Twitter, Juno Awards and Odds!

The cat is out of the bag!

For three weeks now, I have been on Twitter...I did beat my cat to Twitter after all...scroll to the end of this post from last summer.

Today on Twitter I learned that the Toronto Globe and Mail named #Rush's #RedBarchetta the top Canadian car tune in celebration of #Junos week. I just learned more about hash marks here. Click here for the Top 10 Canadian car tunes!

The Juno Awards go tomorrow night - honoring Canada's top musicians. As I finished up my fifth and final year with Warner Music Canada in 1996, I had the chance to take in the Junos out east in Hamilton.  

The host for the evening was Burton Cummings while inductees into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame included:

David Clayton-Thomas (lead singer of Blood, Sweat and Tears)

Denny Doherty (The Mamas & The Papas)

John Kay (lead singer of Steppenwolf) #2 on the car list above.

Domenic Troiano (versatile songwriter, performer and producer)

Zal Yanovsky (member of the Lovin' Spoonful)

Ronnie Hawkins received the Walt Grealis Special Achievement Award at the Junos back in 1996.

Below, I am with Craig Northey of Odds fame at a Juno party the previous night.

It was a year earlier on February 22, 1995 that I arranged for Odds to sing the national anthem at a Kamloops Blazers hockey game against the Prince George Cougars. The next night, Odds opened for the legendary Tragically Hip in Kamloops. See the autograph I got here! 

Craig is a BIG hockey fan and he sent this note through to the Kamloops Blazers when they won the Memorial Cup later in 1995:

Keep up to date with Craig and Odds here.

March's third blog post: 3 Ralphs!

Nice work Ralph!
Macchio that is..."The Karate Kid" took down the boxer and the wrestler on the "Dancing With The Stars" season premiere last night.

Today on the NHL.com site they linked to a bunch of Dancing NHL Stars. Check out Gretzky and Roenick in LA or the nice moves of Dallas Stars announcer Ralph Strangis.

I am in playoff mode for the Western Hockey League playoffs starting this Friday on Shaw-TV. Here is my promo for the Battle of Alberta (since the NHL teams there won't be qualifying for the playoffs):

Words of Wisdom from the BBall court

I was hooping it up Thursday night as usual with my basketball-playing friends. We have a regular group who play at Immaculata High School in a 35+ league. It has been a fundraiser for the school since 1992 and I have been part of the action for the last five years.

The picture here is from the gym and the quote belongs to NBA great Tim Duncan.

Congratulations to the Senior Boys basketball team from Immaculata on a great showing at the Senior A provincials! They will play for third tonight after losing a heartbreaking 60-58 decision to West Point Grey last night.

My son's team, the Kelowna Christian School Knights, are the number one ranked team in the tournament and play West Point Grey in the finals tonight at 7 pm. They will be coming home on the bus right after the game so pickup may be around 1:30 am...I better rest now...Go Knights!

Before my basketball on Thursday, the Kelowna Chiefs had another Pizza Appreciation night for staff and volunteers to wrap up a great first season in the KIJHL! As I blogged before, I appreciate Thank Yous!

It was my pleasure to serve as the public address announcer for my neighbourhood team. Several handshakes and even a couple of hugs as

I left the building...Hockey has a way of drawing people closer together.

Persistence and Perseverance

Two recent newspaper articles ended with those words of wisdom from two bright ladies:

• Dianne Buckner, the host of CBC-TV's hit reality business pitch show, "The Dragon's Den", was in Kelowna last week speaking at the Presidents' Dinner for the Chamber of Commerce. In the Kelowna Daily Courier on February 23rd she outlined her top 10 business tips for the crowd. #10 was Persistence. Learn and get better continuously.
• Lori Welbourne's column in the Capital News on Sunday, Feb. 27th was her last there as she moves to the Daily Courier's eVent Magazine this weekend. Congrats Lori! The art of happiness says: Perseverance is the key and rejections are just tests to make sure we’re strong enough to push past the pain and carry on towards scoring our goals.

I encourage you to read Lori's whole column, The art of happiness, as she shares how a rejection letter to her cartoonist did not prevent him from reaching the top with MAD magazine.

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Here are the top 9 business tips Dianne Buckner shared for entrepreneurs last week in the Daily Courier:

1. Successful entrepreneurs know how to pitch to get a 'yes' answer. That's the whole basis of "The Dragon's Den" - pitching business ideas to get support and financing.
2. While focused, entrepreneurs also have to be open and flexible to make deals happen.
3. Tough times aren't necessarily bad times. Let them spur your creativity.
4. Stay abreast of trends. Eco-friendly and social media are hot right now.
5. Successful entrepreneurs are brief. (Another necessity on the TV show).
6. Great entrepreneurs have a comfort level with their own weaknesses. They understand them and deal with them.
7. While taking risks, entrepreneurs should still proceed with caution.
8. Nothing replaces hard work.
9. But don't work too hard. Respect your health and relationships.