HAPPY NEW YEAR!

This time tomorrow night I will be laying naked out in the middle of are frozen lake waiting for the new year to ring in. No wait a minute,that was last year!

I'm not even sure if the lake is completely frozen yet this year but I heard that a few other people in are bay are going up to the cottage for New Years like we are so there might be a little bit more of a party happening at the cottage than I thought there was going to be!

I'm really not that much of a drinker but New Years at the cottage always seems to inspire everyone to consume a few cocktails.It should be fun!

I just got back from eating dinner and I need to pack some stuff up so we can take off first thing in the morning and enjoy the rest of the day up north.I think the plan is to come back sometime Monday night so I won't be updating my blog over New Years at all guys.I haven't got around to updating my blog nearly as much as I thought I would over the holidays.Nothing too interesting to tell you about anyways!I did get a voicemail from Kayvon at Xmas that I recorded and was planning on posting here for you guys to check out.

How about I do that now and get started on some packing for the weekend. Sorry that I don't have time to shoot some video right now and make this a little more personal but here is that voicmail from Kayvon instead......

click here to view

Happy New Year everybody!!! Don't forget about the back to back episodes airing after the live New Years Eve broadcast.I'll be back here to blog at you in 2006!

TWO MORE BULLETS

-Vic just called me.
-She yelled at me because I'm late.

FOURTEEN BULLETS

-So I delivered the shows to the station around 3:00am.
-I stopped at a Mac's and got two pizza pita things.
-I took the pizza pita's home.
-Reality Bites was on TV so I watched it.
-Life was awesome in the early nineties.
-I got about five hours of sleep.
-Vic yelled at me and woke me up.
-It was a shitty way to start the day!
-I worked all day on next weeks show.
-I can't wait to get the new series on the air.
-I thought about updating me blog.
-I could tell people what I did on Boxing day.
-Vic wants to take me to dinner.
-I think we will go see a movie tonight after we eat.

2:00 AM

I wish I was sleeping right now but instead,I'm finishing putting together a couple episodes to be aired on New Years Eve after the live broadcast from Niagara Falls.These shows have to be delivered asap so I'll be up all night until they are done and delivered to the Station.

Guess who the delivery guy is? Yep,that's me! Having your own show on Network television sure is glamorous!

I'll catch up with you guys when I have a little more time.Later.

ONE MORE SLEEP!

Happy happy happy HaPPY hAPPy happy hahahpy yy hayyyyyhappphappppyyhhhhhhhhhhaaaappy HhHhHhHhHappyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy HHhh h holidays everyone!

One more sleep until Xmas.I hope all you guys have lots of fun and if Santa screws you just remember,it's probably because you were bad at some point this year!

I hope to have some time over the holidays to keep you guys posted on what I'm up to.Usually over the holidays,things are super crazy and there's no way I would have any time at all to sit in front of a key board and update my blog,but this year my folks stayed in Florida,my Brother is traveling and my sister is busy with her Husdbands side of the family so Vic and I will enjoy a pretty laid back Xmas it looks like.

"Buck" that's what we call my sister,well her and Graham are coming over for dinner tonight and we will hang out,play some games and have a few laughs but for the next couple days,I'll mostly be chillin out and eating lots of food I think. So like I said,I'll try to keep you guys posted!

If Buck didn't make my Grandma's famous Xmas pudding to bring over tonight,who knows,maybe I'll kick her out and shoot some video of a big huge family fight with flying Xmas ornaments and all kinds of yelling and screaming! My Mom can watch the video here in my blog just like all of you guys will get to.That would be awesome!

Ok,maybe not! PLay safe everyone,happy holidays and all that other stuff.Enjoy yourselves over the holidays and stop being bad,you still have time to convince Santa that you deserve some gift's!

EGGNOG SEEMS WEIRD!

Hey guys,just rolled in from a busy day full of Xmas parties and eggnog not that I had any eggnog but I had a great lunch with a couple suits at the network about my new series and a bunch of other stuff.

I have been asked to pick a couple episodes that I would like to see aired on NewYears Eve on CH after their big New Years Eve Party that is broadcast live each year.Do you guys have any suggestions as to which episodes I should tell them to air.It's cool that they want to air back to back episodes in such a great latenight timeslot.The show has been pulling some really good ratings again lately so I'm feeling a little Network love!!!!! It's nice.

Everyone seems very intrigued about my new series.You guy's are going to like it a lot I think.It will have a little of everything including Andrew"the pyscho fan".

Check it out.click here This is a little bit of video that was shot on the set of "COPS" which is the movie we shot just this past weekend.

Now I'm off to do a little Xmas shopping and then hook up with a buddy for a drink which means it might be kind of a late night for me tonight.I hope all of you guys are gearing up for Xmas and having a few laughs during this very festive a jolly time of the year.

Three more sleeps until Xmas.Later guys.

WHAT DAY IS IT ?

It's a "What Shane has to say Wednesday"....

Message: Hey JR, it's 3:30 am and I just finshed shooting "Cops". Andrew the "psycho fan" just left my house. It was the most hectic day today and I had to make a shitload of compromises but still I think if i work my ass off in the editing room everything will be ok. I just wanted to say thanks for letting me use the camera for an extra day because there is no way the movie could have been completed without the extra time. Your documentary crew should have been here tonight, one of my characters got drunk and broke a lighting kit while reaching for a bag of pretzels. It really sucked for me but it would have made for some great television. I shouldn't have let my cast drink alcohol but it was getting late and they were getting hostile. I'm just thankful that girl wasn't killed in the snake scene! Anyways thanks for all your help JR

Love Shane "Cunningham!!!" Cunningham


Shane has been working really hard on his short film which is one of eight films that are part of the new series. I have tons of behind the scenes footage of us shooting the film this past weekend and although it will be imposible to air even a fraction of what we ended up shooting,you guys can look forward to see alot more of it on the dvd I'm putting together for the series.

It's amazing to me how many of you guys email me about dvd's for the old show.I have never really had the time to put anything together for a dvd that I would want to make available to the public but maybe one of these days I will make the time to put something together just for fan's of the show.Real fans of the show who would love to have a JR DIGS dvd knowing a very limitted amount were ever made.Maybe I should start creating a list of people interested,hmmmmm......

Subject: DVD
Message: If you released a DVD of all your shows like all those other ones are doing, you would make billions (1000 times a million)of dollars. I would buy one to watch and one to frame on my wall.
thnx, Luke

Ok Luke,your the first one on the list.Now I just have to decide how many of these things to make and what I should put on it!

EMPTY AIRWAVES!

I crashed last night pretty early which was awesome because I was able to catch up on a lot of the sleep I didn't get over the last three or four days.

Shane got way less sleep than I did this weekend and he stayed up all night again last night because he ended up re-shooting a bunch of scenes for his movie since he still had the camera I got him for the extra day.It sounds like some interesting stuff happened that I didn't end up shooting for the epsiode.

How should I know that Shane would end up filling his Mom's bedroom with smoke from the smoke machine because he needed to re-shoot the bedroom scene with Andrew! It's too bad the backflip girl bailed on Shane after he spent $50 on the mat's and some other props and how would he have know that his Mom's boyfriend who has a small role in the movie would end up falling on and smash the only lighting kit they had!

Lot's of other stuff happened last night as well which I found out about this morning when I went to pick up the camera and equipment so I could return it.After a good night sleep I woke up and was looking forward to going for a coffee and listening to Howard Stern on the radio like I do most mornings.Not this morning though! There is no more Howard Stern on regular radio and from what I've heard,you won't be able to listen to Howards new show on Satalite radio in Canada either!

There is a big empty space on the airwaves this week guys.It's the space that Howard Stern use to fill.

HOWARD STERN IS AWESOME!

Hey guys,
I've been eating peanut butter & Jam sandwiches non stop for the last 24 hours or so while waiting for the drugs to kick in.I get this stuff called Losec when my ulcer kicks into gear like it has the last few days.These drugs cost way too much money but within about 48 hours this shit soaks into my system and the agony subsides until the next time!

The PB&J sandwiches help absorb the acid in my stomach or at least I think it kind of does.Then eventually the drugs end up completely stopping my body from producing any acid at all. One of these days we will play a game called "What's JR going to die of" it will be fun.The winner probably won't win anything but it would be cool to get it right when it finally happens.My Mom hates when I talk about all the shit that's wrong with me and how one day I'm going to just bite the bullet and I hope I still have my show on the air so I can tape it all happening and make a show about it.

I'm feeling a little better today which is good because I have a majorly busy weekend planned.Hey did any of you guys listen to Howard Stern's final broadcast on regular radio this morning? Pretty big deal for sure! Oh shit....

I gotta fly guy's,I had no idea it was almost 6:00pm and I gotta go.I'll touch base again on Saturday to tell you about the film we are shooting this weekend for the new series.Later.

What you guy's & one of my friends have to say Wednesday.....

Subject: Wha happen?
Message: JR please don't tell me you're going crazy! I think its just a conspricy all againest...maybe by me MUHAHAHA! Okey no not by me, whatever it is I'm sure it'll clear up, anyways hope to hear this huge news soon, unless the huge news was that random stuff you talked about or you going berzerker on your computer, whose zowie btw? I'll google after,laterdays
George C.


Hey George C.
Ya that was the huge news.Come on that's pretty big stuff don't you think? Zoey getting kidnapped!! That's really huge news if you ask me.Her French bastard of a boyfriend slipped some "drugs" into her drink when she wasn't looking and then she got kidnapped and one of the agents assigned to protect her got shot!

What would you rather me talk about,the ulcer that is now quickly ripping through my insides and inflicting more pain in my guts than I could ever possibly imagine.I'm seriously in agony here.This isn't news,this is my sorry ass existence of a life.


Subject:He's coping you?
Message:Hey JR,how does it feel to finally be copied by people who you were always accused of coping? Tom Greens new rap album cover is a total rip off of your show with the light bulb hanging down.I checked out Tom's website to see if he was in fact giving out his phone number and encouraging people to call him like you use to do on your show and I noticed this video of him goofin on a telemarketer like you always do.That's your thing JR!!!!!!

Those calls you record are hilarious and Tom's wasn't funny at all.So how does it feel to have people like me out there saying Tom Green is trying to be like JR DIGS instead of the other way around?
Danny B.


Hey Danny,
I'm not quite sure what to say about that other than I'm sure you are probably one of the only people out there saying anything like it.I don't really think people ever intentional do stuff that other people have already done.It's just that like minded people often think of the same kinds of things or are influenced and inspired by the same kinds of stuff.Music,movies,books,Tv,the news,whatever!

I will say this Danny.Any time anyone like you has my back out there and is saying anything nice about me at all,I'm always going to be grateful and be very appreciative.It's tricky putting yourself out there on Tv and attempting to entertain people somehow.Everyone loves to bash you as much and as often as they can.Knowing there is a Danny out there who is still stickin with me after all this time is a really really really good thing!

Stay in touch dude,
JR


I haven't been so good at staying in touch myself these day actually! Aside from this recent ulcer thing kicking up again,and my computer problems of coarse,and the fact that I have been super busy over the last month or so working on a bunch of different stuff....Well aside from all that kind of stuff I guess there is no excuse for not staying touch a little more with the few good friends I still have in this world.Here's what one of them had to say today...... Click Here

I definitely need to call him back and I'll be sure to record the conversation and put it on my blog here for you guys to check out just to see how it goes and for a couple laughs.Later guys!Keep the emails coming,it's great to hear from all of you.

HUGE NEWS!

Last night Zoey Bartlett was kidnapped from a nightclub after her so called boyfriend slipped "drugs" into her drink without her knowing it.

Then this morning Jackie"the jokeman"was on Howard Stern talking all about the day he quit Howards show.

About sixteen minutes ago my computer froze up or something and I couldn't post the blog I had been typing out here for the last hour or so.It was a cool kind of recap of everything that has happened over the last 24 hours and since my ulcer is slowly eating me alive right now,I've been awake pretty much the entire time and I'm completely in tune with everything that has been going on since this morning around 12:45am when Zoey disappeared!

I'm afraid that my blog entry is now lost for ever! I smashed the mouse thingy into pieces after banging the side of the monitor several times with a baseball that I had in my hand and then I "shut the computer down" sort of speak.........

A Flashback Friday Afternoon...

What a crazy ass day so far and I still haven't received an email from worm-boy who didn't give me his real email address.Oh well,what are ya going to do I guess. I'm looking forward to a chilled out night which means I'll probably go see a flick because I haven't been able to do that yet this week.

If you guys are staying in to keep warm and toasty tonight,the episode on Tv is another one of my original episodes shot in front of a live audience and featuring special guest Pat Mastroianna, who is best known for his role as Joey Jeremiah on Degrassi Jr High.As I flash back for a moment I recall that I called him just hours before the live taping so it was really quite awesome that he even agreed to show up for the taping never mind tolerating me calling him Joey the entire time.

Earlier that morning I was on the phone with Jason Priestly’s people. It looked like he wasactuallyy going to come on the show but I needed to meet with him just to give him the low-down on my new show, Bla Bla Bla! The entire day was the craziest goose chase you could ever imagine which ended with me alone in some underground S&M place where he was supposed to be shooting this movie. I wandered thru the dark calling out hello but no one answered.He wasn’t there. I never did track him down and he obviously didn’t do the show but if you ever run into me sometime,ask me about the rest of this story,it's pretty damn funny!


After realizing that this Jason Priestly thing wasn’t going to happen,I ended up calling everyone I knew who might know someone who could come on the show that night. I had promised all my friends that if they came to the taping to help fill up the audience that night,there would be a cool surprise guest and we’d all go out for beers afterwards. The novelty of actually seeing my show on TV had worn off for most of them by that point.

After Pat agreed to come on the show I got a call back from Matt of The Flashing Lights who said they could come on the show as well. I went from no guests to too many in 15 minutes and we all ended up having a blast.If you guys watch the show tonight you will see this wild looking girl in a Dracula get-up in the audience.That's another story all together......

Have a great weekend guys.

A Friday Morning Freakout.....

After getting about three hours of sleep last night,I guess it's just one of those mornings... click here

My Radio gig,Webclips & Other stuff....

Hey guys,what up?I'm going spend little bit of time tonight in front of my computer surfing the internet and returning some of your emails,stuff like that so if anyone has any cool sites they know of that are worth checking out,drop me a line and let me know what they are.You must have noticed that I posted a few of your emails on the site here yesterday.I often get emails from you guy regarding the same kinds of stuff so I guess the ones that get put on the site on Wednesdays mostly represent those of you who have sent me emails about those things.Maybe I should actually post my responses to those emails as well.I think that's probably a good idea,now that I'm thinking about it.

I had no idea that I was on Tom Green's new dvd but I knew that he was coming out with a new rap album.Tom is a media darling here in Canada and he seems to get a ton of ink and exposure whenever he wants it so I couldn't help but see him on TV on etalk daily and in the papers.The media here in Canada absolutely love to embrace entertainers who have made a name for themselves in the States!

You guys have definitely made me curious about the footage of me on Tom Greens new dvd.It's weird that I didn't know I was even on it.I never heard anything about it until some of you emailed me about it.If Tom has posted his phone number on his site like some of you have mentioned than maybe I should look it up and call him and see if I can score a free dvd.He's rapping old school on his new album and I love old school rap so I bet some of his stuff is pretty good and worth checking out.

It's cool that Tom has posted his phone number and is encouraging fans to call him.I use to have a riot talking to people who would call me after I would mention to everyone on my show what my phone number was.
A few of you have emailed me about the lightbulb hanging down on the cover of Tom's new album and if he got that idea from me because I shot a bunch of shows last summer using a light bulb hanging down as the lighting on the set.....

Trust me,it's not like this was some awesome idea I had and Tom is a super creative guy with all kinds of cool idea's.I often find it incredible how similar people's idea are with stuff which is why I guess it's so hard to be original anymore.Everything has been done before at some point or another in some form or another and besides.I doubt if I'll ever get any credit for doing anything original and I gave up caring about that along time ago.

Shooting stuff with Tom Green and his Keepin It Real Crew was a lot of fun.I hope I get to do it again sometime.Some of the dudes Tom is hangin with these days are incredible guys.Dj-Ez Mike has produced some amazing music that most of you would recognize and Jeremy Klein is one of my favorite all time pro skateboarders from back in the day.I talked a bunch about Jeremy before on my blog here and how I use to own skateboard shops and stuff.Damn he was crazy that day I met him with Tom and the rest of the Crew......

As for my new radio gig and the emails some of you have been sending me about that well expect to hear more about that next week.I met with Aaron,my new audio engineer dude and it looks like we are going to start recording stuff really soon.Everything we do will be here on the site for you guys to download so don't sweat it if you thought you wouldn't be able to get it from where you live.
The site is definitely going to become a big part of everything I'm doing in the new year.More than a few of you emailed me about some of the video I put in my blog here instead of on the show featuring my trip down to The Gemini Awards.When my new series goes on the air in January,I plan on putting lots of footage on the site here that won't be aired in the new episodes.The website will become an amazing extension of the show each week like it never has before.It will be really cool I think.

Time to get back to some emails and a little bit of surfing on the net before I crash.Later guys.

Wha wha what you guys have to say Wednesday...

Hi JR,
I liked your show last Friday, but I just watched the vlog you posted with Kayvon and Scott Thompson...can't believe that wasn't on the show! It was hilarious. So who is Kayvon exactly? I see him quite often - I saw him at the U2 show in September (waiting outside the ACC for Bono) and I saw him front row at the Bauhaus show, mid-November. What does he do? Is he actually a journalist? The only thing I really know about him is that he never shuts up...he could talk his way out of like.....5 Turkish prisons... at least... Anyways...I'm gonna get some breakfast. I've got that Sunday morning hotcakes craving.cheers, Shane.


hey jr
Message: hey man...hte tom green cd came out today. did u get one? are u goin to check itout? lol yeah i hevent seen ur show on... is it still on? i havent been following lately srry:( but yeah get back to me man....
mark


Hey JR...
Were you aware that a bit of your interview segment with Tom Green in Hamilton is on the dvd that comes with the new Prepare for Impact cd?
Just saw you on there! cheers, Shane.


Hey JR,my friend just told me that she thinks you are on some new dvd by Tom Green. Is that true?
He has a new rap album out and on the cover,there is a picture of him and a light bulb hanging down just like when you interviewed him on your show and just like when you interviewed that Tony guy.
That's cool if you are in Tom's new dvd.Did he get the idea to hang a light bulb down like that for his album cover from you? I even heard he gave his cell number out on his website so fans could call him just like you use to do on your show. We called you a few times and you talked to us,do you remember.You were so funny. I can't find where we put your number now.What is it? Tell me again please so we can call you like we use to.
We love you JR.Email us back ok,PLEASE.
Amy


JR,So man, how did the radio show go? It's been a few days since we heard anything and I'm positive it's on everybody's mind, especially if you're like me and had no possible way to listen to it. It's the season of changes and I know stuff is going to change one way or another pretty soon. Like, for me, I'm just finishing college and going into a new job. So, when is the new show starting? Like I said, changes are happening.Never stop looking forward man.Alex

Stuff you didn't see in the show......

Hey guys,I just got back from a late brunch with Vic at one of the local dinners I go to all the time.I had a western sandwich and large chocolate milk and then I slammed back a few cups of coffee and read the paper after Vic split to go to the gym or something.I forget where she said she was going this afternoon.

I'm going to spend the next hour or so responding to some of your emails.It's great to hear from you guys.Any thoughts on last nights episode?
Every year I go to the Gemini Awards Show to shoot footage but this year we shot a ton more footage for some reason.Maybe because I had a couple new volunteers with me who really knew what they were doing and I never once had to worry about the audio being ok or the exposure on the camera being tweaked,that sort of thing.It was fun just to walk around and talk to people instead of being a producer/director/lighting guy/audio engineer ect......

Thanks Steve.Thanks Dave Pennock.You guys are awesome! I really hope you guys had fun and would be willing to help me out like that again another time.Most people don't realize what goes into getting stuff set up and shot and put together to be aired as part of a television show, nor should they.It's always been the thing that seems to drag me down and prevent me from maybe making as good a show as I would like to.Wha wha wha....why am I talking about me right now.I want to talk about Dave and Steve and how much I appreciated their help at the Gemini Awards.After editting and putting everything together for the episode,I realized the show was a little less in your face than it sometimes is and the pace was a lot slower as well.Did you guys like it? Let me know!

Here is some footage shot at the Gemini's that wasn't in last nights episode.....
click here

Kayvon is always fun to be around at these types of events.Keep in mind that I met Kayvon at a Blue Jays a few years ago when he came up to me and asked for my autograph.Kayvon collects autographs and has thousands of them.Kayvon will stand outside in the freezing cold for hours if it means he will eventually meet a famous person that he is interested in.For Kayvon to suddenly be up close and interviewing some of these people,it's almost too much for Kayvon to handle sometimes.
I could go on and on about Kayvon here but I will let you see some more footage of him at the Gemini Awards instead.....
click here

I ended up taking Kayvon with me to the party after we rapped up shooting and we hung out until about 2:30am.It was hilarious.I don't have time to get into it right now but trust me when I tell you that it was the most fun I have had at a party like that in a long long time!

As for tonight,it looks like I'll probably just go see a movie or maybe we'll meet up with some friends and go out for dinner,I'm not sure yet.Have a great weekend everyone.

A FLASHBACK FRIDAY

Hi guys,remember me?

Sorry about not updating my blog this past week but I have been super preoccupied with a million other things and it was nice not to be in front of a monitor for the few moments I was able to kick back a little this week.You can't imagine how much footage I had to go through and edit for this weekends episode featuring my trip to the Gemini Awards a few weeks ago.Aside from that,and between stuff like meeting with directors about all the short films we are making for the new series,I ended up getting really deep into lots of old footage and unseen stuff that will be in this Documentary we have been working on for the last year or so.I can't wait for you guys to see some of this footage.Most of the really crazy stuff was shot on an old hi8 camera but there is also some interesting stuff that was shot while I was making my first few episodes as well.It turns out that I hadn't even seen some of this footage before which is pretty cool.
.
I look pretty serious here. I wonder if it's because deep down I knew even back then what the next few years would look like for me in my pursuit of this damn dream of mine to land this stupid ass network deal for my show.
It was a total fluke to get Ed The Sock on our very first episode as my guest and there is a good story behind how that happened as well.You guys will have to wait for that one.

While pretending to have a real Tv show all those years I occationally got to meet people from the world of television and in the film industry as well.Ed The Sock was great and very funny.He's been on my show a few times since that first episode. Stephen Baldwin has probably been one of the biggest jerks I've ever met and Adam Sandler to this day is probably one of the nicest and most sincere people I have ever met of that celebrity type status.

With no other options back in the day,I ended up talking to the folks who sell network airtime to those infomercial guys as most of you know by now.You guys all know my story right?It's all explained and laid out pretty clearly in my show history page on the site here if you don't.It really was crazy expensive to buy all that network airtime now that I look back at it but I did have plan! I figured that if I aired the show on network television and could pull in some good ratings which I did,we would get the attention of a network executive somewhere for sure.We all know how that worked out for me but it still seems weird and almost ubelievable when I talk about it with people.It's not like I'm walking around talking to people about this crazy ass life I have lived over the past five years but this afternoon I was interviewed by Amy for an article she is writing about me for her College newspaper.I hope the article is mostly about my new series but I guess people are still somewhat interested in how I even got to this point in this so called career of mine.

Hey you know what I found the other day? I've still got the first TV guide I was ever in.My Mom bought a dozen or so of them that first week the show was on the air.Xena was on the cover!I'm glad I didn't toss it out or burn it or something like that.(lol)

As of about 2:ooam this morning I decided that I'm done working on the documentary project again for at least another few months or so.I'm a little burned out right now and I need a break from it I think.It's been a busy and intence week and it would be nice to free up some time for myself over the next few weeks.If my weekend goes as planned,I'll be putting a little video in my blog here for you guys to look at.We shot so much footage at the Gemini's that I couldn't come close to putting it all in this weekends annual awards show episode so look for some additional footage to be in my blog over the weekend as I find the time to cut some of it together for you guys to check out.

That's it for now I guess.Hey,are there any of you guys out there who are fans of Howard Stern? Have you been listening to his radio show lately? Just wondering.

Later guy's.