| OBSERVANCES |
lChanukah
begins 15
lWinter
Solstice 22
lChristmas
Eve 24
lChristmas
Day 25
lBoxing
Day 26
lNew
Years Eve 31
The
full moon will grace us on Tuesday the
5th.
...and
now for some unusual, fun or just plain whack
December
observances:
Monthly
Observances
-Bingo's
Birthday Month
-Identity Theft Prevention and Awareness Month
-National Drunk & Drugged Driving (3D) Prevention
Month
-National Stress-free Family Holidays Month
-National Sign Up for Summer Camp Month
-National Tie Month
-Safe Toys and Gifts Month
-Spiritual Literacy Month
-Take a New Year's Resolution to Stop Smoking
(TANYRSS) (12/10 - 2/17)
-Universal Human Rights Month
Weekly
Observances:
-Fig
1-7
-World Communication 1-7
-Dear Santa Letter 5-9
-Kids' Goal Setting 6-10
-World Kindness 7-13
-Animal Shelter Appreciation 7-13
-Pursuit of Happiness 8-14
-Farm-City 17-23
-Family 19-25
-Game & Puzzle 19-25
-Bible 19-26
-Better Conversation 20-26
-Travelers with Disabilities 11/26 - 12/3
Daily
Observances
-Bifocals
at the Monitor -Liberation Day:1
-Day With(out) Art Day:1
-World Aids Day:1
-Intl Day for the Abolition of Slavery:2
-Coats for Kids Day:2
-Special Education Day:2
-Intl Day of Disabled Persons:3
-Chase's Calendar of Events Birthday:4
-Extraordinary Work Team Recognition Day:4
-National Dice Day:4
-Bathtub Party Day:5
-International Volunteer Day for Economic &
Social Development:5
-National Communicate with Your Baby Day:5
-Ntnl Pawnbrokers Day:6
-Special Kids Day:6
-St. Nicholas Day:6
-National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day:7
-Intl Civil Aviation Day:7
-Day Of The Horse:9
-Intl Shareware Day:9
-Human Rights Day:10
-Intl Mountain Day:11
-Gingerbread House Day:12
-Poinsettia Day:12
-Bill of Rights Day:15
-Cat Herders Day:15
-Underdog Day:15
-Barbie & Barney Backlash Day:16
-Chanukah:16-23
-Posadas:16-24
-Wright Brothers Day:17
-Intl Migrants Day:18
-Sacagawea Day:20
-Mudd Day:20
-Forefathers Day:21
-Humbug Day:21
-Phileas Fogg Win A Wager Day:21
-World Peace Day/Winter Solstice:21
-Abilities Day:22
-A'Phabet Day or No "L" Day:25
-Boxing Day:26
-National Whiner's Day:26
-Pledge of Allegiance Day:28
-Tick Tock Day:29
-No Interruptions Day:29
-Leap Second Time -Adjustment Day:31
-Make Up Your Mind Day:31
-One Voice Day:31
-Universal Hour of Peace Day:31
-World Peace Meditation Day:31
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Adding your birthday to the Calendar
has never been easier. Simply add your birthday
to your profile when you join the forum
and it will automatically appear on the calendar
each year.
You can also add special events such as
your birthday party. Let us all know where and
when you will be celebrating.
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DON'T
MISS ANOTHER ISSUE
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Subscribe
to the
DOG
& PONY sound
Newsletter
today!
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WORLD
NEWS
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DOG
& PONY'S
RECOMMENDED
SHOWS
AROUND THE GLOBE
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EXPLORE
OUR
WEBSITE
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IN
THIS ISSUE:
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[archives]
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In
this newsletter: we
bring you tips on hydrating your throat during the
winter,
Announce a draw
to win one of 2 Christmas Karaoke disks by Sound
Choice, bring you news
about Swizzles'
temporary closure to repair fire damage, welcome
our newest host, warthog and bring
you updates on
our venues' special events.
Merry
Christmas!
Happy Chanukah & Happy New Year!
You
will receive a suppliment to this newsletter later
in the month with information on Christmas and
New Years Parties and special events. Stay
tuned!
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DOG & PONY SOUND SPECIAL EVENTS
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CONTEST
 Receive
a ballet to win one of 2 Sound Choice Christmas
CDG's each time you visit Dog at
Grace O'Malley's
1250 Main St. Stittsville
You'll have up to 4 chances to enter: Dec.
