Beckham Bounced From English Squad

I know what you're thinking: wtf, Phil, there was a full scale terror alert yesterday and you're talking soccer?

I know, I know, I could go on and on about that disturbing event, but I'm doing my part not to let the terrorists win - unlike the morons who react to the threat of a liquid explosive by having thousands and thousands of people dump oodles and oodles of "potentially hazardous" fluids into a common container in a crowded terminal. (Someone else had the same thought here) God bless the folks who work diligently to uncover these plots, and God help us from the obtuse airport personnel and United States presidents who react to them.

And on we merrily go...

So news comes today that David Beckham, recently resigned English soccer captain, has been dropped from the squad altogether by the new coach, Steve McClaren.

It's a sad day, I figure, 'cause I remember when Beckham broke in with the big squad as a 17-year old. Back then he was the quiet kid with the monster foot and he quickly became the pride of my favourite team as a kid, Manchester United. Having him dumped from the English team is almost worse than having him leave Man. U. We'll probably see a lot less of his soccer prowess on the boob tube now.

I don't know what you folks think, but this reeks of personal agenda. I mean, how do you figure that the guy who contributed to just about every goal your team scored at the World Cup can suddenly find himself not even in the top 8 of English midfielders?

McClaren clearly wants to put his mark on this team and the best way to do that is to dump the team's poster boy. Problem is, there's a reason the guy is the team's poster boy. He's good. Yeah, he may be "getting up there" in age (he's almost a year younger than me!) but he still holds his own on the pitch and contributes from the spot like no other. In a sport like soccer, where free kicks, corners and penalties offer more scoring chances than straight runs, this is the guy you want on your team.

Scratch the surface a little and I think you'll find McClaren resented the treatment Beckham got from former coach Sven-Goran Eriksson. McClaren wanted to dump the golden boy with the smoking hot wife and cologne ads; and that's just what he did.

This is definitely a turning point for England. New blood is being brought in. Hell, whereas England had once been the "Manchester United All-Stars", it now features more players from Tottenham Hotspur than any other club. But will it help them win a European or World championship?

Who cares? GO IRELAND!!!!!!

The Descent (no spoilers)

Saw The Descent on Friday with two lovely friends. (we're friends now, right Joce?) :P

It had been gettting favourable reviews on rottentomatoes, and the gals and I were looking for something to watch. Joce had seen Miami Vice and said it was trash, so that was out. I'm still gonna see it though. I'm pig-headed that way.

While The Descent didn't feature anything particularly special and the "threat" was kinda lame, I was entertained - and really, that's all you can ask for these days. Suspension of disbelief is definitely required here, though. This is not the smartest movie I've ever seen.

Kudos to the filmmakers, though, for having a suspense/horror film starring almost exclusively women. No nudity and I still dug it. What's the world coming to?

Movies at a Glance

Screw this. Rants are part of this whole therapeutic blog thing, but I'll be damned if I'm going into the weekend thinking about George f***ing Bush and his dumbass cronies.

(switches gears)

Alright, too many of my friends don't know enough about movies. Too many don't know that there are movies out there other than the ones advertised fifty times a day on tv. So, in the hopes that they will follow the bread crumbs and open up their minds to the possibility that there is something to be seen on the dark side of the moon, I offer a couple of links.

First, one that I've linked to before: rottentomatoes.com. Great site for seeing what's coming out and getting an idea if it's utter crap or pretty good. It pools reviews from all over the place and and calculates an approval rating as a percentage. Anything over 60% is "fresh", under is "rotten".

If you insist on seeing what a movie is about and will look like before throwing down your hard-earned cash, check out Apple trailers. This site has dozens and dozens of trailers for viewing via QuickTime. Although I won't watch trailers for movies I know I'll see, I find this site to be a great tool for discovering lesser-known gems. I'm wasting time at work right now, checking some stuff out.

...don't tell the boss.

I'm jonesing for "Renaissance" now.

Terrorism Works

Is there anyone with half a brain left in the world who honestly does not believe "the terrorists" have won?

The Worst President Ever may still be sending people to die in Iraq and Afghanistan, but this "War on Terror" ended long ago. America lost. Some folks are just too f***ing stupid to realize it.

Terrorists may have hijacked planes on 9/11, but George Bush lost the war when he reacted to the attacks and forgot what the U.S. is supposed to represent: freedom. You can't profess that you will bring democracy and freedom to the world when you build walls around your country (remember Reagan's demand of Gorbachev in Berlin?), make your citizens feel like prisoners, and bomb the crap out of foreign civilians while tracking down rebels (baby with the bathwater anyone?).

But the great disgrace, the testament to the lost war, comes in the form of the prison camp at Guantanamo Bay.

I become incensed when I read stuff like this. How can the U.S. get it so f***ing wrong? How can you fight a war on terror in support of freedom while spitting on the Bill of Rights, the Constitution and the Geneva Convention? We celebrate when deposed foreign leaders like Slobodan Milosevic are brought to trial at the Hague, but somehow GWB slaughters thousands based on inflated, doctored or outright false evidence and not only does he not get impeached, he gets re-elected, something even daddy dearest couldn't accomplish! Bill Clinton got impeached for telling a white lie about a blowjob for fuck's sake!!!

*sigh*

When I read this sort of thing, it makes me want to get into politics - if only to meet men like GWB at G-8 summits and bitch slap them.

***UPDATE***
Check out this Boing Boing post. It also makes the argument that the handling of the "threat of terrorism" by the Bush Administration has had a greater impact than the attacks themselves. By definition, if you are afraid, terrorism works.

Moving Soon - 23 Days

I get my keys on the 15th, but since the apartment comes in a hideous shade of "congealed piss" I want to repaint that first weekend and move in the next. So I still have a bit of time before the big day. Regardless, I try to plan ahead and there's lots of little crap to take care of beforehand.

...Like transferring your cable and phone. Fun.

Cable wasn't too bad. Rogers was pretty straightforward with me. The only bitch is that some guy has to physically come by between 5-8pm the first evening and hook it up. Aren't we beyond that by now? What does this guy need to do? It's not like there wasn't able there before...

Today I took care of Ma Bell. This call was a little more of a hassle as the lady on the other end started trying to push stuff on me almost immediately. Extra features, satellite tv, cell phones - you name it, she was pushing it. I brushed her off repeatedly, but took her up on one offer: take on another 3 calling features for an extra $10 per month and the $55 transfer fee would be waived.

...Really now?

I know this scam: you take on the extra features at a reduced rate and they hose you down the line when you forget to cancel them. Now, my memory sucks ass when it comes to remembering things like names and the like (like the man says: "what's in a name?"), but when it comes to affairs of the wallet, I'm the proverbial elephant.

I got my mind on my money, my money on my mind.

So in the end I get three bonus features (I already have call waiting): call display (I don't have a display phone), call answer (I have an answering machine) and unlimited *69 (I can't even get regular star 69! Ohhhh!) :P

This costs me about $30 instead of the $55 transfer fee - I save $25 and get the bonus features for three months. Not bad.

...Oh, but I'm sure I'll get hosed somehow...

(Moving is fun. Moving is fun. Moving is fun. Moving is fun. Moving is fun. Moving is fun. Moving is fun. Moving is fun. Moving is fun. Moving is fun. Moving is fun. Moving is fun. Moving is fun. Moving is fun. Moving is fun. Moving is fun. Moving is fun. Moving is fun. )


Thou wilt quarrel with a man for cracking nuts, having no other reason but because thou hast hazel eyes.
- Mercutio, Romeo and Juliet, Act III, sc. i

Worthless memorabilia

So I'm moving at the end of the month. For the first time, I'm gonna have my own place.

I'm gonna be bored as hell.

But this post isn't about that, it's about some of the issues that have popped up as a result of said move.

It's always a good idea to do some spring cleaning when you move. Since all of your stuff is gonna be picked up and moved anyways, you might as well figure out where it should go: the new place or "a better place".

I've been going through our storage locker, bringing stuff up to the apartment one box at a time, performing triage a la Hawkeye Pierce. Man, I have a lot of stuff..and some of it is shit.

Anyhow, I came across some old sports cards - hockey cards and the like. Hmmm...maybe I could finally sell some of this old stuff I have and make some cash, eh? I remember an episode of Amazing Stories where this kid kept all of his old toys on the advice of a troll, despite his parents' pleas and the taunts he got from friends. He eventually became a millionaire when all that old stuff gained value. Ever since then I've been afraid to get rid of any of my comics or toys or sports cards for fear that I wouldn't be maximizing my "investment".

But all this got me thinking: what the heck happened to all those sports card stores? Back at the end of my highschool days and all during my university days sports card stores were popping up on every corner and kids would pour in and buy packs which, of course, could never be opened. I hated those stores. The idea of buying something you couldn't enjoy as an investment seemed absurd and arbitrary to me.

Comics were different. You could read a comic, put it away in a bag and board, keep it in as good condition as when you bought it, and still make some dough. You still got to enjoy the "episode". I love comics. Always have. The fact that they have become an investment and have led to higher prices ($0.25 when I was young, $5.00 now - what kind of inflation is that? I'm not THAT old!) has discouraged me from buying any more, except on very rare occasions.

Baseball card packs you couldn't open for fear of depreciation? Stupid.

It would seem all (or most) of these card shops have vanished, the victims of market over-saturation. Serves 'em right, the greedy bastards.

Coincidentally, I came across this article on MSN today. Looks like I may not be able to sell these cards at all...

But then who's gonna buy my Welcome Back Kotter cards?!


Have you noticed that their stuff is shit and your shit is stuff? God! And you say, "Get that shit offa there and let me put my stuff down!"
- George Carlin

Star Wars: A New White Hope

Oh man. Oh man.

LMFAO.

Thanks to Denis who found these mash-ups. Someone took Star Wars footage and mixed it with James Earl Jones lines from other movies. Brilliant. It helps, though, if you've seen Field of Dreams and The Great White Hope.

The best one is 9 minutes long, though - probably 3 minutes longer than it should have been. The first few minutes brought tears to my eyes - mostly because I was stifling laughter at work.

The other one is shorter and has its own nice moments - especially in the confrontation with Obi-Wan.

Me, Rick Mercer and Wesley Crusher - Together At Last

Over at The "New" Ranger Blog Show, Ranger Bob has added my blog to his blogroll, alongside Rick Mercer and Wil Wheaton. Sweet!

(That explains the Alberta dot in my clustrmap.)

You may have noticed my blog does not have a blogrool. That's 'cause I'm an idiot and haven't figured that bit out yet. While my brain tries to figure out how to escape my ass, I figured I'd give props to one of Bob's posts. In it, he links to the Rick Mercer Report website where there are some funny "spoof ads". Check out the "Hands in my pocket" spoof - "Knee in my package".

So, I guess I'm really linking to Rick Mercer's site...sorry, Bob.

p.s. There's only one "L" in Philip, Bob. But I forgive you.

You Link Me! You Really Link Me!

Seems this blogger recognizes talent.

Sai Chronicles has my blog listed in its blogroll. Aw, gosh, shucks, I don't know what to say.

I figure the least I can do is reference in kind. I read one of her (? I assume...I don't know who this person is) posts and it got me thinking. Here are a list of books. The idea is to bold the ones you've read and italicize the ones you plan to read. If I've seen the movie, I linked to rottentomatoes.

This is going to be embarrassing because I don't read books anymore: being force-fed in highschool and university will do that to you.

Here goes:

# The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown (Will see movie, may read)
# The Catcher in the Rye - J.D. Salinger (Saw Conspiracy Theory – does that count?)
# The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy - Douglas Adams (Saw movie)
# The Great Gatsby - F.Scott Fitzgerald (Saw movie, read book)
# To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee (Saw movie, read book)
# The Time Traveler’s Wife - Audrey Niffenegger (Never heard of it)
# His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman (Bought this for a friend)
# Harry Potter and the Half - Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling (Will see movie)
# Life of Pi - Yann Martel (Meh. I’m sure a movie will be made)
# Animal Farm: A Fairy Story - George Orwell (Saw Animal House…)
# Catch-22 - Joseph Heller (May read some day. Isn’t there a movie?)
# The Hobbit - J. R. R. Tolkien (Saw movie, read book)
# The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time - Mark Haddon (?)
# Lord of the Flies - William Golding (Saw bits, read bits)
# Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen (Saw movie, I think...and Bridget Jones)
# 1984 - George Orwell (Have I read this...?)
# Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling (Saw movie)
# One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
# Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden (I’ll see the flick sometime)
# The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
# The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
# Slaughterhouse 5 - Kurt Vonnegut (ThereMay see flick)
# Angels and Demons - Dan Brown (Movie sometime?)
# Fight Club - Chuck Palahniuk (One of my favs. Will read)
# Neuromancer - William Gibson
# Cryptonomicon - Neal Stephenson
# The Secret History - Donna Tartt
# A Clockwork Orange - Anthony Burgess (Messed up flick)
# Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte (Saw bits)
# Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
# American Gods - Neil Gaiman
# Ender’s Game (The Ender Saga) - Orson Scott Card
# Snow Crash - Neal Stephenson
# A Prayer for Owen Meany - John Irving
# The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe - C.S. Lewis (Saw movie)
# Middlesex - Jeffrey Eugenides
# Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
# The Lord of the Rings - J. R. R. Tolkien (Saw movie and puppet play years ago)
# Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte (May see flick)
# Good Omens - Terry Pratchett, Neil Gaiman
# Atonement - Ian McEwan
# The Shadow Of The Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
# The Old Man and the Sea - Ernest Hemingway (Read in school)
# The Handmaid’s Tale - Margaret Atwood (Saw, read)
# The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath
# Dune - Frank Herbert (Saw movie)

The One Goes Buh-bye

Wow. That didn't take long, did it?

ABC's American Idol wannabe, The One with Canadian host George Stroumboulopoulos, has been cancelled after two weeks.

We hardly knew ye.

Anybody watch this crap? It was brutal and suffered from incredibly poor timing. Apparently America's Got Talent is doing well, but it's hard to believe that there's much more room for these talent "reality" competitions.

The One was supposed to be American Idol+, because we'd get to see the stars in the making, backstage, in the rehearsal studios, etc. But they didn't count on one thing: the show was terrible. I watched about 3 minutes of this thing and could tell right off the bat it was in trouble. George seemed to be holding his own, but the judges were sad and the look of the show was abysmal. Honestly, it looked like a CBC studio production (which the show was slated to be down the road - no word yet on whether or not that'll still happen, but given this terrible press, I somehow doubt it).

The beginning of the end for "reality" competitions? We can only hope...

The Sun: it burns! It burns!!!

Ok, so maybe I'm not crazy.

See, I've had the sense all summer that the sun somehow, well, felt different.

Stop laughing.

I walk to work every day and I have just been under the impression that while the actual temperature may be in line with hazy summer days, this was only true when one stood in the shade. As soon as you exposed yourself to the sun - bam! It was a whole different story. The sun has been almost stinging in its intensity, it seems. This, to me, is unusual.

Am I crazy?

Maybe it's just me, 'cause, hey, I'm a sensitive guy (*wink*).

According to this, though, the heat is everywhere...

Bye bye Kazaa

Another Boing Boing piece.

Seems a settlement has been reached between the movie and music industries and the owner of Kazaa, the latest trendy file-sharing service.

It would appear Sharman Networks will fork over $155M and promise to filter out copyrighted works from the service. (Good luck)

While I'm shocked file-sharing proponent Cory Doctorow was not the contributor who posted this article (along with another diatribe as to why it was absolutely the wrong decision and steps on the God-given right of computer users to download an artist's material) I was pleased by the news.

This
Is.
The.
Right.
Decision.

(Although, granted, I was not privy to the arguments)

Look, you can argue all you want that file-sharing should be allowed. But in the end, you'd have to change copyright law in order to make it legal. Fair use CLEARLY does not cover Joe Blow downloading stuff off the net for his own kicks and making it available for his buddies to rip from him (and once again highlights how the Beatmax decision was flawed and short-sighted). It's the economy, stupid: things have to have value or the world goes to shit. If I write and record a song or shoot a movie, I have to have the right to control the distribution of that work. That's how I make money from putting in the effort and how the work retains value. If we all got everything for free, no one would work and there'd be nothing to get for free. Comprende, amigo?


That ain't workin'. That's the way you do it. Get your money for nothing, and your chicks for free.
- Dire Straights (1988)

Putting Death Tolls in Perspective

I'm back to my Boingboinging ways.

I liked this link that was posted today. It puts the death tolls in the Israel/Hezbollah conflict in perspective by giving it a visual representation. With all the news coverage, it's sometimes difficult to see the casualties for what they are: lost human lives (note that the Palestinian coffins represent all Palestinians, not just Hezbollah loyalists). Another guy obviously had the same thought I did when I read this and came up with a U.S. vs. Iraq version. The next time George W. Bush talks about war strategy and the need to do what he thinks is right, think of this.

National Car Rental sucks

This blog has really fallen by the wayside, huh?

Anyhoo, here's a public service announcement for all you folks who might be moving in the foreseeable future: do NOT rent from National Car & Truck Rental.

I'm moving in a month (end August) and booked online. The National website quoted a very good rate for a Sunday move and had better hours than other rental agencies. Perfect. Book'em, Dan-O. I got an email notice that said my booking was pending (not unusual) and that I would get a call from a rep (which is unusual - usually you just get an email confirmation).

One week later - no call.

So, being the paranoid guy I am, I call them just to make sure everything's cool.

Good thing I did.

The dope on the other end babbles on incoherently. Finally, I manage to figure out that my online booking is essentially worthless. It's just a request which is not a booking until confirmed by a rep. Now, here's the stupid part: the rep won't call if there are no trucks available. The rep will only call if the trucks are available, and even then they may not call soon. The rep explained that if there were no trucks by mid-August (!!) I would get a call explaining that there were no availabilities.

Gee, thanks.

At that point, of course, I would be S-O-L in terms of finding a moving van elsewhere in time. I was stunned. I couldn't believe what this moron was telling me. By the end of the conversation, we were both annoyed at one another. Of course, I couldn't tell this guy to kiss my perfectly toned ass because I might actually need that long shot truck.

As fate would have it, I called Budget, where I expected to have to pay $159. Instead, I got a truck for the same moving day for $49.95!

Hey, National: KISS MY PERFECTLY TONED ASS!!!

I wrote a note to the National head office via their website, explained what happened, and told them I would spread the word about their ridiculous protocols.

My mission is done.


Don't mess with the bull, young man. You'll get the horns.
- Paul Gleason as Principal Vernon in "The Breakfast Club" (1985)

Maple Leafs lose Lindros, sign Peca

So John Ferguson Jr. (Leafs GM) has been pretty busy this offseason. Most Leafs fans would be very happy at the idea of their GM being busy, but when the man making the decisions is relatively incompetent, well...

The recent news is that the Leafs let Eric Lindros sign with the Dallas Stars instead of paying him more than the $750k offer that was on the table. Lindros wanted something in the neighbourhood of $1M, with incentives totaling $2M or so.

Now, it's been reported that the Leafs didn't like the incentives idea, perhaps because this leaves you with no clear idea of what your total salary is going to be. And in this day and age of salary caps, that's a risky proposition.

But in Lindros' case, you want a cheap deal with incentives. The knock on Lindros is that you never know what you're going to get - the stud or the dud. Last year, Lindros was a total stud - until he got hurt. Getting hurt is not a new thing for Lindros, but in this case it was a busted wrist, which is beyond his control and has nothing to do with his soft melon. In my opinion, Lindros was the best player on the ice for his 33 games and he gave the Leafs a presence on the ice and a deft scoring touch. I think they're gonna miss him.

Saying goodbye to Eric and his potential $2M salary (he signed with Dallas for $1.5 + incentives equaling a potential $2.5M salary), the Leafs turned their attention to Mike Peca. I like Peca. He's a defensive-minded forward (which is a polite way of saying he doesn't score a lot) and goodness knows the Leafs need help in their own end. But at $4M last year with the Oilers (and 9 goals or so), Peca had to be considered overpaid. But he's a playoff performer (see Claude Lemieux for other example) and that's when he pays dividends.

...Of course you have to GET to the playoffs first, right boys?

One thing's for sure: this is not last year's team. Yes, some of the good ol' boys are back (Sundin, Tucker, McCabe, Kaberle, O'Neill and *gulp* Antropov - why JFJ? WHY????) but the Leafs have shed some major names (Belfour, Lindros...Allison? - fingers crossed, fingers crossed) and picked up some others (Raycroft, Peca, hopefully another winger).

It'll be interesting to see how it plays out on the ice. If the team doesn't improve greatly, though, I hope the first butt thrown out the Air Canada Centre doors is Ferguson's.

Ignore this post. No...really.

Sorry, folks, just conducting an experiment here...

9/11 Pentagon crash

Conspiracy theorists of the world unite!

You know, I've always thought there was something weird about the Pentagon crash.

Sure, it didn't happen over downtown Manhattan, but still there should be a dozen or so camera angles from various places...but I have yet to see one. Or, at least one that shows a plane.

Although apparently camera angles do exist...

This dude (and others if you search YouTube) believe the Pentagon was hit not by a plane, but by a missile. You gotta hand it to them - they make a semi-convincing argument, especially in the face of evidence to the contrary.

Check it out.

Songs of the Salamander

About a week ago, my sister in Montreal sent me a link to a blog she thought I might enjoy.

Since I put no stock in her opinion or tastes, it took me a while to get around to it. I must admit, however, that I got a bit of a chuckle out of this one.

I wonder, though, if she sent me the link based on the article on hair loss (oh, you bitch!).

Man, I'm sitting at "III vertex" on that list with "IV" quickly approaching. As the man says: "Holy F**k!"

But what I like about this blog is what I tend to like about blogs in general: the use of voice. See, when a blogger takes on a personality it makes the reading experience that much more enjoyable (not that reading is ever enjoyable!).

I can't put on too much of a character voice here, unfortunately, since...well...only my friends read this thing anyways.

...one or two at least.

I'll admit that I chuckle when I read blogs that are of the Denis Leary variety. This is bad, since I already swear entirely too much and have a habit of making inappropriate jokes in inappropriate situations.

My wit is a gift and a curse, I tell you.


Working hard to get my Phil,
Everybody wants a Thrill
- Journey "Don't Stop Believing"

It's the economy, stupid.

I shook my head at this one. Then I laughed. Then I shook my head some more.

The headline on MSN.com read: "Is it Over for YouTube?"

Being a casual visitor to YouTube, I was curious and read the article. It boiled down to this one quote:

"Josh Martin, an IDC research analyst, issued a report Thursday asserting that YouTube will struggle to squeeze profits from its video-sharing business, primarily because its audience has grown accustomed to paying nothing for the service. "

Gee, you think?

It used to be that the way to make money was to offer someone a valuable service or item for which they were willing to trade currency. Nope, not anymore. World, meet the Internet - aka the "Cyber Wal-Mart" where the lowest price (see "zero") is the law. If it ain't free, it'd better be porn.

While no one in their right mind would argue that the internet is not a fantastic invention with extremely valuable applications, it has also opened the floodgates for economic anarchy. And don't give me this "old business models just need to be replaced by new ones." Bullshit, Cory, STFU. The internet, like television, is seen as a means of making money largely because of the commercial applications (electronic retailing) and, you guessed it, advertising. Money makes the world go round. Fortunately for the internet, there are still ad agencies out there that think people read the ads that appear on popular sites - so if your site is popular, hey, cha-ching!

...But I don't read those ads...do you? Does anyone?

And watch out: as soon as all those ad execs realize that no one is watching, there'll be a lot more "Is it over for (blank)" articles.

Superman Returns: Super, man!

Caught the 6:30 show of Superman Returns last night. It was really well done. Two big thumbs up.

Even though the flick had been getting good reviews (76% on Rottentomatoes) I was pleasantly surprised at just how bang-on this movie was. Big props to newcomer Brandon Routh for paying homage to Christopher Reeve by imitating his Clark Kent almost to a tee (as opposed to "making it his own"). It could have backfired so easily, but the kid did good.

Kate Bosworth was passable as Lois Lane - I was kind of indifferent, which probably isn't a good thing, but at least she doesn't bring the movie down and she didn't "read" too young (but close).

Thumbs up to James Marsden, too. I had avoided trailers like mad so I didn't even know he was in this until the credits rolled at the beginning. His character was not useless and he did a fine job in a thankless role (kinda like Adrian Brody in King Kong).

Kevin Spacey made a good Lex Luthor, though he isn't as critical to the movie as one might suppose. His is almost a completely different storyline. The confrontation between Superman and Lex didn't have the sizzle it should have, considering the acknowledged history between the two.

I'm not gonna spoil the movie for you, but I will tell you this: you would be well served to watch the first two Superman movies before seeing this. There are enough significant allusions to events in those movies that I wonder how anyone could understand the basic premise of this one without having seen the prequels (forget 3 and 4, though - ugh!). This is not Batman Begins: this movie clearly acknowledges the existence of the previous incarnation. The first 15 minutes or so are especially cool if you've seen those other flicks.

Now, without giving anything away, this movie does take one MAJOR liberty with the Superman mythos that many fans will detest. I'm still trying to figure out how I feel about it, but I know that it didn't bother me nearly as much during the movie as I would have thought, so it couldn't have been that bad. And it certainly gives this Superman its own identity.

So, all in all, a very entertaining movie (even at 2.5 hours!) and, I have to say, quite possibly the best superhero movie made yet.


Even though you've been raised as a human being you're not one of them. They can be a great people, Kal-El. They wish to be. They only lack the light to show the way. For this reason above all, their capacity for good, I have sent them you... my only son.
- Marlon Brandon as Jor-El

Looney for Rooney

So it's World Cup season - in case you've been living under a rock - and I've been enjoying it quite a bit. I've watched a fair share of matches, even those involving "second-rate" teams.

This week is gonna be awesome, with the big boys going head to head.

So, anyway, I check out the score of the Germany-Ecuador game online today and the homepage for soccer on sportsnet.ca has a headline about "England just mad over Rooney ad". I'm wondering what this could be about. I click on the link and start reading. And I keep reading. I get about halfway through the article before I can figure out what the hubbub is about.

See the pic? Do YOU know what the fuss is about?

If you read the article and you don't blink, you just might catch the fact that the media seem to think this ad is "spoofing" the crucifixion. You know, the one with that Christ guy.

Are you sh*tting me?

See, it's quite clear to anyone who knows anything about soccer that this emulates the manner in which Rooney celebrates a goal - arms outstretched, fists clenched. Oh, and the colour scheme? Well, if you have half a brain you know that's the English flag.

Seems some folks think the red represents blood and anything in a t-shape is a reference to the crucifixion (Who said it was blood? And never mind the white paint). STFU already. It's an ad. It's great. It has nothing to do with Christ.

But it seems this fuss is a creation of the media (go figure) - seems no one has contacted Nike to complain, only to ask for copies of the ad.

...Why oh why do I work in media when I hate it so?

Racial Diversity in Television

Anyone who knows me or has been reading this blog knows that I believe strongly in racial equality as opposed to discriminatory (and thus hypocritical) "affirmative action".

In today's Toronto Star, there is an interesting article that explores the difference between these two ideas.

The headline "Colour Commentary: Diversity's on the agenda, but do World TV Fest delegates care?" almost scared me off. I figured this was going to be another über-politically-correct article about the need for diversity and how execs still just don't get it.

Oh, but I was pleasantly surprised.

Seems there was a panel at the Banff meetings (where a full quarter of my company's workforce is spending the week - does the fact that we are still moving along smoothly say more about Banff, my company, or the state of the TV industry in Canada?), and this panel was meant to discuss racial diversity on network television.

I don't think the organizers got the response they were looking for.

Not only were there only 18 people in the room (bad enough), but some of the panelists, including Paul Scheuring (executive producer/creator of Prison Break) and Ali LeRoi (co-creator of Everybody Hates Chris) seemed determined to blow the whole thing up.

Here is a section from the article by Vinay Menon:

****
Williams attempts to draw both LeRoi and Scheuring into the mushy terrain, but they refuse to accept the argument. Skin colour, LeRoi says, has nothing to do with it. The only thing that matters is quality, talent and hard work. You could be orange so long as your show attracted viewers.

"You don't have a right to be in show business," says LeRoi, halfway through the session. "You have to prove yourself."

In the crowd, a few curious glances are exchanged.

[]

In another wing of the hotel, I meet LeRoi to talk about Everybody Hates Chris. Of course, given the cast, the diversity issue is impossible to ignore.

LeRoi, bedecked in hip-hop suede and a white bandana that gives way to a mane of dreads, believes "commercial" is the operative word in commercial TV.

"At the end of the day, marketers are trying to find a way to sell socks or coffee or hamburgers or a Ford," he says.

Everybody Hates Chris is broadcast in dozens of countries. And LeRoi has talked to fans in Germany, Finland, Sweden and elsewhere who say they relate to the show. The reason is simple: LeRoi and Chris Rock set out to create a show about class, not race; about family, not ethnicity.

"You have to sell the program like it's a bigger program," he explains. "If Lenny Kravitz was sold like Usher he'd sell two albums a year."

So Everybody Hates Chris was sold as a comedy with universal appeal. Period. (At the diversity session, LeRoi makes the point another way, wondering aloud if anybody could possibly know that Shonda Rhimes, creator of Grey's Anatomy, is black by simply watching an episode.)

"Was everybody who watched Archie Bunker a bigot? No. Was everybody who watched Will & Grace gay? No. Is it a good show? Yes. That's all. It's not about being the people on the program; it's about being able to understand the people on the program," LeRoi observed.

I'm reminded of something Paul Haggis told me earlier: "Multiculturalism is a wonderful thing, to celebrate how we're different. But at the same time, I think it's very important to celebrate how we're the same. And that sometimes gets lost."
*****

Everyone is kneaded out of the same dough but not baked in the same oven.
~Yiddish Proverb

Caledonia: Fan, meet Sh*t

Ok, maybe NOW something will be done.

For months now (yes, months) members of the First Nations have been blocking a road in Caledonia, Ontario in order to prevent construction on land they claim belongs to them. In some ways it's reminiscent of Oka - and therein lies the problem.

The government doesn't want to touch this with a ten foot pole. They saw how much crap came down on Mike Harris for the Ipperwash scandal and they are very reluctant to deal with this politically sensitive issue.

Dear Dalton McGuinty,

Grow.
Some.
Balls.

Look, this is a very simple issue: either the government is right that the land was given to them back in 1849 or whatever and they have the documentation to prove it or they're dead wrong and should give the land "back".

For some reason, the government hasn't offered any proof the land was handed over to them. Makes'em look kinda guilty, don't it?

So while the government is doing nothing, the local residents are justifiably up in arms and the police are clearly being directed not to get involved. They haven't gotten in the middle of the myriad number of dust-ups that have broken out and recently stood by while a CTV crew was assaulted mere metres away.

Oh, but wait: here's where it gets interesting.

Seems a couple of OPP offices and an American border guard were assaulted the other day.

Oops.

Now the OPP are out for blood, issuing warrants for seven individuals, ranging from "intimidation" to - get this - attempted murder. Seems one of the protesters tried to run down one of the cops.

So what do you think is going to happen when the OPP walk into First Nations territory and try to arrest seven of their buddies?

The government may now have had their hand forced; they may have to do something in order to prevent this from getting way out of hand.

Imagine that: a government actually doing something.

X-Men : The Last Stand verdict

So I finally saw X-Men after some delay.

I basically posted my review in the comments section of my last X-Men post, here. Beware: there are spoilers within.

Overall: thumbs up, though as per usual it could have been better.


"Not everybody heals as fast as you, Logan."
- James Marsden as Scott Summers/Cyclops in X-Men : The Last Stand

X-Men 3 opens today!

Booyakasha!

If Mission Impossible and The DaVinci Code weren't indicative enough, today makes it official: the summer blockbuster season has begun.

The reviews are mixed so far (it's straddling the rottentomatoes 60% fresh/rotten meter), but there's no doubt I'll be going to see X-Men: The Last Stand this weekend.

This has the potential to be the smartest and best of the three films as our heroes (and villains) struggle with their very nature when presented with a potential cure for the mutant gene. Personally, I think I'd rather keep the wings/laser vision/healing factor.

I avoid written reviews and even trailers like the plague when I know I'm going to see a given movie because I don't want any of it spoiled for me. Unfortunately I couldn't avoid listening to a trailer the other day (I averted my eyes) so I know too much already (ditto with the Superman Returns flick). Even the millisecond glimpses I've had flipping through channels have revealed too much.

I must see this movie asap before all the surprises are spoiled.

Who's with me?

Review to follow...


"What do they call you? 'Wheels'? This is the stupidest thing I've heard."
- Hugh Jackman as Wolverine in X-Men

This job would be great if it weren't for the people

*WARNING: Bitch session ahead*

So I'm really starting to hate my job.

First of all, it's pretty administrative which I find boring and, quite frankly, beneath my capabilities. No offence to you admin types out there, but I consider myself a little too bright to be working at what amounts to an office assembly line.

I hate the fact that I sit in front of a computer all day. I told myself that I would never have that kind of job, but here I am.

It's 9-5 which I also swore I would avoid, but the upside is that I never have to bring my work home with me - another vow I had made myself.

Today this lady who is in a more senior position really pushed my buttons by being rude. See, I've never much respected authority and I don't think the fact that someone has a longer title than me means they can cease being polite and decent. I'm a pretty principled person and I won't allow myself to be trampled upon. This has made me quit more than my fair share of jobs over the years. This was a more mild case of rudeness, so I bit my tongue while I seethed inside. The problem is that this sort of incident reminds me of all my vows and how I'm terribly disappointing career-wise; to myself, if no one else.

So what's a guy to do? I check all the media-related job boards every day, but I gotta tell ya, nothing's really striking my fancy. Something tells me Ry-High was a bad idea.

I've thought about starting my own business but it all comes down to "what are you passionate about?", which is even more depressing: nothing. The closest thing I can come up with is movies and sports. So what, I should open a video store? No thanks. And since I'm a little too old to be taking up a sport as a profession, my well of "passions" is running dry.

How would I describe my dream job?
- I don't sit in front of a computer all day
- I have little if any interaction with the general public
- I don't have to sweat it in my sleep
- Pays the bills
- Requires little if any ass kissing
- Requires half a brain
- Contributes to society as a whole
- Allows me to take some measure of pride in my accomplishments

So I put it to you, avid readers: what job would you see me doing?

I swear I'm just gonna start whoring myself out...


A goal without a plan is just a wish.
- Antoine de Saint-Exupery

A Tale of Two Companies

I thought I would use today's post to sing the praises of a couple of businesses: Mystic Muffin and Discount.

I walk to work and I rarely eat breakfast before I leave in the morning. I actually prefer to get a little something on the way and eat it at my desk. I used to stop in at Tim Horton's for a muffin, but the one closest to my house is small and crowded. The one on my route to work is in a gas station and the service is slower than Paris Hilton.

...or is she "fast"?

Just beyond my workplace, however, is an independent place called Mystic Muffin. I had an aversion to the place initially, because a certain instructor of mine at Ry-High used to torture the class repeatedly with daily references to the shop: the owner had been featured in a project the year before and the instructor wouldn't shut up about it. I took a chance one day, though, and haven't regretted it. The young lady behind the counter must have the world's best memory. I haven't had to repeat my order since. In fact, if I want something different, I have to stop her from cutting the sesame seed bagel that she snags the moment I walk through the door. It's amazing. I've felt like a regular ever since.

Now that's good business.

Now you wouldn't expect that I'd be singing the praises of a rent-a-car shop, but I thought the Discount Car and Truck Rental operation at Queen and Jarvis deserved an honourable mention. I'll spare you the long story, but suffice it to say there was some confusion about the number of free kilometres available to me for a cargo van rental the other week. I went back to discuss the bill. I was expecting to have to put up a fight and summon some righteous indignation, but to my surprise the manager listened to my story attentively, was very courteous and polite and with a quick check of his computer offered to refund the difference. I didn't even have to frown. And, oh, I was ready to frown.

Now that's good business.

See? Now those businesses have recos from me on the internet. Good for them.

Now run along and tell two friends, and so on and so on...

10 Things I Hate About Commandments

The funniest mash-up to date!

I don't think I'm supposed to be laughing like this at work, am I?

10 Things I Hate About Commandments for all you John Hughes fans.

But check out the moron in the comments section:

Karst (1 day ago)
"The sad thing is I actually saw the movie that this was parodying. I liked it."

...it's the f***ing Ten Commandments, Karst! As if seeing one of the most famous epics of all time was an odd thing.

Kids these days....

Entertain me: Mission Impossible?

So this weekend I went to the movies. Originally, my friend and I were debating whether to see The DaVinci Code or Mission Impossible III.

We were both quite curious about The DaVinci Code, but decided to go with the summer escapism flick instead - that, and The DaVinci Code was sold out.

I gotta tell ya, we got our money's worth - well, no, not really, considering a flick is $13, but you get my meaning.

Mission Impossible was, if nothing else, entertaining. I had been telling friends that the first MI movie was better than the second because it had a supporting cast - it wasn't all about Tom. Well, the third instalment went back to its roots. I had no idea going in that the movie had such a great cast: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Billy Crudup, Laurence Fishburne, Johnathan Rhys Meyers, Ving Rhames, Keri Russell, Simon Pegg (Shawn of the Dead) and Michelle Monaghan. When actors who are normally stars of a movie are mere afterthoughts, you know the screen is packed.

Sure, there's a healthy amount of cheese in this flick but that's to be expected. All in all, I'm surprised that MI:III is sitting as low as 70% on rottentomatoes. What did these people expect?

Which brings us to The DaVinci Code. WTF? What's going on there? It's sitting at 21% on rottentomatoes, including an abysmal 9% from the "cream of the crop". That's worse than Van Helsing, The Tuxedo and Alien Vs. Predator!

Of course, that didn't prevent it from making $77M at the box office...

Maybe Opie ain't so dopey.

Movie mash-ups

You know, I didn't like Brokeback Mountain as much as say, my sister did, but I can always appreciate a good movie trailer mash-up.

So here's a little something to put a smile on your face and brighten your day.

Brokeback to the Future

and Star Wars: The Empire Brokeback

...or if you want to get your heart racing: Sleepless In Seattle - The Horror

Season finales: Smallville, West Wing, Survivor, etc.

'Tis the season for season finales.

This past week (and yesterday in particular) saw a plethora of season finales appear on the boob tube. It was quite odd, really, to read the tv guide and see just how many shows were having their big send-offs last night.

