Ozzy

He's lead one of the most interesting lives of any musician out there. You think of the most prolific artists in history .... Led Zeppelin were only together for 12 or so years, Jimi Hendrix was big for about 8 or 9 .... Ozzy has been part of the biggest Metal bands for the last 40 years and is still writing great music.

His story is ridiculous. He's the grandfather of Heavy Metal. He truly has lead a life of sex, drugs and rock n roll ... and somehow is still living!

We've all watched at least one episode of The Osbournes ... and I'm sure we all agree that Ozzy may be mentally handicapped. Lets just remember, the four years they shot that show ... Ozzy was either drunk or stoned in every episode. (this came out a couple months ago after he claimed to be sober for the entire duration of the show)

Am I saying Ozzies life is awesome and I wish I could be like him ... not even a little bit. It's a sad story really. But, there are things we could learn from the Prince of Darkness ... He's got 7 children ... 5 biological and 2 adopted. Yes he's been in two marriages, but the one with Sharon has lasted 25 years! That's incredible and mind boggling when you consider the life he's led. Obviously he's doing something right for his family.

I really think this new documentary his son Jack is producing will be a good watch. He's trying to depict his father as the man he really is instead of the senile, funny, bumbling guy everyone saw on The Osbournes. Check out the trailer.

WRECKAGE OF MY PAST from MIKE PISCITELLI on Vimeo.

Smile

Its like I just found out what Youtube was! I can't believe I haven't seen this before today. This video has been watched by over 40 million people and it made me smile this morning.




Here's the background story:

I'd been living in London when my world turned upside down and I'd had to come home. By the time my plane landed back in Sydney, all I had left was a carry on bag full of clothes and a world of troubles. No one to welcome me back, no place to call home. I was a tourist in my hometown.

Standing there in the arrivals terminal, watching other passengers meeting their waiting friends and family, with open arms and smiling faces, hugging and laughing together, I wanted someone out there to be waiting for me. To be happy to see me. To smile at me. To hug me.

So I got some cardboard and a marker and made a sign. I found the busiest pedestrian intersection in the city and held that sign aloft, with the words "Free Hugs" on both sides.

And for 15 minutes, people just stared right through me. The first person who stopped, tapped me on the shoulder and told me how her dog had just died that morning. How that morning had been the one year anniversary of her only daughter dying in a car accident. How what she needed now, when she felt most alone in the world, was a hug. I got down on one knee, we put our arms around each other and when we parted, she was smiling.

Everyone has problems and for sure mine haven't compared. But to see someone who was once frowning, smile even for a moment, is worth it every time.

The guys name is Juan Mann and has been on all kinds of shows including Oprah since that hit the Web.




On a side note .. that song that accompanies the video is by a band called "Sick Puppies" who are out of Australia. They are climbing my favorite bands list extremely fast .. check their new album out called Tri Polar .. it came out last week!

Surprising? ... not really.

I realize this blog is becoming a miniature version of CNN. Is it because I love CNN? Probably not. Do I embed so many CNN videos cause it's an easy way of blogging? Yes.

You don't really have to watch every minute of this 10 minute story to realize the point their trying to get across. You actually only have to watch the first 30 seconds. In that 30 seconds they say that drivers using a cell phone are 4 times more likely to get in an accident than a drunk driver.

Drunk driving is not cool. But neither is being on the phone and driving.

Let's be honest, how many times have you got mad at a dude driving drunk? Probably never ... its something you don't really broadcast if your doing it.

How many times have you thrown an F-bomb at someone doing something stupid while on the phone driving? At least 2-3 times a day!!

My only question ... If talking on the phone and driving is 4 times more likely to get you in a crash than drunk driving ... what are the odds while texting?

**********************



Is it awkward passing people on the Chinook pathway? Or is it just me?

I was bike riding on there last night ( did the whole pathway in an hour .. no big deal) and had a couple very awkward "hello's" thrown my way. Since when was saying hello to another individual so weird? Can I not say hello to another human being without feeling like I did something wrong?! I even got a couple no responses! Nothing is more awkward than saying hello to someone ... and getting absolutely no response ... not even a smile ... not even a smirk!

To make it worse ... people have to turn around at some point to get back to where they were coming from ... and when that happens .. you often meet the same people twice. For me last night, that meant two awkward moments with everyone I had met the first time.

I thought "well, maybe I'll get a hello this time." Nope ... TWO no responses from at least 3 people!

Next time someone does that to me ... I'm going to stop right in front of them and not move or say a word until they return the hello ... you wanna create an awkward moment?? That will truly be an awkward moment!

Massive Shark

***WARNING*** It's about to get extremely geeky around here!



So, that is a Basking Shark found washed ashore in Babylon New York. CNN really doesn't have much of a story about it ... just the video coverage.

Because I'm fascinated by Sharks ... and have spent some time watching Shark Week on the Discovery Channel ... I think the right thing to do is explain what a Basking Shark is!!

Here are some fun tidbits on the Basking Shark:

- in 1851, one got caught in a Herring Net in the Bay of Fundy (between New Brunswick and Nova Scotia) .. it measured 40 feet and weighed and estimated 19 tons!! Its the largest ever recorded ... just to put it in perspective ... the one in the video is only 15 feet long!!

- Basking Sharks are pretty harmless ... all they do is open their mouth and swim! They collect plankton by doing this ...


Creepy hey!?

- That mouth usually opens to about 3 and a half feet wide. Which means our CKSW Sales Manager could stand right up in there!

- They live as deep as 3,300 feet ... roughly 1 km.

- They usually travel in groups of 3 or 4, but have been known to be in groups as large as 100!!

- Finally, the Basking Shark, once considered a nuisance along the Canadian Pacific Coast, were the target of a government eradication program from 1945 to 1970. As of 2008^[update], efforts are underway to determine if any sharks still live in the area and monitor their potential recovery.

That's what I know about Basking Sharks ... I understand if we can't be friends anymore due to the nerdiness of this blog post.

Randoms

This summer has been a busy one for weddings, and not just weddings, but mc'ing them. I've done two so far and have one more next weekend. I don't consider myself an MC extraordinaire. In fact, I don't even think I'm really that good at mc'ing at all!! But I have learnt a few things over the last couple of weeks ... if your confident behind a microphone and you just act like you normally would in everyday situations ... people will enjoy the job that you do. It also helps when you have friends who make a living mc'ing... thanks to Switzy for some tips a couple days in advance of those weddings!!!

If your mc'ing a wedding, here's a freebie that usually goes over well ....

Barrett and Justine … you’re going to make a great married couple … your marriage will be one that others look up to and learn from … I couldn’t be more happier for the two of you … it just felt right today when you got up there and said I do … but I want you both to promise me something … Barrett .. promise me this … that you will do all these things for Justine through your marriage:

-Compliment her-Cuddle her-Kiss her-Caress her-Love her-Tease her-Comfort her-Protect her-Hug her-Hold her-Spend money on her-Wine and dine her-Buy things for her-Listen to her-Care for her-Standby her-Support her-and Go to the ends of the earth for her.

Justine … if Barrett does these things … all that you’ll need to do to keep him happy for the rest of your lives … is Show up naked and bring beer.

I used that at the end of the banquet and it seemed to go over pretty well.

**********************************
Is it weird that this freaked me out ... lady bugs = cute ... millions of lady bugs = Chance Duperreault Freaked OUT!!

Twisted Sister

I don't know what it is about old bands making new music. All of it sucks. I've never heard a band that made music in the 70's and 80's .... make good music now.

I've come to two conclusions:

1) Their old music was so good and so iconic that there's no way they could ever top it.

2) They've just lost touch with how to make music.

The video was kind of cool though.

*********************************

I know its been a month since I said I would post about the Offspring concert ... but here's the review anyway.

Frickin AWESOME!!!

I'm still working on getting pictures and videos from a buddies camera ... hopefully I can get some of them up.

****************************

We start phoning people tomorrow for our Summer Contest ... Tomorrow we'll give someone the Beachcomber draw which is 125 dollar gift certificate to Beachcomber Hot Tubs and Culligan Water ... plus 4 tickets to the Riders vs. Alouettes July 18th ... just gotta answer your phone the Eagle Rocks and if you haven't gotten us your number yet .. visit these businesses to get them to us ...

Canadian Tire
Swift Current Indians
Beachcomber Hot Tubs
Voth's Countrywide
Pinnacle Sports
Comfort Inn
Boston Pizza