Death and unfeeling in the Beach(es)

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Last night Nicole and I took in The Departed at the Fox Cinema on Queen Street East. We both agreed that Leonardo diCaprio did an excellent job even though he's not an actor either of us usually like. Jack Nicholson and Martin Sheen were their usual immense selves and Mark Wahlberg was incredibly (and amusingly) rude. I did feel Alec Baldwin's character was too much like an extension of a 30Rock/SNL sketch. Personally I would have liked to watch it in a small theatre a couple of rows behind Matt Damon with Ben Affleck making fun of Damon's character through the movie.

This morning I read that the same neighbourhood, which had to have a plebiscite to figure out what to officially call itself, was going to have an Out of the Cold shelter set up in a local church until a group of concerned residents hired a lawyer, who tells us
"The program itself is very praiseworthy, although it might be questioned on the level of whether or not this is the best way to use ... very limited resources to look after this type of thing."

Uh-huh. The shelter was announced in October but has now been delayed until after January 16 until a mediation arranged by the local councillor is held - isn't it lucky we haven't had a hard December? I agree that some social services need to be sensitively placed - why a centre to medicate drug users is on Danforth Avenue rather than in the nearby East General Hospital escapes me - this is a successful programme in Toronto and every neighbourhood should be playing its part.

UPDATE: On the soundtrack to "The Departed" - "Gimme Shelter", "Nobody But Me", "Comfortably Numb".

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