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Sunday Link-Off: Spoilers

jessica-lowndes-bretterickson15-01Despite the fact that I wrote way too much about the current state of women’s wrestling in the WWE, I actually have quite a few links for today’s linkdump. As usual, it’s a lot about politics but there isn’t much about gun control this time. I’m hoping to pull together those links for the next post.

Anyway, it’s Sunday so it’s time for links. Since we have a lot of Canadian themed links, I think that it’s only appropriate to kick-off with Canadian actress Jessica Lowndes.

George Bush doesn’t care about black people: The Definitive History (Huffington Post)

The Canadian military is part of operations against IS in the Middle East. Don’t ask the Kurds what Canada has been up to because Canadian involvement is a surprise to them. (MacLean’s)

What’s the most underplayed story in this year’s Canadian election? The destruction of Canadian election laws and Elections Canada by the current government. (The Guardian)

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Entertainment Link-Off: Just Press Play

Alicia-VikanderIt’s reaching the tail end of summer, so you can definitely expect a slow down at the box office. The new release is the Zac Efron fronted coming-of-age story in We Are Your Friends. Reviews have been mixed, so proceed with caution. Perhaps it would be a safer bet to see something like… The Man From U.N.C.L.E. instead. Alicia Vikander seems to be the it girl lately with plenty of films along the pipeline in the coming year. 

After the jump, a look at the two sides of Captain America: Civil War, Quentin Tarantino took apart It Follows, it’s been 15 years since Bring It On, Key and Peele explain how Gremlins 2 came about and movie villains love My So-Called Life! Continue reading →

3 Comments Posted on by Steve Murray Columns, Entertainment, Sports

So You Say You Want a #DivasRevolution?

wwe-summerslam-2015-divas-tag-matchRegular readers know that I’m an occasional wrestling watcher. For the most part, I watch NXT and Lucha Underground. One thing that both shows get right that the WWE hasn’t figured out on Raw or SmackDown is how to make the female talent matter. On both NXT and Lucha Underground, women are an important part of the show with their own interesting characters and stories rather than filler to get through five-plus hours of television each week.

The WWE have tried to fix that with their #DivasRevolution™ on Raw and SmackDown. After only a month and a half, it seems to have run out of steam. The crowd at Raw on Monday night turned on the Divas™ match that was part of 20+ minutes of talking and match segments. The wrestlers blamed the fans for not being behind the WWE’s #DivasRevolution but the problem is that the revolution has been doomed to failure, intentionally or unintentionally, from the start.

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The Encyclopedia of Pasta (Infographic)

When you go out to a restaurant, the menu really only has a few different types of pasta. They’re generally your basics like penne, spaghetti, gnocchi, ravioli and lasagna. If you grew up with an Italian family (of all Canadian citizens but still identify as Italian instead of Canadian), you would know that there are many, many, many more varieties of pasta besides your standard restaurant selections.

So to give you a little bit of help outside of the tutelage of an Italian home, we have this handy little absolutely massive infographic for your perusal that has over 150 varieties of pasta that even has cooking and sauce pairing advice.

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Wednesday Link-Off: Money and Politics

sarah-silverman-hfpagrants15-01I know that I usually have a lot of links about politics in these posts but I’m throwing a few economics links in for good measure. You’d be amazed how dependent economic confidence is on just who is in office. You’d think that what they do would be the key factor but who is in charge and what they might do seem to be the biggest driving forces of the market.

Anyway, it’s Wednesday and that was a terrible intro so I suppose I should placate you with some links. Let’s start with Sarah Silverman.

Stock markets around the world have gone for a nasty drop over the last few days. The problem is that there aren’t many options left for governments worldwide to make a quick course correction. (Daily Intelligencer)

The trouble with lobbyists is how frightening their influence can be. H&R Block and Intuit got US Congress to make filing taxes harder for the layperson. (Vox)

Canadian defense minister Jason Kenney is a pretty key player in the Conservative government. He might actually help the election campaign if he was capable of regularly telling the truth on a more regular basis. (Press Progress)

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Fails of the Week

Every so often, we take a look at the most epic fails from the week that was in the Fails of the Week. This week, we have five pictures, GIFs and videos that we think are the most epic fails of the week.

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F1 Belgian Grand Prix: The Song Remains the Same

f1-2015-belgium-hamilton-victoryComing off the annual summer break, Formula One returned from vacation with the Belgian Grand Prix. If you were expecting F1’s annual summer vacation to spark a shake-up in the running order, you were going to be disappointed. At the front, it was all Mercedes with the two works cars dominating the race led home by Lewis Hamilton.

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Sunday Link-Off: Takeover

beyonce-vogue15-01While I realize that SummerSlam is tonight and that’s what most casual wrestling fans will be paying attention to tonight. Folks who watch a bit more than the PPVs were probably watching NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn which was pretty damn good. Like the last TakeOver, it’s worth going out of your way to watch the women’s title match. It’s amazing what good storytelling can do to supplement good wrestling. Too bad the main roster bosses don’t get that.

Anyway, it’s Sunday so it’s time for the links. I’m trying to go thematic but not doing so well. Since Jay-Z is a prominent New Yorker, kicking off with Beyonce seems appropriate.

White collar work definitely isn’t as glamorous as some would believe. Just ask those being pushed to the breaking point at Amazon. (New York Times)

For the sake of fairness, Amazon boss Jeff Bezos says the above Times story isn’t entirely accurate. (Geek Wire)

Public Health England says that vaping is 95% less harmful than smoking cigarettes. Vaping probably shouldn’t be allowed in public spaces (just like smoking) but at least it’s a step in the right direction. (The Guardian)

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Entertainment Link-Off: Getting Smoked

natalie dormerPlenty to check out in cinemas this weekend. There’s the horror sequel Sinister 2. There’s also a Hitman reboot in Agent 47. Finally there’s the stoner/actioner American Ultra. I still got a lot of catching up to do with other flicks after the Melbourne Film Festival, so it might take me a little bit of time before I get around to these flicks. Anyway, it’s time for the ELO since it’s Saturday again, and let’s kick things off with Natalie Dormer.

After the jump, a rundown on the initial draft of Fantastic Four, Aliens 5 might be in development hell, Damon Lindelof has some harsh words for those who reacted negatively to Game of Thrones season 5, and Kingsman is not James Bond. Continue reading →

Leave a comment Posted on by Steve Murray Video Games

Game of Thrones – Episode Five Review: The George R. R. Martin Special

game-of-thrones-episode-five-headerWhat’s the old George R. R. Martin special? Political intrigue mixed with copious amounts of violence, death and destruction. Sure, that’s probably over simplifying the books and TV show but that’s what keeps people coming back every time.

It was only a matter of time before Telltale Games’ Game of Thrones series also started to get closer to resembling a video game version of Game of Thrones rather than a Telltale game with a Game of Thrones coat of paint. That doesn’t mean that Episode Five – A Nest of Vipers was the best episode of Telltale’s Game of Thrones this season.

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