In honour of this holiday, I present to you fantasy artists Boris Vallejo’s depiction of a risen (and ripped) Christ, a painting I like to refer to as “The Cruciflex”. It’ll make you want to go to church and the gym.
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It hasn’t been even a month since Air Canada had to apologize to world-famous (and disabled) violinist Itzhak Perlman for callously stranding him somewhere between his arrival gate and Customs with his violin, crutches, and luggage; it would appear that they treat their non-human cargo with equal disdain. A passenger on an Air Canada flight recently shot some video of their baggage handlers taking gate-checked luggage dropping the bags from the top of the jetway instead of walking them down to ground level:
They’ve been making apologies ever since. Here’s what’s on their Facebook page right now:
In light of a recent video posted to YouTube, we would like to apologize for the totally unacceptable mishandling of our passengers’ baggage captured on video. We are in the process of identifying the employees involved whose employment will be terminated pending the outcome of our investigation. Their actions clearly contravened our standard baggage handling procedures which require gate-checked bags to be hand carried to the ramp.
We take matters involving the protection of our customers’ personal possessions very seriously. The actions of these individuals are not representative of the vast majority of our employees who work hard every day to take care of our customers.
This is the sort of thing that fuels the joke slogan going around Canadian air traveller circles: “Air Canada: We’re not happy until you’re not happy.”
And that’s why I alway carry on my accordion, and raise hell whenever someone tries to make me gate-check it. I’ve got a couple of damaged squeezeboxes that say they’re not safe to check.
Here’s another story that I’ve been meaning to point to: Budweiser is most popular beer among injured ER patients, pilot study says. Public health experts estimate that about one-third of all injury-related ER visits involved alcohol consumption, but researchers at John Hopkins wanted to know more — namely, what were they drinking? It turns out that most beer-caused ER visits involve the sort that’s cheap and imbibed primarily for the buzz rather than taste.
I keep a backlog of things that I plan to blog about eventually, and it’s been getting massive. With the spring-like weather that I hear has been making the rounds in my old stomping grounds of Toronto, and the sort of weather that they call “spring” here in Tampa (it feels more like early summer), I figure it’s a good time to subject that backlog file to some spring cleaning. Over the next couple of days, you’ll see all sorts of posts here marked with a “Spring Cleaning” logo…
If you like hamburgers and little diversions that help you Zen out, you may find that Guthrie Lonergan’s strange little web page, Burgers, is exactly what you’re looking for. Just move the cursor over the burgers floating on your screen and enjoy the beefy goodness.
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Scenes from the new home
Click the photo to see it at full size.
It’s a new city, and the locations and climate are unfamiliar, but it’s lovely and warm here, and I’m with Anitra. I’m settling in just fine.
Click the photo to see it at full size.
Click the photo to see it at full size.
Click the photo to see it at full size.
Click the photo to see it at full size.
Click the photo to see it at full size.
Here’s a graph that Reuters recently published on gun deaths in Florida before and after the enactment of the “Stand Your Ground” law. Take a really good look at it and see if you can figure out why it’s so terribly misleading:
Click the graph to see the source.
P.A. Fedewa saw the graph in Business Insider and submitted this graph in response. The data is the same, but this time, the presentation isn’t attempting to lie to you:
Click the graph to see the source.
Update
More worrisome than the murder rate should be the rate of people getting away with shooting someone in a situation that isn’t reasonably self-defense (they wouldn’t be reflected on this chart). And the problem there isn’t the stand your ground principle (which is common, even California has that principle), but the lowering of the evidentiary burden and the haphazard way the law is applied.
Click any of the photos to see the real estate listing for the house.
From the outside, this house near Jane and Bloor Streets currently listed for sale in Accordion City looks like any number of houses built in the post bay-and-gable era, located in the near-burbs that circle the city’s core:
What sets it apart from all the others is the interior, which for the most part is best described as “grandma meets Barbie Dream House as designed by Unikitty from The Lego Movie”:
After enjoying pleasant conversation and (presumably pink) hard candy from a cut crystal container in the living room above, you could adjourn to the fantabulous dining room…
…which is adjoined by the (just) slightly more subtle kitchen:
The pink rotary phone is a nice touch. Here’s the kitchen as seen from the other end:
If your hunger for pink-and-pretty hasn’t yet been sated, you need only go upstairs to what I call “the diabetes inducement level”:
So. Much. Pink!
Variety is the spice of life, and even the most pinkcore of pinkaholics needs a break. Hence, the Lavender Love Lounge:
This is what I imagine the guest room at Prince’s house looks like:
Aaaaand back to pink. I’m not sure I could poop in such a bathroom:
I’d read that a number of places are coloured specifically to induce moods, feelings, and urges in people. For example, one of the reasons many fast food places go with an orange theme is that the colour is said to bring about feelings of hunger. I never gave it much thought until one day in the late ’90s, when College West was making its transition from the mellower Little Italy to the hip new destination for twenty-somethings. Our group decided to go to a new restaurant with a full-tile red colour scheme. Red walls. Red carpet. Red tables and chairs. Monochrome red paintings on the walls. Red lighting. Red plates.
The evening started off well enough, but the longer we stayed in that place, the worse it got. First, people started feeling a bit antsy. Little disagreements that would otherwise have been let go stewed. Discussions became debates, and debates became arguments. I think I had a “Why the hell did I just say that?” moment, and finally one of us, a brilliant arts school grad, said “I think it’s all this red. I think it’s driving us insane.”
He was right. As soon as we stepped outside, the madness lifted. It was summer, and while it was certainly warmer outside that inside the red restaurant, it felt as if we’d escaped from a hot medieval torture chamber and onto a cool mountainside.
“Hooo-kay,” I said. “I’m not taking any dates there.”
I don’t know what kind of madness the all-pink colour scheme will induce, but the house does have a place where you cab escape from the maximum pink: the basement den. It’s got late-era Don Draper written all over it:
That bar is fantastic, as are the crossed epées over the fireplace. I would gladly live in this room:
The house is in a good location: not far from where I used to live, a short walk from the westernmost end of the Bloor West Village shopping district, just south of the considerably more expensive Baby Point neighbourhood, and a stone’s throw from the subway. You’re also walking distance from a movie theatre, which I consider a plus. Here’s the description on the real estate listing:
Only $699K! Great Value! Retro, Pristine & Spacious Detached Home! Prime “”Bloor West Village””! Lovingly Maintained By The Same Owner For 72 Years! Updated Kitchen! Breakfast Rm + Walk Out To Garden! B/I Cupboards In Lr & Dr. Master +B/I Vanty! Lower Level Family Rm. Plenty Of Storage & Cedar Closet! Rear Patio & Sunny West Garden! Steps To Bloor, Schools, Shops & Subway! Mutual Drive! Can Park Small Car In Rear **** EXTRAS **** Fridge, 1950’S Moffat Stove, Washer & Dryer, Window Coverings,Microwave, Freezer, Air Conditioner (2000), Electric Light Fixtures, Hot Water Tank (Rental), Roof Shingles 2007,Lots Of Storage & Built-In Cupboards.Carson Dunlop Inspection
Asking price is CDN$699,000. You can find more details on the real estate listing. Let the bidding war begin!
Update: HGTV has even better pictures of the house.
Thanks to Jodi Peacock for the find!