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In this issue...

• New Canadian trend: Cafés where only vinyl records are played

• CBC Radio's Under the Influence: Advertising in outer space

• By the numbers X 10 + 1

• Airline blames 9-year-old girl for not noticing hidden camera in airplane bathroom

• U.S. government going after Ticketmaster for monopolizing the marketplace for event tickets

• Father's Day is Sunday, June 16

• Nearly 1,200 copies sold! #1 bestseller on Amazon: Acadian Recipes and More - Volume 1. French version just released!

• Before you go: 7 things you may have missed last week

... and trivia, quotes, community events and more!

New Canadian trend: Cafés where only vinyl records are played

With sales of music on vinyl booming, cafés are popping up in Canada featuring music played on good ol' records - and not on CDs or otherwise downloaded. The hisses, pops and scratches are all there, providing clients with a throwback to an atmosphere of yesterday.

Article excerpt: "There was a time when the future of vinyl looked bleak. As convenience took precedence over the listening experience, music players seemed to only get smaller and audio files more compressed. But the physical format has been making a comeback.

Last year, revenue from record sales grew by double digits in the U.S. to $1.4 billion. Vinyl has been booming in Canada too, with sales more than doubling between 2019 and 2021. And while these figures don't hold a candle to the billions generated by streaming behemoths, they do say something about the ways we're engaging with music - and help explain why 'listening bars' have been popping up in cities around the world.

'We only play vinyl… we don't even have the ability to play a digital file,' record bar co-owner Jodie Dewald told CBC Life. At Dewald's downtown Toronto establishment, The Little Jerry, patrons can listen to recorded music in all its velvety, textured glory thanks to a custom high-fidelity sound system."

I don't know about you, but these cafés sound amazing. A cocktail in hand on a late Friday afternoon after work listening to smooth jazz on a hi-fi stereo. I'm relazed just thinking about it!

Read: Vinyl cafés and listening bars are popping up across Canada - here's where to find these hi-fi hangouts.

CBC Radio's Under the Influence: Advertising in outer space

The latest episode of CBC Radio's Under the Influence with host Terry O'Reilly looked at advertising in the great beyond... outer space!

• May 30, 2024 - Houston, We Have Pizza: Advertising in Outer Space. Synopsis: "This week, we shoot for the moon. Now that commercialized space travel has arrived, the world of marketing is setting its sights on the stars. We’ll talk about ads on rocket ships, ads on spacesuits and television commercials filmed on the International Space Station. There are companies who want to employ hundreds of tiny satellites to create logos in the night sky. Some companies even want to put ads on the moon. And those ads might even be cheaper than Super Bowl commercials." Click here to listen to the episode.

Click here for the show's website and here for the show's podcast archive.

By the numbers X 10 + 1

• 1. Want to keep your brain sharp? Here are 5 things you can do.

• 2. 5% of women at military colleges report being sexually attacked

• 3. The 5 best VPN services of 2024

• 4. 5 books to help you excel as a more innovative leader

• 5. How to make money fast: 10 real ways to make money quickly

• 6. 11 upside-down cakes your family will flip for

• 7. 15 games like Wordle to spend lunchtime with in 2024

• 8. Instant messaging service ICQ is shutting down after 27 years

• 9. The dreams of a 60-year-old beauty contestant come to an abrupt end in Argentina

• 10. U.S. says stop driving 84,000 older Nissan vehicles over unrepaired recalled air bags

• Bonus: 13 must-see fashion looks from the Cannes Film Festival 2024

Airline blames 9-year-old girl for not noticing hidden camera in airplane bathroom

Evil. Just evil. American Airlines is now apologizing after it blamed a nine-year-old (!!!) girl for not realizing that one of their own employees was recording her using the bathroom during a flight. Yup, her fault! Where did that lawyer get their degree? Out of a Cracker Jack box?

Article excerpt: "American Airlines has distanced itself from a court filing in which the carrier said a nine-year-old girl should have noticed there was a camera taped to the seat of an airplane lavatory.

A former flight attendant is accused of luring girls to use the lavatory after taping his iPhone to the toilet seat. The nine-year-old's family flew from Texas to California on American last year and sued the airline after the FBI told them that videos of the girl were found on the flight attendant's phone.

In response to the lawsuit, American said in a court document that it would dispute the family's claim by showing that any injuries the nine-year-old girl suffered were caused by the girl's 'own fault and negligence, were proximately caused by (her) use of the compromised lavatory, which she knew or should have known contained a visible and illuminated recording device.'

An American spokesperson said Thursday that outside lawyers working for the company 'made an error in this filing.'

'We do not believe this child is at fault, and we take the allegations involving a former team member very seriously,' the spokesperson said."

Well, doesn't that just take the cake? The airline claimed a nine-year-old should have known. A child. A minor. Sure, because I'm sure most courts would be just fine with a child being legally competent to provide this sort of consent, right? The idiocy boggles the mind.

I think American Airlines may need to get some new lawyers if they think that any judge or jury will be OK with a corporation trying to assert that a nine-year-old should know when she's being recorded peeing in an airline bathroom. You know, because that just happens all the time and is common practice on all flights. People just know this happens, right??

The next time you fly American Airlines, it may be best to just pee in a cup in the middle of the aisle and sell tickets to their staff so they can watch.

Read: American Airlines retreats after blaming a 9-year-old for not seeing a hidden camera in a lavatory.

U.S. government going after Ticketmaster for monopolizing the marketplace for event tickets

Finally, this ridiculous monopoly that Ticketmaster holds over concert tickets in the U.S. and Canada may be coming to an end. The U.S. Dept. of Justice is suing to break up Live Nation, which owns Ticketmaster.

Article excerpt: "Canadians are hopeful that a U.S. lawsuit against concert promoter Live Nation will provide some relief to cash-strapped fans and musicians.

The U.S. Justice Department (DOJ) and a group of 30 states and the District of Columbia on Thursday sued to break up Live Nation, arguing the big concert promoter and its Ticketmaster unit illegally inflated concert ticket prices and hurt artists.

'It is time to break up Live Nation,' said U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland.

Shae Harding, a Taylor Swift fan and mom of two in Langley, B.C., says she couldn't get through the Ticketmaster website to get tickets to the Vancouver concert for herself and her two daughters when they went on sale in November, calling the situation 'kind of a nightmare.'

Thousands of Swifties were left in a similar position, and tickets were quickly posted for resale at exorbitant prices, some exceeding $26,000.

Harding eventually got tickets through a friend at face value, which was $175 apiece for nosebleeds.

'Something has to be done to stop this, because it's just going to kill concerts. I mean, I've seen tickets go for thousands, tens of thousands of dollars for one ticket and that's insane to me. That's just not right,' she told CBC Thursday.

Harding said she is thankful for her friend getting the tickets, but will forever have a sour taste in her mouth when it comes to Ticketmaster."

If you've ever tried to buy tickets to popular concerts, the experience can be heartbreaking. A huge number of tickets are snatched up by re-sellers who have no intention of attending the concert, and whose only goal is to make a buck by trying to squeeze desperate fans out of their hard-earned money. My own experience at a local concert saw the two seats in front of me go for triple what I paid because they were desperate to see the singer and virtual scalpers had bought so many seats.

It will be a good day when this monopoly is broken up!

Read: U.S. suing Ticketmaster owner Live Nation, Related: Canadian Taylor Swift fans are flying to Europe for cheaper concert tickets.

Father's Day is Sunday, June 16

As we move into June, it's time to start thinking of getting for Father's Day. Here are some links to help you get ready:

• 3 cocktails that will bring The Gentleman’s Flavor to Father’s Day

• 20 Father’s Day gifts to show dad you care

• 37 best Father’s Day gifts no Dad can resist

• The 49 best Father’s Day gifts 2024

• The Verge’s 2024 Father’s Day gift guide

• The unbeatable Father’s Day gift list

• Gifts that might actually impress your dad this Father’s Day

• Thank Dad with a Toronto Blue Jays Father's Day hat

• Artists reinvent the Father's Day card for better mental health outcomes

• The best Father’s Day gifts for plant pros

Nearly 1,200 copies sold! #1 bestseller on Amazon: Acadian Recipes and More - Volume 1. French version released!

My very first book is now available for purchase! Acadian Recipes and More - Volume 1 is a compilation of recipes gathered from members of the Acadian Poutine Râpée Facebook Group and elsewhere.

There are more than 100 recipes available in the book - many of which are family recipes that are impossible to find! Enjoy the extra bonuses of exclusive goodies from Marven's Biscuits and Cy's Seafood Restaurant, too - both iconic food legends in Moncton, New Brunswick!

The print edition and ebook (Kindle) are available exclusively on Amazon. Click on the country you live in to visit the appropriate site for purchase:

• Amazon Canada (English edition)

• NEW! Amazon Canada (French edition)

• Amazon U.S. (English edition with harcover option available)

• Kobo.com (for Kobo ebook readers, English version)

I'm also pleased to announce that the next two books in the series will be released this year. Acadian Recipes and More - Volume 2 (June 2024) and Acadian Recipes and More - Holidays (September 2024). Stay tuned!

This is a great book for delicious homestyle recipes. Enjoy!

Before you go: 7 things you may have missed last week

• 1. Dabney Coleman, who starred in 9 to 5 and Tootsie, dies at 92 (see photo)

• 2. New COVID-19 subvariants become the dominant strains in Canada

• 3. Bill Walton, a Basketball Hall of Fame player who became a star broadcaster, dies of cancer at 71

• 4. Board orders deportation for trucker in horrific Humboldt Broncos crash

• 5. Morgan Spurlock, star of Super Size Me documentary, dead at 53 from complications of cancer

• 6. Airplane turbulence is getting worse. Scientists explain why.

• 7. Further information on the RCMP’s inclusion of the Ribbon Skirt into the approved ceremonial dress for Indigenous members

Trivia: Did you know?

The final vote in Canada's Parliament to choose a national flag was between the so-called Pearson Pennant (top), designed by Alan Beddoe (1893-1975), and the current flag (bottom), designed by George Stanley (1907-2002), who eventually went on to serve as Lieutenant-Governor of New Brunswick from 1981 to 1987.

Canada's new flag was adopted by the House of Commons on December 15, 1964, ratified by the Senate on December 17, 1964, and proclaimed by Queen Elizabeth II, taking effect on February 15, 1965, when it was raised for the first time on Parliament Hill.

Quotes of note

• 1. "I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear."

- Nelson Mandela (1918-2013), President of South Africa (1994-1999) (see photo)

• 2. "A true flag is not something you can really design. A true flag is torn from the soul of the people. A flag is something that everyone owns, and that's why they work."

- Gilbert Baker

• 3. "If you were born with the ability to change someone’s perspective or emotions, never waste that gift. It is one of the most powerful gifts God can give - the ability to influence."

- Shannon L. Alder

• 4. "Do not have your concert first, and then tune your instrument afterwards."

- James Hudson Taylor

• 5. "True teachers use themselves as bridges over which they invite their students to cross; then, having facilitated their crossing, joyfully collapse, encouraging them to create bridges of their own."

- Nikos Kazantzakis

• 6. "Making the decision to have a child is momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body."

- Elizabeth Stone

• 7. "I hate housework. You make the beds, you do the dishes - and six months later, you have to start all over again."

- Joan Rivers

• 8. "Honestly, if I were two-faced, would I be showing you this one?"

- Abraham Lincoln

• 9. "Make no mistake about why these babies are here - they are here to replace us."

- Jerry Seinfeld

• 10. "Alcohol gives you infinite patience for stupidity."

- Sammy Davis Jr.

(Photo © John Mathew Smith 2001)

Enjoy the great outdoors with the Greater Moncton Walking Group

In June, the group is walking in Mapleton Park, meeting at the Rotary Lodge parking lot.

The group meets for walks every Tuesday and Thursday at 8:30 a.m. New participants are always welcome! For more information, please contact Wayne Harrigan at 506-386-2187 or via email.

About this newsletter

Brian Cormier's Weekly Update is distributed weekly from September to June via email to more than 500 subscribers in addition to many others who access it online. If you're reading this newsletter online and want to subscribe, please email me, fill out the subscription form on my website, or subscribe via the "Join Our Email List" button at the top of the newsletter (if you're viewing this in a browser.) This newsletter is not published in July and August and on holidays.