Wednesday, September 2, 2015

The ScootCommute on CITY TV

Today was the day I got about three and a half minutes of the fifteen minutes of fame that Andy Warhol kindly alotted to me.

Some time a few weeks back, I got an e-mail asking if I would mind being interviewed on Montreal CITY TV's morning show Breakfast Television. I was both surprised and genuinely honoured.

When I mentioned to Susan that the show's managing producer told me that it would be a three-minute interview, Susan burst out laughing "You can't even introduce yourself in three minutes!" she teased.


In the end, Susan pronounced my turn in the TV spotlight a fantastic success. Of course a spouse's opinion may be suspected of bias, so I'll let you be the judge.

I have Jim Mandle and Stephanie Yue to thank for this. The production team mentioned that it was my forays deep into the Adirondacks and in particular my rides, first with Jim, and later with Stephanie, that tweaked the show's interest in me and my blog. Thanks guys.

So have a look and judge for yourselves.  Here is a link to the Breakfast Television video, and here is what it looked like to the viewers at home.

31 comments:

RichardM said...

Nice interview, though the lead still had the error that you had toured all around the U.S. At least now I know how your name is pronounced.

David Masse said...

Make that two mistakes.

It's "David" as in the Statue of David, or David and Goliath, because English is my mother tongue. And the "a" in Masse is pronounced neither like "mass" or "moss" but rather like "maasse" or like the sheep's "baa".

Unfortunately my name gets mispronounced nine times out of ten, by both English speakers and French speakers. It's a minor curse, all things considered.

Interesting side note, the enthusiastic interviewer is Alexandre Despatie, who was a world champion diver, and for that reason, famous here. But he still mispronounced my name.

SonjaM said...

Hey, now I am famous by proxy. I'll let you know soon if touring on a Honda will be as good as traveling by Vespa

For now, I really like both options, but you have to plan your route differently on a Vespa than on a big cruiser (not that a 750cc motorcycle is really big for North American standards).
Great interview! You should do that more often (that or maybe getting into Vlogging, eh?).

VStar Lady said...

Whoooooooooooo Whooooooooooo - Dawvid!

Unknown said...

What I think is an even more interesting note is the fact that David's middle name, Georges, rhymes with "gorgeous"… of course! That's a case of nominative determinism if I've ever seen or heard one! ;-)

Unknown said...

Oh yes… Almost forgot! Fantastic interview, David, especially for the very very limited time slot!

Dar said...

Woot! Are you famous or infamous?! Very cool David! You meet the coolest people on 2 wheels!

Unknown said...

David Masse REP-RE-ZENT-IN'!... Well done indeed.

Nice job taking the opportunity to mention ATGATT: Often enough I see motorcyclists going around helmetless and in t-shirts, shorts, and flip-flops (or are they thongs), but such non-gear seems to be the common outfit for scooterists (at least in this neck of the woods, er, desert). They seem to think that scootering is less risky than motorcycling.

Dar said...

Pss! I am so glad you talk to scooterists about wearing the proper gear - YOU ARE MY HERO!!

Andrew Thomson said...

Nice! And a great way to get more blog viewers...

David Masse said...

Andrew, I think you are being too kind. At best I'm only reasonably attractive. You can only take nominative determinism so far, given the genetic headwinds.

David Masse said...

Sonja, we can make this all about a duel of touring platforms. Once the Vespa vs Shadow bout is done, and a winner declared, we could pit the winner against a BMW GS, and so on.

As for vlogging, my personal favorites are Sonja Gill and Nathalie Tran. I am in awe of their talent, not to mention production skills.

I would need to invest in video editing skills and a kickass editing platform.

I'm thinking it's unlikely to happen.

David Masse said...

Dawwvid... takes me back to 4th grade... yuck.

David Masse said...

Dar, I've been so freaking busy with a million things, my blog has visibly suffered.

I'm trying to make up with quality for the lack of quantity.

By the way, the Farkle Garage is positively awesome.

David Masse said...

Ry the thing is that commuting means a lot of mileage. That multiplies the risk hansomely.

Trobairitz said...

I thought it was a great interview. If you weren't famous before, you are now!!

Interesting twist in pronouncing your name too.

David Masse said...

Your hero!!! Wait a minute, it's the other way around, look at you: motorcycle instructor, TV host... pie baker!!!

David Masse said...

Brandy, I'm more of a legend in my own mind, I think.

Kathleen Jennette said...

Great interview and a good push for riding! Good for you :)

Canajun said...

Good interview. Of course now no one will recognise you wearing your shades and ascot. :)

The City Mouse in the Country said...

How did I miss Farkle Garage? Man I got to pull my head out of my butt. Well done Dar.

The City Mouse in the Country said...

David....great interview. I'm glad to call you a motoblogging friend and a wonderful representative of the scootering world.

David Masse said...

Hmm ... My reply got blitzed by Google.

Andrew it was certainly fun but I doubt it will generate much if any traffic.

It's a more or less perfect bookend for the my commuter's spell in Montreal. Susan and I will be moving to Toronto so commuting in Montreal is definitely over for me.



Bill Leuthold said...

Loved it David! It is great to see the Vespa community get some attention. I hope you were wearing your Rocket and Me shirt under all that gear.

David Masse said...

Thanks for the kind words Katy.

David Masse said...

... ascot... I have to get an ascot????

Why didn't anyone tell me? They shouldn't keep stuff like that to themselves!

David Masse said...

Rob, one day we will meet, and then you will have to share an embarrassing moment with the world in your ScootCommute interview.

David Masse said...

Actually, no I wasn't. I was wearing a sky blue polo shirt. A missed opportunity.

Sorry about that.

Bill Leuthold said...

I was just hoping to be part of your fifteen, or five, minutes of fame. No apology please.

redlegsrides said...

You did great Mr Famous....now did you shine up your scoot for the interview or do you keep it that way all the time? :)

Good of you to mention the moto-blogging world and the ATGATT philosophy.

David Masse said...

Ha ha ha!! The scoot was filthy from my trip in July as a result of the coolant leak and the massive monsoon we experienced in Lake Placid.

I spent the better part of two hours getting it ready for its TV debut. If only I had looked so good.

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