Zeke's Gallery cont...

Zeke's Gallery closes its door for good tomorrow.

Chris Hand, an outspoken advocate for fringe art, opened the alternative art gallery on St. Laurent Blvd. almost 10 years ago. But the decade has taken its toll and Hand wants a change of pace.

C. Gobeils says this: Yes, it's the end of an era. I hope Montreal appreciates Zeke's Gallery. I personally got smashed on whisky there just two weeks ago at his last concert. It was a Japanese pyjama pop band called Lullatone. I was hung over for two days. Sort of a tribute to Zeke's genius sort of thing...

Read more here.

Dancing in Second Life

Hadrian at Sagalassos

We made headlines earlier this season with our unexpected discovery of an extraordinary statue of the emperor Hadrian at the Sagalassos Roman bath. Now we can add some details to our first account of the discovery and present an initial interpretation of the find.

Read more here.

Nova Bus

Worse piece of crap bus in the world. Period.

Designed by people who have never, ever rode an actual bus.

It seems Montreal "is stuck with 480 of these lemons, which it now needs the money to replace as quickly as possible".

Read more here, en français

Rovers Resume Driving

After six weeks of hunkering down during raging dust storms that limited solar power, both of NASA's Mars Exploration Rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, have resumed driving.

Opportunity advanced 13.38 meters (44 feet) toward the edge of Victoria Crater on Aug. 21. Mission controllers were taking advantage of gradual clearing of dust from the sky while also taking precautions against buildup of dust settling onto the rover.

Insane. One of NASA's greatest successes.

Read more here.

Fuck you Yahoo

Internet giant Yahoo has asked a US court to dismiss a lawsuit accusing it of complicity in rights abuses and acts of torture in China.

The firm filed a motion for dismissal saying its Chinese subsidiary had no choice but to comply with local laws.

You had a choice, you chose the wrong side that's all...

Yahoo is so full of shit on this one.

Ethical responsibilities

In its 40-page response to the lawsuit, filed with a federal court in San Francisco, Yahoo acknowledged releasing information to the Chinese government.

But it argued that there was little connection between the information the firm gave and the ensuing arrests and imprisonment of its users.

Yahoo said that while it did not condone the suppression of people's liberties, the firm had been compelled by local laws to hand over the information that was requested.

"Defendants cannot be expected, let alone ordered to violate another nation's laws," the company said in its filing.

Fuck you Yahoo

The internet firms argue it is better to offer Chinese users some information than none at all.

Fuck you Yahoo

Read more here.

Aliens vs. Predator 2

O!

Lost city found at Stonehenge

A renowned archaeologist, who shot to national prominence last year with his amazing discovery of Stonehenge's lost alter stone by a roadside in Berwick St James, now claims to have found the famed lost city of Apollo in the land around Stonehenge.

Read more here and here

Is Castro Dead?

There's an strangely ominous post on celebrity news site PerezHilton.com tonight wondering aloud if Cuban dictator Fidel Castro has died.

Read more here.

If he is, the American gloating will be awful to behold.

Cuban foreign minister says Castro "fine"

Tired old war rhetoric

More Canadian soldiers die, and the premiere of Quecbec says...

Dismissing criticism in Quebec of the war, Charest said a decision was made for Canada to be in Afghanistan until 2009.

"We, as citizens of Quebec, have a duty to support the men and women who are there and who are doing this work in our name and are making the biggest sacrifice that can be asked of a human being," he said.

"Supporting the Troups" seems to mean "shut up and quit asking questions".

Too American for my taste.

And in a related story...Petition Circulates To Rename Stretch Of 401 'Highway Of Heroes'.

Quebec police admit they went undercover at Montebello protest

Quebec provincial police admitted Thursday that three of their officers disguised themselves as demonstrators during the protest at the North American leaders summit in Montebello, Que.

However, the police force denied allegations its undercover officers were there on Monday to provoke the crowd and instigate violence.

What a load of bullshit. The rocks say otherwise.

The Quebec provincial police will not comment any further on the affair, a spokeswoman in Montreal said.

Quebec Justice Minister Jacques Dupuis was made aware of the news, but a spokesman from his office said he will not comment on the matter either.

Fucking typical. Trust in so called authority is eroded even more.

Wouldn't the name of who gave the order to do this be of greater interest?

Read more here.

He's dead Jim

Too funny. Obviously no Star Trek fans involved here.

Source.

Were they cops?

Sure looks like it.

Peaceful protesters stop police provocateurs from starting a riot at the Stop the SPP protests in Montebello Quebec. CEP President Dave Coles confronts men with rocks and sticks.



Oh and look, everyone seems to have the same boots. Fancy that.

Battle Cry

This video depicts the attitude that the body of Christ needs to embrace for these days that we are living. To be offensive in the advance of the Kingdom of God.



Psychotic

British dwarf's penis gets stuck to hoover

Yes!

Read more here.

Archaeologists solve riddle of site of original Montreal settlement

A nondescript brown warehouse filled with old barrels and rickety pallets is an unlikely site for the spiritual heart of a city.

Yet beneath the worn cement floors of one such warehouse lies what archaeologists believe are the first permanent buildings of the settlement that became Montreal

Read more here.

Poutine

The inventor of poutine has died.

L'inventeur de la poutine, Jean-Paul Roy, est décédé avant-hier à Drummondville. Le créateur de la célèbre «fromage-patate-sauce» régalait les Québécois de ce délicieux mets depuis plus de quarante ans.

«Le dernier des Mohicans est parti, c'est un moment historique pour le Québec», affirme Daniel Leblanc, aujourd'hui propriétaire du restaurant où M. Roy a inventé la poutine. Pour lui, la mort du créateur du plus célèbre mets québécois est un événement d'une grande tristesse

Read more here.

Apple and iMovie

Apple's move of downgrading iMovie is one of epic stupidity, but I'll let The New York Times say it better...

Read more here.

Zeke's Gallery cont...

The Continuing Adventures of Mr. Hand

Read more here.

Hotel mistakes Nobel laureate for bag lady

She was wearing a Mayan dress, the traditional attire of indigenous people in central America, and the hotel's response was also traditional: throw her out.

Staff at Cancun's five-star Hotel Coral Beach appear to have assumed this was another street vendor or beggar, so without asking questions they ordered her to leave. Except the woman was Rigoberta Menchú, the Nobel peace prizewinner, Unesco goodwill ambassador, Guatemalan presidential candidate and figurehead for indigenous rights.

Read more here.

Commentators noted the irony of upmarket resorts discriminating against real Maya while trying to attract tourists with fake Mayan architecture and spectacles.

Priciest condo in tallest tower goes to youngest billionaire

Oh, it's so good to know that Toronto's billionaires don't have to slum it in a mire 16 million dollar condo...

In the battle for one-upmanship in Toronto's luxury real estate market, Alex Shnaider has revealed a convincing hand.

The enigmatic Toronto billionaire says in an exclusive interview he has decided to keep what has been billed as Canada's most expensive condominium, valued at up to $20 million, at the Trump International Hotel & Tower for himself.

Thank God, I was so worried for him.

Read more here.

The Professions Strike Back

A glimmer of hope here:

The Bush Administration has finally achieved something unprecedented. The organized bar–with a vote just one short of unanimity–has declared one of Bush’s executive orders illegal and vowed to seek Congressional action to override it. And psychologists appear poised to join their legal colleagues in an equally harsh denunciation. It’s about torture. Remember Bush’s claim, “We do not torture”? Except, of course, we do, and on Bush’s personal orders.

Read more here.

Archeologists discover footprint made by sandal of Roman soldier

Archeologists have discovered a footprint made by the sandal of a Roman soldier - one of the few such finds in the world - in a wall surrounding the Hellenistic-Roman city of Sussita, east of Lake Kinneret.

Read more here.

An important move to institutionalize management of reincarnation

In one of history's more absurd acts of totalitarianism, China has banned Buddhist monks in Tibet from reincarnating without government permission. According to a statement issued by the State Administration for Religious Affairs, the law, which goes into effect next month and strictly stipulates the procedures by which one is to reincarnate, is "an important move to institutionalize management of reincarnation." But beyond the irony lies China's true motive: to cut off the influence of the Dalai Lama, Tibet's exiled spiritual and political leader, and to quell the region's Buddhist religious establishment more than 50 years after China invaded the small Himalayan country. By barring any Buddhist monk living outside China from seeking reincarnation, the law effectively gives Chinese authorities the power to choose the next Dalai Lama, whose soul, by tradition, is reborn as a new human to continue the work of relieving suffering.

Unbelievable, but then again anything China does shouldn't really surprise.

Read more here.

Top Ten

Following the recent trend of online Top Ten lists (The Ten Best Movies Ever...or at least since 1980 because we having actually seen one made before that), I present:

Ten Recent Trends I Just Don't Get (in no particular order)

1) Borat
It's depressing that even to this day, the most searched for item on this blog is Borat, and why I hate him. If you can watch his work and still have to wonder, I give up on you.

2) Paris Hilton
I stood amazed as the media and large dim witted segments of the population actually took this woman seriously (see item 6). WTF?

3) American Idol
Nasty piece of work all around. Video equivalent of slowing down to watch a traffic accident (this includes much of the Reality TV genre).

4) Americans
Or at least Bush type Americans. They endure once what many endure daily, and become the very thing they claim to hate. Shame on you. Boo!

5) Creationism
I understand why some might want to believe this, but to push it into schools is wrong. Science it is not.

6) Beckham
And "Beckhamania". Completely media driven, he and wife are "everywhere". Shame he's not that pretty, and has a squeaky little mouse voice (this could just as well be Justin Timberlake...)

7) Umbrella
Holy fuck, that song. The most annoying hook this decade. Fags in Second Life love it. Case Closed.

8) Superhero movies
Without exception, they are overblown pseudo-profound wastes of time (of course, if you haven't seen a movie made before 1980, then Batman Returns *is* great art).

9) Fox News
I had Fox News on cable for awhile (until they wanted us to *pay* for it, and I said Fuck that), and it was truly fun to watch. But taken seriously? Never. O'Reily would be at home in the Reich (see item 4).

10) Top Ten Lists
Does anyone really care? Any list is just the opinion of the writer(s). My list is as good as yours (better even, I've seen movies made before 1980).

Tombstoning

From Wikipedia:

An extreme sport involving diving off a fixed point such as sea harbour walls, bridges, rocks and cliff faces into water. The sport's origins can be traced to United Kingdom west country.

Yes, Darwin is right again. People are now jumping off high places into the sea.

Read more here. Try and keep a straight face because these are seriously stupid people.

"People of all ages are still not getting the message.

"Jumping from any cliff or structure into water is dangerous. It could result in serious injury or death."

Never "buy" anything that is DRM

Google shuts down video service

Google is shutting down its premium video service, leaving users who have bought or rented content unable to view their videos in the future.

In an e-mail to users the web giant said that money spent on videos would not be refunded.

Those motherfuckers!

Read more here.

Middle Asia Digs Suggest a New View of the Dawn of Civilization

For decades, school children have learned that human civilization emerged about 5000 years ago along the Euphrates River in Mesopotamia, along the Nile, and along the Indus River. But archaeologists working in a broad arc from the Russian steppes through Iran and onto the Arabian Peninsula are finding evidence that a complex network of cities may have thrived across the region in roughly the same era, suggesting a dramatic new view of the emergence of human civilization.

Read more here.

The Spectrum

I note the passing of the Montreal Spectrum (1982-2007), a venue I never myself went to (a fact that causes Montreal jaws to drop).

Read more here.

Rally held after Truro council rejects pride flag

More than 100 people showed up at a Truro, N.S. park to protest council's lack of support for the gay community.

Last week, city politicians voted not to fly the gay pride flag during the community's inaugural pride week celebrations. The local county government did vote to allow the flag to be flown...

...People who attended the rally were particularly miffed with the Truro's Mayor Bill Mills, who cited his Christian beliefs as his reason for voting against the move.

"The mayor of Truro has embarrassed a lot of Christians by interpreting the bible in a very unfavourable way," said Rev. David Fletcher, an Anglican priest. "If we want to shout bible passages back and forth, my bible bullet would come from Galatians in Chapter 3, where St. Paul says that in Christ, there is no more exclusion."

Last week, he [Mayor Mills] said, "There are writings in the Book of Romans chapter one, to name a few -- basically I have to go with that conviction, and I know it's not a popular one."

Not with me it's not. I'm personally tired of the religious motivations behind this kind of shit. If you want to hate, do so openly and not from hiding behind writings that may nor may not have anything to do with your particular "beliefs". Trust me, hiding behind the Bible doesn't make you look any better, not one bit.

Montreal police upset over Youtube videos

Montreal Police Service has asked the video sharing website Youtube to alter videos it considers slanderous.

There are more than 100 videos on the website showing Montreal police officers at work

Like this one...?

Russia plants flag on Arctic floor

What the fuck

Russian explorers dived deep below the North Pole in a submersible on Thursday and planted a national flag on the seabed to stake a symbolic claim to the energy riches of the Arctic.

My fave quote:

"This isn't the 15th century. You can't go around the world and just plant flags and say 'We're claiming this territory'," Canadian Foreign Minister Peter MacKay told CTV television.

It's always the 15th century in Russia.

Read more here.

Why we must close the net

Yes, Elton John wants to close down the net.

“I do think it would be an incredible experiment to shut down the whole internet for five years and see what sort of art is produced over that span."

No, I think we should shut down Elton John for 5 years, think of the explosion of art that would cause.

What a flaming idiot.

Read more here.

Antonioni, The Yardbirds and Blow Up

Michelangelo Antonioni has died. Here is a scene from his 1966 film Blow Up (shamelessly Ripped Off by dePalma), featuring the Yardbirds. A co worker in 2000 claimed his father was one of the crowd watching.

He didn't point out who...