ENCORE EASTER PHOTOS...featuring Scribbles Friends

 

PETS | Forget Cake, Give This Birthday Girl a "Blankie" to Chew On

Our friends Shelley & her friend Reese at Reese's graduation from Guided Eyes For The Blind Inc. taken approx. 6 years ago.

Show Me the Money!

Visit GIANT FM'S official website and listen online > click here

Visit GIANT FM's Facebook page > click here

Rolling Stones, Underwood & Urban??

Based upon the framed prints behind me in the photo above, you might wonder exactly what type of music GIANT FM plays. After all, the prints are of Keith Urban, the infamous Rolling Stones tongue & lips and Carrie Underwood. That's quite diverse.  

Actually, the location of GIANT FM is also where Country 89 airs from. So you have classic rock on GIANT FM and today's country on Country 89.  Thus explaining the mixed bag of prints above the reception desk. 

TV | Everything Old is New Again

REBOOT CASTS OF 'WILL & GRACE' 'ROSEANNE' & 'MURPHY BROWN'

It started with the return of 'Will & Grace'. The original order was for 12 episodes. After the first episodes hit the airwaves, 12 episodes became 16.  Ratings soared (it became NBC's top comedy) and a second season of 16 episodes were ordered.

Last week, NBC announced they've given the go ahead for a third season of 'Will & Grace'. The reboot of  'Will & Grace' is a massive hit.

Shortly after they announced the return of 'Will & Grace', ABC made a big announcement of their own. After 20 years off the air, the network was bringing 'Roseanne' back for 9 episodes. It launched Mar. 27th and scored big in the ratings, with over 18 million American households tuning in.

THE ORIGINAL 'CAGNEY & LACEY' & 'MAGNUM P.I.'

Many longtime 'Roseanne' fans were upset when it was announced that - just as she had done in real life - Roseanne's TV character voted for Trump. In the first episode of the reboot, it is revealed that her sister Jackie was a Hillary supporter and she has not talked to Roseanne since the election.

The exchange between the sisters as they took jabs at each other over Trump & Clinton was balanced and kept to a minimum.

It's been 20 years since we last saw the Conner family, so things have changed a bit. Roseanne and Dan are grandparents to grown kids. Darlene has a daughter named Hannah - who looks a lot like Sara Gilbert when he was a teen. Her 9 year old son Mark likes to wear "girls" clothes, which lends itself to more humour and acceptance.  Roseanne's son Deejay is married to the black girl he didn't want to kiss in a school play back in the 80's and they have a young daughter.

Will 'Roseanne's' 9 episodes be extended?  I'm guessing with those kind of ratings, the answer is yea but  we will have to wait and see.

Meanwhile in the works, the original cast of 'Murphy Brown' has agreed to return for a reboot of that series, which aired on CBS.

And it's not just sitcoms who are coming back. Remakes of 'Magnum P.I.' and 'Cagney & Lacey' are also in the works.

It is indeed the era of TV reboots.

NEWS | A Global Show of Unity for Gun Control

VISIT 'MARCH FOR OUR LIVES' OFFICIAL WEBSITE HERE

REVIEW | 'Marlon Bundo' Leaps to the Top of the Charts

Today I purchased the audiobook 'A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo' and immediately fell in love with it.

For those who may not have heard of him, the "real" Marlon Bundo is a pet bunny that lives with U.S. Vice President Mike Pence and his family. Pence's daughter Charlotte penned a book titled 'Marlon Bundo’s Day in the Life of the Vice President' with proceeds from sales of the book going to Tracy’s Kids and A21.

Here's where things really getting, ahem, "hopping".

Comedian John Oliver, host of HBO's 'Last Week Tonight' and his team, came out with another book about the infamous rabbit, titled 'A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo'. In this story (written by Marlon Bundo himself with help from Jill Twiss), Marlon falls in love with another male bunny - a move that takes aim at Mike Pence's well-documented homophobia.

The audio book features the voices of Jim Parsons (best know as Sheldon from 'The Big Bang Theory') as Marlon and Jesse Tyler Ferguson (who plays Mitchell on 'Modern Family') as Marlon's boyfriend Wesley. Also lending their voices as the bunnies garden friends are Jeff Garlin, Ellie Kemper, John Lithgow, Jack McBrayer and Rupaul.

Proceeds from sales of 'A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo' will help LGBTQ organizations The Trevor Project and AIDS United.

'A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo' sold 180,000 copies in two days and shot to the top of the Amazon charts, quickly outselling the Pence version of the bunny's adventures.

Although dubbed by some to be a controversial parody, make no mistake 'A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo' is an enchanting children's book with a very valuable lesson.

Both bunny books are raising money for worthy causes and although her parent's feet may be thumping, Charlotte Pence says she is flattered by John Oliver's Marlon Bundo book, telling CNN she purchased a copy.

The audiobook is available for only $1.95 and a second run of the print edition is currently underway.

IN MEMORIAM | Dakota

“Dogs leave paw-prints on our hearts” 

– Author Unknown

Remembering Our Friend Paula....10 Years Later

I'm building my own little library,

embedded in my heart,

for all the moments spent with you,

before you had to part.

I can open it up whenever I like,

pick a moment and watch it through,

My little library acts as a promise,

I'll never ever forget you

© Sarah Blackstone

SCRIBBLES VIDEO | Having a Blast!

