Link-Off

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Entertainment Link-Off: In the Dark

sarah gadon dracula untold premiereIt’s Saturday again, so it’s time for another edition of the Entertainment Link-Off. There’s no notable releases in Australia this weekend, but the folks in North America can now catch Dracula Untold. The first of the craptacular monster movie series from Universal. It’s not all bad though. Luke Evans is a good leading man. Tywin Lannister is in the movie. Also leading lady Sarah Gadon is worth the price of admission. So let’s start off the ELO with her.

After the jump, The Flash meets his greatest foe a lot sooner than expected, Lego Batman is fast-tracked to the big screen, Woody from Toy Story can be quite scary, a hilarious honest trailer for Transformers 4 and listen to Taylor Swift cover a popular Aussie song. Continue reading →

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Wednesday Link-Off: Puck Drop

It’s not often that I run a bunch of sports links in one of my linkdumps but it’s not often that a new NHL season starts. It only comes around once per year and it gets pretty close to a national festival in Canada. Basically, it’s the Canadian equivalent to the start of the NFL or EPL seasons.

So let’s start this post off with a good Canadian girl. Here’s Nina Dobrev.

The story of the 2014 NHL offseason was the analytics boom. While fancy stats are common place in baseball and pretty common in basketball and soccer, hockey lagged behind those sports until now. (MacLean’s) I told my Leafs loving associates about things like Corsi, Fenwick and PDO last year and they ignored me right until the point where the Leafs crashed out of playoff contention and realized I explained what would happen all along.

The NHL’s move to Sportsnet has seen many changes. The biggest change is in the host’s chair which see Strombo replace Ron MacLean whose contentious relationship with NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman has seen him pushed aside. (The Globe and Mail)

For all the talk that fighting needs to be legislated out of hockey, it appears that the three minutes of ice time per game enforcer may be going the way of the dodo. Less than half the teams will open with an enforcer on their 23-man rosters. (CBC Sports)

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Sunday Link-Off: The Great Delay

adriana-lima-victoriassecret14-14It’s amazing how much someone’s complete disorganization can derail your plans. I was hoping to be able to watch Doctor Who last night but because some people can’t organize a small gathering including not setting a time to be there, ordering food and leaving it to cool to room temperature before serving, and serving store-bought apps after the mains had arrived. So I have to find time for watching and writing Doctor Who and Haven reviews, the F1 recap, a game review, the game trailers roundup and another et geekera post today. And that’s all because one person didn’t have their shit together.

Anyway, it’s Sunday so it’s time for the links. Here’s much-awaited return of Adriana Lima.

With the US trying to keep their least favourite countries from getting nuclear weapons, why are they allowed to keep theirs? To protect the world from asteroids. (NBC News)

How hard is getting credit nowadays? Former US Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke couldn’t refinance his mortgage. (Wall Street Journal)

Who wants a We Are The Best story? While Don Cherry would probably get criticized for pronouncing Canadian superiority, the next time someone complains about Canadians proclaiming that we are the best, refer them to this statistical analysis of Canadian greatness. (MacLean’s)

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Entertainment Link-Off: Without A Trace

celeber.ruIt’s October so I am officially returning back to the weekly Entertainment Link-Off posts. My coverage of the Melbourne International Film Festival was a bit slow but at least you caught a snapshot of some of the films at the event this year. Anyway, since we’re back to your weekly links to movies, TV and music, let’s kick it all off with the star of Gone Girl, Rosamund Pike. I have to say, the film is fantastic and the acting performances are top notch. On top of that, I say this is the perfect anti-date movie of the year. 

After the jump, Mystique might be the focus of the next X-Men film, Robert Downey Jr. wants Mel Gibson in the next Iron Man movie, Kevin Smith has a crazy awesome idea for Jaws, and check out some potential endorsements for Jeremy Lin. Continue reading →

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Wednesday Link-Off: Goodbye Summer

emily-ratajkowski-gonegirl14-05I don’t know about you guys but summer kinda sucked here in Northern Ontario. Last week had sustained good weather and temperatures above 20° which was so exceedingly rare during summer proper that I’m not sure it actually counts as summer. And just like real summer, last week’s reprisal seemed unusually busy so sorry if I’m a little lacking on longer form content this week.

Anyway, here’s Emily Ratajkowski who is apparently an actress now.

John Oliver may not want you to believe this but Last Week Tonight is doing some of the best real journalism on TV. (The Daily Beast)

The Republicans would support sending troops in to fight IS but the majority of the American people don’t. With midterms coming up, it’s not a good time to politic on policies opposite to what the people want. (Politico)

If you have money in Russia that you want to take out of the country, get on it fast. Their economy ministry is looking into capital controls to stem a cash outflow that could top $100 billion this year. (Bloomberg)

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Sunday Link-Off: Dropping the Ball

yara-khmidan-beachbunny14-14It’s been a while since I’ve done a sports focused linkdump. Over the last couple of years, we’ve kind of transitioned from being a sports and pop culture blog to a pop culture and sports website. Okay, it’s almost the same thing but we’re doing more video game and entertainment posts than sports posts. It’s nice to go back to our roots every now and then.

One thing that hasn’t changed is that we’re starting off the links with a picture of a woman because Google Image Search is still the best friend of this blog. Here’s Yara Khmidan.

Not surprisingly, while Rob Ford was in rehab, the Toronto Police were looking to see if the crack videos could form the basis of criminal charges against the Mayor. (The Globe and Mail)

With the Conservative Speaker of the House of Commons seemingly playing favourites to help his party, it’s time for him to resign and let someone competent take the role. (The Chronicle Herald)

You see, Forbes, when you’re a respected publication and you hand over your website to anyone looking to make a quick buck by democratizing writing as if it’s bloody WordPress, stuff like this happens. A community contributor wrote a piece called “Drunk Female Guests Are the Gravest Threat To Fraternities.” It went over quite well. (New York Daily News)

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Wednesday Link-Off: Who Do You Trust?

A little bit of science and a little bit of actual observation allows you to reach a valuable conclusion: Is there anybody in the world that we can really trust? Sure, there are a few people that we can rely on but the people we really need like government and elected officials? Sometimes I’m not so sure. Some of today’s links don’t fill me with much optimism.

And on that semi-depressing note, it’s Wednesday so let’s do the links. Here’s Jessica Chastain.

Canadian workers are facing the toughest economic circumstances and least worker-sympathetic government since the 1930s. (Counterpunch)

Not happy with that characterization of the government? How about calling them an anti-democracy government? They aren’t answering the Opposition’s questions in the House of Commons and the Conservative speaker doesn’t care. (MacLean’s)

We might disagree about the cause of global warming but the facts are that the world is getting warming. For example, this past August was the hottest on record. (American Geophysical Union)

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Sunday Link-Off: Make Us Whole

hannah-ferguson-galore14-01How important is the NFL to the cultural fabric of America? Something like thirteen channels were covering Roger Goodell’s press conference which went on at the same time as President Obama. The guy is leading the country isn’t as important as the guy leading the country’s leading sports league. Maybe that’s an illustration of the start of their problems…

Anyway, it’s Sunday morning which means that we’re doing the links. Let’s start with Hannah Ferguson in cheerleading garb which is ever so appropriate.

There was some concern that Quebec separatists would be bolstered by the strength of the Yes campaign in Scotland. However, the strength of the separation movement in Quebec might be the weakest that it’s been in 40 years. (The Globe and Mail)

With the Scottish Referendum done, the work isn’t finished for those in the British Parliament supporting the no side. They still have to come through on their promises. Failing to do so could start another independence campaign some years down the road. (MacLean’s)

“The days when old men get to decide what a woman does with her body are long gone.” Oh, Justin Trudeau… When will you stop trying to court me? I’m already in your corner. (CBC News)

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Wednesday Link-Off: Politically Incorrect

alejandra-guilmant-dineilabrazil14-02Well, Canada is still talking about Doug Ford taking over for Rob in the Toronto mayoral race. I don’t think Dougie has a shot but it would be interesting at the Ford homestead in 2017 and 2018 if Doug is the mayor and Rob wants the job back. If you’re not talking about Toronto politics, chances are you’re talking about the sad state of the NFL which seems to get worse daily.

And now, it’s time for us to do the links. Let’s kick things off with Mexican model Alejandra Guilmant.

Some people were willing to write-off the Liberal surge as a Justin Trudeau honeymoon. Now, the Liberals appear to be back and a threat to Conservative dominance. (CBC News)

Doug Ford was expected to be the brains behind Rob Ford’s mayorship. Instead, his been more hindrance than help. That doesn’t bode well for his candidacy. (The Globe and Mail)

And Doug’s candidacy for mayor wasn’t a last-minute plan thrown together to keep the Mayor’s sash in the family. It was implemented at the last-minute but Rob’s drug and alcohol issues meant this contingency plan was in place for months. (National Post)

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Sunday Link-Off: The Family Legacy

melanie-iglesias-newyorkpost14-02Well, if you’re a fan of Toronto or Canadian politics, you’ve picked the right week to check out the Sunday links. All Canadians are talking about is Rob Ford. Even the Oscar Pistorius news is tertiary to the municipal politics of Toronto. I guess that’s what happens when said municipal politics features an admitted crack user as the mayor and an alleged drug dealer as his brother’s replacement in the election.

But before we get into that and all the other Sunday links, here’s American model Melanie Iglesias.

It’s a rare look inside a dying mayoral campaign with now-former Toronto mayoral candidate David Soknacki. One of his campaign staff went on the record to say that Toronto voters elected Rob Ford in 2010 because they were “very superficial.” And you wonder why his campaign was going so badly that he withdrew. (Torontoist)

And given that Mayor Ford is in hospital with an abdominal tumour, his brother Doug is carrying the family name in the mayoral race while Rob will run for Ward 2 council. While Rob was in with a shot at being re-elected, pundits aren’t holding out hope for Doug. (MacLean’s)

Mayor Ford’s former chief of staff, Mark Towhey, is working on a “tell-all” book about his time with the Ford administration. Conveniently, it’s coming out six days before the election. (Canada.com)

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