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Who won the Rock101 contest - Printable Version

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Who won the Rock101 contest - bigA - 10-10-2006

ok, Dan says he is a big hip fan, but is he on the hipbase?

Also, cfox 99.3 mentioned the hipbase.com many times this morning, should see lots of traffic from that!.

- dpontefract - 10-10-2006

he is ... what a trip

- TLB - 10-11-2006

From the Audio Archive at Rock101.com

Project Ambush: Gord Downie - October 10, 2006

Dan Pontrfact Ambushed

Gord Downie Interview with Brother Jake - 5 Parts

- PortlandCarbo - 10-11-2006

love the interview!...always fun to hear Gord go on...

dan, you have to post some pictures & tell some stories from the day.

- u8555 - 10-11-2006

TLB Wrote:From the Audio Archive at Rock101.com

Project Ambush: Gord Downie - October 10, 2006

Dan Pontrfact Ambushed

Gord Downie Interview with Brother Jake - 5 Parts

That was a great interview. Laughed pretty hard a couple of times. Very cool idea fer the CD.

- aaronck - 10-11-2006

Nice work Dan,
I was very impressed, your questions were great, I totally assumed things like this went to untrue fans by default, just because they somehow have the ability to get through on the phone more than anyone else. Nice work with the questions, and not letting on that you were the guy dressed in red with red pants HAMMERED at the back of the room....

- dpontefract - 10-11-2006

Pretty cool experience, that's for certain. When a burly man with 5 sidekicks storm into your home with video cameras, microphones and the like, you get a wee bit freaked out wondering what the hell is happening. Concepts like "am I going to jail" or "did I win the lottery" came to mind. In the end, it turns out I was the Rock 101 Ambush winner.

Once I pieced it together, and realized what was going on, to my chagrin, I was live on the air in my house, on a cell phone with the radio station. That's when I found out what was going on.

Whisked away in a limo and into the studio, I spent 60 minutes on the air between 8am and 9am with the Rock 101 morning guys (Bro Jake, formerly of Q107 in T.O. now runs point in Vancouver) which was entertaining to say the least.

At 9am, Gord walks in with several Universal individuals whilst live on the air. We shake hands and then we begin our chat. It's not as though I had a burning list of questions prepared prior to the morning, so I went with the concept of 'chatting' and seeing where the conversation might take us.

During the music and commercial breaks, we actually just sat there and continued our 'chat'. The various producers and personnel remarked later that it seemed as though we were old buddies catching up on things, seeing as we weren't really paying attention to anyone else in the room.

That's probably the part I'll cherish the most ... just the fact we were able to chat about things like kids, parenting, Europe, Toronto vs. Hamilton, hockey (of course), etc.

The producers pulled me aside afterwards and stated they were pleased to have had 'the smartest guy' ever in the studio conducting the interview. That's probably not saying much for their past guests, but it was a nice compliment nonetheless to receive.

How did I win? My wife managed to coax several different friends into submitting a nomination with the radio station. There were 10 or so in total, but I think it's the one she sent in personally that was the clincher. I copied it below for you all to read.

As you can tell by my post count, I don't normally do much of that, but maybe I'll do more of it now that I'm somewhat out of the closet and I've been lurking around here for the better part of four years.

cheers
dp

___________________________________________


Hi there:

I am writing to you to nominate my husband Dan Pontefract for the Gord Ambush. While this may be a little lengthy, it's definitely worth the read.

As I sat and watched him once again dance in our livingroom with our 3 1/2 year old daughter Claire, to Courage, realizing that not only did he know all the words and everything about Gord and the Hip, but that she also sang all the words along with him, I just knew he would be perfect for this opportunity.

Since I have known Dan in second year university at McGill in 1991, he has not only lived and breathed The Hip, but he has seen them in concert over 30 times and followed them from venues such as school gyms in Vermont, Kingston and North Bay, ON; Open Air Concerts in Montreal (twice!) and Barrie, bars in Cleveland, Portland, Seattle, Vancouver, Montreal, amphitheatres in Toledo and Seattle - only to name a few. I have had the delightful opportunity to become myself an avid Hip fan and see them only 14 times - quite short from his concert experiences. We are again seeing them when they are in town - I know Dan will have tickets for the weekend shows.

The most poignant Hip tours that we have undertaken in our 11 years of marriage have been in venues in California and Oregon. When I was pregnant with my daughter Claire in summer 2002, we followed the Hip to four concerts in California: Las Vegas, L.A., Anaheim, and San Fransico. They were playing in a House of Blues tour and Dan thought it would be great if we followed them to each of these venues - while making a little Cali/Nevada tour of it all. Being six months pregnant, I felt great to go along and absorb myself with him in some Hip moments. They were great shows.

The second tour is one that we have done in 2002 & 2004, where we piled eight of us in an RV and drove down to the Aladdin Theatre in Portland, OR. Both trips were done with the same friends and we departed Vancouver on the Friday night, camped out in the Seahaw Stadium parking lot and then for the concert Saturday night, we parked the RV in the tiny Chinese restaurant parking lot across from the Aladdin. These were the best Hip tours for us. Not only amazing concerts, but an incredible Hip-bonding experience with our friends, also Hip fans. We actually had a brief conversation with Rob and Johnnie outside of the Aladdin around 3pm as they were trying to find their way into the theatre. Dan, of course, was in his glory.

Dan has caught every Hip moment that I know of - frequently on the Hip website - he always seems to know when new stuff is out, what every song refers to, he has every Hip CD, DVD, Gord's book, whatever the media is - he has it. At every party or gathering we have, Dan - who interestingly resembles Gord (no joke) manages to put Hip music on, and dances away as though he IS Gord. He has followed Gord interviews and believes that he is one of the most intelligent Canadian icons there is. Our friends, and anyone who gets to know Dan, continue to be amazed at the depth of his love and respect for the Hip. Who else leaves their place of work during the day to stand in a lineup outside the Commodore in Vancouver in 2000 at 12pm in the cold of winter, dragging our patio bbq with him for warmth as we lived nearby along with two of his co-workers to see the Hip play in a surprise announced concert? This is one of the many 'Hip activities' that I know about. There are many more of these experiences, however, I believe I have written about the most significant.

Dan has often intertwined 'Hip-esque' material in his professional life (presentations, quotes, Gord-like nuances) as well as in his personal life - our wedding, friend's weddings, parties. Also, Dan is gifted at creating home videos of our two young children using Hip music, and of course, the Hip is always played at home and in the car, hence our daughter knowing every Hip word. Our son who is 14 months recognizes the tunes and raises his hands very 'Gord-like', similar to daddy.

This is my story, pardon the length, but I couldn't resist. To actually meet Gord and sit and have a conversation would be the ultimate gift and treasure (our children aside) that I could assist in giving him. I love this man, and I have come to love the Hip (and know much about them) from his admiration of this great Canadian band.

If I could have attached a video clip of him from one of our recent gatherings where Dan is quite 'Gord-like', I would have. I however, am not as technologically-inclined - but you would have been truly amazed and would have had a few good laughs along with it.

- MountainHip - 10-11-2006

What a nice story, what can I say. That girl loves you.

- Lizard King - 10-11-2006

Thats awesome, congrats man!

:thumb:

- d_alex_d - 10-11-2006

Congrats Dan,
now if only i could get the clips to play on my computer!! damn internet

- Douglas - 10-11-2006

Fuck ya! Fianlly someone who actually deserves to win. Good on ya. Seems like you got a killer broad there. Buy her something nice. Chicks dig kitchen appliances. :thumb:

- dpontefract - 10-12-2006

thought you folks might like this ...

<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.rock101.com/shows/bro_jake.cfm?rem=51073&jor=51073&var=morn#morning">http://www.rock101.com/shows/bro_jake.c ... rn#morning</a><!-- m -->

dp

- Metropolis Noir - 10-12-2006

Wow, that was awesome! Good job. It seems like it was well deserved.

- abrokenbridge - 10-12-2006

right on brother!

- u8555 - 10-12-2006

uuummmmmmppphhhh. Good stuff!!