The Hour's Blog

So a weird story is developing in Iraq. Remember that big battle Sunday near Najaf? At the time there were reports of casualities in the hundreds. Well it seems that U.S. and Iraqi forces were fighting a cult-like offshoot of Shi'a Islam. According to some descriptions "The Soldiers of Heaven" believe the violence in Iraq is apocalyptic. The details are tough to sort out but here are some stories that try to lay it out:

Reuters - Cult leader and 200 others killed: Iraqi officials
CounterPunch - US "Victory" Against Cult Leader was a Massacre
Time - Shi'a vs. Shi'a in Najaf

Posted by Nick McCabe at 03:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

This image is from Google Earth. It is apparently 3 US Air Force C-5 Galaxies sitting on the tarmac at Glasgow's Prestwick airport. These images caused a controversy in Scotland when they were associated with CIA rendition flights.

Stuff like this from the internet has exposed a pattern of CIA-leased planes flying around the world. Here's a photo of a plane that was linked to the CIA that got spotted at airport in Germany by an amateur plane spotter.

So essentially a secret CIA program has been exposed by a hodge-podge group of amateur plane spotters, anti-war activists, bloggers and journalists. Stephen Grey wrote a book about it. He's on The Hour tonight. It's a fascinating topic, and a fascinating conversation.

Posted by Paul McGrath at 03:02 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

A new front has been opened up in the battle to hive out every aspect of our lives. The wikification of stock information. A site called ValueWiki was launched in September. The idea is to gather and share stock info that is efficient, accurate, and unbiased. Basically they want to be the wikipedia of investing. Here's a post from the World Changing blog.

Posted by Nick McCabe at 02:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

He also hopes his black brothers feel the same like him.

Posted by Nick McCabe at 02:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBacks (0)

What do Howie Mandel, Norah Jones, Steve Buscemi, Keri Russell, Russell Simmons, and Phil Fontaine have in common? They're all coming up on The Hour.

Check out this page for a schedule of our upcoming guests. NOTE: this could, and likely will, change. This is TV and the schedules change at the last minute so check back often, either here on the blog, or on that page.

Posted by Paul McGrath at 02:33 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

An author from Finland has written an entire novel in the truncated english that makes up text messages. The book's called The Last Messages. It's about an IT executive who resigns then travels through Europe and India.

Posted by Nick McCabe at 02:10 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

One thing a guy notices right away here at the Central Broadcasting Centre: it's weird in here.

Exhibit A

Yes, those are typewriters. Perhaps you've heard the elders speak of them. Sadly, they've been declared redundant by the Department of Redundancy Department. A forlorn Pitney-Bowes printer will share their fate. Notice how the recylcling bins sort of just stand on guard. They've seen it all.

Exhibit B:

On first glance, this is just an ordinary kitchenette bulletin board notice, nicely set off by the cartoon about the Dalai Lama's birthday and the faux-inspirations plaque photocopy. But wait! Look closely... it's so much more!

Yes, this is an EMPOWERING document. If read properly, it will EMPOWER YOU... to survive the trauma of the tsunami, here in the workplace environment at the Central Broadcasting Centre. That's right, the tsunami... the one that hit the Indian Ocean... in December, 2004.

Apparently, the aftershocks of these things can last a lot longer and spread a lot wider than anyone suspected.

Posted by David Newland at 01:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

If you haven't seen the "Bride Has Massive Hair Wig Out" video making the rounds on YouTube you have to check it out. Apparently she's from Canada.

There's a big question mark when it comes to its authenticity... but when over two million people have checked it out, does it really matter? Real or fake it's just plain funny.

One person commented that she "had a bad hair day on my wedding day and although this girl obviously overreacted [she] can understand the stress level." Yet for every sympathizer there are people calling her "a freak", a "nutcase" and a "spoiled rich tw*t."

The star weighed in on the debate and even got Norman Jewison to give his opinion.

What do you think?

Posted by Paul McGrath at 01:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (7) | TrackBacks (0)

The parents of a 20-year-old soldier killed in the Gaza Strip have won the right to have a woman inseminated with their son's sperm. This is a first. He'd never met the woman and the sperm was extracted AFTER his death.

This of course begs the question: How do you get sperm out of a dead body. Here's an explainer and outline of the ethical issues at play.

Posted by Nick McCabe at 12:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0)

University of Calgary professor Michael Keren says bloggers tilt at windmills. He also says they are isolated, lonely and seek emotional support from people who are ultimately not there for them. I'm not sure how this differs from anyone else on the planet, but he will no doubt flesh it out in his new book Blogosphere: The New Political Arena. Now I haven't read it but judging the book by its cover I'm going to hazard that Keren could be a tad out of touch. Here's a CP story about the book.

Posted by Nick McCabe at 12:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (7) | TrackBacks (0)

This was only a matter of time. According to Business Digest, Starbucks' chairman Howard Schultz says the chain is considering selling MP3s.

"Within 12 months, probably, you're going to be able to walk into a Starbucks and digitally be able to fill up your MP3 player with music," said Schultz. "Over the next six to18 months you will see us look at it, perhaps test it."

Posted by Nick McCabe at 11:51 AM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0)

In the eighties The Police were one of the biggest bands on the planet. Until recently the band members have been saying there would be no reunion, but Sting, the one major hold-out, said earlier this month “we’re talking about it.” Now they've been confirmed at the Grammys.

We did an interview with the band's drummer, Andy Summers, this season Check it out here. He talks about the rumours and the prospects of a reunion. Also if you're a hard-core fan, you'll love this, Andy Summers goes through the Synchronicity album, track by track.

Posted by Paul McGrath at 09:52 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

There's a new website, global-cool.com. Their idea is to get one billion people to cut their carbon emissions by one tonne each year - for ten years. Hopefully by then we'll have more tools to tackle global warming.

There's a bunch of celebrities behind this one, Leonardo DiCaprio, Orlando Bloom, The Killers, Josh Hartnett and The Hour's guest tonight, Pink. Check out the interview at 11pm for more.

Posted by Paul McGrath at 08:05 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Today, the finance minister Jim Flaherty was before a commons committee, facing questions about income trusts. Last fall, the government decided to tax them. It was a big deal, because it broke an election promise, and some investors lost a lot of money. Today that decision resulted in a little brouhaha in a Commons committee. Check out the clips of that here.

For more on income trusts, check out cbc.ca's comprehensive site. It's got all the background on incomes trusts, the history, the decision, and the implications of it.

Posted by Paul McGrath at 08:00 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

First day on The Hour and it's a bigtime celebrity photo shoot.
Behind the scenes. On the case. In your face. Paparazzo!

Guess who?

Okay, yeah, it's Pink. Notice they tried to keep her in a cage?
That wasn't necessary. She was extremely well-behaved.
In fact she was charming, disarming, and eloquent.

And funny. Really funny. Good times all around. Piece of cake.

Missed getting the diamonds in the teeth though.

Score: Pink 1, Would-be-paparazzo, 0.

Watch the interview here.

Who's next?

Posted by David Newland at 05:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBacks (0)

Posted by Paul McGrath at 02:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (5) | TrackBacks (0)

So 20th Century Fox is threatening to delay the release of films in Canadian theatres because of movie pirating. Fox says Canada has become a hub for bootleg movies. The Toronto Star wrote story on it. Here's a quote that stood out.

"The level of organization is such that [bootleg] movies are distributed very rapidly using the Internet, whether it's in the U.S., Europe or Asia," said Serge Corriveau, Montreal-based head of investigations for the Canadian distributors group.

And that to me is the point. On one hand bootleggers distribute movies globally and "very rapidly" with the internet. On the other hand movie studios release their movies in theatres first, and have consumers wait months before they can watch it on their new flat-screen TVs, and home theatre systems, iPods, cell phones, and laptops. The bootleggers are circumventing all of that.

And when you think about it, why shouldn't we be able to choose how and when and where to watch the stuff we buy. Why does Hollywood delay releasing movies on DVD for months? Some people want to watch movies at home, or on the bus, where they won't to get ripped off on the popcorn. Bootleggers let them do that.

Hollywood is taking notice. In September Apple started releasing some Disney flicks on iTunes. The New Yorker said this about it:

The movies currently offered by Apple and other downloading services are the first trickles of a flood. Soon, new movies will come pouring through the Internet and perhaps through cable franchises as well, and people will look at them on screens of all sizes.

Movie theatres are dying, and Hollywood knows it. The time of guaranteeing a market for theatres by giving them exclusive screenings for months will soon be over. Hollywood just doesn't want bootleggers to get the jump on them as they try to switch gears.

Posted by Paul McGrath at 10:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Ryan, a Vj on the show, went to Vermont. When he came back this is what his desk looked like. He's all free-spirity and all accepting of it so now he just sits there.

Posted by Nick McCabe at 05:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Tomorrow night the Green Carpet Series is hosting an evening of sustainable style, which means environmentally friendly fashion show. It's at The Berkeley Church, Tuesday night between 7 and 9pm. The event is hosted by Gill Deacon and Strombo.

Kim D'Eon, Melanie Doane, Wendy Mesley, Sarah Richardson, and Sarah Slean will also be there. If you're not busy check it out.

Posted by Paul McGrath at 05:38 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Pink is coming by to do an interview on The Hour tomorrow. The interview will probably air next week. Check back here or watch the show for more details.

This picture is of Pink parodying Paris Hilton's burger ad where Hilton is seen washing a car for no apparent reason. It's from the video for 'Stupid Girls.'

Posted by Paul McGrath at 04:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

The great state of Georgia has handed Genarlow Wilson a 10 year prison sentence for a voluntary act of oral sex with another teenager. He'll also be tracked on a sexual offender registry for the rest of his life. Wilson was 17 when the 'crime' happened, the other teen was 15.

He's already been in jail for 23 months. See more about the case here.

Posted by Paul McGrath at 04:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

Wikipedia has a strange entry devoted to its stange entries. Here's one of them:

Toynbee tiles (also called Toynbee plaques) are messages of mysterious origin found embedded in asphalt in several major cities in the United States, and in three South American capitals as well. As of 2006, there are approximately 130 tiles, which are generally about the size of an American license plate but are sometimes considerably larger. They all contain some variation on the following inscription:

TOyNBEE IDEA
IN KUbricK's 2001
RESURRECT DEAD
ON PLANET JUPiTER.

Strange. Here's the link to the wiki entry.

Posted by Paul McGrath at 03:26 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

So this weekend, picked up the Globe & Mail, and was a bit surprised that the whole front page is about climate change. Flip open the paper and there's Edward Greenspon the Globe's editor-in-chief talking about how the Globe has officially gone green.

They've lined up a bunch of articles, online resources, maps, charts and all kinds things devoted to climate change. As Greenspon says "The time has come to truly understand and debate the issue."

So what do they do? They trot out Magaret Wente, the Globe's infamous contrarian skeptic, to delve deeper into the issue.

This is the same woman that wrote in 2003 that "the SUV ought to be declared Canada's official vehicle," and in 2005 that the climate consensus has collapsed.

