JB's Warehouse & Curio Emporium

Hey folks, I'm back on my feet again. The cold is in its last stages, just the occasional coughing spell. I should have stayed home on Wednesday, but one meeting and a mound of work did not need to be dumped into anybody's else's lap...which I had to do anyway on Thursday when half of the documents I expected to wrap up lingered on (and were there to welcome me back yesterday - my anxiety was unjustified). The combination of nasty cold and many other things that went on this week has caused a 42-car pileup in items awaiting entries. Consider the next few a crash course. True to form, my birthday fell amidst the most oppressively hot days of the year. A few moments of anxiety led into Charlie & The Chocolate Factory, due to tickets selling like hotcakes. We weren't above searching for no-show tickets (got lucky twice), while others just missed the mark. Highly recommend it if you haven't seen it yet - how many movies allow Christopher Lee a touching moment?

A recent morning paper included a course calendar for U of T's School of Continuing Studies , whose offerings include a few chuckle-worthy courses. I'm not necessarily mocking the validity of these course - some of them sound interesting. It's the name or the concept of somebody shelling out $100-600 for these that's funny. ARTS Ciao Italia: Have Imagination, Will Travel Yes, my imaginary Italy includes crowded freeway rest stops where old ladies push you out of the way while ordering lunch at the cafeteria (true story, happened near Genoa). In Italy, Do As The Italians Do Course coming next year: In Uzbekistan, Do As The Uzbeks Do . Journey with Us to Magical Places with Great Art Actually, "Magical Places" seems to be a theme among the art courses. Sadly, no "Magical Places: Scarborough". BUSINESS Essentials of Competitive Intelligence a.k.a. How to Cope with Wal-Mart. Advanced Mediation: Getting Beyond Impasse Not guaranteed to

brought to you by Prudential - Get a Piece of the Rock and EF Hutton - When EF Hutton Talks, People Listen Three down, three to go in this year's sampling of the Fringe theatre fest. Let's cut to the chase, sports fans - here's the roundup so far, in alphabetical order: ( Eye ratings based on a scale of five stars, Now on five Ns) Confessions of a Class Clown (**** eye, NNNN Now) The Glen Morris has a reputation for being the kiln of Fringe venues. When I volunteered a few years ago, others shuddered whenever it was mentioned, thanking their lucky stars they didn't wind up there. Given how steamy it was last night, and hearing how others had their enjoyment of shows there this year damped by the heat, would it be worth it to check anything out? This show was worth the sauna effect. A one-man recounting of his experiences as a school cut-up, then his experiences seeing such behaviour crop up on provincial English exams he marked, it managed to be funny and