I just may have to switch to cable, if for no other reason than to watch my old radio friends at Rogers make their TV debuts.
I guarantee several of them started crash diets the second they found out about the new all-news cable channel starting in October.
The new channel will be a collaboration of the 680 newsroom, Macleans and the CityTV newsroom. Hey, maybe this is how Conrad Black plans to get back into Canada; Since Barbara Amiel is a columnist with MacLeans, she'll no doubt be front and centre as a commentator, right? Yeah, I'll look forward to that.
In some circles, it was no secret the channel was coming, but on the day it was announced, you'd think there might be a logo, a lineup or a clue about what 'the wheel' will look like.
Happily, I can imagine no way my old friends could make worse TV than what Sun News channel has on offer. I spent an incredulous few hours watching it recently, and frankly, could not believe it was on the air. It appeared the announcers were trying desperately to be like FOX news with gratuitous snarky asides, but there was such a dearth of content, I was shocked. Surely the newspaper chain could at least grab RSS feeds from its outlets across the country to broadcast in the ticker, but apparently no one thought of leveraging the channel's greatest asset - you know, the Sun's, um, newspapers. Instead, the assets on display were conspicuously sleeveless, fluffy-coiffed women anchors trying hard to be aggressive but talking about not very much at all.
It won't be hard for my former colleagues to kick some TV butt.
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Monday, May 30, 2011
Bird love
Is there something about getting older that makes you start noticing the natural world more than you did as a kid? I remember all too well the boredom of loooong drives with my parents, and my frustration at how they would go on and on (and on and on) about flowers and birds and all that stuff sure to bores the life out of most people under 20.
But now, on the wrong side of 30, I can't take my eyes off the wildlife.
Last year, I was fascinated by the arrival of a family of owls on the trail south of Manning. This weekend, I was led on a merry chase down the trail by the bluest bird I've ever seen. The way he stayed in front of me, but just out of reach, moving on when I got within 10 feet of him, it was like the little guy knew I was totally enamoured, and was teasing. At one point, he sat on a branch overhanging the rails for several minutes, almost within touching distance for several minutes before my dog wanted to investigate, too, and the bird took off.
I couldn't wait to get home to find out what he was, and he was indeed a 'he'- a male Indigo Bunting, to be precise. So vibrant and amazingly blue, I can't wait to see him again.
But now, on the wrong side of 30, I can't take my eyes off the wildlife.
Last year, I was fascinated by the arrival of a family of owls on the trail south of Manning. This weekend, I was led on a merry chase down the trail by the bluest bird I've ever seen. The way he stayed in front of me, but just out of reach, moving on when I got within 10 feet of him, it was like the little guy knew I was totally enamoured, and was teasing. At one point, he sat on a branch overhanging the rails for several minutes, almost within touching distance for several minutes before my dog wanted to investigate, too, and the bird took off.
I couldn't wait to get home to find out what he was, and he was indeed a 'he'- a male Indigo Bunting, to be precise. So vibrant and amazingly blue, I can't wait to see him again.
Saturday, May 28, 2011
Running Trap
It's amazing how supportive people are once you set what appears to be an impossible goal.
The last running I did was when I got a bad batch of shrimp, if you know what I mean, but I, in a fit of family togetherness, recently suggested to my sister in law and niece that we run a race together this year.
Her response was not the derisive laughter I was prepared for.
Nope, she promptly registered for the Blue Mountains half marathon in October, signed up my brother and niece into the 5K and said, "Get training!"
Akkkk!
I'm not even sure I can do one K, much less 5, not to mention "the half".
Now, my buddy who already runs marathons has offered to go shoe shopping with me and re-do my toes once the nails inevitably fall off.
Another girlfriend is dropping off a podcast of circuits and timing etc., to help me with my training. She, too, is going to sign up for this thing and bring along her daughter.
It's turned into a 'thing'. The only one laughing is my husband, who says this will serve me right, and no, he's not joining me on the trails.
I'm trapped! There's no way out now.
I have to get off the couch.
And I just bought a big bunch of Blockbuster's inventory, too, dammit.
The last running I did was when I got a bad batch of shrimp, if you know what I mean, but I, in a fit of family togetherness, recently suggested to my sister in law and niece that we run a race together this year.
Her response was not the derisive laughter I was prepared for.
Nope, she promptly registered for the Blue Mountains half marathon in October, signed up my brother and niece into the 5K and said, "Get training!"
Akkkk!
I'm not even sure I can do one K, much less 5, not to mention "the half".
Now, my buddy who already runs marathons has offered to go shoe shopping with me and re-do my toes once the nails inevitably fall off.
Another girlfriend is dropping off a podcast of circuits and timing etc., to help me with my training. She, too, is going to sign up for this thing and bring along her daughter.
It's turned into a 'thing'. The only one laughing is my husband, who says this will serve me right, and no, he's not joining me on the trails.
I'm trapped! There's no way out now.
I have to get off the couch.
And I just bought a big bunch of Blockbuster's inventory, too, dammit.
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Will Daytime TV be the same?
First the soaps, now, Oprah? What's a girl to watch?
I try hard to be too busy to watch daytime TV, but once in a while, I've been known to cuddle up with Oprah or Dr. Phil before and during Y&R. There were a few weeks last year I tried hard to be home on Tuesdays, because that's when Dr. Phil had his horrible housewives segments, with a group of unhappy, women duking it out, complete with the off-camera slagging. There were moments it made MMA look tame.
I became a fan of Dr. Phil when he had regular segments on Oprah, mostly because I liked how he gave people s**t for behaviour that could only be described as terrible. I was and remain surprised at how shocked the badly behaved are at being called out. In the early 90s, when Dr. Laura had just started her radio show, I'm sure people thought she was just a regular advice-giver, and would call up for help with the most bizarre scenarios, only to be blasted by the irascible host. She became less fun later on, but for a few years there, it was hilarious.
Unintentionally funny is the best funny, to my mind.
(If only Dr. Laura had Oprah backing her, things would have turned out so differently for her...)
Of course, Oprah Winfrey has made off like a bandit telling us to "be who we are", while very publicly fighting her demons. Even as she created the careers of Drs. Phil and Oz, she created 2.5 billion dollars in wealth for herself. Not bad at all, and there's more to come, of course, since she now has her own cable channel.
I just wonder what reality show will replace her at four o'clock in the fall.
I'm hoping for something about show choirs.
I try hard to be too busy to watch daytime TV, but once in a while, I've been known to cuddle up with Oprah or Dr. Phil before and during Y&R. There were a few weeks last year I tried hard to be home on Tuesdays, because that's when Dr. Phil had his horrible housewives segments, with a group of unhappy, women duking it out, complete with the off-camera slagging. There were moments it made MMA look tame.
I became a fan of Dr. Phil when he had regular segments on Oprah, mostly because I liked how he gave people s**t for behaviour that could only be described as terrible. I was and remain surprised at how shocked the badly behaved are at being called out. In the early 90s, when Dr. Laura had just started her radio show, I'm sure people thought she was just a regular advice-giver, and would call up for help with the most bizarre scenarios, only to be blasted by the irascible host. She became less fun later on, but for a few years there, it was hilarious.
Unintentionally funny is the best funny, to my mind.
(If only Dr. Laura had Oprah backing her, things would have turned out so differently for her...)
Of course, Oprah Winfrey has made off like a bandit telling us to "be who we are", while very publicly fighting her demons. Even as she created the careers of Drs. Phil and Oz, she created 2.5 billion dollars in wealth for herself. Not bad at all, and there's more to come, of course, since she now has her own cable channel.
I just wonder what reality show will replace her at four o'clock in the fall.
I'm hoping for something about show choirs.
Friday, May 20, 2011
Running for the Dress
I hated running in gym class, don't really like being out of breath, and have always preferred starving to exercise if I need to drop some pounds, but an awesome ten year old is quite an incentive, and so I've signed on for quite a challenge.
My ten year old niece is earning herself an ipod by running each day. It's her parents' way of getting her off the couch. She is running a certain distance every day for 60 days. If she misses a day, she starts again at zero. No sixty days, no ipod.
I think they're on to something. I'd like to have a healthier, trimmer body and spend more time building better relationships with my niece and sister in law, so I'm using a similar path to get there, setting myself a challenge I hope will accomplish both.
Together, we're signing up for the Blue Mountains half marathon, me, my niece and my sister in law. Now, it will be just a regular Saturday in October for the SIL, since she already runs every day. It will be a mild challenge for the niece, who's going to do the 5K.
And for me? It will be like the apocalypse. But I'll get to talk about running with them, we'll do some trainig runs together, have a shared experience while I get fit. Winning all round.
I've started training with brisk walks. I might even read a book about running while I contemplate what 13 miles of punishment will feel like.
Oh, man, what have I done?
My ten year old niece is earning herself an ipod by running each day. It's her parents' way of getting her off the couch. She is running a certain distance every day for 60 days. If she misses a day, she starts again at zero. No sixty days, no ipod.
I think they're on to something. I'd like to have a healthier, trimmer body and spend more time building better relationships with my niece and sister in law, so I'm using a similar path to get there, setting myself a challenge I hope will accomplish both.
