Category: News

What say, fuzzy britches?

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

From CityTV:

Drive-thrus have become a way of life in car conscious Toronto, as busy GTA residents find they don’t have the time to even get out of their vehicles for a coffee or a hamburger. But what are they doing to the environment and how would you feel if local politicians made a move to either curb them or eliminate them altogether?

I’d question the environmental impact of eliminating the drive-thru. It seems to me it wouldn’t reduce the demand for coffee (could also be hamburgers, etc., but I’ll use coffee as my example here), so you’d have three net effects:

  1. People parking their car at the curb and idling while they run in for coffee. If it’s true that drive-thru wait times are less than counter wait times (and I assume it is) then the result is more pollution.
  2. People circling the block to find parking before running in; this circling means needless driving time, resulting in more pollution.
  3. The above two effects causing more traffic congestion in the vicinity of coffee shops, again resulting in more pollution.

If you believe that removing a drive-thru will reduce the overall demand for coffee, then maybe this model works (for the environment, but certainly not for the business). If you think demand would stay the same, then the model only works if you believe customers will stop driving to Tim Horton’s and will walk there instead, and I’d bet pretty hard against that.

Anyone disagree? Are my assumptions off?

And just out of curiosity, what marketing jackass invented the word thru?

.:.

From CNN:

Two inmates escaped from a county jail, hiding the holes they made in the walls by putting up photos of bikini-clad women, officials said.

Attention, all jail wardens: you might want to WATCH THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION!!

[tags]toronto drive-thrus, jailbreak, bikini posters, shawshank redemption[/tags]

I'm a fine, fine fellow

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

In the summer I was struck by how much greener Toronto looked from our balcony than it does at street level. Now, with the leaves on vacation and the snow taking up residence, it just looks gray.

.:.

It’s not official yet — the paperwork still has to go through — but I heard back from our adviser today: we passed our final project. That effectively means that I am now a fellow of the Institute of Canadian Bankers. I’m now in the home stretch of finishing the MBA: 256 days left!

.:.

Poor Nellie’s not feeling well today. We had dinner at Fieramosca last night and were plied with a little too much Limoncello. It was supposed to be a quick meal, out by 8:30, but there’s really no such thing with us anymore. We kind of lost track of time somewhere around the sixth shot.

.:.

News from last week: Toronto councillor Giorgio Mammoliti asked for the army to be brought in. Not because of some snowdrifts, mind you. No, councillor Mammoliti wants the army to come in and crack down on gang violence.

Having had a few days to consider and weigh the councillor’s words, I have arrived at this conclusion: Giorgio Mammoliti is batshit crazy.

I’m all for curbing gang violence, councillor. I suggest you lobby for more police funding, or a special anti-gang task force. Perhaps you could move to ban handguns in the city, or increase funding to social programs that keep kids out of gangs. Any of those seem fairly reasonable, if not politically expedient. Maybe it’s my quaint inclination toward freedom, but I don’t think military occupation of a civilian area is something a democratically-elected politician should suggest.

Sigh…every time someone from this city mentions the army I just know the rest of the country’s going to make fun of us for the next three years.

[tags]toronto the gray, institute of canadian bankers, fieramosca, limoncello, giorgio mammoliti, gang violence[/tags]

The ruins of adventure

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

A couple of stories of subversive perseverence that are fascinating me today:

1. The decades-long near-total anonymity of the musician called Jandek;

Only a handful of people claim to have contacted Jandek, whose steadfast anonymity is legendary…Some of Jandek’s allure stems from his small but devoted fan base that includes Sonic Youth, Bill Callahan, Mike Watt, John Darnielle of The Mountain Goats, Low, Ben Gibbard of Death Cab for Cutie and Bright Eyes.

2. The year-long infiltration of a Parisien “cultural guerrilla” group to restore an antique clock in the Pantheon.

For a year from September 2005, under the nose of the Panthéon’s unsuspecting security officials, a group of intrepid “illegal restorers” set up a secret workshop and lounge in a cavity under the building’s famous dome. Under the supervision of group member Jean-Baptiste Viot, a professional clockmaker, they pieced apart and repaired the antique clock that had been left to rust in the building since the 1960s. Only when their clandestine revamp of the elaborate timepiece had been completed did they reveal themselves.

Amazing stories, both.

[tags]jandek, untergunther[/tags]

Was Anna Nicole 2006? Or 2007?

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

From OpenCulture: an interview with Stephen King. Normally I have no interest in what King has to say, but this is pretty funny:

STEPHEN KING: So who’s going to be TIME Person of the Year?

TIME: I really don’t know, there’s a very small group of people who make that decision.

STEPHEN KING: I was thinking, I think it should be Britney Spears and Lindsay Lohan.

TIME: Really?

STEPHEN KING: Yeah. You know, I just filmed a segment for Nightline, about [the movie version of his novella] The Mist, and one of the things I said to them was, you know, “You guys are just covering — what do they call it — the scream of the peacock, and you’re missing the whole fox hunt.” Like waterboarding [or] where all the money went that we poured into Iraq. It just seems to disappear. And yet you get this coverage of who’s gonna get custody of Britney’s kids? Whether or not Lindsay drank at her twenty-first birthday party, and all this other shit. You know, this morning, the two big stories on CNN are Kanye West’s mother, who died, apparently, after having some plastic surgery. The other big thing that’s going on is whether or not this cop [Drew Peterson] killed his… wife. And meanwhile, you’ve got Pakistan in the midst of a real crisis, where these people have nuclear weapons that we helped them develop. You’ve got a guy in charge, who’s basically declared himself the military strongman and is being supported by the Bush administration, whose raison d’etre for going into Iraq was to spread democracy in the world.

.:.

I have to tell you, a Canadiens win over the Leafs puts me in a good mood for at least a couple of days.

[tags]stephen king, time person of the year, canadiens, leafs[/tags]

The only day of the hockey season that I don't hate Boston

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

I got home from work late and I still have to read 25 pages of corporate finance, so tonight’s a link dump night:

.:.

This story makes me feel good each November: every year the people of Nova Scotia send a giant Christmas tree to the city of Boston. They do this in perpetual thanks to Boston for sending doctors and medical supplies to Halifax after the Halifax explosion in 1917. However, what I didn’t know until today (thanks, Wikipedia) is that this annual gifting didn’t start until 1971. Not sure why it took 54 years for the tradition to begin. Anyway, it just warms the cockles of my heart. Thanks Boston.

Oh, and thanks for beating the Leafs last night too.

[tags]jellyfish, giant scorpions, edgar bronfman, music industry, cristobal huet, chris higgins, nova scotia, boston, christmas tree, halifax explosion, bruins, maple leafs[/tags]

To be fair, everything looks like twaddle under an electron microscope

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

I’ve been too busy to blog (or think) much lately, so no sparkling insight or stunning revelations from me right now. Sorry.

.:.

I am shocked — shocked and appalled — that those Q-Ray bracelets I’ve been seeing in late-night infomercials for years are completely worthless. Wendy Mesley, why do you hate America?

.:.

One lesser-known blog I like to read is Laura Bogomolny’s. She’s a former writer at Canadian Business magazine who’s now doing her MBA at Columbia, and occasionally writes about her classes, the program, life in New York, etc. Today she wrote about a negotiation exercise she did side-by-side with law students:

When the law students were asked if it looked like fun to be the business person in the negotiation, over half of the law students raised their hands. When the business school students were asked if it looked like fun to be the lawyer, not a single hand went up.

OK, I’m not shocked by that one.

.:.

The musical inbox is piling up again. The more recent additions:

  • Annuals . Be He Me
  • Jealous Girlfriends . Comfortably, Uncomfortable
  • Puscifer . V Is For Vagina
  • Robert Plant & Alison Krauss . Raising Sand
  • Sigur Ros . Hvarf-Heim
  • Sigur Ros . Svarf
  • Various Artists (Stereogum) . Drive XV
  • Weakerthans . Reunion Tour
  • Yeasayer . All Hour Cymbals

I need to find a way to listen to this stuff. My job doesn’t really allow me time to listen to music at my desk anymore.

[tags]q-ray, cbc, wendy mesley, laura bogomolny, columbia university, mba, jealous girlfriends, puscifer, sigur ros, weakerthans, naysayer[/tags]

They "treat people like crap?" Oh no, no, they treat severe speeders like crap. Important distinction.

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

Work and school have me kind of spun right now, so I’m pretty much limited to link dumps and non sequiturs:

  • Amnesty International says we (meaning Canada) are getting soft on the death penalty. This ain’t something we wanna be soft on, Steve.
  • Today’s whiny man for whom I have absolutely no sympathy: Jason Stainthorpe. Driving his SUV 50km/h over the speed limit and ignorant of month-old speeding legislation, he “admitted he was speeding, but was furious that police wouldn’t let him off with a warning since he had never heard of the new law.” Aw, the mean man sworn to protect the populace took away his girlfriend’s big truck. Truly, my heart bleeds.
  • I’ll declare it right now: I pledge to vote for any politician who promises to ban Christmas ads and/or decorations before December 1st. I don’t care if they run on a puppy-farm and scat-porn stump; they have my vote.

[tags]amnesty international, canada, death penalty, ontario speeding legislation, christmas ads, christmas decorations[/tags]

"You let the database go down while masturbating to Mexican donkey porn. Fix it."

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

I know the language issue in Quebec is contentious, and I’m all for a strong francophone culture, but when the Globe reports on lawyers and priests throwing around sentences like “respect the rights of Quebeckers to be served in French” and suggesting that ‘driving [Quebeckers] away from their traditional religious beliefs will only aggravate social tensions toward other religions and cultures’, it sounds to me like xenophobia and the desire for cultural purity. I doubt these gentlemen are representative of Quebec, but they do have very big soapboxes.

I also find it funny (and by funny, I mean tragic) that Saku Koivu has become the poster child for their criticism. Captain of Montreal’s beloved hockey team, cancer survivor, local philanthropist…insensitive jerk. At least his teammates stuck up for him.

.:.

My esteem for Radiohead has dropped a few notches.

.:.

Once again, I agree wholeheartedly with the Angry German:

Now, I learned that the proper way to say this is: “I know you are really busy, but I cannot continue my work while the database is inaccessible. If you don’t mind, could you look into the problem and let me know if there is a chance you can rectify it? Sorry to be a bother.” No wonder shit doesn’t get done in time when you have to write a freaking novel for each simple thing.

Seconded.

.:.

How wonderfully ironic that justice has fucked the Rev. Fred Phelps directly in the ass.

[tags]quebec, language laws, saku koivu, radiohead, angry german, fred phelps[/tags]

Is it spring yet? How 'bout now? How 'bout now?

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

January’s gonna be a big month for me, TV-wise. Two of the best shows on the air — The Wire and Battlestar Galactica — start their final seasons.

.:.

Tonight was a welcome break from schoolwork…a night off to just relax, watch hockey and not think about school. It’s short-lived, though: I have an assignment due Monday which I’ve not started yet, so the next five days will be spent in a finance textbook.

.:.

I’m enjoying Brijit, a handy new service that summarizes recent magazine content in 100 words or less, and assigns a rating (though they they arrive at their ratings I’m not sure).

.:.

Because we can’t help ourselves and we can’t wait to go back (and also because some things require booking way in advance) we’ve already begun planning our Rockies trip in the spring. I bought a book about the interior of BC the other day; I think, after a few days in Yoho (hiking the Lake O’Hara region again) we’re going to drive to Whistler, and then on to Vancouver. I want to go NOOOOWWWWWWW!!!!

[tags]the wire, battlestar galactica, brijit, rockies, yoho, lake ohara, whistler, vancouver[/tags]

And a bucket of my finest diet pepsi on ice

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

I am the hold steady:

  • Original weight: 233
  • Weight last week: 222
  • Weight this week: 222

Break-even’s about as good as I could have hoped for last week. Time was hard to come by and I spent a couple days at the IFL, which never helps. It should get a little better now, though, because…

.:.

I finished my paper today! Well, just about. Still have to proof it and throw SW’s revised references in at the end, but I believe we’re pretty much done. To celebrate I went downstairs and ran three miles. To keep the good times running tonight I may just watch a movie and fall asleep on the couch. Woot.

.:.

Last night’s Canadiens game was another good ‘un. Well, kinda; Montreal jumped out to a three-goal lead early in the game but let the Penguins back in it, finally allowing the tying goal with two minutes left. No joy in overtime, so it went to a shootout…16 shooters later someone finally scored, and thankfully it was Montreal. That was the first time in a few games they played a tight one…it was hard on the nerves. I’ve come to like the blowouts.

.:.

Robert Ouellette wrote a column today in Reading Toronto entitled Why I Am Cancelling My Globe And Mail Subscription And Why You Should Too*. I agree with that sentiment; I canceled my subscription long ago, partly for the reasons Mr. Ouellette describes (environmental concerns, lack of compelling content, abundance of ads and increasingly pro-war editorials) and partly in protest over their decision to charge paper subscribers to access online content.

Interesting side note: the asterisk in the article’s title points to a confession by Mr. Ouellette in which he states that he may be biased against the Globe because he occasionally writes an architecture column for the National Post. While his first three objections would apply to most any newspaper subscription, I should think that his objection to “fear-driven ‘dogs of war’ [having] their way in the paper’s editorial room” would sour him completely on the Post.

[tags]fatblogging, mba, reading toronto, robert ouellette, globe and mail, national post[/tags]