revealed

Hey, I just realized something! In comments here and here, readers were talking about "ParticipAction", Canada's physical fitness promotion from the 1970s. Someone mentioned Hal Johnson and Joanne McLeod, and I asked who they were.

I just realized that I see these two wankers all the time. Since I've been working full-time, before I go to sleep - too tired to read or even watch "The National" - I've been watching "Seinfeld" reruns. Before the show, there's a cheesey public-service ad for "Bodybreak", and last night I actually listened to their introduction: "Hi, Hal Johnson and Joanne McLeod here..."

They were someone's pick for Most Annoying Canadian, and although I would still vote for Canadian Tire Guy, these two are definitely in the running.

Comments

  1. James Redekop25 March 2006 at 06:04

    I don't know if that's entirely fair... After all, they're in the same industry as Richard Simmons -- that's a whole different league of annoyingness.

    ReplyDelete
  2. laura k25 March 2006 at 06:05

    Richard Simmons is Canadian??

    Remember, it's not Most Annoying Fitness Expert, it's Most Annoying Canadian.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Wrye25 March 2006 at 12:30

    I've been a bitter disillusioned man ever since they revealed that Participaction was lying and the average 70-year old Swede in fact wasn't heathier than the average 30-year old Canadian. How could I ever believe anything again?

    I do miss the 70's logo that looked like an insurance company emblem had collided with the Manx flag, though...

    ReplyDelete
  4. laura k25 March 2006 at 14:13

    Richard Simmons is Canadian??

    No one answered this, so I looked it up. From Wikipedia:

    Richard Simmons (born July 12, 1948, in New Orleans, Louisiana as Milton Simmons) is a fitness guru and celebrity.

    He's not Canadian, and his name was Milton! Good goin' on that name change, Richie. As Jon Stewart would say, too Jewy.

    ReplyDelete
  5. laura k25 March 2006 at 17:00

    ZF, it looks like very few people do enjoy it! :)

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

sharia

This morning I see that Dalton McGuinty, Premier of Ontario, is banning the Muslim religious court known as sharia . This ends months of debate about whether sharia would be legal and binding in Ontario. I'm quoting at length from the story in today's Toronto Star because many US readers are likely not up on this. In a surprise announcement that caught both supporters and opponents of sharia law off guard, Premier Dalton McGuinty says he will move quickly to ban all religious arbitration in the province. McGuinty made the announcement in a telephone interview with The Canadian Press yesterday after months of debate and controversy surrounding use of Islamic sharia law in family arbitration. "I've come to the conclusion that the debate has gone on long enough," the premier told the news agency. "There will be no sharia law in Ontario. There will be no religious arbitration in Ontario. There will be one law for all Ontarians." The announcement prompted t
Read more

can of worms

I'm opening a sticky subject here, my need to understand causing me to throw caution to the wind. It's about Alberta. Alberta vs. the rest of the Canada. The Globe And Mail runs something about Alberta's gripes every day, and I try to follow along. If it weren't for wmtc's resident Albertan , and the ensuing arguments in comments, I would've had no warning. It's not something Americans know about. As is, observing for more than a year, I have only the smallest of clues. Here's what I know. Please pardon my ignorance and oversimplification, but I have to start somewhere. The province of Alberta is rich, because it has oil. The province of Alberta is conservative, relative to the rest of Canada. Hmm. Funny how those two go together. Because of its great oil wealth, Alberta revenue helps fund services in the rest of Canada. (These are transfer payments?) Apparently many Albertans resent this. They want to keep Alberta's money in Alberta. They don't
Read more

low confidence

I'm excited about today's no-confidence vote . Only three months after moving here, we'll get to see a government fall, a campaign, and an election, in a system very different from what we're accustomed to. Even the expression "the government will fall" strikes us as oddly dramatic and revolutionary. My sense of current Canadian politics, for what it's worth, tells me that very little will change from the upcoming election. I'd be surprised if the Liberals didn't win. So it's kind of cool to see this happening without a lot at stake. On a semi-tangential note, have I mentioned I'm completely down with "Corner Gas"? Excellent show; I love the deadpan humour. (Great website, too; check it out .) So was that really Finance Minister Ralph Goodale ragging on Brent Butt's camera last Saturday night?
Read more