Category: In the News

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In the News Toronto (a.k.a. Accordion City)

No Way, Segway

[via Torontoist] Accordion City lawyers say that Segways are catch-22

victims:

  • They’re motor vehicles, which means they can’t be used on sidewalks
  • They lack the safety equipment that meets the standards of the Ontario Highway Traffic Act, which means they can’t be used on roads (the “Highway” in the Act refers to any road).

Thanks to this catch-22, the only place you can legally operate a

Segway is on roadways in city parks (and perhaps Segway rinks, should

they ever come into vogue).

Naturally, Segway of Ontario is upset at this development, and I’m sure

that Chariot Media, who use the innovative cute-woman-on-a-Segway

advertising platform are none too pleased either:

A photo from a blog entry of mine in 2003

— she’s promoting the CIBC outside Union Station. I’ve seen a fleet of

women on Segways advertising Revlon products on Queen Street West too.

Categories
In the News Music

Also Vying for the Title of "The Rodney Dangerfield of Instruments"

Google for the phrase “Rodney Dangerfield of instruments” and you’ll get results for:

  • accordion (of course)
  • harmonica
  • banjo
  • viola
  • trombone
  • double bass
  • and the ukelele

This one goes out to Mark Frauenfelder, founder of Boing Boing  and uke player — Today’s edition of the National Post covers the poor ukelele, an instrument whose reputation was nearly destroyed without hope for rehabilitation by Tiny Tim. Even the combined forces of Urkel, Weird Al and Myron Floren didn’t do as much “de-cooling” to my beloved accordion.

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In the News

Switcheroo

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In the News

The Onion’s Infographic: "Intelligent Design Trial"

Yet again, a quote from The Simpsons comes to mind: “It’s funny because it’s true.”

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In the News

SaveMyAss.com

Here’s a clever business: “SaveMyAss is a personal assistant that helps you make your girlfriend or wife happy by sending her flowers on your behalf, on a regular but semi-random basis.”

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In the News

When News Organizations Go Unstaffed

[Dave Edwards from Big Story

IM’d me to point this out] The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, still

in the throes of its employee lockout (a tentative agreement was signed

yesterday), has been making do with other employees filling in for news

writers, and it’s showing:

Screen capture: CBC News story covering film on 'Edward R. Morrow'.

A screenshot of the CBC story on the film based on

Edward R. “Morrow”. The highlighting is mine. Click the picture to go

to its web page.

It’s sad when a news organization gets the names of its heroes wrong. The gentleman in question is actually Edward R. Murrow.

Never heard of the man? Don’t feel bad; apparently the folks currently

running the CBC haven’t either. He’s notable for his reporting in World

War II (especially the then-shocking way he covered the liberation of Buchenwald) and his instrumental role in taking down Senator McCarthy (who, in these debased times, is being held up as a hero by some total wingnuts). You might want to see his Wikipedia entry.

Categories
In the News

Pandemic Flu Awareness Week

“Not to rain on your honeymoon parade and all,” Liz “I Speak of Dreams” Ditz wrote to me in an email, “but this is a pretty big issue.” (No problem, Liz. Part of my mission statement is to use my blog powers for good!)

The week of October 3rd through 9th is Pandemic Flu Awareness Week on the Flu Wiki. The flu, epsecially avian flu, is an issue big enough to garner headlines on CNN today.

Here’s what the Flu Wiki has to say about this week:

The purpose of Pandemic Flu Awareness Week, and the Flu Wiki, is to allow the dissemination of information down to the local level so that everyone can use each others’ experience, planning and ideas so as not to be left unawares should an actual pandemic occur. Like hurricanes, when a pandemic occurs can not be accurately predicted.

Nonetheless, that which can be done in advance should be done, because eventually something will happen. Planning can only help, even if at the local level it can’t prevent.

Liz also pointed me to a page of Pandemic Preparedness Guides and Tara C. Smith’s blog, Aetiology (“Discussing causes, origins, and implications of disease and other phenomena”).

I’ll have to ask my sister more about this. She’s the assistant director of health for Peel Region, which includes a big vector for diseases: Lester B. Pearson International Airport, which some of you baggage tag-watchers know better as “YYZ”.