Justin Trudeau on Canada Day

Who would of thunk it? Justin Trudeau, leader of the Liberal Party of Canada was in our little town for our Canada Day parade. And I managed to get a pic with him. What a cutie? Our next prime minister? Quite possibly...

Farewell Knowlton Nash

Known fondly as "Mr. Ten O'Clock" because he delivered the CBC newscast at that hour, Knowlton Nash passed away last night. I had the good fortune to work with him in 2001, seen here with my friend and co-worker Brian Smith in a Toronto sound studio. Knowlton was a warm, funny and gentle man who I'm happy to have met and to have shared a few laughs with...

David Byrne & St. Vincent in Ottawa

 On Sunday, Richard and I headed up to Ottawa to the Jazz Festival to see 

David Byrne & St. Vincent.

 TD Bank was handing out free water bottles and the Jazz Fest provides a free water station to fill it. Great idea considering it was 30C and humid.

Since we got there waaaay early, we decided to walk around. We saw the Parliament Buildings with the stage being set up for the upcoming Canada Day festivities.

 There is some great architecture up there on the Hill.

 Sadly, the Cat Sanctuary is gone. The cats were getting older and they felt it was time to adopt them to homes and close the colony. Kinda sad.

 On the way back to the Festival, we came across a statue in honour of pianist 

Oscar Peterson. 

 Back at the festival, I met up with my friend Suzan who is the media director of the Jazz Festival. I've known her since we were nine years old and haven't seen her for 30 years. She hasn't changed a bit.

 When we went for a beer, we bumped into friends and neighbours Holly and Evlyn. 

Small world.

 Also there were Steve and Sarah from Toronto. Fun seeing them!

 Now onto the show. I've been a David Byrne fan (when he was with the Talking Heads) for 30+ years.

 He is a fabulous musician and entertainer. 

And we had great seats which made the concert even more fun.

St. Vincent (aka Annie Clark) was terrific and reminded me of a female, younger version of David Byrne. Loved her! Together they were a great combo.

Best part of the evening? Just as the concert was ending, they played 

"Burning Down the House" and the skies opened and it poured rain. 

We all danced and got soaked to the skin. Unforgettable night.

Gardening Expert Mark Cullen

Gardening guru Mark Cullen was in our little town over the weekend for a Q and A session. He gave Richard some great tips on keeping cats out of his garden (using old rose canes). I of course was sillier and asked Mark if he ever asked Ed Lawrence, (CBC Radio's expert gardener) for help if he was stumped with a gardening question. Couldn't help myself.

Crazy for Anchormen

CTV Ottawa's former newscaster was Max Keeping and I was lucky enough to get his autograph yesterday when he was granting a local senior's wish to meet him.


Some years ago, my friend Anne bought one of my drawings (of a local log house) to give to the well-known ABC anchorman Peter Jennings and he wrote me this thank you note.

Canada: It's Time to Vote!

Click to enlarge.
Before I placed my first-ever vote at the age of 18, I wrote the leaders of the three political parties and asked why I should vote for them. As it happened, Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau was my Member of Parliament, so in this case, HIS name was on my ballot!


He wrote a very eloquent letter as to how I should place my first vote.


Joe Clark, the leader of the opposition wrote a good letter too. (For some reason, I didn't hear from the NDP.) At any rate, I thought it was good of these two leaders to respond to a soon-to-be 18-year-old voter. I wonder if the leaders today would do the same thing?
My late-mother always said that if you didn't vote you couldn't complain. So I'm off to vote today and I hope all my Canadian readers are doing the same. For better or worse, let's get out there!

Lorne Elliott

Last week we were lucky enough to catch Lorne Elliott giving a reading at the Dalkeith library. Lorne Elliott is a comic and writer best known for his show Madly Off In All Directions heard on CBC radio.


He was test driving a new story and read it to us in his comical fashion.


After 45 entertaining minutes, he asked for feedback from the audience. What worked. What didn't.


I asked him what conditioner he used and noted that perhaps he and I were separated at birth because of our matching hairdos.

Terry Gillespie and Me

While at the Vankleek Hill Farmers Market last weekend, I bumped into bluesman extraordinare Terry Gillespie. Cool.

Martin Picard et Moi

One of the highlights of the Festival de la Poutine last weekend was kibitzing with chef extraordinaire, Martin Picard.

Martin Picard is host of The Wild Chef on Food Network Canada and runs the fabulous restaurant in Montreal called Au Pied de Cochon.


Very fun, cool guy.

Issa aka Jane Siberry

Yesterday, Richard and I headed to Vankleek Hill (about 15 minutes from my place) to see Issa, the artist formerly known as Jane Siberry.


I missed seeing her in the early 80s when I was busy working at enumerating for a Federal election and she was performing at the Rivoli on Queen Street in Toronto. I remember seeing by all my friend lined up for the show and I couldn't go. I was bummed.


But I got my chance to see her on Sunday performing in the auditorium of a local high school. She's fantastic!


After the show I got to tell her I'd waited some 25 years to finally see see her perform live.


And I got her to autograph her latest CD for me.


I guess it's true that good things come to those who wait.

Don Messer Tribute Fun

I thought I'd share some short video clips of some of the action at the Don Messer Tribute Jubilee last Friday night in Maxville, Ontario. Here are Lori MacMaster's Step Dancers accompanied by the talented Shelley Downing on violin.



And here are the terrific Glengarry Fiddlers fiddling up a storm.

Don Messer Jubilee Tribute

Last Friday night, Richard and I went to the Don Messer Jubliee Tribute held in Maxville, about a 10 minute drive from here. If he were alive today, Don Messer would be 100-years-old so the Glengarry Pioneer Museum decided to have a benefit concert to honour his memory. The TV show Don Messer's Jubliee was a staple for Canadians growing up in the 1960s and in its heyday had over 4 million viewers.


Johnny Forrest, the only remaining member of Don Messer's band was flown in from his home in Surrey, B.C. Here I am with him on the far left and Don Messer's road manager Ken Reynolds in the middle.


Lots of local talent performed throughout the 3 hour concert. There was fiddling, step-dancing and square dancing, "quiet time" with beautiful cello music, and just plain, old fashioned country music with slide guitars, singing and of course, Johnny's accordion playing.



Here's just a taste of the opening number which was the original theme song to Don Messer's Jubilee TV show. The incomparable Bobby Lalonde pitched in on fiddle.

Beam Me Up!

In this photo from 1993, you might recognize the guy holding the cake. Yup, that's actor Bruce Greenwood who plays Captain Christopher Pike in the latest Star Trek movie. Nice guy. And he liked my cake. (The other person in the pic is me!)

Coach's Corner with Ron and Ronna

On the TV show Hockey Night in Canada, "Coach's Corner" with Ron MacLean and Don Cherry always appears after the first period. Well here I am with Ron -- I made him a cake 17 years ago (when both of us were looking a lot younger)! He's a great guy. Really nice and he liked my Montreal Canadiens sweater. So I thought I'd post this blog entry to celebrate the Canadiens making it into the playoffs for the Stanley Cup. Okay, so I'm not sure they'll beat Boston or even Chicago (Richard's team) but what the heck. Go for it guys!!

The Incredibly Talented Ron James

Ron James has been called Canada's funniest comedian and I have to agree. So did the sold out crowd in Cornwall on Wednesday night where he performed his Mental-as-Anything tour. It's always such a treat to see him live. He's so much fun to watch!
Now he's in Ottawa for five sold out shows and then continues doing a tour of other towns in Eastern Ontario till the end of the month. To see some clips of his various shows click here. Enjoy!

Excellent Florida Adventure, Part 1

Last weekend, I went on a quick visit to Florida as a surprise to my oldest and dearest friend Roberta for her 50th birthday. I left Montreal after a dump of 25 cm of snow.


Three hours later I was flying over Fort Lauderdale where it was 85F.


I was whisked off to the Bank Atlantic Center in Sunrise, Florida to see the Montreal Canadiens play the Florida Panthers. Waiting for the doors to open, there were so many Habs fans that it seemed I was in Montreal instead of Florida...except of course that it was 70 degrees and there were palm trees...


Inside there was lots of action. I was a big surprise to my friend Roberta who came into the arena not expecting me to be sitting next to her. And we had fantastic seats! Four rows from the ice.

We met some of the team afterwards...


Yup, that's Guy Carbonneau, head coach for the Canadiens in the background...


...and despite the 5-1 loss to the Panthers Doug Jarvis, the assistant coach of the Canadiens was upbeat and happy to pose for photos.


Alex Kovalev, the alternate captain for the Canadiens was happy to sign Roberta's hockey jersey...


...and then pose for a photo with us. Very cool!