Let's Go To the EX! $5 after 5 pm - One Night Only!

Photo courtesy of Flickr CNE blog and gabe.toth

Going to the Ex tonight, the Ex tonight, the Ex...... aka. the Canadian National Exhibition (the 'Ex') where I will eat junk food till I drop dead, or hurl up my guts on one two many spins on the Gravitron or the Zipper. So exciting - the Kiwi has never been himself! And the Soccerroo is coming too!
I just made a rhyme, wheeeeeeee!

Touched by Water

Alerted to this new film this morning by CBC Arts Online, Touched By Water, opening at the Montreal World Film Festival this week.

"Shot in 13 countries over the course of 10 years, the exquisite Touched by Water is both an ode to the social ritual of public bathing and a thought-provoking look at water’s spiritual significance. From Christian baptism to Muslim prayer ablutions, most key ceremonial rites of passage involve water. “I wanted to make a film to try to understand humanity’s relationship with water, to get at the essence of what bathing meant in different cultures,” (filmmaker Tamas) Wormser says.

The film is narrated by Quebec actor Jean Marchand, while the original music by Ganesh Anandan and Dino Giancola provides an aural backdrop to Wormser’s lush images. We see bodies sponged down with soft foam in steamy Turkish hamams and underwater shots of Hungarians dancing at a spa rave party in Budapest. Wormser joined the ruddy-faced men of the Finnish sauna association, who, after sweating together, whip themselves with birch branches and dive into the frigid Baltic Sea."

Looks like it will be worth checking out when it hits theatres (The French version of Touched by Water [Eaux de vie] screens at the Montreal World Film Festival on August 29). For more on the festival check out the Montreal Mirror's reviews on their website here

And speaking of water did you know that:

- It appears colourless to the naked eye in small quantities, though it can be seen to be blue with scientific instruments or in large quantities (as in a swimming pool)?
- Thales of Miletus -an early Greek philosopher known for his analysis of the scope and nature of the term "landscaping,"- believed that "all is water"?
- Water strongly absorbs infra red radiation, and as infra red radiation is next to red-coloured light on the electromagnetic spectrum, a small amount of visible red light is absorbed as well (translation: Water absorbs more of the red light in sunlight; the water also enhances the scattering of blue light).

Food for thought when applying your waterproof sunscreen, no?

A rainy Friday in Tee-Ohh....

For all those addicted to horse-race wagering, here is a nice but slightly sad song to comfort yourself until the next Sunday afternoon at the track (what I'm currently listening to while I attempt to do work at the Big Canadian Broadcaster):

Pale Green Things, by the Mountain Goats
(fyi - it is from a newly downloaded old album of theirs, the excellent '05 release the Sunset Tree)

The lyrics go something like this:

Got up before dawn
Went down to the racetrack
Riding with the windows down
Shortly after your first heart attack
You parked behind the panic
Cracking asphalt on your foot
Coming up through the cracks
Pale green things
Pale green things

You watched the horses run their workouts
You held your stopwatch in your left hand
And a racing form beneath your arm
Casting your gaze way out to no man's land
Sometimes I'll meet you out there
Lonely and frightened
Flicking my tongue out at the wet leaves
Pale green things
Pale green things

My sister called at 3 AM
Just last December
She told you how you'd died at last, at last
That morning at the racetrack
Was one thing that I remembered
I turned it over in my mind
Like a living Chinese finger trap
Seaweed in Indiana sawgrass
Pale green things
Pale green things

Who are these Others? *LOST* Season 3 premieres Oct 4 @ 9/8 ET/CT

Hey hey hey, blogophiles! A quick, short, and sweet post to tell you about today. As many of you who join me in the cult fan-dom that is being a Lost viewer on ABC/CTV can attest, the season finale in May was frustrating to say the least. Among the questions that it left unanswered, were:

1) What exactly happened to the Hatch?

2) Were the contents (and the unlucky peeps stuck inside, including Locke, Desmond, and Echo) gone for good after that supernatural seeming electromagnetic blast?

3) Who are these pesky Others?

4) Are the Others actual scientists left to examine the crash-landers, or part of some major government conspiracy. There's even a wacky theory floating around ABC forums that L O S T stands for Land Of Scientific Testing (or some such nonsense)

5) What do the Others have to do with the shady Hanso Foundation?

6) What is the deal with Clare's baby - is he really some sort of Messiah-like figure?

7) Will Charlie officially kick his smack habit now that he's rediscovered the Virgin statue stash?

8) What will happen to Walt and his dad? Are they really gone from the program for good?

9) And will Walt's damned dog ever get his Kibbles n' Bits? Kidding, that's not part of the show..

10) Finally, who is this Emily What's-her-face character that is trying to locate Desmond on the ocean at the culmination of Season 2????

To better satiate your thirst, click on The Tail Section, Lost Links, or Station Zero for Season 3 promos. YouTube and Google Video will also be featuring video stuffs of our favourite conspiracy theory show.....

