The Stroumboulopouli

The Stroumboulopouli

The place to get the latest news on what’s coming up on #Gtonight. Find out what Canada’s boyfriend is up to. Share stories, pictures, favourite tv and radio episodes.

CBC TV & Radio shows plus HNIC

His work with Artists for Peace and Justice

UN Ambassadorship for The World Food Programme

Sunday, April 29, 2007

This Week on The Hour (April 30th - May 3rd)

CBC-TV's THE HOUR Upcoming Guests*: April 30th - May 3rd

Some shows this week may be preempted by the Stanley Cup Playoffs on CBC and as such an encore presentation may be played on CBC Newsworld. I will update this listing as I get the information.

Monday, April 30th

Ishmael Beah (author & former child soldier)

Peter Krause (American actor)

Tuesday, May 1st

A hockey night - repeat with Martin Short and others.

Wednesday, May 2nd

Dave Thomas (Canadian actor & comedian)

Hamida Ghafour (Canadian journalist & writer)

Thursday, May 3rd

Pre-emption due to hockey.

Note: The website says the Lily Allen interview will air on Friday. This interview has not aired as part of normal programming as far as I know - and I have been aware that it has been coming due to the barrage of promotion it has been given (and because I like her music and was looking forward to it). So it is interesting that they are choosing to air it on Friday - typically a 'best of the week' show. I think it might have to do with her being popular yet canceling her tour.

*Guests subject to change / Information found on the CBC.ca Program Guide and/or the official site.

THE HOUR broadcasts Monday through Thursday on CBC Television at 11:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. ET on CBC Newsworld. There is a "Best of the Week" show on Fridays as well.

For more information on THE HOUR, visit http://www.cbc.ca/thehour/.

Strombo Show - Sunday, April 29th

According to George's website The Strombo Show is live tonight - 9-11PM Eastern. He will be joined by Alex and Bob (yes, it says Bob is back!).

You can tune in via the web at CFRB or via traditional radio at CJAD 800 in Montreal and CFRB 1010 in Toronto . You can post comments during the show on George's MySpace. As well, a group of us listen and chat over at the Strombo Forum.

Thursday, April 26, 2007

Irshad Manji and Giovanni Ribisi

I know this is a bit late but at the time these guests originally aired I was working out of town and it’s been a bit wild since I’ve been back, so forgive me for going back in time a couple of weeks. I found both Giovanni and Irshad to be very interesting guests with thought provoking takes on totally different belief systems. I was particularly impressed with the way that they discussed their values, religions and beliefs without implying that anyone who didn’t agree with them was wrong. I’ve always thought that if you believe in your faith strongly enough – no matter what it is – that you should be able to debate and defend it without discrediting others. Irshad described a conversation with her mother saying that she could “engage in debate despite being devout”. I think that’s important and should be encouraged.

She went on to talk about being a writer and the freedom she found in that. There aren’t many people who would be able to find a silver lining in having to have bullet proof windows in their home and go so far as to call their life blessed. Irshad Manji is one author that I intend to learn more about!

Giovanni had a unique and for me at least new perspective on Scientology. He was raised in it which is so different from what we see and hear in the media. It was intriguing to here a non-Hollywood “sane” dialogue on a controversial subject. The interview was one of the best I’ve seen with him. I didn’t find him as introverted as I usually do. I’ve seen him in a number of movies and he’s been good in them all. My favourite is Boiler Room. For me though he’ll always be the kid from My Two Dads.

Sunday, April 22, 2007

This Week on The Hour (April 23rd - 26th)

CBC-TV's THE HOUR Upcoming Guests*: April 23rd - 26th

This week's shows may be preempted by the Stanley Cup Playoffs on CBC and an encore presentation may be played on CBC Newsworld.

Monday, April 23rd

Update - encore presentation of The Hour with Stephan Jones, Bob Lefsetz and Brian Mulroney.

Tuesday, April 24th

Update - I saw newscaster Nancy Wilson on CBC Newsworld late this morning and she said that Lily Allen was on The Hour tonight, but the site says it will be Sam Raimi and Stephanie Nolen<. So, let's go with the site.

Wednesday, April 25th
Update - encore presentation of The Hour with Damon Albarn, Christiane Amanpour, and Mohamed Al Fayed.

Thursday, April 26th

Michael Ross (Canadian author)

The Amazing Kreskin (American born mentalist - had a Canadian produced television show from 1971-1975)

*Guests subject to change / Information found on the CBC.ca Program Guide and/or the official site.

THE HOUR broadcasts Monday through Thursday on CBC Television at 11:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. ET on CBC Newsworld. There is a "Best of the Week" show on Fridays as well.

For more information on THE HOUR, visit http://www.cbc.ca/thehour/.

Strombo Show - Sunday, April 22nd

The Strombo Show is live tonight - 9-11PM Eastern. You can tune in via the web at CFRB or via traditional radio at CJAD 800 in Montreal and CFRB 1010 in Toronto . You can post comments during the show on George's MySpace. As well, a group of us listen and chat over at the Strombo Forum.

Saturday, April 21, 2007

Do you Q?


Q

Jian Ghomeshi's new radio show on CBC Radio One started on Monday April 16Th.
You can catch it at 2 pm or 10 pm online or tune in to your local CBC Radio One channel.

His guests sometimes seem to follow the line up for The Hour's scheduled guests Like Sarah Polley, only Q is not preempted for Hockey... Is it The Hour on radio?
Not exactly, but you should listen and hear for yourself.
Q's first guest was Lorena Mckennitt, a very warm and interesting artist. But the guests can be anyone from the famous or obscure but interesting. Artist you have heard of and Artist you will hear more about soon.
One thing Q does do that you wont find on The Hour, is correspondents reporting live from all parts of the world on The Arts and Entertainment scene globally, but with a Canadian perspective. It can be anything from rap concerts in China to literature from South Africa.

Jian has an easy going, humorous interview style that is worth a listen and it could become a habit. It has for me.
As JG said on The Hour's opener this week you will still see him as a correspondent for The Hour, but you can hear him weekdays doing the thing he does best.
Barbara W.

Monday, April 16, 2007

Schedule Change - Newsworld

Normally The Hour airs at 8 PM Eastern on CBC Newsworld, but according to their online schedule there will be a special about the Virginia Tech Shootings at that time. The episode may still be on as scheduled at 11 PM Eastern on the main network (depending on the Stanley Cup Playoffs naturally). Of course, you can always catch the latest episode via their website.

Sunday, April 15, 2007

June Callwood - About Cancer, Death and Her Outlook on Life

Recently, The Hour aired June Callwood's last interview. She was a journalist, humanitarian, social activist and she died on Saturday, April 14th. She was 82 and had been dealing with inoperable cancer since 2004. You can read a news item about her life and accomplishments from the CBC here and her Wikipedia article here.

George's interview with June resonated strongly with many viewers. They spoke about her experiences with cancer, her outlook on life and death, and her marriage. I thought I would take the time to write down a few of my thoughts on this interview and how it made me think about my own experiences with cancer and death. Please feel free to share your own experiences and reflections in the comments.



First, some background. When I was 19 my father was diagnosed with colon cancer which had spread to his lymphatic system. He was 49. He had surgery and then chemotherapy. He went into remission for about a year and then the cancer returned. It spread to his liver as colon cancer often does. He did various chemotherapy treatments, he fought hard, but then there came the point where there were no more drugs they could give him. He died on November 25th, 1995 at the age of 54.

As I listened to June talk with George I was reminded of what my family dealt with as my father had cancer and ultimately died because of it. I thought about the relationship I had with my father and how I wish I had more 'deep' conversations with him. We did talk, but I was just entering my adult years, not even considering myself to be an actual adult. I was busy with trying to keep it together, paying my rent, getting an education, figuring out how to be in a meaningful romantic relationship. When we spent time together we spoke about my life more often than his. I think that was important to him - to know how I was and that I would be OK.

Sometimes though we did talk about his cancer ,and much like June and her statement about her body "I'm a mess", his attitude was a mix of honesty, humour, and frustration. About his actual death though, he was less candid with me. I think he was trying to protect me. I do know he spoke about it with others. I think for many speaking to a stranger about your own imminent death is different, easier than speaking to your own family about it. I think that may have played a role in why the June-George interview was so compelling.

I find it interesting to see how different people handle their own mortality. I think part of it comes down to personality and temperament and part of it comes down to your age and life experiences. I used to think that when I was faced with death I would be accepting. That all changed when I was 30 and I came down with a mysterious and rare autoimmune disorder. I was near death as the doctors tried to figure out what I had. I was scared and definitely did not want to die. What is great in theory is not so great in reality. I was humbled.

My grandmothers both died well into their nineties. Both had said that they were ready to die and I believed them. I think when you have had a rich, long life and then the body starts to fail you your perspective on death is different. After dealing with my own illness and fear of death, this is what I hope for. Certainly, June's attitude and how she expressed it during that interview reinforces this in me.

On a bit of a different, but not necessarily lighter note, I really appreciated hearing her talk about her marriage, about how things changed over the years, and how the hardest part of dying was worrying about who would take care of her husband. One of my professional interests is romance, relationships and intimacy so her words were such wisdom to me. And sweet and real too.

"He's neat. Oh, I wanted to marry him before I met him." - June
"You're still with your husband." - George
"63 years. We haven't had a fight since last night." - June

And beyond all this talk of life, death, cancer and marriage she spoke of what she believed in - kindness. That was good to be reminded of.



June Callwood on The Hour

about assisted suicide (air date November 16th, 2005)

about child poverty in Canada (air date February 23rd, 2006)

final interview (air date April 2nd, 2007)

April 15th to the 20th on The Hour

Sunday nights Strombo show will be hosted by Ryan Doyle (no relation to Hilary Doyle)

Feel free to call Ryan up tonight and encourage the man to let loose and have fun. Because that is what Sunday nights with the Strombo show are all about. Please join us on Georges MySpace Page for the event.

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The Hours schedule is a bit bumpy this week due to the NHL Hockey Playoffs... so hang on for the ride..



Monday will be the show they taped on Wednesday but did not air yet...

Arthur Kent ( the Scud Stud) will be on talking about Afghanistan and how he is reporting it these days online...

Stone Cold Steve Austin is now doing movies and talks about his career as a wrestler. He talks about his injury and recovery, his heartbreaks, and his family life.

Also Mary Walsh of This Hour has 22 Minutes does her Best Story Ever

Tuesday

George should be coming back from LA with some interesting interview we may see on Tuesday... I can't tell you more right now... The show will be taped with an audience on Tuesday but the Hockey schedule rules the week...

Wednesday

Ishmael Beah was a child soldier. He tells his story about the horrors he lived though.

Sarah Polley was a child star, became a political activist and is now a film director.


Thursday... again they are taping a show on Thursday but due to Hockey it's uncertain when it will air. I don't know who will be on yet.


Barbara W.

Friday, April 13, 2007

Dame rocks The Kathedral!

A little while ago George played a clip of a band called Dame, a group of girls out of Brampton, Ontario. They've been getting alot of attention since he mentioned them. Tonight they played The Kathedral in Toronto and Barbara and I went to see them. It was an awesome show! They show an immense amount of talent and potential. Their set was loud and rockin' and their music was fresh but with a great hard rock edge. They're new and still working things out but I have a feeling they are going to be very big in the future. Their myspace page has a listing of their upcoming shows and a few of their songs- if you can, check them out. You won't be disappointed. Katee, Kayla and Faye - well done ladies!

Wednesday, April 11, 2007

Schedule Changes

The Stanley Cup Playoffs have started which means the CBC schedule is not to be trusted. My advice? Go with the flow. Be flexible. Anticipate the unexpected for the next couple of months. What does this mean for The Hour? I do not have the inside scoop, but from the few minutes I saw of the Newsworld edition of the show at 8 p.m. it seems we will be treated to the Greatest Hits (aka George shows us the variety of his wardrobe - snicker) when there is a conflict between the hockey games and regularly scheduled shows. Your best bet to stay up to date is to check out The Hour's upcoming show page or visit this blog. We will try to keep you covered.

Tonight: Tony Campolo, Rob Stewart, and Chris Gardner.

Monday, April 09, 2007

Crossover Artistry - Examples

A few examples of Crossovers from The Hour...

The List - Top 5 Actors Who Sing

The List - Top 5 Most Successful Musicians Turned Actors

The List - Top 5 Canadian Athletes Who Tried Their Hand at Music

The List - Top 5 Athletes Who Have Served in Parliment

The Closer - George's Hockey Broadcasting Hopes (read the text)

Crossover Artistry

In light of our esteemed television hosts shirtless appearance on the weekend.

I have a question: What do you guys/gals/transgendered friends think of people who cross over in their careers?

For example: Jacques Villeneuve or the obvious Hillary Duff or Lindsay Lohan. People who start as one career professional but because of their fame or their abilities crossover into something else.

What about George's multiple careers? I heard him musing on the weekend about wanting to announce sports in the future.

Thoughts? Comments?

Sunday, April 08, 2007

Another new face..

Hi ya’ll ! I’m Angie.. or AngB depending on where you may know me from. This is my first foray into blogging with a purpose and I’m somewhat technologically impaired so I may start out a wee bit slower than the other ladies. I found out about this place after meeting people through George’s Myspace during the Strombo Show on Sunday nights.

This is my first season watching The Hour regularly. I started watching the first episode of the season. I remember it because it was the day after my birthday and I was telling Mom about this show on CBC I’d seen a couple of times but couldn’t remember the name of the host. All I really knew was that it was a news/entertainment show and the host had a long greek name and spoke very quickly. A few minutes later The Hour came on – it was sort of spooky. I’ve never been much of a news watcher but here was a show I could relate to. Fast paced, relevant, informative and funny. It was a perfect fit for me.

As a host I love that George doesn’t play it safe. He goes for real honest answers and doesn’t let people skate through with routine responses. I’ve done my share of commenting on his attire (I don’t get the studded belt thing but his shirts are usually cool) and his personal ticks (I like the playing with the pen thing) but it’s always his personality and interview style I find engaging. There are times when I think.. dude you rock and others when I roll my eyes and think.. oy vey you’re such a guy.

I’ve been lucky enough to make it to two tapings. I recommend checking it out if you can. I know many people think the audience detracts from the show. I haven’t seen enough of previous seasons to really comment on the difference one way or the other but having seen it live I have a whole new appreciation for the show. I’m kind of a geek so I was easily distracted by the cameras, monitors and lights. I think sometimes that’s why the audience doesn’t seem to respond to jokes and things. Or at least that was my experience. I watched the shows later on tv and caught things I’d missed live. Both shows were mostly pretaped but I got to see Jian G., Peter Mansbridge and Paul with his suggestion box.

There have been many guests I found inspirational and a couple that made my teeth grind. There were a few I couldn’t wait to see and some I forced myself to sit through. Sometimes the reactions to the guests were more interesting than the actual interviews.


There have been lots of spin offs to watching The Hour and listening to The Strombo Show. I’ve been exposed to new music, interesting books and have made lots of new friends. The past few months have been tumultuous for me so it’s possible that many interviews have hit closer to home for me than for most people but I’ll take interesting and thought provoking where I can get it.
I don’t know where The Hour is headed but it’s been fun so far and I’m excited to start participating here and getting to know everyone.

George Introducing his Team on Stage




George introduces his Musical Hockey team.

The Chart Attack Hack become Spinal Hack !
They made not have made the finals in the tournament but they were a favourite of the night at Lee's Palace.



Barbara W.

Saturday, April 07, 2007

This Week on The Hour (April 9th - 12th)

CBC-TV's THE HOUR Upcoming Guests*: April 9th - 12th

Monday, April 9th (Easter Monday Repeat)

Mark Wahlberg (American actor - Boogie Nights, The Departed)

Paul Franklin (Canadian war hero)

Rick Mercer's Best Story Ever

Tuesday, April 10th

Giovanni Ribisi (American actor - Saving Private Ryan, Lost in Translation)

Irshad Manji (Canadian feminist Muslim, author, journalist, and activist)

Wednesday, April 11th
(these guests now pushed to Monday - instead we have Tony Campolo, Rob Stewart, and Chris Gardner)

Arthur Kent (Canadian journalist)

Stone Cold Steve Austin (American professional wrestler and actor)

Thursday, April 12th

Colin Angus (film maker and adventurer)

D.J. Caruso (director - Disturbia)

*Guests subject to change


THE HOUR broadcasts Monday through Thursday on CBC Television at 11:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. ET on CBC Newsworld. There is a "Best of the Week" show on Fridays as well.

For more information on THE HOUR, visit http://www.cbc.ca/thehour/.

Thursday, April 05, 2007

New Team Blog Member - Hedy

Hello Stoumboulopoli readers! My name is Hedy and I’m adding my name and writing to this wonderful blogging team. My work and school keep me pretty busy, but I never miss an episode of The Hour and often spend my Sunday nights listening to The Strombo Show while frantically finishing up some last minute paperwork before Monday morning rolls around.

Unfortunately, I’ve just become a regular watcher of The Hour this year – as my schedule conflicted during its first two seasons – but I feel as though George has been a constant in my life – whether hosting the Punk Show on Much Music or fascinating millions of Canadians with his plea for Tommy Douglas as the Greatest Canadian – I’ve been a fan and an admirer for years.

I’m really looking forward to having the chance to voice my thoughts on both The Hour and The Strombo Show, as well as some of the politics and pop culture that are talked about on both shows. I don’t always agree with everything that is said or like everything that is recommended, but that’s the part of the shows that I like the best – that they allow for a difference of opinion and for those differences to be discussed and debated. The most recent debate in my house is around George’s humour. In one corner is me laughing at George’s jokes on the Hour vs. my partner yelling at the tv for George to “Be More Funny!!”. He is currently asking that Nile hosts the Hour regularly or that he be allowed to write all of George’s material.

I hope that blogging on the fabulous Stroumboulopoli will allow for differing opinions, debates and discussions and a space for me to ramble on about The Hour, the Strombo Show, and the man I can’t seem to get enough of, no matter what path he chooses. Thanks for the space!

Wednesday, April 04, 2007

New Team Bloggers Coming Soon

Look for some fresh faces, or rather bloggers, to be joining the Stroumboulopouli in the coming days and weeks. I look forward to hearing what their contributions and hope you do too.

Tuesday, April 03, 2007

New Team Blog Member - Brooksie

Hello everyone. I go by the name Brooksie and I have been a regular reader of this blog since its inception. I am also a regular participant at the Strombo Forum. I have now joined this team blog and look forward to sharing with you some of my thoughts regarding The Hour and the topics and people it features.

I began watching the show right when it first launched. It has been interesting to see how the show has changed and not changed over the course of 3 years. This has been a popular topic (and contentious one) with the new season. I doubt I will focus on that, but I am sure it will continue to come up.

A little bit about where I get my news and information and how I watch The Hour...

I get some of my news from Newsworld and watch a few of their programs on semi-regular basis (CBC News: Sunday, the Passionate Eye). I enjoy my local TV news and I also get a fair amount of news and information from various websites.

I watch the show with my husband. We typically catch the 8PM Newsworld version though sometimes we tape it and then watch it at 9. It also feels good to have the 11PM version there just in case we miss a part of it (typically the opener - when we are late coming home from an errand or activity).

