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The AIH Transcript for July 3, 2017

Hosts: Laura Lynch and Karen Gordon

STORIES FROM THIS EPISODE

Prologue

LL: Hello, I'm Laura Lynch.

KG: Good evening, I'm Karen Gordon, sitting in for Jeff Douglas. This is As It Happens.

[Music: Theme]

KG: Tonight:

LL: Beach boy. New Jersey Governor Chris Christie is photographed having fun on a deserted state beach that he helped close to the public, and we hear from a journalist who says Jersey voters are ready to take more than just his T-Bird away.

KG: "I hope that he heard me." An Ontario father rushes to his son's side after the student doctor suffers multiple bullet wounds in Friday's shooting at a hospital in The Bronx.

LL: "A champion for women." France pays tribute to Simone Veil, who survived the Holocaust to become one of her country's most powerful politicians and an international leader in the fight for women's rights.

KG: Accounting for taste. A grad student is ordered to cease and desist by one of the giants of American real estate, all because of a blog about that country's biggest residential eye-sores.

LL: Nothin' but fuss and feathers. Despite consultations, a contest and a bitter-fought campaign, the government of Canada refuses to adopt the Grey Jay as Canada's national bird.

KG: And... tension tracks. A horror movie composer asked Tony Duggan-Smith for an acoustic alternative to the industry's usual electronic scares. Now the Toronto guitar-maker is revving up nightmares with an instrument he calls The Apprehension Engine.
As It Happens, the Monday edition. Radio that won't be sounding the death knell ... until later in the show.

Part 1: Christie on beach, Bronx shooting, McMansions blog

Chris Christie

Guest: Matt Arco

KAREN GORDON: State parks and beaches in New Jersey have been closed all weekend. But not to Chris Christie.
The New Jersey governor and his opponents are in a budget standoff. That's forced more than 50 parks, historic sites and recreational areas to be shut down as of midnight Saturday, just ahead of the July Fourth holidays.
But as scores of disappointed visitors were turned away by police, a New Jersey photojournalist snapped aerial shots of the governor enjoying the deserted sands with his family and friends.
Christie later traveled from the beach by helicopter to a news conference about the shutdown. Here's what he had to say when asked if he had spent any time on the beach:

SOUNDCLIP

CHRIS CHRISTIE: Now I didn't, Claude. Go ahead. I didn't get the sun today.

REPORTER: My question is this: are there life guards at the–

CC: No. No. There's no one at the Beach State Park. There are no lifeguards. There's no one to pick up the garbage. There's no one providing any services at Island Beach State Park.

REPORTER: My question is–

CC: Next. Next.

REPORTER: Um–

CC: Excuse me. Next. Next. I'm done. We're talking about the closure of government and you're talking about your TMZ stuff.

KG: A spokesman for the governor later clarified that Chris Christie didn't get any sun...because he was wearing a baseball hat.
Matt Arco is a political reporter in New Jersey who writes exclusively on Governor Chris Christie for The Star-Ledger and NJ.com and his colleague took the aerial photo. We reached him in Trenton, New Jersey.

LAURA LYNCH: Matt, tell us about how your paper got these photographs.

MATT ARCO: Well look, we knew that the governor was at Island Beach State Park where the state owns the beach house that the sitting governor has unfettered access to. I guess somebody in their office thought that it was worthwhile at least to go take a look and see if anybody was hanging outside in and taking in the sun on the big empty beach.
I mean, we're in a shutdown, so, all of the beaches are open along the coast except two state park beaches. And one of them is Island Beach State Park. So we were up in the air taking pictures of sort of the contrast, where you see thousands of people on the beach and then it just stops in a line. And then the beach is wide open.

LL: For people who may not have seen the photographs, can you just describe what the portrait is so to speak?

MA: So what you can see is the governor sitting in a chair with his wife next to him, and they're both sitting there. I spotted it at least three of their children in the photo. And then they are some of their children's friends playing paddle ball and you know, just doing everyday beach stuff.

LL: Governor Christie had already announced he would be at the Island Beach State Park this weekend at the official residence. Why do you think there was still such an uproar after the photos came out?

MA: Well you know the governor right now is not popular in the state if you're going by the polls. He has that 15 percent approval rating which is the lowest in any modern times of any governor of New Jersey. So he's not popular to begin with but it's the visual of you know the state is shut down, a lot of folks obviously probably had plans to go to Island Beach State Park because it is ahead of the July 4th holiday weekend. Their plans were disrupted and it's also the image of you know, you have thousands of people crammed on a beach. And then a big wide open beach where the governor seems to be having a good time which is, sure, his right to do. But the optics of it certainly probably strikes a nerve, I think it's safe to say with a lot of New Jerseyans. Including the tens of thousands of state workers who as of today were furloughed.

LL: I guess it’s sort of his “Let them eat cake” moment. C

MA: Certainly when you have the image of it, it comes across that way I'm sure to some people.

LL: Who is responsible for the government shutdown?

MA: Look that's a good point. I mean, the governor is pointing the finger at the head of the assembly, Vincent Prieto, who is a Democrat. And the head of the assembly is pointing his finger at Governor Christie. But what Governor Christie has going for him in legislation that was bundled with the budget that wasn’t voted on, that the assembly speaker refuses to let vote on. Which is why we're at this impasse, is that it was already passed by the Democratic controlled Senate. So this is a bipartisan piece of legislation that has support of enough people in the legislature to get it passed. But the speaker of the assembly didn't not want to post it for a vote. And the governor said “OK that's fine. Then send me a budget without it and I'll line item veto, you know, $325,000,000 worth of Democratic priorities spending that the governor put in there as part of this larger agreement.

LL: Whatever happens here, at first he said that he did not get any sun when he was asked about it at the news conference. Why do you think he said that?

MA: It was a strange moment. You know, as I said we all knew that he was going to be at Island Beach State Park. And then when the idea of a state government shutdown really was coming to fruition, he was asked about it again and he said “No, I'm not going to change my plans”. So early on in the weekend when the shutdown actually came to pass, the controversy started to swirl about him being the only one being on that beach. And there were a lot of memes circulating online. So when went to a press conference yesterday, a colleague of mine was going to ask the governor a question about something else, but related to his time on the beach. And you know he's opened it up by saying you know “It looks like you got some sun.” And I think, just in typical Christie fashion, where if he senses snark coming from a reporter, he senses there's a question coming that he doesn't want to answer, he gets pushy right off the bat. And he said “No no, didn't get any sun. Now go ahead, you know, what's your question?” Neither the colleague or me knew at that time that you know, two hours earlier, we had another colleague taking photographs of him on the beach. So it was a it was an odd moment and I'm not, I really couldn't tell you why he decided to say “Yeah no, no sun”.

LL: What did you make of the response when you knew the photos existed.

MA: His response when he knew the photo existed was “You've got to be kidding me. This is silly. I told you I was going to be there. You know, I'm sure he has a sense of why is this even news. But the problem is, is that it's just the optics of being the only people there sitting on the beach, the guy that should be helping to get through this impasse. You know, was sitting having a good time.
And you know, granted his spokesperson said he was only there for 45 minutes. But again, you know, in politics, it comes down to optics.

LL: You mentioned earliest, the polls suggest his popularity is as low as 15 percent. Could an incident like this see it go any lower? Can it go any lower?

MA: I would say based off of the response to this, I wasn't expecting to see this sort of response. It surpassed some of the stuff that I've seen in the past that have led to him to have a drop in the polls.

LL: You know this guy, you've been covering him for a long time. Do you think he just doesn't care?

MA: He says he doesn't care about where he stands in the polls. He also says that he doesn't believe that the polls are 100 percent accurate. But you have to care, you know, being the only people to be on the beach in a government shutdown. But taking advantage of that because that's a perk of the job, you know, comes back to snag him.

LL: Let's bring it back to the poor old regular citizens of New Jersey who can't seem to get to the beach. Are they going to get a chance to get there again? I mean it is the 4th of July tomorrow.

MA: Well to be totally fair, the vast majority of New Jersey's beaches are open. What’s closed in New Jersey are state parks. And it just so happens that two beaches in New Jersey are considered state parks and Island Beach State Park is one of those. It sounds like a deal is sort of emerging with this controversial bill that led to the impasse. We'll probably know more in a couple of hours. But if they don't hash out a deal tonight, then nope, we're back at it tomorrow with folks barred from parks. And then, you know, if it goes into Wednesday, then you're talking about again, tens of thousands of state workers that are continued to be furloughed.

LL: And whereas the governor is scheduled to be in for the 4th of July?

MA: We don't know yet how long he's going to be at Island Beach State Park so we'll have to see and check with his office later today to see if he's going back down.

LL: Well I'm sure you'll be watching.

MA: Absolutely.

LL: Thanks a lot Matt.

MA: Thank you for your time.

LL: Bye bye.

KG: That was Matt Arco, a political reporter in New Jersey who writes for The Star-Ledger and NJ.com. He was in Trenton, New Jersey.

