PETS | A Real Ear for Music

REVIEW | Legends of Motown

In February, when reviewing Classic Albums Live’s presentation of Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours album, I mentioned that although the music was great, the performers fell flat when it came to interacting with the audience. The same cannot be said for the Legends of Motown show, which rolled into the First Ontario Performing Arts Centre on March 25th.

Legends of Motown is a 14 piece ensemble of singers and musicians who pay tribute to The Supremes, The Four Tops, The Temptations, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, Martha and the Vandellas, The Jackson 5 and more. The capacity crowd were encouraged to dance, sing, clap along to the music and were even given a lesson in how to do the infamous “stop” hand gestures for The Supremes mega-hit ‘Stop in the Name of Love’. The members in Legends of Motown definitely know how to make concert-goers feel like they’re part of the act and that endearing quality was well received.

The group was described in their ads as performing “look-a-like/sound-a-like” tributes. Although everyone was vocally pitch perfect, referring to the acts as looking exactly like the original artists was a bit of a stretch. Often a change of the colourful shiny sports jackets worn by the male performers and the glittery flowing gowns worn by the female members, was all that differentiated them, when they would return to the stage as another famous Motown group...with one major exception. When the guys took to the stage as The Jackson 5, they donned large afro wigs, funky shirts and groovy bell bottom pants.

Before performing their final number, the group expressed their condolences to the St. Catharines community, dedicating the show to 7 year old murder victim Nathan Dumas, a moving gesture that touched everyone in the room. After the show, the group gathered in the main lobby for a meet and greet, a nice personal touch.

I was joined by my usual partner in crime, Shelley Stewart. This was our fifth outing together at the Performing Arts Centre and the fifth time we enjoyed a delicious pre-show dinner at Gord’s Place (my kingdom for the recipe of those tasty dry Cajun chicken bites...my favourite menu item.)

Whether they looked like the real deal or not, Legends of Motown delivered a well choreographed show, packed with timeless hits that were truly crowd pleasing. An act definitely worth seeing again.

CHECK OUT THE LEGENDS OF MOTOWN'S OFFICIAL WEBSITE HERE

YOU | Spending Quality Time with Her New Friends

IN HER OWN WORDS:

Jody Shares the Story of Nicholas

"In my pics and videos of Nicholas u can see white scars on his back from 2nd n 3rd degree sun burns.. dolphins stay with their mom for 3-6 yrs to learn how to survive..the babies do everything their Mom does.. dolphins also strand themselves when too weak to swim due to illness or injury. 

Nicholas's Mom stranded herself due to pneumonia n of course Nicholas had to follow.. they were beached for a long time causing the burns.. (the water acts as a natural sun screen).. when rescued his Mom passed away 2 days later leaving Nicholas an orphan and not able to survive in the wild being only 6 months old.

It took 9 months of rehab to recover.. this was just over 14 yrs ago..today..he's a smart, funny, healthy happy boy who turns 15 in June. I've learned so much about them.. they are even smarter than anyone could imagine."

SCRIBBLES VIDEO  |  Jody, Nicholas & Clearwater Friends

Beautiful Nick
FROM CLEARWATER MARINE AQUARIUM: 
A beautiful shot of Nicholas from his underwater viewing window. Did you know that you can see Nick's underwater windows during our Behind the Scenes tour? Check it out: http://bit.ly/2nwSX2M

"Adopt" Cooper
FROM CLEARWATER MARINE AQUARIUM: 

"We would accept Cooper’s rose any day of the week! Did you know that you can symbolically adopt this dapper fellow? Learn more on our adoption programs here: http://bit.ly/AdoptCMA  "

The movies Dolphin Tale and Dolphin Tale 2 are based upon the true story of rescued dolphins Winter & Hope. Ricky (above) starred in the movies which were filmed at Clearwater Marine Aquarium.  READ MORE ABOUT THE DOLPHIN TALE MOVIES HERE

FROM CLEARWATER MARINE AQUARIUM: 
VIDEO  |  Turtle Returns to Clearwater Marine Aquarium

"There are many rescue turtles..they've rescued and released 

over 100 sea turtles (endangered) in a year..amazing."

- Jody Edwards

Read what Clearwater Marine Aquarium is all about and how you can help:  CLICK HERE 

RECIPE | Nothing Beats Homemade Soup...Especially My Mom's!

AND HERE IT IS!
My mom's recipe for making homemade soup...

METHOD:

- Simmer the strained stock* slowly for about half an hour. 

-Add the following vegetables chopped carrots, one small potato, celery and one small onion (optional).
-Add chopped roast beef pieces (or other meat, or no meat if you prefer)

-Season stock with Mrs. Dash, seasoning salt and ground pepper. 

-Simmer this mixture slowly for about an hour, stirring often. 

-Add pasta about an hour before the recipe is finished, stirring often. 

-Add tomatoes juice, or V8 juice and simmer for another hour, stirring often. 

