Just got some pictures back from one of them point & shoot cameras. It's funny how they compress months of events into a single roll. I always keep one handy, just in case.

This is the view after hiking "The Chief" near Squamish, BC in the fall. Those are my feet, and that is the view. More to come!



Doug

Why is it that our American friends seem to think that terrorists flow only from Canada south and only migrants and drugs flow north from Mexico? And why is it, where the border is porous with Mexico, that the wagging finger is not wagged at Mexico (It's your fault we've got fat kids because of all those Taco Bells). Yet Canadians are continually blamed for the porousness of the northern gateway to America.

Here's a story on plugging holes down south:

http://tinyurl.com/x3ch

Imagine the outcry if we used wrecked cars as a security barrier along the 49th!

Now that I know I have at least one daily reader ("C"), I promise to be more verbose in my postings. IE: Watching the games last weekend with shit-eating grins. God only knows why one would grin if eating shit, but I digress.

After another monsoon, it is bright and sunny. There is a 90% chance of bongo drummers today.

I work at 2, Lorne is here to go get breakfast... so this will be short. Sorry "C."

Cheers!

Doug

Rain. Lots of it. That characterizes this day.

I've had a few days off from the CTV news grind -- which has given me time to look in horror at my bills and watch lots of DVDs. I've also been poking away at other stories which I still have to deliver.

The CBC called yesterday and today I meet with them regarding freelance work in their newsroom. This is another positive event in a week of positive events. If this keeps up, my bills will become less horrible and I'll likely be able to justify traveling to Europe again this summer.

Cheers!

Doug

Big news today. Early this morning I received an email from National Geographic magazine. I have been having a dialogue with them for the past several months regarding borders and border imagery.

Today they decided that they are moving forward with a small story on borders for the April 2004 issue of the magazine. And one of my photos will be used. This is a very good turn of events.

Locally, CTV offered more work -- another few days next month, and possibly the remainder of this week. Suddenly the work is raining again.

Cheers!

Doug

Sunday morning. The Day After...

Cold. Rainy. Have to fetch car.

No real words to write. Make up your own!


Doug

The weekend! So far, hockey is the dominant theme:
Game #1: Vintage Edmonton vs. Vintage Montreal outdoors in Edmonton (-21!)
Game #2: Edmonton vs. Montreal -- official game also outdoors
Game #3: Vancouver vs. Toronto in Vancouver. Vancouver lost :(

After 9 hours of hockey, its time for sleep...

The Pandy piece appeared in this week's Georgia Straight newspaper (Vancouver). The link will be valid until at least November 27th.

Read it here!

Cheers!

Doug

Today, the current USA terror alert:



And a pretty (or not) picture from Vancouver's KATKAM:

I love television!

Thanks to the CTV promotion department, I am going to be attending Hopscotch this Friday night. Hopscotch is a micro-brew beer and high-end Scotch tasting festival. I've been before, and it is a wonderful thing to be able to sample dram after dram after dram of $100 Scotch. Tickets are $50, but for me, free!!

CTV has offered 4 more days of newswriting next week. The pouring continues. Luckily the shifts are night, so I can work on my radio and print stuff during the day.

And that is about all for now....

Cheers,

Doug

Tonight I went to see a concert featuring the characters (and actors) from the film A Mighty Wind. It was great. How could it not be? Especially with the talents of Harry Shearer, Michael McKean, Christopher Guest (all of whom were also Spinal Tap), Parker Posey, Eugene Levy, Catherine O'Hara and many more.

The highlight? Eugene Levy's performance as Mitch. Or, the Folksmen covering "Start Me Up." Plus many other great moments.

It was an odd mix of real life & acting & live music. Loved it.

Cheers!

It never rains, it pours.

This applies to many things: monsoons, bills, and freelance work. Yesterday was a good day in the world of freelance. I spoke with CBC Radio regarding two stories -- the piece on one one of the few remaining local shortwave stations in Canada and a new one. We've decided it will be a nostalgic piece about shortwave radio listening. There will be two main "scenes": one at the CKZU transmitter, talking with the engineer there... and one speaking with people who used to/still listen to SW broadcasts. There is a really cool museum called SPARC that is all about the history of radio sets. I'll be calling them today.

I also have tentative approval for a story on film restoration too.

And, on top of that, I opened the Georgia Straight to see one of my pictures in there... $ $ $!

And today I am spending the day getting my application together for a freelance producing gig with Vision. Details to come.

Here's some fun stuff for today:

A fine place for an Austrian holiday starts with "F."!
Or, try this Michigan town!

Cheers!

This may have something to do with my love of all things border related and Eastern Europe (Please! Someone give me a gig in Eastern Europe!!)... but this book looks really cool:

Stasiland by Anna Funder.

Overnight, the garden hose on my deck burst, creating a fine spray of water. The water landed on some plants on the deck, creating a little ice storm. One tree was thickly coated in ice, and was gleaming in the morning sun. If I had a digital camera, you'd be seeing photos. But I don't. (Please! Someone buy me a digital camera!).

Ted Schredd came over this morning to return my East German border guard uniform. He used it on Hallowe'en, while I worked at CTV. We've planned to go on some goofy photo safaris in the next week or so. Ted is the right brains behind Discover Fun. Check it out, and buy stuff! Especially his books!

Working later today, so I am spending the morning making calls and catching up with bills. I can't put into words how much of a relief it is to have money coming in. I have at least 8 days more lined up -- not including a couple of weeks over Christmas and New Years. So cross your fingers that there is more to come. And buy me something!

Here's a funny Microsoft story!


Cheers!

What a day in the world of news. The bad stories were coming fast and furious... and the background din was of the Green River Killer pleading guilty to 48 counts of murder. And we had 2 murders and a couple of suspicious deaths locally. Fun.

Following mayhem day, I went to see the film "American Splendor." BRILLIANT film on the life of Harvey Pekar starring the brilliant Paul Giamatti. The film wove the real Pekar and his real friends, family and co-workers with the actors playing those same people. The best scene was of the real Pekar and his real friend Toby Radloff discussing jellybeans while the actor playing Radloff and Giamatti (as Pekar) are in the background laughing their heads off at the people they're playing. Wonderful stuff.

So mayhem gave way to creativity. Phew!

Lots of things suddenly on the go: tons more work at CTV, which means that my debt to earning ratio has changed dramatically.

But, even more important, the Grandmaster CD arrived, hot off the presses from Stonetree Records. It is AMAZING. I have listened to it over and over and over again. Details on release dates will be posted here, of course.

Brent shot the video in Belize this past weekend... and how I wished I was there. We came up with the concept over several rum and mango drinks...

Today is a (suddenly) rare day off... so I gotta work the phones.

9:45pm on a Sunday night.

Here I sit, in the place I used to work, working again. This time in the news department. This time for less money. This time at night and on the weekend and not because of any career aspirations. Nope, I'm here to earn. And as Martha would say, it's a good thing.

More frustrations with the CBC regarding doing tv items for them. I'm thinking that I need to concentrate more on radio and print than tv. The Straight has picked up piece number three... this time an article on the border expedition! Finally.

Well, news calls...