Weird and Interesting News

Would you ever think of a fast food restaurant and weddings going together?


Only in Vegas does this make sense.

A new Denny's which opened up in Las Vegas will include a wedding chapel to along with your meal. It also is one of 50 Denny's to include a full bar.

The ceremonies aren't expected to begin until sometime during 2013 with one celebrity wedding confirmed already.

No details on which celeb will get hitched there have been released as of now.

You can read more on this here via Canoe News  : http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/WeirdNews/2012/11/29/20395431.html


Next: It has certainly been a very busy here in Toronto's City Council

Tuesday  myself and my News Reporting class here at Centennial College took a trip to sit in on council.

Council Session Tuesday Nov 27th 2012

Now this council meeting was right after the verdict of Mayor Ford's was made public Monday morning. You could feel the tension in the air and confusion over what the verdict meant seemed be on most councilor's minds.

When City Solicitor Anna Kinastowski addressed the council and explained to them multiple times you could tell just how confused they all were by the verdict and what it meant for council and Ford. Up in the media gallery Councilor George Mammoliti openly spoke to the press. A security guard was sent to retrieve him saying he was needed back downstairs.

Mammoliti refused and stayed to speak to the media. He also made a comment along the lines of if The Mayor would have been up in the press gallery he would not be asked to come back down to his seat.


So will Ford win his appeal? Only time will tell and as Anna said it is still business as usual in council Ford is still the Mayor at least for now. It is a wait and see as she explained multiple times to council Tuesday.

It certainly has been an interesting story to watch and report on that's for sure.


Finally last week two thefts made the news:

Firstly it was  made public that The Salvation Army had approx 2 million in toys stolen from its warehouse. Over the last week 2 suspects have been arrested.

The good news is that many local toy companies such as Spin Master Toys and Hasbro Canada donated toys to help replenish the stock meant for needy kids this Christmas.


Secondly a large shipment of Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed III  PC versions was reported stolen on Nov 14th. It was headed for 3 countries: Netherlands Belgium and Luxembourg.

Ubisoft stated it would not affect the launch of the title but for those who did pre order the Join or Die edition might be in trouble because apparently those editions of the game can not be re made.

The serial numbers of the stolen games however have been blacklisted by Ubisoft to prevent them from being registered online.

Think you know how to spell? Think again! New Game Makes Spelling Fun Again

The Spelling Challenge on Beezi's website. How well will you do?

Remember how fun spelling was when you were in elementary school? Now as an adult or as a pre-teen not so much eh?

Did you know that the most commonly used words we see everyday are actually spelled incorrectly?

For example which is the correct spelling  (A) Pavillion  or (B) Pavilion

Here's a hint approx 99% of people spell it the wrong way 


Enter Tony Goldstein  and his sister Robyn creators of Beezi the spelling game

Tony and his sister Robyn at Indigo Yonge and Eglington Promoting Beezi

Beezi takes your average spelling game and makes it fun again adding a board gaming aspect. You can play with up to 6 people and its is meant for ages 12 and up.
No dictionaries allowed! Its all up to you! You spell the word the way you hear it and if you get it right you move a space if you get it wrong you move back ( almost like snake and ladders) 

It is not as simple as that however there are 4 different categories of words you have to spell depending on what you roll on the die.

They range from the easiest -Honey Bee to Killer Bee.


What about a kids version you may ask? Well not to fear one is in the works and will hopefully make it to market soon according to Goldstein.

How did the duo manage to get into Chapters/Indigo stores across Canada?
"It was thanks to our distributor,Indigo was one of their clients and they felt it was a good fit for their stores" Goldstein told me during our brief interview at Indigo this past Sunday.

The game will cost you around $34.95 +tax and is available at all Indigo and Chapters locations.

I highly recommend you check out this game see how well you spell :) As a current journalism student I can say this will help me  greatly improve my  spelling !

Be sure to check out the game in store and also take the spelling challenge as I did both in person and on their site :http://www.beezibeez.com/

Post Sandy Post

Well is 10:01 AM here in Toronto and seeing the aftermath in NYC from Sandy is quite shocking.... Thankfully no power outages in my area no fallen trees just lots of wind and rain. Lower Manhattan is currently flooded ,there was a massive power outage and people are still without power. I sincerely hope all my friends,family and readers who live in the NYC area or any of the other areas affected are safe and sound.

Some things I would like to note that went on during the night here in Toronto

At approx 3 am this morning a fire broke out on Queen St W at the Roots store and partially the old Silver Snail comic book store there are no reported injuries at this time but an investigation is underway to find out the cause. I find this pretty shocking because this past summer I frequented this area and those stores and was pretty surprised to hear about this fire.

A woman was struck and sadly killed by a falling Staples sign last night during the storm. Very tragic.Winds were gusting at 65km/h when the incident took place.


Finally in non "Sandy" related news

Last night in midnight release parties at local EB Games and Gamestop locations people lined up (despite the storm) to get their hands on the 3rd installment in Ubisoft's hit franchise Assassin's Creed III.

I was fortunate to get a sneak peek of the first hour of the game this past weekend and I must say I am extremely impressed with not just the graphics and atmosphere but the story. It is in my opinion the best Assassin Game i have seen to date and I really hope it is in the running for Game of the Year. You are drawn into this story right from the get go, the writing is fantastic and it is a truly remarkable game.

Finally it is the night before Halloween .
Have you carved your pumpkin? Scored that perfect costume? Stocked up on candy for the kids? Then you are set! If not then well, you have some shopping to do!  Stores are expected to be quite busy today and especially tomorrow for all you last minute Halloween shoppers.  Thankfully the weather is supposed to and I use "supposed to" lightly here be a lot calmer and better then it has been. Will you be getting many kids at your door as previous years? Probably not. Hopefully "Sandy" doesn't ruin Halloween that much for the kids especially if its their first one,



With that being said.....

HAVE A GREAT ONE EVERYONE :)

Owning the Iron Throne WIll Cost You...

Recently it was announced that  HBO the network which brought George R.Martin's  Game of Thrones to life will be selling an exact replica through its store.

Be warned though it will cost you ....$30,000 plus approx $2,000 for shipping.
Yes the price is daunting and costs as much as a car and seems a lot for just a "chair" but this is no ordinary chair it is the throne which many covet in the world of Westeros.
For Game of Thrones fans this is a must have to have in their collection and to make all your friends jealous of course.

Well I may not be shelling out 30k for this anytime soon I do plan to make my own iron throne one day for much much less money.

The reviews on the actual page are quite entertaining to read check them out for yourself.
Below I copied a few of my favorite ones from some characters you may recognize... Enjoy Game of Thrones Fans!

Leap of faith from space and more

Yesterday the world watched as Felix Baumgartner leaped from a capsule suspended 39 km above our planet. Millions of people watched the event live on t.v and online. He shattered the sound barrier. Watching him perform this amazing feat words can not describe it. I remember thinking to myself "man its a good thing he is not afraid of heights!"

I can not imagine what must have been going through his mind as he looked down from space at the sheer amount of air between himself and Earth. How he managed to achieve this is incredible. It is just as incredible as this past summer watching Nik Wallenda cross Niagara Falls on a tightrope.  When you see people take on what seems like impossible challenges and you see them accomplish it , it really gives you motivation to pursue your own dreams and things you hope to accomplish on your own. Hey if a man can cross Niagara Falls on a tightrope or jump from space back to Earth then who is to say we ordinary every day people can't accomplish anything we set our minds to?


The next issue which has crept back into the news again is the tragic death of bullied victim Amanda Todd of B.C.Why oh why must we keep hearing of teens taking their own lives because of this issue? Why is this still a huge issue today and why don't people speak out against it? It always makes me incredibly sad to hear of yet another teen taking her own life because she was being tormented by these bullies. The fact that people were telling her to just kill her self just further shows how the internet has given bullies that much more POWER to torment their victims from behind a computer screen. They are cowards in my opinion and they are the ones with the real issues. Speaking from experience NO ONE deserves to go through this and NO ONE should be forced to take their own life because they are being literally targeted for no VALID reason.

