• D-Brief shares rare video of beaked whales on the move.
• Dangerous Minds notes that someone has actually begun selling unauthorized action figures of Trump Administration figures like Bannon and Spencer.
• Language Log looks at a linguistic feature of Emma Watson's quote, her ending it with a preposition.
• Marginal Revolution's Tyler Cowen considers, ( Read more... )

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The Grimes song "Kill V. Maim" is one I've been playing a lot this week, with its video set partly in Toronto's abandoned Lower Bay Station and a threateningly manic song with a chorus--"Are you going to the party?/Are you going to the show?"--inspired by Godfather's Al Pacino and by Harley Quinn.

Grimes, a.k.a. Claire Boucher, appears on the ( Read more... )

Today, the news feeds remind us, marks the 25th anniversary of the death, of HIV/AIDS, Freddie Mercury. He was an inimitable talent, the vocals of one of his final songs, 1991's "The Show Must Go On" proving this for posterity.

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Mercury sings such potent lyrics so well.

Whatever happens, I'll leave it all to chance ( Read more... )

In writing my new Thursday [MUSIC] posts, I find myself revisiting songs I'd touch on before. The Pet Shop Boys' 1988 single "It's Alright" is one I had written about back in January 2009What is necessarily wrong with that? Songs can remain the same, but interpretations can change. There are some undeniable core continuities between me now and me ( Read more... )

Last night, I went to the Choir! Choir! Choir! celebration of the life and music of Leonard Cohen, held last night at 9 o'clock in the man-made amphitheatre that is Christie Pit.


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Erasure's 1988 international breakthrough hit "A Little Respect" has been a much-appreciated earworm for the past week or so.

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It's a great pop song, Andy Bell's brilliant vocals contrasting what the acoustic guitar and synthesizer of Vince Clarke, all produced with the glorious sheen of Stephen Hague. It's an ever-listenable plaintive plea by a ( Read more... )

• blogTO recommends some Toronto-related Vine clips.
• Centauri Dreams notes a SETI study of Boyajian's Star.
• Crooked Timber criticizes one author's take in the politics of science fiction.
• The Dragon's Gaze links to a paper examining the auroras of hot Jupiters.
• The Dragon's Tales links to a paper finding that atmospheric methane did not warm the early ( Read more... )

Via blogTO's Amy Grief shares some Toronto transit humour.

In YouTuber sweetsingin's latest video, he introduces Toronto to the Prestissimo card, "which automatically adjusts your transit fare in Toronto based on poor-quality service ( Read more... )

Floria Sigismondi's Pneuma is so much easier to appreciate away from peak viewing at Nuit Blanche, when the crowds on Nathan Phillips Square are so much less. It's a haunting dreamscape.

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Some days ago, my cousin shared Dazed Digital's clip of queer rapper Mykki Blanko's recitation of artist and activist Zoe Leonard's 1992 poem "I Want A Dyke For President".

I want a dyke for president. I want a person with aids for president and I want a fag for vice president and I want someone with no health insurance and I want someone who ( Read more... )