I'm baaaack.  Lots of life got in the way there for a while.  I'm going to try answering an email again, although I do believe that cutting and pasting some html-tagged email before was what caused some kind of clog in my blog.

Andrew wrote to me and asked:

"I have a ...<< MORE >>

for some inexplicable reason, I can't load my blog.  I can get into the back end and create this post, for example, and a call to tech support reveals that my service provider can load no problem.

In any case...apologies for all the silence from my end...trying to figure this out...
...<< MORE >>

Peter wrote to me: "

i was woundering who came up with
the idea 
of the triger phrase for the slime i dont know.  the 2nd thing i was 
woundering what the slime taste like

-salty
-many different recipes
-early years, pretty sure the props guys were doing creepy stuff like spitting in it
-later ...<< MORE >>
    	

I only post this (likely too long) tome on hair, since Shane asked in a recent comment about the punk look.  Let me explain.  At some point in the 1980's, we had the chance to produce a pilot for Disney, called Bear Rapids.  Roger Price wanted me to look different, ...<< MORE >>

I took this shot during the summer of 1985 production schedule; this is classic Les, doing his announcer bits with an unlit cigar in his mouth, and deely boppers on his head:



He's marking up his script, underlining the words he wanted to emphasize.  A real pro!
...<< MORE >>

When I was 9 we moved to Ottawa, Ontario.  We moved in December, and driving North East on highway 7 was like a scene from Kamouraska; snow, woods, snow.  For a kid from Toronto, it was a little alarming.  At that age I was NOT pleased about moving (I am convinced that there are life changes at age 9 that rival those of the teenage years, and even menopause.  I think there is an exit from childhood that is really tough.  Carole Hay once said to me that "nine is the saddest age") and I wasn't keen on making friends.

The funny thing is, when I started at my new school, everyone thought I was this other kid's sister.  This other kid was named Danny Burns, and he was this short, freckled, Irish-looking kid who everyine assumed I was related to.  I was also short, freckled, and Irish looking, believe it or not, so of course we became friends.  We carried this ruse that he was my brother all the way into high school. 

Sometime in grade 6, Danny Burns started calling me "Moose", based on the fact that I was always the smallest kid in the class.  I think he may have been referring to the character in the Archie comics, the giant blonde one, called Moose.  I think I revealed this in a moment of stupid candour to Roger Price, and after gleefully rubbing his hands and likely compulsively combing his hair, he decided to make it part of the show. 

The details are hazy, but I can tell you that in 1984, I travelled to Vancouver, BC, and purchased my second motorcycle.  This was a big deal; I bought it new, at a dealership under the big bridge that went between Vancouver proper and Kitsilano.  I was in Vancouver visiting ...<< MORE >>

Questions were raised in another thread by Ashaki on the nature of my relationship with Kevin Somers.  So here's the scoop, and sorry to say, no good dirt.   This might be a little known fact, but Kevin and I both got "recruited" for YCDTOTV from the same middle school, and were 2 of only a few people who ended up in the same East end, Ottawa high school after that.  Kevin lived on the same street as my best friend, and the irony of all of this is that I completely lost touch with Kevin for a long time there, and I figured he was off living in some exotic locale, like Australia or Alaska.  Turns out Kevin lives not too far from where I do, in Canadian geographic terms, and he is doing some really interesting things these days. (another irony: both he and Ashaki are writers)

I didn't take this photo: I am 99% sure that it was taken by the lovely Carole Hay, our drama teacher.  Kevin is in his show 2 clothes, I must have been shooting for show 3.  I don't know if these shows ever made it on to Nickelodeon; these were the very first, live programs we made, when YCDTOTV was a local Ottawa show.


So where is he now?  Well, as I mentioned, Kevin is a writer.  When we first reconnected, Kevin was (and still is, I think) writing for Women's Post.  Just before Christmas this year, he dropped by my office with a copy of his latest book, I'm Gretzky, which I promptly read and found hilarious, if not a little dark.  And he also writes for Raize the Hammer, and recently mentioned YCDTOTV in an article.

Kevin has also offered to post here: Lemme know what you think!!

This past weekend I attended a children's film festival, and saw 3 films.  2 were from Germany, 1 from Denmark.  I go every year with my kids, it is a fantastic opportunity to see really good foreign films and it's quite cool: they have a reader who reads the subtitles so even little kids who can't read can enjoy the movies.

What really struck me was how un-Disney these films were.  The kids were not well dressed, they had messy hair, and their houses were small and often messy.  Their families were decidedly imperfect: dads were unemployed, parents were divorced ...<< MORE >>

Talk about short-sighted.  I recall very clearly (which is a bit of a miracle, since I am painfully aware that most of those reading this blog recall waaaaay more than I do about episodes, plotlines, cast...) when we found out that YCDTOTV was sold to an American "cable" channel.  It was so disappointing!!  We were all like "what is this fly-by-night, CABLE thing"??  It didn't seem like real TV.  We were convinced that channels above 13 would never fly.

This is incredibly embarassing, now.  It's funny, too-I recall being far more impressed when Whatever Turns You On was picked up by ...<< MORE >>