9/11 Remembered
September 11, 2011 marked the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks on the United States. 4 planes hijacked, 3 hitting their intended targets killing hundreds, the fourth crashing in a field in Shanksville PA after passengers and crew attempted to take the plane back from the hijackers. New York, Washington and Shanksville and dozens of other cities held memorials for the victims of the terror attacks. Security was very tight due to the nature of the event and the fact that the 10th year was a focal point for many. It was feared that a renewed attack might take place, thankfully none did.
The key feature of the ceremonies was the unveiling of a memorial waterfalls, there are two of them. On all four sides of the waterfalls are the names of those who died in the attacks. This is part of a larger area where a new tower is being built along with a museum.
From a personal perspective I watched the coverage with interest. National Geographic channel featured an interview with former President Bush about what his day was like during the attacks. Flight 93 was remembered in film on Discovery channel, intense and emotionally hard hitting comes to mind seeing this film. In fact all of the coverage touched a nerve.
Seeing the waterfalls for the first time was touching and showed that even in the midst of a terrible act something beautiful can come from it. For the families and those wanting to pay respects to the dead the waterfalls are a quiet and tranquil place to visit and remember those who lost their lives that day.
The Mail Online has some pictures of the waterfalls as they were being prepared for the 9/11 remembrance ceremonies.
Montreal Daycare Firebombed, TWICE In One Day
Montreal Police are investigating a firebombing incident at a daycare in the borough of RDP. The daycare was firebombed twice in one day. The daycare had been targeted in the past thus this means the business has been attacked three times. The first incident took place on the 3rd of September, the last two on the 13th. Damage is said to be light, however the daycare remains closed while investigators work on the case.
Bebe Einstein formerly Garderie Bebe Lilly was raided by police in 2009 as part of a wider investigation into document fraud related to immigration papers and other types of ID fraud. Police have stated that they do not think the incidents are linked to the raid in 09.
Florida Man Does the Nasty With A Vending Machine
Here is one for the ick file. Michael Aguiar was arrested for molesting a vending machine. Yes you read correctly molesting a vending machine. The 24 year old was caught on video breaking into the machine located in a coin laundromat oddly named Budick Coin Laundry, note the word DICK in the title. Besides stealing coins Aguiar damaged, injured and yes put his weenie into it, eeew.
Aguiar initially denied doing it, that is stealing the coins and doing the machine. But, after being confronted with video footage obtained by Palmetto FL police Aguiar admitted to stealing $10 in coins and well the other thing he was doing with the machine. He was subsequently taken to jail and is awaiting trial.
BEER? Yes Real Beer at realbeer.com
I am not a beer drinker but, I do like Molson Dry and will drink Budweiser. However for me Rum and Coke are king. If your nuts about beer than you'd probably enjoy visiting realbeer.com. This site is a hub for those looking to home brew or find other data related to beer on the net. The site has been on the net since 1994
Key features include events, listings of pubs and breweries and news related to beer. Nice site very well laid out. For more details click on over to realbeer.com.
Montreal's Q92 Became The Beat, So What, It's Still The Same Format!
Recently Q92 changed their brand name and are now calling themselves The Beat of Montreal. So what, it's still the Q only now it has a new name. Same format, new name, nothing new here. The format is a mix of dance, adult contemporary and some soft rock. A sampling of the play list includes Queen Under Pressure, Jennifer Lopez If You Had My Love and Lady Gaga Born This Way.
What amazes me is how they are trying to make a old format sound like a new format, this is so lame tat it defies belief. I happen to like some of the music the station plays. When I visit my mom the station most often playing on her stereo is The Beat, er Q92 er The Beat...Bah you know what I mean. And, as I mentioned they do play songs I like. So what is so bad about a name change? Nothing, if it meant that the format was also changing but, that is the point, the format has not changed. All that they have done here is nothing more than window dressing, a publicity stunt in an attempt to get new audience. Audiences are not as dumb as these guys think they are. Montrealers will catch on fast enough and probably have that this is nothing more than an attempt to get them to switch stations. It would have worked had they made some real changes to the format and style of the station. All that will happen here is probably a small peak in interest and that is about it. A good ploy to get some hype on blogs like this one and in the media but, what really is needed is new audience growth. Nice try but, this is not a good way to get new listeners. In fact I would say it's a good way to piss people off and drive existing audience away. No one likes to be cheated, conned or tricked in this manner. A great opportunity to remake the station into something better has become nothing more than a cheap trick to get audience.
The FM dial is cluttered with stations on it that are playing the same artists and with some exceptions are pretty much the same sounding. On those rare occasions when I do listen to the radio the only way to tell the difference between who is who is via the station ID's they barf out virtually after each song. I have even heard announcers ID the station and then play a station ID! I can take no more than a few minutes of this before I switch to my Ipod, that is how bad it sounds to me. Oh they call themselves Power this or Q that and Bob Ed etc. That's all fine and dandy, but most do not stand out as different, there is no uniqueness to them. I am sure that if I were to scan the dial I would hear Lady Gaga played on 3 stations with so called different formats. As for the announcers little to no talent comes through. They just punch a button and the music rolls out, much like a jukebox. And when they open the mic and talk it's very little and very mundane. Crap, simple as that crap, nothing more and nothing less. Thank heavens we do not have to pay for them to be on the air. In short what I am saying here is that nothing has changed on 92.5 FM except the name.
The Beat has fallen into the trap of trying to compete with the others on the FM dial. What they should have done is kick the consultants out and rethink radio. It's 2011 and with so much competition out there stations like the Beat need to begin to break the connection to the consultant driven style they have mindlessly been following and really and honestly engage local audiences to find out what they want from them.
I realize l am repeating myself but, it needs to be restated The Beat is still the Q with a name change. There is no real format change, no style change and no talented on air staff interacting with the audience. Now I know some would say the do, reality is that they do not. There are a lot of really talented announcers on the air, who are wasting away reading liner cards, this applies to those working at The Beat. If the change was supposed to entice me to tune in at home or at work, it failed and in such a miserable fashion. The Beat is nothing more than the old Q92 repackaged and trotted out as something new for Montrealers to listen to. What a waste of energy and money. My suggestion go back to the drawing board try being different form the rest of the stations on the FM dial. Until then I'll just stick to my Ipod.
C.T.
The Beat formerly Q92 has a new link, http://www.925thebeat.ca
0 comments:
Post a Comment