John Robert Colombo- We Need to Know Ourselves

     In a section from the preface of a book written by Order of Canada Member and author John Robert Colombo titled “Fascinating Canada: A Book of Questions and Answers” strikes me captivating. The reason being, I feel in a few sentences he has managed to explain why I decided to stick to this blog, why it exists.

     “Many of us seem to have lost touch with our innate curiosity, especially in regards to our great country, and that is unfortunate, because curiosity is a great and essential gift. Curiosity is a trait that encourages us to wonder about ourselves and other selves, about the sciences and the arts, and ultimately about man's fate and human destiny” (page 8).

     To be honest, this is always a question I ask not only myself, but those who are ever up for a good old educated conversation. Why are we not more in tune with our own, incredible history? Our own captivating current affairs? I felt that there was one person who could maybe give me an answer as to why my generation (and even several members of generations before me) might be forgetting to delve into our massive nations', equally massive stories. That man would be John Robert Colombo himself, so ask him I did, over Reading Week 2013.

     John gave me the answer I myself had felt this whole time, public schools have been failing for the past half century in teaching national knowledge, which John believes is only an extension of self-knowledge in itself. The fact that he mentions “for a half century” is exciting, because for a half century, John has done some amazing things, here's a short explanation of his educated and interesting life.

     Born in Kitchener, Ontario on March 24^th 1936, there was little knowledge or inclination that John would go on the career path he did. His first recollections of serious literature involved flipping through an astronomy book and being taken away by the images. He told me this has since left him with a “taste for space”, that can for sure be seen in his works. Starting with self-published compilation of poems (he even helped operate the printing press) called “This Citadel in Time”, he progressed to vast genres such as true-as-told UFO and extraterrestrial stories, fantasy, science fiction, several more works of poetry and as him and I had discussed earlier- Canadiana. Of course, coming back every now and then to space.

     Canadiana is were the “half a century” comment made me smile. It brought me back to a line in the preface of the book I had mentioned earlier titled “Fascinating Canada: A Book of Questions and Answers”. John, for the past fifty years, has dedicated roughly an hour a day to learning about our country. The knowledge has granted him such titles The Master Gatherer, I would say that's pretty accurate. When asked how he hasn't run out of things to study he explained to me how he thinks he never will! From our country growing in unexpected ways, we will always have more to learn. As a back up though, he mentions how the depth of quantum physics and infinite galaxies will keep him going. That first astrology book returns.

     To the fact that we know very little of ourselves, he says this needs to be ratified. Most of the residents from his now-home-city of Toronto not only come from a different town.. but a different country. They need to know about where they live as much as the residents who have been forever do.

     John isn't one to give advice, but he mentions the late Pierre Berton who said “find your klondike”. Find what you're passionate about, and learn it. Be it Canadiana like John and I, or maybe hockey like my roommate. Be it animals, or whatever your major at school it.

     Maybe us as Canadians need to learn our history more in schools, or take the time to do it ourselves. We as a nation (regardless of our comparably young age) can write a narrative as think as any other nation. We have reached levels of culture, development and historical footprints no one assumed we could in this time.      John has given me a clearer vision of why we need to do this, as well as given me personal pride two aspects. First that I now know more about my home country, but also that I have now had the honour of discussing it with an Order of Canada Member. I feel like someday John and I may talk again, maybe this time in person about our home nation. With all of this in mind, I want to leave you with some of the facts that I have learned from his book. Maybe others will flick through it after this.

#100. Thirteen year old Leonard Thompson was the first to benefit from insulin, in a Toronto hospital

#186. Russian Revolutionary Leon Trotsky was imprisoned in Amherst, Nova Scotia during the early days of the revolution.

#191. Prince Edward Island could fit into Lake Ontario

#250. A Canadian invented the Whoopee Cushion

Andrew Wilson- Batman Doodles to Commissioned Works

     Imagine if your inspiration wasn't someones' success, but their lack of. Twenty-six year old Toronto resident Andrew Wilson explained to me just that when we met at a Tim Hortons on the corner of College and Spadina. His father would always doodle the same thing, Batman. As a kid, Andrew would see this same drawing over and over again. The thing he remembers about it though is how much it sucked. But still, four year old Andrew would repeat this drawing occasionally, to the point were he felt it may be time to try his own works. Although his dad is more “left-brained” as a financial adviser, he was the inspiration for his son Andrew to start drawing. Now, Andrew is all art.

     I first heard about him a few months ago. My friend Jonathan (a big fan of street art and anything of similar style) told me to look up a certain artist on Instagram. Well, I didn't have Instagram. Luckily for me, there was a Facebook group with all the same material. The work was amazing, the style unique, and the fan base numbering 2541. This was back before interviews were a staple of my life, regardless, I wanted to get a hold of him. $140.00 later 'Wilson' from Facebooks' Wilson Art was working on my Christmas gift to myself, a blast from the past, a Pokemon-themed commission painting. Every now and then, it's nice to have something from the past reappear into your life, and my past was filled with Pokemon. Surprisingly, this was a big part of 'Wilson's' as well. We started talking about my commission and several others he had done, and soon we were on a first name basis, my friend Jonathan pretty jealously left behind. In the interview we had February 17^th, 2013, I learned that Wilson Art was only one of his current ventures- our first in person meeting being at Golden Iron Tattoo in Toronto where he works, one of our first conversations being his planned tour with the band he's in, The Afterimage. As I said, Andrew is all art. What does art mean to him? Art is simply a form of expression that can't be categorized, there's no base to it, it all depends on the individual.

Pokemon Painting

Painted by Andrew Wilson

     After his father, some other artists started to lend inspiration to Andrew. When I took the time to look at artists such as Jeff Soto and Travis Lampe all I could see were aspects of Andrew's own work, little bits from each artist forming works of his own that thousands now love. Later on, I asked him when he even thought to form the Facebook group "Wilson Art", and start working on commissioned illustrations and paintings, he then told me that commissioned works were never even his plan. All he wanted was a venue where he could be able to show his art to a few people who he felt would be interested, maybe a hundred or so,but  his group blew up from there. About a year ago he started making some prints when people were interested, sold a few works at the concerts he played at, and now he gets a commission request pretty much every single day. Be it by word of mouth or his Instagram page helping out, the fan base has reached levels Andrew had never imagined.

     When asked what his fans meant to him, all he could give were positive answers such as “love them, they're awesome, I really love my fans'” Not only does he enjoy them for the praise though, that's not why he posts his work. They allow him to have an honest avenue to have his work judged and commented on, and always open to advice. As well, he even feels the group can help him to pay them (his fans) back with a little advice of his own to them. As a budding artist, and even now, Andrew loves the moments when those he follows show progress shots or how-to-videos of their work. This helps him learn, to grow, and to enhance his skill. Therefore, he makes sure to show his steps to artists following him since he understands how beneficial it can be- with plans to even soon release a time lapse video of a painting he's done.

Andrew Wilson's Portraits of 2013!

(My favourite is top row, fifth over- Clint Eastwood!)

     Doing this can lead to some poor circumstances for artists though, as Andrew realized just recently. One of his fans sent him a message on Facebook, asking if he had noticed a random page on tumblr showing his work, claiming credit for it. He hadn't. While looking through the website he noticed more of his friends work as well. His fans came to the rescue. Upon posting and explaining the situation on his own Facebook page, hundreds of his fans went to work and told her what she was doing was wrong, with a few harsher words probably thrown in. After only a short while, the page was down. Be it her removing it, or tumblr, he doesn't know. What makes Andrew smile is that he didn't do a thing, it was all people he didn't know being there for him when he needed it. Social media pulling through.

     Social media is what made Andrew known. A place for him to exhibit his work has led to fans in numbers he never expected. Fans that can give him the advice he needs, and praise he deserves. Fans who can help him when he needs it, and fans who he can help if they're looking for it. At only twenty-six years old, he knows that he's still young but getting on in years. With no idea as to where Wilson Art, Golden Iron Tattoo or The Afterimage are headed, his life could go anywhere. His hopes lie in a combination in all three.                  

     Regardless, art is both behind and ahead of him. Originating with him practicing and using examples, he says that's what all bidding artists should do. Practice, and watch the steps of those you find successful, and you will succeed.

     Be it Jeff Soto or Travis Lampe. Be it Andrew Wilson and Wilson Art, or be it your fathers “shitty Batman”. Give yourself time and don't stop when it's hard. That's what Andrew has done, and this is where he is now.

Pencil Crayon sketch by Andrew Wilson

Political Hopeful John Turmel: Never Give Up

     Discovering the existence of John Turmel was a complete accident. While looking up information on Brant County's incumbent Minister of Provincial Parliament, Dave Levac, I found the Brant County Ontario General Election electoral records for 2003 and 2007, both of which Levac won by a landslide. In last place for both years was this man, Turmel. In 2003, he received 295 votes compared to the incumbent’s 24236 votes. In 2007, it was 289 to 23485. For the two years combined, Turmel's electoral campaign had a total expenditure of $0.00. Needless to say, I wanted to learn more about this man. When I learned online that he had a world record for both the most election losses (77) spread over federal, provincial, municipal and mayoral levels and also the record for most contested election results (77) I knew I had to meet him. Little did I plan on emailing him only about three hours after reading his name for the first time asking him for an interview. Even more surprising was that less than half an hour later he replied saying he would be glad, we planned on meeting two days later in a local restaurant. The topics I planned on discussing? Some things that I learned while scouring the internet were important to him. A wide list including; having no such thing as interest on any form of loans or in banks, gambling, marijuana, the belief that the nuclear disaster that happened in Japan on March 11^th 2011, would (and still might) kill millions of Canadians from cancer, the show Dragon's Den disgracing his reputation, his criminal record, his views on the now deceased Libyan revolutionary, politician and political theorist Muammar Gaddafi, and of course, his election losses. All of which are mentioned in his (at this point) 324 YouTube videos ranging from a few minutes to nearly three hours long.

     To say the least, many may disagree with how John Turmel thinks, how this 61 year old man views the world. It should be noted that the following are the views of John Turmel, and should not be seen as the authors, my own.

    Following John back in my car from his weekly solo accordion concert at various nursing homes, I get ready to start learning all about his life, today, discussing his political career.

     Now, Turmel has been criticized a lot online. In fact, that may be an understatement. In one case (July 1995) he was voted “ Internet Kook of the Month” by a foreign website. When watching his videos, hearing his passion for some things others find.. less important (even things that are currently illegal).. I can see where it could come from, I even felt before this interview that it would be hard to write an interview without any form of condescending remark at least once. Luckily, this was not the case. Although he was.. intense, in some areas, he had a passion in regards to the benefits of others and I eventually realized that behind the loud voice and the cursing, he is doing nothing but standing up for what he thinks is right, in his own way. I could never criticize that, unless it was detrimental to society.

     I first saw this only a short while back, sitting in the nursing home while he was playing accordion at the aforementioned concert. Every resident of the home, and every worker, had a smile on their faces. One elderly lady in particular was tapping her feet, swaying in her wheel chair and singing along. For her, the 'smiling' was an understatement, she was beaming. When I asked her if she enjoyed John's monthly visits, she told me she in fact looked forward to them. John told me while we were leaving the home that he finds pleasure in doing these concerts since a lot of nursing homes are rather bleak areas, and he knows that the concerts give a happy mood to all present. In fact, he says that these shows may be “the last happy time some have before they die”, that makes him love the experience, makes him continue. He then told me that his experience and practice with accordion, and his initial work in nursing homes, came from avoiding marijuana and gambling sentences and instead doing this as community service sentences. This is the conundrum that is John Turmel.

     Since John is an avid user of poetry to get his messages across, I start by asking him once we sit down if the following section from his 846 verse poem “The Story of Money and Banking Throughout History and How to Fix It” is an illustration into the platform of this perennial candidate.

“It strikes me odd that in this age of scientific note,

That mankind stumbles on and on, like carrot leading goat.

With planetary dangers threatening our biosphere,

If you can learn just what is wrong, your knowledge you'll hold dear.

If I can show you how to fix this planetary threat,

The duty of the citizen's to learn and not forget.”

     Agreeing with my guess, I learned that John in fact had a poem and catchphrase to sum up his electoral platform, his “two line ethos in politics”, which was rather coincidental for the sake of an interview. It went like this, “I want no cops in gambling, sex, or drugs or rock and roll. And I want no interest on loans, pay cash or time- no dole.” Already for an interviewer and a reader, this is a lot to sum up and understand. A guy who jumps around in the way he speaks and acts, is normally illustrated the same on paper. All over the place. So what I decided to do is flashback 34 years. To May 22^nd, 1979.

John Turmel's first ever election, where he was Federal Candidate for Ottawa West, as an Independent Candidate....

     Starting off, I asked a simple question. What inspired John Turmel to run for his first election. I have to say the answer put a smile on my face, seeing as it was short and to the point, but comical in its own right. He was tired of getting busted for gambling. That led to the bases of his first platform, hinted at in his “ethos in politics”: legalizing gambling, prostitution and marijuana. This first election brought upon an observation to Turmel. He was shocked “how conditioned the population was to vote for the majors”. Yet also a realization, that this must be from the “gambler vote”. John came to the conclusion that people must be voting for a winner “like a horse race”, not a candidate based on their policy. Of course, this is an observation that many may contest an inaccurate. As well, any race he noticed was based on “what people want to do”, but never promises. Again, could be contested. But this is based on his observations that sprouting from the first election. During this 1979 campaign, the then 27-year-old John had no support system back home. Just himself and a typewriter, producing his ideas and his programs. For this, I think he deserves credit (well, maybe time service.. credit is against his ideals). Upon asking what he felt his chances of winning that first election were, becoming Prime Minister, he felt his “chances were high because he was smarter than all the other guys”. Think about it he told me. Getting cops out of sex, drugs and gambling would not only leave him alone for once, but also save a lot of money. Ideas anyone could agree with, right? Well, that didn't come to pass. John received 193 votes. These results are not part of John's world record for contested election results, he realized that he didn't get enough votes to possibly be cheated. Probably a reasonable assumption.

It was now time to move past that first election. Already in asking some initial questions to him about his first election, John somehow incorporated Dragon's Den, poker chips, inflation of currency and the Argentinian debt crisis, but those are maybe stories for another day.

     It was now time to go to another specific election. A municipal election on November 12^th, 1985 in Nepean, Ontario. In this election John received 1405, which was 7.25% of the total vote. Making this, his twentieth election, his most successful (in regards to highest percent of total vote). This didn't stand out to him in particular. But he threw out two more election dates that did stand out. The November 14^th, 1994 election of the Regional Municipality of Ottawa-Carleton where he received his most votes number wise (being 4563) and the November 12^th, 1991 election of the same riding. I noticed that this had a large number of votes as well (3574 votes) but I had no idea why this one was important to him, he told me he thinks he won a world record for this election. The reasoning? He was arrested half-way through the campaign and was in jail during the election. John thinks he very well may be the man to get the most votes for an election while in jail, well, who knows. He was “busted in May, tried in October and jailed in November”, this was for an underground gaming house he ran that was busted in Hall, Quebec as part of “Operation Blackjack”. John had already been busted in Ontario for similar charges so he moved to Quebec to try his luck again, needless to say, he did better in poker than in keeping legal. Moving from here he talks to another world record he thinks he may have, another underground casino he ran which was busted in “Operation Robin Hood”. According to an Arizona Press article I found on Turmel's website, police think he made between $1.3 and $3 million in the year of Operation Robin Hood, he wouldn't tell me the specifics. This man has for sure had an interesting life. But, back to politics.

     I asked if moments like his 4563 votes keep him going, but he says that in his journal he wrote to himself wondering what an interest-free world would look like. The ideas he developed to try and make this world a reality, that's what keeps him going. Once again, what John mentioned next was another curve ball of an adventurous life lived. Instead of ignoring it, it deserves to be delved into. After all, it's part of what keeps him going. An interest-free world.

     In 2001, John was invited to the United Nations Headquarters during one of their global summits. In 1993 he won a million dollars from gambling, which he used to form the Abolitionist Party of Canada. He applied to go as a non-government organization, his application was approved and he was invited. While there, someone mentioned how one of the ideas he financed (LET's software) helped her all the way in Australia. The idea behind LET's (Local Employment Trading Software) is along the lines of our settlers before us, trading services with one another in the community to mutually benefit. The example he told me was how this Australian lady would babysit people's children, and they would fix her car. Things got better for her economically so she could put money elsewhere, pulling her from debt. With this idea expressed to the United Nations, John was invited to explain the idea of a global version (UniLET's) to all the non-governmental agents present, and he did. They passed a Declaration for time-based (interest-free) currency (Declaration C6), or so John tells me. Maybe he didn't reach his goals as a political leader, but this step in front of a thousand NGO's at the United Nations Headquarters is one amazing step in the right direction.

Then we come to June 17^th, 1996. His election that won the record of most-lost elections. Although he lost this election in Hamilton East, John showed me an article of how only a month later, Hamilton opened a LET's centre. He lost, but his idea won.

     When it comes down to it, John thinks that his elections are like a slot machine. He's lost seventy-seven elections, but who knows how big the pay off will be when he finally wins that one election. Starting his way to defeat the “greatest scourge of humanity”, interest. This could lead to a world that was better for him, better for his friends, and better for everyone. For this, John is proud that he's continued after being knocked down several times. He's not given up. As he says, this is his duty. What happens if he loses and leaves a LET's system left in the riding he tried to win? He still wins.

     As stated earlier, John has had an interesting life. A professional gambler, a prisoner, an accordion player, a politician, a speaker at the United Nations, a protester  a poet, a YouTube video blogger, an engineer, a teacher's assistant for Canada's first ever mathematics of poker class and many more adventures as well as his share of misadventures. Call him a kook if you want, call him crazy, call him odd.

     In my eyes, he's for sure odd. No denying that. But he's an odd man, sticking to his dreams, his ideals, and what he thinks is right. For that, I say cheers.

John Turmel and I- Brantford, Ontario- Feburary 11th, 2013

Celebrity Chef Jonathan Collins: Fulfilling A Lifelong Dream

     “When asked, it's easier for my wife Cynthia and I to just sum it up by saying we've cooked for Prime Ministers, Presidents, Billionaires, Celebrities and Royalty”. This spectacular 'career sum up' is that of Celebrity Chef Jonathan Collins, who I recently had the pleasure of interviewing. The Presidents he mentions casually include Felipe Calderón, the recently incumbent president of Mexico (now former) and the newly re-elected Barack Obama of the United States. The Royalty? The Queen's son and daughter-in-law; Charles, Prince of Wales and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall. Billionaires include the family of Galen Weston and The Honourable Hilary Weston in their Florida estate. Celebrities include actor D. David Morin and CBC's Stephen (Sabados) and Chris (Hyndman). Leaving the official residence of 24 Sussex Drive, where Johnathan Collins worked as chef for our own Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper and his family.

