[PHOTO] "Looking west, Yonge and Bloor, 8:15 pm, 31 August 2011"

The original version of this picture is my cell phone's wallpaper. (Yes, I took it at Yonge and Bloor, from the northeast corner at that, looking west down Bloor Street West, last night at 8:15 on the 31st of August.)

The original picture is here.

[MUSIC] Garbage, "Only Happy When It Rains"

Johnny Pez' linkage to Garbage's signature song "Only Happy When It Rains" reminded me of my own fondness for the song, expressed way back in 2005.

I'd still compare Shirley Manson to Sylvia Plath, the two authors with their own lyrics angrily and hopelessly communicating their depression to their audiences, telling everything including--in a passive-aggressive style--their belief that nothing can be done to change things for the better. I'd still say that the song is a great one, on-target and lyrical and well-sung and well-performed, and I'd still say that the video is good accompaniment.

I only smile in the dark
My only comfort is the night gone black
I didn't accidentally tell you that
I'm only happy when it rains
You'll get the message by the time I'm through
When I complain about me and you
I'm only happy when it rains

All I'd add is that I now get how this song is fundamentally a sad song.

[BLOG] Some Thursday links

• 80 Beats reports that most of the patients who went through an experimental gene therapy that had a side-effect of inducing leukemia are fine. Will gene therapy come back into vogue?


• Bad Astronomy alerted its readers to the very bright supernova in galaxy Messier 101, just 25 million light years away.


• Daniel Drezner points out the ways in which the recent NATO involvement in Libya should not be seen as paradigmatic.


• The Discoblog reports on how a recent study confirming the existence of male bisexuals did that. Good scientific, it turns out, helps.


• Far Outliers shares the news that half of the population of Belarus was killed or displaced by the Second World War.


• The reconstruction of a well where, in 13th century England, a Jewish family was murdered and disposed of features at Inuit Panda Scarlet Carwash. (It's usually a much more cheerful blog.)


• At The Search, Douglas Todd blogs about the extent to which Jack Layton's beliefs and policies were influenced by the United Church of Canada.


• Slap Upside the Head notes that a Canadian same-sex female married couple was prevented from entering US Customs' family entrance because of the Defence of Marriage Act in our southern neighbour. I mean, really.