Canada Moms Blog

Smooth Salesman Equals No Sale

There is a reason I don’t work in retail, especially when there is commission involved.  First and foremost, I don’t have the ability to talk out my ass.  Now don’t get me wrong, many salespeople are wonderful and full of helpful advice, and then there is the other kind.  Like the guy we had the pleasure of dealing with at the music store the other day that used a fast food analogy when discussing the purchase of a keyboard.

Yes, that’s right folks; apparently buying the keyboard without the stand is like buying a hamburger without the bun.  And he didn’t stop there, oh no, the dude was on a roll; he went on to tell me that the keyboard without the pedal was like getting the burger without fries.

The summer of celebrity deaths

This summer’s been a bad one for celebrity deaths. It started off with acting legend David Carradine, who was found in a hotel room closet in Bangkok. Ed McMahon, another television great, was next, following a lengthy history of health problems. June 25^th saw Farrah Fawcett lose her long battle with cancer; later that afternoon Michael Jackson, arguably one of the most famous people on earth, died of what appears, at this point, to have been a sudden heart attack. Three days later, OxiClean pitchman Billy Mays died in his sleep from an apparent heart condition.

All of these deaths turned in to media events, Jackson’s especially. Web sites, blogs, tabloids and newspapers were brimming with stories, rumours, theories and scandalous details; clearly, death sells. In the midst of all the hoopla, however, just a few days after Canada Day, I learned of another incredible talent the world had lost. It was a death that hit me harder than any of the aforementioned ones did: Martin Streek, a radio celebrity in his own right, was found dead in his Toronto home on July 6, the result of an apparent suicide.

He was 45.

Are song lyrics too explicit?

I am going to sound old.  And like your parents.  I know this but yet, I have to get this off my chest.  Song lyrics have become like soft porn.  It’s ridiculous.  Lady Gaga goes on about riding a disco stick for goodness sake.  Last time I checked disco was a 1970’s phenomenon and I don’t recall any “sticks” being involved.  Okay, so I was five, whatever.

But don’t songs (and TV shows and movies) just keep getting more explicit?  I remember singing  Olivia Newton John's “Let’s Get Physical” when I was a kid and my mom admonishing me.  I had no clue what that meant.  I think, because she was wearing a leotard in the video, I thought it meant exercise.  But I can guarantee the dialogue with my mom about it, got me thinking.

Jian Ghomeshi Irritates Me A Little Less Today

I'm not Jian Ghomeshi's biggest fan. I hated Moxy Fruvous - the only band in the world more insipid than the Barenaked Ladies - and I find his relentless hipsterness annoying (memo to everybody: after the age of 35, it is very, very difficult to pull off "hipster" without looking ridiculous. "Hipster" is by definition a hair's breadth remove from ridiculous even for twenty-somethings - is there anyone, anywhere, who seriously wants to be like the Mac in the Mac commercial? - but for anybody who was in college when Kurt Cobain blew his brains out? That remove disappears entirely. KNOW THAT.)

(This goes double if you are a parent.)

(Where was I?)

Jian Ghomeshi, right. So he took on Billy Bob Thornton and lived to tell about it, sort of.

Junos in Vancouver -- Hallelujah

Today Vancouver hosts the 2009 Juno awards show.

There are street parties planned, all sorts of television and radio crews running around. Even the local gossip columnists and tweeters are in on the festivities.