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Our Laurence Miall ~ Blind Spot

by Nick Glossop on September 26, 2014

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We are delighted to announce that regular Paltry contributor, Laurence Miall has produced his first novel, Blind Spot which came out on Newest Press last month. In Edmonton ~Gateway to the Tar Sands~ to launch the book, he stopped by CJSR FM88 for a chat on the Ipso Factory. The interview begins at the 0:05:18 mark but I recommend letting Robbie Fulks’ Night Accident provide the introduction. The song …
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  • Categories: Literature / Music / Podcasts / The Arts

Dangerous Blather: Frida Ghitlis at CNN on Ukraine

by Matthew Lenoe on March 20, 2014

Crossposted from my “Russia and the World Blog” at www.mlenoe.wordpress.com

Some of the US mainstream press coverage of the Ukrainian crisis has been relatively good, such as Fareed Zakaria’s commentary.  A lot more is garbage.  Today’s “most ignorant blather” award goes to Frida Ghitis, who has a front page headline on CNN right now.   Ghitis presents the crisis as the beginning of “a new Cold War,” opines that Ukraine should …
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  • Categories: Human Affairs / Media / News / Politics / The Paltry Sapien

Majority in Fugue

by Nick Glossop on March 20, 2014

Feeling tense about the ongoing crisis over Crimea and east Ukraine? Try playing the first five notes of this piece in your head every time you hear Putin’s name. It’ll help.

Also, you should support the Majority Report.

Calliope in Fugue is lifted from the great PDQ Bach (Peter Schickele). Here he provides color commentary for Beethoven’s 5th.


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  • Categories: Human Affairs / Humour / Media / Music / News / Podcasts / Politics / Web

What Were The Earliest Vibrators Like?

by Nick Glossop on February 3, 2014

They were steam-powered, coal-fired, belt-driven and studded with vibratodes as Rachel Maines, technology historian and author of The Technology of Orgasm explains. I thank her for introducing me to the term “vibratode,” and to the phrase “hedonizing technology.” She gives an eye-opening account of the social, medical and technological history of self-pleasure, replete with self-deceptions, hypocrisies and rooftop Chattanoogas.

But in any case, there’s the connection with hydrotherapy and


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  • Categories: Contraptions / Droid Affairs / Gender / History / Human Affairs / Technology

Geoff Berner ~ Festival Man

by Nick Glossop on January 30, 2014

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Travel in the entertaining company of a man made of equal parts bullshit and inspiration, in what is ultimately a twisted panegyric to the power of strange music to change people from the inside out.

At turns funny and strangely sobering, this “found memoir” is a picaresque tale of inspired, heroic deceit, incompetence, and – just possibly – triumph. Follow the flailing escapades of maverick music manager Campbell Ouiniette at


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  • Categories: Human Affairs / Literature / Music / Podcasts / Politics / The Arts

10.2 x 10: Interview with comedian, author, activist Charles Demers

by Andrew Loewen on January 17, 2014

I am delighted to bring you the second edition of our Paltry Sapien interview series, 10×10, this time with the multi-talented Charles Demers.

When I was about 18 I got a tattoo of Charlie Chaplin down the length of my right bicep. There’s probably no ‘meeting-of-worlds’ that I’ve spent more time thinking about than I have the space where politics meets comedy.

1)    You wear three distinct hats as comedian,
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  • Categories: 10x10 / Interviews / The Arts

The Majority Galore (Breaking Down)

by Nick Glossop on January 14, 2014

If you don’t tune in to the Majority Report, let me recommend that you do. Sam Seder and the boys offer the funniest, most incisive news commentary mixed up with excellent, typically insurgent tunes. Recently there was some confusion amongst the messaging listeners as to whose tune is Stop Breaking Down – it’s a Robert Johnson composition, though most people would know the Rolling Stones’ version, and on the …
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  • Categories: Human Affairs / Humour / Media / Music / Podcasts / Politics / Web

You Are Here, and Now

by Nick Glossop on December 31, 2013

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The Orloj Astrolabe

More than just your average timepiece, the Old Town Clock of Prague, or Orloj, can tell you what time it is and what date. It also tells you what the heavens should look like from where it stands. It tells you what time to expect sun rise and set, what lunar phase the moon should appear in, and even which Zodiacal sign is in ascendence. Elsewhere on …
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  • Categories: Astral / History / Human Affairs / Technology / The Paltry Sapien

Woody Guthrie’s New Year’s Resolutions (1942)

by Andrew Loewen on December 31, 2013

Change socks… Don’t get lonesome… Dream good… Wake up and fight. (Yes, these are his doodles, too)

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Originally posted, Dec. 31, 2011…
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  • Categories: Human Affairs / The Paltry Sapien

Merry Christmas (On Acid)

by Nick Glossop on December 24, 2013

If you are dreaming of a brown Christmas, this post is for you. First, a Christmas card from Cyriak, none of his usual fractal madness, just a fairly standard-issue nightmare Noel. Nevertheless, we bid you view with caution.

Second, a seasonal song originally from Radio Free Vestibule, a loon trio from Montreal now going by the more wield-friendly the Vestibules.

Christmas on Acid

And now that …
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  • Categories: Comics & Animation / Humour / Music / The Arts / The Geekly Standard / Travel

NFB’s Vérité Christmas of 1958: toujours la même

by Michelle Lovegrove Thomson on December 23, 2013

The National Film Board has an incredible online presence. Check out this 30 minute direct cinema film exploring “The Days Before Christmas” in Montreal in 1958. Children chat awkwardly with Santa; direct their own jangly bands; and you can cruise the streets of Montreal in a cab, among other time-travelling treats.

A poetic observational piece, it may instill in you a craving for more black and white images in daily …
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  • Categories: Film / History / The Arts

Shopping By The Stars: New Year’s Edition

by Marty Schwartz on December 16, 2013

In this new installment in what future generations will one day refer to as ‘Paltry Wisdom,’ we provide helpful shopping tips for you, the consumer. Many of us will soon be awash in the drunken, regretful spectacle that is New Year’s Eve. Maybe you’ve been invited to attend a New Year’s party. Maybe you’re the kind of conscientious party guest who plans ahead and brings a gift for the host. …
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  • Categories: Contraptions / Droid Affairs / Human Affairs / Humour / Technology / The Geekly Standard / The Paltry Sapien / Web

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