[Music]

Bronx shooting: Dad

Guest: Luciano Timperio

KG: The gunman entered the hospital where he used to work. He was wearing a white lab coat. He had a gun. And he started shooting. That's what is believed to have happened at Bronx-Lebanon Hospital Center in New York on Friday.
Officials say Dr. Henry Bello injured six people and killed one person -- another doctor -- before he fatally shot himself.
Justin Timperio was one of those injured. The family medicine resident is originally from Ontario. We reached his father, Luciano Timperio, earlier today in St. Catharines.

LL: Luciano Timperio, I'm sorry about what happened to your son. How were you holding up?

LUCIANO TIMPERIO: I'm doing the best I can. I'm doing reasonably well now and hopeful because he is getting better each day as we speak. And he has undergone his second surgery after being stabilized. And the doctors were quite happy with the results of how it went.

LL: Now take us back to that moment on Friday when you learned something was happening at your son's hospital. How did you find out that Justin had been hurt?

LT: Well, when we found out that it took place at the hospital that Justin was at, we immediately got on the phone. We, meaning his mother called me and I called her. And at first we almost jokingly said that it couldn't be Josh, but later on in the day N.Y.P.D. got a hold of Justin's mother and eventually me as well. And I also received a text from Justin's best friend in medical school saying that he had been involved in the shooting at Bronx-Lebanon.

LL: And what was your reaction when you got that?

LT: Well my reaction was, this can't be true and I can't believe this is happening. I was very… I was ready to faint.

LL: But you gathered yourself together and headed to New York.

LT: I did. I was almost unable to speak for quite a while just to going over in my head everything, and many things. When you first hear something like that. And eventually we managed to get on the phone his mother and I again and we got to Buffalo Airport where we got the first flight out that we could get on to New York City.

LL: And when you got there, when you got to the hospital, how did your son look?

LT: Well he looked like most people look when they have hoses coming out of their mouths, and hoses coming from their necks and arms and whatnot. Not very good.

LL: And I guess because you say he was intubated, he wasn't able to speak to you. What did you say to him?

LT: I told him, “Justin, it's me. It's your dad. I'm here”. That’s all I could say. And that he was going to do well and that he was going to make it.

LL: Now you are a doctor yourself, a dental surgeon. What were the doctors telling you about his prognosis at that point?

LT: Well at that point they were saying he's stable but we need to wait until he is much more stable and much stronger to be able to undergo the surgery that he needed. That was done this morning.

LL: But what can you tell us about what injuries he had at that moment?

LT: Well Jus was one of the more seriously injured of the six that were injured. He had substantial injury to his liver and smaller ones to his stomach and bowels. And he also had been hit in the side of the chest. I guess it came to be known that it was one of his ribs that was hit.

LL: How many times was he actually shot?

LT: I believe Justin was shot between six and nine times.

LL: Oh good gracious. That in itself must have been such a shock to you.

LT: It was. Yeah it was unbelievable that he could sustain that. And he was doing as well as he was.

LL: Now it's being reported that the gunman Henry Bello resigned from the hospital following sexual harassment allegations and he's being described as a disgruntled former employee who held another doctor responsible for what happened to him. But Justin just happened to be in the wrong place.

LT: Correct. And Justin happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time.

LL: How did Justin end up working in New York?

LT: So Justin has always wanted to go into either dentistry or medicine. Obviously, following in my footsteps I guess. And he had applied to both dental and medical school here in Ontario. But like many other kids, young adults trying to get into med school and dental school here in Ontario, they don't because it is so difficult and there are so few spots. They end up abroad. And that's how he ended up going to medical school out of country.

LL: When are you going to be heading back to New York to see him?

LT: Well I'm hoping that, as he recovers, also I would imagine that his mother is going to need a break from being there, where hopefully I can carry on where she takes off.

LL: And when you are able to have a conversation with him, what is the first thing you're going to say to him?

LT: Well I'm going to tell him I love him and that I'm very proud of him. And he's an unbelievable individual and that's it. I am going to tell him like every father tells their children that they're very proud of them and so happy to see him alive.

LL: Mr. Timperio, I wish only the best for Justin and for your family. Thank you very much for speaking with us.

LT: Yes, you're welcome.

LL: Goodbye.

LT: Bye-bye.

KG: Luciano Timperio is the father of Justin Timperio, who was injured on Friday in a shooting at a hospital in New York. We reached Dr. Timperio in St. Catherines, Ontario.

[Music]

McMansion

Guest: Kate Wagner

JD: Kate Wagner gets a small surge of joy every time someone sends her pictures of an ugly house.
Ms. Wagner runs "McMansion Hell," a blog that showcases the sprawling, tacky, opulence of American suburbia. She is both horrified and fascinated by what people send her.
But last week, the Johns Hopkins University grad student got an email that scared her more than styrofoam Greek columns. The email was from Zillow -- one of the world's largest real estate listing sites. It was a cease and desist letter, ordering Ms. Wagner to shut down her blog.
We reached Ms. Wagner in Baltimore, Maryland.

LL: Ms. Wagner, what does this real estate listings company Zillow have against your ugly mansion's blog?

KW: Well, I think what happened is Zillow received some sort of complaint about, you know, the photos that I used on the blog, which I did take from Zillow, which are covered under Fair Use. So they issued a cease and desist probably because somebody wasn't happy to see those photos on the blog itself.

LL: What exactly did the cease and desist letter accuse you of doing?

KW: It accused me of violating federal copyright law, violating the CFA which is an anti-hacking statue which is a federal crime, and violating the terms of use.

LL: When you received that letter, how did you react?

KW: Well I was in a laundromat so I couldn't make a big scene, but it was pretty upsetting because, I mean, the blog is not only just a project that I've been doing for about a year now, it's also my major source of income. So my first thought was “How am I going to pay my rent?”

LL: I bet. Plus a number of other things since they accused you of doing something potentially criminal.

KW: Yeah I was like oh man I really don't want to go to jail over this.

LL: Well so clearly Zillow doesn't find your McMansion blog very funny but a lot of other people do. And for those who don't know, can you define for us what a McMansion is?

KW: It's a house over a certain square footage, I say over 3000 square feet. And it's a house that is built usually using inexpensive materials, built in a way that's made to look like the people who own the house have a lot of money but without spending a lot of money to do so. Often the case is that the elements on the House are mismatched, like the windows are all different sizes shapes and styles, or the architectural details don't really make any sense. The rooflines are honestly quite silly. So yeah it's basically a house that's cheaply constructed but is made to look ostentatious.

LL: Generally speaking then, what does the inside look like?

KW: Usually the inside, there’s usually a two storey foyer that you walk into, with a chandelier and a huge window above the door. That's like such a huge trope that I think that almost all McMansions have it at this point.
There are tons of rooms, first of all. Not only is there a living room, but there's usually a formal living room and a second living room which is kind of, you know the room that people actually do their living in. So many of the spaces are so separated spatially from you that, what actually goes on in the house. So if like the kitchen is so separate from all of the kids’ rooms, I mean how is mom going to listen in when she's making dinner if the kids they're like 3000 square feet away.

LL: Let's get right down to it. Is one of the criteria of a McMansion is that it's ugly?

KW: Yeah, it's ugly. That's a big standard. I mean I’m not here to define what most people think is ugly. But from a sort of architectural stance, yeah they don't make much sense. They're really chaotic. They're kind of cobbled together.

LL: What made you want to write a blog about these houses in the first place?

KW: Well there's all these blogs right about tacky houses. None of them really explain why these houses are ugly or what makes them so tacky. And I thought, well that's kind of a disservice. I think without like any sort of explanation or analysis, like just calling something ugly is pretty useless.

LL: In light of a cease and desist letter you actually suspended your blog, but you got it back up and running now. What happened?

KW: The Electronic Frontier Foundation reached out to me after I posted a cry for help on Twitter and said “We're going to help you take this case.” And they wrote a response to Zillow basically saying that their claims made no sense and were bullyish essentially. And Zillow had already suffered so much bad PR from this, that they just they just saw an out and they're were going to go for it. They did not want to take this to court. So the site is back up and that's it.

LL: Are you using Zillow images anymore?

KW: Actually this is I haven't really been using Zillow images for the post that I do that are humorous. Which are mostly the tours of these ugly houses with my commentary. I'm sure that they would be relieved that I won't be using them anymore. But I think the relief is on both sides.

LL: Zillow did comment on the situation. They said quote “We acted out of an abundance of caution to protect our partners, the agents, and brokers who entrust us to display photos of their client's homes” unquote. And I'm just wondering, by poking fun at these homes, aren't you making them harder to sell?

KW: See the thing is, is that I don't post any sort of incriminating data about where the home is, how much it costs, or anything like that. So I'd try to obscure the data as much as possible. I don't want to make the houses any more difficult to sell and I don't want anyone to be personally attacked because of the blogs.

