You down wit' CBC? Yeah, you know me...

CBC, how can I explain it? I'll take you frame by frame it, to have y'all jumpin', shall we singin' it.. 

I'll admit it. I used to be a hater. Anything that looked remotely like a Canadian production (music was the one exception) was automatically written off as crap. Where certain nights were reserved by default for certain shows (i.e. Wednesday nights for 90210 and P.O.F., and Thursday nights for Friends and Survivor), time was never blocked off for, say, Corner Gas. To that same point, I've never heard excited water cooler talk focus around the latest episodes of "Anne of Avonlea" or "Durham County". 

CBC must have fired the old boys' club and brought in some fresh minds, because as of late, my PVR records 3 shows weekly off of the CBC. The kicker? They're actually Canadian productions! 'The Hour', 'Being Erica', and 'The Week the Women Went' are three shows that have made CBC entertaining, funny and actually watchable (no it's not a real word). I'm pretty sure Strombo can turn anything he touches into gold, so no surprise with 'The Hour.' 'Being Erica' is targeting my generation, and gender. It's about a woman in her early 30s who had "such potential" in school secondary and post, and all of a sudden, she's 31-ish, single, working in a call centre and living at home (well, in the pilot, anyway), and wondering where she took a wrong turn and where the time went. 'The Week The Women Went' is actually not that great, but it's a guilty pleasure. Basically, as the title indicates, all the women in a small town are sent to a resort/spa for a week, and the men are left to handle everything. The reason this works in a small town (and I can say this because I actually did live in Smalltown, Onatrio between the ages of 12 - 17) is because most guys who grow up in a small town are hicks who are babied and have no clue on how to run a house, take care of kids full-time, or basically do anything domestic. If they do know how to do it, they play their dumb card so that they can get out of it. Interestingly, the more populated the city, the less you actually see this behaviour. Which is why, I'm assuming, both installments of this show have been filmed in small-town Canada. Anyhow, like I said, it's a guilty pleasure, and v. predictable, but also extremely entertaining. 

In closing, hats off to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation on finally breathing some new (and unexpected!) life into its programming. 

It's Not Me, It's You.

Ah, yes. The line I would have loved to have used on a few choice occasions over the course of my 33 years. Lily Allen has titled her sophomore album by that same phrase. If you're at all familiar with her debut, "Alright, Still", you already know how fitting this new title really is. In listening to the tracks, it's glaringly apparent that she has maintained her reign as 'funniest Brit pop star." The 3rd track, "Not Fair", is excellent. In a nutshell, it's a 'Dear John' to her boyfriend who measures up in every way...except for one. Ladies, we've all had one of those types in our  past - I defy you to listen to the track and not laugh your asses off. "F**k You" is a another goodbye letter...this time to G-Dubya. Love it. Give the album a listen - you won't be disappointed.

In other news, Salma Hayek has been in the hot seat for breast feeding.  She was on a UN mission to Sierra Leone, and there was a malnourished baby boy whose mother could no longer produce milk. Miss Salma started breast feeding the baby without giving it a second thought. Good for her. Would I do it? No way. I breast fed BB1 until he was almost 11 months, which is too long according to some, and not long enough according to others. I could give a rat's ass about people's opinions on my breast feeding habits/choices for my son. Similarly, the fact that Salma Hayek is still feeding her 15-month-old little girl via breast is completely her business. The fact that she directly fed someone who was not her baby, to me, is just...gross, for lack of a better word. I realize I'm in the minority in feeling this way. According to abcnews.com, millions of women passionate about the cause shared their views, many saying that the were moved to tears by Hayek's generosity. In some cultures, cross-feeding is common. What confuses me is that breast feeding is not only just a mechanism of feeding your baby, but it's also a bonding time. If women were all meant to all breast feed, we'd all be lactating 24/7. I am aware that in Sierra Leone, you can't just pop over to the local grocery store to buy formula, so cross-feeding is probably more widely practiced there. I respect the unique culture and rituals of different countries around the the world, but that doesn't mean that it's something that I would personally do.

Only three weeks, 1 day and 11 .5 hours until the new U2 disc "No Line on the Horizon" drops. Get on your boots!