| Top New Films On DVD
"Stranger Than Fiction" (PG-13) Will Ferrell tones down his antics and holds his own among a gifted cast (Emma Thompson, Dustin Hoffman, Queen Latifah, Maggie Gyllenhaal) in a more dramatic role with this thoughtful comedy about a man whose impending doom finally prods him to get a life. The DVD (Sony, $29; Blu-ray, $39) includes interviews with director Marc Forster and the cast, a look at the film's Chicago locations and deleted scenes. .
Rookie police officers watch, listen and learn
Rookie cop Brian Duyn watched intently as the tall, lean man anxiously rubbed his head and paced in the front hallway of his Kitchener home. The 49-year-old homeowner called Waterloo regional police after he got into a baseball-bat-swinging fight with a motorist who, he says, intentionally sprayed him with slush. It was the first call on this snowy day for Duyn and his training coach Const. Jay Van Kalsbeek. It was another opportunity for the inexperienced officer to learn the kind of things you can't learn from classroom lectures and textbooks. The man took a few deep breaths, then began his story. He was shovelling the snow out of a catch basin at the end of his street when a car carrying two young males raced past -- not once, but twice -- splashing him with roadside slush.
There's no such thing as a happy meal
Which of the following does not belong in a restaurant: food, beverages or children? Those who chose the first two are probably voting for Jeb in 2008. Those who chose the last one are my best friends, whoever and wherever you are.
First, let me say that I'm the oldest of seven. I know what it is to be a child and I know what it is to want to slip one some NyQuil for dinner. Now, at the risk of sounding like someone with a "Hail Hitler!" bumper sticker, let me say that I think children should be banned from certain public places, the public restaurant being at the top of that list.
I can't say how many times I've endured the company of a toddler at a restaurant. Granted, there is the occasional well-behaved youngster, but is this not a democracy? Should the fact that the majority of children are ruining public outings for everyone within a 10-mile radius not be evidence enough that a national ban should take place?
Perhaps a ban is too much to ask for and expect of a society too dedicated to fattening up its children with Big Mac spin-offs and two-liter sugar canisters instead of - I don't know - a home-cooked meal.
Both parties claim work/family solution
The federal government and Opposition both say they have the answers to helping Australians balance their work and family lives. Two new reports this week said Australians were still struggling to balance work and family commitments, with one-in-five employees working 50 hours or more each week, and one in three regularly working weekends. Federal Opposition Leader Kevin Rudd said policies such as increasing the number of childcare workers and getting rid of the government's WorkChoices legislation would make life easier for Australian families. "What we've put forward on the table is first, on the question of childcare and early childhood education, we want to invest an extra half billion dollars a year to make sure every four-year-old gets 15 hours a week for 40 weeks a year," Mr Rudd told the Seven Network.
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