24 is The Best Show EVER!!!
Thursday, December 23, 2004
So we just finished watching our third season of 24 and what can I say...It's pretty obvious why I don't watch Days anymore. I have to say one thing that probably gets overlooked with all of the plot twists and red herrings is that the acting is is remarkable. The cast is quite underrated in my opinion. It makes it very hard to go back to watching a Soap opera because the 24 characters are actually smart.
Lets compare Jack Bauer to John Black...no wait lets not...you get the picture. I like the dramatic irony in 24 better than in Days becuase with Days the lead character never figures things out. With Jack on the other hand, the audience trusts his instincts to solve all issues and save the world. I like how the cinematography depicts Jack as having almost super hero like qualities, (even though we know he's a regular guy). You start to believehe has this sort of "Spidey Sense".
It looks like a pretty new cast for next season which starts in January, I wonder how they will resolve some of the plot lines with Chase's arm (or lack there of), Kim, Tony and Michelle. The only person I recognized in the previews was Chloe. I hope they do it with more than an "I have your jacket" as they resolved Jack's love interest from the seaon 2 ( Kate).
posted by aforward @ 3:34 PM,
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Good bye and good riddance Vince
Wednesday, December 22, 2004
Well Toronto has lost its two major superstars within a month. Delgado and Carter were two of the biggests star athletes that have ever starred for Toronto teams. I was a little sad to see Vince go, he is synonomous with "Air Canada" but in the end he acted like a child. "I'm not going to dunk anymore", "I'm going to tell the other teams what our plays are", "I'm going to be a sucky little basketball player, who gets hurt every 5 minutes". Good bye and good riddance Vince. All we could get for you were a cripple and two guys named Williams. I hope the reputation you made for yourself in the final days in Toronto, follow you the rest of your career.
posted by aforward @ 1:43 PM,
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Dolphins Beat Patriots 29 -28
Tuesday, December 21, 2004
They must have seen the Rickey Williams interview on 60 Minutes, or maybe is was the orange uniforms, could have been the Nick Saban as new head coach rumours, or maybe just a little Monday night magic. Whatever the case the Dolphins scored two touchdowns in the last 2:07 minutes to stun the Pats.
posted by aforward @ 9:27 AM,
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Be Specific
Monday, December 13, 2004
So we went to Toronto this weekend for the Travel Only Seminar and while we were overwhelmed once again with a lot of talking on a lot of information all at once, I was able to extract a few things and with a few lessons learned from our first few months as agents I have some thoughts.
-Being an generic travel agent kind of sucks. There is part of this business I am not really enjoying. The "why is this $100 cheaper over on this web site". I'm not enjoying competing with online web sites that can afford to earn $20 per package because of the volumes they can sell. So I don't think all inclusives are where we should focus.
-What I do like is the selling of a dream...some examples we saw "I wanted to go to Greece and with help I made it work and sold 28 packages to close friends." I could tell these people didn't have the business or marketing sense that I know I have and they were still making it work.
-It's not rocket science to do a Group booking.
-Do packages that interest you.
Plan a trip to the US Open for Tennis (do a presentation at a tennis club, or put up flyers in a tennis club)
Stratford festival (send packages to the drama teachers at the high schools)
(this list is endless)
I'm seriously thinking of doing some soccer trips. (I think the market in Ottawa is there and I have so many resources and contacts: from Steve Johnson, to Andy Nera, to Christa who practically runs Kanata soccer, to the Ottawa Fury. There are 4 soccer domes and a partnership with the Fergus Inn could also be lucrative. Timing on Soccer is great right now too. Because if we get any bookings in 2005, could mean huge repeat business in 2006....for the World Cup in Germany!
-Do packages where a Travel agent is must (Destinations Weddings could be great!)
-Be Specific: This was stressed when looking for co-op funds and in general. So I want to book people on soccer tours. (not effective) I want to go to English soccer games (getting there). 3 day/2 night package, Manchester United Game vs Fulham, March 29th, Man U museum tour, Old Trafford Stadium Tour. (now we are talking.)
posted by aforward @ 11:19 AM,
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Where did the Christmas Shopping Go?
Thursday, December 09, 2004
So a few blogs ago I was super stressed about Christmas shopping, now just like that we are almost finished. We only have Andrew's mom left to buy for. The best words one can possibly hear when it comes to Christmas shopping is "Free Shipping". That means you can get everything online and have it shipped right to your door, for free. No shopping malls, no pushy shoppers, no finding a parking spot. I love it. The best was my parents gift. It is very hefty and quite bulky....and impossible to take on the train. Voila, Sears will ship it (for free) to a depot in Dundas, where my parents can pick it up.
Things that get on my Nerves: Looking like an idiot as you fall on the ice.
posted by aforward @ 4:19 PM,
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Electronic Woes Continue
Tuesday, December 07, 2004
Well my husband and I have a tendency to buy electronic products that always seem to break or need repair. The people at future shop must love us because we are now forced to buy extended warranties with everything we buy, as a result of our string of bad luck. We sometimes go to future shop looking for an extended warranty instead of an actual product. : )
So here is what has broken:
Andrew TV (he had an extended warranty-it fixed for free)
LCD Projector (bought extended warranty-currently in the shop-our fault-we dropped it off a counter))
Marantz stereo Receiver (Known problem with SR-2400 model we originally bought_replaced for Sr5600)
Tannoy Speakers (problem was with receiver...but 1 year of popping still counts)
Motorized Shades (Shade is too heavy for motor-to be replaced in januray)
Amana refridgerator (required 3 service visits-over frosted, broken rail)
Ayana-IBM Laptop (no extended warranty purchased-screen goes blank...makes a nice paperweight)
And now our latest problem is with our harmony remote. It wants us to replace batteries after a week with fresh ones. Using the TV remote is a problem as the "4" and the off button don't work.
Our VCR, DVD player (ext. wty in place), playstation and apple I-book (Icare in place) seem to be working fine and deserve a prize for not breaking down on us....yet.
Person of the Week: Fasil at skylink. I guess technically his service was terrible but we got a complicated booking done to Africa because of his help.
Things that get on me nerves: Just to reiterate - drivers who don't check the curb
posted by aforward @ 1:10 PM,
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Super Size Me
Thursday, December 02, 2004
A few thoughts come to mind... I love McDonald's but I can't even imagine eating it twice in one day let alone 3 times a day for an entire month. That's gross.
posted by aforward @ 1:10 PM,
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The Beauty of Product Placement
Wednesday, December 01, 2004
Product placement is everywhere. You see it in the movies and on TV shows. Anything from HP notebook computers to coke cans are being strategically placed in the hands of actors in feature films and tv programs.
For me, the ultimate was last night on Jeopardy....think of all the free publicity HR Block and Fed Ex will be getting from Ken Jennings' big mishap. Personally I think he threw the game. To miss two double jeopardies in a row...unheard of.
posted by aforward @ 1:31 PM,
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