Representin' Sarnia

Mayor Mike Bradley made a dapper appearance on the red carpet.

You may remember Bradley's cameo in Moore's film "Bowling for Columbine".

He is eternally cool.

Who Invited Her?

What the hell was she doing on the red carpet?

SHIRLEY DOUGLAS TALKED TO ME!

Shirley Douglas was right in front of me...she couldn't have gotten any closer.

And she talked to me.

She asked me, "How are you doing, dear?"

Holy crap.

I love ALL the men she's related to.

MICHAEL MOORE WAS CLOSE ENOUGH TO SPIT ON (but I didn't spit...)

Ok, so Michael Moore's new film, 'Sicko', is going to be release in two weeks.

But first comes the premiere...and Michael Moore chose no other place than London, Ontario for the North American film premiere!

Moore taped a significant chunk in London at the St. Joesph's Health Care Centre.

Tickets were given only by invitation...and I didn't get an invite, but in all fairness I've really had my fill of media attention...

My buddy Holly and I showed up at Silver City at 5:30pm and staked out our position.

Again, luckily I had my trusty Cyber Shot and got some great photos from the red carpet.

If you take a look at this photo, Moore is talking to CHRW.

CHRW Radio is having quite the week. Moore today and me last Monday.

Freaking Amazing.

Ok, so I'm ready to debrief on my amazing evening of seeing the one and only Jon Stewart.

It started by almost being ended. That is there was some crazy shit going on the 401 and 403.

People don't know how to drive anymore, I mean it. We were severely cut off by an American right by the Husky station when we left town.

Not cool...and we couldn't give them the one finger salute as Andrew saw the New York licence plate and immediately his mind went to "they have a concealed weapon".

Besides that Andrew and I enjoyed watching the almost carnage unfolding a few cars ahead of us...until we realized that we were hurtling towards the almost crash at 120 km/hr.

But we did arrive at the Fallsview Casino and Hotel...and let me say...very nice.

We parked the car and headed out to find the elevators...instead Andrew took us down a hallway that was very smelly and literally led out to the edge of the cliff. Wrong way, definitely.

Then we found the elevators and headed up to the hotel/casino...very nice.

Now I thought since Andrew had bragged about being a poker savant we would head into the casino...I had $20 worth of quarters weighing me down...but no. He doesn't find that "enjoyable". There should be a law that people who can count cards (because I know you can) should ALWAYS have to drop some coin in a casino. Whatever.

Andrew and I did get to have a great dinner at the Golden Lotus...very nice Chinese restaurant in the casino...where Andrew scared all the wait staff by trying to speak English using his scary hand gestures.

But we eventually convinced Jacob (although I'm almost positive that wasn't his given name...mainly because I don't think China has a huge Jewish population) to get us some Peking Duck...mmmmm....duck....

And it was full out. Very fancy...2 courses...crispy skin...duck hash...iceberg lettuce...picture to come.

Lots of delicious-ness.

Afterwards we walked around the building...and ended up at a toy store. Luckily Andrew restrained himself from buying anything for his child who already has one of everything.

Then we got in line. I'll give you a visual. Imagine a roped off line that could fit about 50 concert goers. Now imagine that line empty...except for Andrew and I eagerly awaiting 8pm when the doors opened. Seriously, we were the only ones waiting.

Then it was time for doors to open. One hour before we were in our seats...which didn't have arm rests...which made Andrew very uncomfortable. He likes barriers. Yeah, no shit.

Then the rest of the concert goers started to come in...the audience was varied.

We learned a few things from the audience. Firstly, it seems they were giving out tickets at the early bird dinner. Lots of grey hairs. Secondly, Andrew and I were severely over dressed. But I like to think we were taking it the most serious of anyone. And we really couldn't chance anything. I was glad I dressed up when Andrew told me that there was a rumour that Stephen Colbert was opening. He didn't, but still. Close call.

As people filed in to the sold out performance we did see Jon's estranged father, Donald Leibowitz in the crowd...you know when you're a superfan when you know who the distant parents are...kudos to Andrew.

And then we heard it...Teenage Wasteland by The Who.

And if you know anything about Jon, you know that this is the song he always walks onto stage to.

Flippin' amazing.

And then mildly disturbing. I knew Jon was a short man...I had no idea he was a tiny man, too.

Wow.

Anyway he did an amazing set...albeit stuff I have on my iPod already. But it didn't matter.

He was FANTASTIC.

It was AMAZING. SOOOO AMAZING.

I HEART JON.

Our Article!

Online survey 'shocking'

Mon, June 4, 2007

More than half of London pupils surveyed have posted information that puts them at risk.
By JENNIFER O'BRIEN, SUN MEDIA

A shocking number of London kids are making themselves easy targets for sexual predators who cruise the Internet, an informal survey has found.

The alarming figures suggest one in four children 11 to 14 have met face-to-face with strangers introduced only online.

Despite years of warnings about stranger-danger, more than half of them have put identifying information such as phone numbers and addresses on public-access websites, youth workers say.

"We were shocked," said Shannon Liddington, outreach worker with RISE for Youth, a project that aims to reduce sexual exploitation.

"The children we talk to are absolutely putting themselves at risk. The level of naivete they have is incredible.

"Every one of these kids knows that if someone drives up to you at a bus stop and asks for your name and school you don't give it to them."

During education seminars, the group has surveyed 600 Grade 6, 7 and 8 London pupils and found 60 per cent have put personal, identifying information on websites such as MySpace and Facebook.

Twenty per cent of the children also admitted posting pictures of themselves online .
But most disturbing is the fact 25 per cent have met people they only knew online.

"That really did blow us away," said project co-ordinator Jessie Rodger. "It is absolutely the most dangerous thing a kid can do."

Compounding that statement is the fact London police have charged seven people with Internet luring in less than two months since the department launched its Cyber Crime Unit in April.

"It's like shooting fish in a barrel to zero in on (predators) out there," said Det. Sgt. Kelly Johnson, head of the Cyber Crime Unit.

In the seven recent local cases, Johnson said officers posing as someone else nabbed predators who thought they would be meeting youths they had befriended online.

There are likely many cases that haven't been intercepted, Johnson said, adding the unit has heard about London girls being sexually assaulted by people they met online.

Like others, Johnson warned against giving out identifying information.

"It is alarming, the number of students that give out personal information," agreed Ray Hughes at UWO's Centre for Prevention Science. "It's like posting up a sign on the (Highway) 401 with all your personal information."

The local numbers are consistent with Canadian findings, according to RISE, but slightly higher than those recorded in the U.S., said Jeff Godlis of iSafe America.

That federal web education group has surveyed more than 100,000 American children and found 20 per cent -- one in five -- met strangers off line.

The findings show that even as kids become savvy about Internet use -- through social networking sites such as MySpace and Facebook -- they aren't always being safe.

"Youths don't equate strangers on the Internet with those on the street," Rodger said.
As a result, kids who would balk at giving their names or schools to a stranger on the street are willingly offering details up to online contacts.

"When they start talking to people for months online, they don't feel that is a stranger," Liddington said.

"They are like, 'It's my friend. I know what their favourite food is, I know what movie they like . . .' "

"Now predators don't even have to leave their bedrooms to find out everything they want to know," Liddington said.

Rise for Youth is a 15-month project run by Western Area Youth Services, a London group home agency that offers counselling.

The aim is to educate kids and parents about sexual exploitation. The project focuses on the Internet because that's what has opened the playing field for predators, Rodger said.

"It used to be poverty and homelessness were the biggest risk factors for kids being sexually exploited," she said. "All that has changed because of only one thing -- the Internet."
Dangers are illustrated with horrifying cases such as that of Kacie Woodie, a 13-year-old Arkansas girl murdered in 2002 by a 47-year-old predator who had befriended her while posing as a teenager online.

Liddington and Rodger suggest parents need to know their kids' online activity.
But they've met parents who don't even know how to get on the Internet, she said.

MORE INFORMATION

- www.myspace.com/riseforyouth or call 519-432-2209, ext. 3203.

TIPS FOR PARENTS

- Talk to young kids about Internet activities and Internet safety.
- Learn how to use the Internet by signing up to networking sites.
- Keep computers in a common area, not in a bedroom or secluded basement.
- Remember kids also can get online outside your home.

TIPS FOR YOUNGSTERS

- Don't post identifying information such as telephone numbers, addresses, school information or last names online.
- Don't post pictures of yourself.
- If you're going to meet someone for the first time who you've only talked to online, tell an adult, take friends and meet in a public place.

TOMORROW!

Ok, yours truly is doing something very exciting tomorrow morning.

At 7:15am I will be interviewed on CBC Radio One...On "Ontario Morning".

So set your alarms folks...

HEADLINE NEWS! ABOVE THE FOLD!

Run, don't walk to the corner store and get a copy of the London Free Press.

Do it.

Now.

Why are you still reading?

GO!!!

www.lfpress.com

p.s. I'll blog about my evening with Jon, the night was so magical I need a few days to process.

ONE MORE DAY TO GO!! GAH!

Ok...we have ONE more day until we are going to see Jon Stewart at the Niagara casino...

I am so excited.

I can barely contain myself.

And I know you're itching for another Jon Stewart fact:

He is one of the only people who can go on the Bill O'Reilly show "The O'Reilly Factor" and come out looking like a smart person. Bill O'Reilly can't even come out of that show looking smart.

Enjoy.

Reclaiming Words

I've been hearing a lot lately about reclaiming words.

The first time in the past few days has been in the context of the word "squaw". I thought that was interesting enough.

Then, when I was on Facebook I stumbled across some Facebook groups surrounding the reclaiming of the word "queer".

And because of my work I am constantly hearing about the reclaiming of "nigger".

Along with these words there are many others that are attempting to be brought back to the mainstream.

And this got me thinking about the whole reclaiming process. I guess the idea is that a minority group, whether they be women, people of colour, immigrants or whatever, takes a word that has been used to hurt, belittle and keep them down and turns it around. It makes words that used to be offensive now something to be proud of. It makes words their own. It also makes it perfectly alright for the minority to use the word, but completely inappropriate for anyone who doesn't belong to that group to use.

This is where it gets sticky for me, for a variety of reasons.

Firstly, I find something very disingenuous about reclaiming words. Imagine that the movement of people try to reclaim a word is one person. It is my belief that that person needs therapy. I think we need to examine our need to take these words back. These hurtful, disgusting words. Why do we want to use them so badly? My difficulty with this question is that I keep imagining a kid who is being picked on and to spite a bully we stoop to their level. Maybe that's just me.

Think about the motivation behind reclaiming a word. Let's take the word "cunt" for instance. This word is linked to begin with Chaucer in his writings. To make a long story short it has travelled from 1700s to today. And it's always been a word that is hurtful to women. In the past few years there has been a movement to reclaim this word. Make this word suitable for women to use to describe their...area. The idea behind this reclaiming (as it is behind much of reclaiming any words) is that to reclaim the word is to remove the power associated with it. Unfortunately the word "cunt" is still used to insult women. On a daily basis.

My basis for this argument that this particular word cannot be reclaimed also lies in the fact that there is no male equivalent for this word. There is no word for a man's...area that is as shocking or hurtful.

So when it comes to reclaiming words, is it possible to be vulgar without being derogatory?

I can appreciate the attention grabbing factor of these words. The do grab your attention. But kind of in the same way a Michael Moore movie grabs your attention. It shocks you, but you're in such shock that the message that is trying to be sent goes right over your head. You're still reeling from this word. I can only imagine what some people may think about when they see this entry...

I guess my real difficulty is that these words that are trying to be taken back shouldn't have ever showed up in the first place. And maybe, just maybe, getting rid of these words all together would be best for everyone.

I Promise This Is The Last Video For Today

Ok, this was also sent to me...and since I just learned how to embed these wonderful videos I thought I should share.

I couldn't stop laughing.

It. Is. Hilarious.

Especially if Dakota Fanning rubs you the wrong way.

I know she's twelve, but seriously. Come on.

The Fumes Are Making A Funny Taste In My Mouth

This is a picture of my office. We recently got our pamphlets re-printed. Now I have 20,000 brochures. And 5,000 posters. And 10,000 postcards.

Let's get some perspective.

My office is about 6 feet by 15 feet.

Now my office smells like cardboard. Ever smell cardboard?

If you're interested just fill a small room with 55 cardboard boxes.

I know I shouldn't feel dizzy in my office.

VALERIE PRINGLE WAS BEHIND MY WORK!!

Ok, so I was unloading my trunk and I saw CBC cameras behind our building.

To give you all a reference, I work at WAYS and my office is in a group home. The group home is on the Thames River, very beautiful.

As I rounded the corner I saw gleaming red hair.

And I don't want to hear that none of you know who Valerie Pringle is. I mean, who of us didn't have afternoon naps with Valerie hosting "Midday" in the background? The woman's a fucking national treasure.

I suspect Valerie was taping segments of her show, "Antiques Roadshow", which just recently made a stop at UWO.

And being my father's daughter (no matter how hard I try to fight it) I, of course had my new camera with me.

And being my mother's daughter (again, no matter how hard I try) I badgered the CBC staff with my RISE for Youth pamphlets and brochures.

I would love to be interviewed by Valerie Pringle. We could talk about sexual exploitation while bonding over being fair skinned and red haired (I like the term "red haired" better than "redhead", I know Valerie would, too).

I went upstairs to the group home portion of the house and started clicking away. I was taking pictures with one other boy who lives at the house. We instantly bonded.

I really need you people to understand how excited I was. I was literally jumping up and down. But that might have been from the paper fumes.

However, when I went to my department office, no one shared my joy. This just further proved to them what a dork I am.

But I know you understand.

Yippee!

YouTube.com!

It wasn't that hard, I actually figured out how to embed the videos into the blog, and they don't take forever to download.

Yea!

Check out the latest, and scroll down to see the Rachael Ray parody and the Jon Stewart "Crossfire" interview that made my frickin' year.

A Fair(y) Use Tale

Ever been confused when it comes to what exactly copyright law is all about?

I found this little video that explains it very well, and it includes all of your favourite Disney characters.

You must watch until the final chapter, I couldn't stop chuckling.

It's nice to see some academics taking on the big Disney machine.

Copyright is one of those laws that can be mysterious and intimidating at the same time for people.

5 DAYS TO GO!

FACT #5

Jon Stewart has been in many movies you may have heard of; Half Baked, Big Daddy, Playing By Heart...

But did you know there are several movies Stewart was cut out of?

Almost Romantic: (a movie made with Janeane Garofalo, would have probably been the most sarcastic movie ever made)

Bird Meets Girl: (Jon was slated to play the mascot for the Baltimore Orioles who falls in love with a female sports reporter...maybe it's good that this was never released)

The First Wives Club: (apparently his ass made an appearance in the previews, but after focus groups saw the film they were unanimous in their hatred of Stewart in the movie)

Wavelength: (This was a movie almost made where Stewart played a sarcastic, bitter MTV jock who rips the head of the network another hole and gets transfered to a small radio station in Jamaica)

and...

A Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie (Stewart made a cameo and it was cut out, apparently John Cusack played an evil banker who tried to bring down David Arquette's music store...whatever. Now muppets are on my shit list)

"Everytime someone says 'Happy Holidays', an angel gets AIDS."

~ Jon Stewart

EXCLUSIVE! Elf: The Sequel!

Rumours are true!

Will Ferrell will star in a sequel to Elf!

A short trailer has been produced, and the ultra-secretive sequel will be set to hit theatres in November of 2007!

Check it out!

6 DAYS TO GO!!

FACT #4

Did you know that Jon Stewart is not only considered a hermit, but also a hypochondriac?

It's true.

Stewart's nickname is "Susceptible Boy".

This Bites

Ok, so apparently I don't know how to embed YouTube.com videos into my blog yet.

I blame YouTube.

In it's place, check out our nifty postcard.

Look What I Can Do!

Yippee! I can embed YouTube.com videos into my little blog!

I'm getting quite savvy.

My first entry is a parody video of my nemesis, Rachael Ray.

Here are a few reasons I dislike her:

1. Volume: Does this woman have any other volume than off or foghorn level? Seriously, she's way too loud. Her and Ty Pennington should get together and have shouting contests.

2. Intonation: I know voice probably doesn't merit two reasons, but seriously this woman sounds like a strangled goose.

3. Abbreviations: I have not made my dislike of Rachael Ray's abbreviations secret. She calls sandwiches 'sammies'. Who does that? When she says GB I want to throw garbage at her. And stoup has to be the stupidest thing I ever heard of. A stoup being "a cross between a stew and a soup". Stop it! And the most hated: EVOO. Don't know what that means? Don't worry, Rachael will fill you in, Extra Virgin Olive Oil. Tell me, Rachael, what's the point of using an abbreviation if you're going to say what the abbreviation means right afterwards?! You're ridiculous!

4. Herbs: Ok, please stop telling me to wash my herbs and put them in plastic bags when I get home from the store. Normal people don't have time for that shit.

5. 30 Minutes in Rachael Ray World = 45 Minutes In The Real World: Her meals are NOT 30 minute meals. That's a lie.

6. Dessert: Rachael readily admits that she's no baker. Yeah, thanks for the head's up. I think we understood that when we saw you make the 'melted ice cream sauce'. Seriously.

7. Recipe Titles: "You Won't Be Single For Long Vodka Cream Pasta". That's not clever. Or catchy. It's pathetic.

8. She Laughs At Her Own Jokes: Basically that. Couple that with numbers 1 and 2, and you've got an all out assault on the nation's ears.

9. Her "Talent": Can someone please tell the woman that carrying 15 items from the pantry to the cutting board is NOT a talent. It's a stupid way of tricking us to think that she's getting shit done faster.

10. Garbage Bowl: Incredibly wasteful. Also, see #3.

11. Pet Food: She teaches how to make dishes for your diabetic, overweight pets. Personally some of the stuff she makes I wouldn't serve to a dog.

12. Tag Line: Yum-O is not a tag line or a catchphrase. It's stupid. Stop putting it on t-shirts.

13. Eating Noises: Someone forwarded a video from YouTube.com of Rachael Ray making eating noises. It was 3 minutes long. I threw up in my mouth a little at 1 minute 23 seconds.

14. Oprah: Because of Oprah, now this woman has her own freaking show.