“Flawtography By Dan” - Episode #016

The Rocky Mountains

Well, quite a few years back Mrs. That Dan Guy and I took a road trip, from Kelowna British Columbia, to Calgary Alberta (ironically, where we now live).

What spectacular views, even though I shot this picture from inside our car, as we were driving along the highway. Still, nice clarity and resolution, considering how primitive digital cameras were way back then.

We took quite a few more pictures as we drove through the breath-taking landscape, but I know how boring slide shows can be for those that weren’t part of the actual vacation.

We however will always cherish this memory…

Please, ask permission if you plan on using it anywhere...

Chow for now!

Mob Hit Productions Theatre
"Neverwhere"

We joined some friends last night, and took advantage of our new-found (well-earned) freedom by taking in a local theatre production, "Neverwhere" - a fantasy tale set above and below London:

http://www.thisisamobhit.com/

Mrs. That Dan Guy's new work brought her into contact with one of the actors in this show, so we decided to check it out - good thing we did. Hadn't yet caught up with this popular Calgary production company, nor the cool facility this play was staged in (an old church - no fears, as you can tell I was not struck by a bolt of lightning...).

Strong, strong acting, an uplifting story, inventive puppetry and a very attractive keepsake ticket made this one fine evening out on the town, even if we did have to leave soon afterwards - as poor MTDG had to work this morning. Too bad, it was the last show of the run and they had some entertainment and mingling after the show that we had to skip - perhaps next time though...

Chow for now!

Chicken Scratch

(posted by weekend guest blogger Charlie Chicken...)

"I say, I say boy...I ain't no chicken hawk"

BUK-AAAAWK!!!!

Wonder if we knew as kids how wrong that ole Foghorn Leghorn comment wuz??

Wattaya thinka ma impression tho?? I'm just a natural at this Rich Little stuff....

BUK-AAAAWK!!!!

Ackshoolaly, I think I might have a career in chicken horror flicks - I look downright eevil in that pichsher....

Or maybe Foghorn did...

Cluck fer now!!

Friday - someone should write a song about Fridays - with technology, they could even post it online now - think about that, fellow Internetees....

Here in Canada, I'm kind-of enjoying all the hoopla over our Prime Minister, Der Kommissar Harper, and his continuing not-so-hidden agendas now that he leads a majority government. His latest is an aggressive push into our online lives, so he could even be reading this right n

Post # 2222.....

Where does the time go?

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

I spy, with my little eye:

-chicken claws
-a dusty table
-an egg timer
-two half-empty cans of discount-priced cashews bits
a discarded Kleenex Mrs. That Dan Guy ignored as she just walked past
-green
-darker green
-my fingers, on a keyboard
-the inside of my empty coffee cup
-a grinning nutbar
-the backside of a grinning nutbar ascending the stairs
-the end of today's post

Chow for now...

Big Valentine's Day celebration yesterday. In many other households - all we did was sprinkle chocolate on our KD and wieners...

You know, if you read something into that last line, it really was just a store bought hot dog.

Hey, I took my old laptop to work yesterday, trying to do a little multi-tasking. Can't believe we used to travel with that thing - it's like a dining room table without the legs. Damn-near covered my entire desk. I had to buy an extra ticket for the back seat of our car to transport it.

The bloody thing is huge, is what I'm sayin'....

I MUST bite the bullet, and convert over to this old Mac once and for all. I'll keep old Vista The Dud for a backup, but it really is time to make official succession plans - as in "I'm only going to use that piece of crap to crush pills".

Chow for now!

We got hammered by a nasty snowfall last night - hardly a blizzard, but enough that our commute today along with The Worst Drivers In Canada should be a hoot. Common sense dictates caution when road conditions are less than optimal, but not here in Calgary.

"Braking distance? I don't need no stinkin' braking distance..."


"Reduce speed? They would change the traffic signs if we really had to..."


"Please yield. For my self-important ass."

Ah, a pleasure indeed.

Chow for now!

It's been a bit of a chuckle online lately, as my attempts to link much of my social media is having limited success.

My Tweets are going to Facebook, but my blogs don't - at least not consistently. Some days they appear out of nowhere, a few at a time (out of order, just for shiggles) - nothing like confusion!

Most days they don't appear at all, even though I've tried to reset the feature.

Technology hath forsaken me...

Chow for now!

Charlie has apparently taken the weekend off - rest assured, he will return soon, likely when I least expect it...

So, Whitney Houston. In some of the TV coverage of her passing last night and more on the news this morning, there was a spooky picture for people of my generation - 3 of the four pictured are now deceased and for two at least, way before their time. There was Whitney, alongside Michael Jackson, Elizabeth Taylor, and Liza Minelli - who is the only one left alive now, despite perhaps defying her own odds and demons to still be here at this time.

Also, I listened to a brief report from a "senior editor" of a major national glossy magazine, who had likely just pulled her pigtails out before appearing on camera. Sucks getting older, but sucks more when you consider the alternatives...

We are thrilled that we saw Whitney in concert not only before her decline, but before she steered towards musical styles that we didn't care for. Grace, elegance, and incredible talent.

Chow for now

I certainly can't claim to have known Jeffrey Zaslow nearly as well as many of my colleagues in the National Society of Newspaper Columnists. Certainly, I likely passed by him at many of my early annual conferences, but there was always so much to take in, and so many new, welcoming face to meet, I may not have been on the lookout for him.

In our Ventura event however, I did take the time to introduce myself, and ask him to sign my copy of "The Last Lecture", which he co-wrote with Professor Randy Pausch. That book and the related YouTube video became an early internet sensation back at that time. 

Prior to meeting Jeff, I had read the book, and lined the pages with Post-It Note flags. He found great humour in that, and added to his signature "P.S. - love the decorations".

Regarding that book, for years since I've told the story to other writers and in my humour-writing classes that I once attended a Writers' Guild Of Alberta presentation on publishing, where the speaker was delivering the sombre news that a Canadian author could hope (at best) to receive about a $5000.00 advance, should  they be lucky enough to sign a publishing deal here.

At that exact moment, an e-mail arrived to my SmartPhone from the NSNC, congratulating Jeff on being part of an advance agreement for "The Last Lecture", worth about...well, let's just substitute millions for the thousands. Our moderator nearly fainted...

In my term-and-a-half as Membership Chair for the NSNC, it always seemed a no-brainer to me when people wrote in and asked about the benefits of membership. I would highlight the obvious, but always expanded on the wealth of talented writers that have long been a vital benefit of our organization - and the many up-and-comers since I became a member. Jeff did our organization proud in so many ways.We're one light less bright now. 

If you weren't aware of Mr. Zaslow's work, you may not know that his writing career outside of the Wall Street Journal focused on the great potential we have within us, as evidenced in co-written books that exhibited that in spades - Professor Randy Pausch, Captain Chesley Sullenberger, and his latest on Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords.

In my copy of "The Last Lecture", having only just met my wife and I at that time, Jeff wrote:

"Dan & Ruth, I hope Randy's story reminds you of the love between you, and the dreams you fulfilled together".

Gone far too soon. From our family to his, I extend the same wishes....

Note to self: Do not even think about posting a joke about "swinging" on Twitter. The search bots don't determine between gags and actual interest, so consequently I am now being "followed" by swingers.

As long as they have a sense of humour, all is well. And if they don't, I imagine that by the time they've been exposed to enough of MY sense of humour, they will move along for more fertile grounds.

Maybe that's not the best phrase to use with respect to swingers....

Chow for now!!

Stage West Calgary 


"The 39 Steps"

Official Calgary Herald Review:

http://www.calgaryherald.com/entertainment/Stage+West+Calgary+reaches+heights+with+Steps/6122992/story.html

(I'm not sure why, but the direct link never works for me. Click on that one above, should get you there)

Chow for now...

Wanted: Reliable Service

Dear CableCo,
Thanks once again for your lousy, unreliable service when I'm in a hurry and need Internet access. Your competitors could save their money, you do a great job encouraging customers to switch.

Chow for now.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

And now, for something completely different:

B 05
N 62
I  I
0 74
B haive
G your hair smells terrific
I 38
B all you can be
0 MG

Anyone have a bingo yet??

Yes, we have a valid bingo. Next game is a total blackout...

Chow for now!

My last day of freedom, before returning to the workforce. I will use it wisely, if I can just find a place that still houses pinball machines, acne and root beer.

Hey, we have freshly fallen snow on the ground this morning! Not much, but still a reminder that we ain't outta the woods yet for winter. How we even ended up in the woods in the first place is beyond me...

Chow for now!!

Chicken Scratch

(posted by weekend guest blogger Charlie Chicken...)

BUK-AAAAWK!!!!

Feelin' a lil sketchy this mornin'...

May have ta pencil in a visit ta tha docs??

BUK-AAAAWK!!!!

Cluck fer now...

The Saturday Morning "Somebody-Asked-Me-To, So-Here-I-Go" Entertainment Review

(or, my "Unofficial" review, check back later for a link to the professional one in The Calgary Herald)

Stage West Calgary

"The 39 Steps"

Well played, Stage West Calgary...well played...

For your 30th anniversary, put on one of the best shows I've seen there yet, with a cast of ridiculously talented actors (just 4 of them, playing over a hundred different characters!), and expect me to find something critical to write about it the next morning.

Well, it's not going to happen. Sure, I know that it's your musical reviews that most often receive the flashy standing ovations from your sold-out audiences, but for theatre purists this latest production stands one full mountain peak above any argument that "dinner theatre" doesn't measure up. In fact, try telling that to your actors, John Ulyatt, Andy Curtis, Chris Hunt, and Natascha Girgis, each one a stand-out in the multiple, wildly diverse roles they juggle as this Alfred Hitchcock mystery unfolds (albeit from the zaniest of perspectives).

You almost can't imagine a single theatre technique left on the table, as this production runs briskly from start to finish, even incorporating brilliant bits of Hitchcock & Brit TV homages, shadow theatre, and more accents than one might have encountered at Ellis Island during the turn of the last century. 

Wonderful direction, creative and effective set, costume, sound & lighting design...I could go on and on, but I hope you get the general idea. Plus I need to save my best stuff for the newspaper review..

Incidentally, and not related at all to the show, I have had trouble determining how best to take notes. When I scribble things down in the dark, even a hieroglyphics expert wouldn't be able to decipher my markings in the morning. Lighting the page with my phone didn't work that well, so I bought a tiny book-light - which I am happy to say works extremely well. 

Except for the lady who was sitting behind me, who clucked like a chicken every time I turned the dim little thing on. I almost ran back to the buffet to get her some sunflower seeds.

Didn't spoil MY evening :-)

Well played, Stage West Calgary...well played...

"The 39 Steps" - 5 of 5 stars

Congratulations on 30 outstanding years!!

(Check back soon when the link is available from The Calgary Herald, I'll post it in this space. And I will also be interviewing the director & cast, so what the hell, just save this site in your web browser "Favourites"...)

Chow for now!

My monthly column - this time all about the differences between popular sayings, particularly here in Canada:

http://www.remonline.com/home/?p=11126

Chow for now!!

Sorry, just have to laugh. Alberta has recently instituted a rather all-encompassing distracted driving law, which is certainly well-intended, but unfortunately goes both too far, and is entirely ignored by the well-to-do motorists here.

That said, this morning I caught a glimpse of a police car (the official enforcers of said legislation) passing me by in the oncoming direction, whilst the officer driving was on a handheld cell phone - a no-no under this law.

Do As I Say....

Oy.

Chow for now.

Can't believe I was grumbling about the weather not too long ago - it is absolutely crazy-nice out here right now. We are more used to seeing 8-foot snow drifts than we are brown grass at this time of year, but grass is visible all around. Why exactly are we worried about globule warming??

If this keeps up, I'll be totally tanned come summer. When you can't actually be outside, due to the laser effects of the sun. Maybe we could see about global cooling in the summer??

Until then, just as a thanks for stopping by the blog today, I'm giving every reader a copy of the letter "A"!

You get an "A", you get an "A" - you all get an "A"!

Whoo-hoo!!

Chow for now....