7, 14, 21 & 28
Draw Date:
Thursday Dec. 28
[map]
[photos]
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VENUE NEWS
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Special Events:
Monthly
Calendar
| l |
 COCK
& LION
202 Sparks St.
(Ottawa
Center)
Saturdays
8pm-midnight
with our wiley Coyote
[map]
[photos]
[schedule]
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| l |
 Grace
O'Malley's
1250 Main St. (Stittsville)
Thursdays
9:30pm-1:30am
w/ Dog
Grace O'Malley's Presents:
Dec. 1 -: Amanda Reunue
Dec. 15, 16 - Les Emerson & The Hitmen
[map]
[photos]
[schedule]
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| l |
 THE
LOOKOUT
41 York St.
(Ottawa Market)
Join the dog for a great howl at the moon
Wednesdays 9:30pm-1:30am
Gotta love the balcony overlooking the Market...and
oh the beautiful people!. Bartenders
[map] [photos]
[schedule]
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 O'BRIEN'S
1145 Heron Rd. (Ottawa
South)
Fridays
- w/Hound
Saturdays
- alternating Hound & Dog
9:30-1:30
O'Brien's
has a long standing reputation as "the
place" to hold that stag, bachelor &
birthday party.
[map] [photos]
[schedule]
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 ROYAL
BRITANNIA PUB
1475 Richmond Rd.
(Ottawa West)
Mondays w/Hound & Stray
Thursdays w/Hound 9pm-1am.
Thursdays also feature $10 pitchers.
[map] [photos]
[schedule]
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l
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 PUZZLES
344 Richmond Rd.
(Ottawa
West)
Fridays
9pm-1am w/Stray
Wheelchair
accessible,
FREE parking & NTN
[map]
[photos]
[schedule]
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| l |
 ROYAL
OAK
1982 St. Joseph Blvd. (Orleans)
The
Last Thursday Every Month
9pm-1am w/Coyote
Next
Party: THURS. DEC. 28
[map]
[photos]
[schedule]
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SWIZZLES
246
Queen St. (Ottawa
Center)
Fire
Damage has forced Swizzles to close its doors
for a few weeks.
Repairs are underway and will reopen soon.
check schedule for latest news. [schedule]
As soon as it reopens it will resume the regular
4
great nights of Karaoke we've all come to
know & love!
Sundays
8:30pm -12:30 w/Dog -
Library
#33.3
Mondays
9:30-1:30 w/Gator
-
Library #42
Tuesdays 9:30-1:30 w/Stray- Library
#9¾
Fridays 9:30-1:30 w/Dog -
Library #33.3
[map]
[photos]
[schedule]
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STAFF NEWS
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...lively
& direct from the stables:
Dog
gets frisky Wednesdays at The
LookOut,
every other Saturday at
O'Brien's,
Thursdays at Grace
O'Malley's in Stittsville. and Sundays
& Fridays at Swizzlesas
soon as the repairs are complete.
Keep checking the monthly
calendar
for
latest news of Swizzles reopening party.
Hound
hosts Thursdays at the Royal
Britannia Pub
&
teams with Stray
on Mondays at the
Royal
Britannia Pub as
well as Fridays and every second Saturday
at
O'Brien's.
 Coyote
can be spotted at The Cock
& Lion every Saturday and Royal
Oak in Orleans the last Thursday of every
month.
  Our
adorable
Stray hosts one fine party every Friday
at Puzzles
and
Mondays at the Royal
Britannia Pub.
She will continue
to host Tuesdays at Swizzles
shortly.
Gator
will resume entertaining his "Gator Aids"
Monday nights
at
Swizzles
as soon as it reopens.
Meet
our loveable Warthog!
Jason
is currently training with Dog at the LookOut
on Wednesdays.
“I
came in contact with music almost as soon as I
was born. My family loves music. Both my grandmother
and great aunt were in a church choir in Campbellton,
New Brunswick where I was born.
My
first real concert was blink 182. It was also
the concert that opened my eyes to how amazing
instrumentals could be. One of the opening acts,
a local ska band was missing their lead singer
at show time so they opened with a soft little
number that blew my mind. On that day, music was
forever changed for me.
 I
was a little frightened the first time I attended
a DOG & PONY Sound show. But then again, I
think almost everyone is their first time. The
first venue I went to was Swizzles where my uncle
Terry (Coyote) was hosting with Dog. Being a regular
at Swizzles, he knew all the regulars, the inside
jokes, the pal names and so on. So, when he was
"snow-belly posse'd" he was already
used to it, I on the other hand was in tears with
both laughter and terror.
It
took another two months before I had the courage
to get up on stage, grab a microphone and sing.
I still remember my first song, "Particle
Man" by They Would Be Giants. I totally tanked
on the song but had such a great time that I put
up another song and have been ever since.
 One
day Christopher (Dog) noticed me watching closely
as he ran the shows. I asked questions and he
answered them while I pulled disks and watched
him work the sound board. I wanted to learn enough
to ensure that if a host ever dropped dead while
I was at their show the karaoke would continue
while the paramedics took the corpse away. Christopher
on the other hand thought it might be better to
give me proper training and make me an official
host. Who am I to argue with a good idea?
