Cam 'n Eggs - Order No. 3: Dreams of laughter

 The shadows of dreams crawl in so many unsuspecting places, only to come to life, creating new journeys and opportunities.

Like Tuesday night, just after 7 p.m.

Along the west wall, silver-like in color, eight people paced up and down.

In their minds they went over every word, every sentence, every pause as

 many times as they could.

 And above the crowd noise, they played the joyous sound of people laughing. It would be music to the

 ears, and sound waves to their ultimate goal.

 When their name was called it was, absolutely, show time.

 For the past several weeks young amateur comics have been flocking to Rick Bronson’s Comic Strip in West Edmonton Mall.

 The Funniest Person With a Day Job has been running for the past several weeks. The second semi-final was held Tuesday night.

Contestants were …

•car jockey DANNY MARTINELLO

•J.P. FOURNIER Alberta Blue Cross Customer Service

•pastor DAN TAYLOR

•Former book store manager LIAM CRESWICH

•Blackberry Rep KEN HICKS

•waiter DAVID DEMPSEY

•waitress CLAIRE BELFORD

•warehouse laborer BRETT McCRINDLE

The winner takes home $1,000 cash, and the coveted spot to be the opening act for a concert series in

 the fall at the Comic Strip.

 Contestants are given tickets to family members and friends to laugh, cheer and lend support.

 The more noise the better. Because contestants are judged on several categories, but the biggest is crowd reaction. CTV News co-anchor Daryl McIntyre has been behind the judges table since the contest began April 9.

 He was joined Tuesday evening by Chris Durham from the Radio and Television Arts program at NAIT,

Carol Anne Devaney

 Carole Anne Devaney from Global Television wasp also a judge and the owner himself,

 owner himself, Rick Bronson.

RICK BRONSON

 The competition is sponsored in partly K-97 and Terry Evans of the Terry, Bill and Steve show was a very entertaining MC.

 In the end, three — Taylor, Dempsey and McGrindle — moved next week’s finals against Sterling Scott, Brandon Franson and Matt Lebucki  ... where dream of one will come true.

Today's Timely Tune - May 14 - The downtown arena and ...

(We like news. We like music. Hopefully, they make sense!)


Yet, another arena story from the Edmonton Journal's Gordon Kent about Wednesday's special meeting...

LOOK, MOM! NO INK STAINS

...and the timely tune

Cam 'n Eggs: Bryn tells us why Randy Carlyle is grumpy

 For those of us lucky to have Bryn Griffiths in our lives, we know how much he enjoys sitting back in his chair, folding his right leg across the other, tilting his head back and telling a story.

We enjoy it, too.

Bryn Griffiths

That’s what happened Monday afternoon when Bryn shared a few hours.  A seasoned broadcaster — television and radio — Bryn also worked as press secretary for the Winnipeg Jets in the early 1990’s.

He was responsible for the team’s travel. He did the same job for the Edmonton Oilers in the mid-1990's.

The topic came up in light of the Boston Bruins’ travel challenges Sunday night in Toronto. After losing Game 6 to the Maple Leafs, the Bruins had to overnight in Toronto because of a malfunction with their charter aircraft.

Picture of the Bruin aircraft found on Google Images

Bryn said flight crews start preparing the aircraft to leave just as the third period starts. He says when he was with the Oilers the rule of thumb was 45 minutes: the amount of time between the end of the game and when the team departed for the airport by bus.

“So, if you can’t go because of mechanical trouble, the team would get word from the flight crew by the end of the game so they can make other arrangements,” says Bryn.

That’s when press secretaries really make their money. They have to find hotel rooms for an entourage  of 50 … at 11 p.m. at night.

The Bruins ended up leaving for Boston at 9 a.m. Monday, some nine hours after the Maple Leafs had landed in Boston — 10 hours before game time.

Didn’t hurt them. The Bruins clawed back from a 4-1 third period funk to pull off a 5-4 win in overtime to win Game 7.

Bryn tells the story of when he was the Jets and they could not travel one night. And no hotels.

“We ended up staying the whole night at the airport,” says Bryn.

There were a lot of unhappy people that night, but guess who was the grumpiest.

“Randy Carlyle,” Bryn smirks, talking about the former Winnipeg Jet, now head coach of the Maple Leafs.

Chances are, though, not as grumpy as this morning, following Toronto’s collapse.

Randy Carlyle with the Jets

(Bryn Griffiths is now an account manager for Capital FM and K-97. Follow him on Twitter @BrynMightyMouth)

Topical Timely Tune - May 13

(Editor's note: We love news. We love music. We're going to try to combine both.)

The provincial government announced Monday it will introduce legislation to force a four-year labour deal for teachers.

PLEASE CLICK HERE FOR THE EDMONTON JOURNAL STORY





Today's Tune ...

Cam and Eggs, Order No. 1: (CORRECTED) Will Edmonton Oil King head coach Derek Laxdal walk down the long hallway again?

(This post ran Monday with incorrect information about the contracts of Edmonton Oil King coaches. Read Journal sportswriter Evan Daum's story from Tuesday's paper!)

There’s a hallway in the bowels of Rexall Place, just up a slight ramp from the Edmonton Oil King dressing room, that leads to a dimly lit room on your right hand side. Sportswriters gather for post-game interviews from head coaches.

After a win, coaches strut in the room with an extra stride in their step. After a loss, the long hallway can be almost endless for a coach, each footstep echoing off the wall at almost a deafening volume.

Oil King coach Derek Laxdal knows the feeling.  After every game in Edmonton of the Western Hockey League championship series, he has walked down that hallway to answer questions from reporters.

DEREK LAXDAL

The coach will probably walk down the hallway very soon  — perhaps this week, even — just past the interview room for a meeting in the office of Bob Green, Oil Kings general manager.

There will be a lot for Laxdal and Green to discuss following  a 5-1 loss to the Portland Winterhawks in Game 6 of the WHL championship series. The Winterhawks won the best-of-seven series 4-2, ending the Oil King’s rein of defending champions.

 Green will have questions:

•what went wrong with the Oil King’s powerplay which could not be ignited, and didn’t score a single goal in 31 chances over the series — and, perhaps most importantly, surrendered two short-handed goals on a four-minute powerplay in Sunday’s first period;

•where was the intensity Sunday, after that terrific Game 5 Friday in Portland — a hockey fan’s dream to watch — that saw the Oil Kings give it all they had, and pull a 3-2 overtime win out of the fire to force Game 6? Sure, the Oil Kings outshot Portland 27-24 Sunday, but the Edmonton just didn’t seem to have it. Was the tank empty … and, why?

•Henrik Samuelsson took an undisciplined slashing penalty in the last 90 seconds of Game 4, which didn’t allow Edmonton a chance to pull their goalie for an extra attacker in a 2-1 hockey game. Was Samuelsson’s penalty or an isolated instance? Or was that exchange Laxdal and Samuelsson had after the game a sign of a bigger issue?

•captain Griffin Reinhart and veteran Trevor Cheek were injured. What did that take away from the team?

BOB GREEN

And others will probably be asked, including why the Oil Kings are not making a repeat performance in the MasterCard Memorial Cup later this week in Saskatoon.
Laxdal will have to answer to the GM and also address questions about the future, namely his. (Here's the information I had wrong) My sources say Laxdal is at the end of his three-year deal so his answers to The Boss will no doubt hinge on whether or not he wants to return to the Oil Kings.

He has had success in Edmonton: two appearances to the WHL championship final in three seasons and one championship.

But could there be a pro job calling Laxdal’s name, perhaps even with the Edmonton Oilers as an assistant?

And let’s not forget Laxdal’s assistant Steve Hamilton, also at the end of a three-year deal. Hamilton is head coach material, absolutely.

Derek Laxdal has walked down that long, narrow — sometimes haunting — countless times. Only time if he will continue to do so.

In The Nic of Time — Chapter 2: Cartoons soothe reality

A little over two months ago my grandson Nicholas found the cartoon show Phineas and Ferb when he was going through a very challenging period of his 10-year-old life.

The show gave him great solace.

Nic asked his grandmother — my wife Joan — to PVR every episode, which she did. We began watching Phineas and Ferb back to back, and within days, Joan and I could sing the show’s theme song, word for word.

Phineas and Ferb is a delightful show about two brothers who finding interesting, and fun, things to do on their summer vacation. They build things and take wild adventures — showing the magic of a powerful mind and its of the imagination.

The show has a wonderfully, zany sub-plot with Doctor Heinz Doofenshmirtz — my favorite character because of his all-over-the-map personality — and his nemesis Perry the Platypus, who always foils the good doctor’s somewhat off-the-wall evil plan.

The Dr.: A personal fave

At the end of every episode, somehow, the plots collide  and erase the antics of Phineas and Ferb, much to the disappointment of their sister Candace just before she is about to show their mother what the brothers have done.

The show is deep-rooted with music, good music.

Nic re-watches many episodes, but there’s one he watches over and over. He especially re-winds a song Candace sings to her mother, and Nic watched it countless times last week.

Joan and I paid close attention to Nic in the last few days, with Mother’s Day approaching. We knew it might be difficult since his mother passed away in early March.

Our grandson Nicholas

Nic has been very strong. He has handled the situation with courage and only a few times has he openly cried in front of us.

But on Friday, as he was watching Candace sing, tears were in his eyes.

“I wish,” he said, not letting his emotions take control, “Mommy could hear this song.”

I know, Nic, she does.