What The Hell Happened To Canada?

Added on by C. Maoxian.

I recently flew into the Toronto airport and was stunned to see that nearly everyone I saw was Indian (sub-continent, not Injun). It appears that Canada has taken in millions? of Indian immigrants recently. I’m going to have to do a mini deep dive on this:

“With nearly half a million newcomers arriving each year, Canada has one of the highest immigration rates per capita in the world.”

“Canada’s appeal as an immigration destination has been increasing over the past two decades, with a total of 464,265 people immigrating to the country in 2024. This figure is an increase from 2000-2001, when approximately 252,527 immigrants came to Canada.”

“Number of immigrants arriving in Canada in 2024, by province or territory of residence”

Interestingly I never saw an immigration officer when I arrived at the airport, I just scanned my passport and did a facial scan and waltzed through to collect my bags. It was weird, sort of like an open border.

“Indians Immigrate To Canada In Record Numbers”

“Indian enrollment at Canadian universities rose more than 5,800% in the last two decades, from 2,181 in 2000 to 128,928 in 2021, an increase of 126,747 students.”

“This story is part of Welcome to Canada, a CBC News series about immigration told through the eyes of the people who have experienced it.”

“Since the last federal election in Sept. 2021, Canada has welcomed roughly two million new citizens. They come from more than 200 countries and territories, with more than half being born in India, Philippines, Nigeria, China, Pakistan, Syria, Iran, the U.S. and France.”

Two million new “citizens” who can vote, holy cow…. Guess what they’re gonna vote for?

Sounds like Canada screwed up really badly and there’s going to be hell to pay.

Quick Impressions of China After a Decade Away

Added on by C. Maoxian.

I left China in July 2015 and just returned from my first visit there after nearly a decade away. My impression is that the Chinese will do fine despite Trump’s idiotic “trade war.” The mood felt pretty bleak in China, but the Chinese still work like dogs. A popular term I often heard there was 卷 or “grind.” They are still grinding. They will always survive, no matter what.

The Chinese are digitally isolated behind the Great Firewall. You can’t access the global internet from there, which I find incredibly frustrating, and the man on the street usually has no idea what’s going on in the outside world, other than what he is told via official media.

The surveillance state has advanced so far in China that I am positive that there could never be a “street level” protest mounted again. Not that the people appear to have any desire to protest or overturn the government, but if they ever did, it would easily be nipped in the bud.

Another factor is that the Chinese people are completely dependent on their cellphones. You can’t even take a cab any more in China without having a cellphone. Every monetary transaction down to the tiniest purchases are done via cellphone. I assume every transaction is monitored in real-time. There can be no popular uprising in China given the combination of physical street-level surveillance (ubiquitous cameras with facial recognition technology) and real-time location monitoring of all financial transactions.

Electric cars are now ubiquitous in Beijing (there were next to none when I left in 2015). There are dozens of car brands that I don’t even recognize. I assume that Tesla’s global market share would quickly move toward zero if there were open competition. Fortunately for Musk, he is protected from real competition outside of China.

I enjoyed my visit. The Chinese people still have a good sense of humor and are friendly… of course it helps that I speak Chinese. The people remain hard working, smart, and practical. I couldn’t live there again because of the Great Firewall and the Surveillance State, but it’s a fun place to visit.

Movies Watched -- A Single Girl (1995)

Added on by C. Maoxian.

In French. 90 minute running time. The perfect length. I really enjoyed this movie, green-go. It’s the story of a beautiful 19-year-old Parisian girl named Valérie, played by Virginie Ledoyen. The camera stays tight on her face and steady gaze for nearly the entire length of the movie. She’s tough and sticks up for herself, but also has a sense of humor and playfulness. It’s hard being a beautiful young woman (all men filled with lust, all women filled with envy).

She is four-weeks pregnant and the movie begins with her disclosing this fact to her loser boyfriend. I have to say that the boy who played that role blew me away with his reaction, late in the movie, to her final remark.

She has a new job as a room service waitress in a hotel, and encounters all the awful stuff that normally happens in hotels, just within her first hour of work. Farr (thanks for the reco, John) says “she battles conditions that would wilt most mortals of any age.” She keeps moving forward, keeps her chin up, and her pace quick. There’s a determination there that you admire. And she’s beautiful, just stunning … and not a rich kid, not spoiled.

Very interesting camera work. Handheld on the streets of Paris, no permit, natural light, bystanders looking on curiously, but the filmmaker doesn’t care, it’s beautifully done.

Loved it, highly recommended.

New Albums Being Promoted on Radio FIP in March 2025

Added on by C. Maoxian.

Art Longo — Echowah island (2025)

Darkside — Nothing (2025)

Derya Yildirim & Grup Simsek —Yarin yoksa (2025)

Dope Lemon — Electric green lambo (2025)

Everything Is Recorded — Temporary (2025)

Florence Adooni — A.O.E.I.U. (An Ordinary Exercise In Unity) (2025)

Francois & The Atlas Mountains — Age fleuve (2025)

Hope Tala — Hope handwriten (2025)

Ichiko Aoba — Luminescent creatures (2025)

Jb Dunckel & Jonathan Fitoussi — Mirages II (2025)

Michi — Dirty talk (2025)

Oklou — Choke enough (2025)

Sharon Van Etten — Sharon Van Etten & The Attachment Theory (2025)

Voyou — Syracuse (2025)

MIAX Pearl Equities Exchange Identifiers

Added on by C. Maoxian.

