Do YOU also LOVE April Wine?🤔🎶❤️You may have heard...we just lost the marvellous Myles Goodwyn.😪We grew up to his Classic Canadian Catalogue. 🇨🇦🎵Jumpin' Jiminy Christmas, just YESTERDAY (‼️) I was working out at the gym, listening to "Oowatanite". (Oh What a Night)"Oowata-YEAR", actually...for losing legendary Canadian Musicians: Gordon Lightfoot.😥Robbie Robertson (The Band).😢 Bruce Guthro.💔 (Please, Music Angels...no more this year, please...)🙏Though as with any passing, it's a sobering reminder to remember to reach out to those YOU Love, especially during this Holiday Season.🎅🎄🎁'Just Between You and Me'😉...just sent out 100 (‼️) personalized, hand-written Christmas cards.🤗Check your mailbox, Friends!👌And if your card doesn't appear, it may be 'cause I don't have your address...feel free to send.👍In the meantime, gonna put on some of the best Canadian rock ever made, re-read Myles' (EXCELLENT) book, and pour a toast of (April) Wine.🍷🥂Fun fact: Mr. Goodwyn LOVED his balloon guitar gift.🎈🎩🪄✨️🤗RIP, and Thank You for the Musical Magic.🫡❤️🎶⭐️👍 ... See MoreSee Less
IMAGINE🤔❗️...YOU're all set to perform Magic at the prestigious Westin NS Hotel🪄✨️, as the sole entertainment for 300 VIPs (Mayors, Company Leaders, and political bigwigs from all over)❗️...you're given kind hospitality, a glorious meal with the group, then a GRAND intro...🎩🥰...and your BRAND-NEW $5000 sound system dies!🙄😨😲 (Looks like the trick is on 'ole Mr. J!)You're thinking: "OK, did two sound checks earlier...all was perfect...it's all brand new equipment...hmmm"...the seconds seemed like years, as the crowd went silent...what do they say about first impressions??🫢Luckily, it was just a single cord, accidentally unplugged by someone earlier. The newly working system got applause (!), along with my sudden hand-waving acknowledgment: "And now...for my next trick!"😋AMAZING group there. After THAT, t'was a SUPER-FUN show!🙃🥰🤗HERE's THE THING: During the awkward seeming eternity when the previously perfect sound puttered out...I surprisingly felt no panic, all because of a glance at my POPPY.🌹 Somehow, that precious poppy magically made me reflect, all in the moment: "Oh, sure, there's 300 prestigious people all staring at me in awkward silence...but I've never had to fight in the trenches. I've never had to suffer the horrors of War. Our brave men and women veterans, they've been through infinitely worse. Breathe, check the system, and fix the situation...in comparison THIS is small potatoes."That little poppy on my lapel bestowed a much-needed reminder of perspective, perseverance, and GRATITUDE.🫡Let's all Remember. Lest We Forget.🪖🎖❤️🫡 ... See MoreSee Less
Have ⭐️YOU⭐️ ever imagined Your Life going in a completely different direction? Wondering...WHAT IF??🤔❓️WHAT IF You married someone else, had a different career, or lived in a different place? Maybe you can envision Your timeline, in another alternate Universe? Only to discover (as my Grandfather always said): "Things always work out for the BEST."🤗❤️Story for you: If you grew up with MUCHMUSIC, there's an AMAZING new documentary by passionate Canadian director Sean Menard, entitled '299 Queen Street West'.Highly recommended to you when it airs on Crave, Sean is touring our country for live screenings, along with original MUCHMUSIC VJs!🌟🎶🎸🎵Dripping with nostalgia for a unique time in our Canadian TV, when free-form, audience-interactive programming was the playbook, you could feel the Music Love. Gee willikers, we were LUCKY to grow up when we did!🍀Now IMAGINE: Who didn't dream of being a MUCHMUSIC VJ personality back in the day?🥳To be a PART of that star-filled, creative, rebel, pioneering spirit?❤️ Thousands of Canadians shared that goal.To that end, as a 1990s Radio DJ, young dreamer, theatre student, and teacher-in-training, yours truly auditioned during the famous 'MuchMusic VJ Search Contest'. Put together a professionally edited, best-possible audition tape...dutifully mailed it to Toronto, with fingers crossed...