Author: Joey deVilla

I thought this Twitter conversation should be saved for posterity.

First came this open message to Toronto from Richard “Creative Class” Florida:

Toronto … There is no ducking your head this time, and hoping this crisis will just go away …

— Richard Florida (@Richard_Florida) May 28, 2013

Mark Towhey, the Chief of Staff recently fired by Rob Ford, a former military guy who very likely has a sense of loyalty, even for a commanding officer with whom he disagrees, falls back on this old debating trick:

@richard_florida @marcusbgee Those who can’t, teach.

— towhey (@towhey) May 28, 2013

…and Blair Falconer rises to the occasion and delivers Mr. Towhey’s final indignity (this time, one he earned) of the week:

@towhey @richard_florida @marcusbgee and those that can’t teach the Mayor get fired…

— Blair Falconer (@BlairFalconer66) May 28, 2013

You left yourself open for that one, Mr. Towhey.

Let’s give some credit where credit is due: Towhey does have a comic sense, as shown in this recent tweet:

Good morning 5,520 new Twitter friends. Trust me, I’m not that interesting. You were misled. Have you been reading that paper again?

— towhey (@towhey) June 1, 2013

Screen capture from FOX News, with additional editorial caption by Yours Truly.

“Something going terribly wrong in American society,” says one of the talking heads on FOX News, “and it’s hurting our children.” What is this thing? Women who are breadwinners. In the FOX News (surprise, surprise) video segment below, an panel completely made up of men and none of FOX’s popular women hosts, talk about the horrible apocalypse-causing things that can and will happen if men are not allowed to dominate everything.

The money quote belongs to Erik Erickson, conservative blogger, editor of RedState.com, and guy who is completely unaware of how the insect world works:

“I am so used to liberals telling conservatives that they are anti-science. But I mean this is — liberals who defend this and say it’s not a bad thing are very anti-science. When you look at biology, look at the natural world, the roles of a male and female in society; in other animals the male typically is the dominant role, the female is not antithesis or is not competing; it’s a complementary role. We as people in a smart society have lost the ability to have complementary relationships.”

“Amused and confused by life’s little ironies,
he swallows his bottle of distilled…
…damnation!”

— from Perfect, by The The

One of my favourite albums from the ’80s turns 30 this year: Soul Mining, the debut album by The The, released in September 1983. It’s got a lot of range — from the proto-Nine-Inch-Nails-ish synth-and-drums-heavy track GIANT, to the Smiths-y The Sinking Feeling, the dark and danceable album version of Perfect (the one with more minor chords and a bigger beat), the cheerful-or-mopey This is the Day with its gorgeous lead lines that show how well the accordion can work in pop music…

…and the heart and soul of the album: Uncertain Smile, which concludes with a piano solo that could stand very well as its own piece:

“A broken soul
stares from a pair of watering eyes,
uncertain emotions force an
uncertain smile”

— from Uncertain Smile, by The The

Here’s a high-quality recording of Soul Mining that someone’s posted on YouTube. Listen and enjoy!

Photo by Hibaq G. Click to see the source.

The brouhaha surrounding Toronto’s city hall over a video that allegedly shows the mayor smoking crack is still small potatoes compared to what’s going on in the federal government. There’s a scandal over expenses inappropriately claimed by senators and even more inappropriately paid for and covered up by the governing Conservative Party. Prime Minister Stephen Harper is trying to distance himself and claim no knowledge of any of those happenings, but given that’s he’s a bit of an autocratic control freak and the incident involves his hand-picked Chief of Staff writing a $90,000 personal cheque to a senator who expected the Prime Minister’s Office to cover improperly-claimed expenses, it’s pretty unlikely.

NDP leader Thomas Mulcair did an excellent job grilling the Prime Minister by dealing with him as one would deal with a petulant adolescent who’s been caught lifting the scotch from the liquor cabinet: ask short, simple questions, and if the answers aren’t satisfactory, ask again. The video below shows the outcome: Mulcair does a killer job as our weaselly Prime Minister dodges, weaves, misdirects, and like that petulant adolescent, wishes he could tell Mommy and Daddy to “eff off”, but for all his vainglorious claims to being the boss of himself, can’t.

It’s a grey day in Accordion City, so here are some pics of things gone wrong to lighten the mood. Be thankful they didn’t happen to you, share them with friends and enjoy these random internet finds!