The "Masked Avengers" -- Marc-Antoine Audette and Sebastien Trudel of Montreal's CKOI Radio -- managed to get ahold of President Jacques Chirac of France and make Chirac think he was talking to prime minister-designate Stephen Harper.

Steven Spielberg's Munich opened in Israel Thursday night. The film did not get good advance press for its portrayal of Mossad agents carrying out the state's revenge for the 1972 massacre at the Munich Olympics.

In the past few days, two U.S. newspapers have run articles by female staffers who have been to Iraq, each at least vaguely tying into the Jill Carroll story.

This is from the L.A. Times' Alissa Rubin:

Abduction Forces a Grim Look at What a Story Is Worth

Risks are a given in a war zone, where the odds of death are calculated daily. But the kidnapping of Jill Carroll compels a reporter to reevaluate limits and responsibilities.

And this one is from the Washington Post's Jackie Spinner:

The Other Beat Of Her Heart

In Iraq, the Reporter Learns You Go Into Battle Alone

I like the LAT story better, although I found it somewhat auto-melodramatic in places. The WaPo story is about a green reporter in Iraq and her relationship with her twin sister.

Werner Herzog released a brilliant documentary this summer: Grizzly Man, about the life and death of troubled bear-lover Timothy Treadwell, who spent 13 summers among the grizzly bears of Alaska.

If you've seen it, you may wish to check out Grizzly Bear Man, a spoof by the comic duo of Travis and Jonathan. It's an eight-minute-long movie, so give it some time to load, but it's got some yucks. :)

Yep. Close access to Helsinki (close enough for same-day booze cruises), European Union membership and cheap flights have livened up the Soviet-era backwater.