Anchor says no more Paris

I first saw this on Accordion Guy's blog. MSNBC's Mika Brzezinski refuses to talk about Paris Hilton on the Morning Joe show and takes a stand against giving this spoiled brat waste of space any more publicity. Meanwhile her producer and co-anchors try to go on with the show and mock her on air.

Interesting. If it's genuine and not some elaborate ploy, then bravo. BTW can you believe the way the male anchors talk to her? Surprised they didn't blame it on "her time of the month". And they use "journalist" like it's a dirty word. I salute you Mika Brzezinski, for rekindling some of my faith in journalism. And on MSNBC of all places.

We're getting the band back together.

It seems like reunions are the big thing on the music circuit this summer.

The latest is that The Verve is back for an album and a tour. Best known for "Bittersweet Symphony", The Verve are laying tracks for a fall release. Lead singer Richard Ashcroft has gone back to the studio with the original line-up, save for guitarist/keyboardist Simon Tong who is playing with The Good, The Bad & The Queen (BTW excellent headphone masterpiece of an album). The Verve's 1997 album "Urban Hymns" is easily one of my favourite albums.
Update: Frank at Chromewaves has a good write up on initial reactions to the reunion

Other bands that have gotten back together this year:

The Police reunited and are touring, with some mixed reaction. While everyone is happy to see them return, their shows are showing their age: Sting isn't hitting those high notes like he used to, the musicianship is shaky, and they've been fiddling with some of the arrangements on their classics like "Don't Stand So Close To Me". You can read the review of the less than legendary L.A. concert here. Nice to know you can fork out $$$ for a crap show.

I would love to see the reunited punk godfathers The Stooges. Iggy Pop has returned to the fold and they've been playing the festival circuit, but I hope a club tour follows. I would love to see them up close, cranking through "Down on the Street" and the rest of the Raw Power album. The last time they performed together was 1974, and from all reports, they are not phoning in their performances. (Read: Back to the Funhouse on Harp Magazine's site)

While the Smashing Pumpkins are back, I've got no real reason to see them. I'm happy Billy Corgan is back where he should be and playing the Pumpkins catalogue, but the players who really helped craft that Pumpkins sound aren't back: James Iha, D'Arcy, or even Melissa Auf Der Maur.

Also back:

• Crowded House are back with a tour, an album, and a new drummer.
• James - "The reformed band will have the same six-piece line-up that featured on the top 10 albums Laid and Seven" (BBC - Indie band James reforms for tour)
• The Jesus and Mary Chain - Brothers William and Jim Reid have put aside their differences to hit the road. When you talk about musician-brother conflicts, these guys give Oasis's Gallagher brothers a run for the money.

Get off my lawn you damn emo kids!

File this under "where the hell did the time go?": the baby on the cover of Nirvana's "Nevermind" album turns 16 next month. Spencer Elden, who was born July 9th, 1991, was 4 months old when the cover was shot. Not sure why, but a bunch of sites got the math wrong and say he's turning 17. Dang, I remember playing the hell out of that cassette when I was in high school. Yes junior, we had cassette tapes back then, and played them on "walkmans".

The story behind that cover:

Nevermind, Nirvana (1991): The image of a baby underwater reaching for a dollar bill was the idea of Kurt Cobain. "One day, Dave and I were watching a documentary on babies being born underwater and I thought 'Let's put that on the album cover'," said Cobain.

The band used photographer Kirk Weddle. The shoot was held at a swimming school and parents brought along their babies. They took turns passing them back and forth in the water in front of the photographer. The shot of 4-month-old Spencer Elden was used in the end. The photo was shot on 35mm film with a camera locked in an underwater housing unit. The fishhook and dollar bill, Cobain's ideas, were superimposed later.

From Blowing Their Cover by Julia Stuart
Website: Tonight

"Whoever did write it doesn't know the first thing about Kurt Vonnegut"

film babble blog has a terrific list of 20 Great Modern Movie Cameos which was so well recieved, they did a follow up of reader suggestions The Cameo Countdown Continues. A well-placed cameo is a thing of beauty, while sometimes it's just been done to death (Will Farrell and Ben Stiller, I'm looking in your general direction). They break down some terrific bizarre but fitting cameos like:

• David Bowie in "Zoolander", complete with freeze frame intro and a clip of "Let's Dance".
• Orson Welles in "The Muppet Movie".
• Neil Patrick Harris in "Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle": I'm tripping balls.
• my number one pick: Marshall McLuhan in "Annie Hall".
• The post title comes from Rodney Dangerfield's "Back To School", where Rodney has to write a term paper on Kurt Vonnegut, so of course he goes and pays Kurt Vonnegut to write the paper. After receiving an F, we see Rodney yelling into the phone "Next time I'm gonna call Robert Ludlum!" Very Simpsons-esque moment.

Both lists are terrific and have a lot of "He was in that? I have to rewatch it now" movies. I mean Spike Milligan in "Life of Brian"? I had no idea.

I'd be remiss if I didn't mention my, and ALOTT5MA's, favourite cameo missing from the initial list: Samuel L. Jackson as an escape artist con in the under-rated "Out Of Sight".

Jack Foley: "You broke out?"
Hejira Henry: "I prefer to think of it as an exodus from an undesirable place."

via ALOTT5MA

I really wish I had mis-read this, but I didn't. A sad and strange story is unfolding:

WWE Canadian wrestler Benoit, wife and son found dead

Damn. I idolized that guy. How the hell does something like that happen?

Don't call me Junior

On set yesterday:

It's on.

http://www.indianajones.com/

Nominees for 50 Great Movies That Kick So Much Ass They Should Be Arrested For Assault

In the wake of the AFI America's 100 Greatest Movies, I am opening nominations for the2scoops 50 Great Movies That Kick So Much Ass They Should Be Arrested For Assault. Movies that make you pump your fist in the air, you quote relentlessly, that leave you looking for any other word than "awesome". The ones that turn you back into the kid who first fell in love with movies and yelled out when Han came back to save Luke.

Preliminary Nominees:

"The Man Who Would Be King" (1975) with Michael Caine and Sean Connery
"Big Trouble in Little China" (1986)
"Night of the Living Dead" (1968)
"Die Hard" (1988)
"Seven Samurai" (1954)
"The Blues Brothers" (1980)
"The Italian Job" (1969 version)
"Heat" (1995)
"Cool Hand Luke" (1967)
"Kung Fu Hustle" (2004)
"Evil Dead 2" (1987)
"Red Dawn" (1984)

Start adding in comments. Once we get enough, I'll send out the ballots

We didn't meet in Montauk, but we made it to Zijuatinjo.

The AFI America's 100 Greatest Movies list revision came out last night, and as with lists of this type, there are some surprises and criticism. While AFI has separate lists for greatest inspirational films, thrillers, comedies and so on, the "Greatest" movies seem to be the ones that "combine popularity with resonance and universality" (AFI voter Carrie Rickey), and the ones that seem to have inspired other filmmakers in their works. The voting structure is that voters list 100 movies from the ballot while ranking #1 - 5, with 5 write-ins.

Orson Welle's Citizen Kane remains the #1 Greatest American film. If you wonder why, don't rely on the fluff job the AFI did in the show, but go to ALOT5MA's Adam Bonin:

If you're going to hail Citizen Kane as the Greatest Film Ever (not that there's anything at all wrong with that), say why, and it's not because of the sled. It's because a ballsy 25-year-old wrote, directed and starred in a movie taking down one of the titans of his age, and did so using every available trick in the cinematic and narrative vocabulary, and then cinematographer Gregg Toland some new tricks like deep focus to explode what filmmaking could do and show. It's an utterly modern film that still surprises every time you see it . . . and all they really talked about was the damn sled.

The newest film added to the list is "Lord of The Rings: The Fellowship (2001)", which suggest AFI voters only start reaching a consensus when films have aged over 5 years, and we recognize whether the film will age well or not. So better luck next time to "Eternal Sunshine" and "L.A. Confidential", the later of which must have just missed the cut if they had Kevin Spacey on there.

A number of films that missed the cut during the 1998 vote made it this year. Additionally, several pictures jumped up the list in a huge way: "Raging Bull," which jumped from No. 24 to 4, and "Vertigo" from No. 61 to 9., the John Ford western "The Searchers," made the highest gain from No. 96 to No. 12. I noticed these pictures, and several of the new additions like "Bladerunner" and "Do The Right Thing", have been turning up on more and more modern cinema course curriculums over the past 10 years.

Of the films that fell off the list, I'm most shocked at The Coen Brother's sublime Fargo and the influential noir classic The Third Man dropping off. And I was surprised to see "Rebel Without A Cause" disappear too.


Wikipedia has the list of changes to the list:

Four films released between 1997-2006 were added to AFI list: The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001); Saving Private Ryan (1998); The Sixth Sense (1999); Titanic (1997) (83).

Significant additions that missed the vote last time 12 Angry Men (1957) (87); Ridley Scott's Blade Runner (1982) (97); Spike Lee's Do The Right Thing (1989) (96); Buster Keaton's The General (1927) (18); In The Heat Of The Night (1967) (75) ; Robert Altman's Nashville (1975) (59); The Shawshank Redemption (1994) (72) ; and Pixar's Toy Story (1995) (99)

Twenty-three films were removed from the original list:

All Quiet on the Western Front (1930) (54)
Amadeus (1984) (53)
An American in Paris (1951) (68)
The Birth of a Nation (1915) (44)
Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) (64)
Dances With Wolves (1990) (75)
Doctor Zhivago (1965) (39)
Fantasia (1940) (58)
Fargo (1996) (84)
Frankenstein (1931) (87)
From Here to Eternity (1953) (52)
Giant (1956) (82)
Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967) (99)
The Jazz Singer (1927) (90)
The Manchurian Candidate (1962) (67)
Mutiny on the Bounty (1935) (86)
My Fair Lady (1964) (91)
Patton (1970) (89)
A Place in the Sun (1951) (92)
Rebel Without a Cause (1955) (59)
Stagecoach (1939) (63)
The Third Man (1949) (57)
Wuthering Heights (1939) (73)

How do you like them apples Rollo Tomasi?

Tonight the American Film Institute announce their revised 100 Greatest American Movies on CBS with a 3-hour special. The original list of the 100 Greatest American Movies was issued in 1998, and there have been some remarkable films from the past decade that merit inclusion. The 44 new films from the past decade that are eligible are:

LA CONFIDENTIAL, GOODWILL HUNTING, TITANIC, AS GOOD AS IT GETS, AUSTIN POWERS: INTERNATIONAL MAN OF MYSTERY, BOOGIE NIGHTS, SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE, SAVING PRIVATE RYAN, RUSHMORE, THE MATRIX, FIGHT CLUB, THREE KINGS, THE SIXTH SENSE, THE INSIDER, THERE'S SOMETHING ABOUT MARY, AMERICAN BEAUTY, BEING JOHN MALKOVICH, REQUIEM FOR A DREAM, GLADIATOR, TRAFFIC, ERIN BROCKOVICH, SHREK, MOULIN ROUGE!, MEMENTO, THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING, A BEAUTIFUL MIND, THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE TWO TOWERS, CHICAGO, THE HOURS, FINDING NEMO, MYSTIC RIVER, PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: THE CURSE OF THE BLACK PEARL, THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING, LOST IN TRANSLATION, SIDEWAYS, HARRY POTTER AND THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN, MILLION DOLLAR BABY, THE AVIATOR, ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND, SPIDER-MAN 2, BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN, GOOD NIGHT, AND GOOD LUCK, CRASH and HOTEL RWANDA.

You could drop that whole list into your Netflix or Zip.ca line and be set for the summer with quality movies. So take a look and figure what films should or will go on the list, and what films come off the original list of the 100 Greatest American Movies in order to make room.

I think it's a safe bet that a least one Pixar contribution (Nemo) will be added rather than Shrek. I can see one of the Lord of The Rings films making the list, but which one? Probably Return if the King. Eternal Sunshine would be wonderful to see on there, but is there room for that and Being John Malkovich? And as much as I loathe it, Titanic may be a lock as a sentimental favourite. Fight Club, American Beauty, Brokeback Mountain, L.A. Confidential, and Good Will Hunting are all quality films.

What are your picks? Let me mull it over and I'll follow this up in the comments.

source: ALOTT5MA - Meet Me in Montauk

It sure beats another Law and Order spin-off

You just can’t make up stuff like this:

NBC buys a big-breasted telenovela

Ben Silverman's first purchase as NBC boss is the hit Colombian telenovela "Sin tetas no hay paraiso," which translates to "Without Breasts There is No Paradise." As Variety describes it, the telenovela focuses "on a young woman determined to get bigger breasts in order to escape poverty. She ends up working as a prostitute, getting involved with drug dealer in the process. Sudser is based on the novel of the same name by Gustavo Bolivar."

(source: TVtattle.com)

Okay, how can a T.V. executive turn down that pitch? It’s “Ugly Betty” meets “Extreme Makeover” in a Dickensian tale of heartbreak and woe. With boobies.

In his favour, Silverman’s previous purchase of a telenovela netted him "Ugly Betty", which went on to be a solid hit last season.

Whatever happens in the Spiegel Show, stays in the Spiegel Show

The Spiegel Show cabaret at Harbourfront was such a success during Luminato, it’s been held over until July 1^st. The opportunity to see a “Moulin Rouge” style cabaret in full swing was not something my accomplice, The Siren, or myself were going to miss. We arrived early to get a good seat and were rewarded with an evening celebrating all the things that make life worthwhile: love, laughter, lust, and wonder.

The evening was sweltering with humidity, which was appropriate for what promised a tour of the seamy underbelly of Toronto. Dozens of acts unfold throughout the night and it’s hard not to enjoy yourself under the Spiegeltentn'tavern: the burlesque is a riot in corsets and pasties; acrobatic courtship unfolds in aerial silks; a opera singer plots murder; an audience member is drawn into a charmingly improvised blind date with a clown; living art work prowls the audience; a rousing reading of the phone book rallies the audience; Anya the Candy Butcher sells her wares while wielding innuendo like a licorice whip; the MC and the audience enter in a mutual adoration pact; the bar does a bustling business; and the house band plays on like the soundtrack to a manic Bugs Bunny cartoon. It’s a party.

I imagine this is what the inside of Tom Waits' head must look like.

…

The Spiegeltentn'tavern is a beautifully crafted beer hall in the round, adorned in stained glass and mirrors. The bar is well stocked, the food was delicious (mmm strawberry crepes) and the food & drink prices were quite reasonable. The atmosphere in the tent was hot and humid, and the show managed to ratchet the temperature up a few notches to sultry.

The burlesque troupe performing as The Spiegelettes for the show are Les Coquettes Nouveau Burlesque, and don’t jump to conclusion that just because there’s a little skin, then it’s smutty or lewd; it’s playful, bawdy, lusty, and glamorous performance; choreographed titillation in beautiful costumes, with the women (and guy) enticing the audience with the old “you give them a little bit, you take it back; you show them a little more, you take it back”. They put the tease in striptease, especially with “The Fan Dance” and “Bolero”.

Brad Hampton as the MC was charming and funny, as he took the audience by the hand and led us into the seamy underbelly, imploring us to “fall in love” along the way. His rendition of “10 Cents A Dance (Brother Can You Spare A Dime)” was a show stopper.

There is a rotation of others acts, so every night is unique. The show works as true variety show, featuring top performers in several disciplines, all from the Toronto area. There were about 20 acts in total that night, and some highlights for us included:

• The acrobatic performances were stunning. While I heard comparisons to the spectacle of “Cirque de Soleil”, the intimacy of that 300 seat tavern was something you won’t get in Vegas. The work of Jen Georgopoulos on the static trapeze and Peter Loung on the aerial straps enraptured the crowd (well, Peter’s 8 pack of abs and hot pants probably got the crowd going as well), and the show’s finale told a moving story of intimacy amidst the aerial silks, perfectly scored to what turned out to be a string version of Metallica’s “Nothing Else Matters”. The music selections for the night were excellent, including the closing Can-Can Finale with the Spiegelettes put to the très appropriate “Lust for Life” by Iggy Pop.

• “The Blind Date” was a wonderful comedic bit of clowning featuring Bruce Horak & Rebecca Northan. Rebecca had me in tears as the French chanteuse sitting at a cafe table alone, waiting for her blind date. She has an unopened bottle of wine on the table, and laments her late date:

"Drink the wine anyway" shouts an audience member

In a thick French accent Rebecca tosses back, "Only whores drink alone".

She eventually picks someone out of the audience as a temporary date. It builds as she eventually kisses the guy, who is trying to “polite” kiss:

In zee French accent she says "You have an English way of kissing", so she shows him zee French. Yowsa!

• Other performers included Patricia O’Callaghan singing a smoldering cover of Leonard Cohen’s “I’m Your Man”; Soprano Kyra Millan essentially singing a man to death; and a performer (didn’t catch the name) giving a dramatic reading of the phone book: “HO!!! Tim. 23 Raleigh Lane. 416-395-5555”.

Both the Siren and I enjoyed the fun and undeniably sexy show. If it all sounds too tawdry and racy for you, that’s a shame: you’re missing out, and probably on a lot more than this show. And all the performers were charming and friendly with the audience, both during and after the show. I’d certainly go again to see what other spectacle awaits, and I’m predicting The Siren may be prepared to leave the office behind in order to run away to join the Spiegel show. Who wouldn’t want to?

I’d like to see the Spiegel show become a regular summertime fixture in Toronto. They rotate different acts every night, and given the depth of talent in Toronto, the Spiegel show could continue for months and still be “brand new” every time. But just in case, I recommend checking out the show before the end of the month.

UPDATE: The show has been extended through July 29th

Show runs Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights. 8pm show time every night expect Sunday which begins at 7pm.

Doors open an hour beforehand, first come first serve seating.

Location: the Spiegeltentn'tavern is at Harbourfront Centre - 235 Queens Quay West

Tickets $25 through Harbourfront Centre

Admittance restricted to those aged 19 and over

The Hulk's guide to dating - thinking on your feet

Click for larger image

Some odd Blogger behaviour going on. I updated some labels on some older posts, and it regurgitated all the old ones in the RSS feed, which makes it look like I just added 75+ posts. On the plus side, you can take a look at some older posts you may have missed. Carry on.

Achtung Baby

I stumbled onto something funny today. While flipping through the Entertainment Weekly website, I discovered I've been quoted sort of. Click here to take a look.

I had responded to this thread on "Your Great Pop Culture Regrets and Missed Opportunities". A week later, I've found my comment has been used in a photo gallery on the site that basically picked a dozen comments and put them with accompanying photos.

What was the anecdote?

The story goes that when I was in high school, I had a pair of tickets to go see U2 on their first round of the Zoo TV tour. It would have been early 1992, the "Achtung Baby" album was huge, and they were playing Maple Leaf Gardens.

The problem was me. I was pretty insecure as a teenager, so I waited until the last minute to ask someone to go. Everyone I asked couldn't make it, girls and "just friends" alike. I thought about asking this one girl from work. She had been the target of my misplaced, socially inept teenage affection. That is to say, I had a big old crush on that girl. But as a teenager, I didn't resemble the more confident gentleman caller you know today. It was a harmless crush, but I had a tendency to feel clumsy or goofy, saying the wrong thing if I managed to blurt out anything at all. Anytime I was around her, my brain would short out.

I knew U2 was her favourite band and I think I remember giving her a cassette of "Achtung Baby" for her birthday. But with days before the concert, I chickened out and never asked her. I had never seen an 80s teen movie, so how was I to know the geek could get the girl? I ended up selling the tickets to a classmate at face value and never saw the show.

The two punchlines:

#1 - The opening band, who I had never heard of at that point, were The Pixies. Seeing the Pixies (and U2 for that matter) in their prime would have been great.

#2 - Months later, that crush girl gave me a ride home from work one night. We got around to talking about that show and how I had sold the tickets. She said "I would have gone with you if you had asked."

Normally I say "Ha! Good one God, you got me again." But you know, that was my own damned fault, wasn't it?

The lesson, albeit years later, has been learned: I don't want to miss out on anything just because I didn't ask, or because I was too self-conscious to go by myself.

It's not "Degrassi Junior High" quality drama, more of a "Wonder Years" episode: just a story about a shy teenager, and the dumb things kids do.

A tour through my Blogroll

I've got a touch of writer's block today, so this seems like a good time to peek in on some old and new blogs I read:

A good deed is its own reward for Accordion Guy in a sweet story about karma, Craigslist, two sweet girls in love, and of course, playing Fatboy Slim songs on an accordion. Accordion Guy and Very Well Red (aka Mrs. Accordion) respond to an ad “Be A Part Of Our Wedding”. Read how it all unfolds here: Accordion Guy: A Craigslist Wedding


Townie Bastard is keeping me up to date on life in Iqaluit, where even he is wavering to the temptation of the iPhone. Mac Whores Unite!


I’ve fallen for the voyeuristic charms of Seen Reading. The Toronto-based site’s premise:

1. I see you reading.
2. I guesstimate where you are in the book.
3. I trip on over to the bookstore and make a note of the text.
4. I let my imagination rip.
5. Readers become celebrities.
6. People get giddy and buy more books.

She left off #7: Readers of the blog keep checking to see if they’re Seen Reading.


LORD OF THE WINGS, patron saint of all things wingy, has a great spicy wing recipe, courtesy of the show License To Grill.


Impulsive Buy is always good for a laugh with reviews of new products, mostly things that haven’t (and shouldn’t) make it up here to Canada. Among the hits lately:

Clamato Energy Drink
“as appealing as combing the armpit hairs of a juiced up Eastern European female bodybuilder with a voice that sounds like James Earl Jones.”

Jalapeño SPAM – a review that reminds me of Simpson’s episode where Homer Simpson eats insanity peppers and goes on a vision quest.

Dawn Simple Pleasures Dish Soap, with an air freshener in the base
“I could see the Dawn Simple Pleasures as a bachelor’s dream, covering the stank caused by a few weeks worth of dishes in the sink. Of course, the bachelor’s rule of dishwashing is, “If it don’t stink, just leave it in the sink.”

Press your luck

It's one thing to feel like you're on a roll. Whenever I've won a prize or some other piece of good fortune comes my way, my friends are sure to congratulate me, and then accuse me of "having a horseshoe stuck up your ass". Which is a phrase that I'm sure looks nice on a greeting card.

But to openly run around proclaiming your luck boldly, to proudly announce just where that horseshoe is stuck; well my friends, that is what we call "asking for it". You might as well draw that target on your head, just so that other shoe knows where to drop.

I believe in a higher power in the world. It's known by many names: Karma, God, the Universe, Buddha, Mohammad, Fate. Too many events in my life have the precise timing necessary for the maximum comedic effect. It can't possibly be coincidence that many times.

Hubris and gloating about your luck is a quick way to having an anvil drop on your head (metaphorical or literal).

Rick: Do you believe in Fate
Kat: Not me....
Rick: I hate Fate.
Kat: ...but let's not make it angry!

from the show "The Class"

Grab that pic-a-nic basket Boo Boo!

Heads up: the Rogers Picnic at Old Fort York July29th just got too sweet to resist. In addition to The Roots, Apostle of Hustle, Bedouin Soundclash, and The Dears, now comes word that New Pornographers and Tegan & Sara are on the bill. Get your tickets while you still can.

"Hi, I'm Tim's friend, Dave."

I had some options to spend Saturday evening. After briefly considering going over to the Canadian Walk of Fame induction ceremony so I could toss whiskey bottles at Nickelback, I decided I'd start off a NXNE concert crawl with an 8pm show at the El Mocambo. My blog-buddy Tim (Broken Engine) Knight was playing a final last gig. You see, the band he's in, +nurse (the "+" is silent), had played a last gig at The Gladstone Hotel last month. But then a request for +nurse to play a showcase for NXNE came through, and faster than you could say "Cher" (or "the cheque cleared"), the band was back for one more go.

I just had to point out how much I loved Tim's description of the band. He submitted it to NOW Magazine with no idea it would be printed verbatim:

"+nurse - Think Radiohead and Interpol playing euchre against U2 and Coldplay. They're ALL cheating, and eventually someone pulls a knife. Drama and tragedy ensue."

Yeah, that was strangely accurate.

It was a great show, a pretty good turnout for a relatively early slot. A few folks asked where they could see +nurse again, but Tim told them it was the last gig. Whenever someone asked Tim why he was calling it quit, he'd say "Because..." and point to his t-shirt which read:

"I Love My Wife"

Or more accurately, this is why.

I planned to say hi to Tim after the gig, check out some more shows.

Then Tim and I went for drinks. Oy.

Now THAT was a fun night, as we bounded between the ElMo and the Red Room for pints with some of his friends. Tim tried to set me up with every girl on the block, usually starting off by introducing me as his friend "Dave". This is apparently supposed to lead to me chatting up the girl, and if she seems interested, then I say who I really am. Tim did fail to mention my "reasons" for a fake name, but I went with the mysteriously ambiguous "keeping a low profile at the festival" line.

So pint pint pint, laughs about music and soccer, pint pint pint, laughs with some new mates. Went back and forth between bars, was back in the ElMo and caught The Brown Brigade. Unbeknownst to me, that's the new band that Dave "Brownsound" Baksh the former guitarist from Sum41 now fronts, and they weren't bad at all.

Eventually Tim and I ended up at the Torontoist BBQ where I had the chance to meet some more fun people whose blogging I've been reading for the past year or so. Tim and Marc shared memories about the show "Battle of the Planets" over the embers of the BBQ, where I was reassured they had only recently sacrificed a small orphan child. Because that's how bloggers roll. Mind you they were still bloggers, so it was a free-range orphan.*

Tim left to hit the ElMo, I stuck around the BBQ a bit longer and then made the long trek back to Richmond Hill, lest I find myself in Newmarket again at 3 in the morning.

All in all, a great night. I never ended up seeing any other bands, but I didn't mind one bit. how could I with the prospect of more pints, more laughs, some BBQ and some Wii on the horizon? For that, I could be "Dave".

*no, not really. silly buggers.

"Starscream's a big ol' douchebag."

Straight from Your Mom's Basement comes 10 Great Big Movie Douchebags:

There are many things that contribute to making someone a douchebag. An overinflated sense of self-worth. A worthlessness despite pedigree. And an ineffectiveness that, when all is said and done, borders on the pathetic.

But douchebags aren't jerks. Jerks are generally more effective and/or aggressive than douches. Johnny Lawrence was a jerk. Biff Tannen was a jerk. Anakin Skywalker was a jerk. These guys below? Douches.

Click here to read their list and reasonings. They make some inspired picks of cinematic douchebaggery, and at least one pick you could call controversial, until you read their argument. I read the list and think "Oh yeah, I remember seeing Paul Reiser screw over Ripley in Aliens and saying to myself 'Wow, what a douchebag'."

So who did they miss?

Teeth on The Dial: TV News

Renewals and firings at “Grey’s Anatomy”: T.R. Knight will be back next season, but Isaiah Washington has been fired. The long overdue dismissal is said to be in part due to Washington’s “homophobic slur scandal”, which has cast a shadow on the whole production. The season finale of “Grey’s” left Washington’s character with a convenient exit which could have been undone if Washington had remained with the show. All in all, good riddance.

Katherine Heigel is still in negotiations, but I think her success in “Knocked Up” may give her more leverage. After watching “Knocked Up”, I was please to see that I enjoy Katherine as an actress, and it’s just her character on “Grey’s” who irritates me.


While the season finale of "Heroes" left the fate of Nathan and Peter Petrelli up in the air, a clue to next season may have flown into Toronto, as Adrian Pasdar (Nathan) was present at Global's fall TV launch announcements. The Star reports that when asked if he died in the season finale, he replied with a hurried “Apparently not!”


Most of the cast of HBO’s 2001 – 2005 hit “Six Feet Under” will be back on T.V. screens next fall:

Peter Krause (Nate Fisher) is starring in “Dirty Filthy Money”. He plays a lawyer who inherits his father’s clients, a rich family who routinely ends up either in the tabloids or jail.

Rachel Griffiths (Brenda Chenowith) continues in a starring role on the hit "Brothers & Sisters".

Michael C. Hall (David Fisher) stars in Showtime's "Dexter", which from all accounts is an excellent show. I’m planning on picking up the DVDs and watching this summer.

Lauren Ambrose (Claire Fisher) co-stars in the Fox comedy "The Return of Jezebel James", with Parker Posey as her sister. This is the new show from Amy Palladino, and all accounts are that it’s promising, provided they ditch the laugh track.

Jeremy Sisto (Billy Chenowith) trades in his big bag of crazy for a badge as he joins "Law & Order" as Jesse Martin’s new partner. This is excellent news, as Jeremy is a great talent (like the rest of the Six Feet cast). I still get shudders when I think of his work as Billy and his amateur tattoo removal antics. Jeremy was a standout of a strong cast in last season’s “Kidnapped”, which was cancelled by NBC.

And I’m not taking the odds, but things appear to be taking a fatal turn for Tony going into the final episode of “The Sopranos” this weekend. Alan Sepinwall counts his Top Ten Sopranos episodes, and he doesn’t go for some obvious picks.

Gigs, Concerts, and Hootenannys

There are too many great shows to mention during the umpteen-hundred NXNE gigs around town, including the first +nurse post-retirement reunion gig for Tim ;) That $28 wristband is a sweet deal, and gets you into 40 venues showcasing over 400 bands, plus the NxNE film festival, and access to the NXNEXtra Series where up to the first 100 wristbands get bonus tickets for some non-NXNE shows like Fountains of Wayne and Junior Boys.

Some solid looking showcases, with a couple of "just stay there all night" gigs:

• Thursday night at Lee's Palace with the alt-country hootenanny line up of the year: Oh Susanna (9pm), Kathleen Edwards (10pm), Jim Bryson (11pm), and Justin Rutledge (midnight) Luke Doucet and Melissa McClelland (2am) Blue Rodeo (probably at 1am and 3am).
• Friday should be funkadelic at Revival with the ever-funky (as certified by Rando Calrissian) KC Roberts (midnight). I liked Blog TO's description of "funk fusion with live horns, touches of blues and hip-hop on one side and Jamiroquai on the other adds up to a dynamite live show for those who like to boogie. God Made Me Funky (1am) are also part of the shenanigans.
• Saturday is the best of new Canadian indie-rock with the CBC Radio 3 showcase at the Horseshoe Tavern: Ohbijou, You Say Party! We Say Die!, Sebastien Grainger (formerly of DFA 1979),In-Flight Safety, and Two Hours Traffic.
• Also tempting is the return of Urge Overkill @ Lee's Palace - 1AM slot.
• I highly recommend getting a chance to see Sweden's The Soundtrack Of Our Lives who will rock your face off. They've got a fantastic psychedilic rock sound, and is a big band to be playing such small venues. They play three NXNE shows (these aren't NxNExtra shows)where you get in with the wristband: June 7 @ Healey's Roadhouse; June 8 @ Silver Dollar; June 9 @ Healey's Roadhouse.

Aside from NxNE , here are some interesting shows coming up:

The Dears have confirmed they will be at The Rogers Picnic at Old Fort York on July 29th. This gig is getting very tempting and the line-up is starting to justify $50 for the ticket: The Roots, Bedouin Soundclash, Apostle of Hustle, Bad Brains. Drop a line if you're thinking of going.

Also very tempting: tickets for The Cowboy Junkies' July 3rd date at Live @ The Courthouse in Toronto. $31 bucks for Cowboy Junkies in a pretty intimate venue? Worth it. If you're on the fence, look up their "Trinity Sessions" album, recorded live in a Toronto church, and I think that will make your mind up for you.

Ex-Morcheeba vocalist Skye is on her own now and makes a stop in Toronto for a show at El Mocambo on June 28.

Better call Hurley, because The Hold Steady promise to kick some serious rock 'n roll ass when they return to Toronto for a show at The Opera House on August 6, tickets $15.00

Day 2 of Virgin Music festival got beefed up with Explosions In The Sky, Stars, Blonde Redhead added to the bill.


Source:
For The Records
Blog TO NxNE picks
chromewaves

Trying to kill time but it keeps giving me the slip

Don't plan your illegal activities on Crackbook. The police are hooked on it too, and might accept your invite and end your bush party before it even gets started. (Blog T.O.)


I think this would suit my friend Steph, who tends to just read the spoilers for movies she doesn't really want to see (ie "The Village"): a t-shirt for the movie spoiler in all of us (and yes, spoiler alert).


AAAARRRRRGGGGH! I was all prepared to beg you not to fall into the pattern of supporting any "Paris Hilton in Jail" day by day coverage, and then I read "Paris Hilton released from LA jail early". Due to an "unspecified medical condition" she is transferred to house arrest. Is herpes enough to get you a "Get Out Of Jail Free" card? Man, I just call "bullshit" on this whole mess, no way this would happen if she was poor or a non-celebrity. I know I don't have a sound argument or citing precedent, but COME ON!!!!! (between Hilton and Eckler, my inner-rant voice sounds like Denis Leary a lot recently)


And this is one of those "Sounded fun until he puked" drinking games: Edward Fortyhands. Amusing as blood alcohol poisoning is, I'd probably settle for taping to 2L bottles of Coke or beer, and then putting them through challenges.

Shut up Rebecca Eckler, nobody cares

It’s not just me: everyone hates columnist Rebecca Eckler, all the way to the Canadian north. I’m an easy-going guy, but something about Rebecca Eckler, and Leah McLaren, just makes me want to scream. Her writing is the equivalent of "My Humps". The “inane and vapid” Eckler is suing the producers of “Knocked Up”, claiming they ripped off her book Knocked Up: Confessions of a Hip Mother-to-be, and she is getting little support from the public. And like TownieBastard, I too had something to say to my computer screen, and actually is a quote from the movie: “F*ck off”.

General consensus is that it’s an opportunistic bid to knock up her beleaguered profile and book sales with a waste of time of a lawsuit. She details her "fight against Hollywood" in her Maclean’s column (and good call letting Eckler air her beef there MacLean’s editors). Just reading her MacLean’s column generated my usual reaction to Rebecca Eckler’s writing “shutupshutupshutupnobodycaresshutup”.

The similarities she points out between the plot of the movie and her book are vague and coincidental at best, many of which are covered in the comment thread on ALOTT5MA:

• They both use the title “Knocked Up”. No case there, it’s common use.
• Both Eckler and “Knocked Up” Allison get drunk and get pregnant. Because, you know, Eckler thought of that first.
• Eckler got knocked up by her fiancé at her engagement party. In the movie, Allison gets knocked up after a night with a random guy she met at a bar. No similarity.
• Not only did the cover of the screenplay feature a martini glass with a soother around the stem, like the cover of the American edition of my book, the words "Knocked" and "Up" were in two different colours, the same as my book cover.” – that image never appeared in any of the promotion of the film.
• I don’t believe Eckler had a bunch of funny stoner friends sharing her place.
• In her book, Eckler “has a best-friend- with-screaming-children named Ronnie, who I go to often for advice. In the movie version, Alison has a sister, named Debbie, with screaming children, who is her sounding board.” I don’t recall the kids screaming in the movie, and using a family member or friend as a sounding board is standard Hollywood screenwriting 101.
• "Both 'Alison' and I did numerous pregnancy tests.” Well duh.
• "What also got my back up was that Ben, the man who gets Alison knocked up, is not only Jewish, but from Canada, like my man.” Seth Rogen (Ben) is also Canadian and Jewish (as you mention in your column) and he likes to work that into his scripts. He was Canadian in “Undeclared” too.

To sum up from a genuine lawyer-type person, her claim is shit. In other words: shut up and stop wasting our time you delusional, greedy, self-righteous, self-indulgent hack.

On the title of her book “Knocked Up: Confessions of a Hip Mother-to-be”, if you have to declare yourself “hip”, you aren’t.

Teeth on the Dial: "Jericho" returns

Well THAT almost never happens! Fan support has managed to bring a TV show back from cancellation as CBS announced it will bring back Jericho for 7 episodes in the mid-season next year. Producers say the 7 episodes will be extended if the ratings and interest justify it. This is huge for TV fans who have previously been seen as the petulant child, throwing a fit when the networks cancel shows, and generally dismissed. The grassroots campaign to save Jericho was responsible for flooding email boxes and sending approximately 20 tons (!) of nuts to CBS. The nuts were a reference to a line from the last episode.

Jericho is set in a small Kansas town, dealing with the aftermath of a nuclear attack on America. While the early episodes were stuck dominated by "how will he get them out of this one" heroics of Skeet Ulrich's main character "Jake", the later episodes played down that aspect and notably improved by playing down some soapier elements and showing more of the mysterious and kick-ass Hawkins.

CBS has stated they will push the show by re-running the series all summer and the first season DVD will be out in September. But with great progress comes great responsibility as fans will have to keep up their end of the bargain and bring more viewers with them.

I can't recall any campaign like this working. Most attempts to bring back a show were futile: "Everwood", "Arrested Development", "Angel", and "Veronica Mars" all met similar fates. Even 'Family Guy" only came back after strong DVD sales coupled with fan support. This could be a turning point for network-viewer relations, as the networks may pay attention to the publicity and interest these campaigns can garner, and may be willing to give shows a second chance to make a first impression.

And if I can make a recommendation to Jericho's producers? Have an exit strategy. While it would be great that the 7 episodes led to more, could you not have such a "did they live or die" season finale cliffhanger in the works if you don't know whether you're coming back? And CBS asks fans "P.S. Please stop sending us nuts."

Bright and Bawdy Spiegel Show extension

One of the most successful events at the new Luminato Festival of Arts & Creativity is the SpeigelTentn'tavern at Harbourfront. The Speigel tent is a recreation of a 1920s cabaret tent, where you settle in for drinks and a show. And what a show - it's like being dropped into the middle of The Kit Kat Klub from the musical "Cabaret". It's a mix of vaudeville, burlesque, and circus, with a touch of decadent delight and titillation:

Featuring the naughtiest show girls in town, bawdy beefcakes and daring divas, this unique 'tent of mirrors' houses top notch specialty numbers, gags, skits and bits, musical parodies, spicy scenes, charming chanteuses, acrobats n' aerialists, and visual delights, all wrapped up under the ballooning velvet canopy of this nostalgic wooden cabaret tent, designed in Belgium in the 1920s.

The event is ticketed $25 in the evenings and the remaining shows for Luminato are selling out. But good news as it appears, according to a segment on Breakfast Television, the SpiegelTentn'Tavern will extend its run until July 1st. Ticket and schedule info hasn't been updated on Ticketmaster or Harbourfront's sites yet, but I believe the show will continue Thurs - Sun evenings until the end of the month.

"Arcade Fire Stole My Basketball"

Ah to live in the age of the internet and blogging, where someone can take a beef with an indie rocker, spin it into a blog, indie rocker's brother counter-blogs the beef, music bloggers have fun with the whole thing.

The story goes that while on tour, Win Butler of The Arcade Fire got into an altercation at a basketball court. Win is then accused of stealing some guy's basketball. Guy then blogs it (the site appears to be deleted, but it was arcadefirestolemybasketball.blogspot.com). Win's brother Will defends Win at arcadefiredidntstealdudesbasketball.blogspot.com (also deleted last time I checked)

The whole point of this post though is to point you at this funny comment thread at "Stereogum", where comments have been piling up as bloggers try to top each other with malicious indie rocker slights. My favourite so far:

"The Decemberists trained a falcon to crap on my head at my wedding."

Now if you'll excuse me, I need to get that printed on a t-shirt before I hit some NxNE festival shows.

Source: EW.com - Frankly, I would have pegged them more as badminton types

The Decemberists: Offical Website

Apple announces iPhone sell date

click image for the rest of the strip

Apple has confirmed a U.S. on-sale date of June 29th for the new iPhones. It appears Apple has made this product their number one priority, even going so far as to delay the debut of their new Leopard O/S as the reallocated resources to the iPhone. The iPhone is the next big risk for the company that has been floating on the success of the iPod music players and renewed interest in Apple designed products, as this is their first foray into the cellular phone market.

The iPhone is a melding of cell phone and iPod, allowing you to watch videos in widescreen. Apple's website shows off the the phone's large touchscreen, and highlights it's ability to watch video, play music and display photos. Most of the design elements, like the touchscreen, are things we will likely see incorporated into the next generation of iPods. New ads can also be seen on the company's Web site.

The phone will retail for about $500 - 600 U.S. depending on how much memory is included, either 4GB or 8 GB. The memory size is comparable to the iPod Nanos, which use flash-based memory, as opposed to the heavier, bulkier iPods that use a hard drive.

No official announcement on Canadian distribution has been made yet, but speculation is that Rogers Wireless is the most likely carrier. AT&T is the exclusive wireless provider in the U.S.

Apple iPhone website

Globe & Mail: Apple set to launch iPhone

"It's Hot In Topeka"

Credit for this clip goes to my 8-year old cousin who kept quoting the bit at a BBQ. We bonded over our love of Foster's Home For Imaginary Friends, a wonderfully clever cartoon. He doesn't need to know it's what I have on the T.V. while I recuperate after a late night out.

That aside, I thoroughly endorse this cartoon for you or your kids.

Blog renovations continue

I've updated the2scoops blog recently. Let me know what you like or don't like, or if there is any content you want to see more frequently.


The good news is my site's web hits are trending upwards, and I've doubled the number of regular visitors over last year's figures.


Reminder: want to leave a comment but don't have a Blogger account? Just type in the comment, add your name in if you want, but select the "Anonymous" or "Other" option in the section markes "Choose Your Identity". Thanks.

Bottle Service Math

I had a night out at Brant House with some friends recently. We arranged for "Bottle Service" and overall it was a great experience, and mostly due to the bottle service.

I confess I haven't been to a club in years. The closest I've come to nightclubs is Devil's Martini, but otherwise I rarely check out the entertainment district clubs. Clubbing was something I left behind in my mid-20s, back in the days of the late and gone Whiskey Saigon, Limelight, and Joker.

The problem is me and a few friends do like to go have a few drinks, dance it up and enjoy ourselves. That means scrambling to find which lounges have dance floors and trying to get there before a line-up starts. But some recent additions to my social circles have offered up some new experiences, so I'm willing to try some of the better Toronto lounges and nightclubs that cater to the 25 years and older crowd.

I’ve never arranged for bottle service before, and I admit I never thought I had a reason to. I figured paying $250 for a bottle of vodka was for suckers and the priveleged, but after my experience, I am sold on the concept.

The basics are that bottle service requires a call ahead and a credit card to reserve a space. There’s a 2-bottle minimum at $250 each. So your sticker shock is $500 for a night out.

But here’s what happens when you run the figures:

Bottle service covers 10 people. With taxes and tip it was $550 for 2 bottles of whatever (rum, gin, tequila, vodka, etc.), so you’re looking at $55 a head minimum, which is a typical night out at a bar like that. But what you actually pay for is the service and convenience.

What you get:

• You jump any line-up and get in right away. Your on the infamous "list".
  
• Your cover is included, so that’s another $10 - $15 bucks saved.
  
• Your group gets its own booth in the VIP section. No standing all night, worrying about losing a spot or where to dump your coat, it’s your reserved table and couches. You can come and go to the dance floor as you please. Some jerk won’t stop trying to dance with you on the dance floor? Hop back to your side of the velvet rope.
  
• All the mixes (soda, tonic, juice, ice, lime, lemon) are included and are frequently restocked for you.
  
• You have a designated server. The tip was included in the bill, and for good reason: patrons can get so hung up on the sticker shock that there is potential for the server to get screwed over. I was naive enough to assume that I wouldn’t need to tip any servers because we were essentially pouring our own drinks, but our server Lindsey busted her butt for us all night, making sure we had a constant stream of mix and clean glasses, weaving her way through the VIP section to us with full trays. She earned that tip. And the free bar snacks were appreciated too.
  
• What sounds better: “Can I buy you a drink?” or “Would you like to come up to our booth and have a drink with us?” You can treat someone to a drink in a more intimate setting away from the dance floor, and actually hear each other.
• Bottle service eliminated several of the elements that make me stop going to nightclubs: line-ups, crap service at the bar, crushed amongst the crowds, having nowhere to go when the dance floor is packed.
• Frankly, it made you feel like you mattered as a bar patron.

The trick is that it takes some organization, as you don’t want 10 people to promise to come out and only 4 show up. Or 10 people come out, but 8 of them don't drink and aren't willing to pony up $60 bucks for a night out. Get organized, make the call, and follow-through, and you can have some fun. We saw lots of bachelor and bachelorette parties, birthdays, some folks celebrating the end of exams, and just people looking to have a good time.

With the math involved, I could easily be convinced to go in on bottle service again, and have no problem recommending it so long as you know what to expect. And now you do.

