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How Much Would Jabba’s Palace Cost? (Infographic)

With the cast of the upcoming Star Wars: Episode VII revealed, I think that it’s only appropriate to run a Star Wars edition of Movoto’s fantasy real estate valuation.

While I don’t think that the next Star Wars trilogy will make a return to Jabba’s Palace, I’d bet the Lars Family Moisture Farm that there will be a return to Tatooine. And there’s no better piece of real estate on the iconic desert planet than Jabba’s Palace. Once you get the Hutt and Rancor smells out of the place, it will set you back over 72 million Galactic Credits.

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Wednesday Link-Off: The Whole World in His Hands

lake-bell-esquire14-01Another week, another set of links. Normally, this is the day I would remind Canadians to file their taxes but they until May 5th to file their taxes because Revenue Canada fell victim to the Heartbleed Bug. And even with that extra five days, I still have relatives who aren’t going to file on time. Figures.

Anyway, it’s Wednesday which means that it’s time for the links. Let’s kick things off with Lake Bell.

The so-called Fair Elections Act might have gone through some revisions but it could still use some work. (The Globe and Mail)

You’d think that the death of Net Neutrality would be a big deal. Naturally, it was ignored by the big US news shows. (Media Matters)

Donald Sterling’s lifetime ban from the NBA is surprising because it’s a much more stern move from new Commissioner Adam Silver than his predecessor would ever make. (Yahoo Sports)

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IndyCar – Alabama GP: Ryan in the Rain

indycar-2014-barber-ryan-hunter-reay-victory-laneNeither rain nor severe weather nor standing water stayed the drivers of the IndyCar Series from the swift completion of their appointed round at Barber Motorsports Park. Okay, it did a little as the race was pushed back by over two hours due to a severe rain storm and standing water.

When the race got going, it looked like Will Power was going to storm off into the distance and win his second race of the season. However, as it so often the case in inclement weather, the only person that can beat you is yourself. Power left the track early in the race which allowed Ryan Hunter-Reay to claim the lead and his first win of the season.

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Worst of Music: Avril Lavigne – Hello Kitty

Sometimes, a musical atrocity so heinous occurs that we are forced to act. When we are called to action, that means bringing back an old classic on The Lowdown Blog. I have been forced to revive The Worst of Music.

This week’s entry into the Worst of Music record books is actually from a duo that was one of our more recent WoM winners. When I last did these posts regularly, my third-to-last winner of a Worst of Music award went to Avril Lavigne for her cover of Nickelback’s How You Remind Me. Here we are 16 months later and Avril and husband Chad Kroeger collaborate to pick up another Worst of Music win. A strike rate of two wins from the last four WoM isn’t really surprising after you hear their latest, Hello Kitty.

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Sunday Link-Off: I Thought This Was Spring

tsanna-latouche-nordstrom14-05With it being the end of April, I thought that the weather would be warming up and I could start to wear short-sleeved shirts. However, I woke up yesterday and had to grab my winter coat and boots and brush snow off my car. So much for having a late spring. Any spring would be lovely. I think that we’re gearing up for two seasons this year: Winter and July.

Anyway, to celebrate a lovely Canadian winter, let’s lead off with a lovely Canadian model. Here’s Tsanna LaTouche.

Even with the changes proposed to the so-called “Fair” Elections Act, a number of serious concerns remain. Well, I suppose it could make elections fair for a certain party trying to get it into law… (The Globe and Mail)

The story of the Keystone XL pipeline is really a tale of two countries. Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper has championed it but Barack Obama has been working against him which I certainly won’t complain about. (Bloomberg)

While his international environmental record isn’t too bad, domestically, things aren’t too good for Barack Obama. A radioactive oil waste site was found in North Dakota. Isn’t that lovely? (Al Jazeera America)

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Entertainment Link-Off: Get Even

kate uptonNo big blockbuster releases this weekend, but for those of you in North America, you can catch The Amazing Spider-Man 2 next week! Out this weekend is the film The Other Woman, which stars plenty of eye candy including Cameron Diaz, Leslie Mann and Kate Upton. Yeah, that sounds like a good enough reason for any guy to see this in theatres. Let’s start off the ELO with Kate Upton.

After the jump, a whole bunch of X-Men related links, there’s a new title for The Hobbit, Community tackles movie posters and watch how the Golden Globe wins have affected the cast of Brooklyn Nine-Nine. Continue reading →

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Wallpapers of the Week: April 26, 2014

I think it’s time for us to bring back an old favourite that we just kind of let end two years ago. Since you guys liked it then, I think that bringing it back and better than ever will go over just as well.

I like changing up my desktop wallpaper on a regular basis. My wallpaper at my day job is a slideshow so I have a new wallpaper every thirty minutes or so to change things up ever so slightly. So to help you change things up for your work week, I’ve scoured Reddit for five wallpapers that are worth adding to your collection for this week.

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Game of Thrones: The Breaker of Chains Review

game-of-thrones-all-men-must-die-headerAfter everything changed (again) in last week’s episode, this week’s episode of Game of Thrones was a bit more of the standard fare as we bounced from story to story. However, unless you were in the North or across the Narrow Sea, you were still talking about last week’s events. Even the internet was talking about it for the last week and the Seven Kingdoms aren’t even wired in.

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FootLOL: Epic Fail League Review: This Ain’t Football

footlol-epic-fail-league-headerNot every football (or soccer, in North America) game is super realistic sim that allows you to take over almost every major club or player from around the world. Not every football game is even about football.

Enter the very poorly named FootLOL. FootLOL is a bit like Football Manager if Football Manager was made by someone completely out of their minds. You don’t lead your team to victory with superior tactics, player management and inspired decisions. You lead them to victory with land mines, artillery and stampeding cows.

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Wednesday Link-Off: Cold Hard Data

alyssah-ali-bloomingdales14-06I may have mentioned it before but the hardest part about these linkdumps is writing the intro. I’m never entirely sure what to say. Do I comment about the links to follow? Do I talk about the goings on of the last week? Do I talk about my personal life? I’m never quite sure. I do know that for the second straight Tuesday, snow was falling outside my window as I wrote this post. It’s just lovely April weather.

Anyway, let’s start off today’s set of links with Canadian model Alyssah Ali.

Why are things in Ukraine not getting any better? Because the Russians are trying to destabilize things to take control of the country while blaming the Ukrainian government and its allies for causing the trouble that Russia themselves are causing. (New York Times)

Don’t listen to the anti-vaccine whack-jobs. Vaccines save lives. (Mother Jones)

Have you ever wanted an inside look into the live of the paparazzi? Okay, probably not. But I still found this profile of one Hollywood pap interesting. (Rolling Stone)

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