Everyone always hears about how much winter sucks in Chicago. But Obama recently gave the NPO tens of millions in the stimulus package, and suddenly they had to figure out how to inspect and repair four times as many houses next year as in the past. Now, if you own your own home here but fall below some household poverty line and are struggling to pay your heating bills, you can apply to this program to have your house slightly fixed so it's more energy-efficient and your bills drop and you can keep making those mortgage payments. In their frantic dash to hire people, I just got a job as an inspector.
Continue reading "CHICAGO - ADVENTURES IN INFRASTRUCTURE SPENDING" »
07/02/2009 in Current Affairs , USA | Permalink | Comments (11)
Here’s a foolish idea for a fashion shoot: a metaphorical battle between good and evil as represented by a fight between flying cats! The red cat is bad. The gray cat is good. The gray cat wins, but don’t let that spoiler enjoy your viewing experience.
Continue reading "MILAN - FLYING CATS!" »
07/02/2009 in Animals , Fashion , Scandinavia , USA | Permalink | Comments (18)
On a chilly morning on a frozen estuary a meter above the river Pirita in northern Estonia we sparked up a chat with a fisherman we’ll call John. It turned out he’s a former British soldier of nine years and has now gone over to the private sector. Yep, he’s one of those mercenaries who worked in Iraq back when people were still mad about Saddam Hussein. The whole wide world knows about these guys already but with a brand-new war starting in Afghanistan today, we’re feeling nostalgic for the way things used to be fucked up. We’re sharing our interview with him.
Continue reading "SCANDINAVIA - GOOD BENEFITS AND LOTS OF TRAVELING" »
07/02/2009 in Current Affairs , Interviews , Scandinavia , USA | Permalink | Comments (11)
Hey, it's Canada's birthday today, and to celebrate the 2.48 million people of Toronto are strewing trash throughout their weird little city. There's a massive heat wave and all 24,000 civil service workers have been on strike since last week. The city stinks and people are dumping garbage wherever they can, including streets, parks, and doorways. The city is still a mess from Pride and now it's Canada Day, the day you toss rubbish all over your home. We'll just stick with glittering explosives and the occasional horrible limb-sacrificing disaster, thanks.
07/01/2009 in USA | Permalink | Comments (10)
The first time I smoked pot right before sex was in college with my girlfriend. I didn’t know shit about herb then and didn’t know what strain my girlfriend was repeatedly loading into her one-hitter.
Continue reading "SNEAKY LEAF'S DIARY OF A DEALER - MARIJUANA . . . APHRODISIAC?" »
07/01/2009 in Sneaky Leaf , USA | Permalink | Comments (24)
In five nasty minutes listening to the radio this morning, I learned that today was the center point of London's record-breaking “level three” heat wave, which will eventually explode into violent and unpredictable weather patterns. I also learned that we were now in “phase six” of the swine flu pandemic, and that right now the terrorist alert is “severe,” which is another way of saying that it’s slightly more likely today than it was yesterday that your bus to work will soon be converted into a chemical warhead.
Continue reading "LONDON - THE CHOIR QUIT SO YOU DON'T HAVE TO" »
07/01/2009 in Australia , Canada , Music , Scandinavia , USA | Permalink | Comments (10)
|
