August 2008 Archives
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« July 2008 | | September 2008 » « Page 5 of 5 No Brad Pitt August 7, 2008 @ 15:09
But let's be honest, when you saw the picture of this guy this morning, were you at all surprised that he's been charged with abduction and sexually assaulting a 12 year old girl. I'd like to have a nickel for every time it was said by a water cooler this morning. That this guy looks the part. That doesn't mean he did it. Even though he's got a history of weird behaviour, and his own mother said this afternoon that they should lock him up and throw away the key, it doesn't mean just because he looks like he does, that he's guilty of anything but being an odd looking fellow. I struggled before writing this piece because it just isn't fair, but I couldn't ignore the nagging reality of what is probably being said throughout the country today when people first lay eyes on the photo and then read the charges. On every level imaginable, it's wrong to make the connection. But on every level imaginable it's hard not to. Look at the guy! By the way, he's been denied bail, which is encouraging considering our pathetic justice system that often doesn't protect our children. Category: Stuff
August 6, 2008 @ 10:21
Life experience develops character and we all want our kids to be solid citizens don't we? OK, not all of us. I'm forgetting about the skunks in our society who blast their seed all over the place and then take off with no accountability, but if you read this blog often, you know how I feel about that, so I'll move on. This past weekend both my kids went to Chicago for Lollapalooza and it made me feel good. I remember when I was in my early 20's and how enjoyable road trips could be, especially to far away places, and considering that Chicago is a nine hour drive, it qualifies as a far-away place. Not only that, I think them to experience not only the things that I have, but also things I haven't, and other than a brief weekend jaunt to Chicago back in 1991 for a Blue Jays series, I really haven't experienced Chicago. Since then I've often said to my wife that we should go there for a long weekend and check-out all the neat stuff they have in Chicago, including Wrigley Field, the Sears Tower and some great food. It's often been said that Toronto could be the twin city of Chicago. The cities have similar profiles and sit on the waterfront of a Great Lake. It was one of the first thing my daughter Melanie noticed, but on closer examination she quickly realized how Toronto is failing while Chicago in thriving. It's hard to believe this because Toronto used to take pride in its cleanliness, but according to Melanie, there's no comparison. The litter is a minimum, graffiti doesn't seem to be a problem, there are no bums on the streets and she found the general attitude of the people to be a lot nicer. She also noticed that the Chicago waterfront isn't cluttered with condominiums. The city isn't "cut off" the way it is in Toronto. My son Danny made the same observations. He fell in love with the city and wants to go because he felt a much different vibe in Chicago, as compared to Toronto. Chicago is on its way "up" while Toronto is heading in the other direction. I find it sad, because when I was their age, Toronto was a model city and when I compared to most of the cities I visited, my hometown came out on top. The streets were tidy, the roads were in good shape, there was no graffiti and the subway wasn't a filthy mess. Toronto was a functional city run the way Chicago is now. As a business. A serious business run by business minded people with rational thought and fiscally responsible decision-making. While Chicago has improved, Toronto has been pulled into the mud by a socialist city council, led by a delusional maniac. Toronto is suffering. All you have to do is look around, and then listen to people who travel to other cities and report back. Toronto is no longer the model that most other North American cities are compared to. It's become trashy, mismanaged experiment for a pack of losers who are ripping it apart. When I was in my early 20's wherever I traveled I found comfort in the feeling that Toronto was a better place than pretty much everywhere else. It's not like that any more.
August 5, 2008 @ 10:20
Being home on a long weekend isn't my favourite thing to do, but like anything else it all comes back to attitude. We have a swimming pool and a Tiki Bar at home, so there are a lot worse places we could be on a Saturday in the GTA. On Sunday Delyse turned to me and said, "I'm sort of glad we came home, I'm enjoying this." Then she took a sip of her sangria, which was remarkable in itself because this woman rarely drinks. We went for a long walk yesterday and then went for a swim, and then later on in the afternoon I vacuumed the pool. It was during this time that I was took a stroll down memory lane thanks to my Starchoice Satellite system and music channel 909 which is called Flashback 70's. While removing some lint and crap from the bottom of the pool the song "Alone Again" (Naturally) by Gilbert O'Sullivan came on. I hadn't heard it in a long time and it's a good thing because I was quickly reminded of how aggravating this song is. Although it has a catchy tune, the words are downright depressing and I've often wondered what Gilbert was thinking when he wrote it. I can understand being bummed out about being "alone" all the time, and I can understand writing a song about your hard luck, but the "naturally" part always struck me because it's so negative and self defeating. The guy expects the worst to happen. The ending kills me as well. Sad stories often have good endings or optimistic messages attached. Not this one. The song starts with him threatening to kill himself. In a little while from now I remember I cried when my father died And how was your weekend?