~
Jason (Warthog)
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PAL NEWS
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LIBRARY NEWS
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 We
added new songs to all of our libraries on November
10. [see
new releases]
The online master database was last updated September
2006
 3
libraries at a glance (the wholy trinity)
Library
#42 by Artist
Library
#42 by Title
Library
#9¾ by Artist
Library
#9¾ by Title
Library
#33.3 by Artist
Library
#33.3 by Title
French
songs
Guide
to understanding our song codes
Children's
songs
easy
popup & print:
[weekly calendar] [monthly
calendar]
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SINGER TIPS
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"Don’t
Wait to Hydrate"
(How
to properly water the voice)
by
Mark Baxter
Every car comes with an owner’s manual
which instructs you to pull over immediately if
the oil light on the dash illuminates. A
better idea, if you’re in the habit of waiting
until the trouble light comes on before taking care
of your engine, would be to put a "for sale"
sign on the vehicle. Allowing a car to run without
enough lubrication is a sure recipe for trouble
down the road. The same is true for singers who
don’t keep themselves hydrated. Without adequate
protection, the activity of singing causes the membranes
in the larynx to swell. The problem is friction.
The body has a natural solution, however, if we
would only follow the owner’s manual for our
bodies.
Keeping
yourself hydrated is an all-day affair. Often, we
wait until we’re thirsty to reach for a drink.
This is too late for singers -- especially once
you’re on stage. It takes at least twenty minutes,
on an empty stomach, for water to cycle around your
system and show up at the membranes where it’s
needed. Other beverages take longer because they
must be digested. This means drinks on stage don’t
take effect until after the set. So why does it
feel like a quick swig of something between songs
offers immediate relief? Two reasons: The first
is that there are receptors in the throat which
signal the brain that fluids are on the way. The
second is the physical action of swallowing.
Contrary
to belief, nothing we swallow touches the vocal
folds. All of the potions singers consume in an
effort to wet their whistle are channeled away from
the larynx by the epiglottis and sent down the esophagus.
It’s just as well. Like the eye, the larynx
should be awash in saline, not tea or honey. Even
if your drink seeps down to the vocal folds, the
air stream created to sing promptly blow-dries the
area. If you are driving your voice hard, or are
nervous, the muscles in the throat tighten. The
tension closes the saliva ducts designated for the
larynx. Like blinking, swallowing changes the muscles’
position for a second and allows the ducts to open
and relubricate -- that’s if you are hydrated
in the first place.
Two
thirds of your body weight is water. It would make
sense, then, to replace what’s lost with the
same. A general rule is to consume 1Ú2 an
ounce of water for every pound of body weight per
day. The water you eat counts, so if you’re
not fond of drinking the stuff, load up on high-water
content foods like raw fruits and vegetables. Unfortunately,
beer, coffee and sodas don’t count. Even though
each contains mostly water, their ingredients trigger
the body to flush itself, leaving you with less
water than before. Certain foods will also drain
your internal water supply. Since digestion is the
number one priority of the body, when we fill up
on low-water foods like breads, crackers, chips,
cheese and prepared meats and potatoes, the throat
and larynx are robbed of hydration to make up the
deficit. Basically, if you have to have something
to drink with a meal, the foods you are eating are
too concentrated. A good routine would be to hydrate
well before a meal so you won’t feel the need
to dilute your digestive process. I know this goes
against the ever-so-common practice of eating and
drinking at the same time, but that tradition was
not put in place so we would sing better.
Athletes
hydrate well before a game so their muscles don’t
cramp; singers should do the same. Maintaining a
lubricated larynx means you’ll be able to swallow
during a song without sucking on a water bottle.
Remember, rehearsals are no easier on your instrument
than gigs, so get into the habit of staying hydrated.
If your budget is tight, there’s nothing wrong
with tap water. It’s a good idea to filter
it, though, to remove the chlorine. It’s best
to drink water at room temperature to avoid tensing
throat muscles. No matter what style music you sing,
you will notice a significant improvement in your
vocal longevity once you get yourself up to specs.
A good measure of a proper water level is clear
urine. Since there is no light on our bodies to
warn us when we’re running low, let the following
statement be your mantra, "Don’t wait
-- to hydrate"
Mark
Baxter is a vocal therapist who offers private
and video lessons. To contact him, call: (800)659-6002.
Visit his website at: www.voicelesson.com
(reprinted
with the kind permission of Mark
Baxter)
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SHOW SCHEDULES
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Serving Your Singing Fix!
Weekly DOG
& PONY sound
Shows for December 2006
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l
Pony
Paw Pals support our singers by coming
out to 2 or more venues to enjoy the
show.
Our
Singer
Showcase at Barrymores
Special
Prices
Sun
Mon
Mon
