Should I blog about something?

The CBA's.
That stands for The annual Canadian Blog Awards. And yet again another protest faction. Have fun... yawn.
One of the disappointments I have with this blogging medium is how many 'pat-on-the-back' bloggers hardly contribute beyond their own pages. And I include those shadowy reader types who never/rarely register a hit by visiting other pages directly (I used to check a stat counter when this site was more active).

Deficits.
Years Decades of living in the 'Big Smoke' Bubble forcibly teaches me: Conservative Deficit is BAD, Liberal Deficit is GOOD.

Leaving the Leafs.
Why hadn't Global Toronto~Ontario? regularly aired anything of merit against the past few years of steadily losing Maple Leafs Saturday hockey? Not to heap all the putdown, CTV Toronto hasn't exactly been cruising a star-studded love boat either. No playoff potential and no draft pick hopes; Go [away] Leafs go [away].

CRTC licensing.
Don't understand why any Radio station owner may not simply "say booger" and switch their style at will. Top-rating News/Talk to mp3 player capable FM? Time-shared signal within a conglomerate stable? Indie Pop anywhere? I've come to really appreciate that 'go ahead and hang a shingle' real entrepreneur gumption from our neighbouring country.

Business Ownership.
Regardless of Recession and Recovery; why do so many companies, once successful, go into downward spirals chasing fluctuating share prices and current period accounting measures rather than actual product and service improvement? A business at large should have a bigger vision than any idolized executive's compensation.
I also don't understand how companies get so that they become universally jeered at for their complete lack of core business enthusiasm.

Boycotting the Olympics (whether I wish to or not).
As with CBC's Bejiing Games, much of the action I'll want to see will be probably be shunted off to a digital service subscriber service or hi-speed internet video carriage. Of which I have neither.

To Hell with Neo-nannyism!

It just doesn't stop. I mean, god effin d*mmit.
I used to believe that Toronto was like New York, only - minus 40 years. This would currently place us just past a '(1967) Barefoot in the Park' la-di-da Woodstock era (and blithely cruising towards a mid-70s Taxi Driver meets The Warriors breakdown).

But with all the ceaseless news reports of rampant government corruption by innumerable caring social do-gooders, provincially and municipally, plus some of the unsurprising oversight ignorance being displayed on matters federally...
Then add in the near daily stories like the TTC manners fines, Indoor Cat licencing officer patrol, Senior Citizen walking permit demands, OPP highway confiscations of cottage country returners' fish baggies where the skin isn't left on, Unelected Life term Senate Refusals of agreed to legislation, sliding to absolute zero Blood-alcohol Level limits, Human Rights Tribunal legal abuses, mandatory helmet laws after any one-in-a-million physical activity accident - see Tobogganing, bunny hill Skiing, Figure Stating (Winnipeg), and of course bicycles, ...
It is more like modern Toronto, Ontario, Canada of 2009 has become closer to paralleling Berlin, Germany of 1939.

13,153, 11,159

This week I noted a Twitter posting concerning a recent attendance number for the Blue Jays. I am not surprised. Then today I heard another, lower, early Sept. attendance figure - all while with the Blue Jays all-time(?) best pitcher throwing for a complete game*.
Sure I could freely offer, IMHO, constructive criticisms and valid suggestions... but I don't feel like it.

*and this, after a summer of deadline trade rumours and a one-hitter against the Yankees.

Opening day attendance for CNE 2009?

I visited the CNE yesterday. General Admission was only $1.75 vs. regular day $$money. I last went to the exhibition back in the SARS summer of 2003 on a Toonie Tuesday ($2). This opening day Friday's visit was much better!
This time around it felt like the midway area was at least 75% larger. The sheer crowd size everywhere yesterday was overwhelming. It had to have been a* 20+ year single day record - going back to the era of Exhibition Stadium baseball games & concerts along with a No Sunday Shopping law. There was a twenty minute wait just for boarding a streetcar beforehand.
* link to the multi-year CNE blog.

Once there, I glanced thru the jumbo convention centre building on the eastmost side of the grounds. Buy buy buy. I made the mistake of visiting it first, then not wanting to lug a purchase or two around everywhere.
My only disappointment was that a ribs n beer tent area was set-up next to the Bandshell area. I was hoping for a restful sitdown moment; should have been where the Toronto song contest occurred. (Did I really say sitdown moment? And I can remember as a preteen once buying an all-day midway pass.)

A minor quibble point was that I didn't spot any radio station booths excepting a Z103.5 tent that only featured a ballot draw box. I was surprised that none of the big cross-media outfits had a place to sell promotional stuff like pens, frisbees, sun visors, coffee mugs, etc. for a cost-only price. There was a National Post tent; no special CNE editions that I could see. Later I thought I spotted a CHFI tent; instead it was an unknown Heritage fund education booth with misleading side banners. In contrast, our Armed Forces made a strong showing.

Even without a lumberjack show area it felt good to return to the CNE under a summer crowd condition I thought had long ago passed by. Perhaps one day I ought to post an image - (a link to TorontoMike.com's page) of the old waterski show. The blog sites of Chuckman's other collection (multiple volumes 1-5) will have a string of yesteryear images to peruse [might be time consuming to load].

Favoured songs: 200 of the 2000s

Modern Alt. Rock radio station edge102.1 has put together a top 200 decade list for the long weekend. Inspired, I figured I would attempt my own listing, given a few of my more recent song title entries. Same old list rules: one song per act, [Kroeger & Fergie, .:. no Nickelback or Black Eyed Peas]. Also, cover songs were excluded, such as Johnny Cash .. Hurt.


Adele .. Chasing Pavements
Air .. Cherry Blossom Girl
Air France .. June Evenings
Airborne Toxic Event .. Sometime around Midnight
Airiel .. Cinnamon
Arcade Fire, the .. Rebellion (Lies) --- c
Architecture in Helsinki .. Do the Whirlwind
Arden, Jann .. Where No One Knows Me --- c
Band of Horses .. No one's Gonna love You
Bat for Lashes .. Daniel
Bell X1 .. The Great Defector
Bella .. Give it a night
Bikini .. I Remember Being Young
Bird Automatic .. About the Money
Peter Bjorn and John .. Young Folks
Black Kids .. Hit the Heartbrakes
Black Tie Dynasty .. I Like You
Blind Terry .. When Prefab Sprout Wrecked my Mind
Bliss .. American Heart (ft Boy George)
Bloc Party .. Version2
Blondie .. Good Boys
Blue Nile, the .. High
BluEyes .. Chocolate --- c
Bravery, the .. An Honest Mistake
British Sea Power .. Begone
Bush, Kate .. How to be Invisible
Camera Obscura .. My Maudlin Career
Camp, a .. Love has left the Room
Cazals .. We're Just the Same
Ceremony .. Cold
Changes, the .. Water of the Gods
Chapman, Tracy .. Change
Chateau Marmont .. Anything and Everywhere
Church, the .. Don't You Fall
Coast, the .. Killing off our Friends --- c
Coldplay .. Speed of Sound
Compute .. Dance with Me
Crowded House .. Don't Stop Now
Crystal Castles .. Crimewave --- c
Dappled Cities .. The Price
Dark Romantics, the .. Let's Ride
Data Panik .. Sense Not Sense
Dears, the .. Lost in the Plot --- c
Death Cab for Cutie .. Title and Registration
Depeche Mode .. Precious
Dogs Die in Hot Cars .. Somewhat off the Way
Duff, Hilary .. Wake Up
Duffy .. Rain On Your Parade
East Hundred .. Slow Burning Crimes
50) Echo and The Bunnymen .. Parthenon Drive

Editors .. Munich
Edwards, Kathleen .. One more song the Radio won't Like --- c
Emerald Park .. Pasadena
Empire of the Sun .. Walking on a Dream
Ex-Lovers .. Just a Silhouette
Faunts, the .. Memories of Places We've Never Been --- c
Features, the .. All I Ask
Feist .. 1234 --- c
Fergie .. Clumsy
Fernandes, Danny .. Fantasy
Final Fantasy .. The CN Tower Belongs to the Dead --- c
Finger Eleven .. One Thing --- c
Five O'Clock Heroes .. Who
Furtado, Nelly .. Promiscuous --- c
Glasslights .. Someone Like Me
Gnarls Barkley - Crazy
Go Betweens .. Here Comes a City
Gorillaz .. Feel Good Inc.
Hall, Daryl and Oates, John .. Man on a Mission
Hay, Colin .. Going Somewhere
Head Set, the .. 1982
Horse Shoes .. The Imperial School
Hot Hot Heat .. Goodnight Goodnight --- c
I Am Kloot .. No Direction Home
I Love You but I've Chosen Darkness .. Lights
Infadels .. Circus of the Mad
Interpol .. Take you on a Cruise
Iron and Wine w. Calexico .. He Lays in the Reins
Isles, the .. Flying under Cheap Kites
Jaguar Club, the .. World Gone By
Jealous Girlfriends, the .. Secret Identity
Jones, Howard .. Just Look At You Now
Junior Boys .. Count Souvenirs --- c
Jupiter One .. Countdown
Justice .. d.a.n.c.e.
k-os .. Man I Used to Be --- c
Kamera .. Borderline
Kaskade .. Move for Me
Kawaii .. Happy planet, scary people
Killers, the .. When You Were Young
King of France, the .. Mexico
Kroeger, Chad .. Hero --- c
Lady Gaga .. Paparazzi
Ladyhawk .. I Don't Always Know What You're Saying --- c
LadyHawke .. Another Runaway
LadyTron .. Destroy Everything
Language of Flowers .. If It's Not You
Lavigne, Avril .. Complicated --- c
Laylights, the .. Sparrow
100) Legends .. I Want to be like Everybody Else

Lights .. Drive My Soul --- c
Lodger, the .. Let her go
Lotus Eaters .. Can Your Kisses Fly?
M83 .. Graveyard Girl
(Gauci), Marika .. The Rhythm of the Night
Maritime .. Tearing Up the Oxygen
Maroon5 .. This Love
Mates of State .. Think Long
Metric .. Gimme Sympathy --- c
Metro Station .. Shake It
MGMT .. Kids (original)
Midnight Oil .. Golden Age
Midway State, the .. Never Again
Mighty Six Ninety .. Keeping You in Mind
Minipop .. Like I Do
Miserylab .. Up in Arms
Mission District, the .. Anchors --- c
Mobius .. Starts Off with a Bang
Moby .. We are all Made of Stars
Modest Mouse .. Missed the Boat
Mute Math .. Chaos
Neon Neon .. Raquel
Neptune .. Something has gone
New Cities, the .. Dead End Countdown --- c
Nixon .. Standby Mode
Northern Kind .. Please
Ocasek, Ric .. Bottom Dollar
October Guard .. Star Song (Harowissa) --- c
Olympic Hopefuls .. Holiday
Outkast .. Hey Ya!
Over the Atlantic .. Celia
Oxford Collapse .. Money You have is Too Little
Oxygen, Anna .. Fake Pajamas
Paper Moon -What Are You Going to do with Me? --- c
Parts & Labor - Nowheres Nigh
Performance .. Love Life
Perry, Katy .. I Kissed a Girl
Pet Shop Boys .. The Way It Used to Be
Phoenix .. 1901
Pilot Speed .. Into Your Hideout --- c
Pnau (ft LadyHawke) .. Embrace
Pole Position .. Boulevard (xo edition)
Poni Hoax .. She's on the Radio
Pussycat Dolls (ft Timbaland) .. Wait a Minute
Radio Dept, the .. Pulling Our Weight
Rakes, the .. Binary Love
Red Romance, the .. One Shot
Research, the .. Lonely Hearts Still Beat the Same
RGBs, the .. Come alive
150) Rialto .. Anyone Out There?

Rihanna .. Don't Stop the Music
Robbers on High St .. The Fatalist
Roberts, Sam .. Bridge to Nowhere --- c
Russian Futurists, the .. It's Actually Going to Happen
Sambassadeur .. Between the Lines
Scissor Sisters .. The Other Side
Seven .. City is Burning
Shiny Toy Guns .. You Are the One
Shout Out Louds .. Tonight I Have to Leave It
Silent League, the .. Kings and Queens
Sleepmask .. Voudou
Snow Machine .. Birmingham
Snow Patrol .. Chasing Cars
Somnambulants, the .. Watercolors
Sounds, the .. No One Sleeps when I'm Awake
Spoon .. I Turn my Camera on
Springsteen, Bruce .. Radio Nowhere
St. Vincent .. Now Now
Stars .. Calendar Girl --- c
Starsailor .. This Time
Stefani, Gwen .. Cool
Stellastar .. Love and Longing
Stills, the .. Being Here --- c
Sting .. Desert Rose
Sugar Report, the .. Dear Friends and Enemies
Talkdemonic .. Dusty Flourescent Wooden Shelves (instr)
Tearwave .. Forgettable Name
Tegan and Sara .. Back in your head --- c
Temper Trap .. Disposition
Tesla Boy .. Fire
Thieves Like Us .. Drugs in My Body
This Episode .. The Movies
Tiger Baby .. At Least I'm Honest
Tiger Tones .. Seventeen
Tigercity .. Red Lips
Toyko Police Club .. Your English is Good --- c
Tragically Hip, the .. In View --- c
Triangles, the .. Let's Replace the Cityscapes
U2 .. Beautiful Day
Valeria (ft Aria) .. Girl I Told Ya
Veronicas, the .. Untouched
Virgins, the .. Rich Girls
Volcano, I'm still Excited .. 2nd Gun
Voom Blooms, the .. Politics & Cigarettes
Waking Eyes, the .. All Empires Fall --- c
Walkup, the .. In the Park
White Lies .. Farewell to the Fairground
White Rose Movement .. Love is a Number
Wombats, the .. Let's Dance to Joy Division
200) Yeah Yeah Yeahs .. Zero

--- c, 32 songs by Canadians. Never a big Tragically Hip fan, I do like their song included here.

Changes in Toronto.

Every now and then I suddenly realize that time has moved on. People and places change. Eras change. In 2007 [was it?] Sam the Record Man's closed and the Yonge St. Chum sign was dropped. With commentary, recent passages and changes in the past three months of 2009 have included:

The Pages bookstore is shutting down next month. At times, I still miss Britnall's.

1050 Chum ended. From multiple accounts it was only an abandoned shell of its previous 60s revival format. Its website was also unceremoniously dropped by the "local matters" ownership of CTV. The station's neon signage has been reinstalled.
JackFm changed - or reversed - formats after performing lower than the Jazz station. I cannot help but think that, properly executed(!), a pop/rock format of '78-'92 should consistently rank in the top six. As it currently stands, I don't like any of the city's radio stations. That is a lot, possibly 20 stations. Being ranked as the best out of nothing much isn't much at all.

In notable passings there have been too many. As for Michael Jackson, I wonder how much better his career and tabloid life would have been, post-Thriller, had he ever met, pre-Thriller, a quality woman like Michelle Obama in his younger life? Right from those '84 award ceremonies he seemed lost.

Canwest may finally go into bankruptcy. Hamilton's CHCH was sold after being saddled with E! programming. This leads to a very good ownership question concerning foreign investment. Already Goldman Sachs has a large yet 'non-active' share. Is domestic restriction feasible when Canwest itself has or held similar media ownerships in Australia, Ireland, etc., and even began out of a lone midwest U.S. television station? Not to mention that the previous newspaper division was owned by Lord Black whose then-company empire included vast holdings in both the U.K. and U.S.

I passed some newish dreadful townhouses along Islington Avenue on the weekend. They looked snazzy but included garages facing each other in rows. The problem being that I couldn't see how anyone could maneuver their cars given the narrow laneway. And that's just in the summertime - not winter. Housing sales, btw, jumped 27% from a year ago for June.

The garbage strike hasn't bothered me at all. Plus, the city will save on swimming pool costs during what might easily be the coolest Summer in living memory. Other than sick days and annual raise percentages, I haven't heard about total compensation levels.
There's also been too much gentrification with a lot of the parks and pedestrian work being done. Instead of improvement, it just gives an uptight dollhouse feel to this city. I say, bring back the smooth gravel surfacing to the Grenadier Pond walkway along the Queensway. Cutout the fancy inlaid cement crosswalks and (too good for paint) bike lane indicators. And restore the old Aquatic Drive as well!