Freddie P's Blog

August 31, 2007 @ 09:20

Yesterday, my friend Iain Grant responded to the Lauren Caitlin Upton posting with this.

It's an indication of how things work in the United States. Because of Lauren's horrific few moments at the Miss Teen USA pageant over the weekend she will probably become a star.

Already she's been a guest on several talk shows and I'm sure she's already acquired an agent to handle the calls that are coming in.

It's all part of the American star system and something we really can't relate to in Canada.

Up here we tend to eat our own and I'm sure a similar situation in Canada would result in someone like Lauren being banished to Wawa in shame.

Category: Stuff

August 30, 2007 @ 07:32

I've received a few e-mails about Lauren Caitlin Upton, the 17 year old girl from South Carolina who gained world wide attention last weekend when she answered a question at the Miss Teen USA contest.

A few of you want to know why I haven't commented on it, assuming I guess that I'd be ready to jump all over her.

I can't do it and I think it all comes back to fatherhood. I keep thinking what if that was my kid - how horrible I would feel for her.

No doubt when someone puts themselves in the position Lauren Upton did you have to be prepared for anything, but at the same time she is only 17 years old and obviously really didn't understand the question.

Or more likely, she was so nervous in front of a live audience and a huge television audience that she really didn't "hear" the question.

So she botched it from every angle imaginable and I'm sure she'll never live it down.

At the same time I'm sure this incident will push her to the front of the line as far as notoriety goes, but I still have trouble making fun of her.

Her looks are an asset but when you're that good looking the critics are waiting to pounce.

She's just a kid and she was caught up in a moment that turned terribly wrong. If she was 21 or 25 or 30 I might find it a lot more amusing.

But right now I just feel bad for the kid and I think of how painful it must be for her dad to see this happen to her.

If you haven't seen the video and want to - go somewhere else.

Category: Show Biz

August 30, 2007 @ 07:31

I found another "dad" story to be very amusing.

Several months ago my good friend Darren introduced me to British singer Amy Winehouse, who's only 23 years old.

She'a fabulously talented and her latest album called "Back to Black", featuring the hit single "Rehab" has sold over a million copies despite her not getting a lot of mainstream airplay.

I have the CD and whenever I play it at the trailer, it never fails that someone asks me who it is. It's infectious.

Problem is, Amy has a severe drug and alcohol problem and it's become a major issue in her family, especially for her father and father in law.

Her dad has almost given up. He says he's tried to get her help but she doesn't want it.

He says there seems to be only one solution for Amy, and that's for her to hit rock bottom before she finally decides she doesn't want to "do this" anymore.

A tough stance for a father to take because it must be excruciating to have a kid with such talent only to watch her attempt to throw it all away.

Her father in law has a different solution and he made it public this week. He says everyone should boycott her records until she gets off the junk.

Giles Fielder-Civil says Amy and his son Blake both are in abject denial over their cocaine and heroine use. They think they're nothing more than recreational users when it's painfully obvious they aren't.

Two fathers who are watching their kids literally kill themselves when there's so much to live for.

Category: Show Biz

August 30, 2007 @ 07:30

I'm not much of a television guy. Outside of sports and news, I'm not really one for sitting down and watching dramas or sitcoms or crap.

One show I do enjoy however is "Rescue Me."

It's the brainchild of Dennis Leary and you can catch in Canada Tuesdays nights at ten o'clock on Showcase, and the new season started this week with a rather lethargic episode.

Apparently Leary lost a relative on 911 and it inspired him to write, produce and star in a series about New York City firemen and it's into its fourth season.

The show involves several intriguing characters including Andrea Roth who plays Leary's wife Janet.

Ever since I started watching the show I've got to admit Roth has grabbed my attention and I can't let go. She's beautiful in a unique and natural way and she's a solid actress.

Ok, I'll say it. She's a baby come on, lets be doing it, touch me where it counts kind of gal, and yesterday she became even more attractive when I found out she's Canadian.

I was googling some stuff about "Rescue Me" when I came upon Roth's bio and pleasantly surprised to find out that she's not only Canadian, but she keeps a home just north of Toronto.

She was born in Woodstock and came to Toronto just after high school to intern at an advertising agency. While there, someone hooked onto her country girls looks and got her into modeling.

From there she took acting lessons and the rest is history.

Category: Show Biz

August 29, 2007 @ 08:01

I felt as good as I could for Steven Truscott yesterday. He was justifiably acquitted of the murder of Lynn Harper yesterday, but it was a long and grueling, horribly unnecessary road.

He was acquitted, but not found innocent.

I've always had a special interest in this case because of a book I read in 1971 called the Steven Truscott Story written by Bill Trent after several interviews with Truscott.

I wanted to read the book because I had heard my mother talk about Steven Truscott on many occasions when I was a kid, and when I got the book I was precisely the age Truscott was when he was sentenced to hang.

Fourteen years old. Still a child.

When the book was published Truscott had already been in jail for 12 years and he was only 23 years old, unheard of in today's justice system but even more bizarre after you read this book, or any other book for that matter on the Truscott case.

Steven Truscott was the victim of a bungling local police force and one detective in particular who was more concerned with solving a case than he was putting an innocent kid behind bars.

To even consider that a 14 year old could be capable of the deplorable things that were done to Lynne Harper is ridicilous.

There was no case against Steven Truscott but that didn't matter to those who wanted accolades for solving a murder and the kid never stood a chance. And to make matters worse, the Crown took over after that and badgered Truscott long after he was released from prison and through several attempts to clear his name.

It became an embarrassment for a justice system and there was a long line up of people more concerned with saving face than they were serving justice.

Yesterday Truscott wasn't found innocent because it's literally impossible to do that without DNA evidence. But he was acquitted and in this case that's just as good because looking back there's no doubt that Steven Truscott had nothing to do with the murder of 12 year old Lynne Harper.

The only questions left to be asked are these, one of which will never be answered.

We'll never know who really killed Lynne Harper because there's a good chance whoever did is dead and buried.

The other question is this. How much does the Province of Ontario owe Steven Truscott?

Compensation is more than justified and considering that David Milgaard go ten million for spending 23 years in prison for nothing, Truscott definitely has to be in that category.

Although he only spent 10 years in prison, his life has been a living hell for close to 50 years and someone has to pay.

Category: Stuff

August 28, 2007 @ 08:04

I've been invited back to the CH Studios this afternoon for another segment of CH Live at 5:30 with Donna Skelly and Mark Hebscher.

This time we're talking sports and in particular, the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.

Here's what we're going to kick around. How long should a city financial support a professional sports team before it actually returns the favour by putting a decent team on the field.

The city of Hamilton has made several concessions to the team over the past several years, but the Cats have responded with nothing but a string of last place finishes.

Should a shitty team continue to get civic support?

That is the question tonight on CH Live at 5:30.

Category: Television

August 28, 2007 @ 08:02

I think it's only fair that I answer all the enquiries I've received about a posting I made, and then withdrew on Friday.

It dealt with a column by Dean Blundell is last weeks EyeWeekly.com.

Entitled "Radio People Are Weird" Dean uses his column to describe some of the more distasteful people he's met in the radio business since he came to Toronto about seven years ago.

Call me naive, but I figured if the column had been written and then published in a Toronto newspaper it had been cleared and it would be totally acceptable for me to have some fun with it.

In the column Dean describes people, but he doesn't name them, so I thought it would be fun on FreddieP.ca to play along and get my readers to actually guess who he was talking about.

Crazy me, I never dreamed that half the people Dean was talking about were people he works with at One Dundas West, including a couple I think quite highly of.

Needless to say a little bit of shit hit the fan over the Eye article in a corner office and I guess it didn't help that I had perpetuated the thing by asking my readers to play the "name game."

Hey, I'm not stupid, somebody in my position can't be pissing anyone off, so when I received an e-mail asking me to withdraw the posting, I did.

The person who asked me is a long time friend and colleague, dating back to the CFNY studios above the strip mall in Brampton, so as a favour to him I did what I thought was right.

And just so you don't have to play the name game in this case, I'll let you know that it was Edge Program Director Alan Cross.

I guess Alan didn't want anyone to suffer any further embarrassment and I can respect that.

I feel bad that what I first thought was an amusing and edgy article had become a bit of an issue between some people I know and respect..

On the flip side, the rapid response that FreddieP.ca got from someone of the stature of Alan Cross actually makes me feel pretty good.

And that's the truth.

Category: Radio

August 28, 2007 @ 08:00

Yes, it was a huge weekend at the trailer. To some, the most important weekend of the year.

It was The Fourth Annual Jeff Laird Memorial Bocce Tournament. A unique brand of bocce played on a gravel road and introduced to us by our good buddy Jeff who passed away suddenly in 2004 at the ridiculous age of 41.

It involves both genders and to the winner goes the most coveted title a trailerite could ever want. Even those who've won Stanley Cups.

I've mentioned a few times that Boston Bruins assistant coach Craig Ramsay is among the friends I have at the trailer.

Craig bought a beautiful unit three years ago, right after he won the Cup with the Tampa Bay Lightning, and since then has fit in quite nicely.

Over the past week or so I took it upon myself to work with Ramsay on his game in preparation for the touranment and it culminated with his winning his first round match.

Both Craig and I lost in the second round and it was especially bitter for me, because after winning the big prize in both 04 and 05 I've been ousted in the early rounds the past two years.

This year I lost to Pam Kimber. Yes, Pam is a woman but there is no shame in losing to this gal, she can bring it. If there's any shame it should go to her husband Mike who I beat in the first round.

I contemplated my setback with my good friend Dan Bonchek who lost in round one and we realized the key to failure.

The two finalists were my good friends Bruce Mallory and Dan Duran.

Bruce has been nipping at the heels of the front-runners for years, while Dan Duran has made an early exit every stinkin' year since we started this thing way back in 1996.

But this year, Dan played steady and he played patient and he mastered the weight of his ball all afternoon until it came down to this.

Here is the gracious loser.

And later that night The Fourth Annual Jeff Laird Memorial Bocce Tournament ended with the presentation of the Golden Shoes and the Murial Batley Trophy.

The Golden Shoes have become emblematic of the tournament - the shoes were actually worn by the first ever champion, Donny Patterson. (no relation)

We took the worn out sneakers off his feet, painted them gold and from that day on they've been the most coveted object in the trailer park.

The Murial Batley Trophy was added a couple of years later. We have no idea who Murial Batley is - we just found a softball trophy at a garage sale and rather than take her name of it we thought it would be cool to leave it on.

Here's the presentation - and please note, John McLeod finished third.

Category: The Trailer

August 24, 2007 @ 10:33

There are so many ways to measure a sitting government, but more often than not you judge them on the grass routes issues.

How the hell can Toronto's police services "not" put "support our troops" decals on police cars.

Chief Bill Blair, obviously in cahoots with Toronto's dangerous and damaging mayor has decided not to allow the "free" decals to be placed on police vehicles.

It's frustrating that it's come to this, but its even more frustrating to not know "why."

The socialist whack jobs on Toronto city council don't have enough guts to come out and give a definitive answer as to why.

Why Bill Blair, why David Miller.

Miller in particular should be ashmed of himself.

But then again he shows no shame in his obvious inability to run a large North American city so why should he care about this.

Category: Politics

August 24, 2007 @ 10:32

Check this out. I was playing a little bocce ball last night preparing for tomorrow's Jeff Laird Memorial Bocce tournament when I was bitten by a wasp.

I was bending over to pick up a ball, and wham, the son of a bitch hit me like a bullet on one of my left hand knuckles.

At first I didn't think much of it, then I started to get mild itching behind the years and a weird feeling of indigestion. The same feeling I got last year when I got bitten on the foot.

Anyway, I popped an antihistamine late last night and that seemed to help, but I awoke this morning to find my left hand like that of a barehanded pugilist.

As you can see, my hand is puffed up to twice its size and goes right up my wrist.

As I speak the swelling and aching is subsiding, but admittedly I must investigate whether I've developed an allergy to wasp stings.

Thank goodness it's not my throwing hand because tomorrow I will attempt to wrestle back the bocce championship I held in 2004 and 2005.

Category: Stuff

August 23, 2007 @ 11:32

I had a great day yesterday. I took part in a golf tournament called "Soldier On" with proceeds going to injured Canadian soldiers who want to get on with their lives.

Money will be used for all kinds of things with an eye towards prosthetics for athletics.

"Soldier On" would like to see injured Canadian soldiers provided with the necessary to equipment to train for the Paralympics and close to 200 people gathered at CFB Trenton, or 8 Wing yesterday to help make sure that happens.

I was designated as a "celebrity" which is amusing because the group that I was assigned to had no idea who I was.

But that was OK because by the end of the day, it became abundantly clear who the celebrities are in this situation.

It's the great Canadians who commit to serving our country on so many levels. Like Will, and Brad and Marc and Chips, the four young men I golfed with yesterday.

They aren't soldiers per say, but they still serve the Canadian Armed Forces in a very important and stressful way. They are designated as Supply Technicians and their particular job is parachute riggers.

They spend eight hours a day, five days a week packing and checking parachutes for our soldiers. It takes three years of training, and obviously carries a responsibility that few of us would want.

A grueling schedule that involves ninety minutes of physical training every morning before they even start their jobs. And just to make sure that these fellas stay on top of their responsibilities, every so often they have to jump out of planes wearing the parachutes they have packed.

Sometimes from as high as 12,500 feet, which is almost to the point where you need oxygen.

I felt proud to be around these guys yesterday. Not only for what they do, but also for what they represent - the unity that can and should be Canada. They are four men from different parts of the country who became great friends and colleagues.

Chips and Marc are French Canadians - Chips from New Brunswick and Marc from Quebec. Brad is from Newfoundland and Will is from Ontario.

All four of them plan to make lifetime careers out of the military and they're unbelievably committed to what they do.

Given the pressures of their job, they also enjoy their time off and yesterday they all took a vacation day so they could pay 125 dollars each towards the cause.

And they had fun.

Category: Stuff

August 23, 2007 @ 11:31

My golfing buddies weren't the only ones who didn't recognize me yesterday, neither did Mike Bullard.

I've met Bullard several times over the years, in fact right after the launch of MOJO Radio, Humble and I appeared on "Open Mike."

Bullard also appeared on the Humble and Fred Show a few times, but when I went up to Mike yesterday and said hello, he treated me like someone he was meeting for the first time.

Admittedly it was a big awkward but hey, Mike Bullard had a national television show and still does the comedy circuit, which means he meets thousands of people every year.

Why would he remember a goober like me?

Just when I was going to move on and say hi to Johnny Bower, Bullard said "Do I know you?"

I said "Yes, Fred Patterson from the Humble and Fred Show."

"Freddie!" he said. "Man, are you ever getting grey."

Chew me Bullard.

Category: Stuff

August 22, 2007 @ 09:03

I'm off to Trenton this morning to take part in the inaugural "Soldier On" Charity Golf Tournament.

I was invited to take part as a "celebrity" by Mark Hebscher of CH TV. Mark will act as MC for this fantastic event at the "8 Wing Golf Course" at CFB Trenton.

"Soldier On" is a sports recovery and rehabilitation program aimed at introducing soldiers to the paralympic movement to help them recover from injuries.

The program helps regular force and reservists who have been injured on or off duty to maintain an active lifestyle.

But such a lifestyle requires resources and "Soldier On" helps offset the costs involved with competing in the paralympics like custom prosthetics, specialized wheelchairs and sledges for hockey.

