Lovin' Esthero right now...



Thanks to Juan-ho for always bringing me the shit.

Winnebago Man



(NSFW)

It's at Hot Docs

Thursday May 7th at The Cumberland.

and

Saturday May 9th at The Bloor.

I'll be at one of them.
My good friends' son is the Editor...I've never met Malcolm, but I may get the chance in the next week or so.

Lianie Towell began her day by slipping into her wedding dress and strapping a door to her back. An artist who has devoted her life to Guinean dance, Towell made a very public display of the burden she bears as the victim of immigration and marriage fraud.

See the coverage of Lainie's walk to Parliament in her wedding gown here.

You know, we can all say that it could never happen to us, but I've met more smart women who have been duped by skilled sociopathic liars than I care to mention.

LIFE Magazine looks at First Ladies Before Michelle: Signature Styles.
Click on image so see the photos.

No one has lived up to Jackie, IMHO.

Tan Hong Ming is in Love....
this video is so adorable, it's almost too adorable to stand.



via Squandrous

Apparently, women faint all the time during Obama's speeches.

I'm not sure what Robert Deluce did to Mayor Miller (except make him look like the jackass that he is..) but, a lot of people have a real hate on for him, and Porter Airlines.

All this crying about Toronto not being a "world class" city, and then all these Councillors bitching about what a bad idea it is to make it easier to get in and out of Toronto for business with a downtown airport...ok, they're not bitching about that, they're bitching about government money helping Porter out.

Yeah, well...I'd have to say that Mayor Miller was the one who really helped Porter out by backpedaling on a deal, and costing us taxpayers an "unspecified amount" to settle the lawsuit Deluce brought against the City.

He asked $505,000,000...let's all do the math on that, since Deluce did settle..it couldn't have been that much less than what he asked. Especially since it's "unspecified" to the public.

Imagine a new terminal where business people don't have to travel 35km by cab to Malton to take a flight in or out of Toronto...and then perhaps travel back over that turf by plane to get to New York or any other city on the Eastern seaboard...oh, and those 400 new jobs that the new terminal might bring.

OMG...somebody stop this horrible man from making it easier to do business in Toronto!

DON'T PANIC BUT YOU ARE GOING TO DIE

PEOPLE across the world were last night urged not to panic as experts warned that most of you would be dead by the end of this sentence.
As swine flu swept across the globe governments sought to calm fears by ordering 400 million coffins, while media organisations offered a reward to any scientist prepared to use the word 'holocaust'.

I love The Daily Mash

Going my way?



via GIF Party

via I have seen the whole of the internet.

1-900 Sensitive Men

When the forest fire of Alzheimer's causes havoc in the frontal lobe of the brain, it attacks the site approximating most to our adult selves. Frontal-lobe damage can return dementia sufferers to child-likeness and childishness. Childishness is the worst because it's coated in adult power, assumed authority and physical strength.

Strange Food Art
from Dark Roasted Blend

Neatorama did a post called "Five Familiar Actresses in a Different Light"

Showing some older, working actresses and what they looked like when they were younger.

They were missing two of my favourites, and they still look great today:

Helen Mirren



Dame Judi Dench

Last week I read in the morning paper about a street here where 60 out of 66 homes were vacant or abandoned on a single block. The reporter called it a "ghost street." Yesterday I found myself in the area. Other than an errant sofa, the street was completely empty, almost peaceful. I took a photo of every house on the north side of one block and then stitched them together. If you were to compare the current international housing crisis to a black hole sucking the equity out of our homes, this one-way street near the northern border of Detroit might just be the singularity: the point where the density of the problem defies anyone's ability to comprehend it. These homes started emptying in 2006.

Click on the image, and then click again to magnify.
It's pretty sad, and a little spooky too.

via Waxy.org

It made me laugh.

via YesButNoButYes

Found at English Russia:

Meet the "Russian Prince": “My kingdom is growing, but there is no decent Cinderella (without bad habbits) to be turned into princess by me. That should be a girl 16-20 y.o.”. The news about the prince spread fast across Russian blogs and now it goes to to the west. So Russian Prince, anyone?

Click on the image... and then shield your eyes...The "Russian Prince" has depleted Russian society of gold paint, as well as taken every bear out of the woods and is wearing every single one on his back.

Selections of The Spoken Word from The Smithsonian Magazine.

Click on image to hear rare interviews from The Sound Archive of the British Library.

VANCOUVER — A British Columbia New Democratic Party candidate has stepped down to stem a controversy over racy photos posted on his Facebook account.

“An issue was made regarding inappropriate material on my private Facebook page,” Ray Lam, NDP candidate for Vancouver False-Creek, said Sunday night in a statement.

Thanks for taking yourself out of the running Ray!
We have enough jackasses with bad judgment in parliament.

The Land of No Smiles - Photo Essay on North Korea

COLLECTIVIST COMMUTE: When van Houtryve approached North Koreans, they walked off or averted their eyes. He never once photographed a smile. Even children ran away from him. “They’d turn and notice me and immediately bolt off—as if a wolf had come up to them.” Pyongyang’s somber trams are old East German models, giving the city a Soviet feel two decades after the fall of the Berlin Wall.

Click on Image to view the whole essay.

via A Welsh View

If you say it enough times, you may believe it...I hope.

via Half-Wit

While I still subscribe to:

"I believe there is no such thing as collateral damage".

Hillbilly Bob talks about his Toronto interview on Jimmy Kimmel.



He's still an asshole. (... in this hump-backed geeks' opinion)

The Bride Was Beautiful - Heartbreaking

via Funkaoshi

The press continues to be shocked that a clean-cut, young man like Philip Markoff, the alleged Craigslist Killer, who seemingly had it all, (money, education, the right gender, the right skin color), gruesomely murdered a masseuse he hired through Craigslist, but people who went to college with him say he gave off a “creepy vibe” and had issues with people of color and women.

You know that roommate in the interview has just been dying to dish the dirt on Markoff for a long time.

For Earth Day:



Via DMOTIV8

Today's Quote:

"Be more concerned with your character than your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are".

- John Wooden

(Found at Half-Wit)

While I don't agree with Miss California, the last time I checked, she had the right to say it out loud.

Isn't that what's supposed to be so great about living on this continent?

I hardly think a contestant in a pageant is going to make any huge impact on whether or not California will or won't recognize gay marriage.

While we're on this topic, isn't it baffling that of ALL states, California is a holdout?

I'm just gobsmacked about that.

EMBED-Valentines Day Proposal Goes Wrong - Watch more free videos

7 Wedding Proposals Gone Bad...watch the rest here.

When Oprah is twittering, it's time to find a new social network.

Found at mizi[social]

Life in Soviet Russia from English Russia.

(Click on image for more)

I'm not naming names, or pointing fingers...

But, I've noticed a new phenomenon in the past 8 years or so (since Holly) in this city that is disturbing to me.

High profile media covered tragedies that involve children, and the eventual expectation of donations from the general public.

Why does this bother me so?

Where Contemporary Royalty Lives...



This is Norodom Sihamoni The King of Combodia's crib.

(Click on image for more)

Victoria Beckham has a thing for Birkin bags and has spent more than 100 grand on adding to her collection. When you consider that one bag can cost up to $16,000, I guess that isn’t really much of a collection.

What purse is worth $16,000?
That's just fucking obscene.

2 fond memories...I hear Goran Bregovic is coming to Toronto.

Most women can tell fake hair by just looking.
The Mister is always amazed when girlfriends and I point it out.

No fans, or jumping up and down needed.

(Found at Wipe Your Feet)

Want to know which celebrity dated which celebrity?
Click on the logo to see with whom your favourite celebrity cavorted or married.

This aspect of celebrity must suck for them.

I've posted this guy before...but, he's worth watching again.

I scored 13 out of 16.

How did you do?

Prader-Willi Syndrome - Can't Stop Eating



Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5

PEOPLE who do best without a refrigerator often have certain built-in lifestyle advantages — they live alone and don’t have to cook large meals for a family, say, or they live on a farm or within walking distance of a grocery store. In the case of Duncan Campbell, who has been living happily without a fridge for three years, it was the food he was used to eating.

LOL

Bette Davis' old house is for sale.

I really like the fact that it's not ostentatious. In these days when stars have grossly overdone monster mansions, Bette's home is livable for a normal person.

Click on photo for more images.

(Found at Wipe Your Feet)

Obama takes one for the team.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

The schadenfreude on Hilary's face in the background is priceless.

(found at Guanabee)

Best driver in the world via Bits and Pieces

The Hipster Grifter
"Within the space of a half-hour, Ms. Ferrell was peppering him with questions about his sexual history—how many women he’d slept with and so on. “She was coming on to me, and I was super into it for the first part of it,” he said. “I realized I could have fun after work—but then I was like, ‘Let me check this girl out.’” He Googled her. Up popped a photo of his flirtatious new co-worker on the Salt Lake City Police Department’s Most Wanted list, wanted on five different warrants, including passing $60,000 in bad checks, forgery and retail theft".

I dunno.

I read the article, and I think that the Grifter thing is just a bi-product of her full time job of being a sociopathic mental case.

Ram also added this blog entry by someone who knew her to the mix.

(article found at Funkaoshi)

(Found at Squanderous)

If only people had this much consideration for children.

Seriously...issues of the well to do.

Cosby show intro from India



Just Awesome!

(From Cynical-C)

(From I have seen the whole of the internet)

Follow here...found here

CBC 3 Mocks Billy Bob's Pricky interview with Jian Ghomeshi

The gravy train has pulled out of Canada.

Billy Bob Thornton -- who hit a sour note during a disastrous CBC radio interview Wednesday -- has cancelled his band's remaining Canadian shows.

The Boxmasters, who were scheduled to open for Willie Nelson in Montreal Friday, pulled out Friday morning.

Boo Fucking Hillbilly Hoo...It's complimentary that an asshole like him doesn't care for Canadians.

(Thanks Popped Culture)

(Found at nicoel is not a typo)

I miss Amy.
:(

Sexy People



A site filled with old photography studio photo goodness.
I know it's supposed to be funny, and it is...but, there is a sweetness to a lot of the photos. People who made the effort to take a photo, back in a time when photos weren't taken every 30 seconds.

Click on the photo to go to the site.

IT WORKED!!!

That's just mean....but, still...



(From GIF Party)

Billy Bob Thorton is an asshole, on purpose?



It gets tense around the 6 minute mark.
I kept waiting for Jian Ghomeshi to ask him why he was being such a dick...but, it's the CBC and they don't do that sort of thing.
He should have though.

Billy Bob would rather have Canadians throw things at the band instead of being "mashed potatoes without the gravy".

I can't be convinced that he isn't being such a colossal asshole for the YouTube attention for his hillbilly band.

(Found at Bulletproof Bracelets)

Legal, Bureaucratic Extortion

March 24th, 2009
On a rainy March night, I make a right turn on Victoria Park and St. Clair E on an amber.
Lightning strikes, and then I realize that it wasn't lightning, but the red light camera.

April 3rd, 2009
I receive a $180 ticket for making a right turn on an amber, which turned red when I was 1.9 seconds into the intersection. Considering I've been told on numerous occasions that I should get new plates because my number isn't clear enough. My license plate number is surprisingly clear in the photo.
I decide to fight said ticket, since had I attempted to stop, I probably would have lost control of my vehicle since the conditions were wet, and my tires suck.
I have until April 8th to set a court date in person. Contrary to what it says on my ticket, I cannot make an appointment by phone. Rather obvious, since the telephone number on the ticket is manned by automated prompts that repeat the same things, with no "person" option, and with a built in disconnect if you hit "0"...HAHAHAHAHAH!!! Oh, that's hilarious!

