It’s been awhile since I posted a blog and since it’s title is “Random Thoughts At Random Times” I thought I’d go randomly into the old cerebrum and dig out a few thoughts:
Can you enjoy the go even if you don’t use Charmin? I think I can.
If you’re in the bathroom longer than 15 minutes, it’s obvious you had trouble solving Wordle.
I was pleased with the response I got on Facebook about baristas asking me if I had any plans for the rest of the day. I don’t know why it annoys me so much but it was clear that it annoys other people as well. And thank you, Sherri Gallant for the suggestion that I just tell them “I have a few bodies to hide.” I may use that a few times.
I got a big kick out of the Father’s Day card I got from my daughter Jessica. It was all fart related references. I taught her well. I was so proud.
(And yes, I still have a grade 6 sense of humor) Once when she was very young, SHE asked ME to pull HER finger. When I did, she farted. I laughed so hard but she was quite embarrassed by it. Still, it was quite a bonding moment.
I brought greetings from the city at the annual Filipino Heritage celebration at Henderson Lake. It’s heartening to see the pride the Filipino people have for their culture and the diversity they bring to the city. Also, what a vibrant place Henderson Lake is. That morning there was also the Kidney walk and Dragon Boat practices. And to go along with that, there was a huge block party happening at Festival Square in the Downtown.
Global Lethbridge cut a couple more jobs earlier this month. I understand the financial strains and the way media has changed over the years but it breaks my heart that a kid who wants to work in the TV business can’t take roots in a city like Lethbridge, have a long career, raise a family and contribute in other ways to the prosperity of the city they choose to live in. Unfortunately, a reporter who starts here in all likelihood will last at the most two years before moving to a bigger market. There’s little chance you’ll see a Terry Vogt type again.
I was saddened to hear about the death of Bill Syme. I met Bill in 1974 when he was promoting the upcoming 1975 Canada Winter Games which were held in Lethbridge. He dressed up as their mascot, Pharley The Pheasant. I had just started working at 1090 CHEC and I was assigned to cover all of the small-town festivals doing the summer parade circuit. I’d go to all of the southern Alberta parades that were held that year and Bill (Pharley) was at a lot of them as well. We became good friends and while we had been out of touch for the last couple of years, I was shocked to hear the news. Bill taught school for many years in Lethbridge. My sympathies to his wife Trish.
Speaking of 1090 CHEC, I can’t believe it was 50 years ago this year that I started the all-night show there. That was after I had applied for a job in Red Deer at CKRD. I got a call from the program director who asked me to come up for an interview. I didn’t have a car at the time so I took the Greyhound. I think it stopped in every town between here and Red Deer. When I arrived at the station, the PD said, “Can you come back tomorrow?” Fortunately a guy who worked there said I could stay at his place overnight. I went to the interview in the morning and….I didn’t get the job. It was back on the Greyhound. The good news for me. There was an opening at CHEC and I didn’t have to take the Greyhound for that interview. The rest, as they say, is history. Some may say it’s a Greek Tragedy.
More on that in a future blog.
I think I’m done now. Either that or I just had a brain fart.
Earlier in May my Facebook memories reminded me that it was 10 years ago that I recorded what would be my very last Scene & Heard interview for Global TV. It was with Chinook High School teacher Reid Seibert who was promoting a show featuring talented young musicians from the school. Reid has quite a history in the local music scene and it was ironic that on the same day my memory came up, the Lethbridge Historical Society posted a story about the Ike & Tina Turner show that took place at the Enmax (Sportsplex) in 1975. The opening act for that show was local band Boogaloo. Reid Seibert was in that band I remember him talking about that experience and how they ended up going on tour with that show into Saskatchewan and Manitoba. It caused me to do some reflecting on the 15-year run I had with Scene & Heard.
As I’ve mentioned on a number of occasions it is the part of my media career that I miss the most. It gave me the opportunity to really discover Lethbridge, meet the people who made things happen in the city and when celebrities would come to town, I had a platform to do interviews with them. While Global TV ultimately gave me the boot I am forever thankful I was allowed to do what I did for as long as I did.
Originally we were given a half-hour segment that ran in the noon hour. We called it…wait for it….”The Noon Show.” I know, really creative.
The show would be very focused on what was going on in the city and surrounding area. There was never a problem finding things to talk about as we were able to do three or four interviews a show, five days a week.
We made regular stops at the Galt Museum, SAAG, Fort Whoop-Up, The Helen Schuler Nature Centre, The Bowman Arts Centre, CASA, The Exhibition and many visits to the Japanese Gardens. (I always felt a little more peaceful after our interviews there.)
Since I am an arts-centric kind of guy I was really happy to give the opportunity for all theatre groups to promote their shows. There was a regular visit with the cast of New West Theatre, (I always remember Scott Carpenter who would stand behind me when interviewing other members of the New West Cast commenting on how dirty my glasses were-I digress) Lethbridge Musical Theatre, Playgoers, Hatrix Theatre, Theatre Outre, every stage show done at the UofL whether it was on the main stage or in the David Spinks theatre and all Junior and Senior High School productions. There were out-of-town theatre shows as well including Cardston, Raymond Taber and Waterton. Cardston has a vibrant theatre scene. We also talked regularly to promote the symphony (Glen Klaussen is one of the most energetic people around) and all Community Band Concerts.
Every charitable organization who wanted to talk about their walk or event was given their time: Canadian Cancer Society, Alzheimers, Canadian Mental Health, Schizophrenia Society, Parkinsons, ALS, Heart & Stroke, Juvenile Diabetes, The Walk For Dog Guides-Bill Brown, who was blind and had his own dog was dynamic), The Girl Guides (thanks for the free cookies that may or may not have made it back to the station before they were eaten) The Boys Scouts, The Royal Canadian Legion, The Rotary Club, The Kinsmen Club, The Odd Fellows, The Free Masons. We did regular features on the Handicapped Riding Association. I never did an interview where I didn’t have tears in my eyes about the impact horses have on the human condition. There were many motorcycle interviews spearheaded by Dallas Harty and the other Dallas Harty had his famous campout on the top of Sobeys to get food hampers to the food banks. (Of course it always snowed when he was up there.) And I know I’m forgetting many.
We did a few weekly features like with the Humane Society to try to get some animals adopted. I remember Leny Sheilds was holding a little kitty who was rather skittish and it took out a chunk of her nose. There was blood. Not sure what happened to that little kitty but Leny never blamed it for what it did.
For a time we went to the Movie Mill to talk about the movies Len Binning was showing. He was great at encapsulating what the movie was about and we’d show a clip. I liked doing this with Len because he was a local guy running a local company. Local has always been important to me. (And Len always hated Nicolas Cage as an actor.)
We even had a regular feature with Gary Allison who was a classic movie buff and he would talk about some of his favorites from his collection. He had many that were on this format known as VHS.
A couple of highlights for me as we got our feet on the ground was doing a feature on the Post Office clock. We went up the towner to look at all the gears that keeps that old thing ticking.
It took us awhile to get permission but we did a ride on a train over the High Level Bridge as we talked to the engineers. That was cool.
We did three big shows out of town: Vegas, Nashville and Hamilton.
We went to Vegas because Gary Kirk of Lethbridge was best friends with Wayne Newton. We had to go there to hear the story of how their friendship started and how they maintained that relationship for so many years. We did the interview after Wayne’s Show in his dressing room at The Stardust Hotel.
While we were in Vegas, we had to pop over to the Mirage to talk to Dan Niehaus who had recently been hired on by Cirque Du Soleil as a coach for Mystere. Dan had spent many years at Westwind Gymnastics in Lethbridge. He is still in Vegas. The Cirque people gave us access to the backstage and they allowed us to film the entire show.
We went to Nashville to follow Trevor Panczak’s attempt to win $100,000 at the Colgate Country Showdown. He was one of four finalists who competed in Regional Competitions all over the US. Trevor started out winning in Montana and made it all the way to the stage of the historic Ryman Theatre. This was special for me because he was a regular on the Noon Show. I remember him first doing a song for us on a sack of rice at Nakagama’s in Chinatown. Ultimately, Trevor didn’t win the big prize but one of the judges was the legendary Patti Page who told me off camera that she thought Trevor should have won. I also ended up doing an interview with Patti in her hotel room and we sang “How Much Is That Doggie In The Window.”
Big thrill for me. That was a big song in my life that I sang regularly.
