Photo of the week

Here’s a funny shot of my sister Eileen and brother-in-law Richard trying to feed their son, Aidan.

A better photo of Will

Will McLean, the other member of the Asian gang I started (it’s currently called “Asian Gang”) has been asking me to post a better picture of him. He doesn’t like the one I posted earlier, saying it makes him “look like a Gino”. Here you go, Will:

They’re on to us

Here’s the latest cartoon from Korean cartoonist extraordinaire Derek Kirk, who has a great site called Small Stories:

And who am I to say that 70% of the American public isn’t right? I’m goin’ with the flow and becoming the shiftiest Asian of them all, boyee! I’m been practicing my shifty smile — here’s how it looks so far:

Damn, if that look don’t say “pimp”, I don’t know what does.

(By the way, if you’ve seen that survey, could you let me know where I can find it?)

I’ve been a little busy

…so that’s why there haven’t been updates in a couple of days. I’m alive and well and have a fair backlog of stuff, so watch this space.

In the meantime, may I recommend House of Hot Sauce, a great blog written by my friend and Global Pop Conspirator Sean Monkman?

Funn Venn Diagrams

A friend of an um-friend invented the term Vennophobia: the fear that someone has included you in one of their Venn diagrams. “Look, you’re in the area where ‘ugly’ overlaps with ‘loser’!”

The Brunching Shuttlecocks have some nice Venn diagrams. Here’s my favourite:

Ass Pirates of Silicon Valley

It had to happen: someone’s written Bill Gates/Steve Jobs slash fiction.

(Don’t know what slash fiction is? Here’s a good definition, plus some background.)

In the real world, Jobs needs Bill’s software put in his hardware. In these stories, Bill needs Steve’s hardware put into his software. If you know what I mean. Huh-huh-huh.

Here’s an excerpt:

“(Jobs) nuzzles my neck, bites my earlobe,” Slade writes. “I watch him go to his desk and rummage in one of the top drawers. When he comes back, he’s holding a bottle of hand lotion…. He hooks his hand on the waistband of my chinos and briefs, sliding them both down at once…. He runs his hand up my back and leans down to whisper, ‘Bill, are you a virgin?'”

“Yes.” Sort of.

“I’ll be gentle.”

If you can bear with the mental image of Bill Gates on all fours, grunting with pleasure like a hog at the trough whilst getting jazzed up the gunga, go ahead and read away. Don’t blame me for any nightmares you might have as a result.

(My finding out about this is all Martin “Coderman” Peck’s fault.)

Social calendar

Global Pop Conspiracy Social #3

It’s Thursday again, which means that it’s time for another Global Pop Conspiracy Social. If you like your pop music all over the road, from Helmet to Hall and Oates and everything in between, you’ll like this evening. Tonight’s guest “audio selector” is Greg Davis from Soundscapes, Toronto’s answer to Championship Vinyl (the record store in Nick Hornby’s book-turned-movie, High Fidelity) and the video wall will be showing clips seelcted by Moment Factory.

I will be there with accordion, of course.

Once again, it’s at the Rotors Club — 593a Bloor Street West (upstairs), just west of Bathurst. The doors open at 9, and the cover is a mere $5.00. Yup, it’s a 19+ event.

Smokin’ Joe rides again

Tomorrow night marks the start of comedy troupe Slap and Tickle’s (the people with whom I performed last week) run at their new location, the Poor Alex Theatre. In addition to Slap and Tickle, other comedians will be performing and musical interludes will be provided by — as the poster below says — Smokin’ Joe deVilla…

The name “Smokin’ Joe” strikes me as more appropriate for an aging black blues guitarist, but the Slap and Tickle folks seem to like the sound of it.

I’m sure there’ll be some kind of after-party at one of the nearby pubs — the Green Room, the Future Bakery Patio or the-bar-behind-Future-whose-name-escapes-me. I’m sure there’ll be some post-show silliness no matter what, so if you want to have some laughs and accordion-and-beer-fueled mayhem, this might just be the place for you!

The Poor Alex Theatre is at 298 Brunswick Avenue, just south of Bloor (Brunswick is just east of Bathurst). Doors open at 8:30.