Dearlove.ca

A good friend of mine, let’s call him “Raoul”, is an administrator with a major Canadian orchestra. He works around 60+ hours a week, which is all too typical of the time commitment required in his field. For all of his hard work, this devoted employee receives two weeks of vacation a year. 10 whole days.

What makes Raoul’s situation even more perplexing is the musicians in his orchestra receive three weeks of vacation for a season of 40 contracted weeks. Without getting into a whole management vs. union battle over who works harder and gets paid better, I suggest there should at least be some equity within the organization.

I love my employer, I really do (seriously, you’re the best and I don’t know what I would do without you. Probably starve). But I had to laugh a few months ago when I got an e-mail announcing an enhancement to the annual leave policy. I eagerly opened the message, and was greeted by news that the board had approved a sixth week of annual vacation for employees with at least 29 years of service. I will be eligible for the extra week on July 3rd, 2027.

I don’t think arts organizations appreciate the value of adequate vacation time for employees. Many arts administrators work in stressful environments, with heavy workloads, long hours, and little long-term (or even short-term) stability. Couple this with relatively low pay and limited time off, and it’s a recipe for disaster. Although an extra week or two won’t make all the problems go away, it would appear to be a relatively cost-effective way to improve the working conditions and mental health of arts workers.

Or perhaps there’s another solution…

I’ve been reading about the Results Oriented (or Results-Only) Work Environment (ROWE), which is a system that’s been adopted by a few major corporations (Best Buy, IBM) in North America. Essentially, employees are expected to get their work done in a timely manner, but when they do it is up to them. Nobody tracks vacation time, sick leave, or punches a clock. Practitioners report higher morale, lower turnover, and improved productivity. As one manager said, “Our employees are adults, and we treat them that way”.

I’d love to see a major cultural institution adopt ROWE as a pilot project. We’re supposed to be innovative and enlightened, so it seems like a natural fit. Of course, there would have to be some guidelines in place – you couldn’t decide to skip every performance, for example. Given that most arts administrators are passionate about their work, and our deadlines (i.e. concerts) are often non-negotiable, I don’t think the system would be abused.

Any takers?

While digging through boxes of stuff in the basement, I came across this questionnaire.  It had originally been published in the Kitchener Record on January 2, 1982 as a test to see how well parents knew their children.  My mom ended up beating my dad by a score of 20-14.  30 years later, I scored a 9.

1.  Who is your child’s best friend?

A: Dianne and Ken Dearlove and brother and Steven

2.  What colour would he like his room to be?

A:  Blue

3.  Who is your child’s greatest hero?

A:  Harrison Ford

4.  What embarrasses him most?

A:  Reading the Bible in church

5.  What is his biggest fear?

A:  When will I die

6.  In gym, would your child rather play basketball, do exercises or run relays?

A:  Basketball

7.  What is his favourite kind of music?

A:  Rock

8.  What person outside the family has most influenced your child’s life?

A:  Cub Master

9.  What are his favourite and least-favourite subjects in school?

A:  Favourite:  gym.  Least favourite:  geometry

10.  Of what accomplishment is your child proudest?

A:  Winning 4 trophies for bowling

11.  What is your child’s biggest complaint about the family?

A:  My brother

12.  What is his favourite television show?

A:  You Asked For It

13.  What sport does your child most enjoy?

A:  Bowling

14.  If you could buy your child anything in the world, what would be his first choice?

A:  A digital watch

15.  Who is your child’s favourite teacher?

A:  Mrs. Rahn

16.  What really makes your child angry?

A:  When my brother bugs me

17.  Does your child feel liked by the children at school?

A:  Yes

18.  What would your child like to be when he grows up?

A:  Professional baseball player

19.  What has been the biggest disappointment in your child’s life this year?

A:  Not be able to go swimming

20.  Does your child feel too small or too big for his age?

A:  No

21.  What gift from you does your child cherish most?

A:  Microscope

22.  What would your child’s choice be for a vacation:  A camping trip, a visit to a big city, or a boat trip?

A:  A boat trip

23.  Which of these chores does your child dislike most:  Drying dishes, cleaning his room, or taking out the trash?

A:  Cleaning room

24.  What non-school book has your child most recently read?

A:  Superfudge

25.  What is his favourite family occasion?

A:  Summer holidays

26.  What foods does your child like or dislike most?

A:  Favourite:  fish and chips.  Least favourite:  pizza

27.  What nicknames is your child called at school?

A:  Four-eyes

28.  When does your child prefer to do homework:  Right after school, after supper, or in the morning before school?

A:  Before bed

29.  Which would your child prefer to have as a pet:  A cat, dog, bird, or fish?

A:  Fish

30.  What is your child’s most prized possession?

A:  Gerbil

While cleaning up the basement over the holidays, I came across some old team photos from my formative years. I had forgotten what a fine athlete I was back in the day, and thankfully I have the photographic evidence to back up my claims.

(Me=front row, far right.  Click to enlarge)

Meet the Harv’s Self Serve t-ball team, circa 1979. We were a fearsome group, coached by the dynamic duo of my mom and dad. The fact that I’m now older than they were in this photo is just a little disconcerting.

(Me=second row, far right.  Click to enlarge)

Having mastered the art of hitting a ball off a stick, I moved on to softball. Bob’s Print Shop was a big step up in competitive zeal – half the team was doing HGH at recess. This is around the beginning of my geek phase, which would last throughout the 1980s. The glasses were a nice touch, as were the jeans that look to be pulled up to my chest. At least I’m not wearing a rabbit’s foot…

While baseball was my summer sport, I needed a winter sport that was just as physically demanding. I considered darts and curling, but I lacked the upper body strength to compete at the elite level. So, I settled on that most noble of sports…bowling. Not just bowling, but 5-pin bowling – you know, the one with the small balls.

While everyone else in my class was playing hockey, I spent my Saturday mornings at Playfair Bowl in downtown Hespeler. It was a cute little bowling alley, with eight lanes and a snack bar. It had this distinctive smell – a memorable combination of old shoes, hot dogs, and cigarette smoke.

In this team photo, I’m sporting the official YBC bowling shirt. This polyester miracle had a zipper on the front, and was the canvas on which all your bowling-related accomplishments were displayed. Various badges (I Beat My Coach, Super Spare, Family Twosome) were sown or glued onto your shirt so as to strike fear into the heart of your opponent (no pun intended). The shirt was pretty abrasive and would rub your nipples raw unless you wore a shirt underneath. Yup, it was a tough sport.

K:  Daddy, when I was three years old, I thought one plus one equalled onety-one.

Me:  Hmmm.  Now that you’re four years old, what does one plus one equal?

K:  Eleven.

I thought I’d jump on the end-of-year bandwagon and share a few of my favourite artists and songs from the past year.  There were a lot of highlights, both from my own festival and others that I attended, but I’ve chosen a handful that I keep coming back to.  I was reminded this year that there’s no substitute for a live performance, and that there are lots of really talented musicians out there who tour the country in vans more for love than money.

I became fans of a lot of the bands that played at BC Scene, but I fell hardest for Mother Mother. After missing their show at the Blacksheep during the festival, I made sure to catch them a couple of weeks ago when they opened for Matt Good at the NAC.

We’ve been playing “Hayloft” pretty regularly in the car. K thinks the line “Young lovers with their legs tied up in knots” is hilarious. As long as he doesn’t go around singing it in his Junior Kindergarten class then we should be O.K.

I’ve been playing Metric’s “Help I’m Alive” almost non-stop for the past month. It’s a song that really should be played at maximum volume – the snare just has to have that crack to it. The video / short film by Winnipeg artist Deco Dawson is perfect.

Vancouver’s Dan Mangan has had a very good year. He released Nice, Nice, Very Nice to great acclaim in August, was named the XM Verge Award Artist of the Year, and was all over CBC Radio 3’s Bucky Awards. He’s also a genuinely nice guy.

His solo set with Danny Michel in April was one of my favourite moments of the festival. It made me want to give everything up and become a singer-songwriter, until I remembered I can’t sing, play guitar, or write songs. I’ll just have to live vicariously through him.

I caught Hey Rosetta! at the Winnipeg Folk Festival in July and immediately bought their first two albums. The talented sextet from St. John’s can rock out with the best of them, then change directions entirely for a piano and strings ballad. In the wrong hands this could get a bit gimmicky, but these guys make it work.

The track “We Made a Pact” is one of my favourites from Into Your Lungs – the harmonies at 2:20 get me every time.

Finally, you should check out Grand Analog.  It’s hip hop with elements of R & B / jazz / reggae / rock.  The track “Electric City” featuring Shad even gets a square guy like me to dance.  A little.

I was digging through the past recently and came across some of my old school photos.  It’s interesting to look compare the five and six year old me to the boys and see what features I did (and didn’t) pass on. 

Kindergarten, circa 1977. Yes, that is a very big collar.

Grade 1. I think I really look like K in this photo.

Grade 2. This was probably the last time I wore a turtleneck.

Grade 3. 

Grade 4. Wow, those are giant front teeth.  Not sure who cut my bangs – must have been blind barber Billy.  And yes, those are genuine mother-of-pearl buttons.

It was all downhill from here.  By Grade 4, I was wearing glasses pretty much all the time.  The addition of braces and acne in later years would make school photo day a stressful event, and I refused to submit the order forms my mom filled out.  Ah, teenage angst.

I know, you’ve been worrying about what to get me for Christmas, and with just a few days left until the blessed event, the stress is becoming unbearable. Relax – I’m here to help.

I am one of the millions of people who love the edges of brownies. I’d much rather have a piece from the edge of the pan than the center – corner pieces are obviously the best. Of course, there are only four corner pieces in the standard 8″ by 8″ pan, which simply cannot satisfy my insatiable appetite.

Fortunately, some brilliant people have invented the ultimate brownie pan. I give you… the Baker’s Edge Brownie Pan.
By my count, that’s 10 corner pieces, plus every other piece has at least one crunchy, chocolatey edge. This is nothing short of miraculous, and I would gladly welcome one into my home.

Wait – there’s more. If you like lasagna, but you do your best to avoid the soggy pieces in the middle, then you need the Baker’s Edge Simple Lasagna pan. Enjoy, edge lovers.