The teeniest dragon

 

The evolution of dog's relationship with humans

 

I made you for the humans

 

Small things 26 Mar

• I saw a guy vaccinate himself under an overpass......
• The word queue has fitting spelling. It's just a 'q' with a bunch of silent letters waiting in line behind it. 
• Does the pirate with the peg leg have to deal with the cat always trying to use it as a scratching post?
• Genius is 50% consonants and 50% vowels.

You know the rest...

 

Play the whole album - The Alan Parsons Project - I Robot

If you have a Spotify or any other music streaming service that lets you listen to entire albums in one go, I've got some homework for you.

The iconic cover art of The Alan Parson Project's I Robot was designed by Storm Thorgerson, which is not the only link Alan Parsons has to Pink Floyd. As most hard core Floyd fans will tell you, Alan Parsons engineered Dark Side of the Moon. In fact, rumour has it that it was members of The Floyd who encouraged Alan Parsons to venture out with his own musical career instead of just being a sound engineer.

I Robot was the second album from the Project, inspired by the Asimov book of the same name. I must admit, Alan Parsons is not your typical progressive rock style.

The first time I heard this album, track one, the title track, really had me on the fence, with the choral voice opening. But by the two minute mark, when the beat sneaks in and that bass line starts, you realize that this isn't going to be too cerebral. There's some soul here. The chorus re-enters the scene and your brain struggles to make sense of what you're listening to. But it's good. You just have to throw away your perceptions of what rock is and isn't. It's a medley of sounds and instruments that have never existed in one place before, and that's Alan's specialty. Remember those clocks chiming in Pink Floyd's Time? Exactly.

By the end of the first track, if you're still on the fence, the next one makes sure your mind is made up. There's a James Bond quality to this opening. Close your eyes and you can easily imagine this being the opening salvo of the next Bond movie. Then it switches to a sumptuous shuffle beat and the amazing voice of Lenny Zakatek brings you along for the ride. This would go on to be a huge hit for the Project and it is certainly one of my favourites. That guitar solo!

The album switches gears with Some Other Time. It took a long time before I connected with this song. The previous track lulls you into thinking that this is going to be a rock/soul collection, but the album is laced with beautiful low-key ballads spiced up with just the right amount of rock seasoning. You might not get it on the first listen, but it grows on you.

Breakdown has a familiar vocalist. You know you've heard it before. That's because you have - it's Allan Clarke from The Hollies.

Don't Let it Show opens with a sweet organ line. Then singer Dave Townsend, who provides vocals on a number of albums along with Lenny, pleads with you not to give in. In case you think you may have heard this song somewhere else, Pat Benetar covered it on her album In the Heat of the Night.

The Voice is pure Alan Parsons. By that I mean he brings all of his creative tools to bear. A driving rhythm, stabbing synth line, vocoder, soaring strings, and a slow transition into a rollicking shuffle.

Nucleus is a lullaby of an instrumental and would feel out of place as part of the soundtrack of a space documentary.

Day After Day has a bit of a country twang to it. Not an exciting track, but the production value is there to be sure. You can tell the album is winding down.

Total Eclipse could have been yanked right out 2001: A Space Odyssey, during that scene when we travel through the wormhole. It's a bit hard to take on its own here. Unless you're high that is.

The album closes with Genesis Ch. 1 V. 32, which is a subtle joke considering that Genesis chapter one only had 31 verses.

All in all, if you're looking for a little escapism in the form of beautifully crafted progressive rock from one of the masters, give this a play from beginning to end.

Cats are back in stock

Looks like the cat shortage is over. 

They're back in stock.

Marital duels were the wurst

Trial by combat, or a judicial duel, was a method of Germanic law to settle accusations in the absence of witnesses or a confession. The winner of the fight was proclaimed to be right.

An unusual variant, the marital duel, involved combat between a husband and wife, with the former physically handicapped in some way. The handicap often took the form of the husband having to stand in a hole in the ground and have one arm tied behind their back, but he would be armed with a sword. The wife would be armed with a sack of rocks. 

The loser was killed.

Judicial duels were commonplace between the 8th and 15th centuries. It is believed that judicial duels inspired the development of the art of fencing.

Family portrait

 

NASA's Perseverance rover carries a family portrait of all rovers that have come before it.

