Wednesday, February 19, 2020

INTERESTING AUDIO

A bunch of girls playing with a tape recorder, generally ranging in age from nine to eleven. Names included Carla Antonisio and Lauren Grant. Sang "Jingle, Jingle, Jingle", replicated a Kool-Aid commercial, told about a dream one of them had, sang a Girl Guides song, lots of other stuff that couldn't be clearly discerned.

A couple boys re-enacting a video game, then playing while a girl was in the room, possibly their sister with "The Pink Panther" on in the background, then the main boy talking with his parents about a baby being mauled by a Rottweiler.

A little girl, Erin Thomson, singing while her grandmother recorded her. Songs included "Peter Cottontail", "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star", "Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer", "Jesus Loves the Little Children", and "Jesus Loves Me."

A recording of the very last Goon Show ever, broadcast for the fiftieth anniversary of the BBC in 1972.

Someone taping 45 records with a dog barking and kids heard faintly in the background.

THE ICE PASSAGE: A TRUE STORY OF AMBITION, DISASTER, AND ENDURANCE IN THE ARCTIC WILDERNESS

By Brian Payton. Toronto: Doubleday Canada, 2009.

A book that grips you, holds on to you and makes you want to continue right to the end in one sitting.

Brian Payton tells the story of the McClure Arctic expedition, headed by Captain John McClure, which had the twofold goal of finding the Northwest Passage and locating the lost Franklin expedition. McClure would accomplish this first goal, but not the second, and his stubborn desire to navigate through the Passage would leave him and his men stranded on their ship in Arctic ice for three winters.

This is a breathtaking, well-written and well-researched account. The story of the expedition itself is told, but the account is also seen through the perspective of Johann Miersching, a Moravian missionary hired by the Royal Navy as an Esquimaux interpreter. The author portrays Miersching in a fair, even a somewhat good light, and, as with all the figures herein, truly tries to understand Miersching, his time and his background.

Like "The Perfect Storm" and "3000 Degrees", "The Ice Passage" is a retelling of an event that stands high above other books. The fact the book is written by a Canadian author about a little-known but intriguing and important event in Canadian history makes it stand out even more.

Purchase it here.https://www.amazon.ca/Ice-Passage-Ambition-Endurance-Wilderness/dp/0385665334

Friday, February 14, 2020

PARODY TIME-AWAKE! MAGAZINE


Open on a TV studio. The host is sitting at a desk.
Host: Hello, and welcome to the Awake! TV show, this January 22, 1997. Tonight the main thing I wish to talk with you about is tolerance. Now, tolerance is a word we’re hearing a lot these days, but what does it really mean? Well, let’s take a look at the opposite of this word, namely intolerance. Now, there are extreme forms of intolerance, such as wars between ethnic groups. Then there are less extreme forms of intolerance, such as a serious adult frowning upon a boisterous child, or a person who’s more caughtious frowning on a person who is more enthusiastic. Or, as I just said, intolerance takes more extreme forms such as wars and genocide. And yet, one can’t be tolerant of everything. We need morals in society. The question then becomes one of striking the proper balance. Let’s say, for example, there was a group of people in society, a religious group, let’s say. Now, let’s say those people liked to prostletize by going around and knocking on people’s doors early on a Saturday morning. Now, those people whom the religious group is trying to reach would have to be tolerant of those people bothering them, and the religious adherents would have to be tolerant of being threatened, sworn at and insulted. I mean, this is the way they do things, and no amount of evidence it’s growing increasingly futile and producing very few results, or that, even if it’s producing good results, there’s a better way to do it, or even just tolerating the fact other people have their own religion and they’ll seek the religious group in question out if they’re interested in them is going to change that. Or let’s say this religious group enjoyed the freedom that comes with being tolerated in this society. They even sent their children to the public schools. However, tolerance dictates society would have to go further and respect this group’s wishes not to sing the anthem of the country that allows them such freedom, or by permitting the children of this religious group not to attend Remembrance Day cerimonies which honour the men who fought for that freedom in the first place. The issue of tolerance also hinges on the issues of bigotry, narrow-mindedness and morality. Now, let’s say that religious group, the one that knocks on people’s doors and tries to foist their ideas on them, let’s say this group had ideas about other people’s ideas. Let’s say this group believed other people should listen to their ideas, but the members of this religious group weren’t even allowed to read literature or listen to material containing others religious ideas. That would not be an example of bigotry or narrow-mindedness at all. That would be perfectly tolerant. Now, turning to the issue of morality, let’s say this religious group was against, I don’t know, blood transfusions, for example, because the Bible forbids eating blood and eating blood and having it injected into you with a needle are somehow the same thing, the way a needle eats a record, y’know. Well, society would have to tolerate that, too. So, in conclusion, viewers, what I guess I’m trying to say is, when you go door knocking, and someone by chance let’s you into talk and doesn’t threaten to break your legs, if they should by chance serve you some food you don’t like, eat it anyway, huh. And, don’t laugh at their foreign accents. I’m talking to you, Brother Aloysius. Oh, and don’t allow your teenagers to watch Canadian Blood Services commercials. And now, here’s brother Aloysius with our young people’s segment.
Aloysius: Thanks Tom. Today, we read a letter from Lisa who writes, “A few years ago I began a relationship with a non-believer, a non kingdom hall Jehovah’s Witness. One day, after a few sips of wine, we decided to have sexual intercourse and I got pregnant as a result. I hid the pregnancy from my parents and congregation. I went to the shack of a Native woman who lives in the woods near our kingdom hall to have the baby. We had been reaching out to her so I simply told my parents I was on an extended prosletizing visit. When I returned home, I was pleased to discover my baby was a good baby who hardly ever cried, so I don’t think my parents suspected anything. However, the baby does cry at meetings, and I think some members of the congregation are getting suspicious. Should I confess my sin?” Well, Lisa, we’ll get to the answer later, but now let’s watch this video on the Everglades.
(A video comes up on the screen. The title THE EVERGLADES: AN URGENT MISSION FIELD can be seen.
Anncr. The Everglades of Florida are the home of a complex ecosystem containing some of the world’s most interesting wildlife. Yet, this fascinating nature area is under constant threat by man. For example, the manatee, found only in Florida, is constantly being injured or killed by the propellers of motorboats. We recently sent a team of pioneers to the Everglades to address this situation.
(Two Jehovah’s Witnesses are standing in a swamp.)
Jehovah’s Witness 1: Hello, Mr. Alligator, we understand your spouse got poached recently in order that someone could make them into a purse.
Jehovah’s Witness 2: We just wanted to talk with you about the coming paradise where things like that won’t happen anymore and you’ll be reunited with your loved one for eternity.
(The alligator eats the two Jehovah’s Witnesses. The video ends. Back to the studio.)
Host: Well, that just about wraps up our program for today, but before we go, let’s take a look at our twisted verse of the day. In the New World Translation, Ephesians 6 4 says we should bring up our children in the discipline and mental regulating of Jehovah, but in other Bibles the words used are actually fear and admonition, which means we want to raise our children to have reverence for God, as well as gently correcting them when they do wrong, the way God does. This is in contrast to trying to control what a child thinks, as our denomination likes to do. Until next time, this is brother Tom saying end of TV program.

Based on the January 22, 1997 issue of “Awake!” magazine, published by The Watchtower.

Saturday, February 8, 2020

SEVERAL MORE BLASTS FROM THE PAST

UCB Canada Belleville (102.3 CKJJ-FM) Jay Christie's entire show from August 8, 2006. Topics included sports, a guy in Missouri who runs a camp where kids can learn to blow things up and a study saying diet pop leads to increased risk of heart disease. Commercials included ChoiceCom and Steele Funeral Home. Mention of Freedom Fest and concert in the grocery store parking lot put on by Madoc Pentecostal Church. Weather forecasts twice an hour. Sizzling summer cd giveaway contest and high-low. Features included "The Winning Fit Tip", "Happy Heart Moments", "Your Daily Money Makeover", and "From Obstacles to Opportunities." Then into part of the last hour of Jay Christie's show from November 27, 2006. Road conditions and reminder to stay off ice. Cd giveaway and high-low. Talked about a schooner being raised from Lake Ontario that sank in 1849. Commercials included Papa's Kitchen Pizzeria and Burke Funeral Home. Also "Your Daily Money Makeover" feature. Then into CJBQ from either December 2 or 3, 2006 with commercial for the Ambassador Hotel and promos for the first episode of "The Lorne Brooker Show" and the Pro-line update.

Disco 790 (CKMW-FM) Toronto (Brampton) from early 1979. Steve Maclean giving time of 7:06 and weather forecast.

92.5 WMJQ-FM Rochester from January or early February 1986. Major Tom counting down the top nine at nine. Giving away a t-shirt. Giving weather forecast. Commercial for Maniacs.

Country 105 (CKQM-FM) Peterborough from January 25, 1992 "The Gospel Gold" with Father Heffernan featuring an interview with Cristy Lane and her husband, Lee Stoller. Promos for David Suzuki's "Discovery", "QM Magazine", "The Country Trivia Quiz", "Mother Earth News", and Petes hockey. Promo for the Winterlude contest voiced by Dale Sproule. Commercial for Molson Export. After "The Gospel Gold" ended, time-check of 7:00 and weather forecast.

Country 105 (CKQM-FM) Peterborough from May 31, 1992. Sean Eyre mentioning Terry Sumsion playing a charity dance in Douro on June 13 but couldn't make out name of town where it was being held. Played song by John Tedworth of Madoc. Snippets of syndicated radio programming.

Country 105 (CKQM-FM) Peterborough recorded over a week or two in mid 1987. Sean Eyre on a Sunday evening playing classic country. Mentioned Hank Williams Jr. playing Molson Park. Then into a weekday morning, Ray Hebert giving time of 9:46 and teeing up what was coming up on "Star Track." Then into "QM Bluegrass" with Gary Hahn which included intro to remote featuring Terry Novak live from Savers Foods. Then snippets of what sounded like a syndicated bluegrass and classic country program.

Country 105 (CKQM-FM) Peterborough from January 11, 1987. Sean Eyre with "Sunshine Gold." Sent out a request, road conditions and weather forecast, upcoming student theatre shows, and mention of Leahy coming to Miss Diana's at Mothers Hotel in Peterborough that Friday night. Commercials for Peterborough Transmission and Comstock Funeral Home. Weather forecast, Poop 'n Scoop program introduced in Toronto. OHL scores, canned promo for Ray Hebert's mid-day show, live promo by Sean Eyre for "Golden Age of Radio" hosted by J. Murray Jones coming up at 9:30. Peter Graves for Shriner's Hospitals, then into aforementioned "Golden Age of Radio" with J. Murray Jones. Intro, promo for David Suzuki's "Discovery" feature, then back with "Bergen and McCarthy" from February 17, 1946. A good amount of information beforehand about the series in general. Tape contained the entire episode as it was broadcast that night in 1987, notwithstanding whoever produced "Golden Age of Radio" cut out the closing number and the end theme song. Then into the following Sunday's edition of "Sunshine Gold." Promo for morning show with Gary Hahn, Dale Sproule and Duff the Weather Pigeon. Sean Eyre mentioning Norwood Festival of I assume winter or something, including winter carnival show the following night and an exhibition hockey game taking place on January 25 featuring Chum Peterborough personalities and firefighters.