One More Reason To Visit Canada: Stephen Colbert Day

by Jonathon Morgan on

John Gray, the mayor of Oshawa, Ontario, lost a hockey bet with comedian Stephen Colbert, and now must declare March 20th, his own birthday, “Stephen Colbert Day.”

After discovering that a Michigan team in the Ontario Hockey League, called the Saginaw Spirit, had named their mascot Steagle Colbeagle — in tribute to Colbert — the faux news pundit started rooting for them.

On Friday night the Spirit were matched against the Oshawa Generals. If the Spirit lost, Colbert would’ve been required to wear an Oshawa jersey on his show. However, the Saginaw team was victorious, winning 5-4.

In an interview with the Gray on “The Colbert Report,” the host said: “Oh that’s right, it’s your birthday. How old are you going to be? Old enough to know better than to take on Stephen Colbert?”

In response, the mayor said: “Hopefully in the future, yes.”

Opus Hotel’s General Manager Blog

by Dave Luna on

We love hotel employees here at Gadling, and it’s not just because they change our sheets and towels on command. (Though, it does help.) That’s why I’m excited to mention a blog by the General Manager of Vancouver’s Opus Hotel. Daniel Craig — no, not that Daniel Craig — pens entries about his experiences running the luxury property.

Daniel writes with an ease and wit that makes running the fancy-schmancy business sound simple. You’d think that he would stay hush-hush and maintain manager-guest privilege, but you’ll be glad he doesn’t. The GM details his exposures to a vandalizing drag queen, a naked guest, and a mysterious fish smell in a hallway… and that’s just three blog entries! There are nine months of stories that will keep you simultaneously laughing and cringing.

I enjoy the blog enough to consider staying at the Opus in the future. I guess the publicity worked. Though, I’ll have to be sure I don’t have too many drinks at the Opus Bar or I might just end up in the blog myself.

Skunk Seeks Roadtrip Partner

by Dave Luna on

A California skunk found itself 2,200 miles from home after it was accidentally loaded onto a trunk bound for a Toronto suburb. The skunk survived the harrowing, seven-day trip, but it was dehydrated and a little worse for wear. The Toronto Wildlife Center was given guardianship of the furry creature, and they have been nursing it back to health since 5 January.

Now, here’s the interesting part of the story. The skunk cannot be let loose into the wilds of Canada because it would most likely not survive attacks from territorial gangs of Canadian skunks. (This is the same reason why I don’t want to wander Ontario alone.) Airlines usually transport displaced beasts back to their original locales for animal groups, but none want to stow this scared, stink machine in a cargo bay.

So, the Toronto Wildlife Center has issued a call for help on behalf of the skunk. The group is looking for someone to drive the stranded animal back to Southern California from Toronto. If you want to help out the poor thing, you can contact Toronto Wildlife Center at 1-416-631-0662. This might be your chance to relive that cross-country, college roadtrip you keep talking about. This time your road companion might smell a little worse, but it will probably talk a lot less.

Urban Exploring Tunnels Behind Niagara Falls

by Dave Luna on

Hundreds of years ago, people marched across continents and sailed over oceans to see what could be seen. Then, it seemed for a while that we ran out of new places to go. C’est la vie. Well, the advent of urban exploration brought “unseen or off-limits places” into the spotlight and anything old turned new again. Urban explorers sneak into areas like subway tunnels, catacombs, and storm drains to discover wonders usually hidden from human eyes.

Three pseudonymous urbexers known only as JonDoe, Stoop, and dsankt ventured into the depths of a hydro-electric power station to probe tailrace tunnels behind Niagara Falls. Dsankt chronicled the infiltration, and shared his take on the adventure with great flair. Their mission was hardly legal, so I cannot condone the troika’s actions. However, the expedition produced an amazing payoff with sights probably unseen for decades.

If you’re not up to reading the text, you should at least check out dsankt and Stoop’s gorgeous photographs. The stills really give you an excellent idea of how dangerous — yet inspiring — urban exploring can be.

(Thanks for the tip, Mike!)