     Only about eight years ago, Johnathan and his wife had enough of their corporate lifestyle, and decided to start the challenge of fulfilling their long time dream- owning a restaurant. But they wanted the best training around to help them achieve this dream, so Jonathan remembered the training of the famous American chef Julia Child (inspiration for the 2009 film Julie & Julia) and together they applied and attend Le Cordon Bleu, Ottawa Culinary Arts Institute. After a year, they were offered a job in the French Alps, and throughout their early years, cooking sabbaticals were taken in France, Italy and Spain. School also provided him the chance, as mentioned earlier, to work under Chef Oliver Bartsch at the official residence of Stephen Harper. Eventually being able to take over when Oliver was away, then receiving a job himself. This seems the dream job for anyone, well, at least me. But imagine how hard this would be when everywhere you went on this early fast paced career journey you had with you three children. Which is also part of the experience of Jonathan and Cynthia, with them were sons Decota, and Bailey and daughter Blair (later to join the Collins family were now 5 year old Grace and 18-month-old Blake). Jonathan explained how this may not be a good fit for others, but he was and always will be part of a package deal that includes his family. So when he worked for Harper, the family was there too. When he went to Florida to work for the Weston's they all came down as well. Not to mention when he cooked for Charles and Camilla, while he was working in the residence; the family lived in the house next door.

     Having a job where he could work with his family was as Jonathan says, a dream come true. This dream was realized in two instances. First was with the family owned restaurant Shutters on the Beach in Port Bruce, Ontario where they all took a part. The second came from when he was invited to cook on CBC's Stephen and Chris. As soon as he stepped of stage and out of the cameras reach he felt an adrenalin like never before. He wanted a show where he could cook, and be with his family. When reaching out to producers, all they wanted from him was a 'Jersey Shore drama' according to Jonathan. But these run your life, and ruin your family. So he started his own production company, Convergence Pictures. The aim, as the name implies is the idea to converge the power of media with the ability to cook for large numbers of people. Convergence Pictures produces it's own show, shown on Rogers Television called “Hungry For Family” staring the whole Collins Family from Jonathan all the way down to 18-month-old Blake. The show, which can also be seen full on YouTube, follows the family as they travel around Southwestern Ontario exploring the adventures it offers (wine tasting, zip-lining not to mention bee beards!) while they take turns cooking; a new twist on the normal cooking show. But Southwestern Ontario isn't where the family wants to draw the line. Actor, Director and Producer, not to mention a friend of Jonathan's, D. David Morin is currently working in South Africa, where the contrast between some of the families there could not be more extreme in comparison to the Collins family. This contrast is what Jonathan wants to explore, with his dream of taking the show Hungry for Family to the international community in future seasons. Traditional foods from all around the world, stories and histories told by families from their homes in nations abroad, not to mention exploring the adventures and experiences faced in the those countries. As always, this would be (and is) a whole family dream and project.

     From a recent event, comes the show's first foray into the international community. The destruction of Hurricane Sandy, in New York City. Leaving only two weeks after our interview, the whole family will be going on a six day prospecting trip. While here they will clean up the streets, remove rubble, shovel debris, spread photos to help find lost ones, not to mention cook for the other helpers and those who are still living in shelters or on the streets- funded out of their own pocket and donation only. These experiences which will be both streamed live and also made into a one hour special for the show don't want to focus on the bad, which we see every day. They want everyone to see the compelling, true stories of the good everyone is doing for New York, and the good New York is doing for itself. The goal being 'a grassroots Canadian response.'

     The ability to do this, as a Canadian, is how Jonathan wanted me to end. By saying these few final ideas we talked about during our interview. Whether you're attending Laurier as a student from this province, country, or international; there are a lot of amazing opportunities granted to you every day. So go for your dream, if it's cooking for royalty, making a television show or partaking in international aid, because as Chef Jonathan Collins says; “Although there may be opposition, be willing to stand in it. As much as this may sound cliche, stand up for your dreams. It's always worth it.”