Badlands humour

By Jaime Weinman - Wednesday, September 28, 2011 at 11:30 AM - 0 Comments

Teletoon

The U.S. is full of Canadian comedy writers, but they usually don’t get to make many jokes about their native country. That’s where Crash Canyon comes in. The new animated series on Teletoon was developed by a Calgarian writer for The Simpsons, Joel H. Cohen, who hired several other Canadian writers, including Simpsons colleague Tim Long and How I Met Your Mother’s Chuck Tatham.

Though shows like The Simpsons and HIMYM frequently have Canadian jokes, they’re usually obvious ones about Tim Hortons and hockey. On Crash Canyon, a mix of Family Guy and Gilligan’s Island about a Canadian family stuck in a canyon in Alberta, Cohen told Maclean’s that the writers finally had the opportunity to put in Canadian insider jokes like an ice cream store called “Don and Cherry’s” and a Monopoly game called “Moncton-opoly.” There are other possibly lost-on-Americans jokes, such as a stylist character who calls himself “the René to her Céline” and a road sign that says, “Now entering Saskatchewan—Welcome to our Nothing.”

“Americans love to make fun of Canada, so this is a chance to show another thing Canadians do better than the U.S.,” Cohen says. “In that sense, I guess we’re being patriotic. Now where do I pick up my Order of Canada medal?” Of course, not all the Canadian references are for insiders; Teletoon’s advance trailer includes a joke where the family daughter mixes up Anne Frank with Anne of Green Gables.

The secret behind the realism of ‘War Horse’

By Jaime Weinman - Wednesday, September 28, 2011 at 11:30 AM - 0 Comments

Simon Annand; Janette Pellegrini/Getty Images

“We thought it was an experimental show. We had no idea it would turn into a commercial show,” Tom Morris says of War Horse. When Morris, co-director Marianne Elliott and writer Nick Stafford adapted Michael Morpurgo’s 1982 children’s novel, it hadn’t been done on stage or screen. That’s because although there are human characters, the real star is a horse who gets sold to the army during the First World War, giving the show what Morris calls “a central character who doesn’t speak.” The stage version, first presented at Britain’s National Theatre in 2007, has turned that horse’s fortunes around: the show is running on Broadway, and will have its Canadian premiere at Toronto’s Princess of Wales Theatre in February 2012. The production even inspired Steven Spielberg to make a film of the same book, to be released at the end of this year. And how did War Horse create a spectacle that could compete with big, realistic-looking movies? With one of the oldest, most artificial theatrical techniques in the world: puppeteering.

Handspring, the company that created the puppets for War Horse, uses what Morris calls “a complex system of pulleys and things like that,” requiring “extraordinary strength” from the three people required to manipulate one horse. It sometimes requires different abilities than the average puppet show. “Very few of them tend to be trained puppeteers,” Morris says. “Some of them, but it’s not the main skill base that we tend to work from.” And because the titular horse, Joey, is the focus of the evening, much of the emotional energy comes from the puppeteers, who simulate the different ways his tail can move or his reactions to being caught in the middle of the war: he doesn’t talk, but Elliott says he’s “incredibly articulate physically.”

The use of puppets on stage is nothing new, but puppets are associated with fantasy and whimsy. Avenue Q uses Sesame Street-style puppets, and Julie Taymor’s productions, like The Lion King and the first version of Spider-Man, use puppets to simulate things that can be done in comic books and animation. But War Horse’s puppets are not supposed to be cartoonish: Elliott says that they were determined not to “anthropomorphize the horses. They do only what a horse would do.” Few major productions since the 1965 Sherlock Holmes musical Baker Street— which had marionettes simulating a parade in Victorian London—have used puppets so straightforwardly; Morris says Handspring’s challenge was to deliver “a deadpan puppet.”

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Are Fiat’s new ads about its cars or Jennifer Lopez?

By Kate Lunau - Wednesday, September 28, 2011 at 11:15 AM - 0 Comments

Chrysler Group

In the latest commercial for Italian carmaker Fiat, Jennifer Lopez cruises the streets in a cream-coloured Fiat 500 Cabrio convertible, dressed impeccably, while a mob of fans chases after her (whether they’re after Lopez or her car isn’t clear). Fiat couldn’t have picked a higher-watt star for their new ad campaign—with her recent divorce, Vanity Fair cover story, a new album out, and a recurring gig on American Idol, Lopez’s career is hotter than ever. But some observers worry Fiat’s ad campaign will alienate men, the auto industry’s traditional target consumers.

On Fiat U.S.A.’s Facebook page, some reviews have been scathing, with one commenter saying the ads risk turning the Cabrio into a “girls’ car.” Maybe that’s not such a bad thing. Some reports suggest that, since the recession, more women are buying sports cars. As for Lopez, she’s got a new single to promote, which blares in the commercial’s background.

A great buying opportunity

By Aaron Wherry - Wednesday, September 28, 2011 at 11:00 AM - 5 Comments

Data contained in a Parliamentary Budget Office report raises questions about the government’s sale of Atomic Energy of Canada Limited.

Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. — the financially troubled Crown corporation whose commercial operations are being sold to SNC-Lavalin — received approximately $183 million in government payments in the first quarter alone, nearly double its $102 million voted budget for the entire 2011-12 fiscal year.

Approximately $114 million of that government funding was invested in the spun-off nuclear reactor division that was sold in the same quarter for only $15 million plus royalties to SNC-Lavalin, the Montreal-based engineering and construction giant.

The case against Trudeau: that’s it? (UPDATED)

By John Geddes - Wednesday, September 28, 2011 at 10:57 AM - 119 Comments

Reading David Frum’s assault on Pierre Elliott Trudeau in this morning’s Ottawa Citizen, I kept waiting to feel hurt. I admit it: Trudeau was a boyhood hero of mine. Although I’ve long since come to recognize his serious shortcomings, it’s like the hockey player you idolized as a 10-year-old—you never entirely get over it.

Yet that sick feeling I feared never came. Frum’s indictment boils down to two familiar charges: Trudeau mishandled the October Crisis and generally inflamed serparatism; he mismanaged the economy and left his successors a deficit problem.

That’s it? I won’t be tearing up my signed Trudeau rookie card on that basis.

Continue…

‘Parliamentary business as warfare’

By Aaron Wherry - Wednesday, September 28, 2011 at 10:01 AM - 11 Comments

Ned Franks considers the early days of the 41st Parliament.

“I would have thought they would have changed, and stopped their approach to Parliamentary business as warfare by any other means,” Prof. Franks told The Hill Times. “They’re governing by fiat, and they’re forgetting that though they have a majority of seats, they got less than 40 per cent of the vote in May. I’m disappointed. I was expecting better.”

As discussed in the Hill Times piece, among those called by Conservatives to appear before a committee concerning the CBC is a sitting Federal Court judge.

If he were here to see this, Stephen Harper would be so disappointed

By Aaron Wherry - Wednesday, September 28, 2011 at 8:45 AM - 5 Comments

On the occasion of the government’s decision to limit debate on its omnibus crime legislation, astute commenter Thwim digs up a point of order raised by a young Stephen Harper in response to an omnibus bill proposed by the Liberal government of the day in 1994.

First, there is a lack of relevancy of these issues. The omnibus bills we have before us attempt to amend several different existing laws. Second, in the interest of democracy I ask: How can members represent their constituents on these various areas when they are forced to vote in a block on such legislation and on such concerns?

We can agree with some of the measures but oppose others. How do we express our views and the views of our constituents when the matters are so diverse? Dividing the bill into several components would allow members to represent views of their constituents on each of the different components in the bill.

Mr. Harper’s ancient lament has something in common with the NDP’s current desire to split the crime bill and expedite certain parts of it.

The young Reform MP was arguing, in that case, against a bill that included entirely unrelated measures. And while it could be argued that the crime bill at least groups legislation from one genre, Mr. Harper’s concerns could be applied quite directly to legislation like the 2010 budget bill.

REVIEW: The Orchard

By macleans.ca - Wednesday, September 28, 2011 at 8:30 AM - 0 Comments

It seems that when it came to intrigue, mystery writer Weir had to look no farther than her own backyard. Weir, who writes bestselling mysteries under the Anne Frasier brand, has this time sourced her own marriage to a handsome but tortured Illinois apple farmer, Adrian Curtis. It’s Jane Eyre meets Green Acres, a stunning memoir with page-turner pace.

The young couple met one day while she was waitressing at her uncle’s bar. They fell in love and were quickly married. Everyone disapproved—especially his domineering mother. As local tongues wagged, they tucked away in the tiny hired man’s house on the Curtis family farm and scratched out a life together. Weir lasted one brief morning working on the Curtis farm before she was fired. So she pulled out her pawnshop typewriter and started to pen mysteries. That single act of creative independence grants Weir the courage she needs to bolster her marriage and salvage her battered self-esteem. She might be living under someone else’s roof—and cruelly excluded from family meals—but she remains undaunted.

This marvellously Gothic book swivels between Weir’s unhappy childhood and life on the claustrophobic apple farm. The air is heavy with pesticides and family tension: the Curtises are intent on producing perfect fruit—no matter what the consequences. While hubby works from dawn to dusk, Weir pounds out her mysteries and raises their two children. There is no escape from farm servitude since family loyalty is primary. The beleaguered couple is even forbidden to move, as Adrian’s rightful place is on the family farm.

The memoir is a gripping account of divided loyalties, the real cost of farming and the shattered people on the front lines. Not since Jane Smiley’s A Thousand Acres has there been so enrapturing a family drama percolating out from the back forty.

REVIEW: Nairobi Heat

By macleans.ca - Wednesday, September 28, 2011 at 8:20 AM - 0 Comments

What’s black and white and dead all over? There may be several unfortunate answers to that question, or, one may simply be referring to the plot lines of Ngugi’s novel. Dead white girl, black cop, blacker suspect and dead folk . . . all over.

In the snow-white town of Madison, Wis., African-American detective Ishmael Fofona is investigating the death of a young white woman whose body has been found on the doorstep of Joshua Hakizimana’s home. Though Joshua is a well-respected professor and “hero” who is said to have saved thousands during the Rwandan genocide, his identity—in Wisconsin, at least—continues to be defined by colour, not deeds. As racial tensions rise, Ishmael and his (also black) police chief are under huge pressure to find a quick resolution, and Ishmael has no choice but to take the advice of an anonymous caller: “The truth is in the past. Come to Nairobi.”

Kenya serves as a real flip side, where pursuer is pursued, black man becomes white man (mzungu, or foreigner) and a cold Bud is replaced by a Tusker. Ishmael tries to glean what he can about Joshua, making his way through a maze of people and places, coming out the other end sticky from both the heat and questionable morals he’s encountered. While Ishmael discovers that Joshua may not be the man he claims to be, he is equally shocked to find a flip side to his own self.

As with any compelling mystery, nothing is what it appears to be, and just as the reader begins to suspect that Ngugi’s novel has embarked upon a disappointing denouement, both literarily and ethically, he smacks his last pages in our face to thrilling effect.

REVIEW: Sex on Six Legs: Lessons on Life, Love & Language from the Insect World

By macleans.ca - Wednesday, September 28, 2011 at 8:15 AM - 0 Comments

Entomologists have crafted some of the best popular science prose. That’s partly because those who love such generally unloved creatures as insects really love them, and their enthusiasm is infectious—Zuk, with her abiding passion for crickets, is no exception—and partly because bugs are inherently interesting: both surprisingly familiar and frighteningly alien. Nothing grabs her students’ full attention, the University of California biologist dryly notes, like the news that a male honeybee’s genitals explode after sex.

That’s just another detail in the high-stakes sex lives of male insects: everyone knows what female mantises do with their mates’ heads (expectant mothers need sustenance), and Zuk is almost gleeful in her description of the reproductive dilemma of a male cricket surrounded by acoustically orienting parasitic flies. Male crickets have to chirp to attract a mate, an act that also attracts a fly that deposits tiny, burrowing larvae on him; over time the maggots consume the entire cricket from the inside out. The dilemma, of course, is what to do: stay quiet and fail to breed or call out and risk death. The crickets, like most of creation, usually roll the dice.

And therein lies the true fascination of insect studies: they have a lot to teach us. Cutting-edge biology—genomes and nerve cells and evolutionary paths—is most effectively studied with bugs. Fruit flies and bees last shared a common ancestor 250 million years ago; in comparison, all mammals are essentially identical. Yet humans and social insects have ended up with a lot of similarities—in the ways we organize complex societies, raise offspring and make group decisions—raising anew the old question about what makes us stand out in the animal kingdom. We’ve always tried to answer that by comparing ourselves to our closest relatives. Zuk makes a compelling and engaging argument for looking far, far away.

REVIEW: The End: The Defiance and Destruction of Hitler’s Germany, 1944-1945

By macleans.ca - Wednesday, September 28, 2011 at 8:00 AM - 0 Comments

On April 18, 1945, with American troops outside the defenceless German town of Ansbach, a 19-year-old theology student tried to force the town’s surrender by severing the phone lines between the commandant and the nearest Wehrmacht unit. Caught and subjected to a “trial” lasting minutes, Robert Limpert was hanged in the town square by order of the Nazi commandant. Soon after, he requisitioned a bicycle and fled. Four hours later the Americans entered without a shot fired, and cut down Limpert’s body.

Many people—certainly the German officers who tried to assassinate Hitler on July 20, 1944—knew the Third Reich was effectively dead months before Limpert. Its ongoing refusal to admit it, a refusal that led to the deaths of millions, far more of them Germans than in the war’s earlier years, is for Kershaw a puzzle. Taking the Ansbach incident—just one pointless death out of the war’s 50 million—as a symbolic starting point, the historian asks what within Nazi Germany explains the nation’s self-destruction.

To answer that Hitler would not surrender simply raises another question, Kershaw argues: why was anyone still listening to him? The Allied demand for unconditional surrender on all fronts kept the Wehrmacht fighting, terrified of Soviet invasion—and rightly so, given its own record in Russia. (That was the unspoken subject of Berliners’ black joke in 1945, “Enjoy the war, the peace will be much worse.”) And the Nazi party intensified its repression, cracking down savagely on any hint of opposition. By early 1945 most Germans still saw no way out.

Continue…

The Commons: Rest assured, your vote is appreciated

By Aaron Wherry - Tuesday, September 27, 2011 at 6:09 PM - 15 Comments

The Scene. Bob Rae rose with provocation in rhyme.

“Mr. Speaker, when it comes to the President of the Treasury Board, we know very well that he can Twitter. We know very well that he can tweet,” he informed the House. “What we also know is that he cannot get up on his feet.”

After the interim Liberal leader had expounded on the “absurd situation” before us—a cabinet minister unable or unwilling to stand in the House and explain his actions in helping divvy up millions in “border infrastructure” funds for bike racks and gazebos in his riding—the Prime Minister stood and restated the script about this having been “thoroughly aired” and there being “process improvements” to be made and so forth.

Then though, feeling charitable or chuffed or some combination thereof, the Prime Minister decided to impart his analysis of the spring election’s meaning and lessons. Continue…

Look at us, we’re talking about stuff

By Aaron Wherry - Tuesday, September 27, 2011 at 6:03 PM - 4 Comments

Lest you doubt that the Prime Minister, the Finance Minister and the Governor of the Bank of Canada sat in a room together this afternoon, the Prime Minister’s Office has released both photo and video (zip file) evidence. Apparently at such meetings, the Prime Minister first delivers opening remarks in both official languages.

For whatever reason, Peter Van Loan was not allowed this time to hover over the Prime Minister’s shoulder and listen in.

Preventing inquiry

By Aaron Wherry - Tuesday, September 27, 2011 at 4:03 PM - 13 Comments

While the Conservatives launch inquiries into the CBC and NDP, another proposal disappears.

The MPs cite the sudden end during an in camera meeting of the Government Operations and Estimates Committee last week of a motion from Liberal MP John McCallum (Markham-Unionville, Ont.) that proposed an inquiry into nearly $50-million the government spent to spruce up cities and towns in Mr. Clement’s (Parry Sound-Muskoka, Ont.) upscale cottage-country constituency for the 2010 summit of G8 leaders.

The motion disappeared after going into the secret meeting, and Mr. McCallum, along with all MPs on the committee, cannot disclose what was said or what happened to the motion while the committee doors were closed.

Fun: the missing new Facebook feature

By Jesse Brown - Tuesday, September 27, 2011 at 3:32 PM - 12 Comments

It’s either Facebook or it’s me: one of us has lost the plot.

Like most people, I’m baffled by the new layout. The faux-Twitter feed with its annoying pop-up balloons, crammed in the top right corner, is apparently called the “Ticker.” It competes for my attention with a list of my online friends below. Some have green dots next to them, and some phone icons. Some suddenly pop up, demanding live text chats. Do I have a green dot? I haven’t a clue.

My traditional News Feed has changed–the friends I want to hear about seem to be gone, replaced by others Facebook has prioritized by some mysterious logic. Someone posted instructions on how to change this back, but I can’t remember who it was and what to search for. Between the News Feed and the Ticker (and isn’t the Ticker also a News Feed?), there are faces of strangers I am encouraged to “subscribe” to. What does that mean? Has “friending” become “subscribing”? Will they know I’ve subscribed to them? How about everyone else? Who has subscribed to me? Continue…

TV Ratings Ramblings

By Jaime Weinman - Tuesday, September 27, 2011 at 1:42 PM - 0 Comments

First of all, this doesn’t look so far like a particularly strong TV season. I know that can be said every fall, but occasionally there’s a time when it’s not true – fall of 2009 was very strong, producing many network shows that are still on the air now (Modern Family, The Good Wife, Community, Cougar Town, The Middle, NCIS: LA, Vampire Diaries) and generally a decent level of quality. The current crop of shows is much weaker, and even the stuff with promise is a bit underwhelming: 2 Broke Girls started with a promising pilot, and then turned out a truly rotten second episode that somehow suggested that Michael Patrick King liked all the stuff that didn’t actually work in the pilot. (The show may yet get better, and will probably run a while, but I won’t be watching it regularly; I just don’t trust King as a writer.) That leaves Pan Am, Revenge and New Girl as the shows that have potential to be both successful and good, and there are plenty of warning signs with those, too.

Midseason may change some of this, as there are some promising shows being held for midseason, though unfortunately many of those are on NBC (Smash and Awake, which seems likely to be the most acclaimed drama pilot of the season), which has no ability to launch a hit drama. It still seems to be shaping up as a difficult season for the broadcast networks: with cable becoming more fragmented and fractured, and with cable networks not quite the drama powerhouses they were two years ago, it would seem like the perfect moment for broadcast to swoop in and re-assert itself, but they don’t have the shows.

That’s reflected in the ratings. For some reason ratings don’t interest me as much as they did last season – last season I was quite assiduously checking the ratings and hoping my favourite shows wouldn’t be canceled; this Continue…

Retailers slash prices on RIM’s Playbook

By macleans.ca - Tuesday, September 27, 2011 at 12:06 PM - 3 Comments

With a new operating system on the way and sales still stagnant, some Canadian retailers are trimming prices on Research In Motion’s Playbook tablet. Best Buy, Staples and Future Shop have all sliced $100 off the price of all models of the product, which was was launched in April to disappointing sales. Research In Motion is expected to offer an upgraded operating system for the tablet in October.

CTV News

Russian finance minister pushed out of office

By macleans.ca - Tuesday, September 27, 2011 at 12:04 PM - 0 Comments

Russian Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin is no longer in government after an open row with President Dmitry Medvedev. Kudrin angered Medvedev when, citing spending disagreements, he publicly stated that he would refuse to serve once Vladimir Putin is reinstated as president next year. Medvedev called Kudrin an “irresponsible chatterbox,” calling on him to consider resigning immediately. It is unclear whether Kudrin ended up being fired or if he resigned from his post as finance minister. Kudrin was seen as an economic liberal who oversaw Russia’s recovery during its oil boom years, and spearheading tax policies that are credited with attracting foreign capital.

Sydney Morning Herald

Ending debate

By Aaron Wherry - Tuesday, September 27, 2011 at 11:59 AM - 13 Comments

The government announced after QP yesterday that it was tired of talking about it’s crime legislation and has since invoked closure to limit debate.

NDP House Leader Thomas Mulcair said the Official Opposition would offer to split the bill, allowing quick passage of the measures that have broad support and permitting time for debate on those items that remain contentious.

“Here we’re dealing with an important bill in the area of crime,” Mr. Mulcair said at a morning new conference. “It’s a bill where we haven’t been given an real estimate of the costs to the provinces.” The Conservatives, he said, “are trying to shove this down the throats of Parliamentarians. There will be no full debate on this bill of on its costing.”

The projected cost of one crime bill continues to increase.

Cheney defies protesters, defends record before Vancouver appearance

By macleans.ca - Tuesday, September 27, 2011 at 11:49 AM - 16 Comments

Former U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney defended his track record in office and dismissed the claims of protesters ahead of his appearance at a Vancouver book club Monday. Speaking with the Globe and Mail, Cheney defended his support of the controversial waterboarding technique used to extract information from senior al-Qaeda operatives. He also stood behind his hawkish advocacy for the U.S. invasion of Iraq, insisting that the world is a better place now that Saddam Hussein is gone, adding that the “war on terrorism” has been worth the cost—both human and financial. Many people were angry that Cheney was allowed to enter Canada, saying his frank support of torture and his support of an “illegal” war in Iraq qualify as crimes against humanity. Some have called for his arrest on war crimes, while others—including a federal NDP MP—wanted him to be barred from Canada. Cheney was in Vancouver at a $500-a-plate dinner to promote his new memoir, In My Time.

The Globe and Mail

Militants in Egypt attack gas pipeline

By macleans.ca - Tuesday, September 27, 2011 at 11:46 AM - 0 Comments

Suspected Islamist militants bombed three branches of a gas pipeline in eastern Egypt Tuesday. The Sinai Peninsula attack targeted lines leading to Jordan, Israel and Egypt’s domestic market. Officials told the Associated Press “extremist millitants inspired by al-Qaeda” were likely responsible. The peninsula has been increasingly unstable since Egypt’s then president Hosni Muburak was toppled in February.

Associated Press

Missing British girl found in Montreal

By macleans.ca - Tuesday, September 27, 2011 at 11:35 AM - 0 Comments

A British girl allegedly abducted by her mother three years ago has been found in Montreal. Pearl Gavaghan Da Massa, now seven, disappeared with her mother from Manchester in 2008. Since then, she’s been spotted in Mexico, Texas and Toronto. The girl and her father returned to England Sunday night. The mother remains in Canadian custody.

CTV

Stocks rise as talk of more bailout funds for Greece swirls

By macleans.ca - Tuesday, September 27, 2011 at 11:29 AM - 0 Comments

Speculation that European leaders will increase funds available for eurozone bailouts raised stocks Tuesday, despite resistance to the idea from many German politicians. The German parliament is set to hold a crucial vote on Thursday regarding the issue. Mindful of opposition to a beefed-up bailout fund, German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble denied any plans to directly inject more money into the fund, implying there may be a way to leverage more money into it, like an equity fund. German Chancellor Angela Merkel has been steadfast in her position that Greece will not default on its sovereign debt. She is scheduled to meet with Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou Tuesday night to discuss that country’s latest austerity legislation. Economic advisors to the German and French governments released an open letter recently that urged policymakers to allow Greece to write off 50 per cent of its debt. In order to remain solvent, Greece needs an addition 8 billion euros. But even if they receive the funding, most analysts are predicting a Greek default in the coming months.

Reuters

Less worse off

By Aaron Wherry - Tuesday, September 27, 2011 at 10:55 AM - 13 Comments

Stephen Gordon considers how much credit the government can take for our relatively good economic situation.

What of the role of the federal government? The proper way to evaluate policy is to consider the counterfactual: what would have happened if the federal government had behaved differently? I can think of many ways that the government could have made things much worse — the spending cuts that were its initial reaction were certainly ill-conceived. But since that austerity program was abandoned, it’s hard to point to a serious error that significantly deepened and/or prolonged the recession.

So the Conservatives cannot claim all the credit for those cross-country differences: Canada was luckier than the United States and the other G7 countries. The best it can say is that it didn’t make any serious mistakes that made the recession significantly worse.