Morning Brew: June 24, 2008

Sorry about the lack of a Monday brew... I won't actually believe Sean has a computer now 'till he full out beats me at a round of Scrabulous. And this'll likely be my first and last of the week, as I'm off to Calgary for Sled Island, but my cohorts should step in to keep the morning news flowing.

So a little bit of catch-up is in order, first of all. The sun was shining for at least a portion of the weekend, and there were two great excuses to soak it up: The Dragon Boat Festival, and Greek Days. Did anyone spot some tofulaki? I teach ESL and just went to Greece. I found some grass and a book.

There was also a machete-ing, and commentators at the CBC site are sick of Surrey slander:

Another classic CBC's, "lets bash Surrey so that Vancouver looks better". Have you gone to Hasting and Main? I drive by there every day and it stinks.

If you haven't already noticed, the comment section over at the CBC is always busy and always hilarious/hysterical/depressing. But don't cry discrimination yet you beaver-murdering, axe-swinging baby-killers; Richmond has drugs and explosives, and you got the 'Surrey Sizzle'. Though I couldn't find a CBC article on him...

Holy shit! The Snoop Dog concert was cloaked in a haze of marijuana smoke! Meh, I guess it confirms we're at least cooler than Lethbridge. But cmon', even the upcoming Backstreet Boys concert will be cloaked in a haze of marijuana smoke.

How do you judge the quality of your Tequila? Well, when it leads to half of BC believing you might be the latest victim of a foot fetished Serial Killer, I'd say it's good enough. Nice to see you home, but get your own place before you take off without leaving a note. We get paranoid.

The Tyee on whether or not too many kids are going to University. Not really sure where I stand here, but since graduating from UBC, I've definitely been stripped of any delusions that the universities are a bastion of modern intelligence. Just another cog in the machine...

Classes on 'alternative sexuality' will become mandatory in BC schools. Will we also have to teach them about chemically suppressing homosexuality inside the womb?

A nice reply to the Slate & Atlantic articles I wrote about on Friday... This article is 689 words too long. My posts are always too long, but I really don't care. It has, however, been fun learning the language of the blog (in all its various forms); for these round-up posts, linking is like a new grammar. And italic is some powerful shit.

Gotta love how many magazines give up their content online for free these days. Saves me from hunting down mediocre rags for the rare must-read piece (now lets just move it all online and eliminate the wasteful paper wholesale). Speaking of, Popular Science's dishes out a report on the future of the environment, while Rolling Stone offers a long piece on the current battle over Facebook, and Time acknowledges some consumerism by asking How to Live With 100 Things. I guess its finally time we all cut down, now that an iPod can store 3,500 films.

Were you aware of Grizzly Bear ecotourism? Here's a link to the company in question's site, which is actually run out of Port Hardy.

I've touched on cricket in BC before, but here's a reminder of its burgeoning popularity, as the sport is getting official recognition from the federal government. Now that I think about it... we actually played this in Junior High Phys Ed class. I always skipped. Any BR readers actually partake? These days, I save my sports for the Wii... but was totally reminded that I still need to read this promising novel.

More Surrey fun from the CBC, a gang of pitbulls attack another woman's dog. And in related news, don't rely on a taser to take down an angry hound (or: get a pit bull before you start scamming translink).

Vancouver film producer Bill Vince dies at 44. And late on it again, but I blame Sean: RIP George Carlin, a personal hero. And via YouTube, Seven Words You Can't Say on Television. Cigarettes and coke and manic comedy don't make for a happy heart, I suppose. Much more extensive linking, which cannot be outdone for end-of-post comedy.

photo at Franklin & McLean by paul clarke