T.V. MANIA.

Would today's average North American boy become excited about his family purchasing a black-and-white television? Unless he had little in the way of amusements, probably not. It was a different story back in 1967. Children never dreamed of having high-tech marvels as computers, electronic games, and cell phones. If we were fortunate, our parents bought us tinny-sounding transistor radios.

In Deliverance from Jericho (Six Years in a Blind School), I wrote about how my dad's purchase of a new set excited me. It kept me feeling that way for weeks during that summer.

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Our old television died that summer. Dad decided to replace it with a new set. We had owned that television for over eleven years and repairs were costing us serious money. I felt privileged that Dad let me help choose a new television. Knowing nothing about prices, I kept picking the finest-looking and largest ones. Dad finally settled on a set with the words MONITOR 300 printed below the controls.

The new set was a pleasure to watch. The knobs from the old television had been lost and the channel selector required a pair of pliers. The new set displayed no vertical lines which marred black and white broadcasts. The brightness of its picture, compared to our old television, astonished me.

Drawing televisions and cutting pictures out of catalogues kept me busy too. This mania refused to release its hold on me. "If only I could have my own set," I wished repeatedly. I felt extremely eager to try an experiment. What would happen, I wondered, if a television was turned upside down. Would the picture stay the right way up? Naturally, Mom and Dad wouldn't let me perform that test with such a big-ticket item. I would have to wait until I became an adult to find out.

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Deliverance from Jericho contains many more vignettes of what life was like in that government-run institution. These range from poignant experiences of homesickness to hilarious incidents of mischief. Click here to read more about this compelling story. You may also e-mail me directly if the comment form doesn't work.

By the way, when I did turn a T.V. upside down, the picture stayed upside down too.

THE MYSTERIOUS PRESENT.

When I boarded at Jericho Hill School for the Deaf and Blind, a local family let me stay at their place during certain weekends. I deeply appreciated their care for me, being that I was only allowed to return home during Christmas and summer holidays. Staying in their cosy home, rather than a utilitarian dorm, was a welcome break for me.

In Deliverance from Jericho (Six Years in a Blind School), I wrote about the mysterious gift this family gave me as a going away present for the summer. I had no clue what it would do until my mom helped me set it up.

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Before I left for the summer, the Rupert family gave me a strange gift of coloured plastic chunks and a bag filled with clear viscous liquid. Once I arrived home with them, Mom read the instructions and learned that it was a kit which would grow stalagmite-like objects in jars. She placed those coloured chunks of plastic in a clear fish bowl, mixed the liquid with water according to the instructions printed on the bag, and let the contents stand for a day.

Since the bowl was shallow, the stalactites resembled mushrooms. Even so, I thought the kit was amazing. "I wonder what other plastic objects would grow in there," I exclaimed as I gazed at the bowl.

"I don't know but the plastic needs to have a rough surface for it to grow," Mom said. She then placed the bowl on the fireplace mantel where I admired it whenever I walked past it.

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Deliverance from Jericho contains many more vignettes of what life was like in that government-run institution. These range from poignant experiences of homesickness to hilarious incidents of mischief. Click here to read more about this compelling story. You may also e-mail me directly if the comment form doesn't work.

polkamania.

Apart from seniors and Weird Al Yankovic, does anybody like polka music anymore? Tuning across the radio dial, this genre is scarcely aired. Forty years or more ago, it was a different story. In fact, some television stations broadcast live polka performances each weekday.

In Deliverance from Jericho (Six Years in a Blind School), I wrote about the time when one of my favourite cartoons was replaced by a locally-produced polka program. Being a ten-year-old at the time, I didn't care that others might actually prefer different musical forms.

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This bingo segment came before The Noon Show, another of Mom's favourites. It featured a local polka band and was hosted live by the band leader who, apart from the show and a few records played on the country music radio station in Camrose, was not well known. The Noon Show replaced The Flintstones during July and August. This greatly enraged me.

"Why do they have to put that stupid program on, Mom?" I complained the first day it was aired.

"They played the cartoons for kids who ate lunch at home but now it's summer. Besides that, some people like that kind of music," Mom explained. I wished The Noon Show would go off the air and that all of us children could watch The Flintstones again.

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Deliverance from Jericho contains many more vignettes of what life was like in that government-run institution. These range from poignant experiences of homesickness to hilarious incidents of mischief. Click here to read more about this compelling story. You may also e-mail me directly if the comment form doesn't work.

CRUEL ACCUSATIONS OF DISABLED PEOPLE.

Believe it or not, some misguided individuals actually blame disabled folks for having handicaps. Some Christian cults even teach their followers that a disability proves that the sufferer is being punished for unconfessed sin, a lack of faith, or ancestral sins. Even today, charismatic preachers, such as Benny Hinn, believe that any sort of deficiency or ailment is a result of the sufferer's insufficient faith to be healed.

In my upcoming How I Was Razed: A Journey from Cultism to Christianity memoir, I wrote about how the minister of that pseudo-church said, behind my back yet, that my lack of healing was due to lust.

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"May I borrow the tape of the meeting again?" I asked Sister R after the following Sunday Service.

She hesitated, looked away, and said, "You don't want to hear this."

"How come?" I asked as my frown deepened.

She paused again for a few seconds and bowed her head as she mumbled, "Brother H spoke about you during the meeting."

"Why can't I hear what he said? Don't I have the right to know?"

"Look -- will you promise not to take what he said the wrong way?"

"Yes. I really want to hear what he said about me." Sister R dragged her feet as she fetched the reel from the basement and handed it to me.

As soon as I arrived home, I threaded the tape on the machine. I enjoyed the recording until I heard Sister R ask, "Why isn't Bruce being healed? We've prayed faithfully for him but he still has poor sight."

Brother H drew a long breath and said, "The reason God hasn't given him full sight is because he lusts after it."

I gasped as if he had kicked me in the crotch.

"But can you blame him?" Brother H continued, his voice becoming choked with emotion. "To see his young playmates running around and not being able to join them when he was a child, it's no wonder he wants sight so badly."

Then he opened the scriptures to James 4:1 and read. "From whence come wars and fightings among you? Come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members? Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not. Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts."

Then he said something that wounded me even deeper. "There is also generational sin in his ancestry. I will not mention the scarlet lady, but we know that God punishes those who hate him to the third and fourth generation. It has been revealed to me that this is a generational sin but I have put a stop to it. His children will not be affected by this curse."

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How I Was Razed is the testimony of the way I was mislead by a cult church, how I turned my back on God after I felt he perennially failed to heal my eyes, and how he graciously brought me to my senses.

My previous books are now available for purchase online by clicking here. You can also click here to e-mail me directly as well.

MY FIRST EXPERIENCE WITH BUILT-IN OBSOLESCENCE

When did you first discover the concept of built-in obsolescence? My first transistor radio was a precious gift from my parents. When a boy at Jericho Hill School for the Deaf and Blind pulled the ferrite rod antenna out of it, I assumed the repair\ man could fix it. After all, he fixed our T.V. many times.

In Deliverance From Jericho (Six Years in a Blind School), I described how I hoped my receiver could be repaired. This is what actually happened.

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Meanwhile, I begged Mom to have my radio fixed. One sunlit afternoon, we walked uptown to the repair shop. Mom placed my transistor portable on the counter and said, "My son's radio won't play. Can you fix it?" The technician opened the back and examined the receiver's innards for a minute.

"It would cost more to fix than the radio was worth," the man said as he handed back the receiver. I felt crushed. Arnold's wrong-headed tampering had irrevocably separated me from hearing the music I loved.

"Please buy me another radio," I begged as we walked home. "All the other kids have radios. Why can't I have one?"

"Because they cost a lot of money, that's why. You should have taken better care of your radio. Every time we give you something, it gets broken."

