More Karlheinz Schreiber/Brian Mulroney

Sorry, this is all I can write about these days but Rick Salutin has a good analysis of Brian Mulroney's testimony the other day which I will copy and paste here, rather than paraphrase poorly.

Aren't I adorable?

by Rick Salutin

I was skeptical about treating those huge cash payments by Karlheinz Schreiber to Brian Mulroney as the core of their fiasco. Too superficial. I wanted more range: how the Dump Joe Clark movement was financed by right-wing money from Germany; how a nexus of greed and policy operated in the Mulroney years. But after hearing the official Mulroney explanation yesterday, I'm into it. Let's talk about that cash.

What's his explanation for taking those payments? “I made a serious error in judgment ... I apologize and I accept full responsibility for it.” That isn't an explanation, it's a chastened restatement of the facts: I took cash and wish I hadn't.

But what was the error in judgment? An error isn't a random event that just happens; there's a thought process. Taking an envelope stuffed with thousand-dollar bills isn't like slipping on a banana peel. Oops. You're thinking something. What was the judgment that erred? Then you did it again. And again. What were you thinking, what did you judge? And the judgments that followed. Not putting it in the bank. Not giving a receipt. Not telling your law firm. Not declaring it on your taxes. Based on thinking ...?

As an explanation, it says way less than it claims to. He called it embarrassing to admit, but we didn't feel it was really embarrassing or he was really embarrassed because all he said was, I made a mistake and I'm a big boy and admit it. You're supposed to get credit for that in this society, all the PR geniuses will tell you it works.

Give us something that is embarrassing, like: I judged I could fool you and keep the money tax-free, but I got found out. (Just an example, class.) That would be embarrassing and take guts to admit. Saying it was a mistake, outs nothing. We got no explanation at all — only an admission of what we knew, and an expectation of applause.

Because there's been no real explanation, everything that follows from it doesn't seem to follow, it sounds shifty and inadequate. Why did he pay taxes on what he says were expenses? Why didn't he keep the records he says he made? Why won't he reveal his tax returns? Why didn't he go to the police when he got a “blackmail and extortion” note from Karlheinz. He says that's how Karlheinz works, he threatened to sue the CBC. Huh? Threatening to sue media institutions isn't illegal. Brian Mulroney definitely knows that. The more he gets into details, the more it sounds like an edifice constructed afterward to explain a set of things, not a real-time account of them.

In place of specifics, we get what journalists used to call the Mulroney blarney, which might clinically be viewed as narcissism and grandiosity. Self-pity. “I struggled to understand this unfolding catastrophe.” Self-dramatization. “Here we are again ... 10 years later.” As if “we” are all on call as backdrop for his life. Self-importance. Boris Yeltsin said to me, “Brian ...”

Sitting back, not answering a question, because he assumes the committee chair will rule it out of order, as if the whole hearing is happening inside his head. Narrating and storytelling: “I ask you to take a minute and ask you to consider how you and your families would feel ...” Doing voices, pauses, colour commentary and rhetorical questions (“Where did they get the information? They got it from her.”) as he reads from letters and articles. And spending way more time recounting and explaining Karlheinz Schreiber's behaviour than his own, which is reduced to a “mistake.”

Karlheinz Schreiber seems like a liar. He doesn't admit it but implies it tacitly in all he says about what he does. When you ask if he lies, he smiles and says, No. That's useful. You know where he stands. It doesn't mean he never tells the truth, but you're forewarned, you must examine it. Brian Mulroney swears that “every allegation” against him is “completely false.” That he tells the truth and nothing but. You decide who's more believable.

There is also a good Linda McQuaig article about the whole affair at rabble where she makes the point that I think has been missing from most analysis: that Mulroney's behaviour is being held to a lower standard because of his "elite" status. We are expected to allow him to act poorly/dishonestly/illegally because of his "lifestyle expectations". It is complete insanity.

Saturday Night Risk Game

I don't know what makes me cooler, the fact that I spent roughly ten hours on Saturday night playing an unfinished game of Risk, or that I am publishing pictures of it now. Anyways, here you go!

matti and eric

tyler and eric

the game when we finally gave up at 5am

Happy Birthday to the Horseshoe Tavern!

This month marks the 60th anniversary of Toronto's Horseshoe Tavern, the "legendary" Queen Street West live music venue and bar. Oddly enough, the Horseshoe didn't really play a huge part in my band-obsessed/debauched teen years, or twenties, or even the recent past. Erin and I have spent many afternoons drinking cheap beer there over the years (checking out the cute boys coming in for soundcheck), and of course I have seen many bands there, but the venue didn't have the impact on me that say the Bovine, the Reverb, the Elmo, or even Club Shanghai (!) did during the 90s. My perception was that the Horseshoe had an elitist booking policy, and they seemed to be booking endless Halifax/American bands throughout the 90s and not really paying attention to the Toronto scene. I may also have held a grudge against them for their strict door policy while I was underage.

This afternoon on cbc radio, someone was talking about the Last Pogo, a 1978 concert that marked the end of the punk era for the Horseshoe. I found a little Toronto Star article written at the time by Viletones frontman Steven Leckie about the event - sorry, if you can't read this try clicking on it:

Sounds about right. And while I'm reminiscing, I'll tell a nice Steven Leckie story. Back in about 1996 (?? Erin, dates?) Steven had resurrected the Viletones, and was also collaborating and playing shows with my boyfriend of the time and his band The Millionaires. Because of this brief friendship, we were hanging around with him quite a bit for a few months there. Around the same time, the Millionaires needed to rent-to-own some equipment from Long & McQuade, and since I was the only one with a valid credit card, I was asked to arrange the financing. The only problem was that I had to provide some personal references on my application and everyone we knew in those days owed Long & McQuade money. I ended up using Steven as my reference. When John Long came downstairs to scrutinize me (anyone who has rented equipment at Long and McQuade will know what I mean) he looked at my application and started laughing. He told me that while he was growing up in Toronto in the 70s, Steven used to defend him against the local bullies, and he always had a great deal of respect for him because of that. I always thought that was a good memory of someone who was alternately known as Nazi Dog in those days. There are some good pictures of Steven and the Viletones from their website here.

Brian Mulroney, Karlheinz Schreiber, and another Government Scandal

As Rick Salutin put it in his Globe and Mail column this past Friday, "Brian Mulroney aggravates us still". About five years ago I picked up the Stevie Cameron book The Last Amigo. Never a fan of Mulroney, or the Conservative Party in general, I was interested in learning more about the relationship between Mulroney and German businessman Karlheinz Schreiber, a relationship that I presumed was rife with corruption. I found the book a really difficult read - following Schreiber's business dealings was tedious, with endless corporations, business relationships, and bank accounts.

In a nutshell, Schreiber acted as a middleman in arranging major league business deals, including deals between the Canadian government and various European industrial companies, such as arms and aircraft manufacturers. In 1995 Brian Mulroney was implicated by the RCMP and the Department of Justice for wrongdoing related to one such business deal where "commissions" were paid to broker a deal between Air Canada and Airbus Industrie. Air Canada ultimately purchased $1.8 billion dollars worth of aircraft from Airbus. As you might recall, at that time Mulroney denied a relationship with Schreiber (barring a few cups of coffee here and there) and eventually settled a defamation suit with the Canadian government for over $2 million dollars. What has brought this controversy to public attention again is that it has come to light that Mulroney accepted $300,000 in payments from Schreiber shortly after leaving the Prime Minister's Office.

What I remember most about the Stevie Cameron book was the fact that Elmer Mackay, Brian Mulroney's Minister of Public Works during the 1980s and father of current Defense Minister Peter Mackay, was a close personal friend of Schreiber. Schreiber stayed at Mackay's house in Nova Scotia when he fled Europe after charges of tax evasion were brought against him there. When Schreiber was arrested in Toronto in 1999, Mackay helped him secure bail money.

I was interested in finding out if Peter Mackay (someone for whom Mulroney has been described as a mentor) had any dealings with Schreiber. A quick google search revealed that the young Mackay had worked in Germany as an office assistant for Thyssen Industries for a short period in 1992-93. Thyssen Industries is a German company that wanted to establish an arms plant in Nova Scotia, and Schreiber was being paid by Thyssen to help convince the Canadian government of the benefits of such a plan. The $300,000 in cash paid to Mulroney by Schreiber came from Thyssen, presumably as part of these lobbying efforts.

Of course Mackay is trying to distance himself from this now, claiming that he barely knew Schreiber, but it does seem a little...funny??? I'm not sure if that's the right word. At the very least, I find it funny (amusing funny) that our Defence Minister worked for a company who was lobbying his father to build an arms manufacturing plant in his home province (as Diane Francis put it in her National Post column "it was a tank factory, by the way, that the Americans would not allow to be built in their country because of arms embargos") I think it says a lot.

Anyways, I guess I could go on and on about this, or maybe I already have, but I think the outcome of the government inquiry into this scandal will be interesting. At least I hope will be interesting, and not just another bunch of lies.

Hallowe'en Part Two

Here is the second group of Hallowe'en pictures at this link

Jackie and JFK

Tyler and I went out on the town as post-gunshot JFK and Jackie. We started at the Beaver, then the Drake for the Omy Hallowe'en party, and then over to boystown for some more partying. It was a great time and fun to see so many people dressed up and lots of really elaborate costumes, especially at the Drake! Unfortunately it rained, so the crowds on Church Street had sort of dispersed by the time we got there, but we still managed to meet some new people and have a good time.

Hallowe'en Part One

Here are a couple of pictures from Saturday night's Hallowe'en preparations. The whole album is at this link...

shawna as little miss muffet corpse

chris as dr. frank-n-furter

tyler as malevolent harlequin

Tokyo Police Club - God Bless 'Em!

I have been listening to Tokyo Police Club a lot lately and I am loving them. Who would have thought four boys from Newmarket, Ontario could make such a good album? Like many great Canadian bands, Tokyo Police Club are signed to Paper Bag Records. Unfortunately, I think they have become too big to play at a venue where I would like to see them. Their last show here in Toronto was at the Virgin Festival in September. They are back on tour at the moment, and were mentioned on LA gossip site Defamer this week. Here is their most promo-ish picture:

And that's all I got today - very busy at work.

Million Zombie March

Yesterday was the Annual Zombie March that started out across the street from my place in Trinity Bellwoods Park. The event began with the zombies assembling in the pit of the park where they gave out prizes for best costume, best groan, best zombie walk, and scariest zombie. Unfortunately, the roommate and I found out about this event a little too late, so we didn't get a chance to dress up, and just went as spectators. The zombies began marching east from the park on Queen, then north on Markham up to Bloor Street. The funniest part was when one of the police officers there said "it's like a Star Trek Convention"!!! More full-sized pictures here: my kodak gallery zombie pictures

the Zombies assemble in the pit at Bellwoods Park

girl zombies

more zombies

scariest zombie winner with brain on plate

Project Runway Canada

I have been watching Project Runway Canada with various gay boys (who else?) for the past two weeks, and it is remarkably good. Iman is the ridiculously good looking host, and some guy named Brian (who looks like a 1970s movie cop) is the "fashion mentor".


The designers are very good. Most of them have professional design backgrounds and all have managed to really shine during the rather lame challenges. This week they had to make cocktail dresses out of umbrellas. One of the clear frontrunners is Lucian Matis, the uber-hot Transylvanian. He appears in the "My Apartment" section of eye weekly this week. A quick google search has revealed that he is turning into a bit of a local celebrity. This show is on "Slice Network" Mondays at 10pm.

Election Day...

Today is election day in Ontario. I will be voting for Rosario Marchese, the NDP candidate in my riding, who I think will win easily. I will also be voting in favour of MMP.

I was in Sudbury over the weekend for Thanksgiving and had a good time eating, shopping at Costco (giant household products!), Value Village (new fun fur bomber jacket - $20) and Walmart (miscellanious junk), and driving around lots. I tried to get some nice autumn pictures on the drive home but it was kind of difficult in a car moving at 120 kilometres an hour. This is the best one:

I finally got a new camera but I'm still learning how to use it properly.

Here is the newest love of my life: The Sarah Silverman Program

Tyler and I just watched Season One on dvd and it is hilarious. It's really dorky, crude, politically incorrect, low brow humour in a bizarre sitcom format.

I have also been keeping up with the fall tv schedule and watching Survivor (still!), America's Next Top Model, and...wait for it....Gossip Girl!!! The day after the series premier of Gossip Girl, my favourite professional computer geek and sometimes Globe and Mail Style Section commentator Jamie texted me asking "does thinking the show 'gossipgirl' is the coolest show in a decade, make me gay?" I said "yes, very, homo" and then went home and watched episode one, and have been hooked ever since. It's really no surprise considering my love of the teenage soap opera format, but this one is especially good with especially hot boy characters and especially bitchy and well-dressed girls. As Jamie said, it's like Cruel Intentions - the series.

Finally, in an attempt to save money and drink less booze, Tyler and I have taken up World of Warcraft again, and we have recruited Tyler's friend Matti to be on our team. Yes, we are all complete losers!

Vote Out Poverty

Earlier this week I attended an event called Vote Out Poverty at Massey Hall. From what I understand, Vote Out Poverty is a local initiative, but loosely connected to Make Poverty History - you have probably seen their ads with Brad Pitt, Justin Timberlake, and other celebrities. The event was described as "An evening of culture and politics to raise awareness of the need for a Poverty Reduction Strategy in Ontario" and featured a keynote speech by Stephen Lewis. Stephen Lewis was the leader of the Provincial NDP in the 1970s and is now the UN Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa. His speech was really interesting with topics ranging from a discussion of Canada's role in poverty reduction worldwide, and how badly we are failing in our international commitments, to local poverty issues in Toronto and Ontario. Mary Walsh from This Hour has 22 Minutes was the host for the evening and there were bands including The Hidden Cameras, Blackie and the Rodeo Kings, and others, as well as politicians Howard Hampton, Ken Dryden, Jack Layton, another Liberal MPP and a Conservative MPP (or candidate, I missed who she was)

Food Blog - Are You Gonna Eat That?

Ok, we might chalk this up to intense hunger, but I just found the best food blog ever - called Are you gonna eat that? Seems to be written by a girl from Calgary, but she travels a lot, so there are lots of posts about Toronto and other Canadian cities. Her photographs are fabulous and so are her descriptions of her dining experiences. And based on her reviews, if anyone wants to drop $100 for a seven course tasting menu at Susar, I'm in.

Polaris Music Prize

I know, I'm being super lazy these days and just cutting and pasting stuff, but here's Pitchfork's blurb about the Polaris Music Prize:

The votes are in, and the winner of this year's Polaris Music Prize-- along with $20,000 big ones and the respect and adulation of his Canadian countrypeople-- is...um... Patrick Watson's album Close to Paradise. Yeah.

Paradise beat Arcade Fire's Neon Bible, Feist's The Reminder, The Besnard Lakes' The Besnard Lakes Are the Dark Horse, Junior Boys' So This Is Goodbye, Julie Doiron's Woke Myself Up, Chad VanGaalen's Skelliconnection, Miracle Fortress' Five Roses, The Dears' Gang of Losers, and Joel Plaskett Emergency's Ashtray Rock to claim the title of "BEST CANADIAN MUSIC OF 2007 EVER." Guess Canadians like this guy?

I think I have only heard one song by Patrick Watson and immediately thought "Jeff Buckley". His win kinda makes sense since the award is based on the votes of Canadian music journalists (with Liisa Ladouceur at the helm) and Jeff Buckley is the sacred cow of the music journalist crowd - no offense to Jeff Buckley, I am a huge fan.

Have I expressed my distaste for Canadian music journalists lately? I love the style of journalism found in Spin or Rolling Stone, the NME or even Q, putting musicians in context and giving them a story, but Canadian music journalists take themselves so fucking seriously, it's really sad. I honestly think that they believe they are our arbiters of taste, intellectualizing music, debating the merit of bands. The idea of being a "music expert" is just so completely wrong to me. Anyhow, I won't get started.

I heard the song "Sealion" by Feist yesterday, and on the basis of that song alone, she should have won, in my humble non-expert opinion.

