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It Happened to Me Play

Names I Have Been Referred By at the Gym

"Hans and Franz" from Saturday Night Live

Names at the Old Gym (Mostly people in their 20s – 30s)

From summer 2005 to the start of 2009, I was a member at a gym located a ten-minute walk away from home. The crowd is made up mostly of people in their 20s and 30s, presumably students, singles and the “yummy mummy” crowd, with students and homemakers making the lion’s share of attendees during business hours.

Here are the ways I was addressed at that gym:

  • Joey
  • Mr. deVilla
  • Jose
  • “Joe-zay” (an attempt to pronounce “Jose”)
  • Accordion Guy
  • Dude
  • Dogg
  • Yo
  • Sir

Names at the Current Gym (“Newly wed or nearly dead”)

I switched to the new gym not because there was anything wrong with the old gym, but because:

  • It’s only a block away from home, making it more likely that I’d go more often, especially when the weather’s bad. So far, it’s worked; on average, I’m there every other day.
  • It has a swimming pool.

Before and after business hours, the crowd is made up of people from their 20s through 40s. During business hours, it’s the retiree crowd.

Here are the ways in which I’ve been addressed or referred to by my fellow gym members:

  • Joey
  • Jerry
  • Jimmy
  • Johnny
  • Young Man
  • Young Feller
  • That Microsoft Guy
  • The Computer Guy
  • The Accordion Player
  • Young Chinese Fella
  • “That young guy who’s always here in the middle of the day…why doesn’t he have a job?”
Categories
Life Toronto (a.k.a. Accordion City)

“Honesty is the Best Poetry”

Art in the snow: "Honest is the Best Poetry"

BlogTO points to this photo of some art done in the snow by the Gardiner Expressway near downtown Accordion City. It’s pretty cool. Wonder who made it.

(Click the photo to see it at full size.)

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Play

If the Restaurant Industry was Like the Record Industry

image

Don’t get the reference? See the Wikipedia entry for “Home Taping is Killing Music”.

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Life

Tom Brokaw Explains Canada to Americans

At the start of every Olympic games, there’s always an extended news piece – if you can call anything under 10 minutes “extended” – describing the host country to the viewers. The 2010 Winter Olympics is no exception, and in this video, NBC’s Tom Brokaw introduces American viewers to us, their neighbours to the north. In his voice-over, Brokaw says:

In the long history of sovereign neighbours, there never has been a relationship as close, productive and peaceful as the U.S. and Canada.

Speaking as the husband of a very lovely American woman and an employee (and most prominent blogger) of the Canadian subsidiary of an American multinational corporation, I’m inclined to agree.

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Play

Tavis Coburn’s Amazing Retro Program Covers for the 2010 BAFTA Awards

Graphic designer Tavis Coburn designed the program covers for this year’s BAFTA (British Academy of Film and Television Arts) Awards, and they’re retro-cool! Each one features elements from the nominees for the Best Picture Award.

Here’s the cover featuring Up in the Air, with a very Mad Men-esque treatment of George Clooney:

Tavis Coburn's late '50s/early '60s style rendition of "Up in the Air"

This is the cover for An Education:

Tavis Coburn's late '50s/early '60s style rendition of "An Education"

It took me a moment to figure this one out. The helmet screams “space movie”, but the reflection of the child playing soccer in the visor makes it clear that the movie depicted here is The Hurt Locker:

Tavis Coburn's late '50s/early '60s style rendition of "The Hurt Locker"

Avatar, obviously. I still haven’t seen this movie. Mind you, I didn’t see Titanic until 2005. I like to think that anything I was doing around the turn of the millennium was far more interesting than any movie, especially a schmaltzy James Cameron date flick.

Tavis Coburn's late '50s/early '60s style rendition of "Avatar"

And finally, Precious:

Tavis Coburn's late '50s/early '60s style rendition of "Precious"

Categories
It Happened to Me

Farewell, Old Friend

Amos, the big yellow lab

Amos wasn’t my dog – he belonged to my friend Chandra – but I’ve spent many a fine evening hanging out or running in the park with this big, good-natured yellow dog. I am but one of many who’ll miss him. R.I.P., Amos. Good boy.

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Music Play

Dolph Lundgren Performing “A Little Less Conversation”

Yes, that Dolph Lundgren – the guy who played “Ivan Drago” in Rocky IV and the cyborg preacher in Johnny Mnemonic. Here he is, bringing the house down with the long-underappreciated Elvis single as part of his co-hosting duties for Melodifestivalen, the event where the Swedish entry for the Eurovision Song Contest is chosen. He doesn’t just sing, he also dances, plays the drums, does some martial arts and rocks the black tie look: