If you are like me or share my interests, you may want to visit
In case you were just looking for some interests of mine, I thought I would provide you with an easy (though by no means complete) listing of my favourite subjects and their sites.
First and foremost, The Free Site is a page that will give you oodles and oodles of free stuff for your home page or anything else! (I wouldn't be me if I didn't go for the free stuff first!) And now, I can also play "Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon" (or any other actor, including ME) at this link! Did you know I am only three degrees away from Al Pacino? It's true! Check it out!
This is directly related to 
the Internet Movie Database,
which is the best entertainment/info site; you can find almost anything on any actor or actress anywhere
(including me)!
I love TV and used to love web sites that provide every show that is seen in YOUR area, and
where you can select which channels, which times, and
which days to view! And since TV Guide no longer does this, nothing beats the
personalized listings from Zap2it, possibly the best overall TV listings
site around, which has now even become my home page!
Check it out!
The Royal Canadian Air Farce,
25 years and still going strong. I have met, and have autographs from, Roger, Don and Luba.
Even without the recently-departed (and missed) John Morgan, they are wonderful. And
since their show now has Canadian guest stars from different TV series, we can
enjoy more truly Canadian humour as well! In December 2003, the lovely and
talented Jessica Holmes became the permanent fourth member of the cast, which
added both stability and variety to an already funny and clever show. In 2005 they added both Craig Lauzon and Alan Park, but for some reason, the laughs are fewer and far between.
South Park, the dirtiest, filthiest....sigh....and funniest show on TV! Well, one of them, anyway....and their movie was far better than I expected----even if they DID "blame Canada"!
Unfortunately for free-thinkers everywhere,
Politically
Incorrect, hosted by Bill Maher (below), who, I believe, is one of the most brilliant minds
in North America, was thoughtlessly cancelled in June 2002. Was he ALWAYS right? No, only about 98% of the time, in
my opinion. But he and his panel were always fascinating to watch. For all of
you who miss Bill, and who do not get his new show on HBO, his web site, BillMaher.tv is online,
where you can find his views, opinions, books, and appearances.
Another hero of mine in recent months is Michael Moore.
The filmmaker, who directed
The Awful Truth TV show, as well as movies such as Canadian Bacon,
Roger and Me,
Bowling for Columbine, and the new hit Farenheit 9/11, the most important film of the year which too many Americans still managed to ignore. I also had the honour to meet Mr. Moore in 2002 in Toronto, and he is one of the few sane American
political voices in the Dubya era. His book, Stupid White Men, is a gift I
received from the man himself, and I found it a witty, biting satricial yet very realistic look at the way certain Americans make it very difficult for the rest of us to get ahead. His more recent book, Dude, Where's My Country? continues to lay the blame for much of the ills of America at the foot of George W. Bush, which is exactly where it belongs. Yet, for all his blather and bluster, his barbs ring true and you find yourself nodding, smiling, fuming, raging and thoroughly enjoying the book. In person, what can I say? The man oozes class (when he found out there were people who could not get it to
his lecture in Toronto, he walked outside and talked to them, for free, for about half an
hour. Nobody TOLD him to do it, he just did it), and gives us liberals some
measure of hope for the future of the now-very-rightwing U.S. I was a huge fan
of his TV Nation and his show The Awful Truth, which sought to fight injustices
perpetrated by the powerful on the weak innocents, and won battle after battle.
More on Michael can be found at www.MichaelMoore.com.
Scrubs is, quite simply, the best, cleverest, wittiest comedy on the air today, period.
A comedy? Of course. Over the top? Sometimes. But capable
of making you cry as well as laugh, it remains the best-written and most brilliant
show of its kind. If John McGinley (Dr. Cox) doesn't win an Emmy or three, there
is no justice. It finally aired but not until January 2006. Watch your local listings! This show must not be allowed to die!
Another sleeper show was called, simply, Ed. It was a warm, funny, often very clever "prodigal son comes home to win hometown girl" kind of thing, complete with best friend and oddball bowling alley characters. But the writing, and especially the acting, made it a mainstay of my Wednesday nights. Until they moved it to Friday where it died a slow, painful, and premature death. Canada's own Tom Cavanaugh popped up on the new Jack and Bobby series (which also died a premature death), as well as the aforementioned Scrubs, and starred in a very Ed-like new series, Love Monkey (which seems to have also disappeared as of February 2006). Fortunately, Julie Bowen is now a regular on another comedy, Boston Legal.
