While al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden doesn't mind a hug, he's not big on lip-to-face contact, says an Australian convicted of receiving funds from al Qaeda.

Because I have less than stellar time management skills, I occasionally find myself running late for work.

One (expensive) remedy is taking a cab from Kennedy subway station to CTV.

And one risk of that approach is getting a ride with Pete.

Through an ancient process known as "quadruple distilling," a distillery on the west island of Islay in Scotland hopes to make a scotch that will be 92 per cent alcohol.

Overheard on Bloor St. West in the Annex:

Whoa: Cheer up there, emo boy!

When I went looking around for the video of the ragin' Cajun trying to liven up the goth band, I didn't find it (I really hope I got the right product name, but if I didn't, it's the ad's fault).

But I found something much, much more amusing: The Emo Song!

At no point in my life did I ever expect to make three postings about Leah McLaren over a two-week period, but I've got to close off some business.

J. Kelly Nestruck summed up the aftermath of the trashing of McLaren's book by one Ryan Bigge, including the reaction of Toronto Star books editor Doug Smith.

Marc Weisblott of Paved almost triggered another feud when he described Nestruck as a fellow fluff reporter. :)

File this under wacky news: A council of elders in Sudan's Upper Nile state has ordered a man caught having sex with someone else's goat to pay that person the equivalent of $50 US as a dowry.

Way back in the 17th century, England's King Charles II decreed there always be six ravens at the Tower of London.

The legend is that if the birds were ever to leave the tower, the White Tower would crumble, and England would pretty much follow suit.

As you can see, when the fate of a nation of 55 million is at stake, serious measures must be taken to protect the ravens from emerging threats like bird flu.

For the time being, that means keeping them inside in specially builty aviaries.

Here's the AP story on CTV.ca.

A headline on CBC.ca: Iran, Pope call for end to cartoon violence

Afterthought:

And I guess that would also mean Itchy and Scratchy would be completely out of the question.

Double-afterthought:

If you care, this BBC story has what the Pope said.

Roses of the Prophet Mohammad.

That's what Iranian bakers in Tehran are now now calling danishes, according to this BBC story.

There are monsoon-like rains out there right now. Plus thunder. And lightning.

WTFF??

Afterward:

I went to a local meat shop Friday night. The guy told me at the beginning of the month, they had flies buzzing around the garbage container. In Toronto. In February.

And as I head off to work on Saturday, it's a not-so-balmy -13. On Monsoon night, it was +8.

The things you miss when you skip the book review pages on the weekend.

Marc Weisblott at Paved.ca has the basic story of how T.O. writer Ryan Bigge had unkindly reviewed Globe and Mail columnist Leah McLaren's new novel The Continuity Girl in the Toronto Star this past Sunday.

You carry three shopping bags and your purse in one hand, with your BlackBerry in your free hand?

And when you put down your bags on the subway, you keep your BlackBerry in one hand while you rumage in your purse with your other hand?

In fact, you never lose physical touch with your BlackBerry and stare incessantly at the screen, even though you don't appear to be inputting anything?

Just asking.