Welcome to Human Pursuits, the column that features need-to-know names and stories in media and other creative spaces. Today, a note on civic irresponsibility, and some updates from Friends of the Newsletter.
The sun was hot, and the lines were long, and so Leah and I decided, after waiting more than an hour, to forego our civic duty and not cast a ballot in this year’s by-election.
It was an unusual decision, but not entirely unexpected. We had arrived just before noon to find dozens of people standing wearily on the sidewalk. Every now and then, they would shuffle forward, nickle and diming their way down 12th Avenue.
Most were committed to staying. Some had to leave.
At one point, an older woman with short blonde hair and a bad back asked me to call her a cab. She had been standing in front of us for who knows how long. She said she couldn’t wait any longer. She was sweating profusely.
The clincher was that the three of us were right near the entrance. We were still standing there minutes later, when the yellow van pulled up to the curb and whisked her away. I could see the line extended into the community centre. I could also see that it didn’t appear to stop. I told Leah as much. “Go check and make sure we’re actually near the front” she replied.
We weren’t. The line entered the community centre and exited onto a pedway, where it continued into the neighbouring hockey arena. Our ballots were effectively spoiled and we were already late to meet our friends.
I walked back to our spot in line and told Leah the state of things. People around us groaned.
“I thought this was the front,” said a voice.
“I know,” said Leah “I’m sorry.”
I booked an Evo and together we tore east across Broadway, past the buses, and the general public, 85 per cent of whom also didn’t vote.
“Can you believe that?” I said, as we turned north onto Hemlock, “I can’t believe that.”
We parked the car by the sea wall and walked quickly to the restaurant.
We were failures, but they let us sit on the patio anyways. I had two amber beers, and a basket of chicken tenders, and the waiter — who did a wonderful job avoiding eye contact and forgetting our orders — surprised us by charging an auto gratuity, even though there were only seven of us. Another round for me and my chums.
Across the city, the lines to vote got longer and longer. People posted waiting times on the internet. Most were over an hour. Some were closer to two. Eventually, the polling stations closed, and they counted the ballots.
Vancouver elected a socialist and a former resident of Australia. The by-election was seen as a referendum on the mayor and his fellow party members. The balance of power on council was not fundamentally altered.
Oh Messy Life
ICYMI: I really enjoyed Friday’s chat with . We talked about books, whimsy, and summer bucketlists. FWIW, I think Leah and I are going to try and go back to Salt Spring Island…
Speaking of books, happy publishing week to the good brothers and Mark Hoppus. I’m currently juggling Catch-22 and Exhalation: Stories by Ted Chiang, but I plan on diving into Fahrenheit-182: A Memoir next. Buy it HERE.
Little charmer: It was fun to see get a shout-out on the recent Southern Charm reunion.
Someday I will stop talking about ’s album rollout, but today is not that day. The band just announced six shows in Toronto this July. They’re calling it Mega-City Madness. Great idea, sounds super fun and not at all exhausting for Steve. Tickets go on sale 10 AM east Friday.
Tariff watch: was on Fashion People talking watches and the U.S. trade war. Listen HERE.
I don’t really listen to Black Country, New Road, but I appreciated ’s take on their new album, and the myth of male genius. She writes:
It's clear the band doesn't feel like they need to "honor" the previous version of the band the way these people want them to and many of their fans agree. I think it feels in the spirit of the band and the highly collaborative scene they come out of to continue on… Singular male genius narratives are dismissive of the collaborative nature of writing music and, as we see here, fueled by an undercurrent of misogyny.
Proper Chune
Society has mostly moved on from The Academy Is… which is a shame because their second album has some absolute bangers. Some real swagger on this one.
My next guest is…
from Illuminati Hotties. Her recent single, ‘777’, is one of my favourite songs of 2025, and her back catalogue is full of heaters.
Meme machine
when i say Human Pursuits ate this is what i mean
