SOS: The Pulse Community Podcast is sponsored in part by SOS. For more than 55 years, the SOS Caring for Community at Christmas program has ensured that local children, youth, adults, and seniors experience the joy of the holidays. The thrill of finding a gift under the tree. The happiness that comes from sharing food that has special meaning.To donate to the SOS Caring for Community at Christmas program, visit SOSD69. com or call 250-248-2093. 

Rockin Rhonda: Here comes Peter. Here comes Dave. Oh listen. Bringing stories, making waves. No missing spinning tails in the podcast cave. So much laughs and insights everywhere. Peter and Dave, they're on the mics. Alright, join the ride. It's gonna feel just right.

Peter McCully: Welcome to episode two of the Pulse Community Podcast with Peter and Dave. He's super Dave Graham 

Dave Graham: and he is Peter McCully. On this episode of the podcast, we are going to be chatting with award winning musician and author Vince Ditrich about his latest book, starring Tony Vicker. 

Vince Ditrich: I found that coming a written it in such a visual manner that it would aid me in pitching the book as a television show. And that has borne fruit. I have had some interest from Hollywood and I'm now talking to. People, unnamed people, who shall remain unnamed until my signature's on a piece of paper in blood. It's extremely exciting and, uh, slower than molasses in January. But I'm sure that once I've signed, everything will take off at about a thousand miles an hour.

Dave Graham: We're also chatting with Peter Jory, the superintendent of schools, about the new cell phone policy. 

Peter Jory: This is government in action. It was certainly a conversation leading up to the election, but I have to agree with the concept. It was time for us to do something more fulsome as a system, and it is, I think, easier to get inertia on something like this when we're all doing it together across the province.

Peter McCully: Dave, we encourage everyone to speak to us. This podcast is indeed interactive. You can tell us what you think on our speak to us online link. Can use your phone or your computer and speak to us in your own words and your own voice. And you can also text us. So if you have a comment on an interview, a suggestion for a guest or would like to reply to a question we might have, just click the link.

Dave Graham: Yes, please speak up, join this community podcast, and soon we are going to start weekly contests where you can win a prize that we have hidden in the tickle trunk. All you need to do is guess where this tickle trunk is. Now, this is a virtual experience we're creating here, so don't start digging. Just keep listening. We'll offer up a clue and you can text or email us to have your name in the weekly draw. Our first prize is to be announced. 

\Peter McCully: The Pulse Community Podcast is brought to you in part by Ian Lindsey and Associates. Since 1979, Ian Lindsey has played an active role in the communities of Parksville and Qualicum Beach. Since 1996, he's been a member with REMAX, the most advanced and powerful real estate business network and support team on Vancouver Island, marketing and selling real estate. Residential, Rural, Strata, Recreational, Investment, and Project Development Real Estate. Ian's received several awards in recognition of exceptional community commitment locally as well as outstanding performance and achievement from both REMAX International and the Vancouver Island Real Estate Board. You'll find true real estate professionals at Ianlindsay.ca. 

Thrifty Foods: At Thrifty Foods, we love to help nonprofits, charities, and schools. Our Thrifty Foods Smile Card Bulk Program allows organizations to immediately save up to 6 percent on the purchase of smile cards in bulk, allowing you to keep more money in your organization's pockets. Ask for details at Thrifty Foods in Parksville, a proud sponsor of the Pulse Podcast with Peter and Dave.

Peter McCully: Have you been following the hullabaloo that is the Taylor Swift tour? It's funny you should mention that. Just this morning I went to the Disney channel and started watching some of that heiress film. Because, honestly, I haven't heard a lot of Taylor Swift music. Might hear it on the radio in the background somewhere. I've always been Somewhat impressed at her songwriting capabilities, her ability to write a catchy song with a hook is bar none, of course, right now. And yes, she is leaving quite a trail of commotion across the country.

Dave Graham: It's phenomenal. The impact she's having on the community, how they're closing down streets in Toronto in order to keep things safe and orderly, I have to admit, I've never been reserved about this at all. I have great admiration for what she's accomplished. Aside from her musical ability, I think she's a remarkable businesswoman.

