-2 at home to Toronto? At least people in Montreal should take solace in that it looks like there won't be any need to RIOT like they did last spring. That's right, a low blow but deserved when you trash the city after a 1st round victory.



Recently played on the show, found this after she appeared on Radio ECMA.



Brent from The Lever Pulled, a recent addition who in the last month has already threatened to end his Twitter account. LOL. So follow it while you still can. :)



Gary Kelly's account where you can find a tonne of accounts from Newfoundland. Like mine.



Melanie Samson, my interview with her airs next Friday.



Neate Sager's blog Out Of Left Field. Does sometimes have other people contribute to the account too, if I remember correctly.



Sean from Great Big Sea. Lots of updates from the road.



Latest friend of mine to join on a whim. You're thinking, "Faye Grim? Who is that?" You would know her by her real name, Toni Marie Wiseman. Yes, Toni who interviewed me for the Newfoundland Herald. That's for those not from Newfoundland. If you're from the province you know who she is. :)

That username is taken from a movie she likes. An obscure movie I had never heard of either.



She told me it was movie she loved but not many people do. Movie database rates it 6.6 out of 10. One comment is that it was the worst movie they've ever seen. ha ha.

Toni has a great sense of humour. Which you only catch a glimpse of on the news. Just look at this on her Twitter account.

Location: In your living room.

Bio: Da girl what does da news.

And we're both big Monty Python fans, to show you our sense of humour. Yes, we are the type of people who can quote from the movies. Off the top of my head without any Google help.

"I mean if I went around saying I was an emperor just because some moistened bint had lobbed a scimitar at me they'd have me put away."

Ahhh, Holy Grail. That reminds me, John Cleese is on too.



Oh and my account. But after the Minister of Silly Walks that's a step down. :)



10:46 PM

Views (21)·Edit

21 Mar 2009

March 20th Show/Andrea Wittgens

Watched two NCAA games go into Overtime last night, then a bit of soccer today. But the show is up now.



Open the show with 'Fall into the Ocean' by Mark Frost. Written about the recent helicopter crash off the coast of Newfoundland.

Then an interview with Andrea Wittgens, and her CD 'In the Skyline' for the rest of the hour.



Rest of the interview with Andrea Wittgens. Music from 'In The Skyline' and a couple tracks from her Alibi EP.

End the show with Jenn Grant and Paisley Jura.

4:39 PM

Views (20)·Edit

20 Mar 2009

Friday Update

I'll open the show with Mark Frost's song 'Fall Into the Ocean' about the helicopter crash. Sure many people reading this already listened to it after I put up a link for it, but it's good to let the radio listeners get to hear it.

Interview with Andrea Wittgens airs tonight. After the editing it runs 35 minutes since we covered a lot of topics. Divided it up into sections, as usual. So I'll play her CD during the interview.

Andrea is the first Queen's Alumni I've had on the show. She's from Antigonish, Nova Scotia then came to Queen's and took French and Music. She then moved to Seattle where she still resides. So we talked about that, then we talked about her music.

Tonight I have that an I'll play her CD 'In the Skyline' in it's entirety. I have some songs from a previous EP as well I think I'll play.

Thanks to Brent Maclean for sending me the new CD by The Lever Pulled. I've played their music before but it's nice to have a hard copy of it. Won't have much time tonight so I'll play some of it on next week's show.

Another quick thanks to Kimberly Sinclair for sending me some new discs as well. Ryan Neilson, Remedy and Francis Arsenault. And a couple more on the way. Same story, next week. Kim is a fan of Andrea so I'm sure she won't mind waiting a week. :)

As for TV tonight. March Madness for sports fans, I should get home to see the end of the 7pm tip off games. They'll end around 9:30pm.

Which means I'll take a break and watch Out There with Melissa DiMarco on CITY-TV at 10pm. Last week the episode on poker was fun. I thought an actor was playing an editor on the show. Found last night on a message board that he really is an editor who works on the show and plays poker. Who knew?

Basketball games go late into the night, past midnight. So if you're a fan of Letterman or Craig Ferguson you'll have to stay up later than usual. Craig's a rerun, Dave was new last night but I missed it.

I'll upload the radio show on Saturday. Might get it tonight but I'm not counting on it with the sports going late tonight. So the link will be up tomorrow.

That's it for now. As a reminder for new readers, show starts 6pm EST tonight. 101.9FM in Kingston or for the vast majority of readers outside of K-Town.

1:52 PM

Views (13)·Edit

19 Mar 2009

Andrea Wittgens Interview Tomorrow

Finishing up the editing of the Andrea Wittgens interview for tomorrow night. Had it divided up into sections already, just doing the usual nip and tuck the day before. I'll put up the longer version of the interview in a podcast. Want to make sure I get through the whole CD on the radio.

Here are some of Andrea's pages. MySpace has 6 songs up right now, 4 from In The Skyline and 2 from her Alibi EP.







10:48 AM

Views (7)·Edit

18 Mar 2009

'Fall Into the Ocean' Link

Thanks to someone on a Facebook group I found a link to the full song, Fall Into the Ocean by Mark Frost.



As the instructions say, double click on the song title and it plays. Had a couple of comments on the blog yesterday from people wanting to know if there was a place to hear the whole song.

The memorial service is being held today. Of the 17 who died, 14 were from Newfoundland, 1 from Nova Scotia and 2 from British Columbia.

5:04 PM

Views (15)·Edit

18 Mar 2009

Inside the Majors

Mid week update with a new sports blog. One written by someone with real experience on his subject, baseball.



Bart Given was in the front office for the Blue Jays for the last few years, recently as an Assistant GM. Unlike a lot of sports blogs that are on the landscape, this one has real info and knowledge. Player contracts and things such as arbitration are amazingly complex. But it’s great to have someone explain items that go by quickly on sports news. I see something like this:

March 2 - First date to renew contracts. Ten-day renewal period ends on March 11.

Sounds straightforward but it really only describes a certain amount of players. Which I learned from the blog. I won’t go into the details, you have to read it for yourself.

Also going to be opinion pieces. Today Bart talked about Chipper Jones’ comments putting down the city of Toronto. How there’s nothing to do in Toronto. City of 3 million and there’s nothing to do? Of course this from a guy named Larry who calls himself CHIPPER. Take that with a grain of salt.

I emailed Bart about the blog, since it’s very good and I wanted to see if I could mention it here. He said it’s in the “soft launch” phase. So this looks like the first place to mention the blog online. So you can be one of the early readers.

It’s in the early stage but everything is in working order. There’s a Poll about Chipper’s comments right now. You can also leave a comment or email him with your thoughts. Here is the description Bart put up on the blog himself. Feel free to drop him a line. Encourage a new blogger to cyberspace. :)

—

Why another MLB Blog? As a former VP, Baseball Operations & Assistant General Manager of a MLB Club, I felt I could provide valuable insight to fans who crave the “inside” information about what happens inside the Front Office. The “How’s”, “When’s” and most importantly “Why’s” of the decisions made daily by your favorite team.

There are plenty of sites discussing stats, fantasy, rumors and news with great aplomb. My goal for Inside The Majors is to complement their opinions with the knowledge and perspective of someone who has been there.

Please contact me at bgiven@ or leave a comment with suggestions for the site. I want it to evolve in a way that can enrich your experience of watching and discussing MLB baseball.

12:28 PM

Views (8)·Edit

17 Mar 2009

St. Patrick's Day/Fall into the Ocean

Happy St. Patrick's Day to everyone.

Good time to avoid "amateur night" at the bars. I'll be staying home with a few beers and watching sports.

If you are going out, be smart enough to call a cab home. Yes, you'll be waiting a long time tonight for a cab but it's much better than the alternative.

Back to the helicopter crash. All the bodies have been recovered from the cougar helicopter. Which is rare with any accidents at sea. Toni Marie pointed out this song that a friend of one of the victims wrote since the crash. I have the full MP3 for Friday's show but I have a short clip of it from the VOCM website.

"Mark Frost, like many offshore workers is mourning the loss of friends. He is on the SeaRose now, and three nights ago, he wrote and recorded a song in the music room on the vessel for his friend John Pelley, a victim on Cougar flight 491. Mark says he and John spent many an hour jamming in the music room offshore and onshore whenever they got the chance. Mark dedicates it to all the friends he lost on Cougar 491. It's called Fall into the Ocean"



3:21 PM

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15 Mar 2009

Herald Interview, text version

Realize I had a scan of it, but not the full text version of the interview. Oops. So here it is.

Up Close and Personal by Toni Marie Wiseman

Rob Carnell - Airing the East Coast

There's no questioning the popularity of East Coast music. Our

talented musicians and their catchy tunes have been enough to fill

bar-rooms and concert halls from here to Vancouver, throughout the

United States, Europe and even the Middle East. But a radio show in

Kingston, Ontario, of all places is stretching the reach of our music

even further.

The show, called Salt Water Music on Queen's University's CFRC, is

hosted by Rob Carnell, a Newfoundlander by birth who has found his

niche in the Ontario radio market by playing music to expatriates. What

he didn't expect was that his show would become popular, not just in

Ontario, but around the globe.

"I've heard back from people listening all over the world. I've

received email from the U.S., France, Japan and Australia," says

Carnell.

His Salt Water Music show was conceived almost by accident. While

working at CFRC as a technical producer for Queen's football games, he

started going on air either during intermissions or after the game

until the next show started.

"I was mostly reading sports or playing music," he recalls. Then the

time came for him to actually fill on the air for an hour. "I had an

hour to play whatever I wanted. It was a Sunday night, Oscar night as a

matter of fact. The weekend before that I had seen the news about

Dermot O'Reilly's passing, so that Sunday I scrambled and put together

an hour of Ryan's Fancy."

By spring the station management asked Carnell to host a regular

program. He mentioned he'd like the format to be all East Coast

Canadian music. His reasoning?

"We always had that music in my house. I thought it would be nice to

get some airplay in Ontario for those artists. In the 1980's there was

a radio show in Toronto that played music from Newfoundland. I thought

there are many people in Ontario that would like to hear some music

from home."

The show is now in full swing and a summer fill-in program is a

regular weekly fixture on CFRC. It airs Friday nights from 7:30pm to

9:30pm Newfoundland time. The station can also be heard online at

cfrc.ca

----

Why did you want to do a radio show in Ontario featuring East Coast music?

I always tried to keep tabs on East Coast Music. I left Newfoundland

at a young age and my family moved around Canada. My family always had

some music from home with us. Remember listening to that growing up.

So I looked around and saw there wasn't a lot of radio shows

focusing just on East Coast music in Ontario. Since it was a genre I

was familiar with I thought it might be an idea that could work well.

Was it difficult convincing the radio station to go with your format?

No, not at all. Since CFRC is a campus/community station they're

always looking for Canadian music to play. An hour of that type of

music was right down their alley.

What was their reaction to what you wanted to do?

They liked the show, since it was a lot of music that they hadn’t

heard before. It started out as fill-in show for the summer months in

2007. But the show was well received and I've been doing it every week

since then.

Who are some of the NL artists you play?

In the first year I played over 120 artists from Atlantic Canada so

it’s a long list. But ones I can name off the top of my head include

Ian Foster, Teresa Ennis, Gulliver’s Spree, Great Big Sea, Ryan’s

Fancy, Shanneyganock, Ron Hynes, Joe Belly & the Sin City Ramblers,

The Idlers, Damhnait Doyle, Hey Rosetta!, Duane Andrews, Allison Crowe,

Rawlins Cross, The Irish Descendants.

Where do you get the music?

A lot of it I find online. Either through an artist’s website or

their MySpace page. Some email me MP3’s of their music or send along a

CD of theirs. Then someone points out another musician I might be

interested in. Start networking with people you talk to.

The station also gets new CD’s every week or two. I go through them

and find artists from the East Coast. With that I have to sit down with

a pile of CD’s and find out which ones are from Atlantic Canada. Little

more time consuming but I always find some new artists that way that I

hadn’t known before.

What has been the reaction by East Coast artists to your show?

Very positive. With the online feed it allows them to hear the show.

More than a few of them tell me it’s been the first time they’ve heard

their music played on the radio. That’s something I never expected.

Someone from my home province saying I was the first person to play

them on the radio.

What has been reaction from your listeners?

Great and far reaching. Heard from listeners who tune in every week

to the show, or who listen to it online afterwards. They say they

really enjoy the show. Gotten emails from one listener in Sydney,

Australia. She’s not from Canada but listened one week for a specific

band she liked. Became a regular listener ever since.

Are more and more East coast artists sending you their music for your show?

Yes, I’ve found more artists sending me their music. Having a

MySpace page and blog for the radio show helps a lot. People who hear

about the show can find out where to contact me fairly quickly.

Have you interviewed many of these artists for your show? (Who have you interviewed?)

I have done interviews with musicians over the phone. Ian Foster is

the first one I ever did while he was on tour in Ottawa. Interviewed

him again this past summer. Also spoke to Teresa Ennis earlier this

year.

Who’s been the best interview to date? (Why?)

That would have to be Teresa Ennis. Main reason is the background before the interview.

My radio show was the first one anywhere to play her some of her

solo work. I found some songs on her MySpace page in the summer of

2007. Emailed her about playing them that week on the show. I didn’t

know she had just uploaded them that very week. So Teresa and her

friends ended up listening online to the show when I played the music

that week. That was a fun interview since I got to ask her about that

night when she got to hear it for the first time on the radio.

How much did you know about East Coast music before you started the show?

I had a general knowledge of East Coast Music. But I’ve learned a

lot about the depth of talent in each genre. Internet has made it much

easier to find out more information. Even 10 years ago it would’ve been

much harder to do a similar show.

Do you ever get the chance to meet these artists in person or hear them live?

This past summer in Toronto I went to see Allison Crowe and Ian

Foster. Luckily both were playing on the same weekend. Was fun to see

two people I’ve played on air come to Ontario for a few shows.

How do you stay on top of what’s happening in East Coast music?

I read online sources like magazines, newspapers or radio websites.

Since I have satellite TV I do watch some local news broadcasts from

Atlantic Canada. Always find some new artists mentioned on those.

Do you get the chance to visit NL often?

No, it’s been too long. Last time was 10 years ago. One of those

things where I never thought it was a long time ago then I realized 10

years had passed.

What does your family think of your show?

They enjoy listening to the show. On Boxing Day my Mom phoned me to

tell me my Aunt in Placentia was listening online. I was born in

Placentia that was nice to hear.

What’s next for your show?

Looking to do more interviews with artists in 2009. I have two

almost lined up so that’s a good start. Other than that I’m always

looking to get the word out about the show. More listeners would mean

more exposure for the musicians on the show.

Which NL artist would you most like to interview for your show?

That would have to be Denis Ryan or Fergus O’Byrne. 6 months before

my first show I filled in for someone at the station. I had free reign

to cover any topic. It was the week after Dermot O’Reilly passed away

so I put together a tribute show to Ryan’s Fancy. So that ended up

being a precursor to what my show became. So interviewing Denis or

Fergus would be a great honour.

2:43 PM

Views (2)·Edit

14 Mar 2009

March 13th Show

Got a comment on last night's blog from Adrian, Allison Crowe's manager.

"Sounds a great show - I’ll listen when I am back home. Travelling this weekend, as Allison starts rehearsing with a band for the first time in five+ years!! Rock and roll!"

Sounds interesting. Here is the links to last night's show.



Music of Jenn Grant, Sharona Clarke, Allison Crowe, Christine Crawford, Ryan Neilson, Francis Arsenault, Remedy and Leonard Cohen.

Lots of new music in the first hour.

Also talk about the Watchmen movie and play both versions of Hallelujah. The Cohen version that was used in the movie, and Allison's version which was the original plan.



Interview with Ray Johnson, and the music of Buddy Wasisname and the Other Fellers. Who are starting their 25th anniversary tour.

End the show with Mark Hiscock, Justin Merdsoy, Jill Barber and Kelli Trottier.

7:28 PM

Views (6)·Edit

13 Mar 2009

Tonight, lots of music

Tonight quick interview with Ray Johnson with Buddy Wasisname as

they are starting a new tour. Hit Kingston May 5th at the Grand

Theatre. And some music from the band.

Also music of Sharona Clarke, Justin Merdsoy, Allison Crowe,

Christine Crawford, Ryan Neilson, Francis Arsenault, Remedy and Kelli

Trottier. Can I cram all of that into 2 hours? Tune in and find out. :)

And after the show I'm conducting another interview, this time with

Melanie Samson. Next Friday I'll play the interview with Andrea

Wittgens and her CD in it's entirety. Spoke to Andrea over 40 minutes

so I have a lot of content to work with.

4:55 PM

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12 Mar 2009

Nfld Helicopter Crash

Many probably have heard about the chopper crash earlier this morning in Newfoundland. A Cougar Helicopter that brings workers from St. John's to the oil platform at Hibernia crashed in the Atlantic Ocean around 9:18am local time.

One survivor was found and is in hospital. One confirmed fatality and 16 others are missing. There were two life rafts found, both empty. They're still looking for any survivors.



Saw on NTV a report from a few years ago about the specific training the oil workers go through. Have to do 5 days on the helicopter, survival suits and how to get out of the chopper in case of a crash in the water. That might've helped the one who did survive.

They always wear 'survival suits' which is a must. I remember Toni Marie wearing one on the news a couple of years ago. Coast guard was showing how they're used and how to save people. She was placed in the St. John's harbour with the suit on and pulled out.

Does remind people from Newfoundland about the Ocean Ranger tragedy.



By the way, horrible decision by local CBC in St. John's. They showed video of the body bag of the deceased being brought off of a chopper. When they haven't even been publicly identified. Imagine seeing that, and it ended up being a family member or friend?

The crash was this morning but they need to show that when the rescue/recovery isn't even 12 hours old? Wow, that's pretty low. Wait for the funerals CBC. The one time I change the channel from NTV News on satellite and I see that. No wonder CBC gets their butt kicked in the ratings in Newfoundland.

Sorry, got distracted. But I worked on TV news in college. That video was something that wasn't needed this soon. Especially within the search is still going on. The news sounds grim and I don't think they'll be anyone else found. So showing that really got me going.

I'll talk about this on the show a bit tomorrow, since more news will be in then.

5:10 PM

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11 Mar 2009

Mix of Things for Friday's Show

Putting together this week's show, early for once. :)

Of course I'll air my interview with Ray Johnson of Buddy Wasisname and the Other Fellers. Spoke for a few minutes about the new tour and other topics.

I'll start playing some new music as well. Sharona Clarke who I heard on Radio ECMA. Also Justin Merdsoy who contacted me on Twitter. Sharona told him about the show. I thought Justin sounded familiar so went to his MySpace page. One song jumped out as "I've played that before".

I did. Back during the 4th episode in June 2007 I played 'Recollection' by Justin. Good thing I kept the running blog on MySpace with who I played each week.

Also with the Watchmen music talk I'll play Hallelujah. Leonard Cohen's original which was used in the movie and Allison Crowe's version which came close to being used. Might spread out playing them over the course of the show. Same song but the versions sound quite different.

5:43 PM

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10 Mar 2009

Watchmen/Allison Crowe

Had a post a while back about a friend of the show Allison Crowe. Heard she was getting some music in a big movie.

Plans ended up changing but her music was very close to being used in 'Watchmen'. They had her covers of Me and Bobby McGee and Hallelujah. But ended up going with the originals. As for Hallelujah, if you've seen the movie you know scene that song was used. lol.

Reprinting parts of the blog run by Adrian her manager with more details on it.



Discussing this latter scene, in which leather/latex fetishism of costumed crime-fighting serves to conquer male impotence, Zack Snyder provides insight into the wedding of music to imagery and action. "I originally had a different version of 'Hallelujah' on that scene - it was the version by Allison Crowe, and it was really beautiful," he explains to the Boston Phoenix. "Too beautiful, as it turned out, because when I showed it to my buddies, they were like, 'Wow, you really mean this, this love scene.' So I was like, okay, that didn't work."

To fit this particular dystopian vision, Allison Crowe's singular, modern, covers have made way for the film's use of the original song recordings. The famous Janis Joplin and Leonard Cohen tracks are paired, instead, subversively.

It's tremendously exciting for Crowe to be part of The Watchmen movie process and, "mind-blowing", as she describes it, to receive such respect and appreciation. Looking to the independent Ani DiFranco as a model, she says it's an honour, and, "stirs a certain somewhat buried hope that things can still be done the way I believe they can... and that there are still people who love music for music's sake".



The graphic movie scene involving characters Nite Owl and Silk Spectre II continues to be a very hot topic of discussion amongst those who have now seen The Watchmen on the big, or, even, bigger (IMAX) screen.

Crave Online asks the film's Director Zack Snyder: "What about the Leonard Cohen song?"

Zack Snyder: "There are two Leonard Cohen’s because there is a Leonard Cohen on the end titles as well. Hallelujah, that love scene, I originally had the Allison Crowe version of that song, a version I’ve always loved, but in the end was just too romantic. Everybody thought that I meant it. They thought the love scene was serious, not that it isn’t serious but her version was too sexy. So I was like yeah, I’ve got to go back to the Leonard Cohen. For me it is incredibly ironic, even with that version of the song it is incredibly ironic. I don’t care what version of Hallelujah is on, that love scene it is ridiculous, but in a great way. With Leonard Cohen it is like you can’t miss it now, can you? I’m sure some people will but that is fine."

----

I've seen the movie and that scene in particular. Of course I knew how the song was going to be used so I was prepared. Regular audiences must've had a big surprise. I'll talk about it more on the show on Friday. I'll save a blog post about it till the weekend.

Short version, the scene seemed really silly to me. I think that's what Zack Snyder wanted from what he said. I think. I would've like Allison's music to be used in the movie, in some capacity. Maybe next time.

As for her version of Hallelujah, here you go from YouTube. 3 Million views and counting.



1:07 PM

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9 Mar 2009

Hockey

So the Titan to St. John’s deal looks like it might’ve fallen apart already. A junior hockey owner playing sides against each other? I’m shocked.

Next thing you’ll tell me about a junior hockey owner in Kingston, ON who was too scared to face some questions from a city council. Oh wait, that happened. Junior hockey, catch the feeling??

I heard they picked a winner for CBC Hockeyville [I'm not saying the sponsor name]. Talk about an arbitrary contest too many people get excited over. Ya, the town gets an NHL exhibition game. Oooooh. An exhibition game. They start the season in Europe, NFL has a regular season game in Europe but a small town in Canada gets stuck with a pre-season game. Thanks NHL.

Freezing rain all over town, so I scrapped some plans I had today. Which explains a Monday post about sports.

11:01 AM

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8 Mar 2009

Sunday Potpourri

I did remember to change the clocks last night. Bit tired today. Since I stayed up like I usually do on a Saturday night and ignored the time change.

So it looks like Junior Hockey is back in St. John's. Good timing with me putting up the episode from a year ago on with Krissy Holmes. We talked about the Fog Devils leaving. Appears a 5 year deal is in place for the team from Bathurst, NB in the QMJHL to move to St. John's. So one town from the East Coast loses a hockey team to another town in Atlantic Canada.

Did read a short post on TheScope.ca which might sum up people's feelings.

"Albert Einstein defined insanity as doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. Einstein obviously doesn’t work at St. John’s Sports & Entertainment Ltd."

Back to the radio show. Friday I'll air a short interview I did with Ray Johnson of 'Buddy Wasisname and the Other Fellers'. They're coming to Kingston in May for a concert so I got to talk to Ray. Would've had more time but we had a mix up.

The number I had in the email was Ray's fax line instead of his phone number. So I kept calling with no answer. He phoned me back a bit later and we figure out the mistake. LOL. By that time it was past 10:30pm in Newfoundland so we talked for about 10-15 minutes.

I also have the interview with Andrea Wittgens from last Friday. I'll air that probably the week after. I'll play all of her CD during that show. Andrea is from Antigonish, NS and went to Queen's here in Kingston. She lives in Seattle now. So we covered a lot of ground.

3:44 PM

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7 Mar 2009

Fergus O'Byrne Show

Little after 11pm but got the show uploaded.





Show starts off with some Teresa Ennis as I got settled in. Mentioned Alan Doyle and Gordon Pinsent being in the new Robin Hood movie. Quick reminder of Out There with Melissa DiMarco airing tonight.

Then the interview with Fergus O'Byrne. First hour also has music from Jim Payne/Fergus O'Byrne and Ryan's Fancy.

Second hour starts off with the Dardanelles then conclude the interview with Fergus. This hour contains the part where we talked about Tacks Beach. :)

Played Fergus' musical works for the rest of the program. I end the show with an entire side of the last album from Ryan's Fancy in 1982. I chose the second side since that marked the end of their recordings. And the albums were never released on CD so it's rare to hear them on the radio. Here is the fan site for the band. Lots of good information.



But there is a place you can get a CD. This one is of recordings from their CBC TV shows. Of the fifteen re-mastered tracks, thirteen songs have never previously been available. I'll have to get my hands on this one.



And here is the website for Sing Song Inc. where you can get Fergus' work with Jim Payne along with many other artists.



Thanks to Fergus O'Byrne for doing the interview. And to Toni Marie for really being the reason for it in the first place. I mentioned how it happened in a previous blog but wanted to save that story for a different episode of the radio show.

By the way had a bad headache during the first hour. Really glad this week that I don't script my show a lot. LOL.

Thanks to Jennie in Cape Breton and Julie in Australia for sending me messages during the show. Yes, during the show. Pretty cool.

12:39 AM

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6 Mar 2009

Tonight's Show/Tacks Beach

Opening up the show with 2 songs from Teresa Ennis' live performance on CBC Radio last weekend during the ECMA weekend.

Then I'll be talking about the ECMA's and go over a few things at the top of the show. So then I can play the interview and music for the rest of the show.

Reminder tonight after the show you can watch the new season of Out There with Melissa DiMarco on CITY-TV at 10pm. Previous post gives all the station details.

Fergus interview went very well. Runs about 20 minutes. Talk about Tacks Beach, which is the best part of the interview. After the Herald interview I did with Toni Marie was printed I heard from some family members in Newfoundland. My Uncle Bob told me that Fergus' wife grew up in Tacks Beach.

That was a small community in Newfoundland that was resettled in the 1970's. My mother's family was from Tacks Beach as well.

In fact my grandmother is still friends with Fergus' mother in law and talks to her on the phone.

