Shed Dogs

This episode is more than just okay. In fact, we expect an avalanche of encomiums as we coin an all-new acronym while sharing a truck repair story that’ll singe hair (and find out that even the pros do dumb stuff now and then). It’s certainly egoism that leads us to think you’ll want to hear it, and egoism will decide if you do, not mere caprice. As usual we will cavil about the things that annoy us (like people other than Stevie who use phrases like “what the deuce”), but there are more than a few iotas of smiles to be had, so we hope you’ll settle in and have a cocktail while you listen.Links: Shed Dogs; price of Costco hot dogs; why gas tanks don’t explode; egoism; how a dopamine related gene drives empathy.

Over the past few years we’ve said many times how much we appreciate, even love, the listener mail we get. Many times, the response to a segment generates more interesting conversation than the bit they’re commenting on. In this episode we have mail from Leigh of Courtenay (honourary weather Dog), Rustica of Portland, and Joanne of Rossland, covering, among other things, weather wardrobe, simple syrup, Diet Coke, a really bad movie, composting, and (our upcoming) T-shirts! We hope you’ll enjoy it as much as we did, and maybe feel inspired to write your first (or your hundredth) letter letting us know what caught your attention.Links: Shed Dogs; weather presenter; In the Name of the King (metacritic); the Burnaby composting facility.

Episode 160 continues our lazy-faire approach to content management, and we give you another wide ranging session where we just…well, we just enjoy ourselves. We begin with RJ lawyering up, and continue on as the Junos and the Oscars (again) pass under our watchful eyes. We then cover Uncle Tim’s birthday and a fond farewell to one of our high school teachers. Sue finds some stolen mail, and then a “newspaper delivery man” skulks around a house in the wee hours. We have trouble digesting Uber Eats and then get all excited about season 2 of The White Lotus. Your mind might not end up spinning but may well end up pleasantly full.Links: Shed Dogs; RJ’s excellent immigration lawyers; Mike Roscoe, RIP; a CTV News story published the day before Sue found the stolen mail; Uber Eats is bad for restaurants and their customers; Easter eggs in The White Lotus season 2 (spoilers); the 95th annual Academy Awards.

In this episode we go with a light touch on the editing. Those of you who have joined us in the Shed will recognize the ways time slips away, interruptions come and go, laughs are had. This time, we let our listeners hear nearly all of it!  We make our way through the Oscars, through a really bad movie, through Buddy’s endless antics, through giving KJ professional advice, through some backstage business, through our marketing pitch, and yes, through even more. Sorry to our Courtenay listeners, but it does go on and the hope is it’s just soothing careless waves-on-the-shore company and we hope you and everyone just pictures us and joins us as we coast along having fun.Links: Shed Dogs; the Vizsla; neutering; Burnaby composting facility controversy; John’s Jukes (flippers.com); Pulp Fiction pinball featurette (long) and trailer (short); In the Name of the King (note difference between critic reviews and user score); this year’s Oscars; the Old Fashioned; Gilligan’s first name; GPT4.

Last episode we saw Shed Dog art, heard great listener mail, and enjoyed hearing PJ and RJ rightly savaged by KJ’s impenetrable Snappers. At the danger of repeating ourselves, in this episode we see Shed Dog art, hear great listener mail, and enjoy hearing PJ and RJ rightly savaged by KJ’s impenetrable Snappers. On top of all that we, after having hopped around the multiverse, also get to marvel at what celebrities like KJ have to handle as they go about their exotic movie star business in far-off places, like Calgary. This is your big chance to either (1) feel all superior to two of the Dogs, (2) feel like a Hollywood insider alongside KJ, or (3) feel like an elite only-a-small-bit snobbish con-wah-seur of the ahts. In Surrey. Or all three! It’s an ersatz win-win-win!Links: Shed Dogs; Everything Everywhere All at Once; Beyond Van Gogh.Theme music is Escaping like Indiana Jones by Komiku, by permission.

This episode sees the Dogs reporting on trips to Calgary (KJ, for a month, for work) and Nelson (PJ, for a day, for fun in what ended up involving an artistic endeavour). We dabble yet again in thoughts of ChatGPT, and even talk a bit about a Tom Hanks movie that hardly anyone is likely aware of. But this episode also has us revelling in Listener Mail, and feeling grateful to get it. What you won’t see, since this is an audio experience, is the amount of effort KJ made to share the Shed with his real dog Buddy as well as unreal Dogs PJ and RJ. A small space, a large, young, and restless dog, and a lot of opinions and questions—it’s another afternoon in the Shed!Links: Shed Dogs; Extraordinary Attorney Woo; the Beatles on Shindig!; Bar and Bat Mitzvah; Calgary public art; Little Red Warrior and his Lawyer; Emily Lau’s Art Gallery; ChatGPT in schools in Canada; the Save-On Foods roof collapse.Theme music is Escaping like Indiana Jones by Komiku, by permission.

Special guest Cam of Vancouver joins us for a second episode and he and RJ go deep on their foosball experiences: how they got into it, how it’s going, their results at a recent tournament in Portland, and the mental and emotional journey they’ve both been on. To our surprise, it’s a journey that nearly everyone has undertaken in different avenues in life, from interest, to participation, to competence, and to expertise. It’s a particular kind of joy to hear about! We also spend time here talking about kind strangers and how we make choices that change our lives, so we hope you relate and enjoy. Sit! Stay!Links: Shed Dogs; Cam’s prior episodes: 27 and 28; a beer commercial featuring Carmina Burana; Cowboy Tempest Cabaret (a totally lawless adaptation of Shakespeare’s Tempest); Cam and Rich play world champion Brandon Muñoz at Moneyball 2023 in Portland.Theme music is Escaping like Indiana Jones by Komiku, by permission.

In this episode of Shed Dogs, we sit down with Cam Burrows to talk about everyone's favorite AI language model, ChatGPT! Join us as we talk about Chad’s impressive adoption rate and its wide range of uses, from writing to customer service. We'll also dive into the controversy surrounding the product, including attempts to jailbreak the model and the legal implications of its use. Plus, we'll explore some of the more lighthearted aspects of ChatGPT, like its tone and potential for advertising. We even share some hilarious mishaps with Google's AI. And don't worry if you're new to the ChatGPT game - we'll explain how it works and why it's such a game-changer. So kick back, grab a cold one, and join us for a fun and informative chat about all things ChatGPT!Links: Shed Dogs; try ChatGPT yourself; adoption rate; uses; Sydney professes its love to a reporter; Chrome AIPRM extension for useful prompts, tone prompts; Meet DAN — The ‘JAILBREAK’ Version of ChatGPT and How to Use it — AI Unchained and Unfiltered; the paid version; use in the workplace, how GPT (generative pre-trained transformer) works; criminal jailbreaking; Alex Hormozi’s YouTube channel; Lex Fridman’s YouTube channel; Canada Foosball, a.k.a. the Table Soccer Association of Canada is the non-profit Cam refers to; Vancouver Foosball (the local org); Canada Foosball Shop (Cam is co-owner of this business).Theme music is by Voodoo Jazz or is Escaping like Indiana Jones by Komiku, both by permission.

Thinking of renting a car? Heard any of the Hertz horror stories on your social media travels? RJ has his as-usual useful advice for doing business with the megalodon of motor vehicles, as well as any of the lesser fry. It could keep you out of jail! The Dogs also discuss escape rooms, melting keyboards, preparing old laptops for sale, and saving money when repairing them. Also in this episode, RJ takes a deep breath and leaves Twitter now that Elon won’t let him use Tweetbot any more. And yes, Angry Birds still exists so we talk about that, too. It’s another seriously light hearted afternoon in the Shed! Links: Shed Dogs; the price of Costco hot dogs; Angry Birds Reloaded; Bamboozled Escape Games (the escape room Griffin played in Burnaby); soap box derby (with an oblique reference to crates); why RJ left Twitter.Theme music by Voodoo Jazz!

By now, many of you will have heard of ChatGPT. If you haven’t, you will before long, so here in Episode 153 you will find an opening round of info about this groundbreaking software, in advance of an in-depth interview with friend-of-the-show Cam, who makes extensive use of the product. It’s way too important to just call a Public Service Announcement, but knowing about it is worthwhile, seriously. We have another gold-plated, if not somewhat puzzling, money making idea; an encounter with an antique cigar; a newly-functional sink in the Shed (way to go KJ!); and we find out that the world has not entirely moved on from wooden hockey sticks. We’re sure you’ll be as interested and relieved as we were to find that at least one thing hasn’t changed.Links: Shed Dogs; how long can a cigar be stored; making a jigsaw puzzle; Treadstone; ChatGPT (openai.com)

Maybe it was all the talk about the long-forgotten Robson Zoo (and whatever happened to Charlie the Lonesome Cougar, anyway?), or maybe it was our conversation around the Trophy Town documentary on the 1961 Trail Smoke Eaters, or possibly our warm reminiscence of this Christmas just past… But whatever it was, it led us to a long contemplation of the future, specifically the question of whether there is a future after this current turn on the stage of life. KJ has Thoughts, and we wonder whether you do, too.Links: Shed Dogs; RJ’s Robson Zoo photos; Trophy Town; reincarnation; channeling; tryptophans.Once again, this week’s artwork was generated by Stable Diffusion, this time using the prompt “3 reincarnated dogs”.

PJ publicly announces his doddering phase as he struggles to come to grips with how much movies cost, while KJ and RJ happily discuss what they’re watching these days, and we all detail how movies will change when it’s us making them. In our ongoing quest to actually improve your life, RJ comes up with yet another golden PSA nugget on how to find your phone when you’ve taken that (not) inevitable fall on a slippery street. Speaking of inevitable, we spend some time dwelling in happy nostalgia while remembering innocent people we injured in our youthful sporting lives. And a couple added bonuses!: PJ 3.0 has become obsessed with rusty guns and how to fix them, and RJ provides a resource for you to learn how to use a rotary dial phone. Wait, don’t look into the sun, and keep your g****** eyes on the road! We’re looking at you, cinematographers and actors.Links: Shed Dogs; all the shark movies, rated; how to play Guts Frisbee; James Cameron tells us how much Avatar: The Way of Water really cost; the video games that were most expensive to make; The Righteous Gemstones; one of those rusty firearm restoration videos that PJ 3.0 was talking about; Kurosawa was the first director to point the camera into the sun; the new rotary phone is coming to your town! (skip ahead to 9:16 to see the extreme clarity RJ was talking about).This episode’s artwork was generated by Stable Diffusion, using the prompt “Dog falling in snow with smartphone in Neo Impressionist style”. We had to add the smartphone and rusty gun though.

Our special guest this episode is Jenny of Rossland, with whom your Dogs went to school and generally hung out 50 or so years ago. We talk about what she’s been up to over the long past and will she will be up to in the near future (Ecuador!), and she helps us out with KJ’s Snappers and some bespoke Listener Mail as well. Anecdotes and arguments abound! Links: Shed Dogs; the tarantulas of Ecuador; vegan turkey, Guilt & Company

Another afternoon in the Shed sees your Dogs coming to grips with a veritable shintangle of words and phrases in a KJ’s Snappers session. After he showed us the ropes we got a close-up tour of the ins and outs of renouncing one’s U.S. citizenship—this might be useful info for some listeners, so you’re welcome, it’s just what we do. Finally, we also got to read Listener Mail, a regular favourite. It all adds up to a ronnogram of fun, which is quite a lot!Links: Inside the Movieland Arcade (article from before it closed down); the new metric prefixes; renouncing U.S. citizenship; the cat’s on the roof and won’t come down.

As they shelter in the Shed from unexpectedly wintry winter conditions, your Shed Dogs wander along and talk about some old stuff (like Star Trek and California Dreaming), some pseudo old stuff (like Mad Men) as well as some more contemporary themes: revelations from IOS 16, some thoughts on the business of weather, and of course dogs—specifically the easiest way to train them so they don’t disrupt the podcast you’re trying to do. It’s all in good humour and ambles along at a relaxed pace, so kick back (or walk along) and have a listen! Links: Shed Dogs; weather services; ShinDig! (which it turns out, contrary to what RJ was saying, was almost always live); Star Trek (The Original Series); Mad Men.

Long time listeners will know that we Dogs occasionally enjoy a K-drama. Like, you know, all the time. If you weren’t aware of that, this episode should bring you up to speed as we discuss, praise, and generally swoon over “Extraordinary Attorney Woo” on Netflix. We liked it a lot. We also take quick looks at RJ’s recent trip to Seattle and experience at a dinner club, and talk about the remixed “Revolver” that Giles Martin and modern technology have given us, but really….our focus on Attorney Woo Young Woo is extraordinary, and we hope you’re as charmed as we were. Bonus two words: flat, gloss.Links: Shed Dogs; Extraordinary Attorney Woo; Alan White (Yes drummer); whyhunger.org; Mark Ellen interviews Giles Martin about Revolver; Guilt & Company (dinner club); flat gloss (the new champagne of coloured cars)

On a blustery cold November day, your Dogs warmed their old erudite hearts reading emails from resolute listeners… and then reverted to propense form by prattling on about KJ’s Snappers and genteelly discoursing on why Apple has appellations and numbers for operating systems, what canine Buddy has been up to, impedimenta PJ is spending money on, and RJ’s and Sue’s Halloween. In other words, and propitiously, it’s us!Links: Shed Dogs; Lewis Monson (painter of the dog in the foreground of this week’s cover art); the 2010 Prius, BC doctor remuneration; Trophy Town (documentary on the world champion Trail Smoke Eaters); fancy words; Merlin Mann; dollar store candy bars.

Checking in at a small but busy hotel can be tricky business, as RJ explains to us here in a little segment we call Down in the Bayeux. Attentive listeners will pick up a small yet vital tidbit that could avert all kinds of problems, and globe-trotting sophisticates like our audience will do well to lean in and listen. To complement that information, we also get highly entertaining and informative Listener Mail; it turns out your Shed Dogs don’t have really deep operatic history knowledge, after all, but we do now. Who knew Warner Brothers cartoons were so vital to our cultural education. On top of all this goodness, we do our duty as citizens and bring you some insight on political campaigning on the ground floor—something you’re considering trying? You get a look here, because we are Those Guys.Links: Shed Dogs; Nimrod; Mad Magazine; EC Comics; BC Ferries rates for seniors; retractable bollards.

A little over 5 months ago, we spoke of a few interesting things, as we do. Here at last, we share it with you: some good phone-related travel tips (hint: avoid roaming charges!), some great listener mail (thanks!), and as always some reflection on how we are dealing with things like using the tap with debit cards, what music RJ is listening to, and in this case the novel venue he was listening to it in (half time at a Lions football game, replete with cheerleaders doing the Pony Dance). Really, we had this episode kicking around and we needed the cupboard space, so enjoy!Links: Shed Dogs; the Pony Dance; House of Teeth; the Willingdon Lands Master Plan (the detailed plan RJ was describing can be found in the three Supporting Documents on that page).Theme music by Voodoo Jazz!

The Shed Dogs fall back into Daylight Losing Time with a look at all the fun things Apple’s new operating system brings to your phone: good tips, highs and lows, and favourite features. When we’re done with that, we need a change of pace and so bring you, under RJ’s tutelage, a thorough background on baguettes, followed by a rigorous taste test of three different local baguettes so that you can know what to put in that big basket on the front of your bike. After this, you’ll be able to dazzle your friends and scare your enemies with your confident cosmopolitan knowledge of one of France’s most carefully guarded culinary treasures. All you’ll need is that beret you’ve been wishing you could wear.Links: Shed Dogs; Marques Brownlee’s first video; baguettes; Napoleon.

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.

When you were young you played Snakes and Ladders, right? Well, this episode isn’t that. Here we get gritty insights from KJ and RJ on solving rat problems, and have to recover with the palate-cleansing pleasure of reading Listener Mail. Maybe it was all that talk about nasty smelly rodents that led us to it, but we end up talking about the movie “Terminator: Dark Fate” (spoiler alert: just say no) and what makes actors do bad movies. There are no real shockers here, but a lot of good mostly clean fun, so sit down, face off, and listen up! Note: RJ says a couple of times that Beeple’s NFT sold for $600,000. It was actually $69 million. He was off by a bit.Links: Shed Dogs; roof rats; a better rat trap; Face/Off critical response (Wikipedia); Princess Bride; No more rhymes!; first impressions of Web3 (cryptography expert on current challenges with NFTs).Theme music by Voodoo Jazz!

Here we find reflective, philosophical Shed Dogs pondering the path to great art and good parking spots through visualization at the same time as they provide solid, practical information on important day-to-day challenges, like how to pronounce that fast moving COVID-19 strain name. From these dizzying mental heights we return to mere mortal levels and talk about what’s good on the streaming services these days. You’ll certainly feel embiggened after this 39-minute visit, ready to plunge whole-heartedly into your day, secure in your new knowledge in these important areas. It’s just what we do.Links: Shed Dogs; Omicron after being double-vaxxed and boosted; pronouncing Omicron; boosting after Omicron; stent removal pain and drugs; percocet (oxycocet); hearing music in one’s head; aphantasia (inability to visualize); on being humbled after an accomplishment; Being the Ricardos; Don’t Look Up; Rick Beato on the tracks nominated for Best Song on the Grammys; Harry Nilsson documentary; Italy’s massive triple tri-plane (YouTube); the Brooklyn Bridge.Theme music by Voodoo Jazz!

When Kirkland Body Wash is labeled 100% All Natural, think twice. When we tell you we are 100% all natural, take it to the bank. It won’t be worth much to all the newly created billionaires out there, maybe, but to you? Solid gold. In this episode, speaking of the nouveau riche, we discover what the Internet thinks KJ is worth, we hear about a CBC gig he has coming that should increase that yet more, we learn that Cromer of Duncan is very pleased with his new dentures but that KJ is unmoved by beautification efforts involving surgery. Pity. It’s a lemon-scented potpourri of opinion and information, and we invite you to just breathe it allllll in.Links: Shed Dogs; an unauthorized biography; Costco Body Wash; not your grandpa’s dentures; plastic surgery addiction.Theme music by Voodoo Jazz!

Whether this reaches you before, during, or after December 25, and whether you celebrate it or not, the Shed Dogs wish you and yours a very merry Christmas with the promise of a great New Year to come! In this episode RJ pulls back the curtain on the surprisingly opulent lifestyles of certain foosball players, while KJ lets us in on the real highlights of going to a Canucks game. PJ drops some left-handed compliments and we promote some twitter accounts. We even manage to work in some more beloved Listener Mail, so have a listen while the video fire crackles on the screen, and slide right into the season with us. Some edits may confound, but, hey, it’s waves from the shore baby. Links: Shed Dogs; opening video for Canucks home games this year; a brief video illustrating why you shouldn’t ride a bicycle over a longitudinal board bridge; are left-handers smarter?; penthouse apartments; follow on Twitter: Bowinn Ma, Lori Idlout, and Tyler Olsen.Theme music by Voodoo Jazz!

Way back in Episode 113 we blundered our way through a non-explanation of non-fungible tokens (NFTs). Friend of the show Jesse of Montreal heard the call and sent the best-ever explanation and you get to hear it! Leigh of Courtenay heard us recommending a podcast whose ultimate author may have some credibility problems, and she responds, too. From handling bananas to NFTs to Canadaland to garburators and beyond, our listeners get involved in this episode and it’s great! We also get a nice helping of KJ’s quick snappers and spend some time on a bunch of movies and TV shows and stars, like Ted Lasso and Steve McQueen (and yes, it’s only here that such strange bedfellows make any sense). Have a listen, form your opinions, and keep sending those notes!Links: Shed Dogs; Me to We and Kellogg’s (from Canadaland’s perspective); ME to WE; Canadaland; Jesse Brown, prosumer; Spokane River; Ted Lasso; Observational Learning & advertising; The Morning Show; The Princess Bride; Free Guy; Young Frankenstein; First Blood; The Mission; Bullitt; The Blob; Steve McQueen.Theme music by Voodoo Jazz!

Join KJ as he takes a full-glam trip to New York City to join in on a Screen Actors Guild panel for Schmigadoon!, hobnobs with other famous people, sees several Broadway productions, and dazzles his daughter Lucy with the full weight of his fame and personality. He really does go where everybody knows his name, even in der Grosser Apfel! Bonus: dog medical procedures and waterproofing Gore-Tex.Links: Shed Dogs; Screen Actors Guild; Come From Away; Hadestown; The Lehman Trilogy; Moulin Rouge; review of Fairycakes (the show KJ’s castmate was in); Broadway theatres, Off-Broadway, Off-off-Broadway; photos of Walter’s Bar; Manhattan; are medical procedures on your dog worth it?; is GoreTex® a giant scam?Theme music by Voodoo Jazz!

Okay, look, we’ll level with you: sometimes we don’t plan out every minute of our content. Here in Episode 126 we have may actually workshopped some stuff for about a minute. Somehow, we got lost in KJ’s Short Snappers, which ended up covering everything from molecular weight to CB radio codes to strange sport sayings. We did manage to squeeze in useful counsel about credit cards and rewards programs and we ginned up some material on Costco-ing responsibly, but really… there is an abundance, nay, a plethora of odds and ends in here that will hopefully serve you well going forward… We just can’t say where it all came from.Links: Shed Dogs; Ten codes, sticky wicket, fanny pack, The Closer (Chapelle)Theme music by Voodoo Jazz!

This episode sees the mighty Shed Dogs preparing to break out onto the global stage at last. RJ reveals his quest to make the Canadian Senior Foosball team and represent Canada at the ITSF World Cup next year, while KJ prepares to jet off to the Big Apple on someone else’s dime to help represent Schmigadoon! at the Screen Actors Guild nomination process. We get another round of fun listener mail, and RJ makes a compelling pitch to one-up those Tesla owners by donating to a charity dedicated to reducing global carbon emissions. Meanwhile PJ continues to pitch dubious get rich quick schemes…Links: Shed Dogs; speed limiter; Foosball World Cup; World Cup play from 2019; cheap foosball tables (not recommended); it looks like Costco tables are of a higher standard—RJ offers his apologies to Costco and Costco table owners); tournament quality tables are best and can be viewed (and purchased) here (contact us for a discount code); Cam and Jordan on Shed Dogs: part one and part two; Schmigadoon! on Apple TV+; SAG Awards; Lucy’s short; will there be a second season of Schmigadoon!?; New York City tourism; The Tyee on the 2021 federal election recast with proportional representation; rubber boa in BC; The Coalition for Rainforest Nations; click here to donate to the Coalition, achieving a surprisingly high reduction in atmospheric carbon, and get a Canadian tax receipt; meteor crashes onto pillow! (watch the video to learn the odds); Patrón tequila.Theme music by Voodoo Jazz!

This week’s episode opens with some more excellent listener mail before taking a look at the charitable and not-so-charitable aspects of “We”, the organization which has given the Trudeau family and the Liberal Party fits. By fun contrast, we also have KJ’s fabulous Snappers, and as a bonus, Al Franken. We (and by that we mean us, not the Great White Saviors) have some sad tales of changing driving habits in our demographic, which are then redeemed by a story of great detailing services, which we heartily endorse. It’s an emotional rollercoaster with the proverbial happy ending. Okay, maybe not the proverbial one.Links: Shed Dogs; Cardston, AB; Fay Wray; the Fay Wray King Kong fountain; Value Village; the venerable church key; Argo; Stripes; the Western Hemlock Looper Moths are back in town; Unique Detailing (the company that polished RJ’s car); Rolls Royce Vancouver; garburators; the Al Franken podcast; The White Saviors podcast; red snapper, Skotty Kilmer’s YouTube channel.Theme music by Voodoo Jazz!

Not only do your Dogs spill the beans about “The White Lotus”, but we also have a good look at what happens when mercury is spilled these days—believe us, it’s not like Mr. Fodor’s Chem 11 class any more. We get to hear about RJ’s and Sue of Burnaby’s new Prius Prime, and in case their happy experience there whets your shopping appetite we also touch upon the coming wave of Chinese-made EVs. Warning: if you dislike spoilers and are planning to watch “The White Lotus”, maybe just accept our enthusiastic thumbs up and skip the last half hour or so here. We were very excited about that series…Links: Shed Dogs; Mercury hijinks; build your Prius Prime!; the Wuling Hongguang Mini EV; The White Lotus.Theme music by Voodoo Jazz!

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!