Best blog title EVER!!


from stereogum

Someone once said...

"Conservatives are not necessarily stupid, but most stupid people are conservative."

- John Stuart Mill (1806-1873)

I heart Maggie

I've always had a thang for Maggie Gyllenhall and now shes gone and sealed it but questioning her governments roll in 9/11. Of course this has caused a backlash in the good olde US of A. How dare she speak her mind and question Bushie!

Here is what she said in response to questions about her movie, The Great New Wonderful which deals with the aftermath of 9/11:

"Because I think America has done reprehensible things and is responsible in some way and so I think the delicacy with which it's dealt allows that to sort of creep in"

Her reply to those who think a young, intelligent woman shouldn't be voicing her opinion was as follows:

" 9/11 was a terrible tragedy and of course it goes without saying that I grieve along with every American for everyone who suffered and everyone who died in the catastrophe. But for those of us who were spared, it was also an occasion to be brave enough to ask some serious questions about America's role in the world. Because it is always useful, as individuals or nations to ask how we may have knowingly or unknowingly contributed to this conflict. Not to have the courage to ask these questions of ourselves is to betray the victims of 9/11."

MAGGIE RULES!!

The Dark of the Cubicle

So for some unforsaken reason I thought it would be a good idea to come to work at 6:00 am since I have to leave early. It was quite surreal to come in to an office building were except for emergency lighting, is in complete utter darkness. Not a creature was stirring not even a mou..(never mind). One advantage of being the only one on the floor is being able to listen to woxy and the Arcade Fire as a warm up for tonight's show (see previous post) full blast and without headphones.

Funeral tonight...YES!

"Ours is a generation overwhelmed by frustration, unrest, dread, and tragedy"

Tonight, Toronto hipsters, scenesters, fashionistas and those with any taste in music will solemly be attending The Arcade Fire show at the Danforth Music Hall. The second of 3 viewings, it promises to be a lovely sombre affair with those in attendance paying respects to Wim Butler et al.

I'll provide a review tomorrow. Until then, COLLARS UP!!

Extra Starch Please

Hello, My Beautiful Laundrette's, it seems that I have been so pre-occupied (or just plain lazy) with work and other menial tasks that nothing has been posted for 5 days. No Paris updates (which there are), no keen observations of the world we live in (un huh), no wine info. or thought provoking, life affirming quotes. I will try to correct this imbalance today.

Oh my God! Oh my God! Oh my God!

Paris is coming! Paris is coming!!!

My girl is coming to MuchMusic on May 3 to promote House of Wax.

Elisha Cuthbert will be there too!

They're both hott!!

I'm gonna go rest now.

Fair Trade

I'm glad I live in Canada because of things like this.

I'm glad I don't live in the US because of things like this.

Someone once said...

"One ought, every day at least, to hear a little song, read a good poem, see a fine picture, and if it were possible, to speak a few reasonable words."

- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Best Friends (not)Forever

The New York Daily News dishes out why Paris kicked Nicole's scrawny little ass off the show and out of her life!

You just don't mess with my girl!!!

The Splitsville Hilton

Paris Hilton has two words for her former BFF Nicole Richie: You're fired.

Pals of Hilton claim that the "Simple Life" socialite ditched her childhood friend - both on camera and off - after Nicole started a jealous whispering campaign.

"Its no big secret that Nicole and I are no longer friends," Hilton said in a statement. "I will not go into the details of what happened. All I will say is that Nicole knows what she did and that's all I am ever going to say about it."

Hilton loyalists wonder if Richie may have had something to do with the incident at Nicky Hilton's apartment, where a group gathered to watch a tape of Paris hosting "Saturday Night Live." When the tape was placed in the VCR, it was not "SNL" but Paris' infamous sex video.

Richie, 23, is also said to have made her own "Simple Life" highlight reel to show friends - with Hilton edited out.

An insider says Fox wants to shoot a fourth season of the hit show with a top-tier co-star to replace Richie. But while their wish list includes names like Lindsay Lohan and Mary-Kate and/or Ashley Olsen, Paris is holding out for her pal Kimberly Stewart, the wild child daughter of rocker Rod Stewart and Alana Hamilton.

"Fox haven't yet said 'yes' to Kim, but the show makes so much money that Paris is likely to win this one," says the source.

Both Fox and Richie's rep say no decision has been made about her participation in a fourth season.

Someone once said...

"I care not so much what I am to others as what I am to myself."

- Michel de Montaigne

SOCAN is SOFUCKEN stupid!

Seriously, how can one group be so out of touch with their customers and the market place they operate in?

A comic for the emo-rati generation.

Thanks to Frank at Chromewaves for introducing me to the funniest comic I've read in a long time. Ladies and Gentlemen...I give you Questionable Content. Specifically, check out the one Frank links to Number 332: One Upmanship.

Pretty in pink

Access Magazine asks of Paris, Is she hot or not?
I think you all know my position on that one!

That's just Dandy!!

I'm excited by the notion that it is once again good to be a Dandy. Designers are finally starting to design suits how I like them but are so hard to find...skinny! Suits are back but with more flare and creativity in colour and pattern combinations. Cathy Horyn, fashion critic for The New York Times calls them "The New Peacocks".

p.s.

If you dream of ever owning a bespoke suit like Dan and I do then you have to check out English Cut, the website of Thomas Mahon, bespoke Savile Row tailor, London.

Cab. Sauv. Shots?

The NY Times has an interesting article on the increasing amount of alcohol in wine. Personally, I've never really paid much attention to the alcohol % in my wine. The Lammershoek Pinotage Barrique 2001 I had the other day was 15%. I did not know this but a "15 percent bottle contains 25 percent more alcohol than one labeled 12 percent."
It's causing some controversy but my opinion is; as long as it tastes good, I don't care how much alcohol there is.

She gives me FEVER

These are some of the hottest pics of Kylie I've seen!!

Hang the DJ! Hang the DJ!

An acquaintance of mine was kind enough to forward me this link about DJ types. If I had to pick what type I fall into it would definitely be:

Hipster DJ -- You silly scenesters can stand there and look as jaded and above-it-all as you want, but you're not fooling me into thinking you're some kind of fucking rock star. Say it along with me, "I am not a musician". No matter how many obscure bands you know or how big your record collection is, you're playing someone else's music. So stop acting like Mick fucking Jagger at every retarded party and gallery opening I go to. I have a pretty impressive DVD collection and know quite a bit about film history, but if I show up at your house and play Taxi Driver for you, does that make me Martin Scorsese? No, it doesn't. Also, whatever you're wearing right now, it looks ridiculous.

Although I have a pretty impressive DVD collection as well and look pretty damn good!

Read This!

The lit-blog community is getting together for their very one book list, Read This. The first list will be revealed May 15th and will include a novel in translation, experimental fiction and a graphic novel amongst the five being select. This ain't no Oprah's Book Club (thank god!) but lets hope thousands of suburban housewives go out and buy these books anyway.

What's dNeXT?

dNeXT is my new favourite website. Thats what it is!!

dNext describes its self as "a next generation public affairs news & opinion web site - democracy in 60 seconds or less".

Ergo Bibamus Vinum

Lammershoek Pinotage Barrique 2001
I had this Lammershoek Pinotage on Sunday and then again on Tuesday. On Sunday when I opened it up I noticed some setiment on the cork so I thought I should decant it just in case. This baby was huge! a dark, dark purple colour with a whopping 15% alcohol. Plum was the dominant aroma with a mouth full of fruit and excellent tannin and acidity. On Tuesday, I decided I'd finish off what was left in the decanter. WOW! Those two days did wonders to the wine. The wine was now that of a fruit basket with softened acidity. Pinotage is not for every wine drinker, largely due to its aroma but I look forward to opening a few of these over the next couple of years.

From Wine Appellation Canada - Nov 2002
Four Stars - Pinotage 2001 "The youngest wine in our tasting and easily one of the finest examples of the new wave of Pinotage we encountered. A big and generous red wine, this offered aromas of smoke, plum and tabacco. On the palate, there are mocha and floral notes in the background, in addition to the fleshy core of the fruit. A monster wine that needs to age a year or two before it will pull its best face forward; this shows huge promise for 2004 - 2007."

If you are wondering what the titles means, 'Ergo bibamus vinum' is Latin for 'so let's drink wine' and appears at the bottom of the Lammershoek crest.

Feral Cat Hunting

Val's got an update over at rock snob on my cat...umm control post from yesterday:

"Will Kill Cats For Votes!"

Here kitty kitty!!!

When I read this on Boing Boing I couldn't stop laughing! Everyone knows I'm not too fond of cats but I'm not sure if this is the way to go. You cat lovers relax! You can all go to dontshootthecat.com (I'm seriously not making this up) to voice your opposition.

Funny enough after reading that article I came across this page...they look like they took some Wisconsin lead!

The Paris Hilton Podcast

That's hott!


She even has an RSS feed.

Why I drink wine

Wine is...

"99 percent psychological, a creation of where you are and with whom."

Lawrence Osborne

Are you being watched?

Night Watch Nochnoi Dozor looks like one hell of a scary movie. It's said to be Russia's most successful movie and will be released in North America July 29th. It'll be subtitled and not dubbed (thank god!) but they've done something special with the subtitles. You can read about in this review. And that spider doll....really freaks me out!

Oh! and if you're wondering what the background music is; the first bit is Brian Eno - Deep Blue Sea which can be found on the Trainspotting soundtrack and the second is M83 - Unrecorded from their "Dead Cities, Red Seas & Lost Ghosts".

a Royal Fugging

go fug yourself unleashes their acerbic tone on the Royals. Oh and I love that they are calling Camilla the "Bride of Chucky" ha ha!!!

A plague o' both your houses!

It's a real life Hatfiled vs McCoy family feud except this is Riojas vs Ortiz. 6 people shot and in hospital because of a 15 yr. old boy dating a 14 yr. old girl. Let's just hope it doesn't end like Romeo & Juliet.

DVD of the year!

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart is out on DVD in June.

Red & White

Red&White

I'm lucky enough to have some very talented friends. Some of whom are amazing photographers. For example, my lovely friend Luna. Luna specializes in digital photography and can manipulate the hell out of an image.
Last week we had a photo session and I can't wait to see the final image. In the meantime, after we were done we decided to have some fun and took some pose(r)d photos.

Graphic Design gone bad

From Beatnikpad Bagatelle via WDIK comes the worst logo ever!!
{insert Michael Jackson reference here}

This is cool. The Annotated NY Times links articles to blog postings. Plus, they have "over 6,000 feeds that track NY Times topics, authors and blog commentary."

Fake news is the best news!

My homeboy Jon Stewart still rules!!!! Can't beleive I'm saying this but it looks like something good might have actually come out of Bushie winning the election...THE only good thing!

I'm feeling 'bookish'.

The Globe & Mail fills us in on the results of report about reading habits of Canadian's. Some of the highlights from the report, "Who Buys Books In Canada?" include:

• a total of $1.1 billion was spent on books in 2001. An average of $196 was spent by each of the 5.7 million households with book spending. The 5.7 million households with book spending represent 48% of all households in Canada.
• In Ontario, 50% of all households reported some spending on books. Total spending was $465 million, or $212 per household reporting spending.
• Only newspapers, movie theatres and magazines attracted more households than books in 2001: 63% of all Canadian households spent some money on newspapers; 61% reported some spending on movie theatres; 54% reported some spending on magazines; and 48% reported some spending on books.

I know over the past couple of years I've bought more books than I ever have. I also know that my brother has single handedly contributed a large portion of that $1.1 billion spent on books.