Pepperpot - A Little Bit of Everything

• Check out the forum on the Toronto Transit Commission's subway station revitalization plan which aims to use the stations as an environment to market the surrounding neighbourhood of Museum, St. Patrick and Osgoode stations. The forum features some great pictures of subways from around the world that showcase how dull Toronto's subway is by comparison. No explanation by the far end of Dundas West station smells like the monkey house at the zoo however. (credit eye blog)

• Is U2 moving to Montreal? Egotastic! - The Entertainment Blog gives some insight into Bono's in-concert comment and gives a plausible reason for at least a temporary stay. Paul Martin better pony up that dough he promised Bono, or there may be the occasional drop-in ("I was just in the neighbourhood Paul, want a word with you.") Link - U2 Moving to Montreal?

• Who knew that there would be a sliiiiiiiiight problem with a Chinese actress playing a Japanese geisha in Memoirs of a Geisha? Link - Ziyi Zhang Is Not Welcome
• A holiday newsletter from the Desk of the Prime Minister care of Rick Mercer's Blog.
• Kevin Smith cares about his peeps & geeks and takes the time to post a response to a Talk-Back thread at Ain’t It Cool News. That is, a response to each and every inane internet-quality criticism and compliment, in true Kevin Smith style. Good funny read.
• I wonder if Brock Peters is going to get blamed for this one: The Hollywood Walk of Fame star of "To Kill A Mockingbird" actor Gregory Peck is missing. Yahoo News: Gregory Peck's Hollywood Star Is Stolen

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I've seen "According to Jim", I'm already sorry Mr. Koppel

Give this new anchor team for "Nightline" a fair break. If you don't, I promise you the network will just put another comedy show in this timeslot and then you'll be sorry.

-Ted Koppel signing off on his final "Nightline".

Great quote provided byTV Gal, who covers her favourite TV shows of the past week for the Zap2it-TV website. The TV Gal column is a great Monday read.

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Preserving "Domestic Peace" should come with a prize inside

A Shredded Wheat ad from 1921 gives some insight into domestic life in early 20th century Canada:



What would be a woman's reaction to her husband coming home, promising "I've got a surprise that'll help lighten the burden of being a housewife and mother", and pulling out a box of Shredded Wheat? Based on this ad, I would assume pure joy, thanks and relief. Followed be the whizzing of a frying pan cuttinging through the air and several months of eating your Shredded Wheat through a feeding tube.

I plan to give Shredded Wheat as a gift at every housewarming and wedding from now on, just to promote that "Domestic Peace" the ad talks about.

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Proof that "Smart" and "Sci-Fi Fan" can be two completely unrelated terms

Star Trek - $2499.99 Star Trek - Ultimate Collection Proves Popular! - www.tvshowsondvd.com

Amazon.com is posting The Ultimate Star Trek DVD Collection that contains every series from the original Star Trek, plus Next Generation Deep Space Nine, Voyager and Enterprise, plus every movie. That's 212 discs, for a grand total of $2500.00 American Dollars with the discount. And it's been selling!!

There is an old comic shop saying, "a fanboy and his money are soon parted".

Wouldn't the die-hard Trek fans already own most of this? And is it wrong to think that if they included Trekkies, the documentary on the fanaticism of Trek fans, that it would act as an "intervention", causing buyers to suffer an aneurysm when they realized what they've done? And just what is the Klingon translation of "dumb-ass"?

Not quite in the same league: there is a Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Chosen Collection which is the entire 7 seasons over 40 discs, but that's at a far more reasonable $244.99 Cdn.

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TV - Canadian Ooted on How I Met Your Mother

On Monday's How I Met Your Mother, Ted asks Robin why she doesn't have plans for the US Thanksgiving.


Robin: I'm Canadian, remember? We celebrate Thanksgiving in October.

Ted: 'Oh right I forgot. You guys are weird. You pronounce the word 'out', 'oot'.

Robin: You guys are the world's leader in hand gun violence; your health care system is bankrupt and your country is deeply divided on almost every important issue.

Ted: '[pause] Your cops are called 'mounties'.



Cobie Smulders, who plays Robin, is indeed a Canuck.

And for those that want to know, here is Barney (Neil Patrick Harris)'s recipe for a Thankstini. It comes courtesy of Barney's Blog, an official blog on the CBS website, written by the character of Barney. He refers to it or ideas he's posted in a few episodes. It's a really interesting tool for writers to flesh out the character by writing in his "voice".

Thankstini
1 part Vodka
2 parts Cranberry juice
1 Boullion Cube (chicken)

gobblegobble

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Age is Just a Number... Kind of like the ones on "Lost"

A number of my friends are turning 30 this year (4 this month alone) and my turn is impending, so this seemed appropriate. Click on the image for the full comic. Browse around and flip through some older strips of Something Positive:

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"V for Vendetta" film posters and Alan Moore's Hollywood divorce

Posters for the movie "V for Vendetta" have been released and they really stand out (and not just due to the Portman factor) from the blandness of recent posters. They are very reminiscent of early 20th century recruitment and propaganda art. Great marketing artwork all around for a movie that may be tricky to market.

The film itself is about a rebel fighting against a fascist government in an Orwellian near-future society. The government calls him a terrorist, the people view him as a rebel hero. Natalie Portman plays a woman who starts out as a citizen but becomes an ally to Vendetta as she comes around to his viewpoint. The hero/rebel is played by Hugo Weaving, who has a genre-spanning resume including of Agent Smith (Matrix), Elrond (Lord of the Rings) and Adventures of Priscilla Queen of the Desert. Natalie Portman hasn't been in a role like this since The Professional, where she first garnered rave reviews. With a director who honed his skill on The Matrix series and being produced by The Wachowskis Brothers, this is sure to be a good-looking, dynamic movie. Several films are being released with themes of rebellion against totalitarian governments (Serenity, Aeon Flux) and may be a response to the current political climate. And hopefully the situation involving the source material, which I cover in the bottom half of this post, won't dissuade you from checking out this interesting film.

Trailers - V for Vendetta
Credit: Egotastic!

I know, there's supposed to be a story and plot too, and the good news the source material is a graphic novel written by Alan Moore, one of the most acclaimed comic book writers in the business. The bad news is he wants nothing to do with the buggering thing.

Alan Moore is a powerhouse writer, one of the most successful, and often controversial, creators in modern comics. The genre-breaking Watchmen redefined the super-hero book and is beyond anything that pops into your head when you think "comic book". Top Ten is a police-procedural meets superhero books that reminded me of great TV shows like Homicide: Life on The Street, with the fact that the cops possess superpowers being a sidenote really. His work allowed an acceptance of mature-themed (stories that adults would read) comics and lead the way for works like Neil Gaiman's Sandman and Warren Ellis's Transmetropolitan.

Of course, his works tend to get butchered when adapted into movies. I beg you to read the astounding League of Extraordinary Gentlemen and just forget there ever was a movie with that name. Just like you did with Highlander 2. You could spend hours upon hours tracking the literary cross-references in this book. Wikipedia covers Alan Moore's divorce from Hollywood:

Film adaptations of Moore's work also proved controversial. With From Hell and The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Moore was content to allow the filmmakers to do whatever they wished and removed himself from the process entirely. "As long as I could distance myself by not seeing them," he said, he could profit from the films while leaving the original comics untouched, "assured no one would confuse the two. This was probably naive on my part."

Trouble arose when producer Martin Poll and screenwriter Larry Cohen filed a lawsuit against 20th Century Fox, alleging that the film The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen plagiarized their script entitled Cast of Characters. Although the two scripts bear many similarities, most of them are elements that were added for the film and do not originate in Moore's comics. According to Moore, "they seemed to believe that the head of 20th Century Fox called me up and persuaded me to steal this screenplay, turning it into a comic book which they could then adapt back into a movie, to camouflage petty larceny." Moore testified in court hearings, a process so painful that he surmised he would have been better treated having "sodomised and murdered a busload of children after giving them heroin." Fox's settlement of the case insulted Moore, who interpreted it as an admission of guilt.

Moore has publicly asked for his name to be taken off the credits of the Constantine, V for Vendetta and (in development)Watchmen films, as he wishes to have nothing to do with any film adaptations of his work where he does not own sole copyright and cannot prevent the films' production. In each case, Moore had his option money given to the artists involved.

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Team Spirit by Jeph Loeb

There's no "I" in Team, but there is in Dick.

- Jeph Loeb, comic-book writer, former Smallville supervising producer and now joining LOST as supervising producer

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Shuffle Serendipity - Ghost in the Machine

Most mp3 players have a shuffle mode that randomly selects songs from your library of music. It’s a fun feature that lets you hear songs you don’t normally seek out, rediscovering old favourites and creating new ones.

Sometimes the iPod selects a run of songs out that seems eerily appropriate for a moment, mood, or situation. I refer to this as serendipity generation, picking suitable tunes out of the 3500+ on the iPod. Then there are just the flat out odd moments that make me go WTF and chuckle a little. One of the funnier ones was hearing The Verve’s “The Drugs Don’t Work” as I filled in my health insurance forms. Here’s the latest one:

Sitting on the bus we crawl through traffic to the subway station. Earphones are in, music is on. I scratch my forehead and realize I’ve accidentally opened up a small cut I received on the weekend. It's bleeding and not stopping right away. I take my handkerchief and put it to my head to stop the dribble. As the bus pulls into the station, my iPod shuffles to the next song. I walk off the bus and hear the chorus of the song and do a little double take. I check my screen to confirm which song is playing:

“I Bleed” by The Pixies from the Doolittle album.

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Quick laugh on a cold day

A quick laugh on a cold and dreary day, this has been making the rounds, found it on a few sites. Passed around as an actual job application that a 75 year old senior citizen submitted to Walmart in Arkansas.

“They hired him because he was so funny.........you gotta love it!!!”

NAME: George Martin

SEX: Not lately, but I am looking for the right woman (or at least one that will cooperate)

DESIRED POSITION: Company's President or Vice President. But seriously, whatever's available. If I was in a position to be picky, I wouldn't be applying here in the first place.

DESIRED SALARY: $185,000 a year plus stock options and a Michael Ovitz style severance package. If that's not possible, make an offer and we can haggle.

EDUCATION: Yes.

LAST POSITION HELD: Target for middle management hostility.

PREVIOUS SALARY: A lot less than I'm worth.

MOST NOTABLE ACHIEVEMENT: My incredible collection of stolen pens and post-it notes.

REASON FOR LEAVING: It sucked.

HOURS AVAILABLE TO WORK: Any.

PREFERRED HOURS: 1:30-3:30 p.m. Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday.

DO YOU HAVE ANY SPECIAL SKILLS?: Yes, but they're better suited to a more intimate environment.

MAY WE CONTACT YOUR CURRENT EMPLOYER?: If I had one, would I be here?

DO YOU HAVE ANY PHYSICAL CONDITIONS THAT WOULD PROHIBIT YOU FROM LIFTING UP TO 50 lbs.?: Of what?

DO YOU HAVE A CAR?: I think the more appropriate question here would be "Do you have a car that runs?"

HAVE YOU RECEIVED ANY SPECIAL AWARDS OR RECOGNITION?: I may already be a winner of the Publishers Clearing House Sweepstakes, so they tell me.

DO YOU SMOKE?: On the job - no! On my breaks - yes!

WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE TO BE DOING IN FIVE YEARS?: Living in the Bahamas with a fabulously wealthy dumb sexy blonde supermodel who thinks I'm the greatest thing since sliced bread. Actually, I'd like to be doing that now.

NEAREST RELATIVE....7 miles

DO YOU CERTIFY THAT THE ABOVE IS TRUE AND COMPLETE TO THE BEST OF YOUR KNOWLEDGE?: Oh yes, absolutely.

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Pepperpot - A Little Bit of Everything

• Wonder how Jessica Biel was named Sexiest Woman Alive by Esquire magazine? Me too. Here's a little insight at what the throught process may have been as Fametracker presents Notes from the "Esquire" Editorial Meeting At Which Jessica Biel Was Named "Sexiest Woman Alive". FYI: Tina Fey, Gabrielle Union, Maggie Gylennhal, Parminder Nagra, Rosario Dawson, Maggie Cheung, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Sarah Silverman, Neko Case, Natalie Portman - 10 women who are sexier than Jessica Biel. Many women in real life - Way sexier. Jessica Biel - Not even in contention.

• All hail The Beer Hunter, your Google-mapped guide to finding beer,wine and liquor in Toronto. Shows where it is and when it is open. Pretty handy, I didn't know the independant brewers tend to be open a bit later and on weekends.

• Broken Social Scene, the Toronto band/indie darlings/collective mob with instruments have added a second show for their January Toronto appearance (Friday, January 20, Kool Haus, all ages, $25). In the 4 or 5 BSS gigs I've attended, I've never seen them put on a bad show and always left with a smile on my face. Most members I've seen on stage at one time for a song: 15. They could easily be confused with a flash mob.

• STARS have added a FIFTH!!! show to their already impressive December 15th thru 17th run of sold-out concerts at Lee's Palace, including an all-ages show. The love-in continues into a fifth show on the Sunday December 18th, 9 pm, $15.
  
  Both bands are Canadian and are from the arts & crafts label. The label's website is well designed with plenty of music previews. Their store has a great option of purchasing the albums and having it mailed or downloaded as mp3s. Tickets are available through Ticketmaster, but screw their service charges, try to get to Soundscapes on College or Rotate This on Queen West.

• The sword fight on CBS's great sitcom How I Met Your Mother is much better than that smarmy obnoxious duel with pool cues in that Captain Morgan's Rum commercial running on TV. By the way, I don''t tend to use the words "CBS" and "great sitcom" in the same sentence often (Ever?) so be sure to check out this inventive fun show Mondays at 8:30. Neil Patrick Harris is the bomb as the toxic bachelor character. Word.

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Eddie Guerrero passes away

This has been an odd weekend that started rough with some personal mishaps that were resolved, leading to a whole couple days of wonderfulness, but today has been a pondering day. Through my Sunday haze I checked the internet and found out a man I admired for his courage and faith in the face of his own personal demons had died. Eddie Guerrero, a WWE wrestler, had passed away Sunday at the age of 38, leaving behind a wife and three daughters.

I always feel compelled to explain myself when I say that I enjoy wrestling. I don’t mean the clownish, gimmicky entertainment that you tend to see on World Wrestling television, but actual wrestling. I drop in a quick "I know the outcome is planned (not fixed)" and I don't watch regularly anymore, but I watch the occasional match and follow the news online. A good match with good wrestlers, stripped of gimmickery and childish characters, tells a story, communicates with the audience. A great wrestler can hold a crowded arena plus pay-per view audience in the palm of his hand, eliciting reaction with a well executed maneuver or a mere facial gesture. Eddie Guerrero was one of those wrestlers who made me want to watch wrestling.

The human element of wrestling fascinates me. These are men and women who go on the road for most of the year, who are able to do these wrestling moves without (usually) injuring each other and it its purest form (with no clowns or undead zombies) is a basic morality tale, good vs bad, face vs. heel. One of the most charismatic men in the ring was Eddie Guerrero. Eddie came from a long, prestigious line of Mexican wrestlers, the Guerrero family. It was in his blood and he was good at it. He was athletic and could win a crowd over as a hero or villain, and you couldn't help but admire him for his devotion to the wrestling business. He wrestled in Mexico, Japan, in many of the independent circuits in the US and had contributed significant time in all three of the major wrestling federations, World Wrestling Entertainment, World Championship Wrestling and Extreme Championship Wrestling. Everywhere he went, he always had at least a couple of stellar 5-star caliber matches.

Being on the road and away from your family from at least 75-90% of the year, in a non-union business where you are always jockeying for top spot, you can't afford to take time off for recuperation and recovery, or else you could lose your spot on the roster. You find yourself wrestling championship matches one day, take some time off, and end up saddled with a childish gimmick as an opening act. This lifestyle leaves the wrestlers in a situation when a solution that would allow them to play through an injury would be appealingg. And, like many others, Eddie found himself battling addictions to alcohol and pain killers. The toll was tremendous on him. A near fatal car wreck in 1998 by all rights should have killed him. And he came back from that physically, but his injuries contributed to his use of painkillers and almost ended his marriage. He had a stint in rehab in 2001 after being fired from the WWE following a drunk driving charge.

I like being sober and remembering the day and what happened last week.

But Eddie got better. He cleaned up, went back to work, and earned a spot in the WWE again in 2002. I remember being so happy when I saw this man back on TV, sober, and working at a superstar level. It was inspirational. He was in a business he loved in order to support his family. His best times were when he worked as a villain, able to charm the crowd into believing he would indeed lie, cheat and steal to win. He'd clock an opponent with a chair when the ref wasn't looking, drop to the mat and whent he ref turned around, act like he was the one who got hit. The crowds just ate the comedic side up, and you couldn't help but love him for it (even despite that mullet he had for a while).

He had a renewal on life and he worked hard, becoming the WWE Champion in an excellent match in February 2004. He was a headliner, the champion. This led to a title defense at Wrestlemania XX. Predeterminedd outcome or not, you don't always know who will win a match. I was with friends watching that event on TV, my first in a couple of years, and I had the double thrill of seeing Eddie win his match, and then his best friend and one of my other heroes Chris Benoit win his championship match. That event ended with both these men, these champions, hugging in the ring, tears streaming down their faces, having reached a pinnacle after so many years of work and sacrifice. I was whooping and cheering like the Leafs had won the cup.

The last year has seen the WWE produce a DVD Cheating Death, Stealing Life: The Eddie Guerrero Story which chronicled his long, hard road to victory . Eddie had been involved in many storylines, had lost and was fighting to reclaim his championship. He carried some personal burdens, as the WWE saw a ratings slump that coincided with his title reign, and Eddie, despite assurances from management, on some level felt responsible. I can sympathize with that feeling, taking on failures personally, even when you really had no control. When you're a champion, all eyes are on you to lead, to carry the whole success of a company on your shoulders. But he was still working, still at that championship level.

It's a great responsibility being champion, as you're the one carrying the ball, and I found it very difficult. It was the first time I'd held the title and I don't think I was ready. I was ready to win the belt, but not for what lay ahead of me. I wasn't prepared mentally for what happens outside the ring - because I think that's where the real challenges lie. I was taking things like attendances and ratings very personally. I'm an extremist and that's one thing I'd like to change in my life. It's good to be hard on myself but not to the point where I beat myself up about things. If I'm honest and look back at my mistakes then I was too hard on myself when I was carrying the title. I let things eat me up inside and I questioned myself when I shouldn't have, but it's a lesson learned and I won't make that mistake again. (credit The London Sun)

On the morning of Sunday, November13thh, Eddie failed to answer a wake up call at a hotel he was staying at while on tour. His nephew, wrestler Chavo Guerrero Jr. and hotel security gained access to the room to find Eddie dead in the bathroom. He had died from an apparent heart attack at the young age of 38. He had a match that night that likely would have ended with him regaining the championship belt. His nephew was adamant that Eddie was still maintaining his sobriety, now going on 4 years.

In the face of adversity, he met his challenges and went on to greater rewards. And now he is gone. Lord knows wrestling has seen its share of people pass away at relatively young age. But Eddie had survived the worst in his life, and for him to die at his peak is terribly sad, even sadder knowing he leaves behind a family. I think if Eddie could handle everything life threw at him, I should be able to keep going forward in my own life and overcome any obstacles. If I can at least take away something from his death, it should be that. My prayers go out to his family.

Vaya con Dios Eduardo Guerrero.

Not since the tragic death of wrestler Own Hart has the WWE experienced such a public loss. All four hours of WWE television this week will air as a tribute to Eddie, both taped the Sunday evening after his death. WWE RAW on November 14, 2005, and WWE Friday Night Smackdown! on November 18, 2005. He was well respected and liked by his fellow wrestlers and will be fondly remembered.

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Happy Birthday Karen!

Happy Birthday to my friend Karen, who will be going on a Tokyo-Thaliand adventure this month. I wish you all the best my Scorpio friend! Anyone who ever heard me praise a gig, found a cool place for brunch, or eaten a good meal at my house can thank her, as she inspired me to seeing more live music, pick up a few cookbooks and to explore the world beyond my old neighbourhood.

I can't remember a time I've never known you, and I hope I always will.

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Planet of Sound: Moses Mayes

The first in an ongoing series of 2scoops-approved music to try on for size.

Name of band: Moses Mayes
From: Canada (Winnipeg)
Genre: Fusion Funky Beats

Ideal for:
Lounging in a room lit only by candles or christmas lights, drinking something that ends in "tini" and involves gin or vodka; flirting through the dim, flirting with the night, you meet the glance of someone across the room, who is doing a little shoulder-swayying dance to the music in their seat, smiling that they've caught you doing the same thing.

Song to try: Needle to the Groove
Website: mosesmayes

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A peek at Clerks 2: Passion of the Clerks

Filmmaker Kevin Smith has been posting pictures on his blog My Boring Ass Life for the film he is working on now, Clerks 2: The Passion of the Clerks. Spoilers are all over the place, but it looks like a fun trip with tonnes of familiar actors from the five films of Smith's Jersey trilogy (Clerks, Mallrats, Dogma, Chasing Amy, Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back). Click here for more picks and a link to the "making of" video diary, described wittily as "a video journal chronicling a disaster in the making".

Chasing Amy is a favourite of the2scoops, as is An Evening With Kevin Smith, a hilarious compilation of talks he gave at various universities, recounting so-bizarre-they-must-be-true stories of encounters with religion, Prince, blood thirsty zippers, a vengeful Tim Burton, a meeting for Superman that takes the stars from your eyes when it comes to movie making, and plenty of self-depreciating barbs. Kevin Smith comes cross as a funny and grounded storyteller, the type of guys you'd want to have have pints with. You'll be pleased to know a sequel, Evening Harder With Kevin Smith will be released soon, including footage from his Toronto stop.

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