Crunch time for telemarketers

It's not just me: Two co-workers have noticed an upswing in the number of telemarketing calls the past week or two. I've been getting three and four a day.
I can't confirm this yet (although it might make a good news story for 'A' News next week), but we suspect they're rushing to get in all the calls they can, before the Do Not Call List takes effect September 30.

What's up with Maria?

Blogspot says her blog has been removed.
Maria, where art thou?

Define "sport", please

I have been part of more than one discussion about what constitutes an Olympics sport.
Our sports anchor at work (salt of the earth, lovable retired CFL player who played football without a helmet once too often) was questioning race walking the other day.
I was questioning floor exercise, acknowledging that our other sports anchor, who happens to be on maternity leave right now, would kick my ass for it, because she's a former NCAA gymnast. I mean, it's definitely an art and requires a high degree of athletic ability, but a SPORT?
What do you think should or should not be an Olympic sport?

What's happening to the CBC?

Right up to front, I will state what some may perceived as a bias. I work in broadcasting, as a news producer at 'A' Ottawa (until this past Monday, it was A-Channel). And we at 'A' are guilty of some of the same type of transgressions about which I am about to rant.

Now that that's out of the way, the national public broadcaster used to be the showcase of proper English, how to write it and how to speak it. That appears to have become a thing of the past.

A handful of examples illustrating that point:
-When I was on vacation, I was listening to a national program on CBC Radio (I believe it was "Sounds Like Canada" or possibly a newscast), and a reporter used the word "influx" as a verb, as in something was influxing. I add that to my list of nouns that cannot and should not be used as verbs (or "verbed" as Calvin says in one particular favourite edition of the comic strip "Calvin and Hobbes").
-Last week, local CBC Ottawa radio reporter Nick Gamache was filling in as a newscaster. this gentleman usually covers issues in the Outaouais, which is the area of Quebec across the Ottawa River from Ottawa. While mentioning that Adam VanKoeverden would be Canada's flagbearer at the opening ceremonies for the Olympics, he pronounced the last name properly, but the first name was pronounced a-DAM. Yes, I know, that's the French pronunciation of Adam, but this was on the English CBC.
-This afternoon, again Nick Gamache, mispronounced the name of CBC Toronto reporter Philip Lee-Shanok, who was doing a report about the aftermath of Sunday's propane explosions, and said that many people suffered "trama". Methinks he meant trauma.


Showcase of the English language, eh?

P.S. As I was proofreading this, the 5:30pm CBC news came on. Gamache was describing a robbery suspect with a sparse moustache, and pronounced it "spairse".

So what song is going through YOUR head?

Prism is coming to Ottawa next week, and Bill Welychka is going to interview the boys in the band. So several of us here in the A-Channel (soon to be 'A") News centre have been singing about a solar-powered laser beam guitar for the past hour or so.

Every night is a different flight to a different galaxy
Do a sold-out show, then I hit the road in my starship limousine

Get so damned tired and uninspired doin' all these one night stands
It's a giant leap for Rock'n'Roll...but it's too much for just one man

I'm a Spaceship Superstar... gotta solar-powered laser beam guitar
I'm at the top of all the charts on Mars...I'm a Spaceship Superstar!

On Mercury, they're crazy about my stellar rock'n'roll
And I always sell out in advance at the Martian Astrobowl

The fans, they swarm like meteorites to our concerts on the moon
You should have seen us knock'em dead on Venus doin' all our favorite tunes

I'm a Spaceship Superstar...gotta solar-powered laser beam guitar
I'm at the top of all the charts on Mars...I'm a Spaceship Superstar!

The latest on the Scrabulous debacle

From the news wire:
Scrabble knockoff returns to Facebook with changes after short gap
NEW YORK - A popular Scrabble knockoff is back on Facebook. It comes with changes that could help it skirt copyright and trademark laws.
On Tuesday, the creators of Scrabulous voluntarily removed their version of the word game from Facebook, the online hangout.
The Indian brothers behind Scrabulous made the decision after the owners of Scrabble's North American rights filed a federal lawsuit.
Now, the game has reappeared with the name Wordscraper.
The change could help it avoid any confusion with Scrabble. And the game itself has also changed. Instead of Scrabble-like square tiles, for instance, Wordscraper has circles.
(The Associated Press)
10:26ET 31-07-08

Scrabble vs. Scrabulous

Okay, here's what's up: The company that owns Scrabble has brought the big corporate down on facebook's Scrabulous application, forcing Scrabulous to pull itself from facebook in Canada and the U.S.


I have been playing Scrabble online for years, on a website called WordBiz. The url is isc.ro . It's based in Romania, and you can play people all over the world. I highly recommend it.

Oh yeah: The vay-kay

I promised when I posted the loon photos that I would report about my vacation. Truth is, it wasn't a lot to write home about. The weather was the s**ts for most of the time I was up North.
But I did go to best friend Bill's son's wedding. Groom Billy pulled a stunt on Honourary Uncle Bob. The maid of honour recognized me from my TV news anchor days, and insisted on being introduced and being photographed with me. That being done, Groom Billy told all the guys in the wedding party to get close enough to me at some point during the evening to bug me about being a big TV star celebrity. The best man -- who I had never met before -- got his chance at the urinal next to mine, while I was draining some of the gallons of beer that I drank that night, from my bladder. "Hey! I've never had a p**s beside a celebrity before" was one of his comments. Needless to say, Groom Billy got a real chuckle out of the trick he played on me.

The wedding was in Timmins. Little Bro Dan insisted that I stay at his place, instead of at the hotel with all the rest of the revellers, telling me he would come and pick me up when I was ready to leave. I told him not to worry, I'd probably be ready by 11pm. Famous last words. I called him at 1:15am, and woke him up. The usual nightowl had fallen asleep watching a movie.

I spent a couple more days in Timmins, delivering on my promised housewarming gift to Dan and Pretty Christine, supplying everything needed to paint a room, and helping Dano paint it.

It was also the 15th anniversary of our Big Brother match while I was there. I gave Dan the gift I got to mark the occasion: A hard-covered book with mostly photos of our 15 years together, and some text in tribute to our match called "Fate Gets It Right". I made it through the website blurb.com . I am really pleased with the way it turned out, and Dan likes it too.

I also spent time in Timmins with good friends Mark and Cathy; in Iroquois Falls with good friends Ray and Lisa; and just outside Matheson with Bill (Groom Billy's Dad) and his partner, Lise-Anne.

Needless to say, I got in a good visit with Dad and Stepmaman, caught up on a lot of sleep and read four or five books in the two weeks I was up there.

That's about it.

I finally got some half-decent loon photos!

It has been a quest of mine for many, many years, to get close enough and have the right camera to get some photos of the loons that are on our small lake every summer. Finally, with my Canon PowerShot S3IS, I have succeeded! And on the final night of my vacation at the cottage, too!
That doesn't mean that my quest is over. I know these pics are not perfect, and know a few ways that I can improve on them. Plus Milky will probably have a few pointers (hint-hint) and I hope to take a digital photography course this fall.
In the meantime, though, these will suffice. And, oh, I also shot a bit of video with my camera for the first time. It is also a work in progress.

More on the vaykay later. I guess it's nice to be back.

It's getting closer

I am now part of the travel group going to Jamaica for Little Bro Dan and The Pretty One Christine's wedding next April. Pardon me -- I need a pause -- getting a bit misty here. Okay, I'm fine now.
Next Monday is the 15th anniversary of the day Dano and I were matched by Big Brothers. I'll be up North then on vacation, and hopefully with Dan at least for a few minutes on that day.
Have I ever mentioned how he's my pride and joy?

The inhumanity of humanity

Man, I'm pissed off at my species right about now.
We just got a call here in the A-Channel Ottawa newsroom from the Ottawa Humane Society, hoping we can do a story this weekend about its shelter being overcrowded with dogs and cats, so that adoptive families will come forward.
It's not unusual for a lot of cats to be in the shelter this time of year. What makes it different this year is the number of dogs. Apparently, there have been a few cases of people dropping off their pets and giving them up for adoption or euthanasia, simply because they're going on vacation and don't want to be bothered with the animal anymore. CAN YOU FREAKIN' IMAGINE?
I'm having an obsessive near-breakdown, because on Tuesday, I'm leaving Coffee The Prettiest Cat Ever for two weeks -- the longest I've ever left her. And I know that my young neighbour, Philippe, takes great care of her. He feeds her twice a day, and spends up to an hour just playing with her, so that she's not alone 24/7.
By the way, as soon as we have a camera operator available, we're headed over to the Humane Society to do a story for our 11pm news tonight, and 6pm tomorrow. Anything I can do to help, short of tracking down the former owners and swatting them upside the head with a bat.

HAPPY CANADA DAY!

Beyond a doubt, we live in the best country in the world!

Life in perspective and what I learned today

Today, after attending my niece Caitlin's high school graduation (see post below), I went out for lunch with a young friend of mine, who is Cait's age and graduated from high school yesterday. The one big difference is that he took his final year of high school at CHEO -- the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario.
Misha was a goalie on the first hockey team I worked with as trainer after I moved to Ottawa. His dad, Angelo, was one of the coaches.
Mish had to take Grade 12 at CHEO, because just over a year ago, he was diagnosed with a cancerous brain tumour. I actually hadn't seen him since the end-of-year hockey party two years ago, but recently re-established communication via Facebook, after hearing third-hand of his illness, and that he was dying.
I actually picked him up at CHEO today, where he had been for blood tests. Right off the bat, I attacked the situation head on and asked him what is up. He told me without hestitation about his diagnosis, and doctors telling him that surgery was risky and could cause all kinds of complications, but without it, he wouldn't live to see two more Christmases. He said that made his decision simple.
So they removed the tumour and started him on chemo and radiation. He said physiotherapists told him he would never regain use of his left arm and leg (the arm is now in a sling, the leg has a brace on it), and that he would never walk again. He refused to accept that, and told them that he would be up walking within a week and a half -- and was!
Mish kept repeating to me how he's too stubborn to give up, and that what his medical team sees as hurdles and handicaps, he sees as challenges. He also told me that he intends to play hockey again, admitting that he'll never play at a high level, but he will play.
I asked him what his longterm outlook is. He says his doctors have quit telling him such things, because he doesn't accept them anyway. He does know that he won't live as long as he would have, had he not had cancer, but he's going to make the most of it.
Misha now volunteers three days a week at CHEO, working with other kids. He says he doesn't understand how people his own age who he has seen receive similar diagnoses to his, can just go into their rooms, turn off the lights, and give up. Things like that frustrate him more than his own condition and his continuing chemo, which initially saw him so nauseated, he dropped from 150 lbs. to 118. He's now back up to 135.
He's registered to attend Carleton University in the fall, to study psychology. He says he's very interested in how people tick, and how they react to various things, based partly on his own experience of the past year or so. He also told me about a couple of very interesting projects he already did for his Grade 12 classes, including going to a Senators game dressed as a clown, to study people's reactions.
I have to say, I was a bit apprehensive about seeing Misha today, but that quickly dissipated. I am very impressed and proud of him. When I dropped him off at home, we promised each other we'd get together again, and that he'll call me any time he feels like it.
Do I pity Misha? Not in the least. Do I buy into his upbeat, positive attitude? You bet. Cancer or not, no one ever knows what might come, so whatever does, just face it head on, and do your damnedest to beat it, not allowing it to beat you without a damned good fight.
Thanks, Mish. You might be less than 40% as old as I am, but you taught me several new lessons today, and reinforced a lot of beliefs that I already had, but might have let go dormant. I admire, honour and respect you.

If I could save time in a bottle...

It's another one of those landmark days for my family. The baby of the McIntyre family, daughter/granddaughter/niece Caitlin graduated from high school this morning. She's an Ontario Scholar (80%+ in at least six Grade 11 and 12 credits, as I understand it) and headed to Laurentian University in Sudbury in the fall, to become an elementary teacher.
Her dad (Bro-in-Law Den) and I were talking on the way into the school this morning, about how time flies. I think it was 1996 that we brought his (and Sister Dale's) two girls, their niece and Little Bro Dan to Canada's Wonderland. Now, one of them is a paramedic in the third year of his career and a homeowner engaged to be married in ten months; two of the girls have a year of university left, and Cait is off to university.
Cait, you're all grown up now, but you'll always be the baby of the family. Oh, and your Uncle Bob will always love you.

"Doc, I need help -- fast!"

"Vaht iz ze problem Rrrrrobert?"
"Well, Doc, for the last several months, camouflage print has been trying to make its way into my life and my wardrobe. It's relentless."
"Yez, continue."
"Well, before I went to Dubai last November, camouflage kept beckoning me, but I resisted. Since then, it has been getting stronger."
"Hmmmmm."
"And then before going to Mexico in March, the urge to buy camouflage clothing was taunting me worse than ever. I even gave in a teensy bit, buying a backpack in Mexico that just has a bit of camo trim on it. But it wasn't enough. It's still constantly beckoning."
"Um-hmmm."
"Today, I was out shopping for summer clothes, and everywhere I turned, there it was, almost calling out loud 'Buy me, Bob'."
"Weeerrrrryyyy inderezding."
"It was difficult, Doc, but I resisted again. What should I do?"
"I zay you should give in to your urge and ze beckoning. Go camo!"
"No! For goodness sake, Doc, I'm a 50-year-old white guy!"
"You azked for help, zat iz my advize."
"No! I want a second opinion!"
"Okay: you are veird, cuckoo in ze coconut, az well."
"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"

A word of warning

I feel like I'm writing one of those annoying emails that makes its way around the cyberworld an infinite number of times, but I'm not -- I'm just posting on my blog.

Yesterday, a co-worker was out in a company vehicle, and stopped to gas it up. She put the company credit card on the counter just while she signed the credit card slip. In that short time, someone stole the card.

With the price of gas as high as it is, it stands to wonder that such incidents are going to happen almost as much as gas-and-dash. So beware.

Good grief. What's next?

So now plastic shower curtains are toxic. WalMart must be watching linen shower curtains flying out the door. Sheesh.
This week's other hazardous substance is the lowly tomato. So a few people in the Excited States of America get sick -- from tomatoes, although the FDA still isn't sure how they became infected -- and the whole world panics. One-hundred-and-sixty-seven cases in a population of 300-million: I would say the odds of NOT getting sick are pretty good.
As a working member of the media, I share the blame for the panic these apparent news stories cause. We ramp 'em up and the viewer/reader/listener panics. Mission accomplished.
The fast-food industry goes tomato-free, and American tomato farmers scream at the FDA to clear their tomatoes, so they don't go broke.
I just had a tomato-free chicken breast Subway sub for lunch. The sandwich artist (artist? For slapping meat and veggies between a couple slices of bread?) told me that they'll have tomatoes back tomorrow.
Corporate types have been covering their collective fat ass by pulling tomatoes from their stores, afraid of someone beating the 167 in 300-million odds, contracting salmonella (I went to high school with an Italian goombah named Sal Monella), and suing them -- the litiginous that has crept across the border into Canada, much like the fearmongering Republicans claim the 9/11 terrorists crossed in the other direction.
Good grief. What next?

Stompin' Tom's Hockey Song -- not gonna happen

There are several reasons that I don't see "Hello out there, we're on the air... etc." as the new Hockey Night In Canada theme:
-Stompin' Tom had a feud with the Corpse over the use of his theme for Marketplace ("Yes we are the people, runnin' in the race, buyin' up them bargains in the old Marketplace..."), and ended up pulling it. And as I understand through various sources, Tom carries a grudge.
-CBC has already announced a contest for a new theme.
-Do you really think the artsy-fartsy, granola-crunching, Birkenstock-wearing powers-that-be who have been totally screwing up the Corpse for the past several years would really adopt such a bourgeois song as The Hockey Song for the theme?
-You can argue that as simplistic as the song might be, it's true grassroots Canadian folklore, and I would agree. But again, the artsy-fartsies running the Corpse are totally out of touch with the grassroots, and would very quickly turn up their noses at the very notion of being so undignified as to actually return to their true mandate as the national public broadcaster.

Okay, I'm becoming fahrklempt. You have your topic, discuss amongst yourselves.

The latest on the HNIC theme: CTV shoots and scores!

CTV buys rights to former `Hockey Night in Canada' theme song
TORONTO - CTV has acquired the rights to the song that's been CBC's `Hockey Night in Canada' theme for the past 40 years.
CTV and Copyright Music and Visuals, the company that controls use of the classic song composed by Dolores Claman, announced Monday afternoon that CTV acquired all rights to the song in perpetuity.
The network says it will use the song on NHL broadcasts on TSN, RDS and during the broadcaster's coverage of the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver.
CTV says it made an agreement in principle Friday with Copyright Music and Visuals after CBC announced a contest to find a new theme song.
The contest announcement followed months of negotiations that failed to result in a new licensing agreement between CBC and the agent.
CBC's licence to use the song expired at the end of the Stanley Cup final last week.
(The Canadian Press)
15:54ET 09-06-08

I am particularly proud at this moment to be an employee of CTVglobemedia. Which network REALLY reflects Canada to Canadians now?

A hopeful sign

This just in, off the newswire:

CBC Hockey Song, (ENT-CBC-Hockey-Song)
TORONTO - CBC appears to be making a last-ditch effort to rescue
the popular Hockey Night in Canada theme song.

The public broadcaster has asked Toronto sports lawyer Gord Kirke to mediate negotiations between CBC and Copyright Music and Visuals, the company that controls the song.

CBC Sports executive director Scott Moore says CBC feels it's worth one last effort to save a theme song that evokes such passion among Canadians.

CBC's licence for the song, written by composer Delores Claman and a staple of Hockey Night in Canada since 1968, expired last week following the Stanley Cup finals.

The parties were in negotiations late last week before CBC announced Friday it would begin the search for a new theme song.

The broadcaster has asked Canadian musicians to vie for a $100,000 prize by submitting their own original compositions to replace the theme.

I gotta tell you, though, that my spidey sense is tingling. The newsguy in me isn't ready to conclude anything, but suspects that this is just all a publicity gimmick, just like the protracted, eleventh-hour contract negotiations with Ron MacLean and Don Cherry a couple of years ago. Or, maybe CBC management has enough brain cells to realize that the stupid move to kill the theme really did raise the hackles of hundreds of thousands -- if not millions -- of Canadians.

One co-worker commented last week that the $500 the CBC pays every time the song is aired is "our money". To which I replied that it isn't, because Hockey Night In Canada is a cash cow for the Corp (or as Frank Magazine calls it, The Corpse).