In Praise of Autumn, Romantic Mysteries, and Birthday Girl Olivia Newton-John!

Wow, Fall’s here already? (I’m sorry I’ve been MIA, but life intervened.) I sure hope everyone had a good Summer. Now I must confess that I prefer Autumn because it never fails to energize me. The weather, generally pleasant, is much appreciated - especially after this particularly sweltering, record-breaking summer! I love the vibrant burst of colour on the trees, and especially the crunchy-crackle sound of the dried fallen leaves on the sidewalk underfoot.  

 Vivaldi, Autumn

Earth Wind & Fire singing SEPTEMBER

For me, in September there’s always a palpable frisson of excitement in the air. Don’t you feel it too? Labour Day reminded us that folks are once again hunkering down at work after summer vacations, while youngsters head back to school either filled with excitement or dread, but heading back nonetheless. On the Hindu calendar it’s Durga Puja. This festival according to Wikipedia ‘marks the victory of the Goddess Durga over the evil Buffalo Demon Mahishasura. Thus, the Durga Puja festival epitomizes the victory of Good over Evil.’ Certainly a wonderful thing to celebrate, in my opinion. On the Jewish calendar it’s the holiest time of the year - Rosh Hashanah, New Year’s through to Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, and I’d like to wish everyone who celebrates, a very happy and healthy New Year.

Rosh Hashana - Jewish New Year

Durga Puja Festival - Hindu Goddess Durga

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Mystery buffs will enjoy the DECEPTION Mystery Anthology from Highland Press. It’s loaded with sleuths, corpses, and even romantic ghosts!

One of the anthology authors, (my Tennessee friend Victoria Bromley writing as VICTORIA HOUSEMAN), sent me the book. I’m happy to share with you that she’s concocted a terrific tale, THE GHOST WITHIN. While Victoria is primarily known as a Romance Writer, evidently she is extremely adept in the Mystery genre as well. In The Ghost Within, a high-powered lawyer is compelled to resolve the mystery surrounding a handsome ghost, who repeatedly visits her in her dreams. I, for one, couldn’t get to sleep until I’d read to the very end and unravelled the mystery of this compelling yarn!  

For more info or to order this book: http://www.victoriahouseman.com/deception.htm

 

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 *Sept. 26: Happy Birthday Olivia! 

Olivia Newton-John

Had a blast at OLIVIA NEWTON-JOHN’s concert last Saturday night, and I've never been more MELLOW.  Olivia dazzled the audience at CASINO RAMA - the only Canadian stop on her 2012 North American Tour. Vinnie and I went into fan-mode, singing and dancing in our seats to exquisite renditions of her hit songs from Grease to Gaia, and more.  

At one point Olivia reminisced about how thrilled she was for the opportunity to dance with Gene Kelly in the film XANADU. Coincidentally I recently tripped over this lighthearted clip of her singing, dancing and 'interviewing' Gene Kelly for a TV show:

Olivia & Gene Kelly

At the concert, when Olivia sang YOU’RE THE ONE THAT I WANT, I flashed back a few decades, to the night actress DIDI CONN was in Toronto  for the Canadian Film Premiere of GREASE. Didi played Frenchy, one of Olivia/Sandy’s  best pals, the one who wanted to be a hairdresser. 

Snippet of Olivia singing You're The One That I Want @ Casino Rama, Sept. 22/12

 I was thrilled silly when Didi asked me to watch the film with her, (we stood in the back of the sold-out theatre), and after she spoke to the audience, she invited me along to a dinner-party in her honour, which was great fun. So as I listened to Olivia singing, I was reminded that thanks to Didi and Grease, there’s less than 6 degrees of separation between Olivia and myself.   

Olivia & Didi in GREASE

At the end of the concert, Oliva surprised the audience last Saturday night by giving a shout-out to her gal-pal, Canadian Classical Guitarist LIONA BOYD, who just happened to be sitting two rows behind us.

  Liona Boyd

CASINO RAMA rocks!  I discovered that the first (and last) time I was there was in 1998 - before they’d even built the theatre. It's amazing they STILL had that info on their computer. And a little scary. LOL

Want to know if Olivia is performing at a venue near you?
http://olivianewton-john.com/tour.html

* It may be Sept. 27th in my Eastern timezone, but it's STILL Sept. 26th in Western Canada & The USA for at least another 30-45 minutes at the time of this posting!

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A World Of Good

Darlene L'Archeveque, and her wonderful, powerful memoir: a world of good.

In 2007, award-winning author Darlene L’Archeveque was ahead of her time. In the past year or so, the traumatic and far too often, deadly, effects of schoolyard bullying has become a catalyst for high profile celebrities and others, to share their own tales of torment - and hope. Darlene’s powerful memoir a world of good, presents the first 17 years of her harrowing, extraordinary childhood. Not long after it was published, this amazing book went on to win the Independent Publisher’s Book Award.  

 

Darlene Larcheveque (left) & me. June 2008

At a publishing convention in Toronto, in 2008, I was privileged to meet Darlene, who I’m delighted to say has become a cherished friend. Darlene says, “I decided to write my story because I was often asked, “How did you get into the music industry as a musician and sound engineer? I certainly didn’t have a stage mother and I didn’t meet my father until 2000. The culmination of my life groomed me for that work. It wasn’t conducive to sitting and chitchatting, and saying, ‘Well you’d have to go back to my childhood.’ So I decided when I retired from the industry it was time to put my thoughts down on paper and address that.”

The pivotal moment when her life transformed from idyllic to nightmare was when her mother suffered an emotional breakdown. Darlene explains, “My mother attempted suicide when I was an infant. She probably had a bipolar disorder.  I was the only one left at home with her as my sister and brother were in school. My mother put me in my crib in one room and then barricaded herself in another room with some music blaring very loud. My 11 year old sister, who found my mother, says she discovered her because she heard my screams over the music. That’s when our mother-daughter bond was severed. I was very young just under two. But I was very aware that my mother was my world at that point and that I depended on her for everything. I felt that she had ‘left’ me. In the meantime my mother was taken by ambulance to hospital and my sister and 9 year old brother and I hid from the social workers who were trying to apprehend us until my mother got back from the hospital a few days later.”

“When she came home from the hospital it was evident that she had not completely recovered.  As a baby, I kept waiting for my mother to return. I was convinced that this woman wasn’t my mother - just a look-alike replacement until my mother was ready to come back. She had her physical features, but her eyes showed me that she wasn’t my mother. It took months until I realized that my mother wasn’t coming back. I felt motherless from that point on.” 

She continues, “As a result of that, music and I didn’t start off on a very good footing. It took me several years to get over that. When my mother uprooted us and brought my brother and I to Calgary, insisting that we never speak French again, it was a shock. At school there was no way to catch up and learn a language I didn’t know. In those days there weren’t any ESL (English as a second language) classes. So I turned to music.” 

In a world of good Darlene recounts in heart-wrenching detail, how as a sensitive child, she coped along with her two much older siblings, in a broken home, when her father deserted the family shortly after she was born. Darlene endured frequent neglect and brutality from her mentally unstable mother - and her maternal grandmother; barely survived poverty in the Welfare System; suffered sexual abuse from various pedophiles; culture shock from being uprooted at the tender age of 7 from Francophone Montreal to Anglophone Calgary; and schoolyard ostracization - due to being forbidden by her Anglophone mother to communicate in French, the ONLY language she could understand at the time and was unable to converse in otherwise.  Apparently her mother was trying to wipe out any connection to her previous life in Montreal with her Francophone husband.

In Montreal, Darlene was able to escape the insanity of her home life by going to school, excelling as a student, and playing with her friends during and after class. In Calgary, there was no such respite. At school she was taunted and beaten for being different – for being the ‘Frog’. 

To escape this type of horrific reality some kids might turn to drugs or the streets, becoming runaways or delinquents, or to contemplating suicide themselves. Instead Darlene turned to music for serenity and empowerment. She initially found it by listening to Karen Carpenter’s songs because Karen enunciated clearly, slowly, and precisely. Darlene says, “In the song, Yesterday Once More, I learned 150 English words! That was when music became a driving force, reaching out to me.”

Karen Carpenter

Her saving grace was, and remains to this day, her sunny personality, and the magical and comforting effects of music on her soul. In Darlene’s case, it was the nurturing, angelic voice of Olivia Newton-John, which inspired a growing belief in herself, and the possibilities of a happy and fulfilling future. “Instinctively, when kids have a void in their lives, they will reach out for something else, they will go look for it.” With creativity and determination, the elfin teenager managed to meet and unwittingly elicit kindness and encouragement from such stars as Cheryl Ladd and Cliff Richard, and ultimately, Olivia Newton-John. Darlene met Olivia under the most unusual circumstances, which I won't reveal here, as it's a must-read.

Cheryl Ladd

Cliff Richard

Darlene with Olivia Newton-John

The book not only has the requisite photographs of Darlene’s childhood, and the celebrities she’s met, astoundingly she’s unearthed and included government documentation, explicit proof of her days subsisting on welfare, and social workers commenting (confirming) her mother’s unstable behaviour.  

In her late teens and early twenties Darlene escaped the grim trajectory in which her life was headed, and got involved professionally in the music industry.  She says, “My sister, who is 11 years older than I am, became my legal guardian. She signed my first contract when I was 17. At 23 I was on the Board of Directors for the Alberta Recording Industry Association. I began to write my story in 1998 when I retired, after a lucrative, diverse run in the music industry.

Steve Kipner (who wrote Physical), Darlene and John Farrar (who wrote Olivia's other hits & producer) at the Beverly Hilton, Los Angeles.

These days Darlene is an EMS Practitioner and Examiner for the Alberta College of Paramedics. She frequently works as the medic at NHL games, and travels as a trainer (den mother) with various AAA teams. “They are my boys.” She announced proudly, introducing me to the team when they recently visited Ontario for a tournament.

Darlene (far left) and her 'boys': 2009-10 Sutter Cup Bronze Medal Champions! A/C Avalanche

The book’s title a world of good encapsulates my friend Darlene’s optimistic, cheery attitude. She didn’t buy what life tried to sell her when she was a youngster. She ploughed through the emotional and physical landmines like a superhero, and was reborn via the healing powers of music. As an EMS Paramedic, she’s become a true force for good in the world. She’s proof positive that life does get better and she's paying it forward. 

 

Best of all, Darlene has a joyful family life with her terrific, supportive husband Darin and their four children. Unbelievably, to me at least, she’s also a grandma of two. Oh and for someone who wanted to become a Veterinarian when she was a youngster, Darlene is also 'mom' to a house full of pets including dogs, cats, parrots and turtles! 

Currently she's working on a sequel, and a screenplay based on her memoirs. As Cheryl Ladd enthused in a glowing endorsement on the back cover: (a world of good is) "an inspiring, uplifting story.” Don’t we all just love a happy ending? I know I do. 

Darlene at a book signing event.

To order a copy of a world of good: Click Here

For more information regarding this book: Fax. 877.326.3272 

Vinnie's Version

Mr. Romance and Me - The Prequel!

After reading my first blog, my husband reminded me that 11 years prior to our meeting via the BBS, we’d actually met before. I confess that to this day, I have absolutely no recollection of this, but I CAN confirm the details... Here's his version:

Vinnie: “I used to hang out at the local Chess Club and the players would take turns picking up refreshments for everyone. One evening it was my turn, so I went to this doughnut shop just around the corner. There was a line-up, and when I finally got to the front of the line, I saw this nice looking girl working alone behind the counter. I wanted to hang out there longer, but it was hectic and she was busy. Clearly she was inexperienced, but to me she looked tremendous. Unfortunately that day I didn’t look any better than some bum stepping out from under a bridge. I had a beard and was really scrawny and scruffy. 

"So I placed my order. Like I said, she was really inexperienced behind the counter - but she was beautiful. I returned the next evening hoping to see the same girl again, and to my disappointment, she was not there. I kept going back, day after day after day, but she was no longer there. I was broken-hearted.

“Years later I met this girl by chance through an online BBS. She seemed vaguely familiar, and I never forget a face. When we were in the ‘getting to know you’ stage, it came up in conversation that she’d lived near the Chess Club for a short time. My mind did a small leap and I asked her if she’d ever worked at that doughnut shop. She said she had – but for one night only! When she showed me pictures of her from that time, it clicked that for sure, it was her.”

I was stunned when he told that I was his mystery crush - although all the facts fit. I had worked there for one night in 1982. I'd been petrified about having to work the graveyard shift, especially since it was in a somewhat seedy neighbourhood. So I asked two guys who lived in my building up the street, to sit at the counter and keep me company during my shift, which they readily agreed to, in exchange for endless cups of coffee, which I readily agree to. I was as frazzled as Lucy and Ethel in the chocolate factory TV episode and I quit the next morning. 

Unfortunately that’s all I remember of that fateful night. Thank heavens we finally met (again!) in 1993. We both firmly believe it was fate that brought us together, and here's the evidence:

We met 11 years after our initial meeting. 11 happens to be my favourite number.

My name’s Joyce. He’s from a small Italian village called Gioia, pronounced Joya.

His surname is D’Aprile which translates to ‘of April’. Can you guess when my birthday is? 

Vinnie’s name translated from the Italian means ‘to conquer’. I had an Uncle ‘Victor’.  

I’m a matzo ball, he’s a meatball. Both delicious menu choices!

Upon hearing this, a friend exclaimed, “You two are definitely Bashert!” (Bashert means Destiny in Yiddish.)

I taped my husband recounting his version of how we met, (for this blog) the other night. Afterwards I noticed the digital counter on my tape-recorder displaying this: 

 11/11

There's that number again - twice!

Coincidence? Perhaps. Synchronicity? Absolutely!

