We're not sure what was braver - risking life and limb in his first ever motorcycle roadrace, or letting the cameras follow him. Watch George, #50, in this web exclusive video and judge for yourself.

 

Our own Jesse Shamata, a producer and director on The Hour, has written and directed a short film called "Break A Leg" which was selected to appear at a number of prestigious festivals and which you can check out at the Just For Laughs Festival in Montreal tomorrow night. Watch the trailer below and for showtimes and ticket info click here.

Back at the Just for Laughs Festival in Montreal, we talked to two famously laid back guys, Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong, to get their take on some of the topics the rest of the world has got their panties in a bunch over.

Lindsey Lohan goes to jail

Cheech: I think it'll be good for her, actually.
Chong: She's gonna learn how to clean a carpet, I'll tell you that! And she's really gonna learn what, "Hey bitch, get over here!" means. I think she should hook up with Mel Gibson. That would smack her - er, I mean... PUT her in her place.

Mel Gibson losing control

Cheech: He's losing credibility fast, as well as dollars.
Chong: I hope he turns it around. He needs a year... somewhere. He can't control the situation. He needs to clean up.

Jersey Shore

Chong: When I saw The Situation, I realized... that's the wrong situation.
Cheech: I hate those reality shows, I just hate 'em.
Chong: Well, "Up in Smoke" was the first reality show. We didn't know it at the time... but it really was a slice of life.

Russian Spies

Cheech: I can't say anything because I'm married to a russian spy. Actually, I figured out what they're over here spying on... They're spying on all the new reality shows that are in development. They're going to transport them back to Russia before we can even get them on the air.

Lebron James

Chong: I think Lebron has a sex problem just like Tiger - because he's really fucking Cleveland.
Cheech: I would have liked to have seen him stay in Cleveland, but as long as he stays in the East, they'll just knock eachother out and the Lakers will win! We were just onstage in Boston taunting them, chanting "We're number 2! We're number 2!"

What do you guys think? Tell us in the comments below.  

Cheech and Chong are reunited after 25 years apart in tonight's Cheech and Chong gala at the Just for Laughs Festival in Montreal.  

To see Cheech and Chong's Best Story Ever, click here.

Written by: Scott Goodyer

The Hour visits Vancouver this week, and the city has welcomed George and the show with open arms.  In fact, we were so overwhelmed by the response from VanCity viewers that we had to switch venues to allow for more people to see the show.

And more people wanted to see the show - we've been welcoming crowds of over 450 into our studio every night.  There's always excitement when The Hour is on the road, but Vancouver... you've outdone yourselves. Hope you enjoy the shows!

So, a lovely woman named Glenda - whom some of you may have met coming in to the studio - makes sure our green room has all the things that our guests need when they stop by the show - food, drink, etcetera.  She also wanted to find some activities for people to do while they sat and waited for their turn in the red chair - so she had our poster, featuring one George Stroumboulopoulous, turned into a puzzle.  If you're sharp-eyed, you may catch it in a few of the 'Meanwhile's - an unassuming white box, just sitting on the shelf.

Who knew puzzles were making a comeback?  We've seen some pretty interesting people work on this puzzle while hanging out.  Jay Baruchel and Jacob Tierney were working on it together, which makes a lot of sense, given their recent collaboration working on 'The Trotsky'.  But we've not had it disappear entirely - until now.

(Not that we mind or anything - we here at The Hour encourage puzzles as a brain-building exercise.)

Gord Downie came in for an interview to be seen on an upcoming show, and worked on the puzzle... and when he left, so too did the puzzle.  I've been told this is a tough one to put together, so maybe he was just so engaged that he felt the need to finish?  Maybe he's secretly a puzzle fan?  Either way, we hope Gord's enjoying it!

Be sure to keep an eye out for an interview with the amazingly talented musician, songwriter and Lake Ontario Waterkeeper in the shows to come.

Timber Timbre gave an amazing live performance on the show tonight - and just for viewers of The Hour, they spent a little more time with George and the audience to lay down two more web exclusive tracks on set!

Aside from the song they played on the show, we've got two others available on our Video page: 'Trouble Comes Knocking', and 'Until The Night Is Over'.  And if that's not enough, we've got them both available for download below to give your iPod that ethereal, spooky feeling.  (Right click and select 'Save Link As...' to save the file.)

Download 'Until The Night Is Over'

Download 'Trouble Comes Knocking'

And keep an eye out for more bands on the show throughout the month.

So you think I have the most awesome job in the world, hey? You're kind of right. I get to boss around George Stroumboulopoulos!

The bossing around comes when I'm supposed to get George to set. It's my job to make sure he gets from our office to set on time. If I don't do my job, the show is late. And obviously, the show can't be late!

About an hour before rehearsal, I start giving George warnings: "An hour before rehearsal, George!"

He's usually in meetings with writers or producers and kind of ignores me. But he ignores me for good reason. To make The Hour happen, there are about 40 staff members, and every single one needs to talk to George. That makes for a lot of meetings, questions, and answers, but not for a lot of extra time. So he doesn't really ignore me. He just smiles and thinks it's funny that I try to get him to the show on time.

Fifteen minutes later: "Forty-five minutes, George!"

This is him in his office ignoring me:



But really, he ignores me for good reason. He has to review and write scripts, research the day's guests, work with the producers on show outline, and do about a million other things.

Fifteen minutes later, I interrupt whatever he's doing: "Thirty minutes, George!"

He smiles at me and says he and the writers have to finish writing the show. Rehearsal will wait.

I smile back and say he's going to be in rehearsal in 30 minutes.

Fifteen minutes later: "Fifteen minutes, George! We've gotta get to the studio!"

Finally, I get him out of his office and we walk to the studio, where I try to give him any last-minute information. This is kind of difficult because he gets really chatty on his way to the studio. You know, he warms up for interviewer mode. That means we stop off at people's desks all the way down to the studio. We'll chat with our Office Manager, Web Team, Audience Coordinator, whoever is around. Then we'll get to the Steven and Chris offices, where we'll chat with everyone there and maybe even try to steal some treats left over from that day's show. Next, we end up chatting with Dragon's Den staff. I must admit that hangin' with George is a good way to get to know people around CBC. But it's frustrating to be the person in charge of getting him anywhere on time!

I'd like you to know that usually we end up arriving in rehearsal on time. Have you ever seen the show start after 11:05 this season? No? Excellent. I'm doing my job.

 - Carolyn is George's assistant, right hand woman, and all around cool chick.

VancouverisAwesome.com has a story and some great shots of George doing the Jim Richards Show live from Vancouver to Toronto on NewsTalk 1010.  They chatted with Premiere Gordon Campbell, Ujjal Dosanjh, and the author of the post, Bob Kronbauer.  Check out the blog post for more photos - and thanks, Bob.

I admitted to my former NKOTB-worship yesterday, and if you watched the show, you might have noticed I'm not the only one...

For evidence, I submit one photo of Pete, as Joe asks him for directions:

And courtesy of Darby Wheeler, a shot of Jesse with the NKOTB shrine built for the occasion:

Okay, well. Maybe I am one of the few who got excited, other than the screaming fans. But they were sure fun to have in-studio.

How can you have a cowboy without a horse? You can't - or at least, we thought so.

Therefore, when Lyle Lovett was coming by today for his interview, we made sure we had one around. We like to make our guests feel at home here on The Hour!

However, Lyle was running a little late and this horse had a show to do tonight, so sadly they never met. Given they're both performers, we think they would have gotten along well. He certainly enjoyed his time on camera with Adam and Scott, as pictured above.

Where is this horse performing, you might ask? The Royal Winter Fair, on this weekend at Exhibition Place in Toronto!

Aside from riding and show jumping, the Royal has events planned all weekend, including concerts by Doc Walker and Michelle Wright, giant vegetables and butter sculpture displays, the SuperDogs, and Christmas at the Royal on Sunday with over five thousand free shortbread cookies - yum. Visit http://www.royalfair.org/ for schedules and information.

Thanks to Beckett's Creek Farm for the gorgeous horse and the Royal Winter Fair. As for Lyle, keep tuning into the show for his upcoming interview.