While my husband enjoys the show as one of his own news and information sources he spends his online reading & commenting energies at different sites than me. Still, we do enjoy the discussion the show can incite for us.

Sunday, April 01, 2007

A New Change

As you may have noticed, the sidebar changed today, as Alana, Becky and I aren't part of this blog anymore. We expressed our opinion about this show in previous posts and comment sections and we said it, we don’t watch it a lot this season and we also don’t love it as much as we loved the first two seasons. When Barbara B and Allison decided to leave the group, the three of us started to think about it, what is our role here? Should we stay, or should we leave? Do we really want to be part of this group? We were thinking about it even before they decided to leave, but when they e-mailed us to tell us about it, well, it was a turning point, and we thought about it even more. But today, we decided that it was in our best interest to leave, but we will still be on our personal blogs. Barbara W will stay here, she will still be blogging and other bloggers should join the team, so this isn’t over just because we are leaving.

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I personally decided to quit because I haven’t really watched a lot of episodes this season, I’ve been really busy with school and other things and it gave me less time to watch The Hour and even more to blog about it. And there’s also the new format of the show, I don’t love it. So, I’ve been thinking a lot about it and when Becky e-mailed us today to tell us that she wanted to leave the blog, I thought that it would be a good opportunity, I’m not leaving this blog because other people are, I’m leaving because I don’t think that I can contribute to this blog. I enjoyed our discussions here, but it is time for me to move on and to let other people write about the show that they like. If I have time, I'll still try to catch the show to see if it changed and I'll still come here once in a while to read what you have to say, but I can't be a contributor anymore.

But I'm happy that The Hour gave me the opportunity to meet so many amazing people, thanks for reading and good luck to the next contributors.

Evelyne

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I think this is something that has been coming for awhile now, something that most of us have been thinking about individually and each debating whether or not we were being beneficial to the blog itself. Personally I have lost a lot of faith in the show this season, and given the lengthy posts we made about it before Season 3 started, it shouldn't come as much of a surprise that some of us a disheartened about the turn out of The Hour's new season. I still watch it once or twice a week, but it lacks so much of the passion, the urgency that it had before, I don't find myself compelled by the content or even really paying that much attention to it when it's on. Of course, everyone grows out of one thing and evolves into something else, and I think the changes made to The Hour's content made a lot of us re-evaluate what we're looking for in an informative piece, and unfortunately we didn't find a lot of those things in Season 3. I can't speak for the other contributors, but I will still watch the show from time to time and I will still appreciate George's take on journalism for what it's worth. He is still a thought-provoking host and I hope the show's new spin has captured the attention of a lot more people, but honestly it's just not for me anymore, not on the same scale as it used to be.

I want to wish the best of luck to Barbara W. and the future contributors of this blog, may it encourage more discussion and interest than ever before. :)

Thank you to all the readers for all your support, it's done phenomenal things for this blog.

Alana

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I'd been thinking of leaving the blog, but I almost thought of the original contributors as permanent. Almost that no matter how strange a fit it seemed, the original 7 would stay. When Barb B and Allison left I realized they made a good decision, and I should think about the part I play in this blog.

As many of you know, I haven't had very positive things to say about the show this season. In conversations about The Hour with friends and family, I started defending it less and attacking it more. I wanted enjoy it, like I did during season two, but the new show just wasn't the same to me.

Last year it was a huge influence on me, it even made me re-evaluate my feelings towards politics, and my future career path. It's casual interviews with people like Justin Trudeau inspired me, and it's format made it feel like an indie news show. This year, to me at least, all that's gone. It feels like George doesn't care, and is trying to make bad jokes just to impress the audience. They feels like two completely different programs.
But I still have to thank The Hour for all it gave me. Mostly, it let me meet so many awesome bloggers. I remember first reading Hilary M's blog about The Hour, with comments from so many people I know better now, and thinking that a show that can create a community like that has to have something going for it. I personally hope that old something will come back.
I know the blog is in good hands with Barb W and her new recruits, I wish them well!

Becky