SUPPORT

 by Shane Koyczan

This video really reached deep down inside me and touched a spot that will always remain tender and bruised. It made me say "Yes, that's SO true" and it made me cry.

Please take a few minutes and see for yourself.

 Visit TO THIS DAY PROJECT Website -CLICK HERE

VIDEO

Baby Gets Down with Beyonce

You might have seen this one before, it's circulated around the internet for a while now, but it is always worth watching again, especially if you are in need of a good chuckle (and hey, couldn't we all use a good chuckle?)

VIDEO

INSPIRATION

 

Powerball lottery winners live modestly, give back to hometown

by Kevin Murphy, Reuters

CAMDEN POINT, Mo. - Three months after winning half of the biggest Powerball lottery jackpot in U.S. history, Mark Hill still meets friends for morning coffee at a local convenience store.

And that Camaro sports car Hill considered buying with his winnings? He got a pick-up truck instead.

While some lottery winners fritter away their fortunes or meet tragic ends, not much has outwardly changed for Mark and Cindy Hill since they won half of a $587 million Powerball jackpot in November. They netted $136.5 million in a lump-sum payment after taxes.

“They are very conservative people,” said Walt Stubbs, a friend and former high school classmate of the Hills. “They are doing some really nice things for the community and they’ve taken care of their family.”

The Hills are giving money to civic projects in Mark Hill’s hometown of Camden Point, Missouri, and still live in nearby Dearborn, Missouri, as they did before winning the jackpot.

The Hills will pay for a new Camden Point fire station and ball field and gave the town more than $50,000 to buy land for a new sewage treatment plant that will eventually allow residents to give up individual septic tanks, Mayor Kevin Boydston said.

“I’ve said all along that these lottery winnings could not have gone to a better couple,” Boydston said. “They are giving back to the community, just like they said they would.”

Camden Point has fewer than 500 residents and is wedged into hills in a rural area about 30 miles north of Kansas City. Its downtown has a series of mostly empty brick buildings.

Stubbs, chief of the area’s volunteer fire department, said the new station is planned to connect directly to main roads, a major improvement on the current fire hall, which does not have quick access to highways.

“It’s a situation where if we had to do it ourselves, it would take 25 years,” Stubbs said.

The winning couple graduated from North Platte High School in Dearborn and have donated to a scholarship fund at that school.

The Hills, in their early 50s, told reporters at a news conference after winning the lottery they would stay in the area and give a lot of the money away. Mark Hill quit his job as a mechanic. Cindy Hill was out of work at the time. “I’m real proud of them,” said Shirley Hill, Mark Hill’s mother. “They have stayed grounded. That’s their nature.

HUMOUR

A little girl was sitting and watching her mother do the dishes at the kitchen sink. She suddenly noticed that her mother had several strands of white hair sticking out in contrast on her brunette head.

She looked at her mother and inquisitively asked, 'Why are some of your hairs white, Mum?'
Her mother replied, 'Well, every time that you do something wrong and make me cry or unhappy, one of my hairs turns white.'

The little girl thought about this revelation for a while and then said, 'Mummy, how come ALL of grandma's hairs are white
?'

FLASHBACK

Oscar Flashbacks

It just wouldn't seem like Academy Awards time without the annual trotting out of these classic Scribbles photos. So please, indulge us once again (or scroll past, we'll still love you...LOL)
  
I always laugh when I see the photo above. It was taken over 20 years ago when I lived on Capner Street and hosted my one and only "official" Oscars Party. Guests were encouraged to pretend they were movie stars, we had a contest to see who picked the most winners of the night and there was a container of soft items to throw at the TV screen when you didn't like who won or their speech was a tad too long.

And then there was that dreadful looking Academy Award statue I had attempted to create. It was a piece of crudely cut Styrofoam wrapped in tin foil and a pretty frightful site. A far cry from the recent Gramma's Grammy Awards party I recently hosted.

The party was a lot of silly fun and made the lengthy awards show seem to go by a lot quicker. In fact one happy guest told us this was the first time he actually watched the lengthy awards show in its entirety. I was pleased to know I had something to do with that.

 
Clearly a lot more thought and effort went into our Nova Scotia pal Angela Whiteley's Academy Awards party a few years ago, as we see below.


Her Oscar statuettes were stunning, her formally-dressed guests got to walk the red carpet when they arrived, champagne flowed and there were even faux lines of coke for her "stars" to snort while in the powder room. Now THAT'S Hollywood Baby!  LMAO! 