My thoughts were gloomy as Mom and I walked home. I hardly noticed the brilliant July afternoon. For the millionth time, I wished that boys would leave my possessions alone.

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Deliverance from Jericho contains many more vignettes of what life was like in that government-run institution. These range from poignant experiences of homesickness to hilarious incidents of mischief. Click here to read more about this book and to order it. You may also e-mail me directly if the comment form doesn't work.

FACING CONSEQUENCES

"It seemed like a good idea at the time." That's one of many excuses people use to justify doing something stupid. I was no exception. In the spring of 1967, I encouraged some boys to throw rocks at the windows of an old shed. Not only did our supervisor send us to bed after supper for six weeks but our parents were billed for the damage we caused.

From Deliverance From Jericho (Six Years in a Blind School), this is what happened when I, not realizing what awaited me, arrived home that summer.

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All the way home, I anticipated the immense pleasure of having two whole months of summer freedom and fun. I was totally unprepared for a verbal assault when Mom called me into the kitchen. "What's this about you breaking windows at school?" she demanded. Guilt washed over me as I recalled the rock- throwing incident in May. "The school sent us a bill for twenty-six dollars," Mom snapped.

"How many windows did you break?"

"I don't know. A couple of other kids were breaking them too."

"Well then, why did we get this bill for twenty-six dollars?" she demanded as she shoved the letter in my face. As I had no answer to that question, I mutely stared at the floor. "I bet they sent all the parents of those kids the same bill," Mom surmised.

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Deliverance from Jericho contains many more vignettes of what life was like in that government-run institution. These range from poignant experiences of homesickness to hilarious incidents of mischief. Click here to read more about this book and to order it. You may also e-mail me directly if the comment form doesn't work.

PANDORA, THE CONQUEROR.

Like people, animals can have characters ranging from passive to outgoing. Pandora was one rabbit who knew what she wanted and often plotted how to get it. In When a Man Loves a Rabbit (Learning and Living With Bunnies) I described just how forceful Pandora's personality was.

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The following evening, Pandora enjoyed exploring my bedroom. She boldly hopped in, checked out Gideon's socks and started shredding my fur-clad lad's stack of newspapers. She was so happy that she binkied and ran between the kitchen and the bedroom with the enthusiasm of a child at a playground.

When I stretched out on my stomach, Pandora jumped onto my back without hesitation and sniffed around. The feeling of four little feet hopping all over me almost made me burst out laughing. And then that adventuresome rabbit jumped up onto my bed and sniffed it thoroughly.

Since she was happy and well behaved, I let her explore my office the next day. Just as with the other conquered rooms, she ispected and chinned everything. Once she had left her scent on all prominent objects, such as doorposts and the suitcases where I stored my junk in, she became extremely frisky.

I'd only seen Gideon run the Bunny 500, so watching a ten-pound bunny dashing madly up and down the hall was quite an impressive, heart-warming sight. Then she flopped contentedly in the kitchen doorway and surveyed her newly expanded domain. Watching Pandora's happiness made me temporarily forget my lack of writing and music sales.

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When a Man Loves a Rabbit contains many more fascinating stories of life with house bunnies. These range from the tragic to the hilarious. Click here to read more about this book and to order it. You may also e-mail me directly if the comment form doesn't work.

THE FURTHER ADVENTURES OF PANDORA AND OTTO.

Continuing from my previous post, here is another excerpt from When a Man Loves a Rabbit (Learning and Living With Bunnies) in which I describe the trials and tribulations of managing two opinionated bunnies and one who was easily frightened.

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The next afternoon, I let Pandora out of her cage first. To prevent her and my little prince from fighting, I used the NIC barrier to block the kitchen from the hall. Then I put Gideon on the other side, giving Pandora the run of the kitchen.

As if it were her place all along, she took over right away and hopped into Gideon's litter boxes. Then she chinned everything bearing my fur-clad lad's scent, went into his cage
and ate some of his treats. She even jumped into the recycle bin and shredded a few pages. Pandora seemed to have no shame and she took over Gideon's domain. There wasn't any place that girl wouldn't go.

Meanwhile, The Earl of Hurl inspected the hall and other rooms?perhaps looking for new strangers who might be lurking there. Once Gideon realized his route to the kitchen was blocked, he was frantic. The poor guy kept putting his paws on the NIC barrier and nosing around the base of it. He paced the hall, desperately trying to figure out how to get at the new bunny that was shamelessly using his property.

Sadly for him, I had completely blocked him off.

After some time, I took pity on the poor pink-eyed lad and locked Pandora up. Then I let Gideon back into the kitchen where he promptly chinned every spot where Pandora had left her scent. Both rabbits sniffed noses through the cage bars and I was ready with a pistol-grip water bottle, just in case one nipped the other's nose.

Luckily, nothing serious happened.

Then it was time to let Otto out for his exercise. True to his timid character, he cautiously explored his new surroundings. While Gideon thumped in his cage and Pandora supervised from hers, Otto inspected the litter boxes and Gideon's toys.

I didn't notice him chin anything.

When he sniffed at Pandora, she tried to bite his nose through the bars. I thought her naughtiness might be because she was jealous, so I let her out while Gideon continued to thump defiantly in his cage.

Things were going well until Pandora became a bit bossy. The bunnies scuffled, but there was none of that rolling and kicking which rabbits do when they're in mortal combat mode. I could see by their reactions to each other that letting the three
rabbits out together would cause quite a war.

When I put both guest bunnies back in their cages, I let Gideon out. He immediately hoovered every spot where the strangers had hopped. After all, it was his home.

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When a Man Loves a Rabbit contains many more fascinating stories of life with house bunnies. These range from the tragic to the hilarious. Click here to read more about this book and to order it. You may also e-mail me directly if the comment form doesn't work.

TAKIN' CARE OF BUNNIES.

I recently posted about how I became a bunny-sitter in June of 1999. It was an interesting experience to say the least. I think I'll say the least too and let you get on reading this book excerpt from When a Man Loves a Rabbit (Learning and Living With Bunnies).

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My new responsibilities were totally different in character as well as looks. Otto was a timid Dutch rabbit with a thin blaze on his forehead. The poor bunny had been badly abused at his previous home and had never quite gotten over it. He was frightened by any sudden moves.

Pandora was a mixed breed and considerably larger than Otto. She had lovely white and caramel fur, and her left ear drooped, making her look comical. Pandora was adventurous and full of mischief, living up to her name.

Later that evening, I let Gideon out for his exercise, but I kept the other bunnies caged for their protection. I had heard that rabbits could fight so violently that combatants sometimes killed each other.

Initially, Gideon was extremely inquisitive. He hopped from one cage to the other, first sniffing Pandora and then Otto. True to her nature, Pandora became very interested in Gideon. In fact, it seemed like she was brazenly flirting with The Earl of Hurl. Otto just loafed in his cage for the most part, only sniffing a few times at my bunny boy's inquiring face. Meanwhile, I taped the bunnies and their cute reactions to each other.

Once the introductions were over, Gideon wasn't happy at all that his house had been invaded by two strange rabbits. He thumped almost continuously when his access to the foreigners from Calgary was denied.

I couldn't help laughing. It was as if he were a bar patron challenging new rivals to "step outside."

When I locked Gideon up for the night, he kept rattling the cage door at me and stomping angrily. I brushed my teeth and headed for bed, but I could still hear him thumping his defiance.

The poor guy yearned to mix it up with the two new strangers. I suspect he was eager to establish his dominance over them. And Gideon might have been pleased to find some of his own species in the house. It must have seemed like being an exile in a foreign land and suddenly finding a crowd of people who spoke his language.

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When a Man Loves a Rabbit contains many more fascinating stories of life with house bunnies. These range from the tragic to the hilarious. Click here to read more about this book and to order it. You may also e-mail me directly if the comment form doesn't work.