Monday, February 27, 2012

The Stuph File Program - Episode #0132

Welcome to the latest edition of the Stuph File Program.

For a program list of the items included and all their accompanying links in this one hour show, you can find the information on my website in the Stuph File Program section, or just follow this link to #0132.





To download the podcast, right click here and select "Save Link As"

Featured in this episode:

Click logo for iTunes podcast subscription If you have any comments or suggestions, or items for the mailbag, feel free to click on the "Comments" link below to add your thoughts.

Monday, February 20, 2012

The Stuph File Program - Episode #0131

Welcome to the latest edition of the Stuph File Program.

For a program list of the items included and all their accompanying links in this one hour show, you can find the information on my website in the Stuph File Program section, or just follow this link to #0131.





To download the podcast, right click here and select "Save Link As"

Featured in this episode:

  • Darren Kavinoky, lawyer & host, Deadly Sins
  • Rob Sacchetto, artist, Zombie Portraits
  • Stuart Nulman, Book Banter
Click logo for iTunes podcast subscription If you have any comments or suggestions, or items for the mailbag, feel free to click on the "Comments" link below to add your thoughts.

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Weeding Out The Baby Boomers

It’s been 65 years since the first of our lot came screaming into the world; a generation of kids who by sheer numbers alone were destined to change the human psyche forever. And during that time society, with quite a bit of help from Boomers themselves, has worked hard to eradicate us from the planet.

We are the offspring of what has been called the greatest generation. It only stands to reason that a group of people who could survive childhood through The Great Depression, only to then be immersed in the second world conflict in less than 25 years, also possessed bullet-proof eggs and sperm of steel. When World War II was finally over, that group pumped us out like rabbits on speed.

Just to give you an idea of the numbers, Boomers are considered to be those born between 1946 and 1964. During that 19 year time frame in the United States alone 79 million took their first breath. By contrast, the following 19 years in the U.S., which had a much larger population, only saw 66 million births.

There is something to be said for strength in numbers, because as I’ve already stated, society as a whole has done everything it can to kill us off. Look at the facts, Boomers. You can probably sit and think of the kinds of things you did, legally or otherwise, that you wouldn’t let your own child do on a dare.

Let’s start with the toys we grew up with. Games like jacks which involved a small rubber ball and several metal objects bearing six tips at right angles. Surely this was designed to get rid of some of us just by swallowing.

Then there was the Slinky. This was a metal helical spring that was most fun when playing on the stairs! If you sent a kid out to play on a staircase today, someone would be calling child services!

Another toy manufacturer thought they could cull our numbers by coming out with lawn darts. They assumed that if they had “lawn” in the name then that’s the only thing these spears would plunge into.

One of my favourite toys was a spy gun set called Secret Sam. This was a gun that could shoot hard plastic bullets from inside a briefcase. I shudder to think how many eyes were lost with this item that adults gladly put under the tree for us at Christmas. The only thing our parents seem to fear back then was us running with scissors.

Our collective Moms and Dads readily smoked and drank around us. In the car they allowed us to not only sit unencumbered by safety restraints, but even stand on the back seat while the vehicle was in motion at high speeds. Today it’s against the law to have a child who is less secure in a car seat than John Glenn was on that maiden voyage into space aboard Mercury’s Friendship 7.

And what about the things we’ve done to ourselves. Our fathers jumped out of airplanes to secure democracy and eradicate tyranny in Europe. We jump out of planes for fun. We also jump off of bridges with giant elastic bands around our ankles for the shear thrill of it.

We’ve created the term “recreational pharmaceuticals” and navigated through the sexual revolution which gave us a host of diseases like Herpes, which became the early warning device, like a trailer to a bad movie, for AIDS.

And yet, we’re all still here! Oh sure, we’ve lost a few of the slowest gazelles in the herd, but in the grand scheme of things that number is just a blip. And as Boomers head into their so-called Golden Years, they are feistier than ever, refusing to step aside for the next generation.

Boomers have long been called “the pig in the python” – that giant, undigested bulge that slowly travels down a snakes body. Everything else at both ends doesn’t get the attention it deserves because all focus is on that bulge.

The generations that follow behind us have been waiting somewhat patiently for us to go our merry way, but as you can see, that just isn’t our plan. We’re like a human generation of cockroaches and we’re having way too much fun on this almost invincible ride. So Generation X, Y, Y-not and Z, you all just have to wait your turn. It’s going to be a while still.

That’s the Stuph – the way I see it.

Monday, February 13, 2012

The Stuph File Program - Episode #0130

Welcome to the latest edition of the Stuph File Program.

For a program list of the items included and all their accompanying links in this one hour show, you can find the information on my website in the Stuph File Program section, or just follow this link to #0130.





To download the podcast, right click here and select "Save Link As"

Featured in this episode:

Click logo for iTunes podcast subscription If you have any comments or suggestions, or items for the mailbag, feel free to click on the "Comments" link below to add your thoughts.

Monday, February 6, 2012

The Stuph File Program - Episode #0129

Welcome to the latest edition of the Stuph File Program.

For a program list of the items included and all their accompanying links in this one hour show, you can find the information on my website in the Stuph File Program section, or just follow this link to #0129.





To download the podcast, right click here and select "Save Link As"

Featured in this episode:

Click logo for iTunes podcast subscription If you have any comments or suggestions, or items for the mailbag, feel free to click on the "Comments" link below to add your thoughts.

Thursday, February 2, 2012

Weather Weenies

As you know, I’m a person who actually makes a living talking and/or writing. As a broadcaster and television anchor, it has been my lot in life to bring you news and information of various degrees of seriousness and importance.

You would think that by now I would have mastered the art of small talk. For the most part, I have, however I lack the patience to discuss what is probably the most talked about topic of conversation on the planet – the weather.

It really doesn’t matter what time of the year it is. Each and every day there will be someone who will start a conversation (and often they are complete strangers) with “hot enough/cold enough/dry enough/wet enough for you?”

Now, to be clear, it’s not that I’m anti-social (although I can be aloof at times); it’s that when most people talk about the weather, they do it from a negative point of view. Frankly, I don’t really care about anyone’s negative views of our meteorological condition. That’s because there is nothing anyone can possibly do about it.

I can categorically state for a fact that, with the exception of my 13th birthday when plans went awry because of climate, I have never complained about the weather. I just simply deal with it. I look at the positive side of things (yes, I’ve matured since I was 13). We live on a planet that has an atmosphere. To our knowledge this is the only heavenly orb that can sustain life as we know it. Shouldn’t that be enough to satisfy us?

And let me pick a bone with my TV anchor brethren. In the world of small talk, weather chatter is usually the segue that gets the discussion turned toward the upcoming forecast. It’s like fingernails on a chalkboard for me when I hear what I like to call “anchor weather whining.” Because for every person in the audience who might not like the current climatic condition, there is always someone else who does. Too much snow for you? Well the skiers would like it. Too much rain for you? Well the farmers might like that. Too hot for you? There are some who like a heatwave. Too cold for you? Dress accordingly!

Some of the people who complain about weather the most say things like “I just can’t stand the idea of going through another winter.” Well unless you have a restraining order from the rest of the planet, there are other places you can choose to live. That’s why I can’t deal with the weather whiners – you can’t change the weather, but you can live somewhere else, so what are you really complaining about?

Here in Montreal, Canada I graciously accept all four seasons. I’m never in a hurry to leave any of them because time is fleeting anyway. But I’m reminded at this time of the year of people’s desire to want to get through climates quickly. We even forgo the accumulated knowledge of meteorological science to put our faith in rodents, just to grasp at the possibility that our weather will change faster.

Each February 2nd we have Groundhog Day. In the U.S. they deal with Punxsutawney Phil in Pennsylvania. Here in Canada with have at least three famous furry prognosticators; Wiarton Willie in Ontario, Balzac Billy in Alberta and Shubenacadie Sam in Nova Scotia, all in our haste to shoo winter away.

I’m in no hurry to see summer. And when summer comes I’m in no hurry to see winter. I just simply enjoy each day for what it is. Another opportunity to be above ground and experience the wonders of what our climate has to offer.

That’s the Stuph – the way I see it.