Dear Atticus and readers:

We have been naughty posters haven’t we? Let’s get back into the habit of voicing our opinion on our fave red chair interests, extending that to the basement studio now too I see.  I would like to second my hurrah at the return of our beloved Bob to the air waves, and not just to the newest incarnation of The Strombo Show, but to his own morning show as well.  (hope the link works folks!!!)

There is nothing better than Bob’s soothing voice in the nasty early morning hours especially on a cold, windy, winter’s morn. Now we can all fall asleep to George and Bob on a Sunday evening and keep that musical manwich going during the week; crawling into bed with The Hour and waking up with CBC’s Radio 2 morning drive; not a bad deal in my book.

The one thing I must admit I am missing is the banter between Alex Liu and George. Although I am not sure those antics would translate to this seemingly more mature version of The Strombo Show I do still miss Alex. He made me laugh and raised George’s blood pressure (and octave level of his voice on occasion) just enough to keep things fun.

I’m very much looking forward to seeing how this new show evolves, and I am hoping that The Strombo Show has found a more permanent home.

Ted Sorenson appeared on CBC The Hour (November 2, 2009) (sorry, no direct link, you have to look for the specific date for the video)

Ted Sorenson, former adviser to JFK and other major politicians, shares some of the stories from his recently published memoir.

I love Counselor: A Life at the Edge of History by Sorensen. Go check out the book or the audio book read by Sorensen himself. Highly recommended.

Julie Payette on The Hour (November 17, 2009)

Canadian astronaut Julie Payette (wow, my former TA) says spacecraft operators are Type A personalities and explains a few things about what it’s like in zero gravity. Julie was recently in space for the second time in mission STS-127.

stolen without a gun from Cory Monteith's twitter @frankenteen

Last night (11/17 2009), Glee star Cory Monteith was the guest on Strombo’s The Hour.

If you click the link you can watch the episode; around the 38 minute mark George and Cory talk about his Victoria band Porchlife and Cory sends out some love for my podcast.  Thank you Cory!

Listen to the Segment: Cory Monteith Talks About Capital Rock City
The Original CRC Podcast: CRC #80

During the little segment, Cory couldn’t recall how I came up with Porchlife demos.  I got an email from a Zoner named Nick The Viking who sent me the demo files.  Thank you Nick! and thank you Cory for the mention on the CBC.  It may not have translated to a rush of hits for the podcast, but it made me feel like a rock star late last night.

Go with yourself.

Now, where was I?

Oh yeah, now I remember. I was about to tell you that I was going on hiatus for two weeks, and then I did That Thing We All Do But Swear We Won’t Ever Do Again,

I forgot to press SEND.

(sigh)

Actually, more often than not, The Thing I Do That I Wish I Didn’t Do is press SEND too soon, before I’ve finished typing whatever breathtaking prose I’m trying on at the time.

So — unless I press SEND too soon, or forget to press it at all — I’m back.

Did’ja miss me?

* * *

OUR TOWN: Filmmakers Michael Palmieri and Donal Mosher are set to attend tonight’s Doc Soup screenings of their family saga October Country

JONES: here next month

tonight at the Bloor Cinema … the Toronto premiere of Displacement, the multi-media dance art piece created by choreographer Robert Glumbek, visual artist Vessna Perunovich and composer Christos Hatzis, opens tonight at Fleck Dance Theatre as part of Harbourfront Centre’s NextSteps Dance Series. The show, performed by seven dancers, also features the Penderecki String Quartet … Whodunit 2009, this year much-anticipated annual Ontario College Of Art & Design fund-raiser, previews today, tomorrow and Friday before the Mystery Art by the famous and soon-to-be-famous goes on

RADCLIFFE: Greenwich Village

sale Saturday. For more info, collectors, just click here …. p.s. to Radio City Music Hall aficionados: this is the last night to see the justifiably legendary Rockettes kick up their heels at the Air Canada Centre … and the CHUM Christmas Wish, this year in partnership with CP24, yesterday launched its 43rd Christmas season for raising money and collecting toys for families in need across the Greater Toronto Area.

