gor[b] Paul Gorbould: Words and Pictures

Identical Twins #8

Yet another set of lookalikes spotted when trolling through the CBC Archives. I don't have anything funny to say about it, which is probably a good thing.

It might just be the haircut and facial hair, but there are some facial similarities between puppeteer (and Man to Man host) Rod Coneybeare and Maher Arar. No?

Identical Twins #6: My Name is Peter

Five years ago today, Peter Gzowski died. Gzowski was, and probably still is, the most-loved radio broadcaster in Canadian history.

Most of my childhood memories have Gzowski's dulcet tones in the background. I'm pretty sure our kitchen radio couldn't pick up anything other than Morningside, and their bookshelf contained seemingly endless copies of the Morningside Letters books.

Later, he became a bit of a role model for me, the "dream job" I held in the back of my mind as I worked through journalism school. And then, lo and behold, I landed a job at CBC Radio.

I must confess that I only sighted Peter Gzowski a few times during the years where his tenure at the Toronto Broadcasting Centre overlapped with mine. I'd see him shuffling through the atrium wearing a stained sweater and looking forlorn about the world's conspiracy against smoking.

Peter Gzowski signed off from Morningside in 1997, the year I landed my first full contract at CBC. And in a switch that only increased my fondness for him, Gzowski then went to my alma mater, Trent University, to become its eight chancellor. (It has since built a massive new college in his honour.)

Peter Gzowski died in 2002 of pulmonary disease due to emphysema.

The CBC Archives site has a nice collection of Peter Gzowski clips, and today Tod Maffin posted a nice tribute called Peter Gzowski Remembered.

And now, I'm going to go and ruin it all by posting a frivolous addition to my Identical Twins series.

A colleague noticed that one of our early images of Peter Gzowski bears a startling resemblance to Jason Lee's lead character Earl Hickey in My Name is Earl.

Not what I intended to post today, but yeah, I see it. Gzowski always maintained his sense of humour, so I doubt he'd mind. Besides, there are worse things than being loveable and rumpled. Among them, the moustache.

Identical Twins #5: Do[d]?

The other day, a cab driver told me I looked exactly like Dodi Al-Fayed. WTF?

I don't see it. Or, I don't want to see it. Unless he's comparing our wallets. Which he wasn't.

I told him to drive better than Dodi's driver.

Identical Twins #4: Tardis Down Under

I was afraid this one would be moot, what with the transmogrification of the good doctor from Christopher Eccleston to David Tennant.

But now CBC has gone ahead and scheduled a repeat of the first season of Doctor Who for Tuesdays at midnight (that's pretty late at night, but Doctor Who fans shouldn't have a problem with time shifting.)

Identical Twins #3: Long live lamé!

OK, this one isn't strictly CBC, but we've carried enough programming featuring each star to warrant a bit of a stretch.

Who is more fabulous? Is it Jackie Rogers Jr., the albino performer made famous by Martin Short on Saturday Night Live? (Seen here hosting "Jackie Rogers Jr.'s $100000 Jackpot Wad" (transcript).

Or is it Olympic figure skating champion Evgeni Plushenko, whose medal collection is outshone only by his shirt, hair, and teeth?

(Do check out his website, if only for the unconvincing "I got married, sorry ladies!" story. Did you see this dude performing "Sex Bomb"? Eeeeeep.)

Identical Twins #2: Jinkies!

I've always had a thing for women with huge... lenses. Check out the pie plates on these twins!

Nobody pulls off big glasses like mystery solver extraordinaire Velma Dinkley. Velma may have had them first, but fifth estate host Hana Gartner had them bigger.

That's a lot of glass. Imagine how strong her neck must have been! I believe the left lens was later used to repair the Hubble Telescope.

Identical Twins #1: The ‘B’ is for Bubbles

I have the good fortune of spending a lot of time perusing the amazing CBC Archives.

Once in a while, when screening clips, I notice someone that looks like someone else. Here's the first one - more will follow, eventually.

It goes beyond the glasses, I think. I just love the juxtaposition of the UN logo/Grade Ten cake! (It'd be interesting to do a survey of which face, or name, carries better brand recognition today. The result would probably make me crawl into a cave and never come out.)