Stroumbo

"You have thirty seconds!"
Originally uploaded by the fod.

Anne, Melissa, and I got to see George in action a week ago today. I was surprised by three things:
1. He genuinely loves his job – so much so that he has a hand in every aspect of the show, from guest-selection and writing to review and implementing changes. The guy doesn't sleep.
2. He's thirty-five years old! I don't know, this may not be news to some, but – shocker to me – I figured he was in his late twenties.
3. He'll stick around after filming to spend time with anyone who wants to talk until the last person leaves. A girl who works there told us that sometimes he's there for three hours after the show. Nice guy.

In the commercial breaks he chatted with us about whatever questions we had or whatever was on his mind. Guest selection was a topic that came up and he mentioned that he makes an effort to select guests that he's actually interested in, giving the spotlight to people that he believes in as people, not just as celebrities or a boost for the ratings. It's an admittedly biased selection process for the most part, but his intentions are to bring relevancy to a scene that is often lacking in reality checks. The Hour has its weaknesses, like any television show, but it was refreshing to hear him talk shop.

If you're looking to experience this for yourself, tickets are free. Let me know if you're going, I'll probably want to attend again at some point depending on the guests.

I'm Into That

Any attempt to sort through the ever-increasing amount of music and number of bands in our little world often proves too daunting a task to tackle. I like it when people blog about tunes they're into or mass email the name of an artist they find intriguing. I've got a pent-up need to do the same myself ... so, here you go!

Here are some artist profiles that I've stumbled onto recently.

Salut!

Jose Gonzalez
Powerful acoustic riffs and exceptional vocals meet good lyrics. On top of all that ... add THIS! He hails from Sweden. Some people've got it all.
http://www.myspace.com/josegonzalez

Jamie Cullum
A great alt-jazz/pop dude my brother introduced me to. With a smoky voice and the face of Bilbo Baggins, the man probably needs to have a junk mail folder specifically designated to divert marriage proposals.
http://www.myspace.com/jamiecullum

Miss Emily Brown
Simple and delicate. Not my absolute favourite, but I'm drawn in by her vocals. Canadian what?!
http://www.myspace.com/missemilybrown

Ray LaMontagne
So cool. So, so cool. It has been scientifically proven that this man can speak to shadows and get a response.
http://www.myspace.com/raylamontagne

Fear is Patriotic and Colour-Coded.

Randy Newman is old enough to be honest, and old enough to be gentle about it. But really, if you have to compare your political leader to Hitler to make him seem okay ...

Randy Newman - A Few Words in Defense of Our Country