The weekend is over, and back to work is looming over my head.  It was a lovely winter weekend filled with skiing and tobogganing.  The hill behind my house is awesome, although the new innertube we have goes way too fast and one day I or one of my kids will kill ourselves going down that slope!

I now see that Air Canada is not the only carrier with the censored version of The Queen showing in their cabins.  I watched it flying home from San Diego a few weeks ago, and was amazed they'd bleeped out the word "God", even when used in a non-blasphemous way.  I chalked it up to Canadian political-correctness.  Apparently, though, it was just stupidity.  I did like the movie, though.  Especially for the warm rush of nostalgia for the days when we still liked Tony Blair.  Even I bought it for awhile: wear a purple necktie and you, too, Mr. Lefty, can keep your ideals intact and still benefit from the glories of the market!  For a couple of years, at least.  How embarrassing...

Apparently, the Wii  uses the least amount of energy of any of the newest gaming consoles out there.  Another reason why it's the coolest, along with the fact that it's really fun (we're enjoying the new Wario game currently).  For those who worry about the energy used in standby mode, do what I do with VCRs, etc - plug it into a power strip, and manually turn the strip off when you're not using it.  Big deal, huh?

As for the YouTube comments thread, I really, truly wasn't looking for the copious amounts of smoke many of you blew up my ass (which, truthfully, felt great, thank you) - I was just observing that YouTube comments have made a great substitute for actual criticism.  In fact, the level of discourse (see: "Your gay", "no yr gay","takes one to no one fagit") generated in Web 2.0 is evolving quickly to the level of many critics who work for daily newspapers!  And it always amuses me to see people's comments like that, when I'm sure they have no idea I'd read it - and I wouldn't have if I wasn't linking to it to illustrate an unconnected point!

Flu seems to have gone - I have a bit of a cough left, but that's it.  Now I have to pack for 4 weeks of winter in Canada.  Canadian tour starts tuesday.

Oh, and for those of you who don't have it, Barenaked Ladies Are Men (the 2nd half of BLAM) comes out Feb 6th.

And I think the 5.1 version of the whole shebang is already out, but I'll admit to not being 100% sure, as it's not on our website, nor on Amazon...

Hope you saw the podcasts from the cruise.  They're on YouTube, bnlmusic.com, and, if you've subscribed to our podcasts, they should just download automatically.  Or, go to iTunes and subscribe there.

Despite my compulsive vitamining, water-drinking, sinus irrigating, will to stay healthy (which worked during the epic shit-your-pants flu that took over Bus 1 and others on the fall tour), I boarded the boat with a cold.  Which led to the island of lost voice.  Then, in France, I developed the chills-and-fever style of flu which hit me hard and I have not even fully shaken yet.  Despite all this, the joy of long airplane flights is not the scones and clotted cream, nor the too-thin blankets and extra socks they give you up in 2nd class.  It is the time to read books.  On the first flight I read Walker Percy's "The Moviegoer" from 1961, recommended by my friend Rae, after she read Revolutionary Road on my recommendation.  Set in New Orleans in the 1950s, it's a smart, sad, keenly observational book about class, happiness and the responsibilities of adulthood.  And whether of any of these things matter.
On the second flight, I read Martin Amis' latest, The House of Meetings.  Amis is one of my favourite writers, but this book stands head and shoulders above his others.  A gruesome indictment of the Soviet gulags, it also struck me that it might call Amis himself to task for his fetish for Russian writers, particularly Nabokov, whose voice he mirrors often here.  Not the slog (however rewarding) that The Information was, nor the piece of crap that was Night Train (Yellow Dog still stares me down from my to-read pile), but also not the cynical satire of Money or London Fields, House of Meetings might be Amis' best book, at least up there with his memoir Experience.  Deeply moving, and highly recommended.

Holy crap, the Guardian is such a good newspaper. Not only is the tone of the writing fresh and easy to read without talking down to its readers, but it's not afraid to be edgy, nor is it afraid to be fluffy and fun. Yesterday's paper had the requisite 15 or so pages dedicated to the social ramifications of alleged racism on Channel 4's Celebrity Big Brother, as well as articles on the Cash for Peerage scandal, Iraq, gardening, psychosis, the Robert Pickton trial, the woman who died in the "Hold Your Wee for A Wii" contest, and this articleby novelist Zadie Smith. It is essential reading: Smart, witty, scholarly, passionate, personal and universal. What other newspaper publishes writing like this about the arts? Makes the New York Times and the Globe and Mail look like the National Enquirer. I go to the Guardian's site online for news often, but nothing beats holding the whole weekend paper on your lap and going through it bit by bit. Only this way can you really get your head around the soul and spirit of a newspaper. I look forward to reading tomorrow's on my flight home!

I was walking out of the Princesse Stephanie Hilton last night, and spotted the swag bags intended for the Pussycat Dolls. They must have been here for the French awards show (NRG? or something like that) that was here last night. I thought of stealing one of them, but reconsidered, as I'm sure I got enough thongs during Pinch Me on the cruise! Did you know that the Pussycat Dolls were the dancers in the One Week video? It's true, although it's possible that some of the personnel has changed since then. Just don't read the YouTube comments, though, unless you want to find out the truth; that apparently I'm ugly!!!

Wow. We finished Ships and Dip yesterday, and my legs are still wobbly. Every now and again, I feel myself correcting my balance, as if the floor was floating on the Atlantic ocean. I'm in Cannes now, where manager-guru Terry McBride and I will be giving a talk at the MIDEM music industry conference, but I can't stop thinking about what a great time we had on the cruise. We worked really hard, I lost my voice for a while, we got very little sleep, but I had a blast. The shows were great, the other artists were amazing (what a thrill to have 3/4 of the Odds reunite as The New Odds, and as their alter ego, Acid Wish), and most of all, the fans were amazing. The feeling of camaraderie and community were overwhelming, and everyone was so friendly and appreciative, and still gave us our space (and I also learned how and where to hide when I needed to). I hope we can all take those great vibes back into the real world with us, and spread them around. We held off until the cruise was over to make our decision as to whether or not there'd be a sequel, and we've decided yes. Yes, there will. I am pleased to announce Ships and Dip III, sailing Jan 6th, 2008, out of Miami on the Carnival Victory, with ports of call TBA. We've decided to forego Ships & Dip II, because we knew that it would be anticlimactic after such a great first outing, really, how could it attempt to live up? So, we're skipping right ahead to the third installment. Stay tuned for details of when cabins go on sale (I have no idea right now). Folks who were on this year's cruise will get first dibs, but it's a bigger boat, so there'll be lots of room. And, hopefully, more gaudy decorations. And, we promise, ACTUAL chips and ACTUAL dip.