vintage

The 44th President of the United States of America.
Thank you.

It’s a significant date for a number of reasons — let me elaborate on two of them.

First, the new Bicycles record, Oh No, It’s Love, hits shelves today. 19 tracks of long-awaited bubblegum pop are yours to purchase. Alongside the fabulous foursome is an impressive list of guests, including Basia Bulat, Laura Barrett, Dan Werb (Woodhands), Bob Egan (Blue Rodeo), and … me. It is humbling to be included with such amazing musicians! The record is awesome, and you should buy it.

The CD release is this Saturday, October 8 at Lee’s Palace in Toronto, and will feature many guests — Matt Murphy, Forest City Lovers, Green Go, $100, Sebastian Grainger and more. Young Rival will kick off the night.

And of course, today is Election Day in the United States of America. Here’s hoping that the whole world, who is going to be watching this day unfold, will not be disappointed. We know you can do it, America. We’re counting on it.

I just want to say thanks to those of you who have been reading and linking to my previous post. It has created a huge spike in blog traffic, and is already the top post on this blog by a huge margin. I appreciate all the support — maybe political writing is my calling! Please keep debating in the comments, it is always great to hear what other citizens really think of the way politics are going in this country.

In music: for those of you who are unaware, Canadian favourite Final Fantasy has released two new EPs (Spectrum, 14th Century and Plays to Please). Check out the review at Pitchfork. The records feature Beirut, Alex Lukashevsky and Andrew Bird; Pallett’s upcoming LP Heartland, due for a 2009 release, will include contributions by Mantler and $100.

I’m not sure if this is news to anyone else, but Panic At The Disco seem to have recently gotten rid of the annoying exclamation point in their name. However, the annoying music is unfortunately still with us.

In Canada, Margaret Wente of the Globe and Mail and Dick Pound of VANOC have created quite a stir. Pound caused a great deal of controversy by referring to the Canada of 400 years ago as “a nation of savages,” which understandably enraged most of the First Nations communities in the country. Wente then ran a Globe column supporting Pound’s claim and saying that the aboriginal people of Canada were uncivilized. Pound has since apologized for his comment and issued a statement that said the ethics commission “found no intent of racism,” but most still aren’t convinced, and there are many calling for the dismissal of both.

And in American politics … well, I think I’ll let the headlines speak for themselves.

First, Alaska Senator Ted Stevens (R) was convicted today on corruption charges. This is a huge blow to the GOP, and particularly to the Alaska Republicans. Between this and Sarah Palin’s increasing drop in the polls, Alaska is getting hit pretty hard. So far, Stevens has made no indication of dropping out of the race to be re-elected to Senate, but in a curious turn of events, he may not be able to vote for himself.

Two skinheads were arrested today in an alleged attempt to assassinate Barack Obama. The men were planning to kill 88 civilians and 14 African-Americans, with Obama being their last casualty. This is pretty scary business — nobody’s even been elected yet.

And finally, on a lighter note: the New Mexico Sun Times is a bi-weekly newspaper, with the next issue (October 26th through November 8th) hitting newsstands a week before the election. The editors decided to take a different path than most, and the latest Sun Times headline boldly proclaims Barack Obama the winner of the United States presidential election. Claiming the honour of being the first to report the results, the Sun Times still encourages everyone to go out and vote on November 4.

It’s been a fun week!