Results tagged “rickmercer”

Photo by Gardinergirl from the Torontoist Flickr Pool.

Forget death and taxes: the one real constant in life is breathy local news coverage of almost any kind of weather. Watching TV news reporters acting bewildered by temperature fluctuations or any amount of precipitation, you'd be forgiven for thinking that the giant dome that has maintained the city's perfect 21° year-round weather for hundreds of years had just broken down, letting sandstorms, radiation, and monsters invade the city from the post-apocalyptic wasteland that surrounds it.

One of Canada's last World War One veterans dies at age 107. This leaves only two remaining Great War veterans, the last of whom to pass on is eligible for a state funeral, but neither are interested. Torontoist applauds their humility, because come on—we would totally be about a state funeral. With Gord Downie singing soulful hymns in the background! And Wayne Gretzky would give a tearful speech about what we meant to hockey! And Rick Mercer would—actually we're not sure what Rick Mercer would do, but we're sure it would be respectfully entertaining.

Garth Turner joins the Grits. Green Party leader Elizabeth May takes all her pictures of Turner out of their heart-shaped frames, burns the mash notes and holds press conference to say that Garth Turner is, quote, "dead to her." Turner, for his part, promises that in future he will address the feelings of any dissatisfied constituents by offering them the opportunity to participate in a referendum as to what color his new leathers should be: traditional black, or Liberal red-tinted.

ACTRA is officially on strike. If you are an actor, you have the day off. Except if you work for the Rick Mercer Report or the Royal Canadian Air Farce. Then you're shit out of luck.

When Canadians want satire we turn TV figures like Rick Mercer, but satire, that most difficult of comedic genres, is virtually dead in CanLit. Or is it? Randy Boyagoda's debut novel The Governor of the Northern Province is a satire so dark that you can almost hear all of the squirming amongst those expecting the typical Canadian novel. Boyagoda tells the story of Bokarie, an African war criminal who somehow escapes to Canada and finds his way into the circle of a small-town woman eager to make it to Parliament Hill and power. The novel skewers the peculiarities of small-town Canada, and some of the more ridiculous aspects of multiculturalism and immigration. In Boyagoda's hands literary satire isn't dead, it just might have a fighting chance.

Ahem. Yes, this week there are other films out than that film that we refuse to name in this post because we’re covering it enough already. There are plenty of other options, folks.

It's old news now, but just in case you didn't hear, Boing Boing editor and former Torontonian Cory Doctorow is one of three judges for the 2006 Blooker prize. The Lulu Blooker prize is awarded to the best non-fiction, fiction and comic books inspired by a blog (or blog turned into books). The most impressive title on the short list, in Torontoist's humble opinion is Julie Powell's Julie and Julia, the New York secretary that cooked every recipe in Julia Child's epic Mastering the Art of French Cooking. But we also have a soft spot for Toronto artist Ryan North's Dinosaur Comics. (pictured above)

Pop quiz: what do Canada and the blogosphere have in common, besides an inferiority complex? It's time to vote! If you're like us, today's trip to the polling station only whet your appetite for democracy, or at least for checking off a name in a decisive manner. Fortunately, you have another chance, as it's time to exercise your will online and vote for your favourite blogs.