Perry Gladstone Adventures

The Prince Perry Show

2012-04-24T07:46:49Z

Finally! The pilot episode of The Prince Perry Show is now live. Please share with your friends!

My heartfelt thanks to Leyre Arroyo and Mark Alberts for their amazing work to bring this project to completion.

Summer Stomp-over

2012-03-16T04:21:27Z

Exciting news today from Europe!

Prince Perry has been chosen to co-headline the 8th annual Riverside Stomp Open Air Festival in Rheinufer Mainz-Kastel, Germany, June 2.

This is international ska, rocksteady and reggae at its best!

Surrounding the festival will be a busy week of shows in Amsterdam, Hamburg, Berlin, Aalen and other cities to be announced although I do know we play the famous Indra Club, where the Beatles first played in Europe, June 8th.

I'll post an updated schedule as soon as the dates firm up!

¡Qué sorpresa!

2012-03-15T21:09:50Z

What a great surprise! When I decided to come back early from Costa Rica this year I was dreading the March weather that always seems to never let go. How nice to wake up to spring temps this morning.

Even better is the long-term forecast, which bodes well for getting the boat in early. Can't wait to get back to my floating apartment. Here's the view from the back deck last summer. It's no pacific ocean but the peace and quiet living on Toronto Island is a great contrast to life in the jungle.

For one thing I don't have to tap out my shoes every time I put them on (scorpions). It's those little things that make the switch so odd. That, and the lack of flora and fauna. On any given day in CR my front or backyard is graced by ants, dogs, chickens, butterflies, bees, cows, hummingbirds, parrots, lizards, children, snakes, spiders, cats, crows, egrets, vultures, cicadas, mantises, grasshoppers, giant grasshoppers, frogs, roadrunners and the occasional monkey.

And then there's the human traffic... Hey muchacha, get off my wave!

Summer's here! (not there, sorry)

2012-02-17T19:17:18Z

Its Feb 17 and summer is here in the Osa. With 30+ temps by 9am, the swamp-like jungle that was once my backyard is finally dry and flip-flop navigable all the way to the little river that burbles along the back border of my land.

I’ve had a busy month and a half fixing up the property and setting up home in my little casita. With that done I can relax a bit and enjoy the hammock and fruits of my labour, specifically bananas and coconuts (the limon tree didn’t make it). Here’s a pics of the cottage now that it’s done (see previous post for before shots).

In the end just about every piece of original wood excluding the floor had to be replaced due to termites. We did it one wall at a time and the end result is a totally new house except the roof, which is next year’s project. We also built a fortified concrete bodega (storage room) in the back corner of the house off the bathroom so I have a secure place to keep appliances and other things when not here.

I live in the town of Ojochal, which is a rustic country village south of Dominical and Uvita in the province of Osa, Costa Rica. While not on the map it is directly across the pacific coast highway from Playa Tortuga, close to one stunning beach after another and, thanks to a diverse international ex-pat community, home to the best restaurants in CR. Casa Perry is available come April should you or loved-ones be looking for a tropical home-away-from-home. Send me a note if you are interested!

On the work front, writing has been in fits and starts however I have almost completed a first draft of my book and will be getting down to business these next few weeks. I still intend to e-publish this spring and will be looking for your feedback and comments as I post excerpts to the blog over the next while. Please look for them and comment!

Music-wise things have also been busy. Local blues man Ken Nickell has taken me under his wing with weekly jams at Roadhouse 169 in Ballena and I have played several gigs, most recently with Martin Joly at Adelante Hotel and El Fuego here in Ojochal. I’m back at El Fuego tomorrow night with Phillippe Chapuy on percussion. Fun night ahead!

In the meantime Prince Perry has been getting some great press at home on CKUT Montreal with this live interview and in Germany thanks to our EU distributor Rocking Steady. We even hit the top five ska albums on Amazon.de! We are excited about all the attention and are planning a tour there for late fall. Before that however it’ll be summer at home, time for a little local touring, festivals and recording some new songs.

That’s also when we will be releasing the animated pilot for the up-to-now top-secret Prince Perry Show so stay tuned for that!

I’ll be back in Toronto mid-March to do some visioning and strategy workshops with Ipsos ASI and get the book into circulation. If you are interested in booking a workshop or speaking engagement for your company please use this form.

That’s the update for now. If you have something to share I’d love to hear from you on any of the above. Feel free to post below or send me a note.

Hasta proxima!

Woke up this morning…

2012-01-10T03:00:15Z

It’s hard not to love life when this is what greets you every morning.

I’ve been visiting my friends at Las Nubes, the amazing eco-resort about thirty minutes north of where I live. The proprietor Filip D’Hulster is a renowned Belgian chef and one of the nicest people you’ll ever meet. So of course I stayed for dinner and breakfast…

Back on the ranch things have been coming along quite well. The cottage was in pretty rough shape when I arrived and the land overgrown with overhead foliage. After a lot of chopping and clearing I was able to get a good look at what I have to work with.

