w a s t e . t i m e . n o w

I’m no communications whiz — but having Mel Gibson write a letter of endorsement for a political candidate seems like a very, very bad idea

But great images at The Poster List.

With worldwide fame and an upcoming movie, our favourite foreign correspondent Borat is the bee’s knees these days. Make click here for a preview, pictures and more.

I’m back in O-town after a long summer and vacation in BC. Sorry about the hiatus.

I guess a lot of people are thinking about 9/11 today, but as usual I’m thinking about bowling. My last score at the old stomping grounds was a pathetic 127. It’s time for me to start practicing again… and you should too. Get your head in the game by visiting the International Bowling Museum and Hall of Fame . If you really want to flex your lane brain, see the bowling history trivia quiz. Some of these answers are pretty obscure, but you’re up to the challenge.

Alright bowling enthusiasts — slow, low and reach.

Comedian Sarah Silverman is wickedly funny (and a drop-dead fox). Her stand-up is peerless, and her appearance on Conan O’Brien was pretty much the funniest stuff in the history of late night talk shows. She’s so nifty I can’t even hold it against her that she slums around with Jimmy Kimmel.

Jesus Is Magic, Silverman’s first feature film, is part of the 18th Annual Vancouver Jewish Film Festival this weekend — and word on the street is that it’s perfectly awesome. Catch one of the two screenings, Saturday April 8 at 10 PM or Sunday April 9 at midnight. Both shows will be held at the VanCity Theatre.

You know I’m not the kind of guy who gets into video games. I’m not 20-years old and I don’t live with my parents. But this weekend I caught the fever — rock and roll fever.

You have never seen anything like Guitar Hero. It’s a PlayStation game with a guitar-shaped controller you sling over your shoulder and play like the real thing. It even has a whammy bar.

Choose a character, select a guitar, decide which song to butcher and just give ‘er. To make things a little less embarassing, you get to play with a friend. But it’s way harder than it sounds. Seriously.

Guitar Hero’s soundtrack features all your favourites, from Joan Jett and David Bowie to Sabbath and the Ramones. Rock anthems with only three chords are classified as easy, but my axe grinding through “Smoke On The Water” was still totally lame — and my friend Sarah and I pretty much cleared the room during our unique interpretation of “More Than A Feeling” (which I should point out is a five-chord song).

Now I can’t wait for my friend to get back from NY, so I can try wrangling another guest appearance at the big show. If video game creators ever get smart and make a game where chumps like me can play the drums in the privacy of our homes, I’ll probably end up buying the mother.

Lesley Arfin rocks. Dear Diary kicks ass (and is pretty much the only thing worth reading in Vice magazine these days, aside from the music reviews). Lesley turned 27 this year. She has a blog.

Thanks to a friend, I was turned-on to a country music gem in the most unlikely place today.

Bob Harris hosts what sounds like a top-notch radio program every Thursday — on the BBC of all places. Visit the Bob Harris Country website to hear this week’s program and see who’s appearing in the weeks ahead. You can also check out his playlist to see who and what Bob played on the program.

It’s a little odd to hear a guy talking about western music in an English accent, but (as my friend pointed out) I don’t exactly have a Nashville drawl myself.

Attention Hollywood — nobody has the attention span to sit through your two-hour movies anymore. And we’re tired of nauseatingly flawless actors making us feel badly about our own imperfections.

These days, I watch all my movies at the 30-Second Bunny Theatre, where a troupe of bunnies re-enact Hollywood movies in 30 seconds, more or less. They have yesterday’s classics, today’s blockbusters, and everything in between.

I just watched the 30-second bunny Brokeback Mountain, and have to admit I don’t understand what all the hype is about.

I came across something superterrific while searching for a link to The Golden Girls for the last post.

Check it — a Which Golden Girl Are You quiz! Answer a few multiple-choice questions to find out whether you most resemble Blanche, Rose, Dorothy or Sophia. This little test doesn’t seem very accurate — I highly doubt I’m a Blanche (and you know I wanted to be Dorothy).

I’ve been watching a little too much television lately — you know it’s excessive when you start getting into The Golden Girls. Anyway, I was surprised to recognize one of my favourite artists working on a Discovery Channel show called Mythbusters.

Turns out Kari Byron, in addition to creating amazingly compelling found-object installations, also drops mannequins from airplanes, blows things up and performs all other manner of pseudo-scientific experiments for the small screen. And they said the day of the multi-disciplinary artiste was over…

So Mac and Laura, the lad and lass from Superchunk have had their own record label for like the past fifteen years. Who knew?

Based in North Carolina, Merge Records cultivates a healthy crop of artists, including the Magnetic Fields, Lambchop, Spoon and Destroyer. You know you love all those bands, so check out who else is signed. Drop by the new-ish Merge website for tour dates and the usual, plus free music and video — they also have a podcast you can subscribe to (or download, or hear through streaming audio).

Sub Pop is another label with an impressive rollcall, and a website featuring MP3s and more from Iron & Wine, Wolf Parade, Fruit Bats, etc. `Nuff said.

Here’s something nifty — an American Sign Language Browser from Michigan State University, using Quicktime videos to demonstrate hundreds of English words. Now you know where to go next time you need to sign algorithm.

Microsoft has launched Windows Live, which they hope will become your new Web 2.0 portal. I don’t plan to use other features of the service, but I did check out their search engine — which in fact returned results not found in a Google search for the same criteria.

A joke where I come from goes “there’s only two kinds of music — country and western”.

I was mostly raised on 70s rock, but every now and again I settle into a wicked honky tonk bender. If you’ve ever done somebody wrong, or been done wrong by somebody else, you’ll recognize the sound of the steel guitar.

Honky tonk music started taking shape around the end of the first world war, found its stride through the 40s and 50s, and reached its zenith in the 70s. Henry Horenstein celebrates the sunset age in Honky Tonk: Portraits Of Country Music 1972-1981.

It’s easy to get lost in these pictures — moments frozen in time so clearly you feel yourself there. Horenstein’s photos document famous places and legendary entertainers, but my favourites are the pictures of people like you. So put on some Ernest Tubb, pour some Wild Turkey, and spend some time feeling lonesome for places you’ve never been.

In a national CBC poll last year, former Saskatchewan premier and socialist icon Tommy Douglas was voted the Greatest Canadian. With the federal election now over, the CBC has finally decided to air Prairie Giant: The Tommy Douglas Story on March 12 and 13. Check out the movie trailer here.

This is totally self-involved, but I want to say a quick hello to whoever has been using Google Language Tools to read this blog in Spanish.

Words that are very plain in English sound extraordinary in Spanish — I’m thinking of permanently changing the title here to Días Y Noches Perdidos.

I had an apocalyptic dream about Mount St. Helens last night, and woke up this morning convinced Mother Nature’s getting ready to pull a fast one.

So how’s this for clairvoyance? I predict we’ll all be looking over our shoulders for the big earthquake, and not even see the lava coming. It’s time to start keeping an eye on this little beast.

Some days you just don’t have it in you, but that doesn’t mean you should be forced to suffer the world in silence. Check out these Shhh! Cards — a useful PDF available for download from the Society For HandHeld Hushing.

Placards inscribed with messages like The Rest Of Us Don’t Care manage to convey your snarkiness without requiring too much effort.

The National Security Agency believes “it’s never too early to start thinking about what you want to be when you grow up”. In fact, the friendly guidance councillors at America’s largest espionage agency believe you might even want to start considering your job prospects a few years before you start thinking about your driver’s licence.

That’s why they’ve created the CryptoKids™ — a gang of adolescent cartoon characters on a mission. These funked-out mod-squadders want to let non-animated youth know how they too can prepare for a career in protecting the American way of life (well, just middle-class youth really — poor kids should still plan on joining the army).

The CryptoKids™ include Decipher Dog, an Archie Andrews-like mutt who plays Junior Varsity football and dabbles in cryptanalysis in his spare time — and Crypto Cat, a perky feline who learned Navajo from a babysitter and loves cracking codes when she’s not playing field hockey, hanging out at the mall or spending time with her sister who has Down’s Syndrome (no lie).

The team is rounded out by a saxophone-playing squirrel with an interest in engineering, a physics-nerd rabbit, a computer-whiz turtle and a globetrotting fox who happens to be a budding language analyst. These anthropomorphized little vermin are the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. They have iPods and play ultimate frisbee, listen to hip-hop and say “kewl”.

In addition to meticulously detailed bios for all six cuddly spooks, the CryptoKids™ website has tips on making and breaking codes and lots of fun games and puzzles. But remember you’re there to prepare — you’ll find information on NSA-sponsored high school programs, descriptions of jobs at the agency and other training materials in the Student Resources section.

I’d love to meet the secretly subversive agents who developed this concept over a beer. As if crypto-fascist wasn’t the first word association they came up with too.

The love boat has sailed, friends. The sixth annual People’s Prom is already sold out!

This doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll spend Valentine’s Day watching Pretty In Pink. Anyone who signs up for a volunteer shift gets in free — and about forty tickets will be at the door if you get to the Grandview Legion early enough. But stay away from the kissing booth, okay? Don’t you know about mono?

Finally, my two favourite things in the whole wide world have become one.

I am thrilled to learn that bubble bath innuendo has partnered with beer-class speed to produce a series of NASCAR-themed Harlequin romance novels.

In The Groove, the first novel in this series, went on sale last week. The book features “a down-on-his-luck NASCAR driver Lance Cooper and ex-kindergarten teacher Sarah Tingle. They meet when his car hits her. She gets a bump on the head. He’s driven to distraction. When he looks at Sarah, Cooper feels like he has been shocked by a loose spark plug wire.”

Do I smell a Booker Prize?

A little something from Kim’s January playlist. Summer is still a long way away, so there’s nothing too bright in here. Click on the track name, then look for the download link about half way down the next page.

Spoon - Everything Hits At Once
Great Aunt Ida - Acting
The Raveonettes - Somewhere In Texas
Wolf Parade - Shine A Light
Sovereign, Frost P, Zus & Shystie - The Battle
We Are Wolves - L.L. Romeo

Well, how terrific was that election? I’m very proud of the NDP for gaining ten more seats — but following the longest and most grueling campaign in Canadian history, I’m most excited about having some to waste again.

I return to the West Coast this evening, and hope to get back into retirement mentality immediately.

But not too busy for this.

I don’t have much time to waste these days, but thought I’d share this little gem.

There’s definitely going to be a brief hiatus here. It’s minus-20 in Ottawa, and things need done. Check back in December.

A few tips and reminders to help you get more done.

Mind maps are tag clouds done old school — a simple and accessible framework for naming, grouping and displaying links involving related ideas.

Mayomi is a web-based tool that uses Flash animation to provide a shell for creating and saving mind maps online. There are a few limitations — you can’t download your final project and printing is a bit dodgy, but Mayomi is excellent when you need space to order your thoughts and can’t find a piece of paper big enough.

Cmap Tools is a more robust application for more complex projects, but you’ll need to download and install the software (for Windows, Mac or Linux). Printing is a breeze, and you can also export maps into HTML, XML or create a JPEG of the image. There’s a link validation utility, a spell-checker and enough design options to create fresh styles for multiple maps. It’s even possible to collaborate with other users online.

Drawing on the same quirkiness that inspired Back To The Future II, some prankster at Forbes has done a thing so radical it will literally blow your mind. And by literally, I mean figuratively.

The E-Mail Time Capsule harnesses the enormous potential of the Information Superhighway to let you send email… to yourself… wait for it… in the future!

Enter your address, write a brief message, and choose when to receive a blast from the past. Then sit back and lose 1 to 20 years waiting for whatever dynamite wisdom you’ve just authored. I suggest doing lots to be proud of in the intervening time — or Future You will be pretty bummed Present You had this kind of time on your hands.

I couldn’t think of anything to say that wouldn’t piss-off Future Me, so I devised a flame mail campaign to continue harassing my enemies with regular messages long after I’m dead and buried.

I hate autumn and always have — it’s drafty, and totally boring. The one saving grace is getting to play all the music you own that somehow comes off a bit rich at other times of the year. That tiny silver lining isn’t enough to redeem the whole season, but I am trying to be a better sport about the whole thing.

Here are a few MP3s from Kim’s fall playlist, in recognition of this unseasonably sunny Monday. Just click the song title and follow the download link on the next page that appears. The third-best season is just around the corner…

Chet — The Cold Drank My Soul Away Into The Day
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds — I Let Love In
Dead Meadow — At Her Open Door
Wolf Parade — You Are A Runner And I Am My Father’s Son
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah — The Skin Of My Yellow Country Teeth
The New Pornographers — Mass Romantic

Terminal City est mort. Another independent paper bites the dust, and ours is fast becoming a city of rags. We all agree new kids on the block like Dose and 24-Hours are rubbish — but the Courier, West Ender and Georgia Strait are pretty irrelevant these days too. Would you miss any of them if they disappeared tomorrow?

Only Magazine stands out in this sea of mediocrity — if you’re not already a regular reader, you should be. I’m told it’s hard to get your hands on a copy in some neighbourhoods, but you can always find them online.

I’ve been wasting hella time at the Smoking Gun’s gallery of celebrity mugshots. Arresting Images has dozens of household names caught at moments in their life they’d probably rather forget. This is tawdry stuff, and I’m ashamed to enjoy it as much as I do.

Each jailroom image is accompanied by details of the arrest, but it would be fun if details of the excuse were also included. James Brown: nobody believes you were “rehearsing to play Ike Turner in a Broadway musical”.

I love magic and hate the circus, and enjoy all these shots of 19th Century posters promoting magicians and circus shows. My favourite is the little devil (or whatever) delivering this question to a psychic.

Arlington, Virginia’s Freedom Park is home to The Newseum — an ambitious project dedicated to “helping the public and the news media understand one another better”.

Funded by Freedom Forum (a nonpartisan foundation dedicated to free press, free speech and free spirit for all people) the Newseum is more than a museum. It is also a celebration of the First Amendment — that uniquely American covenant between the government and the people, which guarantees an unrestricted flow of information and ensures the United States will remain forever free.

This wildly successful project outgrew its Freedom Park real estate in 2002, but construction is underway for an expanded Newseum on “America’s Main Street”: Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, DC. Though you won’t be able to visit the new location in person until 2007, the Newseum’s online presence endures as a comforting beacon of freedom.

I specifically enjoy visiting the Today’s Front Pages section. Reviewing this daily scan of more than 300 newspapers from around the United States is a powerful reminder that a free press truly is a key pillar of justice, and the foundation of democracy.

If you don’t know Deerhoof, their Wikipedia entry describes them as an art-punk band that tries to “merge melody with noise” — which is pretty dead-on. How perfectly awesome it is to have them playing Richards on Richards this Thursday night.

Nothing takes the edge off Autumn like melody merged with noise.

Word on the street is The Runners Four is their best album yet. Check out these Deerhoof tracks available for download as MP3s (number six is from their new cd).

New York’s Museum of Modern Art presents SAFE — an exhibition of “more than 300 contemporary products and prototypes designed to protect body and mind from dangerous or stressful circumstances, respond to emergencies, ensure clarity of information, and provide a sense of comfort and security”.

Make sure you have Flash Player installed, then visit the Design Takes On Risk exhibition online.

I admit I’ve made-up some pretty flimsy excuses for abruptly ending a phone call in the past (but never with you, of course). One problem with fabricating reasons for getting off the phone is that I routinely need to escape the same Chatty Cathy — who will only buy my “going through a tunnel” bit once every six months, tops.

Finally, Sorry Gotta Go helps take things to the next level. This website offers dozens of recordings to help one bail in style, all available for download as WAV files. Who could reasonably expect me to keep chit-chatting with those friggin’ kids fighting in the background? Or ignore the wail of my urgently hungry cat?

More than just the obvious screaming jet engine and malfunctioning car alarm, they have a coughing fit, a crying baby and even a passing herd of cattle. For extreme cases, telephone company recordings like “your call cannot be completed due to heavy call volume” will eventually shake the most determined stalker.

But, bwaa ha ha ha… Tom Delay is screwed.

As part of my ongoing efforts to break-up with Microsoft, I’ve ditched MSN Messenger in favour of the younger, better-looking Trillian. Trillian is neat because you can log-in to accounts from many other messaging services as well, including AOL, ICQ, IRC and Yahoo.

The IM project I have a big crush on today is Meebo, a web-based service that allows you to access your AIM, ICQ, GTalk, MSN or Yahoo Messenger account online. This means you don’t need to download the software, which is pretty handy when using computers other than your own.

Nathan Allen, former communications director for COPE, now has a weekly column with Terminal City — and a new project online called Us On Them.

Corinna Liscumb, formerly of Smithers, has had GusGreeper boiling for a while now — but I’d like to plug it anyway.

Cinemuerte, a festival of international horror films and thrillers, will be at Pacific Cinematheque from October 26 to 31. This year’s event features an expanded program that will have you “crying for your mommy by the time the festival is over”.

The Public Dreams Society has announced they won’t be organizing another Parade of the Lost Souls until 2006 — but distributing candy to kids with an unseemly attitude of entitlement isn’t the only way to participate this season. The Mountain View Cemetery will be hosting A Night for All Souls from sunset to 11:00 PM on Saturday, October 29. There are workshops in making lanterns, shrines and prayer flags over the next couple of weeks — visit their site for more information.

Next time you can waste five minutes, take the Political Compass test. My own results were pretty underwhelming, placing me more left than Nelson Mandela economically and more socially progressive than Gandhi (go figure). My final results, in case you care, were -7.88 on the economic scale, and -6.36 on the social scale. At the end of the day, I guess I do agree “it’s fine for society to be open about sex, but these days it’s going too far”.

After you’ve completed the Political Compass, try your luck with Iconochasms — a test of “how well you really know the famous figures that you love or love to hate”. It’s pretty nifty, even if the smugness of some of the questions is unbearable. I’m not too proud to admit I only got 27 of 46 correct. Whatever — these are tricky, yo.

Last weekend, the Yahoo blog announced Yahoo! Podcasts — a new beta tool for searching, downloading and subscribing to podcasts.

I’m back from Smithers, and have posted a few photos from my trip on Flickr. Here’s a series from Mom and Dad’s wedding on October 11, 1980 — and a few photos from their 25th wedding anniversary on October 8, 2005.

I’m off to Smithers tomorrow, where I’m putting on a shindig for my Mom and Dad’s 25th wedding anniversary. Further bulletins as events warrant.

Ben Crane’s Before and After Trade Cards slideshow is really… something. I don’t know that I’ll be picking up the book, but I enjoyed passing the time with these.

Ben Pearre of MIT has done us a kindness — a Free Music page with ear candy we can enjoy thanks to Creative Commons licensing. You’ll find classical music from a dozen or so composers, some available for download as MP3s and others as OGG files. It’s almost that time of year, so be sure to check out the performance of Handel’s Messiah. I’m also enjoying Brahms’ Requiem — not as stirring as Mozart’s, but whatevs.

Some media players (ahem, iTunes) won’t play OGG files, but there’s free software like Easy CD-DA Extractor to convert the files to MP3. OK? Go get yer Bach on.

Woman: Oh my God, that guy is totally checking you out. I think he’s on TV or something.

Me: Yeah, that’s Pierre Pettigrew — he’s a Liberal cabinet minister.

Woman: That’s still pretty good.

Whatever. For mo’ better true stories, check out Overheard in New York.

Jason Munn designs some wicked show posters for some kick-ass bands.

The timing couldn’t be better — George Jones is coming to town, y’all.

He’s known as the Greatest Living Country Singer for good reason. Over the past 51 years, George has charted 166 singles — more than any other artist, ever. He turned 74 a couple of weeks ago and continues to notch more than 100 performances each year. I’m out of town for his Oct. 11 show at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre in Vancouver, but you should go. You can also catch him Oct. 12 in Victoria, Oct. 14 in Chilliwack, or Oct. 15 in Kamloops.

High-five to Matador Records for lavishing the hoi polloi with delicious ear candy. They’re signing all the indie bands you love these days, and they’re not even jerks about it. Behold this superabundance of MP3s from Dead Meadow, Spoon, Guided By Voices, New Pornographers and other phenoms, available *free* on Matador’s website — how thoughtful is that?

Thursday, September 22 is World Car Free Day. Join 100-million people around the world in cycling, walking, skating, taking the bus or using another alternative method of transportation that day.

In Vancouver, check out the Car Free Day Festival in Gastown for “music, performances and displays that celebrate reduced car use and alternative ways that people can move around”. There’s a parade to kick things off at noon, and a twilight parade at 8:00 pm.

NorthernVoice 2006 is a day-long blogging conference being held at Robson Square on February 11. According to the event’s website, the goal is to “bring together bloggers and blogging neophytes to learn more about social, cultural and technological aspects of blogging”.

On a related personal note, my blogging mentor has left town to pursue new challenges in Germany. I’d like to acknowledge her for motivating me to start this project, say thanks for all the encouragement — and wish her good luck overseas.

Start saving your pennies, because it is on:

The New Pornographers at the Commodore, Sept. 23 (Ticketmaster)
Architecture In Helsinki at Artspace, Sept. 24 (Scratch, Zulu & Red Cat)
Sigur Ros at the Orpheum, Sept. 27 (Zulu)
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah at Sonar, Oct. 2 (Scratch, Zulu & Red Cat)
M.I.A. at the Commodore, Oct. 7 (Ticketmaster)
Arcade Fire at the PNE, Oct. 7 (Zulu)
My Morning Jacket at the Commodore, Nov. 3 (Scratch & Zulu)
Liz Phair at the Commodore, Nov. 11 (Zulu)
Broken Social Scene at the Commodore, Nov. 13 (Scratch & Zulu)
Stars at the Commodore, Nov. 21 (Ticketmaster)

A quick nod today to French artist Olivier Passieux. I’m not usually taken with paintings, but Passieux’s warm, hazy oils are exceptional. Much of his work involves common scenes of people and families — familiar images Passieux transforms into uniquely mysterious eye candy that has been compared to aging Polaroids. Four of Passieux’s paintings are on display at Vancouver’s Buschlen-Mowat Gallery for anyone who’d like a closer look.

The Renfrew Park Community Association and Still Moon Arts Society host the third annual Renfrew Ravine Moon Festival on Saturday, September 17th in East Vancouver.

The day-long Harvest Fair at Slocan Park “links the Asian mid-autumn festival, European harvest traditions, environmental awareness and community celebration” through live music, fresh food and interactive events. At sunset, everyone gathers at Renfrew Park to “view lantern installations, eat mooncakes and watch a spectacular musical and visual finale created by and for the people of the neighbourhood”.

Anyone who ever writes anything makes little mistakes now and then. Myself, I tend toward superfluous commas. I also habitually mis-use ellipses — and mix tenses so often I can’t remember if I’m coming or going (as well as many other offenses you don’t really need to point out, thanks). I’m sure I could have paid closer attention in English class, but I didn’t — and neither did you.

Thankfully, William Strunk was paying attention — and his classic resource The Elements of Style is now available online. This detailed, searchable reference explains the “principal requirements of plain English style and concentrates attention on the rules of usage and principles of composition most commonly violated”.

I once stole a garlic press from my friend’s kitchen and threw it away in an abandoned lot.

I did this because my friend was being a real jackass — but we’d just reconciled after a bitter clash that took weeks to resolve, and our friendship couldn’t survive another conflict. So as I left my friend’s place, fuming at this person’s shabby behaviour, I swiped the garlic press on my way out the door. I stomped down the street a couple of blocks, paused next to an empty lot, and threw that press over the fence as hard as I could. I left all my frustration and resentment there, to rust among the garbage and thistles. It felt great.

Some people think I’m crazy when I tell this story, but that’s not the point — it was the only way I could find peace without kicking this person’s ass. We never fought about what had pissed me off, because I never had to bring it up. I got satisfaction my own way, and moved on. I’ve believed in the transformative power of inconsequential, introspective gestures ever since.

I think that’s partly why I like this idea so much — PostSecret is “an ongoing community art project where people mail-in their secrets anonymously on one side of a homemade postcard”. The site is updated every Sunday with dozens of intensely personal submissions. I believe witnessing these confessions, betrayals, desires and inside jokes helps soothe the people who write them — the same way tossing that garlic press soothed me.

Autumn is an excellent time of year for exploring public art in our city.

Creative Communities is “Vancouver’s Community-Based Public Art Resource” and a great place to start. Their Art Map For Vancouver has a list of projects by neighbourhood, so you can begin close to home. Or, for a more comprehensive directory, visit the City of Vancouver’s Public Art Registry, which has its own searchable map of Public Art by Neighbourhood. Both databases also allow you to search by project and artist.

Go on now — get out the door and soak it all in before monsoon season begins.

Take a trip down memory lane with the Wayback Machine — a very nifty service offered by Internet Archive. Just enter a URL in the search field, and you’ll get a list of dates when that site’s content was archived. Click on any date to view the page as it looked at that time in history.

Thank God for the Wayback Machine — I thought I’d imagined this.

*Click now for Communism*

The mob of shiftless anarchists at crimethinc has assembled a sweet little handbook for anyone with a subversive streak. Check out these do-it-yourself instructions for all your favourite countercultural activities — gardening, silkscreening t-shirts, putting out your own records, and more. The entire D.I.Y. Guide is available as a PDF document, or you can download any of the sections individually.

I made a disappointing discovery yesterday. Chris Ferebee, a collage artist I kind of dig, also works in other mediums — and it ain’t pretty. His photos are plain, and his objets d’art take their “uber-modern” label very, very seriously. Worse, Ferebee’s prints are shit — I submit McLuhan Was Right and Yawning At War Protesters and rest my case.

Now I’m doubting whether this retro collage series really knocked my socks off at all.

I’ve only heard two episodes, but I’m enjoying The Sound Of Young America so far. This weekly radio show boasts “only the best from the worlds of literature, the theater, and comedy”. Visit their site for streaming audio, podcasting and mp3 downloads.

Everyone knows the best place to spend time with a foxy date is at the drive-in. The Twilight Drive-In is back, and not a moment too soon. Enjoy!

I’m totally entertained by the Calgary Stampede’s Nickname Generator today. Mosey on over to get yourself a genuine western moniker.

Before your next road trip, stop by David Yanciw’s Big Things Of A Big Country, where “it is not just the size, but the thought that counts”. Searchable by province, artist or subject, this site catalogs all the bigness Canada has to offer — from Mundare, Alberta’s big sausage to the big UFO in Moonbeam, Ontario. There are big Ukrainians, big pinto beans, big turtles, and bigfeet.

For those who’ll never get to visit such attractions in person, you can experience all the magic in one place at the World’s Largest Collection of World’s Smallest Versions of World’s Largest Things — coming soon to a town in a State near you.

If all the bigness is starting to make you feel uneasy, unwind with the Collier Classification System for Very Small Objects — a compendium of items “visible to the naked eye but small enough to go unnoticed most of the time”.

It’s great to be wasting time in Prince George with my family, but I’m anxious to return to Vancouver tomorrow and catch up with everyone. I promise to post something substantial in the next twenty-four hours, but here’s a link to some photos from my trip in the meantime.

Most memorable time-waster this trip had to be the wild cow milking competition.

My last post for a bit brings you the best in cutting-edge journalism — the Smithers Interior News. Let’s just say I won’t be filing this link under Brain Candy.

Out of nowhere, the Work Less Party does something to suggest they might not be irrelevant, self-indulgent bourgeois posers. The VPD Public Complaints website is a “community response to the lack of transparency in the police complaints process. Unlike the Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner, the VPD Public Complaints database is not run by, or affiliated with, the Vancouver Police Department”.

Geist magazine closes each issue with a splendid theme map. Check out the Canadian Map Of Places That Sound Impolite from their last issue. Links to previous maps are listed in the menu on the right-hand side.

It is sweet to be a kid these days. My friend’s daughter rolls her eyes whenever I start down this road, but it must to be so easy to write essays in the age of the internet. Remember the encyclopedia? Puh-leeze…

When I was a lad, my most reliable second source was John Carey’s Eyewitness To History, a collection of first-hand accounts detailing dozens of historical events. In case your library doesn’t have a copy, the internet brings you “History Through The Eyes Of Those Who Lived It” at eyewitnesstohistory.com.

You can search or browse their database of historical events for articles, photographs, original recordings and other material. I particularly enjoy the It Happened This Month section.

I’m leaving for Smithers tomorrow and starting to get very, very excited about the Fall Fair. Checking around for photos from 2004, I came across this series of my sister, Brittany givin`er in last year’s scurry race — 1, 2, 3, 4 — and getting a ribbon. My other sister, Nicole, was out with a fractured collar bone, so no pics of her. But whatup with this clown? Whoah, cowboy…

Update: here are the complete photos of the 2004 Light Horse Show at the Smithers Fall Fair.

Vancouver’s Leaky Heaven Circus promises an unforgettable simian experience with Bonobo! — the story of “Kanzi, an ‘ape of genius’, and his kin, our endangered cousins, the Bonobos”. The show runs until August 21 — your chance to waste time while supporting an impressive local arts group. There’s even fortune-telling…

Speaking of bonobos, the Great Ape Trust of Iowa has galoshes full of information about our hairy kinfolk, including sounds of the bonobo (a small MP3) — and the real-life story of Kanzi, the bonobo featured in Leaky Heaven’s production.

I’ve been told file sharing is a new form of activism — see if there’s anything you like among the MP3s I’m listening to these days, comrades.

Thanks to the friend who introduced me to the legend of The Lions, those striking mountains on Vancouver’s horizon. Here is the story of The Two Sisters as written by Pauline Johnson — the link at the bottom of the page takes you to the story of Siwash Rock and other legends of Vancouver. You won’t regret the time you waste reading this. I promise.

By the way, while searching for the story online, I came across the University of Pennsylvania’s digital library — a heaping serving of electronic texts from a lavish spread of authors. Pauline Johnson’s work is included in the Celebration of Women Authors.

Maybe I *was* trying to be a bit show-offy in the previous post — because I know how to use a semi-colon, I do. I’d like to thank a friend for chastising me so swiftly, though. You keep me humble (p.s. you’re a dick).

Speaking of keeping humble, why not try the Eats, Shoots & Leaves punctuation game? It only takes a couple of minutes.

I did awesome on apostrophes, but I think the comma is far more subjective.

Abram Games was a fellow who understood graphic design. An Official War Artist in Britain during WWII, he created the most fantastic images of their kind to come out of a democracy (whatever — fascists and communists do that shit better). Games continued to be an influential designer after the war; see this exhibition overview from the Design Museum in London for more detail than his official website provides.

My favourite Games design is the blonde bombshell — a wartime solicitation for the Women’s Auxiliary Territorial Service.

Tagalog is one of the most pleasing languages to the ear I’ve heard.

The Center for Southeast Asian Studies at Northern Illinois University hosts SEAsite — a very neat project to “provide language instruction and other cultural, political, and social information about Southeast Asia”. Spend some time on their Tagalog page, which has a wide variety of information about the language, history and culture of the Philippines.

Ready to give it a go? I found these lessons available for download as MP3 files (and don’t have the ambition myself just yet, so let me know how it works out).

Prefer to keep looking? This is Baybayin, the characters used in written Tagalog before the Spanish invasion.

Free Speech Radio News pulls together a tight little newscast, Monday to Friday of each week (available for download in MP3 or RealAudio format). Previous broadcasts are available in the archive section, and there’s a few documentaries worth checking out as well.

Well, yeah Malcolm X is a controversial figure in history. By advocating extremism, he clearly established the danger that existed if white America failed to change the status quo — and bolstered the cause of mainstream activists like Martin Luther King.

While I tend to be a pacifist, I’ve always thought Malcolm X was a very logical and reasoned man. Saul Alinsky wrote that Gandhi wasn’t necessarily a pacifist — he simply chose tactics most likely to succeed, and violence against the British Empire in one of their colonies had a snowball’s chance in hell of working. According to Alinsky, Gandhi would have chosen a more confrontational approach if logic and reason suggested it had a better chance of succeeding.

I’m a simple man, and I don’t know about all that — but I do know Malcolm X is one of the most astute and stirring speakers I’ve heard. Check out these recordings of his Message to the Grassroots (in MP3 format). Also, the Ballot or the Bullet Part 1 and Part 2.

“The young generation don’t want to hear anything about the odds are against us. What do we care about odds?”

History and Politics Out Loud is a “searchable archive of politically significant audio materials” brought to us by the National Endowment for the Humanities (so it only includes “politically significant” material from the US).

The Chicago Historical Society has an amazing collection of interviews available online. Compiled by Studs Turkel and offered in RealMedia format are Conversations With America — hundreds of everyday Janes and Joes discussing their lives and the world around them.

But don’t don’t don’t use RealPlayer: that shit’s the devil. RealAlternative is compact, free software that tricks streams into thinking you’re using RealPlayer. Sweet.

One of my most reliable fixes when I need visual stimulation is provided by the Orange County Museum of Art. Their stunning web presence will soon include a directory of every exhibit hosted since the museum opened its doors in the `60s. For those of us too distant to visit, the Orange Lounge offers online exhibition space for new media projects.

I recently discovered one of the illustrators I enjoy most is actually two — Kozy and Dan look like they have a lot of fun.

P.S.
MoCo Loco — “a web magazine featuring modern contemporary design news and views” — is definitely a good place to waste some time.

Well, this isn’t the most scenic view — it is a traffic camera, after all — but here’s a little glimpse of Smithers.

I’m very impressed with the Royal BC Museum’s Living Landscapes project, which focusses research and data collection on specific regions of the province for two-year periods.

So I’m totally on about M.I.A. these days. Check out her remixes with Diplo on the Piracy Funds Terrorism album — zipped for download as a rar file (see WinAce if you don’t have a program that can unzip rar files).

And while on the topic of splendid music you can steal, ANTI- has swag on your favourite independent artists with a few MP3s available for download from each.

But if independent radio is more your thing, it’s underheard.org you want for live streams, podcasts and more. Topping my personal list of faves — Route 78 West, a two-hour weekly radio show of “Honky Tonk, Trucker Songs, Spaghetti Westerns, recycled juke box 45’s, an occasional Surf track and artist interviews”.

A couple of very nifty toys to help with layout and design:

This Web Style Guide is a must for anyone publishing in the electronic medium.

The STC Font Browser Utility is an excellent tool to help you choose or identify fonts.

The Eye Dropper Color Mixer helps you identify the RGB hex value of any colour.

If you don’t already know the great Paul Moth, better check out The Great Eastern, an hilarious series on the fictitious Broadcasting Corporation of Newfoundland.

All five seasons of this CBC satire are available for download as MP3 files, as well as video files of Town Beat — Paul Moth’s short-lived foray into regional cable. Make sure you also check out Paul’s blog.

Thanks to logogle.com for making it possible to customize the Google interface.

Despite privacy violations with Gmail and Google’s shamelessly cutting deals with foreign governments to restrict content — among other serious issues — I don’t want to be entirely negative on the web’s most popular search provider.

So, kudos to those fascists for creating a free version of the software formally known as Keyhole — Google Earth.

I confess to finding the entries of one of my fellow blogsome.com denizens strangely compelling — even though the site is devoted to the lives of his fictional, computer game-generated family.

Do you scoff in disbelief? I challenge you to witness this story of an alien encounter and remain so dispassionate.

I definitely don’t mean to promote the whole God preoccupation, but the Brick Testament is one of the sweetest little projects I’ve seen online.

How come their guys have such awesome facial expressions? Where did they get better LEGO pieces than I ever saw when I was a kid?

My first guess had a higher power involved, but as it turns out — “there are a few instances where, as a last resort, Rev. Smith has modified LEGO elements with a hobby knife or permanent ink marker. Further, there also are a few select instances of computer graphics used to enhance certain photos (besides the use of dialogue bubbles)”.

Finally, a visual representation of how concentrated media concentrates coverage.

Buzztracker is a nifty project that analyzes Google News entries by frequency and location, then maps the top 10 geographic locations for each day. You can sign up for an RSS feed, and there’s even a Buzztracker widget for OSX.

Celestia is three-dimensional software that opens up our solar system to the home explorer. Mapping the stars, comets, planets, space ships — it’s the Keyhole of the skies, and it kicks ass!

Donwload a free copy for Windows, Mac and Linux, then see the dozens of add-ons available.

The Modern Language Association’s language map of the United States displays detailed information about more than thirty languages spoken in the US — including the number of speakers, and distribution by county or zip code.