Maybe the Fat Lady hasn't sung yet...?

As fans of our show know, we went off the air after three seasons.  The reason was largely that being a community programming station, Cogeco was obligated to give someone else a turn.  We couldn't really argue with that logic and truth be told, I was tired.  It was a lot of work to plan and prepare for each show and guest and I was ready for a break.

That being said, it was always somewhere in the back of my mind that we would come back one day. 

Although I have not verified this myself, someone told me the other day that Cogeco is replaying old episodes of our show so maybe that day is closer than we realized?

Will keep you posted.

Nancy

Season Two, E. 9 - It's Never Too Late

Well, it's about that time that we all start thinking about getting into shape...okay, honestly, it seems like it's always about that time, but today we are doing something about it!  Our guests are Bonnie Giampa and Briar Krieger who together run Balance Fitness Studio in Virgil.  They are also the ladies behind the Eight Week Challenge. 

I first met these ladies when my friend Joanne convinced me to join her team for the Challenge a year ago.  I'm not going to lie, it wasn't easy to stick with it, but I did lose weight and I did feel better.  And, I have kept up a lot of the good habits I adopted while doing it!  

The first thing you will notice when you meet Bonnie and Briar is that they are so positive.  They make you feel like you can do it too!   Every week I would get an email from one of them to help keep me motivated.

On the show, we talked a lot about how it is never too late to do something about your health and fitness level.  Briar pointed out that you don't have to join a gym or running group or anything else if that doesn't work for you...you just need to do SOMETHING.    Start going for walks.  Make conscious choices about your diet.  YOU are in control of YOU.   That might be the hardest part, accepting responsibility for yourself, because at the end of the day it really is up to you to make the changes.  

Thank you ladies for being such an inspiration.  

PS...The black bean and cocoa "brownies" are actually really good despite what Jacquie says!!!   

Contact info:

Bonnie@8weekchallenge.com

Briar@8weekchallenge.com

http://www.balancefitnessstudio.ca/

Season Two - E. 8 - The Underground Railroad as Part of our Local History

This is an episode that we had tried to put together last season, but it just didn't work out with every one's schedule.  However, we were much luckier this season. 

Our guests for this show were Wilma Morrison and Dr. Tim Epp.  Wilma works with the Central Ontario Network for Black History and Dr. Epp is an Associate Professor, Sociology at Redeemer University College. 

Wilma has vast knowledge about Black History in Niagara and in general and told us some very interesting stories.  Tim's research focuses on the connections between Black History and that of the Anabaptist's in the area.  It was interesting to see that two such culturally different groups could come together to form communities and working relationships. 

As we were wrapping up, I asked Wilma a question but she wasn't sure of the answer.  I remember reading once that people planted tiger lilies to indicate that someplace was safe for runaway slaves.  Does anyone out there know if this is true. 

Season Two - E. 7 - Christmas 1812

We were most fortunate to have as our guests, Peter Martin and Elizabeth Leblanc of Parks Niagara/Fort George to celebrate Christmas at the Fort, 1812 with us.

Even better, both wore period costume and brought along some articles for Mary, Jacquie and I as well. 

While we discussed what life would have likely been like at the Fort during Christmas, Elizabeth set us to work on a home made decoration that was popular at the time:  a Pomander made with an orange and cloves. While oranges were a treat and may not have been available to everyone, apples could easily be substituted. 

As we worked diligently setting whole cloves in an attractive pattern into our respective oranges, Peter read to us from actual letters from Fort George written by officers and enlisted men that described Christmas for them. 

If you were an officer, things were considerably better.  You might relax a bit, enjoy a feast for dinner, perhaps music and dance in the evening.  The enlisted did not have it so good.  Christmas day was much like any other for them, although they would likely have had some sort of "treat" at dinner.  
Thank you to Peter and Elizabeth for sharing their knowledge with us and making our first Christmas episode a memorable one. 

For more information contact:   http://www.friendsoffortgeorge.ca/

Season Two - E.6 - The End of the World and Other Hooey

The first time I met Dr. Brian Pihack, he was giving a lecture.  Someone in the audience asked his opinion of the supposed end of the world according to the Mayan calender and his response was "don't even get me started on that". 

"Let's Talk About It" didn't exist at that point in time, but later when we decided to do a show about the whole idea, I knew we needed Brian to be there. 

In the summer I had been to the ROM in Toronto to see the Mayan exhibit on loan to them with my son.  At the end of the exhibit, there was a giant clock on the wall, somewhat similar to the Doomsday Clock created in 1947 at the University of Chicago. It was counting down the seconds until December 22nd, 2012. 

The whole idea of the Mayans predicting the end of the world has always annoyed me.  The reason their calendar stopped is because they were virtually wiped out as a civilization about 1200 years ago.  And when it comes to all the Hollywood hype surrounding the issue, well, as Brian said, don't even get me started.  Still, I was interested to see what some other schools of thought were on the subject. 

As I expected, Brian completely ridiculed the idea of the Mayan's predicting the end of the world.  So, we started looking at some of the other scenarios we'd read about as far as the world ending in December. 

Alien Invasions?  Apparently, more people believe this one than I would have thought possible.  If you happen to be one, you should probably head to Bugarach in the south of France where apparently aliens will save the faithful who flock there when it all goes bust in December.

Then there are Solar Flares and Storms.  This at least seemed scientific.  Brian pointed out that they occur all the time and have since the beginning of time, so there is no reason to suppose they will suddenly become more dangerous. 

Giant meteorite?  Well...one is supposed to pass quite close to Earth...but that's not until February.  Besides which, it will miss us. 

The Magnetic Poles flipping?  This is supposed to happen in December, but according to Brian (and NASA, I looked it up), this also happens all the time with no hazardous outcome for earth. 

If you would like to contact Brian to discuss any of this further, you can find him at:
http://astronomyniagara.com/html/contact_us.html
 

Season Two - E.5 - Effortless Entertaining

Everyone who entertains should be so lucky as to have their own cheese guy.  I am referring of course to one Zack Johnson, official Cheese Ambassador at Sobey's on Glendale in St. Catharines. 

Zach knows an amazing amount of information about cheese:  what goes best with what, all the new varieties, which ones are available when, and the best way to present it!  He has saved me many times. 

So, when we were thinking about an episode on effortless entertaining, my first thought was of course, Zach!     

For the taping, Zach brought several varieties for us to sample, along with fruit, nuts and other accompaniments.  Just before we began, he arranged everything beautifully on an assortment of servers and it literally took him less than 10 minutes to do.  See.  Effortless.  : )

One of the cheeses he brought for us to try was a Parmigiana that had been aged for 30 years.  He cut a piece for each of us and then instructed us to first dip it into the dish of honey he had set beside it.   Now, I would never have thought of that in a million years, but it was amazing!  The sharp, slightly salty cheese and the sweet local honey.  Delicious.  I've served it at several functions since!  [Thanks Zach].

When we finished taping, no one left.  The crew all came in and we all stood around eating cheese and nuts and fruit and breads!   The best part was, there were leftovers for the taping the following day too. 

If you get the chance, go to Sobey's on Glendale [in St. Catharines], the cheese area is just inside the front door, and ask for Zach.  He'll set you up.  He also conducts cheese tasting periodically in the store so be sure to ask him when the next one is. 

Season Two - E. 4 - Paranormal Investigations

I must admit, I am a sucker for all of these shows on television that investigate hauntings.  One night I was watching just such a show and I started to wonder if we had anyone like those investigators in our area?    A relatively quick Internet search later and I found SOPS:  Southern Ontario Paranormal Society.  SOPS is a not for profit organization first begun in 2005 to investigate paranormal activity. 

http://www.sopsinvestigations.com/

I gave them a call and spoke with Steve Grenier the next day, and to my delight, he said they would do the show. 

The day we taped, Steve brought another SOPS member, Chris Stevenson and they talked about how they first got started, some of their investigations, and they even brought some of the electronic equipment that they will typically use in an investigation.  Mary, Jacquie and myself were enjoying every minute. 

Steve and Chris both mentioned that their first goal in beginning an investigation is to go in with an open mind.  They never assume anything, and will look for non-paranormal reasons for things as well as paranormal ones.

As always seems to be the case, we ran out of time much too soon.  As we were wrapping up a friend of ours arrived in the studio:  Danielle Murray who owns Dani's Bistro on St. Paul St. in St. Catharines.  When she realized who our interview guests were, she told me, in the way that people do, "don't think I'm crazy, but I think my restaurant is actually haunted".  

That was all I needed to hear.  "Danielle,come with me!" 

I introduced Danielle to the guys and they were happy to listen to her story. As they were talking, I turned to our Producer and silently mouthed : we totally need to do a follow up show on this! 

Luckily, she agreed, and Danielle and the SOPS team were also willing.  We were able to pick a Friday night, and the team arrived after Danielle closed for the night. 

Stay tuned for that episode!