 Amanda made one simple mistake she sent a picture of her breasts online and it was posted for the world to see. She makes one mistake and it drove her to take her own life. Amanda's video which I am posting here should serve as a warning and a message to all those who are being bullied or who are the bullies to STOP and really think about what they are doing. The time for SILENCE is over people this problem is not going away anytime soon it will always be there and we have to take  a stand and speak up when see this kind of crap.



RIP Amanda Todd may you find peace now and may your speaking out help to inspire change and the movement we need to finally nip this problem or at least make it less of a problem in the future.



Amanda's Video :

News Update Mon Oct 8th 2012

Apologies for lack of posts but I am back with the latest news updates


Firstly James Bond turned 50!  Maclean's and LIFE magazine both have amazing collector editions filled with all you need to know about the world of BOND and more. Fantastic pictures and info for the fan of this series (also makes a perfect gift)

Maclean's will cost you around $12.95 and LIFE will cost a bit more around $16.95
I picked up both copies (I plan to give one as a gift) and I have to say totally worth it!

Next: Lady Gaga Sick on stage during Barcelona concert:

Ok...first Justin Bieber had a case of stage sickness and now Lady Gaga? Seriously what is going on with these celebs during their performances? Despite her hurling during her performance of "Edge of Glory" being a true pro she kept on performing after throwing up a number of times .

Yes there is a video (I will not post it as it is pretty nasty) and Gaga took to twitter poking fun at the whole incident.

 as The  L.A times put it perhaps the CDC should check this out...I however don't think  its that serious ,ironic yes. Hopefully this is the last we will hear and see of pop stars belting out more then just tunes on stage (NO PUN INTENDED xD)



In Toronto News this was alerted to via a fellow journalist on Facebook:

According to this post seen on reddit.com : http://www.reddit.com/r/toronto/comments/113rvn/a_warning_to_the_women_of_toronto/

A number of creepy stalker shots of women in the Toronto area (mostly taken in the Queen/University area) are appearing online the post even goes onto advising others on how to photography creep women. Commentators are also stating who they believe they have seen taking this creepy shots and trust me they are creepy and stalker like. Many of the shots are of the women from behind and some are deliberate close up of shots of their bums. It is very creepy and I suspect illegal as well. I advise anyone who see's a pic of themselves or people you may know online to contact Toronto Police .



Finally in gaming news : Pokemon Black and White 2 came out this past weekend and PETA has once again gone on into campaign mode to point out how inhuman the Pokemon Games are by creating a pretty nasty rendition of the game on its site. ..

Come on PETA was it enough you had to cause controversy with Mario and the Tanooki suit now you have to stir up the pot even more with Pokemon? These are games mostly aimed at children for heavens sake! Stop trying to push your agenda through exposing things in these games that aren't even there.

You can see the article on gametrailers.com here :http://www.gametrailers.com/side-mission/32227/pokemon-black-and-white-gets-skewered-in-petas-latest-game?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=facebook 

and play the "game" via PETA's site here : http://features.peta.org/pokemon-black-and-white-parody/


That's it for this edition I promise a full report on the Markham Fair in the next post as well as more news updates. I wish everyone a very happy thanksgiving!

Lost and Found (DOG) Story

What an interesting Monday it has been for me. You know how the saying goes that Monday's usually suck? Well today was that kind of Monday today for me ( I won't go into details.) Anyways all it took to turn my crappy day right around was two sweet dogs wandering my street who ran away from home.

Story goes as follows:

1:30 pm on McGillivray Avenue 2 dogs a white maltipoo mix and a yorkie terrier start following me home . I ask neighbours nearby if this is their dog and learn that these two dogs had been running around for a while. I go door to door trying to find their owner to no avail so what do   I do? Me being a dog owner and animal lover could not just walk away i took them home and fed them and gave them water in my backyard while still trying to find their owner. Three times they got loose and I had to chase them and catch them again because they were very frisky and wanted to run all over the place (No they did not have collars or I.D tags)

2:45 pm: Still looking ,call Animal Control . As I am playing in the backyard for a bit feeding them and giving them treats my new neighbour who lives behind me asked what was going on and we start chatting. She also a dog lover took them in for a bit and bathed them as they were quite dirty and very smelly)

4:15 pm: Animal Control comes to my home and we go over to my neigbour's home where the dogs are . The officer scans them no luck no chip! When Leslie (my neighbour) asks them what will happen he explains they would be put in a shelter and adopted out if their owner does not claim them. Leslie and I looked at each other and realized we couldn't let that happen so she offered to keep them in her backyard until the owner came.


