Saturday digest

- While I'm able to connect today, I have just a few things to throw out there.

First, I'm still waiting for our so-called conservative Prime Minister to comment on the illegal blockade of the free movement of goods and people across the province of Ontario yesterday. I haven't heard a peep. I'd also like to hear him comment on how more socialism for First Nations would only worsen their plight, but perhaps that's too much to ask from our "leader".

It would also be interesting to hear his thoughts on this study which claims that official Ottawa revolves around the outdated and antiquated notion of "two founding nations", but again, I'm not holding my breath.

- What has happened to the lost art of whispering? Every time I go to the theatre, church, or even when I'm sitting in a meeting, people who insist on having sidebar conversations with each other increasingly speak as though they are the only two people in the room - and at length, nonetheless! Nothing drives me more batty.

I can't think of anything ruder, and I suggest that it's time that we all re-introduce these boors to another option, one of seemingly bygone days.

- Finally, this weekend is Canada Day weekend. I'm not much of a patriot, and in fact, the biggest thing I'm doing over the next couple of days is travelling Stateside (how deliciously inappropriate), but I'd like to offer the following as an affectionate little tribute to my home on Native land.

If our country were like a human body, I'd say Ontario is the muscle, the Maritimes the heart, British Columbia the spirit, the Western provinces the brain, and Quebec the loins.

God keep our land glorious and free, baby!

DVD Review: "Ghost Rider" (2007)

Can flaming skulls, leather, spikes, motorcycles, a busty Latina and a deadpan Nicolas Cage along with a supporting role from the one of a kind Sam Eliot make up for a hard-to-follow plot with too many ooga-booga overtones?

Almost.

The ghoulish “Ghost Rider” is the latest forgettable comic book adaptation out of Hollywood, and is (predictably) the first film in an inevitable series that is going to probably make a fair chunk of change. If you take it for what it is while checking your brain at the door, you might like it, as there are certainly worse ways to spend two hours.

Overall rating: 6.5/10

Live Review: Tim McGraw and Faith Hill, Scotiabank Place, Ottawa, ON, June 28, 2007

My summer concert season began on Wednesday night when my wife and I went to see Mr. and Mrs. Tim McGraw at Scotiabank Place in Ottawa.

The show started at 7:30 with a brief set by the pleasant singer/songwriter Lori McKenna, who wouldn't have been a bit out of place on a Lilith Fair tour. Not 10 minutes later, Emerson, Lake and Palmer's "Karn Evil 9", better known as the tune which starts off with the lyric "welcome back my friends, to the show that never ends" came blasting out of the sound system. Tim and Faith then emerged from beneath the stage, starting off with a duet on Snow Patrol's "Counting Cars" before doing a couple of other tracks together which quite frankly demonstrated just how much more superior Faith is than her husband when it comes to carrying a tune.

He then disappeared and she delivered an hour-long set that was full of hits ranging back to her first album along with a cover of Abba’s “The Winner Takes It All”. Much to her chagrin, this wasn’t enough to get the adult contemporary/soft rock fans in the audience out of their seats although she tried her best with lots of waves and high-fives to the front row. I’m sure if she was less strictly a vocalist and more of an entertainer, things would have been more to her liking, and although her undeniably powerful voice was crystal clear on this night, Shania Faith ain’t when it comes to putting on a show.

Things changed when McGraw showed up once again and they did a couple more duets prior to him launching into the Steve Miller Band’s “The Joker”. Then, more hits from McGraw were delivered with a handful of tunes from his new disc, “Let It Go”, which sounded a hell of a lot better live than they do on record, that’s for sure. Judging from the audience reaction, this was a Tim crowd, and he was really hamming it up. I had to wonder why the guy is so cocky (leaving his knockout wife aside, of course), as he had as much bravado on stage as both Bono and Jon Bon Jovi, two frontmen I've previously seen in concert who at least know how to pen a tune (something McGraw can’t claim). The fiddle and pedal steel were also much more up front with Tim than with Faith, which I appreciated.

After he delivered a set of comparable length to his wife's, she appeared once again and they did an encore which included a kick-ass version of Bryan Adams and Tina Turner’s “It’s Only Love” with both of their backing bands, during which the above picture was taken, returning for a final tune titled “I Need You” which was an achingly beautiful way to end the show.

At 3.5 hours long, this show was totally worth the $120 ticket price, even if some of my favourite McGraw tracks like "Drugs or Jesus", "Take Me Away From Here" and "Angel Boy" and were omitted from the set list, which you can find here.

Overall rating: 9/10

Album Review: "5th Gear" by Brad Paisley (2007)

You know that saying, "this is the feel good movie of the year"? Imagine for a minute if there was such a thing for fellas like me, and this album would be it.

Brad Paisley is one of the best kept secrets in all of pop culture today. Take a look at this video and tell me that I'm wrong about that. (You can't.) Nashville took notice long ago, he's now regularly playing to arenas around North America, and I think that those who could set aside their preconceived notions about steel guitars and fiddles could also find a lot to like from this guy. His latest album proves exactly why. There are tons of great tunes to be found here from the hilarious "Online" to the gorgeous "Oh Love", a duet with Carrie Underwood that is in keeping with Paisley's tradition of recording with stellar female vocalists like Chely Wright, Dolly Parton and Alison Krauss. Some boys may also find a tickle in their throat when they listen to the track titled "Letter to Me" for the first time, a little ditty Paisley writes to his 17-year old self from his own early to mid-30s perspective. You have to hear it for yourself, but it really is poetry set to music in the best traditions of real, honest, authenticity.

There are a couple of clunkers here, but with sixteen songs to choose from, that's not bad. Not bad at all. I'd say overall it's right up there with any of his previous albums even if pound for pound there are tracks on "Time Well Wasted" and "Celebrity" that are stronger, but for my money, this is the must-have country album of the summer.

Overall rating: 8.75/10

DVD Review: "Pan's Labyrinth" (2007)

I'm not much of a fantasy genre kind of guy. I've never read a single word from a Harry Potter book, and Lord of the Rings isn't my cup of tea. I'm also not a big fan of horror movies because I don't like to be uncomfortable when I'm kicking back and watching a flick. It's no wonder, then, that I didn't really care for "Pan's Labyrinth", despite its three Oscar wins. Lots of disgusting creatures, gross-outs, and general weirdness going on here, set against an interesting post WW-II backdrop. If you're into that kind of thing, you would probably like it, but I would also recommend against it if you have kids running around, because believe me, this is the stuff that 10-year old nightmares are made of.

Overall rating: 3.5/10

Reflections

I haven't been blogging all week because our modem at home is spotty these days and also because I haven't had a lot of down time at work. However, I'd like to take a few minutes and address the Chris Benoit story in some detail.

As some of you know, I am a pretty big wrestling fan, even if I haven't tuned in much over the last couple of years. The reasons for that are pretty much two-fold; a change in schedule concerning the WWE's major programming and also the heavy promotion of a character who I just can't stomach by the name of John Cena. However, I am still very familar with Benoit, having watched him live at least three times that I can remember off the top of my head, including his world championship loss to Randy Orton at Summerslam 2004. I was never a fan of his character like I have been for others because he was terrible on the stick and also because he always reminded me of the low-budget, confused and frankly embarassing WCW to me, no matter how successful he was in the WWF (it will never be the WWE in my world).

Something that some readers may also know is that I've had my own issues with mental health in the past. Specifically, I am a long-time sufferer of panic and anxiety attacks with a little bit of depression to go with it, which, thankfully, I pretty much have under control these days (after much hell, I might add). There was a time not long ago when I realized that if I was to properly deal with things, I needed help. Thankfully, I was able to ask for and receive it. I wasn't on steroids, and nor was I dealing with issues relating to fame and/or family, so I can't begin to speculate what might have been tearing Benoit apart. Perhaps it's because I'm acutely sensitive to these things, but to me, the bottom line is that what he did was not the actions of a rational human being in full grasp of their own faculties. That won't change what happened, but in many ways, this was a preventable tragedy. In effect, it's a reminder to everyone that if you're dealing with any kind of prolonged mental or emotional difficulty that seems to be manifesting itself in ways that don't seem right to you, be sure to stop for a minute and really consider asking for help.

Reaching out could be as simple as dropping in to your local mental health association during their office hours and chatting with someone who has gone through the same thing you have. It could be registering for a workshop of some kind, or maybe seeing a counselor on a regular or semi-regular basis. There is no shame in that. Nor is there any shame in taking medication. The way I see it is this: if you had diabetes or a thyroid condition, you'd do what was necessary to take care of it, so the same should apply when things don't seem right upstairs. We are only human and none of us can completely understand how we're programmed. Now granted, there are some folks out there who would dismiss what I'm saying, and I can't imagine how one could get to a point where they don't know the difference between right and wrong, but there's no point in trying to explain the inexplicable except to say that if you ever, for one minute, are concerned about your mental health, put your ego aside, stop trying to rationalize things, recognize that maybe you don't have all the answers, and just get yourself to a professional who can help you get back on the right track.

It's worth making that call.

I know, because I did it.

Technical Difficulties

Due to technical difficulties, posting over the next week is going to be intermittent at best. Once I get things back on track, you can expect a whole new batch of news, views and reviews from yours truly.

Thanks for checking in.

Monday digest

- Canadian wrestler Chris Benoit is dead, the victim of an apparent triple homicide.

At least now he can join his buddy Eddie Guerrero, pictured above at Wrestlemania XX at Madison Square Garden, in that big squared circle in the sky.

TUESDAY MORNING UPDATE: This case is now being treated as an apparent double murder/suicide.

TUESDAY AFTERNOON UPDATE: Details are slowly starting to emerge. Benoit was obviously very mentally ill if this is to be believed.

- It being summer and all, it's that time of year when everybody lines up to pile on top of the only democratic, capitalist country in the entire Middle East. Israeli intelligence sources have suggested that an attack can come from any one of five potential opponents this year: Iran, Syria, Hamas, Hezbollah and/or al-Qaeda. That's why it's instructive to read this Letter to the Editor in today's Ottawa Citizen. The text is as follows:

Re: Our Middle East obsession, June 20.

... I write to indicate why I marvel at Israel's ability to triumph over adversity upon adversity. The story of Israel, from its beginning in 1948 when Holocaust survivors were granted refuge with a state of their own because no country would offer them sanctuary, until today, is a gripping saga of a nation never knowing peace.

For 60 years it has defended itself in wars on three fronts, to the shock of the whole Muslim world. Daily it sustains bombardment by katyusha rockets interspersed with suicide-bomb attacks. All the while the country's struggle is rejected by many western media reports, political leaders, Christian church groups and universities denouncing Israeli's actions of self-defence.

When the Jews were granted this land, 60 per cent was desert, and today its greenhouses and agricultural produce are the envy of the world. The Jews welcomed a million Arabs to remain and become citizens with elected Arab members of government, and today these Arabs have more rights and privileges than those in any other Middle East country. The Jewish people have flourished and have built their future with Nobel laureates, renowned in science and medicine despite their tenuous circumstances.

It is beyond my wildest imagination how a persecuted and oppressed people, exiled from their biblical homeland for 2,000 years, has now become such a thriving democracy amidst 23 oppressive regimes, and with a meagre population of six million. Thus my obsession with the Middle East, or rather, on a positive note, my utmost admiration for the people of Israel.

Carolyn Emond, Ottawa

I can't think of a better way to say it.

- Meanwhile, you've got Penn, Fonda and everyone else still pissed off about Al Gore's loss in 2000 that they're issuing ads like this one in the New York Times. What world does one live in where W is a bigger threat to humankind than the likes of those I mentioned above?

DVD Review: "Norbit" (2007)

"Norbit" explains why the reluctant father of Scary Spice's lovechild was so upset at not winning the Best Supporting Actor award this year at the Oscars. It's because after this turkey, he'll never be nominated for anything ever again - and rightfully so.

Eddie Murphy plays three different roles in this dumb comedy about a black Napoleon Dynamite-like character who lives in fear of his morbidly obese, ball-busting wife. However, when an old flame re-appears, our hero has to find his pair of stones if he's to reach happily ever after.

Now, you'd have a point if you asked, "what did you expect, Hammer?", and I can only say that I thought the family dinner scenes in the "Nutty Professor" flicks were hilarious, as was the barbershop scene in "Coming to America". Murphy played a bunch of different characters in both. Plus, I'm a big fan of toilet humour, so I was hopeful. However, nothing makes up for the ridiculousness of "Norbit". There's a talking dog, for the love of God, and as I've said before, I'm just not a Will Farrell guy. For her part, Mrs. Hammer said it was arguably the worst movie she's ever watched, which, ahem, is saying a fair bit, especially given how much she loves the Superstation.

And speaking of Best Supporting Actor Oscar winners, could Cuba Gooding Jr. have a worse record when it comes to choosing scripts? (As if "Boat Trip" wasn't bad enough.)

Overall rating: 1.5/10

Sunday digest

- There is a Letter to the Editor in this week's issue of Maclean's that everyone should take two seconds to think about. Here it is:

Many people don't want to believe that individuals earning high incomes actually help the public interest. Let's remember that in voluntary exchanges, each party participates only if it values what it gets more than what it gives. A fat bank account shows that an individual has given a commensurate amount of wealth in labour, management, advice or other non-monetary forms of value. Put another way, anybody with a net worth above zero is a net producer or goods and services, rather than a net consumer. Though it sounds paradoxical, the more money you have, the more value you have given away. Bill Gates may have billions, but he has likely created many more billions in wealth for his customers. Canada's wealthy are its entrepreneurs, innovators and managers - people who create jobs and improve our quality of life. Indeed, we must carefully consider any new "soak the rich" policy.

Zack Martin
Ancaster, ON

- Here is some good news from Iraq that you won't hear via the mainscream media. More positive developments follow here, but there's still a long way to go, both in the West and elsewhere.

- Free speech for me, but not for thee: more here on the Oakland case where mentioning the terms "marriage", "natural family" and "family values" are alleged to constitute hatred. So much for mutual respect and tolerance of different points of view.

- Speaking of Big Brother, how about the eco-imperialists?

- On St. Jean Baptiste Day, Stephane Dion has asked the Prime Minister to clarify if "nation within a nation" status applies to all Quebecers or just francophones.

I'd like to know myself.

Album Review: "Daughtry" (2006)

The American Idol machine has launched another unknown to the top of the charts. Chris Daughtry, a little more legit than your run-of-the-mill contestant as he has songwriting credits on 10 of 12 tracks, including one which features the legendary Slash on guitar, leads his band through a steady and confident debut album which recalls a bit of Creed on top of amped-up Matchbox Twenty-esque melodies, fitting in nicely with other post-alternative hard rock bands that dominate mainstream rock radio these days. And the guy can sing, too.

Don't get me wrong - there's nothing here that will blow you away, but it's a pretty agreeable effort all around.

On tour with Nickelback this summer.

Overall rating: 7.25/10

Saturday digest

- Canadian politician Belinda Stronach was recently treated for breast cancer at a Toronto-area hospital. I don't wish to make light of the situation, but I can't help but wonder if she used the single pay/single provider public health system, or went to a private clinic. If so, it would set her aside from a long line of other Trudeaupians like Paul Martin, Joe Clark and Jack Layton - not that I would blame her in the least.

- This weekend's must-read comes from the venerable VDH, who stands in stark contrast to the likes of Bono's buddy Jeffrey Sachs, who blames the US and Israel for the current turmoil in the Middle East because they wouldn't legitimize Hamas. Iran doesn't even garner a mention in Sachs' piece. Now correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think that giving terrorists credibility has worked in the past. (Check under Arafat, Yasser for a brief explanation as to why.)

- The cartoon above refers to an anti-poverty plan floated this week by New York mayor and erstwhile Presidential candidate Mike Bloomberg, whereby the government would pay people bonuses for getting a library card, going to the dentist, attending parent-teacher night and holding down a job. While I'm all for incentives, this strikes me as rewarding people for doing things that they should be doing anyways. What's next - giving people money for not smoking or overeating?

Film Review: "Knocked Up" (2007)

"Knocked Up" is a so-so comedy about a big-time slacker who hits the jackpot one night with a drunken entertainment show talk host. She gets pregnant, decides to keep the baby, and a few chuckles (rather than outright hilarity) follow close behind.

In other words, it's not that funny, which is a little misleading given the advance press. It's also disjointed, implausible and chock full of detestable characters who grate, leaving you feeling that this movie is about 1/3 too long.

The "Wedding Crashers" of 2007 - an overrated rental which deserves a C minus at best.

Overall rating: 6/10

Friday digest

- The outfit which almost single-handedly (and quite thankfully) wiped grunge off the pop music map in the mid-to-late 1990s is reuniting for a 25-date world tour.

I am intrigued by the possibilities.

- Before everyone gets all high and mighty about Gitmo's impending closure, I'd urge them to put it alongside some of the real atrocities that are taking place all over the world for a little context, especially those which occur at the hands of those for whom the Left repeatedly excuses.

- By the way, didn't Western feminists fight like hell against subjugation like this? I don't hear them speaking up now. Why not? Maybe, like Sunera Thobani, Women's Studies prof at the University of British Columbia and former president of the National Action Committee on the Status of Women, they're more concerned with the fascists on Pennsylvania Avenue and Downing Street than the small matter of Muslim women in London who want the right to, oh, I dunno, show their faces?

- Addictions to both video games and the Internet are about to be classified as the latest social diseases by the mental health profession.

As someone who absolutely loves the Internet and, according to my wife, spends far too much time online, I lay the blame for this at the feet of Al Gore. After all, he invented the damn thing, so how can it be my fault?!?

- See you two broken-down old ham n' eggers later. I'm looking forward to not having to tune into the American broadcast of the Stanley Cup playoffs next year if I want to hear announcers who actually know who plays on which team.

Thursday digest

- Deviating from far-left orthodoxy at the "Take Back America" conference yesterday, Hillary Clinton was booed for suggesting that while the US military has succeeded in Iraq, it's the Iraqi government which has failed.

Classy.

Perhaps she's just too much Bill and not enough Ralph for her party's primary voters. Either that, or you have to look elsewhere for respect and tolerance of differing points of view.

- MSNBC has conducted a survey of 144 journalists who have donated money to one or both of America's two main political parties since 2004. Of those surveyed, 17 gave to Republicans, 2 to both parties, and a whopping 125 to Democrats - for a total of 86.8%.

I guess this explains why the Democratic candidates believe they don't need to debate each other on FOX, as they've got plenty of friends elsewhere in the mainstream press.

Take a look at a couple of other important articles on the media, here and here.

- Here's a little victory: the Canadian government is pushing the date for regulations on trans fats back by a couple of years. I don't think we need the nanny state protecting us from what we put into our cakeholes, especially when it comes to something as basic as this. Leaving aside Canada's no-fault health care system, I'd like to know why, if you don't want to take care of yourself, it ought to be the government's concern?

- Many Canadians often complain that Americans don't pay any attention to what does on in the Great White North. This might be part of the reason why.

- What do you think is going to get more talk around the water cooler this summer in Ontario? This, or the follies of Paris Hilton and the like? I'm betting on the latter.

- From time to time in this forum, I riff on Quebec's political culture, but one area where they have things right is when it comes to beer and wine sales because they promote competition and markets, both of which lead to lower prices and better service.

- We're always hearing about how the modern economy isn't benefitting the middle class. I wonder how much the fact that in America, there are a total of 7 debit/credit cards for every individual over the age of 15, might have to do with it. You can't better yourself if you're drowning in debt.

- I'm a big fan of John Stossel for two reasons. First, he likes to make hamburger out of sacred cows, and second, he makes you think. This article is no exception.

Wednesday digest

- 9/11 "truther" Michael Moore is now peddling the idea of socialized health care - where the government is not only the exclusive purchaser but also the exclusive supplier of the the same product - as "Christianized" health care, because according to Moore, that's how Jesus would want it.

Leaving the guy's obvious arrogance aside, I would normally expect all of the left-wing atheists and ACLU types out there to start sqwaking about the separation of church and state and grumbling about shoving agendas down people's throats, but since it's one of their their heroes sermonizing here, they probably won't.

More advance press on "Sicko", here.

- How about the members of Toronto city council, including Mayor David Miller, who are on record as supporting the removal of "Support Our Troops" decals from city vehicles? Apparently it's because keeping them would be akin to an endorsement of war. Well, if we don't like war, we ought to just hold hands, sing "Imagine" and wind down the entire Canadian Armed Forces, because, well, they fight wars, and we're against that, right?

- The underground economy is growing quite nicely in Hugo Chavez' socialist paradise of Venezuela. Is anyone surprised?

- Cementing his reputation as the worst ex-president ever, Jimmy Carter is now pointing fingers at the US, Israel and the EU as the cause of the Palestinian civil war now raging there. I would have blamed terrorist exploitation, but hey, I don't have a Nobel Prize on my C.V. Instead, all I have to offer is the following joke:

What happens when a fly falls into a coffee cup?

The Englishman - throws the cup and walks away.

The American - takes out the fly, and drinks the coffee.

The Chinese - eats the fly and throws away the coffee.

The Japanese - drinks the coffee with the fly, since it was extra with no charge.

The Israeli - sells the coffee to the American, the fly to the Chinese, and buys himself a new cup of coffee.

The Palestinian - blames the Israeli for the violent act of putting the fly in his coffee, asks the UN for aid, takes a loan from the European Union to buy a new cup of coffee, uses the money to purchase explosives and then blows up the coffee house where the Englishman, the American, the Chinese, the Japanese all try to explain to the Israeli that he was too aggressive.

Tuesday digest

- Now this is just irresistable.

Syria's Minister of Expatriate Affairs recently found a minute between meetings with Hamas and Hezbollah to issue a wordy lament concerning the self-imposed exile of far-left anti-war darling Cindy Sheehan.

Have a look at it for yourself, here.

- Civil libertarians are referring to air transportation as a human right. I'd like to know this - since when?

- Secret ballots for union members? Not in Harry Reid's America. I'd really like to see Hillary Clinton speak out against this.

- A couple of days ago, I mentioned that Ontario gets screwed when it comes to fiscal federalism. This article explains how, and also why, at certain points in my life, I have dreamt of a Canada that extends all the way from Victoria to Ottawa.

- MP Myron Thompson is quitting politics. I fully expect other backbench MPs who were first elected in 1993 to follow suit prior to the next election, as it seems the only way you can get into Cabinet if you were an original Reformer is if you got into bed with the nauseating Joe Clark back in the days of the Canadian Alliance.

Monday digest

- Never ones to disappoint, it's business as usual at Turtle Bay. Brand new UN chief Ban Ki-moon has suggested that the genocide in Darfur can be chalked up to global warming (of the man-made kind, naturally). Meanwhile, Libya is in the running to head up the next anti-racism conference.

- Speaking of Africa, the president of Gambia knows how to cure AIDS, but only on Thursdays. I don't know what's sadder, that or the fact that Bono sees the G8 as the primary obstacle rather than corrupt and/or deranged dictators who act like the Pied Piper and lead their people to misery.

- In the Middle East, after decades of what the Wall St. Journal calls "terrorism as statecraft" has led to its logical conclusion in Gaza - the law of the jungle, the US netroots are making apologies for Hamas and naturally finding fault with Israel and America despite the obvious atrocities committed by Palestinians against each other. Some might gloat and say that this is proof that democracy isn't the panacea it is often made out to be in the corridors of Western power, but to that, I would say that it's not just about casting a ballot. It's about the rule of law, a free press, and minority rights, among other things, all of which are integral to the wentire democratic process. In turn, you might say that countries who comprise the coalition of the willing have no leg to stand on since they help legitimize Guantanamo Bay, but here's a piece which destroys the "unlawful enemy combatant" argument (setting aside the obvious fact that the very existence of the judgment helps cement the moral high ground).

- A North Carolina academic has recently asked if the one-quarter of US Muslims under the age of thirty who can justify suicide bombing can really be blamed for feeling that way. I suppose that according to him, this is rational behaviour? Meanwhile, Pakistan, hardly a bastion of modernity, is threatening violence if Salman Rushdie is knighted.

- Joe Lieberman has just returned from Iraq. Here's what he saw.

- On the home front, it's been revealed that the downtown champagne and caviar socialist champion of the working man, Jack Layton, has exercised his right to purchase private health care by getting treated for a hernia outside of the public system.

I wonder what his hero Tommy Douglas would say about that - if you could turn his attention away from finding ways to sterilize the weak and the downtrodden, that is.

Sunday digest

- Those around my age who are familiar with the history of rasslin' will be interested to learn that the latest mid-to-late 80's/early 90's personality to go to that great squared circle in the sky is "Sensational" Sherri Martel, pictured above, who passed away this past week at the age of 49.

It still doesn't change the fact that she was probably the most irritating manager EVER.

- The big picture concerning the ongoing disagreement over fiscal federalism as it relates to the Atlantic provinces boils down to this: Ontario and Alberta pay the bills for everyone else in Canada. Whether it be the universal $7 a day government babysitting program in Quebec, overly generous EI programs that perpetuate chronic unemployment in the East, or subsidies income security programs for farmers on the Prairies, it comes out of this Ontarian's pocket, and I think it's high time to say "enough".

- I haven't read the Ontario Conservative party platform yet, but given that John Tory was Kim Campbell's campaign manager, I think I pretty much know what to expect. Andrew Coyne's column here brings to mind an observation from the indefatigable Clare Hoy, who, when discussing Tory, has recognized that the Toronto intelligentsia judge him as "the right kind of conservative - which is to say, he isn't".

- Things continue to look good for Sarko. Here's hoping he shows Stephen Harper how it's done when it comes to taking government a couple of steps back.

- Just like Osama bin Laden referred to scenes from "Fahrenheit 9/11" for his own propaganda purposes, Cuba's Health Minister has thanked Michael Moore for "Sicko". I understand that a significant part of Moore's latest screed is dedicated to the greatness of Canada's medicare system. Too bad he didn't get to interview my 59-year old mother-in-law, who has to wait almost a year in order to get an appointment with her general practicioner.

- If you think that the Canadian Arab Federation and the Canadian Islamic Congress are committed to pluralist values, you're sadly mistaken. See here.

- Finally, a tip o' the hat today to everyone out there who is a dad. A couple of noteworthy articles on the vitality of fatherhood, here and here.

Album Reviews: "Some Hearts" by Carrie Underwood (2005); "One of the Boys" by Gretchen Wilson (2007); "Crazy Ex-Girlfriend" by Miranda Lambert (2007)

On the country music scene today, there are many artists who are jockeying for position to inherit the title of the biggest female star in the genre. Whoever steps up to claim that mantle will find herself in company which includes the likes of legends such as Patsy Cline, Tammy Wynette, Loretta Lynn, Tanya Tucker, Dolly Parton, Reba McEntire, Shania Twain and Faith Hill. I've had occasion as of late to evaluate some of the contenders, and I'd like to focus on the latest efforts from three ladies who could be headlining arenas for years to come: Carrie Underwood, Gretchen Wilson and Miranda Lambert.

America's darling Carrie Underwood won one of the recent "American Idol" competitions which led to the release of her 2005 album, "Some Hearts". Naturally, she doesn't write a lick of her own material other than the odd lyric, but I can overlook that if someone whose musical integrity such as the incomparable Brad Paisley sees fit to invite her out on tour with him. Creativity may not be Miss Underwood's strong suit at the moment, but there is no denying the power of her voice as demonstrated by tracks like the irresistible "Wasted". I'll be looking for big things from her in the future based on her debut - which honestly starts sounding the same at about track seven or eight - but if she's going to develop further and stake an honest claim to the crown of female country royalty, I think she'll need to get out from Mr. Clive Davis and his friends like Diane Warren and Andreas Carlsson.

Next comes Gretchen Wilson, who burst on to the scene about three years ago with "Redneck Woman". Sadly, this was followed up by the half-hearted "All Jacked Up". Now, we have Wilson taking a left turn with "One of the Boys", a twanged-up affair that betrays her work with the likes of Heart and Kid Rock as of late. I was expecting a faux-rock effort this time around, but instead she's regressed even further into the barroom, which is fine, but I just think that she's limiting herself. In other words, this chick could be one of the biggest crossover artists EVER, and I mean that sincerely. As it stands now, she resembles Nashville's version of Alanis Morrissette more than anything else: huge debut, disappointing sophomore album, unremarkable third effort ... and a fanbase that is left loyal, yet confused, and in danger of dwindling.

Last is Miranda Lambert, the pouty Texan who has had a career path thus far which splits the difference between Underwood and Wilson. She hit the bigtime after finishing in the top three on the Idol rip-off "Nashville Star", but she writes her own stuff and has toured with no less an icon than George Strait after turning heads with her debut album "Kerosene". Now, she's released her second disc titled "Crazy Ex-Girlfriend". Now, the title may leave you with the impression that she's marketing herself to the same crowd as Underwood - pre-adolescent girls - but that's not the case at all. Lyrically, this disc deals with themes like blowing away your abusive husband, teetotalling counties, and the parochial mentality of small towns. These have all been done before, most famously by the Chicks, but set to music, Lambert gives them an edge that is all her own that didn't come through as loud and proud on "Kerosene" as it does, consistently, on this one. There is not a track on "Crazy Ex-Girlfriend" that sounds like one of the others, and it comfortable alternates between Mellencamp-esque classic rock and down-home pickin' without for a second sounding like it doesn't hang together. To my ears, this is one of the biggest surprises I've heard in a long time, and it could blow up, big.

Therefore, as for who's got the best chance of inheriting the tradition set down by those who have gone before her, among these three talented ladies, I'd have to place my bet on the under-the-radar Miranda Lambert.

Overall ratings:

"Some Hearts" - 7.5/10
"One of the Boys" - 5.5/10
"Crazy Ex-Girlfriend" - 9.5/10

Saturday digest

- Not like this is really news or anything, but Michael Moore has proven once again that he's nothing more than a bald-faced liar. This week on ABC with interviewer Terry Moran, he said the following:

Michael Moore: "They have an excellent health care system, probably the best in the Third World. There is not religious persecution. There's artistic freedom. I went–"

Terry Moran: "There's artistic freedom in Cuba?"

Moore: "Oh, yeah. I hung out with artists who are critical of Castro and, and, and very freely speak their minds."

How can anyone consider this man to be a serious person after he makes laughable assertions like that one?

- Here's a great article from the excellent Michael Coren which takes the piss out of righteous celebs and their pet causes.

- The loony left play of the day today goes to the organizers of UCLA's spring concovations, where they're promoting separate ceremonies for members of various ethnic groups.

This is just the latest example of how political correctness rooted in identity politics and Marxism continues to run amok at institutes of left-wing indoctrination higher learning across the West.

- Vaclav Klaus, president of the Czech Republic, has written an insightful piece on how the climate change crowd is the latest to promote the idea of the "one permitted truth", which is to say that dissent and disagreement with certain assumptions and positions on a given issue is just not tolerated by those on the other side.

An excerpt:

The author Michael Crichton stated it clearly: “the greatest challenge facing mankind is the challenge of distinguishing reality from fantasy, truth from propaganda”. I feel the same way, because global warming hysteria has become a prime example of the truth versus propaganda problem. It requires courage to oppose the “established” truth, although a lot of people – including top-class scientists – see the issue of climate change entirely differently. They protest against the arrogance of those who advocate the global warming hypothesis and relate it to human activities.

As someone who lived under communism for most of his life, I feel obliged to say that I see the biggest threat to freedom, democracy, the market economy and prosperity now in ambitious environmentalism, not in communism. This ideology wants to replace the free and spontaneous evolution of mankind by a sort of central (now global) planning.

The environmentalists ask for immediate political action because they do not believe in the long-term positive impact of economic growth and ignore both the technological progress that future generations will undoubtedly enjoy, and the proven fact that the higher the wealth of society, the higher is the quality of the environment. They are Malthusian pessimists.

Read the whole thing for yourself.

Thursday digest

- Graffitti sprayed across downtown Ottawa this morning tells me that there's an upcoming anarchist conference, scheduled for July 15, dedicated to getting Canada out of Afghanistan.

Couldn't they have at least used Facebook instead of defacing public property, or would that just water down their anti-establishment street cred?

- Sociologists are commenting on the Driftwood Crips takedown in the Jane and Finch area of Toronto yesterday and suggesting that gangsterism is the result of poverty. While it may be a minor factor, I don't see how struggling to make ends meet explain 4-year olds getting shot in drive-bys, something which occurred there in August 2005. What's much more likely is that what's gone on in this neighbourhood is the result of passivity towards lawlessness, a culture where strong male role models are nowhere to be found and the definition of masculinity among youth is closely related to the glorification of violence and sexual promiscuity rather than achieving academic success or building a respectable career path for yourself.

As far as the bleeding hearts go, I'd say it's far more likely that attitudes create poverty rather than other way around.

It's long past time to get real about this.

- The NHL doesn't even want to meet with Jim Balsillie to discuss the future of the Nashville Predators, which may or may not include a potential move to Hamilton, Ontario.

This has TML fingerprints all over it. What is their front office so afraid of?

Album Review: "United Abominations" by Megadeth (2007)

This has been a busy spring for Dave Mustaine. First came a live DVD, then a tour with Black Sabbath Heaven and Hell followed by the release of "United Abominations", an album which builds on the momentum established by the solid 2004 comeback effort for Megadave, "The World Needs a Hero", but takes things to a brand-new level.

Now in his mid-forties, Mustaine is full of piss and vinegar both musically and lyrically. He finds much to comment on concerning the state of the world today (not that you should care what an entertainer has to say) and works out his anger and confusion with mad fret work underscored by full-blown yet melodic aggression. With song titles like "Amerikhastan", "Gears of War" and "Washington Is Next", in addition to the damning title track, there's much to chew on here. I haven't heard lyrics like this since the long-since-passed literary glory days of Neil Peart. More importantly, the additions of the Drover brothers and former White Lion bassist James Lomenzo have resulted in a level of musicianship that is rivalled only by the latest Maiden album when it comes to releases from the last couple of years. For a taste, check out "Sleepwalker", "Gears of War" and the remake of 1994's "A Tout Le Monde", originally featured on 1994's Youthanasia but now redone as a duet with Lacuna Coil's Christina Scabbia.

As I am north of thirty, I am one of those who strongly believes that the new stuff that's out there now just doesn't compare to the old school bands. This is a shining example of why. "United Abominations" is Mustaine's finest work yet and blows away most of what you'll hear on rock radio today. The Killers, White Stripes and all of those other flash in the pan outfits should go back to school, learn how to play some scales and arpeggios, and throw this on to learn about real art crafted by a true professional who has done it, survived, and emerged with his artistic integrity and creative juices not only intact but never better.

Overall rating: 9.25/10

Wednesday digest

- Five months ago, Rudy Giuliani and Newt Gingrich co-authored an op-ed in the Wall St. Journal. Now, Giuliani is touting his own Contract With America in an obvious nod to the Republican Revolution of 1994. The prospect of these two teaming up on a GOP ticket will come as a comforting breath of fresh air to right-of-centre folks who have become disillusioned with the Bush White House, even if you need two hands to count the number of failed marriages between them.

- The Ontario government is going to impose an "eco-fee" of up to $45 on home electronics items like big screen TVs and desktop computers to offset the cost of recycling them. Instead of dinging consumers with what amounts to a tax, I'm sure that a way to provide incentives to an aspiring entrepreneur who could export outdated electronics to places like China and India, much like is done with discarded cell phones, could have been facilitated. However, innovation is not our strong suit.

- Is this not the sign of a terribly sick culture?

- Quiz time: Who recently said the following?

We should never be more vigilant than at the moment a new dogma is being installed. The claque endorsing what is now dignified as "the mainstream theory" of global warming stretches all the way from radical greens through Al Gore to George W. Bush, who signed on at the end of May. The left has been swept along, entranced by the allure of weather as revolutionary agent, naïvely conceiving of global warming as a crisis that will force radical social changes on capitalism by the weight of the global emergency. Amid the collapse of genuinely radical politics, they have seen it as the alarm clock prompting a new Great New Spiritual Awakening.

The marquee slogan in the new cold war on global warming is that the scientific consensus is virtually unanimous. This is utterly false. The overwhelming majority of climate computer modelers, the beneficiaries of the $2 billion-a-year global warming grant industry, certainly believe in it but not necessarily most real climate scientists-people qualified in atmospheric physics, climatology and meteorology.

A) Christopher Hitchens;

B) Liz Cheney;

c) Rex Tillerson, CEO of Exxon Mobil; or

d) Alexander Cockburn, columnist with The Nation, a magazine which bills itself as "America's oldest and most widely read weekly journal of progressive political and cultural news, opinion and analysis".

Answer here.

Tuesday digest

- As the United States Supreme Court is about to hear a case which will determine whether or not the phrases "natural family", "marriage" and "union of a man and a woman" constitute hate speech - demonstrating once again that you should keep your politics to yourself in the workplace - the cartoon above from the syndicated comic strip "Opus", which ran this past weekend, demonstrates how the vocation of fatherhood is being increasingly viewed as disposable. (Give it a click to see a larger version.)

That said, this fella isn't exactly the dad of the year.

- An author asks why the Western Left still romanticizes and makes excuses for Communism, here, despite both the cold, hard facts as well as the plain truth being in clear view.

- I don't think that China is going to be the massive economic juggernaut a lot of commentators do for a number of reasons. For example, how can you devise an effective social insurance system in a place where well over a billion people share only one hundred surnames? On top of that, there are 100,000 people who go by "Wang Tao", China's most popular name.

- Next time you hear someone talk about saving Africa with all of the usual accompanying platitudes, ask yourself what the UN and international aid programs have done to slow or halt this reign of terror.

- While Joe Lieberman has said that the bombing of Iran ought to be on the table, it's important to not overlook Pakistan.

- I wouldn't be surprised in the least if some of Bob Rae's cabinet are now gainfully employed in the llama farm business.

- A lot of folks don't like the guy, but Steve Simmons sifts through the numbers here and concludes that the Leafs really do suck.

Can't argue with that.

Monday digest

- Remember all the weeping and gnashing of teeth some time ago when Conrad Black was going to buy up a bunch of newspapers? If you believed all of the hue and cry back then, it was going to be the end of Canada as we then knew it, because he'd have just far too much influence over the masses with his right-wing views about the free market and the welfare state.

Fast foward ten years. Now, we have CTV, led by CEO Ivan Fecan, buying up CHUM Media. This guy now owns everything from Sympatico to dozens of radio stations to Canada's "national newspaper" to probably the largest private TV network in Canada, and he just got bigger. However, you probably haven't heard a peep from the likes of Maude Barlow about the dangers of media ownership. Why? Well, Fecan happens to be a long-time Liberal fundraiser. In other words, conservative media bosses = bad, but Trudeaupian media ownership (on a much wider scale than Black's ever was, I might add), is A-OK.

You may point to the fact that the Competition Commissioner forced the sale of five Citytv stations as part of the deal, but so what? I'm still hearing boo from the Left.

Did I also mention that Torstar has a 20% ownership stake in CTVglobemedia?

- Speaking of the mainscream press, here's a must read from former Mayor of New York City Ed Koch, a Democrat who thinks the New York Times has really gone downhill.

- Maybe I'm an intolerant jerk, a shill for Bush or both, but Rosie O'Donnell is the last person I'd want to see fill Bob Barker's shoes.

Film Reviews: "Iraq In Fragments" (2006) and "The Lives of Others" (2007)

Last night, I did something I hadn't done in quite a while, and that's head over to Old Ottawa South to take in a double bill at the venerable Mayfair Theatre.

First up was the Academy Award-nominated documentary, "Iraq In Fragments", which takes a look at post invasion Iraq through Sunni, Shi'ite and Kurdish eyes. The Sunni segment is rather pointless, as a young boy of 11 who is struggling in school while working part-time takes verbal abuse from his boss. As far as I could tell, the point of this was to demonstrate the flavour of Sunni culture against the backdrop of how the invasion paralyzed Baghdad's economy, with the boss hurling insults like "pimp" against the boy while bemoaning the American presence in the city.

Then, things move southward to Naseriyah where Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr is leading a mass assertion of his people's strength after decades of second-class citizenship under Saddam. The major focus in this segment is how the principles of Islam are married up with democracy, and the inherent tensions between the two.

Finally, we move to the Kurdish north, where the toppling of Saddam has finally brought a modicum of security to the families there, who are nevertheless still struggling to eke out a living. The promotional poster for the material comes from these scenes, and although you could be forgiven for thinking that it depicts a boy left homeless after a bomb dropped on his home, it's actually a picture of the fully operational brick forgery where he works. (If this was an honest oversight, I'm dubious.)

Dull, this is hardly essential viewing, and even if you're interested in these types of depictions, it's worthwhile only in that it will help round out your perceptions of Iraq rather than underline or shift them in any meaningful sense.

The next film is quite a different story, both literally and figuratively, and is quite a propos given that this week marks the 20th anniversary of the infamous "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!" speech delivered by the man who defeated Communism, according to, among others, The Economist magazine.

"The Lives of Others" takes place in 1984 East Berlin where a playwright comes under heavy surveillance by the Ministry of Culture for being deemed a potential "enemy of Socialism". Soon, his mentors, lovers and friends are all implicated, as is the secret agent spearheading the operation - but not in the way you might expect. Twists and turns abound as coercion and intrusion by those who will not tolerate dissent provide the backdrop for the main character's efforts to live, think and speak freely and honestly. Things come to a stupefying conclusion for the protagonist after the Wall comes down and he is able to piece together what his reality really was under the desposed regime, thankfully consigned to the ash heap of history.

This film is an excellent reminder of how Marxist-Leninist ideology, authoritarian out of necessity, relies on instituting a system of command and control over individual actions, and that behind the Iron Curtain, anyone who dared fight back risked their relationships, careers and indeed, their very existences if they didn't properly serve the state - even if one was part of its apparatus.

"The Lives of Others" is fully deserving of its Oscar win for Best Foreign Language film, and although it was quite different and more enjoyable than "Iraq In Fragments", when taken together, both provide many reasons to be thankful for the good fortune of having been born in the democratic, capitalist West.

Overall ratings:

Iraq in Fragments: 5/10
The Lives of Others: 9.25/10

Sunday digest

- Sixty-five months of uninterrupted growth, and some folks will still find something to complain about.

- The other day, I was asked by someone if I'd ever like to work for Canada's Department of Foreign Affairs. My response? "I'm not much of a do-gooder." The fact that I agree 100% with what this Kenyan has to say explains why.

- Although Vladimir Putin played the skunk at the garden party at the G-8 last week, check out this piece from Niall Ferguson on how there are others who should have been invited, but weren't.

- A very well-considered piece here from an endangered species a Republican academic who argues that while democracy is part of the solution to fighting Islamic radicalism, you first have to promote a culture of real liberty.

Bonus points for the following quote: "... I often remind my students and colleagues that only the impotent and the naive have the luxury of self-righteousness."

- I am a big, big fan of Bill Cosby's mission over the last couple of years, which has been this: if you want to see positive change, set aside blame and start looking in the mirror.

- Not that I would usually care about an article from a former Paul Martin fartcatcher, but I have to point out something from Scott Feschuk's article in Maclean's this week, here. In evaluating his leader, Stephane Dion, Feschuk says:

"His tone is consistently that of a university lecturer, which is fine for a minister but death for a leader. No one ever emerged inspired from Introduction to Economics. (Suicidal? Yes. Also sleepy. But not inspired.)"

I would disagree with Feschuk. Many individuals, in fact, have emerged inspired from Introduction to Economics, but those who do don't choose a career path which leads to employment as a Trudeaupian PR flack. Therein lies the difference.

Maclean's makes up for their columnist's antipathy towards basic mathematics, here.

- Early indications are that those over the age of 19 are going to be prevented from drinking a glass of wine or a Blue next time they go to the multiplex to check out their film of choice, as the Ontario government won't put the children at risk.

Ahh, the omnipotent state, always there to protect us from ourselves.

This is the same kind of lowest common denominator thinking that prevents us from being able to buy beer and wine at corner stores in Ontario.

Book Review: "The One Percent Doctrine: Deep Inside America's Pursuit of Its Enemies Since 9/11" by Ron Suskind (2006)

"The One Percent Doctrine", a look at the war on terror from 9/11 to the 2004 US Presidential election from Wall St. Journal reporter Ron Suskind, was originally released in hardcover about a year ago. It was at the top of "best of" lists for 2006, so I picked up the paperback version when it was released in mid-May.

The title of "The One Percent Doctrine" is taken from Dick Cheney's assertion that even if there is a one percent chance that a terrorist attack against the United States might take place, it is imperative that the American government proceed as though it was an absolute certainty. However, this is not the unifying premise of the book. What Suskind does is take four major themes - terrorist financing, the power wielded by Cheney within the Administration, the negotiations with Moammar Ghadafi which led to the abandonment of Libya's nuclear program, and the ongoing battle for the hearts and minds of the American public as the Iraq war didn't go as planned in the months following the 2003 invasion - and weaves them around each other in a weak narrative, peppered with other anecdotes about Washington bureaucratic infighting, the capture of Khalid Sheik Mohammed, and US-Saudi relations, to name a few.

(One notable excerpt details how the mastermind of the 7/7 bombings, Mohamed Sidique Khan, was known to US authorities for months in advance due to information gleaned via the "illegal" wiretap program, but they were afraid to do anything with it due to potential controversy. He went on to kill 56 and injure over 700 that day.)

Important as well is the fact that Suskind offers a retelling of events that would have personality clashes and relationships be one of, if not the, primary driver of international affairs. I'm vastly underqualified to comment on this, but given the ambitious, gossipy, power-driven world of the Beltway, suffice it to say that I believe that while certainly valuable, taking the likes of Suskind, Woodward and Bernstein as authoritative would be a mistake, in my view, since nothing is verifiable and embellishment is part and parcel of what they do.

Suskind also veers closely, but not quite, towards the tone of the "gotcha" school of journalism, whereby high-and-mighty investigative reporters elevate themselves on the pedestal of the moral high ground, second-guessing the decisions made by elected and unelected officials alike while wrapping themselves in the cloak of journalistic freedom and invoking the principle of the free press whenever their ethics or accuracy are put to question - as though that makes up for the fact that by the very nature of the work, they are forced to take considerable license and leeway as they piece their recounting of events together.

In terms of analysis, he makes mention of the "tipping point" theory, which has been done better elsewhere and by others, but outside of self-absorbed ramblings about the vitality and role of the fourth estate towards the conclusion, there's not much more. All told, though "The One Percent Doctrine" is nothing remarkable, it provides a decent contextual piece for other, superior works like "The Looming Tower" and George Tenet's memoirs, which is perhaps a reflection of my own bias towards the accounts from those who have actually done it rather than observers from the press, "Tower" aside.

"Fiasco" comes out in paperback in six weeks, so I'll be all over that one as well to see how it matches up.

Overall rating: 6/10

Saturday digest

- So the skanky Paris Hilton is on her way back to jail. Under normal circumstances, I'd have no comment on this whole ridiculous affair, but after Al Sharpton weighed in on her preliminary release by saying that the scales of justice were tipped in Hilton's favour because she is white, blond and rich, the memory of the deceased Nicole Brown Simpson came to mind.

This may be a little presumptuous on my part, but I'm thinking she'd probably disagree - vehemently - with the Reverend.

- Thumbs up to Cineplex Odeon. They've applied for a liquor license so that when you are kicking back at select theatres in Toronto, you'll be able to enjoy a frosty brew. I don't see why this would be a problem. Alcohol is served at sporting events, so why not at the cinema? If anyone can see any potential public harm here, please share, because I certainly don't.

- Here are two books that I will definitely NOT be reviewing this fall.

- Ottawa Mayor Larry O'Brien's transportation task force, led by statist David Collenette, issued a report this week calling for a tunnel underneath Ottawa's downtown core, among other things, to help ease congestion for those living in not only Orleans and Kanata, but Maxville and Smith's Falls. One thing I didn't hear from Collenette and friends on this grandiose scheme was an official price tag. I hope that before this conversation goes any further, the eventual cost to Ottawa taxpayers will be part of the discussion.

- "Family Guy" is often both silly and drawn-out, but this ten-minute sendup of "Star Wars" is pretty good.

Friday digest

- The United States Senate Judiciary Committee yesterday voted to apply the protections afforded by the United States Constitution to Gitmo detainees.

No doubt al-Qaeda is going to put down their bomb-loaded backpacks, reconsider their violent brand of political Islam and apologize for 9/11 after this generous bit of outreach.

- Why isn't the microscope being applied to the Democratic front-runner? Could you imagine if the sitting President had refused to release his college transcripts in 2000? The mainscream media would be all over him.

- A couple of lengthy but worthwhile pieces on two topics that are getting a fair bit of ink these days, often at the same time: Cuba and health care.

Album Review: "Live at Texas Stadium" by Alan Jackson, George Strait and Jimmy Buffett (2007)

Three of the biggest ham n' eggers going today teamed up for a show in Dallas back on Saturday, May 29, 2004, and finally got around to releasing it earlier this year.

Each feller does a couple of his own tunes and helps the other two out, like when Buffett shows up in time to do Strait's "All My Ex's Live In Texas" or when Jackson and Strait return the favour on Buffet's "Hey Good Lookin'". Even a Guy Clark tune, "Boats To Build", makes the cut, as does the Eagles' a cappella classic "Seven Bridges Road". Others like Buffet's "Margaritaville" and Jackson's "Five O'Clock Somewhere" are included as well, and it sounds like both performers and fans are having a great time. (How can you not when the day's soundtrack includes songs about Texas women, cowboys, honky tonkin', and claiming the title of "designated drinker"? ) Even the cheerleaders come out for closing track "Where I Come From", which another reader of this blog and I once completely butchered at karaoke, much to the chagrin of our very embarassed wives.

The less said about that, the better.

Returning to the subject at hand, "Live At Texas Stadium" is definitely nothing serious, and while it's the equivalent of what is often referred to as a "rental" in movie terms, it's a fun little record for when you're washing the car, poppin' a top and kickin' back, or heading out on a redneck roadtrip, which I look forward to doing later on this summer - twice, in fact.

Overall rating: 7.25/10

Thursday digest

- First up, congratulations to the Anaheim Ducks, led by captain Scotty Niedermayer (owner of the best playoff beard since my buddy Kenny Daneyko's back in 2003) on winning the Stanley Cup last night.

- I admit that I can get pretty snarly when I'm sitting at my keyboard, but I've got nothing on these guys.

- Any chance of me voting for Dalton McGuinty in this fall's Ontario election, remote as it was, has been absolutely quashed by this news.

- Loony left play of the day goes to Kathy Warnick, president of Pets Across America, who recently explained the upswing in stray cats as resulting from global warming.

- I'm really glad I didn't shell out $150 to go to this show, because without David Gilmour, it's, well, crap.

Album Review: "Minutes to Midnight" - Linkin Park (2007)

Tonight, we go from one Rick Rubin-produced album to another.

Linkin Park's third offering was touted in reviews as something unlike their first two mega-successful albums, "Hybrid Theory" and "Meteora", both which I picked up more out of curiosity than anything else. To my ears, both of those efforts had a few interesting moments, for certain, but were mostly unremarkable. I decided to try this one out because I thought that with Rubin at the helm and the "this isn't the same old Linkin Park" advance press, it could really put this band over the top for me, but it didn't. The half-decent tunes sound either like Avril Lavigne could have done them (Leave Out All The Rest) or the record company told them to write a hit (Shadow Of The Day), and the angry tracks don't even come close to the memorable "Crawling" or the addictive "Numb". Making matters worse, everything except the last track clocks in a radio-friendly four minutes or less and excluding interludes, there's at best 38 minutes of music on this disc.

Now it's not all bad, and a couple of tracks like the closing "The Little Things Give You Away" will deservedly find themselves on the Best Of release that will inevitably follow Linkin Park's next album, but with "Minutes to Midnight", you're looking at about one mildly interesting moment for every three minutes of, well, meh. That still won't stop it from selling truckloads, but I'm just happy I only paid $11 for this coaster. And next time I hear something described as "screamo" by the guy working cash at Best Buy, I'll know to stay away from it.

Overall rating: 3.75/10