#but i guess since the year 2015 nobody has ever written a tv show with the intention that anyone would still be watching it in 2 years

[jakemorph]

i guess a lot of people are under the impression that fictional characters back in the day avoided mentioning other franchises by name because it was legally sound. like little timmy saying he wanted to watch 'galactic battles 5" instead of straight up "star wars" was to avoid the lawyers somehow. so i guess everyone has forgotten in the intervening years that the reason you don't namedrop "dungeons & dragons" every 5 lines in your tv script is because it's 1) alienating and 2) so, so, so gauche

[mrswhozeewhatsis]

Downtown Letdown

A/N: This is my second fic for the 2017 Louden Swain SPN Mini Bang, and is for one of my favorite songs. I first heard this song when they played it at ChiCon 2015, and I fell in love with it right away. I struggled to get this fic to line up with the central themes of the song, but I hope you all agree it’s at least close. Special thanks to the best betas in the world, @littlegreenplasticsoldier and @manawhaat without whom my fics would not be nearly as legible. These two women inspire me with every word they write and push me to be better.

Summary: Dean dealing with his feelings while he’s with Lisa.

Pairing: I guess Dean and Lisa, but it’s not the focus.

Warnings: Angst, I guess. I don’t expect anyone to need tissues.

Word count: 1815 words

Dean wakes up to a bright streak of sunlight peeking through Lisa’s bedroom curtains. Usually, he fixes the curtains before he goes to bed for exactly this reason, but last night he was a little too out of it to care. Yesterday was November 2nd. It’s been more than 25 years since his mother died, but the day still creeps up on him. It was almost noon before he realized what day it was. He doesn’t remember much of the day after that. To be fair, he’s had other things on his mind the past few months.

Sam.

Dean’s head pounds with the hangover he knows he deserves, his heartbeat loud in his ears, his gut still twisted with grief. Lisa tried to make him feel better last night and he just snapped at her. The pie was store-bought, not that it mattered. It had mattered, but there was no good reason for it.

The sunbeam has shifted, now, and is blinding the ever-loving hell out of him. He turns over to get away from it, hoping Lisa is still asleep. He’s not ready to face the disappointment and misery in her eyes. It would be merely a reflection of what he’s feeling, but it shows he should be doing a better job of hiding it from her. She doesn’t deserve it.

Right now, Lisa’s face looks peaceful and happy in the golden light. Much different to when the tears well up in her eyes as Dean rages when he’s drunk with grief. Or when he wakes her with one of his nightmares. Or when he doesn’t understand why she twists herself in knots to make sure Ben has a “good” breakfast in the morning instead of Lucky Charms or Pop Tarts. He and Sam grew up on them, so they can’t be all bad, right?

She doesn’t often let him see her cry, but he knows she does. It’s been almost six months since he started making those damn tears fill her eyes. Six months of him alternating between researching ways to get Sam back and drunkenly grieving the loss. There have been days when he’s been able to try to be some kind of father figure for Ben and partner for Lisa, but those days are few and far between. He needs to do better. Sam would want him to do better.

Without moving his head more than the pounding inside of it will allow, Dean climbs out of bed and starts his morning. He looks at himself in the mirror, taking in the dark circles around his eyes, the scraggly beard, and the pale skin, and decides that it’s time. It’s time to give up fighting what Sam had wanted for him. Sam had wanted him here, with a good woman and a boy who needed him. Sam had told him not to do everything he’d spent the last six months doing. Sam had wanted him to have this life. Maybe it was time to live it.

The decision made, he makes breakfast for Lisa and Ben, packs a lunch for Ben that doesn’t include beef jerky or Twinkies, and cleans himself up until he practically shines. He heads to the construction site where his neighbor, Sid, works and gets himself a job. Sid has been annoying as hell since Dean moved in, following Dean around like a puppy when he goes to the neighborhood shindigs, but Sid’s a good guy. He’s ignored Dean’s rudeness and been nothing but kind, offering all kinds of help, including a reference for this job. It’s an actual nine-to-five job doing whatever the boss tells him to do, earning whatever the company decides to pay him, and Sid shows him the ropes with a smile.

When he’s done with work, he heads back to Lisa’s house, reminding himself that it’s now his house, too, and does his best Ward Cleaver impression. He showers off the grime from the work site, helps Lisa set the table for dinner, asks Ben what he learned in school that day, and does the dishes so Lisa can watch some reality show on TV. When he crawls back into bed, his feet hurt from new boots, the throbbing ache matched by his heart when he wonders if Sam would be proud of him.

***

Dean’s been working with Sid at the construction site for over six months, now, and he’s finally gotten into the groove of this whole civilian life thing. He makes breakfast for his family every morning, goes to work, makes good money, comes home, helps Ben with his homework, and has mind-blowing sex with Lisa before going to sleep in time to wake up and do it all again the next day. Sometimes, his routine changes, like when Sid invites him out for a drink or there’s a neighborhood barbecue. He and Ben had a great time when he taught Ben how to change the oil in the truck, and one of Lisa’s famous date nights taught him he’s pretty stellar at mini golf. There’s not a lot in his life to really make his pulse race, but it’s nice. He’s learned how to blend in to his suburban surroundings and life isn’t bad, for the most part.

He still has days where he feels like he can’t get out of bed and he fights to keep up the act. Days like Sam’s birthday. Last Tuesday wasn’t a picnic, either, when one of the guys on site joked he thought his house was haunted. Dean had to fight to keep from asking about cold spots or scratching in the walls. Sometimes, it’s just a nightmare that reminds him that he’s just playing a part here. He dreams that Sam is back, but Lucifer is in control, slicing into Lisa and Ben in front of him while telling him how Sam is screaming for his big brother inside his own meat suit. Dean wakes with a cry in his throat, his heartbeat so loud he thinks it will wake the neighbors. His face is wet with tears and Lisa is trying not to cry with him as she attempts to reassure him that everything’s okay. It’s not okay. Sam’s still in Hell, locked in a cage with the devil, suffering relentlessly. Dean wonders if Lucifer uses the same tools Alastair did, or if actual tools would be too pedestrian for the devil.

For some reason, Sundays are the hardest. There’s more day in a Sunday than any other day of the week and it’s difficult to keep up the charade. Sometimes, he goes for runs like Sam used to, just to feel the blood pumping through his veins. Without the distraction of neighborhood parties, Ben’s baseball games, and Lisa’s get-togethers where one woman sells shit nobody needs to all the other women, Dean finds himself searching for cases before he realizes what he’s doing. He tries to tell himself he’s just making sure there’s nothing in the immediate area, ensuring his family is safe, but it’s an excuse. If he’s not ridiculously busy being happy with his life, then he’s jonesing for a hunt, daydreaming of taking out an entire werewolf pack, his brother strong and sure by his side.

Tonight, though, is a not-bad night. He’s having a relaxing drink with Sid, trying not to talk about himself, trying to not be too good at darts, trying to live up to the image Sid has of him in his head. It’s exhausting. A news report plays on the TV behind Sid’s head, talking about the grisly discovery of a dozen bodies in a warehouse two towns over. Dean hears just enough to know the bodies were drained before Sid turns around to see what’s got Dean’s attention and distracts him from it because who wants to talk about that when tomorrow is Friday and the end of the work week? Dean heaves a breath and shakes his head to clear it. He’s just a guy, now. Not a hunter. Shut it down. Back to Sid.

The waitress all but thrusts her chest into his face as she brings the next round of drinks. Sid chuckles and calls Dean a dog. Dean shakes his head and smiles, brushing off the ghost of a chain he suddenly feels around his neck. The waitress caresses his arm before they leave, her phone number written on the back of the check, and Sid shakes his head in admiration and laughs as they part ways. Dean’s still tugging at the neck of his shirt when he hears the scream coming from the building site across the street. He doesn’t notice how his breathing eases in spite of the spike of adrenaline in his system as he grabs his gun and flashlight out of the car.

***

It’s been a few weeks since Sam came back and the djinns killed Sid and his family. Dean moved his family to a new house, new town, new state, and tried to find a balance between never letting Lisa and Ben out of his sight and imagining their deaths every time his back is turned. He never found a new job, but when Sam called and demanded his help on a hunt, he had no time to keep looking.

The hunt is over, now, and so is the argument that led to Lisa telling Dean that he needs to go and be a hunter. She said he isn’t a construction worker, and though he tried the best he could to be normal, to have a life that didn’t revolve around bloodshed, she’s right. Dean’s a hunter and always will be.  Besides, his gut is telling him there’s something going on with his brother, something he just can’t put his finger on. Staying here and putting up drywall isn’t going to help him figure it out.

Dean’s standing in his new garage, holding the car cover he just took off his Baby. God, she’s beautiful. Just looking at her makes his heart beat faster in his chest. He takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly, enjoying the feel of being able to breathe freely for the first time in a long time. He climbs into the driver’s seat with a smile and reverses out of the garage, taking off into the night.

The moon is large and full over the road ahead of him as he turns up the volume on the radio and begins singing along while he taps out the beat on the steering wheel. This is where he belongs. This is who he is. He will find a way to fulfill the promises he made to Lisa and Ben, but he’s done trying to be someone he can’t be. He’s the guy that’s gonna figure out what’s going on with his brother and kill some evil sons of bitches along the way.

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[sta-ge]

The Abolition of Work – Bob Black

One of the most interesting readings that I have done in recent years, definitely more interesting than the previous readings we had to do. This reading by Bob Black, written in 1985 and being part of an anthology of essays named “The Abolition of Work and Other Essays”, which was published by Loompanics Unlimited, is (as the title states) about the abolition of work. But what does work really mean? 

According to Bertrand Russell on one of his essays in “In Praise of Idleness and Other Essays”:

“Work is of two kinds: first, altering the position of matter at or near the earth’s surface relatively to other such matter; second, telling other people to do so. The first kind is unpleasant and ill paid; the second is pleasant and highly paid. The second kind is capable of indefinite extension: there are not only those who give orders, but those who give advice as to what orders should be given.”

Or a bit more simplified, work is an activity performed by a person in exchange to (usually) economic compensation. So, is work really our best chance of being happy and having a “life”? Are we what we do?

I always thought that it was capitalism that made us, the proletariat, feel so miserably (spoiler alert, it is, but it’s a bit more complicated) and I never expected to find readings that would further enrich my beliefs on the subject as I didn’t know what I was looking for. Already deep and heavily influenced by (mostly) books of Marx and Engels (i.e. The Capital, The Communist Manifesto, etc.), Bakunin (i.e. Statism and Anarchy, God and the State, etc.), Kropotkin (i.e. The Conquest of Bread, etc.), Noam Chomsky (i.e. Chomsky on Anarchism, etc.), George Orwell (i.e. The Animal Farm, 1984, etc.), Ursula K. Le Guin’s The Dispossessed, I kept feeling like something was missing.

This is what The Abolition of Work by Bob Black is to me. When I came up with the story 2- maybe 3- years back, I was at a point that I was writing down ideas and concepts for stories with one thing in common, to stop the oppression. Ever since I was a kid, I did not like being told what to do, what to think, what to feel, I didn’t like being put into a box and the older I became, the more I felt this way. But being from a country where rebellions and revolutions against oppressors seem to be in our blood, I guess didn’t really help either.

Nevertheless, The Abolition of Work came and fit in my beliefs like a missing puzzle that I had been looking for for years. After countless conversations with friends, (it is Greece after all) I would always reach the same conclusion. I found the system wrong, faulty, it just never clicked with me, the whole concept of going to school to “learn” and be “taught” things that you are not even interested in and how bizarre it was that everything was so driven by memorising huge texts instead of creative thinking whilst your parents would, surprisingly, go to work those exact same hours; being forced to stay still at an age that you are bursting with energy -and if you have ADHD then good luck- otherwise you would get punished; getting forced to go to school at 8am and if you were late there would be a penalty; how we are taught from a young age to follow orders and be obedient and be rewarded for it, like we are being brainwashed to do what we are asked without questioning it, and the list goes on and on and on. As Black would say in the essay, “Discipline is what the factory and the office and the store share with the prison and the school and the mental hospital.” basically saying that the children, the “future”, are being brainwashed into being good employees as we are “living in a world designed for work”.  

“Work is the source of nearly all the misery in the world. Almost any evil you’d care to name comes from working or from living in a world designed for work. In order to stop suffering, we have to stop working.”

Black argues that work is the source of nearly all the misery in the world and we should abolish it and start living for us, instead of living to work. He proposes that instead of working (which as previously established has a negative meaning), maybe a new approach is taken, a more ludic, a more playful approach, as it won’t be forced on to you and make you miserable by slowly poising you, but it will be something that you chose voluntarily to do, making it more fun. The effects of this poison can clearly be seen in countries like Japan where 30,000 people, annually, is estimated to commit suicide -or as Black compares it to a homicide as these people were driven by their “jobs” to take their lives- because of the fact that a long weekly working schedule could be over 60 hours for men and over 45 hours for women. In Japan it is also not unusual to see people sleeping on the streets, or in some cases it is even encouraged as it shows how hard they had been working.

Leisure, also, doesn’t help. As a matter of fact, it can be considered to make things worse. How many times during holidays we try to do so many things because we don’t have the time to do them on our everyday lives and we return as exhausted, or even more exhausted? Thinking about work all the time doesn’t help either, things like counting down days to go back to work, hours, minutes, puts an enormous burden on or mental health making the whole concept of “freedom” –as that’s what the 5 hours after work are considered to be- a complete joke, just like the ‘carrot and stick’ approach popularised by Frederick Winslow Taylor (1856-1917). These 5-6 hours after work are truly hours to enjoy, are there just so that we can recover and regain our strength for the next day, a never ending cycle. As Joseph Lane Kirkland (1922-1999) a US labour union leader said “If hard work were such a wonderful thing, surely the rich would have kept it all to themselves.” but obviously that’s not the case. Another reason that the proletariat is working so hard with so little “free” time, is to make them think as less as possible, as that could lead to a revolution and that is something that they do not want. That’s why we have so many ‘trash’ TV-shows, to numb the brain, to keep us occupied and distracted at the same time that “people are earning less than they did 17 years ago” and, even worse, the “median income in the US is actually down over the last 17 years and is only 3% higher now than it was 30 years ago.” We are working more and make less, especially when you take into consideration the inflation in rent, food, etc. I do not think that it is a coincidence that in Greek the word work (translates as δουλειά), originates from the word δουλεία, that means slavery, as ancient Greek philosophers regarded work as an activity fit only for slaves.