Ontario Election October 10

It was announced yesterday that Native Canadians subjected to the ill-conceived church run residential school system can now apply for compensation under a federal government settlement worth about $1 Billion dollars.
Meanwhile, the leader of the Ontario Conservative party John Tory is campaigning on the issue of religious school funding. In an era where parents have to pay for boxes of Kleenex for their children's classrooms due to lack of funding, I find it hard to believe that there is public cash available for endless separate schools. Can somebody explain this to me? (my bias would be to eliminate all separate school funding)
While we're at it, can someone explain to me why the referendum on electoral reform in Ontario is so grossly under-reported? This is the first referendum on the Ontario ballot since 1921, and yet when I look up "Ontario referendum" on google news, the first option that shows up is an online newspaper that I have never heard of, and the second option is the Brockville Recorder and Times (no offense Brockville). This is actually a very important issue, and since it is somewhat complex, it would help if the media would help clarify it.
Here is the wiki version of the proposed change: The Ontario Citizens' Assembly on Electoral Reform has proposed a mixed member proportional representation system. In this system, a voter casts two votes - one for a candidate (or 'local member') and one for a political party. The local member is elected in a first-past-the-post style election and represents the electoral district, while the political party vote determines, in conjunction with the number of elected local members belonging to each party, how many list members a party receives. A list member is a candidate on an ordered list that a party issues before the election; if the MMP formula determines that a party can have more seats than it won locally, it receives a "top up" number of list seats. Under this new system, the Legislature would have 129 seats: 90 local members (70% of the Legislature) and 39 list members (30% of the Legislature).

New Buddyhead Gossip Post

So, there is a new buddyhead gossip entry up here . Yeah, I know, their posts have been pretty lame for the past couple of years, but I still find them funny. Here's a couple of the highlights:



And this entry about the Vanity Fair article on guys who date celebrity girls...

"There’s really nothing quite like sucking mad dong and not even being aware of it. It seems to happen quite often in our hometown though. There’s an article in the new Vanity Fair titled “I’m with her!” that would have been more appropriately titled “I’m a massive DOUCHE!” The article discusses the shallow and clueless lives of Kevin Federline, Pete Wentz, Steve Aoki, Benji Madden, Cisco Adler, and Joel Madden. If you’re in the above photo, how could you not feel like a giant tard while posing next to Kevin Federline… or the rest of those posers for that matter? Wouldn’t some sort of Dorkus-alarm go off inside yer head when you rolled onto that set and that geek-squad was there? Apparently not. Check out these dweebs make total assholes of themselves here: http://www.vanityfair.com"

End of Summer Update

Hello to my loyal readers! Sorry for the lack of updates lately, I just haven't felt that wordy, and also have been struggling with a cold for the past week.

The Labour Day weekend has come and gone and we are now in that end of summer period that marks the beginning of the Toronto International Film Festival. I read the coverage of the Fest with moderate enthusiasm. The drunken celebrity antics and the red carpet fashion can be fun. On the other hand, I have never been much of a joiner, and hate waiting in lines, so my actual film-going experience at the Festival has been pretty limited - I've never understood the whole process of pre-buying ticket options, rush lines, etc. that everyone seems to get so excited about. Not to mention the fact that here in Toronto most of the films will return in limited or wide-release, and I have no great desire be the first person in the city to see any particular film.

Is it me, or has the Festival celebrity-stalking coverage become sort of boring in the past couple of years? Maybe I'm just jaded, but when Post gossip columnist Shinan Govani declares that Paris Hilton is the Fest's "Celebrity Mascot", I just yawn. Asia Argento is in town with her father, famous horror director Dario (who was in town in late-August for the Festival of Fear), which is kinda neat.

There has been an onslaught of Film Festival "Celebrity DJs" in town. Check out the Pink Mafia lineup here. Two of our favourite reality show rockstars are here for our entertainment: Tommy Lee AND Dave Navarro! Not to mention Hyde from That 70s Show, and DJ AM aka Nicole Richie's ex-boyfriend from the celebrity gossip blogs. Again, yawn!

Tonight I am supposed to be going to Vice Magazine's Festival Ball at the Berkeley Church. The Yeah Yeah Yeahs are supposed to be playing at this event which is RSVP-only, but basically anyone can RSVP, so it's really first come first served. I am starting to doubt that I will get in, but we'll see. Here's a pic of cool Karen O and her band:


Finally, I have been relistening to the My Chemical Romance album The Black Parade, and I love it even more now than I did before! This album is an oddity in the 00's in that you can actually listen to the entire thing from beginning to end...and it's a concept album! So far there have been four strong singles from this album, with four strong videos, but the rest of the album is great too. If you haven't heard it, you really must download or (horrors!) buy it.

Toronto Panhandler Murder

Last Thursday my roommate left the apartment shortly after midnight to get a snack at 7/11. When he came back he reported that there had been a stabbing across the street, in front of the church. This is literally 200 metres from our apartment. The next day we discovered that four people, possibly panhandlers, had been involved in an altercation with another man, and the man had been stabbed several times. It was also reported that one or more of the attackers had been injured and possibly stabbed. Over the weekend the man died in hospital.

Since that time, the media and some of Toronto's politicians have gone out of control. One after another, politicians and media pundits have called for a "ban" on panhandling. I guess we are going to have to lock up every street person, or possibly send them to a different city via Greyhound bus. There have also been woeful articles in the papers describing "the decline of Queen West" a phenomenon that I have not noticed. As a point of reference, my parents bought their house in this exact neighbourhood under ten years ago for about $150K. This month their neighbours, with the exact same house as theirs (give or take), put their house on the market for $400K and will probably not have trouble finding a buyer. The only decline that I have witnessed in the area is the fact that there are now far too many people living there who should probably be living in the suburbs - people who move into an apartment with graftiti all over the front door and then complain that there is graffiti on their door (that actually happened a few doors down from my place). Trust me, I lived at Queen and Dovercourt in the early-1990s and these people would not recognize the Queen West of those days.

Over the past week we have learned that the attackers were panhandlers and the victim was a "tourist" from St. Catharines. The attackers have yet to be charged with murder, although all four have now appeared in court and have bail hearing dates set for the end of August. The investigation is ongoing. Clearly things got very out of hand that night and someone has unfortunatley died. That being said, my fear of people on the street has not increased, I do not feel like my neighbourhood is in decline, and I do not think that a clampdown on panhandlers would have prevented this. Have some perspective people.

Larry Flynt versus the Christian Right

Sex scandals are nothing new in politics, but I have to admit that it is pretty satisfying when the self-righteous politicians of the Christian Right are exposed for their hypocrisy in matters of sexuality. The most recent case involves David Vitter, a (married) Louisianna Senator who is notorious for his "family values" positions against same sex marriage and in favour of abstinence-only education. Recently Hustler magazine's Larry Flynt unearthed Senator Vitter's phone number in the rolodex of the D.C. Madam, and Vitter was also reportedly a client of a New Orleans brothel. Alternet reports that "that brothel's former madam, while insisting he had been a client, was one of his few defenders last week. 'Just because people visit a whorehouse doesn't make them a bad person,' she helpfully told the Baton Rouge paper, The Advocate."
Don't get me wrong, I totally agree with the madam, but just wish that these blowhards for "morality" would shut their mouths when it comes to other peoples' sex lives. I also love the Larry Flynt angle to this story! According to the Washington Post: "Flynt took out a full-page ad in The Washington Post in June to offer $1 million for 'documented evidence of illicit sexual or intimate relations with a congressman or senator.'" Maybe if we expose enough of these right wing wingnuts (both politicians and evangelists) for the hypocrites that they are, we can start to make some progress.

Jen B. - not sure if you still read this, but I sent you a message to your myspace account earlier this week since I don't have your regular email and still have not signed onto facebook!

Preston Manning, Lou Dobbs, etc.

According to his Wikipedia page, "Preston Manning is a right-wing populist politician." Manning is part of the Canadian political elite - his father was premier of Alberta for about 100 years and young Preston founded the Reform Party back in the 1980s. Our Prime Minister Stephen Harper was one of Manning's first key policy advisors. In the late-1990s the Conservative party merged with the Reform party and formed the American-style populist/Conservative/Christian values Reforma-Tory party.
I have a well-defined hatred for these people. In my mind, fiscal conservatism is something that can be debated. My belief that all citizens in a wealthy country are entitled to a minimum standard of living (including health-care and housing) is not held by everyone, and I can accept that. What I cannot deal with is Social Conservatism. I find the acceptance and election of politicians such as Stockwell Day embarassing. I believe in evolution. I am pro-choice. I support the rights of gay people, including the right to marry one another. I am not racist. I believe in the separation between church and state. I consider myself a feminist. I strongly support universal healthcare (a cause that Stephen Harper fought against for years in his role as president of the National Citizens Coalition)
When I first heard that Preston Manning would be hosting a show on CBC radio, I rolled my eyes. The show is called This I Believe and is based on a 1950s radio program by the same name hosted by Edward R. Murrow (who I became familiar with via the movie Good Night and Good Luck). Every day a "prominent Canadian" reads an essay that they have written. I was expecting irritating anti-gay and pro-capitalist rants, and I was completely wrong. The essays have been surprisingly progressive and interesting. It has made me interested in Preston Manning - someone I dismissed for years. Don't worry, I will never vote for the Conservative Party, regardless of how many times they change their name.
Meanwhile, on the American front, I have been thinking a lot about CNN host Lou Dobbs lately. Dobbs is the so-called champion of the American middle class. He even wrote a book called War on the Middle Class His issues aren't necessarily Republican, or conservative, or right-wing. That being said, Lou focusses on the issue of illegal immigration every night on his show. It is my belief that the unwillingness of the American government to deal with illegal immigration is based on the corporate need for undocumented, under-paid labour in certain industries (fish/meat processing for example). In that respect, Dobbs is correct in associating the decline of the middle class with illegal immigration - illegal/underpaid labour = lower wages and standards for legal/documented workers. On the other hand, his rants reek of racism. Recently, he has been promoting the idea that a huge number of cases of leprosy have been brought into the United States by illegal immigrants. And when I tuned in the other night he was complaining about the fact that a federal judge had struck down Hazleton Pennsylvaina's anti-illegal immigrant law - a ridiculously xenophobic ordinance that the city's mayor described as having this effect: "I see illegal immigrants picking up and leaving -- some Mexican restaurants say business is off 75 percent - the message is out there." Really, I find it hard to believe that illegal immigration is such a huge problem in Hazleton Pennsylvania....were it not for this law, I would have never heard of Hazleton Pennsylvania. I am actually shocked by the fact that Dobbs is given a forum to air these views every night at 6pm on CNN, but maybe I shouldn't be. His other remarkable feature is that he shouts down his guests, Bill O'Reilly style, every time they disagree with him.

Happy Birthday Erin!!!

Hey Erin - Happy Birthday! This card seemed appropriate...



....but this one was just so much more me!!

I hope you have a good one - see you soon for some drinky drinky!

xxx andrea

Another Celebrity Trainwreck....

This one is too astonishing to resist commenting on: Lindsay Lohan has been arrested for a second DUI and cocaine possession. Apparently Lindsay's assistant quit late yesterday, and when her mother arrived to pick her up, Lindsay chased them in her car. The assistant's mother called the police to report this, and when they picked her up, Lindsay's blood alcohol was over the legal limit and she had cocaine in her pocket. This is just weeks after she left rehab, and just days after she turned herself in for her May DUI/automobile crash.
In spite of my hatred of drunk-drivers, I actually feel sorry for her. Of all the retarded female celebrities in the drunken/coked-up Hollywood scene, Lindsay actually seemed to have some talent. I enjoyed Mean Girls, always thought that she was pretty funny on SNL, and though bad, her music was nowhere near as bad as Paris Hilton's. I don't see how Lindsay can avoid jail time at this point.

There is a Britney Spears/OK Magazine scandal brewing today as well, but it is being way overshadowed by this.

Toronto, Taxes, Public Spending, Etc.

