Music videos paint a story beyond those of the lyrics. I could spend a whole weekend just watching them on TV.
Here are some of my favourite videos of all time. Enjoy!
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1lg9s_dire-straits-brothers-in-arms-origi_music
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2175822355594769155#
***I have to admit to a bit of a faux pas here as I wrote this after episode one and unfortunately forgot to hit publish. Apologies to you and to my editor. चुम्बन Cordie ***
A quick note on my impression of the new season, and as usual I think it’s a mixed bag of great, and we’ll just have to get used to its!
I found the opening to the new version of the show a little weak; too little Sloan to rev it up and get us going. I also miss George chatting more to get the conversational feel to the show in tune. Even the audience seemed low key! I am hoping that George Stroumboulopoulos Tonight does not lose that conversational let’s slide out of this day and into comfort with an edge feel that we are all so used to.
The desk idea at this point is only okay in my books, but we’ll eventually get used to seeing him stand again as he did on Much and seeing less of the laid back George draped over the chair chatting. Speaking of the red chairs, they are still there 🙂 They add an accent of energy to the new cosy set that is warm and den like with its blue hues and dimmer lighting. Gone is the black, white and red set that emitted movement and energy and in its place is the warmth of the blue and wood tones. Congratulations to ex Strombo Show sidekick and Gemini nominated Moneen Producer Alex Liu on the design of the new set.
Act one of the show still held a good balance of cynical, humorous look at the world in politics, sports, global events, and the environment. I must admit to being a little curious as to what George was going to do with my favourite bit of the show; Mile-A-Minute. I like the new title ‘de-briefing’, although I cringe at what the stalker like 40-ish going on pre-pubescent troll-women will do with that term 😦
He has left himself open to more than a few jokes when it comes to titles though already. The title of the show George Stroumboulopoulos Tonight (GST) is both an homage to his ego/pride and part of a smart new marketing package. Strombo is the brand, George Stroumboulopoulos is the man that IS that brand. Now with a new 30 minute show named after him and a radio show named after the brand, the name is out there even more than before. The decreased air time also means people that want more George/Strombo content will be forced to go online to find it and with any spare moment that might be freed up producing 5 1/2 hour shows as compared to 4 full hour ones, can now be put into his writing, producing and racing; a nice way to pave the new path in his career. 🙂
I found little changed in the rest of the show. The interviews had the usual bio, once again being voiced over by George himself (thankfully) and the usual bits of the guests past, motivations to do what you do, extra curricular causes and what’s happening now and ahead; a well rounded interview style that George is well known for.
चुम्बन
Cordie
Welcome back boys and girls! Even though it’s been far too long since any of us have posted we’re still here. Nice to see you again and we promise we’ll be around more this season.
The new season is a whole week old now and if you’ve caught any of it you know there’s been some big changes. First up the name – The Hour is no more. The show is now called George Stroumboulopoulos Tonight. I haven’t made up my mind how I feel about this particular change. I kind of liked the short and sweet (and much easier to spell) old name. I sort of always knew though that eventually it would morph into something different. Over the past few seasons there have been many shifts and changes – some more subtle than others – that would suggest a more “all about George” approach was coming. As his career flourishes it only makes sense for the show to be more firmly identified as his. There’s no arguing that no matter what they chose to call it the show simple would not be the same without him.
And on that note I’ll leave off for now. I believe my esteemed colleague Ms. Cordelia will be sharing her thoughts on the changes. Speaking of colleagues – you’ll soon be meeting our newest member Ms. Olivia. She’ll be coming on board as among other things our resident musicologist. Please join me in welcoming her!!
Enjoy and please let us know your thoughts on the new changes!
Dear Atticus and readers:
We have been naughty posters haven’t we? Let’s get back into the habit of voicing our opinion on our fave red chair interests, extending that to the basement studio now too I see. I would like to second my hurrah at the return of our beloved Bob to the air waves, and not just to the newest incarnation of The Strombo Show, but to his own morning show as well. (hope the link works folks!!!)
There is nothing better than Bob’s soothing voice in the nasty early morning hours especially on a cold, windy, winter’s morn. Now we can all fall asleep to George and Bob on a Sunday evening and keep that musical manwich going during the week; crawling into bed with The Hour and waking up with CBC’s Radio 2 morning drive; not a bad deal in my book.
The one thing I must admit I am missing is the banter between Alex Liu and George. Although I am not sure those antics would translate to this seemingly more mature version of The Strombo Show I do still miss Alex. He made me laugh and raised George’s blood pressure (and octave level of his voice on occasion) just enough to keep things fun.
