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I was introduced to the Vinyl Cafe a couple of years ago by Kevin, when we were both on the same team. Kevin is a mainframe programmer and a bit of a film and book buff. If I recall correctly, Kevin used to listen to Stuart McLean's Vinyl Cafe on CBC radio , and one Christmas, was looking for a particular Vinyl Cafe story to read over a Christmas gathering. I helped Kevin out by visiting Amazon.com and peering between the covers to gleam the story. I suspect Kevin's Christmas went a tad better than Dave's in the story -- I'm quite sure Kevin wasn't drunk and didn't take a turkey to a hotel. Stuart McLean has published many of his Vinyl Cafe stories collected in a few volumes over the years. What better way to enjoy the quirky Canadiana that it is his characters -- sort of Bob and Doug, but without the beer and hoser phenom. I had nearly forgotten about the Vinyl Cafe , until my wife and I happened to be in a strip mall in Gander, last fall. We were k...

My birthday went by this past week. It was a sort of celebratory event the entire week, culminating in a birthday breakfast this morning, which included a few presents -- even though I didn't really want anything -- and wasn't expecting much. This past week also marked the first time I registered for a stay at a hospital. The hospital visit was planned -- been in the plans for a few months at the very least, following a visit to my GP. The whole process of, "there's something weird there, touch it," through to, "nice to meet you, drop your pants," and "don't worry, you won't feel a thing," probably took six months. It was not an emergency, but a proactive move on my part to take care of my health. Six months move pretty fast. It was my first encounter with the process of surgery, and having no expectations, I guess I am satisfied. There are those who rail against the Canadian health care system, but taking the context of my enco...

After reading Un Lun Dun , I took the other China Miéville novel I had off the shelf, and dived into it, reading it as I lurched every-which-way on the daily bus rides. King Rat was Miéville's debut fantasy novel, published in 1998 and it is quite unlike Un Lun Dun . To begin with, King Rat is not written for younger readers. It is dark retelling of the Pied Piper of Hamelin story -- wherein many rats are drowned and children are kidnapped. In the Rat King , the Piper is the antagonist. He's evil incarnate, with the ability to make anything he wishes, dance to his tune, and do his bidding. Back in Hamelin, he drowned the rats that had invested the village, except the King, who managed to escape. Through time, he's tortured other souls, including Anansi , king of the spiders, and Loplop, king of the birds. In modern day London, King Rat, Anansi and Loplop are plotting revenge on the Piper, with a secret weapon, King Rat's son, the half-man, half-rat, Saul Gar...

I recently finished Un Lun Dun , by China Miéville . It's been a while since I sat down to read a book of fiction, and since I was going to be spending hours in a flight to China, I decided to take a book along to fill the void. I had picked up Un Lun Dun sometime ago, and its been sitting on my bookshelf, calling to me. Un Lun Dun is a fantasy novel, set in an alternate London -- unLondon, as it were. Miéville sets out to write an unfantasy novel. The setup has been used many times by fantasy authors. There's usually a prophecy of an outsider who travels to a far off land to save it from a menace. There is a quest. There are trials that will test the mettle of the hero. Lessons will be learned; sacrifices will be made. The hero will be fair -- the blonde-haired, blue-eyed type. The villain will be evil. The hero will triumph just in time, and there will be a happy ending. Forget the usual however. In Un Lun Dun , the hero is a heroine, and is not the one that h...

Whoo-hoo! Louisiana has voted to stunt progress and scientific literacy in the state! Governor Bobby Jindal, a biology major that apparently wasted his time in school, signed into law yesterday, the Louisiana Science Education Act (LSEA). The LSEA seeks to promote critical thinking in education, especially in the areas of evolution, the origins of life, global warming and human cloning. Yet again, logic and intelligence has given way to religious fanaticism. The dumb just keeps getting dumber.

George Carlin died today , June 23rd, at the age of 71. He will be missed. See some of his routines .

Today I encountered another asshole too stupid to care -- too stupid to care for their neighbourhood, the environment, and ultimately, their health. The asshole in question drives a Nissan Murano SL AWD, with Ontario license plates, AXJY 263. From the details on the plate, the vehicle was purchased in Willowdale -- and it was parked at the Longo's at Laureleaf & Bayview. I stood around for about 10-minutes after taking this picture, waiting for the asshole to show up, before I ran out of patience and went grocery shopping. Whoever parked the Murano there is an asshole -- an asshole because they left their SUV running while they went shopping. It was a bit of a warm day, but there was a nice breeze. The gas guzzling asshole just couldn't wait the one minute it would take for the A/C to cool the vehicle down, so they left the engine running so the A/C could keep the vehicle cool. One day, people like that will be thrown in jail for crimes against the environment. View...

Julian Assange of Wikileaks introduces the 219-page U.S. military counterinsurgency manual, titled, Foreign Internal Defense Tactics Techniques and Procedures for Special Forces (1994, 2004) , with the declaration: How to covertly train paramilitaries, censor the press, ban unions, employ terrorists, conduct warrantless searches, suspend habeas corpus, conceal breaches of the Geneva Convention and make the population love it. That there exists such a manual isn't at all surprising. Those that know the history of the U.S., knows the country has repeatedly engaged in some questionable colonial excursions to other countries, usually with disastrous consequences for the peoples of the host nation. What should be surprising -- shocking, even -- is some of the tactics the manual advocates: warrantless searches; detainment without charge; the suspension of habeas corpus; prosecuting individuals for terrorism who are not terrorists; concealing human rights abuses from journalists; an...

There's something sinister afoot in Canada . The federal government is working secretly to sign on with the Europeans to protect the interests of the RIAA and MPAA. If an agreement is reached, copyright protection enforcement would fall to border protection authorities -- you know -- the same people who screen you at airports and stop the shipments of gay & lesbian literature at the border. Border guards would have the authority to inspect laptops, mp3 players, cellphones and other digital devices, to look for copyrighted material. Even if you bought the material legally, or own original discs, the border guards could take your device away and destroy it. Instead of ensuring our nation is protected, the government is working to ensure that the outdated business model of RIAA and MPAA members are protected -- at the detriment to you. Whoever came up with this dumbass idea must have spent one hour too many listening to really loud Metallica music.

Last week, I met a real witch. I don't mean witch in the Wiccan sense; those that honour nature and are legend for stripping naked and dancing around fires. Nor do I mean witch in the Salem sense; being in the wrong place in the wrong time. I mean witch in the good ole fashion nasty sense -- the whole crone business; of nasty old ladies who cook children in ovens , cause princesses to die by spindle pricks and scare immigrants out of bus seats with their spittle of intolerance. You may not have heard of her, but the wicked witch of Toronto is well known to those who travel on the 53 Steeles Ave. E. bus, on weekday mornings. This witch usually board the bus at the Laureleaf stop. She's peroxide blonde; her stench disguised by expensive perfume; and her body glittering with precious stones. Being a witch in the new century is apparently lucrative -- which makes it a mystery why this hag doesn't have a chariot hauled by black stallions. Last week I had the displeasur...

The United States has decided to withdraw its mission to the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) -- the UN body charged with dealing with human rights violations around the world. The UNHRC was created in 2006 to replace the UN Commission on Human Rights. At that time, the U.S. decided to not participate as a member, but instead send its mission as an observer. Even that, is now being pulled and it's a move that is shocking to many. One obvious way to view this position by the U.S. is that it has no regard for human rights. That would be a mistake however. The U.S. position on human rights needs to be seen beyond the tarnished perspective of the current American administration. King George has done much to destroy world's confidence in America's commitment to human rights. But, America has always practiced a less than idealized position on human rights. Human rights for America has always been tied to its political aims. America has never been a perfect state from a...

Japanese clothing retailer Uniqlo, has done something unique to get attention in a world of very short attention spans. It has created Uniqlock -- a catchy multimedia presentation on the web that blends music, dance and data visualization. It's hard to explain the experience. You'll have to take a look at it yourself. There's something compelling in the presentation that makes it difficult to just navigate away from the site. When you've had enough of the experience, click over to the Uniqlock's archives to find other presentations created by Uniqlo.

Goosh is cool ! It's a command-shell for Google. From a command prompt, you can type search queries and have the responses come back as text in the command-window. Totally retro. Check it out.

"Don't you fucking talk to him like that. And don't you fucking talk to me like that. This is his country. Not yours, not mine." Something must happen when you give people guns. They and those with guns become important -- become deserving of respect -- and everyone else, just backdrop for the scene. That has repeatedly been the case of American soldiers in Iraq, Afghanistan, and elsewhere. It's not limited to American soldiers of course. Peacekeepers are at times no better. The very people they've come to help become unwitting victims. Lack of respect turn those who were once supporters to enemies, as casual disregard for those without guns -- without the implements to command respect in regions of conflict -- become the norm. Read more in the Star .

Here's one that will have you screaming, WTF?! Stacey Fearnall has been fired for shaving her head to raise money for the charity, Cops for Cancer. She raised $2,700, but her boss told her she was fired from her waitress job, when she showed up to work with no hair. Her boss is Dan Hilliard, also known as an asshole. The restaurant is Nathaniel's , in Owen Sound, Ontario. Make sure you never eat there.

David Swanson has an excellent post at OpEdNews.com , on the Clinton surge post the DNC reluctant decision to cave to Clinton's pressure and count the votes from Florida and Michigan. Yes, Clinton still thinks there is hope. And so do a lot of dumb people, who are backing her.

Sometimes what we need is a good ole fashion revolution. That is the case being by Robert Higgs for America. The beginning of political wisdom is the realization that despite everything you’ve always been taught, the government is not really on your side; indeed, it is out to get you. Read more in his commentary, post at the Independent Institute .