Sunday, April 30, 2006

Neil Young streams new anti-war album for free online

Neil Young's new record "Living With War" was made available Friday for streaming in entirety online. Link.

.: chromewaves.net v6.0 gives us a heads-up on a profile of Neil Young, complete with his own irony tags:
The Guardian profiles agitator, non-patriot and anti-American Neil Young. His seditious new record Living With War is out May 9. Buy as many copies as you can so you can burn them and send a message to this CANADIAN who hates America just go home to Canuckistan. As always, Fox News offers a fair and balanced counterpoint.


Guardian Unlimited Arts | Arts features | Neil Young: The conscience of America

Friday, April 28, 2006

A little nostalgia today. Back in the 1987, there was a great cult classic movie called The Monster Squad (1987). Well, great is an overstatement, but it was a blast when you were 12 years old. There was a number of teen-adventure movies released following the success of The Goonies , including The Lost Boys (1987) and Explorers (1985). The Monster Squad (1987) was kind of a Goonies and Ghostbusters hybrid.

The Monster Squad (1987) was about a group of kids who have to take matters into their own hands when monsters, led by Dracula, come to town. As in most movies like this, adults and authority figures don't believe the kids until it's too late, but the kids manage to convert Frankenstein's monster to their side and with the help of an elderly neighbour (message: old people are useful), discover a way to banish the monsters to Limbo.

It's cheesy fun, with swearing, smoking, monsters, humour and fighting - everything a teenager would want from a movie. Some decent special effects and some classic lines: "Wolfman's got nards!" There's the rebellious kid, the fat kid, the earnest kid, the little kid.

It's only been available on VHS or as a bootleg DVD. There is no word of an official release on DVD, I suspect it's likely tied up in some sort of licensing/ownership mess. For now, enjoy the trailer and the flashbacks.



The Monster Squad - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Wednesday, April 26, 2006


On one of the warm days during the past week, I decided to walk from home (Roncesvalles) to work (Front Street). It was a perfect afternoon on Queen Street. The walk was all the sweeter, as I planned to go to one of my happy-places: eating Chippy's fish and chips in Trinity Bellwoods Park.

Chippy's is a fish and chip take-out joint, fancier than most, and it is tasty. It was the concept of ex Susur manager John Lee (not the chef) and ex-Rosewood chef Neil Coutinho to open a good fish and chip shop. The fish is fresh and coated in Japanese panko breadcrumbs and battered in Guinness beer, the chips are twice fried and the fresh sides of curry gravy or tartar sauce are delicious for dipping. The entire menu fits on the chalkboard and the small shop is prone to line-ups during lunch and dinner. You can get a meal for about $8 - $12 with a pop.

I had the haddock, which was tasty, but I'll try the halibut next time for something with some more meat, maybe bring a friend to split a side of shrimps. The meal wasn't too heavy or greasy, which is how I remember the fish and chips as a kid, the grease turning the newspaper slick and see-through. Wetnaps are provided, which is likely appreciated by the Paper Place store nextdoor, who would prefer to have their stock left unfondled by greasy hands. Plenty of little touches, like lemon wedges, malt vinegar packets and plenty of salt and ketchup are onhand, as well as cans of pop and gelato for dessert.

Get some take out and relax in the park, watching all the dog-walkers and locals. It's a perfect way to spend an afternoon.

PS There is a Bloor Street location in the Annex at 490 Bloor Street (West of Spadina), but their main webpage hasn't been updated with that info. It's the same size shop, but I don't know the neighborhood well enough to recommend a place to take your food.

Chippy's Fish and Chips Toronto - 893 Queen St. West

NOW review: Fresh, fried and fab

BlogTO - Cheap Eats: Chippy's
Whislt having a drink with friends at the renovated Brunswick House
Me: I can't get over how different this place looks. I would actually bring people here... on purpose! Even a date! What makes it so different now?

Andy: With the curtains open they actually have daylight in here now.
The Brunswick House, familiar as a source of watered down beer for U of T students, frats, underage drinkers, and cheap drunks alike, has undergone renovations in the past year or so, and is now under the management of the team behind This Is London nightclub. The front room is cleaned up and furnished like a martini lounge. The picnic tables are gone from the back and replaced with regular tables that pull back to make room for a dance floor. In short, it converts to "clubby".

The beer was still lousy (not a good thing when even the Canadian beer tastes like Miller Lite), no sign of Irene (the old women who used to sing bawdy songs on the piano), but they have drink specials on Thursdays and Saturdays (something about them paying you $5 to come in). I'll have to investigate a normal night there sometime to get the feel if it's still the crowd is a bit sleazy and easy (trust me, you can tell by looking - eww).

Yes, this is a picture of the men's bathroom at the Brunswick House. Anyone who ever went in there in its previous incarnation knows that it was up there with the troughs at Maple Leaf Gardens. It was the type of bathroom where you try your best not to touch anything.

Monday, April 24, 2006

We don't have a winning basketball or hockey team, but at least we get free ice cream:


Ben and Jerry’s FREE Cone Day
Tuesday, April 25, 2006


As a way to thank our customers for their support and to celebrate 28 years of scooping the chunkiest, funkiest ice cream, frozen yogurt and sorbet, Ben & Jerry's scoop shops are giving it away!

Around the world, scoop shops are opening their doors from noon to 8:00 pm, to serve up a free scoop of your favorite flavor (or better yet, a new one you've been wanting to try, like Turtle Soup™, Peanut Butter Swirl or Lemonade Sorbet).

So grab a pal and come on down to have some 'scream on us!
Like we said... Oh Happy Day!
Tuesday, April 25th is Free Cone Day at Ben & Jerry's, and you know what that means... free ice cream for you!

Locations in Toronto:
# Ben & Jerry's Beaches
2018 Queen Street East
Toronto, ON M4L 1J3
CANADA
416-699-1289

# Ben & Jerry's Queen Street
238 Queen Street West
Toronto, ON M5V 1Z7
CANADA
416-260-1652

Ben & Jerry's Vaughan Mills
1 Bass Pro Mills Drive
Unit #K2
Vaughan, ON L4K 5W4
CANADA
905-738-3838

Thursday, April 20, 2006

Scrubs (NBC)
Even though NBC held off showing this season until January, I am enjoying the almost continuous run of new episodes. Rumours indicate someone other than Carla is pregnant; whether it is a current cast member or a past girlfriend of a character remains to be seen, but Ask Ausiello @ TV Guide.com (link)
promises we’ll be surprised.

4/25/06 (Tu.) (#519) My Lunch
5/2/06 (Tu.) (#520) My Fallen Idol
I won’t spoil it, but hopefully this episode finally earns John C. McGinley (Dr. Cox) a long deserved Emmy nomination.
5/9/06 (Tu.) (#521) My Déjà Vu, My Déjà Vu
5/16/06 (Tu.) (#522) My Urologist

Everybody Hates Chris (UPN)
No confirmation yet, but I would bet that this series will continue next year on the new CW network.

4/20/06 (Th.) (#119) Everybody Hates Drew
Sick of being second best to his little brother, Chris decides to enroll in karate classes
4/27/06 (Th.) (#120) Everybody Hates Playboy
Chris takes his father's playboy magazine to school, but he soon panics when it's stolen.
5/04/06 (Th.) (#121) Everybody Hates Jail
Chris runs into trouble with the law while earning money for a school trip
5/11/06 (Th.) (#122) Everybody Hates Father's Day (season finale)
In celebration of Father's Day, Julius tells the family he wants to spend the day by himself

How I Met Your Mother (CBS)
Last week’s episode put to rest the question of “why didn’t Ted and Robin date later and then marry?” with a resounding “ohhhh, because Ted really #@%!ed up in a realistic way.” What's Alan Watching? discusses “How Ted blew it”(link). Now that Ted and Robin are done, look for the focus to shift on the stellar supporting cast, specifically on the wedding planning for Lily and Marshall. Alumni from shows Freaks & Geeks (Jason Segall's old show) and Angel/Buffy will continue to pop up.

4/24/06 (Mo.) (#119) Mary The Paralegal
5/1/06 (Mo.) (#120) Best Prom Ever
5/8/06 (Mo.) (#121) Milk
5/15/06 (Mo.) (#122) N/A (Season Finale)

My Name Is Earl (NBC)
When the first season of My Name is Earl comes out on DVD this summer, one of the special extras is a mini-episode that imagines how Earl would have turned out if he had not watch Carson Daly and instead had watched Family Guy’s morally corrupt baby Stewie Griffin. Earl creator Greg Garcia used to be a producer on Family Guy, which eased the necessary clearances for the My Name Is Earl / Family Guy Crossover (link).

4/27/06 (Th.) (#123) Stole A Badge
5/4/06 (Th.) (#122) BB
5/11/06 (Th.) (#124) (Tentative Date) (Season Finale)

The Office (NBC)
To tide over fans of the show, NBC will offer The Office webisodes this summer (link). The shorts will air presumable on iTune (US only) and the NBC.com site, and will focus on the supporting office accounting staff of Dunder-Mifflin. The premise of the series is that the accountants can't account for $3,000 and they go on a mission to find out who's responsible. The series will star Angela, Kevin and Oscar, and will include special appearances from Dwight (Rainn Wilson) and Phyllis.

4/27/06 (Th.) (#220) Drug Testing
5/4/06 (Th.) (#221) Conflict Resolution (*)
5/11/06 (Th.) (#222) N/A (Season Finale)
Lost has become appointment TV for me: I clear time to watch it. The main reason, aside from it's addictive nature, it to prevent plot twists from being ruined before I watch the episode. As we have a break before the new episodes of Lost start airing again, I thought I'd share some questions I have about the show that haven't been answered as of this writing. I think the writers love keeping the fans off-guard and plant red-herrings (sometimes a cigar is just a cigar). I tend to think things that are too obvious, like whether Libby was an Other, are just that, too obvious an answer to go with . Info on the new episodes and when they air is at the bottom.

TOP TEN LOST LOOSE ENDS

according to Entertainment Weekly: ''Lost'': Decoding Dharma's mission...
As voted on by you, the Lost fan. The most FREQUENTLY cited mysteries, in de
clining order:

No. 10 What is the significance of the black and white stones found near the waterfall?
No. 9 Why do the Others use disguises?
No. 8 What are the Others doing to their abducted children?
No. 7 Where is Walt?
No. 6 What is the Monster?
No. 5 Jack's dad's casket was found empty. What happened to the body?
No. 4 Who are the ''Adam and Eve'' skeletons found at the waterfall?
No. 3 Where is Michael? (answer coming soon)

And, running almost dead even for the top two slots:

No. 2 Where is Desmond and where did he come from?
No. 1 What happened to Locke's legs? How’d he end up in a wheelchair?

The2scoops wonders:

Do the Others know about the hatch with the computer? Are there multiple groups or factions of Others?

What triggers the food drops? There seems to be a causal relationship between the hatch locking down and the food drop. Does unlocking the hatch cause the food to drop, like rewarding a labrat with a bit of cheese?

How crazy is Libby, is she safe or dangerous? Did she stalk Hurley to the flight (tricky since we saw he was running late and was the last one on the plane)?

What caused Mr. Eko to leave Africa and end up on Flight 815?

How did Sayid leave Iraq? We saw he learned torture during the Persian Gulf war. He had a career in torture, then he was assigned to torture Nadia and helped her escape, but what happened after that and before he was in Australia?

Did the island cure Jin’s impotence and that’s how Sun is pregnant?

Is there a connection between Sawyer and Locke’s father, who was also a conman?

What’s the backstory on Jack’s tattoo? He got it after his marriage ended at some point, possibly in Thailand.

I don’t imagine there’s much backstory left to tell on Kate, Claire, Rose, Michael, Hurley, or Charlie. But let me mess with your heads: are the flashbacks “real” or are they manufactured memories (like character outlines) that the island is inducing in these people?

A rundown of the last Lost episodes of the season:

4/26/06 (We.) 9:00 PM (#219.5) Reckoning
(Not a new episode, a clip show based on how faith has affected the survivors of Oceanic Flight 815)

5/03/06 (We.) (#220) Two for the Road
(An Ana Lucia-flashback) Michael shares what he learned about The Others while Ana-Lucia has a chat with Henry Gale.

5/10/06 (We.) (#221) (?)
(A Mr. Eko-flashback) Possibly has something to do with the church Charlie and Eko are building.

5/17/06 (We.) (#222) Three Minutes
Michael flashback to what happened to him on his hunt for the Others

5/24/06 (We.) (#223/224)
2 Hour Season finale, speculation points to a Desmond flashback (the guy they found in the hatch) and the explanation of why Oceanic Flight 815 crashed on the island. If there is a Desmond story, it’s probably something creepy like how he met several of the survivors before the crash or at least how he ended up on the island.

I expect the DVD set of Season 2 will come out late August, early September, before Season 3 starts. Feel free to add to or take apart any of my thoughts on the show.

Tuesday, April 18, 2006

Two traffic related stories from Boing Boing: A Directory of Wonderful Things.

Boing Boing: Video of a congested street in India:
A ballet of traffic in an Indian city, an intersection where even if there are signal lights, no one actually pays attention to them anyway. Watch the torrent of cars, buses, scooters and pedestrians all in fluid movement without killing each other, with zen-like precision.




YouTube link
Boing Boing: Man fined $50 for using device to change traffic signals:

A man from Longmont, Colorado was fined $50 when the cops caught him using a gizmo that supposedly changes traffic lights from red to green. he says he paid $100 on eBay for it. He had been using it for two years, and says the thing 'paid for itself' by saving him time spent waiting for signal lights to change.

The device, called an Opticon, is similar to what firefighters use to change lights when they respond to emergencies. It emits an infrared pulse that receivers on the traffic lights pick up.

Niccum was cited after city traffic engineers who noticed repeated traffic light disruptions at certain intersections spotted a white Ford pickup passing by whenever the patterns were disrupted.

(Buy your own "traffic control preemptive device" here for just $299.99.) Link

Friday, April 14, 2006

It's 3 in the morning and my jaw is sore.

Stop giggling you pervs.

I was smiling most of the night. After work I was jonesing for a beer and a laugh, seeing as I how I wasn't working the next day. So I hit karaoke night at the Gladstone Hotel on Queen Street.

Lo and behold, I was expecting a beer, but the amount of laughter and cheers were unexpected, for I have witnessed karaoke at the newly reenovated Gladstone Hotel. I was just looking for a beer and some atmosphere, but I can't see how you can't have funsitting in on a karoake session at The Gladstone Hotel on Queen (unless you were Lesley's cousin from Calgary, who decided to balance a mike stand on his hand, which got him promptly booted and made his cousin Lesley leave before I got her digits. Thanks dude. By the way Lesley, your cousin's friend totally looked like Brian from My So-Called Life.)

The atmosphere of the bar is kind and communal, everyone is there to have a good time, and every performance, good or bad, was a lot of fun, especially when they incorporated some choreography. It's a social crowd; I made some new friends tonight. (Hi Lesley from Ryerson, Brendan and Jeanette. Word.) The selection of songs to sing is pretty wide (from Lauren Hill to Hank Williams, with plenty of 80s hair metal and reggae in between). I myself did not not rock the mike, but next time one of you kind readers is heading down, you call me and just try and stop me form hitting the stage. There was plenty of Johnny Cash to keep me on stage for a couple of tunes. If you've ever seen The Wedding Singer, you can go and BE THE WEDDING SINGER (seriously, they had "Love Stinks").

There was plenty of 80s nostalgia like WHAM and Journey, and hip-hop and R & B. Lots of Aretha Franklin and Elvis. The performers may not be Canadian Idols, but I'll be damned if they won't surprise you. Some local guy in a mullet totally ruled Meatloaf's "Two Out of Three Ain't Bad". And the host, Peter Styles, was fun and encouraging, and not easily rattled by all the drunken shenangians (see pervious reference to Lesley's cousin and the mike stand.)

If you want to book a session, let me know and we'll make a night at the Gladstone.


Karaoke Night @ The Gladstone Hotel
1214 Queen Street West, Toronto
Thursday thru Saturday evenings

Voted "best Karaoke bar" by NOW Magazine for 4 years running.
Come early for the best seats.
Karaoke at The Gladstone

Note to self: check for Joy Division's"Love Will Tear Us Apart".

Wednesday, April 12, 2006


Took me a couple minutes to realize that the image wasn't photoshopped. Trippy. No details if it's buyable (I'm sure it will be out by the end of the week) but I'd like to see one printed on either side: turn it inside out depending on whether you're feeling the "Love" or "Hate":

{From Accordion Guy: Joey deVilla's Weblog : The Love/Hate T-Shirt:

[vis Russereous] Here's a T-shirt for those of you who are fans of Gödel, Escher, Bach, devotees of Scott Kim or have enough mileage to know that love and hate are often two sides of the same coin.
I caught the trailer for Kinky Boots a few months ago and I hope the film manages to give the same sense of fun and charm. Kinky Boots is a British comedy about a man who inherits his father's shoe factory and must turn to unconventional means to keep it running. Watch the trailer and you will see the quirkiness and heart of the film, two things that tend to appeal to me. Chiwetel Ejiofor (yes, the same actor who was such a badass in Serenity) stars as the crossdressing singer who brings a mix of hope and change to the small English town that relies on the factory.

I just found something sweetly funny about this movie, and I can't wait to see this offbeat film that reminds me of The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, The Full Monty and The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill But Came Down a Mountain.

Opening in April 14th (may be in limited release at first).

Apple - Trailers - Kinky Boots

Kinky Boots - Movie Info - Yahoo! Movies

Kinky Boots Official Site
sorry for the lack of new posts this week, feeling a little rundown, but I promise to be back up to speed tomorrow.

In the meantime:

Nature likes to throw me a curve ball sometimes, something out of the ordinary that makes me do a doubletake.

Last night as I walked home, I passed a fellow walking his German Shepherd dog.

The German Shepherd was walking his cat.

It wasn't an illusion. The dog would stop to sniff around. The cat, about two feet behind, would stop. The dog would start up again and the cat would keep pace.

Weird.

Also, after 30 years, I have FINALLY aquired the ability to make an omelette. Usually it starts as an omlette and ends up as a scramble, but I have got my technique down now. Sometimes it's the little accomplishments that make you happy.

Wednesday, April 05, 2006

Woo-hoo! The 3rd Annual Olympic Island Music Festival goes on sale this week. This is a terrific day out, watching a day-long festival on Olympic Island (Centre Island ferry) set against the backdrop of the Toronto skyline. I've gone to the first 2 festivals, and it's a great way to see a concert, especially if you aren't a "concert in a club" type of person.

Bring a blanket, some food, some drinks (security was pretty relaxed as long as it wasn't glass - some guy had a hookah pipe system set up last year) and claim a patch of grass to lay down on. Looks like a stellar line-up, so come out and we'll make a day of it.

Once again curated by Broken Social Scene, on June 24th Toronto's Olympic Island will host its third summer Olympic Island Music Festival. The incredible day of music thus far includes:

BROKEN SOCIAL SCENE
BLOC PARTY
FEIST
J. MASCIS (of Dinosaur Jr.)
RAISING THE FAWN
and more

Gates 1pm
All Ages
General Admission
Show goes rain or shine, no weather related refunds

Tickets are available to 102.1 The Edge listeners at a discounted rate for 48 hours. Starting at 10 AM Thursday April 6th, 2006, 1021 tickets will be accessible through edge.ca with a password for $38.50 plus $6.00 ferry and applicable service charges.

Public on sale starts Saturday April 8th, 2006 @ 10 AM through Ticketmaster, Rotate This and Soundscapes for $44.50 plus $6.00 ferry and applicable service charges. All tickets include the cost of the ferry to Toronto Islands Park.

BlogTO | 3rd Annual Olympic Island Concert line-up announced
Check out the new trailer for Clerks 2 from director Kevin Smith, director of Clerks, Dogma and Chasing Amy. I think my friend Randy may implode with glee: a movie with Rosario Dawson AND Wanda Sykes. Not to mention cameos from Kevin Weisman (Marshall from TV's Alias), Ben Affleck and Jason Lee. And the return of Jay & Silent Bob.

Congrats to Kevin and the folks at View Askew Productions for using YouTube, among other places, to distribute the trailer. Unlike NBC, who had their lawyers bully YouTube into pulling the videos, Kevin Smith and other smart people like Comedy Central (who won't remove South Park's Scientology episode "Trapped in the Closet" from YouTube) see the benefits of YouTube and viral marketing.

The sweetness begins August 18th 2006. Not for the faint of heart. ("Mannequin Skywalker" - classic!)

Monday, April 03, 2006

The Onion's A.V. Club has a good read on their site about Eight Sure-Fire Fiascoes That Unexpectedly Succeeded. These are 8 pop culture artifacts that really had every reason to fail but went on to succeed.

1. Titanic (movie 1997)
2. The Passion Of The Christ (movie 2004)
3. Late Night With Conan O'Brien (TV 1993 to present)
4. Charlie's Angels (movie 2000)
5. Apocalypse Now (movie 1979)
6. Dances With Wolves (movie 1990)
7. The Office, (American TV version 2005 to present)
8. Steve Martin's Pink Panther (movie 2006)

I think I would tack on the Battlestar Gallactica remake that is such a success on TV and DVD. It could have been just another flaky nostalgia retread, but it seems to have become one of the best sci-fi TV ever. And The Matrix suprised me when it first came out. And anyone who caught the first couple of episodes of Seinfeld couldn't have seen the long term success that would come.

Any other films/shows that succeeded despite all odds?

I caught a bit of the Junos Awards, which I always assume are supposed to be for the best in Canadian Music. This year was notable for the high profile appearances of hostess Pam Anderson and bands such as Coldplay, who may as well be honourary Canadians given how much love they seem to have for us.

I caught Broken Social Scene win Best Alternative and they performed too. But I clicked back later to find myself watching the award for Album of the Year. The Sun, of all places, put it best:

What's up for album of the year, for instance? Surely The Arcade Fire's Funeral, which has sold half a million copies. No doubt Neil Young's Prairie Wind. Perhaps Jully Black's This Is Me, Blue Rodeo's Are You Ready, Stars' Set Yourself On Fire, K'naan's Dusty Foot Philosopher or The New Pornographers' Twin Cinema?

Nope. While Canadian indie music is selling out shows around the world, breaking the top of the charts everywhere, our best album nominees were a Diana Krall Christmas album, Michael Buble's (a Sinatra-esque singer) collection of retro standards, albums from Canadian Idol leftovers Kalan Porter and Rex Goudie and a bland release from a vanilla bland band, Nickelback's All The Right Reasons.

Fans have their favourites, but if you were to judge Canadian music by those nominees, we live in an easy-listening nation who don't like anything new. It's too bad the Junos don't reflect the banner year that Canadian musicians are having, recieving accolades throughout the world. Mainstream bands like U2 and Coldplay are always raving about Montreal's Arcade Fire. Metric and The New Pornographers were being touted as the next big things at the South by South West music festival. These are exciting times to be a Canadian music fan, it's just lame that we can't get up the support to acknowledge it in some grand way. We're Canadian: we need a little validation once in a while.
Ice Age 2 opened as the number 1 movie this weekend, with a mammoth sized $70.5 million. Number 2 was the Spike Lee heist flick Inside Man.

Basic Instinct 2 with Sharon Stone (not MILF-tacular at all) opened with a should-have-gone-straight-to-video $3.2 million, behind Slither, Larry the Cable Guy's movie and Failure to Launch. I can sleep peacefully knowing people would rather watch a slug than Sharon Stone.

Box Office Mojo
Finally caught controller.controller live in concert after 5 or 6 misses. Something always came up whenever I tried to check out this great Toronto band. The stars aligned, work ended early Wednesday night and I got to Lee's Palace to catch the band.

The word used to describe them usually is "death-disco". Driving beats, fast paced swirling guitar, get your energy up for any activity that involves sweating and heavy breathing. The drummer literally beat his drums to death as a drum broke off the kit. And I don't know what it is, but the pictures I've seen of lead singer Nirmala Basnayake don't do her justice. In person, very much a CBG (cute brown girl). Great set, shame it wasn't longer. The live set up is interesting as Nila sort of hangs back behind the guitairists, facing stage left, then works her way up to the stage. Different style from, say, Emily Haines from Metric, but it works for the show.

Check out controller.controller's myspace page or New Music Canada Artist: controller.controller for songs and bio info.The band I caught before controller.controller was Kids On TV, and they were crazy good, a great band I hadn't really heard of before. This is another band that bounces over a couple of genres, with house music, dance-electro beats, break dancing and some new-wave punk thrown in. This foursome could have beaten the stage to death, it was like Daft Punk on mescaline. I don't know if I'd buy the albums, but I am definitely there for the live shows.

top photo of Nila by A. Whitehouse
controller.controller band photo by Davida Nemeroff