Hey! I’m just a messenger so please don’t shoot me. However, I do have an editorial bias…..

And now, on with the show!

As you may know by now, Peterborough has been flooded again! Our thoughts and prayers are with you.

So mortgage rates are going down. What does this mean? Maybe that people who could not afford to buy a house will now be able to. Doesn’t make sense to me either. And they say that a housing correction/collapse won’t happen in Canad-duh.

Sick and tired of all this doom and gloom? Check out the WORLD’s best upcoming real estate markets…

Just when we thought the steroid debate in baseball was over….

I was listening to the radio sometime last week soon after it was reported that Ed Sprague (former World Series hero for you Toronto Blue Jays fans) admitted to steroid use during his major league days.

Why he came out of the steroid closet is beyond me. Maybe he wanted to clear his conscience.

So, here’s the argument. Who cares about professional athletes using performance enhancing drugs? Did you care that Sylvester Stallone used steroids in his latest Rambo film? Do you care that Olympic swimmers will now use new performance enhancing swim suits?

Maybe you do maybe you don’t. The argument is that we should just enjoy the entertainment and stop being moral judges. Who gives a rip? Don’t we want to see home runs and amazing feats of strength and speed?

Yes we do. I do. And so do you. Admit it.

However….

Maybe there are consumers of sports-entertainment (and not just professional rasslin‘) that enjoy the pursuit of sports. I sure do. And I enjoy it with my son.

Kahzmir will one day ask me what it takes to become the best. You know the cliche. Do your best. Eat right. Pay the price. Sacrifice. Does “take steroids and cheat” now enter into the advice column?

Well, Kahzmir, Barry Bonds and Ben Johnson became the best by taking horse pills and lathering themselves with “the clear”. No. I don’t want to give this advice. And I won’t. Never. Ever.

Performance enhancing drugs like HGH and steroids are illegal in society which translates to sports and entertainment. No doubt. To allow athletes to use this in order to satisfy our never-ending thirst for entertainment in pathetic.

I will go to Yankee Stadium and enjoy the Jays as they whip the Yankees’ pinstripes. I will enjoy the game. But I will never condone illegal drug use.

Who cares? I do. And maybe you do too.

Karim Kanji

Chances are if you are reading this you passed your first test. With flying colours!

Let me introduce you to someone very remarkable!

Her name is Virginia Apgar.

Just who is Virginia? Check out her “stats”:

1. One of the first women to ever graduate with an MD from Columbia University in 1933.
2. In 1939 she became the first women to become a Head of a department at Columbia University’s College of Physicians and Surgeons.
3. In 1949 she became the first women to be granted a full professorship in anesthesiology at Columbia.

Sure, this is remarkable. But Virginia’s not done yet. And, by the way, you haven’t passed the test yet.

Prior to World War II, the vast majority of babies where born at home. After WWII, due to social shifts, babies were delivered in hospitals. Soon after birth, the baby would be “cleaned up” and sent to the nursery. Unless there were obvious signs, many problems could not be detected. Why? There was no method for diagnosing a newborn’s health.

“Birth is the most hazordous time of life,” said Dr. Agpar.

In response, she created the “Newborn Scoring System” which is now the international standard for evaluating a baby at birth.

As a colleague observed, “Every baby born in a modern hospital anywhere in the world is now looked at first through the eyes of Virginia Apgar.”

Dr. Apgar has made a profound impact on the lives of billions of babies, including you and yours! No massive marketing budget, no huge technological shift. Just experience and common sense. Remarkable!

Congratulations for passing! Now, if you could only figure out how to pass that darn chemistry exam!

So Earth Hour is being “celebrated” on Saturday night. Between 8pm – 9pm, in select cities across the world, we’ll turn off the lights.

I plan to go downtown. May take some before and after pictures. I will probably have a good time. But will all this really make a difference? Seriously? Will turning the lights out for one hour make a difference? Who will listen? Who will make change? If you’re looking, look in the mirror.

In related news, I watched the movie Syriana last night. It’s based in reality form a book called “See No Evil“

Lots of questions came up from this movie. One of them was, “Why?”

Why should we curb our enthusiasm for oil?

Global warming? Because it’s running out? It’s too expensive? Carbon just is not good to breathe? American Oil industry perpetuates the colonialization of third world states?

These are meant to be questions for you to discuss and answer yourself. The answers should not depend on your political persuasion or your religious affiliation. I always think of Sting’s song “Russians” during times like these.

They should just be based on WHY.

Karim Kanji

Seeing that my brother and I are visiting Yankee Stadium this summer, some of my posts will be baseball based. That being said…

A curious and compelling article about the state of naming rights of baseball stadiums. Check it out HERE.

Karim Kanji

I just wanted to let everyone know about a cool podcast that I recently came across.

It’s called Motivation to Move. Now, if you are busy and strapped for time, this is the podcast for you. It’s only a minute long and provides tips on health and wellness.

Check out the full website at: www.MotivationToMove.com.

Karim Kanji

I’m sure many of you have heard these “famous last words”. Whether they are true or not is a discussion to be had at a later date.

What I want to highlight, though, is our ability or inability to be original.

An original thought or idea seems hard to come by these days. Managers want the employees to work a certain way. Computers will only work will a prescribed input. Entertainers are producing movies and songs that our parents used to listen to. And just this morning I was looking at my dad’s ties….

You get the picture.

So, I am excited to introduce you to a totally NEW idea. A NEW way of looking at things.

It concerns baseball and the role of IMPACT players.

Here’s the background. For all you Toronto Blue Jays fans, you will relate. Remember Joe Carter? He was the guy who hit a walk off home run to end the World Series and win it for the Jays. Not too many people have done that. Anyways, many people at the time used to say that Joe Cater (a 30 HR, 100 RBI player) hit his home runs when either the game was out of reach or the Jays were ahead by many runs. People were questioning his IMPACT.

Well, a genius has provided all you seam heads with a new stat. A new way of looking at the IMPACT ballplayers have in the grand scheme of things.

This genius’ name is Aneez Kanji. Presently with Sun Media, Aneez has summarized his thoughts in a blog. Check it out. It may be the first NEW idea you’ve seen in a while.

Karim

• HNIC, with Sherali Najak as Exec. Producer, strives towards ACE: Authentic, Canadian, Entertaining.
• This is the 55th year on the air for HNIC.
• thought process which drives Sherali – it’s not about facts and figures but about feeling.
• HNIC strives to make a connection with people.
• the goal of the leaders at HNIC is to inspire a connection with the audience.
• important to know what you want to do in life.
• stressed the importance of volunteering to open doors.
• applied for jobs he didn’t want or “deserve” because he just wanted to get into the broadcasting industry (because he didn’t have any experience)
• talked about being unreasonable which was very uncomfortable but which helped him land jobs within CBC he shouldn’t have applied for.
• while attending Mohawk College, he gave his time and energy and enthusiasm to any and all jobs just to gain experience. (he was open-minded and had time and passion.)
• failed in his first year at College.
• got his first CBC job while failing at school.
• applied for a director job at CBC Newsworld with NO EXPERIENCE at 18 years of age while he was still a student! Got the job!
• believes in creating your own opportunities.
• Leadership and Love is unconditional.
• reason why Bob Cole is still with HNIC is because he gives the viewer that feeling.
• doesn’t believe in asking people to do better if they are already doing their best.
• also produced a Peter Mansbridge ONE on ONE Special with His Highness The Aga Khan.

Amazing 2 hours of insight into HNIC, CBC. Also a great speaker who talked with his audience rather that to his audience.

Karim Kanji

Interesting, isn’t it?

Customer service.

In Toronto, such a concept may have been going out of style. Is it suddenly un-cool to be kind these days? I pride myself on being a Torontonian. A city with a big feel, yet small enough to enjoy. This was my picture of T.O.

Recently, I was subject to 2 cases of BAD customer service. The first was from Mr. Lube and the second was from Direct Energy. I won’t bother you with the details, but in both cases, I “left” without the problem being solved and with a bad taste in my mouth. Kind of like my UHaul case a year or so back. I highly doubt these companies will earn a dime from me in the future.

Now, before you think I am “attracting” bad vibes, I do have 2 recent “success” stories. TTC and Kelsey’s. Alot of people like to beat up The Better Way. My last experience was pleasant, thank you. The driver told me to have a good evening as I stepped out of the bus! Amazing!

At Kelsey’s I had every single wait staff member in the restaurant serve me and my party this past weekend.

Moral of the story: I like you , enjoy GREAT customer service. It’s the least we can do for each other.

Have some horror stories? What about Success stories? Send them in and I’ll post them. Just keep them clean 🙂

Karim Kanji