It would appear that our local Haliburton County Echo weekly newspaper has also been looking for multi-talented local residents.

Local Haliburton, Ontario, Canada high school student, Matt Mcdermott, better known as the rapper “Boostalk”, is another multi-talented young person coming from our village of Haliburton.

At the time of this writing his music video “We Gon Rock”, has been viewed 133,930 times on YouTube.

Cheers,

Fred.

A week ago I had the pleasure of meeting a multi-talented young person by the name of Jono Petrangelo who you can find on Facebook.

Jono is a graduate of Haliburton Highlands Secondary School, Haliburton, Ontario, Canada in 2007, is networked with the International Academy of Design & Technology in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and is a talented young actor whose most recent film is Dead Genesis.

Warning: The videos at the link above contain “Adult” content. Some people may find the language in the “Tea” video to be offensive!

I have also long been a fan of The Maclay Experience a local Rhythm and Blues Band Music Group, consisting of: (Drums) Callum Wood, (Bass) Peter Johnson, (Guitar & Vocals) Dan Johnson, (Guitar & Vocals) Floyd Henry, and (Guitar & Vocals) Leo Henry.

They play Classic Rock, Blues, and some original music.

You’ve no doubt heard of a beer called Maclay’s from Sleeman’s. It’s possible that’s how they came up with the name “The Maclay Experience”.

If you want to hear The Maclay Experience come on out to the Halloween Dance at the Haliburton Legion, Haliburton, Ontario, Canada where there will be prizes for best costumes.

Time:8:00PM

Saturday, October 31st, 2009

Thia is a benefit dance to raise money for the purchase of a sound system for the Legion. Come on out and support the ones who give so generously to our community.

Cheers,

Fred

Hi,

“You can take the boy out of Omemee, but you can’t take the Omemee out of the boy!”

I guess the same would apply to girls as well and many thanks to Faye McQuade, one of my friends on Facebook, and also an Omemee girl for sharing this Neil Young Video with me. Although I never knew Faye as a young person I did know her father, Larry McQuade, the Omemee village barber.

Omemee, Ontario, Canada is a tiny village of around 850 people exactly half way between Lindsay, Ontario, Canada and Peterborough, Ontario, Canada.

My “Stephenson” family first settled there around 1869 and became well known as the owners of the local feed and grain mill, eventually known as “Omemee Elevators”, where farmers would congregate on a daily basis bringing in grain to be ground up for feed and then taking it home to feed their animals.

The feed mill was passed down from Stephenson generation to Stephenson generation, eventually being run by my father and his 3 brothers. It ran on water power only, (being right beside the Omemee Dam), using two horizontally mounted 5 foot diameter water wheels, from 1869 until 1967 at which time my father put in a Cummins diesel to assist the machinery inside the mill.

I grew up playing and working in the mill, along with my best friend, David Mansfield, another friend on Facebook, whose father was the Anglican church minister in Omemee.

My father eventually bought out his brothers and became sole owner of the feed mill along with another grain elevator in Omemee at the west end of the village, and also another grain elevator in Fraserville, Ontario, Canada.

In the summer of 1969 he grew tired of the feed mill business and handed the reins over to me for the summer, allowing me to completely manage and run the business on a daily basis, although I was still just a teenager. When I returned to school in the fall, he rented the entire business out to an associate from Fraserville, Ontario, Canada, but retained ownership of the mill itself, and transferred the mill property itself into my name.

I could very well have had a career in the feed mill business, except that the mill burned to the ground on February 19, 1971, probably as a result of poor maintenance of the machinery. It was built entirely out of wood and by that time the wood was over a hundred years old, making it extremely dry and susceptible to fire!

Although I was in Quebec City, Province of Quebec, Canada, on a high school trip at the time I heard that the 5 storey structure burned to the ground in about an hour, and completely melted the solid steel, six foot by six foot, Cummins diesel engine at the back of the mill.

By now you’re probably wondering what this all has to do with Neil Young, the famous folk singer.

The Young family were also Omemee residents. Neil’s father, Scott Young, was a friend of my father and my father knew Neil Young as a young boy. Neil was quite a bit older than me so I never actually knew him but I did have a passing acquaintance with his father, Scott Young, who eventually became a daily columnist with The Globe and Mail newspaper in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Neil’s song, “Helpless”, is actually about his life in Omemee, Ontario, Canada. as a young boy. The video above is approximately 7 minutes, 32 seconds long; and at the 6 minute, 7 second mark are some very old scenes showing the historic “Stephenson Mill”, beside the dam.

Another famous Omemee resident was “Lady Eaton”, (Flora McCrae Eaton), whose husband was Timothy Eaton, the founder of the Eaton’s Department Store in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Flora McCrae was actually my grandmother Stephenson’s first cousin.

Presently there are two public schools in Omemee, “Lady Eaton Elementary School” and “Scott Young Public School”.

Although not named after him, the famous “Bigwin Island” in Lake Of Bays in the Muskokas was created and founded by Charlie Shaw, of the Shaw family in Omemee.

Bigwin Inn opened its doors in June of 1920, the decade that “roared” in its prosperity. It quickly became the resort of choice for socialites and the upper class who congregated in the grand hall known as the Indian Head Room and the Rotunda with its huge stone fireplaces and large open verandahs. The temptations were all plainly evident – the fine dining and entertainment…the water sports and summer recreation…all with the rugged beauty of the Muskokas as a backdrop.

The Shaw family also started “Shaw Research” in Omemee, a chemical research firm that had many famous products including one that I remember in particular called “Bag Balm”, an ointment that would ease the pain and heal any wound on an animal or a human. It was originally developed as an ointment for a cow’s udder, hence the name “bag balm”, but it was quickly discovered to work equally as well on humans and many people in Omemee had a tin of “Bag Balm” in their home medicine cabinet.

I hope you enjoyed my history lesson today and as has been said before if we don’t remember the past then we will never know the future.

Cheers,

Fred

Do you want to be able to read me like a book?

The Kindle Wireless Reading Device (6″ Display, U.S. & International Wireless, Latest Generation) will be released on Monday October 19, 2009.

Say Hello To The Newest Kindle Features:

Slim: Just over 1/3 of an inch, as thin as most magazines

Lightweight: At 10.2 ounces, lighter than a typical paperback

Books in Under 60 Seconds: Get books delivered wirelessly in less than 60 seconds; no PC required

3G Wireless: 3G wireless lets you download books right from your Kindle; no annual contracts, no monthly fees, and no hunting for Wi-Fi hotspots

International Coverage: Enjoy 3G wireless coverage at home or abroad in over 100 countries.

Paper-Like Display: Reads like real paper without glare, even in bright sunlight

Carry Your Library: Holds up to 1,500 books

Long Battery Life: Read for days without recharging

Read-to-Me: With the experimental Text-to-Speech feature, Kindle can read newspapers, magazines, blogs, and books out loud to you, unless the book’s rights holder made the feature unavailable.

Here’s an expert review:

“If you think there’s no way you could ever get used to curling up with an electronic reader, you haven’t given the Kindle a chance.

Load up a good book and you’ll soon forget you’re reading plastic rather than paper.

You’ll also wonder how you ever did without it. The Kindle makes buying, storing, and organizing your favorite books and magazines effortless.

You can take your entire library with you wherever you go and switch from reading the latest New Yorker to the latest best-seller without rolling out of bed.

In my few days using it, I was won over: The Kindle is the future of publishing.” — Farhad Manjoo, Slate

With Kindle, you are able to download and enjoy more than 60,000 audio titles from Audible.com, including bestselling audio books, radio programs, audio newspapers and magazines.

Due to their file size, audio books are downloaded to your PC over your existing Internet connection and then transferred to Kindle using the included USB 2.0 cable.

Listen via Kindle’s speaker or plug in your headphones for private listening.

Happy Reading,

Fred.

In 1959 Paul Evans and the Curls came out with a hit single which of course is one of my favourite songs and which makes me smile every time I hear it. It was also done by the Avons. The female vocals were The Curls – Sue Singleton and Sue Terry.

The song is “Seven Little Girls Sitting In The Back Seat Kissing And Hugging With Fred”.

