Shed Dogs

In the virtual Shed the Dogs anachronistically yet contemporaneously predict the outcome of the 2021 federal election in Canada. What is RJ’s new doctor really trying to say in his introductory letter to his new patients? Spit it out. Now, cough! In an epic ’splainer PJ draws back the curtain on the mighty machinery of the electoral process and shares his new and hard-won insights into why federal elections cost so much. All three Dogs arrive at a hopefully clearer understanding of what is and is not insider trading. We close with a shout out to newlyweds Chroner and Deb of Duncan as well as a precise (if temporary) understanding of what the “cis” prefix means. This compact episode is a great deal when calculated on a per minute basis!

Links: Shed Dogs; Robertson Davies; COVID tests in BC; the 2021 federal election.

Theme music by Voodoo Jazz!

In our second of two special episodes with Nancy of New Westminster the dogs look at plastic scale models, Christopher Columbus, Constable Tom, phallic rockets, Nancy’s work for Peter Julian, and shopping for EVs. Hey don’t think this episode is not super special. It is, but our regular effusive blurb writer is otherwise engaged. Come for the Chevy Monza, stay for the Austin Mini conversion!

Links: Shed Dogs; plastic models; Christopher Columbus criticism and defence; the Jesuit missions amongst the Hurons; battle of the phallic rockets; Peter Julian; liquid crystal windows; electric vehicles; Austin Mini conversion project.

Hey everybody, here is our special pre-federal election episode, with Shed Dogs resident political correspondent Griffin of Burnaby. Herein we have 35 solid minutes of insightful political analysis about the debates, who the NDP will partner with, poll accuracy, electoral reform, the Greens, and the media, and we then close with projections for BC and Canada as a whole! Afterwards we follow up the interview with the usual inane drivel, including introducing one of Canada’s newest senior citizens.

Weddings and standup and ghosts, oh my! Friend of the show Nancy of New Westminster joins us in the Shed for our 120th episode, and it’s a fun one—including ghosts in the attic; officiating weddings, surprising mutual friends; what our forebears did and didn’t talk about and teach, comedy stylings, and a pile of great listener mail. We have viewing and reading recommendations, and find out that life in the arts isn’t all fun and games: there is such a thing as Emergency Acting and KJ tells us about his recent experience doing it. You’ll feel safe, informed and amused by the end, or possibly haunted, we’re not certain—but you certainly won’t be bored!

Links: Shed Dogs; The end of the Stardust roller rink; Cameron Crowe interviews Joni Mitchell; Schmigadoon!; Midnight Diner; Somebody Feed Phil; Hanna (movie); Hanna (series).

After a long and insistent letter writing campaign from our listening audience (there have been none), the Shed Dogs at last wade into the murky and roiling waters of The Great Marmite Debate. For three years now we’ve avoided this subject (it’s never come up) but at this point we felt we had no choice but to bring the full weight of our journalistic experience (we have none) to helping our faithful listening audience come to grips with the defining question - Marmite: Love it or hate it? We then remain in the Chateau to look briefly at robot lawnmowers (uncomfortably close to a brief segment on grass) and then move on to beautiful old trucks and where to get them repaired. But really this episode is all about the brewing byproduct commonly called Marmite. Clear your palates and plug in because It’s All Marmite All the Time Baby™!

Elevator music credits are on our episode page.

Links: Shed Dogs; Marmite; the five basic tastes; MSG; the fun Marmite ad we discuss in the episode; 77 minutes of elevator music; Marmite ingredients; Thousand Year Eggs; organ meats; Marmite Gold Rush (cocktail); robot lawnmowers; pot customer service; 3rd Generation International Harvester Travelall (KJ’s truck); Willys.

This episode’s elevator music doing the snack preparation was provided by www.bensound.com.

Theme music by Voodoo Jazz!

The Dogs are in situ, in the real Shed, rising to the challenge of more Short Snappers from KJ at the same time as we get to read a bunch of listener mail. We also discuss a very cool recording of KJ’s and Shauna Sylvester’s fathers on the day they fired up a paving company. Plus our pithy observations on e-bikes, mercury, minstrel shows, JW predictions, and a short celebration of the state of health care in the West Kootenays ensue as we whisk you through a potpourri of palaver!

You can hear the paving interview on this episode’s entry on our site (scroll down a bit).

Links: Shed Dogs; E-bikes; reelyouth (organization that interviews LGBTQ2S+ for documentaries); mercury cleanups in school (also see below); minstrel shows, which had an interlocutor in whiteface (!); unfulfilled prophesies of the Jehovah’s Witnesses; detached retina.

Theme music by Voodoo Jazz!

