Mamma's got legs!

In Hollywood studio parlance, industry insiders refer to a movie that has an above average lifespan in first-run theatres as having "good legs". Well, this Summer's movie musical release Momma Mia is certainly proving to have great legs!

Mamma Mia was released 7 weekends ago (the same debut weekend as the Summer's biggest hit The Dark Knight) . Surprisingly Mamma's decay curve (the rate at which box office receipts decline as a movie ages in theatres) has sloped off less dramatically than the Dark Knight's! Moreover, with a new promotional push to market a "special edition singalong version" (by simply adding sub-titles), the studio appears to have actually succeeded in boosting Mamma Mia's box office take in this its 7th weekend over what it earned last weekend (which is an extremely rare occurrence for a major studio release).

Factoring in this weekend's estimated receipts, Mamma Mia will have earned approx. $131.5 million cumulative at the domestic (North American) box office. (The movie has also added another $200 million plus in overseas receipts.) This ranks Mamma Mia as the third ranked movie musical released since 1974 (ahead of last Summer's Hairspray (which grossed $118.9 million) and behind 2002's Chicago (which grossed $170.7 million, a large chunk of which was earned in its Oscar winning afterglow). The movie's soundtrack album has also been a bestseller that has topped the Billboard CD sales charts.

Hopefully, the commercial success of Mamma Mia will spur studios execs to ramp up production of more movie musicals.

Summer Vacation (final in series)

Friday morning we awoke early (before 7 AM) to prepare for disembarkation. (Gary was up even earlier to to report to the ships stores to claim his duty-free (2 bottle limit) bottles purchase.) Confusion abounded regarding the procedures for International passengers passing through US customs and Immigration. We had been informed (yesterday PM) by a guest services officer at the purser's desk that Canadians could pass through US Customs (along with Americans) after exiting the ship in the terminal building (a departure from the ship's norm, although consistent with what we did in the Port of Baltimore a year earlier when travelling on an RCI vessel). However, both the written instructions delivered to the stateroom and John the cruise director's disembarkation lecture (which was looping on the ship's TV channel) indicated that International guests were supposed to meet officials on the ship at the Royal Fireworks lounge at 8AM to pre-clear US Customs. Only guests who clear customs in the terminal were eligible for the self-disembarkation option and all others were required to report and be issued colour coded tags to affix to their cases before setting out for the porters the prior evening. We had retained our luggage, expecting to self-disembark.

Perplexed, we reported to the Royal Fireworks lounge at 8:00 AM to find a small group of passengers bearing non-American passports waiting patiently but no customs officers in the lounge. Instead we saw uniformed customs officials attending to a large group of Americans (in a long line) in an adjoining lounge who were over their duty-free customs limit and had voluntarily reported there to declare and pay their duty. We were getting very antsy around 9:15, still waiting for some activity and set off to seek out clarification of the procedure. It turned out that the original message we had received had been correct (ie. that there was no requirement to pre-clear customs in the ship) so we headed back down to our staterooms to await the self-embarkation call. Enroute to our cabins, a PA announcement was indicating that the ship had been cleared and calling for self-embarkation guests from deck 3 (our deck) to report to the midships tower to exit. (Disembarkation calls are made from the lower decks up, since the gangplank is on deck 2). So we grabbed our luggage and immediately headed out down the hall to disembark. The line moved swiftly and we took the stirs to avoid an elevator wait. As we approached the mid-ship tower, we heard Johnny (the assistant cruise director) make an announcement clarifying (what we already knew) that there was no need for any international guests to pre-clear customs in a lounge.

Exiting the gangplank, we almost immediately heard a NCL official calling out for international guests. We reported to her and (after she kibitzed with us about Americans not really considering Canadians "foreigners") she ushered us over into the shortest lineup behind a customs desk reserved for international travellers (scarce on board). Our customs "interrogation" was light and painless (tho we did see a group of Asians in front of us being finger-printed). Following customs, we were out in the parking lot with our luggage loaded and ready to hit the road by 8:40 AM! All in all, despite the confusion, it wound up being the fastest disembarkation process I have ever been through on any cruiseship!

We drove through a persistent drizzle most of the morning, pausing briefly to pick-up coffee and breakfast sandwiches at a suburban MacDonald's drive thru and again later for a washroom, gas-up and snack break at a gas bar / retail Sheetz outlet. Our goal was to make it to Pennsdale, PA by mid-day to do some shopping (to take advantage of our 7 day duty free $ limits). We pulled into the Lycoming mall around 12:40. The mall was a bit dated but did have three major department stores (Penney, Macys and Sears) and most of the other chain apparel stores (Hollister, Aeropostale, American Eagle, Old Navy). Our group split up to go our chosen shopping ways, agreeing to meet back up at the Penney store entrance at 2:00 PM.

We had a very productive shopping trip. In total we managed to purchase 13 articles of clothing for $230 in the course of our 1 hour 45 minutes shopping spree. We spent $69.40 at each of Hollingers and Aeropostale, $16.96 at Penney and the balance at Old Navy. Claire scored a fleece hoodie from Hollister, a pair of faded boot cut blue jeans from Aeropostale and a "rocker girl" tee from Penney. Ryan bagged a pair of jeans from Old Navy, a bar stripe shortsleeve rugby top from Areopostale and a polo shirt from Hollister. I purchased a pair of plaid shorts from each of Aeropostale and Penney (the latter (Arizona label) were originally $40 and were marked down to $6.97), a thermal long sleeve tee from Aeropostale (50% off), plus three solid coloured "destination" thermal long sleeved tees from Old Navy and a gray oxford style button up thermal tee, all at $10 per. As a bonus, Old Navy gave us a 40% discount coupon (also redeemable at Canadian stores) redeemable against our next single clothing article purchase, plus a 10% off next purchase survey completion discount on the register receipt. Penney also gave us a 15% off next purchase survey discount coupon on the reverse of the POS terminal receipt. The best part: Pennsylvania's state RST rate is 0%. I daresay it would have been impossible to purchase the 13 items we bought in Pennsdale in 100 minutes for less than $230 if we shopped all day in Toronto!

Following our shopping spree, we drove non-stop for 3.5 hours before stopping at a roadside gas bar / food centre on the NY thruway I90 for supper. We ordered burgers at Fuddruckers. They offered a $5.99 manager's special that included a 1/3 burger, chunky fries and a medium sized soda fountain drink. (Extremely reasonably priced and good quality / tasting, as roadside dining options go!) Their Fuddruckers burger comes served on a butter toasted bun and you dress it at a "top it yourself" condiments bar. The food court also had an Arbys and a Tim Hortons in it. We were eager to order Timmys coffee after a week of deprivation at sea without it and discovered (much to the distress of our car-confined bladders) that the large size cup at the US Tim Hortons outlets is closer to a extra large serving on the Canadian side of the border!

Following our dinner break, we had less than 30 miles to go to hit Canadian customs booths at the border bridge crossing. The time was closing in on 7 PM as we approached and we were fearful of hitting the long holiday weekend traffic exodus. As we reached the Buffalo area flashing overhead roadsigns posted wait-times border crossing warnings: 0 to 30 minutes for the Peace and Rainbow bridges and 30 to 60 minutes for the Queenston-Lewiston bridge. Our planned route took across the latter and we decided to stick with it (after briefly considered and rejecting re-routing). We "accidentally" took the truck lane as we approached the border crossing booths and re-joined the car line at the duty free shop cut-in (probably saving ourselves 15 minutes in the process), so the wait turned out to be closer to the 30 minute low end.

Traffic moved well once we hit the QEW (despite hitting a few roadwork zones) and we arrived back in the city at around 9:00 o'clock. Exhausted from the long drive and happy to have our own mattresses to sleep on again, we hit the sack soon thereafter! And so our family Summer Vacation 2008 officially came to a close! A safe and good time was had by all! I expect soon it will be time to start planning next year's adventure!

Summer Vacation (7th in series)

Day 7 Thursday August 28

Following breakfast in the dining room, we spent most of the morning lounging poolside. I finally ventured into the water (there were two pools on deck, both salt water). The water was chilly (I believe they refill it over the course of the voyage).

Following the captain’s report from the bridge (a high noon tradition) we took a lunch break (waiting 15 minutes in line for freshly made to order pasta dishes from the pooldeck station) and then attended two events back to back in the Palace theatre. First, the international talent show, which featured cast and crew members demonstrating their various talents (singing, dancing). The real highlight though was the finale—a hilarious “water ballet” (of sorts) performed by 6 towel clad gentlemen and one lady choreographed to a musical soundtrack by Enya (with an intro that forewarned that some might find it mildly disgusting). Following the international showcase we attended the final bingo game of the cruise where the snowball prize of $2,000 was to be awarded in the final game. Cathy & I both splurged for a max-out “full meal deal” on the bingo machines (144 chances to win for $149). I managed to win the third game, claiming a prize of $152. So, I basically broke even. Cathy got down to one number remaining in the final game, before the prize was claimed by another player.

The final night at dinner we finally hit the dining room at the peak period that we had managed avoid on earlier evenings and wound up waiting half an hour for our table assignment. However we were rewarded with an excellent table situated in a rear corner by a window. We enjoyed a fine meal, which included escargot, English style sirloin cut beef and red snapper. After dinner we took in a performance of a second show by the Majesty singer/dancers and showband entitled "On the Radio" (basically a medley of pop hits from various periods and genres). At the end of the show John, the cruise director, welcomed many of the ship's staff (including some officers and chefs) and crew up onto the stage to allow them to be recognized by the guests for their service. Of course, there was a standing ovation. in the theatre David Nastor in the Royal Fireworks lounge, before returning to our staterooms one final time to pack our bags and retire for our last evening at sea.

Summer Vacation (6th in series)

Day 6 Wednesday August 27

Unfortunately Claire’s dip in the ocean at Horseshoe Bay (yesterday) aggravated her stubborn cough. She had trouble getting to sleep the night prior so our room slept in late this morning while the adjoining room (Gary, Cathy and Taylor) ventured ashore in the early morning rain to shop before our 10:30 all aboard call for our 11AM sailaway. Meanwhile I ran up to the buffet and retrieved plates of fruit and pastries to bring back to our room for ouyr breakfast. The skies cleared in time for the return trip out thru “the cut” (which only smaller ships can navigate) from St George to the open ocean beyond. Thereafter, we spend most of the day up on the sun deck (where it was initially quite breezy) pausing to return back down below deck to play a mid afternoon bingo session in the Palace theatre.

NCL is the only cruise line I have sailed on that use “bingo machines”. The electronic bingo machines come pre-loaded with multiple cards and automatically track numbers called, displaying the card with the most hits in each game. What they don’t come with is a cheap price tag. For the “two for one” bingo game we attended (not really any better value since every player’s odds are “doubled”) the asking price for a machine was $49 minimum. Since there was a group of us that wanted to play, we went with packaged sets of traditional paper bingo cards to share. But it soon became apparent that we “paper card players” didn’t stand a chance against the machines, as each of the four games jackpots were claimed by a machine player.

As twlight arrived, we reported to the Seven Seas dining room for early dinner and were rewarded with our best table assignment to date located toward the rear of the room. We also enjoyed superior service (the best of the cruise) at this meal. Following dinner, we attended two shows in the Palace theatre. The first was a performance by ventriloquist Kenny Byrd. the second was a performance featuring Chantz Powell-- a dynamic young (21 year old) singer-dancer-trumpet player who was returning from a long running gig portraying Sammy Davis Jr. in a European tour of The Rat Pack.

Then it was a quick change into our whitest apparel for a return to the theatre to join the White Hot Party, already in progress, where all assembled guests and crew were required to don their whitest whites. John, the buff-bodied cruise director, showed up topless in a white pantsuit, sprouting feathered angels wings on his back. At the party Gary and I ordered two tasty and potent specialty cocktails—a cocotini and a blue iceberg-- while posing for pics with the white boa clad showgirls and cruise director’s staff who were busy leading dances up front on the stage.

There was also a teen version of the White Hot Party running simultaneously in the Frame 52 disco which Ryan, Claire and Taylor attended. We rendezvoused with them just before midnight on the way back to our staterooms to adjourn for the evening.

Summer Vacation (5th in series)

Day 5 Tuesday August 26, 2008

We awoke and reported the Seven Seas dining room for breakfast, only to receive another poor table assignment. However the service improved over our prior two meals. I ordered a corn beef hash to accompany my sunny side pan-fried eggs for breakfast, but instead wounded up with country style potatoes, home fries and bacon.

Following breakfast we headed ashore. Ryan had forgotten to apply sunscreen to his feet and had sunburned them on deck during the arrival in Bermuda. So the first stop in town was to report to a local apothecary (Roberstons) to purchase some solarcane and aloe gel to treat it. While I applied the salves to the tender areas, Cathy & Gary proceeded to the visitor centre and procured a set of six local transit passes ($12 per) for our group. The transit passes proved to be an excellent value.

Our passes in hand, we boarded the Hamilton bound bus and headed out to the visit some scenic caves at bailey’s cove-- about 7 kms from St. George. The bus route took us through the airport and was about 20 minutes. The two caves (the crystal and fantasy caves) are located on private land and were discovered around the turn of the century. Although they were originally competitors, promoted by private operators, they are now jointly marketed and you have the option of purchasing tickets to attend either one or both. We doubled up, paying a total admission for six of $138 (there was no youth rate, just a discount rate for children). Both caves are worth seeing, although our preference was the Fantasy cave (which requires ascending / descending a steeper climb down a set of 80 or so steep steps). The Crystal caves are actually larger and have more steps, but the grade is more gradual. The crystal caves also feature more water that is traversed by way of a series of floating paths.

Tour groups (that vary in size but averaged around 30 people when we were there) enter the caves, accompanied by a guide about every 15 minutes. The caves are illuminated by artificial lighting but are still fairly dimly light. The tour guides draw your attention to unusual stalagmite and stalactite formations that bear resemblance to other objects (food, figures and animals). The guides also describe the geographic forces that lead to cave formation and the history if the caves (apparently they were discovered by two boys looking for a missing cricket ball). The caves are inter-linked by water and the connections are accessible to scuba divers.

Following our cave tours, we crossed the road from the park in which the caves are located to have lunch on the upper porch of the swizzel inn. The porch is covered and offered good shade from the hot mid-day sun. Service was prompt and friendly (the wait staff offered to take a group photo and provided directions / bus rising and sightseeing tips) . The children ordered fruit smoothies (strawberry banana and mango) and the adults ordered a pitcher of Swizzel rum (the smoothies actually cost more (at $11.95 each, including a souvenir glass). To each we ordered a series of apps (fries, rings, skins, garlic-cheese bread, mozzarella sticks and nachos) which were all good, although the onion rings were the highlight. The salsa sauce that they were served with was also notable. Total tab for the meal was $117.15, including a mandatory 15% service charge (applied for a group of 5 or more)

Following our lunch we boarded a bus back to St. Georges. Upon arrival back in town we noted that The Majesty’s sister ship, the Dream (which sails out of Boston) had joined us in port (which explained the Red Sox flag flying at the Swizzel Inn earlier.) The Dream is a similar sized ship to the Majesty but has had a new centre section added. Together the Dream and majesty are the smallest / oldest vessels in the Norwegian fleet. After exiting the bus we found ourselves with barely15 minutes to spare to catch the last ferry to Hamilton to the leave the docks bound for Hamilton. The ferry had two levels… an enclosed air conditioned lower level and an open level above that was shaded to the rear and open to the sun to the front. We selected seating on the upper deck. The kids sat in the shade while the adults selected the sun. It was extremely hot in the sun until the ship got on its way and the breeze hit the deck. In all the passage to Hamilton took about 40 minutes. The public ferry is extremely clean and comfortable, offering a very inexpensive alternative to more expensive boat excursions for visitors seeking to explore the shoreline by water.

Upon arrival at the port in Hamilton, we were greeted by the very large RCI cruiseship Explorer of the Seas which was on its last day in port (from New York). There were passengers from all three cruiseships on board the ferry so there was a lot of comparing notes on the pros and cons of the various lines / ships going on. After a brief walk among some old shoreline structures in search of restrooms and refreshments, we proceeded to the transit stop to await our next bus to Horseshoe Bay. We had close to a half an hour wait since the bus intervals grow as the Bermuda afternoons lengthens and it appeared we had just missed the earlier bus on the route.

The bustrip from the Hamilton port to Horseshoe Bay was quite long , following a windy circle route through narrow streets lined in tropical trees and pretty pastel coloured houses with tiered white roofs. We knew were were getting close to our beach destination when saw a Canada flag flying at a large resort hotel (which we deduced was the Fairmount). We exited at a bus-stop at the top of a steep hill that you must descend on foot to reach the beach. We arrived at the beach just before 5 which seemed to be ideal and the sands were not overcrowded and the sun’s heat was receding. All of us, hot and tired from our trip were soon splashing about in the surf, having fun jumping the waves crashing on the shoreline. Unfortunately we had only an hour to enjoy the beach (the downside of having a busy whirlwind itinerary on a single day in port) and soon had to towel off in time to catch the final bus of the day back to Hamilton.

We were happy to find another option to our feet for ascending the hill. An industrious businessman was selling positions in his 12 seater van to shuttle beach visitors back up the hill for a buck a piece (quite a lucrative business, given that its only 1 minute up). All of us (with the exception of trooper Gary who wanted to prove his mettle by walking up) parted with a buck for the service. Once at the top we were dismayed to find a huge crowd waiting at the bus-stop. We joined the queue, fretting about whether there would be sufficient room in the bus to take us all back or whether we would have to call a taxi. Fortunately the bus arrived relatively empty and everyone at the stop was able to fit, although some of us were forced to stand for most of the long ride back. We had to exit the bus at a bus terminal next to City Hall to catch the bus back to St. George. There was a huge throng waiting on the platform for buses. Two buses were St George bound (the #10 and #11) . We had a 45 minute wait for the second bus, but fortunately we were toward the front of the line and all got seats.

Back on board the Majesty, we decided to try the Four Seasons dining room for a change of scenery. It is a smaller dining room and our table assignment was located fine. We ordered a bottle of red wine with dinner. Dessert selections were again unimpressive, as was the bread basket selection (bread was also stale). Following dinner we went to the Liars Club gameshow in the Palace Theatre where four celebrity panellists (including John-- the cruise director, the ship’s firefighter and two guest entertainers) defined four mystery words. It was quite amusing (and at times quite risqué, definitely not for young children). Following the gameshow we headed to the chocolate buffet, set up in the Seven seas dining room and featuring a selection of chocolate desserts, including freshly dipped fruit. Then it was back to our staterooms for a well deserved sleep.

More to come…

Summer Vacation (4th in series)

Day 4 August 25, 2008

The clocks were set ahead one hour overnight so we rose a bit later in the morning and headed down to the Seven Seas for breakfast. We arrived closer to the peak rush period to find the dining room more crowded than on the first morning. Although our seat assignment was at a window table, it was awkwardly wedged in a narrow thoroughfare by a dish clearing station. Service was very uneven (and not as impressive as on the first morning). Following breakfast we immediately headed to the sun deck in order to secure some lounge chairs. We were about to find sufficient chairs to seat our group in the forward section of the deck. The skies were partly cloudy and there was stiff sea breeze blowing across the deck (it was so windy that the front deck was roped off). We began to see land shortly after NOON and picked up our pilot boat at about 1 PM. The passage in to St. George’s harbour over tourqoise waters was extremely picturesque. The closer to the island we got, the warmer the sun and air became (Ryan left his feet exposed and without sunscreen on the deck and wound up with a bad burn).

We were in port almost bang-on the itinerary docking time at 3 PM. We exited off out the gangplank at shortly after arrival. The mid afternoon sun was particularly hot and zapped our energy quickly but we did manage to explore around the old town before pausing at a lakefront resto-bar patio for refreshments. Gary, Cathy & I sampled the local specialty drink—the rum swizel- served on the rocks. It was extremely refreshing and potent. Rejuvenated, we left and hiked up the hill to the fort, past a gold course to tobacco beach. Taylor and Gary took a dip on the shallow waters among volcanic looking rock formations while the rest of us relaxed on the shore.

Following our town visit, we returned to the ship, showered and dressed for dinner. We were assigned a table within 5 minutes if reporting to the hostess stand at the Seven Seas. We were given our worst table assignment yet. Located on a main traffic pathway, our table was anything but peaceful. The food quality (apps and entrees) was fine but the dessert selection was particularly disappointing. The table sampled all of the cheesecake, mousse and bread and apple pudding sweet selections and none impressed, with the latter being almost inedible.

We have vowed to try the other onboard restaurant (the Four Seasons) tomorrow night, after three mediocre meal experiences in the Seven Seas. Perhaps the anytime dining option is to blame for the subpar dining service since wait staff have left invested in impressing diners than in traditional dining where an extra tip can be earned by providing fine service over the whole course of a cruise. Following dinner there was an island-hop party up on the pool deck featuring line dances, a congo line and limbo. There was also a competition where groups of women had to dress a target man up in female garb to win a “Miss Majesty” contest. Following the deck party we retired for the evening.

More to come...

Summer Vacation (3rd in series)

Day 3 Aug 24

Our stateroom awoke about 8 AM and hit the showers (which only come equipped with soap and shampoo in a dispenser (no bars or sample-size bottles). Following that, we headed out to the Seven Sea Dining Room for breakfast. The breakfast menu contained a good assortment of traditional favourites, including any-style eggs and made to order omelettes, waffles, pancakes, and French toast. There was also a very impressive pastry tray, including cinnamon buns (Claire’s favourite). We wound up seated at the same area as we were seated at during dinner the prior evening, with the same waiter.

Following breakfast we headed up to the pool deck. We waited an eternity for an elevator (a problem on this ship, they are scarce with only six in total—two each located aft, forward and midships). We arrived on deck to find the lounge chairs wet from a rain shower. Gary had secured seating and a covered table and we sat there for a period before heading up to the upper deck. The sun did break thru the overcast sky until after 1 PM. We went for afternoon tea/coffee at the café on deck 5. Claire & I had a cappuccino (her’s de-caf) and Ryan had a hot chocolate. The days programming seemed to focus mainly on drinking… featuring smoothie tasting, martini tasting, wine tasting and pub crawls sessioins all for $15 each.

Our evening’s entertainment featured two shows at the Palace theatre. The first was a live song and dance revue featuring the Majesty Productions singers/dancers and showband. The featured numbers were Broadway showtunes (from Les Miz, Cats, Wicked, Chicago, Guys and Dolls, Hairspray, West Side Story). Yours truly also wound up being a featured performer when I was pulled from my comfortable seat by one of the showgirls to play a guest role in their “Hey Big Spender” number (much to the amusement of everyone except moi!)

Following the musical revue, John the cruise director (an Aussie fond of describing everything as “smashing” hosted a Newlywed and not so newlywed game show featuring married couples of varying lengths of relationships. It was mildly amusing but not as uproarious as versions I have seen on other ships (the questions, in particular, were entirely predictable and unoriginal). We left for dinner at the conclusion of the gameshow.

It was nearly 9:30 by the time we reported to the Seven Seas for dinner and that dining room closing at 10:00 PM. Perhaps for that reason, dinner service was not as impressive as on the night prior, as we got the impression that the wait staff just wanted rid of us. The popular entrée at the table was Beef Wellington, which was finely prepared. Gary was feeling a bit under the weather at dinner (cold/flu symptoms) so we decided to pass on further after-dinner entertainment and retire for the evening.

More later...

Summer vacation (2nd in series)

Norwegian Majesty

Greetings from the Norwegian Majesty (ship’s log mid day Sunday) enroute to Bermuda from the Port of Baltimore. Seas are calm. Weather is overcast. What follows is a re-cap of the first two days of our vacation trip so far:

Day 1: Friday Aug 22:

Gary met Taylor (who her parents dropped off up at his Downsview office) at approx. 4:15 by which time I was already enroute up the DVP to pick up Ryan and Claire from the final day of their Seneca Summer camp (Finch & 404). Gary arrived back home just ahead of us and had to water his terrace garden before departure. Ryan, Claire, Taylor and I used the opportunity to do a video and snacks run to Rogers (at Front and Princess) to pick up some DVDs to watch on the car-trip. We hit the road before 6 PM but had to stop to gas up and to pick up Cathy’s at her apartment on Queen’s Quay on the way out. We were on the Gradiner-QEW before 6:30. We stopped at a highwayside foodcourt in Grimsby to grab some dinner grub (quite an impressive foodcourt—a Tim Hortons, Manchu Wok, KFC-Taco Bell, NY Fries and Dairy Queen / Orange Julius. The interior design featured plenty of wood and stone. We hit the Queenston-Lewiston bridge before 8 and only had about a 20 minute wait in line. No issues with the border patrol. We stopped twice on the US side of the border for washroom breaks and managed to make our midpoint stop in Mansfield PA by midnight. Gary & I did the lions share of the driving tho Cathy did spell us off on occasion. Our Comfort Inn room was comfortable enough and came with two double beds, (anticipating this, we brought along our own inflatable mattress to multiply sleeping positions). Most of the group seemed to be able to get at least a few hours of shut we before we were up at dawn to continue our trip.

Day 2: Saturday Aug 23:

The Comfort Inn offered a “continental breakfast”. Then highlight seemed to be “make your own” waffles. Most of the group made those. The juices and coffee selection was unimpressive. We were back on the highway (after gassing up) around 6:30 AM. We arrived in Baltimore at around 11 but had a hiccough finding the route to the ship terminal. We checked in about 11:30 AM. The terminal’s check-in system was down so we could not have our security photos taken and credit card pre-authorized there (as usual). That process now needs to be completed on board the ship. Boarding calls were by colour coded sections. We were assigned gray tickets and waited less than half an hour in the comfortable lounge following check-in to be called to board.

We headed to the buffet immediately after boarding (with our hand luggage in tow) since staterooms were still under preparation. Indoor seating at the buffet is extremely limited. The steam table items were overcooked and the sweets unremarkable. There was a carvery station featuring roast beef, and fresh made to order pasta and deli sections out on the pool deck, which offered better alternatives. They also offered all day pizza slices and grille items on the forward section of the pool deck.

Overall the ship makes a good first impression for its age. The deck areas seem more dated than the common areas, where the décor is tasteful and restrained. Luggage delivery was fairly efficient so we were able to be unpacked mid afternoon. The muster drill was efficient and painless. Because of the systems issues, the check-in process was slow to complete and the muster drill and sailaway were both delayed by half an hour. Pre and post muster drill we hung on the top (sun deck). A reggae/calypso influenced band delivered the usual sailaway requests to line-dance to. It was extremely hot in Baltimore so we were relieved to feel the cooling breeze as the ship started to pull out. Sailaway was smooth and highlighted by the ship’s passage under the highway bridge span that guards the entrance / exit to Baltimore’s inner harbour.

As the evening wore on, we attended a team movie trivia event in the theatre and then reported to the Seven Seas dining room station for a table assignment. The Seven Seas is one of three full-service restaurants on board. We were assigned our own table for 6 with minimal wait. The dining room service was fine and there was a good selection of special and everyday entrée and app items. A few of the dessert items were notable, including a soufflé with vanilla bean sauce. Following our late dinner we opted to head straight to our stateroom beds to catch up on our sleep.

More to come…

More 3G reception problems reported

The spotty reception problems (dropped calls, weak signal strength and slow surfing speeds) reported (mainly in the US) with Apple's iphone may not have been redressed by the release of 2.0.2 firmware patches, according to a computerworld report. In addition, similar reception problems are also now reported to be hitting the newly introduced 3 G standard RIM Blackberry Bold as well. So it may not be the Apple manufacturing process that is the culprit (as first suspected). Rogers is denying any widespread problems with either Bold or iphone reception on its Canadian data network. More details here

Summer Vacation 2008 (1st in a series)

Less than 36 hours from now, I should be off on Summer vacation. Six of us (Gary, me, my kids (Ryan & Claire) plus Gary's sister (Cathy) and his grand-niece Taylor (same age as Claire) hit the road tomorrow at 6 PM. We will be driving down to Baltimore via the border crossing at Buffalo. We expect to arrive in Baltimore at approximately 10 AM Saturday morning to board a cruise ship bound for Bermuda. We have three drivers and plan our drive in shifts. We have booked a hotel room in Mansfield, PA (a college town, just across the State line from NY State) where we will catch some sleep enroute (probably checking in between 11 Pm and midnight) then it will be back on the road at wake up the next morning to complete our drive.

We are cruising on Norwegian Cruise Lines Majesty on a six night cruise. We have two interior staterooms on the Caribbean Deck, ship forward. The Majesty is the smallest vessel in NCL's fleet (a ship's mast had to be sufficiently low to pass under a bridge that spans the entrance to Baltimore's port, which denies access to larger cruise ships). She was built in 1992 and has 870 staterooms to carry a maximum load of 1,462 passengers supported by a crew of 620. She is 680 ft in length and has a tonnage capacity of 40,876.

We will be in port at St. George's Bermuda for 44 hours, spread over three nights mid-cruise. The other days we will be at sea, travelling thru the Bermuda triangle. Fortunately hurricane reports are favourable now that Fay has dissipated after dumping her torrential rains on Florida yesterday. We are hoping for fair weather and calm seas.

Here is our cruise itinerary:

Day

Sat Baltimore - 4:00 PM Sail away

Sun At Sea
Mon St. George's, Bermuda Arrive 3:00 PM to Over night

Tue St. George's In port all day and overnight
Wed St Georges, Bermuda Depart 11 AM

Thu At Sea
Fri Baltimore, Arrive 8:00 AM, Disembark

This will be my 8th cruise and Ryan and Claire's 3rd. For the last three Summers, we have taken vacations at sea. Last year we also cruised out of Baltimore on Royal Caribbean on an 11 day Canada-New England cruise. The Summer prior to that we cruised out of Ft Lauderdale to a few Caribbean ports (also on Royal Caribbean) on a 4 night cruise. This will be Taylor's 2nd cruise and Gary and Cathy are veteran cruises.

Here is my complete cruise history (in reverse chrono order):

LINE SHIP ITINERARY START DATE END DATE (click links to access photos)

PRINCESS DIAMOND -PACIFIC COASTAL REPOSITIONING - 7/05/2008 to 10/05/2008

CARNIVAL IMAGINATION - W. CARIBBEAN - 27/12/2007 to 31/12/2007

ROYAL CARIBBEAN GRANDEUR - NEW ENGLAND/CANADA - 24/08/2007 to 02/09/2007

PRINCESS GOLDEN - EASTERN MEDITERRANEAN - 29/10/2006 to 10/11/2006

ROYAL CARIBBEAN ENCHANTMENT - W. CARIBBEANS - 28/08/2006 to 02/09/2006

CELEBRITY ZENITH - W. CARIBBEANS - 16/03/2006 to 20/03/2006

PRINCESS SAPPHIRE - MEXICAN RIVIERA - 15/10/2005 to 22/10/2005

I will try to post travel updates to this blog using the ship's internet while on board. Stay tuned!

Dinner at Johnny Rockets at Yonge-Dundas Square

Gary & I ate dinner tonight at Johnny Rockets in the Toronto Life Centre at Yonge Dundas Square. Although this was our first visit to this newly opened location, I was familiar with the chain, having previously eaten at other locations in South Beach, Florida, at the Fallsview Niagara casino and up at Vaughan Mills. The chain also boasts locations aboard select Royal Carribean cruiseships.

Upon arrival, we were surprised to see how sparsely attended their dinner service was for a Wednesday night, given their prime tourist mecca locale, allowing for the built in "curiosity factor" that usually drives diners into an eatery following a recent opening. The diner was, at best, half full and we were able to be seated in a booth with no wait.

The decor tries to mimic a 50s malt-shop atmosphere, a la Happy Days. The booths and tables feature red leather upholstered seating and jukeboxes are prominent. If you don't like 50s style doo-wop (I do) this is not the place for you since it will feature prominently in your mealtime audio entertainment (unless you come equipped with an ipod and noise cancellation earbuds)! 70s era dance music (Donna Summer and BeeGees) does spell off the 50s heavy songlist on occasion to allow the wait-staff to show off their disco line dance performance skills (much to the amusement of pedestrians passing by and peering in the picture windows!)

The one page menu is heavy on burgers, fries and onion rings. Grease abounds. There are some salads on the menu but its surely not a prime destination for calorie counters. We ordered some fries, rings and buffalo wings as starters to share and then each ordered a St. Louis burger for our "entree". We selected the St Louis burger, which came with bacon, cheese and sauteed onions dressed with a special sauce (that the waitress described as a cocktail sauce). The burger (1/3 lb) was fab and reasonably priced at $7.99. The onion rings (served with a ranch dressing) were also good (although the price ($6) was a tad high for the serving size). Meanwhile, the wings disappointed (very bland-- no choice of sauces-- just mild) and the fries were likewise non-descript. We ordered colas from the soda fountain. Beverage refills are free and you can add lemon, cherry, vanilla or chocolate flavour shots to your cola. They also offer shakes. Although the desserts looked tempting, (esp. the chocolate brownie and NY cheesecake) we passed, having already over-indulged our junk food fix.

The service was attentive (even allowing for the dance breaks). Our drink glasses were refilled without request. The servers, in addition to mastering line dance steps, are also required to possess the basic visual art skills necessary to paint a happy face on a dinner plate with the squeeze catsup bottle when serving fries!

Our total tab, including tip, was $45. We were forced to pay cash because their debit/credit connection was down (and had been for several days, according to the waitress).

Fall federal election?

With the Summer parliamentary recess set to expire and the Commons scheduled to resume sitting this Fall, speculation about a date for the next federal election is heating up. Although PM Stephen Harper passed a fixed election date law earlier in his term that does not require an election until next Fall, it is unusual for minority parliaments to last for a full term and this particular minority government has already set a record for longevity. The two smaller opposition parties (the BQ and NDP) have made no secret of their desire to defeat the Harper government for some time, however rookie Official Opposition leader Stephane Dion has been biding his time, fearing a loss to Harper in the next election could prove fatal to his leadership.

A number of by-elections dates have already been set for early Fall which would become redundant in case of a general election call. Most pundits seem to believe that Harper will at least recall parliament to sit for a few weeks, to gauge its temperature and validate his claims that it is dysfunctional, in order to engineer his own downfall. This would help him justify a premature election call to voters. On the other side of the Commons floor, Dion also risks appearing like a weak leader seeking to avoid a test mano-a-mano against Harper out on the hustings if he does not take the election bait soon. Many of the local Grit candidates are said to be chomping at the bit, tired of being put on indefinite hold awaiting the campaign call.

So it appears almost inevitable that the next Canadian general election campaign may wind up overlapping with the US presidential election campaign. Current popular support polling levels suggest that an election would probably return another hung government although which party (Liberal or Conservative) would win seat gains or sustain losses in the battle for the plurality of the votes riding by riding would still be up in the air.

In any case, Fall is shaping up as an interesting season for political junkies like me!

Product Placement TV Champions

Here's an interesting list of the US network TV series that scored the most product placements during the period from January 2008 to June 2008. Not surprisingly, reality series dominate the chart! Product placements mean more ancillary revenue for the show / network on top of their sponsorship ad revenues

Rank Program Network Total # of Times that Brands Appeared in Program


1 AMERICAN IDOL FOX 4,636
2 BIGGEST LOSER NBC 4,364
3 DEAL OR NO DEAL NBC 2,122
4 EXTREME MAKEOVER HOME EDITION ABC 1,776
5 APPRENTICE NBC 1,646
6 HELL'S KITCHEN FOX 1,596
7 BIG BROTHER 9 CBS 1,514
8 ONE TREE HILL CW 1,308
9 AMERICAS NEXT TOP MODEL CW 1,259
10LAST COMIC STANDING NBC 1,206


Source: Nielsen Product Placement

Millionaire changes coming this Fall

Game show "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire", which begins its season No. 7 in first-run syndication as a weekday strip on Sept. 8, will feature some changes next season, as follows:

Time clock:

The contestants will now answer questions against a clock, with the timing as follows:

15 seconds for the first five questions,
30 seconds for the next five questions (6 - 10),
45 seconds for the next four questions (11 -14),
45 seconds plus banked time (unused time carried forward) for the final million dollar question.

“Ask an expert” video call lifeline:

This is a placement partnership with Skype, and will feature experts appearing via a live-to-face video call.

Double dip lifeline:

The Double Dip lifeline will be revived, giving contestants two guesses on any question.

TIFF to migrate south to Yonge-Dundas Square

The full lineup for the 33rd annual edition of the Toronto International Film Festival (Sept. 4-13) was announced yesterday. The lineup includes 312 films, including 237 features (76 per cent premieres),from 64 countries. In total, 20,000 minutes of film will unspool, ranging in length from three minutes long to more than four hours.

Although the total film count is down by 40 films (12 of them features) over last year's lineup, the screen total will increase to 36 from last year's 29. This is because TIFF will be taking over an entire floor of the new AMC multiplex at the Toronto Life complex, as Yonge-Dundas Square becomes the festival's new hub. TIFF will be programming free movies and concerts in the square, themed to its lineup. This move South to Dundas from Bloor may be short-lived, however, as the festival is scheduled to be centred at the new "Bell Lightbox" facility, now under construction (to sit in the podium of a Daniels Festival Centre condo development) at King St. W. and John St., which is expected to open within two years.

TIFF's southern migration is welcome news to me, since both Yonge-Dundas Square and the Festival Centre are more conveniently accessible from our condo than Yorkville. Unfortunately, scheduling conflicts will likely preclude me from being as active a TIFF-goer this Fall versus prior years.

That won't, however, stop me from from reviewing the full schedule andt making my suggested selections on what to screen on this blog. Check back here frequently for future postings in my TIFF08 series!

American Airlines introduces in-flight internet service

American Airlines becomes the first North American carrier to offer in-flight internet service, effective today. Details here. The service is only being introduced on selected (heavily travelled) routes initially. The price point ($12.95) does not appear excessive (by airline standards, considering a soggy stale ham roll with limp lettuce can cost you ten bucks if your busy travel schedule leaves you without time to stock up on an in-flight meal pre-boarding).

Hopefully other airlines (Air Canada, are you listening?) will soon introduce this feature and more flexible "unlimited use, season pass" pricing options may emerge that would be transferable across alliance partners (star and one-world). Delta is expected to be next to introduce broadband wi-fi access on its flights and to roll it out fleet wide. The internet access on commercial jet planes will prohibit making VoIP calls.

New Kitchen Design finished

Boris at Dekla has finished his design of our Scavolini kitchen and provided us with a quotation. The drawings of the plan can be reviewed at a facebook page photos album here. The final quotation is within $1,500 of our budget (including GST). Half of the pricetag is due as a deposit upon placing the order with the factory in Italy. Once the order is placed, it takes 10 to 12 weeks to be constructed and shipped over here to Canada. So we are most likely looking at a November arrival and installation date. So we have to be prepared to do alot of grill, warming plate, BBQ cooking and eating out between the teardown date (early October) and Christmas!

HSBC iphone rumours denied

Recent rumours that Apple was on the cusp of making a major corporate account sales breakthrough to put its new G3 iphone into the hands of 200,000 of (banking conglomerate) HSBC's employees worldwide have been denied by the company. HSBC will be sticking with the RIM blackberry as its corporate smartphone of choice. There is no confirmation or denial of whether recent reports of user problems with the iphone (reported at this blog earlier) influenced this outcome. However, big business has historically been reluctant to embrace new technologies (such as the latest releases of Microsoft's Apple's PC software (Windows / Vista)) until they have been battle tested and de-bugged. Apple's competitive strengths have historically been limited to design and marketing for individual retail market distribution channels. Nothwithstanding some analysts have deemed the iphone "business worthy"

Details here

2008 Summer Olympics TV Ratings Update:

The Summer Olympics continue to be a big TV audience draw on both sides of the border.

USA

NBC is reporting that, based on the first 10-days of the 2008 Summer Olympic Games telecasts from Beijing, in excess of 196 million viewers have watched some portion of the games. Comparably, this would rank this Olympiad as the fourth most-watched event in U.S. TV history behind the 1996 Games in Atlanta (209 million), the 1994 Lillehammer Games (204 million) and 2004 Athens Games (203 million). Viewership in prime time (8 PM to 11 PM) over the 10-day period has averaged 29.8 million. That ranks the Beijing Games 14 percent ahead of Athens in 2004 (which attracted 26.2 million average viewers). Finally, the 17.2 rating/30 share in households is the best pace through to the second Sunday for a Summer Olympics staged outside of the USA since Barcelona in 1992 (which posted a 18.6/35 score in that measure)

Courtesy of its Olympics coverage, NBC attracted 28,681,000 average viewers last week in week 47 (08/11 through 08/17) of the TV season (which began back in September 2007). Comparably, CBS the #2 ranked network only averaged 5,061,000 average viewers.

The individual nightly telecasts ranked (according to Nielson Media Research) as follows
(in 000s):

1 SUM OLYM TUE 34010 11.9
2 SUM OLYM SAT 31590 11.0
3 SUM OLYM MON 30170 10.5
4 SUM OLYM THU 29710 10.4
5 SUM OLYM WED 27660 9.7
6 SUM OLYM SUN 27180 9.5
7 SUM OLYM FRI 26070 9.1


Canada

Based on the most currently available Canadian ratings (which tend to lag release of the US ratings), for the week of August 4 to August 10, Olympics coverage also got off to decent start on CBC, attracting an average of 1.2 million viewers in prime time for the three day period from Friday August 8 (featuring a rebroadcast of the opening ceremonies) thru Sunday August 10. This average still trailed the totals CTV posted for reality competition shows like “So You Think You Can Dance”, “Canadian Idol” and its original Summer crime-drama “Flashpoint”. Applying the usual 10:1 (Canada:US) market-size rule, it would appear that the Olympics are considerably more popular south of the border than in Canada.

Details here:

Inspirational vets pad Canada's medal haul

So the Canadian team has rebounded from a slow start in the first week of competition to run its medal count up to double digits in the past four days and best its haul from Greece four years ago. The me, the most remarkable performances have come from three veterans members of the Canadian team who are returning to compete in the Olympics for at least the third time.

First, kudos go out to equestrian team rider Ian Millar who was competing in his 9th Olympics and is finally coming home with a medal. Although Canada lost the gold to the US in the jump-off round, their earlier performances were stellar with little room for error, given that Canada's fourth mount had pulled up lame. Apparently Ian's wife lost a battle to cancer back in March and described him as a "late bloomer". I guess she was smiling down on him!

Second, kudos go to trampoline gymnast Karen Cockburn who was competing in her third Olympics and has medaled each time. That is a rare accomplishment.

And last but not least, kudos go out to triathlete Simon Whitfield. I found Simon's gold medal performance 8 years ago as a 24 year old rookie to be one of the most stirring moments in Canadian Olympic sports history. But his comeback silver medal this year as a 32 year old was even more inspirational. He appeared to have lost touch with the leading group of three. Just when I was starting to abandon all hope of him coming back, he suddenly tossed the cap from his head and started to bear down, kicking into overdrive to start his finishing kick. He surged to the front and actually had the lead with 200 metres or so left. It was astonishing to me that anyone could still have the mental toughness to push past the pain after all that swimming, cycling and running... to dig down deep and will his body to deliver a medal in a final sprint like that. Most incredible!

With honourable mention to veteran diver Alexandre Despatie who claimed another silver for Canada in a springboard competition

Way to go Team Canada!

Weekend Update (Aug 15 - 17)

It was another busy weekend. Here's my re-cap update!

Friday PM:

I had planned to pick up Ryan and Claire at the Kilgour Estates early after work because Gary got free tix work to the Argos - Als game at the Rogers Centre (with a 7:30 PM start time). However Claire had a school friend over visiting her until 6 PM. When I did get around to departing, I found the entry / exit door to the garage broken (could not lift). Service men were working to repair it but in the meantime I found my exit route was blocked. So we had to regroup and improvise. I called up to Kilgour and instructed Ryan and Claire to catch the TTC down. I met them at King Station. We then proceeded over to the RC from there.

The Argos tix came courtesy of the CAW (the union at Gary's employer -- Bombardier at Downsview) who have some sponsorship arrangement. The CAW issue vouchers have to be redeemed at a designated booth located near Gate 5/6 to obtain tickets. Last time we went to a game (versus the Eskimos) we arrived earlier and scored excellent seats (near the 20 yard line). This time (thanks to the garage door snag) we were later and not as fortunate in our seat selection. We ended up down near the 5 year line at the Jumbotron end of the stadium. We just managed to get in the gate before the rain started to pour down! Thank heavens for the retractable roof!

The field had been completely reconfigured from the NFL regulation playfield they had set up for the Bills exhibition the day before to a CFL regulation playfield. (The NFL playing field is shorter and narrower.)

