@boyreporter C'mon. It was a provocation. I'd say a worthy one. But vitriol (which is also a valid form of disagreeing!) was inevitable.

This could have been about any one of dozens of mags: The Onion skewers TIME: http://j.mp/aB4cpn

@canice @jordanclaire It's not like I want a "Don't Support Our Troops" bumper sticker. It's just a false rhetorical choice.

@jordanclaire @canice I guess I just instincively recoil from "supportist" rhetoric. If there's no reasonable antithesis, why engage?

@jordanclaire Incidentally, just to add to the WTF-ness of it all, I am mayor of that sushi restaurant on foursquare. Is this a life?

@jordanclaire So bizarre. "To support the troops, we're going to paint a dove on the back of a sushi restaurant near the coroner's office."

@jordanclaire Hm, I'll go take a look—that's like a block from my house. "Highway of Heroes" + "anti-violence" = ???

@jordanclaire I think that's a common problem with sanctioned graffiti; it cages an ephemeral art form that can't survive in captivity.

@jordanclaire Is this *your* highschool graffiti experimentation we're talking about? I won't turn you in, I swear!

I'm normally pro-graffiti, but not when the results are so painfully high-school: http://j.mp/9FHwYw

Many more thoughts on the process, but won't get into it here. Questions welcome. (I may indulge a tl;dr version on Posterous later.)

And that's all she wrote. I was deemed "acceptable" by the court, but challenged by defence counsel. I won't be a juror. Done!

@IraKates This is a jury panel, I'm not a juror. No one is prohibited from talking about the process in general terms.

Also, people's weak-sauce reasons for asking to be dismissed are generally successful. Batting .950, I would say. Stalwarts remain.

Jury update! Now ensconced with a few others in isolation room waiting to be individually interrogated about...something. Lost in legal fog.

@MP_Toronto I don't doubt the prep work required that goes on behind the scenes, of course. But the official hours seem...cramped.

@AdamCF Hm, good point. So far, I could see becoming a real juror being educational and ennobling. The selection process: not so much.

Also, the Crown *did* give too many details—the judge said anyone who said it damaged their impartiality could be excused. Two dozen: gone!

Done for the day. I know the lawyers out there are all overworked, but the 10 to 4:30 court schedule isn't the culprit.

@AdamCF Yikes. Nothing so dramatic yet. I'm looking for something more in a fraud or embezzlement trial? A quick one?

Delay means we sit in empty courtroom, waiting. Deputy starts answering questions as we all sit here. Surprise civics lesson.

@tinyalligator I see man in full suit and tie. And dudes in cargo shorts and t-shirts. Full range.

@tinyalligator The stated dress code is "casual." The only prohibition is you can't wear shorts (starting tomorrow).

@AdamCF I'm quite positive about the whole thing myself so far. But there is a lot of hurry-up-and-wait.

(Do tell me if this gets—or already is—boring or stupid, by the way. Questions also welcome.)

I'd describe demeanour of my fellow jurors as "resigned." Not angry about service really, nor enthusiastic. Got no choice, so here we are.

(Odd-seeming because colorful crown recap would seem to risk impartiality.)

I won't talk courtroom business here. But we had a long list of charges read to us before actual jury selection (after lunch). Odd.

@dtopping Indeed. No gory courtroom details here, I'm just interested in recording the mundane details along the way.

Suddenly, with 15 minutes until lunch, everyone suddenly has to go to a courtroom. No stated reason.

@emmamwoolley Oh yeah, forgot about that! Well, we'll make the first good juror sitcom. (Aside from "Night Court.")

Spotted in video: Mullets, big perms, flat-tops, dot-matrix printers, shoulder-pads. (No photos allowed, so you'll have to imagine it.)

Intro video, "Jury Duty and You," made circa 1993. Stock characters awkwardly pose questions; clerks, judges give stilted answers.

Jury duty: it's not just for lazy sitcom plots! I'll tweet what I can as I wend my way through the digestive tract of our justice system...

Mad Men actors' iTunes playlists all include Wilco. Hamm: http://j.mp/cIYhjw — Moss: http://j.mp/92Alum — Slattery: http://j.mp/9ADUjW

Never felt a need for cutesy computer desktops until coming across http://simpledesktops.com. Suddenly I need one.

Can we declare live music in small pubs to be unconstitutional?

Bookfuturism in action! RT @NicholasHoareTO Send us a tweet with 3 books you enjoyed, we'll suggest another.” (via @boyreporter)

@scrawledinwax I am going to try using "bookservative" in a sentence today.

@BenjaminCormier I think "hate" is too strong a word. It's kind of tongue-in-cheek, no? I'm just in my Contrarian Corner.

@lastplaceman I like the Sternbergh piece, thanks for that. If I haven't tweeted in 3 hours, arrest all fanboys & send out the search party!

@emmamwoolley Never! Wherever enthusiasm and joy are found, I shall track them down and wave snarky infographics at them.

My intelligence, aesthetic taste, use of free time, and more, as debated by @slashfilm commenters: http://j.mp/9i04kY

I'm a big fan of Google Chrome, but its file-downloading function *sucks." Whole browser locks up, beach ball of death, useless toolbar...

@lisanjutras For Milk Movie Festival: "Bigger Than Life" with James Mason. Milk so pivotal, it's in the DVD commentary (by Jonathan Lethem!)

@PialiRoy I thought the Memento of this generation WAS Memento! Egad. (Kids these days, etc.)

@chantalbraganza Bits I liked—a lot! But overall, so disappointing. Never has a more charming cast been given worse dialogue to grind out.

