JB's Warehouse & Curio Emporium

I slept better than usual last night. The Tories didn't win. The NDP got a balance-of-power position. It'll be fun to read right-wing pundits in the next few days, as they try to figure out what went wrong with their dreams of a Canada with Stephen Harper at the driver's seat. Look forward to articles harping on the "cowardice" of Canadian voters to make a significant change, their failure to entirely turf the bums out. Maybe I should pick up a copy of the Post or Sun today, for a laugh... OK, picked up the other papers. Here's the headlines in case you missed them: Globe and Mail: ONTARIO RESCUES MARTIN Toronto Star: MARTIN: WE GOT YOUR MESSAGE National Post: LIBERAL MINORITY Toronto Sun: There are plenty of...RED FACES! The latter was especially sour in its mood, finding fault with voters who seemed crazy voting for a "tax-and-spend" government, disparaging voters for getting "the government they deserve". Howlers from th...

The most relaxed show so far in this summer run - the old CD decks have been moved back into the on-air studio while the new ones are being rejigged (the buttons are too darn sticky). No technical snafus. I've got my groove back. Strict Time - Elvis Costello Opening song, figured it was a good, bouncy tune to get things rolling... Go Go Trudeau - Les Sinners Vote For Me - The Move The Amendment Song - Jack Sheldon Promises Promises - Dionne Warwick Quimby Campaign Ad - The Simpsons Election Special - Monty Python Richard Nixon - Rod & The MSR Singers Dief Will Be The Chief Again - Stringband An election-inspired set, which would have included two more songs if (a) I had spent time at home digging for a tape (Political Science by Randy Newman) and (b) discovered the station had the album on CD, but only the case (Political by Spirit of the West). Could have used more Simpsons. The Python skit is too close to what coverage will be like Monday night - I wonder wha...

The Drive Down No problems on the way. I was surprised that I stuck to 401 most of the trip, except for a trek down the Thousand Islands Parkway, once destined to be 401 - see here for the story. The too-wide bridges for the bike path give away the location of the old westbound lanes. Headed into Montreal at the start of rush hour, but found a way in that didn't trap me in traffic for eons - Rte 20 through Dorion, then along Cote-de-Liesse, then backstreets to Decarie. Anything to avoid the insanity of everyone merging onto the Trans-Canada. Dropped my stuff off at the U of M, then headed downtown on the subway to spend the rest of the day wandering along Sainte-Catherine. Filled up on Indian food, bought a sweater and didn't see anyone sitting on the sidewalk pelting passers-by with pop cans (narrowly avoided that last time down). One thing I noticed on the subway throughout the trip: if New York is the city where everyone shows their affection by yelling at each ...

Back to the airwaves... Your Mind and We Belong Together - Love A much smoother ride this time out, as the problems with CD player prompts have been fixed, though the one deck still sticks when attempting to eject a disc. Grabbed the disc on the top of the stack, featuring the A-side of the last single by the original incarnation of Love. There's A Guy Down At The Chip Shop, Swears He's Elvis - Kirsty MacColl Yesterday's Wine - Willie Nelson Docteur Jekyll et Monsieur Hyde - Serge Gainsbourg Summer Sun - Koop featuring Yukimi Nagano Steven Smith - The Organ Sissyneck - Beck The opening set, playing hopscotch with several eras and genres. Kinda like the Organ disc - what is it about acts on the Mint label I'm attracted to? The Koop track is from a compilation thrown together to tie-in with the Pink Panther DVD box set, mostly loungey remixes. WKNR Newscast June 20/66 - George Hunter Remington Razor ad - Frank Zappa Pata Pata - Miriam Makeba Playing a ...

One of my regular childhood vacation haunts appears to be on its last legs . As mentioned in past entries, my family vacationed in Toledo at least once a year to play around at the Holidome, stock up on glassware at the Libbey factory store and shop at Southwyck Mall. The centre of the mall was a huge sunken pit that Amy and I ran up and down while the parent not watching us went into the Lion department store. We ate kiddie meals at Friendly's or stopped at the only McDonalds mall location I'd ever seen. Samples galore at Hickory Farms, in the days before they set up holiday kiosks everywhere. Stops down the road at Centre supermarket or a meal at Bill Knapp's. Losing a shoe at another Holiday Inn nearby (don't remember, but Mom will never let me forget). Over time, trips to Toledo grew less frequent (replaced by trips to Ann Arbor). I doubt I've been in Southwyck over the past decade, content to read about its decline rather than witness it. One anchor we...