🤞😇🥰And LOST. 🙁😓😩Rick Campanelli (aka 'Rick the Temp')...WON.👏🙏👍All good...he was perfect for the job, and he was extremely good at it. A giving philanthropist, Rick went on to host several shows, rub shoulders with A-listers, and even worked the Oscars!🫢😮❗️⭐️👍Yours truly became a teacher, then (in 1999), began performing Magic Shows...my beloved, Life-fulfilling job to this day.🤗❤️👍This week in Halifax, when presenting a balloon flower to Sean for his outstanding film, and to the VJs for all their extraordinary memories, Rick mentioned he "WAS going to be a TEACHER, but that changed when he won the MuchMusic VJ Contest". (!!)❗️All at once, that opened visons of alternate timelines...completely spontaneously, a lot of 'What Ifs?' to mind...🤔So, it was time for Mr. Campanelli and I to have a little showdown! 🔫🤠💪Our long-awaited, impromptu 'confrontation' just happened to be LIVE on stage...the winner and a loser from that famous nationwide TV contest...❗️...in front of a packed house of cool culture connoisseurs at the Rebecca Cohn! 😋Actually, I had nothing but praise for Rick's many talents, who kindly added back to me: "I'm sure you became an excellent teacher!" 🥰❤️When mentioning I also became a Magician🎩, (a blessed, lucky, joy-filled career, and life which I wouldn't trade for any other), Rick and I walked across the stage, towards each other...and suddenly embraced in a huge, spontaneous HUG!❤️❤️👍👍Super cool guy. And you know, it really felt like a full circle moment, bridging all those many years since that young dreamer applied for that TV job...30 years ago.😀😊 Thank you, Rick. You da Man. (Y)It also felt wonderful to thank Sean the director publicly, and to meet legendary, beloved MuchMusic personalities Erica Ehm (!) and Mike Campbell! 🙂 Sean even let me ask them some interview questions, from the stage! For a few brief seconds, it felt like living the MuchMusic dream.🎵🎸🎶👍MuchMusic Legend ERICA EHM even exclaimed aloud, after all my stage tomfoolery: "Give this Man a JOB!"👍You can only imagine how that felt to hear, from her, after all these years.❤️Overflowing with gratitude, I became an even bigger 'Rick the Temp' fan.😁"You can't always get what you want, but if you try sometimes, you just might find...you get what you NEED."🫡 -The Rolling StonesWe can't change the past, but we sure can appreciate what we have, and where we be.😍May YOUR Life also be full of MuchMAGIC.🎩🪄❤️⭐️👍👍 #RickCampanelli #RickTheTemp #MuchMusic #299QueenStreetWest #SeanMenard #EricaEhm#MikeCampbell #MuchMAGIC ... See MoreSee Less
Treating my Magical MOM, to Music! 🤗🎶❤️Need some Food for Your Soul? 🤔🫒🙏World-renowned cellist, Grammy-playing artist ⭐️Denise Djokic⭐️- an evening of sublime, living, crackling, energy...the full gamut of emotions...Gee Willikers!!🥳🌠What an uplifting, teleporting, transformative experience.❤️Where's YOUR Happy Place? 🤔😄Y'know, some say 'Classical Music' is 'boring'. As in Life, one bloke's 'Boring' is another's Avalon!⛪️💒🌞💫🌟🌠 Highly recommend Symphony NS. Treat yourself! Bought two front row, VIP tickets for their entire season...their 40th! If Classics aren't your cup o' tea, get this: our stellar Symphony NS mixes it up with modern music too (their Fusion series). 🎵🎼🎸PLUS! You can meet-and-greet with the many marvelous musicians...all true Connoisseurs of Cool.😎👍Naturally, Magicians🎩 admire seeing sleight of hand, and "Roll Over Beethoven!" Did our orchestra deliver! Nova Scotia ROCKS.💪As you may have guessed from this melodious missive: If there's an inroad to this entertainer's soul, (beyond the Magical Arts, or course), it's MUSIC.❤️🎶🎵 Honoured to share with my wonderful Mom.🤗 ⭐️🦸♀️👍👍Bottom Line: May YOU also share some Magical experiences with someone YOU Love.🫶❤️♥️🖤💚❣️🥰 ... See MoreSee Less