Tri Sexual Video Game

This is difficult, check it out here.
The object is to change your sex and copulate to achieve orgasm first. You get more pleasure if you're straight mating with a woman so then you change your sex to a woman, maybe she's a lesbian.... it's very tricky. The best I've had is a simultaneous orgasm.

It's all stick figures and no sex or dirty talk. Wholesome family fun!

Baseball Fun at Work

Little Sisters

An excellent time line of Little Sisters Bookstore in Vancouver from xtra.ca.

TIMELINES

1983
Apr 15: Jim Deva, Bruce Smyth and Barb Thomas open Little Sister's Book and Art Emporium at 1221 Thurlow St in Vancouver and hold their official opening two weeks later on May 3. The store's bookshelves and art gallery initially share space, but despite the popularity of monthly gallery openings art sales are slow and the bookstore soon takes over. Since very few gay and lesbian books are available at this time in Canada, Little Sister's has to import about 90 percent of its stock from the US.

1985

March: The Federal Court of Appeal rules that the section of the Customs Act barring the importation of pornography is unconstitutional. In a unanimous decision, the three judges declare that the wording of the Act is too vague and runs counter to Charter of Rights and Freedoms guarantees of freedom of speech. The ruling comes as a result of a case brought forward by Vancouver resident Tom Luscher who had purchased a heterosexual porn magazine in Blaine, WA in January 1982 only to have it seized at the Canadian border.

May 29: Canada Customs seizes a shipment of the lesbian magazine Bad Attitude destined for Little Sister's. Customs officials will not say why the publication has been seized, but inform Little Sister's that it can fill out the requisite forms to appeal the decision.

June: The federal Department of Justice releases Memorandum D9-1-1, itemizing exactly what kinds of material should be considered obscene and stopped at the border. Materials deemed to be obscene will be seized and destroyed by the government; items passing inspection will be forwarded on to their destination. The memorandum goes into effect in July. The guidelines include depictions or descriptions of anal sex as grounds for prohibition.

1986

Dec 8: Canada Customs seizes 59 titles headed for Little Sister's for the busy Christmas season. Two days later, officials seize another 19 titles, including 75 copies of the Jan 3, 1987 issue of The Advocate. Little Sister's appeals the seizures and goes public, issuing a press release entitled, "Canada Customs Declares War on Little Sister's." Press coverage of the seizures notes the ready availability of many of the detained titles through other bookstores and the Vancouver Public Library. By the end of the month, Customs has seized more than 600 books and magazines bound for the store, at least $4,000 worth of merchandise.

Dec 17: Supporters of Little Sister's demonstrate at the offices of Pat Carney, MP for Vancouver Centre and Minster of National Revenue, the body responsible for Canada Customs, to protest the seizures of Little Sister's merchandise. Demonstrators demand the release of detained titles and an end to Customs' targeting of Little Sister's.

1987

May: Little Sister's and the BC Civil Liberties Association (BCCLA) launch proceedings against Canada Customs for the detention of two issues of The Advocate. The trial date is set for May 1988.

Jun 3: Customs detains a shipment of books, including Anne Cameron's book Dzelarhons, destined for Little Sister's. The popular Canadian title, a re-telling of northwest coast Native legends, is deemed obscene due to the presence of one short story which recounts a legend of a woman who is forced to marry a bear. Customs releases the book later in the month.

Dec 9: A bomb is thrown into the stairwell leading up to Little Sister's from its Thurlow St entrance. No one is in the stairwell when the bomb explodes, but police estimate the bomb has caused $2,000 in damage. The incident heightens concerns for the safety of lesbians and gay men in Vancouver.

1988

Feb 6: At 8:45 pm a bomb is thrown through the back door of Little Sister's downstairs neighbour Thurlow's Restaurant while Jim Deva dines with co-owner Gaston Nadeau. Patrons pack the restaurant, and broken glass showers the diners, but press reports maintain that no one is seriously hurt.

April: Just weeks before its case against Canada Customs over the 1986 seizure of The Advocate is set to get underway, Little Sister's and the BCCLA learn that the federal government has conceded that the LA-based biweekly newsmagazine is not obscene after all. The case is closed. Seizures of other gay and lesbian materials destined for Little Sister's continue.

1990

Jun 7: Little Sister's and the BCCLA file a statement of claim in BC Supreme Court challenging Canada Customs' powers to detain and ban books as unconstitutional under Section 2(b) of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the section which guarantees the right to freedom of expression. The statement also maintains that Jim Deva's and Bruce Smyth's rights to equal treatment under the law, as guaranteed by Section 15 of the Charter, have been violated. The trial date is initially set for September 1991, but will be postponed a total of three times.

1992

Jan 7: A smoke bomb explodes in the stairwell leading up to Little Sister's at about 10 pm, while the store is still open. A wave of smoke fills every corner of the store. No one is injured but there is considerable damage to the floor of the landing and stairwell walls. Remains of the bomb are soon discovered embedded in the notice board on the stairwell turn. It's a Polish percussion grenade, military issue. No one claims responsibility and no one is ever arrested.

Feb 27: The Supreme Court of Canada renders a decision in R v Butler upholding the obscenity section of the Criminal Code of Canada. Though the court acknowledges that some of the code's obscenity provisions are unconstitutional, it finds them necessary and justifiable to avoid harm to society. Specifically, it finds that porn is harmful, degrading and dehumanizing (especially to women) and therefore must be stopped at the border.

September: Little Sister's Charter challenge of Canada Customs is postponed for a year just one week before its planned start date. It is now scheduled to begin on Oct 4, 1993.

1993

Sep 12: Delegates attending the 60th International Congress of PEN, the international writers' union, in Valencia, Spain, pass a resolution condemning Canada Customs' seizure of books and materials as a violation of the fundamental right to freedom of speech.

Sep 27: BC Supreme Court Justice R Bruce Harvey agrees to the federal government's request to adjourn the start of the Little Sister's trial. Lawyers representing the government argue that they need more time to prepare their case. The trial is rescheduled to commence on Oct 11, 1994. This is the third time the case has been adjourned since Little Sister's and the BCCLA filed suit in 1990.

Nov 29: Canada Customs intercepts a shipment of copies of Gael Baudino's Shroud of Shadow, sent to Little Sister's by Penguin Books Canada in Newmarket, ON. This is the first instance of Customs detaining a domestic shipment of materials destined for Little Sister's. Customs releases the books and sends them on to Little Sister's in early December, claiming, along with Canada Post, that the incident was a mistake. Federal Revenue Minister David Anderson apologises to Little Sister's.

1994

Aug 25: Customs detains 10 titles on their way to Little Sister's, including the children's book, Belinda's Bouquet.

Sep 29: Just two weeks before Little Sister's Charter challenge is finally scheduled to be heard, the federal government amends Memorandum D9-1-1 to remove depictions of anal penetration from the list of obscene materials banned from importation into Canada.

Oct 11: More than four years after filing its statement of claim and after three postponements, Little Sister's case against Canada Customs finally opens in BC Supreme Court. The trial will run for 40 days and feature testimony from such literary luminaries as Pierre Berton, Jane Rule, Nino Ricci and Pat Califia in support of Little Sister's.

1995

Feb 24: A male caller phones Little Sister's from out of town and warns Janine Fuller that a bomb has been planted in the store. Police investigate but find no explosive device. In subsequent days the store receives additional letters and packages containing hateful content.

Mar 1: Staff at Little Sister's receive a hand-written letter threatening them with "a day of reckoning" and warning them to stay away from work the next day. The letter is believed to be the work of a religious fanatic.

1996

Jan 19: The BC Supreme Court renders its decision in the Little Sister's case. Justice Kenneth Smith rules that Canada Customs has discriminated against Little Sister's and enforced the law with "arbitrariness, inconsistency and just plain foolishness." However, the court upholds Customs' power to seize and detain material. Little Sister's and the BCCLA vow to appeal the decision.

Mar 29: Justice Kenneth Smith grants an injunction requiring Canada Customs to stop its seizures of Little Sister's material until the Crown can prove to the court that Customs officers are applying "appropriate standards" in their examinations of Little Sister's material. In separate proceedings, Justice Smith also awards Little Sister's costs to a total of $168,740 plus disbursements, a significant victory for the bookstore.

Jul 7: Little Sister's opens at its new location, 1238 Davie St, having run out of space at its old Thurlow St location.

1998

Mar 28: Little Sister's appears in the BC Court of Appeal to appeal the BC Supreme Court ruling in its case against Canada Customs.

