Do you carry your lunch around in an old plastic bag? Do you ever wonder if, somewhere, somehow, a better option is available?

Dream no more, friend. Now you can own a one-of-a-kind designer lunchbox created by a genuine celebrity, thanks to the Lunchbox Auction. Presented by Gourmet Magazine, the event features some nifty looking lunch caddies by Mario Batali, Beastie Boys, Gwyneth Paltrow, David Chang, Tom Colicchio, Salman Rushdie, Cameron Diaz, the cast of “Gossip Girl,” Rachael Ray, Eva Mendes, Mike Myers, Ellen Page, Michael Stipe, Liv Tyler, and Diane Von Furstenberg, among others . I’m fond of the one designed by New York Giants’ Offensive Line:

Intimidating, yet refreshingly amateurish. Best of all, proceeds from the auction go to the NYC Food Bank.

So, if you’re tired of plain ol’ brown bags and tupperware, and have a few hundred dollars burning a hole in your pocket, go make a bid. It’s probably the cheapest Von Furstenberg original you’ll find anywhere.

In the face of a ginormous budget surplus ($15.4 billion!), Governor of New York David Paterson has levied a four per cent tax on downloads of music, movies and other “digitally delivered entertainment services”. So, a 99 cent Fall Out Boy single on iTunes will now cost $1.03.

A small charge, to be sure. Still, given the huge volume of downloaded media, it’s bound to deliver some considerably scratch to NY’s treasury. But I’ve got to wonder if they’ve thought through some of the externalities. With all the talk of digital piracy and illegal downloading, this seems like a particularly problematic policy. How many borderline ‘legal’ downloaders will be pushed back into the digital black market by the spectre of a new tax?

Plus, whenever you impose any regulation or fee on the Internet, the response is fast and aggressive. I think Gov. Paterson may have bitten off a bit more than he could chew on this one.

All across the land, sad and confused preteens are lamenting the news that Canadian Idol, our nation’s source for mediocre musical talent, has been cancelled. Truly, our national culture will miss the hastily produced and completely unoriginal ‘albums’ created by the yearly winner/the large corporation that backed them.

But amidst all this gloom, there is a silver lining. With the demise of CI, perhaps we can finally be free of the cruel reign of terror that has gripped Canada for these past five years. Perhaps we have finally reached the End of Ben Mulroney.

By ‘end’, I don’t mean death. Although he is exceptionally irritating, I can’t think of any specific reason why Ben Mulroney should die. Rather, I hope this is the end of Ben Mulroney’s career as a TV host. Because let’s be honest: he is terrible at it. He has the charisma and delivery of a sheet of plywood, the lumbering grace of a aardvark, and the interviewing skills of a fifth-grader. Also, he somehow manages to appear both plastic and doughy at the same time, his face coated with some futuristic polymer that manages to attract light and project it back at any hapless observer with the intensity of a space shuttle launch.

Sure, Ben will still have his gig as the ‘host’ of CTV’s anemic eTalk Daily. But who actually watches that show, anyway? No, Ben’s bread-and-butter was his role as leader of the screaming adolescent hordes who tuned in to see a new lowest common pop-music denominator created before their moist and trusting eyes. Without that, Ben’s cachet will no doubt decline. He may, like his siblings, have to get a real job. Or if, as I’ve long suspected, he is some sort of energy being that subsist solely on the attention of crowds, he may wink out of existence entirely.

So, farewell Ben. We hardly knew ye. But by god, we sure knew you were annoying.

Canada

• Everyone is trying to figure out a why a gondola tower collapsed at Whistler.

World

• Most world conflict was caused by ideological differences in 2008. Good thing this is a non-partisan blog.
• Nude models go on strike in Paris over a new anti-tipping law- naked. And brother, it’s cold in Paris right now.

Mediated

• Surprising exactly no one, Time Magazine chooses Barack Obama as Man of The Year.
• Canada is a leading source of spam. High five!
• Keith Olbermann does the best roundup of Bush-Dodging-Shoe comedy. At least that I’ve seen.
• Sign of the times: The American Society of Newspaper Editors is dropping “paper” from its name.
• Slate has released its Top Ten Stories list for 2008.

Science & Tech

• Dolphin stampede!
• Steve Jobs will skip this year’s MacWorld. And, Apple will be skipping Macworld always, starting next year.
• One analyst predicts an Apple Netbook is nigh. Fanboys: start lining up now.
• Scientists in Peru have uncovered a new lost city, a kind of missing link between the Wari and Moche cultures. Mmm. Moche.

Pop Culture

• Always wanted to smell like a hamburger? Burger King’s new perfume may be just what you’re looking for.
• Outlander, the movie where Vikings fight aliens, is finally getting a North American release.
• BBC and Fox team up to produce the sci-fi drama Defying Gravity. It’s a brave new world.
• Samurai underpants!
• The upcoming BSG movie is everything you’ve already seen…but from the Cylon perspective. Also, it may explain why they love repetitive single-note piano music.