On the Road

I had to make a trip to see the dental hygienist, so when I drove to Roseville yesterday, I took along my portable memory, my mini-tape recorder, as I usually do when traveling alone. And I had a fruitful trip…adding to the tape quite often as I drove. Today I have to listen to the recordings and separate the “wheat from the chaff”, so to speak. My random thoughts are not always the gems I thought they were after I hear them played back.

One of the first items on the tape was quite cryptic; “The Dead Dog Café and where is Blossom, Alberta?” Why did I say that? Because I had been listening to KVMR and had just heard the show again. The Dead Dog Café is quite funny – if you have my sense of humor. I know, I know…most people don’t have my sense of humor.

Here’s a description of the show that I found on the net…
“The Dead Dog Cafe was a comedy series that ran on CBC radio (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) for about three or four years in the mid-90's. It was about a cafe in northern Alberta owned by two aboriginals (Jasper Friendly Bear and Gracie Heavy Hands) and their white friend Tom King, whom they tormented.

One of my favorite pieces was the fireside chat. This was where Jasper would sit down and read from a great work of Canadian literature. Every week the book was "The Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples" which was a massive government commission that made over a thousand recommendations concerning the relationship between the Canadian government and first nations.”

And another comment…or two.

“Tom King (creator of the series) played himself in the series, which meant that he was, as in real life, half-white, half-Native. I seem to recall some mention made of him being part Cherokee, although he was humiliated by Jasper and Gracie for not speaking his native tongue. More important to the series was Jasper and Gracie's distinction between a Reserve Indian (which they were) and an Urban Indian (which Tom was). Because Tom was an Urban Indian, they had the segment "Indians Anonymous", for those Indians who have become White to prevent them from backsliding into becoming Indian again.”
“Dead Dog is a great example of a really delicately balanced kind of Native Canadian humour that manages to bring out the light side of first nations community issues in Canada without making light of them. I don't think I could decide on a favourite part... probably a tie between "Blackout Bingo" (where Jasper would call the same number for the entire season) and "Captain Dead Dog" (in which Tom would be bullied into wearing the Puppy Boy sidekick thong).”

A favorite of mine was the Authentic Indian Name Generator and this was used in just about every episode. Surprisingly, it survives on the internet.

http://www.aspalta.cbc.ca/deaddog_asp/aininfo.asp

And Blossom, Alberta? It’s the name of a fictional town in Tom King’s book, Green Grass, Running Water.

By the way, my Authentic Indian Name is Steven Winged Shorts.