Category: The Trailer
Today On CH Live At 5:30 August 1, 2008 @ 17:42
Go here to see the result. Category: Television
Today With Neil Morrison August 1, 2008 @ 16:52
Category: Radio
Leif Petterson - 1950-2008 August 1, 2008 @ 13:25
I never got to know Leif personally, but over the years I interviewed several times when he played for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in the 1980's, and I talked to him several times over the years while he worked for TSN. He was also a fellow honourary director with the Pat Marsden Foundation. A nice guy, but not only a nice guy, a striking man. Tall, good looking, well spoken and the type of guy who made everyone feel at ease. It's another one of those head-shakers. When people die of a heart attack at 57 years of age, we expect them to overweight, out of shape and under unbearable stress. Petterson was obviously in marvelous shape, giving the impression of a man 37 instead of 57, and from all accounts, he did not take life seriously. In other words, to look at the guy you'd rank him extremely low in candidates for a massive coronary. But you can never tell, and you never know what's around the corner. On Tuesday, Leif Petterson was a thriving middle aged man with apparently a good portion of his life still ahead of him. On Wednesday he was dead. Savour every minute. Category: Sports
Freddie P. On TV August 1, 2008 @ 09:42
The competition was too see who could "piss off the most people", so Kenny came up with the idea of renting a plane and flying a banner across Toronto that said, "Jesus Sucks." Of course not everyone thought it was brilliant and it brought tons of bible thumpers out of the woodwork. Today I'll be discussing the matter with Mark Hebscher, Donna Skelly and Joseph Ben-Ami, Director of the Canadian Centre for Policy Studies. Please Watch.
Category: Television
E-mail - LA Chris August 1, 2008 @ 09:41
Miss you, Miss Humble, miss the two of you together and miss the glory days of CFNY. I don't even bother with radio any more... Anyway, not the point of why I'm writing: can you please confirm that I'm not losing my mind here? Friends and I at work are watching coverage of the "earthquake" in L.A. (I'm not belittling the point that there was an earthquake, only the media's insane, ridiculous, coverage of it ... no injuries, no damage, and yet they felt compelled to call up some dude that works at a best western in downtown L.A. and ask for his thoughts on the "tragedy" -- whaaat?!), and the live-to-air interview with the best western worker made us all chuckle about knuckleheads who want their 15 minutes of fame. And then suddenly, out of the blue, I remembered something you and Humble did on the air waaay back when (when was it, exactly? I don't remember!) -- you called some guy named Chris on the air, who worked at a 7/11 in L.A. I can't remember *why* you called him ... I think it had something to do with the Oscar nominations coming out? At any rate, he was so funny -- such a total L.A. stoner, happy-go-lucky valley dude -- and you guys were just hilarious with him, that it became a regular bit, and if I'm not remembering wrong, you even invited him and his wife to Toronto for an all-expenses paid holiday. Am I dreaming all of that, or did it really happen? Because all my work colleagues -- all my age, all of whom listened to you and Humble back in the day -- have zero recollection of this. i did a search on yahoo! for "L.A. Chris" and then "Humble & Fred LA Chris" and ... nothing. so now i think I'm completely imagining it. but it *DID* happen ... right? RIGHT? You don't happen to have any clips of that lying about, do you? (and you don't know whatever happened to him, do you?) at the very least, can you confirm that it happened and I'm not losing what's left of my now thirtysomething mind? Cheers and much love! Black Widow Yes, Black Widow, it did happen, and thanks to my mother, here are the pictures to prove it. Howard and I would often call 7-11's whenever there was something notable happening in the United States - just to see what the reaction would be. The day we called the 7-11 in Los Angeles, we hit the jackpot. LA Chris was born and he became a fixture on the show culminating with his visit to show in 1996. Here's the audio from one of our calls Unfortunately we suddenly lost touch with Chris. He no longer worked at the 711, and there was no response at his home number. It was a fun time that seemed to catch the imagination of everyone, including my mom and dad who made a special trip down from Stayner just to meet the guy.
Category: Radio
Visit Toronto Mike August 1, 2008 @ 09:39
It’s the Obama Song, by an arsohole named Ludacris. I can’t call him a singer because he doesn’t sing, and I can’t credit him with making music, because he’s a rapper and from this old bastard’s perspective, most rap doesn’t quality as music. And don’t get me wrong, I like Barrack Obama and I hope he becomes the next president of the United States. He has distanced himself from this piece of racist garbage, and so he should have. It’s fascinating how in our society racism is considered a one-way street by so many. Can you image if anyone endorsed John McCain simply because of his colour? Category: Stuff
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OK, let's get this out of the way right away. You can't judge a person by their looks, and it's downright unfair to connect anyone to anything just because in your own mind "they look the part."
As a parent, you want your kids to experience all they can. Why wouldn't you? 
Delyse and I left the tin palace on Thursday night and returned home for her brother's 30th anniversary party in Cambridge. It took place on Saturday, and we enjoyed ourselves immensely.
The issue was this - A British Columbia resident has filed a complaint with the province's Human Rights Tribunal after watching an episode of the Kenny vs. Spenny show online.
Olympics and Sundin
Like most people who knew him, or knew of him, I was floored yesterday when I heard about the passing of former CFL player Leif Petterson.
I'll be visiting the CH Live at 5:30 studios this afternoon to talk about Kenny vs. Spenny and their brilliant stunt from last week.
Dear Fred:
I’m going to direct you over to 
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