Author: Bill

Perfect weather. Perfect, rockin’ performance by Brass Transit, who pumped out Chicago tunes we could hear from our house. Hard, hard working entertainers. We followed their sound to the park, thinking they’d be winding up their set by the time we walked over. No way. They must have kept going for an hour after that. The joyous crowd even squeezed an encore out of them. Brass Transit, we are FANS!

This clip from an old AT&T corporate video could just as well have been played by a male rather than female actor, but the gal they cast certainly did an excellent job.

The Harper government likes to make laws but stalls on Supreme Court orders to defend the rights of Omar Khadr. The petition may have no effect, but at least you’ll be able to get on the lawful side of this sad story. Click the image above if you’d like to sign, too.

Everyone who has tried Danica’s edamame fried rice [pronounced ed-a-maw-mee] has wanted the recipe. It’s that good. Bonus: it is good served cold or warm. Double bonus: it keeps perfectly in the fridge… just as delicious next day… if there’s any left over.
The recipe follows, complete with some important custom touches that Danica has added:

Publicist and sometimes-stand-up comic Sandy Zwyer is sharing this photo, snapped on a local streetcar.

[You can follow Sandy on Twitter]

The usual phrase is by popular demand, but when the request is made by a single visitor, that would be a bit much. Still, a single visitor represents such a large percentage of my readership, I thought I should respond. The search box is back in the menu bar above.
There was (and still is) a search box available for all postings before March of this year. [Right hand column, down a bit] Now the months after March are searchable, too.

I seldom hear one as nice and packed with meaning as this snippet from an Australian radio documentary I heard on CBC this morning. Someone was said to be

“sailing into the dangerous shallows of everyday reality.”

The other day, Danica noticed a mess on the front porch… egg shells, whites and yolks smeared around a chair, window sill and floor. There was also a fresh, fine layer of dirt bearing dusty impressions of raccoon feet.
As I cleaned up, I envisioned a raccoon fight over an egg and wondered where the egg might have come from. A lucky find in someone’s garbage bin perhaps? Certainly a treasure worth fighting over.
Then today, when I opened the blinds that had been closed to keep out our heatwave, I saw that some two-legged vermin had been the egg source. Our second floor window had been egged 3 times.

Since it’s been on there for at least 2 days, baking in the hot sun, this clean-up will be a lot tougher than one on the porch. I’m sure it’s nothing personal, just some adolescent, antisocial behavior. Raccoons are less of a nuisance than some of our own species.

I remember John Crossen as MR. WONDERFUL, his nom de plume when he was being an advertising copywriter. He was good at it, as with most things he turns his hand to. I know, for example, that he’s a very sharp astronomer, with his own observatory… Buckhorn Observatory. When he attended parties given by our friends the Hickeys, he brought along his own supply of kickass, spicy snacks, so I know he can handle the hot stuff.
What I didn’t know was that John Crossen co-wrote the theme song to that ages-old, perennial TV show, The Littlest Hobo. The subject came up last night at one of those congenial Hickey dinner parties. John still receives royalty payments for the piece because it continues to get air play, over 3 decades later.
I hope my little example here won’t require me to send him a cheque.

Littlest Hobo personal experience…

I’m not the only one who finds the Gerrard Art Space locked up tight whenever we try to get in for a look. Others have been looking in from the outside, too.
Seems a pity, because every second home around here is undergoing some kind of renovation. Hundreds of new, bare walls are begging for artwork. GAS could be supplying some of it, especially since members of the artists’ collective don’t have to pay comissions on their sales. Prices for original art can be kept well within reach and who wouldn’t want a real art piece rather than a reproduction?
How about at least posting some “Open” hours in the window for us, GAS?
[Update] I found a list of hours on the website.