Hartamophone

In town for a couple of days, yeah. PM coming your way. And thanks for the tip!

I saw Ladies and Gentlemen: The Rolling Stones in the theater about a year ago. It started off with a current day Mick Jagger interview that was so awkward and out-of-place that for several minutes I just assumed the projectionist had accidentally put in the special features disc.

That's of a fine vintage. Thanks!

In general, if you are applying to a consulate/high/commission/embassy for a visa, do you have to be a citizen of the country in which the embassy is located? We're trying to get my lady's visa for South Africa sorted out, and it would make sense for her to take care of it at the High Commission in Ottawa (which is closed for visa business for the day, hence my asking here) despite the fact that she is not a Canadian citizen. I'm assuming it doesn't matter, but want to make sure. Any advice is appreciated.

Sa-weet!

LP and P-Burgh are both closer to Ottawa in driving time than Essex Junction, though at this point I'm not even sure what we're talking about anymore. Hawking'd.

If I was a PT jerk off I would point out that both Lake Placid, NY (12/16/95, 12/17/95 and 10/16/96) and Plattsburgh, NY (Clifford Ball, 1996) are closer to Ottawa than Essex Junction is. I would then call you a n00b and say "Sorry you never saw Phish," even though you've seen them way more times than I likely ever will. But that's not how I roll and would be douchey hair splitting, so I'm a shut the hell up.

While I'm sure there's rumbling about it on the green board, I really like they way they're doing the ticketing for this.

Sweet.

The kids aren't getting paid, but the insurance company is donating $20k to minor hockey. I'll call that a win. Story

Christ. I love being in the water, so I know I'm going to just have to suck it up, but growing up in Ottawa doesn't exactly give someone a rational understanding of how little danger sharks actually pose.

Would love to, but that won't fly with my work schedule. Sounds pret-tay sweet, though. Appreciated. Going to be hard to enjoy the sand and surf when I am avoiding whales and these pesky little fellers, who hang out down there in spades: zZVbSYRC9P0

This is very good news. Thanks for keeping us in the loop.

Wicked. Thanks guys!

Sounds like a good man. And thorough.

So I'm moving to South Africa. Landed a six-month gig with a human rights NGO in Stellenbosch, which is about 50km east (inland) of Cape Town. Taking off in a couple of weeks and feeling stoked. I'm not entirely sure what to expect, but I'm pretty sure that it will be a big change from Yellowknife, which has been my home for the past year. Anybody been to that part of the world? Any can't-misses or must-avoids?

Damn, that's quite the double-bill.

Arrested Development in Legos

Third row down, first pic on the left. For such a friendly dude, he sure does look creepy there .

Shut the front door! For real?

Yellowknife, represent.

Despite the sorrow, it's encouraging to see how many people are affected by this. The ball is now in our court to ensure that all of the profile pictures, status updates and other reactions continue in the form of compassionate and meaningful action. We'll try to do you proud, Jack.

Velvet Slog sounds like something I want to order two of at last call. Awesome that you now have a permanent cyber home. Looking forward to it.

How to be Good is excellent and might be my second favourite of his. Juliet, Naked is also pretty good, and should resonate well with folks around here as it offers up commentary on the geekiness of people who frequent online message boards to talk about obscure musicians that nobody else cares about :laugh: .

He is definitely me favourite contemporary fiction writer. If you haven't read High Fidelity, run to your nearest (independent) bookstore and get it. Seriously, like, now. Also, a fun bonus of reading more than one of his books is that he inserts subtle little self-referential jokes. For example, I just finished reading About a Boy, in which the main character talks about how he loves shopping at Championship Vinyl, which is the fictional record store that is the setting for High Fidelity. As for other books/authors, a couple of summer highlights for me have been these two: and Fascinating and twisted non-fiction mystery/adventure stories really well told. Vaillant is expert at intertwining various elements of complicated stories and making them read like a novel. Another recent favourite, recommended if you're at all interested in contemporary Canadian identity: