Pre-Pandemic working from home was a fantastic concept; the companies who adopted that initiative benefited.
Read on…
Blog
I’m Gladwell Malcolm Is Advocating Working From The Office
August 8th, 2022Hurt Myself Today In 1995
April 17th, 2022Saw one of those retro rock posts: Nine Inch Nails’ Hurt was released today in 1995 as a Fun Fact. Whatever.
Read on…
When The NBA Prey Becomes The NBA Shill
April 16th, 2022Another NBA Season; Another Jurassic Park Raptors ESPN Commercial. This is one of the strangest NBA traditions.
Read on…
The 2022 Purge
March 21st, 2022Happy Purge Day!
Read on…
Poop Things
March 17th, 2022In John Carpenter’s 82 classic The Thing the Antarctica snow concealed a hideous alien which when freed from its icy tomb spelled doom for humanity.
Read on…
Lockdown The Logic
January 13th, 2022As I write this it’s currently minus 20. Toronto has a naturally built in lockdown season; it’s called January.
Ain’t no need for vapid political machinations to shut down pop culture as an attempt to look they’re doing something. Politically something is always better than nothing, right? That’s like hitting the side of a TV to make it work.
Read on…
Noah Who Is The National Champion
January 10th, 2022This trailer for the National Championship is breathtaking.
“So for the glory of old Georgia; let the Bulldog nation rise and believe…believe in the names on the back.” #GoDawgs (Shout out to Ernie Johnson Jr.!)
Read on…
Dave Chappelle’s Closer Smoking?
October 6th, 2021I’m slowly working through Dave Chappelle’s The Closer. His latest Netflix comedy special.
Made a strong tea and sat down with the special: as expected dude is one of the smartest people in room. I appreciate his willingness to push his audience around; in that sense he’s Bowie-like in that he demands his audience go down these strange roads with him.
But…how come he’s not smoking?! Does he eventually smoke?! Not smoking…throws his comedy off rhythm.
Woody Allen was one of the best stand ups for that consistent comedy cue. He’d always adjust his glasses on a particular word: you could reverse engineer the joke. Really clever.
So I find Chappelle’s lack of smoking disconcerting. I’m a bit lost.
Fatty Not Phat Because Slang
April 20th, 2021On my IG I’ll post quotes from various My Summer Lair interviews. One of my guests was talking about his weed movie and smoking a fatty.
Read on…
Deep Blue Ignorance
March 26th, 2021Yo! There’s a Deep Blue Sea…3?! What? How did we get to 3?!
Read on…
The Glass Ceiling of Hate
November 8th, 2020You know what’s telling?
My Dad and I watched the recent Kamala Harris and Joe Biden victory speeches.
People will cheer wildly cheer for the usual stuff: I’m the first woman: YEAH! We won!: YEAH! (The whole thing was like a victory parade for a sports team: we’re gonna repeat! We’re #1!!)
But whenever either one of them says we have work to do…nobody cheers for the work. Kamala Harris said work 7 times: “…because now is when the real work begins, the hard work, the necessary work, the good work…”
While Biden contributed: “Let this grim era of demonization in America begin to end — here and now. The refusal of Democrats and Republicans to cooperate with one another is not due to some mysterious force beyond our control. It’s a decision. It’s a choice we make. And if we can decide not to cooperate, then we can decide to cooperate. And I believe that this is part of the mandate from the American people. They want us to cooperate.”
There’s still a deep seated hypocrisy that all Trump voters are racist and liberals will continue to reject em as deplorables. As per the the narcissistic image popular on social media I’ve attached here. (Those comments doesn’t even make sense and have little to do with justice. More like just ice.)
Sure some voters are racist but we’re in the social media era this isn’t the 70s or 80s so the proliferation of online misinformation coupled with a crumbling education system where critical thinking is not taught creates enfeebled voters…so I don’t fully blame em. Neither side is particularly well-informed, well-read or righteous.
Just because you know smoking causes cancer doesn’t mean you just stop. And it doesn’t mean that non-smokers won’t start.
In a way, President Biden has to lead the charge to combat that pervasive and insidious hypocrisy. And I hope he can be a successful leader. Though in the end, the president cannot dictate any moral positions because all too often the White House gig has no moral authority. You’re the President of the United State of America you ain’t the Pope.
So it’s great if Biden as President starts but like a wedding DJ it doesn’t matter what song he plays it’s up to us if we want to dance…or not. We gotta do the work.
It won’t be easy: all too often we say the right things but our actions…eek!
-28-
The Glass Ceiling of Hate
November 7th, 2020You know what’s telling?
My Dad and I watched the recent Kamala Harris and Joe Biden victory speeches.
Read on…
August 31st, 2020
Literally anytime Keanu or Alex or Chris or Ed would say anything about Bill and Ted 3 there would just be this little explosion of interest on the internet, kind of culminating to the point where finally Orion and MGM decided, ‘Yeah we’re gonna do this’. We announced that it was possible and there was a huge explosion of interest, and I have to say that made [the studios] feel like, ‘Well, I guess we made a good decision here.’
Whenever a fool opens their dumb mouth to say Zack Snyder’s Justice League was unprecedented to giving in to the fan boys. It’s how it’s always been done.
August 31st, 2020
#TrailerAlert: The Doorman is off-brand Die Hard.
Ruby Rose is not John McClane. I’d be foolish to accept this.
If I was on a long flight I’d watch it but I’m so not investing any money in it: showing this the door.
October 9 doesn’t matter where.
~ Sammy Younan
Lowe: OKC’s jersey patch deal completes sponsorship for all 30 teams
August 30th, 2020Lowe: OKC’s jersey patch deal completes sponsorship for all 30 teams
I’ve been thinking about advertising since the NBA restarted.
To attend an NBA game is to accept a bombarded of logos from insecure corporations. Thankfully with the Orlando Restart most of that has been stripped away.
However and this is from March 2019 is there any…metric…any proof of any kind the NBA patches work?!
~ Sammy Younan
August 18th, 2020
Today is DC Fandome!
The festivities begin at 1pm EST. (Team EST!!).
Because a large chunk of nerd shindig is so movie-centric (Wonder Woman! The Flash! The Batman! The Suicide Squad! Black Adam!) this feels like a full-court press.
MCU is (literally) on pause so this is the best window for DC Films to strike.
Will this work?
What does success look like for DC Films (and no not in comparison to Marvel Movies.).
Let’s do this thing! Attached is some of the schedule; here’s the rest.
~ Sammy Younan
August 17th, 2020
#TrailerAlert: August 17, 2020
Amazon release this trailer for this documentary on voting and voter suppression in America this afternoon.
Americans are addicted to “vote!!” as an effective solution but voting has no value if the candidates are lousy. When the system forces voters to choose between Trump or Hillary it’s not clearly not good; it’s clearly not working.
You’re really honestly telling me those are the 2 best choices to represent 300 million people?!
The way the candidates are selected (in America and in Canada); the way we present them…the media all of that needs to be overhauled. In everything else we can research reviews…from cities we’re flying to; to a washer…to a book…there are reviews and opinions and recommendations and suggestions so people can avoid mistakes or bad choices. We don’t really do that properly with political candidates.
The debate used to be can you do more good outside the system or should you get elected and attempt to change the system from within. Now it’s obvious no good comes from within the system.
So yeah voter suppression is a major issue and yes it is racist but if the choices suck that’s not good either. So I hope this doc addresses some/all of that.
All In: The Fight For Democracy is on Amazon Prime on September 18. I’m In! I’ll make some tea and chill with this.
~ Sammy Younan
August 17th, 2020
People think it’s the census or something…who cares? Funny is the world that I live in. You’re funny – I’m interested. You’re not funny – I’m not interested. I have no interest in gender or race or anything like that, but everyone else is kind of with their little calculating – ‘Is this the exact right mix?’ – to me, it’s anti-comedy, it’s more about PC nonsense than ‘Are you making us laugh or not?
#GOAT
August 17th, 2020
Trailer Alert: December 25, 2018
This is Us means Peele will whip up that minority on twitter that’ll write thousand of words on Us except if it’s any good or not.
Should make for a cheaper marketing budget. If he is indeed the new M Night well than M Night is posed to complete his comeback with Glass. A parking lot rumble it is then.
August 17th, 2020
Anybody who is any good is different from anybody else.
Supreme Court justice Felix Frankfurter
Always Be Good At It.
MULTIPLE EISNER AWARD WINNING GIDEON FALLS SERIES WILL KEEP READERS GUESSING UNTIL THE VERY END WITH AN 80-PAGE,…
August 16th, 2020People have been eagerly documenting all the things they want to do when the Pandemic is over.
To those lists add a trip to Gideon Falls! (That needed the sarcasm font: there’s no way I’d ever visit Gideon Falls. No way “in hell.”)
What Jeff Lemire and Andrea Sorrentino have achieved with this fantastic horror comic book is stunning.
So this the end is nigh news is sad yet a hopefully satisfying end to a highly recommended story.
Horror and comics fit so well: they’re peanut butter and chocolate. I wish we had more quality horror comics.
The Immortal Hulk, the Archie Horror comic books and Gideon Falls being current and excellent examples. (Long Live EC Comics!)
Bonus Recommendation: I generally believe that people who dig Gideon Falls will dig Dark on Netflix.
Gideon Falls
is more horror while Dark is more sci-fi but it’s same jumbled non-linear something bad happened in the past (but which past and whose past) epic tale. It’s a whole thing.
~ Sammy Younan
Literary world overwhelmed by 600 books to be published on one day
August 16th, 2020Literary world overwhelmed by 600 books to be published on one day
This sounds like a problem but it really isn’t: it’s a non-issue. The numbers doesn’t matter. If 100 books comes out which sounds more manageable and they don’t fit the bookstore or the bookstore’s readers: it’s an easy call.
Books like all of pop culture should be heavily curated: let readers, bookstores and anybody else involved choose. Marketing for books is always gonna be hard because they require the hardest audience commitment.
It’s easy to listen to a 3 minute pop song…a movie is 2 hours tops and knowing the actors/directors makes it easy. Most people got time for music and can make time for movies…books start to thin out the herd.
Are lots of quality books and hard working authors gonna fall through the cracks? Yeah. But that happens all the time.
Which goes back to curators. May the best ones have a large platform and an influential distinct voice.
~ Sammmy Younan
August 16th, 2020
Colin Kaepernick’s Nike ad is decent but not as powerfully potent as 2016’s Come Out of Nowhere NBA campaign: MAKE HISTORY NOT APOLOGIES.
Yo so good; soul good.
Kaepernick’s Nike ad means sneaker culture goes full circle: in 1968 Tommy Smith and John Carlos protested during the anthem police brutality (they held up a Puma shoe.) Exact same template as Colin: ostracized from sports, abused…death threats etc.
None of this is new.
~ Sammy Younan
August 16th, 2020
Hidden Gem for September 4, 2018
Umi Copper – All!
August 16th, 2020
We wanted to really wind it back to the things that inspired the original Star Wars and really get it small in scale and tell simple stories, because part of what you inherit when you’re going to see Star Wars now is this whole history, because the stories have been told for decades, and it was nice, with the new medium, to be able to start with a new set of characters to introduce a new audience,” Favreau, a dedicated fan himself since he was a kid, said of the blueprint for the series. “But we always knew…and this is something I learned from…over at Marvel and working with Kevin Feige, is you always want to keep the core fans in mind, because they have been the ones that’ve been keeping the torch lit for many, many years, but these are also stories for young people and for new audiences. These are myths, and so you always want to have an outstretched hand to people who might not have that background. And so you’re really telling two stories at once. You’re telling the story for the people who are fresh eyes, and you’re telling the story for the people who’ve been there with the property and with the stories and the characters for so many years, and make sure that you’re honoring them, as well.
Jon Favreau
The priority is always the old fans: service them because as Favreau said they’ve “been keeping the torch lit for many, many years.”
TWILIGHT OF THE SUPERHEROES: ALAN MOORE’s Never-Published Proposal to Finally Be Released by DC
August 15th, 2020TWILIGHT OF THE SUPERHEROES: ALAN MOORE’s Never-Published Proposal to Finally Be Released by DC
I like my comic book stories dark…not grim but dark. It’s a subtle distinction. And writers sometimes err or veer into grim.
So DC Through the ’80s: The End of Eras sounds wonderfully dark…I mean this decade prompted Crisis on Infinite Earths which was wonderfully dark not grim (suck it
Barry Allen!!).
And bonus! The book “features the complete text of Alan Moore’s legendary, never-before-published Twilight proposal!” The best way to become a comic writer is to study the greats. Though poor Alan Moore DC continues to cash in on him; proving his low-opinion of them is indeed correct.
Thankfully there’s lots in this hardcover including essays J.M. DeMatteis and Andy Kubert and so much more. This should be a fascinating read as much as it’s a time machine back to a “simpler time.”
DC Through the ’80s: The End of Eras is on sale December 15, 2020. I’m in!
~ Sammy Younan
August 15th, 2020
During ESPN’s/Netflix’s broadcast of The Last Dance many people were “offended” by Jordan’s aggressive nature and embarrassingly called him a “bully.”
Which ah…spoke volumes about themselves; those comments had little to do with Jordan. They’re communicating to the world (especially on social media) who they are and…it wasn’t good.
In The Bird Revelation Dave Chappelle spoke about that calling it a brittle spirit. And those are the people you do not want in your life.
Who you want in your life are players and people like Jordan and Jimmy Butler: when people talk about NBA teams and culture: this is exactly what they should be discussing and sharing and encouraging.
Jimmy Butler’s smile when Rachel Nichols points out the Heat are not favoured is fantastic. Yes!!
He and the team are not defined by somebody else’s narrative; it doesn’t matter what somebody with a “brittle-ass spirit” thinks they know about Miami or the players: it only matters what they think and they choose to believe. That’s dope.
I mean why would they accept somebody else’s uninformed narrative about themselves? Just because somebody calls you stupid doesn’t mean you are…stupid. You know?
And really? There’s potential for any team to come out of the East? To win it all? I dunno about that but every East team has a chance to battle. NBA Playoffs start on Monday.
~ Sammy Younan
August 15th, 2020
#TrailerAlert: August 15, 2020
An alien invasion (tell me more!) while transporting a crime boss to a new detention center (yes!). Swat team; guns and…then Richard Grieco and Tara Reid.
What no Bruce Willis?!
So #AttackofTheUnknown is a lie: we “know” Tara Reid is incapable of quality. And Grieco “jumped” the shark not the Street.
I’ll watch this on airplane; second movie on a long flight. Comes out (where and why I dunno) on August 28.
~ Sammy Younan
NBA fires photographer that posted offensive meme about Kamala Harris
August 15th, 2020NBA fires photographer that posted offensive meme about Kamala Harris
How?! How is this at all an inspiring or even effective response?
This is exactly why the truly “United” States has the highest incarceration rate of any country in the world: America firmly believes in laws and punishment.
This is not justice; we’re clearly not good at it or even willing to try. When Sheryl Swoopes says: “It’s amazing how people will smile in your face but eventually their true colors will show.” Yeah…she’s right because it goes both ways. We’re not vampires: every action is a mirror that broadcasts our reflections. Or in this case…lack of reflection.
The only consistent response we employ is a smug snark laced moral superiority aggressively battering guilty culprits with a job firing the way we use prison time as a social deterrent. Stay In Line Or Else.
We hafta be better than this; we hafta want to be better than this.
~ Sammy Younan
How to open a bookstore during a pandemic: Prepare for delays and lots of cleaning.
August 15th, 2020How to open a bookstore during a pandemic: Prepare for delays and lots of cleaning.
“Sales have been strong, particularly considering how much smaller the store is compared to our [Union Square] location.” The pandemic has taught us to be humble and to deepen our appreciation for our institutions.
This is an encouraging sign…a long as people continue to invest in books and just as importantly continue to read books we have a fighting chance. To survive; to build; to dream and to hope.
There’s power in pages.
~ Sammy Younan
August 15th, 2020
If you’re Canadian…eh you can enjoy The Booksellers on CBC Gem.
It’s a documentary all “about” New York’s rare book world.
If ya can’t go to bookstores then bring bookstores to you via CBC Docs!
My fav moment is the Library of the History of Human Imagination! I mean look at this place…give me a strong cup of tea and a gloomy rainy day please and thank you!
~ Sammy Younan
DC’s Jim Lee on the Company’s Future: “We Are Still in the Business of Publishing Comics”
August 15th, 2020DC’s Jim Lee on the Company’s Future: “We Are Still in the Business of Publishing Comics”
DC Comics handled their recent layoffs badly as they failed to explain their vision: what’s the direction of their compass? What does leadership look like for them?
And so the media just published rumours:
“How do rumors get started?
They’re started by the jealous people
And they get mad
Seeing something they had
And somebody else is holding…”
Here’s clarification. Facts Before Feelings. Now…now we can have a better informed discussion. Like I wanted to grasp the DC Comics business to better understand their current round of layoffs. This is a business not a tree house club of friendships. So my Batman feelings don’t count. This Motley Fool article was early March so pre-coronavirus but still current. This is a good start.
Layoffs are like NBA trades…it sucks to be on a winning team and then suddenly not…be.It takes time to know if it was a good move: for the people and for the org.
It’s not always a bad thing.
(We’ve all had moments we initially thought were devastating but looking back on them we see it was the start of something amazing.)
Netflix’s layoffs few years back seemed to have worked well (for more on check on that check out Marc Randolph’s book That Will Never Work: The Birth of Netflix and the Amazing Life of an Idea).
We’ll see what happens to DC Comics.
DC FanDome is on August 22nd.
~ Sammy Younan
August 14th, 2020
#TrailerAlert: July 3, 2018
Ugh ChrisPine is in I Am The Night TNT’s latest limited series. Great for tv fans who like actors with limited range and wooden expressions.
Coming January, 2019 this is director Patty Jenkins’ Mindhunter.
~ Sammy Younan
Steve Ditko 1927-2018 |
August 14th, 2020Steve Ditko: Yo.
Self-Driving Cars Might Kill Auto Insurance as We Know It
August 14th, 2020Self-Driving Cars Might Kill Auto Insurance as We Know It
“Without humans to cause accidents, 90% of risk is removed. Insurers are scrambling to prepare.”
Self-Driving Cars Research. Let’s Imagine and Work Towards This Future.
~ Sammy Younan
August 14th, 2020
On average, creative geniuses aren’t qualitatively better in their fields than their peers, they simply produce a greater volume of work which gives them more variation and a higher chance of originality.
Quantity leads you to quality hence #GOATs like Stephen King.
August 13th, 2020
#TrailerAlert: August 13, 2020
I guess this time Robert Pattinson is the country folk Sling Blade? He usually is.
The Devil All The Time while better than The Devil Wears Prada still looks like A River Runs Through It meets A Simple Plan. Meh more than Hee Haw.
(Actually looks like a low rent Tree Of Life.)
September 16 on Netflix. I’ll give it 10 or 15 minutes: decent cast.
~ Sammy Younan
August 13th, 2020
#TrailerAlert August 12, 2020
The Amityville horror franchise’s 11th (11th!!) movie is The Amityville Harvest.
Although by now all they’re “harvesting” is utter crap. We’ve come a long way since 1977’s Fake News haunting.
On “Demand” October 20. I’m 100% GET OUT.
If you care…
1979: The Amityville Horror
1982: Amityville II: The Possession
1983: Amityville 3-D
1989: Amityville 4: The Evil Escapes (TV Movie)
1990: The Amityville Curse (Direct-to-video; Canadian production.)
1992: Amityville: It’s About Time (Direct-to-video)
1993: Amityville: A New Generation (Direct-to-video)
1996: Amityville Dollhouse (Direct-to-video)
2005: The Amityville Horror (Remake of The Amityville Horror (1979 film))
2017: Amityville: The Awakening (Limited theatrical release.)
2020: The Amityville Harvest (direct-to-video)
I saw the 79 one…maybe the second or third one? The 2005 remake was disappointing but made bank. Why does this series keep on trucking? Are there Amityville fans? Maybe in Germany?! (There’s also Amityville Vibrator which changed GET OUT to GET OFF. lol!!)
~ Sammy Younan
DC makes the return of Sweet Tooth by Jeff Lemire official
August 13th, 2020DC makes the return of Sweet Tooth by Jeff Lemire official
“Once upon a time there was a little boy named Gus. He had antlers and lived with his father in a little cabin in the woods,” reads DC’s description of the original Vertigo series. “Then his father died, and the big man with cold eyes took Gus away. Gus went on many great adventures, found friends, love, happiness, family, and acceptance.”
