Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Leslie Nielsen: Goodbye To A Legend

Leslie Nielsen 1926 - 2010
(photo by Alan Light)

Sad news this week, as Canadian Comedy Legend Leslie Nielsen passed away from complications from pneumonia.

Nielsen was born in Regina, Saskatchewan in 1926. His father was a constable in the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, which led to Leslie living in the extreme northern community of Fort Nelson, NWT. A town with only a few hundred people and hundreds of miles from any city.

During his teenage years, Leslie graduated from Victoria Composite High School in Edmonton, Alberta. He then enlisted in the Royal Canadian Air Force, and was trained as a gunman. However, Leslie had been too young to complete training to be sent overseas to fight in WW II.

Leslie then worked as a Disc Jockey for a Calgary radio station before enrolling in the Lorne Green Academy of Radio Arts in Toronto. While there, he earned a scholarship to Neighborhood Playhouse in New York, which ultimately launch his acting career. His first acting job was one episode of Studio One with Charlton Heston. Leslie was paid $75 for his appearance.

Leslie's career continued from there with mainly dramatic roles. And a lot of them. In the year 1950, Nielsen appeared in more than 50 programs. He continued on and branched out into motion pictures with moderate success until he was asked to audition for a role in Forbidden Planet, alongside Anne Francis. The movie was a box office success and resulted in Nielsen being signed to a multi picture deal with MGM Studios.

Leslie Nielsen and Anne Francis in Forbidden Planet

Nielsen continued with dramatic roles during his time at MGM, and finally left the studio in 1959, ultimately dissatisfied with the quality of movies the studio had been putting out.

After appearing as the ship's Captain in the epic Poseidon Adventure in 1972 and starring in the action film Project: Kill in 1977, Leslie found his comedic niche playing the doctor in the classic spoof Airplane!

Airplane! directors specifically chose Nielsen because he had only been known for dramatic roles, and felt he could lend an air of ironic seriousness for the film. In the film his character responds to the line "Surely you're not serious?" with "I am serious. And don't call me Shirley." The line would go on to become his trademark, and is considered one of the top movie quotes of all time by the American Film Institute.

After the success of Airplane!, Nielsen was attached to a new show called Police Squad, which first introduced the world to the Frank Drebin character. The show did not fare well and was cancelled after only a few episodes. Six years later, Frank Drebin would be resurrected in the Naked Gun series which would propel Nielsen to modern stardom for a new generation.

Through the 80s and 90s Nielsen appeared in what seemed to be every comedic spoof movie made. This trend continued into the 2000s with cameo appearances in the Scary Movie franchise. For the rest of the 2000s, Nielsen stayed away from motion pictures but did dozens of other projects including stage acting, documentaries, mockumentaries, voice overs, and celebrity game shows for charity.

in 2009, a sequel to the 3rd installment of the Naked Gun series had been announced. Sadly we will not get to see Nielsen in the project, due to his passing.

Over the span of his career, Nielsen appeared in more than 100 films and 1500 television programs. He has portrayed more than 220 characters.

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Bizarre: Bristol Palin's Bad Dancing Triggers Police Standoff

Authorities in the town of Vermont, Wisconsin ended up in an overnight standoff that ended Tuesday morning with a 67 year old man turning himself in.

Court papers filed by the Dane County Sheriff's office say that Steven Cowan became so enraged by Bristol Palin's dance routine on an episode of Dancing With The Stars, that he loaded his shotgun, blasted his TV, then turned the gun on his elderly wife. She managed to escape unharmed. Cowan then held police at bay overnight before giving himself up in the morning.

Court documents went on to explain that Cowan did not think that Palin was a good dancer, and was convinced she was still on the show only because of her famous mother, former Governor Sarah Palin.

Cowan has been charged with second degree reckless endangerment, and if convicted, could spend up to ten years in jail. This would be unlikely however, as it has been noted in court documents that Cowan suffers from bipolar disorder.

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

John Baird Returned To Environment Minister

John Baird: Angry Finger-Pointer or Environment Minister?

Upon the recent proverbial happy pill that Canadians received when MP Jim Prentice announced he was leaving politics to sell snake oil to, uh, sorry, promote CIBC and its services to corporate clients, we have all just been handed our inevitable downer pill.

John Baird, currently Canada's equivalent of Minister of State as been again handed the Environment portfolio. This comes almost two years to the day when he had been removed from the same post after his very public media Crucifixion resulting from his performance (or lack thereof) during the Bali Summit on Climate Change.

John Baird, arguably the loudest and often most obnoxious of MPs, has an environmental batting average that makes Rob Deer look like a superstar.

While it should not be a surprise to anyone that Stephen Harper's Conservative Government cares not about environmental issues, Canada is one of the world's most influential governments, and the Conservatives should at least try to look as though they are moving forward.

Handing this portfolio back to Baird, even if temporary, displays the arrogance of our current government, in the fact that they clearly don't care about public appearance. Obviously they are willing to continue to bully themselves around simply because they currently have the slight edge in the number of sitting MPs to do so.

Much like Finance Minister Jim Flaherty's opinion on numbers, maybe it's time to change them.

Naheed Nenshi Gets Zipped with Rick Mercer et al.

Naheed Nenshi was getting down with television personality Rick Mercer, as well as Canadian Songstress Jann Arden and Olympic Gold Medalist Kyle Shewfelt.

The quartet's visit to Canada Olympic Park (or C.O.P) to experience North America's fastest zip line was featured on tonight's episode of The Mercer Report on CBC.
Rick Mercer
(Photo by Robin Wong www.robinwong.ca)
The zip line starts at the top of the ski jumping apparatus and can reach speeds up to 140km/h before you reach the bottom, which is slightly slower than what people drive on the Deerfoot Trail.

Nenshi, always the ambassador, jokingly ranted on about the various things to see and do while in Calgary, as his cohorts shipped him off down the zip line, thereby ending his verbal diarrhea.

Meanwhile, Calgary's own Jann Arden looked as though she would rather soil herself on national television rather than go through with the experience. Both Mercer and Shewfelt looked like pros.

Oddly, Nenshi's appearance was presented more as a cameo, rather than a feature of the skit.

However, for being in office less than 2 months, he has certainly been in some good company.

Tuesday, November 09, 2010

Naheed Nenshi: "Bad Enmax! Bad!"

A little over a week ago, an email written by Enmax CEO Gary Holden, was leaked to the media. The email was apparently a heavy handed response against a former Enmax staffer who leaked details of Holden's salary and lavish parties held at Holden's personal residence at the expense of the taxpayers. The email went on to say that Enmax would be seeking legal charges against the former employee.

Talk about making a bad situation worse.

Enmax is a city owned utility that provides power to Southern Alberta. So, of course details of $100,000 private parties put on at Holden's home and funded by Enmax caused quite a bit of stir with the citizens of Calgary. Add to that the details of Holden's $2.7 million compensation package for last year, and you have a very bitter public opinion.

Holden has tried defending the parties, which included invited rockstars such as Tom Cochrane and Gord Downy from the Tragically hip, saying that they were meant to showcase Enmax's foray into renewable energy to industry heavyweights. Holden's home was fitted with wind turbines and solar panels and waste-to-energy recovery technology. Holden stated the most recent party in question had 300 invited guests, and 25 Enmax employees who helped stage the event with a cost over $100,000.

It is unclear at this point exactly how many parties have been held.

To add to public outrage, Gary Holden's internal email stressed a firm hand with employees who leak information to the media, and indicated that legal action would be taken against the former employee-turned-whistleblower.

This did not help matters. Several employees who spoke anonymously to media expressed fear for their jobs, should they say the wrong thing to the wrong person. The email also implied an effort of cover-up of Enmax expenditures.
Naheed Nenshi

Last week, new Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi weighed in on the Enmax ordeal, demanding an inquiry into the parties, and why Enmax board of directors seemed to receive a 60% increase in compensation last year.

Nenshi met with Enmax board member Clifford Fryers and laid the smack down. The first verbal bitchslap Nenshi gave Fryers was "no more lavish parties". The second was to suggest the taxpayers and Enmax customers would not appreciate the Corporation spending taxpayers money to persecute a whistleblower.

Seems like a reasonable solution. However, in an apparent effort to make a point, Holden has now cancelled the upcoming company Christmas party, citing Mayor Nenshi's insistence of no more parties. Holden also implied that the outrage from Calgarians was to fault for his employees not being entitled to a Christmas party.

Nenshi hasn't made any public statements about the cancellation of the Christmas party, but somehow I doubt he would begrudge city employees their yearly dose of merriment. However, one of the lavish parties in years past was a Christmas party entertained by Tom Cochrane, who performed a 3 hour set under a reported $100,000 contract. A little over the top, no?

Clearly Gary Holden is an all or nothing type man. Either there is a Christmas party which can only be described as an Orgy of Excess, or no party at all.

This man's disturbing attitude needs to be corrected. If he continues his antics, it would not be unreasonable to assume that he will be removed from his position very soon. And good riddance.

The Human Centipede: The Sickest Movie of All Time?

So, prior to tonight, I had never heard of the movie called The Human Centipede (First Sequence). Actually, I stumbled across a reference to the movie while reading a review for another film. But the poster of the comment in which I was reading said that he was unsure if he could stomach watching the film.

