Saturday, December 31, 2011

Congrats to.....

Bloggin Blodgett wants to wish everyone a Happy New Year! And now what everyone's waiting for. Congrats to Dennis Urriza the winner of the 2011 Christmas Give Away!!!!

Friday, December 30, 2011

Last chance for Christmas Give away

This is the final reminder for the $100 Christmas Give Away.  Hurry and join the Facebook Page to be entered into the draw.

Don't forget to join the Facebook Page for the Christmas Give away.  Ends tomorrow at noon.
http://www.facebook.com/events/315178565167145/

Last call for Christmas Give away

Don't forget to join the Facebook Page for the Christmas Give away.  Ends tomorrow at noon.
http://www.facebook.com/events/315178565167145/

Collingwood Photo Shoot


Thursday, December 29, 2011

Give away last minute reminder

Don't forget to join the Facebook Page for the Christmas Give away.  Ends tomorrow at noon.
http://www.facebook.com/events/315178565167145/

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Posting Resumes Tomorrow

 


I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas.  After a few days of running around like a chicken who lost his head, I was able to spend a relaxing two days near Collingwood.  The first major snowfall of the year hit that day as well which was perfect timing for a photo-shoot around the Blue Mountain Resorts.  Pictures will be posted tomorrow night when regular posting will resume as well. 

    Thursday, December 22, 2011

    Go leafs!!



    Live from the box at the ACC ... Also there will be limited posting over the next 5 days. 

    Go leafs!!


    Live from the box at the ACC ... Also there will be limited posting over the next 5 days. 

    Wednesday, December 21, 2011

    New Vault Member : DOTM Air Raid

    Its been a while since I've updated the Vault with new figures.  I recently picked up the Dark of the Moon Deluxe Air Raid.  I love this figure in vehicle mode it just looks like an awesome plane.  More coming soon!






    Liar Liar pants on fire.... The more you text the more you lie

    CP24 has presented a study done by the University of British Columbia who have confirmed the inevitable.. the more people text the more they are likely to lie or inflate their stories a little. Shocker. The age of faceless communication has enabled all kinds of antisocial behaviors from the way we heartlessly speak to one another through our keyboards, to the cyber-bullying (yes that includes the gossipers), to the trolls, to the disconnect from real life and real social skills.

    I'm not on the floor in shock at this correlation between fibbing and the frequent usage of text messaging. It has always been like this back in the original days of being able to send chat messages through a computer. People always lied because their is no real way of knowing the difference truth and lie. But what this study does touch upon is where we should be concerned. There is a difference between texting and using online social tools. To text someone you have to know them. And if we are developing the habit of blatantly lying to people who are friends or family then this is an issue.   All these social tools are a way for us to communicate better and when needed to reach out to one another that's what social networking and communication is.  Have your say in the combox.

    Bloggin B 

    Tuesday, December 20, 2011

    The Hobbit Trailer

    Music video to Steve Jobs

    Android is my device of preference and readers of BlogginBlodgett may know I have not used Apple Devices in many years. I was on Youtube last night, I was watching a music video and as what usually happens with Youtube two hours later I'm watching something completely unrelated. So I end up watching an interview with the late Steve Jobs from the 2010 D8 Conference. I have only recently got back into following technology trends gradually over the last couple of years. I found this video embedded below quite interesting as I haven't followed the Apple/Steve Job's Story all that closely. There is a lot of insightful information in the interview.  When you have the time watch the full interview embedded below. 

    Fridge food Taggin



    I've always admired food tagging but do people really think this will keep their goods safe from the fridge monster?

    Rail Link set to go























    The new Rail Link between Toronto and Pearson Airport is set to begin construction this coming spring.  The Rail Link which will cost tax payers an estimated  $128.6 million dollars.  It is expected to create over a thousand jobs for the City as well.  It will be nice to see a Rail Link to be built that travels between Downtown Mississauga and the airport as well as other major transportation hubs.  More details on the Rail Link can be found over at the Mississauga News

    Don't forget $100 Giveaway Only 11 days left

    There is only  11 days left for the $100 Christmas Giveaway. If you haven't liked the Facebook Page do so today.

    Christmas Give away
    Public Event · By BlogginBlodgett

    When :Today at 5:30am until Saturday, December 30, 2011 at 12:00pm
    Where : Online
    Details :

    Bloggin Blodgett we be giving away 1 x one  hundred dollar gift card to Cadillac Fairview Malls or  1 x one hundred dollar gift card to Best Buy.

