Canada Shall Remain One...At Least for Now

Last night we found out that the Parti Liberal du Quebec (PLQ) will form a minority government in that province. The Action Democratique du Quebec (ADQ) will form the official opposition and the Parti Quebecois (PQ) will be rendered meaningless... Okay, the PQ finished third, a mere 12 seats behind the PLQ, so "meaningless" is an exaggeration, but you get the point. This is sort of how everyone expected the election to go down - the PLQ would stay in power, the ADQ would leap frog the PQ to become the official opposition, and the PQ would lose some seats and finish third - no surprises really. And that's a good thing. The plunge taken by the PQ (they won 9 fewer seats than they did last time) means support for Quebec seperatism is waning (if only temporarily). Either way, we can (hopefully) count on at least a couple years without having to worry about another sovereignty referendum in Quebec.

To make things more interesting for those less politically nerdy, here are some interesting tidbits about the election results:

• Quebecors (like your Prime Minister) don't much care about the environment - the Parti Vert du Quebec was unable to win a single seat;
• Quebecors are not commies - the Parti Marxiste-Leniniste du Quebec also failed to win any seats;
• Quebecors don't like weed - the Bloc Pot won fewer than 2000 votes (or 0.04% of the popular vote);
• Quebecors prefer weed over Christianity - the Parti Democratie Chretienne du Quebec garnered more than 100 fewer votes than the Bloc Pot;
• The Parti Democratie Chretienne du Quebec has nothing to do with Jean Chretien;
• finally, the Quebec Solidaire didn't matter.

P.S. If you're looking for more analysis, but don't like "the man's" news sources, check out what the incomparable Mr. McIver had to say. If you do check out his article, remember that he speaks with a blue tougue which is almost certainly controlled by Stephen Harper.

Rock Mash-ups

I was listening to Seven Mary Three's American Standard today when I got to thinking about some potential rock mash-ups. Here you go:

1. Everclear/Seven Mary Three - Everclear lead singer (and creative driving force) Art Alexakis ought never to have been given a microphone. Notwithstanding great tracks like Santa Monica, Summerland, and Strawberry, Art has, in my opinion, one of the worst voices in music. On the other hand, in my opinion, he is also one of the best songwriters in rock music. His songs seem to connect to everyone. He manages to express his thoughts and experiences without the vague, cryptic lyrics that so many rockers use.* I think if Art set down his microphone, and started writing songs for other bands, he would be much more appreciated. Here's where 7M3 comes in. Lead singer Jason Ross has a killer voice - it rivals the best grunge has ever offered. Unfortunately, from what I heard on American Standard, he should not be allowed to write anymore song lyrics. I will grant him genius on Cumbersome, but it pretty much ends there. A message to the 7M3 crew: hire Art to write you some songs (like Everclear or not, the man writes hit songs), and return to your platinum glory days of 1995-1996.
2. The Doors/Nickelback - This one is a stretch, but just think about it. Nickelback singer-songwriter Chad Kroeger is seemingly incapable of writing complete songs. Almost everything I've heard from Nickelback is (musically) murderously catchy, but (lyrically) incomplete. I'm not kidding, go read the lyrics to some Nickelback songs - they repeat the same verse over and over (sometimes Chad changes a word or two). On the other hand, you have the Doors. Replace the kitschy Doors music with the near-metal Nickelback sound, then replace the incomplete Nickelback lyrics with Jim Morrison poetry and you have a great, cross-generational rock band. Also, give the Doors' Robby Krieger the lead guitar duties because I'm not convinced Kroeger and Ryan Peake actually know how to play their guitars.
   
3. Nirvana/Pearl Jam - I'm not suggesting either of these monster rock bands need(ed) any help being great, but imagine them combined. I would never replace Kurt Cobain, but since he...took himself out of the picture, think what could have been if Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder had taken over singer-songwriter duties and Mike McCready had taken over on lead guitar: Vedder's lyrical genius, Novoselic's monster bass, Grohl killing his drum set (back where he belongs), and McCready on lead guitar. The only problem: McCready and Vedder would have to pull double-duty because Pearl Jam is too great to let die.

Those are my rock mash-ups - fantastical, absurd, intriguing.

Who would you mash-up? (If you say Linkin Park/Jay-Z I will not publish your comment - it was tried and it was useless. Jay-Z dominated so much, it just as easily could have been a mediocre house band behind him.)

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* I like some of the vague, cryptic lyrics out there, but too often there's no discernable meaning behind them. Lyrics can be vague and cryptic, but they have to mean something. Take the Shins for instance. James Mercer's lyrics are not easy to understand. They meander around meanings, but they say exactly what he wants them to say, you just have to think about them a bit. James Mercer = genius.

Thoughts While Procrastinating

NME magazine is reporting that Eminem is suing ex-wife Kim in an attempt to stop her from insulting him in public. What a hypocrite! Before I say anymore, you should know that I hate Eminem. Talk about wasted talent. The man is a lyrical genius with perhaps the best flow in the game, but he's a complete idiot. The man sells his records by releasing pop-ready, (moderately) kid-friendly, bouncy singles, then fills the rest of the album with hatred. It's roughly equivalent to pedophiles attracting children with lollipops. Anyway, back to the story. Eminem is suing wife Kim in an attempt to make her stop insulting him in public. The hypocrisy is this: every single Eminem album has been characterized by him insulting Kim at on at least 75% of the tracks. According to Eminem, when he insults her, it's freedom of expression. But what happens when she insults him? Suddenly it's defamation of character and harmful to their daughter? What the hell is the difference? Eminem, go away. You tool.

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In more important news: Today Quebecors go to the polls. The Quebec provincial election has begun and analysts are predicting a tight three-way race between the ADQ, the PQ, and the (incumbent) Liberals. I'm pulling for the Liberals. The PQ are, of course, the seperatists, so to pull for them would be to pull for the dissolution of Canada. I'm not too familiar with the ADQ, but I hear they are the right-wingers in Quebec provincial politics (filling the void left by the missing Conservative Party), so I cannot pull for them. Anyway, it sounds like we're going to have to wait until late tonight before we get the results. Should be interesting!

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That's all for today. Enjoy your Monday!