Summertime...

My brother wrote the lyrics to the song "Summertime", from the musical "Corgy & Bess" in his Blog. He beat me to it, so I won't write the lyrics myself. That's a song that comes to my mind every year, on the first day of Summer. Both my brother and I learned that song in Elementary School, in Miss Wilkinson's music class.

But there's another thing that signifies the beginning of Summer to me, and that's the buzz of the Cicada. Whenever I hear that sound each Summer, it brings back memories of my childhood; of hearing the buzz on those hot Summer days, those days before we were old enough for a Summer job.

That sound occurred this past Monday June 25th this year. I was sitting in the backyard of my girlfriends house, having just finished dinner. The evening was beautiful, and the sound came first from one tree, then was returned with a buzz from another tree, as if the Cicadas were greeting each other for the first time.

Summertime, and the living is definitely easy...

DB

Eleven Years Ago

The last time I spoke to Robert Greenberg, was eleven years ago. He was a Professor of mine, at Ryerson University. He was one of those teachers who was so passionate about his craft, that he made you excited to learn. He was everybody's favourite.

While browsing on Facebook tonight, I came across sad news from a former classmate of mine; Bob Greenberg died on Sunday, after a short fight with cancer.

Although it has been eleven years since I last saw him, I will still miss him. He is one of those people in my life that I will never forget.

DB.

Detail Boi iz back...

Well, I'm back for now...
we'll see how long this lasts ;o)

Right now it's time for bed,
but I'll be sure to post again soon.

DB

Haiku To Start Again...

Here I am again,
warm Summer is almost here;
all there is to come!

DB

Could This Guy Have Been Trying To Pick Me Up?

The other evening, I went to Home Depot, looking for a new closet organizer. I was standing in front of the organizers that are similar to what's already in my closets, when an older gentleman approached; this man was probably around 60 years old. He asked me if I was thinking of buying an organizer like those on the shelf. I said yes, then he replied that he had lots of that shelving that he was getting rid of, because he was renovating his closets.

I kind of brushed him off, but he was persistent, and said that he'd give them to me for free. He said that it would cost me a lot of money to buy them new, and that he had all of the necessary brackets that he'd also pass on to me. I was still trying to brush him aside, but he wouldn't let up. I asked if he was serious, and he said yes. He told me to measure my closets, and then to call him, and he'd tell me if they would fit or not. He told me that his name was Arthur, gave me his phone number, and told me to call him during the day.

Two days have passed since that encounter, and I still haven't called him. I'm just worried that he could be some crazy guy, or that he was trying to pick me up, and if he gets my phone number, he'll start harassing me. It was kind of a strange occurrence when you think about it.

DB.

The Face And Voice Of Toronto Rocks...

Before "MTV" and "MuchMusic",
there was "Toronto Rocks".

Sadly, the face and voice
of "Toronto Rocks",
John Mahjor,
has died...

+++++++

Broadcaster John Majhor, a staple of Toronto radio and TV in the 1970s and '80s, has died at the age of 53.

Majhor died of cancer this morning at his home in Minnesota.

Born in San Bernadino, Calif., he started at Toronto radio station 1050 CHUM in 1975 and was later a familiar face on Citytv, hosting the popular shows "Video Singles"and "Toronto Rocks."

Majhor was later on the CHUM morning show from 1985 to 1986 before he moved to Los Angeles to host a talk and country music show.

In 1990 he returned to Toronto to host the morning show at CJEZ-FM, followed by a talk show at CFRB and a two-year run as host of Lunch Television at Citytv.

He was also the promo voice for Toronto's 680 News from 1993 to 1999.

+++++++

DB.

One More Thing...

Before I let 2006 go into the past,
I have to say that another milestone of mine
was that after 37 years,
I stopped biting my finger nails.

I'd tried many times over the years
to stop, but was never successful.

This time, I just stopped
cold turkey, and haven't
had even a nibble since.

DB.

One crazy $%#*&!

I left the office last night, at around 6:00 pm, to meet up with a friend to play squash. As I walked down towards Bloor, I could hear somebody yelling in the distance. When I reached the corner, I waited to see who was yelling, and what they were saying. A little ways down the street, I could see a man coming towards the corner where I stood, and I could start to make out what he was yelling... it went something like this;

"Repent! Turn to Jesus! Ask Jesus Christ, the son of David for forgiveness! You ****** ******* son of a *****!"

At first I thought he was a little dilusional, but religious, until I heard the last portion of his tirade. He proceeded to say this sort of thing over and over, while walking down the street, approached each person he passed.

I let him pass me, and continued to walk behind him, to see what he would do. I was a little nervous with him at my back, so I wanted to let him past. At one point he pushed a woman that was walking in the opposite direction, and another man came to her defence, and told the 'dilusional' man not to push the woman, or anybody else. To this, he felt threatened, and apologized for his action.

As he progressed down the street, he came to Avenue Road, with all six lanes busy with traffic. But instead of stopping at the red signal light, he just marched straight into traffic, not paying any attention at all. Several cars had to either swirve or hit their breaks to avoid colliding with him, and there were many honking horns, and irate drivers.

At this time I lost him in the crowd, as I was not going to continue across in the same fashion, and had to wait for the light to turn green. An interesting character he was, but not somebody I would feel comfortable running into alone on the street.

DB.

Ted's Variety

Blue Sky

Can you remember going to the corner store, with that dollar from Dad for the both of you, and you'd buy handfuls of candy with it. Buying that big green package full of 'Bottle Caps', and hoping there'd be more root beer flavours than orange?

Sitting in the car parked in the driveway, with the windows rolled down, pretending to be driving, chasing down criminals.

