Twas The Night Before Christmas in Dog River

People often say that they don't like to blow their own horn. If this is the case why own a horn? Why have a perfectly good horn go to waste. I suppose what they mean is they usually have someone blow their horns for them (steady you ...naughty!). Kings and Queens have those fellas that have the dirty big trumpets they toot on when they enter the room. I have never seen royalty blow their own horn in that respect. What if all the trumpeters were ill with gastroenteritis and the Queen needed to herald her entrance to a room? She would have to do it herself wouldn't she? She would have to run in, pick up the big trumpet, give it a parp, run back to the door and come in the room again. She would be all out of puff doing that all day and ones royal tootsies would be barking!

Six Degrees of Dog River - The Music of Kevin Fox

A wise man once wrote "Never let a man tickle you with the wet end of a dry Stoat." That is something we can all relate to and often live by. Another wise man wrote about the fundamental interconnectedness of all things. His theory being one thing will naturally lead you to another no matter how seemingly unrelated they are. That wise man was Douglas Adams, creator of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and shambolic detective Dirk Gently.

Not A Lot Goin' On - Corner Gas News November 2017

Well November is here, the seasons have changed as fast as the colours of the leaves on the trees.We are giving in to the urge to finally turn the central heating on. The shops can finally start shifting the Christmas cards that they have had on the shelves since the middle of July. Children are starting to make their final demands list for the big jolly man and making sure they eat all their greens as a last ditch effort to try and wipe away all the memories of the incident with the vacuum and the goldfish tank and get on the good list.

We Corner Gas fan's have to wait a little bit longer for our big present. Corner Gas Animated is merely months away now. There has not been an announcement for the official air date but it is expected to hit Canadian airwaves in January.

By Popular Demand - Slow Pitch (Season 2 Episode 17)

When entering the world of hard hitting journalism, such as the type you have become accustomed to on my previous posts, there are many skills that you must bring to the table to produce high quality column inches. The first of which is not to giggle when people say "column inches" to you. It is extremely important to have an eye for detail, remembering to dot the t's and cross the j's. Self editing is crucial, you really shouldn't drone on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on before making your point. Of course you must always, no matter what, corroct yor spolling mistooks.

What Are The Odds - A Lovely Chat with Craig Northey

The universe is a very strange, unusual place. She is full of wonders many that are yet to be discovered and others that have baffled scientists for many a long year and will continue to do so for many more to come. Infinitesimal, microcosms spreading out indefinitely are full of life of unending variety all of which interact sporadically, intellectually and psychically and yet the possibility of which of these disparate bodies, molecules or chemicals will interact together is nearly impossible to calculate. The ratio is almost as high as the chance of the composer of Corner Gas's two theme songs performing a gig at my favourite local venue not twenty minutes from my home. However, the correct celestial bodies aligned and lo it came to pass.

An Evening with The Steven Page Trio

The year is 1993. Every Saturday night myself and three of my closest chums would cruise to Portsmouth. Two of us, with freshly minted licences, would take turns driving, whose turn it was determined by whose mum was feeling brave enough to give lends of her car to a bunch of spotty adolescents.

We would be off to the then brand new, and somewhat trendy, Port Solent complex with a mind of popping to the pub and wooing ladies, the theory being that said ladies would be so impressed that we had arrived in our own car that they would become very keen to rub their lips on our faces and fall helplessly in love with us. Despite all the spots.

Dog River Denizens - Darla Biccum and Amy Matysio

By Popular Demand - Buzz Driver (Season 5, Episode 7)

We all have favourites. You may have a favourite drink, band or pair of underpants. Sometimes the favouritism placed on these items can elevate them to "lucky" status especially in the underpants department, but that is a detail for other, more specialist web sites. The choice we have to make is whether to share these special treats with the rest of the world. If we share them with others will this dilute how special they are? Sometimes when those closely guarded units of joy get taken by the masses your enthusiasm wains and you start looking for something else to treasure. An argument can be made for keeping them secret so it's your thing, a gem to be savoured by you and only you. Look at all that kerfuffle in Middle Earth over a bit of jewelry for example. Underpants should definitely be kept to yourself....well maybe share them with your dry cleaner from time to time

Not a Lot Goin' On - Corner Gas News August 2017

Apparently there is a phrase that suggests that you can wait for an excruciating amount of time for a bus and eventually three will come at once. Why three? You never hear anyone say "I waited alllllll day for the bus and seven turned up at once!" Apparently bus drivers always travel in packs of three, or a heard of three, depending on if you liken busses to wolves or cows. I am sure David Attenborough will do a documentary to explain it to us one day. Corner Gas news can have the same traits as tardy bus drivers. I sit here staring at my laptop for a couple of weeks and nothing. Then my wife tells me I should turn the computer on and check out the internet, suddenly my screen is chock full of new headlines for the discerning Corner Gas fan.

First up, some weeks ago we got a little peek at some new pretty pictures from Corner Gas Animated. See if you recognise these Dog River landmarks.

That's right! The Foo Mart, Liquor Store, Dog River Hotel and Oscar and Emma's house. Give yourself a gold star and a rub on the tummy if you got them right. Details on the production of the new show are pretty sparse, so it was exciting to see these fully realised scene setters. There was another little tease of behind the scenes action from Mr Brent Butt who put the following video up on his all new ButtPod You Tube channel, created to co-inside with his podcast. During the video, check out the animatic of "Little Brent" who seems to eat something he ought not have done and the consequences of such flagrant actions!

A quick note to anyone of influence from the Funko company that may be reading. If you create a line of Corner Gas Animated Pop Vinyl figures you have at least one guarenteed sale of a "Little Brent"

Seeing as I have already mentioned it, here's a quick catch up on the latest episodes of The ButtPod. Brent has been up to his Canucks peeked cap (can you still call it a baseball hat if it supports a hockey team?) in busy work with the on going production of the new show, so since I last wrote there have only been two episodes released. As with my last round up of episodes, no spoilers here, just some poorly researched information about Brent's guests with links to their websites available with one swift click on their name below.

Episode Three - Erica Sigurdson

Erica is an award winning stand up in high demand on radio and television. She performs regularly on the comedy festival circuit around Canada. She is best known for her work on CBC's radio show The Debaters which is very popular in Canada. Being a show we do not get in England I imagine it involves witty banter about topics, as discussed - or debated if you will - by the people in front of microphones. See how quick I pick up on a premise? How am I not a professional review writer, or is it reviewist? Review Monger? Erica won a Leo award, along with another Buttpod guest Peter Kelamis, for best comedy screenwriting on the 21st Annual Gemini Awards, which I believe is a commendation given to people who are really good at being born between May 21st to June 21st.

Episode Four - Dave Shumka

Dave is the co-host and producer of the award winning "Stop Podcasting Yourself". On each episode Dave and podcasting partner Graham Clark, chat with a different guest about awide range of subjects to tickle your funny bone with. Brent has been a guest on the show a number of times and no doubt was hilarious, I haven't listened - but I will....eventually. Dave is also currently in the running for the "Least Amount of information about a human being on the Internet" award, currently held by ButtPod guest Ivan Decker. So there is very little I can tell you here other than Dave has a B.A. in Political Science....which is very interesting. This snippet of info actually puts him out of the running for the least info award as I have no idea if Ivan Decker has a B.A. I personally hope Ivan has a City and Guilds Diploma for Crochet and Needlework.

I recommend checking out Stop Podcasting Yourself, the link to the site is above in Dave's name and perhaps we can all learn a little bit more about Dave, and each other, through his comical musings.

Other Corner Gas cast members are keeping very busy at the moment. A couple of months ago I mentioned that Lorne Cardinal is due to appear in The Last Wife, by Kate Hennig. The play, directed by Glynis Leyshon, will be performed at The Martha Cohen Theatre in Calgary by the Albert Theatre Projects company. The play is a retelling of the story surrounding the relationship between Katherine Parr and Henry VIII. The tale has been noted as an examination of patriarchy, sexual politics and womans rights. Here is a brief ad for the play that appeared on various social media last week featuring Lorne as Henry VIII in a very nice suit.

If you are lucky enough to be in Calgary between September 12th - 30th please go and check out this fantastic production. Click the picture above to be taken to the booking site to buy your tickets. Anyone who would like to post a review of the show here on the site can do so by sending your thoughts to me at any of the addresses on our contact page. 

I also had a little look at the following video, although it is from a previous production, it gives you a great idea of what the show is about and a little of what to expect. 

Tara Spencer-Nairn has popped up on SyFy channel opus Killjoys as ominous character Kitaan. Killjoys, now in it's third season, is the story of three bounty hunters, working for the Retrieval and Apprehension Coalition, capturing bad guys with warrants out for their arrests. These agents have a reputation for spoiling the fun these naughty types get up to and are there for known as "Killjoys" across the J cluster. The J cluster is part of a heavily populated area of space known as The Quad, run by the tyrannical "Corporation". J cluster is located between I cluster and K cluster but is very popular due to lower property values and nicer views.

Each episode we follow the adventures of a team of three Killjoys, kicking the butt of that weeks big bad. Killjoys is available to watch on the Syfy Channel, even here in England! Seasons one and two are also streaming on Netflix. I have started to watch and it is certainly creating a very in depth universe in which the show is set. So much so it is very hard to write you a brief synopsis of these later episodes and have you understand what is going on. I will give it a go, what's the worst that could happen?!

In episode five of the latest season, "Attack the Rack", we are introduced to Kitaan a Level 6 agent that has been infected with Hullen. See, one sentence in and already I have absolutely no idea what this means. I have researched on the net and lets just say it's all very complicated and would take me a dozen posts to explain. Basically, it suggests that Kitaan is one tough cookie and has a regenerative superpower that makes her rather hard to dispose of, a bit like those bottle tops that you are not sure of they can go in the recycling bin or not.

Kitaan comes across as Hannibal Lector type, possibly disturbed and under confinement, but holds important plot building information the lead characters need to save the day. She returns in the season penultimate episode "Reckoning Ball" and is the key to the Killjoys plan to trap Aneela by implanting a false memory in Kitaan which she can, in turn, put into the Greens collective memory. Are you still following? Me neither, long and short is it's all very exciting and makes for good telly. In the process of carrying out their plan Kitaan escapes and engages in some pugilism with one of our heroes before meeting her fate, which may or may not lead to her return in a future episode. 

I have read some reviews of these two episodes and the overall consensus is that Tara has done an amazing job of bringing this rather intimidating character to life. I am not sure if she is a method actor but, as her followers on Instagram will know, Tara has been spending a lot of time in the gym getting incredibly ripped, which obviously helps when believing that Kitaan could offer you up quite a biff in chops!

Fred Ewanuick is featured in the new movie "The Prodigal Dad". A comedy drama, or dramedy, telling the coming of age story of a father who should have come of age some time ago. The titular Dad arrives back in his daughters life ready to party and solve everyone's problems, except his own.

The movie is written and directed by Robert Wenzek and is having it's premiere at the Whistler Film Festival in December. It will be competing for the Borsos Award and Corner Gas Fan Corner wishes their team heaps of luck. The trailer for the movie can be seen here on it's Facebook page and features Fred in action. I shall keep you updated on the release of the movie and where you can get to see it when it get's full release.

Gabrielle Miller features in the cast of the new movie Garage Sale Mystery: Murder By Text which
premiered this month on the Hallmark channel. This is the latest in a series of movies based on the novels written by Suzi Weinert about antique shop owner Jennifer Shannon who becomes embroiled in a series of mysteries. A bit like Murder She Wrote only the old dusty things are on the shelves and not solving the mystery. The story revolves around the band of country singer John Dalton. They all receive a text which appears to be a suicide note from their bassist. However, when Jennifer discovers that a taser was used to stun the victim before her death she begins to wonder if the musician is in fact the victim of murder. Gabrielle plays Beth Anne, estranged sister of the co-owner of Jennifer's shop Dani. Her story line is more of a sub plot and covers her relationship with Dani who is wondering why Beth has come to visit her out of the blue. Gabrielle has been noted as a welcome addition to the cast of regulars and there is hope she may return to future entries to the series. The movie can been seen on The Hallmark Channel around the world and Channel 5 in England, check your local listings.

If you are thinking of going on vacation soon why not treat yourself to a trip to Dog River. In conjunction with CTV the town of Rouleau, Sakatchewan, which was used for all the exterior shots when Corner Gas was being filmed, has added a new walking tour of all the major locations used on the show.

The tour has fourteen locations, each having a brass plaque located on them. You can scan a QR code that is on the plaque with an app on your chosen smart device and you will be treated to videos about the making of the show and a sneek peek of what the building will look like in the animated show, which I may have just spoilt for you above. If you don't want to ruin the surprise please do not read the start of this post.

Here is a picture of the map of the tour to wet your whistle as I am going to cover Rouleau in another post, mainly because this one has become insanely long and you are probably asleep by now.

 I will advise however that a chap in Vancouver told me it took four days by car, train, steamer ship and donkey to get to the town, which wasn't exactly accurate. It will take 348 hours, if you walk or 16 hours 41 minutes by car to get there from Vancouver. I don't know! If you can't trust a sales person from Hot Topic to give you accurate travel information who can you trust!

Finally just a little plug for my fellow Corner Gas enthusiasts over at www.cornergasonline.com. Jeremy and Jules are regularly adding their own commentary tracks for episodes of Corner Gas in chronological order. Please check them out, click the link above to go straight to their site. I am sure we will be hearing more from them soon here at Corner Gas Fan Corner.

Phew, that's it for this month. I gotta run, I've a bus to catch.

The Corner Gas Episode Guides - Documenting Corner Gas

There have been many books written that have been deemed classics of the literary form. The works of Shakespeare, Catcher in the Rye by....an author and Dirty Jokes and Beer By Drew Carey. These all have value and merit in that they all contain words, some of them large and clever, but they are all unified by one overwhelming oversight that could wash all the awards and praise heaped upon them away with one metaphorical Johnsons Baby Wipe. None of the so called masters of the form had the forethought to include a Corner Gas episode guide within their pages!

Perhaps, this is because the task is one of considerable responsibility. How do you capture such a fantastical oeuvre of work within your oeuvre of work? I would take a brave person of incredible skill, pluck and stamina to take on such a Herculean task. Luckily such a person exists.

MICHELE SPONAGLE

Michele Sponagle has written what are the essential guides to the making of Corner Gas. Michele is an extremely accomplished writer, editor and author. She has contributed to many magazines and worked on projects for publishers and companies covering a wide range of subjects. The wealth of her experience is particularly evident in the Corner Gas guides.

 Available in two volumes, "Tales From Dog River" (TFDR) covers seasons one to three and "Dog River Confidential" (DRC) continues from season four to season six. As I have mentioned before, I am aware that when I heap praise on Corner Gas related items on my site that it could be construed by the reader as being somewhat redundant. No point in having a fan site and say your muse is a crappy one! However, in my geeky lifetime I have read many episode guides and making of tome's and I have to say the Corner Gas books are by far two of the best I have ever read (another good one is The Mystery Science Theatre 3000 Colossal Episode Guide - but let their fan site inform you about that one).

The amount of detail Michele has included is fantastic. Most episode guides are glorified lists. Titles of episodes, with a few scant plot details, air dates and cast and crew members included in their pages. Such books are often no more than expensive photo albums, containing more to look at than read. TFDR and DRC are chock full of behind the scenes details, interviews and photo's covering every aspect of the show. There are even recipes for Chilli Cheese Dog's and The Ruby's Apple Pie!

Each book starts with a foreword by Brent Butt, both of which are very enjoyable, however Michele is careful not to devote the book to the stars of the show. There is plenty of information about the main cast, particularly in TFDR, however every man and his dog (river) are included here which really helps create a rounded picture of the amount of people involved and the effort that goes into the creation of every episode of Corner Gas. There are interviews and thoughts from conceivably every person of interest involved in the making of the show, which is a lovely touch. The episode section of each book is contained in the middle of the volume, book-ended by all the meaty details of the behind the scenes action. Each episode listing includes a plot synopsis and episode specific behind the scenes details and also includes quotes, snippets of dialogue and cast and crew anecdotes. We are even given a count of how many times we hear the word Jackass in that broadcast and how many cups of coffee are consumed! If this is not enough also included in both books are resource guides with website addresses for other places to look for more Corner Gas related information. If we are lucky enough that Michele is tasked with writing a new book to cover Corner Gas Animated perhaps www.cornergasfan.com may be included in this wonderful little section (nudge, nudge, wink, wink #cheekypoorlyvailedrequest !)

Some lucky ducks having their episode guides signed by Michele and Brent!

The only problem I have with these magnificent books is, how in the blue blazes am I going to be able to top them here on my site. What in fact are blazes, how are they blue and why is importance heaped on them so?

Well the simple answer is, I'm not going to attempt it. You are! I am going add a new page with a list of episodes in each season so you have a guide to the content of all six seasons. In essence a tick list so you can make sure you have not missed an episode of Corner Gas where ever, or however you choose to watch it. If the broadcasting of sit coms where you are is the same as we get here in England, episodes are vary rarely shown in order. It is rarer still for a season of a show to be shown
in it's entirety. So our guide will help you keep track of what you have and haven't seen.

Here is where you come in. I would like readers to submit to me their favourite episodes. Let me know which you like and why, go into as much or as little detail as you like. Also include your star rating for the episode, out of five. I say stars so you know what I am on about - I will however be using a gas pump rating system which works the same as stars ...only the stars are pumps, it fit's my remit! I know, creative genius! Try and be as honest as you can, even the greatest show can't have all five star episodes. Why not let me know if there is an episode you think isn't quite so hot as others and give that a rating.

Any episode recommended by you the reader will then be reviewed in full by myself and I will add your "pump" rating to the episodes listing in the episode guide along with a snippet of your own review. I will include your name and rough area in the world that you come from unless you say not to, none of your other details will be given. Eventually we should have a handy dandy one stop guide to which episodes are the true greats and I will one day write up some sort of top ten as voted for by the public.

Whilst that get's up to speed, I highly recommend buying Tales From Dog River and Dog River Confidential as the perfect resource for all things Corner Gas. For our English audience I have included links to the Amazon listings for both books in their cover pictures above. I am sure the rest of the world can pick them up at all good bookshops, and some of the bad ones too.

Once you have the books don't stop coming here for all the latest news and shenanigans - don't want to write myself out of a job or anything!

Corner Gas and Me - A Personal Journey

I will quite readily admit to flying the flag for geekiness. I am a movie buff, I collect comics, I love all areas of comedy, I play blues guitar and I collect autographs. I have a lot of passions and I have explored them all in depth and some almost became professions. I worked the comedy circuit in and around London and was starting to get the hang of it until I had to quit in favour of paying bills regularly. I have played my guitar all over the world and was very close to getting a management contract until I had to quit.... in favour of paying bills regularly. I have, and still do enjoy all my dabbling in these areas but this is the first time I have started a fan site and it feels odd to me. This is mainly because some feedback I have had assumes that I must live, eat and sleep Corner Gas. Truth is I don't, and I hope this doesn't upset some of the few readers I have garnered thus far. The general consensus is that to run a web site like this you have to be one of those slightly special, obsessed types. I have had messages from people that assume I have gone all "One Hour Photo" and have a house covered floor to ceiling with screen shots of characters from the show as I sit in a room slowly rocking back and forth in front of television with Season 4 permanently playing on a loop.

I love Corner Gas. It is one of my all time favourite shows.There are a number of other t.v comedies, situation or otherwise that I adore. Spike Milligan's Q series, The Young Ones, The Drew Carey Show, Open All Hours and Porridge. All shows I can watch over and over again and find something new every time. Some I can even quote and they are all up there in my little black book of t.v comedy greatness. However, I never felt the need to start a website about any of these great series. So why Corner Gas?

There are a couple of shows that are close to my heart for a different reason, one that is more emotional. Corner Gas is one of them.

Briefly, outside of Corner Gas, the tip top of my pile are "Bottom" starring the sublime comic talents of Ade Edmundson and the late great Rik Mayall. This is a show I loved from day one but all the more so now as it is a programme that helped bring myself and my wife together and the one show she can out quote me on every time. When we first met we would sit and watch episodes, get drunk and do bad impressions of Rik and Ade, and laugh until someone had to run to the toilet for a wee.

 Then there is Married...with Children, fairly base, much like Bottom, but anarchic and game changing for it's time, but always funny mainly due to it's amazing cast. I love this show because it was my dad's favourite. He worshipped at the temple of Al Bundy and tried his best to relate to his family based life pressures and would rib my mum something awful telling her that he knew exactly how Al felt. In reality his life was nothing at all like Mr. Bundy's, far from it, but my dad always found humour in pretending he was hard done by, as do I on occasion. Every time I watch Married, I think of my dad howling at poor down trodden Al, his shoulders jiggling up and down in mirth as Al's put upon head sunk deeper into his own chest. That thought makes me very happy.

My Dad, indirectly, is also the reason why I fell in love with Dog River and it's residents. Strap yourselves in, here comes the sad bit.

On June 28th 2013 my father died very suddenly from a massive stroke. As far as we can tell he was sitting in his chair, watching a movie, got up to turn everything off and collapsed. I lost the person I was closest to, my best friend, in the blink of an eye. This was just the start of four years from hell, my wife and I lost family members and dear friends, one after the other and had to deal with the cruelness of Cancer and Dementia. Along with other worries, we really felt at one point we were never going to see the end of it. It was particularly hard to deal with. These events really bring your own mortality in perspective and have also sharpened an awareness in me for the suffering of others that was never there before. I know there are hundreds upon thousands of people out there that have been through similar periods of stress and my heart goes out to them all.

I was struggling to watch movies and t.v. shows through out this period. It was my favourite thing to do but something I did with or talked about almost exclusively with my Dad. We were always talking movies my whole lifetime. There are very few people that I know that share my love of film to the same degree. I had no one to share them with any more so I felt there was no point in watching, it just made me sad. I cried watching Guardians of the Galaxy because I enjoyed it so much, but not tears of joy, I just wanted to be able to tell my Dad about it. Then I found Corner Gas, by accident - but you know that because you have read all my other posts...haven't you? I watched a few episodes and in some respect because I knew it was something my dad wouldn't like. Dad never really took to situation comedy, outside of Married...with Children, a show which probably tickled the naughty side of his funny bone. I didn't expect to like it much myself. I could watch it because I wouldn't need to speak to anyone about how good it is. Right?

Corner Gas, taught me how to laugh again, and laugh I did. Laughed hard, for the first time in a long time, and it felt so good. I started to dig into as many episodes as fast as Amazon could ship them to me and whilst waiting for the next DVD set to drop onto my door mat I researched the show on line to find out what I could about the cast and crew. To my surprise this wasn't as straight forward as I expected. Considering that this was Canada's biggest comedy show I was dredging the internet for, it didn't seem to have much of a web presence. Even the official website doesn't hold many golden nuggets of info for a burgeoning fan (no offence if anyone involved with the site is reading). Which got me to thinking, perhaps I could fill the void with a little fan site. All those other great shows have a dozen sites tracking all the minutiae of their being, so why not the mighty Corner Gas? I had just started my other site Blog Paper so I figured I could run both sites together and they would create traffic for each other and I would eventually become one of those internet millionaires you hear about and be able to buy myself a solid gold cheese grater and have my socks made out of old William Shatner toupee's. Time and responsibility said otherwise and I never got round to doing anything about it.

Skip forward to September 2016 and the after effects of all the issues that my family, along with other issues that had surfaced in my professional life, were starting to take their toll. I was on my way to being rather ill. My ever amazing wife arranged for me to visit Vancouver, with the excuse of getting to see Brent Butt perform live as the perfect reason to go. The real reason for the trip was to try and help me chill out, get things straight, figure out how I was going to get myself together before I fell ill as I have done in the past. I was travelling across the globe to try and push the reset button.

And it worked. A week with pretty much nothing to worry about, other than what the hell a Poutine was, did the trick. I realised I needed a permanent distraction from the daily circus that goes on my head and the best way to do that was write. I love to write, always have, especially in my stand up days. I was a bad joke factory back then. So I went back to Blog Paper, set it up properly and wrote a little post about Corner Gas which got a great response. So I revisited the idea of the fan site and here we are. I am more focused and things are feeling much better.

So a personal need and the fact that there was just nothing else out there covering the show is why this site came to be. Corner Gas is a growing part of my life because of this, which is an amazingly enjoyable thing to see happen. I didn't expect the response to be so great so the time I am spending in the company of the show and the amount work I am doing is increasing daily. I love every minute of it. I like to think my Dad would be nodding his head in approval reading anything I have written. Even though I am positive he wouldn' t have watched the show.

My Dad developed my sense of humour for me as soon as I was old enough to appreciate the likes of Spike Milligan and The Goons. He played old reel to reel tapes of episodes of that old radio show he had recorded back in the '50's. I got the comedy bug from then on and nurtured the development of it myself over the following years searching out new comedians, shows and movies which eventually lead me to Corner Gas. That's not full circle I realise, there is plenty more out there for me to discover, however Dog River seems like a nice place to hang around for a little while and have a giggle. I hope you join me....I'm not mad......honest.


For help and advice for those who have been affected by someone suffering a stroke please visit these wonderful website which are full of important information -

U.K. - The Stroke Association -  www.stroke.org.uk
Canada - The Canadian Partnership for Stroke Recovery - www.canadianstroke.ca
U.S.A. - The National Stroke Association - www.stroke.org

Not a lot Goin' On - Corner Gas News July 2017

I was sitting in my living room a few weeks ago, watching the dog watching dogs on the television. I was disappointed that the programme wasn't about dogs that watch dogs on telly. That way the whole situation would be like one of those clever photos of the same image that seem to go on into the distance forever. It was one of those slow Sunday afternoons where you find yourself on the sofa wondering how the bottom of your socks end up on the top of your foot without any known provocation from yourself but have somehow been coerced there by some unseen force. All of a sudden great news and glad tidings arrived from Instagram to liven up the weekend proceedings. The Buttpod is coming! Now, being that I haven't posted for a little while, The Buttpod is here!!

Brent Butt has a fantastic new podcast available now at www.thebuttpod.com and iTunes ! Each week, Monday in my time zone, Brent is putting out a new podcast in which he has a chat with some of his showbiz chums. There is a different guest every episode and they discuss  many diverse topics as superpowers to the process of writing a hit record.

You might be glad that I have given you the domain name above to find the show. In doing a google search for the above image I seemed to confuse the internet ants that gather up information for you. The search engine asked me if I meant Buttpad and showed me a range of images of products available for you to buy that either make the end of your rifle more comfortable on your shoulder should you be thinking of shooting at things for a long period of time, or another item to put in your undies to make your bum look like Kim Kardashians. Once I assured Google that I was looking for a light hearted, comedic podcast then it let me see what I needed and not a picture of the bike from Batman Begins. 

I have listened to all the shows available so far, including two that Brent recorded to get the hang of his shiny new recording equipment. I have found each episode is a fantastic "behind the scenes" look at the world of stand up comedy. I used to be a stand up comedian, until the bank manager made me give it up, and love hearing stories from comedians on the road that echo some of my experiences in the past. If you have an interest in the workings of the comedy circuit the conversations Brent and his guests are full of interesting nuggets of information. If you are just a listener looking for a giggle and an entertaining hour or so you can't go far wrong by tuning into the Buttpod. 

There are two regular features each week, "More Smarter" and "Fake Sponsor". Every week Brent is wanting to grow more smarter by his guests giving him a little knowledge that he may not have heard before. He is also taking suggestions of such info that has been submitted by listeners. So why not send something in! It seems that facts that are sent in will not be checked for validity so you could make stuff up if you fancy. Here are a few facts of a factual nature for you (one of them may very well not be true) just to give you and idea of what you could use.

• Clark Kent is two inches shorter than Superman

• The Patagonian Tree Frog is the only amphibian  that can be trained to recite all the dialogue from episodes of Fawlty Towers.

• Whoopi Goldberg used to be a bricklayer

If you have a little gem of possibly obscure info that you would like Brent to have a look at you can contact him via the following channels - 

Twitter and Instagram - @thebuttpod 

Facebook - TheButtPod

E-Mail - thebuttpod@gmail.com

Every episode also has an advert for a fake sponsor for the show. These have been very funny, keep an ear out for one for Jarvell Coffee, my favourite so far. I believe Brent is keen to get a genuine sponsor, so if you are such a person that can provide sponsorship please contact Brent by via the above addresses.

Now, as you know I try and cater this blog for fans of Mr Butt's work who live outside of Canada. The best aspect of the show, from this point of view, is that we get to be introduced to comedians and artists we may not have discovered otherwise. The only problem that will arise from this is that we overseas types may not get to see these guys live outside of watching a few You Tube videos. Unless you fly to Canada to see a show, but what kind of nutcase would do a thing like that? 

Now I don't want to go an give out a bunch of spoilers and tell you all the great bit's in each episode, and there are many. I will cover a group of episodes every time I post in our news section and instead of listing episode highlights and writing a review I will give you a potted biography of the guests in those episodes, a little taster of their work and links to their websites (click the blue bits).

Episode -1 Peter Kelamis

Much like many a great Marvel Comics title of the Nineties, not satisfied with having a run start with Number 1, Brent put out an Episode 0, which I will get to in a moment - be patient! If you search for the buttpod on google, around five entries down you will find a listing for The Buttpod on www.brentbutt.com . If you click on it you will be whizzed off to a page on Brent's regular official site with a test episode of his podcast on it. This is the only way I know to get to the recording as I can't for the life of me find a link to it on the sites homepage. I am sure it is there, but I am over 40 and by law technology has to baffle me, I am sure you young whipper snappers with your iPods and your funny ways will find it in a jiffy (jiffy is old person speak for a short period of time). I am calling this Episode -1 

Brent's guest is comedian and actor Peter Kelamis. Mr Kelamis has been a hugely successful stand up since first breaking onto the Canadian comedy scene with his first headline spot at Punchlines in Vancouver. He has won nominations for stand up comedian of  the year as well as for writing on his CTV comedy special. He is well known for his voice over work particularly as Goku in the Dragonball Anime series. He has been seen in many films and is soon to be appearing in "Why We're Killing Gunther" opposite Arnold Schwarzenegger. Here's a little clip of some of his great stand up ...Peter Kelamis that is, not Arnie. Schwarzenegger can do stand up but most of his jokes involve killer robots or cigars.

  

Episode 0 Jamie Hutchinson

Those of you listening to this episode with insane aural recognition skills will know Jamie Hutchinson as "Rocket Ronnie" from the Corner Gas episode "Face Off" (Season One, Episode 12). Jamie has been working the comedy circuit all over Canada for over 20 years. He also appears in film and t.v. regularly including Brent Butt's movie "No Clue". I have to say the following clip is hilarious and caused me to embarrass myself laughing too loud with my headphones on in McDonalds.

Episode 1 Craig Northey

Craig Northey is a veritable Canadian rock god/legend/thoroughly nice bloke. Craig is one of the founder members of Odds, chart topping band who's CD's I am having awful trouble getting hold of here in the UK without having to re-mortgage my house. Craig is of course also known for being a long time collaborator with Brent and is responsible for creating the Corner Gas theme tune "Not A Lot Going On"  and end credits song "My Happy Place" Craig often writes the score for movies including cult favourite "Kids in the Hall - Brain Candy". He also collaborates with other artists most notably Steven Page with whom he is touring the UK in October. 

Episode 2 Ivan Decker

Ivan Decker is an award winning young comedian working out of Vancouver. I would imagine one of the awards he has won is "Least Amount of Information about Any Human Being on the Internet Ever". I would love to tell you a little about Ivan but I can find...nothing, which is a shame because, as much as all the guests on the podcast are great Ivan is the best so far. He gives great banter! I could make something up about him like, in his spare time Ivan trains Patagonian Tree Frogs to do impressions of John Cleese, but I won't do that. If you are able go and see him live, then could you ask him a few details about himself and pass them to me so I can put them up here. Cheers!

Episode 2 also makes mention of a chap called Ian Richards at the 37mins 42secs mark. He sounds like a very lovely and handsome chap and no doubt very dependable. The kind of guy you wouldn't mind lending money to and would also allow to date your sister. If you look hard enough you may find evidence of his early days in stand up on the net, but you would have to look reeeeeally hard (although I do have a tape on request!)

That's it folks. More Corner Gas news next month, keep an eye out for a few site updates I am working on and should be up soon. Now go download the Buttpod!

Not a lot Going On - Corner Gas News May 2017

We here at Corner Gas Corner would like to let you know that we are here tirelessly searching the internet superhighway for all the latest news relating to your favourite t.v. show, to save you the bother. We ...I say we, it's just me to be honest, it's a royal we. What does the Queen write in this situation when she is writing her blog posts? "We we" probably. I wonder what she blogs about, probably Justin Beiber and knitting patterns. Sorry I digress, which is easily done as despite our, my, vigorous battering of my broadband allowance there is very little new info for a t.v. show long since off our screens.

Ah! Surely there is some updates on the new animated show? I hear you cry. Well actually, I don't hear you at all, and hopefully you are not crying - you will make your dinner all soggy. If you are in fact eating your dinner, you may be de-lousing the dog or reading the Queens latest blog about recovering dropped stitches. Excuse my assumptions. Well, there is very little news regarding the latest project but I have found this little video of an interview with Brent Butt regarding the genesis of the project and he does offer a few little nuggets of info about what we might expect in the new episodes. 

Lorne Cardinal, aka Dog River's very own law enforcement Quinton Davis, has a fair amount of news to share recently. Mr. Cardinal can be seen starring in The Last Wife at The Martha Cohen Theatre, Calgary, Alberta, Canada from September 12th - 30th. Lorne will be playing Henry VIII in the play written by Kate Henning which takes a modern look at the relationship between Henry and his final Mrs. the eighth Cathrine Parr. So I would recommend anyone in the area pop in the venue and grab a ticket quick before they sell out for what I am sure will be a magnificent performance in a riveting play.

Lorne also reported via social media that the short film he stars in God's Acre has won an award for Best Short Dramatic Film at AMPIA Rosie awards. The film, which was mostly shot in Alberta, can be seen at various film festivals at the moment. The plot revolves around Frank, living on his families ancestrial land which is being threatened by rising water levels due to climate change. Frank has to wrestle with descision to evacuate his family land or adapt to the changing environment. I will post any screenings I can find here on future posts, in the mean time why not head over to the official web site www.godsacrefilm.com to see all the details but here is the trailer to whet your appetite.

Iffy water problems seem to be a popular side topic for Corner Gas cast as Eric Peterson has been busy treading the boards in Vancouver recently in popular play The Watershed. Written by journalist  Annabel Soutar, it tells a story based on her own experiences whilst investigating the decision of the government to pull the plug on an experimental lakes project in 2013. The documentary like play contains dialogue which was culled from actual interviews carried out by Soutar and is both a road trip based comedy as much as it is a commentary on environmental issues. The Watershed has garnered excellent reviews, particularly for Eric Petersons' performance in multiple roles. The Cast also included Molly Kidder who happens to be Eric's real daughter. The play has toured a number of cites in Canada, a tour which I believe has now come to an end - as I can't find any up coming dates on the net, if you know different contact me and I will post any dates here in a later entry.

Exciting news for anyone feeling charitable and in need of some fantastic Corner Gas memorabilia. Head on over to Ebay on May 16th when the District of  North Vancouver Firefighters Charitable Society will be auctioning this rather awesome guitar signed by the cast of Corner Gas and a bunch of other famous folk including the ever amazing Craig Northey, composer of "Not A lot Goin' On" and "Happy Place" as well as other classic tunage. For more information head over to http://northvanfirefighterscharity.ca and support a fantastic charity

Finally people of Britain, our voices have been heard! Our screams for more blighty based Corner Gas content have been heard. Either that or it is a likely a massive coincidence, or if you are a Looney tunes character, a cohinkydink. Craig Northey, who you will remember from the previous paragraph, is joining Steven "Ex - Barenaked Ladies" Page on tour around our Septed isle in October. Here are the dates, if you are at the Portsmouth gig I will let you buy me a drink...you're welcome!

Wednesday   October 25th      Luton               Bear Club

Thursday      October 26th      Portsmouth      The Wedgewood Rooms

Friday           October 27th      London            Bush Hall

Monday        October 30th      Birmingham    Hare and Hounds

Tuesday        October 31st      Manchester      The Deaf Institute

Wednesday   November 1st    Glasgow           King Tut's Wah Wah Hut

Kiddie Corner Gas fans will also be pleased to know that Netflix has just added The Adventure Club to it's ever growing collection here in England, and no doubt it is available on the platform in other countries around the world. The movie stars Corner Gas stalwarts Gabrielle Miller, Lorne Cardinal and is co-written by the always awesome Fred Ewanuick. The story has three kids find an ancient artifact capable of granting wishes and decide to use it to save a local science centre. However, there are baddies about who will stop at nothing to use the artifact for less altruistic purposes. Check out the movie on Netflix now, my full review will be coming soon. Until then, here's another trailer to enjoy

So that's all I have for you this time. As you can see, as usual, there's not a lot going on.....but when you look closer! That's good, someone should use that in a song

Dog River Denizens - Janet Wright

JANET WRIGHT

(Emma Leroy)

The Return of Corner Gas... Hoorah!

Well wouldn't you know it. It is a very exciting time to be a Corner Gas fan. I was worried that I wouldn't have anything to write about, being that the show has been off the air for a few years now. In fact here in the  UK it has never been on the air, full stop!

The main aim of this blog is to try and introduce my favourite show to people in England who will never have heard of Corner Gas. So far my efforts have been outstanding, I am aware of at least five people over here who are aware of it's existence and another one who has actually started to watch episodes due to my consistent banging on. I feel this should go down as a positive achievement. However, if you are not in my immediate circle of friends and have just floated onto my site from some random Google search from which you were looking for someone selling a corner sofa or people offering better home heating service rates, please check out my previous posts to find out about what I am sure will soon become your favourite televisual experience. Other than when Judy Finnigan's top popped open that time, obviously.

Looking at other fan sites and their content, I wanted to try and set myself apart and offer something that no one else does, which is very difficult. Nobody want's to read a dry running through episode highlights and transcribed jokes that might not translate too well. However, when writing about a defunct show, you can't fill the page with exciting news of new seasons and production news. I have been at my wits end trying to come up with something outstanding to show all my British chums (and the rest of the world, don't want to leave anyone out, no walls going up here my friends!)

Then it happened, little Canadian pennies from heaven fell from the internet easing my pain like two paracetamol and a nice cup of tea. Brent Butt, show creator, teased a cartoon version of himself and shortly after a teaser trailer dropped for Corner Gas: Animated.

A new series of 13 episodes are being produced at this very moment at The Smiley Guy Studios. The entire original cast are back with the exception of Janet Wright who sadly passed away in November of last year. The production has been given the blessing by Janet's family to include her character of Emma Leroy, long suffering matriarch of the Leroy family. It was suggested that the production that Corrine Koslo was cast in the role.

Corrine was a close friend of Janet Wright and Brent Butt has noted that it has been a "soothing balm" to have her step into the shoes of Emma. Corrine was born in France and grew up in Halifax, Manitoba. She is a graduate of Vancouver Acting Playhouse Acting School and has been performing on stage for 30 years. Not one stage, different ones, across Canada. She is also award winning, scooping up two Dora Mavor Moore Awards, Jessie Richardson Awards and a Sterling Award, for various roles over the years which is a pretty big deal - especially to those who haven't won any yet. She is also well known for her work as Lady Rataxes in the Barbar children's television series.

Corrine has spoken of how she was mentored by Janet as she began her career as an actor and how Wright nurtured and cared for young performers. So it seems fitting that the role of Emma will be cared and nurtured by someone so close to Janet.

The picture above shows the rendering of Emma Leroy in her animated form and it is one of very few designs that have surfaced on the net over the last few months. Key animation is due to start in March so hopefully more pictures will be landing very soon. I am sure animators pencils were be ablaze from drawing up a storm and colouring in like fiends over there in Canada. So far, as well as Emma we have been treated to a look at Brent, the gas station and The Ruby in all their 2D goodness.

Recording of the cast has started and will take place in Vancouver and Toronto. The cast have taken to social media with pictures of what seems to be fun times!

I will keep you all updated on the latest goings on with the production of Corner Gas: Animated over the coming weeks and months. In the mean time, if you are from England go look for the show, I'm sure you will know somewhere to find it. If you are from anywhere else in the world and love the show, contact me ianblogpaper@gmail.com, fill me in with your Corner gas memories or any other aspect of the show you would like me write about that may help me sell it to my British brethren. I look forward to hearing from you. Until then I am going to go get myself a chilli cheese dog and have a read of The Howler.