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Ten years in Canada
A decade ago today, Catherine and I landed in our adopted home. There was snow on the ground. Late in the day, we checked into the Holiday Inn at Martin Grove and Dixon. We hadn’t brought clothes for snow.
The next day we went to stay at the meeting house. The day after I braved slush and the Warden bus for a job interview at Warden and Alden in Markham. There were still farms at Warden and Steeles.
Until we moved in here in late June, we house sat, couch-surfed, whatever you want to call it. We relied so much upon the kindness of then-strangers. So thank you to: Don and all the Bowyers, Jane Orion, Brett & Nancy, Lynn & Tam, Brydon & René; to Les for the first job at Gandalf, to Dave and the TREC crew for being there at the start of a new industry.
I didn’t blog back then, kept no journal, and took few photographs. The first few years were tough — early 2003 might be a special low point, with a bitter winter, a dreadful job and a flooded basement. Every tiny detail of the immigration process seemed so important at the time, but now barely registers. Getting a SIN card up on St Clair? Biggest deal ever, then.
So, thanks to everyone, here’s home now. I think it was the right move.
First groundhog of 2012
Spotted just north of Eglinton on the DVP. Some daffodils, too!
Faxing it in from …
(image ganked from The Coast)
A bit too much Randy Bachman
Richard “Friendly Rich” Marsella noted that CBC Radio’s Vinyl Tap with Randy Bachman features a lot of music by … Randy Bachman. If you’ve got your own radio show “to play [your] favourite songs and tell stories from [your] life on the road and in the studio“, you might want to be a bunch heavier on your influences than your own actual work. It doesn’t seem that way with Randy Bachman, though.
In the 49 unique editions of Vinyl Tap broadcast in the last year, 27 of them feature his own music and/or performances. So in addition to his CBC pay for the show, he’s getting royalties, too. Rich puts it a little better, if a lot more invective filled:
Bring back quality broadcasting from people behind the scenes who are hard-working and informed…not merely has-been rock stars with egos larger than Winnipeg.
Given that Mr. Bachman constantly plays his own music on this show, receives royalties for the theme song, and might also be receiving ACTRA payments for incessantly wanking on his guitar between songs, CBC should consider whether or not this is a conflict of interest, as a public broadcaster.
Richard’s started a petition: Let’s petition to remove Randy’s Vinyl Tap from the CBC: No more BTO on the CBC! I’ve signed it, and I hope you’ll consider signing it too.
I ran some stats on the show’s playlists (thanks, CBC!), and Richard sure has a point. Here’s a list of all the shows from the last year, showing just the first Bachman-item on the show:
| Broadcast | Song | Performer | Album/Concert | Randy Bachman credit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011/03/04 | Takin’ Care Of Business | Bachman-Turner Overdrive | Best Of Bachman-Turner Overdrive Live | Composer |
| 2011/03/05 | ||||
| 2011/03/12 | ||||
| 2011/03/19 | ||||
| 2011/03/26 | When Friends Fall Out | Guess Who | American Woman | Composer |
| 2011/04/02 | ||||
| 2011/04/09 | Undun | Kurt Elling | Nightmoves | Composer |
| 2011/04/16 | ||||
| 2011/04/23 | We Gotta Change | Playlist For The Planet | Composer | |
| 2011/04/30 | Repo Man | Repo Man | Composer | |
| 2011/05/07 | I’m Happy Just To Dance With You | Bachman Cummings | Jukebox | Guitar |
| 2011/05/14 | Who Do You Love | Bachman Cummings | Jukebox | Guitar |
| 2011/05/21 | ||||
| 2011/05/29 | ||||
| 2011/06/04 | Laughing | Guess Who: Anthology | Composer | |
| 2011/06/11 | ||||
| 2011/06/18 | ||||
| 2011/06/25 | Undun | Kurt Elling | Nightmoves | Composer |
| 2011/07/01 | Raise A Little Hell | Trooper | Hot Shots | Producer |
| 2011/07/09 | Takin Care Of Business | Randy’s Vinyl Tap – Guitarology 101 | Composer | |
