What a relief

Children should never drive fast.

The Daddy Pile

My three-year old called me at work the day after Halloween to let me know he was making a "daddy pile" from his Halloween candy. Stuff he didn't like but thought I would. Great!
I got home that night to find:
Two Tootsie Rolls, one with a bite out of it.
One pre-chewed piece of bubblegum.
One orange-flavoured hard candy, that had clearly been in someone's mouth already.
One lollipop stick with no lollipop on it.
I'm one lucky daddy.

Saint John, NB - A cultural Mecca

Specials at what is widely considered Saint John's best Asian restaurant earlier this week.

The smallest parking ticket machine ever

At the Saint John Airport, NB.
I was tempted to leave a pile of change on the ground.

Mind your Ps and Ds

Is it just me, or does the D on this logo look a little too much like a P?

Eric in the Rick Hansen Relay this weekend!‏

We are really excited that our six-year-old son, Eric, was chosen as one of 7,000 "Difference Makers" across Canada to carry the Rick Hansen medal in a cross-country relay in celebration of the 25th anniversary of Rick Hansen's Man in Motion World Tour. We are all very excited about this, especially Eric. Not only was Eric singled out as a Difference Maker, but he also gets the honour of being the youngest Medal Bearer in the whole cross-country relay! Eric's leg of the relay was sponsored by Invacare Canada, a home healthcare company who hand-picked Eric as the Difference Maker for one of their three sponsored legs of the relay across the country. Eric was selected by Invacare after learning about how hard he works and the impact he has had on the way those around him look at people with disabilities and at accessibility issues. 

You are all invited to come on out and cheer Eric on, or run with him as he carries the medal for 250 m from the Sussex Elementary School Sports Field (where he will be receiving it from the previous Medal Bearer who will be carrying it in a hot air balloon!) out to the corner of Main Street and Essex Street. 

Eric's leg of the relay is scheduled to start at 9:20 AM on Sunday, October 2 at the Sussex Elementary School Sports Field. He is Medal Bearer number MB040-002 and there will be a sign with that number on it marking his starting point.

Here is some more information about the Relay:


A video from the Rick Hansen Foundation about the 25th Anniversary Relay: 

A video about the Rick Hansen Medal: 

The notice on the Town of Sussex website about the Relay: http://www.sussex.ca/content/249101

On the day before Eric's leg of the run, the Relay will arrive in Sussex, and there will also be a brief ribbon-cutting ceremony on Saturday at 3:15 PM at O'Connell Park to officially open the new accessible playground equipment that the town has installed. Our family will be there for this ceremony, so feel free to join us to celebrate the fact that our town is recognizing the need for public places to be accessible to everyone in town! 

We hope to see you on Sunday morning! 

Press Release: One of Canada’s Fastest Rising Comedy Stars Taking the Stage in Fredericton, Sussex and Moncton

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: One of Canada’s Fastest Rising Comedy Stars Taking the Stage in Fredericton, Sussex and Moncton

August 30, 2011, Sussex, NB – Multiple Canadian Comedy Award nominated comedian Nick Beaton will be cracking up the audience at the Capital Complex in Fredericton on September 6 at 8PM, the Mason Jar in Sussex on September 7 and 8 at 8PM and the Old Cosmo in Moncton on September 9 at 8PM.

Beaton, who was born and raised in Sydney, Nova Scotia and has been performing stand-up comedy in Toronto for the past several years, has toured Canada as a headline and feature act. He is hitting the three New Brunswick venues as part of his final Canadian tour before relocating to the United Kingdom to further his fast-growing comedy career.

A past nominee in the Best New Stand Up category at the Canadian Comedy Awards, Beaton was also nominated in 2010 for his Comedy Now television special which aired on CTV and the Comedy Network. He has also been seen on Much Music’s hit show Video on Trial and CBC’s Halifax Comedy Festival as well as heard on CBC Radio’s popular program, The Debaters. He is also the 2007 winner of the Home Grown Comedy competition at the world-famous Just for Laughs comedy festival in Montréal.

Nick will be headlining the shows, which will be emceed by Sussex-based comedian Lloyd Ravn, who helped Beaton organize the small New Brunswick circuit. “When I heard that Nick was going to be in the Maritimes for a few weeks before he headed to the UK, I knew I had to do some shows with him. He was always one of my favourites on the Canadian comedy scene,” said Ravn, who has performed with Beaton a number of times in Toronto before moving home to New Brunswick in 2010.

The feature acts in the approximately 2-hour shows will be as follows:

September 6 in Fredericton: Moncton-native and Montreal-based comedian JC Surette

September 7 in Sussex: Saint John comedian Shane Ogden (winner of the recent "Funniest Person in NB" contest)

September 8 in Sussex: JC Surette

September 9 in Moncton: Moncton's Neal Mundle who has been performing around Canada for several years.

Tickets for the shows are $10 and will be available at the at the door (limited seating available).

About Nick Beaton:

From a blue collar background, Nick Beaton cuts through the bullshit of an overly bureaucratic society that takes itself way too seriously. Whether it’s done through his opinionated rants, hard hitting jokes, or his disarming "every man" personality Nick Beaton is a favorite wherever he performs. He has performed at the Montreal Just for laughs festival, the Halifax comedy festival, and has received numerous accolades for his comedy, including being a myspace featured comedian and winning the 2007 Just for Laughs Toronto Homegrown Competition. You can hear Nick on Xm satellite radio's "Laugh Attack," or see him on his award nominated National Comedy special "Comedy Now!"

For more information, or photos, or to arrange interviews:
Lloyd Ravn at lloydravn@hotmail.com or 506-292-4956
Nick Beaton at nicholas.beaton@gmail.com.