Category: News

Oh, to be a blue Versace dress…

Dan Dickinson

OK, so, the Oscars:

  • Jon Stewart: very funny. I think he kicked ass (especially the Cheney joke and the “Three 6 Mafia: one Oscar; Martin Scorsese: zero” bit) but I don’t think they’ll ask him back. I think his humour goes over the head of a lot of the viewers.
  • God bless God for making Salma Hayek.
  • Crash didn’t deserve to win best picture. It was good, but it wasn’t the best of the year. Likewise, Reese Witherspoon. Good, but not even in the same league as Felicity Huffman in Transamerica. Rachel Weisz, Philip Seymour Hoffman, George Clooney: well deserved, all.

And that’s all I have to say about that.

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As I said yesterday, we watched three movies over the weekend:

  • North Country (imdb | rotten tomatoes) was pretty good, but not as spectacular as we were led to believe. Basically equal parts Norma Rae and Dead Poets Society, with some Fargo thrown in accent-wise. Worth a rent, though.
  • Enron: The Smartest Guys In The Room (imdb | rotten tomatoes) was up for best documentary, so I wanted to watch it before last night. I love documentaries, and this was a good’un; slick production, topical story and a truth bizarre enough to be prize-winning fiction. Highly, highly recommended.
  • 9 Songs (imdb | rotten tomatoes) is one of those films that I think I liked, but could never recommend to people. It was porn, basically. We knew it was nothing but concert footage (of some very good bands, by the way) interspersed with some dialogue and some explicit sex scenes, but we didn’t know how explicit it would be. It’s the kind of stuff they can’t even show on cable, not even on shows about porn. But it wasn’t tawdry, or exploitative; it was a pretty accurate representation of the lives of a couple as they go to concerts at the Brixton Academy, eat breakfast, go on holiday and fuck repeatedly. If you’re the type who can see filmed sex (and filmed music) as art, you might like it. If nothing else, it’s an interesting experiment.

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There’s a bunch of stuff in the news that caught my eye:

  • South Dakota has, for all intents and purposes, banned abortion. America must be a very scary place for a lot of people right now.
  • Toronto Hydro plans to roll out citywide wi-fi like some other major cities in North America.
  • Halifax is still debating the construction of two towers in the downtown core. Personally, I think they should do it; no matter what you build in Halifax, if it’s more than 10 stories, it’s going to block somebody’s view of the citadel or the harbour. I’m sure people thought Purdy’s Wharf was a giant mistake too, but it’s become just as much a part of the cityscape as another building there.

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Today was a long, unpleasant day at work. [Corleone] I keep getting sucked back in [/Corleone] to the technical stuff; moral of the story: never believe someone when they say they won’t expect a temporary solution to become a production solution. They spaz when the so-called temporary solution goes away, even though it’s not your job to provide them with anything. I did my part, I was a nice guy, I saved their ass for a month, but I made sure to wash my hands of it. Still, I got it done and managed to fix a few other things as well. Best of all, I have no meetings scheduled for tomorrow, so I have a whole day to catch up on the work that I’ve missed by essentially wasting my last two weekdays.

Bush/Khomeini

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Interesting, the differences in attitudes toward religion between countries. While George Bush can hardly say “Good morning” to his wife without adding “…and may God bless America” — and indeed, an American politician could not get elected unless he or she makes such platitudes throughout their campaign — the reaction to what Tony Blair said yesterday — that God would judge the invasion of Iraq — has drawn some very harsh criticism. Among it, the quote “We don’t want Bush or Khomeini-type fundamentalism in our politics…” from MP Evan Harris. I never thought I’d hear a president’s name slung alongside the Khomeini’s, but there it is.

And maybe it’s deserved. Violence is violence; is it really more acceptable when a state uses its military to enact violence than when a nonstate group commits terrorism? Is it acceptable when civilian casualties due to state military action, though largely unintended, far outnumber the intended civilian deaths through acts of terrorism? Is the destruction of foreign infrastructure and seizure of natural resources — and the long slow death that follows — less senseless than attacks on western symbols? Does invoking God’s name somehow make Bush or Blair holier than the martyr who cries out for Allah?

Hey Mr. cab driver, can you take a look at my leg?

