RIP - Mike Smith of Dave Clark Five

Mike Smith, the lead singer of British band the Dave Clark Five, died on Thursday, February 28 of pneumonia resulting from complications of a 2003 spinal cord injury that had left him paralyzed from the waist down

His death came just two weeks before the Dave Clark Five -- one of the leading bands of the 1960s British invasion -- was due to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

The Dave Clark Five, whose hits included "Glad All Over" and "Bits and Pieces," were one of the first British bands to find major success in the United States after the Beatles.

Smith was 64.

Read the Los Angeles Times story.

Canadian Tories Plan to Withhold Funding for 'Offensive' Productions

The federal Conservative government of Canada has tabled a proposal that would allow it to pull financial aid for any film or television show that it deems offensive or not in the public's best interest – even if government agencies have invested in them.

The proposed changes to the Income Tax Act would allow the Heritage Minister to deny tax credits to projects deemed offensive, effectively killing the productions. Representatives from Heritage and the Department of Justice will determine which shows or films pass the test.

Game and talk shows, news, sports, reality television and pornography are already excluded from access to the tax credits. The proposed prohibition would cover a sweeping range of material, such as anything of an explicit sexual nature, that denigrates a group or is excessively violent without an educational value.

"Bill C-10, contains an amendment to the Income Tax Act which would allow the Minister of Canadian Heritage to deny eligibility to tax credits of productions determined to be contrary to public policy," a spokesman for Canadian Heritage said in a statement.

Is it me or does this sound a lot like censorship?

Read the story from The Globe and Mail

China May Dump Their One-child Policy

Once again Youth in Asia is a very controversial topic...

Concern about an aging population has brought about talks in China to scrap their one-child policy.

The world's most populous nation has enforced rules to restrict family size since the 1970s. Regulations vary but usually limit families to one child, or two in the countryside.

The policies were put in place to ease the strain on water, land and other resources. However, the traditional concept of larger families caring for the elderly is one of many reasons the government is contemplating revising the current family planning laws.

China has vowed to slap heavier fines on wealthy citizens who flout these laws, in response to the emergence of an upper class willing to pay standard fines to have more children.

Read the story Reuters' story.

Possible Holyfield and Tyson rematch?

Can anyone tell me why this should happen?

According to a Guardian report, former heavyweight boxing champions Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield are in discussions for a third match between the two fighters. Their infamous second fight in 1997 ended in disgrace when Tyson, bit off a chunk of Holyfield's ear - which he then spat to the canvas.

It's been a rocky road for Tyson, 41, since becoming the youngest heavyweight champion in history in 1986, dealing with financial and legal problems, as well as a number of personal demons.

Holyfield, 45, has been considered by many as a dignified boxer who represents the the positive traditions of the sport. However, there is concern that he is putting his health at risk trying to pursue another title at this juncture of his career.

Need to know more? Read the story here.

Musician has OHIP revoked

Toronto musician Owen Pallett aka Final Fantasy has been stripped of his Ontario health benefits after the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long Term Care found Pallett to be ineligible for OHIP coverage on grounds that his time in Ontario didn't meet the minimum requirement of 153 days in any 12-month period. Pallet spends the majority of his time touring and recording outside of Ontario.

On the morning of February 26, Trinity-Spadina Member of Provincial Parliament Rosario Marchese and NDP Critic for Health and Long-Term Care, France Gelinas, sent a letter to George Smitherman, Minister of Health and Long-Term Care, urging "immediate intervention to help Owen Pallett."

Pointing out that Pallett should be exempt from the 153 day requirement according to Regulation 552 of the Health Insurance Act because his Ontario absences were for employment purposes, Marchese and Gelinas call the Ministry's hasty decision to revoke the award-winning musician's health insurance "inappropriate and unnecessary,"

Yeah, no shit!

Read the story from Exclaim! here

Smile of the Week

I'd like to thank my friend Margo Varadi for recommending the book Things I've Learned From Women Who've Dumped Me, a collection of essays put together by Ben Karlin, best known for his work in The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and The Colbert Report.

It's been a long time since I've burst out laughing while reading on the subway like I have this past week.

You Learn Something New Everyday

Rösti is a dish made from grated potatoes, fried in a pan to resemble a pan cake. Traditionally breakfast fare, today it is more commonly served to accompany other dishes, rather than for breakfast. Many Swiss people consider rösti a national dish. (www.cuisinedumonde.com)

Parsimonious (adjective) - excessively unwilling to spend. The Harper government's federal budget was quite parsimonious.(http://dictionary.com)

The "400-Series" of Ontario highways were first introduced in 1952 to designate the province's controlled-access highways. The "4" was intended to reflect that these were four-lane roads, although portions of these highways subsequently exceeded four lanes. (wikipedia.org)

A modest Federal Budget avoids Election

Finance Minister Jim Flaherty kept to his word and offered no major spending initiatives on Tuesday February 26, but tabled a plan he said was designed to "weather any sudden economic storms." The focal point is a new tax-free savings account, to start next year and allow Canadians to save up to $5,000 a year and not be taxed on any investment income, including capital gains.

But critics said the economic blueprint, which allocated all of the $10.2 billion surplus for this year (ending March 31) to reducing the $457 billion debt, did nothing to help the working poor, the environment or Canada's big cities.
Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion called the budget a "grab bag" but said it wasn't worth fighting an election over. Stephen Harper won a minority government in January, 2006 and there has been speculation Dion would join NDP Leader Jack Layton and Bloc Québécois Leader Gilles Duceppe and defeat the economic plan next week, forcing an April election.

Read the story from The Globe and Mail

Read the story from the Toronto Star

Read the story from the CBC

Embarrassing photo courtesy of Canadian Press

NHL Trade Deadline Day

It's really unbelievable how much time and resources the three national sports networks in Canada devote to the NHL Trade Deadline day.

From 8am until 8pm and beyond, TSN, Sportsnet and the Score all had wall to wall coverage, trying to out scoop each other with trade announcements.

I only spent three hours in front of my brother's TV, watching the speculation, the gossip, the interviews and press conferences.

Todays highlights included:

The Dallas Stars picking up Brad Richards from Tampa Bay; the San Jose Sharks acquiring Brian Campbell from the Buffalo Sabers; and Marion Hossa moving from the Atlanta Thrashers to the Pittsburgh Penguins.

For all the trades, checkout The complete list of trades from the TSN website.

The March Issue of Exclaim! is out

Check out the March issue of Exclaim!

Along with Cursed on the cover, the issue also features a timeline on the career of techno legend Carl Craig, a feature on Montreal's Plants and Animals and a tribute to the late Willie P. Bennett.

Oscars Wrap up

Well, Oscar night has come and gone. Here are some quick comments and highlights:

Jon Stewart as host was pretty funny.

The flashback montages prepared were amusing and, for the most part, were done in good taste, especially the Jack Lemmon and Walter Mathau repartee about different types of directors.

Lifetime achievement recipient Robert F. Boyle is quite lucid for a 91 year-old

"Falling Down" from the film Once won best song. After getting cut off during co-winner Marketa Irglova's acceptance speech, she was allowed back after the commercial break to deliver a lovely and inspiring speech.

The Coen Brothers took home the Oscars for Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Direction and Best Film.

Bill Maher's New Rules for February 22

HBO television show Real Time with Bill Maher's New Rules segment returned on February 22. This week John McCain, Crocodile Hunter, Britney Spears, Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Beef, Lindsay Lohan and George W Bush.

'Juno' Wins Indie Spirit Top Honor

The film Juno won three major awards at The Spirit Awards, which celebrate the best of independent film.

The teen pregnancy film took home the honours for best independent film, best actress for Ellen Page and writer Diablo Cody won best first screenplay on Saturday, February 23.

Check out the Film Independent Spirit Awards website.

The Toronto Star's 10 Things We Learned This Week

Some of the things we learned this week, according to the Toronto Star's weekly feature "10 Things We Learned This Week" includes:

North American fire stations employed Dalmatians to keep horses company, alert them to an alarm, and clear the way for teams pulling fire engines out on calls.



The U.S. five-dollar bill will get a splash of yellow and purple next month after it was discovered that counterfeiters "could bleach the bills and remake them as $100s



Feb. 29 is Leap Year Day. It is also the fifth Friday of February. The last time February had five Fridays was 1980.


Read the complete story here.

Gays reason for Earthquake: Israeli MP

Oh my!

An Israeli MP has blamed a bunch of recent earthquakes in the Middle East on gays.

"Why do earthquakes happen? One of the reasons is the things to which (the Israeli parliament) Knesset gives legitimacy, to sodomy," said Shlomo Benizri, of the ultra-Orthodox Jewish Shas party, who has suggested that the tremors could be stopped by repelling various "liberal" laws on homosexuality that have been passed by Knesset, in recent years.

Benizri, who in 1999, caused controversy by saying homosexuals are mentally ill, made his comments during a parliamentary debate on earthquake preparedness.

Stopping "passing legislation on how to encourage homosexual activity in the state of Israel, which anyway brings about earthquakes," would represent a cost-effective method of preventing future earthquakes, he continued.


Read the www.telegraph.co.uk story.

No-Trade Flaws

With the NHL trade deadline approaching -- 3 p.m on Tuesday, February 26 -- there's been a lot of talk in Toronto about no-trade and no-movement clauses as part of players contracts.

Esteemed CBC hockey analyst and former NHL goaltender Kelly Hrudey writes in his Behind The Mask blog on CBC.ca that team
General Managers should respect these clauses and not ask players like the Maple Leafs' Matt Sundin, Ottawa Senators' Wade Redden and LA Kings' Rob Blake to waive their rights because these stipulations were negotiated into their contracts.

This may be fine and good, but should the discussion be why there are these no-trade and no-movement stipulations in the first place?

It's bad enough that pro athletes are a select few employees that make extraordinarily more than their immediate bosses. Now they want the power to have the power to dictate what actions their bosses can do to make changes in the organization that pays their salary? No worker -- whether typing at a desk, or scoring 40 goals a season -- should have that authority. If they want that power, let them run their own business!

2008 Toronto Grand Prix Cancelled

Toronto's hospitality industry will take a $50 million hit this summer with the cancellation of the Toronto Grand Prix (formerly the Toronto Molson Indy)

The event – which may return in 2009 – fell victim this year to a deal signed between the Indy Racing League and the Champ Car World Series. The schedule just could accommodate Toronto this year.

Read the Toronto Star story.

Scientology Critic's Death: Suicide?

Shawn Lonsdale, who became a very vocal critic of the Church of Scientology, died of an apparent suicide at his home in Florida this past weekend. He was 39.

Now, I'm not pointing any fingers, nor do I claim to know the facts of the case, but according to a reader comment attached to the Tampa Bay Online story below:

There was no sign of foul play, said Clearwater police spokeswoman Elizabeth Daly-Watts.

Interesting that she would be the police spokeswoman would be Elizabeth Daly-Watts considering she's a scientologist herself. A quick search of Google will follow that up.

Read the complete story from Tampa Bay Online here.

Smile of the Week

Benefitting from the return of his writers, David Letterman provides us with the Smile of the Week

The Rollings Stones: Say No to Drugs

Mick Jagger and Keith Richards are giving people a word of advice...say no to drugs.

While at the premiere of Martin Scorcese’s new Rolling Stones documentary, Shine a Light, in Berlin this week, the Glimmer Twins, spoke out about the dangers of drugs.

The granddads of rock n roll -- who have infamously indulged in their share of chemicals and other assorted medications -- addressed the current problems of British crooner Amy Winehouse.

“I’m worried she might die if she goes down the road that she has taken,” Jagger said.

If anybody should know...

Read the exclaim.ca story.

To G or Not to G Spot

A New Scientist report says an Italian researcher has claim to have found the first compelling evidence that the G spot exists, but say not all women appear to have one.

The G spot, named after a German gynaecologist called Ernst Graefenberg who first mooted its existence in 1950, is said to be a highly sensitive area in the vagina that, when stimulated, gives a woman a powerful orgasm.

"For the first time it is possible to determine by a simple, rapid and inexpensive method if a woman has a G spot or not," says Emmanuele Jannini at the University of L'Aquila in Italy.

I don't know about you, but isn't that simple, rapid and inexpensive method called having sex?

Want to read about his methodology? See the Guardian story here.

Happy 45th Anniversary, Mom and Dad

Happy 45th Anniversary to my mom and dad.

Lots of love!

Iconic Queen Street Stores Fall in Fire

Toronto's Queen Street West district near Bathurst Street was hit with a six-alarm fire during the early hours of Wednesday, February 20. The buildings that housed video store Suspect Video, along with bike shop Dukes, National Sound, vintage clothing store Preloved and cannabis shop Jupiter were all damaged beyond repair.

These stores -- and perhaps more so, the buildings, which date back to the 19th century -- were an important part of the lives of the people living on the south-west end of downtown Toronto, commercially and historically.

Read Citynews' story.

Photo from Citynews.ca

Flaming Lips do Kylie

This track dates back to 2002 -- I think this is one of my favourite cover versions of any song, ever!

I was living in Melbourne, Australia when local gal Kylie Minogue's original version of "Can't Get You Out of My Head" took over the world. And the Flaming Lips are, well...the Flaming Lips!

Tom Cheek - Not in the Hall of Fame Yet

Tom Cheek will have to wait at least another year to get into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

The Hall of Fame announced yesterday that Dave Niehaus, the only broadcaster the Seattle Mariners have ever known in their 31 years of existence, is this year's winner of the Ford C. Frick Award, presented annually for major contributions to baseball broadcasting.

Cheek, who was one of the 10 finalists for the award, called 4,306 consecutive games for the Blue Jays. He died in 2005.

From the Toronto Star


This is the fourth straight year that Cheek has been named among the ten finalists for the award.

Come on now people, with all due respect to the other announcers out there, give the brother a break!

Cheek's best-known call was perhaps his description of Joe Carter's dramatic title-clinching home run in Game 6 of the 1993 World Series, when he said, "Touch 'em all, Joe! You'll never hit a bigger home run in your life!"

Evolution to be Taught in Florida's Public Schools

Can someone please tell me what century we are in? How is it in this day and age, people are questioning the theory of evolution in favour of the biblical creation story? Geeze Louise!

A bitter debate over how to teach evolution in Florida's public schools ended -- at least temporarily -- with a compromise on Tuesday, February 19.

A divided state Board of Education voted 4-3 in Tallahassee to adopt new science standards that for the first time require teaching evolution. The majority selected a last-minute alternative rather than the original document created by scientists and science teachers after months of work.

That compromise, introduced late last week, inserts the phrase "the scientific theory of" in front of evolution and certain other concepts.

The vote was the latest in a long line of public debates over evolution dating back to the Scopes Monkey Trial in 1925, when a teacher was convicted of violating Tennessee's evolution ban. That verdict was reversed on technicality, but courts later ruled evolution could be taught.

Courts subsequently barred teaching the biblical account of creation along with evolution.


Read the story, according to the South Florida Sun-Sentinel

Biggest beef recall ever

Another argument in favour of becoming a vegetarian.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture on Sunday, February 17 ordered the recall of 143 million pounds of beef from a Southern California slaughterhouse that is the subject of an animal-abuse investigation.

The recall will affect beef products dating to Feb. 1, 2006, that came from Chino-based Westland/Hallmark Meat Co., the federal agency said.

Operations at Westland/Hallmark were suspended after an undercover video from the Humane Society of the United States surfaced showing crippled and sick animals being shoved with forklifts.

Read the Baltimore Sun story

Fidel Castro retires

An ailing Fidel Castro resigned as Cuba's president on Tuesday, February 19 after nearly a half-century in power, saying he was retiring and will not accept a new term when the new parliament meets on Sunday, February 24.

The announcement effectively ends the rule of the 81-year-old Castro after almost 50 years, positioning his 76-year-old brother Raul for permanent succession to the presidency.

Read the Reuters story

Read the Newsweek story

You Learn Something New Everyday

Canada's first urban expressway, the Gardiner Expressway built in the 1960's along Toronto's lakeshore was named in honour of the first chairman of Metropolitan Toronto, Frederick G. Gardiner.

In 1967, a short-lived North American professional soccer league called the United Soccer Association was founded, placing teams in Los Angeles, Dallas, Toronto, Cleveland, San Francisco, New York, Chicago, Vancouver, Houston, Boston, Washington and Detroit. The league imported whole teams from Europe and South America to kick off inaugural season, giving the North American cities time to build their own squads for the following season, which never happened.

"Polentone" ("pulentun" or "pulintù" in dialect) meaning "polenta eater" (literally "big polenta") is a derogatory term sometimes used by Southern Italians to refer to Northern Italians.

Coffee originated in Ethiopia around 10th century A.D. because traditional Islam prohibited the use of alcohol as a beverage, and coffee provided a suitable alternative to wine.

Muhammad Ali...Recipe for Life

The Greatest gives his recipe for life.

Words to live by, Champ!

NBA Slam Dunk Competiton

The past weekend was the NBA All-Star Weekend, and the slam dunk contest -- which has been discussed as a passé endeavor – was brought back to life by the Orlando Magic's Dwight Howard. His four dunks were spectacular, including one where he donned a Superman cape.

In the words of Reggie Miller "Oh my goodness!"

R.I.P Pro Wrestler Johnny Weaver

Johnny Weaver, professional wrestling's re-inventor of the sleeper hold, passed away on February 15.

I grew up watching professional wrestling, and in the 1970's Toronto was part of Jim Crockett Promotion territory, which meant most of the wrestling I watched was from Mid-Atlantic Wrestling, which was based out of North Carolina. These were the haydays of Ric Flair, Roddy Piper, Paul Jones, Wahoo McDaniel, Ivan Koloff, Ricky Steamboat, Sgt. Slaughter, The Brisco Brothers and Johnny Weaver.

Not a flashy man in or out of the squared circle, the unassuming Johnny Weaver, whose finish maneuver was the Weaverlock -- actually the sleeper hold which, up until Weaver's reintroduction the 1960's, was considered an illegal choke hold -- was a consummate tag team wrestler whose voice became part of my childhood, as he joined legendary commentators Rich Landrum and Bob Caudle on Mid-Atlantic's broadcast team. Weaver became renowned for singing: "Turn Out The Lights, The Party's Over" -- from Willie Nelson's song "The Party's Over" -- at the end of matches.

Weaver was 72.

The Toronto Star's 10 Things We Learned This Week

Some of the things we learned this week, according to the Toronto Star's weekly feature "10 Things We Learned This Week" includes:

There are 38 listed ingredients in McDonald's Chicken McNuggets, including – yes – chicken, "chicken flavour," wheat starch, corn starch, sodium acid pyrophosphate, sodium aluminum phosphate, and partially hydrogenated corn oil with "TBHQ

American actress Grace Kelly (1929-1982) is mentioned in songs by, among others, Madonna ("Vogue"), Billy Joel ("We Didn't Start the Fire"), Mika ("Grace Kelly"), and Rufus Wainwright ("That Night")

The Rubber Duck bath toy, now made primarily of vinyl plastic, took off in North America after Ernie of Sesame Street recorded "Rubber Duckie" in 1970

Read the complete story here

Bill Maher's New Rules for February 15

HBO television show Real Time with Bill Maher's New Rules segment returned on February 15 for the first time since the Writer's strike ended. This week Roger Clemens, Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, John McCain, Mitt Romney, Terrorists and George W Bush.

McCain Foresees 100-year War

Republican presidential candidate John McCain has pretty much settled in as proxy for the "potential third term" of George W Bush.

At a town meeting in New Hampshire, McCain was told that President Bush had indicated the possibility of U.S. forces staying in Iraq for 50 years.

"Make it a hundred," McCain responded.

In an interview last Sunday with Fox News, Bush described McCain as a "true conservative," who is in lock-step with him on a strong defense, against abortion rights and in favor of making Bush's tax cuts permanent, with the biggest cuts for the richest.

Oh boy! This is the man who could be President of the United States? This is scary!

Read the full story from the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.

Read the transcript of the question raised at the town meeting from thinkprogress.org.

Top Ten Smartest TV Shows Of All Time

Which American television shows do the smartest people like to watch? The answers may surprise you.

Jim Werdell, Chairman of MENSA International, the worldwide organization for “people from every walk of life whose IQ is in the top 2 % of the population” was asked to list his top ten Smartest TV Shows Of All Time.

With absolutely no mention of my own IQ level, (insert wry grin here) at least four of the programs are ranked in my personal list of the top shows of all time.

Before reading the list of shows, allow me to mention some notable omissions from Wadell's list: Soap, Arrested Development, The Office, Barney Miller, Mary Tyler Moore, Cheers, News Radio, the Larry Sanders Show, anything with Bob Newhart or Carol Burnett, Seinfeld, Family Guy and the Simpsons.

As a footnote, I would surmise that most Mensa members have not consumed enough hallucinogenic drugs to really get into any of the Star Trek franchise.

And we haven't even discussed British programming such as Doctor Who, Absolutely Fabulous, Fawltey Towers and anything with Steve Coogan in it.

In no particular order, here are Wadell's top ten smartest TV shows of all time.

M*A*S*H
Cosmos (with Carl Sagan)
CSI
House
West Wing
Boston Legal
All in the Family
Frasier
Mad About You
Jeopardy

Check out the full story here.

Ontario Government to take over the TTC?

Apparently a 12-year, $17.5 billion transit expansion plan for the Greater Toronto Area announced on February 14 said the province of Ontario would like to eventually integrate the Toronto Transit Commission into the fledgling Metrolinx regional authority, and could do so without additional funding.

Formerly known as the Greater Toronto Transportation Authority, Metrolinx's ideal plan is a system of efficient transit across the region that would let commuters travel effortlessly across municipal boundaries without the hassle of separate fare and route systems.

"If you look around at most large urban centres, there tends to be a larger regional body that takes responsibility for these kinds of things," Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty told reporters.

But it isn't clear why Mr. McGuinty floated an idea that municipal and transit leaders vehemently oppose. An independent panel appointed by Toronto Mayor David Miller to examine the city's finances apparently makes no such recommendation.

Miller said a provincial takeover of the TTC would "destroy transit in Toronto," leaving the city at the mercy of politicians at Queen's Park.

The mayor said the TTC needs money, not a takeover. The new plan is set to put new buses and streetcars out to ease overcrowding on routes across the city, with some of the improvements starting with in a week of the announcement.

I have always been in the opinion that finding and expansion for the TTC is critical to aptly service the fifth largest metropolitan area in North America. While I agree that the TTC needs major funding, as well as synergy with municipal transit bodies -- I think anyone who depends on public transit in the GTA does -- ultimately, I believe that the city of Toronto must still be in charge of operating the system.

Click here to read the story form the Toronto Star.

Click here to read the story from the Globe and Mail.

Valentine's Day Scam

Yesterday was my mother's birthday.

That 's pretty much the highlight for me during the annual scam called Valentine's Day. The grift consists of convincing millions of saps all over the world that's it's okay to ignore your significant other for 364 days out of the year and make up for it by buying flowers, candy and scented candles on this one day.

My advice -- which can't mean much, considering I am perpetually single and have broken up on Valentine's Day on two separate occasions -- is this: treat your lover with affection and gifts on any day of the year. Any day of any week of any month will do fine. And do it often.

U.S Senate approves eavesdropping rules

What kind of dictatorship crap is this:

Click here to read about the U.S Senate approving new rules for government eavesdropping on phone calls and e-mails. The new provisions give the White House much of the latitude it wanted and granting legal immunity to telecommunications companies that helped in the snooping after the Sept. 11 terrorist attack.

Yoko Ono sues Lennon

I read this story today on exclaim.ca and it rather upset me.

It seems that Yoko Ono is suing a singer/songwriter named Lennon Murphy because her name apparently is "causing confusion in the market place that has damaged the John Lennon name."

Silly, eh? But that's not the worst part.

It turns out Murphy -- whose real first name is Lennon -- approached Ono about using the name back in 2000, when Murphy got signed to Arista records. Ono said all was fine.

Only now, as Murphy is no longer signed to a recording deal and struggling to make ends meet, does Ono sue her.

Yeah, I don't get it either...

Click here for the story.

Fair Dinkum, Kevin Rudd

One of the (many) political items that got my goat when I lived in Australia in 2002 was then Aussie Prime Minister John Howard and his government's (as well as previous administrations') refusal to acknowledge the atrocities that were done against the Aboriginal peoples of Australia during that country's formative years.

It's really great to see and hear current PM Kevin Rudd attempting to make amends with the Aboriginals.

"Today, the parliament has come together to right a great wrong," Rudd said.

"We apologize for the laws and policies of successive parliaments and governments that have inflicted profound grief, suffering and loss on these our fellow Australians."

The parliamentary apology comes 11 years after a major report into past assimilation policies -- where Aboriginal children were taken from their families and assimilated in white households -- found between one in three and one in 10 aboriginal children had been taken from their families between 1910 and 1970.

The report urged a national apology to those affected, known as the Stolen Generations, but at the time, Howard rejected the finding and offered only a statement of regret.

Rudd made the apology the first item of parliamentary business for his centre-left Labor government, which won power in November last year, ending almost 12 years of conservative rule.

Click here to read the story

This Week's Indulgences

I always seem to be a little late when getting into cool shit - music, television, what have you. But I wouldn't say I'm slow to pick up on things due to laziness or ignorance. I just hate buying into the hype and all the crap that goes with it -- like frat boys giving it their approval or the over exposure of the 'products' involved (pretty funny coming from a guy who has worked in advertising, pop-culture journalism and promotions, but it's true).

My indulgences this week that absolutely prove this point; the NBC television series 30 Rock and the Radiohead album In Rainbows.

I would occasionally find clips of the Emmy award-winning show 30 Rock on YouTube and mostly get clips of Tina Fey (surprisingly funny) and Tracy Morgan (surprisingly not as funny). I rented the first season DVD set on the weekend, and although I can't say it lived up to the hype that my Bocce buddies had talked up (what ever does?) it was pretty damn good. Alec Baldwin as NBC exec Jack Donaghy and Jack McBraye as NBC page Kenneth Parcell make the show for me. Not really being a fan of Fey's Saturday Night Live material, I was pleasantly surprised with the show's writing and acting.

Like everyone else, I anxiously waited to purchase and download In Rainbows back in October, 2007 when Radiohead offered it on-line, sans record company and price tag, but alas I never did.And after I gave the record a couple of listens on my friend's computer and thought it was worth a purchase, I just got sick every Thom, Dick and Harry talking about it. I just recently obtained the In Rainbow tracks and now can't get enough of the record. The hype was right on this one.

Falling Slowly

This morning I woke up to the song “Falling Slowly” from the film Once.

I didn't know anything about Once when I went to see it in the summer of 2007. I'd just returned to Toronto from living in the countryside of Japan, where I hadn't watched a single film in the year and a half I was there. It was the first matinée that was playing at the Cumberland Cinema in Yorkville the week I got home.

I remember smiling through out the whole film, even through the painfully awkward and melancholic scenes. The effect was immediate and it was all because of the beautiful music that the main character plays on his guitar as a busker. He meets this lovely girl who plays piano, but because of economics practices in the showroom of a local music store.

He offers to play a song for her and they improvise on an unfinished song he has written. The resulting scene is this stunningly beautiful and haunting song.