The Simpson Blog

Nice flight in last night on Air Canada ... Jazz, or Tango, or whatever the cheap-ass branch is called now. They must've known I paid the cheapest-ass price, 'cuz they seated me in the very back row, in the aisle, by the toilets. That said, though, they offered more than Canjet did when I came and went last week. Cute little drop-down LCD screens, free pop, $5 roast beast sammiches. I'm diggin' it here in Halifax so far. I'm doing my damndest not to stick out as a stereotypical Ontarian. I've noticed some stuff, and am having no problem loving it as it is and not applying an obnoxious Torontonian spin on it. Obnoxious Torontonian would say: airport shuttle bus drivers aren't supposed to leave fifteen minutes late, careening through city streets on an improvised route while alternately cranking up and turning down the greatest hits of Guns 'n Roses. I say: what's the rush? It's after midnight anyway. I hope the next ride features AC/DC or Rush. Ob

Hainsworth.com reports that a party was thrown last night at the Spotted Dick to send myself and Jennifer Macdonald off to Halifax. I even hear that they plugged it on-air at 680News. Wow. It was a dream come true. When I first considered actually moving out there, I fantasized about a party where I'd get to play some tunes with John and Rick (keys and drums). We've been jamming together for a little over two years, but none of us has performed in public, aside from my little solo set at a 680 forum get-together a few weeks ago. Newsroom coordinator Anne Lavrih got the venue, the boys rose to the challenge, and we played nine songs.... most of them palatable. I'll get some CDs out once I get Little Eddie Dingle and The Stallion (my PCs) shipped and set up in NS. A lot of people have to wait for their funeral to hear so many nice things about them. I was deluged with positive feedback all night long. Even my girlfriend Amanda was surprised to hear so many good things about

Wow, I made it to the Big Yellow Board . I leave the market and I finally get a note in the sandbox. Marc Weisblott , who once, I think, called me the "Glen Cochrane of the Gen-X set" (which I gleefully passed on to Mr. Cochrane when I accidentally MOS'd him on Queen East earlier this year while doing a goofy story about people who leave their xmas lights up too long... I thought, "Wow, this guy has some nose! Only Glen Cochrane had a nose like that ."), noted that...well...that this blog exists, saying "another radio hack (and old-school zinester) refines his web presence to remind us what we're missing ..." Yeah, zines. Wow. The zine world came back to the surface of my memory recently when Ninjalicious, aka Milky Puppy, aka Jeff Chapman, founder of YIP, Infiltration, and the modern Urban Exploration movement, died. Jeff was one of the most entertaining writers I'd ever met. A brilliant guy. And he kicked ass on Pyroto Mountain. In packin

It's my third day in Halifax and I've already blown a wheel. There's a lot of walking to do here, and I've hurt my right foot/ankle. Pity, too, 'cuz I signed the lease on a new apartment this morning and now have nothing to do but relax and see the city. And like I said, there's a lot of walking to do. Nice place -- 2-bedroom, downtown, laundry on every floor, nice view, near mall and buses, across the street from the Metro Centre stadium. It's a nice city so far! Hilly. Can't just hail a cab -- hafta call for them, but they arrive quickly and no ride anywhere has cost me more than $8. (To the airport is $50+, mind ya.) Training starts next week at the new news experiment station. Lots of buzz over the hiring of ex-Mojo, ex-CFRB dude Andrew Krystal. I hear he's gooood. I hope he's the lead-in to my show, but I don't know much right now, other than that people have been talking me up well ahead of my arrival. Apparently I'm some kind of gu