Exchange Codes:

  • Bloomberg: VP

  • Blue sheet – Exchange Code: 8

  • Blue sheet – Requestor Code: 7

  • CAT Destination Code: PEARLEQ [Consolidated Audit Trail]

  • CAT Market Center ID: H [Consolidated Audit Trail]

  • CAT Related Market Center ID: S [Consolidated Audit Trail]

  • CAT Participant Code: PEARLEQ [Consolidated Audit Trail]

  • ECAT Code: H

  • FINRA Short Interest Reporting Code: Y

  • MIC Code: EPRL [Market Identifier Code]

  • MIC Code (Dark): EPRD [Market Identifier Code]

  • OATS Destination Code: XH [Order Audit Trail System]

  • OATS Market Center ID: H [Order Audit Trail System]

  • RIC Code: .MP [Reuters Instrument Code]

  • RIC Trade Exchange ID: MPE [Reuters Instrument Code]

  • SIP Code: H [Securities Information Processor]

  • Thomson One Exchange Code: NP

  • UTC Market Code: 190 [Universal Trade Capture]

You're the Top

Added on by C. Maoxian.

At words poetic, I'm so pathetic

That I always have found it best

Instead of getting 'em off my chest,

To let 'em rest—unexpressed.

I hate parading my serenading,

As I'll probably miss a bar,

But if this ditty is not so pretty,

At least it'll tell you how great you are.

You're the top! You're the Coliseum.

You're the top! You're the Louvre Museum.

You're the melody from a symphony by Strauss.

You're a Bendel bonnet,

A Shakespeare sonnet,

You're Mickey Mouse!

You're the Nile!

You're the Tow'r of Pisa.

You're the smile on the Mona Lisa.

I'm a worthless check, a total wreck, a flop!

But if baby I'm the bottom, you're the top!

You're the top! You're Mahatma Gandhi.

You're the top! You're Napoleon brandy.

You're the purple light of a summer night in Spain.

You're the National Gallery; you're Garbo's salary,

You're cellophane!

You're sublime; you're a turkey dinner.

You're the time of the Derby Winner.

I'm a toy balloon that is fated soon to pop;

But if baby I'm the bottom, you're the top!

You're the top! You're a Waldorf salad.

You're the top! You're a Berlin ballad.

You're the nimble tread of the feet of Fred Astaire.

You're an O'Neill drama; you're Whistler's mama; you're Camembert.

You're a rose; you're Inferno's Dante.

You're the nose on the great Durante.

I'm a lazy lout, who is just about to stop,

But if baby I'm the bottom, you're the top!

And More!!:

You’re a Ritz hot toddy

You're a Brewster body

You're the boats that glide on the sleepy Zuider Zee

You're a Nathan Panning

You're Bishop Manning

You're broccoli

You're a prize

You're a night at Coney

You're the eyes of Irene Bordoni

You're an Arrow collar

You're a Coolidge dollar

You're a baby grand of a lady and a gent

You're an Old Dutch master

You're Mrs. Astor

You're Pepsodent

You're romance

You're the steppes of Russia

You're the pants on a Roxy usher

You're a dance in Bali

You're a hot tamale

You're an angel, you’re simply too, too, too diveen

You're a Botticelli

You're Keats

You're Shelley

You're Ovaltine

You're a boon

You're the dam at Boulder

You're the moon over Mae West's shoulder

You're the Tower of Babel

You're the Whitney Stable

By the River Rhine, You're a sturdy stein of beer

You're a dress from Saks's

You're next year's taxes

You're stratosphere

Brewing a Cup of Mamuto AA from George Howell Coffee

Added on by C. Maoxian.

This week’s coffee is a washed SL28 from the Mamuto farm in Kenya. This is a medium roast.

I paid $35 for 8 ounces, which works out to only $4.38 a cup (beans only). I forgot to get a picture of the roast date, but it was a March 10 roast. This means that the coffee has been resting for about three weeks, which could be a perfect amount of time.

Lovely aroma from the whole beans. Quite a bit of chaff on the grind.

Do you even sift, bro? It’s extremely important that you sift out your fines when making pour over. The fines will muddy everything up and ruin your beautiful cup of coffee. Set them aside!

Comandante C40 notes:

25 Clix: 1100 microns: 12.5 grams, 800 microns: 8.1 grams

25 Clix (another grind): 1100 microns: 11.2 grams, 800 microns: 8.7 grams

25 Clix (yet another grind): 1100 microns: 11.2 grams, 800 microns: 8.9 grams

25 Clix (yet yet another grind): 1100 microns: 11.0 grams, 800 microns: 8.8 grams

24 Clix: 1100 microns: 11.5 grams, 800 microns: 8.9 grams

24 Clix (another grind): 1100 microns: 9.5 grams, 800 microns: 9.6 grams

23 Clix: 1100 microns: 6.5 grams, 800 microns: 10.3 grams (WAY too fine, never ever use Comandante C40 below 24 Clix for pour over)

20 grams of perfectly consistent grind after sifting. The usual recipe, 15:1 … 200-degree Fahrenheit water, 50 ml and 30 seconds to bloom, second pour of 150 ml, final pour to 300 ml total. Of course I use a hand-blown Chemex because it costs three times as much, which means it’s three times as good. It’s also important that you pronounce Chemex, “sha-may.”

Bloom pour of 50 ml.

Second pour of 100 ml to 150 ml total.

Final pour of 150 ml to 300 ml. Lovely dark color. Drained to drip at the two minute 45 second mark.

Brewing a Cup of La Negrita Yellow Gesha from Blendin Coffee Club

Added on by C. Maoxian.

This week’s coffee is a honey-processed Gesha from Finca La Negrita in Colombia.

I paid $35 for 100 grams, which works out to only $9.80 a cup (beans only). I forgot to get a picture of the roast date, but it was a March 11 roast. This means that the coffee has been resting for about two weeks, which could be a perfect amount of time.

Blendin Coffee Club has the bad habit of scrubbing the web page for these coffees after they sell out. They should stop doing that and keep them up there permanently.

These are the tiniest coffee beans I’ve ever seen … Tiny and hard and give lots of chaff.

Do you even sift, bro? It’s extremely important that you sift out your fines when making pour over. The fines will muddy everything up and ruin your beautiful cup of coffee. Set them aside!

Comandante C40 notes:

27 Clix: 1100 microns: 16.0 grams, 800 microns: 6.2 grams, sub-800 microns: 5.2 grams.

24 Clix: 1100 microns: 12.8 grams, 800 microns: 7.9 grams, sub-800 microns: 6.8 grams.

21 Clix: 1100 microns: 8.6 grams, 800 microns: 9.6 grams, sub-800 microns: 10.0 grams.

20 grams of perfectly consistent grind after sifting. The usual recipe, 15:1 … 200-degree Fahrenheit water, 50 ml and 30 seconds to bloom, second pour of 150 ml, final pour to 300 ml total. Of course I use a hand-blown Chemex because it costs three times as much, which means it’s three times as good. It’s also important that you pronounce Chemex, “sha-may.”

Bloom pour of 50 ml.

Second pour of 100 ml to 150 ml total.

Final pour of 150 ml to 300 ml. Lovely color. Drained to drip at the three minute 30 second mark.

Brewing a Cup of Finca La Soledad Cold-Ferment Typica from Bean & Bean Coffee

Added on by C. Maoxian.

This week’s coffee is a cold-ferment Typica from Finca La Soledad in Ecuador.

I paid $45 for four ounces, which works out to only $11.25 a cup (beans only). I forgot to get a picture of the roast date, but it was a March 8 roast. This means that the coffee has been resting for about two weeks, which could be a perfect amount of time.

Beans are a little more oblong than usual… lovely color and aroma. Easy to grind and not a lot of chaff.

Do you even sift, bro? It’s extremely important that you sift out your fines when making pour over. The fines will muddy everything up and ruin your beautiful cup of coffee. Set them aside!

20 grams of perfectly consistent grind after sifting. The usual recipe, 15:1 … 200-degree Fahrenheit water, 50 ml and 30 seconds to bloom, second pour of 150 ml, final pour to 300 ml total. Of course I use a hand-blown Chemex because it costs three times as much, which means it’s three times as good. It’s also important that you pronounce Chemex, “sha-may.”

Bloom pour of 50 ml.

Second pour of 100 ml to 150 ml total.

Final pour of 150 ml to 300 ml. Lovely color. Drained to drip at exactly the three minute mark.

I’ve never had a cold-fermented coffee and it is different… complex sour of course, but a stronger coffee flavor on the tongue than I like. I’ve been drinking a lot of Geisha recently so when I go back to Typica, I’m always sort of shocked by the coffee flavor up front. I’m not sure if I’m a fan of this … it may be a little bit too unusual. I’ll try it again tomorrow and post some more thoughts.

Earlier:

Brewing a Cup of Finca Momoto Natural Geisha from Proud Mary Coffee

Brewing a Cup of La Bendición CoE #1 from Bean & Bean Coffee

Brewing a Cup of Hawaii Kona Extra Fancy from Bean & Bean Coffee

Brewing a Cup of Monte Llano Bonito El Kinkajou CoE #3 from Bean & Bean Coffee

Brewing a Cup of Momokiemo CoE #2 from Bean & Bean Coffee

Brewing a Cup of Sítio Santa Luzia CoE #3 from Bean & Bean Coffee

Brewing a Cup of Ponderosa CoE #4 from Proud Mary Coffee

Brewing a Cup of El Injerto La Calaca from George Howell Coffee

Brewing a Cup of Finca La Mula from Blendin Coffee Club