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G20: A Reply

Back in late June, I sent the following email to the Prime Minister of Canada, Stephen Harper. Dear Mr. Harper, Toronto has long been proud of our women and men in uniform who protect our city, and provide an invaluable service to its people. The security of the G20, however, has soured the People’s view of the Toronto Police Service, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, and the Ontario Provincial Police. With videos and photographic displays showing what appears to be excessive force and an abandon of the Charter, Torontonians cannot trust their Police or feel safe. Obviously these videos and photos only show one side of the coin, and I do hope, along with all of… Read More »G20: A Reply

Thomas Kemper Root Beer

I visited a shop in Whitby called Soda Pop Centre. These are my stories. Thomas Kemper Root Beer 355ml Ingredients: carbonated water, honey, caramel colour, maltodextrin, sodium benzoate, natural flavour, gum acacia, phosphoric acid, sucralose, salt, vanilla extract, and acesulfame K. Linky link. This Portland-based pop company makes a rather delicious root beer. It’s quite sweet, from both the honey and the sucralose, but the major flavour actually comes from the vanilla. It’s rather strong. If you’re a fan of vanilla, you’l like this root beer, I think. I personally think it’s a bit too strong.

Inkball

Inkball is perhaps the greatest sport ever invented. Okay, maybe it’s a game, but I thought I’d share my love of this creation. I’ll start with the genesis. I used to work at a lame computer store, which to protect its identity we’ll call Boron Computing. It was a rather boring job which in no way challenged me, it in no way interested me, and I was treated quite poorly, so I had a lot of resentment to the employer. There’s a lesson in this, if you want a happy, productive worker, treat them with respect. We weren’t treated with respect, but there was one good thing about working that… Read More »Inkball

iPhone 4

I got an iPhone 4. It’s my first smart phone. Signal The one thing everyone’s talking about and the one thing I most noticed with the iPhone is the signal, but it’s not what you might think. My old phone was using Telus’ old CDMA network, I couldn’t make a phone call or receive a phone call with much luck in my apartment. While I don’t live in Toronto’s downtown core, I’m not far from it. At Broadview and Danforth, if you can’t get a cell phone signal, that’s just pathetic. Now that I’m on Telus’ HSPA+ network (3G), my signal has drastically improved. You can call me if you… Read More »iPhone 4

Maury Chaykin

This past Tuesday, the world lost an incredible actor, Maury Chaykin. The actor has appeared in so many films, to list his credits would be useless. If you’ve seen Atom Egoyan or Don McKellar films, there’s a good chance you’ve seen Chaykin’s work. If you’re a fan of Canadian cinema in general, you’ll have seen Chaykin. The man’s been described best as a character actor, always playing different roles without a single role defining who he is. It’s perhaps his unique look, the rotund man who could either look sinister or jolly at the flip of a switch. He’s so very identifiable, and without the rugged good looks of a… Read More »Maury Chaykin

I’ve liked you for a thousand years…

Scott Pilgrim saw a woman in the Wychwood Library and he fell in love. The woman was Ramona Flowers, an American who had recently moved to Toronto. She was working for Amazon, as a delivery girl, and Scott used this knowledge to get her to him, and get her to go out with him. Shortly after their relationship starts, Scott learns he must defeat her seven evil exes if he wants to keep her. Books one through five chronicle his journey in defeating the first six of her evil-exes1 In Scott Pilgrim’s Finest Hour, Pilgrim faces the final evil ex, Gideon. For those who are unfamiliar with the series, it’s… Read More »I’ve liked you for a thousand years…

I Wanna Be Your Joey Ramone

Over the past little while I’ve been listening to my fair share of Sleater-Kinney, and then some. I figured I’d write an article about why The Woods is one of the greatest albums of all time. My plan was not to state an opinion, but to empirically prove it. Well, that’s slightly daunting, and I’m not there yet, but I thought I’d discuss a song from their earlier catalogue. First you should listen to the song. Like it? I hope so. It’s called “I Wanna Be Your Joey Ramone,” and it’s from their 1996 album Call The Doctor, which is also their second album. The album is so old, in… Read More »I Wanna Be Your Joey Ramone