Check out my comedy video where I try to sell an "authentic" Transformers action figure

Here's the description I'm putting with my new video: "Josh has been having trouble selling his amazing goods on his eBay page. So he thought maybe videos would help to show how great his stuff is. In his first video, he's selling a real, authentic, vintage Transformers action figure. It's a valuable collector's item and you should buy it for lots of money." Now, that sort of leaves it up to the viewer to figure out that if it's serious or a joke. But because you're a loyal reader of my blog, I shall give you a top-secret inside tip: It's a joke. :) Check it out by clicking here.

Check out the first episode of my new talk show, "Talking Bollocks."

Josh and Marilla want to host a talk show. They also want to be guests on a talk show. Since neither is happening at the moment, they're taking things into their own hands and making their own talk show. They'll take turns interviewing each other. And they'll be "talking bollocks," which is an English expression meaning "talking about whatever." (Take Marilla's word for it, because she's English.) Check out the first episode - filmed on Saturday, December 6th, 2008, at Talking Bollocks Studios (a.k.a. Marilla's house) - by clicking here. (But be warned: THE VIDEO CONTAINS GRAPHIC ADULT LANGUAGE THAT MAY OFFEND SOME.)

I'm in today's National Post talking about green dating

I'm interviewed in today's National Post about how being an environmentalist can affect one's dating life. Unfortunately, the accompanying photo of me in my green superhero outfit should effectively put an end to my dating life. Although, if you look at the photos of the paper version, you'll see that on the front of the section, my head is actually above the heads of Tina Fey and Oprah. And if that doesn't guarantee action, I don't know what does. Well, okay. I don't know what does. To read the online version, click here.

Women should NOT sit out the U.S. election

This is a Letter to the Editor I just sent to Metro News. I doubt they'll print it, because I just had one in the paper. And even if they did, it wouldn't be printed in time for the U.S. election. So I'm going to post it in my blog, in the hopes that it helps combat the dangerous message given in today's paper by Rick McGinnis (whom I believe is their TV critic, so I'm not sure why he's even writing about politics at all, much less trying to take away women's power to vote).

Here's my letter:

In “Sit this one out, ladies” (Oct. 31), Rick McGinnis suggests that women not vote in the U.S. election in order to protest sexism in the campaigns. While his cause is noble, his advice could just as easily be given by people who want to silence women and take away their hard-fought-for power to vote, power which women in many countries are still murdered for trying to achieve. Sure, a few jerks wore offensive t-shirts and yelled out ignorant insults. But the answer is not to withdraw from the process and let misogynists be the only ones who choose the government. As we’ve seen in the Canadian election, low voter turnout doesn’t “slap… otherwise intelligent people back to their senses,” as McGinnis suggests it would. It just results in more of the same mean-spirited government and makes progressive people feel even more hopeless. No, the answer is for women to rise up and vote in unprecedented numbers, thus demonstrating that they are a powerful force for good in this world, and that their voices cannot be ignored.

I come to the rescue of Elizabeth May in Metro newspaper

In the Tuesday, Oct. 21, 2008 issue of Metro, Canada’s #1 free national daily newspaper with 950,000 readers, my letter was the only Letter To The Editor published and, as you can see in the photos, was one of only three items on the Comment & Views page. A few days earlier, Andrew Cohen, apparently a Metro columnist, had written a very rude, childish and misleading column insulting the leader of Canada's Green Party, Elizabeth May. Well, as someone who respects people who devote their lives to making this world a cleaner, healthier place, I wasn't going to stand for that! So I didn't stand for it. I sat down for it. At my computer. And this is what I wrote:

Re: "May pays for mistakes" (Oct. 16)
Andrew Cohen believes that: "Unelected leaders have no credibility. You can stand and squawk in the foyer of the House of Commons, as Ms. May does every day. But really, though, why should anyone listen to you? Especially when your party has 6.8 per cent of the vote."
It says a lot about Mr. Cohen that he dismisses daily fighting for a cleaner, healthier, fairer Canada as "squawking." But dismissing 6.8 per cent of the vote as insignificant is even more absurd.
Does he not know that the Bloc won nearly 50 seats with 10 per cent of the vote? With a fair and proportional voting system, the Green Party's 940,000 votes would have earned them 23 seats.
The problem is not May's passion for improving our country. The real problem is our electoral system.

Hybrid taxis, not higher taxi fares

An open letter to Mayor David Miller and Councillor Howard Moscoe:

Dear Mayor Miller and Councillor Moscoe,

I heard on the news last week that the taxi companies are demanding that fares be raised in order to compensate for higher gas costs.

As a tax-paying, air-breathing citizen of Toronto, I would like to express my extreme opposition to this.

Every day I see taxis parked with their engines idling outside my work, outside my condo, outside union station... everywhere.
A couple of months ago I even saw a cab sitting idling with NOBODY IN IT for at least half an hour, while the driver was inside a coffee shop playing cards with his friends. I took a picture and will be sending this to your idling reports division.

My point is that cabs seem to think wasting gas is fine. They also aren't converting to hybrids. I've seen maybe two hybrid cabs all year.

I believe you've implemented some kind of green taxi plan. But I'm not sure how that's going and it hasn't seemed to have any effect yet. The increase in gas prices should be a good incentive for cabs to convert to a hybrid fleet. Hybrid cabs would save thousands of dollars a year in gas costs. I've read about hybrid cabs in Vancouver that have done just that. You should push the cabs to make the change quicker if they are really concerned about rising gas prices. You should crack down on idling. And, if you must, give them more incentives to switch to green cars.

But to simply let them charge more money to make up for rising gas prices would be missing a once-in-a-lifetime golden opportunity to green Toronto's cabs, clean the air for all of us and let cab drivers save thousands a year.

I know the entire city would be behind me on this one.

As you can read by clicking here, the cabs of New York City are enjoying huge gas savings thanks to going hybrid. So should Toronto's cabs.

Please let me know what you think of this idea and let me know if myself and my friends could do anything to help make this happen.

Town destroyed by twister rebuilds Green

Perhaps it's because I feel philosophical on Sundays. Perhaps it's because I was just watching a documentary about Superman while on the treadmill in the gym. But this story, about a town in Kansas that was flattened by a twister a year ago today and is rebuilding as a new model of how green a town can be, is inspiring and gives me a little bit of hope for the world...

http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/05/02/greensburg.green/index.html

Toronto's CHUM FM denies global warming

An open letter to 104.5 Chum FM:

Dear Chum FM and the Roger, Rick & Marilyn Show,

I was listening to your morning show today and was pleased to hear you reporting on the fact it was Earth Day. But then I was dismayed to hear you spend a full minute of the newscast giving airtime to the people who deny global warming exists. I don't see what this was intended to accomplish. Any sane person can see that we have a problem with pollution in our world. Even George W. Bush has acknowledged that global warming is a serious problem. And yet you felt that a few lunatic scientists who are funded by oil companies deserved more time in your broadcast than the people trying to clean up our city and our planet.

Your newscaster followed the positive Earth Day news with the line: "But of course, there's always a contrary opinion." Really? If you did a story about a Holocaust remembrance ceremony, would you feel the need to let a Holocaust-denier go on for 60 seconds as "balance?" Sure, there's always a contrary opinion. But there isn't always a logical contrary opinion that deserves airtime. The oil companies have tried to make it look like there's a "debate" in the scientific community on the subject. But anyone who's looked into it knows this is misinformation. You can always find someone who's willing to present a shoddy argument for a fee. But I don't see why this would earn them 50% of your newscast on a story about the environment.

I feel that you should apologize on air to your viewers for diminishing the important work that people are doing for Earth Day and for using your station's clout to promote dangerous, unfounded opinions that can only result in more deaths from smog and climate change. I am very disappointed in your station and in the usually positive and responsible Roger, Rick & Marilyn Show.

Sincerely,

Josh Rachlis

Get your face or message on a giant billboard in Ontario!

Get your face or message on a real, huge billboard in Ontario! Seriously! Just to go to http://www.jamesready.com, upload your photo or message, and it will most likely appear on a billboard!!!

The photo here is some guy Matt who sent in that picture. If he can get a billboard, YOU can. And no, what you send in doesn't need to have anything to do with beer.

If you’re my friend, I’ll make sure you get your stuff on a billboard! You see, I’ve been asked to use my internet social networking connections to raise participation in an exciting marketing initiative for James Ready Beer. (Translation: People at work said “Hey! You have over 800 Facebook friends! Help us out!”)

James Ready is an inexpensive beer that asks consumers to “Help us keep James Ready a buck a bottle.” As such, they have bought up some real live billboards around Ontario but don’t have any fancy, expensive ads to put on them.

So they’re asking people to email in a digital photo or just a message and they’ll put it on a giant billboard. They haven’t gotten enough responses yet. Maybe because people don’t believe it’s real. So if you send something in, it will most likely be made into a billboard.

Got a photo of your sports team? Want to ask a girl out? Are you making a movie that you’d like to promote? Want to show off your new haircut?

Just go to http://www.jamesready.com and send in what you want on the billboard. It’s that simple! And you can message me after so that I can help ensure that it does get up there.

You can do it no matter where you live. But if you live in one of these areas, even better, because this is where the billboards will be:

Peterborough
Ajax
Pickering
Georgetown/Halton Hills
Brantford
Chatham-Kent
Sarnia
Barrie
Orillia
Belleville
Kingston
Oshawa
Hamilton
St. Catharines
Niagara
London
Windsor
Sault Ste. Marie
Sudbury
North Shore
North Bay & District
Thunder Bay
Kitchener
Cambridge

Are you sabotaging your own success?

Check out what this study found:

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Mediocrity rules

People are so convinced they can't do well in certain pursuits that they can inadvertently sabotage their own performance to achieve their low expectations.

University of Toronto social psychologist Jason Plaks says this self-imposed mediocrity in selected areas is so pervasive that people become anxious if they achieve above their expectations. The anxiety of overachieving in areas they've convinced themselves they're no good at may actually limit some people's ability to do well in them, Plaks says.

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Pretty crazy, huh? But it reminds me of the many times I've heard people say they can't do something, even when I'm sure they could. Such a large part of getting ahead at anything in this world is simply DOING it. So, think about it... Is there something you want? Are you maybe not getting it simply because you're telling yourself you can't get it? Well, stop that. Go for it. And when you get what you want, leave a comment here so I can have the smug satisfaction of saying: "I told you so."