My latest column in the Gateway addresses the folly of out-of-touch politicians who really shouldn’t be dabbling in dark arts they don’t understand — namely, social networking.
One could fill countless pages with examples of bad posts, tweets, and updates by elected reps from all parties and levels of government, but it already goes without saying that when it comes to the Internet, many are just doing it wrong. Edmonton-Calder MLA Doug Elniski of the provincial Conservatives learned that lesson the hard way when his misogynist updates shamed him into all but wiping out his web presence back in June. Even cultural minister Lindsay Blackett fired up some Internet trolls with some embarrassingly arrogant remarks posted live to Twitter during the controversial debate surrounding Bill 44.
Please, oh furies and fates, never allow me to be robbed at gunpoint by this.
It’s gonna take a lot to drag me away from yoooooouuuuu
There’s nothin’ that a hundred men or more could ever dooooooo
I bless the rains down in Aaaaafricaaaaaaa
A chap named Patrick Moberg has assembled a rather apt collection of social networking services, illustrated as their various comparable drugs.
Because everyone’s getting on the reblogging train today…
The original conversation between Paul and Ryan, who think Daniel Day Lewis should be on more magazine covers.
Paul: DDL. Teen heartthrob. Covers of Tigerbeat, J-15, astro. WIN: A milkshake date with DDL!
Ryan: DDL SPOTTED WITH THE JO-BROS?
Paul: INSIDE: THREE PULL OUT POSTERS OF DDL!
Ryan: DDL’S SECRET RENDEZVOUS WITH MILEY: WHO GAVE WHO THE PROMISE RING?
Paul: plus: Are you a JoBro die-hard or a DDL BFF? Quiz on page 35, 36 & 65!
Valve sometimes seems like the dominant party in an abusive relationship. They break promises, they never show up on time, and Gabe Newell can rarely hold his liquor at public functions, but then they come home with a bouquet of flowers, and all their past misdeeds are forgotten.
Anyone who’s survived to the end of Left 4 Dead 2’s Dark Carnival campaign will be familiar with the Midnight Riders. The bearded metal quartet has apparently succumbed to the zombie holocaust, but their concert set makes for an intense final stand. The survivors escape, and it’s the last we hear of the southern badasses.
But now, they’ve got their own website. No mere image placeholder, the Midnight Riders homepage comes complete with a tour blog, band member profiles, an album track list with online singles, and a tour t-shirt. To see Valve put so much effort into what started as a one-off gag is impressive to say the least, and might suggest that we haven’t seen the last of the Riders.
It’s good to be back. Feels like I haven’t done one of these things for almost two months.
Thanks, as always, to my friend and associate Lucas for the writing.
This Saturday, the CW will premiere Turtles Forever.
It’s a crossover between the current cartoon, the 80s cartoon of my own youth, and, from the looks of it, the original black-and-white comic-book turtles. Considering the drastic differences between character personalities and tone in all three, along with the usual caveats that come with cartoon crossovers, this has the potential to be amazing or awful.
As Aaron Stewart-Ahn said on Twitter, The Wire is “… perhaps the closest US TV has ever come to a landmark novel.”
I finished the series earlier this year, and have yet to find a story, be it television, film, or literature, that captures and weaves together a portrait of modern urban landscape so well. The Wire isn’t a show about police, or drug dealers, or about politicians or criminals; it’s a show about the city, and how the people within it utterly need one another for survival, for better or for worse.
It goes without saying that the following clip contains spoilers from all five seasons, so if you haven’t watched the show yet, I strongly recommend you check it out yourself first.
