Binford's Blogspot

2005-04-29T14:17:00.000-05:00

Thank goodness indeed!

The Noodle Soup

2005-01-13T08:20:00.000-05:00

My calls for contributors to a communal blog did not go unheeded as Kelly and Carley's cousin Kaylyn has shown some interest. Kelly actually had the same idea I had so we put our two "Noodles" together and created a new blog called Noodle Soup. That's probably where I'll be doing my postings from now on. Kelly will be posting there as well but I'm not sure if he'll be abandoning Traces of Nuts (FYI, he has several GMail invites to give away). I'll be sending Kaylyn an invite today to get her to start posting.

I hope you guys will join us at the Noodle Soup. E-mail me if you are interested.

Contribute To This Blog

2005-01-11T21:43:00.000-05:00

I want to get some input on the idea of having you guys, my faithful friends, contribute to this blog. I had this idea for a couple of days now because for the most part, I am like you. I have a blog or have started a blog (I know, some of you have abandoned your own blogs some time ago) but don't seem to have enough creativity to post something on a regular basis. Which kinda defeats the whole point of a blog, which is to make regular postings. So I figure that collectively, we could have a pretty active blog as I'm sure some of us lead interesting lives and would like to share it with other people. But of course it doesn't even have to be something personal. You can post things like stories or cool links (to porn...ok maybe not porn but something of interest). Whatever you want.

Let me know if you are interested and I'll get the ball rolling on setting you up with an account. Email me at binfordha@gmail.com. I hope you can participate. It would be cool. You too Kellford. Eventhough you have a superb blog already.

Ouch!

2005-01-11T19:02:00.000-05:00

This is almost too painful to post:

A 24-year-old woman has admitted tearing off her ex-lover's testicle with her bare hands after he refused to have sex with her.

Amanda Monti, 24, flew into a rage after her ex-boyfriend, 37-year-old Geoffrey Jones, rejected her advances at the end of a drunken house party.

She yanked off his left testicle, which was later handed to him by a friend with the words: "That's yours."

Full Story

The Weight Loss Challenge

2005-01-11T15:20:00.000-05:00

Apparently, other people's New Year's resolution to lose weight has somehow sparked a contest of 'Super Size Me' proportions. A friendly wager to see who could lose the most weight in 10 weeks. It seems Carley and Amie decided that certain remnants from their pregnancy had to go so they have issued a weight loss challenge throughout the Charlebois households. The weigh-in was this past Sunday and included Carley, Amie, Lee, Mom and Pop-inlaw and myself. The challenge is to see who could lose the most weight in ten weeks, with the prize being the accumulated financial penalty of each week's failure to lose weight. You see, each week there will be a weigh-in in which any person who have not lost any weight or have gained weight, will have to pony up $1.00 into the prize fund. Those that have lost weight do not have to pay this penalty.

I'm not insecure about my weight so I will tell you that at this moment, I am at a buff 217 lbs. Actually it's probably up to 218 lbs with me having just ate lunch about an hour and a half ago. So stay tuned for weekly updates. GO BINFORD!

2005-01-11T10:25:00.000-05:00

An indoor tropical paradise. Too bad we don't have one here in Canada.

AntiSpyware

2005-01-07T13:20:00.000-05:00

Microsoft enters the spyware removal fray with their own tool. You can download it here. Another good and popular spyware removal software is Spybot - Search and Destroy. You can download that here.

And for those with Windows XP, Sarah Lane of TechTV points her readers to a great Windows XP theme, taken from the Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 OS. I'm currently using this theme and it's pretty.

Ottawa Radio War

2005-01-07T13:08:00.000-05:00

An interesting look at where the various Ottawa radio stations rank among listeners:

CHUM radio station MAJIC100 locked up the top radio position while all-sports Team 1200's ratings were down 45% due to the NHL lockout, according to yesterday's BBM Canada fall 2004 ratings. The perennial adult contemporary giant, MAJIC100 narrowly beat out CBC radio affiliate CBO-FM with 274,994 listeners, compared to CBC's 272,010.

Full Story

Seems like there is an older radio listening audience in Ottawa as Majic100 and the CBC station are at the top of the ratings list. Not surprising that the Bear is number three and the oldies station (Ottawa has an oldies station?) is at the bottom. Too bad for The Team 1200 and their poor showing, but what can you do when most of their schedule and talk surrounds the NHL.

In Response To Stupid Lawsuits

2005-01-06T09:56:00.000-05:00

I'm loving this idea:

The sign on the toilet brush says it best: "Do not use for personal hygiene."

That admonition was the winner of an anti-lawsuit group's contest for the wackiest consumer warning label of the year.

The sponsor, Michigan Lawsuit Abuse Watch, says the goal is "to reveal how lawsuits, and concern about lawsuits, have created a need for common sense warnings on products."

The $500 first prize went to Ed Gyetvai, of Oldcastle, Ontario, who submitted the toilet-brush label. A $250 second prize went to Matt Johnson, of Naperville, Ill., for a label on a children's scooter that said, "This product moves when used."

A $100 third prize went to Ann Marie Taylor, of Camden, S.C., who submitted a warning from a digital thermometer that said, "Once used rectally, the thermometer should not be used orally."

Full Story

The Reality of Bad Drivers

2005-01-06T09:44:00.000-05:00

Not a bad idea for a reality show:

There are some bad drivers in Canada.

But who is the very worst?

A new reality show aims to find out.

An eight part series called "Canada's Worst Driver" is shooting across the country looking for the best... of the worst.

Contestants compete in a series of challenges including parallel parking. Every week, the person who does the best job gets to leave the show -- everyone else will have to keep practicing until they get it right.

A panel of experts including driving instructors and traffic cops will help bad drivers become better.

There's no big prize for being on the show - the goal is simply to change bad habits and shed some light on the dangers of getting behind the wheel.

In Alberta alone, four-hundred people die in vehicle related crashes.

"Canada's Worst Driver" will air on the Discovery Channel in the fall.

Anyone who wants to nominate someone for the show can call 1-877-598-9120 or send an email to driver@propertelevision.com.

Why are they talking about Alberta? Are they excluding Quebec drivers from this show?

Bad Manager

2005-01-06T09:34:00.000-05:00

I cannot disagree with this assessment, considering the state of the NHL:

As if the National Hockey League didn't have enough to worry about, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman has been rated one of the worst managers in the United States by a major business magazine.

In its recent issue, BusinessWeek put Mr. Bettman fifth on its list of the seven worst managers of 2004. He joined the leaders of some of the business world's most troubled companies in the magazine's annual rankings. Also included were Raymond Gilmartin, chief executive officer of Merck & Co., the makers of Vioxx; Scott Livengood, the CEO of Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, which faces a regulatory probe into its accounting practices; and Disney chief Michael Eisner, who was forced to step down as company chairman amid a shareholder revolt. Frank Dunn, former chief executive of Nortel Networks Corp., ranked third on a separate list of "fallen managers."

The magazine said Mr. Bettman was selected because: "Arenas have been empty since Sept. 15, when National Hockey League owners locked out the players."

"NHL finances are in shambles, and the weak TV deal signed with NBC last spring suggests the league has little leverage and is now a second-tier sport. . . . Under Bettman, the NHL has been skating on thin ice for years."

The ranking brought a sharp rebuttal from Calgary Flames co-owner Harley Hotchkiss, who is also chairman of the NHL's board of governors.

Full Story

Although you have to cut him some slack as he is not the sole person to blame for the plight of the league.

Ridiculous Lawsuit of the Day

2005-01-06T09:25:00.000-05:00

The media should stop giving these people coverage everytime they want to sue for some stupid reason:

Watching contestants eat dead rats on NBC's gross-out stunt show "Fear Factor" so disgusted a Cleveland man that he has sued NBC for $2.5 million, saying he could not stomach what he saw.

In a handwritten four-page lawsuit filed in federal court in Cleveland on Tuesday, paralegal Austin Aitken said, "To have the individuals on the show eat (yes) and drink dead rats was crazy and from a viewer's point of view made me throw-up as well an another in the house at the same time."

His suit added, "NBC is sending the wrong message to its TV watchers that cash can make or have people do just about anything beyond reasoning (sic) and in most cases against their will."

I haven't watched the show in awhile, but if I'm not mistaken, the show is known for it's disgusting stunts. If he knew about it and had a weak stomach, why did he watch the show? Also, you can tell by this comment what he's really after:

In a brief telephone interview with Reuters, Aitken said, "I am not at liberty to discuss the complaint unless it is a paid-interview situation."

Full Story

Allison Maddison

2005-01-04T20:49:00.000-05:00

A couple of days ago, my buddy Jason and I got into a discussion about old high school and elementary school friends. It was interesting to exchange stories about what our old classmates were up to these days. It seemed the consensus was that everyone had either started their own families or are leading successful careers. Some in Cornwall, others elsewhere. I also found out that one of those classmates had cancer. Today I found out that she had passed away from the disease.

Allison Maddison, like so many of my other elementary school classmates was one of those friends that I had lost contact with as soon as high school started. After elementary school, we all went our separate ways. Some of us stuck together and went off to St. Joe's while others departed for St. Lawrence, CCVS or GV. The most remarkable things I remember about Allison was her energy, enthusiasm, kindness and the way her face turned bright red everytime she laughed. I feel a deep regret that our shared experiences ended some 14 years ago. My deepest condolences and prayers goes out to her family.

Note: Allison's obituary can be found here.

Unbelievable!

2005-01-03T21:00:00.000-05:00

Check out this clip of a couple of guys flipping a girl into a basketball net. It's unbelievable!

PC Outrage!

2004-12-24T09:40:00.000-05:00

It's Christmas Eve and I know I said I wasn't going to blog until the new year but I couldn't pass up writing about this story:

A 12-year-old New Hampshire boy who wanted to jolly up his junior high dance by dressing in a Santa suit instead got a lesson in political correctness when his Scroogelike principal turned the student away, fearing he might offend his classmates.

"I go by the principal and he asked me what I was wearing. I said a Santa suit and he shakes his head,'' recalled Hampton Academy Junior High student Bryan Lafond.

To make matters worse, Principal Fred Muscara sent the preteen home from the holiday dance by himself to change into more secular attire. His mother spotted her son in the rearview mirror as she drove away.

"He was crying, he was upset,'' Leslie Lafond said. "He did it all to be Santa, to make people smile and laugh. That's what Santa does.''

Full Story

I think it's time that we start putting politically corrected people in jail.

Merry Christmas!

2004-12-22T14:51:00.000-05:00

Or for those politically corrected "Happy Holidays!". This will probably be my last blog entry until 2005 as I will be busy eating, drinking and entertaining. I will probably see most of you during the holidays but if I don't, have a good Christmas and a safe and enjoyable New Year's.

Not A Bad Idea

2004-12-20T09:22:00.000-05:00

This would not be a bad idea in Canada. Especially with this friggin' -44 degree weather.

Winter-weary Germans basked yesterday in 70F temperatures amid palm trees and sandy beaches - only an hour's drive from Berlin.

At dawn yesterday, thousands of people began flocking to a bulbous former airship hangar transformed into Europe's largest leisure resort.

Full Article

This place would make a killing. It would be a nice and cheap weekend getaway.

Kelly Hired!

2004-12-17T21:37:00.000-05:00

Normally I would have a blog entry after an episode of the Apprentice but I was somewhat incapacitated late last night and all day today from what seems to be a case of the stomach flu. So now that I'm up and about, what are my thoughts on last night's season two finale of the Apprentice?

- The show was okay. Nothing spectacular but things could have been wrapped up in two hours or less. Three hours was a bit much considering the amount of polling done by Trump of audience members, past Apprentice candidates and business executives.

- You had to have felt some remorse for Jennifer as people kept pilling on their support for Kelly. Kelly's tremendous fan following didn't seem to sway Trump in the least bit as surely he could have made his decision half-way through the show but decided he had another hour and a half to kill.

- We got to see a preview of season three of the Apprentice. Donald's latest idea is to have book-smart people compete against street-smart people in what seems to be a good idea on paper but I doubt it will generate any new viewers to the show.

- Not much else to say about the show last night. I'm glad Kelly won and I hope season three's finale won't be as long as this one.

Someone over at MSNBC did some live blogging of the show last night. You can check it out here.

Random Ramblings

2004-12-15T22:19:00.000-05:00

- The NHL has rejected the NHLPA's latest offer which would have seen the players take a massive 24% hit on their salaries. It seems like a really good deal for the owners but I don't think they are interested in a short-term solution and my bet is that they will not relent in their quest to impose a salary cap.

- It is quite evident that the NHLPA is in a state of desperateness. How else can you explain such a proposal in which it's membership are asked to take such deep cuts to their salaries? And how else can you explain such vitriolic personal attacks on Gary Bettman by the players after the proposal was rejected?

- Back in the real working world, Cornwall takes an economic hit as Domtar announces that it will layoff around 400 employees in March. Some of my friends and family members will be affected and I can only pray that they are able to move on and become successful elsewhere. My fear now is that within the next couple of years, people will not be complaining about the smell coming from Domtar. Let's hope I'm wrong.

- Probably the most asked question during the holiday season is "Are you finished your Christmas shopping?". I've been guilty of posing this question but have only done it sparingly and in situations where it was necessary to strike some type of conversation as to avoid the awkwardness of a moment. Some people use it with great aggressiveness though. They seem to have a genuine concern for your lack of shopping ambition. But really, when we ask this question of others, are we really concerned with their Christmas list not being completed? Just a thought. Don't want to be a Scrooge about it. Keep asking me. I'll tell you what I've been telling everyone else, "Carley's got it all under control". I think.

- I got a nice Christmas gift from Lee and Amie and the family today. There was a postcard in the mail indicating that I will be receiving a magazine called Best Life, a new mag from the people over at Men's Health. They got me the same thing last year but with a subscription to Sports Illustrated. Which did not include the coveted Swimsuit Issue. But I still loved it. And I love it this year too guys! Thanks!

- No blog entry is complete without talking about the Apprentice. It seems Regis Philbin willl co-host the big 3-hour finale with the Donald. Judging from last week's episode, Jennifer looks like she's going to crash and burn. The reps from Genworth didn't seem at all impressed with how things were going and Chris Webber cancelling is not a good thing either. Meanwhile, Kelly seems to be having some problems too. Mother Nature is not co-operating with his plans and his event could be cancelled. This is clearly out of his control but someone will find fault in it. I'm still predicting a Kelly win and if he does lose his task, he should be hired anyway.

Daughter Born Without A Face

2004-12-12T21:07:00.000-05:00

This story will break your heart:

When most parents have a baby, they spend months dreaming about what their bundle of joy will look like. Will she look like mom? Will he have dad's eyes? But for one local Navy family, the birth of their daughter didn't give them the answers to those questions. Their daughter was born without a face.

When Tammy was pregnant, she knew something was wrong. At worst, they thought maybe their baby had a cleft lip.

So Tammy, and her husband Tom, went to the hospital happy, until the birth.

"The nurse is like, 'We got her stable, we need to rush her upstairs,'" explains Tom, as he recalls every minute of that day. "And the nurse asked, 'Do you want your wife to see her now?'

"Tom says he thought to himself, "Before she gets the shock I did, let me take a picture so she's prepared."

Tammy hadn't seen her new baby yet, because she almost bled to death during delivery. Tammy would be okay, meanwhile, dad went to take pictures of his new daughter.

But no matter what, these new parents had a wish. "That if there was something wrong, she wouldn't be alone. We wanted to make sure she felt loved," said Tom, as he began to cry. "She squeezed my hand."

Little Juliana is missing 30 - 40 percent of the bones in her face."

She has no upper jaw, no cheek bones, no eye sockets, and she's missing the corner of her ear," explains Tom.

Full Article

War of the Worlds

2004-12-10T10:07:00.000-05:00

Steven Spielberg and Tom Cruise have joined forces to bring about a remake of the the classic alien invasion movie War of the Worlds. A teaser trailer is up and it is amazing. I can't wait to see it next year.

Kevin & Sandy Gone!

2004-12-09T20:42:00.000-05:00

There are no tasks this week as the final four candidates go through grueling interviews with top executives from the business world. Just a couple of additonal thoughts:

- As predicted, Jennifer claws her way to the finals with Kelly, who convincingly wins the approval of all four executives who interviewed him.

- The only silver lining in Jennifer's win is that next week we'll really see Jenninfer get the whupping she deserves. I think she'll really need to pull off a miracle to beat the more formidable Kelly. Leadership is not Jennifer's strength and Trump will finally see it for himself.

- Yikes! Interview overload! What a nerve wracking experience. Even worse is having to do it four times.

- Best moment of the night: The Donald without a suit carrying the Olympic torch. I'm surprised he didn't have someone else carry it for him.

- To help with the planning of their events, Kelly and Jennifer get their picks at some of Trump's firings this season. Kelly seems to have the upper hand by not having Stacy on his team but a lack of respect from team member Raj could hurt him in the end. And according to this article, many people share the same dislike of our favourite candidate.

- Jennifer's only strong team member is Pamela with Stacy being a non-factor and Chris being a compulsive whiner and defeatist.

- The weather is not co-operating with Kelly's plans but I find it difficult to fault him if the event gets cancelled. I can't think of a way to blame him for what seems to be an unavoidable suituation. Although I am sure someone will find fault with it.

- Jennifer has her own problem as basketball star Chris Webber cancels at the last minute leaving me to ask why they did not have a contingency plan in place for this type of scenario. It's good to have a plan "B" if plan "A" decides to cancel. If I was Jennifer, I would be working the phones to find a bigger NBA star then Chris Webber.

- Not the most exciting episode this week but it did lay a pretty good foundation for next week's thrilling 3-hour finale. I would have liked to have heard more comments from the executives who did the interviews and I was really looking forward to a long boardroom scene as only 15 minutes (?) had elasped before the final four candidates were brought into the room.

Pictures of the Year 2004

2004-12-09T20:34:00.000-05:00

Yahoo has the pictures of the year 2004.

A Pretty Good Offer

2004-12-09T20:27:00.000-05:00

I think the latest offer by the NHLPA could make a lot of owners relent on the issue of a salary cap:

Among the major points in today's proposal, the NHLPA has offered a 24% rollback on salaries and 20 cent tax on payroll over $45 million. The tax rises to 50 cents on the dollar over $50 million and 60 cents on the dollar over $60 million. The owners would also gain on entry level contracts with a cap on bonuses as well as arbitration rights.

Full Article

This is a very significant offer and I'm inclined to optimistically think that an abbreviated NHL season will be had. Let's hope so.

Top Ten

2004-12-09T13:55:00.000-05:00

The top ten weirdest moments of The Appentice.

Tonight's Apprentice

2004-12-09T13:09:00.000-05:00

I didn't get to see last season's Apprentice but I hear that in the second last episode the candidates go through an interview process and from that, two finalists are chosen. That seems to be the case this year, meaning that any one of the four that are left can conceivably make it to the final round. There seems to be no guarantees. Although Kelly still looks strong and however much I dislike Jennifer, I do think she can pull off the interview. My hope is to have a Kevin and Kelly final. That's what I would like to see. But what I think we'll see is Kelly and Jennifer competing in the final task, which will have each candidate organize a charity polo match and basketball tournament.

Should be a pretty good Apprentice tonight. I can't wait.

Do They Know It's Crap?

2004-12-08T16:20:00.000-05:00

One of my favourite Christmas song since it hit the airwaves in 1984 has been "Do They Know It's Christmas" by a collection of British musicians calling themselves Band Aid. The song was produced to raise funds to help relieve the famine crisis in Africa. Twenty years later, a re-recording of the song is made with a whole new generation of British pop, rock and rap stars. I recently listened to this new version and to be honest with you, I am deeply disappointed. I guess what struck me the most about it was the lack of soul and meaning behind it. The song sounded like Ebenezer Scrooge's theme song. It came off as sad and gloomy. It's as if they got a bunch of suicidal musicians together who hate Christmas and are determined to bring down everyone's spirits.

Hey Band Aid #2, there might not be snow in Africa, but there's sure a heck of a lot of crap in Great Britain. Sorry, the song is really that bad.

Stewart to Replace Trump?

2004-12-08T14:21:00.000-05:00

There are rumours that Martha Stewart might replace The Donald on the Apprentice:

Also being speculated: Stewart could replace Donald Trump as the host of "The Apprentice." According to independent media analyst Jack Myers, Trump has indicated he will quit the hit reality show after its third season ends next year. Myers said he's heard from various industry sources that Stewart could take his seat in the boardroom.

Full Article

Martha Stewart is not a bad choice to replace Trump. Although if the Apprentice is open to having another high profile business person take the reigns then why not have different people each season?

Major League Discrace

2004-12-04T14:55:00.000-05:00

You know those commercials by Hockey Canada where you see kids yelling at their parents in the same manner that happens to them during minor hockey league games? Well I wonder if they will make one reflecting this incident:

The president of the Greater Toronto Hockey League says he's "aghast" over an alleged incident at a hockey game in Mississauga where an irate mother of an 11-year-old minor hockey player apparently taunted parents and fans of opposing players by lifting her blouse, revealing her bra and shaking her breasts "from side to side."

The GTHL has invited the woman to a special committee meeting Wednesday where disciplinary steps, such as banning her from arenas, will be considered.

The alleged incident reportedly happened during a confrontation that erupted mostly between parents of players on two opposing minor pee-wee teams: the York Toros and Mississauga Terriers. The teams played Monday night in the Erin Mills Twin Arena.

In a letter to the GTHL, one parent who witnessed the alleged incident called it "unfortunate" and "disturbing" to witness.

"She lifted her top well above her breasts. (Wearing a bra) she shook (her breasts) side to side," the mother wrote. The mother, who has young boys, says she headed for the exits soon after with her sons but ran into her again. The woman claims the other woman said: "What the hell are you looking at? Have you never seen t--s?

Full Article

Ivana Fired!

2004-12-02T22:10:00.000-05:00

On tonight's Apprentice, both teams are tasked with working with M&M Mars to create and sell a new candy bar called the "M-mazing Bar". Project managers are Sandy for Mosaic and Ivana for team Apex. Some thoughts on the show tonight:

- Before the show began, I had typed out "Ivana Fired!" as the title of this blog entry. Man, am I glad to be right. Considering the competition that's left and Ivana's track record as project manager, there was no way Ivana would make it to the final four.

- Trump Tip: "Never underestimate your opponent."

- Best line of the night I: "She's like a mannequin. She's plastic." - Sandy describing Jennifer's mindset.

- Best line of the night II: "Buy some candy from the eye candy." - Sandy

- No amount of cleavage would persuade me into dishing out $5.00 for a chocolate bar!

- No amount of Ivana's lower extremities would persuade me into dishing out $20.00 for a chocolate bar!

- That was just terrible! I can't believe Ivana offered to drop her skirt if someone would buy a chocolate bar for $20. It's like prostitution! This bothered me more than Andy bribing the bottle designers on last week's episode. What an embarrassment! If I was an M&M Mars executive, I would be very upset with how my product was being sold in such a sleazy way.

- Aww what a sweet moment between Ivana and Kevin before they enter the boardroom. Man that was cheesy.

- Reason why Kelly will win it: Kelly was bang on when he admitted that his team underestimated Mosaic. This was exactly what Trump was saying at the beginning of the show. It bodes well when you think like Trump.

- George and Carolyn disagree on Ivana. Sorry George, Carolyn is right. There's no reason for such deplorable tactics by Ivana. It would work if they were selling women's underwear, not chocolate bars.

- Hey Ivana, Jennifer is not in the boardroom. Stop attacking her!

Here's a preview of next week's Apprentice, although it's not much to get excited about:

As a result of a grueling interview process, two of the candidates are fired and two are sent on their last assignment.

There's Hope

2004-12-02T20:36:00.000-05:00

There's some hope on the NHL lockout front although one side will have to concede on the issue of a salary cap:

The NHL has accepted an invitation from NHLPA Executive Director Bob Goodenow to attend meetings in Toronto next Thursday and Friday.

The two sides haven't held formal talks since September 9.

"We've set aside a couple of days and are obviously prepared to go as long as it takes to get a new agreement," said Ted Saskin, senior director of the NHLPA.

"Almost three months have passed since the players made their last proposal and we have yet to receive a counter-offer from the league," Bob Goodenow, the NHLPA's executive director, said in a statement. "We have been working hard at other creative solutions and believe our new proposal will provide a basis to end the owners' lockout and resume NHL hockey."

Full Article

More Bush Humour

2004-12-01T20:31:00.000-05:00

The laughs just keeps on coming with Bush:

While he may have the reputation of a mangler of the English language, Bush used his Canadian visit to show that he — or his speech writers — can deliver a wit-laden line.

The quips during his Canadian visit covered the landscape from the mad cow crisis, to hockey, to protesters and even a Rick Mercer CBC spoof.

In Halifax today, Bush gestured towards Prime Minister Paul Martin.

"Paul and I share a great vision for the future, two prosperous, independent nations joined together by the return of NHL hockey."

He referred to Mercer's spoof when the performer induced a campaigning Bush in 2000 into thanking an imaginary Prime Minister Jean Poutine for his support.

"I told Paul that I really have only one regret about this visit to Canada," Bush smiled. "There's a prominent citizen who endorsed me in the 2000 election, and I wanted a chance to finally thank him for that endorsement. I was hoping to meet Jean Poutine."

He put a little humour into the mad cow crisis: "I proudly ate some Alberta beef last night and I'm still standing."

Full Article (note: you have to register to read the full article)

Some people think Bush is a moron, but I think he's a comedic genius. Ha! Ha! Ha!

All Cereal Restaurant

2004-12-01T20:26:00.000-05:00

Somehow I don't think this idea will fly:

How's this for thinking outside the box: a cafe with jammies-clad servers pouring cereal day and night, topping it off with everything from fruit to malted milk balls, and serving it in "bowls" resembling Chinese takeout containers. It's all cereal. Seriously.

Cereality Cereal Bar & Cafe, which opened its first sit-down cafe Wednesday on the University of Pennsylvania campus, is a sugarcoated -- and tongue-in-cheek -- homage to what your mother always told you was the most important meal of the day. But she probably never dished out bowls of Froot Loops and Cap'n Crunch topped with Pop Rocks.

Full Article

Not sure if there's a real market for this. I'm inclined to believe that this place will close up shop sooner rather than later.

Have You Ever Noticed...

2004-12-01T15:21:00.000-05:00

that Chewbaccca the Wookie in the Star Wars movies has a mustache? I think it's kind of weird for a character who's entire body is covered in fur. Although I guess if you look at Scottish terriers, they have mustaches too.

While it Snows In Ottawa...

2004-12-01T13:42:00.000-05:00

it rains in Cornwall. It looks like a cold spring day outside. I think I see flowers growing. Just kidding.

A Bush Supporter

2004-12-01T13:37:00.000-05:00

Here's a Bush supporter you will not hear on the news:

John Al-Hassani is Canadian, too. He's 48. He drove to Ottawa from Oshawa where he's an engineer. He stands on the fringe. His sign says: "Support President Bush."

"I came to this country from Iraq," he shouts in staccato bursts. "I have family there. I talk to them all the time. Look at these fools. They have no idea. They are idiots. They are simple babies. The majority of Iraqis are glad Bush liberated them from Saddam Hussein. But, you don't see that on TV, only the terrorist gangsters blowing people up. They don't speak for the people of Iraq.

"My country suffered under that madman. There was no freedom. He tortured and killed our people. Even Prime Minister Martin said the other day that the United Nations should change its policy, that democratic countries should have the right to invade countries with dictators who do genocide and torture their people.

"These people here have never suffered. They make me sick. You are a reporter. You should ignore them or you are a fool too. If Canada was a terrible dictatorship like Iraq was under Saddam, would these people tell Bush no, no, don't invade, we don't want you to give us freedom?"

John Al-Hassani glares at a protester who glares back. The protester's sign says: "Evil Bush Lied To Drag The World To War." Says Al-Hassani under his breath: "In Iraq if he'd said that about Saddam Hussein he'd be taken away and murdered."

Full Article

The Ugly Protesters

2004-12-01T13:27:00.000-05:00

David over at IDF Israel has a bunch of pictures from various places in downtown Ottawa where protesters congregated and made a fool of themselves. Some of the typical anti-Bush rhetoric focused on Bush being a terrorist and an offspring of Hitler. One protest sign had "Jesus hates George Bush" on it which is rather blasphemous considering who Jesus was and what he represented. It's amazing how simple minded these people are. It was good to see some pro-Bush people out, though I was a little leery of their safety.

Just As Good As The Real Thing

2004-12-01T11:02:00.000-05:00

At least that's what the CIBC would like you to believe:

Kayla Peters, 16, works hard for the money she makes at the local Tim Hortons after classes at Riverview High School.

So imagine her shock Monday when she made a strange withdrawal from an Automated Teller Machine at the Riverview Mall.Tapping out instructions for $60, Kayla accepted the bills and counted 'em out: one $20 bill, another $20 Cdn and two dollars in Canadian Tire money.

Full Article

The money is still good. Just only at Canadian Tire.

So It Ends

2004-11-30T21:02:00.000-05:00

Ken Jennings, the seemingly unbeatable Jeopardy contestant, finally loses tonight:

Jeopardy" whiz Ken Jennings finally met his match after a 74-game run as a pop culture icon who made brainiacs cool, beaten by a woman whose own 8-year-old daughter asked for his autograph when they first met.

As someone who always has prepared his own tax returns, Jennings was tripped up in Final Jeopardy by this answer: Most of this firm's 70,000 seasonal white-collar employees work only four months a year.

The correct reply: "What is H&R Block?" But Jennings guessed Federal Express, ending his remarkable run as the biggest winner in TV game show history with a haul of $2,520,700.

Full Story

During the show, Alex Trebek asked Jennings if he was going to quit his job as a software engineer. I guess that doesn't look likely anymore. Although retirement can come pretty quickly with $2.5 million in the bank.

Blog is the Word

2004-11-30T20:56:00.000-05:00

Blog is the number one word this year:

A four-letter term that came to symbolize the difference between old and new media during this year's presidential campaign tops U.S. dictionary publisher Merriam-Webster's list of the 10 words of the year.

Merriam-Webster Inc. said on Tuesday that blog, defined as "a Web site that contains an online personal journal with reflections, comments and often hyperlinks," was one of the most looked-up words on its Internet sites this year.

Full Story

Bush Is So Funny

2004-11-30T20:52:00.000-05:00

How can you not like this guy after he says something like this:

"I frankly felt like the reception we received on the way in from the airport was very warm and hospitable, and I want to thank the Canadian people who came out to wave — with all five fingers," Bush said with a smile.

Full Article

Random Ramblings

2004-11-29T21:57:00.000-05:00

- Apparently there will be two episodes of the Apprentice this week with Thursday's being the new one. Wednesday's episode will feature highlights from this season.

With only five candidates left, it will be interesting to see who survives the final three layoffs. My money is on Kelly and Kevin with the ladies falling out of favour with the Donald as they engage in vicious cat fights which have been prevalent amongst the women since day one. The only woman I can see making it to the final two is Jennifer, who for some reason unbeknownst to the rest of us including Donald and the board members, seems to slip under the radar of every project manager.

I think a good way to pinpoint who will untimately be Donald's next Apprentice is to put each candidate on the other side of the boardroom table. Bill Rancic, last year's winner seems to fit fairly well back there with Donald. Can you picture Ivana back there? Certainly not. How about Jennifer or Kevin? Maybe. Sandy has a better shot than Ivana but I can really picture Kelly back there and I think in that context, he is hands down the winner. I guess we shall see on December 16th as season two winds down with a three hour finale.

- While we are on the subject of reality T.V. shows, I think the best one out there is Exteme Makeover: Home Edition. Granted my favourite is the Apprentice but it would be a very sad day when Ty and his gang are unable to help change people's lives for the better. Some people are skeptical when materialism is used as an antidote for the misfortunes of others, but it's not always the tangible things we hold onto that are important, it is the meaning behind them. That's what this show proves each and every week.

- An observation: Are people being rude when they sit in the aisle seat on a bus instead of sitting near the window? I made this observation today as some people felt the need to take up an empty seat by sitting in the aisle. I guess it wouldn't be so much of a big deal had the bus not been so crowded.

- Looks like the Home Depot in Cornwall will have their grand opening on Thursday December 9th with a special community get together on December 8th (whatever that is). It should be quite the busy place on both nights. There's still some large pieces of real estate around there. I wonder if there are any addional plans for further retail developments. Stay tuned I guess.

- Christmas is but a little over three weeks away. Panic has not set in yet for most of you I'm sure. A good portion of my Christmas shopping is done and the key to this is to contract out to a third party, ie. the wife that is on maternity leave.

- Best commercial on TV: You know that commercial where the guy drives around in his red truck with a bunch of stuff in the back and when he gets home his wife starts to give him crap because he forgot to pick up a desk or something like that? Then he opens the cab door and saves his hide by revealing the desk, making the wife look like a fool? It's not nice but once and awhile, these types of situations draw a good chuckle. Hey, it could happen in reversed too. Although it wouldn't be as funny.

- Worst commercial on TV: Hands down it's gotta be those freaking stupid Excel mint commercials where a guy or gal draws a stranger into a bathroom on a plane or a photo booth for some type of sexual relatioins just by sucking on a mint. Hey Ad people, it's not funny, it's rather tasteless and it doesn't friggin' work. Trust me I've tried...er, I've seen other people try?

- Big day on Tuesday. My buddy George W. Bush makes his way to the nation's capital. Downtown Ottawa will be filled with the usual protestors, anarchists and police with pepperspray. Hopefully cooler heads will prevail and the supposed "Peace Protesters" will actually stay peaceful. Carley and Ella will also be in town which is of greater importance. We'll be doing some Christmas shopping for those last items on our list. If any of our friends in Ottawa want to meet up with us, send me an e-mail. We'll hook up or something.

Caio for now!

Canada In Crisis

2004-11-25T22:23:00.000-05:00

We are in a state of emergency. It seems there are not enough strippers in the country:

Immigration Minister Judy Sgro is defending the government's policy of admitting foreign exotic dancers to work in Canada, saying the strip club business is "a strong industry" with "lots of customers."

For a third day on Thursday, Sgro was faced with Opposition questions about her chief of staff's involvement in a Romanian stripper's visa troubles and in a controversial program which sees foreign peelers getting special work visas. Conservative Leader Stephen Harper called it "breathtaking hypocrisy" for the government to complain about sexual exploitation of women while importing strippers.

Sgro concedes she has little enthusiasm for the program, which allows strippers into the country on special visas, but says the exotic dance industry can't find enough native talent and has the right to ask for imports.

"They say that they have lots of customers and that they need the people to work in their establishments, it's a labour market need," she told reporters.

"It's an industry that is in Canada. You have to recognize that it is, otherwise you'd have to wipe out the whole industry."

Full Article

You can't make this stuff up. We have doctors from other countries looking to work here and they are being stonewalled. I realize it's not completely an immigration issue that they can't get a job here and more to do with strict medical qualifications, but it just goes to show you the priorities that we have in this country.

Andy Fired!

2004-11-25T21:21:00.000-05:00

Andy gets fired and I really didn't feel sorry for him. After a few weeks of gaining my respect, he all but lost it this week with his immature leadership style, lack of motivational skills and an inability to fight for his job in the end. Some additonal thoughts:

- Andy showed his lack of corporate experience and common sense by giving the design team $100 each. There are better and cheaper ways to motivate people and that was not it. It felt kinda cheesy and out of place. Hey why not motivate them with the pizza he ordered? Carley makes a good point that you should reward your employees for a job well done, but the job wasn't done and and it wasn't done well either.

- It almost seemed too easy for Apex. I guess once you have a good idea, everything else is a piece of cake.

- Carley's upset: "Ivana's not gone!"

- Man Mosaic had an ugly bottle. They clearly lost because of it. Can you imagine walking around with that thing? You'd look like a fool but at least you'll know where Azerbaijan is.

- Best line of the night: "Losing is a bitch"

- It has become apparent that Kelly will be one of the finalists. He is a very strong leader. I would be very surprised if he gets fired before then.

- Poor Sandy. Getting tag-teamed by Andy and Jennifer. But boy, did she ever put up a good fight. You go Sandy! Out of all the women, I'm liking Sandy more. She's got a lot of fight in her.

Preview of next week's show:

The final five candidates promote a new candy bar for candy giant M&M Mars.

Tonight's Apprentice

2004-11-25T07:57:00.000-05:00

It's down to six candidates and tonight's challenge involves designing a new bottle for Pepsi. I'm inclined to think that either Jennifer or Ivana will be taking a ride home in a cab tonight. I'm leaning towards Ivana as there is no possible way she can make it down to the final four. She shouldn't even have gone this far. Should be a good one tonight. I'll have some thoughts after the show.

Not Bad At All

2004-11-25T01:11:00.000-05:00

They're not even playing and they're still making more money than most people with real jobs:

The NHL Players' Association will pay out between $29 million and $44 million US in lockout pay this season.

The payments will start this month with more than 730 players getting $10,000 each for November and another $10,000 for December, The Canadian Press has learned. Subsequent monthly payments will vary between $5,000 or $10,000. The NHLPA refused to detail the payment schedule but said the "initial" plan will cover the next 24 months.

Those numbers would work out to a minimum of $40,000 and maximum of $60,000 per player through April, although the maximum would likely not be reached.

That translates into a total of between $29.2 million and $43.8 million through April. Over 24 months, it would be a low of $94.9 million and a high of $175.2 million (from $130,000 to $240,000 per player).

Full Story

Sure the money comes from their union dues and other sources but still, they are not hurting at all during this lockout.

Apprentice Heaven

2004-11-23T22:43:00.000-05:00

For all you Apprentice fans who can't enough of the show, I've found this great site by Yahoo! with tons of excellent Apprentice stuff like exclusive videos from weeks past. It's totally awesome. Check it out here.

Ridiculous? I Think So

2004-11-23T09:10:00.000-05:00

Do you recall the grill cheese sandwich that supposedly had the image of the Virgin Mary on it?

Looks like Diana Duyser's going to get some really nice bread for her eBay item -- $28,000 for a 10-year-old grilled cheese sandwich that she believes bears the image of the Virgin Mary.

Bidding on the Internet auction house closed Monday night. The winning bidder wasn't disclosed on the Web site, but was identified by The Miami Herald as GoldenPalace.com, an online casino.

Photos posted on the site show what can be viewed as a woman's face emblazoned on the triangular half-sandwich, a bite taken out of one end.

Full Story

Unbelievable Story of the Day

2004-11-23T09:06:00.000-05:00

What a great story this is:

A group of swimmers has told how a pod of dolphins protected them from a great white shark off New Zealand's coast.

The lifeguards were training at a beach near Whangarei on the North Island when they were menaced by a 3-metre shark, before the dolphins raced in to help.

The swimmers were surrounded by the dolphins for 40 minutes before they were able to make it safely back to the beach.

Marine biologists say such altruistic behaviour is not uncommon in dolphins.

Lifeguard Rob Howes was in the water with two colleagues and his teenage daughter.

It was an uncomfortable experience, as they were circled by a great white shark, which came within a couple of metres.

He said around half a dozen dolphins suddenly appeared and herded the swimmers together. The mammals swam in tight circles to create a defensive barrier as the great white lurked under the surface.

The swimmers said the dolphins were extremely agitated and repeatedly slapped the water with their tails, presumably to try to deter the predator as it cruised nearby.

Full Article

The world would be a better place if we were all dolphins.

Yuck!

2004-11-22T08:03:00.000-05:00

That's some mighty fine coffee:

The instant coffee a group of friends drank as they tried to sober up after a night out on the tiles tasted a bit odd.

Soon after, they found out why - when one of their companions told them: "That was no coffee - that was my grandfather's ashes."

The students had been staying at a country cottage in the Czech Republic when they made the grave error. They had assumed a tin full of grainy substance on the mantelpiece at Jakub Havlat's cottage in the Czech Republic was coffee.

Only when Havlat returned to the room to discover his grandfather's ashes urn was empty, did the students realise what they had done.

Full Article

Wes and Maria Fired!

2004-11-18T22:04:00.000-05:00

Whoa! That was a good Apprentice. As I predicted, two people were fired tonight and they were well deserved. Wes showed no leadership and Maria didn't realize she had teammates. Just some quick thoughts:

- Best move of the night: Apex acquiring Kelly from Mosaic.

- Worst move of the night: members of Mosaic not wearing Levis jeans during their presentation. That was stupid and give credit to Andy for bringing that up beforehand.

- Placing in second place for the worst move of the night: Mosaic not showing any pictures of the buttocks. You gotta have more ass!

- Ivana really excelled this week and her idea for that "Fit" wheel was great. Thinking outside the box she was.

- Jennifer continues to advance the stereotype of blondes being stupid. Even when Kelly drew her a picture of the wheel, she couldn't grasp the concept.

- I was in shock when the President of Levis chose Jennifer as the team member that did the best job on the task. Nothing can be further from the truth. Apex could have won this thing without her.

- Andy's response to Donald about not saying much in the boardroom was great. "Too many people talking, not enough people listening." Go Andy!

- Carolyn Kepcher. Still looking pretty damn good.

Here's a preview of next week's Apprentice:

The remaining candidates must design a soda bottle for Pepsi; another contestant is fired when the losing team heads to the boardroom.

