Just Give Me Anything But The Dinosaur

I don't get to watch much daytime television. I normally have a life, getting out and about, going to work, and other stuff too. But this week I've been somewhat under the weather, and during some of my (relatively) better moments, I've had some time to watch some TV.

One show that I haven't had much time to watch is Ellen, which I think is mildly amusing. When one has a cough such as mine, you really don't want to laugh too hard anyway, and when you are sneezing 10 times in a row, it's easy to catch up on what you missed.

Now as I was channel surfing in search of Ellen, I must say that I passed by some of the worst kids TV shows I've ever seen. Perhaps I didn't give them much of a chance, but face it, you can usually tell very quickly whether they are worthwhile. I'm sure some programs are better than others, but I noticed a proliferation of really bad shows out there. For heavens sake, what are we doing by making this programming possible? There must be people out there plopping their children in front of these shows.

Personally, I've always hated that purple dinosaur. This takes stupid to a whole new level. Actually today I passed by shows that would surpass that insipid dinosaur in stupidity. However, I'm sure you have your own short list of most hated children's programming.

And let us remember, as we perhaps give ourselves a "break" from our kids, to have a brief nap (sure, like that happens), or clean the bathroom, or make a hot lunch, as we tell them they can have some TV time, let's opt for something that might inspire them, instead of having their eyes glaze over at the very sight of his Very Purpleness.

Anyway, after I separated myself from my couch nest today, I first checked my work email, to find that the world has gone on without me, and then went to Ellen's website. There I stumbled upon a clip of Emily Bear.

Emily is only 6 years old, a tender age to be an accomplished pianist. Not only that, she is charming, without being precocious. We need to appreciate that our own children are capable of much more than we think they can achieve. We need to encourage them to set goals and help them achieve these goals. Teach them about hard work, having fun with it, and making a place for themselves in the world. It's never too early.


Emily Bear practicing at the Coronado Theatre in Rockford, IL before supporting the Ramsey Lewis Trio later in the day. This song is an original composition, written for Ellen on occasion of Emily's appearance on the Ellen DeGeneres show.


Emily's performance on Ellen's show. Emily tells the story of how she came to write this composition.

Contributed by Jamie Naessens

Angel Eyes Closed, But Not Forgotten

I was sad to learn that Jeff Healey has passed away. He was a musician who could rock with the best of them. He played onstage with some great musicians, including BB King and Stevie Ray Vaughan. He recorded with George Harrison and Mark Knopfler. In recent years, he was able to devote his music to what he loved: jazz.

He was host of a long-running CBC radio series called My Kinda Jazz, and later hosted another show on Toronto's Jazz FM, and would feature long forgotten jazz songs from his collection of 30,000 (!!) vinyl records and 78s. I will always remember him as a rock musician. Healey was the frontman for the Jeff Healey Band (well, I guess that's obvious). He won a Juno award, had international acclaim and platinum record sales with his album "See the Light."

There is more to his passing than just another musician gone silent early in life. He was only 41. Although anyone who had seen him play, or knew anything about him, you would know that he was blind. Jeff had lost his sight at the age of one due to cancer. But blindness did not define Jeff. Cancer did not define Jeff. Blindness perhaps drew attention because of his unique playing style that he developed when learning how to play the guitar at 3 years old.

Instead of wallowing, Jeff got busy with life, making life work for himself with the talents that he was blessed with. He toured as a young man, got married and raised a family, ran businesses, played in a couple of bands, and probably a lot more that I don't even know about. He carried on with life, instead of letting blindness or cancer define him.

There's a lesson in that for both those struggling with disabilities, and for those out there who hold these people back based on their perceptions of what these people can achieve or become. Blindness isn't their biggest handicap, but given their own perceptions of self and by others, that can become the biggest handicap.

I leave you with Angel Eyes.



Contributed by Jamie Naessens

Who Says The Sky Is Falling?

Has the world gone mad? Have we somehow subscribed to Chicken Little's Sky Is Falling Theorum?

Rick Mercer says it best. Enjoy.



Contributed by Jamie Naessens

Who Here is Old?

As we grow older, we must discipline ourselves to continue expanding, broadening, learning, keeping out minds active and open.

Clint Eastwood

Now listen up everyone. Just don't get old.

I'm not talking about a number, or your age. That's just a number, nothing more and nothing less. Who cares.

For example, when we think about those born on February 29th of a Leap Year? We always remark, John turns 10 today, and he's really 40. You could also say he's 480 months old. You could say he's 14,610 days old... well, you get the point. (You know you can find out just about any stupid inane fact that you want to find on the internet!)

Anyway, I'll get back to my point now.

I admire those who have been around a long time. All have experience. Some have wisdom. I am lucky to know a few who have wisdom.

That brings me to Peter Oakley, known to YouTubers as Geriatric1927. Now here's a man that I'd like to adopt as my Grandpa. Here's an older gentleman, 80 years of experience behind him, living somewhere in the U.K., and has a video blog, a website and is part of a music group on MySpace.

Geriatric1927 has now posted 110 (!!) video blogs on YouTube. He has recently made a video, has uploaded it, and it is being released this year. He has a website in which he challenges other geriatrics to embrace the new technology, and use it for all its worth.

This is his very first attempt at posting on YouTube, only 1-1/2 years ago. Watch this, and appreciate that it has had more than 2.7 million hits!

Additionally, it is only fitting that Peter is now a member of a group called The Zimmers - and very worthwhile to check out their MySpace page. And don't forget to turn up your sound. Rock is meant to be played loud... so the seniors can hear it!

The Zimmers at MySpace

The average age of the The Zimmers is only 79, and Winnifred, the most senior member of the Zimmers, is 99. Gotta love that! (Yes, I know I said age doesn't matter, that it is just a number, but I'm still impressed.)

A Final Note

If Geriatric1927 can do it, imagine the possibility of millions of grandmas and grandpas out there on the Internet. Perhaps it's not practical to believe that they'll have their own blogspot pages, posting their videoblogs, sharing pics in their Flickr accounts, and playing online poker. But the possibilities are out there. You get my drift, I'm sure.

Don't stop learning. Don't stop trying. Try new things. Try old things you've never tried before. Try being nicer. Try being assertive. Try calimari (or not!). It's when you stop trying that you truly get old... old in the doddering sense of the word.

Contributed by Jamie Naessens