PS I’ve heard comparisons of the bottle service at Devil’s Martini and Brant House. Devil’s is cheaper, but Brant feels more polished. I’d recommend Brant House easily.

Sexile Etiquette Question

A response to a comment on Sexile Island:

Dear Mr. 2scoops

I read your post on “Sexile Island” and I have a dilemma. I’m going away with friends to Montreal. It's a co-ed trip. I have my own hotel room as do some of the other girls, and 3 of the guys are sharing one room. I’m worried that 2 of them will be “sexiled” and will want to crash out in my room. What should I do?

Signed, Miss Musing

Dear Miss,

If the guys get sexiled, you are in no way obligated to open your door to the sexiled refugees. It’s your room, you paid for it, and if they didn’t want to get kicked out of the room, they should have made different hotel arrangements then.

I don’t know how women treat the sexile situation, but if you’re a guy, you suck it up and take one for the team. You can payback an inconsiderate roommate later, but if you get kicked/locked out, the sexiled party do not compound it by inconveniencing someone else by barging in on their private space, or worse yet, interrupting your own hook-up.

Not to mention that above all else, a gentlemen doesn’t rouse a woman from her sleep by pounding on her hotel room door at 2AM, whining about how they got kicked out. The only time a man should be on your hotel doorstep at 2AM is if you ordered one from room service.

To the gentlemen: Suck it up cowboy and hit the bar.

Miss, you are not obligated to do a damn thing. Knock back a gin and tonic, pop in the earplugs, and pay no attention. They are men, and they know the risks of being sexiled when they signed up for that rooming arrangement.

Enjoy the weekend.

Signed, the2scoops

Learn How Grown Ups Are Born - "Knocked Up" out today

Some great reviews on "Knocked Up" which is out in theatres today. Rotten Tomatoes has an aggregate rating of 92% (!) positive reviews. Most of the reviews trend with the same "crude but with heart" sensibility that I loved about Judd Apatow's last movie "The 40-Year-Old Virgin".

I've been looking forward to "Knocked Up" since February, and it looks like I won't be disappointed. If you need convincing, click here for the trailer, and I defy any man who denies they didn't have the same reaction, even for a second, that lead actor/writer Seth Rogan does when he's told he's going to be a dad.

Teeth on the Dial - TV Talk

I feel like I'm reiterating half the stuff I just read in author Warren Ellis's "Bad Signal" regular email.

NBC has replaced head of programming Kevin Reilly with Ben Silverman, whose production company Reveille is responsible for "The Office" (U.S.) and "Ugly Betty". While the shows Reilly championed were critical hits, he was unable to deliver on ratings. With NBC in 4th place among the overall ratings for a second year, and no significant buzz among the new shows NBC announced for the fall (none of those shows is going to get NBC out of the basement ratings-wise), someone had to pay. I'm sure it came at a price too, as Kevin Reilly just re-signed a contract a few months ago, and NBC would have had to pay out to get him out. Look for some shake-ups to continue, as perhaps the entire NBC 2007-2008 line-up could radically change. Warren Ellis suggests that Kevin Reilly (who received a nice package on the way out) may find his way to HBO, which recently deposed of their head programmer "alleged girlfriend-puncher Chris Albrect".

NBC's pushing to get Heroes an Emmy nomination for Best Drama by playing down the super-powered aspects of the show, choosing to focus on the stories, being told such as Peter and Nathan relationship. T.V. shows with sci-fi elements typically get the shaft and ignored by the Emmy awards: can I get agreement from fans of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer", "X-Files", and "Battlestar Gallactica"?
Source: Newsarama.com - Hiding their powers from the Emmy powers that be

It's been confirmed that the next (4th) season of Battlestar Galactica will be the last. Here's hoping they can solve"the flabbiness that crept into the middle of their seasons" and bring home a solid closing. The final season with 22 episodes will likely start early in the new year.

Jenna Fischer (Pam on "The Office) is recovering from her broken back after taking a bad fall a few weeks ago. She's getting better, and in addition to cards and flowers, received cupcakes from Zach Braff, who was also at the party where she tumbled. Yay Jenna, yay Zach, yay cupcakes.

Funny story: a story that 'George Clooney addicted to "Dancing with the Stars"' is making the rounds as legitimate. But the source is "Ocean's Thirteen co-star Don Cheadle. Cheadle, as well as Brad Pitt, Matt Damon and Clooney himself, are reknown for playing jokes on each other, or as Trev and I refer to it, "taking the piss out of one another". It's a British term of endearment. Like bullocks. And Manchester.

Clooney is hooked on the show and watched it continuously on the set of movie sequel Ocean's Thirteen, his co-stars Brad Pitt and Don Cheadle have revealed. Pitt tells Access Hollywood, "I was shocked to find that George watches 'Dancing With the Stars.'" Cheadle adds, "He wants to compete, in fact! He feels it all rapidly going away. He's looking for a way to resurrect - hence the plastic surgery, which is really not a bad job. "You really can't tell... not on film, anyways."

You know what "Grey's Anatomy" creator Shonda Rhimes likes more than emotionally unstable interns? Spelling Bees. She is addicted to Spelling Bees and their pint sized pugilists. You can read her live-blog play by play of yesterday's National Spelling Bee on A List of Things Thrown 5 Minutes Ago. Look for the "by Shonda" indicators. A Canadian made it to the finals but there was no joy in Mudville:

Championship Round:

Evan is on his game – calm, mellow and self-assured. Go Evan! I can’t help but root against Nate who seems like a sweet kid and just as self-assured – he’s just not my Evan who I feel I’ve watched grow up here on this stage.

These final rounds are not that exciting. Why? Because there’s a commercial break every five seconds. I love commercials. I believe in commercials. I just want to see my Bee without so many breaks. I want to see the sweat on the brows of Evan and Nate. Also, it’s delaying the airing of Grey’s Anatomy. And I like Grey’s Anatomy.

10:04 pm: I dig Evan’s ears. He’s got the kind of face that is going to grow into those ears and be fantastic. He spells “yosenabe” like it’s nothing, no thang but a chicken wing, and keeps on moving. I’m so impressed.

Ach! Nate went down on coryza! I was barely paying attention cause he was so confident! He went down!

Now, Evan must get the next word right in order to win. The word is “serrefine” which is a word I instinctively spelled wrong. But Evan gets it right and-EVAN GETS IT RIGHT!I CALLED THE WINNER OF THE BEE CORRECTLY FOR ONCE IN MY LIFE!!!

Shonda Rhimes

And closing with a quote from Warren Ellis. Again.

Sometimes I wonder how many people realise their favourite American tv actors are Canadian.