from the "I don't like Mondays" dept.

Remember me?

Canwest has announced that the National Post is going to take Mondays off all summer. In an effort to trim costs (they've already trimmed quality) the Post will be published 5 times a week. Not that it matters to many of you -- the Post isn't even available in large swaths of Canada.

"CanWest has $3.9 billion in debt and is negotiations with bondholders and lending banks in a bid to avoid filing for bankruptcy protection. It owns the Global television network and a string of daily newspapers from British Columbia east into Quebec, but those papers won't be similarly affected by the Monday black-outs, the report said." [MORE]

That leaves us with Toronto's national newspaper and, if you're lucky, the New York Times in addition to your local paper.

May I make a suggestion? THE INTERNET!

News, hot and fresh from the Interpherewebablogs!

Cheers!

Doug

from the "infectious music" dept.

La la la

Stephan Zielinski, an amateur music composer based in San Francisco, has created a song based on the swine flu (H1N1) virus.

"Using computer programs he created himself, as well as a commercial product, Zielinski composed his song by assigning instruments and musical notes to various properties of the protein." [MORE]

CNN has the story here. And you can listen to the infectious song here. No video, unfortunately -- just close your eyes and imagine a virus and your body attacking it.

Cheers!

from the "love/hate" dept.

Why I love Julia Roberts:




Why I hate Glenn Beck:

CLICK HERE!

from the "change we can see" dept.

The White House is releasing their official photos on Flickr. These photos offer a behind-the-scenes view of the daily goings on in Obama's house/office. Here's a couple of examples:





More cool stuff is HERE.

[h/t: KT]

Cheers!

from the "swine flu answers" dept.

Here's my handy Swine Flu infomation website:

www.swine-flu-answers.com

Cheers!

from the "hope your insurance is paid up" dept.

In Russia, pothole drive you. That's the theme of this video that captures hapless drivers as they barrel into a ginormous pothole. Lookout!!



[h/t: Gadling]

from the "we're all the same" dept.

What happens when the world comes together though music? Magic.

From PlayingForChange.com

"As we made our way around the world we encountered love, hate, rich and poor, black and white, and many different religious groups and ideologies. It became very clear that as a human race we need to transcend from the darkness to the light and music is our weapon of the future. This song around the world features musicians who have seen and overcome conflict and hatred with love and perseverance. We dont need more trouble, what we need is love. The spirit of Bob Marley always lives on.

This is the fourth Song Around The World video released from the CD/DVD Playing For Change: Songs Around The World and the follow up to the classics "Stand By Me," "One Love" and "Don't Worry." This unforgetable track was performed by musicians around the world adding their part to the song as it traveled the globe."

Buy the CD/DVD here:

Oh, and here are the first three releases:

Stand By Me

Don't Worry

One Love

And just for fun, because it so captures the spirit of travel:

Cheers!

from the "leaving a mark" dept.

I've always had a spot spot for animation. From big buck Hollywood fare to small budget indy creations. The time involved in staggering.

A case in point: This video for the band the Firekites. The song is called "Autumn Story" and the entire video was shot using chalkboard drawings. It's pretty amazing stuff:


Firekites - AUTUMN STORY - chalk animation from Lucinda Schreiber on Vimeo.

[h/t BBH]

Cheers!

from the "kick off the weekend with a smile" dept.

Let's get the weekend started with some inspiration:



More?



Cheers!

from the "bordering on the absurd" dept.

The BBC has a story about the border between Armenia and Turkey that has, with the exception of a short period in the 1990s, been closed since 1927.

"Armenia has been commemorating the 1915 mass killings of Armenians by Ottoman Turks - and a Cold War-style closed border remains a symbol of that deep scar. [... MORE ...]"

Perhaps a border expedition to this part of the world is in order?