5:15pm: Owner who lives about 2-3 blocks from us finally comes over to Leslie's home  ( A mother and her son) Who were very very happy to have their dogs back.

Turns out these two sweet dogs (Picture below) are 8 and 9 MONTHS OLD!!! One of them dug a hole under their backyard fence and that's how they got out. Before the owner left we did politely tell the dog owner to get their pets collars i.d tags or chipped. ( I really hope she got the message and these two sweet dogs don't get out again!)

These two sweet things bonded with me instantly and I would love to have taken them in if worst came to worst. Thankfully they are now home safe and sound and a lot cleaner!

Tip to all pet owners (though this should be common sense):
DON"T LEAVE YOUR PET UNATTENDED IN THE BACK YARD
DO PUT A COLLAR AND TAG WITH NUMBER AND ADDRESS ON YOUR DOG

Glad I was able to do a good deed and make my crappy Monday end on a positive note !

Next blog post will talk about the Princess of Wales Theater being turned into condos.

This Week In News

It has been another interesting week in the news here in Toronto :

1) Sam Sniderman aka Sam the Record Man died

See previous post 


2) Another TTC fare hike has been announced:

Seriously??? How much more are we going to be expected to pay? It seems every year their is another fare hike and its getting ridiculous. The service in my opinion has NOT improved. Sure we got the new subway cars on the Yonge/University/Spadina line  which yes has helped a lot during those peak rush hours,but in terms of the actual "service" and delays it has not improved in the slightest. What has changed every time their is a fare hike? Where are the funds from the increase actually going? I know its been stated they need to raise fares to pay off their debt but still its going to hurt the millions (like myself) who rely on the TTC to get from point A to point B every day.

What about people living on welfare?How are they going to be able to keep affording to take the TTC if the fares keep going up?  What's really funny is that if you read the comments on the article from  The Star online our transit system is considered a joke  compared to other cities around the world. Come on TTC.... prove you really are "The Better Way".


Also coming up this weekend in blog entries a full report on The Markham Fair which happened this weekend.

RIP Sam The Rcord Man

Sam Sniderman aka the founder of the iconic Sam the Record Man store has passed away today. The store that stood for nearly 50 years became an integral part of Toronto's history.

It opened in 1959 and unfortunately had to close it's doors in June 2007 because of the rise of mp3 downloads and iTunes,they just could not compete.

According to a statement from the family a memorial service will be held sometime in October will re-post with date when it is announced.


Here is the article http://news.sympatico.cbc.ca/local/on/sam_the_record_man_sniderman_dies_/95f032ac


More to come later

Weekend Recap : Unplugged Expo (Non News Entry)

Another new week begins and what a week it is going to be for us  Fast Track Journalism students here at Centennial College.

Tests and assignments galore to help us become even better journalists then we already are. Anyways onto this weekend recap of an event  that happened here in Toronto.


UNPLUGGED EXPO:

Unplugged Expo an anime,comic book ,gaming and music convention took place at the Best Western Primrose Hotel Sat/Sun. It was the first year for this convention taking place in September and Saturday saw a pretty good turnout. Yes the venue was a touch crowded but you can tell a lot of hard work,dedication and planning went into this event. The staff were extremely friendly and welcome as were the people who attended. I met a lot of interesting people this past weekend,saw some fantastic costumes,props etc and made new friends.  The highlight of the convention for me was the small Masquerade which took place late Sunday afternoon in the main room of the convention.

Despite being very few entries (5 in total) all the entrants did a fantastic job and made for a very entertaining half hour or so. Gangham Style also made an appearance both within the show and at the end when the entire crowd broke out dancing!

It was a fun filled two days from the cosplayers,guests, artist alley and panelists I think Unplugged Expo can only go up from here and I wish them luck in the future!

