Happy long weekend, everyone! How are you spending Victoria Day? I think we all know how good ol’ Mayor Ford will be spending it. But really, drug abuse is a serious, horrible thing, so as much pleasure as we are all taking in this final epic fall he is taking for being the ULTIMATE anti-drug hypocrite, it’s important to remember that if it all turns out to be true – this man has a serious problem and he needs help. But first and foremost, he needs to get the hell out of office. 

Speaking of office, did anyone else watch The Office series finale? It made me sad of course, but I didn’t love it. I know Michael was just making a cameo, but if he’s gonna come back, let him come back and be Michael! That was a little disappointing. It felt more like a finale for the cast of this season rather than a finale for the entirety of the show.

Anyhow, the links:

• 10 Embarrassing Moments From Rob Ford (Possibly Explained By Crack Cocaine) It really does help explain away most of these ‘incidents.’
• Help get the video out by donating money before Ford buys it!! They’re almost at $30,000 already and it’s only a few hours in. This can happen. And if it doesn’t, they’re donating the money to CAMH, which is an incredible organization that does great work for people with addiction and mental health issues.
• Twitter reaction to crackgate. Oh my.
• What We Do and Do Not Know About Rob Ford and Drug Use I hate the man for destroying my city, so it was of course easy to jump on the hell yes, fuck you Ford, bandwagon, but Torontoist presents some very valid points here.
• Elektra Records founder Jac Holzman: ‘Apps are in every artist’s future’. Truth.
• Rdio And Shazam Expand Full Music Track Streaming Partnership To UK, Canada, Australia, Brazil And Mexico. Finally.
• Shazam Is Generating Big Bucks for iTunes and Amazon. This is the future of music, labels can’t claim digital is harmful anymore.
• Rock the microphone: Shazam unveils the top tagged music of 2012. Oh god. Sadly this is what the general population is listening to.
• The Ten Worst Bands of the Nineties. Apparently Rolling Stone did a poll and somehow (aka in a desperate attempt for pageviews) they put Nirvana as an option – and they came in 5th. Nirvana is the 5th worst band of the 90s??!! According to who? Probably the people who Shazamed the music in the link above…
• How Music Blogging Landscape Has Changed.
• Our Favourite Toronto Music Blogs – I got a nice little shout out on View the Vibe as one of their fave bloggers, the write up is too kind!
• Take a sad song and make it better: Listening to downbeat music helps people get over a break-up. I realize this is a ‘tell me something I didn’t already know’ link, but apparently the general consensus is that you should listen to happy music when you’re sad? God knows when I’m unable to eat, sleep, stop crying and leave my bed, the last thing I want to hear is a fucking Carly Rae Jepson song. But I am known for my love of sadsack music, so I digress.
• Mother of Alice in Chains front man sues dead son’s bandmates.
• LimeWire to Pay Labels $105 Million to Settle Copyright Suit. Really? I think I last used LimeWire almost a decade ago.
• 30 Unconventional Business Cards. If you recall my business cards, you’ll know I’m all about a memorable card. Everything else just gets tossed.
• This Is The Most Epic Brand Meltdown On Facebook Ever. Absolutely hilarious, but also, kind of sad and scary. Watch the Kitchen Nightmares episode if you haven’t, these people are the definition of lunatic. This woman needs years of extreme therapy, and a husband that isn’t a creepy enabler.
• Pete Cashmore: Top 10 Things My Generation Likes. The Times issue all about the Millennials is quite inspiring. We’re not all that bad, or so they say. The idea that we’re all entitled spoiled brats needs to go, for once and for all.
• My Medical Choice. So Angelina Jolie’s surgery was big news this week. I hate to play devil’s advocate on a touchy subject, but I can’t help but have it cross my mind that she really just wanted her boobs back after 3 kids sucking out their glory, and this provides an easy out for the “omg you bought new tits!” insults she would otherwise get. Of course, I think it’s awesome to be proactive about your health and she definitely tested high, so I shouldn’t be such a cynic, but it does seem like convenient timing. Breast removal and implants are incredibly extreme before you even have any kind of cancer, but more power to her. The normal female population can’t really afford to do such a thing.
• Are foodies quietly killing rock-and-roll? Heh, I can’t imagine life without either.
• HELLO! magazine shames Canada and beauty by naming Avril Lavigne Most Beautiful Canadian. No, really. Why not just put Rob Ford on there with his crack pipe?
• Metal Concert Bracelets - would you wear this? Unless it’s solid gold I get really bad reactions to jewelry (I’ve had my ears pierced no less than 5 times in the same spot because of bad reactions – finally gave up) so I know it would probably be a nightmare for me, but even-so, I’m not sure I would want to wear that. Concert bracelets are annoying enough when they’re just plastic.
• Portraits of Soldiers Before, During, and After War. This is quite stunning.
• Guys: Holding A Guitar Makes You More Attractive. It’s science, guys. You don’t even have to know what to do with it, just hold it. Panties will drop. But really, it’s an instant visual cue to women that you are potentially ‘sensitive’ and in touch with your emotions, and that’s all we really want.
• Finally, our man in space returned this week, but not before making this crazy cover of David Bowie’s “Space Oddity,” IN SPACE. Truly, Chris Hadfield is the coolest astronaut of all time:

Anita is a look back at what the exact moment where sexual harassment became a valid work problem that is taken seriously. Prior to Anita Hill infamously speaking out against the sexual harassment she endured working for Clarence Thomas, this kind of treatment was tolerated by women (and men) because they didn’t know they had any other option. She gave us all a voice and right to speak up without the risk of losing our jobs.

I was so young when she did this for feminism that I didn’t even realize I have her to thank for the times where I’ve felt uncomfortable at work and been able to do something about it. The beauty of this film is that it is educating my generation and those women younger than me on what she did for us, and how different the world was just 20 years ago. How acceptable that kind of workplace abuse was. I feel so incredibly lucky to have been born in the time of history that I was.

It was startling to watch her give her testimony facing a large panel of old white men, as they interrogated her and accused her of man hating, revenge, bitterness and lying. They tried to tear her apart because she was honest, and yet she remained calm and poised throughout the entire process. I have no idea how she did it. She deserves a medal from every woman. As if it wasn’t bad enough that she suffered through his harassment the first time, they put her up there and did everything they could to humiliate her in front of the entire world, making her relive every minute detail.

And of course, in the end, they didn’t even care about her testimony. Thomas made it into a racial issue (which is such crap considering she shares his race) and nothing ever happened to him. He took his seat on the Supreme Court and she had to move to another state to avoid all the death threats and harassment she endured after it was over. That in itself is depressing, but the film makes it very clear that what she did is an act of heroism that will be remembered for generations to come.

Thank you Anita.

Kathleen Hanna is another fascinating, inspiring woman to my generation. As much as I could never really get into the whole riot grrrl scene because of my aversion to vocals that involve screaming, I have incredible respect for its place in the third wave of feminism that sparked because of the injustices faced by women like Anita Hill at the time.

While I never really enjoyed Bikini Kill’s sound, I did like Le Tigre to some degree, but I was never quite interested enough to dig into their story. This film definitely made me realize what I was missing out on, and how incredible Kathleen was (and still is).

She is exactly the kind of person I aspire to be – and I have been living by her manifesto, despite not being particularly aware, of it all along. Her “ALL GIRLS TO THE FRONT” mentality at shows is literally the best concept in music history, ever. EVERY BAND SHOULD DO THIS. The way they explained it in the film made me so happy, because men don’t seem to realize that they make such a hostile environment for women at shows – or they do realize and they just don’t care. The last thing I want to deal with is getting head butted by moshers (this has happened to me) because I’m at the front trying to actually see the band. If the male population were kind enough to do that shit in the back, and stand back so that women who are generally at least 5 inches shorter, could actually see the stage – the concert going experience would be oh so wonderful for everyone.

I wish I could have went to a Bikini Kill show just to be a part of a concert where there was a priority put on women actually being comfortable/having a stage sight-line.

The look into her health issues and the decision to end Le Tigre was also insightful. Lyme disease is something most people (myself included) certainly don’t understand, and it went a long way to explaining how dreadful the disease can be – especially when it makes a singer lose control of her most precious asset – her voice. I also loved when she talked about meeting Adam Horovitz and feeling conflicted about dating someone who sang such sexist songs in those early Beastie Boys days, and how you don’t choose who you fall in love with.

If you are at all interested in 90s music culture, feminism, riot grrrls or just want to see a doc about a groundbreaking artist, make it a point to see The Punk Singer.

I’ll admit I was fairly uninterested in the whole Pussy Riot thing. I heard about it non stop to the point where I just decided to tune it out. Again, not being all that into the riot grrrl scene, I just didn’t pay much attention. When I hear Peaches is involved in something I kind of lose interest, as it always tends to feel like a spectacle.

Of course, seeing Pussy Riot – A Punk Prayer made me feel foolish for not paying attention. It is scary to me that this kind of church meets state environment still exists in what looks like a modern part of the world. They were doing nothing more than what Kathleen Hanna and the riot bands did 20 years ago, but they are in jail for it!

The best part of Hot Docs is that it shocks me into remembering just how lucky I am to be living where I do, in the age that I do. After watching the injustice these girls are going through, I am thanking my lucky stars that I do not live in Russia. It literally boggles my mind that things could still be so backwards in a developed country – but religion makes people act in very strange (ungodly) ways.

Can you imagine being sent to jail for 2 YEARS for just barely starting to sing a ‘punk rock’ song in a church? It’s absurd. I agree that it was crossing a line since so many people were offended by it, and they could have maybe banned them from the church for life or something – but putting them in jail away from their babies for years because they created art in public? Insane.

The film gives these women faces, families, and history – which is something you don’t get through our exploitative news. Watching their parents talk about how they were as kids, and how they grew into feminist artists trying to move their part of the world forward in the same way that Kathleen Hanna did, makes it a must see. It’s also inspiring to hear them talk during sentencing – the fearlessness these women have for the message they are trying to spread of equality for all women is so powerful. I know that when they get out they will continue to create positive change and hopefully help move Russia into the current decade.

Well hello Friday. This has been a wonderful week purely for the fact that Rob Ford got removed from office. Ex-Mayor indeed!! Oh happy day. Unfortunately he will be able to run again, but I have faith that all the misguided people who were silly enough to vote for him last time will have now learned from their huge mistake after witnessing just how terrible he has been for this city.

Tonight, the final Friday Night Live at the ROM happens! And tomorrow the Juno concert series hits the Horseshoe yet again. These shows are always amazing because it’s such a mix of the best talent in the city, and they are singing cover songs, which always makes for a great night. You should go!

Anyhow, here are the links:

• Justin Bieber homecoming marred by fashion gaffe, Grey Cup boos His people have banned publications from reviewing his show – If I were him I would embrace the negative press, it’s only gonna make his Beliebers more sympathetic and in love with him.
• Rob Ford’s self-inflicted downfall In case you missed it.
• Toronto Mayor Rob Ford to appeal his ouster
• Toronto fired the greatest mayor of all time This is funny. It’s true, he gave us a lot of material, but mostly he just made me rage. He needs to stay in Etobicoke for good this time. Someone who hates Toronto and all that it stands for never should have made it into City Hall in the first place.
• AroarA: Broken Social Scene member Andrew Whiteman’s poetic new band I love this guy.
• Wu Lyf to split up? I’m not sure if there has been an update since then, but I certainly hope they’re not. One of the best new bands around, truly.
• Jeff Tweedy Q&A: Wilco frontman rails against ageism and ‘dad rock’ label Wilco is definitely not dad rock. Wilco is amazing. Dad rock is derogatory because it means bands like Dave Matthews and that kind of adult alternative horrible music. Also, not all dads have horrible taste, btw.
• Three things young women in business need to know Very good advice, I have definitely lost out in the past by not speaking up.
• Andrew W.K. named cultural ambassador to the Middle East by US Department of State This is hilarious/awesome.
• Family members drown after jumping into ocean to save dog; dog survives I would go in after Mr Bojangles, so I get this, and it is sooo fucking sad. Dogs are family, you wouldn’t let your sibling drown would you? But this still sucks.
• If you don’t love dogs we can never get married Yep. If I let you meet my dog and you don’t feel the joy that I experience every time I look at him, I will probably think you’re not a very nice person.
• That Facebook copyright thing is meaningless and you should stop sharing it Seriously. Stop.
• Two and a Half Men star sees the light, tells viewers to stop watching his filthy show Whoa religion. Apparently he took it all back, probably when he realized the show would boot him and sue him?
• Reasons why Los Angeles is the worst place ever This article got a lot of comments on Twitter, most people agreed with it (as I certainly do), and even people that live there found it funny, but there were some defensive types. I get it, when the rest of Canada shits on Toronto I get annoyed too, and LA does have its good points (weather, ocean – but really that’s it) but no one is going to convince me it belongs on my top 10 cities list. My LA experience was as close to a nightmare as it gets. It’s so weird to me that NYC gets the rep of “rude people” when LA was the one American city where I felt completely helpless and on my own – New Yorkers have always been amazing to me.
• Least influential people of 2012 Mitt Romney. LOL.
• The Onion: Grandson has long hair Hahahhaha. The best.
• Finally, Poor Young Things have a new video for one of their best songs, check it out:

A late TGIF for you because my Friday was busy! Here’s some good reads to keep you occupied this weekend:

• Romney blames loss on Obama’s ‘gifts’ to minorities and young voters Says the richest man in America… okay…
• Anonymous warns Israel: ‘No one cuts internet on our watch!’ This whole Isreal situation is getting a little scary.
• Propaganda 2.0: Why Israel and Hamas are fighting a war with rockets and tweets But it’s interesting to see the role social media is playing in a literal war.
• Is Hamas winning the Twitter war?
• Gaza conflict slideshow
• The laws of money and meaning My favourite link of the week. You can be financially successful and meaningfully useful, they are not independent!
• High-fiber Pepsi: the choice of a new, weird generation Because we won’t stop consuming the shitty things we were raised on, so adding ‘healthy’ things to them makes it more justifiable to keep killing our insides.
• Projecto: the tiny Instagram projector Just what we need.
• Facebook announces a new “want” button This is a brilliant idea actually. Not only does it give your friends and family ideas on what to get you for your birthday/Christmas, but it allows you to easily keep tabs on items you want. (I know pinterest does this already, but I think the want button will be more omnipresent).
• It happened to me: I’m a feminists with fake tits I don’t know where I stand on this exactly. My immediate reaction was, wow that girl is an idiot for not seeing how that is an actual impossibility, but as I read it, I kinda think she is right. Being a feminist shouldn’t mean you have to accept things you’ve never liked about your body. We would never crucify someone for straightening their hair, wearing make up, getting braces… yet these are all things we do to meet the standard of beauty. How is getting boobs any different? I am all for any kind of beauty treatment that doesn’t involve cutting yourself open (always seemed too extreme) but if I was in her situation I might understand going as far as surgery. I don’t have to worry about a flat chest, but if I did, I’d probably want to do something about it too. It made her more confident in her body, and anything that helps people feel confident should be a good thing, no? Of course there is the fact that boobs are so sexualized and how can you call yourself a feminist if you want to play into that oversexualization of a body part that exists to feed children, but feminism is about the right to do what you want with your own body, and about equal rights for both sexes – having fake tits doesn’t change that.
• Study: classical music de-stresses dogs I would try this on Mr Bojangles, but I don’t like classical music.
• Music app of the month: Sleepytime Nice idea.
• A beginner’s guide to buying your first turntable If you don’t already have one (and you should!) they offer some great advice.
• How a Toronto band got its stolen gear back Love this.
• Constellation Records reflects on 15 years of surviving in the music biz (I have no idea why CBC links always show up with a line through them???)
• Emergency services respond to early-morning Queen West blaze There has been two fires within this little block I happen to live in within the past couple weeks… some conspiracy theorists think something weird is up. I think it’s just what happens with these really old buildings sometimes. It forced me to finally check my fire alarm batteries…
• Video: pre-fame Ryan Gosling, Shania Twain, Drake unearthed in vaults of Canadian Morning Show This is funny.
• Video: Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy and Dawn McCarthy – “Christmas Eve Can Kill You” Love Willie.
• Vote now on the 2012 Bucky awards long list Do it.
• If you’ve ever wondered why MTV (and MuchMusic) stopped playing music videos, here’s the best/most truthful answer you’ll ever hear…“We might as well change our name to iTunes Music Store TV, and you’d complain that we don’t play enough Pavement, REM and Nirvana.”:

Welcome to the weekend, friends. Another historic week just happened and I couldn’t be happier. Here in Canada we are stuck with the evil robot Harper running our country, so it gives us all hope to see a far more conservative country like the United States keep my man Obama in office for a second term. This guy has history written all over him. First African American president, and the first to be re-elected with such a low unemployment rate in so many decades. OH AND WEED IS LEGAL IN TWO STATES! That this happened in the States before Canada blows my mind – I even had to write about it for work this week. The fact that the race seemed close really had me scared for a while, but America did the right thing and kept their robot out of office. Hopefully the NDP and Liberals will come together and we will be able to take our robot out for good in 2015.

Now, for the links:

• The mercurial candidates: Mercury vs. Polaris Two solid prizes go head to head.
• The 25 greatest Canadian guitarists ever I don’t quite agree with the order of the 10 ten, but still a good list.
• 65 best quotes of Election 2012 Hilarious.
• Bill O’Reilly: the white establishment is the minority And this is why the Republican lost. Geez, seriously can not believe these people.
• White people mourning Romney Even more hilarious (but also slightly scary. Seriously?)
• 18 musicians react to Barack Obama’s presidential election victory Love it.
• Are you building a culture of content? One of the best articles you can read about content marketing.
• How to tell your company’s story Further to the link above, 8 simple questions to ask in order to easily tell your story.
• Hollerado announce sophomore album: ‘White Paint’ YAY/Finally!
• Nickelback’s Chad Kroeger paid a drum tech $375 to put his penis in a fan Just because we all need to be reminded about how gross/what an awful douche this guy is.
• Proof that Jeff Mangum is a time travelling Nazi hunter The weirdest theory you’ll read about one of my all time favourites.
• NDP MP urges Conservatives to realize reality of Canadian artists AKA another reason why Harper sucks hard.
• Finally, this time lapsed video of Toronto is incredibly beautiful and makes me super proud to live here. Our city rules: