 December 22, 2006 I love my S-Cargo, I love it A LOT!!! I'm such a fan of my S-Cargo that I wanted to check out the two other cool Japanese Domestic Nissan cars of a similar vintage, the Nissan Pao and the Nissan Figaro. I somehow managed to convince my wife to come with me to a used car dealer, Japanoid, in New Westminster that specializes in bringing these cars into Canada to check out the Nissan Pao with me just in case it could become the next Aiken Family vehicle acquisition. When we got out to Japanoid not only did we get to take the Nissan Pao and Figaro out for a test drive, we were also unexpectedly asked to join in an interview being done by Bob Nixon from CBC Television. In the end it was decided that we need a wee bit more room than what the Pao has to offer, but if I win the lottery I'll definitely be picking up a Figaro! It's awesome!  December 12, 2006 Once again it's that time of year when my beautiful wife Emiko and I spend hours putting together the annual Aiken Family Holiday Greeting Card. Each year we put together a card that attempts to capture some of what we've been up to over the course of the year and marries this with some fun theme. This year's card's theme was a bit more interactive as we created a paper model of the 1989 S-Cargo that arrived on our driveway back in August and asked people to put the model together and send us pictures with them and their S-Cargos. These pictures are being posted on "The S-Cargo Project" page. Did we miss sending you a card? Do you still want to make your very own S-Cargo? No problem, just head over to the S-Cargo Project page and download the design! If you do I hope you will send me a picture of your S-Cargo!  November 30, 2006 Tonight was the last of four shows for the Bob and Dave Show. That would be Flyin' Bob Palmer and me, (David Aiken, The Checkerboard Guy). We teamed up to do a series of shows for services clubs in four different communities in Alberta and Saskatchewan. Unfortunately my flight from Vancouver to Calgary was delayed on the 27th and Bob had to do the first show in Medicine Hat solo, but the shows in Lloydminster, Swift Current and tonight's show in Red Deer have all gone off with out a hitch. I had a lot of fun with Bob at the Okanagan Children's Festival in Penticton back in May, and it was great to share the stage with him again. We also managed to shoot Episode #27 of One Minute with Dave on the trip too, so if you get the chance check it out!  November 15, 2006 Joined the Grandeur of the Seas yesterday in Cozumel. A quick hop to Costa Maya today before heading towards Baltimore, Maryland where I'll head home on the 18th. I'll be doing shows as part of the Farewell Show on the last night of the cruise, much like I did aboard the Serenade of the Seas, but today it was all about enjoying the heat and sun in Costa Maya. I love looking around for cool things to take back to the family as souvenirs, and today I hit a jackpot! There was a shop that had junior sized soccer uniforms for sale, so I picked up a uniform from Barcelona, Spain for my son Koji and one from Mexico for my son Owen. Found a cool ceramic bowl for my wife in Cozumel yesterday, so I think I'll be allowed back in the house upon my return. Phew!!!  November 10, 2006 November 10th... November 10th... November 10th... Ten years ago to the day I was getting married in a shrine in Osaka, Japan to my beautiful wife. Today I found myself aboard the Serenade of the Seas performing two shows for passengers on the last day of a cruise that started in San Diego, California, sailed down the Mexican Baja, through the Panama Canal, stopped in Aruba and will tomorrow wrap up in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Would I rather have been at home? Of course! But I managed to arrange to have a gift basket delivered to my beautiful wife today and were able to have a great chat because my cel phone picked up the signal from the Ships satellite communication system. Not as good as being at home, but we were still able to connect and share at least a part of the day together. For those interested, my shows this evening totally rocked!  October 31, 2006 Home in time to enjoy Halloween with Koji and Owen. This shot was taken just as we were heading out to go Trick-or-treating with Owen on the left in the Frankenstein costume, me in the middle as Elvis and Koji in the skull mask on the right as "The Grim Reaper." I was very impressed with how well the boys held up as we made our way around the neighbourhood collecting loot. I think this must be the closest legal thing to being a pirate. You dress up in fun clothes, go marauding around looking for treasure, and by the end of the night you've got a bag full of loot - Aaarrrrrrrrr! A very good time was had by all! And so, on to sugar highs and dentist bills!  October 19, 2006 OK... I'll admit it this picture is entirely staged... I didn't actually do much cabo waboing, I just hopped in to get a picture in the joint, but I did have a very pleasant day in Cabo. Got off The Serenade of the Seas around eleven in the morning and took the tender ship into to port. Once there I walked around the marina and in to town a bit to do a wee bit of shopping. Shopping complete I headed to an internet cafe to get caught up on a bit of email. More email hit my in box than I had expected, so to make my time responding a wee bit more enjoyable I had a couple of Margaritas. They did an excellent job of smoothing out the edges as I sat and typed. Email done I headed back towards the pier and decided to take the above snap enroute. Back to the ships in one piece, shows tomorrow night then home on Saturday. And so life goes... 
