Here's a great picture that pretty much sums up the atmosphere at Happy Endings - I found at some stranger's blog:
and another one from the club's myspace page:
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Happy Endings New York City
In late July when I was visiting New York City, my former roommate Mars took me to visit a fun club called Happy Endings (or, as I can see from their website, Happy Ending Lounge) down in the Lower East Side. I was just thinking about how fun it was there, and how badly Toronto could use fun/dirty places like this, and realized that I had never really written about my NYC trip until now. Happy Endings was an erotic massage parlour in it's former life, and the basement is still made up of ceramic shower stalls. The place was smokey, and grungey and packed full of hipster types and gays and they played electro and retro music. It was there that we met someone from the band Semi Precious Weapons (who my travelling partner Diane is now in love with, since meeting their singer Justin in Toronto at their last two shows).
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Some Random Bits of Life
Last night I went to see the film Religulous - the Bill Maher screed against religion. It was pretty good, though didn't really introduce anything new to the discussion. It's always interesting to see the American Christian fundamentalists do their thing - Jesus Disneyland and Creationism museums....crazy! The Catholics in the film looked sane compared to the Evangelicals, which is saying a lot.
Concurrently, I am reading God is Not Great (How Religion Poisons Everything) by Christopher Hitchens. I have always liked Christopher Hitchens, though kind of parted ways with him over his support of the war in Iraq....or so I thought. I am only two chapters in, but so far this book is very interesting. How can you not like a book with a chapter titled "A Short Digression On The Pig; or, Why Heaven Hates Ham"?
I have also been reading the young adult Twilight book series and have to admit that I am hopelessly addicted. They are like Harlequin romances, with vampires and teenagers. I just ordered the box set from Indigo. And yes, I know I used to roll my eyes at people who were similarly addicted to Harry Potter, but I can't help it!!
I have been listening to MGMT almost exclusively for the past week. I absolutely LOVE their album. Last night I downloaded a bunch of WWII era music for our Halloween workshop party next week. I found an awesome song called "I Didn't Know the Gun Was Loaded" by the Andrews Sisters which is a sickly sweet song about accidentally shooting someone.
Oh yeah, I voted in the recent Federal election for Olivia Chow, the NDP candidate in my riding, who won handily. Another Conservative minority government, which is the least bad we could have hoped for, I suppose. I'm not sure what I'm going to do if the Liberals choose Bob Rae or Gerard Kennedy as their new leader. Could I possibly vote Liberal??
Concurrently, I am reading God is Not Great (How Religion Poisons Everything) by Christopher Hitchens. I have always liked Christopher Hitchens, though kind of parted ways with him over his support of the war in Iraq....or so I thought. I am only two chapters in, but so far this book is very interesting. How can you not like a book with a chapter titled "A Short Digression On The Pig; or, Why Heaven Hates Ham"?
I have also been reading the young adult Twilight book series and have to admit that I am hopelessly addicted. They are like Harlequin romances, with vampires and teenagers. I just ordered the box set from Indigo. And yes, I know I used to roll my eyes at people who were similarly addicted to Harry Potter, but I can't help it!!
I have been listening to MGMT almost exclusively for the past week. I absolutely LOVE their album. Last night I downloaded a bunch of WWII era music for our Halloween workshop party next week. I found an awesome song called "I Didn't Know the Gun Was Loaded" by the Andrews Sisters which is a sickly sweet song about accidentally shooting someone.
Oh yeah, I voted in the recent Federal election for Olivia Chow, the NDP candidate in my riding, who won handily. Another Conservative minority government, which is the least bad we could have hoped for, I suppose. I'm not sure what I'm going to do if the Liberals choose Bob Rae or Gerard Kennedy as their new leader. Could I possibly vote Liberal??
Wednesday, October 08, 2008
Heather Mallick-Sarah Palin Controversy Rages On!
On September 20, 2008 I wrote a bit about Heather Mallick's September 5 cbcnews.ca column condemning Vice Presidential hopeful Sarah Palin, as well as the controversy that seemed to be brewing over Mallick's criticism of Palin.
Mallick wrote in that column that Palin "added nothing to the ticket that the Republicans didn't already have sewn up, the white trash vote, the demographic that sullies America's name inside and outside its borders yet has such a curious appeal for the right" and that Palin "has a toned-down version of the porn actress look favoured by this decade's woman, the overtreated hair, puffy lips and permanently alarmed expression". Mallick also referred to Republicans as "sexual inadequates". etc. etc.
From my point of view, it was nice to hear someone who agreed with me about Palin. I had seen the McCain campaign turn around since he announced Palin as his running mate, and was honestly saddened that people seemed to be taken in by her. Thankfully McCain's boost in the polls was short-lived. Recently, we have seen Palin's embarrassing interview with Katie Couric, the funny-yet-scary portrayals of Palin on SNL, her mediocre performance in the Vice Presidential debates, as well as a debunking of the mythology of Sarah Palin by the media. Popular support for Palin seems to be dwindling, and the McCain campaign is suffering as a result of this.
On September 9 an indignant Jonathan Kay posted to his blog at the National Post a rant against Mallick, as well as condemnation of the cbc for being too left wing and anti-American. He posted a follow up to this on September 19th after Fox News picked up the story on September 18.
Now Magazine's Susan Cole weighed in on the controversy in her September 25 column, correctly pointing out that most of the criticism of the Mallick column was based on a lack of understanding of what Mallick actually said:
If you've followed this story without reading the original blog, you'd think that Mallick called Palin white trash. She did not do that, actually. What she said was that by naming Palin to the ticket, McCain sewed up the white trash vote. And, let's admit, there exists some white trash in America.
Also high on the anti-Mallick commentators' list is the claim that Mallick compared Palin to a porn star. Not so. She said that Palin had the porn star look down, a reasonable comment on where her appeal lies and how it might work and not at all tantamount to comparing Palin to Jenna Jameson
On September 29, cbcnews.ca publisher John Cruickshank removed the Mallick article from the site's archives and published a letter explaining this decision (based on the assessment of the column by Vince Carlin, the CBC ombudsman). He stated that:
Mallick's column is a classic piece of political invective. It is viciously personal, grossly hyperbolic and intensely partisan....As a public broadcaster we have an added responsibility to provide an array of opinions and voices to complement our journalism. But we must do so carefully. And you should be able to trust us to provide you with work that's based on solid reporting and free from the passionate excesses of partisanship. We failed you in this case. And as a result we have put new editing procedures in place to insure that in the future, work that is not appropriate for our platforms, will not appear. We are open to contentious reasoned argument but not to partisan attack. It's a fine line.
Finally, on October 6, Mallick posted a column about the situation, writing that:
Extremist right-wingers in the U.S. apparently read CBCNews.ca, and within days of my column's appearance, hundreds of e-mails from Americans began landing on my personal website. Then Fox News took up the cause and it got bigger and worse, not like a rolling stone, more like a dung beetle having a field day...
Two things about the whole debacle are of interest. One is the matter of protecting writers' safety when villagers approach with torches and pitchforks. One of my employers immediately provided me with a security guard. I had offered to cancel a speech I was giving at a Catholic university in Canada - I didn't want to embarrass them - but they refused, on the grounds of free speech, and they had also liked the column.
The other matter is the vexed state of cyberspace. Online has brought instant media democratization as well as the erasure of national borders. And websites have not devised a way to keep online forums civilized. "There's no point debating anything online," writes the columnist Charlie Brooker. "You might as well hurl shoes in the air to knock clouds from the sky".
I find this whole story sad for a number of reasons. I am saddened by the fact that cbcnews.ca censored the article. I am saddened by the personal attacks on Mallick, someone who I admire and respect as a writer. Finally, I am saddened by the fact that, even in Canada, there still seems to be a certain level of support for Sarah Palin. Saddened, but really, not surprised.
