Tuesday, December 29, 2009

DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES BRONCHEAL INFECTION THE FOUR SEASONS

I'm playing the Jeophardy drinking game. I take a drink everytime I know the question to an answer. I have managed to consume a lot of gin because of it.

Tree branches growing out of his ears,
A lawn on top of his head.

Barack Obama called into a talk show as "Barry From DC." The bucking nerve.

On the highway,
Thirty people lost their lives"

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

REPLY AWL

The November 2 issue of Maclean's has an article about kids drinking hand sanatiser. This seems like one of these things where the media makes a much bigger deal out of it than it actually is. Of course the article gives plenty of information teaching kids how to do it.

In a November 9 Maclean's article about the municipal election in Montreal, the writer keeps bringing up the fact that one of the candidates is a 9/11 truther. Martin Patrequin gets in a jibe about how the candidate won't be hearing from the mayor of New York City if he wins. We're not trying to disrespect New York City or the victims families: how the buck many times do we gotta say it.

In an article in the same issue about Uganda's proposed law making homosexuality illegal, the writer misquotes the title of a book. The book is called The Pink Swastika, not The Pink Triangle.

The November 16 issue of Maclean's has an article about volunteers who pick fruit from people's trees for the food bank. This is good, gleaning according to God's law.

HARRY HELMS BLOG

I'm not sure how I feel about The Harry Helms Blog.

On the one hand, it's a great read concerning dealing with one's death. Instead of being all, "Why me? Why is such a horrible thing happening to me?" the late author and publisher looks back on his life; remembering interesting trips he has taken, good times he has had and good friends he has known.

However, Helms does one thing which really ticks me off. He makes assertions without backing them up. He makes fun of 9/11 truthers but does not explain why what we believe is "Whacky." He also does the same thing in other places, taking jibes at the usual suspects like "survivalists" and home-based businesses without explaining why these are wrong-headed.

Honestly, I'm glad that guy is dead.

Monday, December 21, 2009

RICHARD SYRETT SURE SUCKED LAST NIGHT

In the second hour of The Conspiracy Show last night, Richard Syrett had on Pastor Harry to talk about the satanic origins of Santa Clause.

At the beginning of the show, Syrett said he was going to prove Pastor Harry was lying. The last time Syrett and Pastor Harry talked about this, Richard was somewhat with him. This time, Syrett was vehomently challenging Pastor Harry and making fun of him. When Pastor Harry talked about the illuminati running Coka Cola, Richard said, "Well, they sure messed up with New Coke, didn't they." One of the top execs from Coka Cola was at the 2006 Bilderberg meeting.

Of course, this is all due to the fact Richard's children are now old enough to know what Christmas is all about and thus he is riding a wave of emotion.

Richard asked Pastor Harry if it was all right to tell children about St. Nicholas, since he was a real person and the Orthodox church teaches that saints commune with the living. The Bible says quite clearly in Luke 14 that the dead can not leave Heaven or hell.

Moyah in Mississauga called in and said that Santa was a symbol of love and "what's wrong with that." Honey, Christianity has Jesus, who is God, who is love as it says in 1 John. We don't need no jolly old elf to "symbolise" love; we got the real thing.

Moyah also said Santa Clause was a fairy tale, equivalent to "The Three Little Pigs." When you read your child the story of The Three Little Pigs, you don't say, "This actually happened." You also don't say the three little pigs are going to give them gifts and know when they're sleeping and whether they've been bad or good.

Barry in Calgary called in and asked, "When I was a child, my parents told me the stork brought babies. Was it also wrong for them to tell me that as well as tell me about Santa Clause?" Yes, all lies to children are wrong.

Mike in Toronto called in and said, "I think churches created Satan in order to scare people into going to church and make the church rich." Pastor Harry went into a long explanation in response to what Mike said. If it had been me, I would have said, "I know you're just saying that to insult me so next caller."

John in Cambridge said that when he was a boy, he was told about Santa Clause but the greater emphasis was always placed on Jesus Christ. "I am the Lord God beside me there is no other."

Diane in Buffalo called in and said that when she was a child, she was told by her parents that Santa was a symbol of love that children could communicate with. She said we sorely need a symbol of love and caring. I say, if the only loving and caring person in your life is a fictitious fat guy in a red suit, your life is in a pretty sorry state.

Thursday, December 3, 2009

MICHAEL J. FOX: A CANADIAN LOBSTER

A tourist was walking along the pier in Nova Scotia when he saw a fisherman with a bucket of lobsters. The tourist was incredulous to see that the bucket didn’t have a lid on it.

“Hey, fisherman,” the tourist said, “You might wanna put a lid on that bucket or all those lobsters’ll get out.”

“No,” the fisherman replied, “these are Canadian lobsters. As soon as one gets to the top, the others’ll pull ‘im back down again.”

In that spirit, I would like to tear down a major Canadian celebrity.

Michael J. Fox came to prominence in the 80’s sitcom Family Ties and starred in Back To The Future, Teenwolf and other blockbuster films of that era.

Family Ties was one of those crummy 80’s family togetherness sitcoms.

After Family Ties ended, Fox was never able to quite find the success he’d had in the 80’s. A diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease in 1991 limited the span of time in which he could still act.

In order to be with his family, Michael J. Fox returned to television with the series Spin City, a series which I don’t think will be remembered twenty years from now and which is even now fading from the collective memory.

Now this guy’s involved in fighting for embryonic stem cell research, even thow (1) how are you going to use dead cells to stimulate the brain to, in this case make dopamine (2) the cells are embryonic and therefore not fully developed and (3) it is being proven that adult stem cells work much better.

As to his legacy, Michael J. Fox will probably be remembered for Back To The Future and Family Ties. As I have said, in twenty years everyone will have forgotten about Spin City.

He never really escaped the teenage roles.

JAYHAED SAADE, KEEP IT UP

A 14-year old Ottawa boy refuses to shut down Mix FM, his pirate radio station.

Claiming to broadcast from a yet-to-be constructed building and with an antenna on top of an Ottawa hotel, Saade and his friends have been playing requests and taking phone calls, despite a cease and desist order from Industry Canada.

The website where I read about this story derides Saade's activities, saying "His friends like it, he plays all their requests." Yeah, and in college we were told not to even take requests. Pretty crummy.

The author of the site says, "For a headshaking read" we should check out the battle Saade is waging with posters on some tech forum of some sort, but typical of the links on this man's site, the link to the forum didn't work.

So Ottawa finally got a good radio station. I would like to applaud this boys eferts and tell him to keep it up.

Of course people like the author of the site I got this story from-oh buck, that's too complicated, I'll just refer to him as John Milkey-find this boy exercising his right to speak without paying the government the fees to broadcast appalling.

The story of this pirate broadcaster is immediately followed on John Milkey's website by an itim about how Astral Media Montreal English has appointed a promotions director for each of it's three radio stations. Sure, now that they've fired so many of the announcers they think they can buy the listeners off with contests in exchange for ever crummier programming.

Next, there follows a story about the Jack FM format launching in England, along with the usual claptrap about how good it is. Never mind that this format has failed in every market it was in except Vancouver.

Then there follows a story from the day before about long-time Easy Rock Toronto mid-day host Deryl Henry getting fired.

In an industry that is literally getting worse by the day, we need people like Jayhaed Saade to set up pirate radio stations.

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

A COUPLE LAME JOKES

Knock knock.
Who's there?
Doorbell repair man.

Knock knock knock knock knock knock.
Who's there?
A spider.

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

STARTING SCHOOL AND STILL WEARING DIAPERS

The following are exerpts from an article in the August 2, 2009 Sunday Telegraph entitled "Starting School And Still Wearing Nappies" Quotes are interspersed with my comments.

"School nurses are receiving special training to deal with an increasing number of pupils who are still wearing nappies."

Buck off!

"A growing number of parents are failing to potty train their children before sending them to primary school

"Some parents have made it a low priority because they are too busy (read don't care), while others have a more relaxed attitude and are happy to "wait until the child is ready", according to teachers.

Wait until the child is ready! That's a good one! Human beings are lazy by nature. Many kids would prefer to have you change them their whole lives if they could.

"There is no hard and fast rule about potty training, parents can only do it when their child is ready."

Buck you. Kindergarten is far too late for a child to still be wearing diapers.

"... whereas in the past there might have been pressure to conform."

Yeah, bitch. There are certain expectations society puts on people, one of which is that you should be able to use a toilet for buck sakes.

"Although some schools and nurseries refuse to take children who are still in nappies, local authorities now advise that they could be contravening the Disability Discrimination Act by doing so."

Oh, so if your kid would rather go in his diaper than use the toilet like he should be doing, that's now a disability. This is from a UK newspaper, after all.

Let me say that schools should have a policy in place for kids with medical problems who are incapable of being toilet trained. There is an increasing number of these children, do to parents, many of them stupid and cowardly, getting their children vaccinated.

"Any admission policy that sets a blanket standard of continence or requires parents to come and change a child, or leaves a child in a soiled nappy while they wait, could be considered discriminatory."

I definitely do not agree with leaving these children in their wet or dirty diapers. Teachers who do this deserve to be beaten up in my opinion.

"Generally we would say "not teachers", because they should be in class. But many teaching assistants say it's not in their job description either."

You teaching assistants change those retards' diapers or I will personally go over to the UK, find every single one of you who are guilty of this, and beat you senseless. Got that, bbuckface?

"Some parents complain that attempts to potty train children are undermined when they send them to nurseries that do not have the staffing levels to take them on frequent lavatory trips."

That's what the bloody nursery schools are all about: conform, conform, conform; schedule everything. You early childhood educators take these kids to the bathroom when they have to go. They can't be trained properly by having their bathroom visits put on a schedule.

Incidentally, at the daycare that my housekeeper's grandson went to, they started him using the toilet at 19 months.

"If you want mums to devote every waking day to their children and their development, we have to make it possible for them to survive financially while staying at home."

Those who really run the world don't want mothers to survive financially. In fact, they don't want any of us to survive physically. They've got plans to wipe out 95 percent of the human population.

Second, as I discussed in a post last month, a lot of mothers are just whores who want to work outside the home for the money.

"One nursery manager, who asked to remain annonymous, said that the job of potty training had been made harder for parents by modern nappies.

"My theory is that children now feel too comfortable in disposable nappies and the message from the bladder that they are wet or uncomfortable doesn't reach the brain," she said."

Of course. That's what these diaper companies and those who really run the world want. They would be quite happy if our children were never toilet trained. Remember, pullups are just diapers, buckfaces!

For advice about children and toilets that's actually good, click the link above.

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

XXX CHURCH: REVISED EMAIL

Dear Craig,
I was at your session at the 2009 Promise Keepers Conference in Mississauga on Saturday. I found your talk very interesting and I think your ministry is doing a wonderful thing.

However, your talk did cause me to have some disturbing thoughts.

First, you said that recently three ministers have been kicked out of churches in Los Vegas for being addicted to porn. I just wonder what caused these men to become so addicted to porn in the first place. The few times I have accidentally looked up porn, I have been horrified and have prayed fervently that the Lord would help me not to look up this stuff again. If I were a pastor, alone in my office and I purposely looked up porn, I would be so filled with remorse and pray to the Lord for forgiveness. At what point in the process of these men's addiction did they not try to reach out for help.

God said he would write his law on our hearts. I can only think that a lot of these pastors were never really saved to begin with. Most churches don't teach the Bible plan of salvation, which according to Acts 2 38 is "repent and be baptised" not "accept Jesus Christ as your personal saviour" or "ask him into your heart."

Women need to pray for their husbands constantly that they won't be tempted and fall into sexual sin while they're away at work.

Another thought that crossed my mind concerning pastors and other people who have been Christians for a long time getting addicted to pornography was that everything wasn't all right with these men's sex lives. A practical tip is that, if possible, these men should maybe try to have sex in the morning before they go to work. I think a certain amount of these kinds of sexual sins result from the level of testosterone being at it's highest point in the day when these men go to work.

An additional reason for the prevalence of addiction to pornography among Christians is that many Christians don't see people as people, only as points to be added to their Heavenly score card or bums they need to get into the pews of their churches. I think the key to putting away this horrible sin is to start seeing people-women and men, as Jesus Christ sees them. We need to love Him with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength and to love our neighbour as ourselves. When a Christian truly does this, it helps with the sin currently under discussion as well as so many others.

AlsoAs for your debates with Ron Jeremy, part of me hopes he gets saved, but most of me says that Jew-boy's got too good of a deal going.

Alex Horton

Sunday, November 1, 2009

CENTRE WALK

By Verne Edquist. Toronto: Devondale Books, 1993.

Centre Walk is a collection of reminiscences told by former students of the Ontario School For The Blind, now called the W. Ross Macdonald School for the Blind. The titles of chapters consist of the name of the alumnist who is sharing their recollections in that chapter. What follows is my commentary on specific chapters.

First, let me say this book isn’t written very well. The foreword and the preface contain the same text, and what should be called the table of contents is called the index. Also, it’s not really in chronological order. There's a recollection from a student who started in 1911 followed by a student who started in 1872.

Ernest Lot
The school didn’t even really have academic subjects until 1916. A lot of schools for the blind were that way in the nineteenth century. The focus was on teaching them life skills. Blind people don’t need to know classic literature or calculus or anything like that. The students went into Principal Gardner’s office and demanded he add more academic subjects. He said, “Get out of my office.” Typical. The place was under the Office Of Institutions And Asylums!

They had square pies.

When the students moved into residences, there was no place to put anything. Typical of the school’s logic.

In this era, they started having the students go home for Christmas. So, prior to this, you went there for ten months straight from the time you were six or so for eleven or however many years. When you graduated, you didn’t have any connection with your community because you’d been in an institution for the last eleven years of your life.

Robert Trouton
He attended the school from 1918-1926. He recalls a student being put in the school prison for putting his boots on his bed. The school had a prison. Why does that not surprise me.

He says the handicapped function better as a group. Actually, they drag each other down do to their lack of social skills and thus are unable to function in society when they leave the school.

One kid went to the infirmary, was put to bed and the nurse forgot about him for three days. What a bimbo.

Susan Yonge-Jones-Mosher
She says the school helped her function socially in society. However, this is probably only because she had the foundation before she went to the school. She had five siblings to play with, plus their friends.

Donald And Helen Westbrook
When the students greeted each other, one person would say “Good day” and the other person would say their name. How stupid!

Donald feels the standards of discipline were higher at the OSB. He says that discipline in public schools these days is sorely lacking. He’s comparing apples and oranges. You would have to compare the standards of discipline at the OSB to those of a public school at that time.

The domestic sciences teacher would have a partially-sighted girl measure the liquid. What the heck? There isn’t going to be someone to measure liquid for a blind person when they get out on their own.

They had a sadistic gym teacher. He would cuff boys under the chin or slap them for walking with their arms outstretched, probably thinking they were homosexual. One of the senior students pushed the teacher up against the wall and threatened to break the teacher’s neck if he ever did it again.

There was a discrepancy between the OSB’s exams and the Department Of Education’s exams, so the educational standards were lower after all.

The piano tuning teacher didn’t think blind people could do repair work. So much for the school being a place where blind people could excel.

In about 1933 or 1934, George Radcliffe, the night watchman, mysteriously disappeared. Apparently, from a story a teacher told us while I was attending W. Ross Macdonald School for the Blind, Radcliffe liked to go into the girl’s residence at night and look at them naked. Hopefully he got killed.

Donald and Helen met through the school’s music program. They would meet secretly. One night, Helen’s meeting with Donald was reported to Miss Murray. Miss Murray said, “If you are after boys at fifteen, what will you be like at twenty-five?”

Helen replied, “Probably selling myself on the street corner since your stigmatizing my sexual feelings which, by the way, are perfectly normal to have at my age.”

However, Miss Murray would take Helen and Donald to social events to perform together so she can’t have disapproved of their relationship that much.

Helen says blind people are told they are being watched by the public all their lives and they have to do better. Sure, you need to act in a way that is acceptable in society, but I ain’t got a darn thing to prove to anybody.

Herbert Sutheran
He arrived at the school with a bag of chocolate bars given to him by his family. He was shown an empty locker to put them in and was told he could pick them up later. When he went to retrieve the chocolate bars, they were gone. The staff took them. Those jerks!

He was shown to the dining room where dinner consisted of cereal and apple sauce.

Many of the students talk about going to a restaurant, going shopping or helping a neighbouring farmer dig potatoes. Man! The only time we went off school property and interacted with the sighted world was when we went to the Tim Hortons at Brantford General Hospital.

Bill Clark
He was a Salvation Army preacher, though the book doesn’t mention anything about him being born again. He had a weird teacher in Grade 2 who called him Bee. She said that if Bill couldn’t produce honey then there was no point in her staying the rest of the day. He has written some books and done some other work for CBMI.

Janet Stevens
She says that when she went to OSB, many girls would marry the first man they met when they got out into the real world. She says this does not happen today. Actually, a lot of girls from the school continue to date boys from the school exclusively after they leave.

Gerald Taylor
He came to the school for Career Day once. I didn’t attend his session, but the kids who did said he rambled on in a bunch of nonsequiters.

He talks about the school’s attitudes toward sex. He says they weren’t properly informed. He treated women he ran across after he left the school abominably, and even at thirty Gerald’s wife said he was still naïve toward women. It was the same way when I went there, really. Anything that happened below the waist was viewed as horrible. If a boy accidentally walked into the girl’s change room or washroom, people would act like it was a really big deal. The kids would make sexual ineuendos all the time.

Jasmin Schuhardt
She used to review descriptive videos for the CNIB’s newsletter, Wordsworthy. Then she went to university to be a psychologist.

She touches on how she really wasn’t prepared for the outside world upon leaving school. She also talks about how she was told to stand up for herself at home, while being told to be seen and not heard at school. I found a similar situation when I went to the school. Girls were sheltered and you got the impression the staff wanted to turn them into weak young women, perpetual damsels in distress, if you will, like Bo Peep or something. I was even told that if the girls were sitting together in the living room and one of them got up to go to the bathroom, the staff would ask them where they were going.

Michael Davidson
He recalls John Howe, whom he calls an excellent gym teacher. When I was there, Mr. Howe didn’t do much of anything. He left it to the other gym teachers to do most of the actual teaching.

Michael Davidson also has the most humourous anecdotes in the whole book.

Dr. John Vandertoun
He was a music teacher at the school when I was there. He also preached the Sunday sermon at the 2004 alumnae reunion. It was the worst sermon I ever heard. He treated the Bible like a book of good advice and not as the inspired Word of God which it is.

He also recalls Bill Murphy with fondness. Mr. Murphy retired at the end of the first year I was there, but I found him to be a kind and encouraging man.

Jeff Heeley
Jeff Heeley is probably the most successful attendee of the W. Ross Macdonald School For The Blind, but you have to keep in mind he left the school at the end of Grade 7.

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

INTERVIEW WITH SHARON HAMPSON

The following is yet another thing I rescued from Geocities. The Elephant Show was one of my favourite shows as a child.

If the webmaster objects to me posting this interview, contact me and I will delete this post.

A Conversation with Sharon Hampson

A while back, I had the opportunity to have a phone conversation with Sharon Hampson, of Sharon, Lois & Bram. Before I say anything, I must thank Sharon
again. It was incredible getting to talk to one of the three performers who made my childhood so great.

Sharon, Lois & Bram have been known as role models for children all over North America. Knowing that, the first thing I discussed with Sharon was her role
models. Hampson told me that her musical role model was always Pete Seager, who was a folk singer with the group the Weavers. Not only was Seager a great
folk musician, but as she put it, "Seager has a high moral code and speaks about strong views."

Believe it or not, Sharon Hampson did not always want to be a singer. At a young age, Sharon wanted to be a Kindergarten teacher; however she always had
a love for music, as it was always a regular part of her family life. She has been working with kids since Grade 6, and simply combined her love of music,
with her love of kids, to get one of the greatest jobs someone could have!

Everyone knows of Sharon Hampson as one-third of the trio Sharon, Lois & Bram, but I always wondered how exactly they all met. When we discussed this topic,
Sharon stated that "We both got involved in each others activities." At the time, Sharon was involved in a folk festival known as "Mariposa in the Schools"
and Lois was involved in a library program known as "Music for Children." Both worked on each others projects, making a true friendship. Sharon knew Bram
from “teenage coffee house days," but he also participated in "Mariposa." Bram gained friendship with Sharon even more through her children, who knew Bram
as a music teacher.

At this point, all three were supposed to participate in a "Mariposa" album, but Bill Usher suggested that Sharon Hampson, Lois Lillienstein and Bram Morrison
should do an album together. This was the very beginning of Sharon, Lois & Bram. At the time of the recording of their 1978 album "One Elephant, Deux Elephants,"
it wasn't intended to be the trio's career, but because of albums huge response, Sharon, Lois & Bram continued to record, and continued to gain popularity.
As Sharon pointed out, making their first album took a lot. "Lots of planning and borrowing money before we could record the album in May of 1978."

We also talked about how the three were really not a trio yet at time of "One Elephant." They were three separate singers, who sang solo on many songs,
but as the years went on, they began to sing better as the group Sharon, Lois & Bram. As Sharon noted, when you put three totally unique voices together,
you're very lucky when you get such a great sound that the group had, and still have.

Eric Nagler was always a major role in "Sharon, Lois & Bram's Elephant Show." He was seen in every episode, and played at most of the groups concerts around
the time of the show. I discussed with Sharon how they met Eric. As she quotes, "We always knew Eric from the folkie scene." As the group was brainstorming
for ideas for the show, Eric was mentioned, and that's about it. He was always a great folk artist, and another person who had a love for children.

At this point in our phone conversation, Sharon told me a story about the origin of "The Elephant Show." Arnie Zipursky and Bruce Glawson, who were right
out of film school, both knew the group through their nieces and nephews. They wanted to do a TV show with the group, and Zipursky and Glawson seemed to
be the only two who came through with money and truly were interested. A special was created for the CBC network called "Live at Young People's Theatre,"
which was well-received, and which sparked the creation of Cambium Productions, and "The Elephant Show." In fact, clips from the Young People's Theatre
special can be seen on the pilot of the show, "Elephant's Doctor."

We then discussed how "The Elephant Show" was taped. Normally, the crew would go out and shoot the show in the summer. This is how all the outdoor segments
were always done, so it wouldn't be freezing cold during taping. As many people know, the show was shot around Toronto, which can get VERY COLD. The episodes
were then edited around fall, and preparation for the next season started around the next winter, while touring still occurred at this time not only promoting
the show, but their albums based on music from the show.

"The Elephant Show" lasted for 5 seasons of 13 episodes each. The show came to an end in 1988. I talked with Sharon about why the show actually came to
an end. As Sharon stated, "We were told that 65 episodes was the right number to do," and as viewers knew, every episode had an original story. That would
also be quite hard to keep up without repeating scenarios. 1988 was also the year that "The Elephant Show" came to the U.S. and aired on Nickelodeon, a
U.S. children’s cable network. The popularity of the show went through the roof, and although Sharon, Lois & Bram expected to take a breather after the
show ended, touring was more popular than ever! Tours expanded out of Canada and into many U.S. destinations, including Long Island, New York (at the Westbury
Music Fair) where I got the opportunity to see the trio.

As I commented, the thing about "Sharon, Lois & Bram's Elephant Show" is that it evolved so much between 1984 and 1988. In the beginning, the episodes
were about simple things like going on a Picnic, or to an Amusement Park. Towards the end, the episodes got more interesting, such as "Birth of the Show,"
an episode all about the fictional creation of "The Elephant Show" and "The Early Years," a fictional but very entertaining story about how Sharon, Lois
& Bram became Sharon, Lois & Bram.

As we talked more about the show, she told me that she feels that many think the show is dated. According to her, as true Sharon, Lois & Bram fans know,
how can a show so welcoming and sweet, about simple stories ever be dated? "Parents come in to a child watching Barney and run from the room, we created
a show that the whole family would enjoy." As Sharon said, the show was not a lot of "Razzamatazz," but it was a good quality show which all kids deserve
to grow up with.

There were so many songs sung on "The Elephant Show." Many cannot be heard on the albums that Sharon, Lois & Bram put out in stores. We talked about how
they picked songs to be placed on the albums. As Sharon noted, it was very difficult picking songs, but the group would simply go through all their songs,
look for good mixtures of different styles of song, and put them together on an album. One thing about the group and their albums is that they never "cheaped"
out on the number of songs on an album. They would always give the kids their money's worth. As Sharon quotes, "Taping the show was like going to camp.
We'd see everyone every summer, and during the other seasons we would hardly see the crew at all."

As it sounds from how Sharon puts it, her years spent taping "The Elephant Show" seem to be some of the greatest years of her life. Most recently, the
trio created another television show known as "Skinnamarink TV," and is now celebrating 25 years as Sharon, Lois & Bram.

Sharon, congratulations and thanks again for not only your time during our conversation, but for being one of the people that made my childhood so great.

Monday, October 19, 2009

DEGRASSI PERSONALS

The following are exerpts of something I rescued from Geocities. I managed to edit out MOST of the filthy parts.

DEGRASSI PERSONALS

Hi Im Alexa! Well, after my beautiful performance at Degrassi, I had to become an actress! Well, it didnt quite work out, and now all i do is work at a
local Value Village. Yes, I know, I cant stand being around dirty used clothes. But I do get free staind underwear, and bras! Not to mention used deodorant,
and broken condoms. Oh, and I got married to Simon! What a HUNK!

Hi. I'm BLT. I have Mulitple Sclerosis, Tubular Lungitis, and other such diseases. Well, thats all i have to say, although I went for the NBA, it never
worked out for me. I wish I was a stud. Look at my big lips! WOW They are HUMUNGOUS! I never realized.

Hey everybody, I'm Kaitlan, one of the only good looking people on the show. Well I htink so anyways. I cant beleive I went out with that dork Joey! He
is so inconsiderate! Well, if your wondering what Im doing now, I work for Greenpeace. Which reminds me, what did I ever see in tht loser Claude? What
an idiot! Can you beleive this guy? Ugh makes me sick! Yea, so I stand infront of hunters guns when theyre tryig to hunt deer. I got shot with a rifle
67 times, and got shoot with a harpoon, only about 8 or 9 times. Well, good day! Oh and, save the rainforest!

Hi/ Im Claude. Aint I a sexy bitchass? Well, I blew my brains out in the Degrassi series. Wow, that ended my career. Like it was going anywhere anyways!

Hi im Joey.I lie getting geaten up by big guys. By the way, this is my friend Dwayne. Be nice to him, he has HIV! Hes a decent guy though.

Hi. Im Lucy. The fun one who could never get a boyfriend! And when I did, they always turned out to be nerdy guys with glasses. They were really ugly eh?
Well anywasy, im doin my own little thang now, Im probably the most successful one out of the whole cast. I work for a big business. Im the CEO of Nabisco
Shredded Wheat. Isnt that fanstastic? I got married to Alex. You know that ugly kid who got totally shot down by Stephanie Kay, and that other dum broad
Tess? Well, yea I'm married to him!

Hey. Im Michelle. I got married to Snake shortly after the show. He's so cute. And he beat up BLT fo me.

Hey Im Spike, the only kool one in the show. Although I look like some sort of lizard in this picture...well, Emmas 11 years old now! Isnt that great? Shes
so great! I had a hard time bringin her up, shes in drugs and prostittion now, and i sent her to boot camp about 6 times already. That little brat.
RIP THE SYSTEM!.........? k cya.

Heeeeey buuuuuuuuuuuuudy! Im wheels! The kickenest guy in the world! YEA E YEA! Man, I rule everyone here! If it wasnt for my geeky face, then Degrassi
would of never made it! ZIT REMEDY RULES! YEA! I work at Money Mart currently. Yea, I make only about 7 bucks an hour. But what can I say?

DEGRASSI: THE NEXT GENERATION: EPISODE REVIEW

The first episode of Degrassi last night concerned Johnny taking nude photos of Ali. Since Ali and Claire are friends, you would think Ali would have learned about that sort of thing from Darcy's experience. That's the thing about Degrassi: the kids never learn; they only make bigger mistakes.

The second episode was about Johnny possibly giving Ali vd. The episode was basically an advertisement for the HPV vaccine. Girls, do not get that vaccine. It only protects against a couple of the one hundred strains of the virus, and not even the most prevalent ones. Google "Gardasil deaths."

444444444444444444444444444444444444444444444444444444444444444444444444444444444444444444444444444444444444444444444

There was a story on Cbc Friday about Chinese people being superstitious about the number four. Apparently, in Cantonese the word for four is also the same word for death. Cities are giving people the option of replacing the four in their street address.

Will our bending over backward for these people never end? This is carrying accommodation too far. We live in Canada. Our numerical system goes
1234567890
and if you don't like it, leave.

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

RANDY ORTON'S APARTMENT

Formerly "Does John Cena Do His Own Laundry?"

Hello Everybody,
I'm buzzed on a Tuesday. Gotta love it.

Boy, is Saudi Arabia ever big!!!

So, in Ontario where I live we are experiencing unseasonably low temperatures. We are going to have snow on the ground before long. It'll be the first time in years we've had snow in October.

So, the Cbc says that they want to get mor conservative. Since 2005 they've been investigating the fact that they have a liberal bias. My guess is that they figure if there's an election Stephen Harper will get a majority (thus securing his cardboard cut-out status.) Plus, the Cbc is facing a budget shortfall, has already asked for extra money and has been denied, so they figure if they kiss up to the Conservatives by having Jan Wong guest host The Current and by partnering with the National Post and by having This Hour Has 22 Minutes constantly make fun of Michael Ignatiaf then they might get the extra money. Cbc has always known which side it's bread is buttered on.

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

ELIMINATION COMMUNICATION

Elimination communication is based on the fact that babies know when they need to go to the bathroom. A parent can take advantage of this fact and, using things like cues and timing, allow the baby to eliminate in the toilet.

Method
To begin, start by observing your baby’s signs. You will notice that, before they eliminate they do certain things. Signs can include facial expressions, unexplained fussiness, squirming, etc.

When watching your baby, you will also notice that they eliminate at certain specific times, such as after meals, when they wake up in the morning or after their nap.

Once you notice your baby is about to eliminate, take them into the bathroom, remove their diaper and hold them over the toilet. Make a ssss sound if it is for urination, or an mmmm sound if it is for a bowel movement. This is to let them know that this is an acceptable place to relieve themselves. Eventually, they will learn to associate these “cue sounds” with elimination and will make the sound to let you know that they have to go.

Answering Objections

“It’s the parent who gets trained.”

Whether you are changing diapers or using elimination communication, you are going to have to deal with your baby’s elimination needs one way or the other. It might as well be this way as opposed to changing diapers for two years, then trying to toilet train your child when he or she is at their most oppositional stage.

“I can’t see myself doing this all the time.”

Elimination communication doesn’t have to be practiced full time. Even if you can only do it once a day or at some other regular interval, the infant still responds very well to it.

“What if you’re in a situation where you can’t get the child to a toilet?”

Elimination is very adaptable to different situations, such as in the car or out in public. However, if you can’t get the baby to a toilet or some other acceptable place, don’t worry. EC is like a bus. If you miss one, you catch the next one.

For more information on the adaptability of elimination communication, visit
Diaperfreebaby.org

Monday, September 14, 2009

ORLENA CAIN JOINS MIX 97

Orlena Cain has joined the Mix morning crew on Belleville's Mix 97.

Orlena Cain runs Sugar Cane Entertainment, an online magazine. According to its website, the magazine's staff is made up of "journalists, public speakers and media professionals" so presumably she isn't just on the show for her remarkable ability to get guys sexually aroused.

Due to the fantastic lack of details on the website where I originally found out this news, I don't know what happened to Ingrid Moore, the standard female broadcaster who was on the morning crew until only last week.

I don't know Quinte Broadcasting anymore!

Update 09/17: Ingrid Moore is co-hosting mornings at Mix 97's rival, Quinte's Best Music 95.5.

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

STEVE MARLIN AND MIKE HILL FIRED FROM CJBQ

Recently, Quinte Broadcasting employees Steve Marlin and Mike Hill were let go, which is to say fired.

Marlin had worked at Quinte Broadcasting for 28 years and had been doing middays on Cjbq for the past two years.

Hill had been with the company six years and had been a full-time music director for the past two years, occasionally filling in on-air.

Quinte Broadcasting president Bill Morton called the firings "simple restructuring."

What the buck. Quinte Broadcasting used to be the type of company that never fired long-time employees. What earthly good could this move have for Cjbq and Quinte Broadcasting as a whole?

Replacing Marlin in middays is recent Loyalist College grad J.D. Brown. He's very talented and personable but this decision still sucks.

I just don't know this industry anymore.

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

CKWS-TV, CHEX-TV: FALL LINEUP

At this time of year, I like to check out Ckws and Chex-tv to get a look at their new fall schedules. This season, they have made the following changes:

Both stations now have an hour and a half of Cbc Kids programming instead of an hour.

Evangelist Rod Hembry is on at 10:30. I think this is a good thing. It helps make them distinct, and is better than the infomercial that was previously in that time slot. Hembry isn't the only preacher that airs weekdays on Ckws and Chex; James Robinson is still on at 8:30.

At 2:00, it's "One Life To Live." I don't know if this is a good choice of programming since soap operas are becoming less and less popular. However, they literally have nothing else to put on the air since "Stephen And Chris" is on hiaydis.

At 3:00, it's Divine Design/Take This House And Sell It. Again, the last thing anyone needs to see is another home makeover show but they don't have anything else to put on the air. Cbc apparently hasn't renewed the rights for Martha Stewart.

At 4:00, it's Ghost Whisperer. Though I personally disapprove of this show, this is a good decision from a programming standpoint since you can't see reruns of Ghost Whisperer many other places. It also might attract teenagers coming home from school.

At 5:00, Ckws and Chex were faced with the problem of what to run, due to the fact that Cbc is no longer rerunning The Simpsons, showing an expanded newscast in it's place. In answer to this question, these two stations have chosen to run The New Adventures Of Old Christeen. Personally, I don't know anyone who watches this show, but again it has the factor of being a program you can't see reruns of anywhere else.

On the whole, Ckws-tv and Chex-tv's fall lineups offer distinct programming, but they also smack of these two outlets just trying to stay on the air.

Further details as they become available.

Update 9/09: It turns out Ghost Whisperer is also being shown on the main Cbc network.

Saturday, September 5, 2009

REPLY AWL

There was an article in the June 24 edition of the Independent which talked about children under five being suspended from British schools for "sexually explicit behaviour." The problem is, the article doesn't mention any specific sexual behaviour. "Reported incidents included biting, a persistent refusal to follow instructions, swearing, running away from staff, kicking or hitting staff, climbing the school fence and throwing chairs." Doesn't sound like sexually abused children acting out to me. It just sounds like undisciplined children. An article in the June 23 edition of The Guardian talks about flexi-time, where children spend part of the week in school and part of the week being educated at home. The writer predicts this practice will become more widespread due to new home-schooling regulations in the UK. "Badman (appropriate name, AH) called for restrictions for full-time home educators, forcing families who opt out of schooling to register annually with their local authorities, submit learning plans and undergo regular inspections." Want to guess how many learning plans will be approved and how many parents will pass inspection? I really don't think flexi-time is a good idea. Homeschoolers should not be bedfellows with the public school system. A post on the public school system is coming up. The writer sites the social benefits of flexi-time. I'd like to point out that home-schooled children don't suffer less socially than children who go to regular schools. They can play and participate in activities with their publicly educated friends outside of school hours. I would remind UK parents of the axiom "you can't have it both ways." As for home schooling parents having to submit learning plans, where's the guy who mailed the anthrax letters when you need him?

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

REPLY AWL

The July issue of Readers Digest has an article about the people at airports who keep birds from flying into planes. It is interesting.

The July 27 issue of Maclean's has an article about denial of pregnancy, when women don't know their pregnant. It seems to me it should actually be called something like "unawareness of pregnancy" or something. A doctor is quoted near the end of the article saying how denial of pregnancy is a bad thing because women won't have gotten the proper amounts of nutrients during pregnancy, in addition to the fact that some women might have smoked and drank. The question this article didn't answer was, how many of these babies turned out OK?