Wente says this about an Inconvenient Truth "much of what [Al Gore] says is dubious or just plain wrong." Hold on a second, I remember National Geographic checked the facts on Gore's doc and said he was mostly right. I guess Wente missed that.

Now, I'm not an expert, nor a scientist, so I'm not going to wade into this any further, other than to say Wente is inaccurate, she torques facts, she's disingenuous, and to have her write an article as part the Globe's environment special is insulting.

If Edward Greenspon truly wants "to understand and debate the issue" he should assign the climate change stories to writers that don't have an axe to grind.

Posted by Paul McGrath at 11:37 AM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

We've got a bunch of celebrities, Sienna Miller, Bob Saget, Howie Mandel, and the guy from 'Project Grizzly.' He's built an exo-skeleton - that looks like the Halo characters - to protect soldiers in Iraq.

Posted by Paul McGrath at 04:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

This is Randy Potash. He's a writer on the show. He's also a Leafs fan. Four weeks ago he made a statement - a rather bold statement coming from a Leafs fan. He claimed that he was ' over the Leafs', and that this year, he was finally able to admit that the team wasn't the favourite to win the Stanley Cup this year. Good for you, Randy. Admitting you have a problem is the first step on the road to recovery.

Now, Randy's irrational passion for the Leafs is kind of a running joke on the show. We actually have a time of day written into the schedule where we laugh at randy about the Leafs. 10:20am. We stand in a circle around him, and poke him with sticks. He dances, like a little circus bear, yelping in pain. It's cute....

Anyway, today, at around 1pm, he started talking about how the Leafs were the greatest team in history. It's sad when you see a friend fall. And he was doing so well. Watch for Monday's Thought of the Day ( that's behind-the-scenes talk for the sometimes passable minute of television that goes right before the opening animation ). Ken Dryden is on, and we took the occasion to write randy into a script. It's pretty cruel. Hope you like it....

Posted by Robert Mackowycz at 01:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBacks (0)

Watch right to the end. I promise it's worth it.

Posted by Nick McCabe at 01:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Here is today's daily archive hit. It's a real gem of an item from 1977 about Canadian punk rock. Hana Gartner interviews The Viletones, The Poles and Teenage Head. Standout lines include:

"The only thing I got out of it was a headache."
"I'm not afraid of violence. That's why a carry a screwdriver."

Priceless.

Posted by Nick McCabe at 12:16 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Jian Ghomeshi's piece on minorities in politics struck a nerve. The piece asked the question 'Is Canada ready for a minority Prime Minister?' Here's a sampling of some of the feedback:

Thanks to Jian Ghomeshi for addressing the role race plays in politics

I'm quite disturbed by the affirmative action concept, especially when it comes to something as crucial as our government.

The reality is Canada is a racists country. I do not say this because am an minority (definitely white :) ), but because of our history.

Google Kim Campbell. Canada has had a female Prime Minister

The Leader of the Parti Québ;écois;, André Boiclair, is gay, minority?... Is Quebec part of Canada for you?

For the all the feedback, click on the permanlink below.

Somes facts you did forget:
The Leader of the Parti Québécois, André Boiclair, is gay, minority?
The Bloc Québécois deputy, Vivian Barbos emigrated from Haiti few years ago…
The Bloc Québécois deputy, Makakoto came from Cameroon 14 years ago and he is elected in a district in which there is no immigrant…first African in the House of Commons
The Bloc Québécois deputy, Maria Mourani, is from Lebanon, elected as a deputy in Montreal last year…
Is Quebec part of Canada for you?
1/26/2007 10:22:08 AM Guillaume Mercier

Hi George -
You and Jian are so young and so cute! You opened your story with Hilary Clinton declaring her candidacy on minority candidates for President. Please google Kim Campbell. Canada has had a female Prime Minister. Short-lived yes, but female nevertheless. Check it out.
1/26/2007 1:47:13 AM Lydia
You ask why there is no minorities in Parliament or as a Prime Minister. The reality is Canada is a racists country. I do not say this because am an minority (definitely white :) ), but because of our history. Did you know that there were more KKK members in Alberta then all of the United States of America (in our past)? Then look at BC my home Provence and you will see the same. In Ontario at onetime blacks could not live in certain areas, until the Supreme Court called the practises illegal. The examples are to numerous and if we want to move foreword we as collective nation must acknowledge our past.
Thank you,
Dennis Barnum
PS I can not see a black or any other minority being PM in my lifetime. As I right this my system rebelled at the idea of a minority PM, interesting.
1/25/2007 10:15:28 PM Dennis

Wow, thanks for a look into the insight of the major parties of Canada on minorities in parliament. Personally, I’m quite disturbed by the affirmative action concept, especially when it comes to something as crucial as our government. Don’t get me wrong, I’m completely indifferent as to the ethnicity or religion my prime minister is as long as they do a good job, but hindering access to perfectly competent individuals because they are white I can’t agree with. Olivia Chou mentions that parties should first really demonstrate that they have sought out a candidate of a visible minority. Isn’t this just discrimination against Caucasians- why should an Indian, an African, an Asian, etc. be chosen ahead of a Caucasian if the Caucasian is more qualified? Likewise, in a country such as Japan or Bangladesh which a Caucasian would be a minority - should someone who is white expect to be given preferential treatment? I certainly hope not! If someone is more qualified than me for the job I apply to, there’s no reason for me to chosen ahead of them because of my background. Whatever happened to let the best woman/man win? Let me take a personal example, I attend a university where roughly 80% of my program (accounting) is Asian. Using similar logic, should other ethnicities be given preferential treatment in getting in, even if their marks aren’t quite as high? Later when I took a politics course as an elective I noticed that the vast, vast majority of the class was Caucasian! Perhaps areas of interest are different due to the upbringing and atmosphere we are raised in. In the case of my politics class, considering all is equal, I personally don’t feel that it would be just to give the 5% of students whom are a minority in this situation better treatment – it’s blatant discrimination. My mommy always told two wrongs don’t make a right – I guess she was “politically incorrect” in the eyes of the NDP.
Thank you, comments anyone?
I wonder if George Stroumboulopoulos reads these…
1/25/2007 9:29:30 PM Paul

