Picky Eaters

A recent and fascinating article recently published in Maclean’s really caught my eye. Did you know that “between 25 and 40 per cent of most fruit and vegetable crops are in fact rejected by Western supermarkets”?! The reason for all the waste: aesthetics. We like our produce to look as good as it will taste, and that implies no bruises, ideal size, and structure amoung many other things. If it does not make the cut, then it wont make the shelves.

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There is British supermarket that insists that all carrots must be perfectly straight or they will not be accepted. This is to ensure they are easy to peel. Furthermore, “in Britain, government law actually makes it illegal to sell carrots of less than one centimetre in diameter”

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Here are some more wasteful facts from the article:

-For every serving of fresh salad eaten in the U.K., another two have been thrown away

-The average American throws away 96 kg of edible food each year

- Canada’s landfills are responsible for up to 38% of human-made methane, a greenhouse gas

- one British wholesaler discarded 5,000 kiwis for being 4 grams lighter than the 62 gram cut-off

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I encourage you to please click here to read Nancy Macdonald’s article What a Waste.

Buy Nothing Day

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November 27^th 2009 is officially Buy Nothing Day for North Americans (November 28^th for Europe and overseas). It is described as “a 24 hour moratorium on consumer spending”. This year we are encourage to not spend AND we are also encouraged to shut off lights, televisions, and other nonessential appliances. Try turning off your phone, not driving, and even logging off your computer (an exception can be made to check FactSnacks).

Buy Nothing Day may turn out to be quite the challenge for North Americans seeing as it inconveniently falls on the infamous Black Friday aka the biggest day of consumption of the year. Perhaps if more people participate in Buy Nothing Day, we will all be a lot safer considering what dangers lurk in the shopping madness that is Black Friday…

Oasis of the Seas

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I recently was invited in an inaugural sailing on the Oasis of the Seas, which is the largest cruise ship in the world! It can hold 5, 400 guests! Oasis of the Seas is 225, 000 gross tons and 1, 187 feet long. Here are some fun facts about the ship:

- The AquaTheatre pool is 17.9 feet deep, the largest pool at sea

- The Cenral Park Neighborhood is the first ever living park at sea with 12, 175 plants, 62 vine plants, 56 trees and bamboo

- 110, 231 lbs of ice cubes made every day

- 4, 700, 000 lbs of fresh water consumption per 24 hours

- 181 grand blocks were used to construct it. Each block weighing 1, 200, 000 lbs

Here are some pictures I took and a video to help you paint a picture of this massive ship!

Mini Put

Central Park Neighborhood

Solarium

And They Lived Happily Ever After...

This post is a response to CBC’s THE END. CBC’s pop culture specialist Jian Gomshi compiled a three part series exploring the possibility of us nearing a world without radio, television, and print. Here are some of the reasons why…

RADIO

Conventional aka terrestrial radio is fading and being replaced by other means such as podcasting and satellite radio. Did you know: “Together. XM and Sirius Satellite Radio project 15 million North American subscribers by the end of 2006” Not to mention that sattelite radio is NOT free. It will cost approximately $100-$400 for the hardware and $13-$15/month to subscribe.

More music is being access through myspace.com opposed to radio as well. In fact, it is better to be #1 in myspace opposed to MTV. Myspace.com has 70 million members, and 1.5 billion page views/day.

TELEVISION

Televisions are being replaced by portable and/or more convenient devices like iPods, computers, and personal video recorders (PVRs). Did you know: Television had $8 billion lost in revenue due to the PVR. Advertisers are going elsewhere to adapt to the change and going online. In 2006, online ad revenues totaled $14 billion.

PRINT

The internet is posing challenges to the print industry and bloggers are partly to blame. Why? Well for one reason, there are over 35 million blogs and 75,000 news blogs are created every single day!

The New York Times now has more readers online than it does reading their printed version and that is with very little overlap.

Many books are also going online. Check this out:

The Open Content Alliance is working with Yahoo and Microsoft to digitize all the world’s books.

Now although radio, television, and print are being threatened I feel they have a large enough following of loyal people that they will not become extinct anytime in the near future. Nothing beats curling up with a nice [literal] book, or gathering on the couch to watch a loved television program, or even driving to work with your favourite [free] radio show. Yes, more convenient methods are on the rise for many forms of media, but a classic never dies. Am I right?

Sticky Fingers

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As a result of the state of the economy, shoplifting rates have risen a total of 5.9% last year! More specifically, the Centre for Retail Research found that the greatest increase in retail theft came in North America, where the rate grew 8.1%.Here is a list generated by Main Street of the top 9 shoplifted items of 2009:
- Razor blades and shaving products
- Cosmetics, especially face creams and perfumes
- Wii and other gaming systems
- Alcohol
- Meat
- Satellite navigation, or GPS, systems
- Brand-name clothes, purses and accessories
- Infant formula
- Watches

I know what you are thinking… infant formula? Really?! Apparently, “some stores lock up powdered formula, which is not only sold on the black market at a higher price but used to cut drugs. Who knew?”

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You Have Until 3:00...

Did you know that this is NOT how to get a girl AND if a girl says “Call Me” and does not return a call, she is NOT passive aggressive…

PLEASE LISTEN TO THE FOLLOWING CLIP IN ITS ENTIRETY

These are real back-to-back voicemails for a girl approached on King St, Toronto. Instead of calling him back, she felt his voicemails would be better appreciated on the morning show for Z103.5 . I am glad she made this decision.

And for the record, women tend to like men who are not aware of how “great in bed, rich, and an amazing catch” they are.

I would like to personally thank my lovely roommate JacFac for sharing this clip with me so I can in turn share it with you.

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Facts of Life

The creators of Blue Planet and Planet Earth are bringing us what looks like the most amazing series ever called Life! Did you know…

- A single Beaded sea snake carries enough venom to kill 52 people

- An adult Pacific giant octopus is about 4 meters long- yet newborns are only the size of a grain of rice

- Clown fish are sexless apart from when the dominant male dies, the male becomes female

- Killer whales are actually dolphins (delphinius orca)

Find out more outstanding facts and watch unheard of footage on BBC’s Life. I promise it will be worth watching… and Oprah is the narrator!

CLICK HERE

to watch the preview!

PS: Hi Tom J

For more images click here

Know or Go!

Do you know what colour is on the bottom of a stoplight?

Do you know what state New Orleans is in?

Yes? Fantastic!

Do you know what H₂0 is better known as?

Jennifer didn’t…

Please refer to 3 minutes into clip…

The BIGGEST Loser

Shay and Daniel are the most recent contestants to be voted off NBC's hit television show The Biggest Loser. Shay was the heaviest person to ever be on the show. Her starting weight was 476 pounds. The day Shay was sent home she broke The Biggest Loser record for a female losing 100 pounds the fastest making her elimination on week 9 bitter sweet. She has a lot to be proud of and still has a long road of weight loss ahead of her. I wish her all the best!

If I Had a Nickel for Every Time I Woke Up Happy...

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PAYjr is an online Chore & Allowance System that claims to be a great tool to help children manage money. Both the parent and the child log onto the website and a list of chores is created for the child to complete. Each chore on the list has a price beside it and a timeline as to when it must be completed. Then at the end of the time period the child prints out the document and essentially bills their parent(s). Visa has also bought the company and offers children 13+ their chore money via a prepaid card!

Most Popular Chores:

1) 1)Make Bed

2) 2)Clean Room

3) 3)Feed Pet

Highest Paid Chores:

1) 1)Mowing Yard ($20)

2) 2)Watching Sibling ($15)

3) 3)Wash Car ($15)

Lowest Paid Chores:

1) 1)Brush Teeth ($0.01)

2) 2)Layout clothes for tomorrow ($0.01)

3) 3)Do homework ($0.01)

Odd Chores:

1) 1)Changing Underwear ($0.05)

2) 2)Capping Toothpaste ($0.02)

3) 3)Staying Awake for Sermons ($0.10)

4) 4)Waking up Happy ($0.05)

Now I don’t know about you, but I find it weird that capping the toothpaste pays more than the actual brushing of your teeth (which seems more important). Not to mention doing homework pays the least may encourage children to wash the car or wake up happy opposed to focusing on education. What do you think?

99 Problems but a Record Ain’t One

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It is official, rap icon Jay-Z has broken Elvis Presley’s record as the solo artist with the most chart-toppers in US chart history! His new album Blueprint 3 is his 11^th number one on the Billboard 200 chart breaking Elvis’s record of 10 number ones.

From the World Series, to the MTV Europe Music Awards, to good old London, Jay-Z has been on the scene performing everywhere lately and we cannot get enough. Now not only does he have the most gorgeous girl in the US, but a pretty sweet US record as well!

PS: This one's for you J.Dub :)

You Go "Girls"!

After Oprah Winfrey had a show about how 85% of American women are wearing the wrong bra size she sparked a bra revolution! Once the episode aired, Nordstrom reported a 189% sales jump and bra sales rose to $5.7 billion a year. That is a $700 million increase from the previous year!

Oprah’s bra intervention has essentially started a bra revolution sweeping the nation.

“We have changed the bra industry” – Oprah

On behalf of those not exactly part of the “Itty Bitty Titty Committee”, I would like to thank Oprah for making this problem known and giving “the girls” some support!

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Crackberry

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In 2006 the term “Crackberry” was voted Word of the Year by Webster’s New World Dictionary. It seems people just cannot get enough of their email checks and messaging. If you experience some of the following symptoms, you may be addicted to your BlackBerry:

-Soreness and/or numbness of the thumbs

-Phantom vibrations: you think your phone is vibrating when it is not

-Preferring to converse in a public setting via BlackBerry opposed to face-to-face

-You FREAK OUT if you forget it at home

-You collect PINs like it is your job

If that blinking little red light brings you happiness… you may want to take a step back and assess your Crackberry situation. Like any addiction it can be treated… and you are not the only one out there. Are you a victim of the Crackberry?

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