As mentioned in the show, we occasionally would play with mercury in schools. It’s taken a little more seriously now. From the link above: ““On October 2, 2003, the Washington, D.C.'s Fire Department Hazmat Unit responded to an emergency call unlike any call Ballou High School had ever had to make. What the D.C.'s Hazmat unit found that afternoon proved to be the beginning of a long, exhausting search for, and clean up of, an elemental mercury spill. A student had obtained 250 milliliters of liquid elemental mercury from a science laboratory and had sold some of it to other students. Students had to be dismissed. By the time the D.C. Hazmat Team and the D.C. public health officials arrived, it was too late to contain all the spills; varying amounts of mercury were found in the classrooms, gymnasium, and cafeteria. EPA responded by establishing a mobile command post, measuring mercury air concentrations and noting visual contamination of the science laboratory, cafeteria, gym and administration areas.

Contamination did not stop at the school. Students unknowingly carried mercury on contaminated shoes and clothing through the streets, onto city and school buses, and into their homes. Eleven homes and one common area were found to be contaminated and about 16 families were displaced for a month. EPA assisted with screening of residences.

As a result of the spill, Ballou High School was closed for 35 days and over 200 homes were tested for mercury contamination. Total cleanup costs were about $1,500,000.”

We’ve been treading a little lightly these last 16 months because we know you’ve been dealing with a lot. But now, we’re flush with vaccines and the gloves are off: it’s time to weigh in on the inflammatory question of what is an ideal banana, how do you go about eating it, and can it really fit in your pocket? We know you can do this. We also have an album review, some questions about whether public indecency has gone up, and an update from the dark recesses of KJ’s sleeping mind. On top of all that, we put Spam musubi out there, and RJ gifts us a delightful label for many of the YouTube channels we love: competence porn. Happy to see you!

Links: Shed Dogs; tailings dams; front end loader; one technique for peeling a banana; listen to New Long Leg by Dry Cleaning; Hacks trailer; the Rachmaninoff key change; Rick Beato reviews Joni Mitchell’s Amelia, then has dinner with her; an example of competence porn; spam musubi.

Theme music by Voodoo Jazz!

Nancy of New West teams up via Listener Mail with RJ to settle once and for all what a saucepan actually is. That’s just one of several very satisfying emails we get to read here, and the mail leads to an even more satisfying kayaking travelogue shared by Ogre of Nelson. Since all that exercise left us mentally razor sharp, KJ puts the other two Dogs to a stern test and kicks off his new Short Snappers feature. Finally, RJ presents us all with The Best Graphic Explanation of Internal Combustion Engines Ever. Warm and aromatic, yet explosive and powerful, this episode has it all!

Links: Shed Dogs; Hypodermic needle sizes; Ogre’s travelogue (a must watch!); Marsh Rat’s channel; spectacular animations (and description) of the internal combustion engine.

Theme music by Voodoo Jazz!

Fact Check: A Wizard, A True Star clocks in at around 56 minutes, not 48 as RJ suggested.

Normally when we say “greatest idea ever” it’s an ironic setup to a laugh at a silly idea. NOT THIS TIME. KJ has suggested something genuinely exciting, seriously, and here it is: If there’s someone you know whose life story or reminiscences you’d love to capture, we can help. We thought mainly of elderly parents or relatives, but who knows? We’d do a video or audio interview, do a basic edit, and then send it to you. We wouldn’t publish it as an episode unless that was something you (and the subject) wanted. Listen to the episode for more about how we imagine this working. Also listen for great listener mail , RJ’s psychic skepticism, and a rousing walkthrough of “9 to 5”, which none of the Dogs have seen. And get in touch if you would like us to talk to a loved one about their lives.

LInks: Shed Dogs; how psychics work; James Randi; Peter Reveen; buy low, sell high; 9 to 5 (the movie).

Theme music by Voodoo Jazz!

Friend of the show (and Chief Fact Checker) Leigh of Courtenay joins the Dogs this episode as we take a tour through a truly different Oscars show, provide deep coverage on the difference between pots and pans, and revisit The Crown. Fortified by our success with those topics, we move on to looking at just what are Non Fungible Tokens, and then pretend we understand crypto currencies like BitCoin and Dogecoin. Finally, as a palate cleansing delight, we deal with joy, outrage, and comedy as we go through some terrific listener mail. Real and surreal content is here in a dizzying mix of edification and confusion, so take a pre-emptive Advil and have a listen! Don’t ever funge, man.

Links: Shed Dogs; the 2021 Oscars; Youn Yuh-Jung’s speech for Minari; The Crown; the definitive take on pots and pans; how to make salmon bacon (scroll way down for the simple recipe); NFTs and Beeple; the effect of crypto-currency and blockchain on the environment; Keanu Reeves and What We Consider ‘Good Acting’; the Nicest Man Alive.

Theme music by Voodoo Jazz!