We spent our best and most important and productive years of our lives working for someone else, getting stressed for someone else, ruining our health for someone else. “You are what you do. If you do boring, stupid monotonous work, chances are you’ll end up boring, stupid and monotonous.” as Black says, and this is exactly the premise of my story. A character so sick of being miserable and hating his life to the point of wanting to commit suicide to escape but unable to do anything to change it, trapped in this loop, stuck in this mundane routine. However, by taking a more playful approach and instead of ‘work’, we play ‘games’, instead of a ‘job’ and something that we are forced to do, we take advantage of whatever it is that various people at various times in fact enjoy doing. Or as Black puts it, “An optimal sexual encounter is the paradigm of productive play. The participants potentiate each other’s pleasures, nobody keeps score, and everybody wins. The more you give, the more you get. In the ludic life, the best of sex will diffuse into the better part of daily life. Generalized play leads to the libidinization of life. Sex, in turn, can become less urgent and desperate, more playful. If we play our cards right, we can all get more out of life than we put into it; but only if we play for keeps.” This is something I find that I find very easy to relate. Before coming to university to study Illustration, I would draw and practice in my ‘free’ time, filling sketchbooks within days. However, after attending university and having people tell you all the time what to do and how to do it, or how good/or bad your drawings are, to try different styles, styles that you don’t like, etc., it kind of took the fun away from it, I have found myself making excuses to avoid drawing because of that dreadful feeling that I have to do it. REFERENCE:

Black, B. (1985). [online] Available at: https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/bob-black-the-abolition-of-workhttps://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/bob-black-the-abolition-of-work [Accessed 26 Apr. 2019].

Black, B. - Afterthoughts on the Abolition of Work, published by LBC Books in 2015

Black, B. (2019). Instead Of Work : Bob Black : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive. [online] Internet Archive. Available at: https://archive.org/details/InsteadOfWork [Accessed 26 Apr. 2019].

Libcom.org. (2019). The abolition of work - Bob Black. [online] Available at: https://libcom.org/library/abolition-work-bob-black [Accessed 26 Apr. 2019].

Libcom.org. (2019). What do we mean by work?: A response to Bob Black's "The Abolition of Work". [online] Available at: https://libcom.org/library/what-do-we-mean-work-response-bob-blacks-abolition-work [Accessed 26 Apr. 2019].

Libcom.org. (2019). Work and the free society - Anarchist Federation. [online] Available at: https://libcom.org/library/work-free-society-anarchist-federation [Accessed 26 Apr. 2019].

What a path we made. (2019). Bob Black : The Abolition of Work, and other essays. [online] Available at: https://whatapathwemade.wordpress.com/2014/06/07/bob-black-the-abolition-of-work-and-other-essays/ [Accessed 26 Apr. 2019].

Marx, K. and Borchardt, J. (n.d.). Das Kapital.

Marx, K., Engels, F., Stedman Jones, G. and Moore, S. (n.d.). The Communist manifesto.

Bakunin, M. and Shatz, M. (2005). Statism and anarchy. New York: Cambridge University Press.

Kropotkin, P. (n.d.). The conquest of bread.

Marxists.org. (2019). Works of Mikhail Bakunin 1871. [online] Available at: https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/bakunin/works/1871/man-society.htm [Accessed 26 Apr. 2019].

Medium. (2019). The Philosophical Argument for Working Less (and Wasting Time). [online] Available at: https://medium.com/@ztrana/the-philosophical-argument-for-working-less-and-wasting-time-71bbbcb7310b [Accessed 26 Apr. 2019].

Medium. (2019). No One Should Ever Work on Introductions, by Bruce Sterling. [online] Available at: https://medium.com/@bruces/no-one-should-ever-work-on-introductions-by-bruce-sterling-7cb872e745aa [Accessed 26 Apr. 2019].

The Independent. (2019). Do Japanese really work themselves to death? In some cases, yes. [online] Available at: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/japan-overwork-working-60-hours-karoshi-a7166376.html [Accessed 26 Apr. 2019].

Nast, C. (2019). Everything You Need to Know About Capitalism. [online] Teen Vogue. Available at: https://www.teenvogue.com/story/what-capitalism-is [Accessed 26 Apr. 2019].

LLP, B. (2019). Motivational theory - Motivation - how Egg unleashes the power of people - Egg | Egg case studies and information | Business Case Studies. [online] Businesscasestudies.co.uk. Available at: http://businesscasestudies.co.uk/egg/motivation-how-egg-unleashes-the-power-of-people/motivational-theory.html [Accessed 26 Apr. 2019].

Russell, B. (2019). In Praise of Idleness By Bertrand Russell. [online] Zpub.com. Available at: http://www.zpub.com/notes/idle.html [Accessed 26 Apr. 2019].

Smith, Nicholas H. (2016). INTRODUCTION: PHILOSOPHY OF WORK

Business Insider. (2019). The gap between the top 5% and everyone else has dramatically grown over the last 50 years. [online] Available at: https://www.businessinsider.com/real-household-income-over-time-2017-5?r=US&IR=T [Accessed 26 Apr. 2019].

tutor2u. (2019). Theories of Motivation (GCSE) | Business | tutor2u. [online] Available at: https://www.tutor2u.net/business/reference/theories-of-motivation-gcse [Accessed 26 Apr. 2019].

SAVING 10,000 - Winning a War on Suicide in Japan - 自殺者１万人を救う戦い - Japanese Documentary - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oo0SHLxc2d0

[rebeccahpedersen]

The Sad State of Toronto’s Rental Market

TorontoRealtyBlog

Tough subject today, no doubt about it.

And every time I write about the rental market, I try to tread carefully.

We all have different opinions on this subject, and whether you agree or not, I remain one-hundred percent convinced that our opinions are based on our own demographic and place in life.  I’m sure somewhere, there’s an owner of a $10 Million mansion in Toronto lamenting society’s most unfortunate, and maybe/maybe-not actually doing something about it.  But for the most part, our thoughts and opinions on something like the ability to choose a prospective tenant are shaped by where we are in our own lives, how we were brought up, and our own intrinsic value systems.

And “choosing” tenants right now, is an issue.

I’ve never seen a rental market this competitive, and I have probably said that six or seven times previously.

Properties are being leased sight-unseen, within hours of hitting MLS.  Tenants are “bidding” over the asking price, submitting 4-6 months’ deposit in advance, and writing personal letters to try and form a connection with the landlord.

And “offer dates” are being set for rentals.

Let me say that again, in case you’re skimming: offer dates are being set for properties on MLS for lease.

Check out this MLS listing for a midtown rental:

Is that insane, or what?

That’s for a lease listing!

But what can you do, if you’re the listing agent?  You’re truly damned if you do, damned if you don’t.

If you simply accept the first  offer that comes through, you piss off 50 other prospective tenants and their agents.  If you hold an “offer date,” then you’re a greedy, egotistical jerk who is getting high on the power of being a listing agent in a frenetic market.

I recently put a condo up for lease for an investor-client, and the response was mind-blowing.  I was inundated with showing requests the moment the listing went up on MLS – probably 20 the first day alone, not to mention a dozen emails from Realtor.ca.

And this is where things get dicey for both the landlord and the listing agent.

I believe in the free market.

I also believe there is far too much government intervention in our lives, and I also believe the world is absolutely off its rocker with political-correctness and bending-over-backwards to acquiesce to every social cause.  Like that guy, John, who once told you that you had ugly cuticles.  So nobody in North America should be permitted to name their child “John” ever again, and furthermore,  we should insist that every individual on the planet wears gloves at all times, to not alienate those people with bad cuticles.  If said person was on the TTC, and saw a beautiful hand, he or she might feel like a lesser being, and thus we should all wear gloves, all the time.

And so on.

But somewhere in all this cynicism, and within my own resistance to this new world we live in, we risk becoming like many other parts of the world, where the racists, bigots, and haters have been given a voice, a platform, and support.

Which brings me to today’s Toronto rental market.

As I said above, there simply has to be an intersection of a landlord/investor/owner/risk-taker protecting his or her investment and asset, and adhering to legal guidelines, and acceptable societal behaviour.

Ask ten different people what is “acceptable societal behaviour,” and you’ll get ten different answers; probably three hovering around the middle-ground, two on either sides, and then two both at complete opposite ends of the spectrum, representing conflicting ideologies.

I’ve written about rental discrimination so many times on this blog, that if you Google, “rental discrimination Toronto realty blog,” no fewer than eight links will appear, in a row, with links to blogs I’ve written on this topic.

But here are again.

So as is often the case on this blog, I want to turn this around to the readers, and ask for input.  I want to give you the details of five inquiries I received on this 600 square foot, 1-bedroom, 1-bathroom condo, and have you tell me if you think that a landlord would be discriminating against the potential tenant if the landlord said “no,” or if the landlord has a right, in those cases, to choose who he or she wants.

Three of these are text messages, and two are phone calls which are as close to verbatim as I can provide.

