Alex Willis
@alexjwillis.bsky.social
The Once and Future Chicken à la King | East York | Toronto | Fan of Your Comedy (But Not Your New Stuff) | Ex-Pat New Brunswick | Falsely Accused of Supercilious Behaviour
Found at 8:23 pm on Sept. 28 on Alejandro Kirk's Wikipedia entry. You know it's gonna get removed as the baseball obsessives scour everything for clinical rigor, but in the meantime, let's enjoy life's little editorial grand slams. #bluejays #toronto #kirk #grandslam
September 29, 2025 at 12:25 AM
Found at 8:23 pm on Sept. 28 on Alejandro Kirk's Wikipedia entry. You know it's gonna get removed as the baseball obsessives scour everything for clinical rigor, but in the meantime, let's enjoy life's little editorial grand slams. #bluejays #toronto #kirk #grandslam
Highest compliment from daughter, 5y: "I wish we had another dad so you could be a kid like us and we could play with each other like kids and you didn't have to tell us to do things."
September 14, 2025 at 1:09 PM
Highest compliment from daughter, 5y: "I wish we had another dad so you could be a kid like us and we could play with each other like kids and you didn't have to tell us to do things."
Some people go the convertible route; others, a boat. But my midlife crisis is the mildly deflating realization that Star Trek: Voyager might actually be the best post-TNG Star Trek series.
August 24, 2025 at 7:08 PM
Some people go the convertible route; others, a boat. But my midlife crisis is the mildly deflating realization that Star Trek: Voyager might actually be the best post-TNG Star Trek series.
It feels like the random and arbitrary nature of this is entirely the point -- to keep people off-balance, and to increase their feelings of vulnerability. At this point, what does an average foreign national entering the US believe their own risk of detainment to be?
New Zealand woman and six-year-old son detained for three weeks by Ice in US enduring ‘terrifying’ ordeal
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/a...
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/a...
New Zealand woman and six-year-old son detained for three weeks by Ice in US enduring ‘terrifying’ ordeal
Sarah Shaw, who has a US visa and lives in Washington state, was detained after attempting to re-enter US from Canada
www.theguardian.com
August 13, 2025 at 1:22 PM
It feels like the random and arbitrary nature of this is entirely the point -- to keep people off-balance, and to increase their feelings of vulnerability. At this point, what does an average foreign national entering the US believe their own risk of detainment to be?
Fires have started in Nova Scotia. Painful memories from 2023. Many friends and family in the area. Besides COVID, few things have united Canadians in the 2020s, from coast to coast, like wildfires. It's not synchronicity -- it's an actual pattern.
August 12, 2025 at 7:13 PM
Fires have started in Nova Scotia. Painful memories from 2023. Many friends and family in the area. Besides COVID, few things have united Canadians in the 2020s, from coast to coast, like wildfires. It's not synchronicity -- it's an actual pattern.
Can journos stop referring to shootings as "brazen"? Unless it is accidental, any intentional (and especially any public) shooting is inherently brazen. The number of "surreptitious" shootings per year has got to be vanishingly small; most of the time, the brazenness is the point.
July 23, 2025 at 6:29 PM
Can journos stop referring to shootings as "brazen"? Unless it is accidental, any intentional (and especially any public) shooting is inherently brazen. The number of "surreptitious" shootings per year has got to be vanishingly small; most of the time, the brazenness is the point.
I'm in awe at Valerie Bauerlein's "The Devil at His Elbow". As a true crime fan (I'm basic; don't judge), I was familiar with the Murdaugh saga; had seen the Netflix specials, etc. But this book is on a whole other level. Meticulous, Gothic, relentless. Author as True Detective, not law enforcement.
July 15, 2025 at 3:41 PM
I'm in awe at Valerie Bauerlein's "The Devil at His Elbow". As a true crime fan (I'm basic; don't judge), I was familiar with the Murdaugh saga; had seen the Netflix specials, etc. But this book is on a whole other level. Meticulous, Gothic, relentless. Author as True Detective, not law enforcement.
I would characterize the air quality in Toronto today as "umami".
July 14, 2025 at 7:28 PM
I would characterize the air quality in Toronto today as "umami".
Bless the Park Attendant and his Water. Bless that he gets breaks in the shade. May his chemicals cleanse the pool. May he keep the wading for his People, Ages 0-12.
July 12, 2025 at 5:05 PM
Bless the Park Attendant and his Water. Bless that he gets breaks in the shade. May his chemicals cleanse the pool. May he keep the wading for his People, Ages 0-12.
"Baba, it's so hot my butt is melting." #withrowpark
July 12, 2025 at 3:39 PM
"Baba, it's so hot my butt is melting." #withrowpark
I have been silently dreading the 20th anniversary of 7/7. The full impact of what I witnessed that day only fully manifested within the last 5 years -- an unwelcome visitor. It has taken work to accept that this event changed me, and that seeking support to address this was not a sign of weakness.
When the bombs went off, I just ran
On London's streets, movement became a kind of salvation, a solution to help absorb the horrors around me
www.theglobeandmail.com
July 7, 2025 at 5:11 PM
I have been silently dreading the 20th anniversary of 7/7. The full impact of what I witnessed that day only fully manifested within the last 5 years -- an unwelcome visitor. It has taken work to accept that this event changed me, and that seeking support to address this was not a sign of weakness.
Reposted by Alex Willis
It’s not just that the President of the United States has announced on social media that the US has bombed Iran, it’s that the President of the United States bombed Iran so that he could announce it on social media.
June 22, 2025 at 12:08 AM
It’s not just that the President of the United States has announced on social media that the US has bombed Iran, it’s that the President of the United States bombed Iran so that he could announce it on social media.
As a late Gen Xer, I am fascinated by our sandwiched role between our neighbours' respective pathos.
Boomer: Something bootstraps! Forever jobs! Fuck the world!
Millennial: *pops pill* I guess we'll have to work forever to clean this up
Gen X: *long exhale, puts down bong* that's a bummer, man
Boomer: Something bootstraps! Forever jobs! Fuck the world!
Millennial: *pops pill* I guess we'll have to work forever to clean this up
Gen X: *long exhale, puts down bong* that's a bummer, man
June 20, 2025 at 1:20 PM
As a late Gen Xer, I am fascinated by our sandwiched role between our neighbours' respective pathos.
Boomer: Something bootstraps! Forever jobs! Fuck the world!
Millennial: *pops pill* I guess we'll have to work forever to clean this up
Gen X: *long exhale, puts down bong* that's a bummer, man
Boomer: Something bootstraps! Forever jobs! Fuck the world!
Millennial: *pops pill* I guess we'll have to work forever to clean this up
Gen X: *long exhale, puts down bong* that's a bummer, man
LinkedIn in 2025 is All AI, All The Time. If you're not looking at AI slop images hastily assembled by motivational "thought leaders", you're reading anxious posts about AI taking all our jobs. I can appreciate the ontological dimensions of the AI threat, but the site is just too sweaty right now.
June 17, 2025 at 5:26 PM
LinkedIn in 2025 is All AI, All The Time. If you're not looking at AI slop images hastily assembled by motivational "thought leaders", you're reading anxious posts about AI taking all our jobs. I can appreciate the ontological dimensions of the AI threat, but the site is just too sweaty right now.
My 5yo son this morning, acting as waiter, holding paper and pen, approaches me in bed and asks, "For your father's day breakfast, would you like: coffee, alcohol, milk, or water?"
(For the record, my response was "yes.")
(For the record, my response was "yes.")
June 15, 2025 at 3:19 PM
My 5yo son this morning, acting as waiter, holding paper and pen, approaches me in bed and asks, "For your father's day breakfast, would you like: coffee, alcohol, milk, or water?"
(For the record, my response was "yes.")
(For the record, my response was "yes.")
City of Toronto garbage bin, High Park
June 7, 2025 at 6:43 PM
City of Toronto garbage bin, High Park
It might be fashionable to dislike mothers in law, but when your Chinese MIL makes you a ready supply of homemade jiaozi for on-demand lunches, you remain eminently unfashionable.
June 7, 2025 at 1:16 PM
It might be fashionable to dislike mothers in law, but when your Chinese MIL makes you a ready supply of homemade jiaozi for on-demand lunches, you remain eminently unfashionable.
"The staffer noted that even if some of the grants are reinstated, “delaying funds isn't like smoothly landing a plane for a brief pause to refuel—it's more like crashing a plane into the side of a mountain.”"