That part of the interview is only 2 minutes but it's the best part. Big surprise for me when I heard. Then a surprise for Fergus too, since he knew Tacks Beach right away.

Small world. Type Tacks Beach into Google Maps. Then zoom out and you'll see how small it is.

If you don't know what "resettlement" was in Newfoundland here's a short article. Try and imagine this happening today. Entire communities left abandoned.



2:55 PM

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5 Mar 2009

This Week/A Year Ago

Tomorrow night the interview with Fergus O'Byrne. Music of Ryan's Fancy from the CFRC record collection. Also some tracks from Jim Payne and Fergus O'Byrne.

Today an older episode of the show, from 1 year ago. Interview with Krissy Holmes from 'Out of the Fog' in St. John's. I asked her for some bands in the province she liked and played some of that for the hour.



The old Saturday at 10pm timeslot. The shows were only an hour then. Krissy is a fellow Algonquin College alumni. We talked about the ECMA's in Corner Brook, which was a year away. So technically this counts as more ECMA coverage. Kind of.

1:23 PM

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4 Mar 2009

Twitter/Trade Deadline

Not sure if I mentioned the Twitter account of mine, short silly thoughts from yours truly. I’m not going to post on a blog on stuff like talking to my sister on the phone about The Bachelor. But on Twitter I’ll mention it. :)

She wasn’t happy about The Bachelor finale by the way. lol.

NHL Trade Deadline made a good use of Twitter today, especially someone from the LeafsTV crew. Short quick updates, unlike TSN/Sportsnet talking for 26 hours or whatever it was. So I made this tweet earlier. Yes, messages are called ‘tweets’ on there. I’d rather a less silly name but there you go.

“Glad I avoided all that trade deadline nonsense. Too much overkill at TSN/Sportsnet/TheScore. LeafsTV had one focus which was a relief.”

Got a response from the LeafsTV one.



@robertcarnell I love this man….

ha ha, that made me laugh.

Now if you’re a listener of the show you know I’m a Boston Bruins fan first. But when I lived in Ottawa I cheered for the Leafs in those Sens-Leafs playoff series. Shows you my opinion of the Senators. Going for Toronto when they swept Ottawa that one year was fun. :)



Too bad Jody wasn’t on the LeafsTV coverage today but she was probably busy watching with Brady and Bart. [That's an inside reference if she reads this, lol]

6:51 PM

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4 Mar 2009

Out There with Melissa DiMarco

Time for a post about Canadian Television for once. I guess the ECMA awards counts but that's once a year. New season of a show I watch 'Out There with Melissa Dimarco' starts on Friday. New day, new time and new channel.

I won a contest the show had on Facebook to guess the start date. OK, I was the only entry but a win is a win people. :)

With some free swag coming my way, it's only fair to help out in a small way and promote the show. It's returning with new episodes this week.

The show is now on Friday Nights on CityTV across the country. 2 episodes back to back by the way. 10pm local, except for Winnipeg where it's 9pm. Here are the times across the country, I put the Eastern time for those who might have the time shifted stations on satellite or digital cable. Or want to watch more than once. lol.

10pm EST Citytv Toronto

10pm EST, 9pm local on Citytv Winnipeg

12am EST, 10pm local on Citytv Calgary and Edmonton

1am EST, 10pm local on Citytv Vancouver

"Focusing on Melissa’s fun experiences with the stars as an entertainment journalist, this scripted dramedy brings viewers in for a behind-the-scenes look at the trials and tribulations of an entertainment journalist who at the end of the day, really gets the one-on-one interview."

This week's episodes, if the online TV guide is correct.

"The Only Life I Know" Howie Mandel; Brad Pitt.

"Mexico Fiesta Siesta" Melissa travels to Mexico; Antonio Banderas; Salma Hayek.

Melissa and the gang behind the show have a lot of online sources you can check out the show. Good to see a show reaching out to fans online.

---

Website

MySpace

YouTube

Facebook Fan Page

Facebook Group

---

Another group on Facebook mentions how they look for new music for the show. Thought it be a good link for any musicians who might be reading.

---

Out There With Melissa Dimarco - looking for music



As Music Supervisor for Out There With Melissa DiMarco () I currently write all the original music for Out There With Melissa DiMarco. We want to expand our music on the show. I am looking for some additional music/ artists to place on the show.

If you are a songwriter, band or music artist looking to get your music on to a national television show...

I am interested in hearing from you.

Ron Camilleri

Camron Creative

Music Supervisor, OutThere

camroncreative@

---

I'll mention the show on the radio as well, but good to give a heads up here as well.

One week I could tell the story of seeing her on Open Mike with Mike Bullard when I was living in Ottawa. Tom Green was the guest that followed her..... ended up being one of the craziest things ever on late night. The rare time where they had to stop the taping. That story will wait for another day. :)

2:13 PM

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3 Mar 2009

Blog Comments

With the good response of the last few posts I'll try and do more updates during the week. Won't have the multiple posts in one day like during ECMA weekend but that's to be expected.

Today re-posting blog comments on the Wordpress blog, since they're tucked away and you might've missed them.

Shireen



I’ve heard from owners of small websites that their webmasters don’t update their sites when needed or have done a disappearing act, but didn’t think a major one like for the ECMAs would have that problem. Thanks for including the link to CBC’s site for those of us who missed the show!

Sharona Clarke



Yes, Radio ECMA is great way to see the up and coming artists *ahem*, rather just than the established ones! I thought the audio to TV was very bad. The vocals were definitely flat, and keyboards barely audible. Didn’t give us a good representation of how good the performers MAY have actually sounded.

Keith Dunphy

Had such a good time this weekend. hope you enjoyed the weekend too.I’m looking forward to next year very much! Cheers from your Dirty Devil Folk Child, Stone Richards. check out my youtube page too!

9:28 PM

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2 Mar 2009

ECMA Industry Winners

And quite possibly the end of my ECMA coverage for now, the Industry Awards. Think I’m done for the day, just passed 200 views so thanks to everyone who visited the site. This list came from, believe it or not, the ECMA website. Yay, they finally updated! :)

—

The 2009 East Coast Music Industry Award winners are:

Broadcast of the Year: East Coast Countdown

Event of the Year: Harvest Jazz & Blues Festival

Graphic Designer of the Year: CHR!S SM!TH - funkfactor

Independent Company of the Year: Sonic Entertainment Group

Industry Professional of the Year: Fred Lavery

Live Sound Technician of the Year: Carl Gosine

Manager of the Year: Darren Gallop

Media Person of the Year: Jimmie Inch

Photographer of the Year: CHR!S SM!TH - funkfactor

FACTOR Radio Station of the Year - Major Market: Q104 Halifax

FACTOR Radio Station of the Year - Small Market: CKEC - East Coast FM 94.1

Record Company/Distributor/Independent Label of the Year: Warner Music Canada

Retailer of the Year: CD Plus

Studio of the Year: The Sonic Temple

Studio Engineer of the Year: Mike “Sheppy” Shepherd

Venue of the Year: The Fredericton Playhouse

Website of the Year: dav- , designer Jud Haynes

FACTOR Industry Builder Award: Corner Brook’s Lloyd Bartlett

Musician’s Achievement Award: Sandy Morris.

Volunteer of the Year Award: Tina Dolter, who chaired the ECMA Arts & Cultural Linkages Committee (ACLC).

In addition, five individuals were awarded Stompin’ Tom Awards. These awards are presented annually to one individual or group from each of the ECMA’s five regions.

Stompin’ Tom, one of Canada’s best-known musicians, was presented with the Dr. Helen Creighton Lifetime Achievement Award in 1993. He accepted the award on the condition that he could return it and requested that an award be created to honour those who have made a long-term contribution to the East Coast music industry, paving the way for the many successful artists of today.

Narcisse Gautreau: Prince Edward Island

Mark Hill: New Brunswick

Ray Walsh: Newfoundland & Labrador

Joyce Seamone: Mainland Nova Scotia

Donald Angus Beaton: Cape Breton

6:48 PM

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2 Mar 2009

Monday Afternoon Update

Guess it's good that the ECMA website doesn't have the winners list and I do. I have 175 page views today, and it's still in the early afternoon.

Luckily I thought I'd keep a running tab of who I heard on Radio ECMA over the weekend. First band I've played before on the show, but all the rest I'll be getting to in the near future. For those of us going through East Coast withdrawal you can check out these sites.

Olympic Symphonium



The Abrams Brothers



Laura Helen Penney



Ian Sherwood



Daniel Payne



Stone Richards and the Devil Folk



Paisley Jura



West Moon



Smothered in Hugs



Sharona Clark



Catcher



3:04 PM

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2 Mar 2009

Monday Update/Corrections

Being in Kingston, ON and blogging about an event 2 time zones away means a couple of mistakes will happen.

First thanks to Kell for pointing out one of the bands is called ‘Smothered In Hugs’, I put down ‘Smothered BY hugs’. Oops. I have a list of some of the artist’s websites, in that I had the right website but the name wrong typed too. :)

Other correction was I had the radio title backwards. Was called “Radio ECMA”, not ECMA Radio. Comment on an earlier blog from Ivan who was the chair of Radio ECMA. Thought I’d reprint it here for those who might miss it.

Hi Rob:

I noticed a couple of blogs about Radio ECMA. I’m glad you found us (I am/was the Chair of Radio ECMA). We’d sent the webstreaming address to the ECMA web master, but it was never put on their site. So we stopped promoting it and went through one we’d set up ourselves (the site).

But we had a grand time in the lobby, interviewing lots of folks. We had a lot of listeners in the local region, but its nice to know that a few did listen in on the web.

Cheers,!

Ivan

—

Thanks for the comment Ivan. Radio ECMA was a great way to keep track of the weekend and get to hear a lot of musicians stop by. ECMA award show is great but you’re not going to see the up and coming artists on there.

I recorded some of Sunday’s Radio ECMA off the computer to listen to later in the week. On Saturday I found out I missed Ian Foster on there by 2 hours. Friend of the show so just bad luck on me missing his set.

As for the ECMA website, it’s 10am EST the day after. And they still don’t have the list of winners up! So the fact they didn’t put up a link Ivan sent them to Radio ECMA isn’t that surprising. LOL.

Background info on the weekend was good on ECMA.ca but once it finally started, nothing new ever came up on that site. I searched ECMA on Google and found my own blog 3 or 4 times. Good for me, but the official website should be a good source of updates rather a guy in Ontario. ;-)

Only one criticism of the ECMA show itself, did anyone else find the vocals during the songs a bit flat/hollow? Since I’m on the radio I notice audio stuff more but it kept sticking in my ear. Tough to do concert audio though.



Credit to the gang at CBC.ca as the entire show is already online as of Monday morning. Plays right away as you visit that site.

1:10 PM

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1 Mar 2009

ECMA Winners

Just in off the CP wire. Or a quick Google search. But saying it’s in “off the wires” sounds better.CORNER BROOK, N.L. — Winners at Sunday night's East Coast Music Awards:

Entertainer of the Year: Joel Plaskett Emergency

Recording of the Year: Into Your Lungs (and around in your heart and on through your blood) (Hey Rosetta!)

Female Solo Recording of the Year: Chances (Jill Barber)

Male Solo Recording of the Year: Something in Between (Matt Andersen)

Recording of the Year: Into Your Lungs (and around in your heart and on through your blood) (Hey Rosetta!)

Rising Star Recording of the Year: You Will Land with a Thud (The Tom Fun Orchestra)

Creative Single of the Year: We Are Young And So Is The Night (Gordie Sampson)

SOCAN Songwriter of the Year: Gordie Sampson (with J. Smith & JT Harding) for "We Are Young and So Is The Night" (performed by Gordie Sampson)

DVD of the Year: SQUID: The Evolution, directed by Ryan Fraser, Mark Jamieson, Daniel St. Pierre, and Ian MacMillan (Squid)

Video of the Year: "Weighty Ghost", directed by Sean Wainsteim (Wintersleep)

Alternative Recording of the Year: Into Your Lungs (and around in your heart and on through your blood) (Hey Rosetta!)

Bluegrass Recording of the Year: The Grass Mountain Hobos (The Grass Mountain Hobos)

Blues Recording of the Year: Something in Between (Matt Andersen)

Children's Recording of the Year: Shine (Rik Barron)

Classical Recording of the Year: A Child's Cry from Izieu Oskar Morawetz complete works for violin and piano (Jasper Wood)

Country Recording of the Year: Chasing the Sun (Tara Oram)

Folk Recording of the Year: On the Line (David Myles)

Instrumental Recording of the Year: Raindrops (Duane Andrews)

Jazz Recording of the Year: Chances (Jill Barber)

ECMA 2010 Cape Breton Loud Recording of the Year: Creator of Scars (Iron Giant)

Pop Recording of the Year: Two Hearts (Christina Martin)

Rock Recording of the Year: Terminal Romance (Matt Mays & El Torpedo)

Roots/Traditional Solo Recording of the Year: Endless Memories (Brenda Stubbert)

Roots/Traditional Group Recording of the Year: When Here Meets There (Troy MacGillivray & Shane Cook)

World Recording of the Year: Against The Grain (Ryan Leblanc)

Aboriginal Recording of the Year: This is the Life for Me (The Flummies)

Francophone Recording of the Year: J'ai Trouve Dans Une Chanson (Ronald Bourgeois)

Gospel Recording of the Year: The Reason We Sing (The Burkes)

Rap/Hip-Hop Single Track Recording of the Year: The Main Event (Hotbox feat. Spesh K & Y-Rush)

Fan Choice Award: Classified.

Dr. Helen Creighton Lifetime Achievement Award: Dick Nolan.

10:19 PM

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1 Mar 2009

Tape Delay Gets Worse/1 Hour show for most of the country

Current mood:annoyed

Was surfing the TV schedule and it said CBC Bold is only showing an hour of the awards? Apparently their website says the same thing. Where I found worse news about the tape delay if you are a night owl and wanted to watch.

“NOTE - Scheduled as two hours for the Maritimes and Newfoundland and a single hour for the rest of the Network as follows: (BC and PTN will air at 11:30 pm local time following the Vancouver news.) “

Unless you have satellite or access to the Eastern Stations you’re only getting an hour tonight. Even CBC HD is only showing an hour at 11pm. Imagine the fans on the West Coast are really annoyed, waiting 7.5 hours to see the show but only getting half of it.

So online is the only way for all of Canada to get the 2 hour show. Amazing, and not in a good way.



7:25 PM

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1 Mar 2009

Sunday ECMA Update

ECMA Radio back up with musicians dropping by this morning, well technically

afternoon now in Corner Brook. Got up and heard the end of a set from

The Olympic Symphonium. And The Abrams Brothers just finished.

I thought I heard that wrong. The guys from Kingston are at the

ECMA’s? Yes, and they performed on The Discovery Stage Saturday.

Their family is from the East Coast, 5 generations back apparently.

Learned something new. I recorded their entire 30 minutes on the radio

so I can use that for a future show. Going to have a back log of audio

by tonight.

Last night heard a good mix. The following acts stopped by the

little station. Stone Richards and the Devil Folk, Paisley Jura, West

Moon, Smothered by Hugs, Catcher and Sharona Clark. Recorded a bit of

each them being interviewed which should work well when I play their

music on the show. Which might be April with everything I have going

on.

Next week the interview with Fergus O’Byrne, and his music for the

entire show. Another interview is done with Ray Johnson of Buddy

Wasisname. This past Friday I spoke to Andrea Wittgens,

singer/songwriter from Antigonish, NS who lives in Seattle. She’s the

first Queen’s alumni I’ve interviewed on the show. Brought back some

university memories for her. Like a lot of Queen’s students she

recalls “Alfie’s”.

ECMA weekend is winding down, with the awards tonight at 7pm

EST/8:30pm NT. You can only catch it live online or on CBC Bold. Tape

delayed for everyone else who has regular CBC. Which is pretty much

everyone.

Bad timing with the CBC funding shortfall story last week. CBC want

more government money but they can’t be bothered to air the ECMA’s

live. Hmmm. Tape delayed till 11pm on a Sunday. This means people on

the West Coast won’t see the awards till 7 hours after it would’ve

aired live. That long in this day in age is crazy.

And what great Canadian programming is on CBC TV tonight instead? Wait for it….

“The Devil Wears Prada”…… oh I wish I was kidding. Our tax money at work.

This rant is against CBC TV. CBC Radio has done a great job

promoting the ECMA’s. Heard Performance Hour yesterday, and the local

CBC affiliates in Newfoundland have done a bang up job. Even CBC.ca is

doing it’s best with showing it live on the web, and on demand

afterwards.

But when TV is showing The Devil Wears Prada instead of promoting

Canadian music you know something is messed up. TV is where most

people’s view of the CBC comes from. Showing that instead of the

ECMA’s doesn’t make any sense if it is a “public broadcaster”.

12:55 PM

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28 Feb 2009

Teresa Ennis Live Performance

Quick ECMA update. Audio of Teresa Ennis on the radio from this afternoon. There was a hiss and clicking noise in the audio feed, but luckily it cleaned up quite easily and that’s disappeared. I’ll test some other methods to see what sound best before I air some of it on the show. But it’s quite good for something that I just did.

Teresa performs ‘Blue, Red and Grey’, ‘Annie’ and ‘The Lowlands’ from Space. Then a brand new song from her upcoming CD, ‘Gasoline Alley’. She ends her set with the title track ‘Space’ of the album that’s up for Folk Recording of the Year on Sunday Night.



6:50 PM

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28 Feb 2009

ECMA On Demand, after Monday

Quick followup, that CBC page had a poll all week that has closed. So they changed the text on it and added this. For those who miss the show or can’t stay up late on Sunday you can watch it online afterwards.

“If you miss the live coverage, then come back anytime after as we will have the event available for viewing on demand beginning Monday March 2.”

4:07 PM

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28 Feb 2009

Feb. 27th/ECMA's

Show for Feb. 27th is up. I'll have a new post on Sunday. Maybe before the ECMA's or after I watch them online. Visit the CBC page for the live stream tomorrow at 7pm EST/8pm Atlantic/8:30pm Newfoundland.

Regular CBC has it tape delayed at 11pm in whatever time zone you're reading this, unless you're in Newfoundland where it's 11:30pm. Yep, even tape delayed for the province where the awards show is taking place.





Weekend of the ECMA's so I talk about that on this week's show.

This hour included the music of Don Brownrigg, Jim Payne and Fergus O'Byrne, Matthew Magee and In Flight Safety.











Lead off the second hour with lots of ECMA talk. Have a new name for the segment where I talk about news, music, sports or anything on my mind. It's called "Carnell Knowledge". Listener named Cat came up with that, so credit goes to her. :)

Two artists for the hour, folkartlullaby in the first half. The Lever Pulled for the end of the show, with their new CD Wooden People.





3:54 PM

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25 Feb 2009

Friday's Show/Government Response

Friday’s show will include a lot of new music, and talk about the ECMA’s this weekend. And where you can watch it.

Since the awards are in Corner Brook I’ll have brand new music from that town. The Lever Pulled just put out their new disc online, Wooden People. As always it’s a free download. No catch.



And a new singer to the show I found from Nova Scotia, Matthew Magee.



Got two responses from those emails I sent off to the government about DawgFM. They were responding to the original email I sent on Nov. 30th. Better late than never. Of course the deadline has passed but at least I got something.

Final count is in for the amount of letters of support. DAWGFM had 1500, and the other two applicants had 60 and 29. Now that is a bit of a difference.

3:21 PM

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24 Feb 2009

Carnell Knowledge

Current mood:energetic

Thanks to Cat a friend from Shoreline, Connecticut who came up with that title. Going to use it as the name of a segment on the show. Could’ve used it for my weekly NFL picks but I just got the funny title this week. LOL.

Just be part of the show where I talk about something. Could be sports, music news, concerts, television, movies, general news, etc. This week it will be on the East Coast Music Awards this weekend in Corner Brook. Lot of music in town there. One schedule has some people starting a set at 2am! Wow.

Carnell Knowledge is a great pun which works for a segment. Sticks in your head. There’s a show at CFRC called “Folkin Eh”. That’s creative too.

Great news on the funding drive by the way. Ended up even better than we thought. Passed $22,000 and last returns are still trickling in. Goal was 18 grand so that’s really good. Especially with the economy this year. Thanks to everyone who gave, or wanted to but couldn’t.

10:55 PM

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21 Feb 2009

Podcast Episode 16 with Sora

New podcast is up, re-air of part of the radio show from Friday night. But I added some new voiceover at the start and some interview outtakes.



At the end of the podcast I talked about the ECMA’s which are on CBC next weekend. Few minutes about that and last year’s stupid idea where the 20th anniversary awards show wasn’t televised. Bit of a long story but I explain it.



10:31 PM

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21 Feb 2009

Feb. 20th Show with Sora

With the length of the interview and the songs I didn’t divide up the show into separate hours. So here’s the full 2 hour show. One of the better shows I think. Content was great, no technical mistakes and already have heard a good response.

Got a phone call from across the border. Caller in Watertown, NY as he had just gotten home and wanted to know more about Sora.

Going to put up a podcast just with Sora’s stuff sometime in the next week. Already recorded some extra voiceovers for that and am going to find some outtakes from our interview.



Interview I did recently with Sora. And I play tracks from her upcoming CD, Heartwood. Along with some other songs from Sora for a lot of the show.

In the second hour I also played some of Buddy Wasisname and the Other Fellers. They’re coming to Kingston in May, and I did an interview with Ray Johnson from the band right after this episode aired.

Music from Ian Foster to open and close the show. Brand new song to open the show and some rare “demo” versions to end the show.

1:52 PM

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19 Feb 2009

Podcast Update

Quick update on the podcast/iTunes issues. Be a new episode of that coming soon. Maybe by Monday. Put this up on the podcast site.

---

Might be closer to fixing the iTunes issue. If not I might have to remove the podcast from iTunes then submit it again. Yes, that’s annoying. But the emails from Apple haven’t helped much. Last one just tried sending me back to the forums. Hello iTunes, if I’m contacting you that means the boards didn’t help. LOL.

On the radio show I’ll be playing an interview with Sora this week. And playing her music. There will be a podcast of that. Probably similar to the DawgFM show by airing what was on the radio, but I’ll add some things to it.

Finished an interview with Fergus O’Byrne which will air on the radio at a later date then in podcast form. And taping another interview Friday night with Ray Johnson of Buddy Wasisname and the Other Fellers.

Who says February is a slow month?

6:09 PM

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16 Feb 2009

Sora Interview on Friday

Spoke to Fergus O’Byrne last night, interview went well and that will air in a couple of weeks. Going to get some new music from Fergus so we’re going to wait till I have that in my hands. Had to reschedule the one with Andrea Wittgens so that will be delayed a bit.

The interview I did with Sora will air on Friday, done editing it today. I’ll be playing brand new music from her upcoming CD, ‘Heartwood’. And some songs from her earlier CD’s.





5:00 PM

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14 Feb 2009

Feb. 13th Show

Just an hour this week but lots of music. Had a new guy doing the pregame and intermission reports for the hockey game. So I was showing him the ropes, which explains why you don’t hear me much during the hour. :)



Start off with The Dardanelles who I hadn’t played before. Group from St. John’s. Then some brand new music from Shanneyganock, who have a new CD coming out soon. Then back to 1996 with The Irish Descendants. End the hour with some of Ryan’s Fancy ‘Sea People’ Album. I’ll be interviewing Fergus for a future show so look out for that.

6:08 PM

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13 Feb 2009

Upcoming Interviews/Thanks Toni Marie

An hour or so tonight due to Queen’s Hockey. Last regular season game of the year. Possibly the last broadcast of the season. Might be a playoff game but they need a win and help to get in.

Tonight brand new music from Shanneyganock and the Dardanelles.

Next week I’ll air the interview I did with Sora and some of her music. New CD is coming out soon. She lives in the Calgary area and has some upcoming shows I’ll mention for the western listeners.

Sunday I’m doing double duty with interviews. Taping the first one with Andrea Wittgens. She’s a singer/songwriter from Antigonish and is a Queen’s grad. Currently living in Seattle.

And a couple of hours later I’m interviewing Fergus O’Byrne of Ryan’s Fancy. If you read the Herald piece you saw me talking about it would be a great honour to interview him or Denis Ryan from the group. By the way, Toni Marie personally made that happen. Other than the print interview she was the one who landed him as a guest on my show. :)

Toni and I did the interview by email between Christmas and New Years. So it was a bit of a wait for it to make print. 2 weeks before it was printed Fergus was on NTV News during the weather with Toni Marie. Of course you see her do 3 or 4 live hits during the hour. Which means the rest of the time they sit and wait.

So she was talking to Fergus between the live hits and mentioned the Herald piece. Fergus said he’d love to do an interview and passed along his email to Toni Marie who got it to me. Voila!

So I have to thank Toni Marie, twice. ;-)

1:35 PM

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9 Feb 2009

Newfoundland Herald

Current mood:accomplished

Got some scans of the Newfoundland Herald interview from last week.

First I added them on Flickr. I’ll type it out later on but this is how it looked in the magazine.





Yes, it says BOB Carnell in the headline. I’ve known Toni Marie for years and I can’t think of her calling me Bob once so it was funny to see that little typo. It's great to be in the Herald so that doesn't matter in the least to me.

Little surreal to see a picture of Toni Marie and myself on the same page.

They didn’t know this, but I was 5 feet from Ian Foster in his picture on Page 2. It was taken last summer in Toronto. It was at a gig Ian did at The Communist’s Daughter on a Sunday. Was around 5pm so the sun helped make a good picture.

6:03 PM

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8 Feb 2009

Sunday Potpourri

Delay with Friday’s episodes being put up. Busy weekend with the funding drive, Queen’s hockey and I did a phone interview with Sora.

Will take a few days for all the totals to come in for the funding drive. Hopeful of hitting the goal of $18,000 but it might be tight. Thanks to everyone who gave, not the best time to be asking for money for sure. Economy not so good, and right after the holiday bills came in.

Queen’s won the Carr-Harris Cup this year over RMC, 1-0. Yes, only 1 goal was scored and that was in the 3rd period. Usually they’re a high scoring game but not this year.

Interview I did with Sora will air on Feb. 20th. This Friday the show is an hour due to the last hockey game of the regualar season. So I thought I’d wait for a week where I have the full 2 hours. So I can air the entire interview and her music. Interview went really well, and we talked for 20 minutes after I stopped taping. :)

Finally the deadline for the latest letters of support for DawgFM is Thursday Feb. 12th. Just go back to the previous blog post for details on that.



The Facebook group for the station just passed 1000 members. A good sign.

I had a coffee with Ed Torres from DawgFM a few days ago. He was traveling by Kingston on a trip from Ottawa on Thursday. Ed’s hopeful things will turn out well and thanked me for the help I’ve done on air. Had quite a few letters from the Kingston area so I’ll take credit for that. LOL.

Facebook group popularity is ahead of what he thought it would be so that’s a good sign. Mentioned getting letters of support all across Canada and from Blues Societies across the country. And not just the major centres. Kingston has one, Guelph too. The Facebook page had a fan from Toronto wanting to know if they will have an online stream so he could listen at work. Which they would. Blues fans are dedicated.

Friday’s show will be up by tomorrow. I’ll put up a post once they’re up.

10:23 PM

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6 Feb 2009

2nd Funding Drive Show/Buddy Wasisname

Current mood:happy

Funding drive wraps up on Sunday, so tonight is the second episode promoting it. Phone at 613 533 CFRC tonight at 6pm EST when my show starts. Or you can wait till 8pm when I’m on the pledge line. Of course then I can’t mention your name on the air as saying thanks, but I will on next week’s how.

Or visit cfrc.ca at anytime and follow the link. Sometimes that’s easiest if you don’t want to be on the phone for a few minutes.

Have some new music during the “A to Z list” show tonight. Lot of songs will be stuff listeners have heard before but this is the first show after the Newfoundland Herald piece. So might be some new listeners tuning in.

Talked to Ray Johnson from Buddy Wasisname and the Other Fellers this week on the phone. He read the Herald interview and we’ll be doing an interview soon. They’re coming to Kingston in May.

They’re performing at The Grand Theatre on May 5th, at 8pm. Tickets at 613.530.2050.

And next Friday the show will be an hour due to hockey. Might be the last sports broadcast of the season unless they make the playoffs.

2:55 PM

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4 Feb 2009

Newfoundland Herald

If you happen to be in Newfoundland or Labrador you can find me in the Newfoundland Herald this week. Toni Marie Wiseman spoke to me about the radio show. I haven’t seen it yet but I’m getting a scan emailed to me.

Already got some good news from the article. Two more interviews for the show lined up. As to who they are? That will be left for another time. Have to surprise people.

Herald is really big in Newfoundland. Even had a song in the 70’s about it by Corey and Trina. Parody of ‘Cover of the Rolling Stone’.



So Friday should be a hectic show. Funding drive, new people tuning in from the Herald piece and doing an A to Z list of every artist I’ve played. Busy 2 hours for sure.

4:45 PM

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31 Jan 2009

Jan. 30th Show



Funding drive episode with interview clips from previous interviews. This hour Ian Foster and Teresa Ennis. With a request for Jeff Healey in between.



Second hour of this funding drive show. Interview clips and music of Kirk Comstock from Air Traffic Control, Graeme Walker Grand Theft Bus and Alex Foster of Your Favorite Enemies.

Then a clip of my chat with Krissy Holmes of Out of the Fog in St. John’s. Followed that with a brand new song Ian Foster performed recently on Out of the Fog.

End the show with Allison Crowe, I added a song we didn’t have time for at the end as a bonus.

11:07 PM

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30 Jan 2009

Show Online Saturday

I’ll be putting the show online tomorrow for those who missed it. With the CFRC website problems it might be a few of you who couldn’t listen.

Did get one phone call, requesting Jeff Healey not a donation though. Requests 2 years in a row during the funding drive, I wrote about the request for Bob Dylan last year. At least this time it was a Canadian artist since I play all CanCon. :)

Of course online donations don’t come in for a few days. And that’s when there wasn’t any computer issues. So thanks to those who gave, or might in the course of the next 10 days.

9:32 PM

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29 Jan 2009

Funding Drive/Manning the Phones

Tomorrow is the start of the Funding Drive, I’ll be manning the phone line after my show for 2 hours both weeks. Yep, a long night for me till 10pm the next 2 weeks. But it was the best slot to take a phone shift.

Weather was so bad in the area they canceled the Queen’s-Carleton hockey game in Ottawa on Wednesday. Rough plan is for us to broadcast the make up date on Tuesday, but it’s during the funding drive so we might be in a pickle. I’ll pass along any update. We are doing a game on Saturday afternoon, weather permitting. lol.

9:21 PM

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27 Jan 2009

CFRC Backup Stream

Bad timing with the funding drive starting on Friday, the CFRC website will be down for a few days this week. You can thank some hackers who got into part of the AMS. So they’re doing some system maintenance.

But not to fear, the CFRC audio stream is still working. Of course without the website working how do you know where to look? That’s where this link comes in.



That works all the time, it’s the link that opens up when you usually hear the show live online.

Also here is the link to donate online to CFRC when the funding drive starts. It’s there year round but for those who might want to give during the drive you can see what it looks like.



1:16 AM

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25 Jan 2009

Next 2 Weeks/Funding Drive

Next two episodes are during the annual Funding Drive so I’ll be mentioning the phone number and website a lot. Think of PBS, but without the long breaks in programming. This year’s goal is $18,000 in 10 days. They ended up passing that much last year so it is an attainable goal.

Of course the economy last year was much better. I know money is tight for me so it must be the same for the listeners. I’ve gone from Extra Large coffees at Timmie’s to Large or Medium. Hey, it adds up when you got there a few times a week. :)

The pledge line is the same phone number as the request line, it starts on Friday morning.

613-533-CFRC (2372)

Other way is probably easier for a lot of people is the website. Especially for the people who don’t live in Kingston. Which seems like most of my listeners I hear from. Heard back from people listening online across Canada, the US, Japan, France and Australia.

I know the show had a few donations last year online.



Right now the only goal for my shows is one phone call for each episode. Online donations don’t come in for a few days so I came up with something tangible while I’m on the air.

Last year I had 2 calls in one show. The first one was someone requesting Bob Dylan. Which I played since the caller had given money earlier. Then we had another call. The same guy thanking me for playing Dylan. LOL.

As for actual content on Friday. Playing parts of interviews I’ve done since I started the show. Ian Foster, Teresa Ennis, Graeme Walker of Grand Theft Bus, Kirk Comstock of Air Traffic Control, Alex Foster of Your Favorite Enemies and Krissy Holmes of Rogers’ Out of the Fog. That should fill 2 hours.

3:42 PM

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24 Jan 2009

January 23rd Show

Short episode due to Queen’s Hockey. Golden Gaels won in a shootout over RMC.

Played new music from Rawlins Cross and a new artist from Carbonear, NL. folkartlullaby.

And some blues from John Campbelljohn.



Rawlins Cross, folkartlullaby and John Campbelljohn.

12:25 AM

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23 Jan 2009

DawgFM/Tonight

Should be able to upload tonight’s show, today instead of tomorrow with hockey the rest of the night. I’ll be at the station working on that with

time on my hands.

Got a message from Ed with DawgFM in Ottawa. CRTC asked for more

support letters, this time about the French aspects. I know, they

don’t like to make things easy do they? This was Ed’s message to a

group on Facebook.

—

I hate to ask again, I hope this is the last time. The CRTC has

informed us that they want support letters to talk about specifically

how the Official Language Minority Community will benefit from our

station. We have prepared a support letter at . This

is a new letter, so if you have sent a previous letter, please go to

the site again and send this letter. Click on the link below



then click on the Save DAWG FM button to send a letter of support to

the CRTC. The deadline is February 12th. This is a new letter so we are

asking everyone who has sent one previously to send another. You will

get a failure letter from the CRTC, do not worry as we will be

uploading these letters to the CRTC website and they will become public

for everyone to review.

It’s even better if you go direct to the CRTC and write comments on their form. Here is the link



They have to click on the application by Frank Torres OBCI to support DAWG FM

The applications for Ottawa will be re-heard at a public hearing at

the end of March. I thank you all for the many letters you have written

to support the Blues.

Please feel free to send a copy to your Member of Parliament, or

anyone else at Canadian Heritage, Industry Canada or anyone in

government. Please send this to all of your address book, friends,

family. Every letter counts. Sorry for the long email.

—

Emailed Ed and we talked about this example of a letter that was

written. We encourage people to use their own words and not copy and

paste of course. But this helps shows what it might look like, how

many times do you write to the CRTC? LOL.

—

Please accept this letter of support for application 2007-1203-5 for a Blues format FM radio licence to Frank Torres OBCI.

A Blues format station will benefit official language minority

communities in both Ottawa and Gatineau. Quebec Blues artists will now

have a venue to play their music. The station playlist will prominently

feature Francophone and Anglophone blues artists together.

The applicant has also agreed to support an official language

minority community station as part of their Canadian Content

Development funding. There are many other ways that the applicant is

proposing to serve the OLM Communities in Ottawa and Gatineau and be a

valuable service to persons of both Official Languages.

I understand that this letter will be in the public domain and may

be posted on the CRTC website as part of the public proceeding.

—

Sorry for the long post but wanted to get all the info in here.

Next 2 weeks of shows are funding drive episodes. So I might not get

much of a chance to mention this during that time.

Talk to you on the radio.

7:55 PM

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22 Jan 2009

2010 Junos in St. John's/One Hour this week

This was first reported in the Newfoundland Herald a couple of weeks back in the Jan. 4-10 issue. Too bad it's not available in the rest of the country or else I would've known earlier.

2010 Junos coming to St. John's. Last one from all accounts was an amazing time, this report today from Steve McLean of CHARTattack mentions that.

---

The most fun I've ever had at the Juno Awards was in St. John's, and you'll have the opportunity to enjoy some Newfoundland good times yourself when the city hosts the 39th annual celebration of Canadian music next year from April 15 to 18.

"The JUNO Awards have come full circle to arrive back in St. John’s following the great success of our visit here in 2002, and we at CARAS are thrilled to be returning to a city of such enthusiasm and rich musical tradition," says Melanie Berry, the president of the Canadian Academy Of Recording Arts And Sciences, which oversees the Junos. "2010 will mark the beginning of an exciting new city-to-city cycle for the JUNO Awards."

The bid from St. John's to host the festivities included financial commitments of $750,000 from the province, $500,000 from the feds and $250,000 from the municipal government.

Mile One Centre will host CTV's broadcast of the Junos on the final night of the Juno weekend, and downtown St. John's is swarming with clubs to accommodate festival showcases and parties. George Street has the most bars per square foot in North America, while venues in the outlying area will also host various events.

---

Corner Brook hosting the ECMA's soon and now St. John's with the Junos next year. Right now I'd rather go to the Junos next year instead of the Olympics. Much more of a "grown up" party. :)

Tomorrow night a 60 minute show due to Queen's Hockey. Big rivalry game between RMC-Queen's so should be a great game. But I will play new music tomorrow.

I'll be playing some tracks from folkartlullaby. That's the recording name of Robert Thornhill and his full album is called "in this room", it's an independent release that can be picked up from his myspace or his e-mail. You can listen to some tracks now and tomorrow night.

website: folkartlullaby

email: folkartlullaby@

4:15 PM

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17 Jan 2009

Jan. 16th Show



Start off with the music of Teresa Ennis on her birthday. Then new artists for the rest of the hour.

Sam Ryan, a duo based in Halifax. Blues from the Eileen Joyce Band. More blues from John Campbelljohn’s live CD recorded in Germany. End the hour with some rock/blues from Mike Richey.



Start off Hour 2 with music from The Subtitles. Band from St. John’s named one to watch in 2009 by the Newfoundland Herald. Then over to Nova Scotia with more rock from Air Traffic Control.

Couple of new artists to the show with Lisa Birt and Mary Stewart, a track from Grand Theft Bus in between those two.

End the show with a demo track from Teresa Ennis and Great Big Sea’s cover of Gallow’s Pole.

5:36 PM

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15 Jan 2009

Tomorrow Night

Dealing with the cold snap this week. At least there hasn't been anymore snow lately.Going to play a lot of new artists tomorrow night. Week after is Queen's Hockey so I'll just have an hour. Friday night I'll have Eileen Joyce, The Subtitles, Mike Richey, Sam Ryan, Mary Stewart and Lisa Birt. That might be most of the show right there. :)

8:24 PM

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10 Jan 2009

Jan. 9th Show



Mix of music this week. RA Lautenschlager, Greg Keelor performing with Cuff The Duke, Chillin Room and Maddison Avenue.



Local music of Craig McIntyre. Got a request from an online listener in Hawaii for a song by Green Light Go, a band from Honolulu. Finish off the show with music of Andrea Wittgens, Kevin Collins and Allison Crowe.

12:19 PM

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8 Jan 2009

This Week

With a very busy week with sports, I have no plan for tomorrow night’s show. Mix of different things but off the top of my head no “theme” last like week’s Blue show.

Got word that people northeast of Kingston were sending letters of support about DawgFM. I will assume some heard it on this show. Battersea, Smiths Falls and Sharbot Lake.

11:01 PM

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7 Jan 2009

3 Games on CFRC

Busy week for me, we have 3 games on CFRC. So some info for those interested on the Queen’s games we’re doing.

Tonight Basketball with a 8pm tip off against RMC. Saturday a double header. Hockey in the afternoon at 2pm vs Ryerson. Wrap up the week with more basketball Saturday night at 8pm against Laurentian.

So a full show on Friday night as usual. January 23rd the show will be an hour because of hockey. But that’s the only conflict during the month.

2:12 PM

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3 Jan 2009

Jan. 2nd Show

The full radio show from last night. Had to edit the podcast down to just over an hour for “storage reasons” on the Libsyn site. But here is the regular show.



All Blues music during Hour 1. Playing it to bring attention to DawgFM trying to get off the ground in Ottawa.

Music of Glamourpuss, Garrett Mason, The Terry Whalen Band and Hot Toddy.



Kept the Blues going with Hot Toddy, The Blue Monday Band, Matt Anderson.

End the show with some of Ryan’s Fancy, the 1979 album ‘A Time with Ryan’s Fancy’.

3:57 PM

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3 Jan 2009

Podcast Episode 15 : Blues



Edited the radio show down to a podcast this week, planned on doing

an hour of all blues but went much longer. So these are some

highlights from the show on Friday. No intro to Episode 15, goes

straight into the show.

Blues Music from the East Coast with Garrett Mason, Terry Whalen Band, Hot Toddy and Matt Anderson.

Show was in support of DAWG FM in Ottawa. A blues station trying to

get off the ground, but dealing with some CRTC headaches. I mentioned

the problems in December, before I knew one of guys from DAWG FM is a

listener of Salt Water Music. So all the more reason to put the word

out.



3:13 PM

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2 Jan 2009

Lots of Blues

Happy New Year to everyone, still tired from the holidays. Even though I stayed in for New Year's.

Tonight's show has a lot of Blues music. Going to do an all-blues first hour in support of DawgFM in Ottawa. Thinking ahead since then I can re-use that hour in a podcast episode too.

Might go grab one of those Ryan's Fancy records to play a bit of in Hour 2.

2:38 PM

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31 Dec 2008

Boxing Day Hour 1



Start of the live Boxing Day edition. Andrea Wittgens who was stuck at the Newark Airport for three days trying to travel to Nova Scotia. That deserves some airplay of her CD. Then some Bruce Cockburn, two of his more well known songs and two from his Christmas Album. Christmas songs are in different languages, Spanish and Iroquois. End the hour with Kenny Butler.

3:32 PM

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28 Dec 2008

Part of Boxing Day Show

Hour 2 of the Boxing Day show. Hour 1 is delayed, I grabbed the wrong file at the station. And the CFRC website archive isn’t working right now so I’ll have to upload that when I’m at the station on Tuesday. But at least one hour is up.

Hope everyone has a nice New Year’s Eve. Be careful on the roads. In the span of 8 days here we went from -30 Windchill to +10 today. Needless to say roads and sidewalks are a bit dangerous at times.



Live on Boxing Day with the music of Allison Crowe, Gulliver’s Spree, Teresa Ennis and Ian Foster. I say hello to some of the online listeners.

2:39 PM

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23 Dec 2008

Podcast Episode 14 : Christmas

Start is part of the failed daily November experiment. Then clips from the radio show of Christmas related music. Running around like crazy the past few days so this was the easiest way to get a new episode out before the year is out. LOL.



Clip of me talking about the Great Big Sea concert from November, then

some parts of the radio show with Christmas music. Clips include me

talking about certain dates, commercial breaks and CFRC. But I thought

I'd leave all that in.

Music from Kenny Butler, GBS and Allison Crowe.

11:49 PM

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20 Dec 2008

DAWG FM Update

Quiet Saturday digging out from the snow, and now another snowfall warning for tonight. Great.

Short update on Dawg FM I got from the Facebook group. You can go to the website to find out how to send a letter as well.

–

Another Friday and another submission to the CRTC. We were asked to respond to the Survey responses from last Friday. We made our case again and forwarded 3 potential solutions that would satisfy all of the parties and uphold our licence so we could get back to the real work of getting the station on the air as soon as possible.

Also we had a great meeting with Northumberland M.P. Rick Norlock. He is up to speed on our file and while he can’t be involved as the matter is back in front of the CRTC he has shown great leadership meeting with us and helping us to navigate the political waters.

If you haven’t sent a letter, please visit click on the link on the home page. It is really easy.

6:24 PM

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20 Dec 2008

Dec. 19th Show

Tonight was probably the 2nd worst storm since I’ve lived in Kingston. -30 going home. Walked downtown to catch the bus. On the way stepped over snowbanks, snowdrifts and all types of snow. And the wind was in my face the whole way, yikes. Have to shovel but not doing it tonight.



Open the show with Michael Brennan and Ron Hynes. Then some Christmas music from Allison Crowe and Great Big Sea. Close out the hour with Dana Parsons.



Found some Ryan’s Fancy records at the station. Tucked away in a corner I’d only been to a couple of times. So lots of those rare songs on the show. And one song each by Kenny Butler and The Lever Pulled.

1:33 PM

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19 Dec 2008

Tonight's Show/Ryan's Fancy

Horrible winter storm here in Kingston. Currently -25 with the windchill and it just keeps snowing. So I came in earlier than usual to get here before it got too bad.

Time to look through the stacks of records at the station. Went to the far back corner tucked away where you have to step over a water/heating pipe to get to some vinyl.

And there is where I finally find a treasure trove of Ryan’s Fancy records! Very hard to find these. One of them I found last year but didn’t know where it went too. lol

Will take a few shows to get through all of this music, but I’ll play a large chunk of them in the second hour. Sea People, Dark Island, Looking Back, A Time with Ryan’s Fancy and Irish Love Songs.

So we can thank the winter storm for me finding these.

6-8pm EST 101.9 FM or cfrc.ca

4:22 PM

Views (11)·Edit

15 Dec 2008

Friday’s Show

With the timing of the holidays this year, Friday is the last show before Christmas Day. Week after is Boxing Day so I'll spread the Christmas music over both shows.

I have Allison Crowe's 'Tidings' CD which has some of the songs she does at her Tidings concerts. Which wraps up this week on the West Coast. Little tidbit from The Vancouver Province on Allison.

–

Two of Crowe's recorded songs, "Me and Bobbie McGee" and "Hallelujah", will be included in "a major motion picture coming out in early 2009," the Nanaimo-raised singer-songwriter said. All she can say is that it's a star-studded movie and will be a huge career boost for her. But beyond that, Crowe is sworn to secrecy.

–

Hmmm. Start guessing what movie that will be.

Last year I found a Bruce Cockburn Christmas CD that was very good, so I'll see if I can find that again. Will try and find holiday music from Canadian artists.

Any songs you'd want to hear this Friday or on Boxing Day feel free to leave a comment or send an email.

Already know the last song I'm going to play on the 26th. 'End of the Year' by Ian Foster. Makes sense. :)

10:06 PM

Views (10)·Edit

13 Dec 2008

Dec. 12th Show/ECMA

Current mood:relaxed

Links to last night show. Went over all the ECMA nominees and played music from some of the musicians nominated.



Tonight's show I went over all the ECMA Nominations. Included music from some of the nominees and brand new stuff. Start off with Ian Foster and Grand Theft Bus. Followed by brand new music from Dayliner, a group from Nova Scotia. End the first hour with Meghan Blanchard and Colette Cheverie.



Continued with the ECMA theme with Teresa Ennis. Then new music from Keith Hallett and Anna Wheeler. End the hour with Kenny Butler, The Lever Pulled and Ian Foster.

10:02 PM

Views (9)·Edit

12 Dec 2008

2009 ECMA Award Nominees

Current mood:good

East Coast Music Award Nominations came out today. Congrats to all the musicians. Played more than a few of them on the show.

Chris Colepaugh, Jill Barber, Hey Rosetta, Matt Mays and El Torpedo, Vishten, Duane Andrews, Damhnait Doyle, Jill Barber, Meghan Blanchard, Drumlin, Stephen Bowers, The Idlers, Colette Cheverie, Patrick Boyle. That's a lot.

I'll highlight three of the nominees I've spoken to over the past year, with links.

First is Ian Foster, who I've interviewed twice. And got to see perform in Toronto this past summer. Ian's up for Pop Recording of the Year.

Newcap Radio Pop Recording of the Year

Aaron MacDonald - John Prine's Advice

Christina Martin - Two Hearts

Damhnait Doyle - Lights Down Low

Dave Carroll - Perfect Blue

Gordie Sampson - For The Few And Far Between

Ian Foster - Room in the City

MIR - OK2Go!

Links to the two interviews with some of Ian's music.





Then Teresa Ennis' CD Space. The first place to play songs from that CD was 'Salt Water Music' last year. So congrats to her for being up for Folk Recording of the Year.

Folk Recording of the Year

David Myles - On The Line

Max MacDonald - Songs of Home

Meaghan Blanchard - Changing Things

Steven Bowers - Homing

Teresa Ennis - Space

Show from February where I talked to Teresa, and you also can hear all the tracks from the CD.



And finally thanks to Graeme Walker of Grand Theft Bus. The band is up for Alternative Recording of the Year.

Newcap Radio Alternative Recording of the Year

Grand Theft Bus - Made Upwards

Hey Rosetta! - Into Your Lungs (and around in your heart and on through your blood)

Mardeen - Read Less Minds

Sleepless Nights - Turn Into Vapour

The Tom Fun Orchestra - You Will Land with a Thud

Link to the podcast episode where I aired the interview and to the MySpace page.





And here are the rest of the nominees, long list but thought I'd share the rest of the list with everyone.

—

ECMA 2009 MUSIC AWARD NOMINEES

DVD of the Year

Squid - SQUID: The Evolution (Directors: Ryan Fraser, Mark Jamieson, Daniel St. Pierre, Ian MacMillan)

The Northern Ramblers - The Northern Ramblers, "Sideways" (Directors: Jimmie Inch & Ian McInnis)

Wes Jagoe - Live at the Pitt Upstairs (Director: Greg Hemmings)

Colemans Entertainer of the Year

Chris Colepaugh

Dave Gunning

David Myles

Jill Barber

Joel Plaskett Emergency

The Grenfell College, Memorial University Female Solo Recording of the Year

Christina Martin - Two Hearts

Jill Barber - Chances

Norma MacDonald - The Forest for the Trees

Tanya Davis - Gorgeous Morning

Tara Oram - Chasing the Sun

Group Recording of the Year presented by Western Petroleum

Hey Rosetta! - Into Your Lungs (and around in your heart and on through your blood)

Hot Toddy - Trio

Matt Mays & El Torpedo - Terminal Romance

Troy MacGillivray & Shane Cook - When Here Meets There

Vishtèn - Vishtèn Live

Konica Minolta Male Solo Recording of the Year

Dave Carroll - Perfect Blue

David Myles - On The Line

Duane Andrews - Raindrops

Gordie Sampson - For The Few And Far Between

Matt Andersen - Somthing In Between

Max MacDonald - Songs of Home

FACTOR Recording of the Year

Damhnait Doyle - Lights Down Low

Gordie Sampson - For The Few And Far Between

Hey Rosetta! - Into Your Lungs (and around in your heart and on through your blood)

Jill Barber - Chances

Matt Mays & El Torpedo - Terminal Romance

CBC Galaxie Rising Star Recording of the Year

Chad Hatcher - Tunnels & Pathways

Chris Picco - Ferris Wheel

JD Clarke - Satisfied

Meaghan Blanchard - Changing Things

The Tom Fun Orchestra - You Will Land with a Thud

Vibe Creative Group Single of the Year

Age of Daze - Afflicted

Gordie Sampson - We Are Young And So Is The Night

Joel Plaskett Emergency - Face of the Earth

Jon Mullane - Make Your Move

Matt Mays & El Torpedo - Tall Trees

SOCAN Songwriter of the Year

Asif Illyas - "U Dream" (performed by MIR)

Christina Martin - "Two Hearts" (performed by Christina Martin)

Gordie Sampson (with J. Smith & JT Harding) - "We Are Young and So Is The Night" (performed by Gordie Sampson)

Matt Mays - "Terminal Romance" (performed by Matt Mays & El Torpedo)

Tim Baker - "New Goodbye" (performed by Hey Rosetta!)

Star Style Creative Works Video of the Year

Chad Hatcher - Do It All Again (Director: Harv)

Drumlin - Stormy Weather Boys (Director: Joel Mackenzie)

Rebekah Higgs - Parables (Director: Tim McDonough and Raised by Media)

Tara Oram - Fly Girl (Director: Stephen Scott)

The Tom Fun Orchestra - Watchmaker (Director: Christopher Ball)

Wintersleep - Weighty Ghost (Director: Sean Wainsteim)

Bluegrass Recording of the Year

Blue Horizon Bluegrass Band - No Stoppin' Now

Paul Hébert - Les Pauvres Riches

Roxeen Roberts - Red Handed

The Grass Mountain Hobos - The Grass Mountain Hobos

Spinney Brothers - Going Home

Blues Recording of the Year

Hot Toddy - Trio

Keith Hallett - Bear With Me

Matt Andersen - Something In Between

Terry Whalen - The Devil's Fireplace

Children's Recording of the Year

Donna & Andy - Blue Skies and Pirates

Eleanor McCain - Bundle of Joy

Maria Alley - Nature's Lullaby

Rik Barron - Shine

Scotty and the Stars - Here We Go!

Classical Recording of the Year

Choeur Neil-Michaud - Le Ch?ur Neil-Michaud interprète : La Deuxième Messe en sol majeur pour les sociétés de chorales Charles Gounod et Autres chants sacrés

David Chafe & Christopher Bowman - Over Hill and Valley

Jasper Wood - A Child's Cry from Izieu - Oskar Morawetz complete works for violin and piano

Patricia Creighton, flute & Peter Allen, piano - Wind Song

Trio: Bonnell, Bottazzini and Green - Souvenirs: Chamber Music for Horn Flute and Piano

Country Recording of the Year

Chris LeBlanc - Too Much Nothin'

JD Clarke - Satisfied

Rob Russell - Turnin' Heads

Ryan Cook - Hot Times

Tara Oram - Chasing the Sun

Instrumental Recording of the Year

Bill Brennan - Solo Piano 2

Duane Andrews - Raindrops

Kendra MacGillivray - Love O' The Isles

Jazz Recording of the Year

Jill Barber - Chances

Mark Duggan - Diggin' Duggan

Mary Barry - Red Eye Tonight

Patrick Boyle - Still No Word

Shan Arsenault - Below Sea Level

Loud Recording of the Year

Gallactus - Nine Mile Woods

Holophonic Porno - Obsession

Iron Giant - Creator of Scars

Shelter With Thieves - A Dark Chapter in the Human Experiment

Sirius Satellite Radio Rock Recording of the Year

Age of Daze - Hollywood Ending

Battery Point - A Kick in the Blood

Matt Mays & El Torpedo - Terminal Romance

Pat Deighan & The Orb Weavers - In A Fever In A Dream

Terri Lynn Eddy Band - Tonight

Roots / Traditional Solo Recording of the Year

Brenda Stubbert - Endless Memories

Colette Cheverie - Hours Before Dawn

Dominique Dupuis - Bourrasque

Jason Roach - Jason Roach

Neil McDaniel - 10 Years Too Late

Roots / Traditional Group Recording of the Year presented by Central Dairies

Bette & Wallet - Voici…Bette & Wallet

Lazy Jacks - Watercolour Windows

La Famille Arseneault - Un Bouilli Acadien

Troy MacGillivray & Shane Cook - When Here Meets There

Vishtèn - Vishtèn Live

World Recording of the Year

Dr. Zoo - Southern African Field Studies

Idlers - Corner

Ryan Leblanc - Against The Grain

Newcap Radio Aboriginal Recording of the Year

Gary Sappier - Wanted

MO3 - Phyllis Grant - Up Risin'

The Flummies - This is the Life for Me

CBC Galaxie Francophone Recording of the Year

Bette & Wallet - Voici…Bette & Wallet

Kevin McIntyre - Le monde est truqué

Mike Parker - Mon p'tit paradis

Paul Hébert - Les Pauvres Riches

Ronald Bourgeois - J'ai trouvé dans une chanson

Gospel Recording of the Year

4Given - Fountain of Life

Hugh Toner - Jane Robichaud - Angels and Light

Julia Gannon - No place like here

Life Support - Roar of Heaven

The Burkes - The Reason We Sing

Rap / Hip-Hop Single Track Recording of the Year

Hotbox (feat. Spesh K & Y-Rush) - The Main Event

Joe Buck - No More

Mic Boyd - Guess Who's Back

Mischif - The Motto

Mixre - Spit That Murder

12:25 AM

Views (12)·Edit

11 Dec 2008

Inbox problem

Anyone else having problems with their MySpace inbox? I sign in the last couple of days and see "New Messages" but once I go to the inbox I see nothing. Hmmm.

So if anyone has sent a message the last 2 days it hasn't arrived. Here's my email address too.

saltwatermusicrob@

10:14 PM

Views (13)·Edit

11 Dec 2008

Holiday Show

If you see the calendar December 26th falls on a Friday. You might be wondering if I'll be doing a show. Of course I am. In fact might be a bit longer than usual since the shows around me might be out of town. Once I know more I'll pass it along.

At the very least on Boxing Day you can tune in from 6-8pm EST. Wonder if I should play Christmas songs the day after? Hmmm. It's still a "holiday" so I'll probably throw on a few.

2:21 AM

Views (4)·Edit

6 Dec 2008

December 5th Show



New CD I found at the station from RA Lautenschlager. Found his

music on MySpace a few months ago so good to get it on CD. Rest of the

hour new music from New Brunswick. Owen Steel, Bored on Sunday and Kendra Gale.



Lots of different artists crammed into the second hour this week.

Start off with Melanie Samson. Short clip of a video blog from Sora

then a couple of songs. Get to hear a singer talking for once before

they sing. Rest of the show Grand Sass Parilla, Sherry Ryan, Michael

Brennan and Jessica Rhaye.

2:07 PM

Views (8)·Edit

5 Dec 2008

Tonight's Show

Music from some new artists to the show from Owen Steel, Bored on Sunday and Grand Sass Parilla. Also music from Sora and Melanie Samson in Hour 2.

Rest of the show I’m not sure right now, find out when I get there.

Little technical hiccups at the station means I’m broadcasting out of the control room I do sports from. Been in that room many, many hours so you shouldn’t notice a difference. Well, the mic might sounds a bit different.

1:45 PM

Views (5)·Edit

30 Nov 2008

Helping DAWGFM

Time to help out a radio station in Ottawa, or a future station. If you’ve heard the show you know I’m a blues fan. Even filled in on The Blues Project on CFRC from time to time. Was glad to hear my old stomping grounds of Ottawa was going to have Canada’s first All Blues station.

But now it might not happen. Mentioned it during the radio show but here are the details. I didn’t even know till I contacted Ed Torres from DAWG FM that he listens to Salt Water Music. All the more reason for me to try and help.

–

Canada’s first ALL BLUES radio station is in Jeopardy!!



On November 21 the Conservative Cabinet sent our licence back to the

CRTC for reconsideration and hearing. The Government decided that the

decision derogated from the Broadcast Act.

The decision was appealed by a group that was applying for a French-language community station at the same hearing. The CRTC decided that our application was more in the public’s best interest than was their application.

Now the government has stepped in.

DEROGATE!!!!! we only committed to exposing hundreds of Canadian Blues Artists that get airplay in the U.S. but not in Canada.

We committed to give 3 quarters of a million dollars to Canadian

Content Development including creating a Blues music series at Canadian

Music Week, supporting the Ottawa Blues Society and the Blues in

Schools programs that gives kids that can’t afford instruments a chance

to play music.

Not to mention we were going to employ 20 people in Ottawa and spend over 1 million dollars in our first year of operations in the local economy.

We committed to play 40% Canadian content 5% more than any other station in Ottawa currently plays. But it’s easy to target the only stand alone independent radio station in Ottawa.

So we need your help. We need your support, we need the support of your friends and anyone else that loves Blues music and justice.

DAWG FM’s Facebook Group



1. Send us your email support via facebook

2. Send the Minister of Heritage a letter supporting our licence his email: Moore.J@parl.gc.ca

3. Send the same letter to the CRTC under complaints

4. Send the same letter to Minister for Industry Minister.Industry@ic.gc.ca

5. Send us the same letter via facebook

6.Send it to your local politicians or anyone that will listen

7.Get all of your friends to join this group

Thanks for all of your support, together we can come through this…..keep the faith.

4:40 PM

Views (8)·Edit

29 Nov 2008

Nov. 28th Show

Link to both hours of Friday night. Typing this while doing the hockey game so a short post. lol.



Open with a couple of tracks from Ian Foster. Then a band who is new

to the show, Grooveback. Close out the first hour with more new music

from Slate Pacific.



Little bit of blues to start the hour in support of DAWG FM in

Ottawa. I explain what that’s about. New Brunswick’s GlamourPuss and

The Band with Muddy Waters. Then some tracks from the duo of Under

Pressure Music. Rawlins Cross who have a new CD out, I play some of

their older stuff. Some rare tracks from Allison Crowe’s website before

her shows in Toronto and Ottawa. Last song is related to the US

Thanksgiving.

5:17 PM

Views (5)·Edit

28 Nov 2008

Show posted Saturday

Working on a hockey and basketball game tomorrow so the show will be uploaded then. Think it was the most schizophrenic show in a while. Really jumped around genres and time periods. Present day, back to the 70's, Rawlins Cross late 90's, cover songs of Nirvana, celtic, rock, jazz, pop.... it's kind of a blur. :)

10:18 PM

Views (7)·Edit

24 Nov 2008

Help with some Blog Voting

Canadian Blog Awards are going on, if you can vote for 'Out of Left Field' here. Writer Neate Sager is a friend of CFRC Sports and an alumni. Let's see if we can get that blog into Round 2.



7:42 PM

Views (6)·Edit

20 Nov 2008

Music from the GBS Concert tomorrow night

Cleaning up the audio right now, but thanks to a fan on YouTube we’ll have some live tracks from the Great Big Sea concert in Kingston this past Monday Night. Got to make it sound good for the radio.

I know all these concerts say “no audio or video equipment” but with camera phones these days that’s hard to enforce. Saw a lot of them around. But thanks to them I have some live tracks. :)

Band leading the crowd in singing I Fought the Law, I Would Walk 1000 Miles and little Bohemian Rhaposdy. An impromptu song from the band about being in Kingston. Sean doing a cover of Bobcaygeon. As long as I get the audio all sounding good for broadcast. LOL.

11:10 PM

Views (6)·Edit

19 Nov 2008

Great Big Sea Recap

Posted this on the message boards yesterday, so I’ll post it here.

—

Mentioned a bit on Twitter last night, but today kinda busy. And it’s my birthday so got away from the computer.

First show the band’s had in Kingston in 4 years so it was Sold Out and a rockin crowd. Long story but they played the Grand Theatre last time and that took 2-3 years to renovate, and the arena just opened this year finally.

Alan mentioned playing Kingston the first time, at the Jock Harty opening for The Philospher Kings and another band. That was the arena on Queen’s campus which was torn down. Said he was out one night in Kingston so late the sun came up. lol.

Sean did a solo version of The Tragically Hip ‘Bobcaygeon’ since it was Kingston. Did a great job on it, the crowd knowing all the words helped too.

Show ended around 10:40pm after 2 encores. Great concert of course. I lucked out with my seat being in the 2nd row right in the center. So Alan was to my left and Sean to the right. Bob on the far right.

Met Maurgarita at the Merchant before hand. She had a couple of signs which Alan commented on during the show. Lost track of her after the show, but on Twitter she said Sean signed a poster and took a picture. Joked I should’ve stuck around with her.

Haven’t seen a set list of the show but got in all the big songs and ones from Fortune’s Favour. Was hoping for Gallow’s Pole, but can’t be too picky about a song that was a bonus track.

Quick recap but hope that helps. Off to do a bit of work.

12:21 PM

Views (4)·Edit

16 Nov 2008

Nov. 14th Show/Great Big Sea and local musicians

1sthour a Great Big Sea retrospective with them coming to town. I wasgoing to say “little” retrospective but I crammed 17 songs into thehour.



2nd hour some local musicians who had a concert/fundraiser on FridayNight here in town. Couldn’t fit them all in the hour. Concert had 8acts on it. But I did play Craig Mcintryre, Christine Donovan, TorresBand Duo and Tim Aylesworth.



1:36 PM

Views (4)·Edit

13 Nov 2008

Plan for Friday

First hour I’m doing a Great Big Sea retrospective with songs from all of their discography. They’re playing Kingston on Monday so a good way to get people ready.

2nd hour new music from a local musician, Craig Mcintryre. Craig is a part of a concert/fundraiser in town on Friday Night. Details below. Show is at 9pm so after the radio show you have plenty of time to get there if you’re in town. Money is going to a good cause.

—

Whiskey Willy’s, 850 Gardiner’s Road, Kingston in association with Talent Tuners and are holding a fundraiser on Friday, November 14th with proceeds going to the Joe Chithalen Memorial Music Instrument Lending Library (Joe’s M.I.L.L. - ).

An incredible lineup, EIGHT FOR EIGHT, eight performers and only $8 to get in.

CRAIG MCINTYRE, TIM AYLESWORTH, CHRISTINE DONOVAN, CHASE THE LIGHT, JEFF GAULTON, KIRK ARMSTRONG, GEORGE CHENIER and THE TORRES BAND DUO

The show runs 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. Doors open at 8 p.m. EIGHT FOR EIGHT, and all for a good cause.

9:39 PM

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8 Nov 2008

Hour 2



Hour 2 with Ian Foster, Allison Crowe, Andrea Wittgens, Crowdis Bridge and Meaghan Blanchard

11:36 PM

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8 Nov 2008

November 7th Show

Here is Hour 1 of the show, the website archives haven't caught up yet to Hour 2. If I have time I grab it off the computer at the station but only got the first half last night.

On air today at 6pm EST for about half an hour on 'The Blues Project', then doing the pregame show for hockey. Which means I will have the second of hour of this show uploaded by tonight.



Open the show with some live tracks from Great Big Sea. Then a local singer from Napanee, John MacPherson. Next up some music from Ron Hynes and his most recent CD. End the first hour with some solo music from Greg Keelor of Blue Rodeo.

2:31 PM

Views (6)·Edit

6 Nov 2008

Podcast Episode 13



Read about National Podcast Post Month or 'Napodpomo' which is an idea of having people podcast every day for the month of November. So I'm doing something similar. Recording every day, but not uploading. Or else you might have a 2 minute podcast which seems a bit silly. Instead a 43 minute podcast with some songs as well.

Beginning was recorded at the station and the rest at home. You can obviously hear the difference but a heads up.

First up I have 3 songs by Allison Crowe. Her covers of Let it Be, Imagine and In My Life.



Allison is playing a bunch of dates in November and December. Closest to Kingston is Toronto on Friday, November 28th. And an afternoon show in Ottawa on Sunday, November 30th. Check the tour part of Allison's page for details. She's also hitting Philadelphia, Massachusetts, New York City and 5 dates in British Columbia.



Also play some music from Andrea Wittgens. She has a new CD coming out soon called "In The Skyline". These three tracks are from her last album. Alibi was just an Afterthough, Did You Go Too Far and Aquarium. Going to do an interview with Andrea soon, we're just waiting for the CD to be available for purchase online. Good to get all the things in order so you can check out her music after I talk to her.

With grabbing a bunch of different audio files for this episode I'll cross my fingers there wasn't too many mistakes. I even forgot a couple of things I talked about until I put it together. So another episode or two this month, whenever I have enough for a good length.

6:45 PM

Views (2)·Edit

5 Nov 2008

This Week/Filling in on Saturday

2 hours again this week, looked like another hockey game but we're just covering one on Saturday Night. But I'll be filling in on a short version of 'Blues Project' Saturday at 6pm till the game starts at 7pm.

Going to grab some more new music for this week's show. And I might show off a bit about picking Ottawa over Queen's.

New podcast will be up sometime this week.

1:49 PM

Views (2)·Edit

1 Nov 2008

Halloween Night Show

Episode from October 31st, Halloween night. Not a fan of Halloween, which I explain. But doing the show meant I avoided the trick or treaters. So a nice bonus. :)



First hour all music never played on the show before from Melanie Samson, Blue Rodeo, Tamara Nile, Ann Vriend and Kendra Gale



Jeff Healey, Gulliver's Spree, Ian Foster and The Human Soundtrack

And you get to hear me predict that the Ottawa Gee Gees would defeat the Golden Gaels in the OUA Semi Final. I was right. Now you know why I do those NFL predictions, I know a bit about football. I think. :)

6:38 PM

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24 Oct 2008

October 24th Show/Kendra Gale and Melanie Samson



60 minutes again due to hockey. But I did play brand new music from Kendra Gale and Melanie Samson. Also some Teresa Ennis, Ian Foster and Allison Crowe.

Links to the brand new music I played.



The new CD 'Moments of Nothing' has finally arrived and it's for sale for $19.99 through myspace and paypal. That covers shipping and handling. We're getting things ready for the launch and for distribution. We've hired the band 'Hudson' to accompany Kendra for the show. I'll keep you posted on when and where this will all take place.

'Moments of Nothing' CD will be available at CDBABY and CDPlus stores in Fredericton, Saint John and Oromocto by next week and throughout the maritimes in the very near future.



For more information about Ms. Samson and her music, visit melaniesamson or email samson.melanie@.

8:38 PM

Views (6)·Edit

21 Oct 2008

Friday 1 Hour again

Either we had the wrong date for a hockey broadcast or they changed the date on us. We thought a game was tomorrow night when it's actually Friday. So back to one hour this week and possibly next week for more hockey. Pregame at 7pm so we'll get a full hour. But a heads up for listeners about the changes the next little while.

I will have some brand new music from Melanie Samson so stay tuned for that this week.

8:44 PM

Views (4)·Edit

18 Oct 2008

Return of the Podcast

First podcast episode since late August. Fell behind with the radio show being 2 hours and Queen’s Football. Not to mention working on 2 other sports shows during the week. But enough about excuses. New podcast is up.



The full interview with Ian Foster from this past summer. With mistakes, why not. :) You can compare it with the radio show episode with the songs in it.



7:50 PM

Views (7)·Edit

18 Oct 2008

Oct. 17th Show

All new music in the first hour and some new songs in Hour 2 as well. Busy show this week. Next Friday 2 hours as usual. Doing a show on Halloween night as well, but hockey that night so I’ll be on for 60 minutes again. But that means I completely avoid the kids running around. :)

Never a big fan of Halloween. Weird night, letting children get vast amounts of food from strangers. lol.



Brand new music in the first hour. All artists on the show for the first time. Matt Mays and El Torpedo, The Domestics, All of Green and Queen’s Maid



Hour 2 with some folk, roots, pop, blues, rock. Mix of thngs. Catherine MacLellan, RA Lautenschlager, Andrea Wittgens, GlamourPuss and Ian Foster

1:24 PM

Views (17)·Edit

13 Oct 2008

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving to fellow Canadians. And Columbus Day to my American friends. Hopefully people here enjoy today.

New music on Friday's show, and I'm going back to sitting around. ha ha.

3:45 PM

Views (17)·Edit

11 Oct 2008

October 10th show

Abbreviated show due to Queen's Hockey. With The Band, The Fables, Great Big Sea, Ian Foster and Don Brownrigg.



Open the show with 'Don't Do It' by The Band. Cover of a Marvin Gaye song which they did many times. It was the final song from The Last Waltz, their final concert in 1976. Thanksgiving night so you'll hear Rick Danko saying Happy Thanksgiving.

If you've seen the movie you might notice this version is 2 minutes longer. Got it from the Box Set, why they cut out 2 minutes for the film I don't know.

1:35 PM

Views (8)·Edit

9 Oct 2008

1 Hour this week

Since Queen's hockey is tomorrow night the show is an hour this week. Puck drops at 7:30pm and pregame is planned for 7pm.

Got new music, but with a shorter show I'll save that for the week after.

8:24 PM

Views (6)·Edit

5 Oct 2008

Crazy Saturday

Story about football on Saturday, Queen’s Golden Gaels beat York 80-0. But getting the game on air was a hectic day.

First off, York never responded to emails during the week about whether or not they had a phone line for us. So we had a cell phone for back up. Saturday get a call 40 minutes before the game from Matt Bisson our play by play guy. There is a phone line, but INCOMING calls only.

What’s the problem with Incoming only? Long distance charges. Queen’s phone set up doesn’t allow for LD calls without using a phone card. Offices are locked so I had to run to a corner store and buy a long distance phone card myself. Jogging over thinking “this is not a good start to the broadcast”.

Got back at 12:40pm so no problem there. I did have the programmer before the game play a Great Big Sea CD while I was gone to fill something on air. Got to keep the East Coast Music going.

So I got the phone card. Matt was setup outdoors with some bees around during the game, thanks York for not letting us in the press box. I’d say Karma got back at York with an 80-0 loss didn’t it?

Things are OK for the rest of the game? Oh no.

In the 1st quarter the line all of a sudden drops. So off to a commercial break then I explain “tech. problems” and play some muic. Thought it was the phone line so I phone back 3 times but nothing. Phone the cell phone to see what’s happening. The Zircom box where the headsets plug into…. stopped working. It won’t power on. Uh oh.

We figured out that I could give him the Phone Card information. Then he can phone me on the cell to get him back on air. Cheaper to make a local call with the cell in Toronto then won’t get hit for LD charges on a cell phone. Which meant the rest of the first half was a broadcast of a his cell phone.

Did I mention I had two brand new volunteers with me during the game? I’m showing them how the broadcast works and they get this game. And I’m the one going to put them on the radio for the first time ever at halftime. Other than that a normal day at the station.

Got them to read some out of town scores. Would’ve just had them read it off the computer in the studio. But…. you know how this day is going. The computer couldn’t connect to the network or internet! Out of all days. The other computers at the station were fine, so I got one of them to go and write down some scores.

Finally some good luck at halftime. I phone Matt and the Zircom box all of a sudden powered up again. So I phone him on that and the 2nd half runs smoothly. No problems at all the rest of the game. END SCENE.

5:39 PM

Views (5)·Edit

3 Oct 2008

October 3rd Show

Current mood:awake

Quick this week on the upload.



Air Traffic Control, Mark Bragg, Chillin Room, Christa Borden, The Idlers and Ian Foster.



Catherine MacLellan, Allison Crowe, The Fables and Don Brownrigg.

11:36 PM

Views (7)·Edit

2 Oct 2008

This Week and next

Got some new music from Christa Borden tomorrow night, originally from St. John’s and now residing in Los Angeles. Joins Andrea Wittgens as former “east coast/current west coast singers”.

Next week is the first Queen’s hockey broadcast of the season and starts at 7pm. So my show will probably be around 45-55 minutes next Friday. Better than getting pre-empted completely which happened at the old time slot on Saturdays. But a shorter episode nonetheless.

11:59 PM

Views (5)·Edit

27 Sep 2008

Sept. 26th Show

Had no theme for this week’s show but then realized I could have female singers for Hour 1. So an hour of music with Catherine MacLellan, Teresa Ennis, Allison Crowe, Andrea Wittgens and Jessica Rhaye.



Since the first half was women, Hour 2 all guys. Neil Dobson and the Fabulous Hats, Joe Belly and the Sin City Ramblers, Ian Foster including a live track from his website and Gulliver’s Spree.



3:45 PM

Views (23)·Edit

26 Sep 2008

Tonight, No Plan

Busy weekend so I don't have a plan for tonight's show. Grab some CD's and make it up as I go along.

Tomorrow is the big Queen's-Western football game during homecoming weekend. Game is already sold out, BUT forecast is for rain. I'll be in the nice warm studio not caring if thousands of people get wet. :)

1:01 PM

Views (4)·Edit

20 Sep 2008

Hour 2 of Sept. 19th Show

The link starts off with the tail end of hour 1 talking about Allison Crowe's upcoming concerts. Then some sports talk.

Then in honour of Richard Wright's passing a 2002 live version of 'Breakthrough'. Included David Gilmour, fellow member of Pink Floyd. Followed by some tracks from Andrea Wittgens' new CD. Then Melissa Hunt, a young singer who has a new website. Much better than mine. lol.



End the show with 2 songs each by Trish Kerr and Ian Foster.



10:21 PM

Views (12)·Edit

20 Sep 2008

Hour 1

Stuck around at the station for a bit and was able to grab the first hour of the show. Hour 2 I can't get till tomorrow, but at least this part is up fast.



Meaghan Blanchard, Rattlesnakin Daddies, The Carouslers, Dan Currie, Pat Deighan, Frank Trainor, Blue Rodeo, Catherine McLellan, James Phillips and Allison Crowe.

5:32 AM

Views (12)·Edit

18 Sep 2008

This Week

Tomorrow more of Andrea Wittgens new CD, along with more of Trish Kerr who I played last week. I'll look through the new CD's at the station since I found a couple there last week which were good.

I went 11-4 last week with NFL picks. Much better than my horrible Week 1.

11:56 PM

Views (19)·Edit

16 Sep 2008

Episode 1/Richard Wright

Current mood:thoughtful

Episode 1 of the radio show from May 19th, 2007 is now up on the Archive.



More of an interesting listen than a great show. First ones are always a bit strange as you get used to what the show will turn out to be. At least it's proof the show has gotten better. :)

Sad music news online in the last hour. Founding member of Pink Floyd, Richard Wright died of cancer at age 65. He was the keyboardist and sang some backing vocals on their albums. Glad the guys got together one last time for Live 8 back in 2005.

NPR on Richard Wright's Passing

1:44 AM

Views (15)·Edit

15 Sep 2008

Recent links from the show

Links to some artists I've played the last 2 weeks of the show. Ones I haven't linked to before on the blog. Quite a few this time.

The Kestrels





Colette Cheverie





Abby Pond





Trish Kerr and the Divas





Holly Larocque





Drumlin





The Angelshakes



Natalie MacMaster



The Fables



Ron Hynes



8:05 PM

Views (14)·Edit

14 Sep 2008

Sept. 12th Show



Busy first hour of music. 5 songs from Andrea Wittgens' brand new CD. Also first time playing music by Colette Cheverie and at the end of the hour Abby Pond. Other songs by Great Big Sea, Natalie MacMaster, Shanneyganock, The Fables and Ron Hynes.



End of the first hour as I made some NFL picks. Was eating up some time till the top of the hour. Listen as I talk about my sister beating me in Week 1. :)

Then back to music with Sherry Ryan, Trish Kerr, Holly Larocque, Drumlin, Grand Theft Bus, Air Traffic Control and The Angelshakes.

1:34 AM

Views (18)·Edit

12 Sep 2008

New CD tomorrow

Current mood:pensive

Got the new CD by Andrea Wittgens in the mail this week, not being released till October so I'll play a lot of it tomorrow night. Not the whole thing since I have to save some for future shows but it's a great CD. Reminder the show is now Fridays from 6-8pm EST, cfrc.ca.

Hard to believe 9-11 was 7 years ago. I was living in the Ottawa Valley at the time in a very, small town. Had cable TV though so I followed it like everyone else. Didn't know about what had happened till the 2nd tower had been hit. Insane day.

6:19 AM

Views (17)·Edit

7 Sep 2008

Hour 2 Link

New music with The Kestrels along with Teresa Ennis, Allison Crowe and Dana Parsons.



I'm going to enjoy the first Saturday Night I've had free in about 15 months. Just sit back and watch some football. Ahhhh.

2:15 AM

Views (5)·Edit

7 Sep 2008

Hour 1 link

Well the technical mishaps I had last night continued to today's football game. Broadcast team blew a tire on the 401 on the way to Guelph, which lead us to a Plan B for the first half. Audio quality was much worse than usual but at least we were on.

Bad luck the last 24 hours. But here is the first hour of last night's show. For those who missed it or want to listen again. I'll post when Hour 2 is up on the site.



1:33 AM

Views (11)·Edit

4 Sep 2008

Tomorrow Night

New timeslot starts tomorrow, sneaking up on me so I imagine some listeners might forget too. Two Queen's Football games in the span of 6 days distracted me a bit. :)

Brand new music tomorrow at 6pm. The Kestrels, The Angelshakes and some others I'll grab tonight. Might play some of the shorter clips of interviews I've done. Good to introduce the show to new listeners. And make easier for my first 2 hour show, ha ha.

12:23 PM

Views (7)·Edit

31 Aug 2008

August 30th Show

Got a lot of music in the last Saturday Night episode. Great Big Sea, Jimmy Rankin, The Irish Descendants, Sora, Teresa Ennis, Andrea Wittgens, Holly Cole, Gulliver's Spree, Ian Foster, Allison Crowe, Kenny Butler, Shanneyganock



Got a bunch of new artists to start playing when the new timeslot kicks off on Friday evening. I'll be at the station Saturday afternoons for the next 7 weeks with Queen's Football. Which does mean I'll be able to upload both hours of Friday's show on Saturday afternoon for a while.

4:40 PM

Views (10)·Edit

29 Aug 2008

One Last Saturday Night

Tomorrow is the last Saturday Night episode of the radio show. Tune in for a request show, asked some fans of the show for artists they would like to hear. If anyone here has an artist to request feel free to comment on the blog here.

After the weekend the show is Fridays at 6pm EST, 7pm ATL, 7:30pm Nfld.

Thanks to everyone for listening since May 2007, hopefully you can keep tuning in with the new timeslot. With at least you'll be able to listen to the shows even if your not at home on Fridays.

9:13 PM

Views (6)·Edit

27 Aug 2008

Teresa Ennis Episode

Just put another past episode is up on , good one from February. One with Teresa Ennis. Phone interview I did with her that had to wait for a couple of weeks with the funding drive. I also play her CD ‘Space’ and it fit the into the hour.



4:24 PM

Views (7)·Edit

26 Aug 2008

Podcast Episode 11

Finally got the podcast episode up, about the trip to Toronto and all the small details that happened.



Starts off with the bus trip from Kingston through thunderstorms, seeing Allison Crowe and Ian Foster. Along with a Jays game and other things. No music this time and it runs 35 minutes or so.



Recorded at home this time, easier to talk as long as I want. :)

12:53 PM

Views (7)·Edit

24 Aug 2008

August 23rd Link

Link to the show for August 23rd, 2008. Music of Ian Foster, John Jerome and the Great 88, Erin Costelo, Greg Keelor, Blue Rodeo, Joe Belly and the Sin City Ramblers, Andrea Wittgens.



5:10 PM

Views (11)·Edit

22 Aug 2008

This Week

Current mood:awake

This week more new music I haven't played before. Erin Costelo from Halifax. John Jerome and the Great 88 from New Brunswick.

Working on a new podcast episode, on my trip to Toronto. 35 minutes or so on stuff that happened. :)

6:29 PM

Views (6)·Edit

17 Aug 2008

August 16th Show

I'll give a rundown of the songs later on, got last night's show up on Archive. org



Joe Belly & The Sin City Ramblers



Andrea Wittgens



Allison Crowe



Jenn Grant



Oh yes, the cheer up song I played during the show. Flight of the Conchords, you can search them on YouTube or go to their MySpace page. For fans of theirs looks like Season 2 will be on TV in 2009.



7:28 PM

Views (16)·Edit

13 Aug 2008

Joe Belly/Andrea Wittgens

Got new CD by Joe Belly & The Sin City Ramblers so I'll be playing that on Saturday. Also found Andrea Wittgens put up 2 tracks from her new disc on MySpace so you'll hear that on the weekend too.

3 more shows until the change to Friday Nights. Friday, September 5th at 6pm EST.

2:44 PM

Views (12)·Edit

10 Aug 2008

August 9th Show

Link and rundown of last night's show.



Ryan's Fancy 'The Ryans and the Pittmans', 'I'm a Rover' and 'The Island Song'

The Irish Descendants 'Rattlin Bog', 'Come Back to Newfoundland'

Great Big Sea 'Mari-Mac', 'Dancing with Mrs. White', 'Something to It'

Next songs are from a new band "Caught in the Act", they're just starting out and met last year after going through the Canadian Idol process. It's rather amazing how I never hear about Can.Idol here in Ontario. Only by catching local news from out east do I hear things about it. After hearing these musicians and realizing they didn't get that far in that show it just solidifies why I don't watch it. ha ha.

These are some solo songs from 3 of the band members also in the band is Jeremy Dicks.

Justin Fancy 'Sea of No Cares'

Todd Scott 'Confuse Me'

Leanne Kean 'Black Velvet'



Teresa Ennis 'Under the Moon', 'Little Wing'

The Idlers 'Stanley Goes to Kandahar', 'One Future'

That last band is a 10 piece Reggae/Ska band from St. John's who is doing a tour of Quebec/Ontario in September. East Coast Music is not just Celtic, of course hearing Reggae even surprises me. lol.



2:34 PM

Views (14)·Edit

9 Aug 2008

2 Hours in September

Last week I was focused on playing the music and forgot about to tell the news about the show. Been so busy this week that I don't know what I'm playing tonight. LOL.

Starting in September the show is going to 2 hours, for those who emailed me about the show being longer you can rejoice. :) Now to get 2 hours the show had to move to a different day and time. Don't worry I still get a weekend slot, Fridays at 6pm EST. I always considered Friday evening the start of the weekend.

I know it will be better for the people who listen live out east, 7pm Atlantic/7:30pm Nfld. As opposed to the show ending after midnight for the East Coast.

I'm sure listeners have gotten used to the Saturday Night slot, so that's is why I've started putting up those episodes on . The plan is to get them up on Saturdays so then you can listen to the show when you want. Saturday Night, Monday afternoon, whenever. You just click one button and it streams so it's just like clicking on CFRC.ca when the show is live.

Hopefully if you're reading this you can listen on Fridays, or through the links I'll put up. It will be nice to have Saturday Nights free again after 16 months. Doesn't seem that long, gone by really fast.

3:17 PM

Views (14)·Edit

3 Aug 2008

August 2nd Link and Rundown

Link to the August 2nd episode on along with the rundown of the hour. Was lucky to find Leonard Cohen's version of Hallelujah at the station. It was on a radio only release promoting his 1994 album. 2 songs from his new CD at the time and they threw in his 1984 version of Hallelujah.



Allison Crowe 'Disease', 'Hallelujah'



Leonard Cohen 'Hallelujah'



Allison Crowe 'Northern Lights', 'Angels', 'How Long'

Ian Foster 'Stop Bringing Me Down', 'The Consistency of Sound', 'This Silence'



The Lever Pulled 'Dead Enders'



2:25 PM

Views (12)·Edit

1 Aug 2008

Back On Air

Station is back on air, I was going to do the show even if the internet stream was the only thing working. So back tomorrow night with the music of Ian Foster and Allison Crowe.

Ended up working out since I got CD's from both of them last weekend that I didn't have. So I have new music from each you haven't heard before. :)

Also stay tuned for some good news about the radio show.....

6:25 PM

Views (13)·Edit

29 Jul 2008

Ian Foster 2007 and 2008

Yes, that is 2007. Put up the radio show from 1 year ago when Ian Foster was going thru Ontario. Since Ian is wrapping his 2008 tour this week thought it be good to look back.

Salt Water Music July 28th 2007

During the show I sound like I was under the weather or something. :)

I do remember that week the internet feed was down so I thought "how many people are listening?". LOL.

I'll give more details on my weekend in Toronto in another post. Both shows were great with Allison Crowe and Ian Foster. Got some CD's from both of them with stuff I haven't played on the show before so look forward to that.

Tonight is Ian's last night in Toronto at The Free Times Cafe and tomorrow he's in Wakefield, QC at The Blacksheep Inn.

4:31 PM

Views (8)·Edit

25 Jul 2008

Down and Out/No Show Saturday

Due to some technical issues at CFRC there isn't any show this weekend. Was going to tape it this afternoon but the station is "off the air" till at least Monday. Since I'll be in Toronto this weekend seeing Allison Crowe and Ian Foster it worked out. Saved me an hour of taping the show. :)

So in case you want to here something on Saturday here is last week's show again with some of Ian Foster's new CD.

July 19th Episode

Or listen to the podcast with Allison Crowe which is almost an hour long too.

Allison Crowe Podcast

4:37 PM

Views (15)·Edit

24 Jul 2008

Allison Crowe and Ian Foster

Current mood:ecstatic

This week is a new show, but taped on Friday. I'll be in Toronto this weekend seeing two concerts. So I'll be playing their music this week.

First is Allison Crowe. Played Allison on the radio show and on the podcast. She shares her time between Nanaimo and Corner Brook. So either way it's a long trip to get to Toronto. In case anyone is interested, here are the details.

Saturday, July 26 at 8:00 p.m.

Heliconian Hall, 35 Hazelton Avenue, Yorkville

Toronto, Ontario



I'll also be playing some of Ian Foster as I'll catch him on Sunday evening. Tomorrow he's in Peterborough, then 3 dates in Toronto before wrapping up near Ottawa.

July 25 Peterborough, ON The Spill

July 27 Toronto, ON The Communist Daughter

July 28 Toronto, ON Mitzi's Sister

July 29 Toronto, ON The Free Times Cafe

July 30 Wakefield, QC The Blacksheep Inn

Enjoy the radio show as I'll be seeing LIVE music for the first time since last August.

5:49 PM

Views (14)·Edit

20 Jul 2008

Last Night’s Show

Finally got a new way for people to listen to the show if they missed it. Just go to this page and listen on the Internet Archive. It's the 10pm-11pm hour which explains why you hear the end of a hard rock song at the start. I let it play for a few seconds as it was almost over.

Salt Water Music July 19th

This show has Ian Foster, Your Favorite Enemies and Great Big Sea. I'll start doing this for each episode as it's a little easier than going thru the CFRC website archive.

6:18 PM

Views (19)·Edit

18 Jul 2008

This Saturday/New Place for the Blog

Thought I'd get another place to put up the blog, site called WordPress which is used for a sports show I work on. Blog here will keep going but nice to have two places for people to find it. Don't worry just going to post the same thing on both so you're not missing anything. :)

Word Press Blog

-----

Welcome to the new blog, been writing one for the radio show on the MySpace page but thought I'd start one on here too. Right now it will be the same posts from the MySpace page, but this might be an easier way for some of you to keep track of what's happening with the radio show or podcast.

This Saturday playing the rest of the Ian Foster's CD whose interview I played last week. Yes the CD got thru customs and arrived on Monday. Talk about bad luck last week with it not arriving in time. Wasn't the company's fault just customs being a pain as usual. It's a Compact Disc people why do you need to keep that at the border? Try to get music legally and this is what you have to deal with. ha ha.

Also playing some new tracks from the new 'Your Favorite Enemies' CD. I interviewed Alex Foster last fall for those who remember. Nope, no relation with Ian. The band's music video has been getting some play on Musique Plus in Quebec. That's the french version of MuchMusic, who used to play music videos. Now it's mostly bad TV shows. Except 'Video on Trial', that's usually good.

'Open Your Eyes' has been the 'Combat des Clips' champion for 2 weeks now. Same title as a show Much had on years ago. I remember 'Enter Sandman' going for something like 13 weeks straight. There was this old technology in the days before email or text messaging. Called a 1-900 number. Oooooh.

10pm EST on Saturday Night. CFRC 101.9FM in Kingston or streaming live at cfrc.ca

7:45 PM

Views (14)·Edit

16 Jul 2008

Podcast Episode 9: Allison Crowe

Current mood:refreshed

Putting this one together was easy but time consuming, did the voiceover separate and put the songs in after. Which meant it took almost half an hour to save the file. :)

Salt Water Music Podcast

Music of Allison Crowe who is playing Toronto on July 19th. 12 songs in total so yes the episode is almost an hour. To make up for it being a bit later than planned.

She splits her time between Nanaimo, BC and Corner Brook, NL. You can visit her site and listen to ANY song from her CD's. She puts them up for free, of course you can purchase them too. :-)

Allison Crowe's Website

6:07 PM

Views (9)·Edit

15 Jul 2008

Podcast This Week

Recorded the voiceover for the podcast, doing a long one with the music of Alison Crowe. She puts all her music for free on her website, along with lyrics and even sheet music. You can purchase her music too to help support her. She just came back from some dates in Europe and is doing a show in Toronto a couple of weeks from now.

Podcast should be put up sometime tomorrow or Thursday.

9:25 PM

Views (15)·Edit

14 Jul 2008

Great Big Sea presale

Current mood:optimistic

Pre-sale tomorrow morning on the Great Big Sea website, as I said on Saturday's show their first show in Kingston in almost 4 years! That's because of lack of venues since they did play Belleville and recorded their last DVD there.

Grand Theatre took much longer than planned to renovate and the new arena just got finished this year. Glad concerts are finally coming back thru town again. A rundown of the tour dates on sale tomorrow. From Kingston to Vancouver, different cities go on sale at different times so visit the site tonight to see what time is for what show you're trying to get.

November 17 K-Rock Centre Kingston, ON

November 18 Barrie Molson Centre Barrie, ON

November 19 Hamilton Place Hamilton, ON

November 20 Kitchener Memorial Auditorium Kitchener, ON

November 22 General Motors Centre Oshawa, ON

November 26 Thunder Bay Community Auditorium Thunder Bay, ON

November 27 MTS Centre Winnipeg, MB

November 28 TCU Place Saskatoon, SK

November 29 Conexus Arts Centre (Theatre) Regina, SK

November 30 Northern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium Edmonton, AB

December 01 Southern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium Calgary, AB

December 03 The Centre For Performing Arts In Vancouver Vancouver, BC

6:45 PM

Views (16)·Edit

13 Jul 2008

July 12th Rundown/Ian Foster

Current mood:content

Last night's show with Ian Foster, those attentive listeners might've noticed I forgot to take the commerical break. Oops. Show was so tight for time it slipped my mind. Songs played last night were:

After Evelyn, Red Skies, Map of the City, Decisions, If the Weather Holds, Sodium, No Fool for You, The Favorite Game

Here are the links for Ian's website and MySpace. You can also purchase the music online at iTunes or to get the CD.

Ian Foster's Website

Ian's MySpace

Here are the tour dates from MySpace, slightly different than the website ones. I'll try to check with Ian as to which one is most up to date.

18 Jul 2008 21:00 The Shaika Cafe Montreal, Quebec

19 Jul 2008 21:00 The Yellow Door Montreal, Quebec

24 Jul 2008 20:00 The Freeway Coffee House Hamilton

25 Jul 2008 20:00 The Spill Peterborough, Ontario

27 Jul 2008 15:00 The Communist Daughter Toronto, Ontario

28 Jul 2008 20:00 Mitzi's Sister Toronto, Ontario

30 Jul 2008 21:00 The Blacksheep Inn Wakefield, Quebec

6:21 PM

Views (9)·Edit

12 Jul 2008

Tonight’s Show

Getting ready for tonight's show, all the songs are working and the clips too. Whew. Bad luck this week with radio stuff. CD not arriving, two sports shows had issues too. But it's the weekend and time to relax. So the Ian Foster Interview and playing as much of the CD as I can for the hour.

By the way, little inside tidbit is that the show after mine this week is taped. So I'm pretending it's live but you'll know I'm throwing it to a taped show. :)

8:50 PM

Views (16)·Edit

11 Jul 2008

Ian Foster Interview this week

Current mood:rejuvenated

This week is the interview with Ian Foster I did recently and his new CD. The physical CD hasn't arrived but I have the music, long story. :-)

So that will be the entire show, interview is about 20-25 minutes and the CD in total is over an hour of music. Which means I can't play all of it this week but I'll see how many songs I can play. Rest will be played next week as Ian's tour makes its way to Quebec/Ontario.

It's the second interview with Ian as the very first one for the radio show I did last summer for the show. It will go up on the podcast in the next couple of weeks.

12:17 PM

Views (10)·Edit

8 Jul 2008

July 5th Rundown

Rundown of last Saturday's show.

Don Brownrigg 'Bags & Boxes', 'Wander Song'

Great Big Sea 'Dream to Live', 'Company of Fools'

Ian Foster 'Berlin', 'A Lesson in Geography', 'No Fool For You'

Haines/Leighton 'Optimists Jig'

The Irish Descendants 'Barrett's Privateers', 'Rattlin Bog'

Shanneyganock 'Old Maid in the Garrett', 'Fling out the Flag'

Follow up to my cell phone rant during the show last week. lol. Today Telus said they're carrying the Samsung Instinct too. And some reports of Apple being so angry with Rogers they're diverting some shipments of the iPhone to Europe instead of Canada. Ooooooh. That's why I brought it up on the show, this is going to be fun to follow.

4:12 AM

Views (17)·Edit

5 Jul 2008

Podcast Downloads/Tonight’s Show

Current mood:working

The podcast downloads have shot up the last 3 weeks. I did put it in a Canadian Directory recently and it was mentioned during the "Canadian Podcast Buffet" a popular podcast.

Canadian Podcast Buffet

Canada Podcasts

First week it went up by a bit but in last 3 weeks went from 50 to almost 150 Downloads in total today. Wow.

And in case you were wondering the show with Krissy Holmes from 'Out of the Fog' is the most popular one. How about that? A fellow Alongquin college grad. Might be because that show is on summer hiatus and her fans found it going thru withdrawal. :-)

As for tonight's radio show...... not sure. Did the interview with Ian Foster last Friday and ordered the CD but we can thank Canada Day for it not arriving in time for this week's show. I'll play some of his demo tracks since they're songs from the album. But as for the rest of the show, since I'm not sure it will be a surprise for me too.

2:16 PM

Views (14)·Edit

1 Jul 2008

Canada Day

Current mood:amused

Happy Canada Day to all the readers of the blog here. :)

Since Globetrotting is on Tuesdays I was in at the station today. Show before us even had a musical guest so not a holiday for everyone.

Interviewed Ian Foster last Friday and if the CD arrives this week I'll play the interview and the album this Saturday. I'm sure it would have in a normal week but with Canada Day we'll see if it's delayed.

7:01 PM

Views (14)·Edit

27 Jun 2008

New Podcast

Current mood:awake

New episode of the podcast, this one different. Nothing about music just me talking about stuff. Podcasters Across Borders which I attended on Saturday, a car crash I witnessed after leaving that conference. And the end is about a wacky caller on Buy, Sell and Trade. That part alone is 8 minutes, almost sounds like a comedy bit because of the strange item she was trying to sell.



And you'll hear me say 2 words I can't imagine working into a conversation on the radio. :)

8:43 PM

Views (14)·Edit

25 Jun 2008

This Saturday

Got the new Great Big Sea album so I'll be playing some of that this weekend. Also got new music from Kevin Collins and Chelsea Parsons.

Rundown of last week's show will up later on tonight.

1:54 PM

Views (19)·Edit

15 Jun 2008

June 14th Rundown/Grand Theft Bus

Rundown of last night's show, songs from Grand Theft Bus' new CD "Made Upwards". Interview I did with Graeme Walker during the show. Songs I played were:

White Flags, Private Wars, Roses, Don't Go Say That, I Guess Not I Guess, Fifo, Oma, Someone Who Knows. Rest of the CD I'll play next week.

Grand Theft Bus Website

At the end of the show I played a new Great Big Sea song, cover version of Led Zeppelin's "Gallow's Pole". Don't know if it's been played anywhere on the radio yet. :)

4:39 PM

Views (18)·Edit

12 Jun 2008

Grand Theft Bus this week

MySpace was giving me some problems yesterday so this update would've been sooner. Completed an interview with Graeme Walker of 'Grand Theft Bus' this week which will air on Saturday Night. For the hour I'll play their new CD, 'Made Upwards' along with clips of the interview.

12:31 PM

Views (17)·Edit

8 Jun 2008

Podcast: Andrea Wittgens

New Podcast episode is up, the CFRC.ca archive hasn't caught up to last night's show so this is good in the meantime.

Salt Water Music Podcast

Episode 6 : Andrea Wittgens

Three songs by Andrea Wittgens who I played on the radio recently. Andrea is originally from Antigonish, NS and living in Seattle. She's finishing up her first solo album and she keeps a very good online presence.

Also Andrea is a Queen's Alumni so an added bonus. Should ask Andrea what her time in Kingston was like. :)

Three songs I play are 'Alibi Was Just an Afterthought', 'Aquarium' and 'Did You Go Too Far'.

Following links are where you can find out more. You can also listen to some songs and purchase the CD.

Andrea's MySpace

Andrea's Website



Search in the iTunes Music Store for "Andrea Wittgens"



5:27 PM

Views (16)·Edit

6 Jun 2008

Dan Cleary/This Week

Nice to see Dan Cleary win the Stanley Cup, as it has been said in several places he's the first Newfoundlander to ever win the Cup. So I have some clips to play on Saturday's show, CBC radio were in Harbour Grace when the Wings won. And I have some of Dan being interviewed after winning to play.

Playing Allison Crowe on Saturday's show. She shares her time between Nanaimo, BC and Corner Brook, NL. That's quite a trip. Got 11 songs from a website so I'll see how much I can play of that thru the show. Might pull out some other artists or stick with her for the hour. We'll see what my plan might be tomorrow. :)

3:21 PM

Views (20)·Edit

1 Jun 2008

May 31st Rundown

Rundown for last night's show.

May 31st Rundown

'In It', 'These AM Times', 'About Her' Don Brownrigg

Don Brownrigg Website

'Demasduit Dream', 'Boston and St. John's' Great Big Sea

Great Big Sea Website

'Ballad of St. Annes' Kevin Collins

Kevin Collins Website

'Get Your Own', 'Addiction', 'Ain't No News' GlamourPuss

GlamourPuss Website

'To Be Free', 'Staying On' Air Traffic Control

Air Traffic Control Website

'Bunny Love', 'Closet Monster' Glitter Cinnamon

Glitter Cinnamon MySpace

And description of that show airing Monday night on NTV about Demasduit, who one of those Great Big Sea songs I played was about.

STEALING MARY: LAST OF THE RED INDIANS

Our story begins in 1827 when William Cormack, a young British explorer, stumbles upon an Indian tomb hidden in the forest of Newfoundland. He takes two skulls and burial objects back to his university in Scotland. Almost 200 years later, the artefacts become evidence surrounding the abduction and murder of Demasduit, whom they called Mary March, and her husband, Chief Nonosabasut. This docudrama traces the last years of the Beothuk Indians of Newfoundland.

Airs this Monday at 9pm EST, 10:30 NFLD on NTV. If you have satellite you have the station on ExpressVu 199, StarChoice 310.

7:40 PM

Views (24)·Edit

28 May 2008

May 24 Rundown

Finally back to doing the weekly rundown of songs, might go back and catch up on the older shows but for now the last episode. Which now is on the archive, don't worry when you try to listen and hear hard rock at first. The archive isn't timed up perfectly with the clock like it was before. Off by 90 seconds which might just be a little glitch. But it is up .

'The Night Pat Murphy Died', 'Maurice Crotty', 'Johnny From Hazelgreen' Gulliver's Spree

Gulliver's Spree

'Alibi is an Afterthought' 'Did You Go Too Far' 'Highly Trained Killer' 'Aquarium' Andrea Wittens

'Irish Tunes' Chrissy Crowley

'One Good Kick When I'm Down', 'Warning Signs', 'Plaid'

Michael Lake

Michael Lake

'Twilight', 'Light' Sora

9:43 PM

Views (23)·Edit

26 May 2008

Links for May 24th Show

Current mood:amused

Catching up on the show, Archives haven't caught up yet so show not available to listen to right now. But I'll give the links of the new artists I played this week and last week.

First Chrissy Crowley, a young fiddler from Cape Breton. Her MySpace page and website.

Chrissy Crowley's MySpace

Chrissy Crowley Website

Then Sora, who sings Celtic music from Calgary, Alberta. With all the east coast people in Alberta these days I'll count it as a 5th Atlantic Province.

Sora's MySpace

Sora's Website

Andrea Wittgens, singer/songwriter originally from Antigonish, NS and now residing in Seattle.

Andrea Wittgens Website

Andrea Wittgens' Myspace

Next link is where you can download 3 of her songs for free.

Andrea's publicbroadcasting.ca page/Free Downloads

As I mentioned during the show I emailed Andrea and heard back from her last week. And until the night of the show I had no idea she graduated from Queen's. :) So a former resident of Kingston as well.

1:44 PM

Views (12)·Edit

23 May 2008

This Week/Offsides

Current mood:calm

This week more new music for most of the show, more of who I played last week. Also tomorrow night Andrea Wittgens, who is from Nova Scotia and now living in Seattle. I found an interview she did online from so I might play a clip of that.

Who else on the show this week? I haven't figured that out yet. :)

For sports fans here is the brand new podcast for Offsides, the Friday afternoon sports show on CFRC. Hosted by Tyler King and right now I help out on the technical side of things.



You can scroll down and hear all of the shows since September, even the time I filled in during December doing a "best of show". I was only on there for about 5-6 minutes of the hour but it counts. lol.

9:01 PM

Views (22)·Edit

22 May 2008

Podcast Episode 5

Current mood:content

New podcast episode is up, about 16 minutes in length. Didn't do much chit-chat on this one since it's been a busy week but it was an interesting interview. Show notes from the website.

---

Interview with Kirk Comstock from Air Traffic Control. The only interview so far where the person I was talking to was on a gas station pay phone. I explain that at the start of the episode.

Check out the band at these sites, there are links on the first site to buy the CD online and on iTunes.





---

So check it out on iTunes or on the website.

Salt Water Music Podcast

4:03 PM

Views (14)·Edit

16 May 2008

1 Year Anniversary Show

Tomorrow doing the 1 year anniversary show. Thanks to Chris from for putting the word out this week on that site and their podcast about the show this week. :)

Got some brand new music for tomorrow night. Chrissy Crowley, a fiddler from Cape Breton. And Sora a singer of celtic music from Alberta. Who says Celtic music can't be from another Canadian province. lol.

I will find some clip of the first episode to play, probably for laughs. Musically the show is the same but I don't know if I sound any different. We'll all find out tomorrow.

Thanks to all the people who've sent me music over the past year, I have a list of everyone I've played. 122 at last count. Maybe I'll read that list out on air to see how long that takes. :)

7:43 PM

Views (16)·Edit

10 May 2008

Back to LIVE next week

Current mood:relieved

Saturday Night will be the show missed last week, then I'll be back LIVE every week again after that. The shows being taped was something out of my hands but it's finally back to normal now. Whew, taping once in a while is fine. But being taped is not the same.

What to do next week? Probably play a lot of new artists I haven't played before.

3:30 AM

Views (13)·Edit

8 May 2008

Podcast Episode 4 : Ian Foster

Current mood:happy

New episode up, with the first ever interview for the radio show last July with Ian Foster. And yes, actual songs on the podcast for once. :)





This week I think I'm going to air the episode that didn't air last week. First half no one got to hear and it was Ian Foster's music. With his CD release party last night makes sense to play that.

Next week will be the 1 year anniversary show...... that went by fast. I still remember the first 3 shows which was me burning songs to ONE CD to play on the show. From that to dozens of CD's and 200 MySpace friends. Not bad for a year.

5:01 PM

Views (19)·Edit

5 May 2008

May 3rd show/Tech. Diff.

Well the show began OK that I taped then something happened, for those who didn't get to hear it did come on in progress at 10:30pm. So here is the entire show, including the first 30 minutes I guess only I have heard. :)

May 3rd show

Might've been a power/computer failure since the show before me was a re-broadcast. Just bad luck for me and the listeners, hopefully I will be back to LIVE every week by late May.

11:19 PM

Views (18)·Edit

26 Apr 2008

Grand Theft Bus/Great Big Sea

Tonight on the show new music from a band I haven't played before, 'Grand Theft Bus'. Got an email this week about them and just by chance CFRC has the new CD. Few tracks from them and then little mix of Great Big Sea's discography.

Last week played tracks from 3 of 'The Irish Descendants' albums so tonight doing something similar with Great Big Sea.

8:59 PM

Views (13)·Edit

26 Apr 2008

Tonight LIVE

Tonight I'll be back LIVE, no taped show this week. And I have no idea what I'll play tonight. Ahhhh, back to a normal Saturday show with no plan. :)

7:52 AM

Views (11)·Edit

17 Apr 2008

This Week

Whole show this week will be The Irish Descendants, the station has 3 of their older CD's so I played that for the hour. Plus got a good response last week when I played their music from a fan of the show listening in Australia. So that feedback will be rewarded.

Plus I found out while taping the show that one CD I play from the band is not even available right now at the Fred's Records website. Wow, that must be a popular one.

11:43 PM

Views (24)·Edit

15 Apr 2008

Podcast Episode 3

Current mood:artistic

After a bit of a delay the podcast episode, my NHL picks to start off then the interview with Alex Foster from YFE. Copied from the website.

Salt Water Music Podcast

---

The interviews cuts off after some hockey talk as I finally hit the stop button while recording. :-)

As I mention we did the interview before the hockey season started so fact that playoffs have started and it's my team [Boston] vs Alex's team [Montreal] is quite ironic.



Podcast was taped on Thursday Night by the way.

3:05 AM

Views (13)·Edit

13 Apr 2008

April 12th Rundown

Rundown of last night's show, and it's already on the archive. Did tape the podcast but still have to edit it together. Unlike the radio show it's like putting 3 or 4 things together instead of just sitting down for an hour and doing it. :)

The Irish Descendants: Catch the Wind, Come back to Nfld, Rocky road to Dublin, Sam Hall, Rattlin Bog

King Nancy: Ever Have, Fight Stop, Motown, Taxi, Things we love, Watch Waves

The Barra MacNeils: Chasing the Sun, Queen of Argyle, Haven't Got a Care

April 12th Show

6:45 PM

Views (16)·Edit

8 Apr 2008

iTunes

Podcast is now available on iTunes. If you have that go to the iTunes store and search under podcast. If I can find a direct link I’ll add it later today. Usually the link just opens iTunes for me and I have to search again. :)

I’ll give the rundown to the last couple of shows later tonight. Have to find the email where I wrote them down. lol.

2:50 PM

Views (10)·Edit

1 Apr 2008

Update/200

Sorry for lack of updates, taping the shows lately has messed up everything. Had my usual schedule of Saturday Night doing the show then writing the blog on Sunday. I’ll have to get a new one until I can do the show live again.

But the page just hit the 200 friend mark so that’s something new. :)

Last week I played Fitz and The Lever Pulled for the hour, I’ll write the rundown later on this week.

1:40 PM

Views (13)·Edit

18 Mar 2008

Podcast Episode 2

Current mood:productive

Since Saturday I’ll run the show I taped last week that didn’t air, I did a new podcast today. Just me talking about the snowstorm that almost got me stranded at work and I play the interview with Krissy Holmes for those who missed it. Might get some other Alongquin College Alumni to hear it.

Salt Water Music Podcast

7:34 PM

Views (18)·Edit

16 Mar 2008

Oops

Sorry for the technical problem with this week’s show not playing correctly, if you did stay and listen the show did come on the last 20 minutes. Thanks to Christopher to getting it playing correctly. These things can happen with taped shows sometimes, click on the wrong button on the computer and OOPS.

Next week I might just play that show again since right now the only one who heard the show was me when I was taping it Saturday Afternoon. :)

4:35 PM

Views (14)·Edit

14 Mar 2008

This Week/Max Murphy

I still haven’t taped the show this week [tomorrow afternoon] but I’ll be playing Max Murphy’s CD for the hour. Did an interview last summer with Max and playing the parts where he talked about each song on the album. Then I’ll play the song the story is about. I played some of them before but there were some I didn’t play before.

Monday is St. Patrick’s Day and next weekend is Easter? How did this sneak up on me? :)

3:28 PM

Views (10)·Edit

9 Mar 2008

March 8th Rundown

Rundown of last night's show, which was taped last Sunday. Luckily since the horrible snowstorm last night almost got me stranded at work overnight. One cab company had a third of its cars on the road stuck in the snow. Yikes.

We're still digging out and the street I'm on still hasn't been plowed in 24 hours. Got out of the cab and walked a block since we would've been stuck in the snow. Thanks to the horrible 'City of Kingston' snow clearing. :-)

Anyways onto the rundown of last night's show. Somewhat a continuation of the Krissy Holmes show from last week with the bands we talked about.

----

The Mountain and The Trees 'Make Amends', 'Lost at Sea Town' and

'Hospital View'

Trailer Camp 'Heat and Shelter' and 'Avoid the Lazer Rain'

Neil Conway 'Be My Pizza' and 'Roadblock'

Hey Rosetta 'Swing The Cellar Door' and 'Another Pilot'

King Nancy 'Taxi' and 'Motown'

The Kremlin 'Cuban Missile Crisis of the Heart', 'Bathroom Breeding Bolsheviks', 'Bass Support Superstructure'

3:20 PM

Views (12)·Edit

8 Mar 2008

Tonight Show/Snow, Ice and Snow

Current mood:tired

Tonight's show is more music from the bands I played last week on the show. Musicians mentioned by Krissy Holmes during our phone interview. Show was taped last Sunday which is lucky with the storm that's hitting Kingston right now.

First a lot of snow last night, now ice pellets and freezing rain. Then tonight changing back to snow again. :) Weather Network website had the term "menacing snowstorm" last night which is never good to hear. lol.

Back to dealing with the weather. :-(

2:32 PM

Views (14)·Edit

3 Mar 2008

R.I.P. Jeff Healey

Current mood:melancholy

Well the first podcast is up but as I sign onto MySpace I read about Jeff Healey passing away at the age of 41. Was going to see him play this past summer near Kingston but I put it off and was going to catch him when he came thru next time. Never thought this would happen this soon since that concert. Way too young.

Here is the site for the Podcast. I'll write more tomorrow about it but don't feel like writing about it right now. Jeff does have a new album coming out so at least we get one more CD of his. First rock/blues one in 8 years apparently.

Salt Water Music Podcast

12:21 AM

Views (10)·Edit

2 Mar 2008

Taping/Krissy Holmes with Karl Wells

Taping next week's show today and taping the first podcast episode too. Should be up late Sunday Night if things go smoothly. This being the internet you never know. As last night I heard one listener had problems with the online feed. Luckily last night's show is already up.

March 1st show, Interview with Krissy Holmes

If that doesn't work just go to cfrc.ca and go to the archive and listen thru there. Some computers can be picky. :)

But some good luck as I just went to find some clips of "Out of The Fog" on YouTube. The interview Krissy just did with Karl Wells and talked about during the interview was just added 5 days ago!

Krissy's Interview with Karl part 1

Krissy's Interview with Karl Wells Part 2

Krissy's Interview with Karl Wells Part 3

Yes the video looks squeezed [converting thing that can happen]. But I think Krissy would rather me link to this than an interview I found from when she was first starting a year ago. ha ha.. Talked about that near the end of the show last night.

Be back later tonight with an update on next week's show and if the podcast taping went smoothly. :)

5:17 PM

Views (8)·Edit

1 Mar 2008

Back Tonight

Tonight on the show interview with Krissy Holmes host of 'Out of The Fog' on Rogers TV in St. John's. I asked Krissy about some artists she's listening to right now so that will the music during the hour. Sounds like an "all request hour" in a way but it a diverse mix. Rock, Indie and some instrumental Surf Rock from Newfoundland..... I'll explain during the show. :)

Next 2 weeks of shows are new, but will be taped in advance. Won't notice a big difference except we'll start a bit later and I can't read any news/sports updates. ha ha.

3:26 PM

Views (12)·Edit

26 Feb 2008

Coming soon.....

Current mood:creative

Been working on this for a while, hard to start up something new like this. But I should have it going by the weekend, Monday at the latest. Here is a link to it right now nothing is up but a quick logo I put together.

Something new coming

8:26 PM

Views (12)·Edit

24 Feb 2008

Link to the full show

Hey gang. I made the taped show more than an hour which is good to do to give some breathing room to the next programmer. Christopher didn't need the extra time so here is a link to the full show I recorded, 2 extra songs at the end.

Ryan's Fancy show

Just scroll down and you can download the file which is a 25 MB mp3. Or here is a smaller file of it in WMA format at 9MB, quicker download.

WMA file

9:34 PM

Views (15)·Edit

24 Feb 2008

Hip Setlist

Current mood:relaxed

Hope everyone enjoyed the 'taped' show this week, The Hip played for 2 and a half hours. Lots of songs so here was the setlist which I got from a fan online.

01. The Lonely End Of The Rink

02. New Orleans Is Sinking

03. Fully Completely

04. Grace, Too

05. It's A Good Life If You Don't Weaken

06. Ahead By A Century

07. In View

08. Pigeon Camera

09. Courage

10. World Container

11. Fiddler's Green

12. Fireworks

13. 50 Mission Cap

14. Poets

15. Bobcaygeon

16. Yer Not The Ocean

17. At Hundredth Meridian

18. 38 Years Old

19. Family Band

20. My Music @ Work

21. Blow At High Dough

Encore 1:

22. Locked In The Trunk Of A Car (With Dan Aykroyd)

23. Wheat Kings

24. On The Verge

Encore 2:

25. Little Bones

25 songs. That's getting your money's worth. And yes Dan Aykroyd played harmonica with the guys. Here are two links to the groups that the concert's proceeds went to. First one is an environmental one Gord Downie is a part of, he even hosted the radio show at CFRC this past week that they do. Second is a camp for kids with Cancer.

Lake Ontario Waterkeeper

Camp Trillium

4:22 PM

Views (11)·Edit

22 Feb 2008

Ryan’s Fancy Show/Krissy Holmes Interview

Current mood:amused

Was so busy this week I forgot to tell everyone here what the taped show is this week. Taped it last Sunday afternoon.

Hour on Ryan's Fancy, since it's 1 year since Dermot O'Reilly passed away. Mentioned before I filled in for a programmer last year and did the same thing which pre-dated this show by 4 months. So luckily I could use clips I found from last year and some LIVE tracks. I mentioned this during the show but I have no idea where the live songs are from. Dermot talks between songs but other than that I'm not sure where it came from..... so if you have a guess just drop me a message. :)

Next week I'm back with a Live show and an interview I did last Sunday with Krissy Holmes from Rogers TV 'Out of the Fog' St. John's. With the length it might continue into the next show. We talked for a long time partly because it's two alumni talking to each other. We both took the exact same broadcasting TV course at Algonquin College in Ottawa. I took it a year or two before she did but it's still makes us Alumni. LOL.

Most ironic thing for listeners is we both focused on behind the scenes at Algonquin and didn't want to be on air people....... and here we are doing a radio interview? How did this happen? You'll find out next week. [yes that was a corny tease of next week's show]

While you're listening to Ryan's Fancy this week I'll be watching the Tragically Hip here in Kingston, I'll have a report on it next Saturday.

8:08 PM

Views (13)·Edit

19 Feb 2008

Feb. 16th show online

Teresa Ennis show is online now, if this link doesn't work use the second one. Open the URL in your media player. Finally getting the use of the MySpace blog so I can add links. :)

Feb. 16th show



8:42 PM

Views (16)·Edit

18 Feb 2008

Rundowns/Teresa Ennis Show

Current mood:busy

Rundown of the last 3 weeks of shows. The latest one with Teresa Ennis is not on the CFRC archive yet but once it's up I'll let everyone know.

Feb. 2nd Funding Drive Show 1

These tracks were from 9:45-10pm as the hockey game wrapped up early.

'Acadian Saturday Night', 'Bridget Flynn', 'The Foxy Devil The Irish Descendants

'I'm a Rover' Great Big Sea

This was the songs from the regular hour show

'Gulliver's Spree', 'Pat Murphy's Meadow' Gulliver's Spree

'Space', 'Song for Adam' Teresa Ennis

'Wasn't that a Party' Irish Rovers

'Walking Talking You' Sherry Ryan

'Lonesome Day Blues' Bob Dylan [Someone requested Bob Dylan during the show so why not. :) ]

'Time Passes By So Slowly' Gene Pawlett

'Allthosestaringpeople' The Human Soundtrack

'A Lesson in Geography' Ian Foster

'Dead Enders', 'Wise Move' The Lever Pulled

'Under the Moon' Teresa Ennis

Feb. 9th Funding Drive Show 2

'Untitled for Now', 'Colorful' Kendra Gale

'Hold Me Tight' Your Favorite Enemies

'Rabbits in a Basket' Gulliver's Spree

'PG' Les Paiens

'The Shed' Chillin' Room

'Vegetable Weapons', 'Fall Awake' The Lever Pulled

'Little Wing' Teresa Ennis

'Drown the Blues' Sherry Ryan

'Irish Eyes/To-roo-la' Irish Rovers

'Symposium' The Human Soundtrack

Feb. 16th Teresa Ennis Show

Hour with my interview with Teresa Ennis and all the songs from her solo CD 'Space'

'Blue Red and Grey', 'The Lowlands', 'Going To The Country', 'I've Endured', 'Ma Jolie', 'Under The Moon', 'Downstream', 'Annie', 'Song For Adam', 'Train Leaves Here', 'Can't Get It Out of My Head', 'Space'

Following links are her website, MySpace and where to buy the CD. Get an autographed copy or buy the MP3's.

Teresa Ennis Website

Teresa's MySpace page

Maple to buy the CD

8:12 PM

Views (13)·Edit

13 Feb 2008

This Week/Interview with Teresa Ennis

Current mood:busy

Funding drive is over and looks like a successful one.

This week airing the interview I did over the phone with Teresa Ennis recently. Good 20 minutes or so, which as usual will be intercut with some songs from her CD 'Space'.

Visit her website or MySpace to listen to tracks from her CD.





10:27 PM

Views (11)·Edit

8 Feb 2008

Funding Drive Show Part 2

Current mood:awake

Second Funding Drive show this Saturday. I'll also be manning the pledge line from 6 to 8pm EST time during "The Blues Project".

You can give online at "cfrc.ca" or phone "613 533 CFRC".

Next Saturday Night I'll be airing the full interview with Teresa Ennis I did last week and play a lot of her new CD. That's unless there is a playoff hockey game next weekend. We don't know the schedule till after this weekend. :)

5:54 PM

Views (19)·Edit

3 Feb 2008

Long Day

Didn't mention the goal of 4 callers since I was at the station a lot yesterday and I knew getting ONE caller would be tough. Very quiet Saturday, a lot to do with that was the snowstorm we got the night before. Was one of the phone operators during 4-6pm and didn't have even one donation so I knew getting any during my show would be really hard. :)

Person did phone from Kingston liking the show but he already gave so my tally from last night was Zero. But..... the website pledges take a week to come in. So thanks to those who gave online or might in the next week.

Felt like the show went by in 15 minutes since I first got to the station at 1pm and went home at 11pm. Long day. ha ha.

11:37 AM

Views (13)·Edit

2 Feb 2008

Funding Drive Show

Current mood:amused

Tonight is the first of 2 shows for the funding drive, feel free to call in during the show and pledge.

613 533 CFRC or do it online at cfrc.ca

We have people at the phones till 1am EST so you can phone after my show is over or during the week too. Goal tonight is 4 people phoning in. Might be a bit high seeing as the show is on Saturday Nights but at least we'll give it a try.

Now we might be a bit late due to hockey. But the puck drops at 7:30pm for that so I can't see it affecting the start time too much. But you never know. :)

If we start later than maybe I'll change the goal to 3 callers. lol.

2:53 PM

Views (9)·Edit

1 Feb 2008

Rundowns of January 12th, 19th and 26th

Current mood:happy

Catching up on the shows from the past 3 weeks. Rundowns of the past three shows. 2 of which had a lot of vinyl on them. Very hard to find songs on those shows since the records I played were never released on CD.

January 12th Rundown

Michael Carey "Neon Sign"

Gulliver's Spree "The Old Coaker Engine", "Gulliver's Spree", "Rabbits in a Basket"





Tim Chiasson "Strathespy Place"



Gulliver's Spree "Patty Ryan"

Ryan's Fancy from the Record 'Looking Back' from 1972. Songs played were "Carrick Fergus", "Looking Back", "Galway City", "The Star Of Logy Bay", "The Chieftain's Welcome" and "Streets Of London"



Patrick Molloy "Choices Decide"



January 19th Rundown, All Rock Show

Air Traffic Control "To Be Free", "Staying On"



Your Favorite Enemies "Open Your Eyes", "Midnight's Crashing", "Little Sister"



Also an unaired clip of my interview with Alex Foster from September.

Mark Bragg "Murder in the Southlands"



Stevie Ray Vaughan "Voodoo Chile" Live from Carnegie Hall in 1984

I filled in for "The Blues Project" earlier that night and that played that song which got someone to phone in and ask how I found it. So played it again.

Your Favorite Enemies "Hold Me Tight"

January 26th Rundown, almost 100% Vinyl

The Irish Rovers "The Unicorn", "Wasn't That A Party". From the internet but they both sounded like they were recordings from the old records.

Them some good old Vinyl. Ryan's Fancy "Home Boys Home", "Connemara By The Lake", "Delaney's Donkey", "Love Song", "Banks Of Sicily" and "Cape Breton Lullaby"

More Vinyl from the Irish Rovers Album 'Emigrate, Emigrate'. Songs were "Cobblers", "Paddy on the Railway/Canadian Railway Trilogy", "Northern Rake", "Children of Hate", "Catch Another Butterfly", "The Gypsy", "The Passing of the Gael"

12:54 PM

Views (17)·Edit

28 Jan 2008

Funding Drive/Next Two Weeks

Mentioned the Funding Drive a bit on last week's show, especially for those who only listen to my show so you will know what's going on the next two weeks. :)

Feb. 2nd is a show after hockey, which might start on time at 10pm or a few minutes later. Feb. 9th is a full show, no sports to worry about.

----

CFRC's Funding Drive is fast approaching:

Friday February 1st to Sunday February 10th.

This is your chance to support your sound alternative. Donations will be accepted :

-By phone at 613.533.CFRC(2372),

-Through our online form

Help keep your 85 year old station healthy! We issue tax receipts for donations, or you can choose from a slew of CDs and gift certificates for contributions starting at $15.

----

So I'll be mentioning that phone number a lot over the next two weeks so at least you're prepared for it. :) Don't worry it's not like PBS/TVO where the station asks people at home for A LOT of money. I've seen those pledge drives where you have to fork over 75 bucks just to get a mug. ha ha. You just want to give 5 bucks, that's great. Goal is $17,000 and last year they got near $16,000 so it's a number that is reachable.

So February 16th the show will be back to normal. I might have a surprise for that show too if I can line things up. ;-)

12:52 PM

Views (9)·Edit

26 Jan 2008

Show is on again tonight

We'll scratch that earlier bulletin/blog about hockey game tonight. Looks like it won't be happening due to some difficulties so I should be on like usual tonight. :-) This just changed this afternoon so not sure what I'll play tonight since nothing was planned out in advance.

Mix of usual stuff so tune in if you can, next week the show will be a shortened one due to hockey..... well that's the plan. lol.

6:10 PM

Views (9)·Edit

25 Jan 2008

Pre-Empted for hockey this week

Current mood:groggy

Hi gang, surprise hockey game popped up this Saturday Night. As in even I didn't know about it till mid-week. Oops. Or else I would've mentioned the pre-emption last week. Sorry about that. But this time it's the Women's hockey team. So there's a good reason to listen since that will be different than a usual game you hear on the radio.

And the week after is another game. That one I knew about. Now that could possibly end around 10:00-10:15pm since it starts at 7:30pm. So there will be a shortened show that night. But I will be on with a new show whenever that game ends.

This week though, no show at all since it's a later start.

Next week the funding drive for CFRC starts. You can learn more by going to CFRC.ca.

I'm taping two phone interviews to air during the February 9th show when I know I'm back to a full hour and promoting the funding drive. Who are the interviews? If I told you then it wouldn't be a surprise.

1:18 PM

Views (7)·Edit

18 Jan 2008

All Rock Show

Bit busy this week with two Queen's hockey games so bit behind on the rundown.

This week doing an hour of nothing but rock music for a little change of pace. Airing part of the interview with Alex Foster of YFE I did in September but didn't have time to air then. Ran out of time but saved it so you'll hear that this Saturday Night.

Rest of the show will be various rock artists from the East Coast. So it won't be a laid back show like it is some weeks. ha ha.

9:37 PM

Views (12)·Edit

12 Jan 2008

Tonight’s Show

Quick blog that tonight I'm back on air with a new show. New music from a duo I haven't played before Gulliver's Spree. And a nice surprise as I just found someone donated some old LP's to the station and I actually found a Ryan's Fancy album from 1972! So I'll play the whole side of that tonight. :)

10:31 PM

Views (18)·Edit

30 Dec 2007

December 22nd Rundown/New Year’s Eve on NTV

Current mood:cheerful

Rundown of the Christmas episode done last week. Not up on the CFRC.ca website but here is a download link.

Windows Media Audio file and it's about 14 MB. Original file is 55 MB so a much smaller download. Think the link stays up for 2 or 3 weeks.



December 22 RUNDOWN

'Blue, Red and Grey' , 'The Lowlands', 'Going to the Country' Teresa Ennis

'What If' Clarence Mason

'Wild Flowers', 'Running for the Door' Jessica Rhaye

'Christmas, Baby Please Come Home' U2

'Do They Know It's Christmas' Band Aid

'Come and I Will Sing You' Great Big Sea

'Lights of December' Kenny Butler

'Star of Logy Bay', 'The Wren' Shanneyganock

'Oh Holy Night', 'The Huron Carol', 'It Came Upon a Midnight Clear' Bruce Cockburn

-----

And the info on NTV's New Year's Eve Countdown. Airs locally in Nfld from 11:30 to 12:30am local time. So that's 11pm Atlantic, 10pm EST, 8pm Alberta. NTV is available on:

Bell ExpressVu 199

StarChoice 310

Shaw Digital Cable in Vancouver, Calgary and Edmonton

I'll describe the show from what the past few years have been like, from my memory. :)

Show has Toni Marie Wiseman hosting a year in review of the local music scene in Newfoundland and before midnight there is a countdown followed by a shot of

downtown St. John's fireworks.

After midnight is more of the year in review but also there is a ticker wishing Happy New Year to every single community in Newfoundland and Labrador. The ticker goes past 1am and keeps going for a few hours. I always wait to see places I've visited and of course Placentia where I was born. Of course it takes a while to get to the letter P. ha ha.

Mention it for viewers who might like to get to bed early or just catch the first New Year's celebration in North America. And Toni Marie had a flu over Christmas which she's still fighting so thought I'd try and get her a few more viewers. :)

Toni's part is taped of course but they don't try and pretend she's LIVE like I mentioned during last night's show that 'Dick Clark's Rockin New Year's Eve' does. If you watch ABC show notice the parts in Los Angeles are all taped days in advance but they pretend as if they are there live. Sneaky.

Happy New Year to whoever reads the blog here. Next show is not till Jan. 13th but I'm sure I'll put some new updates on here before then. Talk to you in 2008.

7:55 PM

Views (15)·Edit

29 Dec 2007

Last Show of 2007

Last week's show is still not up on the website, of course with the holidays not a big surprise but once it's up I'll let everyone know.

Tonight playing songs I've played since the show started in May. Probably tell a bit about how the show was the first month when I was scouring for music myself. And how it's progressed since then.

Next show isn't till January 13th since Queen's Hockey is back next weekend. After that only bumped once in February as University hockey playoffs start that month. It will give me some time to get all the CD's organized and play ones I haven't played much so far.

Hope everyone had a good Christmas break. :)

5:39 PM

Views (18)·Edit

24 Dec 2007

Merry Christmas

Current mood:cheerful

I'd give everyone the rundown for Saturday's show and that 3 hour stretch I did last Friday, BUT they aren't on the archive yet. Guess with the holidays that will be delayed a bit. D'oh.

So here are the two song I played on the show. I played them straight off of YouTube on the show since I couldn't find the albums at the station. Didn't sound too bad on the radio considering. :)

Band Aid - Do They Know It's Christmas

U2 - Christmas, Baby Please Come Home

Merry Christmas to anyone reading this. Thanks to the everyone who sent me CD's, or MP3's since I started the show in May. Much appreciated. Like getting a lot of small Christmas gifts over the summer and fall. :)

One more show next week before 2007 wraps up. And I'll be on CFRC hosting one of the sports shows from 4pm-4:30pm on Christmas Day. Since it's the only thing LIVE the entire day might be fun to listen too.

Happy Holidays

7:14 AM

Views (13)·Edit

20 Dec 2007

Filling in Friday/4 Hours

Current mood:cheerful

Filling in as host of Offsides on Friday afternoon at 4pm. Sports show but this week just doing a best of. So I'll host and play some interviews Tyler and Brendan have done over the past year.

But from 5pm-8pm EST I'll also be playing music. No idea what I'll be playing. Some East Coast stuff of course [Canadian Content] but some longer stuff and I'll finally have some time to see what's in the vinyl section. Yep we have a huge vinyl collection and have turntables to play them.

I'll be pulling out Echoes by Pink Floyd during the show. It's 23 minutes long, maybe I'll play a Live version done this past summer by David Gilmour at the Royal Albert Hall in London. That's even longer. :)

4:54 PM

Views (15)·Edit

16 Dec 2007

Rundown/ECMA on CBC info

Amazingly the show is already up on the website, not even 24 hours later. Link to it:



Snow is coming down now. We got lucky since we had no snow overnight, just started this morning. So here is the rundown. I'll give the contact info for the ECMA and CBC later on. If you heard the show you'll know why. :)

Ron Hynes "Dirt Poor", "Dry", "Boy from Old Perlican"



Irish Descendants "Acadian Saturday Night", "Bridget Flynn"





Hugh Hall "Old Walmart", "I'se de Bye"

Hugh recorded his own CD, and lives in Fenelon Falls, ON. Can be reached at ruffles1@netscape.ca

Sherry Ryan "One of those Amazing Nights", "You Broke My Heart"





Kenny Butler "Lights of December", "Breathe the Air"





Second link is Kenny's audio company in St. John's. He combined his music and audio knowledge and started a company out there. Helping out

Jill Porter "Rock and Roll Songs", "You Made Yourself Clear", "Down Here Tonight", "I'll Be Fine"





All right the contact info. CBC decided to get rid of airing the ECMA's live awards show. They're going to do a 1 hour CLIP SHOW at a later date. If they did a few shows of clips and taped stuff from the weekend that would be one thing. But a one time show that will most likely be in a terrible time slot? That nobody will see?

On the radio show I forgot to mention the actual Facebook group where I read about this last month. Oops. :) I got going talking about the CBC/ECMA and forgot.

Support East Coast Music! Demand the ECMA awards show back on CBC!



From what I can gather the CBC made the decision and the ECMA are stuck with it. Like when CFL had to bite their tongue a couple of times. lol. So the contact info. Premier of Nova Scotia supports getting the awards show back on CBC by the way. A few extra emails never hurt. :)

Communications - English Networks

250 Front Street West

P.O. Box 500, Station A

Toronto, Ontario M5W 1E6

1-866-306-INFO (4636) Toll-free

416-205-6688 (TDD)

website: cbc.ca/contact/

ECMA Head Office

Confederation Centre of the Arts

145 Richmond Street

Charlottetown, PE C1A 1J1

Phone - 1-902-892-9040

Fax - 1-902-892-9041

Email - ecma@ecma.ca

3:00 PM

Views (17)·Edit

15 Dec 2007

December 8th Rundown

Current mood:amused

Show tonight which I should be able to finish right as this MASSIVE snowstorm is coming through. And I have to work Sunday Night, d'oh. :)

There are slots open over the holidays at the station to fill in since the students are gone home so I might get an extra show or two. So if any BONUS episodes of 'Salt Water Music' pop up I'll everyone here so they might be able to listen. Might try to get one around Christmas.

Info for last week's show so I'm finally caught up on the rundowns. There was no show on December 1st so here we go.

Show available at this link, open with your media player and it will start playing.



Great Big Sea "Come and I will Sing You", "The River Driver



Max Murphy "As Those Waves Roll on the Shore", "Ballad of the Tailgunner"



Les Lahey "Fisherman's Boy", "John Leary"

jol@

Les is originally from Hearts Desire, NL but currently living in Alberta. He is currently working on a CD of his own original nfld music. Les says he is new to the Newfoundland music scene so hopefully we can start him getting noticed a bit.

You can email Les Lahey at jol@

Shanneyganock "The Star of Logy Bay", "The Wren"





Teresa Ennis "Under the Moon", "Downstream"





The Human Soundtrack "All Those Staring People", "Off Kilter Electronic Blues", "On Time"







10:07 AM

Views (13)·Edit

9 Dec 2007

Nov. 24 Rundown

Almost caught up now with the rundowns, here is the one for November 24th.

Mr. Macguire - Banshee



The Scrutch Blanket Set - Slainte Mhate



Down East Day - The Fables



Love is Coming Down, Good Old Friends - Cliffy Short



Lost Time - Sean Kemp Band



Dead Enders, The Same, Wise Move - The Lever Pulled



The Making of the Home Brew, Nancy - Jim Forward



Crazy Old World, Voodoo Lady - Michael Carey

Que Sera Sera - Holly Cole Trio



On My Own - Denielle Hann



Weep to Shine - Virgina Fudge



1:10 AM

Views (13)·Edit

2 Dec 2007

Nov. 10th Rundown

Current mood:accomplished

Better late than never the rundown for November 10th, 2007. Link to the show is here, use OPEN URL in your Media Player to listen.



Jessica Rhaye "Running for the Door", "Holding Out"



Followed by 3 songs by Melissa Hunt. You can listen to her songs on her MySpace page so visit there too. Melissa told me she met Jessica Rhaye a few years ago, which I had no idea about till after I played them back to back on the show. Wow, small world I guess. :)

Melissa Hunt "How Did You Change", "My Life is Not Up to You", "Prairie Sky"



Then I aired the interview I did with Jon McKiel and played 3 of his songs.

Jon McKiel "War on You", "123 My Friends", "Get Caught"



Great Big Sea "Excursion Around the Bay", "What Are Ya' At?"



Teresa Ennis "Red, Blue and Grey", "The Lowlands", "Going to the Country"



Thanks to Teresa for mentioning the show in her last blog on MySpace. She thanked the stations that played her CD and show here was on the list.



1:10 AM

Views (17)·Edit

1 Dec 2007

Hockey Game today

Current mood:refreshed

Hockey game tonight, so no Salt Water Music tonight. Don't worry, last game of the school term so no interruptions till January 2008. Yep 2008 is coming close.

And the amount of views on the BLOG here just passed 2005 so people are reading this, why they are is a different question. ha ha.

6:28 AM

Views (11)·Edit

24 Nov 2007

Back Tonight

Back on air tonight with the show, next week Queen's Hockey again so the last show till December. Yikes, Christmas is coming. Especially since we got our first snowfall in Kingston this week.

Tonight's hour will be all music I haven't played before. Some CD's I haven't played and some MP3's from the internet.

Last week was incredibly busy with work, the hockey games and my birthday. So I'm glad this weekend is slow and I'm just doing the radio show. LOL.

11:59 AM

Views (8)·Edit

17 Nov 2007

Show Bumped for Hockey/Back Next Week

Quick reminder the show isn't on this week, got the Queen's-McGill hockey game. The annual "Kill McGill" game as it's called. Truthfully I don't know why it's called that or why it's such a big deal but it should be fun.

Only one game planned to bump the show in December so look forward to that. LOL.

cheers

11:43 AM

Views (6)·Edit

9 Nov 2007

This Week’s Show

This week's show is the interview I did with Jon McKiel recently. Taped before Halloween but couldn't air last week due to hockey.

Also new music from Melissa Hunt who I haven't played before on the show.

Got CD's from Teresa Ennis and Jessica Rhaye this week so I'll be playing that too.

8:41 PM

Views (11)·Edit

2 Nov 2007

Bumped this week for hockey

Forgot that with no playoff football this week, the station is doing its first hockey broadcast of the year this Saturday Night. It snuck up on us so I didn't mention it on air last week. Oops. I was thinking about the loss instead of hockey :)

I might have a few minutes to play some music, but I think the puck drops at 8:30pm EST so I can't see me ending up with more than 10 minutes at the end. But I'll be there working on the game and you might hear me read some sports scores between periods if you tune in.

Next week I'll play an interview I did with Jon McKiel this past Tuesday afternoon.

7:48 AM

Views (4)·Edit

27 Oct 2007

Queen’s One and Done

Current mood:blah

Had a bad feeling about the playoff game today. Last week's game they didn't play very well and today I wake up and it's cloudy, rain and drizzle. Bad omen? ha ha.

Queen's lost 27-19 against Western. One playoff game and out. Bright spot means on Saturdays I don't have to go to the station to do the game, go home for a few hours then go back. :) Team didn't play that well today so I don't mind the result. Other team played much harder today.

So no more Football till next September. Yes it's a short season up here. ;-)

5:17 PM

Views (4)·Edit

26 Oct 2007

This Week

Saw Ian Foster this week performing on NTV News and heard about the MUSICNL show this weekend. So this week I'll do an hour on the singers who are up for an award, I have enough songs to do that. Plus it will be an easier hour for me to do since I think I've played all the artists before. Playoff football game might go a long time with the post game show depending if Queen's wins or loses.

Game starts at 1pm on Saturday. For those sports fans, or Queen's alumni who might be reading. :) I pop up after the game and play some music till the next show starts.

11:10 PM

Views (8)·Edit

23 Oct 2007

October 20th Rundown

Rundown for October 20, 2007. CFRC archives are working so enter that date and 22:00 for the time and you can hear this full hour. Which I somehow ended exactly at 11pm, don't ask me how I did that. :)

Johnny Burke "Hound Dog", "Catfish John"



Kendra Gale "Nobody", "Wish", "Colorful"





Haines/Leighton "Hand to Hand", "Welcome to Elmsdale"



Sherry Ryan "This Old Boat"



The Lever Pulled "Wise Move", "The Same"

[FREE Download]



Chris Colepaugh and The Cosmic Crew "Spotless Mind", "Hard to Say"



[Not a typo :) ]

Les Paiens "Cafe A'Vaught", "PG"



7:42 AM

Views (9)·Edit

17 Oct 2007

Oct. 6th and 13th Rundowns [Finally]

Finally was able to sit down and go thru the last two week's of shows and give everyone what what songs I played. Go to CFRC.ca and to the archives in case you missed the shows. Enter these dates and time of 22:00 to listen. :)

October 6

Chillin Room "Concentrate" and "Epic"



Tracy Starr "Make Believe"



Kevin Chase "Another Road"



Jacobus et Maleco "Mon Addiction", "Chaque Jour"



Bluegrass Diamonds "Je t'aime", "Clinch Mountain Back Step", "Faux Promise"



Les Paiens "Sa Revanche", "Gauche Droit Gauche"



October 13

Nathan Wiley "One of the Worst Ones", "Getaway", "Fistful of Throttle"



The Lever Pulled "Horrible", "Suggestions" and "Ina Kelly"





Sproll "In My Room", "Nobody's Fault"



Chris Colepaugh and the Cosmic Crew "Coffee Shop", "After the Gold Rush"





Kendra Gale "Untitled for Now"





Sherry Ryan "Clarity" and "Sweet Land"



The Lever Pulled "Look Away"

10:10 PM

Views (26)·Edit

16 Oct 2007

Homecoming/Passing 150

Homecoming around Queen's was less crazy than previous years thankfully. Even though the Toronto Star put a big story on Homecoming on page THREE of the Monday paper. Ummm is Kingston in Toronto? I didn't think so. But since The Star sent a reporter to Kingston I guess they needed to make a big story about it to make sending the reporter worth it. :)

It still is a crazy party that I would avoid but I had to walk a few blocks after the show Saturday night. Only walked into one drunk student. And it was a girl by the way. Equality has arrived. lol.

The page passed 150 friends so that's a good milestone to notice. I'll start working on the missed rundown of the last two week's shows tomorrow night. Hopefully things will calm down with work and stuff soon.

And Queen's clinched a home playoff game so we get at least an extra week of football. Good for the station and for the students to have a playoff game on the radio. :)

6:31 PM

Views (11)·Edit

11 Oct 2007

Indie Wake Up Call, Friday Morning

Current mood:awake

For those who are early risers I'll be filling in Friday Morning from 8am-10am on CFRC. "Indie Wake Up Call" which is the morning show, I'll be lone host and playing East Coast stuff with other stuff thrown in.

Just downloaded the new Radiohead album so I'll play that too. And I paid nothing for it LEGALLY. They put it on their own website and they let the fans decide what to pay for it before they download it....... well since they're a rich band they can do that. :)

Sorry for the delay on last week's rundown, I'll try to get it up on Friday Night. The photocopier was not working so I'll have to go thru the show and figure out what I played. lol.

8:36 AM

Views (14)·Edit

6 Oct 2007

Tonight’s Show/All N.B.

Current mood:busy

Doing the football game right now, Queen's beating Ottawa right now 7-4 in the 2nd half. Would be a big upset so I'll cross my fingers.

Tonight's show will be ALL New Brunswick. Got a box of CD's from MusicNB so I have a lot of new music so tonight will be all new stuff. English and French by the way so that will be interesting to hear tonight. I haven't even heard a lot of the artists yet, so it should be a fun show.

And looks like I'll be a guest on a internet radio show on Monday Night. Go to SOWNY.ca and you can listen LIVE at 7pm EST on Monday. Thanksgiving Monday so hopefully if you're reading this you have that night off. :)

3:30 PM

Views (6)·Edit

4 Oct 2007

Busy Week

Hi gang, busy week with work and fighting the flu. Sorry for not getting the rundown up earlier. Last show of September.

Flu has hit me so bad I can't make the trip to Toronto for Dana's CD release party. But for those in T.O. it's at the Cadillac Lounge tonight at 10pm. :)

"I Still Love My Old Guitar" Michael Carey

"Another Just Like Me", "Pass Me By" Cliffy Short



"Simple Things", "Clarity" Sherry Ryan





"Not Here With You", "Fall", "See You Again" Dana Parsons



danaparsons

"We Are Not Lovers", "Somehow Someway", "This Is the Moment" Shaye



"Match in Gasoline" Michael Lake





5:48 PM

Views (9)·Edit

29 Sep 2007

Tonight’s Show

Got some new CD's this week so an hour of new music from the East Coast. Also play some Dana Parsons as she's having her CD release party in Toronto this week, which I'm going to. I'll give out more info during the show for those who might be able to make it.

I might be making an appearance soon on an internet radio show, I'll let you know more when I'm postive. :)

2:41 PM

Views (8)·Edit

27 Sep 2007

’Back to Normal’ Show

Current mood:cheerful

This week the first normal show in 3 weeks. :)

Last week short show due to football and the week before had the interview with Alex from "Your Favorite Enemies". Met Alex and some others from the band last Saturday night after their show. Football game ran late so I didn't see ANY of them actually performing. D'oh. But was nice to meet a band I've played on the show.

And a hello to all the YFE fans who emailed me lately. They have a great fanbase around the world and were quite happy to hear the interview.

Thanks to everyone on the East Coast who has sent me CD's recently, I'll start playing all the new stuff I've gotten starting this week. It will take me a while to play a track from each one during the show. Probably take me till November. LOL.

10:05 AM

Views (8)·Edit

25 Sep 2007

Sept. 22 Rundown

Rundown for the two shows I did on Saturday Night. First a 45 minute edition of Blues Project before Football.

Blues Project

Link:

Downchild "Wednesday Night Blues"

GlamourPuss "Peter Gunn", "Green Onions", "It's a Blues Thing", "Zydeco Boogaloo", "Blues before Sunrise"

Yes a lot of GlamourPuss, but we were getting ready to put the game on so I was busy and thought playing one CD would be easier. LOL.

Then the regular show which didn't start till 10:35pm so if you try and listen you'll have to wait a while till I come on.

Salt Water Music

[35 Minutes into it]

Jessica Rhaye "Running for the Door"

Glamour Puss "Street Walker"

Darcy Mazerolle "Nice Try"

Krista D "Extraordinary"

Subliminal "Winter Blues"

Don Brownrigg "These A.M. Times", "About Her"

That last song actually went into the next hour so to hear that just listen to this file.



8:18 AM

Views (5)·Edit

22 Sep 2007

Tonight’s Show after Football

Tonight's show airs after football, when that will be? Don't know. I forgot the game is also on TV across Canada on "The Score", I mention that since that means the game gets TV Timeouts added. For those who don't know when a game is on TV they stop the game a few times just to air a commercial break at home. Those at the stadium just sit around and wait. :)

Which means the game takes much longer to finish. which means less time for me tonight. We're back to normal next week, and this is the only Saturday Night football game this season.

Queen's is winning right now, they'll be 4-0 if they win. Great start, especially when they only have eight games in the season.

7:38 PM

Views (3)·Edit

20 Sep 2007

Full Interview with Alex from YFE

Got the full interview up on one of those free hosting sites, two versions. MP3 which is 35 MB, so a tad big and for those with high speed. Other Windows Media Audio, much smaller file at 9MB. Sound quality is a bit less but with an interview you won't notice a big difference.

Full Interview with Alex_YFE.mp3 Size: 35MB



Name: Full Interview with Alex_YFE_WMA.wma Size: 9MB



For both just scroll down to where you see an arrow pointing to "Download Link: Full Interview..." and click on that. Pretty easy. Last thing is us talking about hockey, then I stopped recording so there isn't a wrap up at the end. :)

8:08 AM

Views (8)·Edit

16 Sep 2007

Sept. 15th Rundown

Current mood:content

Hi gang, show is already up on the archive so to hear it again here is the link, as always use OPEN URL in your media player to play it.



I'll put up a link to the full interview on Monday, got work tonight so I'll get that together tomorrow. Heard we had a lot of online listeners around the WORLD last night for the interview. Japan, France, U.S. and I personally got a message from Australia. Power of the world wide web. :) Hopefully a few of time might tune in again in the future.

Onto the rundown of the show.

"In It" Don Brownrigg



"La Reel des Iles" Vishten



"Downtown Girl" The Irish Descendants



Interview with Alex Foster from 'Your Favorite Enemies' and played songs from the band's new EP



Songs were, "Open Your Eyes", "Midnight's Crashing", "Little Sister", "Hold Me Tight" and "Left Behind"

And I ended the show with "These A.M. Times" by Don Brownrigg

Reminder next week we'll be after the Queen's Football game, probably around 10:20-10:30pm EST. Or later depending on how late the game goes. ha ha.

5:32 PM

Views (22)·Edit

14 Sep 2007

This Week and Next Week’s show

This week's show will be different than usual, interview with Alex Foster whose band is coming to Kingston next Saturday Night. "Your Favorite Enemies" is coming to the Merchant Tap House on the 22nd for those in the Kingston area.

I'll play some East Coast songs at the top of the show then play the interview and their songs from the new EP. Listeners can always comment here on if they like the longer interviews on the show. I try to balance it out but feel free to give your opinion.

Next week show we'll be shorter than usual as we're bumped up a bit till the Queen's Football game ends. But I tech those games so I guess I'm getting bumped by me. :) Kickoff is at 7pm and sports fans know football games don't end in 3 hours so we might end up with 30-45 minutes next week left.

Also online listeners might have a real hard time listening next week. The football is the most popular thing on the station and during both games I've had people phone in about not being able to get the feed online. That's because the limit for online listeners had been reached. :-0

So I'll have a normal show again on the 29th, thanks to everyone for sending CD's recently. It will take me at least 2 months of shows to get thru all the ones I've gotten lately. :)

1:28 PM

Views (19)·Edit

11 Sep 2007

Sept. 8th Show/Rundown

Later than usual, was waiting for the show to get archived so I could give a link. Here we go for September 8th. Paste the following link into whatever media player you use. :)



First half of the show was Rock with 'Air Traffic Control' and the interview I did with Kirk from the band last week. Intercut with the interview were songs from the new CD

'To Be Free'. Played the songs 'Around', 'What Stays', 'Move On', 'Only Child', 'To Be Free' and 'Staying On'.





Second half of the show was Dana Parsons. Pop and a bit of a jazz influence for the second half of the show. Played songs from her CD, 'It's You Not Me'. Played 'No One Has To Know', 'Juliet', 'Better Part of You', 'It's You Not Me', 'Lay Me Low' and 'Stop Pretty Baby'.





1:06 AM

Views (4)·Edit

8 Sep 2007

Tonight’s Show

Current mood:busy

Quick update for tonight's show. Plan is for two artists tonight. The interview I did last week with Kirk and play music from 'Air Traffic Control'. Rest of the show Dana Parsons, whose birthday was last week [Happy Birthday] and she's having a CD release party in Toronto next month. So her for the second half.

Part of the reason is I also have the Queen's Football game to work on Sunday afternoon, so decided to have an easy show tonight for me to do. 13 hours after I finish the show I'll be back at the station getting ready for football. That will be a quick turnaround. ;-)

So probably the rundown delayed till Sunday Night.

6:31 PM

Views (6)·Edit

4 Sep 2007

Queen’s Overtime Win

That was a fun start to the football season. Queen's losing 20-6 to Western but they come back to win the game in Overtime 26-20. I'll probably play a clip on this week's show since the first home game is Sunday afternoon.

Yes, that means I'll be at the station Saturday Night till about 11:15pm then back in Sunday around 12pm to get ready for the game. We'll see how tired I am after this weekend. :)

This week will be the interview I did with Kirk from Air Traffic Control and songs from their new album. Along with other music with whatever is left of the hour.

5:55 PM

Views (6)·Edit

2 Sep 2007

Sept. 1st Rundown and link to show

Hello gang, first off the links to the show. I had an extra few minutes at the end so played an extra song. That is on the second link along with the show that is after 'Salt Water Music' from now on. 'This Night Wounds Time'

In case you hadn't noticed, during the summer the show after mine was taped...... well since the same episode aired for about 6 weeks in a row it was kind of noticeable, lol. So now the show that started at 12am is now at 11pm. Better since I can go a little long and play an extra song if need be and listening to a live radio show is always better. :)

Salt Water Music, Sept. 1st

"No Fool For You" and 'This Night Wounds Time'

Now the rundown of the show.

Elyssa Mahoney w/Jeff Healey on guitar "Hold on I'm Comin"



Melanie Ross "Front Porch"



Jennie Pardy "Even Dragons Cry", "Fight of My Life"



Air Traffic Control "Around"





Dana Parsons "Stop Pretty Baby"



Beacon Point "Change of Mind"



Clip of the radio call of 'Michigan-Applechain State' football game. Not music but fun to listen to. :)

Chelsea Parsons "Salt Water Joys"





Kenny Butler "Sketchy" , "Breathe the Air"



Ian Foster "Berlin", "No Fool For You" [Demo versions]





You can vote for two of these songs on the East Coast Countdown website.



Air Traffic Control song "Around" was number 3 last week, and you can vote for "Breathe the Air" by Kenny Butler also.

3:35 PM

Views (14)·Edit

31 Aug 2007

This Week’s Show

Current mood:content

First show of the fall is tomorrow, around here fall kicks in soon as Sept. hits with Queen's students coming back.

Playing another song from Jennie Pardy this week. Also some new artists haven't played before. One singer I heard at the Kingston Blues Festival, Elyssa Mahoney. Also Melanie Ross from New Brunswick, and the band Air Traffic Control from Nova Scotia.

On next week's show I'll air an interview I just did with the lead singer Kirk, from Air Traffic Control. Been a busy week, so didn't want to rush thru editing it.

And for local sports fans Queen's Football kicks off on CFRC this Monday Night. Yes, Monday Night. It's a road game and a 7pm start on Labour Day. Why a late start on a holiday? Don't know. :)

I'll be doing the technical production stuff on those games so chances are if you hear my voice during the game something has gone wrong. ha ha.

3:08 PM

Views (7)·Edit

26 Aug 2007

Aug. 25 link

Current mood:sleepy

Archive is back up and running, well for me it is. I know how the files are described now so I can find the show. If you go to the CFRC website right now you can listen to the "old" version of the archive only. But I'm sure that will change soon enough.

Anyway, enough techno mumbo jumbo. Just use OPEN URL with you media player to open this file and listen to the last episode.



This should be my last blog till next week's show, I'm going to get some rest after the Blues Festival. I also went on Sunday which was pretty laid back. I saw some people sleeping while some of the songs were being played in Confederation Park. :)

And if you're interested tune it to CFRC at 5pm on Tuesday to Between the Lines. As the sports show I work on comes to an end for now. Been a fun show this summer.

11:38 PM

Views (5)·Edit

26 Aug 2007

Blues Festival/Weather

Current mood:tired

Since I already gave the song list, a quick recap of Saturday at the Blues Festival.

Past three days was some strange weather for Kingston, a heavy rain storm every day. And each day had hours of sun with high humidity. Weird. Before I taped the show on Thursday cool and pouring rain. Two hours later I leave the station, bright and sunny and sticky.

But Saturday from 3pm-11pm downtown not one drop of rain. Whew. Yes I was there about 8 hours. Great music and nice weather. Went so late I missed hearing any of the show on the radio..... one week the show is taped and I don't even get to hear myself on the radio? Ironic.

More irony? That last song I played on the show called "You Were Wrong"? One of the bands did that exact song this afternoon in Kingston. Sure the odds of that happening were pretty low. LOL.

12:57 AM

Views (4)·Edit

23 Aug 2007

August 25th Rundown/All Blues Show

Current mood:content

Yes a rundown of a show that hasn't aired yet. Possible when you tape it on a Thursday afternoon. :) Show is all blues from East Coast seeing as I'll be at the Kingston Blues Festival.

A lot of the New Brunswick group, 'Glamour Puss' as the station has 4 of their CD's there. So I played a bit from each one.