Inquiry #1:

“Hi David, would your landlord consider renting to two couples?  I know that might be a bit unorthodox, but they’re two wonderful, lovely young couples, hard-working, not party-goers, who lived together in a house away at school and want to stay together.  One couple would be in the bedroom and one couple would be in the den/dining area, which could really be its own little nook away from the TV and kitchen.  Let me know, they’re such a lovely couple, please consider them!”

–

Inquiry #2:

“My client is UOFT student who will pay three months rent prepaid looking for 16months lease term for school but no reference or employment or credit.”

–

Inquiry #3:

“I have a single mother to two children who is moving here from abroad.  Would you consider a single mother with two children from abroad? thank you”

–

Inquiry #4:

“My clients are both new to the city and will be looking for work immediately (currently living here, renting AirBnB, on the job hunt) but can provide references, credit scores, and pay stubs from their last jobs.  They could provide three months rent up front and one parent could co-sign (lives in Sarnia) if needed but they would prefer not to.”

–

Inquiry #5:

“Husband is relocating for work.  Wife stays home there is one child. There is mother too but they all live together now in smaller place than this. Beautiful condo they would cherish this opportunity.”

–

Halfway through writing the above, I realized this almost seems formulaic; like a test.

I assure you, these are (in some cases, copy-and-paste), verbatim.  These are only five of the inquiries I selected, because I had the same general inquiries multiple times, and because a few of the inquiries were totally normal.

Oh, wait.  With that last line, I guess I tipped my hand.

“….a few of the inquiries were totally normal.”

Which means that I believe the above inquiries are not normal, and thus somewhere in the city right now, a TRB-reader is angrily ripping off that Toronto Realty Blog belly-top, and replacing it with a Raptors/Mastercard giveaway t-shirt that was shot out of a cannon in 2015.

Well, crap.

If it makes you feel any better, I would actually call the five inquiries above “the new normal,” because they represent most of what we see out there these days.

And I’m not saying what I would or wouldn’t do if I were the landlord.  But I will say that most of my landlords are looking for the proverbial “perfect tenant,” whatever that means to them.  You can throw accusations here all you want – suggest the sex, race, age, employment status et al of the “perfect tenant,” but this is the entire point of this blog!

What does society out there, today, in an ever-changing sociopolitical and socio-economic climate, think of the way our rental market works?

You guys are anonymous, so tell me what you think.  Would you spend $500,000 on a rental property, to turn around and rent to an 18-year-old who has no job, no income, no references, no credit score, no guarantor, and no family on this continent?

And further to the point, is my even asking this considered “racist” by today’s standards?

Fifty-dollar follow-up question: for those that are taking the defensive position here, do you think that the government should somehow mandate, or regulate, what types of tenants “qualify,” and where?  Is there a scenario in which the above candidate, with no job, no income, no references, no credit history, and no guarantor, would be considered a “suitable” tenant, by law, and whereby a property owner couldn’t refuse them?

Because I think that’s where all this may be headed.

The PC Party in power throughout the Province might not get us there right away, but there’s an incredible housing shortage in the city of Toronto, rents have skyrocketed and show no signs of levelling off, let alone going down, builders are price-fixing (as per my blog post from last month, HERE), and something has to give.

I meant what I said above: it’s a sad state that the rental market is in, and I won’t pretend to have the answers.

But the other side of the equation here that we have yet to explore is expectations.

Is it realistic for a group of four people to rent a 1-bed, 1-bath condo?

Does a family of four truly expect to rent a 1-bedroom condo?

Some will be quick to point out that there are places across the globe where three full families can live in 600 square feet!  But if that’s not the norm here, then what do we make of similar expectations?

Should the unemployed expect to encounter little to no resistance from a landlord?

What’s realistic anymore?

It’s worth noting here, since the question will undoubtedly be raised, that in response to all five of the inquiries above, as well as every other inquiry I ever receive, I say the following: “I can’t speak for the landlord, it’s their decision to make.  They would need an offer and all accompanying documentation in order to make a decision.”

What else would I say?

Because it’s not my decision.  I can advise, and I can opine, but the decision isn’t up to me, so when somebody asks “Would your client, A, B, and C,” I have to check with the landlord-client first.

Some agents get upset, and respond, “Well I don’t want to waste my time showing the condo if your clients wouldn’t accept my tenant.”  And then we’re right back in a bind, aren’t we?  The landlord and the tenant; the chicken and the egg.  The landlord can’t make a decision without actually receiving an offer and supporting documentation, but the tenant and/or agent doesn’t want to spend time looking at the condo without an answer in advance.

Blame the landlord and/or listing agent (ie. me) for not being more forthcoming.  Blame the tenant for being lazy.  Take your pick.

It’s lose-lose, either way.

And I’m seeing a lot of loosing in today’s Toronto rental market.  People almost come to expect failure, which once again, can only be described as sad.

So give me your two cents on the scenario’s above, and let’s try not to hit below the belt…

The post The Sad State of Toronto’s Rental Market appeared first on Toronto Realty Blog.

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West Week Ever: Pop Culture In Review - 2/17/17

On the movie front I finally got around to watching Central Intelligence. I’ve been wanting to see it since it was in theaters, as I love Kevin Hart movies, but I didn’t get to see it until it hit HBO. And I’m glad I waited. In the film, Hart plays a middle-aged accountant whose best days were in high school, when he was the most popular kid in school. Meanwhile, The Rock was the fat kid that all the other kids made fun of. Hart’s life is thrown into high gear when The Rock comes back into his life and turns out to work for the CIA. Hart gets wrapped up in murder, intrigue, and secret files. Yeah…On paper, this probably sounded like a great idea. The trailers looked hilarious. Surprisingly co-written by actor Ike Barinholtz (MadTV, The Mindy Project), it’s got a great cast, but they’re not necessarily bringing their A game. It was kinda weird to see Hart essentially playing the straight man, while The Rock had this weird goofiness to him. I know he’s trying to make the audience wonder if he can be trusted or not, but I don’t feel he sells it well. I almost bought this on Black Friday, and I’m glad I put it back on the shelf, as I don’t need to see it again.

In movie news, it’s rumored that Mel Gibson is being courted to direct Suicide Squad 2. Now, this is pretty interesting. I mean, who better to direct a movie about deranged criminals than a deranged actor/director? Seriously, that dude couldn’t be poked with an 8 foot pole a year ago, but since Hacksaw Ridge, it’s like all has been forgiven. I mean, he told his girlfriend he hoped she was “raped by a pack of niggers”! And let’s not forget all the antisemitic stuff. Anyway, I guess everyone deserves a second chance or whatever, but I don’t even see why he’d take the job. Even with all the controversy, a comic book film seems…beneath him, even if it would be great PR to restore his image in the public eye.

In other controversial movie news, A Cure For Wellness took a page out of the “fake news” playbook for its marketing campaign. 20th Century Fox partnered with fake news sites to run false stories alongside ads for the movie. Considering how the concept of fake news is upsetting a lot of people on both sides of the political aisle lately, this was considered to be in poor taste. A Fox spokesperson tried to explain that the film is about a fake cure that actually makes people sicker, so they thought the campaign was fitting. Fox has since apologized for the move, but I’ll bet it’s not the last time someone does this.

In TV news, ABC announced that the next season of The Bachelorette would star Rachel Lindsay as the first Black Bachelorette. This is important for a few reasons. First off, ABC is essentially torpedoing the notion that the current season of The Bachelor even matters anymore. After all, Lindsay is still in the running as one of the remaining finalists of the current cycle of the show. By doing this, ABC is spoiling the fact that she doesn’t win, before the finale has even aired. I’ve never watched the show prior to this season (What? It’s on at the gym!), but I’ve read that this is a particularly disappointing season. The current Bachelor, Nick Viall, is pretty boring, and is also on his fourth go-round with the franchise, having previously been a contestant on seasons 10 and 11 of The Bachelorette, as well as season 3 of Bachelor In Paradise. I mean, if he hasn’t found love by now, then he’d might as well just pack it in! The odd part to me, though, is the choice of Lindsay. I mean, I’ve been watching TV for a LONG time, and it used to be that the most outlandish cast member is the one who gets the spin-off. This season, that honor goes to Corinne, a 24 year old businesswoman who has a nanny for HERSELF, and has repeatedly tried to fuck Nick into choosing her, only to be rebuffed every time. She’s always shocked that someone could reject someone as hot as she is, but that shock never stops her from trying again. If you want good television, you make Corinne the next Bachelorette. Plus, Lindsay isn’t even that interesting. In all the episodes I’ve seen, I can’t really understand why she’s still around unless the plan was always for her to be the next Bachelorette. I mean, after 33 cycles of all three shows combined, it’s time for some diversity, and it’ll definitely make things interesting – ESPECIALLY when they do the home visits. But right now, I’m just not seeing any reason for the choice of Lindsay other than the fact that she’s Black. And she’s not even the best Black chick they had this season. Nah, they sent those chicks home already.

There was an interesting interview over on TV Line with Arrow‘s co-showrunner Marc Guggenheim, where he basically revealed that those previously-announced DCTV contracts don’t really mean that much. If you remember, over the summer it was announced that Wentworth Miller, John Barrowman, and Katie Cassidy had signed DCTV exclusive deals, which would allow them to pop up in any of the Berlantiverse shows. While the details of the deal were unknown, it certainly seemed like they’d be doing more with them than they are. Sure, Miller has popped up as a hallucination on Legends, and Barrowman’s also on Legends, but Cassidy hasn’t really been used outside of Arrow this season (that I know of. I’m still behind on The Flash). When asked if Cassidy would be popping up before Arrow‘s season is over, Guggenheim replied:

“We have an idea for how to see [Katie] again, but we haven’t made a deal with her,” Guggenheim shared. “She’s not a series regular anymore, so we have to make a contract with her, and she’s got to be available. We haven’t had those conversations. But… we know exactly what we do want to do.

They have to make a contract with her? Then what was the point of last summer’s announcement? I realize it’s pilot season, so she’s got to look out for herself since she’s no longer a series regular, but the contract seemed to ensure she’d have work, and be available for it should it arise. It’s starting to be clear that these “exclusive” contracts are just as useless as comic exclusive contracts, which basically just mean you can’t work for Marvel if you’re working for DC and vice versa. You can still work for Image and nobody bats an eye.

In a surprising announcement, we’re getting a Love Actually sequel, but it’s not what you think it is. See, in the UK, they have this charity event called Red Nose Day, where they air a TV special to raise money for Comic Relief, which helps people in need in Africa and The UK. In its 30 year history, the event has raise over £1 billion. In the UK, Red Nose Day culminates in a telethon where all sorts of specials and reunions occur. The idea was brought to the US back in 2015, with Walgreens selling the red noses for charity. Well, this year, a bunch of members of the original cast of the film are getting back together for a 10-minute special that will show us where they all are today. Right now, the special is expected to include Hugh Grant, Keira Knightley, Colin Firth, Martine McCutcheon (YAY!), Liam Neeson, Bill Nighy, Rowan Atkinson (really? He wasn’t even that important), Andrew Lincoln, Lucia Moniz, Thomas Brodie-Sangster and Olivia Olson. It’ll be really interesting to see where these characters are, 14 years later. It’s a shame we’re only getting ten minutes, but I’ll take what I can get. The special will air March 24th in the UK and May 25th in America. Yup, two months later. So, look for it on YouTube March 25th.

Rejoice, fellow titty enthusiasts! After a year of trying to “go legit”, Playboy has announced that nudity is returning to its pages as of its next issue. The decision to remove nudity didn’t really help sales much, which was somewhat surprising to me. See, I figured the lack of nudity would mean you’d see it in grocery stores and pharmacies, right next to Maxim and GQ. But that never happened. I guess it’s because the Playboy brand is known for nudity, even when the magazine itself decides to eschew it. But you bushwackers are gonna be disappointed, as the returning nudity will only feature breasts and butts for the time being.

This week, I had the pleasure of joining my pal, Classick, on the newest episode of Classick Team-Up. We discussed 24 Legacy, Turkish Airlines, and Trump’s America. Trust me, it all makes sense. Anyway, if you’re looking for some podcastin’ fo’ yo’ ears, check check check it out!

Things You Might Have Missed This Week

Adele “robbed” Beyoncé of the Album of the Year Grammy at this year’s awards ceremony. Whatever…

Country newcomer Maren Morris pulled off a major upset by winning Best Country Solo Performance Grammy over established award darlings Carrie Underwood, Keith Urban, and Miranda Lambert

With recent successful revivals of old shows, Fox is finally keen to revive sci fi cult fave Firefly – the only catch is that show creator Joss Whedon has to come back, and they figure he’s too busy right now. I hope he doesn’t call their bluff. That show bored the shit out of me.

Speaking of Fox, they blew my mind by renewing Lucifer this week for a 3rd season. I didn’t think it would make it through season 1!

ABC renewed their TGIT lineup comprised of Grey’s Anatomy, Scandal, and How To Get Away With Murder for next season.

NBC renewed the wonderful Superstore for a 3rd season.

Cloverfield director Matt Reeves is in talks to replace Ben Affleck as director of The Batman. Meanwhile, the rumor is that Affleck is trying to walk away from the film completely.

Poor Alanis Morissette! I recently wrote about how her former manager stole around $5 million from her, and this week over $2 million in jewelry was stolen from her home.

In the Remakes Nobody Wanted department, Frank Grillo will star in an American version of modern-day action classic The Raid

In what I’ve heard was a dreadfully unfunny stand up special, Nick Cannon said that NBC was keeping him from being himself as host of America’s Got Talent. As a result, he’s said he’s leaving the show.

Man, before Sunday night we had no idea who or what “Gnarley Davidson” was. Now, I can’t understand how we ever lived without him. At the Grammys, Cee Lo Green debuted his new solid gold persona, bewildering millions. And the meme machine got crankin’. He was photoshopped into pictures of Donald Trump’s house.

He was photoshopped into pictures of the Power Rangers.

The best part, however, wasn’t even a meme, but actual video of his departure from the awards. After all, he didn’t win anything, so why stick around?

That, folks, is how a true West Week Ever recipient leaves an awards ceremony. So, it should go without saying at this point, but Cee Lo Green/Gnarly Davidson had the West Week Ever.