I’ve got a short, fun piece at mytelus.com today reporting from the launch party of the PlayStation 3 here in Toronto. It was a fun time, with Wyclef performing and game-playing media geeks all over the place. Read all about it over here.

I’ve been wondering when the pop anthems of Sloan’s new album, Never Hear the End of It, were going to find their way onto my inner soundtrack.

The thirty-track disc is jam packed with the Canadian band’s particular brand of pop music, which is as sticky as the best of the Beatles and Beach Boys.

To be frank, this is my first Sloan CD. When they first arrived on the scene, I just couldn’t get on the bandwagon. But Never Hear the End of It is a fun ride. Damn good band, this one.

The last few articles I’ve written for the Straight have been very journalistic, so this week’s Trigger Happy column is instead a round-up of some critiques: Star Fox Command, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest, Yakuza, Hitman: Blood Money, Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence, 2006 FIFA World Cup, and FIFA Soccer 07.

Am heading to Toronto later today. The PlayStation division of Sony Canada has a big launch party and media briefing happening there on Thursday, in advance of Friday’s launch of the new PlayStation 3 gaming console.

I spent some time with the machine last week, and can confirm that it’s a sweet machine.

The price tag is going to be hard for some to understand, but remember that the computing power of the PS3 is arguably greater than three of the computers sitting on your desk. Put in those terms, the price is not steep.

Whether you can justify that cost for a computer that – despite continued efforts by all the console manufacturers to change this – is only used for playing video-games, well that’s another debate entirely.

I don’t care what you say. November 13 is far too early for Christmas carols to be in my head.

Please, please get them out.