RIP Jacko

Yeah, let's be honest. You forgot about him until this evening. You forgot about his existence, or just mocked him. Now he's the biggest and greatest thing ever since he's gone. You can sort of compared this case to that of Judy Garland, in the fact she was playing in small clubs and gay bars up until her death and people came to her funeral in droves.

I never believed he was a child molester. It seemed everyone was just out for the lawsuit money and not to see justice brought. Finally after years, over ten years, he was charged, acquitted, everyone thought he got the OJ treatment, but I thought there were holes in the story of the family accusing him. I believed he was eccentric to the point of lunacy, but not a criminal.

But it was fun listening to cars on Yonge blast MJ tunes out their window today. Thriller was as big of a holiday hit as any Bing Crosby song, even if it was for a totally different holiday.

RIP

The Jays should just move

I've written about my love of the Toronto Blue Jays on here before. I was at the game tonight. Yes there are factors to take into account, such as they were playing the Cincinnati Reds, a sold out Major League Soccer game was happening across town, and the fact last night was a discount ticket night, but they only drew 15,409. They say the Phoenix Coyotes should move (different sport, I know) when they are perennial losers and play in the middle of nowhere. The Blue Jays play downtown and are currently in a playoff spot. Some might argue the 20 year-old Rogers Centre (formerly SkyDome), once an architectural and engineering marvel, is outdated. But it is far from a dump. Fifteen thousand on a hot, but bearable night with an open roof for a good team is horrible. And that was only the announced crowd. Early on, it looked like a crowd from an old Expos game.

I love the Jays, but they really don't get deserving support in this city.

This is Bloody Insulting

I wanted to write a letter to the poster of this ad to let them know how despicable their organization is in trying to take advantage of people in bad times. You must read the last line of the ad to understand just how disgusting these people are. Keep in mind, they are looking for someone with a degree in organic chemistry. One who's worked hard and likely paid a lot of money to get through school.

http://www.torontojobs.ca/en/jobs/view.php?job_id=18234&auth_sess=c58a19500eab2957a07c875cc1622aee

I could understand if this were a position for a summer student studying chemistry to give them some experience in an internship type of setup, but it is not. Toronto Research Chemicals should be ashamed of themselves. Unfortunately, they aren't the only ones trying to underpay people or get people to even work for free in these tough times. I'm seeing ads all over the place trying to grossly underpay people.

Update on Tuesday's Ramble

First of all, the Art Bar feature was a blast. It was one of my best features ever and I had so much fun doing it.

The Rust Belt Slam, an event I sadly will not be able to make it to, at least the finals, is a four day event taking place in Toronto (It started tonight with a slam for two spots on the "Wildcard Team" with Tomy Bewick and Dwayne Morgan). It continues tomorrow night with the preliminaries at the Poor Alex Theatre (Dundas/Bathurst) and Saturday at noon at the Trane Studio (Dupont and Bathurst) and the Finals at Bloor Cinema, which I predict will be a great venue, on Saturday night. There will be a free showcase in Kensington Market on Sunday.

The Rust Belt Slam is an annual poetry slam in its tenth year. Previously, it has taken place only in the mid-western United States and is venturing into Canada for the first time ever. Other than the Canadian Festival of Spoken Word, which took place in 2006, this will be the biggest spoken word event the city has likely ever seen.

One other thing I want to make note of, Rochdale Rhymes and Readings is back next Thursday at the Regal Beagle. There will be a spoken word extravaganza featuring Gypsy Eyes and Truth Is.. from Toronto and Nolan Guiffre from New York State.

Wild times

I don't have much time to write as I am off to do perhaps the biggest feature I've ever done at the Art Bar at Clinton's tonight. The Art Bar, still the flagship poetry series in T.O. (and possibly Canada) was my introduction into the scene when I came here in March of '06. I am so bloody busy in the next two weeks. Two slams this past weekend (Toronto Poetry Slam and $100 Slam) which were fantastic to see, Art Bar tonight, trying to make it to see at least the prelims for the massive Rust Belt Slam in Toronto this weekend (I'll explain all the jargon at another time), my cousin's Jack and Jill on Saturday, Rochdale Rhymes and Readings' huge spoken word extravaganza next Thursday and then my birthday next Saturday. I apologize I haven't edited this for spelling or grammar, but I have to run. I'll give a bigger plug and share details to the appropriate events later, I promise.

Swine Flu Paranoia

The World Health Organization has reported 8,451 worldwide cases of swine flu, now termed H1N1, since April. The outbreak was reported by the Mexican government on April 23. Hysteria ensued.

“It really is all of humanity that is under threat during a pandemic,” WHO Director General Margaret Chan said after a level 5 alert was issued for the first time in the organization’s history April 29.

Travel advisories were issued for Mexico. When the flu did spread into the U.S., vice-president Joe Biden suggested riding planes and subways was not safe.

Seventy-two people have died worldwide, including 66 in Mexico. 187 people have been infected in Ontario with no deaths, in comparison to 500 deaths per year and 9,000 reported infections of the seasonal flu.

Paranoia can be hurtful and dangerous. Taking precautions to prevent the spread of illness is always wise and common sense should prevail. But those in Toronto remember the worldwide superstition that ensued during the SARS crisis. Tragically 44 people in the Greater Toronto Area died, but the magnitude of the virus was blown out of proportion. The city’s tourism industry never fully recovered, with or without aid of the Rolling Stones.

The danger of issuing alerts suggesting the world is on the brink of a worldwide pandemic if it is not, is ending up with the old example of the little boy who cried flu. When something close to the 1918 Spanish flu outbreak (something to really be scared of) occurs, the reaction may become, “we heard this before. Leave me alone.” Maverick U.S. congressman and former presidential candidate Ron Paul has noted in 1976 more people died from mass inoculations than the virus during that “swine flu” outbreak.

Sometimes it really can hurt to be careful.

Youth Slam

On Wednesday I was a judge at the second monthly Toronto Youth Slam, put on by the Toronto Poetry Project. Truth is... was the feature and was great as always. I was not sure what to expect. I expected a lot of teen angst from the 12-19 year-olds, but was surprised by a lot of the maturity of the work. These kids may not be ready to contend for big championships now, but a chance to hone their skills will help them develop and help the art of spoken word in general. Also a big thanks goes to Yehuda Fisher for hosting. He has committed a lot of time and energy to spoken word in the last year.

It was funny. One contestant, who was about 12 or 13 went on a tirade about how someone was ugly and stupid and had a big butt and I sat there thinking, "how do I score this? She's 12." Then at the end she explained these were things she'd say to herself in the mirror before going to school and trying to be one of the most popular girls. It was a brilliant way to turn it around and I gave her a 9.7.