Morse the Merrier

Today marked the 218th anniversary of Samuel Morse's birth. For some reason, Google chose to commemorate it with a special graphic replicating the type of dot-dash system he invented to communicate via telegraph. That made me think of another famous Morse -- or, at least, relatively famous. Canadian actor Barry Morse. He's best known for his role as Lt. Philip Gerard in the American drama The Fugitive, but I'll always remember him for his role as Prof. Victor Bergman in the classic SciFi series Space: 1999. (YouTube)

One More Bea Arthur Video Clip

...from a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away.

Six In The Morning

1 SWINE FLU Today's Globe and Mail update on the latest, scary, potential pandemic.

2 TRADE WINDS Europe and Canada talk about a trade pact. The good news: any move to increased trade with Europe could help shelter this country from ongoing U.S. meltdowns. The bad news: any trade pact including "government procurement" needs to be treated like a possible attack on the public sector and particularly on public worker salaries. Local jobs are good, right? We all like them, right? Just checking. (Globe And Mail)

3 SO WHAT DOES A SHIT SANDWICH TASTE LIKE, ANYWAY? Canadian autoworkers ratify a brutal deal to save save their jobs. Musing: if Chrysler-Fiat doesn't go bankrupt, how long before we read a story about ludicrously high executive compensation (made possible, of course, by worker sacrifice?). My prediction: early October. (Montreal Gazette)

4 WE JUST DECIDED "RAPE" HAD AN UGLY RING TO IT Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai says his country will amend a vile, misogynistic law that took away women's rights to turn down sex with their husbands, among other things. (CBC)

5 GET OFF MY LAWN Winnipeg NDP MP Pat Martin proposes a national ban on cosmetic pesticides. His private member's bill has zero chance of passing, but this is notable because this debate isn't going away. Several provinces already ban or severly limit home pesticides. (Toronto Star)

6 SNAKE IN THE BOX A British mailman gets a bitey surprise. Ssss! (Guardian)

This Week at City Hall

Monday, April 27
City Council Meeting (5:30 pm): Looking at expanding the budget for the City Square Master Plan, the taxi fare increase, and the 2009 Local Improvements Program (that's the list of maintenance construction projects for the summer).

Tuesday, April 28
Mayor's Task Force on Access (5:30 pm)

Wednesday, April 29
Regina Planning Commission (4 pm): Considering an application for a new multi-unit seniors' complex and an application to convert a building in the Warehouse District into offices (1916 Dewdney) and build a parking lot beside it -- the parking lot, by the way, will necessitate the demoltion of a building just north of 1916 Dewdney and city administration have recommended approval of this plan because the developer plans to put up shrubs (sorry, landscaping elements) to mitigate the impact on the neighbourhood. Great, more shrubs.

Also, after a long absense, the dreaded condominium conversion has reared its head at planning commission once again. Four are under consideration this week. Three are being recommended for denial due to the still very 0.5 percentness of our vacancy rate. Administration, however, have added something new into their reports -- recommendations to the commission on what they could do if they decide to approve these conversions (which they most likely will). The plan is this: require that the property owner only convert 25 percent of the units to condos and leave the remainder as rental. In all three cases, the property owners have indicated they're okay with this plan.

The fourth condo conversion is being recommended for approval because it's a conversion of a presently empty building so no rental units are actually being lost to the market.


Okay, that's it for this week. You can, as always, find full reports and meeting agendas on the city's website.

GOODBYE, BEA

Small screen legend and Goldenest of Girls Bea Arthur passed away yesterday (New York Times). Here's a nice little tribute on Dark Horizons, a fine movie news and rumour website.

But what you want to know is, can you have an embed of the Maude intro? Damn straight you can!


Maude TV Opening Theme - Click here for more home videos

And while I'm at it, here's a clip from an episode of Maude with more social significance than the entire runs of most contemporary sitcoms. Remember what the United States was growing into before medieval-minded Christian fascists seized control in the Reagan era? here, let Maude remind you.




Rest In Peace, Bea.

Applectic

Coming soon, I predict, iPhone Gas Chamber (MSN)

Baaaa!

This book might be worth checking out, if only to confirm my worst fears (as far as Canadian politics go). (Ottawa Sun)

billy bob verses jian: subtitles of hate

It's old news now, but Dog Blog follower Peakay just sent me a link to this too funny not to share video. It's the infamous Billy Bob Thornton Q interview (previously blogged about here), subtitled by Cracked blogger Michael Swaim. Warning: includes naughty language.

UPDATE: The embed is only filling up half the screen, for some reason, crap, so here's a link guaranteed to work. Pretty funny and worth the click.

UPDATE 2: Paul Dechen claims to have fixed it. Unfortunately this had made him boastful, but what can you do?

Saturday Morning

Breaking with the format a bit this week. Instead of a cartoon, here's some classic Canadian Saturday morning live-action fare, The Hilarious House of Frightenstein!



As far as I can tell, there's yet to be a definitive DVD release -- one that's comprehensive and complete. Instead we've been given boxed sets of "select" episodes that have been chopped up and truncated. Now maybe, for some, that's all the Frightenstein they can handle. But this, IMHO, is a pretty important part of Canadian television history and deserves full preservation.

Apparently, one of the problems holding up such a release is the show's use of songs. Specifically in the Wolfman segments. Seems many of the songs that were spun on EECH Radio wouldn't have been had they had to get past today's more rigid intellectual property laws -- most notable among them, the segments intro bit, Sly and the Family Stone's "I Want to Take You Higher".

Once again, copyright sucks a little joy out of the world.

More info on The Hilarious House of Frightenstein at wikipedia (of course) and on this fansite.

Six In The Morning

Links to six exciting news items ripped from the world of today by prairie dog's highly trained team of expert experts:

1 BACKED AGAINST THE WALL Chrysler and auto union the Canadian Auto Workers continue to negotiate terms of surrender. Meanwhile, here's an interesting open letter touching on recessions, depressions, government policy and how our current econmoic troubles are NOT the fault of workers. (Globe And Mail, Rabble)

2 CAUSE OF DEATH? A Canadian soldier has been found dead on her Afghanistan base, and combat action has been ruled out as a possible cause. Major Michelle Mendes is the 118 Canadian soldier to die in the current Afghanistan conflict. (CP/Toronto Star)

3 DO YOUR JOB, MR. HARPER Here's one from the "whose country are you working for, anyay?" file: A Canadian court has now ordered our government to intervene in the case of illegally detained Canadian national and former child soldier Omar Khadr. Editorializing alert: it's completely, completely despicable that our government sits on it's ass when a Canadian citizen is held without charge in a foreign concentration camp, and when that Canadian citizen was 15 years old at the time of his arrest...wow. Just, wow. Inexcusable. This government needs to go. (Toronto Star)

4 SNAPSHOTS OF TORTURE U.S. President Barack Obama's administration will release more photographs of prisoner abuse. Perhaps this is part of a cunning, calculated and blatantly political strategy to dodge accusations of bipartisanship with a lot of fancy talk about avoiding "retribution"while fuelling public anger at the the previous bastardocrocy? One can only hope. (Guardian, New York Times)

5 "MOST LAME SPIN EVER" An Alberta advertising campaign has been busted for using scenic photographs from...northeastern England? (Globe And Mail)

6 LIE, LIE, LIE, LIE, LIE A climate change-denying, pro-fossil fuel propoganda group's own scientists said global warming was real in 1995. (New York Times)