The North American Hype Machine

So, two items I'd like to cover today. Well three things in fact. John Mark Karr, the advent of Mr. Britney Spears, aka. Kevin Federline, and the American news cycle.
I have been addicted to news-media sites of late with the reemergence of a 10 year-old unsolved murder case, that of JonBenet Ramsay. With it, come the media hordes that have descended upon the benign press conferences and incoherent ramblings of a man who 'allegedly,' might have, possibly been the instigator of a tragic killing of a 9-year-old Boulder, CO girl that brought with it gruesome fascination and rabid (often inaccurate) media reports.
And here we go again, with ever more virulent "Did he, didn't he?" speculation, and rumour and recriminations that he may have been investigated previously by authorities for prior acts. The often-imitated, never-duplicated, Anderson Cooper (AKA. my American journalism hero) flagship CNN program even interviewed a couple last night for the sheer fact, that they were Mr. and Mrs. Claus impersonators at the Ramsay home Christmas party in 1996 who may or may not have been under suspicion for the murder at some point. I mean, ye gads! This case knows no bounds of common decency!!!! I can't imagine how hard this is for friends and family members to rehash all of this over again, only to be informed, that this "gentleman" may just be a fame-seeker who has deluded himself and possibly inserted his presence into her final days.

And unfortunately, where our American brethren do not fear to tread, the Canadian news media, is quick to follow. When I did a recent Google news search, intrepid Canadian reporters have included such news worthy items as
- "Snake On A Plane" (the infamous headline to describe Karr's extradition from Thailand on the front cover of this Monday's Toronto Sun);
- "John Mark Karr's Confession Raises Even More Questions" (from the venerable Globe and Mail, also on Monday); and of course, the stating the obvious headline:
- "Who is John Mark Karr?" (i.e. if you've been hiding under a rock, this is what you missed)
This guy, even if not yet proven guilty by virtue of DNA or (an eventual appearance) in a court of law, has at least guaranteed himself the enmity of her family, and his own 15-and-a-half minutes in our own ravenous news-media coverage.

On a completely different tack, the other deluded individual who is occupying much of my free pondering time (move over, Lindsay Lohan, and your ability to undersleep and over-party)...
The question I seem to be asking myself more and more goes roughly like this... Who is Kevin Federline, and why should I care one iota about him?
I really can't help it, he's everywhere, lauding his *ahem* artistry and his upcoming CD (gasp!) Britney Spears, I blame you and your meddling ways for unleashing this man on the world, lol! I mean, it is pretty impressive that the American dream has allowed this ex-backup dancer cum artistic thespian his moment(s) in the sun.
And now, according to GQ magazine and People, he apparently wants a career acting as well...
Why, why, why? I mean, really, what is his real claim to fame, other than possessing his cash cow (Britney - who oddly he never calls by name in interviews, other then making frequent reference to his 'old lady' or wife)
If his album (shudder) doesn't do that well, I smell a lewd tape of he and his baby-mama Britney being leaked all over the Internets a la Pam Anderson and Tommy Lee!
But for now, take comfort in this small fact: there is still time to stockpile your supply of earplugs, to destroy your personal and satellite radio receivers, and to disable your TVs and video sharing on your PCs, because his album don't drop until November! Cos' you better believe this guy's music is going to be all over the 'net soon. In fact if you need a taste already, here is a link to K-Fed's (shudder) MySpace profile
Who knows, maybe he'll become My Canadian Tuxedo's mascot, if I could only locate a .jpg of him in jeans and a jacket!! Sad. And sorry for venting, dear readers.... a better post tomorrow, I promise.

The rest of the Europe trip....

Breakdown of the trip to come, but a recent poem was just itching to get posted:

*NYC|Subway*

[Photo courtesy of Kestan.com]

Dead cat on the pavement
There are cracks in it
I can see the steam escaping
Like breath.

Wicked smells, the sights and sounds
Surround me like a cloud,
Of unfelt whispers.

Lost, I crawl back to you
But you’re not there
I’m lost in a sea of unknowns
A river of rivers
Pools at my feet

I crawl out of sight for you, dear
I melt with the night,
And I disappear

I won't have more fun with you -
never get drunk with you
I'll let you go for good.

A woman nearly slips in a manhole
Her daughters steady
Her unsteady gait

I’d pull it apart for you dear
And for my heart to shift gears
You'll only let me down in the end.
The end.

I'll never go back to you
never shoot smack with you
I'll let you go for good,
For all that's good.
The night sings my song.

That steam keeps rising
Are there really rats in this sewer?

Penn Stn is crawling
Full with passengers of no destination
We look at each other
Spent.

I wait for my heart to shift gears
I come with the night,
I disappear
You don’t know me,
You don’t own me.
You never will.

I'll let you go for good
But not till I’m through with Chelsea.

note: This poem is not reflective of current or past events to do with my relationship, and is just a collection of randomized free verse recollections of three days in August in downtown Manhattan.