SUPPORT

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YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE

Our Niagara friend Kevin Spiece sent the following message to Scribbles and we are only too happy to pass it along to you.

"I am volunteering with the Out the Cold Program every night offering my PSW skills (hair trimming, nail care, babysitting/bathing and massage). 

If you could put a shout out to business owners to allow me to place collection bins in their business, I would appreciate it. 

Great need for razors, socks, combs, baby wipes hand towels and take along individual snacks for the day."

Would you like to help our friend Kevin as he helps others?  
Contact Scribbles to be put in touch with Kevin and make a difference. Email us at scribblesonline@sympatico.ca 

GALLERY

Splendor in the Snow

Photo by Rich Hunt

INTERVIEW

When it comes to expressing herself through her art, Angela Whiteley is never without ideas or a place to create them on. Known as "Angie's Breathing Canvas", our Nova Scotia friend is a body artist whose wild and imaginative creations have become the talk of the town and have sometimes gotten her in hot water.

As a loyal Scribbles reader, we're certain you have seen Angie's work featured on our website over the years. Her wicked Skeleton Pirate was the acclaimed winner of last year's Best Halloween Costume contest and we've never missed an opportunity to include her latest creations.

But what do we know about the mastermind behind these living art pieces? Scribbles had the pleasure of interviewing Angie to find out just that.


SCRIBBLES EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH ANGELA (ANGIE) WHITELEY

SCRIBBLES: What inspired you to choose the human form as your canvas?

ANGIE: "Having a mom who's an artist, I've always been around the art world. I have tried my hand at drawing, canvas painting, rock painting, watercolors and all things "crafty" but never really LIKED any of it.

I was Google surfing one day and came across these incredible images of women who had these amazing works of art painted on them and just knew I had to try it. It was so different than anything I'd ever seen before ~ and it was Edgy .... which was right up my alley."

SCRIBBLES: How long have you been painting on people?

ANGIE: "I started out about 7 years ago doing Airbrushed Temporary Tattoos, then graduated about 5 years ago to airbrushed designs on the kids faces. I've only been BODY PAINTING for the past 3 years."

SCRIBBLES: Is there a creation you can say you are most proud of?

ANGIE: "There are so many pieces that I've been really happy with. If I HAD to narrow it down, I would have to say the Six Eyed Monster, the Mountie and the Octopus are three of my all time favorites. (sorry, I couldn't pick just one ... it's like asking me which one of my kids am I most proud of) "

SCRIBBLES: I recall that one time you ran into issues with facebook when you posted some pix of your work that featured nudes. What was the problem there and what was the outcome?

ANGIE: " Someone was reporting my body painting pictures. It was very frustrating as I never set out to offend anyone..The pics were never raunchy but yes, some did have a painted nipple or two. It was completely covered in a painted design but I guess some people just couldn't handle it.

I had to remove all images that had a questionable nipple, smooth the offensive nipple over with Photoshop and repost it. Haven't been banned since though!"

SCRIBBLES: Aside from the facebook fiasco, have you ever encountered any other objections or issues with any of your designs?

ANGIE: "Once I had a lady ball me out because she felt I was horrible for creating some of the stuff in my Special FX (18+) album. She felt completely offended and accused me of supporting violence against women. (which is SO outrageously false)"

SCRIBBLES: You've told us it can minutes to hours to create a finished product. What design took the most amount of time to create?

ANGIE: "To date, the Mountie probably took me the longest. It was one of my first full body pieces and so I was still fairly slow. It wouldn't take me as long now."

SCRIBBLES: Some of our Scribbles pals may not be aware that you also operate “Beautiful You Day Spa". How long has it been around and how did you get into that field?

ANGIE: "I was living in Victoria, BC back in 1999 when I ran into a friend who was telling me about this Esthetics course she was taking. As she spoke, a light bulb turned on over my head and I just KNEW that this is what I needed to do.

In 2006, I bought a house in a small community here in Nova Scotia. We gutted and renovated it to be Beautiful You Day Spa. It was a great gamble and I'm still loving going to work every day."

SCRIBBLES: “Beautiful You” or “Angie’s Breathing Canvas”...which is your favourite?

ANGIE: "Ohhh .... you're being bad !!! How can I chose, they are both so very different !!! I LOVE what I do either way. With the Spa, I get to help people feel better and relax. With my painting, I get to break out and be totally free to create.

Either way, people are always HAPPY around me ... isn't that great !?!? Honestly, I think I have the best of both worlds !"

SCRIBBLES: What does the future hold for Angie’s Breathing Canvas?

ANGIE: "I hope to still be creating for many years to come. I would LOVE to do some TV, film or stage work but unfortunately, where I live is less than ideal for breaking into that market.

I DO plan to get my website together soon though so my work can reach more people and I'll have more freedom to post what I want."

SCRIBBLES: We'd like to thank you for allowing us to interview you. You are such a creative person and we truly admire your work and free spirit.

ANGIE: "Thank you for taking an interest !!! I always love opening up the Scribbles [web] page and seeing that you've slipped one of my images in there. I hope your [readers] like it as well."

Angie's Breathing Canvas VIDEOS

You've read how and why she does it, now see the results of her work, with this special selection of videos from Angie's Breathing Canvas.  

Although we want you to watch each clip, we do caution that the first video is not recommended for younger or squeamish viewers, as it contains some very graphic images (watch for the 14+ notice flashing in the top left hand side of screen prior to the creative yet shocking parts.)

Angie's Breathing Canvas Collection  [14+]

Putting it Together by Angie's Breathing Canvas

Creating the Demon by Angie's Breathing Canvas

 Visit Angie's Breathing Canvas Facebook page - CLICK HERE

You

It Ain't BS!
Bobby Really Rocks!

Just like Superman, our pal "B.R" has always had two distinctive personalities. When I first met him several years ago, he was mild-mannered Bryan Rehkopf, a roving sales rep for a local cellular phone dealer, where I also was employed at the time. But under cover of night, B.R. became Bobby Rock, lead singer of the rock group BOOM. And as if those two identities weren't enough, B.R. was also a loving husband, father, sports enthusiast and loyal friend to many. WHEW! I get exhausted just writing about it all.

As time rolled on, so did Bobby Rock. He left the cellular phone business and the group BOOM.. But just like a rolling stone, Rock gathered no moss. He found employment elsewhere and soon became the lead singer of the rock band Fuse Box.

Think that would be enough to fill his dance card? Think again. These days, Bobby has teamed up with pal Shane Christopher Neal to form a facebook group called BS Live with Bobby and Shane.

Shane and Bobby Rock met through the local music scene a few years ago and started Fuse Box together soon after. Fuse Box will still be playing a few sporatic shows this year to keep things alive.
B.R. tells us "We started BS Live with Bobby and Shane to help support the live local music scene. We noticed that there currently hasn't been an outlet for people to tune into to find out what is happening in the area. We are trying to make the weekly show entertaining while sticking to a concept to let people know who is playing and to feature acts around the area to allow people to check them out. With modern day technology we utilize video so it is quick and fun to watch."

Bobby also told us he is back with my old band BOOM writing originals and Shane has started another project on his own called Chalkface.

The chemistry between Bobby and Shane is amazing and they have become a number one source of info for those who love to rock.

Way to go B.R.! You never EVER cease to amaze me with your abundant talent, drive and diversity and Scribbles is thrilled to have you amongst its followers.

Check out BR Live with Bobby and Shane by CLICKING HERE.

And here's a small sampling of what you can expect to find when you visit there:

You

Making Graham's Tummy Feel Happy

My nephew Graham had never eaten at A&W before, something we rectified on Wed. night after I had briefly babysat him. Joining Graham and I was his mom Jane and waiting at home for his super deluxe burger, his dad Ken.

Graham was impressed with the large Heinz ketchup dispenser, the big plush A&W bears that were hanging above the ordering counter and most of all the food. He said his tummy felt happy after enjoying his meal.

Seen above, Graham poses with Jane and the A&W bear Uncle Ken bought him. The inset pix of me was taken at the chain's Dunnville location. 

With A&W's popping up all over Niagara these days, we'd say it is a pretty safe bet Graham will get to experience that "happy tummy" feeling again soon.

We were a bit tardy getting our latest Scribbles prize to the lucky winner, but like they say, better late than never.

Tammie Holditch was the winner of December's "Search for Scribbles Snowman" contest and won a "We Love Christmas" CD along with some sweet goodies all wrapped in a cool Christmas container.

After eventually finding a parking spot near her apartment, I popped by with the prizes and to take advantage of the chance to finally meet Tammie and her boyfriend Lee's 8 month old son Aeitch. I can also officially tell you how to pronounce the little tykes name now. Aietch is pronounced "H", exactly like the letter H and it was nice to meet him, even if he wasn't entirely into the idea.

Congrats again Tammie and sorry it took a while to get your prizes to you and Aeitch is cute as a button.