I Saw It On The Radio

Toronto, Canada, June 11, 2007

I'm a shameless fan of the CBC Radio program: O'Reilly And The Age Of Persuasion, so when my brother Mike, invited me to watch a taping of the show at Pirate Radio, I was thrilled. A few weeks ago I was doing some carpentry at Mike's home and I got a chance to see him preparing the script and sound bites for the show. I am in awe of how much care he takes and how much work he does to give the show the extras that put it above and beyond most other shows on the air. And now I have a chance to see the show being made.I show up at the Pirate Studio in downtown Toronto. Terry O'Reilly is one of the six partners of this Advertising agency. It's a very inviting building with a relaxed atmosphere and lots of comfortable chairs and a small cafeteria with many jars of candy on a counter for anyone to sample. I arrange to meet my mom and Mike's wife, Lorrie here at Pirate. As it happens, the three of us meet right outside the building as if on cue. Mike comes out of the sound room to greet us and takes us back to meet Terry and to watch the taping for a while.He gives us a copy of the script so we can follow along. What impresses me the most, is how much care Mike puts into every line that is read. He helps with the tempo and inflection. It's great to finally meet Terry O'Reilly. Terry is a very quiet, self effacing man who has a genuine manner and makes us feel very welcome. The combination of Mike and Terry together brings a fresh, exciting element to the program. The people standing in front of the sound booth, from left to right are: Don Dickenson ( the guy who says "And now... Terry O'Reilly and the Age of Persuasion" in the opening), Terry O'Reilly (former NHL Hockey star and host of the show), Keith Ohman, a.k.a. "The Duke of Decibel", a.k.a. "The Sonic Swede" and Mike Tennant (former bed-wetter).This is the receptionist for Pirate Radio; 'Justice Darragh (There are so many puns here, I won't even start). I have included her here because she's lovely, and I want to. Thanks Mike and Terry for inviting us to see your show in production. They have completed their second season of shows and are now waiting for final approval for the third season which I have no doubt, CBC will give them (if they don't want a full scale riot from the listeners of Canada). Mike and Terry are also negotiating a book deal based on the show. Now that I've had a chance to watch this taping, I can truly say: 'I saw it on the radio'.

My Thai 'Fix'

Toronto, Ontario, Canada, May, 2007
I'm visiting with my dear friend Vivyan for the weekend here in Toronto.

We head out for lunch to her favorite Bistro which happens to be a Thai restaurant. I miss Thailand a lot so I'm excited to go.
When we arrive I feel like a stalker as I hunt for some unsuspecting victim to practice my Thai on. A lovely woman takes us to our table. She doesn't look 'Thai' to me but I give it a shot anyway. "Sawadee krup" I blurt out to her. "Oh nice to meet you" she replies. It turns out Lily is from Northern China; not Thailand. We get talking and find out that she is living with a Chinese family here in Etobicoke (a suburb of Toronto) but is looking for a place of her own, or at least a place to share that would give her more space. Before you know it, Lily and Vivyan are talking about sharing Vivyan's place. Vivyan and I start to feel guilty because Lily stays at our table, talking for twenty minutes even though she's on duty. Finally we order our food. It's very good but I wouldn't call it authentic Thai food. But the best part of our meal is when we are leaving. As we pass the kitchen, I see the twinkle in the eyes of the women preparing the food. There are five of them and I can tell right away they are Thais. "Sawadee krup" I exclaim on my way past. Suddenly I hear a sound that's a cross between a sigh and a shriek. All five women are suddenly talking at once and letting me know they are excited that I speak their language. I'm on a roll now, so I add: "Aroi mak mah krup!" to tell them I thought the food was delicious. Again the shriek and a collective gasp of amazement. "Khapt khun kaw" one of the ladies says (thank you). We're just about out the door but just as we exit I reply: "Mai ben lai krup" (don't mention it). These ladies made my day. I really needed that.

Storm View

One minute it was sunny and warm. The next minute, the clouds had rolled in and the driving rain came. Storm after storm hit Southern Ontario. We had our power knocked out for an hour but it was as if nature was forcing us to pause and enjoy the moment. Mom and I just looked on from the front living room window.
And here's what my sister, Melbah Toasty, was seeing [at her home]; a block away.

Air France Fire

You know how people say: "Where were you when...?" Well, on August 2nd, when the Air France Plane crash-landed in Toronto, I was there. I was getting ready to move my tools and some of my things, to Calgary where I will be doing Carpentry with my buddy Ted, for the next four months.

First let me say in my defense, even though I look fat in this picture, it's not quite so. I hear my friends in Thailand smiling and saying: "four month Stevie...Four month" referring to my state of pregnancy. But the fact is my body is contorted here as I pull 140 pounds of luggage behind me. I thought I was allowed to take two bags weighing up to 70lbs each on the Plane. As it turned out, I could only take 44lbs total. Thanks Vivyan and Dorian for saving my bacon by sending my bag to me by freight.

When I arrived at Pearson International Airport, near Toronto, Ontario, there was an incredible lightening storm. Just after I arrived in the departure lounge I heard an intermittent siren, indicating that the Airport was shut down in a state of code red, meaning that no ground vehicles were allowed on the tarmac. I saw bolts of lightening striking the runway every few seconds for a while. Then there was a driving rain.

Soon after this (around 2pm I think), I saw a crowd forming at the large windows overlooking the runway. I looked out and saw a plume of smoke and a group of emergency vehicles sped down the runway.

My Flight was with 'Sky Service'. The desk agents never said a word to us though. All they said was that the Airport was shut down from the storm. We waited for seven hours for news on whether we would actually be flying that day but all the Sky Service Staff would tell us was that they didn't know anything yet. The truth was that our Plane had been rerouted to another airport hours earlier and our flight had been cancelled all along. Finally at 9pm we were told our flight had been rescheduled for the next day and that we should all go away until 5am the next morning. Passengers started converging on the Flight desk, demanding free accommodation or at least some kind of financial help for their trouble. There were a lot of families with small children and nowhere for them to sleep that night. I actually thought our lounge might turn into a mob scene for a while. Finally, around 10pm, people started to calm down and I left the airport to spend the night with Vivyan and Dorian, nearby in Etobicoke.

As I was waiting for my bus, I met Joseph, who had just got off his shift as a security guard in the Arrivals lounge. He was on duty when the Air France Plane skidded off the runway. He told me he didn't actually see the plane but he saw many of the people who were waiting for friends and relatives from that flight. He told me: "people were freaking out when they saw the smoke. They thought everyone had died." Joseph and I talked about what a miracle it was that all the passengers actually survived such a terrible fire.

Here is what the Air France Plane looked like by the time the fire was put out. I do find it amazing that no one died.

The following day when I arrived at the Airport, there was a voucher for each passenger worth seventy-five dollars towards a future flight. Our flight did leave on time, at 7am, Wednesday morning. This is the view I had of the City Centre of Calgary as I arrived four hours later.