Segarini: The Poll
Somewhere in the back of my mind I knew this was a bad idea. It just didn’t feel right. I couldn’t tell you exactly what it was that felt ‘off’ about it, but like most truths that hide in plain sight, I was aware of it from the moment I had the idea to run a poll about what you, Dear Reader, had to say about the Pop Culture we write about here. It was just a feeling, a nagging suspicion that hid in the shadows and didn’t reveal itself until it was too late. Well, I can’t ignore it anymore. Instead, I will confess my sin. Asking you to fill out a ridiculously convoluted poll about your personal likes and dislikes when it comes to popular entertainment was an ill-conceived inconvenience akin to having to fill out an exit poll at a Brothel.
In other words, I forgot most of you come here for fun and relaxation, not an inquisition. Mind you, I did want to know what you all are into when it comes to entertainment, but then I’ve realized you answer those questions every time you log on to DBAWIS to read what we have to say. Your interests are reflected in the amount of traffic we get here on the site, the comments at the bottom of the page, personal emails, and Twitter and Facebook tweets and comments…and we get a hell of a lot of those.
Still, I was really looking forward to reading your responses, and after almost 30,000 hits on the site I thought we would be inundated with them.
I was wrong.
We received a total of one and a half responses. At first I was beside myself with grief bordering on an anxiety attack. After a couple of tacos and a few beers, I realized my mistake. Instead of old-school media, where connectivity depended on occasionally polling the readership as to their concerns and opinions, we have an ongoing dialogue with you all year long. After due consideration I have concluded that sharing your comments, emails, etc, would be a far more interesting (and less time consuming) way to let your thoughts be known, which is why I have decided to bring back The Mailbag in the near future, maybe as soon as next week. I have to figure out when we would run it, and how we (the writers) can respond to your input in a timely manner, but I know it can be done, and as soon as we are able, The Mailbag will once again grace these pages. Either that, or we may start a ‘Don’t Believe a Word I Say’ Facebook page where we can all communicate about our mutual interests as often as we want to.
Here are the responses we received in answer to The Poll. I believe the contributors wish to remain anonymous, and I will respect that belief.
THE FIRST ANNUAL
DON’T BELIEVE A WORD I SAY
READER’S POLL
MUSIC
FAVOURITE BAND
Overall: Tower Of Power
Local: Kevin Quain & The Mad Bastards
Worst Band: 54-40
FAVOURITE SOLO ARTIST
Overall: Monte Montgomery
Local: Dan McLean Jr.
Worst Solo Artist: Neil Young
FAVOURITE CD/DOWNLOAD
Overall: Ryan Adams “Ashes & Fire”
Local: Erin Hunt “The Woman I Am”
FAVOURITE SONG
Overall: Cee Lo Green “Fuck You”
Local: Ron Sexsmith “No Help At All”
Worst Song: Did Kid Rock release anything this year?
FAVOURITE LIVE CLUB/BAR PERFORMANCE
Overall Act: Kevin Breit’s Sisters Euclid
Local Act: Kevin Breit’s Sisters Euclid
Terrible Live Performance: Matthew Genovese
FAVOURITE LIVE LARGE VENUE PERFORMANCE
Overall Act: Tower Of Power
Local Act: Ron Sexsmith
Frighteningly Awful Performance: none
FAVOURITE VENUE
Club/Bar: Hugh’s Room
Other: Massey Hall
FAVOURITE BAND/ARTIST TO WATCH IN 2012
Overall: Alejandra Ribera
Local: Alejandra Ribera
Band/ Artist You Hope Disappears in 2012: Lady Gaga
FAVOURITE INTERNET MUSIC SITE
Internet Radio: none
Internet Music Streaming Site: none
Your Personal Message to Terrestrial Radio: Specialize in a particular genre.
FAVOURITE DJ
Live DJ: none
Radio DJ: none
MOVIES
Favorite Movie: The Help
Mind Numbingly Bad Movie: “Bucky Larson: Born To Be A Star”
Best Actor: Leonardo DiCaprio “Inception”
Jaw Droppingly Bad Actor: Ashton Kutcher “New Years Eve”
Best Actress: Viola Davis “The Help”
Most Delusional Actress: Miley Cirus :So Undercover”
Favourite Director: Steven Spielberg “War Horse”
Painfully Inept Director: The Farrelly Brothers “Hall Pass”
Best Moment Action: When the hero goes through the windshield on the highway in “Indian Robot”.
Best Moment Comedy: Kevin Spacey in “Horrible Bosses”, “I had no idea that you called your grandmother “Gam Gam!” “
Best Moment Drama: In “The Help” when Abilene tells the story about her son.
Best Documentary: “Project Nim”
Best Snack Bar: none
Cheapest Parking: none
TELEVISION
BEST SERIES
Overall: Wilfred (American)
Action: none
Comedy: Wilfred (American)
Drama: none
Documentary: “Into The Universe with Stephen Hawking”
Least Annoying Reality Show: Gene Simmons “Family Jewels”
Best Stand Alone/Mini Series/Limited Series: “The Yard”
Best Writing: “The League”
Worst Writing: “Two & A Half Men”
Biggest Pleasant Surprise: “Whitney”
Biggest Disappointment: “Last Man Standing”
Best Moment: ANY moment in “Wilfred” (American).
Worst Moment: Every joke in “Last Man Standing”
Biggest Laugh: From Wilfred, “It’s not like I’m gonna bite her. Last time I ate Indian, I had the shits for a week!”
Coolest Death/Kill: none
YOU WATCH TELEVISION ON
Television: FX
Internet: YouTube
DVD/BluRay: Action movies
USB/Download: none
POP CULTURE IN GENERAL
Marvel or DC: Marvel
Least Deserving Celebrity: Kardashians
Most Annoying Celebrity: Kardashians
Coolest Celebrity: Russell Brand
Dumbest Fad/Trend/Pastime: Twitter
Scariest Kardashian: yes
Text, Talk, or Email: talk
Facebook, My Space, Twitter, or Google Plus: Facebook
Apple or PC: Apple
The Most Annoying Facebook Posts: Ben Train
And this one, with less than half the questions answered. I’ve left the unanswered questions out….
MUSIC
FAVOURITE BAND
Overall: Kid Creole And The Coconuts
Local: Ancient Chinese Secret
FAVOURITE SOLO ARTIST
Overall: Jorn Reissner
Local: That Dave guy we went to see at the Cameron this summer (Ed. Note: David Celia)
Worst Solo Artist: Lady GaGa
FAVOURITE LIVE CLUB/BAR PERFORMANCE
Overall Act: Wacker reunion
Local Act: Rattlesnake Choir
FAVOURITE VENUE
Club/Bar: Cadillac Lounge
Other: Cherry Cola
FAVOURITE INTERNET MUSIC SITE
Your Personal Message to Terrestrial Radio: Give up
TELEVISION
BEST SERIES
Overall: Boardwalk Empire
Comedy: Curb Your Enthusiasm
Biggest Pleasant Surprise: Mad Men
YOU WATCH TELEVISION ON
Television: yes
Internet: yes
POP CULTURE IN GENERAL
Text, Talk, or Email: Talk & Email
Facebook, My Space, Twitter, or Google Plus: Facebook and a bit of Twitting
Apple or PC: Both
So there you have it, the first and last Annual Don’t Believe a Word I Say Reader’s Poll. May it Rest in Peace.
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We now have an email address where all of us here at Don’t Believe a Word I Say can be contacted: dbawis@rogers.com Please use it to ask questions, 
tell us what you’d like to read about, send links you’d like to share, and let us hear what you have to say.
Bob “The Iceman” Segarini was in the bands The Family Tree, Roxy, The Wackers, The Dudes, The Segarini Band, and Cats and Dogs, and nominated for a Juno for production in 1978. He also hosted “Late Great Movies” on CITY TV, was a producer of Much Music, and an on-air personality on CHUM FM, Q107, SIRIUS Sat/Rad’s Iceberg 95, (now sadly gone), and now provides content for radiothatdoesntsuck.com with RadioZombie, The Iceage, and PsychShack. Along with the love of his life, Jade (Pie) Dunlop, (who hosts and writes “I’ve Heard That Song Before” on RTDS), continues to write, make music, and record.
January 9, 2012 at 2:38 pm
One and a half responses? If only it had been 1 9/10 – I can manage one-tenth of a questionnaire.
On a good day. With a favourable wind. And lots of coffee…
Smoogles,
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January 9, 2012 at 3:42 pm
Ya know Bob, The poll was not really a bad idea. It was just, as you say, long and a bit tedious. You do get high marks for owning up to this. Lesser men would not have done so. Kinda like telling a joke knowing that many may not get it and hoping enough people laugh to keep from being embarrassed. Keep up the good work….and good luck with the tooth!
January 10, 2012 at 12:45 pm
I did start to fill out the survey but the problem I came across was there were too many answers that ended up blank. Live music, for example. There is no live music scene in Wasaga Beach.
As for TV, even though we have more channels than ever before there are only a handful of shows i watch every week. Twenty years ago, you were stuck with watching 3 or 4 networks and actually watched The Facts of Life because you had nothing else to do. No computer, no mobile device to distract you. So choosing a best or worst program in a survey is hard because I haven’t seen most of them.
But I do enjoy surveys so if you post a shorter one someday I will check it out.
January 10, 2012 at 9:57 pm
Well, when faced with a difficult decision about what to say, I find the best choice is, almost always, the funniest thing. When that funny thing is also the truth, you’ve got a real winner. Well, not only was the only completed ballot sent by me, but … I voted for myslelf in “Favourite Solo Artist: Local”. I figured my self-centred indulgence wouldn’t matter, being lost in a pile of more-responsible, more-thoughtful nominations. The bad news is, I was wrong. The good news? I won!