-Be careful not to add too much pasta, as this will make soup too thick.

* KEN ADDS THIS INFO.....HOW TO MAKE SOUP STOCK:

There are various methods of creating a fantastic soup stock. You could use the carcass and bones from chicken, turkey or beef. You could also buy "soup bones" from many grocery stores. 

The longer you can let the base simmer, the better it will be. I add celery, carrots and seasoning salt to the water and bones, put in a crock pot and let simmer on low for 4-6 hours. 

Then I strain the liquid into another large pot. If there is meat on the bones and/or carcass, I pick it off to add to my soup (or sometimes I have already cubed up small pieces of chicken, turkey or beef prior to starting the soup base, and I add this to my soup around same time as pasta.) 

As the carrots and celery used to make your soup base will have been simmered away to mush, I always toss these out.  You can add fresh veggies to the completed base as outlined in my mom's recipe. 

You can also use pre-packaged soup stock from your grocers or use just carrots, celery, onion and other favourites if you want a soup that has no meat in it at all.  (Season to taste and let simmer as long as possible before straining and adding other ingredients.)

YOU | Kim's Birthday

YOU | More March Madness :)

YOU | A Little More Green

YOU | The Power of Colour

VIDEO | Father's Touching Speech

YOU & ME | Here Kitty, Kitty

I enjoyed my visit with my nephew, who had a sleepover at Uncle Ken's St Patrick's Day night (?? that just does not sound correct, but you get what I mean.)  

Here we are petting the very friendly feral cat that hangs out around my place. My neighbours feed her and made her a shelter for winter, so her basic needs are being well taken care of. She is so affectionate. I have tried bringing her indoors, she will come in, but as soon as I close the door, she freaks out. Once a feral, always a feral.

More about my nephew and his latest hobby, coming soon. 

YOU | Ride On Rocky!

THIS POST APPEARED IN SCRIBBLES MAY 2015. WE'RE NOT SURE IF ROCKY RACCOON MADE ANY RETURN VISITS SINCE THIS INCIDENT. FOR ROCKY'S SAKE I HOPE NOT. 

As featured on  Central Stone of Douglas Ltd Facebook page....

"This little fella named "Rocky" started out in the yard at Central Stone .... He thought he would hitch a ride to White Lake, where [Central Stone proprietor] Ernie Dick was going to finish a job.

[Rocky] started out in the back of the trailer and would stick his head out, like a dog, with the wind blowing his fur.

He managed to make his way [up front] to the cab of the truck, [then] he slid down the windshield and rested against the bug guard when the truck came to a stop. He stayed there for 15 min., with his ears pinned back. He was not a happy camper. He finally decided to jump down. 

Hope you are enjoying your new home in White Lake, Rocky."

Visit Central Stone of Douglas Ltd's facebook page, CLICK HERE

IN MEMORIAM | Princess

YOU | Self Taught

THIS EPIC SMILE-INDUCING PIX FIRST DEBUTED ON SCRIBBLES JUNE 2015.

YOU | Stop! Drop! And Roll!

|  LEFT: Kerri gets a lift from 4 of the firefighters.  |  RIGHT: Calendar opened to month of May  |  Mr. May's t-shirt  |  Kerri and friend enjoying the view.

WE GO BACK TO OCT. 2014 FOR THIS BURNING HOT TIME WARP ENCORE....

The Niagara Falls firefighters weren't the only one's showing off their hot bods at "Set the Night on Fire" Alzheimer's fundraiser event on Oct. 23rd 2014.

Attending the show with friends was our pal Kerri Thomson Fortier. Kerri has shed some extra weight and looks amazing (not that she looked bad before, but she also seems much happier now, so it really is a win-win all around.

In an exclusive report, Kerri told Scribbles, "We had awesome seats but the way they had the light on the stage made the pics horrible. So sad."  This hampered Kerri's ability to take decent pix and video clips, but it certainly didn't stop her from having fun.

Kerri was burning up for "Mr. May".

"When Mr. May came out he was HOT" gushed Kerri, "...He had on a white shirt and as he was taking it off his eyes set on me....he came right to the edge of the stage and made eye contact and threw his shirt directly to me."  

Kerri got to keep the t-shirt.

Our friend tells us, "The show was funny and entertaining especially considering these guys are not professionals...as in professional entertainers...they are professional firefighers and if I was ever in a fire I would love for any one of them or all of them to come to my rescue."

After seeing some of the pix and video clips, I have to say I agree with you on that one Kerri. I have to agree indeed.

INSPIRING |

PETS | Artsy Preston

THIS CLASSIC APPEARED ON SCRIBBLES JULY 2013

Our pal Becky Lee took a break from prepping the modern new family cottage in Pappineau Lake to capture this perfect pix of her dog Preston.

Becky used her groovy new camera to give the photo a pencil sketch look and I was admiring it fondly until Ms. Lee made reference to someone who does these types of drawings for real.

