Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - February 05, 2014, Winnipeg, Manitoba C M Y K PAGE A2 your mortgage, consider it done Canada's Mortgage Experts T Call me today Peter Paley Mortgage Specialist Ph: 204- 227- 2744 Fax: 204- 272- 3404 www. peterpaley. com peterpaley@ invis. ca Brokerage License# 10801 I deal with over 50 lenders to get you a mortgage that is suited to YOUR needs. I offer the most competitive rates in the industry with maximum flexibility in financing choices. Free mortgage consultation*, with over 14 years experience in the banking! lend t ort First time home buyer? Relax. trust a ' first time home buyer' mortgage specialist. . Furniture . Windows . Doors & More 289 King Street . 204- 946- 0729 Winnipeg's best kept shopping secret. Mon- Fri 8: 30- 5: 00 . Sat 9: 00- 3: 00 . Closed Sun www. tagwarehouse. ca M New, factory seconds, and more. CLEARANCE ON NOW! 665 Stafford St. ( at Pembina Hwy.) 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Advertising@ freepress. mb. ca EDITORIAL Newsroom 204- 697- 7301 News tip 204- 697- 7292 Fax 204- 697- 7412 Photo desk 204- 697- 7304 Sports desk 204- 697- 7285 Business news 204- 697- 7301 PHOTO REPRINTS- 204- 697- 7063 City desk / City. desk@ freepress. mb. ca Letters to the editor / Letters@ freepress. mb. ca THE NEW REALITY WFP SCAN PAGE WFP WFP SCAN TO SEE VIDEO WATCH: Selinger on removing Melnick from caucus HOW TO USE BLIPPAR 1 2 3 Download the free BLIPPAR app from Apple or the Google play store. When you see the WFP Blippar icon, scan the page with Blippar. Enjoy BONUS content on your mobile phone or tablet. WATCH . HOW- TO VIDEO READER SERVICE / GENERAL INQUIRIES 204- 697- 7000 A 2 WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2014 winnipegfreepress. com ' T HE journey of a thousand kids begins with a single book!" With apologies to the ancient Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu, that fictional quote only makes sense if you happen to be my buddy Big Daddy Tazz, one of Canada's most popular standup comedians. Once again, this hilarious father of two boys - Josh, 19, and Khyler, 6 - is a man on a mission. Way back on April 1, 2008, he shattered the record for continuous standup comedy by performing non- stop for 8 � hours at the Gas Station Theatre in Osborne Village. This month, which happens to be I Love to Read Month, my record- breaking buddy has set a loftier goal - when he's not on stage making people laugh, he'll be in classrooms promoting literacy by reading to 1,000 kids. He kicked off his 1,000- kid quest last week at Neil Campell School in East Kildonan. Joining him was a host of " outstanding local personalities," including myself and legendary children's entertainer Al " Jukebox" Simmons, who brought along a book with a cutout in the shape of his face ( " It's my Facebook!") and a " gardening" book with a creeping vine puppet that lunges out and chokes him in mid- sentence. " I was a poor reader in school, terrified of reading," the multi- talented Al confessed to Tazz and myself before we headed off to separate classrooms. " Then I found Harry Houdini's biography and read it cover to cover. You have to find the book you like. Don't follow the trend. " I want to get word to kids that are behind in reading that it comes to people at different times. Books are the main thing in my life now. I've got a book on my phone so in an emergency it's there." After spending the morning reading, we asked Tazz how the kickoff to his month- long quest had gone. You could see him doing the math in his shiny bald head. " There were 48 kids in the class, so 952 more to go," he said, a huge grin threatening to split his face in two. You don't really need to ask Tazz why he's decided to do this - it's just the way he rolls - but I did anyway. " I like to set goals that I don't know if I can achieve, and then do it," he laughed. " I really love connecting with kids and teaching them about self- esteem and bully- proofing them. " Reading was my passion as a kid. It took me away from my home life and being bullied. The Hardy Boys were an escape. I LOVED comic books. I wanted to be Wolverine, but I wasn't going to do any sit- ups." For the moment, Tazz is reading other people's works, but by month's end he hopes to be entertaining kids with his own literary creation. " I wrote a book called Bartholemew The Barkless Beagle ," Tazz revealed later over a plate of potato pancakes. " He's a beagle that can't bark. Every time he goes to bark, another animal sound comes out." At risk of ruining the ending, things work out when the barkless beagle's buddies - including a joke- telling vole named " Milton Burrow" - ride to the rescue. " What do they call you for short?" Cleo the Clumsy Calico asks the beagle near the end of the story. " Bart," the troubled dog replies. " Well, say that three times real fast," orders the cat. And so the beagle bellows: " BART! BART! BART!' To which the cat declares: " That's close enough." Tazz plans to self- publish his kids book - which is being illustrated by Jon Ljungberg, a fellow comic, artist and Riverview Health Centre special event co- ordinator - and donate it to the schools he visits. " It's a story I've been telling my boys forever," he said. " The message is that you don't have to be perfect; you just have to be you. That's it." Schools that want to help Tazz reach his goal of reading to 1,000 students this month can contact the charity- minded, barrel- chested comedian by emailing him at bigdaddytazz@ gmail. com. He has about eight schools lined up at the moment. The best thing about having this big- hearted guy read to a class is he lets the kids deliver the punchline. After entertaining a combined grades 3 and 4 class last week, he politely asked if there were any questions. One cute little guy in the front row threw up his hand. " Why are you so funny?" the kid demanded. Tazz smiled. " Because I'm not any good at math," he replied. " Some people are good at some things and some people are good at other things. There's lots of things I'm not good at." The pint- sized pupil eyeballed Tazz's less- than- svelte physique and observed: " Oh, like, you're probably not very good at running!" doug. speirs@ freepress. mb. ca Reading to kids JUST GRAND In the Doug House Doug Speirs Business B 4 City B 1 Classified C 11 Comics C 6 Diversions C 7 Editorials A 8 Entertainment C 1 Horoscope C 4 Jumble C 11 Letters to the Editor A 8 Miss Lonelyhearts C 4 Movies C 2 Sports D 1 TV C 12 Weather C 12 . OBITUARIES C 9 . COLUMNISTS Dan Lett A 5 Leonard Pitts A 9 David Dodge A 9 Graham Lane A 9 In the event of a discrepancy between this list and the official winning numbers, the latter shall prevail. PICK 3 Winning numbers Tuesday were 1,4,5. EXTRA Winning number Tuesday was 4741900. INSIDE LOTTERIES City comic hopes to turn pages for 1,000 schoolchildren during I Love to Read Month CITY councillors are calling for closer scrutiny of the waste and recycling pickup program. Public dissatisfaction with the work of contractorEmterra promptedCouns. Paula Havixbeck and RussWyatt to call for weekly reports on missed pickups. Havixbeck told the public works committee 80 to 100 homes are routinely missed everyweek onRoblinBoulevard. The city had already been monitoring Emterra's performance when its work was affected by this winter's heavy snowfall and frigid temperatures. There were reports Emterra's trucks, fuelled by liquefied natural gas, couldn't be refuelled in the frigid temperatures. Pickup over the Christmas break were reportedly 48 hours, and sometimes longer, behind schedule. The public service will report back to the committee at the March meeting on the Emterra situation. Keep closer eye on Emterra: councillors SUBMITTED PHOTO Al Simmons gives new meaning to the term Facebook as Big Daddy Tazz looks on. A_ 02_ Feb- 05- 14_ FP_ 01. indd A2 2/ 4/ 14 11: 46: 55 PM ;