What's Hot! Old News

Hey Fanz!

Deals! Deals! Deals!

Now, pay attention.

As I mentioned a few months ago, I now have a real job, with a real paycheque and everything, managing the Furniture Bank, a charitable agency that collects donated furniture and gives it to families coming out of shelters. We are an important part of the city's, the province's and the nation's response to homelessness.

We are also an important part of the city's waste management program, since we keep several hundred tons of furniture out of landfill every year. And tonnes too.

Who pays for all that? I hear you say. Surely such a worthwhile and sensible endeavour must be awash in grant money from all levels of government? Hoo haa!

The United Way, through the Toronto Enterprise Fund, pays me to hire people on ODSP (disability pension) to work in our Social Purpose Enterprise.

Social what? Be patient.

The Furniture Bank (a charity) runs a business called the Furniture Link, the social purpose of which is to provide jobs for people with limited opportunities for employment - people on social assistance. The profits from the Furniture Link, if any, go to support the Furniture Bank. Are you getting all this?

The Furniture Link makes money three ways. We run a moving and delivery business, 'cuz we have trucks. We repair and refinish furniture. And we sell some of the furniture we collect, the stuff that's surplus, oversize, or otherwise unsuitable for our clients, mostly stuff that's too delicate and antiquey for families with kids.

And that's where you come in!

And . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . later that same evening!

Dufferin Grove Park

Pot Luck Dinner 6:00 pm

& Dancing 7:00 pm

The following weekend . . .

Burgers for Democracy

September 9, of course, also marks the inaugural session of the

which is open to the public at the Moot Court at Osgoode Hall Law School, York University.

I know you are all caught up in the electoral reform fever that is sweeping the province of Ontario. I know that you know that 52 women and 51 men have been chosen at random from the Ontario electoral rolls, that they will be examining our provincial voting system, that they will surely recommend a proportional voting system for Ontario, and that we will probably be voting on a new electoral system for Ontario in a referendum on October 4, 2007.

You knew that, right? Of course you did.

How can you help it when no one's talking about anything else?

What can I do to help create a better democracy for Ontario, and for Canada, I hear you say.

Well, of course every thinking citizen will want to become a member of

(you can join online at www. FairVote.Ca for only $10 for the first year),

but you can also become active in the

or in the

or form a chapter where you live,

and surely the least you can do is attend the

Fair Vote Canada Toronto Chapter Annual BBQ When: Saturday September 16, 2006, 1 PM to 4PM Where: 82 Hammersmith Ave Bruce's place is just SOUTH of Queen Street East, right between Woodbine and Victoria Park.

Actual photo of burger

By TTC

Take the 501 streetcar along Queen to Wineva Ave,
then walk one block east.

Or take the Bloor subway to Main station,
then the 64 Main South bus to Queen,
and walk one block east.

Here's a web link to a map to Bruce's:

Cost: $20 or PWYC.

Please let us know if you will be attending by replying to Glen MacDonald (glen@fairvote.ca).

Also, please indicate if you prefer vegetarian, or have any other preferences.

We're looking forward to seeing you there!

PS: Even if you are unable to attend, we would gratefully accept donations of $20, $10, or any amount.

Cheques payable to "Toronto Chapter, Fair Vote Canada" may be sent to:

Bruce Budd
82 Hammersmith Ave.
Toronto, ON, M4E 2W4

What about the music?

Once again, music will be provided by the

A musical treat (or treatment) seldom heard, but not easy to forget!

Sorry, I've been too busy to send out the Neon News for the last seven months, but the music does go on.

Gordon's Acoustic Living Room, also know as The Artists Formerly Known As Mister Froggie And The Worm Gear, is well into its third year of regular monthly gigs at the Free Times Café.

We are usually there on the third Sunday of the month, but not in September, because

the third Sunday in September is reserved for

The Harbord Village Resident's Association
Brunswick-Ulster Street Fair

Sunday, September 17
Noon - 7:00 pm
Brunswick & Ulster (duh)

Yes, we will once again be closing out the show at the HVRABUSF. The fun starts at around noon, and goes all afternoon. Fun for the whole family. With beer. There will once again be a stunning parade of outstanding local musicians, culminating in us around six-ish. If it doesn't rain.

Sunday, September 24
at the Free Times Café
320 College Street
just west of Spadina
8:00 pm - 11:00 pm

No cover, no minimum.

Warning!

These shows will feature bagpipes, and may be distressing for persons with highly developed musical taste.

Or any taste at all for that matter.

And in other news . . .

NOTICE!

The Centre for Disease Control (CDC) has issued a warning about a virulent new strain of Sexually Transmitted Disease (STD). The disease is contracted through dangerous and high-risk behaviour.

The disease is called Gonorrhea Lectim and is pronounced "gonna re-elect him." Many victims contracted it in 2004, after having been screwed for four years.

Cognitive characteristics of individuals infected include: anti-social personality disorders, delusions of grandeur with messianic overtones, extreme cognitive dissonance, inability to incorporate new information, pronounced xenophobia and paranoia, inability to accept responsibility for one's own actions, cowardice masked by misplaced bravado, uncontrolled facial smirking and shoulder shifting, ignorance of geography and history, tendencies towards evangelical theocracy, and categorical all-or-nothing behaviour.

Naturalists and clinical epidemiologists are amazed at how this destructive disease has spread so quickly having originated only a few years ago from a bush found only in Texas.