End Days
According to Harold Camping, the head of the Christian radio network Family Stations Inc., this Saturday the world will end. Apparently, an earthquake will shake the Earth and the true believers will be swept up to heaven, while the rest of us are left behind to bear witness to the destruction of all human life. From Camping: “We know without any shadow of a doubt it is going to happen.” Uh, OK?
Freedom of Expression
Tyler, the Creator, the main man behind Odd Future, and one of hip hop’s weirdest up-and-comers,recently received the ire of one half of Tegan and Sara for his misogynistic and homophobic lyrical content. The conversation took to the Twitterverse and somehow the issue morphed into a discourse on free speech. This, of course, isn’t a free-speech issue—it’s an idiot-with-a-platform issue.
Librarians
The profession is under threat in Ontario and elsewhere. In a world where e-books are booming and cellphones provide instant access to more information than anybody could ever need, an old-timey curator of ink-and-paper products seems both obsolete and irrelevant. But librarians are still a wonderful resource. A library re-conceived for the information economy could be more valuable than ever, and a librarian calibrated to meet today’s information challenges could be its greatest asset.
The Biebs
This week Forbes announced that Justin Bieber, the boy wonder from Stratford, Ontario, is officially the third most influential celebrity in the world. He’s made teen girls swoon, sold out a world tour and starred in a top-grossing film, not to mention selling his footwear and hair on eBay for $5,500 and $40,558, respectively. Apparently, that’s the stuff influence is made of. Speaking of the Apocalypse…
James Frey
The famous author (and noted liar) is currently on tour in Canada to promote his new book, The Final Testament of the Holy Bible. On Wednesday, he was in Toronto to discuss the work with Indigo “chief book-lover” Heather Reisman, which will surely be a boon for sales. In today’s world, liars remain unpunished—instead, they seem to be roundly rewarded.
The Gos It looks like Canadian kid Ryan Gosling is going to try his hand at directing. Word is The Notebook heartthrob will star in his own directorial debut, a remake of the 1980s musical The Idolmaker. Bieber may be Canada’s most influential celebrity icon, but the Gos is the Canadian Renaissance man. He acts, he produces, he sings and now he’s going to direct. Also, like Ferris Bueller, he seems to be a righteous dude.