Swimming and barbeques in the green concrete pool, on those hot summer Sunday afternoons.

Waiting for that one Uncle at Christmas, then having to wait even longer, until you'd all had coffee and cake, then finally opening the gifts.

Getting up early on weekend mornings, sometimes before the t.v. stations were broadcasting anything, to watch cartoons (what time would that have had to have been... before 6:00?).

I remember those things, and more. Now I'm the Uncle that the kids are waiting for.

DB.

I don't know what to say...

Everything just seems bad this week.
I shouldn't be feeling this way,
but I do.

I'll drive myself crazy,
unless I get a handle on things.

DB.

...

"Everything can be taken from a man, but one thing, the last of the human freedoms -- to choose one's attitude to any given set of circumstances, to choose one's way."
- Viktor Frankl

End Of An Era...

Today signaled the end of an era
in motorports; it is the end of an
era that will be remembered the
way names like Fangio, Clark, Moss,
Prost, and Senna are remembered.

Michael Schumacher, Seven times
Formula 1 World Champion, raced
his final race, and went into
retirement, at the age of 37.

He is the most accomplished driver
of all time, holding every record,
except for most Grands Prix raced.

After 16 seasons, he put on his
helmet for the last time in Brazil today.

I started watching Formula 1 racing
on May 1st, 1994... possibly the darkest
day in modern Formula 1; the day that
Ayrton Senna died.

That was also the day that the
Schumacher-era began. At the young
age of 25, Schumacher went on to
dominate Formula 1 for the next 12 years,
outlasting challenger after challenger;
Hill, Villeneuve, Hakkinnen...

I watched every race during those 12 years,
through all 7 of his championships, and
have attended 3 Formula 1 races in Montreal,
where I saw Michael win twice, and his
brother Ralf win once.

I know that this doesn't have a great
significance in the big scheme of things,
but it is a nostalgic time for me, and for
all Formula 1 fans. I was still in University
when Schumy won his first championship,
and now I have been out of University for
10 years. So much has happened during
that time.

I watched the race at a friends house today,
who has been a big Schumacher fan with me
during these past 12 years. We have rejoiced
in his victories, and argued with his detractors.
This may be a big LOL for everybody reading
this, but I think we both had a tear in our
eyes as Schumacher climbed out of his car
for that final time at the end of the race.

It was a fantastic race though, with one of
Schumacher's most brilliant drives of his career.
A fitting way to end such a long and successful
career, even though he couldn't quite get
that 8th championship after such a wonderful
second half of the season.

Many people dislike Schumacher for some
of his tactics over the years, but so many
more liked him for his brilliant driving. It
was a combination of all that he was that
made him so exciting to follow.

Formula 1 will definitely not be the same
without him... even when the next great
champion begins his reign.

Forza Ferrari! Forza Schumacher!

DB.

Andy Warhol

I went to see the Andy Warhol exhibit
last week at the AGO; it was interesting.

I didn't know too much about
Andy Warhol, and learned much from the exhibit.

Some people might not understand
how his silk screens or movies
could be called art.

But it was in what the audience
is made to feel by the works,
that is what makes it art.

Some people may feel revulsion;
some people may think it's garbage;
some people may be moved to tears;
it is all of these reactions that is the art.

To have an 8 hour movie of a man
sleeping in bed, or an 8 hour static shot
of the Empire State Building;
it illicits reaction, which is what Warhol wanted.

DB

Is there anybody out there?

Does anybody,
other than my brother,
actually read this thing?

DB

Nothing to do...

Here I am, on a Saturday night, sitting in the Second Cup
at Brant and Lakeshore,
waiting for a friend.

I don't know where he is, we agreed to meet tonight,
to talk about business.

But here I am waiting, with the other customers,
having cancelled other plans for the night.

DB.

Emotional Rescue...

Our emotions change from day to day,
they evolve from one extreme to another;
sometimes taking days or weeks to make the evolution,
sometimes taking only minutes or hours.

And our bodies can become exhausted by these emotions.

I think that we should embrace our emotions,
good or bad,
and express them when they hit their hardest.

This can lead to wonderfully creative things.

DB.

Haiku for a cold day...

The sun was shining,
the wind blew throughout the day.
It is cold outside.

DB

Dandruff

It snowed today,
not very much,
(at least not here in Toronto)
but it was damn cold,
and it snowed.

DB.

How Nerdy are you?

You are a nerd if you try this out...

Schumy will retire at the end of the season...

Some of you might think I'm being silly,
but to me Michael Schumacher's announcement
that he is retiring from Formula 1 at the end of this season
is a sad thing for me.

I know it has nothing to do with anything important in the world,
but I've watched every single Formula 1 race since 1994,
and Schumy has always been the greatest driver to me.

Maybe it's not so much that he's retiring,
as it is that I am reminiscing about these past 12 years of my life.
So much has happened since his first championship in 1994,
and his retiring is like an end of an era,
and end of this portion of my life.

Yes it sounds silly, but I will miss seeing him race.

The records he holds speak for themselves...

Titles: 7 (1994, 1995, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004)
Wins: 90
Pole Positions: 68
Most wins in a single season: 13 (2004)
Successive wins in a season: seven (2004)
Most fastest race laps: 75
Most points in a single season: 148 (2004)
Most successive seasons with a win: 15
Most podiums: 153
Most second-place finishes: 43
Most wins at the same grand prix: 8 (France)
Most wins from pole position: 40
Most clean sweeps (pole position, race win, and fastest lap): 22
Most successive podiums: 19 (2001-02)
Biggest winning points margin: 67 (2002)
Fastest title: 2002 (won in July with six races to spare)

DB