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?

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:

• June 15, 2008 — Go Boston
• June 2, 2008 — Thomas McEntee
• May 26, 2008 — Real programmers use a magnetized needle and a steady hand

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:

• May 28, 2008 — The reds are marching
• May 27, 2008 — Georges-Vanier metro closes for summer
• May 12, 2008 — Metrovision at Bonaventure station

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:

• June 23, 2008 — Tonight’s forecast: dark
• May 26, 2008 — Real programmers use a magnetized needle and a steady hand
• April 26, 2008 — Jon Lajoie: SuperHab

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
• June 20, 2008 — Why I love Quebec

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

A video (Part 1 of 7) from TQS’s launch way back when, starring André Arthur, Jean Pouliot and all the tie-wearing executives in the TQS family.

(via Dominic Arpin)

But you’re not here for boring promotional videos, you want jingles. Here you go:

(As a bonus game, try and guess which of those clips come from original TQS shows, and which are imported U.S. hits)

See also:

• June 26, 2008 — CRTC caves, bends rules for TQS
• June 16, 2008 — Sorry, TQS, no sale
• June 4, 2008 — CTV, TQS move to sucker-generated content

Come on. You know you want to. Decrease worldsuck. Come to Montreal. Please?

See also:

• April 3, 2008 — Porn spam sinks to new low
• January 7, 2008 — The great thing about the Internet
• December 16, 2007 — Bilingualism isn’t a threat to Quebec

To celebrate its new web portal (the city’s websites are going to keep reinventing themselves until they realize that the entire thing sucks horse manure and needs to be replaced from the ground up), Montreal’s library network crowdsourced (through a contest) the making of a minute-and-a-half-long commercial/film about how awesome the libraries are.

The results are pretty impressive. Above is the winner from among the 94(!) videos submitted (they’ve posted all of them to YouTube). It’s slick, heartwarming and even features a few cameos.

The videos use varying styles, including fast-talking animation, generic ad montage with cool music to appeal to a young audience, piano-accompanied first-person documentary targeted toward an even younger demographic, paper-eating film-WTF, silent-movie comedy, dramatic metaphor, creepy stalking, annoyingly-dubbed sock-puppet theatre, animated post-its, animated crumpled-up-pieces-of-paper, people-walking-around-with-numbers-on-their-heads, and, of course, awesome Transformers battle, plus dozens more that I haven’t gotten a chance to watch yet because I really should be going to bed about now.

See also:

• No related posts

(The original, in case you haven’t seen it, warning about language on both)

(via Dave Id)

See also:

• November 18, 2007 — My Olbermann fetish

George Stroumboulopoulos* and John Cusack.

Before now, you might have wondered if the two could somehow be combined to form some sort of überhottie (and then merged into me, but that would create a form of hotness that would start fusing hydrogen atoms into helium and create a star that would quickly consume the Earth, so let’s not ponder that).

But lo and behold, Strombo interviews Cusack.

Ladies (and some gentlemen), prepare yourselves:

Sigh.

*I totally just spelled that without looking.

See also:

• No related posts

Ever wake up one morning and think to yourself: I want to see cheesy, low-budget early 90s Québécois rap video that goes on for nine minutes about how awesome public transit is and how cool you can be if you follow all the rules and respect your fellow passengers?

It’s Il fait beau dans l’métro (about) meets Don’t Copy That Floppy (about). Will it be as much of an Internet senstation?

See also:

• June 25, 2008 — On the 515
• June 17, 2008 — STM to add more off-peak bus service starting Monday
• May 21, 2008 — The nitty-gritty of public consultations

You know what’s cool? Video demos featuring me. (Though I’m no longer the first result for “cyberpresse” apparently.)

Via Sekhmet.

See also:

• May 2, 2008 — I don’t need your help, Cyberpresse
• April 10, 2008 — Oh Guy!
• March 26, 2008 — Anglo ads on franco websites?

Note: Please do not take this literally. Flyers fans are human too. If you see one trying to steal the purse of a helpless old lady, please report the matter to the police immediately and do not — I repeat: do not — beat the person to a bloody pulp.

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 think we’ve found the real reason there was a riot around Crescent St. on Monday night: Bilal and CHOM’s Hockeyville (not to be confused with CBC/Kraft Hockeyville). Time to repent, Bilal…

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