Strombo and Studio Lights.

I wrote this a bit earlier on, and decided to publish it for this blog:

Well. This was probably more important to my friend Melissa than I, but wow, that was one memorable afternoon. So it was Melissa, Josh, Samara and I. Melissa had been planning this for a while, ever since it was mentioned that The Hour was coming.

So, for you guys who don't know it, "The Hour" is a show on CBC newsworld, hosted by Mr. George Stroumboulopoulos. George guides us through current events, explores interesting ideas and interviews some people worth interviewing. If you don't know and think it's boring. Watch it. Tomorrow night. CBC Newsworld. Maybe you'll understand. So, I've been watching it (semi-religiously) every night from Monday to Thursday. It's a great outlet to the outside world and the very important things that are happening, much more interesting for me than reading the paper, or another news medium.


Now, I guess I'll move us back to the reason that I'm typing, and therefore avoiding my homework (Or is avoiding homework the reason I am typing?). Our names were on the list, and February 7th we were ready to go. So we walked to my house, had some rice krispies and mineral water (that's what you get at my house). We arrived at the university around 4. A biiit early. So we waited around the foodcourt, staring at those menacing, imposing University Students. When the line started, we were at the front. So we found ourselves near the doors of the MacEwan ballroom. We get a glimpse of George as he walks by us and waves. So now we are in the middle row, second from the bottom. We're listening to george talking about the show. Soon it will start. Well, if you watched the show that day you would know what it was about. You might have even seen me in the audience with a goofy expression on my face, following the camera. It was a great experience to witness live television, especially such a great show. So after George is answering our questions. I asked him about the Clash, more specifically London Calling (the shirt I was wearing at the time). Gee, I could have asked him about something a little more deep, more mature but I was itching to know.. what was his favourite song off London Calling? Well, the title song. C'mon the bass line is revolutionary. Soon Melissa will be asking him about his punk shirts, that bury his poor cats. The question period is over.


George is gonna talk to us downstairs. So, being "ambitiously pushy" I decide to follow him down the stairs. I think I was second in line for autographs, along with our gang of 13 year olds. I was the first of us to talk to George. We chatted about London Calling "Spanish Bombs, Rudie Can't Fail, Clampdown are all great songs". The Beatles "their later stuff was much better". I'm pretty sure he thought that my"le groovy pamplemousse" picture was pretty weird. Hey, you can't expect me to draw normal things when I'm bored in french. So he signed on my Beatles notebook, the page with George Harrison "the most talented one". Then there was the picture. Well, I don't usually like to have the goofy, open toothed smile in my pictures. But, I guess a retarded looking face (as Melissa described it) shows how incredibly happy I was. You see, George is George. Exactly the same as on-air, and he's just a cool, down-to-earth kind of dude. He's not a larger then life celebrity, or an intellectual know-it-all. He's someone who's real, and he's truly cool. I think it was a fabulous experience to meet and talk to a person like that. So, thank you very much George for that opportunity. Well that was about the end of that night. I introduced Melissa, who in my words was "a huge fan" (it's true!!), she got her awesome picture, an autograph and a hug. We chatted (Yeah, I can use that word, folks) with George for a bit about school. And it was time to leave. I don't know if anyone wanted to leave, but it's only fair to let the other people meet such a great person. Overall, it was just that memorable night we all dreamt of.