February 28, 2007
Mmm, Canadian Cinema….
This Mag’s March Film Club newsletter is now out. You can check it out here. And, as always, if you’d like to receive the monthly email newsletter, email me at filmclub[at]thismagazine.ca, with “subscribe” in the subject line. March highlights include the release of Fido, a horror/comedy about a boy and his pet zombie, and Congorama, a Genie-winning French comedy about a Belgian... [More >>]
February 27, 2007
my crystal’s alright Jack
Sleepy-eared this morning, I wasn’t sure if I was hearing right when William Thorsell, emperor of the Royal Ontario Musuem, was quoted on CBC radio slagging Toronto mayor David Miller’s request for a reasonable return on the sales tax monies collected in Canada’s largest city. Miller’s One Cent Now campaign has been big news lately (we sure do live in the era of politicians... [More >>]
February 27, 2007
RRSPs that make a difference
I don’t know much about this stuff — is tomorrow the last day to get RRSPs and apply the tax breaks to your 2006 return or something? I tend to tune out the RRSP hard sell that goes on this time of year, simply because I don’t trust banks. That said, it appears Citizens Bank is now offering an investment I can get fully behind. They call it the Shared World Term Deposit, and it... [More >>]
February 26, 2007
Sak vid pa kanpe
So last night, the Arcade Fire played Saturday Night Live for the first time, performing two songs from their upcoming Neon Bible album. In the above clip the band plays their first song, “Intervention,” after which frontman Win Butler smashes his acoustic guitar. Speculation as to why has been met online with a predictable array of theories, but my favourite connects with the phrase written... [More >>]
February 24, 2007
R.I.P. Arthur
Arthur Magazine, the free journal of freak folk, radical politics and alternative living from Los Angeles is now deceased. Over the four years and 25 issues of its existence I learned about artist like Devendra Banhart, Brightblack Morning Light and Joanna Newsom. Perhaps even more important than the music was the bold editorial stance against militarism, racism and the effects of American capitalism. Editor... [More >>]
February 23, 2007
Supremes give Harper the finger
While today’s unanimous decision by the Supreme Court of Canada to strike down Canada’s controversial security certificates was not a direct attack on Stephen Harper, given his latest antics, I like to close my eyes and conjure up the image of the nine Supremes lining up to give Harper the finger. Actually, it’s the Charter of Rights giving Harper the finger, because once again, the... [More >>]
February 23, 2007
The Inconvenient Truth About Flying
When our elected officials get around to talking about global warming a lot gets said about reducing emissions from industry, from cars and even from our homes but little or nothing gets said about flying. Face it whether we like or not flying contributes a lot to climate change. The Suzuki foundation puts the number at somewhere around 5% of global CO2 output while another figure has that number skyrocketing... [More >>]
February 23, 2007
Porn Pressure
Adult content though your cellphone is officially canned due to pressure from concerned parents and Catholic lobby groups. Is sex and sexuality becoming repressed in an increasingly conservative North American climate? Or are companies finally being challenged on profiting off sexual content? Discuss. [More >>]
February 22, 2007
I want my wind chill
image courtesy Environment Canada Last week on his Maclean’s Blog, Potter Gold, Andrew Potter linked to a Slate article debunking wind chill as a reliable measurement of anything. Now, winter makes everyone grumpy. Clearly, the Slate editor hating on wind chill hasn’t booked his Dominican vacation yet. This particular winter in my city has been psychologically more cruel than the average... [More >>]
February 22, 2007
trying to be nice
I wrote a blog entry last year criticizing the Prime Minister for skipping out on the Toronto AIDS Conference. The kernel of my argument, I think, was the issue of leadership over partisanship; that sometimes it’s the Prime Minister’s job to show up even if he’s guaranteed to get booed. I remember some of the comments from that posting had to do with how malaria is a much larger problem... [More >>]
