Four to the Floor

1. Wolf Parade's Apologies to the Queen Mary, as reviewed by Pitchfork.
2. Every reason to believe he can become the most talented player in the world is on display in this video of Cristiano Ronaldo. Ignore the Eminem music, focus on the feet.
3. Don't read this one, it's stupid: Stylus Magazine's Top Ten People Who Should’ve Been Drafted Into The Wu-Tang Clan.
4. CMJ NEW MUSIC REPORT: 25 Years Of CMJ Music Marathon: 25 Most Influential Artists (according to them music originated only in the last 30 years.)

I've been reduced to hyperlinks and talking points

The inspiration is sorely lacking some days. Case in point, today. Let's proceed.

1. Although only now realizing the discussion was about a year old, The Walrus magazine's online forum 'Is Canada Disappearing From The World Stage?' remains as topical and relevent today as it did when originally published. Featuring the likes of Linda McQuaig, Pamela Wallin, and Michael Adams, the debate centres on the Canadian role, or perceived lack thereof, in an international context. While much focus is placed on status and standing in the world, it's important to remember the intentions behind diplomacy, trade, and intervention should serve more than the most basic reasons as posturing and image.
2. Manchester United's boss Alex Ferguson calls for a cap on ticket prices. Interestingly enough United are probably one of the worst offenders in this regard and only recently were taken over by an owner seeking to squeeze even more revenue out of the club, leading to worries of even higher ticket prices. Way to shift the conversation away from United's brutal 2-1 home defeat to Blackburn on Saturday. Already 10 points behind Chelsea, things aren't looking particularly promising and we're not even out of September yet.
3. "More than 80 percent of the $1.5 billion in contracts signed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency alone were awarded without bidding or with limited competition, government records show, provoking concerns among auditors and government officials about the potential for favoritism or abuse." Democracy in action, right? Read via NYT.
4. Bet you didn't know Finland isn't really considered part of Scandanavia....
5. The guy who founded Domino's Pizza is also the founder of the Thomas More Law Center, who are going to bat this week for the right to have intelligent design taught in schools. Something to think about next time you order out.
6. Radiohead back in the studio, about time. No offense to the legendary bands who can certainly afford to put out albums whenever they want, but there is such a dearth of great music available for free now that waiting 3+ years between albums will knock you down the totem pole of significance. Like it or not, popular culture is consuming media at an ever-increasing rate and much to the dismay of many even the more obscure acts are falling victim to this malady.
7. For your consideration- You Say Party! We Say Die! I'd heard the name before, never the music. Instant fan.
8. Related: I (heart) music, another in a long line of great Canadian music blogs. Unfortunately for you the reader, while this site aspires to provide the same level of quality as IHM, Chromewaves, and Said the Gramaphone, the ambition is sadly lacking.

New Music Saturday

Alice Russell - All Over Now

I'm From Barcelona - Chickenpox

Four Tet - Sun Drums and Soil (Sa-Ra Creative Partners Remix)

The Changes - When I Wake

Department of Eagles - Noam Chomsky Spring Break 2002

They Walk Amongst Us

I could really use any line from this story as a pullquote, but this one sums it up nicely:

"City officials said they needed to do a background check and decide whether he could work without liability insurance. They also were worried by Quinn's graphic descriptions of how he usually stabs alligators in the brain to kill them."

Angry Gator Wranglers Quit Reptile Hunt (via Yahoo)

Numbers are just numbers

1. Hip Hop DX has a great article comparing current forms of popular black entertainment to the days of blackface. The difference this time being it's now the black people finding the sendups of derivative stereotypes entertaining rather than a repressive white society. Also makes reference to the new Little Brother album, though Pitchfork claims most of the songs have little if anything to do with the title The Ministrel Show.
2. Music From My Loft has a great new mix out featuring a lot of records you likely have never heard of but undoubtedly will be able to appreciate.
3. Planned Parenthood of Philadelphia is organizing pledge donors to collect money based on the number of protestors who show up at their steps between October and November trying to discourage women from having abortions. Basically a pledge rate is determined per protestor and the money raised goes toward combatting the hateful and harmful messages put out by the zealots projecting their own morality issues onto others. Talk about an effective counterbalance.
4. On a lighter note, Nintendo has revealed their new controller for the upcoming Revolution system, and in keeping with their history of innovation before exploitation it is unlike anything seen before. More or less it has the look and feel of a remote control, the idea being that its shape will make it more accessible to the casual player or non-player. The ingenuity lies in how it can be employed however. Nintendo claims that although it features a lack of buttons that many gamers would consider sacrilege, the controller can be used as a wand, gun, baseball bat, etc. and will be a catalyst in a new degree of interaction within games.

From Paul Krugman's Op-Ed piece in today's Times:

"It's a given that the Bush administration, which tried to turn Iraq into a laboratory for conservative economic policies, will try the same thing on the Gulf Coast. The Heritage Foundation, which has surely been helping Karl Rove develop the administration's recovery plan, has already published a manifesto on post-Katrina policy. It calls for waivers on environmental rules, the elimination of capital gains taxes and the private ownership of public school buildings in the disaster areas. And if any of the people killed by Katrina, most of them poor, had a net worth of more than $1.5 million, Heritage wants to exempt their heirs from the estate tax."

Not the New Deal (NYT)

TV Randoms

• Extras, Ricky Gervais' new BBC/HBO show that debuts in a week or so in North America, while not as compelling as The Office (UK) delves more into an examination of Gervais' character from the protagonist point of view and comes out an interesting study between Andy Millman and David Brent. Whereas Brent's narrative was furthered by a better understanding of the character's interior monologue illustrated through his need to verbalize everything, Millman becomes more fascinating as a person through what we learn of him from his conversations with others. He's able to not only able to run the point in terms of his interaction with peers, including the delightful Ashley Jensen, but also able to provide apt social colour commentary of his situations as he carries through with them.
• Entourage finished its second season strongly, Curb Your Enthusiasm is back in a few weeks, Sopranos kick still going strong with new episodes coming soon. It's amazing how much you can enjoy HBO without actually being able to subscribe to the channel. Cultural integration in Canada usually begins the assimilation proces 8 weeks to half a year for anything not broadcast over the air.
• The second episode of the OC was much more interesting than the first, even with less happening. However they're quickly going to a) find some new storylines involving unknown characters and b) make said characters appealing. The Jeri Ryan one is atrocious. As I write this, I wonder why I even bother in the first place.
• Gilmore Girls (indeed MitM does watch it) picked up strongly right where it left off, and it will retain more interest the longer they're able to keep Lorelai and Rory separate from one another. Obviously it's inevitable they'll reconcile, but ideally the writers can tease it out and explore how this impacts other characters who have become more integral to the show overall.
• Rescue Me is a show with lots of promise, but thin on substance. They try to overcome a lack of character development by constantly layering events on top of one another without tackling the emotional fallout from the previous ones. Flashbacks and Jesus apparitions can be tolerated as a creative vision, but the startling lack of resoluteness to important plot events is leading to a waning of interest in the show overall. Quit brushing over what's happened until it's been properly dealt with, and then move on.
• A previous vice had been reality shows, namely The Amazing Race and Survivor. However given that they amount more to surreality than reality, the more that is understood about the behind the scenes workings and details of such shows has reduced the capacity to enjoy them. A show never watched, Canadian Idol, got their newest idol a 5 minute desk interview on the 6 PM news 15 minutes into the hour on the most watched broadcast in Toronto. The story before her gushing puff piece was about the Prime Minister's visit to the United Nations- if that doesn't tell you about the sequence of priorities (or lack thereof) that local news stations have, television isn't exactly something you should be consuming.

George Bush: Wordsmith

Mr. Bush Goes to the United Nations (via Yahoo)

September Playlist

Sorry for the delay, enjoy the breadth and or depth of these particular choices. As always, click on the above picture for a clearer look at what's being listened to heavily around these parts. Admittedly as more time is spent elsewhere, it's been difficult picking and choosing amongst my newest albums having less of a background on them then when David verses Goliath was going on. Nevertheless the fight continues. Perhaps you, the ever loyal reader should enlighten me as to where your musical tastes are straying these days in the comments section. Kind of like a Jerry Lewis telethon, but soliciting for your favorite mp3's and whatnot. Proceed.

New Orleans is one of my favorite places that I've had the opportunity to visit so far in my life. The coverage of this tragedy has been disappointing from the perspective that so much focus especially on TV has been placed on scenes of looting and people fighting and screaming. The need to sensationalize a domestic tragedy is so much more convenient for American news media when it happens in their own country, because they can justify the portrayal under the guise that these problems are the result of their own citizens' actions. Had they overindulged in illustrating a similar situation during the tsunami when tragedy struck abroad, the criticism of their coverage would come under far more scrutiny than what we've been subjected to up until now.

Obviously nobody wants to see looting and raping happen, especially during a time like this. But given the relative weight of this catastrophe, the proportion of coverage dedicated to showing scenes like people walking out of Wal-Marts with shopping carts full of stuff (including food and clean drinking water) is out of whack with the obligation of the media to provide information in a timely and relevant manner. In this case, giving people capitalizing on the city's grave misfortunes unwarranted airtime is akin to the coverage of Petra Nemcova's missing boyfriend in Phuket some eight months ago.

I can only hope that city and all areas affected by this horrible situation make a full recovery and demonstrate the resiliency and inner strength that has made New Orleans such a vibrant and distinguished area. Without hesitation would I recommend it as a place most people should visit during their lifetime, now more than ever to fully appreciate the scope of such an unfortunate event.