Se volete abbonarvi ai post sui migliori film trasmessi, e se avete un lettore rss, potete usare questo feed.

Per una programmazione più completa:

• Il sito di Filmtv, della rivista che compro sempre e dal quale sono tratte le schede dei film.
• Mediaset gallery
• IRIS
• Il sito con tutti i programmi di Sky
• Le variazioni dei programmi TV da Sorrisi e canzoni

E se non vi fidate dei miei consigli c'è un altro blog che ogni settimana posta i migliori film in tv: http://fermataciotat.blogspot.com/

Sto ancora raccogliendo preferenze per ll torneo dei film, si parte a dicembre con le eliminatorie da un tabellone di 128 film. Il form per le vostre playlist è qui.

Domenica 5/10:

• Sull'analogico: Rete 4, 15.45: Sentieri selvaggi
• Sul digitale terrestre: Joi, 21.00: Harry Potter e l'ordine della fenice
• Su SKY: Cinema mania, 21.00: Femme fatale
• Il film da evitare: Italia 1, 19.00: Yuppies
• Cosa registro: Rai 4, pomeriggio, telefilm vari; Rete 4, 15.45: Sentieri selvaggi

Il trailer di Harry Potter:

Lunedì 6/10:

• Sull'analogico: Rete 4, 23.55: Gangs of New York
• Sul digitale terrestre: Joi, 21.00: Il signore degli anelli - La compagnia dell'anello (1 voto al Torneo dei film)
• Su SKY: Mgm Channel, 21.00: Io e Annie (1 voto al Torneo dei film) (Top 100)
• Il film da evitare: Rete 4, 21.10: Belly of the beast - Ultima missione
• Cosa registro: Rete 4, 23.35: Gangs of New York; Italia 1, 00.10: Californication

Il trailer di Gangs of New York:

Martedì 7/10:

• Sull'analogico: Italia 1, 04.15: Waking life
• Sul digitale terrestre: Rai 4, 21.00: Million dollar baby (un voto al Torneo dei film) (Top 100)
• Su SKY: Non pervenuto
• Il film da evitare: Rete 4, 21.10: Arma letale 3
• Cosa registro: Mya, 02.00: Turista per caso

Una scena da Waking life:

Mercoledì 8/10:

• Sull'analogico: Italia 1, 23.40: V per vendetta
• Sul digitale terrestre: Steel, 21.00: L'esorcista - Versione integrale (Top 100)
• Su SKY: Cinema 3, 21.00: Quattro matrimoni e un funerale (Top 100)
• Il film da evitare:  Italia 1, 21.10: Van Helsing
• Cosa registro: Joi, 21.00: Pushing diaries; Italia 1, 23.40: V per vendetta

Una scena da V per vendetta:

Giovedì 9/10:

• Sull'analogico: Rai 3, 21.05: Black dahlia
• Sul digitale terrestre: Rai 4, 21.00: Elizabethtown (live blogging)
• Su SKY: Non pervenuto
• Il film da evitare: Rete 4, 21.10: Ricky e Barabba
• Cosa registro: Rai 4, 21.00: Elizabethtown

Una scena da Elizabethtown:

Venerdì 10/10:

• Sull'analogico: Rete 4, 23.25: Il socio
• Sul digitale terrestre: IRIS, 22.45: La casa dalle finestre che ridono
• Su SKY: Cinema mania, 21.00: Malcolm X
• Il film da evitare:
• Cosa registro: Steel, 21.00: Bionic woman; Italia 1, 23.05: Dexter

Il trailer inglese di Malcolm X:

Sabato 11/10:

• Sull'analogico: Rai 1, 01.25: Elephant
• Sul digitale terrestre: Rai 4, 22.35: Paura d'amare
• Su SKY: Cinema mania, 21.00: Al di là della vita
• Il film da evitare: Rai 1, 22.50: Parole d'amore
• Cosa registro: Steel, 21.00: 4400 (1a stagione).

La scena finale di Paura d'amare:

thanks again to everyone who participated and/or tried to participate. i look forward to hearing anyone's thoughts on how they thought the debate went in. we obviously had a very democratic group and i personally thought that biden did a great job answering the questions, not being condescending or too long winded (though he had a few moments), and was excellent in not only defending himself and obama, but also promoting them to the american public. he ended the debate on a high note and making a connection with the american people, especially the middle class. palin on the other hand, continued a night's long trend of playing it cute, especially whenever she was trying to stall for time or trying to figure out what exactly she wanted to say. she repeated a lot of the same themes and kept trying to turn her responses onto something she actually knows a little about- energy. and the other thing i noticed is that while biden did a lot of clearing up/explaining on palin's attacks on obama and himself, palin didnt do the same thing for herself or mccain. now what kind of teamwork is that? how is she going to be his right hand woman if she cant even stand up for him in a solid and constructive way? she did better than she did in the couric interview, but in my mind, her performance as someone campaigning to be the vice president of america was a flop. no doubt we'll be reading all about it from the media any moment now.

sometimes i cannot help but think... hey, whoever wins, you do realize that you're going to have to fix a lot of problems and be held accountable for a vast array of challenges, right? still want to do it? guess you don't really have a choice. but man, it'll be a big task ahead of you.

what did you guys think? what were some highlights or low points of the debate for you for either party? anything you want to just throw out there or voice your opinion on? and where did you watch the debate- with whom, on what network, and what was the general consensus after it was over?

my attention now turns to the flailing cubs game... let's hope they turn it around double quick!

Really enjoying Joe Biden in the VP debate right now. Palin is over-rehearsed, sounding like a fembot, robotically spewing the keypoints out - Biden is nicely, but soundly, picking holes in her coached chat. He really knows his stuff.

At the end of it all: my little tuppence of a verdict. Joe = really good. Sarah didn't fluff her lines, but answer questions she did not.

Sarah Palin's debate lowlights:

The frenetic liveblogging after the jump...

"How long have I been at this, five weeks?" Yes, Sarah, yes. Five looong weeks. You keep checking your piece o' paper for those figures.

Joe is killing her softly, and being really quite nice with it.

Palin at the start: "Can I call you Joe?"

I prefer Gwen Ifill as moderator - she has more personality than Jim Lehrer, and more pointed questions. Hope the ankle heals soon!

Bless'er.

Palin is just starting to fall apart - repeating herself, speaking ... very... slooooooooowly...

Jesus, she just kinda dismissed the human impact on global warming... "Gotta clean up this planet." Niiice.

You don't want to discuss causes, Sarah? Without knowing the causes, how can you come up with the cure?

"Other countries that don't care as much" - YOU DON'T EVEN CARE ABOUT THE CAUSES! Bad line-reading, Sarah, BAD.

Biden: “If you don’t understand what causes something, it is almost impossible to come up with a solution.” Well, exactly.

This debate started off bloodless, and at least these two can smile and look at each other. Have to admit, Biden and Palin are doing better than Obama and McCain; well, I mean that they seem more comfortable in this odd situation than the other two did. Palin has the machine-gun-rapid-fire delivery of those-who-need-their-notes. Joe sounds much more natural.

She is a blizzard of words - see the Charlie Gibson interview - can't find it right now, can't watch anything else right now!

Here it is:

She just said NUKE-U-LER! She keeps saying it!

Obama-Biden don't support gay marriage?! Hm, neither do we in merry old Englande, it seems. Sad. Let people get married if they want to, yeah? What have you got to lose? I like weddings. Also, civil partnership ceremonies. Also, parties. Just general parties.

These questions are much more personal than the presidential debate - both your sons are in Iraq, go!

Oof Palin's being cunty about the war! Taking troops outta Iraq is not a defeat. We want Track and Beau back in one piece each, now, don't we?

Oh Joe, I like you. Tell us more about McCain voting against funding the troops.

"Without reading the history of the last 700 years... God love him but he is wrong." Biden on McCain and Sunnis vs Shias. Awesomeness. Well-delivered. He is much better on scaled-down, subtle folksy than Obama - but he is bloody sharp on the facts. On those, S to that P FAILS w/o massive amounts of coaching. Also not helping: that c-RAZY-eyed stare.

Gosh, listening to SayPay makes you realise how well Tina Fey has got her down. Poor TF, having to reach down so low. Lady has, like, 30 000 Emmys.

Stop saying NUKE-U-LER! And WIPE OFF THE FACE OF THE EARTH. Guess who! Yup, P-ster.

"Some of these dictators. WHO HATE WHAT WE STAND FOR... our women's rights." Oh, Sarah, babes, NO. You cannot. You are not on the side of women. You hate peeps w/out Y chromos. You hate choice. You love your 17-year-old having a baby.

"That's simply not true about Barack Obama." Oh, Joe. You have numbered points. You rock. " Talk. Talk. Talk." Tomozza's soundybitey.

Joe, don't talk about yourself in the third person again. A third time will be too weird.

PS - Sarah? "A second holocaust?" Huh?

"I'm so encouraged to know that we both love Israel." Hug him, Sarah, hug him!

"Past is prologue Gwen." SOCK IT TO HER JOE! And you still sound rather nice! You are playing against Ms Pew-pew-pew well.

No! A third third-person "Joe Biden." Stoppit!!

"I don't have a stomach for genocide, when it comes to Darfur." No need to narrow it down, Joe. Just kidding. Great speech here.

Um, Joe's said quite a lot that Palin has basically lied / got it wrong / lied / read the notes wrong / lied her badly lip-lined mouth off.

"What do you expect? We're a team of mavericks, we don't always agree." HAH.

"Wasilla Main Street." Please, no.

"Government just get outta my way." Oh, you right-wing types!

"Supporting a ticket that wants to increase taxes that ultimately kills jobs and hurts the economy." Palin, no.

Joe has a really nice way of refuting her shit.

"The ultimate bridge to nowhere."

"Say it ain't so, Joe!"

"Doggone it!" - LATER NOTE: re-listening to that, it sounded really artificially inserted, like the speech writer/speech therapist tried to folksy her up. COZ SHE NEEDS THAT.

"Her reward is in heaven, right?" - Palin on Joe Biden's wife. She ain't dead yet! Come on! (Please tell me she isn't talking about the first wife who died in a car accident, oh jesus no)

Gwen: "Everybody gets extra credit tonight." Love her.

SARAH GOT A LAFF. That whole "what does a VP do all day" was NO JOKE. You are just THAT BAD. YOU MAVERICK.

How power-hungry is she?? She thinks that the VP should have a lot of POWER. She calls it "flexibility," but we know, we know.

"My executive experience." Yeah, what do I know, Sarah? You are so fricken experienced.

Joe just called Dick Cheney "most dangerous VP" in years. Or ever? Think it was years. Boo-yah!

Achilles' heels! Palin: "My limited vocab." Okay, LOL, that was me, but that "executive experience, business owner" shit is getting repetitive. I am starting to grind my teeth here. I've got to stop following this.

Oh, Joe, lump choking his throat, talking about his dead first wife and daughter. God, Sarah's voice just after that was so jarring, so wrong. In fact, see this good comment on a Wall Street Journal blog:

However as a person and woman I DID NOT relate to her at all (I almost was scared of her when Biden almost cried and she looked completely inhuman with her reaction). Half of her “speech” I was “talking along with her” since it was world by word what she said in her tour so far.

I AM SO BLOODY SICK OF THE WORD MAVERICK, GET OVER IT SARAH.

"He is the man we need to leave - lead." GO SARAH! The verdict on McCain!

B: "Let's talk about the Maverick." ON FIRE! WITH NUMBERS!! So many lovely, lovely numbers.

"He's not been a maverick on the things that genuinely affect what people talk about round the kitchen the table... maverick he is not." BEAUTIFUL. He has done really well. He just outclasses her, full stop. It isn't Sarah Palin's fault - but it is John McCain's fault.

Hearing how often Joe and Sarah used Barack Obama's first name (nice), makes you realise how McCain just WOULD NOT use it last week.

Ugh, giving SP the last words. BOO.

Oh, okay, maybe not.

"I like being able to answer these tough questions without the filter of the mainstream media." YEAH I BET YOU DO.

YOU ARE NOT GIVING A SPEECH. LEARN TO SPEAK FOR YOURSELF. She did not directly answer the questions at all.

"This is the most important election you've ever voted in your entire lives." Say it ain't so, Joe; oh, but it is. It is.

"Champ, when you get knocked down, get up," as said by Papa Biden!

Bye Gwen! Bye Sarah! Bye Joe!

Look at Sarah and Joe chatting afterwards! Todd is looking askance at Joe. Is Joe giving her advice?

Onto the analysis!! I think Joe TOTES WON.

Look at her chucking Trig over her shoulder.

"I do think Gov Palin passed the Tina Fey test." Some dude on CBS. HAHAHA! I want that to be a general test for life. I hope one day to pass. One day.

It was congenial, yes, Katie Couric. I like you lots, on the strength of last week. Yay you!

I will leave this alone now. Night night! xox

Here's a link to the full transcript over on aftercancernowwhat.wordpress.com

Following a week of embarrassing interview clips, and polls that look bad for McCain and for Palin specifically, expectations for the Republican running-mate seem so low that she has a serious chance of pulling off a victory of sorts tonight. On the other hand, various Alaskan politicians and others have been busy pointing out that, in the past, Palin has tended to do much better in debates than in other public-speaking contexts. Obama's campaign manager David Plouffe pushed this notion as far as it would go today, drawing gales of laughter from the press corps when he claimed Palin was "one of the best debaters in American politics." But this isn't all one giant Machiavellian game of expectations management. The McCain campaign's nervousness has been too acute and voluminous not to be real, and there's no denying that the stakes tonight for Palin are enormously high.

Oliver Burkeman's Campaign Diary: Liveblogging the vice-presidential debate

Since Palin is the newcomer entering the debate with a trail of flubs behind her from the last week or so, I think her performance helped her more than his helped him, because this debate was far more about her than about anyone else.  Tonight will probably keep McCain from slipping further in the polls and preserve his chance of making a comeback, but it wasn't really the tour de force that will rally the ticket back into the fight.

Basically, Biden was good enough, and Palin was better than most people expected (partially due to the expectations game, which I think the Republican advance team won hands down).  This probably became a dead-heat race again tonight, and will officially become one in a few days to a week.

Full text of the debate liveblog below the break.  CBS video here.  More liveblogs and commentary here, and here, and here, and here, and here, and here, and here. Additional roundup at Instapundit.  Check the WitSnapper liveblog from the first presidential debate here.

8:57  I love the "expectations" game before events like this, played in the hopes that even a mediocre performance will seem like a resounding triumph (when graded on the curve).  It's fun to watch, if only because it's our one chance to see each campaign trash their own candidates to hell and back.

9:01  Gwen Ifill opens the debate.  Despite predictions that she'd try to defuse the book issue with a disclaimer, none was forthcoming.  The candidates come out smiling; you hear Palin say, "Nice to meet you.  Hey, can I call you Joe?"  Punctures the formality, and brings him down a couple of status pegs.  Interesting move; I wouldn't have thought of it.  (Lucky for her she was audible over the mike.)

9:03  Biden starts, and immediately blames the Wall Street meltdown on Bush.  He's begging McCain to run against Congress...will McCain listen?

9:04  Biden talks about "wasting money in this rescue plan."  No mention of his millions in earmarks in the first bailout bill.

9:05  To demonstrate public fear about the economy, Palin opens with an vignette of a kids' soccer game.  Guess hockey isn't big enough in the lower 48.  Less blame than Biden, despite Congress's shameful performance and abysmal ratings.

9:06  Biden talking about McCain's description of the economy as "fundamentally strong."  Didn't Obama and Barney Frank do the same thing?

9:08  Palin explaining McCain was talking about the American workforce.  Not good that she has to waste time on running cleanup duty for him.  Denounces "politics as usual," tries to cast Biden as its personification.

9:09  Ifill asks a leading question about who's to blame for the subprime meltdown.  Palin goes after predatory lenders, which is fine as far as it goes, but of course no one can say anything about the people who bought houses they knew they couldn't afford.  (Whoops, I sort of take that back...she talks about "not living outside our means.")

9:11  Biden blames McCain (even though, of course, "he's a good man").  Says McCain was saying "deregulate, deregulate, deregulate," even though McCain spearheaded a tighter oversight movement in 2005, and was blocked by Democrats in the Senate like Biden.

9:12  Palin going after Biden and Obama on tax hikes.  She's "going after" a lot of people.  Guess the rumors about her going on the offensive tonight were spot-on.

9:13  "Barack Obama did not vote to raise taxes?"  I think that will go down in history as the gaffe of the century.  Biden says Palin "didn't answer the question about deregulation," though that's not what the question was.

9:14  Palin not taking the bait, staying on taxes.  Now she points out McCain's record on regulatory strictness, but time is called.

9:15  Ifill all but accuses Palin of "taking things out on the poor."  That'll make it into the news.  Biden goes with the "95% of the people will get a tax cut" statistical impossibility.

9:17  Palin takes exception to "redistribution of wealth" class-warfare lingo coming out of Biden.  Comes to the defense of small businesses and the tax load they bear, brings up Biden's "paying more taxes is patriotic" gaffe.  (Ouch.)  Hits Obama on new spending proposals.

9:19  Ifill challenges Palin on the McCain health care plan.  Palin comes back with specifics, which is a refreshing change.  This ain't the Katie Couric fiasco (at least not yet).

9:20  Biden takes Palin's "small businesses" and turns it into "Exxon Mobil."  Invokes Scranton, his "hometown" that he left when he was ten.  Says "redistribution" is actually "fairness" (and "taxation" is "patriotism").  Makes a "Bridge to Nowhere" comparison, which the audience laughs at.  He does realize that that was a Congressional earmark, right?

9:21  Biden is definitely following his "stick to the talking points" orders from debate camp.

9:22  Palin makes some reference to two-facedness on the bailout, but doesn't go into detail.  Points out Obama voted for the energy bill that gave the oil companies the tax breaks he rails against; goes into how she took on the oil companies in Alaska, and had to "undo" the damage from that coddling.

9:24  Ifill challenges her on the two-facedness reference (good call); Palin still isn't specific.

9:25  Biden touts his and Obama's support for alternative energy, but finishes on a Big Oil note again.  Touts a windfall profits tax, and says Palin passed one in Alaska (ouch).

9:27  Ifill brings up the bankruptcy bill that McCain voted for; unfortunately Palin sounds unaware of Biden's glaring vulnerability on this, as he lobbied for the bill while his son was a lobbyist consultant (Correction added later. -- Ed.) for a major credit card company.  Missed opportunity.  Ifill turns to Biden and says he voted for it and Obama against.  Biden says he and Obama simply disagreed.  Why is Biden saying "I'm not sure, but I think John McCain supported that?"  If you're not sure, keep it to yourself.

9:29  Ifill asks Palin if that's so; she says no.  Segues into energy independence.  Pretty clumsy segue, but I doubt anyone but livebloggers like me will remember thirty seconds later.

9:30  Ifill goes to climate change, and asks her what's true and what isn't.  Palin says "I don't want to argue about the causes," which is probably the best answer she could give (she'll likely be slammed either way), but that she doesn't think every last action of mankind is responsible.  Cites some "I was the first governor to..." bullet points.

9:32  Same question to Biden:  "I think it's man-made.  I think it's definitely man-made."  Adds that we can't come up with a solution until we all accept that.  Hopefully he'll catch hell for that answer, because he should.  Apparently he thinks that, while we should drill for oil, it won't be available for 10 years and alternative energy will arrive quicker.  Oooooookay.

9:34  Palin corrects him:  it's "Drill, Baby, Drill," not "Drill, Drill, Drill."  Nice...unashamed of drilling advocacy.  Carries on the tradition of pronouncing it "nook-ya-ler."  Both candidates support carbon emission caps.  Oy vey.

9:36  Ifill brings up benefits for same-sex couples.  Does anybody really care about this anymore?  Biden supports them unconditionally; Palin, whose home state has a law granting these benefits, says she wouldn't support them if it involves redefining marriage.  Asserts that a McCain administration would not oppose granting benefits.  Biden says neither he nor Obama support redefining marriage.  Boiling it all down, it looks like everyone's in agreement.

9:39  Topic turns to the surge.  Palin sings its praises, as well as those of Petraeus and McCain.  Points up differences between Biden and Obama, scolds him for voting to defund the troops.  "Cannot afford to lose," stresses that early withdrawal would be a disaster.  Biden stays with the "16-month" plan (the starting and ending dates of that timeline keep changing somehow).  Emphasizes the need for a timeline.  Palin calls the Obama-Biden plan a "white flag of surrender."  Points up Obama's refusal to admit the surge worked (not quite true, but his record on the subject is not flattering nonetheless).  Recalls Biden's assertion from the primary that Obama is not ready to be Commander in Chief.

9:44  Biden says John McCain voted to cut off funding for the troops.  McCain's vote in that case was because the funding was tied to a timeline; something tells me that's going to come back to bite Biden.

9:45  Biden goes off on Pakistan's nukes.  Compares it to Iran's prospective nukes, despite the fact that Pakistan is a longtime ally.  Stresses that the center of the War on Terror is in Pakistan, and for that reason we need to leave Iraq.  Palin recalls that Gen. Petraeus backed McCain up in calling Iraq the center of the War on Terror.  Says Ahmadinejad "is not sane or stable." (Heh!)  Groups him with Kim, the Castro brothers, et al., and recalls Obama's proposal to meet with them unconditionally.

9:49  Ifill says past SecsState support engagement with enemy countries; Palin points out that Kissinger in particular said "not at the presidential level."  Biden says "not true; he [Obama] did not say he would sit down with Ahmadinejad," which is itself not true.  Biden seems to think there is no diplomacy that does not involve the President directly and personally.  Brings up the false rumor again that McCain wouldn't meet with the PM of Spain.

9:51  Palin endorses a two-state solution in Israel/Palestine, and moving our embassy to Jerusalem.  Always standing with Israel, etc.  Biden says "no one in the U.S. Senate has been a better friend to Israel than Joe Biden" (debatable).  Says Bush policy toward Israel is "abject failure;" cites Hamas taking government in Gaza, and Hezbollah joining government in Lebanon.  Palin says there have been "huge blunders" in this administration as there have been in other administrations (I see a Dowdified sound bite in the making), and that the American people are going to say "enough is enough" with finger-pointing.  Biden says he hasn't heard how McCain's policy in the Mideast will be different from George Bush's.  (Come to think of it, what have we heard about Obama's, other than early withdrawal from Iraq and sitting down with Ahmadinejad?)

9:56  Palin advocates sanctions on North Korea and Iran.  (Yawn.)  Moves to Afghanistan; says a modified surge strategy would work in Afghanistan (debatable, but worth fleshing out).  Calls Obama out for saying that all we're doing is air raids in Afghanistan.  Biden says that the Iraq surge strategy will not work in Afghanistan according to commanders on the ground (errrmmm, yeah, that's why Palin said you'd need to modify it).  Cites Obama working with Lugar to get hold of loose nukes, when all Obama did was offer an amendment that dealt with conventional weapons.  Palin corrects him on the prospective Afghanistan surge, saying that she was talking about principles, not a carbon-copy of the Iraq surge.  Biden says Obama has been calling for more troops in Afghanistan for two years (isn't that what most people would call a surge?)

10:01  Biden says he pushed for strengthening U.N. sanctions in Iraq before the war (which were falling apart before the invasion, thank you France/Germany).  Advocates military support for Darfur.  Palin points out Biden's vote for the invasion; says she's just a Washington outsider who doesn't understand the "for it before against it" logic.  Talks about her work divesting all Alaska Permanent Fund investment away from Darfur.

10:05  Biden says a country that commits genocide and harbors terrorists forfeits its right to sovereignty, or more specifically its right to say "none of your business" to foreign countries.  (Remember when Obama said genocide was insufficient cause for military action?)  Palin points up inconsistency in Biden's "support" of both McCain's and Obama's positions.  Good line: "John McCain knows how to win a war."

10:07  Ifill brings up the "heartbeat away" question, turns to Biden.  Biden says "I would carry out Barack Obama's policies;" reverts to talking points as ordered.  My eyes glaze over.  Rejects "Bush Doctrine" of pre-emption and regime change (which actually started with Clinton in 1998).  Palin says "what do you expect, a team of mavericks won't agree on everything," but says she would "continue the good work" of McCain's administration in "giving government back to the people."  Glazing over again.  A longtime pro like Gwen should have seen this softball for what it was, methinks.

10:10  Biden "spends a lot of time" at Home Depot.  Wow, he's got my vote.  "Walk with me in my neighborhood..."  Well, please decide which one is yours, Senator.  Wilmington?  Scranton?  D.C.?

10:11  "Say it ain't so, Joe!  There you go again!"  Palin scolds him for looking backward using two back-to-back catchphrases.  Gives a shout out to a third grade class in some small town (missed the name), says they get extra credit for watching tonight.

10:13  Palin looks back on both of their earlier answers to questions asking about the possibility they'd be asked to be VP ("earlier" meaning earlier in the year, long before they were tapped); says they were both "lame jokes, because nobody got it."  Biden says he has a history of getting things done.  Well, he has a long history of showing up, I'll give him that.

10:15  Ifill asks if Cheney is right that the VP isn't completely controlled by the executive.  It's a simple question; the VP presides over the Senate, so the answer is obviously yes, Cheney is correct.  Biden takes the obvious tack: "Vice President Cheney is the most dangerous vice president in American history."  Cheap shot, which is another thing Ifill should have seen coming.  Says the VP has "no authority" over the Senate, which a constitutional scholar like him should know isn't true.

10:18  Palin describes how she knows what it's like not to have health insurance.  Invokes American exceptionalism, cites "shining city on a hill" rhetoric from Reagan (ignores John Winthrop, by the way).  Biden has a record of change?  Oy vey.  Invokes death of his wife and daughter, which of course is grossly manipulative, but in fairness to him, if you've ever been through such a horrible thing you're allowed.  Palin tries to take back mantle of change with the "maverick" label again, using it to describe both herself and McCain.  Took on her own party when occasion called for it.  Cites ideological diversity of McCain's supporters:  Lieberman, Romney, Lingle, Giuliani, et al.  Biden jumps in (does he get that time?) and tries to throw dirt on McCain's "maverick" label, but does so fairly weakly (especially on the war).

10:24  Ifill asks for single issue for which each candidate has worked for "change" "changed a long-held view in order to accomodate changed circumstances." [Correction added later. -- Ed.]  Biden cites his role in changing standard for confirming judges to include ideological criteria (if he's responsible for that, he should be strung up).  Palin cites items she failed to veto?  WTF?  Says something about being able to work with the state legislature without caring who gets credit.  Fortunately this isn't the note she goes out on, because it's very weak.

10:27  Biden talks about his ability to reach across the aisle (despite "3rd most liberal senator" ranking from The Hill National Journal [Correction added later. -- Ed.] ).  Says he doesn't question people's motives.  Palin says when it comes to bipartisanship, she doesn't just talk the talk.  Goes back to lower taxes, lower spending, and energy independence, and how it distinguishes her and McCain from the other ticket.

10:29  Palin closes by thanking Ifill and Biden, points out that she loves talking to the American people "without the filter" of the mainstream media.  (Nice jab.)  Invokes Reagan again ("Freedom is always just one generation away from extinction.")  Punches the freedom theme.  Biden also thanks everybody.  Takes more shots at Bush, CEOs, and Exxon Mobil.  Am I the only one who thinks that Biden's themes are a lot darker than Palin's?  "Barack Obama is ready to be President of the United States of America."  I see a McCain ad in the works juxtaposing that with primary debate footage of him saying the opposite.

10:33  Debate's over.  Mikes are still live, or at least Palin is still audible over hers, but she doesn't say anything embarrassing.

UPDATE:  Watching the footage later, I see that regarding Ifill's question to Palin about "taking things out on the poor" was balanced out (if you can call it that) by an equally incendiary question to Biden immediately preceding, asking him to explain how his and Obama's tax hike on those earning $250K or more "is not class warfare."  So each side got a ridiculously leading question.  Ifill's balanced, if not fair.

So far, I can report that the Greens have taken over the strategically important traffic triangle - think of it as a warm water port, if that helps - and have surrounded the sole remaining Tory, obscuring his Brian McGarry sign from all but the most careful observer.

The NDP, meanwhile, have kept their turf - right beside the driveway, forming a solid orange bloc along the sidewalk - and the Liberals appear to have maintained control of the central area to the right of the media entrance - tactically, a smart move, even if it means slightly less driveby visibility.
The Tories, meanwhile, are lined up across from the British embassy -- I can't tell for sure, but the numbers seem slightly lessened from yesterday, but again, it's early yet. I'm sure as soon as the bell rings out at Lancaster Road, the minivan convoy will be rolling this way.

I'm not close enough for any chants - I'm sure there will be more than enough time for me to wildly mishear those later in the evening, never fear - but I'm sure they're happening as we speak. Oh, and the NDP bus is driving by now and then, with predictable results.

Anyway, I'm sure I'll have more to report later.

7:12:59 PM
And now - we're back! And my goodness, this *is* considerably more high energy than last night - although oddly, the Conservatives seem to have less of a presence, although they do have a megaphone, and are determinedly chanting "Not a Leader, not a leader!" Because that's old school, yo.

Meanwhile on the other side, we have "Write a speech! Write a speech!" Which is -- new school. Unschool. The Liberals have obtained megaphones, and are clearly making up for lost time.

They've blocked off my flowerbed, incidentally - which is annoying, but not a dealbreaker - and I am now sticking close to a new ground zero: the street light. Hey, if I see more than three parties laying claim to a section of turf, I consider it neutral territory.

7:21:35 PM
The Tory theme, btw - "Tonight, filling in for Bob Rae -- Stephane Dion!" That's from Team Tory, in case you didn't guess. "This is unfair - unfair!"

7:23:07 PM
Okay, I now have an Earth Ball. I'm -- not sure what to do with that. It came from a group that may or may not be affiliated with one of the parties, but which is here to demand action on climate change, which they are doing by tossing plastic balls in the air while accompanied by someone dressed in a polar bear suit.

Also, there is a Harper *and* a Bush lookalike wandering the crowd.

"Liberal Party: Missing one leader and $40 million!"

7:33:23 PM
The Conservatives have *tambourines*. I consider that, frankly, made of win, but I admit to a soft spot for tambourines in general.

7:34:17 PM
You know, one thing I should really point out - for all the combative sloganeering, this is a very collegial gathering. I made a John Baird supporter hug the Earth Ball, for heaven's sake. ("You're the environment minister! You can't kick it!') There is good natured rivalry, but really, these people - they share so mich of the same qualities. They're here, screaming their lungs out at each other but with a smile, because they love this stuff.

7:39:54 PM
Okay, the somewhat obscure "family equality" protest group has established a benchhead. Next step: a coherent message. Fathers4Justice appears to be involved, which doesn't bode well.

7:42:19 PM
The leaders' arrivals, by the way, are absurdly non-dramatic. Really, it's just an excuse to take over the streets.

7:43:24 PM
The Liberal Fiendishly Sarcastic Sign Design Team has a new treat for us - a Conservative candidate poster with Howard's picture - the C with cute little kangaroo logo inside - and the slogan "Wrong Leadership. A Better Australia."

7:48:15 PM
Okay, I'm over in NDP corner, where the chanting is less tongue-in-cheek. "Women rights! Under attack!" "Can't you feel, can't you see? The NDP will set you free!"
Uh. That's a little heavy, but whatever keeps you warm. There is a tiny contingent of Tories on this side - like, four - who may just not have figured out how to run the gauntlet. They look very much alone.

7:51:02 PM
The Tories are completely dominating the other side of the street, however - the all important Laurier Opticals zone. There are actually hand-lettered signs: "We won't be ticked" and "Not worth the risk!" In Oily yellow. Oh, and tambourines. I wonder if there's any way I can score a tambourine.

7:53:34 PM
Okay, before I must flee for my eventual destination - the debatewatching party at the Public Policy Forum - I must pass on this bit of advice to the Green Party: When standing on a traffic intersection, inveigling passersby to honk, the chant you want is not, in fact, "Cars are bad! Cars are bad!"

With that bit of advice, I leave you, just as the Young Liberals who have somehow made it onto the roof of the NAC, broadcast the Harper-Howard duet. It seems as fitting a momet as any yo head for my debate watching gala (to which I will be wearing jeans, for the record).

See you at the groupblog later!

- Setting up a blog that is general and then add some travel content - has more longevity.
- Choosing your URL, setting the blog & its design
- Learn the tools (add posts, photos, links)
- Choose a photo-sharing service (like Flickr)
- Set up your design
- Use WordPress.com (hosted, super easy, you can customize it, everything works really easily)
- You can upgrade later to WordPress.org
- You can use Facebook, there's definitely a role - you can set up your blog to update both Facebook AND your blog/photo sharing accounts.
- Travelpod.com - (I had NEVER heard of this and it's so awesome!) - Search engines are not very efficient apparently but it's a nice service.

What to write about

- Your experiences, not your itinerary
- Give a story or talking on the phone - talking to a person
- Don't go on so much about stuff - be careful about things that you say (and potentially could regret).
- Spellcheck - look for grammar
- If you are out of ideas on what to write, write about what you ate (really! food is very popular)
- It's very valuable for people (your readers) to write about your stay as well (where you stayed, was it good, was it expensive/pricey)
- Make sure to link to restaurants, hotels, etc.
- Maybe try to socialize with people (local bloggers) - they might take you around

Your writing
- Writing style - smaller paragraphs, shorter posts, spell check.
- Pretty it up - use images, bold words
- Link - linkages to people/places/restaurants/hotels, etc.

Photos
- Not all the photos end up online (neither on the blog nor in the photosharing service)
- Find a peculiar element
- Rule of thirds - when you're taking a photo of a person, put it in one of the thirds of the photo.
(one of the students just exclaimed "I wish I knew all of these tips before!" - I think that's a measure of success, Arieanna should be proud :))
- Upload all your photos online so that you can have a backup.
- Help your readers "visualize" what you're enjoying/experiencing.
- You can embed slideshows in your blog.
- You can blog directly from Flickr ("Blog This") because it will do it for you (and it's really easy to set up).
- Creative Commons (I raised the issue because you could upload photos on to your blog, but if you put them on Flickr, you can actually indicate the licensing scheme) - we are very social, and it's very nice to have your photos seen somewhere else.

What NOT to post online

- Where are you staying.
- Your phone number.
- Revealing photos.
- Anything you don't want a future boss to read.

Questions - I might have missed a couple

Advice for people who already have a bunch of photos (say from Europe) - Choose ONE photo and build a story around it, and then just link to your whole Flickr set.

11:15am Read Gawker and the daily news on my laptop while a rerun of "Will & Grace" plays in the background. Make coffee.

11:57am Email a bunch of magazines looking for freelancers and someone looking for a ghostwriter for his book.

1pm Slather on some sunblock and go down to the pool for a swim. It's 94 degrees today and ever so slightly muggy.

1:12pm End up reading Zadie Smith's "On Beauty" for a while instead. Try not to get the book wet if I still want to return it to Borders later.

1:35pm Swim 5 laps then return to my book, all the while ignoring some unattractive couple canoodling by the pool.

2:07pm Finally trek back upstairs. I was out there for longer than I thought; even with 85 SPF sunblock the skin on my face feels a bit tender. Ow.

2:51pm After showering, stir fry some chicken, onions and mushrooms and have a quick gnosh.

3:46pm Try to condense my story idea into a 1-2 sentence logline for class later tonight. I still have no idea what I'm doing taking a screenwriting course, but it's been a great way to unleash some creativity from my system.

6:08pm Eat more of the chicken while I watch part of a Family Guy rerun.

6:22pm Leave for class (late, again). It really wouldn't take me so long, except I'm a terrible cyclist and it takes me at least 5 minutes just to unlock V's bike and stroll it out of the garage.

6:36pm Unwittingly cycling down frat row. Two frat boys outside the SAE house toss a football over my head. I look dorky, in jeans, a t-shirt and a helmet too big for my head, but somehow these frat boys no longer hold the key of approval to me, and I feel really okay. I am smiling at no one in particular.

6:37pm Jesus, it's hot outside.

6:49pm I swear, I'm about to accidentally run someone over on the sidewalk since I refuse to cycle on the road. Better to accidentally hit a pedestrian than get hit by a car. The uphill climb past the UCLA medical center is a real bitch, though. I think I'm supposed to change gears or something but I can't be bothered to figure it out now. Will look into it later.

7:02pm Arrive outside some humanities building sopping in sweat. Try to lock up the bike as quickly as I can; still need to refer to other bikes on the rack for how to properly do it.

7:30pm I love love love this class so far. It's nothing extraordinary, but the instructor's a witty enough guy and at least I'm learning the nuts and bolts of a writing style I have no experience in whatsoever. Plus, we get to watch fun movie clips. Suddenly have a newfound appreciation of Dustin Hoffman after watching him cross dress in "Tootsie" and fight for a job in "Kramer v Kramer."

9:34pm Everyone else's movie pitches reek. I'm really excited about fleshing mine out now.

10:07pm The ride home is so much easier, namely because it's cooler out and the sidewalks aren't clogged with aimless college students.

11pm Watch "The Daily Show" and "Colbert Report" with the boyfriend. Wolf down some bread and triple cream brie I bought the day before as a treat. I'm starving; I need to figure out a better way to schedule my meals on Wednesdays.

12:38am Fall asleep with V spooning me. Perfect.

Maybe this unemployment thing—not so bad.

AVVISO: il consiglio è durato ben 5 ore. Cercheremo di caricare nelle prossime ore le prime parti della seduta.

Stasera 30 settembre, dalle ore 20:30, ci sarà il sesto consiglio comunale di Villafranca.

Per la prima volta proveremo a trasmettere in diretta anche audio/video sulla nostra Webtv: sintonizzatevi! Cercheremo anche di fare Liveblogging.

Ovviamente l'invito per chi può è quello di venire a seguire con noi i lavori del consiglio.

Ricordo che siamo ancora in attesa di avere le risposte da parte di sindaco e assessori competenti relativamente alla 3 istanze presentate.

L'ordine del giorno ha ben 16 punti:

1. COMUNICAZIONI DEL SINDACO

2. ESAME INTERPELLANZE ED INTERROGAZIONI

3. MOZIONE URGENTE. APPLICAZIONE CONCRETA ART. 187 CODICE DELLA STRADA. GUIDA IN STATO DI ALTERAZONE PSICO-FISICA PER USO DI SOSTANZE STUPEFACENTI.

4. NOMINA COMPONENTI CONSULTA PERMANENTE "AMBIENTE E TERRITORIO"

5. NOMINA COMPONENTI CONSULTA PERMANENTE "LAVORI PUBBLICI"

6. NOMINA COMPONENTI CONSULTA PERMANENTE "FAMIGLIA"

7. NOMINA COMPONENTI CONSULTA PERMANENTE "SOCIO ASSISTENZIALE"

8. ISTITUZIONE DELLA COMMISSIONE PER LA DISCIPLINA DELLE AREE NELLE ZONE PRODUTTIVE

9. ISTITUZIONE DELLE COMMISSIONE PER LA DISCIPLINA DELL'ASSEGNAZIONE DELLE AREE IN ZONA PEEP

10. RATIFICA DELIBERAZIONE GIUNTA COMUNALE N. 69 DEL 29/8/2008 AD OGGETTO: FONDO IN SOSTEGNO ALLE ABITAZIONI IN LOCAZIONE - VARIAZIONE AL BILANCIO DI PREVISIONE ED AL PIANO ESECUTIVO DI GESTIONE

11. VARIAZIONE AL BILANCIO DI PREVISIONE 2008 ED AL PIANO DEGLI INVESTIMENTI

12. BILANCIO DI PREVISIONE 2008 - RICOGNIZIONE SULLO STATO DI ATTIVAZIONE DEI PROGRAMMI DELL'ESERCIZIO E PRESA D'ATTO DEL PERDURARE DEGLI EQUILIBRI FINANZIARI

13. PROROGA DELL'EFFICACIA DEL PIANO PARTICOLAREGGIATO DETTO TIONE - COMPARTO 17.2 - IN CENTRO STORICO DI VILLAFRANCA, AI SENSI DELL'ART. 20 L.R.V. N. 11/2004

14. RIATTIVAZIONE DELLA PROCEDURA PER LA CESSIONE IN PROPRIETA' DELLE AREE COMPRESE NEI PIANI DI ZONA GIA' CONCESSE IN DIRITTO DI SUPERFICIE - LEGGE 12 DICEMBRE 2002 N. 273 - E SVINCOLO DEGLI OBBLIGHI DI CUI ALLE CONVENZIONI STIPULATE, IN DIRITTO DI PROPRIETA' E DI SUPERFICIE, PER I PIANI DI ZONA DI INSEDIAMENTI PRODUTTIVI SUL TERRITORIO COMUNALE

15. RICHIESTA DI ATTIVAZIONE DI CAVA IN LOCALITA' CASCINA POZZI DITTA ME.MA.P. SRL - PARERE CONTRARIO

16. RICHIESTA DI ATTIVAZIONE DI CAVA IN LOCALITA' DOSSETTO. DITTA CONCAVE MANTOVA SRL - PARERE CONTRARIO

Here are some of the fruits of that work:

• A recording of Nymrad's Radio CEO Summit
• An interview with RAB President and CEO Jeff Haley about the state of the radio industry
• Big Boi (formerly of (OutKast) talks about radio

Posting here on Radio2020 will return to its normal schedule at the beginning of the coming week at which point we will go over some of the insights gained from this event as well as returning to the subject of Gulf Coast relief efforts in the wake of Hurricane Ike.

Now I need some sleep. Tune in next time for more!

But before you settle in for a long night of hitting refresh, Colleague Wells is calling on all interested participatory democracy nuts to join the liveblogging revolution, so head over to his openish thread and tell him you're in.

7:18:41 PM
Okay, the one time I don't show up ludicrously early, the place fills up early. There is literally not a seat left in the house -- which is a particularly appropriate cliche, since this is, in fact, a theatre - the Orleans Theatre, to be exact. Somehow, I've ended up scrunched to the side at the back of the room, which is unfortunate, since it means I'll be liveblogging while standing -- never the most comfortable way to cover an event, I have to tell you - but even moreso because I have the misfortune of sitting beside a very chatty group, who keep distracting me.

But that's enough bellyaching - the show is about to get underway, and the moderator/host - the publisher of the Ottawa Business Journal - is laying down the law. He promises to be as neutral as possible - and jokes that he was looking for "a red, blue, green and orange" tie, with no luck. (He's not wearing a tie at all, in fact.)

The debate will be bilingual - which means you'll be stuck with my somewhat less than fluent translation skills - and he keeps urging the overflow crowd to take advantage of the fact that there is audio available outside, but nobody is budging.

This is really not going to do wonders for my vaguely claustrophobic tendencies. At least I've found a table to lean against, which is fortunate, since - yes, you guessed it - I'm wearing somewhat less than sensible shoes. Whee!

7:26:33 PM

Wow, Royal Galipeau gets an introduction, by Barbara Johns - who is more than a supporter; she's a superfan - who delivers a paean to the man that is Galipeau so overblown that it actually caused the audience to burst into giggles of shocked disbelief. Money for Petrie Island, "doubling the size of the Montfort" - which sparks groans from somewhere in front of me, and seems to get the audience going, but not quite the way she would hope.

Mercifully, at this point, the moderator steps in and throws the floor open to Galipeau, who assures the audience that he is "their servant" before musing about swimming at Petrie Island as a boy. He then segues into a standard list of achievements - tax cuts, leadership - before winding down with the best of the goody bag that is the peekaboo platform, punctuated at regular points with the observation that this is "real leadership."

He promises to preserve the Leafy Lands - that's probably misspelled - and fight for a national research council lab; he'll fight for "long term sustainable jobs" in the East End -- that got applause -- under a Stephen Harper government. He wants to make this "a better place to live" - and he needs their support on October 14, but "even more, after that day."

Some luckless campaign volunteer gives the most despirited "Whooooo" ever, and it's over.

Next up; the Greens' Paul Maillet, who also gets an introduction. This is going to take forever.

7:35:07 PM
I missed her last name, but Maillet's opening act brings her pubescent son to the microphone, and gives a sweet, and mercifully short welcome to Paul Maillet, of the Paul Maillet Centre for Ethics - a retired colonel and engineer who believes in the environment, but also social responsibility, and families. He, like Galipeau, supports light rail, jobs and honest government. Oh, and electoral reform, and a bunch of other stuff. Canada also needs to be a "good global citizen" in "a secure and stable world", and -- wow, this is quite the ambitious to-do list for a wanna-be MP. Not that that's a bad thing, but he seems to think that we need to get back to the Pearson legacy of Nobel-prize winning, as far as our place in the world. Baby steps!

He closes with a quick tribute to the other Green candidates, and that's that. Back to the table.

7:40:28 PM
Next up: Marc Godbout's master of ceremonies, who starts by taking a shot at Galipeau, by noting that *his* candidate "chose to live here" - unlike the current member. Ooh, burn.

Godbout is equally feisty, and accuses Galipeau of "inaction" - like letting those RCMP jobs be moved to the West End, and telling the locals that if they wanted federal jobs in the East End - "they should have voted Liberal" - a sentiment with which he agrees. The ITQ applause-o-meter is definitely giving him the edge so far, by the way - I can't see the other half of the room, but everyone I can see is clapping, hooting and being downright truculent.

A list of some of Galipeau's failings - personal and political - including that time he threatened a member on the floor of the House of Commons. Oh, what's a little fist-shaking between parliamentary colleagues? He hasn't secured funding for the area - although he did announce money for an Ottawa theatre - and don't even get him started on the shenanigans of Galipeau's "friend" John Baird.

Godbout then hits the highlights of his platform - money, jobs -- including federal jobs - and a new multicultural centre - and heads back to the table, shaking hands with the other candidates as he takes his seat.

7:46:53 PM
Finally, Amy O'Dell. Or rather, Amy's introducer, and I have to say that this format is idiotic. These guys don't need warmup acts; and they just end up repeating half of what was just said. Anyway, Amy O'Dell would make a "great representative," works with youth, cares about transit and would bring "a fresh energetic voice" to Parliament. Surprisingly robust applause for Amy. I'm so bad at gaging audience favourites.

7:49:52 PM
Amy delivers her spiel - I don't mean to dismiss her; she's obviously a bright, intelligent girl, but I'm hitting my limit on listening to local candidates regurgitate national campaign talking points. Put a twist on it, at least, guys. She takes shots at both the Liberals and the Tories on the environment - make polluters pay, not consumers - and calls for an end to corporate welfare, and social and economic equality for all.

Avorum Honori. That appears to be the Orleans motto, by the way, according to the coat of arms on the wall, which has two beavers holding up a crossed-axe shield.

7:53:03 PM
And now - questions from the audience! 45 seconds, and only one per customer; they can specify who should answer, and what order, or leave it open to all.

The line, by the way, is already full. The last question will be taken at 9, in order to allow closing statements from all.

The room, meanwhile, has come to life -- nobody is really listening to the moderator, and the buzz of excitement is drowning out his overly long explanation. Seriously, moderator guy. This isn't about you.

7:55:38 PM
First question - comprehensive transit plan for the city, as agreed by council earlier this month. What do the candidates think?

Galipeau goes first, and recalls that he worked on the east-west plan for three years - before becoming an MP, even - and he's -- reasonably okay with the current proposal, although he wishes it would go all the way to Trimm Road.

Someone just passed me a note asking if I'm using shorthand. Hah, I wish. No, this is all me.
Galipeau then responds to a very polite heckler from the audience by accusing his Liberal predecessor - Godbout - of doing "nothing" on the project, which provokes a round of boos; it's not clear whether they're directed at Godbout for not doing anything, or Galipeau for accusing him thereof.

Godbout shoots back, and points out that he's the one who insisted on the environmental review of the original proposal, but O'Dell wins the round when she confesses that she's the only candidate who relies on public transit to get around -- she doesn't own a car. The audience loves that, and she says she doesn't mind before reeling off the usual NDP line on public transit.

8:00:55 PM
Next question: Military families reside in the East End, and this woman - Amy, another one - who has "just read" the Liberal platform -- and there is "no mention" of military funding. Wait, that's not true, actually. There is a section on Afghanistan - and that question, for the record, has the distinct tang of a plant from a rival campaign.

Maillet - the Green - is actually a former defence worker, and gives a surprisingly thoughtful response on the link between military spending and political decisions. "There are some things we spend money on that aren't relevant to the emerging role of peacekeeping," he concludes, to scattered applause.

Godbout very politely points out that the platform does explicitly commit to following the recommended military spending program, and also reminds the questioner of the additional money for veterans and military families. See, that's how you respond to a hostile question - pretend you're thrilled to answer it, and that you welcome the interest. Brian McGarry, take note.

Amy, it turns out, is a military brat - she grew up in an army family - but she bravely calls for "immediate withdrawal" from Afghanistan, which nets her all cheers, no boos, surprisingly.

8:06:12 PM
Finally, Galipeau accuses the Liberals of having underfunded the military, and tries to play off the planted question by once again quoting McCallum on using the military budget to fund "gaps' in the Green Shift. The Conservatives, on the other hand, have announced a major new facility in the area - something about military research, I think - and wow, I just heard cheers from the lobby when Godbout pointed out the Mulroney legacy on military cuts.

Maillet suggests that giving a soldier a tank makes all his targets "tank targets" - whereas if he doesn't have a tank, they become "diplomacy targets". Even a peacenik like me can spot the potential hole in that logic, but he delivers his argument well.

8:09:25 PM
Hey, this is the same question as we heard last night - small and medium-sized businesses having trouble bidding on federal contracts. Galipeau begins by betraying the fact that he doesn't read the Ottawa Citizen, saying that "procurement is going on right now" -- which it isn't, as reported by David Pugliese and Kathryn May; it's pretty much at a dead stop for the duration of the election.

8:12:51 PM
More back and forth about government contracts - this is Ottawa, after all - and Galipeau is starting to get testy, at one point inquiring whether "anyone else wants to come up here and answer the question." The fact that he's sitting beside three people who are all fighting for his job suggests that yes, they do.

8:14:05 PM
And now, the PR question, which is exactly the same as all the other PR questions, and comes down to the following: Why no fairness in divvying up the seats? Amy O'Dell leaps at the chance to push for the abolition of the Senate - the NDP's number one electoral reform of choice, and one that gets a big round of applause - as well as "more transparent" leadership races. Really? How is that even possible? They're downright translucent now.

Galipeau reminds everyone that Ontario voters dealt with this during the last election, but indicates that he would rather see a preferential ballot than proportional representation.

Do I even have to tell you where the Greens stand on this? Really? He wants people in Parliament who were "elected by people" - not robots, I guess - and suggests that the Ontario referendum was designed to fail. Lots of clapping there.

Finally, Marc Godbout agrees that we're "due" for democratic reform - from looking at the Senate as a means of ensuring proportional representation - but admits he wasn't a fan of the Ontario proposal

8:21:49 PM
And now - the Kettle Island question that we've all been waiting for. Galipeau notes that he successfully got the direction of the bridge changed from where it was when Mauril Belanger - a Liberal - was in control of the file -- insert knowing chuckles from somewhere in the audience here -- and -- wait, was that his whole answer? That seemed oddly unfinished.

Maillet notes that nobody wants a bridge in their community, and seems to be making a fairly sensible point, but the two men standing behind me are now engaged in a lively discussion of Galipeau's response -- they don't seem satisfied -- and I can't completely follow his logic. It seems to involve being reasonable and thinking of the community.

Godbout tells the room that he would never support a bridge on Petrie Island, but he disagrees with Galipeau -- Kettle Island was chosen by independent experts, and it was picked to minimize the effect on local families. He certainly hopes there is no political interference, which is what seems to be what is being suggested tonight. Yeah, that crack about Belanger -- that's my MP. Is Ottawa Orleans plotting to stab Ottawa Vanier in the back with a sneak bridge attack?

8:27:43 PM
A cranky question from a public servant and Orleans resident, who takes issue with Godbout's suggestion that every ministry is "up for grabs" - and every riding deserves one. He lives here, but he works in Gatineau - and he's okay with that. Otherwise, well -"that's how you get a tax collection centre in Shawinigan," which gets a big laugh.

Godbout defends his work to bring National Defence to Orleans - after all, this is the only G8 country with its military headquarters downtown, not to mention that most of the employees - military and civilian personnel - lived here.

Amy O'Dell points out that actually, this is a municipal issue, like all zoning matters, and nobody can promise to bring a company - or a department - to a particular spot. She really is kind of refreshing, I've got to admit. She can't promise what she can't necessarily deliver, she says, but she'll do what she can to ensure more people work where they live.

There is a very small boy scout - wait, what comes before boy scouts? Like brownies, but male - amid the growing contingent of clearly perturbed non-Galipeau fans beside me. "This is such bullshit," says one to another. Put him down as undecided.

8:35:21 PM
More about the DND move, which clearly still strikes a nerve in this area - or at least this room - Godbout and Galipeau both look aggrieved when the time runs out.

