The Week of April 27 to May 3

Well, it's Week Three of the hockey induced hiatus. Do you have a nervous twitch yet from not getting your daily Hour fix? Have you caught a couple of the whackily scheduled "best of" shows after hockey? Or have you been stalking our blog for "Our Favourite Clips" to get your Hour fix? As always, make sure you check out The Hour website for the latest information on the show, and After The Hour for extra clips from the show and other random clips. Paul McGrath announced last week on The Hour's blog, that The Hour's YouTube channel has passed 5 Million views. So you've got a lot of outlets to get through the last week of the hiatus. Check a few out, you never know what you may find that you've never, ever seen before or that you'd totally forgotten about.

Check out The Hour's Ticket Page if you're in the Toronto area and want to experience The Hour in studio. Tickets are current available for most of May. Tickets tend to go fast so book quickly for the next couple of weeks. Remember, the ticket policy has changed, it's now only two tickets per person, not the previous four.

On the April 27th edition of The Strombo Show, George's guests will talk to the Canadian Indie Band Tokyo Police Club who kick off the Canadian leg of their tour in Toronto with two shows next weekend, May 3 and 4 at The Opera House. Other shows include Winnepeg, Saskatoon, Edmonton, Calgary, Kelowna, Vancouver and Victoria. Check out the band's webpage or their MySpace page for the full list of their tour dates.

George's in studio guest this week will be Canadian singer/songwriter Kevin Drew, who is probably best known for being one of the founding members and leader of Broken Social Scene. While in studio, Drew will play an acoustic set.

The Strombo Show airs in Vancouver (The Fox), Winnipeg (Power 97), Toronto (The Edge), Hamilton (Y108) and London (FM96) on the Corus Radio Network from 5-8 EDT (2-5 PDT). If you're not in radio range of those cities, you can stream the show from any of the radio stations listed above. Don't forget you can watch the Strombo Show on The Edge's Webcam. If you're not a member of The Strombo Show's Facebook Group, join today! Also, get in on the action and leave your comments during the show on the group page or on George's Myspace and Facebook pages. And don't forget, you can always call in to the show at 1-866-967-3343 or email the show george@strombo.com.

Make sure you head over to the Canon Canada Digital Photography website to check out a few of George's photographs. George was selected by Canon Canada as one of twelve Canadian celebrities to participate in their fourth annual "Other Side of the Lens" collection to celebrate the theme of "Red, White and Green". Other celebrities showcased this year include: Ronnie Hawkins, Stuart McLean, Robert Bateman, Meghan Follows, Sheila Watt-Cloutier, Moses Znaimer, Laura Vandervoort, Michael Standtlander, Jacques Laguirand and Jian Ghomeshi. For their participation in the collection, Canon Canada has made a sizeable donation to Earth Day Canada.

And finally, in a Harris/Decima survey commissioned by the BBC Canada series Trinny and Susannah Undress the Nation, George has been named the best dressed man in Canada by 33% percent of respondents. Runners up include Canada AM's Seamus O'Regan with 29% with Don Cherry rounding out the top three with 21% of respondents. The survey explored Canadian women's attitudes regarding the importance of men's style... or lack of style.




Cheers!

"Gemini Cold Opener"

"Big Toronto Hippie… with his ears pierced… think he'll come and mock the Prairies, is that it?"

For the past week, the mere thought of the cold opener from the Geminis has brought random giggles into my life. So much so, that the people I work with and those nearest and dearest to me think that I've finally gone over the edge. Maybe it's the Prairie Girl in me… maybe it's growing up in Alberta and the constant rivalry between the two provinces... or maybe it's just the fact that I'm a transplant in Ontario and I miss home. Whatever it was, the cold opening at the Geminis this year had me on the floor laughing. Literally. Not just in internet terms, but physically on the floor, laughing. Why? Because in some areas of Saskatchewan… it's true!
Saskatchewan isn't totally flat… there are occasional hills and valleys… but compared to other provinces (say, Alberta)… it could easily be considered flat. And Albertans know how to milk that for everything it's worth. That said, Saskatchewan cannot be defined by it's topography… Saskatchewan has a lot going for it. It's the home of universal health care in Canada. It's economy, like it's neighbour Alberta, is booming. The Mounties call it home for their academy. The Snowbirds are based there. To be honest, Saskatchewan is a pretty cool place. Despite being flat. Or maybe, because of it.

All kudos to Saskatchewan aside, the opener was pretty slick. With fantastic writing (writer Paul Bates is a genius… I want to know, is he from the Prairies?), it was the perfect choice for the evening. It brings all that's the Toronto-Prairies "fight" together in a typically self-mocking Canadian manner. Very fitting for the boy from Toronto visiting the Prairies.

If you've made it this far, and enjoyed the cold opener at the Geminis last weekend, you'll be happy to know that the cold opener is now posted on YouTube. Enjoy!



Mich
Guest poster of the Stroumboulopouli