So given that I’m in Ontario and he’s in Ontario this month, I’ll just have to stalk him for more hugs.  I encourage others to do the same, as really who wouldn’t want to hug this man (especially after listening to the last song in this set)?

So how does one find him?  Just follow this schedule, and stay the Hell out of my way when I go to hug him at the Casabah in Hamilton (I introduced him to you, so I get to hug him first … so there!):

Ross RAWKS the Casbah

• March 8, 2012  ~  7:30 pm  ~  Acoustic Grill Solo, Picton, ON
• March 9, 2012  ~  9 pm  ~  Stonewater Pub Solo, Ganaoque, ON
• March 10, 2012  ~  8 pm  ~  Huron Club Solo, Collingwood, ON
• March 11, 2012  ~  noon  ~  Huron Club Brunch Solo, Collingwood, ON
• March 15, 2012  ~  9 pm  ~  Casbah Lounge Solo with guests Ian Philp, Hamilton, ON
• March 16, 2012  ~  9 pm  ~  RCHA Club Kingston Blues Society, Kingston, ON
• March 17, 2012  ~  9:30 pm  ~  Lavigne Tavern Solo, Lavigne, ON
• March 18, 2012  ~  noon  ~  Huron Club Brunch Solo, Collingwood, ON
• March 19, 2012  ~  9 pm  ~  The Press Club Solo, Toronto, ON
• March 20, 2012  ~  9 pm  ~  The Local on Ronces Solo, Toronto, ON
• March 21, 2012  ~  7 pm  ~  Oasis Bar and Grill Solo, Cobourg, ON
• March 22, 2012  ~  9 pm  ~  Irene’s Pub Solo, Ottawa, ON

 

Who wouldn't want to hug a man with such cool boots?

Seems Kelly’s friend got off easy, just seeing a blue zip speed past the window …

Recently learning how Kelly feels about the washroom, there is no telling what this would have done to her fragile psyche …

The other day I was again woken up by a text message from a friend at 4 am in the morning! I was going to just hang up on her. However, remembering she was living in Hamilton, Ontario at the time, I just did not want to be a meanie. I glanced at her text which just completely brought all my wandering soul back into my body. She told me that she saw a flying blue caped man just outside her house. Originally she thought that someone was going to break into her house as she heard a lot of noises from her frontyard. She quickly grabbed her hockey stick as a weapon and looked through the window and saw the blue caped man flash across the window. Although I am a big fan of superheroes, I am not inclined to believe that anyone in the world actually has the ability to fly.

Very soon, she just climbed back into her bed to sleep, as the man who could have been a thief had left. I, too, was satisfied with this decision, even though I kept on thinking about this superhero. When I woke up later in the day, I got an email from her, which revealed the mystery of this blue caped man:

Sorry for waking you up so early in the morning.

Apparently, the man is not a superhero. His name is Blue Box Man. He is just a crazy person, wearing a blue cape that checks out what kind of stuff goes into our bins. He was not flying around in the yard; he just got excited by my mum’s work of dividing all our stuff and putting them into the right bin, so he sprinted off to grab us a golden box, as a reward. You know what, when she got the golden box, she grinned like the Joker. Okay, that was a bit yuck! She grinned like she was wearing a gold Olympic medal. Insane, eh? Now my mum is trying to keep up with her good work; it almost seems like she is back to kindergarten again, making an effort to get a prize from her teacher.

Blue Box Man, Hamilton's Superhero of Green Good

That was a little excerpt of her email. I was quite interested in the appearance of this golden box and what was going on, so I went to dig out a bit of information on google. Ha! I then found out the truth. The blue caped man was rewarding the residents in Hamilton with a golden box for properly sorting the stuff into their bins. For example, food scraps should be placed into the green bins, paper and cardboard should be in one of the blue boxes, and bottles, cans and jars should be in another.

An unsuspecting Hamilton resident receives a visit from Blue Box Man.

The blue caped man was indeed a hero, even if my friend did not say so, because he was trying to encourage people to recycle and to make this world more sustainable for us to live in. Isn’t that every superheroes goal; to protect people from harm?! I really like how this hero stirred up this green recycling wave in the city, so now people who have a golden box will be proud of what they have done and act as a role model, encouraging others to do the same. Maybe it is time for Vancouver to do something similar? Now let’s have a green hero in the city to create an environmental friendly vibe and make everyone get excited by the idea of recycling.

‘Missing’ is very much the right word, because I had no idea how intoxicatingly sensual and sexual the Symphony could be.  Had I known, this would have been one of my Date Picks and I may have found two very different dates for the evening, although I must say their beautiful curves added to those of the Strings.

Now I can only imagine what must happen at Band Camp.  Clearly my youth on the Sports Pitch was sorely misspent.

For more on the actual performance and less on my newly found hot flashes for men playing the Strings (hmmm … that probably means that they are exquisitely skilled with their hands too … and I haven’t even got to my new found fantasties for conductors … the poise … the passion), check out ‘Discovering Carmina Burana at the Brott 2011 Music Festival‘ on Roamancing.

Kisses,

Emme xoxo

With this, we have found our writers have spread out across North America for the summer, which means opportunities for us to cover the Arts beyond Vancouver.  While our core team will still be in and around Vancouver this summer, I (Emme) will be based in Southern Ontario, Hamilton to be specific, and Brie will be in LA.

Stacey Robinsmith and I at the Canadian Premiere of Nixon in China at the Vancouver Opera.

So if you have an arts event (theatre, music, fashion, food & beverage …) that you’d like one of our writers to attend and weave a tale around, fire me a note at emme@emmerogers.com and I will see if someone is eager and available.

As for me, you know I absolutely adore theatre, music, the opera … and would love to check out this scene in Ontario, along with looking forward to checking out the Gimli Film Festival for the first time in Manitoba in a little over a week’s time.

Brie loves theatre and music too, but she also adores dance and fashion, and with Young Master Mason and Little Miss Mason in the wings, I know would enjoy taking in some events that are suited to families with 9 – 12 year olds too.

Vancouver – you are already, of course, familiar with the types of storytelling that our Vancouver Cats, like Rob Jones and Alyzee Lakhani, are capable of for music and theatre.

Hanging with Ron Sexsmith & Rob Jones - two of my music legends.

Looking forwarding to sampling a few new flavours this summer.

Kisses,

Emme   xoxo

So anybody have work they can offer me in the 905 or 416?  Thinking to properly pay tribute to the space, I may be looking for a musically inclined lover too to shack up with.  Oh and the down payment wouldn’t hurt either.

There is one such bookstore tucked away in Hamilton’s Westdale Village (by McMaster Unviersity).  Bryan Prince is the name of this little piece of heaven.  What makes this bookstore so extra special that I am writing about it now?  Well, usually when as an author you sell a book to a bookstore, they take 40 – 50% of the sale of the book and the author gets 50 – 60%, much of which goes to printing costs and other expenses, so as you can imagine, the author sees very little at the end of the day for the months or sometimes years they spent writing.  Well, Bryan Prince has a policy of only taking 20%, whilst the author sees 80% to cover their printing costs and time.  Why do they do this in an age where indie bookstores are struggling to survive? To encourage local authors, who have their own struggles, to find the time and money to write. You can’t imagine how pleasantly surprised this made me when they bought our Reading is Sexy Calendar just days before Christmas. So if you are in the Hamilton/Dundas area, make a point of stopping in this little slice of heaven, at Bryan Prince Bookseller (1060 King Street West, Hamilton, ON), buy a book or calendar and support a local author.

I would be remiss here if I didn’t highlight a few other indie bookstores, who have beautiful spaces and have been incredible to me this past month:

• Ben McNally Books (366 Bay St, Toronto, ON) – who hosted our Toronto Calendar Kissing over the Christmas rush.
• Duthie Books (2239 West 4th Ave, Vancouver, BC) – who were the first bookstore to pick up the Reading is Sexy Calendar and who, as it was for a good cause, offered us a great deal on calendar sales.
• The People’s Co-op Bookstore (1391 Commercial Drive, Vancouver, BC) – who similarly offered us a great deal on Reading is Sexy Calendar sales.
• Biz Books (302 West Cordova St, Vancouver, BC) – who is carrying the Reading is Sexy Calendar.
• Blackberry Books (Unit 3 – 1666 Johnston St., Net Loft Building, Granville Island, Vancouver, BC) – who is carrying the Reading is Sexy Calendar and who gave me some great marketing advice on calendars for future years.

I’d be remiss here if I didn’t mention our two non-bookstore retailers of the calendar:

• O’Hares Beer & Wine Store (5031 Steveston Hwy, Richmond, BC)
• Gundrun Wine & Cheese Bistro (150 – 3500 Moncton St, Steveston, BC)

An enormous thank you to all!