What A Night It Was

   Friday night was the Ducks Unlimited spring banquet in Yorkton, and what a night it was! Great food, great prizes and a great group of people to share it with. The only flies in the ointment were the fact that GX94's "smokey sweet hickory heat" bar-be-que sauce didn't win the "sauce off" between us, our sister station The Fox, and CTV (who did win).
   The other fly was our table was shut out of the prize draws. Oh, well. We'll be back next year. I believe I mentioned this in a previous entry, but Tonya Cherry and I had an in-house sauce off to see who's entry would represent our station. A competition Tonya won. (And her sauce really is good!) She'll be posting the recipe on her blog (which you can get to through our website (www.gx94radio.com. Follow the "on air" link to "announcers") and there it is.
   She also asked me to post my sauce on our facebook page, which I did.
   I'm also including it here for anyone who wants to try it out.

Craig's "Garlic Ranch" B-B-Q sauce:

I started with a bottle of Bullseye Bold Original sauce. I then added 4 packed tablespoons of brown sugar, 2 packets of Ranch dipping/dressing mix (the powdered kind). Add 1 1/2 teaspoons of garlic powder and an ounce of water. Simmer for about 15 minutes to dissolve the sugar and re-bottle. I found this worked great on chicken, pork chops and ribs.

   And to CTV..congratulations on your win this year. But be forewarned: I've already started mulling things over for next year's competition.

TTFN

This Is Un-Possible!

   Il n'est pas possible, mais c'est vrai. Yes, the impossible happened, and it's unfortunately true. France upset Canada 3-2 in a shootout at the men's world hockey championships. Mon Dieu! It's only the 2nd time Canada has lost to France going back to 1995, when they were beaten in regulation.
   Since then, they've gone 8 and 1 against them, and outscored them 16-3 in their previous 2 meetings.
   Fortunately, it's just the 1st game in the round-robin, so there's lots of time to recover. But it's also not the way the team (and their fans) expected to start the tournament in Minsk, Belarus.

TTFN

Say It Ain't So!

   It's unfortunately true. We could be facing a bacon shortage. Thanks to a pig epidemic, producers are having difficulties with their swine operations, which will mean a bacon shortage.
   And we will notice it too. Already, some butchers have started reducing the weight in packaged bacon, in some cases going to 375 from 500 grams. And the best part is the price will not be going down.
   It was bad enough finding out about the shortage of limes (I bought a single lime at a local store and paid $1.49 for it), but bacon? That's almost a staple of life!
   If it keeps getting too expensive, I guess I'll have to give up bacon wrapped limes.

TTFN

What Goals Do You Have?

   Had an interesting chat with Tonya Cherry this morning just before we went on the air for our "live" chat. And for some reason or other, we started talking about goals. Career goals specifically. I really can't remember how it all started, but it did evolve into what I've accomplished in my 35 years in radio. And I hope I didn't bore her too badly.
   Somehow we got to talking about the fact I used to host a call-in show when I was in Regina, and she asked if it was exciting to do that. Of course, it was. But it was also an awful lot of work. Then, it somehow twisted into what major goal I've never accomplished. That was easy to answer. I've never had the opportunity (yet) to interview a sitting Prime Minister of Canada.
   I have talked with 2 men who would become P.M way back in either late 1989 or the early '90's when Paul Martin and Jean Chretien were on the stump for federal Liberal leader. I've also had the chance to speak with former federal finance minister, Ralph Goodale more than once. And on the call-in show.
   That had me casting my mind back on the career goals I set way, way back. And I'm lucky, in that I've attained the majority of them. One was to host a talk show. Done. One was to work in a major market. Done. One was to be a news director. Done. One was to have the opportunity to read morning news. Still doing.
   Looking even further back, I've done feature interviews on the Calgary Olympics, with a researcher who had just returned from a deep sea visit to the Titanic's wreck in the Atlantic (via satellite phone while he was on a research ship), and even with officials in the town of Vulcan, Alberta as they were trying to get established as a "Star Trek" themed location.
   But for me, the highlight was in August 1993 when I had media accreditation to attend a symposium on the JFK assassination 30 years earlier. Because of that, I got to interview people who were in Dealey Plaza that fateful November day and saw the assassination firsthand. I also got the chance to ask 2 questions of Marina Oswald-Porter, the widow of the man who allegedly killed Kennedy, Lee Harvey Oswald.
   I guess the upshot of this long-winded blog entry is simple: Set Goals. You may not achieve most, or all of them, but set them anyway. It's amazing when you look back just how many you actually do reach.
   And Tonya: Sorry if I got a little boring this morning.

TTFN

Happy Cinco De Mayo. Also Known As Tax Deadline Day

   It is tax deadline day in Canada, and you have until midnight tonight to file your 2013 income taxes. Normally, April 30th is the deadline, but due to the "heartbleed" computer bug last month, we all got a reprieve.
   Canada Revenue Agency computers were among those affected, and they were down for 5 days, meaning no one could file electronically. That's why we got the extension. It also means that if you miss tonight's deadline and owe Ottawa money, you'll face a late penalty.
   If you're getting a refund, you've probably already filed your return as soon as possible. And if you don't owe the feds, or the feds don't owe you, no problem if you're a little late. But it's always a good idea to get them done ASAP.
   I go to a tax preparer. it's a lot easier and simpler than trying to do it myself, even with a tax program for the computer. It also saves an awful lot of cussing and swearing.
   And by the way: Happy 5th!

TTFN

The Debate Continues

   That's the smallpox virus, which killed a third of all the people it infected. How many the virus killed likely will never be know, but it is in the hundreds of millions over the course of history. It was declared eradicated in 1977, even though there were 2 more cases in 1978.
   Even though it has been wiped off the face of the earth, there are still viable strains of the virus in extremely highly secure labs in the U.S and Russia. Strains people are calling to be destroyed. Scientists will be meeting later this month, and hope to delay the destruction of the remaining samples. And I agree. With genetic engineering what it is today, along with DNA cloning, what's to say a rogue state can't get their hands on the building blocks of the virus, clone it and release it into te general public again?
   Even with the remaining strains available to produce vaccines, re-releasing something like smallpox would be devastating. I remember being vaccinated back in the day, but I'm not even sure if I'm still immune.
   Getting rid of the remaining virus's could create a nightmare scenario. Even if the chances are very, very slim, I don't think it's something we can take a chance with.
   At least, that's my opinion.

TTFN.

A Comic Editing Genius Has Died

   You might not know the name Al Feldstein, but you have seen his handiwork. He was for years the editor of MAD Magazine, a publication that lampooned, and continues to do so, political leaders, movies and just about everything under the sun.
   He was the editor starting in 1956, and helped assemble the team of writers and artists who made MAD great.
   I used to wait for the newest issue to come out every month growing up, and one of the first things I did was flip to the back cover to fold that puzzle over and see what I got.
   And, there were the usual standards as well. "Spy vs Spy", and "Snappy Answers to Stupid Questions." among them.
   A lot of people say it shaped the generation of comedy from 1955 to '75, and Feldstein was at the heart of it all.
   He died at his Montana home last night at 88.
   R.I.P, Mr Feldstein. Thanks for the many memories and laughs.

TTFN