R.I.P. Mr. Ledger.

All the rest of you, please go read the always-wonderful Dana Stevens' "10 Things I Loved About Heath Ledger: What Made Him Irreplaceable.

EDIT: An even more fitting tribute: this anecdote of Chelsea's. [Though I've read her blog before because of Twenty Something Bloggers (and yes, "Twenty Something" really needs a hyphen), this post was brought to my attention by Pajiba.]

R.I.P. Joey Bishop

The most underrated--and last surviving--member of The Rat Pack has died.

Rather than extend the previous post and, more importantly, because it deserves a post of its own...

Dare I say that--with the exception of turntablists like DJ Spooky, and artists/groups like Mos Def, Talib Kweli and (usually) OutKast and The Roots--Canadian hip-hop is generally more interesting than anything currently being produced south of our border? There. I said it.

And now I'll back that up:

"Trust Us" by Pocket Dwellers


"Superstarr Part Zero" by k-os


"Soobax" by K'naan


"Wicked and Weird" by Buck 65


"Sharks" by Cadence Weapon


Now, if only these artists had a bigger audience! The article is a little more than two years old, and I'm far enough removed from the hip-hop scene that I can't comment on whether or not much has changed...

Why am I not surprised?

CIA spied on left-wing Canadians in '60s, '70s: documents
B.C. professor monitored in spy operation calls it 'utterly shameful'

The Central Intelligence Agency spied on Canadians critical of the Vietnam War during the late 1960s and '70s in an operation code-named "MH Chaos," CBC News has learned.

The U.S. spy agency targeted university professors, students and other Canadians who the agency believed were espousing left-wing ideas.

[Read more here.]

Know what? Given the domestic track-record of the current U.S. administration, I wouldn't be surprised if they were spying on us lefty Canadians even today. 'Cause, you know, it really is a socialist paradise up here. All policy aside, even one of our national colours is red! *Rolls eyes.*


[Image via Wikipedia.]

And on that note, happy 140th birthday to the socialist paradise I know and love, and a very happy Canada Day to all my fellow pinko Canucks!



(As an aside, I've been fortunate enough not only to see Gordon Lightfoot live--and yes, he's just as good as he is on his albums!--but to go backstage and get his autograph! Please excuse the fawning...)

EDIT: And in honour of the day, here are a few videos by Canadian artists you may not have heard of, if you live outside of Canada...

"Freedom" by The Nils


"Smile and Wave" by The Headstones


"Top of The World" by Rascalz featuring Barrington Levy and K-os


"History" by Controller.Controller


"Any Day Now" by The Watchmen (This was one of my favourite songs in high school.)


"One More Astronaut" by I Mother Earth (Another favourite song from my high school years...)

Just 'cause.

Here's hoping that their recent performances at Coachella and elsewhere are an indication of a forthcoming album!

EDIT: Or, if Rage Against the Machine isn't going to record together, here's hoping that Tom Morello brings us more stuff as The Nightwatchman!

An object lesson in the history of avant-garde film.

Check out Joseph Cornell's 1936 short film, Rose Hobart: part one and part two.

Links to the film via Jessica Winter's article on the minisode.

Though I know I am not old, I FELT old when...

I read one reviewer call Lindsay Lohan his generation's Drew Barrymore. Sigh.

Vi presento la molta bella voce di Mina!

"Le tue mani"




"L'immensita"




"E se domani"




"La voce de silenzio"

A few things to think about.

I'm back home now after a week's sojourn at my parents'. While I finish unpacking, I hope you find these online articles as interesting as I did:

- Heather Mallick 's op-ed about the infrequency of female bylines in general interest magazines (Harper's in particular): "Magazines: where are the women writers?;"

- The Guardian's Stella Duffy on the media visibility of gay women: "The only way is out;" and

- Slate's Dana Stevens on Black Snake Moan: "It's Hard Out There for a Ho: The Puzzling Sexual Games of Black Snake Moan."

EDIT: For more on Black Snake Moan, check out Dustin Rowles' review over at Pajiba.

R.I.P. Ryan Larkin

The visionary Canadian animator--creator of Syrinx and the Oscar-winning Walking, and the subject of fellow Canadian Chris Landreth's Oscar-winning documentary short Ryan--passed away on Wednesday. He was 63. His death comes shortly after he had begun to animate again.

The world of Canadian animation is a lesser place for having lost Larkin once again.

Bah! Humbug!

I am convinced that if Charles Dickens were alive in this era of crass commercialism, he and Ebeneezer Scrooge would be cursing Valentine's Day along with me.

Seriously. The whole thing is enough to make a girl sick--if she weren't already home sick today, that is.

So instead of attending classes or going on dates, how am I keeping the day? By finishing the abominable Under the Tuscan Sun, which I have to read for the class I T.A., and by making a dent in Kate Chopin's The Awakening. Of course, I plan on watching one of either Moonstruck or Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, two of my favourite movies, later on tonight--just which one I choose depends entirely upon my level of cynicism at the end of the day (though, since today I'm cloistered away from much of the Valentine's crapola, I figure my cynicism might be fairly low tonight, and that I'll find myself watching Moonstruck.) But the bulk of today will be spent reading books and just trying to feel better.

Apparently, I'm not the only singleton turning to the books today (link via Bookslut.) Has Valentine's Day always been so connected with books with me noticing it only now, or is it just Valentine's Day this year? I mean, I know books can console a lonely heart. But maybe the book-romance connection (and I'm not talking about romance novels here) isn't so tenuous as that?

The things one chooses to read speak volumes (ha, ha--an unintended pun!) about one's personality. So what if we were to start evaluating partners/would-be partners on their reading materials? Doppelganger over at 50 Books has got me thinking, "What are the literary signs of a dead-end relationship?"

For me, it's finding out that he:

- has a subscription to/buys The National Post;

- has read anything by Ann Coulter;

- loves Frank Miller's Sin City. I have nothing against graphic novels or comics. Just Sin City and the way it portrays women. (Incidentally, citing the film version of Sin City as a favourite movie would also make me reconsider a relationship with a guy);

- enjoyed The Da Vinci Code. Just reading it--out of morbid curiosity, for example--isn't bad. Reading it and citing it as a good and/or favourite book is terrible;

- writes-off Margaret Atwood solely because of "the feminism thing." Disliking her is fine; disliking her for that alone is not; and

- is over-enthusiastic at the mention of The Beats, or looks for ways to work William S. Burroughs into everyday conversation. Admittedly, this one is included on this list more because of my experience with a Burroughs fan than any problem with Burroughs'/Beat writing itself.

But the ultimate literary portent that a guy is a bad match for me? Not reading at all. I can even overlook an appreciation of Mitch Albom's books. But refusing to read at all--and being proud of it--is unforgivable.

No wonder I'm single (link via 50 Books.)

Oh, baby.

Does loving this and wanting to buy it make me an incredible nerd, a hipster-parent-in-the-making, or both? I'm so confused! ;)

EDIT: Screw the Coldplay lullaby CD! Any kid of mine is going to be indoctrinated with this! I wonder if this is what Thom Yorke's kids go to sleep to?

(This one made me think of my thesis supervisor and his toddler.)

EDIT 2: And PLEASE can I have this one, too? Sadly, there doesn't appear to be a lullaby tribute CD for my favourite band: The Smiths. (It's probably just as well, though. Don't want to depress the kids prematurely--high school will take care of that it time.)

Riot grrrl power.

Just because I'm needing this after reading this over at Feministe.

"Aerobicide" by Julie Ruin (a.k.a Kathleen Hanna. See also Bikini Kill and Le Tigre):




"Entertain" by Sleater-Kinney (one of my FAVOURITE bands!):

James Joyce and Samuel Beckett walk onto a green...

A short film brought to you by the Irish Film Board: Pitch 'n' Putt with Beckett 'n' Joyce.



Gold. I love it.

[Via Bookslut.]

A GN'R Bonanza

Really, I was just looking for the opportunity to listen to Guns N' Roses and ogle Slash (no one weaars leather pants better!) at the same time!

"Welcome to the Jungle":




"Patience":




"Don't Cry":




"November Rain":




"Estranged":

Wow.

Not forty-five minutes ago, I heard Jane Birkin's cover of "Harvest Moon." Wow. I like Neil, but he has never sounded this beautiful, this achingly sensual. Wow.

I can't wait to hear the rest of Birkin's new album.

Natalie Triumphantly Returns to Call the Office!

At long last, I got to see Controller.Controller. This was my first club show in a year (true, I saw Arcade Fire and Coldplay in the interim, but they played at the Danforth Music Hall and the Air Canada Centre, respectively), and, let me tell you, it did not disappoint.

Neither did Controller.Controller's new album x-amounts. Except for the eight hours I spent sleeping, I've been listening to the LP non-stop since I brought it home after the show last night.

Oh, to have the time to write more! Right now, though, I just can't--as much as I want to... I have to go get ready to spend the afternoon immersed in the library archives. And I better head to campus sooner rather than later. I'd hate for them to file my material away because I'm later than I said I'd be; I really don't have the time to wait around while they re-retrieve my book from the very bowels of the archival storage room.

Here's to handling moldy paper all afternoon!

Current tune: "City of Daggers" by Controller.Controller.

As if you needed proof of The Smiths' brilliance!

As if you needed proof of The Smiths' brilliance! An academic conference on The Smiths was held in Manchester recently. And some people wonder why I love academia!


Wizards of Moz: Academia does the Smiths
By Craig Taylor

On one of the more recent rainy days in Manchester, a mixture of academics and civilians congregated in the atrium of a white-walled building at the Metropolitan University. From a distance this could have been a crowd at any academic conference, but a telling clue came from the state of the men’s hair. Amongst the styles were a suspicious number of quiffs in various states of elevation. (A quick definition: a quiff is “a man’s prominent forelock, worn elevated.” Quaff means drinking; quiff means hair like Elvis.)

These quiffs were meant to look like Morrissey, the lead singer of one of the most beloved bands of the 1980s, the Smiths. Some of the greying quiffs in the crowd looked ready to collapse, and were only standing thanks to a few stubborn upright hairs. The younger quiffs were sturdy. It was a hopeful sign. The hairstyle — like the Smiths’ music itself — had been passed with care from one generation to the next.

The crowd in the atrium had gathered from universities in Norway, Portugal and Germany to discuss the literary and cultural significance of the Smiths. The name chosen for this first-ever academic conference to focus on their music and lyrics was a Smiths’ lyric, “Why Pamper Life’s Complexities?” Over the next day and a half there would be discussions of “The Smiths, Manchester and Identity”; “Subjectivity, Suicide and the Smiths”; “The Smiths, Morrissey and Sexual Dialogics.” Ellen Gorman, from George Mason University in Virginia, arrived to talk about the images on Smiths album covers. Amanda Graham came from Oxford to deliver a paper on how the music of the Smiths worked as an inside joke for its fans. There was even a paper entitled, simply, “Does the Body Rule the Mind or Does the Mind Rule the Body? I Dunno.”

What was it about the Smiths that made them worthy of an entire weekend of academic scrutiny? In 1982, a young guitarist named Johnny Marr met aspiring lyricist Steven Patrick Morrissey and the two went on to write, over the course of five years, a melancholic and elaborately literate form of rock music. The band was rounded out by bassist Andy Rourke and drummer Mike Joyce, and while they never achieved a fan base as large as U2, Smiths fans were known for their fervency: these lyrics had to be — just had to be — written especially for them. The image of the Smiths was anchored around Morrissey — Moz for short — who set himself apart from other rock icons with a refusal to announce himself as gay or straight. He fostered a habit of wearing a hearing aid he did not need, and a tendency of throwing gladioli about the stage during live performances. His favorite subjects for discussion were Oscar Wilde, vegetarianism and celibacy. Best of all, he wrote lines to songs that would provide endless courtship material for the sensitive and morose, who could always fall back on what was arguably Morrissey’s most perfect lyric: “And if a double-decker bus / Crashes into us / To die by your side / Is such a heavenly way to die.”

