Whose is it then?

 

Pink Freud

 

reddit handles I could have used

Genetically_modified_ham

Longer_out_than_in (reference to my CAF career)

Closet_disc_jockey

Deux_hotdog_alldressed

Negre_blanc_d_amerique

Got_any_grapes

No_live_rounds_or_empty_casings

Move_to_the_right_in_threes

St_hubert_bbq

Kd_with_dijon_ketchup

Daves_not_here_man

Walkin_over_here

1159pm_cowboy

Stupid_human_tricks

Poppy_on_my_plate

Pineapple_on_pizza

Smoke_and_a_pancake

Goes_to_11

I_heard_a_ruckus

War_and_peas

panic_at_the_costco

Pulp cafe

 

The Stones in drag

 

Small things 26 July

• What I think is amazing about the electoral race in the US, is that Biden kept getting asked to drop out, and eventually he did. Harris almost immediately and without much opposition took over the leadership of the party. No drama. No infighting. No games. No egos. Imagine if suddenly Trump dropped out. It would be a bloodbath.
• What he really should have done is pretend to be dead for three days, and then come back.
• Dear Republicans: We can talk when you learn to care as much about a classroom full of children as you do for the grazed ear of a self-proclaimed genius.
• I don’t understand why electricians aren’t called power rangers, but ok.
• Fail and you only pay once. Regret and you pay for the rest of your life.
• “Hey Siri, why don’t my relationships ever work out?” My name is Alexa…
• In Canada, the ice cream shops also have pine cones. j/k
• You don’t need to understand astrology to know what planet is making you sad right now. It’s earth.
• Some people expend tremendous energy merely to be normal.
• "Go to bed, you'll feel better in the morning" is the human version of "Try turning it off and turn it back on again."
• Research suggests that eating nuts may improve sperm health. These jokes write themselves some days.

More album parody

 

Album parody

 

Things I learned lately 26 July

• For the first time in recorded weather records, the temperature in Calgary stayed above 19C even overnight (Wednesday 24 July 2024).
• The bright short-arc lamps in specialized IMAX projectors are filled with xenon gas and pressurized at 367 PSI. As a result, projectionists are required to wear protective body armor any time they handle or replace one of the lamps in order to avoid serious injury if a lamp is damaged (and "explodes" as a result).
• Despite the numerous things that were rationed in Britain during World War II, the British government went to great pains to never ration fish and chips in order to keep morale in Britain high.
• The brand name of Leatherman multitools and knives isn't just a neat trademark; it's the name of one of the company's co-founders, Timothy S. Leatherman.

Small things 12 July

• Of all the places friends of mine have gone around the world, the one place that makes them say things like, “That place is on another level.”, is Japan.
• One of the most amazing displays of democracy in history is that one thousand islands managed to come together and agree on a single dressing.
• Calling bigotry an opinion is like calling arsenic a flavour.
• I will restart the entire song if you talk over my favourite part.
• “For fast acting relief, try slowing down.”  ~Lily Tomlin
• You let them shenan once, they’ll shenanigan.
• The new fear mongering: AI will be the death of music. Yeah. They said the same thing about streaming, immersive audio, sampling, mashups, Logic, Garage Band, Napster, IRC, Pro Tools, mp3, computers, portable hard drives, CDs, CD-R, DAT, digital recording, synthesizers, cassette tapes, stereo, and gramophones. Make art. Good music will always win.
• What does that sign say at the cashier of the cafe run by cows? Thank you for not tipping.
• Imagine if Sesame Street wrote ‘Interview with the Vampire’. Featuring The Count.

Behind bars

Video game worlds

If you’re someone who hasn’t been playing modern, high quality video games in the last few years, you probably haven’t seen just how spectacular the in-game universe has evolved.

This video that I stumbled upon on YouTube gives a glimpse into that universe. In essence, it’s an in-game viewpoint of riding a transit monorail service through a city in Cyberpunk 2077. Just the lighting effects alone are insane.

The video itself lasts almost 2 hours, but I encourage you to at least watch the first 12 minutes, as the scenery is always changing. Or just pick random points through the 2 hour clip. There’s a lot of variety.

If you like that, a brief search on YouTube should find Cyberpunk 2077 walking tours, which are even more detailed.

Forget

 

Pecan pie

 

Montreal - the good and the bad

‘Not Just Bikes’ did a splendid job of showcasing the city where I was born. Montreal has come a long way in its non-car evolution, with an almost European level of quality. But only in some places. The author of this video was both pleasantly surprised by the areas that had been converted to walkable, livable neighbourhoods, only to discover that these ‘islands’ of convenience and safety were surrounded by the typical stroads you’d find in every other North American city.

They talk about all the highways; how most of the downtown streets were designed for streetcars which no longer exist; the rapid disappearance of non-car infrastructure as soon as you get to the suburbs; the horrible intercity train service. 

Fiercely kind

 

The cats did it

 

Things I learned lately 12 July

• There’s a small area in La Jolla, near San Diego, where the streets are named after Alberta cities. There’s Calgary Ave, Edmonton Ave, Red Deer St, Camrose Ave, and Stettler Way.
• Fusion; Focus; Fiesta; Beetle; Fit; B250; Fiat 500; Chrysler 200; Dart; Micra; Volt; Accent; Echo; Yaris; Matrix; Sonic; Spark; Rio; Mazda 2; ForTwo; Swift. These are all small car models that stopped being sold in North America because 'there's no market for them'.
• There’s an IGA grocery store in Bois Franc, a neighbourhood in Montreal, that has a 25,000 square foot rooftop garden, which the store uses to grow food. It even has beehives for honey.
• 17% of the Netherlands’ electricity is generated by solar. In Canada, it’s 1.1%.
• There are exposed sand dunes up to 5 metres deep in a rather odd place on the outskirts of Ottawa. The Pinhey Dunes are a 10,000 year old remnant of a past shoreline of the former Champlain Sea, which formed as the glaciers of the last ice age melted. The dunes were as recently as the 1950s, much larger than they are now, but planners converted much of the dunes to pine forest.

Small things 5 July

• I would like to rent an anteater for a couple of days.
• Oh you thought the candidates’ debate was bad? Wait til you see the swimsuit competition.
• How to cook crack and clean a crab. Step one: Use commas.
• The only way to avoid mistakes is to do nothing.
• "Your enemy isn't carrying all their belongings in a plastic bag. Your enemy is carrying an investment portfolio. Wake the f*ck up!"  ~ Liam Cunningham, Irish actor
• Alarm clock n.  A machine that scares the daylights into you.
• The worst feature Facebook ever invented was your memories. I know what happened. I don’t need to be reminded. If I want to revisit them, I have photos.
• Imagine if you could call in to work healthy. I feel great and I don’t want to ruin it.
• People write because no one listens.
• People write because it’s a seemingly sane way to listen to yourself. Talking to yourself out loud doesn’t always go over well.

We are plants

 

Waving in the morning breeze

 

All the lyrics but alphabetized episode 1

Can you guess the song?

All alone and anymore anyone are be but by cure days dial distant don't feel for friends fun gone hard home I I've insecure just known livin' love love's making myself needed never nobody's obscure of oh remains so sometimes sure telephone the think those to wanna was when young

(The answer is hidden in white text below)

[All by myself]

This dog looks hardcore

 

Brexit - a still life portrait

 

I'm 20!

This blog turns 20 years old this month. I have decided to start ramping it down. It’s a good time to do so, for me anyway.

I’ll continue to post new stuff until I have nothing new left, but it’s going to get down to a trickle and then just end.

I appreciate all of you who took the time to read my blog posts.

I will continue to write, but am shifting to a new platform - substack.

Here’s where you can find my contributions going forward, which has already started with over 100 articles so far. The goal? Eventual monetization.

Link: https://karlplesz.substack.com/

Hey Jude process flow

 

Come on

 

Things I learned lately 5 July

• Since Tesla Model S production started in 2012, Tesla has now delivered 6.2 million vehicles to customers.
• Although over 150 years has elapsed since settlers traversed the Oregon Trail across the US, you can still find patches of wagon ruts and sunken trails. The tens of thousands of wagons that passed over the trail left some areas permanently worn down, compacted, and inhospitable to vegetation.
• The Yamanote line in Tokyo, one Metro line that circles the centre of Tokyo, transports almost the equivalent of the entire population of Alberta every day.
• The equivalent of the entire population of Canada uses the greater metro Tokyo’s rail services every day.
• The Vomit Comet is the nick-name of the 300 Bloor-Danforth Blue Night Network bus route. The 300 and 300A provides after-hours bus TTC service when the Bloor-Danforth Subway is not running. Likewise the 320 Yonge bus route retraces the Yonge Subway line. Last Call for alcohol is 2am and the Subway System calls it a night at half past the hour. It happens now and then that riders on this route happen to vomit their alcohol and/or cookies in-between stops onto the floor of the bus itself. Blue Night Network bus drivers at times have a hurry up and wait style of rocketing from stop to stop. Put those two together and we get the Vomit Comet.