Blog Posts by Jordan Chittley

  • #Shamrocking introduced as McDonald’s new St. Patrick’s Day meme

    McDonald's has struggled with social media in the past, but it is trying again with a St. Patrick's Day Shamrock shake

    Last year we saw many memes including planking, owling, batmanning and Tebowing. Now we have one just for a holiday - #Shamrocking.

    There seems to be some disagreement on the actual stance, but basically you strike a pose like you are doing an Irish jig while holding a McDonald's Shamrock shake in the air. Of course, you must get a picture of it. AdWeek describes it as a poor man's Captain Morgan pose.

    McDonald's recently got the meme going after posting on BuzzFeed many photos of people participating. "The Irish jig has been an expression of joy since the 16th century, and thanks to the hot new viral trend #Shamrocking, it's making a modern day comeback," reads the sponsored post.

    The minty shake, designed to commemorate St. Patrick's Day, was first introduced in 1970 and after a long hibernation returned to Canadian menus last year.

    While McDonald's is trying to

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  • Justin Trudeau tweets about hating his BlackBerry, isn’t alone

    Justin Trudeau apparently doesn't like his BlackBerry.

    "Ok, now I officially hate this BlackBerry," tweeted the Liberal MP earlier this week. "Stupid ineffective touch screen mislaunching tweets. Plus I can't multitask, apparently."

    Luckily for the high-profile politician, Research In Motion (RIM) caught his tweet and replied, "Sorry to hear you are having issues. Can you please follow us as we would like to help! Thanks. BBS."

    Soon after that a woman named Amy, RIM's director of public relations and events, tweeted "Sorry to hear you're having BlackBerry trouble. I'm in PR at RIM. Can I help?"

    We're not exactly sure what happened after that, but, apparently, the issue got resolved with Amy writing she had heard back from Trudeau and he loves his BlackBerry again.

    Trudeau himself affirmed that he may not hate his device as much as he wrote initially.
    "Ok, to be clear, I do not hate BlackBerry, or RIM," Trudeau tweeted. "I just get frustrated at the touchscreen on my 9900. But the rest

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  • Garbage worker smashes family’s garbage can, mailbox

    We're guessing this guy isn't having a good day at work.

    Remember those days when you feel like smashing something? This garbage man certainly doesn't hold back as he smashes a family's garbage can and mail box. While this video is most likely a prank, he does a pretty good job of selling the role of 'totally out-of-control garbage man.'

    The worker picks up and throws four bags of trash into the back of the truck and then picks up the trash can to empty it. He turns it upside down and some trash falls out, but then he gets increasingly frustrated with the can and starts smashing it with all of his strength on the truck. He chucks the can into the truck and then moves on to the mailbox.

    He violently twists the post until it breaks free from the ground as mail flies out of the front. He smashes it on the ground as if he is trying to ring the bell at a carnival strength metre game and then hurls it into the truck. To make sure he doesn't litter, he picks up the garbage can lid and the

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  • Giant sinkhole opens up on major Saskatoon road

    A sinkhole large enough to drive a car into opened up on a major Saskatchewan road causing traffic chaos.

    The three-metre wide chunk of road opened up on Idylwyld Drive north of 39th Street just before 9 a.m. Monday forcing thousands of motorists to take several detours.

    It was caused by a break in a 20-centimetre pipe under the road causing water to swirl beneath the asphalt and led to the sinkhole.

    Saskatoon sinkhole

    "They are totally unpredictable," said public works manager Pat Hyde to the Saskatoon Star Phoenix. "This could have been happening for days or weeks."

    The city received no reports of vehicles falling into the hole, but one commenter on Yahoo! Canada News joked, "I lost my car in there. It's on top of the Jeep, and under the BMW."

    Holes are created because freezing and thawing cycles put pressure along underground pipes causing them to become weak and break. Snow melts forcing moisture into the cracks of roads and when it freezes it expands and makes the small cracks into bigger holes. The

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  • Calgary fire truck barely moves as drivers fail to yield

    When most people hear sirens blaring they get out of the way, but this wasn't the case recently in Calgary.

    An online video posted by Crackmacs, a downtown Calgary blog, shows a fire truck trying to get down a busy street during rush hour, but barely able to move forward because drivers are slow to react. The red truck slowly bobs side to side along 6th Avenue taking two minutes to travel slightly more than two blocks.

    "I could hear the truck long before it was visible," reads a Crackmacs blog. "Most people mean well, but do not get out of the way very quickly, from my experience seeing this."

    "It was troubling and it's a frustration all firefighters deal with in Calgary traffic," said Deputy Fire Chief MacCharles to Global News. "Makes it very difficult to get to where we need to be, and seconds count in our business."

    It's a problem that spreads beyond Calgary and one YouTube commenter suggests why it's so important to get out of the way.

    "Every time there's a siren wailing I see

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  • Food truck festival coming to Brick Works in Toronto this summer

    Torontonians will soon have another chance to chow down on delectable treats curbside when food trucks invade part of the city.

    The craze that is sweeping through the U.S., has been slow to enter Canada, but the popularity of past festivals has groups working to organize a fourth event in the city.

    Food Truck Eats and the Toronto Underground Market will be teaming up to host a Street Food Block Party at the Don Valley Brick Works on May 5.

    And this time, possibly because of previous success, they will be selling tickets.

    Food trucks in other Canadian cities

    Organizers for the festivals in Toronto expected 750 to show up for the first one and were astonished when 3,500 hungry people arrived.

    At the Nuit Blanche food truck festival early last October, scores of people lined up in the freezing cold to taste burritos or grilled cheese and then huddled under a propane heat lamp to stay warm and eat.

    The Brick Works festival has only been posted on Facebook for a few hours and almost 800

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  • If Day shows how Nazi forces invaded Manitoba during World War II

    Seventy years ago almost to the day, Winnipeg fell to the Nazis.

    Selkirk fell first and by 6 a.m. on Feb. 19, 1942, Nazi forces were converging on the Manitoba capital. The sirens sounded and troops were stationed in a line five miles from city hall. The Nazis arrived at the first line of defence by 7 a.m. and opened fire, according to The Manitoba Historical Society.

    After more than two hours of fighting and retreating, there was nothing left for Winnipeg to do other than surrender. Brandon and Flin Flon had also fallen by this time and Manitoba was considered a German province.

    "At that point the Nazi soldiers rode around the city harassing Winnipeggers and harassed people who were on buses and in some cases they took people away to be interned," said Rhonda Hinther, Ph.D. with the Canadian Museum of Civilization in the If Day Documentary.

    If you are wondering why you don't remember learning about these events in history class it is because it was all an act. According to the

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  • Montreal ranks as best city in Canada to be a student

     McGill support staff walked out Thursday morning, on the first day of class for many students.

    Montreal has been rated the best student city in Canada, but it falls well behind Paris according to a new international survey.

    Paris was followed by London and Boston with Montreal landing 10th, Toronto coming in 26th and Vancouver coming in 31st.

    British firm QS, which usually ranks individual universities, examined 50 cities around the world, looking at student mix, quality of living, employer activity and affordability to devise the list.

    Helping Montreal finish in 10th was that QS ranked McGill as the 17th best university in the world.

    "Montreal has been dubbed the cultural capital of Canada, and one of the world's most liveable cities," reads the description of the city on the QS ranking website. "Montreal has one of the highest scores for quality of living, alongside a favourable student mix and rankings score, largely courtesy of the world-class status of McGill."

    QS also says Montreal is the best-value destination in the top 10 behind Boston and Berlin and while tuition fees

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  • Valentine’s Day in Canada and the U.S. – by the numbers

    Valentine's Day may not be one of the biggest holidays, but it's the second most popular day for sending cards and Canadians and Americans alike shell out big bucks pleasing loved ones.

    Here are some interesting facts about the holiday in both countries.

    The following list is compiled by Statistics Canada.

    52 per cent - Number of Canadians who are single (includes non-married couples).
    146,242 - Number of couple who tied the knot in 2004.
    18 per cent - Proportion of weddings that took place in July.
    4 per cent - Proportion of weddings that took place in February.
    $2.2 billion — The total value of cosmetics and fragrances sold at retailers in Canada in 2009.
    $2.8 billion — The total value of jewellery and watches sold at retailers in Canada in 2009.
    $1.6 billion — The total value of women's lingerie, sleepwear and intimates sold at retailers in 2009.
    $580 million — The total value of men's underwear, sleepwear and hosiery sold at retailers in 2009.
    $5.7 billion — The value of wines sold by

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  • Valentine’s Day cards change drastically over past 100 plus years

    Valentine's Day may not be the biggest holiday, but if you are in a relationship chances are you will be getting and giving a card.

    According to History.com, about 150 million Valentine's Day cards are exchanged each year, making it the second most popular card sending holiday after Christmas.

    Over the years these cards have evolved from lovely poems in the 18th century to simply poking fun at a day, which we don't even get off work.

    According to Emotions Cards, Valentine greetings were popular in the Middle Ages when lovers said sang their messages. Written notes began to appear after 1400. Paper cards were popular in England in the early 1800s. Some, assembled in factories, were black and white pictures painted by workers. By the mid 19th century they were being made with lace and ribbons and by the end of that century they were being manufactured by machine.

    Early Valentine's Day card courtesy of Emotions Cards.Early Valentine's Day card courtesy of Emotions Cards.

    Cards from the late 19th century included messages like "To My Valentine, May every good my dear one bless life virtue health

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Pagination

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