tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21339307929700618522024-11-01T06:36:32.153-04:00Contemporary weekly commentary that is 100% undiluted Kevin Mc!We're EU!http://www.blogger.com/profile/01783159706133118585noreply@blogger.comBlogger206125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2133930792970061852.post-91588726264455732532015-08-31T11:16:00.001-04:002015-08-31T11:16:49.588-04:00

I saw a most intriguing documentary this weekend focused on development of a more evolved understanding and compassionate treatment of some of our closest precursors - chimpanzees. These extremely intelligent and equally strong creatures have been used in biomedical and beahvioural research for almost 100 years now, and apparently the USA is the last industrialised country to do so. 

We're EU!http://www.blogger.com/profile/01783159706133118585noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2133930792970061852.post-46017950276059664682015-04-28T10:28:00.000-04:002015-04-28T10:28:07.859-04:00

Few landmark institutions in Montreal have made as characteristic an imprint on the city's collective zeitgeist as the legendary Royal Victoria Hospital on Pine Avenue, which is finally closing down completely this afternoon. In what is the largest hospital relocation in Canadian history, today saw the transportation of some 154 patients (most estimates were considerably bigger - between 220

We're EU!http://www.blogger.com/profile/01783159706133118585noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2133930792970061852.post-83456429690598118702015-02-22T08:00:00.002-05:002015-02-22T08:26:57.306-05:00

   I watched a fascinating documentary on the weekend about the African savannah, a grassland ecosystem that is home to the most diverse variety of hoofed mammals in the world. This exotic terrain is typified by hardy trees and shrubs and rolling grasslands that are the mainstay of the herbivore diet of the animal population living there, and it sprawls across some 25 countries in

We're EU!http://www.blogger.com/profile/01783159706133118585noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2133930792970061852.post-10976936417989534462015-02-03T18:37:00.002-05:002015-02-03T18:37:50.726-05:00

I read a rather provocative article today that questioned the very validity of the apparently secretive and exclusive world of big time science, with the clear implication not hidden between the lines that it is finally time to take science back from actual scientists and put it back out there where it belongs - in the hands of Joe Public. "DIY" used to be reserved for the home

We're EU!http://www.blogger.com/profile/01783159706133118585noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2133930792970061852.post-84396865635761955902015-01-10T08:58:00.000-05:002015-01-10T08:58:04.103-05:00

Here we are approaching year's end, and rather inevitably, during some quieter moments in and around the various feasts and festivities, one finds oneself taking stock of life and career and one's level of success, and how lucky/unlucky one feels about it all. Of course, the only real viewpoint is how lucky we all are, compared to so many, even if it's human nature to find

We're EU!http://www.blogger.com/profile/01783159706133118585noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2133930792970061852.post-80781266274672278872014-12-30T09:22:00.002-05:002014-12-30T09:22:20.993-05:00

One of the biggest mysteries known to mankind is where does December go? One second we are in late November beginning to come up with ideas for presents for loved ones, then it's back to business, last minute end-of-year deadlines and the usual round of office parties and social events. We wake up and it's suddenly December 20th, with everything else to be done in two or three days, as the

We're EU!http://www.blogger.com/profile/01783159706133118585noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2133930792970061852.post-9349573945001585802014-12-20T22:13:00.000-05:002014-12-22T08:54:45.329-05:00

In another example of the "gift" that keeps on giving, we continue to hear more detail and back story to the CBC's own version of video killed the radio star - yep, natch, we are talking about the Jian Ghomeshi scandal which rocked the CBC nation severely in recent times. In fact, one reason why the story remains top-of-mind is that the CBC themselves keep it there, via their silence on the

We're EU!http://www.blogger.com/profile/01783159706133118585noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2133930792970061852.post-86106595155428306852014-12-06T12:07:00.000-05:002014-12-06T14:57:41.755-05:00

The photo above doesn't need much explaining these days, as that pillar has to be one of the most reported-on pillars in Toronto, if not in all of Canada. It is of course the pillar in CBC headquarters in downtown Toronto which used to bear testament to the rising star of a certain CBC golden boy radio persona. The self-aggrandising giant shot was summarily scraped off following the

We're EU!http://www.blogger.com/profile/01783159706133118585noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2133930792970061852.post-23938159109896539442014-11-29T10:07:00.001-05:002014-11-29T11:59:26.344-05:00

After weeks of silence and no sightings of #JG anywhere, this week brought him out from under cover via a double whammy Tuesday-Wednesday. After being fired by CBC on October 26th, he summarily filed an apparently futile $55M lawsuit against CBC, even though the collective agreement he was subject to actually precluded him from doing so, as he must follow a grievance process mandated by that

We're EU!http://www.blogger.com/profile/01783159706133118585noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2133930792970061852.post-70884988466751017692014-11-22T11:14:00.002-05:002014-11-25T09:41:15.127-05:00

Well, hello there, once again! Here we are, a week later, with CBC anxiously awaiting our thoughts on what to do next with the tarnished Q brand now that the halo above its former host's head has not just been lowered, but effectively was forcibly dragged to the ground like Saddam Hussein's statue in Baghdad, back in 2003. We have heard more than enough about said host, and now the

We're EU!http://www.blogger.com/profile/01783159706133118585noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2133930792970061852.post-69481461124277806142014-11-15T11:39:00.000-05:002014-11-15T12:55:46.673-05:00

After all the bedbugs and ballyhoo about the #JianGhomeshi affair, and the seemingly instantaneous and simultaneous deconstruction of his celebrity brand, things have quietened down as the inevitable legal process settles in to pick at the bones. Bones is the word, because it seems that all that's left of JG and even Q this early into the crisis is a charred set of smoking embers with only the

We're EU!http://www.blogger.com/profile/01783159706133118585noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2133930792970061852.post-8848964179140915692014-11-01T14:15:00.000-04:002014-11-15T10:34:29.420-05:00

       How does that song go again? Ah yes - "What a difference a day makes" - and while some days can truly rock your world and make a difference, we will extend it a little and exclaim what a difference a week makes - particularly if you are a "presumed-gay radio show host called Keith" who has now apparently morphed into ex-CBC radio and TV personality Jian Ghomeshi.&nbsp

We're EU!http://www.blogger.com/profile/01783159706133118585noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2133930792970061852.post-91751540520461957732014-10-18T13:19:00.000-04:002014-10-18T17:22:18.429-04:00

        Boy, it really does begin to look like the beleaguered "Today" news franchise on NBC just can't catch a break (in general), especially when it comes to the national fear of potentially catching Ebola. The person pictured on the right, above, beside the strutting NBC peacock is none other than NBC's Chief Medical Editor and healthcare talking head, Dr. Nancy Snyderman

We're EU!http://www.blogger.com/profile/01783159706133118585noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2133930792970061852.post-32862310167811381092014-10-10T07:45:00.001-04:002014-10-10T09:59:09.492-04:00

  This amazing girl had made the news on Wednesday May 29th 2013, in the context of pressure mounting on Barack Obama to limit drone strikes in Pakistan in the war against terror. At the same time, he elaborated that her attempted murder did not fall into the criteria needed to go after a certain Taliban leader, due to the fact that she is not an American. That's

We're EU!http://www.blogger.com/profile/01783159706133118585noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2133930792970061852.post-34091344092693280562014-09-17T07:15:00.000-04:002014-09-17T07:15:27.689-04:00

You can't turn on the TV in 2014 without hearing about one war or another, which is a truly depressing state of affairs, so it comes as total light relief in comparison to hear of another war that has continued to simmer on and which just boiled over again - the smartphone war! Now that Apple has decided to bite the bullet and face the screen size issue, we are off once again into

We're EU!http://www.blogger.com/profile/01783159706133118585noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2133930792970061852.post-70838460178325403022014-08-30T12:50:00.000-04:002014-08-30T12:50:10.944-04:00

There's a rather ironic downside to how much social media have changed the way we live and work, and that is the increasingly common usage of such media for rather shameless self-promotion and marketing. Now, of course, as I have addressed before, the pervasiveness of social media is such that it has made it almost impossible to ignore, particularly if you do happen to be a marketer!

