Shed Dogs

Have you wondered what “ortolan” might be? Have you ever been dissatisfied with the air conditioning in your discount hotel or motel? Perhaps you’ve been looking for a solid gold business investment opportunity and just haven’t landed on the right thing yet. Maybe, even, you want to wear your own dog’s fur. Regardless, do we have an episode for you! All those topics and many, many more besides are waiting to march happily from the Shed to your head, right here, right now. We know you’ll be all happily satisfied after another tasty mental meal, so pull up a chair, grab a napkin, and tuck right in.

Links: Shed Dogs; free senior tuition at UBC; ferry fare is free for BC seniors (follow the link then scroll down to BC Seniors—includes walk-ons, drivers, and passengers); the Pacific Buffet; the English Bay barge has its own website; dog fur sweaters; the funfair RJ was describing was the Fête des Tuileries; les gaufres are not rodents; baguette regulations; Parisian restrooms; motel AC units; our tech staff recommends iOS 16 for compatible iPhones.

About 50 years ago, the Whole Earth Catalogue was published, providing people with all the information and tools they needed to build their own geodesic dome homes and grow gardens and weave clothing. It also had a fun story in a lot of episodes entitled “Divine Right’s Trip”. In this episode we mainly hear about RJ’s recent 31-day sojourn in Europe, his driving experiences, food experiences, phone and translation app experiences, and increasingly hopeless efforts to talk to security guards and people in very long washroom lineups. It has that same sort of good-natured-slightly-chaotic-but-I-wanna-do-this feel as that 50-year-old column. Dig in. Listen. Laugh. Pick up a tip or two. It’s all here.

Link: Crash Test Dummies

Way back in Episode 95, Member of BC’s Legislative Assembly (MLA) for North Vancouver – Lower Lonsdale Bowinn Ma made her first appearance here on the podcast via Zoom. Here in Episode 140, she returns for a live in-person visit to the Shed. We spent a great hour or so discussing major transit projects with BC’s Minister of State for Infrastructure, as well as talking about the future of electric vehicles in BC, the relationships between housing and traffic, and the concept of attempting to future proof major infrastructure. Along the way we discover to our surprise that politicians do not get free food at the Legislature cafeteria and that the general public can go eat there, too! Mostly, though, what we get is time with an active, imaginative, constituent-centric representative who wants to accomplish things other than just being elected. As if that all weren’t more than enough, you’ll also get to hear a candid account of how fascinatingly eclectic the Shed experience really is for first time visitors.

PS - this episode also features a genuine dog of the Shed, as KJ’s newcomer Buddy barks his approval! 

Links: Shed Dogs; Bowinn Ma; David Eby; ICBC changes; BC Hydro’s page on EVs; the Fraser Valley Highway 1 Corridor Improvement Program; Bus Rapid Transit; the Parliamentary Dining Room; the Highway 8 Flood Recovery Project; The People’s Pod.

Hayley and Ron of Montreal return to experience first-hand the swirling, murky mental landscapes of a session in the Shed featuring KJ’s Short Snappers. We are very fortunately grounded by excellent listener mail, but our connection to Earth gets a little tenuous here…again. Strap in and turn on!

Links: Shed Dogs; gruesome video of flesh being cut by a circular saw, as promised by Ron; Susinn of Vancouver’s Camino posts (Facebook).

Theme music by Voodoo Jazz.

Special guests Hayley (formerly of North Vancouver but now of Montreal) and her partner Ron (grew up in Montreal) step into the Shed to…well, really just to compare notes, pros and cons, of the two cities. Food and weather, culture and history, and of course the big one: language. PJ’s hope for a black or white, right or wrong opinion on which is the better place is once again dashed, but along the way are a few surprising insights from our guests. For instance, who would you think loves the outdoors more? Where can you get a better hot dog? In which city will a perfect stranger shovel out a parking spot for you? You’ll just have to listen. Vive la différence!

Links: Shed Dogs; poutine; Quebec French; Montreal snow removal.

Theme music by Voodoo Jazz.

RJ returns from Las Vegas bearing at least one gift nobody wanted, but still we get a great look at the world of competitive foosball (and a qualified endorsement of discount operation Flair Airlines). PJ is so excited he tries to volunteer to go play in France for Canada’s World Cup foosball team, in spite of an almost total lack of expertise. KJ shares with us some of the fruits of his steadfast attention to US politics, which leads us seamlessly into reflecting on the definitions of the words “psychopath” and “ sociopath”. Finally, we speculate on what the coming summer’s weather may look like, as a way of coping with KJ’s disappointing travel news.

See this episode on our site for RJ’s gallery of Vegas photos.

Links: Shed Dogs; homemade air purifier; psychopath vs. sociopath.

Theme music by Voodoo Jazz!

It’s that special, lovely time—the time when we hear about how this year’s Oscars program went down. We build up to it with some talk about a couple of Beatles and Steely Dan specials as well as hearing the latest from KJ on the run up to the Emmys, and on the technical marvel that is the Murphy bed he is building. Finally, RJ and PJ exchange notes on their adventures in language and travel, both today and 30 years ago. There are a lot of twists and turns here, so make sure to be safe while you listen!

Links: Shed Dogs; The Beatles: Get Back; McCartney 3,2,1; the first of all the Call Me Caroline first-time-listen videos; the making of Steely Dan’s Aja.

Theme music by Voodoo Jazz!

“In the spring an old man’s fancy lightly turns to thoughts of table saws and robotic waiters and new tech deployed in old games like curling”. That’s roughly what the famous poem says, and the proof is right here in this episode as we talk about those very things, as well as about RJ’s date with destiny in Las Vegas and whether 1980 was the best possible year to have been born in. We also have a lot of very fun email from faithful listeners, which goes a long way towards offsetting a bit of PJ’s customary vinegar (this time about the Pope, among other things). So sit in the garden while the bees buzz and the birds sing and have a listen!

Links: Shed Dogs; the Ekranoplan; Jesse’s explainer of NFTs; super-detailed and brilliant explanation of crypto and NFTs; multi-million dollar NFT no longer worth a family meal at White Spot; LOOK! oven bags; monkey butler.

Theme music by Voodoo Jazz!

Note: RJ mentions a company he thought was called called Mojo or Moto, advertised heavily in the Vancouver Sun. Well, it’s Mogo. RJ also said the Sun owns a piece of Mogo. Well not quite. From Wikipedia: “In January 2016, Mogo made a deal with Postmedia [owner of the Sun] to exchange a percentage of profits for free newspaper ads.”

Sure, this could be an opus, but really the title refers to RJ’s thorough and affectionate review of the old TV series Magnum, P.I. If you’re less than of a certain age you may wish to look it up. RJ is becoming his parents and this review is one of the many fruits of that growth. We also get to hear of a terrible misunderstanding about how to prepare a turkey, talk about the amazing new refreshment Liquid Death, and provide some helpful—if a little unwelcome—news on changes to recycling rules. All this and more in the time it takes to have lunch - we’ve set the table and now all you have to do is enjoy!

Looking for ancient episodes? We go all the way back to Episode 1 on the Shed Dogs site.

Theme music by Voodoo Jazz!

Links: The Fraser Canyon War; Little Red Warrior and His Lawyer, and review of the same; Nlaka'pamux First Nation; the Delgamuukw Case; Nemiah: The Unconquered Country; Hobson’s choice; Thomas Hobbes; Leviathan by Hobbes; Calvin and Hobbes; John Calvin; out of the rabbit hole and onto the lawn: the Squirrel and the Bird Feeder (thanks Sandra); contraband cigarettes; TCM Podcast: The Plot Thickens (Lucille Ball is season three, thanks Leigh); Terminator Dark Fate: wikipedia, trailer.