It sounds like Forrest Gump however Sweet Tooth is classic Lemire. (And I cannot articulate why or how but it is incredibly Canadian.) Highly Recommended Reading and I’m glad it’s coming back.
~ Sammy Younan
August 12th, 2020
#TrailerAlert: March 6, 2018
Netflix’s latest tv show…is a #LostInSpace remake. I dunno…hard to tell if this is Sci-fi for Suburbs or we’re gonna get down to business. I suspect it’ll be as muted as a Jurassic Park movie: we’ll get “excitement” not violence. Maybe In.
~ Sammy Younan
The Intellectual We Deserve | Current Affairs
August 12th, 2020The Intellectual We Deserve | Current Affairs
“But, having examined Peterson’s work closely, I think the “misinterpretation” of Peterson is only partially a result of leftists reading him through an ideological prism. A more important reason why Peterson is “misinterpreted” is that he is so consistently vague and vacillating that it’s impossible to tell what he is “actually saying.” People can have such angry arguments about Peterson, seeing him as everything from a fascist apologist to an Enlightenment liberal, because his vacuous words are a kind of Rorschach test onto which countless interpretations can be projected.”
Yeah. Just because you interpreted writing one way doesn’t mean it’s automatically universal. That’s personal not universial.
~ Sammy Younan
Bela Lugosi’s Iconic Dracula Returns In Legendary Comics’ New Graphic Novel
August 12th, 2020Bela Lugosi’s Iconic Dracula Returns In Legendary Comics’ New Graphic Novel
“Bela Lugosi, who was best known for his iconic take on Count Dracula in the 1931 film, will posthumously reprise his role as the vampire for the upcoming graphic novel, Dracula, from Legendary Comics.
Unfortunately “the comic will be an adaptation of Bram Stoker’s original 1897 Gothic horror novel Dracula, with art by El Garing.” Would be cool if it was a whole new story you know?
Dracula goes on sale on Oct. 6 from Legendary Comics.
~ Sammy Younan
August 12th, 2020
#TrailerAlert for August 12, 2020
And now…a German superhero film! And…it’s about a fry cook named Wendy who discovers she has super strength who finds other super #Freaks. These Germans believe they’re the next evolution. Oh Oh…
Should be exciting if you’re currently reading Hickman’s X-Men run.
September 2nd on Netflix. I’m IN!
~ Sammy Younan
NSFW: Yayoi Kusama Gets A Graphic Novel Exploring Key Dots Of Her Life – DesignTAXI.com
August 12th, 2020NSFW: Yayoi Kusama Gets A Graphic Novel Exploring Key Dots Of Her Life – DesignTAXI.com
“The third book in the publisher’s Graphic Lives series, which delves into the lives of some of the world’s most celebrated artists, and follows graphic novels on Jean-Michel Basquiat and Jackson Pollock. A visual treatment on the life of Katsushika Hokusai of The Great Wave off Kanagawa fame is poised to arrive in 2021.”
I did not check out Yayoi Kusama’s AGO exhibition like 2 years ago? Still I’m curious…her art neatly extends into graphic novel. Plus we’ve quietly been enjoying a graphic novel biography trend from David Bowie to Rod Serling. I appreciate this trend. Please sir can I have more!
Kusama: The Graphic Novel the first-ever graphic novel on Kusama will retail for US$19.99 and released on September 15, 2020.
~ Sammy Younan
John Ridley Unveils ‘The Other History of the DC Universe’
August 12th, 2020John Ridley Unveils ‘The Other History of the DC Universe’
As a firm believer in comic book continuity I’m curious about The Other History of the DC Universe.
While I’m not sold on Black Lightning as the primary character I wanna see where this story goes; especially after I enjoyed the densely plotted Doomsday Clock.
~ Sammy Younan
August 12th, 2020
From Jenny Holzer in an older issue of A Public Space. #GOAT
Behemoth, bully, thief: how the English language is taking over the planet
August 12th, 2020Behemoth, bully, thief: how the English language is taking over the planet
“Until recently, the story of English was broadly similar to that of other global languages: it spread through a combination of conquest, trade and colonisation. But then, at some point between the end of the second world war and the start of the new millenium, English made a jump in primacy that no amount of talk about it as a “lingua franca” or “global language” truly captures. It transformed from a dominant language to what the Dutch sociologist Abram de Swaan calls a “hypercentral” one.”
August 12th, 2020
Chronicles Jul 30, 2018
The cult of self explored in new film Generation Wealth
Photographer and filmmaker, Lauren Greenfield, discusses the cult of self and its destructive qualities shown in her new film – Generation Wealth – with journalist Chris Hedges.
August 12th, 2020
Trailer Alert for
August 17, 2018
To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before | Official Trailer
Comic Book Publishers, Faced With Flagging Sales, Look to Streaming
August 12th, 2020Comic Book Publishers, Faced With Flagging Sales, Look to Streaming
Research:
“Inside the DC Universe Experience at Comic-Con International in San Diego. DC Entertainment used the interactive experience to promote its upcoming streaming service. Dark Horse Comics announced its service, Dark Horse Direct, which will focus on high-end products like statues. Image Comics, the publisher of popular titles like The Walking Dead and Saga, started a direct-to-consumer platform in 2015 to sell comic book subscriptions and apparel.
August 12th, 2020
Trailer Alert July 19 2018
“Writer and director Spencer F. Lee wants to help you celebrate the incredible impact the Science Fiction series Star Trek has had on popular culture. Of course, the movie From the Bridge goes much deeper than simply a love-letter to the famed television and movie series. The documentary film, which includes interviews with legends like Stan Lee and Nichelle Nichols, is a celebration of how richly fandom influences all of our lives.”
Research: http://www.comicsbeat.com/sdcc-18-from-the-bridge-tells-fans-to-embrace-the-world-of-tomorrow/
‘It’s my f–king province,’ man yells at Muslim family near Toronto ferry terminal | CBC News
August 12th, 2020‘It’s my f–king province,’ man yells at Muslim family near Toronto ferry terminal | CBC News
July 25, 2018:
I loathe this “trend.” It’s easily one of our dumbest online habits: I’m supposed to get all hyper-hulk-angry over some shaky video with no context
I’d be an idiot if I took this at face value. The article didn’t interview witnesses, no statement from the ferry etc.
I’d be a moron to not recognize that racism exists and that events happen daily.
I’d be an asshole to judge Hawaiian shirt as a racist without knowing anything about him…where he volunteers, how he votes…money donations…reads. Or worse dox him and call that bullshit justice.
I’d be a fool to overlook the narcissism. Tape the incident…give a copy to the police office, maybe even file a corporate complaint. But the second it goes online that’s narcissism.
I’d be embarrassed if I sacrificed any of my values for representation, I told you so! Or acceptance of any kind based on my pious and righteous indignation. Thanks but no thanks.
I’d be deluded if I thought any of this was effective or combating racism.
~ Sammy Younan
August 12th, 2020
Hidden Gem for July 20, 2018
Nuela Charles – Troublemaker (Official Lyric Video)
August 12th, 2020
Portland, Memphis and Phoenix are not playing tonight.
A rare night off in the bloody battle for 8th. Basically it’s Christmas Eve…tomorrow is the Big Day!
1 More Sleep!!
~ Sammy Younan
The Never-ending Showdown Between Baby Boomers and Millennials
August 12th, 2020The Never-ending Showdown Between Baby Boomers and Millennials
Generational Divide Research (Sep 18, 2018):
“There exists right now in our culture perhaps the most pronounced generation gap since the 1960s, as boomers and millennials begin transitioning into new phases of life. And according to population projections based on the U.S. census, a massive cultural milestone is slated to take place next year: In 2019, millennials will likely surpass baby boomers and officially become America’s largest living generation. Emphasis on “living.” The baby boomers will remain the largest generation in American history—78 million strong at its height—and will probably hold that record for some time to come. (As of 2016, millennials numbered 74 million in America.)”
How Ketchup Chips Became Canada’s National Snack
August 12th, 2020How Ketchup Chips Became Canada’s National Snack
Some background on: Ketchup Chips!
So tasty…America has so much quality junk food and yet it doesn’t have Ketchup Chips.
~ Sammy Younan
Michael B. Jordan to Adopt Inclusion Rider on All Future Projects
August 12th, 2020Michael B. Jordan to Adopt Inclusion Rider on All Future Projects
Hey kids…when you grow up you can now become a Hollywood Checkbox! If you’re concerned with who I am rather than how I am you are peddling mediocrity instead of championing quality.
Diversity: thanks but no thanks; I’m good. #BeFree & #BeGood
~ Sammy Younan (March 8, 2018)
Trump reopens a seemingly settled video-game debate
August 12th, 2020Trump reopens a seemingly settled video-game debate
“Reminder as Trump is set to meet today with video game makers to discuss gun violence: “Roughly two decades of research has repeatedly failed to uncover any such link.”
I am surprised President Trump is going after video games…it totally doesn’t support the he’s a racist narrative when rap is an easy and far more effective target. He’d get way more support going after rappers: remember when Marilyn Manson was the Columbine culprit? That’s the standard M.O. for gun shootings…pick a type of media and throw em under the bus. It works too.
~ Sammy Younan (March 8, 2018)
Disney Should Know the Difference Between James Gunn and Roseanne
August 12th, 2020Disney Should Know the Difference Between James Gunn and Roseanne
Twitter Trash.
Let’s put aside the irrational idiots.
Now: Disney can make more money with James Gunn on Galaxy 3 than with anybody else. So they made a bad business decision.
They also made a bad creative decision: i.e. Gunn’s amazing soundtracks.
So how much backlash would Disney need to silence the idiots and restore the order? And that’s where we’re at…in 2018.
We’ve reached the point where we gently hafta explain that a comedian just makes jokes…they’re not always real. You know…like a rapper can rap about doing certain things.
~ Sammy Younan
With James Gunn’s Firing, Disney Destroyed the Message of ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’
August 12th, 2020With James Gunn’s Firing, Disney Destroyed the Message of ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’
Twitter Trash.
~ Sammy Younan
Inside Facebook’s Two Years of Hell
August 12th, 2020Inside Facebook’s Two Years of Hell
“
he furious energy of this big bang emanated, in large part, from a brilliant and simple insight. Humans are social animals. But the internet is a cesspool. That scares people away from identifying themselves and putting personal details online. Solve that problem—make people feel safe to post—and they will share obsessively. Make the resulting database of privately shared information and personal connections available to advertisers, and that platform will become one of the most important media technologies of the early 21st century.”
August 12th, 2020
Chronicles (July 23, 2018)
Quentin Tarantino and his team has transformed Hollywood to look like it looked in the 1960s for his new film Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.
Check It Out…it’s groovy.
~ Sammy Younan
August 12th, 2020
Appreciate The Hate!
Haters Seek To Malign but Creators Will Define.
~ Sammy Younan
The intimate art of Michael Stipe – in pictures
August 12th, 2020The surprising link between your politics and what you buy
August 12th, 2020The surprising link between your politics and what you buy
“We found that Republicans with high social status were 9.8% more likely than high-status Democrats to buy a luxury car.“
"The researchers hypothesized that these patterns in consumption behavior stemmed from an urge to assert a sense of social hierarchy and socioeconomic order.”
Virtual reality has reached a “tipping point.” It’s officially here to stay.
August 12th, 2020Virtual reality has reached a “tipping point.” It’s officially here to stay.
“Yes, virtual reality isn’t perfect. But there’s reason to believe that virtual reality technology has finally proved that it’s here to stay.”
Checking in with VR….where you at? Is it hype or is it hope?
~ Sammy Younan
August 12th, 2020
Trailer Alert: Rock Rubber 45s (Jul 23, 2018)
“DJ, author, filmmaker, TV/radio personality, B-ball player, card-carrying Rock Steady Crew member, and all-around apostle for NYC street culture, Bobbito García aka Kool Bob Love draws in this film on the whole of his life experience.”
The Handwritten First Draft of Spike Lee’s Do The Right Thing
August 12th, 2020The Handwritten First Draft of Spike Lee’s Do The Right Thing
Spike Lee wrote in his journal:
“Yesterday I began work on the script. Well, actually, I began the last work before the actual writing of the script. I put down all the ideas or scenes and dialogue on three-by-five index cards. TOMORROW, I’ll begin to write this motherfucker.”
Yes!
~ Sammy Younan
How the Publisher of Simon & Schuster Gets It Done
August 12th, 2020How the Publisher of Simon & Schuster Gets It Done
“I pray on things, I get a lot of opinions, and then I try — and this is the most difficult part — to hone in on my voice. Once I make a decision, I don’t believe in looking back — and I have no regrets in my career.“
Pretty much. You can doubt your path; you can doubt your choices but never ever doubt your skills. Social media sharing of anxiety is boring.
~ Sammy Younan
How public libraries play a vital role in restoring the economy
August 12th, 2020How public libraries play a vital role in restoring the economy
I cannot imagine how anyone can be this stupid:
“There’s also the question of land use. Because libraries have proved so successful in the virtual realm, some people question the value of using up so much real estate. With high land prices in major cities, libraries – like any other bricks-and-mortar establishments disrupted by technology – need to justify the square footage.”
That’s like saying digital books are better than paper books. No. That’s never gonna happen. We just lived through months of our beloved access to culture cut-off so if anything movies and libraries and museums have totally justified their value and their presence. Their foundational which means building up from them to make a better; intelligent society.
~ Sammy Younan
That Batman Joke
July 24th, 2020Since it’s Comic Con (at Home) and I know many people here have attended that or similar cons in person; especially the panels. But ah: not all panels are created equally; some crash and burn huh Mav.
Read on…
The Decision: 10 Years Later
July 10th, 2020On July 8, 2010 ESPN handed LeBron an hour of prime time television. You don’t need a crystal ball to know where this is going…but it helps.
10 years later LeBron James’ Decision has been durably prophetic. He came into Jordan’s NBA house wearing 23 throwing chalk dust into the air and asked to be recognized as a king…in the absence of any significant championship achievements. Umm, yeah not gonna happen.
If an NBA player wants to leave one team for another team that’s great. Free agency has only been around since 1988; this isn’t some ABA afros era CBA clause. Free agency is a modern condition and fans and franchises are used to this turbulent process. And I mean it’s in the name agency means action or intervention, especially such as to produce a particular effect. Athlete empowerment via free agency is good for the NBA and for players and sometimes it’s good for the fans and franchises.
While a cozy narrative The Decision wasn’t athlete empowerment. This was narcissism and selfishness: a Twitter trailer of who we’d all become. Like the way, we justify douchebag Twitter behaviour in the name of justice or a taking moral stance. It’s never been about those things.
As a franchise player from Ohio LeBron could have overhauled the Cavs into a storied franchise on par with the Celtics, Lakers, and the Bulls. He could. He did not. The Last Dance opened and closed with young “hair Jordan” shortly after being drafted—expressing his vision to transform the moribund Bulls into a prime NBA destination. Six championships later Jordan succeeded; he fulfilled his goal and delivered on his destiny.
Michael Jordan did The Work. He could. He did.
Back then LeBron James overestimated his value and his contributions to the NBA and to pop culture. It’s the equivalent of Hanson thinking they’re on par with Prince or Bowie.
Currently, The Decision stands as an ancient media hieroglyph depicting unfulfilled promise; a rejection of potential; arrogance, and ultimately cowardice. It is a systematic failure on par with Apollo 13 (in spite of these failures like those undaunted astronauts LeBron was also able to “go home”).
Look when a president leaves the White House his reputation begins an earnest renovation and ultimately a restoration. He’s slowly classified as “he wasn’t that bad.” A lot of the bad is completely overlooked in favour of emphasizing the good. (W. Bush is currently going through this process and it’s so disturbing: dude started 2 endless wars. 2! There’s not a lot of good to rebut that.)
However no amount of time; no reputation renovation can salvage The Decision’s ongoing fallout. Universal criticism is warranted for LeBron James (and ESPN): past tense and present tense because that’s where we’re at and why we’re forced to acknowledge it 10 years later. We’ve seen what it has become.
The ultimate legacy of The Decision is that it helped LeBron perfect his infomercial executions cleverly deflecting away from his legion of failures on the basketball court. The Decision is LeBron’s version of Jordan’s “getting cut from his high school basketball team” mythology. The failure of that tv special made him better.
LeBron learned how to control his narrative; unable to win he instead learned how to spin. The primary problem with LeBron controlling the narrative is that he cannot (and should not) be trusted. The spectacle should solely be on the court not off the court: after all, it is called a court for a significant reason: you will be judged by how you play.
And leading up to The Decision LeBron James was found wanting; he was considered a failure. He had seven years in Cleveland yet he failed to deliver championships (plural) how could they be considered great years?
This isn’t even about being compared to Michael Jordan rather it is appreciating the one universal standard for all NBA franchise players. That standard is the same for Kobe Bryant, Kevin Durant, Steph Curry, etc. the onus and pressure is completely on them to deliver consistent greatness.
It’s no different than when Brad Pitt or Tom Hanks is signed to a movie…are there other actors in the film: sure. If the film becomes a box office failure is it those other actors’ fault? No, it’s the responsibility of Tom Hanks or Brad Pitt to deliver a box office hit. LeBron James had no hits when he left Cleveland to go to Miami. We’re not handing out cookies for self-esteem encouragement or valuing participation awards. One simple wonderful NBA standard—deliver consistent greatness—and it does not deviate from era to era.
The Decision’s cataclysmic failures include shifting narrative production from the mainstream media to the player.
(In the old days the mainstream media shaped the American agenda. The editors and producers dictated the issues. Having grown up with that—recognizing the valid potential for control—I have to say that’s a far better system than social media where there is no accountability or trust of any kind.)
Anytime somebody parrots the benign talking points “LeBron has never been in a scandal” or “he opened up I Promise a school for at risk kids” they’ve bought into the narrative that he has craftily been able to sell. We’ve deviated from on court success which is what should be driving marketing and fashioning the ultimate player narrative. NBA mythology is based on what you’re done, not who you are.
That’d be like memorializing Curry as a great NBA player because post-Warriors championship he refused to go to the White House as long as Trump is President. That’s not a thing. It’s not even cool.
Because it was so poorly executed; clearly not well thought-out or well-organized The Decision remains a cautionary tale in this era of outspoken athletes and having a platform. Having a platform is good; what is not good is issuing a terrible product no matter the stance.
Mediocrity is not inspiring. You gotta be good if not great at the gig. The best narrative is winning. Winning is timeless.
And so here we are 10 years later.
Photo Credit: The Cleveland Plain Dealer. (And if you can’t read the fine print above, it states, “Gone. 7 years in Cleveland. No rings.”)
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Listen to My Summer Lair @ W • T • F
The Terminator’s Last Dance
May 17th, 2020As I watch The Last Dance I find the parallels between Arnold’s T-800 struggle to be “human” in Terminator 2 (Modern Jordan) vs the deliciously vicious T-1000 (90s Jordan and his baller body count) are fascinating.
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Beastie Boys Story Is Our Story
April 25th, 2020Yo sat down with a rum and Coke (actually it was barely Coke…I’m not driving or wearing pants but it’s Saturday night and I’m young, single and armed with disposable income so let’s get down a bit…) to watch the Beastie Boys Story.
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New Book Alert: April 6-10, 2020
April 11th, 2020My weekly collection of new and notable books for your pop culture pleasure and edification: #ReadMoreTweetLess.
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That Time The Narrator Was On The Simpsons
April 7th, 2020Today was such a treat! I got to do a phone interview with adult Kevin Arnold aka Daniel Stern.
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Nature Is Natural
April 2nd, 2020Whole lotta nature happening out there: spring sure but the notable lack of human industry.
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Silver Lining Pants
April 1st, 2020Now that we’ve had some time and distance…it’s time for real talk.
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Feeling The Heat
March 4th, 2020As per current fears about the Miami Heat.
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The Good Doctor Is In…
March 3rd, 2020Man…Oliver Sacks, yo:
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The Horror of American Politics
March 2nd, 2020Lotta dark ruckus this weekend.
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New Book Alert: February 24-28, 2020
February 29th, 2020My weekly collection of new and notable books for your pop culture pleasure and edification: #ReadMoreTweetLess.
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A Juvenile Response To American Politics
February 28th, 2020And another has fallen: Tom Steyer has dropped outta the 2020 race. Who?
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Can Raptors Buck The Odds?
February 26th, 2020Did you end up watching the Bucks-Raptors game last night? Buck won: 108 to 97.
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New Book Alert: February 17-21, 2020
February 22nd, 2020My weekly collection of new and notable books for your pop culture pleasure and edification: #ReadMoreTweetLess.
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William Gibson vs Q
February 20th, 2020William Gibson a fantastic sci-fi writer was on Q: he’s a bit old man-ish now; some senior qualities as you’ll hear. However his writing remains razor sharp.
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Humanity Is The Best of Both Worlds
February 10th, 2020Chilling at home today and during lunch came across the Next Gen episode where Captain Picard was abducted by the Borg. (The Best of Both Worlds, Part I originally aired on June 18, 1990.)
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New Book Alert: February 3-7, 2020
February 8th, 2020My weekly collection of new and notable books for your pop culture pleasure and edification: #ReadMoreTweetLess.
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New Book Alert: Shadow Network: Media, Money, and the Secret Hub of the Radical Right
February 5th, 2020There’s a book that came out this past October: Shadow Network: Media, Money, and the Secret Hub of the Radical Right by Anne Nelson.
Ready for this?
Read on…
Goodbye Mary Higgins Clark
February 3rd, 2020So what we’re not gonna talk at all that Mary Higgins Clark died (on January 31, 2020)?!
She was John Grisham before there was a John Grisham.
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Kobe Bryant’s Fadeaway
January 27th, 2020I’m still processing the Kobe thing. It’s surreal.
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Goodbye Kobe Bryant
January 26th, 2020This is hard. I wish my mouth was like a ventriloquist dummy and my heart was the puppetmaster and I could articulate all the things without tripping over my thoughts.
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New Book Alert: January 20-24, 2020
January 25th, 2020My weekly collection of new and notable books for your pop culture pleasure and edification: #ReadMoreTweetLess.
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Picard’s First Tea
January 24th, 2020Ok. Are we gonna discuss last night’s Picard debut??! Barely 3 minutes into the first episode Jean-Luc Picard says in that forceful Patrick Stewart way:
“Let’s behave like civilized men.”
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Quality Time is TV’s Love Language
January 23rd, 2020Star Trek: Picard is a love letter to the back in the day 22…24…even 26 episodes per television season.
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Amityville: Get Out Part 2
January 21st, 2020The first part of this article is so inspiring: “A family bought a 20,000-square-foot Freemason temple in Indiana for $89,000, and they’re now turning it into their home. Take a look inside.” I’m like yo that’s fresh.
Until you get to this part…
Read on…
The Yang & Ying of Crave
January 20th, 2020In Canada Crave is like the PC brand Netflix…heh but it’s got some decent stuff! (No Frills for real…)
I was shocked to see on January 27 they’ve picked up Unbanned: The Legend of AJ1!!
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New Book Alert: January 13-17, 2020
January 18th, 2020My weekly collection of new and notable books for your pop culture pleasure and edification: #ReadMoreTweetLess.
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Celebrity Cool Candidates
January 16th, 2020Oh Snap!! Dave Chappelle endorses Andrew Yang in Democratic primary!
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Can I Have My Politics To Go? My Takeaway
January 15th, 2020Andrew Yang is out of the next debate because he didn’t meet the threshold in enough “approved polls” and this follows Cory Booker dropping out.
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Together, America, We Will Say Goodbye To Cory Booker
January 14th, 2020Cory Booker is out!
Darwin is not surprised Cory Booker has dropped outta the 2020 Race: “It is not the strongest or the most intelligent who will survive but those who can best manage change.”
“The law of evolution is that the strongest survives!” Word.
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Don’t Lose Your Head In Five Years
January 9th, 2020Started 2020 writing about Prince and Bowie and…Mystify: Michael Hutchence a solid documentary on the INXS frontman.
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In Bowie’s Space
January 8th, 2020A couple of years ago I was so fortunate to get a NASA JPL tour from Krys Blackwood! Just Wow: it was an incredible experience. (is…present tense)
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PSA: Your Grande Insanity
January 7th, 2020Virtual Insanity is Starbucks’ attempt at atmosphere; it’s not a mid-day invitation for you to suddenly get up and mimic the MC Escher moves of the music video.
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Trial By Trailer: Arabian Alien
January 4th, 2020So…are we gonna talk about Arabian Alien?!!
“Saad, a Muslim married man, gets over his depression after a space Alien is introduced into his life.”
What?!
Yeah it’s a sci-fi film (I think) from…Saudi Arabia. For all the years I’ve been a nerd I’ve never said that before.
Check out this extremely odd trailer…
They’ve got a gmail address…currently debating if I should reach out for a My Summer Lair interview or just let this go.
I…dunno how to categorize “Saudi Arabia Sci-Fi.” Sundance clearly does; it’s screening at the end of January. So curious to see this; I’ve never seen a sci movie from the middle east before. Yo…
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Listen to My Summer Lair @ W • T • F
Elected To Make Excuses
January 3rd, 2020Purple Freedom
January 2nd, 2020Prince in Beautiful Ones says: “If I want this book to be about one overarching thing, it’s freedom. And the freedom to create autonomously. Without anyone telling you what to do or how or why. Our consciousness is programmed. We see things a certain way from a young age—we’re programmed to keep doing them that way. Then you have to spend adulthood learning how to overcome it, to read out the programs. Try to create. I want to tell people to create. Just start by creating your day. Then create your life.”
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Here Comes The Future!
January 1st, 2020To quote Joe Pesci in Lethal Weapons okay-okay-okay. I’ve been saying this since the year 2000 but this year I really mean it: 2020 really does sound like some sort of sci-fi dystopian thriller humans versus Skynet future date.
Yet it’s here; we’re here!
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You Have the Right to Remain Silent
December 30th, 2019One of my favourite journalists Matt Taibbi finally articulated a core concept I’ve been circling but haven’t fully been able to express. He’s writing about journalism…in newspapers and on tv and he says in his book Hate Inc.: Why Today’s Media Makes Us Despise One Another (on page 137):
Read on…
The End of The Clash
December 22nd, 2019Searching my email for something else and this raw email from 2002 was included in the search results. On Monday December 23, 2002 I learned about Joe Strummer’s so I reached out to a fellow Clash fan.
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New Book Alert: December 2-6, 2019
December 7th, 2019My weekly collection of new and notable books for your pop culture pleasure and edification: #ReadMoreTweetLess.
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Trial By Trailer: Including…Mel Brooks: Unwrapped
December 6th, 2019Is this good?
Will this be good?
Every movie trailer answers or challenges those 2 questions. The ham-fisted rebuttal comes swiftly, however: no you don’t need to always see a movie to know it’s tank.
Do you really need to sit through a Michael Bay Transformers movie to know for sure? Tank is Tank. And Fresh…well Fresh is always Fresh. I’m down like I’m Brown for that.
Read on…
New Book Alert: November 25-29, 2019
November 30th, 2019My weekly collection of new and notable books for your pop culture pleasure and edification: #ReadMoreTweetLess.
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Trial By Trailer: Including…The Last Full Measure
November 29th, 2019Is this good?
Will this be good?
Every movie trailer answers or challenges those 2 questions. The ham-fisted rebuttal comes swiftly, however: no you don’t need to always see a movie to know it’s tank.
Do you really need to sit through a Michael Bay Transformers movie to know for sure? Tank is Tank. And Fresh…well Fresh is always Fresh. I’m down like I’m Brown for that.
Read on…
New Book Alert: November 18-22, 2019
November 23rd, 2019My weekly collection of new and notable books for your pop culture pleasure and edification: #ReadMoreTweetLess.
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New Book Alert: November 11-15, 2019
November 16th, 2019My weekly collection of new and notable books for your pop culture pleasure and edification: #ReadMoreTweetLess.
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New Book Alert: November 4-8, 2019
November 9th, 2019My weekly collection of new and notable books for your pop culture pleasure and edification: #ReadMoreTweetLess.
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Trial By Trailer: Including…The Invisible Man
November 8th, 2019Is this good?
Will this be good?
Every movie trailer answers or challenges those 2 questions. The ham-fisted rebuttal comes swiftly, however: no you don’t need to always see a movie to know it’s tank.
Do you really need to sit through a Michael Bay Transformers movie to know for sure? Tank is Tank. And Fresh…well Fresh is always Fresh. I’m down like I’m Brown for that.
Read on…
New Book Alert: October 28-November 1, 2019
November 2nd, 2019My weekly collection of new and notable books for your pop culture pleasure and edification: #ReadMoreTweetLess.
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Trial By Trailer: Including…The Mandalorian
November 1st, 2019Is this good?
Will this be good?
Every movie trailer answers or challenges those 2 questions. The ham-fisted rebuttal comes swiftly, however: no you don’t need to always see a movie to know it’s tank.
Do you really need to sit through a Michael Bay Transformers movie to know for sure? Tank is Tank. And Fresh…well Fresh is always Fresh. I’m down like I’m Brown for that.
Read on…
The Current Joe Rogan Experience
October 28th, 2019Joe Rogan is the new Howard Stern where listeners are shamed. Different host same condemnation.
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New Book Alert: October 21-25, 2019
October 26th, 2019My weekly collection of new and notable books for your pop culture pleasure and edification: #ReadMoreTweetLess.
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Trial by Trailer: Including…The Rise of Skywalker
October 25th, 2019Is this good?
Will this be good?
Every movie trailer answers or challenges those 2 questions. The ham-fisted rebuttal comes swiftly however: no you don’t need to always see a movie to know it’s tank.
Do you really need to sit through a Michael Bay Transformers movie to know for sure? Tank is Tank. And Fresh…well Fresh is always Fresh. I’m down like I’m Brown for that.
Read on…
New Book Alert: October 14-18, 2019
October 19th, 2019My weekly collection of new and notable books for your pop culture pleasure and edification: #ReadMoreTweetLess.
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New Book Alert: October 7-11, 2019
October 12th, 2019My weekly collection of new and notable books for your pop culture pleasure and edification: #ReadMoreTweetLess.
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Trial by Trailer: Including…Zombieland
October 11th, 2019Is this good?
Will this be good?
Every movie trailer answers or challenges those 2 questions. The ham-fisted rebuttal comes swiftly however: no you don’t need to always see a movie to know it’s tank.
Do you really need to sit through a Michael Bay Transformers movie to know for sure? Tank is Tank. And Fresh…well Fresh is always Fresh. I’m down like I’m Brown for that.
Read on…
New Book Alert: September 30-October 4, 2019
October 5th, 2019My weekly collection of new and notable books for your pop culture pleasure and edification: #ReadMoreTweetLess.
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New Book Alert: September 23-27, 2019
September 28th, 2019My weekly collection of new and notable books for your pop culture pleasure and edification: #ReadMoreTweetLess.
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Trial By Trailer: Including….Dark Waters
September 27th, 2019Is this good?
Will this be good?
Every movie trailer answers or challenges those 2 questions. The ham-fisted rebuttal comes swiftly, however: no you don’t need to always see a movie to know it’s tank.
Do you really need to sit through a Michael Bay Transformers movie to know for sure? Tank is Tank. And Fresh…well Fresh is always Fresh. I’m down like I’m Brown for that.
Read on…
Rap? More Like Crap
September 27th, 2019All the inspirational fodder we blithely post and share to deeply support and encourage others for the common stressful and successful moments that make up our fantastic Western lives like going in for a job interview; having recently published a novel celebrations or attempting to plant nuclear bombs on a gigantic asteroid hurtling toward Earth:
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New Book Alert: September 16-20, 2019
September 21st, 2019My weekly collection of new and notable books for your pop culture pleasure and edification: #ReadMoreTweetLess.
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New Book Alert: September 9-13, 2019
September 14th, 2019My weekly collection of new and notable books for your pop culture pleasure and edification: #ReadMoreTweetLess.
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Trial By Trailer: Including…Mystify: Michael Hutchence
September 13th, 2019Is this good?
Will this be good?
Every movie trailer answers or challenges those 2 questions. The ham-fisted rebuttal comes swiftly, however: no you don’t need to always see a movie to know it’s tank.
Do you really need to sit through a Michael Bay Transformers movie to know for sure? Tank is Tank. And Fresh…well Fresh is always Fresh. I’m down like I’m Brown for that.
Read on…
New Book Alert: September 2-6, 2019
September 7th, 2019My weekly collection of new and notable books for your pop culture pleasure and edification: #ReadMoreTweetLess.
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Trial by Trailer: Including…The Rise Of Jordan Peterson
September 6th, 2019Is this good?
Will this be good?
Every movie trailer answers or challenges those 2 questions. The ham-fisted rebuttal comes swiftly, however: no you don’t need to always see a movie to know it’s tank.
Do you really need to sit through a Michael Bay Transformers movie to know for sure? Tank is Tank. And Fresh…well Fresh is always Fresh. I’m down like I’m Brown for that.
Read on…
Trial by Trailer: Including…Inside Bill’s Brain
August 30th, 2019Is this good?
Will this be good?
Every movie trailer answers or challenges those 2 questions. The ham-fisted rebuttal comes swiftly however: no you don’t need to always see a movie to know it’s tank.
Do you really need to sit through a Michael Bay Transformers movie to know for sure? Tank is Tank. And Fresh…well Fresh is always Fresh. I’m down like I’m Brown for that.
Read on…
Trial by Trailer: Including…Western Stars
August 23rd, 2019Is this good?
Will this be good?
Every movie trailer answers or challenges those 2 questions. The ham-fisted rebuttal comes swiftly however: no you don’t need to always see a movie to know it’s tank.
Do you really need to sit through a Michael Bay Transformers movie to know for sure? Tank is Tank. And Fresh…well Fresh is always Fresh. I’m down like I’m Brown for that.
Read on…
New Book Alert: August 12-16, 2019
August 17th, 2019My weekly collection of new and notable books for your pop culture pleasure and edification: #ReadMoreTweetLess.
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Trial by Trailer: Including…Better Than Us
August 16th, 2019Is this good?
Will this be good?
Every movie trailer answers or challenges those 2 questions. The ham-fisted rebuttal comes swiftly however: no you don’t need to always see a movie to know it’s tank.
Do you really need to sit through a Michael Bay Transformers movie to know for sure? Tank is Tank. And Fresh…well Fresh is always Fresh. I’m down like I’m Brown for that.
Read on…
New Book Alert: August 5-9, 2019
August 10th, 2019My weekly collection of new and notable books for your pop culture pleasure and edification: #ReadMoreTweetLess.
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Trial By Trailer: Including….The Addams Family
August 9th, 2019Is this good?
Will this be good?
Every movie trailer answers or challenges those 2 questions. The ham-fisted rebuttal comes swiftly, however: no you don’t need to always see a movie to know it’s tank.
Do you really need to sit through a Michael Bay Transformers movie to know for sure? Tank is Tank. And Fresh…well Fresh is always Fresh. I’m down like I’m Brown for that.
Read on…
Trial by Trailer: including Mindhunter!
August 2nd, 2019Is this good?
Will this be good?
Every movie trailer answers or challenges those 2 questions. The ham-fisted rebuttal comes swiftly, however: no you don’t need to always see a movie to know it’s tank.
Do you really need to sit through a Michael Bay Transformers movie to know for sure? Tank is Tank. And Fresh…well Fresh is always Fresh. I’m down like I’m Brown for that.
Read on…
Trial By Trailer: Including….Zombieland: Double Tap
July 26th, 2019Is this good?
Will this be good?
Every movie trailer answers or challenges those 2 questions. The ham-fisted rebuttal comes swiftly, however: no you don’t need to always see a movie to know it’s tank.
Do you really need to sit through a Michael Bay Transformers movie to know for sure? Tank is Tank. And Fresh…well Fresh is always Fresh. I’m down like I’m Brown for that.
Read on…
Small Talk: Casting Matrix
July 11th, 2019Alright…another alternative movie casting. I find these astonishing as casting is what makes or breaks a movie. The better a script is written; the better you should (in theory) be able to cast. So over lunch I was reading about the Matrix…it’s currently on Netflix.
Read on…
Calling Stranger Things
July 9th, 2019Yo…anybody call the Stranger Things phone number?
Read on…
Trial by Trailer: Including…Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee
July 5th, 2019Is this good?
Will this be good?
Every movie trailer answers or challenges those 2 questions. The ham-fisted rebuttal comes swiftly, however: no you don’t need to always see a movie to know it’s tank.
Do you really need to sit through a Michael Bay Transformers movie to know for sure? Tank is Tank. And Fresh…well Fresh is always Fresh. I’m down like I’m Brown for that.
Read on…
Trial by Trailer: Including…The Current War
June 28th, 2019Is this good?
Will this be good?
Every movie trailer answers or challenges those 2 questions. The ham-fisted rebuttal comes swiftly however: no you don’t need to always see a movie to know it’s tank.
Do you really need to sit through a Michael Bay Transformers movie to know for sure? Tank is Tank. And Fresh…well Fresh is always Fresh. I’m down like I’m Brown for that.
Read on…
Trial by Trailer: Including…Stranger Things 3
June 21st, 2019Is this good?
Will this be good?
Every movie trailer answers or challenges those 2 questions. The ham-fisted rebuttal comes swiftly however: no you don’t need to always see a movie to know it’s tank.
Do you really need to sit through a Michael Bay Transformers movie to know for sure? Tank is Tank. And Fresh…well Fresh is always Fresh. I’m down like I’m Brown for that.
Read on…
New NBA Team: Who Dis?
June 20th, 2019Following the success of the Raptors a Facebook Friend Marko Orlic in his words “was going through old Raptors rosters after our championship win, and man…it was a trip. Remember all these legends?”
Read on…
Ending Traditions
June 18th, 2019Now that the Raptors parade is over do they really hafta go to the White House? (Think the Blue Jays went during Bush.)
Read on…
Trial by Trailer: Including…Doctor Sleep
June 14th, 2019Is this good?
Will this be good?
Every movie trailer answers or challenges those 2 questions. The ham-fisted rebuttal comes swiftly however: no you don’t need to always see a movie to know it’s tank.
Do you really need to sit through a Michael Bay Transformers movie to know for sure? Tank is Tank. And Fresh…well Fresh is always Fresh. I’m down like I’m Brown for that.
Read on…
Trial by Trailer: Including…Dark: Season 2
June 7th, 2019Is this good?
Will this be good?
Every movie trailer answers or challenges those 2 questions. The ham-fisted rebuttal comes swiftly however: no you don’t need to always see a movie to know it’s tank.
Do you really need to sit through a Michael Bay Transformers movie to know for sure? Tank is Tank. And Fresh…well Fresh is always Fresh. I’m down like I’m Brown for that.
Read on…
Trial by Trailer: Including…Rambo: Last Blood
May 31st, 2019Is this good?
Will this be good?
Every movie trailer answers or challenges those 2 questions. The ham-fisted rebuttal comes swiftly, however: no you don’t need to always see a movie to know it’s tank.
Do you really need to sit through a Michael Bay Transformers movie to know for sure? Tank is Tank. And Fresh…well Fresh is always Fresh. I’m down like I’m Brown for that.
Read on…
Trial by Trailer: Including…Black Mirror
May 24th, 2019Is this good?
Will this be good?
Every movie trailer answers or challenges those 2 questions. The ham-fisted rebuttal comes swiftly however: no you don’t need to always see a movie to know it’s tank.
Do you really need to sit through a Michael Bay Transformers movie to know for sure? Tank is Tank. And Fresh…well Fresh is always Fresh. I’m down like I’m Brown for that.
Read on…
Famous First Contact
May 24th, 2019Recently finished a Mel Brooks biography (Funny Man: Mel Brooks). Biographies (slash memoirs) make up a large portion of my reading…before Mel Brooks I finished a bio on Dr. Seuss (Becoming Dr. Seuss)…the next one on my desk is Norma Lear’s autobiography published in 2014.
Read on…
Fighting Is A Last Resort
May 22nd, 2019Management emailed us detailed instructions and responses to active attackers/shooters. First response is of course GET OUT. While I may not be a D cup jammed into a tight white tank top I’ve seen enough horror movies to sensibly make a mad dash for the front door. Shout out to the Scream movies!
Read on…
Trial By Trailer: Including….Black Mirror: Season 5
May 17th, 2019Is this good?
Will this be good?
Every movie trailer answers or challenges those 2 questions. The ham-fisted rebuttal comes swiftly however: no you don’t need to always see a movie to know it’s tank.
Do you really need to sit through a Michael Bay Transformers movie to know for sure? Tank is Tank. And Fresh…well Fresh is always Fresh. I’m down like I’m Brown for that.
Read on…
Mother’s Day 2019
May 12th, 2019Mother’s Day Shout Outs to all the ladies who got an offer likes this; thought about it and said hell yeah!
Read on…
Trial by Trailer: Including…It: Chapter Two
May 10th, 2019Is this good?
Will this be good?
Every movie trailer answers or challenges those 2 questions. The ham-fisted rebuttal comes swiftly however: no you don’t need to always see a movie to know it’s tank.
Do you really need to sit through a Michael Bay Transformers movie to know for sure? Tank is Tank. And Fresh…well Fresh is always Fresh. I’m down like I’m Brown for that.
Read on…
Trial by Trailer: Including…Crawl
May 3rd, 2019Is this good?
Will this be good?
Every movie trailer answers or challenges those 2 questions. The ham-fisted rebuttal comes swiftly however: no you don’t need to always see a movie to know it’s tank.
Do you really need to sit through a Michael Bay Transformers movie to know for sure? Tank is Tank. And Fresh…well Fresh is always Fresh. I’m down like I’m Brown for that.
Read on…
Happy Birthday: MCU – Has Left Its Mark
May 2nd, 2019The Iron Age…
Read on…
Trial by Trailer: Including…Always Be My Maybe
April 26th, 2019Is this good?
Will this be good?
Every movie trailer answers or challenges those 2 questions. The ham-fisted rebuttal comes swiftly however: no you don’t need to always see a movie to know it’s tank.
Do you really need to sit through a Michael Bay Transformers movie to know for sure? Tank is Tank. And Fresh…well Fresh is always Fresh. I’m down like I’m Brown for that.
Read on…
Did Perfect Date Live Up To Its Name?
April 14th, 2019Are we gonna talk about Perfect Date on Netflix?
Read on…
Kyle Lowry Is A Short Player Who Generates A Big Hate
April 13th, 2019Kyle Lowry needs. to. go. Dude has more excuses than shots. I get more ROI from Canada Savings Bonds.
Read on…
Trial by Trailer: Including…Pavarotti
April 12th, 2019Is this good?
Will this be good?
Every movie trailer answers or challenges those 2 questions. The ham-fisted rebuttal comes swiftly however: no you don’t need to always see a movie to know it’s tank.
Do you really need to sit through a Michael Bay Transformers movie to know for sure? Tank is Tank. And Fresh…well Fresh is always Fresh. I’m down like I’m Brown for that.
Read on…
A Copperhead Road Adventure
April 9th, 2019Today’s Adventure: I spoke to Steve Earle. Both on the record and off the record he regaled me with stories about the piano he had growing up, Nashville, hanging out with Willie Nelson, Guy Clark and so many old school cats.
Read on…
Too Much Shazam Punage
April 6th, 2019I don’t want to steal your thunder…or rain on your parade: if you’re going to Shazam this weekend go enjoy yourself.
Read on…
Trial by Trailer: Including…Joker
April 5th, 2019Is this good?
Will this be good?
Every movie trailer answers or challenges those 2 questions. The ham-fisted rebuttal comes swiftly however: no you don’t need to always see a movie to know it’s tank.
Do you really need to sit through a Michael Bay Transformers movie to know for sure? Tank is Tank. And Fresh…well Fresh is always Fresh. I’m down like I’m Brown for that.
Read on…
To That 1 Nerd in Alabama
April 3rd, 2019A happy Tool Time Salute to Alabama!
Read on…
Trial By Trailer: Including….Godzilla: King Of The Monsters
March 29th, 2019Is this good?
Will this be good?
Every movie trailer answers or challenges those 2 questions. The ham-fisted rebuttal comes swiftly, however: no you don’t need to always see a movie to know it’s tank.
Do you really need to sit through a Michael Bay Transformers movie to know for sure? Tank is Tank. And Fresh…well Fresh is always Fresh. I’m down like I’m Brown for that.
Read on…
Netflix Is 45 Not 23
March 26th, 2019How much credit should we give Netflix or rather their machine learning algorithm?
Read on…
Trial by Trailer: Including…John Wick: Chapter 3
March 22nd, 2019Is this good?
Will this be good?
Every movie trailer answers or challenges those 2 questions. The ham-fisted rebuttal comes swiftly, however: no you don’t need to always see a movie to know it’s tank.
Do you really need to sit through a Michael Bay Transformers movie to know for sure? Tank is Tank. And Fresh…well Fresh is always Fresh. I’m down like I’m Brown for that.
Read on…
We Need A Word For….#3
March 22nd, 2019There needs to be a word for that devastating moment when you’re out with your girl maybe it’s Friday night; maybe at a party and a song comes on…THAT song comes on and you use your most upbeat sky punching tone to telegram “yes! oh this song yes!”
Read on…
He’s Good For A Laugh
March 20th, 2019Over drinks a friend shares she started seeing a boy. Oh? How is that going? She tells me a bit…seems like it’s going well: the boy is no laughing stock.
Read on…
Dynamite Denny
March 17th, 2019Easily the highlight of my Toronto Comicon experience was my conversations with Denny O’Neil. Who if you don’t know is the creator credited with coining the name Optimus Prime (he’s known as Convoy in other parts of the world) and restoring Batman following the comical 66 tv show…in the late 60s/early 70s Denny along with other his DC Comics collaborators basically established a Batman by nerds for nerds.
Read on…
Trial by Trailer: Including…Ask Dr. Ruth
March 15th, 2019Is this good?
Will this be good?
Every movie trailer answers or challenges those 2 questions. The ham-fisted rebuttal comes swiftly, however: no you don’t need to always see a movie to know it’s tank.
Do you really need to sit through a Michael Bay Transformers movie to know for sure? Tank is Tank. And Fresh…well Fresh is always Fresh. I’m down like I’m Brown for that.
Read on…
Trial by Trailer: Including…Brightburn
March 8th, 2019Is this good?
Will this be good?
Every movie trailer answers or challenges those 2 questions. The ham-fisted rebuttal comes swiftly, however: no you don’t need to always see a movie to know it’s tank.
Do you really need to sit through a Michael Bay Transformers movie to know for sure? Tank is Tank. And Fresh…well Fresh is always Fresh. I’m down like I’m Brown for that.
Read on…
The Red Flag of Neverland
March 8th, 2019You know lost in the whole Michael Jackson Leaving Neverland mess is how utterly arrogant we’ve become.
Read on…
Cavalier About Fear
March 7th, 2019Gimme some time this weekend…I’ve been writing for years long before #MeToo and subpar Michael Jackson documentaries…about that tenuous link between pop culture and morality. I came outta the church where playing cards and rock n roll were evil…so I spent that time writing and sorting out my thinking because what the church was saying wasn’t aligning with my experiences.
Read on…
Chapter and Spider-Verse
March 6th, 2019At the Yonge-Dundas Cinema and the couple in front of me are contemplating date-nerd-night.
Read on…
Trial by Trailer: Including…Apollo 11
March 1st, 2019Is this good?
Will this be good?
Every movie trailer answers or challenges those 2 questions. The ham-fisted rebuttal comes swiftly, however: no you don’t need to always see a movie to know it’s tank.
Do you really need to sit through a Michael Bay Transformers movie to know for sure? Tank is Tank. And Fresh…well Fresh is always Fresh. I’m down like I’m Brown for that.
Read on…
Dating Is Dated
February 25th, 2019So…tonight I sat down with a large lasagne brick and watched I Survived I Kissed Dating Goodbye the apology documentary to the Christian bestseller I Kissed Dating Goodbye. I’ve got an upcoming My Summer Lair interview with the documentary subject and author of the vexing book: Joshua Harris.
Read on…
Trial by Trailer: Including…Long Shot
February 22nd, 2019Is this good?
Will this be good?
Every movie trailer answers or challenges those 2 questions. The ham-fisted rebuttal comes swiftly, however: no you don’t need to always see a movie to know it’s tank.
Do you really need to sit through a Michael Bay Transformers movie to know for sure? Tank is Tank. And Fresh…well Fresh is always Fresh. I’m down like I’m Brown for that.
Read on…
Trial By Trailer: Including….Tolkien
February 15th, 2019Is this good?
Will this be good?
Every movie trailer answers or challenges those 2 questions. The ham-fisted rebuttal comes swiftly, however: no you don’t need to always see a movie to know it’s tank.
Do you really need to sit through a Michael Bay Transformers movie to know for sure? Tank is Tank. And Fresh…well Fresh is always Fresh. I’m down like I’m Brown for that.
Read on…
Tea for Chapter Two
February 9th, 2019Nothing like a snowy winter Friday night to reflect on what you’ve lost…and what you’ve gained; with the closing of Pacific Junction Hotel bar and Girth Radio.
I know I give a lot of credit to the bar and it was indeed our secret weapon; it was how I was able to have fish and chips with Maestro Fresh Wes…which was cool and fun. I never thought I’d get to do stuff like that. How could I?
Read on…
Trial By Trailer: Including…Avengers: Endgame
February 8th, 2019Is this good?
Will this be good?
Every movie trailer answers or challenges those 2 questions. The ham-fisted rebuttal comes swiftly, however: no you don’t need to always see a movie to know it’s tank.
Do you really need to sit through a Michael Bay Transformers movie to know for sure? Tank is Tank. And Fresh…well Fresh is always Fresh. I’m down like I’m Brown for that.
Read on…
Admirations of Administrations
February 4th, 2019Watching Project Blue Book (it’s like a light-beer X-Files you know?) and it’s got all the good stuff…aliens and unexplained phenomena and government conspiracies and men in trench coats and fedoras “cleaning up messes” like patriotic janitors except reality keeps intruding…President Trump’s so bad you know nothing’s getting covered up.
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RE: Super Bowl LIII
February 3rd, 2019So I watched the second half of the Super Bowl. Tom Brady is 6 for 9 in the Super Bowl.
Read on…
Project Time Travel Guards
January 31st, 2019Yo…I’m digging Project Blue Book. The writing could be tighter and the atmosphere creepier (the characters never feel like they’re in danger and even Batman gets licks you know?) but here’s something I’ve been thinking about.
Read on…
Polar Vortex Is A Sign Hell Has Frozen Over
January 30th, 2019There’s a polar bear outside my office window and they ain’t shooting Coke Christmas commercials: Hit-Girl’s cold assessment of the weather is accurate…
(Art by Eduardo Risso from (ironically) Hit-Girl In Canada)
Honestly?
Read on…
Trial by Trailer: Including…Umbrella Academy
January 25th, 2019Is this good?
Will this be good?
Every movie trailer answers or challenges those 2 questions. The ham-fisted rebuttal comes swiftly, however: no you don’t need to always see a movie to know it’s tank.
Do you really need to sit through a Michael Bay Transformers movie to know for sure? Tank is Tank. And Fresh…well Fresh is always Fresh. I’m down like I’m Brown for that.
Read on…
Here’s The Real Deal…
January 25th, 2019Some positive Michael Jackson news: “a documentary series which will expose media and showbiz corruption.”
Read on…
Seeking Stars in 2019
January 24th, 2019Checking in as a new year prompts reflection…life adjustments and wholesome goals. Here’s where I’m at after an 80s decade consuming movies, tv shows and comics…what I’ve left to achieve and a sweet humblebrag!
Read on…
Trial by Trailer: Including…Ask Dr. Ruth
January 18th, 2019Is this good?
Will this be good?
Every movie trailer answers or challenges those 2 questions. The ham-fisted rebuttal comes swiftly, however: no you don’t need to always see a movie to know it’s tank.
Do you really need to sit through a Michael Bay Transformers movie to know for sure? Tank is Tank. And Fresh…well Fresh is always Fresh. I’m down like I’m Brown for that.
Read on…
The Final…Final Destination?
January 17th, 2019Reading is FUNdamental: Hater: On the Virtues of Utter Disagreeability
January 16th, 2019I recently finished reading Hater: On the Virtues of Utter Disagreeability by John Semley you can plop that into Amazon…Toronto writer actually so it should be in the Toronto library. (Our library is extrodinary!!)
I’m debating if I should email him and like getting into it for an upcoming My Summer Lair episode. Sigh.
Read on…
Reading is FUNdamental: Mr. Rogers The Good Neighbor
January 15th, 2019Yo I am wrapping up the Mr. Rogers bio…The Good Neighbor: The Life and Work of Fred Rogers by Maxwell King. Almost 500 pages hardcover and I get 400 pages in when dude drops that Mr. Rogers had a long standing friendship with…Henri Nouwen!! What?! Did we know this?
Read on…
Trial by Trailer: Including…IO
January 11th, 2019Is this good?
Will this be good?
Every movie trailer answers or challenges those 2 questions. The ham-fisted rebuttal comes swiftly, however: no you don’t need to always see a movie to know it’s tank.
Do you really need to sit through a Michael Bay Transformers movie to know for sure? Tank is Tank. And Fresh…well Fresh is always Fresh. I’m down like I’m Brown for that.
Read on…
You Could Be My Judgment Day
January 11th, 2019So Turn This Rude Mother up…Guns N’ Roses You Could Be Mine from the Terminator 2 soundtrack.
Read on…
Girth Radio Next Steps Pitch
January 9th, 2019So I dunno what to do now.
Read on…
Project Space Case
January 8th, 2019Yo…on History Channel have you started watching Project Blue Book? I watched the first episode last night…I really dug it. Fills the X-Files hole in my heart.
Read on…
Trial by Trailer: Including…The Prodigy
January 4th, 2019Is this good?
Will this be good?
Every movie trailer answers or challenges those 2 questions. The ham-fisted rebuttal comes swiftly, however: no you don’t need to always see a movie to know it’s tank.
Do you really need to sit through a Michael Bay Transformers movie to know for sure? Tank is Tank. And Fresh…well Fresh is always Fresh. I’m down like I’m Brown for that.
Read on…
Trailer Alert: The Circus (Season 4 Tease)
January 4th, 2019Oh! I didn’t know this…season four of The Circus premieres on Showtime on January 27 at 8 p.m.
I wasn’t sure if it was coming back or not.
Read on…
First Things First: A Space Tea Reflection
January 3rd, 2019So January 1st I continued my avid pop culture consumption and fired up the first episode of…The First.
Absolutely nobody is watching this…this is another tv show they made just for me. Thanks. (The show has 1,500 twitter followers! A Raptors game is 20K!! Their IMBD rating is based on less than five thousand votes. And they spent $60 million on the first season…it’s so not getting a second season. $60 million so some dumb kid in Scarborough not wearing pants can watch something while he eats Lucky Charms on his Christmas Break is lousy economics.)
Read on…
Ball or Fall: Lowry’s Bad Back?
January 2nd, 2019I’m surprised Kyle Lowry has a bad back…when he’s clearly never carried the Raptors in the playoffs.
Read on…
Go With The Flow?
December 31st, 2018Resolve right now to longer be a stool pigeon in 2019 but rather:
Do What You Love
Love What You Do
Read on…
Elvis vs Chicken Nuggets
December 30th, 2018Sad to hear via email my friend’s little monkey is not feeling well. That sucks. I can sympathize with the ailing child as my tummy hurts a bit too…today I made 20 chicken nuggets and sat down with them to watch HBO’s 4 hour Elvis documentary: The Searcher.
Read on…
The Prime Directive Vacation
December 29th, 2018THANK YOU for taking the time to listen to My Pal Sammy Episode 1. This is a short podcast mini-series to keep me occupied during the Christmas break. An experiment if you will.
The second episode is up. Wanted to get the 3rd up before 2018 expired but it doesn’t appear like that’ll happen. Emphasis on break…as in Christmas break. The series is meant to capture some of my thoughts about what I’ve been consuming since this is my prime TV watching time.
What will not make the cut, however, is the following observation…
Read on…
Trailer Alert: My Brexit Feelings!
December 27th, 2018But not the Brexit feelings you’re thinking off. They’re still modern feelings though.
Read on…
Ice Ice Jingle Bells
December 19th, 2018That distinct disappointment…
Read on…
A Dick About Christmas Music
December 13th, 2018At the risk of opening this Pandora’s Box…
Read on…
Trailer Alert: Godzilla: King of the Monsters
December 10th, 2018Monster Fight Club!!
Read on…
The Bedazzled Nerd
December 7th, 2018They mocked us. Said we weren’t cool. Rejected us. They exiled us…probably to what they imagined is a wood-paneled basement.
Read on…
Trailer Alert: Captain Marvel
December 6th, 2018A much better Captain Marvel trailer!
Still conflicted though…
As I didn’t enjoy Kelly Sue DeConnick’s Captain Marvel run and I don’t consider Captain Marvel as a character all that engaging…there’s at least some solid space ruckus…I can get into that and Skrulls are always good for a Freaky Friday laugh or two. Still not opening weekend PantsWorthy though.
(Speaking of pants…at the risk of getting your knickers in a bunch: I’d much rather a Captain Britain Marvel movie than a Captain Marvel movie: never mind her bullocks.)
Ant-Man as an analogy is apt…both Marvel movies Ant and Captain operate at about the same level of expectation. Low stakes for Marvel after the intense pressure of Avengers (the budget and the ROI on Avenger movies alone!). Or I guess one could include the intense pressure we saw recently with Black Panther.
According to the Hollywood Reporter Disney wisely and effectively spent $200 million marketing Black Panther as a “cultural touchstone” even though it was just another Marvel movie.
Granted Marvel’s Captain Marvel is better than DC Comics’ Captain Marvel still cue the hype/predictable tweets and social media white noise…like all our pop culture this’ll be a “referendum” on diversity (which so far has been effective marketing). Thankfully there’s no CONsensus on that. So it’ll be interesting to see the track Disney takes with Captain Marvel…maybe follow up Black Panther with yet another “Momentous Event In Pop Culture History!” jam. Look a woman superhero! (How many times can you play that card?)
Look my issue isn’t with the cheezy marketing or the Captain Marvel movie per say it’s the character…I’m not a fan of Captain Marvel. 2 more hours with her when we don’t get along is like scoring that dude on the airplane who talks the whole flight missing all the valid leave me alone cues. Sigh…I guess we gotta do this.
In comics it’s much easier to skip the tie-ins (they often don’t count or move the story forward). In this space case Captain Marvel is connected in some way to the upcoming Avengers 4 movie that’s why I used the analogy of being stuck with her on a flight. I kinda hafta do this.
Doesn’t help the screenplay credits 4 people which is not always a good sign…still it is a Marvel movie. So…
I better get a pad and a paper and make 2 columns…not sure how this’ll internal debate turn out.
Captain Marvel is out March 8, 2019, far more importantly Avengers 4 is out on May 3, 2019.
Let’s Do This Judas.
-28-
Listen to Girth Radio @ W • T • F
NBA Season 73: Denver Nuggers (106) at Toronto Raptors (103)
December 4th, 2018My third Raptors game this season…freshtastic opportunity to check out the Denver Nuggets who are one of the top teams in the West. (Yes it’s weird to say that out loud during the Steph Curry Warriors era! Even more strange is the LA Clippers are also up there with Denver. What…yo?!)
Read on…
Gratitude Is Sexy
November 22nd, 2018Happy Thanksgiving!!
Read on…
Mental Health For The Commonwealth
November 13th, 2018We’ve added snark to the cycle of reaction to shootings. The horrible event would unfold; a nation expresses grief and shock; eventually we’d demand better “common sense laws” and then…when nothings happens we’d move on.
Read on…
Goodbye Stan Lee
November 12th, 2018Expected but still devastating: Rest In Peace Smiling Stan Lee: December 28, 1922 – November 12, 2018.
Read on…
Endangered Species 8472
November 4th, 2018Came across this crazy stat/fact.
Read on…
Show Stoppers & Popcorn
November 2nd, 2018It’s November 2nd…the last 2 months of 2018 are a crap carnival coming soon to a cinema near you…
Read on…
Those Small Hands Carry Much Candy
November 1st, 2018Shoutout to all the hard working children who worked last night’s night shift using their small hands to collect all the candy while I sat on the couch watching NBA games.
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Vote or Else!
October 23rd, 2018The Toronto municipal election is (mercifully) over while the American midterm elections on November 6 are upcoming. This is the political eye of the storm.
