news feeds feb 28

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No, this is a good idea... for reals! A fool-proof plan. Australian billionaire Clive Palmer, with more money than brains, has decided to build an exact replica of the Titanic and in 2016 it is set to sail from Southampton, England to New City, the original Titanic's planned maiden voyage. Palmer claims that by 2016, the Titanic II will be the safest cruise ship in the world (Umm… didn't they say that about the last one? I believe the word 'unsinkable' was also a word mentioned to describe the first ship). Palmer commissioned a Chinese shipyard to build the replica in 2012, and while he won't say how much money he has invested in the product, he has noted that he's gotten offers of up to one million dollars to be on that first ride. Bring extra life boats and don't skimp on the Buoy-O-Buoy life jackets. Just sayin'

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The Oscars, the Rolls Royce of awards shows, took place on Sunday evening with 'Argo' taking home the biggest prize of the night winning Best Picture of the Year. The film pulled off the rare feat of winning Best Picture while its director, Ben Affleck didn't even receive a Best Director nom (that award went to Ang Lee for his adaptation of "Life Of Pi"). Daniel Day-Lewis won Best Actor for his portrayal of the the title character in Steven Spielberg's "Lincoln," while Jennifer Lawrence took home the Best Actress statue for her turn in David O Russell's "Silver Linings Playbook." The other acting awards handed out went to Christoph Waltz (Django Unchained) and Anne Hathaway (Les Miserables) for the Best Supporting Actor and Best Supporting Actor respectively. "Argo" also won for Best Adapted Screenplay while Quentin Tarantino won his second writing award for Best Original Screenplay for "Django Unchained." To be honest, none of the winners were a shock, taking any dramatic elements away from the show, but the fellow who was taking the brunt of the slings and arrows was host Seth McFarlane. Put yourself in Seth's shoes. He is a guy who created a show about a talking dog and a homicidal baby. And you ask him to host a show for a bunch of stuffy 60 somethings (70-80 somethings) and now you are upset because he sang a song about boobs, ripped into George Clooney (RE: dating minors) and Scarlet Johansson's exposed boobs on the internet during his aforementioned song. I'm just saying Hollywood, you get what you deserve. You wanted him to host and now he's offensive and sexist. Tell us something we don't know.

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Did anyone watch the "Amazing Spiderman" franchise reboot? It was good, despite being completely unnecessary since it covers most of the origin story told by Sam Raimi's "Spiderman" (2002). I didn't despise the earlier films, in fact, I thought the second one was brilliant. However, I was never really a fan of Tobey Maguire, nor did I like the idea of having Peter Parker's first girlfriend Gwen Stacy used to make Mary Jane jealous in the third film instead of including her right from the start. Geek problems. Anyways, whatever, the new incarnation shows a Peter Parker, skateboarder and science geek coming to grips with his new powers. Andrew Garfield was great as the title character, while Emma Stone was adorable as Gwen Stacy and Denis Leary plays her curmudgeonly father, the chief of police. Uncle Ben and Aunt May are played by vets Martin Sheen and Sally Field, who can generally make any film better except for "Soapdish". In the sequel, Jamie Foxx will play the main villain 'Electro' while Paul Giamatti will portray 'Rhino,' It has been confirmed that Chris Cooper will play Norman Osborn (played by Willem Dafoe in the Raimi trilogy) meaning all three of the villains have an Academy Award to their credit so if they can't beat Spiderman they should be able to act better than him.

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The Toronto Maple Leafs have won some games here and there and find themselves right in the mix of things in the Eastern Conference with almost half the season behind them. Bright spots for the Leafs in the (almost) first half include backup goaltender Ben Scrivens filling is admirably, and at times spectacularly for injured starter James Reimer. In Reimer's absence Scrivens picked up two shutouts and is among the league leaders in save percentage and goals against average. Another bright spot is former franchise goat Nazem Kadri, who leads the Leafs in scoring, and recorded a hat trick in this evenings 5-4 overtime win against the Islanders in New York. The team does have some flaws. They can't seem to keep a lead in the third period, or if they do they cling on by the skin of their knuckles. Goaltending, a major question mark coming into the season, has been excellent but the defence has sprung a leak in the last two outings, giving up 9 goals, way above their season average. And what is going on with Phil Kessel? He's looked uninspired the last two games, and not only that, he has been turning over the puck way too much, more than once leading to goals. Leafs should expect Jofferey Lupul and Matt Frattin back in the lineup soon which means the Leafs will probably have to sit two of their three tough guys, all of whom have been playing great hockey, and not just by fourth line standards. Don't kid yourself, Colton Orr, Fraser McLaren and Mike Brown (not to mention Mark Fraser and Dion) have made the Leafs one of the toughest teams in the league due to their penchant for fisticuffs. Leafs are off until Monday when they take on the Devils.

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Here's some shows coming up:

Bob Mould March 1: Horseshoe Tavern

Deftones (with Periphery) March 1: Kool Haus

Every Time I Die (with The Acacia Strain) March 6: Opera House

Teenage Bottlerocket (with The Queers) March 6: Horseshoe Tavern

Texas Is the Reason March 8: Lee's Palace

Fuckface Unstoppable (Bam Margera) March 13: Opera House

Coheed & Cambria March 21: Sound Academy

Protest the Hero March 22: Hoxton

Grade & Choke March 23: Mod Club

Lucero (with Shovels & Rope) March 26 & 28

Bad Religion (with Against Me!) March 31: Kool Haus

REVIVAL TOUR Featuring Chuck Ragan, Dave Hause, Rocky Votolato, Jenny Owen Youns, Toh Kay April 1: Lee's Palace

Today Is the Day (with K.E.N. Mode) April 13: Lee's Palace

Parkway Drive April 16: Phoenix

3 Inches Of Blood (with Goatwhore) May 3: Opera House

The Breeders May 11: Danforth Music Hall

Integrity May 25: Wrongbar

Cannibal Corpse (with Napalm Death) May 31: Phoenix

Bad Brains June 13: Phoenix

Agnostic Front June 15: Hard Luck Club

Warped Tour July 5: The Flats

At the Gates August 9: Phoenix

Bad Religion's "True North" release shows in Toronto & Los Angeles: