captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org-- >> this is "the journal". >> the headlines. security is tightened across germany as authorities warned of the heightened terrorist threat. general motors returned to the stock exchange with an ipo that topped $20 billion. fifa bans two members after allegations of vote selling. >> the interior ministers of

germany met on thursday to discuss the threat of a possible terrorist attack. the federal interior minister, thomas de maiziere, has spoken of a new security situation. on wednesday, he issued a threat of an imminent attack on germany. security has been stepped up at airports, train stations, and other publications. >> there was a high visibility security in the city of hamburg. it was intended to ensure safety at the talks, but while the ministers posed together for photographers, they were at odds as to how to react to the alleged security threat. >> one of the things we debated was the need for swift legislation allowing for data retention. we cannot allow ourselves to be hindered as we tried to remain

informed. >> earlier this year, the constitutional court ruled the a lot concerning the retention of telephone and internet communications data for six months was unconstitutional. supporters of the legislation said it would allow intelligence to identify threats early enough to prevent any danger. some government ministers have pushed for an early review of the decision to outlaw data retention. but germany's the federal interior minister said the discussion came at the wrong time heard >> i would like to avoid the impression that the situation and our interpretation of it is being exploited for political purposes. >> the interior ministers are not the only ones debating security measures and personal privacy. the issue has divided the governing coalition. >> german police car on their way to namibia to examine a

suspicious device. it is a believed the bag contained materials that could be used to create a bomb. air berlin said it was not intended for germany, but the interior minister said it probably was. >> munich, where the airplane was headed. there are indications that a suspicious package was bound for europe. the plane arrived six hours late. the passengers were questioned upon arrival. >> an unidentified will package was found. we had to disembark, sniff for dogs were brought in to search the aircraft. >> we had to take all of our

hand luggage with us. it was searched, stand, and so on. -- scanned and so on. >> the package was handled as freight but did not have an address label. it is like that -- like the investigations will take several days, although chairman security officials left immediately for the capital of namibia. there is tighter security countrywide in germany at the moment because of the recent warnings that a terror threat could. >> peter klaven has been following developments at the conference purdy says there are conflicting reports between the german government and that of local authorities in the capital of namibia. >> we have had mixed messages with thomas de maiziere, the interior minister, saying that he does believe that there are firm indications that this

package, of possible explosive device was destined for germany. the responsible airline said to, for its part there was never at any stage their risk that it would be on board upper german plane. it had no label indicating the address of the destination. germany will send officers from their crime office down to namibia. regarding the meeting of the interior ministers in hamburg, we have had speculation about what cities might be targeted with hamburg, berlin and munich being mentioned. there has been a call for a police presence to be stepped up in it cities with large muslim population. also, we have had the police say that they believe with the new measures that germany is

expected to put in place that their resources will be overstressed. and the following question being asked -- has a germany done enough to prepare for the aftermath of a possible terrorist attack? >> thank you. the german foreign ministers said the withdrawal of troops from afghanistan should begin in 2012 as planned. he repeated support for gradual handover of responsibility for security to afghan forces starting next comments come ahead of friday's nato summit in lisbon. germany has around 5000 troops in afghanistan, the third largest nato force picket. we had the big gm ipo today. >> some say it came too early, but it is paying off. gm is back on wall street after

a blockbuster ipo to just over two hours ago. gm shares traded up 7% from the initial share price. it comes less than a year-and-a- half after it emerged from bankruptcy. >> for over a year, general motors was looking forward to a successful return to the stock exchange. its shares were sharing for $35.70. gm hopes to take it over $23 billion from the flotation making it the biggest ipo ever. >> everyone i know what the company is just -- wants to do the best they possibly can, create a value for shareholders, whether it be the government shareholders or the new shareholders coming in today. >> general motors is the world's second-largest car maker under bankruptcy -- under bankruptcy protection, it shut down is in loss-making brands. gm has returned to profitability thanks to the booming u.s. car

market. >> this is about big day, a resurrection of a company that clearly had got itself into a lot of trouble and it's a perfect example of in corporate america where there is life after death. >> the u.s. government is hoping for a lucrative ipo because it is expected to get background 1/4 of its $50 billion bailout -- to get back 1/4 of its $50 billion bailout. >> i asked one analyst what was behind gm's turnaround para >> they were pretty lucky. they used the time of the transition period. they got rid of unproductive plants per they cut labor costs tremendously, and new employees were hired half the cost of old ones were fired at. the restructured their product programs. they are looking pretty good at the moment with the car sales in

the u.s., and that market is beginning to pick up, and they are the market leaders. it should be in good shape for the next year and a half. >> what about the new shareholders and looking at the german subsidiary opel. what do think will happen there? >> oopepel is probably in some more rough times, not that they have not had enough in the past. i see that the research and development packadepartment whis extremely important, which originated in opel, so i do not think they will put on the screws too much, but yes, they will have to turn around their market share and be more productive. >> the problem is that opel is a european grand and car markets here are sluggish. what future do they have?

>> they need to look overseas. they need to have some sort of sales strategy that puts them next to gm in the asian markets, where they can compete competitively, and i think that their product line will serve them well. >> thanks for joining us. >> ireland appears to be edging towards accepting assistance from the european union to bolster its banking sector after meeting with the eu and imf, the irish finance minister said he would welcome funds to stand behind his countries banks, but he continued to insist then dublin might not have any emergency aid at all. ireland has been hesitant about accepting assistance, fearing brussels could attach strings to the aid such as an assistant on higher corporate taxes. of eu members have complained about ireland's low taxes.

let's look at market numbers. the dax index closed up at 6832. 2855, the number there. the dow jones is trading at 11,192. the euro is posting gains at $1.3631. a german pharmaceutical giant is planning to cut jobs by 2012 as part of a cost-cutting program. the layoffs are to include 1700 positions in germany. they intend to agree -- tio o create 2, 500 jobs. >> six countries, including china, russia, and iraq, said it will not be attending the nobel peace prize awards next month in

honor of china's liu xiaobo. the nobel committee says the diplomatic pressure is unprecedented and fears it may not even be able to hand out the award at all. >> there is little likelihood that nobel peace prize winners liu xiaobo or his wife will be able to travel to oslo. in december, 2009, liu xiaobo was sentenced to 11 years. his wife has been under house arrest since october. >> we do hope we will be able to present the prize, but most likely the award winner will not attend, nor his wife or two brothers, and if no one will attend, it might be that we will not present a prize this year. >> that would be very unusual in the 109 history of the peace

prize. in the past, representatives have turned out to accept the award on behalf of the winner. in 1975, bono, wife of the russian nuclear physicist andrei sakharov. suu kyi has now been released from house arrest and we invited to oslo almost two decades after she was honored with the prize. >> a swedish prosecutor has filed a request to retain a founder of wikileaks, julian assange. he is expected of sexual molestation and unlawful coercion and is wanted for questioning. two women main complaints in august when julian assange was in sweden. the australian denies the allegation. >> two fifa executive committee members have been banned from

participating in soccer-related activities over corruption allegations. the two were alleged to have offered to sell their votes in the contest to host the 2018 and 2020 world cup reco. >> fifa caught is scrambling to protect his credibility following allegations that its officials offered to sell their votes to undercover reporter securreporters. amos adamu and reynald temarii were banned and fined. some observers said the punishment are too mild, but fifa says it is doing all it can to stop corruption. >> we have zero tolerance for the breach of our rules occurred we believe in god, as honest -- we believe in good, honest,

soccer. >> the scandal has raisedut corruption within soccer's world governing body. how quickly did fifa respond? observers are critical of the organization for failing to indicate how it will prevent any future riches of the code of ethics. fifa president is expected to comment on the scandal after a meeting of the executive committee in zurich on friday. >> the world ocean review presented a report on thursday on the state of the planets and oceans. this situation does not look good. overfishing, rising sea levels, and stretches of water filled with garbage -- our oceans are in trouble. >> the report says melting glaciers are causing sea levels to rise and increasing amounts of the pollutant carbon dioxide are being stored in the water

making the oceans more acidic. this report is a stark warning -- issues a stark warning. >> cow2 is being absorbed by the ocean. it takes up more of the carbon dioxide produced by human activity, making the climate milder for us a turf but exchange's key ph of-- it changes the ph of the water, making it more acidic. >> it examined problems like overfishing and toxic waste and garbage in the ocean. the publishers of the magazine came up with the idea. >> >> i hope this review will raise people's consciousness so they can see the very complex process use are not so complex, and they will have far reaching consequences for off and our future -- for us and our future.

>> the world ocean review it is available as a download on the internet. >> we are back in a moment with "in depth."

>> welcome back to our indepth report. focusing on the plight of refugees in the country of greece. there is a report alleging corbeil conditions and the greek detention centers -- alleging horrible conditions under the country is struggling with a wave of immigration. 90% of all immigrants entering eu enter via greece. every year, tens of thousands of people risk their lives trying to make the crossing in overcrowded boats.

that route has been all but cut off after italy's struck a controversial deal with libya. >> the former holding center on the italian island located between sicily and africa. it used to be one of the major transits between africa and europe. >> i think what we have seen is that the border guards have been very efficient with the interception of voboats in the mediterranean. there are no more people coming to molto or to italy because it has been stopped with the help of europe's new friends in libya. >> that is a reference to walmart khaddakhaddafi who cut a

wi with berlosconi. >> libya is not the most reliable partner, but the status quo is not an option, because we were condemning those people there to risk their lives if they were to come to europe. >> for europe to shun its responsibility and give the state of very vulgar people over to khaddafi -- very vulnerable poeople to khaddafi is a strong signal about what is your pogo -- what europe will go. >> many migrants are trying our lot via the land border between turkey and greece.

brussels is putting pressure on athens to maintain european standards. >> we are working with the greek authorities to improve the humanitarian situation and to work with them on the edge of plan the government has approved an order to build an asylum system and a reception system according to european law. >> but greece feels it is left in the lurch by other eu state. even though, asylum and immigration are union wide issues. >> , the more northern european countries are saying, why do not do with that? that is a very responsible attitude. we need a europe that is solidaric, where we say, we will guard the borders, but we will take a number of refugees. >> but until the european union approves the way it deals with

would-be immigrants, many stay in greece. >> greece accuses of this fellow -- its fellow european union that members of leaving it in a lalurch. that leave greece to deal with 90% of the people and the paperwork, so it is hardly surprising that athens is struggling to cope with a backlog of 52,000 asylum claims to be dealt with. most of the refugees have already been through a great suffering at home and en route to europe. the ordeal is far from over when they reach europe's borders. >> he offers a pray for the nameless refugees that

restaurant. neark th the greek border town, the bodies of 140 people arlie n ummarked graves. >> we recently buried a young somali girl here. she drowned trying to cross the river. >> stories are common place along the turkish-greek border. greek authorities have been struggling to contain a growing number of immigrants. they are being assisted by border guards from the european security agency. this year, more than 30,000 people have illegally crossed from turkey into greece. that is a 90% of all unauthorized migration into the eu. >> you have to understand that we are only there to discourage people crossing the border. it is not really possible to

stop them. we are not going to open fire on them. >> but the deterrent appears to be working. the number of unrest have dropped to 100 a day -- the number arrests. they are brought to a border camp which is overcrowded. it is rarely possible to identify those detained your. here. only a few can produce a passport and many are arrive with hardly any possessions. >> the weather is not always as good as today. people turned up in t-shirts and no shoes. and i've never seen the u.n. refugee agency or the red cross here. >> many arrive from conflict regions like iraq, somalia, or like this family from afghanistan. >> we had a dispute over land

and received death threats, so we decided to go to turkey to europe. we will stay in whatever country takes us. >> few of the asylum seekers will stay in greece. they are released after several days to make room for more rivals. the border guards have other artispriorities. >> this is how they keep -- in order to fight against the migrant. our main target is not to intercept many migrants but two or res-- to arrest the criminal. >> these efforts are now being supported by german police who monitor the turkish border every night with heat sensitive cameras. >> this section has been quiet

for the past three nights, but the day before yesterday they arrested 12 people and two human traffickers. that is my understanding heard . >> for 60 euros, this bus driver offers a passage to ethics. those who cannot afford a ticket, have to make their way on foot. these afghans have walked all the way to western europe. >> we walk after turkey, we walk. after two weeks, one month, we are in italia. >> and more arrive on the greek border day after day hoping for a better life in europe. >> sweden has responded to the crisis by stopping the deportation of asylum seekers

back to greece as long as conditions and holding centers continue to deteriorate. germany's highest court is deliberating whether it is constitutional to send refugees back to greece under current conditions. a verdict is expected in general. that was our "in depth." thanks for watching.

♪ - hi, this is bob scully, and welcome to another edition of the world show, the performers series. "and it burns, burns,

burns, the ring of fire." nope, not johnny cash. george canyon. george canyon, whom i met in birmingham, alabama, loves to start his shows occasionally by singing "ring of fire" as a tribute to johnny cash. now, we've often heard about great artists--in the country field especially, like cash, like others--that they're just like us. they're good, down home people singing about real life. and certainly in country music that's truer than in opera and in many other areas of music, but it's not always true that somebody who gets that much admiration and adulation can stay a truly simple person, but george canyon has, and you'll be convinced of that the minute he starts talking, which is right now. george canyon, i have heard of paying dues, but you have been a bill collector, a hospital-- - oh, yeah. i forgot about that. - a hospital orderly, a beef inspector. let's go through some of these. how did you collect bills? - i didn't. i was terrible at it, so i didn't do it. i didn't

keep that job. - what was it, though? - it was, you know, collection agency work. i was young. i was a kid just trying to make ends meet, you know? - and harass people over the phone, and so on. - couldn't do it. - couldn't do it? - mm-mmm. - you could have sung to them. - yeah, maybe i should have done that, yeah. no, that lasted all of about four weeks, i think. not even. - and beef inspector? - uh, that one lasted a little bit longer. that was an interesting job. i worked for the canadian government in the cfia. great group of people. my position was to inspect cargill, which is a big processing plant in alberta. - oh, yeah. it's one of the biggest. - yeah. and just make sure that everybody was, you know, on the up-and-up and the cattle were healthy, and... - you stamped it? - no, i didn't do that. i always wanted to get the stamp in there, and they wouldn't let me do that. - and hospital orderly. that's a tough job.

- well, actually, i wasn't an orderly. i was in maintenance. but in maintenance you had to do kind of everything, so i was really lucky with that. when i was doing my pre-med in university, i spent my summers at the hospital back in nova scotia, back in my hometown,njo. - and we should tell people that before, even though music was in your blood and really part of your whole life, you had another dream. you wanted to... - i wanted to be in the air force since i was five years old. that was my whole... gosh, long as i can remember. airplanes and air force. that was it. and, um, i figured that's where i was going to be. i started working at that career probably from age 12, because i had joined air cadets when i was about 12. worked really hard in air cadets, and then my dad said, "well, if you want this kind of career, you really have to be good in math", so i really pushed hard in math and physics and science, and then at the age of 14, i got type 1 diabetes,

and that shot me down--no pun intended. - you knew the rule already? - no, i didn't. no. it was christmas time, and i went through all the typical symptoms. you know, you're drinking lots of water, peeing lots, just the whole thing. moody. dad knew, because he was the chief tech of the lab. he'd been in medicine his whole life, so he knew right away what it was, and took me in, got me checked out. sure enough... i believe i actually went in to the hospital on boxing day. he tried... he waited to get through christmas, because he knew they were going to put me in the hospital for at least a week. and, uh, so i had no trouble with that. my grandmother was a diabetic, took needles, so i'd been around it, and i just said, "this is great. get me out of the hospital. get me fixed up, get me out of the hospital. i've got to get back to my career", which is honestly what i thought. and i went back to air cadets, and the co pulled me into his office and he said, "i don't know if you know this, but you won't be in the military, and you'll never fly airplanes".

and i made the decision to not continue in air cadets at that time, because that's why i was there. - you didn't want to be a mechanic or... i mean, they need them, but the dream was to fly. - no, i would have taken anything, but i was told you can't do anything in the military. you're not fit, you're not healthy enough to be in, so... - but did you ever become on your own a pilot? - well, yeah. that's the long journey. - oh, you do fly. - yeah. i never gave up on it, and i tell this to lots of kids we work with--type 1 diabetic kids--that the biggest thing, the most important thing, is to control your disease so you can live your dreams like i am. i mean, i never gave up on that dream, and that's been a looong time ago. a long time. - so you went to flying school? - uh, yeah. well, sort of. privately, you know, i went to flight school, and worked at it. and of course i'm tested stringently and i have a lot of rules that i have to abide by, but they're all for my safety and everyone else's safety,

so it works out good. - have the rules become a little bit looser, or is it simply that it's only the military and the commercial companies that bar that? - um, i don't know if the rules have become... more lenient. i think what's happened is the way we control type 1 diabetes, because of technology, has just gone through the roof, so the type 1 diabetic of today, compared to, say, my grandmother, is completely different. i'm on an insulin pump--an animus insulin pump. it keeps me on insulin all the time. every hour of the day, i'm on insulin, little, little bits. like you, like your pancreas would give you. my pump gives it to me. - but you're pointing to your... - yeah, because my pump is on my side the whole time. - oh, i see. - i don't know if you guys can get it or not, but you can see it. i feel like vanna white. [bob laughs] - and there's a needle. it looks like a cell phone. - it does. you wouldn't believe it. you go through security in airports. "sir, take off your cell phone". i said, "i'd love

to, trust me". - and somehow it pumps... how is it connected? - well, it comes into me here in what they would call a "site". and, i change that out every three days. i've put... what did we count the other day? over six hundred of them in. you just snap it in every three days, and i've yet to feel one. and i can't tell you the number of times i've put an insulin needle in my leg, and it'd just burn, you know, like i'd get stung by a bee. - mm-hmm. i can imagine. - so everything about the pump-- everything--is just such a blessing, and that of course gives me tighter sugar control the entire day, 24 hours a day, even at night when i'm sleeping, and that's part of the reason-- - it grades your blood sort of. - no, this just gives me insulin. i have another tool that does that. that's not hooked up to me right now. it's called a dexcom, and it's constant glucose monitoring. - so you are free of... we hear sometimes about people falling

into a coma. you would be forewarned. that would never happen with these tools. - with the dexcom i'd be forewarned, yeah. and, um, good lord willing, that never happens. i've been very blessed as a diabetic to feel my reactions coming on. a lot of us are. - and this is the type--i know there's type 1, type 2--this is the kind that little kids also get sometimes. - this is normally the kind. type 1 diabetes, or juvenile onset, really in the past has been more symptomatic of, say, young children or preteens coming into teenage years. now, over the last few years, it's actually increased in 30-year- olds, which... i'm not... - is it lifestyle? do they know? - no, it's not lifestyle. type 1 diabetes, there's really one of two ways: you are inherently getting it genetically, so it's inherited from, say, to every second generation is what they were saying; or, there's this unknown viral issue that goes

on, and the virus comes in, kills the beta cells in the pancreas, which would of course make your insulin. i'm speaking in general terms right now. - yeah, of course. i was just wondering, because-- - and, yeah, that's it. - and what strikes me, too, is, i'm sure you were discouraged about the ban by the military... - i was very discouraged. - but you say, though, that if it hadn't been for that, the diabetes itself didn't scare you. - no, the diabetes didn't scare me at all, no. - so you had good spirit. some kids might be crushed. - well, a lot of times what ends up happening and still happens today quite a bit is, um, a child gets diagnosed, the parents panic--that's the norm, i mean, same as i would panic if my children were sick--and then, immediately you treat the disease, so you immediately go and treat the physical symptom, or symptoms, of diabetes. but what ends up happening is the psychological symptom or side of it gets forgotten. and for a

child that's probably 80% of the game, because once this goes down, it doesn't matter what happens here. this is going to control it, and if they're little, as a parent you can make them do things, but as they become teenagers, then you're... you're fighting the uphill battle, and, um... - so the thing is to reassure the child. - well, there's actually a whole thing that i talk about with parents especially about the psychological side effects of the disease, getting help-- and it's not like... your child is not crazy. you're not getting help for that reason. you're getting preventative help so that they talk through their issues. type 1 diabetes is controlled in an amazing way, but it's not perfect, and i tell the kids, there are lots of days when i wake up and my sugars are really high, and i'm going, "why?" well, we don't know why. there's so many hormones inside the body, you don't know what's going on all the time. all you can do is pick yourself up, control your disease, live your dreams, and that's sort of the

