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.