I was hunting about for more information about Tony Burman, who left the CBC last year and has just been announced as the new managing director for al-Jazeera English.

At this CBC.ca page -- editor-in-chief biography -- I found the following:

I bought a can of Gillette ultra-moisturing shave gel at Dominion today for $3.49.

However, the regular moisturizing Gillette shave gel is also $3.49.

Did I get a steal of a deal, or is the regular version over-priced?

One would think ultra-moisturizing gel should sell for more than the pallid regular version.

In my posting below on the film Carny and some personal experiences I had on the road, I mentioned that I enjoyed listening to the ginsu pitchmen at the the PNE  in Vancouver. I used the word "geniuses," but perhaps "brilliant" would be better.

Fast-talking, authoritative, funny and convincing, they moved a lot of knives.

One of the little gadgets they had in their package deal was something that could drain juice from oranges. One of the pitchmen, who had a New York accent (real or contrived, I couldn't tell you), would tell people they could fill the orange with vodka to smuggle booze into sports stadiums, then use the gizmo to suck the vodka back out. "Believe me: Ain't nobody gonna bust you for suckin' on an orange," he assured the throngs of tittering bystanders.

Sorry, no video of these guys, but after poking around on YouTube, I present -- for your nostalgic, circa-1978 pleasure -- the original ginsu knife ad!

I was out last night and missed CBC TV News' At Issue panel on The National, which is usually quite engaging (although the May 7 special edition one on whether the U.S. primary system is better a better process than the one used to pick Canadian political leaders was a snoozer).

I go to CBC.ca's website and find the page that would host the online video version (A photo op too far?).

It's now at least 12 hours after the segment would have aired in the Eastern time zone last night, and it still hasn't been posted.

The page only promises it will be posted "Friday."

No rush. Not a problem. I'll just keep coming back -- it's good for CBC.ca's page views.

But I would note that somehow, my employer, CTV.ca News, manages to get such video posted within 20 minutes of airing, but that's just us. There's no reason other online news outlets have to be timely too.

I saw this in a Globe and Mail feature on the workout routines of high-profile people:

"Using the elliptical is a waste of workout time," says Mr. (Paul) Plakas (Edmonton based trainer, hosts the Slice network show X-Weighted) says. "The elliptical trainer makes your body dumb. It forces you into a restricted movement pattern that you would never use in any life activity." In his opinion, "The only person that should be using the elliptical is someone who's overweight, has no balance and can't walk."

Hey: I use an elliptical trainer! :)

I've actually seen some other anti-elliptical trainer references in other such articles, but haven't seen a detailed analysis, or suggestions as to what someone else should use in its place.

Riding the TTC might be the cheaper way in many respects, but the transit agency is already looking into the future and wondering how to cope with surging fuel prices in its next budget.

From the Globe and Mail:

The Department of National Defence sets quotas for how many times a year a military think tank it subsidizes must appear in the news media, a contract made public at the request of the NDP shows.

I saw a documentary called Carny tonight, and it brought back a few memories.