And Pat's Plan is...

He's going to run for Mayor again. (Leader-Post)

UPDATE: Here's an image of Pat Fiacco at today's press conference (artist's interpretation).

UPDATE2 : Where's his tan?!? It's vanished! Great moons of Jupiter! We'll have to see if we can't get that back on him at some point. Stay tuned.

On The Radio

Chip Kidd is on Q this a.m. For those unfamiliar, Kidd is maybe the most famous book designer in the world and everything he touches is terrific. Worth a listen for art fans. Here's the link to CBC radio; I'll put up links to the inteview when they become available.

UPDATE: Here's the link to Q's website. And the podcast of the whole episode is here. Kidd appears in the second segment.

This Week at City Hall

Monday, May 4
Regina Municipal Heritage Advisory Committee (12:15 pm): Considering proposed ground-floor alterations to the historic Leader Building (1853 Hamilton). This is all part of the rehabilitation and repurposing process currently underway. While the proposal isn’t for an exact recreation of the building’s original glory, it looks like a dramatic improvement over the wretched “restoration” work done in 1968. And say what you will, things could be worse. At least they’re not levelling the Leader Building to make way for more surface parking, nor are they going the way of Moose Jaw and getting heritage designations removed from buildings so they can be razed and replaced with a themed mall structure. (Leader Post)
Regina Appeal Board (5:30 pm)

Tuesday, May 5
Finance and Administration Committee (12:15 pm): Considering a maintenance and support contract for the city’s disk-based backup system.

Wednesday May 6
Executive Committee Meeting (11:45 pm): Considering a request from the RSO for $42,500 in municipal funding for the “Symphony Under the Sky” community outreach preformace. This would top up $65,500 in sponsorship the symphony has already secured. Also on the table are the administration’s recommendations for Special Event Funding. Highlights from this include $16,000 for an “I Heart Regina” film to be made in cooperation with the Filmpool Cooperative, $5,000 for the JazzFest, $5,000 for the Mayor’s Arts and Business Awards, $16,200 for the Regina Multicultural Council to provide transit services to Mosaic 2009, and only $12,500 for the RSO’s “Symphony Under the Sky.” Also considering the appointment of Jocelyn Bischoff to the Emergency Measures Coordinator position, an extension to seasonal taxicab licenses, the Harbor Landing Servicing Agreements, and a change to the Official Community Plan around development levies.
Paratransit Advisory Board (5:30 pm)

Six In The Morning

Special anger edition!

1. WILL PAT COME BACK? Regina mayor Pat Fiacco will announce his "plans for the future" this a.m. Prediction: he'll run for mayor again this fall. UPDATE: Carle Steel predicts he's going to announce a haircut. UPDATE 2: Paul Dechene wonders if the mayor's office, which already doesn't return his phone calls, has now taken to not sending us press releases about surprise morning news conferences. Good question! I didn't get a press release, but maybe there's one kicking around here somewhere. There probably is, because it would be freaking incompetent if the mayor's people didn't send press releases to Regina media outlets that regularly cover Regina politics. And I refuse to believe there could be possibly be incompetence at City Hall. (Leader-Post).

2. NDP LEADERSHIP TOMFOOLERY The provincial NDP is looking into possible shenanigans after people from the Meadow Lake constituency who don't want to be party members say memberships were bought for them. This morning CBC radio reported the campaign in question was Lingenfelter's. (Star Phoenix)

3. WE BROKE IT SO WE SHOULD GET TO FIX IT Freshly-decreed non-interim Liberal emperor Michael Ignatieff says he wants to fight the next federal election --which could come in June -- on E.I. reform. (Toronto Star)

4. YAY, KNOWLEGE-BASED ECONOMY A top Canadian scientist say's he's leaving the country thanks to Conservatives cuts to research funding. He studies AIDS. Yeah, that's not important or anything. (Globe And Mail)

5. SWINE FLU BLAH BLAH BLAH Mexico prepares to lower the alert. (New York Times)

6. SHINY NEWNESS Regina's Leader-Post-owned Community Sun had a surprise this weekend: a new glossy lifestyle magazine called Arriva (because, says the editor, "Regina has arrived"). But Steve, you ask, how much bullshit fluff content did they cram into the thing? Well, I'm actually going to read the article on Regina architect Bernie Flaman, which looks interesting. I'm less captivated by the slobbery feature on The Rooftop restaurant, which everyone I know who's been there describes as over-priced and underwhelming (although in fairness I'm hearing really great things about their cocktails.) Anyway, it's always good that Regina businesses too chickenshit or too unimaginative to advertise in prairie dog (16 years in business, well-established, interesting content more often than not, doesn't sell ads in exchange for bullshit positive articles) have another uncritical, barely interesting publication to throw their marketing money at. Did I mention it's shiny?

THIRST

Fox's X-Men Origins: Wolverine may have cleaned up at the box office this weekend but there was one movie it couldn't beat.

Chan-wook Park, director of such awesome movies like J.S.A: Joint Security Area, Sympathy For Mr. Vengeance, Oldboy, Three Extremes, Sympathy For Lady Vengeance and I'm a Cyborg But That's OK has a brand spanking new movie that just cleaned up at the South Korean Box Office this weekend.

Thirst is about a priest who ends up becoming a lusty, troubled vampire after a failed medical experiment goes horribly wrong.

The trailer looks awesome but unfortunately there's no English subs.

BIRD OF PARADISE

Big upset at the Kentucky Derby today, both in terms of the horse hailing from Canada and being a gelding. (MSN) Of course, it was a muddy track, and two of the favourites had previously withdrawn (MSN)

Saturday Morning Cartoon: Nerd Special

Guess what movie opens next week? Huh? Huh? Are you excited? Are you as excited as I am?

Here's a Saturday morning cartoon hint:




Star Trek: The Animated Series debuted in 1973, four years after NBC prematurely cancelled the U.S.S. Enterprise's original five year mission. It's most noteworthy for two things: one, it was produced by Dorothy Fontana, the script editor for the original series, and she brought in writing talent like David Gerrold, who wrote a sequel to his classic episode, The Trouble With Tribbles. Second, and this is just something you wouldn't see these days, nearly all of the original voice talent returned for this. Leonard Nimoy, Nichelle Nichols, James Doohan and of course the mighty William Shatner all boldly went were no cartoon had gone before. These shows are available on DVD and are essential watching for Star Trek nerds and cartoon fans, and worth a look by a broader audience.


Okay, we're going to need another clip here. Beam me back, Scotty!





(Courtesy YooToob and copyright violation.)

Rosie's first ever top six in the A.M.

1. The Quebec jail system isn't that good a place for a convict with the nickname of The Flower (Globe and Mail).

2. Mosaic Stadium. At Christmas. For a hockey game or a possible double-header. (Mitchell Blair) What could possibly go wrong?

3. Solidarity forever ... or why Fox News is trying to bury the story of the U.S. Navy SEALS rescuing Capt. Richard Phillips. (Crooks and Liars)

4. Kevin Smith's newest movie project sounds as if he's doing a documentary on the next Lethbridge Chamber of Commerce meeting. (IMDB)

5. Okay, Murray, Brad Wall is likeable. Calvert was likeable too. And compared to Stephen Harper, Montgomery Burns is the King of Kensington. Being likeable didn't make Calvert a good premier, so why does the L-P's chief (read: only) political columnist think this trait makes Wall a Man of The People? (Regina Leader-Post)

6. I didn't know my blog posts (prairie dog) had such an effect on Don Morgan, arguably the most incompetent minister in Wall's cabinet (CBC Saskatchewan).

Lewis (bleeping) Black

More than 12 hours after watching Lewis Black at the Centre of the Arts, and I'm still so enchated by his presence that every third (bleeping) word is a (bleeping) swear word. Since prairie dog doesn't like NSFW entries here, lets just say:

1. Black doesn't like Winnipeg.
2. The drive between Toronto and Winnipeg kind of got to him.
3. His friends in the United States don't understand where Regina is.
4. The iPhone is one of the reasons why the U.S. isn't energy self-sufficient in a ecologically balanced way.
5. Republicans and Democrats sodomize the American voter in a similar way.
6. He doesn't like getting old.
7. His parents are a hoot.
8. He's not that surprised that we don't seem to care much for Stephen Harper. A mention of Prime Minister Pillsbury Doughboy grew groans ... "You can't even work up the energy to properly boo the (bleeper), huh?"

All in all, this was the (bleeping) funniest 90 minutes of standup I've heard in years.

A Thirst Undone

Caught the opening performance of the final work in the 2008-09 Sandbox Series at the Globe Theatre last night. It's a bit of a departure from previous works in the series in that it's grounded--and I mean that semi-literally--in dance. Choreographer is Johanna Bundon, who also performs along with Joelle Arnusch, Branwyn Bundon, Natalie Zoey Gauld and Barbara Pallomina.

As the title, and the accompanying publicity image, suggest, water is a central theme of the piece. Prior to entering the space, in fact, we were warned to be on the lookout for glasses that had been placed on the floor. To get to our seats, we actually had to do a mini-detour around several dozen glasses partially filled with water. Even before the performers have appeared, therefore, we were physically and intellectually engaged with the work.

The first row of seats was open when we arrived. Typically, I'm not a first-row person, but we decided to sit there for simplicity's sake. That turned out to be a fortunate choice because a significant portion of Bundon's choreography involves floor work where the audience's view of the dancers from the back row is partially obscured by people sitting closer to the performance area. So if you go, don't be shy about sitting up front.

As the work opens, the five women, dressed in simple frocks and tights, are arrayed in a line to the audience's left. One by one they slip off their shoes and, as if entering the water, slide to the floor and begin almost to swim across the stage area. In terms of structure, the approximately 50-minute piece is divided into six chapters. By varying the tempo of the music, and having the dancers interact with each other in various combinations from solos and duos to five-person ensembles, Bundon inspires a host of interpretive possibilities. Being a non-literal art form, dance defies strict interpretation as everyone who views a piece will inevitably give it their own spin. For me, some of the dominant themes that emerged related to ideas of friendship, support, rivalry, fear, longing, physical and emotional enclosure, dominance, and even servitude through the offering, whether in a domestic or restaurant setting, of water for guests to drink.

Like the lunar-influenced ebb and flow of the tide in coastal waters, there are rhythms and repetitious elements in the piece that evoke the notion of cycles that are inherent in life, be they biological or socio-cultural. If you want to check the work out for yourself, it's on at the Globe until May 9. (Globe Theatre)