Best of Late Night

2004-11-18T14:49:00.000-05:00

"Star Jones got married. Earlier today Star Jones and her new husband left on their honeymoon. They’re spending it in the Middle East. In a related story Osama bin Laden has surrendered." - Conan O'Brien

Fallout From Monday Night Football

2004-11-18T14:28:00.000-05:00

There continues to be some fallout from the whole Desperate Housewives/Monday Night Football intro:

Reaction ranged from amusement to anger. Indianapolis Colts coach Tony Dungy found it racially offensive.

"To me that's the first thing I thought of as an African-American," Dungy said Wednesday.

"I think it's stereotypical in looking at the players, and on the heels of the Kobe Bryant incident I think it's very insensitive. I don't think that they would have had Bill Parcells or Andy Reid or one of the owners involved in that," he added, a reference to the coaches in the game.

ABC's intro showed Sheridan wearing only a towel and provocatively asking Owens to skip the game for her as the two stood alone in a locker room. She drops the towel and jumps into Owens' arms. Owens is black and Sheridan is white.

"If that's what we have to do to get ratings, I'd rather not get them," Dungy said. "I realize that ratings pays us in this league, but if that's what we have to do, I'm willing to take a pay cut."

Full Article

Hey Dungy, "Just chill out dude!". There was nothing racially offensive about the whole thing. To me, playing the "race" card is more offensive. Give me a break! I use to respect Tony Dungy. Now I'm not so sure.

Parrish: The Class Clown

2004-11-18T14:25:00.000-05:00

Rex Murphy hits the nail on the head with his description of Parrish:

Pure enlightenment. Miss Parrish occasionally makes the claim that she's extending the debate, that she's standing up to the Americans and all sorts of noble stuff about the right to free speech. I don't know. "Idiots, damn Americans, I hate those bastards," that "22 Minutes" jig, these are words and actions that belong to the classroom show-off, the needy clown, attention getting by means of insult and crude display. They're nothing but "Look at me insulting George Bush and sticking it to the Yanks." It's juvenile, it's smug, and it's vulgar. It will amuse only very limited minds, and it will offend a great number of Americans, even those who do not support George Bush but who don't like to see their head of state derided by second rate comments and third rate stunts by one of our members of Parliament.

Full Article

Update: Parrish Gone!

2004-11-18T14:16:00.000-05:00

It's about time:

Prime Minister Paul Martin dismissed renegade Liberal MP Carolyn Parrish from caucus today, after she made a string of controversial anti-American remarks.

"I told her that even though I respect her right to express her viewpoint, I cannot, as leader of our party and of our caucus, tolerate her behaviour," Martin told reporters in a short statement outside Parliament this afternoon. "It's unacceptable."

Full Article

This would have been a no-brainer if Martin had a majority government so kudos to him for making the right decision.

Fox News is Coming To Canada

2004-11-18T11:40:00.000-05:00

Most liberals or lefties are scared stiff at the thought of Fox News coming to Canada. Many perceive the network as a platform for right-wing ideologues but I see it as a refreshing change from the left-wing media bias that we are exposed to in this country. Fox News won't admit to it but they do slant to the right a little bit more than some people would like but that formula seems to have given them a large ratings edge over rivals CNN and MSNBC.

Bring on Fox News!

What An Embarrassment

2004-11-18T11:28:00.000-05:00

Every time Carolyn Parrish opens her big mouth, she embarrasses all Canadians:

"I have absolutely no loyalty to this team -- none," she said before meeting with the PM last night in a bid to head off undue controversy over any anti-Bush comments she may make during the president's first state visit to Canada on Nov. 30 and Dec. 1.

"If he loses the next election and he has to resign, I wouldn't shed a tear over it," Parrish said of Martin.

"After what they've put me through and lots of my colleagues, they can all go to hell. But he's not going to control me so all he's going to do is end up looking weak."

Full Story

I've never met this woman but you can judge someone's character by the things they say. Obviously, Parrish's character and personality can somewhat be described as abrasive, arrogant and egotistical. Why Martin keeps this woman around is beyond me.

Tom Hanks in Da Vinci Code?

2004-11-17T23:05:00.000-05:00

For all you Da Vinci Code fans out there, a movie is in the works and Tom Hanks could be cast in the lead role:

Tom Hanks has been pegged to play the lead role in Sony's upcoming film The Da Vinci Code, the adaptation of author Dan Brown's best-selling thriller, Newsweek has learned. Director Ron Howard and producer Brian Grazer, the duo who helped make Hanks a star with their 1984 comedy Splash and rehired him 11 years later for Apollo 13, cast Hanks as the globe-trotting scholar Robert Langdon, a decision based partially on the cerebral (riddle-solving, code-cracking) nature of the action in "Da Vinci."

Full Article

Still waiting to read the book. Anyone have a copy I can borrow?

2004-11-17T22:14:00.000-05:00

The family and I visited the "Big Apple" this past weekend. If you've ever driven to Toronto, you've probably seen this monument.

Gmail Invites

2004-11-17T22:09:00.000-05:00

I have three more Gmail invites. Please email me if you would like one.

Commuting Hell

2004-11-17T21:34:00.000-05:00

Carley, Ella and I were in Cobourg this past weekend to visit our friends Tracey and Mike. They had just bought a house there this past June and it is quite lovely. Tracey is a teacher at the local high school while Mike works for a private plane company which flies rich and famous people wherever they want to go. Mike loves his job and relishes the fact that he gets to meet actors, athletes and all sorts of interesting people. He's met most of the Toronto Maple Leafs, Michael Douglas, and Ron Maclean to name a few. The only problem with Mike's job is that he works at Pearson International airport in Toronto and that his commute is three hours, one way.

That's right. He spends three hours to get to work and three hours to get home. Mike's typical day starts at 4:15 when he drives out to Oshawa to catch the GO Train into Toronto. Once in Toronto, he spends 30 minutes on the subway and 30 minutes on a bus. He's in the office for 7:30 and leaves at 3:30. He does the opposite commute to get home just in time to catch the second half of the 6:00 news. Some people think my commute is crazy but then I think of Mike and realize, things are not so bad. Not bad at all.

Bridezilla

2004-11-17T21:14:00.000-05:00

Some people can take weddings a little bit too seriously:

Star "Bridezilla" Jones' wild wedding rampage continued yesterday on live TV as she called her "View" co-hosts liars and berated them for breaking "rules" during her nuptials last weekend.

Two offenses particularly ticked her off — Elisabeth Hasselbeck rearranged the seating cards at the reception at the Waldorf-Astoria, and Joy Behar dared to bring a camera even though guests were specifically told to leave cameras and kids at home.

"Rules are meant to be broken," Behar said gleefully on yesterday's edition of "The View," The Post's Don Kaplan reports.

"Rules are meant to be broken and people are meant to not get invited to the next thing," Jones replied ominously.

"We were so confident that it would be your last wedding that we did not care," said co-host Meredith Vieira.

Jones seemed especially peeved that Behar had brought a camera to the wedding and violated her fashion rules by wearing pants.

"I wasn't going to stress over that," Jones said about Behar's pants. "However, the camera was bad."

Behar joked: "She wrestled me [for the camera] — it was great. She tried to take the camera away from me, but she couldn't get it from me because I lift weights."

"You're lying," Jones snapped. "I actually had it and I gave it back to you because I was going to take blood out of your veins."

Jones' venom was also directed at Hasselbeck, who looked visibly shaken when Jones berated her for having the nerve to rearrange her table's seats, resulting in "View" producer Bill Getty having to sit far away from his wife.

"There was this one person whose seat was all the way down at the other end of the table," Hasselbeck explained, "And all of a sudden the cards were getting moved."

When Vieira leapt to Hasselbeck's defense, Jones accused both co-hosts of being liars.

Jones married Wall Street trader Al Reynolds last Saturday at a star-studded wedding following months of rumors and hype.

The affair was tinged with controversy because Jones has been accused of giving shameless plugs on "The View" for products produced by her wedding suppliers and for naming several wedding "sponsors," including Continental Airlines.

Jones and Reynolds leave today on their honeymoon, starting out with a free trip to Dubai, the shopping capital of the Mideast.

I've posted the entire article here because the link to it changes often.

Here's hoping this is Star Jone's last wedding. Yikes!

Tomorrow's Apprentice

2004-11-17T21:03:00.000-05:00

Tomorrow's Apprentice should be pretty good as there will apparently be another boardroom first. I'm inclined to believe that not one, but two people will be fired tomorrow. Or has that already happened? My picks for the firings will either be Ivana or Andy (I hope not) or both. Maybe throw Wes in there as well.

Desperate Housewives

2004-11-17T20:49:00.000-05:00

Most of you have probably heard about the big controversy over the Monday Night Football intro featuring Nicollette Sheridan of the hit T.V. show Desperate Housewives and Philadephia Eagles star Terrell Owens. For those who don't know, here's why it was so controversial:

The spot featured a supposedly naked Nicollette Sheridan jumping into the arms of Terrell Owens.

Before the game, ABC showed the actress and the Philadelphia Eagles star in an empty locker room in an attempt to spoof the network hit "Desperate Housewives." Sheridan, who stars in the show, was wearing only a towel and provocatively asked Owens to skip the game for her.

After she dropped her towel, he smiled, agreed to be late for the contest and she jumped into his arms. Sheridan was shown only from behind and above the waist after she dropped the towel.

Then the shot cut to two more stars of "Desperate Housewives," Teri Hatcher and Felicity Huffman, watching the scene unfold on a television and commenting on desperate women.

Full Article

You can also view the offending clip here. Quite honestly, I really don't see a problem with this clip. Besides, why are people complaining? Isn't it mostly men who watch Monday Night Football anyway?

Bush Coming To Canada

2004-11-16T22:50:00.000-05:00

Get ready for two days of rioting.

U.S. President George W. Bush will make his first official state visit to Canada Nov. 30 and Dec. 1.

Bush, who won re-election against Democratic Senator John Kerry, is making the trip before his inauguration on Jan. 20. Prime Minister Paul Martin previously said the president accepted his invitation to Canada after Martin called to offer his congratulations on his victory.

Full Article

I wonder where the President will stay on his visit? Chateau Laurier? The safest place would probably be Air Force One.

The Next Apprentice Will Be?

2004-11-12T10:18:00.000-05:00

MSNBC lays down the odds on who will become the next Apprentice and the front runners are Kelly and Jennifer M. Not surprisingly, Ivana can win it "Only if the other contestants collectively try to burn down Trump Tower while Ivana pushes a fire truck to the scene and single-handedly extinguishes the blaze will she have any chance."

Full Article

Point / Counterpoint

2004-11-11T23:04:00.000-05:00

Some say poverty leads to terrorism:

U.K. Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown said poverty in nations outside the industrial world is encouraging terrorism and he urged countries to boost their foreign aid budgets.

"Poverty is a breeding ground for discontent,'' Brown said in an interview in London for an ITV documentary series. "There is a sense of injustice. We have got to act if we are going to avoid the development of terrorist cells.''

The comments add to the British Labour government's argument that rich nations must pay
more to cure disease and spur economic growth in Africa and Asia.

Full Article

While others feel it's a nation's level of politcal freedom that's responsible:

A John F. Kennedy School of Government researcher has cast doubt on the widely held belief that terrorism stems from poverty, finding instead that terrorist violence is related to a nation's level of political freedom, reports the Harvard University Gazette.

Full Article

If this study is true, then the democratization of Iraq is clearly the right approach in dealing with terrorism.

2004-11-11T22:55:00.000-05:00

Kinda hard to grieve for someone with such a following. At least hold up a flower or something.

Why Bush Won

2004-11-11T22:41:00.000-05:00

Peggy Noonan gives an excellent reason on why voters turned to Bush during the election:

I think Mr. Bush, the better man in terms of character, was also the more normal man. And we like normal. He loves sports and business and politics, and speaks their language. Normal. His wife is important to him, and his kids seem a bit of a mystery to him, and perhaps even to some degree intimidating. Normal. He thinks if bad guys attack New York City and the Pentagon, we go after them and kill them--normal. He thinks marriage is between a man and a woman--normal. He thinks if Baptist preachers in a suburb of Louisville have an after-school plan that has an excellent record of turning kids from juvenile delinquency to thinking about college, those Baptist preachers should be helped and encouraged every way we can, and it has nothing to do with "church and state." Normal. He thinks if there's an old plaque bearing the Ten Commandments on the wall of the courthouse you should leave it alone--it can't hurt, and it might help. Normal.

Full Article

Chris Fired!

2004-11-11T21:15:00.000-05:00

This week's task sees the two teams opening up competing bridal shops for four hours. The team that makes the most profit wins. Chris leads team Apex while Kelly takes the reigns at Mosaic. Mosaic clearly has an advantage as team member Sandy is an owner/operator of her own bridal store. Some thoughts on tonight's show:

- Mosaic got really lucky having Sandy on their team. It almost seemed the task was made specifically for her. Kinda makes you think Apex was set up to fail.

- Mosaic's marketing approach was dead-on. Using theknot.com was definitely what won it for them. Too bad Apex didn't have knowledge of it or they would have done a lot better.

- Things became stressful for Mosaic at one point when the phone number was not included in the e-mail sent out by theknot.com. This proved to be a non-factor and I think it was something that wasn't all that important anyway. Look at the people that showed up!

- I wonder if Wes got in trouble for scraping the side of that truck.

- When they showed the lineup for Mosaic's store, you had to know that they were going to win. Even without showing Apex's two customers.

- Holy crap about the reward! $50,000 worth of merchandise. Finally a reward that doesn't suck.

- Is it me or does anyone else think Carolyn is hot? She's very smart and sexy.

- All members of team Apex deserved to get fired but in the end, a lack of leadership was what did Chris in. It was also the fact that he failed to bring Jennifer into the boardroom.

- Ivana has been in the boardroom five times. How the heck is she still in it? If it wasn't for Bradford's stupid mistake, Ivana would have been gone a long time ago.

Here's a preview of next week's episode of the Apprentice:

The teams are assigned the task of creating and designing an in-store catalog for Levis jeans.

Everybody Hurts

2004-11-11T20:48:00.000-05:00

Some people took it really hard last week when President Bush was re-elected. Especially those in Hollywood who had invested tons of money and time into kicking Bush out of the White House. One actor was distraught at a Bush victory, he fainted on the set of his show:

Vincent D'Onofrio, the star of "Law & Order: Criminal Intent," passed out while shooting the hit TV series yesterday morning — prompting insiders to gossip that the actor is "losing it."

"Ever since John Kerry lost the election, [D'Onofrio] has lost his [bleep,]" said our on-set insider.

"He has been getting into fistfights with people, and when he passed out today, we all thought he was faking it. But then he insisted they call 911."

An ambulance raced to the Queens studio, where paramedics found nothing wrong with the gifted actor, who became a star in 1987 with his searing performance as a misfit Marine in "Full Metal Jacket."

Tensions on the "Criminal Intent" set are running high. "No one thinks Vincent will last for much longer," the insider said.

"He is so hard to work with — a total freak. He constantly complains about the scripts and has held up production a lot."

D'Onofrio, a big Kerry supporter, was said to be devastated over President Bush's re-election. "When PAGE SIX [last week] wrote about 'Law & Order' putting up signs forbidding political discussions on set, it was funny," our source said. "Those signs were put up because of [D'Onofrio]."

About a month before the election, D'Onofrio "insisted" on putting up anti-Bush posters and fliers, "and would attack anyone who disagreed with him," the spy added.

In response, "Law & Order" producers posted signs banning political discussions or anything else that would impede work on set, implying that D'Onofrio had held up taping of the show with his political zealotry.

D'Onofrio's co-stars, Kathryn Erbe, Jamey Sheridan and Courtney B. Vance, are said to be fed up with his antics.

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Move on with your life dude.

Don't Shed A Tear For This Guy

2004-11-11T20:32:00.000-05:00

I am completely bewildered at how much respect and admiration Arafat is getting in the wake of his demise. And I'm not the only one who thinks this terrorist is getting more than he actual deserves:

God bless his soul? What a grotesque idea! Bless the soul of the man who brought modern terrorism to the world? Who sent his agents to slaughter athletes at the Olympics, blow airliners out of the sky, bomb schools and pizzerias, machine-gun passengers in airline terminals? Who lied, cheated, and stole without compunction? Who inculcated the vilest culture of Jew-hatred since the Third Reich? Human beings might stoop to bless a creature so evil -- as indeed Arafat was blessed, with money, deference, even a Nobel Prize -- but God, I am quite sure, will damn him for eternity.

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Ditto to that!

I'm A Bush Fan

2004-11-11T19:57:00.000-05:00

There are no sexual connotations in the title of this blog entry. Nor is my fandom related to the 1990's music group Bush. It is acutally a confession of sorts to my admiration of the recently re-elected President of the United States, George W. I characterize this as a confession because of the great pains it has taken me to admit it. This declaration can somewhat be compared to going into a room full of Ottawa Senators fans and proclaiming that I am a Toronto Maple Leafs fan. You know you are going to get some dirty looks and even some profanity laced comments of one's intelligence or nightly activities of one's mother.

Now, I've made this bold concession for a couple of reasons:

1. I like and respect George W. Bush and I'm proud of that fact and shouldn't hide it. (Although if you see me, I will not engage in any conservation about it. Unless you promise a civil exchange of thoughts and opinions and the "F" word is not used.)

2. I've recently decided to do just one blog (no more The Right Thinking), so this means that there will be some political related entries here at Binford's Blogspot. Now that I've come out of the political closet, you'll know where I stand on most issues. Terrorism bad, capitalism good, Jean Chretien is a dweeb and Go Leafs Go! (at least the baby Leafs).

Apple Doesn't Get It

2004-11-10T21:46:00.000-05:00

I have a beef with Apple, the computer company whose existence, it seems, is based solely on maintaining their small single digit share of the personal computer market. Mediocrity can oftentimes be confused with this company. How else to explain that the only thing keeping them from going under is their stake in Pixar and the terribly overpriced yet successful iPods. I guess my biggest frustration with Apple is that they clearly only cater to two groups:

1. The obsessive people in the Mac Cult
2. The rich folks who can afford to spend thousands of dollars on computer technology that Intel already developed five years ago.

What is so appealing to Apple about these two groups is that money is never a factor. Apple can charge $10,000 for a computer with the same specs as a $300 PC and people would still buy it. That is what truly frustrates me. Apple wants PC people to switch to Macs but how does that make any sense if you have to fork over an extra $1,000 to get technology that's been around for years?

And it's not just their Macs that are overpriced. It seems almost everything they sell is overpriced. The big craze right now is the iPod. I don't know anyone with an iPod. Do you want to know why? Because I don't know anyone rich enough to waste $350 on what amounts to storage for 1,000 songs that they don't have. But in fairness to Apple, they are pretty nice to look at and I would possibly buy one if I had the money. Lord knows I have more than a 1,000 songs to put on it.

Apple can be more of a dominant force in the computer industry if they could just do the following (ok, I'm not an expert but you can probably follow my logic):

1. Become more aggressive in terms of pricing strategies. I'm sure they've already made back the money on the R & D for the iPod. Why are they still charging an arm and a leg for it. Same goes with the Macs. It almost seems people are buying Macs just for the cool looking case and pretty operating system.

2. Why be so proprietary with their technology. Open it up to third party manufacturers. That's why PCs are so dominant. More manufacturers, more competition, lower prices for consumers and therein lies economics 101.

3. It's a PC world, make your OS compatible with PCs. A lot of people would switch from Windows to Mac OS if given the choice. Don't worry about the purists over in Mac Cult-land. For every cult member that is lost, they'll gain 10 new converts.

4. What's with the lack of games? Video gaming is a billion dollar industry. Why are there so very few games for the Mac?

Finally I would like to leave you with this hilarious clip (Right Click and Save As).

Remembering The Greatest Canadians

2004-11-10T21:15:00.000-05:00

On the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, let us take the time to remember the greastest of Canadians who sacrifed their lives for the freedom and democracy we enjoy today.

In Flanders Fields

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

- John McCrae

2004-11-10T20:57:00.000-05:00

Bottles of Turkey & Gravy soda and Green Bean Casserole soda sit at the Seattle headquarters of Jones Soda Co. Capitalizing on the unexpected craze of last year's Turkey & Gravy Soda, the company is launching a limited edition pack of five unique soda flavors: Green Bean Casserole, Turkey & Gravy, Mashed Potato, Cranberry, and Fruitcake.

Jerk Du Jour

2004-11-05T13:36:00.000-05:00

Every now and again, it's always nice to be reminded of what a bunch of losers separatists are:

A separatist MP has caused a national flap by refusing to provide a Canadian flag to a Quebec veterans group for Remembrance Day ceremonies. John Hill, vice-president of the Royal Canadian Legion in Richmond, Que., was outraged when he was denied a flag by Bloc Quebecois MP Andre Bellavance. A constituency office staffer explained that handing out the Maple Leaf -- even to war veterans -- goes against the party's goal of sovereignty.