This isn't a typical recap of a member of my family's birthday celebration. Those Scribbles videos are usually 2 or 3 minutes long, feature photos & video clips and generally include the singing of the renown "Happy Birthday to You" song. 

Although this video does begin with that traditional birthday fun, it's what follows those first few minutes, that makes this 17 minute video unique.

Each year I come up with a theme or gimmick for my mom's birthday and this year it was a very special game called Birthday Blast. Those who attended the party at my place on Feb. 11th had a chance to win over $50 in prizes, by playing Birthday Blast and now all of YOU get a chance to play along.

Everything will be explained in detail throughout the video, but if you do plan on playing Birthday Blast. you'll need a piece of paper and something to write with.

Asking you to sit through 17 minutes of birthday stuff may be a bit much for some of you, but compared to the insurmountable amount of time it took to put this puppy together, perhaps it's really not that unreasonable of a request.

Have fun....Opps! I mean, have a Blast.

YOU'LL NEED  PAPER & A PEN TO PLAY ALONG 


Inspired by a Whammy!

In the Birthday Blast game, contestants were asked to select from 3 clips in hopes of revealing prizes, and not every clip was a winner. Some clips contained "No Prize" but instead of simply stating that, I came up with brief clips of me as different characters who let players know their "prizeless" status. 

The idea for this silliness came from the classic game show, Press Your Luck.  On that show contestants earned spins on a giant electronic prize board. Various dollar amounts and prizes randomly lit up on the big board and players would hit a button to stop on one of the prizes. Often players would rack up several thousand dollars in mere minutes. 

But there was a catch. Some of the game board squares featured characters called whammies. If a contestant landed on a whammy, they lost all their prizes and an animated whammy would appear on screen, creatively robbing the player of their money.  

It was those damn little whammies that inspired me to get into character to cleverly let players know there'd be no prizes that time around. 

SCRIBBLES VIDEO | The Case of the Succulent Succulents

As an adjective, the word succulent is often used to describe food and means juicy, moist, tasty or luscious. When used as a noun, succulent refers to a type of plant (similar to a cactus.)

At my sister Kim's recent birthday party held at our mom's place, the astonishing birthday cake - created by Kim's talented daughter Erin - was both succulent and, well... succulent.  It was definitely delicious and it was also decorated with edible succulent plants, flowers and even rocks (which were candy-coated pieces of chocolate.)

Naturally, Kim was the star of the day, but that stunning cake was definitely a close second. Here's a peek at both...

If you read the credits at the end of this video, you will notice that the music used in this clip ('Funk Me') was created by me!! This is the second instrumental tune I have put together (with help from an app called Garage Band) for use on a Scribbles video.  

Recently, You Tube blocked a Scribbles video because it featured a portion of a strictly copyrighted song. Usually artists allow you to use their music with the stipulation that ads could appear on your video. But in this case it was a resounding "No" and the video was blocked, meaning no one would be able to view it. 

Creating original musical pieces will definitely ensure THAT doesn't happen again. 

ME | Going On-Air on GIANT FM for a Classic Clips Challenge

Did you hear me on the radio Wed. Mar. 14 around 1:25 pm?

I was on classic rock station 91.7 GIANT FM. 

GIANT FM is currently running a contest called Classic Clips Challenge. Unlike most contests, this time it's the station that calls the listener at set times throughout the day.

To enter the contest (like I had) you gave them your name and number and which time slot and day you would like them to call you.

You get $91 just for answering the phone! Then they play 3 clips from classic rock songs. If you can tell them the 3 artists that sang those songs, you're entered in a draw to win a truck.

I like listening to DJ Kristy Knight (or "KK" as she goes by) between 9 am and 2 pm. They play the contest at 1:15, so when I entered I said Wednesdays at 1:15 would be a good time to call me.

And Wednesday shortly after 1:15 pm, that's exactly what she did!

My caller I.D. didn't have a name but under the phone number it said Welland, ON, which is where the station is located. There was little doubt, it was KK calling and I answered the phone.

We talked a few seconds before going on air, then we went live. KK said my name and we exchanged a little banter. She mentioned that won $91, "just in time for St. Patrick's Day".

Then they played the 3 song clips. I knew who sang the first and third songs, but drew a blank on the second song, so (sigh) my name didn't get entered for the truck.

But I had 91 more dollars than I had a few minutes ago and all I had to do was talk on the phone for a few minutes and I got to be on the radio with one of my favourite DJ's.

It was a pretty awesome experience. 

ART |

REMINDER!

PETS | This Little Piggy....

In this summer 2015 flashback, Murphy, the Portuguese Water dog, hangs out with the girls for a mani-pedi. LOL

The photo was taken by our friend Renee whose twin nieces were enjoying some time on Renee and her husband's pontoon boat.

Murphy may not have gone for any colour on her nails, but her teamwork with the others as she joins in the circle really made the grade.

Let It Snow, Man!

Always Remembered

It's hard to believe 7 years have gone by since young Ricky Holditch left us. His sister Tammie posted a touching tribute to her brother on Feb. 28th (the official "7 years date")  It was very well-written and spoke of how time hasn't changed the pain she still feels and that there's not a day that goes by where she doesn't think of him.

Scribbles created the Ricky 4Ever page in 2011.  As long as there's a Scribbles, there will always be a memorial page for this amazing guy who was taken far too soon.

VISIT RICKY 4EVER PAGE - CLICK HERE