Tuesday, November 07, 2006

We're in the Same Boat Now


Back in the oh-so-distant nineties (that's 1990s, not 1890s, I'm not that old!) I interviewed a young gentleman named Mark Jeftovic to do some programming for my courier company. He had wild hair, wore skin-tight black jeans, mismatched high-tops, and was unlike anyone else I might have considered for the job. I liked him immediately. I believe I told him that I had a soft spot for misfits. I didn't mean that in a bad way. I like people who aren't afraid to be themselves. He wasn't. He got the job. His account of the day is here.

Mark did the programming job I hired him for, and sometimes he and I would sit in the computer room and talk. We discussed politics, philosophy, business, just about anything. He was in his mid-twenties at the time, and I was at least 20 years older. I liked to discuss things with Mark because he was like a blotter. He soaked up everything. He asked questions, made observations, digested everything, and always had refreshing and sometimes unique viewpoints.

One day, Mark asked if he could borrow some money for a musical project. He played in a band called Landslide and he wanted to finance cutting a demo tape of a song called "Same Boat Now" penned by then-Premier of Ontario Bob Rae. The song was a bubbly, feel-good, let's love everybody ditty, and Mark thought that having his rather raucous band do a rock cover of the song might be both amusing and a way to generate some publicity. The idea of poking some fun at socialist Bob Rae was irresistible to me, so I agreed. If you are interested in seeing a video of the song as performed by Landslide, go here: Same Boat Now. You'll enjoy it. If that linked page doesn't work in your browser, try this direct link to the video.

Mark went on to found EasyDNS, headquartered in Toronto, and has become a successful businessman. He is someone I admire, and he deserves his success. You are not likely to see Mark with mismatched high-tops any more, but he is still one of a kind, and I am proud to call him friend.

Here are another couple of fun Mark Jeftovic links: What Ever Happened To . . . and Parkdale Hookers.

3 comments:

  1. Interesting post and links. I couldn't dl the video for some reason, but still enjoyed what you and Mark had to say.

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  2. Too bad about the video, Penny. If you are using any browser other than Microsoft IE, there may be a plugin missing. The actual video is in .mov format and it is a hoot. I loved the band Landslide and their spoof of Same Boat Now is great.

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  3. Penny: Try this link for the video:

    http://www.landslide.ca/Landslide_Bob_Rae_Same_Boat_Now.mov

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