Midweek Reading Assignment

I'm not sure if you have more going on in your life than I do. Chances are, you do. But just in case you're feeling that void in your life now that football season has come to its inevitable conclusion, here are a few links to help you get through the rest of the week:



Proposed Transit Hubs May Shun Cars, by Tess Kalinowski

The chances of my ever moving back to the suburbs are somewhere between none and never, but the idyllic haven for commuters depicted in this piece, should the Province ever follow through with its plans, might someday push those chances into the "slim" category... Not that I have to concern myself with commuting, seeing as the seanmccallum.com world headquarters are currently located in my home office... but still... you never know.

(As a side note, I spent the better part of the year I took off between my 3rd and 4th years at University commuting from my parents' house in Oakville to Bay Street, and I can honestly say that there is really nothing more depressing in this world than sitting on the bus to and from the GO station, and then sitting on the train to and from the city, the vast majority of that time being spent in a hungover slumber until invariably being awoken as we pulled into Union Station by one of the countless good samaritans responsible for my keeping my job in that glorious year I spent "finding myself". The thought of going back to that kind of a commute is unequivocally unbearable, but I have to say that the prospect of showering with my fellow commuters after a vigorous bicycle trek is almost enough to make me reconsider... almost.)



Black on Track: Charting African American Music History

This collaborative piece in this week's NOW Magazine gives a great Coles Notes version of the history of African American influence in music; and considering how vast that influence is, it's actually quite a testament that the good people at NOW are able to condense it into this chronologically coherent thumbnail piece that can be taken in in less than 5 minutes.

This week's issue pays great tribute to Black History Month, so while you're on the site, feel free to peruse. I have to say that Honeydripper looks like a ridiculously good movie, and NOW features a pretty good interview with budding guitar legend Gary Clark Jr.

On another side note, budding hip hop legend Shad (one-time recipient of the seanmccallum.com NxNE Award for Best Pat Boone Reference in a Hip Hop Performance) was nominated for a Juno today in the Best Rap Performance category. And another seanmccallum.com favourite, Justin Rutledge, was nominated in the category of Roots & Traditional Album of the Year, Solo. (You can read about his performance at the NxNE Bob Harris Showcase here) Glad to hear that the Can-Con people are paying attention.



Dept. of Odds: Aces, by James McManus

I don't know about you, but I feel pretty good about the fact that the future President of the United States of America likes to have a few beers, smoke a few butts, and dominate his fellow senators in a game of poker. Just seems like the kind of normal, down to earth guy you want running the most powerful country in the world. And it probably doesn't hurt that he can speak like this.