Statue of the Week

Found in Los Angeles

Best Buy not living up to their name

There’s a class action lawsuit in New York that’s been brought against Best Buy. Apparently they’re turning down people who try to use their price matching “guarantee” left and right. The price matching is written policy, but internal documents actively tell employees that they don’t have to honor it. And it also turns out that Best Buy managers are being rewarded with bonuses for denying such requests. At every turn, Best Buy demonstrates why no one should ever want to do business with them.

So this bobcat walks into a bar and....

OK, this wasn't funny at all. A bobcat in an Arizona bar caused a panic the other night in Cottonwood near Sedona. Three people were hurt and the bobcat was killed.

That bobcat caught patrons off guard, causing some to jump on pool tables and grab pool sticks before pulling their cell phone cameras out for pictures. Another patron explains, “My friend got down with his camera phone and the cat jumped up and hit him in the face.”

Cottonwood Police later shot the bobcat three times and killed it. The animal was then sent to Phoenix for rabies testing. The results came back positive.

Sorry I don't get Earth Hour

My impression of Earth Hour (March 28 8:30 pm - Toronto time) is that is another feel good event that does nothing to reverse global warming. Does shutting off your lights for one hour accomplish anything more than display that it is possible to get millions of people to simultaneously do one thing?

I scratch my head when I see concerts organized to "celebrate" Earth Hour. Last year's concert included Nelly Furtado and this year it will feature Suzie McNeil, Karl Wolf, Crash Parallel, The Matt York Band, and Samba Squad. This concerts include stage lighting and amplified sound. So wasn't the idea of Earth Hour to turn off non-essential electricity?

Oh and now there are Sponsors for Earth Hour. You need cash to hold events, do promotions, and just get the word out. Canadian sponsors are Sears, CBC and Coca-Cola. Now isn't Coca-Cola a major producer of bottled water? And isn't bottled water one of the most wasteful inventions man has come up with in decades. Fill non-refillable plastic bottles with water and transport it around the world consuming large amounts of fuel, when it comes out of my tap for free.

So you can understand my cynicism. Just explain how we will saving the planet tomorrow at 8:30?

A blonde that understands rocket science

Valerie Bertinelli looks good for 48

Sure People magazine photoshopped the life out of this photo. But still she appears to have lost a lot of weight and give her credit for putting on a bikini in front of a camera. George Lucas hasn't developed the technology to make me look good. Which is why I wear the Darth Vader clothes.

Earth Day Hour is tomorrow

I watched a video of hippies crying over a dead tree in preparation for Earth Hour tomorrow. I was so moved I ran out to Tim Hortons with a reusable cup and said screw the Roll Up the Rim contest. Probably the cup I passed on was a car.

Top All-Time Toronto Maple Leafs by Jersey Numbers

#40 - Phil Oreskovic
(Kelly Fairchild, Ken McRae)

#41 - Nikolai Kulemin
(Paul Gagne, Eric Lacroix)

#42 - Kyle Wellwood
(Tim Stapleton, Kevyn Adams)

Music stops again on CHUM 1050

Music formats have done poorly for decades on AM radio and gradually stations have move to talk formats instead. Today CHUM 1050 dropped their oldies format which they have been playing since 1986. My wife may have been one of their last loyal listeners. Their ratings have been awful for a while. The station has been rebranded CP24 Radio 1050, and will run programming from TV’s CP24 all-news channel.

Listeners of Chum AM looking for an alternative in Toronto may want to check out Zoomer Radio at AM 740.

CHUM AM became the first Top 40 radio station in Canada in May, 1957, when the late Allan Waters served as its most recognizable voice. A generation of Torontonians looked to the station as their guide to the emerging phenomenon of rock ’n’ roll. CHUM AM claims to have been the first station in Canada to play records by Elvis Presley and The Beatles, and that Neil Young told Rolling Stone magazine that listening to CHUM AM as a youth was ‘‘when he really became aware of what was going on in music.’’

CHUM DJs of the 1960s were zany morning man Al Boliska, who quit in late 1963 to go 'across the street' to CKEY. He was replaced by WKBW, Buffalo radio & TV personality Jay Nelson, popularly known as "Jungle Jay". I have to admit I loved listening to Jungle Jay. He would be followed by housewives' jock John Spragge; singer/DJ Mike Darow; Pete Nordheimer, replaced in 1961 by Bob McAdorey; teen DJ Dave Johnson; and all night maven Bob Laine. Later additions to the CHUM DJ lineup included Duff Roman and Brian Skinner, both of whom came over from CKEY.

In the late 1960s and early 1970s, CHUM DJ's included Duke Roberts (also known as Gary Duke for a time), Johnny Mitchell (better known today as Sonny Fox), J. Michael Wilson, Tom Rivers, Scott Carpenter, Jim Van Horne, John Rode, Don Reagan, John Majhor, Mike Cooper, Daryl B, Terry Steele and Roger Ashby (who is still the morning guy on CHUM FM). Among their later night-time hosts was J.D. Roberts who joined CHUM in 1977 went on to become a White House correspondent for CBS-TV and today hosts CNN's morning program.

The CHUM Chart was, for many years, the most influential weekly Top 40 chart in Canada and has been hailed as the longest-running continuously-published radio station record survey in North America. I used to collect them religious. Too bad I don't have my collection any longer. They are probably worth big bucks.

Rick Mercer wonders if Michael Ignatieff has an opinion on anything

Man survived both atomic bombings

Japan has certified a man aged 93 as the only known survivor of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, both hit by atomic bombs towards the end of World War II. Tsutomu Yamaguchi was in Hiroshima on a business trip on 6 August 1945 when a US plane dropped the first atomic bomb.

He suffered serious burns and spent a night there before returning to his home city of Nagasaki just before it was bombed on 9 August. He said he hoped his experience held a lesson of peace for future generations.

It was already recorded that Mr Yamaguchi had survived the Nagasaki bomb but on Tuesday officials recognized that he had been in Hiroshima as well.

Certification as a hibakusha or radiation survivor qualifies Japanese citizens for government compensation, including medical check-ups, and funeral costs.

His double dose of atomic bombs, however, does not mean Mr Yamaguchi's compensation will increase, a Nagasaki city official said.

"My double radiation exposure is now an official government record," Mr Yamaguchi said. It can tell the younger generation the horrifying history of the atomic bombings even after I die." About 140,000 people were killed in Hiroshima and 70,000 in Nagasaki.

Hollywood vending machine

Elton John is 62

Hump Day Hottie

Mila Kunis

Bang & Olufsen to sell 103-inch plasma HDTV for $137,000

You better get a piano mover to set it up. It weights about 1,000 lb.

Mug Shot of the Week

Top All-Time Toronto Maple Leafs by Jersey Numbers

#37 - Trevor Kidd
(Darby Hendrickson, Doug Shedden)

#38 - Yannick Tremblay
(Dave Harlock, Chris Snell)

#39 - Travis Green
(Clarke Wilm, Simon Gimache)

If you make a death-bed confession...make sure you pass away

When James Brewer suffered a stroke and realised he was dying, the church-going Oklahoma factory worker decided it was time for an extraordinary death-bed confession.

Local police were summoned to his hospital bedside where he lay after suffering a stroke.

Brewer is alleged to have then told them he shot dead a man he believed was trying to seduce his wife more than 30 years ago.

Detectives said Brewer, 58, told them he wanted to "cleanse his soul" and go to meet his maker with a clear conscience.

But in a bizarre twist of fate, Brewer survived the illness and now faces a new murder trial over the 32-year-old death of Jimmy Carroll in Tennessee - where the death penalty may await him.

Last week, a newly recovered Brewer and his wife, Dorothy, sold all their possessions in a garage sale and left their modest wood-framed home in Shawnee, Oklahoma, where they had reportedly been living under the assumed names of Michael and Dorothy Anderson. They drove to Hohenwald, Tennessee, where he surrendered to the authorities.

Yeah there goes the neighbourhood

Lara Flynn Boyle from Twin Peaks is 39

Winnie Cooper got married and not to Kevin Arnold

For fans of The Wonder Years how could we forget how poor Kevin Arnold (Fred Savage) obsessed over Winnie Cooper (Danica McKellar). You sometimes believed they were made for each other.


Well they are all grown up now and Danica is 34 now.


Well Winnie got married over the weekend. Kevin was nowhere to found.

Tata Nano is coming

Back in January 2008 India's Tata Motors announced that they were developing a car that would cost only 100,000 rupees or $2,500.

Well it rolled out commercially today at an event in Mumbai. The Tata Motors Nano will retail for just over $2,000 and can be yours by July; if you live in India that is. In North America and Europe the car will be built with more safety features and a higher price tag.

In case you’re wondering, the Chevrolet Aveo, which has a base price of $10,895, is currently the cheapest car available in the North American market.

It might be unhealthy

McSurf N’ Turf

A McDonald’s Fish-O-Filet inside a Quarter Pounder with cheese.

Could be in need of some economic stimulus?

One Hit Wonder

Joan Osborne - What If God Was One Of Us (1995)

Joan Osborne - What If God Was One Of Us
by Pippo-el-peco

Ex-Maple Leaf Walt Poddubny dead at 49

Many Leaf fans heard about the sudden death of Walt Poddubny at the age of 49.

Poddubny like many retired players disappeared from the limelight after his hockey career ended. What many fans don't realize is that many players struggle with their post-hockey lives and poor Walt was one of them. Although his hockey salary peaked at $350,000 (US), he died penniless living in his sister's basement in Thunder Bay. The Globe has an excellent piece on his life after hockey.

Even better is a book by ex-Leaf GM Mike Smith called Life After Hockey. Many people don't know that Smith has a Ph.D. and quite a brilliant man. He has written about 10 books about hockey but this one is his best.

Pink elephants are real!

In case you missed it a pink baby elephant has been caught on camera in Botswana. Next they'll be telling us there are white elephants too.

Holy Smokes! Letterman got married!

What is the world coming to?! David Letterman actually did it. He married his longtime partner of 23 years, Regina Lasko, at a courthouse in Montana on Thursday. David and Regina have a son Harry together.

He told his audience today, "Regina and I began dating in February of 1986, and I said, 'Well, things are going pretty good, let's just see what happens in about ten years.'"

Bruce Willis got married over the weekend

...to 30 year old Victoria Secret model Emma Heming. The only thing is ol' Bruce is 54 years old. His ex-wife Demi Moore was at the wedding with her hubby Ashton Kutcher who is 31. Hey if things don't work out between Bruce and Emma or Demi and Ashton then maybe Ashton and Emma can....ah never mind!

Fox News must employ the most ignorant people in America

The March 17 panelists on "Red Eye" took a number of shots at Canada and the military, with one saying he didn’t know the country had even deployed troops in Afghanistan, adding "I thought that's where you go if you don't want to fight — you go chill in Canada."

Another said the only reason the military could pull its soldiers out of the NATO-led mission was because it relies heavily for security on the United States.

The host said the Canadian military “wants to take a breather to do some yoga, paint landscapes, run on the beach in gorgeous white capri pants.” “Isn't this the perfect time to invade this ridiculous country?” he said. “They have no army.”

In truth Canadian soldiers have been fighting in Afghanistan since 2001 and have spent the last four years in the country's most violent region. Canada has lost 116 soldiers in Afghanistan, the highest casualty rate among allied countries fighting there.



This is how some of our soldiers come home. They aren't wearing white capris.

Top All-Time Toronto Maple Leafs by Jersey Numbers

#34 - Bryan Berard
(Jamie Macoun, Dave Reid, Rob Cimetta)

#35 - Vesa Toskala
(Bruce Boudreau, Jeff Reese, Curt Ridley)

#36 - Dmitry Yushkevich
(Jamie Heward, Anton Stralman, Ken McRae)

Maple Leaf MVP is Ron Wilson

Anyone who watched the Leafs crush the Canadiens on Saturday couldn't help but notice the contrast in the two teams. The Leafs battled for the puck all night and won most of the time. They are beating teams without the front line players of yesteryear...no Mats Sundin, no Darcy Tucker, no Bryan McCabe, no Alex Mogilny, no Gary Roberts, no Own Nolan, not even Nik Antropov. In fact they have no front line players.

Last night the Leafs dressed 6 rookies (Schenn, Stralman, Oreskovic, Grabovski, Kulemin, Mitchell) and 4 players from the minors/scrapheap (Ondrus, Devereaux, Hamilton, Gerber). Their top scorer (Blake) has chronic myelogenous leukemia. (He would be my pick for the Bill Masterson Trophy again.) Had the Leafs played this hard the previous season they might not be in a rebuild mode right now.

Now I realize it's easier to play the role of spoiler than it is to be a contender. In previous season the Leafs most often played their best hockey when nothing was on the line. But this year it is clearly different. The culture has certainly changed. Ron Wilson has been teaching these guys how to compete hard every night. The lessons appear to be sinking in. The players on the team know the Leafs are rebuilding and have essentially been given the choice - play hard and you might be able to become part of the process or don't play hard and you surely will move on.

Frankly, I don't care if the media likes Ron Wilson. I don't care if he doesn't gets along with Howard Berger or that he doesn't care to be interviewed by Bob McCowan. I just want to see the Leafs win every night. Ron Wilson makes you believe that it could happen.

There is always a bright side

source

Student suing after being awakened by teacher

Danbury officials have been notified they are being sued by a student who was awakened in class by a teacher who made a loud noise.

Documents filed with the Town Clerk, a prelude to a lawsuit, claim that a sleeping student suffered hearing damage when his teacher woke him up by slamming her hand down on the boy's desk. in December.

Attorney Alan Barry says 15-year-old Vinicios Robacher suffered pain and "very severe injuries to his left eardrum" when teacher Melissa Nadeau abruptly slammed the palm of her hand on his desk on Dec. 4.

A city official says the matter has been referred to Danbury's insurance carrier.

Iranian women get equal insurance benefits

Insurance companies in Iran will have to pay the same compensation for women and men in the case of death or injury, the Iranian government has said.

Previously, insurance policies have paid women or their families half of what a man or his relatives receive.

ranian Justice Minister Gholamhoseyn Elham said the companies would also have to make equal payouts to Muslims and non-Muslims.

Non-Muslims and their relatives also currently receive less than Muslims. The new requirements came into force at the start of the Iranian new year.

Fashion Disaster

Elvis Stojko is 37 today

Update on Joe the Plumber

Joe still loves the spotlight though he has nothing worthwhile to say. Even Forrest Gump was more profound. This has to be the longest 15 minutes ever.