The National Affairs Desk: Toronto

The WIRe – Week in Review

David Hunter

TORONTO -- A few things that came across the news desk here in Toronto this week; The 61st Prime Time Emmy’s were broadcast this week hosted by former child star Neil Patrick Harris and his forehead, and it featured a new category: reality programming. Here’s a reality: ZzzzZzzzzzzzzz….. A video has surfaced of Ben Stiller teaching 89 year old Mickey Rooney how to use Twitter. That ought to be worth a larf, since Mickey is older than electricity itself….Former chess champ Anatoly Karpov had a rematch with Gary Kasparov on the 25th anniversary of their title bout, which took almost as long to finish; the original match lasted five months and had to be called due to player “exhaustion”….Barack Obama, who became the first sitting U.S. President to guest on Letterman’s show, was intrigued by a heart-shaped potato brought in by a fan, and by Letterman’s question, “how long have you been a black man?”….Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper passed on addressing the United Nations at the G20 summit, dumping the duties on Deputy Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon. Wouldn’t want our PM to do anything IMPORTANT like being a statesman for our country now would we....speaking of the G20, Pittsburgh turned chaotic Thursday after protesters responded to calls to disperse by throwing stones and knocking over garbage cans, yeah, that helps…Former Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Elliot Trudeau is being inducted into the Queer Hall of Fame for his role in de-criminalizing homosexuality....K-Fed is apparently okay with adding "fatso" to his other attributes "untalented" and "obnoxious"....Zooey Deschanel marries Death Cab singer Ben Gibbard, and this writer's heart is breaking....Canadian author Douglas Coupland's new book "Generation A" is being released; from X to A, eh Doug?.... Mackenzie Phillips, star of the 70’s sitcom One Day at a Time, and daughter of Papa John Phillips, has alleged in her new book that she and her father had a sexual relationship for ten years, by turns it was rape and consensual, she alleges… Mama Michele says she’s crazy because, “she’s had a needle up her arm for 35 years…” Gee mom, you’re swell….scientists have come to the brilliant conclusion that if you paint a Butterflies antennas black, they will become lost and be unable to migrate. I could have told you THAT without a science degree….Patrick Swayze’s memoir’s are set to hit the shelves soon, and in it he states that the script for his hit movie Dirty Dancing “seemed fluffy, nothing more than a summer camp movie”….why is former UFC champ Chuck Liddell dancing with the stars? Shouldn’t he be grounding and pounding them instead? It’d be more fun to watch….Jessica Simpson’s Maltipoo daisy was ingested…I mean EATEN… by coyotes and she is devastated. “Jessica has a very small inner circle,” one of her friends says, “but she always had Daisy. Daisy gave her unconditional love.”

End Notes
Thanks to all the NAD contributors this week, it’s been interesting. Although we had no rhyme, reason or theme this week, we can be thankful that all remaining celebrities are still alive and not dead as this Summer of Death comes to a close. Please scroll down and revisit some of this week’s great posts, and enjoy our comment sections, some of the best on the net, in my humble opinion. Until next week.