LL: In spite of what you're writing, people are still buying the McMansions. Doesn’t that just suggest that taste is subjective.

KW: Oh yeah. Not everybody likes my blog. It's kind of divisive. People get really emotional about houses. In this case, I kind of find houses to be inanimate objects that are sort of worthy of criticism. All of like the sort of personal aspects of the posters that are things that I've made up, like these stories about the people that might live in there, or like what they’re… it’s more of like a cultural commentary than anything else about, sort of the American perception of wealth and success and happiness. And this sort of you know, false narrative of you know the American dream being owning like a huge house and 10 cars and this is sort of the criticism that the blog pokes at.

LL: Have you ever thought about taking a swing up north here to have a look to see if we have any McMansions that qualify?

KW: I've done a couple of posts about Canadian McMansion. Honestly the truth is as I think the Canadian McMansions make a lot more sense. They still sometimes have the same ridiculous exterior features, like the giant turrets or the crazy rooflines. But I think a lot of the times the difference is that they don't always have like these huge ostentatious windows, and I think that just because it's cold in Canada. It's much colder than it is in the U.S.

LL: Well it's good to know that we are slightly less tacky. Ms. Wagner, thank you. Bye-bye.

KW: Thank you. Bye.

KG: Kate Wagner is the creator of a blog called "McMansion Hell." We reached her in Baltimore, Maryland. We've posted this interviewed on our website, along with some photos of Ms. Wagner’s blog. You can find it at cbc.ca/aih.

Part 2: Simone Veil obit, Apprehension Engine

Simone Veil obit

Guest: Ruth Hottell

KAREN GORDON: She was one of the most admired people in France. The French women's rights icon, Simone Veil, died last week in Paris. She was 89-years-old.
Ms. Veil was a Holocaust survivor who went on to serve as France's health minister and as president of the European Parliament. Among her greatest legacies is the role she played in legalizing contraception and abortion in France -- often in the face of fierce criticism.
Ruth Hottell has researched Simone Veil's life and legacy. She's a professor of French at the University of Toledo. We reached her in Toledo, Ohio.

LAURAL LYNCH: Miss Hall How do people in France feel Simone Veil.

RUTH HOTTELL: She is considered a champion of women's rights. She is responsible for many of the most important laws for women, for women's freedoms, for women's rights, and protecting them and particularly the law, legalizing abortion has her name on it.

LL: And I want to get into that. Given those achievements though, is she revered in her home country?

RH: She is indeed. All day today, all of the major newspapers have been celebrating her many accomplishments in many ways. And discussing her past, how she came to be such an important influential woman.

LL: And she was a very big player in French politics but she didn't come from the traditional elite. What happened to her and her family during the Second World War?

RH: They were living in Nice. And they had been assured that because they had been there for generations, they were considered French and would not be deported. And in fact, her family was deported two days after she took the national high school exams. And she often blamed herself for that because she used her real name which allowed them to find her and her family.

LL: What happened to them?

RH: Her brother and her father were sent to, I believe it’s Buchenwald, assumed dead. They never were able to prove it one way or the other. She and her sisters and her mother, first they were sent to Auschwitz and then Bergen-Belsen. Her mother did not survive that. But she and her sisters did.

LL: Of course she is known for that. And she has spoken at various remembrances. But she's also very well known in France, perhaps even better known, for writing France's abortion law. It's named after her. She faced a lot of harsh opposition and remarks of an advocate for abortion rights. Some of her critics even compared abortions to the Holocaust. How did she respond to that?

RH: Actually that's some of what's been on the documentaries today, are interviews with her sons talking about the kinds of graffiti and even swastikas that they found on their home. And she was attacked, one of the documentaries today was talking about it was an interview with someone on [unintelligible] who said the demi-cycle, so the semicircle that is the parliament, was not the demi-cycle, it was the arena. So in other words, she was treated like an animal sent to the slaughter. And she has identified one particular deputy who did compare the idea of legalizing abortion to concentration camps into the gas chambers.

LL: So how did she respond to that? Because obviously this had the potential to affect her deeply.

RH: You know it's interesting that you asked the question that way. I saw her speak in Paris, well Créteil, a suburb of Paris, in 2005. Speaking to generations of young women talking about why feminism is important today. And she spoke about it then, she continued to speak out about it throughout her life. But at the time, to be honest with you with the amount of research that I've done, I have never seen any comments about how she herself reacted. I think that in general, she, other than speaking back at her speech and in the parliament, she kept a very low profile about the kind of suffering that she had undergone due to people's small mindedness.

