news feeds april 27

Advertising fail...

--

Today in 1813 the US troops sent 1,700 troops to invade Toronto then known as York.  Canadian troops had to with drawn to Kingston and the Americans torched the parliaments buildings, burned and looted the town over the next twelve days before departing on May 8.  The British empire struck back a year later invading Washington D.C. and setting fire to the White House.  The Battle of 1812 lasted for three years before ending in 1815.

--

Ron Paul

The fat lady (man) has left the building.  Newt Gingrich has finally pulled the plug on his campaign for presidency, and is now going to be backing governor Romney making him a sure lock for the candidacy.  Ron Paul's campaign is still kicking, but at this point, he too is just now spinning his wheels.  I personally think Ron Paul may be the best guy for the job.  Despite being a Republican for years, Paul has been very critical of many policies put forth by the right wing, and has publicly questioned whether he actually belonged in the party.  He first ran for president as the nominee of the Libertarian party in 1988 after becoming quickly disillusioned by the Reagan administration.  "Since 1981 Ronald Reagan and the Republican Party have given us skyrocketing deficits, and astoundingly a doubled national debt .  How is it that the party of balanced budgets, with control of the White House and Senate, accumulated red ink greater than all previous administrations put together?"  This is from Ron Paul resignation letter to the Republicans in 1988.  Although he rejoined the party for his 1996 election, he seems like a guy, who while may be a little 'oatmeal' (i.e. BORING) he doesn't put up with much crap and would get some stuff done.  When his campaign ends at least he has stated that he would just hop on the bandwagon of another nominee if he doesn't believe in their platforms.  "I would be reluctant to jump on board and tell all of the supporters that have given me trust and money that all of a sudden, I'd say, all we've done is for naught.  So, let's support anybody at all.. even if they disagree with everything that we do."  As close to we get to ethics within the Republican party!  As for Mitt Romney news, his wife hasn't said whether he will accept an invitation to appear on Saturday Night Live like many past presidential hopefuls to which Seth Myers deadpanned "Look, Giuliani did it, Palin did it, McCain did it, and they were all president." Jason Sudeikis as Romney:

--

The question of who 'they' are may have finally been answered.  People since the beginning of time have wondered who 'they' were.  It is hard to take advice from people who you aren't sure if 'they' are qualified to pass along such information as fact.  As it turns out they are qualified, recent documents showing a secret agency knows as T.H.E.Y. (Timely Hints Each Year) release a new truth as 'they' see it,  whose past teachings have included "An apple a day keeps the doctor away," "Don't count your chickens before they hatch" and "Never judge a book by it's cover."  T.H.E.Y. decide as a committee which truth will be released unto the world, and if course if the truth can be preceded by "You know what T.H.E.Y. say" because if you aren't getting the recognition what's the point?  T.H.E.Y. was founded by leaders the world over, but have had less slogans come out over the years since their public falling out in the early nineties when they tried to replace their staple slogan "… where there's a will there's a way" to "… where there's a will there's Crystal Pepsi."  And of course we can't forget the whole oranges will give you lyme disease fiasco.  Notable past and present T.H.E.Y. members include Hilary Clinton, Body Break hosts Hal Johnson and Lorraine McLoed, Frank Sinatra Jr, Blaire from the Facts of Life, super coach Mike Ditka, and  pop star Miley Cyrus.  Upon further investigation it turns out that T.H.E.Y. is only an overused pronoun that is "used to refer to two or more people or things previously mentioned or easily identified."  I suppose we may never know where 'they' came from…. so they say ;)

--

  

Happy birthday to Paul Daniel Frehley also known as "Space" Ace Frehley, lead guitarist for Kiss from 1973 to 1982, then again 1996-2002.  Frehley auditioned for Kiss, known at that time as Wicked Lester after being shown an ad in the Village Voice by a friend in late 1972, and adopted the Spaceman persona soon after.  Ace was given co-writing credit on many songs throughout his tenure in Kiss, and his first solo credit was on Kiss' debut album, the fan favourite "Cold Gin."  Ace was never too confident in his voice and didn't sing on a Kiss record until 1977's "Love Gun".  Clearly not happy with the band's direction by the start of the 80s he was often outvoted 2-1 on band decisions once drummer Peter Criss left the band by the other two founding members Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons.  Here's an interview on the Tom Snyder show from 1979, the beginning of the end for the original incarnation of Kiss, and Ace is clearly completely wasted, much to the annoyance of Gene.  Happy birthday Ace! 

--

Round two of the playoffs.  Been pretty amazing so far with round two beginning tonight.  In the first round my picks did poorly. The Rangers were the only series in the East that I got right with the Bruins, Panthers and Penguins all making early exits.  Fortunately, in the West I got Los Angeles, St. Louis and Nashville bringing my record up to .500 but that's the great part of the playoffs I suppose since you never can tell what's going to happen.  Another interesting thing one of the sports shows pointed out but the last four champions, the Bruins, Hawks, Penguins and Red Wings are all out in the first round this year.  A true changing of the guard in the NHL with one of the West franchises St. Louis, Los Angeles, Phoenix or Nashville either ending long Cup Final droughts or in the case of Phoenix and Nashville, never having been there at all.  So second round, I'll take the Rangers over the Caps, the Flyers over the Devils, Nashville over Phoenix and Los Angeles over St Louis.  I just loving Dustin Brown this playoffs and everyone on the Kings is feeding off of him.  Oh, and that goalie of theirs, Mr. Quick has the ability to steal a series, not that Halak and Elliot are slouches (lowest GAA in the league), but mannnnn Jonathan Quick is good and to shut down the prolific Vancouver offence should make tons of people think that he should be able to handle the Blues shooters.  Round two starts tonight in Phoenix!

--

People are breathing a little easier in Beantown with the struggling Red Sox bats finally waking up.  No one could hit anything with the exception of Ryan Sweeney and the new look David Ortiz who dropped a significant amount of weight this offseason, looking more fit than he has in his career.  After the embarrassing collapse with a 9-0 lead in the 7th inning against the Yanks, the Red Sox have reeled off four straight victories sweeping the Twins and taking the first game from the ChiSox last night knocking around Philip Humber in his first start since last weeks perfect game.  Around the league the Rangers currently hold the best overall record and lead the majors in team average hitting at just over a .300 clip.  Matt Kemp of the NL West leading Los Angeles Dodgers is absolutely demolishing National League pitching currently hitting .449 with 10 homers and 23 RBI's in 19 games this season.  

--

Happy weekend!

news feeds april 22

Happy Earth Day… The idea for Earth Day was conceived in 1968 with a planned date of April 22, 1970 as the first one.  The date was chosen because the brains behind the project senator Gaylord Nelson felt that colleges were integral to his experiment so he chose this date so it doesn't conflict with any holidays, exams or spring breaks and the weather is still decent outside.  This coincided with the 100th anniversary of the birth of Russian communist all star Vladimir Lenin, and as reported in Time magazine, some people viewed this as a clue that the event was 'a Communist trick.'  Headline reads "RUSSIANS FOOL AMERICANS INTO TAKING CARE OF EARTH".  The day is currently celebrated in 175 countries every year.

--

Related planet news.  Toronto, hope you didn't put away your snow gear.  We're getting some this weekend, hate to be the fart in your soup bowl but you might as well be prepared.  It's been cold the last couple weeks after about a two week stretch of glorious weather, and my farmer tan is slowly fading reducing me back to my chalky white self. I wonder the last time when the March was a warmer month than April? WTF, mate?

--

In case this wasn't a surprise to anyone, the US has the highest rate of gun ownership among civilians in the world.  Some states allow you to carry guns in churches, bars and college campuses.  An article from the New Yorker analyzes some of the most dangerous and controversial laws passed in the last few years.  The first state to allow guns in bars was Tennessee in 2009.  Arizona, Virginia, Ohio and Georgia also allow them in bars and another twenty states do no address it at all, so under the Right To Carry laws they are probably allowed to have them by default.  Apparently the main man behind the Tennessee guns  in bars law, Tennessee state representative Curry Todd was arrested for driving under the influence while possessing a hand gun.  The church is also another place where the gun is necessary and is allowed in a whopping 40 states.  Virginia allow weapons in churches only is there is 'good and sufficient reason' although did not mention what sufficient reason was to have a gun in church. 

--

News flash. Wal-Mart may not be as on the up and up as we think.  Executives at Wal Mart's Mexican outfit have been accused of bribing millions of dollars to officials to expand at a rapid rate throughout the country, so many have been built in fact that one in every five Wal-Mart stores are now in that country and is Mexico's largest private employer with over 209, 000 employees nationwide.  Wal-Mart spokesman at Wal-Mart headquarters in Bentonville, Arkansas (seriously) said they are 'deeply concerned by these allegation and are working aggressively to determine what happened."  Isn't paying extra for building permits to employ lots of people the least of their worries?  In Mexico I would imagine Wal-Mart is a great employer compared to some of the people's other options, Wal-Mart's main problem hasn't really been the fact that they are in other country's it's more the old story of them moving in and destroying downtown's all over Canada and the US.  In developed countries it seems stupid to undermine your own economy, but in areas and countries where people genuinely need the jobs and the economic boost it could be invaluable.  Too bad they are out for world domination!

--

A thirty year old stay at home mother of eight from New Zealand has suffered a coke overdose.  The woman was drinking up to 8 litres of Coca-Cola (and smoking 30 cigarettes!) a day slumped against a wall and collapsed dead of a heart attack.  Her partner said "The first thing she would do in the morning was to have a drink of Coke beside her bed and the last thing she would do at night was have a drink of Coke.  She was addicted to Coke."  The Coca Cola company released the following statement regarding the situation: "We concur with the information shared by the coroner's office that the grossly excessive ingestion of any food product, including water, over a short period of time with the inadequate consumption of essential nutrients, and the failure to seek appropriate medical intervention when need, can be dramatically symptomatic." Huh? 

--

HAPPY 100 YEARS FENWAY PARK

Let not talk about the games against the Yankees.  Just HBD Fenway :S

--

Chicago White Sox starter Philip Humber has thrown the 21st perfect game in Major League history.  The White Sox knocked in four runs for support for the righty, who confused the Seattle Mariners hitters all day racking up nine strikeout, with only two balls you could say were hit 'hard.'  After seeing him get soaked with icy water by teammate Alexei Ramirez, Humber was clearly choked up in his post game interview.  Humber started his career with the New York Mets after being drafted in the first round by the club.  He was then sent to Minnesota as part of the Johan Santana deal.  He struggled with the Twins and was designated for assignment early in the 2009 season.  He signed with the Kansas City Royals and did't do much there either, although he did record his first career win in a relief appearance.    The White Sox claimed him and in his first year as a starter he compiled a respectable 9-9 record with a 3.75 ERA over 163 innings.  ChiSox pitching coach helped Humber replace his cutter with a slider, which over two starts in 2012 has served him well: in 14.1 innings he has an ERA of 0.63 and has given up 6 hits.  Good job Philip!

--

Good interview with Mad Men's Jon Hamm in Playboy.

--

Cya!

news feeds april 18

CRAZY STUFF! Dick Clark, 82 dies of massive heart attack.  Dick Clark was a five time  Emmy Award winner, and hosted many game shows and musical revues throughout his career including Pyramid, American Bandstand among others, and of course since 1972 his Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve, which has been an institution since it's inception, with the famous ball at Times Square in New York falling.  The first blow to his health was a stroke in 2004 that partially impaired his speech. 

"For Now, Dick Clark... So Long"

Richard Wagstaff "Dick" Clark 1929-2012

--

For DVD enthusiasts in Canada, you should rush out to your neighbourhood Rogers video store since they have gotten out of the renting of physical copies of films and are selling off all their stock.  The 93 remaining stores are selling off their stock, but retaining the property for their cable and wireless services.  This comes a year after 400 Blockbusters stores were shut down.  The renting of the actual hard copies of movies is now (if not before!) a thing of the past.  How long do you think it will be before HMV and other big name DVD retailers will be going the way of the buffalo?

--

Toronto's dying monument of consumerism, the Eaton Centre turns 35 years old today.  Despite the renovations that have happened in recent years, I still believe it's in an attempt to stay relevant with Yorkdale who have been bringing in many more high ends shops, doing significant renovations at a pace greater than that of the Eaton Centre and the more desirable locations near highways, with ample parking space.  The Eaton Centre actually does park pretty well considering it's location but the traffic in general around Yonge and Dundas streets are enough to deter a lot of uptowners and 905ers from making their way downtown.  Malls have taking a hit over the last few years with big stand alone box store plazas killing what was once supposed to a replacement to the town square and market place.  Now seen largely as a relic from the 80s culture there is a fantastic website dedicated to dead, abandoned and malls on steep decline that may or may not include the Eaton Centre in the years to come. Also, a clip on the subject from a documentary with one of the founders of deadmalls.com

--

Portman

Mitt Romney is currently in the market for a good man (or woman) to be his vice president.  The front runner, however, appears to be a man, the governor of Ohio by the name of Rob Portman.  One of the main reasons that Romney overtook the important state  of Ohio with the help and endorsement from Portman to beat Rick Santorum in the Ohio primary.  Also on the short list is a member of the golden family of America politics, potential ballot stuffer Florida governor Jeb Bush.  Not really a bad call for Romney since Mr. Bush is quite popular with Floridians and Hispanics and could be a powerful ally.  The leading female candidate is Kelly Ayotte, a senator from New Hampshire and the states former attorney general who knows Romney quite well.  There is a lack of geographical diversity though since they are New England neighbours and is doubtful that the Republicans would pick an all New England ticket.  And that isn't Newt Gingrich's nominee for VP hanging with him at every event and rally, that's Death looking at his watch waiting for his campaign to be taken off of life support.

--

Not even going to comment on the photos with US soldiers desecrated corpses in Afghanistan, so I'll stick to measures that are taken stateside to make their nation safer for it's people.  Police rushed to a situation in Milledgeville, Georgia where eyewitnesses say 'a tantrum' was thrown.  They threw themselves into the classroom situation full throttle, and although no charges we laid, they did feel threatened and were forced to cuff the woman, said to be six years old for their own, and her own safety.  She was taken 'downtown', was put in a briefing room and waited to be picked up by her aunt.  "She might have misbehaved, but I don't think she misbehaved to the point where she should have been handcuffed and taken downtown to the police department," said the girls aunt.  The police department said it was necessary after their tranquillizer gun jammed, and the rookie forgot the taser on the charger back at the office.

Original Story

--

The shuttle discovery was piggy backed into Dulles airport in Washington, DC for it final flight on the way to the Smithsonian museum.  In a related piggy backing story,  turtles also enjoy piggy back rides in Central Park.  It was not confirmed whether NASA or Washington officials stole the idea for the turtles, or whether the Discovery should have made one more flight to maybe see where Michael Bay's Teenage Mutant Alien Turtles actually came from.

--

Great NHL playoffs so far with two genuine upsets going on right now.  The Los Angeles Kings are poised to sweep the Presidents Trophy winning and defending Western Conference champion  Vancouver Canucks right out of the playoffs at home tonight.  The question is does Coach Alain go with Bobby Lu or Corey Schneider in goal tonight.  Let's put it this way, all due respect to Schenider, he's a great goalie and I would love to see Burkie bring him to Toronto, but if they can't start Lou in the most important game of the year they aren't going to win ANYTHING anyways.  Possible return by Daniel Sedin could give the Canucks a boost, but let's hope not.  In the state of Pennsylvania the Flyers are hammering their hated rival Penguins, scoring eight goals in each of the last two games and have game four at home as well.  Pittsburgh have been putting the puck in the net at an alright clip (12 goals in 3 games) but can't keep it out of their net to save their life.  If arguably the two best teams go out in the first round the Cup will be up for grabs, possible front runners being the Bruins and Rangers, but basically it's anyones Cup.
--  

Guess I'll end this with a little personal stuff.  Not like that personal or anything just totally weird.  So I just got back from New York yesterday.  I stayed at the Edison Hotel at Times Square, great spot, really old but kept up great.  Neil Simon has a play based on the cafe in the hotel called 'Forty Five Seconds From Broadway,' but it's also featured on an episode of Seinfeld.  In "The Subway" episode the gang are all going to different destinations on the subway and George meets a woman who appears to be flirting with him but her intention is to rob him.  Anyways, he goes to the Edison with her and she ties him up to the bed and steals his eight dollars ("I wasted my whole morning on you for EIGHT dollars?").  So I flick on Fox at ten and that episode is on.  What does it mean? I don't know.  But the universe is funny sometimes!
--
End transmission.

jersey bore

Hangin' out in Newark for three hours! Who says dreams can't come true? Arrived at airport a touch early, but the next shuttle would be a touch late. Kind o lf weak, and no Internet til Jersey saved me. Anyways, War Horse was great, particularily the horse puppeteers but the entire cast was great. As for the Yankees game, the bombers surprised us with leading off the game with back to back homers by Jeter and Granderson. Great park, great experience, but after all, it's the Yankees and I just can't really cheer for them. Twins win 7-3, with Justin Morneau hitting a home run for the other Canadians in his presence. Plus it was so hot you couldn't see straight. But to the task at hand.. The 2$ bill. Didn't happen. That is all. Toronto bound at 1!

news feeds april 14

HAPPY SATURDAY!

Newly released documents show that Canadian Prime Minister Steven Harper charged the tax payers just over $45,000 to foot the bill for a three day trip last Labour Day with Harper's family and four staffers. The members of Team Canada took in a Yankees game, a Broadway show with the weekend's expenses totalling $11,026 and an additional $34, 633 for the use of a Challenger jet for transportation to and from America's biggest city.  So, apparently Mr. Harper covered the expenses but the bill on the jet is still outstanding. Fly with Porter! 100 bucks! Good job, dillweed.

--

I had to say something about Ridiculously Photogenic Guy.  Talk about timing.  A 25 year old NYC resident running a marathon in South Carolina has become an internet sensation for smiling into the camera while sweaty unhappy runners surround him.  The photo was taken by one of his friends on the sidelines, uploaded to a popular forum then spread like wildfire over facebook, twitter and has been viewed over a million times through photo sharing sites and news stories.  All the attention it has garnered has been in a positive light (for once online) and he plans on running a marathon later in the year in NYC for the John Ritter foundation.  I'm sure his sponsorship dollars should go up for that one. Oh, here's the photo with a few different captions made by people the internet over for comedic effect.

 

--

Fans of the Vancouver Canucks took another blow on their quest to repeat as Western Conference champions.  The Los Angeles Kings outplayed, outhit, outclassed and most importantly out scored their opponents.  Vancouver, is a good team, I'll make that clear, but I can't stand them.  And for once I don't have much bad to say about Luongo because he was pretty much hung out to dry.  The scariest parts would have to be their powerplay, which was completely listless in game one was even less effective in game two; despite getting shots on the PP they surrendered two shorthanded goals to Kings captain Dustin Brown, and the frequency in which they turned over the puck. Kings lead the series 2-0 heading into games 3 and 4 in LA.

--

I have only seen the first Harry Potter and ya, whatever, it's cool or something, but I never felt inclined to watch any of the other ones. Well, Emma Watson.  I'm probably a year or two late on this one but Holy crap.  Absolutely dynamite, the 21 year old actress looking amazing on the set of her new movie called... well I don't want to say the title because of how stupid it is but here it goes: "The Bling Ring" (for reals). Won't be watching it but I might take a little more interest in some of her future projects. In other Harry Potter news the author J.K. Rowling is taking a stab at grown up books, the first one being released later this year titled 'The Casual Vacancy.'

--

LIVE FROM NEW YORK

Installed the app for this stupid thing yesterday so if all goes well (had Rogers iPhone issues south of the border) posts from NYC during my quest to obtain a US two dollar bill will be forthcoming.  Also, Yankees/Twins game.  But the two dollar bill is a priority.  Can't wait to get into the 'New York Groove'

--

Over and out.  Goodnight and have a pleasant tomorrow.

early morning

;)

Late night non-sensical gibberish.  I know, it's late. But I fell asleep for a couple hours watching the St Louis and San Jose game go into two overtimes.  Now it's even later, about 6:30 am actually, but for some reason I don't feel like sleep.  Ok, first up, I love the US.  And their news is even better.  I'm not a doctor but I'm pretty sure the math on this pregnancy is wrong:

--

Playboy magazine, a beacon of news wealth, has an article in their April issue stating that humans will soon begin to mine asteroids by the end of our lifetime, and that the wealth that is to be had from this will be unfathomable.  They even predicted that the resources from said asteroids will be able to generate enough wealth to produce the worlds first trillionaire.  The article forgot to mention of course feisty nuclear plant head Montgomery Burns once stole a trillion dollar bill, only to then have it confiscated by government official after he went into a 7-11 to try to buy some gum but the police were called after Mr. Burns lost his cool when the proper change wasn't available.  Got off track there but interesting idea. Space mining. In an unrelated story, did you know the US actual does have a 2$ bill? It's the least produced of all the American bank notes, but they exist.  I'm going to try to obtain one this weekend. 

--

I threw up just a little bit and I don't even use them.  A Texas woman has was about to use a tampon and it accidentally fell out of it's applicator to reveal itself to be covered in mould.  Like not a spot, it was COVERED in mould.  A doctor who saw the tampon in question called it 'disgusting' and went on to say that the woman would also be at risk to infection from the bacteria.  I'm sorry to everyone for posting this because I too feel kind of violated. Oh the brand was Kotex.

Here's the story: Eww 

--

Rod Steiger was born on April 14 and I know he's been dead for ten years, but I still love him as Charlie Malloy, Marlon Brando's characters brother in On the Waterfront so I thought I'd post this.  Still probably one of the best American movies of all time. Here's the classic contender scene with Steiger and Brando.  If you haven't seen the movie, the set up is Steiger is trying to convince Brando not to testify in court against Steiger and his crooked longshoremen on the docks who he works for. Described by Leonard Maltin: 'Steiger is given the impossible task of trying to convince Brando, who is right, that he is wrong.' Anyways, stuff of legends.

--

The Los Angeles Kings went into Vancouver for game one of their first round playoff series and beat the Canucks 3-1, a score that was pretty generous since Luongo actually stood on his head for once.  The person employed by the Kings to run their twitter account tweeted "To everyone in Canada outside BC, you're welcome" which is pretty funny really. No joke is required for a tweet so true. Playoffs have been great after two nights, and fortunately my picks are doing ok so far, with wins by the Kings, Blues, Predators, Rangers and Bruins.  Only the Penguins and Hawks have let me down so far with the last series, Florida/New Jersey kicks off tonight in FLA.

--

texts by...

Blogs about someone receiving texts that are humorous, then posted an ridiculed have popped up around the internet lately.  It started with the iPhone autocorrect website probably where it had some pretty hilarious autocorrect mistakes, then texts from Bennett popped up which is a blog described by the blogger as "These are text messages I exchange with my 17 year old cousin Bennett.  He is a white boy that thinks he's a crip, is currently unemployed, has a girlfriend named Mercedes and is on of the most unintentionally funny and brilliant souls on the planet."  It is pretty funny, but despite insistence that it is real, I question the validity of it.  Anyway, what prompted this post was another such site called "Texts From My Dog" and, while obviously fake (and if not I want to meet this dog) it's pretty funny and I'm sure Ill be checking back now and again to see where it goes.

TEXTS FROM BENNETT

TEXTS FROM MY DOG

news feeds april 11

The penny has officially been taking out of circulation in Canada.  For those kids who don't know what pennies are, they're those brown coins that no one really has a use for.  The government is expected to melt down the pennies and sell the copper (due to the high copper prices these days - about four dollars a pound!) or to outfit the Parliament buildings with a new bar and/or eavestrough.--

If you're a smoker this should scare the bejesus out of you sufficiently to want to quit.  Health Ontario has announced that they will be putting graphic warning on cigarettes that including a frail cancer victim and cancer spores on your tongue.  They should just make a pack that smells like a wet, butted out cigarette.  That should cure anyone.

--

The CBC has announced that it is slashing jobs, shows and radio shows in an effort to make up a $115 million shortcoming over the next three years.  I hope this doesn't make me a bad Canadian but i didn't know that there was anything on the CBC other than Hockey Night In Canada and Coronation Street.

--

US Presidential hopeful Mitt Romney's road to taking on Barack Obama for the chancellor of the Empire just got a little easier as his main opposition in the Republican party Rick Santorum has suspended his campaign and all but guarantees him punching a ticket to the big dance in a few months.  Newt Gingrich, with a fifth of the support of Mitt, insists he isn't done and hope to get some of the Santorum backers on his side, even though he can't seem to get any support anywhere but the southern states.  It's over baby, you're done.  

--

On April 11, 1976 the Apple I was introduced to the market for the nice round price off $666.66.  The computer was nothing more than a circuit board and in order to make it an actual working computer the owner had to also add a case, power supply, keyboard and a video card.  In 2010, an Apple I sold at a London auction for $213, 600.  Not bad for an electronic type writer.  Of course these days Apple has been doing much better with their market value at around $600 coming close to eclipsing the record set by old sparring partner Microsoft, who are for some reason not yet bankrupt.

--

April 15, 1912 is the day the Titanic sank and to mark the hundred year anniversary of the event they are sending a boat with the exact same path as the Titanic did.  How weird is that?  Let's hope it turns out a bit better.

Why Do We Love the Titanic? From the New Yorker.

--

Great article churned out by the team at Vancouver based Adbusters magazine.  It involves a study that show that the human mind is more at peace, sharper and stronger memory just by spending time in a natural setting, and how it become increasingly hard with the 24/7 nature of our lives now with the Blackberry's and facebooks to take that time out to just relax for a while.  Turn your phone off and go sit in the park for a bit if you live in the city.  Get outside (I know, I'm one to talk). Read the article here.

--

David Letterman turns 65 this week.  The late night talk show, who famously lost out the job of hosting the Tonight Show from under his nose, has been doing his show from the old Ed Sullivan Theatre for nineteen years after NBC's decision to go with Jay Leno even the gig was all but promised to Letterman.  I had the pleasure of seeing a taping of a show in 2009 with guests former playboy president Bill Clinton and basketball superstar LeBron James.  Very funny stuff, the warm up comedian, I can't remember his name was quite good and clearly a vet. This is the only picture I was able to take before I was threatened with my camera being confiscated and being pistol whipped by the usher.  Anyways, happy birthday to you Mr. Letterman!  

--

The Toronto Blue Jays opened the home portion of their schedule with a ninth inning collapse again a team (God love em) who are familiar with collapses, the Boston Red Sox.  But fortunately, Jays closer, referred to by some already as BJ Santos gave up three runs giving the Red Sox their first win of the season after having their bats coming up cold for most of the game only for the Jays to come up empty in the bottom half of the ninth.  The boys of summer are back! (no homo)   

--

In other baseball news, former White Sox manager and current Miami skip Ozzie Guillen has been suspended for his comments regarding Fidel Castro saying how he admired him.  Especially weak considering the large Latin population in Miami.  I always thought Ozzie wasn't so much a dictator but more of a tyrant. 

--

Maple Leafs Sports & Entertainment president Larry Tanenbaum posted a letter online and in many Toronto newspapers apologizing for the horrible ending to the season the saw the fall from a sure playoff spot at the beginning of February to qualifying for the lottery pick by the end.  In case you missed it I'll sum it up in three words "Sorry, we suck."  Burkie seemed especially testy when one reporter suggested that he follows the Pittsburgh model, which I'm sure he meant draft well and develop your own players but when faced with the question snapped back, and I'm paraphrasing, "What do you want me to do? Get a lottery pick then draft the best player in the world. Am I able to do that?" As it turns out he isn't able to do much and the roster is clearly in need of an overhaul before the next season.  

For the good teams, the playoffs start tomorrow. 

--

Have a great week!

Touche