The Argos' game performance was pitiful. They were clearly outplayed offensively by Anthony Calvillo and the Als. The Argos could muster little on offence under either QB (Kerry Joseph or Michael Bishop) who split the playtime. In what not nearly as entertaining a game as the Eskies game we saw a few weeks back. In fact, the most exciting elements of the stadium experience were the audience participation game show elements including Name that Tune, Deal or No Deal (featuring Rona tool boxes in place of suitcases), Power of 13 (guess the attendance (it was close to 30,000) figure within a 13,000 red-zone range) , the armchair QB football target toss (if you win, you get to keep the armchair!) and the unitours package holiday giveaway (where a blind-folded contest was directed to a midfield target (by fan noise) to claim the prize). Unlike the Argos, no audience participant went away a loser on the night!

We wound up leaving early (after the third quarter) with the Argos down by a score of 28 to 11. I believe the Als and boatmen traded field goals after we left, so we didn't miss much. We got home in time to see Michael Phelps win his 8th gold medal of the games live.

Saturday:

AM: We went out for breakfast at Frans (corner of Shuter and Victoria Sts) and then shopping to the EC. We wound up at Sears' Super Saturday around 9 to purchase some clothing items for our upcoming cruise (less than a week away now). Ryan & I purchased shorts and tees while Claire got a few tees. There were some great deals since the remaining Summer apparel is at close-out prices now (tho the selection was thin)! We also went to Bluenotes where Claire found a back to school hoodie. (Her school requires a uniform but they get "civies days" occasionally.) The total toll was around $150... not bad!

Following shopping, it was back over to Dekla in the Liberty Market village to review the redesigned Scovolini kitchen that Boris had worked on for us there. We were very pleased with his design (version #12) tho the price quotation was still toward the high end of our budgeted range. He committed to speak to his manager and try to get it down to a "best price".

PM: Ryan had to get up to Finch station to hitch a ride to a video taping session he had to attend on behalf of Kumon, where he has been attending after school math study session since he was in grade 5 (and now also works as a part-time instructor). Kumon were filming footage for inclusion in a documentary featuring Kumon students from around the world. Ryan was selected by the operator-head instructor at the franchiser location he attends (at Middlefield and McNiccol) to be one of the students interviewed for Canada. Ryan was give a $50 Indigos/Chapters book token for his efforts.

Shortly after Ryan's return from his video interview session, and following a light supper, we headed out to attend a screening of the movie The Dark Knight in the IMAX theatre at the Scotiabank (formerly Paramount) theatre at Richmond and John St. We caught the King streetcar there. This was the fifth weekend of release for the movie and the first time all of us had seen it. We arrived (what we considered) early so did a bit of shopping at Indigos. Claire bought the new Mylie Cyrus CD and the first book in author Stephenie Meyer's bestselling Twilight saga for teens. When we did get to the theatre (I had pre-ordered tix online and printed them at home) we were surprised to see how long the line formed was outside the IMAX auditorium! In any case we were still able to claim good seats at the centre.

The Dark Knight is by far the most realistic and darkest of all the big screen Batman movies. Heath Ledger's final role as The Joker is extremely creepy. I came away feeling very unsettled. There was a smattering of applause at the end. Unlike most Summer blockbusters, the movie does not over-rely on outlandish CGI special effects or stunt sequences. I was glad we paid the premium to see it in the big screen IMAX format.

After the game we returned home in time to watch Usain Bolt (Jamaican track athlete) win the 100 m dash gold at the Olympics, claiming the title as "fastest man alive"

Sunday

AM: The 10:30 mass at St Mikes Cathedral featured a special guest homily from a visiting priest from a parish in the Philippines, that was quite interesting. He was soliciting foreign mission fund donations to help educate seminarians studying for the priesthood in his homeland. Unfortunately, the cathedral has no AC in the Summer and Claire started feeling faint during the Eucharistic rite. I ended up taking her outside to get some fresh air. She rallied fine after that. I am hoping she isn't coming down with a bug (I was felling cold-flu symptoms last week and Gary is down with similar symptoms today) given our upcoming vacation plans. I am going to purchase out of country medical insurance coverage on line, just in case!

PM: We went "back to school" shopping at the Staples location at Parliament between Queen and Front. Claire needed a new back-pack in addition to the usual school supplies. On the way back from there, I made the mistake of stopping by the Sobeys (at Front / Princess) to pick up a few grocery items. I proceeded to the express check-out (8 items only) and wound up behind a woman who had at least 30 items in her basket (most of which were veggies that required weighing). The cashier was inexperienced at recognizing the items and her scale was malfunctioning so it took forever to check out... sooooo frustrating! Don't you just hate when that happens!

Overall, it was a hectic but entertaining weekend.

Apple iphone: The bloom is off the rose

The iphone honeymoon was short-lived.

The web is suddenly ablaze with stories of iphone connectivity, reception problems and weak signal strength attributed to engineering problems introduced in mass production.

This serves as yet another reminder that early tech adopters are essentially volunteering as guinea pigs in order to indulge their need to be the first on the block to use the latest toys while the kinks are still being worked out. Perhaps this news will help redress the stock-out inventory issues Rogers has been confronting with its product launch in Canada.

Here is an overview report from c-net

Ny Teknik, Sweden's foremost engineering weekly, obtained a report on tests (conducted by unnamed experts) that showed some handsets' sensitivity to third-generation network signals is well below the level specified in the 3G standard. This report claims they are failing tests that determine whether they meet minimum G3 connectivity standards.

So far Apple has not responded to these claims.

Half Blood Prince held back

UPDATE: Obviously WB did not make the holdback call in time to notify the editors of Entertainment Weekly. EW issued their Fall Preview movie issue (# 1007/1008 Aug 22/29) with a cover featuring Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter!

************

The sixth (second last) movie adaptation of the popular Harry Potter book series has been yanked from the WB's Fall release slate and will now be held back until next Summer. The delay is not due to post-production delays. Instead, it is strategic ploy to try to boost the picture's box office potential. Warner Brothers is hoping to take advantage of a weak release slate in a Summer release season that is depleted because of writers strike backlogs. I am sure this move will disappoint many fans who were hoping to see Harry 6 debut before Christmas.

More details here

Union drive succeeds at Quebec WalMart

A trade union has finally managed to infiltrate the WalMart retail empire.

8 employees in the Tire and Lube Express shop at a store location in Gatineau Quebec are now covered by a collective bargaining agreement imposed by an arbitrator and represented by the United Food and Commercial Workers Union.

There is speculation that WalMart may shut the facility to nip the unionization movement in the bud. Management likely views the union as a threat that may increase its labour expenses impairing its profitability or price competitiveness.

In 2005 WalMart closed a store in Jonquière, Que., that had been the first in North America to obtain union certification and the The Supreme Court of Canada has agreed to hear a challenge from former employees at the Jonquière store that claim their jobs were lost due to labour activism.

More details here

Alberta: Porn valley north?

Northern Peaks, a Canadian digital pay TV channel, was approved by federal regulators (the CRTC) this week. It plans to air “adult only” content and to program at least 50 per cent Canadian content at night.

In its application to the CRTC, the service was described as "Canada's first adult video channel offering significant Canadian content". Northern Peaks has pledged to produce its own movies, in addition to events and series from Canada. The company also pledges to devote not less than 50 per cent of the evening broadcast period to Canadian programming over the course of the broadcast year, spending a minimum of 25 per cent of its subscriber revenues on Canadian programming, including at least $1-million in its first broadcast year.

The applicant (Real Productions) is based in Sherwood Park, Alta and already produces adult content for Starz, Playboy TV and HBO.

As a condition of granting its license, Northern Peaks must show the CRTC that at least one cable or satellite carrier has agreed to pick up the service. The channel has three years to secure such an agreement. The channel is a Category 2 pay television service, which means that it is discretionary for cable and satellite carriers to pick up

The CRTC did not receive any interventions at hearings held in May about the application from other broadcasters or interest groups opposed to the bid. In granting the license the regulator reminded cable and satellite companies that due to the adult nature of the programming, this service shall only be distributed at the specific request of the subscriber. Carriers would not be permitted to package the service such that customers are required to subscribe to Northern Peaks to access other channels. Additionally the CRTC will require distributors to take measures to fully block the reception of both the audio and video portions of the service for customers who do not wish to receive it.

The service will broadcast 24 hours, is required to close caption, but will not broadcast in HD.

The applicant (Real Productions) is based in Sherwood Park, Alta and already produces adult content for Starz, Playboy TV and HBO.

More details here

Rihanna ties Beyonce and Mariah Records

Rihanna's pop hit "Disturbia" rises from # 3 to the # 1 position on the Billboard Hot 100 music chart this week, ending the seven-week reign at # 1 by Katy Perry's "I Kissed a Girl" (which falls to # 3). "Disturbia" sold 148,000 downloads last week, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

Disturbia becomes Rihanna's fourth Billboard Hot 100 chart-topper, which ties her with Beyonce and Mariah Carey for the most # 1 s by a female artist this decade. Meanwhile, another Rihanna song, "Take a Bow," remains at # 4. In addition to “Take a Bow”, Rihanna’s has also hit #1 previously with "S.O.S.", from her sophomore CD “A Girl Like Me” and “Umbrella”, the lead-off single from her third CD “Good Girl Gone Bad”.

Here is a complete recap of Rihanna's top hits in chronological order of release. The final column shows the peak position attained on the Hot 100 chart:



2005 Pon de Replay 2
2006 Unfaithful 6
2006 SOS 1
2007 Umbrella 1
2007 Shut Up And Drive 15
2007 Hate That I Love You 7
2007 Break It Off 9
2008 Don't Stop The Music 3
2008 Take A Bow 1
2008 Disturbia 1

Wheel plans special "Canada Week" episodes

To mark the move of the Wheel of Fortune weekday strip to the CBC network in Canada, the show will run a series of Canadian-themed shows from October 13-17. CBC will be airing the shows in a 5:30 pm time slot in most markets as a lead in to regional news.

The Canada week shows will feature puzzles with a Canadian theme, prizes that include trips to Canadian destinations like Vancouver, Ottawa and Toronto and some "Canadian fun facts".

The new season of "Wheel of Fortune" debuts Sept. 8 at 5:30 p.m. on CBC while companion show "Jeopardy" begins to air on the network on the same night at 7:30 p.m.

More details here

Apple's iphone app store off to fast start

It appears the App store that Apple launched along with its G3 iphone models may ultimately prove to be the more revolutionary market innovation. The App store has the potential to change the landscape by allowing small developers access to a broad customer base to distribute their software products. It could also shift the focus in the software development industry from an emphasis on apps developed for desktop and laptop PCs over to developing apps more suited for mobile smartphone handsets.

In the short period of time since launch date last month, 60 million apps have been downloaded, represent $30 million worth of sales revenues. Apple retains 30% of the app sales revenues. I am not sure how this percentage compares to the revenue sharing split on downloaded music and video content sold through itunes.

Details here:

Air Canada A/V changes

Air Canada is finally ending the wasteful practice of handing out free disposable audio headsets every time you board a flight. Instead they'll make available two prong adapters so you can use your own single prong headphones / earbuds to plug in to the seat jacks on older planes.

Now if they would only install more reliable seat-back VOD screens! I was on a recent flight where the touch sensitive seat back VOD screens failed and had to be re-set three times midflight. The attendants came through the cabin and distributed cards with a code to enter in an e-mail to customer service to receive some additional aeroplan points in compensation for the failure. I followed the instructions but never wound up getting credited with any.

I wonder if the attendants will demonstrate how to insert a one prong headphone in a two prong adapter, given that they still think people need instructions on how to fasten and tighten a standard lap belt!?

I think this change makes good sense. I expect many passengers watch / listen to their own audio-video material using their laptops and ipods in flight anyhow!

Details here.

Rogers marketing shifts: What do they really signal?

Rogers Retail has announced that its Rogers Video stores are being re-branded as Rogers Plus and will add expanded product and services offerings from the Rogers Cable and Rogers Wireless business lines to the existing movies and games software inventory available for rent and sale at the locations.

The transition from Rogers Video to Rogers Plus stores will take place between August and December 2008 on a city-by-city basis across the country. Information on the stores can now be found at http://www.rogersplus.ca/.

Rogers spokespersons are claiming that the decision to add new products at these stores is not a reflection of a software rental downturn, claiming that home video and game rentals continues to be a thriving, vibrant, industry in Canada to which Rogers is committed.

Frankly, despite the rhetoric, I am suspicious of the REAL motives behind this switch. There is no doubt that video piracy and illegal movie and software downloading and duplication have been eroding the video and game rental revenues of bricks and mortar retailers in the same way that it earlier altered the music retailing landscape. Also, renting homevideo titles may cannibalize Rogers revenues from its “Rogers on Demand” VOD PPV cable services in regions where Rogers holds CATV licenses. The window between homevideo release on DVD discs and availability of the same titles on PPV seems to be down to less than a month now. (Frankly its a lot easier downloading a movie using a Rogers high speed internet cable connection or ordering it up on an ROD screen than going out to a bricks and mortar store (twice) to pick up and return a DVD or Blu-Ray disc (particularly in the rainy weather we’ve been having this Summer or in Canadian winters)). Similarly, in Roger’s wireless business, its hottest new product is the Apple iphone which is generating download revenues for Apple (from sale of apps, music and video at the itunes store) rather than for Apple’s wireless service partners (like Rogers) that distribute the iphone.

Stateside, Cablevision, the cable TV provider in Long Island New York, recently won a court decision allowing them to remotely store digital video recorded content selected by their cable subscribers (for time-shifting) on central high volume servers housed in cable company premises outside of consumers' homes. Until this ruling such timeshift digital recording was limited to that done using a TIVO or other DVR set top cable box within a subscriber's home. This decision greatly enhances storage capabilities and cost efficiencies for cable companies and their subscribers. However producers, broadcasters, cable network operators and their advertisers opposed the court ruling. This is because studies reveal that viewers skip thru commercial breaks when they play back programming from DVRs instead of watching original broadcasts in network programmed timeslots.

Rogers have so far not announced any plans to introduce a Cablevision style DVR storage model in Canada, but marginalizing the role of homevideo sales and rentals in their retail locations would certainly insulate them further from the influence of the movie studios that produce a lot of the content that both gets DVRed and released on homevideo. Moreover, there is no love lost between Rogers and conventional (over the air) TV broadcasters who have petitioned the CRTC regulators, seeking license fees from cable operators for distributing their programming comparable to those charged by specialty TV license holders.

Beijing Olympics: TV ratings update

UPDATE:


Monday night update:

Final ratings show NBC averaging 29.7 million total viewers in primetime (down marginally from the overnight levels reported earlier), from 8 to 11:36 p.m. This is an increase of 9 percent from the 27.1 million that tuned into coverage on the same night in Athens. Monday night's broadcast from Beijing featured coverage of Michael Phelps tying the Olympic career gold medal record. The Athens coverage featured coverage of Paul Hamm and the U.S. men’s gymnastics team earning a silver medal.

This viewership level was the highest Monday night rating for any network since Fox in February 2003 and the highest rated Monday for NBC since February 2002. NBC averaged a 17.4 household rating and 28 share Monday night. That is 5 percent better than a 16.6/27 for Athens. NBC also averaged a 10.4 rating in the key demographic (adults 18-49) that advertisers covet. That represents the best Monday night performance in that measure since Fox in January 2004.

Overall:

After four nights of Olympic coverage, NBC is averaging 30.4 million total viewers, 23 percent better than the 24.7 million average for Athens. Among households, NBC is averaging a 17.1 rating, up 16 percent from Athen’s 14.7. NBC’s ratings earned to date represent the best start to a Summer Olympics staged outside the USA in 16 years, since the 1992 Barcelona Games averaged a 17.4 rating for the first four days.

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Original post:

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Viewership levels for NBC's Olympic coverage continues to dominant regular programming on other networks, as follows:

Monday night

NBC’s Olympic telecast averaged 29.951 million 8 from 11 in the overnights. Comparatively CBS, the next highest rated network, averaged 6.126 million.The telecast peaked out at 34.581 million viewers in the 10:00 PM half hour.

Sunday night:

NBC's Olympic telecast, which included coverage of the men's 4 X 100 meter freestyle swimming relay, attracted 32.6 million viewers, rating it the 2nd highest programme of the week behind Friday’s opening ceremonies telecast (which averaged 34.89 viewers). This topped by 16 per cent the overnight prime time rating for the first Sunday night of competition in Athens four years ago. The difference between the two telecasts was that the Athens programming was taped, while Beijing was live. The highlight of the telecast (when viewership peaked) featured the come-from-behind win by the American relay team when Michael Phelps earned his second gold medal of the Olympiad, staying on track in his quest for eight gold medals.

Saturday night:


NBC’s Olympic coverage averaged 24.079 million viewers (on generally the least viewed TV night of the week), rating it the third highest program of the week. Comparatively, CBS, the next highest rated network, averaged 4.036 million viewers. Viewership peaked in the 10 PM half hour, attracting 28.362 million viewers

Beijing Olympics lip-syncing scandal revealed

UPDATE: And the controversies just keep on coming:

Who knew that the Chinese translation of Milli Vanilli was Lin Miaoke?

Lin Miaoke is a fraud and a fake. The cute and precocious pig-tailed 9 year old who captured China and the world's hearts by performing at the start of the opening ceremonies actually lip synced her song lyrics to the voice of a vocal double. The child who appeared to sing live in Bird's Nest Stadium as the national flag entered was Lin Miaoke (pictured top right) . Lin became an overnight national sensation in China and wound up with her picture published on the front of the New York Times. But the real voice heard over the loudspeakers singing "Hymn to the Motherland" was actually that of 7 year old Yan Peiyi (pictured top left) who pre-recorded her vocal at the Central People’s Radio Station.

The organizers made the switch "in the national interest" because they thought the child on camera "should be flawless in image, internal feelings, and expression” and they found that Yang Peiyi's "image was not the most appropriate". Apparently, the fringe hair Peiyi, with her crooked teeth, failed the "cuteness test", but was judged to have a more "perfect voice". Miaoke had prior acting experience. She appeared in a television ad last year with gold medal hope and hurdling champion Liu Xiang and in another Olympics ad that aired just before the Chinese New Year.

