January 2007: Barenaked Ladies

This month we put your questions to Jim Creeggan from Toronto’s Barenaked Ladies...


Is it possible to somehow pass my course without actually doing any work?

May you live long and prosper Mr. Bush.

Me and my high-school girlfriend have been going out for two years, but I’m now thinking maybe I can’t be arsed with the whole long-distance-relationship thing…

I understand that there is nothing like the first hand job, but dude there’s a whole world of hand jobs out there!

I’m really shy, how can I make new friends?

A good firm handshake has traditionally worked for me. Also, if you participate in group activities, you might find someone you like in those situations. I find the more specialized and unusual the better. It’s important to separate the wheat from the chaff. How about joining the Ham Brining Club?

I accidentally slept with my housemate and we’re now stuck living together all year, is it going to be awkward as fuck?

Don’t flatter yourself. You might be surprised. They might not be so messed up about it as you think. Maybe you’re the one with the issues. Or not. “She’s going to turn me down and say can’t we be friends!”

How the hell do I abandon the clingy first-week new “friends” that I’ve now realised I don’t really like?

It’s nothing a little BO won’t fix.

I can’t cook for shit. I am going to actually starve.

Start with a diced onion, medium high heat. Fry it in a pan until it gets transparent. Add a teaspoon of cumin seeds and a table spoon of diced ginger. When the cumin seeds turn brown, add a table soon of garlic. Wait 2 minutes. Add 1 cup of diced tomatoes. Cook for 10 minutes on medium heat. In another pot you were lightly boiling 1 cup of lentils in 3 cups of water with a teaspoon of both turmeric and salt for 30-45 minutes. Add rinsed spinach to the lentils - let boil for 2 minutes. Stir in tomato mixture, and eat with bread or on a bed of rice. (1 cup of rice to 2 cups water, bring to a boil, then simmer with top on. Do not stir the rice. Let the steam inside of the pot do the work.)