Salt Lake Olympics now rivals Sydney for cheesiest closing ceremonies - The flag of the U.S. is being raised by Native American war veterans in full head-dress to the American anthem as performed by In-Sync. Now, giant talking dinosaur heads are cracking jokes. Oh my god, is that Kiss on a rotating stage?

Canada beats U.S. 5-2 for Olympic gold - People have been driving up and down Vancouver streets for hours now streaming maple leaf flags, shouting and honking horns. Callers to CBC radio have been declaring how hockey has brought the country together again. I have to say this, though, it was a really good game. The Americans were in the game until ten minutes into the third period when Jarome Iginla scored the fourth Canadian goal.

Today, all activity in this country stops for this important national event:
	Canada vs U.S. for the gold medal in Olympic men's hockey. Both sides are pretty evenly matched. The Americans haven't yet met a rival as big as Canada (despite a scare in the semifinal against the Russians).
Canada is just peaking after destroying Belarus 7-1 and toughing out wins against the Fins and the Germans. It should be a classic game with stars you won't normally see against each other except in an NHL All-Star game, except this time they're playing for national pride. The Canadian Olympic team should be buoyed by yesterday's medal haul with our speed skaters. It's too close to predict so all I can say is: GO CANADA.

This is actually yesterday's news but I must update as I'm keenly interested in whether this guy is responsible or not: Pig farmer arrested in disappearances of Vancouver women - Mybc.com

I just love how the media always gets the absolute worst photo of the suspect. I mean, look at him. How can you not believe this guy is a mass murderer. Of course, instantly, because he's a suspected serial killer, he gets the dreaded 'three name treatment'. Robert William Pickton

Peter Wiggs, Sarah Cracknell, Bob Stanley	SPRINGTIME POP "Smash the System" - Saint Etienne (double CD) - Although it's still February, I'm listening to this perfect selection of spring time melancholy pop by Saint Etienne. "Smash the System" is a double CD compilation of their singles: all dreamy, la la pop tunes lead by the whispery thin vocals of the elegant Sarah Cracknell.
A quick listen to any four of the songs will tell you what they're all about. Melancholy but pleasingly melodic songs with lyrics like: "don't come back, you left me but I still love you" etc. It's silly confectionary but extremely pleasing. Very classy pop.
I can think of nothing better to listen to on a bright day when you have to stay in the apartment working. (On the negative side, I can think of nothing worse to listen to if you're feeling lonely. You'll feel even more apt to call up that ex).	All Music Guide Entry for St. Etienne
I had the pleasure of seeing them live in Vancouver two years ago in their "Sound of Water" tour when I became a real fan. Sarah is even more glamorous and sexy seen up close, matching her silky voice. While St. Etienne's stylings seem set permanently in the 60s and helped set the stage for twee pop, "Smash the System" has more than a handful of danceable tunes of the 34 tracks included. A quick look for remixes and St. Etienne will dig up lots of remixed versions and collaborations. Since this is a collection of singles "Smash the System" is a great introduction into their better known songs and may save you trying to collect some of their early albums out of their rather large catalogue. Download an MP3 from Saint Etienne

Chuck Jones dead - the famous animator for Warner Bros. died yesterday of heart failure.

During the Golden Age of animation Jones helped bring to life many of Warner Bros. most famous characters -- Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Elmer Fudd and Porky Pig. The list of characters he created himself includes Road Runner, Wile E. Coyote, Marvin Martian, Pepe le Pew, Michigan J. Frog and many others. He also produced, directed and wrote the screenplays for ``Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas,'' a television classic, as well as the feature-length film ``The Phantom Tollbooth.'' In addition, Jones was a prolific artist whose work has been exhibited at galleries and museums worldwide.

Man stabbed in abdomen with swordfish

I saw this on TV last night and I didn't want to believe it but check out this dog and its extra long tongue (includes video). Also check out its website at tungdog.com.

First images of Cube sequel - The Cube was a good Canadian SF film that made great use of a limited budget to tell a nicely contained story. Sure, it was basically an expanded episode of "Outer Limits" but it was interesting.

Canadian men crush Belarus 7-1 - Mindful of the Belarussian's upset of the heavily favoured Swedes, the Canadians dominated from beginning to end, carving pathways into the Belarus zone almost at will. At the end there was some rough stuff between Eric Lindros and Ruslan Salei. Aside from that, a huge note of confidence for the Canadians who wait for the victor of the U.S. - Russia semi-final match later today. Canadian Women win Gold in 3-2 win over Americans - Like many in Canada I rushed home to watch the heroics of Hayley Wickenheiser, Cassie Campbell and goalie Kim St. Pierre as they toughed it out against the American women and a biased U.S. referee who, at one point, called eight straight penalties against the Canadians.
Last second goal by Jayne Hefford gave Canada the edge they needed as she scored on a breakaway.	I don't watch a lot of women's hockey but this game had a lot of great stories: St. Pierre's stick breaking as she tried to clear the puck with two Americans in her face. The last-second breakaway goal by Jayne Hefford that put Canada up 3-1 at the end of the 2nd period. Wickenheiser bringing her three-year old son onto the ice for the celebration. Campbell crying tears of joy; the American girls crying tears of dejection.
Wickenheiser gave one of the best post-victory interview comments I can remember: "The Americans had our flag on their floor in the dressing room and now I want to know if they want us to sign it. We are so happy."

Kevin Carylon the White Witch - if you're ever feeling down about your own accomplishments and feel persecuted, look at this guy's site and feel better about yourself. Yes, that really is just a bathrobe that guy is wearing.

Music purchases this week:

From left to right: Boards of Canada - Geogaddi, Cornelius - Point, Saint Etienne: Smash the System (compilation). I'll post reviews later this week when I have time (as well as a review of Le Tigre's album).

Article on Cornelius. A bit of general background information on Cornelius and his music including a more specific meaning behind his name:

"I found out later that the French author Pierre Boulle got his story idea while he was a POW under the Japanese. He saw himself as the human and the Japanese as apes," says Oyamada with a laugh. "But since Cornelius' character is a sort of intermediary between the apes and humans, it kind of makes sense for me to have that name."

Canada defeats Finland 2-1 in men's hockey. I saw this in a pub for the first time since university. Nice rocking atmosphere. Great game too. And now, all is right in Canada. Today, I may rush home to catch the end of the Canada-US Gold medal matchup in women's hockey.

Well that was interesting... my site went down for almost an entire day with no explanation from my host. I complained first thing this morning and fifteen minutes later it was up. They said they had something something garble their server garble garble... blarg.

Hockey world shocked as Belarus knocks Sweden out of Olympics with shot from the blue line - as thousands of hockey fans wonder: "where the hell is Belarus, anyway?" With Canada not doing so well, are we setting up a Finland - Germany final? "It's a miracle for us," said Mezin, who currently plays in the German League and had a brief stint with Fort Wayne of the now-defunct IHL. "Sometimes even a gun without a bullet shoots and that was us today. Swedish news is proclaiming the defeat "A Fiasco for Sweden".

Another Filipino man killed over "My Way" Karaoke performance - Reuters - this seems to be a growing danger...

I kind of lied when I said that absolutely nothing went on Monday. In fact, at work I was doing a fun page using VideoClipstream™ where I constructed a mailable "Spiderman" movie trailer. Take a look at it here (requires Java).

Here's a nice consumer site using Flash from Timbuk2 that sells bags that you can custom design online.

Slightly over-sensational interview with Miyazaki where he seems to call Japanese animation "a dead end". - bbc.co.uk

Blue-Ray Discs may supercede DVD
More and more information is coming out about a new storage medium that may supercede DVDs. There's always a lot of company jockeying around standards. DVDs, while extremely popular in the past two years, are supported by one group of companies while Blue-Ray (27GB!) is supported by another group. Seeing as I already have a sizable investment in DVD, I think it will be another few years before I see the need to upgrade, especially if the only advantage is storage size.

My search for a DVD of Thomas Vinterberg's "Festen" ("Celebration") finally bore fruit today when a WEFer found this HK version on the auction portion of Amazon.co.uk.

It's a bit pricey what with the low Canadian dollar (it could cost me CDN$ 47.76 plus shipping) but I absolutely thought "Festen" was a brilliant piece of work that deserves to be seen by more people. "Festen" is the first Dogme95 film, that was filmed exclusively on a consumer-level DV camera on location with minimal set dressing. The budget ($1 million US) was mostly salaries. When I inquired with Bluelight films (the releasing company in UK and North America) about whether they would release a legit DVD, they said the costs would be too great for them to produce one. Could be their loss.

Interview with Cornelius - Cornelius (Keigo Oyamada) is one of the great talents of the Japanese scene combining pop with experimental studio work, sampling (although he doesn't use any now) and shibuya-kei. His new album ("Point") will be a must-purchase once it makes its way to Vancouver. Cornelius gets his name from The Planet of the Apes.

The Growth of 'Scumware'
Wired has a good general article about the growth of 'scumware', or secret programs installed into your browser that bring up popup ads on sites which actually are not hosting these ads. These programs find out when you are on certain sites or are searching for certain terms and then pop up the appropriate (or inappropriate) popup ad. To combat these programs I recommend a free program called Adaware which scans your hard drive for such resident programs so that you can then delete them.

British marines accidentally invade Spain - bbc.co.uk. A navigational error leads British troops conducting an exercise to land on Spanish beaches instead of on Gibraltar.

Sears Canada to drop Eaton's name - cbc.ca. Eaton's was one of Canada's largest department stores. I remember my mom taking me to Eaton's when I was young on one of our long walks. I wonder if any Canadians will see this as a sign of American imperialism.

Future military meals may include mac and cheese - MSNBC. Army nutritionists are experimenting with ways to include more edible comfort foods such as macaroni and cheese with MREs (Meals, Ready to Eat) that can be dropped from helicopters and chemically cook themselves.

Man charged after letting 7 year old son drive - Mycfnow.com. "I'm not irresponsible,'' said Barry Colbert, 38. "I just had a few beers.''

Pathe acquires Miyazaki's "Spirited Away" - Screen Daily.

Hayao Miyazaki

Again, more good news for Hayao Miyazaki, if only because it increases the chances that it will make it to at least indie cinemas in North America and the UK. Studio Ghibli fans have been irritated at Disney's ownership of the entire Ghibli film rights in North America. Miyazaki is often called the Japanese Disney. His films are top grossers in Japan.

Fans of Miyazaki's films ("My Neighbour Totoro", "Princess Mononoke") believe that Disney is purposely preventing or sabotaging the release of his films in North America because they really show up anime vs Disney animation.

More Miyazaki links:
Naussica.net - nice fan site containing current news on Miyazaki. The name of the website refers to his first feature film: Naussica of the Valley of the Wind.
IMDB link for Miyazaki.
Official Studio Ghibli website - Miyazaki's home studio. The logo is the character Totoro from Miyazaki's beloved child's film: "My Neighbour Totoro".
A good essay on Miyazaki's films reposted from Film Comment magazine.