LOST returns to the airwaves tonite...

Don't forget to tune into to the remainder of season 4 post-Writers Strike this evening on ABC/CTV at 10PM et.

For spoilers and plot points dealing with tonight's episode, check out:

• The LOST message boards
• Fansite Dark UFO
• Lost and Gone Forever
• The Tail Section

You all better watch :)

Gas tax, the pumps and Earth Day-ness

As it's Earth Day I have a couple of humble recommendations for anyone who happens to stumble across this blog.

First, power down your computers. Yes, the blogosphere will survive without your eyeballs for a few short hours.

Next, slather on some sunscreen, and walk, don't run to your closest park or favourite walking trail.

Exhale all that stale air that your cubicle-bound mass has taken in for so many hours and attempt to pick up 15 pieces of refuse (the amount is important only because I used to perform this very mundane task with my 11-year-old charges when I was a day camp counsellor). Stick organics in an organic waste bin, and non-perishables in the trash or recycling bin of your choice. Repeat once a week and you've done your Good Earth Inhabitant duties for the time being.

If you can, you can also perform the following:

• Switch all home-installed lightbulbs to compact-fluorescent or LED lighting
• Purchase an Energy-STAR approved washer/dryer and washing machine (see the Government regulations' for same here and here )
• Make an effort to support increased road tolls in the 416-905 area
• Take public transit at least 2-3 times a week
• Turn it off, unplug it, and open some windows!

Some other tips for greening your home environment can be found by logging onto the David Suzuki Foundation's Nature Challenge and pledge that you will do whatever you can here. Because no person is too small, or too far removed to see that a changing climate system, while unavoidable, can be managed with lesser perils and sounder judgment than we, in the industrialized world, are making.

So, enough reading, get to it :)

Kind of intrigued by this one..

Death Cab for Cutie are headed to Toronto Island - WEEEE!!! The lads from DCfC will be joined at the Olympic Island summerfest this June 7 by their friends Stars, new-ish bands Rogue Wave and Young Galaxy at the June 7th annual party on Toronto Isle by the ferry docks.

I wonder how many navel-gazers in skinny jeans and bookish cardigans will be able to tear themselves away from World of Warcraft for this one? [source]

On another note, my freelancing website should be up and running in a couple of weeks, so don't forget to bookmark "I forgot the directions". It will be ad-sensed, just so I can make a bit of coin on the side but should encompass my current like's: off the grid travel, off the wall writing, and conservation (the environmental kind not the political force associated with minimalist governance) [link]

Les liaisons dangereuses

In honour of it being a Sunday, and therefore official Do-Nothing-Day (although it is Easter and I have just watched High Fidelity starring John Cusack for the zillionth time), I thought I would create the Top 5 "Best Cinematic Songs to Dedicate to your Cheating or Unfaithful Spouse".

And they are in no particular order, excepting numero uno...

#5 - "Shot You Down" (also known as the Bang, Bang song by many fans of the Kill Bill Vol I and II films by Quentin Tarantino), as sung by Nancy Sinatra in the late 1960s. This song is terribly melancholy in its refrain, more than a little wistful for a simpler time, and always makes me think of the regret I have for not keeping in touch with childhood chums or a sweetheart from long ago. Luckily, I haven't been on the receiving end of said bullet, a la Uma as the "Bride" in the aforementioned film. A terrible 2005 remix of the song by Audio Bullys can be found here.

#4 - "Your Cheatin' Heart" by Hank Williams (and a multitude of other country-western singers over the years). Another simple ditty dedicated to the one you love if h/she has ever had 'tears come down like fallin' rain/You'll toss around and call my name/You'll wa-alk the floor the way I do/Your cheatin' heart will tell on you' A great song from a simply great and underrated American storyteller.

#3 - "Tainted Love" by Soft Cell. A sing-along classic that has been featured time and again in every 80s compilation disc under the sun. You know that if someone is playing this song for you during a round a karaoke, they may be trying to send you some not-so-subtle hints.. 'once I ran to you/Now I run from you/This tainted love you're giving/You gave me all a boy could give me/Take my tears and that's not really ALL!" 5 bonus points to the gentle reader who ever's read into the sexually-transmitted infection inferences found throughout the lyrics to this one...

#2 - "Back Street Affair" by Franz Ferdinand. Some might argue that this little-known ditty, which prior to the Scottish rockers had been covered by everyone from Loretta Lynn to John Prine and Patty Loveless, may not agree with its inclusion in my top-5 list based on its relative obscurity, but with lyrics like "They say I wrecked your home,You're a husband that's gone wrong" and the fact that it is the sole song to allude to the fact that many affairs do in fact turn into happy & fruitful relationships, I include it on the list.

And, finally, my No. 1 worst of the best Cheating songs is.... (drumroll. please.)

YOU GIVE LOVE A BAD NAME, by Bon Jovi!!!!!!!!
This song is voted no. 1 for a multitude of reasons. First, because I love 1980s hair rock and everything to do with the fantastic 1986 B-J album Slippery When Wet like no other. Second, because it is one of the greatest fist-pumping, rock out anthem-songs of the latter part of that decade (excluding Appetite for Destruction by GnR, which I remain true to) Third, although you might disagree with the prominence I accord the song, which alludes to the spite a man shows his former woman who's jilted him for no apparent reason, the factors that led to Jon Bon Jovi writing the song are interesting to say the least. For your viewing pleasure, please find a link to some original concert footage of the song here.

And that's all for today!

CBC Radio 3 makes big Podcast waves..

Big news from the nation's broadcaster this week. CBC Digital Programming, and specifically its podcasting initiatives, now includes many of the top downloaded podcasts on the iTunes store, and CBC Radio 3, the independent music site available via subscription on Sirius Satellite Radio, is being downloaded in its podcast-edition, all over the world!

For an interesting story about the CBC Radio 3 phenomenon, read the story available on Vancouver Web site straight.com here