Quite the sight to be a witness to yesterday, at my sister-in-law’s memorial/celebration of life. Packed house, standing room only. Roller coasters of emotion, with incredible stories of the impact she made on people’s lives, from every walk of life.


Thanks to everyone that attended, participated, and helped in coordinating this special remembrance.

Now I have to join the rest of the family in trying to restore our collective adrenaline….

Chow for now.

Perhaps next week things will get back to normal here – today is my sister-in-law’s service/celebration of life.


This thing has taken on a life of its own. CBC National reran a profile they broadcast on her a year or so back. They may be attending, possibly even covering a bit of the service. She affected so many people in her hometown, and we are bracing for a huge turnout. A Facebook site dedicated to her has grown by leaps and bounds since she passed.

I note that for the first time since the launch of this blog in 2006, I missed a post the other day. Some things have a way of reminding you what’s the most important in life…

Chow for now!

Due to overruling circumstances, Charlie is unavailable this week. Back next Saturday.


In the meantime, please enjoy my cooking tip in Twitter (@thatdanguy1)

Chow for now!

Another of my oooold newspaper columns, lurking around in cyber-space:


http://www.eventpub.com/stories.php?id=109214

Enjoy!

Chow for now…

Passing on the funny stuff today. We are dealing with family on both sides that passed away yesterday…


Chow for now.

Hey, click on the link over to the right, and read my review of Anne Calcagno's "Love Like A Dog"!

My review copy arrived with a hand-written note, on letterhead with a sketch of the book's cover - and a link to her website:

http://lovelikeadog.net/

A great read!

Chow for now...

I read online somewhere that Snap, of the famous “Snap Crackle & Pop” team that acted as mascots for Rice Krispies cereal (for decades) is in declining health. Always sad to see one of your childhood icons preparing to depart this mortal coil, but it is the unfortunate reality of growing older yourself.


Plus, how often was the guy immersed in cold milk? Really, doing that for a living had to add up to advanced arthritis, or maybe even lingering hypothermia. If he doesn’t pull through, we’ll just have to see what the obit says, or who to make the charitable donations for a clue as to his ultimately fatal ailment.

Of course, it could be simply old age.

We’re thinking of you, Snap!

Chow for now…

The 11’s are rolling in fast and furious so far this year.


Mrs. That Dan Guy and I were out last night, and when we got in, I flipped on CBC's Hockey Night In Canada to see how our Calgary Flames were doing. Our jaws dropped when we noticed I did that at EXACTLY 11:11 on the time clock, in the first period, with the score tied at 1-1. How is that even possible?

This morning, I opened the first page of my Calgary Herald to read about a marathon runner who lost her camera, but someone found it and was able to identify her (and return the camera) by a pic on there.

Her number, as a runner in the marathon? Would you have guessed 11?

Aye caramba!

Bringing this all full circle, I see that by some absolute bizarre law of the number 11, there are EXACTLY that many chocolate covered raisins left in the package I just opened. Must be a sign…

Chow for now!!

Chicken Scratch

(posted by weekend curious bird, Charlie Chicken…)

Hello! Hello in there!

BUK-AAAAWK!!!!

What’s this? Sumthin’ smells familiar here, I just can’t put my chicken fingers on it…

I think…herbs? Spices? Everythin’ nices??

But sumthin’ else too…sumthin’…

Hey…

BUK-AAAAWK!!!

SOMEBODY CALL THE COPS!

SERIAL KILLER AH SAY, SERIAL KILLER!!!

BUK-AAAAWK!!!!

Holey cluck, it’s like a ‘splosion in tha chicken coop in here! Battered body parts, LITERALLY!!

AHHHHH!!!!

Mebbe, it’s not too late…mebbe I kin put them back together…wait – THERE’S NO HEADS!!

AHHHHHHHHH!!!!!

I needta call fer help.

Cluck fer now!!

“I’ll take Potpourri for Five Hundred, Alex…”

A mixed bag of items today, folks!

First up, a colleague of mine indicated on his Twitter post that today is (I kid you not) Squirrel Appreciation Day!! Are you kidding me Dan? Have I ever?? Check out just one Google search result:

http://www.holidayinsights.com/moreholidays/January/squirrelappreciation.htm

Life...you just can’t make this stuff up…

Next up, anyone catch the astounding performance to close off Late Night With David Letterman last night? “First Lady Of Rockabilly” Wanda Jackson, backed up by the incendiary Jack White on a smokin’ cover of The Guess Who’s “Shakin’ All Over” – a band from my hometown of Winnipeg I might add. Whoo-hoo!