Coincidence occurs when something uncanny, accidental and unexpected happens under conditions named, but not under a defined relationship. /Wikipedia

Synchronicity is the experience of two or more events that are apparently causally unrelated or unlikely to occur together by chance and that are observed to occur together in a meaningful manner. /Wikipedia

Picture courtesy of Google Images

Mr. Romance & Me

With Valentine’s Day fast approaching, I thought my first blog entry should explain how I met my husband Vince. 

We were pioneers. No, we didn’t arrive in North America on the Mayflower, nor were we Fur Traders for the Hudson’s Bay Company. But we were among the first couples to meet via an online BBS.  Internet BULLETIN BOARD SYSTEMS were rudimentary local message boards and chat-rooms in the early 90s.  A friend hooked me up to the Internet for my birthday, in the Spring of 1993.  And that’s how I got drawn into the Great Electronic Universe - kind of like Jeff Bridges in the original TRON film, but without all the really cool animation.

A young Jeff Bridges in TRON Circa 1982.

After several weeks of chatting on The Powderkeg, a Writer’s BBS and message board, fondly known as The Keg, I also joined Black Lace, a social BBS and live chat board, whose name, I can assure you, was the ONLY really risqué thing about it, at least for me. At the time, it was quite a unique, heady experience to be sitting at my desk, typing away, 'chatting' with all these interesting people. 

One day I worked up the nerve to attend one of their weekly get-togethers at an east-end Pub. Calling myself Satin, (to my mind definitely a ‘smoother’ alias choice than perhaps, uh, Corduroy) I was accompanied by my dear friend Ellen, who had no clue about any of this BBS chat stuff, but gamely went along as my ‘security’. Known for her bon mots (clever remarks) and for constantly tossing around puns like grenades, she’s often joked that I should call her ‘The Unknown Celebrity’ like the Gong Show’s Unknown Comic. Okay… 
 

My friend Ellen as the 'Unknown Celebrity'!

The Unknown Comic - Nova Scotia's Murray Langston (The Gong Show, Late 70s)

Walking into the Pub, we spotted a table with two friendly-looking chaps who asked us to join them. Smoothie, a huggable, teddy bear of a guy, was sitting with this cute, skinny, dude who was sporting a 10 gallon Cowboy hat which appeared to be wearing him. I discovered to my amusement - and relief, that most of the fast-talking guys 'n gals I'd been chatting with over the 'Net, were basically sweet, shy, computer geeks. Although, trust me, some knew how to party-hearty. Fast forward 6 years…, guess which one was the D.J. and which one was the Groom at our wedding? If you guessed that I got hitched to cute Mr. Cowboy Hat, give yourself a pat on the back.

“How did you know he was THE ONE?" Glad you asked! I love to dance, and nobody seemed to be taking advantage of the Pub’s dance floor. Vinnie noticed me looking longingly at it, so he asked me to dance. Then he walked over to the D. J. and surprised me by requesting Chris de Burgh's song LADY IN RED as I was wearing a fuchsia blouse at the time. 

Here comes MY favourite part of this story - on the dance floor we seemed to melt into each other’s arms. Now in my case, enjoying dancing doesn’t mean being a great dancer, or even a good one. Normally I stumble around clumsily and over-enthusiastically, but for the first time EVER, I was actually floating around on the dance-floor like Ginger ‘Twinkletoes’ Rogers with my very own debonnaire Fred Astaire! And that, laddies and gentlewomen, is how I  KNEW we had something magical here… I mean the man literally swept me off my feet. Ah, l'amour! (Pausing now, for the collective swoon.)

Sheesh, were we ever that young? Vinnie and yours truly, the summer of 1995.
It’s one of the few pix of me with very long hair, and I’m wearing his cap. 
Neither of which you can see due to the darkness of the photo. Drat.

I was dating a few nice guys at that time, but nobody could hold a candle to Mr. Romance! We were inseparable from the moment we met, teetering on the precipice of 'Shmoopiness'.

 

Almost, but not quite as bad, as Seinfeld and Sheila.

Vinnie and Joycie's version of a P.D.A. (public display of affection): Once, when Vince and I were visiting my mother in Montreal, we found ourselves at the Berri-de Montigny metro station. It's the busiest subway artery in Montreal. There we encountered an extremely talented violinist playing a beautiful rendition of the Blue Danube.  Impulsively, Vinnie gathered me into his arms, and we danced right there on the platform until our train arrived.

André Rieu - The Blue Danube. Of course he was not our Metro Busker! ;);)

This Valentine's Day we’ll be celebrating almost 20 years of ‘tripping the light fantastic’. 

And the adventure continues…