I Have a Famous Friend (Links & Videos)

My friend Sarah recently wrote Everything I Know About Love, I Learned From Romance Novels and was invited to appear on The Gayle King Show to discuss the book. Check out the highlights as well as her description of what happened behind the scenes [Smart Bitches, Trashy Books]



I hope to interview Sarah soon though I may be a step down or twenty from Gayle King and USA Today.

The Fairfax County Police Department encourages you to adopt a refugee rabbit. Yes, the press release is really titled adopt a refugee rabbit. [FCPD]

Japan may offer 10,000 free round-trip tickets to help boost tourism following the earthquake earlier this year. The catch is that is that the trip must be publicized on a blog. To Japan's Tourism Agency, Hi. My name is Sean. I hope that you like my blog! [ABC News]

Please support Nichole in her 31 for 21 challenge. [Long and Winding Road]

Congratulations to Igloo Dreams on six years for writing about the Penguins. [Igloo Dreams]

Benstonium has been killing it lately. Check out the "Steelers Matters" video below.



Finally, be on the look out for the biggest giveaway in Sean's Ramblings history!

I Am an Idiot (Ziggy Update)

When we last left Ziggy, he freaked out at veterinarian office and needed to stay overnight since we couldn’t get him to calm down. The diagnosis was some type of bacteria in his bladder and possibly a urinary tract infection, but he was given an antibiotic and has been quite happy and affectionate since he returned home. The vet wanted me to return a few weeks later with a urine sample (from Ziggy not me) as a follow-up. Have you ever tried to collect a urine sample from a cat? It’s impossible! The vet suggested emptying the litter box leaving only this small amount of non-absorbent litter (a cup cost $9). Ziggy refused to use the litter box without his normal litter. I tried an empty box, a small amount of his regular litter and even saran wrap, but Ziggy never used the litter box unless it was at its normal state. At one point, I think he went almost an entire day without going because he didn’t like the conditions.

Finally, I made an appointment to bring Ziggy back to the vet, where, unfortunately, they would need to extract a urine sample in what I’m sure is an unpleasant process. Fortunately, the vet felt around his bladder and decided that she didn’t want to put Ziggy through that procedure. It’s probably not 100% accurate, but since Ziggy has been fine since he returned home (except when we messed with his usual litter box routine), we were instructed simply to monitor Ziggy. The cat also received his annual shots, and we were on our way home in only minutes.



Now to the idiot part. The vet said that Ziggy needed to drink more water and suggested adding a little water to his food. Ziggy eats wet food twice a day and dry food as a late night snack. I asked the vet whether I should add the water to the dry food. She was nice and after a brief pause replied that I should only add the water to the wet food since Ziggy probably wouldn’t eat soggy “dry” food. After I left, she probably (understandably) laughed with the vet tech about my brilliant question.

Trip to the Pharmacy

This may be a shocking revelation based on the title of my post, but I went to the pharmacy at my grocery store recently to drop off a prescription. I had a fancy patient savings card that allowed me to save money on the prescription. So I handed the card to the pharmacy technician, and she noticed that there was a sticker on the card meaning that the card probably wasn’t activated. So I called the number on the card, but after about two minutes, my cell phone lost reception. The technician was extremely nice and allowed me to use their phone since it was a 1-800 number, but the process to activate the card was painful. I had to verify that I lived in the United States but not Massachusetts. Apparently, the prescription card people don’t like the Red Sox and Patriots. I had to verify that Medicare wasn’t paying for the prescription. I think I even had to verify my SAT scores.

Unfortunately, the process to activate the card took nearly 20 minutes. The prescription was ready by the time I completed the call, and I hadn’t even started my grocery shopping yet. I went to check-out only for the technician to inform me that the prescription cost was $9 less without the fancy card. AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!

Trivia Tuesday: Greeks vs. Romans

Before we get to this week’s trivia, please allow me to share my weekly fantasy football rant. (Please skip to the next paragraph if you don’t care about my fantasy teams.) I lost by one point in one of my leagues this week because Kyle Orton scored -1 points. That’s not a typo; he scored negative points. If Orton didn’t play or if I started Tony Romo (who was on a bye), former Steelers and Birmingham Stallions QB Cliff Stoudt (retired in 1985) or even Johnny Unitas (died in 2002), I would have won via the tie-breaker. I ended up going 1-3 this week meaning that my teams are 3-2, 2-3, 1-4 & 1-4 (including a loss to my brother this week. Ugh!). I am terrible this season.

Your challenge this week is to name the Roman equivalent of each Greek god or goddess listed below. This is clearly a blind spot in my knowledge since I only got one or two correct.

1. Athena

2. Zeus

3. Eros

4. Ares

5. Aphrodite

6. Demeter

7. Hermes

8. Hades

9. Dionysus

10. Poseidon

As always please leave your answers in the comments section below, and do not use the internet for assistance. Good luck!

This quiz is courtesy of the fine folks at Stump Trivia.

Random Steelers-Titans Notes

That was a fun game! The Steelers led early and held a convincing lead throughout the second half to defeat the Tennessee Titans 38-17. I don’t think I bit my fingernails once during the game! While you can read a full recap of the game on the Post-Gazette or on the many Steelers blogs on the sidebar of my website, here are some notes that you may not read anywhere else.

The CBS telecast started with a nice story about Tennessee Titans Head Coach Mike Munchak growing up in Scranton and apparently returning to Pennsylvania. It was very nice, but there's one significant problem. According to Google Maps, Scranton is 283 miles from Pittsburgh. Scranton is also only 121 miles from New York City; 125 miles from Philadelphia; 201 miles from Baltimore; 242 miles from Washington; and 296 miles from Boston. Therefore, I hope CBS runs the "returning home" piece for Munchak whenever the Titans face the Jets, Giants, Eagles, Ravens, Redskins or Patriots. If you want to make the case that Munchak returned to his home state, how often do you see similar stories about players or coaches from New York City returning to a game in Buffalo?

At least for one week, the maligned and banged up offensive line played extremely well. The Steelers rushed for 174 yards (6.7 yards per carry) and only allowed one sack. Maybe Max Starks truly is the answer!

We interrupt my notes for a brief commercial. I don’t understand why guy #1 doesn’t ask for a haircut rather than casual Wednesday. Meanwhile, guy #2 has no right to get in Gary Cole’s face. You don’t do that to Gary Cole! I hope Gary Cole punched him as soon as the director yelled cut.



I like the Jonathan Dwyer era. 11 carries for 107 yards is not too shabby. With that written, if Mendenhall, Redman and Moore are all healthy next week, Dwyer should return to the 4th string running back.

Did you know that Ryan Mundy was an excellent wide receiver at Woodland Hills High School catching passes from current Kansas City WR Steve Breaston? He looked good on the terrific pass from punter Daniel Sepulveda who has proved that he can do anything on the football field. Seriously, if Dwyer got injured in the fourth quarter, I’m sure that Sepulveda could have filled in at running back.

Hines Ward had a very Hines Ward day with 7 catches, 54 yards and two touchdowns. Even more significant is that I don’t think the announcers referenced Dancing With the Stars after any of his catches.

In one of my many poor fantasy football decisions this week, I started Antonio Brown. Although Roethlisberger threw for 5 touchdown passes, none of them went to Brown.

I hate to give Dan Dierdorf credit, but he made a great point late in the game when he said that they had not mentioned Ike Taylor. “Face Me Ike” (who apparently changed his website name from Face Me Ike to officialiketaylor.com and hasn’t updated it since June) is truly an underrated cornerback.

Congratulations to Cameron Heyward on his first NFL sack!

I’m sure the Steelers D is excited to face 1-4 Jacksonville and their rookie QB Blake Gabbert next week.

What Do You Eat Before Fasting

Let's say that you will be fasting for 25-26 hours in the near future. You will not have any food or water from approximately 6:00 PM one evening until about 7:30 PM the next day. What do you eat for dinner just before the fast begins?

Herman Cain Goes to Costco

Let’s say that you’re a U.S. Presidential candidate. You are surging in the polls and gaining a higher profile from numerous appearances on television including a recent stop on The View. What’s your next move?

More campaign appearances in New Hampshire and Iowa? Fundraising dinners and meeting with donors? How about more television appearances?

If you’re Republican Presidential candidate and former Godfather’s Pizza CEO Herman Cain, the perfect move is to, um, sell copies of your book by appearing at the Arlington Costco tomorrow from noon to 1:00. I wonder if Mitt Romney and Rick Perry will follow this shrewd political move.

Of course, this is only open to Costco members, so BJ's Wholesale Club members are out of luck.

Hockey-Themed Bar Mitzvah

I had a very cool Bar Mitzvah reception at my synagogue. It was baseball-themed with each table having its own colors to represent major league baseball teams. Naturally, I sat at the Pittsburgh Pirates table with black and gold napkins and tablecloths. I remember there being tiny chocolates wrapped in a baseball wrappers and a magician who ended his performance with a banner by presenting a banner that stated "Congragulations Sean!" I guess they didn't have Spell Check that many years ago.

Anyway, meet David Cohen. Based on the video below and this story from Yahoo's Puck Daddy, it looks like he also had a cool Bar Mitzvah. I'm not sure that he has the moves like Jagr though. (Seriously, the song Moves Like Jagger is so much better if you think Adam Levine of Maroon 5 sings Moves Like Jagr.)

David Cohen "Mitzvah Teaser" from Timeline Video Productions Inc.

I guess Henrik Zetterberg was unable to attend.

Trivia Tuesday

Happy Tuesday! Not that anyone cares, but I actually went 3-1 in my fantasy football leagues this week. It has been an awful season for me thus far (my teams are 3-1, 1-3, 1-3 & 1-3), but after this week, there's a glimmer of hope. Completely unrelated to fantasy football is this week's Trivia Tuesday. Given below are 10 definitions; your challenge is to supply the English word borrowed from Spanish.

1. A sun-dried brick made of clay and straw, common in arid climates

2. The Freight of a ship or airplane

3. A broad-snouted large reptile, common in the Southeastern US

4. A source of great and sudden wealth of luck; also the name of a long-running TV western

5. A restriction imposed upon any type of commerce, usually by government edict

6. A person who engages in irregular warfare, employing tactics such as surprise raids and sabotage

7. A blood-sucking flying insect of the family Culicidae, some types of which are transmitters of disease

8. A violent windstorm characterized by a funnel-shaped cloud

9. A person who takes the law into his own hands

10. Deprived of communication with other people


As always please leave your answers in the comments section below, and do not use the internet for assistance. Good luck!

This quiz is courtesy of the fine folks at Stump Trivia.

Six Months of Fatherhood

I recently passed the six-month mark of being a father which has been a wonderful, tiring, and life-changing experience. Since I don’t feel like writing about the Steelers today, I figured that I’d share my recent experiences of fatherhood.

- At the six-month check-up, my boy weighed 16 pounds, 11 ounces and his height was 27 inches. This corresponds to the 37th and 72 percentiles respectively. My driver's license, an official legal document, states that I am 5' 7". Therefore, I am extremely excited that my son has a chance to be relatively tall.

- I am very fortunate to have a fairly easy baby. He has slept through the night the majority of the time since about 4 months. He has a great demeanor and is a happy kid. Both the doctor and the nurse at the recent appointment commented on his positive attitude. He also regularly smiles.

- For the most part, the only time he is unhappy is when we take his bottle away to burp him. I guess he doesn’t like us interrupting his meal. Of course, I can’t really blame him since most people would cry in this same situation.

- Wondering how my son and Ziggy interact? When my baby sees Ziggy he smiles and makes noise. Although Ziggy likes to be around us, he keeps a safe distance away from my child. Of course, he likes most of the new toys and places to sleep.



- The itsy bitsy spider is a big hit in our household. He lights up when the song begins. Personally, I think my hand-motions of the spider climbing up the water spout are magical. Seriously, I would dominate an itsy bitsy spider competition,

- I am not the primary bath giver in the household. In fact, up until last week, I had only played the supporting role in giving my son a bath. So in my first experience giving my son a bath, he welcomed me to this role by pooping in the bathtub for the first time.

- Have I mentioned that I have a very cute child? I realize that I’m biased but I have a really cute kid. In fact, former White House correspondent Helen Thomas even told me that I have a cute kid.

- When I need to dress my child, I take whatever is on the top of the drawer. I know he has other clothes in the closet but for all I know they are too big or too small. Basically, my policy is that he’s going to wear only what is at or near the top of his drawers.

- My son loves putting anything in his mouth, and while his hands are his usual choice, his favorite toy is Sophie, the all-natural teether. When you wash Sophie, she loses her squeak; however, it is always fun to see how Sophie gets her squeak back.



Just like a team in the NCAA basketball tournament, I have survived the first six months and now advance to the next round!

Happy New Year!

There's a video for everything these days. A search for Rosh Hashanah on YouTube results in thousands of videos. Here are two such videos to celebrate the new year. Yes, we're going to party like it's 5772.






May you have a happy and healthy new year!

Trivia Tuesday

Welcome to a "smokey" edition of Trivia Tuesday. From the description given, name the item that contains smoke or some derivative of smoke in the answer. Good luck!

1. Threatening entity on the TV show “Lost”

2. Firefighters who parachute into remote areas to battle fires

3. Cheech & Chong’s feature film debut from 1978

4. Hit 1973 song by Brownsville Station remade by Motley Crue in 1985

5. 2007 crime drama film starring Jeremy Piven

6. Lead singer of the Miracles

7. Featuring Jackie Gleason, the 2nd highest grossing film released in 1977, after "Star Wars"

8. Famous mascot created in 1944 now voiced by Sam Elliott.

9. Huge radio hit from 1972 by Deep Purple

10. #1 hit for The Platters in 1959


As always please leave your answers in the comments section below, and do not use the internet for assistance. Good luck!

This quiz is courtesy of the fine folks at Stump Trivia.

Jayson Werth Deserves Suspension

Baseball and even non-baseball fans remember when Pittsburgh Pirates first baseman Randall Simon hit a woman wearing an Italian sausage costume with his bat during the Milwaukee Brewers' costume race in 2003. Major League Baseball suspended Simon for three games and fined him $2,000. Additionally, Simon was fined $432 and cited by the sheriff's department for disorderly conduct.

On Saturday afternoon, Washington Nationals outfielder Jayson Werth incorporated himself into the Presidents race. Take a look:



Werth actually shoved Thomas Jefferson to the ground. Well, not the actual Thomas Jefferson since he would be 268 years old, but the person in the Jefferson costume. While the announcers and fans all took this as a fun attempt to let Teddy Roosevelt win, take a look at this second video from the folks at Let Teddy Win:



You can see Werth start to take Jefferson down at the 45 second mark. Once Jefferson is on the ground, Werth pushes him again. At 1:10, Werth attempts to kick/trip Jefferson.

According to Let Teddy Win, this "was not scripted by the Nationals, and caught the team’s in-game entertainment and mascot team by surprise." Essentially, this was a premeditated attack that was not planned by the team or major league baseball. Therefore, why isn't Werth subject to the same punishment as Simon?

Adam Kilgore of The Washington Post has more about Werth and the race. This was clearly premeditated which I don't think you can say about the Simon incident.

Steelers-Colts Live Blog

Why not? Who's in?

Muppets Video

Happy Friday! Although the release is still two months away, I'm excited for the new Muppets movie. Check out the latest trailer:



Speaking of the Muppets, here's their performance with R.E.M. Maybe they'll reunite in a few years...not just R.E.M. but the band and the Muppets.

Are Pillow Pets a Thing?

Only a few weeks ago, I shared a picture of the Pittsburgh Steelers Steely McBeam Pillow Pet. It was quite terrifying. Now the Pittsburgh Penguins are selling their own Pillow Pet.



This isn't quite as scary, but as I indicated by the title of this post, are pillow pets the next big thing? Are they like the new Tickle Me Elmo or Chia Pet?

What Rhymes With Kodak?

One of the biggest hits of this summer was Give Me Everything by Pitbull featuring Ne-Yo, Afrojack and Nayer. Although Pitbull gets top billing and probably brought everyone together, I think Ne-Yo deserves credit for the song's success based on his chorus alone. It certainly can't be because of Pitbull's rhymes. Let's took a look, shall we?

The song begins with the following lyrics:

Me not working hard?
Yeah right, picture that with a Kodak
Or better yet, go to Times Square
Take a picture of me with a Kodak

So Pitbull rhymed Kodak with Kodak. Really? You're a successful rapper and you can't come up with something that rhymes with Kodak?

Later Pitbull sings/raps:

Baby, baby, and it ain't no secret
My family's from Cuba
But I'm an American Idol
Get money like Seacrest

Secret and Secrest. I guess that's slightly better than Kodak and Kodak, but how is this guy one of the biggest rappers out there? He's certainly not close to the lyrical level of Jay-Z, Kanye or Eminem.

In case you're not familiar with the song, here's the video. Enjoy the magical rhymes!

Steelers Win! Buy Gear!

By now, I'm sure that you know that the Pittsburgh Steelers defeated the Seattle Seahawks 24-0 on Sunday. The Steelers clearly won because of the refs just like last time. You've probably already read about the game in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, One For the Other Thumb, PSAMP, Behind the Steel Curtain, ESPN or dozens of other places, so I'm not going to provide a recap here. Instead, I want to share this e-mail that I received from NFLShop.com only minutes after the game ended.



So we're now celebrating a week two victory by buying Steelers gear? Am I going to receive an e-mail like this after every Steelers victory? I'm not sure that I want to buy a Steelers hoodie covered by that guy's dandruff. (You may have to zoom in on the picture to see it.) Besides, the guy in the picture freaks me out.

Seriously, stop staring at me, dude!

Ziggy Freaked Out

I have found that writing this blog has been extremely therapeutic over the years. While I tend not to write about family and friends, I have no issues discussing my cat, Ziggy. Last week, Ziggy urinated on our bathroom carpet for four consecutive days. Once or twice could be behavioral. and there have been some changes around the house lately, but we started to get concerned about him. Therefore, we scheduled a veterinarian appointment. In preparation for the appointment, we were instructed to collect a urine sample, but it didn’t happen. Ziggy somehow managed not to urinate in his litter box for the 16 hours leading up to the appointment. Maybe he sensed something was up.



Ziggy rarely leaves home, and it is always a struggle getting him into his carrier. We managed to get him into the carrier, but he whined the entire car ride. The vet itself didn’t start terribly. They took him back to get a urine sample, and while I don’t know how exactly the extracted the sample, I’m sure it wasn’t pleasant for him. They got him back in his carrier, and we waited for the result. The result is some type of bacteria in his bladder and possibly a urinary tract infection.

At this point, there were two options: we could administer a liquid antibiotic twice a day for the next two weeks or they could give him a one shot with some sort of time release. Having rather poor results in giving Ziggy medicine in the past, the shot seemed like easiest and better option for us and Ziggy. Unfortunately, the vet was out of one of the two medicines needed in the shot, so they planned on giving him one shot at the appointment and the second when it came in a few days later. Not the best solution, but it still seemed like the best alternative.

The vet took Ziggy to get the shot, but I guess Ziggy was done. Apparently, as soon as he got out of the carrier, he freaked out. He hissed and bolted and managed to urinate and defecate in the room and all over himself. The vet was able to get him into a cage with the carrier also inside the cage in an attempt to calm him down. I was soon brought back to see him, and he clearly was a mess. They never administered the shot since he was in no position to get it. Plus, I think the vet staff worried that he would attack. Collectively, we decided that if we got Ziggy into his carrier, we would take him home. For about 90 minutes, I tried to soothe Ziggy and convince him to get into the carrier. Even with the vet and vet assistants out of the room for much of the time, he either growled or hissed. At one point, he even bit me. I was and still am devastated by this. This is the same Ziggy that runs to the door when I come home to greet me and regularly sleeps between my legs in bed. He is a loving cat that has never acted like this before.



The end result is that we couldn’t get him to relax. He never got into the carrier and any attempt by me to try to pick him up resulted in hissing. I even tried to wipe off his fur with a wet paper towel, but that didn’t go well either. He spent last night at the vet (they also have a “pet hotel”) where he is separate from the other animals, and they will bathe him and hopefully receive the medicine on Monday to give him the antibiotic. I feel like an awful parent/pet owner, but I’m not really sure what else I could have done. Ziggy wasn’t in any condition to come home. I definitely miss/missed him last night and today. I constantly catch myself looking for him. When we put our child to sleep at night, Ziggy regularly sits next to the chair to make sure everything is okay and because he likes being around everyone. It was an extremely odd feeling last night knowing that I didn’t need to make sure Ziggy was out of the nursery before putting our child to sleep. I just hope that Ziggy is okay, both physically and mentally, and that we can bring him home Monday night.

Update 9/19 @ 9:45 AM: I just talked to someone at the vet office, and Ziggy is doing much better. He is eating fine and even approached and sniffed the vet tech's hand (as opposed to his reaction on Saturday). The antibiotic is also in, so I should be able to pick up Ziggy later today. I'll pass on more information when I'm able to talk to the vet.

Update 9/19 @ 12:15 PM: Although he calmed down from Saturday, he still wasn't happy seeing the vet and vet staff today. He was given a sedative and the antibiotic. They also cleaned him up. Now, I just need to pick up Ziggy and bring him home. He's really been missed here the past two days.

Update 9/19 6:45 PM: Ziggy’s home! I went to the vet, and they brought me back to the cage where he has stayed the past two days. Ziggy was extremely happy to see me. He didn’t stop purring and constantly flipped over so I could rub his stomach while brushing his head against his hand. This is the Ziggy I know and love, not the one that hissed at me on Saturday. We got him into the carrier, but he was shaking until we left the office. He was a little better on the ride home and is now re-familiarizing himself with the house. He’s still a little skittish, but he ate his entire dinner in no time. Now, I’ll have to get a urine sample from Ziggy in two weeks and have the vet analyze the results. They don’t want us to bring Ziggy into the office unless we have to, and I think Ziggy is okay with that too! Thanks again for everyone’s support. It’s amazing how much happiness this cat brings the family. Of course, after the vet bill, we’re going to need him to go to work!

Life Is a Highway: Canadian Pop Music in the 90s (A Review)

Those of you who have read my blog over the years know that I’m a big fan of pop music including any type of music countdown or retrospective (please see every VH1 show – such as Behind the Music and Top 40 one-hit Wonders of the 1990s – that doesn’t involve Wives, Basketball & Mob). Therefore, when I learned that there was a documentary about Canadian pop music in the ’90s, I had to see it. Sure, I may be an American but I once created a list of the greatest Canadian musicians. Plus, I’ve visited the Hockey Hall of Fame, attended a Habs game, and narrowly preceded President Obama and Hilary Duff in Ottawa, so that has to count for something, right?