It's a shotgun start scheduled for one o'clock and I'll be there will the likes of Mike Bullard, actor Harvey Atkin, Sandy Hawley, Johnny Bower and my favourite hockey player while growing up, Dickie Duff.

I'll take by camera with me and post some of the festivities on Friday.

I may not be able to post tomorrow because I'll be in Trenton sharing a room with Hebscher and we plan on golfing again on Thursday morning.

All I can say is check in.

Category: Stuff

August 22, 2007 @ 09:01

I could waste a few lines calling Michael Vick names but what's the use. I'd rather give my opinion on what he did and why the reaction has been so severe.

Above all else, Michael Vick is guilty of stupidity.

What he stands to lose has been well documented, millions and millions of dollars and probably his career.

I don't have to repeat in this piece how much I love dogs and how disgusted I am with everything that Michael Vick did, but I do have to say that part of me feels for the guy.

There is something wrong with the man.

Dog fighting and betting on it is wide spread and avidly followed by millions of creeps throughout the world, but I'm sure very few of those involved had as much to lose as Michael Vick and therein lies the route to sympathy.

How screwed up, misguided and moronic is this man to have put everything on the line for something as needless as dog fighting.

Michael Vick doesn't need to be spurned and ridiculed, he needs to be pitied for being so bloody stupid it's hard to measure his stupidity on the stupidity scale.

He didn't murder his wife, he didn't molest a child and he didn't sell anybody drugs - he was cruel to some dogs, but how he didn't measure all of this in his mind before embarking on what he did is mind boggling.

How did he not think about what the reaction would be before he did it? How did he not consider the emotion attached to animals that would spew forth once his pastime was revealed? How did he not weigh dog fighting against what he had to lose?

How did he not know that killing a dog might actually get more reaction than killing a human?

It's bizarre and one of those inexplicable things about our society, but the results are there to be witnessed and he should have known better.

Such paramount stupidity has to be clinical.

Category: Sports

August 22, 2007 @ 09:00

The title says it all.

Category: Video

August 21, 2007 @ 11:15

In case you didn' know former Q-107 guy Craig Venn has invited me to be a regular on this morning show in Windsor/Chatham

After leaving the Derringer Show, Craig moved to Windsor to front his own show on 107.1 The Rock, which has a repeater in Chatham at 95.1 - Craigy works with a fine fella named Matt Dumouchelle.

Craig is a big fan of FreddieP.ca and has decided to bring it to radio through his show every Wednesday morning at 8:40.

Tomorrow we'll talk about a few things you've seen on this blog over the past week.

You can listen live. Please do so.

Category: Radio

August 21, 2007 @ 09:26

I enjoyed my debut on the Hawk yesterday morning. I joined Mcarthur and Face at 7:15 on a new segment they've entitled "the bloggers"

We talked about a few things including "Crocs."

I'm new to the croc world. I first noticed them a couple of years ago when a lot of kids were wearing them. Then I noticed a lot of women wearing them. And then last summer I noticed a lot of men wearing them.

To be honest I wasn't comfortable with the man thing. Crocs almost look like toys for your feet. A goofy little novelty thing that I assumed would come and go.

The real turning for me was when neighbour John started to wear them. John is a guy's guy who is a lot like living next to Fred Flintstone. He likes beer, sports and big hunks of meat.

Late last summer I noticed John wearing crocs and when I called him on it, he said they were the most comfortable shoes he'd ever worn.

Comfortable? How the hell could plastic shoes be comfortable?

Well the winter came and went and this spring I saw men wearing crocs everywhere. Including a few at the trailer, but I still didn't bite.

My good friend Darren kept me in check by claiming that crocs were for gay dutch guys.

But then last week my wife walked in with a pair. A pair of authentic crocs, not a pair of the cheap knockoffs a lot of people are wearing, these were the real thing.

But they were beige, and when I put them on I immediately thought of Darren's description.

I felt girly and refused to wear them, even though after putting them on for a few minutes I did not how bloody comfortable they were - like walking on a cushion of air.

Delyse (my wife) told me I should give them a chance. I didn't have to wear the sissy beige pair, she'd go back and exchange them for a dark blue.

And that's what she did and since I slipped them on last Thursday, I keep looking for excuses to put them back on. As crazy as it sounds, wearing these crocs feels better than wearing no shoes at all.

They feel so bloody good I'm going to buy Darren a pair. But probably a pair of the cheap knockoffs because John claims they're just as comfortable as the real thing.

Category: Stuff

August 21, 2007 @ 09:25

There's a rodent shitting in my boat. I'm not sure exactly what it is, a mink, an otter or some breed of rat, but it keeps shitting in my boat.

It started earlier this week when I noticed a "crawfish" head on the carpet of my boat and a small pile of reddish shit beside it.

I cleaned it up only to discover the same thing the next day, and then a royal pile of shit in two places yesterday. The attached picture is the pile I found under my steering wheel.

I don't know what it is about this rodent, but of all the places he can kill and eat his prey and then shit it out, he's chosen my boat.

But I will get the last laugh. The same thing happened a few years ago and I addressed the situation with a bottle of cayenne pepper so I went out and bought some more yesterday.

The little bugger is going to get a major shock tomorrow when he jumps into my transom, which is now coated with cayenne pepper. It's the only way he can get in so he's got to run through it.

At that point he'll probably feel the heat on his paws and lick them, and then his eyes will roll back in his head and he will immediately identify my boat with major discomfort and never come back.

This may sound cruel, but it's not. Michael Vick is cruel, I like to think I'm clever.

Category: Stuff

August 20, 2007 @ 08:33

It was exciting night at the trailer last night. A bunch of us gathered around the TV to watch the debut of my daughter's new show on MuchMoreMusic.

My darlin' is an associate producer at MMM now and last night marked the first episode of "Tip of My Tongue" a quirky and fast paced music trivia show that airs Sunday nights at 8:30

As associate producer, Melanie helps build this bugger from the ground up and among those duties is writing the entire script.

And I'll tell you right now, not as a dad, but as an astute observer of such things, it was bloody good.

It was fun to sit with Mel last night and enjoy the show from beginning to end and watch the wonderful look on her face. It was pride and she should be proud.

Two years ago, she graduated from college, and since then it's been a steady climb of experience and achievement.

It's pretty cool to watch a TV show and then see you're kids name go by as they roll the credits.

Associate Producer - Melanie Patterson

Category: Family

August 20, 2007 @ 08:32

Last Thursday I co-hosted the new Bill Watters Show with Jeff Marek on am 640.

I was filling in for Bill who was up at his cottage hosting a birthday party for Cliff Fletcher, who was general manager of the Maple Leafs during their "glory" years of the early 1990's.

Bill wasn't expected to be on the show but in the six o'clock hour he opened the line from his cottage in Orillia and he joined in.

It was fun to share some time with Wilbur and during our conversation, we got onto the topic of Scotch. Watters is a scotch drinker, by he only likes the expensive single malt stuff, and he especially enjoys a brand called Macallan's.

When I told Bill that I loved scotch as well, but my taste wasn't that discerning he made me an offer.

When I told him my favourite scotch was a blended type called Bell's, and it cost only 35 dollars for a 40 pounder, he said he could fill a whole desk top of blended scotch at his cottage and I was welcome to have it all because he doesn't like it.

Don't get me wrong, I love a good expensive single malt scotch, but I don't have to have the best stuff all the time. I can compromise.

Jeff Marek is completely different. He told me on the show he can't bring himself to drink a blended scotch at which point I called both he and Watters "scotch snobs."

They refuted the label but the fact remains there's a whole whack of scotch sitting in a cottage in Orillia that nobody will drink.

It seems like a huge waste to me, and now I'm in the position of wanting to take Wilbur up on his offer, without actually having to ask or remind him.

It would be embarrassing.

But I have two goddamn tiki bars and I have a lot of friends who are willing to drink any scotch of any brand of any quality at any time of the day or night.

But in such situations, how do you re-visit such an offer without sounding like a snivelling weasel. I need an intermediary.

Maybe I'll get Marek to remind him.

Category: Radio | Stuff

August 20, 2007 @ 08:30

This is my friend Sylvia Grove. She is the wife of my friend Peter Grove and they are the parents of Christie Grove. The Groves are nice people.

It was a big weekend for Sylvia because all her trailer friends got to acknowledge her 50th birthday. Fifty isn't easy to take, so we all lent our emotional and spiritual support.

Part of the festivities included an evening "booze cruise" around the lake. Women only.

All the gals from the trailer park got together on a pontoon boat equipped with lots of coolers and shooters and such, and they toured the lake well beyond dusk.

Please let it be known at this point that the driver did not drink and was well equipped from negotiating the lake at all hours of the day.

Furthermore, although this so called "booze cruise" started with the women "mooning" those on shore, it ended with none of the women feeling the effects of intoxication to the point of showing their tits.

The weekend, although unseasonably cool for the most part, provided plenty of sunshine and the opportunity for a wonderful barbeque on Saturday night.

While the women set sail for laughs and merriment, the boys stayed back to eat big hunks of meat while scratching our nuts.

The following is a series of videos to let you appreciate the evening that was - Saturday, August 18, 2007.

Category: The Trailer

August 17, 2007 @ 10:17

Should humane society workers have the power of police? That's the question we'll be dealing with this afternoon on CH Live at 5:30 with Mark Hebscher and Donna Skelly.

By now, I'm sure you're aware of the Tre Smith story. He saved the life of a dog that was left in a hot car earlier this month, and handcuffed the dogs owner to the cars door handle.

I've got to be honest it surprised me that Human Society workers carry handcuffs and it got me to thinking whether they should have even that much power.

We'll bang it around on CH Live at 5:30 - Tonight.

Category: Television

August 17, 2007 @ 10:16

It's happened again. For the second time in less than a year I've had to field calls and enquiries about Jack-FM and Humble and Fred.

Not from the people at Jack mind you, from friends and colleagues who fully expected Humble and Fred to show up as the morning show on Jack.

Yesterday morning after their shift, Ben and Kerry were shown the door. Their morning show stint at Jack lasted less than eight months.

Once word got out that they had been bounced, I started getting calls to the house e-mails to my website.

Many felt the announcement of Humble and Fred on Jack was imminent.

Sorry folks. It ain't gonna happen.

From what I understand, the job goes to Jeff Chalmers who's been around the Southern Ontario radio market for several years, including a few at Q-107.

Congratulations and good luck Jeff.

And congratulations to Jeff Brown who's not only the new program director at Jack, but he's also the new afternoon drive guy.

He and Carly Klassen have hooked up again and will do their thing beginning in early September.

Jeff and Carly are good people. I got to know them when Jeff was at Q-107 and Carly was a producer at MOJO.

A small world this radio world.

Category: Radio

August 17, 2007 @ 10:15

The Canadian National Exhibition opened this morning and as anyone who lives in the GTA knows, it's the first indication the summer is drawing to a close.

The call the Ex the grand old lady, but I'm not sure that moniker applies any more.

I haven't been the EX in years, and neither have my kids. Somewhere along the line the Ex lost its magic and a lost a great deal of its cliental to Wonderland.

I really thing Wonderland exposed the Ex for what it is, and second rate carnival providing a home for every two bit snake oil salesman in North America.

When I was a kid, the Exhibition was magical and something you looked forward to and when your day arrived to go you were bursting with anticipation.

For my kids, it means nothing. We never took them once they were old enough to notice and because of that the Ex comes and goes each year without them even mentioning it.

It's sad, but it's like so many other things in Toronto. What was once cutting edge and impressive, has been allowed to fall behind and deteriorate, while ttendance has plummeted over the past year.

Big changes have to be made and I think a good start would be to offer free admission.

Why you should have to pay to simply step onto the grounds is beyond me. Offering a one price midway pass is good, and charging admission for quality shows and exhibits is another thing.

But why should anyone have to pay just to walk around a once grand old lady that has fallen and can't get up.

Category: Stuff

August 16, 2007 @ 10:27

Yes, just a reminder that I'll be guest "Wilburing" this afternoon on am 640.

Due to prior commitments, Bill Watters can't appear on the "Bill Watters Show" today so I'll fill his place. Not his shoes. Just his place, which just happens to be in the same chair at the same position I sat before I left MOJO.

Jeff Marek and I will shoot the shit about sports for three hours with guests and callers starting at four o'clock.

Why not give us a listen. Why not give us a call.

Loving you... each and every one of ya's.

Category: Radio

August 16, 2007 @ 10:26

Certain things happen along the way that make you realize how time flies, and one of those things happened yesterday.

Former Montreal Canadiens general manager Sam Pollock died just a few months short of his 82nd birthday, ironically on the same day my dad turned 82.

Wow, where did that time go?

It's hard to believe that my dad can be 82, and it's hard to believe that it was 30 years ago that Sam Pollock was in the midst of ruining a decade for me, while he was roughly the same age I am right now.

I was a little late getting into professional sports. I played hockey, baseball and touch football when I was a kid, but I really didn't get into watching the Leafs and Argos until 1968 - yes, the year "after" the Leafs won their last Stanley Cup.

Once I got interested I latched right onto it and didn't miss a game of either team.

Unfortunately being a Leaf fan post 1967 was excruciating and it was only made worse by Sam Pollock. Pollock as general manager of the Habs was light-years ahead of other GM's in the league, and while the Leafs bungled their way through the 70's, the Habs became a handsome dynasty.

And it was all because of Sam. Pollock had figured out the entry draft way before anyone else, and his dumping of has-been veterans on bottom feeding teams in exchange for their draft picks is now legendary.

The most notable was May of 1970 when he sent Ernie Hicke and a first-round choice to Oakland for Francois Lacombe and the Seals' first-rounder. He was putting the Habs in position to draft Guy Lafleur, who at the time was dominating junior hockey with the Quebec Remparts.

The following season, when it appeared Los Angeles may finish last and claim the top pick, Pollock sent veteran Ralph Backstrom to the Kings who then leap-frogged Oakland allowing Montreal to claim Lafleur first overall in 1971.

That was Sam Pollock and his wizardry led to six Stanley Cups for the Habs in the 1970's, including an excruciating four between 1976 and 1979.

As a Leaf fan it was horrible. I developed such a hate-on for the Habs through pure jealousy, that it bordered on unhealthy. I got sick of watching them win while my beloved Maple Leafs floundered under the ownership of Harold Ballard.

The only highlight for me, and it was extremely infrequent, was when the Leafs would rise up and beat the Habs from time to time - like a typical Leaf fan that was like the Stanley Cup to me.

In 1978, when the Leafs miraculously beat the New York Islanders in the quarter-finals, lifting the spirit of all Leaf fans, it was Pollocks mighty Habs who put things in perspective by crushing the Leafs in four straight games in the semi-finals.

Yes, the 1970's could have been perfect for me. I graduated from high school and college, I met my wife, I got engaged and I started my radio career.

But perfection was prevented by the Montreal Canadiens. That aggravating hockey team and all those bloody Stanley Cups - and Sam Pollock was mostly responsible.

Category: Sports

August 16, 2007 @ 10:25

Today we have to play the "where were you" game. It always happens on the anniversary of big events in history and today it's the 30th anniversary of Elvis Presley's death.

Where were you and what were you doing when you found out that Elvis Presley had died.

I was in Scarborough and I had just driven my 1971 Yellow Ford Pinto to my girlfriend's house on Antrim Cresent from my house on Chopin Ave.

As I walked in the front door, my girlfriend's mother, who is now my mother and law, exclaimed.

"Freddie, did you hear about this?"
"Hear about what?" I replied.
"Elvis"
Thinking of recent pictures I'd seen of the king I replied
"Did he finally blow up?"
"No!" said Joan. "He died."

I quickly came to the conclusion that Joan would be in no mood for my dark humour so I walked into the room with a look of concern on my face and saw the tail end of a report on CBS News.

Elvis had been found dead in the bathroom of his bedroom at Graceland and details were still sketchy.

There was film of women freaking out of the street and already there was a vigil being organized in front of Graceland.

I'd like to say I felt terrible at that point, but I didn't. I felt bad because a guy was dead, but I didn't feel any worse because it was Elvis.

In 2007 I appreciated who Elvis was and what he contributed to the world, but at the time I couldn't have cared less about Elvis. When I was a kid, I always considered him more of a character or a novelty as opposed to an artist.

In 1977 I was into Billy Joel and Elton John and I was still spinning all my Beatles records.

Elvis was something yahoo's listened to. Like all those guys drinking 25 cent draft and pumping dimes into the juke box at the Knob Hill Hotel at Danforth and Eglinton.

The death of Elvis had no affect on me. None. And as quickly as I heard the news on that August night in 1977, I forgot about it because I didn't care.

It sounds cold and callous - but it's the truth.

Having said that, I recently paid a visit to Memphis and I did the touristy thing and visited Graceland.

In case you missed it, go here and enjoy my tour.

Category: Stuff

August 15, 2007 @ 09:52

Is it just me, or do you find it weird that the Toronto Maple Leafs would trade for a hockey player who's going to spend six months in jail?

I guess on the surface it's not really that big a deal because apparently Mark Bell is a pretty good hockey player, and it's widely felt that if he can ever be controlled or disciplined, he could be a great hockey player.

He was convicted of drunk driving causing personal injury and leaving the scene in a San Jose courtroom yesterday and the result was a six month jail sentence.

The incident happened last Labour Day.

He doesn't have to serve the sentence until the end of the hockey season, which is good for the Leafs, but you have to wonder how this will play on Bell's mind as the season unfolds.

It doesn't matter that he makes two millions dollars a year and is expected play a big role with the Maple Leafs, you have to wonder how a 27 year old player will react with this hanging over his head.

And this could really become bizarre next year if for some reason the Leafs made the playoffs and actually won a round or two.

If the Leafs season was to end in mid-May, Bell wouldn't be released from prison till almost November. That means no training camp and improper conditioning. He probably wouldn't be back to normal until the new year.

I don't know, I hate to always be a cynic when it comes to the Leafs, but I honestly can't remember a situation where a team traded for a player who was sentenced to jail before he ever played for them.

The Leafs have a miserable history of turning good players into mediocre players and that's without them carrying any baggage.

This situation could be ugly.

Category: Sports

August 15, 2007 @ 09:49

Yesterday I received this reply to my posting about Merv Griffin. It's from Rob Johnston, the creative director and wiz-bang producer at the Edge.

Freddie,
"There was another very sad death this weekend in the world of entertainment. Many people might not have ever heard of Tony Wilson, but if it wasn't for Tony there would not have been a Joy Division, a New Order, a Happy Monday's and perhaps never a Brit-pop scene like we had in the 90's with Blur, Oasis, Elastica et al.
Now to some this might not mean much, but if your a fan of CFNY/Edge then you should know about Tony.
He started up Factory Records back in the late 70's and helped put Manchester/Madchester on the map. Famously he never had a contract with any of his bands...they were always free to do what they wanted. And rumour is Factory's manifesto was written with his own blood. To get a sense of Tony Wilson and his legacy, hit up this link.
Also, get a copy of the 2002 movie "24 Hour Party People". It's a must for any music fan and semi-autobiographically follows his Factory days.
Tony died from complications related to kidney cancer and many people thought if anyone would beat it, it would be Tony. Maybe that's why it was a shock to some of us who, while not personally knowing Tony, knew what he did in his life and what he brought to everone as a fan of music. He always took on a challenge, somehow blagged his way through it, and really didn't care who he pissed off along the way. To him, it was always about the music."

Robbie J

Category: Stuff

August 14, 2007 @ 10:13

I received a great honour yesterday. In the only second week of the new Bill Watters Show with Jeff Marek I've been asked to co-host.

On Thursday, Wilbur can't be there so I'm gonna sit across from Marek and have some fun for three hours.

It's an exciting new venture for 640 and once again, thanks to some great co-operation, the way has been cleared for me to talk sports between four and seven Thursday afternoon.

Please listen if you can.

Category: Radio

August 14, 2007 @ 10:13

In case you didn' know former Q-107 guy Craig Venn has invited me to be a regular on this morning show in Windsor/Chatham

After leaving the Derringer Show, Craig moved to Windsor to front his own show on 107.1 The Rock, which has a repeater in Chatham at 95.1 - Craigy works with a fine fella named Matt Dumouchelle.

Craig is a big fan of FreddieP.ca and has decided to bring it to radio through his show every Wednesday morning at 8:40.

You can listen live. Please do so.

Category: Radio

August 14, 2007 @ 10:12

Jeff McArthur is the morning man at The Hawk in Woodstock/London and he's another guy who'd like Freddie P. to spend some time with him on a weekly basis.

Starting this coming Monday, August 20th I'll join McArthur and his sidekick "Face" at 7:15.

The subject matter will be wide open. From sports to politics to florching. Just like you get on FreddieP.ca.

The program director at the Hawk is Michelle Dyer who I used to work with at MOJO. She's a smart young woman with a very nice bum.

Monday morning on the Hawk - 7:15 - you can listen live.

Category: Radio

August 14, 2007 @ 10:12

I received the news of the passing of Merv Griffin with a heavy heart yesterday because I saw the man live and in the flesh just over a year ago.

I was in California for a holiday, doing the coastal thing from San Francisco to San Diego.

While in Los Angeles I managed to get tickets to the "Leno Show" and I've got to admit, I was actually a little disappointed when I learned that Merv would be one of the guests.

When you have the opportunity to see the "Tonight Show" live, you hope it will be the ultimate experience with top headliner guests and to me, Merv Griffin didn't really fit the bill.

And to be honest, something made me think he was already dead at the time.

Anyway, he turned out to be great. I sit here right now and I can't remember a couple of the lines he came out with but Merv Griffin was a fabulous guest and you could tell he had a great relationship with Jay Leno.

I would assume that at the time, Merv was battling the prostate cancer that took his life on Sunday.

Category: Show Biz

August 14, 2007 @ 10:11

Over the past few months I've been keeping you up to date on Neighbour John's attempt to win a jacket.

There's a bar called the "Winking Lizard" in Cleveland and you can win a jacket by drinking 100 beers in a calendar year.

The catch is, the beers are not regular beers. You have to drink one of every 100 different beers on tap and some of them taste like goat piss.

Well I'm here to tell you Neighbour John hit the half-way mark last week during his latest trip through Ohio.

He does a lot of business in that state but we're approaching the mid-way point of the eighth month and he's only had 50 beers.

The prize for hitting the half way mark is a blanket. A Winking Lizard Blanket.

I'll keep you posted through the rest of the year as John continues his quest to conquer 100. It's going to be exciting and will probably go right down to the wire.

Meanwhile, here's a picture of Neighbour John standing outside the Winking Lizard after accepting his half way prize.

Category: Neighbour John

August 14, 2007 @ 10:10

Toronto Mike is a good boy.

He's an internet wizard and really knows his stuff when it comes to building and maintaining a website. Mike helped with the new and improved FreddieP.ca that made its debut in February.

Mike has a very interesting a popular site of his own called "Toronto Mike" and from time to time he does feature interviews.

Today, he features me. I'm flattered that he thinks enough of me to think I'm worthy of such attention, but he was always a big fan of the Humble and Fred Show has supported both Howard and I since we met our radio demise.(s)

Please, take the time if you can to visit "Toronto Mike" and witness the Fred Patterson interview.

Category: Stuff

August 13, 2007 @ 09:17

My trailer friend Gerry likes to frequent garage sales and a couple of weeks ago he paid 25 cents for a book he thought I might like. And he was right.

It called "The Love You Make - An insider's story of The Beatles."

It's not a new book; in fact it's quite old written in 1982 by Peter Brown and Steven Gaines.

Gaines was a writer in New York City at the time and upon meeting Brown in 1974 badgered the former Beatles business manager to write a book with him.

Brown knew all the inside "dope" on the fab four, and after receiving permission from the Beatles, agreed to do a tell-all book that is extremely captivating.

Over the years Brown was a member of the Beatles management company, he was a director of Beatles and Co. a partnership company and eventually became COO of Apple Corp.
In the book Brown tells stories of the Beatles adventures with drugs, their long and sickly history with STD's, John Lennon's homosexual experiment with Brian Epstein and their many financial nightmares.

It was the financial stories that I found most intriguing. It's amazing how little of the money they made, the Beatles actually saw.

Through bad management and through being pioneers in so many areas - John, Paul, George and Ringo were ripped off at every turn - and the biggest thief was their home and native land.

The taxes in Great Britain at the time were staggering and at one point in the late sixties, the Beatles were in a 96 percent tax bracket. 96 percent. And that's precisely why George Harrison wrote the song "Taxman."

For most of their careers, while they were the Beatles, the band actually worked for nothing more than to pay back taxes, and it got me to thinking.

How bizarre that a huge business or corporation like The Beatles could do so much for the economy of their country yet they were literally robbed by their government.

Meanwhile, the Royal Family, which does absolutely nothing for Great Britain, or anybody else for that matter, lives tax free.

The Beatles paid 96 percent while the Queen and her band of inbred wankers pay nothing. Tell me that isn't perverse.

Again, the book was written in completed in 1982 but that doesn't matter because since 1982, obviously Beatles history has not changed.

If you can, give it a read.

Category: Stuff

August 13, 2007 @ 09:15

Small victories. On Friday morning I golfed nine holes at Kathiwano and I broke 50.

I needed a 25 foot putt on the ninth to do it, but I did it and I'm so glad I did because I basically stink at the game and 49 establishes a new benchmark for me.

Golf is an extremely aggravating game that can play on you hole to hole. So often what you did on the sixth hole can affect what you do on the seventh. If you play the game at any level you know what I'm talking about.

On Friday I had a three foot par putt and ended up with a five, and on another hole, a par four, I was on the fringe in two, but ended up with a six.

Each time I carried these woes to the next hole. Point being, if I hadn't - if I had shaken off the anguish like I should have, I could have probably done better than a 49.

Other highlights from the weekend. My wife learned how to make fantastic fresh Tai Spring Rolls and a great drink called "After Eight." It involves rum, Baily's, creme de menthe, club soda and chocolate ice cream.

I got a deep sliver a week ago and I spent most of Saturday afternoon trying to dig it out to no avail. And while I was doing this, a spider bit my foot and it's still puffed up this morning.

I'd also like to take this opportunity to send out best wishes to my friend Gus who's not a trailerite, but a cottage owner on our lake.

Wednesday night he tripped on a dock and fell and smashed his elbow. It needed surgery. Poor bugger.

And I'll leave you with this. This is my friend Colton who's the son of my good friend Dan Duran.

Category: The Trailer

August 12, 2007 @ 09:54

Last week I wrote a piece that included a reference to Toronto FC, Toronto's new entry in the Major Soccer League.

I predicted that FC probably wouldn't last five years and the response I got was firmly behind the soccer team. For some reason, soccer fans think this team will survive unlike other Toronto soccer teams that haven't.

The Toronto Metros-Croatia and the Toronto Blizzard were both born into the same type of enthusiasm that FC is enjoying right now, but it didn't last and I'm convinced FC will suffer the same fate.

Right now FC is enjoying the benefits of a new stadium that everyone wants to see, and Toronto got sucked in by all the David Beckham bullshit and I'm sure that turned into thousands of tickets sales.

But the novelty of the stadium will wear off, and Beckham will probably be out of the league before ever playing a game at BMO field and interest will probably wane.

It's happened before and it will probably happen again. I remember going to Toronto Blizzard games in 1981 that attracted 50 thousand fans. By 1984 attendance in Toronto was low and the league fell apart.

However, I will say this. I have several friends who've been to FC games and they love it.

Former CFNY music director, and now big shot executive at Universal Music, puts it this way.

"Toronto FC is here to stay. The fans love it and it's a great experience at a resonable price (for now). I attend many other sporting events on a regular basis and I have to say that it's a refreshing change to not to have to sit through a Pizza Box promotion or the Frank D'Angelo Steelback band and all the other over commercialized elements that can keep you at an event for over three and a half hours".

When Ivar paid a visit to the "tin palace" a few weeks ago he offered to go to a game with me and I plan to take him up on it.

It's always been a goal of mine to attend at least one game of every team that comes through Toronto. I even with to a Toronto Phantoms arena football game and that was the most ridiculous sport I've ever seen.

And now I'd like to put FC on that list - before they're gone.

Category: Sports

August 12, 2007 @ 09:30

I don't have this on the strictest of authourity, but it looks like "Interac" is coming to Tim Horton's.

I went to my local Timmy's this morning and the two people in front of me tried to use their interac cards and were abruptly don't they weren't accepted.

This has always bewildered me. Given today's almost cashless society, it seems odd that Tim Horton's wouldn't offer this service up until now.

I've asked several times why they don't accept interac but I've never received a concrete answer. It's run the gamut from the administration is a needless expense, to having people swipe cards and push buttons would hold up the already sizable lines on a day to day basis, to not wanting to bother because most receipts are below three dollars and who the hell doesn't have three dollars in their pocket.

Today when I once again asked the lovely young attendant why "Tim Horton's" doesn't accept interact she didn't give me a reason, she gave me a reply.

"We're going to accept them very soon." she said.
"Why haven't they accepted them up until now." was my retort.
"I don't know." she offered.

But I was satisfied. I'm glad Horton's is finally going to accept interac and I look forward to the day they do.

More and more I find myself with less and less cash in my wallet. There's really no need for it. Between using my credit cards to pile up "aeroplan" miles, and using my interact card for most other things, I rarely find the need for cash.

I realize that using interac for small transaction's isn't the smartest thing to do because of service charges at the bank, but when you get into buying lunch at Horton's, or buying several coffees for a group, it sure will come in handy.

And it's about time.

Category: Stuff

August 11, 2007 @ 11:21

Wow, Friday's are usually a slow day around FreddieP.ca but not yesterday.

My posting defending by beloved town of Brampton really got people going and that's great. Especially those people who live in Oakville.

Good on you Oakvillians - defending your town the way you have. I wish more people from Brampton would do the same thing.

I know Oakville is a great place to live and so are Mississauga and Georgetown if it suits the lifestyle you want to lead.

That was my point. As someone who lives in Brampton, and who has to listen to a lot unfounded Brampton bashing it becomes tiresome when you know in reality what a great community it is.

Like Oakville, like Mississauga, Georgetown and every other community on earth.

If it's your home and it serves your needs and purposes then super, you've got it made.

Again, let me repeat, good on you Oakvillians who responded quickly and passionately to defend your community. To be honest, that's the kind of community I'd like to live in.

I must say however, the people of Mississauga really didn't answer the call.

A little lethargic I'd say. Not even my feisty mother who's a new Mississaugan responded.

One more point I'd like to make. The replies to yesterday's piece once again display how the word "racism" has been battered a bruised.

My posting was about community rivalry - the bricks the mortar, the parks and the plazas.
Nowhere did I mention race or ethnicity.

How sad.

But anyway, good job Oakvillians - Brampton and Oakville should become sister cities - even if Brampton has to be the ugly sister.

Category: Stuff

August 10, 2007 @ 13:06

I'm glad to see Brampton mayor Susan Fennell has come out to squash a ridiculous rumour that's been making the rounds in recent weeks.

I had a few people actually say it to me in the last month or so and it made me laugh.

Rumour had it that Brampton was offering between three and ten thousand dollars to people in the Jane/Finch corridor to move west. The money would be used as a down payment on houses in new developments.

Of course this threw Brampton residents into hysterics fearing the "gang element" would move west, and it made the smug bastards in Mississauga happy because it was another slam against the city they can only dream of being.

It's a popular pastime for Mississaungins to take shots at Brampton, and it really is quite amusing.

I grew up in Scarborough and I've lived in Brampton for the past 27 years. I still hold Scarborough near and dear to my heart and I have only good things to say about Brampton.

Amusingly both communities are pissed upon by the rest of civilization.

I've raised my kids in Brampton and love it just as much or more than I do. It's our home and it's been a good home and it still is to this day.

It's interesting how images are established and then fed upon by those who don't know their ass from their elbow.

Per capita, Brampton has more parks, recreational facilities and open spaces than any other city in the GTA.

Granted, Brampton has some pockets that aren't so great - but Mississauga has more, and I could even take you to some dumpy areas in Georgetown and Oakville. Conversely, Brampton has some areas that rival or surpass anything else in Southern Ontario.

I'm in a position right now where I could move anywhere I wanted to, but it keeps coming back to the same thing. I can't find anywhere better than Brampton.

I could move to Mississauga amongst all the condos and traffic and box malls - but I choose not to.

I could be a real sucker and move to over-rated Oakville where you pay way more for a house than it's actually worth and then realize Oakville's entire reputation is based on a small downtown area full of snobs who live in million dollar bungalows - other than that, it might was well be Brampton.

Correction: Other than that, it wishes it were Brampton.

I've thought about Georgetown but the thought didn't last long - and then there's Toronto, but with almost four years of David Miller remaining, I'd be better off in Havana.

No thanks. For the time being, I'll just stay in good old Brampton and become a little more thick skinned.

Category: Stuff

August 9, 2007 @ 11:10

Several people have e-mailed me to ask why I didn't comment on two sports issues.

David Beckham visiting Toronto and the hype that surrounded it, and Barry Bonds setting the all-time home run record.

That's one of the great things about writing a blog. You can pick and choose your subjects without having them mandated and these two subjects did not inspire me in the least.

The Beckham thing was so "Toronto" it made me sick. A soccer player on the downside of his career signs a ridiculous contract with a second rate soccer league but Toronto goes whacky when he comes to town and doesn't even play.

Toronto's thirst to be "world class" sometimes as exposes us for nothing but a backwoods community of hosers. The media attention was pathetic, but that was obviously fuelled by the people's desire to know.

Know where he was going, what he was doing, who he was with, where he ate, where he drank and where he crapped.

And here's the irony. Even anyone thinks David Beckham will play-out his five year deal with the Los Angeles Galaxy they're dreaming - and anyone thinks Toronto FC will survive for five years is also dreaming.

What happened in Toronto last week with Beckham was nothing short of stupid.

As for Barry Bonds - nobody with his disposition and attitude deserves to the accolades he'll receive for breaking the all-time home-run record.

Screw the steroids angle. Who gives a shit?

Clean or dirty Barry Bonds is a king sized asshole with no class and totally detached from reality.

Barry Bonds was blessed with the ability to hit a ball with a hunk of wood and it just so happens that our society holds this high regard and his willing to pay big dollars for it.

Unfortunately, because of this Bonds thinks he's something special. He really thinks he makes a significant contribution to the world and therefore has the right to treat most others like dirt.

Things haven't been going too well for major league baseball in recent history and having Barry Bonds as their new home run king with all the baggage that he carries is something the sport could have done without.

Category: Sports

August 9, 2007 @ 11:09

Here's an update from yesterdays posting. Before and after.

Category: The Trailer

August 8, 2007 @ 10:01

I don't have a lot of time for writing today because I've got a lot of physical work to do.

This is a picture of my dock which contains the Tiki Bar and a sitting area. My wife, who is always looking to improve and expand things thinks we need more room for the sitting area and she wants to incorporate our fire-pit into it.

So for most of today and part of tomorrow I'll be expanding the dock/deck/slash sitting area.

It won't involve much. It will measure 14' by eight feet so there other than having to cut five, sixteen foot 2x6's it won't involve much more than having to screw boards together.

There could be a bit of challenge securing the platform out over the water, but several pieces of 4x4 usually does the trick, and if you use enough of them you can take all the bounce out of the floor.

I'll take a picture when it's done so you can see the results.

However, before I get working on the dock today, I have to pile a load of firewood I ordered from old Merv Bullock.

Merve is the main supplier of fire wood to me and my neighbours. He's a nice old bugger who gives you prompt service and usually a quality product that burns like it's supposed to.

Some of the old bastards up here will drop you a load of wood that you'd swear was stored underwater for a few a months.

But now Merv, he gives you a nice load with a good measure of hard word mixed in with the other stuff.

Ladies and gentlemen, meet Merv Bullock.

Category: The Trailer

August 7, 2007 @ 10:57

Lou Schizas is a very interesting man. He's an analyst on the Business News Network, and for lack of a better term he's the money man of am 640.

I first met Lou at Humble Howard's wedding way back in 1989 and even though he lived in Calgary until the end of the 90's, through Howard I saw Lew periodically and always enjoyed his company.

Lew is a man of many interests and informed opinions and it was welcome news in 2001 when it was announced that he would be part of the original lineup on MOJO radio.

It's a big week for Lou. Not only has he launched his own website which I highly recommend to everyone, but Lou will also serve as a contributor to the new Bill Watters Show with Jeff Marek which makes its debut this afternoon at four.

Lou Schizas is a good boy.

Category: Radio

August 7, 2007 @ 10:55

The greatest thing about the trailer is what it means for kids.

As a kid my summers were spent near a lake, I more or less raised my kids on the very same lake, and now that they're grown, it's nice to see a new generation of kids enjoy this wonderful place.

The picture you see is my daughter Melanie on the right, and her best friend Kate who've spent their summers together since they were nine years old. Now they're in their mid-20s and happily remain trailer trash. Saturday night they paid a visit to the Tiki Bar.

Exposing your kids to the "north country" is very important because opens up a whole new world they simply can't appreciate while stuck in the city.

Yesterday for example a little fella named Ashton experienced his first "tube" ride and he's barely two years old. Granted, his mother was with him, but it's the first step in what will probably lead to skiing or wake boarding in the very near future.

The kids swim and fish and catch frogs and enjoy campfires and walking through the woods. It's endless.

Yes it's enjoyable to watch their faces moment to moment as new experiences a presented to them constantly.

And what's especially enjoying is watching a kids face when they arrive for the first time, or they're old enough to actually appreciate and take in what they see around them.

Our friend Lori has a niece named Maddy and although she's been here before, now she's of an age where she notices everything around her and this past holiday weekend was so beautiful she got to experience it all.

Swimming, a ride in a boat, a ride on a ski-doo and lots of interaction with a pile of other kids. A jammed packed weekend that at times can actually be overwhelming for a kid who's just over a year old.

She enjoyed herself very much and we all enjoyed having her around for the weekend.

She's a great little kid… and a pretty good dancer.

Category: The Trailer

August 3, 2007 @ 10:23

Off the top let me say what a big fan of Mike Stafford I am. When I'm by a radio in the afternoon, it's usually tuned to 640 so I can hear Mike's wonderful mix of humour, intelligence and irreverence.

Having said that, I must admit that I'm excited by a radio war that's about to take place in Toronto.

640 had decided to go head to head with the Fan 590 in the afternoon drive period and for a radio fan, a sports radio fan it could be intriguing.

Mike Stafford will move to mid mornings where he'll have no equal, while Bill Watters and Jeff Marek will occupy the 4pm - 7pm slot and go right up against Bob McCown on the Fan.

McCown has dominated the male 35-54 demographic on the am band during afternoon drive for several years. Ironically, the last time he wasn't number one is when Stafford was hosting the MOJO afternoon drive show.

Whether anyone likes to admit it or acknowledge it, Mike actually beat Bob, but in McCown's defense his numbers were also fragmented to a small degree back then by the launch of "The Team."

Now the lines have been drawn for another battle and nobody should sell Watters and Marek short. They are going to cause all kinds of problems for the Fan and probably force McCown to talk about a lot more hockey than he'd like to.

Needless to say, as Toronto's home of the Maple Leafs "The Bill Watters Show" will lean heavily towards hockey and in this market that's "gold" and it's going to force a lot of cross tuning in the afternoon.

To McCown's credit, he loves to talk about all sports and all issues and he does a fabulous job with it. McCown enjoys "not" talking about hockey and is often aggravated by those who insist on talking hockey when there are so many other things to talk about.

Well things are about to change. Instead of having the afternoon sports audience all to himself and being able to feed that audience with anything he wants, McCown will now have to deal with an established hockey show just a short distance up the dial.

All of a sudden he'll have to share the market of adult males because when he's not talking hockey, there will be a lot of buttons being pushed.

You can't argue with reality. Toronto is a hockey market, especially a Leafs market and if that's the subject people listen. Call us puck heads or hockey hacks or anything you want, but we love our Leafs and we want to hear about them to a nauseating fault.

Why do you think The Fan counter-programmed Leafs Lunch with their Hockey Central Show a few months ago. It's because sports fans were leaving Mike Hogan's show on the Fan and listening to a show about hockey and nothing but hockey.

Now we're about to enter another phase and it's going to be very interesting.

Bob McCown does a fabulous interview and Prime Time Sports is a quality show, without a doubt the best sports radio talk show I've heard anywhere in North America, but starting next week and especially during the hockey season, while McCown is doing an in depth segment on the NBA or talking to a doctor about steroid use in baseball or interviewing a boxing expert, sports fans will now have an alternative.

Listen to a segment they're sort of interested in, or flip the dial and get exactly what they want. Hockey talk and hockey talk done very well.

Here's the deal. This battle will not create any more listeners for sports talk in the GTA, what it will do is change the distribution, and going in, that could be bad news for The Fan.

It's going to be fun to watch. I only wish I could be part of it. And I'd play for either team.

Category: Radio

August 2, 2007 @ 10:53

FreddieP.ca has been stagnant for a couple of days for two reasons. One is my responsibility, and the other is not.

On Tuesday morning, I went golfing with a few trailer buddies. Eighteen holes at Katchiwano Golf Club near Lakefield in the Kawarthas.

I didn't drag my wide ass out of bed until 8:10 so I didn't have enough time to update the website prior to hitting the links.

We didn't tee off until nine o'clock and as you know the heat was punishing. By the time we were finished, I was exhausted. I really can't explain it.

I've walked 18 holes before, but on the heels of a road trip last week and a very busy day on Monday, by the time I was finished golfing my legs and arms felt like cement. And by the time I got back to the trailer it was so hot I really didn't feel like dealing with a slow internet connection, so I took the day off.

What a stroker.

Yesterday, it wasn't my fault. My server or provider or platform or whatever else Mike Boon calls it let me down.

I couldn't access my site builder. All day long, I kept trying to log on and I just couldn't do it. It was aggravating and made me feel quite forlorn.

It meant FreddieP.ca would be down for two days straight and it wasn't even the weekend. It made me feel cheap and inadequate.

Anyway, it's back up today and I'd like to thank all those people who kept checking in.

Funny how things work, on an average day when I update the site I get about one thousand unique visits. When I don't update the site on a weekday I get more than that.

Obviously, people check in several times a day looking for an update, and they stretch it over several hours which drives up the uniques.

Admittedly, about five hundred of the visits are my mother, who gets downright ornery when I drag my ass and fail to write anything.

Sorry Junie.

Category: Stuff

August 2, 2007 @ 10:52

One of the guys I went golfing with on Tuesday was Craig Ramsay. As I've explained before, I don't frequent just any trailer park, I'm in a high class trailer park and Rammer is one of the residents. (attached picture is of me and Craig at the Tiki Bar)

But he won't be around for long. In the past few days Ramsay reached agreement to be an assistant coach with the Boston Bruins and it was announced yesterday.

After several years with the Tampa Bay Lightning, Rammer was given the boot by head coach John Tortorella this off season.

Now he'll work with head coach Claude Julien who got the Boston job after he was fired by the New Jersey Devils in April. Remember that one, the Devils were in first place but Lou Lamoriello decided Julien wasn't the guy to take them into the playoffs so he canned him.

And then justice prevailed and the Devils crapped out in the post season.

Anyway, back to Ramsay. The man can golf.

On Tuesday he got off to a slow start at Katchawano shooting 18 on the first three holes. Then over the final 15 holes he shot a 57 for a final score of 75.

It's not fair. Hockey guys get to spend their whole life golfing all summer and they're usually fine athletes to begin with.

I go out there one Tuesday feeling pretty about coming within one stroke of breaking one hundred and this guy checks in with a 75 despite a bad start.

Show off.

Having said that, we're all happy for Rammer and his new job in Boston. It means he'll be coming to the ACC four times this winter and I'm sure he'll arrange to get all his trailer friends tickets when the Bruins come to town.

He'll get platinum seats for all of us and we'll all sit right behind the Bruins bench and tell everyone around us that we know Craig Ramsay.

After the game he'll take us for a tour of the Bruins dressing room and then buy us dinner at a swanky steak house near the ACC where he'll have arranged to have Bobby Orr and Phil Esposito dine with us.

He hasn't made the offer yet, but it's just a matter of time.

Category: Sports

August 2, 2007 @ 10:51

Richard Steele was at old City Hall on Monday testifying at a preliminary hearing into the Jane Creba murder.

It's widely believed that Steele was the intended target on Boxing Day 2005, but unfortunatley the bullet missed its marked a took the life of 15 year old Creba, an innocent victim who was downtown shopping with her mother.

Since Steele was subpoenaed in April to testify in the case, he's popped up in the news a few times displaying a shameful attitude, exposing his type of street punk for what they are.

Cold hearted.

Although police of taped phone conversations of Steele actually boasting that he was standing beside Creba, he fought to the subpoena arguing it was a death sentence. If he testified, he'd surely be targeted by those responsible.

Thankfully, the judge assigned to the case refused Steele's request, he must spill the beans, and that's why he was at the preliminary hearing on Monday.

Unfortunately, his appearance was not without the usual dose of creepiness that Steele possesses.

When asked if he should be considered a "star witness" Steele responded with this.

"No I shouldn't - I'm a star, but not a star witness."

Wow. The only thing that Richard Steele is known for is having a long criminal record for gun and drug possession. He recently finished serving a jail sentence.

If that makes him a "star", we should all be very concerned. That's the problem with the gang culture that currently plagues the city of Toronto.

These guys really mark their status by the what they've accomplished in their seedy underworld and Richard Steele is no different. Despite crying and whining to a judge back in April that he didn't want to talk, he sure has enjoyed mouthing off since then.

And through all of it, I can't help but think of the Creba family who have to listen to this shit and continuously re-live the horror of Boxing Day 2005.

Category: Stuff