People do that? Like actual, honest to god people in the wild? I mean I’m sure somebody does because there are 8 billion people in the world and there’s definitely something to all of that sweet and salty flavours working together stuff, but how did I not know this? How have I never seen anyone do it? How, if it’s such a common thing, has it never once come up in a conversation? How has no one ever said to me “Steve, what you really ought to do is take these salted, oily potato sticks and dunk them into your ice cream”? And why did I not think of it on my own? The closest I ever got was spilling some milkshake on some fries and then being sad that lunch was soggy and ruined. I feel like I’ve missed out on something. Something gross that I don’t plan on trying, but still.
The physiology of taste is just one factor that determines the foods we love. Culture and peer pressure also play a huge role, which is why some flavors embraced in certain parts of the world are reviled in others. Dipping French fries in milkshakes is something many people start doing as children. Because the items aren’t listed together on the menu, kids learn to put them together from people in their social circles, like a parent, older sibling, or the captain of their soccer team. This encourages them to open their minds to the otherwise unusual matchup.
Though they didn’t come up with it themselves, many businesses have embraced the off-menu combo. McDonald’s and Wendy’s have both promoted dipping fries in milkshakes (or Frostys, in Wendy’s case) on social media. Some restaurants serve upscale takes on the classic that include fries as a milkshake topping—though for people who grew up with the pairing, the DIY version is hard to beat.
When I think fries as a milkshake topping I don’t think upscale as much as I think clumsy kid or friend being an ass and tampering with my meal, but apparently I’m learning a lot here today.
The writing had been on the wall for quite a while especially once Evanov signalled that they had totally given up on the thing by dumping a religious format there and moving the country station to FM, but I was still a little surprised when I read that Brantford’s 1380 CKPC had shut down as of August 4th.
CKPC, in its AM or FM flavours, was never my first choice station. But during the years I spent in Brantford attending the school for the blind, it often made for decent enough company.
I figured out pretty early on that if I wanted a good newscast (I was one of the only little kids I knew who was interested in the news), that CKPC was where I should go. Arnold Anderson did the best sports reports around, and pretty much all day long you could count on CKPC to fill you in on whatever else was happening in the city and beyond. This was a huge help whenever I had a teacher who assigned us current events, so just for that I’m grateful.
In my later years there, living in one of the houses where a small handful of us got to learn life skills more independently, 1380 was almost always on the kitchen radio. It was what I heard while I made my tea and breakfast in the morning, and the soundtrack to supper at night. Those were some fun times, and to this day I still keep in touch with a couple of those people.
I mostly lost track of 1380 once I left the city, because it wasn’t the easiest signal to pull in. But my brother, who ended up staying in Brantford, kept it as his go to kitchen station until management started nailing its coffin shut.
It would be a much greater loss to the community if it still actually did anything like radio is supposed to do at its best or even when it’s putting in a half assed effort, but that doesn’t mean it won’t be missed at all. It’s sad to see another old AM station go.
Just shy of marking 100 years on the air, CKPC AM 1380 is no more.
Without any formal announcement broadcasting the shutdown, the Brantford radio station signed off just after midnight Friday, leaving just silence.
“I stayed up in my pyjamas because I felt it was an historic event,” said Pete Byerlay, who began his 37-year career at CKPC AM in 1963. “They played O’Canada at midnight and that was it.”
It was a quiet end to a century of local radio broadcasting.
In a social media posting, Evanov Communications announced its decision to shut down AM 1380.
“The broadcasting sector today is operating in a challenging environment, from which no broadcaster is immune,” said the post. “After careful consideration and evaluation of ECI’s current situation, local market conditions, and changes to the radio industry more broadly, we have made the difficult but necessary decision to streamline our Brantford operations and focus on our two commercial FM stations in the market.”
I need to confess something, because the TV is slowly driving me insane. There’s this commercial that keeps playing “Mr. Roboto” by Styx, and every time it plays, I want to hide. Here is why.
Seven years ago, I was at one of the Toronto accessibility conferences. I attended a session about considering the elderly when designing websites. It was led by a Japanese fellow named Makoto Ueki. The one overarching thing I remember about his talk was this word mendokusai. If I remember it correctly, it means doable but difficult. He was talking about making websites less mendokusai for people who are older, might not see as well, might have less dexterity, less room for mentally-draining tasks, etc. He kept getting us to say the word, break it into syllables, repeat after him.
Then the end of the presentation came, and he said “domo arigato” because of course he did. He’s Japanese and that’s thank you very much in Japanese. But somehow I had missed that memo, and the only context I had for domo arigato was Mr. Roboto. And we had been doing call and response for the whole hour. And I was really getting into it. And…out of my mouth, at top volume came “Mr. Roboto!” …
…
And nobody else did that, because everyone else possesses a clue. Everyone else clapped, grabbed their things and went to the next session. I did too, but I wished the earth would swallow me whole. I also wondered what my immediate neighbours must have thought of me.
I googled for half a second and learned what I should have known all along…and felt like an even bigger dope. I had just made myself look like a giant idiot in front of all these people, and insulted the presenter too! Just frigging great!
He probably doesn’t remember that incident, but if he does, I just want to apologize and say that I really wasn’t trying to be a jerk. I just got so wrapped up in the call and response thing, and I legitimately didn’t know what those words meant, so I thought we must have to finish the only sentence I knew with those words in it…and out it came. Oops. Hopefully I will be able to slow down in the future so I won’t have more versions of this story to taunt me.
Administrators at an elementary school in Waukesha, Wisconsin, banned this nice song about living in a happy world where it’s ok to love everyone and to be who you are from being performed by first graders during a concert because rainbows are gay or some shit. Absolute moron James Sebert, who also serves as the school’s superintendent, barfed up a bunch of words about the potential social and personal impacts on the children and cited the board’s policy about not discussing controversial issues in class to spin things as not that, but I think we all know what he means. Just in case some of us don’t, this same hate-filled troop of goobers is also reported to have tried putting the hammer down on “Rainbow Connection” (yes, that “Rainbow Connection”), but eventually reversed that stance, thank Christ.
Sebert’s record also includes prohibiting rainbows and pride flags from being displayed in classrooms and suspending the school district’s equity and diversity work, so yeah, great guy all around.
First-grade teacher Melissa Tempel said she chose the song because its message seemed universal and sweet. The class concert’s theme was “The World” and included other songs such as “Here Comes the Sun,” by The Beatles and “What a Wonderful World,” by Louis Armstrong.
“My students were just devastated. They really liked this song and we had already begun singing it,” Tempel said Monday.
Administrators also initially banned the song “Rainbow Connection” from The Muppets but later reversed that decision, according to Tempel.
Parents have been angered by the song’s removal, Tempel said. But she was more concerned about what the ban and other district policies against expressing LGBTQ support meant for students.
“These confusing messages about rainbows are ultimately creating a culture that seems unsafe towards queer people,” she said.
I know I grew up in a time that had plenty of its own problems, but at least everyone who mattered did their best to teach us acceptance and the idea that a song about wanting a better world would somehow scar us all for life never crossed anyone’s mind. Or if it did, there were enough others with the good sense to shut it down before it got any further than that one rotted brain.
[Miley Cyrus & Dolly Parton:]
Livin’ in a rainbowland
Where everything goes as planned and I smile
‘Cause I know if we tried, we could really make a difference in this world
I won’t give up or sleep a wink
It’s the only thought I think
You know where I stand
I believe we can start livin’ in a rainbowland
Livin’ in a rainbowland
Where you and I go hand in hand
Oh, I’d be lyin’ (I’d be lyin’), if I said this was fine
All the hurt and the hate going on here (hate going on here)
We are rainbows, me and you
Every color, every hue
Let’s shine through
Together we can start livin’ in a rainbowland
Living in a rainbowland
Where skies are blue and things are grand
Oh, wouldn’t it be nice to live in paradise
Where we’re free to be exactly who we are
Let’s all dig down deep inside
Brush the judgement and fear aside
Make wrong things right (all things right), and end the fight
‘Cause I promise ain’t nobody gonna win
(C’mon)
Livin’ in a rainbowland
Where you and I go hand in hand
Oh, I’d be lyin’ (I’d be lyin’), if I said this was fine
All the hurt and the hate going on here (hate going on here)
We are rainbows, me and you
Every color, every hue
Let’s shine through
Together we can start livin’ in a rainbowland
Livin’ in a rainbowland
Where you and I go hand in hand together (let’s do it together)
Change things forever (forever)
I know there’s got to be a greener plan
We are rainbows, me and you
Every color, every hue
Let’s shine through (shine my head)
Together we can start livin’ in a rainbowland
Update:
Melissa Tempel, the teacher quoted above, was placed on administrative leave by the school district after speaking out about the ban. Land of the free and whatnot.
As the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports, Tempel has declined to comment on the matter, instead pointing to a statement from the Alliance for Education in Waukesha, a group of Waukesha parents asking for an investigation into superintendent James Sebert on claims that he discriminates against LGTBQ+ students and staff.
“This Superintendent and Board began the march toward marginalization last year, and it has only served to stoke fear and sow distrust in the Waukesha Community, which has yielded a pattern of bullying against anyone who calls out the district’s bias and harassment,” their statement reads. “Now Waukesha is a national laughingstock and the blame for that falls squarely to the feet of the district’s leadership, not those who have the courage to hold them accountable, like Ms. Tempel.”
As far as I know, I have no plans to visit Japan anytime soon. But if that changes, I know exactly where I’m staying regardless of which part of the country I’m supposed to be in.
Located in Shizuoka City, The Villa & Barrel Lounge just opened up this summer. The company behind it, though, West Coast Brewing, had already established itself as one of Japan’s most popular craft brewing operations, and the hotel is located right across the street from the brewery. So with such a short distribution line, each of the hotel’s five rooms is equipped with its own beer tap and a supply of 10 liters (338 ounces) of West Coat Brewing’s beer per night, free, for guests to enjoy. What’s more, it’s a specially made brew exclusive to the hotel room taps, and not available anywhere else.
10 liters works out to more than 17 pints, or more than 28 cans of beer, which might be more than you and your traveling companions can consumer during the course of a night, Not to worry. Any leftover beer in your allotment is yours to take home with you provided you have a growler.
When you want to reserve a room (I started to write if but let’s be serious) you can do that here. Shockingly, there are no rooms available as I write this.
A while back, one of the nephews somehow came into a bit of his own money and decided he was going to buy himself a present. That present was a fair-sized and very loud rubber chicken from Canadian Tire. He named it Squawky, which no one who met him would argue was not a good choice.
Sadly, after only a few days in his forever home, poor old Squawky mysteriously disappeared. To my knowledge, he has not yet been located by either an adult having a weak moment or a child better at rooting up hidden treasure than that adult thinks. But should he ever return, I may offer to adopt him, because I kind of want to see if I can teach myself how to do…this.
I’m not an expert on the different sounds made by various brands of rubber chickens, but I’m pretty sure that our missing friend Squawky and the one in these videos have the same voice. Crap! Maybe it’s him!
I may be wrong, but I’m going to go ahead and guess that the folks who decided that what the world could really use right now is a Karaoke machine for the car have never, at any point in any of their lives, spent a single moment trapped in an enclosed space with another human being. It sounds like it might be sort of fun for a few minutes until the novelty wears off, but what an awful, awful idea.
A company called Singing Machine has been working with Stingray (I assume the same Stingray that owns radio stations and is responsible for those music channels on your cable and satellite in Canada) to convince car manufacturers to include the system in their vehicles.
On the singer’s side, the device itself is just your average stick mic, but all the other systems would need to be built into the vehicle. This includes the karaoke menu and the ability to connect the mic to your speakers—Singing Machine is currently reaching out to car manufacturers about this.
Caras integrated with the Stingray will let users in the driver’s seat see lyrics on an internal screen, but only when the vehicle is in park. Otherwise, a passenger can connect to the car to get the lyrics on their phone when they’re in motion. These sort of safety features are perhaps why the device can’t just work on any car using, say, an Android app.
Of course, nothing stops users from passing the mic to the driver’s seat to go off songs by memory. Also, a driver could simply load the lyrics on their own phone while in motion.
No matter how hard they may try, I don’t think there’s any way to possibly make this safe. Not only for all the reasons mentioned above, but because what, aside from your own dwindling restraint, is going to stop you from strangling the first person who starts in on Let it Go or Baby Shark for the 34th time completely to death?
And did I mention that Singing Machine says that it can autotune and add other effects to your voice? Forget 34th. What I actually meant is 3rd or 4th.
But this is just the sort of thing that might be irresistible to car makers who are looking for every possible way to monetize aspects of the vehicle experience, so I’m sure it’s only a matter of time before someone gives it a go. Just remember that singing along with the radio has always been free.
Maybe it’s today’s extra screwy sleep schedule (Carin had to be up at 2 in the morning which meant I did too), but I can’t say I enjoyed this round all that much. My highlight is the two anchors short circuiting while trying to get through the storm report, but your mileage may vary. I also may have to start using the term “crotch pocket”, so there’s also that.
A Connecticut man wanted for exposing himself and masturbating while skateboarding to trail walkers has been nabbed by police.
Over the course of several days in mid-July, the Southington Police Department received complaints from community members in the area of the Rails to Trails of a man on a skateboard exposing himself to walkers on the trail, said Lt. Keith Egan, of the Southington Police.
Several witnesses also reported that Martinez-Morales was actively masturbating, Egan said.
The article says that he was “nabbed” by police and that he turned himself in after a warrant was granted for his arrest, which really doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. But however we got to where we are now, the end result was three counts each of public indecency and breach of peace, and surely a slight sense of awe from more than a few fellas.