I also play a clip of last week's Sasktachewan RoughRiders "blackout" football game. Made it up for the sports show I work on and was fun to listen to. I was recording the CKRM Radio feed on the computer when the whole stadium lost power. Happened when I got home after last week's show so was a long night as I waited for the game to end. Kickoff was 10pm EST so you can imagine with a 1 hour delay how long I was up, ha ha.

I'm hoping for good weather on the weekend, fingers crossed. So here are the songs on this week's show before you hear them.

Smokin Joe Wiseman "Cheatin Blues", "Everything But Me", "I Woke Up With the Blues"





Glamour Puss "But They Should", "Fishbelly", "Maman Don't Play No Zydeco"



Ross Neilsen "Source of Light"





Matchstick Mike "Stormy Monday"



Charlie A'Court "Seeing You Around"



Glamour Puss "Bluesman's Prayer", "Georgia on My Mind"

Glamour Puss [Live Tracks] "Easy Money Mumbo Jumbo", "Green Onions", "You Were Wrong"



9:29 PM

Views (7)·Edit

22 Aug 2007

Link to Aug. 18th show

Current mood:good

Hello gang, got the link to last week's show. New archive has a different way of writing the address but I found out what it is. So go to OPEN URL with your Media Player as usual.



Right now you can't get to that link from the CFRC website since they have the old archive still there. So if you're reading this you're one of the few who know how to listen to the show. :)

And I'm taping Saturday's show tomorrow afternoon, going all Blues with the Blues Festival in town. So I'll get back to playing a mix of everything on September 1st show. Usually most people avoid saying they're taped on air, but then the question would arise, "how can Rob be hosting the show and at the Blues Festival at the exact same time?" ha ha.

12:50 PM

Views (10)·Edit

19 Aug 2007

August 18th Rundown

Current mood:relaxed

Late Sunday Night but getting the weekly lineup out. Every song but two are from the "Atlantic Standards Volume 1 CD" from Warner Music. Decided to relax this week and playing that helped since just one CD to worry about for most of the show. :)

No archive link for last night's show right now, website maintenance and I heard they put in a new program that archives the show for the website. But once it's up I'll add a link. Last week's show is in limbo too. D'oh.

Threw in an Elvis song as the Blues Project at 6pm on CFRC played some Elvis this week. Thought that be a nice change of pace near the end.

Next week's show might be taped like I mentioned on the show, but it will be brand new so not much of a difference. Except I'll be able to hear my own show on the radio for once.

Great Big Sea "General Taylor" [Live Version]



J.P. Cormier "Kelly's Mountain"



Celtic Connection "Last Shanty"





Max Murphy "I Turned Left At Eganville"



Rawlins Cross "MacPherson's Lament"



Rita MacNeil "Working Man"



Ashley MacIssac featuring Mary Jane Lamond "Sleepy Maggie"





Natalie MacMaster "Drunken Piper"



Shanneyganock "Whiskey In The Jar"



Elvis Presley "Heartbreak Hotel"

[Now that's any easy website to remember]

The Fables "Heave Away"



Lennie Gallant "Which Way Does the River Run"



The Cottars "The Briar and the Rose"

[Currently down]



Seems that the band is going thru some changes right now. I've pieced together that they have a new lineup. Second site has been updated recently, but looks like people left the band.

11:34 PM

Views (10)·Edit

12 Aug 2007

August 11 Rundown/Week 13 [that explains the bad luck]

Current mood:busy

Checked which week of the show I just finished and it was unlucky 13. Explains the mistake I made when I accidentally hit the keyboard by mistakes and Jennie's song paused for about 2 seconds. :) Of course those listening online probably just thought the radio stream was buffering. lol.

Found out Queen's is doing system maintenance so the archive at the CFRC website is down for a while, students coming back soon so that's why they're getting it done now. But I'll get a link to this week's show on Wednesday.

Onto the rundown.

Rankin Family "Fare Thee Well Love"



Barra MacNeils "Darling be Home Soon"



Jennie Pardy "Fight for your Life"



Max Murphy "Ballad of the Tail Gunner"





Clarence Mason "Hand of Hope"



Great Big Sea "Great Big Sea/Gone by the Board"





Kenny Butler "Breathe The Air"



Ian Foster "No Fool For You" [DEMO]





Sean Kemp Band "Lost Time"





Mark Bragg "Plans for the Boys"





Teresa Ennis "Can't Get You Out of my Head"





Jimmy Rankin "Morning Bound Train"



1755 "Hallo Joe"



In French, English button isn't working on the webpage :)

CD's available at Amazon

4:27 PM

Views (11)·Edit

7 Aug 2007

Aug. 4th link/100 Friends

Current mood:awake

Since the CFRC Archive hasn't caught up yet, here is a link to the August 4th edition of the show. 14 MB in size, Windows Media File.



And this site passed 100 Friends on the weekend. When I started the show I thought that might happen by Halloween, not end of August. :)

Realized while listening to the station I've never given out the phone number you can call during the show. It's the "request line". Now of course pretty hard to make a request for the hour I host since I don't have a tonne of CD's at my disposal. But you can make a request for the following week and I'll do my best to get it. Or you can call me if you're bored out of your skull on a Saturday night. LOL.

613-533-CFRC [2372]

7:22 PM

Views (13)·Edit

5 Aug 2007

August 5th Rundown/Max Murphy Interview

Current mood:creative

Rundown of this week's show, August 5th edition with first part of the interview I did with Max Murphy. Thanks to Max for doing the interview, we had a long chat so I'll be playing the rest of that over the next few weeks. Have the clips of Max talking about the 9 other songs on his CD so I'll play each of those before I play the songs over the coming weeks.

Only 3 shows left in August. Summer flew by. Show isn't going anywhere so I'll be here for a while. :) Link to this week's show is here, it's NOT up right now as of Sunday at 3:45pm but this is where you can hear it once the archive gets it up.



The Irish Descendants, "Lark in the Morning"





Ron Hynes, "Cryer's Paradise"





Max Murphy, "When We Shall Sail Away", "My Old Man Built A Boat", "A Day Out On The Bay" and "As Those Waves Roll On The Shore"

At CD Baby, the site also links on the left hand side to other online options like ITunes. Pretty nice to have all the links in one spot.





Email Max : upalong@nb.sympatico.ca

Nathan Wiley, "Seven Reasons"



The Contingencies, "I Shatter"

New CD available soon

Jessica Rhaye, "Holding Out"



1 for SIX weeks in a row on the East Coast Countdown

Glamour Puss, "Hide Away"



For another hour of East Coast Music you can listen to the East Coast Countdown at:



3:16 PM

Views (22)·Edit

4 Aug 2007

Link to last week’s show/Tonight

CFRC Archive isn't working for last week's show so here is a link to it, 14 MB Windows Media File. Episode with the Ian Foster interview and four of his songs. Scroll down to "Download Link: CFRC_2007-07-28_2200.wma " and click on that.



Tonight an interview I did Friday night with musician Max Murphy. Originally from Newfoundland and now living in my old stomping grounds of Oromocto, New Brunswick. Part of the interview will air tonight, we also talked about each song on his album so I'll be playing those clips over the next few weeks. One clip about a song I'll play tonight, as we ending up talking about the flooding in parts of Newfoundland this week. Strange to see Dunville/Placentia area on TV for a few nights.

6:39 PM

Views (7)·Edit

29 Jul 2007

Week 10, July 29th Rundown/Link to Ian Foster Interview

Current mood:awake

Rundown of this week's show, with the CFRC website issues I'm sure some people missed the show this week. I'll put up the link once it's up and running, the archive is down too right now.

Thanks to Ian Foster for doing the interview, I have a link to that for everyone. Especially since the CFRC archive is down for now.

Ian is playing Toronto this week on his tour of Ontario, Ottawa date got cancelled but keep watching his MySpace in case another date gets added while he's in the province.

But something to make up for the website problems. I have the entire interview here for everyone Unedited. I didn't do much editing for the show though. Few words here and there for clarity purposes. But the first couple of minutes is interesting, I was testing the levels when Ian asked me how I started the show. So I kept that in for everyone here. Little behind the scenes thing. And you can here me stop recording at the end too. :)

Two different sized files for those with high speed or dialup.

[13 MB mp3]

[3 MB Windows Media Audio File]

Scroll down to "Download Link: Unedited Ian Foster Interview" and click on that. I made the interview sound better when it aired but this is the RAW file so it won't sound as good.

Onto the rundown.

Mark Haines/Tom Leighton 'The Orange Blossom Special'



Ian Foster 'Troubadours', 'Urban Sprawl', 'Thousand Telephones' and 'This Silence'





29 July The Communist Daughter Toronto

30 July Mitzis Sister Toronto

3 Aug Cafe Nostalgica (CANCELLED) Ottawa

10 Aug The Rose and Thistle w/Jody Richardson St. John's

14 Aug The Sprout (All Ages) St. John's

19 Aug 2007 The Grapevine St. John's

Glamour Puss 'Peter Gunn'



Kenny Butler 'Breathe the Air'



The Contingencies 'Would You Tell Me'

The cd will be released on August 10 and will be available at Fred's Records, St. John's NL and online.

Nathan Wiley 'North American Dream'





3:20 PM

Views (15)·Edit

27 Jul 2007

Interview with Ian Foster on tomorrow's show

Current mood:calm

Taped the first interview for the show which will air on Saturday Night. Spoke to Ian Foster who is in the midst of a tour of Ontario. I'll play half of the interview, some of Ian's songs then the second half of the interview. Full thing was over 11 minutes, I'll post a link to it after the show on Sunday for those who might like to hear the whole thing at once.

Was going to send a Bulletin telling everyone about it but we'll see if it works since MySpace has been tweaking it. Out of all weekends to do that, ha ha.

And there's been a problem with the CFRC website past few days. Even affected some Queen's emails. But luckily the online feed is still working..... no I don't know how that is possible but it works. :)



This link worked for me in iTunes and VLC Media Player. But wouldn't work in Windows Media Player. So it does work but might have a pain getting it to work.

So hopefully everyone can catch the show like usual

9:15 PM

Views (11)·Edit

22 Jul 2007

Week 9/July 21 Rundown

Current mood:content

Hello again for another week, saw the blog page has had 7 views already on Sunday. Pretty good for a little radio show here in Kingston. Again the weekly rundown, this week eight artists I hadn't played before. All from MySpace actually. I'd explain how I get the songs but it would take two paragraphs to tell ya. :)

Didn't have time to mention it during the show but I saw Transformers few days ago, quite good since when I heard them making this I thought "oh no this might be horrible". Not only did I watch the TV show I bought the Marvel Comics back in the day.

Enough 80's nostalgia onto the rundown. Link to this week's show, open in your media player of course. Or a download program will work too.



Randy Bachman + the New Guitar Summit "Takin Care of Business" [Jazz Guitar Version]



Teresa Ennis "Can't get it out of my head", "Downstream"





GlamourPuss "Bluesman's Prayer", "Georgia on my Mind"



Vishten "Hermine"



[under construction so visit the MySpace page]

Jessica Rhaye "Holding Out"





Denielle Hann "On My Own"





Stride "Brutus and Fierce"





Stereotype "The Last Thing"





Steven Bowers "Mastodons"





Shermann "Soulsweeping"



Chris Kirby "Driving Song"





4:06 PM

Views (10)·Edit

15 Jul 2007

Week 8 Rundown

Current mood:refreshed

Rundown of the artist's and the songs from last night's show. Sunny today but cold wind off the lake, but better than the rainy day in Kingston on Saturday. Which I mention at the top of the show. After the show the streets were literally glistening with all the rain.



Cynthia Macleod "Sheldon MacNeil's Reel"



Nathan Condon "Jack Daniels"



Great Big Sea "Jack Hinks" and "Demasduit Dream"



The Irish Descendants "No Con Test" and "Yankee Tom"



Nathan Wiley "North American Dream" and "Fistful of Throttle"



Jill Porter "You Made Yourself Clear" and "Down Here Tonite"



Teresa Ennis "Under the Moon" and "Space"



Teresa's new website where you can listen to all songs from the new album

Ian Foster "Thousand Telephones" and "Urban Sprawl"





Smokin Joe Wiseman "I Woke Up With The Blues"





Beacon Point "Mr. Sunshine"



4:33 PM

Views (10)·Edit

11 Jul 2007

On Air Twice this Saturday

Current mood:amused

I'm filling in Saturday afternoon at CFRC this week hosting two hours of jazz. Here is the show's description for those interested.

Swing Swang Swung

Saturdays 2:00pm - 4:00pm

Swing Swang Swung is all about the music. Boogie, bop, blues, jump, fusion, free even a little world rhythm and pop sneak into the mix. I'll play it all as long it swings. I do my best to keep the gab informative and conversational and hope to bring some joyful noise to wherever you hang on Saturday afternoons.

----

So I'll be hosting three hours on Saturday, it will be interesting to see how it plays out. Host the jazz show then I have 6 hours till the usual show. As to what I'll be playing in the afternoon I have no idea till I go in on Saturday. So listen as I make it up as I go along. :)

2:41 AM

Views (8)·Edit

9 Jul 2007

Rundown

Current mood:cheerful

Hello, later than usual but here we go. I don't think I even mentioned the MySpace page during the show this week. Oops, it was one of those shows. Technical issues halfway thru meant I was dealing with more than one thing at at time. Don't think you can tell by listening to the show. LOL.

When I play the second song by Timothy Chiasson that gave me some time to fix something, a 6 minute song buys you some time. ;-)

As usual show archived here, OPEN URL with media player.



Little bit rushed this week, apologies for the lack of tour dates. You can find them thru the artist's MySpace pages. :)

Mark Haines/Tom Leighton "Crossing the province" and "Gumboot Clogeroo"



Chelsea Parsons "Zombie" and "Saltwater Joys"



Dana Parsons "It's You Not Me"



Jill Porter "Tea Story"



The Irish Descendants "Mick Maguire"





Beacon Point "Small Town"



Tim Chiasson "Crazy Girl" and "Strathesby bay"





Teresa Ennis "Annie"



Clarence Mason "Angels Cried in Heaven"



Ian Foster "This Silence"



Haines/Leighton "Accordian Polkas"



3:21 AM

Views (9)·Edit

29 Jun 2007

Salt Water Music Web Only Edition/Ryan's Fancy from Feb. 07

Current mood:cheerful

Here is the special WEB ONLY edition of the show for those interested. I explain the episode during the opening but little more space here to explain.

In Feb. 2007 there was "Reading Week" for Queen's students which is the name these days for Spring Break. Except they have it in February. :) So a lot of student programmers were out and needed people to fill in for them. I took the Sunday Night at 9pm slot. This was when I was just working the 'sports beat' at the station. Tech. Producer for Queen's Football/Hockey and a weekly sportscast.

For the most part at CFRC we try and do the same show as we're filling in for. But there are exceptions like the show I was in for. It was a show that was entirely done in Mandarin....... so needless to say getting someone to do that show would be quite hard. :)

I was just going to play songs I had leftover from Queen's games I would play during halftimes and intermissions. The week before I did the show Dermot O'Reilly from Ryan's Fancy passed away. I watched a lot of news from Newfoundland and the coverage from there.

So I ended up doing a tribute show to the band during my hour. For some reason doing the show on the band didn't dawn on me till Saturday, the day before I did the show. LOL. I know, a bit slow eh?

Here are two links to download the show first is a smaller 12 MB version, Windows Media Audio. Second link is the full MP3, 46 MB for those with fast connections. For both you just scroll down where you see a link like this with an arrow moving.

Download Link: ..>document_write(link_dec)..>Salt Water Music - Ryan's Fancy Show Feb 07.mp3

Click on the link and it will download. I'll be back with a new show on July 7th

Salt Water Music - Ryan's Fancy Show Feb 07.wma, 12 MB



Salt Water Music - Ryan's Fancy Show Feb 07.mp3, 46 MB



Listening back to it, it's not too bad considering I did it at the last minute. And quick thanks to my friend Toni Marie who emailed me some info for that show back then. She did a lot that week covering Dermot's passing but found some time to help me out. So thanks to her for that.

cheers,

Rob C.

7:09 PM

Views (7)·Edit

24 Jun 2007

Week 6 Rundown

Current mood:pleased

Lots of info in this blog, almost too much. But since there is no show next week [power outage] I added tour dates till next show we'll have on July 7th.

But I'll put something up in the meantime for listeners on the MySpace page here in a few days. Some new stuff and I'll play a fill in show I did in February at the station. It ended up being a pre-cursor to the show I do now even though I didn't know that at the time. Hmmmm mystery will wait a few days. LOL.

Week 6 show is archived here, open URL with your media player.



"Juliet", "Better Part of You" by Dana Parsons



Dana has a few shows upcoming for those of you in Newfoundland.

- Lunch time gig, downtown St. Johns in the murray Premisis FREE SHOW! on July 6th

- OZ FM birthday bash on George St. on July 7th at 2pm

- The Martini Bar above Peddlers on July 13th and 14th

And the Spirit of NL shows, first one here is the one starting on the 27th with Kenny Butler who I played on the show this week.

"When Larry Met Sally" starting June 27th, 2007

390 Duckworth Street, St. Johns, Newfoundland

Featuring original Script and music, this show will play summer long Wed-Fri.'s. at the beautiful Majestic Theatre located down town St. Johns.

This show features Dana Parsons, Barry Galloway, Melanie O'Brien, Sabrina Roberts, Kenny Butler, Teddy Malone. For more info contact the Spirit office: or : office2@nl. or by Tel: 709-579-1854

Later on in July Dana is doing a Sinatra show as well.

"Sinatra on the Rocks!" The Wilds Golf Resort 10/07/2007

Salmonier River Resort, Port Blandford, Newfoundland

Featuring Dana Parsons, Steve Power, Peter Halley and Sabrina Roberts! This show will run Tuesday nights all summer long! For ticket info contact: or: office2@nl. or by Tel: 709-579-1854 See you there!

"Sketchy" by Kenny Butler



"Downtown Girl, "Town of Bally Bay" by The Irish Descendants





"Empty Sea" by Beacon Point





"The Lowlands" by Teresa Ennis





"You Broke My Heart" by Sherry Ryan





Sherry's tour dates:

24 Jun 2007 The Mersey House Liverpool, NS

29 Jun 2007 Roxxy's St. John's, Newfoundland

30 Jun 2007 Rose & Thistle St. John's, Newfoundland

4 Jul 2007 Folk Night at the Ship St. John's, Newfoundland

10 Jul 2007 The Grapevine St. John's, Newfoundland

"You and the Truth" by Clarence Mason



Clarence is planning to setup buying online and is looking for some contacts that can help him distribute the CD's. So feel free to contact him at his email address or his home phone number. Both are at his website but I'll add them here as well.

Email clarence_mason@ , Home Phone 709.229.3981

"A Field by the Sea" by Smokin Joe Wiseman





Smokin Joe's tour dates:

30 Jun 2007 Clancy's Stephenville, Newfoundland

1 Jul 2007 Royal Canadian Legion Stephenville, Newfoundland

"Rock and Roll Songs" by Jill Porter





Jill's tour dates:

26 Jun 2007 The Grapevine st. john's, Newfoundland

29 Jun 2007 Roxxys with Lizband st. john's, Newfoundland

"Release Me" by Patrick Molloy





"Hours Feel Like Days" by Phobics



"Spanish Tea" by The Otherwise Called



"Roving Newfoundlander" by Shanneyganock





Shanneyganock's tour dates,

22 Jun 2007 Old Dublin Pub Charlottetown, Prince Edward

23 Jun 2007 Old Dublin Pub Charlottetown, Prince Edward

27 Jun 2007 Maynard's Hotel Hawkes Bay, Newfoundland

28 Jun 2007 Gros Morne Resort Gros Morne, Newfoundland

29 Jun 2007 Whelans Gate Corner Brook, Newfoundland

30 Jun 2007 Bruce Sport Center Port Aux Basques, Newfoundland

1 Jul 2007 Canada Day Community Event Placentia, Newfoundland

"Source of Light" by Ross Neilsen



Ross playing near Napanee, ON.

June 29, 2007 8.00pm at The Bookstore Cafe. Camden East, ON. Solo Show



Junction County Roads 1 & 4

Camden East, Ontario

K0K 1J0

7:22 PM

Views (26)·Edit

17 Jun 2007

Week 5 songlist/website/touring dates

Current mood:mellow

The songlist, artist websites, and the touring dates I mentioned are all here.

Busy show with a lot of info. So much I kept thinking "i'm forgetting something". After the show I realized what it was, I never mentioned my own name during the entire show. Oops. :) But I mentioned the MySpace page so at least I remembered that. lol.

Show is up on the archive. Ended the show with the last scene of the Sopranos. As I started playing the clip you hear Meadow say "SHIT", wasn't planned that way but was funny. :)



"Blue, Red and Grey" by Teresa Ennis





"One of those Amazing Nights" by Sherry Ryan





17 Jun 2007 House Concert Blockhouse, NS

18 Jun 2007 Tribeca with Ruth Minnikin St. John's, NS

21 Jun 2007 Petite Riviere Fire Hall Petite Riviere, NS

23 Jun 2007 Risser's Lounge Lunenburg, NS

24 Jun 2007 The Mersey House Liverpool, NS

"Cry After I'm Gone" by Barry Dewling





23 Jun 2007 Labbatts Easter Seals 24 hr Relay Paradise, Newfoundland

"Tomorrow Already" by Neil Conway





23 Jun 2007 Casual Jacks Corner Brook

"No One Has To Know" by Dana Parsons



Starting 27 Jun 2007 19:00 When Larry Met Sally! The Majestic Theatre

390 Duckworth Street, St. Johns, Newfoundland

Featuring original Script and music, this show will play summer long Wed-Fri.'s. at the beautiful Majestic Theatre located down town St. Johns. This show features Dana Parsons, Barry Galloway, Melanie O'Brien, Sabrina Roberts, Kenny Butler, Teddy Malone. For more info contact the Spirit office: or : office2@nl. or by Tel: 709-579-1854

"Troubadours" by Ian Foster





19 Jun 2007 The Grapevine w/Melanie O'Brien St. John's, Newfoundland

"Choices Decide" by Patrick Molloy





New CD coming out soon.

"The Sealer's Song" by Shawn Lidster





21 Jun 2007 The Stonehouse Pub Carbonear, Newfoundland

CD available at the website.

"Cheatin Blues" by Smokin Joe Wiseman



Brand new CD available at

"Under Black Lights" by Boswalos





22 Jun 2007 Stone's Place Toronto, Ontario

New CD out available at

"Born Trade" by Mark Bragg





"Avoid the Lazer Rain" by Trailer Camp



"Stop the Presses" by The Human Soundtrack





New CD coming out this summer.

5:11 PM

Views (24)·Edit

10 Jun 2007

Week 4 Rundown

Current mood:impressed

Week 4 in the books, changed it up now so I play one song by each artist I pick. Which is good seeing as all the new people I've talked to since the MusicNL email was sent out on Friday. :) I'll be sure to play a song by each person on my MySpace page over the next few shows.

As usual if this link doesn't play in an internet browser just use your Media Player to Open URL.



And quick hello to Teresa who listened to the show live last night on the website. Glad she enjoyed hearing her song.

cheers,

Rob

"Que Sera, Sera" Holly Cole



"Autumn Leaves" Jenny Gear





"Bottom Bunk" Johnston and Lear



"Going to the Country" Teresa Ennis



"Spotlight" Andrew LeDrew





"Recollection" Justin Merdsoy





"Narcalepsy" Shiest, Lee Fitz, Quake, Boy Ill









"The Kids Arrived" The Reaction



"One of the Worst Ones" Nathan Wiley





"Big Dark Canyon" Charlie A'Court



"Leaving On Sunday" Glamourpuss



"Trailer Trash" Carter Chaplin



"Stormy Monday" Matchstick Mike



"Walk on by" Ross Neilson



9:45 PM

Views (21)·Edit

3 Jun 2007

Week 3 songs

Current mood:relaxed

Songs from last night's show, somehow crammed 14 songs into the hour.

[To listen 'open URL' in your media player]

'Into The Night' and 'The Simplest Thing' by Hey Rosetta





'Lake of Fire', 'Star' and 'We are Water' by Shaye



'Fading into Obscurity', 'Listen to the Radio' and 'Who Taught You to Live like that' by Sloan



'It's a Shame', 'Sometimes I Gotta Go Down' and 'No One Quite Like You' by The Novaks





'Weep to Shine' by Virginia Fudge



'Puzzle Girl' by Kim Stockwood



'If I Fall' by Tara MacLean



7:51 PM

Views (24)·Edit

27 May 2007

Week 2 Rundown/Direct Link

Current mood:relaxed

Week 2 of the show ready to go online, here is the direct link to the show which will save people time. Now some people I know have had some glitches trying the link directly. So you can also RIGHT click on the link and "Save As" and it should download to your computer.



Or visit and enter the date and time.

Rundown of last night's show, no major problems this week. Few seconds of silence as I introduce the songs by Virginia Fudge. CD wasn't co-operating with one certain song but I worked it out fairly quickly. :) Just makes the song starting up more dramatic as you're waiting for the dead air to stop. Hopefully Ginnie feels that way. lol.

'Letter to a Contented Man' and 'Symposium' by The Human Soundtrack



'Home' and 'Do I Ever Cross Your Mind' by Virginia Fudge



'Fling out the Flag' and 'After Hours at Erin's' by Shanneyganock





'Blue and Green' and 'Tank' by Down with the Butterfly





Buy their CD at

'Be Here For A While', 'Crossroads' and 'Out from St. Leonard's' by Ennis Sisters



Ennis Sisters new CD available at

'Another California Song' by Damhnait Doyle





Next week I'll be playing some songs from Shaye's new CD.

8:39 PM

(1)

Robert Carnell

Oops, forgot you can't click on a link in the blogs here. For the show you can enter that URL in your Media Player too. Says Open or Enter URL and that should work fine, if not just let me know.

Reply4 years ago

Views (17)·Edit

24 May 2007

Week 2

Current mood:amused

Week 2 of the show coming up, changing it up slightly as I'll try to play at least TWO songs by the artists I pick in a given show. Little better for the listeners as they can hear more music by each one.

Plus I can spend more time talking about the musicians and where to get their music. Last week I had to rush the last two blues songs since I was running out of time, and I even had a song left over I had no time for. Oops. That would be called "time management", ha ha.

5:24 AM

Views (16)·Edit

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