January 14, 2008
Gibraltar Point Eroding, The Golden Globes Sucked, and RIP Murray Cohl and John O'Keefe
Waves eroding the tip of the Toronto Islands. A project to keep it from eroding will cost around $14 million, thus reminding us all once again that attempting to combat the effects of Mother Nature is a horribly costly experience, as anybody who has ever bought a jar of Oil of Olay knows full well.
Golden Globes without writers turn out to be massively boring. Number of people surprised by this: zero. In revenge for the strike, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association gave multiple awards to Sweeney Todd, which is adapted from a stage play and therefore the least-originally-written thing eligible for awards last night. (Also, Johnny Depp has wacky hair in it. Wacky.)
Brass Rail shooting a stupid, stupid accident. John O'Keefe was killed by a stray bullet intended for someone else, which actually makes the whole incident slightly worse in a way.
Murray "Dusty" Cohl dies of cancer at 78. Cohl was largely responsible for turning the Toronto International Film Festival into the massively important annual event it is today. He also always wore a cowboy hat, which is awesome.
Scientists bring dead animal heart back to life by repopulating it with healthy cells. HA! You laughed at those people who decided to go for cryonization, but who's laughing now, eh? (Well, not the cryonized people. They are in frozen tanks. And the ones who just froze their heads probably have to wait a long long time more. Good call there, Mr. "Oh One Day Science Will Figure It Out For Me.")
And finally, the Raptors beat the Portland Trail Blazers in double overtime.
Photo by Samie333 from the Torontoist Flickr Pool.
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Not to be anal, but the chap's surname was "Cohl," not "Cole"
I'll never understand how anyone finds awards shows interesting unless they're nominated.
I used to know Jonh O'Keefe. We called him 'crazy john' as he had these wild blue eyes that made him look crazy - that and the fact he kind of was. I remember one time he fell three stories off the roof of a freinds house trying to jump from roof to roof..fortunatly he was pretty drunk so he was fine. A sad news story for me and my freinds.
Rek: It's sort of like how some people find sports exciting even when they're only spectating: you have a favourite, you cheer them on (not that the cheering affects the outcome), and sometimes they win and sometimes they lose. With award shows, the tension comes from wondering whether this is the year the most deserving of the nominees actually takes the prize.
Dusty Cohl was one of Roger Ebert's best friends. His terrific obituary is here.
I am saddened by John O'Keefe's murder, not only because of the fact that it is yet another instance of someone being shot and killed by mistake (see Boxing Day 2005), but also because it involves one of my favourite Toronto bars (the Duke of Gloucester) and an area of the city where I spend a great deal of my time.
But beyond that, I am angry and frustrated by the lack of response the situation has received from our municipal government, The Brass Rail, and the Toronto police. Not to mention the general public. I just walked by the scene of the crime, and the only reference to the fact that someone tragically lost their life there is a red wreath in the shape of the heart. Where are the flowers, cards, and notes of protest we saw when Jane Creba was murdered?
Where's Mayor Miller and his denouncement of gun violence? Where's the action on the part of the federal and provincial government who seem to let this happend time and time again with little change implemented in terms of gun laws?
This could've happened to any of us who were out downtown on Friday night, and Toronto is bleeding as a result.
Fixed, therealshell.
If hollywood award shows were sporting events, they'd definitely be baseball games. 95% excruciating sitting around waiting for something interesting to happen, puncutated by the occasional burst of activity. Boooooooooring. :)
That's what you get for letting men write the news round up. Oil of Olay? Seriously? That's the best expensive skin cream you can come up with?
Crème de la Mer would be wasted on razor burn.
If John O'Keefe had a wife or children, or been 20 years younge, I bet there would have been much more attention paid by the masses... I heard a brief quote from his girlfriend yesterday but there was little to no concern about who he was and what will be missed. Tragic.
Also, I'm wondering: has there ever been a case in Toronto of someone using a gun and it saving their life? Ever? Anyone?
*20 years younger.
Actually John OKeefe did have a child....