Read on…
Rising The City of Ruins
September 11th, 2018I see every experience through a pop culture lens: as September 11, 2001 unfolded I expected a fierce album from Bruce Springsteen…maybe Bob Dylan would get back in the ring and put em up. That dark day demanded our best.
Read on…
Leaving Is Believing
September 8th, 2018Do you want the mashed potatoes or the asparagus?
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Bonus Universe
September 5th, 2018Sometimes you inhabit that magical universe where you eat a spicy pulled pork burrito the size of your head and when all the good stuff splurts outta the burrito’s butt it wonderfully lands on the wax paper wrapper. Bonus?
The good stuff plops right onto your fork…all you gotta do is lift it to your mouth.
Most times you live in that witch like universe where you eat a spicy pulled pork burrito the size of your head and when all the good stuff splurts outta the burrito’s butt it lands on your shirt…still rolling down and onto your jeans. Bonus?
The good stuff plops right onto your shoes not that it matters because heartburn from the spicy pulled pork burrito the size of your head has kicked in.
-28-
Listen to Girth Radio @ W • T • F
RIP: John McCain
August 25th, 2018So…John McCain. His generic political “maverick” narrative overlooks a fascinating contribution to our pop culture.
Read on…
Trailer Alert: The Man in the High Castle Season 3
August 24th, 2018The One I’ve been waiting for!! The Man in the High Castle Season 3!
The other sci-fi alternative universe show I watch Counterpart (oddly also set in Berlin…) also pulls in no viewers…less than 1 million. We could literally all gather at a con to discuss the episodes.
Read on…
Lazy Sunday
August 19th, 2018There’s some Thing special about lazy Sundays: a comfy couch, a fantastic book…not wearing pants and a rock solid friend.
Read on…
Nick Cannon’s Turban Game Show
August 15th, 2018Red…
Read on…
Behold The Cosmic Cube
August 15th, 2018So…Cosmic Cubes: where exactly is the on switch?
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Swears Do Compute
August 13th, 2018So remember the calculator classic 5318008?
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Host Haiku In Session With…Bend Sinister
August 9th, 2018
As inspired by listening to Bend Sinister’s Foolish Games
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Small Talk: Casting A Dead Poets Teacher
August 7th, 2018Reading a Robin Williams biography by Dave Itzkoff (it’s so-so…really it’s hard to capture Robin’s dynamic energy on a still page) and I’m at Dead Poets Society casting. For the role of John Keating the teacher…
Read on…
The Big Butt Out
August 2nd, 2018The whole “last straw” movement was so weird in the first place…I dunno how it got traction.
Read on…
The Losers Club Doesn’t Have It
July 25th, 2018Today In History…in 1958 the Losers’ Club confronted IT for the first time…and failed.
Read on…
National Nostalgia Night
July 15th, 2018I’m currently in United States of America but I’d remiss if I didn’t remind you to #SetTheVCR tomorrow night aka National Nostalgia Night.
Read on…
Small Talk: Sammy’s Doppelganger
July 13th, 2018Today I Learned:
“A doppelgänger or doppelganger is a paranormal double of a living person.”
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A Nerd Prayer
July 11th, 2018“Please be good, please be good, please be good…” is the prayer of every nerd whenever a movie or tv show adaption is announced.
Read on…
Oh That Good Tired
July 10th, 2018I’m tired.
It’s that good tired…where you stayed up way past your bedtime to read one more chapter, one more page.
Read on…
A Father’s Day Ode To Chicken Wings & Booty
June 17th, 2018A Father and Son moment on Father’s Day…
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A Pearl Of A Human
May 2nd, 2018Every now and then in this hectic modern life you encounter somebody who does not look like their name.
I just met a Pearl.
Read on…
Host Haiku In Session With…Chelsey Bennett
April 12th, 2018
As inspired by listening to Chelsey Bennett’s No End EP
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Valentine’s Day Baby
February 14th, 2018While today is capitalism’s official Day of Atonement it is important to remember not everybody is celebrating love much less has any in their lives.
Read on…
The Horror of Page 666!
February 8th, 2018Page 666 of Stephen King’s IT is disappointing.
Read on…
Feeling Ghosted
January 18th, 2018Nothing provokes a rehash of criticisms I’ve received from women quite like waving my hand under a sensor tap and failing to generate water: maybe I am cold and indifferent.
Read on…
#NewBookAlert: January 2018
January 13th, 2018My weekly collection of new and notable books for your pop culture pleasure and edification: #ReadMoreTweetLess.
Read on…
Down With Pants in 2018
December 29th, 2017Today’s Helpful PSA: While the 17th Annual No Pants Subway Ride takes place on Sunday, January 7, 2018 National No Pants Day is always on the first Friday in May…May 4, 2018.
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The Alternative Universe Blueprint
December 27th, 2017Yesterday I finished reading Jason Lloyd’s The Blueprint: LeBron James, Cleveland’s Deliverance, and the Making of the Modern NBA which offers fascinating insights into the salary cap, contract clauses and how trades work. However one Fun Fact was world altering crazy.
Read on…
Host Haiku In Session With…Caren
November 30th, 2017
As inspired by listening to Caren’s Self-Titled EP
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Host Haiku In Session With…Civil Wray
October 19th, 2017
As inspired by listening to Civil Wray’s Self-Titled EP
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Bloodsport: Story vs Narrative
October 6th, 2017So this is a slightly odd post; just file it away under The More You Know. As epic events unfold…the Vegas shooting, the recent hurricanes…pick any gut-punch from the past 5 years one element they all have in common is they produce lots of social media documents typically videos and photos.
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Movie: The Dark Tower
August 3rd, 2017So…The Dark Tower movie…Idris does not remove his shirt (which’ll probably the harm box office).
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Back Issue Bloodbath 90: Steve Trevor
July 19th, 2017Steve Trevor is one of the lamest most worthless comic book characters (anyone who saw the recent Wonder Woman can attest to this fact; and Steve impressively sucks in a DC world filled with losers like Jimmy Olsen, Cyborg, Lois Lane…Spoiler etc.).
75 years and he’s accomplished…well nothing.
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Evolution of Apes In Pants
July 14th, 2017So War for the Planet of the Apes opens today…which is great as it means the end of humanity and with that…the happy end of pants!
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Close Encounters of Some Kind
July 2nd, 2017Today…today we have a moment of silence to reflect on the brave souls who perished in the service of exploration. Often we do not know their names but we can celebrate their curiosity which propelled them; fueling their seemingly endless journeys across the stars.
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Host Haiku In Session With…Sun K
June 30th, 2017
As inspired by listening to Sun K’s Bleeding Hearts
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#CouchWorthy: Baby Driver
June 29th, 2017Yo…if you go see Baby Driver this weekend, prepare to pay attention.
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Better Batman Than Sorry
June 14th, 2017So…Joel Schumacher apologized for Batman and Robin. Which is nice I guess but ultimately it doesn’t erase them from history. Joel’s Batman movies continue to exist in life and worse in my head…where’s that handy Men In Back eraser thingie: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Bat-Mind.
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Over The Hill King: the epilogue of LeBron James
June 13th, 2017Tonight. Tonight we “witnessed” the epilogue of LeBron James. He was never a goat but he was always an ass. It is done…there is no highlight, no stat, NO THING that permits any comparison to Michael Jordan. Or Kobe. Or Magic. Or Kareem. Or Bird. On and on and on it goes…
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The Heat Is On!!!
June 10th, 2017At the risk of sounding like Glenn Fry: The Heat Is On! First gloriously hot Summer day: the Sun with all its heat and potential and promises is here.
So beautiful; go outside and collect that warm hug.
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Twilight Zone vs Comfort Zone
June 9th, 2017I answered the following question honestly but now I’m having second doubts. A Dad asked me if Sausage Party was appropriate viewing for his 7 year old. Think he and the kid were confusing it with various Pixar movies: talking fruit and all that.
(It’s an odd service I provide…recent questions from diligent parents include: Can I take my kids to Guardians of the Galaxy 2? and is there a lot of talking/exposition in Wonder Woman?)
TO WebFest: Podcast Power Panel!
May 27th, 2017If you’ve ever nursed a podcast dream (because let’s be honest that lure of fame and riches and celebrity is hard to resist) then take heart!
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The Big What?
May 23rd, 2017My immigrant parents from Egypt…they understand the harsh social conditions that facilitate horror scenarios like the Manchester Arena bombing.
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15 Minute Stories
May 19th, 2017Ran into a friend who had spent some time with Chris Cornell. Rather than the traditional and exuberant Yo! all I could issue was a sorrowful Yo you know with an ellipsis: Yo…
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Goodbye Chris Cornell
May 18th, 2017Yo…listening to NPR News before Fresh Air and they’re prattling on about Trump before finally revealing Chris Cornell passed on. Like it was a P.S. of some sort. Man: first things first.
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Host Haiku In Session With…Dani Strong
May 18th, 2017As inspired by listening to Dani Strong’s Time to Breathe
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Small Talk: The Indiana Pacers
May 17th, 2017So last night…I feel dumb saying this but I learned: “the Pacers, whose team name refers to the pace cars in the Indianapolis 500.”
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Uncovered: The Thing Artbook
May 5th, 2017Heads Up…debuting at San Diego Comic-Con is The Thing Artbook (via Printed In Blood).
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The People vs. George Lucas On Star Wars Day
May 4th, 2017Happy Star Wars Day! My contribution is having lunch with Alexandre Philippe director of The People vs. George Lucas.
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Pantsworthy: CMW – April 22, 2017
April 22nd, 2017Sammy Younan
Girth Radio Presents…
Last day of CMW. (The hint is in the festival name…Canadian Music Week! Man I’d so clean up on a American game shows). But before you rip off your wristband and expose the pale skin underneath to the light there are 3 final #Pantsworthy shows that you should check out:
Read on…
Pantsworthy: CMW – April 21, 2017
April 21st, 2017Sammy Younan
Girth Radio Presents…
Because last night’s CMW activities required mucho rolling in the deep (don’t feel like I am using that phrase correctly) tonight is just 1 show recommendation.
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Pantsworthy: CMW – April 20, 2017
April 20th, 2017Sammy Younan
Girth Radio Presents…
This is the Biggest Day at CMW!! So much amazing is happening; as it’s 2017 if you can use a home cloning kit to make party-duplicates of yourself, I strong advise it. Even at Girth Radio we’re hosting 2 bands. Visit Pacific Junction Hotel bar (234 King St E) and bring your single friends!
At 6pm Sean Sirianni takes over In Session… and hosts Cat Clyde for an acoustic performance and interview.
At 7pm I’m hanging out with Hillsburn for an acoustic performance and interview.
After my work is done I’m gonna check out what the Bucks-Raptors score is at (Game 3 starts at 8pm!) then I’m off to see what the evening has for me and my posse.
It’s all happening!
Read on…
Pantsworthy: CMW – April 19, 2017
April 19th, 2017Sammy Younan
Girth Radio Presents…
Oh man…you hafta, you must, you really should see The Balconies live. If I had their dense sonic energy oh the things I could accomplish. Good Gravy! Also on tonight’s CMW 2017 bill is Ivory Hours: yo a fantastic double bill. If that’s not your cup of tea there is also Look Vibrant. CMW is always about choices.
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Questions…for NASA!
April 11th, 2017For all years (decades?) I’ve been successfully emailing I just received one of my top 5 favourite subject lines: Questions…for NASA!
Amazing. I’ve so many!
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Freedom Of Breach
April 5th, 2017I got in trouble for my last post because…I used the word retarded.
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Host Haiku In Session With…Catey Shaw
March 23rd, 2017
As inspired by listening to Catey Shaw’s Music
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Stupidity Is The Father of Innovation
March 12th, 2017It’s 2017…
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Small Talk: U2’s Joshua Tree Grammy
March 9th, 2017Today marks the 30th anniversary of U2’s The Joshua Tree…which won a grammy for Album Of The Year.
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The Future of Pee
March 2nd, 2017Is there such a thing as an interactive-digital-urinal? Like you could download an app connected to those urinals and it would translate your pee…like a Fitbit for your bladder.
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i spy with my little eye…racism
February 28th, 2017A sad commentary on our times…I shared the following moment on Facebook:
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Get Your Foot In The Door
February 24th, 2017Front Door or Back Door…there are 2 ways in:
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White Playhouse Mystery Science
February 22nd, 2017Obscure Reference Time! One of the set designers for Netflix’s Mystery Science Theater 3000 revival is Wayne White.
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AKA National Nut Up Day
February 19th, 2017Laziest All-Star Game ever…symbolic of NBA’s weak Get Along Gang mentality: it’s Show Business not show friends.
Break is over…put away your Kit Kat; it’s Crunch time!
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Host Haiku In Session With…The Kents
February 16th, 2017As inspired by listening to The Kents’ Waking EP
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What The Ross…
February 14th, 2017Terrence Ross is GONE!! I repeat and celebrate…Terrence Ross is dealt.
I don’t care about scoring, rebounds, assists…if you’re an NBA playa without the Will To Kill you’re useless: Jordan has 6 Rings; Kobe has 5 they’re excellent murderers.
Talk about no love lost…
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Illuminated Chronicles: Tribeca Talks: Directors Series – J.J. Abrams with Chris Rock
February 10th, 2017I’m a Chris Rock fan…that is when it comes to comedy. His interview skills always leave the viewer wanting. Remember The Chris Rock Show…which wrapped in 2000. (Man time is flying faster than Superman saving Lois!).
And as for J.J. I’ve issues with him. I refer to his Star Trek as Star Wrecked because it was silly and guilty of being unnecessary. Super 8 doesn’t even come up in this talk and the first Cloverfield was an utter piece of crap. So no love lost between me and J.J. So Be It.
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Host Haiku In Session With…Kid Koala
January 26th, 2017
As inspired by listening to Kid Koala’s Music To Draw To: Satellite
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Racism LOL
January 20th, 2017It’s hard to convey but the racism the media typically reports on isn’t the universal racism visual minorities experience.
A number of my visual minority friends have experienced funny racist encounters. I have a couple. It’s typically somebody so determined to be racist but doesn’t have enough “knowledge” to be properly racist. Talk about ignorance. I understand racism is rooted in ignorance but man be racist properly.
Like put some time and effort into your hate! Have some pride…watch a doc, read a book, brush up on your stereotypes…just don’t go through the motions.
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Illuminated Chronicles: Stop Asking For Easy
January 13th, 2017In the oval office Obama has a plaque thing that says: “Hard Things Are Hard.” Hashtag No Guff.
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Host Haiku In Session With…Coins
January 12th, 2017
As inspired by listening to Coins’ Daft Science
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A Major Tom Moment of Silence
January 10th, 2017On January 10, 2016 David Bowie passed away…
“I’m feeling very still
And I think my spaceship knows which way to go
Tell my wife I love her very much she knows
Ground Control to Major Tom
Your circuit’s dead, there’s something wrong
Can you hear me, Major Tom?
Can you hear me, Major Tom?
Can you hear me, Major Tom?”
The sheer brilliance of David Bowie: “Tell my wife I love her very much she knows” as the final utterance of Major Tom.
All in a pop song no less…there are entire movies not as eloquent or as memorable.
No wonder the papers want to know whose shirts he wears…
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A Major Tom Moment of Silence
January 10th, 2017On January 10, 2016 David Bowie passed away…
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Illuminated Chronicles: Jack White On Inspiration
January 6th, 2017Sammy Younan
Girth Radio Presents…
Well now…so far 2017 smells like 2016. Still…New Year, New Hope and most important: New Work! When it comes to work Jack White is an ideal source of inspiration.
From the documentary Under Great White Northern Lights this is how hard Jack works:
Which of course prompts the question: How Hard Are You Working?
2017…let’s do this thing!!
Gonna start Nick Hasted’s bio Jack White: How He Built an Empire From the Blues soon.
Sammy Younan @ W • T • F
Ziggy Was Here January 8, 1947 – January 10, 2016
Pop Culture Habits
January 3rd, 2017Been approached by a few friends (always better to be approached by friends instead of Jehovah’s Witnesses!) who want to write more…journal more; some listen to music more. Basically they want to more more.
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Illuminated Chronicles: Run The Jewels Visits Portlandia
December 30th, 2016It’s 2016…practically 2017 so how do you drop an album now? Run The Jewels visits Portlandia for some “helpful” album drop suggestions…let the LOL commence:
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Illuminated Chronicles: Ascension
December 30th, 2016Over Christmas break I checked out Ascension a 2014 Syfy mini-series on Netflix.
Back in the 60s JFK launched an inter-generational space shuttle…it was going to take 100 years for it to reach its destination: Proxima Centauri. (The show was inspired by the real-life concept of Project Orion which Kennedy ultimately killed). Of course…things don’t go well and it’s all sparked by a murder.
Some of the writing is a bit cheezy, typical tv writing…but there are some fresh moments too. Only lasted 6 episodes then died (don’t ponder the ending too much as Syfy confirmed: “We were very happy with Ascension as an event series, but with so much high profile development in the works, we have decided not to pursue a full series.”).
You can knock it off in a lazy winter weekend.
Here’s the trailer:
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Listen to Girth Radio @ W • T • F
Ziggy Was Here January 8, 1947 – January 10, 2016
Goodbye Carrie Fisher
December 27th, 2016We lost a fantastic writer today.
Yes I’m aware the great celebrity reduction for Carrie Fisher will always be Princess Leia.
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Patient Zero Caught Christmas Spirit
December 25th, 2016Merry Christmas!
Uncle Sammy’s War on Coal
December 23rd, 2016Talking to a small child in 2016…
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Boutique Bubbles
December 19th, 2016Man…bubbles are surreal…
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One Rogue: A Star Wars Story
December 16th, 2016So??! Do the Rebels successfully steal the Death Star schematics?! Yes Rogue One…The Titanic, the Apollo 13 etc. of Star Wars opens today with its expected ending. (Doctor Who calls em fixed points in time).
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Illuminated Chronicles: Santanormal Activity Trailer
December 16th, 2016It’s that time of year when the jolly man returns. Philistine I ain’t talking about Santa!
I’m talking about Grant Cermak. He and his “elves” release a horror trailer every Christmas. (Horrible trailer? Yeah that too…check out the last year’s winner: The Xmas-Men Trailer!
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Christmas Sneer
December 13th, 2016Bah! They Got Me!
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Star Wars The Blockbuster…
December 12th, 2016Since some of you are gonna put on pants and check out Rogue One…
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Illuminated Chronicles: Heritage Minute: Viola Desmond
December 9th, 2016Canada’s currency is getting a face-lift. Best pun I can do under the circumstances.
Viola Desmond will grace Canada’s $10 bill starting in late-2018.
(And that’s not all. According to the Globe and Mail: “Sir John A. Macdonald, Canada’s first prime minister, will move from the $10 to a higher denomination, as will Sir Wilfrid Laurier, who is currently on the $5. Another Canadian will be chosen for the $5 note in a similar manner to Ms. Desmond. Former prime ministers Sir Robert Borden and William Lyon Mackenzie King will be dropped from the $100 and the $50. The $20 bill, which has long featured the Queen, will remain unchanged.)
That’s great, right? Wait who is Viola Desmond?
Historica Canada’s 82nd Heritage Minute depicts Viola Desmond’s spark that ignited an effective civil rights struggle:
Bonus: If you dug that here is the Behind The Scenes of that Hertiage Minute:
Sammy Younan @ W • T • F
Ziggy Was Here January 8, 1947 – January 10, 2016
Host Haiku In Session With…Piper Hayes II
December 1st, 2016As inspired by listening to Piper Hayes’ Goodbye Mister Nice Guy
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November 27th, 2016
I’m constantly surprised and grateful for the fantastic opportunities that come my way. Since high school I’ve set out to be creative (code for I want to play everyday) and not be bound by medium. I’ve recently been offered to co-host Back Issue Bloodbath a Geek Hard podcast focusing on comics. Basically over adult beverages we get into it…talking about issues (in every sense of the word). Magic!!
I got miles to go crafting my audio voice…writing now that I can Fight Club anybody and win. So I’m thankful for this challenge to shine skillz that pay the billz.
If this at all interests you (or other benevolent nerds in your life) subscribe on itunes/google play. This sucker is gonna heat up like Jiffy Pop!
My first episode is below…thanks for reading. As You Were.
In this episode of Back Issue Bloodbath I surprise the gents with a wild and crazy about Black Science! Which is totally different than Weird Science: thankfully (or sadly) we did not have to wear bras on our heads.
Listen NOW!
Check out my earlier appearances on Geek Hard‘s Back Issue Bloodbath as a guest:
Episode #39
Episode #14
Episode #13
Episode #12
Episode #11
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Host Haiku In Session With…The Autumn Stones
November 24th, 2016As inspired by listening to The Autumn Stones’ Escapists
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Host Haiku In Session With…Neon Dreams
November 17th, 2016As inspired by listening to Neon Dreams’ To You EP
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RTZ: Under President Trump Reading is Fundamental: A Non-Fiction Action List
November 14th, 2016Sammy Younan
Girth Radio Presents…
One of the primary storylines from the past week is how the mainstream media sucks (truthfully media never recovered going online…the news wasn’t gonna slow down long enough for them to figure out an online business strategy. Anybody who has madcap dashed through a busy airport to catch their departing flight understands that stress.)
There’s a handful of writers who’ve got fantastic non-fiction books that deal with many of the tough topics and trendy themes people are grappling with. And for the most part I haven’t seen these writer interviewed or quoted which is painfully sloppy journalism. Again.
Read on…
Host Haiku In Session With…Conan & the Romantyks
November 10th, 2016
As inspired by listening to Conan and the Romantyks’ Out It Comes
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Cubs Win!
November 3rd, 2016So the red team that everybody (especially online types) thinks is racist was defeated by the blue team who haven’t had a significant victory in over 100 years. That sums up the World Series as much as it does this craptacular current election.
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Host Haiku In Session With…The Tired Flames
November 3rd, 2016As inspired by listening to The Tired Flames’ Pyrolysis
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Fighting To Be Heard
November 1st, 2016One of the funniest aspects of hanging out in NYC this past week has been Americans apologizing for the election. Even if I don’t bring it up…soon as they find out I ain’t a local. They’re so embarrassed…lotta we’re not really like this hand wringing.
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Halloween Body Count
October 31st, 2016Early September I saw Lights Out (couple of sweet moments…check it out). However the body count was low…2 cops (who were collateral damage and not related to the horror at hand and 1 proper killing from the horror-monster (well…and 1 suicide but again mainly collateral damage)).
All the new horrors (the James Wan horrors…Insidious’, Conjurings etc.) low body counts; that seems to be the latest horror trend. It’s like they make you invest in the characters or like the plot.
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TBT: Lou Reed
October 27th, 2016Graffiti I saw in NYC in 2011:
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Host Haiku In Session With…James Clark Institute
October 27th, 2016As inspired by listening to James Clark Institute’s Yesterday’s Misadventures
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Host Haiku In Session With…Aiko Tomi
October 20th, 2016
As inspired by listening to Aiko Tomi’s Music
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Host Haiku In Session With…Veronica
October 13th, 2016As inspired by listening to Veronica’s Music
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A Season With…Sammy?
October 8th, 2016I’m watching Showtime’s A Season With… which is just fascinating.
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Host Haiku In Session With…Owen Meany’s Batting Stance
October 6th, 2016As inspired by listening to Owen Meany’s Batting Stance’s Owen Meany’s Batting Stance
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Freakonomics For True
October 3rd, 2016One sure sign we’re in a rescission is the lack of discarded underwear in 7-11 parking lots…in this economy ain’t nobody leavin underwear behind.
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Birthday Appreciation
September 29th, 2016THANK YOU for all the
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Host Haiku In Session With…Torero
September 29th, 2016As inspired by listening to Torero’s Torero
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Dark Tower’s Movie Quest
September 27th, 2016Heard this last night on Sirius…dude does a good breakdown on where Dark Tower movie is at…includes interviews with Stephen King, Elba and others.
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New Age Astrology
September 27th, 2016According to science your astrology signs are now incorrect. If that’s upsetting to you in this age of enlightenment and era of reason clearly you’re a witch and should be tossed into the river to see if you float.
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Hillary’s Crooked Path To The White House
September 26th, 2016Neal Brennan has that fantastic line/observation: “The main reason black people like Hillary is because she dresses like Steve Harvey.” Hah! Amazing. I find some of her outfits are also Doctor Evil-ish. Kinda fitting I suppose…tonight Neal and I were right.
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Host Haiku In Session With…Finger Eleven
September 22nd, 2016As inspired by listening to Finger Eleven’s Five Crooked Lines
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Late Night 80s Teen Hosts
September 19th, 2016Turns out the late night tv hosts effortlessly fit neatly into stereotypical 80s/90s teen movie tropes.
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Host Haiku In Session With…Ken Yates
September 15th, 2016As inspired by listening to Ken Yates’ Huntsville
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Host Haiku In Session With…May Cheung
September 8th, 2016As inspired by listening to May Cheung’s Departure
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Illuminated Chronicles: DJ Shadow feat. Run The Jewels “Nobody Speak”
August 26th, 2016Now this is how you create a fantastic music video!
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Illuminated Chronicles: Talking Funny
August 19th, 2016Sammy Younan
Girth Radio Presents…
Back in 2011 HBO aired a Ricky Gervais produced comedy special: 49 minutes of Jerry Seinfeld, Chris Rock, Ricky Gervais and Louis C.K. analyzing comedy and breaking down stand up. If you’ve seen Seinfeld’s Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee it’s sorta like that only stationary. (You know…Comedians in Cars aired in 2012 and I can’t help but wonder if Talking Funny sparked or even influenced Seinfeld’s new show).
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Illuminated Chronicles: Commander Chakotay’s Pitch
August 12th, 2016Sammy Younan
Girth Radio Presents…
Considering the dearth in leadership and the ongoing lack of integrity dominating this current US election…it’s a hard sell to suggest the candidates are different…I’m reminded of this stark moment in Star Trek Voyager:
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Host Haiku In Session With…J Matthew
August 11th, 2016As inspired by listening to J Matthew’s Music
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This Heat: A Helpful Guide For Visual Minorities
August 10th, 2016How to Discuss The Weather with your friends and co-workers…A Helpful Guide For Visual Minorities:
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Transformers Trauma
August 8th, 2016On August 8, 1986 The Transformers: The Movie opened.
Man just how good was The Transformers: The Movie? Leonard Nimoy, Judd Nelson, Casey Kasem, Robert Stack and Orson Welles. All that glorious Ruckus.
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Geek Hard Gratitude
August 7th, 2016Illuminated Chronicles: The Simpsons: Trump v Hilary
August 5th, 2016Sammy Younan
Girth Radio Presents…
The Simpsons are on Summer vacation however they’ve released a comment on the current election now that the 2 nominees have been confirmed:
Read on…
Suicide Squad Knowledge
August 5th, 2016If you’re gonna put on pants (DOWN WITH PANTS!!) and check out Suicide Squad this weekend know the following:
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Host Haiku In Session With…Yolanda Ho
August 4th, 2016As inspired by listening to Yolanda Ho’s Music
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The New 52 Reading List
August 1st, 2016The New 52 DC’s big bang began on August 31, 2011 following the conclusion of Flashpoint and commencing with Justice League #1 (at the time helmed by Geoff Johns and Jim Lee a fantastic one-two punch that like a Summer romance didn’t last long). On May 25, 2016 the Rebirth one-shot was released signalling the end of The New 52 and the, well rebirth of DC’s universe. Again.
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Illuminated Chronicles: You Are Not A Storyteller
July 22nd, 2016Sammy Younan
Girth Radio Presents…
Short and sweet: “I think by now, in our space, meaning the space of design, it sort of took on the mantle of bullshit…now everyone’s a storyteller.” Hah! Yes…I’m not familiar with Stefan Sagmeister’s work (am I…the name rings a bell…) but I dig his sentiment:
Though I don’t agree with his fallacy: “There is this fallacy out there. I don’t think I fell for it, but somehow maybe unconsciously I did, you know I’ve seen a number of films so I must be able to do one. Of course this is the most stupidest thought ever.”
You can make a film; you can write a novel but you can’t do it…the way somebody else did it.
Asking Gary Vaynerchuk how he did it and then following his step by step process that’s where people get lost. I decide if something can be done and then I do it…the odds for success or even achievement are crazy intimidating. That’s fine…as long as I’m not following a formula: magic is more fun.
Sammy Younan @ W • T • F
Ziggy Was Here January 8, 1947 – January 10, 2016
Host Haiku In Session With…Sonja Seiler
July 21st, 2016As inspired by listening to Sonja Seiler’s Music
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Host Haiku In Session With…Pyramid Tropic
July 16th, 2016As inspired by listening to Pyramid Tropic’s Music
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Host Haiku In Session With…Kelvin Wetherell
July 14th, 2016As inspired by listening to Kelvin Wetherell’s The Jackknife Letters
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Shirt Off Update Memo
July 12th, 2016Saw the new Bourne movie…do I have to provide a Shirt Off Update?
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Host Haiku In Session With…Ghost Caravan
July 9th, 2016As inspired by listening to Ghost Caravan’s Music
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Host Haiku In Session With…A.A. Wallace
June 30th, 2016As inspired by listening to A.A. Wallace’s Waking EP
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Goodbye Muhammad Ali
June 3rd, 2016I saw this iconic image as a kid…I dunno where or how. Instantly I recognized this wasn’t a fight: this was a lifestyle.
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Vulcan Nerve Pinch
June 3rd, 2016Fun Fact: In the original Star Trek series (Kirk, Spock etc.) did you know the Vulcan Nerve Pinch was used 34 different times.
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A Bronco Chasing Youth
May 28th, 2016All set to slip into clean Jordans and hit the town. Warm Saturday night…let’s go swimming among the skirts and the flirts when I just found out the 22nd anniversary of OJ’s Bronco chase is coming up: Friday, June 17. 22 years. Damn. When did I decide to get old?
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Nerd Emotions
May 23rd, 2016Last night found some pants and watched Captain America: Civil War.
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Host Haiku In Session With…Avalanche City
May 19th, 2016As inspired by listening to Avalanche City’s We Are for the Wild Places
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Host Haiku In Session With…Old Man Canyon
May 19th, 2016As inspired by listening to Old Man Canyon’s Delirium
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Host Haiku In Session With…Leslie Hudson
May 12th, 2016As inspired by listening to Leslie Hudson’s The Redhead League
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Host Haiku In Session With…No Sinner
May 5th, 2016As inspired by listening to No Sinner’s Old Habits Die Hard
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Magic Money
May 1st, 2016Last night I had the sublime opportunity to hang out with a number of prominent magicians!! (One of em was Johnny Carson’s favourite magician…I’d never met anybody who met Carson so that was fascinating).
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Code of Silence
April 30th, 2016You endure the awkward silence on a date so you can get in a relationship with a girl who when she’s upset with you will give you the silent treatment. #ModernRomance
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Hidden Gem: Evvy “Collide”
April 25th, 2016Has this song been in a movie? One of those Jason Sudeikis indies where he seduces a pretty girl who doesn’t have it all together (but thinks she does) with his good hair and refined beard:
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Unleash The Children
April 16th, 2016Inspired Child Labour: when a set on a movie/TV show needs to appear ransacked unleash several small children hopped up on sugar.
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The Next Kobe Chapter
April 14th, 2016Kobe Bryant Scores 60 Points Against Jazz In Career Finale!
Read on…
Where No Woman Has Gone Before
April 9th, 2016Whenever a girl says she needs “space and time” she sounds like she’s going to board the Starship Enterprise for a 5 year mission to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations.
Well at least you look fantastic in red…
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Listen to Girth Radio @ W • T • F
Ziggy Was Here January 8, 1947 – January 10, 2016
Black Panther: The Potential of Patience
April 7th, 2016How is Black Panther an icon? Same thing with Wonder Woman…iconic without any storytelling substance. I can’t grasp that flimsy and ultimately foolish premise.
Black Panther has been around since the 60s and done (to quote Stupid Flanders) diddly-squat. Black Panther debuted in 1966; Spider-Man in 1962. Who’s had more impact on the culture?
Read on…
80s Goals
April 1st, 2016I’m only working this hard so that one day…one special day I’ll be famous enough to dress up in my best 80s pastel coloured outfit and be forever immortalized in a Reading is FUNdamental poster.
Read on…
Sixty-Nine 101
March 16th, 2016There are 2 phases of life we all go through…
Read on…
Illuminated Chronicles: O Pioneers! (Levi’s Commercial)
March 11th, 2016This 2009 Levi’s commercial stays with me…I’m always on the hunt for creative and visual ways to communicate poetry. I’m a poet as much as I am a prophet…the free verse poem is my weapon of choice to confront a cold calculating culture. Yet in this modern society of guns and rough violence it’s almost like I am walking around with a sword. En Garde isn’t Avant-garde. Or is it?
Read on…
Nicknames Affection
March 8th, 2016Ladies…Cuddle Bugs…Kittens…Babes…Honey Bunnies…Sweethearts…Queens…Angels…Hot Mamas…Cupcakes…Better Halfs…Peaches…Hot Stuff…Main Squeezes…Girls…Sugars…Buttercups…Little Ladies…Firecrackers…Beloveds…Women…
Read on…
Rules of Engagement
March 7th, 2016Over at my friend’s house when she disciplined her small child by asking him to stand in the corner.
Read on…
TBT – Last Night’s Culture Snap: Hangin with Henry Rollins
March 3rd, 2016Chillin with Henry Rollins! I umm, forgot who he is, that’s why I am smiling. So fired…
Read on…
Host Haiku In Session With…Eternia
March 3rd, 2016
As inspired by listening to Eternia’s Day & Night
Read on…
The End of the LeBron James era
February 28th, 2016If (when???) the Warriors win a championship this year it’ll officially mark the end of the LeBron James era.
Read on…
Host Haiku In Session With…Michael Bernard Fitzgerald
February 25th, 2016As inspired by listening to Michael Bernard Fitzgerald’s Waking EP
Read on…
Host Haiku In Session With…Featurette
February 18th, 2016As inspired by listening to Featurette’s Crave Vol.1 & 2
Read on…
Science vs Hiccups
February 16th, 2016All this technological progress, human advancements in science, the radical evolution of medicine and psychology…it’s 2016 and yet that all goes out the window soon as you get hiccups: you just get bombarded with old wives’ tales.
Read on…
Host Haiku In Session With…Merival
February 11th, 2016As inspired by listening to Merival’s Lovers
Read on…
Modern Political Platforms
February 9th, 2016At what point…
Read on…
Canadian Reactions to the Superbowl…
February 7th, 2016The following are some basic Canadian Reactions to the classic American spectacular known as the Superbowl…
Read on…
Illuminated Chronicles: Sam Cooke “A Change Is Gonna Come (Official Lyric Video)”
February 5th, 2016Just in time for Black History Month…Sam Cooke’s estate released a lyric video for the powerful and prophetic civil rights anthem A Change Is Gonna Come. If you ah…don’t know much about history this video should catch you up:
Bonus Background: This New Yorker article describes The Unlikely Story of A Change Is Gonna Come.
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Ziggy Was Here January 8, 1947 – January 10, 2016
Illuminated Chronicles: Sam Cooke “A Change Is Gonna Come (Official Lyric Video)”
February 5th, 2016Just in time for Black History Month…Sam Cooke’s estate released a lyric video for the powerful and prophetic civil rights anthem A Change Is Gonna Come. If you ah…don’t know much about history this video should catch you up:
Read on…
Host Haiku In Session With…Ivana Santilli
February 4th, 2016As inspired by listening to Ivana Santilli’s Late Night Light
Read on…
Netflix’s Comic Book Guy
January 23rd, 2016Like the way you increase/decrease your security settings with a pop up blocker Netflix should allow viewers to increase their movie recommending algorithm up to video store clerk snobbery status…just like having The Simpson’s Comic Book Guy in your ipad:
from
Mild Disgust Setting: “Really?” when you select a “guilty pleasure”
to…
Belligerent Contempt Setting: “Did your mother drop you a lot as a small child? You idiot: if you watch this they’ll think it’s popular and make a sequel. Is that what you want? You want to ruin society because you have lousy taste?”
Read on…
Affiliations: 80s Synth
January 22nd, 2016New Pet Shop Boys today…Inner Sanctum.
Bit meh, we’ll see how the rest of the album is; hope they tour too…they put on a freshtastic live show. Course as an 80s child it’s expected I get amped when I hear synth beats.
Read on…
Tim Burton vs Edward Scissorhands
January 9th, 2016Following the success of Batman in 1990 Tim Burton began working on Edward Scissorhands…I’m reading Last Night at the Viper Room: River Phoenix and the Hollywood He Left Behind (no spoilers I don’t wanna know how the book ends) by Gavin Edwards.
Read on…
No Permission Slip
January 2nd, 2016That’s a Wrap 2015!
December 31st, 2015Smell Ya Later 2015! Let’s Get It On 2016: The Game Is Afoot!
Read on…
This Sad Kreskin End
December 31st, 2015Last Day Of The Year!
Read on…
Illuminated Chronicles: Xmas-Men Trailer
December 25th, 2015It’s that time of year again…well, Christmas I suppose but also for Grant Cermak and friends to release their annual Christmas trailer. You know how every Halloween the Simpsons do that Treehouse of Horror special?
Read on…
Illuminated Chronicles: Talking Shop With Bernie Sanders
December 15th, 2015Sammy Younan
Girth Radio Presents…
Ladies and Gentlemen…the next President of the United States of America…Bernie Sanders!
Read on…
Illuminated Chronicles: SNL-Close Encounter
December 11th, 2015Hey Girl…do you like comedy sketches about alien abductions?
Read on…
Host Haiku In Session With…Tennyson King
December 10th, 2015As inspired by listening to Tennyson King’s Tennyson King EP
Read on…
RE: The Terminator Franchise…
December 9th, 2015Terminator is serviceable
T2 is formidable
Terminator 3 is despicable
Salvation is forgettable
Genisys was regrettable
Read on…
LL Cool App Love
November 27th, 2015LL Cool J is leaving a lot of money on the table by not creating an Around the Way Girl dating app to compete with Tinder:
Read on…
My Thanksgiving Services
November 26th, 2015Happy American Thanksgiving!
As a Canadian free from family obligations I am available this weekend for the following services:
Read on…
The Path of Patience
November 24th, 2015Anybody have any spare patience? I’ve run out of my mine…
Read on…
The Internet Is Forever
November 23rd, 2015Cleaning up my Evernote files and I found this…did I write this or did I cut and paste it from a comedian or something? Maybe a tv show? No idea:
Read on…
Illuminated Chronicles: Imitators
November 20th, 2015The return of a fresh NBA season brings with it the fist pumping joy of…commercials.
Surprisingly it’s not all about the Superbowl; throughout the NBA season viewers will chuckle, marvel and even gasp at some of the marvelous ads. The commercials are as much a fun part of the entertainment package as the actual games and household name players.
Read on…
Host Haiku In Session With…Christina Martin
November 19th, 2015As inspired by listening to Christina Martin’s It’ll Be Alright
Read on…
Grafton X Rage
November 8th, 2015Angrily started one of the Summer books I’ve been impatiently awaiting. (Lotta issues wrapped up in that short statement!).
Read on…
Illuminated Chronicles: Lisa Hanawalt – XOXO Festival
November 6th, 2015Sammy Younan
Girth Radio Presents…
I can’t remember how Portland’s XOXO Festival came into my life…it’s only a couple of years old. Maybe twitter? I wanna go one year…SXSW in many ways has jumped the shark. And we don’t have anything like this in Toronto (maybe start one? Complain or Create can’t do both…). The conference feels like Portland, s’what I’d expect that city to be like: bit like Seattle with more Nike.
Read on…
Rainbow Puke
November 2nd, 2015Q: If one was to eat rotten Skittles…would that give you food poisoning?
Read on…
Automatonophobia
October 31st, 2015Cutting through the Eaton Centre I witness a retail clerk manhandling a mannequin. Roughly jerking her clothes down, gripping her swimsuit areas…the clerk is neither efficient or gentle.
Read on…
Gettin Infographic
October 15th, 2015Is there an accurate and helpful infographic between smoothly turning on channel 175 “The Fireplace Channel” for when she comes over and getting some?
Read on…
Mental Spring Cleaning #1: The Old System
October 5th, 2015If you grew up in the earth was flat paradigm era…you get to the edge of the sea and fall off or worse face monsters transitioning to the the earth is actually round is not easy much less smooth. That the day started out Sunny and now it is raining and requires an umbrella; that’s easy to adapt too. Unpacking/rejecting paradigms, spitting up kool-aid, facts from fiction…so much emotional and intellectual work. Yet I cannot continue to carry earth is flat ideas into my future. This is my mental spring cleaning…
***
Growing up——pre-internet, pre-social media——The Plan was to make an excellent living writing. Yes: despite the odds, maybe in spite of the odds.
Books at first then work my way into Hollywood and later Marvel Comics: The Plan was simple and fun. The ongoing fuel of this powerful trajectory was of course bestsellers: that’s how you make Big Money. The Stephen King way to fame, fortune, storytelling, Hollywood and comics. This was a viable plan with built in naps!
The Old School method to publish a book was to secure an agent who would then peddle your books and pimp your talents to publishers.
I didn’t like this system: I didn’t agree with it nor did it make sense.
You’re adding a middleman who is going to take a cut of your small pie. Financially this makes no sense. Even if you factor in how well an effective agent executes and is the reason I have a pie in the first place.
But first you had to work to get to an agent, some sort of nebulous qualifications of being published, marketable and I dunno what else. Same silly paradox as you can’t get a job without experience and you can’t get experience if you don’t get a job. Remember that one? So annoying!
Hustle to secure an agent or hustle for myself and spend that time marketing myself, writing, making contacts etc. I can’t do both; not well. It’s not easy to be drafted by the NBA but at least the path is clear as is the work and sacrifice involved.
Then finally when your agent gets you into a publisher the publisher may not be keen on supporting your book; you may be on the guest list and you can pass the velvet rope but don’t expect bottle service!
I’ve no issue marketing my book but a little help would be…well; helpful considering I’m marketing a book that’s the exact size and format of every other book in Borders/Chapters. What an idiotic system.
Why would I subject myself to that…to all that frustration and failure? And it’s not that I am special or I believe I am Steven Above The Law Seagal. Rather like high school calculus I wasn’t presented with a compelling reason to justify committing to this system. This all felt and came across like a “Because I said so!” parental command. (Also acceptable: “As long as you’re under my roof you’ll live by my rules!”)
12 publishers passed on Harry Potter. 12. 12 publishers who failed to spot talent…maybe they had a bad day or perhaps a wise editor recognized the value and pushed for it but was unsuccessful. These stories don’t inspire or deepen my confidence in The Old System.
It doesn’t matter how successful or rich Harry Potter became after finding a proper home it still had to endure The 12. I’m frustrated and I’m not submitting the book!
Today I’m using a blogging platform with a Publish button…how utterly cool is that! The desperation, the frustration of attracting attention…that made The Old System feel like a beauty pageant while not entirely eliminated is much reduced. Happily so. Uber hasn’t totally replaced cabs…it’s just another option along with public transportation. To have that many options now…to reach the destination is freshtastic.
It’s like clicking on Google maps…do you want to reach your destination by public transportation, walking, car? How do you want to get there. The Old System remains; even if the gatekeepers have far less influence and status.
I recognized I couldn’t embrace the future until I’d released the old way I was brought up. I had to let go of the earth is flat, there is only one way to get published. That freedom of thought, of business makes me so nimble. It’s incredible and intoxicating. This new perspective presents the future as a wide open expanse…like when you move into a brand new home and the future isn’t in the rooms. The rooms can feel so large yet full of potential: you can do anything, paint the walls any colour, arrange the furniture. Amazing.
I want to do more mental spring cleaning!
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Sammies
October 1st, 2015What are the qualifications to getting a sandwich named after you?
Read on…
Host Haiku In Session With…Head of The Herd
October 1st, 2015
As inspired by listening to Head of The Herd’s Birds on the Roof
Read on…
Host Haiku In Session With…RUN
October 1st, 2015As inspired by listening to RUN’s Music
Read on…
RE: Cognitive Surplus by Clay Shirky
September 12th, 2015Yes! From page 41 of Cognitive Surplus by Clay Shirky:
“Trentway-Wagar was arguing that because carpooling used to be inconvenient, it should always be inconvenient…Curiously, an organization that commits to helping society manage a problem also commits itself to the preservation of that same problem, as its institutional existence hinges on society’s continued need for its management. Bus companies provide a critical service—public transportation—but they also commit themselves, as Trentway-Wagar did, to fending off competition from alternative ways of moving people from one place to another.”
Read on…
Illuminated Chronicles: Artist Unknown-Mr. Hydde
September 11th, 2015From their About page on their YouTube channel:
“Artist Unknown premiered May 15th, 2014 turning the spotlight on the emerging Artists of Toronto.” Nice like rice!
This episode of Artist Unknown is special to us at Girth Radio as it features Mr. Hydde!
Read on…
Sequel Lust
September 9th, 2015We had our big nerdfest over the weekend…nerd b.o. and hot girls in cosplay. I’m sharing because this occurred during the Mr. Robot panel: Q&A moderator Jonathan Dekel brought up a text message he received from Pump Up the Volume director Allan Moyle asking Christian Slater if he’d be willing to play Hard Harry again.
Read on…
Movie: Sinatra: All Or Nothing At All
September 5th, 2015Spent the day dozing, reading comics and consuming Sinatra: All Or Nothing At All a 4 hour HBO retrospective on the man and the legend.
What a life. Dude needed a 4 hour doc because he defied the typical celebrity reduction. Whenever a celebrity passes away they get reduced to this one movie or these handful of songs. Not Frank Sinatra.
As a musician and Artist he basically issued concept albums. He recognized the contributions blacks had made to popular music.
Sinatra rejected the status quo…he believed bigotry was a disease. Try speaking out against that in the 50s. And didn’t just hang out with Sammy…Miles Davis, Belenfote and others. That’s like Entourage history!
He created Reprise records where Artists could keep their own masters: astonishing business idea.
He mashed Lauren Bacall, Ava Gardner etc. (granted some of that was while he was married so he loses some points for being a crappy husband still you gotta admire his taste).
Yet the aspect I find the most utterly fascinating…he was on his own! Sinatra became popular in the late 40s, as the depression and World War II were ending. Who was popular at the time…Glen Miller? You think kids had Glen Miller posters on their wall?!
Youth culture didn’t properly flourish until the 1950s that post-war boom where suddenly everybody had money and Happy Days. So Sinatra basically had nobody on his walls, he had no guides no idea how this would all turn out or what his fame would be like.
He got famous…without a Sherpa. Now that is inspirational.
Greatest Of All Time. We don’t have celebrities like Frank Sinatra anymore…overflowing with talent; thoroughly uncompromising: fashioning a legacy not just a career and some worthless tweets. Just because the times change doesn’t mean we hafta as well.
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Listen to Girth Radio @ W • T • F
Shepard Fairey Obey Toronto
August 30th, 2015Slapped onto the back of the Gladstone Hotel is an inspiring message from Shepard Fairey:
Read on…
Pantsworthy: Here and Now: The Art of Gary Taxali
August 27th, 2015(Note: This was written before Gary Taxali visited My Summer Lair)
Two of the best words in the English language: Road Trip!
My friend and I hoped into my laser blue Dart and road tripped to…Cambridge, Ontario. Ours was a cultural mission, our prime directive to enjoy a day trip into the fabulous world of Gary Taxali and later in Stratford a play.
I know…a gallery exhibition and a Stratford play all in one arty day…classy! (Not to worry I kept the class at bay with my Spider-Man seatbelt belt).
Stepping into the Idea Exchange | Design at Riverside gallery is like a fantastical Disney meets Warhol trip into Gary Taxali’s head. Wow. So cool.
Read on…
Host Haiku In Session With…Junia
August 20th, 2015As inspired by listening to Junia’s My Favourite People
Read on…
Host Haiku In Session With…The New Electric
August 13th, 2015As inspired by listening to The New Electric’s Music
Read on…
On Tenacity
August 12th, 2015Sipping French Breakfast tea in the slowly fading Sunshine and watching a handful of skateboarders navigate the downtown landscape.
Read on…
Host Haiku In Session With…Brews Willis
August 6th, 2015As inspired by listening to Brews Willis’ Party’s Over
Read on…
Sonic Bastards
August 5th, 2015I wonder what happened to the Papa Don’t Preach Kid…
Read on…
Illuminated Chronicles: The Alpacing Dead
July 24th, 2015Half of Seal 6 Radio Jaren Hayman stepped out of the Girth Radio booth to write and produce a clever Walking Dead spoof. Only this time instead of zombies it’s…alpacas.
The Horror!!
Read on…
Host Haiku In Session With…Look Vibrant
July 23rd, 2015As inspired by listening to Look Vibrant’s Music
Read on…
This Amazing Alan Moore Quote
July 19th, 2015I never know how I find stuff online or where I mentally wander about…often online it seems like I’m just window shopping.
Anyways I stumbled onto this cool Alan Moore interview which ofters this outstanding insight…100% YES!
Read on…
The Sound of 80s Love
July 18th, 2015When you play the following ballads in this order I Want To Know What Love Is, Waiting for a Girl Like You, Hello, Lady In Red, Careless Whisper, Keep On Lovin’ You they actually form 1 connected 80s love story like the Marvel movies.
Read on…
Illuminated Chronicles: Words by Rakim
July 17th, 2015There’s a great irony in rap music. The lyrics in rap are supposed to spring forth as a kind of rough street poetry. Poetry by any standard demands proficient articulation, profound thought and pleasurable connection.
Yet despite the surge of rappers and rap music many of these specific elements are missing, either in action or just RSVPed but didn’t bother to show up.
You can clearly understand what I mean when you hear a rapper being interviewed, often times, he’s not articulate. The cohesion of thought just isn’t there. And it’s understandable, rap is driven by the beat, the sample is destiny.
A solid infectious 808 beat can instantly triumph where lyrics falter. (And to be fair this happens in rock music, though not on the same level, a rock song can unfold many different ways, if a rap song has found a fresh beat it sticks with it, all the way to the top of the charts).
That irony of making a living off poetry and not being articulate ends with Rakim. He remains a lyrical grandmaster, deftly wielding words with the reverence a samurai saves for his sword. Like Chuck D, he needs no introduction, the work is that quality, only sometimes, we foolishly forget.
Director Matt Bieler offers this short yet insightful documentary on Rakim.
Appropriately and succinctly entitled Words:
Host Haiku In Session With…Five Alarm Funk
July 14th, 2015
As inspired by listening to Five Alarm Funk’s Abandon Earth
Read on…
Last Night’s Dream…
July 13th, 2015Not sure what I ate right before bed…skipped my customary cereal (currently Honeycomb) still I had a dream Julia Roberts and I went on a road trip. I dunno how to interpret something like that…I ain’t a fan: it’s Closer and Notting Hill from her and that’s that…not even Pretty Woman.
Summer Commandments
July 12th, 2015These are the days of our youth, loaded with boldness blessed with fortune.
Celebrate all these endless days of Summer in peace, wonderment and ruckus!
Never look back, surge forward.
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A Streetcar Named Desire…A Modern Romance
July 11th, 2015On the streetcar is a girl (kinda) standing in front of a boy, asking him to love her.
Behind me she says on the phone: “Chris I just saw somebody wearing a Keith Richards t-shirt and it just got me even more excited for the Stones concert. I can’t wait to experience this moment with you…will you come with me?”
Host Haiku In Session With…Daniel Wesley
July 9th, 2015As inspired by listening to Daniel Wesley’s I Am Your Man
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Host Haiku In Session With…Black Lips
July 9th, 2015As inspired by listening to Black Lips’ Underneath the Rainbow
Read on…
Seeing You Too
July 7th, 2015Last night at U2…the band pulled up out of the crowd Acrobat a local tribute band.
Google Search Fun Fact
July 4th, 2015If it’s free you’re the product…
Read on…
Illuminated Chronicles: Shad Live at Massey Hall
July 3rd, 2015On March 27, 2015 Shad had his Massey Hall debut. Sadly I could not attend and thanks to the nice people at Massey Hall that’s sort of ok.
Read on…
Host Haiku In Session With…Little Junior
July 2nd, 2015As inspired by listening to Little Junior’s Music
Read on…
Movie: Terminator Genisys
July 1st, 20151 short meeting, cigars are already done…then Terminator Genisys…I wanna see the Arnold vs Arnold fight. Better be balls to the wall ruckus.
Read on…
Documentary: R.E.M. By MTV
June 30th, 2015Watched this and I highly recommend it…God my heart aches, I miss R.E.M.
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My Final Confession
June 29th, 2015Confession: I haven’t watched the final Letterman episode. I will just…when I am ready. Had the same issue with R.E.M.’s final album…took months to finally get into it.
RE: James Clarke talks digital and his new PepsiCo gig
June 27th, 2015Still trying to figure out how to build Girth Radio and engage corporations…the companies who can hand over money in a dollar sign sack. I’ll even take a pillowcase really…
Illuminated Chronicles: Honda Buddy Holly Commercial
June 26th, 2015What…the crack?
A family (including a hip and not rapping grandpa) combat road trip boredom by Gleeing Weezer’s Buddy Holly.
Read on…
Host Haiku In Session With…Fiona Bevan
June 25th, 2015As inspired by listening to Fiona Bevan’s Talk to Strangers
Read on…
At Girth Radio
June 23rd, 2015Got my Coke…
Got my mic…
I can’t wait to get this Girth Radio Party started!
Read on…
Illuminated Chronicles: The Neptunes In The Studio
June 19th, 2015It is surreal but the classic love ballad Rump Shaker Wreckx-N-Effect’s 1992 hit gave the world a significant ode to booty and birthed Pharrell Williams. It’s Heating Up…
Read on…
Illuminated Chronicles: Percussive Maintenance
June 12th, 2015We’ve all been there, slapping, slamming, cursing our tech. And the results…are often effective. Take that IT department. Duncan Robson plundered tv shows and movies to find dozens of effective tech slaps, cuffs, beats all tightly edited into the hypnotic Percussive Maintenance. Outstanding!
Special bonus points for including Small Wonder, crazy deep reference. Well played sir.
Host Haiku In Session With…Ivory Hours
June 11th, 2015As inspired by listening to Ivory Hours’ Morning Light
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Illuminated Chronicles: Gravity: A Falling Montage
June 5th, 2015And to think all this time most movies were about characters just falling in love. Turns out they’re often jumping, leaping off buildings, falling, escaping and more. Gravity shows up in the movies more often that we realize. All the classic leaps are here: Die Hard (YES GUY!), Aliens, Verigo…Iron Man and more. Enjoy this, I found the video deeply hypnotic.
Read on…
Illuminated Chronicles: Font Men
May 29th, 2015As children our journey imitates human evolution: we start out drawing on walls.
It’s one of our first artistic risks crushed by an ardent no. If we can successfully maintain our Artistic impulses through the limited faculties of education and many more nos we arrive to eventually professionally begin…writing on walls.
Only this time wall writing is consider advertising. As the Font Men in this documentary short confirm a font isn’t alive until it “joins the culture.”
In 6 minutes this sublime documentary short explores Hoefler & Frere-Jones a distinguished type foundry with classy clients including The New York Times and Nike. Like a magician on Fox they reveal several font designing secrets.
Save yourself the Art School tuition, make tea and relish this short.
“Typography is the craft of endowing human language with a durable visual form.”
Robert Bringhurst, The Elements of Typographic Style
Host Haiku In Session With…Oh Land
May 21st, 2015
As inspired by listening to Oh Land’s Earth Sick
Read on…
Host Haiku In Session With…Twin Forks
May 14th, 2015As inspired by listening to Twin Forks’ Twin Forks
Read on…
Host Haiku In Session With…Demi Louise
May 7th, 2015
As inspired by listening to Demi Louise’s Songs From My Bedroom
Read on…
Host Haiku In Session With…Tom West
May 3rd, 2015As inspired by listening to Tom West’s Oncoming Clouds
Read on…
Host Haiku In Session With…The Autumn Portrait
May 3rd, 2015As inspired by listening to The Autumn Portrait’s Tired Love
Read on…
Host Haiku In Session With…Marta Pacek
April 30th, 2015As inspired by listening to Marta Pacek’s Voodoo Dolls and False Alarms
Read on…
Host Haiku In Session With…Sarah Burton
April 30th, 2015As inspired by listening to Sarah Burton’s Make Your Own Bed
Read on…
Host Haiku In Session With…ACR
April 23rd, 2015As inspired by listening to The Addington County Revue’s The Addington County Revue EP
Read on…
Host Haiku In Session With…Midday Swim
April 16th, 2015As inspired by listening to Midday Swim’s Midday Swim
Read on…
Host Haiku In Session With…Sam Cash
April 9th, 2015As inspired by listening to Sam Cash’s Stand Together, Fall Together
Read on…
Illuminated Chronicles: Visualing Poetry With 1960s Computer Graphics
April 3rd, 2015Sammy Younan
Girth Radio Presents…
So April is National Poetry Month! The goal of course is to increase awareness and deepen appreciate of poetry. As such here is visualing poetry with 1960s computer graphics…yup.
Read on…
Host Haiku In Session With…Century Thief
April 2nd, 2015As inspired by listening to Century Thief’s Reverie
Read on…
Sherlock’s Greatest Challenge
March 28th, 2015This Moffat quote is phenomenal:
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The Real NBA Season
March 27th, 2015Final NBA game of the season (for me). Tonight against the Lakers.
Read on…
Host Haiku In Session With…Whitney Rose
March 26th, 2015
As inspired by listening to Whitney Rose’s Heartbreaker of the Year
Read on…
Host Haiku In Session With…Lydia Persaud
March 19th, 2015
As inspired by listening to Lydia Persaud’s Lost and Found EP
Read on…
A Doherty Encounter
March 15th, 2015Met Shannen Doherty, guess that’s on my record now.
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A Star Wars Tourist
March 7th, 2015My Comic Book Dealer tossed in Darth Vader #1 and #2 into the monthly mix since I enjoyed Jason Aaron’s Star Wars. Sigh. On it goes…
Read on…
Illuminated Chronicles: Skateboarding in India Episode 3 (by Levi’s)
March 6th, 2015Sammy Younan
Girth Radio Presents…
Levi’s has released the third and final installment of their Skateboarding In India series, for which they linked up with the local Holystoked skateboarding team in Bangalore to help the build the first free public skate park in the country. You can view Episode 1 and Episode 2.
In this episode we view the finished concrete park, which professional skate park builder Daryl Nobbs says is better than most parks available in the UK (burn!).
Skateboarders Chet Childress, Al Partanen, Stefan Janoski, Omar Salazar, Lennie Burmeister, and Rob Smith skate the finished project to prove just how well it rides which is about as smooth as this video:
Sammy Younan @ W • T • F
“Never Forget: Somebody Somewhere Is Doing Something Fresh. Is It You?”
Host Haiku In Session With…LYON
March 5th, 2015As inspired by listening to LYON’s Music
Read on…
Host Haiku In Session With…K.I.D
February 26th, 2015As inspired by listening to K.I.D’s K.I.D (Kids In Despair) – EP
Read on…
Smell Ya Later!
February 23rd, 2015Prologue:
This tale occurred in June 2006 while I was working at a University. You see every graduation, would be held on immaculate grass, with ice cream sandwiches for the happy educated families following the diploma ceremony. Not one to let a sweet Summer day pass–especially with free ice cream, yo–I’d leave my desk to join the festivities. Hey your company has perks these were my perks.
Illuminated Chronicles: Skateboarding in India Episode 1 (by Levi’s)
February 20th, 2015Sammy Younan
Girth Radio Presents…
First of all I didn’t know Levi’s did this whole skateboarding thing. Did you? If so you are wiser and cooler than I.
Directed and filmed by Simon Weyhe & Mathias Nyholm…this is inspirational work. I found myself fist pumping often! Everybody involved from the filmmakers to the skaters to Levi’s should get a high five.
To inject a diverse and infectious culture like skateboarding into the rich Indian civilization is powerful. A whole group of youth will discover a unique voice equipped with a liberating perspective. These are the humble building blocks to dissent…not careless teenagers rebel without a cause that anger is fleeting. Rather a genuine and authentic questioning of the dominate culture’s values.
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Host Haiku In Session With…Robyn Dell’Unto
February 19th, 2015As inspired by listening to Robyn Dell’Unto’s Little Lines
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Illuminated Chronicles: Drake ~ Jungle
February 13th, 2015Drake’s short film, Jungle, is now online…directed by Swiss newcomer Karim Huu Do and scored by Drake’s regular producer, 40. Clearly the best way to influence your mythology is clearly to create it:
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Host Haiku In Session With…Jerry Leger
February 12th, 2015As inspired by listening to Jerry Leger’s Early Riser
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The Girth Radio Mystery
February 11th, 2015My latest (and greatest?) adventure? What kind of adventure you ask? Driving around in a van solving mysteries perhaps? (I wish! Does anybody do that anymore…)
I’m running a radio station actually: Girth Radio!
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Outta Compton & Outta Documentaries
February 10th, 2015Busy hip hop day…we got the Straight Outta Compton trailer…the N.W.A biopic and news that 2 Live Crew have reunited. Wonder if the tour is called as Old as They Wanna Be. #RimShot
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Host Haiku In Session With…HotKid
February 5th, 2015As inspired by listening to HotKid’s Music
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Magic via Mirrors
January 16th, 2015Yo…just read about an old timey superstition that is ridiculously creepy.
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And God Gave Us Zombies
January 15th, 2015Zombies to depict colonization of First Nations (in Canada) in new movie…this has potential if it’s done well.
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Reading is FUNdamental…The Unwritten Volume 9: The Unwritten Fables
January 14th, 2015How does Mike Carey & Peter Gross’ Unwritten keep the quality so high and yet delightfully complex with every trade? Magic? Voodoo? Talent?
Unwritten is the Scotch of comic books…it’ll just improve with age. Crazy how good and smart this series is, panel for panel. I dunno how people read Unwritten monthly. I “need” the trades to absorb all the depth of the story, it’s so dense. (Morning Glories another excellent dense comic book series is the same…way too dense for monthlys!)
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Canadian MKUltra
January 13th, 2015This is all kinds of amazing…yet utterly racist but so cool!
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In The Zone of Twilight
January 10th, 2015Last month I bought a new car and it came with a year of SiriusXM. One of the channels is 24/7 radio plays it’s called Radio Classics!
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The Star Wars Footprint
January 2nd, 2015May We 2015 Well…
December 31st, 2014So 2015…
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Our December Sun…
December 1st, 2014December is National How The Hell Did We Get Here? Month.
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How To Say Good-Bye on Facebook
November 30th, 2014So Strange: on Facebook I have 2 dead friends. And every so often somebody will write on their walls and they’ll appear in my feed.
It’s startling. It’s like you’re back…and I just got used to our silence. In between all this Facebook life of babies, relationships beginning and ending, memes and cutting edge sarcasm creeps this unsettling subtle death.
Shoulda Seen It Coming…
November 7th, 2014Know what scares me?
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Canadian Satan
October 31st, 2014Friend of mine recently became a Canadian citizen. He had to master that whole thing…learn about the history, how a bill becomes a law, the divinity of maple syrup etc. All useful information required to be an effective Canadian.
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I Was Predestined To See Predestination
October 22nd, 2014So last night I saw a super cool MESSED up movie. My friend J Rock and I hashed out the end…we think we understood how it ended…or do we?
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Kobe & I Have Contradictions In Common
October 21st, 2014This ESPN Kobe Article:
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Racism Feels Like…
October 21st, 2014You ever been dumped and a friend foolishly tries to convince you that you have worth and you’re utterly special?
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Sonic Highways First Impression
October 18th, 2014So Sonic Highways…that new Foo show on HBO? Skipped my usual Saturday morning cartoons and fired that up instead.
2 things:
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Happy Turkey Day (In Canada)
October 13th, 2014Happy Turkey Day: I’m grateful for all the conventional jazz: my health, family, that I don’t live in a refrigerator box etc. Those don’t need a special day, s’kinda like Valentine’s Day nonsense: if you ain’t putting in daily time at the gym you ain’t gonna be healthy.
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The Samuel L. Jackson Memo
September 13th, 2014Saw Big Game today! Samuel L. Jackson in a Finland/UK production. Kinda odd but overall it worked.
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How To Crash TIFF Parties
September 5th, 2014Alright look if you want to get into Film Festival parties/events etc. the weakest point of security is smokers.
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My Nerd Adventures
August 31st, 2014At Nerd-Fest! So much good times!
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That Time I Met Batgirl
August 30th, 2014At the nerdfest…trying to figure out the map so I can visit a friend’s booth. This little girl totally decked out as Batgirl slides next to me…”Hi! I’m Batgirl.”
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She’s A Pro (S’not What You Think…)
August 29th, 2014Comic Con To English…
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Started Sherlock…
August 17th, 2014Ok so I just sat down with 2 falafel sangwiches and fired up Sherlock.
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Finished X-Files
August 4th, 2014On a dark and cold January evening, the 10th…I started re-watching X-Files. And I just finished. 9 Seasons or 202 episodes. Plus 1 feature film. Whew. What a long ruckus filled journey.
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Go Guardians of the Galaxy!
August 1st, 2014Going to Guardians of the Galaxy this weekend? Go, you’ll have all kinds of clothes on fun. But!!!
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Mind The Gap: On The Quest for Love & Conversation
July 12th, 2014What’s the evolution of the interview? The conversation?
What’s the next iteration in how we celebrate, authenticate, legitimatize and authorize our favourite Cultural Contributors?
The…Joker?
July 6th, 2014So late last night, near Queen St. I ran into the Joker…60s Batman tv show Joker. Purple coat tales and all. It was a solid effort.
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Canadian Patriotism
July 4th, 2014To all my Americans…
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Father’s Day
June 15th, 2014August 2001…first time I visited London.
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Happy National Doomed Day
June 13th, 2014Happy Friday the 13th!
Let’s celebrate our endless invincible youth by camping at Crystal Lake with big boobed blondes while enjoying unwieldy premarital sex in the woods and smoking copious amounts of weed. What’s the worst that can happen…right guys?
The Admiral’s Neighbourhood
May 31st, 2014Caught the end of this, I dunno what special on NBA TV. They had amazing footage of David Robinson.
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Goodbye Maya Angelou
May 28th, 2014Awww man. I didn’t grow up with grandparents so I let people like Maya Angelou adopt me. That sucks.
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Teasing Space Strangers
May 27th, 2014In our society where fear is the daily diet, where we shallowly use the Internet for Gotcha! games for celebrities with minor transgressions, I am deeply encouraged by the bright light of hope illuminated by teasers at the end of superhero movies.
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Facebook Wants To Hear You…
May 22nd, 2014PSA: For any of my Facebook friends who enjoy the darker Darth Vader side of the internet…you know nude midget wrestling (Mexican or traditional…), would you rather lick it or smell it and other assorted seedy sites that require a history deletion please be aware that the Facebook app will pick up the sounds of those sites and broadcast it to us, your Facebook friends.
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Ops Tea
May 15th, 2014Had a short business meeting in Starbucks; they had ads all over the store for Oprah Chai Tea.
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this is what it sounds like…
May 14th, 2014We used to gaze up at the stars with awe and wonder….
We struggled to reach the moon and paid in full the high cost to befriend the cosmos.
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Moms, Mothers
May 11th, 2014It’s utterly fantastic that we have a day to pause and reflect on the extraordinary strong and beautiful women in our lives.
The first person we ever meet and the only person in our lives who ends conversations with “because I said so.”
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Hire & Fire
April 26th, 2014So this is exciting…my company NewMusic Ten is growing and I get to hire some new faces. Only…I’ve never hired anybody before. The talented people I work with are all Super Friends. So this is the first time I have to like, post the job, read resumes and do, like job interviews. And so far, this entire process is utter bullshit.
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Model Dreams
April 10th, 2014Sweet moment on the streetcar:
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Hip Hop Proverbs #13
April 7th, 2014According to Rihanna the parking lot is a metaphor for friendship. It’s in the parking lot that we search for our car and where we yearn for love and friendship. Knowing what you want is only the first step–of many–towards achievement. In the parking lot of life Rihanna has your back:
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Google Jokes
April 1st, 2014Considering Google’s penchant for April Fools jokes, I’m disappointed that today of all days Google Maps won’t divulge the location of Paradise City where, I’m told, the grass is green and the girls are pretty.
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Hip Hop Proverbs #11
March 24th, 2014Challenges can be intimidating but it’s only because we don’t have perspective. Climbing a hill isn’t a big deal when it’s next to a mountain, right? Next time you’re faced with a challenge, never no worries, today’s Hip Hop Proverb offers you the inspiring perspective to get’er done.
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Hip Hop Proverbs #10
March 17th, 2014Great advice is timeless. Carpe Diem for the Urban Jet Set via this timeless Hip Hop Proverb:
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Someone Not There Episode #4: Video
March 12th, 2014Confession: I’ve never understood binge watching.
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Hip Hop Proverbs #9
March 10th, 2014Abracadabra: just let this Hip Hop Proverb work its Magic…
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Hip Hop Proverbs #8
February 24th, 2014Of course constructive criticism isn’t always appreciated and yet, hindsight reveals a profound Hip Hop Proverb…truth:
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Hip Hop Proverbs #7
February 17th, 2014Existential questions include: Who Am I? Why do I feel so alone in this world? And…what does this Hip Hop Proverb even mean?
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RE: U2 “Invisible” (RED) Edit Version
February 14th, 2014You pay attention when Mark Romanek issues a new music video.
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Hidden Gem: Vibonics “Set Sail”
February 11th, 2014From the Someone Not There Soundtrack comes…Set Sail, one of my favourite tracks from Vibonics’ Kitchen Sink EP.
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Hip Hop Proverbs #6
February 10th, 2014Who knew Vanilla Ice could be so inspirational? This Hip Hop Proverb is like after-school-special gold! In the school of life…not everyone deserves a participation award:
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My RoboCop Elevator Pitch
February 6th, 2014Granted we’re stuck with this RoboCop remake, sure but that doesn’t mean the sequels have to suck right?
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Hip Hop Proverbs #5
February 3rd, 2014I know, it’s Monday. Last thing you’re thinking is Carpe Diem. Well MC Hammer disagrees, with all the fervor of a “stay in school special” he offers this rousing Hip Hop Proverb:
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“Slipped In The Shower…”
February 1st, 2014On January 22, 2014 I witnessed a fateful television vision:
I am gonna bite the bullet and start X-Files soon. 9 seasons! And 2 movies. Whew. I’m wrapping up Star Trek: Next Gen soon. (Next Gen is dated, for sure but still lots of fun. I wish they’d done more with Lore and his army of unhived Borgs.)
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Hip Hop Proverbs #4
January 27th, 2014The Hip Hop Proverb version of What to Expect When You’re Expecting, Gold Digger edition:
Borg Teachers Struggling With Individuality
January 26th, 2014Earlier today I read Chapter 2 of Malcolm Gladwell’s David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants; so much Hulk rage.
At one point I had to get up and pace on the subway, burn off some of the anger. So annoyed.
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Your TK Is Not OK
January 25th, 2014TMN (The Movie Network) is running Carrie ads, that new remake…meh, might just ff to the prom mayhem.
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Modernity’s Progressss
January 23rd, 2014Over tea this morning I was reading how the US Military (DARPA) is experimenting with eliminating sleep from its solders but not like sleeplessness where you mentally breakdown and start seeing things. Their goal is to eliminate the need for sleep while keeping solders awake and fully alert, with all their faculties intact for 7 full days.
Madness.
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Lies, Limits, Prestige & Publishing
January 22nd, 2014Ah yes, this is it! Page 36 of Gladwell’s David and Goliath he writes:
“We spend a lot of time thinking about the ways that prestige and resources and belonging to elite institutions make us better off. We don’t spend enough time thinking about the ways in which those kinds of material advantages limit our options.”
YES! YES! YES!
Searching for Time Travellers In Their Spare Time
January 21st, 2014Yo…have you seen this report on Time Travellers?
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Hip Hop Proverbs #3
January 20th, 2014And to think this whole time you were taking fashion cues from Vogue and GQ, turns out all you required was this honest Hip Hop Proverb (sing the rest if you know it and I know you know it):
Internet Freedom Day Gratitude
January 16th, 2014On January 18, 2012 the Internet went on strike to protest SOPA and PIPA.
I’m so grateful they did.
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Hip Hop Proverbs #2
January 13th, 2014Ironically today’s Hip Hop Proverb comes from Jay-Z’s Public Service Announcement:
Harry’s Magic
January 12th, 2014Harry’s Magic
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Quantum Leap: Season 1
January 11th, 2014On January 2nd, 2014…a proper way to embrace a new year with a time travelling tv show from from the early 90s! Channel 293 Dejaview TV started their Quantum Leap marathon. I fired up the VCR. And the kettle for a spot of tea.
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Damn The Fridge: A Scribble Manifesto
January 10th, 2014Say goodbye to Artistic Freedom.
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The Hard Work of Where I Work
January 9th, 2014So January 7th was my Office Anniversary.
Traditionally I’m not an anniversary type of guy, I’d much rather face the future then dwell in the past. Still milestones like birthdays and the end of a tv series do provide a pause and prompt reflection. What just happened? And where are my pants?
One Room, My Room: In my office I’ve recorded podcasts, had meetings, ate Wendy’s, daydreamed which lead to dozing, designed t-shirts, read comics which lead to dozing, listened to music, did lots of writing…which lead to dozing, muttered out loud and yes…even worked…whatever that means to you.
The Exhibit
January 8th, 2014Said: “Come—Closer so you may see,
Prepare yourselves for The Sight:
It’ll affect how you’ll be,
And will give you quite a fright!
We are proud to present this
Hush now—Silence!—no more din.
The Sight is removed from bliss:
Get ready to see the Sin!
For the image prepare zeal:
Physically it will express
—quickly like a flashing eel—
Mentally, try to depress
What’s inside your mind pent:
Dread & terror of the scene
Forever from the moment.
Brace for the gross & obscene!
Incline & consume The Sight
That repeals & attracts…fright!”
The faded purple Curtain is raised—
the public gasps in shock and dismay:
The scene unfolding before them is too much—
for some to grasp—to comprehend.
The poet lay naked, huddled
and humiliated in the corner of his cage.
Gripped in a blaze of inspiration
his pen scrawls across the page
leaving behind moving poetic notions.
His hair is wild and the chains on
his wrists and ankles, rub him raw, drawing fresh blood.
He endures the suffering—only—by
knowing there will be a pause soon—soon
in another minute—a second more:
The Curtain will drop and it will
be over for the audience. But
the poet’s tale remains without end.
Forced in the grip of some unseen muse to write—
The Curtain hangs one final moment…
The poet retreats into himself further.
The Curtain drops—pause for the poet,
the spectators shudder as they recall
The Sight. As they are ushered to the
Next Exhibit they compare notes and
once again their attention is gained:
The audience leans in with eager
expectations for yet another
Exhibit on this strange and odd tour.
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My Office Anniversary
January 7th, 2014Today in 2008 a plucky writer decided to have a room of one’s own and signed a lease for an office near College Park.
I know, Hallmark doesn’t make cards for office anniversaries. And we’re all grateful for that, one less thing to celebrate. Still I figured I should pause and hip hop hooray my office: part Man Cave, part Bat Cave, All Room.
So then here are 6 utterly useless Fun Facts about my office:
Hip Hop Proverbs #1
January 6th, 2014An insightful Hip Hop Proverb from Bell Biv DeVoe to set the tone for your week!
We Were Never Cool
January 5th, 2014Catching up today with an ex-nerd.
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4 Foods Worthy of Theme Songs
January 2nd, 2014I wish certain foods had theme songs. That way you have something powerful to sing or even hum while you wait for them to get into your belly.
10:55 A-Musings (2014)
January 1st, 2014It’s been a month since I started sharing my 10:55 am pop culture amusings. Clearly I don’t have the Mother Teresa touch: I haven’t made the world a better place. Undaunted I press on, everyday at 10:55am via @mypalsammy:
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Smell Ya Later 2013
December 31st, 2013So that’s pretty much it for 2013. How was it?
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Tony & Angela
December 29th, 2013Just watched the Who’s The Boss? episode where Tony “accidentally” sees Angela naked. Still Holds Up. Unlike Growing Pains…
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My 3 John Hughes Marathon Observations
December 26th, 2013Hope Santa was good to all you beautiful people (even though let’s be honest, being on the naughty list is way more fun, better stories! Coal be damned). I’m pantslessly enjoying a John Hughes marathon (not really sure why, just kinda happened).
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Family Grudge Match
December 24th, 2013Back from Christmas dinner with my family. Good Times, I’m grateful.
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My 2 Types of People
December 14th, 2013I hang out with 2 types of people: Nerds and Civilians.
Fallback To Normal
December 12th, 2013You know how right before you drift into dreams this one profound definitive conclusion will suddenly reveal itself, kinda like the Invisible Man who as it turns out was there the whole time? Sometimes it feels like the Wonder Years Narrator only this time, you can hear his insights! (That sure would have saved Kevin and Winnie lots of heartache while also developing any number of fascinating paradoxes in the space–time continuum). That’s…an embarrassing amount of nerd references in just a couple of lines. Right, moving on then…
From The Mailbox: Q: “What drives you?”
December 7th, 2013Time to open the mailbox yet again!
Greg from Texas (where I’ve been assured everything is bigger) asked: “What drives you?”
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From The Mailbox: Q: “Have you stopped wearing women’s clothes?”
December 6th, 2013From The Mailbox…Lori wrote in to ask: “Have you stopped wearing women’s clothes?”
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A Cheater’s Declaration
December 6th, 2013With alarming frequency I can’t buy anything without being asked about that store’s loyalty program/card thingie or being offered some random way to collect points to redeem for more crap. Look…I’ma say this once to every single store: I cheat on all of you. Regularly and out in the open.
From The Mailbox: Q: “Why are Canadians so sexy?
December 5th, 2013Alright so Maria from Cincy has a question and a comment: “Why are Canadians so sexy? I think it’s all that flannel.”
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From The Mailbox: Q: “If you had lime in a coconut but couldn’t shake it all up, how upset would you be?”
December 5th, 2013Nicole wrote in to ask: “If you had lime in a coconut but couldn’t shake it all up, how upset would you be?”
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From The Mailbox: Q: “What Do You Want To Know?”
December 4th, 2013Hey! Is there something you wanna know about me?
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From The Mailbox: Q: “Do Egyptians walk like a Bangle?”
December 4th, 2013Alright to answer your questions…Mike P. axed me: “Do Egyptians walk like a Bangle?”
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Christmas Uncheer!
November 29th, 2013So far…so good: it’s November 29 and I haven’t encountered Do They Know It’s Christmas?…yet.
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RE: Your Thanksgiving
November 28th, 2013Happy Thanksgiving to you wacky Americans!!!
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You Are Capable.
November 27th, 2013You are capable of making art.
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Freedom vs Gym Class
November 18th, 2013Remember that infamous book from years back All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten? Yeah well the truth is if we could all write a book together, Wikipedia style it’d be All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Gym Class. It’s Gym Class where you get saddled with inferior paradigms like Shirts vs Skins (really us vs them…I coulda gone for this had it been no pants vs pants, though), winners and losers etc. That’s great for sports because there are clearly defined rules and somebody’s keeping score…in the real world, it’s far to messy for such naive simplicity.
Better Than The Space Race
November 15th, 2013It’s that time of year where JFK shows up in all kinds of tv specials. I’m always struck by the Space Race…the quest for the Moon. Out of that whole race we got all kinds of technology and a Tom Hanks movie with pithy inspirations.
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Ramones Startup
November 11th, 2013When my startup makes embarrassing gobs of money-take that GNP of small African nations–every Monday morning, over the entire office’s PA I’ll bring in famous drummers to tap their sticks and count off a beat “1-2-3-4!” Ramones style like we’re all gonna launch into an epic tune brimming with seriously serious shredding and explosive pyro: this…this is the fun and only way to not only start the work week but it effectively banishes any case of the Mondays.
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We Need A Word For….#2
November 9th, 2013We Need A Word For…
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Steady Productivity
November 8th, 2013Does Jay-Z record a song every day?
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Bowie On The Frontlines of Productivity
November 7th, 2013Yo!
How are your adventures? Mine are beyond fantastical.
It’s been one whole week into my Day Job sabbatical. And it’s just amazing. Freedom to think and tea and listen to music and not wear pants and nap and meet cool people and of course…work. Whatever that means.
It’s Not Over Until…
November 5th, 2013That song…you know how you have a favourite or an important song you just have to listen to the very end…to the very last note?