A no messing around guide to the coolest things to eat, drink and do in Vancouver and beyond. Community. Not clickbait.

On Fake Elections & Especially Lonely Planets

MPIA_V.-Ch.-Quetz

So the presidential election went down in Azerbaijan yesterday, but before the people even woke up to cast their ballots, the country’s Central Election Commission accidentally released the “results”. President Ilham Aliyev, who succeeded his dictator daddy President Heydar Aliye in 2003, won in a landslide “decision” with 72% of the vote. After excusing for the mishap, the embarrassed Election Commission raised Aliyev’s vote total to 80% like the gentlemen they are. True story.

The most curious exo-planet imaginable has just been discovered by an international team of astronomers (rendering shown above). What makes planet “PSO J318.5-22” so fascinating isn’t that it’s six times the mass of Jupiter (that’s effing huge) or that it has a woefully unimaginative name, but rather that it’s not orbiting a star. It’s just floating out there, 80 light-years away from Earth, all alone, the first known “Lonely Planet” in a universe that doesn’t care.

Former Detroit mayor Kwame Kilpatrick has been convicted of 24 federal charges – you know, racketeering, extortion…the usual – and sentenced to 28 years in prison. Meanwhile, our Mayor walks free after asking “Which is better, Jazz or Jay Z?”

Sunscreen alert: In a new report cited by The New York Times, scientists say that by 2047, the world’s coldest years could be hotter than than hottest years of the past. Think about that for a moment…

Biblioporn in The New Yorker: Paris, City Of Bookstores. “Everywhere in the world may look more and more like everywhere else, but there are still a few proudly Gallic institutions that you can count on spotting in any city or town in France: cafés that thrive in spite of Starbucks, bakeries with their total indifference to things gluten-free, tabacs that keep hanging on as smokers turn to e-cigarettes. Most pleasing of all, in this age of Amazon, are the independent bookstores—around two thousand five hundred of them, all told.”

A group of major Japanese architects are rallying against Zaha Hadid’s design for Tokyo’s massive 2020 Olympic Stadium, which begs the question: where were our architects when Yaletown, False Creek and Coal Harbour were re-built?

“The Art of Improbable Coincidence” – some phenomenal travel and street photography by Mumbai-based Maciej Dakowicz. Bonus: the computer science PhD turned professional wanderer has one of the best Flickr collections – 5,500+ images – ever amassed.

And finally, here are some notes on possible endgames for the government shutdown in the USA. The American public’s attitude remains unchanged.

We Want to Play Japan’s Dangerous Game of Bo-Taoshi

Played on sports days in Japanese schools, the brutal game of Bo-Taoshi was originated by cadets in the Second World War.

Brave Birder on an E-Scooter Chases Down Dastardly Bike Thief

This bike thief had no idea what he was up against when he crossed paths with a guy looking for young family of crows.

Short Film Teases Reopening of Characteristically Noisy New York City

As case counts drop and vaccination numbers rise, the loud but comforting crush of urban life is coming back.

What Would Happen If an American President Authorized a Nuclear Missile Attack

Complex 571-7 is all that remains of the 54 Titan II missile sites that were on alert across the United States from 1963 to 1987.