Tonight at 9 on Ideas on CBC, a program on the mysteries of the penis, putting the potence in impotence: Phallus in Wonderland. I'm tuning in, if just for the puns...

Okay, fine, for the penises.

In Ohio, a statewide vote to deny anyone but married couples access to the protections of married life has meant that some men are getting off scot-free after beating up their girlfriends. The courts have no choice but to strike down domestic abuse laws because they protect against battery from "a family member, spouse or person living as a spouse ( Read more... )

Borat's portrayal of Kazakhstan is wildly different from the real country, the livid former Soviet republic insists, so the New Yorker asks a Kazakh envoy, 'Just what *are* the real cultural traditions of Kazakhstan?"

The answer: there's no "Running of the Jew" but just wait until you hear about "the Chasing of the Bride"...

After four months in Uganda and two weeks in Toronto and a whole lot of time in the air, I've flopped down in Vancouver. Welcome back me. I want to see all of you lovely people again and give all of you lovely people presents galore, perhaps at a lunch or dinner at Nyala, that African food place on Fourth this weekend sometime ( Read more... )

So I'm back in Canada, in Toronto. Culture shock took the form of once-overs and smirks by Torontonians who rejected my clothing that was rejected by value village, sent to Africa, and bought in a Ugandan market by me. I bought all new clothes. Also, having something to eat other than mashed bananas and goat rocks. Also, white girls are cute ( Read more... )

Right. No post from Jon for months. No post especially since he went into the Congo. Well, I'm fine, I might even be so fine I'm staying in Africa for another month. I'm holding out on some responses to pitches and might even find myself stringing for some other papers... even the shitty ones pay enough to live here like a king ( Read more... )

Hello all ( Read more... )

Wow. The storage people took my container before I was ready to go. I still have all kinds of stuff to load. I leave tomorrow. This is a pickle.

So Fantacity Karaoke is out -- they're booked solid Saturday and have been for a long time. But there is another venue downtown that serves my purpose: the Marble Arch. So the updated, detailed plan for a going-away shindig on Saturday is as follows ( Read more... )

Yes, don't get too excited: I'm leaving on Monday for three months in Africa, where I plan to write news stories, build water filters, stop disease and save the children. And that means I'll have to say good-bye to the trappings of civilization. I'm not going without a fight: I propose a day of the most ridiculous things the First World has ( Read more... )