As I work my way down the quickly dwindling roster of the Raisin Gang, it’s understandable that its members should become more elusive and difficult to track down.

And my penultimate target has proven to be an exceptionally slippery one: James Boyd

To the best of my knowledge, he only ever orchestrated various Gang activities from behind the scenes so tracking him by physical characteristics like face or voice wasn’t possible.

Nevertheless, I started with a simple search and hit on a matching profile nearly right away: a James Boyd of Toronto, currently production manager at Brown Bag Films with a bunch of experience in audio production and the music business.

Gotcha!

But … hmm … no mention of Ryerson/Metro University. In fact, this James claims to have studied music at Keele University about a decade earlier.

An expanded search produced more numerous but less likely candidates, everything from realtors to VPs at gold mining outfits. It took me a while to dig through the pile but I’m fairly certain that I’ve found our elusive Mr. Boyd.

As may be expected, he’s presently hiding out as a lawyer with Siskinds, LLP in London (Ontario).

The tip-off was a small mention at the bottom of his profile: “Prior to pursuing a legal career, James owned and operated a corporate video production company in Toronto for five years…“

The “corporate video production company” is ostensibly “Single Space Productions” which lists Ryerson University as a client. Accordingly, James studied at Ryerson from 2004 to 2009, starting out in film and going on to major in “Radio and Television Arts”.

In the summer of 2009 his story goes dark but we can infer that the he and the Gang probably sat around stewing in the hot juices of their own malevolence until mid-August when the first Raisin Gang video was uploaded. I discovered them about ten months later.

Among James’ earliest recorded experiences, from late 2007 to early 2009, is the role of “Equipment Distribution Centre staff” at Ryerson where, “I tested and maintained the department’s audio and video equipment & facilities and authorized & supervised the rental of equipment … also one of the senior staff in charge of supervising the other staff on-duty and overseeing daily operations of the centre.”

I believe that’s how you spell “smoking gun”.

And just like the rest of the Raisin ne’er-do-wells, in 2015 he desperately tried to cover his tracks by spending a few years Doctoring a Law degree at Western University (also in London).

Thus physically removed from repercussions of the Gang’s history, he was able to freely oscillate between studying his filthy trade and working his way up the legal ladder. He now splits his time between spreading his undoubtedly vile doctrine at the university and putting it into practice at the firm.

Raisin Gang/corporate video straight to lawyer; the man is pure villainy. Enough said.

And with that I turn my attention to the last remaining Gang member: Dan Ramos.

You’ve seen it with your own eyes, Dan. My exposés are merciless. The curtain sets. I await your imminent contact.

A while ago in another place.

^(larger)

If you go back a little bit through the history of TCL posts you’ll find that I’m no stranger to edgy software and modern technologies. I also tend to interpret such things through a particular lens.

Yet, despite the inherent incredulity of my purview, I was surprised to discover this obscure tidbit of homegrown PC history: the MCM/70 portable computer by Micro Computer Machines Inc.

Here’s their 1973, totally undercover “Executive” edition:

I wouldn’t be surprised if there was a spring-activated blade ready to shoot forth from within a well-placed cooling vent in there somewhere … strictly for personal defense, of course.

Originally, MCM Inc. operated out of a desolate area of what is now Toronto called Willowdale. Founded in 1971, the company had a roughly 10-year production run before shutting down operations. One of the most notable names behind the effort was Professor Mers Kutt. Other participants are less well known.

It’s safe to say that the MCM/70 is considered to be among the first, if not the first, in the field of personal/portable computing. In other words, this is a very early version of the thing you carry around with you whenever you vacate your domicile, bowels, etc.

More extensive histories and galleries of the machine exist online but projects involving subsequent products, such as the results of the Department of National Defence’s war games simulations using the MCM/800, remain unavailable.

May was a busy month. Let’s just have a stiff drink or two and leave it at that, okay?

June is presenting its own unique set of challenges but thankfully it’s also presenting some low-hanging fruit:

In case you can’t or don’t want to watch the video, it can be summarized thusly: a cyclist is recording their trip along a waterfront biking trail when they spot a group of cops tackling another cyclist, ostensibly for running through a stop sign, and seemingly trying to escape the orders of the same officers; basically a traffic stop that ended in an aggressive takedown. At one point up to three cops are piled on top of the guy, apparently in order to restrain him.

Understandably, this has generated some online debate about excessive force but since we can’t see what happened prior to the tackle we should probably wait a bit longer to get the full story. Maybe the guy had a gun? Maybe he just stole some old lady’s purse? It’s not as if I’m a fan of state coersion but at this point I don’t have enough information to pass judgement.

It’s worth noting that the video is not actually taken on “Lakeshore”, it’s a little farther south along Queens Quay at Little Norway Crescent. Were the person recording the video to pedal their conveyance a few seconds longer they would quickly reach Bathurst Street and the southern edge of 545 Lake Shore Boulevard West, a Homes First project that straddles both streets, and an interesting juxtaposition to the events in the video.

Although 545 Lake Shore is billed as a homeless shelter, in reality it’s more of an open-use drug site and repository of often shady, sometimes nefarious characters. Of course there are some genuinely down-and-out folks there but between the ubiquitous meth-heads, leaners, and those who supply them, the truly needy are far outnumbered by those who need not be there.

Right across the street is the Waterfront Neighbourhood Centre which houses various preschool programs and a JK-to-grade-8 public school.

Given this context, does the recorded incident simply represent a determined decision to enforce the law or is it something along the lines of performative theater, perhaps in advance of certain events? Hard to say.

Six months of spooky silence … I bet you thought it was over, didn’t you, Raisin Gang?

Wrong!

I even remember who was next on the list: Mary Kelly

Back when the Gang was in its public phase, Mary styled herself as an audio expert. It seems she liked to surreptitiously record and listen to certain conversations and other “ambient sounds”. Perhaps it’s just a coincidence, but so did the Stasi.

The dots connect just a little too well. After all, blackmail is used primarily by people pulling strings from behind the scenes, and I can’t help but notice Mary’s nearly ubiquitous absence from the Gang’s productions. To the best of my knowledge, she only makes two appearances in their videos.

One is a walk-through role, almost as if some sort of subliminal trigger, in the ultra-violent “Precision Elevator”.

The other is a hallucinogenic, MKUltra-esque nightmare called “Frasierberry Soda”.

While Mary is one of the more elusive background members of the Gang, I was able to find what seems like her abandoned online profile. The face fits. The timeline fits. The city fits. And to add more credence, I note that although the profile is clandestinely sparse, even then it boasts managing people from behind the scenes.

Understandably, details are thin.

The only established claims are that Mary was a literary administrative assistant with GLAM for a couple of years after splitting from the Gang. After that, the timeline has her landing a production coordinator gig at Nelvana for just over a year. Then, on May 2014, she disappears.

Maybe I’ve got the wrong Mary Kelly. Maybe there never was a “Mary Kelly”. Doesn’t matter. If the Raisin Gang are going to start a Frasierberry, they’d better be prepared to finish a Frasierberry. If some innocent people get caught in the crossfire, well, that’s just more sticky liquid on the Gang’s hands as far as I’m concerned.

So here we are. By my count, only Dan Ramos and James Boyd remain. Still willing to roll the dice on your covert operations, fellas?

You know where to reach me.

^(bigger)

Inspecting the safety equipment at the Western Gap, across from Billy Bishop.

A Cooper’s hawk perched outside the living room window and finishing off his meal (another bird). Personally, I prefer to start my day off with a coffee.

We seem to be approaching the 6-month mark since the previous installment so, ladies and gentlemen, without further adieu I bring you a bespoke version of the most elegant:

Toronto Sunday World, 21st of May, 1922

Despite its obvious advances in everything from fashion to medicine, one may perhaps be tempted to dismiss the Toronto of over a hundred years ago as an inconsequential anachronism in the context of the modern metropolis. For example, one may point to the seemingly ubiquitous springtime intestinal troubles experienced by locals, as evidenced by the apparent popularity of certain products that appeared in advertisements of the period.

Pish posh, I say! Can one honestly claim that we don’t have to deal with different types of shit in Toronto every season?

Besides, perhaps their physical ailments were related to the introduction of inferior arsenic and strychnine into various products, or perhaps the complete absence of such healthifying ingredients in fake products (shame on the flim-flammers!), but I’m certainly no doctor so we can just go ahead and file that under “speculation”. Moreover, such an analysis fails to take into consideration the countering health benefits provided by certain yeasty tablets which, along with vitamins A, B, C, and calcium, contained only the finest and most refined naturally occurring strychnine.

There are, it must be said, many traditional concepts that we should like to dispense with but that have held through to the modern era due to their enduring aptness. Is it for me to say that they’re wrong?

Why, even non-scientific, which is to say artistic, endeavours from bygone years have stood the test of time. Should I claim that my tastes in decorative motifs are the sole and correct ones?

It’s precisely for these reasons that one should occasionally glance to the past and say, “Gee whiz, that sure was something.”

tl;dr — the story’s far from over.

Long version — yup, it’s done.

Let me explain.

Technically, /sectionb was done well over a month ago but I wanted to give it one more thorough read/edit before officially calling it a day. I suspect that an error or incongruence or two snuck in regardless but, at this point, I’ll just have to live with it or them.

That being said, I welcome you to read the first /sectionb novel online but as someone who spends time ingesting content on an ageing offline tablet, I though it might be useful to produce a few offline versions as well. You can download them, in full and for free, here:

https://www.torontocitylife.com/sectionb/download

With my bona fides in place, I wish to assure you that the dedicated /sectionb website will continue to be a place to catch up on updates and to get extra content. I make no promises but as work on the second part continues, you may find some other there stuff too.

Here’s my remix of Brad Turcotte‘s (a.k.a. Brad Sucks) “Feel Free! Plastic Surgery!” from his 2012 album “Guess Who’s a Mess“. Brad’s track is awesome but it doesn’t match my musical sensibilities (abilities?) so you’ll find that it’s a bit of a departure from the original.

This tune is the first of what I hope will become a collection or album of some kind. The idea for the Boreds of Canada name can be heard near the end of my version of the song and, besides Brad, the ditty was loosely inspired by Doxent Zsimond’s “acoustic” rendition (quotes and their contents mine). Rest assured that as soon as I discover other Canadians worthy of my deft acoustic touch I’ll be adding them to the Boreds repertoire.

FEEL FREE! TO DOWNLOAD THE MP3!
(It’s licensed under Creative Commons)
^{There’s also an instrumental version}