Day 691: The Downstairs Park

originally published November 21, 2013 On a day such as this, when the mercury has given up its climb and packed its full breadth of ooze down below -10 degrees, I feel I should find something to appreciate in this woefully frigid city. For the few months of the year that allow it, we are […]

Day 688: The True North Strong And Split

originally published November 18, 2013 Every so often in Canadian history, a certain chunk of land decides they might want to pull a Peter Gabriel and leave the progressive Genesis of our nation, possibly to collaborate with Robert Fripp. Of course I’m talking about Quebec, the province that has twice sent its people to the […]

Day 682: New York’s Island Of Lost Souls

originally published November 12, 2013 A quick test for non-New Yorkers: how many of New York’s islands can you name off the top of your head? Manhattan… Staten… Long… maybe Roosevelt… but don’t forget about Hart’s Island. Hart’s Island is a little-discussed but crucial slab of land in the city’s history. It’s also where’s you’ll […]

Day 583: The Monarch Of Hollywood

originally published August 5, 2013 In the vast history of advertising, very few brainchildren have endured. Nobody cuddles with a stuffed Energizer Bunny anymore, and I’d be surprised if there’s a soul remaining who still gets mileage from their California Raisins album. And for an advertising campaign to become a protected national landmark, that almost […]

Day 553: When The Thrills Are Quelled

originally published July 6, 2013 Neither of my voyages to the magnificent city of New York have brought me to Brooklyn. This is a matter of personal irk, as Brooklyn is where my great-grandfather hung his funky old 1910’s-era fedora after shuffling through the lineups at Ellis Island, planting the Schwartz flag on North American […]

Day 538: The Principality Of Sealand – All Sea, No Land, All Independent

originally published June 21, 2013 Happy summer everyone! Yes, it’s time to welcome those lazy, slow-moving months of late evening sun, hammock-worthy afternoons and frozen drinks with suspiciously large amounts of alcohol bubbling between tiny little ice crystals. This is the day when some unredeemable schmuck will remind you that the days only get shorter […]

Day 491: Paper Towns

originally published May 5, 2013 Welcome to beautiful sunny Argleton! While this gorgeous English village won’t appear in many tourist guide books, you’ll nevertheless be impressed by its stunning… minimalism. In fact, Argleton is so profoundly minimalist, one could say it doesn’t actually exist. But it must, right? I mean, it shows up on Google […]

Day 484: The Darkness Of The Padded Walls

originally published April 28, 2013 With no cash prize, with no great inheritance on the line, would you be willing to spend a night in an abandoned insane asylum? This is the sort of question which could open up an episode of American Horror Story (in fact, I think it did). A question which the […]

Day 483: Terra Incog-Neato

originally published April 27, 2013 You’d think with humankind’s great need to stretch our fences and occupy as much space as humanly possible, there would be no unclaimed land left. How could any snippet of earth be left flitting in the breeze, with no one to step forward and cram it into their pockets? Sure, […]

Day 474: Disney’s Hidden Corners

originally published April 18, 2013 Anytime someone uses the term ‘Mickey Mouse Organization’ to denote a company or government that is inexperienced, ineffectual or somehow incompetent, I wonder why such a saying exists. The real Mickey Mouse organization – in particular the theme parks with Mickey’s trademark ears plastered all over the place – is […]