8:37:00 PM
A woman who describes herself as "a professional artist" asks a long - unnecessarily long, really - question on cuts to arts funding, and asks what the replacement program will be. Galipeau starts by describing himself as a supporter of the arts - which produces outright laughter from the room, and clearly nettles him. "Look, you could turn this into a partisan debate ..." he begins, but trails off.

He then, unbelievably, starts telling us about his Christmas cards last year - which featured art, apparently - and then eventually meanders back to the official talking point, which is that arts funding has actually increased under this government.

Maillet - who, it turns out, also co-ran the Gloucester Art Gallery; is there anything this guy hasn't done? - shares the questioner's view that art is not a luxury, but necessary for society - and Godbout notes that the Liberals would double funding for the Canada Council for the Arts. Both get big applause from the room, but the star is - once again - Amy O'Dell, who confesses that she found Harper's suggestion that art is a "fringe" issue to be bewildering. If that's how he feels, the PM should stop appearing on the CBC's Rick Mercer, and stop using music in his campaign, and as for that bit about there not being cuts, as alleged by Galipeau - "Well, that's just wrong."

8:45:02 PM
Godbout challenges Galipeau - If he's such a big supporter of the arts, why hasn't he successfully gotten Ottawa to match Ontario in funding for the theatre next door, which winds up the crowd but good. Galipeau doesn't have much -- he does, at one point, note that he "goes to the theatre", although he doesn't specify which one -- and then tries to dodge the accusation that he hasn't gotten the money by claiming that as yet, no request has been made. But when it is, he tells the somewhat sceptical crowd, he'll be in a "better place" to fight for it than Godbout would be if he ends up winning the race.

This is all starting to be oddly reminiscent of last night's debate, although Galipeau definitely has a slightly better ear for political tone than McGarry. Really, though, who doesn't? He makes David Emerson look like Bill Clinton.

8:50:31 PM

A question about support for "Team Ottawa Orleans" - which is a local booster group, I guess - that has been accused - in fact, is being accused right now by Royal Galipeau - of being partisan. Galipeau claims that he wanted to work with the group - he "turned the page" when the Conservatives won the election. Yet now, the group is raising money to support his Liberal opponent. "They closed the door," he says, but after the election, he'll "turn the page again" - but not for a third time.

Wait, is that a threat? I'm clearly missing some backstory. A few more snarls-and-forth between the questioner - one of the directors of the group in question - Galipeau and Godbout, and -- wow, did someone just accuse someone else of setting up shop beside a porn shop? This is getting better and better.

Alas, the time for the Team Ottawa Orleans round has expired, and now it's onto a more general - and much less intriguing - question about the environment.

8:59:48 PM
The moderator is losing control of the audience - he just tried to close down the forum, and nearly provoked a riot from the people who had been told they'd be allowed to ask their questions. After some hemming and hawing, he allows the woman at the front of the line to ask her question, which is about the arts, and funding for the Shankman Theatre. Godbout notes that the Liberals would provide matching funding, as Galipeau looks on, arms crossed. When he gets his turn, he tells the questioner that he'll agree to meet with the centre's board of directors, which he hasn't done yet - "I haven't been invited" - to discuss the issue. Maillet notes that sustainability is important - in the environment, but also funding for the arts, and reminds the community that they - the community, that is - must support them as well.

9:04:20 PM
Archie Campbell hasn't held a party membership since 1968, and yet he's asking a question that has rival campaign plant written all over it, since it starts with his observation that Galipeau is described as "an eccentric" and "a space cadet." Is he? No, really, that was the question.

Galipeau, however, claims he "couldn't hear" it - it was all mumbly, apparently, although everyone else managed to understand it - and Godbout tells him he doesn't have to answer. Maillet gives a pat little minilecture about taking the politics out of, well, politics, and that's that.

9:07:55 PM
Last question - all about enforcement, and the Conservative position on pollution from "a gentleman that refused to shake my hand out front", according to Galipeau. "That's right," comes the response from the questioner. "I'm a proud Liberal." Anyway, Galipeau goes off on him, and assures the room that he - and his government - are serious about getting tough on all types of crime, including environmental.

Aw man, does Maillet have to jump in on every single question? Why do they even give the people asking the choice of posing questions to particular candidates, since everyone gets a crack at it anyway.

Godbout invites everyone to look at the Green Shift - no, really. He's not running away from it! - and O'Dell suggests that the Conservatives "don't take this seriously, as an issue". She brings up the tax giveaways by the government, spending cuts to energy conservation programs, and subsidies for the tarsands, which provokes a "Shame!" from the audience. Instead, she wants to see politicians demonstrating environmental responsibility on a personal level - "like not using plastic cups", she suggests, as she gazes at the offending receptacles on the table in front of her.

That's it - well, no, I lie; there are closing statements, but I'm making a break for it anyway, because - honestly, they're not going to say anything new, and really, these events are all about the audience, not the prefab speeches. (Sorry about that, speechwriters.)

And with that - I'm heading back to Ottawa Vanier - and don't think of dropping a bridge onto our stretch of river while I'm not looking, Ottawa Orleans.

10:41:11 AM
Well, so far, this is about as far as you can imagine from yesterday's standing-room-only-and-barely-that all-candidates' forum in Ottawa Centre -- I'm at the Chateau Laurier, feeling distinctly underdressed in the tony confines of the Drawing Room.
At the front of the room, five lecterns in matching matte silver stand awaiting the stars of today's show, but outside the front doors, a throng of cameras awaits only one: Gerry Ritz, Agriculture Minister and amateur comedian, who hasn't been spotted in public since that awkward moment outside Confederation Building, where he read out a pre-written apology for his foray into gallows humour without betraying a glimmer of emotion. After delivering his muted mea culpa, Ritz promptly vanished into the cornfield where PMO banishes potentially troublesome minister -- only to reappear yesterday evening as the likely unwilling star of a second Canadian Press exclusive.

Given what we now know of the power of PMO to compel even the most reluctant ministers to drag themselves before the media, the only question leading up to this debate - which promises to cover a wide range of issues related to agriculture, from farm aid to food safety - was whether the War Room would decide to send him to face his political rivals: Liberal Wayne Easter and the NDP's Tony Martin. From what we understand, they did. We'll see if that turns out to have been the right call in -- oh, five minutes or so.

10:57:14 AM
Apparently, the questions aren't going to be live - at least, not in realtime, and not from this particular audience. Instead, they've been prerecorded, and will appear on a screen behind the debaters. There are definitely a number of actual, working farmers in the room - as well as lobbyists, activists, and political staff.
Soundcheck. I love the hum of an audio system being tuned. It's like listening to an orchestra warm up.

10:59:23 AM
He's here! Gerry Ritz, that is - he sidled up to the stage while I was craning my neck to see around the tall person directly in front of me. They're all here, in fact -- Ritz, Easter, Martin and the Greens' agriculture critic, whose name I have forgotten.

11:00:33 AM
Format - videos, then each candidate gets to respond, followed by four minutes of debate. The moderator, Hugh Meyner (which is probably misspelled) has a comfortingly British Accent.

The Green candidate is Kate Storey, it transpires, and she's running in Dauphin, which poor Moderator mangles, and is politely corrected.

11:03:01 AM
Gerry Ritz is up first, and he's downright chipper, reading his talking points with an enthusiasm distinctly at odds from his most recent appearance. He divides his time equally between lauding his government's performance and sneering at the opposition, particularly the Liberals. A rah-rah for giving farmers the freedom to market their own wheat, and a shoutout to the carbon tax. He pronounce Stephane Dion in a very Gallic way, interestingly -- stePHAUN Dion. Conservatives, he concludes, will always put farmers first.

11:05:30 AM
Wayne Easter notes that agriculture policy "goes to the heart" of what a national government should be, by using revenue to help farmers, and make Canada "stronger than the sum of its parts," while Stephen Harper has "shown the opposite view" - lessening the responsibility for food safety. "This is a government - the Harper government - that has clearly failed the farm community," he says, before moving to a broadside on the Conservatives for "breaking every rule" in its efforts to dismantle the Canadian Wheat Board.

Also, he really does say "agga-culture". I think that must be a Prince Edward Islandian quirk, but I'd never noticed it until someone pointed out.

Liberals will invest in green farming, protect supply management, hold a full review on the rail system *and* bring in an immediate moratorium on short line closures.

11:08:38 AM
Kate Storey is proud to be here today to represent the Greens - and she's a farmer: a "real farmer". Organic. Naturally. No pun intended. She wants to be able to enjoy farming without an outside job or "crushing debt", and she doesn't think much of the "Growing Forward" plan pitched by the government - it's just more of the same "Liberal-Conservative" attitude.

The Green Party, she says, has a plan - support for "orderly cooperative marketing", encouraging young farmers, and revitalizing local communities with fair - emphasis hers - trade.

11:12:14 AM
Finally, Tony Martin, who has heard from real farmers - although he doesn't claim to *be* one - that nothing much has changed between the Liberal and Tory governments.
They - these farmers - like the NDP's cap and trade plan, not "another tax." "Jack remembers Brian Mulroney selling out farmers for free trade," Martin tells us. He moves onto the Conservatives 'giving the store away' with billions in corporate tax cuts, and ends his statement with a round of platform boosting.

11:15:05 AM
And now, a video from Betty Green Cruz, a fruits and vegetables producer in Ontario. She doesn't find the Growing Forward framework to be "adequate," and notes that the Ontario Agriculture Association has proposed the "Agriflex" concept, which would improve it. She also wonders whether the parties would expand production insurance for all commodities.

11:16:50 AM
First up, Wayne Easter, who says the question "goes to the key of where the next government will be" in listening to farmers. He addresses the questioner as if she's actually present - which, since this is being broadcast live on CPAC, is possible, in a virtual sense - and says that what he wants to see under "Agriflex" is both national programs, and regional programs adapted to specific names. He takes a shot at Ritz for adopting Liberal programs, but only changing the name, and agrees that federal resources have to go into these programs.

11:20:11 AM
Interesting, Storey comes close to criticizing the notion that more production is better, and gives the room a brief lesson on supply and demand. She dismisses the idea of increasing subsidies for production, and insists what really has to be done is for family farms to be supported more directly, not a small group of large agricorporations.

11:21:48 AM
Martin seems a little flustered, although he vows that he'll also support "controlled cooperative marketing."

11:22:25 AM
Ritz seems to have encountered "Betty Jean" before -- he's discussed this issues with her in the past, and "she knows" that the government is looking at "the idea" of agriflex programs. He takes a backhanded shot at the Liberals with an approving quote from former CFA president Bob Friesen, who is now running for that party.

11:24:15 AM
Okay, now intracandidate debate, starting with Wayne Easter, who wants to put farmers' needs before trade needs. "If we don't have the programming in place for farmers to survive economically, it's all for naught."

11:26:40 AM
Tony Martin tries to explain why agriflex is good, but "not enough", and Ritz says he's "happy to jump in" with -- more highlights from his government's recording, including "expanded slaughter facilities" -- even in PEI! Storey, bravely, takes him on - in a somewhat flustered way; she's clearly not used to this sort of formal fiveway debate - and accuses both the Liberals and the Conservatives of failing to support farmers like her.

11:28:29 AM
A question in French from New Brunswick - no simultaneous interpretation, so you'll have to trust my somewhat scattered translation skills. It seems to have something to do with transfer money from the government, and whether it happens soon enough.

Oh, bless him, the moderator will summarize the question - fair and reasonable farm succession system for Canadian farmers -- what will the parties do to ensure one --- encouraging young farmers to stick around by not saddling them with huge debt, and finally, retirement with "dignity" for older farmers.

Storey begins, and - you know, she's probably at least my age, and maybe a bit older, but she sounds exactly like a student politician or model parliamentarian. Very big on the emphasis-filled slogans, lots of almost frantically eager eye contact with the audience.

Oh, her plan? Or rather, the Greens' plan? Something about setting up a federal agency to manage estate transfers in an ordinary way -- which the banks, she notes with obvious satisfaction -- "wouldn't like", since it would prevent them from adding more debt -- and wonders why neither the Liberals nor the Conservatives have come up with such an "elegant plan."

Weird. I wonder why she's not going after the NDP? Wouldn't that make more sense, given the popularity the NDP enjoys in some closely-fought rural ridings?

11:35:16 AM
Speaking of the NDP, Tony Martin once again tries to segue back to his party's platform, and Gerry Ritz reminds everyone that his party cut the GST by two percent. Oh, and he, too, brings up the proposal to provide voluntary employment insurance coverage for families. It's not quite as hideously tactless as McGarry's gambit last night, but honestly, if you're trying to sell this idea of hope and growth and job security, I'm not sure why you'd bring up employment insurance.

Wayne Easter agrees that income security is "key" - as well as all sorts of other things, including capital gains exemptions and other succession-related taxes.

11:38:44 AM

The moderator offers Storey the chance to explain the whole third party agency for farm succession, and she -- sort of flails. Sorry, she may have her heart in the right place, but this candidate is clearly in way over her head. She tries to nibble at Wayne Easter, in a halting and halfhearted way, and eventually the Moderator comes to her rescue, and tries desperately to get her back on topic. Somehow, this results in Tony Martin -- who Storey has basically ignored up until now -- getting a free shot to talk about the dangers of subsidies, and children moving off the farm and never coming back.

11:42:57 AM
Did you know the carbon tax will "rip the heart and soul out of the farm community"? Because it will, according to Ritz, who manages to provoke Easter into an impassioned defence of the Green Shift, which is about the future. Young farmers, he says, are *concerned* about climate change, and they don't want to hear more "propaganda" from the Harper government.

11:44:34 AM
The Moderator looks a little annoyed - apparently the next "presentation" is about the environment. "We've gone a little off topic from farm succession," he scolds the panelists.

Well, he's sort of right - it's an open-endy question about "environmental stewardship" from Winnipeg, but that's enough for Tony Martin to get his digs in at the carbon tax - which "won't be helpful" - and once again points to his party's platform, which would ban "terminator seeds." I just love that name. Such good scarebranding.

Gerry Ritz goes into a tangent about the miracle that is GPS -- very helpful for those who "farm by the mile" -- as well as environmentally friendly pesticides and other technologies. "Again folks, we're talking about environmental stewardship" -- and a carbon tax will just make the bills go up.

Wayne Easter's turn to tout the platform, which he does. "The challenge of this century is to address climate change," he says. The Liberal plan will give more back to the farm community while reducing dependency on fossil fuels.

Last word - "and we didn't plan this," the Moderator jokes lightly - goes to the Green Party. Mild laughter from the audience, who, like me, probably feel somewhat disconnected from the proceedings. I don't know if this is the most effective format, really - it feels so sterile, and there's so little interaction between the candidates, and none with questioners, who are not live but Betamax.

11:53:03 AM
And now, four minutes of debate, and Tony Martin calls the hostility between government and environmental groups "unhelpful." His party also supports renewable fuels. Now it's over to Easter - who I guess was the target of Martin's criticism, because he's now tearing into the NDP and Conservative -- sorry, "Harperites"' platform. In Turning the Corner, he points out, the government proposes putting a cost on carbon as well -- would anyone believe that won't have an impact on the economy? And why won't any money be returned to the farmers?

Ritz notes that it was his department that funded pilot projects on land management, to find out what would be required. "We've put a lot of effort into biofuels," he points out - ethanol and biodiesel - and then moves back to what is clearly his comfort zone: the "tax everything that moves" proposal by the Liberals, and its dubious claim to revenue neutralit. "Ever heard of the gun registry," he quips.

Uh, that was kind of the opposite, though - it was supposed to be revenue neutral, but wound up costing over a billion - almost none of which came from registration fees. What Ritz is claiming is that the carbon tax will bring in *more* revenue, but from actual consumers.

12:00:07 PM
A question on trade, which is clearly second only to the evils of the Green Shift on Ritzs' preferred topic list, and he once again points to his govermnent's efforts - the Conservatives are known, he notes, as "the party of free trade", even though he admits it was the Liberal government that actually signed Canada onto NAFTA.

Easter takes issue with the Conservatives' apparent lack of mettle for a trade war - or at least a rousing trade defence - and condemns sentiments like that advocated by Chuck Strahl, who, he recalls, admitted that even if the WTO comes up with a bad deal, "We'll sign it anyway."

Storey goes after those evil banks again, and vows that a Green government will renegotiate NAFTA to ensure that it works *for* farmers.

Add in another scattershot attack on past "Liberal and Conservative governments" -- does she realize she's not running for the NDP? -- and it's on to Martin, who now sounds like he's just repeating her lines when he takes the traditional NDP position of savaging the Liberals and the Tories. Farmers want someone who will "stand up for their interests," he says.

12:07:17 PM
Gerry Ritz, who clearly can't believe his luck at making it past the halfway point without a single question on food safety, pokes Easter with a sharp stick over Liberal support for supply management, and gets the outburst that he had to know was imminent. Easter mocks the idea that this PM would ever listen to the views of the House of Commons, as suggested by Ritz would be the process employed for any future trade agreement, and excoriates the government for its dismissal of democracy. The moderator actually has to step in to separate the combatants, who glare at their respective shoes during the intermission in which the Green Party candidate rambles on about double standards.

12:10:48 PM
And there we go - food safety. Finally. Every non-agriculture-specific reporter looks relieved, including your liveblogger.

Wayne Easter gets first crack at it, and notes, somewhat wistfully, that this should be a "defining" issue, and lists his own party's efforts to get to the truth behind the "secret memo" on CFIA cutbacks. He blames Harper for plotting to pull the government out of the governing business, and is the first to mention the L-word. (No, not that L-word, sadly, which would definitely liven things up."

12:14:35 PM
Somewhat cheekily, Jennifer Story suggests that self-regulation by industry "doesn't work" - if it did, why not bring in "self-regulating income tax," which produces an almost imperceptible titter from the audience. The Green Party has all sorts of ideas, most of which involve putting locals in charge of inspecting meat, because -- they're more likely to eat it? Really?

Tony Martin agrees, and says that listeria is "so serious" - at least the current outbreak -- that his party has called for "Gerry" to resign. Gerry sips his water and tries to look unbothered. He blames the Liberals for being just as bad, and then hands the floor over to Ritz, who - by truly serendipitous timing - delivers the highlights of a "Just The Facts" email blast from his party's war room that literally *just* appeared in my inbox. It blames the Liberals - I know! The shock! - for cutting the budget for food inspection, which Easter calls "messaging over fact before reading the highlights from the latest bulletin from *his* war room.

I think what we really need is a debate between the war rooms. It would be like Reach for the Top, only upside down!

12:20:30 PM
Easter savages Ritz for the "failures" of the Harper regime, makes an acerbic reference to the minister's comments on his death, and generally goes off on a tear -- until Tony Martin interrupts him to blame both of them - or at least, their respective parties - for the current crisis.

"You're all getting a lot of mileage blaming each other," snips Storey, who apparently hasn't been listening to her own answers. She then rambles through the rest of her interjection in a now familiar borderline-condescending way, and eventually proposes that "we need more meat inspectors."

Deep.

12:26:22 PM
Another French question - headphones on, everyone! - on protection for supply management, specifically marketing agencies. Will the parties continue to support them, and the underlying principles? The Green Party will, farmers will be relieved to know. On the CWB, not all may agree with the CWB monopoly, but they want a "fair vote" - it's her board, and her business. "Gerry," she says, in the most awkward and contrived way, "Get your hands off our Wheat Board." Ritz is torn between ignoring her, and delivering a fake smile and a matter of fact expression of support for her point, and goes for the second.

12:30:10 PM
After Martin reads more from the NDP platform, Ritz praises the ability of farmers to market their own products - they know best, he notes. He brings up some -- rather curious statistics involving purported support for barley marketing outside the CWB - and invites farmers to check out his party's record.

Wayne Easter accuses the government of unleashing "a vicious attack" on the Wheat Board, directed from the heart of the PMO, and dismisses the vote as the result of "a manipulated ballot." The Conservatives have fired directors, illegally gagged the CWB, "tampered" with voting lists, used numbered ballots, and - wow, when you list them one after another like that, it really does sound a bit questionable, as far as respecting the democratic process.

12:34:32 PM
Storey used to be a pig farmer, y'all, but when the Manitoba government eliminated the single desk system, she could no longer sell her pork - wait, or is it still considered "pig" before being slaughtered? - because she was just too small a producer to satisfy the demands of the processors.

12:36:11 PM
Ritz tries out a different strategy -- he counters each of the other candidates' arguments, one after another, which results in a steady buzz of furious rebuttal noises by the end of his response. He also tells Storey that, as an organic farmer, she should be exempt from the CWB requirements, which she flatly contradicts. "I know the rules," she tells him.

Another format problem - Sticking to the same order for the whole debate is a bad idea. They should have reversed it at the halfway point, or something like that, because this way, the person who goes last - Ritz, as it happens - always has the last word, and none of the other candidates can rebut his rebuttals.

12:40:25 PM
And - the last question, according to the moderator, on food labelling.

Okay, that explains why Tony Martin keeps going to the platform -- he's not actually the NDP's Agriculture critic. Given that, he's actually doing surprisingly well.

12:43:54 PM
Gerry Ritz - stop me if you've heard this before - brags about the initiatives put in place by his government, which winds up wound-salting Wayne Easter, who reminds Ritz that actually, the Ag committee was in the midst of looking at this very issue of "Made in Canada" branding when the PM - once again choosing "messaging" over substance - brought in his own proposals, undercutting the work of the committee.

