Uber Dad

Music and acting – Imagine having a career where you could do both of those things. Our guest today has had some great success in both those realms.

My connection through music

I have always loved music - specifically heavier music/hard rock even some metal.

Bands like KISS, Van Halen, AC/DC, Rush, Def Leppard, okay and some Metallica although I really just like their t-shirts.

I fell in love with the sound of rock guitar in the early 70s and wouldn't rest until I learned how to play all of my favourite riffs. I would practice for hours and hours - lifting the record needle and putting it back and playing until I got it right. I got pretty good. I will prove that to you on another episode and play you some of my biggest hits. I don't wanna brag, but the rumours are true - I did play my school's library. And, after my first performance ever at a middle school in Brampton, they had to lock us in the Principal's office as rabid fans mobbed us and took my shoelaces and guitar picks. Very beatle-esque. True story. You can see why I got hooked on the idea of becoming a rockstar.

I played in lots of bands through my teens and into my 20s. and did the bar circuit in Southern Ontario, into Quebec and a little bit down in the US. One of the bands I used to play in still plays AC/DC covers and they are one of the top AC/DC bands in Canada and they even play large festivals on big stages - even arenas now. Figures. That was my dream. Poof!

I was good enough that I played the same bars as all the great bands that came out of Toronto played - places like the Gasworks, Hot Rocks and the Opera House, where many famous bands go their start, so I'm fortunate enough to know a lot of great musicians from this area. That group includes Phil X from Bon Jovi, Barry Stock from Three Days Grace, Jason Hook from five finger death punch and many others. I'm proud to know those guys and so happy that they have achieved great success - they deserve it more than you can imagine.

I quickly realized that I wasn't cut out for the rockstar life, so I began to use my design skills to work with many of the bands. I did some logo design and video work - with my partner in crime - Todd Southgate, former CityTV videographer and incredible Director in his own right. Todd will be the guest on our next show - you will definitely want to listen to that episode as well.

One of the bands we did some work with was Slash Puppet. Todd and I were both very good friends with one of the great guitar players in that band, Lou Garscadden. We went to school with him and had followed his musical career. Lou was born to be a rock star. Tragically, he died of a heart attack in 2001 - way too soon.

Slash Puppet was at the centre of all the musical excitement in Toronto in the late 80's and early 90's.

They were writing, recording, performing… they were buddies with Sebastian Bach and the guys from Skid Row, they got signed by Ray Daniels of Rush fame, they won “Best club act” at the Toronto Music Awards, they were on TV…

It was all happening – it was an incredible thing to witness.

I remember when my band rehearsed at the same facility as many of these bands. We would just wander the halls and listen and even go in and just hang out. I even got to play with some of the guys in Slash Puppet using Lou’s gear and it sounded INCREDIBLE. I’ll never forget that.

If you search youtube for the song "Slow Down" by Slash Puppet, you'll see the video Todd directed, shot and edited. I was the executive producer, creative director, therapist and the guy who had to constantly tell all of the friends of the band to stop moving stuff on the damn set. That was the first video that Todd and I did that got played on Much Music - Canada's MTV, so we had clearly hit the big time.

Slow Down by Slash Puppet

https://www.youtube.com/watch?

One of my absolute favourite things in the world is comedy. When I was growing up, stand-up comedy was hard to find. A friend might have had a Steve Martin or George Carlin record, but it wasn’t like it is now - where you can listen to comedy anywhere, any time. There are many comedy channels out there - youtube, sirius xm, podcasts - the list goes on. I used to have to wait until Sunday nights at 10:00 to listen to the Sunday Funnies on Chum-fm. I would sit a tape-recorder beside the radio and record the entire show (and theatre of the mind right after it with the old time radio shows like suspense, bold venture, x-minus one) and I would listen to those tapes endlessly. I think that listening to comedy like that did a lot of great things for me - it gave me a sense of timing that I find very useful when telling a story, talking to large groups of people or even presenting in a boardroom. You would be amazed how many people in business are terrible presenters. With all that, it never occurred to me to even try stand-up comedy. I don’t think I have the guts to do it even as I sit here thinking about it right now… But, I do think it seems like an interesting career. I go to see a lot of comedy shows and the headliners always make it look easy - even though I know it’s not. This series of “career podcasts” is meant to inspire you to have discussions with your own kids about interesting career options so you can hear what it’s like from people that really do that for a living.

Today, we are very fortunate to have comedian Glen Foster with us. You might know him as “That Canadian Guy”

Glen has been one of the top headliners in Canada for over three decades.

As his bio says, he didn't just work the road, he's one of the guys who helped to build it.

He had his first one hour comedy special in 2000 and, since then, has gone on to perform at:

Just for Laughs (8 times)

The Winnipeg Comedy Festival

The Halifax Comedy Festival

The Comedy Network

He has been a frequent guest on CBC Radio’s “The Debaters”

And he has a radio show on Funny 820 in Hamilton

And he performs regularly in comedy clubs in southern Ontario

I was fortunate enough to meet Glen a number of years ago when I worked at a company I will refer to as “Fraud Co”. The reason for that is an entire episode on its own, but suffice it to say that it was an awful company. Many great people worked there, so it wasn’t a complete waste of time. One of the best things they did to try and raise morale was to bring Glen in to entertain us one day. At first, I thought - this is going to be challenging for him. More than half the company were not from here and English was not their first language. But Glen got up there and immediately had everyone laughing hysterically. It was an incredible thing to witness - and I remember thinking about the professionalism it took to pull that off. After that, I brought Glen in on as many projects as I could at Fraud Co - we had many great chats and I was always in awe of his creativity and of course his humour.

Please visit www.mynotflixspecial.com and check out Glen’s show “Prickly - Live at the Rose”. It’s a fantastic deal at just $3.99 to stream it. I have watched it and it’s fantastic. You can get an even better deal if you join his email list - then you can see the show for just $1.99.

Glen’s main website is www.thatcanadianguy.com and you can find lots of great clips on YouTube when you search for him. Thank you again to Glen for being on the show.

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Thank you for listening!

Credits

Uberdad is written, produced and hosted by Rick Brown

Disney dream comes true for Peter Whitehead, Creative Director for the Walt Disney Hometown Museum.

I remember my Father asking me what I wanted to be when I grew up - I had no idea - I didn't even know what they options were. As a result, I went down a number of wrong roads before accidentally discovering my passion for creative and design. Somewhere along my winding career path, I met Peter. His ability to think big changed my life and put me on a path to success. Peter eventually found his own path to his ultimate career working for the Walt Disney Hometown Museum in Marceline, Missouri. Peter, a life-long Disney fan, now runs this shrine to all thing Walt Disney in the very town that Walt grew up in. Marceline will transport you to a real-life town that inspired Main Street USA.

Read the CNN article on Marceline here:

https://cnn.it/2NsXboY

Help Marceline bring the Midget Autopia track back to life:

https://ca.gofundme.com/autopia

In addition to the interview with Peter, Rick talks about his own career path and all the twists and turns that eventually lead him to starting his own creative design agency. One of the most challenging questions for kids is "what do you want to be when you grow up?". Many think that they will be able to play video games for a living - and, some actually do. The root problem is that kids generally have no idea what kinds of career options are out there. They need to find their passion early so they can begin acquiring the skills that will help them achieve their dream job.

And, Rick also talks about his latest side-hustle: voice acting. He has begun auditioning for voiceover work and has already had some success in the field. He plans to continue taking voice-acting lessons to improve his skills.

Visit www.uberdadshow.com

Follow @uberdadshow on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram

Make sure to sign-up for our email updates here:

http://uberdadshow.com/subscribe/

Show introduction:

Uberdad is a show for parents of teens. I try to bring you interesting and informative content in an entertaining way, The goal is to have some fun with it and work together so that we can have the best possible relationship with our kids. After all, one day they'll be driving us around and changing our diapers. Whenever I tell people the name of the show, they start waving their arms wildly and pointing at themselves in an effort to say that THEY are Uberdad. Moms and Dads alike. I think we all identify with the concept of transforming from parents of sweet little kids to becoming their driver. Uberdad is the virtual cab company that we all work for. It's more of a club.

Episode summary:

This episode is about something near and dear to my heart: food. If you are what you eat, then I am PIE. My older son would be Chicken Fingers and Fries. My wife would be Nutella. None of those situations are good. So... we have Food Addiction Recovery expert Sandra Elia with us. Sandra will help us understand why we eat the way we do and how to change our habits so we can all become healthier. She has an incredible story and I know it's going to affect you. Most of the teens I know have odd eating habits. They still eat like little kids - ordering plain cheese pizza and not eating the crust. When I talk to other parents about it, they say their teens do the same things. For some of them, they can enjoy this time where their metabolism allows them to eat junk food and stay slim. Others struggle with their weight. The thing is, the food they are eating is going to catch up with them sooner or later. Especially when they get to the age of 16 or so, because that's when a lot of them stop playing sports.

UberDad Update:

30 year old son taken to court by parents to be evicted

4 year old boy rescued from 4th floor balcony by real-life Spiderman

Latest teen craze: Deodorant Challenge

Kellogg's releases edible record

Breakfast Cereal manufacturers experiencing decline in sales

About Sandra Elia:

Sandra Elia is the world's first Certified Food Addiction Counselor.

She lost over 100 pounds over 13 years ago and has kept it off.

She is a pioneer in the field of recovery from compulsive overeating, addictive eating and obesity management.

She is the vice chair for the Toronto chapter of the Canadian Obesity Network

And she is a certified professional coach.

She runs Ontario’s only 8-week outpatient food addiction recovery program and has co-created Canada’s first 28-day residential treatment program.

She also runs retreats where people can reclaim their health

Food addiction is something that plagues teens and parents alike and I think we all need to understand this better

Interview Re-cap:

It's not your fault that you are over-eating, but you can do something about it.

Take it one-meal at a time.

Ask yourself - do I need all this sugar?

Look for healthy options that won't block your brain's "full switch"

Try to put together a healthy meal each time - chicken, fish or meat with vegetables.

Don't negotiate with yourself to "just have that one cookie"

Avoid late night binge eating

Eat healthy fats and whole foods

Be a great example for your kids. Eat better and exercise. Try and get them to go with you.

And, if you are struggling to do this on your own, contact Sandra and get some real help.

You will feel so much better and you'll be there for your kids.

If you are struggling with this, I highly recommend that you contact Sandra and look into her programs.

Visit www.sandraelia.com

Show sponsor (UberDad Update):

www.buildaguitar.ca

Credits:

Writing, production, research, editing, theme music and artwork all created by Rick Brown

© 2018 by Rick Brown

Show Notes:

Theme: Goalies and Goalie Parents

- Introduction

- Voicemails

- UberDad Update

- Feature interview: with YouTube superstar goalie Trav4oilers

- Goalie parent wrap-up

- Ron Mays clip

- Show wrap-up

Trav4oilers

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFBWSLarsNTsHe8y5id9hEg

Goalie Parent 10... actually, 11 Commandments:

Be your goalie’s biggest fan

Make sure they are having fun.

Give them the tools they need to succeed - decent gear, training and lots of encouragement. As Travis said, when you’re starting out, you don’t need custom gear, but make sure you get the right pieces and make sure they fit properly

Don’t be negative with them. Don’t make them dread going to and from games with you.

Approach everything as a growth opportunity. Don’t focus on winning - a no-shot shutout does not help them at all.

Listen to them. Don’t lecture

Be a positive role model.

Do not coach them from the sidelines. Let the professional trainers and coaches do that - your instructions them will undo all of that and take the fun out of the game.

Help them get life lessons out of things that don’t go their way. Formulate a plan to overcome disappointments and help them achieve their goals.

Invest in your kid, not the goalie. Your kid is not going to be your retirement plan. If you’re pushing them up the ladder in hopes that they’re going to get a full-ride scholarship, or make Millions in the NHL, you are doing this for all the wrong reasons.

And the bonus commandment - don’t be the reason they don’t make a team. There is such a thing as a “Parent cut” and I have seen it used many times. Interestingly enough, the parents that typically cause that have NO idea that they are the reason their kid didn’t make the team.

Special thanks to the UberDad Show sponsors:

BuildAGuitar.ca

http://www.buildaguitar.ca/

Ron Mays Goaltending School and Cutting Edge Hockey Development Centre

http://cehockey.ca/goaltending-private-lessons/

Comedy calls by Carey Lee

http://www.careylee.ca

Welcome to the very first episode of UberDad! In this show, we cover what UberDad is all about, introduce some feature segments and cover the Teen vaping epidemic that is sweeping the Nation.

SHOW NOTES

Teaser (Vaping)

Intro

Welcome message

Messing with Telemarketers (Air Duct Cleaning)

About UberDad Host Rick Brown

UberDad Update

Vaping Epidemic

Interview with Ben

Summary

UberDad contact info

Wrap

Teen Vaping Epidemic

CNN Article:

https://www.cnn.com/2018/04/06/health/high-schools-vaping-epidemic/index.html

Real California Teens talk about vaping

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gjYT4YG7jOk

Talk to your teens about vaping: A tip sheet

https://e-cigarettes.surgeongeneral.gov/documents/SGR_ECig_ParentTipSheet_508.pdf

 

GoFundMe page for the families of the Humboldt Broncos hockey team

https://ca.gofundme.com/funds-for-humboldt-broncos

 

UberDad Update sponsor:

http://www.buildaguitar.ca

YukYuks Comedian Carey Lee:

http://www.careylee.ca