Here There Be Frogs!

     I was on a bike ride tonight on the country roads behind my house.  Down one of the roads there is a swamp.  On the road by the swamp there are multiple "stains" which look like bird droppings, but upon closer inspection, are revealed to be tiny squished frogs!  I have no idea why they would try and cross the road to leave their safe little swamp, but it reminded me of the bible story of the plague of frogs in Egypt.  Moses told the Pharaoh that he could remove the plague of frogs immediately, but the king, for some reason put it off till the next day!  What?  Why?  Was he busy?  Did he have important meetings booked? 

You know what? 

I think it was just a power trip thing. 

    He knew he was beat but still wanted to maintain the illusion that he was in control, even if it was just in a small way.  Sadly the people had to suffer another night with the gross frogs everywhere!
Seeing the squished frogs on the road today, taught me a little lesson.

Bunk Wars - The Box Set

It was sometime in May I believe, that me and fellow LIFE 100.3 dj, Andrew Robertson engaged in a unique form of combat!

I decided one day to decorate my LIFE bunk with some sc-fi stuff I had at home.

This is how it started!

Andrew is a bit geeky to, so he decided to top me!

The HULK!  Really?

It was "on like Donkey Kong" from there!

The battle has come to a conclusion.  The All New Breakfast Club has it's own office now so, the bunk has gone to someone else.  Our final submissions for the "war" are below...

Thing battles Hulk!

Anakin fights Obi-Wan!

I have to say that I thought the battles were very fun and I was thankful to be able to share my nerdy stuff with a wider audience!

As to who won? Hmmm.  Andrew surprised me quite a few times!  His knowledge of comics surpasses me completely, and he is a big Power Ranger fan, which I am not!  I will give the victory to him, but I think we both won by being able to openly let our geek flag fly for a while!

Birthday and Canada Day Adventures

This blog will be heavy on pictures, cause that's what holidays are about sometimes!

My wife, Rose got her birthday gift in January, but it was tickets for a concert in JUNE!  She had to wait a long time to finally cash in!

We were going to see Canadian singer Michael Buble in Toronto, June 29th, so we made a day of it!

Our first stop was in Wasaga Beach where we took in the scenery and had an ice cream!  We dipped our toes in the waters of Georgian Bay before heading to Toronto!

On our way to Wasaga, we came across a weird tree with shoes tossed in it!  Very odd!  Does anyone know the history of this thing?

Creepy Shoe Tree

Can I find you anything sir?

The Tree of Soles!  Ha!

We then made a bee line to Casa Loma, a place Rose loves!  It was a hot day and I would advise if you visit to be aware that there is no air conditioning!  We were even serenaded with some opera!  VIDEO HERE.

Casa Loma has been in tons of movies!

The outdoor grounds are just as amazing!

The view from the terrace.

Now it's even more beautiful!

Just one of the rooms!

A many type room!

Toronto from the Casa Loma tower!

Gorgeous place!

 After the tour we wanted to eat at a place featured on the Food Network Show "You Gotta Eat Here".  We settled on a place called Rock Lobster on Ossington Ave.  It was OK but I should have ordered what I wanted, the mac and cheese, instead of a full lobster, oh well, next time!

Behind me is a fresh seafood bar.  Oysters and such.

You Gotta Eat Here!

After the meal it was off to the downtown to park and then get into the Air Canada Center!

Buble on the big screen!

The day has finally come!

Michael Buble is one of Rose's favorite singers along with Diana Krall.  They are both Canadians which is extra cool!  He put on a great show (aside from some potty mouth! LOL) and it was very enjoyable!  (I posted a couple videos, HERE and HERE, if you are interested.

Buble in concert!

I got all of 4 hours sleep that night before my morning show at LIFE 100.3!  I woke up at 4am and went in to do a solo show as my co-host, Tim Maassarany is off for the week! I also had to do some interviews, and voice track for Canada Day!  Don't ask me how I did it, I just thank God!

After a good sleep-in on Canada Day, it was off to do some geocaching!  Even though Rose was still a bit tired, she came along!  Thanks hun!

We mangaed to get in three finds!

Find one.

Find two...

...and find three!

All in all, a busy few days but very happy ones!

Happy Canada Day everyone!

You're a Failure, So Don't Even Try.

You've heard that before, right?  

Not by a human voice hopefully, but inside.  Our brains seem to work against us sometimes.  We want to be brave but there is always that little voice that says "It will work for everybody but you".

I was reminded something profound at Canada's Wonderland on June 21st. 

 The things the majority of us fear are usually things that someone else has gone through or experienced before. It could be a simple as dropping from 230ft on The Drop Tower or something more serious like the loss of a loved one, a relationship breakup, losing your job, getting a diagnosis or more recently in the Barrie area, having a tornado rip through your house! 

No matter what it is, as a rule, someone has gone through that situation or done that thing, and they can help you!  

As I stood in line to ride the Drop Tower, I began to get a twinge of "Why are you dong this?".  "It could malfunction!" But I could not back out, not without overcoming this fear.  My wee bit of courage came from Tim Maassarany and Denis Colley who have both been on the ride and said it was a lot of fun.  Also there are thousands of others that have done it...so really, what was I worried about?  With great trepidation, I did it!  You can watch the whole ordeal on YouTube HERE.

You may think this is a small thing, but when you consider the fact that fear has many forms, you can see that how we deal with small things can prepare us for bigger ones!

You have a speech to give, you have to confront someone, you have to face a diagnosis or maybe you have to fly in an airplane!  There are times when something is coming up and you HAVE to face it!  Others have gone before you and survived!  They can help!

The key is to talk to the right people. Those who have been there and made it. They can bring assurance and strength, when it's dark and seems hopeless. 

Tim and I doing a radio cut-in for LIFE just after riding the Drop Tower!

That happened for me on the rides but also happened for the many people at the Wonderjam concerts. 

TobyMac and Diverse City bring the house down at Wonderjam 2014!

 Guys like Lecrea and TobyMac bring hope through their music and live shows, and they point you to the One who helped them through rough spots and failures. (Psst...it's GOD!)

So no matter who you are or what's going on, someone has been there, they can hold your hand and help you through!

Here's Something Fun To Do!

The first geocache I hid!

I don't exactly remember the year...it must have been about 2005.  Rose and I were hiking the Duchesnay Falls trails in North Bay and we spotted some other hikers hunting around in the brush just off the trail.  We asked them if they lost something and they said they were looking for a "cache"!  These guys explained that they had a set of GPS coordinates that would lead them to a hidden box!  Cool!  We helped them for a bit but we did not find it.  The idea of a treasure hunt like that really appealed to the geek in me, so I went home and did some research.  Turns out there are HUNDREDS of them around, some were in my own backyard!  I was on the hunt!
The first few I found were on trails in the area and I did not use a GPS because I could not afford one at the time.  I used Google Earth and some instincts to locate my first one in Laurier Woods.

Me on the the Laurier Woods trail.  (picture by Jasmine!)

There it is!!  The thrill of finding the first one!

Well, I have been hooked ever since! 

I did eventually get a hand held GPS for my birthday and my family can tell you, it has taken us to some cool places!  We've been lost, bug bitten, soaked and fatigued...but on the other hand we have seen amazing views, met awesome people, spent lots of time together, gotten loads of exercise and fresh air and had a heck of a time!

I even hid my own "cache"!  Right now it's in Sudbury in need of a new caretaker!  Having my own has been rewarding because each cache has a log book.  The log book is filled out when you find the location.  It's cool to see how many folks have signed it and said they enjoyed the hunt!  It's located near a school, so a whole kindergarten class came one time to find it!  All the kids left a thank you note signed in crayon! :)  You can also fill out an online log and post a picture if you want!

Happy hunters finding my Cache!

It's a great little hobby that does not require much investment and is a ton of fun!

Check it out at www.geocaching.com !

Happy hunting...and bring bug spray!

Ya, I am Geeky!

I have always been a bit of a geek.

I think it must have started with Star Trek.  I used to watch the original series on WKBD channel 50, right after school.  Other kids watched Starsky and Hutch, not me.  I was interested in warp drive, phaser guns and tricorders!  Later on I was able to buy a model and build my own USS Enterprise!

When Star Wars came out, well, I was lost to Star Trek.  I have great respect for both Trek and  Trekkies, but Star Wars was something special!  From the opening titles to the final battle, I was in awe!  My brothers and I made our parents take us 3 times to see that movie, over an hours drive away!  (Thank You!)

 I loved everything about the movie.  Space ships, aliens, blasters, lightsabers!  So cool!  I also began to collect anything I could get my hands on!  Figures, vehicles, books, posters, you name it and I wanted it!



