Toronto, Canada - December 7, 2011

Update: It seems within the first hour of these pothole stickers being used they have already caused over 14 motor vehicle accidents in the Greater Toronto area!  Monique Spendez was interviewed just minutes after the crash below and she said; “I saw this huge set of potholes in the road, I swerved to avoid them and almost ran into a van in the oncoming lane.”  She went on to say; “I then spun-out and hit a pole.”  “I will be suing the city for this!”

It is being reported that Richard Morsender of the Toronto Road and Transport Department has approved the use of pothole road stickers on a trial basis in 45 school zones throughout the GTA (Greater Toronto Area).

Last year there were more than 4,000 speeding tickets given to motorists that ignored the reduce speed signs posted in school zones in the city of Toronto.  It is estimated that pothole stickers will help reduce speed in school zones by up to 90%.

And our friend David Gold from Standard Auto Wreckers got a chance to participate yet again!!

Suresh broke the record for the longest talk show at 63 hours.  The previous record was 50 hours and 9 minutes.

Since starting in 1996, Suresh Joachim has broken over 60 records around the world including drumming continuously for 84 hours; running on a treadmill for 168 hours covering 659.27km; ironing continuously for 55 hours and 5 minutes; completing the farthest moonwalk distance in 24 hours of 49.252km; the longest continuous crawl of 56.62 km; and having the most candles on a cake which was 30,150.  And many, many more!

Below is David Gold (middle from Standard Auto Wreckers), Raymond Cho  (left, City Councillor Ward 42 Scarborough) and the record breaker himself Suresh Joachim on the right!

2.7 million Canadians struggle to get enough to eat each year, 37% of which are children. Hunger has become a reality for too many Canadians. No Canadian should go hungry. Come out to support this year’s Kamel Cup Charity event, with Suresh Joachim, to help fight hunger in our local community.  Event sponsored by our friends at Standard Auto Wreckers

David Gold and Raymond Cho were on hand to kick things off!

The world record challenge started yesterday at 2pm and here is the video!

A 30-year-old Quebec tourist was arrested Saturday in Berlin for doing a Nazi salute in front of Germany’s parliament, reports the Berliner Morgenpost.

German police caught the tourist’s friend taking a picture of him doing the Hitler salute, an illegal act in the country, at the Budenstag.

The man was brought in for questioning by police, and his camera’s memory card was seized.

An investigation has been launched for a use of an unconstitutional symbol, the newspaper reported.  Not sure it should carry a jail term but it certainly was in bad taste.

Only in the USA!!

YTV showed up to Ontario’s biggest auto junk yard, Standard Auto Wreckers to have fun and video tape a segment of some fun crushing!  With halloween just around the corner it looks like they wanted to crush helpless pumpkins!!!  Stay tuned to find out what else they crushed!!

April 8, 2009 – Toronto, Canada

Wolverine, errr…Hugh Jackman speaks out regarding the post-production leak of this summer’s most anticipated movie.

Hugh Jackman who plays X-Man Wolverine in the newest installment of the X-Men movie’s, said yesterday that he was “heartbroken” that the film was leaked on the Internet a month before its official release.

The Australian star of “X-Men Origins: Wolverine” said the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) was on the case and he believed the guilty party would be found.
“It’s a serious crime and there’s no doubt it’s very disappointing — I was heartbroken by it,” Jackman told reporters at a promotion for the movie in Sydney. It seems this sort of thing spreads faster than celebrity gossip.

The leaked version of the 20th Century Fox action movie was reportedly downloaded tens of thousands of times within a day of being posted on file-sharing websites at the end of March.
“Obviously, people are seeing an unfinished film,” Jackman said. “It’s like a Ferrari without a paint job.” I really like this famous quote and take it from someone who saw this movie, his analogy is pretty much “bang-on”, the move is amazing and the unfinished parts do detract slightly from the overall enjoyment of the film.

The forty-year-old Hollywood heartthrob, named Sexiest Man Alive by People magazine last year, said he was convinced that whoever had posted the copy would be tracked down.

Jackman arrived by helicopter on Cockatoo Island in Sydney Harbour, where some of the movie was filmed, for the first stop of a world promotion tour ahead of its official release at the end of the month.
He then delighted hundreds of invited guests and media by swooping down from a clifftop on a cable before unveiling 20 minutes of completed footage.

Jackman said he was proud of the fact that most people he has spoken to had condemned the leak and thought fans would still go to see it at the cinema.
The leak has already claimed at least one casualty — a US entertainment columnist who was fired for reviewing a stolen copy downloaded from the Internet.

Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation, which owns both 20th Century Fox Films and Fox News, said writer Roger Friedman had been “promptly terminated” after posting his column on the Fox News website last week.
“We, along with 20th Century Fox Film Corporation, have been a consistent leader in the fight against piracy and have zero tolerance for any action that encourages and promotes piracy,” News Corporation said in an emailed statement.
“When we advised Fox News of the facts they took immediate action, removed the post, and promptly terminated Mr Friedman.”

Although I must admit I did see the pirated film at my weekly poker game (after all it was on the tv in the background I and I couldn’t just get up and leave). I will probably see it in the theaters and/or will buy the dvd.

Since we don’t have T.J Maxx in Canada (at least not here in the GTA) I decided to do a little patchwork on this funny story from over at the Onion.

While a majority of the nation’s top retailers have reported a decided slump in 2008, economists studying the declining consumer markets are still unable to determine if discount store Walmart has been affected by widespread recession.

Financial analysts, observing more than 100 locations nationwide, cited large quantities of off-brand and wildly scattered merchandise as evidence that Walmart has either been devastated by the economic downturn, or is carrying on as usual in spite of it.

“The state of this store does not in any way correspond to our standard criteria for judging long-term viability,” said economist Graham Stinson, referring to the Richmond Hill location, where more than half of the fluorescent lights are burnt out. “For instance, the canvas bins heaped with broken stemware in aisle six may be a sign that Walmart is on the verge of complete bankruptcy. Either that, or it’s doing perfectly fine. It’s impossible to say which.”

Further evidence of Walmart’s imminent foreclosure or, possibly, its wholly unaffected condition, included reports of shoppers rummaging through barrels of lamps up to their shoulders, multiple sightings of bras stuffed into children’s shoes, the impromptu sale of in-store display cases for cash, and an excess of golf-based giftware.

Although economists were able to make firsthand observations of customers rifling through overturned clothing racks, their requests to analyze the company’s financial records were met with confusion. Stinson and his team were eventually provided with a water-stained folder of handwritten receipts, but failed to make use of most of the data due to its ripped, soiled, and often indecipherable state.

Compiled interviews with customers also provided little insight. Many reported seeing “Cash Only, No Refunds” signs posted in every store and recalled having to climb over sacks of winter coats to reach clearance bins of mix-and-match earrings, leading economists to believe that the discount chain may be suffering after all.

“They must be doing really badly if they’re selling this crap really cheap,” said Toronto resident Brian Crowe, carrying an armful of L.A. Gear sneakers to his car. “You’ve got to take advantage before this place shuts its doors for good.”

Others, however, see Walmart poised to have a very lucrative year in 2009.

“That place must be doing pretty well,” frequent customer Mark Rankin said. “I just saw some guy walking around with an armful of L.A. Gear sneakers.”

With only one checkout lane remaining in most stores, some financial experts speculate that the retailer can no longer afford to employ workers. A two-week study of the Thornhill-area location did, however, turn up some minor evidence of a workforce, including the sighting of three folded shirts and a number of individuals smoking and playing Uno in the break room.

Let’s cross our fingers and hope Walmart continues to rollback their prices for a long time to come.

A 430-pound convict was released early from a Quebec prison because his jailers could not accommodate his huge frame.
Michel Lapointe, who served more than two years in jail on drug charges, was released Tuesday — three months early, Canadian news broadcaster CTV said.

The decision was made in May by a Quebec judge after prison officials said they were unable to find Lapointe a chair or table large enough to fit him.  Lapointe described his time in prison as “a living hell,” CTV said.

The crack-cocaine of gambling has Quebec’s gaming commission facing a potentially crippling payout as gambling addicts try to hold it responsible for downplaying the dangers of video lottery terminals.  A class-action lawsuit brought by a group of pathological gamblers is seeking compensation from Loto-Quebec for their addiction treatments.

With the plaintiffs claiming around 119,000 gamblers can trace their addictions to VLTs, a judgment could cost Loto-Quebec upwards of $500 million, excluding exemplary damages.  “Despite the fact that studies on the dangers of pathological gaming and its treatments were known, the defendant didn’t consider its obligation to warn users of the dangers of dependence,” the statement of claim reads.

None of the lawsuit’s claims has yet been proven but after several years of jumping through legal, the trial phase of the case will finally begin in Quebec Superior Court next month in Quebec City.  Launched in 2001 by Jean Brochu, a lawyer and recovering gambling addict , the lawsuit cites government reports that claim VLTs have been tied to pathological gambling.  Loto-Quebec denies such a link exists and says problem gambling should be considered a personal health issue rather than one of legal liability.

“At the current time, there exists no expert, recognized by his peers… who proposes that VLTs are the cause of pathological gambling,” the defence statement reads.  The Quebec government began to regulate VLTs in 1993. Before then, Loto-Quebec estimated there were between 25,000 and 50,000 black-market gambling machines operating in the province.

Now there are around 12,000 VLTs in the province’s casinos, bars and restaurants.  A court decision last year forced the gaming commission to release documents about gambling-related suicides at Quebec casinos.

Last week, Quebec’s newly appointed health minister reiterated some of the unease public officials have about state-sanctioned gambling.

Yves Bolduc said both the government and Loto-Quebec should take additional measures to fight problem gambling.

He floated the idea of cutting the number of VLTs in poorer areas of the province.  Loto-Quebec promised in 2004 to remove some 1,142 VLTs by 2007, but has acknowledged it is still short of that goal.  The gaming commission contributed $1.6 billion to government coffers in 2006-07.  This final tally just about says it all, the government needs the cash and does not care how it gets it.