October 13, 2006 Got off The Crown Princess today with Candy Zulkosky and Eric Bedard (aka That Cool Magic Dude) and received a guided tour around Old San Juan which started with a walk around the old city wall. Along the way I took the opportunity to hand off one of the many lamps that line the walkway a trick I hadn't done in years. Amazingly I didn't kill myself. The rest of the day in Port was a blast with many stops to take pictures of the sights and experience the sounds of Old San Juan. Eric treated us all to ice cream at Ben and Jerry's (awesome!) and I managed to pick up a few gifts for the family at home - Yippee! Eric headed back to the ship before all the shopping was done, and Candy and I decided to cap off the day by splitting a pitcher of sangria. A lovely end to a lovely day! Ah... Life is good!  October 5 , 2006 Well, I'm back aboard the Crown Princess for the third time in about a month and suffering through the itinerary that runs from Brooklyn, New York down to the Caribbean and back. Today was a port day in St. Thomas, and I was lucky enough to be invited to the beach by Candy Zulkosky (aka The Computer Lady) and Crooner's Bar keyboard player and songstress, Heather Sullivan. We had a ball at Coki Beach for a few hours snapped lots of pictures including this one which was taken by Candy with her underwater digital camera. What fun to swim with a slew of cool looking fish and have some great shots of the experience! I love my life!  September 30, 2006 Home long enough to repack then out again! This time for a great show at The Horizon Stage in Spruce Grove. I had the chance to perform at the Spruce Grove Canada Day Celebrations/Street Performers Festival back at the beginning of July and must have left a good impression as I got invited back to open this year's family concert series, which was an absolute hoot! Shelly Switzer (producer of The Edmonton International Street Performers Festival came out for the show, then afterwards we got to hang out for the afternoon and a great dinner. Then came a wicked great Cocktail Party at my friends Graeme and Alana's house with some of my favorite Edmontonians! A good time was had by all, especially me! 
September 17, 2006 I've really been having fun aboard the Crown Princess, not only because my shows in the Explorer's Lounge are going so well, but because what I do seems really well suited to the sets that I've been asked to do in "The Piazza." The space is located mid-ship and spans three decks from deck five through deck seven with swooping stair cases and a mosaic floor. This area acts as sort of the central hub to various shops, lounges, theatres, and dining areas and is big enough to make for a really fun performance space. For what ever reason, my schtick really seems to work in this space, and I'm apparently gathering some of the largest crowds that The Crown Princess production team have seen in this area. For me it's a great chance to go and mess around with some new bits in and environment which is a lot less formal when compared to the show lounges or main theatre. Sure do luck out sometimes! 
September 12, 2006 And so I find myself in New York after five great days aboard the Crown Princess. Well Brooklyn actually... So I put in a call to my friend Ben Robinson and it turns out that he's free today, so we make a plan. He leaves keys to his place with his doorman and I grab a cab to his place in Manhattan. I noodle around for a while waiting for Ben to get back from appointment, watch some videos, check my email...blah blah blah. Ben shows up and we head out to go to Dubé Juggling as I want to pick up a few things. Next we wander over to the Apple retail store in the Soho district of New York. It's awesome! I oogle all the great toys and then it's time for a bite. We grab a great burger, then head off again. This time heading towards the new Apple retail store on 5th Avenue. We have enough time to really be blown away by how cool the store is, then it's time to head out so I can catch my flight. What a great day! Thanks Ben!  September 8, 2006 So I had exactly one day between when the PNE finished and when I had to fly out for my next contract aboard the Crown Princess. I was originally scheduled to join the ship in St. Thomas, but was rerouted to San Jan, Puerto Rico because of questionable weather. So I joined the ship a day early. The next day we arrived in St. Thomas and the weather was georgous...go figure. While on my way to the ship I had the good fortune of running into Kevin Hughes who does great comedy based around relationships. We both boarded the ship in San Juan and became fast friends. When he asked if I'd like to join him for a walk around St. Thomas I figured it would be good for a laugh and it was - not only that, this cannon made for the perfect rest stop!  August 20 2006 For the second year in a row I was asked to be the Point Man for the PNE's Street Stars Program. 17 days, three shows a day per act for a total of 255 performances during the run plus the added bonus feature of the amazing artwork of Ulla Taylor thrown in for good measure. The 2006 Street Stars program took everything we learned from doing the program in 2005 and tried to improve upon it's success. I was once again running around like a mad man not only performing in the program, but also trouble shooting issues for other performers, filling in and submitting daily reports and generally making sure that the program ran smoothly. I also managed to get pictures and video of all of the shows and created a nice little DVD package for everyone in the program to take with them as a souvenir. Stupid busy, but a lot of fun!  August 13, 2006 Back in 1990 when I made my first trip to Japan to perform at the Hana Haku Festival in Osaka I saw my first Nissan S-Cargo and it was love at first sight. Flash forward about 15 years to November 2004 and I see one at a used car dealership in Vancouver... These cars were a domestic japanese model that was never exported to Canada, so what on Earth was one doing on the streets of Vancouver??? I had to find out. What I discovered after talking to the dealer was that cars that are 15 years old or older can be brought into Canada with fewer import restrictions, so my hunt for an S-Cargo began... I'd been watching as a small trickle of these cars started showing up in Canada on eBay, then found one on Craig's List. I went out to Maple Ridge and took a look at it today then came home to get approval from my lovely and charming wife... In the end she OK-ed the purchase and I and have arranged to have it delivered on August 16th...YIPPEE!!!! 
August 6, 2006 Three days of shows at Buffalo Days in Regina, Saskatchewan and I head home tomorrow. I was feeling a bit under the weather when I first arrived in Regina, but by the end of the run I was back in reasonably good condition and cranking out shows for all who would stop to watch. Along with myself the other artists who were brought in to animate the grounds were Pete Jarvis (aka Silver Elvis), Bandaloni, and Brad Bodary. I had worked with all of these guys in the past, but really had a lot of fun hanging out with Brad and hearing about his G.I. Joe collection. At the end of the run he told me that he had won a bid on eBay for a Japanese Imperial Soldier G.I. Joe which he decided to get after he found out that my wife Emiko was from Japan.  July 24, 2006 Well my week aboard the Dawn Princess was a huge success! It's the first time that I've done a mid-week - mid-week contract where I joined the ship half way through one cruise, then stayed on half way through the next. The advantage to this type of contract is that you get to perform the same show for two completely different sets of passengers. This works well for the cruise company, and works well for me as I'd rather be working than just sitting around. That being said, it was really great to have a chance to catch my breath following the very demanding run in Edmonton. I ate good food, watched some great shows, caught up on lots of sleep, and by the time I had to do shows I was firing on all cylinders again. Shows were good, the scenery was amazing and the bear hug a nice way to wrap up the trip.  July 16, 2006 Well... What an unexpected and happy surprise it was to be recognized for the contribution I've made to the world of Street Performing to receive the Golden Finkelinni Award (AKA The Buttercup) from the man himself, Dick Finkel. The golden top hat was presented to me while I was surrounded by a great mob of friends and colleagues during a party that followed the Saturday Night Late Night Madness Show that I directed. I think I was a wee bit zoned out as the combined efforts of directing the Late Night Show and doing the brand new Juggling Sherpas Show had me running at full capacity (over extended really) for the entire duration of the Festival. What a fantastic way to wrap things up! 