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Raj Fired!

2004-11-05T13:11:00.000-05:00

Some thoughts on last night's excellent Apprentice:

- Good show last night with an equally good and challenging task for both teams.

- It was interesting that the Donald brought back some of the recent firings which seemed to have placed Ivana in a difficult position as she was tag teamed by Jennifer C. and Stacie J.

- Ivana also took a ribbing from Jennifer M. for not doing enough work but we really didn’t know about that accusation until Carolyn’s assessment at the end which went in favour of Ivana.

- Raj made too many mistakes as project manager and the biggest one was trusting Kevin and his recommendation in contractors. I almost thought Kevin was going to get the boot but the Donald made the right decision even though success lied in how good the contractor is.

- Sandy, project manager for Mosaic, got really lucky with her contractor as it looked like the mafia saved the day for her. Seems like the rule of thumb in hiring a contractor is, if he doesn’t speak Italian, then forget about it!

- Not sure if some of the stupidity from Bradford rubbed off onto Chris but what was he thinking bashing his team like that? I thought for sure that the Donald was going to fire him for his mutinous act. Raj was equally brain dead for not bringing him back to the boardroom when Donald suggested it. It could have been Chris getting the pink slip for what seems to be a big sin that the Donald really hates.

- Why can’t the women get along? More specifically Ivana, who seems to be the cattiest of them all as she took a run at Stacie J. for not doing anything during the task. This seemed to be totally out of line towards someone who had just received some high praises from the Donald for her hard work and has already been fired thus negating any evaluation or critique of her performance. I’m beginning to really dislike Ivana and there is no way she can win this thing.

- Not surprising moment of the night: Raj trying to get Robin’s phone number.

- I was just looking for previews of next week’s episode and here it is:

"Runaway Pride" -- It's a day to always remember when the candidates open up competing bridal shops. One project manager is overwhelmed by their lack of expertise in this particular field. The other team has to deal with a car accident, a marketing plan gone awry, and a project manager that rides the coat tails of a team-mate.

Crazy Canuck

2004-11-04T20:53:00.000-05:00

Should we let this guy back in the country?

A Canadian man, angry that he was refused a plane ticket to Australia at Los Angeles International Airport, stripped naked, sprinted across the tarmac and climbed into the wheel well of a moving jumbo jet, officials said on Wednesday.

Pilots of the Qantas Airways flight stopped the plane. The man was coaxed out of the wheel well and arrested for trespassing, said airport spokeswoman Nancy Castles.

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The Next Star Wars

2004-11-04T20:37:00.000-05:00

The next installment of the Star Wars series will be out next May but you can catch a sneak peak at the teaser trailer here (Right click & Save As). The trailer is also being shown before the Incredibles movie, which comes out tomorrow.

Most Ridiculous Item of the Day

2004-11-02T15:00:00.000-05:00

Our courts are wasting their time on this crap?

A board of inquiry set up by the Nova Scotia Human Rights Commission spent an entire day watching episodes of the Lone Ranger to determine whether a native woman faced discrimination when she was called Kemosabe.

Kemosabe was the term used by Tonto, the Lone Ranger's aboriginal sidekick, to describe the masked cowboy.

After a day of watching reruns and hearing from several Mi'kmaq witnesses, the board concluded that while the TV series treated native Americans in a disrespectful manner, the term Kemosabe was not offensive.

And it's all because of this:

In October, 1999, Dorothy Moore of Membertou, N.S., alleged that Trevor Muller, owner of Play it Again Sports in Sydney, N.S., discriminated against her when he referred to her and other employees as Kemosabe.

After a dispute over how Moore treated customers, she quit and filed a human rights complaint, saying that the workplace was poisoned by the use of the word.

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To quote the Refreshment's and their song Banditos, "Everybody knows, that the world is full of stupid people".

Pissed At NHL Players

2004-10-31T23:31:00.000-05:00

NHL players are not just pissing off hockey fans:

Don't count former NHL and Canadian Olympic goaltender Corey Hirsch among those in Europe happy that NHL players have skated to the other side of the pond.

In a column written for Sun Media and published Saturday, Hirsch had some harsh words for NHLers who he claimed were dealing with their own labour situation by undermining the plight of existing players in Europe.

Hirsch wrote, "They are scabs over here, replacement players, basically rented to put fans in the seats."

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Here's the response from the other side of the coin:

But locked-out players, Patterson argued, need leagues where they can stay in shape because they could just as easily lose their jobs when the NHL is back in session.

"If they're not in shape, their careers could be finished," he said.

Current Flames winger Shean Donovan agrees with Patterson, noting teammate Martin Gelinas signed with Morges in Switzerland for that very reason.

"He feels he has to be there to stay in shape or he could be out of the game if it ever comes back to playing," said Donovan.

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Question: If the NHL decides to use replacement players, will guys like Donovan and Patterson object to it? My feelings are this:

- NHL players shouldn't be going out and taking away other player's jobs. If they are locked out, they should sit.
- Players should take their cues from NHL referees who are sitting instead of taking away jobs from AHL or other minor hockey leagues. They are actually out taking on real jobs.
- If players want to stay in shape, why don't they all get together once or twice a week and have a game. There's no lack of players that for sure.
- There should be none of this "it's business" crap or you have to "earn your spot on the team". Not in this situation. Guys who don't play in Europe don't play there because they've proven themselves worthy of playing in the NHL. It's just like my men's soccer team going to play in the kid's league.

Oh and another thing:

Andrei Kirilenko signed a 6-year, $86 million US contract extension with the Utah Jazz on Friday, a deal that took three months of negotiations.

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Stupid NBA salary cap. I knew it would ruin player salaries. Oh and who the heck is Andrei Kirilenko?

Griffin Quinn Charlebois

2004-10-31T01:05:00.000-05:00

That's the name of Lee and Amie's newest addition.

Elizabeth Fired!

2004-10-28T20:02:00.000-05:00

As Donald said, "It was a no brainer and it's done".

This week's challenge for team Mosaic and Apex was to create a recruitment campaign for the New York Police Department. The campaigns would be judged by Donny Deutsch and representives from his advertising agency. The project managers for this task were Elizabeth for team Apex and Andy (the guy that nobody respects) for team Mosaic.

Under Andy's leadership, team Mosaic convincingly wins the competition and as a reward, his team is taken by limo to Times Square to view their winning commercial on the big screen TV there. Elizabeth's team is brought back to the boardroom where her teammates questioned her leadership and as a first for the show, she gets fired right there on the spot.

Some thoughts:

- Excellent episode as this week's task was a lot better than some stupid dog washing/grooming service.

- It's hard not to root for a guy like Andy. He's like the underdog on the show with no respect. I think it was a bittersweet moment for him when his team won and I think he got a lot of respect from his teammates for his leadership abilities on this task. He's probably my favourite person on the show right now. Keep at Andy.

- What can you say about Elizabeth? Although she was right about the type of advertising campaign they should have done, she was just an awful leader. She did not lead at all as she was indecisive and lacked the confidence to make any decisions. Her flip flopping seemed to make everyone angry at her, including Kevin, who really wanted to help her out. There was no focus on the team and I thought things were really gonna fall apart in the end. Which I guess it did as they lost big time.

- Apex's military style message could really scare a lot of people. I don't think people want to hear that their city is at war and they should fear for their lives.

Any other thoughts on tonight's show?

It's A Boy!

2004-10-28T19:04:00.000-05:00

Amie just delivered a 9 lbs 11 ounce beautiful baby boy. Both mom and baby are doing well. No name yet but I hear Binford is in the running. Congratulations guys!

Finally!

2004-10-28T09:48:00.000-05:00

After 86 years, the Boston Red Rox have finally won a World Series title. So what was going on in the world the last time they won? Here's a listing of some of the events:

- Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, Fatty Arbuckle and Mary Pickford were leading film stars of the day. "Tarzan of the Apes" was one of the year's top-grossing movies.

- Ernie Harwell (Jan. 25), Ted Williams (Aug. 30), Paul Harvey (Sept. 4), Pearl Bailey (March 29), Mike Wallace (May 9), Nelson Mandela (July 18), Ella Fitzgerald (June 15), and Sam Walton (March 29) were born in 1918.

- Poet Joyce Kilmer (July 30) and first heavyweight boxing champ John L. Sullivan (Feb. 2) died in 1918. On the world stage, Czar Nicholas Romanov, his wife and five children were all murdered on July 17 of that year in a Bolshevik uprising which eventually brought Lenin and Communism to the forefront in Russia.

- Adolph Hitler was an unknown foot solider for Kaiser Wilhelm. No one had heard of the Nazis.

- No U.S. woman had yet voted in a presidential election. Woodrow Wilson was in his second term as president. Young American men were serving in Europe during World War I.

- Anyone who wanted to know about the gunfight at the OK Corral could ask Wyatt Earp. He was still alive. As was his former gunslinging deputy, Bat Masterson, who was working as a sports writer.

- Speaking of sports, Ohio State's brilliant All-American Chic Harley was wearing a military uniform for World War I. The Buckeyes were struggling to a 3-3 record without him.

- Jim Thorpe had yet to launch the NFL. There was no such thing as the NBA

- John Wooden had not played his first high school basketball game in Martinsville, Indiana.

- Man walking on the moon was more than 50 years away.

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Let's hope it doesn't take the Leafs this long to win a Stanley Cup.

Pubic Heath Care

2004-10-27T13:11:00.000-05:00

I find this story rather funny:

An embarrassing spelling mistake has caused Nova Scotia's Health Department to recall thousands of pins meant to support the annual flu-shot campaign.

The letter "L" was omitted from the word "public" on pins given out to health-care workers.

The pins are attributed to the "Office of Health Promotion and Pubic Health Services."

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Maybe that's the problem with our health care system. Not enough attention to pubic related issues.

Random Ramblings

2004-10-26T21:49:00.000-05:00

- Amie and Lee are still anxiously awaiting baby number four. I am now predicting a Halloween baby. Wouldn't that be cool to have your birthday on Halloween? You get presents and candy.

- As I write this, Boston is beating St. Louis 4 to 0. I would like to see Boston win it, but I kinda want to see the curse of the Bambino live on. It makes for some good baseball.

- Because of the NHL lockout, hundreds of players are out of work. Are they entitled to collect E.I.?

- I started watching the Apprentice recently and I am completely hooked. It's the only television show that I actually make an effort to watch every Thursday night. I even watch the Saturday version because of the extra footage and boardroom scenes. Apparently, in this week's episode, the two teams are given the task of running a recruitment campaign for the NYPD. Also, there will be a boardroom first! So everybody go out and watch it Thursday night and we can discuss it here Friday morning.

- You know what's weird? Moving into this big house makes me feel less secure than back in my old apartment in Ottawa. Not sure what it is.

- So how's the commute going Binford? Well, I've been doing it for the past four months now and things seem to be okay. Although I'm sure I'll have a different assessment for you a year or two from now. Or maybe when the snow hits the ground. So what's my typical day like (because I know you care)?:

5:45 AM: Wake up to the sounds of Carter, Sandra and the Boyle over on Kiss FM. They are quite funny and tend not to play crappy music.

5:50 AM: Hop in the shower where I do a little bit of multi-tasking (ie. brush my teeth, wash my hair and take a dump...oh wait, that last part I do at 5:46. Sometimes I'm not in the shower until 6:00 because of what I do at 5:46 but I'm a guy and we like to take our time in this regard.)

6:15 AM: Get dressed, iron my clothes (you would think it would be a better idea to do this the night before but I'm not that organized), put gel in my hair and grab my lunch.

6:30 AM: Kiss Mrs. Ha and Ella Ha goodbye and say hello to Carley's aunt Norma and we are off to Ottawa.

7:41 AM: Norma drops me off at work where I work from 8:00 AM until 4:00 PM.

12:45 PM: I take a walk over to the local convenience store to pick up junk food which has been conspicuously omitted from my lunch. Thanks dear.

4:10 PM: I take the city bus downtown where I meet Norma for 4:40.

5:50 PM: I make it home just in time for supper and the 6:00 news.

So there's my commute. I basically spend 12 hours away from home but it is well worth it in the end. Carley is really happy with the decision to move back home and that makes me happy. Besides, the commute is not too bad when you don't have to drive and you sleep for most of it.

Yeah No Thanks

2004-10-26T20:18:00.000-05:00

This could prove beneficial to a lot of people. Especially those in third world countries where there are no safe or reliable drinking supplies. Which makes the market for this particular bottled water next to zero here in Canada:

NEWater looks like any other glacier-clear bottled H20. Except it gushes from the toilets of Singapore instead of a bubbling spring.

The promotional bottle for Singapore's NEWater looks like any other bottled water, right down to its snappy name and bright label. And it tastes the same as other premium bottled-water brands -- maybe even better, if you prefer the metallic edge of Evian to the airy sweetness of Poland Springs. But while NEWater is transparent, its story is not, and it's frankly not terribly appetizing.

NEWater is the product of Singapore's new water-treatment system, and it is wastewater that has been purified through advanced synthetic membranes called ZeeWeed. That's right: The crystal-clear NEWater that gushes through the country's faucets isn't gurgling from a mountain spring. Most recently, it was flushed from a toilet.

The water is first treated in a traditional water plant before going through a three-stage purification that uses high-quality ZeeWeed membranes, which filter out even the most microscopic bacteria. By the time it's processed, NEWater meets all the drinking-water standards specified by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the World Health Organization.

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(You'll have to view a little ad to read the rest of the article)

I'm sure it's pretty good. Just don't tell us where it came from.

A Little Common Sense Please

2004-10-26T09:31:00.000-05:00

A little common sense could have prevented this:

For the past three Halloweens, the Bennetts have transformed their Cottam home into one of the spookiest in Essex County. But this year the family took its ghoulish act to a whole new level with a roadside display so frightening it prompted a passerby to call 911.

Just after 9 a.m. Monday, an anonymous 911 caller reported seeing a red truck flipped into a ditch in front of the Bennetts' farmhouse on County Road 27. People appeared to be trapped inside, the caller said.

Three OPP officers, two paramedics and as many as 15 volunteer firefighters rushed to the
scene, only to discover the truck was an engineless shell and its driver was made of chicken wire. The grisly crash scene was just the newest addition to the Bennetts' haunted yard.

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I'm a little suspicious of this "anonymous" 911 caller. I have two theories on why this person didn't stick around for emergency crews to arrive:

1. The caller knew it was a Halloween display and thinking it was funny, made a prank call to 911.

2. The caller first thought it was a real accident. He/she called 911. Went over to investigate and finds out that it was a Halloween display. Instead of calling 911 back to say it was a false alarm, this person just took off.

I think my second theory is probably what really happened.

2004-10-25T22:14:00.000-05:00

They Should Be On The List.

Oh That's Why

2004-10-25T21:33:00.000-05:00

Lee and I were watching part of the Red Sox/Cardinals game last night and wondered why Sportsnet used a different feed of the game instead of the usual Fox broadcast. Here's the reason why:

Part of the reason that Rogers Sportsnet decided to carry the World Series international feed instead of the Fox broadcast was so it could take advantage of virtual advertising, which everyone knows is the spawn of the devil.

Even though its motives weren't entirely altruistic, Sportsnet has given baseball fans something they seldom get: a choice.

Those who like Rupert Murdoch's video-game version of the World Series can watch it on Fox or Sportsnet HD. Those who prefer a slightly more traditional approach can watch Sportsnet.

This all came about basically because Sportsnet opted for Major League Baseball's international feed, saving the Fox feed for its high-definition broadcast.

Sportsnet spokesman Dave Rashford confirmed yesterday that the international feed allowed for the insertion of computer-generated virtual ads behind home plate.

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I know most of you don't care but that's the reason for the different feed.

The Tummy Ache Excuse

2004-10-25T21:00:00.000-05:00

Ashlee Simpson's father blames acid reflux disease on her lip synch gaffe:

The 19-year-old singer was busted for a "Saturday Night Live" lip-synch gone awry. Her manager-father said Monday his daughter used the extra help because acid reflux disease had made her voice hoarse.

"Just like any artist in America, she has a backing track that she pushes so you don't have to hear her croak through a song on national television," Joe Simpson told Ryan Seacrest on Los Angeles radio station KIIS-FM. "No one wants to hear that."

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So I guess Milli Vanilli had some really big stomach problems.

Ashlee Simpson: Lip Syncher

2004-10-24T22:05:00.000-05:00

I did not watch Saturday Night Live last night, but here's what I missed:

Teen songbird Ashlee Simpson had a microphone malfunction on "Saturday Night Live" last night, scurrying off stage when a production glitch caught her lip-synching the wrong tune.

The pop star, younger sister of singer and TV star Jessica Simpson, sounded great belting out "Pieces of Me" in her first segment on the show. It was the same song that she butchered at August's MTV Music Video Awards, drawing withering reviews for a flat, out of key performance.

But the triumphant moment turned into a debacle when she came out to debut the song "Autobiography" for a second set. But whoever was responsible for piping in a studio-engineered rendition for Simpson to mouth screwed up, playing "Pieces" once again.

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If you would like to view the video clip of it, right click on the following link and do a SAVE AS.

NHL Doomsday Set?

2004-10-24T00:03:00.000-05:00

According to Bob Mckenzie at TSN, at the rate at which the NHL is telling teams to cancel games, a deal must be reached by December 1st in order to salvage this NHL season:

So in one fell swoop, another 15 days and more than 100 regular season games have gone by the wayside. Regular season games are now cancelled through Dec. 3 and with each passing day, we all get closer to the expiry of the NHL season.

If the NHL knows precisely what date that is, the league isn't saying. But common sense dictates they would need to play games by late January if they're to have a meaningful regular season of 40 or more games.

There needs to be a week or two for a training camp, so if you factor in all that, back out the 45 days, you're left with what appears to be a drop-dead date of Dec. 1, give or take a few days.

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Unless there is a miracle, I don't think there will be any hockey this season. I also think the CBC should stop showing movies on Saturday nights and instead, show the best NHL games of all time. Maybe get fans involved by voting for which game they would like to see. I would personally vote to see every Leafs/Sens playoffs game. It's always fun to see the Leafs eliminate the Sens.

2004-10-22T14:22:00.000-05:00

The Next Superman

A Bit Ironic

2004-10-22T12:15:00.000-05:00

Remember my Go Yankees post where I compared the Leafs to the Yankees and that was the basis on which I chose which team to cheer for during the playoffs? Well it seems the Maple Leafs had an indirect hand in Boston's successful playoff run:

It wasn't until this week that Boston Red Sox fan Keith Kelly stumbled on to something he feels helped his beloved team make history.

The 49-year-old accountant from suburban Quincy, Mass., had seen too many collapses by the Sox in over four decades of following them. So, there was something he still had to do on Wednesday night as he gathered at his home with his wife, children, 90-year-old mother-in-law and two friends to watch Boston play the New York Yankees in Game 7 of the AL Championship Series.

Put on his Toronto Maple Leafs game sweater.

"It just popped into my mind,'' Kelly said yesterday as he sat in his office recovering from a wild night of celebration that engulfed this city after Boston's 10-3 win capped the greatest comeback in baseball playoff history. "I knew there were only two other teams that had ever come back from 3-0 down to win a series and I had the sweater for one of them.''

The 1942 Maple Leafs and the 1975 New York Islanders were the only North American pro sports teams to ever rebound from such a deficit before the Red Sox did it in New York. Kelly's wife, Victoria Kingsley, bought him the sweater as a gift in the early 1980s, special ordering it for him by telephone from the Maple Leaf Gardens merchandise store because, he says: "I liked the way it looked.''

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Don't forget, the curse is still in effect.

2004-10-21T20:53:00.000-05:00

Damn purse got in the way!

Brandon Routh The Next Superman

2004-10-21T13:26:00.000-05:00

According to Superherohype.com, Brandon Routh will be the next Superman.

While Latino Review broke the news last weekend, Variety has confirmed it with their sources.Though a deal has not yet been inked, relative unknown Brandon Routh is expected to take on the role of Superman for the long-in-the-works feature. Singer and his crew are headed to Australia next month to begin production.

Routh's credits include "One Life to Live," "Gilmore Girls," "Will & Grace" and "Cold Case." He recently wrapped his first feature role in "Deadly," starring opposite "That '70s Show" star Laura Prepon.Routh, 25, was raised in Norwalk, Iowa, just 100 miles south of Woolstock -- the hometown of TV's original Superman, George Reeves.

Full Story

Noone can ever replace Christopher Reeve, but I can certainly picture this guy as Superman.

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