http://www.rock1053.ca

A guy by the name of Patrick spends a lot of time across the pond in the likes of Saudia Arabia and Bahrain.  On his most recent trip back home to Canada, the dude took the time out to pick me a Harley T, complete with a pic of a camel on it. (thanks again by the way, I really do appreciate it)

 He then showed me a video he took of some of the sandstorms out that way and while this isn’t the video he showed me, you’ll get the idea.  And I thought the dust storm from The Mummy was bad.

 http://youtu.be/DwrSrLodaXE

While the Prince of Darkness has sway with millions of fans around the world, the I.R.S doesn’t play favorites.  Ozzy Osbourne and family owe some back taxes to the six-figure tune of 1.7 million dollars, a number that I can’t fathom regardless if it’s written with red or black ink. Ozzy’s wife and handler, Sharon, cut a cheque with the appropriate amount of zeros and once again it’s nothing but the finest culinary bats for the Osbourne clan.  Sometimes however, not even the deepest vaults nor the wealth of Scrooge McDuck can save the chart toppers of our day.    

The Red Headed Stranger, Willie Nelson, at one time owed more money than there were people living in the land of the Red & White, roughly 32 million. When the suits were seizing Wille’s houses, art, land, vehicles and anything else attached to the Nelson moniker, he had no choice but to release an album titled ‘The IRS Tapes’, with all proceeds going to the tax man. While most items and assets were bought by friends and given back, his most prized possession, his guitar Trigger, had been hidden somewhere on the island of Maui as some things just aren’t for sale.  Of course, the heat’s been off Willie for a few years now, Trigger is back in his gnarled up hands and over 6 million of his dollars are now in the hands of the U.S. Government.

  Sometimes however, paying the taxman isn’t an option.  One of the biggest acts on Earth, The Rolling Stones, were completely broke despite making all sorts of dollars or pounds or lira or what have you. Sure, they did due diligence and passed the buck (no pun intended) onto their accountants and managers but without much success.  Ultimately, they left their home country of Britain and moved to the land of pate and truffles but it did result in one of their greatest efforts; Exile on Main Street.  Ultimately, I’m thinking they were forgiven as Mick Jagger was knighted in the years to follow.     Coincidentally, Revenue Canada sent me a ‘reminder’ the other day in reference to ensure I get my taxes completed on time.  I’m proud to announce that 2008, 2009 and some of 2010 are almost finished and I’m assuming that they’re looking for money.  It’s been my experience that our friends in parliament only send notices when you owe and ironically never if they are warranted to treat Mr. John Q. Taxpayer to a stack of finbacks and sawbucks.  Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to dust off my abacus, otherwise known as a Saskatchewan calculator in certain circles.

Earlier on the show, Cassie shared a story with me about an on-the-loose John Deere tractor running amuck and causing some havoc at a Wal-Mart parking lot.

 I’ve attached the 6 minutes of video and I have to admit I’m a little dissapointed to learn that this happened in Ontario as I assumed things like operator-free tractors only occur through the Straw Curtain, a.k.a, Saskatchewan.

I like Thursdays, not because it’s so close to the weekend, not because most of reality TV is over for the week but because it’s an opportunity for me to take my weekly column from the www.medicinehatnews.com and paste it right here.  That’s right, I’m lazy and sometimes proud of it, if I can find the energy that is . . .

With the exception of my 6 month old poop monster, it’s music that dictates our household. It came as no surprise then that while under a small influence of coffee flavored tequila, the tipsy topic of banned music was under the microscope.  Earlier this year amid snowstorms and hiding potholes, the Dire Straits and their glorious ‘Money for Nothing’ sing-along came under fire but Big Brother has been banning music since Allan Freed coined the term ‘rock and roll’.

  Before it was deemed the 2^nd greatest rock song of all time in 2004 and long before it was added to the Library of Congress Recording Registry, Rolling Stones’ Satisfaction was initially played only on pirate radio stations.  The reasoning, and I use that word loosely, is not because of its suggestive lyrics but rather of anti-commercialism sentiments, whatever that is.  While the decision was ultimately reversed, I don’t think the powers that be ever questioned the songwriters themselves, which probably would have been a stellar place to start.     One of the greatest songwriters of our time, Bob Dylan, had his entire music catalogue revoked on a Texas radio station not even one year after the Summer of Love took over this continent.  While Dylan has created some very opinionated tunes over the years, that’s not why his repertoire was thrown under the wheels of the love bus.  Turns out nobody could understand what Bob was actually singing about and instead of throwing caution to the wind, this radio station threw Bob’s records in the trash instead.     John Denver and the phrase ‘hard partying, beer guzzling, drug inducing womanizer’ don’t go hand in hand but the easy listening music superstar came under some heat from the FCC and a tune that would become an official song for the state of Colorado.  This sober tripping straight shooter had his huge hit, Rocky Mountain High yanked from radio stations across North America.  While the song referred to John’s love for the state of Colorado, the word ‘high’ was viewed as a drug reference and not the albeit strange natural high Mr. Denver sang about when reflecting on his passion for Aspen.    Forget about metal and punk getting the radio shaft, the powers that dictate what and won’t be played on air have a hankering for picking on folk music and this time not even The Boss was safe.  The album is 2005’s Devils & Dust, nominated for 5 Grammy Awards, and that wasn’t enough to save the Springsteen record from being pulled on various radio stations across North America.  This time around, the reason behind the censor was ‘adult themed songwriting’.  He should have opted for an album of Raffi covers I guess.

One of the many great reasons for living in the Great White North is that we’re susceptible to all four seasons of the year, even if that means putting up with winter in the springtime.

 Case in point, I hosted my springtime BBQ last weekend and it was no April Flowers weather, you know.  Sometimes however you gotta make due with what you’re given and in this case, Mother Nature gave me an instant fridge, big enough to house and cool all of my friends’ beverages.