Grace, don't you know... sometimes it's better to let sleeping dogs lay?  LOL

Great pix -frame it and I'll put it on ebay for you.  :)

[Hey Grace, it's been 3 1/2  years but I remember the joke behind the drawing comment you made. So THAT'S how long it's been since I saw that person. WOW, time flies when you're having fun.  LOL]

RECIPE | Jello Slices

Courtesy: Huntington Long Island NY

Cut oranges in 1/2 and hollow out (don't want any pulp left at all. Get it all the way to the white-ish part)

Set hollowed orange halves, open side up, in something secure so they don't move around when the jello is in them (I used muffin pans; easy transportation, great to keep them where you want 'em =D)

Prepare jello with 1/3 less water needed for recipe. Pour into o...range halves

Set in fridge and chill completely

Take out of fridge, flip over onto cutting board (open side down so it's flat on the surface). Cut into slices, either halves again (1/4 of the whole) or into 3 slices. Make sure to use a really good serrated knife, and don't be really forceful with them, it's jello after all! =)

And voila! You have jello orange slices!

CLASSIC SCRIBBLES VIDEO | Timmi Swims

YOU | Sun & Fun in Trinidad

Remembering Paula...9 Years Later

When I went on Facebook and saw the message and accompanying photo featured below, it took my breath away. I cannot believe our friend Paula Charles MacArthur, who was only 33, has now been gone 9 years. 

I remember when we worked together at Troll Book Clubs. I was her "Kenny Boy" and she was my "Paula Girl". Even on the worst of days, Paula had a way of making things bearable. And when it came to a sense of humour, well, Paula Girl wrote the book.  

We shared so many laughs....those zany mobile book sales, her surprise baby shower and many "girl's night out's"...which naturally included me. 

Below, Paula's mom Maria Charles reflects upon all the things that have happened in the past 9 years. She gave me permission to repost it here, for our Scribbles friends who knew Paula and aren't on Facebook (yes, there are still people who are not.)  

Thank you for letting me share your words Maria. Paula was an amazing girl, who lived her short life to its fullest and who we will never forget. 

MESSAGE WRITTEN BY PAULA'S MOM MARIA...

[March 16, 2017] marks the 9th anniversary of our Paula leaving us.

I am sitting here thinking of all the things we have missed out sharing together. Like her two beautiful children Marissa and Dylan all grown up now. She would be so proud of them. Marissa is 19 now and Dylan will be 17 in May.

Her beautiful nieces Kelsey and Victoria becoming mums last year. Kelsey and Tom's little one Finley, and Victoria's little one Bodhi. Oh how she would love them. And Kelsey's upcoming marriage.

Her beautiful sister Samantha having gone through cancer, like she did, but Samantha not having her little sister there with her, 

Her little brother Roger having Abigail and Liam, with Lauren and Kaitlyn making a beautiful family.

Oh how I miss her coming through the front door calling out to me, or stopping me as I walk down the street to stop in for a tea. She lived 4 doors down.

We all miss her so much, her antics of bringing the hose into the house and spraying everyone, or cake fights. Her strength for everything she went through with the cancer. Always being strong for her children right up to the end.

[March 16] also marks our Victoria's 18th Birthday. So it is a bitter sweet day.

I remember the night before Paula asking me to bring bread and gravy from the roast beef as she was in the hospital. But we got a call that day, so we didn't get to celebrate our Victoria's birthday, or our Paula getting her bread and gravy, as she passed that night.

We miss you so much my darling. Love you always our angel up in heaven xoxo

NEW SCRIBBLES VIDEO | Going Green in the Valley

Even if we actually aren't, we're all welcome to feel a wee bit Irish on St. Patrick's Day. One place where that really holds true is the town of Douglas, Ontario, located in the Ottawa Valley. The entire town goes all out for St. Patrick's celebrations and residents decorate their homes, much like we would do for Christmas or Halloween.

I had the pleasure of partying on St. Patrick's Day at the Douglas Hotel many moons ago. It was a fond memory that always brings a big grin to my face...these folks really know how to have a good time, even if some of their sing along tunes are a bit queer.  LOL!

A major part of the Douglas festivities, is their St. Patrick's Day parade. This year, in honour of Canada's 150th birthday, the parade was slated to include 150 floats.  Although the frigid temperatures caused a few last minute drop outs, the parade was still a roaring success. 

I have cousins who live in Douglas and nearby town Renfrew (where I was born.) They participate in the annual parade each year. Here's a short video of them enjoying this year's big gala.

This one and half minute brief video took over three and a half hours to complete... What can I say, I'm very picky about trying to get these clips "just right" ENJOY! 

VIDEO | Bet You Didn't Know...Facts About St. Patrick's Day

PETS | He's a Big Boy Now

KIDS | Three Amigos Celebrate Three Years Together

YOU | Going Ape Sh!t

YOU | Making A Lot of Wishes

JOE FRIDAY |

YOU | A Golden Jump

INSPIRING |