LL: Well then how do you think her experience as a survivor of the Holocaust informed her political life?

RH: I'm going to sort of back up and answer your question obliquely by saying that in the speech that she gave for abortion, she began by saying “It's odd that I come to speak to you about women's concerns when you're all men”. That sort of shows the kind of strength that she has. Now I’ll answer your question directly she says that she got her strength from her mother, that her mother was always a person who was there urging her on to do well. And she also talked about the difficulty of the camps. And one of the things that followed her throughout life was that she seemed cold and sort of hard and unemotional. And she said to in order to be able to survive in the camps you had to do that.

LL: You mentioned you saw her speak back in 2005. And I'm just wondering what did stay with you most from that talk?

RH: Her eloquence and her directness, her ability to speak with younger women, women of all generations in a very direct and simple manner in spite of knowing her stature. So in other words, she was, she was a woman speaking to other women about the issues for women. She was not the only woman minister standing in front of them, she was not the first president of the European Parliament. She was not a woman who was on the Conseil Constitutionnel and of the highest part of the separation of powers in France. She was simply a woman there telling her story. And talking about how proud she was to be a mother. Saying that I've had a very vibrant political life. I've been very happy. I've also been very happy with having being a mother and a wife.

LL: Given all she went through that's amazing in itself. Thank you Ms Hottell.

RH: Thank you very much.

LL: Thank you, bye-bye.

RH: Bye.

KG: That was Ruth Hottel, professor of French at the University of Toledo. She was in Toledo, Ohio.

From Our Archives: Gray Jay

KG: The Gray Jay is not Canada's national bird, after all.
You may remember the Royal Canadian Geographical Society's 18-month campaign to name a national bird. After consultations, an online contest and public debates, the Gray Jay -- or Whiskey Jack -- triumphed, beating out the loon, the snowy owl, and the chickadee.
But it turns out that the federal government wasn't in on the plan. The Society was merely hoping that the feds would see the excitement and declare the Gray Jay the national bird in time for the Canada 150 celebrations.
Alas, the government did not catch Gray Jay fever. An email from a Heritage department official to the CBC confirms it. I quote: "At this time, the government of Canada is not actively considering proposals to adopt a bird as a national symbol."
Back in September of last year, Carol Off spoke with man who championed the Gray Jay. From our archives, here's McGill University professor emeritus David Bird.

SOUNDCLIP

DAVID BIRD: The Gray Jay, or Canada Jay is a member of the corvid or crow family. And these are the ravens and the jays and the magpies and crows. And these are the smartest birds on the planet that's been documented scientifically. Well it's very close to the size of the bluejay but it doesn't have the crest.
It's actually very handsome looking. It's kind of creamy color and gray and black and it's a really beautiful bird. And it's found in all 13 provinces and territories and only a limited part of its range is in the United States up in Alaska and the Rocky Mountains.
It's a very hardy bird does not leave its territory in the wintertime like all those other birds do. It stays here year round and it nests in as cold temperatures is minus 30 degrees centigrade. I mean that is a really amazing bird. It is smart enough to do that as well.

CAROL OFF: It lays eggs?

DB: Of course it lays eggs an average of three eggs and sometimes up to five.

CO: And so now people, they probably have seen the gray jay, they just maybe don't know or they've heard it and thought that they recognized the voice. Tell us what kind of a sound, what kind of a song that they will be–

DB: Well, you’re putting me on the spot here because I really can't do a very good imitation. They have, the actual sort of color the gray is not spectacular like the loon of course. I mean that's one of its lesser features, but it does have a really beautiful melodic whistled for as an alarm call. And this is one of the reasons why the figures very strongly in the First Nations folklore. That bird is actually called by them the Whiskey Jack. It's nothing to do with a scotch whisky. It's everything to do with the bastardization of an Algonquin word which means mischievous prankster or trickster, because these birds are commonly known to sort of sneak into people's packs sacks and their kitchens and steal food and so on. But I think that's kind of a charming thing personally. But the warning call comes into play is the native people like this bird because it warns of danger in the forest.

CO: Again, back to the competition. As you point out the loon and the Canada Goose, they both have an off water press, that's why people know what they are.

DB: Yup.

CO: The black capped chickadee. That's got to be a strong contender; everyone's heard of that little bird, it's just a real trooper. But the snowy owl, come on that's pretty spectacular.

DB: You know something, I helped make that Quebec’s bird along with Cliff Lincoln.

CO: And the snowy owl is the bird of Quebec.

DB: Is the bird of Quebec, and the common loon is the bird of Ontario, and the black-capped chickadee is the bird a New Brunswick, made in Massachusetts. I think that it's time to pick something fresh and new.

KG:That was Carol speaking with McGill professor emeritus and Gray Jay champion David Bird. And, yes, that is his name.
It was revealed this weekend that the federal government actually has no plans to name a national bird. Instead, the Gray Jay will have to remain the official bird . . . of our hearts.

[Music]

Apprehension engine

Guest: Tony Duggan-Smith

KG: There are plenty of sounds that can just make the hair on the back of your neck stand up. A knock on the door in the middle of the night. Someone whispering from behind the couch. A low moan from inside your closet. But even as you're trying not to scream, you have to admit it: a lot of those sounds are clichés.
Toronto horror film composer Mark Korven agrees. So last fall, he called on an old friend to design him a custom instrument whose sole purpose is to soundtrack your nightmares. And this buddy, guitar-maker Tony Duggan-Smith, delivered.
They call it "The Apprehension Engine." We just heard one of the many terrible sounds it can make a minute ago. Since then, the duo has fielded several inquiries from people seeking their own Apprension Engine. We reached Tony Duggan-Smith in Toronto.

LL: Tony, when your friend Mark Korven reached out to you, what was his vision for this instrument?

TONY DUGGAN SMITH: He was looking for an acoustic instrument that would basically produce sounds that would relate to a horror film.

LL: Was that the only thing he said to you?

TDS: Yeah because he and I have a history. I built another instrument for him a few years ago. That's kind of a marshal of a cello and an Indian Sarangi. So he knows that I can think sort of like a little strangely as far as creating an instrument.

LL: So describe what the apprehension engine looks like then.

TDS: It's like an odd sort of L-shaped box. The front of it, it has a hurdy gurdy mechanism with a handle on the right hand side. It has a wooden wheel that has rosin on it that makes strings vibrate, like just the same way that a bow would. There four rulers that have a special kind of clamping system to the top that are played with EBow. And there is a single guitar string that is very slack and floppy. And a thing that's called an EBow which is like an electronic device that creates a magnetic field and gets the guitar string gets it vibrating in a crazy way producing pretty intense sounds. And then you get to the back end of the instrument, on the sort of vertical section and there's a reverb tank. You can whack it with your hand or you can play it also with an EBow and creates some pretty uber-industrial sort of wasteland kind of sounds. Beyond that, there's a little box that's sort of hidden inside of it just under the top surface that’s full of like you know, paper clips and screws and nuts and bolts and stuff, and when you move a magnet across the top it basically picks up different chunks at random.

LL: What a creation? How did you even begin to put this instrument together?

TDS: We had two weeks. Mark came to me and the festival had a bit of a talk and it was around horror music and that was sort of like you know, part of the equation of why he had asked me to make this thing. You know, so this was a situation really where I just had to look at what I had lying around.

LL: Now we've got pictures of the Apprehension Engine on our website, but maybe the best way for people to start to get kind of a visual idea is to play some sound so let's listen to this.

SOUNDCLIP

[Sound: Apprehension engine]

LL: Scary… Tony what are we hearing there?

TDS: What are you hearing there are the four metal rulers that are sticking out the front of the box. They're like clamped to the top of the box and sort of jutting out from the front of it towards Mark, who’s playing it. And you have a choice. You can either, just the same way as when you're a kid in school. You would take a ruler and then whack it against the edge of a table and move it around to create like a noise.

LL: But that is just some of what the instruments capable of. I want us to listen to just a different part of it now.

TDS: Sure OK.

SOUNDCLIP

[Sound: Apprehension engine]

LL: OK, which part of the instrument is responsible for that sound?

TDS: That's the hurdy gurdy part of the instrument which is you know, it's a medieval instrument. It's been around for a long time. The only part of the Hurdy Gurdy that were basically stolen is the handle and the wheel rubbing up against the strings. Everything else about a hurdy, we didn't go near. Mostly because, we're trying to make an instrument here that is not really melodic or harmonic. It’s sound which is kind of, goes against being everything you think about as far as like creating music. But as you can hear, there are notes that are created, and that's a lot of that in this case because there is no fingerboard, is just Mark running his fingers and putting tension on the strings and creating harmonics.

LL: You talk about him using his fingers. How many different ways can you sort of play the instrument then?