whole thing with parents in telling them that getting the child to have that circle of professionals around them that are always helping out with different issues that might come up, and as they become teenagers, or if they're already teenagers, especially then, psychologically, you need to be there. they need to have that structure, and they also need to take responsibility and ownership of their disease. and i've watched this happen and it's a beautiful thing. we had twin girls--11-year-old girls--and the mother was distraught, and she said, you know, "they're forgetting to take their insulin, and they're..." of course, their sugars are going really high, and when our sugars are high we're doing damage to the organs. - it's dangerous, yeah. - and so i talked to them, and the one little girl said, "aw, i forget". and i looked at her and i said, "no, you don't". and she started smiling. she said, "okay, you're right, i don't. i just... why bother? why bother doing this? i can't... i want to be a teacher, and they're telling me i'm not going

to be--" i don't know who was telling her this. but the whole principle was an 11-year-old is saying, "why bother?" now, when that 11-year-old becomes 13, 14, 15, and there's peer pressure like crazy, what's going to happen then? you really have a time bomb. and so i talked to the parents and talked to the kids, and explained to them-- to the parents: this is a goal- orientated controlled disease. i kind of coined that term a couple of years ago. if you give a child a goal to work towards, inevitably, in a roundabout way, they'll control their disease. so if you give them something simple: "you know what, if your a1c when your birthday rolls around is six or under, you're going to get an extra special trip, or an extra special..." something as simple as that. it takes the onus off of the disease and puts it on a goal. once the child sees that they can control their disease, something... magical happens, if you will, and they see, "wow, i can do this". and then they get pride, and once they're

in a prideful way of controlling their disease, you've got them. and i've watched it happen. - you're very good with children, and--i don't know if all the viewers know this--you spend time with the sufferers of diabetes, but also with children with other deficiencies. i watched you do a concert recently with some kids, and one of them came up to the mic and sang with you, and it was obviously unrehearsed, and everything had worked very well. you did "folsom prison" with him. you spend a lot of time with kids. where does that come from? - um, i just love kids. i mean, you know, i guess i'm still a big kid, let's be honest. i'm 12 years old in my mind, and i always will be. i think... i think if more adults took the time to pay attention to children, they'd learn way more and they'd enjoy life way more. and all those things that we as adults--and i use that word loosely because i'm still 12 years old--all

those things we get caught up on, and almost get in our own way sometimes. we cant... you know, it's like seeing the forest for the trees. and i think being around children, and handicapped children as well-- like where we've been and what we've been doing--it's unbelievably fulfilling for me. i've got to be honest. it's a selfish act, because it just makes me feel so great. and money doesn't do that. - no, no. and you left them really happy, i mean it changed their-- - and so there you go. there's the legacy i want to leave behind when i'm done here. lord willing i've got some time, but you know what i'm saying. i don't want someone to say, "wow, george canyon had a million dollars in his bank account". so what? - richest guy in the cemetery. - exactly. yeah. boy, that's a big gravestone. whoop-dee-doo. - so, you've paid more dues even than we though when we started this. you did all those jobs, but you beat the disease in a

way, at a young age, but you gave up on that air force dream, so where does the music come in? - the music's always been there. i've been very blessed to have that since i was a little kid-- four years old, i had my first acoustic guitar. it's, uh... i don't know. it's kind of something everybody did in nova scotia. everyone that was around me played music in church, played music at home--my mom, my granddad, my dad, my uncles. i mean it was just kind of something you did, and no one around me, though, made it a career. so, as a child, you know, you're a sponge, and so i never though of music as a career until i finished my pre- med in university--st. francis xavier in antigonish is where i attended. - yeah, yeah. famous place. - yeah, wonderful, wonderful school. i finished there. i went on my way to dalhousie medical school, and had an opportunity to audition with a band. i didn't think anything of it. just auditioned, and the next

thing i know, we're on the road, and the next thing i know--i'll never forget--i call my dad, saying, "dad, uh, i think i'm going to take a year off before i go to med school", and, well... - he was not happy. - oh, uh, well, he supported me in everything i did, but he was kind of like "um... okay... let's just, uh... okay... let's see how the summer goes", he said. - and how quickly did it start to work for you? - oh, it didn't. - it didn't? - years. it didn't at all. - years of doing bars. the waylon jennings, woody nelson thing. - oh, gosh. we played in places with chicken wire up. you know, where there's chicken wire up? - mm-hmm. - i'll never forget the first time i played in a bar with chicken wire. - to dodge the bottles. and the beer bottles, and-- - oh, yeah. the bottles come, and... you know, it was funny. it wasn't in anger. it was more of this traditional thing that happened. it was quite humorous. but yeah, the bottles came... - it's like that "sudbury saturday night", that famous song by tom connors. - "stompin' tom." - yeah.

and so you stuck with it. your father had said, "let's see how the summer goes". so your determination grew. - it did, because... ...well, you know, you kind of look at it and go, "i want to be a rock star". it's kind of like this inherent dream of every musician. there's always something--even if it's classical music--there's always that "wow, if i could only do this" kind of thing. um... and we hung on to that, and that really fuelled the fire. and there was a part of me--a big part of me--that knew it was the right choice, even though i tried to quit the music business three times. - hmm. you make it sound like a drug. - well, um... - in a way it is. - in a way. - it's a good drug. - it is. it's a great... it's something i would do no matter if i was paid to do it or not, you know. and i thank god for his patience because, uh... - and you can tell that... you have a record that is fantastic that i've listened to many times: classics. - oh, the classics record. - and you have johnny horton,

but i love your taste. just the choice of them--johnny horton, uh... - yeah, i grew up on that stuff. - yeah, so obviously that's it. you loved all these guys. - the country side, yeah. but i was very blessed to grow up in nova scotia, because i grew up on folk, and celtic, and rock, so music to me what never about genres. i didn't understand that until later in my teens. i just listened to music. if the song was a great song, i didn't care who it was, you know? it could have been the police, it could have been randy travis, it could have been elvis presley. it didn't matter. - and we've all seen coal miner's daughter. so did you have a moment at the opry? how did... when did it blow wide open? when did it start to work? - i think nashville star, a tv show i was on, that really kind of popped for me. i got to go into the homes of all the people that were watching the show, really, at suppertime. that's when the show was on. and that really was when it really kind of took off. up to that point... up to that point, i remember,

we had moved back to nova scotia from alberta, and it was kind of a... there was a moment--my dad had passed away fighting cancer for five years--and i just went, "you know what? i'm just going to be grateful for what i'm being given", instead of always trying to... you know, "i wish i had that record deal"... and when i did that, that's when nashville star happened, and then... then, oh, many, many defining moments from there. - and it must have been like flying your own airplane. it must have been a great feeling. - it was. it was. the first time i played the grand ole opry was one of the coolest things ever. but the first time i flew my own airplane? [bob chuckles] that was a... - that too. - well, it was a much deeper- seated... baked... you know... - yeah, because you'd wanted that a long time. - a long time. - and you don't strike me as somebody--but i could be wrong-- who would have lots of butterflies back stage, or maybe you do? - always. - you do, eh? - always. every time. it doesn't matter if it's five people,

ten people, 10,000, 120,000, it doesn't matter. - so, sort of that fear of failure. you want to-- - it's not a fear. it's excitement. - oh. - it's butterflies. it's the nervous tension that usually every performer i know, and no matter what they do, gets that. it's that excitement... then there's always that, "what if you screw up?" but you try not to think about that. - has that ever happened? - oh, many times. - yeah? due to what? - oh, you know, it could be anything. once it happened, my sugar dropped, so that was a little more serious of a case where i actually left stage, got some orange juice, got back on the stage, and said, "hey, guys, sorry. i'm a type 1 diabetic. sometimes this happens". and the crowd were like... it was almost like it was rehearsed. i think it got me more miles than ever. - well, that you would say it is good. - yeah, but i'm very, very publicly open about being a type 1 diabetic and working with children, and that's, uh...

