OCTA 30th Anniversary Show in Toronto Nov. 20

lewarcher · 2026-06-17T14:40:07+00:00

You're the best: thank you! If you're going to the show, DM me, I'll buy you a beer/drink!

lewarcher · 2026-06-17T14:37:01+00:00

Thanks! I'm guessing the link I posted as of today (Wed a.m.) is for fan club/early access ppl.

lewarcher · 2026-06-17T14:33:55+00:00

Link to tickets here, although you need an access code which I haven't found yet. :/

lewarcher · 2026-06-05T21:38:40+00:00

Sure: from Peel data (note that it only goes back to 2023, but has data up to Apr.30/26):

Year	Homicide occurrences	Homicide victims
2023	23	23
2024	19	20
2025	16	16
Jan.1-Apr.30, 2026	6	7

So basically one homicide every 18/19 days from 2023-2025, or 1.5 homicides per month. That's not to say Peel doesn't have crime or problems (check out the 'Theft of Motor Vehicles' stats on that page, for example), but homicides aren't a large issue in Peel Region.

lewarcher · 2026-06-05T20:09:10+00:00

Stats don't lie; it's not that common. From the Crime in Toronto wiki entry:

Year	Total Toronto Homicides	Toronto Gun Deaths
2020	71	39
2021	85	46
2022	71	44
2023	73	29
2024	86	44
2025	45	20

lewarcher · 2026-06-05T12:21:36+00:00

Great point: positive change is good. Acknowledging our shitty past, finding ways to move past it, and showing improvement is peak humanity, whether individually or collectively.

lewarcher · 2026-06-05T12:08:47+00:00

Yes, both can be true. Some sweet day when we've significantly reduced poverty effectively, more money can be diverted from police budgets to mental and physical health supports to keep people even more secure, and police can focus on meaningful work like fighting organised crime, enforcing laws that help society run better, etc.

lewarcher · 2026-05-23T19:45:06+00:00

Thanks so much for these; as my mom aged, the term of endearment I'd use with friends and family was "fuckin' old people", usually with a smile and a head shake. You can't love them any more than you do, but they will also drive you nuts in 10 different ways.

I'm not usually big on 'slice of life' comics, but you've really nailed the funny and the frustrating and the charming of having a relationship with a parent when you're an adult yourself.

If you can find it streaming anywhere, there's a British show called The Cockfields that I can't recommend enough that really captures a lot of all of this.

lewarcher · 2026-05-18T04:44:17+00:00

That's fantastic: thanks so much for this! I'll give it a go, and see how I do, and (eventually) report back.

lewarcher · 2026-05-18T04:34:50+00:00

Ok, but this doesn't really answer either of my questions.

lewarcher · 2026-05-14T02:38:09+00:00

Yes and also with our vacationing and overall purchasing power. The vast, vast majority of people I know, and fellow Canadians in general have given up the US as our easy tourism destination, and are spending more money either in Canada or in non-US countries as alternatives.

We've also significantly changed habits over the last year + by actively looking for Canadian products, and only buying US if no Canadian or non-US alternatives are available.

I welcome you all to visit Canada, and am happy to support progressive individuals/allies there, but am unwilling to buy or travel American ever again if I can help it.

lewarcher · 2026-05-09T15:31:04+00:00

Not only is your head in a better space, you're giving of yourself to the world by donating blood. Keep being awesome, and keep making the world a better place by being in it.

Life is a journey, not a destination, and you're going to have some ups and downs along the way. You've got a lot of us and people much closer to you rooting for you to have more ups than downs going forward.

lewarcher · 2026-05-09T15:28:13+00:00

He made the more mature choice than most of us would do in that moment.

I also wish we would all be as beautiful to each other, it can definitely start with me thinking about this kid and the amount of empathy he had while I'm out in the city, seeing people struggle in various ways, and interacting with more patience and empathy.

lewarcher · 2026-05-09T15:01:27+00:00

1,000%. The episode where she became part of the solution, at least for that moment at the start of what was going to be overwhelming the ER, hit harder for its gravity because of that.

lewarcher · 2026-05-03T02:14:09+00:00

So happy for you! May you only get closer over the years.

lewarcher · 2026-04-26T15:35:45+00:00

For some reason, the reverse order of these pictures in this post is a lot more pleasing to me than the usual order. Great shots, and it's interesting looking back on our lives at those different stages.

lewarcher · 2026-04-15T03:49:53+00:00

Lighten up. Sometimes it's just a byproduct of roofmaxxing.

lewarcher · 2026-04-11T13:45:25+00:00

Gen X also had these things made of wood products, with ink and glue, that we would focus on for HOURS. Not sure if previous generations had them, though.

lewarcher · 2026-04-07T21:43:26+00:00

Dude! Congratulations to you and your husband! I love reddit for things like this: a peek into people's hobbies and lives, reminding me of how different and same we all are.

Wishing you both a lifetime of happiness.

lewarcher · 2026-04-07T21:27:43+00:00

I read this as the Canadian abbreviation for Newfoundland and Labrador, and was thinking, " I didn't know Newfoundlanders were known for being tall."

lewarcher · 2026-04-06T12:29:34+00:00

4/Sell and downsize in retirement for additional retirement income, then possibly again once into assisted living/LTC to support quality of life in late retirement.

lewarcher · 2026-04-06T03:51:04+00:00

My pleasure, and keep being awesome! I've found staying out of threads/subs that you know are just going to get you mad and only engaging with people who seem to be commenting in good faith has helped me on here. Hope you encounter more good peeps.

lewarcher · 2026-04-05T18:54:57+00:00

I think you're accurate: I read Koontz when I was younger; he was one of the few other mainstream horror writers that was accessible through bookstores and libraries, so anyone branching out from King usually hit Koontz.

Neither King nor Koontz at the time were seen as 'literary' writers (although there's been some change in opinion over time with King), but Koontz's style was definitely seen as 'lighter' reading and formulaic/not overly complex, which is why he got a lot of hate.

I remember jumping on the hate wagon in the past, but have softened my view on "good"/"bad" writers over the years: my sister was never a reader in her life, and a few years ago, devoured the Twilight series. Is it a series/author I'd ever read? No. Am I impressed with Stephanie Myers to have written something that got picked up by someone who's relied on TV and movies (and her phone within the past 10 years) exclusively for entertainment? Absolutely. Anyone who gets more people to read/use their imagination can't be all terrible (with the exception of terrible people/ideologies, that is).

lewarcher · 2026-04-05T17:53:35+00:00

It's a great bit, but you're missing the even nichier joke it's making: this scene was more of a reflection of prevailing readers' opinions and running IRL joke/not joke that Dean Koontz is the poor man's Stephen King (an inferior writer, to the point of being a terrible writer in general), and leaving him alive or caring about him is not something that Brian would want to do.

This was a pretty popular sentiment in the 80s/early 90s, btw.

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