Well, of course, this made me wonder what the film was all about. So a quick Google search later, and I was suddenly tossed into the midst of watching a movie trailer for one of the most disgusting concepts of all time. Truly.

The Human Centipede (First Sequence) is a film by Tom Six, a Dutch writer, director and producer. Upon first watching the trailer, the film starts out cliche, a la Hostel, but then quickly leaps into a more deranged direction, where in female tourists are used in a medical experiment to create a "Human Centipede" by surgically stitching them, along with an unknown Asian man, anus-to-mouth, thereby creating a 3 person creature who would share a single digestive tract.

Let your imagination run with that concept for a while.

Got that image in your head now? If your mind brought flashbacks of the Two Girls, One Cup video, that's ok. That's where your head should be right now.

Now I must say, as far as horror movie trailers go, The Human Centipede does a remarkable job of invoking feelings of horror and disgust while showing very little, if any, graphic detail. And, in my opinion, often the best cringeworthy films are works wherein there is little graphic gore shown. A good example of this is some of the prison scenes in the film Blindness. Sure, its not a horror flick, but those parts of the film certainly gave me the shudders.

So exactly how graphic does The Human Centipede get? Apparently not very (which I am sure many viewers are grateful for). However, the concept in itself was apparently gag-inducing enough, that it is reported that Tom Six did not reveal the mouth-to-anus details to investors while seeking funding for the film. And, as a result, many of the investors did not actually know about the complete subject matter of the film until it was released. Additionally, it has been reported that a number of auditioners for the project walked out of their reading due to sheer disgust at the concept.

The film debuted in 2009, and surprisingly, received fairly positive reviews from several film festivals. Mainstream reviews were less flattering, but there was the occasional silver lining. Entertainment Weekly for example, praised the direction of the film and the acting abilities of Dieter Laser (of the show Lexx), who portrayed the mad surgeon. However, EW also proclaimed Centipede to be "...The most disgusting horror movie of all time."

That being said, due to the modest success of The Human Centipede (First Sequence), Tom Six has been working on a sequel imaginatively called The Human Centipede (Full Sequence). Duh. What else would you call it? Six has released a teaser for the sequel (due out in 2011), where he says it will be so disgusting, it will make the first release look like "My Little Pony".

What is the plot line of the sequel? Well, a human centipede of course, but this time with 12 participants. And of course with a new lead as surgeon.

So at this point I have to ask: Have you seen The Human Centipede? Are you going to watch it? Would you watch the sequel? And what is your review on the movie?

You can view the trailer for the first film here. And here is the teaser for the sequel.

Wednesday, November 03, 2010

BC Premier Gordon Campbell Resigns

Gordon Campbell (photo by Mary McNeil)

In a surprise press conference this morning, BC Premier Gordon Campbell resigned from his post.

This comes after months of heated controversy in British Columbia where Campbell's Liberal government signed an agreement with the Conservative Federal Government to bring in a Harmonized Sales Tax which took effect in July of this year. (A topic on which they campaigned against in the last election)

The tax was openly despised by BC citizens, and dominated the headlines for much of the year as a grassroots movement came to life, forcing the government to agree to hold a referendum on the issue. Due to Campbell's lack of expediting the process (he could have chosen to table a motion in the BC legislature rather than a referendum, AND the fact that he scheduled the referendum for a year down the road), unsatisfied voters began a very public attempt at recalling Liberal MLAs.

It should be no surprise that members of the Liberal caucus did not appreciate the negative public opinion, and began criticizing Campbell's job performance.

It's likely that Campbell is attempting to curb what would have been a very public embarrassment, as it has been rumored that a number of Liberal MLAs were about to call on Campbell to resign during the next Liberal Caucus meeting.

Campbell's party has already suffered damage due to some high profile and well liked cabinet ministers who resigned this summer due to their dislike of the party's direction.

The next step will be for the Liberal Party to hold a leadership convention sooner, rather than later, to choose the next premier of BC. Unfortunately for the Liberals, history shows us that when a leader steps down, the replacement leader ultimately commits political suicide by taking the reins of a sinking party. See Kim Campbell and Paul Martin for examples of this.

Tuesday, November 02, 2010

Canada's Most Lavish Real Estate

So I thought it would be fun to check out exactly what is for sale in Canada at the moment for real estate. In these times of economic hardship, it should be easy to find a real bargain when looking to trade up houses, right?

Right. In fact, during my search, I found a few homes which had been reduced by a million dollars or more. And in those cases, how can you go wrong?

During my search, I saved a few of my favorites for you. This collection is by no means the most expensive homes on the market, as there were several in the $40 million range. Also, bear in mind that these homes are currently what's listed on the market. I am sure there are some equally nicer homes in Canada that I am not aware of. Anyway, enjoy!

The first home I found that I really enjoyed is located just outside of Calgary, Alberta.
24 Woodland Place - $10.5 Million

This home sits on a whopping 2,000 acres of land, and the living area is around 10,500 square feet.
The house features Travertine floors, custom blacksmithing on the interior and exterior, a billiard room and 22' bar for home entertaining, as well as a 9,000 bottle wine seller for the closet alcoholic.

Once you have finished consuming several bottles of your no doubt, hideously expensive wine, feel free to dive into the indoor salt water pool. And, since the home is 100% automated, you can probably program it to contact 911 should you be at risk of drowning.

If Woodland place just doesn't shake your tree, then the next item on your Christmas list should be:
Ghost Lake Manor ~ $10.5 Million (Reduced from $12 Million)

Ghost Lake Manor really is for tree huggers. Nestled on 117 perfectly manicured acres just outside of Calgary, this home is what dreams are made of.
With a modest 5 bedrooms, this home features 9 bathrooms spread out on an 8300 square foot floor plan.
Ghost Lake Manor isn't just picture beautiful, it's also perfect for the antisocial person. Featuring it's own indoor pool in a stunning solarium, completely appointed full sized theater, 2 story library, on site workshop and personal tennis court, you never have to leave the house. And for pure convenience, there is a separate butler's suite so that you can keep your contact with the help to an absolute minimum.

Moving to the West Coast, you can purchase this cozy home in Vancouver on Selkirk Street.
3719 Selkirk Street ~ $15 Million

The outside of the Selkirk looks small and unassuming, but with a $15 million price tag, you not only need to be loose with the wallet, you need to be in good physical shape. The house is a massive 10,000 square feet with 3 stories, which means a lot of stairs and long hallways.
The Selkirk features mahogany and marble floors throughout. Perfect for smashing those fragile heirlooms during lovers' spats. Then feel free to cool off in the indoor pool, or stroll around the 23,000 square foot gardens featuring your own pond.
If you get tired after all of that strolling, take a break and relax in the luxurious movie theater or one of the 7 expansive bedrooms.

If the Selkirk is a little too modern for you, go a little further up the Vancouver coast and check out Panorama Drive.
2888 Panorama Drive ~ $18 Million

This 13,000 square foot home is perfect for the lumberjack in you. It features a hardwood and stone interior in 13,000 beautiful square feet. If you feel that you still haven't used up enough timber, then check out the floors on the indoor basketball court or the expansive bar in the billiard room.
Still not impressed? Invite your friends over for some free spirited frivolity in the air hockey arena, and full sized movie theater. If the weather is nice, try spending some time around your outdoor fireplace which over looks the marina with a 270 degree view of the coastline. Or strut your iron pumping skills in the gym.But, like all good lumberjacks, you probably like solitude. The Panorama is perfect, as it has a hidden passage to the wine cellar and guest accommodations. Perfect for hiding out when the local missionaries are banging on your door with the newest copy of The Watchtower.

If the violent ocean waves make you sea sick, travel eastward to the Belle Province of Quebec and purchase The TuLyons instead.

1903 Chemin de Bord-du-Lac Road ~ $27 Million

The TuLyons has got to the crown jewel of Quebec. An ideal home for those of you that just need to feel pretty.

The TuLyons, a lakefront property, has 31,000 square feet of French inspired elegance. Show off your stylish digs by inviting half of Montreal. You can put them up in your 9 bedrooms and they'll never have to fight over the shower with 14 bathrooms.
While your guests are making themselves at home by sampling bottles from your wine cellar in the specially built "wine tasting room", you can be fashionably late for your own party by taking your time being pampered in your personal spa, which features an indoor pool and hot tub, and calming massage room.

When you feel sufficiently magnificent, you can make your grand entrance into the ballroom, where your guests are no doubt awaiting your arrival. And you needn't worry about that lousy drunk who thinks he's going to drive home after having one too many. You've locked away his car in one of the 3 garages which house 8,000 square feet of performance vehicles.
If you are not done impressing your guests after your extravagant party, why not extend the festivities into a whole weekend? Your guests will lose track of the time when they are enjoying your personal art studio, golfing room, 2 story library, billiard room, 10,000 square foot gardens or built in salt water aquariums.

And after all of that, don't worry about making a mess. Your hired help have the good life too. There are built in maids quarters, and an elevator built into the main home so they don't have to lug their supplies up the stairs!

As you can see from the selection of these bargain priced homes, there has never been a better time to buy a home in Canada. If you would like even more information on these modest digs, check them out on www.mls.ca. All of the homes listed are on there, and they have many more photos for you to check out.