Sabbatum

Ever wondered what kind of music Tony Iommi might have been writing if he'd been around 700 years ago?

Wonder no more. Rondellus, an Estonian band, have recorded an album of Black Sabbath covers, all done in a medieval style, with Latin lyrics. The album's called Sabbatum.

Here's a sample of "Verres Militares" (aka "War Pigs").

Why doesn't he just become a real reflexologist?

A Halifax man has been arrested for pretending to be a reflexologist and massaging women's feet.

Halifax Regional Police arrested Michael James Fells, 24, on Barrington Street on Monday. He is charged with four counts of assault and one count each of sexual assault and unlawfully being in a dwelling house.

Police said a man massaged three women’s feet under false pretences within the past month in the Brunswick Street area.

Full story, by Davene Jeffrey of the Halifax Chronicle-Herald, here.

That dastardly media

From Maisonneuve magazine's MediaScout, on George Jonas's National Post commentary on the Conrad Black trial:

Then he launches into the serious part of his commentary, calling the prosecution a “sorry lot” whose “dubious evidence … rested on the slender foundation of browbeaten government witnesses butting their beaten brows against documentary evidence.” Wow. Not even a half-hearted attempt at journalistic objectivity to be found there.

Why does MediaScout expect George Jonas's commentary in the Post to display any journalistic objectivity? Has this person ever read George Jonas before? Does he or she know what a commentary is?

Cry me a river dept.

People who spend tens of thousands of dollars on lavish "outdoor rooms" realize there's a reason we have houses.

The local pigeons also appreciated the improvements and began roosting over — and fouling — the deck, forcing Chapman to fight back with a pellet gun and spikes. Other problems developed, including desert dust baking onto the outdoor furniture. Chapman says taking care of the yard has become pure drudgery — especially in the 110-degree heat. “It’s more work than the indoors,” he says.

From a story by June Fletcher, originally appearing in the Wall Street Journal.

Link.

Kiss vs Planet of the Apes

Some very fun artwork here for "the greatest film/book/comic never (yet) made!" The idea comes from Mike Drake of Strange Adventures.

I hope someone is working on a development deal.

The Greatest Canadian update

CBC has sold Prairie Giant: The Tommy Douglas Story, meaning it will get international distribution. (H/T to Tod Maffin's Inside the CBC blog for pointing to the story.)

Earlier, CBC had distanced itself from the mini-series because of what it said were factual errors. Writer Bruce Smith, meanwhile, said it was the most meticulously researched work he'd ever done.

I interviewed Bruce last year for a story in Canadian Screenwriter. Here's an excerpt, with a link to the full story below.

“I have no beef with the Gardiner family. I’m sorry they’re upset, but this stuff should be debated, and if they want to defend Jimmy Gardiner they should be able to defend him in public. The point is this stuff should be defended in public,” Smith says. “If some academic wants to criticize it he should have the simple decency to do so under his own name. That’s all. It’s very simple. My name is on it. The name of everyone who worked on the film is on it. We’re not trying to hide anything–we’re trying to put it on television and let people argue about the history of Canada.”

Full story here.

Writing for Canadian youth shows

An excerpt from my Canadian Screenwriter magazine feature on what it takes to succeed in writing for youth shows -- and why Canadians are so darn good at it -- is now online here. It's a pretty long excerpt. Most of the story, in fact.

Interviews for the piece include Sara Snow, Jordan Wheeler and Will Dixon from renegadepress.com; Jeff Biederman from Life with Derek; and Brent Piaskoski from Naturally Sadie and the upcoming The Latest Buzz.

My favourite quote:

Piaskoski says he has run into his share of overly restrictive notes–the silliest being one asking for the name of the town of Drumheller to be cut because, as he puts it, “it has the word hell in it and Americans could be offended.”

To read the whole thing, you'll have to pick up a copy of Canadian Screenwriter. Or come back in fall when the current issue is no longer on the stands and I'll post the full piece.

Even crankier

People who are even crankier than me about language.

It's the results of a contest from the UK's Daily Telegraph.

The idea was to come up with a paragraph or two, no longer than 150 words, packed with as many infuriating words and phrases as possible...

Infuriating as the language was, the entries were very funny. "When it comes to abuse of English, I've been there, done that, got the T-shirt. Do you know what I mean?" Jackie Rowe's entry started, worryingly.

Quick hits

Maybe I'm especially cranky this morning. I don't know.

• Canada launches its very own no-fly list today. See? We can play with the big boys too! Our list is part of something called the Passenger Protect Program. I will leave aside the basic stupidity of lists like this. Instead, I want to say, Passenger Protect? Is there something wrong with the word protection?
  
• What's with Paul Wells and Andrew Potter's blogs lately? Why do they (or Maclean's) think we're more interested in French politics than, say, Canadian politics?
  
• The local elementary school has a breakfast program. It's great. I help out occasionally (though probably not often enough). I received a nice certificate for my efforts, from the national Breakfast for Learning program, whose slogan is "Eat Right! Be Bright!" A good breakfast is an important part of the school day. But I would think good English just might be too. And "eat right" ain't it.
• CBC wants you to submit your videos! So they can air them! And not pay you anything! But you should be thrilled to have the exposure! And, unfortunately, many people will be. An old freelancer's mantra: You can die of exposure.
  

Gone Surfin': Facebook edition

(This post has been updated)

Here's my latest Gone Surfin' web column, this time about Facebook. A couple of non-Facebook users have told me that reading it finally gave them an idea of what FB is and how it works.

Due to overwhelming popular demand (OK, me responding to the first request I got), here is the full text of the Facebook column. No more downloading a pdf to read it.

Oh, and "local" if you're wondering, refers in this case to the South Shore of Nova Scotia.

Getting Some Face(book) Time

My Montreal friend Tony Pompeo (not his real name) was making his way home from work the other evening – and if you checked his Facebook profile, you could follow along with him:

10:57 PM: Tony is at Bonaventure Metro.

11:25 PM: Tony is almost home.

11:28 PM: Tony is walking down the street.

Facebook is a fast-growing social networking site that allows users to post photos and information about themselves, join networks related to geography, schools, or workplaces, and participate in online groups dedicated to just about anything you can imagine.

Tony had just discovered Facebook's mobile features and was – as he would admit – overdoing it as he used his cellphone to keep updating his page.

Facebook, which had 19 million active users as of April, used to be available only to students. But it recently opened up to the general population (leading to the formation of groups such as “Help!!! Old People Are Invading Facebook!”). The site is especially popular in Canada, with Canadians making up about 10% of users.

Here's how Facebook works. To access the site at all, you need to register (it's free). Once you've registered, you can search for people you know, and then ask them to be your “friends.” When you are friends with someone on Facebook, you can see their profile, along with the information about themselves they've chosen to post. You can also receive updates on their “status” (what they are saying they are doing), see photos and links they've posted, and invite them to upcoming events.

Facebook is a great way to connect with friends. You can stay up-to-date on what old college roommates are up to, without having to email and ask. And in a rural area, it's a handy way to keep a far-flung group of current friends in the loop about local happenings.

Don't know who to invite as a Facebook friend? Joining a network (such as Halifax, Bridgewater High School, or Scotiabank), connects you with a group of people who have some kind of shared interest. In addition, there are user-created groups devoted to pretty much any topic imaginable. Local ones include “I'm From Lunenburg County, Nova Scotia and I'm Not Ashamed to Admit it”, “In Memory of Jillian Paige Snair” (for a local teen killed in a car crash in January), and “East St. Margarets Elementary School.”

Are there any negatives? Of course. For one, Facebook can be addictive. Do you really want to track down everyone from elementary school and add them to your friends? Then there's the privacy question. Facebook will ask you for all kinds of information when you register. But there is no obligation to provide it all. You could enter a fake name (there are eight Facebook users going by the name of heavy metal guitarist Zakk Wylde), but that defeats the purpose if you are hoping friends will find you.

Instead, keep it simple. My profile, for instance, is fairly minimal, and the date of birth I entered inaccurate. And when I want to communicate with friends directly, I use my own email address, not my Facebook mail. There is also no reason to accept Facebook's default privacy settings. Instead, click the “Privacy” link and change your settings to a level you are comfortable with.

© Philip Moscovitch, 2007. All rights reserved.

Da Da Da

Music was sooo much better in the old days, doncha think? Intelligent lyrics, passionate performances. On-stage presence, man.

Pyongyang

I have just finished reading a fantastic graphic novel called Pyongyang, by Guy Delisle. I would recommend the book for anyone age 12 or over.

Pyongyang is the capital of North Korea -- one of the most secretive countries in the world. Not many people are allowed to visit, and if you do go, you have very little freedom to travel while you are there.

The book tells the story of Guy Delisle's stay of a few months in North Korea. He was in there working on an animated TV series. (A lot of people don't realize that much of the animation they see on TV is done in Asia where hiring animators is cheap.)

What I really like about Pyongyang is that it doesn't try to make any big political statements. It's almost like a diary. But in writing and drawing about what he saw and felt. Delisle gives us a portrait of North Korea that's different from anything else I have read. He spends a lot of time with his guide, driver, and translator, without ever really getting to know them -- and trying to figure out if they really believe the outrageous things they tell him about the Korean regime. At the same time, there are some funny sequences of cultural misunderstandings in which Delisle is trying to get across to his animators what changes he needs made to scenes.

I realized that comics was the perfect form for this book. Delisle would not have been allowed to photograph a lot of the places he visited. Comics are great for doing journalism (like Joe Sacco's books) and for memoirs (like Persepolis). Pyongyang is a bit of both.

The book also reminded me of the Tintin comics (and not just because it mentions Tintin). It is clearly influenced by Tintin creator Hergé's clear-line style, and Delisle draws himself with a bit of a quiff -- hair sticking up at the front of his head -- which cannot be a coincidence.

(Cross-posted from Daisy Chains.)

Own goal

How embarrassing. And it's the game-winning goal too.

King Kaufman on the Cup

King Kaufman of Salon is my favourite sportswriter. Unfortunately, he almost never writes about hockey.

But when he does, he gets it right.

Two highlights from the piece:

Every year I'm struck by how cool the end of the Stanley Cup Finals is. The losing team has to stand around and wait while the winning team goes ape-crazy bananas. Then comes the traditional handshake, which everybody agrees is a groovy thing. Then, after the curtain-opening bestowal of the Conn Smythe Trophy for Most Valuable Player of the entire playoffs -- Ducks captain Scott Niedermayer took this one -- the Stanley Cup itself is brought out by its handlers.

...

There's a hastily assembled team photo with the Cup, which always makes me wonder: Whenever I'm in a group photo, even if the group is six people, it takes the group and the photographer 10 minutes to get everybody arranged just so. How is it that hockey teams can get themselves posed in 10 seconds?

I came eight in my playoff pool. Done in by thinking the Pens would take the Sens. I would have done a lot worse if Detroit had bowed out sooner. I did have a few Ducks, but clearly I should have taken more.

Excuses R Us

Do Nova Scotians lead the way when it comes to idiotic excuses told in the courtroom?

In this story, a fisherman who appears to have had illegal lobster on his boat rushes off to dump it into the water when fisheries officers arrive on the scene.

The Halifax Chronicle-Herald reports:

Mr. Herman was unloading gear from his boat on his wharf in Little Harbour, Lunenburg County, on May 28, 2006, when two helmeted fisheries officers pulled up on motorcycles.

Mr. Herman said he didn’t recognize them and assumed they were looking for his daughter. He said he suddenly remembered he had to do something on his boat, went back to it, picked up a bucket he said was filled with sand crab for bait and threw it over the side because he didn’t want the crab to die.

The fisheries officers, however, testified Mr. Herman knew them for at least 10 years and did recognize them. They said he turned and ran back to his boat when he saw them and jumped aboard.

Of course, when it comes to excuses, I still haven't found anyone to top the guy who crashed through a barricade drunk, then told the cops and the judge he had stopped -- just on the other side of the barricade -- and that the full bottle of rum in his car was proof he hadn't been drinking. If he had, the bottle would have been opened instead of sealed. The guy's story was that he felt an attack of his mystery illness (whose symptoms were remarkably similar to those of inebriation) coming on and he had to rush to his brother's house for help. Right.

Allow me to diagnose you

Pick up the new Reader's Digest and you'll find my feature "Are You Normal or Nuts?" -- adapted from a story by William Speed Weed that ran in the US version of the magazine last year. It's a pretty fun piece on people's quirks, and when it makes sense to worry about them. Can't point you to an online version because there is none to be had. Sorry.

Oh dear

I was in an elementary school last week, and it was the day of the annual volunteer tea -- a thank you to all those people who helped out during the year. Part of the event was some music, with kids from the band showing their talents, and a choir singing for the volunteers.

One of the choir's songs featured a very sweet girl in Grade 3 as a soloist. There she stood, front and centre, bravely singing her part -- all while wearing a t-shirt that said on it:

Penthouse
It's great to be on top