(Quote From You Tube):

‘Most people will remember Paul singing this Top Ten novelty hit from the fall of 1959, “Seven Little Girls”. But Paul Evans was a multi-talented fellow and a songwriter of some note. Among the many hits Paul wrote were “When” for the Kalin Twins (#5 in June of 1958), “I Gotta Know” for Elvis Presley (Top 20 in 1960), and his biggest, “Roses are Red” for Bobby Vinton (#1 for a solid month in June of 1962).’

(End of Quote From You Tube)

Here’s two of quite a few video variations from Youtube.

I guess you can see how it would be one of my favourites!

Here’s the original recorded by Paul Evans.There are only six little puppets in the back seat along with a very familiar looking “Fred”. Recorded at the Little Theater in New York City on January 16, 1960.

(Start of Lyrics For Seven Little Girls):

(Dee doody doom doom, dee doody doom doom)
(Dee doody doom doom, DOOM)

Seven little girls sittin’ in the back seat
Huggin and a’kissin with Fred
I said “why don’t one of you come up and sit beside me?”
And this is what the seven girls said

CHORUS
(All together now, one, two, three)
(Keep you mind on your drivin’)
(Keep you hands on the wheel)
(Keep your snoopy eyes on the road ahead)
(We’re havin’ fun sittin’ in the back seat kissin’ and a’huggin with Fred)
(Dee doody doom doom, dee doody doom doom)
(Dee doody doom doom, DOOM)

Drove through the town, drove through the country
Showed ‘em how a motor could go
I said “how do you like my triple carburetor?”
And one of them whispered low

CHORUS

Seven little girls smoochin’ in the back seat
Every one in love with Fred
I said “you don’t need me, I’ll get off at my house”
And this is what the seven girls said

(All together now, one, two, three)
(Keep you mind on your drivin’)
(Keep you hands on the wheel)
(Keep your snoopy eyes on the road ahead)
(We’re havin’ fun sittin’ in the back seat kissin’ and a’huggin with Fred)

All of them in love with Fred
(Dee doody doom doom)
Kissin’ and a’huggin with Fred
(Dee doody doom doom)
Wish that I could be like Fred
(DOOM)

(End Of Lyrics For Seven Little Girls)

Here’s some facts about the song from Paul Evans himself:

“The only live that I ever did was the Arthur Murray Dance Party show. It was a network television show, and it was right before I got drafted. I was excited, I never did live anything, and here I’m doing live television. One shot, no retakes, and I can tell you that that was scary to me. I was so nervous. Finally I sat in the seat, and they had 7 girls behind me and a chimpanzee playing the part of Fred. And by the way, he was a naughty chimpanzee, he broke into the girls’ dressing room all the time and lifted up their skirts. He was really a strange monkey, but he was a very big star – as big a star as an ape could be, you know. I sat in the front seat of this car that was on the stage, girls sitting behind me, and I hear the overture, and the overture is the beginning of the song. Now the first part of the song, which is called ‘Seven Little Girls Sitting In The Back Seat’ is ‘Seven little girls, sitting in the back seat.’ I should have known it. I couldn’t think of it. I could not think of the line. My hair got soaking wet from nervous perspiration. Unbelievable. I was so scared because there was no turning back, the curtains were now opened, the overture was over, and I sang, “Seven little girls…” I mean, it just came to me, it was amazing. It’s funny, I’ve heard this from other people, and they’ve never missed a beat. They get afraid. I’ve done that before, I’ve done it again, and this is just national television. I was so shaken by this. I did a good job, got done, and that’s all that matters, I know. My wife says that when she sees me on the stage, I walk out on the stage, I do look a little nervous to her – she knows me. But she says the second I open my mouth and start singing, it’s all over for nerves.”

Keep Smiling!

Fred

Last summer I had the pleasure of getting to know Geoffrey Castle, a famous concert violinist, in a 3 hour drive from Redstone Lake here in Haliburton County, Ontario, Canada to the Toronto Airport, Ontario, Canada where he was catching a flight back to his home near Seattle, Washington, USA.

He had flown in on a Thursday evening from Seattle, been chauffeured from Toronto to Haliburton County, (a three hour drive), stayed overnight at a private residence on Redstone Lake, performed a private concert at that home during the day on Friday, and then back to the Toronto airport with me late Friday evening for a very early morning flight back to Seattle.

Talk about a fast trip! He said that doing this was normal for him and he flies all over North America to do one day concerts like this. He said he never gets “jet lag” because he’s never away long enough.

“Geoffrey Castle” is actually a stage name and his real name is “Jeffrey Sick”. His father is Gary Sick, who was a Presidential Advisor during the Ford, Carter, and Reagan administrations with a specialty in Persian Gulf policy.

Here’s an Excerpt from his “Biography” web page:

(Start of Quoted Text):

‘When I was growing up, my name wasn’t Geoffrey Castle. In fact, my name wasn’t Geoffrey Castle until very recently. My given name is actually Jeffrey Sick. Which, as many people have pointed out, is a pretty cool stage name—except that I don’t play in a punk band, or a heavy metal band. When people saw that name, the couldn’t help but make some assumptions. It’s been amazing to me how different things have been for me since I changed my name. I held onto my last name for a long time, in spite of the fact that my folks had more or less assumed that I would get a different stage name after I started my career in music.

I guess I had a certain amount of pride wrapped up in being a Sick. We’re a rare breed, to be sure. A lot of that pride was also wrapped up in my respect for my father, Gary Sick. He currently teaches a seminar at the graduate school for political science at Columbia University, does speaking engagements, and moderates the Internet site The Gulf/2000 Project. He’s been featured on all the major networks, PBS, and news radio stations: they bring him in as an expert whenever Iraq and Iran are in the news…which, lately, has been a lot.’

(End of Quoted Text)

Here’s a great video of Geoffrey Castle at The Triple Door in Seattle playing “Float Downstream.” A Video by Terry Love and Trinda Love.

Cheers,

Fred

In a message yesterday from the lovely and talented Rebecca Matiesen, singer and band leader, she says that she and her Rockin R&B band are playing at The Brogue Inn tomorrow Friday October 2, 2009, in Port Credit, if you’re looking for something to do.

(An authentic Irish Pub in the heart of Mississauga’s Village By the Lake),

136 Lakeshore Road East
Mississauga, ON L5G 1E6
(905) 278-8444

Cheers,

Fred

Do you need a good chuckle?

I was thinking of picking up a new hobby…well…at least looking into one. I thought about car racing, but that’s a little boring to me. That I’ll do when I get old and want to be in a hurry to go around in circles! I can’t be bothered with jogging. That takes too long and you never get anywhere but back to where you started.

So once I came across this little gem, “The Goat Grand National Race”, I knew I’d found what I was looking for.

Be careful it doesn’t get your goat though!

Check it out:

Cheers.

Fred

That’s one of my favourite quotations but I also ask the question – “If you know nothing, how can you know that you know nothing?”

Do you want to know something?

Other companies are going to hate Wealthy Affiliate!

That’s right.

I know, hate is a pretty strong word but now that Wealthy Affiliate Platinum has launched on September 15th, 2009 the price is going to seem crazy.

Seriously, think about it.

What can $39 get you in terms of an education these days…

Ummmm….

Ahhhh….

One hard covered book from Barnes and Noble that you may or may not like?

1/3 of a text book in college or university?

A bus pass to get to school?

What about online education…

An outdated, theory based e-book?

Access to a keyword tool for a month?

How about 1/3 of the price to a membership site that isn’t supported, offers no new resources and no tools (there are a ton of these out there)?

Wow…39 bucks sure does not get you far does it?

Yes it does!

$39 is going to get you full access to Wealthy Affiliate Platinum. Members are telling Kyle and Carson that they are crazy…and last year during a private conference, their top members told them that they should be charging several $100 per month. Things like “leaving money on the table”, “cutting yourself short” and “too freakin’ cheap”…were some of the phrases they used to explain their pricing strategy.

The reason why WEALTHY AFFILIATE PLATINUM is $39 has nothing to do with competition. The reason is that they want to be as affordable as possible for the people that need it. If you have enough money to spend $500/mth on a membership, think of it as a good deal…and use your extra money to advertise, build a product, or outsource components of your business using the techniques they describe.

If you are on more of a bootstrap budget, a $39/mth education should fit anyone’s budget. You cannot go to school for under $1000/mth…so a fraction of this (less than an ice cream sandwich per day), you can get the most elaborate Internet marketing training online.

Both ends of the financial spectrum are covered.

The most advanced Internet marketing training platform …

WEALTHY AFFILIATE PLATINUM IS FINALLY HERE AS OF SEPTEMBER 15th, 2009!

From better training, to improved interface, speed and efficiency, networking, and tools, WA Platinum will be the one place that everyone needs in their Internet marketing arsenal.

A critical component of WA Platinum is the training… members are going to learn more, learn better, and understand things in much more detail.

So, do you join Wealthy Affiliate to make friends?

WA is not a social network.. Nope, no way, now how… it’s an Internet marketing training program. They’re not out to re-create facebook, however, having friends in the industry is an IMPORTANT part of your skill development. WA Spaces Platinum offers a much improved system that allows you to network with your buddies, keep track of their actions, blog, post comments, and generally communicate much more effectively.

Kyle and Carson are a team, but they’re not the only dynamic duo or trio at WA.

Getting in touch with and forming alliances with other WA members will improve your learning and give you a network of people to work with as you build your online business.

The more active you are within WA Platinum, the better (and faster) you will achieve success. Some people work well on their own and don’t use anything but their training resources and tools. However, if you are like Carson and Kyle, having a buddy network of people to bounce ideas off or ask questions of makes Internet marketing a lot easier … Let alone fun!

WA Platinum will be be your “Virtual Office” with brand new functionality to allow for better networking.

“YOUR SUCCESS IS OUR SUCCESS”

This is truly a principle that Kyle and Carson have instilled in their day-to-day activities and one you will see that they follow with almost anything that they create. They want you to succeed and Wealthy Affiliate Platinum is going to lead to much greater member success.

Brought To You By
Kyle & Carson
The Wealthy Affiliates

www.WealthyAffiliate.com

Niche Marketing Inc.
P.O Box 13243 549 Michigan St.
Victoria, BC
Canada

Do you know these 7 concrete ways to build trust in a relationship? Often, what really makes a relationship work are not the things we think of first. For instance, do you think you always need to spice things up? Wrong! Predictability is more important than variety in a relationship. The following seven methods are guaranteed to grow your connection by improving the level of trust in a relationship.

First, as I mentioned in the opening paragraph, you need to be predictable. This goes against the common notion that you need to “stir things up” to keep the romance alive. Sure, going to a new restaurant or giving a surprise gift can be nice, but most of all, we need things to be consistent and steady in order to make our relationships work. Consider that trust in a relationship is built on being reliable day in and day out.

Next, you need to make sure that your words always match the message. This means that your partner needs to hear the words which match your body language. If you say you are happy but you are frowning, your partner doesn’t hear your words, he or she sees your face and the tone in your voice. Your parter needs to be able to trust what you are saying. When the words match the message, you build trust in a relationship.

Third, you need to have a fundamental belief in your partner’s competency. If you don’t you won’t have the trust in a relationship that you need. When lovingly communicated, the truth is never destructive. When you do not believe that your partner is competent at some things (or indeed, anything), you violate the trust in a relationship.

Don’t keep secrets. Secrets destroy the trust in a relationship. Be honest and open. Assume everything you know will eventually come out. Secrets require enormous energy on your part. That is energy that could be going into building the relationship.

Fifth, don’t be afraid to let your partner know what your needs are. Don’ t make him or her guess what you need. Let them know. It is okay to be self-centered as long as you are not selfish. Indeed, if you are reluctant to assert your needs, you may go overboard in the opposite direction and smother your partner.

Sixth, learn to say no. When your partner voices his or her needs, that is a good thing. But you don’t need to say yes to everything. A partner cannot respect you if you never say no. Refusing to be subjugated to the other person’s will actually builds trust in a relationship.

Finally, always pursue growth. When you plant a flower, you begin by digging in the dirt. Digging in the dirt of our relationships can sometimes cause pain. But, through that pain, we prepare the soil for future growth. Don’t be afraid of turmoil, crisis, or questions. These become the fertilizer for growth and change. Embrace what is difficult.

When you decide to work on trust in a relationship, you are bound to encounter a little pain. But, as you work through this pain, you will not only become stronger as an individual, you will also strengthen your coupledom.