NO PEOPLE LIKE SHOW PEOPLE: Did you know that Daniel Radcliffe (aka Harry Potter) was personally tutored by the Coutts Bank when he turned 18 and learned how to best invest his earnings, currently estimated at $15-20 million? Me neither. But that could explain how the young Mr. R. acquired his new $6 million Greenwich Village townhouse, which will be his home base when

APATOW: on line today

he returns to Broadway to fill the Robert Morse/Matthew Broderick song-and-dance shoes in How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying … riding high on the love-letter reviews for her new album The Fall, Norah Jones is set to guest on The Colbert Report tonight. Expect to hear and see her next month with Jian on Q and Strombo on The Hour … artist Natalka Husar opens her new show, Burden Of Innocence, tomorrow in Hamilton. Advance word on Husar’s new exhibition hints at taking her lifelong obsession with painting and with the Ukraine, her ancestral home, into new territory. For more details, click here … and new comedy zillionaire Judd Apatow is taking questions today at the Funny Or Die writers’ room at 12:30 pm pst (3:30 pm our time.) To quiz him, or to just submit your question, click here.

HOSTS WITH THE MOST:  It’s official — Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin are Oscar’s newest Odd Couple. They are now set to co-host next year’s Academy

KARPLUK & MERCER: Gemini twins (photo: CP)

Awards telecast on Sunday March 7 … meanwhile, Office creator Ricky Gervais has been tagged to host the Golden Globes on Sunday Jan. 17 … and yes, I agree, Ron James did a dandy job of hosting last Saturday night’s Gemini Awards. Among the happiest winners: Rick Mercer, not just because his weekly Rick Mercer Report won Best Comedy Series, but also because he got to hang out with people he watches on TV, like Erin (Being Erica) Karpluk and Cory (Glee) Monteith — who, according to my spies, were even more excited to be hanging out with him.

Ain’t show biz grand?

TOMORROW:

Star-crossed reunion: Patti Lupone & Mandy Patinkin.

Cory Doctorow Photo by Jonathan Worth.

This interview has it all.  Well, some of it.  In pieces.  Kinda glued together.

Click here to hear the podcast of my interview with Cory.

I called Cory on Thursday November 12th, 2009 from Control Booth B at CJSF.  He was in his hotel room getting started on a day of media publicity for the launch of his new book, Makers, published by Tor Books.

I have no idea whether I was his first interview of the day but I am certain that I wasn’t his last.

He did TVOntario, CBC’s The Hour with George Strombo and countless other interviews throughout the day.

He eventually finished with a talk at the Toronto SF reference library, the Merril Collection, where his old friends at Bakka Phoenix Books (where Cory once worked as a bookseller) sold out of books for him to sign.

His talk the next day at the National Reading Summit was a huge success according to all of my sources in Toronto.

Well, all of my sources except the Globe and Mail’s John Barber, who apparently couldn’t be bothered to actually show up.  Not that a little detail like being physically present prevented him from writing about it.

But back to the interview that you may or may not have already started listening to.

It’s a bit of a reanimated corpse brought together by magic and electricity.  The sound quality is off and my recording software kinda crashed about half way through then came back to life again and then died for good.

So I apologize for the quality and I promise that I’m going to get this whole ’sound’ thing figured out.  I finish the show off with a recording of Cory’s reading from the Makers that night at the the Merril Collection Science Fiction Reference Library in front of his home town audience.  It’s a great piece about Suzanne Church’s first encounter with a few of the Makers. A scene that I allude to earlier in our talk.

I still like the interview, though.  I’m sorry that an infernal machine ate chunks of our conversation about DRM and most of the talk on Google Books and everything about his With a Little Help Project that he’s cataloging for Publisher’s Weekly.

Here’s the video from his excellent talk on TVOntario:

]]> http://hlbtoo.wordpress.com/2009/10/29/news-lite/ Thu, 29 Oct 2009 21:33:26 +0000 hlbtoo http://hlbtoo.wordpress.com/2009/10/29/news-lite/

I hope all of you are not too tired to read another review of the new The National. I thought it would be fair to wait a few days and see a few shows before wading into the fray. Unfortunately there has been no real argument so far. I have found only one positive review or comment about what the CBC hype machine calls “the new direction,” that comes from my old pal and normally an astute viewer of all that’s new and interesting in television, Denis McGrath. For a counterpoint to what I’m about to say please look at his blog ‘Dead Things on Sticks.’

As for the rest of what I’m hearing, here’s a few quotes:

“This is news lite. I can’t believe Peter Mansbridge is allowing this to happen.” That from a prominent CBC News team member.

“Well, I watched last night and, I have to tell you, I’m feeling abandoned. It’s all so damned fast and flashy. Even the new radio news … and I like Peter whatshisname as a reporter … I feel like he’s yelling at me. And what’s with the casual jargon of the anchors and reporters. What has happened to the concept of ‘excellence’? I am in mourning. Help!” This comes from a TV pro who I have always admired for her understanding of what works on television.

“Okay, maybe you can’t review a restaurant after ONE night, but how many times do you have to get food poisoning to stay away from it?
Just one example that epitomizes everything from both nights: “Research shows 82% of Canadians use the internet…” What research will we get tomorrow — the percentage of Canadians who use the toilet?! Or perhaps info about a machine that does NOT cure cancer? Oh, wait, we already got THAT today!
Just incredible…” This came in from one of the most talented producers at the Corp.

I have heard from about 15 current and former CBC News people and they all agree, they don’t like the new The National. Well, you say, these are insiders or people with ties to the way it used to be. You are right. But I also participated in a live blog with J-Source while “the new direction” was premiering. The polling they were doing showed over 70% of viewers hated or disliked the show.

The worst news of all for the CBC News honchos is the rumor going around the Corp itself. I could confirm the rumor but not the facts. Nobody is talking. The rumor is that over 700 comments came in to CBC after night one and all but 30 were negative.
It looks like the negative messages may be beginning to seep into the mindset of the news producers. By night three there were already a few minor changes. Peter was still standing, as was everyone else, but he never came out from behind the: what can I call it? It’s not a desk. It’s kind of a grounded UFO. He wasn’t left to wander and find a spot in studio. Second, there was an actual opening that promoted the stories coming up on the show. If you remember on night one, they went right into the first story cold. Also there was no weather hit halfway through the show. Pity, I’m dying to know about the new typhoon heading for Manila.

On the other hand, lots of the bad persists. There are still way too many promos. So many, in fact, that it feels like they are replacing the 20 minute documentaries that once appeared in this time slot. Worse still, most of the promos are for stories that the newscast does not deliver on, some of the promoted material even shows up as 20 second voice over, no story at all.

Oh, and did I mention Peter is still standing. Can we make our host look less comfortable on set? How about asking all his guests and fellow reporters to be even less comfortable than Peter? The best remark I saw was after the interview on night one with General Rick Hillier. Peter announced the general would be on The Hour after the news. Someone wrote in: “I bet George gives him a seat. And The Hour is the youthful, hip show.”

Wendy Mesley is one of my favorite people at CBC. She’s an excellent reporter and a tough interviewer. What the heck is she doing on this show? Her stories look and feel like unfinished Marketplace items where they forgot to tell us the point of the research. Her stuff is inane at best. What a waste.

The biggest problem of all though the lack of depth in most of the items. There were 10 voice-over items on show three. None got more than 30 seconds and none were given context or explanation. Is P.M. Harper’s first trip to China and India not more important than that? How about Hilary Clinton in Pakistan, especially on the day of more car bombings?

True, on night three they mined all they could on swine flu. It was over half the content of the program. Unfortunately it included a piece by Ian Hanomansing that was just a longer version and completely repetitious of what was in the opening story. It also featured two interviews with a doctor about what to do if you get swine flu. A, she was not the best at articulating her points and b, this was not really news. On a real newscast this could have been done graphically and succinctly in 45 seconds. It would have been easier to understand too. This segment is what we used to call a “sand bar” in my old newsroom. The show comes to a complete stop when it hits it.
From where I sit there was only one high quality worthwhile story on the entire newscast. It was Ioanna Roumeliotis’ opening item on swine flu. As for all the rest, I can pick them apart easily for their lack of depth, context, focus and journalism. The worst was probably Susan Ormiston wasting my time and yours asking Afghan President Karzai’s brother in a telephone interview if he took CIA money and whether he was a drug runner. “No” he said. Okay, thanks for talking to us.

What is the CBC trying to do here? They say they want a younger audience. Fine. But is talking down to them the best way to get young viewers? Being shallow? Look, if a youthful viewer is the type of person who will choose CBC News over CSI Miami or the Maple Leafs playing Dallas he or she is obviously not shallow. He or she want real content as much as the 60 year-old viewer. Pandering to youth is patronizing and bound to push serious people of all ages away.

The new The National is seriously flawed at best and leaning towards awful. The line-ups have made no sense. There is no natural flow to the stories. The stories when they appear are poorly reported and shallow. There is too much going on to distract and too little to hold the viewers’ attention. Thin gruel indeed.

I have a friend at CBC who predicted the whole thing would fall apart in six months and the real national news would find its way back on air. There will be no announcements, no full page ads in the newspapers. Sure we’ll be stuck with the pastel pink and blue set and even the big round thing that replaced the news desk, but the important things, the real stories, the journalism, the depth will return. Let’s all hope there will be enough viewers left to welcome it back.

NO PEOPLE LIKE SHOW PEOPLE: Talk about yer star-studded evenings. Ann Blyth, Connie Stevens, Shirley Jones, Debbie Reynolds, Ruta Lee and Nancy Sinatra are among the sparklies set to honour indefatigable

REDGRAVE: Tennessee tribute

entertainer Mickey Rooney at the Thalians Gala this Sunday in Hollywood. (Did you know that Mickey, who married eight times, has been wed to his current missus Jan Chamberlin for more than 30 years? That’s gotta be a Tinsel Town record in itself!) … the late Patrick Swayze will be among the honorees at America Dances, the 24th Anniversary Jubilee of Career Transition for Dancers. Headliners for Monday night’s event at New York’s City Center include four-time Emmy Award winner Valerie Harper and Tony Award winner Ann Reinking. For all the details, including who’s hoofing, click here … and Eli Wallach & Anne Jackson, Vanessa Redgrave, Marian Seldes, John Guare, Olympia Dukakis and John Patrick Shanley are among the marquee names set to participate in an

KASH: Harvest time

evening of poetry, theater, and reminiscences in honor of the induction of Tennessee Williams into The Cathedral of St. John the Divine Poets’ Corner next Thursday in Manhattan.

TRICK OR TREAT: Only three more chances to see dynamic duo Linda Kash and Paul O’Sullivan play multiple roles in Harvest. The Ken Cameron comedy is set to close Saturday night at Showplace Peterborough … the two-day Zoomer Show is set for this weekend at the Direct Energy Centre at the CNE … and the Royal Cinema on College Street celebrates the scary season tonight with a 7 pm Halloween Double

STROMBO: with Anne tonight

Bill: Zombies: When the Dead Walk, and The Houdini Code, two intriguing documentaries produced by Donna Zuckerbrot.

TOGETHER AGAIN: Your boyfriend George Stoumboulopoulos welcomes Anne Murray back to his red chairs tonight on The Hour to talk about her new autobiography All Of Me …  and speaking of autobiographies, recently I mentioned that I thought comedian Kathy Griffin’s new autobiography has the catchiest title of the fall literary season (yes, she  really did call her book Official Book Club Selection.)

MANDEL: Touche-pas!

But some close runners-up are now looming. Obsessively compulsive Howie Mandel calls his book Here’s the Deal: Don’t Touch Me. Paul Shaffer’s Letterman years memoir is called We’ll Be Here For The Rest Of Our Lives. Inside its pages, current headline-earner Andre Agassi is reportedly living up to the title of his tome, Open. And Don Cherry wants to make it as simple for us as possible, so he’s called his new collection of on-and-off-the-ice fables Don Cherry’s Hockey Stories And Stuff.

OUR TOWN: The 2009 International Diaspora Film Festival opens here Sunday with a wide range of unusual events. Highlights include David Amram’s

MURRAY: on The Hour tonight

evening of music and dance from the Middle East, At Home Around the World, on Tuesday 3 at Revival, and the Toronto premiere of filmmaker Teri McCluhan’s 2008 documentary on Badshah Khan, The Frontier Gandhi, on Wednesday at Innis Hall. For more info on Diaspora events, click here … dazzling dance demon Noam Gagnon returns to Toronto Nov. 6-7 in The Vision Impure, an evening of solos presented by DanceWorks as part of Harbourfront Centre’s NextSteps series at the Enwave Theatre … and the seventh annual Weekend To End Breast Cancer saw 4,615 participants raise a staggering $11.6 million for Princess Margaret Hospital’s ongoing mission to conquer cancer in our lifetime. Organizers will broaden the base next year with The Weekend To End Women’s Cancers, giving walkers an option to designate whether the money they raise goes to breast cancer or gynecologic cancers research, treatment and care. Expect a HUGE turnout.

-/-

If you have not seen this documentary, borrow it, rent it, download it… you have to watch this.

This is a talk show with comedian Bill Maher and director Larry Charles.

TONIGHT, TONIGHT: Your boyfriend George Stroumboulopoulos kicks off his sixth season of The Hour tonight with an intimate hour-long interview

GEORGE: Sixth Season

with Michael J. Fox. Other sparklies about to get Georged: Andre Agassi, Michael Buble, Drew Barrymore, Michael Douglas, John Irving, Michael Moore, Anne Murray, Edward Norton, Clive Owen, and Snoop Dogg … earlier in the evening Little Mosque On The Prairie returns with a new edge when Brandon Firla (Billable Hours) plays a manipulative minister from the big city who is less than thrilled to find a bunch of Muslims as tenants in his church. Zaib Shaikh, Sitara Hewitt, Sheila McCarthy, Carlo Rota, Debra McGrath and Arlene Duncan continue to keep the pot boiling … also returning tonight: Just For Laughs, with a premiere

GOLDBERG: just for laughs?

episode from Montreal featuring Whoopi Goldberg, Jim Gaffigan, Louis C.K., Pete Zedlacher and Adam Hills. In addition to Zedlacher, Canuck showstoppers set to perform on the weekly series include Mike MacDonald, Deb DiGiovanni, Angelo Tsarouchas, Shaun Majumder, Martin Short, Jon Dore and Gerry Dee. So what’s not to like? … and Hot Docs is the co-presenter of tonight’s showing of Larry Towell’s Canada-Palestine co-production Indecisive Moments at the 2009 Toronto Palestine Film Festival, which continues through Friday. A personal video diary of Towell’s experiences in the Palestinian Occupied Territories, which he refers to as “the world’s largest open-air prison,” the film screens tonight at 7:00 pm at the Art Gallery of Ontario’s Jackman Hall, with filmmaker Towell in attendance. For more information and/or to purchase tickets, just click here.

BRIDGES: new John Wayne?

NO PEOPLE LIKE SHOW PEOPLE: Newcomer Christoph Waltz, the breakout star of Inglorious Basterds, is set to play the villain opposite Seth Rogen in The Green Hornet … Jeff Bridges is in talks to star in a Coen Brothers remake of the classic John Wayne western True Grit … Meryl Streep’s daughter, actress Mamie Gummer, has been cast in director John Carpenter‘s new thriller, The Ward … and watch and listen for songbird Dawn Langstroth on a channel near you. She’s set to stop by AM 740 today at 2 pm to perform selected songs from her new CD Highwire in the radio station lobby. And tomorrow morning she’ll serenade early-risers on Breakfast Television (BT Toronto, that is.) So stay tuned!

LORD OF THE FLIES: When Canadian comedy icon Rick Mercer flew to B.C. to kick off the new Spread The Net campaign at Simon Fraser University, SFU biologist Carl Lowenberger, challenged him to stick his arm in a cage filled with mosquitoes — and you know how Mercer responds to challenges.  You can see the results on tomorrow night’s premiere of The Rick Mercer Report. (And I won’t even mention the bit where Lowenberger dares him to stick his entire head in the cage.)

MERCER & LOWENBERGER: SFU research team?

Meanwhile, Mercer’s spoof of that weird Michael Ignatieff commercial, which will be revealed to television viewers on RMR tomorrow night, has already ricocheted around the word as a viral video. And yes, it’s funny. Funny enough for Ignatieff to instantly install it on his Facebook page (not to mention his Twittering about it.)

Still haven’t seen it?

Really?

So what was it like in the monastery?

Never mind. If you’re really sure that you really can’t wait ‘til tomorrow night, just click here.

TOMORROW:

More fun ‘n’ games. (Who knew?)

Source”BrokenCool”

Oh yes boys and ghouls, I got my lazy, undead ass off the couch today and headed into the big, scary city to watch a taping of The Hour with guest George Romero! I totally missed the zombie walk in his honor on the weekend and was pretty bummed about it. My kids couldn’t get over their fear of zombies so I had to stay home. When I heard the news that we could go down there to see the taping of his interview for free, well, I jumped all over that chance.

While I probably missed out on actually meeting the great Romero in person at the zombie walk, I at least got to sit 10 feet away from him and listen to some great stories and his opinions on the current trend of horror and zombie flicks. Like a good undead legion member, I lathered myself in the blood of my fresh kill and shambled my way downtown.

Mmmm bloody! And check the t-shirt plug for the Zombie Walk!

After spending all that money (okay, 10 bucks but still) on makeup for the zombie walk that I didn’t get to use, it was nice to know that the piles of fake blood I had accumulated would be put somewhere other than a shelf. A word of warning though, blood packets for your mouth not only are unnaturally warm (I mean, why is it so warm when it’s just sitting on the counter??) but are the most unpleasant tasting items it has been my misfortune to put in my mouth. After all that torture I found that there wasn’t much blood in them anyway. What a terribly tasty way to find that out.

It was down to the tubes of fake blood to finish the job I had started and I think it turned out alright. I didn’t have much time to get ready because I had to drop the kids off at school and it’s really not a good idea to show up at a public school covered in blood. I don’t know, something about kindergarten kids being frightened of the scary man smothered in blood. With the help of my lovely girlfriend Charmaine, I pulled off the best zombie look I could in 30 mins and we set off.

I was almost hoping to be pulled over on the way there just to see the cops reaction but then I would have been late and missed the whole thing so it’s better that I didn’t. I at least turned some heads walking down the street towards the CBC building and the parking lot attendant wouldn’t let us park until we told him where we were headed. Good times!

So we get to the building just in time for the lineup! Dang, that building is huge, but there weren’t too many other zombies there. I think there ended up being about 7 or 8 of us mixed in with the regular looking crowd. This at least paid off for Charmaine and I since they wanted all the zombies to sit at the front. Maybe my scary looking mug will get on the TV box for everyone to see! You can be all like aaaaaaaaaaaaaannnnnnd there he is, I know that guy! I hope that isn’t my 15 seconds of fame already! HAHA!

There was alot of sitting and waiting and I got to quickly talk to Thea, the organizer of the Toronto Zombie Walk. It’s insane the amount of work that goes into those walks and I just wanna send my thanks to her and everyone that helps her, not only for setting up the Zombie Walk every year but for also letting everyone know about this taping. Without that knowledge I would have totally missed this.

Char and I in the studio. We figured if she looked good and I looked bloody, we'd double our chances to sit up front! HAHA!

A nice shot of my bloody facial handprint.

A couple of the other zombies in the crowd.

Some random guy had to entertain us while we waited for the taping to start but the brains jokes didn’t get old and it was funny to see him banter back and forth with the row of zombies. Finally we get to see the two Georges, Romero and Stroumboulopoulos. (Man, fun to say but impossible to spell!) I really like George Stroumboulopoulos’ skills in an interview. He always keeps it fun and informative. George Romero spoke about his experiences making Night of the Living Dead and the differences when he made films for big studios. He also touched on his opinions of the current state of horror movies saying that he feels they’re too mean spirited.

There was some talk about why the zombie genre seems to be so big and George Romero commented on how he always hears from 4 or 5 people at every convention about how they’ve made their own zombie flick. They spoke about how there’s just a built in fanbase for zombie movies and that might be the reason for the interest by filmmakers to create these films. When asked if the audiences responded differently in other countries towards his new film, Romero pointed out how the feeling and reactions were generally the same no matter where the movie played and this speaks alot of the zombie loving crowd. I guess zombies are really breaking down barriers through race, gender and financial position. The zombies are for all of us!

George Stroumboulopoulos and George Romero chat it up.

It was over way too fast but just in time for me to get my butt out of there and pick the kids up from school. Thankfully I had enough time to wash all that blood off. I wish I could’ve had the chance to shake Romero’s hand and score some pics with him but he was in and out and I was out of time. I’ll just have to start stalking him in the city dressed like a zombie the whole time.

It was a great day and Char and I had an awesome time. Again, thanks to Thea for spreading the word about the taping and making a typical Tuesday be anything but typical!

Under the marquee (munching some brains) – Will

Ooooohhhhh boy has it been quite the first week of school for me and I don’t even go to school anymore! However, my two rugrats do and I’ve not enjoyed waking at 7:30 every morning to get them ready. I really thought it would give me more time to watch flicks and get my blogging done but it seems that I have even less time to do just that.

I think I’ve gotten my nice new schedule figured out now and I’ll be back to my regular reading, writing and commenting by the end of the week. I thought I’d at least drop by and spill some news for you guys.

First up, tomorrow is the final day of the contest for American Werewolf In London. I’ll be picking up a fresh new copy of the Full Moon Edition for one lucky person. Although at this point there’s such a small amount of entries that I could almost buy everyone a copy! Where’s the fun of chance in that though! I’ll have the winner announced tomorrow night and then I’ll be shipping out their copy! I’m also on the lookout for the next contest prize. I saw quite a few flicks at the Toronto After Dark Film Festival which I think will be coming out soon and I may actually do a prize pack of more than one movie. We shall see.

Now, there was also a zombie walk last Saturday featuring George Romero that I really wanted to go to. Of course I couldn’t find anyone to take my kids and after a bit they didn’t want to go anymore. Apparently my daughter is way, way, way too scared of everything to handle it. One drop of fake blood was enough to get her grossed out and the thought of hundreds of people covered in the stuff sent her crying from the room. I was pissed but couldn’t hold it against such cute and tiny people.

Still trying to get over the pain and despair of missing the great zombie master himself, I logged into Facebook today and found an open invitation to zombies of the local area to go to a taping of The Hour where George Romero will be. With me having to get the kids from school by 3 I wasn’t really excited about this news until I read it was at 12:30 and it’s only half an hour long! That’s more than enough time for me to get my ass to and from Toronto, clean the blood off my face and pick my kids up.

So I can’t offer you guys any great shots of the zombie walk from last Saturday but maybe I’ll have some interesting pics and info from the taping tomorrow. You’ll at least get to see me and the girlfriend covered in blood! So be here tomorrow for the winning announcement and a blood covered edition of The Film Reel!

Under the marquee – Will

On August 12th I applied for a writing job at The Hour.  I desperately wanted this job.  I didn’t get it.

Got the email from David Freeman (Senior Producer) just after 4pm today.  He thanked me for my time and wished me well.  It was extremely thoughtful of him to email.

There are so many more details to share about this experience.  (Tomorrow.)

This was a chance to grab hold of something and apply myself.  It was a chance for stability.  It was a way to not leave my family behind.

It was – I think – a prescient moment in my life.  A two paragraph email said an awful lot to me personally, emotionally and professionally.  You might think I’m laying it on thick right now.  I’m not.

This afternoon, I had a moment of clarity.

There was always a chance that this opportunity would change everything.  And it did.  Because I didn’t get it.

Hollywood.  Two weeks today.

Congratulations to The Hour and OMAoG!!!

The nominations for the 24th Annual Gemini Awards came out today and once again our friends over at The Hour were recognized for their hard work and dedication.  In total the show, and it’s host, received four nominations including one for it’s interactive project last season with One Million Acts of Green.  Much congratulations to all those nominated, as well as those that put in the effort every day to make The Hour what it is, from all of us here at The Red Chair Lounge.

Of course the show itself was nominated in the ‘Best Talk Series’ category.  Jennifer Dettman, David Freeman and George Stroumboulopoulos are up against ‘The After Show’ on MTV as well as fellow CBCers, ‘The Steven and Chris Show’.  Note to Ms. Dettman: congratulations on your double nomination in this category and here’s hoping there are new episodes of The Steven and Chris Show at some point in the near future.

Mr. Stroumboulopoulos has also been nominated as ‘Best Host or Interviewer in a General/Human Interest or Talk Program or Series’ along with George Kourounis from Angry Planet(Island Caving), Austin Stevens of Austin Stevens Adventures (In the Shadow of Armoured Giants), Les Stroud of Survivorman Third Season and Matt Wells for Where You At Baby? (Huey Lewis). Although I have complained of George’s lack of edge this last season in his interviews I must admit I hope he makes a clean sweep and takes home this trinket as well.

The third nom for The Hour comes as no surprise at all, it is in the ‘Best Writing in an Information Program or Series’ category.  Although I do admit I am surprised which episode it was for, as I thought George went a little easy on Ms. Palin during their New Years Eve interview, however congratulations go out, from us, to David Freeman, Paul Bates, Diana Frances, Ken Hegan, Nick McCabe-Lokos, Carman Melville, Scott Montgomery, Adam Nicholls, Randy Potash as well as the man himself.

I must confess though if they were to win only one award, I desperately hope they take home the ‘Best Cross Platform Project’ Gemini. One Million Acts of Green, the interactive project that was on CBC, and the internet, campaigning for such a simple and important part of all of our lives simply must win at the Geminis this year!  Not because it means that Jennifer Dettman, Julie List, Alex Liu, Paul McGrath and George Stroumboulopoulos get to take home another dust collector but because the campaign’s importance hasn’t diminished, indeed the need for us to make a change grows each day.

Once again congratulations and the best of luck to all of our friends at The Hour!