NEW: Important Context spoke with a dozen people working at NIH about Director Jay Bhattacharya.
The descriptions were universally unflattering, painting the health economist as ineffectual, dishonest, ideological, arrogant, and uncommitted to science.
www.importantcontext.news/p/out-of-his...
The descriptions were universally unflattering, painting the health economist as ineffectual, dishonest, ideological, arrogant, and uncommitted to science.
www.importantcontext.news/p/out-of-his...
“Out Of His Depth,” “Sold His Soul,” “Clueless”: NIH Staffers Speak Out About Director Bhattacharya
Widespread dissatisfaction over the NIH’s “continuous free fall” has people speaking out.
www.importantcontext.news
June 2, 2025 at 2:51 PM
"The staffer noted that even if some of the grants are reinstated, “delaying funds isn't like smoothly landing a plane for a brief pause to refuel—it's more like crashing a plane into the side of a mountain.”"
WELCOME TO THE PUPPET SHOW
DON'T WORRY ABOUT DONALD TRUMP
COME TO OUR YARD FOR THE PUPPET SHOW
THERE'S NO DONALD TRUMP HERE
YOU HAVE TO PAY ME MONEY FOR THE PUPPET SHOW
IT IS CRAZY
- 5 yo daughter, glutted on green beans and late May sun, carnival barking to our neighbours from the back yard
DON'T WORRY ABOUT DONALD TRUMP
COME TO OUR YARD FOR THE PUPPET SHOW
THERE'S NO DONALD TRUMP HERE
YOU HAVE TO PAY ME MONEY FOR THE PUPPET SHOW
IT IS CRAZY
- 5 yo daughter, glutted on green beans and late May sun, carnival barking to our neighbours from the back yard
May 26, 2025 at 10:38 PM
WELCOME TO THE PUPPET SHOW
DON'T WORRY ABOUT DONALD TRUMP
COME TO OUR YARD FOR THE PUPPET SHOW
THERE'S NO DONALD TRUMP HERE
YOU HAVE TO PAY ME MONEY FOR THE PUPPET SHOW
IT IS CRAZY
- 5 yo daughter, glutted on green beans and late May sun, carnival barking to our neighbours from the back yard
DON'T WORRY ABOUT DONALD TRUMP
COME TO OUR YARD FOR THE PUPPET SHOW
THERE'S NO DONALD TRUMP HERE
YOU HAVE TO PAY ME MONEY FOR THE PUPPET SHOW
IT IS CRAZY
- 5 yo daughter, glutted on green beans and late May sun, carnival barking to our neighbours from the back yard
With Veo 3, Google has basically crested the AI uncanny valley. I had not previously considered the degree to which I relied on that fundamental revulsion as a safeguard against AI's psychological infiltration. Losing it feels like a real step backwards, and an invitation to paranoia.
May 23, 2025 at 4:31 PM
With Veo 3, Google has basically crested the AI uncanny valley. I had not previously considered the degree to which I relied on that fundamental revulsion as a safeguard against AI's psychological infiltration. Losing it feels like a real step backwards, and an invitation to paranoia.
Ever since I started working in Leaside, I've been experiencing the "dead zone" of traffic and transit and construction. My wife had worked in this area for 14 yrs and always shared stories. Knowing it has gone on this long, and still persists, is galling. Toronto's Upscale Bermuda Triangle.
May 22, 2025 at 1:52 PM
Ever since I started working in Leaside, I've been experiencing the "dead zone" of traffic and transit and construction. My wife had worked in this area for 14 yrs and always shared stories. Knowing it has gone on this long, and still persists, is galling. Toronto's Upscale Bermuda Triangle.
An empty netter with 3 minutes left in the game is the ultimate expression of Brad Marchand's personality.
May 19, 2025 at 2:25 AM
An empty netter with 3 minutes left in the game is the ultimate expression of Brad Marchand's personality.
Toronto doesn't muck about when the sun comes out. We roll to the occasion.
May 16, 2025 at 5:23 PM
Toronto doesn't muck about when the sun comes out. We roll to the occasion.
As part of my quarterly existential crisis, I got hung up on my bad habits that could also be considered good habits. This is one of the takeaways from my notes.
May 16, 2025 at 1:36 AM
As part of my quarterly existential crisis, I got hung up on my bad habits that could also be considered good habits. This is one of the takeaways from my notes.