| 2011/07/16 | Blue Collar | Bachman-Turner Overdrive | Anthology | Producer |
| 2011/07/23 | ||||
| 2011/07/30 | ||||
| 2011/08/06 | ||||
| 2011/08/13 | ||||
| 2011/08/20 | ||||
| 2011/09/10 | ||||
| 2011/09/17 | ||||
| 2011/09/24 | ||||
| 2011/10/01 | Closing Time | Closing Time | Composer | |
| 2011/10/08 | Lenny’s Warmup And Improvisation Of Autumn Leaves | Lenny Breau | Cabin Fever | Producer |
| 2011/10/15 | Suite Theam | Composer, Performer | ||
| 2011/10/22 | No Time | Guess Who | American Woman | Composer |
| 2011/11/05 | ||||
| 2011/11/12 | Undun | Kurt Elling | Nightmoves | Composer |
| 2011/11/19 | Shotgun Rider | Bachman-Turner Overdrive | Freeways | Producer |
| 2011/11/26 | Blue Sky Day | Lindsay Ell | Consider This | Composer |
| 2011/12/03 | Day Off | Michael Carey | Composer | |
| 2011/12/10 | ||||
| 2011/12/17 | Geh Zoag Ma Doch Die Ding | Spider Murphy Gang | Geh Zoag Ma Doch Die Ding | Composer |
| 2011/12/23 | Takin’ Care Of Christmas | Takin’ Care Of Christmas | Composer | |
| 2011/12/30 | You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet | Bachman-Turner Overdrive | Anthology | Composer |
| 2012/01/14 | ||||
| 2012/01/21 | Any Road | Randy Bachman | Any Road | Composer |
| 2012/01/28 | ||||
| 2012/02/11 | Walk | Bachman Cummings | Jukebox | Guitar |
| 2012/02/18 | Who Do You Love | Bachman Cummings | Jukebox | Guitar |
| 2012/02/25 | ||||
| 2012/03/03 |
Of course, when anyone mentions BTO, I can’t help but think of
… which is a whole heaping helping of morissettian irony unto itself. The whole Smashie and Nicey thing was supposedly a factor in Matthew Bannister’s decision to fire the ageing and irrelevant DJs from BBC Radio 1 in the 1990s. I wouldn’t dream of making any inference from that …
help help I’m being harassed by the New Democratic Party
You’d think that Canada’s New Democrats would be a bit more respectful and techno-savvy, but for the life of me, I can’t get them to stop sending me e-mail. I donated last year, but I don’t want to get updates any more.
I’ve hit the unsubscribe page five times, and received confirmation each time:
- on Fri, 12 Aug 2011 17:18:04
- on Fri, 11 Nov 2011 11:57:58
- on Thu, 26 Jan 2012 08:07:21
- on Sat, 28 Jan 2012 14:25:09
- on Sun, 29 Jan 2012 11:35:33
I’ve now sent something via the contact form. Do I have to fax them, too?
2011 Award for worst-directed charity mail …
… goes to the Canadian War Museum. I’m just an average white poppy wearing guy, so I replied thus:
RIP Jack
Only in Canada …
Pink Snow in June
A pile of candy-coloured snow on a hot day in June is no surprise to many Canadians. The photo location may help those outside the country, though it helps to know what a “community recreation centre” is.
The groundhog is back
It’s back, merrily wreaking havoc with the new green shoots, but I’m just happy that it’s there.
just look at this moose stamp
Just look at it:
No, really look at it:
I DON’T THINK YOU’RE LOOKING AT IT PROPERLY …
Why I didn’t vote for George Smitherman
I didn’t vote for George Smitherman because I fundamentally disagree with the secret deal he initiated with the Korean consortium (including Samsung and Kepco). A feed-in tariff is all about equal access to the right to connect. The consortium, with its guaranteed grid capacity, sidesteps this equal access.
To make things worse, the consortium may have access to a price adder on top of the FiT prices. This is supposed to recognize the consortium’s expertise in the supply chain, and its consequential creation of jobs through local manufacturing. There are many other companies — some of which actually have supply chain experience in the renewable energy sector — who would bring the same number of jobs for the same number of megawatts.
So, ixnay on the Ithermansmay for that. There’s no way I’d vote for the glistening oaf (a phrase coined by Catherine after seeing this picture), so Joe Pantalone it was. Joey Pants’ campaign was, well, a bit pants, but he was the most appropriate of the candidates.
… we stand in line for thee
A little bit of silliness for Thanksgiving:
This took almost no time to put together. The “speaker” is a Tim Hortons cup with a cheap piezo glued to the base. What makes the Arduino sing is the Tone Library running its RTTTL demo sketch, with the anthem itself pasted in from a rather old Nokia Ringtones library.
late bloomer
I guess I must’ve dropped a sunflower seed earlier in the summer. So now we have a sunflower blooming in the back garden in October. Not many bees around.
Netflix vs Zip.ca
So, Netflix Canada launched today. As a (fairly) loyal Zip.ca subscriber, I was worried, but to be honest, I can do without putting DVDs in the mail every week. Since we can watch Netflix on the Wii, I thought I’d sign up for a trial month.
I tried to find things I’d want to see. Netflix is drawing blanks. I took my list of 30 movies I have queued at Zip to see how they compare. It’s not so good:
| # | Title | Zip.ca | Netflix |
| 1 | A Single Man | ✓ | ✗ |
| 2 | The Dish | ✓ | ✗ |
| 3 | Becoming Jane | ✓ | ✗ |
| 4 | October Sky | ✓ | ✓ |
| 5 | Playtime | ✓ | ✗ |
| 6 | The Commitments | ✓ | ✗ |
| 7 | The Cove | ✓ | ✗ |
| 8 | Storytelling | ✓ | ✗ |
| 9 | Jay And Silent Bob Strike Back | ✓ | ✗ |
| 10 | Princess Mononoke | ✓ | ✗ |
| 11 | Kiki’s Delivery Service | ✓ | ✗ |
| 12 | Whisper of the Heart | ✓ | ✗ |
| 13 | Salesman | ✓ | ✗ |
| 14 | Festival Express | ✓ | ✗ |
| 15 | Fat Girl (A ma soeur!) | ✓ | ✗ |
| 16 | Adam | ✓ | ✗ |
| 17 | Micmacs (Micmacs à tire-larigot) | ✓ | ✗ |
| 18 | A Chorus Line | ✓ | ✗ |
| 19 | This is England | ✓ | ✓ |
| 20 | Crumb |
✓ | ✗ |
| 21 | The Harold Lloyd Comedy Collection | ✓ | ✗ |
| 22 | Old-Time Banjo Styles | ✗ | ✗ |
| 23 | Learning Mountain Dulcimer | ✗ | ✗ |
| 24 | Animation Greats! | ✗ | ✗ |
| 25 | Black Cat, White Cat | ✗ | ✗ |
| 26 | Northfork | ✗ | ✗ |
| 27 | Leningrad Cowboys: Total Balalaika Show | ✗ | ✗ |
| 28 | The Turning Point | ✗ | ✗ |
| 29 | Winter’s Bone | ✗ | ✗ |
| 30 | Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam | ✗ | ✗ |
| Available | 70% | 7% |
The unavailable titles at Zip are ones they know about, and will try to find. Not surprisingly, all of them are also not available from Netflix. The only ones I could watch at Netflix are October Sky and This Is England. And would you credit it, but didn’t the DVD for October Sky just arrive yesterday …
Look, I know it’s early days, but Netflix needs to get a bunch better in the next 30 days. Oh, and it could do with some CanCon – it’s very weak there.
squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!
A very rotund — quite possibly bulbous — groundhog has taken up residence in our neighbourhood:
Iggy the Cheese Monster
Back from Elliot Lake
| Camera: | NIKON D90 |
| Exposure: | 1/400 |
| Aperture: | f/8.0 |
| Focal Length: | 35 mm |
| Exposure Bias: | 0 EV |
| ISO Speed: | 200 |
| Flash: | No Flash |
Canadian Comedy Central
I don’t know why people keep banging on about how funny Comedy Central is, because whenever they embed a video, this is what I get:
Am I missing something? Is it the new, newer universal punchline? Something like:
1: My dog’s got no nose.
2: How does he smell?
1: In Canada, Comedy Central Videos are available on The Comedy Network.
or
Q: What’s yellow and deadly?
A: In Canada, Comedy Central Videos are available on The Comedy Network.
Somewhere between Fallowfield and Smith’s Falls
This is what quite a lot of the train journey between Ottawa and Toronto looks like: