Cory does it so he can blog about it.
The rest do it so Xeni can blog about it.

I do it, but nobody else is ever there.. so nobody believes me.

#23 - Blind people do it in the dark.

#3 - (hums) It burned burned burned, and weee're the ones that did it..

How is this story not the least bit surprising? "Oh we just paid him to reverse-engineered it, nothing wrong with that." Hmm, can we reverse-engineer the skin of News Corp's board of directors? I want to see what makes -them- tick.

and I thought that sex education was deficient in the U.S. This brings it to a whole 'nother level.

it's one thing to be woefully ignorant of the various things that fuel urban legends.. without that ignorance we wouldn't have the good folks at Mythbusters setting people straight (and teaching various bits of plain science to the unwashed masses)
but it's another thing to be so woefully ignorant that you believe "completely impossible shit" and thereby extrapolate that killing people is a good idea.

Hey African guys.. Mugabe is the guy that shrank your penes*, go make him pay for it.
(*not 'penii', people)

Takuan, please note that in my comment I said I was disturbed by what you wrote, not titillated.

Repeatedly bludgeoning an animal with a sledgehammer is not an acceptable method and may be illegal, depending on your location. You could always contact your local authorities and ask them to scrutinize your described technique, to see whether it fits your local statutes. I'm sure they would appreciate it.

My roommates and I were, at one point, thinking of switching to one of the "Bell re-sellers", since our current ISP (Rogers) is throttling the hell out of BitTorrent, and have since put data-transfer limits on a formerly-unlimited account. Of course, now those re-sellers are completely screwed, since you can't get a better deal with them than you could with Bell.
I am at a complete loss to see how this does not constitute an anti-competitive practice on their part.. seeing as how Bell unilaterally destroyed the one good thing about the re-sellers.

For those who don't know, a "downer" cow is a cow that is unable to stand on its own, due to illness or injury; by law they cannot be used for human consumption.

Takuan, you can post links to whatever videos you want. If it shows downer cows being properly disposed of according to legal statutes then that's just fine. If they show otherwise then I can only hope they're used as evidence in a court of law. I'm also disturbed by your near-pornographic description of how you would (evidently illegally) slaughter an animal.
By the way, that photo you posted is originally by Yann Arthus-Bertrand, and the boar is not Canadian (and not wild either). The movie poster was a nice touch, though. :)

Och, we're not in the habit of trying to "pass off" any meat as being something it's not. That'd be like trying to say that any steak is equivalent to one obtained from an Aberdeen Angus, which has been disproved in double-blind tests. I can personally attest that Angus steak over here in the colonies is tasty-good.
There were agreements in place to sell pigs to the U.S. but due to fluctuating market conditions the importers thought they might lose money and backed out of the agreements; that leaves a glut of product up here. As far as our meat being better than American meat, only a double-blind study could definitively prove that.

It may not be effective at keeping bugs away, but it'll certainly keep -me- away. Superstition = nutbaggery = I don't want to know you or give you my money.

#4: I am not surprised that quoting misinformation about the meat production industry (The Meatrix) is coupled with gross ignorance like "Let's say a wholesale pig is worth $800." *facepalms* Dude, you're on -the internet-. Facts are out there, please go find them.

#23: Since you took offense to the explanation provided above you, perhaps you could explain how "a weak American dollar versus a strong Canadian dollar, high feed prices due to American ethanol legislation" ARE in control of pig farmers? This I'd like to hear.

#30: We'd like to export more bacon to you in the U.S. Ask your farm lobby groups why that's not happening.

#50: your assertion that "much of the meat North Americans chow down on every day comes from animals that were frequently butchered while sensate" is patently incorrect. Law (at least here) dictates that livestock are stunned into unconsciousness before being bled to death. I've seen it done. No dramatic hyperbole required.

Those of you griping about health care or seal hunting: please stay on topic.

I submit that the title of the blog post ought to be changed. "For no reason" is quite misleading, and casts a pallor on the otherwise cool posts on this blog.

Yeah, um, evidently these people only have their heads halfways up their collective arses. Yes, SNL and Python did some brilliant stuff.. but please..

No "Not The Nine O'clock News"? Seriously, folks. Rowan Atkinson? C'mon. Watch this clip of The Judge: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z6KyA_KabNM or this clip of Constable Savage: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZoSqPxsNtU

No Frantics?? I realize that their stuff is hard to find, what with not being released on DVD (yet) and all (there's a petition online, go sign it) but Boot To the Head http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5kGUW6M7W0
and Dirty Words http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Q8AuX-9Hs4
are -classic-.

No MadTV? Their early years were head and shoulders above what SNL was doing at the time. Though, yeah, they've drifted some, I'll give you that.

Lastly, that gorilla suit skit is just offensive.

Oh and yes, Mr Show is funny. I'm glad you folks got to find that out.

Guys, setting up a Google Alert does not constitute that you "carefully track any references to Heinz." Seeing as they evidently will see this in their inbox within a couple of days I also want to say 'hello' and 'you have too much sugar in your products' :)

"I can't do that thing anymore,
I can't be the thing I was before,
maybe I am better off alone,
because I crush everything,
and I crush everything,
and I crush everything."

I find this whole thing hard to swallow. Harharharharhar.

Of course it's a rocketship.. just like on Death To Smoochy! "IT'S A ROCKETSHIP!" Man, I love that movie. And rocketship.

I was totally going to try this test myself, using all of my 128kbps mp3s. I especially like the really old ones that sound all 'swirly' when you play them. Audiophiles reprazent!

I managed to miss the last concert that SRV gave at my old university (UNB). It was at that same university that I played the music of Jeff Healey on college radio, when he was a rising star. I never got to meet Jeff, but I will always love his work. I hope with his passing many of the people who never got to know if him will finally realize his musical genius.

I can only hope that the inevitable tribute concert will be the send-off that he truly deserves. Someone call Mark Knopfler right now.

Record companies have ALWAYS been about making money for themselves, not about making money for their artists. The RIAA even more so. This is not news. (Ask Prince what he thinks about that topic)

It is amusing that the record companies that so blindly tithe to the RIAA have not held them accountable for their accounting (durr, someone call the irony police). Still, I wonder if the artists would have much left over after the RIAA and record companies took their "fair" share.

Dear record companies: either wake up or shut up. Re-learn your trade, ply your trade well, court your customers and EARN what they spend on your artists. Find a way for customers to buy and receive music from you -easier- than they can get it from unscrupulous means on the "Eviltubes". ;)

Dear artists: -screw- record companies. You don't need them. Find your fans, make music for them, make them want to love you, make them want to come see you play your music live for them.

Having too many fans accessing your material is a good problem to have. Hopefully they will switch to a torrent-based system to disperse the load from their servers.

Much approval to Trent for figuring out that CC helps promote music to fans. I look forward to the surround-sound and fan-remixed versions of the album which will surely surface in time.

Lastly, remember that not all CC licenses are created equal: there are many flavours of CC. Just saying "CC-licensed" doesn't necessarily mean that you can listen to it for free.

hey #12, you obviously didn't read the article; sorry.

I still can't understand why these supposed Christians can't treat scientists in a Christian manner. Love Thy Neighbour should apply to scientists too, but yet it evidently does not.
These people would be appalled if proper scientific rigour was ignored when creating drugs for them and their children to take, but yet they abhor proper scientific rigour in the study of Geology. Really, folks? Geology is your biggest worry in this world?

I think a better use for that plastic would be to make many many many more times' worth of plastic milk -bags- instead. I've never understood the whole "disposable milk jug" thing; it's just so wasteful.

I wanted to buy some preserved poop from Mohammed's magical flying horse but I believe it burned up upon re-entry.

the early days for me were FIDOnet Echoes via the BBSs and eventually I upgraded to UseNet when I could get online with my friend's university account - I had dropped out of university (the first time) by that point. (later I'd go back and get my bachelor and my masters!). Usenet posts showed us where all the good stuff was on the FTP sites, but if you were in a pinch you could always use Gopher to try to find something (though it never really worked well enough for me).

I still remember trying out Mosaic for the first time and thinking: "What? It's just FTP with pictures! Who the hell would use this?" Oh how very very wrong I was.

This just goes to show that it takes the blocking of a PRECIOUS highway in order to get Americans to take notice of a protest. If the students had their protest on or near their university grounds then NOBODY would give a shit what they were protesting about. (Don't tell me that you think differently, average person)

Any person or persons who take steps to thwart or otherwise disrupt their countryman's vote should be held to account for it. This includes people who misinform others about where and when to vote. I've seen and heard numerous examples of this and it absolutely sickens me.

Um, don't these stories get background-checked before getting posted on here? Cory!, you're getting lazy, dude. David Byrne reads your blog. It the kid was freakin' steampunk you'd have checked into it, right? C'mon.

Ignorance of science is the biggest barrier to the progress of science. Splicing a novel gene into rice is un-natural, certainly, but so is burning fuel in an internal-combustion engine. Internal-combustion engines DO NOT EXIST IN NATURE! So, by equivalent non-scientific reasoning, auto racing goes against God.

My work here is done.

Please tell me someone has set up a camera to record stop-motion of the wall being installed and then slowly decomposing.
If this has not been done then these people will have wasted a -wonderful- opportunity at an awesome stop-motion project.

So are we going to see another 100-post long discussion about the pros and cons of raising livestock? Ugh.

My $.02: If the folks who so vehemently preach either side of this (or any other) issue would take the time to do some research on WHY those opposite choose their opposing viewpoint, we might be better able to understand each other as people. That, in itself, is its own reward.

I'm reading through these comments. Some of these opinions are so out of left field that you wonder how the folks who wrote them manage to get through the day. I'm wondering: Is this why it's so difficult to exact some kind of change in modern society? Because not only do people have radically different ideas about how things work, they also seem to have radically different ideas about what's -=relevant to the debate at hand=-?

Stay on topic, please.

Deliver us, Lord, from your followers.
and tell us, Lord, why they hate the Islamic Fundamentalists so much,
when they have so very very much in common.

C'mon guys, the word is EMBIGGEN.. sheesh!

I'll just use Freddie Mercury's 6-word bigraphy:
"Singer of songs, lover of life."

This same "jump in the air while we take a frame of stop motion" technique was also used in the original video for Extreme's "Rest In Peace" as an homage to Mclaren's "Neighbours/Voisins" short film (the Extreme video was re-shot after legal discussions) and also in a recurring interstitial segment of The Frantic's classic sketch show "Four On The Floor" (which is still not out on DVD yet! What's wrong with this world?!?)

Garbage in, garbage out.

Aww, the clip is gone now.

I agree with #6, The Rutles -nailed- the Beatles' sound, through all stages of their career, and were a wonderful insight into the whole oeuvre. Much praise for Eric Idle's timeless genius, along with the timeless genius of The Beatles.

If an endangered species eats a non-endangered species, isn't that a good thing?

The fact that people are brainstorming ways for the government to not see their data proves they are ALL CROOKS! Lock them all up and take their data!! INFINITE Power To The Government!!!

No, wait.. I got that wrong, sorry. I was watching some Fox News bits on YouTube and my brain got fried.

Epic fail.

You guys must have a great education system to turn out these winners. "Perfect storm of ignorance" indeed.

My thanks go to the commenters who explained this whole thing out so much more eloquently (and in some cases more succinctly) than the introduction to the article.

Amazing that places like golf courses could survive in the middle of a desert. That must be because of climate change and not because of anything else, you know, like irrigation. It's not like they actually water the grass at a golf course, oh no.

So, what were they trying to say, again?

Just don't scratch your bag, dude.

Here's a new euphimism for ya:

Southern Racists = Americans

How'dya like them apples?

There are only -four- major record labels now?? This is all YOUR fault, Internets!

No fair, I was going to say what #1 said. Further evidence that nothing can survive in an environment that is saturated with Nickelback.

Yeah, dude seems to be mentally askew. I've seen the same show on TV and it's patently obvious that they do not insert any camera into anyone's person during the performance. My best guess is that dude believes this was done to him simply due to the image being projected on the screen: some people really do believe everything they see on TV.

This album is not particularly good. The resemblance of her voice to that of Billie Holiday is interesting.

I like that the singer's, erm, hair, has become snagged on the guitar. I looked at the pic and went "well wouldn't it get caught in the.. oh yeah, lookit that."

Dolla-sto grillz, for all yo shorties.
I think I near the 'Boondocks' theme playing somewhere.

Where's the 'cybersquatting' tag? Come on, people: Since when is a cybersquatting story anything other than not-news? The kid's had his 15 clicks of fame; enough already.

Speaking of surround sound: I loved the "Love" album surround-sound mix, as well as the re-imagining of the tracks included. There are some very well-crafted "up-mix" versions of the Beatles albums circulating (and some very poorly crafted ones too).
If Depeche Mode and The Doors can re-release all of their studio albums in surround sound, why not do the same for the best band in history?

So, if I understand this correctly: the extreme scarcity of sense in the New York Times is intensified by the extreme ubiquity of the New York Times? (how is that not a surprise?)

And yes, #11, to some people a real honest-to-goodness coin-up version of Galaga is far more satisfying than any MAME version, no matter how good your emulation and homemade cabinet is. (however the homemade cabinet downstairs in my current residence is, admittedly, a work of art.)

#9, the reason the real Rembrandt is worth so much money to people is because they can re-sell it years later for even more money. Classic original painted art is a great investment.. and that's about it.

What an outrage! This explains why it's been all over the news channels, right? Right?.. Anyone? What do you mean "the traditional media hasn't touched this story"?... Oh, crap.

Don't you people realize that simply by -existing- you have to pay movie studios money? It was posted in the license agreement they had tattooed to the inside of the birth canal. Tough shit for you if you weren't able to read it on your way through.

As for HD, I say "all the better to see how much your movie sucks, studio bastards."

Seriously, though, you totally have to give them your money. ALL of it. Go do it right now.

Don't go telling people these are based on Japanese games, they might not think they're cool ;)

who would have thought that "Guitar Freaks" would have been so successful had they only put decent music into it, and given it extra buttons? Imagine what would happen if there had been good music in "Keyboard Mania" and "Drum Mania"?

Next they should sell a combo-kit with disposable spray oil to go with the disposable spray batter cans.
Fuck it, sell some disposable frying pans too. Why wash a frying pan when you can just throw it away along with your spray cans.

Ok, this is parody, but they still have to give out slices of money to the originators of the stuff they've sampled from, right?

How about if you use your camera-phone to record 20 seconds of the Transformers movie so that you can use that clip later in an art project. What part was illegal, the capturing of the sample or the use of it afterwards?

It reminds me of the beautiful tale of Jesus as he walked upon the water-board.

"and the Lord came upon them and said "Do not be afraid, you are not really drowning" and they said unto him "Dude, it totally feels like I'm drowning! These people are trying to freakin' kill me!" And the Lord said "hey I made these guys 'fishers of men', not 'drowners of men', what the heck do they think they're doing?" and the Lord was pretty pissed about the whole damn thing."

hey does the addition of the raster-scan lines to the image make it a whole new artwork or a derivative artwork? I can't figure out which.

If they ever tried something like that with a more recognizable image (let's say the "native North American slouched on the tired horse" image) they would catch hell. There are licenses to be paid for images used for commercial ventures. Get this lady some money. Even better, show this story on competing TVnetworks.. there's nothing wrong with a good ole "FOX are dorks" story.

