350 Simpsons?

I really enjoy the Simpsons this year. They've worked really hard at retooling the show to get it back to what it was in th beginning (read: clever funny not stupid funny). The episode where Springfield legalized marriage to increase tourism was an instant classic. Already at work on a mind-blowing 17th season, Matt Groening says "no end in sight".

I'll also add:
- I was one of the few people that were sad when "Futurama" was canceled. That show will get it's credit someday
- Family guy is back on the air this Sunday! Rejoice! Dont' watch American Dad though, not so good.

iWon News

New Music Friday Vol. 11

Today's update will be a quicky.

Not quite new music, but have I mentioned the new Jimmy Eat World? I was never a fan of this band, having only heard the name tossed around until heard the first single from Bleed American. Ho-hum.

Then, a friend turned me on to their old work. Clarity is an excellent album, filled with all sorts of indie rock goodness. Futures, while by no means a return to the old days, is definitely a step back towards a less radio rock time for the band. Highlights include Pain, Kill and Futures. Go here and listen to the whole thing for free!

I'm looking out my office window high in downtown Toronto. I swear, mixed in with all this god-forsaken rain, is tiny bits of snow. After a week, this is getting depressing.

But Did He Inhale?

This is just funny. Never doubt politicians to keep stoking the fires of their own jokes.

TIME.com: But Did He Inhale?

Canadian Chamber of Commerce act Egregious

Why am I not suprised that big business is peeved about dropping the tax cut? Pay up pal, you can afford it. Maybe if the big corps stopped putting people out of work to maintain their billion-dollar-a-year profits, people would feel bad for you. Then again, I seriously doubt that.

CBC News: Business groups slam Liberal-NDP deal

The Ottawa Sun Owes Me a New Keyboard...

...for causing me to spray water out of my mouth after reading Christina Blizzard's headline today. I'm not really sure how to react to the article. But for some reason I feel obliged. Could Dalton McGuinty be the next PM? Could Warren Kinsella be maneuvering him into the job? Could 16th Century Italian letters still be considered evil by today's utterly low standards? Yeah, maybe.

I'm not going to comment on whether I think Dalton would be or could be the next Liberal hope for PM. Or whether he'd do a good job. I do think he's doing a good job as Premier, despite what Christina might have to say in every other article she writes.

Could Warren Kinsella be secretly laying the groundwork in Ottawa for McD to 'move on up'? Maybe. But being, according to the 'Bliz, a McGuinty advisor AND, according to another new post, a lobbyist for the chemical industry would be a bit of a conflict of interest. Don't cha think?

I love that people still use Machiavelli. Is it better to be feared or loved? Is that all you remember from second year political philosophy Nar Nar? No, I say. Nicky also reminded us that a good prince stays out of the lime light, not in it. He stays away from the common folks, becoming more of an enigma, lending to his own mythology and reverence. Nice trick huh? Unfortunately, I don't think this'd work for either Warren (who loves to post just about everything on his site), or The Big D (who has championed a return through his town hall meetings).

Anyways, that's my $0.02. I bet there will be a ton of stuff cropping up all over the place shortly.

Expect this to grow...

...Then disappear. Just like the two speed freaks in Jets that blew up Canadian soldiers two years ago.

CBC News: U.S. troops may have killed Canadian in Iraq: reports

Daily Nar t-shirts??! Maybe...

Yup. In conjunction with Zazzle, The Daily Nar will be able to bring you t-shirts in a variety of styles and and colours. Only problem is, I've got no idea what to design.

SO! Send your ideas, photos, and suggestions to us ASAP. The best ones will become shirts for your purchasing pleasure. Oh yeah, got's to diversify!

thedailynar@gmail.com

"But he wanted them!"

In yet another feeble attempt to justify the war in Iraq, the CIA concluded its hunt for WMD's today (today?! Didn't everyone else figure this out last year?), saying he didn't have 'em, but he wanted 'em.

I don't have a million dollars, but I want a million dollars. Should I go to jail because someone thinks I may rob a bank to get it?

CBC News: CIA inspector ends Iraqi weapons hunt

York Univeristy, don't be stupid.

Give up the stadium idea. What else can I say really? Everyone knows it's a bad idea. Even the Argos. That's why they are pulling out. Since the government works a little slower, it'll be a short time before they do to. But they will. Don't commit to $70 million dollars on an empty stadium no one wants nor can afford. You will bankrupt your students.

Issue: Argonauts May Pull Out of New Stadium With York University

Even after the Toronto Star reported that the Toronto Argonauts would most likely pull out of a deal to build a new stadium with York University, the university still wants to go ahead with its plan to build the $70 million stadium.

The backtracking of the Argonauts, who have been given the option to play rent-free at the Rogers Centre, may also affect the Canadian Soccer Association’s (CSA) plan to host the 2007 FIFA under-20 world soccer championship.

Chief Operating Officer of the CSA, Kevin Pipe, said that they remained committed to the new stadium but acknowledged that there was a "gap" of $20 million in financing, which was set to come from the Argonauts. Pipe also said, "We are surprised and disappointed."

Bud Purves, the president of York’s development corporation said, "We’re going to try our best to make this happen. There must be a way to do it – eliminating the Argo offices, suites, padded seats and that sort of thing."

Paul Godfrey, the President and CEO of the Blue Jays, oversees the operations at the Rogers Centre. He said, "We discuss a lot of things with the Argos as they relate to scheduling, but other than that we don’t have a lot of discussion with them. We have no agreement with the Argos. In fact, I don’t know what their status is with York."

A spokesman from the Ministry of Tourism and Recreation said that Queen’s Park is still committed to deliver on its $8 million funding for the project, but still wants to see what the Argonauts decide to do "and take it from there."

Has Pootie-Poot lost the plot?

Is this guy a very clever statesman, or just bat-sh*t crazy? I've always wondered, mostly over pints, how bad things are politically in Russia. I mean, we hear all about the bad things the Bush administration does, and that forms a bad opinion of them (as it should) because of the extent of the media coverage on them. Russia, on the other hand, does everything in it's power to control and silence the media, from within and without. So, we hear nothing about what goes on there. What little that does leak out comes across as pretty bad. I have a nasty feeling that Old Pootie makes Bush look like a puss.

I knew they were in trouble when one of his first acts was to shut down MTV in Russia. Pootie no like the rock.

CBC News: Putin calls USSR's breakup 'catastrophe'

UPDATE: I love Fark for two reasons. 1) The headlines are hilarious. 2) The forums offer you a chance to see the raw, unbridled, head-in-assedness of people when they don't have to look you in the face to tell you their opinion. Typically American posters, see what they have to say about this story on Fark here.

Happy Earth Day

I didn't forget, I just forgot to say it here.

HAPPY EARTH DAY!

Time to head downstairs for the 20-minute makeover.


Earthday Network Homepage

New Music Vol. 10

Wow.

Ten weeks of New Musics, and still going strong. Sort of. I'm rarely on time with them, and lately, the pickin's are gettin' slim. Here's a few tidbits

- Mastodon is a good band. This band has released a video for my favorite song, Blood and Thunder, on the Relapse Records site, as well as MTV and MTV2. Listen to Mastodon here.

- The Weakerthans are on to with The Constantines. They just passed through Toronto, and sadly I missed them. In case you live under a rock, The Weakerthans are like the post-punk alternative to the Hip. I know that's a bad reference but I can't think of any other way to describe them (and they did open for the Hip, yuck, on New Years Eve). Formed after frontman John K. Sampson left Propaghandi. I like them a lot. The Constantines are also a good band, be sure to check them both out.

- I mentioned them last week as part of Bamboozle, but thougth I should mention it again so it looks like I have a lot to say on our 10th anniversary. Small Towns Burn A Little Slower is another great little relatively unknown band that deserves (and will get) more attention. Listen to some tracks here.

So there you have it. 10 down, 1 million to go. In case I haven't said this in in a while: Email us your music links, news, and anything else related. WE NEED MATERIAL! Help keep the new music alive and popular!

I'd stick a Finger in It!

I'm actually pretty happy to hear this...

For those not in the know, this woman claimed she found half a finger in her bowl of chilli at a Wendy's in San Jose, CA. Problem was, no one was missing a finger! No the staff, not the delivery people, not the meat packers, no one. This woman has a history of frivolous lawsuits (read: common pasttimes in the US), and deserves everything she gets. I still want to know where the finger came from (clue: this woman's aunt died just before this happened. gross, yeah i know)

NBC11.com - News - Police Arrest Woman Who Claims She Found Finger In Chili

Fresh Air...

By now, I'm sure every Tom, Dick, and Harold with a website has their junk up about what happened on the TV last night. Why, you may ask, did the Daily Nar not harness the power of the internets to get his thoughts and feelings up on the web as quickly as possible. The satisfy his seemingly endless cadre of adoring readers? Well, loyal fan, I felt it was necessary for me to pontificate on last nights events, collect my thoughts, and... oh! Who am I kidding! I lost interest in the middle of Jack "what's it gonna take to sell you this car today" Layton's rather off-target speech and went to the park to play Frisbee.

But now that I have your attention. Maybe I will say something about the PM's prerecorded speech last night. It was dull, it was expectedly dodgey, for second there I thought he was going to resign (silly me!). I was right in my prognostication that an election would go down in the spring, barring the opposition bringing down the house, as it were.

On that subject, the Tories said something to the effect of 'we will take this week to decide whether or not to force an election". Translation: 'we will take this week to create a war-room with conservative media giants across the country to see if they can sell an all out attack on the Liberals long enough for us to win. If they say yes, then let's get it on!'

Gilles Duceppe once again impresses me by just not giving a crap about anyone. Personally, I like his style. I also love the way he says federalism (feder-RAL-lism) and democratic (de-MO-cra-tick), it keeps me on my toes.

Jack - he just missed the broad side of the barn. His speech started off weird, then got boring. Maybe it's because he was last in line. Or maybe it's because, unlike everyone else, most of his speech had nothing to do with the issues at hand. Granted, I fully support the NDP's positions on the environment, green space, ad creep, and all the other adbusters-friendly terms he's come to learn on Queen Street. But he should have stuck to the subject matter. For some reason beyond me, the NDP seem motivated to downplay their pivotal role in the minority situation as much as possible. The NDP should be on TV all the time, always pushing their agenda through the fact that they are the tie-breaker. When Jack speaks, the other parties should be listening, and young people who agree with NDP's platform, should swell with pride. That's not happening. Maybe they should hire the The Daily Nar Consulting Group to help with their image, and ad campaign! Our slogan:

Ask About our Low Sponsorship Scandals Rates!

TTC, I just don't get it.

You're broke. You're so broke you need to threaten a strike over $600. Replace old buses? Yeah right. Build an extension on the subway to York University? Surely you jest. New streetcars? Fugettaboutit.

So what do you do? Why, the opposite of making money you say? What a grand idea!

Heck, I think being able to share a metro pass with someone is a wonderful idea. Working families with different shifts will only now have to pick up one pass instead of two. But the two-facedness of the TTC just leaves me stunned. Am I being ridiculous in thinking cutting Metro pass revenues by %50 in most households may not be the financial answer they are looking for? It was barely two weeks ago they were screaming for a few lousy dollars.

CBC Toronto - TTC to introduce transferable passes

Webby Award Nominees

The Webby Award nominees have just been announced. Dorky? Maybe. Cool? Sure. I haven't had a chance to go through them, but I will, and I'll post my fave's. This young lady, a co-host for the show Call For Help, has highlighted her picks. She's smart, so I'd trust her.

Webby Awards

Just in time for Dinner

The Prince of Money will go before the populace a little sooner than expected, at 7 PM tonight.

Good News: Not forced to watch Seinfeld re-runs
Better News: Can still see Jeopardy
Best News: The PM will either destroy his political career in one fell swoop, or save his minority gov't from death for another few weeks.