    The list of participating Cadillac Fairview stores can be found in the link below.

    http://www.shops.ca/page.ch2?uid=ParticipatingShoppingCentresRetailers

    If you are a winner outside of these locations a cash prize will be arranged.

    Rules and Winning :  On December 31st at 11:30 PM we will be announcing the winner for the Christmas Giveaway which will be posted here along with the video draw. In the spirit of Christmas generosity it is requested that you inform your fellow Facebook members to Join in this Giveaway.

    You must be a Bloggin Blodgett Page member to participate.   Meaning you must be on our liked list as well as joining this event. On December 30th the draw will be closed at 12pm. Prizes will be selected from a hat on video which will be uploaded at 11:30pm on December 31st. In order to confirm your entry we will be posting an email address on the fan page at a later date where you can email us to verify your entry. Full name, email and facebook user ID will be required.

    Best of Luck
    Bloggin Blodgett

    Saturday, December 17, 2011

    Drink beers,.eat food... Distillery District today


    Posting will be scarce today as I'm heading down to Toronto Distillery District for some Christmas Festivities ands eats.  7D is coming along too so look out for pics later......

    Thursday, December 15, 2011

    New Ghost Rider 2 Trailer

    And now for a commercial break


    While we no longer hear too often the saying "and now we pause for a small commercial break" there is another that will be falling to the waste side of antiquated sayings: "Why is the volume of these commercials so loud?" Even though I watch very little TV this is still a huge pet peeve of mine.  But no more!  The King has blown the horn and beckoned the battle cry (the FCC).  Beginning next December advertisers will be required to maintain a consistent volume level on commercials meaning the volume levels will have to correspond with the programs they are attached to.  Good is the word that comes to mind.  No more scrambling for the remote as we gradually go deaf to ear drum popping "men's happy" commercials.  You can read a few more details over at

     http://www.engadget.com/2011/12/14/fcc-tells-advertisers-to-calm-down-lowers-the-volume-on-commerc/?m=false 

     engadget.com 

    The Expendables 2 Trailer

    Amazing Spider Man Website Goes live


    Wednesday, December 14, 2011

    Suggestions ..What to Bake?


    On Saturday I mentioned that this week I will be doing some Christmas goodies baking.   Bloggin B needs your suggestions.  Enter them in the combox below. 

    Amazon may pay you to leave a store





    Strange sounding I know but rumor has it that this Saturday only Amazon is offering a new service that will pay you to leave the store you are shopping at.  In order to take part in this experiment you must have their smart phone app.  The hopes are that you will see an item in a store, scan it, leave the store and buy it online. Read more here 

    Tuesday, December 13, 2011

    Details for $100 Giveaway

    Christmas Give away
    Public Event · By BlogginBlodgett

    When :Today at 5:30am until Saturday, December 31, 2011 at 3:30pm
    Where : Online
    Details :

    Bloggin Blodgett we be giving away 1 x one  hundred dollar gift card to Cadillac Fairview Malls or  1 x one hundred dollar gift card to Best Buy.

    The list of participating Cadillac Fairview stores can be found in the link below.

    http://www.shops.ca/page.ch2?uid=ParticipatingShoppingCentresRetailers

    If you are a winner outside of these locations a cash prize will be arranged.

    Rules and Winning :  On December 31st at 11:30 PM we will be announcing the winner for the Christmas Giveaway which will be posted here along with the video draw. In the spirit of Christmas generosity it is requested that you inform your fellow Facebook members to Join in this Giveaway.

    You must be a Bloggin Blodgett Page member to participate.  Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/pages/BlogginBlodgett/114161665366770  Meaning you must be on our liked list as well as joining this event. On December 30th the draw will be closed at 12pm. Prizes will be selected from a hat on video which will be uploaded at 11:30pm on December 31st. In order to confirm your entry we will be posting an email address on the fan page at a later date where you can email us to verify your entry. Full name, email and facebook user ID will be required.

    Best of Luck
    Bloggin Blodgett

    Caribbean Mango and Eggnog Chicken Casserole

    Men in Black III

    The teaser for MIB 3 has arrived...