Here’s the synopsis of this two-hour documentary premiering on CBC Television tonight (Thursday, Sept. 15 at 8:00 PM Eastern time) and concluding next Thursday, September 22nd:

LIFE IS A HIGHWAY: Canadian Pop Music in the ’90s looks at the explosive decade when Canada’s superstar divas and rock gods shared the charts with DIY indie bands, Celtic virtuosos, worldbeat ensembles and hip-hop heroes.

The press release I received touts “thrilling performance footage and candid interviews with such major stars as Sarah McLachlan, Tom Cochrane, kd lang, Barenaked Ladies, Jann Arden and The Tragically Hip, as well as alternative music groups like Rheostatics, Sloan and Dream Warriors.” I wouldn’t necessarily call the performance footage, many from Saturday Night Live appearances or Juno Award shows (Canada’s version of the Grammys), thrilling, but they were a nice touch. I also appreciated seeing the perspective of so many Canadian artists; however, you get the feeling that the filmmakers were unable to land the major, major stars like Céline Dion, Alanis Morissette and Shania Twain.



After a brief introduction, the documentary starts as it should...with Bryan Adams. Adams had a very successful run in the 1980s with hits like Summer of ’69; Run to You; Somebody; and Heat of the Night. Then, instead of Bryan Adams, rocker, he became Bryan Adams, sappy singer to start the 90s as evidenced by (Everything I Do) I Do It for You, which became the #1 song in the world. In the documentary, Jann Arden refers to Bryan Adams as “our rock god.” Really? You have Neil Young, Rush and Joni Mitchell and Bryan Adams is your rock god?



The documentary goes from Adams to the Crash Test Dummies (that’s quite a drop-off!), to kd lang to Tom Cochrane. The underlying theme seemed to be showing the investment made by the Canadian music industry in selling Canadian artists in Canada. This sounds rather obvious, but apparently, the industry folks focused their attention on the American market and worked back up instead of the other way around. Consequently, the money and investment went to America. This may also explain why the Toronto Blue Jays didn’t win the World Series until the 1990s.

The remaining portion of the first hour discussed the Celtic music movement, independent scene and a street alternative revolution. I hadn’t heard of most of the artists featured, so while interesting, wasn’t my favorite part of the film. However, it is amazing the success many Canadian artists had simply by starting busking on the streets.

I enjoyed the second hour much more since I was more familiar with many of the artists discussed (Twain, Dion, Morissette, McLachlan & Snow). The portion on Canada’s “urban stars” was fascinating since I didn’t know of any Canadian hip-hop scene other than Snow’s classic hit Informer.



Here are a few items from the documentary that I found interesting:
- Sarah McLachlan refers to Bryan Adams as a taskmaster.

- Brad Roberts, lead singer of Crash Test Dummies, reveals that he couldn’t think up any words for the chorus of Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm. He was planning on writing words, but it didn’t happen.

- The documentary states that Barenaked Ladies became successful in America by constant touring. Doesn’t Jason Priestley deserve some credit? (Seriously, look at Jason Priestley’s Wikipedia page)

- There’s a video of Natalie MacMaster, someone I had never heard of prior to watching this documentary, performing while wearing Seinfeld’s pirate shirt.

- Several artists refer to the indy Halifax scene as the “new Seattle.” There were also mentions of a Montreal scene and Vancouver scene. Was there no Regina scene or Saskatoon scene? I feel like Saskatchewan was grossly under-represented!

Whether or not this was an intentional overriding message of the documentary, the filmmakers expressed the legacy of Canadian musicians helping each other and the spirit of collaboration. Many of the smaller acts that never made it in America talked about opening for Shania or BNL or Céline. Apparently, there were no rivalries as everyone got along and supported one another. I feel like we should all get together and sing O Canada!

For more information about Life Is a Highway, visit the CBC website and/or check out this article in the Toronto Sun.