Just getting ready to start the week o’ marketing. I love getting up at 7 on a Sunday morning to go off to school for a week.
[tags]mba, marketing, sarcasm[/tags]
"How many tall office towers are there in Toronto?"
I guess it was only a matter of time before a suspected terrorist plot was broken up in Canada; terrorists generally don’t seem to take issue with particular national boundaries so much as with ideologies or religious differences. There was a sense in Canada that we were too small, bland or nice to be targeted by terrorists, but those folks aren’t exactly known for their logical approach to their trade.
So…a big thank you to the investigators who spent time on this and apprehended the suspects. I’m glad they were on the job if the threats are as serious we’ve heard today. That said, here’s hoping they got the right men; with the new counter-terrorism laws, the authorities can hold pretty much anyone for as long as they like on charges of suspected terrorism. It also goes without saying that I hope they got all their men.
Oh, and once again, the Toronto Sun showed their journalistic prowess by saying on the front page that the TTC was a target, when in fact the police have confirmed that it wasn’t. Bravo.
[tags]canada, terrorism, toronto sun, ttc[/tags]
"I think we can conclude that the Muslim lobby in the U.S. is not as effective as they would like it to be."
How blindingly stupid would you have to be to think that only 1,000 people died in World War II? Jesus.
Anyway, Scott Adams suggests that it would be interesting to make people take a general knowledge test when voting. Nellie’s of the same opinion, but thinks people below a certain score shouldn’t be given a ballot.
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West 8 was announced as the winner of the waterfront redesign contest, so it looks like Toronto’ll be getting a great big maple leaf in our harbour. Nooooooot sure I like that, but any progress is welcome. [from Spacing]
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The Polaris prize: Canada’s answer to the Mercury Prize.
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Asshat see, asshat do. Sorta.
[tags]wwii, west 8, toronto harbourfront, polaris prize, mercury prize, same-sex marriage[/tags]
If I had a band I'd call them The Supercells. Except that name's already kinda taken.
I have an unhealthy fascination with tornadoes. Actually, I’m interested in any disaster, but especially natural disasters, and especially especially tornadoes & thunderstorms. One of my favourite things as a kid was to watch storms roll off the bay and up the flats toward our farm…and that smell that would be in the air right before the rain started…man. Good times.
Anyway, that’s why I can tolerate shit movies like Twister and why I can spend hours watching cheesy TV shows like Stormchasers if I come across them on a Sunday afternoon. And it’s why pictures like these and these (found at c|net) make me drool.
Anybody for a trip to Kansas?
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$5,000 is too much to pay for a personal scooter, even something as bitchin’ as a Segway, but with financing available…hmm…
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The new Walkmen disc, “A Hundred Miles Off”, isn’t bad, but not great either. It’s certainly no Bows + Arrows, which was the second best album released in 2004. So sez I.
[tags]tornadoes, stormchasers, segway, walkmen, hundred miles off[/tags]
Baura? Len?
It’s been a big day for TimmyD. His application for British citizenship has been approved. Now, let’s hope he hasn’t bollocksed it up by not checking the post often enough.
Geez, scolding just sounds so much better when you’re British…
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TimmyD was also so kind as to pass on a rumour about Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant wanting to do more episodes of The Office. They’re right about the NBC version of The Office though; it’s gotten better and better as it’s gone along. I think they’ve actually done an even better job with the whole Tim-Dawn / Jim-Pam (or “Jam”, if you’re a TV nerd) thing than the British version…of course, they’ve had many more episodes to build the tension.
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Ben Harper is lost to me. His last…well, several albums (including his newest, Both Sides Of The Gun) haven’t done anything for me. I remember standing in my living room in my first apartment at Yonge & Sheppard, setting up my new stereo, when this song called “Faded” came on MuchMusic; I snappedlostit and ran out to find the disc. But since that disc…nuthin’. However, more people seem to dig him now than back then, so he’s doing something right for the masses (including Laura Dern, so you can’t blame him too much). Just not for me.
[tags]british citizenship, the office, ricky gervais, stephen merchant, nbc, ben harper[/tags]
Lemons & accents
You know what’s good? The new Asobi Seksu album Citrus. That’s good.
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You know what’s funny? BBC announcers covering the NHL playoffs. That’s funny.
They say things like “…scoring three goals in the third quarter…” and pronounce the name “Rod Brind’Amour” as if he were from Reims and not Ottawa.
[tags]asobi seksu, bbc, nhl, rod brind’amour[/tags]
Adequate transit is just a fantasy, can you live this fantasy adequate transit?
Interesting Smart Economist article on the economic effects of an aging population. Among the more interesting statistics:
- In 1950, the median age in developed countries was 29; by 2000, the median age had risen to 37, and by 2050 this figure is projected to rise to 45.
- In Japan, in 1950, there were 9.3 people under 20 for every person aged 65 and older; by 2030, this ratio is predicted to fall to 0.59.
- Between 2003 and 2030, the fraction of elderly voters in the United States will rise from 19.8% to 30.5%.
- In 2005, the US government spent nearly 6.5% of GDP on transfers to the elderly; a shift of 10% of the population into retirement would cause federal transfers to increase by 4.7% of GDP — or over $500 billion.
That Japan statistic stunned me.
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Spacing points to this fantasy TTC map. Now that’d be pretty sweet…the airport connection, the line that runs up to where I go “away” on course, the Beach, Skydome (love the anti-Rogers station name!), and so on. Sigh…instead we’re stuck with a service prone to underfunding operated by a union prone to tantrums.
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Umm…that’s some Aldo Nova in the title. In case you were wondering.
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Three-armed babies freak me out.
[tags]economics, aging population, fantasy ttc, aldo nova, three armed baby[/tags]
I am Jack's need for public attention
The first rule of fight club is: do not let c|net news report on fight club.
[tags]fight club, c|net[/tags]
Bland & blander
This video, found via Antonia Zerbisias, shows you what war really looks like in Iraq, and it’s not what we see on the 11:00 news. Warning: not for the particularly squeamish.
In related news, Mohamed ElBaradei is warning the world not to jump the gun with Iran:
“Iran does not pose an immediate nuclear threat and the world must act cautiously to avoid repeating mistakes made with Iraq and North Korea.”
‘Course, he’s just the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency and a Nobel peace prize winner, so what does he know?
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The new Snow Patrol and Pilate discs are not very good, unfortunately. Very bland. Like hearing the same Coldplay song again and again.
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Speaking of bland…I finished watching a documentary called Going Upriver: The Long War Of John Kerry (imdb | rotten tomatoes). It was released in 2004, before the presidential election, in part to counter the “Swiftboat” attack ads targeting Kerry’s military service. As skewed as it was, it was interesting to see the context around why we saw that shot of Kerry testifying before Congress in his ODs. It was also maddening to know that the young, courageous, eloquent John Kerry had his idealism ground out of him through years of politics and image scrubbing, leaving nothing but a bland, wishy-washy mouthpiece.
[tags]iran, nuclear, mohamed elbaradei, snow patrol, pilate, coldplay, john kerry, swiftboat, going upriver[/tags]
Skirl | Dan Dickinson 