Speaking of which, as good as it is (and please, please PLEASE don't let William Shatner be the Bush-backer his character is on that show, because that would force me to hate him!), it still pales in comparison to The Practice, which was still one of the most gripping dramas on TV, and passed away in its sleep in 2004. Boston Legal ostensibly took its place, it is quite frankly an inferior show, though still better than 90% of the stuff out there in television wasteland. And both Shatner and James Spader are delightful to watch.
Closer to home, I am a huge fan of This Hour Has 22 Minutes, a clever and witty take on Canadian events. This site takes you even further into the goings-on of this great land of ours. Recently, new blood has been added to cope with the departed Colin Mochrie and creator Mary Walsh, among others. Shaun Majumder, Mark Critch, and a host of other brilliant actors, including Gavin Crawford, are providing excellent depth and variety.
In 2005, the paucity of good new TV shows was astounding, but one that caught my eye and riveted me is the brilliant, if violent and unspeakably cruel Prison Break, a series you can't look away from, a true "must see TV" show that despite its despicable characters, is one of the more gripping shows on the air today. In a spectacularly boneheaded move, Fox has taken in off the air until late March, when all but its most diehard fans will have moved on. Way to kill your best show of the year, Fox!
The only other outstanding new show of 2005 is the remarkably well-written Close To Home, 
starring Montreal's own Jennifer Finnigan as a no-nonsense prosecutor, and with a strong supporting cast, reminds us that sometimes bad people do bad things, and for that they need to be punished. (Trust me, the show is much more complex than that, even if it is buried on Friday nights!) In addition, Reunion, a murder mystery/flashback about a group of friends over the past 20 years, is also fun to watch, though not quite as intriguing. I find myself losing the different storylines if I don't pay complete attention to each episode. (Uh oh...see Love Monkey!)
And one of the sleeper hits, for which I had very low expectations, is the cute Hot Properties, which provides some laughs and witty dialogue on a Friday night, along with Air Farce, 22 Minutes, and old favourite Malcolm In The Middle.
As of mid-February, both Hot Properties and Reunion have been cancelled, Arrested Development has gone off the air, and Malcolm has announced it will bow out in the spring. I so dread the fall of 2006, TV-wise.
Other returning favourites I never miss include The Shield, That 70s Show (though I didn't think it can survive with the departure of Topher Grace and Ashton Kutcher, and I was right, the show announcing it will commit suicide in the spring), and Desperate Housewives, although I have rediscovered the CBC which, aside from Air Farce and This Hour Has 22 Minutes, produces This Is Wonderland, a gritty yet witty series about the ins and outs of our legal system (ARRRGHHH!!!! Cancelled, February 2006!) and possibly THE cleverest Canadian show on the air, the amazing, brilliant, dead-on Rick Mercer (formerly Monday) Report, about which I have run out of superlatives to describe.
For my favourite science fiction shows, click here. For Star Trek, click here.
Since I no longer live in Montreal, it would be pointless to mention radio
stations in that city, wouldn't it? There are a few stations I listen to here in
Toronto, most often the
all-sports Fan 590. I wake up every morning to the world
in a half hour on
680 News, the all-news station, and occasionally I tune in the
talk stations, Talk 640 CFYI (now MOJO Radio) and
CFRB 1010, where I
came THAT close to working only four short years ago. And, of course, if I want
music, I usually prefer oldies, so I tune in to
1050 CHUM. (In case
you're wondering, I rarely listen to FM.) And I recently discovered
Oldies 1150,
or CKOC in Hamilton, also a great oldies station. (Why they don't call it CKOC
Radio, I'll never know.)
For newspapers I read, try the Toronto Star, the Toronto Sun (if you can figure it out), or my old hometown paper, The Montreal Gazette, online. There are other newspapers, of course, but they are so right-wing that I do not bother with them. For more on my political views, click here.
For phone numbers, like friends and family, you can try out Canada411 for a quick search. But be warned: the
list is at least three months old, and little niggly details may prevent someone's being
listed on it. For instance, I, myself, am listed in the Toronto phone book, but since my
ADDRESS is not, my NUMBER cannot be found on Canada411. Logical? Only to Bell...
If you are looking for work, try the Greater Toronto HRDC site
for an office in your area. And if you are in the northwest Toronto area (Downsview,
Willowdale) you could email the Job Finding Club
to find out about courses, clubs, and other helpful means of securing employment or job
leads.
And, of course, no listing would be complete without Toronto.com, a guide to everything that's going on in
Canada's greatest city! Enjoy!
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