Peter McCully: Yes, and I was really impressed with the fact that whenever they have a concert in a city or a town, they always make a big donation to the local food bank, which is a great thing. What was your first concert, Dave? And was that the best concert you've ever been to? 

Dave Graham: Very first show actually was Dan Hill. When he broke through with sometimes when we touched back in the 1970s, but my first big concert beach boys. Nice. I was working McDonald's at the time and I'd asked her that Friday night off. And they said, yeah, no problem. Go to your show. Have a great time. And then they came back to me and they said, no, we need you to work Friday. And I said, okay, I quit. I'm going to the show. And that's what I did. 

Peter McCully: I'm having trouble remembering whether it was the Stampeders or April Wine, but both big Canadian names in those days. It didn't really matter. They were both good concerts. A little later on, I got to see somebody I really admired growing up musically and that was Roy Orbison as he was out on his last tour before he joined the Traveling Wilburys. This was just probably five or six months before he passed away. Not a guy who was known for talking in his concerts. He would play three or four songs and say, and here's one you might remember and then play three or four more, but a great show nonetheless.

Dave Graham: Oh, I bet. Hey, maybe we could put that out and make that a speak to us question. Why don't we? Tell us your first concert or your best concert. Just push the button on our speak to us. It'll give you up to five minutes. You won't need five minutes, but just tell us. Hey, it's, uh, Neil from Nanoose. And my first concert was ACDC. And why and where? Did you win a trip to go and see them in Tahiti or something? 

Dave Graham: Yeah. A good story. We want a good story, Dave. Stories. 

Peter McCully: That's what it's all about. 

Dave Graham: I want to tell you a story quickly about one terrific concert I saw. Earth, Wind Fire, Maple Leaf Gardens. And it had been designed by, I don't know if you'll remember this name, Doug Henning?

Peter McCully: Oh, of course. The magic guy. Magician? 

Dave Graham: Yes. Doug designed the Earth, Wind Fire stage show for that tour. And they were popping out of boxes and disappearing offstage and doing all these tricks while playing this incredible funky music. It was just an amazing show. 

Peter McCully: I've always been a big fan of Chicago and a friend of mine went to their concert in Las Vegas. About 10 years ago, Earth, Wind Fire and Chicago. They played for three hours. You can imagine the hits they would have together. Big brass bands. It would be a great show. 

Dave Graham: We want to hear your stories. Tell us where you're from, who you are, and that story about the first concert ever, the best card so you can never remember whatever it might've been. First date you had to travel. Just click the link, speak to us, and that will give you up to five minutes to talk to us. We'll take the best ones and air them on a future podcast episode. Remember, it's a family show. 

Peter McCully: I think it's time for me to refill my coffee cup. I'm going to head down the hall here and see Mabel in the cafeteria. Perhaps you could see if Marilyn has a guest waiting. 

Dave Graham: It is time for our first guest, Marilyn, who is in the green room?

Marilyn: Superintendent of schools, Peter Jory is in the green room. Recently, the school district enacted a cell phone policy called no cell after bell. We'll find out the details and how it's being received by the students and parents of School District 69.

Dave Graham: Welcome to the podcast, Peter. 

Peter Jory: Thanks for having me. 

Dave Graham: I understand the enrollment for the school district is down by almost 50 students this year. Do we call that a trend? 

Peter Jory: Yeah, it is a trend. We're expecting flat or slight decline in enrollment over the next few years. There are a number of factors that contribute to this. We know that immigration has slowed a little bit. Migration to the island has slowed a little bit for the time being. We'll see what happens when interest rates go down a little bit more. But for the Parksville and Qualicum areas, there's just really a shortage of family suitable housing. I know Mayor and Council in both towns are working on this, but if you look at a big map, From the sky and what you can develop and what you can't and then all the other competing factors sense that it's a bit of a challenge, but until we see large subdivisions going in, we're not going to see growth enrollment. These condos across the streets, I watched them go up over the last couple of years. There's no kids in there. We're not anticipating that our enrollment train is going to go in the other direction anytime soon. 

