Platform 327

I know I promised this, and I wanted to do it before there was actually another weekend to talk about. I’m at work and don’t have a lot of time, so this’ll just be the good-parts version of the weekend.

On Saturday afternoon, I met up with a group of local BookCrossing people. I came away with F. Scott Fitzgerald’s A Life in Letters, Michael Moore’s Stupid White Men, and No One Here Gets Out Alive, the Doors bio. I also relieved my shelves of a couple dozen clutterbooks in the process. It was also the first time in a long time that I’d met a group of new people that I actually wanted to talk to.

Afterwards,

champy2

and I went to Danforth Bowl and bowled a few games. I had just discovered Danforth Bowl on the interweb, and thought it might be worth checking out. It was pretty fun. It’s got six 5-pin lanes, and looks like it has been there 100 years. It didn’t even have any of that new-fangled electronic scoring stuff. I had to use a pencil and paper, just like the cavepeople. Quite the experience. I’m going to be doing more bowling there, methinks.

champy2

and I then went to Artful Dodger to meet up with

michaelcool

and Big Harv.

michaelcool

was about 4.5 hours late, but that’s to be expected. Also at Artful Dodger was a big Torontoist party. I went up and said hello to the editor, but meeting one group of new people a day is about all I can handle. Besides, I feel like I’ll have more to talk about once I get a little more accustomed to the work.

Sunday, I bought a new camera. You know kitty pictures will be coming soon.

The end.

… and a weekend roundup is coming soon. It was a busy one that kind of spilled over into Monday. Right now I’m at work and don’t have the time. Maybe at lunch.

My second Torontoist post.

Don’t worry, the novelty of posting a post for every post I post on that other place I post to will die out very soon. Besides, you’re all reading Torontoist now anyway, aren’t you?

Go figure.

My first Torontoist post!

And the old Toronto Archives pic is being used because my camera sucks ass. I need a new one. So much for a swift end to credit card debt.

I’ve got a question for you folks out there. I want to get a new clock radio. Specifically, I’m looking for a clock radio with a feature that SHOULD exist in this day and age, but for some reason seems elusive.

You see, when I get home from work I like to listen to Brave New Waves on CBC Radio 2. Yeah, there’s the occasional shit-hop night, but it’s still a really good place to keep abreast of all the new stuff that’s going on in the multi-genre universe. I turn on BNW, put the clock radio’s sleep timer on, and drift off listening to sometimes-magical, sometimes-shitty music.

The problem with my current clock radio becomes apparent when the morning rolls around. In the morning, CBC Radio 2 place nice, soothing classical music. I have nothing against nice, soothing classical music, mind you, but when it’s time to get my ass out of bed, I don’t find it all that motivating. In fact, it just puts me more to sleep. The only other option is waking up to the standard high-pitched, dentist-drill-on-crack electronic screeching that everyone who owns a clock radio knows and loathes. It’s impossible to have a good day that starts with that noise.

So here’s my point: I want a damn clock radio that will allow me to listen to one station at night, but turn on another station in the morning when the alarm goes off. In this age of digital preset tuning, someone must have come up with a clock radio that can do this. I want to go to sleep at night to Brave New Waves or Jazz FM and wake up to classic rock or business news or something. Is that so wrong?

I’m a writer looking for folks who live with used, recycled, repurposed and vintage stuff. Do you run a vintage clothing business? Did you decorate your home with curbside furniture? Do you swear that all the good musical instruments were built in the ’70s? Do you make art out of other people’s “garbage?” If this sounds like you, or if you’ve found other creative uses for what some would call “junk,” send me an email and let me know about it! I’m looking for people to write about in Torontoist and possibly other publications. My email address is david_j_widmann(at)yahoo(dot)ca

Thanks.

Well, okay, maybe not tomorrow, considering the weather, but soon. That’s the new golf bag I ordered online, and it will be ready for me to pick up from the post office after 1300h tomorrow. It will totally eliminate one of the big reasons I hate golf: the inconvenience of lugging a giant bag of clubs onto the subway.

I’m a grey-haired, teetotalling wannabe golfer. Man, I’m old.

I’ve been hired to write for Torontoist!

My main focus is going to be on content similar to what I was doing for my old Second Life zine. (Be warned, former interview subjects. I may be coming your way again.) I’ll also be doing other city-based stuff. I have a few ideas.

I’ve also received my first writing assignment for The Chronicle, official newsletter for Karma Coop.

At least my publishing drought is over. In that regard, 2006 just sucked.

Do the boneheads at The Ashley Madison Agency not realize the irony in advertising their services during the airing of Cheaters?

Come to think of it, Cheaters probably gets copies of Ashley Madison’s client list. How else can they find so many morons that Jerry, Maury et. al. haven’t already poached?

Oh, and if I ever become fat and bald and end up cheating on a supermodel half my age, you have my permission to beat me bloody with a barbed-wire wrapped baseball bat.

I need sleep.