I
don’t suppose that it is any coincidence that today is election day in Canada,
and ALSO Reptile Awareness Day. Although I am not eligible to vote in
Canadian elections, I’m interested in the fact that this election is so close
and so contentious. Add social media into the equation and there is plenty of
room for misrepresentation. Accusations abound among the parties and the
negative campaigning in Canadian politics is beginning to look a lot like what
happens south of the border. I suspect that someday soon some tech giant will
offer a portable lie detector that immediately detects BS. With four parties vying for power in Canada,
and much being made about choosing the lesser of two evils (which is, by the
way how Americans ended up electing Donald Trump), there may be something to be
said for voting with the intention of thwarting the Liberal or PC parties from
achieving a majority government. Reptile Awareness Day, how appropriate.
One
of my responsibilities at Hunters Bay Radio is to produce the Martini Music
show which airs on Sunday nights from 6pm to 8pm. While I am not unbiased on
the matter, I find it notable that my almost 95-year-old mother-in-law “E.T.”
hosts the show, and that she is very likely one of the oldest radio hosts, if
not the oldest radio host currently active, on the planet. When Shauna and I
began to volunteer for the station in 2014, the late James Carroll was producing
the Martini Music show. He enjoyed that genre of music and was something
of an authority on the subject. Shauna and I soon became friends with James and
we (mostly Shauna) used to have long discussions with him about the jazz,
crooner, and swing music which made up his Martini Music show. When James
learned that Shauna and her parents had been good friends with the late Vic
Damone, he was impressed. Then he found out that Shauna and her mom had written
a song recorded by Vic, and that they had met and become friends with several
other well-known celebrities, he was eager to meet E.T. They spoke on the phone
several times which led to their eventual meeting at the studio. When they
finally met, James told E.T. he wanted her to “carry the torch” and become the
new host of Martini Music. After all, who could better host a show like
that than a person born in 1925, who grew up listening to that music as a young
woman. James passed away soon thereafter.
While
I admit Martini Music was not my favorite genre of music growing up, of late, I
have come to appreciate it. Like so many genres of music that I once eschewed,
I now have a greater respect for the older swing and jazz music, thanks to
E.T.’s great selection of songs. Indeed, it’s been quite an education. As a
songwriter I have long admired many of the composers and songwriters covered in
her shows, including greats like Cole Porter, Rogers and Hammerstein, Sammy
Cahn, Johnny Mercer, the Gershwin brothers, Jerome Kern, etc.. I’ve even been
inspired to write a few songs in that retro style. In so many ways I have
become myopic in my advancing years, but the exception is where music is
concerned. This is the one area wherein I have become more open-minded.
Happy
Reptile Awareness Day. Bat Week begins this Thursday, if I am not mistaken. I hope
all of you eligible Canadian voters have cast your ballots. Freedom comes with
responsibility.
Jamie Oppenheimer,
Songwriter, Author, Blogger, Radio Producer, & Host has been writing THE
OPPENHEIMER REPORT every MONDAY since 1992 and has published the articles on
his blog since 2006. We are including Jamie's weekly reports, as a feature
of #HuntersBayRadio, The Bay 88.7FM.
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