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Recollection Volume 20 – Avenue Road

Recollection is a project to review my record collection. I will listen to an album I own and review it. The album will be chosen randomly by computron. Today computron chooses…  Album: Avenue Road Artist: Kensington Market Released: 1968 Format(s) I own it on: Vinyl This is a strange album. Kensington Market, named after the famed market in Toronto, decided to name their debut record after a street nowhere near the Market they derive their name from. Avenue Road is also the strangest named street in Toronto. Is it an avenue or a road? Make up your mind, Toronto! The album is a strange mixture of British Invasion-styled pop, rock and roll, medieval faire-fare,… Read More »Recollection Volume 20 – Avenue Road

Recollection Volume 19 – Automatic For The People

Recollection is a project to review my record collection. I will listen to an album I own and review it. The album will be chosen randomly by computron. Today computron chooses…  Album: Automatic For The People Artist: R.E.M. Released: 1992 Format(s) I own it on: CD With the recent passing of Nash The Slash, I’m tempted to write about his album Dreams and Nightmares, but I promised myself this would be random. So for now, R.E.M. … I was 10 when this album came out. It was always around throughout my life. The singles on this album were in heavy rotation on Toronto stations and Much Music. The videos for “Everybody Hurts” and… Read More »Recollection Volume 19 – Automatic For The People

Recollection Volume 18 – The Salvation Blues

Recollection is a project to review my record collection. I will listen to an album I own and review it. The album will be chosen randomly by computron. Today computron chooses…  Album: The Salvation Blues Artist: Mark Olson Released: 2007 Format(s) I own it on: CD Mark Olson’s The Salvation Blues has stumped me. I haven’t written here for a while as life got busy, but also because I don’t know what to write abut this album. This is the problem with a process that is decided by a random algorithm; I can’t move stuff around to accommodate me. The Salvation Blues is not a bad record, and it’s not a great record, it’s a… Read More »Recollection Volume 18 – The Salvation Blues

Recollection Volume 17 – BBC Sessions

Recollection is a project to review my record collection. I will listen to an album I own and review it. The album will be chosen randomly by computron. Today computron chooses…  Album: BBC Sessions Artist: The Who Released: 2000 Format(s) I own it on: CD There was a trend in the ’90s and 2000s to release compilations of BBC Radio musical performances on CD. The Beatles had a huge success with Live At The BBC. The Kinks, Bowie, Hendrix, Fleetwood Mac, Led Zepplin, hell, even Loudon Wainwright III. This is The Who’s entry. Where these compilations excel is hearing bands you know and love performing covers of early rock and roll and sometimes… Read More »Recollection Volume 17 – BBC Sessions

Recollection Volume 16 – The Green Fields of Foreverland…

Recollection is a project to review my record collection. I will listen to an album I own and review it. The album will be chosen randomly by computron. Today computron chooses…  Album: The Green Fields of Foreverland… Artist: The Gentle Waves Released: 1999 Format(s) I own it on: CD The first solo album from Belle & Sebastians then-cellist. She eventually left the band in 2002, but for the mean time The Gentle Waves was a side project. The album was released on Belle & Sebastian’s then-label Jeepster, and featured nearly the entire band (Campbell, Stuart Murdoch, Stevie Jackson, Mick Cooke, Chris Geddes, and Richard Colburn) only missing was then-bassist Stuart David… Read More »Recollection Volume 16 – The Green Fields of Foreverland…

Doctor Who Serial 056 – The Mind of Evil

Synopsis: The Doctor and Jo visit a prison where they’re using a machine to remove all evil from prisoners and storing it in a jar. Meanwhile, UNIT is guarding the first world peace conference. People start dying in both places. Where do I start with how ridiculous this story is? The concept that there’s a World Peace conference is extremely unlikely. If world peace were to ever happen, it would be with individual discussions and alliances, not a general Earth-wide conference. Why would you store the evil?!?! Why? How can you store evil? How can you project evil as The Master does, via Chin-Lee? Why is the prison in constant… Read More »Doctor Who Serial 056 – The Mind of Evil

Recollection Volume 15 – Summerteeth

Recollection is a project to review my record collection. I will listen to an album I own and review it. The album will be chosen randomly by computron. Today computron chooses…  Album: Summerteeth Artist: Wilco Released: 1999 Format(s) I own it on: CD How do I put this politely? This is not a happy record. I can’t say what Jeff Tweedy was going through when he wrote this album, all I can say is that it turned into some of the best music of the ’90s. This album cemented Wilco’s place as the kings of Americana. The album might not be happy, but it surely is bold and strong. It’s arguably… Read More »Recollection Volume 15 – Summerteeth

Doctor Who Serial 055 – Terror of the Autons

Synopsis: The Master arrives on Earth stealing the Nestine Consciousness and planting himself in a plastics factory. This is the first time we meet The Master, an old childhood friend of The Doctor’s, who has turned evil. It’s also the first time we encounter Time Lords other than The Doctor since War Games. There’s both The Master, and another Time Lord pops in to warn The Doctor wearing a bowler hat and suit. Not the most Time Lordy outfit. We don’t know much of The Master’s intentions, but he is intent on causing disruptions in the lives of humans and The Doctor. We are also introduced to Jo Grant. Liz… Read More »Doctor Who Serial 055 – Terror of the Autons

Alex P. Keaton

I sometimes feel like I’m surrounded by Alex P. Keaton. Conservatives are everywhere. The generation that grew up before me were fighting against the hippies before them. So they went right wing. We had Reagan in the States, Mulroney up here, Thatcher in the United Kingdom. Ugh. I recently listened to a student talk about social justice, but the framework she used for her discussion was economics. It kind of disgusted me that the discussion wasn’t how to help people, but how to make things better for business to help the economy, to in turn help the people. The logic of trickle-down economics have been discussed over and over again,… Read More »Alex P. Keaton

Rt. Hon. Paul Martin

Paul Martin, former Prime Minister of Canada, came to my place of employment to talk to the students. He spoke about the future of Aboriginal education. It was an interesting talk, and I got to take a few photos. I’m only publishing one that doesn’t have any student faces.