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Tuesday May 10, 2005
Mercy kill
One assumes, if nobody’s playing any really exotic games we’ve yet to figure out, that today's vote was a preview of the next vote – the one the Liberals will have no choice but to recognize. So please, for the love of God, let’s put this parliament out of its misery, get the election over with, and get on with our summers.
I don’t much want a spring campaign…but if we’ve gotta have one, I’d rather it be over five weeks from now than seven or eight.
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Adam Radwanski
Admit it...the suspense is killing you
Like other people did yesterday, I met with someone(s) I can’t talk about today, and talked about things I can’t tell you about, in a location I’m not allowed to disclose.
I’ll can tell you, though, that it was a lot more fun to slag certain people before discovering they’re so damn likeable.
I can also tell you the review of last Friday’s Weezer concert is now up in the music area.
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Adam Radwanski
If she could dredge up stuff from the '70s, I can remember three years ago
So Marilyn Churley is running for the NDP in Beaches-East York.
Since I’d ideally like to see the NDP a little better represented in downtown Toronto, I’d normally be keen on this. But for aforementioned Bob Hunter reasons (see May 3), I just can’t cheer on this woman getting a promotion.
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Adam Radwanski
Believe it or not, it's the truth
Two things about the new Oasis album:
1.) Two Noel-fronted tracks, Mucky Fingers and The Importance of Being Idle, sound like nothing you’ve come to expect…in a very good way.
2.) The first five tracks, as a whole, are the best sustained run the Brothers Gallagher have had since Morning Glory. It tails off after that, aside from the typically epic album closer, but the opening half alone is more than enough to recommend it.
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Adam Radwanski
Monday May 9, 2005
Quick take
For McGuinty, Saturday’s deal was pretty perfect. He now has an extra billion-plus per year to play with, which can’t hurt. And he gets to say his “campaign for fairness” is bearing fruit. But he doesn’t have to abandon it, thereby depriving himself of the issue that’s saving his premiership, because he’s only gotten a small portion of what he was asking for, with no indication from either side that it’s the be-all and end-all.
For Martin, though, it seems pretty useless, at least from a purely political perspective. Sure, it doesn’t hurt to let Ontarians know he’s thinking about them. But by continuing to drain federal coffers without buying any sort of long-term peace, he may have gotten the worst of all worlds.
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Adam Radwanski
Role reversal
My review of Weezer’s Friday night show is in today’s Post.
Really, it was the exact oppose of the Ryan Adams gig three nights earlier. There, the crowd brought down what could’ve been a pretty fun night; this time, the paying public bailed out a rather mediocre stage show.
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Adam Radwanski
Friday May 6, 2005
For the record, I'll have been at the Post three years this summer
Question: Does having my doubts about the Liberals’ sudden interest in Darfur make me a cynical bastard?
Read today's column (not here, yet) and decide for yourself.
Of course, one thing that I barely even touched on is that, however good their intentions, this particular plan for ending the bloodshed seems to have all kinds of potential to go completely awry. But I'll wait until we have real, concrete details before leaping to conclusions.
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Adam Radwanski
Random music notes
Yesterday, I was driving around listening to the new Weezer album, and thinking it was pretty decent, if not spectacular. Then I switched to the radio for a moment, and by pure coincidence El Scorcho was on at that particular moment. And I was reminded that this could’ve been a great band, not just a very good one, if Rivers Cuomo hadn’t let the bad reviews at the time scare him away from keeping up with the evolution that Pinkerton hinted at.
Had my first listening session yesterday. Very strange experience…journalists sitting around a big table listening to an album that they’re basically sworn to secrecy on.
I’d tell you more, but, you know…the secrecy thing. I’ll just say that, much as the labels don’t have much choice if they’re going to keep their hottest products from leaking online, I’m not sure this is quite how music was meant to be heard.
There’s a bunch of new stuff over in the music area. Live review of Ryan Adams…rather effusive interview/write-up of Mando Diao…reviews of the Eels and Caesars discs, among others. Go nuts.
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Adam Radwanski
Wednesday May 4, 2005
Glad to see the lieutenant is handling the pressure so well
And here, you thought Joe Volpe was unremarkable. You know, it’s not just anyone who can pick a fight with Ezra Levant, and make Ezra look calm and rational by comparison.
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Adam Radwanski
Living up to Toronto stereotypes
The verdict on last night’s Ryan Adams gig?
Good performance, though it showed signs of starting to go off the rails a bit toward the end. Lousy audience.
More on this in a full review in tomorrow’s Post.
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Adam Radwanski
Tuesday May 3, 2005
(Green)peace out
Really a shame about Bob Hunter.
I interviewed Bob a few years ago for Pundit, back when he was running for the provincial Liberals in Beaches-East York. Fascinating guy. And he would’ve been a fascinating MPP, though I think he’d have proven more than a handful for McGuinty.
I hate even to bring this up, but there are several New Democrats I’ve never been able to stomach after what they did to him during that by-election campaign. Not that he likely would’ve won anyway. But trying to destroy the reputation of a decent guy – a guy they’d gladly have accepted as their own candidate – through completely scurrilous allegations was one of the most despicable things I’ve ever seen in politics.
Anyway, enough of that. The main thing is, it’s a shame Bob is gone. He was too young, and no doubt had a lot more in store for us if he’d been given the chance.
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Adam Radwanski
Stop laughing
I’m always a little mixed on Coner Oberst. Mega-talented, mega-interesting, but also mega-irritating if you’re in the wrong mood.
But there’s no denying it: Last night, the guy achieved the impossible. He made The Tonight Show seem cool.
Seriously. The dude turns up in front of Middle America on the safest, most comfortable, most predictable program on the continent, and sings When the President Talks to God. Wearing a completely ridiculous cowboy suit, hat and all.
To preserve whatever remains of my previously massive street cred, I should point out that I can’t attest for what happened in the first 56 minutes of last night’s show. But the last four were some of the best TV I’ve seen in quite a while.
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Adam Radwanski
Speaking of our favourite eccentrics...
The new Ryan Adams is rather good. If you liked Heartbreaker or the old Whiskeytown stuff, it’ll be right up your alley.
Funny thing about this album. If you put it on in the car, or as background at home, it comes off pretty bland. But if you actually sit down and give it its due, you’ll find yourself immersed pretty quickly.
If reviews of his recent shows are any indication, tonight’s gig at the Kool Haus promises to be a bit of a train wreck. But at the very least, I’m guessing there’s little danger of being bored.
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Adam Radwanski
Monday May 2, 2005
What he said
I’m a little late in pointing this out, but Ian Urquhart’s Saturday column in the Star was bang-on.
If media – and we’re all guilty here – were really interested in covering politics for the way it affects our lives, rather than treating it like a sporting event, provincial politics would get way more play than federal right now. That’s especially true in Ontario: Say what you will about McGuinty’s Liberals, but they’re hardly short on policy.
It’s pretty telling, I think, that from my desk in Don Mills I can write about federal politics with relative ease – because all that’s really going on is pure politicking, which is easy to grasp even from a slight distance. But I really can’t fake covering the day-to-day goings-on at Queen’s Park, because you actually have to be around the place nose-deep in legislation and daily debates to do them justice.
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Adam Radwanski
Saturday April 30, 2005
Believe the hype
I was a little nervous heading into the Horseshoe last night, considering the potential embarrassment of another act I’d heavily hyped and dragged several friends to turning out to be a dud (Brendan Benson, come on down). But Mando Diao redeemed me.
Put it this way: I bought the t-shirt. And I never buy the t-shirt.
Somewhat more detailed information to follow in that piece on these guys I’ve been promising for ages, which’ll run in the Post this Tuesday. But if you live in Vancouver, and you have any appetite whatsoever for solid, sweaty rock ‘n’ roll, then for crying out loud buy a ticket for next week’s show (their only other scheduled Canadian gig).
Oh, and the Comas were on their game, too…much better than at Lee’s a couple of months ago, where they were still pretty good. I told lead Coma Andy Herrod that when I ran into him in the washroom…but you’ll either be relieved or disappointed to know that I neglected to ask how he feels about his ex-girlfriend getting knocked up by Heath Ledger.
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Adam Radwanski
Signs of human life in our nation's capital
Yesterday, I got a call and an e-mail from a staffer for John Godfrey. She’d seen my column on why Jack Layton should focus his efforts on urban voters, and took issue with my passing suggestion that the government had more or less abandoned Martin’s “new deal for cities” pledge.
I don’t raise this because I’m offended that she called. Nor do I necessarily think she has a good case. But what impressed me – and it’s pathetic that this is all it takes to impress these days – is that she behaved like a normal human being.
Professional. Polite. Friendly, even. Having gotten used to far more amateurish responses from much more senior people, I felt like I should congratulate her just for not acting like a jerk.
Why is this woman wasting her time in the bowels of a junior ministry? Somebody promote her. Fast.
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Adam Radwanski
Because I know this has been top of your mind...
Apologies for the sparse posting of late. Had some connection problems at home, which is where I do my blogging. All better now, though, so fear not. Political junkies will still get their write-ups of bands they’ve never heard of, music fans will still get their comments on politicians they’ve never heard of, and everyone will live happily ever after.
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Adam Radwanski
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