Manitoba Links Weekly: REEFER MADNESS, Sage... Madness(?), Does This Mean I Shouldn't Bring a Samurai Sword to the Art Gallery, and Here's That Winnipeg Blog Compendium You've Been Waiting For (ManLinkWeek S02E17)

Ha, well, so much for my earlier plan! I wish I had a super-cool story about the very important and dramatic events that kept me from having this post out earlier, but the truth of it is just that the Olympic hockey is on way late at night (and onward through to morning!) so I'm on some very wonky sleep patterns. These are very important patriotic considerations! This'll just have to be a Sunday feature, I think, until all that gets sorted out. Please bear with me in the meantime.

So hello and welcome to a Manitoba Links Weekly! Brace yourselves for the week's worth of content, it's quite the flurry today.

This week on Winnipeg Internet Pundits I opened the show by not working a telephone correctly, because I am the smartest there is. (Well, okay, in fairness -- it was actually a switch outside the studio that needed flipping, rather than anything to do with the phone machinery itself. But it took me a minute or two to properly diagnose that while still keeping it together on-air.) Once that got settled, though, it was a very good show! Rather a good show, and I hope that you will enjoy it.

Let's light up the ManLinkWeek!

Manitoba Links Weekly: Hashtag Melnigeddon, Everyone Will Like Me Again If I Sue This Student Newspaper, Russ Wyatt is Sheegl-Shaming, and Here's a Stolen Skeleton Statue to Watch For (ManLinkWeek S02E16)

The Mr. Bones mascot skeleton statue has been kidnapped, and it is currently being held for ransom, and the ransom is a pizza. Winnipeg is a live-action cartoon. [ via ]

Hello and welcome to Manitoba Links Weekly! God, what a week.

This week on Winnipeg Internet Pundits we began the task of chipping away at the wall of newsworthy topics this week; I also played a couple of thematically-appropriate tunes during the hour, and I'm interested to know whether you the listener think they helped or hindered the flow of the show, so let me know by email or in the comments below what you made of it.

Manitoba Links Weekly: The Province is Cutting CFS Funding Alongside the Phoenix Sinclair Report, and You'll Probably Need a Drink After Reading About It (ManLinkWeek S02E15)

Hello and welcome to Manitoba Links Weekly!

It's been another big week, hasn't it? Another busy ol' week. Let me fill you in briefly on what I've been up to! When last we left off I was headed to the final Mondragon Party, set on braving the crowds --

Manitoba Links Weekly: A Whole Bunch of Food-Related Links This Week, But First Let's Note This Flooded Hospital and This Explosion (ManLinkWeek S02E14)

Hello and welcome to Manitoba Links WeeklOH GOD--

      [via]

Manitoba Links Weekly: Here's That #laserpyramid Explanation and Image Gallery You Were Waiting For, Portage Places Plural (Portages Place?), Your Choices are the Reprehensible Party or the Incompetent Party, And I Wish Every Night Were Retro Night (ManLinkWeek S02E13)

I am a simple man, and I do not ask for much. Just Retro Night pricing, every night, everywhere. I would be so happy. [ via ]

Hello and welcome to Manitoba Links Weekly! It's been a heck of a week, hasn't it? Really seemed to fly right by.

This week on Winnipeg Internet Pundits we alternative-media types tackled the City's engrossingly terrible snow-clearing nightmare, the Province's precariously flimsy reasoning on both the Phoenix Sinclair and hospital-discharge taxi-ride files, and the Manitoba Progressive Conservatives' continued Wile E. Coyote act of running headfirst into rocks they've painted to look like tunnels. (Some of these stories are linked below as well, you'll know 'em when you see 'em.)

Onward to ManLinkWeek! More germanely, onward to LASERS:

Manitoba Links Weekly: The City of Streetlights and Trees, The Production Values are Very Nice, Can I Please Just Have the Machine Garden, And Here's Spraypaint on a Snowbank (ManLinkWeek S02E12)

Does anybody want to form a Winnipeg incarnation of Death Grips with me? I'll do the vocals, you do keyboard beats, it'll be great. And this -- obviously -- this will be our debut album cover. I am dead serious about all of this. [ via ]

Hello and welcome to Manitoba Links Weekly! There was no new episode of Winnipeg Internet Pundits this week due to illness -- mine specifically, because I was the kind of seasonally ill that I'd hate to have exposed anyone else to -- but next week should be a good show, I figure.

Onward to ManLinkWeek!

Manitoba Links Weekly: I'm Cold (There There), Maybe 2014 Won't Suck, An Industrial-Looking Heart in the Sky, and Here's an Anthropomorphic Cartoon Lady-Perogy Praising Jesus (ManLinkWeek S02E11)

Thus far I've spent the New Year increasingly debilitated by a seasonal cold-flu-something -- sweats and chills and coughing fits and sapped strength and the whole kit-'n'-kaboodle -- and in my intermittent bouts of mild feverish delirium, there are times when I am forced to question whether something is real or imagined. You can imagine the trouble that I am having right now with this picture.

But no, it's real, and it's spectacular: CTV News producer Joe Olafson took this photograph at the corner of McPhillips & Aberdeen, and it really is quite the fascinating smorgasbord of intrinsically Winnipeggian character notes. [ via ]

Happy New Year, everyone, and welcome to Manitoba Links Weekly! For the coming of the new year and the passing of the old I'd written a year-end retrospective poem, as one does, as you do.

So welcome to the new year! Talking about the weather may not sound like the most exciting way to kick off the year's first ManLinkWeek, but oh, it's been a special kind of weather:

Manitoba Links Weekly: A Couple of Interesting Polls and Then Just a Whole Bunch of Drinking and Driving in This Post (ManLinkWeek S02E10)

Hello and welcome to Manitoba Links Weekly!

There was no WIPs this Wednesday, because Wednesday was Christmas. So Merry Christmas! Here's a neat local Christmas album I'd put up earlier in the week, if you'd missed it; you're probably all done with Christmas music for the year, but there's always next year, hey? Always next year.

Deck the halls with ManLinkWeek! Let's open with a pair of fascinating year-end polling results:

Manitoba Links Weekly: We Should Send Thunder Bay a Nice Card, Diabetes as Plot Resolution, More Fights Than Points, and Here is Burton Cummings Performing His "The 8 Days of Christmas" (ManLinkWeek S02E09)

The soulfulness in each and every delivery of "Five pounds of hash~!" makes my heart grow three sizes. And that camerawork! I'm so glad that we live in a world where this exists.

Hello and welcome to Manitoba Links Weekly! We've almost made it all the way through 2013; I'd say "let's enjoy it while it lasts", but this year turned vicious on me in every imaginable way, so honestly let's just kill it as quickly as we can.

This week on Winnipeg Internet Pundits we had some fun with that new Tourism Manitoba slogan -- and some fun flag-related follow-up discussion! -- as well as some looking back on top stories of 2013 and looking forward to top stories of 2014. Oh, and some music! That's a thing I've learned how to do on the soundboard now, swap on the fly from music to talk, it was pretty rad. Fine seasonal discussion, fine seasonal music -- a fine show all around, well worth your ear.

Anyway! No time to waste. ManLinkWeek!

Manitoba Links Weekly: Underwhelming Hockey at Discount Prices, I Think I Missed Dim Sum Day, Boot Scootin' Boogie for Keyboards and Drum Set, and I Don't Smoke But I Own a Cheeky Protest Contraband-Cigarettes Shirt Nonetheless (ManLinkWeek S02E08)

Hello and welcome to Manitoba Links Weekly! My word, time flies these days.

This week on Winnipeg Internet Pundits -- ha, that episode title, though -- this week we went into surprising depth on local store and product gift-shopping recommendations, discussed the merits and drawbacks of the hypothetical Unicity II, and expanded on some particular points of the preliminary civic budget. Including this very fine local blog post, which I heartily recommend you check out. Good times!

Oh! Also earlier this week, I added the 92 CITI-FM compilation "Winnipeg's Rock 'N Roll Christmas, Volume II" to the Slurpees and Murder Record Club; it's a two-decade-old rarity well worth your investigation, so give it a spin or two.

And if this post seems a little shorter than usual, it's because I've driven 2,200 kilometers across nine degrees of latitude in the past three days. Y'know, as one does. Release the ManLinkWeek!

Manitoba Links Weekly: When Everyone is Essential No One Will Be, December is Inevitably List Month, The Most Winnipeggian Present Imaginable, and Here are the Manitoba PCs Arguing for MORE SPECIALTY LICENCE PLATES (ManLinkWeek S02E07)

Earlier this week I compiled a field guide to Manitoba specialty licence plates, nine of which (NINE of which) have been released and promoted by the governing NDP within the last three years. That dropped on Tuesday; on Thursday, the official opposition Progressive Conservatives circulated a press release to argue that -- wait for it -- MANITOBA NEEDS ANOTHER SPECIALTY PLATE. The orange guys brag about nine specialty plates in three years, the blue guys complain it should be ten specialty plates in three years, and I want to light my ballot on fire. There's your provincial politics update. [ via ]

Hello and welcome to Manitoba Links Weekly! This week on Winnipeg Internet Pundits -- yes it was a full show this week, quiet you -- we discussed the City's preliminary budget, its controversial mandatory-unpaid-leave proposal for non-essential employees (more on that in a second), the continued wave of hypothetical Scott Fielding initiatives, and the death of the Montcalm Hotel so that condos may rise in its place. I have a long and fascinating story about working the front desk of a two-and-a-half-star hotel on Christmas Eve, but I'll save that one as its own special beast for some other time.

Right now, it's time for ManLinkWeek! First things first:

Manitoba Links Weekly: It's a Bit Easier Being Green Than it Used to Be, I Hope a Weekly Provencher Facepalm Doesn't Have to Be a Thing, COOKIES, and Here's Brian Pallister Wishing All You Infidel Atheists Out There a Merry Christmas (ManLinkWeek S02E06)

I, uh... appreciate the... effort? I appreciate that you tried. You, uh, hey, you have a good one too.

Hello and welcome to Manitoba Links Weekly!

This week on Winnipeg Internet Pundits was one-third-repeat and two-thirds-new, because it snowed on Wednesday and roads are impassable when y'all keep driving into each other. (I passed four -- four! -- accidents on my way to the University, including one that snarled Pembina southbound for the better part of forever. Manitoba has the nation's lowest rate of winter-tire use, just coincidentally.)

But! In the back two-thirds of said show we covered the fascinatingly close Brandon-Souris byelection and its wildly, historically inaccurate polling -- TWENTY-NINE POINTS LOL -- as well as the very, very exciting University of Winnipeg apartment-tower announcement. Hey, someone's gotta build them, and it's not like the U of W doesn't already have plenty of valuable experience building things around there.

Speaking of radio -- segue! -- remember the CKUW 95.9 mystery show that Scott Price and I had collaborated on earlier this month? We spent an hour on the airwaves gushing over some of our favourite bass performances, and I am pleased to report that the audio of that show is now mirrored here for your listening and downloading pleasure. (Also, I couldn't resist: to honour the death of Winamp, I've listed the ID3 genre as "Primus".)

This concludes our weekly radio preamble; commence the ManLinkWeek! Let's start with a quiet but noteworthy provincial exit:

Manitoba Links Weekly: Brandon-Souris is the Single Most Important Place in the Country, SureFoot Doesn't Have to Take This Kind of Abuse From You, Oh My God the Hamilton Avenue Flying Pizza Website, and Here's Harvey Smith Beside a Harvey Smith T-Shirt (ManLinkWeek S02E05)

Yo dawg, I heard you like Harvey Smith, so we put a Harvey Smith by your Harvey Smith so you can watch Harvey Smith while you watch Harvey Smith. [ via ]

Hello and welcome to Manitoba Links Weekly! This week on Winnipeg Internet Pundits we talked a seven-million-dollar-fence proposal (no, seriously), the Province's precarious spending-spree tendencies, and an audit call that was struck down and has subsequently become more powerful than you can possibly imagine. Plus other topics! It was a good show, give it a listen.

Ah, but there's by-election business to attend to, isn't there? Prepare yourself for ManLinkWeek!

Manitoba Links Weekly: Greg the Type of Premier, Let's Go Save Some Legions, The Big Little Book of Winnipeg Jokes, and Arcade Fire are Positive Winnipeg is in Saskatchewan (ManLinkWeek S02E04)

I suppose it's up for debate whether or not this is better than Winnipeg being in Ontario, but the gaffe is that little extra bit more galling coming from other Canadians. I'd ask "what do they teach in Montreal schools these days?", but the answer is probably just Habs trivia and how to accept mob bribes. [h/t to Stereogum and, uh, pretty well everyone on Twitter that day ]

Hello and welcome to Manitoba Links Weekly! How're you doing, you look lovely.

This week on Winnipeg Internet Pundits we tackled the provincial throne speech, what it meant (or rather, probably didn't mean) for rapid transit, and the possibility of abolishing the Executive Policy Committee model. The show went well, and I think you'll dig it, so give it a whirl if you'd missed it.

Onward, to ManLinkWeek! Let's lead off with some fine throne-speech content released later in the week:

Manitoba Links Weekly: Winnipeg Doesn't Look a Day Over 139, Punk Reviews of Churches Makes Me Wish "Winnipeg" Were a Recognized Adjective, Also Featuring Beer and Yelling, and Here's a Harvey Smith T-Shirt (ManLinkWeek S02E03)

Remember how thoroughly I stressed calendar weeks when relaunching this format? Well, this is why. (Hey, the week ain't over yet!) Hello and welcome to Manitoba Links Weekly!

Yes, it's been another big and busy week in local culture and current affairs, so let's start with the brand-synergy segment to cover what I'm leaving out of the post this week. This week's episode of Winnipeg Internet Pundits covered the University of Manitoba Southwood lands' first renderings, the mysterious Provincial rejection of the City's new-home-builds fee proposal, and a delightful interview with Barley Kives about his Stuck in the Middle: Dissenting Views of Winnipeg collaboration with Bryan Scott. (F'real, if you haven't already bought this book by now, I'm assuming it's because you intend to ask for it for Christmas.)

Also! Thank you once again to Scott Price and CKUW 95.9 FM for having me on the airwaves this past Tuesday afternoon; we did a special mystery show about our favourite bassists and bass recordings, and it was a blast and a half. You get me talkin' about music, man, it's hard to get me to stop.

Ah, but enough off-topic rambling out of me; time for on-topic rambling! ManLinkWeek, engage!

Manitoba Links Weekly: Thunderbolt-ly Kives, Nothing Went Well for the Police Service This Week, Maybe Don't Break Election Spending Rules One Day Into Your Mayoral Campaign, and Here's a Harvey Smith Pumpkin (ManLinkWeek S02E02)

You thought I was bluffing with that title, didn't you? You know me better than that, c'mon man. [ via; y'all should follow him, too ]

Good evening, everyone, and Happy Hallowe'en; welcome back to Manitoba Links Weekly! November might yet be just as dramatic as October was, so there's no time to waste; I'm bookending this week's installment with arts and culture, so let's jump right in.

Manitoba Links Weekly: The Election's One Year From Now, Here's a Personnel Update and a Reader's Guide to the Audit, Let's "Get It Done" (ManLinkWeek S02E01)

Hello, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to Season Two of Manitoba Links Weekly! Local and provincial matters of interest, seven articles or subjects per installment, one installment each calendar week. And with 52 weeks remaining until the next civic election -- Wednesday, October 22nd, 2014 -- this seems as fine a time as any to dust the format off and get back into the swing of things.

I think you know what the biggest story is, of course:

Manitoba Links Weekly: Thank You for Reading ManLinkWeek (ManLinkWeek 52)

As you can see, Nick Luchak really caught my good side, and I'm kind of tempted to just put this on everything. [via]

Hello and welcome to ManLinkWeek! I know I say this a lot lately, but please accept my apologies for the delay; I spent most of last week down in Orlando on library-conference business, when I wasn't somewhere in transit between Winnipeg and Orlando, and then of course when one returns to Winnipeg from somewhere else it takes a while to settle back into the -- well -- gloom of the place. (I wish I had a better descriptor, but man -- look out the window, and then look at a newspaper, and then tell me that this city ain't gloomy right now.)

Fittingly, then, today's ManLinkWeek opens with travel:

Manitoba Links Weekly: Are You Ready for Some Curling (ManLinkWeek 51)

Good evening; I'd meant to put this post up quite a while earlier than this, but found myself needing to put it off a bit. Because of reasons. Reasons that, for the sake of expedience, I will save for the next post.

Which means -- batten down the hatches, it's ManLinkWeek! And our first stop in the week-and-a-half-ish-that-was:

Manitoba Links Weekly: St. Boniface as Tokyo Jungle, The Least Successful Bridge Jump You'll See Today, and NOPE (ManLinkWeek 50)

Good news, everyone! I placed third in the Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 tournament held in Regina last weekend, so I won thirteen dollars. Then we ate some tasty pizza (as well as some overpriced, not-particularly-tasty pizza; if you're in Regina, seek out Tumblers Pizza at your first opportunity and avoid Houston Pizza like the surprise-that'll-be-twenty-six-dollars-for-a-ten-inch-pizza plague), played some more fightin' games, and barreled back through the countryside to return to civilization. A good weekend, overall! Good weekend.

Anyway, because I use these opening moments now as a video-game-themed framing device for the rest of the segment, let me tell you a little bit about the game I'm currently playing. If you've never heard of Tokyo Jungle, the PS3 exclusive available for fifteen dollars through PSN, you are missing out on what has turned out to be one of my favourite games of this entire generation. It plays, to borrow some descriptive language from my little brother, like the finest lost Japanese PS1 game ever made. And the establishing plot of Tokyo Jungle, to summarize, is that a mysterious man-made cataclysm has led to the extinction of all human life in the area, with the deserted urban landscape of chemically poisoned air and water now home to hordes of abandoned feral animals battling each other for food and survival.

Ha ha, what an unrealistic premise! Completely ridiculous, I'm sure we can all agree; forget I even mentioned it. Hello and welcome to ManLinkWeek! First, tonight, our top sto--



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