Does anyone else find the music attached to this video unnecessarily menacing?

Is it that they want people to hate them, or do they think this is going to become some sort of armed conflict and The One True Way will prevail gloriously?

I’ll could also point out the irony of uploading a Parti indépendantiste video that’s militantly anti-English to a website that doesn’t have a French (or at least Québécois) version.

See also:

• July 13, 2008 — This is how to bring the two solitudes together
• June 20, 2008 — Why I love Quebec
• June 16, 2008 — Racism is OK when you’re white

Thanks to the magic of the Internets, I’ve been introduced to a curious little made-for-web TV miniseries, called Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog. It stars Neil Patrick Harris (above), who plays the misunderstood evil genius who’s just trying to get some from a pretty girl.

What I like most about this is that the three main actors represent a broad range of geek cred. Harris, of course, brings along the middle-age Doogie crowd and is no doubt the most mainstream-recognizable actor here.

Nathan Fillion, of Firefly fame (and just about every other series that Joss Whedon has been involved with), brings along the Whedonites. Not that this is necessary, mind you, since Whedon directs this project.

Felicia Day, meanwhile (the aforementioned pretty girl, as you can see) brings along the ubergeek web crowd who totally recognize her from this other show she does.

BTW Felicia, that marriage proposal is still open. Just, you know, putting it out there.

Some back story on this whole thing from the L.A. Times.

(Oh, did I mention it’s a musical?)

See also:

• June 23, 2008 — Tonight’s forecast: dark
• June 15, 2008 — Go Boston
• May 26, 2008 — Real programmers use a magnetized needle and a steady hand

I’ve been asked (along with other bloggers, local media and left-wing conspiracy rags) to write about this video, in which an anonymous person in sunglasses and a tie rants about being “fair gamed” by the Church of Scientology and its minions (in the same way that someone rants about her ex-boyfriend’s new girlfriend).

I guess I’m just supposed to assume that everything this person said actually happened, and for the reasons given.

All I know for sure is that the anti-Scientologists seem just as weird as the people they’re protesting against.

UPDATE (July 17): I knew from the moment I posted this It’d get undue attention, and comments like this:

Title: Fagstein is gay | URL: http://fagsteinsuckscock | email: fagsteinisafag@fag.fag

Read about Scientology before you take a shit on the internet you dumb fuck

Fagstein is gay

See also:

• December 11, 2007 — We can’t accomodate freedom
• October 25, 2007 — 9/11 truth exposed!
• October 6, 2007 — TWIM: Spacing Montreal and Princess Di

The Star, meanwhile, is putting links to its Olympics website on every page, including a logo next to its flag. Sadly, the website from Canada’s largest newspaper has about the same design finesse you’d expect from a YMCA bulletin board.

The Gazette’s Dave Stubbs, meanwhile, is still milking the Chinese news sources for weird stories relating to the Games on his Five-Ring Circus blog, which contrasts with Canwest’s matter-of-fact topic page.

The Globe and Mail hilariously has its Olympics coverage in a section called “Others“. Their Olympics blog is better, at least, though I’m not sure what “Wb” stands for in the URL.

The best Canadian Olympics news website unsurprisingly goes to the CBC, which not only has a general Olympics website, but has separate related sites for each major sport at the Games, each filled with stories. These will be the last Olympics the CBC has broadcast rights for.

And for completeness sake, Quebecor’s Canoe portal has yawnable websites in French and English for the Games with stories from its newspapers and wire services.

But even that’s better than CTV’s Olympics website, which doesn’t exist. (CTV has rights to 2010 and beyond, so you’d think they’d take advantage of the opportunity to get some practice online)

See also:

• May 11, 2008 — Globe, La Presse dominate National Newspaper Awards
• July 17, 2008 — News, the way cool people read it
• July 13, 2008 — Steep learning curve

See also:

• July 18, 2008 — Blastback Babyzap: Electrifying
• July 15, 2008 — The metro car ice cream parlor, and other Just for Laughs outdoor fun
• July 4, 2008 — YASTGBs: JFL, film festivals

With Canadiens development camp open to the public, we’re getting our first taste of amateur video of some of these new prospects, including 6′8″ goaltender Jason Missiaen, seen above looking like King Kong in front of the net.

Some skater shooting drill highlights, courtesy of a very dedicated fan:

• Mathieu Carle
• Patrick Johnson
• David Fischer
• Danny Kristo
• Ryan McDonagh
• Max Pacioretty
• Philippe Paquet
• Greg Pateryn
• P.K. Subban
• Nichlas Torp
• James Wyman

UPDATE (July 14): Some video of the team drills, showing how even the young unproven players can totally pwn the rest of us at hockey.

See also:

• May 17, 2008 — 56 rioters and counting
• May 12, 2008 — The Great Canadiens Conference Quarterfinal Riot Song
• May 5, 2008 — It’s over

UPDATE: As usual, my minions are nothing if not sleuths:

These images were rather obviously taken at Central Station, which is a train station and not an airport. (Notice the very recognizable schedule board at the top - which doesn’t list delays or cancellations, forcing them to superimpose actual flight schedule information - and the rather visual level crossing sign in the bottom one).

See also:

• No related posts

From Improv Everywhere’s new blog Urban Prankster.

I can’t imagine any Montreal driver having such patience. Or, for that matter, stopping at the crosswalk in the first place.

See also:

• March 1, 2008 — TWIM: Frozen at Berri
• February 24, 2008 — Frozen at Berri-UQAM
• February 22, 2008 — Flashmob freeze planned for Saturday

The NDP has apparently chosen its candidate for its next most likely by-election pickup in Quebec: the downtown riding of Westmount-Ville-Marie. No, it’s not the guy in the above video (though he sounds like he’d be awesome), it’s CBC Radio Noon host Anne Lagacé Dowson:

(Note: May not be exactly as pictured)

I worked with Anne during my very brief stint at CBC Radio. Considering how incompetent I was, she seemed like a pretty nice person. The fact that she’s running for office under the NDP banner is hardly surprising (though I doubt she and Jack Layton agree on every issue)

Now the NDP seems to think that after their stunning win in Outremont, getting a broadcast journalist on board is the magic ticket to a second win in Quebec.

Unfortunately, it’s no guarantee. Just look at Peter Kent, former Global National anchor who lost for the Conservatives in Toronto (he’s trying his luck again in a much more affluent York riding). And he was at least on TV. (Get Mutsumi Takahashi or Nancy Wood to run and we’ll talk)

Even worse, her opponent is another star candidate (albeit another failed one), former astronaut Marc Garneau.

The riding, which mainly covers Westmount and western downtown (plus a bit of eastern NDG) could be hard to predict, with a mix of rich anglo Westmounters and poor hippie Concordia students. But the federal riding covering Westmount has been Liberal since 1962, and that’s a lot of history to overcome for a party that hasn’t done better than third with 15% of the vote.

Due to a conflict of interest, Lagacé Dowson has taken a leave of absence from CBC Radio, and the latter immediately scrubbed all mention of her from its website.

UPDATE (July 7): It’s “confirmed” apparently (as if there was doubt). Lagacé Dowson is, as usual, humble:

“I am not falling on my sword in Westmount,” she told a handful of supporters. “This liberal tradition isn’t serving us very well, and we don’t like what the Conservatives are doing to us. I am not running to make a good showing; I am running to win. If Barack Obama against all odds can capture the leadership of the Democratic party in the United States, who says a woman can’t capture the hearts and minds of Westmount for the NDP?”

I’m not quite sure how this relates to Barack Obama, nor being a woman (especially since the riding’s former MP, Lucienne Robillard, has two X chromosomes last time I checked), but don’t let that interfere with the historicness.

Meanwhile, the other parties have filled out their candidates. Just to show how confident the Bloc Québécois is at winning a seat in Westmount, they’ve nominated Charles Larivée, who according to Google is the president of the McGill Political Science Students Association.

See also:

• April 14, 2008 — Bloc Québécois focuses on attendance
• September 17, 2007 — Congratulations, Mr. Mulcair
• July 3, 2008 — Aborted fetus, mom and Morgentaler

I’m seeing these ads on TV for HD Vision Wraparound sunglasses, which are designed to allow people who wear prescription glasses to have the awesome HD technology that only HD Vision sunglasses can allow. Thankfully, their top scientists and fashion designers have come up with this new product that people can wear over their existing glasses that will not only make them look cool with their “modern European style,” but will also enhance people’s vision by bringing them to full 1080p high definition.

This is something I’ve been seeking for a long time. Much like watching Heroes on my 13-inch standard definition TV, I’ve become annoyed at having to watch the world in daylight with my tiny standard-definition eyes.

Thanks HD Vision.

See also:

• June 16, 2008 — Rates matter
• June 12, 2008 — Cars sell
• June 4, 2008 — Where’s the line between union and journalist?

Well, not exactly. The Journal’s union has a website. Hot off the success of union websites from such outlets ad the Journal de Québec, TQS and The Gazette, workers at the Journal de Montréal concerned about the possibility of a lockout have started their own website called Journal du Journal (cute).

Well, actually the archives suggest the site’s been up for more than a year, but it’s the first I’ve seen of it (which is its first problem), so let’s pretend it’s new.

See also:

• March 1, 2008 — Local newspaper union news
• July 9, 2007 — Bureaucracy killed the Journal’s website
• May 16, 2007 — More media drama at the Journal de Québec

Recently laid off as the tech columnist and tech blogger for TQS, Jean-Michel Vanasse showed up on TVA’s Salut bonjour week-end, where he’s their new resident web geek. But he’s also pulled a Dominic Arpin and started his own solo thing online. He’s started a new online-only weekly tech show at the aptly-named jeanmichelvanasse.tv, that focuses on gaming, tech news and popular videos online.

The show is presented in high definition, which seems kind of unnecessary for a tech show that takes half its clips from YouTube and the rest from a handicam mounted on a tripod in front of the host (at 1280×628, it’s too large to even fit my screen). Trying to watch the 13-minute, 52MB video on his website, my computer could manage only about a frame every two seconds, making it completely unwatchable. Only after plenty of hacking sleuthing could I uncover this standard-definition version. Note to Jean-Michel: at least give people the option.

Otherwise, the show is what you’d expect from a tech show: a guy talking about games and videos in front of a Matrix-like display of floating ones and zeroes.

The website is still sparse. One thing it badly needs is a list of links attached to each episode. I’d like to see that video of Darth Vader doing the Thriller dance, and it shouldn’t be difficult for me to find it. A blog couldn’t hurt either.

Otherwise, it’s a decent effort for a first show. The only question is whether it will attract an audience large enough to pay for itself.

The show comes out every Friday.

See also:

• March 23, 2008 — Who got the Facebook scoop?

Shit piss fuck cunt motherfucker cocksucker tits.

See also:

• July 17, 2008 — Dr. Horrible: Adorable evil
• June 15, 2008 — Go Boston
• June 2, 2008 — Thomas McEntee

The first video from Saturday’s gun battle flash mob is up (from Sylvain Racicot). The whole thing lasts about five seconds. Insert obvious comparison to disappointing sex here.

UPDATE: Midnight Poutine has a report from the event, with still photos.

See also:

• June 19, 2008 — Bang!
• April 16, 2008 — Dance around like an idiot — in groups!
• December 20, 2007 — Snowball fight tonight at 7

I’ve been following the brouhaha over the Conservative government’s new copyright bill, C-61, and specifically how the government has been responding to geeks who are finding holes in it and driving public opinion against the bill.

The more I follow it, the more I come to a rather stunning conclusion: Industry Minister Jim Prentice doesn’t understand his own copyright bill.

The big controversy, as the Globe’s Ivor Tossell explains, is over a provision about so-called digital locks (those software hacks they call Digital Rights Management, or DRM, that try to control how you access digital media). It says that users cannot bypass these locks, no matter how flimsy they are, even if what they’re trying to do with it is entirely legal.

The consequence of this is that companies just put digital locks on everything, and through a loophole in the law can claim rights they shouldn’t have in the first place.

In the above video, Prentice and Heritage Minister Josée Verner are asked about this, and you can see them struggle to regurgitate the talking points they’ve been handed about the bill. (In Verner’s case, you might argue that language difficulties combined with an inability to hear the question might be an excuse.)

It’s also apparent in Prentice’s 10-minute interview with CBC’s Search Engine (its most popular podcast, which incidentally has been cancelled). Prentice calls common-sense hypotheticals about the law “arcane,” seems unclear about what would happen in certain cases, and hangs up on the interviewer to escape his questions.

But to me this isn’t just about a minister and a bill. It’s something that’s always bothered me about parliamentary politics: the idea that being an MP is all the expertise needed to run a federal department. You don’t need to be a doctor to manage doctors. You don’t need to have a PhD to manage universities. You don’t need to have a driver’s license to manage the transportation department. And you don’t need to understand computers to be in charge of a new copyright bill.

Of course, in many cases ministers are put in areas they would be more comfortable with. Ken Dryden being minister for sport makes sense. But cabinet shuffles being as routine as they are makes it seem as if running the military isn’t so different from foreign affairs or finance.

Maybe it’s true. Maybe being a minister is more about managing, appointing directors, making budgets, drafting legislation and shaking hands at ceremonial functions than it is about getting into the nitty-gritty.

But Prentice and the copyright bill show a clear problem with that premise.

See also:

• June 9, 2008 — The theme that wouldn’t die
• June 5, 2008 — End of an anthem
• March 1, 2008 — CBC report is a no-brainer

Somehow, despite working 42 hours this week, I managed to put together another bluffer’s guide, for the Liberal carbon tax plan. Liberal leader Stéphane Dion calls it Green Shift, which I guess is not to be confused with this Green Shift. From the video, it seems to have something to do with stock photos of plants and animals, combined with people in suits clapping awkwardly in a white room.

The 48-page plan (PDF), which ironically wastes quite a bit of space by having blank pages and one-word all-green title pages, explains far more details than non-Liberal politicians would have liked, because now they can’t attack Dion for being unclear.

That doesn’t mean they won’t attack the Liberals though. The Tories have already setup a they-think-it’s-funny website mocking Dion and his plan, saying everyone but the tooth fairy and leprechauns will have to pay more taxes as a result of it.

Basically all you need to know about the plan is this:

• It would tax polluting fossil fuels and cut income taxes to balance the money difference
• It exempts gasoline, because politicians are too scared to admit that high gas prices help the environment when suburban soccer moms are griping about how much money it takes to fill up their SUVs. This makes the plan useless for its intended purpose.
• It’s a Liberal plan, and the Liberals have to become the government and get support from a majority of MPs before they can implement it.

See also:

• June 15, 2008 — Sorry for the genocide
• January 7, 2008 — GST, PST, MST?
• December 29, 2007 — TWIM: Griffintown and telemarketers

Nice to know that a devastating attack on the Montreal metro system which hasn’t happened yet is already being blamed on a massive government conspiracy involving the CIA.

See also:

• July 15, 2008 — The metro car ice cream parlor, and other Just for Laughs outdoor fun
• May 28, 2008 — The reds are marching
• May 27, 2008 — Georges-Vanier metro closes for summer

Anyway, add to that the Boston-based New England Patriots went 18-0 last season before fucking it up in the Super Bowl, and it’s a pretty sweet time to be a Boston sports fan.

Unless of course, you like hockey.

And this is a perfect excuse to bring back my favourite Ryan Parker song. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, you haven’t read this blog enough.

Enjoy.

See also:

• July 17, 2008 — Dr. Horrible: Adorable evil
• June 23, 2008 — Tonight’s forecast: dark
• May 26, 2008 — Real programmers use a magnetized needle and a steady hand

Pauline Marois has apparently taken to vlogging (on YouTube, no less, which doesn’t have a French Canadian version). In this video from a few days ago, she talks about how Jean Charest should accept the PQ’s proposal to amend the Quebec charter to include:

1. A guarantee of equality between men and women, which is already there last time I checked.
2. A guarantee of separation between church and state, except of course when it comes to having symbols of the One True Religion in the state’s legislature
3. A guarantee of the Ultimate Supremacy of the One True Language to the exclusion of all others, even though we live in a country which has a law kinda saying the opposite

She also name-drops the Mouvement Montréal français, which I guess shouldn’t be so surprising, but will probably hurt the PQ later when the MMF inevitably says something outright racist.

See also:

• June 16, 2008 — Racism is OK when you’re white
• September 28, 2007 — More xenophobia at the Bouchard-Taylor commission
• July 20, 2008 — Ceci est Sparta indépendantiste

Close call for window washers at Place Montreal Trust (LCN has some details about this story, The Gazette too — dramatic part’s at the end):

(UPDATE: Also available from another angle in four parts: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4)

The Wall of Rain approaches:

Horizontal rain (via Patrick):

Hail in Otterburn Park:

Some backyard shots:

And, of course, bikinis!

UPDATE: Just noticed Dominic Arpin had the same idea for a post.

See also:

• March 10, 2008 — Schools closed today
• January 5, 2008 — Your guide to media coverage of the 1998 ice storm anniversary
• December 19, 2007 — Trains aren’t running on time