Wednesday, August 27, 2008

80s Frosh Week Stories

Oh yeah? Coincidence? When I lived in res in first year, we had two guys named 'Chris' living on our floor: Chris Royal and Chris York. Royal. York. Royal York. Isn't that amazing?

Since 20 years have gone by, I think it's safe to tell some 80s frosh stories over the coming week. It'll be like Santa Stories .... but with less Santa.

11:15 AM , # , |

80s Frosh Week

I came to Toronto to go to university twenty years ago this week. Minor Canadian pop stars in my year included:

Candi

Jian Ghomeshi

and Doug Cameron

... and a Miss Teen Canada lived in our residence. 1987, I think. Good thing someone maintains a Miss Teen Canada titleholders page, eh? You never know when that's gonna come in handy.

And so, my long-running passion for spotting obscure Canadian celebrities was born!

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Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Ten Futures

Ten things to expect in the future ...

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Sunday, August 24, 2008

Gordo

Summer's coming to an end ... so enjoy some Gord:

11:34 PM , # , |

Thursday, August 21, 2008

Ha ha, get it? Because the NDP never has a strategy ... just like I didn't have a half-decent idea for a comic this month (of course, I had three good ideas the day after the deadline).

But how can a party of old white people even come up with a strategy that's relevant? Both the Liberals and Conservatives reinvigorate -- to some degree -- their ranks with younger and more diverse faces. If you can figure out why the NDP hasn't done that, you've found the problem. It doesn't look like there's a shortage of young people with progressive ideas and a bit of sense.

As a group, they can't even figure out that their orange is the worst party colour in the history of the galaxy. Here, let's try to rebrand the NDP in 60 seconds ...

Except they don't rock; they suck. You don't even need to ditch the orange completely, just dial it back and quit using the noble pumpkin as brand inspiration.

There might be a fall election but it doesn't look like the NDP will be able to leave 1976 and mount a campaign ...

5:10 PM , # , |

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

One Week Later ...

Bigfoot a fraud! Who knew?

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Sunday, August 17, 2008

GUNS Promo Art

Hungry Eyes Film & Television has a new website where you can read about their upcoming CBC miniseries, GUNS, created by Jennifer Holness and Sudz Sutherland and starring Elisha Cuthbert and Colm Feore. If you click on the film art on the site, it'll take you to a page where you can watch some video by clicking EPK (sorry, it's a Flash site ...).

Above is the promo artwork I created for the show. More news later ...

12:58 PM , # , |

Friday, August 15, 2008

BIGFOOT!

Bigfoot revealed.

And here's the score:

Bigfoot: Possum
Montauk Monster: Racoon
Loch Ness Monster: Patrick Duffy
Yeti: Burl Ives

Update: The Toronto Star picked up the story today -- Saturday -- a week after it was debunked on the internet and the day after a DNA test revealed that it was a possum. It's an AP story that expresses some skepticism .... but still, doesn't anyone in the msm use google?

10:16 PM , # , |

Gullible CNN

The US news organizations have really sunk to tabloid levels with their recent monster fetish. Wasn't the Montauk Monster (pictured, left) thing just a few days ago?

Now, this story about a Bigfoot in a freezer appeared on CNN's website several days after it was thoroughly debunked all over the internets. If you look closely, you can see that the face of the "monster" is this costume. Check out the nose; it's the exact same costume!

CNN didn't have to do any research at all on this story, the work had already been done.

Instead, they led with this headline with summary points:

Body proves Bigfoot no myth, hunters say

Story Highlights
North Georgia men say they've found a den of Bigfoot creatures
They say they'll reveal details of one Bigfoot on Friday in California
The body of the furry half man-half ape is 7 feet, 7 inches tall, they say
Men won't reveal Bigfoot den's location because they don't want others disturbed

Nice reporting, CNN.

9:32 AM , # , |

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Last Year's Pony Doesn't Mind

4:53 PM , # , |

... To Satisfy Olympic Pride.

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Sunday, August 10, 2008

So What Is It?

Red Dwarf: White Hole parts 1, 2 and 3:

11:16 PM , # , |

Boom

Zack woke up agitated last night around 4am and we could hear what sounded like fireworks going off in the distance. Turned out it was this:

10:11 AM , # , |

Wednesday, August 06, 2008

The Fall of Vince's Variety

Merv captured images of the demolition of 'Vince's Variety', a minor landmark in our hometown.

I have no idea who "Vince" was. He was long gone when the variety was a stop on our way to school in the early '80s. We would drop in before school to get treats. There was an old-school bar with stools where farmers would jaw the morning away over coffee. The bar was removed at some point and it simply a variety store. In the 90s, it changed hands again and became the local video store.

The building had been abandoned for several years.

11:16 AM , # , |

Saturday, August 02, 2008

Weekend Sandwich

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Friday, August 01, 2008

Shiny Little Toys

Ok, I know at least one person who's gonna like this one ...

Tonight I got to use Heather's iPhone to surf the internet ... and I freakin' loved the damn thing. It's bright and shiny and you can check in on all your internet stuff. It's bright as hell and even has a 'flashlight' mode ... but if you really want a flashlight, there's a cheaper alternative:

A FLASHLIGHT.

There's no way I'm going to pay Rogers' fee for a damn flashlight. Or the internet. I'll wait for the future to get a little cheaper. And the network is kind of slow, so I'll also wait for the future to get a little faster. Maybe I'll get a used Newton instead.

But yes, I will agree that the iPhone is one sweet little shiny machine.

11:48 PM , # , |

Hockey Night

Ha! This is what I would choose for the Hockey Night in Canada theme [ via Colby Cosh ]. I already voted for it.

From the related facebook group:

A few days ago, I entered into the CBC's Hockey Night in Canada theme contest. Within a couple days I was in the lead with over 15000 views, and an average rating of 4/5. Soon after, the CBC decided to take down my entry! Thanks to fan outcry, it was shortly returned, only to be removed again. It has once again been put up, apparently only being taken down by a third party moderator. Help Hockey Scores retain the lead!

Update: remix directory

10:01 AM , # , |

Life on Lansdowne

When a crime is committed in the city, you can bet I'll be there. Not because I'm like Batman ... but because I live in the neighbourhood where the crimes get committed. Above, you can see the garage, one block over, that was part of Igor Kenk's now-infamous bike-theft-pack-rat network.

The neighbourhood has gentrified so quickly in the past few years, it seemed like the crime might have moved away. But there it is, ugly and real. Actually, the vines are kind of nice.

Meanwhile, on Lansdowne, a few stalwarts are still protesting the long-overdue maintenance that was completed months ago. Imagine the pain of having your street brutally disfigured by dozens and dozens of new trees.

Speaking of the new, anticipation builds at the plaza. 7/11 and Harvey's vacated a few years ago and now, stores are opening. Saks is much better than 7/11, so the wait was worth it.

But we don't know what's moving in to the big space. We're hoping it'll be something good even though, realistically, it's probably going to be a rub & tug superstore.

Update: Saks opened the day after this pic was taken and the mystery store is going to be a Tim Horton's.

2:00 AM , # , |