Out of the Loop
Back in the day, you know, the 70s in my case, when a TV show was a hit it was a hit with virtually everyone. Heck, we only had 3 channels so if you were watching TV at all, you couldn’t help but catch a popular show. …
Celebrities
The Issue at Hand
I took some heat from fellow BJs – Broadcast Journalists – last week for a tweet I put out after Kathleen Wynne held a news conference to announce the changes to minimum wage.  You’re likely aware that minimum wage has been frozen at $10.25 since 2010 and it will go up in June to$11/hr. The province will also table a bill to tie future increases to inflation. …
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Real-Life Howard Wolowitz in London
Fascinating news came out of Western University late last week. A PhD student there was honoured by NASA with a prestigious award because of his work operating the Mars rover Curiosity from his lab at the school. …
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Brandt’s Randt – Smart People Saying Dumb Things
They mean well, they really do, but celebrities aren’t always the best ad-libbers. This week a couple that offered some hyperbole with a capital HYPER caught my attention. And so I randt. …
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Blow up That Bridge
NOTE: I have learned that this is a hoax. Or at least, it started that way. It was meant to inspire exactly the kind of discussion I’ve started here. So life imitates art. Read on: Perhaps you’ve heard of the thigh gap. It’s the determination to be so thin that your thighs don’t rub together. It’s ridiculous and in many cases, unsafe to pursue this stupid fad. But that’s not stopping some teen girls from making it their goal. And it gets even better. Or in this case, worse. …
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A Cold Shot
Late last year the Ontario Nurses Association started a campaign against health care facilities forcing them to get the flu shot. This is a problem on several levels. …
A Pope for All of the People
Time Magazine named Pope Francis its Person of the Year for 2013 and it was a richly deserved distinction. I’m not Catholic and I’m not likely to praise anyone who’s steeped in religious dogma but this man is more than just a Pope. He’s a humanitarian in a true sense of the word. Â …
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Unexpected Direction
You have to be from Mars to have escaped hearing about a boy group called One Direction.  They’re the biggest thing since whoever was the biggest thing since the Backstreet Boys. …
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Review: My Mother was Nuts by Penny Marshall
Admittedly, I’m a sucker for dishy, insider stories from those who have made their living in some form of popular entertainment. …
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Free Nelson Mandela
That was the title of a song I first heard when I began working at Sam the Record Man in downtown London in 1984. Â …
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Timeline
Like everyone, I was shocked and saddened by the death of actor Paul Walker on the weekend. He was just 40.  He was killed in a car crash after leaving a charity event he had organized to raise money for Philippine typhoon relief. …
Brandt’s Randt – Advice for Alec Baldwin
One of my favourite actors is one of my least favourite people. Does that make sense? …
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It’s True – Cleveland Does Rock
As a fan of the genre I thought it was well past time to visit the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. …
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Tribute to Lou and to Tim
We’ve been playing this little ditty since Tim Hortons announced that London would be its Canadian test market for dark roast coffee. We also tested sandwiches, donuts and other items for the chain. In fact London is so typical that our city is used to test all sorts of new products. Â …
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A Wealthy, Healthy Turn
My former boss, Gary Slaight, and his family made a very significant donation yesterday that will benefit us all. …
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A Brilliant Perspective from an Unlikely Source
Russell Brand is very funny. He’s also a bit of an idiot, a former drug addict, ex-husband of Katy Perry and hard to take seriously for long stretches of time. …
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Brandt’s Randt – It’s About The Optics
Sometimes it doesn’t matter whether something is right or wrong, it’s just how it looks. This week the Ontario Ombudsman ruled that London city council was in the wrong, though, when 7 of them met for lunch in a back room of a restaurant prior to a budget vote. …
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