To the left is the official ‘before’ pic. Three of the four walls were infested with termites and had to go. Fortunately the floor and roof are ok and only need minor repairs. So for the moment it’s very open concept haha.

I expect to have everything closed in by the end of the week!

It All Starts Now!

2011-12-31T02:05:50Z

January 1 is the beginning of an exciting new adventure and this post is an invitation to laugh, cry and learn with me as I embark on a three-part foray into:

COSTA RICA - Will be my new winter home-base. I have purchased a small cottage in Ojochal, a rural village on the south pacific coast. It has been vacant for some time and the jungle, like it should, has taken over. Termites, scorpions and other critters are more than likely not going to want to move out. Fortunately I have a bug-proof hammock.

SPEAKING & PRINT - To complement my work of strategy consultation and workshops (in Costa Rica now too! and no, not at the cottage…), I have begun speaking to groups and conferences and will be publishing my first book this spring. It's a step-by-step guide of how to align your business with your best opportunities. After years of honing the process it's time to share! I have almost completed the first draft and expect to have it available for download in the next 90 days.

MUSIC - the second full length record is out world-wide on iTunes and Prince Perry is on a bit of a roll! Our Facebook page just hit 54,000 followers and we recently signed a distribution deal for Europe. So cool…looking forward to a great year of shows, touring and writing new music.

I'll be sending occasional updates like this via email (please sign up here), but not too many, and updating the blog as often as I can. This RSS feed will pull the latest from the blog and I hope you'll share your thoughts with me there.

OK, well that's that. I leave in the morning for CR and will be posting pics of the cottage soon. Friends say it needs to be leveled (!) so that should be interesting…

Until the next post, wishing you a happy 2012!

Perry

63,000 To Go!

2011-12-16T05:52:28Z

Today's toy count is 87,125! We're well past the halfway mark but have only ten more days to collect the remaining 63,000 toys and need your help to reach our goal of 150,000. Please take a moment to make a donation for families and kids in need here. Traditionally the last week or so before Christmas is the biggest for donations. That said this is my first year working with The Salvation Army and I can't help but be a bit anxious about hitting the target and making the holidays better for kids in need.

Meantime the warehouse is busy with volunteers sorting gifts into age appropriate piles and trucks coming and going to shelters and agencies across the city. It's an amazing operation and an honour to be part of.

making mountains

2011-11-26T01:30:00Z

In a live broadcast from Toronto's Yonge/Dundas square this evening, CTV in association with The Salvation Army and The Toronto Area Ford Dealers launched the 2011 Toy Mountain Campaign with the goal of raising 150,000 toys for families in need.

The mood was decidedly upbeat and the air charged with anticipation as the brass band warmed up their instruments and carolers competed with the helicopter overhead gathering shots of highly-caffeinated attendees (the coffee was free) and trucks filled with games, dolls and other goodies.

I have been involved with this project since the early spring, conceiving, developing and implementing the online donation strategy and infrastructure for all three partners.

While the project was at times challenging, it is extremely satisfying to see all the hard work begin to pay off as donors click their way towards our goal. As of 8 pm on day 1 we have registered 8,243 toys!

If you need a little or a lot

2011-11-07T17:50:35Z

Thanks to the Transitions International Group for having me as a guest speaker at their most recent conference this past weekend. Held in Toronto for the first time, Hair Replacement professionals from several countries met to discuss the latest best business practices, techniques, products and marketing campaigns.

The invitation came about via Michael Suba at Continental Hair, a Transitions International Group member I have been working with this past year. Already the Gold Standard in Hair Replacement, Michael's commitment to create ongoing value for his customers gave me plenty of great references.

In addition to being generous hosts, the group clearly represented the best in the business and it was a pleasure to share my insights and methods for recognizing their best opportunities for growth and development.

I'm in the army now

2011-10-27T04:42:05Z

For the last several months I have been working with The Salvation Army's Railside Food & Toy Distribution Centre. The challenge was to develop and implement a strategy that would improve overall donations and efficiencies, mitigate shortfalls and effectively leverage their corporate partner networks.

In spite of an imposing mandate the solution we arrived at was relatively simple: By creating an online system of donation portals we can effectively lower the barrier to entry (donors contribute with a click of the mouse rather than having to go out, buy product and drop them off), eliminate shortfalls (online donations are essentially cash so the 'Army can buy what they need rather than be subjected to what people choose to drop off), this in turn creates efficiencies as purchasing in bulk saves significant dollars not to mention the fuel, labour and sorting costs associated with the pick up of donated items. Best of all we can easily engage employee groups and other partner networks with targeted emails that link directly to appropriate donation sites.

As of this posting both the front and back end systems have been developed and beta testing for The Salvation Army’s Railside Food & Toy Distribution Centre and CTV Toy Mountain portals have begun. Another version is being created for Toronto Area Ford dealers with all sites expected to be live November 25^th.