I know! It's awesome! I really want to know if there's more of a story behind this than there seems to be.

I wonder if this was one of the last few straws on Starwipe's back?

I met someone recently who clowns as her side gig. She was really sweet and friendly and enthusiastic about her clowning. I wonder what she thinks about the constant killer clown jokes.

Maybe just show her the issue where the Maxx is having that absurd fight while Julie and Glorie have that conversation about violence and sexualization in media as a teaser for what the comic can do? I remember that one blasting my head open when I was just small. It was like "this exists. This is something people…

I have no problem with vloggers making their money that way. It's totally fair for them to get paid for what they do, even if I usually don't get it, and they have as much right to ask for tips as any performer.

The Maxx was a pretty low-budget cartoon, but it seriously opened me up to things when I was a kid. To this day, when something seems ominous to me, I think "this is what we writers call foreshadowing" in Sarah's voice.

I don't think that the fans get that money, though. I think that the ad revenue gets directed to the profit-sharing division, and random fan channels don't have profit-sharing agreements. I could be totally wrong about this, though.

Given your time frame, I'd prioritize Toronto. If you only have two days, you'll want to see as much of the city as you can. If you want to take in some scenery, you could consider hopping off the 403 before Oakville to check out Bronte Creek Provincial Park. Your time is limited, though, so hopefully the area will…

Enjoy!

It's mostly just individual groups who have decided to do that, I think. I gave to Amanda Palmer once because I had downloaded some albums when I was younger and this gave me a chance to pay them up. There was a busking website that had a complicated tipping system too, but I haven't been there in years.

What's the alternative, though? You have to sell something to make money. The music industry is never going back to the way it was. What can you sell that people can't just download? Live experiences and physical objects fit the bill right now, so that's what musicians are using to make their money.

Which route are you taking to Toronto from Niagara? There are lots of towns in between, depending on how much you stray from the highway. My advice is to prepare for humidity, as I think it's probably going to ramp up next week, and check out at least one port town. I'll always stump for Port Stanley, and it'll be…

If I decided to commit financial suicide and try working as a musician full-time, Montreal would be the only meaningful choice. It's our music city (Toronto and Vancouver obviously have massive scenes, but they're more insular) and I've heard what you've said about the rent from other people as well. Good place for…

I went to a show once that was a whole bunch of local comics doing 5-minute bits for hours on end. It was easy to note which ones didn't really have anything to talk about, as they just went straight for tired shock value in order to try to get some reaction. Doesn't work so well when everyone else is doing the same…

Did you ever see the thread on a bodybuilding forum where bodybuilders argued over how many days there are in a week?

Is the stance of activity vs. passivity really the dividing line, though? It seems to me that it's more a matter of knowledge (as in whether or not you know what you're supporting) and coercion (as in the extent to which your support is voluntary). It doesn't seem to me like passively supporting something you know…

I was really, really into that album when it came out. I didn't listen to it for a good long while after that. When I returned to it, I noticed that a) it was mastered in such a way as to threaten headaches on some songs and b) it had way more songs than I'd remembered. It's close to being a double album on a…

I don't trust you, but we can settle this over dinner. What are we having?

Lots of people just straight-out don't listen to lyrics. There's a reason that pop songs don't hit #1 if the chorus is at all complicated to sing or understand. If you're actually listening to the words in "I would do anything for love", the meaning is entirely clear, no obscurity at all.

Done right, the tip jar works. I've given to artists through their virtual tip jars before. It seems like the economics work out better than you'd think. I don't think that Youtube would do that automatically, though; they have a slightly contentious relationship with the record companies as it stands. Maybe…