There has been a debate this week over taxes in Toronto. In a nutshell, the City of Toronto is facing a financial crisis and severe deficit if one of two things doesn't happen: the first option is to raise taxes; the second option is to cut spending. Anyone who lives in Toronto knows that spending on city programs is already too low. My last two trips on the TTC were appalling: over an hour to get from Yonge and Queen to College and Crawford; and 45 minutes to get from Queen and Niagara to Yonge and Queen. Crime in the city is down, but crime committed by youth is rising - fairly obviously a byproduct of decreased spending on after-school programs and social spending in general. The city is responsible for social services such as welfare and social housing which are already ridiculously inadequete.
Critics argue that spending in Toronto is out of control and the government just needs to "get creative" in finding solutions to the budget crisis. These people have a point - spending scandals such as the computer leasing scandal (which involved "Conservative" members of council, as usual) show us that spending habits can be improved, but there is much more to this issue.
In 1995, as part of the provincial government's "Common Sense Revolution" the City of Toronto was amalgamated with its surrounding suburban cities, and social spending was downloaded from the province to the city. The result is that Toronto is saddled with disproportionately high (compared to the province as a whole) social costs, without the power to impose income tax. There was the usual rhetoric surrounding this change, including the typical neo-con natter about belt-tightening, budget-shrinking, and tax-slashing. Of course in spite of the supposed 20% (provincial) income tax cut I allegedly received for my belt-tightening, all of my expenses rose significantly including the cost of public transit, payment for eye exams, and the "health care premium" which is essentially an income tax. Had my 20% income tax cut amounted to more than a few hundred dollars a year, I would probably have found these fees for services palatable, but such is life as a low income worker.
Meanwhile the gap between rich and poor has been rising at an alarming rate (this article is based on the American experience, but Canada is facing the same problem). Wealth is growing in our country - the problem is that it is all being concentrated in the hands of the very few.
I'm not sure exactly what the point of this post is. I saw the new Michael Moore flick Sicko this weekend, and it has re-inspired my activism about social spending and health care, I suppose. Anyways, whether or not you agree with me, I think it is important to be aware of these issues. That is all!

UPDATE: Shortly after I wrote this post, Toronto Mayor David Miller announced that there would be massive funding cuts to the TTC and other city services. One of the proposed cuts is shutting down service on the brand new Sheppard subway line which cost $1 Billion to construct. Some are accusing Miller of fear-mongering, which may be true. I think the issue illustrates that there is an urgent funding crisis that needs to be addressed. There is an interesting debate about the issue at the Globe and Mail here: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20070719.wttc0719/CommentStory/National/home not sure how long that link will last.

Posh Spice - The Mechanical Animal

So, I know that this is kind of old news now, but I meant to comment on it earlier....
Am I the only one who found Posh Spice Victoria Beckham's appearance at the Spice Girls reunion tour announcement somehow frightening?
The zero body fat, orange skin, implants, and weird hair make her look like a fembot. I almost like it in a Marilyn Manson/Mechanical Animals way, but somehow I doubt that was the look she was going for.



I am moderately hungover today, after drinking several glasses of red wine last night, and then staying up late watching episodes of My So Called Life on the Internet. I never really watched that show when it first came out, so it's all pretty much new to me. I find the clothing very nostalgic and amusing - the ugly/oversized grunge look - classic!

Meet Die Mannequin...My New Favourite Band....

(Die Mannequin at SXSW)

A couple of weeks ago my friend X asked me if I wanted to go to see his friend's band Die Mannequin at Lee's Palace. I was a little reluctant because, well you know...I'm old...but I decided that it could be fun and could possibly be a bit more exciting than watching 5 hours of television instead.
The band was amazing. Totally big, brash rock n roll, but without the usual Toronto poseur douche-baggery...I won't mention any names, but I'm sure you know who I mean. Of course in my usual nerd-ish fashion, I had to check out their myspace page to find out more...the band is fronted by Care Failure who was the best female front person I've seen in years (X introduced us and she really is as cool as she looks), and it turns out that the bass player is Tony from Cheerleader, who were another great Toronto band I've seen a bunch of times. They have been touring constantly it seems, and they have opened for All American Rejects, Buck Cherry, and Guns N Roses.....ha. Watch out for them, they are wicked.

More News Items....

Today I heard the story of Genarlow Wilson, a Georgia teenager who was convicted of aggravated child molestation in 2005. The conviction came as a result of Wilson engaging in oral sex with a fifteen year old girl when he was seventeen years old. Though the (oral) sex was consensual, because the girl was only fifteen it was considered a felony. Because of this, Wilson has been sentenced to ten years in prison, followed by one year of probation, and he will have to be registered as a sex offender. He has already served more than two years of this (insane) sentence. "Had Wilson had intercourse with the 15-year-old and not received oral sex from her, he would have been subject to up to 12-month penalty (statutory rape), with no sex offender status, instead of the 10-year minimum term that the judge gave him." This bizarre law has since been modified, but not retroactively.

Meanwhile, this idiot, London Ontario man Robert Neil Robinson, aged 39, was sentenced yesterday for his SIXTH drunk driving conviction after having been pulled over while he was driving in the wrong direction on highway 401 with a Gatorade/Vodka cocktail at his feet and a blood alcohol level twice the legal limit. His sentence is six months in prison, the maximum sentence allowable for this kind of judgement.

Has the world gone completely mad?

Some Politics.....

(driveway of Laurel Broten's home)

I'm usually not one to jump on the media-hysteria bandwagon when it comes to the shortcomings or misdeeds of various politicians, but a story in the Toronto Star today just struck me as too annoying not to comment on. The Ontario Environment Minister, (Liberal) Laurel Broten, is in trouble at the moment over her plans to construct a massive garage next to her house in south Etobicoke (near where I spent the first 12 years of my life). The garage will house her four SUVs - ok, so two of them are supposedly low emission hybrids, but still, why on earth would any family need four SUVs? Not to mention, is it really appropriate for our Environment Minister to have four SUVs? Did the family buy the two low emission SUVs after she became Environment Minister to mesh with her "environmentally conscious" job? Are they hoping to be featured on MTV Cribs? Brutal. Which brings us to the planned mega-garage that will probably result in the death of an old tree. Why would anyone need a 19 foot high, multi-level garage? Maybe if they really need all of that extra space, they should consider getting rid of some of their vehicles. Just a thought.

TV Links....or the reason why I never have to leave the apartment again

Last weekend was Gay Pride in Toronto - a yearly celebration of all things gay. Here is a picture of Pride that I found on flickr. It's from 2006, but really, they are all pretty much the same:

I went out on Friday and hagged it up at a few events starting with a drag queen beauty contest; then on to a private party at Wellesley and Jarvis where I knew no one but everyone was very nice as it turned out, it seemed to be a gathering of Air Canada (male) flight attendants for the most part...hot; then to the Delta Chelsea Hotel for a top 40 dance party in the hotel bar; then to a cocktail party upstairs with some boys who were going out to a club. When we were going up in the elevator in the hotel there was a very nice/well-dressed couple travelling with us. Tyler asked them if they were just visiting and it turned out that they were in Toronto to sing at Roy Thompson Hall as part of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. Meanwhile there were leather clad men leading each other around on leashes in the lobby....Oh dear.....(!)

Later on Tyler and I had a nightcap at Squirley's (really, it isn't a night on the town in my life if it doesn't involve Squirley's - I should buy shares in the place) where we ran into Tyler's friend Leland. Leland recommended the best web site ever to me: http://www.tv-links.co.uk/ where you can stream all sorts of old and new television shows. Needless to say, I have barely left my apartment since then and have literally watched at least two seasons of Curb Your Enthusiasm (which is addictive), some Law and Order SVU, some Weeds, etc. etc. I am going to try to watch Lost and 24 over the next few weeks.

On Sunday I skipped the usual drunk-fest in the Buddies in Bad Times park that I seem to do every year in celebration of Gay Pride. Instead, I took it easy and got my hair coloured at Coupe. I'm becoming so responsible and mature, it's sickening!

Gridskipper & New York City Stuff

This week I discovered a neat alternative travel website called Gridskipper ("the decadent urban travel guide - scouring the globe for chic hotels, hot restaurants, sweet nightlife, and pretty people")
They rely heavily on maps and lists for their travel stories, which appeals to me, and they have quite a lot of New York City stuff which is also cool. Stories such as Notorious New York Hotels , Cocaine is Everywhere (sorry, this one keeps crashing my computer so you may not want to click on that link) and Civilized & Broke in Manhattan
They did a story on an interesting sounding art exhibition called Get Lost: Portraits of Downtown where 21 artists created pieces, including many maps and an intereting typewritten manifesto about how to ride the bus, all about Lower Manhattan - my favourite part of Manhattan.

some cool pictures I found on the net today....

First some images from The Sanchez Brothers website that I found via daily dose of imagery. These are from an installation called Between Life and Death:





And this one I just found kind of funny and odd:




(from Idolator - apparently discarded cds are becoming a problem)

Celebrity Freakshows

Paris Hilton has been ordered back to jail, apparently. This has turned into such a freakshow, and what better timing than on my weekly day of hangover? It has been splashed all over the celebrity gossip-sphere, as well as having "Breaking News" status on all of the major news networks: Fox, CNN, etc. I am eating this shit up.

Meanwhile, Nicole Richie appeared on Letterman the other night to promote a new season of the Simple Life. She is looking a little bit less emaciated, and is starting to regain the attractiveness that she had in the first season of Simple Life. She proved, once again, that she is the comedic force behind the television series. Letterman grilled her about "young Hollywood" and the trend of rich/famous girls gone wild, including Nicole herself who may end up in jail over a DUI situation similar to Paris'. Dave and Nicole had some pretty choice exchanges, including:

Letterman: “It does beg the question, what has gone wrong with young Hollywood? Honest to God, just look around.”

Richie: “Are you saying what’s my problem?”

Letterman: “No No No no. Just generally, I mean a lot of young people are in a lot of trouble these days and many of our top stars are doing time.”

Richie: “Well I mean, I can’t speak for everyone else, but I mean, it just goes to show that, I don’t, it’s obviously not Hollywood. Everyone goes to jail. All over the world.”

Pretty funny stuff.

So You Think You Can Dance

Last week was the season premiere of one of my favourite reality shows - So You Think You Can Dance. The performers on this show are just so talented that it boggles my mind. Like, it would take me about ten years to learn one dance, and I would probably look ridiculous doing it. Right now they are in the open call stage of the auditions where they get to see the good, the bad, and the terrible a la American Idol. Last night's show took place in Atlanta, Georgia, and by far the two most entertaining performers were the "clogging" guy and the guy with scoliosis. The clogging guy was a geeky, skinny, southern kid, but once he started dancing he was totally transformed - amazing! The guy with scoliosis had a pretty severe spine curvature that affected his walk and posture, obviously, but he did this robot dance to Christina Aguilera's Ain't No Other Man that stole the show. He wasn't put through to the Vegas round, but he was offered a part in a movie that one of the judges is involved with. Very fun!
Next week is the season premiere of Hell's Kitchen (aka Angry Chef) which looks fun. More on that later.

R.I.P. Sam the Record Man

Yesterday I heard the news that Sam the Record Man would be closing it's doors at the end of June. Sam the Record Man, for those of you not familiar with it, is the cavernous record store in downtown Toronto, on Yonge Street at Gould. Because of Sam's giant "spinning records" facade, it has become something of a Toronto landmark.