Dave Graham: How does this play out in terms of class size? 

Peter Jory: It doesn't really affect class size as long as we're keeping our eye on the ball. We have a lot of systems in place to gauge enrollment, look at registrations coming in, inquire about possibility of families moving out, and watching our demographics very carefully, and just keeping an eye on that all the way along. In secondary, the schools will build their timetables through the early spring.

And it could be a factor there if there was a late drop in enrollment, if a number of kids move away in the summertime, for example. In elementary, though, there's a little bit more flexibility. Classes are typically recast in the first week of school. If a school experiences an enrollment drop, and we saw a few of those across the district, basically what they'll do is have one class less and redistribute the students accordingly.

It doesn't really have a factor. in regards to how many kids are in a given room, but it does impact how many kids are in a school and it does impact our budget for sure. 

Dave Graham: Moving on to international students, any changes in the numbers there? 

Peter Jory: No, steady on around 150. There's still a desire to come to Canada and there's still a strong desire to come to British Columbia and especially Vancouver Island and our team's out there recruiting and does very well.

We have a lot to offer international students. The bottleneck there really is homestays. We really appreciate all the families that, that host our international students. Some of them have been doing it for a long time, but it is hard to recruit new families. It's a bit of a commitment, and we also recognize that for some families, they've had a number of students over the years, and they're retiring, so to speak, and so we're always looking.

If you're interested, please reach out to our international department. Always advertising, always looking. 

Dave Graham: Now the cell phone policy. We have to talk about this in place for the school year. First, could you just talk about what it's about? 

Peter Jory: This is government in action. It was certainly a conversation leading up to the election, but I have to agree with the concept.

It was time for us to do something more fulsome as a system, and it is, I think, easier to get inertia on something like this when we're all doing it together across the province, and so I think that was a good thing to get after. What we know about cell phone technology addiction, how it affects mental health, and how it affects learning, we need to do something at our schools.

Now I get it. Make a delineation between elementary and secondary. I'm not saying it's not an issue at elementary. During the school day. It doesn't look a lot different from us, from what it used to look like. Cell phones were, had a low profile at elementary schools, and so that was an easy shift for them.

At high school, though, pretty prevalent. And I was pleased to report at the first couple board meetings that when I walked through the halls and, and peeked into classrooms, it looked a lot different at the beginning of this year than it did in previous years. It was like going back in time in a nice way.

You still saw them. a little bit, but far fewer, and certainly not the issue that it was. But it's an ongoing work in progress. Our staffs are constantly working with their kids, trying to encourage different kinds of strategies. And when they are using their cell phones, and this is a part of the conversation, when they're using them for learning to have clear expectations in place and communicate those expectations very clearly so that it works.

For the most part, kids are buying in. I think they fully recognize the challenges themselves, but there's always that kind of temptation. They are fun to use. We all have this problem. I have it too. Right? And find ways to get through the day without pulling that phone out of your pocket and taking a look.

Dave Graham: So you were chatting with Peter a while back, and on that occasion you mentioned having difficulty in finding coaches for the sports teams. What's the status of that now? 

Peter Jory: There is a growing interest in team sports, a keenness to come out and be a part of that.

We've relied on a number of long standing, dedicated coaches in our high schools especially, and they're still coming forward, and we Greatly appreciate that. There's always a need for more help, especially at the junior and grade eight levels. I understand we've got some keen grade eights out there and it would be nice to have a little bit more help.

If you're a basketball seasons coming up. If you're a basketball person, reach out to your school. 

Dave Graham: It wasn't so long ago. Your number one concern was keeping children teachers safe during covid, which, I'll say with some trepidation, we've moved partway through, I guess. Could be one of those things that's forever with us in one degree or another, but nonetheless, we've emerged from the worst of it. What would you now say is, if there is one, your biggest concern these days? 

Peter Jory: It's a toughie. Where I've landed is Outlook. We've come out of this situation that was very difficult, uh, very challenging. And we have no interest in going back into that environment again. It was a hard time for everybody. And we're in a place now where things are starting to turn around.

It's going to be a while, though. We still have high replacement costs. Inflation is way down, but the costs are still up. And we recognize that our governments have spent a lot of money in working through these issues. And although the economy is looking very promising, we're not going to be really well funded in the school system in the next few years.

And so we're going to have to tighten our belts and we're going to have to be careful. We're going to need a really positive outlook to just work through these next few years, do the best that we can. There's lots of positives going on out there. And if you look at all the engagement I was talking about with our clubs and our teams, that's an up.

And if you look at the results that we're getting in our classrooms, that's an up too. And so, it is going to be a while before we can start to put back into the system, I think. I'm just asking for everybody's patience around that. 

Dave Graham: The commons were in the news recently, uh, of course back in May, the board decided that it looked like, what, maintenance and capital costs overall were just too daunting and you'd have to close the facilities. But, in the meantime, many groups and individuals have stepped up. in with their ideas, suggestions, proposals, whatever. Only so much you can talk about it now, for sure. Any updates as to the status? 

Peter Jory: We held onto those buildings as an insurance policy against growth enrollment. As it's become apparent that our enrollment's going to be flat, at least for the time being, holding onto those buildings is a little bit less attractive for us.

We've been renting space out in those buildings for a long while, and those tenants have appreciated it. For us as a business, we recognize that we've been giving fairly favorable rates. It's a little bit like renting a truck out to someone and only charging for gas and oil. And when it comes time for that transmission to be replaced, somebody's got to pay for that.

And that's the situation we're in with our buildings. Those roofs and those HVAC systems are getting to end of life and we're concerned about that. We've been talking about this issue for a few years now. We're not funded for those buildings when it comes to capital grant money because they don't house our students and so Recognizing the potential burden that is coming to light It was time to start talking about going in a different direction and perhaps selling them and so that Communication has been going on for the last year and a half The good news is there's quite a bit of interest in them and our board's very committed to Finding an outcome that's going to serve the community in the best way You As far as specifics, though, I can't really share them.

The parties that have come forward know who they are. And we'll be in ongoing conversation for the time being. And when something more concrete is available for the public, we'll share that. 

Dave Graham: Terrific. Superintendent of Schools for District 69, Peter Jory, thank you so much for your time. My pleasure. 

Peter McCully: Peter Jory will have him back to chat about the Parksville and Qualicum Commons when those decisions have been made a little later on.

Back after this word. 

Thrifty Foods: At Thrifty Foods, we love to help nonprofits, charities, schools, and local organizations in our communities. Our Thrifty Foods Smile Card Bulk Program allows organizations who shop at Thrifty Foods to immediately save up to 6 percent on the purchase of Thrifty Foods Smile Cards in bulk. These savings allow you to keep more money in your organization's pockets. Ask for details at Thrifty Foods in Parksville, a proud sponsor of the PQ Pulse podcast with Peter and Dave. 

SOS: The Pulse Community Podcast is sponsored in part by SOS. For more than 55 years, the SOS Caring for Community at Christmas program has ensured that local children, youth, adults, and seniors experience the joy of the holidays. The thrill of finding a gift under the tree. The happiness that comes from sharing food that has special meaning to donate to the SOS caring for community at Christmas program, visit SOSD69.com or call 250-248-2093.

Peter McCully: We've been talking about a couple of subjects, which we find interesting. And we thought we would bring to you on this podcast, one being. The whole weight loss thing. Lots of folks are using brand name products and prescriptions to lose weight out there. We thought we would try and talk to a health professional about that. We also thought we'll talk to somebody who has signed up for online dating to see what happens in that world.

I think we'll also talk to somebody about all these online scams and phone scams that are happening. So if you have a subject that you think that we would like to tackle, Please let us know, you can send us a text or you can contact us on the speak to us link. Dave, you mentioned you were chatting with an author who had been working in the forest industry about a book that he wrote.

One of the more fun interviews that I'd done in the last couple of years was with the team from Big Timber, the television show. They're Alberni area a lot, even though their sawmill is up in Sooke. But fun people, really fun people. Maybe we could talk about that for a minute. Who have been some of your more fun or interesting interviews over the years?

Dave Graham: I think I could speak easily in a sort of a generic sense in that the fun and the easier ones are the interviews about people that are with people about anything they're passionate about. Because a lot of people step into a radio studio and it's not a comfortable or normal environment to be in.

Talking into a microphone and wearing headphones is all weird. But once you get them past that and onto their passion, then the magic happens and that's to me is great fun. I will mention one in particular and this is a name I love to drop, Mike Love of the Beach Boys, again the Beach Boys. He and I ended up chatting in advance of a show they were putting on at the Port Theatre a number of years back.

He was just so professional and pleasant and easy to get along with. And this is something that he's been doing this for how many decades. And here he is still putting out the efforts, calling the small town radio station for a pre show interview. And I just admired him for even that much.

Peter McCully: I really enjoyed the interviews where I get to learn something and of course be entertained at the same time. Like Ron James is a very entertaining guy. You would learn a whole different set of things from Dr. Bonnie and about a year ago I had the chance to interview John Valliant who had written the book. Fire Weather, which was on the top of the New York bestsellers list. It's about the fire that leveled Fort McMurray. It took him seven years to write the book, and it is a book that's hard to put down. And he won numerous awards for it. As you say, the passion that he showed when he was talking about the book. The subject matter and the book and what went into writing it. Very knowledgeable guy. 

Dave Graham: And again, we're back to stories, which is really what we're all about here on this podcast. And we have a parallel podcast going, which includes, yes, stories. Anybody with young kids will enjoy this because today's children's storybooks are really podcasts. You can download them to your phone and children can enjoy them that way.

So Peter and I are going to be bringing you a separate podcast called Skookum Kid Stories. They are delightful original stories about a boy named Peter and his pet Eskimo dog, Gracie. They're always finding adventure. Peter, tell folks about the other kids story podcast, if you will. 

Peter McCully: The delightful adventures of Captain Dave of the Mellow Submarine in Deep Bay. He and Larry the Lobster find excitement above and below the waterline. You'll find the Pulse Podcast and Skookum Kid Stories on thepulsecommunity. ca, skookumkids. com, Apple, Spotify, iHeart, Amazon, and YouTube. 

Dave Graham: Marilyn, who is in the green room? 

Marilyn: Well guys, waiting patiently in the green room is Vince Ditrich. Vince started playing drums at age five in his father's band and spent 30 years with the award winning band Spirit of the West. Now Vince is an award winning author. First there was The Liquor Vicar. Then the Vicar Knickers, and now the Vicar Vortex, the final installment in the Trilogy series of Tony Vicar.

Peter McCully: Thanks for joining us on The Pulse Podcast, Vince. 

Vince Ditrich: Thank you for having me. 

Peter McCully: When you're out to doing readings and book signings for the Vicar Vortex and the other Vicar series, what kind of comments do you get from readers who have read the first two novels?

Vince Ditrich: I think the most common thing is that people who know me say that they can hear my voice. Almost everybody comments that it's very visual. They can see the action as if it's a TV show. And of course, I wrote book one specifically to be adaptable easily to television. That was my plan from the get go. 

Peter McCully: It took a couple of years of solid effort to write The Liquor Vicar, that's the first installment. And how long did it take to write the third book in the trilogy, The Vicar Vortex? Was that somewhat preformed because you'd already written two novels? 

Vince Ditrich: I knew where I wanted to end, and I certainly knew where to begin, but it's like, Having a house with multiple floors, you've got ground floor and then the second floor and then the attic and you got to build the stairs.

It's not a factory situation. It's hand building each step. So it's very slow and painful. And you got to tear out those steps and sometimes redo them. Then I'm stretching the metaphor a bit, but there are a lot of intricate steps in between beginning and end. Even when you know over three books where you want to end, it's a stop, go back.

Okay. You say, no, I've taken a wrong turn here. I have to rip this all out and change it. You still get to the same destination, but the route by which you get there can be very circuitous. 

Peter McCully: Perhaps you could catch us up on the characters. And for those who may not be familiar with the first two novels and the characters and life in Tyee Lagoon, which sounds like many small communities on Vancouver Island.

Vince Ditrich: It's imagined after many small communities. I have a lot of friends on the island and they come from all kinds of little places, but there's great similarity to most of these towns. Some have unique things like for example, Qualicum Beach is a little boutique town with a lot of elderly people as compared to maybe some of the younger towns.

There's some of that I throw in there, but all sorts of towns up and down the island, the main characters, Tony Vicker, who's a wannabe musician past the age of doing anything serious in music, but he holds onto the dream. I've known a lot of people like this, who fancy it so much. It's an obsession more than anything else.

It's not a hobby. It's an obsession. I look at that because I've been through music. I've done very well, had great success, but it looks different to me from 50 years later than it does to those folks. Those folks still have a romanticized concept of music. And this poor guy is jumping from small job to small job.

His dreams are giant. He's more like an 11 year old dreaming about being able to fly. And yet he's a great guy and he has a good heart and he loves kids. And he's a very respectable guy in his own way. He's just a dreamer, a really just a slightly discombobulated dreamer. He finds himself falling in love with a young woman who is known as Jackie O, her last name is O'Neal, but Jackie O is what she goes by and she's very grounded, very smart, very pretty, and she somehow sees something in Tony Vicker and they become a pair, they link up, they are a couple throughout the book.

There are other characters that are local color based on experiences I've had, people I've known, combinations and compressions of characters that I've known. Some of them are pretty rough around the edges. Most of them are, I think, which is the fun for me because when you write characters that are too sophisticated, I think it just lacks comedy potential and lacks the kind of charm that makes you like them.

Peter McCully: Well, the first book certainly had me laughing out loud in spots, that's for sure. You mentioned that the faster pacing in the first book was written by design because you envisioned Tony Vicker coming to television. 

Vince Ditrich: I did. In fact, I have a good buddy named Pete McCormick, who's a well known author and filmmaker. He's been shortlisted for the Academy Awards, for example, a very heavy duty mind. And I said, Pete, I want to do a TV show. How do I do this? And he said, You don't just write down a vague idea and then pitch it to people. You write the book, or books, so that you own the idea. You own the intellectual property.

And I said, ooh, that's a really good idea. So I did that and I started off slowly, painfully, Staggeringly almost and then eventually I got the rhythm and I wrote the whole book went back tweaked the whole book went back tweaked the whole book and then finally found a resting place where I could Submit it to various publishing houses and eventually I signed with Dundurn Press of Toronto They in turn then helped me rewrite and then he write about three times So the first time was like taking a class An extended course in how to write a novel, a proper novel.

Then after that, I understood the process and it came more quickly to me. I found that coming a written it in such a visual manner and such a hopefully vivid manner that it would aid me in pitching the book as a television show. And that has borne fruit. I have had some interests from Hollywood and I'm now talking to people.

People, unnamed people who shall remain unnamed until my signature's on a piece of paper in blood. It's extremely exciting and, uh, slower than molasses in January. But I'm sure that once I've signed, everything will take off at about a thousand miles an hour because that appears to be how that industry work. Stop, stop, stop, stop, go! 

Peter McCully: How long would it take to write a book? Did it take a fair amount of time to piece the story together from start to finish for each book? Or was the first one longer, second one shorter, third one even shorter? 

Vince Ditrich: I really got going on the second book, The Vicar's Knickers, quite quickly.

After I got through the first draft, I just went back, tore it apart, really pumped it up. So it ended up being a year of writing for that one. The first one, two years. Second one a year, third one a year. And I think a lot of writers can pump it out in three, four, five, maybe six months. I can't write that quickly because I'm trying to keep things extremely dense.

I want, if not a laugh, at least a smile on every page. You just can't do that. If you're riffing all the time, because the riffs become too anecdotal and they sound too much like silly jokes stuck together by a daisy chain that can fall apart. So you need to really have some meat holding things together and that takes some thought and some construction.

Peter McCully: And Vince, you've been recognized. Two of the books have been recognized. 

Vince Ditrich: Yes, the Sunshine Coast Editors and Writers Society. They've given me first prize in humor twice now for book one and book three. And the most recent one was in August of this past year. So I feel pretty good about that. And I've submitted to the Leacock Awards again, and I'm hopeful for that.

If you even make it on the long list for the Leacocks, I think that says something huge because it's the biggest humor award in the country. It has an. Unbelievable legacy, and let's be honest, half of the great comedians in the United States are Canadian. I think it puts you to a bigger pool. 

Peter McCully: Let me ask you this. You've been writing these three books in the trilogy for three plus years. Now you're not writing a book, or are you wandering around still putting up post it notes on the fridge, and maybe it's a new character in a new book, or is there a book four in there somewhere? 

Vince Ditrich: Sort of in a bit of a holding pattern, because let's say that the, the television show suddenly comes to life.

It's very possible that I may need to leap into book four or five or six. If it does not, if it's going to be three more years before this TV show happens, I have to write something else. So I'm doing what I usually do and what my wife points out. So I wonder around the house, looking up into the middle distance, maybe at the ceiling, scrounging my butt.

The smoke coming out of my ears and squeaking sounds come from the brain case, and I'm just trying to think of what I might want to do that is complimentary to this series where I can use my humor, because I think honestly, my strong suit is humor. So I'd like to blend humor into another format, another genre.

Peter McCully: Vince, have books always been an important part of your life? 

Vince Ditrich: Oh, absolutely. I was an avid reader as a boy, and I'm delighted to report that I've just heard that my eldest grandson is really into the books, much like I was. He's eight now, going on nine, and I'm reading Constantly, apparently comes home from school every day, changes into pajamas, and starts reading.

That was much like me, and I read pretty well. I didn't read everything I could get my hands on, I had specific tastes, but I read a lot. As a boy, I always had my notes in a book, or I was playing music. 

Peter McCully: Who are you reading these days? 

Vince Ditrich: Actually, I just picked up a Chris Hadfield book, which is fun. It reminds me of some of the books I read when I was a younger man. It's lots of adventure, lots of intrigue, and easy to read, and fun. Is there anything the man can't do? 

Peter McCully: He can even sing in outer space. Yeah. I didn't say he could carry a tune. I said he could sing in outer space. 

Vince Ditrich: He scooped me because I was going to be the astronaut musician. I was going to join the air force and everything. And it turns out they didn't need a colorblind diabetic pilot. 

Peter McCully: Everywhere you turn these days, the subject of AI comes up. It's everywhere. Really? Perhaps you could pass along your thoughts on its impact in both music and the publishing industry these days. 

Vince Ditrich: I'm not certain if it's terrifying or if it's a useful tool, but it's devaluing a lot of things, writing simple things, simple paragraphs of description or summations of things, computers do that now through AI and you can just press Command P, print it out, and there it is, or send it off to somebody, and it's generally pretty good. It takes away work from people. I don't know what we're going to do other than consume after a while, because music is much the same. Auto generation of pop songs. They're not good pop songs, but they sound like everything else that's going on right now.

I think that the music is being diluted slowly, but surely, and people don't care as much. They just don't care. They just want the wallpaper of sound going on around them. It's factory made. It's computer generated as opposed to what I did as a musician, as a kid, and everything we did. Every single note we played was custom made.

Every note was played by a human. Even if it was on an electronic instrument, it was played by a human. It had all the time lags, all the pitch issues, it had all the humanism. That is natural when three, four, five, six people play together, but that's gone. That is gone. Heart is a reflection of the time that it is made.

This tells us much about our society. We want ease of access and we want quantity appreciating the custom manufacturer of something, artisanship, artistry, depth. This is not required at this time. We don't want it. We're here to consume and we can accept that or we can fight against it. But I don't see fighting against it because even when I was making records in the last 10 years, I was using a blend of the old fashioned and the new technology.

Because you can't avoid it. If it costs you several thousand dollars a day in a studio to make that record, why would you spend an entire two or three extra days just trying to get one musician's performance perfectly in tune when you can run it through a filter that puts it perfectly in tune in one second?

I just don't see us eschewing that. It's too useful, but I think we have to use our hearts to be honest about what we're writing, what we're performing, what we're photographing, what we're presenting. We have to be, otherwise we become blind to it and then we're just the consumption machine. 

Peter McCully: How are you feeling these days? When we've chatted after your first book, you were talking about the experience of having a kidney transplant and the kidney donated by the husband of your niece. I thought perhaps you could provide us with an update on how you're feeling these days. 

Vince Ditrich: I feel well. I'm too fat, Peter. Too chubby. I have to exercise more. But other than that, I feel very good. And I know, thank God for medicine. And thank God for Darren's gifted kidney. I would be dead without it. 

Peter McCully: What's next for Vince Ditrich? 

Vince Ditrich: The television series, I hope, and more books. My wife and I are going to do a little traveling in the next year, not too far. We haven't done a ton of it together. I travel so much as a professional musician and I get nauseated when I kind of glance at an airport at this point. I'm feeling better now feeling more like I want to go and she enjoys it so much that I just can't be a fuddy duddy and prevent her from it and try to eat food that she's decided I'm going to eat so she can have a bite to that kind of stuff, you know, 

Peter McCully: thanks for being with us.

Vince Ditrich: Thank you very much for having me. 

Peter McCully: And if you would like to contact us about suggesting guests for the podcast, or to send us comments or voice messages, you'll find our contact information and links on the website and in the show notes. Dave, you've been around radio  stations for many years. Did you work at CHUM in Toronto when the legendary Tom Rivers was doing the morning show there?

Dave Graham: Alas, we did not quite overlap. I did run into Tom in my time there, but we didn't work together, no. 

Peter McCully: I used to listen to him on satellite. I used to really enjoy his humor and it's really just him but he's got all these guests he makes up and voices characters. He always was well known for riding the Toronto Maple Leafs, especially when they were losing.

And I remember one morning I was listening to him and he had a character called the Father or the Padre who he used to invite into the show all the time. This particular morning he said to the Padre, Father you look very tired. Oh I know Tom, I was up all night. Why were you up all night? After the Toronto Maple Leafs lost to the New York Islanders 13-4, goaltender Curtis Joseph threw himself in front of a train in the Toronto subway.

Is he okay? Oh yeah, the train went right through his legs. 

Dave Graham: That does ring a bell. Yeah, I remember that character now that you mention it, Goy. That's going back. On the other end of the scale, I remember a, uh, conversation I had on the radio once with a fellow who'd written a book about his years as a logger on the island and on the mainland and he had quite some tales to tell.

I remember reading the entire book and there were some pretty neat parts and I thought I'd get him on the air and he would not mention a word from his book. Nope, nope, you gotta buy the book. I'm not saying that he turned into a very brief broadcast. I don't know if it's so many books. 

Peter McCully: Short interview.

Dave Graham: But these things happen. Live radio. 

Peter McCully: Yeah, that's for sure. Just about that time to go and see Mabel and see what's happening at the cafeteria. You wanna head down there? 

Dave Graham: Hey, do you know what Godzilla eats at a restaurant a lot. The restaurant. Why did the beat turn red? Because it saw the salad dressing. What do you get when you cross a pig and a centipede? Bacon and legs. 

Rockin Rhonda: Here come Peter. Here comes Dave. Oh listen. Bringing stories, making waves. No messing. Spinning tales in the podcast cave. So to speak. Laughs and insights everywhere. What a treat. Here and there. On the mics all night.