I think the $117 would've been better spent on an hour of therapy

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From the “I’m glad it wasn’t my country” file:

Who got the money and why? It went to help pay a psychic who performed a ghost exorcism in one of the units. The occupants of the home reported hearing banging noises and seeing objects flying across the room by themselves, and told officials on Easington Council in Durham County, England they believed their apartment was haunted.

[via CityNews]

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Torontoist makes a very good point today that I should’ve made yesterday: while the national news media makes fun of Toronto’s weather spazztasm, the local media leads the hand-wringing.

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Big night for my teams. Montreal snapped a 3-game losing skid by scoring late to tie the game and then winning in overtime, while the Raptors beat Vince Carter and the Nets like a red-headed stepchild…a game T-Bone was lucky enough to see live. The Duke Blue Devils even beat Maryland tonight, which I kinda half care about.

[tags]haunted apartment, torontoist, toronto media, snow, canadiens, raptors, vince carter, duke blue devils[/tags]

"Snow: a form of precipitation witnessed every year in Toronto, to great astonishment."

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

Oh, Torontians. When the media begins making fun of your hysteria, that’s when you know you should quit your whining and just buy a fucking shovel.

I’ll admit it wasn’t a lot of fun outside today — I don’t mind the snow but I’d really prefer it didn’t come at me parallel to the ground — but for the love of Frank Shuster, it’s Canada and it’s February. Take a deep breath. Buy a scarf. When we get hit by something like this, you can kvetch all you want, but until then, all you’re doing is keeping the memory of Mel Lastman’s army distress call alive in the national consciousness.

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We watched Hot Fuzz (imdb | rotten tomatoes) last night. It followed the style of Shaun Of The Dead closely: very, very funny at first and developing into a fairly serious homage (of, admittedly, a fairly silly subject: cop/buddy movies) by the end. If you liked SotD, I’d definitely recommend Hot Fuzz.

[tags]toronto, weather, snowfall, mel lastman, hot fuzz[/tags]

Subject to revision

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

Two more nails in the HD-DVD coffin. I hope this means I can get Children Of Men and Battlestar Galactica on Blu-Ray soon.

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Speaking of movies, it’s time I face the fact that I’m not going to get through my must-see-in-2007 list any time soon. So, with that, here are my top* movies of 2007:

  1. There Will Be Blood
  2. Once
  3. No Country For Old Men
  4. Juno
  5. Zodiac
  6. Eastern Promises
  7. Starting Out In The Evening
  8. This Is England
  9. The Lookout
  10. Gone, Baby, Gone

There’s a second tier of films that I really liked as well, but I didn’t try to rank them. It’s pretty hard to compare 300 or Superbad to No End In Sight.

  • 300
  • 3:10 To Yuma
  • Black Book
  • Black Snake Moan
  • The Bourne Ultimatum
  • The Kingdom
  • No End In Sight
  • Sicko
  • Sunshine
  • Superbad

I thought the three most overrated films of the year were (in no particular order) Knocked Up, Atonement and Letters From Iwo Jima. The most disappointing by far was Spider-Man 3, especially considering Spider-Man 2 was probably the best superhero movie ever made.

* keep in mind that I didn’t see Before The Devil Knows You’re Dead, The Diving Bell And The Butterfly, I’m Not There, Michael Clayton, 4 Months 3 Weeks And 2 Days, Lars & The Real Girl, The Savages, The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford, Away From Her, Inland Empire, Iraq In Fragments, Ratatouille or We Own The Night.

[tags]best movies of 2007, hd-dvd, blu-ray[/tags]

This title should have been "a lassi for my lassie," but she drank beer instead

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Last night seven of us went to Indus Junction to celebrate Nellie’s birthday. It was very, very tasty…I think we tried five different appetizers and five mains. The vindaloo shrimp appetizer was excellent, as were the vegetable dumplings and the paneer & cauliflower dish. The vindaloo salmon was good too, and the soft garlic naan and dhal mahkni. A few of us had dessert; the rice pudding was apparently quite good but my double-fudge tart was just too much chocolate (!) for me.

All in all, good food, good spot, good service. We’ll be going back, I think.

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The Canadiens beat the Ottawa Senators early last week, but that was when Heatley and Alfredsson were injured. Last night the Senators, with their top line intact, hung a 6-1 loss on the Habs. Glad I didn’t stay home to watch that one.

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It sounds more and more like Godspeed You! Black Emperor is over, finished, kaput. Granted, A Silver Mt. Zion is still active, but I’ll miss the bombast.

[tags]indus junction, montreal canadiens, ottawa senators, godspeed you! black emperor[/tags]

"Brick remains aloof. He is very handsome, and possibly a homosexual."

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

I got home around 8:30 tonight and am rather wiped, so blogging tonight will be terse.

  • I ate two fortune cookies today (Kung Hey Fat Choi!) and the fortunes inside read “A sweet surprise awaits you” and “Goods that are not shared are not goods.” You know what though? Those lines never worked on the girls in my high school, so I don’t know why I should put any faith in them now.
  • I wish I liked The Weakerthans‘ music as much as I liked John Samson’s lyrics.
  • Caitlin: still hot. Stacie Mistysyn: girlfriend du jour.
  • The Onion always make me laugh, but sometimes it’s so brilliantly absurd that I can only marvel and wonder where they buy their wonderful drugs. Today’s article “Ask The Stage Directions To Tennessee Williams’ Cat On A Hot Tin Roof” may set the bar at an all-time high.
  • It’s fully fucking snowtastic out there tonight. It’s been windy and blizzard-y all day, and there was more thundersnow earlier tonight. My walk home tonight, though only a few minutes from subway to lobby, was about seven different kinds of unpleasant. I’m ready for spring now.

[tags]fortune cookies, kung hey fat choi, weakerthans, degrassi, caitlin, the onion, tennessee williams, cat on a hot tin roof, toronto, blizzard, thundersnow[/tags]