This is best because I don't want an election right now, but I'd still vote Liberals to keep the Tories at bay (that's bay, not Bay).

CBC News: PM moves up time of TV appeal

Hear yey, Hear yee

"I didn't do it. No body saw me do it. You can't prove it" -Bart Simpson

The question is: would you still vote liberal to keep the Conservatives out? Remeber, there is more on the line here than the liberal party. Think about it... I will be... voting for a cow if necessary to keep the Tories on the wrong side of the House.

CBC News: PM to address the nation

Happy 4/20 day! Get it, man?

At least someone at CHUM TV does. Check out their evening movies tonight:

City - Half-Baked
NewVR - Grass

Coincidence? No way man!

Der neue Papst wird gekrönt.

So it seems that ubber-conservative cardinal Ratzenburger (or something, I'm not looking it up) is running the show in Rome for the next few years. I say few because he's already pushing 80... I see he's picked the name "Benedict", like benediction, or Benedict Arnold. Good for him.

I'm really only reporting this because I feel it's important for me to imortalize myself on the internet in a search engine somewhere. So try this:

- go to google, or yahoo, or whatever search engine you like
- type in "The Daily Nar Is the New Pope!"
- email me anything good you find

-for added degree of difficulty, switch it to an image search.

Now go forth and multiply, my children. Yahmen.

Out

The Nar will be incommunicado for a couple of days. So here's something stupid to tide you over...

Prince Harry flunks out on tech test | News.blog | CNET News.com

New Music Friday No. 9

Ok, so it's not Friday. This isn't the first time this has happened, so no need to panic just yet... I was too busy introducing myself to a great new bar in the heart of Kensington Market, Ronnies. $5 a pint and kick ass food, no complaints on a late article from me!

This week has been a slow one on the music front, but here's a couple for you noble and constant readers:

- Bamboozle starts soon. The line-up is pretty sick(highlights): Brand New, Boys Night Out, Minus the Bear, Further Seems for Ever (with original singer Chris Carrabba), Midtown, Moneen, Rufio, Silverstein, Small Towns Burn Slower, The Early November, Armor for Sleep, Bear vs. Shark, Bouncing Souls, and Down to Earth Approach.

- incase that didn't blow your mind enough, Further Seems Forever will be playing with Chris Carrabba! Chris is the original singer for FSF - their album The Moon is Down is incredible. Chris, however, is much more well known for his other band, and little dittie called Dashboard Confessional. I hope this means they dumped that crap-ass from their latest album. I don't what happened to the guy from How to Start A Fire, but it was a real shame he left the band. I wish I had a car, because Ashbury Park's not that far away...

Don't call NORAD just yet...

From an email:

We have been advised by X, that on Thursday afternoon or Friday, weather permitting, Airborne Sensing will be flying low over the downtown core mapping the area. They will be flying a few hundred feet above the buildings and will be flying below the level of the CN Tower. We are told that one of the requirements of Transport Canada was to notify the City that they would be flying. Airborne sent Survey & Mapping an after-hours email yesterday informing us that they would be flying today. No permission from the City apparently is required to fly over. However, people may be concerned seeing a low flying aircraft over the downtown core.

The Early Bird Stupid Award

"I'm waiting for someone to throw a cabrito [goat] head at them so they know what part of the country they are in,"

WOAI: SAN ANTONIO//NEWS

From "Alert" to "Prepare"

Uh oh. Last night I finished watching a Discovery Channel show, Supervolcano. Fairly frightening stuff. Scarier still, is that what's happening in the Sumatra region right now is more or less the same.

One erupting volcano = bad
Two erupting volcanos = run!

Yahoo! News - Second volcano intensifies disaster alarm in Indonesia

Still a slow day

It appears that the US has been covering up it's cases of Mad Cow Disease...

CBC News: Concerns raised about 1997 U.S. mad cow tests

Slow News Day

Not much happening worth talking about, yet. So check out Henry Earl. This here fella's been arrested and staggering 905 times in the last 13 years!

What's up with Henry Earl?

Tonight its a biggie...

