This is a test

You say you've dated an Australian. Prove it by singing alone with this song.

Yesu Nakupenda

God I love African music videos. I especially like the random toothpaste-buying scene at the beginning of this one.

Very catchy.

Beautiful Boy

I've been devouring David Sheff's moving and harrowing account of his son Nic's struggle with addiction.

The title is drawn from the John Lennon song of the same name.

Nic, by all accounts, is a sweet, talented, quirky and loving son and brother. That is until his disease kicks in. Then he becomes a lying, stealing, cheating, over-promising and under-delivering menace to himself and society.

Nic's drug of choice is methamphetamine, alternately known as meth, crystal, ice, crank and glass.

Early on he abused booze, pot, coke and other drugs, but when he found meth, it was like he'd met up with an old friend. It's one of the easiest drugs to get hooked on, and one of the hardest to give up.

What makes Nic's story even more tragic is that with each period of sobriety -- one month, a year and a half, a couple of weeks -- Nic's disease consumes him and he's off again on a destructive path.

David Sheff is a beautiful writer, who captures the pain of realizing that he's powerless over his son's addiction. Of course he had some help in that arena from the good people of Al-Anon. Like most, he came to Al-Anon after literally trying everything, and hitting his own personal bottom.

I haven't finished the book yet. I'm almost afraid to.

That'll do, pig. That'll do.

There's nothing like a little pandemic to bring out the worst in people.

It certainly doesn't help that the symptoms of the dreaded swine flu could pass for just about anything that ails you.

Fever. Lethargy. Lack of appetite. And let's not forget the ever-present sore throat and nausea. Sounds a lot like Monday to me.

And the midst of trying to get the situation contained, we have this ridiculous interjection from an Israeli health official who says the outbreak of swine flu should be re-named "Mexican" influenza in deference to Muslim and Jewish sensitivities over pork.

You're kidding, right?

Most Torontonians will undoubtedly recall the the deadly SARS outbreak in 2003.

At the time, I was working at a downtown ad agency near St. Michael's Hospital. One chilling day, I recall walking past the hospital on my way to work and the entire hospital had been wrapped in a scene straight out of "Outbreak". They'd closed down the Second Cup coffee house in the lobby and they were only allowing essential workers in. Even families with patients inside were being prevented from visiting.

Toronto learned some important lessons from that experience -- primarily, not to panic.

We were largely guided through the labyrinth by an incredible public health official, Dr. Sheila Basrur, who was a shining example of how calm leadership in times of crisis can help allay public fears. Sadly, Dr. Basrur passed away in June of 2008.

In the end, it was cancer, not SARS, that got her.

17 Days

Babes of Broadway

With the Susan Boyle vid making the rounds on the internet, it was slightly serendipitous that I went to see a high school production of Les Miserables at a local high school last night.

One of our writers invited me along because I took a look at some fundraising letters she wrote on their behalf.

The production was really, really good. It was a girl's school, but they'd scoured the district for some boys to join the cast. Most of them came from St. Michael's Choir School or local Fame-type arts schools.

They staged a production of a scale and quality that I wouldn't think possible. You could see their parents simply bursting with pride.

With so much being written about where today's generation is failing, it was actually pretty encouraging to see what a group of kids can do when they put their minds to it.

I Learned Everything I Know From America's Next Top Model

Okay, I'll admit it. I'm a bit of an America's Next Top Model junky.

In fact, I credit the series with teaching me how to pose in photographs See, you barely even notice the elephant in this photo. The protruding hip bone and the awkward stance....all ANTM. Behind the shades, I'm really smiling with my eyes.

So you can imagine my delight when last night the models took their show to Brazil and I learned that The Girl from Ipanema was actually a real person.

Who knew?

Legend has it the song was inspired by Helo Pinheiro (real name: Heloisa Enelda Menezes Paes Pinto) who, barely out of her teens, was a bit of a Lolita. She would stroll the fashionable Rio streets, attracting the attention of bar patrons.

Tall and tan and young and lovely
The girl from Ipanema goes walking
And when she passes, each one she passes goes - ah

Today the real girl from Ipanema is a little older, presumably a little wiser and apparently spends all her free time getting highlights. She's a bit of a celebrity in the country. They've even renamed a bar in her honour.