Hey did I mention I just copyrighted the triangle? You people are so screwed.

Wow, this so totally reminds me of the college radio station I used to work at.. where people loved REM until they Sold Out and got filthy rich, and where people loved U2 until they Sold Out and got filthy stinking ludicrous rich.

Bands are only good until they become successful, right? Does that mean if nobody ever buys any music then all bands will stay good?

I like the rip-off of the 1988 Olympic Winter Games theme music that shows up from 21 to 26 seconds. I know that song upsidedown & backwards, and they totally borrowed from it :)

As much as it's easy to think that this stuff will be buried, all you have to do is wait for our old friends Barenaked Ladies to stand up and smack some sense into these guys. They still hold a lot of clout in the Canadian entertainment industry.

Hey Cory, I was just as surprised as you that your blog was American. I guess it's easy to just assume that everything comes from there - who needs the rest of the world, right?

Someone in their marketing department has been playing too many Japanese video games, or maybe just too much DDR.

You want a good name? How about "Super Mountain Dew II Turbo HD Remix"??

The London underground is both horrible and wonderful and confusing and cool all at the same time.
If you no longer appreciate the good parts and only appreciate the bad parts then you have merely become a big pile of snot. Simply go blow yourself and all will return to normal.

hey #8, your argument is -way- off. This has nothing at all to do with copyright. If they were using the original recording without paying for it that'd be a copyright issue: that didn't happen. if they were using a 'cover' version without paying for the right to use it that'd also be a copyright issue: that didn't happen either.

You can't copyright the way a band sounds. You can't copyright the way Tom Waits sounds, or Leonard Cohen for that matter.

Not to mention the fact that the Romantics' agent said "the band had worked very hard over many years to develop and use its distinctive sound". That's utter crap. If their sound was so distinctive then their -other- big hit "Talking In Your Sleep" would sound just like "What I Like About You." It certainly does not. So much for a "distinctive sound".

You know who has a distinctive sound? John Fogerty. You know who once got sued by a record company for sounding exactly like himself? John Fogerty. You know who thinks -that- was a travesty of justice? Everybody except the record company pricks. (thank you, FZ)

Sometimes out front of the Eatons' Center in Toronto drummers will set up to busk for money. When last I witnessed this (just before a Rush concert) I was loudly growling "Drum battle! Drummm Baaaatlllleee!".

What about illiterate people? How can they defend against parking tickets if their only recourse is to WRITE an explanation?

It would be so much easier if they could walk in and say "Hey! I can't read the No Parking sign! I'm Illiterate!!"

Now those glory days are gone.

now THAT is art.

11. Cowboys do not torture.

One big silly thing about this is that if this pseudoscience site (which I have not read, I'm busy, dangit! I haven't read any of them.) wins this web-poll then some people in the conservative media will make serious hay about it, while people in the liberal media will shrug and say "morons". If not then things will happen the other way around. No minds will be changed by this whole thing.

Having a web-poll for anything is pointless at best. Believing a web-poll is anything other than pointless is just stupid.

We've come a long way from Bag Balm, baby.

Q #4: "When the $%#@ did we become the $%#@ing Soviet Union?"

A: I think it was back around 2001 or so? If you were distracted it's understandable. Nobody else would blame you for not seeing it happen.

Hey, is this where the guys who write '24' get their script ideas?

You're all just saying these things because you're educated. If you had just done the right thing and stayed out of school none of this would be necessary. Ignorance is bliss, and I know one country that could stand to use a LOT more bliss.

Is this like that unlimited freedom I keep hearing Americans have?

Aggressive traffic shaping, indeed. Maybe the hackerboys can try to find a way to have their P2P connections look like Lotus Notes connections, in hopes of some eventual 'fix'.

Cory, why is mention never made in these articles of Rogers Cable? They've been doing this same thing up here for a long time now. You're originally from Toronto.. no love for your old hometown?