Pick of the Day: GWAR

You can learn more about this veteran Richmond, Virginia thrash metal outfit which storms Riddell Centre tonight for an all-ages gig by reading Chris Morin's interview with "front monster" Oderous Urungus in our Dec. 3 print issue. I myself first heard of Gwar in the mid '90s when a video clip of theirs screened on an episode of Beavis & Butt-Head. Those two reprobates were big fans, if I recall.

I know dick about on-line video games, but if I had to describe Gwar, I'd say they resemble a motley group of X-rated World of Warcraft characters. They're not to everyone's taste, obviously. But for those who don't mind a little blood, saliva and other bodily fluids with their hardcore rock, they probably qualify as a must-see. To get your own juices flowing for the gig, which features support acts Job for a Cowboy and the Red Chord, here's the video for "Meat Sandwich" off Gwar's 1995 album Ragnarok (YouTube)

And if you like your rock 'n' roll a little less messy, Shadow in the Mirror and Lungbutter (yes, they're back together for this gig anyway) are at the Exchange, while Royal Red Brigade play O'Hanlon's Pub.

Happy Birthday, Dog Blog!

Late in the day to mention this, I know, but better late than never right? Today is the one-year anniversary of Dog Blog. In the last year more than 10,000 readers have visited this blog to read some of our 1,156 (now 1,157) posts. A lot of people have contributed to making this site great, but a few names must be singled out for their copious and quality posts: Paul Dechene, for his ongoing City Hall coverage; Stephen LaRose for his many entertaining and often cryptic posts, Shane Hnetka for his unbelieveable month-long look at Halloween movies (and yes, he'll be doing something for Christmas flicks) and Greg Beatty for his countless posts and his daily event picks.

Thanks for following, more to come in the next 12 months--and some exciting changes, too.

Canada Reads Some More

The picks for this year's Canada Reads competition have been announced. They are Good to a Fault by Marina Endicott, Nikolski by Nicolas Dickner, Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture by Douglas Coupland, The Jade Peony by Wayson Choy, and Fall on Your Knees by Ann-Marie MacDonald.

For those unfamiliar with the annual CBC Radio competition, five prominent Canadians pick five Canadian books - very often novels, though occasionally poetry or short story collections - they believe Canada should read. Then, over the course of a working week of radio and with the help of host Jian Ghomeshi, they eliminate them one by one until only one remains.

Looking at the list, I think Canadians are already reading a lot of these. The list this year features a Giller nominee, a Governor General's Award winner, and an Oprah Book Club pick. None of the books were published before 1991, and two were published in 2008.

I love Cadence Weapon, but his might be the most bizarre choice. Coupland's Generation X was not only part of the zeitgeist, but it actually named a generation.

Canada Reads has brought some really great books a lot of attention that they wouldn't have got otherwise. A book like Hubert Aquin's The Next Episode could have forgotten by many if it weren't for the competition, and Paul Quarrington's awesome King Leary was out of print before Dave Bidini chose it.

That consideration doesn't always matter, though. Last year, Lawrence Hill's Book of Negroes won, despite selling quite well prior to the competition and having won several awards.

It'll be worth watching regardless - heated arguments about books are always a joy to hear. I'll try to have some thoughts up on the individual picks over the holidays.

Pick of the Day: Three Days Grace

I occasionally get these guys mixed up with Three Doors Down. But if I'm not mistaken, I saw them back up The Rolling Stones at Mosaic Stadium in October 2006. Courtesy of a friend, I attended the Friday show. That was the one, if you recall, where the weather was nigh on perfect. Two nights later, things were considerably colder and damper. Still, both shows were pretty freaking good. Not as good as the AC/DC show, admittedly. But then, that was one for the ages. Tonight Three Days Grace headline a gig at the Brandt Centre. Backing them up are The Used and Default. To loosen up your eardrums, here's the video for their 2003 hit "I Hate Everything About You" (YouTube)

Faces of Douche

Meet Monty.
Monty is a Mountie.
More specifically, Monty is one of the Mounties who killed Polish immigrant Robert Dziekanski at Vancouver airport last March.
Apparently he also killed a guy while driving drunk. But he's not getting charged, because he pulled some bullshit prank.
Naturally. Why? Well, because he's a cop, of course, though naturally they'll put some sort of spin on it. Which we'll all believe. Because the police always tell the truth at all times, right?

Pussy Galore!

They've got a whole mess o' cats over at People For Animals, ranging from baby-cutie-pie-who's-a-good-baby variety to ultimately satisfying stuck-under-the-bed-because-I-know-you're-going-to-hurt-me type. Check-em all out at People for Animals. More partial to the living-in-a-cage-desperate-for-love kind? Has the RHS got a deal for you!

I'd love to say "Get them while they last," but, well... Remember: pets for Christmas is a no-no, but if you're going to get a creature, for God's sake, buy a used one.

Six in the Morning

1. AMBASSADOR ASKED FOR CUTS FROM AFGHAN DETAINEE REPORT: Former Canadian ambassador to Afghanistan, Arif Lalani, ordered diplomat Richard Colvin to cut out incriminating information from a report about treatment of Afghan detainees. (Globe and Mail)

2. OUR PATHETIC CLIMATE COMMITMENT: The Pew Centre is reporting that carbon emission reduction commitments made by developed nations are half what scientists say we need to avoid climate catastrophe. And Canada's commitments are the weakest of all the nations studied. We've mentioned it twice before on the blog, but it seems now is a good time to recall what George Monbiot has to say about Canada becoming a corrupt petrostate. (Globe and Mail, monbiot.com)

3. CRU DIRECTOR STEPS DOWN AMID E-MAIL SCANDAL. The director of the University of East Anglia's Climate Research Unit, Phil Jones, has stepped down as climate liars and hooligans continue to scream for blood. This is probably a good move optics-wise, but, holy typhoon in a teacup, the CRU e-mails are being spun into a big-news event by a group of very suspicious right-wing ne'er-do-wells. (DeSmog blog)

4. U.S. TROOP PUSH PLEASES CANUCKS: Canada's foreign affairs minister says he's pleased as punch that the US has committed 30,000 more troops to the Afghanistan mission. (CBC)

5. SASK PARTY DELAYS SCHOOL FUNDING FORMULA: Further hamstringing the ability of school boards to plan for the future, the Sask Party has announced it will likely take longer than two years to put together a new funding formula for Saskatchewan schools. (Leader Post)

6. EVERYTHING I KNOW ABOUT THE TIGER WOODS AFFAIR I LEARNED FROM THE TAIWANESE NEWS: Media outlets have been having a hey day speculating about Tiger Wood's car accident despite having little information to go on. That hasn't stopped one Taiwanese news outfit from assembling a CGI recreation of the event based on the scraps of info available. Truly bizarre footage. And yet strangely amusing. (TheWeek.com)

Pick of the Day: Fruitcakes

Not going to be a popular pick, I know. But if you check out this Regina Little Theatre production of Julian Wiles' comedy about a boy who runs away from home shortly before Christmas and ends up in a small South Carolina town where the inhabitants are decidedly eccentric which opens a four-night run at the Performing Arts Centre tonight it's not as if you'll receive an actual slice of fruitcake as part of the admission price -- although now that I think about it, that would be a neat marketing gimmick for the RLT to consider.

I, for one, wouldn't be put off by the prospect. But a lot of other people probably would. For them, receiving fruitcake as a gift, or being offered a slice as a snack, inspires true revulsion on par with the most heinous phobias that plague humankind. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if a term's actually been coined to describe this fear -- fruitcakeophobia? Regardless, it's not anything I suffer from. Of course, most of the fruitcake that I've consumed in my life has been of the homemade variety courtesy of my grandmother, mother and sister.

Storebought fruitcakes are another matter entirely. And if that has been your primary vector of exposure you have my sympathy. But don't despair. Even if you aren't able to bring yourself to see this play there's still plenty of holiday fun to be had tonight. At the MacKenzie Gallery, for example, Saskatchewan Express kicks off its latest musical revue Blue Champagne (which runs Dec. 2-6 and 9-13). As well, John Huston is presenting his one-person fringe-style performance of Dickens' A Christmas Carol at St. Mary's Anglican Church (Montague & 15th Ave.).

And for those of you who will not be denied when it comes this tasty Christmas comestible, here's video for the Eraserheads' 1996 song "Fruitcake" (YouTube)

GOP Select New Leader

Better than Sarah Palin, I say. (Onion News)

Climate Change Debate Starts at 6pm

If you're reading this post roughly around the time I'm posting it, the 2009 Munk Debate starts in about 15 minutes so you still have enough time to sign up and watch it live on-line.

As mentioned in this post, the subject of the debate is climate change and it pits George Monbiot of the Guardian and Elizabeth May of the Canadian Green Party against Bjorn Lomborg the "Skeptical" Environmentalist and Nigel Lawson.

UPDATE: Debate has started. It is also streaming live at Grist.com , The Mark News, The Globe and Mail, The Canada Int'l Council.

ANOTHER UPDATE: Why isn't Elizabeth May our PM? She is kicking Bjorn Lomborg's ass.

LAST UPDATE [8:10PM]: Wow. Lomborg's diabolical sophistry was a thing of monstrous, evil beauty. I no longer think of him as a "soft-in-the-middle" sceptic. He may be one of the most dangerous sceptics out there. Bravo to May for taking him to task repeatedly. She scored the best debating point of the night when she demanded to know why it is that he and his think tank, while claiming to want to come up with solutions for the poor of the world, were silent when $4trillion was spent bailing out the banks and only ever seem to decry spending money on climate change mitigation. She went on to accuse him of being a propagandist. Lomborg shouted her down and came on all slick and lizardy but never answered her questions.

Without a doubt though, Monbiot was brilliant and while I think May made some of the best points on the Pro side, Monbiot was the most persuasive speaker of the night.

As for Lawson... a blithering idiot. When the debate veered into discussion of peak oil, he demonstrated that despite being a policymaker at one point in the UK government, he doesn't understand even the simplest points of the energy scarcity issue.

I suspect this debate will be available for viewing via the Munk Debate website. I can't say watching it was enjoyable. But I did come away with a greater respect for May and Monbiot.