@BenjaminCormier I promise I'll stop grinching on this. Eventually. My initial "meh" has curdled into active dislike.

@chantalbraganza I did. Couldn't resist. I feel like a one-man insurgency against this stupid movie.

Hey @fastcodesign, I'll explain Inception for you: http://twitpic.com/2c73j0 (re: http://j.mp/cp6QTR)

@ivortossell I certainly prefer your term, "advocacy," versus "bellyaching," which is what I'm really doing.

@ivortossell Phone status idea: terrible. It's why I don't IM. Green dot = "I'm not doing anything of value, please interrupt me!" Blerg.

@ivortossell Also: synchronous communication is almost always a waste of time for one of the parties.

@ivortossell Is this related to @pomeranian99's recent column (spot-on, btw) on exactly this phenomenon?

(Fully aware that I already own a bike and rarely ride it. It's the principle of the thing.)

OK, I put my hundred bucks where my mouth is and bought a Bixi membership. Make it so! http://j.mp/cNj8jK

Sorry, has @google turned its back on net neutrality? http://nyti.ms/cPCqy2

Dear The Internet: I would like to hear Blossom Dearie's elusive 2003 single "It's All Right To Be Afraid." Cannot find online. Little help?

@jennhardy Sometimes I shout a few options to the office and whatever doesn't make people groan wins!

@MissStaceyMay (Also, not on the cover. Never puns on the cover.)

@MissStaceyMay The problem is I have to write about 12 pun heds in a row just to get it out of my system. (keeping a few, admittedly)

Writing a whole magazine's worth of display copy is exhausting. I think I tore a pun muscle.

@canice Does Mint work in Canada?

@lisanjutras @scrawledinwax It's like an earworm, but a word or short phrase instead of a song, right? Ersatz. Splenetic. Fricative. Chump.

@scrawledinwax @lisanjutras The name that I particularly remember getting hooked on: Boutros Boutros-Ghali. Addictive phonemes.

Kinda old, but neato: "Ikea Heights," a 7-part soap opera shot in an Ikea, without the store's knowledge: http://j.mp/lP8vz

@maxfawcett He appears to be a genuine fan. How can I ever take his newscasts seriously again?

Ian Hanomansing, guest-hosting The Sunday Edition, just said he owns every one of Nickelback's albums. THE HORROR

The #voteto grid is filling out nicely: http://bit.ly/atqSEZ — for edit access, email or at me or @tapesonthefloor

@tapesonthefloor Don't see a link to request edit access — any advice? Add gfscott at gmail if that's easier.

@astoutley No doubt. Spread the word, let's see what happens...

@tapesonthefloor Hey, I asked, and the lazyweb delivered. I've got to go and do, um, my day job. But I'll check back later.

It exists now! @tapesonthefloor made a Google spreadsheet. Populate and pass it on: http://bit.ly/cu7Mda

That was fast. RT @tapesonthefloor: This work? Fill it out! Make it pretty! http://bit.ly/cu7Mda #voteTO

(I realize such a document might be vulgar and simplistic, but usefl for grokking the broad strokes.)

Does this exist: an updatable (wiki?) grid of #voteto mayoral candidates — Column = name. Row = issue. Cell = stance.

@MissStaceyMay Nope. Ask @jordanginsberg, who posted it first that I know of.

@balkissoon It was @jordanginsberg who found it, I think. Credit where it's due!

@balkissoon This one: http://j.mp/8ZSpUa

Where's @mondoville on this Canadian magazine bomb-tossing resignation letter? It ought to be catnip for @scroll et al.

@iainmarlow As a reader, I would agree. (As an editor craving newsstand sales, declarative was probably the right move!) (@sarahbarmak)

@sarahbarmak A powerful photo; I even admire it as a cover choice. But I find the hed too manipulative.

@sarahbarmak Stengel says the photo's not "in support or opposition." But the hed is "you support the war OR you support mutiliating girls."

Apparently the soundtrack of "Terrorism Analysis" is a generic Bollywoodish orientalist nightmare: http://j.mp/98Uzrj (see video)

@lisanjutras @scrawledinwax I feel like there's a Magnetic Fields song begging to be written on this cilantro and gin theme.

@nerdygirly @MissStaceyMay Careful re: Hotel bar crawl. Most expensive hangover I ever had.

@emilylandau But U.S. Tom McCarthy is also great. Station Agent = great (and he played the Jayson Blair figure in The Wire, season 5, too).

.@emilylandau No, this one founded the International Necronautical Society (necronauts.com), a maybe serious/maybe not art manifesto/group.

Neato. I didn't know Tom McCarthy had a new book coming out this fall (http://j.mp/dg7bg6). "Remainder" was eerily compelling.

@ACCheng Eloquence in RTs is in their selection! And it was a good one.

Editors are not frustrated writers. They are frustrated readers. http://j.mp/aucOgX (via @ACCheng, @CraigSilverman)

@thebiggeidea Prior to adding the link, I assumed that quotation was about Afghanistan.

@ivortossell No. You're imagining that.

(@boyreporter pointed that out here: http://ow.ly/2hl5Z )

The Economist is the only media outlet on earth that could call their arts blog "Prospero" with a straight face.

@iancapstick @ivortossell Wish I'd thought of either of these responses. Alas! Snappy answers did not spring to mind.

What to do when your barber suddenly starts talking approvingly of banning burqas? Awkward.

@MissStaceyMay You're now, like, the most famous person I know.

@alexmolotkow Seriously. I didn't pick up at the time because it was a random 312 area code. But she left a voicemail. True story.

OK, so the Onion franchise business (http://j.mp/dbRNFt): totally legit! They called me on Friday. ON THE PHONE.