Mallick wrote in that column that Palin "added nothing to the ticket that the Republicans didn't already have sewn up, the white trash vote, the demographic that sullies America's name inside and outside its borders yet has such a curious appeal for the right" and that Palin "has a toned-down version of the porn actress look favoured by this decade's woman, the overtreated hair, puffy lips and permanently alarmed expression". Mallick also referred to Republicans as "sexual inadequates". etc. etc.
From my point of view, it was nice to hear someone who agreed with me about Palin. I had seen the McCain campaign turn around since he announced Palin as his running mate, and was honestly saddened that people seemed to be taken in by her. Thankfully McCain's boost in the polls was short-lived. Recently, we have seen Palin's embarrassing interview with Katie Couric, the funny-yet-scary portrayals of Palin on SNL, her mediocre performance in the Vice Presidential debates, as well as a debunking of the mythology of Sarah Palin by the media. Popular support for Palin seems to be dwindling, and the McCain campaign is suffering as a result of this.
On September 9 an indignant Jonathan Kay posted to his blog at the National Post a rant against Mallick, as well as condemnation of the cbc for being too left wing and anti-American. He posted a follow up to this on September 19th after Fox News picked up the story on September 18.
Now Magazine's Susan Cole weighed in on the controversy in her September 25 column, correctly pointing out that most of the criticism of the Mallick column was based on a lack of understanding of what Mallick actually said:
If you've followed this story without reading the original blog, you'd think that Mallick called Palin white trash. She did not do that, actually. What she said was that by naming Palin to the ticket, McCain sewed up the white trash vote. And, let's admit, there exists some white trash in America.
Also high on the anti-Mallick commentators' list is the claim that Mallick compared Palin to a porn star. Not so. She said that Palin had the porn star look down, a reasonable comment on where her appeal lies and how it might work and not at all tantamount to comparing Palin to Jenna Jameson
On September 29, cbcnews.ca publisher John Cruickshank removed the Mallick article from the site's archives and published a letter explaining this decision (based on the assessment of the column by Vince Carlin, the CBC ombudsman). He stated that:
Mallick's column is a classic piece of political invective. It is viciously personal, grossly hyperbolic and intensely partisan....As a public broadcaster we have an added responsibility to provide an array of opinions and voices to complement our journalism. But we must do so carefully. And you should be able to trust us to provide you with work that's based on solid reporting and free from the passionate excesses of partisanship. We failed you in this case. And as a result we have put new editing procedures in place to insure that in the future, work that is not appropriate for our platforms, will not appear. We are open to contentious reasoned argument but not to partisan attack. It's a fine line.
Finally, on October 6, Mallick posted a column about the situation, writing that:
Extremist right-wingers in the U.S. apparently read CBCNews.ca, and within days of my column's appearance, hundreds of e-mails from Americans began landing on my personal website. Then Fox News took up the cause and it got bigger and worse, not like a rolling stone, more like a dung beetle having a field day...
Two things about the whole debacle are of interest. One is the matter of protecting writers' safety when villagers approach with torches and pitchforks. One of my employers immediately provided me with a security guard. I had offered to cancel a speech I was giving at a Catholic university in Canada - I didn't want to embarrass them - but they refused, on the grounds of free speech, and they had also liked the column.
The other matter is the vexed state of cyberspace. Online has brought instant media democratization as well as the erasure of national borders. And websites have not devised a way to keep online forums civilized. "There's no point debating anything online," writes the columnist Charlie Brooker. "You might as well hurl shoes in the air to knock clouds from the sky".
I find this whole story sad for a number of reasons. I am saddened by the fact that cbcnews.ca censored the article. I am saddened by the personal attacks on Mallick, someone who I admire and respect as a writer. Finally, I am saddened by the fact that, even in Canada, there still seems to be a certain level of support for Sarah Palin. Saddened, but really, not surprised.
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