there was no one when i was 14 that did it, and i had nobody to look towards, so i make certain--i might not be the best example--but i make certain that these type 1 diabetics see that i am, and openly speak about it. - and that record i mentioned starts with "ring of fire". and the concert i saw with the kids yesterday started with "ring of fire", and i read an article about you that said you started your concert that day with "ring of fire". is that your lucky song, or...? - no, uh, but it's johnny cash. i mean, god rest his s one of the greatest, in my opinion. we don't start the show with "ring of fire" any more. - oh. - but it's definitely in the show. it will always be in the show. i feel very blessed that i was able to record that song and make it a sort of a piece of my own, but not really--it's always a johnny cash song. - and when you look to the future, do you want to change what you're doing? add to it? do more of it? - yeah, the future... i kind of

stopped doing that, um, in two- thousand and... well, right before nashville star happened. when i kind of made that decision to be grateful for every day, i stopped doing that. i stopped trying to plan my life. and i've kind of stuck to my guns on that, although i've been pulled and tempted to... "well, we have to look at a five year plan. we have to--" you know, it's business, right? i mean, this is the music business. and i still won't, because i don't want to miss the present day, you know, for trying to plan the future. i want to enjoy everything i get today, and if i wake up and i have tomorrow, then i'm going to enjoy everything that happens tomorrow, be it good, be it bad. - and you've acted. i've read that too. did you like that? - i love it. we have a film and tv agent out of vancouver, and, uh, it's a lot of fun. you know, i'm terrible at it, bob. it's not good, but-- - well, that's not what they say in the articles. - well, you know, they're...

they're very kind to me. maybe they're sympathetic. - and are you tired of the road? because that's one thing you hear from every musician. they love the road at first, but at some point it's too much. - well, let's define the word "the road" first, because the road doesn't just apply to musicians. it applies to you. - yeah, that's true. - it applies to everybody that has to travel within their career choice, and the road, for me, really is about being away from my family, and i don't like that, because they're the most important thing to me. so i don't like going on the road. i never have. i never will. i love going to play shows for fans and playing music, so you... it's like anything. like athletes. they might want to have cheesecake every night, but you can't do that, because you're a hockey player with the nhl. so you make these exceptions and you give up certain, you know, things and privileges that you might not normally give up, and so i have

to put up with being away from my family to play music for my fans. either that or we have to invite everybody to the ranch and then we have them all stay in tents, you know. - and have different groups every night. fly them in from everywhere. - i think they do that in branson, don't they? isn't that the idea? yeah. so, that's "the road", describing what the road is. yeah, of course i'm tired of that. - and it's probably, though, more fun than just a recording studio. if you stopped playing for a real audience, wouldn't you be losing something? - very much so, yeah. there's an element to playing a live show that... music is an incredible tool on so many different planes, and, you know, it's the one thing that can connect everybody in this entire planet: music. look to any cultures. look to tribes that have never seen electricity or anything, you know, all the aura in different areas of the world. they'll all have music somewhere. somewhere within them. and so when you play music

live, there's a certain spiritual thing that happens, and, you know, choice of better words, that's really what goes on. in a studio, the trick is to make the same thing happen and capture it. - mm-hmm. yeah, that's not easy. - there's the trick. and i love being in the studio. i have my own studio--i'm very blessed--in alberta. but i just love making music that way, because, you know, you can have a coffee, you can sit back in your pyjamas, you can... - and listen to your track also now with multi-tracking and everything else. - oh, it's... i've been an engineer for 18 years, and i've got to tell you, i'm so shocked of how it's developed, and how it keeps developing, and where we're headed. - and, all in all, you're happy? very happy? extremely happy? - i'm extremely happy, of course. - you notice i didn't put any negative options in there. - there wouldn't be anyway. how could there be, you know? someone asked me the other day-- or, they said, "oh, back to work?" they said. i said, "work? i guess".

you know, after doing all the jobs that you're aware that i... my wife actually worked three at one time, though, so she gets kudos. - she was supporting you. - she worked three jobs at the same time. she really has been the hero in all of it. i have it easy. - well, you're the hero in your own movie, and it's a great story, and, george, long life and good luck. - well, thank you, bob. appreciate it. - george canyon in the performers series of the world show was our guest, and that's our program for this week. i'm bob scully. have a great week. thanks. closed captioning by sette inc.