That's it, I'm Moving.

Can't. Write. Too. Angry.

Word's in that the Plains is to be demolished for condo/hotel complex. (LP)

Come on. The Plains? Like there aren't acres and acres of surface parking that they could have chosen from? Really?

Really?

Photo filched from Guy D/Regina in Pictures

Look Up, Way Up

Couldn't ask for a better night weatherwise. So if you're out and about, keep an eye out for this annual astronomical event. (Sky & Telescope) And no, you don't have to worry about going blind. (YouTube)

Rosie LaRose’s top six at six in the a.m., the p.m., and the fm too …

1 FOLK FESTIVAL WRAP UP The 40th annual Regina Folk Festival wrapped up Sunday night, and for me the worst thing about it was that I didn't win the 50-50 draw. Apart from that, it was wonderful. For me, the real 'find of the festival was Socalled, (his website) whose music is interesting on record, but performed live … imagine a mad Jewish scientist/rabbi channelling his inner Grandmaster Flash. Another real treat was Daby Toure (his Myspace page), who performed just before Corb Lund at the festival's Sunday night show.

2 MEANWHILE, FOR THOSE WHO WOULD RATHER HAVE A MISERABLE TIME … there's always the Saskatchewan Roughriders, who lost pretty miserably last weekend.(Leader-Post) Problems on the o-line, the least imaginative offensive design around, and a defence that can't stop the run. And Hamilton, with arguably the league's best young running back (ticats.ca) is coming to town. The horror, the horror …

3 WORK ON YOUR SNARKINESS, MITCHELL … Ex-CJME sports guy Mitchell Blair is hot under the collar (The Blair Necessities) about Toronto Blue Jays GM J.P. Ricardi's latest gaffe (TorStar). With all due respect, Mitchell, white hot indignation goes only so far. Think of Elvis Costello when he once sang, "I used to be disgusted, now I'm just amused …" And footnotes come in handy as well. (Sympatico/msn.ca) Jeff Blair (Globe and Mail) calls it for what it is – a salary dump by a team that doesn't have the money to compete and with a power vacuum in the boardroom.

4 WHOLE NEW MEANING TO THE TERM 'I'LL HAVE A DOUBLE-DOUBLE Tim Horton's Donuts won't be sponsoring an anti-gay marriage demonstration in Rhode Island after all. (Globe and Mail). Not that Dan Savage cares … (The Stranger)

5 WELL, DUH … 28 times the RCMP has investigated RCMP members for criminal conduct while on duty, and found no reason to lay charges. If the Mounties investigated everybody they way they investigate its own members' alleged criminal activities, they'd never get their man. (Globe and Mail)

6 THE DECLINE AND FALL OF AMERICAN CIVILIZATION, PART 4,863 … Last week in St. Louis, a black man said he was attacked by SEIU union members during a political 'town hall' meeting with his congressman because he disagreed with President Obama's health care policy. (AmericaBlog). He walked into the room but when the cameras turned on, he was suddenly wheelchair bound, and after the meeting, he walked out (DailyKos has the story). Then, he told Fox News that he was unemployed, had lost his private health insurance coverage, and asked Fox viewers to send him money to pay for his medical expenses he encountered for getting 'punched out' at the event. (Washington Monthly). Except, says the Washington Independent, that he's covered under his wife's health plan. (Washington Independent). Let's get this straight. A guy who says he lost his job and doesn't have heath care goes to a demonstration protesting a government plan that would provide health care for him and people in his situation, because he doesn't want other people to pay for his health care And when he gets hurt, the first thing he asks is other people to pay for his health care so he can continue to protest against a plan that would provide him and others like him health care. Rigggggggggght ...

Wake-Up Call

Spent an extra half-hour in bed this morning listening to an interview on CBC Radio's The Current with American author Chris Hedges about his new book Empire of Illusion. We all need a little escapism in our lives, I think. A guilty pleasure, a harmless vice. But when we live that way 24/7, whether through our relentless consumption of sports programming, Hollywood blockbusters, porn, reality TV, video games or whatever, what we end up doing is becoming disassociated from anything remotely resembling reality. Which suits the political, economic and religious elites in our society just fine. Here's the transcript of another radio interview Hedges did recently with Thom Hartmann.

Six in the Morning

1. BUSH FAR STRANGER THAN WE THOUGHT: Seems, in 2003 in an attempt to convice French Prime Minister Jacques Chirac that France should join the coalition of the willing in an invasion of Iraq, then-US-president, George W Bush, argued that

“Gog and Magog are at work in the Middle East…. The biblical prophecies are being fulfilled…. This confrontation is willed by God, who wants to use this conflict to erase his people’s enemies before a New Age begins.”

The French PM wasn't swayed, as you may recall, but he was sufficiently perplexed by the president's appeal that he sought insight from a theology professor, Thomas Romer, from the University of Lausanne. Romer wrote of the incident in 2007 and Chirac has since confirmed the tale.

This was apparently reported on many months ago in the Toronto Star (although Alternet seems to have the Star beat by a couple days), but it's only now making its way onto blogs like Boing Boing, Mother Jones and The Daily Dish .

The story has yet to be confirmed by either the Guardian or the New York Times so it could still turn out to be one of those crazy urban myths. And if it is, colour me suckered.

2. PLIMER SHAMED INTO TAKING UP MONBIOT CHALLENGE: This one is also a bit of oldish news. On Thursday, Guardian science columnist, George Monbiot, reported on his blog that Ian Plimer -- the climate-change denying twit, science god to Rex Murphy, and author of the debunked Heaven and Earth -- has agreed to respond in writing to 11 of the most severe charges of misinformation in his book. In return, Monbiot has agreed to a public debate against Plimer on the subject of climate change. (Guardian)

3. FIRST MINISTERS FAIL ENVIRONMENT: While the country's premiers were supposed to turn their minds to climate change on Friday, and while environmental lobbyists were pushing for something big on the subject to emerge from the first ministers conference, the big announcements to come out of that day were on how the premiers were committed to investing in "innovation" as a way to staunch job loss. Wow! Daring move! Meanwhile, during a post-meeting press conference, Sask premier, Brad Wall, took time to indicate he was still not in favour of a cap and trade system unless it was one even more toothless than the one the Americans are considering.

4. FOLKFEST A BIG SUCCESS: They're saying it was "awesome." The fest sold out both nights, which they've never done before, and Vic Park was packed beyond all expectations. I didn't get to go to any of it, so I hope you all had a great time without me. I could hear the music off in the distance from my house and it sounded like you were having fun. So, anyway... congratulations Regina Folk Fest!

5. TYPHOON MORAKOT HITS CHINA: The Chinese government evacuated nearly one million people from its eastern coastal province in anticipation of the typhoon. (Al Jazeera English)

6. FLAHERTY APPOINTS CANADA-PENSION HATER TO POST WITH PENSION REVIEW: Jack Mintz has been made research director for a review of Canada Pension Plan. Mintz is a former head of the CD Howe Institute and is an advocate for RRSPs and individual responsibility for retirement. (Progressive Economics Forum)

This Week at City Hall

Wednesday, August 12
Executive Committee (11:45 am): Coming up this week is, once again, the Housing Incentives Policy! This'll be it's fourth time before Exec Committee (previously came up March 17, March 31, and April 14). The goal of the policy is to stimulate the construction of affordable housing in the city -- a much needed commodity. Exec committee keeps referring the policy back to administration, however, as they don't want to move to support housing in any significant way until the province comes through with a serious commitment to affordable housing.

Well, last time this came up, Exec Committee asked for advice on what elements of the policy could be passed pending more information from the province on what they're planning housing-wise.

Admin's answer: pretty much all of it.

Looks like they're suggesting most of the provisions in the policy can be passed as is. That means things like the $4,000 incentive for Secondary Suites; the tax incentives for new small-sized developments; and the design, sustainability and safety requirements. Two provisions that have been altered though are the grants of $10,000/unit of new affordable housing and the tax exemptions for larg-scale new developments. The policy will still include these provisions, but they will only be handed out to developments which are given provincial support at "historic levels."

So, under the policy, as long as the province holds up its end of the bargain and keeps funding housing the way it has been, the city will guarantee more support as well.

Now, I have my guess about how this'll fare but I'm going to write it down, seal it in an envelope, and keep it secret until after the meeting so as not to jinx anything.

Meanwhile, Exec Committee will also be considering a 7.14 per cent increase to the Service Agreement Fees for 2010 which brings them up to $227,289/hectare, (Service Agreement Fees are collected from developers to cover the cost of installing infrastructure into new subdivisions); acquisition of lands to facilitate a drainage channel to convey surface water from the Global Transportation Hub into Cottonwood Creek; and, finally, funding levels for the Infrastructure Stimulus Fund.

As always, full reports and agendas can be found on the city's website.

Magazine rack

The current issue of Bust has an awesome interview with hyped hipster screenwriter Diablo Cody. Cody, here interviewed by the hilarious television writer Jill Soloway (You must go to her website sometime, and read one of the greatest Hollywood short stories ever. It's called Courtney Cox's Asshole. Really.) comes off as sharp, funny and unpretentios as hell.

On the subject of the big, post-Juno backlash, she admits "I would have hated my guts. I would have thought, 'Oh, that girl with her fucking precious shtick and her stupid name. Go fuck yourself. I'm writing my novel here, I can't even deal with this, please go away.' Oh, my God, I would have had no patience with myself."

And I have to respect how much she talks up and supports other women in Hollywood, especially the writers and directors who aren't big stars. It's a nice antidote to the tall poppy, only-girl-in-the-boys-club thing you see too often. I'm totally going to see Jennifer's Body.

All the News That's Fit to Print

I don't know if the New York Times is covering this story, but it certainly is getting major play on blogs and websites devoted to celebrity news and scandal. Trivial, yes. But the PGA's response is ludicrous. Apparently, it doesn't want even the slightest whiff of impropriety to detract from its mega-million dollar corporate brand -- like, for instance, that its star golfers are human. (Broward New Times)

Postponing the inevitable

While the rest of the prairie dog readership is having fun at the Regina Folk Festival (only quibble so far: wouldn't Mihrangi (her website) rate her own main stage show, not just a Saturday night teaser? She did a couple of years ago), the aging metalheads are mourning that tonight at Mosaic Stadium … nothing will happen. (CBC Sask)

This fan-shot video illustrates what happened. (YouTube, at the 4:40 mark) Tyler fell from an eight-foot-wide catwalk into the audience while entertaining the people when a fuse blew and most of the amps went dead. The fall doesn't look like it's going to cause serious damage, but Steven Tyler is 61 years old and had spent the biggest part of the first half century of life ingesting every chemical into his body short of industrial-strength bleach, so it's probably still recovering from all those toxins.

Aerosmith fans should note, however, that the show is not cancelled, at least not yet. It's postponed. But Tyler is going to need a couple of months to recover, (HuffPo) which means the tour will come back, if at all, sometime around Thanksgiving. That time of year, you're playing Russian roulette with the weather – during the Rolling Stones' second show in Regina in 2006, the temperatures and wind ganged up for such an uncomfortable night that the band played in winter jackets. To be fair to Regina's weather, however, it snowed during the tour's next stop, at Chicago's Soldier Field.

Playing outdoors – especially in colder weather – is no fun. Guitar strings contract in the cold weather, and guitars go out of tune halfway though the show. The colder it gets, the more likely things are going to break – from guitar strings to electrical equipment. And it's no fun for the audience members who are gradually suffering from hypothermia – unless, of course, they're bringing in their own anti-freeze.

Given that now it's a lose-lose situation, why not just shut the tour down? Give everybody back their money, and say, we'll see you next year when Tyler doesn't have as many broken bones? One reason, and I'm just going by what I know about the music business – insurance.

When I was nine year old, I had tickets for the Stampeders show at Buffalo Days. But it was the days of the outdoor gandstand, and it rained that night. I got my money back. But the touring scale of the Stampeders in 1974 and Aerosmith in 2009 is a bit different.

You don't take out a tour where you're spending a quarter million a day – salaries, trucks, equipment, stadium rentals – out on a whim. Modern stadium tours are done with all the logistical planning of the D-Day invasion. There's too much money at risk to leave anything up to chance – even the health of the band members.

The best example I can think of is The Who's 2002 North American tour. The band was primarily touring because lead singer Roger Daltrey and bassist John Entwistle needed the money, and convinced Pete Townshend that it would be a good idea to tour again. In fairness, they toured as The Who and Friends in 1996 doing Quadrophenia from beginning to end, and toured again in 1999, and they sounded better than their 1982 'farewell' or 1989 'reunion' tour.

The band members had to pass a medical physical in order to get insurance for the tour. If the band had to cancel any shows because one of the band members got ill, the insurance would be the only thing keeping them from financial ruin. Entwistle apparently failed his physical – he had a heart condition. Behind the scenes, the band and its management made a decision: if anything happened to John on the tour, they would have to get a replacement. So they crossed their fingers and hoped for the best.

The best didn't happen. On June 26, 2002, just before the first show of the tour, Entwistle went to bed with a prostitute at the Las Vegas Hard Rock Café, after ingesting a small amount of cocaine. The next morning, the woman woke up – John didn't. He had died of a heart attack. The band postponed the Vegas show, and continued on with the tour, with highly-regarded session musician Pino Palladino in John's place. (Wikipedia)

If The Who without The Ox (John's nickname) was hard to take, now imagine Aerosmith touring with someone else as lead singer. They've already undergone a tour from hell – Brad Whitford missed some shows due to surgery, and other shows were postponed when Tyler pulled a muscle in his leg. It's doubtful, in my opinion, that they're pulling in the coin they thought they were going to when this tour started. What the heck. At least they're not going to play Stonehenge on this tour – yet. (YouTube) And I'd tell anyone who had tickets for Aerosmith that they would be better off at the Regina Folk Festival. Except it's sold out. And the show is going on.

Saturday Morning Cartoon: Chad VanGaalen

Okay, Chad VanGaalen doesn't have a Saturday morning cartoon. But he SHOULD.

VanGaalen Plays the Regina Folk festival mainstage tonight at 7:00. He’s at Neutral Ground, where a show of his art is up, today from 12:30-two (the gallery opens at 11). And he’ll be giving free shows at various RFF open stages today and tomorrow—the Sunday afternoon program Vampires and Empires: Story Songs with Ghost Bees and Mihirangi is a must-not-miss concert. See you there.