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With a Writer’s strike going on right now, it would seem odd that I would be posting a piece on must watch television. But it’s not so strange, since I’ll be talking about some great shows that just started up this month, that aren’t affected by the strike.

jPod – Produced here in Canada by the CBC, is a new series that started this month, based on the novel of the same name, written by Douglas Coupland. I suppose I’m biased because I’ve been a long time fan of Coupland, but after watching the first episode, which follows the exploits of a team of co-workers who are employed at a video game software company, I was completely hooked and constantly on the floor laughing. There is a fine line here, of the show being totally Canadian cheddar and being insanely brilliant. But most importantly, I’m entertained and I can’t stop watching.

Torchwood (Season Two) – Produced in Wales by the BBC (co-produced by the CBC), the second season of the acclaimed Doctor Who spinoff, Torchwood started airing this month. I’ve recently watched the first two episodes of the season, and the show continually pushes the limit, with it’s blatant sexuality, mixed with it’s fantastic, sci-fi reality. John Barrowman, who plays Captain Jack Harkness, keeps me coming back for more and I can’t stop the feeling of wanting to jump on a plane to totally check out Cardiff in person some day. On a related note, if you haven’t seen season 1, it was released on DVD this past week and retails for $69.99.

Trading Spaces (Season Eight) – Produced by TLC, Trading Spaces has jumped back on my radar, when I found out that they have brought back Paige Davis as host of the popular home renovation show. Her first episode aired tonight, and it totally feels like she never left the show. With her, she’s brought back some of her favorite designers, like Doug and Hildi back into the fold, as well as their original $1000 budget. The twist however is in the homeowner pairings, which they’ll be doing on the show. Being neighbours no longer make the cut. They’ve decided to focus on interesting relationships and dynamics between the participants. The first episode featured a divorced couple who had to renovate each others bedrooms. Season teasers, also mentioned, boss and employee trades, as well as a mother-in-law and daughter-in-law switch. If you were like me, and slowly tuned out, after Paige left the show. Now is the time to tune back in every Saturday.

I think it’s appropriate to have Test the Nation clips on YouTube, especially considering there was a warm-up question about YouTube on the show. The clip above was shown near the beginning of the show as a montage about us bloggers. There’s a 5 sec clip of me, which was like 2 hours in the making. Gotta love the power of Television.

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After shooting almost all the bloggers in my makeshift studio, which was our holding pen at the CBC. I finally got in line for our meal of the day, where I found myself behind Destroyer, the Kiss Tribute Band. Surreal.

R6 – Dan Arnold, Ryan Couldrey, Allan Sorenson, Allyson Kenning, Rick Spence, Alexa Clark
R5 – Graeme Stewart, Katharine Hay, John Klein, Mark McIntyre, Jules Carlysle, David Jones
R4 – Jesse Hirsch, James Viloria, Christopher Bird, David Topping, Patrick Metzger, Jon Arnold
R3 – Kate Trgovac, Ryan Porter, Rannie Turingan, Craig Silverman, Adam Schwabe, Andree Lau
R2 – John Martz, Andy Nulman, Karen Whaley, Buzz Bishop, Frank Yang, Ryan Cousineau
R1 – Rebecca Bollwitt, Amber MacArthur, Julien Smith, Lainey Lui, Kerry Anne Holloway, Hugh McGuire

This is what a winning Test The Nation – Blogger team looks like, arrange as per the studio seating chart. The bloggers were victorious on Test the Nation against the backpackers who came in second place, the flight crew, the celebrity look-a-likes, the chefs and the cab drivers.

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NO. So I just finished doing the Mental Gym on the Test the Nation site. It’s a 5 series of 10 questions regarding trivia from the 21st century. Basically out of the 50 questions, I answered 24 correctly. That short of half. On Sunday, January 20th, I’m going to be in the CBC studio and in front of the camera testing as a part of a Blogger team. The show pits 6 team of 36 people against each other in a game of 21st Century Trivia. The other teams on the show are going to be Chefs, Celebrity Look-alikes, Cab Drivers, Backpackers and Flight Crews. Personally I’d like to think that bloggers will win, but after doing the Mental Gym it really can be anyone’s game.

The blogger team is going to be, Dan Arnold, Jon Arnold, Christopher Bird, Buzz Bishop, Rebecca Bollwitt, Jules Carlysle, Alexa Clark, Ryan Couldrey, Ryan Cousineau, Katharine Hay, Jesse Hirsch, Kerry Anne Holloway, David Jones, Allyson Kenning, John Klein, Andree Lau, Lainey Lui, Amber Macarthur, John Martz, Hugh McGuire, Mark McIntyre, Patrick Metzger, Andy Nulman, Ryan Porter, Adam Schwabe, Craig Silverman, Julien Smith, Allan Sorenson, Rick Spence, Graeme Stewart, David Topping, Kate Trgovac, Rannie Turingan, James Viloria, Karen Whaley, and Frank Yang. (Heads up to my fellow bloggers, I do intend on taking individual pictures of each and every one of you!)

So basically I have about 4 days to brush up on my recent history. Perhaps I’ll start with the year in review coverage over at the CBC website. Unfortunately, that only brings be back to 2003. here are the links. 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007.

Perhaps Wikipedia will be a better study guide. 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008

Test The Nation will be aired on the CBC on Sunday, January 20th, 2008 at 8pm. And for you facebook geeks, there is also a facebook group for the show.

If you haven’t commented before, perhaps now is the time to throw in your two cents and share some trivia with me in the comments.

So earlier this afternoon, I was taped outside the CBC building here in Toronto, shooting the CN Tower. Afterwards they taped me posting the picture to my blog on a laptop. The segment is going to be used during the show Test The Nation, which will be airing live on the CBC on January 20th. The show puts various teams against each other at an ultimate trivia game, this episode’s theme being 21st Century.

I’m going to be participating on the show, as a part of the blogger team, which will consist of bloggers from across the nation. It should be an interesting show, hopefully, I’ll remember my history from the past seven years, which is basically how long I have been blogging for. My saving grace is that it’s multiple choice. Let’s hope that recognition kicks in.

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Went to a taping of Cityline on Friday which featured Jamie Oliver as the guest. Aside from being hooked up with Jamie’s book, “Cook with Jamie”, the show itself was awesome. Jamie is so down to earth, and he is so funny. The above shot is a picture I sneaked in during the commercial break.

Now don’t let the cute face and hot accent fool ya. Jamie Oliver has done his share to give back to the community, with projects such as Fifteen.

If you didn’t catch the show, there will be an encore presentation of the show on Christmas Day.

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photos from americanidol.com

So, yesterday I watch some Idol, and we started watching the series Heroes. Watching the Idols finale now. Blake Lewis is nice to look at, but I think Jordin will win.

Hurry up and announce the winner already. I wanna get back to my Heroes.

Growing up as a child I always feared Dr. Who. The music in the opening credits always freaked me out, especially in conjunction with the warping visual effects. I never could wrap my head around the concept of the series. Basically, I’d quickly change the channel to find something more suitable for my young eyes.

Fast forward to this past week, where I was introduced to the new Dr. Who. A fresh, more vibrant Doctor. The opening credits theme has a modern vibe and the Doctor himself (played by David Tennant) is dashing, quirky and cute in the Geek chic sense.

Let’s just say I’m hooked. Now I just need to figure out who I can get my hands on the 2005 and 2006 series.

As a Filipino-Canadian I thought this documentary that will be airing on OMNI2 would be interesting to watch.

I don’t have time to do a proper write up, so I’m lifting all the info directly from the press release.

Rogers OMNI Television is proud to present the world television premiere of Foreign Domestics: The Right to Stay, as part of the OMNI Television Language Documentary Special series. The 60 minute documentary launches to Tagalog speaking audiences on OMNI.2, Saturday, September 16th at 8 PM with an encore presentation the following Wednesday (September 20th) at 10 AM.

English speaking viewers can catch this language version of Foreign Domestics: The Right to Stay on Saturday, October 28th at 7PM, also on OMNI.2.

Caught most of The One Making a Music Star yesterday night hosted by Canadian George

It was interesting to see George in a suit. All black, but it was still a suit jacket. It was odd not seeing George in his signature belt buckle. Jay noted that George was still wearing low ride pants.

Performance wise, it was still very much the George Stroumboulopoulos we all love up here in Canada.

As for the musical performances, I could do without Adam McInnis. Sorry man, I wasn’t feeling it.

My birthday is on August 18th and I already got my first gift. My parents have a bad habit of either waiting for the last minute and giving me cash, or buying too early and giving me the present right away. Not that I mind, but it does sorta loose it’s surprise when you are given a heads up on the impending purchase.

Since we only have basic cable, I don’t have the luxury of “Rogers on Demand” or “Time Shifting” to catch the shows that I missed. And frankly, taping shows on video tape seems so 20 years ago. I was always of the opinion that, if i wasn’t home to see it, it also not worth taping. Now I don’t have to worry about missing anymore shows. From now onwards I can record my favorites onto DVD.

My sister already has one of these and she claims that it is very intuitive and easy to use. My folks have a similiar model as well and used it to record the last season of American Idol.

The scary part however, is the fact that I’ll probably end up using the recorder to stay on top of shows like Canada’s Next Top Model and other reality show pleasures. God help me.

In a strange turn of events, Canadian media heartthrob, George Stroumboulopoulos confirms that he has signed on to the new ABC reality show, The ONE: Making a Music Star which debuts on July 18th.

Admittedly, we are a mix of happy for George and surprised at his choice for summer work. But I’m sure the extra summer exposure will only do good things for his profile.

No worries for fans of The Hour, Stroumboulopoulos will be returning for a 3rd season in the fall.

Kodak is encouraging the public to submit your photos to their website where they will be integrated into a Kodak Commercial.

Once you have uploaded five of your favorite images, you can view the commercial and share it with your friends and family.

To me, it seems that Kodak has figured out what Web 2.0 is all about (collaboration and sharing) and are using it to market to the general public.

Kudos to Kodak.

[link via gizmondo]

Tim Deegan, won the Much Music VJ search last night, in a much anticipated finale. I wasn’t surprised at all. I was sorry to see him get kicked off earlier in the series, but was glad to see him voted back in. I knew it would pretty much be a race between hopeful, Sean Gehon and winner Tim Deegan.

Expect Tim to appear on Much Music some time after April 24th, which is his start date. Congratulations Tim!

Image borrowed from Much Music.

So the truth is out, I’ve been avidly watching the MuchMusic VJ search for the last 10 weeks. I got suckered into it from the start. We are now down to the wire with the final four VJ hopefuls, Sean Gehon from Regina SK, Erik Bartik from Barnaby BC, Nikki Mah from Calgary AB and wildcard winner Tim Deegan from Kitchener ON.

From the get go, I knew Erik would be in the finals, he has the right look and the confidence and flair to pull it off. Nikki as well has a great look for television and although she had a slow start, she definitely has put on the heat in the last few weeks. I’m pretty pleased that Tim was voted back into the competition (my vote included). Watching him in the various clips, he has definitely got what it takes and I think it was the nerves of the competiton that slowly him down. Sean for me has always been a wild card. For the longest time, I really couldn’t see him as a Much VJ. But what really stands him out from the rest of the crowd is that fact that he wouldn’t be your typical Much VJ. Tonight, Sean got the endorsement from two of the Judges, both Robin Black and ex VJ Steve Anthony. And only time will tell if Canada votes him in as the first openly gay Much Music VJ. Personally I think the viewing audience can handle it.

I’m pretty please with the candidates in the top four and if any of these hopefuls win, I’m sure they will do an amazing job.

Who do you see as the next Much VJ?

The Arcade Fire, Juno Nominee

Canada’s biggest night in music, The Juno Awards is happening tomorrow night in Halifax, Nova Scotia. The are really going big this year with celebrity host Pamela Anderson, international acts like Black Eyed Peas as well as being broadcast in the USA and around the world on 11 MTV and VH1 channels.

Simple Plan, Juno Nominee.

I think it’s interesting that the Juno Awards is going international. It will definitely bring a few acts some publicity on a global level. The only problem is that they will probably hand out the better awards during the industry only gala as opposed to during the television broadcast.

Tegan and Sara, Juno Nominee

So I suppose we can thank the link between CTV and MTV Canada from bringing the Juno Award south of the border and beyond. I guess we will have to wait till Monday to see what the rest of the world thinks.

The drought is over, or is it? MTV Canada is now on the scene and is doing a segment on blogging this evening on their show MTV Live. The contacted me to be a part of it, unfortunately, I had to decline because previous engagements.

It’s interesting that they are trying to include blogmedia in their programming. I know that Much Music already has a regular blog segment on their show, “Much On Demand” where they follow news from gossip blogs. It would be interesting though if they had a regular segment where they actually had a blogger come in and chat chat about stuff. But I geuss that too could be limiting.

Anyway tune in if you can, tonight between 6 and 7pm. As luck would have it, we don’t even get MTV Canada in our building. Instead we get Lobby TV, a view of the comings and goings through our apartment lobby, which on some days can be more entertaining.

UPDATE : Apparently, Joey had a great time on MTV Canada. The shot above was taken during taping as I was making my way down to Matt’s Hotel to pick him up for the Blogger meet.

I just got home to catch the later half of the grammy awards. However I really don’t have anything prolific to say about the awards, basically it’s background noise while I eat a late dinner.

So this Bell commericial comes on the TV featuring two beavers named Frank and Gordon auditioning to be the new spokes person for Bell.

Let me say, I was intrigued and delighted. And I must say that Bell hit the nail on the head with this one. The beavers are adorable, they are Canadian and they are two males in an ambiguous relationship. Too cute.

Just make sure you type Frank and Gordon and not Gordon and Frank.

My friend Ange sent me this link to a clip from the Jon Stewart Show on Digital Camera. It was called Helms – Digital Watch: Digital Cameras

Watched the premiere of “Commander and Chief” followed by the Amazing Race Family edition. Looks like my Tuesday evening are gonna be booked for the next little while. Unfortunately we missed the Season premiere of Grey’s Anatomy on Sunday night, as we were driving in the storm on the way gome from Boston. Anyone have this on tape?