JB's Warehouse & Curio Emporium

There are times whenever I'm driving between Amherstburg and Ontario where I've gone through all the CDs I brought along for the trip or the other drivers are too insane to take your hand off the wheel for more than a second to change the CD. Unfortunately, the radio landscape is bleak. Lots of signals come in at night, but most provide entertainment for all the wrong reasons. Usually I can get away with CBC, but when the odd program sends my ears screaming, it's time to wander the dial. FM usually proves hopeless, one cookie-cutter, tightly-playlisted station after another. Over to the AM dial, where many a strong signal is wasted on nationally-syndicated talk shows. All these stations from far-flung locales like St. Louis, Philadelphia, Nashville, etc, which could provide interesting windows on what's going on in those locales. Still, I may stay on a station for a few minutes to see how much lower the pole has fallen. Things you notice after checking out a few...

A little Big Apple housecleaning before plunging forward... I sent the titles of the episodes of Hasta En Las Mejores Familias over to Kiersten for translation. These shows make a little more sense now, though still bizarre: Show #1 - Mi pareja me hablo tanto de su amigo, me enamoré de él. My partner talks so much about their friend that I've fallen in love with them (the friend). Show #2 - Mi madre ama a su pareja y a mi me hizo a un lapo. My mother loves her partner and she puts me aside. Show #3 - Me gano la vida como payaso, pero mi hijo no me accepta. I enjoy life as a clown but my child won't accept me. Moving on... Day 3 Me - Greenwich Village/Soho/Union Square Amy - Soho/Upper West Side Together - Curry Hill/Little Italy/Chinatown/City Hall The split day, where we wandered off to do our own thing. Both of us avoided the St. Patrick's Day parade, but saw enough people decked out for it to get a feel for it. Lots of big green hats, makeup, butto...

Note: Still tracking down the images that originally appeared in this post. Day 2 - Metropolitan Museum of Art/Harlem/American Museum of Natural History/32nd & 2nd area All early indications pointed towards decent weather for our trip. As Monday night rolled around, all of the local stations suddenly predicted a monster storm, going into the full-panic mode American TV stations love to go into when more a dusting of snow occurs. We figured there wasn't anything to worry about. Wrong. At least our plans could handle a storm. If it had been an episode of Polka Dot Door, it would have been "get ready, get set for Museum Day." By the time we hit the Met , the storm had started in earnest, with strong winds making it hard to walk from the subway station to the museum. The day soon became an exercise in seeing how long Amy's feet would hold up. The Met is not a puny museum - unless you spent a few days there or had Flash-like powers, it's impossible to...

Spent all day Friday in bed. Throat felt worse than it did the day before, body was numb. No way would I be able to sit in front of a computer all day. Didn't get any additional sleep - I had intended to do some work from home if I felt up to it, but I forgot the reference book I needed. I spent 12 hours throwing movies into the VCR (note it was videotape, not DVD - I was too lethargic to bend down and switch the plugs. For some reason, the plug for my printer won't fit into any power bar and my workspace has a lack of outlets. So, I have to switch between a power bar containing the DVD plug and the printer). Was in too much misery to enjoy most of them. My throat was so raw that any liquid burned. Felt a bit better yesterday, well enough to escape the house. A day-and-a-half of being shut in is enough to give me a king-size dose of cabin fever. Hadn't been for a stroll downtown since returning from New York. Monster lineup running out of Sunrise Records - lat...

Note: Still tracking down the images that originally appeared in this post. Every three years, like clockwork, I head down to the Big Apple for a few days of stretching the limits to which my feet can walk. Last trip was in '01, which stands out in my mind for being one of the last times I talked to my father on the phone and a wonderful walk across the Brooklyn Bridge (I should get my partner in crime on that trip to jot down her memories sometime). I tried to recruit anyone I could think of to come along, but time, finances and maladies got in the way. Looked like I was on my own until Amy decided to come along. I booked the hotel online, then decided we'd go by train. Flying is faster, but I hate going through the whole security/waiting rigamaroll at the airport. Hadn't been on a train in ages and I didn't want to risk driving into any sudden winter storms. The trip down took a long time, but didn't feel worse than a flight across the Atlantic. One fa...

One of the things I love about used items is finding traces of a previous owner. It gives a sense of history to the item. If you're lucky, you'll find out what that person was thinking while they used the item. Take my copy of Stevie Wonder's classic 1973 album, Innervisions , the one with Higher Ground and Living For The City . Picked it up in a $1 record bin in Detroit a few years ago. There are two spots on the jacket where an earlier owner wrote information on when they purchased it, each spot with the same information (symbols noted in square brackets): Jag 5. LP #440. [circle with a dot in the middle] in [Omega symbol] (30th of Omega; 21st of August, 1975). [crescent moon] in [one wavy line on top of another] (just minutes past full). [an "I" with an arrow pointing right through the middle] rising (when purchased, appox. 17:15 E.D.T.) What do the symbols mean? Was the owner heavily into astronomy, astrology or a faith? What were the 439 other ...

At first, I didn't think much of reports that a major storm was going to hit SW Ontario yesterday. There had already been a few "Chicken Little" storms that had passed through. I took a day off work to leisurely make my way back to Toronto after spending the weekend in A'burg for my aunt's 70th birthday. If it snowed, I had time to play with. Driving wasn't too bad going through Essex County. The back roads were drivable, despite some drifting snow around Woodslee. Got onto 401 at Comber, with an immediate taste of things to come - at Tilbury, the westbound lanes were backed up due to a jacknifed truck blocking the road. Drifting snow dominated Chatham-Kent, with the odd vehicle in the ditch. I was carefully, rarely going the posted speed. Most drivers were equally cautious. Figured I'd reach London around 1-1:30 and grab a late lunch. Crossing into Elgin County, the drifting stopped and the road appeared fine. Remained cautious, stayed at or...

Finally got around to watching Bowling For Columbine today. I enjoyed it for the way it took on the insanity of guns in the US. Sure, odd bits seemed forced or took jumps of logic, but overall I agreed with Moore's barbs at his country. Having grown up surrounded by the Detroit media, all we ever heard on the news was the latest shooting of the day, the coverage of which grew more sensationalistic over the years. Whenever I head home, I catch a local newcast just to see how much further down the toilet its gone. It never fails to meet the lowest expectations, as shown in the film by the behaviour of the reporter when the cameras weren't rolling (here he is covering the shooting of a child, and he's worried about his hair. Looks triumph over substance again). Lots of the local groups and events covered in the film were the butt of jokes while growing up...Gibraltar Trade Centre gun shows (advertised enthusiastically on billboards and TV), the Michigan Militia, the g...

Even though there were a couple of cancellations from others intending to come along, I ended up shufflin' down to Buffalo on Saturday. All signs pointed toward a good day. First good sign - no lineup at the Queenston-Lewiston Bridge. Sign #2 - the first border guard I've ever encounter there who didn't have their humanity surgically removed (made jokes after he asked where I was going and I rambled off all potential destinations). Sign #3 - immediately finding what I was looking for (a new backpack). Then came the comedy. After spending an hour at the outlet mall, I headed back to the car. No sign of it. I wander the parking lot for 10 minutes, frantically looking but finding no sign of the car. My pulse quickened, my mind raced and a steady stream of obscenities flew out of ny mouth. I flagged down a security vehicle, who then did a search of the entire lot. He assured me that usually people had forgotten which entrance they came in and wound up miles away fro...

1) Give 'Em Hell, Batboy! It's 99-cent week at Loblaws, which means lots of time spent in grocery checkout lines. Looking for reading material while my imitation crab flakes and lunch meat creep up to room temperature, I've been browsing through a paragon of journalistic integrity, The Weekly World News . Seems their mascot, Batboy, was there when Saddam Hussein was captured. Other enlightening stories included the musical genius of Britney Spears, a couple banned from all buffets in North America and the discovery that the Earth is shrivelling up like a prune. Worth a few laughs, especially the "Ed Anger" column parodying frothing-at-the-mouth conversative radio commentators. 2) Now It's Sal Came back from dropping off some of my mom's famous nanaimo bars at Mark and Jess's, decided to check if anybody had called. More junk phone mail, from our friends at Best Price Movers (in no way a division of the Warehouse). New twist - the pitchman is...

Being from a family with strong culinary genes, there are a ton of cookbooks lying around the family homestead. Most have eye-catching, mouth-watering looking recipes. The further back you go in the collection, the more the eyes pop out at some of the dishes that passed the publisher's test kitchen. One of the larger series we have is various versions of the Better Homes & Gardens cookbooks. Volumes from the 60s are telling in how much opinions about tasty, economical foods have changed through the years. Key findings: 1) Every other dish was a "bake", "strata" or "hodgepodge". 2) Spam (and its knockoffs) was the monarch of the kitchen. This wonder of science could be used in every way imaginable. 3) Other kitchen basics: creamed corn, lima beans, sherry, the number of the nearest heart surgeon. 4) Anything was fair game to be an exotic dish. 5) Velveeta is the king of cheeses. 6) Frankfurters are as diverse in their uses as Spam. L...

A few pix from the Kensington Festival of Lights... The procession moves along Baldwin St. The crowds around European never cease. Note the masks and number of people moving along. Anyone could join in, most with lanterns in tow. All this to celebrate the longest night of the year. A mermaid and fisherman above a falafel shop. Across the street was a rooftop of native-inspired birds (the shots didn't turn out so well), then rooftop drummers at Baldwin and Augusta. More masks near the end of the procession route on Kensington Avenue.

Let's say that since I moved down to Toronto, the items I've used for sleeping have driven others up the wall. From the last days of scanty student income, I used a cheap guest bed from Ikea with an orthopaedic pad. Surprisingly comfortable, it lasted until one part fell off (plus a basement flood was a good excuse to ditch it). Next I used a futon, which was good as long as I stayed on one half without rolling over the top of the trench in the middle. Finally, after recent repairs to my place were finished, I started the hunt for my first bed. Amazing how the suggestions of others linger in one's mind. From the prodding of coworkers, I got it into my head that I needed a queen-size bed. Spent a couple of weeks going to stores, bouncing up and down on beds. In the end, it was a toss-up between Sears and Sleep Country. The latter won, and I happily walked out with a nicely-priced queen. Got home, reassessed space, concluded I'd goofed. Called the next morning...

At first I thought it was just another piece of phone spam. Lately, the majority of messages left on my phone have been of the unwanted variety, which is a growing complaint around the city. It tends to either be for a "free" vacation by Collingwood or a moving company. The latter's messages crack me up, as it's the same guy everytime (who never took public speaking, judging from the long, drawn-out "uhhhhhhs"). Whether he calls himself Boris, Jimmy or Janos, I find myself wishing there was a skip command. Twice in the past month I received an "urgent" message from an unidentified company looking for "Jamie or Barb Bradburn". Figured it was someone calling at random, since I haven't a clue who Barb Bradburn is. At least they got my gender right. But then the other night I got the message again and it sounded urgent, complete with a case number and company name - D & A. Decided to call the number. Turned out D & A w...

Spent the day down at the Santa Claus parade, third year in a row. This year, a bunch of us helped out Jess and Dee by selling noses for Sunnybrook/Women's down at Queen and Yonge. All I hoped was that it wouldn't be as bone-chilling damp as it was last year. Did not get off to an great start. Took longer to get ready than expected, so I made a mad dash to the subway. Thought I'd make it down just in time, until a fire investigation at St. Patrick station brought the Yonge line to a crawl, then stop. I was stuck at St. Clair and nearly got off to search for a taxi, until it was announced all was good to go. Arrived 15 minutes late, but that didn't seem to matter too much. Picked up a bag of moses and headed south on Yonge with Kiersten and Dee's mom. Business was good - went through two bagfuls quickly. Was a little nervous at first, following behind the others, then gradually starting bellowing out like a baseball game program huckster. The parade to...

Looks like the polls at the end of the race were accurate - David Miller won the mayor's chair, with John Tory a close second (44% to 38%). This will go down as the first time I ever voted for a political candidate who got into office. Barbara Hall's campaign completely collapsed - from polls indicating support in the mid-40% range before the campaign picked up full steam, she wound up with 9% of the vote. I walked by her campaign party (the old York theatre), where glum faces paced outside. Nunziata's car-honking only grabbed him 5%, while Jakobek...BWAHAHAHAHA...1%.

Decided to sift through the back reaches of my rarely-used Hotmail account (aka Spam 'R Us). Found this note, received way, way back in September of 1995, the oldest e-mail I have kicking about. We're talking the dawn of my second year at U of G. It's juvenile and gut-busting at the same time: I like monkeys. The pet store was selling them for five cents apiece. I thought that odd since they were normally a couple thousand. I decided not to look a gift horse in the mouth. I bought 200. I like monkeys. I took my 200 monkeys home. I have a big car. I let one drive. His name was Sigmund. He was retarded. In fact, none of them were really bright. They kept punching themselves in their genitals. I laughed. Then they punched my genitals. I stopped laughing. I hearded them into my room. They didn't adapt very well to their new environment. They would screech, hurl themselves off of the couch at high speeds and slam into the wall. Although humorous at first, the spectac...

Feeling impatient about wanting to see the remaining Halloween pictures in my camera, I spent Saturday walking around downtown, snapping whatever looked interesting, or worth looking back on 30 years from now. Started by heading west along Bloor to the Annex. The ROM has an old new temporary look - the last addition has been demolished to make way for the touted Daniel Liebskind design. Currently, you can see the old outside walls of the museum. Enjoy the view while you can. As I headed south on Bathurst, a steady stream of cars adorned with red balloons raced by, horns honking. It was a caravan of vehicles for John Nunziata's faltering mayoral campaign. I resisted the urge to yell "Nunziata sucks!" A few ballons fell off, causing anxious moments for drivers behind them. From there, went across College and down through Kensington Market. One of the few times I didn't run into anybody I know. Went into Chinatown, stopped to snack on some Chinese buns. I...

A quick run through the five most prominent candidates running to replace his Melness here in the centre of the universe... Tom Jakobek - BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA...at least you can say it takes someone wallowing in dung (hello MFP) to find the dung in other candidates campaigns. Otherwise, BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA... John Nunziata - Dear John: You've made a lot of hay about one of the other candidate's teams, but haven't spilled the beans on who. Sounds like a last stab to toss dirt on somebody, or the backroom boys are at it again. Barbara Hall - when the race began, it was assumed that Hall had a reasonable chance of running away with the job. Now she's in danger of falling into third, behind Miller and Tory. Boosting the island airport hasn't helped, nor have Jabokek's attempts at legal actions, a sense she's trying to win the centre-right vote, etc. Looks like strike two at the plate. John Tory - Then there's the coverage of the Tory campaign, especially on ...

Halloween is in the air. From highly decorated lawns to the candy displays in grocery stores, it will soon be time for the little ghouls and goblins to wander from house to house. For adults, a time to go a little crazy, step out of the day to day, to let creative impulses go wild. Sure sign we're getting close - CBC is digging out all the old Universal horror flicks from the 30s and 40s...right now, Son of Frankenstein , Boris Karloff's last appearance as the Monster. I've been going through the seasonal flicks in my collection over the past couple of days. Seems like the right time to watch them. Evil Dead, Ginger Snaps, Tomb of Ligeia ... Halloween was one of many things I rediscovered in university. Wasn't too keen on it as a kid - liked the candy, hated the dressing-up part. By the end, I was either going out in my sports uniforms or, the last time I went, around age 11 or so, deciding to go out at the last sec by borrowing part of my sister's cost...