Of Mice and Lem

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Finally back at work today. Still not at 100%, but at least I no longer feel like patient zero.

.:.

CH (the local channel that picks up Global Television’s scraps) has pissed us off once again where The Shield is concerned. Nellie discovered that, with two episodes left in the season, they’d moved the show without announcing it. Good thing she noticed when she did; the finale is this Sunday (which I’ll miss ’cause I’ll be on course…gack!!), so we had to bittorrent the second-to-last episode. And maaaaaaaaaaan, is it gettin’ good. To take a show that good and add Forest Whitaker…it’s almost too much. I’m practically giddy thinking about the showdown that’s coming up. There’s not much on TV that can catch my interest like this.

Constant lovers

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Spacing says the TTC is working with Google to create a usable transit map. I will be supremely happy on day that this happens.

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Seriously, anxiety or no, this kid is now the envy of everyone who’s ever had this teacher. –>

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I agree with M_Blogler: I’ve lost a bit of respect for Thom Yorke after reading this article. If he was serious about wanting to make a difference he could’ve gone through with the meeting. That said, he might know more about just how futile an exercise it’d be to meet with the PM’s handlers and doesn’t want to put himself through that. Still, it sounds a little chickenshit.

.:.

I might have to go see these ladies when they come through town. They belt out a mean tune.

Typhoid Danny

Dan Dickinson

Had to stay home from work today. I’m coughing and sneezing so much that I’d just cause an outbreak, so I worked on my couch. I’m hoping to be ok enough tomorrow that I can a) go to the office without causing the black plague and b) play basketball, but I think that might be a stretch.

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Nellie managed to locate episode 1 of the new Sopranos season last night, and she’s working on episode 2 right now, so we might be almost up to date. It’s been practically impossible to avoid news about the previous night’s episode (just as I’ve heard spoiler information about other shows, such as Six Feet Under…which finally comes out next Tuesday!) so maybe this way we can shorten danger period from months (’til they come out on DVD) to a day or two.

Hey Mr. Clean…you're dirty now too.

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I watched two movies this weekend (somehow, in between all the basketball), both centered around music:

Lightning In A Bottle (imdb | rotten tomatoes) is a must-see if you like the blues. Antoine Fuqua filmed a pile of blues artists — some old, some new, some not blues artists at all but covering old songs — for one night at Radio City Music Hall. It was at the film festival way back when, so I put it on my zip list…then it arrived and sat by my TV for a month. I guess I just had to be in the right mood to watch it but I wish I’d gotten in the mood sooner…it was amazing! My favourites were Robert Cray and Shemekia Copeland doing “I Pity The Fool” and Solomon Burke doing…well, anything, even talking…but really it was all great. Plus watching David Johansen sing Howlin’ Wolf, and seeing Chuck D and Chris Thomas King freak out the old folks was entertaining.

Even if you don’t like the blues it’d be pretty hard to dislike this movie. And really…who doesn’t like the blues?

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Greendale (imdb | rotten tomatoes) was a very different animal. Another film festival entry that we missed (seriously, I think we need to get the 30-pack), it was Neil Young’s vision of a story told through song in a fictional American town. All rookie actors (some of whom were members of his band) with no dialogue, but rather lip-synching along with Neil’s lyrics as the music plays over the scenes. Strong pro-environment, anti-war and anti-Bush overtones (and other popular lefty causes) permeate the whole film. It was very, very weird, and probably unwatchable for most people. I didn’t like it, but at least it was interesting.

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As the West Wing winds down, I have some advice for Josh: Goddammit, man, next time you PICK UP THE KEY IMMEDIATELY!!!!!!

Ahem. Sorry.

Happy St. Bigot's day, everybody

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Why is John Dunleavy such a twat?

As Manhattan’s massive St Patrick’s Day parade made its way through the city yesterday its chief organiser was being condemned for a bizarre outburst in which he said that allowing gay groups to join the event would be like allowing Nazis to march at an Israeli parade.

“If an Israeli group wants to march in New York, do you allow neo-Nazis into their parade? If African-Americans are marching in Harlem, do they have to let the Ku Klux Klan into their parade?” march chairman John Dunleavy said in a newspaper interview, reigniting an argument that has marred every St Patrick’s Day in New York for the past 15 years.

Yeesh.

A touch of the rheumatids rheumatiz flu

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You can buy all the expensive cat toys you want. Nothing will ever entertain them as much as a piece of string with some folded-up paper on the end.

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This chest congestion that started after the flight back from New York has developed into a full-blown cold or something. Whatever it is, I feel like ass. I’ve managed to avoid being sick the whole winter but I guess it’s finally caught up with me.

First of all…however…

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Let’s see…what’s in the news today…

Senator fires back at U.S. family upset with seal hunt. First of all, she’s right: the war in Iraq, the execution of prisoners, the racism that exists in the justice system and the aggressive foreign policy are all regrettable actions on the part of the US. However, that doesn’t invalidate the McLellan family’s statement about the seal hunt being “horrible” and “inhumane”.

Harper restricts ministers’ message. First of all, I don’t think all the comparisons to Bush (see the many, many comments) are accurate; Bush’s media controllers don’t restrict Republican topics, they simply dictate precisely what everyone is to say that week. However, that’s semantics; the spirit and the intent is the same. Harper has obviously noticed that our media (like their American counterpart) has become so addle-minded that it can be controlled without much effort.

Does God Have a Future? (Part 3). First of all, Deepak Chopra may well be right in his predictions for religion in America: gurus and other spiritual authorities may wane in influence; faith may no longer be seen as an irrational departure from reason and science; wars may decline as peace becomes a social reality; nature may regain its sacred value; and so on. However, that does not mean that Deepak Chopra is not a huckster fuckwit.

Letting my freak(onomics) flag fly

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I finally read Freakonomics (metacritic). Obviously, being a business grad and a data geek, I liked it, but I can see why some people would react badly to it. It’s as frank and methodical as any other economic observation, even when dealing with issues like abortion and race, so people probably have bad knee-jerk reactions to it, but if you read it as presentation of data analysis rather than opinion, you appreciate the cold light Levitt and Dubner throw on things. If you liked the book, read their blog.

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You know when you hear so much about a movie that in your mind you’ve built it up into this classic, when in fact it’s really just an average movie that people liked 35 years ago and it’s somehow built up this cult currency? That was Dirty Harry for me. His little “Do ya feel lucky, punk? Well, do ya?” speech just reminds me of Cuba Gooding Jr. in Jerry Maguire: so hackneyed and overdone that I could barely keep myself from wincing when it happened. Ugh.

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I’ve gone back and beefed up my postings from our New York trip. I’ve added links where appropriate and expanded on certain key facts, like exact menu items and types of wine consumed…mostly for T-Bone’s benefit.