The big one for me was the series finale of The West Wing. It has been the best show on television for some eight years now, though the quality ebbed a little after Aaron Sorkin's departure. Personally, I tuned out a little in the past couple of years because for some bizarre reason the picture quality of NBC on my tv was practically unbearable and, for some bizarre reason, CTV wasn't airing it anymore.

It was a sad but high-quality finale that hit all the right notes. It was somewhat reminiscent of the M*A*S*H finale - sentimental but classy. But where the show was particularly effective was in the fact that the sentimentality was all from the characters' points of view - while they were somewhat saddened, the White House marched on, sweeping out the old administration and ushering in the new, like clockwork. It was powerful because while it may have seemed painful to these characters that we had grown to love, it was so true. It was the cap to their time as public servants; you don't do it for the glory - you expect nothing in return.

I thought it was beautiful. And although I hadn't been the most faithful of viewers recently, I'd have to say I'm really going to miss that show.

Who will pick up the torch? Which show is the big dog now? ER has long fallen to the wayside and will not be missed nearly as much. When CSI has run its course, will the audience miss the show and its characters, or will it be easily replaced by the next sit-drama (like Law & Order - not so much about the characters as it is about the case)?

I'll miss Smallville, too, though not for the same reasons. In many ways, it is the polar opposite of The West Wing. It didn't have to earn its audience - the popularity was built in. The writing has always been atrocious and the acting not much better. I thought this year was supposed to be the last, but word on the street is that the show is being picked up by a new network. The show has definitely crossed some major lines, though and has reached a point of no return. The storylines (and writing as a result) evolved exponentially in recent episodes. I believed it was because the show was ending. Anyone who saw yesterday's finale, though, knows this is not the case. Still, I'd rather see the show go out in a blaze of glory rather than sputter as it had. Let's hope next season is it. Personally, I was kinda hoping for a two-hour Smallville MOW send-off.

Survivor wrapped up again. And yet again, it would seem the person who won was the undeserving one (it happens almost every year without fail). Terry was clearly the best player in the game, but he didn't make the final two - Danielle made the right decision there. As it turns out though, Danielle wouldn't have won either way. I have the finale on tape (I didn't watch it yesterday) so maybe I'll go back and see how Aras pulled it off. I hadn't been watching the show enough to know if Aras' victory over Danielle was a foregone conclusion, but it seems to me that whoever beats the king should be the king (or queen).

So what's there to watch now? Well, there's always the Stanley Cup playoffs - those never seem to end. Will Edmonton be in the finale? Let's hope so. I can't see myself or too many others being drawn to a finale that involves Carolina, Anaheim, San Jose and/or Buffalo...

...of course, maybe I should just stop watching so much bloody tv, eh?

Urban Planning For Dummies

Ok, today I am determined not to write a blog about Stephen Harper or George Bush or anything else that is an easy target and ain't gonna change until someone holds an election.

I think.

I was wondering what to write about when I went by the Toronto Star website. It had a feature article on how architects are vying to save Toronto's waterfront. This has been a topic of some years, but it just so happens that I was having a discussion with a guy about this yesterday - hence, this post.

See, this guy I met yesterday is on my beach volleyball team. The team kinda sucks and the weather was atrocious yesterday for our first game, but I'm not getting into that here.

This guy is a civil engineer. I am somewhat fascinated by this line of work because it is so important to our cities, yet we hear so little about them and their plans. I mean, geez, these are the guys who are supposed to be shaping our cities and affecting our everyday experiences with them. But apparently they aren't being heard, either.

This particular guy is from New Brunswick originally but was sent to Toronto for work (he wanted to go to Boston, not that we should hold that against him). Let me tell ya, he does not have a high opinion of the 905 region (Toronto burbs).

This guy confirmed all of my beliefs about city planning in Brampton, Missisiauga and York region; it's a mess and the powers-that-be are making it worse every day. Every time I see a farmer's field disappear to be replaced by a series of Lego houses, I shake my head. "Where's the infrastructure?" I ask. The stores, the schools, the parks, the churches, the necessities of suburban life? The burbs' reliance on the automobile is getting worse by the second and the road system is going to be paying the price big time. Too many houses, too many cars going too far.

Stop building horizontally and start building vertically. You have to make land a priority. Conserve the green space and make people live in buildings and the like. No more sprawl. If I ran the show, I would put a moratorium on house contruction in the 905 and encourage apartment buildings and condos. And all of those condo buildings would have shopping areas on the ground floors so people could get their crap done without polluting the atmosphere with their cars and tying up traffic. No more waste.

...does that require an election?

As for those architects I mentioned:

"The five finalists in the $20-million international competition will present their ideas starting at 6:30 p.m. on Monday night at the BCE Place Galleria. Their drawings will be on display at BCE Place, Harbourfront Centre, Eaton Centre, Sherway Gardens, Fairview Mall and Scarborough Town Centre for two weeks beginning Monday. The winner will be announced on May 31."

Angry Liberal Guy

So I haven't posted in a couple of weeks. Not good, I guess, 'cause when you don't post regularly people tend to stop coming by your blog for a visit.

I was on vacation last week, so some form of hiatus was to be expected, I guess, but I really must get back on the wagon, despite the increase in my workflow at my 9-5 gig. Work can wait - there's blogging to be done!

So let me get back to the natural order of things with a typical anti-Bush bash. Easy target, I know, but I'm trying to get back in rant mode and it ain't easy when you're tired.

Over at Boing Boing, there was a post about C.B. Shapiro who is clearly not a fan of the Bush administration nor the general goings-on south of the border (no I'm not talking about erectile dysfunction - though he may have that problem too, who knows?).

For those too lazy to follow the link, here's the text. I like it 'cause he pretty much sums up how I feel and how every American should feel:

****

There’s been some ink spilled lately denigrating so called ‘angry liberals,’ that is, people who have allegedly lost their right to be taken seriously because they are ‘angry.’ And they are ‘liberal.’

Well, I hereby declare myself a charter member in the ALC (Angry Liberal Club).

Sure, at first I felt guilty -- what right do I have as a patriotic American to be angry? Or liberal? Oh, I tried to repress the ‘angry thing,’ I tried -- if I was asked, I claimed I was a ‘peeved moderate.’ Or a ‘mildly upset centrist.’ But after much work through ‘BIT’ (Blog Immersion Therapy), I stopped feeling the shame. I’m coming out of the closet to announce I am an Angry Liberal Guy. And I am pissed.

You might be saying “Man, what are you so angry about, Angry Liberal Guy?”

I’ve compiled a short (and by no means complete) list just so I could see it all in one place:

I’m angry about the shredding of the constitution…illegal wiretaps…falsified intelligence…secret prisons… use of torture as an accepted means of interrogation…Terry Schiavo…the war on science…denial of Global Warming…the fascistic secrecy of our elected officials… presidential signings that declare the President above the law…the breakdown of the wall between church and state…the outing of a clandestine CIA agent for purely partisan political gain…the corrupting influence of K Street… the total sell-out of the legislative process to corporate interests… appointments of unqualified cronies at every level of government…Harriet Miers…Brownie…Abu Ghraib… Scooter …the complete mismanagement of the war in Iraq…the lies about the complete mismanagement of the war in Iraq…the grotesque budget deficits… the pathetic response to Katrina… a civil rights division dedicated to undermining civil rights…an environmental protection agency that refuses to protect the environment… (Take a breath, Angry Liberal Guy.)

And I’m angry about a smug, simple-minded, incompetent, unqualified President, and a press that denies the obvious fact that we have a smug, simple-minded, incompetent unqualified President.

If these things don’t make you angry, I have to ask -- what the hell is the matter with you?

And what would it take to make you angry? -- C.B. Shapiro

This just in: Stephen Harper lied

Don't it just make you wanna laugh? Or cry?