    G.I. JOES RETALIATION TRAILER

    For all you G.I. Fan's here's the new trailer:

    Twelve days and counting

    Twelve more days to go. The malls are starting to look a little frantic as people are beginning to flock to them for the last minute gift items. While we still haven't seen a snowfall down here, chances are likely that we'll have a white Christmas. I love when it snows on Christmas!! If you haven't had the chance to enjoy any nice Christmas Shows this Saturday the Living Arts Centre will be hosting Voices of Christmas.  What would Christmas be like without Music?  And baking?  Speaking of baking I will be preparing a few Christmas goods myself.  Watch out for some pics and recipes. 
    On another note it seems like over here :

    Life is beginning to populate as the Spiral Legs have begun to light up a little more at night.  It will be curious to see how the Monroe Towers look all lite up.  I have yet to scale the walls with my grapple gloves to peer into the building but feedback from people who have seen them is that they are .. awkward?  I've always had the notion that this building will lose its "WOW that's so Cool looking" nostalgia very quickly.  I'm still looking for a hookup to get me through security so I can climb the 50 flights of stairs in order to take pictures of people parking at the upper level of the Bay at Square one.   

    Its just about time for some breakfast so I will be ending this rant shortly.  Speaking of food and well throw in some Robots here's a good example of wasted time and money on frivolous research that is only going to have a negative impact on our future.  Too negative not so sure. A bunch of people in Munich have discovered how to get a Robot to make a Sandwich upon command.  I wonder if they could teach it well OK I'm going to be nice.... Bunk!!!!!!!! There it is I have said it, I'm taking a stand, no Robots!! There's just something disturbing about the concept of a future in which we can't even amass the effort to get up and slap two slices of bread together with a little lettuce tomato and meat oh and don't forget the mayo.  So let's all bask in the glory of knowing that very soon we will no longer have to waste time making sandwiches.  A question comes to mind "How will they know if the mayo is still good?"  Just saying bad mayo is well... bad? (shoulder shrug)

    Last but not least the details for the $100 Christmas give away will be posted here tonight at 8pm.  You must be a Fan of Bloggin B to participate.  Now I'm off to see the wizard the breakfast wizard that is.  Have a good week. 

    Friday, December 9, 2011

    Caribbean Cook Off



    For all you Caribbean Food lovers there will be a Caribbean cook off tomorrow in Mississauga from 5pm till 10pm.  Visit  Jerk Festival  for details.

    Ah the ingenius of it all



     It doesn' take long for those bad dudes to find more creative users for new technologies.  Take for example the relatively newer 3D printers, well there's better uses for that too, rather than making pretty little flowers, toys, lego, tools, door knobs you can make your very own ATM skimmer.  I can't wait to see what these genius' come up with the newer MakerBots that can create parts for other Robots.  Try imaging Doc Brown (Back to the Future) in his basement creating a Robot army using the maker bot.  Great Scott!! I've always wanted to star in a Terminator Movie.  Seriously people why not use your time and talents to do some good like maybe find a way to feed some starving people.  Just a thought.

     http://gizmodo.com/5866491/fraudsters-now-using-3d-printers-to-make-authentic-looking-atm-skimmers 

    Dark Knight Rises Prologue Details



    For all you Dark Knight Fans, Empire Online has posted a limited synopsis of the upcoming six minute Prologue trailer which is scheduled to be released beginning on December 21st before screenings of Mission Impossible.   The link is below.

     http://www.empireonline.com/news/story.asp?NID=32646 

    Thursday, December 8, 2011

    Painting with a Typewriter



    We've all come across innovative ideas but this has to be one of the most interesting I've seen to date.  Artist Tyree Callahan has converted a typewriter into what could be considered parallel to an analog printer.Each key stroke represents a different color.  Dubbing his creation the Chromatic Typewriter I'd actually like to see video of this thing in action.  But for now read the interview over here. 

    Our Kind of Christmas


    Mississauga group JUSTUS will be performing Christmas Music
    Friday December 9, 2011 @ 7:30 pm
    Hammerson Hall
    Tickets: $18

    http://www.livingartscentre.ca/index.php/shows/event-calendar/event/207-Our Kind of Christmas.html

    Nuk Nuk Nuk

    They're back the dynamic trio!!! Check out The Three Stooges Trailer

    Wednesday, December 7, 2011

    Mississauga News Blogs????

