Rob Stalkie's my hero.

Though I use the term lazily, cause let's face it - Hal Jordan's my hero.
But Stalkie gets all the props for winning the Last Comic Standing Yukon contest, held at Coasters these past ouple couple of months.
A brilliant idea concocted by Jonas and Chris McNutt to get a boost to the comedy nights in general, and create a good buzz regarding the sheer amount of comedic talent there is in the North.
Stalkie always had a natural ability to keep the crowd engaged, as in, when he took the mic, people would shut up and listen. Wish I could say the same for the rest of us.
His presence was due to his lack of a persona. There wasn't much characterization going on, because that really was him on the stage. Which I think is what will make him a succesful comedian.
He's heading out to Toronto to get his name out there, and as he brilliantly said himself: "I'm prepared to suffer."
If you're brave enough to admit that, then you'll do just fine.
He's also, one funny bastard.

Hmmmmm...

This -

http://www.thestar.com/sciencetech/article/544684

Made me think of this:



Connection? I say oui!

Toontastic!

I feel the need to discuss cartoons.
A whole article in What's Up would never fly, and the only person I could have a conversation with on the subject is a few thousand kilometers away. So, a rambling I will go. I've included some Youtube links to cut and paste to your liking.
Animated escapism has always been popular in my life - from the retro '70's Spiderman:




To the ridculousness of learning through Captain Nemo:






The wonderful weirdness of the Wizard of Oz:







And the surrealness of Dr. Snuggles:







Now most of us who grew up through the late seventies/early eighties likely fondly remembers these shows, and countless others of their like - to which most will exclaim "They don't make 'em like they used to."
Now this supposition has a lot of credence due to the cartoon wasteland of the mid-eighties, right through to the beginning of the nineties. There wasn't all that much to look forward to, and then suddenly in September of 1992, the face of cartoons changed dramaticaly:



That opening makes you notice it. It stylization was so unique, and different - and many people noticed. The creators of Batman: The Animated Series took great pains to craft some real stories in these half-hour episodes, so much so, that some animated episodes are considered more "canon" than the comic books. Indeed a few characters from the cartoon - either saw their resurgence or addition into the comic book world.
The popularity of this show led to a Superman Animated series, then the impending cancellation of the B:TAS show led to a unique direction for the studio.



Now that's an opening. Batman Beyond is an unfortunately overlooked show. But the same studio leaped from this to create first, Justice League and Justice League Unlimited. Now the creators not only had decades of comics to work from, but they also pulled in plotlines and characters from their animated history. It's really sad that the JLU show was cancelled - it was consistantly better than the actual comics. The creators cared about what they doing - the story, the characters, their history - and it showed.It certainly helped that they casted some really good voice actors. An art I'd never really appreciated till recently. I submit for you some grand geeky goodness from Justice League Unlimited:



and certainly:



I don't care what you say - that's sixteen slices of awesome. "I feel like I live in a world made of cardboard." That's one of the very best things someone has written for Superman ever.
So there you go, a little conversation with myself to explore something I really enjoy. I certainly don't plan to convert anyone, nor do I ever feel guilty about my geeky pleasures. It's just sometimes: I effing love cartoons.

Jive Talkin'

So let's say you really enjoyed talking crap -

But not just any kind of crap - stoner jive. It's a term that was originally coined by my lady love, to describe only the sweetest of introspective chatter that occurs when one is - oh - shall we say - under the influence. I like to dance around subjects as much as the next person, considering I'd wager at least 70% of the territory has intimate knowledge of the subject - or let's just say - y'all know exactly what I'm talking about, right?

Good now that's out of the way -

Jiving. I had an awful lot of it last night.

When travelling, if you're like me, you like to find a place to call home, a watering hole that in some way encapsulates what we like to find at home. A nice cozy atmosphere, with a wide selection of beer is what we were looking for while on vacation in South Florida. We found exactly what we were looking for and more in the Funky Buddha -



A bar smack in the middle of retirements-ville Boca Raton. We headed there for the draw of 90+ micro-brew options, hookahs and a free open mic for me to get out some performance anxieties. (I gotta rant on stage every so often or I get squirrely - a common affliction with stand-ups)

After one evening, we had made some very close friends - including the incredibly talented Master of South Floridian comedy and all around nice feller Richy Lala, the astoundingly funny and heavily bearded Matt Z, and the guru of all things beer related - Joey Beers.

You gotta love a place where the man behind the counter can take you on random hop induced flavour adventures...but I digress.

Matt and I had some jiving to do, seeing as it was our last night in town. We covered a wide variety of subjects - but a couple of them stuck with me.

Tweens. The rise of the tweens. Having gone through the horror of witnessing hundreds of girls screaming during the piece of garbage titled "Twilight", I voiced my concern to Matt on how these 13 somethings were completely taking over, and thus ruining the entertainment industry. Some of you might say that it's all harmless pre-teen fun, but if Miley Cyrus isn't a sign of the Apocalypse, then I'll eat my imaginary hat! Hilary Duff never made me worry for my sanity - so what happened? I'm pretty sure it's tweens of the nineties that ruined pop music. Hear that you 80's music lovers - that's where you point your fingers! Matt and I might have come up with more answers, but then we moved to politics.

I told my new American pal that a small part of me had hoped that McCain and Palin would win the election just to see how crazy the world would get after that. Matt was slightly saddened but agreed that a part of him wished that had happened as well, just so his paranoid self would be able to shout: "See! I told you so! I was right!"

From politics we moved to professional wrestling, and the heyday of the art, which we both agreed had peaked around the mid-nineties, with the introduction of The Undertaker as its supreme highlight. Yes, I miss those days when I bought into it whole-heartedly. When The Hulkster was shaking he was nigh-invincible! And those were the days when a body slam was a finishing move and the sight of a chair in the ring was something rare and awesome...

While we were on a roll, we switched to the internet - and how it was a wonderful mecca of proliferation, and how it should always remain that way - completely uncensored. And then we posited that this granted people far more disposable income, since with a computer and internet connection, one not need spend a cent to receive any entertainment they desire. For example, I wish I had seen Twilight in the comfort of my own home, instead of in the middle of a shrieking hormone hurricane. So, with all of this extra cash, what will we North Americans spend our money mostly on? Food. And with extra money, we want to spend our money on the best food possible, thus we have the proliferation of The Food Network and hundreds of food related reality shows and cooking challenges. This, with the sheer amount of ultimate fighting challenges, will of course bring us closer to the neo-Roman Civilization we all unconsciously want.
Phew -
Take that to your Riverdale dinner parties my friends - amidst the looks of confusion and awkward silence, there will be a good third present who will be completely agreeing with you.
Don't be afraid of where the jive will lead you - this I have learned.

Also - don't watch Twilight.

A Quick Thought...

And a wholly serious one, before I get into a long post about our excursion into South Florida.
There's still a lot of talk, on the internets, television and such - about parkour. It had all the hallmarks of an extreme sport fad - people using urban environments as jungle gyms, leaping off ledges, swinging from streetlamps, bouncing off rooftops...
What I really ask myself every time I hear about parkour -

What's it gonna take for one of them to slap on some spandex, a domino mask and fight some crime? If you're gonna leap around a city risking your neck anyway, is it that much of a stretch to slap on tights and kick some evildoers in the face?

I think not.

If anyone needs help, I'd make for a lousy side-kick, and an even worse Alfred - but I'd be a great Jimmy.

You know where to find me.

In defense of CKRW

I've been meaning to opine on the subject of Whitehorse's most loved/hated radio station, and in a format other than booze/stoner-jive fueled campfires.
(I'll discuss stoner-jive in a later post.)
I've heard through the grapevine for many years about how much people don't like CKRW for various reasons. So I'd like to share some thoughts about this highly subjective topic.
I worked at CKRW for three years, in one of the most relaxed, comfortable atmospheres I've ever parked my arse at. I was the guy that handled all the copy-writing, and pitched in on-air for the Saturday shift, or when the other DJ's got sick.
So - I know that I have a good informed opinion about the operation there.
There are limited number of radio stations in Whitehorse, and they all operate quite differently. CHON has a lot of liberty with their programming, and they do some great stuff, but you indeed know what you're going to get when you tune in. Same for New Life FM, and CBC. These stations have specific formats, that one tunes in to, if one likes that sort of thing.
So comparing these guys to CKRW is a little unfair, as we are indeed talking about apples and oranges. There is also the community radio station, which has music programming that follows no rhyme or reason, and is solely based upon the whims of the various programmers. So, sure, if you like eclectic, there you go.
But - a commercial radio station has to follow some sort of format to be successful. You have to attract people who are willing to buy ad space, then they can get their message to as many people as possible. That's pretty much how the game works.
So, Bob Johnstone, the music director of CKRW, has the unenviable task of trying to please as many musical tastes as humanly possible for the territory.
And let's face it - the Yukon has such a diversity of musical tastes, it's an extremely difficult job to satisfy all these people. The artsy culture in Whitehorse can be blamed for a little bit of music elitism, as they will be the first to complain that their favourite obscure independent band doesn't get any airtime on the radio - etc.
How come I can never hear any (insert name of R&B, hip-hop, metal, reggae, bluegrass, etc band here), is something Bob gets a lot of. And if you were to look through the exhaustive music library at the station, there is a surprising amount of music that hits almost all areas of the musical spectrum.
So why don't you hear that?
Like I said, commercial radio follows a certain format, and to hit the largest audience and keep them tuned in, CKRW has probably one of the loosest formats around. Throughout a day, you'll hear top 40, classic rock and a good chunk of Canadian independent music. As this is what most of the people in the territory want to listen to. Bob's other job is to make sure all this music flows nicely, so you can hear a four song sweep that mixes together really well. You get songs that follow each other musically in a logical, and ear-pleasing pattern.
Music directors plan out which songs would work out at certain times of day, which is why you'll hear lighter tempo songs in the morning.
So, I'd say, Bob does a pretty damn good job.
Plus, there is some specific programming at certain times, to hit other audiences. The nooner (which some people still haven't figured out, runs at noon after the news), is the full-hour request show. You can request whatever floats your boat, and Keith Ellert will try and find it for you. And I do mean anything.
Countless times I've seen Bob run into the production booth to hunt for just one specific song, just for the nooner. Sometimes, he'll hear something that will work for the station, and add it to the rotation. So if you think there's a tune lacking in the CKRW system, don't be shy to drop them a line.
There's the overnight that starts at 11, where songs that are a little too heavy, or contain some adult content that would be questionable to play during the day, so plays late at night.
The DJ's themselves have quite a lot of freedom in picking the music, and can play around with some of what gets played, so you might get an idea of DJ's personal favourites if you keep an ear out.
There's a good reason why Stevie Wonder's "Signed, Sealed, Delivered" got played when I was on air. It's a great tune - one of my fav's. (And it's 2 minutes and 30 secs, great to time-out to the hour with)
Remember folks, the music you listen to may not agree with other people. So if you feel like writing a message of disdain to Bob for playing a piece of garbage like "Jenny from the Block", understand that Bob may not like that particular tune either, but someone out in the territory does.
Still have complaints? Don't be lazy, walk into CKRW at the corner of 4th and Elliot, and say something. While being a commercial radio station, it's still a part of your community.

It's been a while -

So I figure I should make some attempt at writing something.
Now I find myself missing my days as a What's Up writer, firstly because my editor, Darrell, would let me blather about any subject that piqued my interest - but it was also great exercise just to work on something every couple of weeks.
I've been on quite the adventure since I left the Yukon in July. To begin, my fiancee and I packed up our belongings, drove them down to her parents place, stuffed them in a shed, then immediately took off on a long drive to Winnipeg to perform at the Fringe festival there.
Canada has a well known and loved circuit of Fringe festivals, across the country, where any schmuck with the application fee has the chance to put on any kind of show they want in front of an audience. Generally seen as a venue for the weird and experimental, you're likely to catch a little bit of everything at one, from comedic plays, to musicals, beat poetry, dance, clown, classic plays and even some Shakespeare.
It's what appealed to me in the first place, that there's such a scattershot of shows, in such a wide variety, it's like a theatre zoo. Of course, it also means that the quality is highly subjective, from utter crap, to sheer brilliance.
My show was a a bit of a stand-up revue, of material and sketches I had performed and honed in Whitehorse.
The Winnipeg Fringe is not a good place to start for a first timer. The learning curve is quite large, and takes getting used to a lot of humiliation. While each Fringe supplies you with a venue, tech support, and box office - all the promo is pretty much done by yourself. Which entails you hoofing around like a reverse-hobo, begging people to come see your show.
Myself, being introverted, had a hard time at the whole promo thing - but at least we got some audience.
We had a much better time in Saskatoon. The Fringe there is much smaller than the others, but is known amongst the Fringe participants as a bit of an "oasis". This is a real chance for performers to get to know each other, hang out, and socialize. And indeed, we did. Some might say a little too much, but we let them know that people from the Yukon are truly unique individuals.
If you happen upon some lost looking theatre artists from the UK or Australia, don't be suprised. We're pretty sure we sold the place really well on a lot of people.

So - I learned a lot about myself as a performer, but I'm nowhere near having a clue as to where I'm going. Performance wise that is. As for a settling place to call home, we really dig that Saskatoon - and we'll likely find ourselves there in May.
In the meantime, we're hanging out at Erica's parents place in Summerland, BC.

This year was my first discovering the Okanagan. This former Eastern Ontario boy has become Westernized I tells ya. We've already decided that we're going to retire in Oliver, where I have already chosen my old man hobby, forgoeing the usual WWII fascinations, golf or complaining, and instead I'll be working on my grow-op.