If Canada's "information czar" is to be believed, Stephen Harper's new "Accountability Act" makes it easier for politicians to hide the truth and harder for ordinary folk to get at information.

"(John) Reid, Canada's information commissioner, says in a special report to Parliament today that no government has ever put forward "a more retrograde and dangerous" set of proposals to change the Access to Information Act."

Wow.

Star article here.

You voted for him. You got him.

Remind you of anyone yet?

Aki "Ice" Berg floats away

Thank goodness.

My friends and housemates will have to put up with a little less of my swearing at the television next season, as the Toronto Maple Leafs managed to free themselves of their "holy crap do you ever suck" d-man, Aki Berg.

Seems Finnish club Turku TPS decided to sign the big pylon. The big pylon, for his part, wanted to raise his family in his native Finland.

Everyone wins.

Now: who wants Antropov?

"My NHL" Playoffs

I need a break from my tedious job, so I thought I might share some random thoughts on the 2006 hockey playoffs so far.

1. Bad habit #1 - two on ones. It has long been my opinion that NHL defencement are not necessarily the best defencemen out there. See, I figure a defenceman in junior hockey (draft-eligible) gets noticed more often for his offensive skills, than his defensive reliability. Ergo, NHL defencemen are good with the puck, but not necessarily good in front of their own net. This has become glaringly obvious in recent times under the new NHL rules. Less clutching has meant more odd man rush opportunities. I've noticed that, especially on two-on-ones, defencemen seem to have no idea what to do (Even Don Cherry commented on this last night: "What, have they all gone stupid?" he asked). If you see a two-on-one rush, watch the defenceman. His job is to prevent the pass. This allows the goalie to focus on the shooter instead of worrying about getting across the net in time for the one-timer. I've noticed a lot of goals have been scored on two-on-ones recently where the defenceman committed to the shooter, leaving the other man open. Watch for it.

2. Bad habit #2 - hitting from behind. This has been on the rise in the playoffs, it seems. Don't know what it is, but guys are getting nailed from behind (no, not in that Oz way, Tristan) on a regular basis. There were several examples again last night.

3. Scoring. Awesome, awesome, awesome. I love the fact that two teams came back from three goal deficits last night. You would never have seen this two years ago. Wide open hockey has meant no team is out of it; especially when the refs aren't afraid of calling penalties. Heck, Colorado scored short-handed with a couple of minutes left to tie the game with Dallas last night. Again, you would have never seen that two years ago.

4. Go Habs. (Anyone else hoping for a Colorado-Montreal final?)

5. Even though they're Canadian and not facing the Leafs, I won't shed any tears if Ottawa tanks it again this year. There's something about watching this team fall apart in the playoffs...reminds me that it's spring. That, and I hate Hasek.

6. Is it my imagination or do Ron MacLean and Don Cherry seem a little "off" when the Leafs aren't the topic of discussion?

7. Anyone read Dave Feschuk's article in the Star this morning? What a douche. He basically went off on how Torotonians love the Leafs and not hockey - because the Ricoh Centre was only a third full for the Marlies playoff game last night. First, Torontonians love hockey - we just don't wanna shell out for second-rate hockey. Second, I'd rather stay home and watch the plethora of games available on television than trek out to the Exhibition to see NHL cast-offs and kids square off for a worthless championship ("best of the rest"?). STFU, Dave.

8. Go Habs!

Create Your Own Church Sign

Thanks to Mario LeCraig over at The Sweetest Desert for pointing out this little gem of a website. I killed a good half hour on this one, creating various signs.

A little "tagging".








For you 28 Days Later fans.








And for you competitive Christians...

Pat Quinn fired

Wow.

Well I guess the writing was on the wall for a while. Pat Quinn was fired today by the Toronto Maple Leafs, ending a very long and arguably very successful tenure behind the most famous bench in the hockey world.

People will debate this decision for a good while (you won't be able to watch sports tv in Toronto today without it being talked about to death) as well as the success of Quinn as coach (high payroll over the years and no championship to show for it), but I think it's kind of a sad day for Maple Leafs fans.

As I have made clear numerous times, I think Quinn is a bad coach. He puts far too much faith in the wrong players (Aki Berg, Nik Antropov, Mikael Renberg anyone?) and has no concept of defensive end play, but he has a personality that players obviously like. He is a good face for a franchise and would do well as a GM, I think.

But Quinn was the architect of his own undoing when he gave up the GM reigns a few years ago. Forced to decide between being the coach and being the GM, he chose the hands-on daily interaction of coaching.

The consequence, of course, was that he was no longer the boss and had to serve under a new GM - one he didn't choose.

Enter the idiot: John Ferguson Jr.

In a fair world, Ferguson would be out on his butt too, but this is MLSE, run by the Teacher's Pension Plan - common sense does not rule. It's all about politics and right now Ferguson has the right people on his side.

We can only hope that'll change.

As for Quinn, not only does he get $1.5M from the Leafs next year not to coach, but he will quickly land on his feet with another organization (Phoenix perhaps?).

We'll see who becomes the new coach...farm team coach Paul Maurice is the early favourite.

Toronto votes: Beaches vs. Beach

If you don't live in Toronto, you probably have no idea what I'm talking about. If you do, you probably haven't been able to avoid this story on the news.

The business improvement area (BIA) of the east end neighbourhood wanted to put up street signs that included the name of the geographical area. The problem is that it has long been debated whether the area in question is "The Beaches" or simply "The Beach".

The head of the Beaches BIA announced today at the Beaches Public Library that the winner is: The Beach.

This.
Is.
Stupid.

a) First of all, the "vote" consisted of some 2,200 ballots. That's squat.
b) The area is commonly known as "The Beaches" to the vast majority of Torontonians. Even an informal Citytv webpoll showed a greater than 10-1 preference for the plural.
c) Some folks argue "Beach" is the historic name, which it is not: the name comes from four beaches (Woodbine, Kew, Scarboro and Balmy - hence beaches).
d) "The Beach" can be any beach area in any town. By calling it "The Beaches" it has a more distinct feel. Shouldn't that be a primary marketing consideration here?

But even the head of the BIA admits that this will not end the argument, just the argument for the purposes of the signs. But here was a prime opportunity to get it over with and they dropped the ball. Oh well.

This from the city that brought you the brilliant "Toronto Unlimited"...

Poster blog post: Walk The Line

Went for a stroll yesterday and walked into a poster shop. Saw a mounted/plak-it version of the Walk The Line poster for $30 (it costs something like $40-70 to get a pre-bought poster mounted - wtf?).

I have mounted versions of some of my other favs like Fight Club, The Usual Suspects, The Matrix and Desperado...

Walk The Line is not one of my favs, but I did like it and the poster is gorgeous.

Buy it or no? What do you folks think?

Someday I want an "entertainment" room with mounted posters on the walls and a wicked home theatre system.

Now if only I could find a V for Vendetta mounted poster...

Faith, the two-legged dog

Inspiring or really effing gross?

I watched it with the volume off so I was kinda creeped out.

My question: how does she pee?

See Faith here.

United 93 flight recorder transcript

Well, the flight voice recorder was played for jurors in the Zacarias Moussaoui trial.

You can read the transcript here.

It'll be interesting to see how this compares to the upcoming United93 movie version.

Review: V for Vendetta

Saw V for Vendetta this weekend. Finally.

I told myself I was gonna see this flick on opening weekend, but events conspired against me.

I'm happy to say it was worth the wait.

I managed to avoid having the movie completely ruined for me so I was still able to enjoy the story.

(the movie poster actually gives away too much in my mind - though the fact that it is one of the coolest posters I have ever seen makes up for it!)

This movie is not for everyone, however. It is very word-heavy and action-light. For those who are fans of the Wachowski's other opus, the Matrix, this flick is more like the end of the second movie and less like the third. Bring your thinking caps and keep your ears open.

The film's verbosity is saved by the fact that the lines are being delivered by a stellar British cast (Hugo Weaving, Stephen Rea, John Hurt etc.) with Natalie Portman thrown in.

The plot is compelling, the cinematography is interesting and the socio-political references are timely. A political action movie based on a comic book? Sign me up!



"People should not be afraid of their governments. Governments should be afraid of their people."
- Hugo Weaving as V in V for Vendetta

"Mad" Max RIP: 2006-2006

We hardly knew ye.

In case you're wondering why there are so many deleted comments, allow me to explain.

"Max" is the author of all of these comments and he has a very Right-winged point of view. It seems that he was not pleased with his experiences at Denis McGrath's blog and, from what I can tell, followed through on his threat to "leave".

I'm not sure how I feel about Max deleting his comments here. I had decided to leave Max's comments standing because he has the right to say whatever he'd like. If he were a hate-mongering Nazi, I might object and delete the comments, but at worst Max was an inflammatory Right-winged zealot. Nothing inherently wrong with that other than perhaps a narrow-minded point of view. (Liberals are called "liberals" for a reason, I suppose, and I, like Denis, would be accused of being "politically inconsistent" - lefty on some issues, righty on others)

I had planned to address some of Max's more recent posts (which I have in my email inbox), but I won't indulge now - and I won't post Max's comments without his consent. Because that's his right, too.

What became clear from Max's last comments however was perhaps the biggest ideological difference between the two wings: the US's role in the world.

Max believes (as many right-wingers do, I suspect) that the US should act as the dominant force in the world. That the US should use its military might to spread its ideology throughout the world and protect the West from aspiring powers. That the US should prevent other countries from developing nuclear power and should keep the flow of oil in the hands of pro-US leadership (though it is less important that these countries be democracies...I wonder why).

And while I may find it convenient to have the neighbourhood bully as my closest neighbour and on my side, my conscience does not allow me to accept this position as right.

Ben Franklin's words are true: those who would sacrifice freedom for security deserve neither.

You can't say: "Freedom for everyone...as long as I'm in charge and you do what I say." That's not freedom, that's a dictatorship - on a global scale.

Under Bush's administration (particularly) this has become the norm, and it is high time people in positions of authority rose up to defend what is right, not what is "Right". When GWB circumvented the UN to invade Iraq asap, despite the lack of evidence of the existence of WMDs, he crossed a line. He snubbed his nose at the international community, basically saying "the US will use its power for what it wants, not what you want."

This is when the schoolyard defender publicly became the schoolyard bully.

This is when the US became less "our closest ally" and more "our friend with the drinking problem".

This is what I was referring to in the comments to the United93 post: you have to be willing to die for your principles. You have to be willing to take on the enemy man-to-man, face-to-face and in equal numbers...not just flex your nuclear muscles and bomb the unseen enemy from miles away. That's not victory, that's not right: that's convenient. That's easy.

As the guy in the red and blue suit says: "With great power comes great responsibility".

Or, as I like to quote, "principles only mean something when they are incovenient."

It takes a big man to put down his weapons and talk to his enemy. It takes a coward to use his might at the first opportunity.

So if Max wishes to post, I will allow him to do so.

However, I will give Max this stipulation: so far, I've let many "nicknames" go (Chicoms, Fundies etc.) because while they may be slang, they do reflect their meaning somewhat. However I will not allow religious slurs; if you mean Islamic fundamentalists, say so - "Islamists" refers to a religious people, from a religion that promotes peace as I understand it - and is not synonymous with terrorists or evil.

We know you're uber-Right-winged: you don't have to go out of your way to demonstrate your ignorance.

Movie (p)review: United 93

Have you seen this trailer...?

In case you've been living under a rock, they're making a movie about United Flight 93.

If you don't know what United Flight 93 is, you haven't been living under a rock, you've been living in a coffin.

So, not surprisingly, this new trailer is causing quite a stir. And of course, it's meant to.

I dropped by Denis McGrath's blog yesterday, as I do most days, and he had posted about it. It caused a stir there, too. Now, in recent times I've been getting a little tired of Denis' condescending attitude towards Canadians (he was born in NY, dontcha know) and other human beings in general, so I was contemplating abandoning his blog altogether - but this one drew me back in. I agreed more or less with what Denis had to say. I have to admit, it's always nice to hear an American berate George Bush - it gives you faith in humanity. Or at least in Americans.

I'm not going to re-post my comments to Denis, but you can find them here.

Basically, I explained that while I believe the passengers of Flight 93 were heroes (and yes, the word actually applies here - not like in those evening news fluff pieces) I am hesitant to laud the fact that a movie is being made of their efforts. See, I fear this is going to be a dramatization filled with conjecture and hyperbole, as opposed to a documentary-style re-enactment of the facts. And I fear that this dramatization will only serve to galvanize the Right in their suport of that utter f***ing moron, George Bush.

I'll reserve my judgement until the movie comes out.

Then you can bet I'll have something to say.

Stephen Harper: homophobe

I tell ya, this new PM of ours really sucks.

What.
A.
Douchebag.

So news comes today in the Toronto Star that, big surprise, the Conservatives are gonna re-open the same-sex marriage debate and put it to a free vote in the House.

Keep in mind that this is the same PM who said that Canada's participation in Afghanistan was now passed the point of debate.

Keep in mind that it is the responsibility of government to look out for the rights and freedoms of the minority, not just the majority.

Keep in mind that we knew that this was coming.

Keep in mind that Canadians voted this putz and his nazi wannabes into power all the same.

Keep in mind that this is only the beginning. Harper is already kissing some serious Bush ass with regards to border-crossing and identification papers. Pretty soon you'll need a microchip implanted in your nasal cavity to hit the Walden Galleria.

I'm still waiting to hear what Mr. Harper is specifically suggesting. Does he want to repeal same-sex mariage or just alter its implementation somehow? And what happens to those marriages already performed? Null and void or asterisk?


"We cannot defend freedom abroad by deserting it at home."
~Edward R. Murrow

Streetcars can kiss my @$$

So it's been over a week since my last post. I had been relatively calm in that period, not finding much to rant about or at least nothing worth writing down while bored at work.

My lovely friend Charlene bemoaned the lack of blogging activity (bless her heart) and requested a fresh tirade. So here it is.

(Anyone else miss me? Anyone? Bueller? Didn't think so.)

So I'm on my way to my TESSC multi-sport semi-final playoff game last night with my buddy Pat. I live at Jarvis and Carlton and the game's at Malvern Collegiate which is at Main and Gerrard. The Carlton streetcar practically takes me from door to door.

Theoretically.

See, the streetcar has one major drawback, as discussed in a previous post: IT'S A STREETCAR!

We're running pretty much on schedule and reach Greenwood. At this point our trip goes off the rails (metaphorically speaking of course). The streetcar that was 10 minutes or so ahead of us has come to a stop on the tracks and is surrounded by police cars. Seems some dude was causing enough trouble on board to cause the operator to call the police and they are now leading him into one of many squad cars. Meanwhile, we're not going anywhere. Neither is the streetcar that is now behind ours.

What we have here, folks, is a TTC-generated traffic jam.

It becomes clear that, despite the $8.50 day pass I had bought earlier in the day, the TTC is not going to get me to my game on time. Pat and I get off along with everyone else and grab a cab.

Oh, but the adventure does not end there.

See, the cabbie heads along Gerrard/Eastwood (it splits) until he reaches Woodbine and heads north. When he rejoins Gerrard St. East, however, he's unable to make the desired right turn. Why?

BECAUSE THEY'RE REPLACING THE STREETCAR TRACKS!!! The road is closed. And it's gonna be closed for a number of days if not weeks while the work is done. So we continue north to Danforth (which I would have reached quicker had I taken the subway initially) and take a roundabout route to the gym.

$13 later, we're at our destination.

To cap off the night, we end up losing the playoff game.

But that's ok, since we play for fun and it's a good time.

Taking the streetcar? Not so much.