November 30, 2004
Canada US Relations
Not sure how long this will remain up before Canada.com spots the typo. The hed reads “Bush leaves for overnight trip to Canada in effort to force closer ties”. The opening text: “President George W. Bush left early Tuesday for his first official visit to Canada since he was re-elected in an effort to forge friendlier ties.” (thanks to chris for this) [More >>]
November 30, 2004
Love Story II: Karl Meets George
How to mark the occasion of George W. Bush’s first ever official visit to Canada? There’s plenty of talk in the mainstream press about protests and security cordones, but that’s not for me. Instead, I want to get to know the man, understand where he comes from and how he does what he does. Of course, in order to understand George, one must first understand Karl. Has any one individual... [More >>]
November 30, 2004
Greatest Canazzzzzzzz
It was fun watching them try to stretch a three minute ceremony out to a full hour last night. It hadn’t been terribly well rehearsed, and at one point Sean Majumder came down, kicked three of the celebrity advocates off the stage, and proceeded to kill sixty seconds by rambling incoherently. Anyhoo, some thoughts: 1. The fact that Tommy Douglas won is a bit of a shock. He isn’t even the... [More >>]
November 29, 2004
Blowing our noses on ancient trees
So Toyota can think of a way to make an environmentally friendly hybrid car so cool and luxurious you need to sit on a waiting list for months before you are overcharged for one, but the makers of KLEENEX® can’t help clean our noses without destroying the planet? A new Greenpeace campaign, featuring a giant box of KLEENEX® on wheels, is aimed straight at Kimberly-Clark, the soft-paper... [More >>]
November 28, 2004
Rocking Night in Canada
To the hockey arena at the Universite de Montreal last night to see the Pixies’ holy-shit-we’re-broke tour. The slight hint of Spinal Tap that was in the air turned into a sneering insinuation when the Datsuns took the stage, three extra-skinny dudes in tight jeans, big hair, and serious post-zeppelin power rawk. Thanks to amps turned up to 11, the Datsuns’ set was like a trip to... [More >>]
November 27, 2004
hockey night in canada
Last night, my friend Rolf and I went to see the Laval Chiefs play the Verdun Dragons at the Bell Centre. These teams play in the Ligue Nord-Americaine de Hockey, billed in a recent Montreal Gazette article as “the most violent hockey league in the world”. In case you don’t quite get what this league is about, the Laval team wears the exact same uniform as the Chiefs in the movie... [More >>]
November 27, 2004
Ukrainian rhapsody redux
I posted this as a comment to the original Ukraine conversation, but I think it’s important and enlightening enough to post again: the Guardian’s Jonathan Steele gives a new perspective to the shades of grey at play in the contested presidential election (or maybe it’s not that new and I’ve just been reading to much National Post coverage of the event). [More >>]
November 26, 2004
Surviving Subversion of Family Values
American broadcast network CBS has been getting a bit of heat from the now famous liberally biased media for seemingly covering up the fact that at least two of the female competitors on its hit show, Survivor Vanuatu, are openly lesbian. The reality show (oh admit it, you watch reality tv) is famous for manipulative edits designed to hide key pieces of information in order to heighten the drama of... [More >>]
November 26, 2004
Turkey Time USA
Our American friends are celebrating Thanksgiving this weekend, and the traditional “pardoning” of a well-fed turkey happened on the White House lawn. Hilarity on the subject from the geniuses at The Onion. “Cousin Wattle’s (a 41-pound White Holland tom) conduct prior to the pardoning ceremony prompted Justice Department officials to authorize the bird’s detention as an... [More >>]
November 26, 2004
Definitely Not the Traditional Way to Marry
This Magazine friend and contributor Arianne Robinson thought about marrying someone through Marry An American. She made a documentary and I’m pretty sure hilarity ensued. Listen this Saturday at 3 on Definitely Not the Opera on Radio One. [More >>]