Things I learned lately 26 Mar

• OLED TVs only make up about 3% of the market share. They may not get much more, because here comes Mini-LED! And eventually - Micro-LED!
• New York City's garbage is not processed in New York City. Some of it is sent as far away as South Carolina and Ohio.
• New York City has 2,000 garbage trucks.
• Nationwide, 56% of Canada's electricity comes from hydro, 15% from natural gas and 10% from wind.
• There are more than 1,300 stone rings like Stonehenge across the British Islands.
• The increase in demand and problems with supply have created a bicycle situation where many bike models are on a 12-18 month wait list. Store owners don't expect things to return to normal before 2023.
• Federal Conservative delegates at the party's policy convention have voted to reject adding green-friendly statements to the policy book, including a line that would have stated the party believes "climate change is real" and is "willing to act."

There was a time...

 

Mini lawyer

 

Small things 19 Mar

• Being poor now just leads to being more poor later when the little things you can't afford to deal with become huge things down the road. Poverty charges interest.
• Every time you read or hear a news article, editorial, or political argument, etc. using the word 'economy', try substituting 'economy' with 'rich peoples' yacht money'.
• How can a worker be both essential and unworthy of a living wage?
• I've heard it said that if you don't wear a mask because you're afraid it will cut off oxygen to your brain, that ship may have already sailed.
• Do you know why Teslas are expensive? Because they charge a lot.............
• Back in the day, the internet used to come in the mail.

This is how juices get a complex

 

Economic reality

I put together a spreadsheet from actual Statistics Canada data. The results tell quite a story.

The provinces of BC, AB, ON and QC look like the big economic drivers of Canada based on their GDP. But the GDP per capita (per person) figure tells a different story. Although Quebec has the 2nd highest GDP in the country, its GDP per capita is one of the lowest because of its share of the population. In contrast, while Alberta is just behind Quebec in GDP, it's GDP per capita is much higher than any other province.

If we look at income, we see that Alberta's average personal income is the highest in Canada. But the real story is how much higher it is than the national average, almost 30% higher.

In case you're wondering my point, I've been hearing a lot of squawking about how Alberta never gets any equalization payments and how unfair that is. I can understand why Alberta politicians want the formula to be adjusted. But it's sad that Albertans take the current arrangement as an insult and use it to suggest that Canada doesn't appreciate its contribution. Politicians don't help matters when they suggest that Alberta never gets a fair shake. I've never heard of an Albertan asking someone from Quebec or PEI or New Brunswick if they appreciate the equalization payments Alberta makes possible.

Based on the current formula, Alberta's economy would have to shed almost 35% of its value in order to qualify for equalization, all other things being equal. That's unlikely to happen unless the resource industry were to shut down.

But what is getting lost in this discussion is how Alberta generates its own revenue. The province gets most of its money from personal income tax, corporate income tax and investment income tax (the lowest in Canada) and royalty revenue from natural resources like oil and gas. There is no sales tax revenue. Many studies have concluded that if Alberta were to implement a sales tax, they would have a huge surplus. The problem is that the royalty revenue is kept low to keep oil and gas companies in the province while spending it all on services and consequently going into massive deficit when revenue drops.

Part of the reason the existing revenue formula works against Alberta is how rich we are in general. Only 8% of Canadians in general make more than $1000,000 per year. In Alberta, that figure is 15%. But look closer. In the graph below, we can see that these 4 provinces have significant numbers of people in the $100,000 or greater income group. Québec’s is larger than 3 other income groups. BC’s is larger than 5 income groups. Ontario’s is larger than 6 income groups. Alberta’s is larger than all the other income groups in the province.

So we can complain that we never see any benefit from equalization, but the reality is that Alberta is a very rich province. Its biggest problem is that it doesn't know how to use that money to budget its day-to-day needs. This is made worse by being dependant on an extremely volatile source of income.

Here's my analogy. It's kind of like a contract worker, who sometimes makes a small fortune on one job, then is out of work for a while, then makes decent money on the next job. But at the end of the year, they've spent all their money as if they were always making a small fortune, never putting any of it aside to pay their taxes, or save for a rainy day. Then they complain that they're broke most of the time.

Reality check

 

Get back

Beatles documentary coming 2021. 

Here's a sneak peek.

I'm not the only one with a big smile on my face, right?

"I brought donuts."

 

Things I learned lately 19 Mar

• Daryl Hannah and Neil Young are married.
  
  
  
• Our sacred texts are often poor translations of poor editions of a hopelessly confused manuscript tradition. Then add political and church interference at the time of translation for added distortion. We have no idea what the original texts said and never will.
• Hackers trying to influence elections aren't trying to make you take sides, they're trying to instill fear and anger, even fear and anger toward each other. If we're arguing all the time, they're winning. 
• When Los Angeles was first developed, it had no trees at all. Palm trees were planted to help brand the city as an exotic destination in the same way palms were planted in the early French Riviera along the Med.

Mustard used to only be sold in a glass jar

 

Will you be able to do this at 74?

Toni Basil is supposedly 74 in this video (77 now) and she still dances like there's no tomorrow.

My Mercedes B250 review after 8 years and 300,000 km

If this is your first glimpse at what I've had to say about our car, check out this post first. And my 5 year update. I'll wait.

So my 2013 Mercedes Benz B250 is now 8 years old and has over 300,000 kilometres on it. I thought it was time to update my impressions of this car after owning it for so long.

For starters, I'm very disappointed that Mercedes Benz Canada chose not to offer this model in Canada after 2019, even though it is still being made. Because I would buy it again. That should tell you something. What's it been like owning this car? Aside from a few hiccups, I still like it.

I had been warned that it would be more expensive than usual and that is true. The dealerships really hose you for A and B service even when there's nothing wrong. $400 and $800 respectively. On the flip side, because the car uses synthetic oil, the interval between routine maintenance is longer, somewhere between 15,000 and 20,000 km depending on how you drive and the conditions. I learned the hard way that the dealership is mostly interested in separating you from as much money as possible. So they try to push things on you that aren't necessary, but sound good, like fuel system flushes. They also performed shoddy work once and on another occasion completely misdiagnosed my car's problem. At first, the service level seemed good, but they couldn't sustain it. For what they were charging, it was a disappointment.

Once my warranty had expired, I stopped going to the dealership and found a private mechanic who specializes in European cars. That saved me a few bucks. They also didn't try to soak me for things that weren't necessary. I asked them to check my brakes on the first visit after Mercedes said I needed new brakes all around. My new mechanic reassured me that I only needed the front brakes serviced.

The most expensive fixes so far have been a thermostat module and fuel injectors. I only needed one injector, but I played it safe and replaced all four. My driver seat heater doesn't work, but I can't justify the $1000 fix.

So why do I still like this car? For the same reasons I liked it in the first place. It's the perfect size for a couple. It's not SUV big, which would be a waste, but it rides higher like an SUV. It has a split personality. In E mode, it drives with subdued performance and quick upshifts to save fuel. But in S mode, its true colours show through. It's not typical to get 208 horsepower in a car this small and it makes a big difference.

The interior is classy, comfortable and has great sight lines. The auto-park feature is amazing. I constantly appreciate the panoramic sunroof. This model didn't come with a 4Matic all wheel drive option in its first year, but I don't miss it much. I wish it had a heated steering wheel.

Small things 12 Mar

• Hey America! Tell your Biden denying Trump lovers that if they cash a Biden relief cheque, they can go to jail because it's fraud to cash a fraudulent cheque.
• In the word 'scent', which letter is silent, the s or the c?
• What's the deal with antioxidants? Is oxygen slowly killing us but it takes decades to work?
• When you clean, you're just moving the dirt somewhere else.
  
  
  
• Is expired poison more or less poisonous?
• Sometimes when I'm in an Italian restaurant and they leave the bread and the oil and balsamic vinegar, I wonder if after they leave your table, they're in the back laughing their asses off because they've convinced us to dip bread in oil and vinegar.
• Kids in movies and TV shows are always so late they can't eat breakfast because they'll miss the school bus.

Betrayed by Zoom

 

JB still has it

Jackson Browne sings Tom Petty's 'The Waiting'. 

He still has that voice.

Daft Punk retired

Now that Daft Punk are retired, they don't have to hide their faces anymore.

Things I learned lately 12 Mar

• Microsoft's campus in Redmond Washington is comprised of over 100 buildings. 50,000 people work on this campus.
• If aluminum-air batteries become viable, the will last 3000 km (assuming the same battery weight as the Tesla Model 3) in an electric car before the aluminum anode cassette needs to be replaced, a process that would take 90 seconds. All this with a predicted running cost of 7 cents per kilometre.
• Aluminum oxide requires a lot of electricity and heat to turn it into a usable metal (separating it from oxygen). Which is why it is a suitable metal to use in air batteries. Recycling aluminum only uses 5% of the amount of energy used to create the metal from the oxide.
  
  
  
• Research published recently in the journal Cell identified more than 140,000 viral species living in the human gut, most of them never seen before.
• Tesla used to have the only mass deployed car charging network. Now we also have Electrify America, with 500 stations and growing. These stations can charge any electric car, regardless of brand and type of connector (Tesla needs an adapter). Courtesy of VW. Electrify Canada, also courtesy of VW, is being developed and is almost ready. 
• It is always possible that a well-known or even well-respected lawyer simple chose cases that were easy to win. It doesn't necessarily allude to their technical skill.

The 4 chemicals

 

Small things 5 Mar

• Daft Punk disbanded. It would have been better if they had just passed their helmets on to two random new artists. Then all the Daft Punk fans would be confused and wondering what's with the sudden change in Daft Punk music and the original duo could sit back and laugh their asses off.
• In June 2020, Trump signed an executive order asking prosecutors to throw the book at people who commit "willful injury" of federal property, with a possible 10 year prison sentence. So, Trump's supporters at the Capitol riots may have to do hard jail time because of their leader's own executive order.
• The hardest part about watching the highlights of America's CPAC 2021 is having to keep reminding myself that these people are serious. It's not a parody. Starting with that multiple-key rendition of the American national anthem.
  
  
  
• Charcuterie boards are just expensive Lunchables.

"Dad, are we pyromaniacs?"

"Yes we arson."

Kirk Franklin Tiny Desk Concert at Home

There's soul dripping from the walls in this mini (NPR Tiny Desk at Home) concert. Ignore that this is gospel, even if you're not into it.

And feel free to watch this in your 'drawers', because as Kirk said, "Jesus loves you in your drawers." Or even just one sock.

Is your body moving yet? Whaddya mean, no?

Virtual 2021 Golden Globes better than the usual

I know a lot of people who don't bother with any of the Hollywood award shows, and I get it. I watch them mostly because it informs me on what productions made a splash and sometimes you get to witness some funny moments and hear some inspiring speeches from the winners.

This year, the Globes were conducted mostly virtually. How that worked was the two hosts were on separate stages in Los Angeles and New York, which was smart, because it enabled physical participation from actors on both coasts. The audiences in both locales were made up of essential workers, physically distanced of course, as opposed to stars, which I thought was a nice touch. Although most of the presenters came onto the stage, some presented via videoconference, and all the nominees who were available participated via videoconference.

That I think made for a faster show, because we didn't have to wait for the winner to make their way onto the stage before we heard their speech. The first acceptance speech suffered a technical glitch, but after that it was pretty smooth sailing. I really appreciated that the nominees could be in the comfort of staying in place and in many cases they were surrounded, on or off camera, by their loved ones. That was special and for me, made for more intimate and genuine moments.

Another thing this virtual award show made possible was not forcing everyone to waste money and unnecessary fuel getting to Los Angeles for the show. Of course, the nominees didn't have the luxury of heading off to various after-show parties either. But I'm sure they'll find some way to make up for that once the pandemic is over. In the meantime, it was a better production than I imagined it could be and I liked it just as much if not more than the usual presentation.

Let's see how the Oscars do.

How to get smacked

 

The pay gap over time (US stats)

The rich aren't just getting richer. 

They're getting there faster than the rest of America's workers.

In 2019, salaries averaged: 

• $38,923 for the bottom 90%; 
• $320,096 for the top 5%; 
• $758,434 for the top 1%; and 
• $2,858,981 for the top 0.1%.

From 1979 to 2019, average pay increased: 

• 26% for the bottom 90%, 
• 64.1% for most of the top 10%, 
• 160.3% for the top 1%, and 
• 345.2% for the top 0.1%, according to EPI.

Stylish electric bike

Now this is a badass looking electric bike. 

It also has a badass price (about $10,000).

80 km/h speed, 97 km range.

Things I learned lately 5 Mar

• Good Fortune Burger in Toronto, Ontario, has sneakily changed the name of some of its burgers and sides on Uber Eats and DoorDash to common office supply names, encouraging people to 'Order. Eat. Expense. Repeat.' (Thanks to Jon for the tip)
  
  
  
• If you notice that you're seeing unusually fast battery drain on an iPhone, just turn it completely off, then back on again. My battery usage graph went from an almost 45 degree angle to almost flat after a simple restart.
• In 1953, it took 27 hours to create one PEEPS Marshmallow Chick. The same process takes six minutes today.
• Learning styles have no basis in fact.
• There are 3 types of dashes. Em dash. En dash. Hyphen.