    What ever happened to the Mississauga News Community Blog?  I remember a few years ago when Blogging was beginning to become a mainstream way of publishing The News setup a site for local community members to engage their fellow citizens by setting up a personal blog.  I even had one set up and posted a few entries myself.  There was actually some good discussions and topics brought up by my fellow Bloggers.  But as with all good things that are offered free and unmonitored comes the people who ruin it by using a community blog as a means to spam people and sell their products, genius.

    It was fun up until we got the email stating that the Mississauga News would be regulating bloggers and their postings.  Fair enough anyone who actually had something worthwhile to say would be given the freedom to do so, this was more a precautionary measure due to spamming.  I was even honored to be considered for continuing my page and received several instructions on how to do so.  This is where it fell apart (for me anyhow) the instructions I received at the time and how to access the new site I could never get to work.  One of the administrators contacted me via phone on a couple of occasions trying to work through why I wasn't able to access the site.  After a few phone calls back and forth it seemed like nothing was working.  To be honest I just forgot about the site and only thought about it again recently since I have launched Bloggin Blodgett.  I read the Mississauga News frequently via Twitter and Reader it helps keep me grounded in what's going on locally as that is the focus of this site.  But I'm still curious what ever happened to the great concept of community bloggers?

    Don't forget to Join Bloggin Blodgett's Face Book Page for the $100 Christmas Give Away.  Details will be available only through Bloggin Blodgett's Page.  Look for the Give away details on the Event Calendar. 

    Peanut Butter Snowballs























    Cookies, Gingerbread Houses, Candy Canes, Rice Krispies, Peppermint Patties, Brownies ah the list goes on for the Christmas treats that will be making their pounds, I mean rounds over the next few weeks.  While we all love indulging a little in the sweets sometimes the goodies are a lot of work.  Whether you have kids or not time over the next seventeen days will disappear very fast.  A fast and easy treat recipe, one which your kids will love too because they get to make a mess, play with their food and have a nice treat.  All you need is a little peanut butter (or a lot) and some icing sugar. You will need two spoons, a bowl and a plate.

    Step 1:  Wash your hand.  This is a hands on recipe.  

    Step 2 :  Dump a bunch of icing sugar in the bowl.  If you're unsure of how much start small and add more as needed.

    Step 3:  Scoop as much peanut butter as you want into the bowl.  Here is where you will discover the purpose of the second spoon.  (Hint Use it to remove the peanut butter from the other spoon)

    Step 4:  Roll up your sleeves its time to jump in. Using your hands fold the icing sugar over the peanut butter and then mix together.  What you want to avoid is having too much icing sugar that the peanut butter begins to crumble. The peanut butter shouldn't be too sticky either.

    Step 5:  Start breaking the peanut butter into small balls by rolling them adding icing sugar as need to avoid stickiness. Ideally you should be able to roll them in your hand without the ball sticking to your hand.  Make as many or little as you want. 

    Step 6: Sprinkle a little icing sugar on the plate enough that you can lightly roll and cover the peanut butter snowballs.  When the peanut butter balls are ready gently roll them on the plate so they are slightly covered like a light snowfall.

    Step 7: Have a treat.  Be careful the addiction to eat as many as possible may be followed by the feeling of over eating.

    If you want to get really creative you can cover them in chocolate.



    Don't forget to Join Bloggin Blodgett's Face Book Page for Christmas give away.  Details will be available only through Bloggin Blodgett's Page.  Look for the Give away details on the Event Calendar. 

    Christmas Give away


    Join Bloggin Blodgett's Face Book Page for Christmas give away.  Details will be available only through Bloggin Blodgett's Page.  Look for the Give away details on the Event Calendar.

    Pop goes the ......

    Tammy was rushing on her way to a meeting in Toronto and as she speed along the Q.E.W. she felt a jolt and then a loud pop almost like a gun shot.  "Great" she thinks to herself.  Pulling over as the sound of metal scrapping the floor confirms the inevitable... Tammy has a flat tire.  One of the worst things a driver can experience other than blowing a transmission is getting a flat tire.  For most people it means losing an hour or two of important time (because time is important) waiting for someone to help.  Let's face it most of us wouldn't know how to change a tire if our life depended on it.  While there are some tires that claim the title of self inflating the air tire is still a pain.  Well Bridgestone has unveiled its new concept tire (pictured below) which has no air and they do look a little sexy.  Have a whirl over here

    Triple X

    The new domain name xxx has gone live as of Tuesday.  While some of the industry giants are up in arms about the new domain geared towards curbing adult content sites away from typically used domains ie .com, .ca, I personally think this is a great idea.  But the idea hasn't quite gone far enough in my books.  It should be eventually legislated as a mandatory domain for adult sites.  People in the industry understandable may be vexed at the idea of having to give up their current domain names and re-register under this new address, something that I understand and know can be time consuming and expensive, but I thinking that a billion dollar industry can probably foot the bill.  On the whole I think it does a lot to help families, parents, and businesses to control and eliminate the crap from gaining a foot hold within their respective place of operation.  Anyone who still thinks that porn doesn't have negative impacts on these environments is living in ignorance.  There are countless studies that have proven the negative impacts of the use of pornographic material not only on people but social circles as well.  I don't have the time right now to provide you the links but any Google search will lead you to a  number of studies.  Overall this is a good move on the part of ICM Registry, the company who will administrate the domains. 

    Tuesday, December 6, 2011

    Advent Concert


    For those who love Christmas Music and Carols Saint Joseph's Church in Streetsville will be holding their annual Advent Concert on Saturday December 10th at 7:30.  Saint Joseph is located at 5440 Durie Road. Saint Joseph's has a number of beautiful choirs and cantors worth checking out.

    Price cut your drink





    Wouldn't that be the day.  I have always made my displeasure with the operating practices of the greed giant LCBO known.  The prices of alcohol in this province at least are a little high.  One of the many reasons I always come back from travels fully loaded.  But what I think is almost a mockery of the good people of this province is when the LCBO thinks its having a great sale.  While penny pinching goes so far I think its a slap in the face when the LCBO drops their price by twenty-five or fifty cents.  To me it says that you can't really do anything about it so were only going to give you a measely discount and continue to rake in unimaginable amounts of cash.  If you want a better example of corporate greed look no further. 

    The LCBO is quick to argue that their sales of 1.56 billion dollars went to the treasury which in turn should be recycled back to the province.  That means our drinking spurts last year could have footed Harper's bill for the G20.  That would make an interesting article.  I know that much of the revenue will go towards our health care system and (mis)education system.  Its ironic that alcoholics are prefooting their own medical bill by purchasing alcohol and you thought the terminator story was confusing.

    Today the Toronto Star featured an article  on this topic of over priced alcohol and the Auditor General Jim McCarter has told the LCBO that their prices are too high.  If I had a drink in my hand I would raise my glass.  Who knows maybe well see a break in prices in the future but I'm not holding my breath.  Thirsty Blodgett

    The National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women

    Today marks the annual National day of Remembrance for Violence Against Women, a day wherein we remember those women who have been killed and abused.  The day of remembrance also includes the École Polytechnique Massacre, a day wherein fourteen women were specifically targeted and murdered because they were women.  Please offer a moment of silence today in honor of all women who have suffered at the hands of abusive men. 

    Monday, December 5, 2011

    Bent Objects a brillant idea

    There are so many different social media sites sometimes it hard to keep up.  One site I am glad to have stumbled upon is actually called stumbleupon.  I haven't spent too much time yet on the site but within minutes of registering an account on the weekend I discovered a brilliant page.  As a photographer my trigger finger was really itching to try this but as a artistic sort of person I respect the creator's right to entitlement .  The concept is entitled Bent Objects created by Terry Border.  Terry has created a very unique photograph experience in which he uses all kinds of objects from daily life including various foods and attaching them in unique ways using wires and then animates them in various artistic poses.  I have linked to a few of his pictures below.  Please visit his site to see more. 

    Vigil for Woman Abuse


    There will be a Vigil for Woman's Abuse held tomorrow night at The HJA Brown Education Centre. 
    December 6th is the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women.  
    For more information and resources on Violence Against Women vist  http://www.pcawa.org 

    Suicide


    Not the best of topics for a rainy Monday morning but nevertheless life isn't always peachy.  Mississauga News has posted an article about the tragic story of sixteen year ago Mitchell Pham who took his own life.  The article features an interview with the family.  Ironically  I'm on my way to work and there's a woman who's being have a conversation with herself for the past twenty five minutes.  Mental health is a sensitive subject but something as a society we really need to come more to grasps with in educating ourselves and be willing to aid in research.  Read the original article 

    Sunday, December 4, 2011

    Dominican Pictures Album Completed


    Anyone know the number for room service




    You ever find that really comfortable spot in your bed and you are about to drift off into heavenly bliss when all of a sudden your stomach slaps you in the face and says "hey I'm running on empty here." So there comes the dilemma:  hungry vs comfort.  I can tell you comfort is going to win because I can feel it in my bones that its cold out there and I'm not quite so brave this Sunday morning. 

    Today, well actually I uploaded them last night, but today I will be sharing with you the last of the Dominican Republic pictures and there's a few for your browsing.  In case anyone was wondering what to get Bloggin Blodgett for Christmas anything from the Transformers Cyberverse Collection will suffice.  I hear that Walmart has a Cyberverse Ultimate Gift set and if you're not a fiscal supporter of Walmart's evil plan for World Domination then there's always Toys r us.   I blame Toys r us for my generations woes, just in case you wanted to know.  We were constantly bombarded with their propaganda embedded with emotional irresponsibility and refusal to submit to any authoritarian powers in the age old slogan "I don't want to grow up".  That's why most of us aren't married, constantly change jobs, live in a liquored aquarium and have more toys than our forefathers could ever imagine.  See reading Bloggin Blodgett is like X-files, "the truth is out there" you just have to know the right people. 

    Unfortunately there will be no new cooking expeditions this weekend.  I do apologize as I had  mentioned that there may be some this weekend but do not fret Chez Blodge will return from slumber shortly. 

    In the world of entertainment rumors of a trailer for Peter Jackson's The Hobbit will be screened along with his film TinTin, both of which I will be seeing.  He has to be one of my favorite producers.  Time for some new Spiderman and Avengers footage as well.

    Still no word on that room service.  Looks like I'm going to have dawn the fur, load up the riffle and head out into the brisk morning mist to murder me a chicken for breakfast. 

    Don't forget to check out the  facebook  page and throw a couple likes our way.  We're aiming to obtain a personalized address which requires a certain number of fans. I have paid for friendships before it gets rather costly lol.  But on a more serious note Happy Sunday to all and hope you have a great week.  Lots coming up this week in blogosphere ... Stayed tuned.   Bloggin B

    Winter Drama in the middle of Winter : The Grey Trailer

     Nothing like a winter drama in the middle of winter.  Looking good!!!

    Friday, December 2, 2011

    Being longin for

    Ahhh another work week done.  Looking forward to this weekend which officially began just over an two hours ago.  Bloggin B has a few dinner events to attend to this weekend.  There's a few projects on the agenda as well including some photography, a few blog posts, as well as editing the wedding pictures I took down in the Dominican.  The flickr page is still online but I have setup up a page over at  500px  which will house my portfolio pictures until I can find the time and resources to build a website. Also Bloggin B is now on facebook add for more exclusive content and information.  I'm also going to try and get some cooking done this well as I haven't posted any recipes later.  Keep an eye

    Don't forgot to say hi to the latest member of my aquarium Daewon the Newt.  Daewon is pretty awesome he's very calm and likes to chill on the lily pad and floating wood.  He'll even just hang out in my hand and crawl around but he prefers to be a little wet.  Every now and then he's jump in the water for a dip, looks as if he likes to swim a lot too.  I add some loaches to the tank also and will try to snap a shot of them when they decide to come out of hiding, still a little shy getting use to the new home.

    LAC What's on in December

    The Living Arts Centre has released it upcoming schedule for December.  Noted events are:




    Visit the Event page over at the Living Arts Center for a listing of their December Events

    Thursday, December 1, 2011

    In case you missed it More Pics



    Mississauga News Launches Online Shopping Guide


    Yesterday Metroland Media announced that the Mississauga News has launched a virtual Shopping Centre.
    With the creation of three new blogs (listed below) you can now find information and articles relating to the various retail outlets available in these communities.  Business owners, many of whom are Small Time Business Owners, recieve a few perks from the new site also.  It puts them on the map so to speak in ways that many small business cannot provide the finances and resources for.  Two examples are that its gives them a free online presence as well participating Business' also receive a free HD video produced for them detailing their business operation.  Have a look.  I have to say this is actually a great idea.  

    http://www.streetsvilleshoptalk.com/
    http://www.clarksonshoptalk.com/
    www.PortCreditShopTalk.com 

    Original Article