"I think we can conclude that the Muslim lobby in the U.S. is not as effective as they would like it to be."

How blindingly stupid would you have to be to think that only 1,000 people died in World War II? Jesus.

Anyway, Scott Adams suggests that it would be interesting to make people take a general knowledge test when voting. Nellie’s of the same opinion, but thinks people below a certain score shouldn’t be given a ballot.

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West 8 was announced as the winner of the waterfront redesign contest, so it looks like Toronto’ll be getting a great big maple leaf in our harbour. Nooooooot sure I like that, but any progress is welcome. [from Spacing]

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The Polaris prize: Canada’s answer to the Mercury Prize.

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Asshat see, asshat do. Sorta.

[tags]wwii, west 8, toronto harbourfront, polaris prize, mercury prize, same-sex marriage[/tags]

If I had a band I'd call them The Supercells. Except that name's already kinda taken.

I have an unhealthy fascination with tornadoes. Actually, I’m interested in any disaster, but especially natural disasters, and especially especially tornadoes & thunderstorms. One of my favourite things as a kid was to watch storms roll off the bay and up the flats toward our farm…and that smell that would be in the air right before the rain started…man. Good times.

Anyway, that’s why I can tolerate shit movies like Twister and why I can spend hours watching cheesy TV shows like Stormchasers if I come across them on a Sunday afternoon. And it’s why pictures like these and these (found at c|net) make me drool.

Anybody for a trip to Kansas?

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$5,000 is too much to pay for a personal scooter, even something as bitchin’ as a Segway, but with financing available…hmm…

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The new Walkmen disc, “A Hundred Miles Off”, isn’t bad, but not great either. It’s certainly no Bows + Arrows, which was the second best album released in 2004. So sez I.

[tags]tornadoes, stormchasers, segway, walkmen, hundred miles off[/tags]

Baura? Len?

It’s been a big day for TimmyD. His application for British citizenship has been approved. Now, let’s hope he hasn’t bollocksed it up by not checking the post often enough.

Geez, scolding just sounds so much better when you’re British…

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TimmyD was also so kind as to pass on a rumour about Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant wanting to do more episodes of The Office. They’re right about the NBC version of The Office though; it’s gotten better and better as it’s gone along. I think they’ve actually done an even better job with the whole Tim-Dawn / Jim-Pam (or “Jam”, if you’re a TV nerd) thing than the British version…of course, they’ve had many more episodes to build the tension.

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Ben Harper is lost to me. His last…well, several albums (including his newest, Both Sides Of The Gun) haven’t done anything for me. I remember standing in my living room in my first apartment at Yonge & Sheppard, setting up my new stereo, when this song called “Faded” came on MuchMusic; I snappedlostit and ran out to find the disc. But since that disc…nuthin’. However, more people seem to dig him now than back then, so he’s doing something right for the masses (including Laura Dern, so you can’t blame him too much). Just not for me.

[tags]british citizenship, the office, ricky gervais, stephen merchant, nbc, ben harper[/tags]

Lemons & accents

You know what’s good? The new Asobi Seksu album Citrus. That’s good.

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You know what’s funny? BBC announcers covering the NHL playoffs. That’s funny.

They say things like “…scoring three goals in the third quarter…” and pronounce the name “Rod Brind’Amour” as if he were from Reims and not Ottawa.

[tags]asobi seksu, bbc, nhl, rod brind’amour[/tags]