Someone Had To

Golden Age

No picnic for the staff, obviously, but I gotta say I'm looking forward to my eventual stay in one of our care facilities:

Elderly and demented residents are attacking their caregivers in Canadian nursing homes at alarming rates, a new study out of York University says.

[edit]

“Almost all of the personal support workers that we surveyed said they experienced physical violence (at some point) from the residents they cared for,” [lead study author Albert] Banerjee says.

As well, about 30 per cent of Canadian workers – 95 per cent of them women – complained of unwanted sexual attention on a daily or weekly basis.

Almost 12 per cent said they suffered racial slurs over the same time frames.

In An Ironic Cock-Rocky Mood

The Stone Diaries

Went to see the Bevster read from the new book at Harbourfront the other night. Despite the obvious nervyness of a first public reading, she did a fine job. The modest number of copies available were snapped up quickly (official release pushed back to early April now).

The novel is dedicated to my sister-in-law Cindy, which was a very sweet gesture.

So I didn't go to see Deerhoof's Canadian Music Week gig. As if I would have been able to stay awake for it anyway.

Year Of Rat Festivities Cancelled

The Dumpling House reopens.

"We make dumplings in the front window. We kind of showcase the food, we don't hide anything from the public," said Michael Chu, the manager of the [restaurant].

We Hate It When Our Friends Become Successful

No Beautiful Shore, the debut novel by our friend Beverley Stone (as previously mentioned) has been delayed at the printers but should be available around mid-March at your local.

Bev will be doing her first public reading as part of the Harbourfront Weekly Reading Series on Wednesday, March 5. It's not on their sked yet but I assure you 'tis so. So go. No heckling, unless it's in dialect.

And gents--she's single (with cats)!

Black DSH Showing Blonde Roots

Our pusscat refused to eat his salmon- and trout-flavoured cat food today because I put...salmon oil in it.

Post About Post-Rock Band Post-Iraq

Efrim Menuck, erstwhile of Montreal's maestros of the maudlin (de)crescendo Godspeed You! Black Emperor, talks about the band's demise in an upcoming interview. Unfortunately, Babelfish doesn't speak Gibberopseudish:

The last American tour that Godspeed did was in the run up to the current war in Iraq. For what Godspeed did, it was very difficult for us to work out a way for us to communicate directly with the audience about what was going on. We would talk to people after the shows, or we could make announcements from the stage but so much what Godspeed was, was one-way communication.

“And I had an existential freak-out about that. That those tactics aren’t valid anymore.

“People didn’t need a rock band pointing in the direction of [how the world was at that point]. Maybe what they needed is some clumsy words, a presentation that was a little more human.

mp3: GY!BE--"Moya" (from the ep Slow Riot For New Zero Kanada)

We're An Urban Village!

...wrote C. Hume in The Star the other day.

I must say it helps having rail lines a couple of blocks north, a commercially depressed area to the east, and a fucking great hill to the south.

Although they lack excitement, the tree-lined roads make up for a lot. Wandering around here one is reminded of the critical role trees play in a city like Toronto, which would otherwise be one mean-looking place.

Oh, pooh.

Hitchens Refuted

God exists.