I guess I have never really grown up.  Over my 47 years I have bought and sold a lot of stuff.  Some stuff got lost, other stuff got thrown out accidentally!

I have to say that I am not an obsessive collector.  If I like it, I want it.  From any Sci-Fi movie really!  It has to appeal to me in some way.  Because of this, I only acquire a few things these days.

The odd time I meet other people with much the same bent as me!  Those times are fun!  Lately I have uncovered a geek element at LIFE 100.3! 

When I started at LIFE, I decided to have some fun with my mail bunk by putting Batman and Obi-Wan Kenobi in it.  This led to afternoon host, Andrew Robertson also brinig in some of HIS collection to decorate his bunk.

It has now become a battle of sorts to outdo each other!  (Friendly, of course!)  I have to admit though that I have found myself not wanting to lose these battles!

I have had many other more serious battles over the years in my own spirit over my love of Sci-Fi.  I have wondered how I can reconcile my fantastic thoughts with my Christian faith.  I guess you could say, I struggled to make myself "grow up" and leave these things behind, that they were silly.  I finally came to the conclusion, that I like what I like, and that's it.  The bible is full of fantastic things!  Flying creatures, heavenly revelations, future visions, cities made of pure gold!  I think God is a BIG thinker.  I want to think big as well!  I want to be less timid about certain things and more adventurous!  Sci-Fi helps me do that!

So I have embraced it!

May the force be with YOU!

Of Fish, Faith Family and Fatigue!

This past weekend was the Victoria Day unofficial start to the summer!  

YeeHaw!

On Friday, we were blessed to be able to help our friend, Heidi, celebrate her birthday in a big way!  (it's a big number, but you did not hear that from me!)  The bash was held at Mrs. Mitchells between Shelburne and Alliston.  The wild mushroom soup was heavenly!  It was a nice evening and we got to meet new folks. Our son Alex and his girlfriend, Jess, was with us, and so was JimSatguy and his wife!  (Lou and Emelda!)

Mrs. Mitchel's Restaurant

Cory and the birthday girl, Heidi!

Alex and Jess having a laugh!

We headed off with the whole gang on Saturday morning to the big city!  The Ripley's Aquarium was our destination!  I have raved about the aquarium since Rose and I went in January!  It did not disappoint.  It was a holiday so there were a lot of kids around, but there was so much to see, it made it worthwhile!  The highlight of the place for me is the Danger Reef and all the sharks!

Ya, it was crowded...go on a weekday!

Sharks!

More sharks!

A happy shark!

Help!

The place is very educational, for young and old alike!  You should go.

I had an "Ah Ha!" God moment at one of the exhibits.  There was a tank full of halibut and cod, you know, everyday eating type fish.  The kind you would get with fish and chips.  It made me thing of a scripture I had read the day before in Luke 5.  Jesus paid Peter back for the use of his boat by somehow causing a HUGE catch of fish that almost broke the guys nets!  It was a set up of course, because then Jesus said "Follow Me"!  Peter followed Him after that!  He did not have have to worry about the future of his family after seeing this miracle!  God provided!

After the aquarium we made our way to Vaughn Mills where my brother Martin and his family were hanging out after a day at the SuperFan comic con in Toronto!

Me and My Bro

After a really QUICK visit we embarked to Keswick to visit Roses cousin JP and her brother, Rob and the gang!  It was night of BBQ and laughs!

 On Sunday it was off to Simcoeside Lifepoint Church in Orillia with the LIFE Street Team!

We played our LIFE 100.3 video and took a few minutes to share with the congregation!

Sunday afternoon it was off to the 400 Market with the Alex and Jess as well as the Torchias, to explore the antiques!  Did not buy anything but had a sweet time looking around!

Sunday night it was over to Scott Jackson's place for a CD and video release party and BBQ for Luke Langman!

Luke performed with Lake Simcoe as the backdrop!  LIFE'S, Evan Duran shot a very entertaining video for one of his new songs and we got to be the first to see it!  Well done, Evan!

Well, you think we would slow down for holiday, Monday but...NO!  I covered news for the morning and then did some drywall work for a friend!  (I think I may be too busy!)

Now that I can breathe a little, I realize that it's fun to be active and get out to meet new people and have new experiences...but don't forget to rest in the middle of it!

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzz.....