This afternoon CBC radio had a call in show about the closing of Sam the Record Man with a bunch of nostalgic people telling their Sam the Record Man stories. I have two Sam the Record Man stories. My first was when I was 11 or 12 years old and stood in line in the alley behind Sam’s for three hours (in the hot sun surrounded by stinky garbage) to buy Corey Hart concert tickets, and somehow ended up with the crappiest seats in the whole CNE Grandstand! My other story was in 1985 when I went to the Sam's Boxing Day sale and bought Love and Rockets’ first single (Ball of Confusion) which INCLUDED A POSTER (for $0.99!) and a Falco “Rock Me Amadeus” 12 inch for $1.99. Precious memories!!


It reminds me of a blog entry that Alan McGee wrote about record stores in March – Do We Still Need Record Shops?

Also, right now Jian Ghomeshi is interviewing Terry McBride who is the head of Nettwerk Records, started the Lilith Fair with Sarah Mclachlan, and takes responsibility for Avril Lavigne’s career. He made the point (which is funny because it was something that I was thinking about this morning) that Avril Lavigne’s newest single has sold 5 million copies, compared to Arcade Fire, who have ~maybe~ sold 1 million copies of their last album. Mass-market pop crap still wins out, in spite of the huge amount of media and word of mouth about Arcade Fire. Like McGee, he is very much in favour of music downloading.

Girl Talk

Those of you who know me, know that my musical taste is pretty conservative, in a typical middle class urbanite kinda way. I like bands who play straight up rock/pop music: usually four or five piece bands composed of cute/skinny 25 year old guys. To me the Strokes are a great band, the Killers, Franz Ferdinand, Death Cab for Cutie, Tokyo Police Club, etc. etc. I also like angsty singer/songwriters like Jeff Buckley and Elliot Smith (both so angsty that they are both now dead); some straight up commercial pop music like Destiny's Child or Christina Aguilera, who appeal to my inner gay guy; and of course, tons of older bands - everything from 60s classic rock like Led Zeppelin and the Doors, 70s punk music, New Wave, goth, and so on.
Last week Erin on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown introduced me to the pageblank blog in her excellent post about summer songs. pageblank belongs to a guy named Matthew in Toronto who writes about the same kind of stuff I do, but in a much more interesting and insightful way. I spent most of Friday scanning through his archives (I was hungover, of course). Last October he wrote about an artist called Girl Talk who had played a show at that time at the Spin Gallery here in Toronto. Girl Talk is Pittsburgh dj Greg Gillis who uses a laptop to create these really awesome music collages out of pop music samples from all eras. He would sort of get lumped into the mash up genre, but I was never a huge fan of mash ups, and I love his stuff. He has a few of his songs posted on his myspace, and there are others available to download on other sites. Pitchfork did a great interview about him here last August, and he just played a set at Coachella this spring, so I am probably a little late to this party, but if you haven't heard his stuff, it's definitely worth checking it out. Anyway, could this mean that I am becoming a person who is into dj's and "dance" music? Probably not.
Finally, here are some pics of Scarlett Johansson from the new Louis Vuitton campaign that I found on the Perez Hilton blog. The shoes....the bag.....argh.....why couldn't I have been born with money? And how amazing does she look? Great photos.

Almost the Long Weekend....

The long weekend is almost here and I have never needed a break more than I do now. I will be spending it on Manitoulin Island with the roommate and the roommate's romantic device. I love roadtrips and I love lazing around a lake, so this should be fun.
Jerry Falwell is dead....one right wing bigot down....

Here is an exerpt from Anderson Cooper's interview with Christopher Hitchens on CNN last night:

COOPER: Christopher, I'm not sure if you believe in heaven, but, if you do, do you think Jerry Falwell is in it?

CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS, CONTRIBUTING EDITOR, "VANITY FAIR": No. And I think it's a pity there isn't a hell for him to go to.

COOPER: What is it about him that brings up such vitriol?

HITCHENS: The empty life of this ugly little charlatan proves only one thing, that you can get away with the most extraordinary offenses to morality and to truth in this country if you will just get yourself called reverend. Who would, even at your network, have invited on such a little toad to tell us that the attacks of September the 11th were the result of our sinfulness and were God's punishment if they hadn't got some kind of clerical qualification?
People like that should be out in the street, shouting and hollering with a cardboard sign and selling pencils from a cup. The whole consideration of this -- of this horrible little person is offensive to very, very many of us who have some regard for truth and for morality, and who think that ethics do not require that lies be told to children by evil old men, that we're -- we're not told that people who believe like Falwell will be snatched up into heaven, where I'm glad to see he skipped the rapture, just found on the floor of his office, while the rest of us go to hell.

It's Cannes Film Festival season again. There is a neat looking Canadian animated (with marionettes) film called Madame Tutli-Putli being screened this year. It looks very beautiful and strange.












And finally, I just started reading Crime and Punishment, of all things. Usually I find books this old (mid-1800s) very difficult to get through, but this is amazing!
Have a great weekend my friends! More next week....

Another Amy Winehouse Post

Sorry about the constant posts about Amy Winehouse, but I just walked past her on Queen Street, so I felt compelled to blog about it. She seemed to be window shopping with her boyfriend around Queen and Spadina as I was making my way home from work. Her boyfriend must be along for the ride this tour because I have seen his picture on the celebrity blogs that I read which is how I recognized him. Anyways, I didn't say anything to them, but my heart did begin to race and my eyes almost popped out of my head. Pretty much the same reaction as when I saw Chris Martin from Coldplay in the Market a year or two ago. Other than that, I was cool!! (yeah, I know, I'm a total geek!)