We went to Hamilton because Wayne Peterson of Lethbridge was the President of the Royal Canadian Golf Association. Hamilton was where the Canadian Open was that year and we followed him around a bit to find out what kind of duties he was required to perform. I remember seeing Mike Weir tee off and thinking, man he looks like he’s under a lot of pressure to be the first Canadian to win the Canadian Open in decades. He didn’t make the cut that year. I also remember seeing Vjay Singh on the driving range after he played his opening round and hitting another 200 balls. The guy had a work ethic.
Back in Lethbridge, whenever any performers came to town, I would ask for an interview. Many times they would say no. But many times, surprisingly they would say yes.
Probably the biggest name I have ever talked to was Lady Gaga. She was appearing at what was then The Suede. I had no idea who she was as she was just starting to gain some notoriety. My camera gal at the time, Diana said, “You should try to get an interview with her.” Because I’ll pretty much talk to anyone for this show I said, OK. Made the phone call. Got an interview. The only thing I was told was that she dresses eccentrically. She was very cordial, gave a great interview with her “Posse” in the background, helped me sing a few lines from Guys & Dolls (We had both done the show at one time) and then she kissed me on the cheek. Little did I know what kind of a massive star she would become. It is a treasured moment for me.
The Noon Show moved from noon to being a regular segment on the 6pm news and we changed the name to Scene & Heard. Over the 15 years I did that show I got to talk to many celebrities. In the early days, I was very nervous about how these people would react to little old me from little old Lethbridge asking them questions. It turns out, they’re actually humans. They agreed to be interviewed because they genuinely want to be interviewed. I never had a horror story of someone being a total jerk. I’m very thankful for that.
The moral of the story for anyone wanting to do something like I was able to do is this: Just ask.
I thought I’d list off some of the people I had the good fortune of meeting and chatting with. I was truly blessed with the opportunity:
Ron Sakamoto (He won Canadian Promoter of the Year so many times they decided to name the trophy after him.)
When we asked Ron to do a show about what goes into putting on a big concert he agreed. Country star Toby Keith was in town with opening act newcomers Rascal Flats. The show was supposed to be about everything that goes on behind the scenes and he surprised us with bringing Toby Keith and Rascal Flats to the interview.
Keith Urban (Incredibly shy guy at the time compared to how personable he is now. I remember it was the day that Johnny Cash died and I was the one who informed him-he was a big fan of the Man In Black.)
Not only did we interview Wayne Newton in Vegas, he came to Lethbridge in a private jet with Steve Schott who ran the Oakland As at the time. They were in town to honor Gary Kirk. Steve Schott once played baseball in Alberta. We did the interview in that jet. The mic didn’t work at first and we had to redo it.
Tanya Tucker (We sang Delta Dawn at the end of the interview and she later said, “You wanna come on the road with us?”)
Bruce Johnstone & Mike Love (Beach Boys-Started to sing Barbara Ann with them and Bruce yelled out “Call security!”
Tom Johnson (Doobie Brothers)
Kreskin (As enthusiastic a fellow as he always was on Johnny Carson. One question was all he needed.)
Florida Georgia Line (Didn’t want to sing with me.)
Johnny Reid (We sang Danny Boy at the end…a bit of a fail on my part.)
Gord Bamford (His band set up at the Galt Museum to sing for us)
Randy Bachman (First time I heard that Elvis loved Taking Care of Business and TCB became a mantra for him and wore those letters around his neck on a chain.)
Jay & The Americans..
Buffy St. Marie
Florence Henderson (It was colder than hell outside and we sang Baby It’s Cold Outside together-we hugged at the end.)
Ted Neely (AKA Jesus-It was actually a phone interview in advance of the stage production of JC Superstar)
Tragically Hip (Robbie Thompson-My first TV interview with an actual known band.)
Collective Soul
Nickleback (Ryan Peake)
Steven Page Barenaked Ladies
Billy Talent (I inadvertently introduced the lead singer Ben as Billy Idol. Apparently he got that a lot.)
The Stampeders..I couldn’t believe Ronnie King was a great grandfather and still touring.)
Ra McGuire (Trooper lead singer. He was opening for The Doobie Brothers. I asked him, “What do you say to people who think your music isn’t relative anymore?” He said, “I tell them to go #@$! themselves.” He ended up putting that in his book, Here For A Good Time.
The Chevelles (Tim Carter helped do a lot of bits with me over the years.)
Pauly Shore (Did the interview at the old Firehall where he was doing his standup)
Paul Henderson (I asked if I could hug him at the end of the interview because of his 1972 goal. He said, “Do whatever you want.” So I did. Paul was among many of the athletes over the years that came for the Richardson Golf Classic-Brian Miller helped coordinate those.)
Lanny MacDonald (We talked about the night he was playing for the Lethbridge Sugar Kings and the Arena started burning.)
General Romeo Dallaire
Margaret Trudeau (Surprised how very nice and engaging she was-she was advocating for Mental Health)
Kurt Browning (He got mad at me because I said Canadian figure skaters have not had success at the Olympics. “Just because we haven’t won gold doesn’t mean we haven’t had success.”)
Cassie Campbell
Jason Zuback (Long Ball Champion from Lethbridge)
Senator Joyce Fairbairn
Tara Jean Popowich (So You Think You Can Dance Canada Champ.)
Sandi Richard (Author of best selling cookbooks.)
Michelle Wright (Loved that she agreed to sing a song for us in the lobby of the Sandman Inn.)
Carly Rae Jepson (Before she got big. Sang at The Roadhouse. Later to become the Safe Consumption Site.)
Theo Tams (The Last Canadian Idol winner)
Nazareth-Dan McCafferty & Pete Agnew
Steve Priest from The Sweet
Liona Boyd (Classical Guitarist)
The Band Perry (We sang a nursery rhyme together)
Corb Lund (Came to the station and he sang 5 Dollar Bill in the lobby)
Blue Rodeo (Jim Cuddy-got to talk to him three times-always gracious.)
Dean Brody (Another guy who sang a nursery rhyme with me.)
Gavin Crawford (Comedian who made it big with CBC)
Rick Hansen (Big honor to talk to him.)
Brian Williams (CBC)
Pinball Clemons
Brent Butt
Lennie Gallant (Another guy who sang in the lobby at Global for us.)
John Wort Hannam (Many interviews. Loved to watch his career blossom.)
Paul Brandt (Numerous times. Always kind to me.)
Leeroy Stagger (Loved watching him blossom over the years. One of his songs made the Grey’s Anatomy soundtrack)
Big & Rich
Terri Clark
Fred Eaglesmith (We interviewed him at Blocks & Rocks Landscaping which became our go-to place for musicians. He later appeared on David Letterman)
Dave McCann (Local Musician)
Carrie Rodriquez (One of many musicians that were brought in by Mike Spencer for the Geomatic Attic shows.)
Emmerson Drive
Rod Davis (Quarrymen. Cool to talk to a guy who used to be in a band with Paul McCartney)
Grapes of Wrath
Monkeyjunk (Rock & Roll Blues band)
Johnny Dee of Honeymoon Suite
Prism (Al Harlow)
Jerry Doucette
Bill Henderson of Chilliwack
Skip Prokop Lighthouse
Dallas Smith
Brett Kissel (Apologized profusely for being late for the interview)
Ian Tyson
Tommy Banks
The Strumbellas at Blocks & Rocks. (They ended up winning a Juno)
Trevor Stuart after his climb to the top of Mt. Everest
South Country Fair with Trent Moranz- (Did a yearly interview-always a delightful eclectic guy-)
Jenns Lindeman (Canadian Brass)
Derek Scott. LCI alum who performed on Broadway in Slava’s Snowshow.
Marina Lazarretto (Local Dancer who was Dance Captain for West Side Story on Broadway.)
Karen Romanchuk (Local mainstay musician)
The Good Lovelies
Mike Babcock (He was in town for the Pronghorn Golf Tournament)
Vic Stasiuk. (One question for him and it would go 7 minutes)
Steve Rogers (Famous for giving up the big home-run hit by Rick Monday against the Expos keeping them out of the World Series. I hugged him too)
Bridgett Yarwood (I keep telling her she needs to audition for Canada’s Got Talent.)
Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
Creedence Clearwater Revisited
Shaela Miller (Project Wild Winner of $100,000 for songwriting)
And one last thing I am very proud of: We put together a Christmas CD with local musicians called Precious Child. We were able to raise over $20,000 for the FAS Society. Everyone and everything on the project was donated.
My original co-workers on The Noon Show/Scene & Heard Erv Fehr and Chris Oates made going to work every day a joy. Once Erv and Chris moved on, I had the aforementioned Diana Delanovic, then Andy Krajewski and Shawn Worden.
Kind of fun to do some flashing back and I know I missed some stuff. This was pretty much off the top of my head while taking my mind off of watching the Blue Jays.
Mark Boogieman 