Lists

The Ten Best Top-Ten Lists | AlterNet

Video

Top 50 Music Videos Of 2005 | DoCopenhagen

Hobbies

rednecksurfing.wmv | Google Video

Neighbourly Love

"Anybody with any ambition at all, or intelligence, has left Canada and is now living in New York...Canada is a sweet country. It is like your retarded cousin you see at Thanksgiving and sort of pat him on the head. You know, he's nice but you don't take him seriously. That's Canada...Canada is essentially a stalker, stalking the United States, right? Canada has little pictures of us in its bedroom, right? ... It's unrequited love between Canada and the United States. We, meanwhile, don't even know Canada's name. We pay no attention at all." - MSNBC host Tucker Carlson | The Chronicle Herald

Award Winning

It's official. Holly Dazed won first prize in AFCOOP's Super 8 Holiday Party and Screening at the Seahorse tonight! More importantly, it was magically in focus. There was tough competition from filmmakers Megan Wennberg ("Tis The Season"), Cam Erais ("A Shitty Christmas"), Jamieson ("Agoraphobia"), Joel MacGregor ("Fortune Cookie"), Steven James May ("Memoria"), Josh Edmonds ("How To Make a Halfassed Super 8 Christmas Film") and Ron McDougall ("Duet"), but we pulled ahead of the pack and got to take home an autographed copy of Mr. December from the AFCOOP nudie calendar. Plus, we didn't even stack the audience. Now, to find the best (cheapest?) way to get the film onto DVD for future generations.

Update: Scott taped the screening on video last night and added the chipmunk effect. Holly Dazed is now available in QuickTime format. Here is a bit of publicity from The Coast.

'Tis The Season For Virtual Greetings

Me Want Book

The CKDU Top 10 of 2005

01 -- Dog Day* -- Thank You -- Out Of Touch -- L*
02 -- B.A. Johnston* -- My Heart Is A Blinking Nintendo -- Just Friends -- L*
03 -- The Burdocks* -- What We Do Is Secret -- Black Mountain -- L*
04 -- Alpha Flight* -- Battle Royale -- Independent -- L*
05 -- Special Noise -- Special Noise -- Out of Touch/Youth Club -- L*
06 -- Wintersleep* -- Wintersleep -- Dependent Music -- L*
07 -- Windom Earle All Stars* -- A Series Of Minor Personal Tragedies -- Independent -- L*
08 -- Holy Shroud* --Ghost Repeaters-- Level Plane -- L*
09 -- The Stolen Minks* -- The Stolen Minks -- Independent -- L*
10 -- Broken Social Scene* -- Broken Social Scene + EP -- Arts & Crafts

from CKDU's Top 100 of 2005 (Discussion)

Music

Belle & Sebastian "Another Sunny Day"

Think

The 5th Annual Year in Ideas | New York Times

Happy Holidays

List to End all Lists

Lists: 2005 | Fimoculous.com

Radio

"An in depth portrait of John Lennon, told through the original audio of Jann Wenner's seminal 1970 New York interview with Lennon for Rolling Stone magazine. The most famous interview Rolling Stone founder Jann Wenner ever did was an extensive interrogation, on tape, of Lennon shortly after the Beatles had broken up." - BBC Radio 4

Work

"Encourage creativity. Google engineers can spend up to 20 percent of their time on a project of their choice. There is, of course, an approval process and some oversight, but basically we want to allow creative people to be creative. One of our not-so-secret weapons is our ideas mailing list: a companywide suggestion box where people can post ideas ranging from parking procedures to the next killer app. The software allows for everyone to comment on and rate ideas, permitting the best ideas to percolate to the top." - Google: Ten Golden Rules | Newsweek

Column

Atlantic News Perspective #161 (Dec 5, 2005)
Nunatsiavut, Oxford's Christmas Season and an unofficial Stompin' Tom figurine.
By: Iain K. MacLeod

It's a Wrap!

Production wrapped on the no-budget, 3 minute short Super 8 film Holly Dazed. As co-producer, camera-person, light supplier and part of the creative team, I would like to thank the rest of the cast (Sam, Scott, Amanda and Markus) and crew (Lynn, Steve and Glen's mom's sweater) for all their hard work and dedication on the project. Also the various locations (Alantic Film Festival, Profac, CBC Radio Canada, Chadwick Foods, Kick Ass Shoes, Nubody's and the Park Lane Parking Garage) that put up with our shenanigans. A big fat "no thank you" to Alexandra's Pizza for taking about two hours to deliver two medium pizzas. Another shout out to Amy at The Maxwell's Plum for serving us during our impromptu wrap party event, about 5 hours after we began shooting. The film was produced for the Atlantic Filmmakers Cooperative's annual Super 8 Holiday Party and Screening taking place on December 15, 2005 at the Seahorse Tavern (9 PM). Fingers crossed...I just hope it is in focus. And there was enough light. And it is funny. And why didn't I take any pictures? Damn.

Economics

Treasure Chest

Dead Letter Office

An Open Letter to Larry The Cable Guy by David Cross

David Cross vs. Nardwuar

Yawn

Satellite Radio On The Air in Canada...about two decades too late, I think.

Sweet Zombie Jesus!

"If you’re a member of the long-suffering Christian majority, have you been cowed into feeling guilty about this special time of year?" - Political correctness a blight on society | Halifax Herald

"What happened to this country. It was founded on Christianity. And you may talk about the bylaw – but what about the B-I-B-L-E? What about some righteousness, what about some holiness?" - Proposed adult entertainment club sparks lively debate | Halifax Herald

Bad Pun Alert

RIM Jobs

Column

Atlantic News Perspective #160 (Nov 28, 2005)
Air Canada's oxygen, Halifax nation's crime capital and mourning John "Junior" Hanna.
By: Iain K. MacLeod

The Worst Shit Ever

Romance?

Film

Trailer Park Boys: The Movie

Post (Halifax Locals)

Warning: This post contains no pictures.

* 'Sloan' to join CBC as satellite radio DJs

* The Canadian Podcasting Tour - Halifax: November 23 (7:30 p.m.)

* Ninjatune update:

S&N 'Homages' Double 7" EP
Sixtoo (1200hobos/Sebutones/etc.) and Norsola Johnson (Godspeed/Mollases/etc.) are S&N. No need for some witty snapping sales pitch here. Shit is hot. 4 sides of heat...with Sixtoo on live and not live drums and electronics. Norsola plays the cello, bass and other assorted instruments. Yes!

Sixtoo 'Duration' CD/DVD Re-issue!
Originally produced on Dollar Store VHS copies, we decided it deserved an actual DVD release, a full step up from the original 50 dollar store tapes that it was home-duped on! Say word. Also included on the bonus DVD is a full gallery section, a description of the project, and a high res gallery of other Sixtoo related goodness. There is also a CD of the instrumental hiphop classic Duration album.

* Buy Nothing Day is Friday Nov 25

There will be a street party and musical march meeting at Grand Parade Square at 5:30pm, and leaving at 6:00pm.Bring noisemakers, merriment, and fun to celebrate Buy Nothing Day. If you can't make the celebrations, then tune in to CKDU 97.5 from 6-7pm for live updates.

Dating Jimmy Kimmel, meta-bigotry and Zoloft

Sarah Silverman | Onion AV Club

Irony Maiden | Slate

Sarah Silverman Interrogation | Slate

Quiet Depravity | The New Yorker

Jesus is Magic

Column

Atlantic News Perspective #159 (Nov 21, 2005)
Muskrat meat, deep fried SUV fuel and the "pass-out game."
By: Iain K. MacLeod

Road Trip?

Sigur Ros
FEB 6 @ 7:30pm
On-Sale Friday, November 18
Tickets are $30.50, general admission, all ages.
http://www.liveatthestate.com/

US Politics

"Members of Congress have increased their own pay by $30,000 per year since freezing the minimum wage at $5.15 per hour (the lowest among industrialized nations)." - Jimmy Carter (This isn't the real America | LA Times)

Music

Halifax Pop Explosion Reviews (October 11 to 15, 2005)
By Carsten Knox, Iain K. MacLeod and Scott Reid

US Politics

On Bush, the Dems, Jon Stewart, Hunter Thompson, Bill Moyers, and King (not Don) by John Cusack.

Column

Atlantic News Perspective #158 (Nov 14, 2005)
Rose hips, prison tattoos and young vets.
By: Iain K. MacLeod

Stuff

Moleskine planners are available at The Bookmark (5686 Spring Garden Road) in Halifax. If I wasn't hooked on my Palm and iCal, I would probably buy one.

Post

Ultimate Geek Tool | Ask MetaFilter

Halifax Locals

Dangerously clever
Halifax 'rap nerd' to launch latest CD at Seahorse
By STEPHEN COOKE, Entertainment Reporter, The Chronicle Herald

Dangerously zone
Halifax hip-hopper Jesse Dangerously brings a crew along for the first time on his guest-laden EP Inter Alia.
By Jon Bruhm, The Coast

MP3>Jesse Dangerously's "Outfox'd (When Pacitists Attack)"

Cancon

Hoser courtesy of The Colbert Report.

The New Math

Geek Alert: Linksys WRT54G ($89.99) + The Open Source WRT54G Story = $600 router?

Nerd Alert: GTD + 43 Folders + Lifehacker + $19.86 Brother PT-65 Electronic Labeller = productivity porn

Video

The White Stripes - The Denial Twist (d. Michel Gondry) (QuickTime)

Column

Atlantic News Perspective #157 (Nov 7, 2005)
Free crack pipes, the Tolosa International Choral Festival and millions of gallons of manure.
By: Iain K. MacLeod

Event

Tonight's Grizzly Man screening @ Park Lane (7 PM) has changed. The Monday Night Movie has been moved to December 5th.

Critical Confessions

"It's a dirty little secret among critics, I think, that we don't always feel today what we felt yesterday, yet I think that's a secret that we keep as much from ourselves as from our readers." - Scott Tobias confesses in The Onion AV Club.

Ignorance Is Bliss

"People who do things badly...are usually supremely confident of their abilities -- more confident, in fact, than people who do things well...One reason that the ignorant also tend to be the blissfully self-assured, the researchers believe, is that the skills required for competence often are the same skills necessary to recognize competence." - New York Times (January 18, 2000)

No Good Reason

Awards

Best of Halifax 2005

Best local website: halifaxlocals.com
Wi-five! Halifaxlocals.com wins for the second straight year as the best local website, keeping us all in the loop about the Halifax music scene. The site relies on an open-source, message board-style format that keeps things current—and unpredictable. “On the front page of Halifaxlocals, you’ll typically see a lot of show posters, but that was really not my original intent at all,” says site moderator and co-founder Sean MacGillivray. “That’s just what the user base has done with it. That space was supposed to be filled with news, filled with stuff that’s going on and original content, but all of the sudden people got this idea to put up their show posters. And now we’re inundated with requests to put up posters!”

Courtesy of The Coast readership!

Column

Atlantic News Perspective #156 (Nov 1, 2005)
Immoral theatrical performances, tomato fights and churches for sale.
By: Iain K. MacLeod

DVD

Office Space: Special Edition with Flair

Radio

My pledge to CKDU aka Jessica's litter box story.

Quote

"The odds of hitting the Lotto 6/49 jackpot by plunking down a toonie and picking all six numbers are one in 13.98 million.

To put that in perspective, math gurus say those odds are roughly equal to your chance of dying within 15 minutes of buying your lottery ticket - or flipping a coin and getting 24 tails in a row.

You are also somewhere between 14 and 50 times more likely to get struck by lightning, depending on who's doing the calculations, they say." - Macleans.ca

Quote

"Brave stories that authentically and straightforwardly reflect the director’s inner and outer world. They are seldom funny. Like the time of comedies is maybe over." - The 54th International Filmfestival Mannheim-Heidelberg

Quote

"It's entirely possible that the course of human history, at least as it pertains to the naming of rock bands, has built up to this moment. Has there ever been a band name as perfect, as right, as Platonically ideal as...?"

Halloween

Poetry

The Way I See It: No. 23

Chances are you are scared of fictions.
Chances are you are only fleetingly happy.
Chances are you know much less than you think you do.
Chances are you feel a little guilty.
Chances are you want people to lie to you.
Perhaps the answer lies on the side of a coffee cup.
You are lost.

— David Cross, Comedian

Column

Atlantic News Perspective #155 (Oct 24, 2005)
Enormous eggbeater, family feuds and the drinking olympics.
By: Iain K. MacLeod

Events

The Facts:

Kathryn Calder of Immaculate Machine is Carl Newman's niece (of The New Pornographers) and fills in for Neko Case on the road.

donate money to what's new, mitsou? on ckdu tuesday night between 6-7:30 and you could get a windom earle prize pack featuring a shirt, pins, and a framed pic of stephan in a bathtub full of cookies.

windom earle is doing a rare video set

this is possibly the last windom earle show for a while.

Are you game?

GTD

Meet the Life Hackers | NY Times

Fitter, happier, more productive | The Guardian

43 Folders Podcast

Film

The Cult of 'the Dude' | Globe & Mail

Event

Update: Stephan is scheduled to perform at 10:30 tonight at Gus' (corner of North and Agricola).

He can also be heard giving a tour of Excitement Video on Popped Culture's "SEX & ROMANCE" episode and Windom Earle can be heard giving an extremely rare "unplugged" performance on Radio Free Polygon. Both available in Podcast form.

Lastly, here is an chance to see the Windom Earle video set: CKDU FUNDING DRIVE: Immaculate Machine w/ Windom Earle and HotShotRobot @ Stage Nine $5 ($7 after 10pm)Tune into What's New Mitsou on Tuesday, Oct 25th to pledge and win tickets.

TV

The Colbert Report...Gravitas: Colbert Vs. Stone Philips

Event

Film

Big Lebowski Collector's Edition DVD With Coasters, Cards and Towel

Tech

Why Do-It-Yourself Photo Printing Doesn't Add Up | NY Times

TV

60 Minute's Andy Rooney and Robert Smigel's TV Fun House.

Religion

Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster

Film

Hollywood's Best Blunders by Edward Jay Epstein.

Blog

A weeklong journal from a writer and director. By Judd Apatow

TV

Awesome Town

Energy

"The aim here is efficiency, not austerity. We all remember the energy crisis of the 1970s, when people in positions of responsibility complained that Americans just used too much energy. Well, it's a good thing to conserve energy in our daily lives, and probably all of us can think of ways to do so. We can certainly think of ways that other people can conserve energy. And therein lies a temptation for policymakers -- the impulse to begin telling Americans that we live too well, and -- to recall a 70s phrase -- that we've got to "do more with less." Already some groups are suggesting that government step in to force Americans to consume less energy, as if we could simply conserve or ration our way out of the situation we're in. To speak exclusively of conservation is to duck the tough issues. Conservation may be a sign of personal virtue, but it is not a sufficient basis for a sound, comprehensive energy policy. People work very hard to get where they are. And the hardest working are the least likely to go around squandering energy, or anything else that costs them money. Our strategy will recognize that the present crisis does not represent a failing of the American people." - Dick Cheney in Toronto, April 31, 2001

Music

From Fat Possum Records:

R. L. Burnside
November 21, 1926 - September 1, 2005

We at Fat Possum are sad to announce that R.L. Burnside died today at his hospital room in Memphis.

Blues artist R.L. Burnside, who redefined the blues genre by incorporating indie rock acts and hip-hop production, died September 1, 2005, at St. Francis Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee. Burnside was born November 21, 1926, in Harmontown, Mississippi, and spent most of his life in the north Mississippi hill country, where he worked as a sharecropper and a commercial fisherman and played guitar at weekend house parties. In 1968, noted folklorist George Mitchell recorded Burnside for the first time. In 1991 Burnside was the first artist signed to then-fledgling Fat Possum Records in Oxford, Mississippi. His debut, "Too Bad Jim," was produced by former New York Times pop critic Robert Palmer. Along with his friend, neighbor, and label-mate Junior Kimbrough, Burnside was one of the most popular and important blues musicians to emerge in the last two decades. He recorded the crossover collaboration "A Ass Pocket of Whiskey" with the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion in 1996 and became a cult hero. In 1998, music from "Come On In" was featured in several movies and television shows, including The Sopranos. Burnside sold hundreds of thousands of records in his lifetime. He is survived by his wife Alice Mae, twelve children, and numerous grandchildren.

Those wishing to help should send donations to:
Freeland & Freeland Trust Account
Burnside Memorial
P. O. Box 269
Oxford, MS 38655
(662)234-3414
All proceeds will go directly to RL's widow, Alice Mae.

Film

Atlantic Film Festival box office is online.

DVD

Directors Label Volumes 4-7 f/ Anton Corbijn, Jonathan Glazer, Mark Romanek & Stephane Sednaoui released on September 13th

Old People Food

baked beans

bread & molasses

boiled dinner

Caravan Bars

chicken bones

corned beef

cream of wheat

custard

digestive cookies

figs

fruit cake

ginger ale

grape seed ice cream

hermit cookies

hobnobs

jellied salads

liver

malted anything

marmalade

May West pastries

melba toast

mincemeat pies

ovaltine

pickled beets

prune juice

pumpkin pie

ribbon candy

satin mix

sauerkraut

scones

scotch mints

shredded wheat

sponge toffee

tapioca

tomatoes with a knife and fork

Vienna wieners

wheatabix

Music

Do They Know It's Hallowe'en? from the North American Hallowe'en Prevention, Inc. (NAHPI) (courtesy of The A.V. Club)

Sale

For the GTDers: Brother PT-65 Electronic Labeller @ Staplers for $19.86 (after rebate)

Event

Column

Atlantic News Perspective #154 (Aug 15, 2005)
The "Racino" opens in Charlottetown, students build a house using phonebooks and the Canso Causeway turns 50.
By: Iain K. MacLeod

Column

Atlantic News Perspective #153 (Aug 8, 2005)
Beer Bandit on stage, a horse named Drop Off dies and breaking accordion records.
By: Iain K. MacLeod

Film

"After the film debuted on January 24, 2005 at Sundance it was picked up by Warner Independent Pictures for distribution. The Warner Independent website had shown that the limited Fall release (I didn't say 'full release') was scheduled for October 21st-with a wider release planned for the following weeks-but their Strangers With Candy page has since been removed. One of my contacts has informed me that his inside source at Warner Independent told him that Strangers With Candy 'is no longer on our slate'. If you want to help, you and your friends can send email to press@warnerindependent.com to tell them that you want Candy!!!" - from jerriblank.com

Column

Atlantic News Perspective #152 (August 2, 2005)
Emergency bikes, voting my mail and Chapel Island goes national.
By: Iain K. MacLeod

Questions

Unanswerables | Snopes

Fake News

"In terms of who I channel, my natural inclination was Stone Phillips, who has the greatest neck in journalism...and then I also used Geraldo Rivera, because he's got this great sense of mission. He just thinks he's gonna change the world with this report. He's got that early-'70s hip trench coat "busting this thing wide open" look going on. So those two guys. And Peter Mansbridge, obviously." - Stephen Colbert (A Super Straight Guy | AlterNet WireTap)

Oct-olbert: "Strangers With Candy" will be released on October 21 and Colbert Report debuts on October 17.

Word

Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest 2005 Results

Photo

"I'm so pleased to be coming to Halifax. I should be in Bermuda. But who cares? I'm home," said Nancy Shakleton (CBC Nova Scotia)

Film

"Michael Moore and Mel Gibson are the same person, except for a few sit-ups. Moore thought his cheesy political blooper reel was going to tell people how to vote. Mel thought that his little gay S&M movie about his imaginary friend was going to help him get to heaven. George W. Bush is president and there’s still no god. You failed boys. Someone should have told Mike that the bad guys are smarter than him and someone should have told Mel that the Three Stooges were Jewish." - Letter from Penn Jillette (Official Site)

"A work of painstaking and penetrating scholarship...one of the most original and rigorous pieces of criticism in any medium I have encountered in quite some time...also possibly the filthiest, vilest, most extravagantly obscene documentary ever made." - A.O. Scott on The Aristocrats (New York Times)

Column

Atlantic News Perspective #151 (July 25, 2005)
Playing chicken with chickens, knifed in church and lending a harp.
By: Iain K. MacLeod

Clothing

No Sweat Apparel is being sold at Outside the Lines at 6297 Quinpool Road.

Doppleganger

Looks like I have another person to add to my mistaken identity list. Someone I met on the weekend thought I worked at Neptune Theatre in downtown Halifax.

Email

I posted this to a messageboard awhile ago, but I thought I would share some reasons to switch from HoTMaiL to Google Mail.

* ever-increasing storage space
* completely free
* speed (page doesn't have to reload to sift through messages)
* forwarding ability (works well with another account)
* POP downloading (you can use an e-mail program if you want)
* amazing searchability
* GmailStatus (Mac Os X)
* interesting hacks are popping up all the time
* you can read mail with an aggregator
* to me, Google is innovative and inspiring...Microsoft is stagnating. I cringe when I see a somethingorother@hotmail.com on a business card or on a band web site. I guess I am an e-litest!

Glowie

Column

Atlantic News Perspective #150 (July 18, 2005)
Salmon cams, backyard wrestling and the gay market.
By: Iain K. MacLeod

Comic

Music

Windom Earle's "Ode To Greg's Cat" is being used to close the weekly national CBC Radio One show "Lost & Found" hosted by Matt Rainnie.

Quote

"If you are a lonely sort, as internet folks occasionally are, you will be relieved to know that, as always, there is someone on the internet a hundred times worse off than you are." - Drew on the Insane Clown Posse Personal Ad Site (Klepto Pepto | .net)

Quote

"Some choice is better than none, but more choices don't make things better," - Carl Honoré (Time to switch off and slow down | BBC News)

Nerd Alert

I called the Paper Garden in Barrington Place a couple weeks ago looking for a Fisher Space Pen and they said "oh yeah, we carry those but we are sold out right now." I said, "OK" and then hear *click*. Nice. Why is it so hard to give money to some companies? Anyway, I started to look elsewhere and couldn't find any evidence of the pen around town and began to think that the US Amazon store was my best bet. Then, carrying an armload of crap through Staples, I saw they had just started stocking them in the pen section out of the corner of my eye. Only available in silver, but I was able to get over my current pen fixation (sparked by this somewhat illogical testimonial: "The Space Pen writes upside down, underwater, and—yes I’ve tested it— through a pat of rich, creamery butter.") and can safely move onto some other empty, meaningless obsession. Note: Even though Primer sums up the ridiculous nature of such an object, I still love it.

Books

GTD: A New Cult for the Info Age | Wired

A Guide To Getting Things Done | Wired

The Sources: David, Merlin and Marc.

Event

alFresco filmFesto 5.0 has been announced. You can vote for your favourite John Hughes movie here.

Column

Atlantic News Perspective #149 (July 11, 2005)
Strawberries in New Brunswick, an iceberg controversy and a broken down ambulance.
By: Iain K. MacLeod

Post (Halifax Locals)

http://podcast.ckdu.ca/
Featuring: Popped Culture, Let's Get Baked & What's New Mitsou?

The Real Terror

Reaction to the London Terrorist Attacks | Fox News

Film

Rubber Johnny | d. Chris Cunningham

Column

Atlantic News Perspective #148 (July 4, 2005)
Harnessing tidal power, a drug bust off the coast and lightning strikes a church.
By: Iain K. MacLeod

Anagram of the Moment

Katie Holmes = Tom Likes a He (courtesy of Popbitch)

Post

Anti-Hit List is Alive | MetaFilter

TV

A Sore for Sighted Eyes Clips | TV Carnage

TV

Gumby's Skateboard Rally

Event

The Bell City Chase - August 6th

Music

Windom Earle EPK

Auction

Industry Pass to Atlantic Film fest-Take One magazine

Column

Atlantic News Perspective #147 (June 27, 2005)
Gross National Happiness, drive-by paintballing and attack of the ants.
By: Iain K. MacLeod

Music

Ween are releasing "Shinola Vol. 1" (a collection of odds, ends, and leftovers from around our studio and contains killer new mixes of a lot of songs that have been floating around the web in really crappy fidelity for a long time...12 songs deemed "too brown" to be put on any of their commercial CDs) on July 19th on their own Chocodog label. The CD can be Pre-Ordered here and will be available through their own site shortly.

Skeptics

Remember Flim-Flam | Slate
How to be a modern skeptic. By Daniel Engber

Religion?

Religious Gadget Thursday: The E-Meter | Gizmodo

Scientology's Prisons and Slave Labour | MetaFilter

Quotes

"So I broke both his ribs." - some girl on Spring Garden Road commenting on how she handled it when her boyfriend called her a stunned cunt.

"It's not a boob job. It's a boob career." - me commenting on the latest incarnation of Pamela Anderson on the cover some men's mag.

"Buckle tuckle." - Beth's description of a guy wearing a t-shirt that is only tucked in such a way that you can see his belt buckle.

"Who has more fun than people?" - a co-worker recalled this phrase from his youth.

Magazines

50 Best Magazines | Chicago Tribune

Note: Local magazine focusing on "Buddhism, culture, meditation, life" comes in at number 29.

Comic

Toothpaste for Dinner | Slate
A slide-show tour of the most addictive comic on the Web. By Sam Anderson

More...

Book

Bill Hicks: Agent of Evolution | Sacred Cow Productions

Music

The New Pornographers - "Use It" | Stereogum

News Flash

Nerds make better lovers | New York Daily News

Film

Broken Flowers | d. Jim Jarmusch

Note: The trailor features a great track ("My Own Memory" by Yègellé Tezeta) that I have always liked from Ethiopiques, Vol. 4: Ethio Jazz & Musique Instrumentale, 1969-1974.

Event

Halifax Locals

What do you get when you take one deep fry cook, four bands, six pairs of pants and one shared passion for seafood? If you're lucky, you'll get The Rolling Chowder Travelling Revue featuring BA Johnston, Windom Earle, The Intesteens, Away Ri'o and a huge assortment of other bands sailing across the Maritimes this summer in search of buried treasure and great discounts on seafood.

Sincerely,
Frank W. Peterson
President of the Rolling Chowder Chain of Family Restaurants

The Rolling Chowder Travelling Revue

1) any of various usually burrowing marine and freshwater bivalve mollusks of the class Pelecypoda, including members of the genera Venus and Mya, many of which are edible.
2) a thick soup containing fish or shellfish, especially clams, and vegetables, such as potatoes and onions, in a milk or tomato base.
3) remarkably full-featured and sturdy wheel that brings a lot to the driving experience.

In unrelated news, The Lost Tape of Dan Norman Cummings has been unearthed and digitized.

Column

Atlantic News Perspective #146 (June 20, 2005)
Returning the rock, perfect attendance and stealing cars.
By: Iain K. MacLeod

Music?

The Secret Life of Beck Hansen - A Guide for the Professional Journalist | lermanet.com

Fact

I have never (nor will I ever be) a member of the Scottish Mountaineering Club.

WWW

craigslist: halifax, NS classifieds for jobs, apartments, personals, for sale, services, community, and events

What eBay Could Learn From Craigslist | NY Times

Prank

Architecture students created a stir Friday by erecting a sign announcing Wal-Mart was coming to downtown Halifax. (CBC Nova Scotia)

Audio

THE LOST TAPE OF DAN NORMAN CUMMINGS | windom earle

Film

The 40 Year Old Virgin | d. Judd Apatow

Music

The John Lennon Educational Tour Bus

Halifax Locals

The Halifax Pop Explosion wants you...to apply yourself.

File under Viral Videos:

DJ scratches The Imperial March. (starring Skratch Bastid and featuring The Centaur)

NXNE Blog by Jon Bruhm

Ermine tour Blog by Chuck Teed

Content courtesy of The Coast.

Work

So, You Want To Start a Film Festival... | Slate

Column

Atlantic News Perspective #145 (June 13, 2005)
Toxic rockets, striking a flagger and stealing rocks.
By: Iain K. MacLeod

Society

Question Authorities: Why it's smart to disobey officials in emergencies| Wired

Quote

"Steve Jobs finally beats Bill Gates. And with the sale of Apple to Intel, Steve accepts the position of CEO of the Pixar/Disney/Sony Media Company." - Robert X. Cringely's prediction after the Apple/Intel partnership(I, Cringely)

Words

Friderage | Office-Politics

News

A follow-up (U.S. took his chain saw, then let him in) to this post

Event

Irony

Well, I spent my lunch hour hitting three stores downtown looking for a book on productivity. I read about it in The Coast plus it seems to have set some bloggers on fire. (Note: even though I am the first to order this kind of crap off the net, I was told it was in stock at Scotia Square and I was in a want-it-now state of mind, I guess.)

Column

Atlantic News Perspective #144 (June 6, 2005)
Trawling for trouble, ferrying to Boston and Boy Scout survivor.
By: Iain K. MacLeod

Don't Sign This

The Bring Motley Crue To Halifax, NS Petition

E-Card

BEAST BLENDER

Quote

"Of all the people I know of he is the first candidate for suicide. Because as wrong as I may be, he is in conflict with his own self and his own missed childhood and with society and with his imagination and his wrongdoings, which he cannot see as wrongdoings—if there are wrong-doings. But he's a deeply tragic figure and he touches my heart deeply...You know, I would be the one to do the definitive film on him." - Werner Herzog on Michael Jackson (Village Voice)

Music

"He makes a sound somewhere between a yodel and a hiccup." - The New York Times on Coldplay.

"It's an album so strong and so unexpected that it may change the way people hear all its predecessors. And that's just a start. Listen long enough, and this album might change the way you hear lots of other bands, too." - The New York Times on the White Stripes.

TV Pilot

Cribs for Indie Musicians | Pernice Brothers

Celebrations

How did you celebrate National Doughnut Day yesterday?

Well, I actually missed it. Plus it might be just a US thing...

"Dear Canadian Friends of Krispy Kreme, Due to a technical error, you were sent an email regarding National Doughnut Day. This e-mail was only supposed to go to Friends of Krispy Kreme in the United States, since National Doughnut Day is a U.S. event. We are sincerely sorry for this error and hope you can bear with us as we solve the technical problems that caused this problem. We greatly value our Canadian Friends and appreciate all your support."

DVD

The League of Gentlemen - The Collection | Amazon.com

Employment

Communications Assistant, Hospitality Coordinator, Volunteer Coordinator | Atlantic Film Festival

Film

David Lynch Trailers (Misc. Oddities)

Film

Paradise Lost and Paradise Lost 2 on DVD [via Warp]

Animals

A liger named Hercules

Column

Atlantic News Perspective #143 (May 30, 2005)
Vandalizing Summerside, poking around in Sydney and rethinking Point Pleasant Park.
By: Iain K. MacLeod

Video

"Black History Month" by Death From Above 1979 [Quicktime]

Music & Donairs

"I Can't Put My Finger On It" by ween | Chris Applebaum

Column

Atlantic News Perspective #142 (May 24, 2005)
Messed-up maps, an oily mess and a smokeless Nova Scotia.
By: Iain K. MacLeod

Stuff

MOTOR BOOST VENTILATOR | Chinese Export Commodities Fair

Cooking

It doesn't feel like summer is approaching (tonight's forecast: low of 4 w/ patchy drizzle), but read this anyway:

Everything You Thought You Knew About Grilling Is Wrong | A Work In Progress

Film

Rubber Johnny | dir. Chris Cunningham

Column

Atlantic News Perspective #141 (May 16, 2005)
High school hit lists, losing out on lobster and PEI cracks Coastal Living.
By: Iain K. MacLeod

Music

"Baby C'Mon" by Stephen Malkmus (courtesy of Matador Records)

Music

"I Turn My Camera On" by Spoon (courtesy of Matador Records...outside the US/Canada)

Music

"Twin Cinema" by The New Pornographers (courtesy of Matador Records)

Free Advertising

From Matador Records: Finally, we'd like to offer a shout-out (ie. "fuck you") to the cowards and thought-cops at the Ad Dept at Paste Magazine who have deemed our proposed advertisement for 'Face The Truth' to be beyond the bounds of "good taste." God forbid that anything might challenge the sensibilities of Paste's Yep Roc-loving, Starbucks-guzzling, Wes Anderson-worshipping readership. Seriously, if there's anything we or SM have done that is a poor fit with Paste's Ad Dept's narrow worldview, that is the highest compliment we've been paid since the last time Spin refused to run one of our ads.

Music

Allergic reaction ends rapping marathon | CBC Arts

Nerd Alert

Inflection Point | i, Cringely

Film

Truth In Advertising (d. Tim Hamilton) | studio2f

Column

Atlantic News Perspective #140 (May 9, 2005)
Bizarre boarder crossing, re-resurfacing the bridge and Big Brother in St. John's.
By: Iain K. MacLeod

Quote

"I myself have helped hundreds of people get off drugs. In Scientology, we have the only successful drug rehabilitation program in the world. It's called Narconon...It's a statistically proven fact that there is only one successful drug rehabilitation program in the world. Period, " Tom Cruise (SPIEGEL Interview )

Event

What? Windom Earle + Spincycle^2
When? Wed, May 11 @ 10 PM
Where? Reflections Cabaret
How much? $3 (Ladies Free)

Fake News News

Daily Show's Colbert gets own Comedy Central show | CBC Arts

News

"U.S. customs officials said he was wearing a bullet-proof vest and was carrying a chain saw, a hatchet, a sword, an assortment of knives and a can of pepper spray. Border officials confiscated the arsenal, then let Despres continue on his way." (RCMP lay charges against New Brunswick man in grisly double murder | Macleans.ca)

Column

Atlantic News Perspective #139 (May 2, 2005)
Seal hunt fiction, banning the Bible and Rosie's gay cruise.
By: Iain K. MacLeod

Picture This

The spaceship has been part of the Cavendish landscape for decades. (CBC News)

Picture This

This odd-looking device could help save the lives of football players. (Courtesy USA Today)

News

"Remember the Alamo! Shoot 'em!" he screamed to applause. "To show you how radical I am, I want carjackers dead. I want rapists dead. I want burglars dead. I want child molesters dead. I want the bad guys dead. No court case. No parole. No early release. I want 'em dead. Get a gun and when they attack you, shoot 'em." (Ted Nugent to Fellow NRAers: Get Hardcore | ABC News)

Film

The League of Gentlemen's Apocolypse

Post (MetaFilter)

People have a problem with me, cause I ain't lazy... | MetaFilter

News

Atlantic Film Festival Media Conference Webcast (Windows Media)

News

25th Atlantic Film Festival Blind-Sided by Festival International de Films de Montréal's Recent Announcement of New Dates

Film

The making of Rise of the Empire Trailer (Lego Version) | Jay Silver

Footwear

Media Advisory

Atlantic Film Festival's Reaction To Festival International De Film de Montreal's Recent Announcement of New Dates | Canada NewsWire Group

Column

Atlantic News Perspective #138 (Apr 11, 2005)
E-voting controversy on campus, space junk over Hibernia and Moncton looking for Stones.
By: Iain K. MacLeod

Music

Piercing the peer–to–peer myths: An examination of the Canadian experience | First Monday

Pics

my life as a cloud

Photo

The Stainless
Originally uploaded by boost ventilator.

Crazy Landlord Font: a handwritten typeface characterized by a complete disregard to upper & lower case letters, printing & handwriting, spelling & grammar, symmetry & spacing, punctuation & abbreviations and most importantly, manners. Typically found on the back of pizza boxes poorly taped to a wall in parking garages. Special note: when a printer and computer is used, expect the accompaniment of the comic sans font and excessive use of clip art.

News

Potty-mouth man can't fool science | Toronto Sun
An allegedly drunk driver with a taste for trickery failed to foil a police breathalyzer machine after stuffing his mouth full of feces.

Words

Panel Discussion moderated by Leo Furey, with authors Donna Morrissey, Jonathan Lethem, William Kowalski, and entertainment lawyer Rob Aske.

Are you interested in turning your piece of writing into a screenplay for a film? Do you have questions about the procedure, the possibilities and the pitfalls involved in selling your book for option to the film and television industry? Through the Word and Image panel, you can have these questions and more answered by people who have been through the process and who know the industry ins and outs. Come out on April 9th at 2:00pm and listen to an experienced panel of local authors, screenwriters and producers as they address the opportunities and challenges of selling Atlantic story rights to the International film and television markets.

Words & Image
Radio Room, CBC Radio Building
Saturday, April 9th, 2PM
presented by the Halifax International Writers' Festival & The Atlantic Film Festival in partnership with TradeRoutes.

Free admission, seating is limited. To reserve a seat, please email hgibson@khgmanagement.ca.

For more information please see the poster (pdf).

http://www.halifaxwritersfest.ca

Column

Atlantic News Perspective #137 (Apr 4, 2005)
The CFL in the HRM, leaving before the lottery and parched by PERC.
By: Iain K. MacLeod

Music

The Best 90 Minutes of My Life by Thurston Moore | Wired

Film

Hal Hartley's "The Girl From Monday" Trailer

Music

Requiem for a Record Guru | If Charlie Parker Was a Gunslinger, There'd Be a Whole Lot of Dead Copycats

Film

The Man Who Shot Sin City | Wired

Film

PRIMER @ Park Lane
Monday, April 4, 2005
Trailer

"PRIMER is the headiest, most singular science-fiction movie since Kubrick made 2001." - Esquire

PRIMER is set in the industrial park/suburban tract-home fringes of an unnamed contemporary city where two young engineers, Abe and Aaron, are members of a small group of men who work by day for a large corporation while conducting experiments on their own time in a garage. While tweaking their current project, a device that reduces the apparent mass of any object placed inside it by blocking gravitational pull, they accidentally discover that it has some highly unexpected capabilities--ones that could enable them to do and to have seemingly anything they want. Taking advantage of this unique opportunity is the first challenge they face. Dealing with the consequences is the next.

PRIMER is a mesmerizing thriller that introduces a filmmaker with an exciting new sensibility. Shane Carruth, a former engineer who spent three years teaching himself filmmaking, conceived, wrote, directed, edited, and scored PRIMER and also plays one of the lead roles. His impressive feature debut – set in the very world Carruth abandoned to make movies -- tells the story of two engineers who stumble upon a remarkable invention which changes their lives in unimaginable ways. Engrossing and provocative in its exploration of the dark side of human nature and science, PRIMER electrified audiences at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival, winning the Grand Jury Prize and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Award for films dealing with science and technology.

"Primer ranks among the best of recent thrillers such as "Memento" or "The Matrix," which rupture the fabric of reality and radically destabilize the narrative." - The Onion, Scott Tobias

"Fascinating and completely successful." - Roger Ebert

"Primer unites physics and metaphysics in an ingenious guerrilla reinvention of cinematic science fiction." - Village Voice, Dennis Lim

"Refusing to dumb down... Primer is "Mullholland Dr.," "Memento" for mad geniuses, or simply one of the most inventive films ever made." - Premiere, Aaron Hillis

"Prepare to be obsessed." - Miami Herald, Rene Rodriguez

"Love it or hate it, you won't be able to leave it alone." - Dallas Observer, Robert Wilonsky

Radio / Food

Windom Earle whips up some delicious cupcakes on CKDU

Tech

iPodlounge Buyers' Guide 2005

Column

Atlantic News Perspective #136 (Mar 28, 2005)
Investing in eco-tourism, awarding artistic merit and bank card skimming.
By: Iain K. MacLeod

Event

ƒuck art, let's dance!
April 2 at the Khyber Club
$5-10 (sliding scale)
1st floor: Special Noise, Windom Earle, Radarfame
2nd floor: INDIE DANCIN' with Da Deco Gangsta, Shiver Me Tatters, Readdan Whyte, Johnston Max
3rd floor: HIP HOP with Alphaflight and friends

Apocalyptic

Russell Simmons Puts Hip-Hop "Twist" On Yoga Videos

TV

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

Post (Halifax Locals)

12 Reasons to Attend the Weakerthans/Constantines Show
In no particular order.

12 A coveted Coast Feature on the Weakerthans.
11 The cover art for Reconstruction Site was done by Marcel Dzama of Winnipeg's Royal Art Lodge (who is also responsible for Beck's upcoming Guero release)
10 The Music: The Reasons, Psalm For The Elks Lodge Last Call, Plea From A Cat Named Virtue, Aside, The Last One, Our Retired Explorer (Dines With Michel Foucault In Paris, 1961) LIVE, On A Beautiful Day, Watermark, Confessions Of A Futon-Revolutionist
09 Two words: Weakerthans Karaoke!
08 E-card and videos: The Reasons, Psalm For The Elks Lodge Last Call, Our Retired Explorer (Dines With Michel Foucault In Paris, 1961), Watermark, Diagnosis
07 You don't have to go to Winnipeg!
06 Fancy pants label affiliations: Subpop and Epitaph in US (Three Gut and G7 in Canada)
05 The Music Part Deux: Long Distance Four, Young Offenders, Arizona, On To You, Nighttime Anytime Its Alright, Blind Luck.
04 Check out one of their videos.
03 The Constantines are "big on crowd participation" and are "pretty fucking close" to writing anthems, according to Pitchfork
02 You don't have to go to Guelph!
01 Friday is a holiday...WWJD?

Work

1) AFF Signature Series Presents The Dark Crystal
Wednesday, March 30, at Empire 8, Park Lane, 7:00 pm. $7.25 at the door.

2) The 4th annual ViewFinders guide is online. Here are trailors for Millions and Turtles Can Fly.

3) 25th Atlantic Film Festival Call For Entry.

Music

For those that don't own the 7 Belle & Sebastian EPs issued by Jeepster records (my personal fav being "Jonathan David"), you will be able to get them all in a 2CD set called "Push Barman To Open Old Wounds" on May 24th through Matator Records. Here is a track listing:

CD1
Dog On Wheels
The State I Am In
String Bean Jean
Belle and Sebastian
Lazy Line Painter Jane
You Made Me Forget My Dreams
A Century Of Elvis
Photo Jenny
A Century Of Fakers
Le Pastie De La Bourgeoisie
Beautiful
Put The Book Back On The Shelf

CD2
This Is Just A Modern Rock Song
I Know Where The Summer Goes
The Gate
Slow Graffiti
Legal Man
Judy Is A Dickslap
Winter Wooskie
Jonathan David
Take Your Carriage Clock And Shove It
The Loneliness Of The Middle Distance Runner
I'm Waking Up To Us
I Love My Car
Marx & Engels

Source: Jeepster Singles compiled at last

Film

The Austin Willis Moving Images Centre at St. Mary's University in Halifax wants to restore Bay Boy and get approval for a non-profit tour of it, including a showing later this year at the 25th-anniversary celebration of the Atlantic Film Festival, which featured Bay Boy as its inaugural presentation. However, the centre can't find a 35-mm print of the film -- former distributors such as Orion and Spectra have folded and their inventory scattered -- or any of its constituent parts (the negative original, master positive, soundtrack), or the person or company who owns its rights. (Saving Canadian Celluloid | Globe & Mail)

Column

Atlantic News Perspective #135 (Mar 21, 2005)
Online identity theft, "National Skip Day," and Hell Angels open for business.
By: Iain K. MacLeod

Trailer

It's back. My pathetic voice over work (I am a storm tropper that says "Halt" in a lego version of a Star Wars 3 trailer) is still haunting the internet. Originally posted on Tuesday, July 30, 2002.

Video

"I Saw The Way You Looked At Me" by Windom Earle

Film

Sarah Silverman's Jesus is Magic (NSFW)

Music

NXNEnd story by Phlis McGregor (CBC)

Music

'It's perfect madness' | The Observer
Tom Waits writes about his 20 most cherished albums of all time.
Plus: The fan's verdict on Tom's choices.

Music

Free Music | iPodlounge

Film

Rock School

Photos

W i n d o m

Music

Out of Time
Growing up with and apart from R.E.M.'s recently reissued Warner Brothers albums.
By: Stephen M. Deusner (Pitchfork)

Music

What’s a Windom Earle?
P.E.I. Band brings Rocktronica to Halifax
By Jessica Whyte (Dal Gazette)

Update

For the record, i wasn't me that was mugged or did the mugging on the corner of Brunswick and Duke.

Event

North By North End
Halifax, NS
Gus's Pub, 2605 Agricola ($4/10pm)

Windom Earle
Pop Secret
SS Cardiacs
Camaromance

Note: rumoured to feature a Windom Earle video set. Also, leperchauns must be accompanied by a guardian at all times and don't do the shamrock shake without proper safety precautions.

Column

Atlantic News Perspective #134 (Mar 14, 2005)
Atlantic Canada's largest license plate factory goes multinational, two stolen bobcats in Halifax and Mardi Gras in Fredericton.
By: Iain K. MacLeod

History

The Onion's Irish-Heritage Timeline

Finance

Should I Melt My Gold Nuggets? | Slate

Books

I Like You by Amy Sedaris

Film

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Trailer 3

Column

Atlantic News Perspective #133 (Mar 7, 2005)
The mysterious twig people of Wolfville, linking Newfoundland and Labrador and detonating a WWII shell on Magazine Hill.
By: Iain K. MacLeod

Music

The Most Expensive Album Never Made | NYTimes

Beck at a Certain Age | NYTimes

The War on Autoparts

Violent New Front in Drug War Opens on the Canadian Border | NYTimes

On Thursday, four officers of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police were shot to death in Alberta, British Columbia's neighboring province, as they were searching a marijuana-growing operation, one of many on the rise there. The killings stunned a country that has apparently not lost that many officers at once since the mid-19th century.

Leigh H. Winchell, special agent in charge for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Seattle, which investigates border crimes and is part of the Department of Homeland Security, said the police killings in Alberta were stark evidence of "how serious the B.C. bud issue is getting, how much money is involved and the lengths to which these criminals are willing to go to protect it."

He added, "It's getting worse and worse, and we need to address it at every level. The funding needs to be there, and the resolve of law enforcement to address it needs to be there - on both sides of the border. It's a very dark day for all of us."

Roszko killed officers then himself: RCMP | CBC

When the Mounties arrived at the farm, they found what they say was stolen truck parts and about 20 marijuana plants...Roszko had a long list of criminal convictions, including a two and a half year prison term for sexually assaulting a boy.

Books

Defining Bullshit | Slate

Post (MetaFilter)

When coloured sounds taste sweet | MetaFilter

TV

Sticks and Stones Episode | The Fifth Estate

Column

Atlantic News Perspective #132 (Feb 28, 2005)
The East Coast Music Awards and Conference overtakes Sydney, The Cannabis Café gets busted in Saint John and The Labatt Beer Institute pours in Halifax.
By: Iain K. MacLeod

Film

Canada's Oscar Nominess

Film

A Scanner Darkly Trailer

Music

What the?? Here's another local chart that Wintersleep are not on top off. Also, you can listen to Windom Earle on Radio Free Polygon and hear Joel Wright of the Honky Blues After Dark say "I first off want to disassociate myself with that horrible song" during the change over...just to launch into a new "whistling" theme song. Download the interview here.

CKDU CHART - February 21, 2005

*************** TOP 30 ***************

01--Windom Earle All Stars--A Series of Minor Personal Tragedies--Indie--CC*
02--Death By Nostalgia--Death By Nostalgia--Indie--CC*
03--GangBang--Ninjas With Attitude--Indie--CC
04--Wintersleep--Wintersleep--Dependent--CC*
05--Dean Malenkos--The Album That Turns Girls Into Sluts--Indie--CC*
06--Antony and the Johnsons--I Am a Bird Now--Secretly Canadian
07--Spaghetti Western--Do Right By People--BMI
08--Eekwol--Apprentice to the Mystery--Indie--CC
09--Dandi Wind--Bait the Traps--BongoBeat--CC
10--Air Traffic Control--Air Traffic Control--Indie--CC*
11--Gilbert Switzer--Don't Stop The Film--Indie--CC*
12--B.A. Johnston--My Heart Is a Blinking Nintendo--Just Friends--CC*
13--LCD Soundsystem--LCD Soundsystem--EMI
14--Museum Pieces--Philadelphia--Indie--CC*
15--Alpha Flight--Battle Royale--Indie--CC*
16--Elevator--August--Sonic Unyon--CC
17--Black Mountain--Black Mountain--Scratch--CC
18--Final Fantasy--Has a Good Home--Block Block Block--CC
19--Destroyer--Notorious Lightning and Other Works--Merge--CC
20--Carlos Del Junco--Blues Mongrel--Northern Blues
21--McEnroe and Pip Skid--Disenfranchised 2 and Funny Farm 2--Peanuts and Corn--CC
22--M. Ward--Transistor Radio--Merge
23--Super Furry Animals--Songbook--XL
24--Yuppie Pricks--Brokers Banquet--Alternative Tentacles
25--The Information--Mistakes We Knew We Were Making--Primary Voltage
26--Coachwhips--Peanut Butter and Jelly..--Narnack
27--Middle Age Wasteland--Children of Celebrities--Indie
28--Atmosphere--Seven Headshots--Rhymesayers
29--Pony Up--Pony Up--Dimmak
30--Brazilian Girls--Brazilian Girls--Verve

Post (Halifax Locals)

For those that couldn't make it to Sydney, here is a stream of one of our events at the 2005 ECMA conference:

PANEL DISCUSSION: Music Placement in Television and Gaming. (Windows Media Player req'd)

Column

Atlantic News Perspective #130 (Feb 14, 2005)
"I'se The Bye" honoured, adult bingo and living in a tent on a bayou.
By: Iain K. MacLeod

Fashion

Wear Your Own Fur w/ David Cross | Peta

TV

Drudge's witch hunt of Chris Rock | Crooks and Liars

Quote

"David Cross didn't want to do television. He really avoided it. We were really lucky, because he really responded... to the money we offered. The script factored into it, but, boy, he really perked up when he heard about the money." - creator Arrested Development Mitchell Hurwitz (The Onion A.V. Club)

Reviews (Exclaim)

Not sure if I posted this before...just noticed it was online:

from Exclaim:
Halifax Pop Explosion 2004
Halifax NS — November 4 to 6, 2004

The Holy Shroud
Rarely does a band match the sheer intensity of their volume with the dexterity of their musicianship. Especially the ones that get tagged "super-group," in this case the merging of equal parts North Of America (two sets of vocals and guitars) and Contrived (the rhythm section). Clad in white from neck to toe, these Holy men of rock revision delivered one of the tightest, most energetic sets of the event. The group's ability to steer through a set of energetic songs will probably go unmatched until the audience hears them again. IKM

Wax Mannequin
The only band he had was wrapped tightly around his head but this manlike Mannequin still tore through songs like he tears through his many rock poses. He wears his guts on his sleeve and isn't afraid to "meow" his way through a harmony or two while his obedient drum machine kicks along to the beat. He built his songs up with both his kung-fu grip guitar playing and dynamic facial expressions that laid the foundation for the words. Lyrically, he touched on Ween-worthy topics like royalty, doctors and the art of rocking. The priceless "The Price" ended things with portions of the audience cheering and others just scratching various befuddled parts. IKM

Column

Atlantic News Perspective #130 (Feb 7, 2005)
Cellular sabotage, the Burmac Cup canned and liquor flowing on Sunday.
By: Iain K. MacLeod

TV

Ads from Super Bowl XXXIX...without those boring football parts.

Film

Strangers with Candy: Amy Sedaris' riotous performance as Jerri Blank, who comes out of a decades-long jail stint to find her father in a coma and decides to go back to high school ("exactly where I left off") in an attempt to bring him out of it, is the kind of thing that can save a pity party like Sundance. From the first shot of Sedaris -- one eye just off-centre, top teeth sticking out, terrible make-up, ass padding -- on a prison bus, you know you're in for something hilarious. The ridiculous plotline isn't really the point -- the spot-on mockery of teen films, endless non-sequitors and physical comedy are all top drawer, even when the movie is cheerfully spouting stereotypes: "You're like family to me," Jerri says to her team of science fair nerds. "Well, the white ones are. You darker ones are more like valued family servants." Sharp cameos byAllison Janney, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Matthew Broderick and Sarah Jessica Parker increase the joy. By Tara Thorne (Tara's Sundance Trip)

Nerd Alert

Apple Form Factor Evolution: 1976 through 2005

Letters (Herald)

Moooot point

Perhaps it was all those exams he had to write in school, but somewhere along the way, Peter Duffy must have missed out on a basic science lesson (The Sunday Herald, Jan. 30).

He calls the eight cents per litre increase in the price of milk "bearable" because the money will go to "farmers and processors, the people who actually make the milk."

Unless farming techniques have changed recently, I believe it's the cows that "actually make the milk."

Too bad it's highly unlikely that any of that extra money will be used to improve the living conditions of dairy cows or other farm animals in Nova Scotia.

Beth Lewis, Halifax

News

Photographs show a half-ton shark caught in Yarmouth | Snopes

Video

Best Viral Videos of 2004 | ifilm

Media

Ann Coulter vs The Fifth Estate's Bob McKeown (via MeFi)

Music

"Starting next week, the Anti-Hit List is moving a couple of kilometres southeast to the Toronto Star, where it will run Saturdays in the A&E section." - John Sakamoto (Anti-Hit List)

Column

Atlantic News Perspective #129 (Jan 31, 2005)
A Saskatchewan scandal, a 10 tonne fiddle and bar fighting.
By: Iain K. MacLeod

Arts

"If you take a brief tour around cbc.ca/arts, you'll find a passionate attack on book clubs, a story about a magazine published in Vancouver that caters to high-end canine owners and a chat with Douglas Coupland about his latest novel. Katrina Onstad reviews Don McKellar's new film, Childstar; Liz Hodgson profiles controversial architect, Daniel Libeskind; and in the first installment of a regular feature called "Alternative Canadian Walk of Fame," Andre Mayer gazes back wistfully at the biggest media rodent of all time, Hammy Hamster. - Greig Dymond, Senior Producer

Music

"When asked to give a quote for the dust jacket to Kurt Cobain's posthumously published diaries submitted this quote: 'Please don't do this to me after I kill myself.' (The publishers opted not to use the quote.)" - From the Eel's All about Blinking Lights and Other Revelations. You can listen to a little bit of it here.

Ween's "Where'd the Cheese Go?" in lego form.

Beck's "E-Pro" video by Shynola and "Hell Yes (Ghettochip Malfunction 8-bit remix)" (win or real) by Mumbleboy.

Games

Oughtta Stay Out of Pictures - Why video games shouldn't be like the movies | Slate
By Clive Thompson

Travel

Portland to Halifax: Taking the Car Along for the Ride | The New York Times

Nerd Alert

Dethroning King Gillette: Is iPod the Razor or the Blade? | PBS

Nerd Alert

Free FileMaker Pro 7 Seminar

Column

Atlantic News Perspective #128 (Jan 24, 2005)
Robbing the church, unnerving Newfoundlanders and potatoes for the poor.
By: Iain K. MacLeod

Film

The Official Website for the "Strangers With Candy" movie

Games

WarioWare: Twisted!

Video

The Postal Service "We Will Become Silhouettes" (dir. Jared Hess)

News

Hurtubise says invention sees through walls | BayToday.ca

Facts

100 things we didn't know this time last year | BBC NEWS

Column

Atlantic News Perspective #127 (Jan 17, 2005)
Block Parent abandonment, smelly Cow Head kelp and major audits.
By: Iain K. MacLeod

Audio

The Conet Project - Recordings of Shortwave Numbers Stations

Tech

Apple's Magic Act (January 12) | Fool.com
The Mac Mini and the iPod Shuffle may sound like good news to some, but one Fool thinks he hears the sound of Steve Jobs slipping his foot into a neoprene booty, slipping on Fonzi's leather jacket, and preparing to take a trip off the ramp and over the shark tank. By Seth Jayson

Living Up to the iHype (January 13) | Fool.com
Don't let the headlines fool you (little f). It's about more than the iPod. But the amazing increases in profitability at Apple have one Fool wondering if he's not the one putting on the leather jacket and grabbing for the waterski rope. By Seth Jayson

TV

2004: the stupid version

Film

Tara's Sundance Trip

film

Charity

Canada For Asia - A broadcast event to benefit Southeast Asia

Nerd Alert

Macworld San Francisco 2005 Expo Keynote

Highlights: Mac mini & iPod shuffle

History

20 Year Usenet Timeline | Google

Column

Atlantic News Perspective #126 (Jan 10, 2005)
Lowering the flag, lovely lumpfish and the adventures of Acadieman.
By: Iain K. MacLeod

Post

Torture Tapes | Metafilter

Film

2004: The Year in Movies - Flight of the Movie Club. By David Edelstein, A.O. Scott, Charles Taylor, Armond White, Stephanie Zacharek, Scott Foundas, Christopher Kelly, and Wesley Morris | Slate

Post (Halifax Locals)

Junior Boys (makers of Last Exit) at Reflections on March 4th.

That is, if I can believe what I read on the internets.

Here is a thing on the Concert for Asia and an EPK thingy for Matt Mays.

Note: ex-pats Bontempi have a nice, cozy home on the web.

Yet another "next big thing" article on Buck 65 (<- recently renovated).

Holy F*cking Sh!t

Us.ef.ul - A beginner's guide to The Next Big Thing

Film

After reading this pretty typical Top 20 DVD list for the year, I scrolled to the bottom to find 15 other lists that may open my eyes to something new this year. Also, Mark Palermo has listed 175 films of 2004 in order so you don't have to.

Magazine

Best letters ever (re: Vice's Worst Issue Ever)

Stupid Baby Names

Some may see this as a new low, but I can't help it if parents are stupid enough to label there kids with such silly handles...and publish it in a newspaper. It's not like I am making fun of how stupid many of them look. That would be cruel.

Here are some dandy ones:
* Cash Bartholomew Bertolo
* Maximilian Logan Butler
* Connor John Joseph Cool
* Ayla Laurine Pearl Hogg-Chasbassol
* Logan William Kenneth Leigh Stewart

I also noticed a pattern of frigging up the spelling (I am one to talk) of normal names like these: Emyleigh, Emilee, Rebekah, Rebekkah, Sydnee, and Madyson. Also, the mash-up is popular, like Rylan, and I also gave bonus points to someone for naming their child Autumn Pilgrim.

TV

Concrete TV

Column

Atlantic News Perspective #125 (Jan 3, 2005)
A big win, a big storm and a big allegation.
By: Iain K. MacLeod

Music

Analord 10