There must be a video online somewhere by now, but here’s an alternate performance to give you a flavor:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hKERhlNY5gQ

Following that musical lightning bolt, Craig Ferguson opened his own show with a familair stuffed crocodile pal. You really have to LOVE late night...

Finally, my main website reconstruction is underway, much like the pyramids of Egypt were a “weekend project” when they were pitched to the pharaohs. Soon, it will return. Stay tuned!

Chow for now, and don’t forget to follow me on The Twitter (@thatdanguy1) – today, I need help coming up with a term for Tweeting while “making whoopee”…

Journey Through An Esophagus

The human body is an incredible contraption – often more astounding than your wildest imaginings.

Thanks to the kind consent of Mrs. That Dan Guy, we are privileged to present here a view not typically enjoyed by the average person – the images captured by a length of microchips exploring her “innards”.

NOT for the squeamish, yet educational, and astounding indeed!

Enjoy (Chow for now…)

Alright, if you’ve followed this space for any length of time, you know that I can’t pretend to not acknowledge the relevance of recurring numbers that seem to speak out to me (and Mrs. That Dan Guy) (and my sister) (and countless other people, according to Google).


Most often, it’s the number 11 and the variants on that, such as 11:11 and 1:11. It can also be sequential, like 12:34.

At any rate, a colleague posted something on Facebook yesterday that darn-near freaked me out:

Check this out: take the last two digits of the year you were born, and add the age you will turn THIS year. Let me know what you come up with. It blew my mind…

The picture at the top of this page (in an unrelated matter) references another constant in my life – my enduring love of music. Legendary publisher and host of his own TV rock concert series, Don Kirschner passed away Monday (the 17th), and I realized I had written two newspaper columns in the past that touched on his influence, specifically on the pop music for my generation. I couldn’t believe we came across the building he was so much a part of in Times Square when we visited New York. We didn’t try to go inside, but that right there is iconic music history.

Neither of those old columns are online, or I’d link you to them. If I remember, I’ll post some snippets in a couple of days.

Tomorrow however…well, drum roll please - we finally got the video footage back from the doctor’s office, and I’ll be making a very special post. NOT for the squeamish!!

Until then…

Chow for now!

Burnt my tongue the other day eating over-heated goulash. Nasty. Throbbed like a water balloon.


So, to try and relieve it, I turned to something I use to soothe my feet – a loofah. Not a good idea. Plus, I should have used a new one, NOT the one I really do use on my feet.

BLECH!!!

Chow for now…

(Today on The Twitter, Secret Agent 007 shares. Maybe a little too much... @thatdanguy1)

Slight panic yesterday, upon doing a Google search.


I will confess here that lately I’ve become analytics obsessed, as I’ve become more active online this year. I did a search on my “Talk Like Oprah Day” column, posted recently online, and came across a Facebook page dedicated to that very concept!

After a few moments wondering what a plagiarism lawsuit might feel like, I recalled that I had actually written that column some time ago – a different version appeared in my former weekly column in British Columbia. In January of 2010, well before that Facebook page was started. I think that lets me off the hook.

You really need to Google everything before you put something out there nowadays. I thought I had a goldmine idea for Twitter a few weeks ago, but a search the other day on THAT idea brought up a lovely site with a book already out, for a few years. I am kinda late to the party on the Twitter, but so far, it has been growing like undetected mould behind wet drywall. I’ve quadrupled by followers in just over a few weeks!

Granted, I only started with four, but it is a quantum leap forward!

Off to Google my latest idea!

Chow for now!!

Put my latest audio interview up online yesterday, with award-winning author and humorist Will Ferguson. I sat down with him for a magazine article that will appear later this year.

http://thatdanguy.libsyn.com/

Of course, you could just scroll back up and click on the photo montage above, which will bring you to the site directly. Who needs RSS conversion?? Not this cowpoke, lemme tell ya!

By the way, it is bizarre to see the reach of this series of interviews. I’m tracking downloads across North America (biiiig in Texas), China, the UK - and I see Google searches from i-Tunes for France, Spain and Germany, to mention just a few.

I’m like The Tonight Show of cyber-space!

Hey, don’t forget to follow me on The Twitter! Today I relay breaking astrological news! (@thatdanguy1)

Chow for now…

Chicken Scratch

(pecked out by weekend guest blogger Charlie Chicken…)

TOGA! TOGA! TOGA!!!

BUK-AAAAWK!!!!

Whoo-Hoo, my featherless friends, Whoo-Hoo!

Toga party tonite, an I just gotta pick out the muzik tracks ta buzz tha scene. Like “Animal House”, a good toga party needs memirible toonz…

BUK-AAAAWK!!!!

Ya can’t just play “Shout” over n over again, after all. Ya needta hava groove, ya know?