July 9, 2006 Day three of the Edmonton International Street Performers Festival and the Juggling Sherpa's Show is falling into place... Our first day and first show was a bit rough, but each show we do seems to get better and better. It's always hard to know how things are going to pan out with a new show until you get the show out in front of a live audience. We're lucky enough to have brought this show to one of the most receptive audiences in the world - Edmonton audiences ROCK! Here we are near the beginning of the show performing the traditional yak dance. Our explanation to the audiences went something like this... This dance celebrates of the ritual that happens every Spring in Nepal when the young boy yaks and young girl yaks wonder off into the mountains to be 'intimate' for the very first time. In Nepal, this traditional is known as "Prom."  July 2, 2006 Well we're days away from the official launch of the Juggling Sherpa's Show and find ourselves in Edmonton having just finished solo performances in Spruce Grove as part of their Canada Day celebrations. Shows in Spruce Grove on July 1st where a hoot, then on the 2nd all of the performers in the cast pulled a little something out of their solo show and we put it all together into a big group show. Once we got back to the hotel in Edmonton the evening just didn't quite seem to be finished, so a group of us decided to go out for cocktails. As always I was snapping pictures and caught this one. A wee bit blurry, but that matched our state of mind by the end of the evening.  June 21, 2006 Well, we're into the final leg of the ProTel Tour and on our way to Salmon Arm, BC for the last date on the tour. Our last show was in Fort McMurray, Alberta and as we had a bit of time to get to Salmon Arm we decided to swing through the Glacier National Park in the Canadian Rockies. It's an incredible drive with spectacular scenery! All along the tour I've insisted that we stop and capture images along the route and have been giving them this sepia treatment. This shot was taken in the town of Jasper where we stopped for dinner. I've got enough of these pictures so that I think I'll turn them into the next episode of One Minute with Dave, so if you get the chance check out Episode #17 - THE SUPER SEPIA TOUR.  June 12, 2006 We did our first show of a two week tour of BC and Alberta tonight in Terrace, BC for the Elks Club. Roger Ineson the put together a variety tour for Service Clubs and asked Geoff and I if we could put a show together for the tour. We looked at it as the perfect opportunity to log some stage time together before the debut of the Juggling Sherpas in Edmonton. Geoff did a few of the sword swallowing routines from his show, I did a few bits from my show and we closed by passing weird objects (one ice axe, one plunger and one torch each) while I was on my unicycle and Geoff was on the ground. The crowd in attendance seeded to like our goofiness and we had fun with it too... Still lots of work to do before we get to Edmonton...  June 9, 2006 Preparations for the debut of the Juggling Sherpa's Show at the Edmonton International Street Performers Festival kicked into high gear as Sherpa Geoff arrived in North Vancouver laden with Sherpa Gear. After a bit of running around Vancouver for bits and pieces of our costumes, we Sherpa Boys posed for the very first time in our Juggling Sherpa Costumes. These costumes are what we Sherpa Lads strip down to when we become super street performers as per the instructions in The Book - "So You Want to be a Street Performer a Complete Guide."  May 29, 2006 Flew into Ketchikan, Alaska today and will be joining the Sun Princess tomorrow for a five-day run through scenic Alaska. I'll disembark in Victoria and hop on a quick flight over to Vancouver. I'm looking forward to being back on the Sun Princess as she's the first Princess Ship I ever got to perform on. I also had a really fun time aboard The Sun Princess back in October of 2005 on a voyage through the Caribbean. Dinner tonight was some of the best Fish & Chips I've had in recent memory. Walked down to the docks from where I was staying and found the Alaskan Surf Fish & Chips stand and enjoyed a fabulous dinner of halibut and chips! 
May 26, 2006 Friday night at the Okanagan Children's Festival means it's time for the Vaudeville Show and this year's show was hosted by Flyin' Bob and myself. We had an enormous amount of fun as the hosts as the evening just seemed to fall into place with very little rehearsal and had not only the audience but also the performers busting a gut. I've worked with Flyin' Bob a number of times over the years and we've always had a lot of fun mixing it up, but tonight's show was I would have to say the best show we've done to date. This may have had something to do with the amazing line-up of talent we were working with including Winston Wuttunee, Mike Jackson, Anne Glover, The Gizmo Guys, Ranganiketan, and Fred Penner, so huge Kudos to to the artistic director of the festival, Gord Olsand, for pulling together such a great cast for this year's festival! 
May 13, 2006 I boarded the Regal Princess in Acapulco, Mexico a few days ago after a bit of an adventure... According to my contract there was supposed to be someone to meet me at the Airport, but wasn't so it became an interesting adventure involving a couple of different taxis, a hotel that definitely wouldn't be featured in "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous" and me completely butchering the Spanish Language, but in the end it all worked out and I managed to get myself to the Regal Princess the next day none the worse for wear. That very same evening I performed in the International Show Lounge, then got to kick back for the rest of the cruise up to San Francisco. Here I am about to head onto the ship having just stepped off the tender ship that had brought me back from Cabo San Lucas. In the back ground you can see the rock formations that are a popular land mark for Cabo. Between two of these rock formations is "Lovers Beach" made famous by the sixties film "From here to Eternity." I didn't actually make it to the beach but did pick up some gifts for my boys before heading back to the ship... 
April 30, 2006 Flew into Houston yesterday and took the shuttle to Galveston, Texas sitting next to Ann Whitney the mother of Dan Whitney, cruise director aboard the Rhapsody of the Seas. We had a nice chat on the way to the ship and when we got to Galveston I waited with Ann until Dan showed up. Interesting way to meet the cruise director who during my time aboard the ship is my boss... Hope it didn't look like I was sucking up too much... Hmmm... Probably did, but what ever... At the beginning of every cruise there's a mandatory"Muster Drill" so that passengers know what to do in case of emergency. This time around I decided to make it a little bit more interesting by not only grabbing my life jacket from my room, but also a bunch of juggling balls... I was actually surprised by how much more challenging a life jacket makes juggling, but I managed to keep 4 going much to the amusement of the passengers at my muster station. 
April 7, 2006 Well it was formal night aboard Royal Caribbean Cruise Line's 'Vision of the Seas' so I got all dressed up in my tuxedo then proceeded to see where on the ship I could get the most satisfying silly picture. I think I got a winner here with me peering over the shoulder an Arlechinno statue and trying to read the book he's holding. Tried to get a shot of me diving into the pool in the Tux, but just didn't seem to think that wrecking the suit was worth a picture for the news page, so in the end gave that idea a big miss. It's my first voyage aboard The Vision and it's been good! I've got shows tomorrow night, then head back to Vancouver on Sunday. Pretty quick trip this time around, but I always like getting out on a ship. Give me a chance to get caught up on a few things. 
March 31, 2006 This year during the Winnipeg run of the C.A.M.P. program I got to perform two shows at the Forks Market. Neal Rempel, artistic director of the Winnipeg International Children's Festival as well as the director of the C.A.M.P. program also helps arrange what is called "The Festival of Fools," which is a spring break entertainment program at the Forks which is always well attended by families enjoying the atmosphere and entertainment being provided in part by the instructors who are brought in for the C.A.M.P. program. I always like doing shows down at The Forks because I always seem to get the chance to play in front of a really great audience who are not only into the show, but also incredibly willing to participate in what ever antics I decide to present. With only a 30 minute time frame to play in it's sometimes a challenge to figure out which bits I'm going to use in the show, but that's part of the fun. 
March 24, 2006 Well, two two-day sessions later and the C.A.M.P. crew seen here packed up the vehicles and got as far as Thompson en route back to Winnipeg. I must say I was very happy with the Northern C.A.M.P. this year and really enjoyed my time in Gillam. The two sessions seemed to really connect with the students involved in the program and while in Gillam we also had a field trip to the Gillam Hydro Generating Station, which ended up being more interesting that I had first expected. The trip back is always a good feeling though. One is filled with a sense of accomplishment and a great dinner thanks to Neal Rempel who puts the program together and always picks up the tab on the dinner on the way back to Winnipeg. Thanks Boss!  March 20, 2006 Well after a flight to Winnipeg on March 18th, drove from Winnipeg to Thompson (about 8 hours) on the 19th then up to Gillam from Thompson. We (the 16 Circus And Magic Partnership C.A.M.P. program participants) arrived in Gillam in time to get equipment set up and run a group of adults through a hands on explanation of how the program works. For me this meant putting 8 unicycles together and then explaining to the adults in the community who will be in charge of the equipment some of the important safety and teach techniques involved with unicycle riding. Once all was said and done it was time to get them up and let them have a shot at it themselves. It's all well and good to take people through the process, but until they actually get up on one of these things and give it a try they don't really "Get it." By the end of the day everyone had gotten their heads and bodies around these one wheeled contraptions. Is good! 
March 17, 2006 Went out to lunch last friday with my good friend David Duchemin who is working on a schwack of design stuff for me and managed to break off a piece of my tooth - that would be the quadrant three tooth number six for those who know their dental references or a lower back molar on my left side for the rest of us. Managed to get in to the dentist today and they proceeded to remove an old silver filling (a rather large one) in preparation for an "inlay" a cap of sorts which is one step before a full crown. They took a mould of the area before and after removing the filling so the lab guys could craft a replacement tooth. Fun fun fun let me tell you! They finished by putting in a temporary inlay of sorts which should keep me for a couple of weeks until I get the proper final version. I think the insertion of the dental dam was the highlight for me... 
February 12, 2006 Went out to lunch last friday with my good friend David Duchemin who is working on a schwack of design stuff for me and managed to break off a piece of my tooth - that would be the quadrant three tooth number six for those who know their dental references or a lower back molar on my left side for the rest of us. Managed to get in to the dentist today and they proceeded to remove an old silver filling (a rather large one) in preparation for an "inlay" a cap of sorts which is one step before a full crown. They took a mould of the area before and after removing the filling so the lab guys could craft a replacement tooth. Fun fun fun let me tell you! They finished by putting in a temporary inlay of sorts which should keep me for a couple of weeks until I get the proper final version. I think the insertion of the dental dam was the highlight for me... 
January 26, 2006 Nearing the end of a one week run aboard the Sea Princess. I took a tender boat in to shore today and enjoyed a great lunch at Hammerhead's Bar, which is situated right on the ocean. The view included six different cruise ships that were all lined up in a row. Quite a site! It's been a good week aboard the Sea Princess! I've met some great people, done some really fun shows, played with some new material completed episode six of "One Minute With Dave" and have another one in the works. I'll probably shoot it tomorrow then edit it upon my return to Vancouver. Just not quite enough time to get it done before I head home... Doh! Looking forward to heading home and having a bit of a chance to catch up on some stuff that's been sitting on my desk for a while. I do love the travel, but the challenge seems to be to keep everything in balance - Family/Career/and everything in between, but if this is the biggest challenge in my life I have very little to complain about. 
January 5, 2006 I'm back on board the "Monarch of the Seas" for another week of cruises along the California Baja. We docked in Ensenada, Mexico today and I hooked up with "Mo" the cruise director for an adventure into the heart of Ensenada. The plan was to go to this great taco stand that most tourists probably never visit but we also went to a fantastic fresh fruit shop. At the juice shop we fumbled our way through an explanation in broken Spanish and eventually the woman at the shop figured out what we were after and made these amazing drinks! Next came the tacos which were out of this world though mid way through I ate a hot pepper which just about sent me to the hospital. I took a bunch of footage during our adventures on my digital camera that I'm hoping to turn into another "One Minute with Dave" piece, so hopefully I'll be able to get that sorted out before the contract ends this coming Monday. Ah...the life of a cruise ship guest entertainer. Want More News? |
