Dr. Stroumboulopoulos or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Don Cherry

My dear friend Hannah has been visiting Angela and I at our humble abode for a few days. When asked what she wanted to do in Toronto specifically, she only had one request: To see a taping of "The Hour". You may or may not know... But I go to a lot of these tapings. This was my fourth time there. Daniel, Hannah and I went, and we really didn't know what to expect. We had no idea who the guests were going to be, or how long it was going to take. Let me tell you, I could not have been more pleased when we found out who was going to be on the show.

The first enigmatic guest was (as you can see from this picture) A Mister Donald S. Cherry. I was thrilled when they announced that he was going to be the first guest. I am not exactly a die-hard-fan of Don Cherry. In fact, I would say the opposite is true. I am pleased to say that no matter how bullheaded, opinionated, inappropriate and crass he can be on TV, he charmed me in this interview. And his suit was easy on the eyes as well.

I was much more excited to hear from Divine Brown. I've only heard a few of her songs, and only fairly recently as well. I've never seen someone's eyes sparkle quite so much, and mid interview she belted out some Joni Mitchell lyrics in a way that I don't think I will ever hear Joni Mitchell lyrics again. It was marvelous.

What always amazes me about the shows, is that they are straight up interviews. There is little, to no editing, and I have never been there were they do a different take. George sits down, does some small talk with the audience - and then they go right into the show. He has notes, but he doesn't refer to them. He has a teleprompter, but that is to keep him on track with his ranting monologues. Sure he knows he is great... But that's the thing. He really is.


They give away free random-things on the show as well which is really exciting. In past tapings I have scored two books so far. This show, I secured myself a third. It is the new short book by JK Rowling. It's adorable. I won it by calling out: "Oh me, me please please please!" and raising both my hands. Ask, and ye shall receive.

Don Cherry also gave everyone in the audience a free copy of "Rock Em Sock Em Hockey #20". I can't wait to watch it. I'm thinking it will be great for some family bonding.

I will leave you with this charming picture of Daniel and I. All pictures are courtesy of a Little Mac.