Mebbe “Y M “Sheet” A”??

Heh Heh Heh…

Or hows about “One Toga Over The Line”???

Hee Hee!

BUK-AAAAWK!!!!

That reminds me, I better skitter out an rent “When In Rome”….

If I’m lucky, my chicken wings’ll be roamin’, if ya get my drift!

BUK-AAAAWK!!!!

Nuts! I gotta wax my cluckin’ sandals! Aww, for tha luvva Pete, I better get my pinfeathers in gear!

Cluck fer now!

If you visit more than one of my sites, God help you.


That said, if you do today, it’s an Oprah Overload! I’m pointing everyone in Twitterland, LinkedIn and Facebook (well, the three that I command the attention of) to my latest REM column, promoting a commemorative “Talk Like Oprah” Day.

http://www.remonline.com/home/?p=7485

If you didn’t get a show on her new network, this may be the next best thing.

Chow for now!

Sheesh!


Seems like it’s been forever since my main nonsenseandstuff website went MIA (and it has been), but I may finally be on the road to getting it back up and running. Finally received a reply from my webhost, and managed to figure out how to extract the transfer authorization code I needed to transfer the domain to my new provider. That still has a few days left to complete, apparently.

I’m also hoping I can negotiate an early release from my original hosting provider, otherwise I’ll be paying for two sites for almost 9 months!

Oh well, as long as this one keeps the site online…

Don’t forget, kids! Check out and follow me on The Twitter ( @thatdanguy1 ) – today some breaking news on musical geese!

Chow for now!

Well, we’re no further ahead on Mrs. That Dan Guy’s health status than we were before yesterday’s test. Like a cloud, or a poltergeist, the answer remains elusive.


However, now I at least know that “motility” wasn’t just motel misspelled, and had nothing at all to do with Bell Mobility. Whew!

Part of her procedure involved the use of micro-chips, yet she wasn’t offered any garlic micro-dip. Cutbacks, I suspect…

Yesterday (01 11 11) was otherwise uneventful, aside from: a) The Calgary Flames moving closer towards opening up their post-season golf calendar; b) when a carton of milk has an expiry date on the lid, it really means business, and c) if offered a choice between paper and plastic, don’t jokingly ask a grumpy clerk for “half and half”…

Chow for now!

Hey, don’t forget to follow me on The Twitter! Today, my favourite “Sound Of Music” lyrics!

01 11 11! Big day for all of us “funky numbers” people!


Hey, please think a happy thought or two for Mrs. That Dan Guy this morning. In a first for her (definitely not on her bucket list), she will be swallowing a camera in just a few hours.

Yes, you read that right, swallowing a camera! Egads. Long story short, she’s had some issues for a while now, and this year has been one test after another to try and get to the bottom of it. I’ve even watched a live X-ray of her swallowing various food and drink, from the protection of a shielded observation room. Innards are funny things...

Anyhoo, here’s hoping this latest test finally offers up the answers we’re looking for.

On the plus side, you’re all getting some wild and wacky photos posted here tomorrow!!

Chow for now…

01 10 11…

Whoo-ooo-ooo….

Hey, I’ve found yet another one of my old newspaper columns in the Sargasso Sea of The Endless Google-Net.

Had some fun in this one with used cars, and the fresh release of the geriatric version of the Indiana Jones series.

Enjoy:

http://www.eventpub.com/stories.php?id=125284

Chow for now!

I think I may have created a monster. A good monster, but a monster nonetheless…


While waiting to get my main website back up and running (which I hadn’t updated before losing it since Abbott & Costello were last playing baseball), I decided to pay more regular attention to my social media sites. Tweeting every day, and trying to get goofy on Facebook. Yesterday’s “Chinese Horoscope” post struck some kind of nerve, generating loads of comments in both spaces.

So thanks social media – now I’ve got THREE spaces to fill every day!

Hey, follow me on the Twitter! I think I’m @thatdanguy1.

Today’s post deals with my newfound dedication.

Chow for now!

Chicken Scratch 2025

(posted in the future by Charles “Knobby-Knees” Chicken…)

BUK-AAAAWK!!!!

Hello there, ya young whippersnappers!

Move a lil closer ta tha computer screen, so I can sees ya better…

BUK-AAAAWK!!!!

Feels like snows comin’, ma beak is itchy…

That, or ma beak is jus itchy…

Wonder wut they’re servin’ in the dinin’ room tonite, here at the Old Crows Poultry Coop Retirment Community? Hope it ain’t pureed fish n chips again! Blech!!

BUK-AAAAWK!!!!

Dagnabit! Droolin’ down ma beard again… I really oughta shave, but the chicks here think I look like a wizard with it. Gandolf Lives!!

Oh-oh…better start shufflin’ ta tha toidie…if that ain’t a fart bubblin’ up, I fogot ta throw on my Depends this mornin’ – things could get real ugly…

BUK-AAAAWK!!!!

Cluck fer now.

11-point font, for 2011!


I may have made my first Twitter gaffe:

http://twitter.com/thatdanguy1

I’m starting to “follow” people, and in completely uncharacteristic “lamb” fashion, I read a post by actor, author and musician (BANJO musician, no less…) Steve Martin, and kind of commented (is that allowed??), like people occasionally do here. Actually, I sort of suggested he needed to include Canadian dates in his upcoming tour – and I never even included “please”, or “would you consider” in my request!

I’m a horrible person! Can the Twitter Police revoke my Canadian politeness status??

What a pickle!

Chow for now, as I mull this predicament over…

As I nurse my wounds after Team Canada’s epic ice hockey meltdown last night versus Russia, I relive happier times – a shot of several retired New York Ranger jersey’s from the rafters of Madison Square Gardens.


I don’t believe I knew that Mark Messier was #11 – spooky!!

Chow for now!!

Brought to you this year in 11-point font (whenever I remember…)


Hey, I see (via a TV commercial moments ago) that David E Kelley is finally bringing a new show to the airwaves. Hallelujah! Mrs. That Dan Guy and I are longtime fans of most every one of his shows, even the flops (anyone out there remember “Wedding Belles”?).

Right now, our fave seems to be the wacky, brilliant Chuck Lorre, with his suite of hit comedies brightening the small screen, while offering programming well aside from the popular but brain-dead slate of “reality” shows we can’t stand. Sorry peeps, as a writer, I go for scripted television.

Kelley’s new show appears to be courtroom based, as have been some of his most successful. Plus he’s got Oscar winner Kathy Bates in the cast. Look for it, third week of January!

Chow for now…

SPIRTUAL LIFE: Hard-won lessons build better foundation for decisions in 2011 - Quincy, MA - The Patriot Ledger

Hey, I got a mention in my friend Suzette's column, in the Boston area:

SPIRTUAL LIFE: Hard-won lessons build better foundation for decisions in 2011 - Quincy, MA - The Patriot Ledger

Oh, i-Phone…you little rascal!


This is the second time a wee glitch has hampered your alarm clock function – as in prevented in completely from working as programmed. Hey, who needs to get up on time, really? It’s actually kind of a convenient reminder not to be so rigid in life’s little scheduling issues. Hang loose, I say – thanks, i-Phone!!

The other week, I had a bit of a scare though, i-Phone. You shut off, and you wouldn’t turn back on! No amount of button pressing would restore you to a state of ready alertness. I’ll admit, I almost cracked. My lips were trembling, and I could feel all hope and joy draining from my life. We’ve only been together a short time, but how was I supposed to live without you?

Happily, a Google search came up with some options, and you crackled back to life once again. I can’t even be angry with you, alarm function or not

Happy New Year, i-Phone. Hey, let’s do lunch!!

Chow for now…

In honour of 2011, I intend on posting every new addition to this space (from my netbook, at least) in an 11-point font, rather than the usual 12-point I lean towards in my old age.


So imagine me squinting as I post this blather today.

Squint Eastwood.

Squint Grimlee

Squintin’ Tarantino.

Chow for now!

Musing(s) this morning on the long-term availability of tasty crustaceans:




http://twitter.com/#!/thatdanguy1



That (Never-Found-A-Social-Media-I-Didn’t-Like) Dan Guy



(Chow For Now)



(Uh, is that a chicken I hear moaning and groaning in the bathroom???)

Chicken Scratch

(posted by weekend guest blogger Charlie Chicken…)

HIC!

“Should ole potatoes be thrown out,

I never brought dill twine,”

HIC!!

“Should old potatoes be thrown out,

Aunt Daisy drinks red wine!!”

BUK-AAAAWK!!!!

“For Old Langside, or deer,

For old Langside!

Eels take a bath in turpentine,

For old Langside!!”

HIC!!

AAAWK!!!!

I’m pretty shur theres more words, but omg – my beak…where’s my beak??

BUK-AAAAWK!!!!

Who..who…who stole ma beak??

HIC!

“Fer mold grows wild, reindeer,

Fer mold grows wild,

Wheel glaze a mask on Popeye’s face,

Fer mold grows wild…”

HIC!!

Not too bad fer a beakless birdie…

AAAAWK!!!!

Sayonara. Cluck fer now…

KEVIN BACON!!!!!

(an a Hanny Newp Yeer!!!)