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03/28/2004 - 04/04/2004 |
Sunday, February 24, 2008![]() Obay Phonies![]() Hey, I saw an Obay outdoor ad with a sticker on the exterior of it with an URL. I thought this might have been the second stage of the ad campaign, but then I saw other Obay ads that didn't have them. Also, if you look at that site, they aren't using any of the professionally taken Obay images or using the Obay bottle. At the bottom of the site, it says, "Almost but not quite from the makers of WhybecauseIsaidso". This is somebody trying to "cash in" on the Obay cleverness without actually making any cash.Monday, February 18, 2008![]() Obay Thrice?![]() Hey guys, I know I've talked to a few of you about these Obay ads. I liked Neil's hypothesis that it was actually a mind control drug and Obay was "kidding on the square". A google search doesn't reveal anything official except an Ottawa version of eBay. The ads, though, seem to only be appearing in Toronto. A few independent commentators have done some speculation and research, the best I found being this:http://torontoist.com/2008/02/the_ones_that_m.php The Torontoist take makes a lot of sense. In two weeks I guess we'll know. Obay has done a very good job at getting my attention, whatever it is. Friday, December 28, 2007![]() Strangers![]() So I was coming home last night at like 1:40 a.m. and I'm walking up my street. And I see this person, way up ahead, walking in the middle of the road. I can't tell if it's a man or a woman from this distance. It looks like the figure is starting and stopping, starting and stopping. I get a little closer and see that the person is holding an open book and reading. And it's a woman. And she's not just 'not a bum' but actually well-dressed. A little black skirt on jeans, new jacket, sort-of-funky-oh-cool-you're-30 hat and really tidy hair. And she is about 30. And she's talking to herself. At first I think she's reading the book out loud, but she's not. She's singing little bits of a song.Is she drunk? She must be drunk. But how drunk would this tidy 30 year old woman have to get before walking down the middle of the road reading and singing to herself? Pretty drunk. Her walk is a sort of crooked, like a drunk person, but also just like a person reading and walking at the same time. And she was wearing lifted shoes that made a clip, clop sound with every step. It was so surreal. After she passed I actually thought about speaking to her. Try to find out if she's drunk or crazy or just had a recent emotional explosion or something. But I didn't. Tuesday, December 18, 2007![]() Breaking my own rules![]() I left the house this morning at 9:50 to walk the GF down to the bus stop and head over to the library. The sky was beautiful, a thin layer of white film over a radiant sun. Like over-easy eggs. My throat was still feeling kind of scratchy, but I dint mind as we walked down to St. Clair, mostly in silence. When we got to St. Clair, the streetcar was pulling up to the spot right then. I was hoping the light would change and stop the streetcar so she could get on. Sure enough it did, the 'walk' light came on and so we hurried over to the platform. As we stepped out into the street, HOOONNNNK!, we were almost hit by this car coming around the corner through the red light. I looked at the driver with a heavy scowl. I saw her, a middle aged woman, and I flipped her off and held it. The GF and I made our way to the platform, she got ready to get on the streetcar. Suddenly I heard shouting. It was the driver. She hadn't moved. She'd rolled down her window to yell at me. "You should practice watching where you're going!" I was totally incensed, "Ya fucking twat! What the fuck!" I shouted at her. "You weren't looking! I was trying to brake when you jumped out, I didn't have room to stop!" For a second, I felt bad about calling this middle aged woman the t word. Yes, she nearly ran me over and now she was shouting at me, but in this exchange, I had taken the low road. I wanted to reclaim some dignity, so I yelled "Have a nice day, ma'am." She drove off. I realized my last comment must have come out completely sarcastic. I gave my girlfriend a sort-of hug and tried to grasp some nice goodbye message to her, but I think I just mumbled.I walked to the library, actually passing the streetcar for a while, which was dealing with the traffic problems out there. I was pretty shaken up. The anger at the driver subsided pretty quickly and I felt bad for how I'd handled the situation. Not particularly because I felt bad for the driver, but because I had not presented myself well. If I hadn't flipped her off, she wouldn't have yelled at me. If I'd collected myself an instant longer when she started yelling at me, I would have realized that she was just giving me her side of things. If I felt the need to yell back, I could have pointed out she was running a red and we had the walk symbol on, etc... I probably could have bitten my tongue if there was a 200-lb man behind the wheel. What got to me, though, was that I was shouting profanities at a total stranger when I had almost no voice. It was a total waste of energy. I was distracted from saying goodbye to my girlfriend because I had just finished the screaming. And say I had restrained myself. Her story would have been, "Some young man jumped out into the street, completely out of nowhere and I nearly hit him." Now her story is, "Some young man jumped out into the middle of the street, gave me the finger and then shouted profanities at me." When I got to the library, the librarian was a middle-aged woman with short hair, too. She made some friendly comment about navigating the slushy weather. I told her that I was just nearly run-over and I screamed at the driver and I could have handled it better. I was seeking some kind of psychic reconciliation with all the anger between me and the driver. So if we remember Rule # 4 from "Jux" I suppose we can ammend it to say do not fuck with strangers. It's obvious enough to point out that nothing good is going to come out of a confrontation like this. And the more you can force all your willpower into turning the other cheek, the better for everyone. Sunday, December 16, 2007![]() Heinous Horrors![]() Whenever I see snowfall of this magnitude, I am always puzzled that North America is the car capital of the world. Seriously. How much easier is it to clear a couple train tracks than all these roads? And to think of all those automobiles from the 'teens and 'twenties that weren't nearly as robust as what we have now, to imagine them all being made in Michigan, which is practically Canada. They wouldn't even be driveable 5 months of the year in the state they were built in.I have had my own adventures in the snow today that began at 8:00 a.m. When I got home, my face was sure red, man. Got home, showered up and changed, but there are more horrorventures over the horrorizon. I think my reply post on Jacob's is longer than my own post. Labels: Alves Driving School, Jacob, Redman, Toronto, Weather Sunday, December 02, 2007![]() Kneel was right...![]() And it snowed and it snowed and it snowed.Went over to Bingy's to watch American Gangster yesterday. Good movie, very good movie, not without its flaws. Like lots of gangster movies it kind of sags in the middle and there are a few "why do I need to see this?" scenes. Still, impressive. I would reccomend it. When the movie was done at nearly 2 a.m. I discovered that there'd been some snowfall while we'd been occupied. Ne'erth'less, I decided to brave the weather and make the hike to Bathurst and College where I would wait for the beuuus with the drunken yahoos. When I got outside I saw that my task was going to be a little tougher than I anticipated. It was still snowing hard and the wind was intense. I started trekking down to College, just looking at my feet, because you couldn't really look up without getting snow in your eyes, despite whatever your eyelashes had to say about it. I was walking for what felt like forever and at one point I finally decided to look up. I was only at Lord Lansdowne school. I had walked, like, one block. Well, as I made my way along College, it was a little better because the wind was at my back. But people in the streets were just goin' bananas. Imagine all the 20-summats crawling out of their Kensington Market warrens just after last call and directly into a blizzard! The hollering was intense and indistinguishable. I made it all the way to Bathurst, I considered crawling into "Bistro 422" or Sneaky's, but it was after last call, what would I do? Order a tea and wait for the storm to end? No, thought I, I shall brave it on public transportation. If Kneel was here we could split a cab. Fuck it, I could flag down a cab myself. On seeing that the next bus/streetcar wasn't scheduled to come for another 17 minutes, I said I'd walk up to Bloor, flag a cab perhaps. No cab did come with a light on.The gale was awful walking North. Just splinteringly cold. I pulled my jacket over my mouth and my toque just above my eyes. There was a procession of Nothern bound 20-summats. I passed two really tall girls and then this guy. It was like I was being sprayed with tiny icicles. If I had a celly, I could call for a cab. But, I thought, it would be best to abort this mention and go back to Benji's if possible. I turned East on Harbord and made my way to this killer-old payphone that didn't have a working display. "It will not work" I thought. I picked up the phone and there was indeed a dial tone. I put in the 50 Cent and called Benji. "He has gone to bed. He will have turned off his celly," I worried. Benji picked up after two rings. I explained the horrors of the storm and asked for asylum. He did grant it. I walked back East, getting the very worst of the wind. For some reason I found it was easier to angle my head slightly to the left than face it head on. There was no one on the street. At this little chichy (sp?) bistro they were having a private party with well-dressed 30 year olds. A couple was getting a cab, but most of them inside looked content to continue the party. It took a long time to get to Spadina, sometimes there were no people-tracks on the sidewalk. Finally, I made it back to Benji's, he was waiting at the door. I slept on the floor. Benji had set up a couple blankets on the carpet for me. A pillow had been fashioned from a hooded sweatshirt. I lied down in my jeans with my arms across my chest. "Man, I am too sober for floor-sleeping," thought I. I grabbed my jacket and draped it over myself. Falling asleep was tough because every now and then a draft would sweep by the floor. I woke up a couple times in the night with cramping neck pains and once when I needed to pee. And now my poor spine has to shovel snow. Labels: Adventure, Benji, Movies, Redman, Sneaky Dee's, Toronto, Weather Thursday, November 22, 2007![]() But when the jux go down...![]() Before I headed out of the house today I made a choice to wear my worn brown leather jacket and not my massive bubble jacket. It's a little cold this morning (it's actually 3:00 p.m., but I call it the morning because it's before NightClass!) as I am walking to St. Clair West station. I look over at this gaudy new convenience store "Big Bee" and think to myself, "man, wouldn't it be great if convenience stores sold alcohol?"I go to class. The first class is frustrating and a little dull, the scond class is riveting as usual. Because of the weather, the prof lets us go a little early - just after 9:00 p.m. (he usually goes til 9:30 or so). I am thinking to myself, "Great, I'll make it to the LCBO before it closes at 10:00 and buy my beer for the weekend and have one tonight." At St. Clair West I get out and go through the interior garden section of the Loblaw's towards the LCBO. I see these two sketchy guys directly in front of the LCBO's glass doors talking to each other. They look about 25 years old, but it's hard to tell. One's wearing a green jacket and the other guy's wearing a bright red jacket. They both look pretty trashed. The red jacket guy hands the green jacket guy money and says "I can't go in, they've already seen me." So I walk past them into the store over to the beer fridge. This yuppie couple comes in behind me, they're trying to pick a wine. I'm choosing out my beers when the green jacket guy comes over and asks me a question. I ask him to repeat. He's asking where something called Chelly's or Callie's is and I don't know. I pick my six tall boys and before I've gotten to the front counter I hear this: "Get out of here." "I was served 40 minutes ago." "We saw you with him. Get out. Leave. You're banned from here." There are two LCBO employees with their arms folded across their chest seeing to the green jacket man's departure. Well, they ring up my purchase and there's a 30 year old guy behind the counter and this small girl who's about my age. She says to her co-worker, "He thought he'd get the girl alone - he came way too close to me." I consider putting the beers in my backpack. But I don't want to bother with the hassle of stuffing them in my bag that's already got all these books in it. So I just carry out the bag. In the Loblaw's section, there's the green jacket guy just walking slowly, talking to himself. I walk behind him a few paces, then I realize that there's no one else around but him and me. If he starts acting erratic, it would be unpleasent. So I decide to pass him - get away from him as fast as possible. I pass in front and start fastwalking and I notice he picks up his pace a little. A guy starts coming down the escalator perpendicular to me with a shopping cart and I speed up to put the man between me and green-jacket. But green jacket speeds up and clears him. I exit the building and decide to head over to the crowd waiting for the bus as quick as I can. Before I can get to the crowd I hear, "Hey," see the green-jacket guy in the corner of my eye and when I turn to face him, he's ripped the beer bag from my hand! I'm looking at him, clutching the ripped off plastic bag handle and I say, "C'mon. What the fuck?" "I'm doing you a favour. I'm saving your liver." "Come on." "I'm saving you. I'm saving your liver." I size him up and for a split second consider what a fight with this guy would involve if he did attack me. Then I spot his buddy, red-jacket is standing four feet over, looking at me. And he's fidgeting with something. It's just a glove. Green Jacket shouts, "I'm saving your liver. I'm saving your liver," as he starts backing away. Red Jacket tells him "Shut up, let's go. Just go!" The two guys start dashing across the street. I turn back in towards the LCBO. Walking, then running. The man and the girl who did my purchase are right behind the counter I run in, breathing heavily, "Guess what just happened, I just got ripped off by those two fellas* who were just in here!" I explained how the green jacket guy just ripped the bag straight out of my hand and noticed then, that I still had the ripped off plastic bag handle in my hand. They were shocked to hear that the guy just ripped it out of my hands, the girl said she'd never heard of anything like that. They debated about whether or not to call the police. They didn't. The staff agreed that those two fellas would never be allowed back at that location in any condition. I showed the girl my receipt and the LCBO gave me all the beer that had been nabbed from me! The girl asked to keep my receipt as evidence when the store security people come in for the weekend. As I left I realized that it was like 9:55 and if this had happened just a little later, I might never have been able to tell the staff. So basically, I got my beer back and I didn't get harmed at all. It's a pretty good story. And I'm glad that I live in a neighbourhood in a city where this sort of thing is unusual. And I'm glad the LCBO exists. You think if I'd bought those beers at the Big Bee and went in they would've taken me seriously, let alone totally replace my beer without any hassle? I couldn't help but think that if I had been wearing my "tough" jacket, that sort of conceals my slimness, this might not have happened. It made me think about why young guys who are 'good kids' who live in bad neighbourhoods are apt to dress thugged-out. But I learned three "street smarts rules" 1) If you are behind a a crazy or sketchy person, stay behind. As soon as you pass them, they have the watching you advantage. 2) Keep your alcohol in your backpack. 3) If you are carrying a bag and you're walking parallel to a wall and you think someone is scheming on your shit, put the bag in the hand closest to the wall. 4) What I already knew - the most important rule - don't fuck with stupid, desperate sketchy people. And on the busride home, I was like, maaan, I'm gonna BLOG about this. * - I actually said fellas. Tuesday, May 08, 2007![]() Set 'pon this corporate scumbag!![]() And Lo, the Mighty Box ascended from the Heavens and absolved all of any feeling of interest in making their own posts, sharing their own tales.Hm, I understand, though. So much is going on for me right now, yet so little is happening right now. Like, if I was in a cartoon, this would be the part where I'm whistling and walking through a field of daisies or something before I got whomped. Things are looking good and there's no real conflict at the moment. But I know, off the top of my head, two excellent stories by members of this blog, that would make brilliant posts, but maybe it's actually bether to save them for ANOTHER MEDIUM (wink, wink). I did my last in-class driving lesson today. We had the agent from State Farm come into class today. Before he arrived our teacher encouraged us to hound him like some old boar. One fellow did so, explaining his increasingly elaborate plan to defraud car insurance companies. When he left, our teacher reminded us that the agent was just giving us the corporate perspective and that if we wanted to do dangerous things on our own time, that was cool. Thursday I get behind the wheel for the first time ever in life. Euch! All I can think is that it's better to be here now than in ten years. It's better to be here now than in ten years. It's better to be here now... Maybe I'll like it! I believe we should keep writing. Anyone who is reading the blog, please say "aye" in the comments box for this post. If there be nary a soul 'round, we might need to have an official referendum for realsies. My KB start date is June 4th, for the record. And I should be coming back after my first week of work on account of it's convenient. P.S. - Things aren't such smooth sailing for EVERYONE. No, I'm not talking about Redman! Labels: Alves Driving School, Goin' Ape, Killbear, Lindsay Lohan, Redman, WhiteBox Friday, April 27, 2007![]() Gung for Sugared Hilltops![]() What happens when you combine my greatest interest over the last nine years (hip hop) with my current fascination (cooking)?Rappers' Delights. I picked it up from the library. The book promises recipes from all of today's hottest hip hop superstars. Flavor Flav, Yo Yo, MC Lyte, Hoes With Attitude (HOES With Attitude?! Now I've seen everything!) and a group called Immature, which includes three kids around the age of ten, dressed like Slick Rick at his gaudiest. Don't get me wrong, you've got some legends in here - KRS One's recipe for broccoli with melted cheese sauce, Erick Sermon puts in a good recipe and so does Heavy D. The recipes really vary in terms of quality of instruction. For example, while some have step by step instructions and precisely measured ingredients, Flavor Flav's Rice Pilaf ingredients list goes like this: A bag of rice Your favorite stuff And the only recipe is written in his jerky, halting rhythm of speech peppered with many "yeeeah" and "Y'know what I'm saying"s. Later in the book there's a quote from Chuck D saying that Flavor is a liar and he never cooks anything himself. I'm looking at this book and the whole colourful, fun, jubilant layout and I'm thinking, damn, hip hop used to be fun. Even the tough guys are giving their recipes, here. Nowadays, you wouldn't see 50 Cent's Lemon Chicken or The Game's Beef Stew. Everybody's too tough. Then I have a look at the publishing date. 1998! I start thinking back, were these rappers still big in 1998? No. No, 1998 is when I started listening to rap and I remember who was big at the time: Puff Daddy was huge, DMX, Jay-Z was getting big, Wu Tang Clan and Method Man were big, Busta Rhymes was big, Ice Cube was making sort of a comeback. That means there was a major gap between writing the book and getting it printed. It was hokey and out of date by the time it got to print. That makes me think of my own journey with hip hop and how I got in after the good times. The fun times at least. Anyways, I plan to make at least one recipe out of there. Too bad there are no dishes from Redman. Monday, April 23, 2007![]() Three Times is a Charm![]() Semi frequent readers of the blog (Cup in eye?) will know that once every few months in Toronto, someone eggs me.The first time I got got was on College Street in the summertime. Ben and Meghan were thurrr and can attest to the carnage. They got me right between the backpack and the back. Thankfully, it was warm so I could take my shirt off and rollerblade home. The second time was on the Bathurst bus a couple months after the first incident. The windows were up so everyone was ok. My sister was there that time. I can't say I was the target specifically this time, but I was visible from the assaulter's vantage point. The third time, the time that proves that I am being targeted by egg-chuckers in this city, happened just last night. Salmon Eye were walking home along St Clair just west of Bathurst at about quarter to two in the a.m. when I hear something that sounds like a glass bottle smashing. After initial stun, we realize we were the intended targets of drive-by egg chuckers! Two eggs are dripping down the construction site plyboard walls. "What the fuck! It's a fucking egg! How the fuck is this even possible! This is the third time I have had a fucking egg thrown at me in the city of Toronto by a total stranger." Sam was just as shocked. There was a woman walking ahead of us who kind of glanced around, but kept on going. The eggers did not target her, nor the next woman ahead of her. Salmon Eye talked about how bad it woulda been to get hit. I want to put out a message to all eggers in the GTA, because I know you read my blog and target me. Listen: if you must throw eggs at people for the purpose of nasty prankery, take the eggs out of the fridge two hours before you chuck them. A cold egg is much harder than a soft one and can cause real injury. As Salmon Eye continued down the street, we saw two guys around our age who seemed fairly drunk, even from a distance. "Are these the eggers?" I thought to myself. Well, no matter, because there's no way we could take them. As we got closer, the one guy in a rugby shirt asks me, "Hey, did you guys get egged?" He had yolk all down his sleeve and some on his shoulder. His friend, in a Queen's University jacket was untouched. The rugby shirt guy showed us his bottom forearm, "They got me right here. It really hurt, it's gonna fuckin' bruise up". When I got back home I noticed I got some eggwhite splashback on my jeans. At least I didn't get a fucking welt on my head. When people ask me, "Is Toronto a safe city?" I say sure. I ride public transit constantly and no one ever tries to pick your pocket, I've never been stuck up. Girls tell me dirty old men can be a problem, but me, I just have a problem with eggers. I wonder what Redman would do if someone threw an egg at him? Saturday, April 21, 2007![]() BILLY. THE. KID.![]() HotDocs: Billy The Kid. There's a repeat on Sunday afternoon at the ROM. 'sfree for students. Not a student? Flash 'em an old Chinese take-out menu and see if that works.This is the best HotDoc I've seen and possibly the best documentary I've ever seen. It's a documentary about a very unique 15 year-old boy with a host of disorders that aren't explained in a conventional, sociological way, but you get the picture. Man, do you ever get the picture. I hate to gush, especially in cliched terms, but it really runs the gamut from heartwarming to heartbreaking to hilarious to horribly, unwatchably awkward. I literally had to block my face with my hands at certain points because it was so AWKWARD! I won't say too much now, for it really must be seen by all who can. Like I said, quite possibly the best doc I've ever seen. I'll probably do a "formal" write up for MONDO with some other mini-reviews of pictars I get a peek at. Last night while out to see Billy The Kid, (naw, truthfully we were tryna see Let's All Hate Toronto, but didn't get in) I ran into various Ghosts of The Past. Reagan and Nigel at th' Bloor of course, Rael Jan at the Green Room and then Eric from UFA on the street. --- Driving lessons are a fun and unique experience. Heh... My driver is a real joker. He likes to tell us to stop for cops and not try to outdrive them, because they have special driving courses and they could getcha. He went on a two minute rant about how he never wears his seatbelt and they shouldn't make you do it by law, but since it is a law, do it, cause it could cost you two points. He has dreadlocks and glasses. He doesn't believe that climate change is occuring. --- It's been a while since I listened to Newark-area rap artist, Redman. Labels: Alves Driving School, HotDocs, Mondo, Redman Thursday, April 19, 2007![]() Foodie Nation (rep your set)![]() Well, all done uni, as soon as I can figure out all this "apply to graduate" nonsense. It should be like high school, when you're done, you're done and you're out of there. Fuck man, I still desire to crash a high school prom drunk, in my puffy jacket, caked in mud, bangin' Redman on a ghetto blaster.Anyways, since I've been done for a week, what have I been doing? Mostly Facebook. A lot of cooking and staring at pictures of food. I now consider myself a foodie. From the library I've gotten Madhur Jaffrey's Step-by-step cooking (as opposed to the not step-by-step book which just assumes you already know how to prepare Ayam Pongtay and just makes a few helpful suggestions for next time). This book is a collection of recipes from Japan, Hong Kong, Philipines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Korea and (hm?) India. So far I've enjoyed every recipe I've made from the cookbook. I've made bulgogi (Korean marinated beef), the aforementioned Ayam Pongtay, which is a chicken and mushroom dish in black bean sauce and her HK version of Szechuan beef, which was quite good, but I overcooked the chilies and killed the heat. Chili oil saved the left-overs. Yeah, I am seeing a girl now, yeah, she's also a foodie, yeah, she's Japanese, but no, this is not what this is entirely about. Except the bulgogi. That was 80% to impress her. Sometimes I get concerned that Madhur (I've come to know her by first name) is "dumbing things down" - that is, removing ingredients from her recipes she perceives that we wimpy whitefolk will find too difficult to track down or whose flavours we will find offensive and foreign. There is no real way for me to know whether she is doing this or not, as, in order to know, I would have to have a grasp of East-Asian cuisine greater to her own. My only tip-off is that I am already cooking with two "Chinese" ingredients (Garlic stalks and white pepper) which do not appear in any of her recipes. But maybe they just don't belong in HK cooking. And she does advocate the use of many products with which I am wholly unfamiliar or at least have never personally bought. And, that said, a certain amount of "dumbing down" is absolutely necessary. As incredible as Toronto is, there are certain ingredients that cannot be gotten here. What's more, many of the dishes originate from restaurants which, of course, have different cooking methods than those available to us at home. This brings us to Bloods and Crips. During Canada Reads, the panelists were talking about the Canadian (duh) novel, Stanley Park. In it, the author outlines two basic "schools" of foodies. (I'm paraphrasing from the show here, not the actual novel, so forgive any mistranslation if you've read the book). "Bloods" tend to want to cook things authentically. They like Chinese food and street fare, generally meat. "Crips" tend to favour fusion and experimentation. Originality and collision are the greatest principles. I will say Red and Blue because these things run as a spectrum, as opposed to a diametric opposition. Nothing is wholly authentic, nor wholly original. I would place my objectives as generally on the red end of the spectrum, but perhaps I'm deluding myself. North America as a whole is definitely Blue. Red cooking in Canada would really mean split-pea soup and back bacon. The counter argument to that is that multiculturalism, as practiced in Toronto, creates all these different Red sets you can visit and tap in to. And yeah, that new Apple comic is coming. I feel like Dr. Dre with Detox on this shit. High five if you got that reference. Self congratulatory high-five! |
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