Category Archives: Insight

09.12.02
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The Morning After

Thanks to everyone that watched the WTC presentation yesterday, and big thanks to Rannie for sending quite a few people my way. Most of you seemed to enjoy it and that’s a good thing. It does have a permanent home here, in the Image & Video Gallery. If you enjoyed the song featured throughout, and I think some of you did, it’s from a great Son Volt album titled Straightaways (Buy it: USA | Canada).

Tonight is cooking class so I’m getting ready for that. Should be a good time, I hope. Tonight is demonstration only and I’m away in Vegas next week so I won’t get to cook for real for another two weeks. Now, before I go, a slight rant:

Everyone seems to have done something different yesterday to commemorate the one year anniversary of 9/11. Some, like me, took the day off. Some blogged anyways. However, many others saw fit to dive with both feet into a shouting match at the television networks that broadcast the memorials and footage of the original attack all day yesterday. I have this to say – yesterday was not about you. As much as you want to pretend that the World is about you, this was not. If you didn’t like it, don’t watch. But then you would have missed the video of survivors who were thankful for the chance to tell their story. You would have missed the videos of men and women who lost a loved one in the attacks and were thankful for the chance to tell their story and attach a bit of closure to their year. These people are what matter, not you. These people were thankful that the major networks chose not to pretend that September 11th is just another day, because September 11th will never be just another day. The most irritating thing about all of this is the people that complained about the coverage are the same ones that would have been in line at the firing range if the networks had chose to move forward with their regularly scheduled programming with nary a mention of the events of last year. I think an awful lot of people need to get over themselves and appreciate what yesterday meant to a lot of men and women around the World that were personally and permanently affected by 9.11.01. If the coverage offered by the networks yesterday meant something to them, that’s what matters.

What’s so wrong about peace, love, and understanding anyways?

08.27.02
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Pepsi Blew?

My fondness for Coke is documented. Repeatedly. What may not be so well documented is the fact that I think Pepsi tastes like snot. It’s an odd case – Coke is better than Pepsi. But Wild Cherry Pepsi is better than Cherry Coke. So this year, Coke releases the drink I’ve been making myself since childhood, Vanilla Coke, but now it comes premixed and in a pretty can for me. Much better. Kudos to Coke! And not only that, but a source has leaked to me that the new Vanilla Coke has been SO popular that they have fast-tracked the production of a Diet version, something even perpetually popular Cherry Coke never got. That tells you how well this is doing.

So what does Pepsi do to combat? Why, they make their cola blue. Same nasty chemical taste, but blue. Did they learn nothing from Crystal Pepsi?? Stuff looked like a busted-a$$ saline implant pouring into a glass. Even David Lee Roth couldn’t make it look good. IT’S THE FLAVOUR, PEOPLE. Not sure what it takes to make Pepsi realize that food colouring is not the solution to their problems. What’s next, Doritos Plaid? Pepsi Blew indeed…

Need sleep – I’m going golfing for the first time in 15 months and the second time.. well, kinda ever. Now taking bets on how I can injure myself doing this:

-200 retwist ankle
-100 reseparate shoulder
+100 bitten by errant gopher
+300 dimpled balls in forehead
+500 trip on beer cart while admiring Kit Kat bar
+800 impaled on golf club during Chi Chi imitation

Place your bets in the comments, y’all.

Cheers!

08.27.02
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Know Your Market

A little over a year ago the folks over at CHUM announced they were switching to an all-sports format. When confronted with the fact that such a small group of potential listeners already had the FAN590, CHUM noted they were confident they would win this war because they had a network of stations across the country and popular syndicated programs from the United States. The fans weren’t just interested in Toronto teams, they were interested in Canadian teams. And Americans loved Jim Rome, so therefore Canadians would love him too. As one of the few people (by FAN590’s Program Director’s personal admission to me via e-mail once) who will listen to sports radio for hours on end (like news, most tune in and out throughout the day) I was consistently barraged with opinions of those around me that my precious FAN590 was going by the wayside. A small Toronto-centric station could not compete with the CHUM power house.

I noted that had CHUM done some research, and learned from the FAN590, they would know that Toronto fans are interested in Toronto sports. They don’t care about the Vancouver Canucks. They don’t care about the Montreal Expos. They sure as heck don’t care about the Saskatchewan Roughriders or the Florida Marlins. They also don’t care about the opinions of radio jocks from Los Angeles – they care about Toronto teams and Toronto radio jocks. They care about Toronto. It’s rule one of marketing – know your market. Just because you love something you’ve created does not mean everybody else will. A little simple research could have saved CHUM a ton of cash, as they called it quits today on their all-sports experiment, have dismantled their network, and are returning to an oldies music format. Too bad, because there was plenty of great local talent in the Toronto area that might have allowed TEAM to give FAN a run for its money. But when you’re throwing Jim Rome up against Gord Stellick you can’t honestly expect to win – just ask The Fabulous Sports Babe.

Cheers!

08.26.02
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Typing With BK Fingers

BK meaning “grilled, not fried”. I made the mistake of fondling my grill tonight and will now proceed to type with two fewer fingers. So since I’m not in an overly good mood, nor feeling entirely creative, I’ll try one of them there Monday Missions…. warning, opinion ahead … if you don’t like controversy, steer clear – you’ve been warned..

1. What do you do to make things better when you feel sad and/or lonely? Good question – I was a pretty early adopter of the net and used to find it was great to chat with folks I didn’t know well online. Nowadays, I’m more likely to grab the guitar and play away for a couple hours. Either that or watch some TV or a DVD. I find playing songs relaxing.

2. Are you a “touchy-feely” person? That is, do you like to touch people you don’t know that well? And on the flipside of that, do you like being touched by someone you aren’t close with? I am NOT a touchy-feely person. Public displays of affection are a nuisance.

3. Do you like to have “me” time, time to yourself to be alone and relax? Or do you prefer to just do your own thing with someone else in the room? When was the last “me” time you got and what did you do? Me time rules – I love it. If I didn’t this would be a hard life because Mar is constantly at work or on the road. Fortunately I’m a loner and adore “me” time. The last “me” time I got was all of last week – and I played Extreme’s three part “Everything Under the Sun” over and over and over.

4. Generally speaking, how do you feel about the concept of marriage? Are you the marrying type? Do you think the act of getting married means something today or is it simply just “a piece of paper?” Love marriage, although many thought I wasn’t the marrying type. I found me a keeper so it’s all good as we close in on two years. Marrying certainly means something, if you’re doing it for the right reasons.

5. What are your thoughts on the banning of same-sex marriages? At risk of upsetting any viewership, I’ll phrase it like this. Marriage is a Christian institution, and the Christian Bible makes it quite clear that it doesn’t approve of same-sex relationships. So while it’s not my place to approve or disapprove of it, the concept of people wanting “a piece of paper” from a religious group that doesn’t accept their lifestyle has always been lost on me. I believe everyone should be able to live how they want, but they shouldn’t be able to force belief on others – that goes for both sides. My confrontational side is interested in everyone else’s thoughts – post comments!

6. If there was one law you had the ability to create or change, what would it be? I don’t believe in the death penalty. Ever. So if the previous question didn’t make you hate me, this one should just about do it. :)

7. What would you like someone visiting your Blog for the first time to know about you? Now is your chance! You think you know him already – but you don’t. Every thing I type here is giving you enough of a glimpse at me that you can begin formulating opinion. A lot of it will be wrong. It’s like me telling you a story about walking my dog to the park and throwing a stick at him. He catches it, brings it back, and we head home. Now, you’ve never seen my dog, but you already think you know what he looks like…

Cheers!

08.03.02
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If Ya Can’t Beat’em, Sue’em.

In the good old days of business a company was forced to survive on its own merits. If you wanted to succeed you needed a product people wanted at a price people wanted to pay, and it needed to be priced competitively. As time wore on you could always be assured of competition – if there was money to be had, there was always someone else that wanted to have some. Coke would have Pepsi, McDonald’s would have Burger King, and Chapters would have Indigo. Oh, yeah.

Of course, when Indigo couldn’t cut it in the Canadian book market they did what most companies do nowadays – they whined a lot. They complained. They said Chapters wasn’t fair, that their pricing wasn’t right. In the meantime, Canadians flocked to Chapters for their great prices, their excellent loyalty program, a Starbucks in each location, and an encourged reading policy that would allow you to sit in a large comfortable couch or chair and read any book or magazine before you bought it. When Indigo couldn’t beat them, they bought them, and merged Chapters and Indigo – into Indigo. Chapters have quickly begun to lose the charm that made them popular. Then, a couple months back, Amazon ‘invaded’ Canada, launching Amazon.ca. So what did Indigo do about this newfound competition? Have they lowered prices? Improved their loyalty program? Improved their Internet presence? Put the couches back?

http://www.canoe.ca/JamBooks/aug3_amazon-cp.html

Ladies and gentlemen of Canada, Indigo doesn’t want YOU to have an alternative. They want to continue to ensure that their virtual monopoly is in place so they can charge you what you want. They have a policy of banning books the owner doesn’t like – and they don’t want to give you other means of obtaining them. Because Amazon was smart enough to cut a deal with Canada Post to create a great Internet presence with excellent selection and terrific shipping prices, Indigo feels they should be put out of business.

I urge everyone to click on this link and visit Amazon.ca. Check out the selection. Check out the free shipping on orders over $75. Take a look at the wishlist feature, where you can put together a list of items you’d like to have and provide the link to family and friends for holidays and birthdays.

Most of all, keep in mind that even on the cheapest shipping options you are likely to receive your order in 2-3 days. So instead of driving out to Chapters or Indigo and supporting someone who likes to make your decisions for you, make a decision – don’t shop there. Check out Amazon and let’s make sure Indigo knows that we appreciate what competition brings to the table – and we don’t appreciate people trying to stop it. Let business survive on its own merits for once, because THAT’S what business is all about.


In Association with Amazon.ca

Cheers!