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I’m encouraged by this story in the Globe about Stephen Harper’s intention to talk about credentials for recent immigrants. There are entirely too many skilled professionals in this country who’re caught in a quagmire of bureaucracy, unable to work in their field.

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We tried Veda last night, the new Indian takeout place just up the street. Not very impressive at all; I tend to agree with Steven Davey’s review in Now. I mean, it’s pretty hard to mess up butter chicken, but it was pretty bad. Don’t think we’ll be going back. Trouble is, our local indian options are dropping off now that Banjara‘s closed up shop.

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The Olympic closing ceremonies might be more painful to sit through than the Oscars. Yeesh. Still, pretty exciting to see Vancouver get the handoff and get ready for their day in the sun. Or snow, as it were.

Hawks, vultures and taun-tauns

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Oh, hot dog. From the Toronto Star: Defence Minister Gordon O’Connor says he’s willing to reopen the controversial debate on ballistic missile defence if the United States extends another invitation.

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My copy of Rogue Wave‘s Descended Like Vultures (metacritic | pitchfork) finally arrived today. I ordered it from Amazon two months ago and it still hadn’t shipped; I canceled the order (there were two other books and a movie) and re-did it with Indigo. It all arrived within a week.

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Marten is so totally gonna get some…unless Dora guts him first.

Disdain or imprisonment?

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Like those referenced in the title of this story in the Sydney Morning Herald, I’m not sure I agree with the three-year jail sentence given to David Irving for denying the holocaust. Obviously I disagree with what he says (or said; Irving claims to have reversed his views, as do many people when facing jail time); I think it makes him wrong, and an ass, but I don’t know if it makes him a criminal. I tend to agree with the rabbi who said “Personally I prefer to treat him with disdain than with imprisonment” or the historian who said “However nauseating, these people should be confronted in debate rather than chucked into jail and turned into martyrs.”

I understand that Germany and Austria have extraordinary political currents that shape their feelings on such matters, and it could hardly be expected otherwise, even several generations on from the Holocaust. I can’t reach into the mind of the average Austrian lawmaker and determine the extent to which guilt plays a part in such decisions; it just smacks of…atonement, I suppose? Again, understandable. But would Irving have been found a criminal in most other countries? Or simply ridiculed and made a fool of in public debate? Does jailing him really turn him into a martyr?

It’s incredible, the destructive power of war and genocide, that we’ll be feeling effects like this for another century. In some ways, I suppose it’s changed things forever.

Fortunate son

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A lot of times, when I read the news, I realize how lucky I’ve been. Everything’s kind of been stacked in my favour for my whole life. I’m a healthy, straight, reasonably affluent, atheist white male who lives in a prosperous, peaceful country that’s all but devoid of natural disasters. I don’t have to worry about racism, mudslides, discrimination due to religion or sexuality, poverty, sexism, or gunfire.

Does this make me The Man? Am I keeping somebody down? Is my foot in someone’s ass? I hope not.

Am I even awake?

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Have I missed something? Who the hell is Neil Entwistle?

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Canada loses 2-0 to Switzerland in men’s hockey. In other news, wood does NOT float.

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If you’ve been watching CBC’s Olympic coverage at all, you’ve seen the ads for Yoplait Creamy yogurt. And you know that they are probably the most irritating commercials ever devised and set loose upon the world of man. Worse than the talking beavers. Worse than the McCain’s oeuvre. Worse than the horribly dubbed shampoo and deodorant commercials. Worse than Bad Boy. OK, maybe not, but…seriously. I’m thinking about PVR’ing the entire day so that I can skip the commercials and spare myself the pain.

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Any now the guy who Cheney shot is apologizing to Cheney. It’s like I’m trapped in a nightmare of retarded news, commercials and hockey scores. He’p me.

Hunting is for pussies

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

OK…I’ve managed to hold off on making fun of Cheney for the whole shooting thing…the White House delay in reporting it, the blame-throwing, and the, you know, shooting of an old man in the face. But the part that really gets me is this ranch they were hunting on: you drive up to a spot where a bunch of birds — who’ve been raised in pens and had their wings clipped — are placed, you get out of the car and you shoot them. How fucking sporting. Just when you thought Cheney couldn’t be any more of a shit, he goes and one-ups you.

[UPDATE] By the way, The Daily Show was a tour de force last night. Crooks & Liars has the video.

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Oh, by the way…