If you attended feel free to comment on your experiences!


Some Pics :

News of the week

Oh what a week it has been here in Toronto!

So many news stores so little time to blog them!

What is making big news today in Toronto?

Beginning at  5:30 am many people were in line at the Eaton Center for the coveted iPhone 5, Apple's latest installment in the iPhone family.

For those who foresaw the long lineups at Apple stores from previous releases and pre-ordered their iPhones online they were sound asleep this morning.

The funniest thing that has to do with the new iPhone is a video coming from overseas.
Two pranksters super glued the most coveted smartphone to the pavement in Amsterdam and filmed people trying to snatch it. The results are quite hilarious

You can check out the article via Mashable here:iPhone 5 glued to ground in Amsterdamn

Also check out the video on Youtube here: iPhone 5 Prank 


Other news to note :

-Jayesh Prajapati  the Shell Gas attendant killed by a motorist in a "gas and dash" crime was mourned by many today at a Mississauga funeral home during a Hindu ceremony.


-Mary Gowans the teacher who was allegedly accused of sexual assault involving a former student trial has finally come to the end. The judge acquitted her of the charge.

-Elementary students are still lacking their usual after school extracurricular activities- parents have been told by school boards they can not hold practices on school grounds

*UPDATE from Toronto Star: One Toronto high school will in fact be resuming its extracurricular activities

Read more here via Toronto Star:http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/article/1260782--toronto-high-school-resumes-extracurricular-activities


It has been a busy week in news here in Toronto and on a side note the tragic death of Jayesh is a shock indeed. What is more shocking however are allegations coming forward that gas attendants are responsible for paying for stolen gas. If these are indeed true that is despicable! It's not enough that most of these workers are working minimum wage and long hours but to make them pay for stolen gas is totally wrong.


That's all for now more this weekend. 

GoDaddy down -Annoymous Member Comes Forward

So if you've been checking out the newsfeeds lately or are at least browse sites hosted by GoDaddy you will know its been out all day. What caused it? A member of Annoymous the group who has hacked and shut down many known sites and made the news many times,came forward.

This story comes courtesy of CTV: http://www.ctvnews.ca/sci-tech/godaddy-goes-down-member-of-anonymous-takes-credit-1.950182

Oh Annoymous... I was wondering why you were so quiet lately.

Were you affected by the outage? I know if you are an avid fan of the site  Did You Know Gaming (As I am myself) you may have noticed you can not access the site. This is because GoDaddy now hosts their site.


Will update with more info as it becomes available.

Return to blogging and other news

Hi everyone,

Wow, it feels good to be back on this blog site after a 2 year hiatus.
I return to the wonderful world of blogging as a recent Broadcast and Film Graduate from Centennial College. I also completed a 4 month internship with CTV's Canada AM which went extremely well . Now after 3 years in the broadcast  program I returned to Centennial for Fast Track Journalism. 

Speaking Out the blog which I started in 2009 will continue to do as the title suggests "Speak Out". You can find all sorts of news here from weird news , entertainment, gaming, to the most talked about in Toronto and all over the world. If its "water cooler" worthy you can for sure find it here.

Without further delay to today's edition of Speaking Out :

 This story comes courtesy of The Toronto Star :http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/article/1254063--caregiver-wants-175-000-to-give-up-claim-to-elderly-woman-s-home

For those who need a refresher,the tragic tale of the caregiver and the widow who's home was taken by her caregiver is back in the news again. Whats the big scoop? She wants $175,000 to relinquish her claim on Stella Wasiuk's home. Now I know this case is before the courts and has been in the papers a lot in the last few years but morally speaking how much more does this woman want? Is it not enough that Stella an elderly woman was forced from her own home and basically blackmailed ? You have to ask this poor woman for more money to give her back her home which was not your right to take in the first place?  You took advantage of an elderly person with no family and no friends that alone disgusts me.

What's your take on this? Speaking as a granddaughter with two rapidly aging grandmother's this case really turns my stomach.


I just can't condone this and I sincerely hope Stella gets gets her home back without paying the caregiver a single PENNY. After all she has been through enough is enough..