Uncategorized – Perry's Pen

Detroit: Jan 1, 2023

Discussion and images of Hart Plaza in Detroit.

There’s a big hubbub about Bud going on in (Welcome back) Qatar, so for Group D, let’s talk about booze, baby! Before we get into the Group D teams, let’s discuss the booze situation. Marie Antoinette famously said “Let them eat cake,” but Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al Thani of Qatar has no intention of reciprocatingContinue reading “World Cup: Group D Breakdown”

World Cup: Group C Breakdown

As I continue to break down the Groups for the crime against humanity that is FIFA World Cup 2022™, I become more and more sickened. This isn’t a showcase for how great we are as human beings and inspiration to do better, it’s a distraction from just how terrible we are. In this post, I shall briefly touchContinue reading “World Cup: Group C Breakdown“

World Cup: Group B Breakdown

Group B is definitely the pop culture Group, and it is also very circular and interrelated. England has a new King. The United States gave the world The King of Rock ’n’ Roll. Wales gave the world Tom Jones, and Tom Jones single-handedly motivated Elvis to mount the greatest rock and roll comeback of allContinue reading “World Cup: Group B Breakdown”

World Cup: Group A Breakdown

Once again the World Cup is upon us, and once again the indispensable Dick Valentine is offering his invaluable insights into The Beautiful Game. In his first QATARI NIGHTSSSSSS!!!!TM post, he breaks down Group A. After about 600 words, he predicts Nederland and Senegal to advance. Here is my rebuttal: It is an absolute crimeContinue reading “World Cup: Group A Breakdown”

Street Art on Queen Street

A photo journal of street art along Queen Street in Toronto, including pictures of Graffiti Alley.

Major League Barkley (MLB)

The Toronto Blue Jays are so bad right now that it is safe to say that they probably caused a nationwide internet outage on Friday July 8, 2022. I live in Toronto, so I follow Toronto sports teams. I have no choice. I do not suffer Stockholm Syndrome, so I find the current Jays’ dismayContinue reading “Major League Barkley (MLB)”

Do you believe in Painting with John? YES!

On Feb. 22, 1980, when the United States Olympic hockey team defeated the Soviet Union, Al Michaels famously said, asked, and proclaimed all at once with the words “Do you believe in miracles? YES!” Mr. Michaels summed up the 80s, even before they happened. The 80s lifted America and the world up from a horrendousContinue reading “Do you believe in Painting with John? YES!”

Sleepless in Toronto

In college, the person living in the apartment next to me had a supply of Nytol. As I recall Nytol helped me get my Z’s, but I only used it a couple of times, and not since those days. I want to sleep, not kill myself.

I also mentioned that watching reruns of television shows looped helped me sleep. Familiar voices and all that. As my dad used to say, “TV is the greatest sleeping pill ever invented“.

Dick Valentine Takes Tracy Chapman’s Fast Car for a Spin

Recently Dick Valentine reintroduced me to the Tracy Chapman song Fast Car.

Valentine’s version of Fast Car is definitely his own, but it shares the same intrinsic, smoldering intensity that Chapman’s original did. Both versions are so heartfelt and authentic that they refused to be ignored. They are so honest that they are sad. You need to know both, trust me.