Drinking problem
The greatest-ever drinking song, about drinking problems. The genius Street Dogs, in acoustic session, with a tune about one of their own. Here’s a punky version, too.
Yes, SFH got together last night. Why do you ask?
Remaindered
The Minister of State for Irony
January 6, 2011, morning: Peter Kent calls Oilsands “ethical oil.”
January 6, 2011, afternoon: Ethical oil blows up four people.
January 7, 2010: P.M.O. asks new Minister of the Environment to say something nice about Michael Ignatieff.
When senior strategists are neither senior nor strategic
This morning: the Star’s Susan Delacourt tilts against anonymous “senior Liberal strategists.”
She’s right, of course. As a rule, I insist on always being “on the record” with whatever I say to the media. I also tape every encounter.
There’s a bit more at work here, however. Susan’s brother – who is a smart, amazing guy – works for the Liberals. So I think there is some familial frustration surfacing in her opinion piece, which is totally understandable.
There’s also an Ottawa Bureau vs. Toronto tension at play. At the Star and the Globe in particular, there is always a lot of resentment when someone who isn’t part of the Ottawa bureau is assigned to an “Ottawa” story. Thus, I know Susan et al. don’t like it when Linda et al. write “Ottawa” stories. They see them as competitors, even though they work for the same paper.
I could also say something about the media’s role in this – ie., if they think “anonymous sources” are so bad, why the Hell do they use them all the time? – but it’s just stating the obvious. It’ll never change.
Anyway, as I say, Ms. Delacourt has a point. If you have a criticism to make, attach your name to it. It’s better for all concerned.
Kory story
If it’s true – and I don’t know if it is – it’s great news. He’s the guy who brought me in to the Sun Media operation, so I’m biased, but we’ve been friends for a long time. He’s tragically misguided, politically, but I rather suspect he says the same thing about me. The fact that he drives some in the PPG bananas is a bonus.
Good news, if it’s true.
The End Times Cometh
Being Irish Catholic, and therefore more superstitious than a Red Sox fan, I don’t find the following events disconcerting. They’re comforting, because they prove that I was right all along – the End Times are indeed near, and you all should’ve listened to me while you had the chance.
Oh, and my eldest son is firmly convinced the world is going to end in 2012. He’s a chip off the old block.
- B.C. river mysteriously turns bright green.
- Black birds mysteriously drop dead in Sweden.
- Two million fish mysteriously die in Maryland.
- Hundreds of birds mysteriously drop from Louisiana sky.
- Thousands of birds and fish mysteriously dead in Arkansas.
- Bumblebees are being mysteriously wiped out everywhere.
Mysterious? Perhaps. Or, solid proof that I was right: happiness is a trick, and life is the arrangement of merciless logic for futile purpose.
We’re all doomed. You’re welcome.
Power and Politics, Jan. 4: What do we think of the shuffle? Well, um, ZZZzzzzZZZZzzzzzZZZ
Asked about the cabinet shuffle, I immediately fall asleep.
The significance of the cabinet shuffle this afternoon
Beware the Word Clouds
The Globe has given over an entire page, today, to that Abacus “survey” about the federal parties and leaders (and which I take on in the Sun, here).
What the Globe doesn’t advise its readers about, to my surprise, is either (a) how the methodology in that poll is suspect and (b) that “Word Clouds” can be manipulated any which way you like. They do not represent a benign or random sampling of words in a given piece of text – but a lot of people seem to have been fooled into thinking they do.
Up above is one I just did, using my bio page. It took me five seconds to mess around with it, and change what had been automatically generated. You can do it, too, here.
Bottom line: beware the Word Cloud. They’re fun, but they’re not science.
