The Adventures of Accordion Guy in the 21st Century

Poutine — the tasty Quebec snack treat made of fries, cheese curds and gravy — has been available at Canadian Burger King branches for some time, but has only been very recently introduced by McDonald’s (or as I like to call it, “Raunchy Ron’s”). The L.A. Times devoted a quick little piece to the event, in that why-don’t-we-get-this-here sort of voice. McDonald’s could make a killing if they opened a “McWorld” restaurant in the U.S. that carried special McItems localized for other countries, such as India’s Maharaja Mac, the Philippines’ Burger McDo or McSpaghetti, Israel’s McShawarma, or Canada’s new McPoutine.

McDonald’s poutine is likely to be better than their McLobster sandwich experiment from earlier this year, and at least one Canadian says they’re good:

There are tears of joy streaking down my face… Thank you @McD_Canada #Poutine pic.twitter.com/XfYfc9LzRI

— Alex (@The_Alex) December 3, 2013

The news reports are starting to pop up all over: Nelson Mandela, a name synonymous with the anti-Apartheid movement, died today. Here are links to some of those reports:

• Nelson Mandela, South African Icon of Peaceful Resistance, Is Dead (New York Times)
• Nelson Mandela dead at 95 (CBC)
• The Life and Times of Nelson Mandela – interactive timeline (CBC)
• Nelson Mandela, leader and legend – photo gallery (CBC)
• Nelson Mandela brought the world toward a racial reconciliation (Washington Post)
• South Africa’s Nelson Mandela dies (BBC)
• Nelson Mandela, anti-apartheid icon and father of modern South Africa, dies (CNN)

Rest in peace, good sir. And also: Amandla Awethu!

I’ll close with a quote of his:

“For to be free is not merely to cast off one’s chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.”

My friends at Official Comedy — yup, the people behind the Millennials in the Workplace video that we all know and love — have got a killer interview with H. Jon Benjamin, the voice behind Sterling Archer in Archer, Bob Belcher in Bob’s Burgers, Carl in Family Guy and “The Master” in The Venture Bros.:

Here’s a taste of the interview, in which they ask the guy with one of the most memorable voices in animation to give life to some terribly-conceived cartoon characters: “Musky the Musk Ox”, “Fart Dog MD”, and “Stanley, the Most Boring Man In The World”:

Here’s the full interview, with Official Comedy’s Mike and Geoff, in the first of a series called Worst Gig Ever. Whether you watch it directly or put it on your headphones at the office, hide the video window and just listen, it’s great!

Be advised, there is some adult material in this interview — it may not be appropriate for your workplace!

Click the photo to see it at full size.

At the HoHoTO charity club event in December 2010, I ran into designer extraordinaire Alistair J. Morton, who was handing out little gift packages to friends. He handed me one, and it turned out to be a tubby little voodoo doll, complete with a set of pins, called “The Portly Politician”. Rob Ford had been elected several weeks earlier, so it was quite obvious whom the intended target of all the bad voodoo juju was. I tucked the doll in the pocket of the overcoat I was wearing and forgot about it.

Nearly three years and who knows how many outrageous headlines later, I found the Portly Politician in that overcoat, which had been in storage since that winter, still in the original plastic wrap. I wonder what I should do with it…

The blacked-out bits of the police report on Toronto’s crack-smoking mayor have been removed, and the news orgs are going nuts digesting the new info as quickly as they can, with publications like Toronto Life posting updates to the story as they do so. The latest goodies as of this writing:

• There’s supposed to be a recording of an alleged gang member saying he has “so much pictures” of the mayor “doing the hezza”. It turns out that hezza is an Australian slang term for heroin. Clearly I have not been playing enough Grand Theft Auto: Facking Melbourne because I didn’t recognize it. The report says he did some smack (see, there’s a term for heroin I recognize!) hours before a community event he attended.
• “$5,000 and a car”: This is supposedly what Ford offered to buy the now-infamous, if still unseen, crack video. Let’s see if we can make this a local catchphrase for “this is what I think is a reasonable offer”.
• Ford may have tried to buy back his stolen phone…with weed. Apparently the people who had the phone in their possession weren’t too worried about Ford calling the cops because, they had photos of him, and I quote, “On the pipe”.

Keep an eye on Toronto Life’s report (and the rest of the internet) as more details unfold.

Whether by way of suppressed man-love in a homophobic society or lax safety standards in a “Flintstones army, Jetsons weapons” society, sooner or later, one of these guys is going to get something hot and fast up the gunga.

Saw a bunch of stressed-looking university students earlier today and thought to myself: