Canada’s first minority government in 25 years will have to ensure it acts on environmental and sustainable development issues if it is to maintain support from the New Democratic Party and the Bloc Québécois.
According to International Institute for Sustainable Development Board Member Mary Simon — also a former Canadian Ambassador for Circumpolar Affairs — climate change should be at the top of the Liberal government’s environmental priority list. As someone with close connections to Canada’s north she is well aware of climate change’s “profound implications for the social, cultural and economic well-being of the 50,000 aboriginal people who live in the Canadian Arctic.”
Ms. Simon’s compellingly readable two-page report (Adobe Acrobat required) is available here.
After a two-week absence
After a two-week absence (that darn Canadian election — don’t forget, read the whole thing now), your favourite VanRamblings feature is BACK !!! Yes, we’re here to dish the dirt, fill your head full of naughty notions, and just generally engage in some gossip mayhem. So, let’s get started, eh?
Know Your Celebrity House-Husbands: Meet Mr. Mira Sorvino
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Paul Sorvino must be one proud papa, knowing his Oscar-winning daughter, Mira, 36, married 22-year-old Kid Rock look-a-like Chris “Goofy” Backus in a private ceremony at the Santa Barbara courthouse on June 11th.
Heck, there was a time when Mira dated Quentin and French sex symbol Olivier Martinez, and yes we remember that Mira was named one of the 50 Most Beautiful by People in 1996. But look who she’s ended up with — a Kansas City born graduate of Shawnee Mission High School, and current waiter / aspiring actor!
Backus’ mom Terry, now living in North Carolina, tells VanRamblings that Mira is not the first Hollywood hottie her son has hooked up with:
“I can tell you this, Britney Spears picked him up. Carmen Electra took him out, too.”
Wow. And to think that after all that he settled for a Harvard grad.
Take A Break From Barbecues And That Low-Carb Beer
Here’s a look at the Top 5 films this weekend, playing at a theatre near you.
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1. Spiderman 2 – $127.8 million (as of Saturday)
Well, well, well. Looks like the much-anticipated Spidey sequel has woven its web around a gargantuan audience, breaking the $114.8 million opening weekend box office record of its predecessor, not least because Spider-Man 2 opened to a spectacular $40.4 million on Wednesday.
2. Fahrenheit 9/11 – $50 million (cume total)
Michael Moore’s film is playing in 1000 more theatres this weekend, and although the per theatre revenue is down, box office remains strong. There’s no rush to see Fahrenheit 9/11 — it’s gonna be around a long time.
3. White Chicks – $41.9 million (11 days)
One of the worst reviewed films of 2004 hangs on against all odds.
4. Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story – $82.2 million (16 days)
Ben Stiller. Vince Vaughn. Funny. What can we say?
5. The Notebook – $26.9 million (9 days)
Major weepy. A high-toned cinematic greeting card … but it works.
First, War With Michael Eisner … Now This
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Who couldn’t love that big lovable mug, huh? Well, apparently not Mrs. Miramax, Eve Chilton Weinstein, who after 18 years of marriage is taking her leave of the rotund one — the often less than affable Harvey Weinstein (pictured left), co-founder of the Miramax film studio — along with the pre-nup negotiated multi-million dollar divorce settlement, and making like Harvey’s dinner (which is to say, gone). Poor, poor, humble Harvey.
According to the New York Post’s Page 6 …
Eve, a tall blonde beauty who could have been one of Alfred Hitchcock’s leading ladies, was Harvey’s assistant in the early days of Miramax. Weinstein — a workaholic who puts in 18-hour days — purportedly promised Eve last year he’d cut down and spend more time on the home front.
Apparently, he didn’t “cut down.” Sayonara Harv. Nice knowin’ ya.
Here Comes Britney The Bride … Pregnant !!!
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Although Britney Spears’ upcoming nuptials will be a far cry from the quickie Vegas wedding she had last time around, News of the World reports that the pop queen is several months preggers.
Britney’s intended, Kevin Federline, appeared in the movie You Got Served, and was as a backup dancer for singer Justin Timberlake, Spears’ former boytoy.
Recently (and we mean, up until days ago) Federline was involved with actress Shar Jackson, of TV’s Moesha. They have a 2-year-old daughter together and are expecting another baby this month!
Spears recently cancelled her summer tour because of a “knee injury” she reportedly suffered during a video shoot. Shyeeah, right …
Reborn On The Third of July
In further Tinseltown pregger news this week … E-Online is reporting that Demi Moore is pregnant … Liv Tyler is also reportedly expecting her first child. Ms. Tyler and her husband Royston Langdon, from the band Spacehog, haven’t released a statement yet, but People magazine suggests the baby is due this winter … Claudia Schiffer is pregnant with her second child. The gorgeous German supermodel and her film producer husband Matthew Vaughn already have a 17-month-old son, Caspar, and have reportedly told friends their second child is due to arrive at the end of the year. Rich and beautiful celebs, they‘re sort of a fecund lot, aren’t they?
That’s it for this week, folks. See ya next Saturday night.
Kerry: Vice-Presidential Running Mate Only A Heartbeat Away
 l-r, Senators John Edwards, Dick Gephardt, Hillary Clinton, Bob Graham, and Gov. Tom Vilsack |
With Democratic Party Presidential hopeful John Kerry about to make his decision as to a Vice-Presidential running mate, speculation is running rampant across the U.S. as to who Kerry will choose next week to take the fight to the Republican Bush-Cheney administration come November.
In a precedent-breaking announcement yesterday afternoon, Senator Kerry said he plans to announce his vice presidential running mate in an e-mail to the more than one million subscribers to his campaign Web site.
“The folks who are going to learn first about my choice are going to be the people on JohnKerry.com. They’re the people who’ve helped carry this campaign. They’re the folks who’ve been part of our effort across the nation; they’ll be the first to know what my decision is.”
Craig Crawford, the White House Trail Mix columnist with the Congressional Quarterly adds his thoughts as to whom Kerry is likely to choose, handicapping the five most often mentioned potential nominees (pictured above), as he holds out for a last-minute Hillary Rodham Clinton VP nod.
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch Washington Bureau, meanwhile, reports that the “with rumours abundant that Kerry could make his choice as soon as Tuesday, the frenzy is near its peak — with at least three candidates, including Sen. John Edwards, D-N.C., Rep. Richard Gephardt, D-Mo., and Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack atop the list of contenders.”
Let’s face it, choosing a vice-presidential running mate is the great blind date of American politics: There’s lots of mystery and anticipation, but the Presidential nominee ends up with someone he swore he already turned down. For nearly three months now, VP hopefuls have been in an endless audition, crossing the U.S. to see who could raise the most money, and who could get on TV most often to say nice things about John Kerry.
You‘d almost think that whoever John Kerry chooses was important.
The idea that the vice-presidential running mate will have a major impact on this year’s presidential race is, really, moot. Over the past century, maybe two VP hopefuls have contributed significantly to their ticket’s victory — Lyndon Johnson in 1960, who reassured Southerners about a Catholic, and Walter Mondale in 1976, who reassured liberals about a Southerner.
Aside from that, the vice-presidential candidate just gets to campaign in the places the presidential candidate can’t get to — or wouldn’t be caught dead in. As a sage political consultant once declared, “a vice-presidential candidate can bring the ticket one of two things — a state or trouble.”
As for John Kerry, knowing that his choice is unlikely to affect the rest of his life, or the outcome of the election, he’ll probably choose someone he gets along with. Which is the best you can expect from any blind date.
Now Hear This: Peace, Love, Understanding and New Music
 Go Betty Go |
Can’t figure out what to listen to this summer? Once again, the PopMatters’ music team presents a highly opinionated, overall quite superlative and even, at times, revelatory examination of 18 artists that, they suggest, absolutely demand your attention.
Ranging from the satirical, hip-hop sensibilities of 29-year-old rapper MC Chris (Windows Media Player required) to the avant-garde emo-rock of the San Francisco-based band, Evening, and the moody rock of The Velvet Teen you’re bound to discover at least some new music to your liking. And, the best part: almost all of the artists have made free mp3s available on their websites.
Meanwhile, the always reliable éminence grise of rock criticism, Robert Christgau, weighs in with another Consumer Guide column in this week’s Village Voice, reviewing the latest releases from Sonic Youth, Bobby Bare Jr., and Arto Lindsay, among a raft of other bands. Needless to say, Mr. Christgau loves the music of each of these artists.
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VanRamblings has, this afternoon, downloaded (legal in Canada, don’tcha know?) 18-year-old Norwegian chanteuse Maria Mena’s début album, Another Phase, about to be re-released in North America with the title White Turns Blue. The album’s lyrics may relate to Mena’s junior high school experience, but to this listener the sentiments expressed in the lyrics address universal emotional issues. Mature beyond her tender years, VanRamblings has not been as impressed with a new artist since we first heard Fiona Apple.
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And, finally, for this instalment, the strongest possible recommendation for the upcoming 27th annual Vancouver Folk Music Festival (VanRamblings has placed a clickable advertisement for the Folk Fest at the top-right of all ‘pages’). Under the stewardship of longtime Folk Fest aficionada and political activist Frances Wasserlein, and artist cum Folk Festival artistic director Dugg Simpson, the annual Vancouver Folk Music Festival is a summer must. This year’s event promises to be a particular treat.
One of the premiére cultural events that takes place in Vancouver each summer, the Vancouver Folk Music Festival site transforms into an ideal universe of peace, love and understanding, where gays and lesbians stroll about unmolested holding hands with one another, where children run free in the safest of environments, where white cotton is the de rigeur fabric of the day, and where the music covers a broad spectrum of genres (because, after all, folk music is the music of the people, and is not limited, simply, to old-time folkies with acoustic guitars), wafting through the air from any one of the 7 daytime stages, and throughout the evening on the main stage.
In the coming days, VanRamblings will write more on the upcoming 27th annual Vancouver Folk Music Festival. In the meantime, if you haven’t purchased your ticket for this year’s event, you can do so online or by scrolling to the bottom of this page to find out where tickets are available.