Brokeback Péquiste

Are you people still arguing over the "Québecois form a nation" thing? That is so two days ago.

The big news today is that Parti Québecois leader Andre Boisclair will be appearing in a risqué sketch satirising the film "Brokeback Mountain." In the sketch, a CGI-assisted and semi-nude Stephen Harper and George Bush are seen canoodling in a tent. Boisclair pokes his head and says something to the effect of "Québec will never get into that!"

Beyond the Brokeback parody being a little out of date, on paper, it looks like a funny sketch. However, according to the CBC article, some politicians (well, the provincial Liberal ones anyway) are questioning the appropriateness of the sketch.

Personally, I think it's pretty funny and I think the voters will too. People like a politician who's not afraid to laugh at himself. And it sounds a fair bit funnier than when some politicians show up on the Air Farce or 22 Minutes. Hell, even Harper did it. It's pretty much part of the political game these days. I'm waiting for the day Michael Ignatieff shows up on Air Farce to do the chicken cannon. I can almost hear him wincing from here. He's in town, so it's not that hard.

If Bob Rae and Rick Mercer can jump naked into a lake, then Andre Boisclair can have a little fun with his image and make a point about Québec-Canada relations while he's at it.

Looking forward to Iraqi Civil War Reenactment Societies

On Monday, Matt Lauer, co-host of NBC's Today Show, announced that his network would now be referring to the sectarian violence in Iraq as a "civil war," noting that it fits the criteria for one. Reaction from all political sides has been swift and harsh and I, for one, count myself among those who are shocked and appalled.

The Today Show is a news programme?

Sunday Videos - All the Federales Say Edition

I'm in a country mood this morning so here's one of my favourite singers, Emmylou Harris, doing Townes Van Zandt's "Pancho and Lefty," one of my favourite country songs. Look closely and you'll also see a young Rodney Crowell.

Têtes à Claques

Over the past few weeks, I haven't been able to walk five metres in my office without hearing someone in the cubicle giggling away at their computers. Or someone will say, "There's a new one up!" and ten people will come running. I finally got to see what the fuss was about.

Têtes à Claques is a Québecois, internet-based, Clutch Cargo-style cartoon in that it uses super-sized human mouths and eyes which are superimposed over a sort-of animated character (truth be told - I have no idea how the process works). It's become a sensation here in Québec so this is already old news to a lot of people. The photo above comes from the "Willie Waller 2006" sketch, which is one of the most popular bits. My French isn't perfect but I understand it enough to get the jokes. It also now has ads on the site that you have to sit through before the sketches, which I'm told is a recent addition. Enjoy.

Hey, Seinfeld's Season 7 is out on DVD this week!

It seems different now, somehow.

Potter: Teased

Attention Mr and Mrs Lambic: The new teaser trailer for Harry Potter and The Frequently Washed Bedsheets Order of the Phoenix is online. Aiden's going to need modest sideburns next Halloween. Nice Christopher Reeve homage at the end, too.

Casino Royale

Saw Casino Royale over the weekend. It's a nice reboot to the series as the film details Bond's first mission and covers, in a pre-title sequence, how he gets the double 0 designation (spoiler alert: It involves killing people). He makes mistakes. He's quick tempered and not a terribly nice person. The villain, Le Chiffre, is not a megalomaniac bent on world domination, just a financier of terrorist groups under the shadow of something larger and more sinister that we don't yet see. And he cries blood. Cool.

The film also rids itself of much of silliness that fouled Pierce Brosnan's run. You may recall the last time we saw Bond, he was parasailing on an iceberg tsunami. This time, the action, while exciting, isn't over the top and unbelievable (except for one scene involving a remote heart restart). But the film takes its time with an hourlong stretch in the middle about a high stakes poker game. There's no real sense that something needs to explode every 20 minutes to keep things interesting.

Gone, too, are many of the blatant commercials with only three distinct signs of product placement: Aston-Martins, Omega watches, and some new digital camera. And there's no Moneypenny, Q, and the usual armload of gadgets. I assume that's coming in the later films.

While stripped down and more serious, although not without humour, they've made James Bond fun again. I'm looking forward to what comes next.

And I can't resist a hero with his own theme music, be it 007, Superman, or Shaft.

Related: Cracked's Lamest 007 Scenes.