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That sounds good, though I might prefer the Viking burial approach where all my junk is loaded onto a ship in Lake Ontario and then set on fire.

I think the real issue is that there is so little confidence in the CDC (at this point) that the public expects the first vaccine in the US will be rushed out (and indeed maybe from Russia). I wouldn't have any faith in that either. I do plan on taking a vaccine that has been vetted by Canadian and/or European authorities when it is available.

I'll probably leave a note that the Mosaics may still have some resale value but almost nothing else is particularly rare and certainly not worth sorting through to try to put up on eBay (or entice a college radio station with it). As I mentioned elsewhere, my children are basically appalled by the idea of having a big stack of CDs, so I assume they'll take it to a used music shop (if those even still exist) and what isn't taken will end up in the dump. Same thing with my books, though I expect in my next move (probably downsizing to a condo), I'll get rid of the vast majority of them. Certainly a bit depressing if I think too long about it.

Already discussed to some point, but this article has a detailed map and timeline showing how the new Postmaster General's policies led to a dramatic slowdown in mail deliveries. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/sep/21/usps-post-office-mail-slowdowns-louis-dejoy In other words, it wasn't just your imagination it was the direct result of Trump's appointee.

Let's hope they are a bit smarter next time on the contractual side of things...

Also on iTunes as of today. This is a case where I think I do want to sample the newly available outtakes before committing to buy yet another edition of the album. But I'm moderately likely to order this in the end.

And iTunes! I'm glad they ironed out all these contractual wrinkles.

She spoke at my commencement, and I saved the text of her speech somewhere. She will be sorely missed, and her passing at this particular time makes 2020 a shoo-in for worst year of my entire life. No point in going on any further, as it will just break forum rules...

He's not the only one, but he may be the only one to write an anti-lockdown song... https://www.vice.com/en_ca/article/bv8e83/noel-gallagher-oasis-ian-brown-stone-roses-anti-maskers-covid-hoax Have lost so much respect for him I probably will remove him entirely from my music rotation.

Nice. Congrats. I'm now thinking I'll have my copy by early next week. We'll see.

Supposedly, now available on Amazon.ca again with release date of tomorrow. I'll have to have my wife put in the order as I don't have Prime. (While definitely a first-world problem, I'm still PO'ed that they jumped the gun and completely cancelled the order instead of just pushing back delivery date, since it seemed likely it would be made available to Canada along with the US. In the process, they disrupted a bundled order that did qualify for free shipping but no longer does after I have to buy the Monk as a stand-alone item.)

We're going to see rollbacks in parts of Ontario (almost certainly Toronto and Peel Region) so that the max indoor gatherings will be 10 (instead of 50). I'm not entirely sure if this applies to stores, movie theatres and gyms (prob. not as there isn't "gathering" per se), but if so, then these will all shut back down. It does mean that the concert I was going to go to (with 50 socially distanced in the audience) is going to be cancelled or postponed again. I'm not saying this is an over-reaction, but I am disappointed to say the least. Actually, probably the movie theatres in Toronto will be shut back down, but I may not have the details until later tonight. I know they are talking very seriously about cutting back hours that bars can serve alcohol, and I do think that is a good idea as there have been quite a few outbreaks linked to bars.

He is apparently also on Sea Breeze - Bass - Takashi Mizuhashi Drums – George Ohtsuka Electric Piano – Hideo Ichikawa Tenor Saxophone, Soprano Saxophone –Takao Uematsu Trumpet, Flugelhorn – Shunzo Ohno Sea Breeze Fool On The Hill Cannibal Potato Chips Jumping Cats

I have a newish printer and it has a slot for a cable that connects to the computer (a USB connection not the old, old printer ports). This is good as the wifi routing to the printer is very iffy. But you could certainly ask at Staples or Best Buy about whether the printer has a direct connection (I would think most do) - and more importantly if the right cable is included in the box (not as standard) or you have to track one down. I am mostly listening to music digitally these days and the files are (mostly) backed up on a couple of hard drives (and sometimes even burned to a DVD) but I haven't crossed over to storing everything in the cloud. Maybe some day...

I've gotten a bit side-tracked but I will start Don Quixote soon. I'll probably watch the lecture series on Quixote referenced earlier in the thread, and I also stumbled across Nabokov's Lectures on Don Quixote, which looks pretty interesting. Apparently he has a somewhat unorthodox take on the novel. In the meantime, I'm struggling to get through the Collected Writings of Joe Brainard (Library of America). It's extremely unclear to me why his very random thoughts and often undercooked personal essays would merit such a tome. Some of his pieces do have the somewhat tossed off feel of something from a poet from the New York School (say Ted Berrigan, who Brainard knew, or Frank O'Hara), but what works in a poem often doesn't work in a longer, supposedly more structured piece. That's my take anyway. I'm definitely leaning towards just dropping this and moving on to something that I will enjoy more.

I do find it extremely droll to watch Millennials (and it does mostly seem to be them driving the recent push to put pop/rock and even punk bands out on vinyl) buying up these new releases and then getting extremely tense when they can't find the download card (since they are actually planning to listen to the music on their phones and tables).

I just feel that I am being ripped off with $13 shipping charges. After it was suddenly legit to sell in the US, it should have been just as legal to sell in Canada. I'm sure it is a totally pointless protest, but I refuse to buy this until it is available in Canada.

Well, this turn of events is deeply upsetting. Amazon.ca says that the Palo Alto date is going to be unavailable and they have cancelled my order. At the moment, Amazon.co.uk says the item is out of stock (and doesn't appear to be made available again). It's coming out soon in the US, though the proposed shipping (to Canada) is pure extortion. I guess I don't need this after all.

I generally don't go see films at TIFF during the festival itself, though I sometimes go to see films at TIFF Lightbox after the festival is over. A couple caught my eye this time around, with Night of the Kings/La Nuit des Rois by Philippe Lacôte probably being the most interesting. However, it is impossible to get in-person tickets, and the streaming costs $19, which seems on the high side. I'll wait around and see if it gets picked by another streaming service at some point. The next film I am likely to see in person is the new Wes Anderson, The French Dispatch, which opens in about a month.

Well, that certainly hasn't happened in Toronto (pre-COVID). We've basically lost all the clubs with the exception of The Rex and I guess Jazz Bistro, and none of them get really big stars anymore. This is a particularly bleak period, basically unprecedented, and I don't think many clubs outside New York, SF and Chicago are going to make it. My understanding is that a lot of clubs, bars and restaurants are limping to the finish line (i.e. the end of patio season) and then most are going to close for good. At least that's what's happening here. Maybe the final nail is that even after businesses were technically allowed to reopen, all the employees stayed home and so none of that downtown business crowd returned to keep these places afloat. I would think that new businesses won't even be able to get the insurance needed to reopen because the newly written policies will be so expensive.

Our employer is softly pushing people to come in to the office to try things out. I'm biking in 3-4 days/week and have been doing that for close to a month.. In Toronto there are two options for schooling - either 100% on-line or roughly 30% in-person/70% on-line. We're going to have the kids go in-person (as long as this lasts and isn't shut down by another Covid wave). Generally not eating out, though ordering pick-up from time to time. I am going to the gym about twice a week, and went to the movies twice.

Stumbled across this on iTunes - Danny Pucillo Quartet Plays Charles Mingus Like Nobody Else. With Bill Perkins (sax) and Chris Colangelo (bass).

Just saw Tenet in the theatre. 6 of us, including my son. It felt pretty safe, and we were well spread out. Still thinking it through, but there seem to be a handful of huge plot holes. I guess that's always the case with movies that involve time travel or time inversion in this case. Still, the effects were pretty cool and probably worth catching on the big screen if you can...

Pretty cool story - https://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/mammoth-graveyard-1.5712058 Apparently, these have all been found during excavation for a large airport north of Mexico City. Hopefully they will decide to build a small science/interpretative center nearby, though most of the fossils will be sent on to labs and museums.

At the moment, Amazon.ca is saying Out of Stock -- no release date or anything. The irony is that I'm fairly sure for one or two more months (until the prorogued Parliament comes back) they haven't yet gotten around to updating copyright laws, though they are soon going to be in alignment with the States. So for the moment, the Palo Alto date should be just as legit here as in the UK. Oh well. I'm a bit surprised but pleased to see that some kind of agreement was worked out and it is shipping in the States. I assume I'll get it here eventually, and I can wait. But not too long...