How do you DJ right? The book provides all sorts of practical advice on all aspects of the art and business of playing records. But its central message, which happens to be a hundred percent true, is that the only thing you can’t do without if you want to be a proper DJ is a passion – nay, a nerdy obsession – for sharing great music.

“You want to get paid for putting on tunes?” Broughton and Brewster ask in the introduction. “Well, here’s the entrance exam. Do you love music or do you just dream of being Sasha? We won’t hammer it home too hard, but if you really want to DJ right, if you want to be great at it, you have to be doing it for the right reasons: not for private jets and power over a dance floor, but because of a simple and unavoidable need to share music with people. Without the gene for musical evangelism, you’ll just be a jukebox.”

Back in the days before DJing was a decent career, let alone a claim to fame, this rule was obvious. With the rise of the superstar DJ, however, came a flood of kids who assumed they could follow in their footsteps with nothing but technical skills and access to the hottest tracks.

“The saddest things we found while researching,” Broughton and Brewster continue, “were kids’ questions on bulletin boards saying, ‘I want to be a DJ. What kind of music should I play?’ If that’s you and you really don’t know, then put this book back immediately. Give this book to someone who actually cares about music, who lives and dies for their record collection, who knows without question what music they should play – the music they love, stupid.”

It sounds harsh, but it’s true. You can be a working DJ without a love of music. You might even become a successful DJ. But you’ll never be a great DJ, because your heart will never be in it the way it should be – and your audience will know it.

Now, this isn’t about drawing some snobby line in the sand. If you don’t like music, that’s fine. A lot of people don’t like skiing, for example. None of those people are ever going to be great skiers.

The good news is, if you’ve got that love of music, the rest has a way of falling into place. I’ve had the pleasuring of working with literally hundreds of DJs, and every single one of the good ones has had that foundation in common. Many of them only ever played a handful of shows in front of tiny crowds, but they did a solid job, and they had fun doing it.

What about you? Are you a DJ, or thinking about becoming one? There are all kinds of great reasons to go for it, and as far as I’m concerned, more people should. But if your main reason isn’t a love of music, then maybe it’s just not for you.

Now, I’m no doctor, but I figure I got sick in one of two ways. Chances are, I picked up a stomach bug from my daughter, who we had to drag to the walk-in clinic on Friday night because she was throwing up and running a temperature. I spent that night in her room, because somebody had to watch over her, and I didn’t want my wife or my visiting mother-in-law to run a greater risk of catching anything.

That’s probably the reason why I got sick. Either that, or I got food poisoning after eating a sandwich with some bad mayonnaise on it.

I prefer to believe my daughter’s stomach bug was the culprit. If it was, then the reason I missed a show I wanted to see – not to mention all of Monday – is because I’m a terrific father and a wonderful guy. If food poisoning was the culprit, then I missed the show because I’m too stupid to be trusted with expiration dates.

So let’s all agree it was the stomach bug, okay? I mean, I’m still going to check the date on that bottle of mayonnaise. Vanity is one thing, but disregard for my family’s health is another. But if anyone asks, it was the stomach bug.

Today, I’m back at work. I’ve gotten it out of my system, literally and figuratively, and now I’m ready to get back in the game. Which is good, because I’m feeling pretty far behind on a lot of stuff.

Watch for more as I get myself caught up. If you’re waiting to hear from me about something, thank you for your patience.

Yesterday afternoon, I discovered that the power button on my iPhone wasn’t working. Apparently, it’s a pretty common problem with this model. The phone itself works fine, aside from the fact that I can’t shut it off. It’s also still under warranty, so rather than try to fix it myself, I figured I’d better call Rogers.

Long story short, a replacement phone should arrive in three to five business days. When it does, I’ll ship the broken one back to them. Aside from the time it’ll take to back up and transfer my files, the exchange will cost me nothing.

Now, there’s still a chance that something could go wrong. They could decide to charge me for the phone if they believe I’ve voided the warranty, but I’ve run down the list of indicators they’ll check, and everything looks fine. I’ve even taken photos to prove it, if it comes to that.

Plus, I’m assuming the phone won’t arrive on time. Because Rogers insists on shipping their products with UPS, a company that’s widely known for its incompetence and indifference, I’d be surprised if the package arrived at all. But that’s what a sign on the front door that says “We’re home and you’re on camera so none of your usual bullshit” is for.

In the meantime, hooray! A major telecommunications company really came through on this one, and they did it with a smile to boot. I think they deserve a little thanks and recognition, don’t you? Stay tuned to find out if it all works out, or to hear to the gory details if/when I get screwed over (“if” for Rogers, “when” for UPS).

It’s a good system, and I usually don’t need it anyway. I like my early mornings, and I only tend to grab a little extra sleep when I really need it. So I don’t even remember the last time I slept late.

But sometimes, every safeguard fails at once. Sometimes your sick kid keeps you up all night. Sometimes you loan your vibrating alarm to a friend, and you don’t set a ringtone alarm on your phone because you don’t want to wake your wife, who’s also sick. Sometimes your wife goes back to sleep when her alarm goes off, because she’s not going to work that day. And sometimes your kid sleeps in, because again, she was up all night.

If any one of those things hasn’t happened this morning, my wife wouldn’t have had to elbow me at ten to eight and tell me I’d better get up. I’d have had time to do more than shower and clean the kitchen like I’d promised. I’ll still be on time for work, but I feel like I’m starting my day in the middle, and I feel totally unprepared for it.

That’s nobody’s fault but mine, of course. If nothing else, it’s good to have a reminder once in a while that there’s room to grow and get better at the whole “parenting” thing. I just don’t think it’s going to happen today.

My wife hasn’t had a proper sick day since my daughter was born. She’s been sick, and she’s occasionally stayed home, but you can’t really call it a sick day if you’ve got a baby to look after. Today’s the first day she’s been able to just stay home and get better.

I’m not as sick as she is, but I’m sick enough to stay home. My company’s hosting its annual conference this weekend, so I don’t really have the option of taking the day off. But I also don’t want to get anyone sick right before the big event, so working from home makes sense.

There’s a lot to be said for having a job you can do from home every now and then. There’s even more to be said for working with people who let you do it. I’m enjoying a day with my wife, and I’m getting a lot more done than I would have if I’d spent the day in a busy office. I do hope I get to go back to work tomorrow, but for now, this is nice.

“On September 9th,” Elizabeth May told her mailing list, “Prime Minister Stephen Harper signed an agreement with China, the Canada-China Foreign Investment Protection and Promotion Agreement (FIPA). The agreement was kept from the Canadian public and Parliament until September 26th, when it was quietly made public, tabled in the House of Commons. No press release. No technical briefing…

“This treaty would give China the unacceptable power to secretly challenge Canadian laws that infringe on its business interests, and Prime Minister Harper planned to ratify it without any public consultation, meaningful debate, or vote in the House.”

This could have happened months ago, if not for widespread public opposition to the agreement, which has given many MPs, including a number of Conservative backbenchers, cause to reconsider giving so much power to a foreign nation.

“We suspect that it is precisely this massive public outcry,” May says, “that has succeeded in forcing Prime Minister Harper to reconsider ratifying this treaty for the time being.”

The Conservatives and Liberals have pledged to vote against the NDP motion. The Liberals, however, have proposed a compromise motion that could, according to May, “represent a starting point for real dialogue and consultation on the Canada-China FIPA across party lines.”

What can you do? You can call or write to your MP, asking them to vote in favour of a motion to prevent ratification without public consultation. You can sign an online petition via the Green Party website, or sign a similar petition from the good people at Leadnow. You can also take a minute to email your friends and encourage them to get involved.

Let’s make it happen, guys. The agreement itself and the process behind it are both prime examples of Stephen Harper’s notable contempt for public opinion and democratic diligence. Let your government know how you feel about that, and stay tuned for the results.

Lately, I’ve been putting my phone into airplane mode from time to time. My phone stays perfectly functional, but calls and push notifications don’t get through to me, and I can’t get online in a moment of weakness or boredom. During that window, my time is mine.

It’s a simple and obvious thing, and I’m sure a lot of you are already doing it regularly. But if you’re not, give it a try. You can totally go without news and Twitter bickering for half an hour, and you owe it to yourself to do so now and then.

Today’s a Sunday, which means it’s a great day to shut down for a while. If you can’t take a break from the web on a Sunday, when can you do it? Give yourself half an hour in airplane mode today, and if it suits you, try a longer break tomorrow, and a longer break the day after that.

It’s nice to be connected to what’s important, but these days you often have to disconnect in order to do that. If I were a true social media guru with a penchant for horrible wordplay, I’d argue that airplane mode is the key to “grounding” yourself in what really matters. But I’m not, thank God, so I won’t.

How do you maintain your signal to noise ratio? What are the tips, tricks and habits you use to claim your own time without feeling disconnected? Feel free to sound off in the comments (and don’t be offended if it takes me a while to reply).

I got up at with my kid at 7:00 AM this morning. She went out with her mum for a while afterward, while I vacuumed the house and did some laundry. My parents paid a visit this afternoon, and after they left, we played around for another few hours until it was time to put the kid to bed. Then I ran some errands, chilled out on the couch with my wife, and played some video games after she went to bed.

It’s been a full day, and a great day, but certainly not a day that feels like it occupied nearly as much time as it did. My day is coming to a close, and I feel like I just got up. Before I know it, I’ll be back at my desk on Monday morning. Which is good, because I could use the rest.

I did a wedding on Saturday, and it was one of the best weddings I’ve done in a long time. It had a great crowd, at a great venue, and a terrific playlist that really meshed with my usual library. We also had a couple of wireless mics on hand near the dance floor, and the point at which the crowd discovered them is the point at which the live recording gets interesting.

When a venue doesn’t have its own audio equipment, the couple turns to me to supply what they need. In this case, I rented a couple of wireless microphones for the ceremony, which took place right where the dance floor would soon be. We ran these mics through my mixer, so everything was coming out of the same speakers.

Sure, when one of the bride’s friends grabbed a microphone a few hours later and started singing along to “I Will Survive,” I could have just cut her volume. “But wait a minute,” I said. “Let’s see where this goes.”

Naturally, it took off from there. It didn’t take long for the night to become a full-on karaoke jam, and although it wasn’t part of the plan, people loved it. Hell, the bride led the charge for most of the night! I did cut the volume a few times, but only to the music during the choruses, and never to the singers who were belting them out a capella.

I’m only halfway through the recording at the time of this writing, which means I’ve got the two sloppiest and most tuneless hours left to go. Toward the end, there’s a mock-argument between me and the bride over “one more song” that I’m really looking forward to hearing.  Oh, and I guess I did a pretty good job with the music, too.