Pam and Stephanie's Doodlebop Adventure
As told by Pam Pierce

In November 2005 The Doodlebops appeared in Toronto and Ottawa for a promotional tour. Pam and Stephanie traveled to Canada to see The Doodlebops in person. Here is Pam's story.

(Click any image for a larger view)

Wednesday, November 9 - Shuffle off to Buffalo

Nervous and excited, I awoke before my 4:30 alarm. Sleep deprived, I was running on caffeine and adrenaline. Quickly, I got ready and my husband drove me the 10 minutes it takes to arrive at the small Laramie airport. As I waited for my flight, I called Stephanie. She was still packing having a later flight. My flights were uneventful and I arrived in Buffalo at 3:45 pm. Then I waited and waited. Steph's flight from NYC was delayed and she arrived two and a half hours late. I looked up at the group coming into the baggage claim area and we immediately recognized one another. By then it was dark, so we picked up our rental car and took off. Somehow we missed our exit towards Toronto and I believe we ended up in Brantford many miles out of the way. After stopping at a convenience store to buy a map and get directions from some friendly Canadians, we doubled back. Finally arriving at our hotel at 9 pm, we had a light dinner and settled down for the night.


Thursday, November 10 - What did you see today?

I woke up at dawn with a headache and couldn't go back to sleep. After a few cups of coffee and an Ibuprofen, I was feeling better. As we got ready, Steph turned on CBC. I commented wouldn't it be great if they showed 'Junk Funk', the only Doodlebop episode unseen in the US. The Doodlebops started and it WAS 'Junk Funk'-was this some kind of sign? We got to Square One Shopping Centre at about 10:45 am and soon hooked up with Amber. She had a surprise. We were going to get a five-minute interview with the Doodlebops. Amber had gotten a hold of their publicist and arranged it. The next two hours crawled by as I tried to compose interview questions unsure of what we could ask. At 1:30 the publicist arrives and we find out we can only ask questions that pertain to the Doodlebops in character. I scramble to rewrite questions. The show is to start in 10 minutes when we walk into a large, bare room with the three Doodlebops standing near the back. It was certainly a surreal moment. We walked up to them, shook hands and introduced ourselves. Did they know who was coming through the door to interview them? I am unsure, but they seemed to know who we were and acted delighted to see us. The interview was over quickly. Steph gave each of them a sticker of their character that we had made. We were hustled out of the room in a daze. I went out to the stage area to see the show.

The crowd was immense by then, around 1000 people had gathered to see the show. I milled around the perimeter trying to get pictures over the crowd, but finally realized it would be better to photograph the second show. I watched the show and at some point my daughter called my cell phone and I let her listen for a while. When the show ended I returned to the back hall. The Doodlebops again went into the back room and disappeared. They returned after a brief time to do a meet and greet with the children. Rooney was on the left side of the stage, Deedee to the right and Moe went out into the crowd. I took some pictures of Rooney and Deedee then wandered over to Moe. I was standing several feet behind him waiting for him to turn around so I could get pictures when he bent over at the waist leaving me with a perfect view of what many consider his finest asset. I had one of those moments recreated in movies by showing an angel and a devil on opposite shoulders indicating ones conscience telling them what to do. I thought, wow this the picture everyone wants, but in the end good sense won out and I didn't take any intentional pictures of Moe's rear-end. We went outside for some fresh air and then came back in and sat on the tile floor for two hours, staking out our position for the second show. Steph handed out Doodlebop stickers. Two large plasma TVs showed Doodlebop videos and an awesome new 'Get on the Bus' segment.

By the time the show began, once again over 1000 people had come to see the Doodlebops. Finally Patty, a host for the Kids CBC came out on the stage and told the kids what you do at a rock concert. She got the crowd chanting 'Doodlebops' and after a moment Moe appeared on the stage. He jumped into the crowd giving the children high-fives then ducked down on the floor next to Stephanie. I thought Steph was going to die right there. Rooney and Deedee came out and did the 'Where's Moe?' routine, while the children in the audience excitedly tried to tell them where he was. Moe returned to the stage and as on the show they introduced themselves and then did the Doodlebop pledge. The Doodlebops told the audience what an exciting year they had with the start of their show on CBC and the release of their CD and DVDs. The Doodlebops asked the kids if they wanted to hear a song and then launched into 'Together Forever'. They then announced their upcoming concert tour and sang, 'Would You Help Me Write a Letter' while passing out postcards to the audience. Deedee said 'Hi Morgan' to Amber's daughter as she gave her a card. Moe then did an amazing breakdance. They asked the crowd what their favorite song was and came up with Wobbly Whoopsy as their next number. All the kids were asked to stand up and dance along. I had set my video camera up on a tripod to try to get a less shaky tape of the performance and not wanting to block the kids view I had the height set just over their heads but I soon found myself shooting between the bouncing children. Moe again did some breakdancing. Moe's breakdancing has always been great but I think overall his dancing has become much more self-assured and confident than it was last season.

The Doodlebops then said good-bye and left the stage and Patty immediately came on to explain about encores. Steph headed for the back to catch them as they were leaving. To the chant of 'Doodlebops' they again took the stage. Moe came out flipping across the stage. Rooney had a CD in his hand as he came out which he placed on the drum set at the back of the stage. (This of course was the autographed CD he later gave to Stephanie.) The Doodlebops then performed 'We're the Doodlebops' and again left the stage. I was back in the hall when they came out to do the meet and greet following the second performance. First Deedee came out. Moe was next, he greeted and hugged some kids that had assembled in the hall. As he walked by me videotaping him, he waved and pointed at the camera in true Moe style. This time Deedee and Moe stayed at the edge of the stage and Rooney went out into the crowd. They posed with the children for pictures and gave out hugs. It was really cute watching them with the kids. Finally their handlers came to say that the Doodlebops limo was here and hustled them away. We went back for their last exit. Rooney gave me a DVD he had signed and I gave him a hug. He is as sweet and thoughtful as he appears on TV. The Doodlebops were hanging around in the hall and Moe had a small hand-held fan he was using on his face. Steph asked him if he was hot and he replied slyly, ' Yeah, always'. I asked Moe if I could have a hug and he sweetly complied. Steph and the Doodlebops had a group picture at Deedee's urging then they went through the door and were gone. We said our good-byes to Amber who had made the best part of this day possible and headed to the hotel.

Friday, November 11- The Bad Day

From the time I awoke this day did not seem quite right. We left at about noon ate lunch and headed for Toronto. Coming from a state with a half-million people, it was overwhelming driving into a city of over 2 million. The traffic was terrible Steph was trying to give me directions and in a moment of distraction I hit another car. I had one of those irrational thoughts one has when stressed, ' I hope he doesn't work for the Doodle bops'. We sat in the intersection waiting for the police. Finally the reports were done and we went on with a dented bumper. We drove around and finally ended up at the CBC studio where the Doodlebops are currently filmed. We walked around inside seeing the large area where the Kid Summer performance was held. We went into a little museum about CBC children's programming of the past and in a guest book where people could note their childhood memories of these shows, Steph wrote, ' I <3 the Doodlebops'. We went down and sat in the food court and wondered if the Doodlebops ever ate there. Finally we drove back to Mississauga in rush hour traffic. After we got back to the hotel and unwound a bit, Steph remembered that John Catucci's comedy duo, the Doo Wops was going to be on a comedy show on CBC. What we watched was quite a departure from Bus Driver Bob. They did two songs, one about dissing your ex-girlfriend and the other about 'bad' hairstyles. They were very funny but off-color. We were surprised to find out that the Bus Driver Bob voice isn't John's normal voice.

