Three Books for the Holidays; and a look ahead

I spent more than a few years without a close family situation; so I well remember what it was like during the holidays in the 80's and 90's when various wrestlers, bands and other misfits would be looking for something to do and knew where to find entertainment and a full fridge. A safe haven with no religious overtones as it were.

This year one of our interns, Silent Mitch, is having the time of his life Christmas night at the ol' office, watching a 1990 episode of TSN's Pro Wrestling Plus and asking why the style was so different from area to area, why was there so much noise for the Rock and Roll Express, and was that really Bruno's son wrestling in front of 200 people in a Georgia bar? (When I told him there were hundreds of tapes just like it in our vault, he was speeechless.)

Hopefully everyone's enjoying a peaceful and safe holiday.

Three books we've discussed lately on the show, that listeners have asked for us to put information about online.

* We've given away a number of copies of RETROPEG: Archival photgraphy of Winnipeg in the 70's, by James Donahue. It's a beautiful compilation and really captures the era and long-lost locales. It is available at McNally Robinson's bookstores.

* John Danakas joined us a couple of weeks ago to discuss his latest kids' sports book about a very deserving topic, the history of the black quarterback in the CFL, focusing on former Ti-Cat and Blue Bomber Chuck Ealey. A very special launch of CHOICE OF COLOURS will take place on February 7th and we'll bring you all the details when the time draws near.

* Look at Chapters for Brian Howell's excellent black-and-white labour of love, “Fame Us: Celebrity Impersonators and the Cult(ure) of Fame,” published by Arsenal Pulp Press. Brian travelled all over the continent to impersonator conventions and stage shows and found remarkable characters including Transcona native Natalie Reid --who looks more like Paris than la Hilton does herself. The Jennifer Aniston is a showstopper IMO. And hey, guess which talk show host gets a mention in the acknowledgements?

A New York Times review of the book with some of the amazing pics (and comments from some of the impersonators) is at
http://papercuts.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/12/19/famous-in-a-small-town/

Other notes:

* The show will return on Thursday with a special interview with Catherine Ross who is having a New Year's Eve Benefit for the 2nd Kenya Mission. The event is slated for Dylan O'Connor's on Pembina (275-1926 for tickets) and will feature Glen and the Electricity on stage. And scheduled for our New Years Eve episdoe at 4 PM, the return of our favorite graduate, Deniz from Humber College, joining Frank the Italian Barber !!

* In the weeks to come, we will continue to
- detail the dangerous bureaucratic delays of the Public Safety Unit and the Safer Communities Act,
- uncover more on the Derelict Buildings Bylaw mess with Young Josh,
- provide exclusive updates on the federal CANALERT debacle with Spirited Kenny,
- Jet Lag Gavin will delve into the myths of Biofuel as a 'green' initiative.

* And did someone say Police advisory Board biographies and minutes of their meetings?

Remember Councillor Gord Steeves had no idea how the nominees (like the chairman Gerrald Forrest) were to be considered qualified, who decided how long their terms of office would be, and underestimated the honorarium cost by at least 50%?

On the other hand, TGCTS is the only place where you heard that not one more cent of tax dollars above the already-budgeted $100,000 would be at risk if and when this new bureaucracy decides they have to go attend junkets with other similar boards in California or Florida or Timbuktu.

Your tips and comments welcome at talk@kick.fm
The Great Canadian Talk Show group on Facebook is at http://www.facebook.com/wall.php?id=2344284529

Read it for yourself-- the Derelict Buildings bylaw report

One listener call that came up this week that had to be addressed, was a request to provide a link to the report presented to the Property Committee about the "success" of the Derelict Building bylaw in Winnipeg.

It's in a PDF file, http://www.winnipeg.ca/CLKDMIS/ViewDoc.asp?DocId=7782&SectionId=&InitUrl=

Scroll to agenda item number 10 and click on it. It is a lengthy document you can read page by page.

The numbers asked of the administration don't get presented until Page 11.
Numbers like -prosecutions - "33."

Your feedback welcome at talk@kick.fm.

This week- Frank the Italian Barber Monday, Chanukah Tuesday, Kelly Dehn of CTV Wednesday, Jon Waldman of Slam!Sports Thursday and Denise of Body by Denise on Friday !