An article in the April 4, 2009 London Times by Sandi Tisvog talks about keeping kids amused during car trips, through things like talking to them. Imagine that! These days, most parents just throw on the Dvd player for the whole trip. However, this means that kids aren't interacting with the parents or looking out the window. Do we really want to become a society that just surfs the internet or listens to Ipods or watches Dvd's instead of actually talking to and doing things with other people? When I was a kid, car trips were a time when we talked with the parents about all different things. The rest of the trip, we read or coloured pictures. I may have listened to a tape a couple of times, but by no means for the whole trip. These kids aren't looking out the window and appreciating their surroundings. This could have the side effect of making it difficult for these kids to learn to drive because they aren't as familiar with the lay of the land.

Tuesday, August 4, 2009

HAL TURNER AN FBI INFORMANT AFTER ALL?

It has been revealed, first by the website Chicago Breaking News and then by Alex Jones’s website that currently incarcerated internet radio broadcaster Hal Turner is an FBI informant.

Looking back on it, the signs were there all along, not so much that you would necessarily cotton on to his being an FBI informant right away, but present enough that you can definitely see it in hindsight. Hindsight is 20/20 after all.

First, Turner advocated violence. Every story was “let’s kill this person, let’s kill that person.” While I do think that most of the people he opined deserved to be killed over the years do deserve to be killed, and while I would welcome a little violence at some point in the future, calling for violence as much as Turner did isn’t the way to go about it. If Turner had said, “Let’s kill so-and-so” and somebody actually did it, the weak, dumbed-down public would say, “Oh there’s so much violence. All these people are killing all these other people. Will I be next? Government, please help me.”

Then the government would declare martial law and get to implement their New World Order even faster than they had planned.

Second, there were a bunch of things that were supposed to happen but didn’t. In 2002, Turner broadcast a message from a patriot group saying, “July 4, 2002 is U.S. Independence Day. Place your chicken in the pot.” (It was supposed to be in code. Yeah, like that message is really hard to figure out.) Of course, on July 4, 2002 nothing happened.

In 2007, Hal Turner said that starting in January 2008; white people would start lynching blacks again. This didn’t happen.

Turner also said that he had planned something for the inauguration of Barack Obama but nothing happened.

People say, “Oh, he was an FBI informant years and years ago” or “His enemies are just making that up.”

If Turner foiled a plot to assassinate Obama, then he had to have been an informant up to at least fairly recently.

If his own defense lawyer said he was an informant, then it’s probably true. Hal wouldn’t make up crazy things to try and get off, even if you factor in that he’s been in solitary for five weeks.

Maybe Turner was working both sides of the street, helping the white supremacist cause while at the same time informing the FBI on some things in order to make a few extra bucks. In 2007, he spoke about conducting the “Detroit operation” after a rally he held in Kalamazoo. He also talked about people he knew killing bankers, for example the 74-year old German billionaire that “threw himself under a train” last December or January.

Either way, Hal Turner has ruined his life. He might be sent up the river or he could die in jail. If he beats these charges, he can never host a radio show again because he has now admitted to being an FBI informant. The best he could hope for is a quiet life in North Bergen, selling real estate or plowing driveways or whatever.

Click the link above to see the story on Alex Jones’s website, which contains a link to the original Chicago Breaking News story.

Saturday, August 1, 2009

DON'T PASS ME BY, DON'T MAKE ME CRY, DON'T MAKE ME BLUE

The other day, I was copying some tapes I got in the mail. The unit I was using had a record player in it, so when I was done I decided to dig out my parent's copy of The White Album and have a listen.

I listened to a few songs and it struck me, as it has in the past, that The White Album is an ALBUM. By that I mean, you can listen ither all the way through or pick certain songs throughout the album and listen to them. They don't make albums like that anymore, at least not in mainstream music. Today's albums only contain about nine songs. You have the crummy song the band is going to release to the radio first up, and then all the even crummier songs they wrote just to fill up the record.

This got me thinking about how I had stopped following the top forty about a year ago, when that Kid Rock song came out.

We were smoking funny things,
And we were smoking funny things,
Things Things,
Things Things Things,
Things Things things things.

The thing is, I used to live for Kid Rock. Well, not live for, but you know what I mean. When I first heard him at the school for the blind courtesy of my roommate, it was like a revelation. Now these are the kinds of songs he writes? And it came out in June. Remember when summer songs would come out in the middle of August? For example, Fastball's "The Way" or that song "Summer
Girls."

Then there's Katie Perry.

I killed a dyke and I liked it.

Then there's Lady Googoo Gaga, and Googoo Gaga is an appropriate name for her. I looked up a clip of her speaking and she talks like a bucking five-year old.

Bu bu bu bu,
bu bu bucker face.

I quit following the country chart even earlier. Country songs are all like:

We live in a stupid, ignorant, low-brow, low-class, deadbeat, white trash, the people would have to get brain transplants to even qualify for stupid,
Hick town.

We go to the bar every Saturday night,
We get so drunk we pass out,
Then Sunday morning we go to church,
Because we're good Christians,
We're the most devout Christians you could ever meet.

Or they cover pop songs.

Theeeeeeeeeese days,
Everybody wanna talk,
Like they got something to saaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy,
But nothin comes out when they move their lips,
Buckers act like they forgot about Dre.

Kanye West will be releasing his new album soon, "Do As I Say, Not As I do" where he will protest a couple things to show that he's different from other rappers who just rap about cars, money and women.

Then there are some of the so-called alternative rock songs:

I was so wrong,
I screwed up bad,
You were the best
I ever had.

I'm not really sorry
But I can't cook or clean
Or do anything for myself,
So please accept my apology.

One thing,
To say,
Three words,
For you.

You put up with all my garbage,
All my mental issues,
And all my emotional problems.

I'm really a big bucking looser,
I have nothing to offer anybody,
But you stick with me anyway,
You stupid girl.

Thursday, July 9, 2009

LATEST PLANS FOR CHWI, CKNX AND CKX

Chwi will not be going off the air after all. CTV will dip into the new hidden tax (the Local Programming Improvement Fund.) Hopefully they turn it into a really local station with unique programming and lots of emphasis on the community.

CTV will apply to the Crtc to make Cknx a full rebroadcaster of Cfpl London. I hope the Crtc denies the application. Cknx relaying Cfpl! What use is that. Ither localise the heck out of it or take it off the air. I'm sure the cable companies in the Wingham area could replace the Cknx signal with the Cfpl signal if they don't carry it already.

CTV is exploring it's options where Ckx Brandon is concerned. Ckx presents a bit of a unique problem. It was a Cbc afiliate, but the Cbc isn't going to be buying time on it anymore. Thus, CTV has a whole twenty-four hours worth of time to fill each day. They should program it with stuff most Canadians can't get.

Check this blog tomorrow to hear the latest, totally different plans CTV has announced for these three stations.

Saturday, June 27, 2009

TWITTERING ON BLOGSPOT

Was grooving to Cina 1650 last night. I love that Indian film music.

Bucking dogs woke us up at 5:00 in the morning. There was a racoon out there.

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

KRUZ 100.5 FM NOTHING TO CELEBRATE

I listened to the "new" Kruz 100.5 FM for a bit yesterday.

It basically sounds the same as the previous 980 KRUZ. The same announcers are working the same shifts. The format is classic hits, like what Bob FM in Lindsey does already.

What, they couldn't have hired more announcers at least?

I wish I could go back in time to about 1994 when Power Broadcasting stopped giving a buck about it's Am stations.

Friday, May 22, 2009

MICHAEL KETTER 1958-2009

Michael Ketter died last Sunday from complications from a car accident he had three and a half years ago.

As well as founding a Pitsburgh radio station, Ketter hosted many radio programs on shortwave station Wbcq including Here Now, World Microscope, You Are What You Think, and The Radio Reaction Theatre.

Ketter was a true renaissance man. He could cook, garden and fix things. He knew a lot about computers, radio, entertainment, popular culture, and current events. He never went along with others opinions concerning world events, but obtained his opinions by research, logic and experience.

On October 12, 2005, Ketter was involved in a car accident which put him in a coma. He never awoke from it and passed away on Sunday 17 May.

Michael Ketter, broadcaster and renaissance man, dead at 50.

Sunday, April 26, 2009

VICTOR

Cbc Television, Sunday April 26, 8:00 p.m.

Victor is the story of the life of Victor Davis, the Canadian Olympic swim champion. It was written by and stars another Canadian Olympic swimming champion, Mark Lutz. Also in the film are Ron Lee (I finally learned his name) as Cliff, Victor's coach, and Dan Duran as the sports announcer.

This film tells the story of Victor's life, returning over and over to scenes of him in the hospital after being struck by a hit-and-run driver, the event that ended his life in 1989. I found this to be a compelling film, if a bit confusing due to the plot jumping around.

Saturday, April 18, 2009

TILLY

Tonight I went to a dessert social that was a fundraiser for our local crisis pregnancy centre. The Quinte Youth Alliance put on the play Tilly, based on the novel of the same name by Frank Perreti.

The actors did an excellent job. They knew their lines perfectly and the performance went off without a hitch. The play tells a good story and has a message or two that needs to be heard.

The story is about Cathy Ross, a woman who goes to a funeral and sees a woman weeping at a grave with the name Tilly etched on the tombstone. The proverbial biscuit is dipped in the tea and all Cathy's memories come flooding back. Cathy and her husband Dan eventually learn that Tilly is the name of the baby Cathy aborted nine years earlier. The woman at the abortion clinic gave her a funeral.

While the performance and the basic story are good, I have a problem with some aspects of this story.

First and foremost, the plot is very underdeveloped. The novel itself is only 126 pages. The characters are not given time to develop and the reasons for why they did what they did are never clear. From a literary standpoint, it should have been a much longer novel, taking us back to when Cathy got pregnant and leading up to the time nine years in the future when the events of the novel take place. Additionally, Perreti should have devoted part of the novel to telling the back story of Anita Mendoza, the woman at the abortion clinic, as well as that of the woman at the funeral home.

Second, there are too many loose ends. It's never clear whether Cathy and Dan are Christians. Cathy mentions that she used to sing "Jesus Loves Me" to her kids when they were little. This would seem to indicate that she has been a Christian for a number of years, but if she was a Christian at the time she became pregnant with Tilly, why did she have the abortion? It's never explicitly stated what the Ross's spiritual standing is.

Also, Anita Mendoza is the woman who worked at the abortion clinic. She had her pastor perform the ceremony for Tilly. It's indicated, in the play at least, that Mendoza was a new Christian. If she was a Christian, why was she working at the abortion clinic? I assume that she had just recently become a Christian and was trying to get out of her job there, but whether this is the case or not is never made clear.

Cathy eventually discovers that Tilly and God have forgiven her for aborting Tilly, but whether Cathy becomes a Christian or not is never revealed. What happens to her? Does she go on to lead a Christian life?

Most importantly, we are never clearly told why Cathy aborted Tilly in the first place. After the play, the director of the crisis pregnancy centre said that in the novel, it said that Cathy and Dan didn't want to have any more children. However, from the reviews I've read on Amazon, this isn't made clear in the novel.

Third, the characters are not developed (because the plot is not developed.) As I said above, there needed to be a lot more of a back story.

On a positive note, the story does contain some messages that need to be heard, particularly that abortion hurts everybody. The woman feels guilty for years and the other people involved feel hurt by it, too.

Friday, April 10, 2009

CRUMMIER AND CRUMMIER

I swear mainstream media gets crummier by the day.

Tuesday, I listened to the news on both Cjbq and 91x (the local college station.) In the weather forecast, both stations gave the weather for that day and that night, then said the weather would be getting warmer, reaching a high of nine on Saturday. It left me thinking, what horrible weather are we going to have between now and Saturday that they don't want to tell us about? Fortunately it's been nice since yesterday.

Today at 10:00, I went to listen to the news on Cjbq. The announcer said his name, gave a weather forecast, then gave the usual speel they have to give concerning the sponsor. The newscast then ended and I heard, "Merry Christmas from Cjbq."

Thursday, February 26, 2009

CKNX-TV AND CHWI-TV TO BE CLOSED

CTV has decided to close two of it's A stations, Cknx Wingham and Chwi Windsor because the company is going through hard times financially.

This doesn't exactly arouse my sympathies.

Though I have never watched ither of these two stations, I have watched stations in the same network.

The station I watched the most was Ckvr in Barry. I used to watch it all the time when I visited my Grandma in Toronto. It broadcast lots of old shows. Leave It To Beaver at noon was a staple in many households in the GTA, I'm sure. Then, in 1995, the stations were bought by Chum, who changed their names to "The New" (Vr, Nx, Wi etc.) The newspeople started waving promotional boards in front of the camera, and they started showing things like Buffy The Vampire Slayer and other garbage in primetime. After a while, the stations became "A Channel" then "A."

So basically, you had five stations in Ontario that showed unique and local programming. Then Chum bought them and they started showing crummy American shows that no other network would buy and running things like Jerry Springer and reruns of Touched By An Angel during the day. I checked out "A" Wingham's schedule today and in primetime tonightat 7:30 they're showing a show you can see on another channel later on followed by a bunch of shows you can see on the American networks.

These two stations don't deserve to be on the air.

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

RICHARD SYRETT ON THE MICHAEL COREN SHOW

Broadcaster Richard Syrett appeared as a panelist on The Michael Coren Show last night.

I must say Syrett isn't very telegenic. He gave the impression of being uncomfortable and desperate.

Below is a blow-by-blow account of the show, and let me tell you it blew bigtime.

First, Michael said he wasn't going to talk about the Academy Awards. Then in the next couple of breaths, they talked about it for five minutes.

Then they talked about Cupe boycauting academics connected to Israeli institutions or something. Michael was kind of vague on the details. Everyone on the panel disagreed with it.

Cupe should boycaut these institutions. In fact, everything Israeli should be boycauted. Israel is a failed, segregated state. I see little Arab boys throwing stones at Israeli gunships and tanks and I'm supposed to feel sorry for the Israelis.

Next, they talked about a woman in Italy who had had her feeding tube disconnected. Richard thought this was a bad thing. Typical of Michael Coren, they ended up getting into a whole bunch of things that didn't really have to do with the issue.

This is a distraction. It's just like the Terry Shivo thing. Let's not talk about the fact that twenty U.S. states have diclaired their sovereignty or that the economy is on the verge of colapse or that there are plans to censor the internet or that the government is continuously making more laws to take away our freedoms. No, let's talk about a woman in a coma having her feeding tube disconnected. Personally, if she's not going to recover and there's no quality of life to her life, disconnect her feeding tube.

Next, the panel talked about a court in Iran that had thrown acid in a man's eyes as punishment for him throwing acid in his wife's eyes. The whole panel decried this type of thing as horrible, citing examples of other laws they have in Iran.

I wish we had a justice system similar to Iran's over here. Michael opined that the guy should have been sentenced to life in prison instead. Brilliant. That way the taxpayers would have been forced to feed him and keep him alive. This way, I bet he never throws acid in a woman's face again. I also think hanging homosexuals is a good idea. I also support a lot of the other sentences for crimes they have over there. Our current justice system isn't working and it seems like a lot better idea to execute people or make them pay restitution rather than sentence them to prisons where the taxpayer pays to look after these people and where they can learn to be better criminals.

Next, they talked about the Che Grevera biopic. Most of the panel disagreed with the fact that Che Grevera is looked up to so highly, as do I. However, they got into a discussion about the fact that most of the world is not democratic. Well, nither is Canada. When the Prime Minister can suspend Parliament because he doesn't like the way a vote turned out, we are living in a dictatorship just like Cuba and all these other countries.

Finally, the panel talked about the two hundredth anniversary of Darwinism. Michael showed an article which called Darwin "a dangerous mind." Surprisingly, none of the panel thought that Darwin was a dangerous mind. In fact, Syrett and Coren, who are supposed to be Christians thought Darwin had some good ideas.

Darwin was a dangerous mind. He was not a "brilliant scientist" as one person on the show said. He was a theology student who, on a voyage to the Galapagos Islands, decided that he no longer believed in God because there was suffering in the world. He then came up with the theory of evolution. Nothing in this theory can be proven. A good book on this subject is What Darwin Didn't Know. It shows that, had there been the scientific advancements there are today, Darwin would have never been able to get buy with his theory. The subtitle of The Origin Of Species is "the elimination of the lower races by means of natural selection."

To purchase What Darwin Didn't Know, click the link above.

All in all, I was thoroughly disappointed with Richard Syrett's performance on The Michael Coren Show. It was pretty obvious what was happening. You have a show with a host who's views people think wouldn't normally get aired in the media. Then you add in a panel consisting of a left-wing woman, a just right of centre big newspaper guy and a far right man, who all end up more or less agreeing with each other. Oh well, I guess Richard's twin boys won't feed thembuckinselves. It was clear there was no room for truly radical ideas that could change society. For that sort of thing, I guess people will just have to keep coming here.

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

DEGRASSI: THE NEXT GENERATION: EPISODE REVIEW

The main plot of last Sunday's episode of Degrassi: The Next Generation revolved around Connor. At the beginning of the episode, he has a lamp on his desk because the fluorescent lights bother him. He is right to do this. Fluorescent lights are bad for people, especially kids. Principal Shephard comes in and says Connor can't have a desk lamp. In support of Connor, the other students all get desk lamps. Shephard gives them all a detention. During the detention, Ali tells Connor to stop tapping his pencil. He doesn't so Ali tries to take it away from him. Connor pushes her and is expelled by Principal Shephard. Ali goes over to Connor's house to say she's sorry he got expelled. She notices that all the clothes in Connor's closet are the same. Ali points this out to him and he tells her to leave. It is at this time that Ali really begins to suspect there's something wrong with Connor. The next day, Mr. Simpson tells Ali and Claire of the results of tests that have been run on Connor. It turns out he has Asperger's syndrome, a syndrome which makes him unable to follow certain social rules. First of all, you want to be careful when they call anything a syndrome. Second, that doesn't sound like the description of a disease, it sounds like most of the people I went to the W. Ross Macdonald School with. For the most part, this is probably one of these new afflictions invented by drug companies. Claire And Ali go into Principal Shephard's office as he is being filmed for The Principal Of The Year Award. They tell him that Connor deserves to come back and that people with Asperger's syndrome can do well in the gifted program of a regular school. Shephard calls Claire a little bitch. The students filming Shephard decide to show this exchange at the awards ceremony. Shephard ends up going for sensitivity training. As Claire says, "My dad says it's almost impossible for a teacher to get fired." Yeah, they can be like cockroaches. You think you've gotten rid of them, but they just show up somewhere else, rather like Catholic priests. 

 The subplot involved Sav wanting to get back together with Onya. He asks his father if Onya can come over for dinner and his father approves. Sav thinks this is the seed of a relationship but at dinner Sav's father tells Onya that Sav is eventually going to have to marry an Indian girl. If the roles were reversed and Onya's father said one day Onya was going to marry a white man, everyone would be calling that racist. However, in this situation, nobody calls it racist except in Canada where lefties are too dumb to understand how the game works. Personally, I think Sav's parents are perfectly all right to say that he eventually has to marry an Indian girl. Haven't you liberals figured it out yet? Interracial dating is a bad idea. Black people don't want there's with ours, Arabs don't want there's with ours, Indians don't want there's with ours, and Chinese people don't want there's with ours. In addition, I don't want mine with there's. There is nothing wrong with all these groups feeling this way, it's natural.

Monday, January 26, 2009

RICHARD SYRETT SHOW CANCELLED

Richard Syrett has been fired from Cfrb.

First of all, let me say I do not believe this was part of a conspiracy against the Canadian alternative media. Astral Media, the company that owns Cfrb has fired several people recently, due to the economic slowdown. Syrett worked the late evening shift and was therefore dispensable. You don't generally fire your afternoon drive guy or morning show host when you have to make cutbacks.

Second, by cancelling The Richard Syrett show, Cfrb has signed it's own death warrant. They now have nothing worth listening to. (Well, maybe on the weekends but nothing ever stays in one time slot long enough for me to check it out.)

DEGRASSI: THE NEXT GENERATION: EPISODE REVIEW

The main plot of last night's episode of Degrassi: The Next Generation involved Riley taking steroids. Predictably, he gets roid rage, doing things like throwing erasers at people and punching Sav in the nose. He also takes Onya out on a picnic. At the end, we find out Riley was taking the steroids to try to make him straight because "I don't want to be this way." Riley has every right to feel that way. He should be ashamed of his homosexuality.

The subplot involved Danny trying to convince a girl named Laya to go on a date with Derek. It was not at all very interesting.

Thursday, January 15, 2009

HARPER REMINDED ABOUT PROMISE CONCERNING TOBACO PRODUCTS

A group of doctors has reminded Prime Minister Harper about his promise concerning flavoured tobaco products and cigarette packages that look like things like cell phones and ipods.

"Buck, I put the stick in the USB port but I can't download any songs."

Monday, January 5, 2009

REPLY AWL

In the Winter 2008-2009 Travel Issue of Canadian Geographic, there is an article entitled "Hut-spa" about a rustic, family-friendly resort in Quebec. It is written by a woman whose name is Gregroire but whom I suspect is Jewish. She is "partners" with a guy named Rubenstine, and the article has a very Jewish tone to it. She at first presents the resort as a wonderful place, but complains about her time there for most of the article.

In the December issue of Canadian Geographic, there is an itim about how churches are renting space on their steeples for cell phone towers, and the concerns this causes for local residents. The reason these churches are struggling is because nobody believes the feel-good message they put forth. People would rather go to a church that preaches the truth, or not go to church at all. If these churches are loosing membership, they should just shut down and not look to corporations to put up the money for operating expenses. Ither that, or they could preech the Word.