Saturday, November 12 - All Together Now

We headed out to the Walmart by Square One Shopping Centre where the Doodlbops were having an autograph signing. When we arrived at about 10 am the Doodlebop's crew was there but nothing had been set up. Wendy came on board and got the set up rolling. Steph and I hung around and talked to another family who had come to the autograph signing. James, the Doodlebops' publicist arrived and came over and said hello to me. The Doodlebops arrived at about 1 pm and took their position at the table and started signing autographs. I took some pictures then just enjoyed watching them interact with the kids. One little girl was excitedly jumping up and down in front of the table and you could see the enjoyment the doodles felt having such an enthusiastic little fan. At one point we were standing near the signing area and someone said 'Are you Stephanie from the site?' It was the father of a family who had driven up from Ohio to see the Doodles because their daughters were fans. We talked with them and they told us that their older daughter loved the fan site and was on it all the time. They wanted our autographs- what a big laugh. We found out they were also going to Ottawa and we planned to hook up with them later. As we were talking to the family, Kelly, from marketing came over to talk with us. She said she liked the fan site and we talked about coming up again to cover more Doodlebop events for the site. As the line came to an end Steph and I got ready to get our stuff signed. I mentioned to the Doodles that we were in an accident yesterday. Moe seemed especially concerned and had a very cute worried look. They exited and got in their limo. I lost sight of Stephanie and thought she had gone back inside so I went in to look for her. Stephanie however was still outside and as the limo pulled away Rooney and Deedee stuck their heads out the window and waved. Rooney said, 'We'll see you tomorrow' and Deedee called out, 'Don't crash'. We headed to Ottawa and met up with the family from Ohio who had called and booked a room at the hotel we were staying at. We spent some time in their room talking and looking at pictures from the trip.

Sunday, November 13 - Doodlebop Photo-Op

The next morning we got up and followed the Ohio family over to the Bayshore Mall where the Doodlebops were scheduled to be the grand marshals in the Christmas parade. Up at the 3rd floor food court we ate breakfast. We stationed ourselves at the place the parade was to begin and soon the Doodlebops came out in the lead to a very enthusiastic crowd. The procession started on the third floor, circling the entire floor then heading down to the next floor. The Doodlebops paused frequently to greet children or pose with them for pictures. They seemed happy and excited to see so many young fans. Steph and I kept moving ahead of the parade to get pictures and video of the Doodlebops. At one point I was standing by a display table in front of a shoe store when Deedee stopped and picked up a pink furry boot. She showed it to Moe and commented how much she liked the boots. Deedee was so animated and funny. As the parade headed for the first floor, we headed over to the stage to see the show. The stage set up was greatly pared down from the Thursday shows. The Doodlebops took the stage and greeted the crowd. Moe's microphone didn't work. They talked about the CD and DVDs and told the crowd they would be coming back to Ottawa on their concert tour. The Doodles asked the kids if they wanted to hear a song. During 'Will you help me write a letter?' they handed out post cards to the children. They then did 'Wobbly Whoopsy' during which Moe did a breakdance. We were disappointed that they only performed two songs. The Doodlebops then said good-bye to the crowd and left the stage. Steph and I were hoping they would come back out so we could say good-bye, but they were gone and we headed down to Buffalo.

Monday, November 14- The Move Groove

We awoke at 4 am and got ready to go. We dropped off the rental car and went into the terminal to discover the security line snaking back past the check-in area. We checked our bags and got in line. While waiting to get through security we talked and planned our next adventure to see the Doodlebops. We managed to make it through in time to catch our flights. We hugged and said good-bye and headed for home.

Closing thoughts-

I am a rather cynical person, so I find it rather ironic that I have become so enamored with the Doodlebops. George Carlin said that a cynic is just a disillusioned idealist and I believe that is true. Maybe in the Doodlebops I have seen something good and pure and sweet, something that is lacking from so much of our harsh reality. At present, the Doodlebops see unaffected by their growing stardom, but fame has a funny way of changing ones perception. So I wonder, as the Doodlebops become more renown will they remember the small group of fans who from the beginning banded together to support something they saw was wonderful? So please stay mindful dear Doodlebops and take care.

Pam Pierce
December, 2005

Pam is a regular contributor to our Disney and Doodlebop forums at www.mb.disneymouselinks.com. She appears under the name: BirdIsTheWord.
Pam also runs her own Doodlebop Fan Site: AllTogetherNow