For the past few weeks, people have been asking me, "Hey, did you catch Wade Redden on ET! Canada?" The answer to that question is no, I did not catch Wade Redden on ET! Canada a few weeks ago. It has bothered me a great deal. As one of Wade Redden's biggest fans, it troubled me to know that people across the country were invited into his home and given a sneak peek at his everyday life, but I, somehow, missed it.
Wade's been a hero of mine for years now, ever since he first laced up for the Ottawa Senators as an 18-year-old rookie. He turned twenty-nine this past June, so that means for eleven years I've clipped stories about him out of newspapers, visited fan sites on the Web to absorb every little detail that I can about him, taped interviews with him off of TV, and basically been obsessed with every teeny, tiny aspect of him. Finding out that he had been featured as one of ET! Canada's Hunks of Hockey, and that I had missed it, was devastating to me. I don't know if I've ever missed something of such high importance on TV.
Today, when I had a little downtime at work, I plugged the words Wade Redden on ET! Canada into my Google search engine, hoping maybe for some details of the interview, maybe even a transcript of what was said in the featurette. And that's when I found it.
Today's big discovery. A little sumthin'-sumthin' called YouTube, baby.
The entire inteview, the entire tour of Wade's home, the introduction to his new girlfriend, and the brief segment of him playing guitar and singing The Hanukkah Song - all right there, on my computer screen, for my viewing pleasure. All courtesy of my new best pals over at YouTube.
Do you guys realize how big this was for me? I mean, a two-minute segment on ET! Canada is not exactly something I could ever get back otherwise. It's not like they ever show re-runs of those entertainment/celebrity gossip shows, or that it will ever come out on DVD for me to buy. Finding the interview on YouTube was like finding a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow. I was in heaven!
Alright, I'll admit it - today was not the first time I've ever heard of YouTube. I'm a frequent visitor to Dave Navarro's Blog, www.6767.com (for updates on Rockstar and Dave's band, The Panic Channel), and he frequently provides links to stuff he's found on YouTube. I never bothered checking any of it out, though, because I figured that without high-speed, it would take forever to upload.
It did take quite a while for the 2-minute segment to load, but it was well worth the wait. Wade pointed out some of the renovations he's made to his new Ottawa pad, introduced us to his new girlfriend Danika, and when the interviewer spotted his guitar sitting in the corner of the living room, she somehow convinced him to pick it up and play a bit of Adam Sandler's holiday classic. (Wade led into it by saying, "This is for all the Jewish people out there". I have no idea if he was joking or not, but it cracked me up. Oh, and people who saw the original airing warned me that Wade's a terrible singer - I actually don't think he was all that bad). Then, in closing, they asked him how it felt to be Canada's first hockey hunk. Wade got a little shy, and said, "Oh, I don't know if I'd call me a hunk...Maybe a hulk!" Then he squeezed his bicep, shook his head and laughed. And I swooned.
I couldn't have been happier to finally see this segment that I thought I'd never have the opportunity to view. I was especially pleased to see that Wade was looking happy and healthy. After his mother's death last spring, any photos or TV interviews I saw of him following that, he always looked tired and pale. Now, even through the grainy YouTube quality, I could tell that his cheeks were ruddy again, and his eyes had that old sparkle back. It may have taken the love of a woman other than me (which does make me an eensy-weensy bit jealous), but I was thrilled to see Wade back on his feet and smiling again. Last year was difficult for him, but I can tell that he's turned the corner, and it did my heart good to hear his deep laugh and feel his charm oozing through the computer screen. It reminded me all over again why I'm such a big fan of his.
For any of you who wish to check it out, click on this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t6LJK...elated&search
And once again, my most sincere thanks to the folks over at YouTube. They really made my day!
GO SENS GO!
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