The vote for same sex marriage goes on tonight. If it passes, that's pretty much all he/she wrote!

I've already commented on this whole thing. If you want to know, check the archive.

CBC News: Same-sex marriage bill faces hurdle

I don't believe it for a second

Hmmm. The beef industry commisions a study to look at cloned meat and the risks of eating it. Study finds there's no problem with it. The daily nar cranes its collective neck looking for anyone not dressed like a sheep.

TheDenverChannel.com - Health - Study: Cloned Animals' Meat, Milk Meet Industry Standards

$600

Yup. That's what it took to stop the TTC strike. Six-hundred-freakin'-dollars. The real kicker, for me, is that it's not $600 that they feel they are owed. No no, it's $600 they've paid into their pensions the last 5 years because they HAD to. I think I can hear the violins...

So in addition to the $600 they paid into their pensions over the last five years (which will grow), we've given them an additional $600.

Some may ask "so what, it's only $600". But that's my point. $600 isn't a lot of money if you are working and living in Toronto. I don't buy the argument that $600 is a lot of money to a working family. Maybe the working family should work towards a higher income job. I know it sounds kind of cruel, but I still think it's fair. Its not my responsibility to ensure that employees at a private company are making enough money to take care of their families, is it? And I only tip when I get good service, not because its my duty to prop up my servers way of life.

Well guess what, my tax dollars aren't meant to subsidize individuals working jobs that can't support their way of life, either. I blame the unions. I mean, I'm a pretty lef-wing guy, but unions have always been a big sore spot for me. This is evidence of why. The TTC employees' union was fully prepared to plunge a city of 4 million people who pay their bills and write their cheques into total chaos for $600.

That's six months of metro passes. I wonder if they have to pay to ride the rocket? I bet they don't.

Losses to file sharing greatly exaggerated

Here's another one for the "yeah-right" file. The Canadian music industry claims illegal downloads costs them over $450 million dollars every year. This wouldn't be so laughable if :

a) They had picked a figure anyone with a brain would believe; and
b) Nobody had every heard of an iPod

I don't think there is $450 million dollars invested in Canadian music, period. Forget sales. Anyways, this article links to a great pieces of work by a U. Ottawa Professor...

Losses to file sharing greatly exaggerated

The Robo-Metro Solution

I find it quite humourous that this article should appear today. Maybe this is the way we in Toronto should have solved the TTC dispute. I rode the robo-metro in Rennes, France; and it was actually quiet nice. Even in French, I could understand the recorded messages telling me the stops better!

Wired News: NYC Subway Gets Computer Facelift

Crisis Averted (not really).

So, without much fanfare, the TTC reached a settlement with the city late tonight. I am suprised, not really. This was a cash grab, plain and simple. The TTC union knows it can play these sort of games with the people of Toronto because of its value to people and business in the city. I still wonder wether or not this was in the plan all along. It wouldn't suprise me to see that it was. I mean, this played out like a bad drama flick, with the worst being prevented at the last possible moment. And for what, a few dollars an hour. Remeber that next time you see those ads in the Subway talking about how wonderful and helpful TTC employees are.

TTC Watch 2005

I'll try to keep you up to date on the goings on with the TTC here...

AS of 12:45 PM Friday, no word from either side.

AS of 3:30 PM Friday, The TTC has announced they will not be on the job on Monday. I will have A LOT more to say about this, later.

New Music Friday Vol. 8

This week, we finally get to talk about the two albums we know you're just sick of us going on about: Choke's Slow Fade or: How I learned to Question Inifinity; and Hot Hot Heat's Elevator. And the result are mixed - one is good, one is not.

Let's start with the one that's not. As much as it pains me to say this, I have to admit that I'm really not very impressed with Slow Fade. It's almost as if the band smoked a near lethal amount of pot just before recording this album, a big departure from the traditional super-tight tech-punk-math-rock that made [Foreward] an instant classic amongst other musicians. First off, the album is slow. Really slow. It is a decidedly introverted album, with the band exploring new styles and guitar effects. The results become bland not far past the third track. The timing tricks are still there, but the album just comes off as a downer. Too bad...

But wait! All is not lost this week! Hot Hot Heat, on the other hand, more than make up for Choke's upset with Elevator. From start to finish this album rocks on, true HHH-style, with only minor hiccups. In fact, there's not too much to say about this release. If you like HHH, you'll love the new album. A little more rock-y here and there, but doesn't stray far from the formula that makes Hot Hot Heat's brand of dance-punk so much fun at parties!

So there you have it: get Elevator, pass on Slow Fade. Watch for both bands in T.O. soon!

RIP- Derrick Plourde

Derrick Plourde, one of the best drummer's I've ever heard, passed away today. Derrick was the drummer in Lagwagon (his three albums, especially Duh and Thrashed with the band were a huge influence on me as a kid), The Ataris, Mad Caddies, and many more. His death is sad, but not entirely unexpected. I've never had it confirmed, but I've heard many stories of drug use. A site has been built for him here.

Welcome to Alternative Press Magazine

The Jesus Finding Continues

Not to be outdone by the guitarist from Korn (now ex-guitarist), Tool/A perfect Circle frontman Maynard Keenan has allegedly also found God and left music (anybody say "Thank God!" yet?).

mtv.com - News - Maynard? Jesus? Part Two ...

UPDATE: Ho-ho. Hee-Hee. This was just a belated April Fool's Joke from the least humourous person in the world. Cheers, buddy.

Skateboarding is a crime?

This story makes me really mad. A kid goes to a huge skate park, his mom signs a waiver, he breaks his leg, he's allowed to sue said skate park. It proves:

1. Kids are stupid
2. Skateboarding should have never been dragged (kicking and screaming) into pop culture
3. The U.S. judicial system is a joke
4. Stupid kids have stupid parents

I can't believe this, really. It's so hard already to operate a skatepark, due to the incredibly high insurance costs, that only a few companies can afford to do it. After this, you won't see them anywhere. What's really ironic, is that skate parks have traditionally been seen as the "safer" alternative to skating in the street. In Toronto, you can't skate anywhere in the street without being ticketed. One alternative, my friend's park , Shred Central.

Personally, I can't wait until the whole skateboarding fad fades away again, so that it go back to being just "skateboarding", not some "extreme sport" or other B.S., that has every kid coming out of the woodwork trying to be cool. I hate to break it to you, but getting hurt is part of skateboarding. You take your licks and learn from it. It's "paying your dues". This is ridiculous.

Skateboarding: the greatest sport in the world. Now forget you ever heard of it, please?

law.com - Article

Monday! Monday!! Monday!!!

My prediction still stands: If the union is giving the city until Monday, I don't think they'll stike. Please don't make me eat my words.

CBC Toronto - We'll strike on Monday: TTC union

Say it ain't so, Warren!

I'm not a big fan of bloggers. I can't even really tell you why I'm doing one myself. That being said, I've found myself being a fan of one blog in particular (you can see by the link section on the right). Warren Kinsella's blog offers an interesting mix of Canadian politics from an insider's view, while maintaining a punk-rock ethic that has always reassured me that there are still some people in this political game that are what I'd consider "the good guys". I've always thought that the best way to change a system is from the inside out...
That's why I was so disturbed to read an article today in my media scan, which has been posted, in various forms, in the Toronto Star, the Toronto Sun, the National Post and the Ottawa Citizen. In it, Mr. Kinsella is accused of using his considerable political clout to stall/kill a proposed environmental law on behalf of it's intended target, the chemical industry.
Now I don't know Warren Kinsella personally, but after reading his site for a while, I find this a little hard to believe. I'm hoping this is a case of exhageration on the part of the media (because that wouldn't be the first time that's happened!) That's why I'm hoping he'll respond, either directly through email or on his own site, in either case I'll post his rebuttal. Here is excepts for the arcticle in question:

Bill 133, the proposed environmental legislation that would slap fines of up to $100,000 a day on corporate polluters, has been sent to committee instead of the legislature for debate, which has some opposition members up in arms.

Warren Kinsella, by all accounts, a Liberal party insider, and recently a registered lobbyist for the Coalition for a Sustainable Environment, is being named as the reason for the bill being sent to committee, rather than to the floor. The coalition is made up of corporations that are against the legislation.

Speaking in the legislature, NDP Leader Howard Hampton stated, “You bring forward Bill 133 about six months ago, with lots of rhetoric, and then for six months it languishes on the order paper. Nothing happens. On March 14, Warren Kinsella signs up as the lobbyist for the chemical industry that wants this bill watered down. Now, just days later, the bill doesn’t come forward for debate; it goes out the side door to committee.”

Ouch. Let's keep an eye on this one.

UPDATE: Warren's reply was brief, and posted on his site: "I don't ever comment here on client matters, ever, and I'm not about to start."

Huh? Christians don't like Violent Movies?

So I saw Sin City over the weekend. I'm sure by now you know someone who has seen it. I'm also sure they've told you "It's not what I was expecting at all". This is an ultra-violent film. The filmmakers took care to make sure people didn't know that before they went in. It is far and beyond just about any other movie I've seen. On the plus side, it is an amazing looking movie, true to the dark, high-contrast black and white graphic novels it's lifted from. Even the dialogue is in tune with what you'd read in the ballons about a charatcer's head.

That being said, I have come acroos the Children's Alliance Project's review of the film. CAP is a christian group that rates films in accordance to what I think is the bible's measure of sin. Suffice to say, this movie scored a zero. As they put it "Every other "shalt not" in the Bible was likely violated in this film".

Enjoy the review!


SIN CITY (R [R]): CAP Movie Ministry Entertainment Media Analysis Report MAR25026

Smart or not?

Personally, I think this just might work. Dorms at U.S. schools are including legal download software (napster, realnetworks, etc.) in dorm fees to get students to start getting used to the idea of paying for download services. The hope is that after they graduate, they will remeber that the service has a fee, just like having a phone or internet connection, and pay to play (not steal). Interesting indeed...

Wired News: Students Use Next-Gen Downloads

WAY TO GO!

The students of Quebec have done the impossible (at least, the impossible here in Ontario). The Minister of Education has decided to replace the money he STOLE from the students over the next 5 years (about $484 million).

Unfortunately, this money is coming from the the millennium Scholarship Foundation, which seems to me like their not really replacing the stolen money, just stealing it from future generations of students to pay the current one off.

Also, current students are only seeing about $70 million, which won't amount to much.

But what I am most impressed with is the speed and level of organization that the student groups in Quebec displayed. As fast I had heard about the funding announcements, the students were out there, en masse, in Montreal and Quebec City. They had demonstrations big and small, with ten of thousands of students participating every day. They didn't back down when the Minister threatened to make them work through the summer. "We knew what we were getting into" was the reply. Ontario students are going to have to pay attention and start preparing now for a big fight over tuition if they Rae Report is fully implemented (like the schools want). I can guarantee that OSAP funding levels will increase to match soaring tuitions, which will only increase the debt on graduating students. And in a province where it is getting harder and harder to get work at levels capable of paying back your loans, students MUST take action now.

But for now, bravo Quebec! That's the way to do it!

Launchcast Followup

Here is an email I received from a regular reader. Nice to see that momentum is gaining. See the post below, "I'm Changing my Opinion" for links to how you can let Roger's know you're fed up with being pushed around. Unite! Unite!

You'll be happy to know, that not only did I click on the ads, I also used your exact verbiage to complain to Rogers, with an addendum saying "Nar sent me!"

Need Cash? Ask the Wolf-man!

Oops, missed this one yesterday. I guess now when the U.S. goes broke invading other counties, it can just ask Wolfie to give 'em a loan!

"C'mon Paulie, you know I'm good for it!"


Yahoo! News - World Bank Board Approves Wolfowitz

New Music Friday Vol. 7

I really really wanted to talk about the new Choke album, Slow Fade or How I Learned to Question Inifinity... to tell you how good it is, how it's gonna rock your world, etc. But, I haven't been able to get my hands on it yet. Bummer. I can tell you they are going to be doing a bunch of shows with Moneen in the next while, unfortunately on the West Coast*.

*Correction: Choke will be playing with Moneen as part of the Smallman Records Tour. This hits Toronto April 16th @ the Opera House; with Comeback Kid, The Reason, Brazil adn Ghosts of Modern Man. Should be good...

For fans of The Get Up Kids, some of the lads have started a "side" project called Black Pool Lights. Its much more wide open, college rock-y then TGUK's. They've got three songs from the demo up on their myspace site. Give it a listen.

I can't decide

If I want this or this to be my AFJ. So have both!

Google Gulp

I think this is Google's April Fools' Joke #2.

Google Gulp

Happy April New Look Day!

Yeah, no jokes. I thought the place could use a fresh coat of paint, and nice new links section, and hopefully, no more posting problems. Enjoy!

Please Save our Starving Schools!

Yeah. Ok. Whatever.

Before I post this story from the Star today, I need to premise it. When reading this story, remember that York university makes almost as much income from parking fees as it does from tuition (for those without a calculator or access to York's books, that's a lot). Also, this is the institution that recently poured approximately $10 million dollars into a new stadium for the Argos.

I received a call last night from a student of Glendon College representing the Alumni Association. She asked if I had seen their recent letter (which of course, was asking for money). I said yes. She asked if I was interested in donating a monthly amount to them. I replied "No. I just gave Glendon College $35,000 in tuition a few years ago. So maybe I'll pay that back first, then we'll talk." She indicated that Glendon students may need money now. This got me angry. I indicated that the desperate students should be using their student government to get more cash from the apparently affluent Keele campus (remember, they have 10 million bucks to drop on a stadium, and enough money to sell land WAY below value). She told me it wasn't the Keele campus' fault. For someone like me, who was involved in just about everything at Glendon, this excuse doesn't pan... but I could see there was no winning this argument. I indicated I was not in any financial situation to be donating money to the College, which finally made her stop asking.

To be honest, I feel bad for her, and Glendon College overall. For those of you that don't know, Glendon College is a world-class institution. Small class sizes, a beautiful campus, and excellent faculty. And, it is more or less completely ignored by the Keele Campus. Sometimes this is good, like giving the faculty and the students the freedom a liberal arts school deserves. Sometimes it is bad, like the complete and utter lack of funding the school (particularity it's student groups) has to cope with.

So you'll see why comments by Lorna Marsden like "[h]ighly talented faculty have fled to other jurisdictions, to better research facilities, smaller class sizes and greater public interest in their work" really piss me off. It's called GLENDON, Lorna. That's where the profs want to be. Stop complaining about being broke. I have an idea: instead of leaning on recent graduates who are broke as a freakin' joke, why not ask the Argo's to spare some change?

Issue: York University and Seneca College Demand More
Funding


Lorna Marsden, president of York University, said, "In Ontario, we have
been letting our students down badly. Highly talented faculty have fled to other
jurisdictions, to better research facilities, smaller class sizes and greater
public interest in their work."

Marsden also called on the government to begin implementing the recommendations made by former Premier Bob Rae in his report on post-secondary education.

Rick Miner, president of Seneca College, said that many Ontario colleges are having to cancel programs and live with vacancies in vital positions because of financial reasons.

In a related issue, the Council of Ontario Universities is claiming that if universities were allowed to set their own tuition prices, they would rise in step with cost-of-living increases, rather than jump sharply to unmanageable levels.

It's good to know...

that all my hard earned money goes to make sure Hydro One execs can ensure the safety and security of my power lines near their cottages every year. Either that, or make sure my Hydro One representatives can get their nannies and children to prep school in style.

I'm happy the list of salaries over $100K gets posted though, don't get me wrong. I think its good we can have at least some proof of where our money is going. Speaking from experience, some of these people really do earn the money they make, like Deputy Ministers for example. Others, do not. I leave it to you to decide.

Ontario Ministry of Finance, Salary Disclosure 2005 (Disclosure for 2004)