The organizers ought to be ashamed of co-opting these two young girls in this political propaganda motivated switcheroo scandal!

Mamma Mia past the $100 million box office mark

Based on weekend box office estimates provided by studios, Mamma Mia, with a take of $8 million, has passed $100 million at the North American box office in its 4th weekend in wide release. Neither the facts that Pierce Brosnan can't sing, Colin Firth can't dance, nor that Meryl Streep is too old to play mom to Amanda Seyfried, have been able to bring this irresistibly infectious feel-good Summer musical down.

The $8.1 million take easily surpasses the $6.4 million take of Hairspray in its 4th weekend of release last year and Mamma Mia is now within $15 million of Hairspray's total box office take.

Internationally Mamma Mia has $277.4 in the till compared to Hairspray's $200.6 total. MM is now the 5th best grossing (live action) movie musical released since 1974 and only the 6th to gross more than $100 million, as follows:

1 Grease . $188.4 1978
2 Chicago $170.7 2002
3 Hairspray $118.9 2007
4 Rocky Horror $112.9 1975
5 Mamma Mia! $104.0 2008
6 Dreamgirls $103.4 2006

Executive producer Tom Hanks is getting a good return on the $52 million he invested in MM production costs, although it will not match the domestic haul of his company's Big Fat Greek Wedding, which took in $241.4 million, six years ago.

Meanwhile the movie's soundtrack is still ranked number 3 on the Billboard best sellers chart and ABBA Gold is still perched atop of the Pop catalog chart

Olympic sized ratings

CBC's ratings will not be available for some time still, but NBC's US telecast of the 2008 Olympic Games Opening Ceremony in Beijing received the highest overnight rating ever for an event staged outside the USA. It earned a 21.5 rating and a 37 share (from 8-11:19 p.m. ET/PT).

(A rating is a percent of the all television households in the USA tuned to a particular show and a share is the percentage of the TV audience watching TV at a particular time that is tuned to a particular program.)

The overnight rating for the Opening Ceremony represented a 19 percent increase over Athens in 2004 and 16 percent higher than Sydney in 2000, according to Nielsen Media Research data.


In the overall viewership averages for Friday, Aug. 8, the 2008 Summer Olympics Opening Ceremonies scored a whopping 35.31 million viewers and a 10.3 rating/32 share among adults 18-49.


When you look at the total viewers tuned to each network, the dominance of NBC's Olympics coverage becomes apparent :


NBC: 35.31 million,
CBS: 4.02,
CW: 3.77,
ABC: 3.30,
Fox: 2.32


In the key demo (Adults 18-49) NBC likewise dominated its rival US broadcast networks


NBC :10.3 rating/32 share,
CW: 1.2/ 4,
ABC: 1.1/ 4,
CBS: 1.1/ 3,
Fox: 1.0/ 3


The Opening Olympic Ceremonies on NBC beat the four competing networks combined by 21.9 million viewers and 134 percent among adults 18-49!



OPENING CEREMONY OVERNIGHT RATINGS COMPARISON

(for a Summer Olympics held outside USA) :



1) Beijing - 2008 - 21.5/37
2) Sydney - 2000 - 18.5/32
3) Seoul - 1988 - 18.3/33
4) Athens - 2004 - 18.0/30
5) Barcelona - 1992 - 16.5/32

(first score is the rating; second score is the audience share)

The opening Ceremony in Atlanta in 1996 earned 27.2/47.


In terms of local markets, the Olympics telecast performed strongest in the Western cities in the USA, as follows.


TOP 10 METERED MARKETS FOR OPENING CEREMONY:


1) San Diego - 26.5/49
2) West Palm Beach - 25.7/42
3) Sacramento - 24.3/43
4) Denver - 24.2/43
T5) San Francisco - 24.1/47
T5) Baltimore - 24.1/41
7) Indianapolis - 23.9/42
8) Salt Lake City - 23.5/49
9) Nashville - 23.4/37
10) St. Louis - 22.9/42

(first score is the rating, second is the audience share)

NBC is broadcasting its record 11th Olympics, surpassing ABC for the most Olympics broadcast by any network. NBC plans to present 3,600 hours of Beijing Olympic Games coverage, the most ambitious single media project in history featuring the most live coverage (nearly 2,900 live hours in total), across the most platforms, of any Summer Olympics in history.

A Tale of Two Coffee Shops

It has been interesting to monitor the shifting fortunes of Tim Hortons and Starbucks as the economy contracts. Tim Hortons (TDL) recently announced a 11.5% increase in Q2 profits whereas Starbucks have been announcing executive shuffles, store closures, rebranding efforts and price adjustments to try to revive their sagging earnings.

I find some personal validation and/or vindication in this dramatic reversal in corporate fortunes. Tim Hortons has always been my paper-cup java of choice. I joined the Tim Hortons fan club at an early age, growing up in the East end of Hamilton just a few miles from the original Tim Hortons outlet, where it all began (on Ottawa St. N). I have fond memories of driving there with my Dad as a kid. In those days they used to sell off their "day old" donuts in plastic bag dozen assortments at half price. There used to be much heated discussion in the car among my siblings en route about whether we wanted to go with a fresh dozen donuts in an assorted box of our choice or double up and pig out on the day-old grab bags for the same price. Hamilton was a lunch bucket town where donut shops thrive (likely has more donut shops per capita than any other city in the world). The original Ottawa St N shop was strategically located on the daily commute route of steelworkers heading to the blast furnaces on their morning commutes. Tim Hortons is clearly and proudly "blue collar".

Starbucks, on the other hand, is the much more upscale hi-brow "foo-foo" brand. Unlike Tims, which was born in the blue collar shadow of the blast furnace, Starbucks comes to us via the US Pacific Northwest, where they take their coffee almost as seriously as Italians. Starbucks is more about the show than the coffee. The brand has upscale cachet and is much more white-collar than blue collar. The problem is that as they have expanded to more and more outlets, they have become more broadly accessible to the masses, which has undermined the snob-appeal cachet of the brand.

The pretentiousness of Starbucks is quite hilarious. This used to be cleverly parodied on the Frasier sitcom when the Crane brothers gave the barrista their esoteric finicky choices! Rather than referring to their cups sizes as small, medium, large or extra large, Starbucks applies terms like "short" for small , "tall" for medium "grande" (pronounced "grawn-day") for large and "vente" for extra-large. They always offer a mild and bold coffee daily house blend, in addition to a de-caf option. There is also a wide range of hot and cold speciality drinks, some of which are coffee based (espresso, latte, cappuccinos, et al) and others which are cream or ice based. When you order a specialty blended drink you need to specify a wide range of finishing and extra instructions, ranging from the caffeine level (de-caf or half-caf), the number of espresso shots (single, double, triple, quad) whitener options (half and half, non-fat, low fat, soy, lactose free), topping options (foam, low foam, no foam, extra-foam, whipped on top) and even serrving temperature (140 degrees is less likely to burn)! You need to be a mathematician to add up all the possible permutations and combinations. Its choice overkill to the nth degree.

Meanwhile back at Tim Hortons, (although they have recently added Flavour Shots) they have only one favour of coffee--- coffee flavour! The serving options are normally limited to black (the way I take mine), double-double and triple-triple (the way our building security guard Nicole (she's from Oshawa) takes hers, when I bring her one back).

We are spoiled in terms of paper cup coffee options within walking range of our condo. We have three Tim Hortons and three Starbucks nearby. The Starbucks evening closing times vary from 8 PM to 10 PM-- and two of them (the one at King and George and the one on Front, west of the market) have patios. Meanwhile, one of the Tim Hortons shares its facilities with Wendys and the other is inside George Brown College (so has very restricted hours). When I am at work, there are four Tim Hortons, located on the PATH in concourse food courts, within walking distance of my office (one in Scotia Plaza, one in the TD Canadian Pacific, one in 145 King W and one in the First Canadian Place Exchange Tower (with a 5th about to open in Royal Bank Plaza when its Food Court re-opens in the Fall.) There are also six Starbucks within walking distance... two in Brookfield Place, one in the TD CP "west side" foodcourt, one in First Canadian Place, one in Lombard Place, one in the Richmond-Adelaide Centre and one on the ground floor of First Canadian Place.

My workmates are almost equally divided in their Tims vs Starbucks preferences, ven tho I work in a decidedly white collar environment in a Big 4 professional services firm.

In the final analysis, I believe the fact that Tim Hortons is thriving now while Starbucks is struggling is more a barometer of the ailing economy than the relative merits of their product or marketing efforts. With gas at $1.25 a litre, people simply can't afford to drop $4 for a cup of java every time they enter the coffee shop. That's why Tim Hortons is pulling ahead. Mickey Dees is also upgrading coffee options to challenge Starbucks in its home market. There is a misconception that Starbucks offers better tasting coffee that justifies its higher price. The results of independent taste tests dispel this myth. Apparently Starbucks is test-marketing cheaper coffee in some markets. When the economy comes roaring back, I expect, Starbucks should be poised to resume their growth, if they are able to ride out the rocky road until then! Meanwhile, Tim Hortons is going to be riding the steeper growth curve!