Thanks to Jian Ghomeshi for addressing the role race plays in politics and tackling the question of whether Canadians are ready to embrace diversity in our leadership.
His comment that Hillary Clinton's photo was "not the most flattering" provides an excellent segway to examining the barriers women face in politics. I look forward to his coverage of this piece as well.
1/25/2007 9:20:32 PM Tina d'Entremont, Wedgeport, NS

Posted by Paul McGrath at 11:09 AM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0)

Around here we love Boing Boing. I think it's probably the first site the entire staff checks before our morning story meeting. BB covers copyright, tech and online stories really well. They also do politics, art, music, film and great oddities. We also love when the folks at BB link to our site. That's what they've done with the Barenaked Ladies interview Stombo did last night.

That's BB's Xeni Jardin. She's been on the show a couple times in the past. Here's a link to her talking about the YouTube sale. And here's another about Military Blogs. Canadian prof. and copyfighter Michael Geist's work is linked on BB all the time. He writes about online freedom and copyright issues for the Toronto Star and keeps a great blog about all that kind of stuff.

Posted by Nick McCabe at 10:11 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

On Thursday's show Jian did a piece exploring why Canada has never had a visible minority PM. He spoke with a bunch of people like Bob Rae, Olvia Chow, Akaash Maharaj and John Tory. Now Olivia had what seems to me an absolutely absurd proposition about how to address the issue. She suggested affirmative action. Last time I checked this was a democracy. And deciding who can or can't run for office based on race, sex or any quality is anti-democratic at best.

Posted by Nick McCabe at 09:30 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Ed Robertson of the Barenaked Ladies coming off the set. Watch tonight at 11pm for the interview.

Posted by Paul McGrath at 05:30 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

A bunch of people have been looking for the Seven Faces of Mount Sustainability that Ray Anderson was talking about. Meredith found it, and sent it in:

The Seven Fronts (Faces of Mount Sustainability) that Ray Anderson speaks of can be viewed by visiting www.interfacesustainability.com.

Posted by Paul McGrath at 04:49 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Okay not quite. But the CBC has launched an online archive that's kind of blowing me away. I'm going to post a link a day. First up a TV item on the first comic shop in Canada. It's just one of dozens of pieces the Ceeb has done comics since the 1940s. In the days to come, The Rolling Stones, Iggy Pop, Leonard Cohen, Bigfoot and Marshall McLuhan.

Posted by Nick McCabe at 03:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBacks (0)

Ego Trip, the brilliant crew that put out the Book Of Rap Lists and the Big Book Of Racism have gotten themselves a show on VH1. Normally I would dismiss a program like this out of hand. But it's EgoTrip and they're great so I'm curious. There's a whole bunch of show clips on YouTube. Here's a piece that the Village Voice did on the show.

Posted by Nick McCabe at 02:32 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

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Finally, the Chinese Government actually cares what the "public" thinks. They're asking people to submit names, in English and Chinese, for 18 baby pandas born at the China Conservation and Research Centre for the Giant Panda in the southwestern province of Sichuan. The baby pandas will be released to a "nursery garden" in February, and it's tradition to give them names before they head out on their own.

With descriptions like this: baby number 6 "inherited her mother's good looks -- round face, big bright eyes, clean shiny hair," how can you resist.

Check out the China Daily to name your panda. The deadline to submit names is February 5th.

Posted by Allison Brachman at 12:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBacks (0)

That's a link to a 50 Cent Reebok ad that got pulled. He counts to nine for all the times he's been shot then gets asked who he's going to massacre next. Why did I post it? Because the spot is one of the many examples used in the book Enter The Babylon System to dissect rap's obsession with guns. Don't cringe. It wasn't written by some clueless professor. The two guys who run Pound (one of the best hip hop magazines going) wrote the thing. They're coming on the show Monday.

Posted by Nick McCabe at 12:20 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Matthew Barney's ninth installment of the Drawing Restraint series is screening as part of the Images Festival. Show times etc. are here. The film is set on a Japanese whaling ship and deals with things like ancient hunting ceremonies and individual identity as demonstrated through whale bile. His partner Bjork did the music for the film. Barney's the guy who did the Cremaster Cycle. I know it's only showing in Toronto. So to make up for it here's a link to part of a long interview Barney did in the latest edition of The Believer.

Posted by Nick McCabe at 11:56 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Uwe Nettelbeck, founder of krautrock legends Faust, has died. Nettelbeck started the group in Germany back in 1971. Musically Faust and the other early krautrock bands blazed a trail that Radiohead, Mouse on Mars, Tortoise and countless techno acts would follow. Pitchfork has a few more details.

Posted by Nick McCabe at 11:18 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

We had Ray Anderson on the show last night. He's a CEO that decided to make his company totally sustainable by 2020. But not all companies share those goals.

Here are the top 5 emitters of greenhouse gases in Canada.
1 Ontario Power Generation ON
2 Transalta Utilities Corporation AB
3 Saskatchewan Power Corporation SK
4 Alberta Power (2000) Ltd. AB
5 Nova Scotia Power Incorporated NS
wanna see more? All the data is from the pollutionwatch web site.

Transalta did buy some carbon credits. It doesn't match their emissions, but it's better than most companies, and probably most people. At least they recognize the need to do something.

Did you notice that all of the top 5 are power companies. Want an alternative? Try this, it's the website for Bullfrog Power, Ontario's first green power company. Outside of Ontario? Pollution probe has a guide of green power retailers in Canada.
Thanks for the link Susan.

Posted by Paul McGrath at 09:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Here's a sad video of a rare frilled shark that was caught this week in Japan. The amazing creatures live 600 meters or more under the sea. They're rarely seen alive. The shark was taken to the Awashima Marine Park and died a few hours later. Frilled sharks eat other sharks and sea creatures. They get called a living fossils because of how little they've changed since prehistory.

Posted by Nick McCabe at 09:10 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

She's the first Best Story Ever from a viewer we've put on the website. Check it out, it's a crazy story. In the next few days we'l be loading up a few more from you guys, stayed tuned.

Thanks a lot Rhonda.

Posted by Paul McGrath at 05:35 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Tonight's List - the Top 5 naked ladies - is in honour of Barenaked Ladies being on the show tomorrow. I'm not big fan of the Barenaked Ladies, but naked ladies, that's something different. Who do you guys think will be number 1?

Posted by Paul McGrath at 05:32 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

This one slipped passed me. A bunch of indie labels from all over the world have signed a deal to give them enough clout to do things like sign licensing deals with big download sites. CBC Arts has a piece on it. And here's an AP story. The agreement is with a non-profit licensing agency called Merlin.

Here's a non-jargon translation of what this means: bands and smaller labels could get money when people pay to download their music. It's a market they're kind of shut out of. Could is the operative word here. With bands like The White Stripes, Interpol or Broken-Metric-Feist still considered by many to be independent artists, we'll see how much dough ends up in the hands of groups like the incredible King Kahn and BBQ Show.

Posted by Nick McCabe at 12:18 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Last night during Bush's State of the Union speech he linked U.S. dependence on foreign oil to terrorism.

"For too long our nation has been dependent on foreign oil. And this dependence leaves us more vulnerable to hostile regimes, and to terrorists."

Does America's addiction to foreign oil cause terrorism? Here is what a handful of clever sources think.

The idea took a thrashing in the International Herald Tribune. "The notion that oil imports lead to energy insecurity suits environmentalists, military hawks, foreign-policy idealists, subsidy-seeking oil executives and even anti-U.S. propagandists, but it does not fit the facts."

Not surprisingly some U.S. military and intelligence officials disagree. U.S. News and World Report has a lengthy piece focusing on Venezuela. There are some pretty incredible allegations. The oil rich country is described as being host to just about every armed, belligerent or militant organization on the planet. It's a great read.

But what about Nigeria? The oil industry there is a frequent target of insurgent groups. Counterpunch breaks it down.

Posted by Nick McCabe at 09:53 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Another note on the oil and terrorism tip. Buzzfeed has a good clip from Fox News about a new gas station in Nebraska selling... Terror Free Oil. It's the third story in on the clip and well worth the wait.

Posted by Nick McCabe at 09:52 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

It's disgusting outside. Stay inside. Sit next to the baseboard heater. Pretend it's a hearth. Drink port and listen to these albums.

1 - Aerial Days, Songs of Green Pheasant. It's soft, lush and sometimes orchestral psychedelic folk.
2 - Tim Hecker, Harmony in Ultraviolet. Winter white noise.
3 - Faust, So Far. It's as crazy and repetative as the season.

Posted by Nick McCabe at 09:50 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Remember the doc 'The Corporation'? It argued that corporations are like psychos - self-interested and descructive. And there was this CEO guy that was aiming to make his company sustainable, he was different, he was really inspirational, he didn't talk like a businessman.

That guy was Ray Anderson. He's on the show tonight 11pm. I'm psyched.

Posted by Paul McGrath at 09:03 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Wired is pointing to an ABC News piece that says the Israeli military is developing a hornet sized robot to chase, photograph and kill its targets. It will also be able to fly. We did a piece a couple weeks back with Canadian SF author Karl Schroeder about all this kind of stuff. Watch it here. All the water colours in the story were done by Rose. She works on the show.

Posted by Nick McCabe at 04:24 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Deepa Mehta, the director of 'Water,' has been nominated for an Academy Award. The film earned a best foreign film nomination today. She's coming to The Hour tonight.

Water is an incredible film, it's set in the 1930's in India and deals with the story of a group of widows forced into social seclusion and poverty. It focuses on one of the widows, who rebels against the restrictions, and starts a relationship with a man from a lower caste who is also a follower of Gandhi.

Posted by Paul McGrath at 06:20 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

The World Economic Forum thinks CEOs should be blogging. You know blogs have reached a saturation point when they're a topic on the agenda at the WEF. Tomorrow in Davos, Switzerland the people who run the planet will be taking notes from the likes of YouTube co-founder Chad Hurley, BuzzMachine's Jeff Jarvis and the leading lady of the left Arianna Huffington. The Economist has an interesting piece on the topic.

Posted by Nick McCabe at 04:36 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

If you're a board game type you need to get your hands on Moot. It calls itself the world's toughest language game. That's probably not far from the truth. Here's a sample question:

Q. You have the same mother, but not the same father; are you siblings?
A. Yes. According to the Concise Oxford Dictionary, children having one or both parents in common are siblings.

They get way more difficult than that. The game was invented by a guy in Vancouver. Here's a link to a piece the Globe did um... 15 years ago.

Posted by Nick McCabe at 03:54 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Tonight we've got Oscar nominated director, Deepa Mehta on The Hour Here's an interview we did with her back in 2005.

Last night we had the directors of Jesus Camp on the show. Today they also got nominated for an Academy Award. And actually they found out about the nomination in a wierd way:

A United Airlines pilot announced good news at 30,000 feet to a pair of filmmakers: "The women in row 23 just got nominated for an Academy Award.''

"Everyone applauded. They brought us champagne. It was something,'' said Rachel Grady by telephone while waiting to board a connecting flight to Santa Barbara.

Grady and Heidi Ewing, co-directors of the Oscar nominated documentary "Jesus Camp,'' were on the Tuesday morning flight from New York to California when they learned about their first Academy Award nod.
more

Posted by Paul McGrath at 03:11 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Just back from the Sundance Film Festival in Park City Utah. The indie film fest that was jump-started by Robert Redford.

The thing that is strange about Sundance, is you have these great indie ideals, and people coming together for talk on filmmaking, but you also have picture people like Tara Reid, P Diddy, and that such there, who don't even have any flicks or involvement in Sundance.

Weird.

We were there to chat with a bunch of actors and filmmakers: Jon Cusack, Sienna Miller, Steve Buscemi, Ellen Page, Peter Sarsgaard to name a few.

Another weird element was crazy PR folks. We were set up with about 15 other crews in this small lounge, as celebrity after celebrity came through for interviews. The celebs did not weird me out (besides the fact that Alan Alda is my dad's doppelganger), it was the PR folks, running around like chickens in a barnyard. After we did one interview with Dick Gephardt, I was ready to run from the place. It was like all the wack elements of LA, had been transported to this small lounge. Our crew kept me sane that's for sure.

Loads of movies at the festival, I wish I had time to see a bunch. George raved about the Joe Strummer documentary that Julien Temple (who will also be on the hour soon) made. Temple was a close friend of Joe's so you know that the movie takes great knowledge of the late Clash front man.

If you could go broke student-style to Sundance, get a cheap hotel, and go see films galore - that would be the way to do it.

Posted by Darby Wheeler at 02:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

Starting next Monday, The Hour is going to have a contest to send someone to the Brit Awards. You and a friend could be off to London, England to see the Brit Awards live at Earls Court.

Here's what you have to do, watch The Hour the week of January 29th and listen for the Brit Awards trivia question from George. Then go here to the contest page and enter.

Posted by Paul McGrath at 02:02 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

An awful development to mention on the radio front. The CBC is going to cancel Brave New Waves. Terrible. People who love music owe a debt of gratitude to the show. Before myspace and all that, Brave New Waves was how you got to hear undergound bands in this country. The show will be missed.

Posted by Nick McCabe at 12:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (31) | TrackBacks (0)

Here's K'naan with some of The Hour's crew in the makeup room just before last Wednesday's interview.

Posted by Paul McGrath at 12:23 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Jesus Camp is a documentary about a summer camp in Devil's Lake, North Dakota, where kids are taught to become dedicated Christian soldiers in "God's army" to "take back America for Christ."

The adults are vehement that there needs to be a war to protect Christianity, the kids look brainwashed, it's very unsettling, check out the trailer:

The directors of Jesus Camp, Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady are on The Hour tonight.

Posted by Paul McGrath at 10:33 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

It's a total shame but no surprise that Idiocracy barely registered as a blip when it was released. Mike Judge (Beavis and Butt-Head, Office Space) directed it. It's totally hilarious. In a nutshell, Luke Wilson finds himself in an anti-Darwinian future where America is populated by absolute disgusting morons. The attention to trashy detail is great. Check this clip then go rent it. If you need more convincing read Slate's review.

Posted by Nick McCabe at 11:13 AM | Permalink

Speaking of the simpler among us. Arts and Letters is linking to a series by the American Enterprise Institue's Charles Murray. He says the following:

1) Half of all children are below average in intelligence.
2) Far too many of them are going to four-year colleges.
3) The future depends on educating the intelligent.

Posted by Nick McCabe at 11:11 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Today idiot and moron mean basically the same thing. But it wasn't always that way. Neatorama has a post about the history of the terms and the difference between idiots and morons. The information came from a Mental Floss book called What's The Difference.

Posted by Nick McCabe at 11:10 AM | Permalink

Last Tuesday's interview with his Royal Highness Prince Michael of Sealand is creating a bit of buzz amongst the file sharing community.

Apparently there was some speculation that The Pirate Bay, a company that facilitates BitTorrent file sharing was going to buy Sealand. Prince Michael quashed those rumours.

Now The Pirate Bay is looking at other properties. According to the website torrentfreak.com the Sealand sale falling apart is no big deal.

But not to worry, The Pirate Bay still has its eye on some other islands and micronations. The good thing is that these are a lot cheaper than Sealand, which is nothing more than a pile of rust and concrete anyway.

Posted by Paul McGrath at 10:24 AM | Permalink

This is George and Kevin, the floor director, doing the scripts for the news. He's standing in front of a green screen, which is then digitially replaced by the footage you later see on TV. You can see the screen better in this next photo.

Posted by Paul McGrath at 06:00 PM | Permalink

I've been obsessed with Richard Dawkins lately. The God Delusion should have been under everyone's Christmas tree this year. I'm trying to book him for an interview when we do a week of shows in London next month. Anyway here's part one and part two of a documentary he did called The Root Of All Evil. The scenes at Lourdes are priceless.

Posted by Nick McCabe at 02:12 PM | Permalink

First he starred in the remake of Tarkovsy's brilliantly creepy Russian science fiction classic Solaris. Now he's producing a six hour miniseries based on Neal Stephenson's book The Diamond Age. Stephenson's books Cryptonomicon and The Baroque Cycle are great. Clooney's not too shabby. The collabo could be good.

Posted by Nick McCabe at 01:54 PM | Permalink

Back on Halloween we did a 'Fear Special' at The Hour. We had a bunch of tarantulas and snakes brought in for the show. This is biggest one.

Posted by Paul McGrath at 12:34 PM | Permalink

John Turner decided to play a little office prank. This has been escalating. It started with a couple orange peels on my desk and has landed at about half a tonne of newsprint. He's just jealous because his career is over.

Posted by Nick McCabe at 05:14 PM | Permalink

On the left: George's thumb (and finger). On the right: George's thumb on his Blackberry.

As a producer for the show, George's Blackberry is my nemesis. There's always something on that thing that George needs to pay attention to. For him, it's a good thing (hence the finger). He has access to everyone and everything. But that means everyone and everything has access to him. And that's not so good for me.

Sometimes when we're framing interviews in his office, I fantasize about ways to destroy it. I will keep those fantasies to myself as they may reveal something deeply off about me that I am so far unaware of, and maybe should not be aware of.

But there is one thing George may not be aware of: potential Blackberry addiction. A study out of Rutgers University says Blackberry addiction is no different than an addiction to booze or coke. The authors say one key sign of a problem is the user focusing on the Blackberry and ignoring those around them. Hmmm...

Are we at that stage yet? Well... not quite. But if we get there, I think I might be able to take George down and take that Blackberry out for good. But I may wait until his thumb gets weak from being on that thing day and night so he has one less digit to protect it.

If you know someone who you think might be addicted to their blackberry check out this article in Associated Content.

Also we had Henry Rollins on the show yesterday...here's his take on the Blackberry.

Posted by Allison Brachman at 04:59 PM | Permalink

The Hour's going to London for the Brit Awards. Between Feb 12 and 15th, we'll be doing The Hour in the UK. You can watch the Brit Awards on CBC on Thursday February 15th, plus George will have all kinds of backstage interviews and other inside stuff during that week. Now, here are the nominees.

British Male Solo Artist
James Morrison Polydor/Universal Music
Jarvis Cocker Rough Trade/Sanctuary
Lemar White Rabbit/Sony BMG
Paolo Nutini Atlantic/Warner Music
Thom Yorke XL Recordings/Beggars Group

British Female Solo Artist
Amy Winehouse Island/Universal Music
Corinne Bailey Rae EMI/EMI Music
Jamelia Parlophone/EMI Music
Lily Allen Regal Recordings/EMI Music
Nerina Pallot 14th Floor/Warner Music

British Group
Arctic Monkeys Domino Recordings/Domino Recordings
Kasabian Columbia/Sony BMG
Muse Helium 3/Warner Bros/Warner Music
Razorlight Vertigo/Universal Music
Snow Patrol Fiction/Universal Music

International Male Solo Artist
Beck Interscope/Universal Music
Bob Dylan Columbia/Sony BMG
Damien Rice 14th Floor/Warner Music
Jack Johnson Brushfire/Island/Universal Music
Justin Timberlake Jive/Sony BMG

International Female Solo Artist
Beyonce Columbia/Sony BMG
Cat Power Matador/Beggars Group
Christina Aguilera RCA/Sony BMG
Nelly Furtado Geffen/Universal Music
P!nk LaFace/Sony BMG

There are more categories and nominees, check out the full list of Brit Awards.

Posted by Paul McGrath at 04:46 PM | Permalink

During a rare break in his day, George took a minute to play a song he's working on. It's lovely. The piano is set up in the hallway right outside the studio. It was there when we moved and I think George liked it so we manage to hang on to it. It's the same piano that George and Evanescence were playing the other day on the show.

Posted by Paul McGrath at 04:01 PM | Permalink

Defense Tech has a good post about laser guns. There are a couple of developments. First, by using an "off-the-shelf solid-state laser" and "commercially available optics technology" a mortar was blown-up at a distance of 550 yards. Second, a company called Northrop Grumman has opened a facility south of L.A. to try and build the world's first 100 kilowatt, solid-state laser.

Posted by Nick McCabe at 09:45 AM | Permalink

Earlier this week Strombo picked his top five worst tattoos for The List. Anyway, he was way off. The guy in the picture above is by far the best/worst tattoo. Some we couldn't put on air because they're too filthy. They came from this website. Not safe for you to look at while you are at your work.

Posted by Nick McCabe at 08:39 AM | Permalink

So Roc La Familia rapper Tru Life puts out a mixtape with a diss track aimed at Dipset's Jim Jones. Then someone, maybe from Dipset, hacked Tru Life's Myspace page and changed around the images on True Life's mixtape. Notice True's head on Borat. And Jay's head on Beyonce's body.

Rappers used to break each other's arms at award shows. Or commit murder. Now they're hacking into their rival's Myspace pages and pulling off photoshop disses with the wit of a six-year-old.

Posted by Nick McCabe at 06:17 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

K'naan, the Somali born Canadian who put the amazing new album 'The Dustry Foot Philosopher' is live on the show tomorrow.

The CBC wrote a profile of K'naan last August. Here's a snippet:

K'naan was born in Somalia, a land plagued by intermittent civil war since 1977. He fled his country at age 14, and now cannot return for fear of being killed. Last year he released the song Soobax .The song is a blazing rebuke of the warlords who destroyed his homeland.

My skin needs to feel the sand, the sun
I'm tired of the cold, God damn soobax...
I mean what I say
I don't do it for show
Somalia needs all gunmen right out.

Posted by Paul McGrath at 08:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak was on the show last night. He's a totally amazing Silicon Valley eccentric. He talked about playing Tetris on a 14-story building. Apparently he's a champ. There was a documentary made about Tetris a while back. Here's a Google video link to the whole doc.

Posted by Nick McCabe at 01:00 PM | Permalink

Jon Ronson is one of those British writer types who makes a living talking to the strangest people on the planet. His book Them is one of the most entertaining pieces of non-fiction I've ever read. He also did a radio show for the BBC called Jon Ronson On... and posted the links on his site. They're great, listen to them.

Posted by Nick McCabe at 11:54 AM | Permalink

The Blacklips put on possibly one of the best shows I've ever seen. The singer made a pee-pee into a cup drank it, then spat it at the band. Then the bassist took him out with a flying drop-kick. They toured with my friends, the now defunked The Deadly Snakes. Anyway, Pitchfork has a new Blacklips song up.

Posted by Nick McCabe at 11:37 AM | Permalink

Netflix is going to start streaming movies on the internet. Will this change the industry?

Last year, the editor of Wired, Chris Anderson, published The Long Tail, a book that explains how the internet is breaking down barriers to production and consumption.

Look at the record industry for instance, Anderson says the internet is breaking the monopolies of the big record companies by democratizing the process - anyone can record an mp3 - and anybody can find it, download it, and listen to it. Which means no more mega-hits, lots of niche playlists.

Now the same thing is starting to happen to movies. For a long time movies were too big to stream over the internet. Sure you could get them on bit torrent, but it takes forever. iTunes is changing that, they're starting to put TV shows online, now Netflix, with 6 million subscribers, is starting to stream movies.

Will this kill the blockbuster? Maybe. Once you start putting movies online people will start picking what they want to see, not what's hogging theatres or monopolizing shelf space at Blockbuster, which means more choice for us. Given the crap that's come out of Hollywood in the last few years, that's gotta be a good thing.

Posted by Paul McGrath at 10:43 AM | Permalink

The Toronto Transhumanist Association's George Dvorsky was on the show a while back talking about how pretty soon people are going to be able to live for an indefinate amount of time. Check out his segment on the Future Of Man. Not surprisingly George had some thoughts about this story about the parents who had their severly disabled child operated on so that she could stay small forever. Click the permalink for more.

What's a transhumanist's take on this kind of operation?

The transhumanist community is divided on the issue. On the one hand you have those advocating the ethical use of biotechnology to increase comfort and reduce the probability of long-term risks, and on the other hand you have those who are concerned about upholding such values as consent, the rights of the disabled and honouring neurodiversity. Overall, this is a strange case for transhumanists like myself to be defending. We tend to be
hypersensitive and opposed to any treatment that limits or constrains an individual and their ability to lead a full and active life. But in this case, due to the severity and intractability of Ashley's condition, I saw it as a humanitarian use of medical technology.

Any rebuttal to the "this is eugenics" accusation?

I don't believe this qualifies as eugenics, which is a term traditionally used to describe state enforced reproductive policies. Eugenics exists today in China, for example, where the one child per couple policy is enforced and where certain individuals are deemed unworthy to reproduce. We are quite obviously far removed from that here in our liberal democracies. In the case of Ashley, it was a decision specific to her needs and reached by her parents, doctors, lawyers and the expert bioethics panel.

The eugenics charge in the Ashley case stems from the misconception that the treatments given to her are tantamount to forced sterilization and that the therapies are a form of oppression against the disabled community. Neither of these accusations are fair. Ashley was never in a position where she would have been able to partake in an active adult life and have children. The treatments themselves were measures taken to reduce present and future suffering and to make her life as comfortable as possible.

Check out more about Dvorsky and the handful of the groups he works with.

Posted by Nick McCabe at 09:49 AM | Permalink

This was news to me. There is one piece of art on the moon. Read more about it at the Proceedings of the Athanasius Kircher Society.

Posted by Nick McCabe at 09:00 AM | Permalink

Is it just me or is there a filthy subtext going on in this bidet infomercial?

Posted by Nick McCabe at 10:43 AM | Permalink

Iwao Takamoto, the guy who created Scooby Doo, died this week. He was 81-years-old. About a million obits have been printed. Slate did a nice piece on him. But instead of rehashing that stuff here's a quick email interview about Takamoto that I did with Johnny Ryan. He's does Angry Youth Comix and is one of the best cartoonists going.

What was so great about Iwao Takamoto?

Beats me.

Did you like his work? Why, why not?

Well, you mentioned that he was involved with the
Flintstones and the Jetsons... I guess I liked the way
those characters looked, but I can't say I liked those
cartoons very much. They weren't very funny.

Have you heard any weird stories about him?

I never even heard of the guy until you asked me about
him.

What are you working on?

ANGRY YOUTH COMIX #13

Check out Johnny's site and buy amazing comics from him.

Posted by Nick McCabe at 08:33 AM | Permalink

Here's a photo of some weirdly racist and jihad-esque snacks that Darby and I found. We were out doing a story on a cafe where the girls dress in sexy maid outfits. The chips came from Pacific Mall in Toronto. It's a massive Asian mall that has all these stores that sell imported snacks.

Notice the sinister face, the minarets and the best part, they're hate flavoured.

Posted by Nick McCabe at 04:53 PM | Permalink

Great news if you work at The Hour: The 2007 water came! I sit right by the water cooler, and in the year 2006, it was not replenished. And the empty containers were just lying around. It was pretty bleak. But now we've five sweet 18,5L tanks of juicy agua to be rationed out over the next twelve months. I'm sweaty just thinking about it! I've got to go get my week's share.

Damn, that was awesome!

Posted by Paul McGrath at 01:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)