We're EU!http://www.blogger.com/profile/01783159706133118585noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2133930792970061852.post-8479481102440691342014-08-24T11:10:00.001-04:002014-08-24T13:07:21.021-04:00

Hello again, pop figures, and as part and parcel of our ongoing music series, as well as the multi-part commentary on the pop icon known only as "Morrissey", we come to yet another piece that is related to this year's release of "World Peace Is None Of Your Business" - it's Moz's tenth solo album and like basically most of the rest, it is not insignificant.  Rather surprisingly,

We're EU!http://www.blogger.com/profile/01783159706133118585noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2133930792970061852.post-32916178839563038272014-08-16T10:59:00.003-04:002014-08-16T11:03:56.499-04:00

This recent video of a great white shark half as long as the boat it was attacking near Cape May on the South Jersey coast was fascinating, and was surely reminiscent of a cinematic experience that seemingly touched us all - "Jaws". These fearsome creatures have a way of getting under our skin very easily, not least due to the certain death that this huge mouth represents!  This

We're EU!http://www.blogger.com/profile/01783159706133118585noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2133930792970061852.post-61964672820159860352014-07-31T13:30:00.001-04:002014-07-31T13:36:00.209-04:00

In a world where YouTube is the new way to (potentially) become an instant celebrity overnight, there are endless numbers of people hoping to be the creator of the next viral video, suddenly having the world at one's feet. An extension of that possibility is the purposeful usage of YouTube by web-savvy marketers as a testing ground for a particular advertising approach, if not test marketing

We're EU!http://www.blogger.com/profile/01783159706133118585noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2133930792970061852.post-58652860222361984182014-07-13T14:21:00.002-04:002014-07-13T17:53:13.779-04:00

Sometimes when you're in TV, and often on TV, it's best to not forget that the microphones are always on, one way or another. It can pay to filter what's on its way from the neuronal highway down to your mouth, before the entire world (or a compartmentalized section of it) gets to hear it or read it.  This is something that resonates with a certain Jenny McCarthy today, I imagine,

We're EU!http://www.blogger.com/profile/01783159706133118585noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2133930792970061852.post-40764738559623727132014-06-28T10:04:00.001-04:002014-06-28T10:04:31.973-04:00

Out of the chrysalis didst the butterfly emerge. From a rather vague, apparently functionless and motionless pupal shell, doth a butterfly eclose. Out of seeming blandness doth a magnificent creature emerge; an array of colors, all wafer-thin gossamer wings dusted in a fine powdered silk. A beautiful sight. An awe-inspiring rebirth. The most magnificent metamorphosis imaginable. Thus

We're EU!http://www.blogger.com/profile/01783159706133118585noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2133930792970061852.post-49566995143808270022014-06-14T13:26:00.002-04:002014-06-14T14:19:42.712-04:00

      As promised, people, I said I would be keeping an eye on this situation and updating you all when something of note came up, as it did late last week inside NBC Studio 1A in Rockefeller Plaza in NYC, and is making headlines this morning - the statement that Matt Lauer is "sticking with the (beleaguered) Today show" franchise.  I find the wording of the

We're EU!http://www.blogger.com/profile/01783159706133118585noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2133930792970061852.post-61890863216334933152014-06-01T08:51:00.000-04:002014-06-01T13:59:10.204-04:00

The first so-called reality TV show that I can remember is "Survivor" which first aired in the late 1990s, I believe, and boy have we come a long way since then. Make that, the genre has degenerated a very long way since then. While "Survivor" was fascinating because it was focused on ordinary people placed into extraordinary situations, the genre quickly moved onto supposedly extraordinary

We're EU!http://www.blogger.com/profile/01783159706133118585noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2133930792970061852.post-18145662714661815152014-05-20T20:13:00.003-04:002014-05-20T20:50:26.330-04:00

It's not often that I get to tie together two major personalities who have each been the subject of totally separate blogs in the past, but I get the chance this week - I need hardly say who I am talking about given that their famous faces above require no clarification - yep, we are of course talking about TV dynamo Oprah Winfrey and TV personality and Food Network home cooking maven Paula

We're EU!http://www.blogger.com/profile/01783159706133118585noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2133930792970061852.post-78875824190481386172014-05-03T13:39:00.000-04:002014-05-03T17:20:18.702-04:00

      As much as our world has been changed forever by the power in the digits and all the devices that can interpret them instantaneously, some things never seem to change, even in 2014. If you take even the briefest of looks at the images above, you will get the point - we are talking about delivery today. Talking delivery, not taking delivery, sadly! The single most

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