Low to nonexistent, actually.

Nunc Scio is off to Washington DC, the land of politicos and fabulous museums, to visit some dear friends. Laura wants to hold a big gala to welcome me, but to be honest I’d rather just spend the evening watching ‘The Simple Life’ reruns and  eating nachos with George. And I swear to god, if I get cornered by Kissinger again…

Anyhow, normal blogging will resume on Friday, July 6. Take care in the interim.

Nunc Scio’s media hero of the week is Mika Brzezinski, a host on MSNBC’s Morning Joe. Brzezinski refused to read the lead item news item, a story about Paris Hilton’s release from prison.

Said Brzezinski:

“I have an apology, and that is for the lead story. I hate this story. I don’t think it should be the lead. I just don’t believe in covering that story, especially not as the lead story in a newscast when you have a day like today.”

Here’s the edited exchange:

My favourite part is when her idiotic co-host says, “Mika, why do you have to be such a journalist?” Indeed.

Brzezinski is probably use to a bit more gravitas. After all, her father is Zbigniew Brzezinski, national security adviser to Jimmy Carter.

Nice to see someone standing up for some integrity- and actual news- in journalism. Things are pretty scary out there, and we need to pay a bit more attention to the world, and a lot less to vapid heiresses.

The Rideau Canal is no longer just the world’s longest outdoor skating rink. it is now a bona-fide UNESCO World Heritage Site. The canal, built between 1826 and 1832 by Lt. Colonel John By, was inscribed on the list of heritage sites early this morning. It is the first man-made site to be designated in Canada.

Although it is now a hub of American tourists either skating or boating their way into Ontario’s heartland, the canal was built as a military transport and communication line to defend against American invasion. It was also one of the most brilliant and inspired engineering feats of its time. Here’s what UNESCO has to say about this national treasure:

The Rideau Canal, a monumental early 19th-century canal covering 202 kilometres of the Rideau and Cataraqui rivers from Ottowa south to Kingston Harbour on Lake Ontario was built primarily for strategic military purposes at a time when Great Britain and the United States of America vied for control of the region. The property, one of the first canals to be designed specifically for steam-powered vessels, also features an ensemble of fortifications. At the start of the project, in 1826, the British chose the so-called “slackwater” technology to avoid the need for extensive excavation. Instead, a series of dams were built to back up river water to a navigable depth and a chain of 50 massive locks were created. It is the best preserved example of a slackwater canal in North America demonstrating the use of this European technology in North America on a large scale. It is the only canal dating from the great North American canal-building era of the early 19th century to remain operational along its original line with most of its original structures intact. The canal was protected by the construction of six ‘blockhouses’ and a fort. Defensible lockmaster’s houses were later added at several lock stations and, between 1846 and 1848 four Martello towers were constructed to strengthen the fortifications at Kingston harbour. The Rideau Canal is of historical importance as it bears witness to the fight for control of the north of the American Continent.

Also, the Rideau totally beat out the Erie Canal for the heritage site honour. Take that, New York!

Full disclosure: I have a personal attachement to the Rideau Canal. I spent a great summer at the Jones Falls lockstation variously as ye olde blacksmith and ye olde lockmaster, traipsing around in period costume for schoolchildren. I can still forge a rosehead nail in 45 seconds, and I know what it’s like to get bitten by an out-of-control sluice crank. 

Also, my dad was instrumental in putting together the UNESCO application. Way to go, pop.

So everyone grab a beavertail and head on down to the Rideau Canal. We always knew it was special. Now it is special and recognized by a major international organization.

You know that dreamy, faraway look certain girls get when James Blunt’s You’re Beautiful? And how, when you hear that song, you feel the uncontrollable urge to punch babies? Fear not, friend. You’re not alone anymore.

In a species-salvaging move of good taste, Blunt’s onerous ode to his own crapulence has been voted the most irritating song in the world. Blunt beat out an impressive field of contenders for the number one spot. Crazy Frog and Mmmm Bop came in second and third respectively.

Blunt is probably a bit surprised by this, to which I respond: “See, the thing is you’re terrible.” If there is a girl out there who doesn’t like this song, I will marry you. No questions asked.

“I wish everyone, friend or foe, well and that is that, the end.”

With those words, Tony Blair brought down the curtain on remarkable 10 years at the helm of the United Kingdom. All over the world, commentators are weighing in with their thoughts on Blair’s legacy. Not to be left out, I thought I’d add a few thoughts of my own.

I can’t help but think the Blair years will be viewed as an exceptional period in UK history, both for their incredible highs and frightening lows. Blair is, in many ways, the last of a breed- the kind of leader who leads by leading. In the days of obsessive opinion polling and neurotic fixation on popularity, Blair is to be commended for having the courage of his convictions. He has said that he always did what he thought was right, for better or worse. Unfortunately, the ‘worse’ got pretty darn bad.

For all his leadership ability, the early Blair years saw the rise of a media spin regime unprecedented in UK politics, and perhaps even among modern democracies. Managed largely through his lieutenants Alastair Campbell and Phillip Gould, the PR of Blair’s labour party was aggressive, catering to newspapers while ignoring parliamentary procedure. Many have argued that Blair’s spin is responsible for a rise in political cynicism in the UK.

Still, it is difficult to deny that Labour needed some new tricks to oust the Conservative Party and reverse the degradations of the Thatcher years. Sophisticated campaigning and media relations, coupled with Blair’s charisma brought a welcome change to UK politics. Certainly, with such a rapacious national media, Blair needed to take an intelligent and proactive approach to the press. It is unfortunate that the Labour Party took their tactics too far, possibly damaging the political system in the process.

Even in his last days, Blair continued to take a controversial stance on the media. At a public lecture towards the end of his tenure, he advocated for the creation of new regulator for online journalism, criticized by many as a call for increased censorship.

Beyond the media hijinks, Blair’s legacy on the foreign stage is his most contentious. On the one hand, he helped broker a lasting, if shaky, peace in Northern Island. That alone is a massive accomplishment. However, his successes have been obscured by the one defining decision of his political career- to lead his country and people into a bloody and demoralizing conflict in Iraq.

The decision to participate in the invasion damaged Blair in several ways. It compromised his ability to lead, since his decision to join the USA was based on either bad intelligence, a will desire to deceive his people, or both. It also cast him as a lapdog of Bush, something reprehensible to UK citizens. Most importantly, the conflict in Iraq has hurt Blair’s country- both in terms of the loss of life, and the incredible anger felt by citizens towards their government. Blair’s decision to invade Iraq may well erase any positive aspects of his legacy.

Despite all that, I can’t help but like the guy. I mean, he’s just so damn likable. And he seems determined to redeem himself in the eyes of history. If all goes to plan, Blair will become the Middle East Envoy for the international ‘quartet’- The USA, Europe, United Nations and Russia- attempting to resolve the Arab-Israeli conflict. If Blair can make any progress in this holy grail of intractable conflicts, then he might, just maybe, escape the albatross of Iraq hanging around his neck.

So farewell, Mr. Blair. I suspect history will have to delay its judgment of you for quite a while.

An interesting, if somewhat over-thought exploration of the action movie one-liner today in Slate.

Here’s a tidbit:

“A quarter of the line (or half, depending on how you count) is profane, and yet “Yippee-ki-yay, motherfucker” is actually a delicate wisecrack. Underscoring the line’s bridging of generations is the symmetry of its construction. On either side of the comma, past and present each get four syllables. This balance is manifested in the evenness of Willis’ first—and best—delivery of the line. Subtly, he eases off “fucker,” the word that, by virtue of its syntactical position, and its very nature, we might expect to land hardest on our ears.”

Wow. Sure sucked the fun out of that one.

Creative Commons Canada has posted a handy legal guide for Canadian podcasters.

A useful document if you’re worried about violating arcane national copyright laws, or being beaten by gangs of vicious record executives.