[...]

What Morrissey had done, I was told again and again, was open the door to a better, more interesting world. He laid in front of anxious young listeners a selection of other options. Why not try Oscar Wilde? Why not engage, read. “There’s more to life than books,” Morrissey sang in Handsome Devil. “But not much more.” It was a lot different than anything A-Ha was trying to convey to its fan base at the time. It was these discoveries that made being a Smiths fan a more interesting and exclusive club than, say, anyone in the fan club of Iron Maiden.

[...]


Full article via CBC Arts & Entertainment on-line.

Not what was promised, but then some...

I still fully intend to post about Paglia, but at the moment--as a type--I'm listening to the new Coldplay song, "Speed of Sound".

Not a bad little tune (even if the opening bars and the rhythm make it feel a little like "Clocks - Part Deux"), really. It sounds like Coldplay, of course, but it also furthers Chris Martin's mission to make the band The New U2 ("Speed of Sound", in my mind, channels The Joshua Tree-era U2.)

Now, personally, I love The Old U2 (especially the stuff from The Joshua Tree and War!) I also happen to love Coldplay. But "Speed of Sound"--at least musically speaking--is hardly uncharted territory. For either band.

You know what I think? I think that instead evolving, provoking, testing the boundaries of popular music, the men of Coldplay have chosen to stick with what they know works. And "Speed of Sound" does indeed work. But wouldn't have been much more interesting and more fruitful--creatively-speaking--for Coldplay to have pursued other sonic avenues? The promise of experimentation made in "A Rush of Blood to the Head" and especially "Amsterdam" (both from Coldplay's sophmore album, A Rush of Blood to the Head) is not fulfilled in "Speed of Sound".

I just hope that, as nice a song as it is, "Speed of Sound" isn't the real promise of what's to come.

*Coldplay's third album, X&Y, will be released on June 6th.*

Hoo-ray for Hollywood!

Well, this should be interesting:

Chris Rock To Host Academy Awards

Get your "rock the Oscars" jokes ready -- comedian Chris Rock has been announced as the host of the 77th Academy Awards, his first time at bat for the show. Producer Gil Cates broke the news of the fresh Oscar blood Thursday morning, stating that "I am a huge fan of Chris Rock. He always makes me laugh and he always has something interesting to say. Chris represents the best of the new generation of comics. Having him host the Oscars is terrific. I can't wait." Rock, who made his film debut in Beverly Hills Cop II and shot to fame with Saturday Night Live, is no stranger to award shows, having hosted the 2003 MTV Video Music Awards; he's also won three Emmys and two Grammys. As for his recent film shenanigans, Rock is currently shooting The Longest Yard with fellow SNL alumnus Adam Sandler, and provides one of the voices in the upcoming animated flick Madagascar.

I can see the Academy is trying to be cool or, at least, to appear less stodgy.

But seriously, though. I can't wait to see how Chris breathes new life into that ceremony. Oh, the off-the-cuff remarks! I can hear them now!

On a more personal note, I worked my last shift at the retail-job-I-loathe. And had my final sale stolen by my boss. Yup. She rang it up under her. It was a seventy dollar sale. That made the difference between my making my sale's goal or not. No, I wasn't working on commission, but I want my stats to reflect what I did. And what she did was dishonest.

I work my third shift at the coffee house tomorrow. I'm really enjoying the work thus far (I'm especially enjoying not having to bother people as I try to meet my sales' target!) And I'm excited that the manager of the store I'm training at and the manager of the soon-to-be-opened fourth location are fighting over me (well, maybe "fighting" is not the word, but they both want to employ me), and that the owner says that they "have big plans" for me.

Most of all, though, I'm excited to be working full-time hours finally. It's nice to know I'm going to have a consistent paycheque. I need all the financial help I can get. The competition for those grad scholarships (one application down, one to go) will be fierce.