McNulty is a regular commenter on this blog, and I think he's been participating for at least five years now. McNulty once lent me his DVD collection of The Wire, earning him a special place in my heart for all eternity.
Then the internet was on the phones. I realised that surfing the internet on my Blackberry was slow and pathetic. I grew tired of it pretty quick and I didn’t even bother. It was weak and sad. I saw a friend with an iPhone viewing YouTube videos and surfing the internet and my Blackberry seemed like that old Nokia flip phone that I gave to the boys to smash in the street. As time went on and I learned about apps and other benefits of the iPhone, I began to hate my Blackberry.
Like McNulty, I loved my Blackberry four years ago, but in 2011 it seemed more than a step behind. iPhone and Android phone users were doing all this cool stuff like watching YouTube videos, and using cool apps and surfing the web without delay or issue. Those smart phones seemed a great deal smarter than my Blackberry.
Three months ago, I switched to a Samsung Galaxy S II. I missed BBM for about six hours, then moved on to enjoy a phone that never needed its battery removed to reboot it, accessed the web like a speedy tablet, and had great mission-critical apps like Skype that truly made it a smart phone. I understand iPhone users feel the same way.
I'll leave the last word to McNulty.
I will make one final comparison. If you liked a local restaurant and served great food and the service was great, you would keep going back to that restaurant. However, if the food became a little dull, the service was weak you make question returning. And then a new place opened up that was a little further but the food was better, they gave you more for your money and the service was fantastic. Where would you eat? Keep going to the place that gave sub-par food and service or the new place that wanted your business and made great food?
I've left Blackberry behind and don't miss it in the least. Are there any other former Blackberry users out there with a story to tell? Any regrets?
There are over 1.6 million smokers in Ontario. And while Toronto’s smoking rate is typically lower than that of the Ontario population, the population is very dense, which means there are more smokers in this city than elsewhere in the province. I'll bet at least a few of you smoke.
My friend works for the Canadian Cancer Society and she's like me to mention their Driven to Quit Challenge. If you stay smoke-free for the month of March, you’ll be eligible to win amazing prizes (like your choice between a brand new Ford Fusion Hybrid or a Ford Edge, a $5000 vacation getaway, or one of seven $2000 cash prizes).
Not a smoker? That’s cool, challenge a friend to sign up and sign up as their support buddy. If they win, then you win $200 (and the proud feeling of helping someone quit)!
C’mon people, sign up. Get your friend to sign up. With over 13,000 deaths in Ontario related to tobacco this is something you should take advantage of.
Registration ends Feb 29, so be sure to sign up before then. And if you have any questions or want free help quitting, you can call their toll-free quit line at 1 877 513-5333 or go to their site.
p.s. If you are in the vicinity of Yonge-Dundas Square this Saturday between 2-6pm look for the Driven to Quit street team - they’ll be handing out swag and stuff.
I was just reading about U of T banning a poster promoting The Black-Jew Dialogues, a comedy show "designed to build inter-racial bridges and shatter cultural stereotypes".
In Berlin, they seem a little less sensitive to perceived racist posters. A few weeks ago, while walking the streets of Berlin, I saw a poster promoting Ich bin nicht Rappaport at the Schlosspark Theater. I did a double-take when I saw the poster, because it featured a white man in blackface.
Forevermore, when I see someone in blackface, I think about the Montreal Subbanator fans and the awesome discussion it sparked. The history of blackface conjures up an immense amount of all-to-recent racist history. Blackface has a racist history, and when white people paint their faces black, it is always racist.
U of T may have overreacted. Berlin prefers to underreact.
Ever since Ed Belfour, it's been a little sketchy between the pipes in this city. Ok, it's been a lot sketchy, which may explain why Ed Belfour played the last playoff game in this city almost 8 years ago. Holy shit, has it really been 8 years?
Let's just look at the last two seasons. This was Jean-Sébastien Giguère's team, then James Reimer took the reigns to close out last season. We loved Reimer, we still do, but earlier this year we flirted with Ben Scrivens before being surprised by The Monster, a player we were all ready to trade for a bag of pucks.
Who saw this coming? Our season rests on the shoulders of Jonas Gustavsson, signed from Sweden to great fanfare back in 2009, who is an awful lot like Reimer, Scrivens and the lot in that he's unproven.
But at least he's not Vesa Toskala. We can do this...
There are only two nominees for Best Original Song at this year's Academy Awards. The Oscar will either go to the folks behind Real in Rio or Flight of the Conchords' Bret McKenzie's pretty awesome Man or Muppet.
It's pretty bizarre that only two songs were deemed worthy of being nominated, but it's pretty cool that Bret might actually win an Oscar.
Here's that Real in Rio song that doesn't stand chance.
And here's your winner, Man or Muppet.
If you want to read more of my Conchords entries, click here.