Downfall parodies

I have a story in today's online edition of The Globe and Mail about the spread of Downfall parodies.

The Internet is awash in film clips showing Adolf Hitler ranting and raving about being banned from World of Warcraft, hating The Phantom Menace, and being upset about the bank foreclosing on his home.

The online videos are parodies based on a scene from the 2004 film Downfall, starring Bruno Ganz as Hitler. The original scene captures Hitler's realization that he is doomed and the war is lost. The parodies take that scene, but add subtitles to completely change what he's saying.

Like this: 

The story offers some context on the history of Hitler parodies, and on whether or not it crosses the line to cast Stephen Harper as the Fuhrer, as this video does:

Short answer: yes and no.

Just what you want in a fireplace

Ad in the back of the local community weekly for an electric fireplace. Apparently it will "add flare" to your living room.

Precious, precious coffee

I was doing some work at CBC Radion last week (I'm working on a couple of short little documentaries for the local morning show), and I wanted a cup of coffee. There's a machine in the building, a Tim Horton's a couple of blocks away, and a place called The Smiling Goat Espresso Bar just down the street.

Now, I like good coffee. I buy fair trade and organic, I will very rarely hit Tim's, and I've patronized local coffee/espresso joints for years. (And I don't think I have ever ordered anything from Starbuck's. A few years ago, in Toronto, I wandered past one Starbucks after another, looking for an independent coffee shop. Finally, I gave up, found a decent pub and had a beer instead.)

So my choice was pretty easy: The Smiling Goat. I was ready for a good cup of coffee, and I was ready to pay more than I should. I was not ready for the most precious coffee experience of my life: the guy behind the counter clearly didn't style himself a coffee slinger or a barista. He was more like a coffee sommelier.

I ordered the Sumatra, frseh-brewed for me, in a single cup, while I heard all about the qualities of the coffee -- how it would improve in flavour as it cooled, the richness of its notes, and on and on and on. I was complimented on not taking milk and sugar, and by then I was ready to head to the Tim's, or to scream "Just give me goddamned cup of the cheapest coffee you've got!"

Please. Let's enjoy good coffee without bringing the worst cliches of snooty French waiterdom into it. If you want to share the experience without heading to the shop itself, there's always their website.