April 8th, 2009
I decide to go to the Markham Rd office on this day because I'm rarely in Scarborough, but I would be on that day.
I take a number in a room that has people packed into it like sardines. I'm T417, and they are currently serving T009. Only 3 wickets are open, and there are 4 categories of ticket numbers. I've been to offices in the west end. I've never seen shit like this before.
I'm there for an hour and a half and they are only at T089. I realize that I only paid for an hour and a half in the parking lot, and wouldn't it be sardonic if I got a ticket trying to get a court date to fight a ticket.
I then realize that there appears to be a method to this madness.
If you cram 800 people into a small room with only 100 chairs, and 3 wickets open, and it takes an hour and a half to service 80 people...anyone who can afford it will leave, and pay the ticket...because it's just not worth it.

It's license to print money.
It's fucking genius...I tell you.

Integrity

The word integrity is related to the roots of words like “integrate” and “entire.” In Spanish it is rendered “integro,” meaning whole. Integrity thus implies the state of being complete, undivided, intact, and unbroken. Such a state contrasts with one that is scattered, fragmented, and incomplete. In writing this article, I was struck by the way in which integrity pulls together so many of the other things we have discussed on the Art of Manliness. Integrity is really the bond that holds a man’s other virtues together; it is the mark of a man who has successfully integrated all good principles. His life is a unified whole.

The Art of Manliness is a fantastic site...if only all men subscribed to it...

and more:

It’s Easier

It may not seem like it at first blush, but living with integrity is easier than living a deceitful life. While making unethical decisions is often easier in the short term, it eventually takes its toll. There’s no real happiness to be found in struggling to remember your lies, living in fear of getting caught, and not feeling like you truly earned your reward. It’s empty and stressful. Bernie Madoff may have lived high on the hog, but did he really enjoy his wealth knowing that one day his house of cards would collapse? Living with integrity brings wholeness and peace. Your conscience can rest easy, and you can look at yourself in the mirror with pride.

In the past decade, Ms. Hassan, an articulate, elegant woman in a brown head scarf, long skirt and leather jacket, has met more than 30 Somali families in Toronto with one or more autistic children.

She has also given birth to another, her fourth child, Abshir.

The condition, which Somalis call the "western disease" or the "disease from abroad," appears to have struck their community with a particular vengeance. While no data are available on prevalence, Somali parents in Canada are concerned enough to go public about what they say is a sleeping epidemic.

The comments are sad.
People arguing about immunization, and wheat and gluten allergies...vitamin D and sun deficiency, and even marriage between family members from "that part of the world".

Because Autism is so baffling, people scramble to find something to blame to help settle it in their own minds. Putting their children on extreme and restrictive diets with hope that it can change their child's developmental decline.

I don't know what it means, but I've seen a spike in autistic children in the past decade...and not a little spike, a huge one. When I started working with children, autism was a word in a textbook.
Now, twenty years later (especially in the last ten) I've met and worked with more autistic children than I would ever have imagined when I was in school.

The article is interesting to me because I have experience with autism and families of children with autism from Somalia.
I applaud Ms. Hassan for wanting to bring her community's children out into the light.
Because as much as people want to pretend that all treat autism the same way..with empathy and understanding, it isn't true.

Many Eastern communities see it as an imperfection, and they do hide.
Families will deny for longer than they should.

I was sad to learn that one mother who has two children with moderate Autism Spectrum Disorder hides her children's condition from her family "back home", and shows so much shame while interacting with the people who can help her that it's painful to be present while conducting meetings in order to find resources to help her children.

It's just heartbreaking.

Bravo, Ms Hassan!
More power to you in your attempt to shine the light of understanding onto the families struggling with autism in your community.

Honestly.

The first snowfall this winter was early November...

Wasn't even technically "winter" for another month and a half...

I have officially had enough.

I had a late lunch with Uja and my mother today.
Uja was talking about how much it pisses him off when he goes to a store, and they ask for his phone number at the cash.

This is how he deals with it:

Sales girl: "Can I have your phone number?"

Uja: "Doan yu tink I'm too old fo yu?"

Sales girl: *shocked look*

I love my Uja.

Contradiction

This is a video taken on a bus somewhere in the former YU.
A confrontation between two passengers; a gypsy woman and a man.
The woman is truly a champion of cussing, while at the same time telling the man she's swearing at not to curse in front of her children.

The irony; one her children uses formal and respectful speaking when he asks the person with the camera to please not film them.

I found the exchange very interesting...it's in Serbian/Croatian/Bosnian (whichever language you would like to pretend is different from the other)

A Brief Essay on Love from Square America.

(via: Love Me!)

Vegetarianism is a cry for help. A sadly transparent attempt to exercise control over your body, which you feel the need to do for psychological reasons of which you are probably unaware. It's why so many vegetarians have tattoos and exotic piercings (you know it's true). It's why anarchists, squatters, G20 protesters and art students are usually vegetarians. Frustrated that they cannot, and never will, control the world, or anything else of any significance, they starve themselves and carve holes in their bodies.

You know, at first I thought this article was funny, and a little outrageous.
But, while Giles Coren is a bit ridiculous in some of his comments, when I googled "vegetarians have an eating disorder", it's not such a crazy idea.

It actually explains some people I know.
Not to say all vegetarians....but, you've got to admit that it's a great cover for an eating disorder.

Don't Turn Around - Aswad









All seen by me at the Palais Royale in Toronto, back in the day.

"Thriller" Prison Inmate in the Phillipines.



I love the "chick".

The St Lawrence Market



When I was a little girl, my Tetka Ljuba used to get up at the crack of dawn on Saturdays and drag her ass down to St. Lawrence Market for fresh meat, cheeses, and produce.

I used to really like St. Lawrence Market...even up until the late '90's, I remember it still having a European Market feel.


The Mister and me recently made a trip down there solely based on the fact that neither of us had been there for years.
I was disappointed in how overpriced the meats, cheeses and condiments were.
It also has a bit of a cheezy flea market feel to it now.

I dunno.

Sad.

Off Limits Humour

Off-limits:

Women
Homosexuals
Transgendered
Minorities
Illegal immigrants
Poor people
Mentally [disabled] people
Overweight people
Vegetarians

Fair Game:

George W. Bush
Christians
Evangelicals
Republicans
Conservative bloggers
Conservative pundits
Rich people
Stupid people
People who...
live in the South
live in red states
drive trucks
fly American flags
have "Support Our Troops" stickers
Joe Lieberman

…Is this simply a case of applying a double standard to groups that we consider oppressed versus groups that we consider to be misguided? If you look at the other side of the blogosphere the columns are reversed. Is either side on higher ground?

Depends on who is telling the joke, and the context in which it is told.

The list above is subjective.
Why are vegetarians more off limits than...say...people who fly American flags? (wtf?)
Because the commenter thinks that vegetarians are morally superior to patriots?

As far as I can tell, humour comes from a very dark place.
It's a coping mechanism.
What's funny to you, may not be funny to me, and vice versa.
Our life experiences shape our sense of humour...or robs us of one.

No one can tell anyone what is, or is not funny....or what's "off limits".

White People Problems should be called:
"Rich white people problems"

Funny Videos | Funny Cartoons | More Video Clips

Prison Inmates in the Phillipines
"Do the Hustle!"

Louis CK - Being White



(thanks Chris)

Obama gives Queen an iPod

President Obama has given the Queen of England an iPod during his visit to Buckingham Palace, according to pool reports. The iPod contains video of the Queen's visit to the United States in 2007.

In return, the Queen presented Obama with a framed photograph of her husband and herself, the same gift she gives to all visiting dignitaries.

LOL...I don't know which is cheezier.

Thank goodness we can all use the economy as an excuse for crappy gifts.
Gone are the days of Faberge eggs and paintings from the Group of Seven...I think Obama should stop with the ipods and DVD's and start handing out one thing for everyone, like the Queen does.

Like maybe one of those coins with his face on it from the Franklin Mint...or I dunno...what do you think?

BTW, how many portraits of the Queen do you think the White House has in the basement?