Jun 24: The BC Court of Appeal, in a 2-1 decision, upholds Justice Smith's BC Supreme Court decision and rules that Canada Customs' powers to seize and detain material its officers deem to be obscene are not unconstitutional. Janine Fuller announces that Little Sister's will appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada.

1999

Feb 18: The Supreme Court of Canada agrees to hear Little Sister's appeal. The bookstore hopes the nation's highest court will strike down the laws permitting Canada Customs officers to seize and detain material they deem obscene at the Canadian border.

2000

Mar 16: The Supreme Court of Canada hears arguments in the Little Sister's case.

Dec 15: The Supreme Court of Canada upholds Justice Smith's BC Supreme Court decision and rules that Little Sister's suffered "excessive and unnecessary prejudice in terms of delays, cost and other losses in having their goods cleared (if at all) through Canada Customs." The court orders Canada Customs to stop targeting the gay bookstore, but it does not strike down Customs' authority to seize materials deemed obscene at the border. The court does, however, shift the burden of proof to Customs, whose agents will now have to prove that materials they seize are obscene. Previously, importers had to prove that their seized shipments were not obscene.

2001

Jul 5: Less than a year after the Supreme Court of Canada ruling, Customs seizes two issues of the gay comic book Meatmen. This act, followed by the subsequent seizure of two more books of gay erotica (Of Slaves and Ropes and Lovers, and Of Men, Ropes and Remembrance edited by Larry Townsend), prompts Little Sister's and the BCCLA to launch new proceedings against Canada Customs.

2003

Feb 6: As pre-trial hearings begin in the Meatmen case, BC Supreme Court Justice Elizabeth Bennett rules that the onus is on Canada Customs to prove that they have addressed the systemic problems in their treatment of Little Sister's cited by the Supreme Court of Canada in 2000.

2004

Jun 18: BC Supreme Court Justice Elizabeth Bennett awards Little Sister's advance costs to pursue its latest legal case against Canada Customs (now the Canada Border Services Agency). Judges have the discretion to award advance costs in rare and exceptional cases of public significance where the appellants lack the financial means to proceed. "The issues raised are too important to forfeit this litigation because of lack of funds," Bennett rules.

2005

Feb 18: The BC Court of Appeal reverses Justice Bennett's June 2004 ruling which would have granted Little Sister's the advance funding necessary to carry on its legal proceedings against the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA). Writing for the three-judge panel, Justice Allan Thackray rules that the case is not an issue of major public importance. Little Sister's and the BCCLA appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada.

Nov 17: The Supreme Court of Canada agrees to hear Little Sister's petition for advance funds in the Meatmen case.

2006

Apr 19: The Supreme Court of Canada hears arguments in Little Sister's bid for advance funding to pursue its latest complaint against the CBSA. The justices reserve judgment.

2007

Jan 19: The Supreme Court of Canada rules that the Little Sister's case against the CBSA is not special enough to warrant the taxpayers' support and denies the store's request for advance funding. The ruling is a blow to Little Sister's ability to take the CBSA back to court.

2008

January: While making preparations for the store's 25th anniversary, co-owners Jim Deva and Bruce Smyth announce that they are selling Little Sister's Book and Art Emporium. "I think it's the right time for myself and my partner to step back and find somebody else to continue," Deva tells Xtra West. "It just feels from a very personal level that I'm ready for something completely different."

2008 Jays Home Opener

Better late than never!

Hot Docs

Hot Docs started for me today with Garbage: The Revolution Begins at Home.
I saw it at the Bloor Cinema which is my favourite theatre in Toronto. I'm so glad when they tore down all the rep theatres they left this one alone. Every time I go there I remember when I used to date the popcorn boy, he was 16, I was 18, and we made out in the "couples seat", which is a special theatre seat built for 2. Then I remember that was 11 years ago and I feel like I'm 100.

So the movie was good. It was about cutting down on your garbage, using less hydro, saving the environment. It was good. I think I already do a lot. I don't have a compost box in my apartment but I don't drive, I take a bike. I don't eat meat, which means I don't use fuel and energy raising crops for animals to eat so I can eat them. I walk to work. I recycle what I can. I learned a couple things, in the future I will be buying environmentally friendly dish detergent and laundry soap. But that's about it. It said not to leave your computer on all the time which isn't going to happen. The environment isn't up there on my list of priorities, I'm having no children to leave this crap to. I love animals, I want to save them all. I support gay causes, AIDS charities and I work about 15 hours a week for the Archives. I'm good.

Afterwards off to The Bike Clinic which advertises no judgment and good prices. Most bike shops in Toronto will give you crap for having a clunker but they didn't. I think of my bike like my car, you notice something wrong and hope it will go away for a while until you realize it doesn't. To me cycling is supposed to be free so I have a hard time spending money on my bike. So anyway, I left it out over the winter so now I need a new chain and my back gears need replacing as they've worn away, it was like that when I bought it. Estimate was $35 which is amazing, every other time I've gone to a bike store they want to replace half of it and it costs $150.

Because today was like the first nice day of the year and Monday is a TTC strike they had no time to fix it but I have an appointment for Wednesday night. Monday off to another Hot Doc screening.

Went to Canadian Tire on the way home, I knew there was 2 things I needed. I bought the converter to plug my stuff in while in Europe but forgot to get my keys cut! The converter was $22, is that good? Dunno.

Europe Itinerary

I arrive in Krakow at 10:05 a.m. Wednesday May 14th.

I have to take a train and then walk to the Hostel, so I should be there by Friday.

The day I get there I can check out Main Market Square (Rynek Glowny)

Huge 10-acre square, the largest in any of Europe's medieval cities, features the 16th-century Renaissance Cloth Hall and the splendid 14th-century Gothic Basilica of the Virgin Mary.

I could also check out Wawel Royal Castle (Zamek Krolewski)

Although it's not like I can find a map that actually prints. Ok, google maps does.

Thursday May 15th go to Auchwitz.

Friday the 16th I'll be sleeping on the train (hopefully) so I have all day, until 10:30 pm.

I could check out Church of the Virgin Mary (Kosciol Mariacki) its One of the most famous of Poland's churches, this Gothic structure features two striking towers, the taller of which is a magnificent Gothic spire with a gold-plated crown built in 1666.

Looks pretty cool, and doesn't the town square look awesome?

Theres also the Ethnographic Museum (Muzeum Etnograficzne) which looks kind of strange:

I don' think I'd be too interested in that.

This sounds cooler, the Wieliczka Salt Mine is about half hour drive from Krakow, in a little village called Wieiczka. The mines date back to the 13th century and it truly is an amazing experience. There are thousands of steps to underground corridors and different terraces which one can walk down. Along the way there are fascinating sculptures made out of salt. For centuries, salt was picked by hand and carried up to the surface. On the bottom level is a chapel all made from salt. Just awesome, sculptures of Christ and the Apostles and even the tiled mosaic floors all made centuries ago. The galleries in the mine are 150k long and reach the depth of 300m.It used to be one of the world's biggest and most profitable industrial establishments when common salt was commercially a medieval equivalent of today's oil.

Now, how to get there. It says you can take a bus from the main post office for $5 round trip!

Now I need a train from Krakow to Prague. There's one that leaves at 10:25 and arrives at bloody 9:45 a.m. You can buy tickets here for $81 US plus a $18 handling fee, I think I'll take my chances there. Eeek!

Can I sleep in this:

Dunno.

Anyway, so I arrive in Prague at 10 am on May 17th.

The currency in the places is confusing. I must remember:

Poland: 1 Zlotych is $.46 CDN, so it's about half

Prague: 1 Koruny is $.06 CDN, so multiply everything by 20. Or move the decimal and divide by 2 (ex. Admission is 180 CZK or $9 CDN)

Berlin: 1 Euro is $1.59 CDN, so multiply everything by 1.5

Easy as pie! Well, difficult pie.

There appears to be a subway system in Prague:

On the 17th I could see the Museum of Communism

It sounds awesome.

So I'll line up a few more things for the 18th and maybe the 17th.

The Church of St. Nicholas (Chram svateho Mikulase) is listed as the number one thing to do in Prague. Dunno why.

The pictures look ok but I have seen churches before.

The Charles Bridge (Karluv Most) is a popular pedestrian bridge is filled with musicians, painters, vendors and tourists during the summertime. The review says guys dressed as sailors try to ask you on boat cruises, so I'm there.

Next we have Lobkowicz Palace a museum on the top of a hill with this view:
This appears to be beside Prague Castle (Prazsky hrad)


The largest castle in Europe contains more than seven hundred rooms.

The Old Town Hall and Astronomical Clock (Staromestska Radnice) looks cool:

Doesn't it? I don't want to put too much as stopping here was an afterthought but the Prague Zoo looks cool too.
I'm leaving on Monday the 19th for Berlin, the train seems to leave every hour and takes about 5 hours (ugh!).
So if I take all Monday to get to Berlin then I have the 20-24th, four days.

I've planned nothing gay so far, so when in Berlin I must see the Gay Museum, which has stuff dating back to 1790. Also nothing is translated into English. Helpful!

The Daily Life Museum looks cool, exploring daily life in Communist Berlin.

Apparently the Parliament Building (Reichstag) is a "must do".

I wrote to them in advance for a free tour, as it says to do. We'll see what happens.

I'm finding it hard to plan things to do at night. There is theatre, some in English, I've found web pages helpfully out of service, and a black light theatre in Prague. I guess I can always do what I did in London, walk the streets until I get lost and then pray not to get robbed.

The Zoologischer Garten (Berlin Zoo) looks cool and I love animals. Hence the whole not eating them thing. With a few days in Berlin I must check this out. The site raves, says its one of the best zoos in Europe, the oldest zoo in Germany with the worlds largest number of species. Plus they have an aquarium.

Here's a rare homo sapien, lets hope the emphasis is on the homo.

Of course, the Berlin Wall is a must for me. With Checkpoint Charlie:

It says the wall is all over Berlin and you can't miss it. Watch me miss it.

The The Holocaust Memorial (Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe) sounds good but look:

Its bloody pop-art with a thousand pieces of blank concrete to symbolize graves. Yipee. Maybe I'll give this a miss. Although across the street is the memorial to the gay men murdered in concentration camps, between 15,000 and 600,000 men. It's supposedly still being built and doesn't seem to have a website. Oh good, it opens May 27, I leave on the 25th. Handy!

Now this is more like it, the Berlin Insider Tours. 6 hour Concentration Camp tour, a Third Reich tour and a Cold War tour. I'm in heaven! It says you can just show up and pay and the 6 hour tour costs less than $30! And it starts right beside the zoo.

Discover the remains of the 1000 year Reich and see Goering's Air Defence Ministry where the Luftwaffe co-ordinated the Battle of Britain, the site of Goebbels' Propaganda Ministry, and the ruins of Himmler's SS and Gestapo HQs by the "Topography of Terror" exhibit.
Take an imaginary stroll down the North-South axis of "Germania" designed by Albert Speer - from the towering Great Hall to the monumental arch.
Visit the site of Hitler's New Reichs Chancellery, the seat of power of Nazi held Europe, and the exact location of the Führer Bunker - we provide a step by step account of Hitler's suicide, the last days spent in the bunker, and the fate of his remains - our information stems from the latest Soviet archives and detailed research.
Up and beyond the average we follow the route of the Soviet attack towards the final battlefield for the Reichstag and stop before the Soviet Memorial flanked with T34 Tanks and Red Army Howitzers.
We describe Post Great War Germany and explain the Nazi's rise to power, Hitler's "Lebensraum" Policy and the path to war and Europe's destruction.
As Berlin became a stage of fire and death Hitler reiterated the original premise of Nazism - total victory or annihilation - we outline the ramifications it held for the new world.

So it says you have to see Brandenburg Gate (Brandenburger Tor):

Wasn't there some Nazi march here? Also it says this is near the hotel Michael Jackson hung his baby out the window.

There is KZ-Sachsenhausen a concentration camp, but it seems to be part of the concentration camp tour.

The Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church is a must:

It was bombed during WW II, you can see half the roof missing.

The Altes Museum has a lot of Egyptian stuff, like this cool necklace:

The Olympic Stadium (Olympiastadion) is a maybe.

It's the stadium used for the Nazi's 1936 Olympic Games and for some reason is still used as a soccer stadium.

My flight leaves Berlin 9:10 am on Sunday the 25th. Why so early????? Back in Toronto at 2:35 pm and back to work Monday :(

Always a bridesmaid, never a bride

Dramatic Look Gopher

What if....

What would you do if you were going on a tour of Europe a month today and had done NOTHING to plan for it. Nothing.
Oh wait, that's me.

TO DO

• get a power converter
• get a key cut for my cat sitter
• buy extra cat food
• plan things to see and do in Poland, Prague and Berlin
• print maps
• research and buy a train ticket to Prague and Berlin
• pack
• confirm dates

anything else?

Boys Beware! Homosexuals are on the prowl!