I’m very much looking forward to seeing how this new show evolves, and I am hoping that The Strombo Show has found a more permanent home.
Congratulations to The Hour and OMAoG!!!
The nominations for the 24th Annual Gemini Awards came out today and once again our friends over at The Hour were recognized for their hard work and dedication. In total the show, and it’s host, received four nominations including one for it’s interactive project last season with One Million Acts of Green. Much congratulations to all those nominated, as well as those that put in the effort every day to make The Hour what it is, from all of us here at The Red Chair Lounge.
Of course the show itself was nominated in the ‘Best Talk Series’ category. Jennifer Dettman, David Freeman and George Stroumboulopoulos are up against ‘The After Show’ on MTV as well as fellow CBCers, ‘The Steven and Chris Show’. Note to Ms. Dettman: congratulations on your double nomination in this category and here’s hoping there are new episodes of The Steven and Chris Show at some point in the near future.
Mr. Stroumboulopoulos has also been nominated as ‘Best Host or Interviewer in a General/Human Interest or Talk Program or Series’ along with George Kourounis from Angry Planet(Island Caving), Austin Stevens of Austin Stevens Adventures (In the Shadow of Armoured Giants), Les Stroud of Survivorman Third Season and Matt Wells for Where You At Baby? (Huey Lewis). Although I have complained of George’s lack of edge this last season in his interviews I must admit I hope he makes a clean sweep and takes home this trinket as well.
The third nom for The Hour comes as no surprise at all, it is in the ‘Best Writing in an Information Program or Series’ category. Although I do admit I am surprised which episode it was for, as I thought George went a little easy on Ms. Palin during their New Years Eve interview, however congratulations go out, from us, to David Freeman, Paul Bates, Diana Frances, Ken Hegan, Nick McCabe-Lokos, Carman Melville, Scott Montgomery, Adam Nicholls, Randy Potash as well as the man himself.
I must confess though if they were to win only one award, I desperately hope they take home the ‘Best Cross Platform Project’ Gemini. One Million Acts of Green, the interactive project that was on CBC, and the internet, campaigning for such a simple and important part of all of our lives simply must win at the Geminis this year! Not because it means that Jennifer Dettman, Julie List, Alex Liu, Paul McGrath and George Stroumboulopoulos get to take home another dust collector but because the campaign’s importance hasn’t diminished, indeed the need for us to make a change grows each day.
Once again congratulations and the best of luck to all of our friends at The Hour!
Heather Reisman; president and CEO of Indigo/Chapters
shes rich, shes powerful, she supports literacy…
40% of Canadian adults are functionally illiterate! Thats crazy. She’s helping to bring this to the government’s attention. However, why we would need a bookstore owner to bring this to the government’s attention says a lot about our government.
The Hour did a fantastic job of representing all of her positive qualities… so we don’t have too. In fact , the last quarter of the Reisman segment seemed just like a Chapters infomercial.
Even a small dose of critical questioning was missing from this interview.
Now, im not here to attack the woman (or The Hour), and anyone can question whether the activities of a CEO outside of her work are material to the conversation, but i think it was not only purposeful but boring to ignore the controversy that Reisman has faced in the past, and that is just plain bad journalism.
I also think that the activities of a CEO ARE material to the conversation. we’ve congratulated other CEOs on here before for their charity and green efforts, there should be equal opportunity to reflect the bad just the same. Even a brief mention in her bio about her controversial support of the Israeli military would have been sufficient.
I also am not here to pick sides within the Israel-Palestine conversation, but I don’t think it should be completely ignored either.
The following few sentences were completely copied from another site
Why should viewers care about this? Why should The Hour have asked about it? because people don’t necessarily know that when they spend money at Chapters it indirectly funds this foundation. Whether this foundation is right or wrong is another argument, but people should know where their money goes especially when the foundation in question deals with a conflict that affects so many Canadians deeply and emotionally. This is necessary information and thats what journalists are supposed to give us, information.
This interview also could have given her an opportunity to explain her position, give her side- maybe people are missing something in their critique of her foundation? The Hour is usually good at letting people explain their opinions.
Shes a powerful woman with alot of money, and we have said this before: CEOs must be responsible. What she does is relevant to us and the conversation when it is Chapter’s customer’s money that is giving her the ability to create a foundation like this.
I would not be so critical of this interview if Reisman had been there with something important to talk about, but the discussion on literacy was done after about 4 minutes, and much of the rest of the conversation was fluff. There was an opportunity to have a real discussion, and The Hour missed the boat.
Its funny that Reisman mentioned that her “2009 Canada Reads” choice is “The Book of Negroes”- A book being defended by Avi Lewis. Why is it funny? Because throughout the interview i was thinking: ‘Avi Lewis would not have let her get off so easy here’
It is also interesting that she said that her stores would never offer books that could “incite society toward the annihilation of one group” (i.e. Mein Kampf) and i think that is honourable… but slightly hypocritical considering her support of the Israeli military.
Its also Israeli Apartheid Week:
Just went to the onemillionactsofgreen website and they have officially passed the 1,000,000 mark! I have two questions running through my head right now.
Did each and every act that people signed up for really get done, or was it just a game to see if you could get more than your friends? I have far less acts than some of my friends, but I do mine. I know some people that signed up for acts that they just don‘t do; so this question plagues me. Did you all really do the acts you signed up for? My hope is that for every act that wasn’t really done, there is some one out there that is doing them and just didn’t sign up. CTV fans perhaps? ;-P
The more important question of course is; what’s next? What happens now that George Stroumboulopoulos, fellow CBCer’s and Celebs have all started this marvellous momentum to galvanize Canadians to make a difference in our daily lives, to help better the planet we live on? That is the question of the day. This lady will be glued to my red velvet chesterfield and to The Hour at 11PM tonight to find out if they have an answer ready for us. 😀
blowing you kisses,
cordie
This is brilliant. Kudos to The Hour for stepping it up. As George and David Suzuki said in their conversation today, its not about being perfect its about taking steps toward being more green. So go for it, make a decision, register it on the site and prove that people can affect change.
Here is the e-mail that a member of the stroumboulopouli received today from environmentaldefence.ca:
One Million Acts of Green and Environmental Defence: Greening Canada Together!
Have you switched your light bulbs to energy-efficient ones? Dropped your plastic water bottle for a safer reusable one? Bought locally grown fruits and vegetables? Started using toxic-free cleaning products in your home?
Now you can brag about these great green acts, and the dozens of other ways you are helping to protect the environment every day.
CBC, “The Hour” with George Stroumboulopoulos, Environmental Defence and environmental groups across the country are mobilizing Canadians to do one million acts of green!
Starting today, YOU can be part of this nationwide green movement. Check out this video from George Stroumboulopoulos.
One Million Acts of Green is all about one small act making a big difference. It’s about one act from individual Canadians adding up to a million. Whatever green act you do, register it on the One Million Acts of Green website to be counted.
The website is the hub of One Million Acts of Green, connecting Canadians from coast to coast to coast. It’s a virtual gathering place where people can add their green acts, view content, post photos and videos, create groups, and challenge others to act.
The more green acts you do, the more you get to brag! So, don’t just stop at one green act. Be loud and proud. Inspire your fellow Canadians with all of the great green acts you are doing!
We’re challenging everyone to get involved. From CBC TV and Radio, to schools and universities, communities and cities, politicians, athletes, and even celebrities!
One Million Acts of Green is a partnership between CBC and Cisco, and is supported by Environmental Defence as well as the Clean Air Foundation, The David Suzuki Foundation, Earth Day Canada, Evergreen, GreenNexxus, Green Street (managed by the Canadian Teachers’ Federation), and The Climate Project – Canada.
It’s one million acts of green, one act at a time.
Be one of the million. Register your green act today!
Watch The Hour with George Stroumboulopoulos on CBC TV on Tuesday, October 21, 2008 (TONIGHT!) and Wednesday, October 22, 2008 at 11 pm for special One Million Acts of Green launch shows!
Did she actually say that she and her husband inject themselves with growth hormones on a daily basis? Really? I imagine that a lot of the hormone/health problems that exist are from the injection of growth hormones into food (Refer to Monsanto’s injection of growth hormones in cows for their milk products, which was found to be linked to prostate cancer … http://www.rense.com/health3/milkhormone_h.htm) Injecting that garbage into yourself doesnt sound very natural to me, it actually sounds pretty insane.
If you want to be healthy, eat things from the earth and move.
George Stroumboulopoulos is one of many famous Canadian faces that can be seen in a new Make Poverty History ad pleading to the governement to reach their target and fulfill their promise to give .7% of our national income as foreign aid. This amount is necessary in order for the world to make any real progress towards alleviating extreme poverty in the world.
watch the video here:
TAKE ACTION! Learn More Here:
http://www.makepovertyhistory.ca/en
www.makepovertyhistory.ca/pointseven
Cordie
oliviamarkham
Addy Finch
scarletbranwen
golightly
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