12:46:37 PM
Good little organic farmer that she is, Storey gives an obviously well-used response on the risk of genetically-engineered food -- which Canadians, quite wisely, she notes, don't trust -- and once again rebukes both the Liberals and the NDP.

12:48:49 PM
As the last few minutes of debate drag on, I should probably point out that over the last fifteen or so minutes, the size of the media contingent staking out the main exit has been steadily increasing, as the clock ticks down to the moment at which Ritz will have to choose whether to brave the onslaught, or sneak out the back door. (There is a backdoor, irritatingly.)

I believe I shall join them. Time for a location change!

12:52:53 PM

Okay, the pack is in full attack mode, and has nearly completely blocked the path between Ritz and the door, but of course, he takes the back exit, at which point the entire media throng takes off through the halls, down the stairs and out into the parking lot - which is, alas, minister-free. I'll save you the suspense -- he vanished without a trace, having apparently perfected his apparation skills during his two weeks in seclusion.

But on the plus side, it was a refreshing jog. I think that's all for now, however, so I'm going to sign off for now. Support your local farms, y'all!

(Incidentally, Wayne Easter is now holding court in the foyer, with probably triple the media attention he would otherwise command. As I wander towards the lobby, I can hear the words "Harper regime" echoing down the hall.)

The candidates are:  NDP incumbent Paul Dewar, Penny Collenette (Liberal), Jennifer Hunter (Green Party), Brian McGarry (Conservative) and two independents: Pierre Soubliere and John Akpata. 

Full riding profile available here, courtesy of Pundits' Guide. 

6:43:37 PM
Greetings from the Churchill Community Centre, y'all! Are you ready for some hot local-candidate-on-candidate debating action? I hope so, because we've sacrificed a night of lounging on the couch watching Alan Ball's surreal take on Southern vampire culture to venture deep into the heart of Westboro Village to cover the latest skirmish in the Battle of Ottawa Centre. If you're not up on the latest twists and turns, check the link above for a full riding profile, courtesy of the Pundit Guide.
First impressions - which I'll try to squeeze in before the debate gets underway - the crowd is actually pretty damned impressive for a Sunday night -- I don't think there's an empty seat in the room. More importantly, most of the people here seem to be actual voters, which is always refreshing to see, although along the opposite wall from where the media have set up camp, there are tables full of propaganda from each of the five campaigns on the scene tonight.

With less than ten minutes to go, the incumbent, Paul Dewar, looks surprisingly relaxed; he's chatting with supporters who keep flocking to the front of the room. All five candidates seem to be in their seats already - the two women, Liberal Penny Collenette and the Greens' Jen Hunter sandwiched in between Dewar and his Tory rival, Brian McGarry.

Best of all, from ITQ's perspective, that is, though, is the fact that not just one but both independents are here. Oh, please let one of them be crazy -- or at least eccentric. Is that so much to ask from democracy, really?

Okay, the string quartet over the loudspeaker was a good idea in theory, but y'all, it's just deafening - and that was before the feedback sent us all into catatonic shock.

6:57:03 PM
The organizer is now apologizing for the lack of space -- apparently they were serious when they said seating would be limited, because there are still people waiting outside. She assures the crowd that there will be more debates, so don't despair if you can't make it to this one.

6:59:47 PM
Ooh, with less than a minute to go, those sneaky candidates have swapped chairs on me. Curses! Thankfully, unlike committee members, they're not so interchangeable as to be unidentifiable without nameplates (which they have, but I can't see from this angle) - now McGarry is on the far right (literally, not figuratively), with Dewar to his immediate left, followed by John Akpata, Penny Dewar, Jen Hunter and Pierre Soubliere.

Meanwhile, beside me, a man without any identifiable buttonry is looking over a list of "our' questions - who, exactly, the "us" of this "our" might be isn't clear, but the questions have to do with land use.

I wonder just how many times tonight the candidates are going to have to apologetically explain that someone's pet issue - parking meters, litter, those cryptofascist cat-leash laws - are, sadly, not under federal jurisdiction. My guess is at least once each, but we'll see.

7:04:55 PM
Ooh, we're on - and just so you don't worry that this will turn into a committee meeting, with endless filibustering by loquacious candidates instead of Tory MPs, the organizers are armed with flourescent warning paddles - one of which denotes 20 seconds left, the other that time's up - which, I'm assuming, can also be used to suppress those unwilling to shut up.

7:07:13 PM
Okay, here's the format: each of the community associations involved in organizing the event get two questions, which they can put to whatever candidate they like, and the rest of the forum will be dedicated to questions from the audience. If the candidates go over the allotted time, the mic gets cut.

Ooh, so it's Ethics committee rules. Harsh.

7:10:59 PM
And with that, it's on.

7:12:20 PM
The first one-minute opening statement goes to Pierre Soubliere, who isn't, in fact, an independent - he's running for the Marxist-Leninist Party. Oh, I didn't even dare hope that I'd be this lucky. A vote for the Marxist Leninist Party, you'll be interested to know, is a vote to give power to the people. Yeeeaaahhhh!!

Polite smattering of applause, and over to Greenie Jen Hunter, who is wearing the cutest gingham skirt, and has exactly the sort of blonde mane that you'd expect. She touts the balanced platform her party offers - from the environment to the economy to social justice - and gets a distinctly more enthusiastic reaction.

7:15:29 PM
Penny Collenette tells us that Stephane Dion has a plan, and reminds the crowd that this election is only happening because the PM "broke his own election law", and then - oh, can life really be this perfect? - John Akpata takes the floor and introduces himself as a third-time candidate with the Marijuana Party. "Don't do what doesn't make sense" is the upshot of his opener, which is right up there with "Don't do what Johnny Don't Does" as far as catchy slogans, and then it's time for Paul Dewar to dare the crowd to put him on the spot, and Brian McGarry to tell us how much the Conservatives have done in just 36 months.

7:18:46 PM
Okay, the crowd loved McGarry - biggest round of applause of the night, which makes me wonder, cynic that I am, if that means he was most successful in stacking the room with supporters. (Yes I'd say that regardless of which candidate inspired such a lively response.)

7:19:48 PM
And a question from the Hampton Community Group about the Civic Hospital; McGarry agrees that it is "ludicrous" to move the hospital out of the West End -- is someone proposing that? huh -- which seems to be the right answer, as far as the audience is concerned.

The audio system, on the other hand, is clearly not impressed; the microphones keep producing earbleedingly shrill flashes of feedback.

Dewar, the Marijuana Party and Penny Collenette also agree that it is absurd to even consider moving the Civic, although Collenette notes that this is one of the few instances where she might support using greenbelt land -- in this case, land across the street from the existing building - in order to keep the hospital here.

Jen Hunter stresses the need to preserve green space, and Soubliere, the Marxist-Leninist, bemoans how health care is seen as a cost, not a right.

7:25:15 PM
And now, the first question from the audience! After a gentle warning from Celli to be succinct - only a minute per question, no exceptions - the co-founder of Grandmothers for Africa asks whether McGarry and Collenette support Canada meeting the 0.7% goal for foreign aid - and if so, how they plan on achieving that.

McGarry begins by basically disassociating himself and his party from the last forty years -- "you remember who has been in power," he says. "We're a new party." - and the gist of his response is --- give us a stronger mandate -- ideally a four year mandate -- and we'll see what we can do.

Penny Collenette, meanwhile, reminds the crowd that it was Lester B. Pearson who got the ball rolling, and points to commitments to increasing foreign aid in the Liberal platform.

Oh, and Soubliere pops in to remind everyone that the Conservatives have a "twisted' idea of foreign aid, and that we're in Afghanistan "illegally." Which produces a range of responses, from applause to boos.

7:30:16 PM
A tricky question from the audience - small and medium-sized enterprises bidding on federal contracts - gets an enthusiastic, if entirely vague response from McGarry, who insists that he will stand up for small business - if anyone will, he will. "Whooooo!" yell his supporters.

Dewar, meanwhile, rolls his eyes at the chest-thumpery, and points to various million dollar contracts that have flowed outside the local economy. "Shame on the Conservatives for letting this file get out of their hands," he says, to wild applause.

In response, McGarry would rather condemn the NDP platform for reimposing various corporate taxes. "Good plan, Jack," he snarls.

7:33:51 PM
Another question for McGarry and Dewar - who seem to be seen as the main contenders here, interestingly, although the Conservative candidate came a distant third in the last election - on infrastructure, which seems to be a backhanded attack on the NDP. Dewar is ready for it, though, and rhymes off some of the spending plans from the party's platform. Meanwhile, McGarry, who is weirdly complacent considering that he's a challenger, once again goes after Dewar for the NDP's tax plan. "This isn't the party of Ed Broadbent," he says "this is the party of Jack Layton". He then delivers a rousing defence of corporate welfare bums - a Broadbentism, ironically - who, we're to understand, are being given an unfair rap by those Laytonian socialists.

I have to say this is a weird tack for McGarry to take in front of this particular audience.

7:37:32 PM
Dewar, not surprisingly, takes issue with the suggestion that he's out to get "small business", and notes that Ed Broadbent is a member of the party to this day, and supports the platform.

Penny Collenette, meanwhile, wants us all to know that the Liberals "get it" - on cities, on small businesses, on municipal funding; you name it.

Marijuana Party candidate Akpata - whose name I cannot, for some reason, remember - commiserates; he's from Windsor, where small business has been hit hard too - and he doesn't believe politicians who claim to care about the community either -- not without proof. Lots of nodding and cheering at that. 

7:41:42 PM
Holy crap, there is a line of questioners that is, quite literally, out the door - and at the head right now is a gorgeous, and righteously outraged woman who is eviscerating McGarry over the cuts to arts funding. McGarry reminds her that - oh, man that was really bad - he reminded her that under the Conservative plan, she can take time off to have a baby, and be covered by maternity leave. Her lip curls, and her eyebrow goes up; the room titters at the exquisite inappropriateness of his response. Yes, the young, independent artist and entrepreneur really wanted to hear that she can get help from the government if she has a baby, and wants to stay home for a year to take care of it. (AFTERNOTE: He also points out that she would be eligible for employment insurance, which, I'm sure, is just what an idealistic young artist wants to hear.) 

Akpata, on the other hand, congratulates her for being an artist, praises the Canada Council, and just generally gives a barnstormer of a response. He even gets off a crowdpleaser line about the newly approved porn channel. Penny Collenette pokes her head into the audience-Akpata love-in to remind everyone that the Liberals would double funding for the Canada Council.

Oh, and then McGarry tries to do damage control by shaking his fist at the crowd and reminding them that not all artists grub for money from the government.

Wow. This guy - wow. I'm kind of stunned by how politically tone dea