Together, we're signing up for the Blue Mountains half marathon, me, my niece and my sister in law. Now, it will be just a regular Saturday in October for the SIL, since she already runs every day. It will be a mild challenge for the niece, who's going to do the 5K.
And for me? It will be like the apocalypse. But I'll get to talk about running with them, we'll do some trainig runs together, have a shared experience while I get fit. Winning all round.
I've started training with brisk walks. I might even read a book about running while I contemplate what 13 miles of punishment will feel like.
Oh, man, what have I done?
Thursday, May 12, 2011
I've seen the future and it contains pie
I'm not sure how this happened, but I'm slowly turning my back yard into a farm. I've even started looking at urban chicken websites.
The tomato seeds I planted in March are now 8-inch plants, almost ready to go into the sunniest, warmest part of the garden. Beside the tomatoes, in the laundry room windows, a herb garden flourishes beside eight geraniums I cultivated from cuttings. They'll go into the flowerbeds in a week or so. The rhubarb I transplanted from the family farm a couple of years ago is now huge and lush. This afternoon I'm planting my 'salad table', a couple of weeks late, but I'll have my own fresh, homegrown spring mix in about two weeks, and if I'm smart and careful, it will last all summer long. This weekend, I'm bringing home some of my brother's cast off everbearing raspberry bushes.
Lest you think this bounty is just for looking at, on Tuesday, I served pasta with sauce that began as tomatoes in last year's garden, lovingly 'squeezed', bottled and stored. It was delicious and comforting to know exactly what was in it. (or to be accurate, what wasn't in it: no chemicals, no colorings and hardly any salt.)
I might try my hand at growing garlic this year, too. Just for fun. Oh, and for the taste, which is really the reason behind all this digging in the dirt. Beyond the accomplishment of saying, "I grew it myself!", I think food from my backyard actually does taste better than the stuff from the store.
Rhubarb pie, anyone?
The tomato seeds I planted in March are now 8-inch plants, almost ready to go into the sunniest, warmest part of the garden. Beside the tomatoes, in the laundry room windows, a herb garden flourishes beside eight geraniums I cultivated from cuttings. They'll go into the flowerbeds in a week or so. The rhubarb I transplanted from the family farm a couple of years ago is now huge and lush. This afternoon I'm planting my 'salad table', a couple of weeks late, but I'll have my own fresh, homegrown spring mix in about two weeks, and if I'm smart and careful, it will last all summer long. This weekend, I'm bringing home some of my brother's cast off everbearing raspberry bushes.
Lest you think this bounty is just for looking at, on Tuesday, I served pasta with sauce that began as tomatoes in last year's garden, lovingly 'squeezed', bottled and stored. It was delicious and comforting to know exactly what was in it. (or to be accurate, what wasn't in it: no chemicals, no colorings and hardly any salt.)
I might try my hand at growing garlic this year, too. Just for fun. Oh, and for the taste, which is really the reason behind all this digging in the dirt. Beyond the accomplishment of saying, "I grew it myself!", I think food from my backyard actually does taste better than the stuff from the store.
Rhubarb pie, anyone?
Monday, May 9, 2011
My 19 year old self
I had the rare opportunity to visit my Alma Mater this week, and spent an unsatisfying hour wandering the campus, looking for my 19 year old self. I was hoping to talk some sense into her.
At one point, I thought I might catch a glimpse of her writing an essay at the computer lab on the second floor of the MacKinnon Building, but when I got there, I discovered it's now just a lounge. There are no "computer labs" any more: they've been replaced by wifi hotspots and ethernet cables, since most students are required to have a laptop when they arrive at university.
I didn't get to see her in her first-year dorm room, either, because the door was locked, but I think I caught sight of her shadow as she wandered toward the common area one floor up and two units over. She wondered where her philandering boyfriend had gotten to, and was about to have her heart broken.
If I'd caught up with her, I'd have told her that heartbreak is temporary, the boy with the great hair was going to end up bald and across the country, and good riddance.
I would also have told her to pay closer attention to the letter she received from her Grandmother at the start of that first year. The grandmother had lived through the depression, and sent a reminder of what an awesome opportunity her firstborn granddaughter was getting, a reminder to make the most of it and to study hard.
I remember the drama, the boy-craziness and the faces but not the names of my housemates and classmates, but the classes? Well, I remember which ones I didn't go to. For example, the sole science class required for my liberal arts BA. It was Biology, Friday mornings at 8, all the way on the other side of the campus. I think I made it to class about six times, although I did pass, but not by much. If it was so easy for me to pass, why didn't I take more science?
Here's why: I was more interested in events like a bus trip to Toronto to sit on University Avenue in front of the US embassy, wearing my tie-dye, overalls, socks and sandals with hundreds of other students, shouting at George H.W. Bush, 'Hell, no, we won't go, we won't fight for Texaco!" (He wasn't there, by the way.)
As I walked the campus in the rain Friday, sipping on a high-priced latte, I wondered when the school handed over its food services to the brand names, and also how my life might be different if I'd studied something other than protest, bands and boys.
But I also marvelled at the luck of my life - there are precious few women on this planet who get the chance to squander such an opportunity and still have things work out so well.
At one point, I thought I might catch a glimpse of her writing an essay at the computer lab on the second floor of the MacKinnon Building, but when I got there, I discovered it's now just a lounge. There are no "computer labs" any more: they've been replaced by wifi hotspots and ethernet cables, since most students are required to have a laptop when they arrive at university.
I didn't get to see her in her first-year dorm room, either, because the door was locked, but I think I caught sight of her shadow as she wandered toward the common area one floor up and two units over. She wondered where her philandering boyfriend had gotten to, and was about to have her heart broken.
If I'd caught up with her, I'd have told her that heartbreak is temporary, the boy with the great hair was going to end up bald and across the country, and good riddance.
I would also have told her to pay closer attention to the letter she received from her Grandmother at the start of that first year. The grandmother had lived through the depression, and sent a reminder of what an awesome opportunity her firstborn granddaughter was getting, a reminder to make the most of it and to study hard.
I remember the drama, the boy-craziness and the faces but not the names of my housemates and classmates, but the classes? Well, I remember which ones I didn't go to. For example, the sole science class required for my liberal arts BA. It was Biology, Friday mornings at 8, all the way on the other side of the campus. I think I made it to class about six times, although I did pass, but not by much. If it was so easy for me to pass, why didn't I take more science?
Here's why: I was more interested in events like a bus trip to Toronto to sit on University Avenue in front of the US embassy, wearing my tie-dye, overalls, socks and sandals with hundreds of other students, shouting at George H.W. Bush, 'Hell, no, we won't go, we won't fight for Texaco!" (He wasn't there, by the way.)
As I walked the campus in the rain Friday, sipping on a high-priced latte, I wondered when the school handed over its food services to the brand names, and also how my life might be different if I'd studied something other than protest, bands and boys.
But I also marvelled at the luck of my life - there are precious few women on this planet who get the chance to squander such an opportunity and still have things work out so well.
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Landslide and a book
I didn't see that one coming.
While I fully expected Dr. Kellie Leitch to win Simcoe Grey, I thought it might be close. I certainly didn't expect her to win by a wider margin than Helena Guergis got in the last vote. Leitch got 23,000 votes more than Guergis.
Then again, what's not to like? Smart, driven, a doctor for heavenssakes! Compare that steady hand with the Guergis scandal, whether it was real or not. I suspect some people voted for Leitch just to stop Simcoe Grey from being the centre of attention for a while.
I was constantly amazed at the people who said they were going to vote for Guergis, not because they were so impressed at the job she'd done as MP, but because she'd been 'dun wrong'. It seems I was not alone in my consternation. But she has plans to make hay from her troubles. She says she's planning a speaking tour and is writing a book. Will the 8,600 people who voted for her buy it?
It will be very fun to watch Stephen Harper swat away Jack Layton for the next four years. After all, Harper doesn't have to play nice anymore. He's got his majority and can remake the country in the image he want. Now's when we will see whether there really is a scary hidden agenda. Will there be a CBC four years from now? Will health care look the same?
Here's a bet I'm willing to take to the bank: I've shaken the hand of the Health Minister.
While I fully expected Dr. Kellie Leitch to win Simcoe Grey, I thought it might be close. I certainly didn't expect her to win by a wider margin than Helena Guergis got in the last vote. Leitch got 23,000 votes more than Guergis.
Then again, what's not to like? Smart, driven, a doctor for heavenssakes! Compare that steady hand with the Guergis scandal, whether it was real or not. I suspect some people voted for Leitch just to stop Simcoe Grey from being the centre of attention for a while.
I was constantly amazed at the people who said they were going to vote for Guergis, not because they were so impressed at the job she'd done as MP, but because she'd been 'dun wrong'. It seems I was not alone in my consternation. But she has plans to make hay from her troubles. She says she's planning a speaking tour and is writing a book. Will the 8,600 people who voted for her buy it?
It will be very fun to watch Stephen Harper swat away Jack Layton for the next four years. After all, Harper doesn't have to play nice anymore. He's got his majority and can remake the country in the image he want. Now's when we will see whether there really is a scary hidden agenda. Will there be a CBC four years from now? Will health care look the same?
Here's a bet I'm willing to take to the bank: I've shaken the hand of the Health Minister.
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