Is East Still East In Lotusland?

Monetize
EverythingVille


Former Spam-A-Lot-Teer from the old Smilin' Sammy days, Mike Klassen, put forward the other Vancouver council motion of note that was approved this week.

Which is to have city staff seriously look into moving the VanEast cross that sits high on the hill above the wrong (i.e. right) side of the False Creek Railroad Flats Track, to somewhere more appropriate because:

..."This is a really important piece that people should be able to see better," said Klassen, speaking on the CBC's The Early Edition. "It's become really almost symbolic of the working class east side of the city and a lot of people love it."...

{snip}

..."Wouldn't it be nice to go visit the [Cross], sit and watch the sun go down and have that experience of being there whether you're a visitor or local."...

But.

As you might expect from a councillor seeking favour from our Bitcoin Bro Mayor of the Moment, it turns out there is an end times capitalist commercialization razor in Mr. Klassen's idyllic Eastside apple:

...(The motion) goes on to say a relocation plan should include "opportunities for revenue generation, such as branded merchandise and on-site food and beverage service that support the monument's upkeep and enhance community engagement."...

Surprised?

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The quotes from neospam-land, above, come courtesy a solid piece on the subject by Karin Larsen of the CBC.


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Nevermind The Lotus... Bring On BitcoinLand!

VancouverNeverReallyWasVegas

BiggerCasinoVille


In case you missed it amongst all the superficial 'Make Vancouver Crypto Friendly!' headlines, the recent blather from Vancouver mayor Ken Sim is about more than becoming best bud's with the bitcoin bros.

To wit, the following is taken directly from Mr, Sim's council resolution (see point #13):

"...It would be irresponsible for the City of Vancouver to not look at the merits of adding Bitcoin to the City’s strategic assets to preserve the City’s financial stability..."

Yes.

You've got that right.

Mr. Sim is doing his best to shame/scare our fair city's citizenry into seriously considering speculating with their own tax dollars.

What could possibly go wrong?

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Update Thursday December 12th...The resolution passed...Only the two Green Party councillors voted against.

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Manifest Destiny's Child Mind.

HockeyIsNoLongerOurTopExport

CanuckistanmikitaVille


From the transcript of Mr. Trump's appearance on NBC's Meet The Press, yesterday:

..."We’re subsidizing Canada to the tune over $100 billion a year. We’re subsidizing Mexico for almost $300 billion. We shouldn’t be — why are we subsidizing these countries? If we’re going to subsidize them, let them become a state."...


Of course, as you may have already guessed, it appears that Mr. Trump wrongly assumes that an export trade surplus is a subsidy.

And our top subsidy...errrrrr...trade export to his fine country?

Oil.

Gosh. 

I wonder what the super fine folks currently running the Albertalands think of these latest developments?


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It is very likely almost certain that, beyond tariffs, Mr. Trump has no current plans to push annexation forward at this time...After all, developing such plans would actually take work and coordination...However, Trump's statement yesterday certainly puts the lie to claims that his raising of the 51st state concept during his meeting with Mr. Trudeau a week or so ago was just a joke in the multilateral machine.


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The Currency Of The Swiftie.

WorkingForTheManEveryNight
AndNotDayVille


A certain busker I know did very well, indeed, during the Grey Cup Sunday just past.

So much so that, at the end of the night, the guitar case was filled to bursting with all manner of bills, many of which ended in zeros.

All of which totalled up to something approaching the second of the four words in the title of what some consider to be Wes Anderson's best Hungarian movie.

So.

Given all that, I, for one, had been very keen to see how things would go during the Swiftian invasion of downtown Lotusland this weekend.

Alas, the take from the first of the three nights that will finally end the interminable era was much reduced compared to that generated by those who revere a game with just three downs and the ghost of Annis Stukus.

Why?

Well, one credible hypothesis put forward by said busker is that, unlike Grey Cup fans, the Swifties were not bombed out of their minds when they exited the venue and poured into the train station.

It also turns out that a great many of Ms. Swift's fans prefer to spread joy and prosperity by dropping friendship bracelets into the proverbial hat rather than cold, hard cash.

Go figure.

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Earworm in the subheader?...The transit cops in the station where the busker was working last night said that they hoped to see her again tonight as they think her singing helps calm the madding crowd...Which brings us, of course, to...This!

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The Gzowski Method, Man.

YourMornings
HisSidesVille

How much of (Peter) Gzowski’s interest in people is an act? 

“I would say none,” he replies. “Some people would say a lot. A certain amount of feigning has to be involved, but if you feign long enough, anything eventually becomes interesting.”

Dave Cameron, 'The Dark Side of Saint Peter'

Ryerson Review Of Journalism, 1997

Invoking the methodological secrets of long gone CBC radio morning man Peter Gzowski?

What am I on about this time?

Well.

All is explained in the SongPod below (words first this time, followed by an old Tom Waits cover at the end)...

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Word worm in the header?...It's a rip-off of the title of an early John Irving book...Although, to be completely honest, I argued with myself for quite some time about whether or not the comma in my version belonged.

For those interested,  here's a bit of an oral history of the lives and shortish intertwined times of Tom Waits, Rickie Lee Jones and Chuck E. Weiss.


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