Me and Zero Request You in the Mercedes

This is the really nifty Christmas gift that just keeps on giving.

My daughters give me a DVD of my favourite Canadian rock band, The Kings (check blog post dated Thursday, February 5, 2009) featuring my favourite rock song, "This Beat Goes On/Switchin' To Glide" (the ring tone on my cell phone), and I am just delighted. Then they tell me to look inside, where I find a picture of guitarist/singer Mister Zero and a personalized note from him to me. I am elated. Neither my daughters nor I had any idea that if you ordered a DVD from The Kings online, that Mister Zero, of the Oakville, Ontario band, would deliver it in person in Oakville, where my daughters live. Boy, did they surprise me!

I had been hinting that someone could buy me this DVD for the past couple of years, and finally someone did, after I actually dropped it from my Christmas list, having given up hope. As it turned out, my wife and I went to Oakville for the Christmas holidays with our daughters this year, since it was more convenient for us to travel. After the terrific Christmas surprise, my daughter suggested to me that I email Zero at The Kings online email address and thank him for the personal delivery and autograph. That is when the gift kept on giving.

Mister Zero answered my email promptly, and was touched by my reference to listening to "This Beat Goes On/Switchin' To Glide" many years ago on the tractor, when I was farming in southern Saskatchewan, and singing along loudly. Zero eventually discovered that I was still in Oakville, and then graciously invited me to meet him for a couple of drinks at a local pub that night. It was wonderful getting to spend a few moments with a rock hero of mine, and to get to know him a little bit.

It is not every rock star that will make time to talk to a fan, but The Kings really appreciate their fans, as is evident on their website and their Facebook page. I was thrilled to get the photo and autograph in the first place, then doubly thrilled to get to talk to Zero about the band, about life and about where The Kings are going from here. He was also gracious enough to arrange for another personal delivery of some Kings merchandise to me at my daughters' apartment before I had to fly back to Calgary.

The next morning my phone rings with the usual "This Beat Goes On" opening riff and "Hey Judy, Get Trudy...", and when I answer it, to my great delight, it is one of The Kings on the other end. "Hey Marvin"..."Yeah"..."This is the King." I am always somewhat amused when my phone rings while I am visiting in Oakville, and suddenly a famous Oakville band is performing for me. On this particular occasion, I was caught up in the wonderful irony of my phone ringing "This Beat Goes On", and Mister Zero immediately speaking to me.

Zero arrived right on schedule with The Kings goods, and agreed to pose for pictures with my family and me and the girls' dogs. He spread some cheer to me and my significant others, and then he was off, to help his mother with an errand, I think. He is a warm, wonderful person; greeting everyone in the local pub and introducing me to them like I was a long, lost friend; making deliveries of merchandise to fans and playing with their little dogs.

I told Zero that it is a good day for me if I get to watch the superb video for "This Beat Goes On/Switchin' To Glide" on my computer and to crank up the volume. On days when I haven't been able to sleep, and have no energy for anything else, just getting to watch that lively video really picks me up and makes my day. Now, having met Zero in person, it will be even so much more meaningful to me. I just love The Kings and their music. I really appreciate the kindness and generosity of Mister Zero. He truly is a King.

"BETHANY!!!! .... BRETT FAVRE'S DEAD!!!! ....

... I shouted to my daughter, who was in the other room, while I watched the Monday Night Football game between the Chicago Bears and the Minnesota Vikings on December 20, 2010. Brett Favre wasn't even supposed to be playing this game, having recently sprained a body part that no one has ever heard of, and which resulted in the fingers on his throwing hand having little or no feeling. However, at the last minute, Favre heroically (or stupidly?) tells the Vikings brass that he is ready to play in their final home game of the 2010 season; a home game being played outdoors in a college football stadium because a recent blizzard tore a hole in the roof of the Metrodome where the Vikings usually play in 70 degree comfort.

Favre is on his game early in the contest, throwing a touchdown pass to put his team ahead of the Bears 7-0. But, a few series later, a fierce Chicago pass rush results in Favre being grabbed and thrown to the ground so violently, that his head bounces off the frozen turf. As Favre lies there motionless, my first thought is that the 41 year old quarterback has played his final play in the NFL. I recall Grandpa Simpson announcing to the Simpson family: "Oh, the dog's dead," when I shout to my indifferent daughter that it appears that Favre's career, and possibly his life, is over. Alas, the young grandfather is the victim of a concussion, but will live to tell his descendants of his exploits on the gridiron. Fortunately, Brett Favre isn't dead, but quite likely Brett Favre, the active NFL quarterback, finally is.