TDS: It's impossible to give a number because every time anyone steps up to it, they try something different you know. And what's great about it is because, you know, if you pick up a guitar, you know, then you have all these rules that you have to abide by. OK. My fingers go here. You know this fret is this note. So you don't have all that history of technique that comes with every other instrument that you pick up. Which I think is not just the charm but it's also it kind of frees people when they approach it.

LL: How much interest has there been in the apprehension engine since you made it?

TDS: Let’s just say in the last couple of months it’s been kind of insane. Because Mark made a small film on it, I guess last September, but over the last six months or whatever, it's been 30, 40, 50 thousand times, which you know, for us is like well that's great. Because he got a call from Great Big Story at CNN, and they asked for the opportunity to come up and make a short film about it. Since then, it's been completely insane.

LL: Who's interested in it?

TDS: Everybody. You know it's strange. It's like you know from obviously like you know, professional composers and filmmakers and you know. I mean every major sort of like horror production company you know making large series of films and TV episodes have contacted me already, and then universities have contacted me with music departments and also almost like Manchurian Candidate kind of research universities, those people have contacted me as well which is really scary.

LL: That's what's really scary?

TDS: I feel like it's sort of like… it's funny like in terms of people in general, it's interesting. When I look at this machine, I see two weeks of work. I see you know something that’s fairly straightforward. Other people, because they're experiencing it from hearing the sounds on it as well as seeing it, they have a whole other perspective and it's like sometimes you just have to let people say what they're feeling or how they experience it. And I can't, you know, judge that objectively, you know. It's just… but I find it very interesting.

LL: So what's next… what's next for you then?

TDS: Well the idea is we're working on version two right now, because with so little time to be spent designing and building this one, you know it kind of opened up a bunch of doors and it gave us a whole lot of ideas that we're going to try and implement now for some very cool places and people.

LL: Scarier music?

TDS: Scary is better.

LL: I think you go for something a little calmer, more heaven like.

TDS: Well you know, just get her shoulder rub while you listen to this music. I think it’ll make it more palatable.

LL: OK. Well maybe we'll get back in touch with you when you bring out mock two.

TDS: That would be nice.

LL: Thank you Tony.

TDS: Thank you so much.

KG: Tony Duggan-Smith is a guitar-maker and the creator of a creepy-sound instrument called The Apprehension Engine. To watch videos and see photos of the Apprehension Engine, check out our website: cbc.ca/aih.

Snoring dogs

SOUNDCLIP

[Sound: Snoring]

KG: That is a sound that I'm sure has kept many dog owners awake. The house-rattling, sleep-preventing sound of your pooch. In this case, those lungs belong to Abby the mastiff -- sent to us by her owner, Catherine.
Last week, we told you about another snoring mastiff. Martha, the huge, slobbery, snorer won this year's Ugliest Dog Competition in Petaluma, California. And while being crowned, Martha snoozed -- and snored -- the whole time. Here is a clip of Martha snoring, from the talk show Live with Kelly and Ryan.

SOUNDCLIP

[Sound: Martha snoring, audience laughing]

KELLY: I can feel the floor shaking from that.

SHIRLEY ZINDLER: See why she doesn’t sleep in our bedroom?

KELLY: Yes I can see.

KG: That impressive snoring had us wondering what our listeners' dogs sound like. So we sent out a call for your pups' best snore. And you didn't disappoint. Here is Sophie, the chubby Chihuahua rescue who snores much louder than her small frame should allow.

SOUNDCLIP

[Sophie snoring]

KG: Pretty impressive. But Lana, who is loved by CBC's Carolyn Stokes, doesn't just snore. She snores each night while sleeping on her owner's pillow -- and face.

KG: That was Lana, also known as the snore monster. Thank you to everyone who sent in the sound of their noisy pets. You are all very patient pet owners.

[Music]

Third thumb

KG: What would you do, if you could have one more thumb? That's a question Dani Clode wants you to consider.
The New Zealand designer has just won the Helen Hamlyn Award for Creativity for what she calls, The Third Thumb.
It's basically a futuristic prosthetic thumb. You strap it to your hand and control it with your toes, thanks to the wonders of robotics technology.
But, as the name suggests, The Third Thumb isn't just a replacement for missing digits.
Ms. Clode wants her facsimile of the body's most able appendage to prompt a rethink of ability itself. She's asking you to think of The Third Thumb as both tool that extends your natural abilities and a fashion item that extends your aesthetic.
She compares it to a great pair of glasses, only instead of looking good while helping you look at things, it looks good while helping you pick those things up and throw them out. We'll post an image on our Twitter feed to give you a sense.

July 3, 2017 episode transcript

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